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Citing MENA news agency, Xinhua reported the Giza Criminal Court said the defendants were found guilty of establishing a terrorist cell that is meant to target public figures, disrupt public security and attack public and private facilities.

Two of the defendants were sentenced in absentia, according to MENA.

The court also sentenced five other members of the cell to 25 years in prison.

Terrorism prevailed in Egypt since the military ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in early July 2013 in response to mass protests against his 12-month reign and his currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group.

Terrorist attacks killed hundreds of policemen and soldiers in restive North Sinai province before they gradually spread to other provinces and started to target dozens of Coptic minority with church bombings.

Most of the attacks were claimed by the so-called Wilayat Sinai (Sinai State or Province), a Sinai-based group affiliated with the regional Islamic State (IS) terrorist group.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)About 16 kg gold, valued at Rs 4.81 crore, being smuggled into India through the India-Myanmar border, was seized in Manipur and one person apprehended, an official said here on Saturday.

"Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), in a joint operation with Assam Rifles, seized the gold. It was sourced from India-Myanmar border at Moreh in Manipur," a DRI official said.

He further said: "A car travelling from Moreh towards Imphal was stopped for checking at Khudengthabi (in Manipur). While frisking the passenger and carrying out thorough inspection of the vehicle, gold biscuits were found hidden inside a secret cavity of the vehicle chassis."

He said the northeastern region including the state of Assam, having boundaries with Mynamar, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China is particularly sensitive from the perspective of smuggling activities and cross-border crime.

"There have been significant seizures of gold bars of foreign origin smuggled from Myanmar through India-Myanmar border adjacent to Moreh and also from the Zokhawthar in Mizoram, along India-Myanmar border," he added.

During the current fiscal, the DRI, in the region across West Bengal and northeastern states, has seized close to 300 kgs of gold valued at Rs 90 crore, smuggled from Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Afghan national and his Turkish accomplice have been nabbed at the airport here on charges of human trafficking, a CISF official said on Sunday.

Afghan Sayed Murtaza Ahmadzoy was held on Friday while the Turk, Ergun Cobandag, was caught on Sunday afternoon. Both were held at Terminal 3 of the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

"A fake Turkish passport in the name of Karadeniz Fatih along with a boarding pass for Toronto with pre-affixed immigration stamp and fake stamp of security were recovered from Ahmadzoy's possession," Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) Assistant Inspector General Hemendra Singh told IANS.

Ahmadzoy tipped off about Cobandag, who arrived here from Astana on Thursday and was to return on an early Monday flight.

Cobandag was detained by the CISF at the check-in area as soon as he entered with a fake ticket.

According to the official, both the passengers were handed over to immigration officials.

"As both the foreign nationals were carrying fake travel documents, they were caught on charges of human trafficking. Further investigation about their role in trafficking is being carried out by police and other agencies," the official said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bangladesh President Md. Abdul Hamid on Saturday wound up his visit to India's northeast on a nostalgic note.

In his departing remarks, Hamid said the three-day visit to Assam and Meghalaya was very nostalgic for him as he came to this part of the northeast during the Bangladesh Liberation War.

"I have visited Balat, Shillong and Meghalaya and I was very glad to see these places," the Bangladesh President said.

During the visit, Hamid was accompanied by his wife Rashida Khanam and other family members apart from the official delegation.

He left for New Delhi from the Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International (LGBI) Airport here on Saturday afternoon.

Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi and Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal were present at the airport to see off the President.

Hamid also extended invitation to Mukhi and Sonowal to visit Bangladesh.

He said relationship with neighbours is very important for development and their visit would bolster the same. He also observed that peace and tranquillity in the region would lead to faster development.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A district BJP leader was shot dead on Sunday on the outskirts of Ranchi by unidentified criminals, police said.

Bharatiya Janata Party's Lohardagga district Treasurer Pankaj Gupta was shot by two persons at the Piska railway crossing.

A CCTV footage showed two youths arriving at the spot, with one of them shooting the BJP leader in the neck from behind.

Gupta had been coming to Nagari locality of Ranchi for the last two-three days to monitor construction of a boundary wall around a piece of land.

Chief Minister Raghubar Das condemned the crime.

Jharkhand authorities announced the setting up of a special task force to probe the killing.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Jessica Chastain has donated $2,000 to a womans fertility fund after she criticised the actress on social media.

Chastain shared a photo of herself on Instagram wearing a white t-shirt that read, "We Should All Be Feminists".

It was captioned: "Feminism: The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes."

Twitter user Karin H. Schulz responded that Chastain only supports feminists who are anti-abortion.

"Yes feminist that believe in God and stand up for The Unborn. I would be for that kind of feminist," Schulz wrote, reported people.com.

Chastain has long been an avid supporter of women's rights and pay equality, and said she respected Schulz's opinion.

She wrote to her: "Yes you can decide what is right for you. I am pro-choice and I believe that everyone has the right to make their own decision. I read about your journey to become a mother and it broke my heart. I hope that your dream will come true in 2018! Much love to you."

Chastain added: "My eyes filled with tears as I read this, dear Karin. I have such belief in your dream. Don't give up sister. It's in your destiny."

She was referring to Schulz's GoFundMe page which explained that she and her husband, Jeremy, had been trying to conceive a baby for years but had been unsuccessful.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Sarah Michelle Gellar commemorated "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" anniversary with new photographs, most of which have never been seen by fans.

March 10, 2018 marked 21 years since the cult-classic series premiered on television.

Gellar, who played Buffy, celebrated the milestone anniversary with a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. The actress shared an album of her most cherished Buffy memories, reports eonline.com.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that the anniversary of #btvs ('Buffy the Vampire Slayer') is the same week as #internationalwomensday (March 8)," Gellar wrote.

"I have always believed that the world is changed by your example, not by your opinion. We have all learned a lot from Buffy, and the best part is, that never ends."

She continued by quoting: "'From now on, we won't just face our fears, we will seek them out. We will find them, and cut their hearts out one by one. There is only one thing on earth more powerful than evil, and that's us'.

"Scroll through for some behind the scenes pictures, then and now (hopefully there will even be some you have never seen) #buffyslayday."

Over the years, the cast of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" has reunited to reminisce about the good old days.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Militants on Sunday hurled a grenade at the house of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, officials said.

The grenade was hurled at MLA Abdul Majeed Paddar's house in Noorabad area.

"The grenade exploded outside the MLA's house without causing any damage," police said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Democracies across the world, including the US and India, are at a crossroads and there was a need to stand up against the chaos to protect democracy, Hillary Rodham Clinton has said.

Speaking at the concluding session of the India Today Conclave 2018, the former US Secretary of State said never before did the world need India's energy like now to speak against sexism, racism and stand up at this crossroad moment.

"Don't give way to anger, resentment and disappointment. Stay engaged, speak out," Clinton said.

She said both the US and India were facing serious undercurrents threatening to strike at the roots of democracy, warning that US President Donald Trump "will damage it".

Talking at length about the situation in the US post the 2016 US Presidential elections which she lost to realty tycoon-turned-politician Trump, Clinton said she did not have a problem with a power difference in her country but was worried about fewer debates on pertinent issues that will take it towards one-party dominance.

"That is the situation in Washington at present."

She said it was "the first ever reality TV election" in the history of the US.

"Reality TV because a person who is the most outrageous and prone to say incorrect things gets away with it, drawing big rankings. Many people were, unfortunately, attracted to such diatribes."

Clinton counted the reaction against the immigrants as one of the reasons behind Trump's win.

She said the US has immigrants from Latin America, India and China who are hard working and law abiding but Trump's campaign of 'Make America Great Again' was backward.

"I won from the places which has 2/3rd share in the gross domestic product."

She also admitted that a smear campaign was on, saying she was going to jail. "That stopped my momentum and decreased my votes."Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said his grandmother and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told him she will be killed and that he told his father Rajiv Gandhi that he may meet a similar fate.

The younger Gandhi also told the IIM alumni in Malaysia that he and his sister Priyanka had "completely forgiven" their father's killers.

"My grandmother told me she was going to die and my father... I told him he was going to die," he said, referring to their violent deaths within a span of seven years.

Indira Gandhi was shot dead by two of her bodyguards at her official residence here on October 31, 1984 while a suicide bomber from Sri Lanka's now vanquished Tamil Tigers group blew up Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991.

Gandhi said: "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That's pretty clear.

"In politics, we deal with forces, big forces, which are normally not visible. You are dealing with structures that are powerful. Those are not visible but they can hurt you," he added.

Asked if he and Priyanka Gandhi had forgiven his father's killers, Gandhi said: "We were very upset and hurt for many years. We were quite angry. But somehow, (we have) completely... in fact, completely (forgiven them).

"When one realises that when these events take place, it's (a) collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught.

"When I saw on TV (Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai) Prabhakaran lying dead, I got two feelings - first was why they are humiliating this man in this way.

"And second was... I felt really bad for him and for his kids," Gandhi said.

"We have been through this experience, so we understand. I literally find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does. I don't like any kind of violence."

Sri Lankan security forces shot dead Prabhakaran and virtually destroyed the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, ending a quarter century of separatist war in the island nation.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Iran is ready to allocate a credit line of $3 billion for Iraq's post-war reconstruction, media reports said on Saturday.

The credit line will be given so that "Iranian companies and its private sector can have a more serious cooperation in rebuilding Iraq," Xinhua quoted Iran's first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri as saying.

Jahangiri called for increasing economic relations between Iran and Iraq in oil, gas and power sectors, in addition to cultural ties and pilgrimage tours.

"We must make efforts to increase the level of bilateral economic trade to above $7 billion," he said.

Jahangiri also demanded the removal of banking problems and bureaucratic barriers.

According to the report, Ali Salehabadi, the chief executive officer of Export Development Bank of Iran, announced in February that his bank would soon open a credit line of 18 million dollars with an Iraqi bank to expand Iran's exports to the Arab country.

"If other Iraqi banks meet the capital adequacy ratio, we are ready to allocate more lines of credit to the country," Salehabadi said.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Authorities here on Sunday rushed a police team to help in rescue operations of over a dozen students caught up in a fire in Theni forest area in Tamil Nadu bordering Idukki district, Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra said.

Behra said instructions have been issued to Idukki district police chief to give all assistance in the rescue operation.

"Medicines and food also have been sent to the spot. Behra spoke to his Tamil Nadu counterpart and assured of all help. He also asked Kerala State Fire and Rescue chief for all possible assistance," a media statement from Behra's office late Sunday night said.

Theni borders the famed Thekkady tourist destination in Kerala.

Authorities in Tamil Nadu were engaged in the operation to rescue students caught in the forest fire, with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying the Indian Air Force has been pressed into service.

The students, who are from Erode and Coimbatore, were trekking in the Kurangani Hills when they got caught in the fire.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nepal's Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli won a vote of confidence by a two-thirds majority on Sunday during a floor test in Parliament. Oli was appointed the Prime Minister 25 days ago.

The Nepal Congress decided to sit in the opposition saying it will see the performance of the government for another 100 days and will take all possible steps if the government tries to become authoritarian.

While questioning the intent of the government in seeking a two-thirds vote as it had already secured a majority, Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa warned Oli "not to dream to become Li Kuan Yew of Singapore in the name of two-third majority".

In the 275 seat Federal Parliament, 268 votes were cast and Oli received 208 votes.

The move came as a surprise to many as Oli and the Madhesi parties did share "acrimonious" relations in the past where Madhes based parties used to depict him as an "anti-Madhesi" leader.

After the vote, the communist government has a two-thirds majority, for the first time in the post-1990 era after the restoration of democracy.

Among the 10 parties and an independent representing the Lower House, Oli is widely expected to garner support of six parties and the independent lawmaker.

The Prime Minister on Sunday said that there is nothing like a ruling party or opposition when it comes to the nation's prosperity.

"National development campaign does not belong to only ruling party, but it is a common journey. The campaign maybe led by the ruling party or me in the capacity of Prime Minister," he said while addressing a parliamentary meeting.

He pledged to work for the welfare and aspirations of the people, while stressing the need for developing agriculture, trade, energy, for creating the base for the prosperity of the country.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Palestinians on Sunday slammed the White House announcement to host a donor conference over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying it should be dealt with as a political affair.

Member of Palestine Liberation Organization Ahmad Majdlani said that the Gaza Strip issue is political in the first stance and not a humanitarian or relief, and Washington knows well that the reasons behind the coastal enclave are tied to the Israeli blockade, Xinhua reported.

"The situation in Gaza requires political processing before being dealt with as a humanitarian case as Washington promotes," said Majdalani, and that the US conference is "part of the liquidation project aiming at detaching the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and eliminating the possibility of establishing the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967."

The Washington Post reported last Thursday that US President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt said the White House will hold a conference this week to look into saving the situation in Gaza.

Greenblatt reportedly said that the conference will focus on ideas to enhance the Gaza Strip's economy and living conditions, and urged Islamic Hamas movement running the coastal enclave since 2007 to give up armed resistance and commit to peace negotiations.

Hamas movement spokesperson Hazem Qasem denounced the White House conference. He said that Hamas "rejects the US conditions and will not concede to US administration's blackmail against the movement no matter what difficulties come in its way".

Top official of the left wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Kayed Al-ghoul said that the White House "is aiming at reestablishing the US role in managing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by its various dimensions," and added that "Washington wants to use the conference as a blackmail tool against the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to make the Palestinians accept the liquidation project of the century deal".

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad movement spokesperson Dawood Shihab also warned against the conference, saying that the White House conference aims "to make the Gaza affair a humanitarian file in order to ... lift the obligation of the Israeli occupation".

The ties between Palestine and the US have been witnessing rising tensions since last October, and peaked when Trump recognized on December 6, 2017 Jerusalem as a capital of Israel and ordered the moving of the US embassy to the city.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Priyanka Chopra will soon head to Ireland to shoot for the final episodes of "Quantico" season three.

Michael Seitzman, showrunner of the American drama on ABC, on Sunday shared the update with the fans through a Twitter post.

"For all you 'Quantico' fans asking what we're up to...We are off to Ireland for the last couple episodes of an epic Season 3," Seitzman tweeted on Sunday.

Priyanka will be back as FBI agent Alex Parrish in the new instalment of the series. The Indian actress got global acclaim after the show and also won two People's Choice Awards for her role.

Season three will see Alex going back to navigating the dangerous waters of the CIA that she left behind when she retired to Italy. The show also stars Russell Tovey, Alan Powell and Blair Underwood.

"Quantico" season three is scheduled to premiere in April. It is aired in India on Star World and Star World HD.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Filmmaker Remo D'souza along with the team of "Race 3" has reached here for the final shooting schedule of the film, saying the last scene will be "one hell of a ride".

The director also teased his fans and followers on Instagram on Sunday, saying he will soon release something "special" related to the movie.

"Here we are for the last lap in Abu Dhabi. It is a #RaceToFinishLine. It is going to be one hell of a ride," Remo posted on Sunday.

"Wish us luck guys and there is something special coming your way soon. #Race3 #Eid2018," added the director, who also shared an image of a clapboard with a swanky yellow car in the background.

"Race 3" stars Salman Khan, Bobby Deol, Jacqueline Fernandez, Daisy Shah, Saqib Saleem and Anil Kapoor.

Co-presented by Tips Films and Salman Khan Films, "Race 3" is produced by Ramesh S. Taurani.

Shot in Bangkok and Mumbai along with Abu Dhabi, the third instalment of the "Race" franchise is slated to release in June around Eid this year.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday met business executives of Indian origin in Malaysia and said he "valued actionable solutions over rhetoric".

He also assured them that "their interests will be suitably addressed in his party's manifesto".

Gandhi met the business executives of the Malaysia India Business Council, Asean India Business Council, Malaysian Associated Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Consortium of Indian Industries in Malaysia.

Businessmen who met Gandhi said that the Indian community and their interests have been neglected by the Narendra Modi government, the Congress party said in a tweet.

In response Gandhi assuaged their concerns and said: "We value actionable solutions over rhetoric. I assure you that your interests will be suitably addressed in the Congress Party's manifesto", the party added.

Gandhi also met Subramaniam Sathasivam, president of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) in Kuala Lumpur.

Originally a part of the AICC until 1946, the MIC has played a major role in the Malaysian Independence Movement.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The NPP merged with the BJP in Rajasthan on Sunday with MLA joining the BJP in the presence of Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje.

Meena, the People's Party (NPP) MLA from Lalsot, reached the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in the morning accompanied by his wife Golma Devi and supporters to rejoin the party after 10 years.

According a warm welcome to Meena, Raje said she was jubilant that one of their most dedicated workers was making a "ghar vapasi".

"This is a very emotional moment for me and party workers and I have tears of happiness rolling down my cheeks.

"I welcome Meena with a warm heart and all the workers are quite excited with his return. This excitement and motivation needs to be the same till December elections as we need to work hard together to allow lotus to bloom in the state in the assembly elections," Raje said.

A visibly excited Meena said this was the "happiest day". "My ideology and the BJP's is the same as I have been a part of the RSS too."

State BJP President Ashok Parnami and other senior leaders were also present at the event.

MLA Geeta Verma and Golma Devi, who joined the BJP with him, said they were "proud to be BJP MLAs".

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee Vice President Archana Sharma told IANS that "no permutation and combination in the state can help the BJP win in the ensuing elections. We will win the elections with a big margin".

A few months back, Meena announced that he will form a third front in the state.Rome, March 10 (IANS/AKI) United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini will attend an upcoming summit in Rome on the severe funding crisis that could force the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA to halt its vital work, the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation said on Friday.

The aim of the conference taking place at FAO headquarters on Thursday is "to actively support a collective response by the international community to protect the rights and dignity of Palestinian Refugees and ensure UNRWA's unprecedented funding crisis of 446 million dollars is urgently resolved," FAO said in a statement.

UNRWA, which helps over five million Palestine refugees, is experiencing the worst financial crisis in its 70 year history and as a consequence may be forced to suspend services, the statement said.

The foreign ministers of Jordan, Sweden and Egypt will chair the conference aimed at rallying further international support for UNRWA , according to the statement.

Aside from its crucial humanitarian work to aid Palestinian refugees, UNRWA makes a key contribution to stability in the region.

It is the oldest and largest UN humanitarian and human development programme in the Middle East, said the statement.

--IANS

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The UK police have identified more than 240 people as witnesses to the poisoning of former Russian sky Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury, according to Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Speaking after a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra, Rudd on Saturday said the government was using enormous resources to try and identify those responsible for the attempted murder, reports the BBC.

"I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism," she said.

The committee heard that 250 counter-terrorism police have identified more than 240 witnesses and were looking at more than 200 pieces of evidence.

Rudd said both Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, who are being treated at Salisbury District Hospital, remain in a "critical but stable condition" after being exposed to a nerve agent on March 4.

"This investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe and also that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution (of the attack) we will be absolutely clear where it should be.

"The police have said that if anybody thinks they have any additional information they would welcome them coming forward.

"There is also substantial amounts of CCTV they have to go through. This is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and time to get on with it," the BBC quoted Rudd as saying.

Skripal was convicted by the Russian government of passing secrets to British intelligence agency, the MI6, but given refuge in the UK in 2010 as part of a "spy swap".

Russia has denied any involvement.

Also on Saturday, the police were active at Salisbury's London Road cemetery where Skripal's wife Liudmila and their son Alexander are buried.

The cemetery was cordoned off on Friday, but police confirmed officers were not exhuming a body.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile Lobsang Sangay on Saturday urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue.

He also demanded a Unesco fact-finding mission to visit the holiest Jokhang shrine in Lhasa in Tibet and investigate a fire incident there that destroyed hundreds of Tibetan artefactd a few weeks back.

"As President Xi Jinping sets out to begin his second term, I urge him to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue between the envoys of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Chinese government," Sangay said in a message on the 59th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day.

"The tragic news of the fire on February 17 at the Jokhang, Tsuklagkhang, a Unesco world heritage site, is of great sadness. There are reports of extensive damage and loss owing to the burning of dozens of precious statues, hundreds of artifacts and 'thangkas' and murals," he said.

Jokhang is still closed to the public. "I, therefore, urge Unesco to send a mission to investigate into the matter and to send journalists to Tibet for an independent investigation," Sangay, also the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) President, said.

Blaming the Chinese government for discriminatory policies with Tibetans, he said: "Also de-linking His Holiness the Dalai Lama from Buddhism in Tibet is another root cause of resistance among Tibetans.

"To artificially say that you can practice Buddhism but not follow His Holiness the Dalai Lama is akin to saying you can be a Catholic but not follow the Pope. This is a fundamental misreading of the very foundation of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet as a nation."

He said the rising tide of China's economic growth and prosperity has not lifted the Tibetans as Tibet remains one of the poorest region and ethnic Chinese who have flooded into Tibet in recent years have been the prime beneficiaries.

Quoting watchdog Freedom House reports of 2017 and 2016, Sangay said the reports listed Tibet as the second least free country after Syria and worse off than North Korea, South Sudan and Eritrea.

Reporters Without Borders also stated that Tibet is harder to get access to than even North Korea.

The Tibetan administration in exile is based in the north Indian hill town of Dharamsala.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A shoe was hurled at former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at an event here on Sunday, a day after ink was thrown on Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

The incident occurred after Sharif arrived at Jamia Naeemia to address a ceremony marking the death anniversary of cleric Mufti Mohammad Hussain Naeemi, reports Dawn news.

Video footage showed Sharif visibly shocked in the immediate aftermath of the incident.

However, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader went ahead with his address, although reportedly shortening his speech, only to thank the organisers.

The man was immediately caught and taken into custody.

The organisers said they were trying to ascertain the identity of the attacker and how he was able to enter the hall.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two men lobbed shoes at former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and one hit him while he was about to address an event at a seminary here on Sunday. This incident came a day after ink was thrown on Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.

A man hurled his shoe at Nawaz Sharif, hitting him between the neck and shoulder, soon after the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief reached the podium to deliver a speech at an event organised by the Jamia Naeemia, Dunya News reported.

He then jumped onto the stage and raised slogans in favour of Mumtaz Qadri, the killer of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, before fainting as the crowd jostled him.

Meanwhile, another man also hurled his shoe at the former PM, missing him narrowly. It hit a man standing behind the PML-N leader. The Punjab Police have taken both the men into custody.

On Saturday, a man was taken into police custody after he threw ink at Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif during his speech at the ruling PML-N workers convention in Sialkot.

Asif, however, directed the authorities to release the suspect, saying he did not have any personal enmity with him, adding that the man must have carried out the act at the behest of someone in return for some money.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Protesting the attack on Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee's statue in Kolkata, West Bengal BJP's youth wing Yuba Morcha activists walked in a silent rally here on Sunday.

The rally was held from south Kolkata's Hazra to Syama Prasad Mookherjee's house in the nearby Bhawanipore area.

Terming the rally as a token protest against the vandalism, the rallyists said they are not happy with the state government's role in handling the issue and reiterated the party's claim to reinstall the statue as soon as possible.

"It is shameful that Bengalis were involved in vandalising the statue of someone who did so much for Bengal and its people. We are not satisfied with the role of the Bengal government in the issue, nor do we expect anything better from them," Debjit Sarkar, state Yuba Morcha president told IANS.

"But as our state party (Bharatiya Janata Party) chief Dilip Ghosh said, we want the statue to be put back to its previous state with honour," he said.

He also claimed the attack cannot be called a counter offensive for the razing of Lenin's statue in Tripura, as according to him, the incident in Tripura was a spontaneous reaction of the people's rage towards the erstwhile Left regime.

"People are saying they broke the statue of Mookerjee here to protest an incident in Tripura. First of all, that incident has no relation with Bengal. Also, even if some BJP supporters were involved in the attack on Lenin's statue, it was mostly the common people who came out and did that to announce the end of Left rule there," the BJP leader claimed.

"We hope the Trinamool government would take note of our protest here and do the needful," he added.

Seven members of an extremist Left-wing student organisation were arrested for allegedly vandalising and blackening a marble bust of Syama Prasad Mookerjee in Kolkata's Keoratola crematorium ground last week.

The incident happened after a statue of Dravidian icon and social reformer E.V.R. Ramasamy, popularly known as Periyar, was razed in Tamil Nadu's Vellore, while two statues of Russian communist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin were pulled down in Tripura allegedly by the BJP-RSS activists.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Saturday denied his government's possession of chemical weapons or chlorine gas.

The foreign ministry renewed the government's stance regarding the recent accusations against Damascus of using chlorine gas in the battles against the rebels in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus, Xinhua reported.

"We completely deny any presence of chemical weapons including the chlorine gas and we condemn any use of such weapons. We think that there is no reason for any country in the world to threaten Syria as some have done or to use their weapons to target Syria," he said.

Mekdad warned against the possible move by foreign powers such as the US and Britain to carry out military actions against Syria over the use of chemical weapons.

He also said that the rebels have been staging chemical attacks to frame the Syrian government, adding that intelligence information indicated that the rebels were planning a new chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta soon.

"We suggest everyone not to take any risk of military actions because the international situation is incapable of handling such aggressive practices at a time we look forward to seeing peace prevailing all over the world," he added.

In January, activists claimed the Syrian forces used chlorine in an attack on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, causing 21 people to suffer from breathing difficulties.

Last April, the US struck a military base in central Syria with more than 50 Tomahawk missiles, in retaliation to an alleged chemical attack by Syrian government forces on a rebel-held town in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The Syrian government denied the accusations, saying it is the rebels who mounted the attack to frame the government and draw in a military action from the US.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Syrian government forces have split the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta, cutting off the largest city Douma, media reports said on Saturday.

Pro-government forces isolated the cities of Douma, Harasta and the al-Rihan farms from the rest of Eastern Ghouta's rebel-held network of satellite cities and agricultural areas on the outskirts of Damascus, Efe quoted the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights as saying.

The SOHR said the government's advance also managed to cut communications between Douma and Harasta after effectively taking much of the territory that separates both locations.

Other Syrian media outlets also reported that the army had made progress against the rebels.

Since February 18, the Syrian government has used aircraft and artillery to heavily bomb Eastern Ghouta, killing a thousand people, according to the SOHR.

According to the UN, some 400,000 people remain trapped in the area, which has been under siege for several years.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actress Tori Spelling, who allegedly suffered a breakdown, has shared that she and former "Beverly Hills, 90210" co-star Jennie Garth are gearing up for a new project together.

"#back2work great creative day yesterday with my #partnerincrime @jenniegarth #90210vibes #donnaandkellyforver #besties," she wrote on Instagram on Saturday alongside a selfie and photograph of the CBS Studio Center lot, reports etonline.com.

While Spelling gave no additional information about what she and Garth have up their sleeves, she did post an inspirational message on her Instagram Story.

"I'm strong, I'm amazing, I'm beautiful, I'm wonderful, I'm worthy, I'm loved, I'm brave, I'm sweet, I'm happy, I'm me," read the quote.

Earlier this week, Spelling's husband, Dean McDermott, called the police to check on her well-being.

A spokesperson for the Ventura County Sheriff's Department said that police were called to do a welfare check on Spelling on Wednesday morning at a location in Thousand Oaks, California.

"We were asked to check on her well-being," the spokesperson stated, adding that McDermott was the one to make the call.

"Deputies went out to talk to her briefly and determined she was fine."

Spelling's wellness check comes after police were called to her Woodland Hills, California, home last Thursday after receiving a "mental illness" call, which a source said was a "huge wake-up call" for the 44-year-old actress that she needs to focus more on her health.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US President Donald Trump predicted on Saturday that the talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be "a tremendous success," while praising China's collaboration.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well. I think we will have tremendous success," Efe quoted Trump as saying.

"The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they are looking to de-nuke," Trump added.

The US President applauded the cooperation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe regarding North Korea.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping and I spoke at length about the meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. President Xi told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

In a separate tweet Trump wrote "Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea."

Trump commented on the news that he had accepted a historic meeting with Kim, an event that would presumably take place in May at a place yet to be determined and which would be the first meeting in history between the leaders of the US and North Korea.

The astonishing announcement of the meeting between the two leaders was made by South Korea's National Security Bureau chief Chung Eui-yong, who met with Trump at the White House on March 8 to convey a message from Kim Jong-un, whom he had seen in Pyongyang on March 5.

Later, however, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders lowered expectations by stating that "neither a place nor a date are fixed."

The news of the possible meeting between Trump and Kim was well received internationally, given the escalation of tensions and threats last year, but some analysts were skeptical about the risk of scheduling this meeting without any public preparatory contacts between Pyongyang and Washington.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump will embark on his first visit of his presidency to Latin America next month, the White House has announced.

According to the announcement on Friday evening, the President will first travel to Peru for a summit meeting of Western Hemisphere nations, reports The News York Times.

Trump will then proceed to Colombia and meet his counterpart Juan Manuel Santos who had previously visited Washington in May 2017.

"This travel demonstrates the President's resolve to deepen our historical ties with our partners in the region and to strengthen our joint commitment to improve security and prosperity for the people of the Americas," the White House said in statement.

The statement pointed to the significance of establishing relationships with countries that "share our values and believe that the promise of a safe and prosperous future rests in strong democracies, fair and reciprocal trade, and secure borders".

American presidents have attended the Western Hemisphere meeting, known as the Summit of the Americas, in previous years, Barack Obama made history there in 2015 by meeting with President Raul Castro of Cuba.

The visit comes after Trump reportedly called the Latin American nations as "shithole countries" in an immigration meeting in January, sparking wide protests in the region.

The US-Latin America ties have also been tested by Trump's proposal to build a wall on the Mexican border, his order to impose steep tariffs on imported steel and aluminium and some Latin American nations' joining of a regional trade deal, from which Washington withdrew in January 2017.

--IANS

ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Turkish jet with 11 people on board crashed in the suburban area of Iran's western city of Shehr-e Kord on Sunday, the media reported.

The plane was seen catching fire in the air, before it crashed into the heights of Helen Mountain near Dorak Anari village, Xinhua reported.

The plane was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul, the report said.

This is not the only plane crash in Iran in recent times. In February, an Iranian Aseman Airlines plane crashed in the country's central Isfahan province, killing 60 passengers and six crew members on board.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two Delhi University students were killed and three of their friends injured on Sunday when their speeding car collided with a divider and hit a light pole here, police said.

The victims, Ritesh (20) and Sidharth (19), were declared brought dead at a nearby hospital. The injured, Joshika (21), Rashi (20) and Diksha (19), were all first year law students in Amity University, Noida.

"The accident occurred at around 2.45 a.m when Rashi was going to drop Sidharth and Ritesh in Mukerjee Nagar. When the speeding Hyundai i.20 car reached Hudson Lane, it lost balance. It then collided with the divider and hit the light pole on the opposite side of road," a senior police officer told IANS.

"During investigation, it was found that the five students were out celebrating. We suspect they were under the influence of alcohol. We have sent their blood samples for examination.

"Sidharth was a resident of south Delhi and Ritesh, a native of Haryana's Sonepat lived in Mukerjee Nagar. They were students of a college in south campus. The three girls lived in Noida," he added.

--IANS

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(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Eighth seed Venus Williams moves into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open with a straight-set victory over No. 35 Romania's Sorana Cirstea.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion won her opening match on Saturday held at Indian Wells, California, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, and now faces the winner between her younger sister Serena Williams, 36, and No. 29 seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the next round, reports Xinhua news agency.

Venus achieved victory behind winning 81 per cent of Cirstea's second service points, leading her to six breaks of serve during the match.

It was Venus' seventh appearance in the California desert, and third since 2001, after an absence of 15 years.

At 37, Venus is the oldest in women's single draw at 2018 Indian Wells.

--IANS

sam/ksk

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In her latest speech on Brexit, British Prime Minister Theresa May rejected the prospect of the United Kingdom remaining in the European Unions (EU) customs union, on the grounds that the UK wants its own trade policy. This is not in the best interest of either the UK or the EU.

It is true that Norway and Switzerland, both of which are highly integrated into the EU market, have customs borders with the bloc. These countries need an independent commercial policy to provide greater protection than the EU offers to their domestic agricultural sectors, which in both cases can never be efficient, owing to mountainous terrain.

Yet the UK has traditionally been much less protective of its agriculture, and is thus likely after to pursue a commercial policy that is very similar to that of the EU, anyway. It is therefore difficult to see what the UK would gain from pursuing a national trade policy  especially at a time when the United States, under President Donald Trump, is pursuing policies (such as imposing tariffs on imported steel and aluminium) that show little regard for its smaller trade partners.

The truth is that the main impediment to a post- customs union is political. As Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who supports remaining in the customs union, has emphasised, a country with the heft and influence of the UK cannot be viewed as merely following EU decisions, over which it has no influence. Yet this problem can be solved  or, rather, finessed.

Illustration by Ajay Mohanty

Formal decision-making power is of course another matter. The EUs legal structure cannot allow a non-member state to participate in binding decisions. This calls for something of a gentlemens agreement, with the EU pledging to take UK interests into account when making trade-policy decisions.

If the UK remains in the existing EU customs union  as is foreseen for the transition period  rather than negotiating a new customs agreement with the EU, that gentlemens agreement would also extend to new trade agreements that the EU concludes with third countries. After all, such agreements would apply explicitly to the EUs entire customs territory  a term with a precise meaning under World Trade Organization, or WTO, rules. So, whatever market-access benefits they include would automatically apply to the UK.

As a gesture of goodwill, the EU should also support the UKs efforts to grandfather its market access resulting from existing EU free-trade agreements and thereby avoid the need to renegotiate each and every deal. The legal argument would be that the EU customs territory has not changed, so existing EU trade agreements must continue to apply to the UK. But this argument could be contested, leaving UK exporters suddenly confronting tariffs and other trade barriers.

European Commission officials could dismiss that as the UKs problem. But such a response would run counter to the spirit of the European Council guidelines of April 2017, which call for a constructive dialogue with the UK on a possible common approach toward third-country partners. Such a constructive approach would include steps  like supporting the grandfathering of trade agreements  that minimise friction during the transition period.

Remaining in the EUs customs union would leave the UK in a much stronger position than, say, Turkey, which, despite having concluded an agreement to create a customs union with the EU, is not actually part of the blocs customs territory. As a result, third parties do not automatically have to grant Turkish exporters EU-level access to their markets. Instead, Turkey must try to persuade third countries with which the EU has concluded trade deals to do so.

Turkey has usually succeeded. But it enters such negotiations in a weak and somewhat awkward position, because it is required, per its agreement with the EU, to grant to the third country all of the concessions the EU has made, whereas the third country has no legal or political obligation to reciprocate.

For the EU, agreeing to take the UKs interests into account in future trade negotiations should not be viewed as a concession, because it is in the EUs own long-term interest. After all, if the EU can offer de facto access to the EU and UK markets  which, together, are 20 per cent larger than the EU market alone  its negotiating power is significantly strengthened.

In this sense, keeping the UK in the EU customs union would help to preserve the EUs global standing in trade. And while many in the EU, especially the European Commission, would like to have their cake and eat it  keeping the UK in the customs union, while ignoring its interests  that is simply not an option.

The alternatives available for the EU is either to see the UK to leave its customs union, or to keep the UK in, by making a political commitment to take British interests into account. From a long-term perspective, the latter is preferable.

Finally, remaining in the EU customs union would make it possible to avoid reestablishing a hard border between the UK and the Republic of Ireland after Though May has agreed that avoiding a hard border should be part of any deal, she has offered only vague suggestions concerning how that could actually be achieved.

Brexit is, and will remain, a lose-lose proposition. Neither side can claim victory if its point of view prevails. But the losses on both sides can be reduced. To that end, keeping the UK in the EU customs union  by guaranteeing it an active, albeit informal role  is negotiators best bet.

The writer is director of the Center for European Policy Studies. Project Syndicate, 2018

www.project-syndicate.orgK T Rama Rao or KTR, Telangana minister with many portfolios including IT, is easily accessible on Twitter. He acknowledges most problems raised by residents of Telangana on the social media platform with promise of swift action.

On Saturday, he got a peculiar request. A resident of Boduppal town in Medchal district of the state tweeted that he was a vegetarian and had to pay GST on idlis and dosas he ate at local eateries, which shut down by 10 pm. On the other hand, his friends in Hyderabad were able to enjoy their biryani round the clock without having to pay GST on it. Please do ...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.

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Digital EditorThe end of the financial year is the time when individuals scramble to complete their tax-saving investments. Often the main consideration for selecting a particular investment is the tax-saving benefit that comes with it.

This can have negative consequences at a later date and is best avoided. Look at an instrument's features in totality  risk, return, tax benefits and liquidity  before deciding to invest in it. Investing in insurance to meet 80C requirement: One of the most common ways through which individuals meet their Section 80C limit, where the deduction ...Two men were killed and three women injured when their car crashed into a traffic signal pole in northwest Delhi's Mukherjee Nagar area, police said today.

The incident occurred at around 2.45 am today when the driver of the car lost control over the vehicle and ended up hitting the central verge at T-Point, Hudson Lines, they said.

The deceased have been identified as Ritesh Dahiya and Siddharth, both in their 20s.

Three women occupants of the car, including the driver, sustained injuries, police said.

The driver was under the influence of alcohol, said Aslam Khan, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest).

Police said the woman driver was arrested after being discharged from the hospital.

She had a learner's license. The car belonged to Dahiya's father. The friends were returning from a fest in Amity, Noida when the incident happened. They had come to Delhi University for a drive, they said.

After the car hit the pole it somersaulted twice before coming to a halt.

Dahiya was a student of Sri Venkateswara College while the three women were students of Amity University, Noida.

Siddharth was a student of Maharaja Surajmal Shiksha Sansthan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two years after a spinal cord injury had crippled him and took away his desire to live, 24-year-old Suman Das of Malda district has now started looking back at life with new hopes.

Suman had raised the euthanasia debate in West Bengal by seeking permission to end his life in the face of serious illness and abject poverty.

But now his focus has changed. "No, I do not want to die any more," said Suman who is now able to walk with the help of a walker, thanks to the effort of a physiotherapist who is treating him free of cost.

Das had shot off a letter to the District Magistrate on October 28, 2016 praying that he be allowed to opt for euthanasia after returning from a Bengaluru hospital following a spinal cord surgery.

He had to return from Bengaluru as the post-operation physiotherapy procedures involved high medical expenses which the poor labourer from Englishbazar block could not afford.

"My son could not move his hands and feet after the surgery in Bengaluru in mid-2016 and the hospital advised prolonged physiotherapy there which was very expensive," his mother Saraswati Devi told PTI.

On return Suman had slipped into acute depression and wrote the letter to the district administration.

A local NGO and his neighbours then came to his side, Devi recalled.

While the neighbours motivated him to come out of depression, physiotherapist Sunirmal Ghosh who is attached to the NGO came to his residence in the middle of 2017 and took the responsibility of bringing his life back on track.

A couple of months back Suman showed signs of improvement managing to move his limbs, his mother said adding that her son is can now move a bit with walker.

Suman said, "I don't want to die any more. I had almost given up hope of any recovery and hence wrote that letter in a moment of extreme depression. But there is a new ray of hope now. I know I will be able to move out of my room and see the world again."



Suman had lost his father at a young age and has a brother.

Suman recalled he had suffered spinal cord injury in early 2016 while unloading sacks of rice and had been referred to Kolkata by Malda Hospital. From Kolkata he was referred to a medical facility in Bengaluru.

Ghosh said Suman is young and his entire life lies ahead. "It is our job to treat patients and bring them back on life's track."



Earlier this week the Supreme Court had recognised a 'living will' made by terminally-ill patients for passive euthanasia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Heads of the states from 23 nations have hailed the efforts of International Solar Alliance (ISA) at its founding summit in the capital for providing them a common platform to work towards achieving the ambitious targets for clean energy.

These heads of state underlined the importance of clean energy in coming day, particularly for developing countries who want to save huge fuel cost and vying for cleaner planet in future.

While addressing at the ISA Summit here, President of Seychelles Danny Antoine said the nation has planned to have 100 per cent renewable energy by 2050 despite the fact that it is an island nation.

Other countries also unveiled plans to have substantial share of renewables like solar and wind power in their energy mix and hailed the ISA, which would help to reduce carbon foot print in the coming days in view of climate change.

President of Niger Issoufou Mahamadou said that Niger is one of the first countries to sign the ISA agreement because no development is possible without access to electricity.

He said that 12 per cent population in the urban areas in his country have access to energy, while the proportion is just one per cent in rural areas.

He stressed on the need for technology transfer and finance for developing countries to adopt clean energy systems.

Echoing similar views Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid said his country is one of the worst sufferer of cyclones and draughts and strongly believes that development of renewables is necessary for developing country with growing demand for energy.

He said that Bangladesh is eyeing 10 per cent share of renewables in his country's energy mix by 2021 and hoped that the ISA would widen its members base with more convenient transfer of technology in clean energy.

President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said that his country would increase the share of renewable in the energy mix from existing five per cent to 38 per cent in coming days, which would pose a big challenge for us.

Governor General of Australia Peter Cosgrove said that his country wants to establish a centre of excellence which would be basically a web portal to help interested parties for technology transfer in clean energy segment.

He talked about Australia's advanced research in clean energy segment, particularly rooftop solar and said the it wants other nations to develop clean technologies.

All heads of the states hailed the ISA which is headquartered in Gurugram and an initiative of India to promote solar energy in the nations falling between tropic of cancer and capricorn.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of ZimbabweThirty-five hours after he fell into a 150-feet deep borewell, Roshan, a four-year-old boy, saw light at the end of the tunnel, literally.

He was rescued around 10.45 tonight, Dewas district Superintendent of Police Anshuman Singh told PTI over phone from Umaria village in the district.

Roshan fell into an uncovered borewell while playing in a field in the village around 11 yesterday morning.

As an Army team was roped in to rescue him, a race against time began as he was stuck 30 feet below the surface.

He was given fluids through a pipe and oxygen was pumped into the borewell, the SP said, adding that throughout the operation, his parents kept talking to Roshan and he responded.

The rescuers earlier planned to pull him out by digging a parallel trench and then connecting it with the borewell through a tunnel, the SP said.

The trench was dug, but soon they realised that the rescue in this way will take much long, which could be fatal for the boy.

Then, changing the tack, a rope with a noose was dropped into the borewell, and the boy was asked to tighten the noose arond his arm so that he could be pulled out.

The boy, showing remarkable composure, followed the instructions and was then pulled out successfully, the SP said.

He was fine and taken to a nearby hospital for a check-up, Singh added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After a recent incident of a BSF jawan being punished for using disrespectful words for the PM, a CRPF jawan has been "cautioned" by his commanding officer for dishonouring the President, apparently referring to him being the supreme commander of the armed forces.

The incident took place at a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) camp in Jammu and Kashmir last month and senior officials of the force said the commanding officer (CO)'s order against his jawan has now been withdrawn.

As per the order issued by the office of the Srinagar-based 28th battalion CO, Subedar Major Pannalal Thakur was issued a caution note for allegedly addressing his colleague as Major which was found to be "disrespectful" to the stature of the President of India, apparently referring to him being the supreme commander of the armed forces, and the rank of Major in the Army.

Thakur, as per the order, was asked by the CO to summon Havildar Somvir Singh when he was on an inspection round in the recreation area for jawans in the battalion camp on February 7.

Thakur, the order said, complied and called Singh using the word Major, a common buddy word used by paramilitary forces jawans to address each other unofficially.

The CO, on the same day, issued a caution notice to Thakur warning if such an act is repeated he will have to face "severe disciplinary" proceedings.

When asked, a senior CRPF officer confirmed that the order has been withdrawn by the supervisory authorities of the paramilitary as it was not found "judicious" and there can be no relation between the uses of the particular word and the President of the country.

Last week, a Border Security Force jawan, who was punished to suffer a 7-day pay cut for showing "disrespect" towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a routine drill, had been punished with a 7-day pay cut by his CO.

Later, the PM directed the force to immediately withdraw the order.

The jawan of the 15th battalion of the force, Sanjeev Kumar, had uttered wordslike "Modi programme" while attending a morning roll call task on February 21.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a significant political development ahead of the Assembly elections in Rajasthan slated to be held later his year, National People's Party MLA Kirodi Lal Meena, who had left the BJP in 2008, has decided to rejoin the saffron party.

The leader, who is seen as the patriarch of the Meena community, held a meeting with state Water Resources Minister Rampratap at the latter's residence in presence of Transport Minister Yunus Khan and Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini, which went on till late last night.

After the meeting, when he was asked whether it was a "homecoming" for him, Meena said, "Yes, it is happening. I have conveyed my points to the party."



The BJP's state president Ashok Parnami said his party's national leadership has been informed about it, but since they were busy yesterday, the decision could not be announced.

"We will follow the directions from the central leadership as and when we receive a message on their decision," he said.

"Meena would complete formalities to join and merge the party (NPP) with the BJP today," his spokesperson said.

NPP has four MLAs -- Kirodi Lal Meena (from Lalsot), his wife Golma Devi, (from Rajgarh-Laxmangarh), Geeta Verma (from Sikrai) and Navin Pilania (from Amber).

Three of them may join the BJP, but Navin Pilania is unlikely to join the ruling party in Rajasthan.

Kirodi Lal Meena (66) had left the BJP in 2008. In that year's Assembly elections he got elected as Independent candidate. His wife Golma Devi also won in the polls as Independent and became a minister of state in the then Ashok Gehlot government.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Meena got elected as Independent candidate. In 2013, he joined the NPP and became its state convener. The party won four seats in 2013-Assembly elections.

Of the 200 assembly constituencies in Rajasthan, there are more than 40 seats mostly in eastern and southern parts of the state which are dominated by the Meena community.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)In a significant political development ahead of the state elections in Rajasthan slated for later his year, NPP's state chief and MLA Kirodi Lal Meena, who had left the BJP in 2008, rejoined the saffron party today.

Meena, a five-time legislator, along with and two other NPP MLAs, Golma Devi and Geeta Verma, joined the ruling party at a ceremony in BJP headquarters here in presence of Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje and other leaders.

The development will strengthen the ruling party, particularly in eastern and parts of southern Rajasthan where the leader has a significant hold in constituencies dominated by the Meena community.

BJP state president Ashok Parnami said Meena has given a letter to merge with BJP the NPP's state unit with two third majority of his MLAs.

The NPP had four MLAs in the House of 200, but the fourth legislator, Navin Pilania, has not joined the party and kept away from the development.

"I am very happy today to return to the old home unconditionally. It is as if my 'vanvas' (exile) has come to an end.

"My background is of RSS ideology. After having worked for the RSS, I joined the BJP and never looked back. Today, I joined the BJP again with no condition," Meena said in his address to the BJP leaders and workers after joining the party.

Asked about Pilania not joining the BJP, Meena said, "It is his wish."



Meena said that he would tour the state, meet party workers and stop the Congress from coming to power after the Assembly elections.

Hitting out at the Congress, the tribal leader said former chief minister Ashok Gehlot had targeted him during an agitation in Udaipur, but Chief Minister Raje was never offended by his agitations.

Meena said that he has led 380 agitations in the state and 103 "politically motivated" cases were registered against him.

The 66-year-old leader said that he committed mistakes and got separated from the BJP 10 years back but he never left the party ideology.

Welcoming Meena into the party's fold, Raje said her "strong brother has returned home".

Meena told reporters that he had discussed with independent MLA and former BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal before joining the party.

"Beniwal was positive about this development," he said.

BJP's state president said, "The party's central leadership gave a nod for the merger after which the joining took place. Meena has not changed his ideology and this is the big thing. We want to expand the party and this will help us in expanding our base."



Last night, Kirodi Lal Meena, who is seen as the patriarch of the Meena community, held a meeting with state Water Resources Minister Rampratap at the latter's residence in presence of Transport Minister Yunus Khan and Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini.

Kirodi Lal Meena (66) had left the BJP in 2008. In that year's Assembly elections he got elected as Independent candidate. His wife Golma Devi also won in the polls as Independent and became a minister of state in the then Ashok Gehlot government.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Meena got elected as Independent candidate. In 2013, he joined the NPP and became its state convener. The party won four seats in 2013-Assembly elections.

Of the 200 Assembly constituencies in Rajasthan, there are more than 40 seats mostly in eastern and southern parts of the state which are dominated by the Meena community.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said today it would be "very unwise" for the Syrian regime to use gas as a weapon against the people of Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere.

Mattis's warning came amid reports President Bashar al-Assad's forces have used chlorine gas in the rebel-held area near Damascus, and he underscored his remarks by referencing President Donald Trump's strike on a Syrian airbase after an alleged chemical attack last year.

"We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas against people, civilians on any battlefield," Mattis told reporters accompanying him on a trip to Oman.

"I just want to reiterate that it would be very unwise for them to use weaponised gas, and I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration."



Mattis said he was aware of "an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas," but indicated he did not have conclusive evidence.

Trump last April ordered a missile strike against a regime airbase at Shayrat, after Washington said it used the facility to launch a sarin nerve gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, killing scores of civilians.

The use of chlorine as a weapon is banned under law and Russia was supposed to oversee the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

The fact that Assad may still have chemical weapons shows "either Russia is incompetent or in cahoots with Assad," Mattis said.

Syria's besieged Eastern Ghouta region is the last opposition-controlled pocket near Damascus. For nearly three weeks, regime forces have pounded it in an assault that has killed over 1,000 civilians.

The Pentagon chief also took aim at Russia, which has been propping up Assad's regime since 2015 and helping in anti-rebel operations.

Assad "could not be in power absent Russia's unfortunate veto in the UN years ago and the Russians' full-throated military support for Assad," he said.

Mattis declined to say whether the use of gas would represent some sort of trigger that would prompt a US military response.

"The president has full political manoeuver room to take the decision that he believes appropriate," he said.

"There are other Western nations that have been in contact with us that are watching this very closely and are completely aligned with us and what I just said -- that it would be very unwise for someone to use gas.Unidentified gunmen today shot at an Army personnel when he tried to resist them from looting his belongings at Chirayatand overbridge here, police said.

The incident occurred in the early hours when the Army personnel, a resident of Rohtas district, was returning home from a marriage function.

The attackers, four to five in number, surrounded him and tried to loot his belongings, and one of them fired at him when he resisted, Deputy Inspector General of Central Range (Patna) Rajesh Kumar said.

The man received a bullet injury in the neck and is stated to be in critical condition, the police officer said.

The injured person was initially admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH), from where his relatives shifted him to a private hospital.

The SHO of Gandhi Maidan police station, Mitesh Kumar, has been suspended since the incident took place under the jurisdiction of his police station, the DIG said.

The DIG also said that he has suspended four other policemen who were on patrolling duty at Gandhi Maidan police station area for dereliction of duty.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Monday said he would present the state's first e-Budget at the legislative Assembly here tomorrow.

"The government will present the first e-Budget in the Assembly and each legislator will be provided with a tablet (computer) with details of the Budget," Sarma told reporters here.

The legislators will be able to access the tablets during discussions and cut motion on the Budget inside the House, he said.

The state Budget would be also available on Google app.

Mediapersons covering the Budget presentation will be given a pen drive containing its details, the minister said.

The conventional paper Budget would be available as well.

The finance department had called for suggestions from the public regarding the Budget provisions, and more than one thousand people submitted their suggestions, the best of which have been sorted out for incorporation in this year's Budget, he added.A plea seeking a ban on use of paper posters and pamphlets for canvassing in the upcoming Delhi State Bar Council elections has prompted the National Green Tribunal to seek a response from the Centre among others.

A bench headed by Justice Jawad Rahim issued notice to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the bar council of Delhi and the candidates for the elections and sought their reply.

The tribunal was hearing a plea filed by the Legal Aid Committee of the NGT, seeking prohibition on the use of paper posters and pamphlets for canvassing or campaigning by the candidates.

The elections of the bar council are scheduled to be held on March 16 and 17 at the Delhi High Court premises



The plea has asked for a direction to ensure that the polls are conducted and completed without degrading the environment by adopting alternative environmental-friendly modes of campaigning with recyclable material.

The matter will come for hearing tomorrow.

A group of lawyers had earlier approached the Supreme Court, seeking its approval for having more venues for the polling instead of only the high court premises.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Puduchery Lt governor Kiran Bedi today suggested that the traffic police personnel here should learn English and Hindi to communicate effectively with tourists arriving here and guide them.

Addressing a meeting of traffic police officers here today, the former IPS officer said that traffic police should be trained to communicate with tourists in English and Hindi.

She said the traffic police should be strict in enforcing the rules whether it is encroachment of the road by the poor man or parking of vehicles by the rich.

Puducherry government had in November said that the Centre has earmarked Rs 109 crore to promote tourism projects under 'Swadesh Darshan' in the Union Territory, a former French colony which attracts a large number of tourists across the globe.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in the Gorakpur bypolls, the priest-turned-politician noted that the public believes in the mantra of development and governance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Attacking the opposition BSP and SP, Adityanath said, "SP and BSP are indulging in negative politics, of bargaining and of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences (of SP and BSP). And in order to ensure that in future such situations do not arise, efforts have to made to shun of casteism and dynastic politics, and focus on development and administration."



On the electoral understanding of the two opposition parties, he said, "This will have no effect. I had wanted that in this bye-election if the SP, BSP and Congress had fought together, then results would have been much better."



Termed by Adityanath a "rehearsal" for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the bye-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A seven-year-old Indian-origin boy who suffers from cerebral palsy left with his family for the US today for a revolutionary treatment that has the potential to improve the quality of his life and give hope to others with neurological disorders.

Jay Shetty suffers from a debilitating form of cerebral palsy and autism since he was a baby, which means he cannot walk, talk or sit up unaided.

He is now set to undergo a pioneering clinical trial at Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina, which relies on the infusion of his younger brother's umbilical cord blood frozen at birth.

After a lot of research on stem cells, we had decided before I got pregnant with Kairav, our younger son, that we would save our child's cord blood. Then towards the end of the pregnancy in 2015, I got in touch with Duke University and they were planning on doing a sibling cord blood therapy trial, said Jay's mother Shilpa.

She and husband Raj had the umbilical cord blood of their younger child frozen and stored by UK-based blood bank Cells4Life.

Umbilical cord blood is rich in a kind of stem cell that can, in theory, help heal most parts of the body, either by stimulating growth or by transforming into the required type of mature cell.

These can then be put back into the body, even many years later. It relies on a close tissue match for the recipient, to lower the odds of the body rejecting it.

When the Shettys contacted Duke University, they were told that Kairav's blood was a match for Jay's raising the prospect of the UK's first such sibling cord blood therapy on Jay.

Stem cell is a cure for some and improvement for all, so we are pretty sure it will definitely have some improvement in Jay's life, said Shilpa.

The family from Maharashtra, who have been based in London for over 15 years, are determined not to be put off by some dissenting voices within the medical community who cast doubts on the rare procedure.

According to Shilpa, because it is not an invasive therapy, they want to go into it with a positive nothing to lose attitude.

It is in its early stages and it has always been the norm that people will doubt treatments which have not been proved yet. But stem cells in general after years of proven research are known to have the ability to reach the damaged organ and regenerate new cells, she said.

Claudia Rees, Operations Director at Cells4Life, describes the procedure as a cutting-edge treatment, considered a cornerstone of a relatively new area of science known as regenerative medicine.

Stem cells and cord blood have already been used to cure diseases such as leukaemia, lymphoma and testicular cancer; in the near future it is likely that these treatments will provide hope for common and often life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, Alzheimer's and diabetes, said Rees.

Cells4Life believes the results of Jay's procedure will be very exciting, made possible by parents choosing to bank their children's cord blood at birth at an estimated cost of around 2,000 pounds.

Jay will be in the US for the treatment for a week and undergo rehabilitation in the UK after the cord blood transfusion procedure. The family have managed to raise nearly 26,000 pounds through fundraising to assist with the massive costs involved.

Jay cannot express and communicate much but we are pretty sure he knows what's going on as he is pretty bright. Kairav is two and half, so doesn't know much. But he knows a lot of travelling revolves around Jay for therapies. So, he is used to it, said their mother, who believes even a small improvement in Jay's quality of life as a result of the therapy would be a success story for their family.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has written to Delhi Police Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, alleging that the force has been "misused" at times during the ongoing sealing drive.

The CAIT has been opposing the action taken by civic authorities as part of the drive that began late December last year, at the instance of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee.

In a communication sent to Patnaik, the CAIT has alleged that sealing in Delhi is being "conducted in utter violation of the DMC Act, 1957 and the police force is being blatantly misused for sealing of business establishments".

CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, "Undoubtedly, as per the orders of the Supreme Court, the Delhi Police is under an obligation to provide police force at the time of sealing, if required by the concerned authority, but only for legitimate actions and not for any illegal action."



A senior civic official said, police force was brought in to ensure law and order.

The CAIT in a statement said, the recent sealing operations conducted at Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar is one such example and where the sealing has been undertaken, by "violating the DMC Act".

Meanwhile, traders in Amar Colony continued with their protest after a sealing action on Thursday in which 350 shops in the areas market were sealed. They raised black flags and appealed family members of traders to join the stir.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan today condemned the vandalisation of statues in various parts of the country and asked party workers to protest at places where such incidents have taken place.

He said the party workers should raise their voice against such incidents without considering which party was ruling in the state where the vandalism has taken place as the protest would be against the anti-social elements and not directed towards the state governments.

There have been incidents of vandalism of statues. Starting from Tripura, it has become a chain action Lok Janshakti Party strongly condemns such incidents, said Chirag Paswan, son of party president Ram Vilas Paswan.

He said in India different ideologies exists together with "unity of diversity" being its hallmark.

If anybody does not agree with (the) other's ideology, it does not mean that one should indulge in violence or resort to anti-social activities. Such actions cannot be approved, Chirag Paswan said while addressing the party's national executive meeting here.

He asked the party activists to go to those areas where such incidents have taken place and condemn and protest against such actions.

Referring to incidents of vandalisation of statues in Uttar Pradesh, he said he would urge Ram Vilas Paswan to discuss the issue with chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

We are protesting against those people who are vandalising the statues and not against the government. We are protesting against the ant-social elements and ask the central and the state governments to stop such incidents, he said.

Stressing that the existence of the party was based on its ideology, Chirag Paswan said the LJP always stood with the Dalits, the minorities, the backward and the poor.

If there are any atrocities on poor people anywhere, the Lok Janshakti Party will stand with them and raise voice against the injustice. We will forget whether we are in alliance or which party is in power in that state, he said.

Chirag Paswan said the chief ministers of the BJP and the NDA-ally parties have have time and again stated that injustice to the poor should not happen anywhere.

He also advocated setting up a youth commission on the lines of national women and minority commissions.

Chirag Paswan said it would serve as one stop solution to the problems being faced by the youth in India.

He also asked the party workers to work towards strengthening the party down to booth level so that it could play an important role in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and ensure the NDA comes to power again and Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister.

Ram Vilas Paswan reiterated the party's demand of job reservation for the SCs and STs in private sector, inclusion of areas with more than 20 per cent Dalit population under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana and provision of Rs 5,000 crore to incentivise the farmers on account of reduction in agriculture land.

Asked about the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ministers quitting the Cabinet, he said the NDA alliance was "united" and there were no cracks in it. he also appealed to the TDP leaders to reconsider their decision.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The commerce ministry is studying the impact of duty hike by the US on certain steel and aluminium products as India exports these goods worth about USD 2 billion per annum to America.

US President Donald Trump has imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium, sparking fears of a global trade war.

Trump signed two proclamations that levied a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imported from all countries except Canada and Mexico. The contentious tariffs will go into effect in 15 days.

"India is keeping a close watch on the development. It is studying the impact of duty hike India's exports to America," an official said.

With hike in tariffs by the US government, exports of these products to the American market will become expensive and could impact the competitiveness of domestic items.

As per estimates, India exports steel and aluminium goods worth USD 2 billion to the US every year.

The official further said that if any country drags the US in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) dispute settlement panel against this decision, India could also consider joining as an observer or third party in the case.

Under the WTO norms, member countries can file a petition in the multi lateral trade body if a a decision of its trading partner does not comply with international trade rules.

As many as 17 countries, including India, had earlier expressed concern over the US plans to raise tariffs during the General Council Meeting of the WTO at Geneva in Switzerland.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia had said there was a global 'disquiet' over the decision of the Trump administration to raise duties on steel and aluminium beyond the bound rate.

India too had raised duties in the past on host of items but never went beyond the bound rate or its commitment to the WTO.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Withdrawing its two members from the Union council of ministers this week may be the easiest thing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) could do, but it just cannot wish the Bharatiya Janata Party away.

As a BJP leader from New Delhi puts it: "It's a grudging reality that the two parties need each other, more so the TDP."



In the 2014 elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the BJP polled over 2.4 per cent votes, almost the equal percentage that helped the TDP pip the main Opposition YSR Congress to the post.

This simple arithmetic apart, the TDP has many formidable challenges in the state leading to the 2019 general elections, many of which it cannot surmount without help from the Narendra Modi government.

Merely throwing the entire blame at the Centre's doorstep for many of its own failures will not help the TDP, says the state BJP.

"It is clear that the TDP is blaming us only to mask its failures in fulfilling the promises made in 2014," state BJP spokesperson S Vishnuvardhan Reddy said.

"The TDP failed in providing debt relief to farmers, paying unemployment allowance to the youth...some of the many promises it made ahead of the 2014 elections. Hence, it is now enacting a new drama in the name of special category status," Reddy said.

Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, the state finance minister, however, rejected the charge, saying it was "not correct".

"We have been trying for certain things. The Centre has given us something, but it has not fulfilled the promises 100 per cent," he said.

Asked how he saw things moving forward vis--vis the BJP, the TDP politburo member said, "We are watching national We are still in alliance."



The blame game and political posturing aside, the TDP desperately needs the Centre's help to fulfil one of its key promises: Of providing five-percent reservation to the Kapu community and its sub-sects.

The government hurriedly passed a Bill in the Assembly last December, but it cannot become law unless the Centre makes a constitutional amendment, enabling an increase in the quota over and above the stipulated 50 per cent.

That the Kapu vote was a key factor in Chandrababu Naidu's return to power in 2014 is an acknowledged fact, as TDP virtually swept the two Godavari districts, thanks to the en masse support it secured from the predominant community.

During his forceful demand in the Assembly last Wednesday for special category status (SCS) to the state, Chandrababu Naidu did not miss this point when he asked the Centre to clear the Bill.

Giving a clear shape to the Polavaram multipurpose project, if not completing it ahead of the 2019 elections (as per revised deadline), is another challenge, while building at least a part (government city) of the state's new capital Amaravati is yet the critical one.

The state government cannot accomplish these tasks without the Centre's help.

"There is talk that I will push the entire blame on the Centre for not being able to do anything. I will not do that. I will not push the burden on the Centre," Naidu announced in the Assembly the other day, amidst the heat on the SCS demand.

As is his wont, Chandrababu wound not leave it at that.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)British health authorities today asked nearly 500 people, who were at a restaurant and pub linked with the poisoning of a Russian spy, to clean up their possessions to remove any traces of the deadly nerve agent used against the targets.

Trace amounts of the substance used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found at the Mill pub and Zizzi Italian restaurant in Salisbury, where the duo had been before they were found collapsed on a bench at The Maltings shopping centre in the city.

"The risk to the general public remains low and I am confident none of these customers or staff will have suffered harm," said Prof Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England.

She said after "rigorous scientific analysis", there was some concern that prolonged exposure over weeks and months could cause health problems, but it was "not a subject for panic".

People who were at either the pub or the Italian restaurant before they were shut down last Monday have been advised to wash their clothes, ideally in a washing machine.

Clothes which cannot be washed, for example if they need dry cleaning, should be double bagged in plastic until further notice, the advice notes.

Other belongings such as mobile phones, handbags and other electronic items should be wiped with baby wipes, which should be bagged in plastic and put in the bin and items such as jewellery and glasses should be washed with warm water and detergent, the BBC reported.

Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, both remain critically ill in hospital after being discovered on Sunday.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was the first police officer to come in contact with the circumstances, remains seriously ill in hospital but has been talking to his family.

In a statement, he thanked well-wishers but stressed that he did not consider himself a "hero" but that he was merely doing his job along with other officers.

The pub and restaurant are two of five sites in Salisbury focused on by investigators, including the shopping centre bench, Skripals home and the cemetery where Skripals wife and son are buried.

Around 21 people required medical treatment in the days following the poisoning.

A 30-year-old man has been charged with breaching a cordon at one of the sites, The Maltings shopping area, on Friday night.

He was also charged with assaulting a police officer, criminal damage to a police vehicle, common assault and a racially aggravated public order offence, and is due before magistrates in Swindon on Monday.

Army officers with specialist chemical training continue to assist the British police and have overseen the removal of vehicles of interest, including an ambulance.More than 250 counter-terrorism police are involved in the investigation, which has yielded 200 pieces of evidence so far and more than 240 witnesses, according to the police.

"We need to give the police and the investigators the space to get on with (it). I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that," said UK home secretary Amber Rudd, after chairing another emergency meeting over the issue on yesterday.

The Bishop of Salisbury, the Right Reverend Nicholas Holtam, said the attack on Skripal and his daughter was a "violation" of the city.

Russia has continued to deny any association, but the attack has been compared to the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who ingested the rare and highly radioactive polonium 210 in London 11 years ago.

Colonel Skripal was convicted of treason in 2006 and jailed for 13 years for selling secrets to MI6, which had recruited him in the 1990s. The senior intelligence officer with Russian military intelligence GRU, was pardoned in a spy swap in 2010 and settled in Salisbury, Wiltshire.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A large number of doctors today took out cycle rallies at many places in Haryana and Punjab to register their disapproval to the current form of the National Medical Commission Bill.

According to the bill, the government can fix the fee for only 40 per cent of the seats in private medical colleges.

The doctors fear that as the remaining 60 per cent of seats do not come under the guidelines, the colleges shall be charging higher fee.

The IMA is also opposing the clause in the bill which calls for allowing practitioners of traditional medicine system to pursue modern medicine.

"This Bill is not at all in favour of the doctors," a medical practitioner, who was part of the protest taken out in Haryana's Karnal, said.

Protest rallies were also taken out by doctors at Faridabad, Gurgaon and Sonipat.

In Punjab's Phagwara, the 150 member-branch of local IMA also took out protest cycle rallies against the Bill.

"The Bill will adversely alter the course of medical education and healthcare delivery in India," a protesting doctor in Phagwara said.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has been on a nationwide march from February 25 to deprecate the current form of the Bill.

The IMA has strongly opposed the draft Bill that seeks to replace the Medical Council of India (MCI) with a new body, claiming it will cripple the medical profession.

The IMA, which is a self regulating body run by doctors, has over 1,725 local branches across the country and has held simultaneous yatras across the country to generate awareness among masses.

The body organised a cycle rally today across India with an aim to sensitise the masses about the issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A prominent Republican critic says President Donald Trump should be challenged in 2020 by a candidate who opposes tariffs and objects to Trump's full-throated attacks on political opponents and the media.

Sen Jeff Flake of Arizona holds those views and he says he is aware that such a campaign "would be a tough go" because the GOP "is the Trump party right now."



But Flake says "that's not to say it will stay that way." He is retiring from the Senate and has not ruled out a run for president.

Flake also chided Trump for attacking the press at a political rally Saturday night in Pennsylvania. Flake was speaking Sunday with NBC's Chuck Todd on "Meet the Press." Trump used a vulgar phrase to describe Todd at the rally.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A massive forest fire broke out suddenly in a hill in Tamil Nadu today trapping 36 trekkers, most of them women, with 15 being rescued till late tonight.

Rescue operations were being taken up by the fire and forest department officials with the Indian Airforce sending two helicopters on the directives of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she was approached for help by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The helicopters undertook a survey of the area and returned to neighbouring Madurai. They were expected to join the rescue operation later, Theni District Collector Mariam Pallavi Baldev said tonight.

State Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, in a tweet, said 15 of those trapped in the Kurangani hills had been rescued and were being treated for injuries at the government hospital in Bodinayakanur in the district in southern Tamil Nadu.

Baldev said: "I have got calls from people that some are in unconscious state due to fire. So far there is no confirmation about casualties (death)," she said to a question from reporters on whether there was any death.

The rescue operation had been affected as night had fallen and wild animals had also started leaving the area where the fire was raging in a vast stretch, officials said.

While initial reports said those trapped were students, officials later said the victims, belonging to two groups, were young women and men and three children who were on a mountain climbing/trekking training.

The fire situation looked very serious but could be controlled, an official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

He also said the trekkers had not taken the permission or security for going to the deep forest area.

As the enormity of the situation unfolded, Palaniswami tonight said rescue operations were underway on a war footing and the state had sought two helicopters from the Defence Ministry.

His deputy O Panneerselvem, Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan and top officials were overseeing the operations, on his request, he told reporters in Salem.

Stating that the cause of the fire was not known, he said efforts would be taken to strengthen the forest area security further.

Sitharaman remained in touch with the District Collector and directed the Indian Airforce to co-ordinate in the rescue operations.

In a series of tweets, she said two helicopters of the Indian Air Force from its Sulur base near Coimbatore were being sent to assist in the rescue operations.

"Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni," she said in a tweet.

In another tweet around 7 pm, Sitharaman said she spoke to the Theni District Collector who informed her that 10-15 students were making their way to the foothills.

A medical team had been sent to the spot and employees of a nearby private tea estate were also assisting in the rescue operations, she said quoting the collector.

Baldev, who met the rescued persons and spoke to them, later told reporters that a 12-member group from Tiruppur and Erode and another comprising 24 people from Chennai, on a trekking camp, reached Kurangani hills yesterday. They included 25 women and three children.

After staying overnight at an estate in Kozhukumalai, they started their return journey to the plains today when they heard about the sudden forest fire and got separated while attempting to find a safe way.

Kurangani-Kozhukumalai hills are located near Bodinayakanur, about 40 km from here,



Officials of Forest, Fire, Police, medical and rescue teams had gone to the spot and were being assisted by the local tribals and employees of nearby tea estates, Baldev said adding the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were also engaged in the operations.

"It is dark, it is a hilly place and it is not a motorable road. After a particular distance we have to go by walk and there is a situation were we need to lift and carry the injured physically. It will definitely take time," she said when asked about the time-frame for rescuing all.

District Superintendent of Police V Baskaran and revenue and forest officials were also overseeing the operations.

Earlier, a report from Coimbatore, quoting police, said two IAF 'Sarang' helicopters from Sulur have left for Kurangani forest.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a four-day visit to India, will meet internationally acclaimed Indian-origin artist Subodh Gupta here today.

It will be a private visit. The French president will meet the artist and take a look at his workshop-cum-manufacturing unit in Sector 14 industrial area, Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said.

"Tight security arrangements have been made for the visit," he said.

Gupta was born in 1964 in Khagaul, Bihar and studied at the College of Art, Patna (1983-1988). He is known for working with everyday objects such as steel kitchen utensils.

While stainless steel is his signature medium, he has also masterfully executed works in bronze, marble, brass and wood. His works have been exhibited in prestigious museums, art fairs and biennials throughout the world.

Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in internationally renowned museums and galleries including the National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi), Museum fr Moderne Kunst (Frankfurt), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Hauser & Wirth (London, Zurich, New York and Somerset), Arario (Seoul and Beijing), Pinchuk Art Centre (Kiev) and Galeria Continua (San Gimignano, Italy).

Gupta was awarded the Chevalier de L'Ordre Arts et Lettres, among the French governments highest honours, for his contribution to contemporary art.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Fresh violence erupted in Sri Lanka after a Muslim-owned restaurant was attacked in an alleged hate crime incident in the north western province today, a day after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a commission to probe a spate of anti-Muslim riots in the violence-hit Kandy district that prompted him to impose a nationwide state of emergency.

The restaurant located in Puttalam district's Anamaduwa city,130 kilometres from Colombo, was targeted early morning even as police are keeping a tight vigil following eruption of communal clashes on Monday that have left two persons dead and damaged several homes, businesses and mosques in the scenic Kandy district.

"Anamaduwe Muslim restaurant was attacked at 4 am (local time) this morning," the Colombo Telegraph reported.

Tensions remain high across Sri Lanka after the violence broke out following the death of a man from the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority last week.

President Sirisena appointed a three-member commission yesterday to probe the communal clashes in Kandy.

He had declared a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday and deployed the police and military to prevent escalation of violence after clashes between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims erupted in other areas of central Sri Lanka's riot-hit Kandy district.

Muslims make up 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's total 21 million population. Sinhalese are a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

A total of 146 suspects have been arrested in Kandy - 135 over violence and 11 for violating the curfew - since March 4, a media report said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Kandy's central province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said today that all government schools which were closed on March 7 due to the unrest will reopen tomorrow.

The announcement came after police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said yesterday that curfew will not be imposed in Kandy as situation has been peaceful.

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka today summoned the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission over the temporary ban imposed on social media including Facebook throughout the island nation last week.

The police had claimed that anti-Muslim rioters were using social media to spread anti-Muslim hatred.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said although it was considered a human rights violation, the government had taken the decision in order to curb the spread of false and malicious and to stop the situation from going out of control.

"The state security was important than anything else and we are glad the situation is now returning to normal," Jayasekara was quoted as saying by the Colombo Gazette.

Tensions between Muslim groups and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community in the country have escalated since the end of the civil war in May 2009.

In 2014, violence directed against Muslim minority groups broke out in the southwestern town of Aluthgama, following a rally by hardline Buddhist nationalist monks, resulting in the death of at least three Muslims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)We are hopeful to plug the gaps along the country's borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh in the next three to five years, BSF Director General K K Sharma has said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) plans to put up a Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) in areas along the India-Bangladesh border, where it is difficult to put up a fence due to the nature of the terrain as well as check cross-border infiltration and smuggling, Sharma said.

CIBMS is an integration of a number of new gadgets and technologies to ensure electronic surveillance of borders. These provide feeds to BSF personnel at the border outposts, where monitors would be installed.

In case of a threat, quick reaction BSF teams will intervene and neutralize it, the official said.

"As of now, the CIBMS project will be rolled out in the vulnerable areas of India's border with Bangladesh and Pakistan. We plan to implement the system within the next 3-5 years," he told PTI in an interview on Friday.

A pilot project of the CIBMS is underway in two 5-km patches along the India-Pakistan border at Jammu and along the India-Bangladesh border at Dhubri in Assam.

Asked about the plans to cover the unfenced border areas between India and Bangladesh, Sharma said, "Fences will be erected wherever we can. Where we cannot erect a fence because of the terrain, the gap will be covered by the CIBMS".

On the smuggling of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) at the border areas, the BSF DG said the FICN trade has been on the decline since demonetisation and introduction of new currency.

The security features in the new notes are very hard to copy and that is why the amount of FICN seized is not as much as it used to be before demonetisation, he said.

Sharma lauded the pilot of the 'Crime Free Zone' project along the Bangladesh border in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and said it will be replicated in other parts of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

In a bid to control cross-border crimes and smuggling, the BSF and its Bangladesh counterpart, the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), had jointly launched the 'Crime Free Zone" project on Friday.

The BSF border outposts--Gunarmath and Kalyani--and BGB border outposts--Putkhali and Daulatpur--have been declared as "crime-free" zones.

The aim of the project is to make the area free from illegal, anti-social and criminal activities by integrating efforts of the BSF and BGB in assistance with the district administration, NGOs and border population of both the countries, Sharma added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Ever heard of ghosts under the waves? Environmentalists warn that they exist and have been leading to the depletion of fish stocks.

Ghost gear -- or lost and abandoned fishing gear left in the oceans -- posed a serious threat to marine life, a report said, adding that 5-30 per cent of the decline in some fish stocks could be attributed to these menaces.

Concerned by this, an animal protection body has asked the Indian government to ensure that planned loans through the fishery and aquaculture infrastructure development fund also address the issue of ghost gear.

The report --"Ghosts Beneath the Waves" -- released today by World Animal Protection (WAP) said better infrastructure, including access to port reception facilities where the fishing community could dispose of end of life fishing gear, was needed to prevent nets and other such equipment from ending up in the oceans.

Making these facilities free of charge to fishing communities was important, it said.

Welcoming the recent announcement by the Indian government that it would invest in upgrading the fishery and aquaculture infrastructure, it noted that many people in India depended on the sustainable management of the oceans, both for their livelihood and food security.

"We hope India will join the 12 nations that currently already support the Global Ghost Gear Initiative (GGGI) to show its leadership in this area and establish a mechanism for further exchange of views and best practices with other stakeholders around the world," said Gajender K Sharma, India Country Director, WAP.

The WAP report said the world's 15 biggest seafood companies needed to do more to stop their lost fishing nets killing millions of fish every year.

"An estimated 5 to 30 per cent of the decline in some fish stocks can be attributed to 'ghost gear' - abandoned, lost or discarded fishing gear (ALDFG), which can take up to 600 years to decompose," the body said.

It said in the report the 15 seafood companies were ranked from 1 to 5 on their ability to address the problem of ghost gear, with tier 1 being the best and tier 5 the worst.

Not one of the companies achieved tier 1 or 2 status, it said.

Noting that the prevention of ghost gear was vital as it not only depleted fish stocks but also killed marine life, WAP noted that every year more than 100,000 whales, dolphins, seals and turtles became entangled in ghost gear.

Lost gear is four times more likely to trap and kill marine animals than all other forms of marine debris combined. In addition, it also contributes to the ocean's plastic problem with more that 70 per cent of macroplastics by weight being fishing related.

Ingrid Giskes, Global Head of Sea Change at WAP, said fishing gear was designed to catch and kill, and when left in the ocean was the most harmful form of marine debris for animals.

Animals caught in this incredibly durable gear can suffer from debilitating wounds or suffocate or starve to death over a number of months, Giskes said.

"We hope to see the companies at the bottom of the ranking working hard to improve and rise in the ranking in future years. These companies must remember that consumers demonstrate they care about the welfare of animals when they are deciding what brands to put in the shopping baskets. Joining the Global Ghost Gear Initiative is an important first step they can take," Giskes said.

The GGGI, an alliance founded in 2015 by WAP, an international non-profit animal welfare body, is dedicated to tackling the problem of ghost gear on a global scale.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Assam Rifles has seized 97 gold bars worth Rs 4.8 crore from a vehicle in Tengnoupal district of Manipur, near the India-Myanmar border, and arrested one person in this connection, a release issued by the para-military force has said.

The troops, while frisking the vehicles at Khudengthabi check post on the Imphal-Moreh highway on Friday, found the gold bars concealed inside the cavity of a car's chassis, it said.

The vehicle was proceeding towards the state capital from the border town of Moreh in Tengnoupal district.

The arrested individual has been handed over to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence, Imphal, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash today refused to accept files related to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's budget speech, the Delhi government has alleged, a charge denied by an officers' body which also termed the allegation as a "harassment" of the top bureaucrat.

A senior official of the Joint Forum of officers, who did not wish to be named, said there was no official communication from the chief minister's office regarding the files to be sent to the chief secretary on Sunday.

The tussle between the AAP dispensation and the bureaucrats continues unabated since the alleged attack on Prakash by some ruling party MLAs at Kejriwal's residence.

In a statement, the government said, "It is extremely shocking that barely a few days ahead of the Delhi budget, the chief secretary on Sunday refused to accept important files containing comments of the chief minister in preparation of the annual budget speech."



It claimed the files were related to fixing accountability in setting up of mohalla and polyclinics, the key health initiatives of the Delhi government.

"This year the Delhi government will introduce an innovative concept in budget making. For most of the big projects, specific milestones and timelines will be presented before the Assembly to make the Delhi government more accountable to the Legislative Assembly," the statement stated.

It stated that in case of mohalla clinics, the chief minister desired that such specific timelines including construction to operationalisation - recruitment of doctors and the date of starting the clinic -- be clearly mentioned in the file, and that the chief secretary should personally ensure this be implemented.

"However, in the morning when the files were sent, it was informed by the chief secretary's residence that today being Sunday, these files be sent during office hours on Monday in the Chief Secretary's office," statement stated.

Reacting to the government's claims, an official of the Joint Forum of Delhi government employees said that at the time of delivery of the files, the CS was not present at home Sunday being a holiday.

"There was no official communication from the CM's office that the files would be sent to the CS's residence on Sunday. Being Sunday a holiday, the CS was not present.

"Besides, the chief secretary has directed his staff at residence not to accept any package in his absence as it may lead to unfortunate incident. The government's allegation amounts to harassment of the chief secretary," the official of the forum claimed.

According to the government statement, despite clear instructions from the health minister, when the files were earlier sent to the chief minister they did not contain any specific deadlines and Kejriwal wanted the CS to mention how specific deadlines will be adhered to.

"The Chief Minister desired that the information sought about specific timelines was sought from the Chief Secretary and should be provided by him. The CM expressed his displeasure at the sketchy information provided in the files on such important projects," the statement added.

The forum official, however, said every project has milestone and timelines before their execution, adding that these can be ascertained by department's concerned secretary and not by the chief secretary.

The government statement added, "The second file contained only a tentative timeline of 12 months for the operationalisation of 47 polyclinics in the first phase and another 47 in the second phase.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The grey-listing of a country by the global watchdog FATF has no direct consequences for its ability to borrow from the IMF, a top official said.

His remarks comes days after the Paris-based 37-nation Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Pakistan on the grey list last month. At the FATF meeting in Paris last month, JuD chief Hafiz Saeed and his "charities" were top on the list of the groups that the FATF wanted Pakistan to act against.

"Any decision to list a country as a jurisdiction with strategic AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism) deficiencies is the responsibility of the FATF only. I would note that a grey-listing has no direct consequences for a member country's ability to borrow from the IMF," Tao Zhang, IMF Deputy Managing Director, told PTI.

At the same time, he also acknowledged that the structural reform agenda of Pakistan remains incomplete.

"Pakistan completed an IMF-supported programme under the Extended Fund Facility in September 2016. While the programme was successful in its objective of macroeconomic stabilisation, and some progress was made on structural reforms, the agenda remained incomplete," Zhang said.

Early this week, the IMF noted with concern the weakening of the macroeconomic situation, including a widening of external and fiscal imbalances, a decline in foreign exchange reserves, and increased risks to Pakistan's economic and financial outlook and its medium term debt sustainability.

In this context, they urged a determined effort by the authorities to refocus near term policies to preserve macroeconomic stability.

Projecting a GDP growth of 5.6 per cent in 2017-2018, IMF Executive Board after concluding the first Post-Program Monitoring Discussions said that the continued erosion of macroeconomic resilience could put this outlook at risk.

Following significant fiscal slippages last year, the fiscal deficit is expected at 5.5 per cent of GDP this year, with risks towards a higher deficit ahead of upcoming general elections.

Surging imports have led to a widening current account deficit and a significant decline in international reserves despite higher external financing, it said.

The fiscal 2017-18 current account deficit could reach 4.8 per cent of GDP, with gross international reserves further declining in a context of limited exchange rate flexibility.

Against the background of rising external and fiscal financing needs and declining reserves, risks to Pakistan's medium-term capacity to repay the fund have increased since completion of the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement in September 2016, the IMF said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Madras High Court has directed the Economic Offences (EO) Wing of the Central Crime Branch to take steps for identifying immovable properties in the name of executives of HBN Dairies and Allied Limited, which is alleged to have cheated around 20 lakh depositors of Rs 1,137 crore.

Justice M S Ramesh passed the order on a criminal original petition filed by one Immanuel, seeking an investigation into the matter in a reasonable time frame as fixed by the court.

In the order, the judge said, "The Economic Offences wing shall coordinate with all district collectors in the state as well as superintendents of police to ascertain as to whether any complaints in connection with the present issue is pending with them."



"In the meantime, the EO wing shall also take effective steps to obtain the genuineness certificate of the immovable property belonging to senior CEO M Ranganathan and other accused," he said.

It is alleged that the company collected deposits from over 20 lakh people all over India and in particular from 1,000 people in Tamil Nadu, for conducting business in dairy and allied products.

On the basis of a complaint from one Jayabharathi, EO II (Chennai) registered a complaint under various sections of the IPC and Section 5 of Tamil Nadu Protection of Interests of Depositors (In Financial Establishments) (TNPID) Act.

A total of eight people were named as accused. Of them, two are absconding while the Madras High Court had granted bail to three others.

Based on complaints received by Raipur police, the SEBI has frozen immovable properties of the company, its managing director and director. The title deeds of the immovable properties of the directors were already deposited with the SEBI.

According to the status report filed by the Inspector of Police, EO II, a total of 526 complaints were received against the company in Tamil Nadu with the default amount of Rs 1.33 crore.

It was also submitted that the total number of complaints may go up to 5,000 or more, of which only 526 had been received so far.

The EO II submitted that the immovable properties of company executives Ettiyappan, CED South, and Muthaiyan, manager, in Tamil Nadu were identified and steps were being taken to attach the same.

The judge, after recording the status report, posted the matter for further hearing to March 23.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived here today on a three-day private visit to Madhya Pradesh.

She arrived at the Devi Ahilya Bai Holkar Airport at around 8:00 pm in a private plane amidst tight security, an official said.

She left for Maheshwar, a town on the banks of the Narmada river in Khargone district a little later.

Clinton is scheduled to visit the state's erstwhile Holkar kingdom, where apart from a boat ride along the scenic Narmada river, she would also watch the world renowned Maheshwari saree being weaved, an art started by Queen Ahilya Bai to help the downtrodden, an official said.

She would stay tonight at the Ahilya Fort Hotel in Maheshwar. This is a private visit, Khargone Collector Ashok Kumar Verma told PTI.

Tomorrow morning, Clinton would be in Dhar district where her itinerary includes a visit to Mandu, home to historical monuments frequented earlier by Mughal rulers, officials said.

She would return to Maheshwar in the evening and interact with children of a local school before halting for the night at the holy town, they added.

"She will visit the place where the famous Maheshwari sarees have been weaved for long. It is an art started by Ahilya Bai Holkar, the ruler of the kingdom, to help the downtrodden. She will also have a boat ride on the Narmada," Verma said.

"On Tuesday morning, she will leave for Indore from where she will fly back," he added.

Maheshwar, some 91 kilometres from here, was the capital of the erstwhile Holkar kingdom till January 6, 1818, after which Indore was designated as the capital under the reign of Malhar Rao Holkar III.

The former US Secretary of State is in Maheshwar at the invitation of Richard Holkar, scion of the erstwhile Holkar kingdom.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Hong Kong's pro-democracy camp are trying to claw back lost seats in controversial by-elections held today that have exposed the heart of the city's political divide.

The vote comes as China takes a tough line against any challenges to its sovereignty, with high-profile young candidate Agnes Chow barred from standing because her party promotes self-determination for the semi-autonomous city.

The atmosphere was tense early Sunday when a small group of people heckled Chow as well as leading pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law near a polling station, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

One of the men barged into Wong, who was one of the student leaders during mass demonstrations in 2014 calling for a greater democratic freedoms.

"When there is a restriction on freedom of speech and we face more suppression on civil disobedience and protest in the streets, it proves that it's more necessary for us to vote," Wong told reporters.

Beijing has become increasingly incensed at the emergence of activists advocating independence and sees calls for self-determination as part of a dangerous splittist push.

The by-election was triggered after Beijing forced the disqualification of six rebel lawmakers who had swept to victory in citywide elections in 2016.

Some were former protest leaders, others openly advocated independence. All were ousted from their posts for inserting protests into their oaths of office.

Four of the six vacant seats are being contested Sunday.

"The election is not just about selecting me as a candidate, it is also about voting for justice," said Au Nok-hin, who stepped in to contest the Hong Kong Island seat after Agnes Chow was disallowed.

The seat was originally held by Law, also a 2014 protest leader, who was among the six thrown out of office.

But pro-establishment politician Judy Chan, standing against Au, cast the opposition as provoking "violence and resistance".

"The by-election is a chance for the silent majority, who are tired of a politicised Hong Kong, who detest those who humiliate the country, to come out and tell those politicians that Hong Kong has no room for them," Chan told AFP.

Many of the first people to cast ballots at a polling station AFP visited early Sunday were more elderly and supportive of the city's pro-Beijing establishment.

"I'm not resistant to democracy and freedom, but I can't accept the independence of Hong Kong," voter Chan Chik-sing, 60, told AFP.

Others said China needed to recognise people were angry about inequality.

"If the government's policies were really that good and supported by citizens, the public's satisfaction level for the government wouldn't keep deteriorating," said voter Lilian Leung, who was in her late 30s.

The six lawmakers were retrospectively barred from office by Hong Kong's high court after Beijing issued a special "interpretation" of the city's mini-constitution stipulating legislators had to take their oath "solemnly and sincerely" or face being banned.The modernisation and renovation of two non-functional docks of the Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers (HDPE) will begin soon, its chairman said.

"The major renovation and modernisation will begin soon after the detailed project report is ready. It is expected within a month. All agreements with the Cochin Shipyards Ltd have also been signed," HDPE Chairman Balaji Arun Kumar told PTI.

Renovation of the docks will be done under a new corporate identity -- Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Ltd, a 24:76 per cent joint venture between the Hooghly Dock and Port Engineers and the Cochin Shipyards Ltd.

Investment by the Cochin Shipyard will depend on the final DPR but in the first phase it will be at least 70-80 crore but in phases it will go up to at least Rs 130-150 crore, he said.

The HDPE will remain as a holding company with 24 per cent stake of the Hoogly Cochin Shipyard Ltd.

The HDPE has currently 43 people on its roll. Kumar said they had sent a proposal to the ministry for a special VRS scheme.

The HDPE has leased both shipyards to the SPV for an initial period of 30 years, which can be extended for another 30 years.

The ambitious National Waterways-I between Haldia and Allahabad will augur well for the fortune of the HDPE docks and boost investment in West Bengal's shipping sector.

The central government's 'Jal Marg Vikas Project' is developing the National Waterways-I at an estimated cost of Rs 4,200 crore.

The newly formed company is expecting contracts for new low draft barges and vessels for inland waterways, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Haryana government will establish a new Non-Banking Financial Company to act as an in-house treasury manager for efficient management of surplus funds of public enterprises, autonomous bodies and other state entities.

The company--Haryana State Financial Services Ltd--is expected to become operational in the first quarter of 2018-19, the state Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said here today.

He said the state government had decided to restructure its State Subordinate Accounts Services and Audit cadre, to promote highest standards of professional competence in areas of accounting and auditing.

"For this purpose, the Institute of Public Auditors of India, Chandigarh, is conducting a study. This will facilitate the cadre to do their job in a more professional manner and eventually result in better management of state finances in government departments as well as public sector enterprises," he said in an official release here.

He said the state government had set up the 'Swarna Jayanti Haryana Institute for Fiscal Management' to provide structured training and research programmes for government officers and officials in the areas of public finance policy, financial management and financial administration, with specific focus on taxation, budgeting, financial planning, audit and accounts management procedures and policy issues.

Abhimanyu said, a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Coordination Centre was being set up as a part of the institute with the support of United Nations Development Programme, to implement 'Vision 2030' based on the SDG in Haryana.

To promote financial discipline, he said the state government would make a major procedural change by allowing departments and public sector undertakings including autonomous bodies to operate only one or two major bank accounts with effect from April 2018.

This means that all remaining bank accounts would have to be consolidated into one or two accounts for efficient utilisation of funds by every department, board, corporation, authority, he added.

He said the state government has made considerable progress in Treasury Management through implementation of Integrated Financial Management System and Public Finance Management System for online monitoring of flow of funds from Government to end user on a real time basis.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India and China have been important engines of regional and global economic growth, a top official of International Monetary Fund (IMF) said today, noting that a strong economic partnership between the two Asian giants would be beneficial.

"For the past several years, India and China have been important engines of regional and global economic growth. In 2017, India and China were responsible for almost half of global growth," Tao Zhang, IMF Deputy Managing Director, told PTI in an interview ahead of his visit to India.

The IMF, he said, strongly believes that the world benefits if individual countries implement sound stability-oriented macroeconomic policies and reduce barriers to trade and investment.

"A strong economic partnership between India and China would be beneficial, and their collaboration is welcome. The BRICS and G20 summits are good examples," Zhang said when asked about the impact these two economies collectively have on the global economy.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nearly a decade after threats to costal security were magnified during the 26/11 terror attacks, the country's first national academy to train police forces in effectively safeguarding the Indian shoreline will start functioning from the next month along the Gujarat sea front.

The Union home ministry recently sanctioned the launch of the National Academy of Coastal Policing (NACP) from a campus of Gujarat's Fisheries Research Centre located in coastal Okha in the newly created Devbhoomi Dwarka district.

An official order, accessed by PTI, said the first-of-its-kind institution of the country will be created and run by a multi-agency team of paramilitary and defence forces and sharpen the response and skills of the marine forces of multiple states which have sea lines.

As per the order, while the union home ministry's policing think tank -- the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD) -- will pilot the establishment and running of the academy, the Border Security Force (BSF), that guards the Indian frontier in Gujarat with Pakistan, the navy and the Coast Guard will form the core to run the academy.

The BSF will also provide security to the campus which on the Arabian Sea coast and is at a flying distance from the Pakistan coast.

The navy and the Coast Guard, as per the home ministry order, will help design "the training curriculum, providing skilled trainers and ensuring access to jetties and boats" for the trainees of the academy.

The home ministry has also directed the Gujarat government to provide two interceptor boats to the academy that are stationed by it at Okha for patrolling of the sea by the marine unit of the state police.

The academy, that will have faculty from the navy, Coast Guard and the BSF, will train police personnel and other security agencies staff in maritime laws, seamanship, boat work, navigation, weapons handling, usage of sea guidance and surveillance gadgets and survival skills for long haul operations on the sea or during distress times when they may get stranded in the these waters running up to 12 nautical miles from the shore.

"There is no institute in the country that trains marine or coastal police forces in these subjects in a professional manner. That is why the academy will be first-ever and the best practises of various agencies like the navy, the BSF and the Coast Guard will be borrowed by it for teaching purposes," a senior official privy to the development said.

This was especially required since India faced its major sea-borne terror attack in November, 2008 in Mumbai.

"The academy will run temporarily for about three years from the fisheries department campus at Okha. In the meantime, a new permanent campus will be created for the academy in Devbhoomi Dwarka district," he said.

The official added that 24 quarters of the fisheries department will be used to run the academy for the initial period and a budget of Rs 1 crore has been allocated by the home ministry for taking over of these assets.

The official said home minister Rajnath Singh may inaugurate the campus in late April.

India has a vast coastline of 7,516 kms touching 13 states and union territories (UTs). It also has around 1,197 islands.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India should drag the US in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) dispute mechanism against the move to hike import duties on steel and aluminium, as the decision will impact exports and it is not in compliance with the global trade norms, experts today said.

The decision of the US would not only impact India's export of these goods to America but also affect global trade, Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.

"Such decisions are protectionist in nature. India needs to approach the WTO against this move as it would severely hit global trade," Dhar said.

Former Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said the country should take action against America and also raise duties on products like almonds, pistachio and Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The US exports these items to India.

"We also have the freedom to increase tariffs. India should also retaliate as the US decision will impact exports of steel and aluminium goods. You have to take action to protect the country's interests," Pillai told PTI.

He added that raising duties by India would be within the bound rates of the WTO.

These are the rates beyond which, a WTO member can not increase taxes on a commodity.

Exporters body FIEO too said that India should file a complaint in the Geneva-based WTO as the decision of America is not in compliance with the global trade norms.

India's exports of steel and aluminium products to America stood at about USD 1.5 billion every year.

"India has huge trade interest in the US and knee-jerk reaction is not good. We should approach the WTO," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said.

Sharing similar views, former Ficci President and expert on international trade related issues R V Kanoria said that raising duties by America is against the WTO's norms.

"India should refer the case to the WTO," he said.

However, he cautioned that the country should not take any knee-jerk reaction against the US.

Further, Professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said the US decision will impact global trade as other countries too are expected to take such protectionist measures.

"Such decisions impact process of goods in global markets. It would dent competitiveness of goods and India should consider going to WTO's dispute body against this decision," he said.

On March 9, President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium which he said were necessary to boost the US industry suffering from "unfair" business practices, a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war.

Trump signed two proclamations that levied a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imported from all countries except Canada and Mexico.Three heavy-duty, high-tech whole body scanners would be used for India Size survey for which the the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) will soon float a global tender, a top official said.

The National Sizing Survey will sample 25,000 people using these gadgets in six cities -- Kolkata (East), Mumbai (West), New Delhi (North), Hyderabad (Central India), Bengaluru (South) and Shillong (North-East).

"These are really huge machines and currently there are no Indian manufacturer. So, we are going for a global tender. It is under legal vetting and will be floated on return," NIFT Director General Sarada Muraleedharan told PTI.

The survey which will begin soon, will cost nearly Rs 30 crore and the project would be conducted over a period of 2-3 years.

It seeks to come up with a standardised India size chart for ready-made garments, which would then be used by all brands in the country.

3D whole body scanners and computers will extract hundreds of measurements from a scan of a person in a point cloud, Noopur Anand, faculty at NIFT-Delhi and principal investigator of the project, said.

The anthropometric data collected from the sample population, 50 per cent each of male and female, in the age group 15-65 years to create a database will result in a standardised size chart which is representative of the Indian population and can be adopted by the apparel industry, she said.

"Three machines would be installed in three different locations, say a park, mall or other public places, in a city. The machines would then move to the next city to be sampled," Muraleedharan said.

Anand said all metrics of the project have been worked out in microscopic details including how much time a person will spend during his or her sampling.

"The scanning process is completely safe. A person who will be scanned will be wearing a body suit. We will even go to festival venues to get a more holistic sampling so as to reflect diverse ethnicities in our database," she added.

Of the Rs 30 crore to be spent on the project, the Textile Ministry will give Rs 21 crore and the NIFT will pitch in with about Rs 9 crore, the NIFT DG said, adding, the database created as part of this project will be confidential and secure.

"The final outcome will be in numerical value. We don't know yet, if we would be having just a single numerical marker or more than one. Also, about 120 different anthropometric elements, including, height, weight, waist-size, hip-size, bust-size, would be included in the survey," Anand said.

"These scanning machines are really heavy-duty, weighing about 200 kgs and so we are waiting for them to be made available. Also, our other NIFT campuses, and local administrations in these six regions will coordinate with us," she said.

The findings of the study will impact various other sectors like automobile, aerospace, fitness and sport, art and computer gaming where insights from this data can produce ergonomically designed products which are suited for the Indian population.

Once a uniform India size is arrived at, "even foreign brands in India would also carry it," Rajesh Shah, the chairman in the Board of Governors of the NIFT, said.

"Besides, our diaspora can then also order any wear based on that standard size," he said.

In India, either the US or the UK system of Small, Medium, Large, Extra Large has been used, and people then go for fitting accordingly, the NIFT director general said.

Till date 14 countries have successfully completed national sizing surveys, including the US, Canada, Mexico, the UK, France, Spain, Germany, Korea, China and Australia.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Indian-origin archdeacon in the UK has been appointed as area Bishop of Bradwell in the Church of England's Diocese of Chelmsford.

John Perumbalath, a former priest in the united Church of North India's Diocese of Calcutta, was nominated by the Queen as the sixth Bishop of Bradwell, the British Home ministry said.

He succeeds late Bishop John Wraw, who passed away in July, 2017 after serving as Bishop since 2012.

Perumbalath, 52, has been archdeacon of Barking in the Diocese of Chelmsford since 2013.

Perumbalath hails from the ancient Syrian Christian community in Kerala and trained for ministry at Union Biblical Seminary in Pune.

Before his ordination, he worked as a youth worker among university students for two years and as a theological educator for three years.

He was a parish priest in the diocese of Calcutta (Church of North India) from 1995 to 2001. He served on the General Synod of CNI and on its Theological Commission.

Perumbalath said, "I am humbled and honoured to have been invited to be the next Bishop of Bradwell."



"It has been a great joy to share in the life of Barking Episcopal Area in the last five years and I look forward to the new opportunities and challenges that serving the Church in the Bradwell Episcopal Area will bring.

I am passionate about the Christian faith that can transform individuals, communities and institutions, and about communicating that faith through pastoral care, teaching and community engagement," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian engineer who was murdered in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas City last year, led a peace walk with her husband's hundreds of friends and co-workers.

Sunayana led the memorial peace walk on Friday what would have been the 34th birthday of Kuchibhotla.

Kuchibhotla was fatally shot in Olathe, Kansas, in February last year by a US navy veteran. His colleague Alok Madasani was also critically injured in the attack.

"We're gathered here because of man's one action and the hate that took of an innocent life," Sunayana told the large crowd gathered outside of Garmin where Kuchibhotla and Madasani were engineers.

The approximately 3-kilometer peace walk from the Garmin headquarters to the bar was meant to honour the life of Kuchibhotla.

Last week, Adam Purinton, 52, pleaded guilty before a Kansas court.

He was charged with first-degree murder of Kuchibhotla, 32, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of his friend, Madasani.

Purinton, yelled, "Get out of my country," before shooting Kuchibhotla, who later died from injuries sustained in the attack.

He also shot and wounded Ian Grillot, an Olathe man who tried to defend Kuchibhotla and Madasani. Grillot also attended Friday's walk.

"Sunayana has not let this tragedy defeat her, instead she used the circumstances to find a voice and spread a message," Garmin CEO Clifton Pemble said to the crowd before the walk began.

"The goal is to share more immigrant stories from the past and present and to spread a positive message that America is welcome to everybody from all walks of life," Sunayana said.

"It's a terrible reason that we are here right now but seeing the support for the community and the continued support a little year after it's just absolutely wonderful," Grillot said.

Sunayana, recently launched Forever Welcome, a Facebook page for immigrants who did not feel that way after the shooting.

"Olathe will not let one act of evil define us. We are moving forward," Olathe Mayor Michael Copleland said. As are Grillot, Madasani and Sunayana -- tied together by hate but united by love.

"You all being here is our answer to that one man, that our community believes in being united," Sunayana said.

Purinton will be sentenced in May, likely to life in prison. He still faces hate crime charges that could carry the death penalty.Investors pulled out Rs 940 million from gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in February, taking the total outflows to Rs 7.73 billion in the first 11 months of 2017-18 mainly due to poor returns and volatility in prices.

However, experts believe next financial year can be slightly better for as ongoing uncertainty in the global market might increase the demand for the precious metal.

According to the Association of Mutual Funds in India (Amfi) data, a net sum of Rs 940 million was pulled out from 14 gold-linked ETFs in February, as compared to an outflow of Rs 460 million in the same month in 2016-17.

In January, a net amount of Rs 1.1 billion was withdrawn from the instrument.

With the latest outflow, the total pullout has reached to Rs 7.73 billion in the April-February period of the ongoing fiscal.

Groww COO Harsh Jain attributed the latest outflow to increase in volatility and poor returns. Also, gold bonds, with an additional interest of 2.75 per cent, makes them better instrument than the ETFs.

He said the next fiscal can be slightly better for as ongoing uncertainty in the global market might increase the demand for the yellow metal.

"But in long term, the growing popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies can be a threat to the gold as an asset class," he added.

Trading in gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs) had been lukewarm in the previous four fiscals. It witnessed an outflow of Rs 7.75 billion in 2016-17, Rs 9.03 billion in 2015-16, Rs 14.75 billion in 2014-15 and Rs 22.93 billion in 2013-14.

The outflow meant assets under management (AUM) of gold funds plunged by over 16 per cent to Rs 48.30 billion at the end of February this year, from Rs 57.66 billion in the year-ago period.

On the other hand, equity and equity-linked savings scheme (ELSS) saw an infusion of Rs 1.64 lakh crore during the first 11 months of 2017-18. This included an investment of over Rs 160 billion in the last month alone.

"Barring couple of months, India has seen net negative flows in from February 2013. Even in terms of inflows, from triple-digit crore of inflows until 2012, it has now dwindled to low single-digit and almost nil in some months. Domestic gold's 3-year annualised returns at less than 3 per cent is lower than even savings bank rate today, said Vidya Bala, head of mutual fund research at Fundsindia.com.

"The sell-off in gold is in line with poor sentiments for gold world-wide. This comes on the back of stronger fundamentals in global economies, especially in the US. Expectation of faster rate hike in the US means that bonds yields will be expected to be more attractive than gold. Thus, the current sentiments do not bode well for gold as an asset class, she added.

Gold ETFs are passive investment instruments that are based on price movements of the metal.Prime Minister Narendra Modi today held bilateral talks with the Presidents of Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Seychelles on key issues, including developmental cooperation, besides holding parleys with leaders from 12 other countries on the sidelines of the solar alliance meet.

Apart from meeting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, Modi held talks with leaders from the UAE, Seychelles, Comoros, Guyana, Fiji, Djibouti, Somalia, Mali, Rwanda, Australia, Burkina Faso, Togo and Gabon.

Neighbourhood first! PM @narendramodi met Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, on his 5th visit to India as President, on the sidelines of the #ISA. Leaders exchanged views on developmental cooperation, among other areas of bilateral cooperation," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

In his meeting with Hamid, Prime Minister Modi discussed connectivity, developmental cooperation, among other issues, he said.

Most of Modi's bilateral meetings were with leaders of African countries.

There was certainly a feeling among all the African heads (leaders) he (Modi) had met that our engagement with Africa has increased exponentially in the last three years, T S Tirumurti, Secretary (Economic Relations) in the MEA, told reporters.

Asked about what issues were discussed with the African leaders, Kumar said the thrust was on capacity building.

We offered our help and assistance to them. The focus (during the talks on) was on climate change, renewable energy, solar technology and development cooperation. We have significant development cooperation with most of the African countries. There was discussion on how to take that forward, Kumar said.

Modi's first bilateral meeting of the day was with the Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Bin Al Nahyan.

On the sidelines of the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the two leaders discussed trade and investment, energy, food security, among other issues of bilateral interest, Kumar said.

In his bilateral meetings with Fiji Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Seychelles President Danny Faure and Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Modi discussed cooperation in the areas of capacity building, climate change and developmental cooperation.

Modi also met Guyanese President David Arthur Granger and discussed ways to step up cooperation with the Caribbean nation.

Historical linkages with a friend from the Caribbean! PM @narendramodi met President of Guyana, David Arthur Granger on the sidelines of the #ISA. Climate change, renewable energy, trade and investment, capacity building and developmental cooperation were discussed, Kumar tweeted.

On the sidelines of the conference, he also held talks with Djibouti President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled.

Modi later met Mali President Ibrahim Baoubacar Keita.

Countering terrorism was the focus of discussion during the meeting between the two leaders, Kumar said.

In the evening, Modi met Burkina Faso President Rock Marc Christian Kabore. They discussed counter-terrorism, renewable energy, and developmental cooperation.

Modi also met Governor General of Australia Peter Cosgrove.

"On sidelines of the #ISA, PM @narendramodi and Governor General of Australia, Sir Peter Cosgrove had a meeting. Deepening democratic values and Countering terrorism were the focal points of discussion," Kumar tweeted along with a picture of the two leaders.

After that meeting, Modi met Gabon President Ali Bongo Ondimba. The two leaders shared their views on cooperation in energy, trade, investment and developmental support, Kumar said.

Late evening, Modi also met Togo President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe and discussed trade, developmental cooperation and education, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An Islamic seminary student today hurled shoes at Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif during a function at a seminary here, a day after a religious extremist blackened the face of Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif with ink.

Sharif was about to address a gathering at a seminary in Lahore when the student lobbed shoes at him which hit his shoulder.

Video footage of the incident showed Sharif, 68, visibly shaken by the incident.

The student along with his accomplice also jumped on stage where Sharif was standing and chanted slogans praising Mumtaz Qadri, the murderer of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer.

They were immediately caught and thrashed by the audience. Later, they were handed over to police.

Police identified the shoe thrower as Abdul Ghafoor, a former student of the seminary, and his accomplice as Sajid.

The PML-N leader went ahead with his address and made a brief speech in which he did not mention about the man who threw a shoe at him.

Religious parties especially Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan had held Sharif and his party (PML-N) responsible for making an attempt to change a clause related to finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution.

The incident came a day after a man, Faiz Rasool, hurled ink at Asif, a member of the ruling party and a close Sharif aide, while he was speaking at a party rally in eastern Pakistan.

Rasool, who threw ink at the foreign minister, told the police that he vent out his anger because the PML-N had tried to change the finality of the Prophet in the Constitution.

"This hurt the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis including myself," he said.

Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had to resign last November when hundreds of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan supporters camped at Islamabad's Faizabad traffic interchange forcing the PML-N government to take action against those in the federal cabinet responsible for attempting to change this clause from the Constitution.

The incident drew strong condemnation form all prominent politicians of the country.

PML-N leader and Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said those afraid of popularity of PML-N are behind such incidents.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)People, who visit Kerala, usually hit the beaches or head for the hill stations, they are not much aware of the rich heritage of the port towns, a government official of the southern state has said.

The state is now focusing on the development of its heritage sites in Malabar region as tourist hotspots, Jafar Malik, the additional director general of Kerala Tourism Department, explained.

The port of Muziris and the historic towns of Kodungallur, Pattanam and Paravur were once the trade hubs for businessmen arriving from Rome and Greece and other parts of the globe, the official said.

"The remnants of the port and the historic towns in North Kerala have been excavated and restored to a large extent as tourist spots," Malik, who was recently here to promote tourism in his state, said.

Kerala wants to increase its domestic tourist footfall by 50 per cent in five years - from 1.31 crore in 2016 to 2.5 crore, the official said.

Of the 1.31 crore domestic tourists, 1.31 lakh was from Bengal alone, he said.

"We have seen a rise in number of tourists arriving from Bengal in the past few years. The number has drastically increased from 35,000 even a few years ago to 1.3 lakh in 2016," Malik said, adding that Kerala has set a target of 2.5 lakh tourist footfall from this state in the next five years.

The international tourist arrival in Kerala stood at over 10 lakh in 2016 and its tourism department wants the numbers to increase by 100 per cent by 2022, he said.

The development of the new tourist sites will draw more people to the state, he asserted.

The port city that once figured in the spice route of merchants and traders from Persia, Greece and Rome is just over an hour's drive from Kochi in central Kerala, the official said.

"The Muziris heritage site is spread over a large stretch, encompassing parts of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. People from different parts of the country and abroad will be able to soak in the rich culture of the region," Malik added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said he and his sister Priyanka Gandhi have "completely forgiven" his father Rajiv Gandhi's killers as they find it "difficult to hate people".

During an interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore, Gandhi spoke about the assassination of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv and said that it was a price that the family knew they had to pay for taking a stand.

"We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die," he said in a video shared by Congress on Twitter yesterday.

When asked if he and his sister Priyanka had forgiven his father's killers, Gandhi said: "We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, (we have) completely...in fact, completely (forgiven them)."



Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a woman suicide bomber of LTTE, the militant group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on May 21, 1991 at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

"There is a history that when one realises that when these events take place, it's collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught. I remember when I saw Mr Prabhakaran on TV lying dead, I got two feelings - one was why they are humiliating this man in this way.

"And second was I felt really bad for him and for his kids and I did that because I understood deeply what it meant to be on the other side of that thing. So to me when I see violence regardless of who it is, I know that there is a human being behind that, there is a family behind that, a kid crying behind that. I have been through a lot of pain to get this and it is something I consider very valuable. I find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does," he said.

Asked if he thinks he had a privilege life being the son and grandson of former prime ministers, Gandhi, who is on a five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries, said, "It depends which side of the coin you are...of course there are a number of privileges where I sit, but I would not say that I haven't been through a rough ride."



He said his grandmother was assassinated in 1984 by security guards with whom he used to play badminton.

"I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...surrounded by 15 guys from morning, noon and night, I don't think that's a privilege. I think that's quite a hard thing to deal with," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today requested Union Home minister Rajnath Singh to look into the case of Kamran Yousuf -- a Kashmiri photojournalist -- who is in the NIA custody.

"Spoke to Home Minister @rajnathsingh ji to look into Kamran Yousuf's case. I've requested him to intervene so that the life of a young budding journalist does not get ruined," Mehbooba said on Twitter.

Yousuf, a freelance photojournalist, was arrested by the NIA on September 5 last year for his alleged involvement in stone-pelting incidents.

The NIA has alleged he was acting as a conduit for those involved in terror funding.

Kashmir editors guild and journalists in the valley have also sought his release, saying his arrest violated the freedom of the press.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Suspected militants reportedly hurled a grenade on a CRPF guard post in south Kashmir's Kulgam district this evening, but there was no damage, police said.

"Apparently militants hurled a grenade on a guard post of 18 bn (battalion) CRPF (at Damhaal Hanjipora) in Kulgam," Kashmir Zone Police said on its official Twitter page.

A police party has reached the spot and investigations into the incident have been taken up, police said.

"No loss of life or property reported," the tweet said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Actor Mindy Kaling has described her journey into parenthood as "profound and strange".

The 38-year-old actor, who gave birth to daughter Katherine in December last year, said she was a changed woman as she was "not a kid person" earlier, FemaleFirst reported.

"It's really profound and strange. I was not a kid person at all. I was the person, if you had a baby at a party, I would go up to them and shake their hand and be like, 'Hello.' So I didn't know (or) understand how to be around babies.

"I was on planes (and) when babies would cry, I would be mad at the families. Now I'm like, 'Let them cry, let them do whatever they want. They can sit on me and poop if they want.' Now I know more," Kaling said on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert".

The actor also joked that her three-month-old daughter does not recognise her as she was busy promoting her latest release, "A Wrinkle In Time".

"She's often like, 'Who dat?' to me because I've been a little busy promoting this movie," she added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sumedha Singh's textbooks gathered dust in one corner of her tiny house. The 12-year-old Delhi girl had dropped out of school and thought she'd never get back to a class again.

She had danced with joy when she heard about the birth of her baby brother. But her spirits fell when realised it meant she had to leave school.

Her parents, who worked as daily labourers at a construction site, left the baby in her care when they went out for work. Sumedha took care of him and wistfully thought of her school days.

Then, one day two years ago, she heard about mobile schools. Sumedha could carry her brother with her to the class room, she was told.

And she did.

Two years after leaving school, she was back in a class, poring hard over her now dusted textbooks.

"I am now planning to continue my studies through correspondence in the mobile school till my brother is old enough to join school, Sumedha said, as her sibling played beside her in the mobile classroom near Hatthi Park in Chandni Chowk.

Mobile schools work on a simple mantra: If you can't go to school, the school will come to you.

Under the programme, funded by corporate houses and executed by two NGOs in Delhi, old buses are converted to classrooms and driven to residential colonies to help educate children.

The students are taught free of cost by teachers inside the vehicle and in nearby parks.

By cutting down on travelling distance, the students get an opportunity to fulfil their other responsibilities along with studying," said Sujoy Joseph, member of the NGO Butterflies, which is involved in running mobile schools in parts of Delhi.

Mobile buses have been driving down the city for several years now. Those executing the programme hope that more funds will come in, and its current fleet of four buses strengthened in the coming years.

About 800 under-privileged children from the city who dropped out for reasons that ranged from having to take care of smaller siblings to the absence of schools in the neighbourhood are being educated in mobile schools, Joseph said.

Among them is Surendra Yadav, 15, who dropped out of school last year when his father died and he was left with the responsibility of supporting the family.

On his way to the construction site where he worked, he would often see students boarding a shiny yellow bus which made him dream of finishing his



But he had to work, so he would reluctantly leave for the site day after day.

One day, though, he was spotted staring at the bus by a mobile school teacher, who urged him to study for three hours with them every day after work.

Surendra is now appearing for his Class 10 examination and hopes to join a regular school from next year.

The mobile schools in Delhi cater to areas in Sadar Bazar, Okhla Mandi, Kashmere Gate and Chandni Chowk.

The children are picked up from their homes, taught in these schools from 2.00 pm to 5 pm and dropped back home after class.

Eight-year-old Samita Pandey could not join school because of a physical disability. Her parents wanted her to get formal but they were unable to provide her with facilities needed for her to travel to a regular school every day.

Samita is now studying in a mobile school in Sadar Bazar.

"We got the option of being able to give her at our doorstep for free. We plan to teach her at the mobile school till she is old enough to manage on her own to attend a regular school," Ram Pandey, Samita's father, said.

The project is aimed at providing education to underprivileged children in slums. The mobile schools give children the option of appearing for examinations through a correspondence course or gradually join a regular school.

The mobile school project was started under the government's Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan policy in 2001.

Since there was no provision for such schools under the Right to Education Act of 2011, mobile schools were handed over to NGOs which work in close collaboration with state governments.

"Such schools help students carry on with their daily lives and pursue education too," said Tanvir Ahmad, a teacher working at the Chandni Chowk mobile school.

According to the Ministry of Human Resource Development data, the national dropout rate at the primary level was 4.34 per cent in 2014-15, and 17.86 per cent at the secondary level.

This innovative initiative seeks to strengthen the existing efforts of the state government of Delhi to bring school children back in the education net, Ahmad said.

Many students withdraw from schools to financially support their families but through mobile schools they get an opportunity to study daily for 3-4 hours, he added.

"Poverty and accessibility are the two main reasons children drop out of schools. We try to counter these two factors by providing free education to children at their doorstep which acts as a bridge to connect them to mainstream education," Ahmed said.

The mobile school initiative in Delhi is run by NGO Butterflies and Magic Bus Foundation and supported by various corporate houses. There are similar programmes in other states such as Uttarakhand.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron will jointly inaugurate a solar plant in Mirzapur district and also visit the Trade Facilitation Centre here tomorrow, said an official here.

Prime Minister Modi will receive the French President, who will arrive by a special plane at the Lal Bahadur Shastri International airport here tomorrow morning, the official said.

From the airport, both the leaders will fly by a helicopter to Mirzapur ,where they will jointly inaugurate the 75-megawatt solar plant and then will return back to Varanasi.

The two leaders are scheduled to visit the Deen Dayal Upadhyay Trade facilitation Centre at Badalalpur here.

Both the leaders will also visit the Assi ghat, where they will enjoy a boat ride from Assi to Dashashwamedh ghat and will then head to the Taj Hotel , where Modi will host a dinner for the French president, the official said.

Modi will leave the hotel for the DLW helipad and the French president will stay at the hotel for the next few hours after which he will fly back to Delhi by the his special plane.

From DLW helipad, Modi will reach the Manduadih railway station by road, where he will flag off the Varanasi-Patna intercity train.

The prime minister will also address a public meeting and then will fly back to Delhi from the Varanasi airport, the official said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi will tomorrow host French President Emmanuel Macron in Varanasi, where the two leaders will participate in several programmes, including a boat ride on river Ganga.

The two leaders will first leave for Mirzapur, where they will inaugurate a solar power plant, before returning to Varanasi, official sources said here.

In Varanasi, the two leaders will visit the Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul and interact with artisans. They will also witness a live demonstration of their crafts.

Prime Minister Modi and President Macron will then arrive at the famous Assi Ghat in Varanasi, where they will board a boat for a ride along the ghats of the Ganga. The boat ride will end at the historic Dashashwamedh Ghat.

Modi will also host a lunch in the honour of the French President.

In the afternoon, the Prime Minister will flag off a train from Varanasi's Maduadih Railway Station to Patna.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is set to peer into reservoirs of interstellar water to understand the origin and evolution of key building blocks for habitable planets.

A molecular cloud is an interstellar cloud of dust, gas, and a variety of molecules ranging from molecular hydrogen (H2) to complex, carbon-containing organics.

Molecular clouds hold most of the water in the universe, and serve as nurseries for newborn stars and their planets.

Within these clouds, on the surfaces of tiny dust grains, hydrogen atoms link with oxygen to form water. Carbon joins with hydrogen to make methane.

Nitrogen bonds with hydrogen to create ammonia. All of these molecules stick to the surface of dust specks, accumulating icy layers over millions of years.

The result is a vast collection of "snowflakes" that are swept up by infant planets, delivering materials needed for life as we know it.

"If we can understand the chemical complexity of these ices in the molecular cloud, and how they evolve during the formation of a star and its planets, then we can assess whether the building blocks of life should exist in every star system," said Melissa McClure of the Universiteit van Amsterdam in Netherlands.

To understand these processes, researchers will examine a nearby star-forming region to determine which ices are present where.

"We plan to use a variety of Webb's instrument modes and capabilities, not only to investigate this one region, but also to learn how best to study cosmic ices with Webb," said Klaus Pontoppidan of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), an investigator on McClure's project.

The project will take advantage of Webb's high-resolution spectrographs to get the most sensitive and precise observations at wavelengths that specifically measure ices.

Webb's spectrographs, NIRSpec and MIRI, will provide up to five times better precision that any previous space telescope at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths.

The team plans to target the Chamaeleon Complex, a star-forming region visible in the southern sky.

It is located about 500 light-years from Earth and contains several hundred protostars, the oldest of which are about 1 million years old.

The team will use Webb's sensitive infrared detectors to observe stars behind the molecular cloud. As light from those faint, background stars passes through the cloud, ices in the cloud will absorb some of the light.

By observing many background stars spread across the sky, astronomers can map ices within the cloud's entire expanse and locate where different ices form.

They will also target individual protostars within the cloud itself to learn how ultraviolet light from these nascent stars promotes the creation of more complex molecules.

Astronomers also will examine the birthplaces of planets, rotating disks of gas and dust known as protoplanetary disks that surround newly formed stars.

They will be able to measure the amounts and relative abundances of ices as close as five billion miles from the infant star, which is about the orbital distance of Pluto in our solar system.

"Comets have been described as dusty snowballs. At least some of the water in Earth's oceans likely was delivered by the impacts of comets early in our solar system's history. We'll be looking at the places where comets form around other stars," said Pontoppidan.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after senior PDP leader and state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu said Jammu and Kashmir should not be seen as a political problem, opposition National Conference (NC) today termed it "shocking and totally unrealistic", saying it was a total sell-out by the ruling party.

"PDP's declaration that Kashmir is not a political issue but a social issue is a shocking and shameful u-turn by the party which, for years, sought support and votes primarily to help in the resolution of the political issue that has claimed thousands of lives and pushed the state in the throes of instability and suffering.

"It is a totally unrealistic, incorrect, misleading statement and is akin to distorting the historical facts of the state. It is a total sell-out by the party and this outrageous statement is the last nail in the coffin for the PDP," NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said at a press conference here.

The NC general secretary said Drabu's declaration was a serious development that called into question the very basis of PDP's over the years and the promises it had been making to the people of the state.

"If the PDP thinks that Kashmir is not a political issue but is according to them a social issue, the very basis of the of the PDP and that of its founder late Mufti Mohammad Sayeed comes into question. Till today, we were led to believe that PDP's basis was the resolution of the political issue and its rhetorical advocacy for dialogue was a cornerstone of its narrative.

"Today, the same party suddenly declares that Kashmir is not a political issue and the problems we are facing are not any different from those being faced by people outside Kashmir. We condemn this statement in the strongest of terms as it reeks of fallacy, delusion and indicates an enormous ideological u-turn for the party," Sagar said.

He asked PDP president and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti to explain Drabu's remarks.

"Mehbooba needs to answer some basic questions. If J&K is not a political issue then what is the basis of the suffering and conflict in the state? Why have thousands of people lost their lives if Kashmir is not a political issue? Did they lose their lives to a social issue? India and Pakistan have fought four wars over Kashmir. In PDP's opinion what is the cause of these wars and of confrontation between two countries if Kashmir is not a political issue? Is this a formal abandonment of the party's 'Self Rule' document?" Sagar questioned.

The NC general secretary asked why the PDP stressed on dialogue and resolution in its "now abandoned Agenda of the Alliance the PDP's common minimum programme with its alliance partner the BJP" if the party believed that Kashmir was not a political issue.

"The PDP has time and again used the rhetoric of aspiring to become the bridge between New Delhi and Islamabad. If there is no political issue what gap does PDP want to bridge? Why did the central government appoint an interlocutor if the PDP believes Kashmir is not a political issue?" he said.

Sagar asked the PDP to explain the context and the aim behind such a statement.

He said the NC would always struggle for a dignified and acceptable resolution of the Kashmir Issue which is inherently and primarily a political issue.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Nepal's newly-elected Prime Minister K P Oli today won a historic vote of confidence with two-thirds majority in the country's lower House of Parliament.

Oli, who was appointed to the post on February 15, secured 208 votes out of total 268 Parliament members present in the House of Representatives, officials said.

The 66-year-old Oli received the backing of all political parties, except the main opposition, the Nepali Congress and some fringe parties who voted against him.

He received 121 votes from CPN-UML, 52 from CPN (Maoist Center), 16 each from Rastriya Janta Party Nepal and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and one each from Rastriya Janamorcha, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Workers Peasants Party and an independent lawmaker, the officials said.

Oli has consolidated his position by securing more than two thirds majority votes, the officials said.

Speaker of the Parliament Krishna Bahadur Mahara has announced next session of the Parliament on Friday.

Earlier, Oli had called on all political parties to support the government. The Nepali Congress had said it would not support Oli and play the role of an effective opposition.

According to the new Constitution, the Prime Minister needs to win a confidence motion in Parliament within six months after his appointment.

There are 275 members in the House of Representatives including 165 members elected under the first-past-the-post category or direct election and 110 under proportional representation basis.

Nepal concluded three phase of provincial, local and parliamentary elections as part of its efforts to implement the new Constitution that was promulgated in September 2015.

Nepal's new government led by Left parties convened its first parliament session on March 5 after the Himalayan nation successfully held landmark provincial and federal elections.

There are 275 members in the House of Representatives including 165 members elected under the first-past-the-post category or direct election and 110 under proportional representation basis.

The CPN-UML has 121 members, Nepali Congress has 63, and CPN-MC has 53 while Federal Socialist Forum Nepal has 17 and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal has 16 members.

In 2015, when Nepal adopted a new Constitution that split it into seven states, dozens of people were killed in ethnic clashes over territory and rights.

The ethnic Madhesi group, mostly of Indian-origin, protested for months, saying they were not getting enough territory in one of the states and were also facing discrimination.

Violent clashes not only killed 50 people, but also left the country with severe shortages of fuel and medicine because protesters blocked the borders with India.

The protesters finally agreed to the elections after some amendments were made to the Constitution.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The city-based real estate investment fund Nisus Finance Services Company (Nifco) plans to enter the NBFC space by launching a realty focused Rs 100-crore fund.

The new venture, to be led by Nisus Fincorp with a corpus of Rs 100 crore, will be operational from April, managing director Amit Goenka told PTI.

He said the NBFC has already received commitments for Rs 100 crore and is evaluating opportunities for deploying the funds.

"There is enough capital waiting to be deployed in the in various projects. But there are other important businesses which require lesser amount of funds but are very crucial as they support the sectoral ecosystem. Our NBFC will support such businesses," Goenka said.

He said there are many SMEs and tech startups that provide statistical analyses, enterprise resource planning systems, tech vendors, among others which require funds but don't qualify for loans as the requirements are of lower amounts.

"We want to cater to these businesses. They have short-term requirements for reliable discounting or securitized products, where the amount required is only Rs 5-6 crore. They are small businesses but they are crucial for the sector. A return of 14-15 per cent on such borrowings is anytime good," he added.

Nisus Fincorp plans to deploy up to Rs 30 crore in 2018 by providing loans in the Rs 7-8 crore ticket size.

Nifco focuses on late-stage residential projects in the affordable and mid-income segments by developers with strong receivables and cash flows.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)After losing key executives in a helicopter crash, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is veering around the idea of barring senior management from flying together in the same chopper.

The company lost five key operational personnel when a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea in January.

"Lot of world over have a policy of not allowing more than two senior executives flying together. We are also thinking of putting the same policy in operation for our offshore operations," a senior ONGC executive said.

When on January 13 a Dauphin N3 helicopter, operated by Pawan Hans, crashed off the Mumbai coast, ONGC lost topline operational in-charges of its key Mumbai High oil and gas fields. Two pilots ferrying them to an offshore oil and gas facility were also killed in the accident, the cause of which is still being investigated.

"We lost installation/location managers and maintenance in-charges of Mumbai High North, NQ and Water Injection North (WIN) platforms in the accident," he said adding a sixth key operational executive had dropped out of the ill-fated flight at the last moment due to ill health.

Any oil and gas field of ONGC is headed by the asset manager and installation or location managers are just below him.

The official said a decision on barring key executives from flying together is likely to be taken soon.

ONGC, he said, has engaged an expert team from the Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI) to carry out a thorough audit of all helicopter operations of the company and submit a report on maintenance practices, operational procedures and safety issues.

RWSI is a not-for-profit professional body specialising in both civil and military helicopters. It is an affiliate of Helicopter Association International (HAI) and headed by Air Vice Marshall K Sridharan.

"While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the reasons for the accident, we wanted to ascertain if the talks of poor maintenance at Pawan Hans could be a factor," the official said.

The RWSI report is expected later this month.

Improper maintenance, non-adherence to procedures, non-compliance of safety regulations by the operator are some of the common findings in probe reports prepared by the DGCA into 20 of 25 accidents involving Pawan Hans helicopters over the last 30 years. Since 1988, 91 people have been killed in these accidents, including 60 passengers, 27 pilots and four crew.

The Dauphin is a medium weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter.

"We don't know the reasons for the accident yet. Only after competent authorities examine the black block (flight and cockpit voice recorder) can we know the reasons. We haven't been told anything about the reasons by the aviation authorities so far," the official said.

Both engines of the helicopter were found to be intact, ruling out the possibility of a mid-air explosion.

Pawan Hans operates seven Dauphin N3 Helicopters for ONGC's offshore operations. These helicopters, based at Juhu airport, Mumbai and Rajahmundry, undertake passenger crew change service and production trips on a regular basis to meet the offshore requirements of the state-owned oil and gas producer.

Pawan Hans is a joint venture between the government of India owning 51 per cent stake, and ONGC which holds the remaining 49 per cent interest.

As of January 2017, Pawan Hans has a fleet of 46 helicopters. It was incorporated to provide helicopter support services to the oil sector, services in remote and hilly areas, as well as, for charter services.

In 2015, a Pawan Hans chopper had crashed off Mumbai High, the country's largest offshore oilfield 176 kilometres off the Mumbai coast. The helicopter, which was conducting night landing practice, was carrying two pilots. Only one body was found.A man's leg, which got severed in a bus accident, was allegedly used as a pillow to prop him up at the state-run Maharani Laxmibai Medical College here, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to suspend four staff and order a departmental probe into it.

Ghanshyam (28) claimed that the hospital staff put the severed leg under his head as a pillow. He had lost the leg in the accident on Saturday and was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.

Sadhna Kaushik, the medical college's principal, said a four-member committee has been formed to find out who put the severed leg under the patient's head.

Meanwhile, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today expressed sorrow over the incident.

A UP government spokesperson said, "The UP chief minister has announced a financial assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the youth. The chief minister, while taking a serious stand on the incident, has directed that stringent action be initiated against the guilty persons."



The spokesperson said, "The principal secretary, medical education has been directed to submit a detailed action taken report tomorrow pertaining to the incident."



State Medical Education Minister Ashutosh Tandon had late last night directed suspension of two doctors and two nurses with immediate effect on the ground of laxity in discharging their duty.

As the video of the man lying on a stretcher in the hospital with the severed leg under his head went viral on social and electronic media, Kaushik said strict action would be taken against those found guilty.

"He (the patient) was given immediate medical aid. The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient's attendant used the leg for the same. We've set up a committee. Strict action will be taken if our staff is found to be at fault," she said, adding, "It appears to be a case of mischief."



"Head of the Department of Surgery Dr Rajeev Sinha will head the committee and it will give its report in 48 hours. Action will be based on the findings of the report," she said. 'Jhansi is 300 km from state capital Lucknow, and the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College is affiliated to the Bundelkhand University, Jhansi. It serves many districts in Uttar Pradesh's backward Bundelkhand region.

A government spokesperson said the staff who have been suspended are Dr Alok Agarwal (senior resident - orthopaedics), Dr Mahendra Pal Singh (emergency medical officer), sister in-charge Deepa Narang and Shashi Srivastava, a nurse.

Instructions have been issued to initiate departmental action against Dr Praveen Saraogi, an assistant professor in the orthopaedics department, the spokesperson said.

According to the medical college authorities, the CCTV footage would be reviewed to find out who was responsible for placing the severed leg as a pillow. Chief medical superintendent Harish Chandra Arya said stringent action will be taken against the guilty after the inquiry.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said the state government will take action once the full information about the incident is available.

Ghanshyam was a cleaner of the school bus which, on its way to the institute, overturned in Mauranipur, 65 km from Jhansi, as the driver tried to avoid a collision with a tractor-trolley. Nearly a dozen children were injured in the accident, the police said.

He lost his leg in the accident and was sent to the medical college after preliminary treatment at a local health centre.

The incident at the Maharani Laxmibai Jhansi Medical College is the latest in the list of several controversies to have hit Uttar Pradesh's healthcare, including the death of several children at a Gorakhpur hospital last year allegedly due to oxygen shortage.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Italian automotive design firm Pininfarina is eyeing USD 1 billion in revenues, in partnership with Tech Mahindra's engineering division, over the next 3-5 years.

The two companies together generate around USD 500 million a year from their design and engineering business.

Pininfarina CEO Silvio Pietro Angori expects the venture to grow to USD 1 billion in 3-5 years. "When I say USD 1 billion, it is combining the engineering services of Tech Mahindra with our own business. So that is feasible," he told PTI on the sidelines of Geneva Motor Show.

Tech Mahindra currently owns around 76 per cent stake in the Turin-based firm which is known for design work for iconic brands such as Ferrari, Maserati and Rolls-Royce.

At present, Pininfarina generates around 10 per cent of the revenues from Italy, 30 per cent from Europe, and the remaining 60 per cent from rest of the world.

In India, the company is working with "no more than two clients" currently, Angori said.

Pininfarina, which became a part of the Mahindra group in late 2015, has been able to regain financial stability and is now looking to strengthen its non-automotive businesses as well.

In India, it is eyeing opportunities in sectors like railways, real estate and infrastructure development, Angori said.

When asked about Pininfarina's over two-year association with Mahindra group, Angori said the Indian firm has helped the company regain financial stability besides helping it to reach out to clients which were earlier out of reach.

"Mahindra group has given us financial stability and it has led us to unlock so much of the potential we had," Angori said.

Both the companies have the same values and founding principles and this has helped Pininfarina flourish, he added.

"We have around 110 clients and that number has increased in the last two years by about 20 per cent," Angori said.

Commenting on the synergies with Tech Mahindra, he said that while Pininfarina does the physical design, the digital part of the job is taken care by the Tech Mahindra.

"No other company in the world has the capability like us," Angori said.

Mahindra group had announced the acquisition of Pininfarina in late 2015 for an overall outgo of over EUR 50 million after months of negotiations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects to raise the share of solar power in the energy basket, provide cheaper electricity and cut carbon emissions.

Speaking at the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), he said India will generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2022.

This would be more than double the present renewable energy capacity and would be enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time.

Modi, the chief architect of ISA that seeks to bring together 121 nations, presented 10 action points including making affordable solar technology available to all nations, raising the share of electricity generated from photovoltaic cells in the energy mix and framing regulations and standards to support the initiative.

He said better and cheaper solar technology should be easily available to all nations. "We have to increase the share of solar in energy mix," he said.

Also, innovation has to be encouraged so as to provide solutions to different needs. "We have to provide concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects," he said.

The ISA's major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000 GW of solar generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over USD 1 trillion into solar energy by 2030.

Regulatory aspects as well as standards have to be framed which will expedite adoption of solar solutions, Modi said, adding that consultancy support has to be development for putting up bankable solar projects in developing countries.

Stressing on inclusiveness, he said a vast network of centres of excellence has to be created.

Solar energy policy has to be to looked at in totality for development so that it can contribute to achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), he said. "We have to strengthen ISA Secretariat and make it more professional."



Modi called for rising above narrow private goals to make collective effort for the betterment of the mankind.

He said India has launched the "world's biggest renewable energy programme with a target to generate 175 GW of electricity from renewable sources."



Of these, 100 GW is to come from solar and 60 GW from wind. "Of the target for solar energy generation, we have already achieved 20 GW installed solar power," he said.

India needs some USD 83 billion between FY2018 and FY2022 to meet its 175 GW target, according to industry estimates.

Electricity from renewable sources is cheap, reliable and clean. Besides providing an alternative to polluting coal-based electricity generation, photovoltaic (PV) has big potential to power irrigation and reduce the use of back-up diesel generators.

At present, the country's renewable energy installed capacity is 63 GW. Solar and wind power tariffs have dropped to an all-time low of Rs 2.44 per unit and Rs 3.46 per unit, among the lowest in the world.

China is targeting over 360 GW of renewable capacity generation during the period.

As a demonstration of India's commitment to ISA, Modi said 500 training slots will be created for member countries and a solar technology mission will be started to lead R&D in the sector.

To supplement solar energy generation, India has distributed 28 crore LED bulbs in the last three years which have helped save USD 2 billion and 4 GW of electricity, the prime minister said.

ISA, headquartered in Gurgaon near here, is now a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation that was established following the Paris Declaration as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.

The Prime Minister said of the 121 countries associated with ISA, 61 have joined the alliance and 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement.

Indian 'vedas' have since thousands of years considered sun as at soul of the universe and a nourisher of life. "We have to look at this ancient balanced and all-encompassing philosophy when when we today look for ways to deal with the challenge of climate change," he said.

Modi had in a speech at London's Wembley Stadium in 2015 proposed the idea of an inter-governmental organisation comprising of 121 countries, which lie either completely or partly between the two tropics, with an aim to promote solar energy.

ISA was launched by him at the India Africa Summit in New Delhi and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in October 2015 and November 2015, respectively.

On Sunday, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered here for alliance's first summit. The summit was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking on the occasion, Macron said USD 1 trillion will be needed to achieve one terawatt (TW) of solar power capacity by 2030.

"The development of solar energy will not just lead to our prosperity, but will also reduce the carbon footprint of the earth," Modi said today.

Stating that better and affordable solar technology is available to all must be ensured, he said, results would be even better if other forms of energy are linked to solar.

Solar energy can have a variety of uses - agriculture, solar water pumps, clean cooking. "We need to encourage innovation in the solar energy sector to find different uses for it," he said.Rattled by the spate of banking frauds, RBI has initiated special audit of state-owned lenders with focus on trade financing activities, especially relating to the issuance of letters of undertakings (LoUs) by them, banking sources said.

In addition, the RBI has asked all for details of the LoUs they had written, including the amounts outstanding, and whether the had pre-approved credit limits or kept enough cash on margin before issuing the guarantees.

Most of the big banking frauds which were unearthed in the recent past, including the one perpetuated by diamantaire Nirav Modi and his associates, pertain to trade Also, many of the willful default cases have their roots in trade finance, the sources told PTI.

In view of the recent Rs 126.46 billion PNB scam, done through fraudulent issuance of LoUs by the connivance of the bank's staff, it was pertinent for the regulator RBI to examine the issue of trade which also included issuance of letter of credit (LC) and LoUs, sources said.

Soon after Nirav Modi case came to light, the CBI registered a case against a Delhi-based diamond jewellery exporter Dwarka Das Seth International for an alleged bank loan fraud to the tune of Rs 3.9 billion towards Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

Dwarka Das Seth International availed various credit facilities from OBC between 2007-12.

Also, in the Bank of Baroda fraud case of 2015, two Delhi-based businessmen cheated it of Rs 60 bilion by using the trade mechanism.

Investigations in BoB fraud case revealed major irregularities relating to trade finance as several forex transactions were done mainly via advance remittances for import, through newly-opened current accounts. Heavy cash transactions -- sometimes four or five times a day -- were also noticed.

Besides, the government on its part recently asked the state-owned to scrutinise all cases of non-performing assets (NPAs) exceeding Rs 500 million for possible fraud and report the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Banks have also been asked by the finance ministry to come up with a "pre-emptive" action plan within a fortnight to combat rising operational and technical risks, and assign clear accountability to senior functionaries.

(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 IMF has said that the recapitalisation of India's public sector banks should be part of a broader package of financial reforms to speed up the resolution of their massive non-performing assets, which has attracted attention in the backdrop of the Nirav Modi case.

The recent policy reforms to address vulnerabilities in the banking and corporate sectors in India have been significant, International Monetary Fund Deputy Managing Director Tao Zhang said ahead of his visit to India.

The asset quality review, initiated by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in December 2015, prompted banks to take steps to recognise all nonperforming assets and ensure appropriately provisioned balance sheets by March 2017. Other important steps include the new Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, adopted in May 2016; and more recently, the announcement of a major recapitalisation of India's PSBs, he said.

According to a recent Assocham-Crisil study, India's banking sector will be saddled with gross non-performing assets (GNPAs) worth a staggering Rs 9.5 lakh crore by March-end, up from Rs 8 lakh crore in the year-ago period.

"While all are welcome steps, we think the PSB recapitalisation should be part of a broader package of financial reforms to speed up the resolution of NPAs, improve PSB governance, reduce the role of the public sector in the financial system, and enhance bank lending capacity and practices," Zhang told PTI in an interview.

Zhang, however, did not respond to specific question related to the case of Indian diamond merchants Nirav Modi and his uncle Mehul Choksi, who are being investigated for their alleged USD 2 billion swindling of money from the Punjab National Bank.

"We have seen the reports. As a matter of practice, we do not comment on the operations of individual financial institutions. In general terms, what I can say is that we support the authorities' ongoing efforts to strengthen the soundness and resilience of India's financial system," he said.

A team of experts recently conducted an assessment in the context of India's participation in the IMF/World Bank Financial System Stability Assessment Program (FSAP), he noted.

"The experts found that the RBI has made progress in strengthening banking supervision since the previous assessment in 2011. For instance, a risk-based supervisory approach has been introduced and Basel III norms have been implemented, as is now increasingly common around the world," Zhang said.

"Nevertheless, the experts recommended legal changes to enable the RBI to extend all the powers currently exercised over private sector banks to public sector ones; in particular, regarding Board member dismissals, mergers, and license revocation," he said.

"Having said that, banks' operational risk management, risk culture, internal control frameworks and external audit function should typically play a central role in preventing fraud," Zhang said in response to a question.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, today said he has been receiving threat calls for the past few months.

"I have brought this matter to the notice of the Lok Sabha Speaker (Sumitra Mahajan) and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh," Kharge told reporters in Kalaburagi, about 600km from here.

Kharge said he had lodged a complaint at the Tughlaq police station in Delhi about two months ago. However, the Congress leader did not elaborate on the nature of the threats.

He explained that he avoided making a fuss about it earlier as it would have hampered the probe. "Also, people would have felt that I was trying to gain political mileage out of it," he said.

"People think they can silence me or stop me from doing my work. They should know I would have died at the age of six when fire broke out in our house killing my parents and other relatives. Now I'm 76. So I perceive these extra 70 years as bonus," the MP added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)An industry body today said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's threat to go on hunger strike if the issue of the sealing drive against commercial establishments wasn't resolved was a mere "political drama".

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said the chief minister was shedding "crocodile tears" on the issue that affected the livelihood of numerous people in the last few months.

"Instead of talking about hunger strike, Kejriwal should honestly work for the traders and accordingly pass a bill for a moratorium on sealing in the upcoming session of the state Assembly and send it to the central government for approval," CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said.

Kejriwal yesterday had threatened that he would go on a hunger strike if the issue of the ongoing sealing drive against commercial establishments in the national capital was not resolved by the end of this month.

At a meeting with traders in south Delhi's Amar Colony, on whom police had on Thursday allegedly used force while they were protesting against a sealing action in the area, the chief minister demanded that the Centre bring an ordinance to stop the drive.

The chief minister's talking about a hunger strike is a "political drama and he is shedding crocodile tears," the CAIT said in a statement.

"The trading community of Delhi is not at all impressed by Kejriwal's announcement since he is not doing what he is capable of, but instead trying to score political mileage on a issue which is directly connected with the livelihood of traders and their employees," the body alleged.

The industry body also urged Kejriwal to "depute a senior counsel in the Supreme Court and file an affidavit as asked by the apex court".

Meanwhile, in a show of solidarity, traders, under the aegis of the CAIT, are slated to hold a 'Delhi Trade Bandh' on March 13.

All major wholesale and retail markets of Delhi, including Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Sadar Bazar, Kashmere Gate, Bhagirath Place, Lajpat Rai Market, Khari Baoli, Naya Bazar, Kamla Nagar, Chawri Bazar, Nai Sarak, Khan Market, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Lajpat Nagar, Amar Colony and Defence Colony, would down their shutters on that day, the CAIT claimed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Serena Williams set up a mouth-watering Indian Wells third round showdown against her sister Venus with a straight-sets victory over Kiki Bertens.

Venus and Serena have faced each other 28 times in their legendary careers and they are now meeting in Serena's first tournament back on the WTA Tour since she beat Venus 6-4 6-4 in the 2017 Australian Open final.

"(We are) having to play each other in the third round, one of us is going to be gone," Serena said. "I would prefer to play someone else, anybody else, literally anybody else, but it has to happen now. So it is what it is."



Serena, who lifted her 23rd Grand Slam title in Melbourne last year, was then already pregnant with daughter Alexis Olympia, who was born in September.

Venus did her part to set up the marquee match when she dismantled world No. 35 Sorana Cirstea 6-3 6-4 in just 79 minutes.

Serena then took center stage, needing just under two hours to dispatch Bertens, of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 yesterday.

"I mean, she looked like she never lost a step," Venus said of her younger sister. "Great way to come back."



Serena, 36 and vying to become the first woman to win three Indian Wells titles, clinched the victory against Bertens on her second match point when Bertens blasted a forehand wide.

Serena won 54 percent of her second-serve points and broke Bertens's serve six times.

Still showing some rust from her long layoff, Serena hit just one ace and made 37 unforced errors to 32 for Bertens.

She takes a career head-to-head record over Venus of 17-11 into their third-round clash.

They met for the first time in the second round of the 1998 Australian Open which Venus won 7-6 (7/4) 6-1.

This is the earliest they will face each other since that Melbourne meeting 20 years ago.

Serena, unseeded in the wake of her long layoff, admitted she would have preferred not to come up against her sister so soon in the draw.

"It's a huge difference to play her in the semi-finals or even the quarter-finals or a final as opposed to the third round. You know, we can always stay in the tournament longer if the both of us are in the tournament," Serena said.

In 2001 they were slated to meet in the Indian Wells semi-finals when Venus withdrew, handing Serena a walkover.

Fans who felt cheated of a chance to see the siblings play, thinking it was a tactic orchestrated by their father Richard, booed Serena during her final triumph against Kim Clijsters.

- 14-year boycott -



===================



The crowd's treatment led to a 14-year boycott by the sisters, which Serena finally ended in 2015. This is just her third appearance in the California desert in 17 years.

Asked about the semi-final match that never happened, Serena said she has tried to forget.

"That's totally gone out of my mind," she said. "First of all, 17 years ago seems like forever ago."



Venus is enjoying a resurgence on the Tour after a string of injuries limited her playing time for several seasons.

"I still have a lot to give. I don't think my dad wants me to ever stop playing," the 37-year-old, seven-time Grand Slam champion said.

Venus won 61 percent of her first-serve points and broke Cirstea's serve six times.

She fell behind 3-1 early in the second set but rallied by holding serve in the fifth game. She won four of the final five games of the second set, breaking Cirstea three times to close it out.

Elsewhere yesterday, fourth seeded Elina Svitolina defeated Germany's Mona Barthel 6-4 6-3.

The 23-year-old Svitolina advances to the third round where she will face Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro who beat Hsieh Su-Wei, of Taiwan, 6-4 2-6 6-3.

Ukrainian Svitolina won five titles in 2017, comprising Toronto, Rome, Istanbul, Dubai and Taipei City.

In other women's matches, world number two Caroline Wozniacki steamed her way into the third round with a 6-4 6-1 win over Lara Arruabarrena, wild card Danielle Collins surprised fellow American Madison Keys 6-3 7-6 (9/7) and seventh seeded Caroline Garcia cruised past Jennifer Brady 6-4 6-4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A shoe was hurled at Pakistan's ousted prime minister by a religious extremist today during a function at an Islamic seminary in Lahore.

The incident took place a day after religious extremist blackened the face of Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif with ink when he was addressing his party's worker's convention in his hometown in Sialkot, some 100-km from Lahore.

Today Sharif was a chief guest at Jamia Naemia seminary, Ghari Shahu Lahore.

As Sharif was heading towards rostrum for a speech, a student hurled a shoe at him that hit his shoulder and ear.

The student also managed to reach in front of Sharif and chanted "Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah" slogan.

The security personnel caught the student and his other accomplice who also chanted "Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah" slogans and gave them sound thrashing.

Video Of Shoe Thrown On #NSJoinsShoeClub pic.twitter.com/Hdgp8N9xVV  SYED SHAHMEER ALI (@ShahmeerAliPTI) March 11, 2018

Later, the two students were handed over to police. Police identified the shoe thrower as Abdul Ghafoor, a former student of the seminary, and his accomplice as Sajid.

The situation became very tense after the incident.

Sharif made a brief speech in which he did not mention about the man who threw shoe at him.

The religious parties especially Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan had held Sharif and his party (PML-N) responsible for making an attempt to change a clause related to finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution.

In yesterday's incident, Faiz Rasool, who threw ink at the foreign minister, told the police that he vent out his anger because the PML-N had tried to change the finality of the Prophet in the Constitution.

"This hurt the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis including myself," he said.

Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had to resign last November when hundreds of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan supporters camped at Islamabad's Faizabad traffic interchange forcing the PML-N government to take action against those in the federal cabinet responsible for attempting to change this clause from the Constitution.

The mainstream parties -- Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf -- condemned the incident.

PML-N leader and Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said those afraid of popularity of PML-N are behind such incidents.A shopkeeper foiled a bid by three armed persons to loot his shop in Palam Vihar here, police said today.

The three persons last night entered the store posing as customers and attacked shop owner Surendra Kumar while one of them held the shopkeeper at gunpoint, a senior police officer said.

Unfazed, Kumar fought back despite one of the accused opening fire at him, the police officer said, adding the bullet missed Kumar and he raised alarm to alert passersby.

As Kumar raised alarm, the accused escaped from the spot, he said.

The shopkeeper alleged that he had called police thrice and reported the incident but the policemen did not act swiftly.

A case has been registered under relevant IPC sections against three unknown persons, the police said.

An investigation is underway in the matter and efforts are on to nab them with help of CCTV camera footage in which the incident was recorded, the officer added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A Sikh law student in the UK felt "victimised" after he was dragged out of a bar because he was wearing a turban, media reports said.

Amrik Singh, 22, claimed that he was ordered to leave Rush Late Bar in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, yesterday for wearing his religious headgear, BBC reported.

Singh was told that the bar had a "no headwear" policy.

He tried to explain to a bouncer who approached him that the turban protected his hair and was part of his religion. But his pleas were ignored - and he was "dragged away" from his friends before being removed from the venue, the report said.

Singh was also allegedly told, "I didn't think you were allowed to come in a pub and drink anyway."



"I'm heartbroken. The reason why I was removed was because I refused to remove my turban," he wrote on Facebook.

Singh said the bouncer had approached him saying that he needed to remove my turban, the report said.

"I explained that a turban isn't just headgear, but part of my religion and that it protected my hair - and that I was allowed to wear a turban in public," he said.

"The bouncer ignored this and said I needed to take it off. I refused and was subsequently dragged away from my friends," he added.

"The fact that I was being removed because of my religious views really upset me. My ancestors have fought for the British army previously," the Sun reported.

"Furthermore, me and my parents were born in Britain and all uphold British values.

"The worst part of it was the fact he compared my turban to wearing a pair of trainers," Singh, a final year law student at Nottingham Trent University, added.

The management, however, has apologised and said the staff involved faced suspension pending an investigation.

In a statement to the Labour councillor for Mansfield, Sonya Ward, Rush Late Bar said that it was not their policy.

"Good morning, this is absolutely NOT our policy. We are investigating this incident and the security member in question has been suspended," Ward shared the statement on Twitter.

In February, an Indian Sikh environmental activist's turban was ripped by a white man shouting "Muslim go back" during a racist attack outside the UK Parliament.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The killing of Mufti Waqas, the mastermind of five recent suicide attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including the Sunjuwan strike, has dealt a severe blow to Jaish-e-Mohammed as he was planning to target other parts of India, officials said.

Barely 21 km away from the state capital of Srinagar, Waqas, who moved around under the 'code name' of Abu Ansar, was killed in one of the most swift operations carried out by the Jammu and Kashmir police and the Army on March 5 in Haitwara village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

After February 10 attack at the Sunjuwan Army camp in Jammu, Waqas, an Afghan war veteran, was high on the radar of security agencies as he was giving continuous updates to 'handlers' in Pakistan and also assuring them that "the next attack" would be in hinterland of the country.

A crack team was formed by the police with the specific job to trail Waqas -- dubbed as a 'killing machine' for his skills in motivating youths to become suicide attackers.

It was found that he was instrumental in brainwashing and radicalising Fardeen Khanday, 16, and Manzoor Ahmed Baba, 21, to turn them into 'fidayeens' (suicide bombers).

The duo along with a Pakistani national stormed a CRPF camp on the intervening night of December 30 and 31, 2017, in South Kashmir's Lethpora, killing five security personnel. All the three terrorists were killed in the retaliatory operation of the security forces.

Waqas had the capability to create many more suicide bombers, officials said. A search was already on for three Kashmiri youths who had joined Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) last year, they said.

Swayam Prakash Pani, who has the distinction of becoming the youngest Inspector General of militancy-hit Kashmir Valley, refused to comment on the details of the March 5 operation which ended barely in 20 minutes.

"I can only say that after eliminating Noor Mohammed Tantray, Tallah Rashid and now Waqas, Jaish has suffered significantly," Pani said.

Officials in the know of the developments said Waqas's next target was to hit a strategic installation in the hinterland. His phone, which was sent for analysis, showed that he was constantly in touch with a few people believed to be Jaish terrorists.

After the of his death spread, tributes were paid to Waqas by Jaish cadres for his 11-month tenure in Kashmir.

The events leading to the March 5 success were based on a series of raids carried out by police in the highly-sensitive Tral area, which has turned into a Jaish bastion. This put Waqas on the run and he started moving out of Tral area in South Kashmir.

After roaming for a few days, he chose Haitwara village as his hideout as it provided him easy access to Budgam area in central Kashmir.

Before closing in on Waqas, police with the help of the Army and the CRPF, had tightened the cordon so that he could not escape.

"This was a make or break mission as we knew if we get him alive, it will be a goldmine of information and if he gets killed, backbone of Jaish terror group would be broken," said an official involved in the operation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sleep spindles or bursts of brain activity while we are asleep play a vital role in strengthening new memories, say researchers who found a way to decode and even enhance these brain waves.

The findings may lead to new ways to help people remember things better, researchers said.

Scientists have long known that sleep spindles - sudden bursts of oscillatory brain activity - play an important role in the formation and retention of new memories.

Sleep spindles are half-second to two-second bursts of brain activity that occur during deep sleep, and can be visualised and measured on an electroencephalogram (EEG).

Earlier studies have shown that the number of spindles that occur during the night could predict a person's memory the next day.

However, many questions about the link between sleep spindles and how a person's recently acquired information is 'reactivated' and strengthened during sleep remained.

Researchers from University of Birmingham and University of York in the UK demonstrated that there is a particular pattern of brain activity that supports this reactivation process.

The study, published in the journal Current Biology, has also shown that the content of reactivated memories can be decoded for brain activation patterns at the time that spindles occur.

The team devised an experiment in which people learned to associate particular words with particular objects and scenes.

Some study participants then took a 90-minute nap after their study session, whereas others stayed awake.

While people napped, researchers cued those associative memories and unfamiliar words. The team monitored the participants' brain activity during sleep using an EEG machine.

The results showed them that sleep spindles occurred when memories were reactivated by presenting the associated words.

Researchers were able to differentiate the brain signals associated with reactivated objects and scenes. This demonstrates that spindles produce a specific code for the content of reactivated memories - a process that may underpin our ability to remember more after sleep.

"While it has been shown previously that targeted memory reactivation can boost memory consolidation during sleep, we have now showed that sleep spindles might represent the key underlying mechanism," said Bernhard Staresina from University of Birmingham.

"Thus, direct induction of sleep spindles - for example, by stimulating the brain with electrodes - perhaps combined with targeted memory reactivation, may enable us to further improve memory performance while we sleep," said Staresina.

"Our data suggest that spindles facilitate processing of relevant memory features during sleep and that this process boosts memory consolidation," he said.

"We are quite certain that memories are reactivated in the brain during sleep, but we do not know the neural processes that underpin this phenomenon," said Scott Cairney from the University of York.

"Sleep spindles have been linked to the benefits of sleep for memory in previous research, so we wanted to investigate whether these brain waves mediate reactivation," said Cairney.

"If they support memory reactivation, we further reasoned that it could be possible to decipher memory signals at the time that these spindles took place," he added.

The findings may help to explain how that process may go wrong in people with learning difficulties, according to the researchers.

It might also lead to the development of effective interventions designed to boost memory for important information.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Leader of the Opposition in the Assam Legislative Assembly, Debabrata Saikia, today asked Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal to make public the details of his discussion, particularly those related to illegal infiltration, with Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

The chief minister should disclose whether he discussed the issue of the return of the Bangladeshis who have been identified as illegal by the ongoing legal procedure, the Congress MLA said.

"The people of Assam have the right to know the details of the discussion between the chief minister and the Bangladesh president," Saikia said in a statement here.

He also criticised the state government for spending huge amount of money for advertising in the media to welcome the president of the neighbouring country.

The sum, instead, could have been used to repair the embankments and for other development works in the state, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)More than six months after a radiology intern at St Stephen's Hospital here allegedly killed his colleague, police are still on the lookout for him, even as they suspect that he might be hiding in a monastery in Uttarakhand.

Shashwat Pandey was found with his throat slit at a retiring room in the hospital in August last year. He was allegedly killed by Suyash Gupta, his batchmate at the hospital.

After killing Pandey, Gupta had fled Delhi, following which a lookout notice was issued for him. But six months on, he continues to be elusive even as teams from district police and Crime Branch are after him.

Gupta carries a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his arrest.

Police said they had found that the accused had stayed at a lodge in Haridwar in August last year but since then his whereabouts are not known.

A senior official privy to the probe said Gupta had given his cell phone to a waiter at the lodge when he stayed there around August 28.

"He had asked the waiter to switch on the cell phone after a year but the waiter switched it on in November. We tracked down the lodge but could not find any leads from there," said the official.

It was learnt that Gupta was asked to leave the lodge by the manager since he found his credentials dubious, he said.

The official said that it was suspected that Gupta was hiding in a monastery in Uttarkhand.

"He is a doctor and it is suspected that he might be working in one of the matha there. He might have assumed a new identity and probably disguised himself by changing his facial appearance," he added.

He said Gupta was known to be a loner and only had Pandey as a friend.

"He can easily avoid getting noticed. He also had withdrawn around Rs 8 lakh from his account before killing Pandey. It means that he also has money to sustain himself," said the official.

He said a team will soon be sent to Uttarakhand to track him down.

"The team will be stationed there and will scan all possible locations - small clinics, schools and monasteries - where Gupta might be hiding," he said.

Gupta was into PlayStation gaming and police had even attempted to find his login ID on the platform but to no avail.

Last month, the Delhi High Court had asked the trial court to review once a month the progress of the probe into the disappearance of Gupta as well as into the alleged murder of his colleague of which he is accused.

The court had passed the decision on a habeas corpus petition, filed by Gupta's mother through her counsel seeking the high court's intervention to direct the police to find her son who has been missing since the day of the killing.

Gupta and Pandey were on good terms and were even staying together. But the situation worsened between them when Pandey became friends with a nurse and did not give much time to Gupta. The duo developed differences and Gupta then hatched a plan to kill Pandey, police had said.

The accused had bought a knife and clothes online as part of the plan. He had come in his car to the hospital, killed Pandey and then fled to Anand Vihar bus terminal where he abandoned his vehicle.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri today appealed to the newly elected BJP-IPFT government in Tripura to immediately stop alleged attacks on opposition supporters.

He also urged the new government to take responsibility of ensuring peace and treatment of those injured in the attacks, along with a compensation package for the affected.

"RSS can pull down statues but they can't pull down an ideology," Yechuri told a press conference, after visiting the College Square in Belonia of South Tripura district, where a statue of Communist icon Lenin was pulled down.

The CPI(M) has blamed the BJP workers for the incident.

"The cult of violence is part of their (RSS) entire ideology. This country has resisted this in the past and we have overcome. We will do it again. They can't succeed in this type of politics," Yechuri said.

He said the CPI(M) would raise the issue of reported post-poll violence in the state and in the Parliament.

Asked about the party's poll debacle in Tripura, Yechuri said the CPI(M) would review it in detail.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Congress may have suffered a crushing defeat in the Northeast, but senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia feels that there are "very strong signs" of the party's resurgence in the Hindi heartland which would be crucial in the 2019 general election.

Buoyed by the party's victory in the recent by-polls in the Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, he also said the people had decided to end the 14-year BJP rule in the state where elections are scheduled to be held later this year.

Scindia, widely seen as the front runner among the Congress's chief ministerial candidates for Madhya Pradesh, also urged "like-minded" parties to join hands to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state.

In an interview to PTI, he said the Assembly poll outcome in Nagaland and Tripura came as a "shock".

In Meghalaya, he pointed out, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party.

"...but the BJP true to its game believes in forming governments by default and a party that has won only two seats in that Assembly was trying every trick in the book to put together a government," he said.

However, "having said that, I think you've had very strong signs of resurgence in the Hindi heartland," the 47-year-old leader said.

The Congress drew a blank in Tripura and Nagaland, while in Meghalaya it failed to form the government. The BJP has come to power in all the three states forming coalition governments.

Scindia also asserted that the Gujarat Assembly poll result was "truly inspiring". The MP from Madhya Pradesh's Guna said this was followed by the results in the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by-polls, won by the Congress.

"These are all states which are crucial to the Congress party going ahead. So I think the barometer and the portent that these states portray are very important signs for the Congress party," he said.

However, the Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha said there was still a lot of work to be done by party workers as "we must never take our opponent lightly".

Scindia also dismissed talk of infighting within the party in MP, saying the Congress was a united house in the state.

"We have been working together for the last year, year and a half. We are strategising, planning every activity together, which is what you have seen in these two by-elections. Every single leader of the Congress party was present in this by-election," Scindia said.

"So, I can understand why the BJP is extremely concerned," he added.

Asked if Congress should name a chief ministerial candidate in MP, Scindia said, "I am not going to speak on this issue because I don't think it would be apt. This is a decision that has to be taken by the general secretary and by the Congress high command."



Terming the recent by-poll win in Madhya Pradesh a "very important triumph", he said the Congress won despite the BJP throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" into the election.

It was the might of the government versus the ordinary Congress worker, Scindia said.

"I also do believe that in Madhya Pradesh voters have made up their minds to see the end of the BJP rule in our state for a multitude of reasons," he said.

The Congress last month retained both the Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where by-polls were held.

Brajendra Singh Yadav of the Congress defeated his BJP rival Baisahab Yadav by a 2,124 votes to win the Mungaoli seat while in Kolaras, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav prevailed over Devendra Jain of the BJP by 8,083 votes.Hundreds gathered at an anti-nuclear rally in Taiwan today to demand the government keep its pledge to abolish the use of atomic energy by 2025.

Waving placards reading "nuclear go zero," and "abolish nuclear, save Taiwan," protesters rallied outside the presidential office in Taipei on the same day as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of the Fukushima disaster.

Protesters were worried by a recent decision by the cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council to allow state-owned energy company Taipower to restart a reactor at a facility near Taipei, pending parliament's final approval.

The reactor has been offline since May 2016 after a glitch was found in its electrical system, which the company said has since been resolved.

Anti-nuclear groups are now questioning whether President Tsai Ing-wen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will keep its promise to phase out nuclear energy.

"It would be violating the spirit of creating a nuclear-free homeland by 2025 pledged by the DPP," said Tsui Shu-hsin of the prospect of restarting the reactor. Tsui is spokeswoman for Nuclear Go Zero Action Platform which organised the rally.

Lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang, head of the opposition New Power Party, echoed the sentiment.

"The government should move forward, not backwards and restarting the reactor would be a regression," he told reporters at the rally.

Taiwan currently generates about one-fifth of its energy from three nuclear plants.

Although concerns have grown over power supply sufficiency following massive power failures across the island in August last year, many in the island remain adamantly against nuclear energy.

In 2014, authorities were forced to seal off a nearly-completed fourth nuclear plant after public opposition.

Some at Sunday's rally wore sunflowers on their hats to symbolise clean energy.

"I would rather the government restrict the use of electricity than relying on nuclear energy which is unsafe and generates a lot of waste," said 22-year-old college student Yao Hsing-yu.

Taiwan started annual anti-nuclear rallies to commemorate Japan's nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011 when the Fukushima energy plant was hit by a tsunami following an earthquake, knocking out power to its cooling systems and sending reactors into meltdown.

Taiwan, like Japan, is prone to frequent quakes as the island lies on a number of fault lines.

Last month, 17 people were killed and nearly 300 injured when a 6.4 magnitude quake hit eastern Hualien, leaving almost 2,000 buildings damaged.

"Nuclear facilities are unsafe as Taiwan has many earthquakes. The government needs to take the lead to actively develop alternative and green energy," said 40-year-old protester Fan De-lu.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Union minister Maneka Gandhi today urged new Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma to end "rampant" poaching in the state, which she alleged was pushing some endangered species to the brink of extinction.

Gandhi cited the example of the Western Hoolock Gibbon species, in particular, and said they were highly endangered, due to unchecked poaching in Meghalaya.

"Meghalaya has rampant poaching. Most wild animals and birds are endangered because of unchecked poaching. You have the Western Hoolock Gibbon which is the only Great Ape in India. It is now less than 1,000 in number as they are killed and eaten or sold as pets with many taken to China," the Women and Child Development Minister said in a letter to Sangma.

Gandhi said that in the last year alone, as many as 11 Hoolock Gibbons were reportedly killed in the state, especially in the Garo Hills region.

She, however, said that for the past few years, a French national and his NGO, 'Huro Program-Meghalaya', has been working for the upkeep of the endangered ape species by setting up rescue centres in the Garo Hills.

The program is being mentored by former Union minister of state Agatha K Sangma.

Gandhi, who is a founder member of the animal protection group, People for Animals (PFA), also criticised Meghalaya's "high inactive" forest department officials and called on the state government to act tough against them.

"Where are they? Not in the forests, not in the villages. Most are either in the state capital or sitting in their own homes getting a salary," Gandhi alleged.

Stating that Meghalaya could benefit from wild life tourism, she expressed willingness to send trained NGOs to organise workshops with local rangers and forest guards in the state.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Telangana government today entered into an MoU with Safran Electrical and Power SAS for setting up an aerospace unit in the state.

Philippe Petitcolin, CEO, Safran and Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary (industries) of the state government signed the MoU at an event in Delhi, a state government release said here.

Under the agreement, Safran Electrical and Power India would set up a unit in the state at a cost of Rs 52 crore, it said.

The project is expected to create more than 250 employment opportunities, it added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Telangana government aims to conduct eye-check up for everyone in the state and the plan would be ready in the next three months, Health Minister C Laxma Reddy said today.

"Telangana government has been emphasising on preventive care. Our Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is giving top priority to healthcare, along with the other sectors," he said at an event on public awareness campaign on Glaucoma here.

He said the government's thrust has been on creating awareness, prevention, early detection and treatment of the disease.

As part of several goverment initiatives, the Chief Minister thought of eye check-up for everyone in the state, he said.

The plan, which would be ready in three months, would have eye screening, treatment and also spectacles provided, Reddy was quoted as saying in a release.

The minister said it was 'very sad' that one out every five Glaucoma victims worldwide was in India, which was due to lack of awareness.

"The government is taking initiatives to create awareness. We will take steps to prevent avoidable blindness from glaucoma," he said.

Reddy said the state government was focussing on immunisation, prevention, early detection and treatment.

The immunisation rate, which was 65 per cent at the time of formation of Telangana, was 95 per cent today and would reach the milestone of 100 per cent soon, he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily today said a third front will be a "stillborn child," and asserted that only a "confederation" of parties, led by his national outfit, can take on the BJP-led NDA effectively.

With reports of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart K Chadrasekhar Rao making efforts to forge a non-BJP, non-Congress front doing the rounds, he said without the Congress, one cannot think of an "alternative" to the BJP.

"It (third front) will be a stillborn child. Without the Congress, which has a spread all over the country, you can't think of an alternative," the former Union minister told PTI.

"The Congress has to lead (a broad anti-BJP front)," Moily said.

"Definitely, they (those trying to prop up a third front) can't do without the Congress. Without the Congress, they can't think of finding a common leader because they are all regional forces," he said, adding that the regional parties will have to bind themselves with a national party (Congress).

The former Karnataka chief minister said that third front combinations in the past without the Congress had failed.

Any third front could ultimately succumb to the pressure of the BJP and only subserve the interest of the lead party of the NDA, Moily said.

"It (anti-BJP front) has to be done by a combination of national party (Congress) and regional parties," he said.

The "communal" BJP and its allies have to fought by all "secular" parties putting their heads together, he said.

"Otherwise, it (the country) will be just like, as one of my friends was telling, (single-party ruled, Communist) China," he said.

The Congress leader alleged that the country is today ruled by the BJP and "extra-constitutional authority" RSS, and not by the NDA government.

"The private secretaries and staff ofthe Union ministers are inducted from the RSS," he claimed, adding, "It is quite a dangerous trend for democracy."



Moily said the fight against the BJP required a confederation of forces with "absolute clarity, ideology and philosophy."



"Unitedly (Congress and 'secular' parties) we will succeed, but divided, we won't succeed," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Over 35,000 farmers from across Maharashtra, who embarked on a 'Long March' from Nashik on March 6 to press their various demands, arrived here today.

Apart from opposition parties, Shiv Sena, a partner in the ruling BJP-led coalition, too has vocally supported the agitation.

The government reached out to farmers, promising to meet their demands, but farmers' leaders said they will press on with tomorrow's protest at the Vidhan Bhavan (Legislature Complex).

The farmers, led by Left-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), are demanding, among other things, proper implementation of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme.

Braving scorching heat, they have covered around 180 km on foot in six days.

The protesters will halt at the Somaiya ground in suburban Chunabhatti tonight, and set out for Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai, where the Budget session is underway, tomorrow.

"We will gherao (lay siege to) the Vidhan Bhavan tomorrow to demand a complete loan waiver, fair price for farm produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, compensation for hailstorm-affected farmers among other things," Kisan Gujar, president of the state council of AIKS, said.

"Today, our number is over 35,000. Over 20,000 farmers from other parts of the state will join tomorrow," he said, adding the farmers were also protesting against land acquisition for projects such as high-speed railway and super-highways.

"Though we have been approached by the government officials advising us not to stay near the Vidhan Bhavan for long, everything will depend on how the government deals with our demands," Gujar told PTI.

From the government's side, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, who is also guardian minister for Nashik district, met farmers' leaders in Mulund as the march entered Mumbai, and assured that most of their demands will be met.

"The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) has sent me to meet you. Most of your demands will be met. We will take a delegation to the chief minister," Mahajan said, addressing the protesters.

Senior BJP leader and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar also assured that the chief minister will meet the protestors' delegation, and blamed the "apathetic" approach of past governments for the farmers' woes.

"Our government is committed to address all the grievances of farmers, which have accumulated due to the apathetic approach of the last several years...We are very sensitive towards farmers and two ministers (Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Savara and Mahajan) have already been asked to look into their demands," Mungantiwar told PTI.

Ajit Nawale of the AIKS, however, dismissed the overture. "The days of living on assurances have passed. Unless the government gives us something concrete, commits itself in writing, we will march towards the Vidhan Bhavan tomorrow," he said.

Senior Shiv Sena leder and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde and Yuva Sena (Shiv Sena's youth wing) chief Aditya Thackeray also greeted the protesters in suburban Vikhroli.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena stood "shoulder to shoulder" with farmers in their struggle.

It was wrong to say that farmers were demanding loan waiver, as they are not criminals that they should need a 'waiver', Aditya said, adding "farmers are fighting for 'freedom from debt'."



As so many farmers have marched to Mumbai despite the government's grand loan waiver, Sena leaders have demanded to see the list of actual beneficiaries of the scheme, he said.

Opposition Congress, NCP, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and AAP, as well as ruling ally Shiv Sena have extended support to the farmers' march.

Patidar leader from Gujarat Nikhil Sawani, who joined the march, said his community supported the protesters.

As the march reached suburban Vikhroli, the phalanx of farmers -- comprising both men and women -- extended for almost three kilometres.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti said that adequate security arrangements had been made.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Over 35,000 farmers from across Maharashtra, who embarked on a 'Long March' from Nashik on March 6 to press their various demands, arrived here today.

Apart from opposition parties, Shiv Sena, a partner in the ruling coalition, too has vocally supported the agitation, isolating the ruling BJP.

The government reached out to farmers, promising to meet their demands, but farmers' leaders said they will press on with tomorrow's protest at the Vidhan Bhavan (Legislature Complex).

The farmers, led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), are demanding, among other things, proper implementation of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme.

Braving scorching heat, they have covered around 180 km on foot in six days.

The protesters will halt at the Somaiya ground in suburban Chunabhatti tonight, and set out for Vidhan Bhavan (the state Legislative Complex) in south Mumbai, where Budget session is underway, tomorrow.

"We will gherao (lay siege to) the Vidhan Bhavan tomorrow to demand a complete loan waiver, fair price for farm produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, compensation for hailstorm-affected farmers among other things," Kisan Gujar, president of the state council of AIKS, said.

"Today, our number is over 35,000. Over 20,000 farmers from other parts of the state will join tomorrow," he said, adding that the farmers were also protesting against land acquisition for projects such as high-speed railway and super-highways.

"Though we have been approached by the government officials advising us not to stay near the Vidhan Bhavan for long, everything will depend on how the government deals with our demands," Gujar told PTI.

From the government's side, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, who is also guardian minister for Nashik district, met farmers' leaders in Mulund as the March entered Mumbai, and assured that most of their demands will be met.

"The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) has sent me to meet you. Most of your demands will be met. We will take a delegation to the chief minister," Mahajan said, addressing the protesters.

Senior BJP leader and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar also assured that the chief minister will meet the protesters' delegation, and blamed "apathetic" approach of past governments for the farmers' woes.

"Our government is committed to address all the grievances of farmers, which have accumulated due to the apathetic approach of the last several years...We are very sensitive towards farmers and two ministers (Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Savara and Mahajan) have already been asked to look into their demands," Mungantiwar told PTI.

Ajit Nawale of the AIKS, however, dismissed the overture. "Days of living on assurances have passed. Unless the government gives us something concrete, commits itself in writing, we will march towards the Vidhan Bhavan tomorrow," he said.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde and Yuva Sena (Shiv Sena's youth wing) chief Aditya Thackeray also greeted the protesters in suburban Vikhroli.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena stood "shoulder to shoulder" with farmers in their struggle.

It was wrong to say that farmers were demanding loan waiver, as they are not criminals that they should need a 'waiver', Aditya said, adding that "farmers are fighting for 'freedom from debt'."



As so many farmers have marched to Mumbai despite the government's grand loan waiver, Sena leaders have demanded to see the list of actual beneficiaries of the scheme, he said.

Opposition Congress, NCP, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and AAP, as well as ruling ally Shiv Sena have extended support to the farmers' march.

Patidar leader from Gujarat Nikhil Sawani, who joined the march, said his community supported the protesters.

As the march reached suburban Vikhroli, the phalanx of farmers -- comprising both men and women -- extended for almost three kilometres.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti said that adequate security arrangement has been put in place.

After the state-wide rallies of the Maratha community seeking reservations in 2016, farmers' 'strike' of the last year and the Dalit protests over the Bhima-Koregaon violence in January, the present agitation could be another big challenge for the BJP in the state, which will face Assembly elections next year, if not earlier.

The Economic Survey of Maharashtra, tabled last week, projected a negative agriculture growth at 8.3 per cent for financial year 2017-18 on account of decreased production of food-grains, pulses and cotton crops. Of late farmers have also been hit by hailstorms and bollworm attack.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Donald Trump renewed his demand today that the European Union halts its trade barriers to US products in order to spare his allies new steel and aluminium tariffs.

The American president made his comments after crunch talks in Brussels between EU negotiators and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in an effort to defuse a bitter row that many fear could turn into an all-out trade war.

The EU's top trade official said the US failed to provide full clarity on how Europe and Japan could be spared set to continue next week.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminium," Trump said.

"If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!"



President Donald Trump's announcement of duties of 25 per cent on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium has stung the European Union, along with other major partners including Japan, whose Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko also attended the talks in Brussels.

"As long-standing security partners of the United States, (the EU and Japan) underlined to ambassador Lighthizer their expectation that EU and Japanese exports to the US would be exempted from the application of higher tariffs," an EU statement said after the talks.

But after two-way talks with Lighthizer, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem tweeted: "No immediate clarity on the exact US procedure for exemption however, so discussions will continue next week."



Brussels has gone the furthest in fighting back against Washington's shock measures, loudly announcing a list of US products to hit with countermeasures if its exports are affected by the tariffs.

In announcing the measures, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker taunted Trump, saying the EU could match "stupid with stupid."



Lighthizer, a loyalist to Trump's "America First" mantra, made no official comment after the talks, but the three sides did agree on a series of next steps to address the oversupply worldwide of steel and other materials, mainly by China.

This progress was "unexpected" and a source of cautious optimism on solving the tariff row, an EU official said on condition of anonymity.

"If Trump wants his allies to demonstrate that they are united in tackling problems with China, this is precisely that," the source added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a hefty import duty on European cars if the European Union retaliates against his steep tariffs on aluminum and steel.

Earlier this week, Trump officially announced tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum, despite major opposition from his own party, triggering a possible trade war with China and Europe.

The EU threatened an "arsenal" of retaliatory measures when the tariffs were first proposed, including imposing import tariffs on products made in red districts.

Trump threatened to tax European-made cars if they retaliated against the aluminum and steel tariffs with their own taxes on US imports like Harley Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and blue jeans.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on steel and aluminum," Trump said in a tweet Saturday.

"If they drop their horrific barriers and tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big deficit. If not, we tax cars etc. FAIR!" Trump said in a tweet.

During a joint White House conference with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, the European Union has been particularly tough on the US.

The European Union, Trump rued, makes it almost impossible for the US to do business with them. And yet they send their cars and everything else back into the US, he said.

"And they can do whatever they like, but if they do that, then we put a big tax of 25 per cent on their cars, and believe me, they won't be doing it very long," Trump asserted.

"The European Union has not treated us well, and it's been a very, very unfair trade situation. I'm here to protect, and one of the reasons I was elected is I'm protecting our workers, I'm protecting our companies, and I'm not going to let that happen," Trump asserted.

As such Trump asserted that he is going ahead with his plans to sign the executive order to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum.

"We're doing tariffs on steel. We cannot lose our steel industry. It's a fraction of what it once was. We can't lose our aluminum industry; also a fraction of what it once was. And our country is doing well. The massive tax cuts, and all of the deregulation has really kicked us into gear," he said.

"But I have to work on trade deals. We're working on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) right now, and if we're able to make a deal with Canada and Mexico in NAFTA, then there will be no reason to do the tariffs with Canada and Mexico," Trump said.

The NAFTA is an deal signed by Canada, Mexico, and the US, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Two trekkers, including a girl, were rescued by local residents and police after the duo lost their footing and got trapped on a cliff near the Pandavleni caves this morning.

The incident happened at the caves situated on the Mumbai-Agra highway, five kilometres from here, officials said.

Police said that Arvind Vaidyanathan (22) and Vidula Daulat Pagar (19) were rescued by a team led by assistant police inspector PR Nalawade and sub-inspector SU Hire, along with a few local residents.

They were rushed to Nashik civil hospital for treatment, said police.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The UN's political chief on Sunday condemned anti-Muslim violence that has targeted mosques and businesses in Sri Lanka as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the Indian Ocean island-nation.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman urged the government to bring the perpetrators of the violence and hate speech to justice.

Feltman, who met with Muslim leaders to show solidarity during his visit, "condemned the breakdown in law and order and the attacks against Muslims and their property," a UN statement said.

Sri Lanka has been rocked by a week of violent riots by Sinhalese mobs who have attacked 11 mosques and at least 200 Muslim-owned businesses, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency.

Three people have been killed and 20 wounded in the anti-Muslim attacks. Today, a Muslim-owned restaurant was targeted in the town of Anamaduwa, north of the capital Colombo.

Feltman "urged swift and full implementation of the government's commitment to bring the perpetrators of the violence and hate speech to justice, to take measures to prevent recurrence, and to enforce non-discriminatory rule of law."

Sri Lankan police have been accused of failing to protect the island's minority.

Muslims make up 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people. The majority are Sinhalese, a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced yesterday that he will appoint a three-member panel of retired judges to investigate the unrest.

A curfew was lifted in the central district of Kandy, the epicentre of the violence, but soldiers remained on the streets.

Feltman met with Sirisena, the prime minister, civil society and human rights representatives during the three-day visit that was scheduled before the outbreak of violence.

The envoy expressed hope that an office of missing persons will be set up soon to determine the fate of those unaccounted for from the brutal 25-year war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

"He expressed concern that many elements of the government's visionary 2015 program seem stalled, despite their importance to sustainable peace, security and prosperity in Sri Lanka," said the statement.

Feltman said he received assurances from government leaders that they are moving forward with democratic reforms.Union minister Jual Oram today alleged that Odisha Chief Minister Navin Patnaik has formed the Special Development Councils (SDCs) in nine tribal-dominated districts in the state to gain political mileage.

The SDCs will focus on preservation and promotion of tribal culture, heritage and identity in accordance with their socio-economic development, Patnaik had said while launching the SDCs here on March 9.

"The BJD had performed poorly in 117 blocks of 9 tribal-dominated districts covered under the Special Development Council in the last panchayat elections. Now, the ruling party is trying to gain political benefits through these councils," Oram said in a statement.

He questioned the role of the SDCs when elected representatives from panchayat to Zilla Parishads are already present.

"Will the SDCs act bypassing the elected panchayati raj institutions?" he asked.

The Union minister also alleged that the Odisha government was not able to spend funds allocated by the Centre for tribal welfare programmes.

The Ministry of Tribal Affairs, during the last four financial years, had given Rs 573.21 crore as special central assistance under the Tribal Sub-Plans and Rs 531.25 crore under Article 275 (1) of the Constitution, Oram said.

The funds allocated under specific head have not been utilised properly, he said.

Oram also said the sincerity of the state government towards tribal welfare could be enumerated from the fact that 16 model schools sanctioned by the Centre since 2010-11 are yet to be established.

The Union minister also wanted to know from where the state government will source Rs 175.50 crore for SDCs as it has not made any budgetary provision for the SDCs.

Responding to Oram's question, Odisha's Minister for Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes Development Ramesh Majhi said the state government has enough resources for the development of tribals.

"We are not asking the Centre for any help. The BJP should not trivialise the state government's initiative which has been dubbed as a historic move," Majhi said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today offered prayers at the Vindhyachal temple here after casting his vote in Gorakhpur for the Lok Sabha bye-election there.

Adityanath also inspected the solar power plant in Dadar Kalan village, almost 45 kilometres from the district headquarters here. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, are scheduled to inaugurate the solar power plant here tomorrow.

After inspecting the plant for nearly 40 minutes, the chief minister left for Vindhyachal temple. He spent nearly 20 minutes at the temple.

Macron is also scheduled to visit Varanasi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Modi.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The US and China are also keen to join International Solar Alliance (ISA) which is aimed at promoting solar energy across the countries falling in the tropic of cancer and capricorn, a senior official said.

"The other countries like US and China are among also prospective 121 countries under the ISA. But, they are yet to sign the agreement. They have shown interest," External Affairs Joint Secretary (Europe West) K Nagaraj Naidu said, while replying to a question whether other countries have shown interest in ISA or not.

Adding to this External Affairs Secretary (Economic Relations) T S Tirumurthi said, "All of them (US and China) have taken part very actively in the steering committee proceedings. The last one was held on February 20, 2018 in New Delhi. They are participated. So, there is great deal of enthusiasm to this initiative (ISA)".

The ISA is a treaty based body which intends to promote solar energy in the 121 tropical countries. As many as 62 countries have signed the ISA framework agreement, out which 32 have ratified the pact.

The US and China have not signed the ISA especially when both the countries have technology and production capacity might with them. India has been importing a large quantum of solar equipment from China, Malaysia and Taiwan to meet its demand.

India has set an ambitious target of 175 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2022, which includes 100 GW of solar and 60 GW of wind energy.

Triumurthi also told reporters that 23 heads of state, including French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, participated in the ISA founding summit concluded today. Besides 6 Vice-Presidents and Deputy Prime Ministers and 19 ministers as head of delegations attended the conference.

He also informed that the prime minister also had a series of bilateral meetings with leaders of various countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The Trump administration has been very clear of "pushing back" against the Chinese threat, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said today as China's rubber-stamp parliament allowed President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely by abolishing the two-term limit.

Pompeo said the Trump administration is prepared and engaged in pushing back against the Chinese threats so that America can have a good relationship with China in a way that the world desperately needs.

"If you look at the president's national security strategy, it was very clear that what the Chinese are doing, whether that would be on trade or the theft of intellectual property or their continued advancement in East and South China Seas, this administration is prepared and engaged in pushing back against the Chinese threats so that we can have a good relationship with China in a way that the world desperately needs," he told Fox



Asked about China's parliament ratifying a constitutional amendment that abolishes the two-term presidential limit, he said, "It's the case that Xi Jinping has created an enormous personal power. He has taken many of the levers of power that were from time to time more dispersed. But from America's perspective, this administration has been very clear of pushing back against the Chinese threat."



China's country's rubber-stamp parliament today ratified a historic constitutional amendment abolishing the two-term limit for President Xi Jinping, paving the way for his continuation in power perhaps for life.

Set for his second five-year term as President this month, 64-year-old Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after the founder chairman Mao Zedong to remain in power lifelong.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)India's Vikram Solar has signed a collaboration agreement with French Alternatie Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) for innovative technology research and development in solar energy.

The pact, signed yesterday during French President Emmanuel Macron's India visit, is for enhanced research and development in high efficiency crystalline silicon cells, modules, systems and a host of high efficiency generation and storage technologies for French and Indian markets, Vikram Solar said in a statement.

"Under the MoU, CEA will share their know-how and technologies in the field of solar energy, storage, smart grid and thermal efficiency while Vikram Solar will apply these technologies in large volume manufacturing with a wider objective of improving solar photovoltaic cells and modules to perform at record-efficiency in energy conversion and simultaneously developing battery solutions by increasing their energy storage capacity," it said.

Other advanced research and development areas of collaboration will include crystallization and wafering, mono and bi-facial modules, agri-photovoltaics and solar mobility as well as exploring new competitive materials in order to reduce costs.

Gyanesh Chaudhary, MD & CEO, Vikram Solar Limited, said the association with CEA will strengthen the company's focus on newer technology.

Christophe Ggout, Deputy Chairman of the CEA, said: "Our association with Vikram Solar comes at a time when the need for renewables is at an all-time high in India as well as globally. This is a perfect time for us to leverage our strength in research and development and fuse it with Vikram Solar's long standing position as a leading global solar module player with key focus on quality, technology and innovation."



The CEA carries out research on thermal and photovoltaic solar energy, in support of industrial companies in the sector. In the field of solar thermal energy, the CEA has, within the National Institute of Solar Energy (INES), an R&D platform dedicated to the optimisation of solar thermal systems.

The CEA also carries out research on the production of electricity using a thermodynamic process known as concentrating solar power technology.

In the field of photovoltaics, the CEA's research is focusing on improving the output and reducing the costs of photovoltaic modules, and also anticipating the problems of integration in the grid which will arise following a massive insertion of renewables in the energy mix.

This work, carried out at INES, makes use of its technological platform to manufacture cells and modules and its software platform to simulate the behaviour of a future grid with renewable energy sources, as well as storage and consumption equipments, the statement added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Voting for the bye-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, which began on a dull note today, picked up momentum by noon amid tight security arrangements to ensure free and fair polling.

Election office sources said nearly 20 per cent of the electorate cast their ballots by mid-day and the exercise was going on peacefully.

The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively following their election to the state legislative council.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

"The people know that development was the only panacea," he told reporters.

Attacking the BSP and the SP, the chief minister said, "These parties are indulging in negative politics, of bargaining and of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences (of SP and BSP).

"And in order to ensure that in future such situations do not arise, efforts have to be made to shun of casteism and dynastic politics, and focus on development and administration," he said.

When asked to comment on the SP and BSP entering an electoral understanding, he said, "This will have no effect. I had wanted that in this bye-election if the SP, BSP and Congress had fought together, then results would have been much better (for us)."



Termed by Adityanath a "rehearsal" for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the bye-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel, respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.

Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Yogi Adityanath, the seat was represented in parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice.

Phulpur, once represented by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Maurya won there.

Exuding confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing Lok Sabha bypolls in the state, Maurya today said the 2014 Lok Sabha record would be repeated by the saffron party.

"I am confident that on March 14, the record which was made in Phulpur in 2014 (Lok Sabha general elections) will be repeated, and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious," he told reporters after casting his vote for Phulpur parliamentary constituency along with his family members.

On being asked about the BJP's expansion plans in the state in view of the electoral understanding between SP and BSP, Maurya said, "We have already expanded enough, and in future if any political party wants to join us, it will be definitely deliberated upon.

"But, today from the UP's point of view, poll alliance of the BJP, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) exists. Apart from this, we do not have any other alliance. And, banking on this alliance, we will win 80 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state," he said.

Taking a jibe at the SP-BSP tie-up, the minister said, "Their (SP-BSP) votes will be transferred only when they have enough votes. The votes (of the people) are with us. But, they have only leaders who make statements...The voters of Mayawatiji have deserted the BSP and have reposed their faith in Modiji, Yogi and BJP. We are winning both the Lok Sabha seats, and with wider margin".

Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and homeguard jawans, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful bypolls.

In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency, there are 970 polling centres and 2,141 polling booths, while in Phulpur, there are 793 polling centres and 2,059 polling booths.

According to the Election Commission, there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur parliamentary constituency, while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has 19.49 lakh electorates.

As many as 4,728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are being used in the bypoll and provisions for web-casting from 95 critical booths have been made.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)President Xi Jinping is all set to become China's leader-for-life as the country's rubber-stamp parliament prepares to amend today the Constitution to remove decades old two-term limit for the president.

Ahead of the vote by about 3,000 deputies in the National People's Congress (NPC) - China's legislature - on the amendment to remove the term limit for the President and Vice President, the seven member Standing Committee - the top most body of the ruling Communist Party of China - has unanimously approved the amendment.

"Every one of us on the NPC Standing Committee approves and supports amending Constitution," Chairman of the NPC, Zhang Dejiang, said in his work report.

The NPC regarded as the rubber stamp Parliament for its routine approval of CPC proposals is expected to approve it with overwhelming vote without a hitch.

The term limits were being followed by the party leaders for over two decades to avert a dictatorship on the lines of party founder Chairman Mao Zedong and to ensure collective leadership in the one-party state.

The constitutional amendment will remove the hurdle for 64-year-old Xi to become leader of China for life. He is currently in his second five-year term and due to retire in 2023 under the current two term system.

Xi is already regarded as the most powerful leader of China after Mao as he held the posts of head of the CPC, the military and the Presidency, which is mostly ceremonial.

The NPC was also expected to endorse another draft constitutional amendment to enshrine Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the fundamental law.

This would make Xi the only leader after Mao and Deng Xiaoping whose thoughts were written into the Constitution. It would place him above the rest of the leaders of the party.

The thoughts of two of Xi's predecessors were mentioned in the Constitution but not their names.

The draft suggests Xi Jinping Thought be juxtaposed with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the Theory of Three Represents as a new guiding theory in the preamble of the Constitution.

Scientific Outlook on Development is also proposed to be constitutionalised this time, according to the official media.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)China's one-party political landscape today changed as the country's rubber-stamp parliament ratified a historic constitutional amendment abolishing the two-term limit for President Xi Jinping, paving the way for his continuation in power perhaps for life.

Set for his second five-year term as President this month, 64-year-old Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after the founder chairman Mao Zedong to remain in power lifelong.

The National People's Congress (NPC) has kept its reputation as the rubber stamp parliament for its routine approval of CPC proposals by voting exactly to the official script.

The amendment removing the term limits for the president and the vice president was approved by the NPC with 2,958 in favour, two against and three abstentions, official media reported. The two votes of dissent were apparently has the official sanction to show semblance of diversity.

For today's vote, the NPC chose to follow paper ballot system instead of hand raising and electronic voting.

Xi stood up first at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box.

The first Constitution of China was enacted in 1954. The current Constitution has been in place since 1982 and has undergone four amendments in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004.

The removal of the term limit was regarded as the biggest political change in the one-party system which remained in force in China since 1949.

Ahead of the vote by deputies in the NPC, the seven member Standing Committee - the topmost body of the ruling Communist Party of China - unanimously approved the amendment to abolish the presidential term limits.

The amendment effectively ended the collective leadership system followed by the CPC to avert a dictatorship emerging in otherwise a one-party state akin to the era of Mao which witnessed the most brutal events like Cultural Revolution resulting in the killings of millions of people.

Observers say the constitutional amendment in effective pays the way for China's transition from being one-party state to one leader state with Xi, described by some as an Emperor, to remain in power in the foreseeable future.

Xi, christened as "lingxiu" - a leader with highest prestige, is aggressively pushing Chinese military's modernisation to make the world's largest army a mightier force capable of winning modern wars.

The proposal of limitless tenure for Xi has sparked worldwide concerns specially in China's neighbourhood.

For India, observers say, Xi's continuation will have particular significance, especially in the backdrop of last year's 73-day-long Dokalam standoff where Chinese troops tried to build a road in the area claimed by Bhutan to reach close to India's narrow corridor connecting North Eastern states.

Under Xi, China has been pouring billions of dollars in India's neighbourhood in projects like China-Pakistan Economic Corridor traversing through PoK, connectivity projects in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, raising strategic stakes for India.

Significantly, today's amendment also removed term-limits for the Vice President.

The inclusion of the Vice President was notably aimed at reinforcing Xi's support base as his trusted lieutenant, Wang Qishan (69), is tipped to take over the post despite a widely-followed convention by Chinese leaders to retire after 68 years.

Wang headed the dreaded anti-graft campaign carried out by Xi since he began his first term in 2013.

The NPC in the next few days is also set to ratify new name for all top government posts. The entire Chinese government is set to change, including the entire cabinet.

Xi began his second five-year term as General Secretary of the CPC and Chairman of the Central Military Commission last year after the once-in-a-five-year congress of the party endorsed him for a second term. Two five-year tenures were permitted for top leaders of the party.

His predecessors - Jiang Zemin who was in power from 1993 to 2003 and Hu Jintao from 2003 to 2013 - stepped down as the General Secretary of the party as well as the president after widely followed rule as well as a convention of two terms to promote collective leadership system in the one-party state.

Xi, a princeling and son of a Vice Premier, who was the Vice President under Hu took over all the three posts in 2013 and subsequently emerged as the most powerful leader of China after Mao with little or no resistance in the party.

The president's post is largely ceremonial while the real power rests with the CPC General Secretary and Chairman of the Military Commission, the overall high-command of the military. But the president is the only one with a formal limit of two terms - introduced by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1982 to prevent another lifelong dictatorship after Mao's rule.

The NPC also endorsed another constitutional amendment to enshrine Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the country's Constitution.

This would make Xi the only leader after Mao and his predecessor Deng whose thoughts were written into the Constitution. It would place him above the rest of the leaders of the party.

There is eerie silence all over the country over the approval of the amendments, with Chinese censors aggressively removing anything remotely connected to the comments in the social media through the firewalls.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)By Michael NienaberBERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium imports will cost jobs and growth, German Economy Minister Brigitte Zypries told Reuters on Sunday, adding that Europe and other free traders should not let themselves be divided.Trump set import tariffs on Thursday of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium, to come into force in 15 days, stoking fears of a tit-for-tat trade war that could drive up prices and depress growth around the globe.The European Union responded by saying it would ask the World Trade Organization to impose its ...An Idaho state lawmaker urges her constituents to submit entries for her fake news awards. The Kentucky governor tweets #FAKENEWS to dismiss questions about his purchase of a home from a supporter. An aide to the Texas land commissioner uses the phrase to downplay the significance of his boss receiving donations from employees of a company that landed a multimillion-dollar contract.

President Donald Trumps campaign to discredit the news media has spread to officials at all levels of government, who are echoing his use of the term fake news as a weapon against unflattering stories.

Its become ubiquitous as a signal to a politicians supporters to ignore legitimate reporting and hard questions, as a smear of the beleaguered and dwindling local press corps, and as a way for conservatives to push back against what they call biased stories.

When Trump announced he was going to do his fake news awards, a group of us conservative legislators said, We need to do that, too,' said Idaho state Rep. Priscilla Giddings, who has <a target=blank href=https://www.facebook.com/Priscilladistrict7/videos/542369746134023/>urged supporters</a> to send examples of biased, misleading and fake news and plans to announce her awards March 18. We need people to wake up to the fact that just because its on the front page of the Boise newspaper doesnt mean its 100 percent true.

The winners of the contest, it turns out, will be announced at the end of Sunshine Week, an annual focus by the nations news media on government transparency and the importance of a free press.

Rhonda Prast, editor of the Idaho Statesman in Boise, said it was ridiculous for anyone to assert that it would publish a story it knew contained falsehoods.

The Statesman has a longstanding reputation as a reliable paper of record  going back 154 years  and our standards for accuracy and fairness have never changed, she said in a statement. The allegations of fake news are unjust attacks on a free press.

Giddings used the term herself last year to dismiss <a target=blank href=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/sep/18/residency-questions-raised-about-controversial-nor/>a report</a> from another newspaper suggesting she may have been unqualified to run for office because she was claiming a homeowners exemption outside of her district. She said shes submitting paperwork to prove the break was legitimate.

Experts on the press and democracy say the cries of fake news could do long-term damage by sowing confusion and contempt for journalists and by undermining the medias role as a watchdog on government and politicians. They say its already exacerbated the lack of trust in media by conservatives and contributed to hostility that sometimes turns violent.

In the last year, at least three political figures have been implicated in physical assaults on reporters asking questions, while journalists have been attacked in dozens of other incidents by protesters, according to the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.

I worry about the ongoing attack on the legitimacy of the media by President Trump and some of his supporters. The press is hardly perfect, of course, but it is also an important mechanism of accountability for people in power, said Brendan Nyhan, a professor of government at Dartmouth College. This kind of rhetoric is potentially corrosive to trust in the media and to peoples willingness to accept information that is critical of politicians they support.

Nyhan was among the authors of a <a target=blank href=https://www.poynter.org/news/poynter-releases-new-study-examining-trust-media>recent study</a> for the Poynter Institute that found partisan divisions in the publics attitudes toward the press. More Democrats now have more faith in the press, while Republicans have far more negative views and are more likely to endorse extreme claims about media fabrication, to describe journalists as an enemy of the people, and to support restrictions on press freedom, the study found.

The routine labeling of factual reporting as fake news comes as actual fake news proliferates on the internet.

Media researcher Craig Silverman helped popularize the term in 2014 as a label for completely fabricated stories written and spread by individuals seeking profit. Now the news media editor at BuzzFeed, he <a target=blank href=https://www.buzzfeed.com/craigsilverman/i-helped-popularize-the-term-fake-news-and-now-i-cringe?utm%E2%80%94term=.waVEPOek8>wrote recently</a> that he cringes when he hears anyone use the term, which he said became a partisan weapon after Trumps election in 2016.

Silverman wrote that political figures are manipulating social media to literally brand real things as fake and manufacture reality for their followers.

Politicians who have used the term in recent months in response to news reporting include the governor of Maine, a New Mexico congressional candidate, the Georgia secretary of state and the vice chairman of Trumps now-disbanded voter fraud commission. A California school board president repeatedly used the term to attack a journalist investigating the areas high rate of teenage pregnancy and its sex education policies.

The cries of fake news create a quandary for reporters, who want to defend their stories while also not giving credence to the charge.

Our members, many of whom work for small news outlets, are bearing the brunt of these unwarranted attacks, and its completely unfair. These are people who are serving the community, said Rebecca Baker, president of the Society of Professional Journalists. Some are just ignoring it, and some are fighting back.

Baker suggests that journalists respond to the attacks by showing their work as much as possible  by sharing the audio, video and documents that back up their stories. She wonders whether the term is starting to lose its clout from overuse, but also worries that whichever party controls the White House, Congress and state governments in the future will continue to use the tactic.

This is part and parcel of the polarization of our politics right now, she said.



Follow Foley on Twitter at <a target=blank href=https://twitter.com/rjfoley>https://twitter.com/rjfoley</a>MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP)  President Donald Trump told western Pennsylvania voters Saturday night that his new tariffs were saving the steel industry and urged them to send a Republican to the House so he can keep delivering those kinds of results.

The president lent his weight to Republican Rick Saccone in the final days of a surprisingly competitive special election outside Pittsburgh that could reverberate nationally ahead of the November midterm elections.

We need our Congressman Saccone, Trump said, unabashedly framing the race as a tune-up for the GOPs efforts to maintain its control of Capitol Hill. Hitting peak campaign mode for himself, he revived many of his favorite 2016 riffs and even touted his planned 2020 slogan, Keep America Great!

But, the president warned, we can only do that if we elect people who are going to back our agenda, repeatedly urging his backers to support Saccone and stave off an upset by Democrat Conor Lamb in a district the president won by 20 percentage points over Hillary Clinton.

The people of Pittsburgh cannot be conned by this guy Lamb, Trump said, dismissing Lambs efforts to run as a moderate Democrat. Hes never going to vote for us. He can say, I love President Trump.  I dont want to meet him. I might like him.

Democrats need to flip 24 GOP-held seats to claim a House majority. A victory in such a Republican-leaning district would boost their hopes and renew GOP concerns of a bad November.

Lamb, a 33-year-old Marine veteran and former prosecutor, has positioned himself as more representative of the district than Saccone, a 60-year-old state lawmaker. Lamb touts his resume and declares that he wouldnt vote for Democratic House leader Nancy Pelosi as party leader. He also avoids criticizing Trump.

Trump conceded Lamb might not back Pelosi but said most House Democrats will. And if Pelosi were in charge of the House, Trump said, Lamb would simply vote the party line.

While Trump was ostensibly in Pennsylvania for Saccone, the rally was as much about the president as it was an underperforming congressional candidate. The president repeatedly reminisced about his election, when Pennsylvania helped put him over the top after decades of landing in the Democrats column.

The president criticized Democrats for blocking his long-promised border wall and attacked so-called sanctuary cities that refuse to cooperate with federal immigration authorities. He also called for harsher punishments for drug dealers, including the death penalty, pointing to China and Singapore as models

Trump continued his attacks on the press, criticizing media coverage of his decision to meet with the leader of North Korea and complaining that he doesnt get credit for accomplishments. He singled out NBCs Chuck Todd as a sleeping son of a bitch.

He also made sure the workers in this industrial-heavy region see the new steel tariffs as my baby, even as Lamb and Saccone have endorsed the move. Pennsylvanias 18th Congressional District has an estimated 17,000 steelworkers and almost 90,000 voters from union households.

Not all of our friends on Wall Street love it, but we love it, Trump said of the tariffs. He added that Lambs party leadership opposes his protectionist policy. He sidestepped the fact that most of his own partys leaders oppose tariffs, as well.

Trumps appearance was part of a White House push to help Saccone avoid a once-unlikely defeat. National GOP forces could exceed $10 million in spending on the race, and Saturday was the presidents second recent visit to the area. But Trump risked another embarrassing defeat after backing Republican Roy Moore in last Decembers Alabama Senate election, only to watch Moore lose a seat his party had held since 1997.

The Pennsylvania special election is to replace Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last year amid revelations of an extramarital affair in which the anti-abortion lawmaker urged his mistress to get an abortion when he thought she was pregnant.

Murphy, an eight-term congressman who had union support, never had a close election and had no Democratic challenger in his last two elections. But Saccone has struggled with his own fundraising, is a union foe and hasnt run as aggressive a campaign as Lamb, prompting criticism from Republicans in Washington who quietly concede Lamb is a stronger candidate.

Trump acknowledged those dynamics, noting talk of Lamb as a handsome candidate. But he said he thinks hes better looking, and added that Saccone is handsome, too.

For his part, Saccone was thrilled to have the presidents help.

The presidents support is key to attaining victory, Saccone told rally attendees about 45 minutes before Trump took the stage. Theres no one that I would rather have in my corner that President Trump. Are you with me on that?



Follow Barrow and Colvin on Twitter at <a target=blank href=https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP>https://twitter.com/BillBarrowAP</a> and <a target=blank href=https://twitter.com/colvinj>https://twitter.com/colvinj</a> .LOS ANGELES (AP)  Donald Trump is coming  at last  to the state he loves to hate, setting foot in California for his first time as president.

This is turf he lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by more than 4 million votes in 2016. He has mocked its judges for blocking his agenda, sued over its lax enforcement of immigration laws and threatened to pull out federal agents.

But theres something hes dying to see here: the prototypes for his long-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. And theres something hes eager to do here: raise cash from the Beverly Hills crowd.

Trumps arrival Tuesday will come just days after his Justice Department sued to block a trio of state laws designed to protect people living in the U.S. illegally. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown likened it to an act of war with Trumps administration.

The State of California is sheltering dangerous criminals in a brazen and lawless attack on our Constitutional system of government, Trump complained in his weekly address, accusing Californias leaders of being in open defiance of federal law.

They dont care about crime. They dont care about death and killings. They dont care about robberies, he said, calling on Congress to block the states federal funds.

Last week, Oaklands mayor warned residents of an impending immigration raid  a move that Trump called disgraceful and said put law enforcement officers at risk.

The state has also joined lawsuits aimed at stopping construction of Trumps stalled border wall. And its judges have repeatedly ruled against policies Trump has tried to enact.

In recent months, Trump and other administration officials have threatened both to flood the state with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and to pull ICE out of the state completely.

I mean, frankly, if I wanted to pull our people from California, you would have a crying mess like youve never seen in California, Trump said last month, predicting crime like nobody has ever seen crime in this country.

Meanwhile, Trumps acting ICE director has repeatedly threatened to increase its enforcement footprint in the state in retaliation for its limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities  and he appears to be making good on his promise.

California better hold on tight. Theyre about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers, Thomas Homan said on Fox earlier this year before his agency conducted a series of raids.

White House officials said the trip has been in the works for months and the timing so close to recent flare-ups was coincidental.

When asked if Trump planned to play nice on the trip, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, Look, I think if anybody is stepping out of bounds here, it would be someone who is refusing to follow federal law, which is certainly not the president. And were going for what we hope to be an incredibly positive trip.

Trumps overnight visit will include a stop in San Diego to inspect eight sample designs for the wall hes been raring to build. He will also be speaking with members of the military and traveling to Los Angeles for a splashy Beverly Hills fundraiser, where attendees will pay up to $250,000 per person.

Trumps appearances in the left-leaning state during the 2016 campaign were marked by sometimes-violent clashes between his supporters and opposition groups. In some cases, protesters blocked traffic and threw rocks and beer bottles. Protests are expected during this trip.

Trumps more than yearlong absence from the nations most populous state  home to 1 in 8 Americans and, by itself, the worlds sixth-largest economy  has been conspicuous but not surprising. Trump country, its not.

As a candidate, Trump suggested he could win California, a state that hasnt supported a Republican for the White House in three decades.

Since his election, Sacramento has emerged as a vanguard in the so-called Trump resistance. Democratic state Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed nearly 30 lawsuits to block administration proposals.

California was the home of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, but Republican influence here has been fading for years as a surge in immigrants transformed the state and its voting patterns. The number of Hispanics, blacks and Asians combined has outnumbered whites since 1998. Meanwhile, the states new voters, largely Latinos and Asians, lean Democratic, and Democrats hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the Legislature by hefty margins.

Polls have found Trump deeply unpopular in the state, with most residents opposed to policies hes championed, such as expanding offshore drilling.

Jessica Hayes, chairwoman of the San Diego County Democratic Party, said Trumps anti-immigration rhetoric plays especially poorly in a state with close trade and tourism connections with Mexico.

These are our neighbors. These are our friends, she said.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of flying in to pick the winning design for the border wall, telling rallygoers last year in Alabama: Im going to go out and look at them personally and pick the right one.

The Department of Homeland Security has said theres nothing to stop Trump from turning the wall design contest into a Miss Universe-style pageant.

But the department also says it doesnt anticipate that a single prototype will be selected. Instead, the samples are expected to inform future border wall design standards, said spokesman Tyler Houlton.



Colvin reported from Washington.



Follow Blood and Colvin on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MichaelRBloodAP and https://twitter.com/colvinj.LOS ANGELES (AP)  A man suspected of shooting two California police officers, killing one of them, was arrested Saturday after barricading himself in an apartment and holding a SWAT team at bay for more than 15 hours, authorities said.

Police in the city of Pomona tried to stop the man, identified as 39-year-old Isaias De Jesus Valencia, Friday night after receiving a call about reckless driving, but he refused to pull over and led officers on a pursuit, Los Angeles County sheriffs officials said.

The man crashed during the chase and fled into an apartment complex.

The officers pursued the man, who fired through the door, shooting one of the officers, Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.

A second officer tried to rescue his wounded comrade and the gunman fired through the door again, striking the officer in the face, the sheriff said.

Pomona Police Officer Gregory Casillas, 30, of Upland, was killed. The other officer was undergoing surgery Saturday and was expected to recover, officials said.

He left his family at home to protect yours and his ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten, Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri said at a news conference.

Casillas first joined the police department in Pomona, which is 30 miles (48 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, as a records specialist in 2014. He then worked as a jailer and became a sworn police officer in September. He leaves behind a wife and two small children.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered flags at the Capitol to fly at half-staff and said Casillas brave sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Outside the Los Angeles County coroners office, dozens of police cars lined the streets and officers saluted as the slain officers body was brought there in a procession Saturday.

The man was holed up in the apartment for more than 15 hours as a SWAT team used flash-bang grenades and cameras to watch him and crisis negotiators tried to coax him into coming out peacefully.

The man was taken into custody without bail and led out of the building wearing only his underpants.



Follow Michael Balsamo on Twitter at <a target=blank href=http://www.twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1>http://www.twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1</a> .TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  In a story March 11 about the NRA lawsuit following new sweeping gun reform in Florida, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the voting age is 21. It is 18.

A corrected version of the story is below:

Critics across partisan divide assail Floridas new gun law

People across partisan lines arent satisfied with gun restrictions signed into law by Florida Gov. Rick Scott

By GARY FINEOUT AND KELLI KENNEDY

Associated Press

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP)  The political and legal fallout from Florida Gov. Rick Scotts decision to sign a sweeping gun bill into law following a school massacre was nearly immediate as the National Rifle Association filed a lawsuit to stop it and political candidates in both parties criticized it.

Republican U.S. Rep. Ron DeSantis, whos running for Florida governor as a champion of gun rights, went on Fox News late Friday night to criticize the law, which raises the minimum age to buy rifles from 18 to 21; extends a three-day waiting period for handgun purchases to include long guns; and bans bump stocks, which allow guns to mimic fully automatic fire.

I think when you start getting into some of the blanket restrictions on peoples Second Amendment rights, I think that that is constitutionally vulnerable.  I mean think about it, you have an enumerated right in the Bill of Rights, theres really no precedent to just do a blanket ban on certain adults, DeSantis said on the show.

Grieving families and student survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, where a shooter killed 17 people last month, worked feverishly in recent weeks to lobby a gun-friendly, Republican-run state government. The new law fell short of achieving a ban on assault-style weapons, but it creates a so-called guardian program enabling some teachers and other school employees to carry guns.

Five legislators seeking statewide office voted against it, as did the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. GOP Attorney General Pam Bondi praised it, but other statewide candidates in the Legislature voted against it. Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam has expressed his displeasure with the age limits.

Scott, whos expected to challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson this year, has said the legislation shows Florida can move quickly and get things done, unlike the federal government. Scott has already blasted Nelson for failing to act on guns while hes been in Congress.

Democrats, meanwhile, were quick to fault Scott and legislators for failing to include a ban on some types of semi-automatic rifles such as the one used in the Parkland shootings.

Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum said that Floridas elected officials simply have not done enough to stop our gun violence epidemic, and that remains true even with the Governors signature today.

Miami Beach Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Philip Levine said in a statement the law falls short of the public demands set by the majority of Floridians and the student survivors of the shooting. We need to ban assault weapons, pass universal background checks, and we certainly dont need more guns in our schools.

Separately, the Trump administration on Saturday said it has taken the first step in the regulatory process to ban bump stocks.

The NRA contends the new law is unconstitutional because it raises the minimum age to buy rifles and puts a blanket ban on the fundamental rights of some law-abiding Florida citizens.

The deranged murderer in Parkland, Florida, gave repeated warning signs that were ignored by federal and state officials. If we want to prevent future atrocities, we must look for solutions that keep guns out of the hands of those who are a danger to themselves or others, while protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans, said Chris W. Cox, executive director, National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action.

Retired prosecutor and Florida law professor Bob Dekle sees no legal issue with raising the rifle-purchase age to 21, saying, the framers of the Constitution intended for 21 to be the age of being adult. He noted that the same age applies to drinking.

This lawsuit I think is an example of bonkers, said Dekle, who plans to leave the NRA as soon as his membership expires. The 21-year age limit just sounds reasonable to me.

Stoneman Douglas student Talia Rumsky, 16, called the law a positive change, but said theres still a long way to go.

As happy as I am that Governor Scott signed it, this cannot be the last preventative measure he helps pass  My friends and I were upset to hear that the amendment to ban AR-15s for even just two years  did not pass, especially since this weapon has been used in not just one, but several horrific mass shootings, she said in a text.

Students also criticized the provision allowing teachers to have guns on campus. The Broward County school superintendent has already said he doesnt want to participate in the program.

You said you were against teachers being armed. We told you we were against it. So why didnt you stop that part, tweeted student Aly Sheehy Friday, referring to Scott. Dont stand there and say you disagree with it when you hold the power to put an end to it.

Nikolas Cruz, the 19-year-old former student accused in the school massacre, faces 17 counts of murder and attempted murder. Cruzs public defender has said he will plead guilty if prosecutors take the death penalty off the table and sentence him to life in prison instead. Prosecutors have not announced a decision.BOISE, Idaho (AP)  Federal scientists are trying to decide if its time to let the big dogs out.

Nearly 120 dogs from three large breeds perfected over centuries in Europe and Asia to be gentle around sheep and children but vicious when confronting wolves recently underwent a study to see how theyd react to their old nemesis on a new continent.

The dogs were gathered as puppies in Portugal, Bulgaria and Turkey and sent to the American West, where they spent four years guarding sheep.

When we were first looking at doing this, a lot of people wanted to know: What dog do I use in dealing with wolves and grizzly bears? said Julie Young, a Utah-based research biologist with the U.S. Agriculture Departments National Wildlife Research Center.

The department looked to areas where dog breeds developed to guard sheep against wolves and brown bears. Then scientists supplied Cao de Gado Transmontanos, a large though lean and agile dog developed in a mountainous region of Portugal; Karakachans, developed by nomadic sheepherders in a mountainous area of Bulgaria; and Kangals, another powerful breed with an instinct for guarding, this one originating in Turkey.

Dogs from all three breeds can weigh up to 140 pounds (64 kilograms), about the size of a wolf. The dogs were sent to guard 65 herds in Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon.

Scientists are still analyzing information from notes, remote cameras and GPS collars, Young said, with four or five scientific papers expected in the next year. But overall, she said, the dogs did well keeping away wolves and better than traditional guard dogs at deterring coyotes.

One dog died during the study. It was hit by a vehicle as sheep crossed a road.

For decades, most U.S. sheep producers have used large white dogs such as Great Pyrenees, Akbash or Maremma Sheepdogs. Light brown Anatolian Shepherds are also used.

But the reintroduction of wolves in the American West in the 1990s has led to questions about whether those breeds are up to the task. Since wolves returned to Idaho in 1995, the Agriculture Departments Wildlife Services says, wolves have killed 50 guard dogs through the end of last year and injured nearly 40 others in the state. Federal officials in 2017 killed 56 wolves in Idaho due to attacks on livestock.

Young said the study found wolves left areas when sheep bands, dogs and herders arrived, but their absence emboldened smaller predators such as coyotes.

Not all dogs in the study succeeded. Jill Swannack, president of the Washington State Sheep Producers, is a veterinarian who also has a ranch with about 800 sheep on private land in eastern Washington state. She received three Karakachans.

When we came home, they preferred to be home with us, she said. They really didnt bond to the sheep.

She also said the dogs were only about 70 or 80 pounds (32 to 36 kilograms). One went to a young family with sheep near their house, and now that dog plays with the children and has successfully guarded those sheep against coyotes.

The dogs that work best at her ranch are Anatolian Shepherds, though wolves killed one in 2014.

Wolves are a phenomenal predator, Swannack said. I would be happy if we didnt have them, but Im also a realist, and we do have them. So we need the tools to deal with them and the support.

Ranchers can call the Agriculture Departments Wildlife Services to kill wolves that attack livestock. Environmentalists, though, have been working to reduce the need for that and see guard dogs as one solution.

Most of the year, the livestock guardian dogs are an excellent deterrent, said Suzanne Stone of Defenders of Wildlife, noting the exception is in the spring when wolves are guarding dens with pups.

The imported guard dogs cost about $500 apiece, including transportation to the U.S., Young said, and nearly all were just a few months old when they arrived.

She said the Karakachans tended to be more vigilant, the Kangals inclined to investigate, and the Cao de Gado Transmontanos better at assessing threats. Ultimately, she said, sheep producers might benefit from a mix of dogs that includes some that stick near the sheep and others that patrol the perimeter.

Another part of the study involved the relationship between dogs and herders, many Peruvians, which will be one of the scientific papers.

Theres a bond there, Young said. Just from watching them and looking at data, the ones who were better bonded, the dogs just seemed to perform better.MADRID (AP)  Thousands of Catalans rallied in Barcelona on Sunday to demand that regional lawmakers form a government that will continue a push for their regions secession from the rest of Spain.

The march was organized by the leading pro-independence grassroots group, the Catalan National Assembly, under the slogan Republic Now!

The regions separatist leaders unsuccessfully declared independence from Spain in October in violation of the nations Constitution.

Pro-secession parties maintained a slim majority after a December election called by the Spanish government, but since then they have been locked in drawn-out negotiations on forming a government.

What we are doing today is taking to the streets as citizens to demand that the republic that we voted for in October continue forward, rally organizer Agusti Alcoberro said.

Polls show Catalans are equally divided on independence.

Meanwhile, a fugitive former member of Catalonias regional government has moved to Scotland from Belgium, where she and other Catalan officials fled from a Spanish court investigation into a secession plot.

Clara Ponsati, Catalonias former education chief, said Saturday that she had returned to teaching at the University of St. Andrews. She appears as a faculty member of the School of Economics and Finance on the Scottish universitys website.

Ponsati had been in Belgium ever since fleeing Spain along with Catalan ex-regional president Carles Puigdemont and three other former Cabinet members following the unsuccessful bid to declare independence from Spain. She has since renounced her seat in the regional parliament.

Ponsati and the others face arrest if they return to Spain.

An international arrest warrant had been issued for all five separatist leaders, but a Spanish judge later withdrew it. The warrant, however, could be reactivated.MOSCOW (AP)  Russian President Vladimir Putin says he doesnt care about alleged Russian interference in the U.S. presidential election because the actions werent connected to his government.

In an interview with American broadcaster NBC News that aired Saturday, Putin also suggested that some of the 13 Russian nationals indicted by the United States may not be ethnically Russian.

Maybe they are not even Russians, but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked, he said.

Putin responded brusquely when interviewer Megyn Kelly asked if he condoned the interference that was alleged in last months U.S. indictment by special counsel Robert Mueller.

Its all the same to me. To me it absolutely makes no difference because they do not represent the government, Putin answered, according to the Russian-language interview transcript posted Saturday by the Kremlin.

Putin said Russia has neither the tools nor the will to meddle in elections. He repeatedly complained during the interview that Washington has brushed off Russian initiatives to work together on cybersecurity issues.

But the U.S. refuses to work like this and instead throws 13 Russians to the media, he said, going on to list the possible ethnicities that would make the suspects not even Russian.

Maybe they have dual citizenship or a green card; maybe the U.S. paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know, either, the Russian leader said.

In the indictment, the 13 Russians are accused of an elaborate plot to disrupt the U.S. election including running a huge but hidden social media trolling campaign aimed in part at helping Trump win. Among the 13 was Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been dubbed Putins chef by Russian media because his restaurants and catering businesses have hosted the Kremlin leaders dinners with foreign dignitaries.

In the interview, Putin claimed that the United States interferes in Russian elections all the time but that it was impossible for us to do the same.

First, we have principles whereby we do not allow others to interfere in our domestic affairs and do not get into the affairs of others.Secondly, we dont have this quantity of tools, he said.

The NBC News interview was conducted in two parts, on March 1 and March 2. Kelly noted that Putin made the remark about not having the tools to disrupt the U.S. election shortly after he announced that Russia had developed major new nuclear weapons.

This isnt missiles. This is an absolutely different sphere of activity, Putin responded.MUSCAT, Oman (AP)  U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday warned the Syrian government not to use chemical weapons in its civil war and said the Trump administration has made it clear that it would be very unwise to use gas in attacks.

Mattis told reporters traveling with him to the Mideast that he was disturbed by reports of civilian casualties from bombings by Syrian President Bashar Assads forces.

Right now were getting reports  I dont have evidence that I can show you  but Im aware of the reports of chlorine gas use, he said before arriving Sunday in Oman.

The U.S. responded militarily last year to reported Syrian government use of sarin gas, and Mattis was asked whether the administration is now considering retaliating for chlorine gas use.

Im not going to strictly define it. We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas as a weapon, Mattis said.

He said the latest reports of Syrian government forces killing civilians in eastern Ghouta show that troops are at best indiscriminately attacking and at worst targeting hospitals. I dont know which it is, whether theyre incompetent or whether theyre committing illegal acts or both.

In Washington, CIA director Mike Pompeo noted that President Donald Trump has said he will not tolerate chemical weapons attacks, but has not yet made a decision about the latest reports.

In this case, the intelligence community is working diligently to verify what happened there, Pompeo said in an interview on CBS Face the Nation.

Ive seen the pictures. Youve seen the pictures as well. We have a higher standard to make sure we understand precisely what took place, precisely who did it so that our response can meet the threat.

Mattis said Russia, which intervened militarily in Syria to support the Assad government, could be complicit in the civilian casualties.

Either Russia is incompetent or in cahoots with Assad, Mattis said. Theres an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas.

Added Pompeo: The president asks me nearly every day what it is the intelligence community knows about the Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons and who else  the Russians or the Iranians  who might be responsible for them.

On Sunday, the Russian military said 52 civilians have evacuated from besieged eastern Ghouta suburbs of Syrias capital, Damascus. Russia and the Syrian government have accused rebels of blocking civilians from fleeing the violence.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group says an indiscriminate campaign of government and Russian air strikes and shelling has killed some 1,100 civilians in rebel-held eastern Ghouta over the past three weeks.

The U.N. estimates 400,000 civilians are trapped in the siege.

Syrias deputy foreign minister Faisal Mekdad denied opposition charges that government forces used poisonous gas in their attacks on some suburbs of Damascus.

Mekdad said at a news conference Saturday that insurgents groups in eastern Ghouta are preparing to fabricate more such attacks to blame the Syrian army.

While in Oman, Mattis planned to meet with the countrys supreme ruler, Sultan Qaboos bin Said, on Monday. Oman is a longtime security partner of the U.S., though some question whether it is facilitating, or turning a blind eye to, the movement of Iranian weapons to Yemen to aid Houthi rebels.

Asked whether Oman is assisting Iran in this respect, Mattis said, Im not willing to say that. He said he expects to discuss Yemen with Qaboos. Oman has long-standing commercial and political ties to Iran, an Omani neighbor and U.S. nemesis.

Oman, which borders Yemen on the eastern edge of the Arabian Peninsula, has been ruled by the 77-year-old Qaboos since he took power from his father in a bloodless palace coup in 1970. After the 2011 Arab Spring, Qaboos is now the longest-serving Arab leader in the Middle East.

While ostensibly a member of the Saudi-dominated Gulf Cooperation Council, Oman has struck out on its own diplomatic path in the region. Oman was the site of secret talks between Iran and the U.S. that birthed Tehrans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers. Oman also has negotiated to help release Western detainees in Iran, as well as Yemen, in recent years.

Anthony Cordesman, a Middle East expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said Saturday that Omans role in the Persian Gulf is important to the U.S. at a time of sharp divisions among the Gulf Arab states, civil wars in Yemen and Syria, and growing Iranian influence in Iraq.

The pattern in the Gulf is one of deep concern for the U.S., Cordesman said.

Mattis said he also will visit Bahrain this week. It is home to the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet.NAIROBI NATIONAL PARK, Kenya (AP)  On the outskirts of a sprawling reserve of Kenyan grasslands where endangered animals roam wild, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lavished praise on an American-funded forensics lab that tracks down elephant-poachers for prosecution, and urged aggressive action in Africa on conservation.

Yet earlier this month, the Trump administration quietly lifted the U.S. ban on importing African elephant trophies, to the dismay of environmental groups who said it sends precisely the wrong message.

U.S. words and deeds are colliding as Tillerson travels across Africa. On trade policy, HIV/AIDS and humanitarian aid, the United States at times seems at odds with itself, muddying efforts to show it wants the continent to flourish and is here to help.

In the case of the elephants, conservationists appeared to have a powerful ally in President Donald Trump, who intervened personally last year to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from lifting the Obama-era ban on tusks imported from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Trump took to Twitter to call the practice a horror show.

At the forensics lab at Nairobi National Park, the only such lab in east and central Africa, Tillerson agreed Sunday when famed conservationist Richard Leakey warned that the huge interest in wildlife products such as elephant and rhinoceros parts was fueling the international trafficking trade.

Thats really the key, is to shut it all down, Tillerson said.

But three months after Trumps move to keep the ban in place, his administration reversed course again, saying elephant trophies could be imported on a case-by-case basis. The U.S. agency said it chose that course of action to comply with a court ruling that said the Obama administration failed to follow proper procedure in enacting the original ban.

In Kenya, where the elephant population has plummeted to roughly one-fifth of what it was in the 1970s, the new Trump policy fell flat.

The whole world is against it, said Paula Kahumbu, an elephant expert and CEO of Wildlife Direct, a leading Kenyan environmental group. She said past U.S. support for banning the ivory trade has pushed China and other nations to act as well. To then say, Oh, but we have a special case for some of our people, they should be allowed to have ivory, it totally undermines the U.S. leadership role.

American leadership has been repeatedly questioned since Trump took office in January 2017 as Washington pulls back from past commitments to NATO, to the United Nations and to aid programs that form the core of U.S. soft power diplomacy.

Tillersons trip to Kenya was designed in part to highlight the success of PEPFAR, the 15-year-old HIV/AIDS program that has saved millions of lives and helped see the continent through an epidemic that once threatened to wipe out a whole generation. More than 13 million people with HIV in Africa are on lifesaving antiretroviral drugs thanks to PEPFAR, the U.S. has said.

Its a very proud moment for us and a very proud moment for the American people, Ambassador Deborah Birx, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, said this past week.

So HIV/AIDS advocates are scratching their heads at why Trump has repeatedly proposed cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from PEPFAR. The nonprofit ONE Campaign warned that the cut would lead to hundreds of thousands more people dying of AIDS each year.

The Trump administration has said despite those reductions, it believes theres enough money left to maintain all current patient levels  meaning to not cut off anyones lifesaving medications. But public health groups say they cant understand why U.S. would pull back from the President George W. Bush-era program at the very moment when Tillerson says the world can actually now see a future free of HIV/AIDS.

Visiting the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia earlier in his trip, Tillerson urged officials not to go ahead with a plan to impose a 0.2 percent tariff on imports. The goal is to help the AU become financially self-sufficient, but the U.S. is concerned the plan runs afoul of the World Trade Organization, thus keeping U.S. companies out of the African market.

The timing for Tillersons push was inauspicious: Trump is in the midst of going ahead with steep trade penalties on aluminum and steel imported to the U.S.



Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter <a target=blank href=http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP>http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP</a>BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian government forces divided the eastern Ghouta enclave outside Damascus into two, pro-government media said Sunday, dealing a major setback to rebels and threatening to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation at the doors of the countrys capital.

A military media outlet linked to the Syrian army and its Lebanese allies, the militant group Hezbollah, said pro-government forces broke through rebel lines to establish a corridor through the besieged eastern Ghouta region after capturing the town of Mudeira.

The advance cuts off the towns of Douma and Harasta from the rest of the enclave, according to the Central Military Media outlet. Douma is eastern Ghoutas largest settlement.

In Douma, residents and local authorities are now considering evacuating the town, said local council member Iyad Abdelaziz.

The idea of leaving was refused outright, at first, but now with the regime advances and the siege thats been tightened, there are negotiations about something along those lines, Abdelaziz relayed to The Associated Press by voice note.

Government jets pounded Harasta Sunday evening, said Hezbollahs al-Manar TV station, which was broadcasting live from a lookout over the town.

Hezbollah is one of several regional Shiite militias organized by Iran to support government forces and put down the rebellion sparked by the violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in 2011.

The governments advance followed 22 days of intensive ground and air assaults on rebels and civilians trapped inside eastern Ghouta, which have killed over 1,100 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

At least 12 civilians died under shelling and airstrikes on Sunday, according to the Observatory. The activist run Ghouta Media Center put the toll at 17 dead. The Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets, said the town of Arbeen was struck 44 times, killing 9 people.

The Syrian military command said it established a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave eastern Ghouta, but few have used it. Residents are afraid of being conscripted into the army, or being detained arbitrarily or barred from returning to their homes.

No one feels safe turning themselves over to the regime and hoping they will be treated as a regular citizen again, said Abdelaziz.

Russias military command in Syria said Saturday it was negotiating with rebels to let them leave eastern Ghouta, but one of the two leading factions, Faylaq al-Rahman, issued a statement saying it will refuse to surrender or leave. Russia is a key military backer of President Bashar Assads forces, and is supporting the governments assault on Ghouta.

Residents have been crowding into basements with little food and water, and typically limited ventilation and no electricity, to shelter from the indiscriminate bombardment. The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders said 15 of the 20 hospitals and clinics it supports have been damaged, and said it has recorded more than 1,000 deaths at its medical centers.

The eastern Ghouta enclave has now been split in two, with one side measuring 27 square kilometers (10 square miles) and the other 22 (8 square miles).

Russias military said 52 civilians were able to flee the enclave for safety in government-held territory outside.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Zolotukhin of the Russian center for reconciliation of Syrias warring parties said the evacuees would receive all necessary assistance within two days, according to Russian news agencies. There were 26 children among the evacuees, according to their reports.

They were the first recorded civilian evacuations from eastern Ghouta since government forces outlined a humanitarian corridor for escape more than one week ago.

Russia and the Syrian government accused rebels of blocking civilians from fleeing.

The U.N. estimates there are 400,000 civilians trapped in the siege.



Associated Press writer James Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.| BY Kim Shaw |

Campaign Brief is again getting into the spirit of AdFest with our annual Legendary Sunset Party at this years festival.

Join Campaign Brief, London International Awards, Fin Design + Effects and The Gunnery poolside for 2 hours of drinks, networking and friendship at the Infini Bar overlooking the magnificent sea views at the Royal Cliff Beach Hotel in Pattaya, Thailand.

This is the 8th time we have hosted the event and if you are attending AdFest this year, please come along and enjoy the hospitality.

Thanks again to our generous sponsors: Fin Design + Effects, The Gunnery and the London International Awards.

Details:

4:30-6:30pm

Friday, March 23rdNotice for the Postmedia Network

This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.news, latest-news

The ACT government has outsourced all non-clinical roles at Canberra's newest hospital in a move slammed by unions. The University of Canberra Hospital is due to open in the middle of this year with staffing and budgeting still being finalised. Unions met with ACT Health last week when they were told staff - including wards persons, hospital assistants, maintenance workers, caterers, security, administration and cleaners - would be filled through a contractor. While Canberra Hospital makes use of contractors for some non clinical roles - such as security and cleaning - the use of contractors for wards persons, hospital assistants, catering and daily maintenance is new. The move to dramatically expand the use of contractors to fill health roles has alarmed unions. United Voice secretary Lyndal Ryan said direct government employment almost always led to better services and better conditions for workers. She said she was surprised and disappointed the government had moved further towards a public and private partnership at the hospital. "Health services just should not be privatised," Ms Ryan said. "We have just had a six year battle to lift wages for cleaning staff at Canberra Hospital who are contractors so you can understand the difficulties that contracting poses. "We are very concerned about the contracting out of services at the hospital. "But we are a union that has an enormous amount of experience in doing these things so we are confident we will deal with whatever is thrown our way." She said she was concerned Medirest - one of the contractors engaged by ACT health - had been employing staff at Calvary under the wrong award. Health Services Union NSW/ACT secretary Gerard Hayes said they would be seeking an urgent meeting with Health Minister Meegan Fitzharris over the revelations. He said in HSU's experiences with healthcare contractors quality of service and workplace conditions were often compromised in order to make profits. Mr Hayes said there was a significant chance its workers - which include hospital assistants, caterers and wards people - would be paid less than those working at Canberra Hospital on awards it fought for. "What is even more concerning is that the company involved has been awarded a 25-year contract and has a dubious record on workplace issues," Mr Hayes said. "We are also a little uncertain why you would create a divide under three hospitals." A spokeswoman for the government said ACT Health was currently engaging and consulting with staff, unions and other staff representative organisations about the hospital's staffing details. "In regards to the procurement model for the new University of Canberra Hospital , in 2014 the Government made the decision to use a Design Construct and Maintain contracting model," she said. "The proposed Model of Service Delivery for the new hospital, which was out for public consultation in 2014, included the DCM approach to provision of non-clinical services. "The contractor was engaged in 2015." The consultation document did not specify what services - except for cleaners and security - would be contracted out. Instead it said management services and soft services could be contracted out. "As we establish the services at UCH, we are committed to engaging with staff and their representatives and look forward to the ongoing conversations," the spokeswoman said. At full capacity it will have 140 overnight inpatient beds, 75 day places and additional outpatient services and 300 staff. Construction on the hospital - a specialist rehabilitation, recovery and research facility - finished last month and it is due to open in the middle of this year. It will physical and mental health services by referral, including tailored inpatient and outpatient programs. It will also be a research and training facility, providing students with work-integrated learning opportunities and educational spaces.

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Canberra racing fans flocked to Thoroughbred Park on Sunday with a bumper crowd turning out for Black Opal Stakes day. It was clear skies and sunshine all day as local trainers battled their city counterparts for almost $1 million in prize money across eight races. It was an emotional race for Canberra trainer Nick Olive who wanted to win his first Black Opal in his late mother's honour but it was not to be. His previously unbeaten Sizzling Belle was run down at the line by James Cummings' favourite Encryption. It was all about 'attention to detail' in the fashions on the field contest. The winner was Aimee Hay from Tathra while the runner up was Emma Wells. The best millinery on the day was worn by Lucy Hoolihan and the runner up was Viviana Croker. Podiatrist Hannah McKinlay said she makes sure of getting to the Black Opal every year and managed to back a winner on Sunday. "It's always good fun dressing up and having a day at the races. I was on Fun Tickets in the second which won by a nose," she said. First-timer Dan McCulloch backed Canberra's marquee day of racing to keep growing. "This is my first year but it won't be my last, I get the sense this race day is going to keep getting bigger and better and drag more young punters down from Sydney for the long weekend," he said.

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When Canberra radio presenter Kristen Henry wore a T-shirt to Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding that said 'Harry! This could be us!' she knew one way or another she would be back for the younger prince's wedding - bride or not. Unfortunately the MIX106 morning host isn't Prince Harry's bride for his May 19 nuptials, but she is leading a group of Canberra women on an incredible excursion to London to see the cheeky flame-haired Royal marry American actress Meghan Markle. When Henry's own fiance declined to travel with her to England for the wedding, Henry - who "spent days on the lounge crying after Diana died, I didn't move" - decided to put a call out on social media to find Canberra's most hardcore Royal Family fans to go with her. She "pulled out all the stops, every favour in the book" to design the UK trip of a lifetime, and whittled down 350 applicants to just nine. "I can't explain how electric it is to be in London during a Royal Wedding," she says. "People are so joyous, the pubs are full, there's bookies on every corner taking bets on what colour hat the Queen will wear. "At William and Kate's, I stood next to grown women wearing adult diapers out the front of Buckingham Palace because they were not moving or losing their spot to see the kiss! "It's crazy, romantic and a Royal fan's dream." Henry's small posse of Royal obsessives includes a Lifeline volunteer, a cake decorator, a scout leader, a midwife turned scientist and a couple of public servants. "Yes, they are all connected to the Royals and excited to be in London to celebrate but what really surprises me is the common theme is that these women are desperate to do something for themselves," Henry says. "They are mums, wives, bosses and daughters who think of other people all day. "This was an opportunity to treat themselves. Be a little selfish, get their mojo back. So yes, a love of the Royals and romance bonds us but the need to do something for themselves is what drives every single one of them." The group's London itinerary is as glamorous and exclusive as the Royal couple themselves - from 4.5 star luxury accommodation within walking distance of Buckingham Palace to a tour of St Georges Chapel just before it closes for Prince Harry and Meghan's big day. The night before the Royal wedding is a highlight, with Henry and her guests dining at VIP tables at The Ritz "with champagne in hand, in an ode to Diana". Henry says the group will wait until they are on the ground in London to decide on a vantage point for the wedding. If they're forced to camp out for a night to get the best view, they're willing to wear matching Prince Harry and Meghan onesies. Speaking of outfits, what does one even wear to a Royal wedding? "We'll all be dressed up, we're packing hats - we're going to an English wedding for heaven's sake! We will totally look the part! "I'm going to try and give Beatrice a run for her money hat-wise," she laughs. "But seriously, I can't wait to see what Meghan wears - I might take a leaf out of her book for my own wedding dress. I'm actually hoping to buy my wedding dress when I'm over there, so a piece of London is with me when I say' I do'." The wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will take place on Saturday 19 May, 9pm Australian Eastern Standard time. Follow Bree Winchester on Instagram and Facebook

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ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has declared he is "over" the mainstream media and "hates journalists". Mr Barr, speaking to communications specialists at a "meet the buyer" event at the ACT parliament on Thursday, set out his new plans to bypass traditional media. "It is a very clear and deliberate strategy for change, it has the backing of my government, my administration," he said in a recording of the event leaked to The Canberra Times, challenging the communications companies to come up with contentious and risky ideas. "And if the word of the chief minister is anything in this context, let me be absolutely crystal clear about our intention to both resource this and to deliver this change. It has to happen. We're going to make it happen," he said. Mr Barr told the group he had been "blunt and frank" in delivering the same message to "everyone within the communications area of government". "It is absolutely clear to me that that is the way forward and that is the path that we are going to be pursuing over the next few years." Mr Barr began his remarks by saying he would start with some "frank statements that may or not shock some people in the room". "I hate journalists. I'm over dealing with the mainstream media as a form of communication with the people of Canberra. What passes for a daily newspaper in this city is a joke and it will be only a matter of years before it closes down," he said. Mr Barr claimed the average age of viewers of the ABC television 7pm news bulletin was in the mid-60s, and the circulation of the print edition of The Canberra Times was less than 15,000. Most Canberrans did not consume traditional media, Mr Barr said, referring to the relative youth of the wider community with half of Canberrans aged under 34. It is a recurring theme of Mr Barr's that older Canberrans have a disproportionate say, including last week when he hit out at the opposition of "a certain generation of Canberrans" to tall buildings. "We need to completely overhaul the way we communicate as a government and that's exactly what we're doing," he told the communications specialists. "My challenge to everyone in this room is to be at the cutting edge of communication, to put up contentious, risky and interesting ideas about how we can communicate ... "No idea should be too crazy ... We wont accept every single one of them but we definitely have to change how we engage." The government wanted to hear directly from Canberrans and communicate directly back to them, "not through the filter of journalists, and particularly through the filter of print journalists, which is a dying industry", he said, inviting ideas for digital, video and creative content that would "completely sweep aside the reputation that Canberra has for being bureaucratic and dull". Fairfax Media said Canberra was well served by its independent media, including Fairfax's own publications. "Those held to account by the media often find it not to their liking," the company said in response. "It is worth remembering the profound words of the United States Supreme Court in its landmark decision on media freedom to report  for the protection of 'the governed not the governors'." Mr Barr has had an uneasy relationship with the media and has often criticised The Canberra Times, frequently refusing to deal directly with its political reporters. He has also refused to deal with other groups which have upset him, including Clubs ACT, which ran a campaign against his government at the 2016 election. Last year, he blasted Clubs ACT as "a wreckage and a joke" and vowed to no longer deal with the industry group that represents clubs. Instead, he said he would negotiate with the breakaway clubs group organised by the CFMEU-linked Tradies clubs. In June 2016, he told estimates he had taken "great pleasure" in cancelling his subscription to "the daily rag", to which his then minister, Joy Burch, said she had cancelled hers "years ago". Mr Barr's office said at the time that he read the paper on his ipad so no longer needed the hard copy, which was in any case "always available in the office". At one stage in 2017, Mr Barr locked down his Twitter account. He began talking about his desire to bypass special interest groups after the government was forced to back down on the bid to redevelop Manuka Oval and when he hit opposition to the West Basin redevelopment. Asked for comment on Friday, Mr Barr's spokeswoman said he had long believed that government communications must rapidly adapt to the changing needs of audiences and embrace new technologies and more direct ways of communicating. "The Chief Minister was challenging communications professionals to challenge us, inspire us and go beyond the ordinary and think of new ways to reach our diverse community given the decline of the traditional media," she said.

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/c40cd1d7-91c1-4d86-a549-78d91c170186/r0_121_1999_1250_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg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.Bahraini people have held a protest to condemn the ruling Al Khalifah regimes heavy-handed crackdown on political dissidents.

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Bahraini people have held a protest to condemn the ruling Al Khalifah regimes heavy-handed crackdown on political dissidents.



The protesters took to the streets in the northern villages of Abu Saiba and Shakhora, west of the capital Manama, on Friday evening and shouted anti-regime slogans.



They also vented their anger at a move by the regime to place top Shia cleric Sheikh Isa Qassim under house arrest. The protesters described as illegal the siege of the northwestern village of Diraz, where Qassims residence is located. The cleric has been living under virtual siege since Manama revoked his citizenship in June 2016, prompting protests and sit-ins in his home town. Bahraini authorities later dissolved the Islamic Enlightenment Institution, founded by him, in addition to the opposition al-Risala Islamic Association.



In May 2017, a Bahraini court convicted Sheikh Qassim of illegal collection of funds and money laundering, and sentenced him to one year in jail.



It also ordered him to pay $265,266 in fine. The court ruling sparked widespread demonstrations across the country.



Thousands of anti-regime protesters have held demonstrations in Bahrain on an almost daily basis ever since a popular uprising began in the country in mid-February 2011. They are demanding that the Al Khalifah regime relinquish power and allow a just system representing all Bahrainis to be established.



Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown.



Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or got arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regimes crackdown.









/129Those are two words we hear and read about almost every day, that got me thinking if I to hate somebody. Well you can hate something, but that is not the same as hating somebody.

Hate has to come from somewhere, you have to have a reason to hate somebody. Maybe that somebody that you hate did something that makes you hate him/her. However, I came to the conclusion that it is almost impossible to hate somebody without a reason and I guess sometimes that word is used at the wrong time or the wrong place or for the wrong reason or just because it is easy to remember and use it.

It can be used to give something a boost. You can say "I don't like this weather" or boost to "I hate this weather". It might have the same effect as the F-word, but sounding less vulgar. In the mean time we have some newer versions that we call "hate-crime" or "hate speech" and you can actually be arrested and possibly doing jail time for either one of the two. But as I mentioned above, there has to be a reason. Now what if that hatred is coming to us from our own Government? You think this is too far fetched? I don't think so.

If we watch what some of those Politicians do with our hard earned money, does that not create hate? If a veteran is told that we don't have money for them, but then hundreds of millions of dollars are given to countries some of us have not even heard of, give millions to a terrorist because he is a Canadian, welcomes ISIS fighters into Canada, hands out another few hundred millions to questionable refugees by giving them free housing, schooling, food etc. But then on the other side wants a tax return filed from everybody else. If that does not create hatred, what does? The only problem is, it makes us hate the wrong people.

I admit that I was never involved with any political party and I do have my reasons. You read the papers, you watch the news and then you know why. But at one time I was very close to joining the Reform Party and that was after I heard Preston Manning's motto " One Country - One People - One Law! But then I didn't and now I am glad I didn't. Preston Manning made it to Ottawa and I have not heard a single word from him, or about him, or about that Party ever again.

I am anything but a pessimist, however, our Government is working really hard to change that. I just wish that a few more Canadians wake up before it is not even worth to get up.

Roger von DachPhoto: The Canadian Press

A military judge is expected to render a decision Monday in the court martial of a Halifax sailor accused of sexually assaulting a subordinate.

Lawyers for the prosecution and defence gave closing arguments in a Halifax military court on Saturday, both of which largely turned on the question of whose version of the events aboard the HMCS Athabaskan in November 2015 is to believed  defendant Master Seaman Daniel Cooper or the alleged victim, whose name is protected by a publication ban.

Prosecutor Maj. Dominic Martin began his submissions by arguing that Cooper and the junior officer's accounts of the night of drinking before the alleged incident were "pretty compatible" up until when the sailors returned to their sleeping quarters on the navy destroyer, which was docked in Spain as part of a NATO exercise.

But that's where their testimonies diverge, lawyers on both sides said.

Cooper, a naval communicator at Canadian Forces Base Halifax, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault and ill treatment of a subordinate.

The alleged victim has testified that he awoke in his bunk to find Cooper performing oral sex on him.

Under cross-examination Saturday morning, Cooper maintained that he twice asked the junior sailor if he wanted to engage in sexual activity and the other man agreed.

Martin questioned Cooper about what he characterized as inconsistencies between his testimony before the court martial this week and portions of a filmed interview with military police Cooper gave in March 2016, which was voluntary and not sworn under oath.

Cooper told the court martial he withheld certain details during the interview because he did not feel comfortable talking to investigators about a homosexual encounter, but said the account he gave investigators was largely accurate aside from the omission of what he says was a consensual sex act with the junior sailor.

"It's not an easy thing to talk about, going into the details of a homosexual act with people who aren't homosexual," Cooper said, adding that interactions with military police prior to the interview led him to believe the investigators were not interested in hearing his side of the story.

Cooper testified Friday that after a night of drinking, he and the junior sailor went back to their sleeping quarters, and as they were talking by the other man's locker, he noticed that he had become aroused.

Cooper said he asked the junior sailor if he wanted to become intimate and the other man agreed. Cooper told the court martial he then followed the other man to his bunk, asking him another time if he wanted to become intimate before engaging in sexual activity.

He said he performed oral sex on the subordinate, and that the man didn't tell him to stop until about 10 minutes later when he sat up and said, "I'm not gay," at which point Cooper said he immediately returned to his own bunk.

During closing arguments, Martin asserted that Cooper fabricated the alleged conversation near the locker in an effort to "absolve" himself of guilt.

Defence counsel Maj. Phillipe Boutin argued that it was the alleged victim's account that lacked credibility past "the point of no return."

Boutin said the alleged victim testified that he could not remember many details during the period of time in question, especially those that may put him in "a bad light."

However, Boutin said, the junior sailor was "adamant" that the alleged conversation by his locker did not occur.

Martin said the alleged victim had no reason to take note of the details of the night the incident allegedly occured until he was awoken in his bunk to a superior sailor performing oral sex on him, at which point he became very "attentive."

On Wednesday, the alleged victim told the military court it was dark and he couldn't really see, but he recognized Cooper's voice.

He became emotional in the courtroom as he spoke about fearing for his safety and attempting to alert a crew member in the bunk below him  but he said his pleas for help went unanswered.

The sailor from the lower bunk testified Friday that he remembered the alleged victim attempting to wake him up on the morning in question.

The bunkmate said the two men then reported the incident to a superior.

Boutin said Saturday that if the alleged victim had wanted to withdraw consent, he should have communicated that to Cooper, not his bunkmate.

Boutin reminded the military judge that the prosecution bears the burden of proving the sexual-assault charge beyond a reasonable doubt, and said if Sukstorf had reason to believe that the alleged conversation near the locker occurred, she should find Cooper not guilty.

Martin said if she decided the alleged victim was unconscious when the sexual activity began, she would have to rule the other way.

Military Judge Cmdr. Sandra Sukstorf said she expected to reach a verdict by Monday afternoon.Photo: The Canadian Press

Protesters around Vancouver held duelling rallies on Saturday, some welcoming Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain pipeline expansion project with others decrying it.

Hours after First Nation leaders marched with thousands of anti-pipeline activists in Burnaby, B.C., about 200 pro-pipeliners  including a bus load of Albertans  gathered downtown to speak in favour of the resource infrastructure.

Stewart Muir, who spoke in favour of the $7.4-billion project as executive director for the Resource Works Society, said it doesn't have to be a decision between the environment and economy.

"Canada can have both. We can have the environment protected and respected and we can have the economic benefits that will allow Canada to be in future what it has been in the past," Muir said.

But protesters against the pipeline told a different story. Indigenous leaders beat drums and sang out against the project, saying they wouldn't step aside for construction.

Rueben George, of the Tsleil-Waututh First Nation, told thousands of protesters that it will take more rallies and protests to stop the project, which is set to increase the flow of oil products to 890,000 barrels up from 300,000 barrels per day.

"It's going to take gatherings such as this ... (to) make sure the environment is not laid to waste and taken away from future generations. This is what we stand for today," George said, speaking by megaphone to the crowd gathered outside Burnaby's Lake City Way Skytrain station.

The Tseil-Waututh are among six First Nations that filed a court challenge to the project last fall, along with the City of Burnaby and City of Vancouver. The First Nation organized the protest alongside the Musqueam and Squamish First Nations, George said.

Protesters marched toward a traditional "watch house" they were building at Burnaby Mountain to oversee work by Kinder Morgan.

George explained that Coast Salish First Nations would traditionally build a watch house, or "Kwekwecnewtxw," to watch for enemies. He said the environmental threat posed by the pipeline expansion constitutes such an enemy.

Squamish First Nation elder Robert Nahanee said expanding the pipeline will only add more pollution to the coast where he grew up.

"My family was food gatherers. We gathered clams, crabs, oysters fish  everything. That's how I grew up. Now we can't even do that," Nahanee said. "We need to stand up and hear our voices. My voice is: O, Canada, you're on native land."

On Friday, a B.C. Supreme Court judge granted Kinder Morgan an interim injunction aimed at preventing anti-pipeline activists from protesting construction at two terminals in Burnaby.

The injunction restricts protesters from coming within 50 metres of the facilities until Wednesday, when a hearing on the matter will continue.In a post released on social media on Saturday, Hamid Baeedinejad said every political and ideological group, cult or current would once reveal its nature at a certain juncture.



(AhlulBayt News Agency) - Fridays raid on Irans embassy building in London by members of the Shirazi cult was a flagrant violation of international law and laid bare the true image of its deviated ideology, Irans ambassador to Britain said.



In a post released on social media on Saturday, Hamid Baeedinejad said every political and ideological group, cult or current would once reveal its nature at a certain juncture.



The ambassador then denounced the Friday attack on the Iranian embassy by the Shirazi cult, which he branded as a deviated ideology, and said that storming the embassy building before the eyes of public was a brazen violation of the international law.



he added that the trespassers could have simply expressed their views in a peaceful manner.



Taking a swipe at members of the cult for their insulting remarks about the Iranian government and the revered figures of Sunni Muslims, Baeedinejad said the Shirazi cult could no more cover its dark image.



The notorious cult has for decades been deriding late founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeinis (AS) legacy of unity between Shiite and Sunni Muslims, the envoy deplored.



In a statement on Friday, Irans Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Qassemi condemned the attack, during which four men dressed in black raided the Iranian embassy in London, climbed on to a first-floor balcony of the building, took down the Iranian flag, and waved flags of their radical cult in an apparent protest against the Islamic Republic.



No one was hurt during the incident and the trespassers were arrested when they came down after around three hours. The four are detained for causing criminal damage and being unlawfully on diplomatic premises, a spokeswoman for Londons Metropolitan Police said.







/257Photo: Contributed

The public is invited to the Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Alliance's annual general meeting next week.

The AGM takes place on Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Cowork Penticton, located at 129 Nanaimo Avenue.

The first half of the meeting will include reports on last year's 20th annual Meadowlark Festival, as well as several outdoor education programs and tours the Alliance holds in the South Okanagan.

There will also be a video called 'Changing Landscapes,' showing landscapes in the region from the past 100 years. The video was a Canada 150 project last year.

Afterwards, the board of directors for 2018 will be confirmed and related business matters will be heard. That part of the AGM will be optional for people who aren't current nor potential board members.

Those looking to rsvp can contact OSCA chair Janet Wilson at [email protected]Colton Davies

More than 60 booths were set up at the 10th annual Healthy Living Fair at the Penticton Trade and Convention Centre on Saturday, and hundreds of people attended.

On display were businesses promoting physical and mental fitness, health products, testing and other health measures. There was also a lineup of speakers that discussed topics related to health and wellbeing.

One of the businesses there was KwikFit4u  a whole-body vibration exercise system.

"We promote health and wellness and prevention through the vibration machines. We supply the YMCA's, the PGA, Dancing With the Stars, all different sports, clinics, you name it," owner Laura Pelletier said.

Pelletier has been at the Healthy Living Fair for five years, and she goes to similar events in Canada and the United States.

She said Penticton's event provides a good platform for businesses.

"There's so much information here that people need. That's the reason I come every year, because there's a lot of draw here. There's a lot of help for everybody."

Almost all of the businesses that take part are based in the Okanagan, according to one organizer  who points out the exposure the Healthy Living Fair also brings.

"It's amazing how many people say they just moved here from Fort Nelson, or Vancouver or wherever... They say 'oh, I didn't know this was available," the event's co-chair Kirby Layng said.

Layng said organizers of the not-for-profit fair were pleased with the public turnout, and pointed out people of all ages were represented.Photo: The Canadian Press

Doug Ford is the new leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservatives.

The announcement comes after a delay that lasted more than seven hours as party officials reviewed the results of the vote.

Ford becomes the leader of Ontario's official opposition and will lead the charge to unseat Liberal Premier Kathleen Wynne in an election that's just three months away.

He defeated opponents Christine Elliott, Toronto lawyer Caroline Mulroney and social conservative advocate Tanya Granic Allen to secure the leadership.

"I will get our party back on track," Ford said.

"To the people of Ontario, I say relief is on its way. And to Kathleen Wynne I say your days as premier are numbered."

Ford replaces Patrick Brown as leader after he abruptly resigned in late January amid sexual misconduct allegations, which that he vehemently denies.

Ford's coronation as party leader marks the culmination of a tumultuous six weeks in Tory circles that began late in the evening on Jan. 24.

That night Brown, who had been comfortably beating the Liberals and NDP in pre-election polls, called a late-night news conference to deny allegations of sexual misconduct, only to step down as party leader hours later while still maintaining his innocence.

His abrupt departure uncovered issues with the party's structure, problems with its nomination processes, and discrepancies in its membership numbers, leading the Tories' interim leader to declare he would "root out the rot" before handing over the reins to a new leader.

The party has since reopened two nominations in contested ridings and abandoned a legal battle with a former party member who clashed with Brown over the nominations and other issues.

The Tories have also upgraded their IT system in response to a cyberattack last fall and cut undisclosed contracts in their effort to move past the wave of controversies that has drawn national attention in recent weeks.

The leadership race itself has also stirred strife and forced party brass to defend their decisions on a number of fronts.

Tensions grew when Brown, fresh off a campaign to clear his name, announced he would throw his hat in the ring in an attempt to reclaim his job. His conduct as leader and status in the June election had already taken centre stage in the leadership campaign and stirred debate among those hoping to succeed him.

Some of Brown's rivals initially denounced his candidacy, calling it a distraction, but then stepped back to focus on their own campaigns. Mulroney, however, called for him to back out of the race, which he eventually did, citing the strain on his friends and relatives.

All four candidates have also raised the alarm over possible membership fraud and delays in member registration. The party said it was aware of those concerns and thrice pushed back the deadline for party members to register for the vote.

Ford, Mulroney and Granic Allen pushed for the party to extend the race by a week to allow votes from those who received key documents late, but the leadership election organizing committee said doing so would contravene the party's constitution.

Ford also alleged party members were sending documents to hand-picked members while excluding others, including his own mother.

Hours after Ford's claims, a lawyer representing a disenfranchised member of the party filed a legal application seeking to delay the leadership decision by an additional week, in order to give more members a chance to receive their documents and cast a ballot.

Party officials argued that delaying the race would damage its chances in the pending election, adding that the roughly 64,000 people who had successfully voted represented an all-time high for voter turnout.

Superior Court Justice Todd Archibald ultimately sided with the party, dismissing the request to extend the race that had already cost $1.5 million.Photo: BC Transit

B.C. Transit is proposing a bus service expansion in the South Okanagan and Similkameen, which would provide more frequent routes to Kelowna.

The expansion would connect commuters in the region to the Central Okanagan's transit system with a daily trip on weekdays, heading to Kelowna in the morning and returning in the afternoon.

Exact route schedules have not been laid out, but the proposed service expansion would be for all rural areas in the region  including Coalmont, Osoyoos, and locations in between.

Currently, BC Transit runs a route from Princeton to Penticton once daily on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They also have a service from Osoyoos to Kelowna which runs only on Mondays.

"This new connection would provide services for all residents throughout the region who are working, studying, travelling, or going to Kelowna for non-emergency medical purposes," senior regional transit manager Rob Williams said.

The proposal will be brought to Regional District Okanagan Similkameen board members this week, who will discuss the "costs and risks associated" with the plan.

The route expansion is currently expected to cost just under $259,000. At present, the RDOS would pay close to $160,000, with the cost per household ranging from $1.33 to $4.11. The province would fund just over $87,000.

While not included in the cost layout, the RDOS said it has engaged with partners to try and secure partial funding from municipalities in the Central Okanagan  namely Peachland and West Kelowna, since they would directly benefit from the expansion.

It's expected a decision would be made by board members to pursue the expansion at the Apr. 5 board meeting.

If the expansion gains approval from residents and all else goes to plan, the new routes would likely commence in September 2019.

The proposal comes on the heels of Greyhound's announcement last month to cut routes through B.C. beginning on May 31, which includes eliminating all bus service in the Similkameen.

Currently, there aren't plans tabled for any bus route to operate from the Similkameen to the Lower Mainland once Greyhound axes its service.Photo: Contributed

No winning ticket was sold for the $9.6 million jackpot in Saturday night's Lotto 649 draw.

However, the guaranteed $1 million prize went to a ticket holder in Ontario.

The jackpot for next Lotto 649 draw on Mar. 14 will be approximately $13 million.Photo: Contributed

Jaspreet Bal was eating lunch with friends in rural Ontario when she says a "kind, well-intentioned" white man approached them to chat. He asked about her background, and she replied she was Sikh.

"Oh yeah, Air India," he said, recognition flashing in his eyes.

Bal was born in 1985, the same year that Sikh militants bombed Air India Flight 182, killing all 329 on board. It was, apparently, the man's only point of reference for her religion.

"It's really frustrating," she said. "It's something that wasn't OK that it happened, but it will haunt us forever. Nobody stops to make the distinction that it wasn't representative of the entire community."

The 32-year-old Humber College instructor is among those Sikh Canadians who are dismayed by the narrative that emerged during Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's recent trip to India as Canada was accused of harbouring Sikh extremists.

The problem, said several outspoken and politically active Sikh Canadians, is that there is no hard evidence of rising radicalism in the community. Incidents such as Air India and the murder of Indo-Canadian journalist Tara Singh Hayer happened decades ago, and those who support an independent nation known as Khalistan today do not advocate violence, they say.

There are roughly 500,000 Sikhs in Canada. Some fled violence in India in the 1970s and '80s. After prime minister Indira Gandhi ordered an attack in 1984 on the Golden Temple, Sikhism's holiest shrine, her Sikh bodyguards assassinated her, prompting anti-Sikh riots that have since been labelled a genocide by Ontario's legislature.

Every Sikh has their own views on a sovereign homeland, but there's no violent movement at this time, said Mukhbir Singh, president of the World Sikh Organization of Canada, which describes itself as a human rights and Sikh advocacy group.

"Our concern is that Canadian Sikhs speaking out on human rights is being mislabelled or made equivalent to extremism," he said.

Often cited as evidence of radicalism are the photos of Tarwinder Singh Parmar and other alleged Air India masterminds that hang in a small number of temples and are displayed by some parade attendees. Singh said he cannot speak for those who show the photos but Sikhs reject violence and extremism.

The Indian government floating accusations that Canada is soft on Sikh terrorists is nothing new. In 2012, former prime minister Stephen Harper pushed back at the suggestion, saying his government keeps a close watch for extremist threats, but simply advocating for an independent Sikh nation is not a crime.

Canadians should question why India has repeatedly pushed this narrative, said Singh. The country is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party, which has connections to Hindu nationalists.

"I almost feel like this obsession with Sikhs shows that India is almost threatened by Sikhs in the diaspora," said Singh. "This hard-working community that ... is ever watchful of India's human rights track record, I think it views that as a risk or threat to itself."

Trudeau, whose cabinet includes four Sikh ministers, said during his trip that Canada stands against extremism but its diversity of views is one of its strengths. The visit was overshadowed by the attendance of Jaspal Atwal, convicted of attempting to murder an Indian cabinet minister in Canada in 1986, at a reception in Mumbai. His invitation to a New Delhi event was rescinded.

The prime minister ultimately signed a framework with Modi that includes increased collaboration between police and security agencies of both countries, which the World Sikh Organization has said could jeopardize the lives of Canadian Sikhs or their families in India.

Chantal Gagnon, a spokeswoman for Trudeau's office, said the prime minister would never equate the Sikh community or any one community with extremism, but the government condemns all forms of terrorism. Canada and India collaborate on a broad range of issues including security, she said.

Kulvir Gill, a 41-year-old Brampton management consultant and father of two, said he's faced questions in recent weeks from non-Sikh colleagues and friends, including: "What's going on with your community? What are you guys all about? Is this who you are? Is this what you do behind closed doors?

"So, all of a sudden the entire community is being painted with the same brush. It's very unfair, it's very unfortunate," he said. "I think this, I'll call it a smear campaign, has really disillusioned a lot of Sikh Canadians."

He said Trudeau walked into an "ambush" when he visited India but he could have done more to defend the community.

"The Sikh community is really taking stock," he said. "I think we're going to be questioning who really stands up for the concerns of the community and who should we be aligned with going forward."Photo: CTV

Alberta Premier Rachel Notley's threat to reduce oil shipments to other provinces, the latest salvo in a recent pipeline dispute with British Columbia, carries on a provincial tradition of using its natural resources to reinforce its political positions.

The energy-rich province has used its oil and gas exports as leverage at least three times in the past to win arguments with other levels of government, oilpatch historian and author David Finch said Friday.

Read moreThe Public Relations Department in the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali (PBUH) received Andrew Turner, the Canadian ambassador in Iraq

(AhlulBayt News Agency) - The Public Relations Department in the Holy Shrine of Imam Ali (PBUH) received Andrew Turner, the Canadian ambassador in Iraq.



In a statement to the Media Center of the Holy Shrine, Andrew said, I had the honor of visiting this holy shrine.



It is my first visit to it. It is the destination of all Muslims. There are many Muslims in Canada and I am visiting this holy shrine expressing my respect to my co-Muslim-citizens.







/129Cover of the book (Photo provided by the publisher)



The book tells the story of Loan, real name Dau Thi Cuc, a Vietnamese woman from the central province of Ha Tinh, who escaped an arranged marriage at just 12 years old to set out on a long and often dangerous journey through Vietnam, Algeria and France to make a life for herself.

The book describes how she left Vietnam in 1955 and moved to live in Algeria first and then France.

Loan is subject to discrimination and hostility because of the colour of her skin.

Despite living in abject poverty, she raises her five children, always emphasising that education is a great privilege.

Muller, Loans youngest daughter, tells a lively story of an ordinary woman with whom women readers, especially in Vietnam, can empathise with.

Muller said the English version of the book is finished and is waiting for a publisher.

Muller is the founder of LO-ANH Foundation, which has launched many educational projects, including the construction and expansion of kindergartens, schools and boarding houses and financial care for poor ethnic children in the remotest areas of the northern mountain provinces of Ha Giang and Cao Bang.

Its latest project is in Ha Giang, where they are offering new shoes, clothes, blankets, mattresses, and mats to more than 300 children in Xin Cai Secondary School.

In the 1990s, Muller travelled often with her mother back to Vietnam to learn more about her roots.

She said donations are raised through events she organises, such as lectures on her new books or presentations by the foundation./.Twenty middle school students from Dade County Middle School arrived at the Capitol on Monday, March 5, accompanied by their teachers, Dr. Tom Randolph and Ms. Pamela Stone.

Students brought either their personal business plans or a psychological study geared toward changing behavior. Both projects were shared by the students to representatives, senators or lobbyists as they moved around the Capitol on multiple floors.

Students were instructed to approach legislators and lobbyists with the results of their classroom work, asking questions and compiling results to culminate their research."I want to say to all the supporters of Benfica that my management and I have never sullied the honour and dignity of Benfica," Vieira told reporters after Benfica beat Aves, 2-0, on Saturday evening.A risk well worth taking, for Ive not found it easy to shake this piece from my head, even though the big chunk of the plot involving the lives of Sage, her friend Jahaad (Martel Manning) and young G (the terrific Mariah Sydnei Gordon) feels removed from Darnell and those who become compelled by what he has chosen to do to himself. I had a sense that not fully unlocking the authorial intent there was partly my fault, although that is where the script still needs work and I could have used more help from director Jess McLeods production, which does not always operate at the same levels of intensity or veracity. Its also not always fully comfortable with the comedy inherent in the writing, although it is not hard, God knows, to see why.A firefighter was injured late Saturday night on the South Side while dousing a blaze that police say was set by arson, according to authorities.James Davis Sr.s cousin said the two were supposed to attend the funeral of a mutual friend before the shooting, but he missed his flight to Chicago. If he had made it, he said, Davis might have asked him to go with him to Michigan instead of his wife.Mattulia Robinson, 25, a passenger in the car, was taken to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where she was pronounced dead after the car crashed around 4:30 a.m. in the 700 block of West 69th Street in the Englewood neighborhood.Yolanda Rivera, 57, was visiting family in the 2400 block of North Southport Avenue in the Wrightwood Neighbors neighborhood, according to a missing persons alert. She had been last seen around 1 p.m.It is not a bad thing for us, that the route known as the Goldene Strae or the Golden Road as we will get to know it- has escaped the attention of so many. It has been spared being overrun by hordes of tourists and as you will discoverThe 26-year-old man was robbed by five or six men or boys about 4:45 a.m. just east of State Street on Chicago Avenue, near the Chicago Avenue Red Line subway station, according to a police media notification.Harries said there was no evidence restaurant and bar patrons had gotten traces of poison on their clothes, but that it was "practical" to take proactive steps. Even so, Harries said clothing with traces of contamination would not cause harm after a few days; problems might develop if there was "repetitive" exposure over weeks and months, she said.Since those two rallies late last year, Trump has not held any official campaign rallies, although he did name his new campaign manager last month, Brad Parscale. But that doesn't mean the president has refrained from giving addresses that sound a lot like his signature campaign speeches.Where have all our heroes gone? Where are they who sacrificed lives and careers for the welfare of others, who fought for a country to survive the onslaught of the world? Certainly not for personal glory or self-fulfilling, narcissistic aims.We compete in a world market and increasing your prices without improving your product is a sure path to second place  while the winners in international competition start with lower material prices. The loss of jobs due to even marginal impacts on our steel- and aluminum-using industries will far outweigh the benefit to the steel-producing industries.The alderman said at one point he and his husband were facing down eight to 10 men who appeared drunk or high on illicit drugs, one of whom confronted him and another who put him in a headlock.Averbeck talked about how to make water safer and showed pictures of the drills, which are used to create new wells where clean water can be found. He also talked about his role as an illustrator, which includes "using symbolism in pictures" and he explained to the students how he combined research on the internet with library records and photographs to create his illustrations.Raymond LaPorte, 74, was pronounced dead at about 12:15 p.m. Friday after an investigative team was sent to his his home in the 2600 block of James Drive in Dyer, Ind., according to the Lake County Coroner's Office.Many of the women in attendance were English as second language students at ECC. Some said they enrolled in school to better themselves, even if it meant returning to a classroom setting for the first time in decades. Gloria Martinez, who came from Mexico more than three decades ago, said her children and their pursuit of higher education inspired her to take classes.That's something we do that I think sets us apart. In January, we did a New Year kickoff and we had stations set up  makeup, eyelash extension demos, nails. We had champagne and hors d'oeuvres. We're planning a blow-drying class where we'll have clients come in with their own blow dryers and products and we'll guide them on the techniques to do it correctly. We're teaching them how to do their own hair. The expansion  we doubled our size  also made it so I could have more room to offer a place where girlfriends and mothers and daughters can come in and get their hair done or get pedicures and we can pour them a glass of wine and talk. There are so many clients who come in after a hard day's work and just want to sit back and relax. The original salon was too small. That's why I did the expansion. It's my love for pampering clients. It's a dream come true for me to be able to offer that to the neighborhood."According to a news release, firefighters saw smoke coming from the roof of the house, and advanced through the first floor. Crews were able to get the fire under control in about 10 minutes."Our nation has a long history of student-led civil disobedience, which has led to meaningful reforms," the high schools' co-principals wrote in a letter to students and parents. "Your courage to stand up for your beliefs is commendable, and the change you advocate will last a lifetime. We encourage all students at Waukegan High School to exercise your rights as you see fit, while demonstrating your respect for the Waukegan community."Hummingbirds winter between southern Mexico and northern Panama and lead solitary lives.

They dont migrate in a flock.

They will winter in the same location each year. Males go first, followed by females a week or so later.

They are on the move north in January, and while we think of them as drinking from our flowers, the birds actually gorge on insects and spiders. If they migrate ahead of the flowers they prefer, they resort to insects again.

Hummingbirds leave at dusk for a nonstop flight of up to 500 miles, which takes 18-22 hours depending on the weather. Although hummingbirds may fly over water in company of mixed flocks of other bird species, they do not hitchhike on other birds. (Talk about getting a good start. When I read that, I almost wished they had developed a knack for riding on other birds. How cool would that be?)You are here: Business

China's top state-owned enterprises (SOE) regulator Saturday called on other countries to treat Chinese investment fairly and equally.

"It's understandable that all countries conduct investigations into foreign investment, but they should give equal treatment to all foreign investors, not discriminate," Xiao Yaqing, head of State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC), told a press conference on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress. [Special coverage]

Globalization is here to stay, and free trade and investment will benefit the people, Xiao said, adding that foreign investment by Chinese SOEs is market driven.

China's central SOEs had 9,112 overseas branches by the end of last year, in 185 countries and regions with a total asset volume of about 7 trillion yuan (about 1.1 trillion U.S. dollars).

China will encourage SOEs, especially central SOEs to expand their business overseas.

"In going global, it's not just about competition. There should be more cooperation to seek win-win and mutual beneficial outcomes," Xiao said.You are here: China

Chinese courts at various levels have overturned convictions in 6,747 criminal cases after retrials in the past five years, the Supreme People's Court said Friday.

Among the cases, 39 major wrongful convictions were corrected, including the cases of Huugjilt and Nie Shubin, said a report delivered by Chief Justice Zhou Qiang at a plenary meeting of the annual session of the National People's Congress.

Huugjilt was executed in 1996 for the rape and murder of a woman. He received a posthumous exoneration in 2014 after a serial rapist and killer admitted to the crime.

Nie, who was executed for rape and murder in 1995, was acquitted in 2016, when a retrial found the conviction had been based on insufficient evidence and unclear facts.

Courts at various levels acquitted a total of 4,874 defendants from 2013 to 2017, said Zhou.

State compensation was granted to the victims who had been wronged.

"We have issued guidelines to prevent wrongful convictions and adhere to the principles of legality, evidence judgment and presumption of innocence," he said.When 62-year-old Chen Jianguo was diagnosed with leukemia last September, his doctors told him that the only cure was to undergo a stem cell transplant. Tests found that his daughter, Chen Yuyang, was the only matching donor in the family. But weighing only 44 kilograms, the 14-year-old girl was too thin to be a donor.

14-year-old Chen Yuyang and her 62-year-old father. [Photo: hb.qq.com]

After being told this news, Chen Yuyang was determined to gain the six kilograms that would allow her to meet the minimum weight limit for bone marrow donors, reports hb.qq.com.

Despite her small appetite, Chen began eating almost three times as much as she used to at every meal, including lots of fatty meat. "I'm willing to bear hardships as long as my father's diseases can be cured", said Chen.

Within a month Chen had reached her goal.

Recently, Chen's father was transferred to the Bioclean Treatment Unit (BCTU) of Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan city, in central China's Hubei Province.

Treatment has so far cost the family over 300,000 yuan (about 47,405 U.S. dollars), and a further 600,000 yuan (94,809 U.S. dollars) is needed for follow-up treatment. The teaching staff and students at Chen's school have been raising money for the family.

Photo shows Chen Yuyang before and after she gained weight. [Photo: hb.qq.com]

Recently, Chen's father was transferred to the Bioclean Treatment Unit (BCTU) of Wuhan Union Hospital in Wuhan city, in central China's Hubei Province.

Treatment has so far cost the family over 300,000 yuan (about 47,405 U.S. dollars), and a further 600,000 yuan (94,809 U.S. dollars) is needed for follow-up treatment. The teaching staff and students at Chen's school have been raising money for the family.China's Constitution [Photo/People.cn]





The Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee announced its proposals to amend China's Constitution on Feb. 25.

The general requirements for amending the Constitution are as follows:

The revisions uphold socialism with Chinese characteristics. The revisions implement the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress. The revisions follow the guidance of Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the Theory of Three Represents, the Scientific Outlook on Development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The revisions uphold the unity of Party leadership, the people running the country, and law-based governance. The revisions include major theories, views, principles and policies endorsed at the 19th CPC National Congress, especially Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era. The revisions reflect the new achievements, experiences and requirements in advancing the cause of the Party and the country. The revisions improve and develop the Constitution to keep it in step with the times while maintaining its continuity and stability. The revisions provide constitutional guarantees for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in a new era, fulfilling the two centenary goals, and realizing the Chinese Dream of national rejuvenation.

Following these general requirements, the CPC Central Committee proposed:

-- On the Scientific Outlook on Development and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, the CPC Central Committee proposed enshrining them into the Constitution to underpin their guiding role  together with Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the Theory of Three Represents that are already written in the Constitution  in the politics and social life of the country.

-- Regarding the overall plan for building socialism with Chinese characteristics and the second centenary goal, the CPC Central Committee proposed revisions to make clear that China will promote coordinated material, political, cultural and ethical, social and ecological advancement, build itself into a great modern socialist country that is prosperous, strong, democratic, culturally advanced, harmonious and beautiful, and realize national rejuvenation.

-- On measures concerning law-based governance and the enforcement of the Constitution, the CPC Central Committee proposed revising the phrase "improve the socialist legal system" to "improve the socialist rule of law," including pledging allegiance to the Constitution into fundamental law, and adding content on granting Chinese cities, which have subordinate districts, the power to make local laws and regulations.

-- On China's revolution and construction, the CPC Central Committee proposed a revision that will present a more complete picture of the CPC and the Chinese people working hard together.

-- On the patriotic united front and relations among ethnic groups, the CPC Central Committee proposed revising relevant expressions in order to further unite the Chinese people to realize national rejuvenation.

-- On the foreign policy of peace, the CPC Central Committee proposed adding content that shows China adheres to a peaceful development path and the mutually beneficial strategy of opening up, and works to build a community with a share future for humanity.

-- On CPC leadership, the CPC Central Committee proposed an inclusion of the expression, "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics."

-- On core socialist values, the CPC Central Committee proposed adding the expression, "The State advocates core socialist values," in a bid to consolidate the intellectual and moral foundation for all Party members and the Chinese people of all ethnic groups to work hard together.

-- On the terms of office for the Chinese president, the CPC Central Committee proposed a revision to strengthen and improve the institution of state leadership.

-- On supervisory commissions, the CPC Central Committee proposed adding relevant content to provide constitutional ground for setting up supervisory commissions.

The vitality and authority of the Constitution lies in its enforcement, so the full enforcement of the Constitution is the primary task and fundamental work for making China into a socialist law-based country. The proposed amendments aim to enable the Constitution to better serve its role as the fundamental law of the country. We should prioritize its enforcement in advancing law-based governance in all fields in a new era, strengthen efforts to ensure and oversee its enforcement, provide strong political and institutional guarantees for its enforcement, and elevate its enforcement to a new level.

This post was translated by Yuan Fang. Its original unabridged version was published in Chinese.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors only, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.



 Flash









There is no immediate clarity on the exact U.S procedure for the exemption from steel and aluminum tariffs, and discussions will continue next week, EU's Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom tweeted on Saturday after a trilateral meeting with her U.S. and Japanese counterparts in Brussels.



"As a close security and trade partner of the U.S., the EU must be excluded from the announced measures. No immediate clarity on the exact U.S. procedure for exemption however, so discussions will continue next week," she tweeted.

"EU, Japan, U.S. agreed on further steps in our ongoing cooperation to tackle trade--distorting practices in sectors such as steel. Stronger rules on industrial subsidies, etc.," she added.

The trilateral talks between Malmstrom and Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer was followed by a bilateral meeting between Malmstrom and Lighthizer.

"I had a frank discussion with the U.S. side about the serious pending issue of steel and aluminium tariffs," she said.

The ministers agreed to meet again in the margins of the OECD ministerial meeting in Paris to discuss overcapacity issues.

U.S. President Donald Trump formally signed proclamations to impose 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum Thursday, with initial exemptions for Canada and Mexico, saying exemptions could be made for other countries through negotiations.

The EU has threatened to take retaliation measures if it is included in the those tariffs. The EU has prepared a list of products including orange juice, bourbon, cranberries, peanut butter etc., for imposing reciprocal tariffs if needed.

European Commission vice--president Jyrki Katainen said Friday that the EU is ready to take the U.S. to the World Trade Organization (WTO) court if some worst scenario happens. Flash

Britain's culture minister said Saturday the government is looking at imposing a legal limit on the time children spend on the internet.

It follows a report by the country's children's commissioner Anne Longfield, showing that 12 to 15 years olds spend more than 20 hours a week online.

Teens aged under 18 face being cut off from social media sites after a few hours' browsing under proposals being drawn up to tame the "wild west" of the internet, the Times newspaper in London reported Saturday.

Ministers are looking at imposing a limit on time spent by children on social media platforms amid concern that overuse damages mental health.

Matt Hancock, secretary of state for digital, culture, media and sport, told the Times he wants varying time cut-offs for different ages on sites over concern that overuse of the internet by children can damage their mental health.

Hancock told the newspaper: "There is a genuine concern about the amount of screen time young people are clocking up and the negative impact it could have on their lives. It is right that we think about what more we could do in this area."

Time limits would be enforced using a new legal requirement for social media companies to ensure that anyone setting up profiles is aged above 13. Details of how such a scheme might work are yet to be developed but they are likely to extend a law requiring pornographic websites to ensure that users are over 18, by means of a credit card, says the report.

In her report Longfield says a third of Britain's internet users are aged under 18, while a separate report claims 75 percent of children aged 10 to 12 have social media accounts.

The moves come just weeks after Jeremy Hunt, the health secretary, warned that excessive social media use posed as big a threat to children's health as smoking or obesity.

Hunt said he wanted to ensure children accessed only age-appropriate material online, with government ministers likely to place responsibility for implementing age checks on internet site companies. Hunt warned that if an age verification scheme is not robust the government may legislate further.

The Times comments that some will see Hancock's proposal as heavy handed, adding the minister wanted to start a debate over the extent to which the state should regulate activity on the internet. Flash

China's opening-up in the past 40 years has shown Africa there's an alternative way of modernization, said Anzetse Were, an independent development economist.

During China's economic boom, some African countries gained comprehensively from Beijing's policy of opening-up, she told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.

What's more important, Were said, it showed African countries that industrialization is central to development and it can be done in a different way.

She named Rwanda and Ethiopia as examples. The two east African nations, which follow a development path similar to that of China, have registered faster economic growth than the region's average, rising 5.9 percent and 8.0 percent respectively in 2016.

Beijing deserves praise for its effective business strategies, and African countries can learn much from China, Were said.

"Industrialization has to be deliberate. It won't happen on its own," she said.

Were said China plays an important role in the industrialization process of Africa. The infrastructure projects that China has helped African countries build lay a foundation for the integration of the continent, which is essential to forming a massive consumer market.

The Kenyan economist said the industrialization of Africa should start from using its commodities to make industrial products for its own people.

She observed that China plays a big role in developing industrialization capacity of African countries, as a lot of Chinese private companies have come to Africa to build industrial parks.

In the past few years, Chinese companies, many from the private sector, have built many industrial parks in countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nigeria, creating jobs and transferring technical know-how and management expertise, Were said.

For the first time, African countries are gaining a first-hand understanding of how an industrial development model looks like through the industrial parks China has been constructing, she said.

Were said she likes the way China does business with Africa.

"China takes Africa much more seriously. It sees Africa as a serious economic partner, and there is money to be made through this partnership," she said.

Were said indigenous companies must learn how to tap into the massive market the continent will provide in the next 20 to 30 years.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Drive for arbitration hub status gains new impetus Updated: 2018-03-12 06:37 By Edward Liu(HK Edition)

NDRC arrangement improves prospects for HK's Belt and Road role but jurisdiction issues require attention, Edward Liu writes

Late last year the National Development and Reform Commission and Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government signed an arrangement to advance Hong Kong's full participation in and contribution to the Belt and Road Initiative. This blueprint for active participation in the nation's most significant development strategy in decades was essentially an outcome of the effective combination of the central government's overall jurisdiction over Hong Kong and the SAR's high degree of autonomy, which has been further enhanced by the inclusion of "one country, two systems" into the fundamental tactics of the socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era as set out in General Secretary Xi Jinping's report to the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China.

Under the arrangement, the central government will strongly support Hong Kong's aspiration to develop into an international legal and dispute resolution service hub for the Asia-Pacific region, serving the needs arising from the B&R Initiative. This is consistent with the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) which states: "We will support Hong Kong in becoming a center for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific". The arrangement undoubtedly lets Hong Kong give full play to its advantages and further contribute to national development.

Hong Kong's advantages in providing dispute resolution services are recognized by both Chinese mainland and overseas markets. When Zhang Dejiang, National People's Congress Standing Committee chairman, visited Hong Kong in May 2016 he noted the city's competitive edge in services, particularly as one of the most favored arbitral seats worldwide. Such an evaluation is in no way overstated. A 2015 international arbitration survey by Queen Mary University of London ranked Hong Kong as the third most preferred arbitration venue, after London and Paris, both long-established international arbitration venues. Hong Kong was also rated as first choice for a seat of arbitration outside Europe and second-fastest growing arbitration venue in the previous five years. Renewed central government support could be a catalyst for Hong Kong to step up its game. But the city still needs to apply some supportive policies to attract more mainland and overseas enterprises to use its legal and dispute resolution services for settling increasing disputes arising from commercial transactions. As globalization continues and the B&R initiative progresses, cross-border transactions multiply. Disputes related to cross-border investments and international trade will increase in proportion. Imagine, in a transaction where one party is a mainland enterprise and the other is foreign - the foreign enterprise would always like to seek help in overseas arbitration centers such as London to settle any potential contract dispute. This is because foreign enterprises generally do not comprehend or trust the mainland legal system and arbitration institutions. Mainland enterprises are also reluctant to have disputes settled overseas, fearing high legal costs. Under such circumstance, as the only common-law jurisdiction in China and governed by the Basic Law and "one country, two systems" principle, Hong Kong is undoubtedly the ideal arbitration venue, acceptable to both parties.

As mainland enterprises' bargaining power in international trade and investment grows they increasingly prefer to settle disputes at home. For Hong Kong to benefit from this trend, the SAR government should establish a cross-department task force which actively seeks to set up a cooperation mechanism with the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, Ministry of Finance and All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce and other relevant organizations. This task force will promote Hong Kong's legal and dispute resolution services to all State-owned enterprises, private enterprises and State-invested financing institutions, and also encourage these enterprises to choose Hong Kong as the seat of arbitration for contracts related to infrastructure construction, investments and trade under the B&R Initiative.

As B&R progresses, it is envisaged there will be more foreign-invested enterprises and fully foreign-owned companies established in the mainland, particularly in free-trade zones. If those companies agree to arbitrate overseas (including in Hong Kong), according to the current mainland legislation, the relevant arbitration awards are very likely not to be recognized and enforced by mainland courts since awards do not cover foreign jurisdictions.

To provide judicial assistance and protection to players involved in the B&R Initiative, the Supreme People's Court introduced the "Several Opinions of the Supreme People's Court on Providing Judicial Services and Safeguards for the Construction of the 'Belt and Road' by People's Courts" in 2015. In this document, the Supreme People's Court explicitly mentioned support to both parties to solve their disputes in relation to the B&R Initiative through arbitration and mediation. Meanwhile, the Supreme People's Court indicated giving recognition and enforcement to overseas arbitration awards related to the B&R Initiative. Furthermore, the supreme court also stipulated revoking and abolishing the judicial reviewing procedure for arbitration awards made in Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.

In the light of the above development, the SAR government should negotiate with the Supreme People's Court and other mainland authorities soon and introduce relevant judicial interpretations to affirm that the enforcement of arbitration awards made in Hong Kong will not be affected by the absence of foreign affairs links under the aforementioned circumstances. If this result can be successfully realized, it will in all likelihood attract more commercial contracts to choose their arbitral seat in Hong Kong. This will undoubtedly enhance Hong Kong's status as an international arbitration hub and help improve the general business environment on the mainland.

(HK Edition 03/12/2018 page8)We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to formCLEVELAND, Ohio -- President Trump's bone spurs didn't defer him from igniting a trade war, by imposing new tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from U.S. friends and foes, potentially costing more American jobs than they create.

Already at least one job has been impacted. Gary Cohn, Trump's chief economic adviser and chief opponent of the tariffs, submitted his resignation.

Over the objections of Cohn, Republicans in Congress, and U.S. allies, Trump has increased the import levy on steel 25 percent and aluminum 10 percent.

In a concession to tariff opponents, Trump, despite being anti-NAFTA will for now exempt Canada and Mexico. Both countries however said they will not be bullied by the Trump administration in any renegotiation over NAFTA.

Trump cited national security and jobs loss as justification for the tariffs. "The actions we are taking today are not a matter of choice; they are a matter of necessity for our national security," said Trump during the signing ceremony. "Our factories were left to rot and to rust all over the place; thriving communities turned into ghost towns. That betrayal is now over."

The tariffs fulfill not only Trump's campaign promise, but his long-held conviction. Long before he was ever a candidate for president, Trump was a protectionist, anti-globalist, anti-free-trade, with the exception of doing business deals with Russians, of course.

As a former steel worker, I appreciate Trump's good intentions

Trump has good intentions in trying to help the steel industry. I understand and appreciate those intentions as someone who worked in Cleveland steel mills, and has relatives in the Cleveland steel industry and family members in the tool and die industry.

In the early '80's I worked at Jones & Laughlin / LTV steel mill to help pay my way through college. My older brother also worked at J&L in the blast furnace mill, to pay for college. In the 80" hot strip mill I worked on a labor crew, and then on an assembly line putting the bands around those giant coils of steel you see being hauled on freight trains and trucks.

The coils would come up on the line red hot like an oven burner. You would then quickly snap a black metal ban through the center hole and then with a flick of the wrist, get it to come out underneath so you could pull it up and crimp it. Further down the line another black metal ban woulds be lassoed around the center of the roll and crimped. The line did not stop. If your relief for lunch or shift change was late, you stayed on that line until they walked up to take your place.

Working in the steel mill was as valuable an experience for me as was going to college. You experienced America's industrial might first hand. You were actively participating in flexing the American industrial muscle. When I see a coil of steel being trucked down the freeway, I take pride and feel honored that I once banded those coils. I still have my J&L ID badge. Wish I still had the all the hair that ID photo.

So I get what Trump means when he says that if you don't have a steel industry you don't have a country. But as good and genuine as his intentions may be, I fear past history proves the tariffs will hurt more than they will help.

Steel tariffs of 30% set by President George W. Bush in 2002 failed to produce the desired results. Bush lifted the tariffs 15 months before their set expiration date because the World Trade Organization ruled against the U.S. and trading partners retaliated. More significantly, studies found the Bush tariff cost more jobs than it created.

While tariffs may help the steel industry, they promise to hurt too many other U.S. industries costing jobs and raising consumer prices. Consider something as simple as all the craft breweries that have popped up in Cleveland that distribute their beer in cans. If you thought market over-saturation was a threat their survival, how about the increase cost of aluminum for canning?

Trump cited national security as a justification for the tariffs, in large part because of the WTO. But how do tariffs that undermine U.S. allies as much as they do U.S. foes, help U.S. security? And doesn't the U.S security justification fall apart when a carve out is given to Canada and Mexico?

The best that can be said about the tariffs is that at least Trump getting the U.S in a trade war is better than his getting the U.S. in a nuclear war with North Korea.

Trump steel tariffs look to be as corrosive to the economy and foreign relations as salt on steel.CLEVELAND, Ohio - Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield's new policy on emergency room visits shifts the responsibility of diagnosing medical emergencies to the patient, those in Ohio medical associations say, leaving patients afraid to visit the ER and not have it covered.

The new policy, which went into effect Jan. 1 in Ohio, allows the insurer to decline claims in Ohio for emergency room visits it considers non-emergency. Anthem, which covers 3.4 million Ohioans overall, said the policy encourages people to use the more cost-effective urgent care centers and only applies to large employer fully-insured health plans and self-insured employer plans that opted to participate in the program. The policy does not apply to Anthem's Medicaid and Medicare populations.

The Plain Dealer reached out to readers to find out how policyholders have been affected. The response was fear. Readers say they are afraid to visit the emergency room and potentially be saddled with expensive medical bills.

"I wonder every day if me or my wife have a trip to the ER, will it be covered?" said Matt Vale of Northfield Center, who is covered by Anthem through his wife's insurance.

The policy first was applied in Georgia, Kentucky and Missouri, and in January was expanded to Indiana, New Hampshire and Ohio.

Chris Brock, assistant director of public affairs for the Ohio Department of Insurance, said Anthem first tried to change its ER policy in the state two years ago but that plan didn't comply with Ohio's regulations. Since that time, Anthem modified the proposal to meet the requirements, and the policy was approved.

"While we will continue to monitor this policy, we strongly encourage consumers to review and understand their summary of coverage and to contact the department to file a complaint if they have a concern about how their claim has been handled," Brock said.

By state insurance law, Anthem is required to promptly pay claims, and patients can appeal through the DOI claims that were denied.

Appealing Anthem

Vale, who has experience with Anthem's appeals process, is not eager to go through it again. About eight years ago, he was sent to the emergency room from work for potential pneumonia. He didn't want to go, but his company said it was policy.

"Halfway through the day, it felt like someone placed a bowling ball on my chest. I was struggling to breathe," he said.

Vale was discharged later that night with pneumonia in both of his lungs and spent the next week recovering at home. Despite having two policies with Anthem, the insurer refused to pay for his ER visit, leaving Vale on the hook financially for a $1,200 ambulance trip, as well as the ER visit. He hired a lawyer, fought against collections and spent weeks battling Anthem.

"Dealing with Anthem was far worse than going through the illness. The phone calls, the bills, the collections, the lawyer, sleepless nights," Vale said. "Health insurance should not be like this."

He switched from Anthem then but recently his wife's insurance changed, and he finds himself once again covered by Anthem.

"Will I find myself in another useless battle? If they are turning down ER visits, what's next? What else can they not pay for since they hold all the cards?" Vale said.

Effects of Anthem's ER policy

Dr. Purva Grover, president of the Ohio American College of Emergency Physicians and a practicing ER doctor in Cleveland, said her organization worries other insurers will follow Anthem's lead if the company's policy isn't reversed.

"Something like this needs to be dealt with very aggressively," Grover said. "If something starts working for one segment of the market, who's to say other people won't start entertaining the idea?"

The group also fears Anthem will extend the policy to more states.

Jeff Blunt, public relations director for Anthem in Ohio, said the company is evaluating additional markets where it could deploy the new policy.

Ohio ACEP is working with the Ohio Hospital Association and the Ohio State Medical Association to compile ER claims denied by Anthem in Ohio to submit to the DOI. Hospitals, too, will submit their own claims independently, said John Palmer, director of media and public relations for OHA.

"We weren't expecting anything immediately because it was the first of the year," Palmer said. "Now that we're 60 days in, we're excepting some of those cases to start emerging."

The groups also are supporting Ohio House Bill 536, introduced by Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Cincinnati). The bill would prohibit insurers from selectively covering emergency services, effectively ending Anthem's new policy in Ohio.

Anthem declined The Plain Dealer's request for comment on the bill.

What Anthem's policy means

Beyond the Ohio House bill, opponents of Anthem's new plan question its current legality. Under the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act's prudent layperson standard, people with an average understanding of healthcare who go to the ER with symptoms they consider an emergency have to be covered by insurance.

"With Anthem's ED policy, it's still making individuals make the decision before they leave their home. They should not be forced to act as their own doctor," said Grover, who characterized Anthem's policy as "dangerous." "People may have identical symptoms but different diagnoses. It puts the onus on the individuals to determine if this is an emergency."

Anthem, however, said its policy adheres to the prudent layperson standard.

"Anthem reviews the medical records from the ER visit using the prudent layperson standard before a determination is made. Anthem will cover ER visits that meet the prudent layperson standard," Blunt said.

In mid-February, Anthem revised its initial policy to include some exceptions to its new rule. Those exemptions include:

The consumer was directed to the emergency room by a provider (including an ambulance provider),

Services were provided to a consumer under the age 15,

The consumer's home address is more than 15 miles from an urgent care center,

The visit occurs between 8 p.m. Saturday and 8 a.m. Monday or on a major holiday,

The consumer is traveling out of state,

The consumer received any kind of surgery,

The consumer received IV fluids or IV medications,

The consumer received an MRI or CT scan,

The visit was billed as urgent care, and

The ER visit is associated with an outpatient or inpatient admission.

The changes were made, Anthem said, "to ensure more effective execution on behalf of our consumers, while being responsive to concerns expressed by some medical specialty organizations."

Despite the changes, patients still worry about being able to afford emergency medical care.

Fay Olson of Lakewood vows to never take an ambulance again, after being charged for 79 percent of her $687 EMS trip.

Olson fell down playing pickle ball at the YMCA in December, and YMCA staff urged her to go to the ER - 10 blocks away - for a possible concussion.

"I haven't paid yet because I can't afford it," said Olson, who is 86. "It's really serious for people, especially older people."

Because Olson is insured through one of Anthem's Medicare plans, she is exempt from the new policy. But she - and others she knows - are still afraid. She already can't afford to visit the ER with Anthem and worries the policy could be extended to her.

"Now with this new policy, I'm afraid to ever go to the emergency," she said.CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After 23 rounds, eighth-grader Daniela Danilova secured her trip to the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee by spelling the word "barukhzy," an ancient dog breed native to the near East.

Daniela's first language isn't English. Her family moved here from Russia when she was 6.

But she still breezed past more than 30 other middle schoolers to clinch the title of Cuyahoga County's Spelling Bee Champion Saturday. The competition was presented by cleveland.com and the Plain Dealer.

Daniela said the only word that gave her pause was "visceral," meaning related to the soft, internal organs of the body.

Her mother, who is a doctor, laughed.

Daniela goes to Lee Burneson Middle School in Westlake. She hadn't been in a spelling bee since second grade, but she said she had a renewed love for spelling this year.

"It's like an obsession," she said.

Daniela said when she competes, she can usually visualize a word and its spelling.

Though she's an avid speller, her favorite subject in school is math.

The runner-up was Nina Padanilam from St. Rita School in Solon. She lost on witloof, a plant which is sometimes called Italian chicory.

The competition ran just over three hours. Spellers were challenged with words from a multitude of backgrounds, including edelweiss, a German word, and waterzooi, which is Belgian.

"I'm glad one of us knew that word," host Michael McIntyre joked as Henry Warren from the University School easily spelled it.

The competition was fast-paced, with five spellers out in the first round. The words they missed out on were contraband, worrisome, sitzmark (a depression made in the snow by a skier when they fall backward), fiery and leotard.

Though there were some nerves in the room, contestants still had time to have fun. McIntyre, a Plain Dealer columnist and host of the Sound of Ideas on WCPN Ideastream, pointed out the number of words related to Mexican food on the list.

There were eight that participants had to spell within the first ten rounds. They were empanada, chipotle, quesadilla, chalupa, enchilada, mole and chimichanga.

"They just keep putting more on our plate," McIntyre said.

Contestant Kate Stephenson from Chagrin Falls Middle School asked for a definition for her word, relevant.

When told it means something closely connected or appropriate to what is being done or considered, she smiled.

"Okay, thank you, that was relevant," she quipped to laughter in the auditorium, proceeding to happily spell the word correctly.

Daniela won an all-expenses paid trip to the national 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. from May 27 to June 1.

Here are the words that Daniela spelled to get to the national level:COLUMBUS, Ohio -- A handful of Cuyahoga County governments were among 267 cited last year by Auditor Dave Yost's office for not following various laws pertaining to Ohio's public records policies.

Yost's office issued 321 citations in 2017 to cities, villages, libraries and school districts for failing to attend public records law training, to have proper records retention policies on the books and to follow other requirements, according to a tally of audits released last year. That's down from 414 public records-related citations issued to 357 public entities in 2016.

The citations were issued mostly for officials lacking public records law training or a complete public records policy. In some cases, the public office couldn't provide records requested by auditors or failed to do so in a reasonable amount of time.

Yost released a report highlighting the citations today to coincide with Sunshine Week, a national initiative to highlight access to public information.

"Message to public officials: These are not your records," Yost said in a news release. "These are public records, and it is the law. You need to do whatever it takes to remind yourself to comply. And there's training available to help you."

All elected officials or a designee must receive three hours of training offered by either the auditor or attorney general once during their terms, according to Ohio public records law. They also must create policies for retaining records and responding to records requests in accordance with the law. For examples, officials cannot limit the number of records they provide to someone or set a "waiting period" before records are made available.

Villages and townships were more frequently cited than cities, counties, school districts and other local governments.

Seven entities in Cuyahoga County were cited:

East Cleveland: Couldn't provide documentation officials received public records training.

Richmond Heights: Does not have a formal records retention policy.

Cleveland Heights-University Heights Public Library: The public records policy does not include provisions of how the library tracks requests or how specific types of records are to be maintained.

Cuyahoga County: Three instances where county departments did not respond in a timely manner to a records request.

Promise Academy: No evidence that board members, administrative officers or others, except the treasurer, completed public records and open meeting laws training.

Village of Oakwood: Various public records including outstanding check lists and expenditure vouchers were not readily available for inspection by auditors, which led to significant delays in completing the audit.

Virtual Schoolhouse, Inc.: Officials did not attend public records training.

There's no penalty or investigation that follows a citation, and they mostly serve as warnings for government officials going forward.

But officials can be sued by an "aggrieved party" for violating state records law. A public office can be fined $1,000 per record up to $10,000 for failing to follow a records retention policy.CLEVELAND, Ohio - A man and a woman were found dead Sunday inside a home on the city's East Side.

The two were found inside a house on the 12900 block of Lenacrave Avenue, just west of East 131st Street in Cleveland's Union-Miles neighborhood, Cleveland police spokesman Det. Reginald Lanton said.

Lanton did not provide additional details about the deaths, only saying that their causes have not been determined.

Scanner traffic about the incident indicates that there may have been a gas leak at the home. Authorities have not confirmed if the deaths were caused by a gas leak.

CLE ~ Gas Leak - 12900s Lenacrave - odor of gas invest finds resident DOA, basement flooded, CFD turned off gas  NE Ohio Scanner (@NEO_Scan) March 11, 2018

u/d: basement flooding quenched pilot lights, 1 DOA in basement, 1 other DOA found upstairs, 2 fatalities https://t.co/ZKb7jrVv5j  NE Ohio Scanner (@NEO_Scan) March 11, 2018

This post will be updated if further information about the deaths becomes available Sunday.

If you'd like to comment on this post, please visit the cleveland.com crime and courts comments section.SANDUSKY, Ohio - There's more to working at an amusement park than operating rides and filling drink cups.

There's accounting and marketing, customer relations and safety regulations. Those topics, and more, will make up a new four-year degree offered by Bowling Green State University, in a partnership with the city of Sandusky and Cedar Fair, the parent company of Cedar Point.

The new degree in Resort and Attraction Management will be offered at a new BGSU campus in downtown Sandusky, set to open as soon as the fall of 2020.

Here's how it will work:

* Cedar Fair will build both the new classroom building as well as dorms for 200 students, an investment of $15 million to $25 million. It will also provide summer internships for students, and guest lectures and case studies for classes.

* Bowling Green will run the program, which will constitute the last two years of a four-year bachelor's degree.

* The city of Sandusky will provide the land, as well as other financial support in the form of grants or tax breaks.

The state of Ohio has already kicked in $800,000, part of the capital budget that was introduced in Columbus earlier this month.

The goal is twofold: Better prepare young people for the increasing number of jobs at Cedar Fair and other attractions-based companies in the tourism industry; and help Sandusky transform its seasonal, summertime economy with more full-year, high-paying jobs.

"This demonstrates how a public university can work with a very important company based in Ohio, to meet their needs," said Rodney Rogers, the president of Bowling Green.

The idea has been in the works for several years, since Bowling Green organized some leadership development programs for Cedar Fair.

Rogers said there is nothing exactly like this new program in the United States, although the University of Central Florida in Orlando offers a similar certificate program in tourism management, in partnership with Walt Disney World.

The Sandusky buildings will be considered part of Bowling Green's Firelands branch campus, in nearby Huron. Students might come from Firelands or BGSU's main campus, or from other universities across the country.

Rogers expects strong interest from international students, as well.

Students will attend classes during the school year and work at Cedar Point or another Cedar Fair property for two summers. Those jobs might start at entry level, but move up to lower-level management.

"Students sometimes want to skip those first steps," said Cedar Point General Manager Jason McClure, but it's important for future managers to have experience at all levels. "We afford a quick opportunity for a young person to be able to supervise."

According to Rogers, traditional hospitality management programs, including an existing BGSU major in Tourism, Leisure and Event Planning, don't cover some of the issues specific to amusement parks and other destinations with attractions at their center.

Lest you think this is all fun and games, take a look at some of the suggested courses: Management Information Systems for Resorts and Attractions, Legal Environment of the Hospitality Industry, Operation Planning and Supply Chain Management for Resorts and Attractions.

"In many ways, these general managers are running a small city," said Rogers. In addition to employees operating rides, they're supervising a security staff, food and beverage operations, hotels, retail and more. "It's almost more like a city manager than hospitality management."

McClure said he's looking for employees who can connect everything together, from rides to food to hotels.

"That's one of our bigger challenges, as a company," he said. "Employees have to have the ability to understand the entire experience. You may not think rides can affect the food and beverage experience, but it does. Our guests don't think of these things as separate."

Graduates, as many as 100 a year, might be hired by Cedar Point or one of Cedar Fair's other 12 parks, other amusement park companies or other destinations that revolve around attractions - ski resorts, perhaps, or waterpark resorts, zoos or even museums, said McClure.

But first: Officials are working to locate a property for the new campus.

Sandusky City Manager Eric Wobser said the new school will be an anchor to ongoing downtown revitalization efforts in Sandusky, which is celebrating its bicentennial this year.

He also hopes it solidifies the region's commitment to Cedar Fair, which, when it merged with Paramount Parks in 2006, acquired a second executive office, in Charlotte, North Carolina.

"We don't take Cedar Fair's presence for granted," said Wobser. "We know that for them to stay put, they're going to need to be able to attract talent."

Combined, Cedar Point and Cedar Fair employ about 500 people in Sandusky full-time, with another 5,000 added during the operating season. They are the chief driver of Erie County's growing tourism economy.

Wobser said the city has narrowed down the search for land to a handful of locations and should make a final decision in a month or two. Design work and construction will soon follow.

Wobser acknowledges that 2020 seems like a short timeframe to get a new college up and running, but he said Cedar Point is used to moving quickly, constructing massive, elaborate roller coasters in a few months' time.

"The good news is that Cedar Point is used to building fast," said Wobser.Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Middle East and Africa Clinical Nutrition Market: By Product Type (Premixed, Vitamins & Minerals, Carbohydrates, and Amino Acids), By Therapeutic Area (Critical Care, Cancer, GI Tract Impairment, Malnutrition & Metabolic Disorders, Allergy & Inflammation, and Others), By Route of Administration (Oral Nutrition, Enteral Nutrition, and Parenteral Nutrition), By End User (Hospitals/Clinics and Homecare), and By Country (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, South Africa, Egypt, and Morocco)  Market Estimation, Dynamics, Country Share, Trends, Competitor Analysis 2012-2016 and Forecast 2017-2023

Middle East and Africa Clinical Nutrition Market Report Description:

Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market report gives a comprehensive outlook on clinical nutrition products adoption pattern across the region with special emphasis on key countries such as Saudi Arabia, UAE, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, and Rest of Middle East & Africa. The report on Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market gives historical, current, and future market sizes (US$ Mn) on the basis of product type, therapeutic area, route of administration, end user and country. This report presents Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market dynamics elaborately to identify the current market trends & drivers, future opportunities and possible challenges to the key stakeholders operating in the Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market. In addition, Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market report includes the competition analysis with vividly illustrated the competition dashboard to assess the market competition. Moreover, PBI analyzed Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market to better equip clients with possible investment opportunities across the regions (Country Investment Hot-Spots) and market unmet needs. Key stakeholders of the Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market report include raw material suppliers, manufacturers, marketers, policy makers, and healthcare service providers, who are engaged in usage and advocacy of clinical nutrition products.

A sample of this report is available upon request @

https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/middle-east-and-africa-clinical-nutrition-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx

Middle East and Africa Clinical Nutrition Market:

Middle East & Africa clinical nutrition market was valued around US$ 360 Mn in 2016 and poised to grow around 3.5% CAGR over 2017-2023.

Competition Assessment

Key players profiles in the Middle East & Africa Clinical Nutrition market include:

 Ajinomoto Co. Inc.

 Perrigo Company Plc.

 Abbott Nutrition Inc.

 Baxter International Inc.

 Danon Baby and Medical Nutrition BV

 Braun Medical Inc.

 Fresenius Kabi AG

 Hospira (Pfizer) Inc.

 Gentiva Health Services Inc.

 Hero Nutritional Inc.

 Nestle SA.

To view TOC of this report is available upon request @

https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/middle-east-and-africa-clinical-nutrition-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu

Players in the Middle East & Africa Clinical Nutrition market are entering into partnerships and collaborations, launching products in the market to garner larger market share

Key Features of the Report:

 The report provides granular level information about the market size, regional market share, historic market (2012-2016) and forecast (2017-2023)

 The report covers in-detail insights about the competitors overview, company share analysis, key market developments, and their key strategies

 The report outlines drivers, restraints, unmet needs, and trends that are currently affecting the market

 The report tracks recent innovations, key developments and startups details that are actively working in the market

 The report provides plethora of information about market entry strategies, regulatory framework and reimbursement scenario

 The report analyses the impact of socio-political environment through PESTLE Analysis and competition through Porters Five Force Analysis in addition to recent technology advancements and innovations in the market

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https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/middle-east-and-africa-clinical-nutrition-market/#ulp-14mlyhjMGhVjZqa3

Detailed Segmentation

By Product Type

 Premixed

 Vitamins & Minerals

 Carbohydrates

 Amino Acids

By Therapeutic Area

 Critical Care

 Cancer

 GI Tract Impairment

 Malnutrition & Metabolic Disorders

 Allergy & Inflammation

 Others

By Route of Administration

 Oral Nutrition

 Enteral Nutrition

 Parenteral Nutrition

By Country

 Saudi Arabia

 UAE

 Iran

 Iraq

 Jordan

 Qatar

 Oman

 Bahrain

 South Africa

 Egypt

 Morocco

 Rest of Middle East & Africa

Get access to full summary @

https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/middle-east-and-africa-clinical-nutrition-market/Questo comunicato e stato pubblicato piu di 1 anno fa. Le informazioni su questa pagina potrebbero non essere attendibili.

Anti-Suicide Drugs Market

Suicidal behaviour is defined as the preoccupation or act that is focussed on causing ones own death voluntarily. To have suicidal intent is to have a suicide or deliberate self-killing as ones purpose. Intent refers to the aim, purpose, or goal of the behaviour. The term indicates a conscious desire or wishes to leave or escape from life, and also suggests a resolve to act. This is contrasted with suicidal motivation, or the driving force behind ideation or intent, which need not be conscious.

Some of the factors which are boosting the growth of Anti-Suicide Drugs Market are growing population with depression, increasing different depression disorders such as clinical depressive syndrome, postpartum depression, psychotic depression and seasonal affective disorder etc., and growing suicidal incidences worldwide. As per statistics of WHO around 8,00,000 people are committing suicide every year globally especially among the age group of 15  29 years. However, a dearth of effective therapies, growing drug abuse and rise in usage of unapproved therapies are the few factors which are expected to restrain the growth of anti-suicide drugs market.

A sample of this report is available upon request @

https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/global-anti-suicide-drugs-market/#ulp-4H8Z4LpNMLEuOnnx

Anti-Suicide Drugs Market is segmented on basis of drug class, route of administration, end user, and geographical regions.

Based on the drug class, the global anti-suicide drugs market is segmented

 Anti-depressants

 Anti-anxiety drugs

 Anti-psychotic drugs

 NMDA Antagonists

 Antibiotic analogues

Based on the route of administration, the global anti-suicide drugs market is segmented

 Oral

 Parenteral

Based on the route of administration, the global anti-suicide drugs market is segmented

 Hospitals

 Clinics

 Online pharmacies

 Retail pharmacies

To view TOC of this report is available upon request @

https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/global-anti-suicide-drugs-market/#ulp-c654SbFYO64MsOhu

Development of effective anti-suicidal drugs can be a major breakthrough in reducing the death rate. Currently, non-profit organizations like Stop Suicide, Stop youth suicide and American foundation for suicide prevention are providing social and moral support to the people with suicidal thoughts and tendencies. Increased focus on R&D led to the launch of new range of drugs and a strong pipeline of drugs, which in turn propel the growth of the anti-suicide drugs market. For example, NeuroRX (Acquired by Allergan) completed the phase-II trial for cycled (combination of lurasidone and D-Cycloserine, conjugated with ketamine) to treat suicidal tendencies associated with bipolar disorder.

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Anti-Suicide Drugs Market is segmented into North America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa, Latin America. North America and Europe are expected to gain attractive market share due to growing incidences of suicidal cases, rise in healthcare expenditure and launch a wide range of anti-suicidal drugs. As per, 2014 estimations of American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the suicide rate in U.S was around 12.93 /1,000 people. Emerging countries in Asia Pacific region are expected to show the fastest growth during the forecast period due to growing awareness about the mental health, increasing visits of people to psychiatrists and psychologists, increase in the number of associations which are working on spreading the awareness, and rising suicide incidences. According to the data estimation of WHO in 2012, India, Russia, Guyana, Republic of Korea, Sri Lanka, Japan, and Kazakhstan are the nations with high suicidal rates.

Key players in the anti-suicide drugs market include AstraZeneca plc (UK), Allergan plc, Eli Lilly and Company (UK), H. Lundbeck A/S (Denmark), GlaxoSmithKline plc (UK), Johnson & Johnson (U.S), Merck & Co., Inc. (U.S), Pfizer, Inc. (U.S) to name some few.

Get access to full summary @

https://www.precisionbusinessinsights.com/market-reports/global-anti-suicide-drugs-market/We are analyzing the site. Please wait a few seconds..Continue Reading Below Advertisement

As it turns out, if you live within about 15 miles of a base, you really shouldn't bank on your garage door opener working very often. In 2013, some 500 Georgia homeowners near Fort Gordon found themselves frantically clicking a remote like their TV had gotten stuck on Bravo. Since 2011, the same thing has started happening all over the country, including to residents of Norfolk, Virginia, Puget Sound, and Orange County, California, to name a few. Still, of all the excuses to be late for work, not being able to get out of your garage because the biggest army in the world won't let you is one of the better ones.

Ken Kively/The Los Angeles Times "Oh God of War, please accept this token of my humility and allow me to go to my budget meeting."

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What's causing the problem? Radio waves. Since World War II, the 380-399.9 megahertz range has been reserved by the Department of Defense for military communications. However, the frequencies were so infrequently used that some garage door manufacturers started "borrowing" that band without the military ever noticing. This changed when bases started switching to the relatively new Enterprise Land Mobile Radio System, creating a lot of interference on these channels and, as a result, a lot of dented cars. Military base neighbors wanting smooth garage action can buy a $60 device that changes their frequency, while others get to deal with the military randomly revoking their driving privileges. Fortunately, since the military doesn't use the frequency for anything super-duper top secret, you're not going to accidentally launch any nukes by pressing the button for your garage ... probably.Continue Reading Below Advertisement

But here's what you have to remember: Restrictions on sex offenders aren't designed to be a punishment. The Supreme Court actually ruled on this. If registries were a punishment, they would be unconstitutional (and when they're judged to be punitive, courts keep striking them down). The offenders already got the full punishment that we decided they deserved when they went to jail. Everything afterward is in theory put in place to make them live in normal society without assaulting anybody.

Yet the public keeps taking it upon themselves to go after released sex offenders, which rarely results in anything good. Trailer parks like James' see nightly vandalism, with everything from spray-painted messages to sacks of dead rats stuck in a clothes dryer. James recalls one resident who received regular verbal abuse from others in town. After he fled one store to get away from the people hounding him, his tormentors tailed him by car, yelling curses until he lost them by steering into a random side street. The guy then drove back to his trailer and didn't leave for a month.

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"He had other people buy him groceries," says James. "He quit his job." He didn't get another job for six months, and then he never went outside, other than commuting there and back. "He had several mental health issues, and that day pushed him over the edge," says James. "It broke him." You can hate the crime all you want, but after the criminal's been punished, you've got to reintegrate them back into the world. "Because if you don't, and take it to the extreme, you can destroy someone who was trying to become right again."

Or maybe you're fine with destroying criminals, so long as it keeps them from offending again. Certainly, any future victim would suffer way more than what these guys are going through. The question is: Do any of the measures actually protect future victims? We haven't specifically studied the effects of hot spinning dryer rodents, but from what we have studied, it doesn't look good.Imagine the following scenario. In the next few months an extreme party surges to the brink of power on mainland Europe. Its leader is an eccentric maverick with a penchant for spending his time buried deep in the darker recesses of the internet, where he engages with sites populated by posts about and links to conspiracy theorists, Holocaust deniers and the peddlers of neo-Nazi propaganda.

He openly embraces religious fanatics, personally donates money to virulently racist organisations, and entertains proscribed terrorist groups, describing them as friends. At his side is a loyal lieutenant, in whose office is proudly displayed a plaque praising the sacrifice of terrorists who murdered police officers and civilians. He frames violent attacks on the headquarters of his political opponents as representing the best of our movement. He echoes calls for female political opponents to be lynched. He tells his supporters that media organisations who fail to report in the way they deem appropriate should be forced to do so by direct action.

Jeremy Corbyn spent two years as a member of a closed Facebook group called Palestine Live. It was detailed in a report by investigative journalist David Collier

The rise of this party, understandably, causes consternation. Jewish leaders publicly state they would not even enter the room with its leaders unless the overt racism is addressed. A cross-party parliamentary investigation finds the party has become a safe-space for racists. Moderate politicians speak out, but are confronted by an unprecedented campaign of abuse and intimidation. Homophobic and misogynistic slurs become commonplace. Bricks are thrown through windows. The partys cultish followers, drunk on their own political momentum, chant their leaders names at massed rallies.

Actually, dont bother to imagine. Simply open your eyes. That party is Labour. That leader is Jeremy Corbyn. And that mainland European country is our own. We live in an era of unprecedented and dramatic political turmoil. But the most significant changes can still occur incrementally and unobtrusively. And that is what has just happened.

Last week British politics  indeed Britain itself  crossed a line. Amid the drama of the Skripal poisoning, the Trump/North Korea detente and the latest Brexit machinations, it was a transition that passed virtually unnoticed. The moment Labour  and the army of racists that now call Labour their home  successfully achieved the normalisation of anti-Semitism within the UK. The catalyst was a report by investigative journalist David Collier.

Over 150 pages, it painstakingly detailed how Corbyn had spent two years as a member of a closed Facebook group called Palestine Live. The group was a veritable cesspit of anti-Semitism, containing vast numbers of racist posts and links ranging from Holocaust denial, through Zionist conspiracy theories and 9/11 conspiracy theories, to descriptions of Jews as Zios, ZioNazi and JewNazi.

Colliers research revealed Corbyn had engaged with the group, had been lauded by its members, and had organised meetings at the Commons for members via the site. In response, Corbyns office claimed he had been added to the group without his knowledge or consent.

The Labour leader said he didn't see any offensive posts while in the group, and claims he left in 2015

When it was pointed out he had posted on the site, they backtracked and claimed he had only responded to individual posts in which hed been mentioned. Then it was pointed out he had in fact favoured various pieces of general content. At which point Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell appeared on television to claim Corbyn had left the group as soon as its vile nature had been brought to his attention.

Unfortunately, Corbyn himself had already undermined that defence, admitting he had only left the site when he was elected Labour leader. So his office finally fell back on the line that he had not personally seen or engaged with any anti-Semitic content directly.

At this point the reaction was instantaneous and savage. An instantaneous and savage silence.

Beevor's got Brexit in his sights... One of Britains leading military historians, Sir Antony Beevor, has been turning his guns on the Brexiteers. Speaking at last weeks European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation in Monaco, the renowned author took aim at what he called the Stalinist tactics of the Leave campaign, and in particular their infamous Take Back Control slogan. It was a shamelessly dishonest promise, he charged, before reminding his audience that demagogues and their acolytes sometimes imitate that Stalinist tactic: the bigger the lie, the more likely people are to believe it, if only because they cannot imagine anyone would invent such an outrageous falsehood. Apparently Sir Antonys next book is on the Arnhem campaign. Could Brexit prove to be a bridge too far for the Leavers? Advertisement

From Labours Shadow Cabinet there was silence. From Labour MPs there was silence. From the Tory Party there was silence. On the main broadcast bulletins there was silence. On the front pages of the national newspapers there was silence. Across the nation. Silence. Its important to repeat again what had occurred. The leader of Her Majestys Opposition admitted to being a member of what by any objective definition is a Facebook group of unremitting anti-Semitic hatred. He admitted to engaging with that group, of organising meetings on behalf of that group, and of remaining a member of that group for two full years.

And yet there is nothing. No internal challenge or repudiation. No external challenge or repudiation. Just a collective shrug.

What the hell is happening to us? How have we managed to fall this far? The ethical framework that surrounds our politics has morphed into a grotesque, sickening parody. Place a hand on a knee  youre gone. Fiddle expenses  youre gone. Tweet an inanity about someones breasts  youre gone. Watch pornography  actually deny watching pornography  youre still gone. But engage with an overtly racist Facebook group  something that would get you sacked from any other workplace in the country  and you can carry on, no questions asked. Potentially all the way to No 10.

How much longer is this conspiracy of silence going to continue? The act of unprecedented denial on behalf of our political and media class that maintains the safe-space for anti-Semitism at the heart of Jeremy Corbyns Labour Party does not actually exist. Or has emerged by accident, without any assistance from Corbyn himself.

For how much longer are we meant to suspend disbelief? Corbyns ten-year association with Holocaust denier Paul Eisen? I didnt know, he claimed, his office saying he opposed Eisens views. His association with anti-Semite Sheikh Raed Salah? I didnt know. His association with anti-Semite Reverend Stephen Sizer? I didnt know. His association with anti-Semites within Palestine Live? I didnt know.

Ill tell you how long  for ever. Because there is no going back from here. The line that has been crossed cannot now be redrawn. The anti-Semites  with the help of Corbyn and the other useful idiots within Labours ranks  have won. They have reset the moral compass of a nation. In fact, they have snapped it in two.

The articles written in protest over their malign coup have been successfully dismissed as smears. The voices raised against them discounted as political agitation. The facts detailing their racist insurrection recast as fake news. So mark the moment. Bad things are about to happen in this country. And when they do, we had better not say we didnt know. Or that we had no chance to stop them. And above all, we had better not mouth the platitude never again.I never thought Id be writing this sentence but Livia Firth  you know, married to Colin Firth, romantic hero of the wet white shirt in the lake and the Bridget Jones movies  has accused an Italian childhood friend of stalking her after theyd had an extramarital affair.

This could be a classic he said, she said (Marco Brancaccia accuses Livia of inventing the stalking claim to stop him squealing about their liaison) but theres one critical difference.

This is the #MeToo era. When a woman says a man has done something  almost anything  it carries the thudding inevitability of a jury responding: Guilty! Its trial by hashtag, almost a sentence in itself.

Livia Firth (pictured with husband Colin Firth) has accused a childhood Italian friend of stalking her after they had an extramarital affair

Livia Firth, 48, alleges Marco Brancaccia (pictured) threatened her through telephone calls and texts

In his defence, Brancaccia claims he only sent a couple of texts to Mrs Firth after she ended their affair and one email to her husband (Mr Darcy was understanding, apparently), but if the case ends up in an Italian court and he is found guilty, he could go to prison for four years. Four years!

Meanwhile, William Freeman, a former director of the Northampton Water Ski Club, has been ordered to sign the sex offenders register after planting a kiss on a woman friends shoulder and one on her head.

The woman (who cannot be named, as is the way of these things) was pointing out a wasps nest when Mr Freeman made his clumsy pass. She recoiled; he apologised. No harm done, you would think. You would be wrong. This is the New Salem, a foreign country where, as my husband puts it, men risk going to prison for being men.

William Freeman, a former director of the Northampton Water Ski Club, has been ordered to sign the sex offenders register after planting a kiss on a woman friends shoulder and one on her head

The wasp-nest woman reported Mr Freeman to police and he was arrested. He denied a charge of sexual assault but on the first day of trial he changed his plea to guilty.

The lady judge praised him for accepting responsibility and thus sparing his accuser the agony of a trial (the irony). If I were a man, I would never approach a woman again, let alone try to kiss one.

Consider what the judge told Mr Freeman, a man of such unblemished record that hed never even had a parking ticket. This was an impulsive act. You have had a very serious lesson taught to you  you do not make advances towards women who dont want you to.

I know this will not endear me to the sisterhood so soon after weve celebrated International Womens Day. But its Mothering Sunday too, and as the mother of two adult, unmarried sons who do not, so far as I know, have the gift of telepathy when it comes to determining all the opposite sexs devices and desires, this makes me want to launch the Royal Society for the Protection of Men.

For one thing, the judge in the Freeman case is setting an alarming and impossible precedent. She seems to be ruling that every single woman in receipt of an unwanted advance could result in the giver being placed on the sex offenders register.

The problem is, it is a truth universally acknowledged by both sexes that nobody really knows whether an advance is wanted or unwanted until somebody (still usually the man) has made a first, tentative move.

No wonder male-female relations feel so fraught and fragile.

Justice must be done. Womens voices must be heard. But when women weaponise their voices it can have devastating consequences, and a nasty climate of guilty until proven innocent prevailing. If theres to be a genuine and lasting truce in the Battle of the Sexes, and no backlash, its very important that life in the #MeToo era is fair and just to men as well as women. After all, total equality is supposed to be the founding principle of feminism.

The struggle for womens rights is not over by a long chalk, and I am a proud and active feminist. But Im a mother too, and I will not stand by and see men persecuted for being men. If you tolerate this, your sons could be next.Tory MPs are livid over a proposal to mark the Suffragette anniversary by displaying a portrait of Constance Markievicz, the first woman elected to Parliament.

She was an Irish nationalist sentenced to death over the 1916 Easter Rising  though the sentence was later commuted  and never took her seat.

Conservatives want a proper portrait of Tory Nancy Astor, the first woman to actually take her seat, instead.

Conservatives want a proper portrait of Tory Nancy Astor, the first woman to actually take her seat, instead

Jezza sleepers plan derailed

After claiming in the Commons that he had no rough sleepers in his Leicestershire constituency, Tory Andrew Bridgen bumped into Jeremy Corbyn. Was that true? asked Jezza. Bridgen: Yep. Corbyn: Then Ill send some rough sleepers from my North London constituency up on the train to yours. Bridgen: No point. Corbyn: Why? Bridgen: Theres no train station in my constituency either.

Vladimir Putin frequently swore in Russian to Tony Blair in his No 10 days, peppering his diatribes with blyat  which means whore  and is the closest the Ruskies have to f******. Dogs man at the Foreign Office says: Putin never swore with other world leaders and the embarrassed translator ignored the blyats  but was told to include them so Blair knew he was being insulted.

Labour MPs were amused to witness a Commons lunch hosted by Chief Whip Julian Smith to heal Tory Brexit wounds. Jacob Rees-Mogg and his anti-EU team sat alongside pro-EU campaigner Nicky Morgan and allies as Smith told the Brexit bruisers: It is so nice to see you have all put petty squabbles to one side. A nearby Labour wag piped up: Only until their free lunch is over, you twerp.

Mogg fears boost Boris

The rise and rise of the Moggster has prompted a tactical rethink by Tory Remainers in the event of a leadership contest. Our approach used to be ABB  Anyone But Boris, said one. Now its ABM  Anyone But Mogg. If it came to a choice between Boris and Jacob, wed have to choose Boris  he is sensible, modern and moderate by comparison.

'If it came to a choice between Boris and Jacob, wed have to choose Boris  he is sensible, modern and moderate by comparison

Labour insiders say hard-man Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell played a key role in ousting the partys General Secretary Iain McNicol. McDonnell is said to have turned up unexpectedly at the meeting where it was made clear McNicol had to stand down. Some people say Jeremy might not have had the bottle to do it but John never bottles anything, said one aide.

Tory peer Karren Brady claimed last week that people with money and class dont talk about their wealth. So who, back in 2012, said I use financial advisers because I dont have time to think about it before adding: I have just bought a second-hand Bentley Continental. It is the first car I have bought for myself in 20 years and it is four years old, so it only cost me around 60,000? You guessed itEsteban Ocon says he is feeling confident about what Force India will be able to achieve in the first race of the 2018 season.

The team completed 711 laps in pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. That's comparable with last year, but less than anyone except Haas and McLaren in this year's test.

That wasn't a worry for Ocon, however. He contributed 372 laps to the team's total over the course of the eight days of testing, with a long-distance run crowning Friday's activity.

"To complete more than 160 laps on the final day is a good achievement and ends a really solid week of work," he said.

Force India's reduced mileage certainly hadn't been down to any issues with the car or Mercedes engine.

The reliability of our car was one of the highlights of testing," said chief race engineer Tom McCullough. "We were able to run solidly without any significant issues.

"For a new car this is a remarkable achievement. The whole team did a great job.

We can look back at these two weeks feeling pretty satisfied, he added. "We were able to complete our ambitious programme and made good progress in understanding the VJM11."

Speed runs hadn't been one of the team's major objectives during testing. Ocon's best time was only 14th fastest - a lap of 1:18.967s on the final day. It was set on the hypersoft compound.

"We ran on several different tyre compounds [in the morning] and then concentrated on long runs this afternoon," the Frenchman said on Friday. "It was another solid day.

"I feel quite confident heading to Melbourne," he insisted.

Ocon started 2017 with a top ten finish in Australia, and the 21-year-old is hoping for even better this time around.

I think we have a good idea of where we are but the real confirmation will come in Melbourne.

We tried all our race weekend procedures today and went through the various processes we will need in Australia," he confirmed.

"It has been quite a long time since the last race in Abu Dhabi, and I am itching to go racing again. I am really looking forward to arriving in Australia!"

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and TwitterHe met his glamorous girlfriend on Tinder after being named the most 'right-swiped' man the dating app, so Stefan Pierre-Tomlin certainly knows a thing or two about how to find 'the one' online.

The 27-year-old model from London, recently celebrated his one-year anniversary with girlfriend and 'soul mate' Gemma Fowler, 25, from Dublin, after meeting her on the dating app on Valentine's Day last year.

The dating guru, who offers his expert tips to his family and friends, told FEMAIL the best key to writing the perfect dating app profile is to come up with a catchy bio and add an extra layer of security by linking it to Instagram.

For Stefan, who sees wedding bells in the near future for him and Gemma, he reckons finding a match online is better than meeting someone in real life.

Stefan and Gemma recently celebrated their one-year anniversary and have been planning their future together

Stefan says that as well as working out together they also like to try out new activities and go on trips away

At the beginning of 2017 Stefan was named the 'most right-swiped' man on Tinder but went on to delete the app when he met 'the one'

'I believe it's the future. Having everyone in one place makes it so much easier to pick your match,' Stefan said.

The model reckons that the best way to woo 'the one' on an online app is to make sure you have a catchy bio - but 'not an essay'.

'Mine was No likey, no righty, show a bit of personality to allow people to find out more,' he said.

When it comes to the awkward task of meeting a match in real life, Stefan said that you should be clear about what you want as soon as possible.

'When you speak with someone that interests you, its very important to know what you want from that person so you should be transparent from the beginning.'

He added: 'Once your chat is going strong always leave the sentence open. Almost force the other person to speak more and ask the relevant questions.

'I was a quick mover I would never drag a conversation on for weeks a couple days of chat and then I would want to meet. You should be excited to meet that person so why wait?'

Marriage is on the cards for the couple as Stefan said he felt like Gemma was his 'soul mate'

Stefan and Gemma now live together in London and are planning to jet off to Australia and the Maldives later this year

Stefan has become a bit of a dating guru among his friends and family and offers his own tips to those still on the lookout for love

Stefan said users should also take advantage of features on online dating apps that link your profile to Instagram as an extra layer of security, and so that potential love matches can look into who you are.

Although the presenter is loved-up with Gemma he said that if he were single again he would return to online dating.

'Meeting someone in a club often leads to a one night stand no chemistry and most importantly nothing in common.

'Where as, meeting someone with the same interests increases the chance of having chemistry and staying long term with that person.'

As the face of 11 Degrees Menswear, Stefan likes to keep in good shape and often goes to the gym with Gemma for company

Stefan's secret to his relationship success is by keeping their life far from boring by going to the gym together, trying out new activities and going on surprise trips away together. And he believes there is a real future for him and his glamorous girlfriend.

'I strongly believe there will be marriage on the cards,' he revealed.

'As the days go on Gemma has become even closer to me and I would love a future with my best friend.'

The model, who is the face of 11 Degrees menswear, also lives with his girlfriend in London, had been single for two years before meeting Gemma, and promptly deleted his Tinder profile two months after they began dating.

'I was a very happy man enjoying single life however Ive always wanted to be settled and I found my soul mate and best friend via Tinder,' he said.

The couple kept their anniversary celebrations low-key this year with a home-cooked meal and wine, but Stefan said he's got a surprise in store for his girlfriend.

'I have a big secret trip away as part of Valentines Day the end of March. I always make sure there is something to look forward to.'

Dublin-born Gemma has already been whisked away by Stefan to Marbella, Paris and a visit to her home city, with plans to travel further afield to Australia and the Maldives this year.A personal trainer has revealed how to tone and sculpt your bottom based on its natural shape.

The majority of women have bums that are 'square', 'round', 'heart' or 'inverted V' in shape, with each having a different distribution of fat and muscle.

Each of the four shapes can be found on one of the Kardashian-Jenner sisters, making them perfect examples.

Identifying which shape you have is crucial to maximising your workout as it influences the effectiveness of the exercise, according to personal trainer Em Furey.

Here, the London-based fitness expert reveals how to spot your own body shape -and shares the exercises you should be doing to work out your rear...

Square

The square falls lower on the bottom with excess volume up top, like Kendall Jenner, right. If you are a square, it is important to build big glutes to fill out the back of your bikini bottoms

The square shapes fall lower on the bottom with excess volume up top, much like Kendall Jenner. If you have a square shape bum, then it is important to build big glutes to fill out the back of your bikini bottoms.

Em said: 'The focus muscle should mainly be on the gluteus medias for a squared shape bum. Because this particular shape can create that "muffin top" look on the love handles area, the way to eliminate those would be to incorporate rotation exercises such as rotation lunges.

'Rotation lunges will train the abs and trim the waist down by targeting the obliques as well as the abdominal muscles.

'To perform a rotation lunge, you lunge forward and twist the torso the same side with whichever leg is in the lunge, to add weights to that will increase intensity.'

Round

If you have a round shape bum like Kylie Jenner, your o-shaped derriere has a perky side view with fat is distributed around the cheeks. Toning is the focus for this body shape

If you have a round shape bum like Kylie Jenner, your o-shaped derriere has a perky side view with fat is distributed around the cheeks. In contrast to the square shape, you do not have an issue with the volume of your bum so toning is the focus here.

Em said: 'This is the shape to do glute exercises which hit all angles such as the lunge matrix. The lunge matrix is when you forward lunge and then on the way coming back to the other foot you take it out fluidly and laterally to the side in another lunge whilst keeping the other leg straight. The change in direction will switch on the other parts of the glutes.

'Plies is another great exercise for the round bum shape; this is done in second position in ballet terms by externally rotating the hips and turning the feet out so the toes point outwards, lowering into a deep squat position and then coming back up and squeezing the glutes at the top.'

Heart

Heart-shaped bums like Kim, right, and Khloe Kardashian have volume in the gluteus maximus area but have fat distribution around the lower portion of the bum and thighs

Heart-shaped bums like Kim and Khloe Kardashian have volume in the gluteus maximus area but have fat distribution around the lower portion of the bum and thighs.

Em said: 'The focus is on the gluteus medius here as the heart shaped bum typically doesnt lack much in the gluteus maximus area.

'Training the hamstrings and gluteus medius will help lift the gluteus medius area and can be targeted through single leg squats, also known as pistol squats.

'Pistol squats are performed by standing firmly on one leg with one leg out in front. Slowly bending down on the standing leg into squat position and bringing it back unto the top relying on that one leg to bring the body back up. This is a tough exercise but it will engage your core and improve posture as you have to keep a straight back throughout the exercise.'

Inverted V

For those with the inverted V shape like Kourtney, it means that youre lacking in volume compared to the other shapes

For those with the inverted V shape like Kourtney, it means that youre lacking in volume compared to the other shapes.

This means your bottom requires a lot of focus on the gluteus maximus to add volume and tone as muscles are usually looser.

Em said: 'Gluteus maximus is the main focus here in the inverted V shape bum, this needs to get fired up to achieve a lift in those posterior glute muscles. An example of an exercise to do if you have this shape bum would be goblet squats.

'Holding a heavy kettlebell to your chest with both hands and with the feet out wide in a squat stance position, you squat down as deep as you can in your range of motion whilst always keeping the back straight and then pushing the heels into the floor. Once at your maximum ROM, you drive up to the top and squeeze the glutes at the top.'

Extra dimples

Cellulite can be a problem for women even after they have worked hard to tone their bottoms.

To tackle the problem plastic surgeon expert Nick Rhodes, from Face etc medi spa, recommends minimal invasive treatment Cellfina.Champagne tasting might sound like the job of your dreams.

But for Kyla Kirkpatrick, 40 - also known as The Champagne Dame - it's all part of a day's work.

Here, the Melbourne-based champagne connoisseur shares her story - which has taken her from a career in finance to the vineyards of France.

Kyla also revealed to FEMAIL the best bottle of bubbles you can buy here in Australia for under $100, and the biggest misconceptions about her industry.

Kyla Kirkpatrick, also known as The Champagne Dame (pictured), spoke to FEMAIL about how she left a promising career in finance to work in the champagne industry

Kyla (pictured) also revealed to FEMAIL the best bottle of bubbles you can buy here in Australia for under $100, and the biggest misconceptions about her industry

While Kyla, 40, first studied for a degree in commerce and Mandarin Chinese, it wasn't until she read an article about Napoleon Bonaparte and his friendship with Jean Remy Moet that she became interested in champagne as a subject:

'The article really captured my imagination and soon I had read most books I could find on champagne,' Kyla told Daily Mail Australia.

'The one that really piqued my interest was The Art and Business of Champagne by Dan Gisburg. I wrote to him with a series of questions and instead of answering them he invited me to join him in France where he would teach me everything he knew.'

Before she knew it, Kyla had booked a one-way ticket to France, where she spent 'eight months in the vineyards of Champagne learning my craft'.

Before she knew it, Kyla had booked a one-way ticket to France, where she spent 'eight months in the vineyards of Champagne learning my craft' (stock image)

Around a year in to her training, the talented 40-year-old (pictured) was recruited by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy to be an ambassador for their champagne brands

Around a year in to her training, the talented 40-year-old was recruited by Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy to be an ambassador for their champagne brands:

'It was such an indulgent time,' she said.

'I was staying in a wonderful chateau, indulging in stunning black tie dinners and walking through the historic cellars of Champagne.

'I had to pinch myself so many times thinking this could be my new life, and what it could be.'

Kyla later returned to Sydney, where she has since worked in champagne, 'promoting the brands owned by luxury goods conglomerate, Veuve Clicquot, Moet & Chandon, Dom Perignon and more'.

She also branched out and launched The Champagne Dame in 2008 - a business which sees her educate, present and work as an ambassador.

Kyla also hosts masterclasses and dinners for her clients.

Kyla later returned to Sydney, where she has worked in champagne, 'promoting the brands owned by luxury goods conglomerate, Veuve Clicquot, Moet & Chandon etc (stock image)

Speaking about how we at home can identify a good bottle of bubbles, Kyla (pictured) revealed it's not always about price - she said Australia is the largest-growing market for champagne

Speaking about how mere mortals at home can identify a good bottle of bubbles, Kyla revealed it's not always about price:

'It's very hard to tell what makes a good champagne without trying it, as price is not always an indicator,' she said.

However, there are plenty of great options for under $100:

'Australia is the largest-growing market for Champagne in the world, so there is definitely a love for it here,' Kyla admitted.

'Champagne can only be produced in France, so my best tip for Champagne that is available for purchase in Australia, under $100, is a Charles Heidsieck Brut Non Vintage.'

The connoisseur explained that this is 'as good as it gets' because they have 'reserve wines of up to 20 years in age, which gives it lots of complexity with notes of caramel, vanilla, toast and almond'.

'This is vintage quality champagne at an amazing price,' she added.

Lastly, The Champagne Dame shared the biggest misconceptions in her industry - which range from people thinking it's all parties and yachts to others thinking it's overpriced (stock image)

The Charles Heidsieck Brut Non Vintage (pictured) is among the best under $100

Lastly, The Champagne Dame shared the biggest misconceptions in her industry - which range from people thinking it's all parties, yachts and fancy events to people thinking it's overpriced:

'Champagne has the most expensive land in the world, it has one of the most climactically difficult regions on the planet to grow grapes and the production process is more complicated than any other wine - with double fermentation and lots of man handling,' Kyla said.

'This is all before it's aged for anywhere between three and ten years.'

If anything, The Champagne Dame said she believes 'champagne is too cheap':

'The other great misconception about champagne is that it's all about parties, yachts and fancy events - its's not.

'Champagne is really about family and time; you need both of these elements to make an amazing champagne.'

To read more from The Champagne Dame, please visit her website here.Staying glamorous at 35,000 feet for hours on end is a challenge.

And still, so many flight attendants manage it - despite long hours, gruelling flight-times and haphazard sleeping patterns.

To get a little more insight into the life of a flight attendant, FEMAIL caught up with Qantas employee, Anastasia Andreev, who lifted the lid on her business - as well as the in-flight essentials she swears by.

The 22-year-old, who is from Sydney, swears by a 'versatile' wardrobe, a universal travel adaptor and Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation - which she said 'many flight attendants wear, as it 'stays put for 24 hours'.

FEMAIL caught up with Qantas employee, Anastasia Andreev (pictured), who lifted the lid on her business - as well as the in-flight essentials she swears by

The 22-year-old, who is from Sydney (pictured), swears by a 'versatile' wardrobe and Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation - which she said 'stays put for 24 hours'

When it comes to packing your suitcase for a flight, Anastasia (pictured) told FEMAIL that she's learned that 'less really is more' and it pays to think of 'key pieces' like a good pair of jeans

When it comes to packing, Anastasia told FEMAIL that she has learned that 'less really is more':

What a flight attendant packs in her suitcase * A good pair of jeans * Shorts * Singlet * Dress * Denim jacket * Three pairs of shoes - including black Converse, nude strappy heel and bright sandal * Small day bag * Sunglasses * Swimsuit * Perfume x 2 - a fresh day frangrance and something 'muskier' for the evening * A book * Noise-cancelling headphones * Universal travel adaptor Advertisement

'The suitcase has to be packed at all times and flying between climates means our clothing needs to be versatile,' she said.

However, that doesn't mean you need a whole range of outfits:

'Key pieces like a good pair of jeans, shorts, singlet, button-up shirt, a little dress and a denim jacket are the staple items,' Anastasia explained.

'These can all be dressed up or down and be worn in various climates, while still looking stylish.'

The 22-year-old said she likes to take three pairs of shoes away with her - which 'should be enough to get you from day to night'.

'I always have my black Converse shoes, a nude strappy heel and a bright sandal packed for a pop of colour.'

She also swears by a 'small day bag' for sight-seeing, two bottles of perfume (something 'fresh' for the day and something 'muskier' for the evening, sunglasses, a swimsuit and a good book.

Anastasia (pictured) will bring three different pairs of shoes with her, and will always avoid stiletto heels, as she says it's unlikely you'll wear them

The 22-year-old (pictured) likes to always travel with her universal travel adaptor, as well as her noise-cancelling headphones

What to wear on a flight * According to Anastasia, you do not need to compromise style in order to be comfortable on board. * She recommends neutral colours, such as grey, navy or black - which are great for travelling 'just in case you spill anything on yourself'. * Anastasia likes to wear 'black pants, with either a dark green or white collared shirt (white for shorter flights) and a black pashmina scarf or a cardigan to keep warm throughout the flight'. She'll pair this with flat shoes and a pair of thick socks for on board. * For men, Anastasia said you should go for 'crease free materials, such as chinos'. She said you can pair these with a 'plain loose shirt and a cardigan or casual jacket to look smart, yet be comfortable and warm'. Advertisement

Over her time as a flight attendant, Anastasia has also learned that it's worth leaving some items behind, as you are less likely to use them when you're away:

'From my experience, I've found you don't need to bring a hairdryer as many hotels offer them,' she said.

'You could also avoid packing high heel stilettos as they aren't very practical, will be unlikely to be worn and take up so much space.

'You're far better off bringing a pair of wedges, which can be worn with jeans or a dress.'

The 22-year-old admitted the one thing she would never travel without is her 'universal travel adaptor', which she sees as the 'best travel investment you can make' - and her noise-cancelling headphones, which are a lifesaver on a long-haul flight.

Her beauty regime is simple - she loves a rich moisturiser and a good night's sleep the night before, and plenty of essential oils, hand cream and face mists on board

But what about how she prepares for long-haul travel, and how Anastasia looks after her hair and skin when she is on board?

For the Qantas employee, it all comes down to sleep and self-care the day before:

'If I'm operating on a flight, then I definitely make sure to get a good night's sleep and moisturise well the night before and morning of my flight,' she told FEMAIL.

'I wear quite a rich moisturiser (Sukin's night cream) underneath my foundation, which acts as a barrier against the harsh elements in the air.'

Anastasia will also have a 'healthy but hearty meal' beforehand - to ensure she's not 'hungry or tempted by all the chocolates and other naughties on board'.

When she's travelling as a passenger, Anastasia said she prefers to 'get as little rest as possible the night before' so she can sleep with her neck pillow all flight.

But, when she's working, she prefers to be rested and ready to go.

Anastasia (pictured) will also have a 'healthy but hearty meal' beforehand - to ensure she's not 'hungry or tempted by all the chocolates and other naughties on board'

'Once I apply my make up for the flight, it's not coming off until I'm at the hotel,' Anastasia admitted - she loves a Bare Minerals lipstick as it's the perfect nude colour

One of the things people always observe about flight attendants is their near-perfect make up, which never seems to slide, come off or worsen while a flight attendant is in the air:

How to eat and drink on a long-haul flight * Firstly, Anastasia highlighted the importance of hydrating on board - as 'flying really dehydrates you'. * 'Try to drink at least one cup of water every hour, if you want to feel amazing when you land, then try one cup every half an hour,' she said - adding that if you're having a glass of wine, make sure you have some water with it. * 'Try to avoid drinking too much coffee before or during a flight that can also make you feel more dehydrated.' * When eating on board, while Anastasia believes you shouldn't deny yourself anything, she also said it's all about moderation. * 'Have one chocolate, and then substitute your next craving with a piece of fruit or some nuts.' Advertisement

'Once I apply my make up for the flight, it's not coming off until I'm at the hotel,' Anastasia admitted.

She said she swears by Estee Lauder's Double Wear foundation, which 'literally stays put for 24 hours and ensures I need as few touch ups as possible through the flight'.

She will also use a 'soothing face mist every couple of hours (MAC's Fix+) for an instant refresh'.

Elsewhere in her regime, Anastasia extolled the benefits of hand cream:

'It's so important, as the air gets very dry,' she said.

'I also carry a peppermint essential oil on my wrists and temples, which has a calming and soothing effect on my body while invigorating the senses.

'I love my Bare Minerals Gen Nude liquid lip colour in "Swag", as it doesn't dry your lips out, but is the perfect colour to complement the pink in our scarves.

'Never forget to touch up before touch down, that's key.'

Anastasia did admit that her flying lifestyle is not as glamorous as some might think - she said she may have to clean the toilets during a flight

Lastly, Anastasia touched on the things you wouldn't expect to come with her job, including the fact that it's not always as glamorous as you might think:

'We have to clean the toilets every 30 minutes,' she said.

'During a 14 hour flight, like Sydney to LA, we go down to our crew bunks for three hours, and then we swap with the other half of the crew.

'We also have to complete emergency procedures and sit exams every six months, to make sure we are qualified for all of our safety duties, otherwise we go back for more training.'

However, she said she loves her job and the opportunities it offers her.

'When you're on a Qantas flight, you know you're in great and safe hands,' she said.Choosing the perfect wine - one that matches price and preference - can be tough.

If you've been lucky in selecting a tipple that goes down a treat, it's as likely you've happened on this by accident rather than by design.

Jacob's Creek chief winemaker Ben Bryant doesn't believe buying a top drop should be a complicated matter, especially if you shop armed with a little insider knowledge.

Here, FEMAIL reveals the Mr Bryant's top tips for choosing a great wine - even if you have zero prior knowledge of grape varietals, tastes and preference.

Jacob's Creek chief winemaker Ben Bryant (pictured) reveals it's possible to pick a cracking bottle of wine armed with a little insider knowledge

1. Get to know which wines come from where

Australia is a great wine-producing country; there are over 60 wine regions with each producing something different and unique.

But rather than feel it's necessary to know them all, Mr Bryant suggested it is worth becoming familiar with a few and the varieties they are most well-known for.

He explained this is a simple strategy and one which makes those bottle shop shelves much easier to navigate:

Top seven wine regions in Australia: Shiraz: Barossa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon: Coonawarra Sauvignon Blanc: Adelaide Hills Chardonnay: Adelaide Hills, Tasmania or Margaret River Riesling: Eden Valley or Clare Valley Semillion: Hunter Valley, NSW Pinot Noir: Yarra Valley, Vic Advertisement

'Wine can be a real adventure, where a glass can transport you to where the wine is from,' the winemaker explained to FEMAIL.

'While Shiraz is delicious from the Barossa Valley, for instance, a tasty Sauvignon Blanc might hail from Adelaide Hills.'

2. Think about the occasion for the wine

When buying wine for an occasion, as well as taking your own and others preferences into account, Mr Bryant said it's also important to think about how the wine you will serve will contribute to the overall experience.

'Shopping for wine shouldn't be a rushed experience, and preparation, before you get to the store, can make it a whole lot easier.'

Food and wine pairings include a Shiraz which works perfectly with barbequed meat; a Pinot Noir, which pairs well with lighter meals; a crisp Riesling, which suits seafood and a Cabernet Sauvignon, which matches with beef or lamb-based dishes.

'Wine can be a real adventure, where a glass can transport you to where the wine is from,' said Mr Bryant (stock image)

3. Go beyond the middle shelf

When shopping for wine, it can be tempting to simply peruse the middle shelf of your local bottle store and make a choice accordingly.

But Mr Bryant said there is so much more in a bottle shop than what is conveniently placed at eye level - even if it does jump out at you with a red sale or staff pick sticker.

'Price doesn't not always equal quality, so make sure you take the time to read labels and look at the different considerations such as region and variety to choose the perfect bottle of wine,' he explained.

When shopping for wine, it can be tempting to simply peruse the middle shelf of your local bottle store and make a choice accordingly, however it can pay to go beyond (stock image)

The winemaker said those working at wine shops are often passionate about their product and as such can be a great source of knowledge.

'Don't be afraid to ask for their advice,' he said.

'It makes it easier if you can tell them the occasion you'll be drinking it in, a price you're comfortable with, and an idea of the wines you've liked before.'

Jacob's Creek have recently worked on a Double Barrel, which took two years of trial to perfect.

'Double Barrel is first matured in traditional French or American oak wine barrels and then finished in aged whisky barrels,' Ben said.

'This offers a real richness to the palate followed by a very smooth finish.'



As I fall to my knees, shaking, the fitness instructor cries: 'Glide into a high plank! From here, you're going to bend, tuck in your knee and pivot to the left.'

I want to do as she says because this is humiliating. The class started only ten minutes ago, but I feel completely drained of energy and in a state of shock and disbelief.

Moments into my high-intensity workout on the Megaformer  a dastardly machine that would fit well in a torture chamber  I realise what sorts the strong upright wheat from the feeble old chaff, and me from the likes of Meghan Markle.

Let me explain. As the world admires her slender but strong frame, the actress and soon-to-be royal bride has piqued the interest of fitness fans by praising Pilates Platinum, the LA studio chain, as 'hands down the best thing you could do for your body'.

At the LA studio, which housed one of the first Megaformers, clients are promised a 'fun and energising' workout.

Markle says 'the results are incredible'  and those who admire her toned figure will agree.

Anna Maxted (pictured) shared her experience of trying Megaformer workouts at the City branch of Studio Lagree

No wonder then that the Megaformer, a favourite with professional athletes and celebrities (Michelle Obama and Jennifer Aniston are also fans) is fast conquering the globe, with more than 300 studios licensed to use it.

Fortunately for Meghan, and the rest of us, that means the Megaformer workout has come to the UK, courtesy of the fitness chain Studio Lagree. Named after the Megaformer's French-born creator, Sebastien Lagree, it is opening its fourth London venue and plans to go nationwide with potential sites in Liverpool and Manchester.

As Robert Lepone, the UK managing director for the brand, reveals of Meghan: 'She was a regular visitor to one of our Lagree Studios in Toronto when she was filming Suits. She's recently professed she's a big advocate of the workout  she loves it.'

So I had arrived at the City branch of Studio Lagree thrilled at the chance to take on Meghan's machine. Perhaps I should have been warned when I had told a toned twentysomething in the changing room that I was about to try the class. She'd laughed and said: 'I couldn't even do the warm-up!'

I also recalled Studio Lagree's Robert Lepone describing the workout as 'Pilates on steroids'. He'd used the word 'brutal', adding that after his first session he couldn't walk for four days.

Now, as my thighs burn and my breath catches in my chest, I understand. The stationary machine has a sliding carriage, with a non-moving platform at either end, plus various handles, pulleys and weights.

This, theoretically, enables one to perform lunges, squats, push-ups and other hard-core horrors, and forces constant use of legs, arms, and stomach. Six hundred muscles are worked, and though I didn't realise I had that many, it certainly feels like it now.

Years ago, I did clinical Pilates on a reformer machine  a far more basic device that adds resistance to the traditional Pilates moves. Comparing it with the Megaformer is to compare a kitten with a sabre-toothed tiger.

Anna (pictured) got to total body muscle failure in less than 45 minutes of the high calorie burning fitness session

My instructor, Sharlene Greechan, says: 'The Megaformer looks like a reformer, but it's not Pilates. It's classified as high-intensity strength training, but there is zero impact.

'So unlike a HIIT (high-intensity interval training) class, which is also high intensity, pounding and jumping, it's very good for your joints. You also get cardiovascular training. For 45 minutes, you work out non-stop.'

It's absolutely not for wimps. The sliding carriage has spring-loaded resistance and many of the exercises involve moving it back and forth with a precise muscle group  say, your abs  in a moving plank. Up you rise, like an inverted V, then down again, controlling the astonishingly resistant carriage.

You're going to get a smaller waistline and a nice derriere, but what's more important is building a strong body - Sharlene Greechan

There's a lot of holding poses for 30 seconds and even more pulsing. I'm almost instantly exhausted.

Sharlene says, 'The method is designed so you hit total body muscle failure within 45 minutes.'

I get there far, far sooner.

By working intensely on one muscle group at a time, she explains: 'We activate the slow-twitch muscle fibres that build that long lean muscle and really slim us down.

'But it's not so much about the aesthetics. We focus on core health and on correcting posture. We also work very slowly, as the slower you move the more effective it is. We focus on good form, and that keeps you safe.'

The class burns up to 800 calories as your metabolism stays boosted for hours.

Sharlene says: 'You're going to get a smaller waistline and a nice derriere, but what's more important is building a strong body that will carry you through life.

'I'm 40 in a month, and I'm not so worried about what my summer body's going to look like.

Meghan Markle (pictured) was a regular visitor to the Lagree Studios in Toronto whilst filming

'I want to have the vitality to make it through my day. I know I'm going to age well and have that energy when I'm 50 and 60. I feel and look better than ever.'

Sebastien Lagree has been described as a 'fitness visionary', though as I tremble, sweat, and pray for the 50-minute class to end (it includes a five-minute warm down), I consider him an evil genius. When I call him at home in LA, still buzzing and aching, I confess his machine crushed me. He replies: 'You're welcome!'

He's refined the Megaformer over 15 years. His aim was to create 'a fitness method that would do everything'.

'Usually, people pick a type of fitness: they'll run or do cardio, and that's all they do,' he says. 'Running is only one facet of fitness. I wanted to combine strength, endurance, cardiovascular fitness, but also balance and flexibility. Learning to balance stimulates the connection between your mind and the muscle. And, of course, you need a strong core.'

Lagree's background is in bodybuilding and he's studied a range of fitness disciplines. He adds  and his accent reminds me a little of Arnold Schwarzenegger  'This is why, today, when you took the workout, you felt very humbled, because you stimulated your body on so many levels that you're probably not accustomed to.'

Anna's instructor revealed it can take up to ten Megaformer classes for the workout to start feeling easier

Alas, Lagree is right. My pleasant regime of running, swimming and lifting a few weights in the gym allows me to avoid suffering. The Megaformer has highlighted every physical weakness. For instance, that my abdominals are about as strong as chewing gum. The next day, it hurts to breathe and my husband suggests I've used my intercostal muscles, which lie between my ribs, for the first time.

The good news is that Lagree reckons it doesn't take long before your body adjusts to the pain and you begin to enjoy it.

Sharlene, my instructor, agrees. Her first Megaformer class left her reeling, and, she adds: 'It wasn't easier the second or the third time. There's a ten to 12-class learning curve. I started taking two classes a week. That was all I could do.

'But I felt I had more energy. Then I noticed my clothes were starting to fit differently. You start to feel really good. You also change mentally. You get that strength, that spirit, that fire.'

Even as my muscles scream, and (oh, the shame!), Sharlene hurries over to manually prevent me collapsing as I try to perform a moving side-plank  a manoeuvre that requires abs of steel  I see the attraction. This class is exquisitely, thrillingly tough.

Presently, the Megaformer and I aren't friends. It's exposed me as having ideas above my station. But I suspect I could learn to love it in time.

Anna's instructor revealed the workout is suitable for all ages as it delivers high intensity levels of training with low impact

'It's very customisable,' says Sharlene, 'appropriate for all ages and all fitness levels. And we offer beginners' classes to give people who know nothing about the method or the machine a thorough introduction.' These classes focus on key, simple exercises, performed at a slower pace, to build confidence and understanding.

'We'd do lunges, for example, and focus on good form. For the upper body, we might do a chest-opener and build from there.'

Even if you're not particularly fit in midlife, if you start by learning the basic moves, the Lagree method is an effective, way of gaining strength, vital for maintaining bone density, preserving muscle mass, and increasing resistance to disease as we hit our 50s and beyond.

As Sharlene says: 'As we age, we don't want to put undue stress on our joints and ligaments. This is an exercise that's low impact, but still delivers a high intensity level of training, so it's really effective.'

She says it's popular with women in their 40s and 50s. Several clients are in their 60s.

And, I say, it doesn't hurt that one Megaformer fan is about to marry Prince Harry. 'It's kind of fun,' agrees Sharlene. 'I hope that when she's settled into her royal lifestyle, she will come by.'

Well, if my muscles have stopped shaking by then, I'll see you there, Meghan.

Visit studiolagree.com/uk. An introductory class is 15, and there are special offers (e.g. 20 classes for 420.) A single class costs 30.Saving money is a talent some people have naturally, while others, like me, just dont. No matter how many budgeting apps and online banking passwords we amass, we are financial sieves, sprinkling a trail of random, spontaneous spending behind us.

So imagine the joy of discovering a simple method of money management  one that means painlessly saving around 35 per cent more each month and never again feeling that swoop of fear when you check your balance at the cashpoint.

And although this Japanese method is fast becoming a trend to rival Marie Kondos Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, it requires nothing more than a notebook and pen.

The Kakeibo (pronounced kah-keh-boh) is a Japanese financial planning journal. It was invented in 1904, so its hardly a new trick, but with journaling a hot craze right now (basically, writing ordered lists of what you plan to achieve, and crossing them off) the time is right for this simple, old-school approach, newly packaged to capture the modern imagination.

I tried it for a week and was grimly fascinated to discover just how much I thoughtlessly spend downloading Kindle books. (I only have to read a tweet about a new thriller and Im clicking through to Amazon  a swift check revealed I spent 45 on cheap Kindle books last month.)

Flic Everett tried using the Japanese financial planning method Kakeibo for a week to see if it can help to save money (file image)

Then there are the vast amounts I blow on trains to see my family  a monthly visit from Scotland to Manchester is at least 80 on the train. Then theres my spending on Ubers while in Manchester (50 during my last visit), and the frankly distressing weekly food shopping budget (100) for me and my partner. Im vegan, he isnt, which means two almost entirely separate shops.

Then theres my love of the local delis expensive but delicious olive selection and his liking for decent red wine.

Id hardly describe myself as a high-roller  I buy most of my clothes in charity shops and havent had a holiday in two years  but, clearly, there are serious savings to be made.

Of course, you could simply use a ledger and note it all down like some Dickensian clerk. But the Kakeibos latest incarnation, by Fumiko Chiba, contains not only a set of pages with boxes and dotted lines to fill in all your weekly and monthly spending, but inspirational quotes such as Even monkeys fall from trees  dont be disheartened, we all make mistakes and Spilled water does not return to the tray  once spent, your money will not come back! Quite.

The idea is simple. At the start of each month, you sit down with your Kakeibo and think mindfully about what you need to save, and the things you need to do to reach your goal.

Then you write down your weekly spend, so you can look back over the weeks and months to see where youre going wrong  and right.

The simple act of completing your Kakeibo ensures that saving is a part of your everyday life, says the author, encouragingly, in the introduction.

It may be part of daily life in Japan, but in the West, were just beginning to see the value of domestic accounting again, after years of mindless spending on credit cards.

Flic revealed the most difficult part of Kakeibo is remembering to write down everything you spend (file image)

Mindfulness is key to Kakeibo: the idea is to focus on saving as a pleasure, not a chore, and to enjoy seeing your unspent money totting up as you fill in the pages.

Users ask themselves four key questions.

How much money do you have available?

How much do you want to save?

How much are you spending?

How can you improve?

Available means whats left after deducting fixed expenses like mortgage, bills and travel. The week I tried it, the month had started and all my bills had just whooshed out by direct debit, leaving me with around 400, once Id accounted for food. You then set a weekly or monthly saving target and use it to work out your weekly spending limit.

Writing everything down means youre always on top of whats going out, and How can you improve? is answered by tracking your progress at the end of each month to see where its all gone (Books, wine, books, wine).

The difficult bit is remembering to write down every single thing you spend  each Caffe Nero latte, every random eBay whim, that emergency oat bar when you bought petrol.

But rather than use an app, which might be easier than toting a large journal, the mindfulness factor means the act of writing down each new cost makes you think much more about it  a bit like writing out revision notes.

Flic claims part of the fun or Kakeibo is deciding what you can and can't live without (file image)

Its true, it does. And it marginally erodes the pleasure of spontaneous spending when you know that paperback youll probably never read (12.99) or on-sale scarf youll never wear (8) must be indelibly inscribed into the ledger.

Purchases must all be assigned to a category. Traditionally, the four Kakeibo categories are Survival (food and necessities); Optional (restaurant meals, new shoes and drinks with friends); Culture (cinema, concerts); and Extras (holidays or gifts).

Its fine, however, to design your own categories, such as grandchildren or interior decor, depending on your life stage. The key is to assign every purchase a section, then be scrupulous about recording it.

The trouble is, I soon discovered, one persons necessities are anothers luxuries. While I never go to the theatre, Id struggle without the local cinema. And is Netflix culture or optional or even survival when I havent yet completed Series 2 of The Crown?

It seems the categories have to be a moveable feast and part of the fun is choosing what you can and cant live without. I decide that I cant cope without my fancy vegan cheese, but I can live without takeaway teas.

Once youve got to grips with daily accounting, you can move on to the next stage: using cash, not credit.

A recent study found that people spend more when theyre paying with a credit card. Using cash makes us more likely to pay attention to the cost and to value the purchase more. Researchers at the University of Toronto found that when people bought items with cash, they valued them almost twice as highly as those who had paid with plastic.

Fumiko Chiba claims saving money is about spending well rather than deprivation (file image)

The Kakeibo method recommends an envelope system. Your monthly cash goes into different envelopes and each can only be spent on its own category. Once its gone, you cant borrow from another envelope.

After food, I divided my cash into 100 for transport, which is also a necessity so counts as survival; 100 for optional; 50 for culture; and 150 for extras. The remaining money goes into savings.

Immediately, I had to pay for a pair of eBay shoes, which, once postage was added, came to 24.99. At the time they were a bargain, but suddenly my weekly optional budget is gone. That means no more Kindle books and Im forced to rely on all the unread books on my shelves, which turns out to be quite a library.

Much worse is extras. I suddenly cant afford to meet friends for dinner if I want to save for a week away in summer, and under the rules of Kakeibo Im not allowed to plunder the culture envelope, even though Id happily skip a couple of movies.

Initially, it all seems a bit like a never-ending accounting session, combined with a major fun bypass.

But thats not the idea at all, insists the author. The people who are bad with money are, apparently, those who will benefit most significantly.

A kakeibo is all about removing fear and turning budgeting into something that you can enjoy, says Chiba. So many of us have a moment of dread before looking at our bank balance, either because we dont know what to expect or because we know we wont like what we see!

And its not about deprivation: saving money is about spending money well. Generally, when we consider saving, its easy to focus on what we cant have. This makes it arduous. Instead, the focus should be on stopping wasteful, random spending.

Chibas most important tip is to divide spending into musts and wants. I must have food, but I dont actually need those artichokes in a fancy glass jar  or the eBay shoes. I just want them.

Like most appealing Japanese trends, its all about ritual. Being forced to work in a certain order, to focus on saving and to spend only whats in your envelope, is restrictive but hugely instructive.

As I get more familiar with my incomings and outgoings, Ill put less in the culture envelope, more in extras, and be a lot more careful about one-click online ordering.

Its surprisingly eye-opening for such a simple, old-fashioned method of money management.

And having to write that I bought three new books while I waited for a train, a tea I drank only half of from Starbucks, a new bag just because Accessorize had a sale on and I was passing  well, thats enough to pull anyone up short  even me.

Who knew the key to a burgeoning bank balance was a pen, paper  and a feeling of mild personal shame?For home bakers looking to feel better about their skills - or lack thereof - Netflix has debuted a new series dedicated to cake baking fails.

The new show, dubbed Nailed It after the popular phrase used in memes of cooking disasters, appeared on the streaming surface on Friday to the delight of baking fans.

Each 30-minute episode features three amateur bakers doing their best to replicate an complicated cake, competing for a $10,000 cash prize.

A real looker: A new Netflix show sees amateur bakers attempt to copy complex cakes, with hilarious results

Having a laugh: The show is hosted by comedian Nicole Byer (right), who is accompanied by a panel of judges

Like many cooking competition shows, Nailed It includes a panel of judges, including host Nicole Byer and master chef Jacques Torres.

Similarly, the competition also involves giving the contestant tight time frames in which to complete their creations.

A preview released with the show sees regular, untrained people being shown incredible molded cakes in the shapes of unicorns, castles and more before being tasked with copying them.

The contestants aren't given any expert tips on how to copy the complex cake designs, leading to many hilarious stumbles along the way.

Laughably bad: The program shows just how difficult professional baking can be

Oops: The episodes are full of relatable baking disasters, such as overfilling the cake tins

Results: The amateur bakers duke it out for $10,000 by trying to replicate fancy cakes

Not so good: The show is already being compared to the wildly popular UK show The Great British Baking Show

The show promises plenty of relatable baking faux pas, from undercooked cake batter to missed steps producing comical results.

The contestants quickly learn that there is more to crafting cakes than just slathering sponge in icing.

Some final comparisons of particularly dramatic cake fails feature a unicorn cake coming out looking more like an ice cream cone splattered on a rainbow mound, as well as Rapunzel in a castle morphed into a blond Jack Skellington.

The show is already drawing comparisons to the wildly popular The Great British Bakeing Show from the UK.

The six episodes of the show are already available on Netflix to stream.WHAT TO DO

If you spend a lot of time sitting down or hunching over your phone, a standing wall angel is great for improving posture, says trainer Nadya Fairweather (u-shape.co.uk).

Stand against the wall with your arms bent at a 90-degree angle, level with your shoulders, with your tailbone and shoulders touching the wall.

Raise your arms straight above your head, then lower them back down to the starting position. Repeat 12-15 times, done slowly, so that you keep the backs of your hands and fingers gliding along the wall.

Celebrity personal trainer Nadya Fairweather, recommends this standing exercise for improving your posture

WHAT TO EAT

To help youself stand taller, Shona Wilkinson (shonawilkinson.com) recommends the following posture-boosting foods.

Try drinking a glass of kefir, daily. This unique dairy product is packed with good bacteria, as well as high levels of calcium, which is crucial to keep our bones and spine healthy.

Mushrooms can also help with this, as they are one of the few foods which contain Vitamin D. This helps to facilitate the absorption of calcium, promote bone health and prevent back ache.

Lastly, natto is a traditional Japanese food made from soy beans. It is high in Vitamin K2 which helps protect bones and reduce bone loss.

WHAT TO WEARHealth bosses want to make it even harder for boys to get a life-saving jab on the NHS.

The Mail on Sunday has been campaigning for boys as well as girls to be protected against the potentially fatal human papillomavirus (HPV).

But advisers to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt say that extending the jab to boys would not be cost-effective.

Now a report being considered by the Department of Health and Social Care proposes a stricter hurdle for vaccines, meaning they would be approved only if they are exceptionally cost-effective.

Advisers to Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt say that extending the HPV jab to boys would not be cost-effective (stock image)

Last night, HPV campaigner Dr Tony Narula condemned the plan as ridiculous, adding: This can only be driven by bean-counters.

'The idea that we are now going to start downgrading vaccines is complete nonsense.

Richard Torbett, director of commercial policy at the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said fewer new vaccines would be approved and it would be harder to extend programmes for existing ones  such as the HPV jab.

About 370,000 Year 8 girls receive Gardasil jabs annually, but not their 390,000 male classmates.

Cancers related to the virus kill about 1,550 women a year in Britain and 650 men.

But while the number of HPV-related deaths in women is declining, it is going up in men.

About 370,000 Year 8 girls receive Gardasil jabs annually, but not their 390,000 male classmates

Gardasil protects against two strains of HPV that can cause cervical and oral cancers as well as genital warts.

A Health Department spokesman said: This report was commissioned to consider if the methods used to assess cost-effectiveness of vaccination programmes should change and is now open for consultation [until May 21]. We will carefully consider the responses before making any decision.In an interview, the diplomat noted that since Vietnam and Chile set up their diplomatic relations in 1971, the two countries have enjoyed sound partnership in all fields.

They have signed many deals facilitating their affiliation, including a free trade agreement in 2012. Two-way trade grew impressively to US$1.3 billion in 2017 from only under US$200 million in 2005.

They have set up dialogue mechanisms in politics and economy, along with annual meetings to review cooperation outcomes and map out collaboration plans for following years.

Son stressed that the two sides are open economies, holding that the CPTPP will help further expand and develop bilateral economic, trade and investment partnerships.

The ambassador said that almost all Presidents of Chile have visited Vietnam, reflecting the country's appreciation of Vietnam's role in the Southeast Asian region. In multilateral organisations, Chile has always supported Vietnam, especially at the United Nations, APEC and other inter-regional organisations.

Chile assisted Vietnam in its bids to join the UN Human Rights Council in the 2014-2016 tenure, and the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in the 2016-2018 period, while supporting Vietnam in running for a seat as a permanent member of the UN Security Council for the 2020-2021 tenure.

At the same time, Vietnam has lauded the role of Chile and supported the countrys candidacy for positions in the UN agencies and other international organisations, including the UN Human Rights Council and UN Security Council, said Ambassador Son.

However, he said that bilateral investment remains modest, citing they are yet to have any project in each other' territory.

The diplomat also pledged that the Vietnamese Embassy in Chile and its trade affairs office will exert more efforts to introduce investment and trade opportunities in Vietnam to Chilean businesses.The stark reality of first-time motherhood at the age of 39 rocked the world - and happy marriage - of The One Show host Alex Jones. She reveals all in her most candid interview since the birth of baby Teddy a year ago

Alex Jones is shattered, her one-year-old baby Teddy having kept her up most of the night. It really wasnt great; hes teething and has a bit of a cold, so we were up with him every 20 minutes, says The One Show presenter ruefully.

Normally hes a pretty good sleeper, but its as if babies sense youve got something big on the next morning; you end up going through the whole day in a fug.

Alex wears jumper, Zoe Jordan. Ring, Dinny Hall

Alex, its immediately clear, is not a person to be ground down by the odd bad night. Having joked her way through the photo shoot (even if she occasionally closed her eyes between shots), shes now sitting bright-eyed in the corner of the studio, pouring milk into her mug of tea. Loads of milk, thats what I need, she chuckles.

Shes every bit as warm as she appears on screen, but shes clearly also impressively driven, having returned to presenting The One Show just three-and-a-half months after giving birth, and choosing to devote every spare second of the past year to writing a book, Winging It! Parenting in the Middle of Life!

Alex with Teddy last summer

My friends all said, Are you mad? Its not possible, when I told them I was going to write a book during my maternity leave, laughs Alex, 40, her Welsh accent strong, despite eight years of living in London.

It was an idea that was put to me when I was pregnant and I thought, Itll be fine! Ill be at home and the baby will be sleeping all the time. Of course that turned out not to be the case. But Ive always had a can-do attitude, she says.

And when youre a mum you have twice as much to do, but your focus also doubles. When Ted was sleeping, Id run around the kitchen, loading the dishwasher, putting on the tumble dryer, and then sit at my computer and write a chapter really quickly. Then at night Id put him down and do a few more hours.

Im glad she did; Winging It! is exactly the kind of book I wish had been available to me as a clueless first-time mum. Alex may be a superwoman to have produced it, but her account of pregnancy and early motherhood (interspersed with anecdotes and advice from other parents and experts) is refreshingly human compared to manypastel-tinted celebrity baby memoirs.

Oh,I know, she says. Some of them you think, Come on! I wanted to say it like it is. Alex is brutally frank about everything from the indignities of pregnancy to childbirth (Obviously it feels horrific, but you have to see it as a means to an end) to postnatal sex. Shes especially honest about how overwhelming she found the first few weeks of motherhood, when the combination of sleep deprivation and the challenges of breastfeeding drove her to the verge of postnatal depression.

MY MORNING ROUTINE Charlie and I wake up when Ted does  normally around 7.30am. I dont need an alarm clock any more! Then we bring him into bed with us for 15 minutes play.

While Charlie is in the shower, I take Ted downstairs and make a smoothie with spinach, berries, nuts and chia seeds  I hate it but at least it means Ive had some goodness for the day.

After Charlie has left for work at about 8am, Ted and I play until our nanny Jess arrives. Or I try to do some exercise as Im training for The Mother of All Challenges, to raise money for Sport Relief. At around 11am a car collects me to take me to the studio. Follow Alex and her teams progresson The One Show all this week, 7pm, BBC One. To donate visit sportrelief.com Advertisement

I tried really hard to breastfeed, but I had no idea it would be so excruciatingly painful. Often Id be feeding with tears cascading down my cheeks, she says.

Exhausted and overwrought, her relationship with her husband, insurance broker Charlie Thomson, suffered. Charlie is a fantastic support and now I think our relationship is a lot stronger because of Ted, but we struggled to find a way to even like each other sometimes in those early days, she says.

Once I sat upstairs in our bedroom for about four hours trying to feed Ted, feeling so upset and isolated. Or there would be nights when I was waking to feed Ted every two hours; Charlie would be snoring beside me while I felt murderous. Its not your partners fault he cant breastfeed, but its tough.

By six weeks, breastfeeding was going smoothly; it took longer for her marriage to recalibrate. A flashpoint came when, after seven months, Alex asked Charlie if their relationship had changed.

He said, You dont want to have fun any more. I was totally crestfallen, she recalls. Again, before Ted, Id thought, Itll be fine; we wont change as a couple, but you cant help it: after a baby your energys depleted and you have double the responsibilities you had before. There are a lot of pressures.

As with so many women of her generation, the sharp shift from carefree TV star to (however temporary) stay-at-home mother came as a shock.

For 20 years Id gone out to work every day, so in those early weeks when the front door shut behind Charlie in his suit and I was left sitting on the sofa in my stained jogging bottoms, I was, like, Aagh! Now what? she smiles. You have to embrace a different pace and that takes a lot more adjusting to than I expected.

The sharp shift from carefree TV star to (however temporary) stay-at-home mother came as a shock to Alex. Dress, Alexandra Long. Rings, Dinny Hall

Alex became pregnant at 39  nine years older than the average first-time mum. Until she announced her pregnancy, she says, some people assumed she didnt want children, preferring to focus on work.

It was nothing to do with that. I just felt getting pregnant when I did was the right time for me, she says. But we have this very odd way of putting women into boxes:

Ooh, shes 36 with no kids, she must be career driven. Its absolute nonsense. Usually when a woman doesnt have children its because of circumstances out of her control.

Id thought, Itll be fine; we wont change as a couple, but you cant help it

In Alexs case, she split up with TV host Matt Johnson, her boyfriend of seven years, when she was 32. Shortly afterwards she landed her dream job presenting the BBCs much-loved The One Show every weekday evening and moved from Cardiff to London. She met Charlie the following year, but they waited five years before marrying, something she says they now regret.

But at the time we were both very relaxed about our fertility  it just wasnt really on our radar.

Only when Alex made a documentary, Fertility & Me, in 2016 did she learn that her mother had gone through the menopause at just 43. That was a huge wake-up call. Still, she refused to stop taking the pill until she was married.

I was becoming a bit paranoid that I was running out of time, but I wanted to do things in the right order  I didnt want to force anything, she says.

In hindsight I guess it could have gone terribly wrong, but if you push a big issue like having a baby it actually drives a big wedge between a couple before youve even started trying.

Immediately after her New Years Eve wedding in 2015, the baby interrogations began. Four minutes after the ceremony, Auntie Marian said, So are you going to start trying straight away?

Alex with husband Charlie

Alex is laughing, but such prurience annoyed her. People can be so presumptuous; wed have guests on the show asking if I was worried I was leaving it too late. Im sure they meant well, but sometimes people forget its not a given and there could be a big story of heartbreak going on behind the scenes.

In fact, Alex became pregnant within four months. We have been lucky and I know its not so easy for everybody, but I hope my story gives some peace of mind to older women who worry that they are going to have problems with their fertility.

Then, when Teddy was just weeks old, the questions began about when he could expect a sibling. People ask me all the time, she giggles. But again, its not a given.

In her book she implies that she and Charlie started trying when Teddy was ten months old. I dont think of it as trying  you just have sex, she says crisply. It would be amazing if Ted had a brother or sister but Im wise enough to know wed be very lucky for that to happen so soon.

The pressure to produce a sibling is one of the few downsides, along with a slightly slower recovery time after birth, that Alex can think of to being an older parent  a phrase she finds hard to come to terms with.

Times are changing  were living into our hundreds and people are looking after themselves so they can have children when theyre a bit older. There are more women over 35 having babies now than under 25. I was one of the youngest in my NCT group; its definitely going to become more prevalent.

'I hope my story gives some peace of mind to older women,' says Alex. Dress, Alexandra Long. Boots, Russell & Bromley. Rings, Dinny Hall

The upsides of having babies later are many, she says, not least of which is that she has more patience (my lack of it was a real failing in the past).

The downside, she thinks, is that 30- and 40-somethings often have more jam-packed lives than 20-somethings into which they need to fit a baby, not to mention greater financial commitments  in her and Charlies case, a large mortgage on a house theyd recently bought in Chiswick, West London.

It was partly to pay this that she returned to work so rapidly. People outside our bracket tend to be a little bit judgey: Oh, youre going back to work? she says, assuming a sly tone. Well, yes! I need to! Im a freelancer and we couldnt survive on one wage  we just couldnt.

Equally important was making sure her BBC bosses didnt forget her. I was worried Id lose my place on the sofa, because in television you cant take anything for granted. Id like to stay on The One Show as long as possible, but this is a fickle industry and in two years time I might be at home with Ted every day, so I have to make the most of it.

Ive always had a can-do attitude. When youre a mum you have twice as much to do

Still, the first couple of months back at work, followed by even more challenging nights with an unsettled baby, were horrific  I was completely deluded to go back so early. My bosses are incredibly supportive of parents and asked me if I was sure I wanted such a short maternity leave; that pressure came entirely from me.

On my first day back I felt like the new girl. I remember going through my wardrobe and thinking, Oh my God, nothing fits! But the familiarity was lovely. I take my hat off to women who are full-time mums because working is so much easier than being at home.

Despite this, Alex admits to frequently worrying that Teddy prefers her fantastic nanny Jess to her. Theres still this horrible dichotomy of I want Ted to be happy but I want him to miss me, she sighs. Its hard  you dont know what to do for the best.

During Alexs maternity leave, her co-presenter Matt Baker  himself a father of two  frequently visited her on his way to work. Having Ted has definitely brought Matt and me closer. Before, Matt was a family man while Charlie and I were still going to restaurants and bars; now we have the same pace to our lives, were on the same page.

Their friendship could have been tested when BBC salaries were published last year and it was revealed that Matt earns up to 50,000 a year more than Alex, whose wage is in the 400,000 to 449,000 bracket.

Alex with her One Show co-presenter Matt Baker

We didnt really have a conversation about it because we both find it quite embarrassing to discuss money. But Matts salary is based on a whole catalogue besides The One Show  Countryfile, One Man and His Dog, presenting gymnastics and documentaries. Its not comparing like for like so its not an issue for us, though obviously it is for other women.

After the grind of Teddys first six weeks, life quickly improved. Those early days are full-on, but it gets better sooner than you think, Alex says.

By the time her son was eight weeks old, she was ready to celebrate her 40th birthday. Id dreaded 30, but I didnt have time to dread 40. I felt in a really good place  everything had been put into perspective. When it came to all the little things that used to bother me, I thought, Oh well, who cares? Everybodys healthy, I have a career I love and Teds the icing on the cake. Though after nearly a year of not drinking I wasnt sure I was ready for a full glass of wine, let alone a night out.

Despite such misgivings, Alex hosted a raucous dinner for 35, falling asleep at 3.30am at the after-party in a hotel room. We went for it and Im glad, she grins. It was great to have time out, to feel life was back on track. Its as important to mark those personal milestones as it is the babys.

Now Teddy has recently celebrated his first birthday and Alex and Charlie are still adjusting to their new relationship. Raising a child has made us fall both in and out of love with each other over the past 18 months and has pushed us, sometimes grudgingly, to relearn how to love each other now that we are a family, she says. But having Ted has been the making of us.

That missing sense of fun is clearly returning. Of course there are times that are brutal, but you have to laugh about it, not count how little sleep youve had, Alex says doughtily.

The benefits of having Ted definitely outweigh the lack of sleep. You just have to say, Come on! You can do it!

Styling: Nisha Grewal. Hair: Fabio Nogueira at Frank Agency using Paul Mitchell. Make-up: Afton Radojicic at Stella Creative Artists. Producer: Ester Malloy

'I NEEDED SPACE'

An edited extract from Alexs new book

So, after another sleepless night of excruciating feeding, Mum suggested that I went off to have a shower while she held the fort. It was the best thing she could have said. I felt broken and exhausted and I needed some space just for me. I handed Teddy to Mum and locked the door of the bathroom.

The relief at being alone and free from a demanding newborn just for ten minutes was heaven. I ran the shower, the noise drowning out Teddys cries, and slumped down behind the door, lacking the energy to even pull off my pyjamas. That was the first time I gave in to the emotional rollercoaster that had been the last week and let fat, salty tears roll down my cheeks.

I felt overwhelmed, out of my depth and scared that this little human was going to be reliant on me for the rest of my, and his, life. There was no going back to my old life; this was it until he was 18 at best, and I couldnt see the wood for the trees.

Its hard to relive those memories now, and I cant believe how long ago it feels, but if I close my eyes I can vividly recall the feelings of despair and fear. At its worst, the self-doubt that consumed me lasted maybe three or four days, but as a 39-year-old woman who was used to being in control and on top of things, this was alien.

How could I be successful in many areas of my life yet be crap at the one thing that mattered the most? I couldnt even talk about it. I normally wear my heart on my sleeve, but I couldnt vocalise how disappointed I was at the way the first days of motherhood were panning out.

I assumed that these feelings would plague younger, less experienced girls, but making that generalisation was stupid and naive of me. Just because I had more miles on the clock didnt automatically mean that I would be a capable parent.

That is the thing with becoming a mother: whether you are still a teenager, a career woman in her 40s or the Duchess of Cambridge, its a leveller.

Winging It! Parenting in the Middle of Life! by Alex Jones will be published by Lagom on 5 April, price 14.99. To pre-order a copy for 11.99 (a saving of 20 per cent) until 19 march, visit you-bookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over 15.Mobile phone users who are being charged for receiving nuisance texts are fighting an uphill battle to get their money back. They are often forced to deal direct with the obscure companies behind the unwanted messages as their network provider  which profits from the texts  refuses to intervene.

The Mail on Sunday has shone a spotlight on rip-off premium rate texts in recent months  and received strong backing from MPs who are now demanding better consumer protection from the regulators.

A plethora of online companies  providing competitions, lottery updates, games and X-rated content  are involved in the scandal, sending frequent messages to subscribers as part of their service.

The Mail on Sunday has shone a spotlight on rip-off premium rate texts in recent months

They charge up to 4.50 per text via customers mobile phone bills. Yet many customers say they never subscribed and instantly deleted the messages believing they were spam. Small sums added to phone bills can go unnoticed but when paid over several months or even years, the money lost to nuisance texts is significant.

PASSING THE BUCK

Unhappy consumers say securing refunds is extremely difficult because no one is prepared to take responsibility for the problem.

Mobile phone networks often profit from premium rate texts but are inconsistent in how they treat complaints from customers.

Sometimes they refund, but often they deny responsibility and refuse. Instead customers are told to contact the company with which they supposedly had a contract.

This is despite customers arguing they did not consent to being charged and have never heard of the company sending the nuisance texts.

They hit another brick wall when then told by the third party they did sign up and perhaps did not read the accompanying terms and conditions.

The contract is supposedly established when a customer provides their phone number online and then enters a confirmation PIN delivered to their mobile. This then enables the company to start sending the annoying texts.

Yet a number of third parties have been fined by the regulator  the Phone-paid Services Authority  for failing to supply evidence that customers consented to receiving the texts. In the 12 months to April last year, the regulator found against 11 companies where consent to charge was an issue.

A number of investigations into other third parties are ongoing.

My fury at paying 370 for a service I didnt want  with no refund 'Annoyed': Paula Kelly was told to check her bills carefully Accountant Paula Kelly is annoyed and frustrated she cannot secure a refund from either her mobile provider or the company that sent costly and unwanted texts to her phone. The 53-year-old only discovered a long history of charges for premium rate texts when her mobile phone contract was suspended in July last year. When she complained to her mobile provider Virgin Media, she was told to contact WinTrivia, the company behind the texts. At this point, it emerged she had been paying for a competition service since Christmas Day 2015 at a weekly cost of 4.50. In total, she was charged around 370. Paula, a mum to 15-year-old Maria, says: This service is not something I would knowingly subscribe to. Upon receipt of the texts, which I considered a nuisance, I immediately deleted them. WinTrivia told her: Due to the service terms and conditions presented to all our consumers on our sites, we do not issue any refunds. It added that the service she joined is compliant with necessary regulations. Virgin Media told The Mail on Sunday: We are sorry to hear that Paula Kelly has been charged for services from a third-party she did not want. To prevent her from incurring further premium rate charges for other message subscriptions, we have blocked such services from her account. It added: We urge all customers to check their bills carefully. We also provide customers with advice about premium rate services on our website. We are happy to add a call-barring facility which prevents access to premium rate numbers to any customer who requests one.

INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE

The Hub Group was recently fined 150,000 by the regulator and ordered to refund customers for shortcomings in how it provided its Playzone games subscription service, which costs 4.50 a month.

The regulator received 37 complaints about the service with one complainant saying: I did not sign up to this service. This is an unsolicited text, charging me 4.50 for the privilege of receiving it. Another pointed out that although a charge for a premium shortcode text service showed on his bill, no number or other details were given.

The regulator says The Hub Group did not hold robust evidence of consent to charge for any customer signed to the service.

Previously, Intrugo was fined 250,000 for lacking the necessary evidence that customers had subscribed to its 3-a-week glamour video subscription service.

It operated under brand names Hot New Babes and Hot Mobi Babes and sparked 450 complaints to the regulator.

It was recently fined a further 175,000 for continuing to charge customers after its original reprimand and before establishing a proper process proving people had signed up.

Anyone who is being charged for texts they did not consent to receive should contact the Phone-paid Services Authority. It will act on complaints it receives and fine businesses that breach its code of practice.

Visit the website at psauthority.org.uk or call 0300 3030020.

'Stunned': Karen Thompson

REFUND GRANTED

Karen Thompson was charged by mobile provider EE for a subscription to a games service between August and November last year.

Unlike Paula Kelly, she managed to secure a refund  but only after much complaining.

The 70-year-old, who refuses to use social media, was stunned to discover she paid money for mobile games such as Paint the frog and Buggy off-road racing. One months charges amounted to around 20.

She says the experience of attempting to get a refund left her stressed and not in control of her own money.

Karen adds: I am angry this happened. I think it is high time mobile companies took responsibility. It is a disgraceful practice but they refuse to admit it is a problem.

EE insists she subscribed to the service but has credited her account with the charges she incurred as a gesture of goodwill.

It added: If customers find they are being charged for services they do not remember subscribing to, we recommend they contact the third-party service provider directly.

We recommend customers check their bill regularly and contact our customer services team immediately if they have any questions.Think horror, think Frankenstein and Dracula. But it is now time to add the Office for National Statistics to the genre. Its latest statistics on the countrys pension liabilities make for scary reading. If you are eating your porridge as you absorb my words, may I suggest you put the bowl to one side  in case you faint into it.

Between 2010 and 2015, the countrys pension commitments  pension rights already accrued but yet to be paid  rose from 6.6trillion to 7.6trillion. This total comprises a mix of pension promises made by the State, public sector and company pension schemes and private plans (personal pensions).

Of this gargantuan total, some 2.7trillion is backed by assets sitting in pension schemes. But 4.9trillion (64 per cent) is unfunded. In other words, this mile-high pile of pension promises will have to be met by hard-pressed taxpayers through everyday taxes.

Between 2010 and 2015, the countrys pension commitments rose from 6.6trln to 7.6trln

A big chunk (82 per cent) of the 4.9trillion comprises the right to a State Pension while the remainder relates to commitments accrued in unfunded public sector pensions  think teachers, nurses and civil servants.

Of course, such figures are dwarfed by the taxation that will need to be raised to allow the National Health Service to function without falling into perpetual crisis. Furthermore, if the economy grows strongly and tax revenues rise, then these unfunded pension commitments will become less of a burden.

Yet they are not going to go away. Indeed, with an ageing population and an uncertain economic future beyond the Brexit door, it could be argued they are going to swell and put an ever-increasing tax burden on tomorrows workers.

Steve Webb, director of policy at financial services provider Royal London, served as Pensions Minister under the Coalition Government. Although too diplomatic to describe the Offices pensions statistic as Hammer horror like, he does admit the numbers are mind-boggling.

This mile-high pile of pension promises will have to be met by hard pressed taxpayers

More importantly, he says they should trigger an urgent debate as to how the workers of tomorrow are going to pay for all these commitments. A further pushing back of the State Pension age? An end to unfunded public sector pension schemes? Or higher taxes?

Difficult questions that raise all kinds of uncomfortable inter-generational issues around fairness. Horror-like pension issues that most politicians would rather skirt than answer head on.

Horror story over. So back to the porridge.

Time For Change report proposes a radical simplification of the Isa regime

Personal finance journalists are sometimes accused of being more destructive than constructive, looking for the negative rather than the positive. Guilty Mlud.

Yet no one can accuse my colleague Laura Shannon of this. Since last autumn she has spent a lot of her spare time (when not looking after her young baby) helping frame a report into the future of the tax-friendly Individual Savings Account. Last week, it was published and yes it was greeted rather positively.

The report, published by the Association of Accounting Technicians, is titled Time For Change and proposes a radical simplification of the Isa regime. It argues powerfully for the current mishmash of Isas to be brought to an end. It says that the Lifetime Isa should be scrapped, a view shared by many experts who believe it is a misselling scandal in the making.

It also recommends the end of the Help To Buy Isa although it believes the Government should continue to offer tax-free bonuses for those saving towards a home  just not as part of the Isa regime.

Instead, everyone should have the right from birth to take out a single Everything Isa  inside which can be held the proverbial works: cash, shares, investment funds and interest bearing loans to small businesses (peer-to-peer loans).

The annual contribution limit would be capped at 20,000 (the same as the current Isa allowance) but with a lifetime limit of 1million. Unlike pensions, the lifetime cap would be applied to contributions, allowing any Isa pot to benefit from investment growth.

Time For Change is a welcome and thought-provoking report which the Government would be wise to act upon. Indeed if I were at the Treasury, I would now get the association, Shannon and the reports other contributors  a mix of politicians and financial experts  to come up with a similar report on pensions.

Compared to Isas, pensions complexity is approaching horror proportions.Peter Vicary-Smith is the chief executive of Which?

Peter Vicary-Smith is the chief executive of Which?

Politicians have been playing Punch and Judy over Brexit for the past 18 months  and its true that there is plenty to fight about. Yet for all the undoubted drama, some of the most important issues affecting our lives in this country have barely been discussed.

And by this I mean some of the key rights that protect us whenever we buy goods or services, or travel abroad.

This includes the EU rules that ensure imported food is safe, that give us access to vital healthcare for ourselves and our children in neighbouring countries, and which give us cheap phone calls abroad.

These are critical protections that must not disappear when we leave the European Union.

And unless we work to replace them, fast, our lives could be turned upside down  a potential disaster for the everyday British consumer.

Keeping our homes warm and the lights on could be affected by Brexit. Even airline travel would, for a while at least, become extremely difficult.

Thats why on Wednesday this week we will enter the debate with a Brexit charter  and call on the Government to embrace our blueprint for protecting our rights.

We want to work with Ministers and with businesses to stop important consumer rights from being diluted or, worse still, lost entirely if negotiations with the EU go badly wrong.

At a minimum we should fight to maintain what we currently have in place in these areas.

We cannot sweep these issues under the carpet and just expect things to work out

This is not to reach a judgment about a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit or any kind of Brexit. Just a plea that the interests of ordinary consumers get the priority they deserve.

In an ideal world, we will improve the situation of consumers.

But one of the most worrying things Which? research has shown, is that many people havent really considered any of these issues.

Our fear is that some of our politicians havent sufficiently considered them, either. And we cannot sweep these critical consumer issues under the carpet and just expect everything to work out.

However, all is not lost. The process of negotiating our exit from the EU brings with it both challenges and opportunities.

We have set out a plan that we believe can deliver a Brexit that puts consumers first and provides solutions to improve how our systems currently work.

The Government must act now and ensure that this moment is seized to secure a better deal for Britons as we leave the EU.To its opponents, the 7billion hostile bid for engineering firm GKN is nothing short of an outrage.

The bidders  four clever fellows who set up a company called Melrose  are presented as a bunch of corporate raiders out to snatch a great British business for their own benefit.

In the eyes of their critics, the men from Melrose are committing the worst corporate crime since Kraft of the US purloined our Creme Eggs when it took over Cadbury in 2010.

Trade unions and some politicians have lined up against the bid

Trade unions and some politicians including Andy Street, mayor of the West Midlands where GKN is based, have lined up against the bid.

There have even been calls for it to be stopped on the grounds of national security, because of GKNs defence work.

Playing the British card may have a Brexit-y emotional appeal, but it isnt very rational in this case. GKN is not a major defence contractor and Melrose is not a nasty foreign predator. Its listed here, was founded here by four British chaps who we should assume are as patriotic as the next person.

They live here too, and presumably dont want to sell sensitive technology to hostile nations any more than the rest of us do.

As for GKN, its American boss Anne Stevens proposes, as part of her defence, to sell off its Driveline division to a US buyer.

So backing the GKN side is hardly a way to save a great old company for the nation as its likely to be broken up and flogged abroad anyway.

There are white knights who could help fend off Melrose but, whatever happens, it doesnt seem likely GKN will survive in its current form.

That firms supporters in the press and in Parliament have done a far better job at defending the company than it has itself.

GKNs own efforts at presenting a case for remaining independent have been lacklustre and unconvincing.

The reality is that GKN had been a laggard for years and as such was a sitting duck for Melrose, whose raison detre is to identify and buy underperforming industrial firms, give them some tough love  then sell them at a profit.

Its important post-Brexit to promote British manufacturing, but that isnt synonymous with protecting historic firms for the sake of it. GKN is a good company, badly run, and Melrose might well give it a shot in the arm.

Melrose is not a slash and burn merchant. It invests in the companies it buys; its record on research and development is decent; and it has no history of pension fund abuse.

The weak point it does have is the extraordinary rewards it pays the top four, who could receive 285million between them if they make a success of taking over and turning round GKN. This is not the same situation as at housebuilder Persimmon, where the 100million-plus jackpot earmarked for its chief executive Jeff Fairburn was inflated by taxpayer subsidies via the Help To Buy scheme.

If the Melrose Four become captains of industry, their pay needs to be cut

Persimmon and Fairburn are now despised by their peers for bringing the entire housebuilding sector into disrepute.

At Melrose, its different  there are no public subsidies and the top four are entrepreneurs who set up their own company, not mere managers who lucked out.

Even so, a takeover of GKN takes them into a different realm.

It would take them from being plucky deal-makers to proper industrialists and as such put them on a more mature level of social responsibility where their pay scheme would need to be cut to a more reasonable size.

If the Melrose Four are to be captains of industry, they should be paid on a par with their peers in single-digit millions  which is still not bad.

Win or lose, though, they have probably done shareholders in GKN a favour by shaking a slumbering giant back to life.Tesco has been firmly off the buy lists of many for a long time.

Once a darling of investors and reliable dividend player, the past few years have seen shareholders endure an accounting scandal, an unsuccessful international expansion attempt, a very public row with Marmite-maker Unilever and a Christmas fiasco which saw the supermarket send shoppers rotten turkeys.

Its been a torrid few years for the retailer, which is also battling to stave off the increasingly popular discount rivals nipping at its heels. Tesco has managed to retain its dominant position, but its market share has slipped to around 28 per cent from 31 per cent a decade ago.

Trading trends: Tesco is back on analysts radars after its 3.7billion merger with cash and carry group Booker

As recently as December, some 43 per cent of analysts rated the stock a sell and shares are 212p  still less than half of their November 2007 peak of 492p.

But the retail giant is back on analysts radars after its 3.7billion merger with cash and carry group Booker finally went through last week.

Barclays was one of the first to set out its stall. It has reinstated an overweight rating on the stock, judging it better value than others, with a target price of 225p.

Analysts at the bank explained that, with the merger now complete, the market can focus on the merits of the two businesses and the opportunities for collaboration.

Tesco finally reinstated a dividend at the end of last year, to the delight of many. Its a sign that the firm feels confident enough about its cashflow to start giving some money back to shareholders.

The business, which has a market value of 20.8billion, gave a buoyant update at the start of the year. It saw some 58million customer transactions and 770,000 online grocery deliveries in the key Christmas week, with UK sales up 2.1 per cent in the 19 weeks to January 6. But sales were down by 11.1 per cent in Asia and up just 0.6 per cent in Central Europe.

Tesco clearly still faces a number of headwinds. Spending has slowed and consumers are feeling the squeeze  that much is clear from the string of high street casualties already this year  but groceries are one of lifes unavoidable expenses.

And, while customers might not really care about a supermarket cooking the books in the long-term, they do still care about quality products and low prices.

It means the discount retailers are likely to continue chipping away at the giants market share. Tesco is responding by making an effort to overhaul its value ranges and improve its margins, and it is continuing to cut costs.

The Booker deal is set to improve the firms access to restaurant chains and corner shops. Its a brave move for the company to start expanding into new areas again after years of selling businesses and streamlining its offering.

The two giants together are expected to record turnover of almost 60billion a year, with 200million a year in cost synergies expected to boost the bottom line. Such a gargantuan business will enjoy even greater buying power than Tesco alone boasted.

Midas verdict: Hold  analysts seem optimistic about the potential for this new behemoth and those who already hold shares are now being rewarded for their patience with a dividend. Anyone not already in may want to hold off until the dust settles on the Booker deal.Strategy: Dr Heather Fairhead pioneers bacteria-eating drugs

Two British billionaires are backing the race to beat antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Guy Hands, founder of private equity firm Terra Firma, and hedge fund boss David Harding, the head of Winton Capital, have invested in Phico Therapeutics.

The private firm, founded in 2000 by Dr Heather Fairhead, is raising 5million from new investors and its 185 shareholders. Backers have already ploughed in 22million over the past five years.

Phico is developing three drugs to target antibiotic-resistant bugs, including the MRSA superbug. It plans to build a manufacturing plant near Cambridge to make drugs for clinical trials.

Other investors include Austrian entrepreneur Hermann Hauser, who founded Acorn Computers and its spin-out ARM Holdings. Hauser is a big investor in Cambridges technology hub, known as the Silicon Fen.

Experts are increasingly concerned about bugs that cannot be eradicated by antibiotics. A 2016 Government review led by economist Lord ONeill warned that, without action, superbugs could kill more people every year than cancer by 2050.

Phicos products are based on bacteriophages  or bacteria eaters. These attack specific strains of bacteria. Unlike antibiotics, the drugs are effective even if the bacteria mutate.

Fairhead said: This would create a new paradigm in the way infections are treated.

Phico hopes to run trials on humans within two years.

Hands, who invested jointly with his wife Julia, called Phicos work critical to future generations. He said: There is a lack of funding for the UKs biotech companies as they endeavour to find solutions for a major global problem. We are proud to be involved in this vital work.Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn has come under fire from the chair of an influential parliamentary committee that is gearing up to interrogate him over his 100million bonus.

In a letter seen by The Mail on Sunday, Rachel Reeves  the Labour MP who chairs the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee  said the huge bonuses at housebuilding firm Persimmon were impossible to justify.

She was responding to Sir Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrat leader, who last month demanded an inquiry into the bonuses at Persimmon which he called the worst style of fat cattery.

Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn stands to make at least 75million

Chief executive Fairburn has declared that he will forgo about 25million worth of shares, but he still stands to make at least 75million.

Reeves wrote: Executive pay has been a concern of mine for some time and I agree that pay awards of the scale we have seen at Persimmon are impossible to justify and also undermine the reputation of British businesses in general.

She added: I would expect to take evidence from a selection of companies and the Financial Reporting Council.

Her comments come ahead of Persimmons shareholder meeting next month where investors are expected to vent their anger at Fairburns handling of the situation which has led to him becoming a whipping boy for fat-cat pay.

For weeks Fairburn refused to comment on his plans for the bonus, insisting it was a private matter despite the resignations of two directors including chairman Nicholas Wrigley.

However, amid criticism from shareholders, Fairburn bowed to pressure and said he would donate a substantial proportion of the total to charity.

He also eventually took a cut to the overall bonus, as did finance director Mike Killoran, who was also awarded a multi-million pound payout.

An industry source said Persimmon is likely to be issued with a red top warning by the Investment Associations corporate governance advisory service ahead of the shareholder vote. Red tops are seen in the City as a stern rebuke.

A spokesman for the IA said it did not send its reports on companies until their annual reports are released. Persimmons report is expected in the coming weeks.

The Housing Minister Dominic Raab is expected to raise the subject of Persimmon bonuses tomorrow when he gives evidence to the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee.

A spokesman for Persimmon declined to comment.Sir Ken Olisa has had a lot of firsts. He is the first British black man to set up his own merchant bank, the first to be a board director of a public company at Reuters, the first to have a library named after him at Cambridge University and the first black Lord Lieutenant of Greater London.

He was also the first black deputy chairman of the Institute of Directors, the august bosses club on Pall Mall in London, until he quit this weekend in defiant defence of its first female chair, Barbara Judge, against accusations including sexism and racism.

Sir Ken, 66, who is a veteran of several previous bitter rows, stood four-square behind Lady Judge.

Defender: Sir Ken Olisa blasted the accusers behind a useless report into his boss Lady Judge

If there is anybody on the planet who would have spotted Barbara for signs of racism it would have to be me. The answer to the question whether she is a racist is no, of course not. It is complete nonsense, it is such risible nonsense.

He puts the venom towards her down to bitterness at a woman who has broken the glass ceiling from reactionary elements within the IoD.

There is a culture of envy of successful women and Barbara is the quintessentially successful woman. It is totally extraordinary. It is a personal vendetta. People found every possible reason over a long period of time to disagree with her and to frustrate her. None of that worked because she is a pretty rugged woman so they cooked this stuff up.

Rather than blame Lady Judge, he says he is reeling from the discovery that Stephen Martin, the Director General of the IoD, secretly taped a conversation with her.

Anyone who goes into a meeting, intending covertly to record it, well lets put it this way we dont share values. It is just astonishing. I have no idea why he did it. Now Barbara is being judged by this useless report and in the court of public opinion without any facts. The executive summary is riddled with errors and illogical statements, it is a dreadful document. It should have been shown to the people mentioned in it so they can look at it and matters of fact can be corrected.

If there is anybody on the planet who would have spotted Barbara for racism it would be me

The grandiose surroundings of the IoD are a far cry from Sir Kens start in life. His achievements, remarkable under any circumstances, are the more so because he was brought up by a single mother, by coincidence also called Barbara, in poverty. Mother and son lived in a rundown part of Nottingham in a house with an outside toilet and a bathtub that hung on a hook on the outside wall.

I had friends who had an inside loo and I was quite impressed, he says. I was brought up in pretty miserable circumstances, though I didnt know it at the time because I had nothing to compare it with, he says. His father was a Nigerian law student who married Barbara but abandoned his family after his son was born.

He overcame a difficult start in life and got to Cambridge, where he read natural sciences at Fitzwilliam College, never dreaming that one day, he would be rich enough to make a 2million donation and have a library named after him.

His mum died a few years ago aged 99. Poignantly, he recalls that she loved the opera Madame Butterfly, the story of a woman deserted by her lover who invests all her hopes in their young son.

Sir Ken, who was knighted this year, sprang into the public eye in 2011 in another vicious row, when he was ousted from the board of FTSE 100 mining group ENRC, which became the subject of a long-running investigation by the Serious Fraud Office. The company, though listed in London, was controlled by three Kazakh oligarchs and Sir Ken memorably described his unseating as more Soviet than City.

The IoD headquarters in London

He says: When the whole thing blew up it was horrible. I have had quite a few bad experiences in my life and this was one of the worst. I am hugely positive about the whole experience now but at the time it was awful. When your reputation is under threat, there is nothing worse, other than being diagnosed with an illness or something.

The latter is a comment he does not make lightly, having been treated a few years ago for kidney cancer, which fortunately was caught early. But the oligarchs did not behave as badly as his opponents at the IoD, he says. This is behaviour that I have never experienced in 40-plus years in business  even the double-dealers on the board of Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation behaved better. Put simply, we find ourselves caught in the middle of a train wreck.

Sir Ken has never been afraid of saying what he thinks. In 2012, he quit the board of the parliamentary expenses watchdog Ipsa.

Anyone who goes into a meeting intending covertly to record it... well, we dont share values

In a blistering letter to Speaker John Bercow, he accused MPs of displaying gratuitous hostility to him and his colleagues. He also objected to the proposed inclusion of a former MP to the panel overseeing appointments to the watchdog, likening it to asking disgraced bankers such as Fred Goodwin to help pick the next governor of the Bank of England.

Sir Ken began his career at IBM in the 1970s and now runs Restoration Partners, the small merchant bank he founded, specialising in backing IT firms.

A Christian, he believes that the world divides into Sadists v Philanthropists. My mission is to make sure the philanthropists outwit and outnumber the sadists, he says.

He is known in the City for his fondness for bow ties, which he has collected since the 1980s. I do have a hundred, but I am not the Imelda Marcos of the bow tie, no, no.

In a scathing resignation letter, Sir Ken wrote: Instead of showcasing good governance, we have found ourselves in a surreal world of flawed processes, flagrant disregard for the principles of natural justice and a roughshod journey over the laws of the Institute.

Senior leaders covertly recording private conversations, systemically disregarding due process and leaking confidential material to the press have combined to make the IoD a laughing stock in the court of public opinion.

He fears the row will have disastrous consequences for the IoD. The organisation is haemorrhaging cash, losing members and making little headway in providing practical solutions to help British directors to navigate Brexit, he says. The whole thing is dreadful.The boss of Which? has launched a stark warning that a catalogue of consumer rights we take for granted could be under threat from Brexit.

Peter Vicary-Smith accused MPs of neglecting consumers in the Brexit negotiations and urged them to act now to avoid a disaster for the everyday British consumer.

Politicians have until next March to nail down a complex web of legal protections that cover food, energy supply and overseas travel.

Risks: Safety of products could be jeopardised by officials higher workloads

The Governments paper on Brexit last year raised the issue of consumer protection. It said watchdogs should continue to have access to information about unsafe products, including medicines and food, after Brexit.

But Vicary-Smith warns that negotiations so far have focused on trade and movement of people and workers. Every day we are protected by laws which, for the most part, go unnoticed, said Vicary-Smith.

We want to work with Minsters and with businesses to stop important consumer rights from being diluted or, worse still, lost entirely if negotiations with the EU go badly wrong. At a minimum we should fight to maintain what we currently have in place, he said.

Concerns raised include:

Food safety standards under threat once Britain leaves the EU.

Energy costs rising without the security of supply from other EU countries.

A no-Brexit deal grounding flights.

Product safety jeopardised as Trading Standards and competition authorities face higher workloads.

Phone calls abroad getting more expensive as roaming charges are reintroduced.

Britons may no longer have have cheap and easy access to healthcare abroad.

There has been a growing clamour from industry bosses raising concerns that Brexit could blow a hole in Britains legislative framework.

Ryanair boss Michael OLeary has repeatedly claimed that flights to and from the EU are likely to be grounded in April 2019 if there is no firm Brexit deal

Ryanair boss Michael OLeary has repeatedly claimed, for example, that flights to and from the EU are likely to be grounded in April 2019 if there is no firm Brexit deal.

Last month the European Regions Airline Association warned there had been no visible developments in negotiations. In December, the House of Lords asked for more clarity on how the Government will ensure consumer rights will be protected and enforced.

Other groups have made a string of warnings over potential price rises for consumers.

Sainsburys chief executive Mike Coupe said earlier this month: The impact of closing the borders for a few days to the free movement of food would result in a food crisis the likes of which we havent seen.

Others warned of a fall in quality of goods and services should labour shortages rise and that some products may not be available at all unless customs rules and agreement on the Irish border are in place in March.

It has been speculated that supply of key drugs might reduce unless we remain part of the European Medicines Agency.In an interview, the Canadian official spoke highly of the leadership of Vietnams Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade during the process.



Canada wishes to consolidate the relationship with Vietnam, he noted, adding that with CPTPP, the two nations can increase their trade exchange, particularly between small- and medium-sized enterprises of the two nations.



Canada and Vietnam will collaborate to ensure that the agreement will be effective and benefit people in line with commitments stated in the deal, the minister said, adding that he hopes the two countries will start with cutting tariffs to facilitate trade exchange.



He expressed his delight when Canada, together with Vietnam and other member nations, will establish regulations on trading in Asia-Pacific region in a fair, progressive and open manner, thus facilitating win-win, fair and balanced trade exchange.



Explaining the deals concepts of comprehensive and progressive initiated by Canada, the minister said the CPTPP aims to benefit not only big companies but also the people, adding that anyone can trade with new markets.



According to the Canadian minister, the CPTPP will benefit Vietnamese and Canadian people alike. The world will consider it a model for progressive and inclusive trade, he said.



The official signing of CPTPP took place in Santiago de Chile on March 8 (local time), with the participation of representatives from 11 member countries, namely Chile, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Malaysia, Mexico, Japan, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam.



The pact will come into force 60 days after it is fully ratified by at least six of the 11 members.The former chairman of Carillion has been lambasted for a ransom note that threatened insolvency if the company did not get its hands on 10million of public money within two days.

The firm was demanding a total bailout of 160million, and said it needed 10million of that instantly.

MPs investigating the collapse have bridled at the letter sent to Ministers by the outsourcing groups ex-chairman Philip Green within hours of handing a bumper payout to its highly remunerated City advisers.

'Cheek': MP Frank Field slammed the demand for cash from taxpayers

It emerged last night that Carillion bosses shelled out 6.4million to accountants and lawyers the day before the 10million bailout demand. The sums handed out are twice as much as previously thought.

Work and Pensions Committee chairman Frank Field MP said: With the company teetering on the abyss, Mr Green had the cheek to try to get the Government to surrender another 160 million of taxpayers money.

Field criticised the restructuring gravy train which included half the law firms in the City of London. He said the payments to advisers the Friday before the collapse were the most troubling element.

Rachel Reeves, chairman of the business Select Committee said Greens demand letter lays bare the cynical leadership at the firm which sought to ensure that the costs of failure would be picked up by the taxpayer.

Carillions board has been heavily criticised for failing to heed warnings of mounting financial difficulties. That included alarm bells raised by finance chief Emma Mercer who alerted them to accounting irregularities last May.

Carillion's ex-chairman Philip Green

According to the Official Receiver, the bill for advisers included 2.5million to accountants EY, 1.2million to legal firm Slaughter & May and 1.1million to consultants FTI.

Other advisers included accountancy firms KPMG and PwC. There were also a procession of lawyers including Clifford Chance, Sackers, Willkie Farr and Gallagher, Mills & Reeve and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.

Financiers from Lazard were also on the payroll.

Greens letter, sent to Ministers on January 13 laid out comprehensive demands for the 160million taxpayer bailout and said the Board had concluded that so long as key stakeholders including HM Government provided funding it is appropriate to continue.

But it added: However, if support from any source is withdrawn, then that analysis will likely change, and the Board may well conclude that there is no longer a reasonable prospect of avoiding insolvent liquidation.The production company behind 'The Wolf of Wall Street' has agreed to pay the U.S. government $60 million to settle claims it benefited from a massive Malaysian corruption scandal.

The settlement between prosecutors and Red Granite Pictures Inc. was approved Thursday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

The case was part of an effort to recover more than $1 billion prosecutors said was stolen from 1MDB, a Malaysian-owned investment fund.

The funds financed the Martin Scorsese-directed 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' which starred Leonardo DiCaprio

Proceeds also went to fund movies by Red Granite Pictures, which was co-founded by the stepson of Razak

The Department of Justice said the complex money laundering scheme was intended to enrich top-level officials of the fund, including some close to Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak.

The funds financed the Martin Scorsese (Pictured) -directed 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' which starred Leonardo DiCaprio

Money was diverted from the fund to buy properties in New York and California, a $35 million jet, art by Vincent Van Gogh and Claude Monet, and a $260 million yacht.

Proceeds also went to fund movies by Red Granite Pictures, which was co-founded by the stepson of Razak.

The funds financed the Martin Scorsese-directed 'The Wolf of Wall Street,' which starred Leonardo DiCaprio in a film about the excesses of a crooked stock trader.

The settlement also included forfeiture claims to the rights of 'Dumb and Dumber To' and 'Daddy's Home.'

The film production company said in a statement that it was happy to put the matter behind it so it could focus on filmmaking.

The 1MDB case is the largest single action the Justice Department has taken under efforts to recover foreign bribery proceeds and embezzled funds and several other lawsuits are pending.

Other countries including Singapore and Switzerland are conducting probes.

Associates of Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak (pictured) are said to be some of the benefactors of the stolen investment fund moneyDr Jennifer Gonzales, 29, above, was seven months pregnant when she, along with two other women, were shot at the Veterans Home of California, Yountville on Friday

Three women - including one who was pregnant - were murdered by a decorated former serviceman at a California veterans' home, where he was reportedly removed from a PTSD program earlier this week.

Albert Wong, 36, killed Dr Jennifer Gonzales, 29, who was seven months pregnant, on Friday.

He also killed Christine Loeber, 48, who was Executive Director of the veteran center, and Dr Jen Golick, 42 who was a therapist at The Pathway Home.

The veteran home was on lockdown for more than 10 hours when Wong took the three female employees as hostage, before opening fire then turning the gun on himself.

Saturday locals have laid flowers down at the Pathway Home, a privately run program at the Veterans Home of California, Yountville in Napa in memory of the lives lost Friday.

Executive Director Christine Loeber, 48, (left) and Dr Jen Golick, 42, (right) were also killed in the shooting. All three women worked at The Pathway Home

Gonzales, above at her wedding last year, was pregnant with a son that would be named TJ at the time of her death. Her friends say she got married just last year and was to celebrate her anniversary this weekend

Albert Wong, 36, (circled right) had been receiving treatment at The Pathway Home in California before being asked to leave its PTSD program. On Friday he raided a going-away party held at the home, where he shot the women including executive director Christine Loeber, 48, (circled left) before turning the gun on himself

Albert Wong, 36, (pictured) has been identified as the suspect who stormed the largest veterans home in the US and shooting dead three women before killing himself on Friday

Gonzales was a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

She was seven months pregnant, expecting a son to be named TJ.

She had gotten married one year ago and was planning to fly to Washington DC this weekend to celebrate the anniversary, according to family friend Vasiti Ritova.

'Every aspect of Jenns life was dedicated to others and her caring and kind spirit was evident to everyone she met. Jenn leaves behind her best friend, husband, and father of her unborn child, TJ,' a GoFundMe page for Gonzales said.

Ritova, whose niece cares for Gonzales' grandmother, says she would visit her grandmother every weekend, sing to her and give her baths.

Marjorie Morrison, the founder of a nonprofit organization known as PsychArmor, says Gonzales was 'brilliant' and did amazing work with veterans with PTSD.

Saturday morning mourners paid tribute at The Veterans Home of California, where the shooting took place, where they offered flowers in wake of Friday's deadly shooting

Resident Tom Parkinson placed flowers on a sign at the Veterans Home of California, the morning after the hostage situation in Yountville, California at The Pathway Home

The Veterans Home building a day after the shooting is still taped off by authorities after they found the four bodies in wake of the shooting

Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa, center, embraces his 22-year-old sister Vanessa Flores, right, at the Veterans Home of California on Friday. She is a caregiver at the facility and exchanged texts with family while sheltering in place when Wong took over the building

A day after the shooting, damage to the building can be seen in the broken windows (above) after the day-long siege

All three of the women worked at The Pathway Home, a private veteran's home in California, Yountville in Napa, where Wong was a former member.

Just earlier this week victim Jen Golick had reportedly asked Wong to leave the program, according to her father-in-law Bob Golick.

The reason for the expulsion is not clear.

Police said that more than 30 shots were fired at officials and the facility was in lockdown for nearly 10 hours.

Won's former legal guardian Cissy Sherr described him as 'calm and soft-spoken' and revealed that he had a difficult time readjusting after his deployment in Afghanistan in 2013, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

She and her husband were legal guardians of Wong for a time when he was a child, in the wake of Wong's father's death after which his mother developed health problems.

He moved back into Sherr's home for a month after returning from deployment in 2013 but had a hard time readjusting and couldn't sleep at night.

He wanted to go back to school to study computers and business. He thought the Pathway Home program would help him.

President Trump acknowledged the tragedy on Twitter on Saturday morning

Officials said all three women were employees of The Pathway Home, a privately run program, at the Veterans Home. Wong, of Sacramento, was a former member of the Pathway Home Program

Gunfire was first reported at 10.20 am after the 36-year-old man stormed a going away party being held at the Yountville Veterans Home in Napa, California

It is a tragic ending to a day-long standoff with police that saw more than 30 shots fired at officials and a nearly eight-hour lockdown at the facility

Authorities said the gunman was armed and wearing a bulletproof vest when he slipped into the facility, which is the largest veterans home in the US

Yountville Mayor John Dunbar said that the employees will be remembered as beautiful people, calling the gunman 'one of our heroes who clearly had demons' and lamenting the Pathway Home shooting as a 'terrible tragedy'.

He said the three women killed 'lived their lives selflessly to serve others' and that the home will continue to operate.

Locals hail Christine Loeber who was the executive director of the Pathway home - a treatment program for Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans - as an intelligent, delightful, outgoing and charming person.

They said she deeply cared for people suffering from PTSD.

Veteran Muriel Zimmer, 84, was on the scene of the Pathway Home today and said she sympathized Wong. She said she 'cannot blame him. It's because of the war.'

At 6am on Saturday President Donald Trump tweeted that he is 'deeply saddened' by the shooting and mourns 'the loss of three incredible women who cared for our Veterans.'

Investigators are yet to determine a motive.

Wong raided the Pathway Home while employees inside were throwing a going-away party for some employees. He took the women hostage and let the others go.

The hold-up took about 10 hours before he killed the three women.

Wong, who was wearing a bullet proof vest, then killed himself.Kathy Griffin is back in the spotlight, more than nine months after she provoked outrage for a photo in which she held a fake severed head appearing to depict President Donald Trump.

The 57-year-old comedian made an appearance on HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday - her first major one since she went into self-imposed exile.

She said that after a 23-country international tour she's ready to perform in the U.S. again, and will do so 'right in Trump's backyard' in D.C as well as in New York.

She's back: Kathy Griffin says she'll be appearing in upcoming shows in New York and Washington - 'right in Trump's backyard,' as she told Bill Maher on Friday

The announcement comes after she provoked outrage for a photo in which she held a fake severed head appearing to depict President Donald Trump

'I'm going to do a show at Carnegie Hall in New York,' she told Maher.

'And I'm going to go right into Trump's backyard and do a show at the Kennedy Center.'

According to Griffin's website, she will also perform in San Francisco, Seattle and Boston in June.

She said she is dipping her toes into touring, even though 'the Trumps and nobody' wants her to work again.

Griffin initially apologized for the photo last spring, but later said she was no longer sorry. The photo got her fired from CNN's New Year's Eve show, which she had co-hosted alongside Anderson Cooper with 10 years.

Her close relationship with the CNN anchor, who called the photo 'disgusting and completely inappropriate', was also a casualty of the scandal.

The comedian said =she is dipping her toes into touring, even though 'the Trumps and nobody' wants her to work again. She's pictured last June during a press conference where she discussed the scandal

'Thank you for being one of the first and only people to publicly support me and say what happened is bullshit, publicly,' Griffin told HBO host Bill Maher

The Secret Service even begun an investigation into the comedian and interviewed her. She said she was also put on the Interpol list and stopped at airports over the photo.

'I did an overseas tour, and I was detained at every single airport,' she told Maher.

'There's like whispering, and they put me in a detention room and you don't know how long it's going to take.

'There were times they took my devices. They can do that.'

Despite the announcement of upcoming shows, Griffin said she's still facing skepticism from major networks and streaming services. However, she assured Maher that they will all love me again the minute I do something that makes money,'

Not a Trump fan: Griffin initially apologized for the photo last spring, but later said she was no longer sorry. She's since continued to be vocal against president Trump

She also thanked the HBO host for his support.

'Thank you for being one of the first and only people to publicly support me and say what happened is bullshit, publicly,' she said.

Maher replied that everyone goes 'bat s*** nuts about everything' in today's political climate.

'You took a very bad selfie,' Maher said. 'I blame the photographer it turned out to be very wacky.'

Asked if she would take the infamous Trump photo again, she replied: 'I'd do Mike Pence.

'No, I'm kidding!'A major flood warning remains in place for parts of north Queensland, where about 70 young school students are trapped by floodwaters.

The Willows State School students and staff remain stranded at a camp near Tully in north Queensland and are expected to be airlifted by military helicopters on Sunday afternoon.

Weather forecasters warned there was a very small window for the evacuation before heavy rain prevented the rescue mission from going ahead.

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The Willows State School students pass the time with 'team building' activities as they wait to be helicoptered from the area

The primary students were on school camp at the Echo Creek adventure park near Tully when more than 700mm of rain fell in just four days.

Three children with gastro were emergency airlifted to Cairns on Saturday, but authorities decided it was safer to leave the remaining students where they were.

The Department of Education said the children could be stranded at the park until late next week if weather prevented Sunday's rescue.

'Current weather advice indicates that if the airlift does not occur (on Sunday), there may not be another opportunity to evacuate the group until later next week,' the department said in a statement.

The region between Cairns and Townsville has been declared a 'disaster' by the state government and a 'catastrophe' by the Insurance Council of Australia.

More than 700mm of rain fell in a number of catchment areas in four days, with The Boulders, south of Cairns, receiving 1009mm in the seven days leading up to 9am on Saturday.

A major flood warning remains in place for the Murray River, at Murray Flats in the state's far north.

Children from The Willows State School in Townsville remain in high spirits despite being cut off by flood waters in North Queensland

The Bruce Highway between Townsville and Ingham has been inundated with flood water, trapping residents

It comes just a day after the state's north was declared a 'disaster' by the government and a 'catastrophe' by the Insurance Council of Australia

More than 200 homes were inundated at Ingham, where flood waters started to recede on Saturday, and some residents at Innisfail were forced to evacuate.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will fly to the state's north on Sunday to assess the damage caused by four days of torrential rain and flooding.

Ms Palaszczuk said the full extent of the damage caused by the rain would not be known for weeks, but the flooding would have a detrimental impact on banana and sugar cane crops, and the aquaculture industry.

'We will get the full assessments over the next few weeks about the impact on the economy and I think everyone should spare a thought for the farmers who are going to feel a huge impact,' she told reporters on Saturday.

This map shows rainfall predictions for Queensland, with parts of the state's north getting more than 800mm

Severe storm activity in the gulf and Coral Sea region could develop into a more offensive front, the Bureau of Meteorology reported on Saturday

Even if an extreme weather system doesn't develop, Mr Morton said, the area could still face a further soaking

Rain and flood waters started to ease on Saturday, but the Bureau of Meteorology has warned more may be on the way later next week, with a potential cyclone loitering in northern waters.

Severe storm activity in the gulf and Coral Sea region could develop into a more offensive front, the Bureau of Meteorology reported on Saturday.

'Certainly with that kind of activity and the time of year, there's certainly a possibility that one or both of those areas... could develop into a tropical cyclone,' meteorologist Julian De Morton told Nine News.

'At this point it's a low risk of a cyclone forming but we will be closely monitoring the situation,' BoM confirmed to Daily Mail Australian on Saturday night

Even if an extreme weather system doesn't develop, Mr Morton said the area could still face a further soaking.

'At this point it's a low risk of a cyclone forming but we will be closely monitoring the situation,' BoM confirmed to Daily Mail Australian on Saturday night.

Previously there was little worry about a cyclone forming near the ravaged site.

The Bureau confirmed the tropical cyclone currently in the Coral Sea was not likely to have any effect on Queensland, and that chances are low of a cyclone forming off of the low pressure system in the Gulf of Carpentaria.

'(Tropical Cyclone Hola) is expected to take a more southerly track during the day and track back to the south-east at the moment,' BoM forecaster Sam Campbell said on Friday

'(Tropical Cyclone Hola) is expected to take a more southerly track during the day and track back to the south-east at the moment and it's not expected to have any impact on the Queensland coast,' BoM forecaster Sam Campbell said on Friday.

It comes just a day after the state's north was declared a 'disaster' by the government and a 'catastrophe' by the Insurance Council of Australia.

ICA CEO Rob Whelan said by labelling the natural disaster as a 'catastrophe' insurers were now able to prioritise claims from people affected by floods and storm-related damage.

More than 200 homes in Ingham have been badly affected by the storm and a number of community members in nearby Innisfail told to evacuate.

ICA CEO Rob Whelan said by labelling the natural disaster as a 'catastrophe' insurers were now able to prioritise claims from people affected by floods and storm-related damage

More than 200 homes in Ingham have been badly affected by the storm and a number of community members in nearby Innisfail told to evacuate

Up to their knees! The rain is beginning to ease in the regionThe MI6 officer who recruited poisoned spy Sergei Skripal also had close links to two other exiled Russians who died suspiciously in Britain after criticising Vladimir Putin.

It was a senior figure in the Secret Intelligence Services, posing as a businessman, who convinced the Russian colonel to become a double agent and start selling military secrets to the UK.

Today, it can be revealed that the same MI6 handler was also involved in operations with Boris Berezovsky and Alexander Litvinenko. It will add weight to claims Skripal ended up on a Kremlin hitlist.

Former KGB officer Litvinenko was given political asylum in Britain after criticising Putin, but in 2006 he was murdered with radioactive poison in a London hotel in what police believe was an assassination carried out by the Russian state. His friend, the tycoon Berezovsky, survived two apparent attempts on his life before being found hanged at his Surrey mansion in 2013, with the coroner recording an open verdict.

Elite: Skripal in the late 1970s, was an officer in an airborne army unit

The link between the pair and Skripal emerged in a confession made by yet another Russian double agent who was recruited by the same MI6 officer.

When he confessed in 2007 that he had spent several years spying for Britain, former tax police officer Vyacheslav Zharko identified Skripals MI6 handler as the man who recruited him.

But although Zharko named him, The Mail on Sunday has chosen to protect his identity.

Zharko said in an interview: This is a long story [of recruitment] and Berezovsky along with the late Litvinenko played the lead roles in it. They introduced me to British Secret Intelligence Service agents.

The Mail on Sunday has pieced together the most detailed account yet of how Skripal was recruited to be a spy  with the codename Forthwith. It even included him being taken to a seedy strip club in Spain.

According to secret intelligence files seen by this newspaper, it started when he became jealous of former colleagues who were richer than he was. The picture painted of Skripal by his enemies is of a greedy and corrupt military officer who betrayed his country for money  a type known in Russia as a werewolf in epaulettes.

Born in 1951, he had joined an elite Soviet Union airborne unit and fought in Afghanistan before becoming a colonel in the GRU, Russias military intelligence agency. Skripal also went on spying missions in Europe, however, and it was during one such trip in around 1994 that he encountered a young military pilot known as Luis.

In the murky world of international espionage, it is not clear who was trying to recruit whom. But somehow the pair ended up starting a small business shipping barrels of wine to Russia.

The Mail on Sunday tracked down Luis to his home in Spain last week and he admitted meeting hundreds of Russians but said: These are very sensitive issues so I cant talk about it.

Boris Berezovsky's mysterious death: Exiled Russian oligarch Boris Berezovsky - seen here with girlfriend Yelena Gorbunova in 2011 - claimed political asylum in Britain as a leading opponent of Putin. His death by hanging in 2013 raised suspicion among Kremlin watchers, with the coroner returning an open verdict at his inquest

The pair turned a small profit, prompting Luis to suggest his new business partner meet a Spanish entrepreneur who could help them expand. But he was, in fact, the same senior MI6 officer, working undercover at a British embassy, who was connected to Berezovsky and Litvinenko.

A major operation began to turn Skripal, including the trip to the strip club in Spain where he was handed an untraceable mobile phone and several thousand dollars in cash.

The MI6 handler had got a woman ready to have fun with him  and were allegedly taking photographs to gain blackmail material over his agent  but married Skripal was horrified.

The SIS officer, still pretending to be a Spanish businessman, soon gave him another $10,000 as a Christmas present and told him he had opened a bank account to guarantee his anonymity.

By 1996, according to the Russian intelligence file, Skripal was a fully-fledged MI6 double agent. In return for $3,000 paid into his bank account each month, Skripal gave the British everything he could  including the GRU telephone directory.

Skripal retired from his post in 1999 after developing diabetes, but even though he got another job in the foreign ministry, he found himself short of money and began spying again.

However, he was then exposed by a Spanish mole who was spying for the Russians. In 2006, the FSB announced Colonel Skripal had admitted high treason in the form of espionage at the Moscow District Military Court.

He was sentenced to 13 years in prison, but was freed in 2010 as part of the Cold War spy swap in Vienna that saw glamorous Russian secret agent Anna Chapman pass the other way.

Alexander Litvinenko's radioactive poisoning: This was the haunting deathbed picture of defector and former FSB officer Alexander Litvinenko after he had been fatally poisoned with radioactive polonium in London in 2006. The subsquent investigation implicated Vladimir Putin

PS: Police 'station' at epicentre of the inquiry is... CLOSED! The police response to the drama has been hampered by there being no dedicated police station in Salisbury. Officers and the crime tsar share a building with the council  and, as the sign above shows, it is only open during office hours and Saturday mornings. Advertisement

PPS: The rabbits are safe! Two pet rabbits stranded inside the police cordon were saved yesterday after Wiltshire Police let in a delivery of food and water. The force tweeted: 'They're OK. Thanks for everyone's concern Advertisement

We need more than just 180 troops to fight toxic terror

By Hamish De Bretton Gordon

The assassination attempt on former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal has completely blindsided us here in the UK and is a game-changer in terms of assessing the direct threat to Britain from chemical weapons.

We could not and did not anticipate such an attack.

Be in no doubt, from now on it must be included in our military planning.

Rather alarmingly, the specialist military personnel now deployed in Salisbury represent almost the totality of our Armed Forces capability in this key area  the 180 troops and their vehicles are basically it when it comes to the UK military responding to a chemical weapons attack.

They have descended on Wiltshire following an attack carried out using, by my estimation, at most an egg cup full of a nerve agent. If a chemical attack on the much larger scale seen in Syria and Iraq was carried out here, we would struggle to respond to it and the death toll could be very significant indeed.

While in the British Army, I commanded the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Regiment. This unit was disbanded as a cost-cutting measure in 2012 because the threat to UK security from this sort of attack was considered to be so low.

I trust that following the incident in Salisbury, the MoD is now reviewing its capability in this area because it plainly needs to be improved.

Whoever carried out this attack used a very persistent nerve agent. While a substance such as sarin only lasts minutes, this substance remains highly toxic almost a week after Skripal and his daughter fell ill.

It may prove to have been a novichok, a nerve agent developed by the Soviet Union in the 1980s. In accordance with international agreements, the Russians later destroyed all their declared stocks of nerve agents.It was a scene out of a horror movie.

A 20-year-old woman gouged out her eyes with her hands outside of a church in South Carolina in what she believed was a necessary sacrifice to God.

Kaylee Muthart was left completely blind by the meth-induced psychotic trip that compelled her to rip out her eyes and warped her perception of religion.

Today Muthart is drug free and learning to traverse the world without sight, and says 'life's more beautiful now'.

The horrific accident took place on February 6 in Anderson, South Carolina, just days before she was to attend a rehabilitation facility for previous abuses with meth.

Kaylee Muthart, 20, (above) pulled out her eyes on February 6 in a meth-induced psychotic trip outside of a church in her hometown Anderson, South Carolina

The horrific meth trip left her permanently blind and in the hospital and psychiatric facility for nearly a month. She returned home to her mother on March 1

She says despite learning to traverse her world without sight she says: 'Id rather be blind and be myself than be Kaylee on drugs, and I truly mean that with my heart'

She was found gouging out her eyes outside of a church early in the morning, where passerby tried to stop her from her wild act of self harm, but she fought them off. It took a team of deputies to hold her down.

From there she was transported to the trauma unit at Greenville Memorial Hospital.

It was there doctors reported to her mother, Katy Tompkins, that Muthart was blind.

'That was a struggle. I cant even explain that feeling when I found out. It was horrifying. Complete terror,' Tompkins, who is raising money to get her daughter a service dog, said to PEOPLE.

'Its a horrible thing, but Im still thankful because God spared her life,' she added.

Reflecting upon the terror, she said the meth trip led her into a state of delirium that warped her perception of religion.

She said she thought the dead were stuck in their graves and required a sacrifice from her - her eyes - in order to release them to God.

'I thought everyone who had died was stuck in their graves, that God was up in Heaven alone, and that I had to sacrifice something important to be able to release everyone in the world to God,' Kaylee said to PEOPLE.

'It made the world darker, and took everything I believed in and distorted them to make me go down the path to pulling out my eyes,' she added.

'It was scary, I didnt understand what God wanted of me, but it made me feel a sense of righteousness that I had to be the one to do it. And I was glad to do it because Ive always had a big heart and nobodys ever giving me that love back,' she said.

She said she felt like she was running out of time to 'save the world' and was madly searching for an acquaintance. Feeling short on time, she twisted out her eyes for the sacrifice.

'I proceeded to pull out my eyes with my bare hands and twisted them, and pulled them, and popped them. I told the pastor who showed up, "Pray for me, I want to see the light, pray for me."'

Muthart had an extended stay at the hospital and a psychiatric facility after the traumatic incident. She returned home on March 1. Doctors believe the meth may have been laced with another chemical.

'Its the same life, but Im just learning everything in a new way,' she said.

'Lifes more beautiful now, lifes more beautiful than it was being on drugs. It is a horrible world to live in,' she added.

'Ill forget Im blind sometimes because I know whats around me. Not down to a tee, but I know what my moms house looks like,' she said learning to adapt to her new sensory abilities.

'You still see, but you dont see with your eyes, its hard to explain because I dont even understand it myself,' she said.

Doctored believe that the meth that Muthart, above, took may have been laced with another chemical. Muthart had been using meth for about six months prior to the incident

Muthart's mother Katy Tompkins was heartbroken when doctors told her the news of her daughter's blindness. She said: 'That was a struggle. I cant even explain that feeling when I found out. It was horrifying. Complete terror'

Muthart, pictured in 2015, says she's now clean and is learning how to navigate life with blindness. She said in her trip she felt religiously compelled to sacrifice her eyes to God.

She says human echolocation - where the blind use sound to navigate their surroundings - has fascinated her in adaption period.

Her meth incident, however, wasn't the first time she tried the dangerous drug. She started using meth about six months prior to the accident.

Months before the February break-down took place Muthart said she was given marijuana - laced with either cocaine or meth - by coworkers.

She recalled feeling a high that she never experienced before. After doing online research on her symptoms she realized it must have been laced. She then left her job and the co-workers.

A month later she found another job, where a co-worker there pressured her to try meth, to which she eventually agreed.

The drug caused her to stay awake for three days. She took a video recording of her behavior on it.

'I took a video while I was on it, and I had been up three days straight. I eventually got taken home and got sober and watched the videos, and put that person out of my life and stopped using the drug,' she said.

She admitted that after using meth she returned to it because she felt isolated and lonely.

She was due to enter a rehab center in a few days, before she the eye-gouging meth incident occurred.

Reflecting upon the incident she said: 'When I do something, I go big or go home obviously. Humor is something that gets me by, laughing, music, that day itself.'

She says music is a major part of her recovery. Muthart plays guitar and is still able to learn new songs despite losing her sight.

Her recovery and rehabilitation is not over yet. She is expected to return to rehab for four weeks.

In the mean time she is emptied her life of drugs and is devoting her time to service, working as a public speaker for the Commission for the Blind.

'Im able to be Kaylee again. Id rather be blind and be myself than be Kaylee on drugs, and I truly mean that with my heart. Im Kaylee Jean Muthart, just like I was 10 years ago. Just better,' she said.

She is also raising money for a service dog via GoFundMe, which has already raised $22,720 towards her goal of $50,000.A monster tarantula which was making a whistling sound as it desperately clung to a tree branch to avoid raging floods has been rescued by a brave woman.

The tarantula, understood to be a whistling spider, was spotted just centimetres from the water as residents in north Queensland prepared for a cyclone.

Andrea Gofton shared a video showing her relocating the arachnid, captioning the squeamish footage: 'My excitement for the day... saving a spider.'

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A monster tarantula which was making a whistling sound as it desperately clung to a tree branch to avoid raging floods has been rescued by a brave woman

But social media users were quick to express their terror at the size of the spider, with a majority of commenters joking the woman should have let it drown.

'Should have let that drown, dont need that kind of negativity in this world,' wrote one woman.

'Why would anyone rescue it,' agreed another.

'Look at the size of it, looks like it could eat your whole family,' added a third person.

The spider doesn't move an inch during the entire video but was saved from being swept away.

'It was then placed on an avocado tree near a pharmacy.

Alan Henderson, a spider expert from Minibeast Wildlife told Daily Mail Australia the Australian Tarantula had likely been flushed out of its burrow due to the deluge.

This breed of spider is a protected species in Queensland and Mr Henderson said it was pleasing to see people take the time to rescue it.

'My excitement for the day...saved a spider,' Queenslander Andrea Gofton helped to save an Australian Tarantula left helpless in flood waters

'It's great that someone has taken the time to rescue her,' he said.

'But many people will kill them just due to misguided fear and myths about how dangerous spiders really are.'

Due to that misguided notion it was 'fantastic' to see this act of kindness he said.

Being flushed form its burrow would not be enough to kill the spider however it would leave it exposed.

'Out of it's burrow it would be vulnerable to predators,' he said.

It was then placed on an avocado tree near a pharmacy after being rescued from the flood water

'Of course, in the water it would drown, although the hairs on its body do protect it from drowning for a little while.'

Mr Henderson said the spider looked to be of mature size.

'This spider could be over ten years old,' he said.

'They can live 10 to 15 years and it looks to be quite a well developed specimen.'Hundreds of brave Sydneysiders bared all on Sunday morning as they dove into the Harbour naked for a good cause.

The Sydney Skinny is an untimed 300 or 900m swim through flat water at Cobbler's Beach in the iconic Sydney Harbour.

Ahead of the nude dip, 1400 people had registered to take part, with an extra 200 expected to sign up during the morning.

Sunday marked the sixth year of the event, and raised money for the Charlie Teo Foundation, which raises funds for brain cancer research.

Wild morning: A women's hiking group had the name of their club spelled out on their bottoms before they plunged into Sydney Harbour nude

Men and women of all ages - above 18 - bared all for the sixth annual Sydney Skinny on Sunday morning

Participants were given blue branded sarongs as they exited the water to preserve their modesty

Many used the swim as a means of battling issues with their self image, and others did it just for fun

Pictures show excited swimmers sprinting towards the water, some with purple slogans or letters on their otherwise naked bodies.

One woman showed off a drawing of the Nudie Juice logo on her back, and had 'love ur [sic] body' written above it.

Others used lettering on their bottoms to spell out the name of the organisation or group they were representing.

Women's hiking group, Wild Women On Top, were seen with their arms in the air and the name of their club spelled out in purple tape on their bottoms.

Time to cover up! One man is seen dashing out of the ocean towards a sarong being held out by a young woman

One group chose to row their way through the harbour naked as others immersed themselves in the water

Nearly 1500 people registered to participate in Sunday's swim, with an extra 200 expected to register throughout the morning

While clothes were strictly prohibited during the swim, goggles and caps were permissible

Some came from as far as the United States to join in the swim, with a woman named Isabel writing on social media she would use the swim to help fight her battle with body image.

Another flew in from New Zealand, and many more arrived from interstate.

The swim intends to raise at least $120,000 for the Charlie Teo Foundation.

A Sydney-based group of women were eager to show off their tape lettering (pictured)

The Sydney Skinny costs $45 to participate in and includes a free branded sarongJeremy Corbyn has ordered a Labour politician at the centre of the House of Commons 'bullying' row to apologise to three fellow MPs for a foul-mouthed tirade following a late-night Brexit debate.

The humiliation for Paul Farrelly comes after The Mail on Sunday reported in November how he had 'gone berserk' at Labour colleague James Frith in the voting lobby  moments after another altercation with two other Labour MPs in a Commons bar.

Now, in an attempt to stem the growing storm over Westminster's alleged 'culture of bullying', Mr Corbyn's Chief Whip, Nick Brown, has ruled that Mr Farrelly was guilty of 'aggressive behaviour' and told him to apologise to his colleagues.

Paul Farrelly (left) is accused of bullying former Commons committee clerk Emily Commander (right)

Speaker John Bercow (left) is facing calls to quit over his treatment of Kate Emms (right) - clerk of the International Development select committee at the beginning of the new 2015 Parliament

Tory MP Mark Pritchard has also been caught up in a new investigation into allegations of bullying at the Commons

The rebuke comes just days after Mr Farrelly  along with Speaker John Bercow and Tory MP Mark Pritchard  was caught up in a new investigation into allegations of bullying at the Commons. Last night, the row escalated with the Speaker facing an open call to quit by the summer over claims he bullied his former private secretary Kate Emms.

... and it's not the first time MP Farrelly's caused a fracas In 2010 we reported how Farrelly hit Bjorn Hurrell (below) in a Commons bar, leaving him bloodied and bruised. How the Mail On Sunday reported the story Advertisement

Tory MP Andrew Bridgen told The Mail on Sunday that the Speaker should resign, claiming Westminster's culture could not change while he remained in post as he had 'been implicated himself in bullying allegations'. Bercow rejects the allegation.

Newcastle-under-Lyme MP Mr Farrelly was accused of threatening Bury North MP Mr Frith in the Commons voting lobby  moments after he had allegedly clashed with fellow Labour MPs Ruth Smeeth and Gareth Snell whose Stoke constituencies border his.

This newspaper reported how Mr Farrelly was accused of barging into Mr Frith in the alphabetical line of MPs waiting to vote on the EU Withdrawal Bill.

When Mr Frith objected, Mr Farrelly reportedly said: 'Don't you f****** start something with me.'

One MP said he was also told that Mr Farrelly had been in a 'confrontation' in a bar with Ms Smeeth and Mr Snell and 'left with issues of unresolved aggression'.

Mr Farrelly denied the claims, and said he was the victim of 'dirty tricks'. Despite this, the Labour investigation has ruled against him.

In a report leaked to this newspaper, Mr Brown said: 'Accounts differ but I uphold the complaint of aggressive behaviour.'

He added: 'The best way forward is for Paul Farrelly to write and apologise to Gareth Snell, Ruth Smeeth and James Frith.' Mr Farrelly declined to comment yesterday.

A BBC probe into bullying at Westminster last week reopened the row over Mr Farrelly's alleged treatment of former Commons committee clerk Emily Commander.

Witnesses claimed Mr Farrelly's dealings with Ms Commander, first raised by The Mail on Sunday in 2012, had made her job impossible.

Separately, Wrekin MP Mr Pritchard was said to have been notorious for berating clerks.

Mr Farrelly and Mr Pritchard denied the allegations. Mr Bercow also denied he had bullied Ms Emms, who worked as his private secretary in 2010/11, saying the claims were 'simply untrue'.

But Mr Bridgen claimed the Speaker's behaviour in the Commons showed he was a bully and called on him to stand down to allow a necessary culture change at Westminster.

He said: 'He cannot be part of the solution when he is part of the problem.'

How bullying claims have been covered by The Mail on Sunday

The bullying claims against John Bercow, Tory MP Mark Pritchard and Labour's Paul Farrelly have been extensively reported by The Mail on Sunday in recent years.

The BBC2 Newsnight account about how Bercow's private secretary Kate Emms quit her 70,000 post because of the way the Speaker treated her was disclosed by this newspaper seven years ago.

We also led in exposing claims of misconduct by Pritchard and Farrelly. We were first to reveal allegations that Farrelly bullied Commons clerk Emily Commander, in 2012.

The Mail on Sunday has played a prominent role in recent years in exposing parliamentary bullying

Three months ago we reported how he allegedly confronted Labour's James Frith in the Commons chamber during a late-night Brexit debate.

An 'inebriated' Farrelly is said to have told Mr Frith 'don't f***ing start something with me'.

Pritchard was accused by Newsnight of swearing at a clerk. We revealed in 2009 how he allegedly manhandled and racially abused a Scottish policeman at a demonstration in Parliament Square.

Pritchard was accused of calling PC Ray McQuarrie a 'scuffer'  slang for peasant  and of trying to push past him.Both sides agreed to work closely together when organising activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Vietnam-Japan diplomatic ties, as well as in making preparations for the mutual visits to be made by the two countries senior leaders in 2018.

The Vietnamese diplomat congratulated Japan on its successful organisation of the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme Ministerial Conference, which actively contributed to accelerating cooperation between the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OCED) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in a substantive and effective fashion.

He hailed Japans leading role in completing the negotiation and signing of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), and asked the country to continue backing the stance of Vietnam and ASEAN over the East Sea issue.

Both sides pledge closer coordination at international and regional forums.

Son called on Japan to enhance its investment in Vietnams supporting industries, manufacturing industry, and high-tech agriculture, while continuing to provide official development assistance (ODA) for Vietnams infrastructure projects, and creating favourable conditions for Vietnams export items, especially farm produce.

Iwao Horii congratulated Vietnam on its successful hosting of the APEC Year 2017, while expressing his delight at the 11 countries official signing of the CPTPP, and offering high praise for Vietnams active participation and contribution to the OECD Southeast Asia Regional Programme Ministerial Conference.

He asked Vietnam to create favourable conditions for the implementation of bilateral economic cooperation projects, voicing his hopes that economic cooperation between the two countries would continue to thrive in the future.

The Japanese official affirmed Japans support for the maintenance of peace, stability, and maritime and aviation freedom in the East Sea, as well as its pledge to assist infrastructure development in Vietnam and the Mekong sub-region, including the East-West Corridor.The sole Australian Waco Siege survivor believes his former cult leader, David Koresh, will return to the earth as Jesus for the second coming.

Melbourne-born Graeme Craddock, 56, was the last member of Koresh's Branch Davidians to be hauled from the cult's burning buildings 25 years ago.

His capture ended a 51-day-siege which saw 76 people in the religious doomsday cult killed during the final stand-off - including the notorious leader who once had 19 wives - with the youngest just 12 years old.

The sole Australian Waco Siege survivor believes his former cult leader, David Koresh, pictured, will return to the earth as Jesus for the second coming

Melbourne-born Graeme Craddock, 56, was the last member of Koresh's Branch Davidians to be hauled from the cult's burning buildings 25 years ago

Overhead of smoking fire consuming David Koresh-led Branch Davidian cult compound in 1993

'Sometimes I do feel guilty that I'm still alive,' Mr Craddock told 60 Minutes.

'But I'm glad I'm alive because if I wasn't here doing this, nobody would be able to tell you what I can tell you.'

35 cult members abandoned the leader during the lengthy siege - which ended in his death following a fiery gas attack.

The man believes his beloved cult leader was the only man on the planet who had been talking to God and that he is soon to return as Jesus in the second coming.

He also revealed he didn't have a problem with Koresh 'taking other men's wives' and compared him to King David - a biblical figure said to have 700 wives.

'Whatever he did was according to what God had told him to do.'

Cult survivor Graeme Leonard Craddock arrives at county court in Waco, Texas, April 20, 1993

Craddock, left told 60 Minutes he feels guilty for being alive 25 years after the siege where 82 cult members died

The cult leader had 19 wives - and told his followers he was allowed at least 140 women

Koresh had declared he was entitled to 'at least 140 wives' and had fathered a dozen children.

20 children were killed during the stand off, a total of 82 adults died during the lengthy siege. Craddock was convicted of possessing a grenade and using or possessing a firearm during a crime for his part in the siege.

He served 13 years behind bars in Louisiana before he was deported back to Australia in 2006.

Vernon Wayne Howell, known as David Koresh, his wife Rachel, and their son Cyrus in front of their house

One of Koresh's wives was just 12 years old - pictured hereA new mother has broken her leg just hours after giving birth, claiming a nurse forced her to walk when her legs were still numb from drugs.

Shina Ali, 27, has endured a nightmare ordeal since giving birth to her son Isaac at Middlemore Hospital in Auckland on February 18.

Ms Ali fell and fractured her right tibia when a nurse allegedly forced her to walk just hours after she was administered an epidural, pain relief for women in labour.

Ms Ali claims she was made to walk despite repeatedly telling the nurse her legs were still numb from the medication.

Ms Ali fell and fractured her right tibia when a nurse allegedly forced her to walk just hours after she was administered an epidural, pain relief for women in labour

Middlemore Hospital has since launched a high-level investigation into the incident.

The investigation has also been reported to the Health Quality and Safety Commission watchdog.

Ms Ali, who was supported by her husband Zaoheb Mohammed, 30, gave birth to a healthy son shortly before 6pm on February 18.

She claimed she was immediately pressured to start walking when her midwife left and a staff nurse took over her care at 9.30pm.

'The staff nurse, she started forcing me to walk,' Ms Ali told the NZ Herald.

She said she was made to walk to the bathroom overnight, despite objections from her and her concerned family.

Ms Ali claimed the same nurse failed to organise a wheelchair for her when it came time to leave the hospital.

Ms Ali said she was taken back to her room in the maternity ward, where a doctor assessed her leg (pictured) but declined requests for an x-ray

Ms Ali said the same nurse failed to organise a wheelchair for her when it came time to leave the hospital (Middlemore Hospital pictured)

'We made our way out of the labour ward, me, my mum and my husband. I took a few steps and I fell. I just sat on my right leg,' she said.

'I could feel that it was broken because I couldn't lift it. But I couldn't feel any pain because it was still numb.'

Ms Ali said she was taken back to her room in the maternity ward, where a doctor assessed her leg but declined requests for an x-ray.

She said it wasn't until a nurse noticed the injury the following morning she was taken in for an x-ray.

When the examination confirmed her right tibia was fractured, Ms Ali was scheduled for surgery on February 20.

The new mother said both she and her husband were so stressed from the ordeal they couldn't sleep or eat for five days.

Ms Ali was told it would be at least another four weeks before she would be able to walk again.

Middlemore Hospital's (pictured) clinical director Dr Sarah Tout confirmed a Serious Sentinel Event investigation had been launched

Middlemore Hospital's clinical director Dr Sarah Tout confirmed a Serious Sentinel Event investigation had been launched.

Dr Tout said the hospital could not confirm whether the injury was the result of staff actions until the investigation was finished.

She told the publication the nurse involved was 'very sorry'.

Dr Tout said the nurse, and the doctor who first assessed the new mother's leg, had both apologised to Ms Ali personally.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Middlemore Hospital for further comment.Philip Hammond has claimed that bullish signs from the economy mean that he should soon be able to turn on the spending taps to counter the political threat from Jeremy Corbyn.

The Chancellor, who will deliver his first Spring Statement on Tuesday, declared that there was light at the end of the tunnel after nearly a decade of austerity  raising the prospect that he will soon be releasing more money for the public services.

Mr Hammond has been under intense pressure from Downing Street to release more money for the NHS, students and key workers after being alarmed by the ease with which Mr Corbyn has picked up votes by promising to plough billions of pounds into public pay rises and welfare payments.

The 25-minute statement  the first since the Budget was moved from Spring to the autumn last year  will not contain any tax changes or spending announcements.

Mr Hammond has been under intense pressure from Downing Street to release more money for the NHS, students and key workers

But it will allow the Chancellor to respond to new forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and launch consultations on issues such as VAT reform.

A Government source said that, although the Treasury had not yet seen the OBRs projections, they were confident that the direction of travel for our growth prospects means that we should soon be in a position to turn on the spending taps a bit more. The Treasury is expecting to have about 10 billion more to spend than previously thought due to an increase in tax revenues.

The light at the end of the tunnel declaration follows months of wranglings between No 10 and the Treasury over how to counter the Corbyn surge without surrendering the Conservatives hard-won reputation for fiscal rectitude. It burst into the open when Mrs Mays former chief of staff Nick Timothy, who remains an influence inside No 10, used a newspaper article earlier this year to attack Mr Hammond for his cautious economic stewardship.

Mr Timothy warned the Chancellor that the public was tired of austerity and schools and the NHS needed an urgent injection of resources.

Want to pull in even more tax, Chancellor? Then why not put the squeeze on Caffe Zero? Mr Hammond will come under pressure to take tougher action against tax-avoiding international businesses, as The Mail on Sunday reveals today that Caffe Nero has not paid a penny in UK corporation tax for a decade  despite sales of 2 billion. The company that controls Caffe Neros stores in the UK and Ireland posted sales of 288 million last year. Founder Gerry Ford, a Californian private equity baron, claims the groups vast bank debt means profits are wiped out, so it is not liable to pay corporation tax. But one critic called Caffe Neros accounting practices parasitic. Rival Starbucks has also come under fire over its tax affairs. Advertisement

However, some Treasury officials remain concerned about the prospects for the economy, fearful that the uncertainty caused by the Brexit vote has yet to take full effect.

The statement comes as Ministers are close to finalising an NHS pay deal that will give more than a million staff their first substantial pay rise since 2010. Nurses, midwives, ambulance staff and healthcare assistants will all benefit.

Mr Hammond said last night that his strategy was intended to take a balanced approach of dealing with our debt while investing in Britains future, which has meant we can spend more on public services. He added: We are at a turning point. Over the last two quarters we have seen the first signs that productivity growth  the key to higher wages  may be increasing and this year we are forecast to see the beginning of the first sustained fall in debt for a generation. It has been a long road  and there is still work to be done  but I am confident that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

But Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, addressing Labours Scottish conference, pledged that a Corbyn Government would fundamentally change the whole economic basis of our society. He said: Our goal is about shifting power from those who own the wealth in this country back to those who, through their hard work and endeavour, create the wealth.There is backlash in the party against the growing power wielded by union baron Len McCluskey (pictured)

It is being dubbed Red Lens political harem  a group of powerful women with close links to union baron Len McCluskey who are exerting an increasingly tight grip on the Labour Party.

But last night there was a backlash in the party against the growing power wielded by Unites Left-wing leader, with Corbyns critics calling it a takeover by stealth.

One senior source said: We should hang up a sign in the office saying, You dont have to be close friends with Len to work here, but it helps. 

The row has blown up over the bitter contest to pick a new Labour general secretary  a hugely powerful figure who controls the partys purse strings and membership  after moderate Iain McNicol quit.

Attention has focused on Mr McCluskeys connections with three women who hold influential positions in Labour circles. They are:

Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyns Commons gatekeeper who is also a close friend and confidante of Mr McCluskey. She is said to have played a key role in forcing out Mr McNicol;

Jennie Formby, Unites political director and a front-runner to succeed Mr McNicol. In 1991, Ms Formby gave birth to a child as a result of an affair with Mr McCluskey, who was married at the time;

Farah Sassoon, whose hotel booking business organises accommodation reservations for Labours annual conference. She is also in Mr McCluskeys network of female Labour power-brokers. He was present at Monte Carlos luxury Hotel de Paris when she celebrated her birthday in 2016.

The growing influence of Mr McCluskeys allies has led to friction with other senior Labour figures. Jon Lansman, leader of the Left-wing Momentum group that plotted Mr Corbyns rise to power, is determined to beat Ms Formby in the battle to become Labour general secretary.

The political careers of Ms Formby, Ms Murphy and Mr McCluskey are all closely intertwined.

Ms Formby was appointed by Mr McCluskey as Unites 75,000-a-year political director five years ago. Her promotion came after he was accused of trying to rig a Labour parliamentary selection contest in Scotland  for Ms Murphy.

Left: Farah Sassoon, whose hotel booking business organises accommodation reservations for Labours annual conference. Right: Karie Murphy, Mr Corbyns Commons gatekeeper who is also a close friend and confidante of Mr McCluskey

Ms Murphy, who has been friends with Mr McCluskey for years, was forced to stand down as the Labour candidate in Falkirk over claims that Unite had cheated in the selection process.

She was later given a top job with Mr Corbyn at Westminster.

Ms Formbys affair with Mr McCluskey was reported by The Mail on Sunday in 2013. We revealed official documents which showed that in 1991 she had given birth to a child by Mr McCluskey, who was married at the time and living in a union-subsidised home in London while his wife Ann stayed in his native Liverpool.

Jennie Formby, Unites political director and a front-runner to succeed Mr McNicol

Three years after Ms Formby had the child, Mr McCluskey divorced Ann. But instead of setting up home with Ms Formby, he moved another lover, Paula Lace, into his union-subsidised London home.

Ms Sassoons hotel and conference booking agency, Trust Reservations, is used extensively by the Labour Party. Two years ago, Ms Sassoon  who is best friends with Sally Bercow, the Commons Speakers Labour-supporting wife  invited Mr McCluskey to her birthday party in the billionaires playground of Monte Carlo. They were photographed together at the 1,600-a-night Hotel de Paris, which serves caviar and lobster sandwiches for 54, and charges 13 for a bottle of beer and up to 12,800 for bottles of wine.

Mr Corbyns critics say the growing influence of the inner circle of Mr McCluskey means he is gaining too much power over the party.

One insider said: These women are all very formidable figures. McCluskey has more power over the Labour Party than Corbyn.

According to some Labour sources, Mr McCluskeys growing stranglehold over the party has caused friction with some Corbynistas, including some among Mr Lansmans camp.

The hard Left has never seen eye to eye with old-fashioned trade unionists, said one. It is increasingly impossible to do or say anything in the Labour Party now without worrying whether it is all going back to Len McCluskey. It does not help create an atmosphere of trust.Advertisement

Brooklyn's longest-running multi-venue drag competition is back for its fourth year, and some of New York's most famous queens were there to mark its first night.

The Mr(s) Bk competition, which will take place every Friday in March at a different venue in Brooklyn, kicked off on Friday night at the Secret Project Robot bar and art gallery.

Stunning images take the viewer inside, giving an up close and personal look into the iconic dance-packed event.

Queens: This year's Mr(s) Bk competition kicked off on Friday night at the Secret Project Robot bar and art gallery in Brooklyn. Pictured is performer Sandy Devastation

Mr (s) Bk is the longest-running drag competition in Brooklyn. This year marks the fourth year New York drag queens will compete for the coveted title

A coveted title: Contestants will battle it out every Friday in March at a different venue in Brooklyn until the finale on April 4. Harajuku Queen, pictured, won Friday's first-round

The competition's creator Alotta McGriddles teamed up with Rupauls Drag Race's Acid Betty to make this year's events bigger than ever before.

Every year, ten contestants battle it out each week for a $200 prize and move on to the grand finale.

The finale will be at the Secret Project Robot on April 4, when the finalists will compete for a $500 prize and the highly coveted title of Mr(s) Bk.

Winner: Harajuku Queen is crowned Mr (s) Bk. She and the audience-favorite Mary Con will be moving on to the finale after being crowned winner in Friday's first-round

The crowd goes wild: An audience member reacts to a drag queen onstage. Every year, ten contestants battle it out each week for a $200 prize and move on to the grand finale

The competition's finale will be at the Secret Project Robot on April 4, when the finalists will compete for a $500 prize and the highly coveted title of Mr(s) Bk. Drag performers are pictured celebrating onstage after the end of the competition

Mr (s) Bk is one of New York's most iconic drag events. Pictured is performer Reagan Holiday

This year, however, organizers are shaking things up and each winner will also be joined by the runner-up - chosen by the audience - at the finale.

Harajuku Queen will be moving on to the finale after being crowned winner in Friday's first-round, along with crowd-favorite Mary Con.

Creator Alotta McGriddles said: 'This is an INCLUSIVE competition touring several venues in the BK area.

'We have queens, kings, burlesque and more. The whole concept of Mr(s) is that people rarely know what to call us AND we dont know know who the winner will be.'

Past winners of the competition include many of New York's biggest drag queens such as Macy Rodman Aja of Rupauls Drag Race All Stars.

Creator Alotta McGriddles said: 'We have queens, kings, burlesque and more. The whole concept of Mr(s) is that people rarely know what to call us AND we dont know know who the winner will be'

This year organizers are shaking things up and each winner will also be joined by the runner-up - chosen by the audience - at the finale. Runner-up Mary Con, the audience's favorite, is pictured during her performance

Backstage look: Performers and non-performers take a break from the competition

Macy as well as previous competitors like Mini Horrorwitz, Heidi Glum, and Miz Jade will serve as judges for this year's events.

Judge Mini Horrorwitz told DailyMail.com: 'This competition is about showcasing how talented our little community of Brooklyn is.'

'It really help launch my drag career and I formed a lot of friends with other performers who I work with continuously and consider good friends.

'Brooklyn drag is a staple of what NYC drag is now. It's so amazing that we can showcase such a variety of different performers and it's so inclusive.'

A Brooklyn staple: Past winners of the competition include many of New York's biggest drag queens such as Macy Rodman Aja of Rupauls Drag Race All Stars

Judge and former competitor Mini Horrorwitz (pictured) told DailyMail.com: 'This competition is about showcasing how talented our little community of Brooklyn is.'When electrician Brydie Maro relocated a python from beneath a customer's house on Monday afternoon, she had no idea it would make international headlines.

The cranky scrub python - sporting a huge bulge in its stomach, the only remaining evidence of the pet cat it had just eaten - wrapped itself around Brydie as she wrestled it out of its hiding spot.

But the Queensland-based mother who catches snakes between her day job, is using her new found international fame to educate Australians on the 'misunderstood' and 'beautiful' creatures.

'All my friends would know and back this up is how passionate I am about snakes and about wildlife. They are really important creatures,' she tells Daily Mail Australia.

Scroll down for video

Queensland electrician Brydie Maro confidently removed the 8kg python from beneath her customer's house

Brydie has been handling snakes professionally for almost 20 years but still says she still gets awe struck

In the video she posted to Facebook, Brydie is seen calmly picking up an eight-kilogram python and removing it from under a house in Far North Queensland.

And although she's got the quiet confidence of someone whose professionally handled snakes for almost two decades, she says she still gets awe struck.

'When it's a big snake like that, I get awe struck. We don't see a lot of the big ones, so it can be a once in a life time opportunity.'

She says the lack of larger ones in the wild is a human habitation issue and that we need to change the way we treat this misunderstood creature when we see it.

'People shoot them or chop their heads off with shovels, and it breaks my heart. I've seen it happen but now I've got that platform I'm using it so say 'please don't kill them' because we are knocking down the species.'

Unfortunately for her customer, the lump in the python's stomach was the outline of the family cat

She says the lack of larger ones in the wild is a human habitation issue and too many people kill them when they see them

Brydie says she hears about people in her area killing snakes at least once a month.

Instead of getting angry, she tries to reason with people.

'I don't want to get into arguments. Some people are just going to hate snakes and I can't change their minds by being aggressive back.'

'I just say 'here's my number, I've got all the gear, give me a call and I'll come and get it for you.'

'It's a bit like catching a snake, you can't go in there with aggression.'

Before becoming an electrician Brydie had worked for 15 years as a wildlife handler.

After she gets a call she gets to the property and bags the snake. She puts them in a bag and says she got a few spots in the Daintree where she releases them.

She says if you see one on your property you should just stay away from it and call an expert

If they're all clear of injuries and ticks she'll send them off immediately.

'They're funny buggers, you catch them and then on the release they might try to bite you, and you just go 'don't do that, I'm here to help' it just makes me laugh. They have so much personality.'

Brydie has always been passionate about wildlife. When she was a little kid she'd run around wearing only her undies, completely barefoot catching small lizards and critters.

One day she came running up the backyard excited to show off the new baby lizzard she had caught.

Her grandfather knelt down for a closer look and to his horror, realised the small child was holding a deadly Taipan.

'He says Jesus Christ, it's not a lizard it's a baby taipan. Somehow I didn't die and I've managed to correctly catch this young taipan. I had it the right way,' she said.

'It's a big snake, we've got to be pretty careful with this one,' Brydie, who used to be a wild life handler, is heard saying in the video

She wanted to keep it as a pet but thinking fast, her grandfather knocked it out of her hand.

This childhood passion led the mother of one to a career in wildlife. And although she now owns her own electrical business she is called out at least twice a week to catch a snake.

She has her own words of advice for people who have seen a snake on their property.

'Don't try and move it. If they're not a trained handler, don't go near it and just call an expert.'

'If it's in the yard and its moving, it's just moving through. They don't like to hang around so just let it move on.'

'When they're in the house or have eaten something off the property and are hanging around best to call somebody. A python will come back if it knows it can get a feed there.'The daughter of poisoned Russian spy Sergei Skripal has been described by a friend as a 'lovely, smiley, normal girl who wouldn't hurt anyone'.

Pictures of Yulia Skripal, 33, enjoying a relaxing beach holiday have emerged a week after she and her father, 66, were found unconscious following a nerve agent attack in Salisbury.

She is still in a 'critical condition' in hospital after being deliberately infected with the substance.

Pictures of Yulia Skripal, 33, enjoying a relaxing beach holiday have emerged a week after she and her father were found unconscious following a nerve agent attack in Salisbury

The daughter of Russian spy Sergei Skripal (pictured) is seen frolicking in a bikini in the sea

A friend of hers living in Moscow told the Mirror: 'Yulia is usually so happy and full of life  so lovely, smiley and bright.

'She's a normal girl who wouldn't hurt anyone. She doesn't deserve to have been targeted like this.'

The friend, who asked to remain nameless, told the newspaper her and her father's attempted murder is like 'being in a horror movie'.

The 33-year-old lives in Moscow and is believed to have flown to the UK to visit her father days before they were attacked.

The 'trail of poison' investigators have been following has also revealed the pair visited her mother Liudmila's and brother Alexander's graves in Salisbury leading up to the assault.

Officers protected by Hazmat suits were yesterday pictured searching the graves for the nerve agent at the London Road graveyard, which they are believed to have found on flowers left there.

Playful selfies show Yulia with her tongue out, posing for the camera in a grey T-shirt

She is still in a 'critical condition' in hospital after being deliberately infected with the substance

In images of Yulia posted on Russian social media, she is seen frolicking in a bikini in the sea. While playful selfies show her with her tongue out, posing for the camera.

Another shows her with her father's Persian black cat, which he is believed to have imported for thousands of pounds several years ago.

A friend told The Sun the animal, along with Mr Skripal's two pet guinea pigs, have not been seen since he was poisoned.

Neighbours fear they have been contaminated with the deadly nerve agent that nearly killed their owner and could have died.

Yulia's friend also told the Mirror she 'loves England' and 'always felt safe' visiting her father in the UK.

Yulia Skripal is pictured with her father's Persian cat, which neighbours say has disappeared and could've been poisonedDonald Trump is back on the campaign trail, and back to poking fun at journalists.

This time the president took aim at NBC's Chuck Todd, calling him a 'sleepy eye son of a b***h' as he stood before the crowd in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.

Trump arrived in Pittsburgh to campaign for Republican Rick Saccone, who is neck-and-neck with Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election for the district's vacant house seat.

But, true to fashion, the president spent more time talking about television ratings, 'fake news', and his own reelection - revealing his 2020 campaign slogan will be 'Keep America great!'

Scroll down for video

Trump took aim at NBC's Chuck Todd, calling him a 'sleepy eye son of a b***h', as he stood before the crowd in Moon Township, Pennsylvania (pictured)

It appears Trump was responding to a tweet from Todd on Saturday afternoon, directly replying to the president's calls of fake news

It appears Trump was responding to a tweet from Todd on Saturday afternoon, directly replying to the president's calls of 'fake news', when he hit out at the host.

'In the first hours after hearing that North Korea's leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearization and that missile launches will end, the press was startled and amazed,' Trump tweeted.

'They couldn't believe it. But by the following morning the news became FAKE. They said so what, who cares!'

Todd hit back that Trump's criticism had 'no basis in fact'.

'Even using the loose set of parameters he sometimes uses to call something a "fact" or "fake" doesn't apply on this,' the host tweeted.

'Now if he replaced "press" with "some West Wing staff", there'd be some truth in this.'

Trump was referencing a 1999 appearance on Meet the Press in which he spoke about North Korea when he felt the need to mention Todd instead

Todd turned the moment into a promo for his show, encouraging viewers to set their DVRs 'before your eyes get too sleepy'

Todd clearly struck a nerve with Trump, who called him out within the first few minutes of his rally on Saturday night

Earlier on Saturday Trump had claimed that the 'fake' news had changed their response to his newly announced meeting with North Korea

Todd, who responded four hours before the rally, said Trump's critique had 'no basis in fact'

Todd clearly struck a nerve with Trump, who called the journalist out within the first few minutes of his rally on Saturday night.

Trump was referencing a 1999 appearance on Meet the Press, in which he spoke about North Korea, when he felt the need to mention Todd instead.

'Its 1999 Im on Meet the Press, a show now headed by 'Sleepy eyes Chuck Todd', the president said. 'He's a sleeping son of a b***h.'

Todd poked fun at Trump's new nickname, and turned the moment into a promo for his show.

'Don't miss @MeetThePress tomorrow! I know folks may be tired in the morning due to springing forward, so set those clocks and DVRs now before your eyes get too sleepy,' he tweeted on Saturday night.

Todd also retweeted Washington Post reporter David Nakamura's comment on the rally.

'Trump spoke at rally for about 75 minutes. His meeting with the South Korean delegation Thursday at which he agreed to meet Kim Jong Un lasted about 45 minutes, per sources,' Nakamura wrote.

Todd has not commented on Trump's new nicknames, but did retweet Washington Post reporter David Nakamura's comment on the rally.

At one point during the rally Trump even claimed he has done more than any other first-term president in history

Todd also tweeted at his viewers to catch the new Meet the Press on Sunday, promising the roundtable should be a good one'.

'I know folks may be tired in the morning due to springing forward, so set those clocks and DVRs now before your eyes get too sleepy,' he added in a separate tweet.

Trump also criticized the ratings of Martha Stewart and Arnold Schwarzenegger when they hosted The Apprentice, as well as the numbers for CNN and MSNBC.

'NBC is perhaps worse than CNN,' he said. 'And MSNBC is horrible!'

He also hit out at the public's support for an Oprah Winfrey presidential campaign, saying: 'I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness'.

Trump also called Democratic Rep Maxine Waters a 'low IQ individual', repeatedly telling the crowd 'we will impeach her', and once again referred to Democratic Sen Elizabeth Warren as 'Pocahontas'.

The rally was meant to be in support of Republican Rick Saccone (left), who is neck-and-neck with Democrat Conor Lamb (right) for a vacant house seat

A Saccone loss would be a blow to Trump, as it would be the first loss by Republicans of a seat in the House of Representatives since he took office

Saccone (pictured with his wife Yong) has had an underwhelming performance in what has become a surprisingly tight race with Lamb.

Trump likewise repeatedly attacked his predecessors, claiming George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama could not achieve what he had with North Korea.

'Obama would not have done it, neither would Bush, neither would Clinton, all they did was nothing,' he said.

'This should've been handled over the last 30 years, not now,' Trump went on as he discussed relations with North Korea.

'But that's okay, that's what we do, we handle things,' he added, claiming North Korea had said he has 'done a great job'.

Trump went so far as to say that Kim Jong Un even told the president that the Olympics would have 'been a total failure' without him.

'It's a little hard to sell tickets when you think you're going to be nuked,' said Trump, who took credit for making the Olympics 'very successful'.

'Is there anything funner than a Trump rally?' he asked the crowd, clearly enjoying himself after weeks of dodging scandals with Russia, Robert Mueller, and Stormy Daniels.

Trump likewise repeatedly attacked his predecessors, claiming George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama could not achieve what he had with North Korea

The president hit out and Oprah, saying: 'I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness' and called Democratic Rep Maxine Waters a 'low IQ' individual

Trump also lodged a number of attacks on what he called the 'fake press', attacking CNN and MSNBC, and once again calling Democratic Sen Elizabeth Warren 'Pocohontas'

Trump also spent extensive time discussing his support for making drug dealers face the death penalty.

'These people are killing our kids and they're killing our families and we have to do something,' he said.

Trump scarcely mentioned Saconne during the night, instead turning it into a classic campaign rally with talks of the wall, immigration, and trumped up claims about how much he has achieved in the White House.

At one point Trump, who couldn't help but bring up his election night numbers, even claimed he has done more than any other first-term president in history.

In the end Trump eventually called Saccone a 'good person' and said he was 'special'.

'I don't want to put pressure on you Rick, but the world is watching,' he added.

'If Trump's in your corner how can you lose?' said Saccone, who briefly took the podium to thank the president for his support.

But if Twitter was any indication, many found Trump's digs at Todd and Waters to be unpresidential - especially on live television

Saccone and Lamb are running to fill the seat vacated by Republican Rep Tim Murphy, who resigned after news broke he allegedly asked his lover to have an abortion - despite his public platform against it.

A Saccone defeat would be a blow to Trump, as it would be the first loss by Republicans of a seat in the House of Representatives since he took office.

Trump won the district by 20 points in 2016, but Saccone's performance has been underwhelming in what has become a surprisingly tight race with Lamb.

The president nicknamed the Democrat 'Lamb the Sham', and claimed the former Marine was 'trying to act like a Republican' to win votes.

Tuesday's race could signal how much help Trump can provide Republican congressional candidates trying to keep control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm elections next November.

But if Twitter was any indication, many found Trump's digs at Todd and Waters to be unpresidential.

Others noted that Trump criticized a slew of women during his 75-minute speech

'Pres Trump at a Penn rally calls my colleague and friend Chuck Todd a "sleeping SON OF A B***H". Really classy,' tweeted NBC host Tom Brokaw.

'Explain that to your children,' he added.

'Yup, Trump just called Chuck Todd a "son of a b***h" just now at a rally. How presidential,' wrote Roland Scahill.

Ed Krassenstein called Trump a 'first grade bully in an old man's body'.

'This is not how the leader of the free world should act!' he added.

Others noted that Trump criticized a slew of women during his 75-minute speech.

And some users pointed out that Trump's insults were out of place in a campaign that was meant to be lifting up Saccone

'In the first 10 minutes of his speech Trump attacked Hillary, Nancy Pelosi, Liz Warren, Maxine Waters, and Oprah. Happy Womens History Month, everyone!' tweeted one user.

'It's like there's some sort of pattern,' another added as they listed the women's names.

And some users pointed out that Trump's insults were out of place in a campaign that was meant to be lifting up Saccone.

'This rally should really help Rick Saccone beat Chuck Todd on Tuesday,' joked Josh Billinson.

'So far in this speech Trump has been more complementary towards Kim Jong Un than towards @chucktodd,' added Ben Jacobs.Erol Tokcan, 36, (pictured) was fatally stabbed at his front door in western Sydney on Friday night

As a Sydney father was rushed to hospital after home intruders stabbed in him the chest, two women were seen breaking down with grief in the street.

His girlfriend, who witnessed her partner Erol Tokcan being attacked at his front door in western Sydney, was heard yelling 'they'd better hurry up or he's going to die' as paramedics loaded the 36-year-old into an ambulance.

As he was rushed to hospital, the woman was heard screaming: 'I love you'.

Mr Tokcan's sister was equally as distraught by the horrific events of Friday night, and was seen frantically trying to get away as police tried to hold her back, Seven News reported.

'Where's my mum? Where's my mum?,' she screamed. 'F*** this area, f*** Mt Druitt.'

Late on Friday night, a group of at least three men had approached the house, threatened and stabbed Mr Tokcan before several witnesses heard them cheering as they fled the scene.

Scroll down for video

Chaotic scenes of hysteria unfolded outside his home in Dharruk, near Mount Druitt, as paramedics worked to save his life

Mr Tokcan's sister (pictured) was seen trying to find her mother as she screamed through her grief

The group of men who committed the assault threw furniture onto the veranda before throwing a step ladder at the home and making a getaway in a dark colour hatchback.

An unnamed neighbour told the Daily Telegraph that they heard the smashing but didn't think anything of it as 'things like that happen all the time'.

The father-of-one died in hospital from his injuries.

A police hunt is continuing for the group of young men behind the fatal stabbing.

'I get the feeling they went there for a reason,' Detective Inspector David Goddard told reporters on Saturday.

Mr Tokcan died later in hospital from his injuries, and the men responsible remain on the run

His sister was seen looking for their mother as she cursed the area they lived in

Mr Tokcan's school friend Nader Mahmud, 42, was one of the last people to visit him before the attack.

'Erol, since I've known him, has always had a big heart - a big lion heart,' he told AAP.

The 36-year-old had a young daughter and had previously survived a near-fatal motorbike accident.

A spokeswoman from NSW Police confirmed to Daily Mail Australia on Sunday no charges have been laid over the man's death, and police are continuing to investigate the attack.

No arrests have been made in relation to Mr Tokcan's death, and his killers are still at largeThe number of men working in Britain's highest-paid jobs is nearly four times that of women, new figures reveal.

'Scandalous' data has revealed a huge disparity between men and women earning a six-figure income.

It has fuelled concerns over the gender pay gap in the City and other highly-paid professions.

In 2015-16, there were more 681,000 men earning 100,000 or more, which compares to just 179,000 women earning the same.

'Scandalous' data has revealed a huge disparity between men and women earning a six-figure income

According to the latest figures, 17,000 men earned 1million during the same period, while 2,000 women did so.

Former cabinet ministers Nicky Morgan and Justine Greening immediately expressed concern.

Ms Greening told The Observer: 'These stark figures show how far our country still has to go on closing our gender pay gap. It represents not only a loss of of career earnings for women, it also represents a loss of talent for employers.'

According to the latest figures, 17,000 men earned 1million during the same period, while 2,000 women did so

Ms Morgan, who is now the Treasury select committee chairman, said the figures represented 'a key driver of the gender pay gap', adding 'sunlight is the best disinfectant; sanctions may be necessary to ensure openness and transparency'.

The revelation comes as Britain's biggest firms are forced to publish their payrolls by gender before next month.

Those with 250 or more workers must publish their figures and many high-salary City firms are among the worst performers.

At Virgin Money, there is a gap of 32.5 per cent and asset management firm Octopus Capital has one of 38. percent.

And women at accountancy firm Deloitte were revealed to be earning 43 per cent less than male colleagues.

The revelation comes as Britain's biggest firms are forced to publish their payrolls by gender before next month

Ernst and Young reported a revised gap of 38 per cent after including partners, having previously said it was 20 percent.

Some firms had attempted to mask the gaps by not including company partners because they are not required to do so under Government guidelines.

But some now have following pressure from campaigners. Sophie Walker, leader of the Women's Equality Partner, said: 'These figures show gender inequality runs through every level if the economy. It is scandalous that women still make up barely a fifth of top earners, and this discrepancy is not confined to those in well-paid jobs.'

It comes as the Women's Budget Group, which analyses the impact of Government policies, warned of pledge to raise personal tax allowance to 12,500.

It said the increase will disproportionately benefit men because 66 percent of those who do not earn enough to benefit are women.New Zealand has maintained a level of moderate economic growth in recent years, with an expansion of 2.8% in 2017. The country ranked first for the ease of doing business in 2016 and has Australia, China, the EU, the US, Japan, and ASEAN as its main trading partners.



New Zealand prioritises the maintenance of a peaceful and stable environment, strengthening comprehensive and deep links with the Asia-Pacific region, and promoting trade liberalisation, while actively participating in regional and global institutions and reinforcing the strategic partnership with ASEAN.



The country always values the role of ASEAN, having pledged to contribute NZ$200 million over the next three years to enact the People Strategy and Prosperity Strategy, considering them the centre of the ASEAN-New Zealand Plan of Action.



ASEAN is currently New Zealands fifth largest trading partner with bilateral trade reaching US$10.6 billion. New Zealand values Vietnams role and position in the Asia-Pacific region and wishes to expand its relations with ASEAN through Vietnam.



Vietnam and New Zealand established diplomatic relations in 1975 and have seen stronger ties develop rapidly in recent years. The two countries agreed a comprehensive partnership in 2009 and issued a joint statement in 2015 on enhancing the comprehensive partnership to the level of a strategic partnership in future. The fine relationship has been marked by high-level visits between the two sides, notably New Zealand PM John Keys visit to Vietnam in November 2015 and Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dungs visit to New Zealand in March 2015.



The two countries leaders frequently meet on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit and the APEC Summit. In addition, bilateral cooperative mechanisms such as political consultations, the Committee on Economic and Trade Cooperation, and defence policy dialogues are held regularly.



Vietnam and New Zealand both seek the early conclusion of negotiations on the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and each others nomination as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council. New Zealand has been steadfast in its support for Vietnams participation on the UN Economic and Social Council for the 2016-2018 term, on UNESCOs Executive Board for the 2015-2019 term, and for Vietnams hosting of the APEC Summit 2017.



We are pleased at the favourable development of economic, trade, and investment cooperation between the two countries. Two-way trade has been increasing over the years, from US$300 million in 2009, to US$900 million in 2017. New Zealand is Vietnams 31st largest trading partner, while Vietnam is New Zealands 17th biggest. To date, New Zealand has 28 active projects in Vietnam with a total capital of US$101.94 million, ranking 41st among 120 countries and territories investing in Vietnam.



Vietnam is the 16th largest exporter to New Zealand and 19th in the list of importers. Vietnam currently has six investment projects in New Zealand with a total capital of US$25.62 million in the fields of manufacturing, hospitality, and agriculture.



New Zealand has increased its ODA for Vietnam from US$2.3 million annually throughout the 2003-2004 period, to US$7.4 million during the 2012-2013 period, mainly in the areas of human resources development, education and training, and sustainable agriculture. New Zealand has pledged to provide Vietnam with US$18.6 million during the 2015-2018 period.



Cooperation between Vietnam and New Zealand in other areas such as security-defence, education-training, labour, transport, and agriculture has also seen positive developments. There are nearly 3,000 Vietnamese students currently studying in New Zealand while the Vietnamese community in New Zealand is estimated at more than 5,000 people.



Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phucs official visit to New Zealand aims to continue to implement Vietnams foreign policy of diversification, multilateralisation, while actively integrating into the international community and deepening international relationships.



The visit affirms that Vietnam both values and wishes to strengthen their comprehensive partnership with New Zealand, supporting the two countries enterprises in exploring each others markets, potential, demands, and strengths.Bollywood comedy actress Shammi who appeared in over 200 movies has died in her sleep aged 89.

The star, who was best known for her part in nineties sitcom Dekh Bhai Dekh, passed away at her home in Mumbai on March 5 after battling a 'long-term illness'.

Shammi, whose real name was Nargis Rabadi, began her career in 1949, and went on to play doting sisters, mothers and grandmothers.

Shammi, whose real name was Nargis Rabadi, began her career in 1949, and went on to play doting sisters, mothers and grandmothers

Her Khuda Gawah co-star Amitabh Bachcha paid an emotional online tribute to the actress

Some of Bollywood's biggest stars including Sushant Singh, Farah Khan and Boman Irani attended her funeral at Mumbai's Oshiwara cemetery on March 6.

Her Khuda Gawah co-star Amitabh Bachchan confirmed the star's battle with illness and paid an emotional online tribute to the actress.

'I will really miss you Shammi Aunty... you always gave me the warmest hugs and never failed to make everyone smile.

'So many memories, so much happiness, gone but not forgotten. Rest in peace.'

In a seperate post he added: 'A long suffered illness, age. Sad. Slowly, slowly they all go away.'Officer Gregory Jonathan Casillas, 25, was shot dead late Friday in Pomona, California

A rookie police officer has been killed in an incident that led to a 15-hour armed standoff that concluded with the suspect being taken into custody alive.

Officer Gregory Jonathan Casillas, 25, was shot dead late Friday in Pomona, California on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The married father of two was sworn in just six months ago.

The incident began at 9.04pm with a call about a reckless driver, police said. Casillas and a partner responded and attempted to pull the driver over, but he did not yield.

A short vehicle pursuit ended in a traffic collision, and the suspect fled on foot. The officers gave chase as he ran into an apartment complex, according to police.

The suspect ran into an apartment and barricaded himself inside a bedroom, cops said. As the officers yelled at him through the door to surrender, he fired through the door, striking Casillas.

His partner grabbed Casillas by the vest and tried to pull him to safety, and was struck by gunfire in the face in the process.

Both officers were transported to a hospital, where Casillas was pronounced dead. His training officer was in serious condition and underwent surgery, but is expected to survive.

Deputies with the LA Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Bureau work with Pomona cops to smoke out the suspect who barricaded himself inside an apartment bedroom

Footage of the apartment block is seen from a law enforcement aerial unit during the standoff

A police drone is seen surveilling the suspect through a broken window during the standoff

Deputies are seen staging next to an armored vehicle during the 15-hour standoff

Image courtesy of KTLA

Meanwhile, SWAT teams from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department took over at the scene, and surrounded the apartment.

The standoff dragged on through the night. Speaking though megaphones, cops intermittently ordered the suspect to come out. Flash-bang grenades were also used.

Late Saturday morning, the suspect was taken into custody. Photos from the scene show a male wearing only underwear and handcuffs being escorted by heavily armed police.

Local police and fire departments turned out in force to pay tribute to the fallen officer.

Officer Casillas (left) was sworn in as a Pomona police officer in September 2017, and was days away from completing his field training

LA County Sheriff Jim McDonnell speaks to the press at the scene of the standoff on Saturday

First responders lined the roads and crowded onto overpasses to salute as Casillas' body was transported from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the coroner's office

First responders lined the roads and crowded onto overpasses to salute as Casillas' body was transported from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the coroner's office.

Casillas had always dreamed of becoming a police officer, and joined the Pomona Police Department as a records specialist in December 2014, Police Chief Michael Olivieri Jr said.

He then took a position as a jailer in September 2015, and finally was sworn in as a police officer in September 2017.

Olivieri said that Casillas was just days away from completing his field training when he died.Russian officials involved in corruption and human rights abuse could be targeted in a tough new sanctions regime in coordination with the United States and Canada, it has been reported.

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and Home Secretary Amber Rudd have reportedly agreed to introduce a British version of the US 'Magnitsky Act'.

The American legislation, passed in 2012, was designed to punish Russian officials involved in the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while he was investigating official corruption.

Russian officials involved in corruption and human rights abuse could be targeted in a tough new sanctions regime in coordination with the United States and Canada, it has been reported

It has since been extended to apply worldwide, with the US authorities publishing a list of 'gross violators of human rights' who are subject to asset freezes and visa bans.

Conservative MPs seeking similar legislation in the UK confirmed discussions were ongoing with ministers about including 'Magnitsky amendments' into the Sanctions Bill currently going through Parliament, The Sunday Telegraph reported.

However ministers were said to be resisting one key element of the proposals which would ensure the law was actually used.

Tory backbencher Richard Benyon said: 'We are in negotiations with the Government which I hope will come to fruition in the report stage (of the Bill) which is down for April.'

Former Conservative chief whip Andrew Mitchell added: 'We have been making slow but reasonable progress with the Government in trying to reach a mutually acceptable position.'

Discussions about the move - which is supported by Labour - started before the nerve agent attack in Salisbury, which left former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia fighting for their lives amid widespread suspicion of Kremlin involvement.

Mr Benyon said he believed the incident made the adoption of their amendments more likely. 'It has certainly concentrated minds', he said.

If it is accepted it will almost certainly lead to a further worsening of relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin who reacted furiously to the US legislation, imposing a retaliatory ban on the adoption of Russian children by Americans.

There was no immediate comment from the Foreign Office which is piloting the Sanctions Bill through Parliament.

If it is accepted it will almost certainly lead to a further worsening of relations with Russian president Vladimir Putin who reacted furiously to the US legislation, imposing a retaliatory ban on the adoption of Russian children by Americans

However a Whitehall source said: 'We started the process by putting it into the Criminal Finances Act 2017 and are looking at expanding it across other legislation.

'But we are clear that we will not do anything that can adversely impact the operational effectiveness of our law enforcement agencies.'

Meanwhile the Conservative Party was facing criticism after The Sunday Times reported that it had declared donations of more than 820,000 from 'Russian-linked supporters' since Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016.

Marina Litvinenko, the widow of the former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko who died in London in 2006 after being given radioactive polonium, said they should not have taken the money.

'These donations are not just from the heart and for charitable reasons. They are all calculated,' she told The Sunday Times.

There was no immediate comment from the Conservative Party.Ed Sheeran fans have been left furious following a sweltering Melbourne performance where eight people fainted from the heat.

The concert was held at Etihad Stadium on Saturday night when temperatures in Melbourne hit 35 degrees - but promoters decided not to open the site's roof.

'For the love of god please OPEN THE ROOF,' one fan tweeted.

And the overheated woman was not the only person to complain about the stifling conditions - with the stadium's management bombarded with comments online.'

Ally Meli, said she saw seven people being wheeled out of the venue after fainting

Ed Sheeran fans have been left furious following a sweltering Melbourne performance where eight people fainted from the heat

'Help a sistah out and open the roof,' another woman said.

While another fan thought to go straight to Sheeran to get the problem sorted.

'Hey @edsheeran can you ask etihadstadium to turn the aircon on,' they tweeted.

One concert-goer described the event as a 'big, smelly sweat bath' as the complaints continued to be posted online.

'How about next time opening the bloody roof!! You may not have had so many people fainting,' a woman said.

Others complained about the cost of water - which was set at $5 a bottle.

An Etihad Stadium spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the roof was closed at the request of touring management

'So many people fainted and had blood noses. Then there's all the people that just couldn't stand it so they left early or went outside to listen to him.'

Ally Meli, from Mentone told Yahoo 7 she saw seven people being wheeled out of the venue.

'I had called Etihad Stadium myself and was told that there was no air conditioner and that the promoter had chosen to keep the roof closed,' she said.

An Etihad Stadium spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia the roof was closed at the request of touring management.

'The temperature inside the stadium was not at a level that put Ed's fans at risk,' they said.

The spokesperson also said free water was being handed out to fans throughout the night in addition to free water stations throughout the stadium.Australia's multiculturalism is under threat from migrants who cannot speak English, the new Minister for Citizenship has said.

Speaking to Weekend Today, Alan Tudge said the rate of migrants who cannot speak proficient English had caused 'ethic clustering'.

He said that this was 'an early warning' sign that Australia's multiculturalism was eroding, 9News reported.

The new Minister for Citizenship Alan Tudge says Australia's multiculturalism is under threat from migrants who can't speak English and create 'ethnic clustering'

The comments come after the Government rewed its push to change the citizenship test, a battle it fought and lost last year

Mr Tudge is leading a new push from the Federal Government for migrants to face tougher language tests and to demonstrate their commitment to Australian values.

'We've been the most successful country in the world in regards to multiculturalism because it's rooted in integration,' he said.

'English language is not being spoken quite as broadly and that's often in areas of very high concentration of people from the same ethic group and people born overseas.

'Migrants need to be able to speak some basic English, they need to integrate into the community and adopt Australian values.'

Last week, Mr Tudge told the Menzies Research Centre about the Greater Dandenong area in Melbourne's south-east, where close to 60 per cent of residents were born overseas and spoke limited English.

Labor has criticised the Government's suggestion, saying the proposed changes were too harsh.

Labor has said the proposed rules are too strict and detractors have argued that if it had happened years ago, many successful Australians wouldn't be citizens

Language training programs have been cut in the last two years making it harder for new migrants to learn English, but Mr Tudge said the responsibility was on them to improve their language skills

Mr Tudge said that new arrivals had to take responsibility and develop their skills.

The English level of migrants has become a polarising issue in the last two years after the Government tried, and failed, to implement stricter provisions for citizenship last year.

Many detractors argue that if Australia had tougher English rules then the parents of a lot of current successful citizens would never have achieved citizenship under the new criteria.The grandmother of a baby girl who was fatally mauled by an aggressive Rottweiler could face charges over the one-year-old's tragic death.

Police rubbished rumours spreading in the NSW country town of Inverell that the dog jumped a fence before dragging Kamillah Jones out of a pram and attacking her.

Police said Kamillah was in the backyard of her Greaves Street home on March 3 when the pet Rottweiler savaged her, the Sunday Telegraph reports.

Her grandmother was at the house to help the family celebrate moving into their new home and had tied up her pet Rottweiler in the backyard.

Kamillah Jones was mauled to death by her grandmother's Rottweiler on March 3

The little girl, who was just 12-months-old, suffered fatal injuries and was in a critical condition when police arrived

Kamillah Jones was mauled to death by her grandmother's Rottweiler while at a family BBQ

The tragedy happened at a family barbeque at the girl's new home (pictured) in Inverell to celebrate her family moving in

Police rubbished rumours circulated (stock image)

Kamillah suffered devastating injuries in the attack and died on the way to hospital.

The dog was seized by council rangers and has since been destroyed.

Police are still trying to establish what happened.

'If there are to be any charges laid it will be after the brief has been prepared for the coroner,' Chief Inspector Rowan OBrien told the Sunday Telegraph.

According to the NSW Companion Animals Act, a dog owner can be liable for a fine of up to $11,000 if its pet attacks a person.

A GoFundMe page has raised more than $11,000 within a week to help Kamillahs funeral.

Baby Kamillah Jones died after she was mauled by a dog in a tragic incident in New South Wales

It savaged the infant at her new home in Inverell, northern New South Wales, as her family were celebrating moving in with a barbecue, a source said

'A beautiful little Angel grew her wings much too early,' family friend Alisha Lay posted on the page.

'She was loved and adored by so many. I am trying to raise funds for my dear friend as little Kamillah's passing was so unexpected and a tragic accident.

'We would love to be able to give little Kamillah the goodbye she deserves, but unfortunately did not expect and my friends family are having difficulty coming up with the finances on such short notice.'

Heartfelt tributes have been paid to the 'beautiful little angel' who was 'loved and adored by so many' and 'never got a chance to live her life'.

'Missing you heaps my little niece, fly high my angel well never forget you. You will always be in my heart beautiful,' Amy Boney said

Heartfelt tributes have been paid to the baby girl with a fundraising website set up to help her family

Neighbour Helen Bedford recently pleaded for people to stop criticising the family on social media.

'These poor parents are beyond devastated and grieving.'I watched the ambos trying to help her... I feel sick now,' she wrote:

'Please stop with the nasty comments, they don't need to see this at all.'Letters sent from behind bars by a disgraced paedophile politician who plied his young victims with heroin and cannabis before sexually abusing them have been revealed.

Disgraced MP Milton Orkopoulos, former minister for the NSW Labor party, was convicted on child sex charges and the supply of drugs in May 2008 and sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Almost a decade into his sentence at Kirkconnell Correctional Centre, near Bathurst, intimate letters Orkopoulos wrote from behind bars have surfaced.

Disgraced MP Milton Orkopoulos (outside court), former minister for the NSW Labor party, was convicted on child sex charges and the supply of drugs and sentenced to 14 years in prison in May 2008

The letters detail many complaints about prison life including inmates' accents, his recovery from a jail bashing, and the wait he faced to join a sex-offender rehabilitation program.

In his letters, sent to a high-profile former inmate, Orkopoulos, now 60, spoke about the current political environment, and Malcolm Turnbull's rise to the top.

'[The Liberal] party is stuffed  poor old Malcolm will not be given a chance to shine by the small people in the party, and he hasn't the force or personality to tell Abbott and co to get f***ed,' he wrote in December 2016, according to The Daily Telegraph.

In another letter, Orkopoulos said a fellow inmate's Chinese accent made him want to pull his hair out.

Orkopoulos also criticised the department of corrective services, comparing it to the 'mass stupidity' of the US for electing Trump.

Orkopoulos (outside court in 2008) also criticised the department of corrective services, comparing it to the 'mass stupidity' of the US for electing Trump

Almost a decade into his sentence at Kirkconnell Correctional Centre (pictured), near Bathurst, letters Orkopoulos wrote from behind bars have surfaced

In the letters, which were signed 'love Milly', Orkopoulos grieved about his inability to undergo a sex-offender program.

'I applied three years ago to the CORE moderate program and wrote every six months reminding them time was running out,' he said.

'Guess what! Time has run out. The parole [board] has approved my address for next year but I have to be 'treated' first.'

The State Parole Authority denied Orkopoulos' request for parole in January because he had not finished the sex offenders' program.

Orkopoulos became eligible for parole nine years and three months after he was jailed.An eerie 2016 text sent by a woman to her friend contained a picture of the suspected killer mere hours before he allegedly slayed a man in his Manhattan apartment.

The unnamed witness 'had a cellphone snap photo' of Lawrence Dilione, prosecutors claim during a pre-trial hearing in Manhattan's Supreme Court, the New York Daily News reported.

Along with the picture was a message containing his name, last four digits of his Social Security number and a note in case the she failed to 'make it home.'

A woman who was partying with murder suspect Lawrence Dilione (pictured) on November 13 sent an eerie text to her friend in case she didn't 'make it home'

Dilione, 29, and 26-year-old James Rackover (right), are both charged with the gruesome slaying of Joseph Comunale on November 13, 2016

The 29-year-old Dilione and James Rackover, 26, are both charged with the gruesome slaying of Joseph Comunale on November 13, 2016.

Prosecutors say that Comunale was stabbed 15 times at the alcohol and cocaine-fueled party.

'There was a lot of partying going on involving everyone,' said Dilione's lawyer Michael Pappa.

Prosecutors say that Comunale (pictured) was stabbed 15 times at Rackover's luxury apartment on the border of the Upper East Side

'It's hard to put a lot of credibility or reliability in a statement made by somebody who was under the influence of alcohol and possibly drugs.'

The killing of the 26-year-old took place at Rackover's luxury apartment on the border of the Upper East Side on East 59th Street and was said to have spawned from an argument over cigarettes.

Comunale's body was found three days later, buried in a shallow grave in Oceanport, New Jersey, where Dilione lived.

Rackover's apartment where Comunale was killed. While Dilione claimed that he knocked out Comunale, he accused Rackover of actually committing the murder

Rackover's lawyer, Maurice Sercarz, demanded a hearing to determine if the women gave credible insight into the investigation or if they were fed information from ppolice.

Sercarz added: 'They were out that evening, and the evening began at the Highline Ballroom where six people consume two bottles of Grey Goose vodka. They then went to another bar and had more to drink.'

He went further to assert that 'quantities of cocaine were consumed' and that one of the women had 'vomited in the bushes outside my client's apartment before he went upstairs.

Comunale's body was found three days later, buried in a shallow grave in Oceanport, New Jersey, where Dilione lived

Dilione and Rackover have been charged with murder, concealment of a human body, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence

Dilione and Rackover have been charged with murder, concealment of a human body, hindering prosecution and tampering with evidence.

Both have pleaded not guilty to all the counts.

Key statements Dilione made to detectives are still being determined if admissible in the trial.

NYPD homicide detective Raymond Reuther came up with the idea to put Dilione on the phone with Comunale's father and get a confession about where the body was from the suspect.

But his lawyers are trying to get those statements thrown out because they claim Dilione wasn't read his Miranda Rights.Jesse Watters, 39, is in the midst of a divorce fight with his wife of nine years Noelle, after admitting to an affair with his 25-year-old associate producer Emma DiGiovine, the New York Daily News reported on Saturday.

The up-and-coming Fox News star, who just landed his own show last year, told his bosses about the affair shortly after Noelle filed for divorce in October, sources told the outlet.

DiGiovine was transferred to work for The Ingraham Angle, but she and Watters have continued to date, sources said.

Noelle and Jesse Watters are seen at the White House in a photo posted to Facebook in 2016. The couple are in the midst of a divorce fight after Jesse Watters cheated with an employee

Watters admitted to his affair with his 25-year-old associate producer Emma DiGiovine (left and standing right with Kellyanne Conway) shortly after Noelle filed for divorce, sources say

Watters is said to be a favorite cable news personality of President Donald Trump. They are pictured together on Air Force One in March of 2017

'Within 24 hours of Jesse Watters voluntarily reporting to the Chief of Human Resources in November 2017 that he was in a consensual relationship with a woman on his staff, management met with both parties and a decision was made for the woman to be transferred to work on another program on the network where she currently remains,' a Fox News spokeswoman told the newspaper.

Watters married Noelle Inguagiato in 2009. They also met on the job at Fox News.

He was working for Bill O'Reilly's show and she worked for the advertising and promotions department and was the host of a web show called iMag Style.

In 2011, the couple had a pair of twin daughters. Noelle never returned from maternity leave, while Watters' star rose at Fox News.

Attorneys for both Noelle and Jesse Watters did not comment to the Daily News, and a woman at DiGiovine's New Jersey home declined to comment.

Known for his brash, macho and sometimes obnoxious style, Watters hosted a segment on the O'Reilly Factor that combined man-on-the street with ambush journalism.

DiGiovine worked for Watters on his Watters World segment and show since June of 2016

DiGiovine is seen with Don Trump Jr. The associate producer was transferred from Watters World to the Ingraham Angle after he disclosed their affair to higher-ups, sources said

Pals: Watters is seen left with Eric Trump and Don Jr, and right with Ivanka Trump. The Fox News host is known for his brash, macho and sometimes obnoxious style

Watters got his weekly show in January 2017. He is seen top left in a still from Saturday's episode, much of which was preempted by a rally speech from Trump in Pennsylvania

According to her LinkedIn profile, DiGiovine became Watters' associate producer in June 2016, when his segment was still part of O'Reilly's show.

Watters' humorous approach fell flat at times, such as in an October 2016 segment he filmed in New York City's Chinatown. It was panned as 'racist' after he wandered the streets asking locals if they knew karate and how often their watches were stolen.

The segment, Watters' World, was spun out into a weekly show in January 2017. It airs at 8pm on Saturdays, combining humor and political news in a fresh slant aimed at a younger audience.

When O'Reilly was ousted from the network in April 2017, over revelations that he'd secretly settled numerous sexual harassment suits, Watters also replaced Eric Bolling on The Five. Bolling himself was outsted in September over sexual harassment allegations.

Watters is said to be a favorite cable news personality of President Donald Trump, and even dined with the commander-in-chief on Monday.

Trump asked Watters and former aide Sebastian Gorka to dinner at the White House because 'he couldnt get enough of them on TV', one source told the Daily Beast.

Trump even signed the menu, which Watters tweeted a picture of. It read: 'To Jesse you are great!'A German backpacker has paid the price for stealing some groceries from a Queensland Woolworths because he was short of cash.

Moritz Gjukic pleaded guilty to failing to pay for bacon, mince and cheese from Woolworths at Hinkler Central on February 21, when he appeared in Bundaberg Magistrates Court.

He only scanned some of the items he took through the self-service checkout because he didnt have the cash to fund a barbecue for a friends birthday, according to News Mail.

The German backbacker only scanned some of the items he took through the Woolworths self-service checkout because he didnt have the cash

Moritz Gjukic stole the items because he was a 'poor backpacker'

Mr Gjukic said he was working on a local farm but was only earning on average $50 a day.

The court heard Gjukic had a budget of $60 but the groceries were expensive and he was a 'poor backpacker', according to the publication.

Magistrate Belinda Merrin fined Mr Gjukic $100 but didn't record a conviction.

The case was heard in Bundaberg Magistrates Court (pictured)She described the teachings as a valuable asset and the compass for every activity of the public security force at a ceremony held on March 11 in Bac Giang province to mark the first time the teachings were issued.



President Ho Chi Minhs teachings were part of his letter sent to Hoang Mai, the police chief of Zone 12 in 1948, which offered guidelines to police officers on how to behave towards themselves, their colleagues, the government, the people, their duty, and the enemy.



At the ceremony, the parliament speaker praised the police force for their sacrifices in protecting the safety of the people both during wartime and in the present day.



She asked them to build on their heroic tradition and overcome any weaknesses so that the public security force will remain clean, strong and disciplined, worthy of the epithet as the precious sword of the Party, State and people.



For his part, Minister of Public Security To Lam affirmed that the entire force would continue to step up the movement to follow President Ho Chi Minhs teachings while training police officers to be valiant and considerate in the service of the people.A small bar in Melbourne got an unpleasant shock recently when they received a gas bill for $8000 when their actual usage was just enough to cost $80.

The huge bill was just one of several massively-inflated estimated bills Radio bar, which is located in the inner-city suburb of Fitzroy, has received in the last 22 months.

In that two year period the bars gas bill slowly increased, with others as high as almost $7,000. '

For a small venue, with space for only 50 people and no kitchen, it was clear to owner Paul Thompson that he was being overcharged, The Age reported.

Paul Thompson, the owner of Radio Bar, knew something was wrong when he received a highly inflated bill

The bill, for just over $8000 was based on an estimated reading not an actual reading. In reality he owed just $80

Mr Thompson was not paying the huge prices without a fight, so he spent months calling the energy provider and querying the amounts, trying to work out what was going on.

A contributing factor to the high bill was that being a bar, the opening hours seemed to be outside the times when meter readers could come.

The Australian Gas Networks sends out meter readers to properties and then relays the data usage information back to AGL. When this happens users can get an accurate bill based on their own usage.

Mr Thompson said he attempted to schedule in times with AGN that they could come in the day, but he was told they don't make appointments.

With each following phone call Mr Thompson was repeatedly wedged between AGL, who swore they couldn't make meter reading appointments and AGN who eventually admitted that they could send someone out.

Within the two year period Mr Thompson was sent one bill for $6644, this time he provided his own reading and the bill was brought down to $200.

After Fairfax contacted AGL to ask why the $8000 bill had been so high, they dropped the price to $80.

He questioned how, considering his property used hardly any gas, the bill could be so large.

The bar, which is situated in Fitzroy in Melbourne is surrounded by larger restaurants which would use more gas

Mr Thompson decided to fight the bills that came over a 22 month period and eventually won

Another bill he received for almost $6000 was recharged at only $200. Mr Thompson is not the first person to be massively overcharged through estimated bills

'We got a quote from the service provider, and they basically do an estimation based on the other business in that area,' he said.

'We're near Cutler & Co, Marion and Charcoal Lane, they use a lot of gas and they're much bigger.

'There's no comparison. Who actually puts together these bills?'

Mr Thompson is just the latest person to be overcharged through companies working out bill costs based on estimation rather then an accurate reading.

'Estimated bills are based on our estimate of your energy usage (rather than an actual read of your meter). There are a number of reasons why this may happen,' the AGL website says.

The reasons why are stated as being either because the meter is apparently inaccessible or consumers have chosen to be billed monthly.

In some cases the companies will charge consumers for an actual reading, the AGL website notes.

Last year in Sydney, residents of an apartment building won an $83,000 refund from AGL after they discovered their gas bill had been estimated and they had been charged more than 15,000 per cent of their actual usage.

'You can tell if your bill is based on an estimate or an actual meter reading by looking at the Reading Type or Current Reading section on the back page of your bill,' the AGL website says.A man who infamously had sex with a dolphin after 'falling in love' with the marine mammal in the 1970s is sharing his thoughts about the film The Shape of Water, which tells a story similar to his own.

Journalist Malcolm J. Brenner wrote an autobiographical novel in 2010, Wet Goddess, about his experience with the animal, and became the subject of the documentary Dolphin Lover a few years later.

Speaking to the Huffington Post, he said that while the Academy-Award-winning film portrays similar themes to the ones in his book, the overall fantastical nature of the film makes it hard for him to relate to it.

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Journalist Malcolm J. Brenner reviewed The Shape of Water, which tells the story of a mute woman who falls in love with a fish-like creature with human features, for the Huffington Post

Brennan sees the public's positive reception of the film as proof of a double-standard in the way society treats humans who are sexually attracted to animals

Although both his story and the movie are about a human having a romantic relationship with a non-human, the situations are not really the same at all, he claimed.

He said: 'My overall impression is it was an unabashedly romantic fantasy.

'But to me, the fact that this won Best Picture, that's just astonishing. It just shows to what degree it really is fantasy.'

Throughout the interview Brennan seemed resentful of the public's acceptance of the love story between Elisa, a mute woman, and a fish-like creature who stands on two legs.

He said: 'As long as, apparently, the object of your desire is a featherless biped, we're not going to let a few gills or scales stand in the way of true romance, seems to be Hollywood's dictum. Quadrupeds? No. Animals with flukes? No. But if it looks like a man'

Brennan sees the public's positive reception of a film that shows a human and a nonhuman creature having sex as proof of a double-standard in the way society treats humans who are sexually attracted to animals.

The journalist said that while the Academy-Award-winning film portrays similar themes to the ones in his book, the overall fantastical nature of the film makes it hard for him to relate to it

Brennan earned temporary fame as a college sophomore when, he claims, a dolphin named Dolly began courting him by 'rubbing her genitals against him'. He's pictured with Dolly on a still from the documentary Dolphin Lover

'I'm sure a lot of the good liberals who criticized me for making love with a dolphin loved this film because the hero was a featherless biped. If 'the asset' had been a dolphin, it wouldn't have been anywhere near as popular,' he said.

Yet the fact dolphins don't look like humans at all is exactly why he finds them so attractive.

Brennan said: 'They don't have any legs. Their limbs are flippers. Their nostrils are a blowhole on top of their head. Their buttocks have become powerful flukes, and they can swim at 20 miles per hour.

'They are the most radically divergent and one of the oldest of all mammal species from the main mammal line. They're sleek. They're smooth. They are interested in us, usually.

'I must say, I find a dolphin a lot more sexy than that thing was. Then again, I'm not Elisa. Maybe you have to take it where you can get it.'

He said 'of course it bothered him' that people only accept relationships of this kind when its fantasy or an allegory.

'I don't like people threatening to go Lorena Bobbitt on me because I made love with a dolphin,' he added.

The journalist describes himself as a zoophile, not a bestialist, because he's 'someone who has tender or caring emotions for their animal partner'

'What I was really attracted to was her attention and the intellectual ways she challenged me, not her appearance,' he said of former lover Dolly the dolphin

Brennan earned temporary fame as a college sophomore when, he claims, a dolphin named Dolly began courting him by 'rubbing her genitals against him'.

He said: 'And if I tried to push her away, she would get very angry with me. One time, when she wanted to masturbate on my foot and I wouldn't let her, she threw herself on top of me and pushed me down to the 12-foot bottom of the pool.'

The star-crossed lovers eventually consummated the relationship - 'he vertical and she horizontal', according to what the Huffington Post says.

The journalist describes himself as a zoophile, not a bestialist, because he's 'someone who has tender or caring emotions for their animal partner' and not interested in just sex.

'What I was really attracted to was her attention and the intellectual ways she challenged me, not her appearance,' he said of former lover Dolly the dolphin.

'I must say, I find a dolphin a lot more sexy than that thing was. Then again, I'm not Elisa. Maybe you have to take it where you can get it,' Brennan said

According to Brennan, the film was only able to win the Oscar for Best Picture because its fantastic nature allowed audiences to feel comfortable with a interspecies relationship

Still, even though he took issue with the unrealistic nature of the film, he said he could understand how the main character might have felt because he too fell in love with a non-human once.

'I don't know to this day and I refuse to speculate about why she might have wanted to have sex with me or a human being in general, but somehow she devoted a lot of attention to me,' he said.

'And over time I came to find it flattering, especially when nobody else was paying any attention to me. So I can understand how Elisa in the movie felt.'

When asked if he hopes his attraction to animals will be more accepted by society after the movie's reception, he said: 'I would like to think that society will become less religious, because the prohibitions in Leviticus are the only conceivable basis for any laws against bestiality.

'I can't see that my boffing my dog has any effect on society, good or ill, as long as I'm not hurting her or abusing her. Laws against animal cruelty ought to be sufficient without criminalizing the act of interspecies sex, which organizations like PETA are trying to do.'

But he the doesn't think the film's success will help him achieve the acceptance he yearns for.

'It's so obviously a fantasy that most people won't carry the goodwill over to zoophiles like me.'Pictured: Benjamin Robb strapped to a stretcher after an altercation at Ruby Club in Pattaya, Thailand

A Thai sex worker claims an Australian man killed in a bar fight was a 'bad man' who acted sexually inappropriate towards women in the hours leading up to his death.

Melbourne's Benjamin Robb, 42, died inside Ruby Club on February 9 when he was viciously attacked by American tourist Jose Manuel Polanco, 43.

Polanco claimed he punched and kicked Robb in self-defence during a fight that broke out when he saw the Australian man strangling a sex worker to the point her face turned blue and her feet were dangling off the ground.

However the sex worker Robb allegedly strangled, denied the Melbourne man was aggressive towards her.

Melbourne's Benjamin Robb, 42, (pictured) died inside Ruby Club on February 9 when he was viciously attacked by American tourist Jose Manuel Polanco, 43

The woman said the two were just 'playing around' before Polanco threw what she said was the first and only punch.

'He was not attacking [me],' she told Thai media and AAP.

The circumstances leading to Robb's death remain grey however, with a bar manager claiming Robb was 'drunk and aggressive' before his death.

British manager of Horny Bar, Lloyd, said Robb visited his establishment for a drink before going to Ruby Club.

'He was extremely drunk and aggressive. We have one girl working here who is very small, only about four feet tall and she looks quite young,' Lloyd told News Corp.

British manager of Horny Bar, Lloyd, said Robb (pictured at Horny Bar) visited his establishment for a drink - where he accused one woman of being underage

Inside Ruby Bar where Melbourne man Benjamin Robb died on February 9

Jose Manuel Polanco, 43 (pictured) claimed he punched and kicked Robb in self-defence

'When he saw her he accused her of being underage and started yelling at everyone. We tried to calm him down by showing him her ID card but that just made him angrier and he smashed his fist down really hard on the table where she was sitting. She was really frightened.'

When Robb left Horny Bar, he walked 50m down the road to Ruby Club, where he ultimately died.

A sex worker known as Fern, said she saw Robb assault a number of sex workers during the short walk.

'I saw him walking here. He [was] making lots of trouble. Any girl on the street, he tried to touch them. He touched their boobs and [vaginas]. He [was a] very bad man,' Fern said.

Ruby Club advertises itself as the place to 'heat things up and bring a flirty mood to your night out' (establishment staff pictured)

After the fight in Ruby Club, where Polanco, 43, allegedly stomped on Robb's head repeatedly, the Australian was taken to hospital but later died from severe brain injury.

American man Polanco has been charged with manslaughter, but denied the charges claiming he was acting in self defence.

He did not apply for bail and remains in custody ahead of his court date.

Polanco was previously convicted of manslaughter over the death of a man in Miami in 1993.

Polanco handed himself into police after the altercation, and has been charged with manslaughter - but denies the charge and claims he was acting in self defence (pictured: Benjamin Robb on the floor at Ruby Club)

Pictured: Polanco's mugshot from his manslaughter with firearm charge in 1993

In a statement released by Ruby Lounge after the incident, the club said no one else was injured during the fight.

'An altercation lasting less than 20 seconds between two customers on Friday night resulted in one person being taken to hospital with serious looking injuries, which sadly resulted in him passing away in the early hours of Saturday morning,' the statement read.

'The other individual involved handed himself in to police and it is understood he is to remain in custody until a court appearance in 10 days or so.

'Whilst our thoughts remain with the victims relatives, we would also like to thank the emergency services for their prompt and professional attention in dealing with the incident.'

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Ruby Club for further comment.

The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to Robb's family.Advertisement

While some east coasters are still reeling from the second noreaster storm that dumped over two feet of snowfall in various states, meteorologists warn a third storm could hit as early as Sunday.

The snow storm will be the third wintry blast to pound the East Coast in 10 days.

The coast saw winter storms Riley and Quinn blanket several cities in up to 26 inches of snow and suffer violent thundersnow downpours that left hundreds of thousands without power.

The Global Forecast System predicts the storm will cross into the East Coast late Sunday into Tuesday, bringing with it between one to 12 inches of snow.

The snow will cross Virginia before blasting its way to DC, then into New York on Monday, according to Weather.com

On Tuesday, New England temperatures will dip low enough to see major snowfall.

However other forecasting systems, such as the Euro ENS and Euro versions, predict that third nor'easter may not hit so close the coast.

Forecasters warn that the storm is subject to change in accordance with the winds.

The snowfall is expected to hit the cities of New York, Syracuse, Burlington, and Boston. Portland is predicted to be hit with a whopping 12 feet of snow.

Monday will see temperatures in the mid 30s into the early 40s. Tuesday morning is when most of the blizzard snow is expected to fall.

A third nor'easter storm could swirl onto the east Coast with winds anticipated to begin on Sunday. Above, the weather radar for Sunday 11am

On Monday the storm in green, with his Washington DC and creep up to New York before slamming Portland, Maine

On Tuesday the wintry storm - the third in just 10 days to hit the East Coast - will hug the shore, bringing snowfall with it

Meteorologists report two potential scenarios based on two separate weather monitoring systems. The GFS model above predicts the storm will hug the East Coast shore, giving cities a direct hit

The second scenario, as predicted by the Euro model, will see the storm head away from the coast after hitting the Carolinas in the south

The East Coast can expect to see between one to 12 inches of snow, with the most expected in Portland. Weather radar above reporting snowfall outlook through Thursday

A couple walked their dog on Thursday in Portland, Maine where the city was transformed into a vision of white

Winter storms Riley and Quinn covered the city of Portland in snow, but a third Nor'easter blizzard threatens to banks of snow

Children were seen with sleds on Thursday to make use of the blizzard that rolled through Maine, with many residents still digging out of the over two feet of snow that gathered in the state

Portland's weather troubles are not yet over as the third nor'easter storm threatens to dump 12 more inches upon the city

The dire winter conditions left hundreds of thousands without power and gas stations such as this one without fuel

The snow shut down power lines that utility crew members worked on Friday to repair, above in Boxford, Massachusetts

The stunning display of snow reached up to this electrician's knees in Akron Ohio, pictured on Friday in the wake of the two winter storms that ripped across the East Coast and still impacted the Midwestern region

Scroll down to see the five-day temperature forecast:What started as a peaceful sleep has become a nightmare for one man, who drove into a petrol station in Sydney's north on Sunday morning.

The man was filmed about 5am outside a Caltex in Manly, where he had reportedly been dozing in his car which was parked in a disabled spot out the front.

A witness told Daily Mail Australia he had arrived moments after the crash, and was told by the attendant the sleepy driver had gone to leave the parking lot before driving straight into the wall.

When the witness went outside to ensure the man wasn't injured, he found him sleeping peacefully, hands in his lap and seat belt fastened.

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A man crashed into the Caltex service station at Manly early on Sunday morning (pictured)

A witness who arrived moments after the collision opened the car door, only to find the man behind the wheel fast asleep

'He was completely asleep, so I woke him up and he tried to drive off again, then he shut the door on me and fell straight back to sleep,' the witness, who has asked not to be named, said.

'It was so funny because it was such a hectic situation but he was so relaxed - he looked so peaceful.'

When the door to the Mercedes was opened by the concerned onlooker, he said lights on the dashboard were flashing, and the car looked badly damaged.

The car, a Mercedes C63 worth about $170,000, was still running when the door to the car was opened.

A spokesman from NSW Police told Daily Mail Australia officers were called about 5am on Sunday to a male sleeping in his vehicle, which had made contact with the building.

No arrests were made as the man passed a breath test, and no serious damage was done to the building.

A worker at the Caltex station said the man did not appear to be drunk at the time, and they believed he may have been suffering from a medical episode.Chuck Todd may have been called a 'son of a b***h' on live television, but it seems he may be the one with the last laugh.

The Meet the Press host was attacked by Donald Trump within minutes of the president's rally speech in Pittsburgh on Saturday night.

Trump called Todd a 'sleepy eye son of a b***h', shocking many viewers at home.

But Todd has turned the nickname into a promo for his show, encouraging viewers to set their DVRs 'before your eyes get too sleepy'.

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Trump took aim at NBC's Chuck Todd, calling him a 'sleepy eye son of a b***h', as he stood before the crowd in Moon Township, Pennsylvania (pictured) on Saturday night

It appears Trump was responding to a tweet from Todd on Saturday afternoon, directly replying to the president's calls of fake news

Todd turned the moment into a promo for his show, encouraging viewers to set their DVRs 'before your eyes get too sleepy'

'Don't miss @MeetThePress tomorrow! I know folks may be tired in the morning due to springing forward, so set those clocks and DVRs now before your eyes get too sleepy,' the full tweet reads.

Trump was referencing a 1999 appearance on Meet the Press, in which he spoke about North Korea, when he felt the need to mention Todd instead.

'Its 1999 Im on Meet the Press, a show now headed by 'Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd', the president said. 'He's a sleeping son of a b***h.'

Trump was referencing a 1999 appearance on Meet the Press, in which he spoke about North Korea, when he felt the need to mention Todd instead

Todd clearly struck a nerve with Trump, who called him out within the first few minutes of his rally on Saturday night

Earlier on Saturday Trump had claimed that the 'fake' news had changed their response to his newly announced meeting with North Korea

Todd, who responded four hours before the rally, said Trump's critique had 'no basis in fact'

Todd has not commented on Trump's new nicknames, but did retweet Washington Post reporter David Nakamura's comment on the rally.

It appears Trump was responding to a tweet from Todd on Saturday afternoon, directly replying to the president's calls of 'fake news', when he hit out at the host.

'In the first hours after hearing that North Korea's leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearization and that missile launches will end, the press was startled and amazed,' Trump had tweeted earlier in the day.

'They couldn't believe it. But by the following morning the news became FAKE. They said so what, who cares!'

Todd hit back that Trump's criticism had 'no basis in fact'.

'Even using the loose set of parameters he sometimes uses to call something a "fact" or "fake" doesn't apply on this,' the host tweeted.

'Now if he replaced "press" with "some West Wing staff", there'd be some truth in this.'

At one point during the rally Trump even claimed he has done more than any other first-term president in history

But if Twitter was any indication, many found Trump's digs at Todd and Waters to be unpresidential - especially on live television

In addition to his promo tweet, Todd retweeted Washington Post reporter David Nakamura's comment on the rally.

'Trump spoke at rally for about 75 minutes. His meeting with the South Korean delegation Thursday at which he agreed to meet Kim Jong Un lasted about 45 minutes, per sources,' Nakamura wrote.

Many found Trump's digs at Todd to be unpresidential and inappropriate for primetime television.

'Pres Trump at a Penn rally calls my colleague and friend Chuck Todd a "sleeping SON OF A B***H". Really classy,' tweeted NBC host Tom Brokaw.

'Explain that to your children,' he added.

'Yup, Trump just called Chuck Todd a "son of a b***h" just now at a rally. How presidential,' wrote Roland Scahill.

Ed Krassenstein called Trump a 'first grade bully in an old man's body'.

'This is not how the leader of the free world should act!' he added.There are concerns a Victorian man accused of murdering his partner and mother of his two children could try to kill himself in custody.

Shane Robertson, 28, is accused of fatally striking 29-year-old Katherine Haley in the head with a blunt object at Diggers Rest, in Melbourne's outer northwest, on Friday night.

He was charged with her murder on Saturday night, 20 hours after he was arrested in nearby Sunbury.

The body of young mum Katie Haley (pictured with her partner Shane Robertson) was found at her home on Friday night

The couple had two young children together and reportedly rented the home in Diggers Rest, north east Melbourne

Mr Robertson appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday, where his lawyer told the magistrate that his client urgently needed to see a psychiatric nurse.

'I am concerned about his mental state. There's some suicidal ideation,' she said.

'I have concerns of self-harm.'

Mr Robertson appeared dishevelled in the court dock, dressed in a black T-shirt and trousers with dyed hair.

The court was told it was his first time in custody.

He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to reappear in court on Tuesday (March 13).

Police were called shortly after 11pm on Friday night and found Ms Haley's body inside the property, Victoria Police said

Ms Haley's family said they'd been touched by 'an act of pure evil'.

'She did not deserve what happened to her,' a family statement sent to the Herald Sun stated.

'Our beautiful Katie girl, not only did we lose a much-loved daughter and sister, but two precious children lost their beautiful mother.'

According to the pairs Facebook pages, they had been in a relationship since August 2014.

Ms Haley is understood to be a hairdresser but was working at Castello's Victorian Tavern, a nearby pub.

Shocked friends have posted tributes online.

Police launched a murder investigation and charged Katie Haley's partner on Saturday night

'My heart breaks for your family... and most of all my heart beaks for such a beautiful person and mother gone too soon and so unnecessarily.I will miss your face and all our nail dates RIP forever beautiful. Katie Haley shine bright,' Lana Ryan posted on Facebook.

Another friend added: 'You were such a sweet caring and loving person. Your kids were so lucky to have such an amazing mother like you and it's just devastating to think that they have lost you it's just not fair. All my love and support goes out to your family.'

Tania Haley-Unwin, thought to be Ms Haley's mother, said: 'May our beautiful daughter, sister and mum rest in peace. I promise to look after your beautiful children.'

Mum of two Katie Haley, who is understood to be a hairdresser but also worked at a nearby pub, was described as a 'beautiful person'

'Our beautiful Katie girl, not only did we lose a much-loved daughter and sister, but two precious children lost their beautiful mother,' a family statement said

The couple had been in a relationship since August 2014, according to their Facebook pages

Emergency services were called to the quiet suburban street shortly after 11pm on Friday.

Mr Robertson was arrested in nearby Sunbury two hours later and spent most of Saturday being questioned by police before he was eventually charged.

Neighbours said the incident came just days after arguing and swearing had been allegedly heard coming from the house but heard nothing during the incident.

'During the week I've heard a lot of arguing,' Terry Parnis told the Herald Sun.

'It's a very quiet street, the nosiest thing we get is birds.'President Donald Trump has suggested the death penalty could be the appropriate punishment for drug traffickers.

'Think of it, you kill one person you get the death penalty, in many states,' Trump said on Saturday night at a rally in Moon Township, Pennsylvania.

'You kill 5,000 people with drugs, because you're smuggling them in and you're making a lot of money, and people are dying and they don't even do anything,' he continued.

'Then you wonder why we have a problem, and that's why we have a problem. I don't think we should play games!' he said.

'I never did polling on that, I don't know if that's popular. I don't know if that's unpopular. Probably you'll have some people who say 'Oh that's not nice', Trump continued. 'But these people are killing our kids and killing our families! And we have to do something.'

Trump remarked on Saturday night at a rally in Moon Township, Pennsylvania that the nation should consider the death penalty for drug dealers, whose products kill 'thousands'

This map shows countries with capital punishment for drug offenses in red, and countries that allow the death penalty for drug offenses only in special circumstances in yellow. The US Supreme Court has left open the possibility of death for 'drug kingpin activity'

Trump cited Singapore and China for their 'zero tolerance' policy on drugs.

In fact, 33 countries allow the death penalty for drug offenses, many of them in Asia, according to a 2012 report from Harm Reduction International.

Surprisingly, the US is among them, at least in theory.

In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled in Kennedy vs Louisiana left open the question of whether the death penalty for 'offenses against the State' including 'drug kingpin activity' would be constitutionally permissible.

The US Code authorizes a sentence of death in certain large-scale federal drug trafficking convictions, even when murder is not a component of the conviction.

But in practice, no criminal has been executed in the US for a crime other than murder since September 1964, when Alabama executed James Coburn for robbery.

The latest Gallup polls show that just 55 per cent in the US are in favor of the death penalty for murder - a decline from recent decades, but higher than the historic lows in the 1960s.

Any move to institute the death penalty for drug crimes would likely spur court challenges, as well as comparisons to Filipino strongman Rody Duerte among Trump's detractors.

This entry card issued to all foreigners visiting Singapore carries a stark warning to traffickers

Trump's call for the death penalty for drug crimes is sure to spur comparisons to Filipino strongman Rody Duerte (pictured) among Trump's detractors

Duerte has led a bloody crusade against drugs in his own country, with death squads targeting pushers and users alike.

Last year, Trump congratulated Duterte for his efforts in eradicating drugs from the country, according to a leaked transcript of their phone call.

'I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem,' Trump reportedly said in his call with Duerte.

'Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.'

In 2016, every day an average of 175 people died of drug overdoses in the US.

Drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under age 50.Terrified passengers have revealed how they 'thought they were going to die' on their flight between Alice Springs and Brisbane after they heard 'a big bang and were told to get into the brace position and prepare for an emergency landing'.

Tash Hennig was on the flight and told Daily Mail Australia she was scared she would never see her 14-year-old daughter again.

'I flipped my phone from flight mode so I could tell her to call her aunt, and that I loved her,' she said.

Darren Adams, left, and Tash Hennig, right, were on the flight - and revealed the terror after the bang, once the plane started to vibrate

'As the flight attendants went through the emergency procedures I was just crying on my partner's chest.

'After the bang there was a lot of vibrating. They didn't tell us much. I am pretty mad I thought I was going to die and so did everyone else,' she said.

Qantas has firmly denied the passengers were told to get into the brace position and said the plane was given priority landing at Brisbane, and didn't need to make an emergency stop.

A Qantas spokesperson said: 'The pilots followed standard procedure, shut down the engine, and the flight landed normally in Brisbane. Passengers disembarked shortly after.'

Ms Hennig's partner Darren Adams said the bang happened an hour and a half into the flight and then there was 'over an hour of s**t'.

The mother sent a string of messages to her 14-year-old daughter and said she thought she was going to die

'It was a fairly scary flight for a lot of people, there were more tears and concern than screaming though,' he said.

Ms Hennig said she cried quietly because she didn't want to 'be hysterical and scare the children in the seats across the aisle'.

'I made eye contact with the mother of the children - we were holding each other's stare knowing we couldn't freak out because of the kids.'

The couple claim the man in front of them, who appeared to be flying alone, was asked to come forward as flight attendants explained to him how to use the exit-row doors.

Another passenger commented on the terrifying journey

'We had a big drop in altitude and speed after the bang - I think there would have been 250 people on the flight and they were very concerned,' Mr Adams said.

Another woman spoke about the horrifying plane trip online - after returning to solid ground.

'We were an hour away from Brisbane and there was a huge loud bang and the whole plane started to vibrate,' she said.

'We waited for a few minutes before seeing any cabin crew. They were shocked and pale looking.'

When the passengers finally arrived in Brisbane they cheered.

'Someone from business class let out a hip-hip-hooray for the pilots and cabin crew, I would have joined in but I was still in shock.

'When we left the plane people were kissing the ground,' Ms Hennig said.

Engineers are inspecting the aircraft, a spokesperson has confirmed.President Donald Trump's planned meeting with North Korea could either be a failure or end up resulting in the greatest deal, he said on Saturday.

'I may leave fast, or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world and for all of these countries, including, frankly, North Korea, and that's what I hope happens,' Trump said at a political rally in Pennsylvania.

He was in the Pittsburgh area to campaign for Republican state Representative Rick Saccone, who will defend his seat against Democrat Conor Lamb in a highly-contested special election on Tuesday.

'This should've been handled, by the way, over the last 30 years. Not now,' Trump added of North Korea. 'But that's okay, because that's what we do. We handle things.'

President Donald Trump said on Saturday that his planned meeting with North Korea may be a failure or result in the 'greatest deal for the world'

The president lashed out against his predecessors - from George W. Bush to Barrack Obama - for failing to denuclearize the Hermit Kingdom.

During his remarks he also took credit for South Korea being able to host the Winter Olympics, saying it was only possible because he has reduced the nuclear threat posed by North Korea.

'President Moon of South Korea said without Donald Trump the Olympics would have been a total failure,' Trump said. 'It's true, true. You know. Might as well say it.'

He added, 'It's a little hard to sell tickets when you think you're going to be nuked.

His comments come days after the White House announced the president had accepted an invitation to meet with North Korea's autocratic ruler Kim Jung Un (left)

'But when North Korea called and said they wanted to be in the Olympics, everybody said let's get tickets and go.'

Yet despite saying the much-anticipated meeting with North Korea may be the greatest thing for the world, Trump also downplayed expectations.

'Who knows what's going to happen? It could happen, it doesn't happen,' he said.

His comments on North Korea come days after the White House announced the president had accepted an invitation to meet with the country's autocratic ruler Kim Jung Un.

South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong first announced the face-to-face and claimed it was due to take place by May.

In a message posted to his Twitter feed Friday night, Trump wrote that if a deal between the two adversaries can be reached it would be great for the world

Trump was in Pennsylvania to campaign for Republican state Rep. Rick Saccone, who will defend his seat against Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election on Tuesday

Chung says he relayed Kim's commitment to denuclearization.

However, a statement from the White House did not confirm the two-month timeframe and said the place and time of the meeting was still being worked out.

In a message posted to his Twitter feed Friday night, Trump also wrote that if a deal to arrange a summit between the two adversaries can be reached, it would be a positive development for the world.

'The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined,' Trump wrote in the tweet."For me, there is a real space to land this before the Mexican election," Ildefonso Guajardo said at the Mexican banking association's annual convention in the seaside resort of Acapulco.

Mexico, Canada and the United States last week closed the seventh round of talks aimed at modernizing the treaty.Australians holidaying in Bali are persistently offending locals by making one mistake while roaming the streets and visiting temples, a resident of ten years has revealed.

Aussie expat Rachel Bergsma - who runs cultural tours on the holiday island - has warned future travellers about the culturally insensitive behaviour many visitors are guilty of without even realising.

She said it's considered unacceptable for people to wear revealing clothing on the island, except for on the beach, News.com.au reported.

Rachel Bergsma - who runs cultural tours in Bali - said visiting Australians are persistently offending locals by making one mistake while roaming the streets and visiting temples

She said it's considered unacceptable for people to wear revealing clothing on the island, except for on the beach (stock image)

Ms Bergsma said Balinese locals are part of a conservative and religious culture, and therefore skimpy clothing should be shelved when away from the beach.

She posted her warning to Facebook with pictures of 'offensive' examples, including women wearing bikinis on the back of motorbikes.

Ms Bergsma said many Balinese people are too polite to speak up about tourists' 'inappropriate' attire.

'It is not new to Bali to see girls dressed inappropriately, it has been a problem with Europeans for a while now,' she told the publication.

'What is new ... is the latest fashion that young people wear. The shorts that show actual bum cheek and the crop tops.'

Ms Bergsma added that shirtless men are also part of the problem, which she said offends many tourists as well.

'What is new ... is the latest fashion that young people wear. The shorts that show actual bum cheek and the crop tops,' Ms Bergsma said

Ms Bergsma said Balinese locals are part of a conservative and religious culture, and therefore skimpy clothing should be shelved when away from the beach (stock image)

She said those who cruise around on bikes wearing little clothing are often branded 'stupid' by locals, but it's when scantily-clad tourists visit temples that they are most offended.

Ms Bergsma added: 'That is when locals do get pissed off.'

Tourists are asked to wear clothing that covers their knees, shoulders and stomachs when visiting temples on the island.

Ms Bergsma said locals' attitudes towards those wearing revealing clothing used to be more 'aggressive', but now they tolerate it to avoid 'scaring off' tourists altogether.An out-of-control Chinese space station with 'highly toxic' chemicals onboard that is currently hurtling toward earth may crash into lower Michigan, it has been revealed.

It is believed China's first prototype station, Tiangong-1, will come crashing back to the planet around April 3, experts say.

US research organization Aerospace Corporation revealed that parts of southern Lower Michigan are among the regions that have the highest probability of being hit by falling debris, according to MLive.com.

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While a precise landing location remains unclear, ESA has provided the latitudes between which Tiangong-1 is likely to land  and countries at risk include Spain, Italy, Turkey, India and parts of the US. ESA says no fragments will fall higher than 43N or further south than 43S

Northern China, central Italy, northern Spain, the Middle East, New Zealand, Tasmania, South America, southern Africa, and northern states in the US have been identified as the regions with higher chances.

But agencies will only know the precise date Tiangong-1 will impact and exactly where debris will fall during the finals weeks of its decline.

The doomed 8.5-tonne craft, which has been hurtling towards Earth since control was lost in 2016, is believed to contain dangerous hydrazine.

Experts from the European Space Agency (ESA), based in Paris, are among those tracking Tiangong-1, which means 'heavenly palace'.

Their Space Debris Office in Darmstadt, Germany, predicted earlier this week that it would enter earth's atmosphere between March 24 and April 19.

This narrows down from their previous estimate of March 17 to April 21.

Meanwhile Aerospace has worked in two weeks of error, one before and one after April 3, in its latest estimation.

Exactly where it will hit is slightly harder to predict, although experts agree it will be somewhere between latitudes of 43 north and 43 south.

Agencies around the world have been monitoring the doomed craft's descent. Experts from the European Space Agency give a current estimate of between March 29 and April 9 for re-entry. This narrows down from their previous estimate of March 17 to April 21

'Every couple of years something like this happens, but Tiangong-1 is big and dense so we need to keep an eye on it', Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist from Harvard University told the Guardian.

While most of it will burn up during re-entry, around 10 to 40 per cent of the satellite is expected to survive as debris, and some parts may contain dangerous hydrazine and could weigh up to 220lb.

However, due to changing conditions in space, it is not possible to accurately predict where the module will land.

In recent months, the spacecraft has been speeding up and it is now falling by around 6km (3.7 miles) a week. In October it was falling at 1.5km (0.9 miles) a week.

'It is only in the final week or so that we are going to be able to start speaking about it with more confidence,' said Dr McDowell.

'I would guess that a few pieces will survive re-entry. But we will only know where they are going to land after after the fact.'

'Remember that a 1 hour error in our guessed reentry time corresponds to an 27000 km (17000 mile) error in the reentry position,' McDowell explained in one tweet.

'And currently our estimate has a 2 week uncertainty.'

Aerospace has likewise reported that there is a 'small chance' that a 'small amount' of Tiangong-1 debris could survive reentry and have impact on the ground.

'Should this happen, any surviving debris would fall within a region that is a few hundred kilometers in size and centered along a point on the Earth that the station passes over.'

Website Satflare, which provides online 3D tracking of more than 15,000 satellites, has calculated what it thinks are the chances of the space station entering the atmosphere during the next three months.

The Tiangong-1 space station (artist's impression), which is hurtling towards Earth carrying a 'highly toxic chemical', will likely hit sometime between March 29 and April 9, revised estimates say

Aerospace Corp, a US non-profit corporation which provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions, says Tiangong-1 will re-enter the planet's atmosphere on April 3, give or take a week

According to its analysis of orbital elements gathered during the last months, the re-enter may occur in March (20 per cent), in April (60 per cent) or in May 2018 (20 per cent).

These predictions may also change as new orbital measurements will be available.

Aerospace Corp has also issued its own forecast over the likelihood of being hit by falling debris.

In a written statement, a company spokesman said: 'When considering the worst-case locations, the probability that a specific person will be struck by Tiangong-1 debris is about one million times smaller than the odds of winning the Powerball jackpot.

'In the history of spaceflight, no known person has ever been harmed by reentering space debris.

'Only one person has ever been recorded as being hit by a piece of space debris and, fortunately, she was not injured.'

On September 14, 2016, China made an official statement predicting Tiangong-1 would reenter the atmosphere in the latter half of 2017.

Experts from Aerospace's Center for Orbital and Reentry Debris Studies (Cords) have been studying the space station and in November updated their predictions for its uncontrolled re-entry.

WHAT IS THE 'HIGHLY TOXIC' CHEMICAL ONBOARD CHINA'S TIANGONG-1 SPACE STATION? A 'highly-toxic' corrosive chemical could land on Earth when parts of an out-of-control Chinese space station crash into our planet. The chemical, called hydrazine, is used in rocket fuel and long-term exposure is believed to cause cancer in humans. It is being carried aboard the Tiangong-1 space station which is hurtling towards Earth. The warning over exposure to the chemical came from Aerospace Corp, a non-profit corporation based in El Segundo, California, which provides technical guidance and advice on all aspects of space missions. Hydrazine is a colourless, oily liquid or sometimes white crystalline compound with a very highly reactive base. A 'highly-toxic' corrosive chemical could be spread over the planet when a Chinese space station crashes to Earth, experts have warned. The substance, called hydrazine, is used in rocket fuel and is believed to cause cancer in humans (stock image) It has a number of industrial, agricultural and military uses, including in rocket fuel. Symptoms of short-term exposure to high levels of hydrazine include irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, dizziness, headache, nausea, pulmonary edema, seizures, and coma, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Long-term exposure can also damage the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system in humans. The liquid is corrosive and may produce dermatitis from skin contact in humans and animals. Increased incidences of lung, nasal cavity, and liver tumours have been observed in rodents exposed to hydrazine. The EPA has classified hydrazine as a Group B2, a probable human carcinogen. Advertisement

The Tiangong-1 spacecraft launched in 2011, with the aim of using the craft to set up a larger space station.

The craft is now at an altitude of less than 300 kilometres (186 miles) in an orbit that is decaying, forcing it to make an uncontrolled re-entry.

Holger Krag, head of ESA's Space Debris Office, said: 'Owing to the geometry of the station's orbit, we can already exclude the possibility that any fragments will fall over any spot further north than 43N or further south than 43S.

'This means that re-entry may take place over any spot on Earth between these latitudes, which includes several European countries, for example.

'The date, time and geographic footprint of the re-entry can only be predicted with large uncertainties.

Website Satflare has calculated odds of re-entry in March (20 per cent), in April (60 per cent) and in May 2018 (20 per cent)

WHAT IS THE TIANGONG-1 SPACE STATION? The vehicle is 10.4 metres long and has a main diameter of 3.35 metres. It has a liftoff mass of 8,506 kilograms and provides 15 cubic metres of pressurised volume Tiangong-1 is China's first Space Station Module. The vehicle was the nation's first step towards its ultimate goal of developing, building, and operating a large Space Station as a permanent human presence in Low Earth Orbit. The module was launched on September 29, 2012. Tiangong-1 features flight-proven components of Chinese Shenzhou Spacecraft as well as new technology. The module consists of three sections: the aft service module, a transition section and the habitable orbital module. The vehicle is 10.4 metres long and has a main diameter of 3.35 metres. It has a liftoff mass of 8,506 kilograms and provides 15 cubic metres of pressurized volume. Advertisement

'Even shortly before re-entry, only a very large time and geographical window can be estimated.'

Much of the spacecraft is expected to burn up in the atmosphere upon re-entry.

But owing to the station's mass and construction materials, there is a possibility that some portions of it will survive and reach the surface.

In the history of spaceflight, no casualties due to falling space debris have ever been confirmed.

The Chinese space agency has been tracking the space station (pictured before it was launched in 2011), and vowed to issue warnings if there are any potential collisions imminent. But not everyone is convinced by thisO'Neal Mosley, 24, fell in his mother's, Darassalaam Mosley, arms in front of their Bedford-Stuyvesant home after he was shot on Saturday morning

A Brooklyn man was shot in front of his apartment on Saturday and managed to collapse into his mother's arms before dying.

O'Neal Mosley, 24, fell in his mother's, Darassalaam Mosley, arms in front of their Bedford-Stuyvesant home around 3.40am. O'Neal was shot in the torso and leg in front of the Armstrong houses.

'He said, "Mom, they shot me. I'm dead,"' a devastated Mosley, shared with the New York Daily News. 'He fell on the floor and I was kissing my son, doing CPR.'

According to neighbor, 17-year-old Karema Rincon, three shouts could be heard from outside but she 'didn't dare to look outside' out of fear for her own safety.

She added: 'I heard someone scream, "Why do you have a gun?" and then they just ran off.'

The matron Mosley had been sitting at her ground-floor home and jumped for the apartment door as soon as she heard the shots.

'My (other son) said, "Don't open the door!" I said, "My son is out there!"' she said.

And when the mother opened the door, her worst nightmares had come true when she saw her son bleeding from his stomach-area.

'He said, "Mom, they shot me. I'm dead,"' his mother said, 'He fell on the floor and I was kissing my son, doing CPR'

The neighborhood speculates O'Neal - who had just left a party in the neighborhood - was killed over a woman but his mother believes he was robbed

The heartbroken mother added: 'I'm trying to find the bullet hole but it was in his stomach. I was hugging my son. I said, '"Please son, don't die."'

And while O'Neal was rushed to Woodhull Hospital, he couldn't be revived.

The grief-stricken mother needed the help of her family to support her while she was answering questions.

O'Neal had been an honor roll student at the Urban Assembly School for Musics and Arts.

Known for his anime and map drawings, he had been working at a Target in the area, according to relatives.

He had just been paid and gotten his tax return back, with his step-father asserting that the man had $3,000 on him when he was shot

'Never missed a day of school,' his mother said. 'He was the best kid.'

People from his neighborhood speculate that O'Neal - who had just left a party in the neighborhood - was killed over a woman but his mother believes he was robbed.

'I was looking for his money,' the mom said. She added that O'Neal had not only just been paid from his job but he had also just received his tax return.

His step-father, Jeremy Mosley, claims that O'Neal had at least $3,000 on him at the time he was killed.

'It was one of his buddies that he drinks with, I guarantee that,' he said. 'He's the only one that has a job so they're trying to mooch off him.'

Mr Mosley added that 'he started hanging out with the wrong crew.'

O'Neal had been an honor roll student at Urban Assembly School for Musics and Arts and worked at TargetMegyn Kelly confessed on Saturday that she believes Putin has dirt on Donald Trump.

The NBC host recently traveled to Russia to interview the president on his home turf, for a special that will be aired Friday.

In an interview with MSNBC's Chris Matthews Saturday she said Putin 'knows some things' that the president may not want revealed into public knowledge.

When asked about Putin's position towards Trump, Kelly answered: 'I would not say that Putin likes Trump'.

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Megyn Kelly spoke with MSNBC host Chris Matthews on Saturday to reveal that after interviewing Putin, she believes he 'knows some things' about Donald Trump

The host said that she did not feel that Putin liked Trump at all adding 'I did glean that perhaps he has something on Donald Trump'

Kelly traveled to Russia last week to interview Vladimir Putin who she described as a gentleman

'I did not glean that at all from him. I did glean that perhaps he has something on Donald Trump,' she added.

She described Putin as charismatic in the interview and that off camera he puts forth the version of himself he wants the public to believe.

'A charmer is how he wishes to project. Because what you see in Putin is what he wants you to see,' she said.

When the cameras were rolling, he changed his composure to be powerful and direct.

Kelly said despite his performance tactics, he was not so skilled at concealing his distaste for the American president.

'I think theres a very good chance Putin knows some things about Donald Trump that Mr. Trump does not want repeated publicly,' she said to Matthews.

Matthews then asked if the information could be related to the dossier that linked Trump to Russia.

'My moneys not on the dossier,' Kelly said.

'I think it has to do with money and Trumps early years dealing with the Russians back in the nineties, his facilities here in the United States,' she added.

She said that she grilled Putin on screen in regards to his early deals.

Kelly said Putin's knowledge on Trump likely has to do with his dealings with the Russians in the nineties

'Not my problems': Kelly grilled Putin about Russia's meddling in the US elections in the interview, which he brushed off, saying, 'These are not my problems'

'I asked Vladimiar putin about that as well. I gave it to him pretty good on the election interference and youll see him dance a bit,' she said Matthews.

In clips teasing the interview special to be aired Friday, when Kelly asked Putin what his response would be if the 13 Russian nationals indicted for involvement in the 2016 presidential election were found guilty, he simply responded with a laugh.

'If the 13 Russian nationals plus three Russian companies did in fact interfere with our elections is that okay with you,' Kelly asked.

'I don't care, I couldn't care less,' he casually responded.

She then fired another question, asking 'Why would you allow an attack like this on the United States?'

'Why have you decided the Russian authorities, myself included, gave anybody permission to do this?' Putin shot back.

'Some names have popped up. So what? They could just as easily have been the names of some Americans who are sitting here and interfering in your own political process,' he added.

Kelly reported: 'But it wasnt Americans. It was Russians.'

Putin similarly downplayed the Russian election interference scandal in another clip from the interview, calling Robert Mueller's indictments 'yelling and hollering'.

He also said Russia would 'never, never' extradite the 13 Russian nationals.

'Russia does not extradite its citizens to anyone just like the United States. Does the United States extradite its citizens to anyone?' Putin said.

The highly anticipated special, which will be broadcasted at 10pm ET.Six-month-old Chayse Dearing suffered severe traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries in June 2016

Devastated family members of a baby bashed to death by an ice user have told him to 'rot in hell'.

Dwayne Lindsey, 34, from Melbourne was found guilty of murdering six-month-old Chayse Dearing at the Supreme Court of Victoria on Sunday.

But Lindsey showed little remorse to family members as he blew a kiss to them when the verdict was being read out.

'What I honestly think of him is that he can rot in hell,' Mariah Strahan, the boy's grandmother, said after the hearing.

'I hope the rest of his days are lived in torture, like what he did to Chayse.'

Witnesses said Lindsey had admitted punching and kicking Chayse after he 'wigged out'.

The little boy suffered a severe brain injury as well as to his spine and face and had received bruising and marks on his neck and genitals.

Lindsey claimed he fell asleep with the child on his chest, then woke and jumped when he thought a spider was crawling on him.

He claimed the baby rolled off his chest and hit his head against a wall heater.

But prosecutors challenged his claims which saw baby Chayse suffer traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries and retinal bleeding during the attack.

Chayse died two days later in hospital after the incident in Glenroy, in Melbourne's north in June 2016.

Dwayne Lindsey is taken away after being found guilty of killing his partner's six month old baby

Lindsey (right) is on trial in the Supreme Court of Victoria for the murder of Michelle Dearing's (left) baby. Lindsey denied he intended to kill the six-month-old boy, saying he fell asleep with the baby on his chest, then woke and jumped when he thought a spider was crawling on him

The court heard Lindsey had been awake for days on an ice binge and the incident came just two days after he had proposed to the boy's mother, Michelle Dearing.

Jurors took almost four days to deliver a guilty verdict.

Another witness added they heard swearing, stomping and panicked howls coming from the property.

Lindsey pleaded not guilty to murdering the baby but later admitted, through his lawyer, he may have caused Chayse's death by shaking him, The Age reports.

'It's been torture. It's been very hard to sit in court and listen to the injuries that Chayse had,' Ms Strahan told reporters.

'You can't explain what he did. None of us know why he did it, it's just obviously the evil in him.'

Prosecutor Nicholas Papas QC said Lindsey's explanation was incongruent with medical reports, which showed Chayse's death from a head injury was unlikely to have been accidental.

Ms Dearing and two of her friends had gone to Kmart after 4am.

At 8.21am, she received a call from Lindsey saying something was wrong with Chayse, that he wasn't breathing and that he had blood coming from his nose.

Michelle Dearing had left her baby Chayse alone with her new boyfriend Dwayne Lindsey in June 2016. She told the court today that she and Lindsey were planning to get married

Melissa Jones told the court how she'd been at Kmart with Ms Dearing when Lindsey called them, saying 'Chayse wasn't breathing'.

'I heard Michelle screaming my name and I knew something was wrong,' she said.

Ms Jones said she called triple zero, and she returned home with Ms Dearing and another woman to find 'medics working on Chayse'.

'Michelle collapsed in the doorway of my bedroom. She was in shock basically.'

'It was an emotional, chaotic scene when Ms Deary and the others got back,' Mr Papas told the court.

Melissa Jones told the court how she'd been at Kmart with Ms Dearing when Lindsey called them, saying 'Chayse wasn't breathing'

'She (Ms Dearing) was overcome with emotion and collapsed.

'Ms Deary noted Chayse had been changed from his blue Ralph Lauren onesie into a white fluffy onesie with bear ears on the hood,' the prosecutor said.

It is also alleged Lindsey later told a witness he had, in fact, struck and kicked the baby.

Defence barrister Scott Johns said Lindsey did not intend to kill the child.

'Whatever you think of Dwayne Lindsey, he's not a murderer.

'None of his actions came from an intention to cause any harm at all,' Mr Johns said.A teenager is in a critical condition following a horrific crash where he was a passenger of a car that skidded off a country road and collided with a tree in New South Wales.

The 17-year-old was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in a helicopter on Saturday with life-threatening head injuries and remained critical on Sunday.

The driver, also 17, escaped with just concussion and was taken to the Port Macquarie Hospital for a blood and urine sample.

A 17-year-old passenger of a Nissan Pulsar (pictured) suffered horrific injuries in a horror crash on Saturday

The driver, also 17, escaped with just concussion and was taken to the Port Macquarie Hospital

His car was travelling south on Crowdy Head Road, near Taree, when it left the road and hit a tree at 3.20pm on Saturday.

Police, paramedics and the Rural Fire Service assisted at the scene as the road was closed for more than four hours.

The serious crash is one of many during a horror weekend on New South Wales roads which has left five dead.

The 17-year-old was airlifted to John Hunter Hospital in a helicopter on Saturday and remained critical on Sunday

On Saturday, a man died when his motorcyclist hit a tree on Alpine Way Geehi, 40km west of Jindabyne.

A teenage girl, 17, also tragically died Saturday following a cash on the north coast on Friday. The Holden Barina she was driving collided with a truck on Beechwood Road, near Port Macquarie.

At 11.15pm Friday, a 29-year-old woman was killed when she was struck by a Toyota Landcruiser on Pooncarie Road at Wentworth. The driver, 50, escaped uninjured.

The incident follows a horror weekend on state roads since Friday, with five people losing their lives

An 88-year-old died after his Toyota sedan crashed with a white Volvo on the Pacific Highway at Broadwater just before 7pm on Friday.

Also on Friday, a 46-year-old died after the car he was driving collided with a truck on the M1 at Mount White.

Police urged all road users to rethink their driving behaviour and stick to speed limit.A California man was arrested Saturday for allegedly shooting dead a police officer and wounding another during a 15-hour standoff with a SWAT team.

Isaias De Jesus Valencia, 39, was identified by the Pomona Police Department as the man who allegedly shot and killed Officer Gregg Casillas, 30, Friday night.

A second officer was also shot in the face, authorities said on the department's Twitter and Facebook pages.

'Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of our brother, Officer Gregg Casillas,' the department said on Twitter.

Isaias De Jesus Valencia (pictured), 39, was arrested in California for allegedly shooting dead Officer Gregg Casillas and wounding another cop during a 15-hour standoff with a police SWAT team

Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies escortaed the handcuffed man suspected of fatally shooting Casillas to a waiting car

Casillas, a married father-of-two was sworn in just six months ago.

The incident began at 9.04pm Friday night when authorities received a call about a reckless driver, police said. Casillas and his partner responded and attempted to pull the driver over, but he did not yield.

Casillas (pictured) and a partner responded to a call about a reckless driver and attempted to pull him over, but he didn't yield

A short vehicle pursuit ended in a traffic collision, and the suspect fled on foot.

The officers gave chase as he ran into an apartment complex, according to police.

The suspect then barricaded himself inside a an apartment bedroom. As the officers yelled at him through the door to surrender, he fired through the door, striking Casillas.

His partner grabbed Casillas by the vest and tried to pull him to safety, and was struck by gunfire in the face in the process.

Both officers were transported to a hospital, where Casillas was pronounced dead.

His training officer was in serious condition and underwent surgery, but is expected to survive.

Deputies with the LA Sheriff's Department Special Enforcement Bureau worked with Pomona cops to smoke out the suspect.

Meanwhile, SWAT teams from the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department took over at the scene, and surrounded the apartment.

The standoff dragged on through the night. Speaking though megaphones, cops intermittently ordered the suspect to come out. Flash-bang grenades were also used.

Late Saturday morning, the suspect was taken into custody. Photos from the scene showed a male wearing only underwear and handcuffs being escorted by heavily armed police.

Local police and fire departments turned out in force to pay tribute to the fallen officer.

A short vehicle pursuit ended in a traffic collision, and the suspect fled on foot. The officers gave chase as he ran into an apartment complex. The suspect then barricaded himself inside a an apartment bedroom. Casillas is pictured fourth from right

As the officers yelled at him through the door to surrender, he fired through the door, fatally striking Casillas. An officer pictured at the scene of the incident

His partner grabbed Casillas by the vest and tried to pull him to safety, and was struck by gunfire in the face in the process. Both officers were transported to a hospital, where Casillas was pronounced dead. Officers hug after the arrest of Valencia

Members of the SWAT team are pictured at the scene of the tragic shooting

First responders lined the roads and crowded onto overpasses to salute as Casillas' body was transported from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the coroner's office

First responders lined the roads and crowded onto overpasses to salute as Casillas' body was transported from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the coroner's office.

Casillas had always dreamed of becoming a police officer, and joined the Pomona Police Department as a records specialist in December 2014, Police Chief Michael Olivieri Jr said.

He then took a position as a jailer in September 2015, and was finally sworn in as a police officer in September 2017.

Olivieri said that Casillas was just days away from completing his field training when he died.

Casillas (far left) had always dreamed of becoming a police officer, and joined the Pomona Police Department as a records specialist in December 2014. Flowers were sent to the Pomona Police Department

Casillas was just days away from completing his field training when he died

The Pomona Police Department thanked the public for their support on social media as they 'mourn the loss of their brother'. Casillas' badge is pictured over flowers

Valencia was booked on suspicion of murder of a police officer and attempted murder of other officers. He is being held on $1 million bail.

Valencia's neighbor told Heavy that the suspect was someone who 'fed the homeless'.

Valencia (pictured) was booked on suspicion of murder of a police officer. He is being held on $1 million bail

The neighbor said Valencia 'would do anything to help anyone'.

He said Valencia served in the military, and believes the tragedy could've been prevented through mental health programs.

The Pomona Police Department thanked the public for their support on social media.

'We are deeply moved by the love and support we have received from our law enforcement brothers and sisters, our community and people across the US during this difficult time,' the department wrote.

Casillas' death comes less than a week after Officer Christopher Ryan Morton was killed by a suspect in Clinton, Missouri.

Morton, 30, was hit when he and and two other officers were sent to the wrong address while responding to a 911 call made from another town, according to police scanner communications.

The suspected gunman, 37-year-old James Waters, barricaded himself inside the home after the initial hail of gunfire.China's rubber-stamp lawmakers have passed a historic constitutional amendment that abolishes term limits and will enable President Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely.

The National People's Congress' nearly 3,000 hand-picked delegates endorsed the constitutional amendment on Sunday, voting 2,958 in favour with two opposed, three abstaining and one vote invalidated.

The move reverses the era of 'collective' leadership and orderly succession that was promoted by form Deng Xiaoping to ensure stability following the turbulent one-man rule of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong.

Delegates of the National People's Congress applauded after each vote on the constitutional amendment to lift the limit of two five-year terms for the presidency.

China's rubber-stamp lawmakers have passed a historic constitutional amendment that abolishes term limits and will enable President Xi Jinping (pictured) to rule indefinitely

The slide toward one-man rule under Xi has fuelled concern that Beijing is eroding efforts to guard against the excesses of autocratic leadership and make economic regulation more stable and predictable.

Xi, 64, stood up first at the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box.

The first constitutional amendment in 14 years had been expected to breeze through the legislature, which has never rejected a Communist Party diktat in its half-century of existence.

The presidency is a largely ceremonial office, but the constitutional limits meant Xi would have had to give it up in 2023.

'This is the urgent wish of the common people,' Ju Xiuqin, a delegate from northeastern Heilongjiang province, said, echoing party claims that the amendment had the unanimous support of 'the masses'.

The parliament also approved the addition of Xi's guiding political philosophy - Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era - into the nation's constitution.

Xi stood up first at the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box (left), while delegates applauded after every vote

Mao and Deng are the only other leaders to have their names alongside their guidelines in the constitution, while Xi Jinping Thought was added to the party's constitution last year.

Xi has consolidated power since 2012 when he was appointed to the country's top office: general secretary of the Communist Party.

While the position has no term limits, his two predecessors both gave it up after two terms as part of an orderly process established by Deng.

But with the new amendments, Xi could now have a lifetime to push his goal of turning China into global economic powerhouse with a 'world-class' military by mid-century.

His rise has been accompanied by tighter restrictions on civil society, with the detention of activists and lawyers, and stricter limits on the already heavily controlled internet.

The National People's Congress endorsed the constitutional amendment on Sunday, voting 2,958 in favour with two opposed, three abstaining and one vote invalidated

At the same time, he gained a measure of popularity among Chinese people through a relentless crackdown on corruption that has punished more than a million party officials, and sidelined potential rivals.

'I think that during the past five years, he has been carrying out a soft coup, including making the Politburo a mere figurehead,' Chinese political commentator Wu Qiang said, referring to the 25-member Communist Party body one level under the ruling council.

'He wants to prevent power from falling into the hands of technocrats like Jiang (Zemin) and Hu (Jintao),' Wu said, referring to Xi's two predecessors.

While attention has focused on the term limits, the amendments also include major provisions that will engrave Xi's eponymous political mantra in the constitution and hand the Communist Party an even larger role in the country's affairs.

Military delegates arrive for a vote on constitutional amendments at the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing

Delegates in ethnic minority costumes arrive for the National People's Congress where the constitutional amendments were ratified

Xi Jinping becomes the most powerful man since Chairman Mao The vote makes Xi Jinping Chinas most powerful ruler since Mao Zedong. It also undoes the system of collective leadership introduced to avoid a repeat of Chairman Maos long and bloody reign. The founding father of the Peoples Republic of China, Mao ruled from when he seized power in 1949 to his death in 1976. He introduced dramatic and disastrous reforms as he established his own brand of Communism. The Great Leap Forward  a mass mobilisation of labour to improve production  resulted in famine and the deaths of millions. In 1966 Mao launched the Cultural Revolution to purge the country of opponents. It crippled the economy and thrust China into ten years of turmoil, bloodshed and hunger. It also saw the imprisonment of a huge number of citizens. His final years saw attempts to build bridges with the US, Japan and Europe, but his reputation could never be restored. Such was Maos devastating impact that in 1982 a law was passed limiting presidents to two terms. Its reversal yesterday will raise fears of a return to the horrors of Maos reign. Advertisement

The Communist Party says the move merely aligns the presidency with the limit-free titles of party secretary and military chief, claiming 'the masses' unanimously called for the removal of term limits.

But the proposal was kept secret until it was revealed in a state media report on February 25, a week before the legislature's opening session.

The party later disclosed that Xi had presided over a meeting of the Politburo in September during which the leadership decided to revise the constitution.

The party then sought proposals and opinions, culminating in a decision in late January to introduce constitutional amendments at the NPC.

'Xi Jinping has presided over so many important projects such as economic reforms and the fight against corruption. There was a consensus that we supported him having more time to finish his work,' said Dou Yanli, a delegate from eastern Shandong province.

Delegates arrive for the National People's Congress to vote on the amendments, which were revealed in a state media report last month

The surprise move triggered a backlash online, prompting censors to block phrases and words such as 'I disagree' and 'emperor' and the image of Winnie the Pooh, the cartoon bear to which Xi has been compared.

Activists fear that removing term limits may lead to a further tightening of already strict controls on media, civil society and religion, as Xi tries to impose his highly ideological vision of socialism on every aspect of society.

Beijing-based activist Hu Jia, who says authorities forced him to leave the capital during the congress, called the amendment 'illegal'.

'Xi asked all people to obey the constitution, and then used the amendment to place himself above it. He used the constitution as the ultimate legal weapon that binds officials and all citizens.'

Xi is the first Chinese leader to have been born after 1949, when Mao's Communist forces took over following a protracted civil war.

The purging of his father led to years of difficulties for the family, but he nevertheless rose through its ranks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping talks to Chinese Politburo Standing Committee member Li Zhanshu while holding his ballot

Xi Jinping, pictured drinking beer with David Cameron in 2015 (left) and meeting Donald Trump at a G20 summit in Germany last year (right), has consolidated power since 2012

Beginning as a county-level party secretary in 1969, Xi climbed to the governorship of coastal Fujian province in 1999, then party chief of Zhejiang province in 2002 and eventually Shanghai in 2007.

That same year, he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee.

Following Mao's disastrous economic campaigns and the bloody 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the Communist leadership sought to prevent further chaos by tempering presidential power through a system in which major personnel and policy decisions were hashed out by the ruling Politburo Standing Committee.

The move helped prevent political power from becoming too concentrated in the hands of a single leader but was also blamed for policy indecision that led to growing ills such as worsening pollution, corruption and social unrest.

The parliament also approved the addition of Xi Jinping Thought into the nation's constitution, after it was approved at a party congress last year (pictured)

But 'Xi Dada' ('Big Uncle Xi'), as he has been dubbed by Communist propaganda, has broken sharply with that tradition since taking over as president in 2013 and now looms over the country in a deepening cult of personality.

Xi was named party secretary general and chairman of the party commission overseeing the military in 2012.

Over the subsequent months he added the titles of president and head of the government commissions overseeing the military.

In 1987 he married Peng Liyuan, a singer with the People's Liberation Arts troupe who was a familiar face to television audiences for her soulful renderings of patriotic folk songs.A man on a disability pension living in a Melbourne public housing unit was brutally bashed with a timber plank early on Saturday morning for the sake of an iPad.

Four young men of African appearance stormed into the home around 3am through an open back door while one repeatedly struck the man on the head and torso with a wooden plank.

It took the men only five minutes to break into the Collingwood home on Vere Street, raid the unit and leave with a stolen iPad, Nine News reported.

Scroll down for video

Adam, a 41-year-old man on a disability pension, (pictured) suffered fractured ribs, cuts and bruises from the assault with a timber plank and now feels unsafe to live in his home

Adam, a 41-year-old man whose last name has not been disclosed, had only moved into the home three months ago.

'These guys were motivated  these guys were crazy,' he told Nine News.

Adam said the men shouted 'where's your camera system, where's your camera system' over and over again.

He suffered fractured ribs, cuts and bruises from the assault and now feels unsafe to live in his home.

'I don't want to live here, I want to leave, I don't want to be here anymore,' he said.

Adam's mother, Adela, said her son was targeted because he was a vulnerable disability pensioner.

'I don't want to live here, I want to leave, I don't want to be here anymore,' Adam told Nine News

'It was really quite upsetting to see him in that state, he was terribly, terribly upset,' she said.

The attackers fled the scene but were captured on the property's security camera.

Police are now reviewing the footage of the incident, with investigations ongoing.

The Yarra Criminal Investigation Unit told Daily Mail Australia that they are continuing to make further enquiries.

Adam, a 41-year-old man whose last name has not been disclosed, had only moved into the home three months ago

The home robbery comes after a spate of recent reports of teenage thugs clad in red hoodies and bandanas causing havoc in Melbourne.

Youths in Melbourne's south-east are known as the Reds, and have been reportedly linked to a series of assaults, robberies and thefts.

Melbourne's problem with gangs has been widely documented and reported over the summer.

A series of crimes believed to be linked to African gangs came to a head in January.

Mostly Sudanese youths are accused of stealing cars, invading homes and businesses, and theft.

Four young men of African appearance stormed into the home around 3am through an open back door while one repeatedly struck the man on the head and torso with a wooden plank. Adam held a t-shirt to his bleeding head after the offenders left (pictured)

The crime spree has even prompted some residents to fork out $10,000 on security systems for their homes.

The Menace To Society gang, whose presence emerged after the earlier exploits of the more prominent Apex gang, are believed to be linked to several crimes in the Tarneit area, 25km west of Melbourne.

One woman was reportedly hit across the face when 14 men ransacked her home in Hillside, in the city's far north west.

Alleged Apex gang kingpin Mahmoud Taha, 21, was jailed last week for organising three armed heists.A graduate is suing her university for 60,000 over her 'Mickey Mouse' degree in international business strategy.

Pok Wong, 29, claims that Anglia Ruskin University made fraudulently misleading claims in its prospectus about high-quality teaching and career prospects.

She is seeking damages for a breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation, according to the Telegraph.

Ms Wong also claimed on Facebook that she was 'forcibly removed' from the stage during her graduation day for protesting about the quality of her course.

Her legal action is part of a growing trend by students seeing themselves as 'customers' who demand certain expectations are met, particularly after the rise in tuition fees.

Pok Wong is suing Anglia Ruskin University for 60,000 in damages for a breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation. She also claims she was 'forcibly removed' from the stage during her graduation day (pictured) for protesting about the quality of her course

The case is reminiscent of Faiz Siddiqui, an Oxford graduate who tried to sue his university for 1million in compensation after claiming bad teaching cost him a top degree.

Mr Siddiqui, 39, had his case thrown out after a High Court judge ruled the teaching was of a 'perfectly adequate standard'.

Ms Wong said in documents lodged before London County Court: 'Since graduating ... it has been proven that the degree  does not play a role to help secure a rewarding job with prospects'.

She added that the prospectus claims about employment prospects and education quality encouraged her to move from Hong Kong to Cambridge to study.

The 60,000 she is asking for includes her tuition fees and living costs during the two-year course.

Ms Wong told the Sunday Telegraph: 'Although I graduated with a First Class degree in 2013, it is a Mickey Mouse degree.

'I hope that bringing this case will set a precedent so that students can get value for money, and if they don't they get compensated. Anglia Ruskin talked a good talk, but then didn't deliver.'

The 29-year-old is asking for 60,000 to cover her tuition fees and living costs. She claims she ended up with a 'Mickey Mouse degree' in international business strategy

She claims that the prospectus fraudulently claimed the business school was a 'renowned centre of excellence' and students would be 'well equipped' for jobs - despite it ranking poorly in four university guides between 2010-11.

Lawyers for the university have said the prospectus did not form a 'real' contract with students and so tuition fees should not be refunded.

They also added that Ms Wong may have struggled to get work because she spent 'time and energy' on a campaign discrediting the university.

A spokesperson for the university said: 'Her complaints have been through the full Office of the Independent Adjudicator [the body that deals with student complaints] process.

'She then made a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office, which was rejected after a thorough investigation. Subsequently she has launched legal action against us and has been required to pay our costs at an earlier hearing.

'As this case is before the court we will not be saying anything further at this stage.'

Last year six universities were told to take down certain marketing claims by the Advertising Standards Authority.

One of the universities, the University of Leicester, was told to stop claiming it was a 'top 1% world university'.

Although they claimed it was based on its ranking in several different world league tables, the university complied with the decision and removed the claim from its prospectus and website.Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, joins a panel discussion with the deputies from southwestern municipality of Chongqing at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 10, 2018. (Xinhua/Sheng Jiapeng)

BEIJING, March 10 -- President Xi Jinping on Saturday underlined a "clean and upright" political ecology and urged leading officials to uphold rule of law.

Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, compared political ecology to natural ecology that can be easily polluted and, if damaged, will cost a huge price to be rehabilitated, at a panel discussion with deputies to the 13th National People's Congress from southwestern municipality of Chongqing.

Xi stressed that a clean and upright political ecology is an essential requirement for safeguarding the authority and centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, an urgent need for ensuring full and strict governance over the Party, and a vital guarantee for fulfilling reform and development targets.

Leading officials should demonstrate leadership and set an example, he said.

Xi urged them to uphold rule of law, oppose rule of man, hold in awe of the Constitution, and exercise their duty within the boundaries of the Constitution and laws.

They were asked to abide by political rules, safeguard the authority and centralized and unified leadership of the CPC Central Committee, and absolutely implement the Party's lines, principles and policies, and decisions by the CPC Central Committee.

Leading officials should also promote core socialist values and prevent relapse of negative elements in traditional values, he said.

Xi emphasized the need for three virtues.

The first and foremost is setting the political virtue. Officials should stay firm with their political ideals and convictions, enhance Party consciousness, and make a clear stance on key issues, Xi said.

He said the officials should also maintain good public virtue. They should commit themselves to serving the people whole-heartedly and deliver the promise of striving for the people's needs for a better life.

Xi continued to say that the officials should strictly guard the individual virtue by restraining themselves from corruption and pleasure-seeking.

He warned that an official should keep both himself and the whole family "clean".

"Don't let pillow talk lead you down to corruption. Don't let your children engage in self-dealing using your name. Don't be dragged into the 'muddy water' by people around you," Xi warned.

He said officials should strengthen self control, not to be tempted by even the slightest profit and not to be confused among all sorts of seduction.

"Officials should never indulge themselves, never cross the line, never break the rule, and improve immunity to corruption," he said.

Other Chinese leaders Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu and Zhao Leji also joined panel discussions with NPC deputies.

Speaking to deputies from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Li Keqiang called for implementation of the country's "go west" strategy to make the region an inland pioneer in reform and opening up. He also asked the region to improve business environment by consistently deepening reforms, improve living standards, and resolutely secure a victory in poverty alleviation.

Meeting with deputies from Yunnan Province, Li Zhanshu said he hopes the province will build itself an exemplary region in promoting ethnic unity and progress, ecological development, as well as a center of opening up towards South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Joining deputies from Tibet Autonomous Region, Zhao Leji said the campaign against the mentality and action of privilege seeking should be continued. He called for actions against formalities for formalities' sake, bureaucratism and various kinds of misconduct, so as to keep the pressure on conduct problems.Vladimir Putin's government has linked the attempted murder of Russian spy Sergei Skripal to the deaths of three exiled enemies of the Krelim.

The Russian Embassy posted a sarcastic tweet to say it was a 'coincidence' both Skripal and Alexander Litvinenko - who was poisoned with polonium in 2006 - worked for MI6.

They also suggested the deaths of government official Boris Berezovsky and whistleblower Alexander Perepilichny were connected because they were 'linked to US special services'.

The Embassy tweeted: 'What a coincidence! Both Litvinenko and Skripal worked for MI6.

The Russian Embassy posted this sarcastic tweet and has linked the Sergei Skripal attack to three deaths of people who either worked for MI6 or UK special services

Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in London in 2006, three weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210

'Berezovsky and Perepilichny were linked to UK special services. Investigation details classified on grounds of national security.'

It comes as Home Secretary Amber Rudd chaired an emergency Cobra meeting on Saturday to discuss the poisoning of 66-year-old Skripal and his daughter Yulia, 33.

The pair are still in a critical condition after being poisoned by a nerve agent in Salisbury city centre last Sunday.

Ms Rudd said it was still 'too early' to say with certainty who was behind the poisoning that left the former Russian military intelligence agent and his daughter in a critical condition.

Rudd said the investigation has been painstaking and involved more than 250 counter-terrorism officers.

More than 240 pieces of evidence have been collected and 200 witnesses have been identified, she added.

Former KGB agent Mr Litvinenko died in London in 2006, three weeks after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that the killing of Mr Litvinenko, an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, had 'probably' been carried out with the approval of the Russian president.

Boris Berezovsky (pictured) was found hanged in 2013 and was an exiled Russian oligarch and people that knew said it was hard to believe he would have committed suicide

Alexander Perepilichny (pictured) live in Surrey and collapsed after he went for a run near his home

Mr Berezovsky was found hanged in 2013 and was an exiled Russian oligarch and critic of Putin.

Yuri Felshtinsky co-wrote the book, Blowing Up Russia, with Litvinenko and said 'all those who knew him believe it is difficult to think he would have committed suicide.

Meanwhile, Mr Perepilichny, who had been investigating a Russian money-laundering scheme linked to the Krelim, collapsed after going for a run near his home in Surrey in 2012.

And the suggestion the three deaths are linked to the Skripal poisoning means relations between Moscow and London have reached a new low.

Meanwhile, Sir Andrew Wood, Britain's former ambassador to Russia, said he was certain the nerve agent attack was sanctioned from within Russia.

The Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury (pictured) remains closed off after Skripal and his daughter were eating there on Sunday

Home Secretary Amber Rudd (pictured at in Salisbury) said the investigation involves more than 250 counter-terrorism officers

He told the Guardian: 'It's a terrible thing to have done. It's typical of the state that Russia is in and it's very hard to see what profit they can get from this.

'It advertises the fact that they are vindictive and dedicated to pursuing revenge.'

Sir Andrew also said the UK could expel the Russian ambassador from the country in retaliation after the poisoning.

He said ministers could make the move if Moscow was shown to be behind the Cold War-style attack.

Soldiers were seen at the South Western Ambulance Service station on Saturday after a vehicle was winched on to the back of an Army low-loader and taken away.

The Ministry of Defence said armed forces personnel would be returning to the city for a third day on Sunday.

Cordons remain in place at a host of locations across the city, including Mr Skripal's house and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.A toddler is fighting for his life in hospital after an alleged drug driver ran over the two-year-old boy on a driveway in the Hunter Valley.

Emergency services raced to the scene on Saturday evening in Woodberry, central New South Wales, when the little boy was hit and suffered severe internal injuries.

The driver, a 22-year-old woman, has been charged with dangerous driving after she is believed to have returned a positive mandatory drug test.

CCTV footage shows the harrowing moment the little boy disappears behind at the house in Woodberry, NSW

A boy points out the moment when a car reverses allegedly knocking over the two-year-old child

The boy needed surgery at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle and remains in a critical condition, police said.

A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia the boy received 'serious internal injuries and internal bleeding'.

CCTV footage shows the harrowing moment the little boy disappears behind the car, which police said was a Holden Commodore.

Earlier footage shows a group of children playing in the front yard of the suburban property.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and a boy was taken in for surgery which lasted seven hours

It happened at around 6.30pm when the woman was picking up her own three-year-old child from the house, NSW Police Inspector Alan Janson said.

Police arrested a woman they claim was driving the car, who has been named as Jessica Williams, according to Seven News.

Inspector Janson added: 'She has lost sight of the two-year-old when she reversed out of the driveway.

'It's one of those incidents which is a very tragic and sad accident.'

The little boy underwent surgery for seven hours and his parents remain by his bedside on Sunday waiting for news, according to the broadcaster.

The boy's parents are reported to by their son's bedside at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle

Officers from the Port Stephens and Hunter Police District carried out investigations at the scene.

A police statement said the woman arrested at another nearby address in Woodberry.

Ms Williams has been accused of several alleged offences including driving with drugs in her system, causing grevious bodily harm and driving dangerously.

She has been granted bail and will appear before Maitland Local Court on March 28 to answer the charges.A man is coping with Queensland floods in true Australian style, drinking beer and fishing from the roof of his underwater house.

The moment he enjoyed some recreation on top of one of 200 homes underwater from the floods in Ingham, North Queensland was captured on video .

Sitting on top of the underwater house in a black deckchair wearing a red shirt and hat, he relaxes with no shoes on as he holds up his drink.

A man (pictured) relaxes with no shoes on as he holds up his beer on the roof of a flooded house

Looking casual, he pauses to sip his beer as he dips his rod in the water looking for a catch.

Miraculously, he captures what appears to be a fish but then swings his rod back into the water and lets go of his prize catch.

More than 200 homes were inundated at Ingham, Queensland where flood waters started to recede on Saturday.

He dips his rod into the water an captures what appears to be a fish (pictured) but then swings his rod back into the water

A major flood warning remained in place for parts of north Queensland on Sunday afternoon, where about 70 young school students are trapped by floodwaters.

The region between Cairns and Townsville was declared a 'disaster' by the state government and a 'catastrophe' by the Insurance Council of Australia.

More than 700mm of rain fell in a number of catchment areas in four days, with The Boulders, south of Cairns, receiving 1009mm in the seven days leading up to 9am on Saturday.

School students were trapped at a camp near Tully, North Queensland and were expected to airlifted by the military Sunday afternoon.

More than 200 homes were inundated by floodwater at Ingham, Queensland, where the man enjoyed a sip of beer on a roof

The region between Cairns and Townsville was declared a 'disaster' by the state government and a 'catastrophe' by the Insurance Council of Australia

About 70 young school students are trapped by floodwaters and were expected to be airlifted by military helicopters on Sunday afternoonWaitrose is offering a gender-neutral card for Mother's Day in a bid to make the celebration more inclusive.

The supermarket is offering cards celebrating 'Happy You Day' in its range of Mother's Day gifts in order to make them appropriate for transgender people.

It comes alongside a Scribbler card reaching out to same-sex couples with the message: 'Two Mums Are Better Than One'.

Waitrose said the idea was 'broadening out who the cards can go to, whether it's grandmas or transgender mums', according to the Sunday Times.

Waitrose offering cards celebrating 'Happy You Day' in its range of Mother's Day gifts in order to make them appropriate for transgender people

Another Scribbler card is also intended for transgender parents, carrying the message: 'Dad, thanks for being the most amazing mum.'

Transgender campaigner Karen Pollock said the traditional name, Mothering Sunday, was more inclusive as anyone could be considered as 'mothering'.

Some schools have also adopted more gender-neutral forms of the Mother's Day name.

Consett Junior School in County Durham refers to Special Person's Day on its website, as does Heltwate School in Peterborough.

Scribbler has also released alternative Mother's Day cards reaching out to transgender parents and same-sex couples

Columnist Emma Teitel has previously called for the celebration to be renamed as 'Guardian's Day.'

It comes after calls in Germany for the country's national anthem to be made gender neutral by replacing the word 'fatherland with 'homeland'.

Meanwhile Scout leaders were told in December to avoid referring to children as 'boys' and 'girls' to ensure transgender members were not offended.

Official guidelines instruct leaders to use 'gender-neutral' phrases such as 'hello, everybody' when addressing Scout troops.The widow of a man killed in London by Russian spies has produced a letter from then-Home Secretary Theresa May in which she promises 'such a crime would never be repeated'.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Marina Litvinenko said she was shocked to learn that ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury last week.

Her late husband, former Russian spy Alexander, died in 2006 after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 that had been slipped into his tea.

An inquiry later found that he was probably murdered by agents of the Russian state on the orders of Vladimir Putin.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Marina Litvinenko said she was shocked to learn that Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury last week

Her late husband, former Russian spy Alexander, died in 2006 after being poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 which had been slipped into his tea

Marine said: 'After this meeting I received a letter (pictured). At the end it said, 'I and this Government must continue to pursue justice for your husband's killing and that we will take every step to protect the UK and its people from such a crime ever being repeated'

She told Andrew Marr: 'I believed it would never, ever happen again after the public inquiry provided evidence of the death of my husband.'

Mrs Litvinenko added: 'We had a meeting [with Theresa May] and a discussion about what we might achieve after the public inquiry verdict.

'After this meeting I received a letter. At the end it said, 'I and this Government must continue to pursue justice for your husband's killing and that we will take every step to protect the UK and its people from such a crime ever being repeated'.

'Unfortunately, it happened again. It means something was not done.'

It comes a week after Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury.

Police investigating the attack have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence, Amber Rudd said.

The Home Secretary revealed the scale of the probe as investigators are said to have found traces of the chemical weapon at the Zizzi restaurant in the city centre.

The eatery was hidden from view behind hoardings on Saturday as officers returned to search for evidence, with the BBC later reporting the nerve agent was detected in one part of the premises.

Meanwhile, police investigating the poisoning are now focusing on five sites in Salisbury.

Extensive searches have been carried out at the former Russian spy's home and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.

Police investigating the attack have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence after the Salisbury poisoning, Amber Rudd said. Pictured: Marr interviewing Alexander Litvinenko's widow this morning

It comes a week after Skripal (pictured) and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury

Chemical warfare experts are now set to turn their attention to The Mill pub and the wooden park bench where the couple were found in a 'catatonic state' a week ago.

Green screens have already been erected outside the Zizzi restaurant where traces of the deadly nerve agent have been detected.

Specialist teams have been working at the Italian restaurant where 66-year-old Skripal and his daughter ate Sunday lunch.

Officials have said no others who were in the restaurant are at risk and have not made any appeal for them to come forward for health checks.

It is thought unlikely they were poisoned by their food or their drinks.

A source close to the inquiry added that a bouquet of fresh flowers laid by Skripal at his wife's grave has become a primary focus of investigators.

The pair visited the cemetery where Liudmila is buried just hours before they both collapsed.

It is believed the flowers may have been contaminated with the 'rare' nerve agent  yet to be publicly identified  that has left the pair fighting for life.

After the pair ate their meal at Zizzi on Sunday they went on to visit The Mill pub, which has remained sealed off for a week, but has yet to be examined for contamination by forensic teams.

Police continued to guard the London Road cemetery where Liudmila Skrpial is buried and her son Alexander's ashes are interred.

Teams in Hazmat suits removed the plastic flowers from each of the graves as well as a toy dog that had been placed on Alexander's marble plaque.

He died in Russia last year and was cremated but his ashes flown to the UK to be interred in the Salisbury cemetery.

Family members have raised suspicions about his death although counter terrorism police have said there are no plans to exhume Liudmila's body to carry out tests.

Military personnel who are in Salisbury are expected to remove the wooden bench from The Maltings shopping centre over the next 48 hours.

Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury (pictured) remained closed on Sunday as police continued to investigate

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who fell seriously ill after tending to the pair, released a statement from hospital saying 'he does not consider himself a hero' and was 'merely doing his job'.

Soldiers were seen at the South Western Ambulance Service station on Saturday after a vehicle was winched on to the back of an Army low-loader and taken away.

The Ministry of Defence said armed forces personnel would be returning to the city for a third day on Sunday.

Cordons remain in place at a host of locations across the city, including Mr Skripal's house and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.

There was further police activity at the London Road cemetery on Saturday, where officers in hazmat suits had removed items and covered his son's memorial stone with a forensic tent.

Scotland Yard said no exhumations had taken place.

Speaking following a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee, Ms Rudd said there were more than 250 officers from eight out of 11 of the country's counter-terrorism units involved in the investigation.

She said: 'I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that.'

Ms Rudd said it was still too early to say who was responsible for the attack.

She said: 'This investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe and also that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution (of the attack) we will be absolutely clear where it should be,' she said.

'The police have said that if anybody thinks they have any additional information they would welcome them coming forward.

'There is also substantial amounts of CCTV they have to go through. This is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and time to get on with it.'

Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still fighting for their lives after being exposed to a toxic substance in the Wiltshire city.

Mr Bailey, who was part of the initial response by authorities, also remains in hospital, although he released a statement thanking people for their support.

The statement read: 'Nick would like us to say on his behalf that he and his family are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public, and colleagues from the police family. People have been so kind and he has expressed that he will never forget that kindness.

'He also wishes to say that he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the initial incident.

Police at the grave of Liudmila Skripal the wife of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury on Saturday

'He wants to say that he does not consider himself a 'hero', he states he was merely doing his job - a job he loves and is immensely proud of - just like all of his other dedicated colleagues do, day in day out, in order to protect the public and keep people safe.

'He would like to thank everyone once again for all of their kind thoughts and best wishes, they are truly appreciated.

'He asks respectfully that the media allow his family privacy at this difficult time.'

Police said 21 people had been seen for medical treatment since the incident.

The figure includes members of the public and emergency staff, some of whom have had blood tests as well as receiving support and advice.

The attack is being treated as attempted murder.One victims, 16-year-old Lucy Lowe, was killed by her abuser in a house fire. She gave birth to his child when she was just 14

A brutal sex gang raped as many as 1,000 young girls over 40 years in what may be Britain's 'worst ever' child abuse scandal.

Girls in the town of Telford, Shropshire, were drugged, beaten and raped at the hands of a grooming gang active since the 1980s.

Allegations are said to have been mishandled by authorities, with many perpetrators going unpunished, while it is claimed similar abuse continues in the area, reports the Sunday Mirror.

Home Office figures show there were 15.1 child sex crimes reported per 10,000 residents in the year to September 2015.

Telford's population is 155,000  meaning a potential 225 victims.

Telford's Conservative MP, Lucy Allan, has previously called for a Rotherham-style inquiry into the allegations and called the latest reports 'extremely serious and shocking'.

'There must now be an independent inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Telford so that our community can have absolute confidence in the authorities,' she told the paper.

A mother and four teenage girls have been linked to the allegations of abuse.

Lucy Lowe, 16, died alongside her mother and sister after the man who had been abusing her, 26-year-old Azhar Ali Mehmood, set fire to their house.

The taxi-driver first targeted Lucy in 1997. She gave birth to his child when she was just 14.

Vicky Round was just 20 when she died of a suspected overdose. She had been forced into crack cocaine and heroin addiction by her abusers

Becky Watson suffered two years of sex abuse at the hands of a grooming gang, which began when she was 11

Mehmood was jailed for murdering Lucy, her mother Eileen and her sister Sarah, 17.

However, he was never arrested or charged with any sex abuse crimes over his involvement with the young girl.

Another victim, who was drugged and gang raped by nine men two years later, said that Lucy's death was used as a warning to other girls who might speak out.

The schoolgirl, who remains anonymous, said she was driven to try to kill herself.

'I was scared my family would die like Lucy's. I thought they'd only be safe if I killed myself,' she told The Sunday Mirror.

In 2002 another schoolgirl was killed in an unexplained car accident in Telford.

The burned out remains of the Lowe's family home, where Lucy, Eileen and Sarah Lowe died in a fire started by Lucy's abuser, 26-year-old Azhar Ali Mehmood

Mubarek Ali, 34, (left) and his brother Ahdel Ali, 27, (right) from Telford were both jailed year after sexually abusing young girls in a child sex abuse ring

Becky Watson, 13, was killed after a car she was in crashed. At the time the incident was reported as a 'prank'.

However, it was revealed she had suffered two years of sex abuse at the hands of a grooming gang, which began when she was 11.

In tragic diary entries she told of how she was forced to 'sleep around'.

Telford sex scandal: Timeline of abuse 1980s Girls in Telford are targeted by groups of mainly Asian men 1996 A resident goes to police with information about a key abuser selling underage girls for sex Late 1990s Social workers learn of the problem but do little to help 2000 Lucy Lowe, 16, is killed alongside her mother and sister in an arson attack by abuser Azhar Ali Mehmood 2002 Abuse victim Becky Watson, 13, is killed in a road accident described as a 'prank' 2010-2012 Police probe Operation Chalice identifies potential 200 abusers but only nine are jailed 2016 MP Lucy Allan calls for public inquiry but police and council officials in Telford write to Home Secretary Amber Rudd saying this isn't necessary March 2018 As many as 1,000 victims are believed to have been abused Advertisement

Her mother, Torron Watson, went to the police on a number of occasion and even handed them a list of suspects.

But nothing was done.

She said: 'Girls like Becky were treated like criminals. I was crying out for help but it felt like I had nowhere to turn. If Becky's abuse had been properly investigated by the authorities more girls could have been saved from going through this hell.'

Vicky Round, a friend of Beckys, was abused by the same gang.

They forced her into a crack concaine addiction aged 12.

By 14 she was taking heroine regularly.

She died aged 20 after a suspected drug overdose.

In Rotherham around 1,400 girls, many of them under-age, were sexually abused over a 16 year period at the hands of men from the town's Pakistani community.

An estimate of the number of victims in Telford was calculated with the help of Professor Liz Kelly, from the Child and Woman Abuse Studies Unit at London Metropolitan University, who reviewed the Mirror's figures.

Dino Nocivelli, a specialist child abuse solicitor, said: 'These children were treated as sexual commodities by men who inflicted despicable acts of abuse. The survivors deserve an inquiry.

'They need to know how abuse took place for so long and why so many perpetrators have never been brought to justice.'

Seven men were jailed in 2013 following Operation Chalice, a police inquiry into child prostitution in the Telford area.

Mubarek Ali, 34, sold teenage girls, some as young as 13, for sex above an Indian restaurant in Telford, Shropshire, after grooming them.

His brother Ahdel Ali, 27, was handed a 26-year sentence after the pair sexually abused, trafficked, prostituted or tried to prostitute four teenagers.

Telford's Conservative MP, Lucy Allan (pictured), has called for a Rotherham-style inquiry

Mubarek Ali, 34, sold teenage girls for sex above an Indian restaurant in Telford after grooming them. He was sentenced at Stafford Crown Court (pictured)

The paper says authorities were warned of the abuse a decade before Operation Chalice.

One victim, who was targeted by paedophiles and forced to sleep with dozens of men, said: 'The police have betrayed the children of this town for a second time.

'I dread to think how many victims there have been over the years  it wouldn't surprise me if the offending was on the same scale as Rotherham.

'It has been going on for at least two decades. When will it stop?'

West Mercia Police have admitted errors were made in the way detailed reports had from street pastors on night patrol had been handled by police.

Some of the street pastors had witnessed teenagers being sold drugs at under-age parties and gangs of men grooming intoxicated children.

Telford (pictured) has a population of 155,000 and is about 13 miles east of Shrewsbury

Arshid Hussain (in a wheelchair, being pushed by a relative) arriving at his trial at Crown Court. Hussain, one of the ringleaders of the Rotherham abuse scandal, was jailed for 35 years in 2016

'It has been going on for at least two decades. When will it stop?'

A spokesperson for Telford and Wrekin Council told the paper: 'Child sexual exploitation (CSE) is a vile, evil crime. It's an issue right across the UK and has been for a long time.

'Telford will be covered by the national CSE review. We welcome this. All agencies continue to work very closely together and this remains our top priority.'

Police said 100 girls could have become victims in Telford between 2007 and 2009.

Supt Tom Harding, of West Mercia Police, said communication had improved dramatically in recent years.

He added: 'Incidents identified by pastors point to potential signs of child sexual exploitation and we use this as intelligence, to target individuals who may need to be investigated.'Australia is in the middle of an extinction crisis and has lost more mammals than any other country in the world, according to a new report.

It's also feared even more animals will be lost, including one of Australia's most iconic native animals, the koala.

Many of the 29 extinctions have occurred in the last decade with Australia losing three vertebrates, a bat, a marsupial and a skink since 2009, according to the Australian Conservation Foundation report released on March 6.

Australia has lost more mammals than any other country in the world, an Australian Conservation Foundation report has found. A total of 29 animals have become extinct and it is feared even more animals, such as the Koala, will be lost (stock image)

'But for all its natural beauty, the sad reality is that Australia leads the world on extinction,' the report states.

'It has the highest number of mammals declared extinct since the arrival of Europeans, with 29 mammals lost forever. To put that in context, the United States has only lost one mammal to extinction since Europeans arrived there.'

The 'primary driver' of the endangerment to wildlife and ecosystems in Australia 'remains the destruction and loss of habitat' the report said.

Australia has 1907 species and ecological communities listed as threatened under national law.

'The list includes little known insects, frogs, fish and plants, through to iconic species such as the Koala, Cassowary and Leadbeater's Possum,' the report states.

Australia has 1907 species and ecological communities listed as threatened, including little known insects, frogs, fish and plants, through to iconic species such as the Koala, Cassowary and Leadbeater's Possum,' the report states. These quokkas (pictured) can only be found on Rottnest Island near Perth

A road sign at Nullarbor National Reserve , South Australia, Australia. 'Our current law provides patently inadequate protection to prevent the destruction of critical habitat,' ACF healthy ecosystems campaigner Jess Abrahams said

ACF healthy ecosystems campaigner Jess Abrahams blamed the federal government's failure to protect critical habitats.

'Our research shows how Australia's existing laws are failing on many fronts,' he said.

'Our current law provides patently inadequate protection to prevent the destruction of critical habitat. Without proper protections, beloved species like the leadbeater's possum could well be extinct within a few years. If we're going to protect our native species we must fix these laws and we must do it now.'

The blue-tounge skink (pictured) is also under threat. ACF healthy ecosystems campaigner Jess Abrahams blamed the federal government's failure to protect critical habitats

Australia's national critical habitat register protects only five places as critical habitat.

'Given the immediacy of the threats to endangered wildlife, it is ridiculous that no critical habitat has been listed for any species since 2005,' Mr Abrahams said.

'Our current law provides patently inadequate protection to prevent the destruction of critical habitat. It is subject to the political whims of ministers who are afforded broad discretion and may be subject to the pull of vested interests.'

'Given the immediacy of the threats to endangered wildlife, it is ridiculous that no critical habitat has been listed for any species since 2005,' Ms Abrahams said

The report warned that if the government continues to fail to protect critical habitats, Australia will fail to meet its international obligations to conserve nature.

Recommendations including the establishment of new national environmental laws, a new national critical habitat register and the establishment of an independent environmental agency.

The report also called for the creation of a $200 million annual threatened species fund to directly help with recovery plans for threatened species.

The Leadbeater's Possum (pictured) is listed as one of the species under threat. It uses its tail to balance in trees and its numbers have declined 80 per cent since the 1980s. 'Australia, as one of the few megadiverse developed nations in the world, must move from a global laggard to a leader when it comes to biodiversity conservation,' the report concluded

'Australia, as one of the few megadiverse developed nations in the world, must move from a global laggard to a leader when it comes to biodiversity conservation,' the report concluded.

'Failure to change the trajectory of our current extinction crisis will spell disaster for our iconic wildlife, leave future generations poorer and leave Australia as a global embarrassment.'

Federal environment minister Josh Frydenberg was contacted for comment.

The report warned that if the government continues to fail to protect critical habitats, Australia will fail to meet its international obligations to conserve nature. A species of bat is one of the 29 animals Australia has lost to extinctionStaff at a Tesco store accidentally gave customers a good laugh after posting a sign with a spelling mistake on it.

Tesco shoppers at an express store in Bicester, Oxfordshire, were greeted by the sign with the blunder after it had to close briefly just after 9am earlier this week.

The notice read: 'Store Closed. Just for a short period of time. Sorry for incontinence.'

Social media was soon flooded with puns and jokes about the gaffe which quickly went viral.

Tesco shoppers at an express store in Bicester, Oxfordshire, were greeted by a sign apologising for 'incontinence' earlier this week

One user on Twitter wrote: 'Someone got caught short.'

Another wrote on Facebook: 'Clean up on aisle 2?'

One Facebook commenter said: 'That really is taking the p***.'

A spokesperson at Tesco's head office said: 'Oh dear! I have called the store but not been able to get through yet.

'They may be busy consulting a dictionary. Thank you for bringing this to our attention.'

The mistake is fairly common as many phone dictionaries autocorrect a misspelled version of inconvenience to incontinence. Spellchecker then does not flag up the word as being a mistake.The obsessed boyfriend of a woman who plunged to her death from his 11th floor balcony tried to withdraw money from her bank account the morning after she died.

Dan Shearin, 45, was denied access to his girlfriend Breeana's account after she fell from his luxury Gold Coast apartment in January 2013.

Shearin - who has a history of apprehended and domestic violence orders against him - argued some of his money was in the 21-year-old's account and he should have been granted access, Sunday Night reported.

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Dan Shearin (left) tried to withdraw money from Breeana Robinson's (right) bank account the morning after she fell from his luxury Gold Coast apartment in January 2013

His girlfriend's mother Elaine Robinson (pictured) said the bank called her after Shearin was denied access, saying the convicted stalker became furious

Shearin (pictured) - who has a history of apprehended and domestic violence orders against him - argued some of his money was in the 21-year-old's account and he should have been granted access

His girlfriend's mother Elaine Robinson said the bank called her after Shearin was denied access, saying the convicted stalker became furious.

'I got a call from the bank and they said that Dan had rang up irate and that he had gone to take money out of the account and the account wouldn't let him take any money,' Ms Robinson said.

'He said he was next of kin and that he wanted the money from the account ... that was the morning after [Breeana's death].'

Shearin said on Sunday that bank records would prove his money was in Breanna's account, although he reportedly didn't provide the records to the program when repeatedly asked.

Despite failing to withdraw the funds, he apparently went on to host a rowdy party in the same apartment his girlfriend fell from days earlier, building security manager Gordon Cassidy claimed.

Mr Cassidy said he responded to a noise complaint on the night and found Shearin 'laughing and carrying on' while drinking alcohol with friends.

Despite failing to withdraw the funds, Shearin (left) went on to host a rowdy party in the same apartment his girlfriend (right) fell from days later, building security manager Gordon Cassidy claimed

Shearin (pictured) then boarded a flight to Bali to go on the vacation he had booked with his girlfriend of 38 days - one week after she died

Shearin (left) said he needed time to heal after he watched Breanna (right) drop to her death from metres away inside his apartment

'They're all drinking and he goes "yeah, what's up, mate? Oh, thanks for helping us out the other night." ... I thought it was weird,' he told Sunday Night.

Shearin then boarded a flight to Bali to go on the vacation he had booked with his girlfriend of 38 days - one week after she died.

He said he needed time to heal after he watched Breanna - who he bombarded with 1,439 text messages in a month - drop to her death from metres away inside his apartment.

Shearin has an extensive police history dating back to 2004, including an unlawful stalking charge which he pleaded guilty to in February 2016, Sunday Night reported.

Shearin bombarded Breeana Robinson (pictured) with 1,439 text messages in the month before she died

'I wouldn't say [I am] a dangerous man, I'd say an a***hole,' Shearin said about his police history.

Breanna, who was legally blind, fell from the balcony of the H20 Broadwater complex at 10.35pm on January 29, 2013, after returning from cheerleading practice.

Just ten minutes earlier she had received her final message from Shearin.

No one was ever convicted over her death, but Shearin spent 10 days in prison after pleading guilty to using a carriage device to harass and menace her.

'I wouldn't say [I am] a dangerous man, I'd say an a***hole,' Shearin said when asked about his police history (pictured are Shearin and Ms Robinson)

Ms Robinson, who was legally blind, fell from the balcony of the H20 Broadwater complex at 10.35pm on January 29, 2013, after returning from cheerleading practice (pictured are Shearin and Ms Robinson)

The cruise ship entertainer was jailed and labelled a 'pig' by a judge for bombarding Breeana with the messages.

The court heard evidence that a text message sent to Ms Robinson before she died read: 'You're more interested in TV, food and everything else but your partner.

'That's why everything's ruined. Your priorities are f***ed up'.

In another text message sent to Ms Robinson that was heard in court, Shearin said: 'You're a complete f***ing moron. I don't want a stupid, dumb c***'.

The case was due to be assessed by the coroner in November last year, but a month later he instructed detectives to review evidence connected to Ms Robinson's death.

Speaking through his lawyers at the time, Shearin said he welcomed the review and was looking forward to closure for everyone involved.

No one was ever convicted over Ms Robinson's death (pictured, left, with her aunt, and right), but Shearin spent 10 days in prison after pleading guilty using a carriage device to harass and menace herAdvertisement

Staff working at the Zizzi restaurant where a Russian spy was poisoned had their uniforms burned - days before customers were told to wash any clothes they were wearing that night.

Health bosses today urged 500 people who went to the restaurant or The Mill pub in Salisbury to immediately clean their clothes, bags, phones and glasses to avoid possible contamination. Forensic experts were seen scouring the inside for traces of the deadly nerve agent used in last week's attack.

They were told to use baby wipes to clean their gadgets and jewellery after 66-year-old former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped in a 'catatonic state'.

The pair are still in a critical condition and more than 250 counter-terrorism officers are desperately trying to find the source of the chemical after traces were found on their table in Zizzi, which has since been destroyed.

Meanwhile, on Sunday afternoon a group of uniformed men put on hazmat suits and gas masks before numbering at least eight marked police vehicles and civilian cars with white spray paint.

A military forklift truck was then used to lift the cars onto the back of low-loader trucks before the military removed them from the scene.

Protected officers are pictured scouring the inside of The Mill pub in Salisbury - where Sergei and Yulia Skripal were hours before they were found collapsed on a bench last Sunday

Forensic experts have followed the 'trail of poison' around Salisbury and are finally pictured searching The Mill pub (pictured) where the Skripals were drinking before they were found unconscious last Sunday afternoon

On Sunday a group of uniformed men put on hazmat suits and gas masks before numbering at least eight marked police vehicles and civilian cars with white spray paint in Salisbury and forklifting them away

Staff working at Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury (pictured with police cordon) where Russian spy Sergei Skripal ate before being poisoned had their uniforms burned - days before customers were told to wash any clothes they were wearing that night

Russian spy crisis: Today a group of uniformed men put on hazmat suits and gas masks before numbering at least eight marked police vehicles and civilian cars with white spray paint in Salisbury city centre

A military forklift truck was used to lift the cars onto the back of low-loader trucks and they were covered before the military removed them from the scene in Salisbury

Military personnel wearing protective clothing used a military fork-lift to lift a car onto a low-loader military vehicle on Sunday

A military low-loader vehicle was driven into an area cordoned off behind a police station in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon

Protected officers are seen covering a marked police car with a tarpaulin sheet in Salisbury before forklifting it onto a truck to be removed and sent away

Investigators in hazmat suits are seen covering a marked police car so it can be removed for forensic nerve agent tests

The cars were marked with numbers before being covered and removed by members of the military on Sunday in Salisbury

Soldiers wearing protective clothing today moved vehicles in a car park in Salisbury as the investigation into the poisoning continues

A Public Health England warning issued to those who dined at Zizzi Salisbury last Sunday applies to The Mill pub (pictured)

Health bosses have told pubgoers who were drinking in The Mill (pictured) last Sunday to wash their clothes and possessions

Crime scene: Inside The Mill pub in Salisbury chairs and pictured on top of tables as forensic experts search the premises for the nerve agent used to poison the Skripals

Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia (pictured in Zizzi in 2016) were eating in the restaurant when they were attacked with a nerve agent

It comes as a source said that uniforms worn by staff working in Zizzi on Sunday night were removed by authorities and 'burned', Sky news reports.

The staff members were reportedly reimbursed for any items lost and they have been paid until the end of next week and offered shifts at nearby branches.

Meanwhile, Dame Sally Davies, Chief Medical Officer, said today: 'I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in the Mill Pub or Zizzi's restaurant.

'However, some people are concerned that prolonged, long term exposure to these substances may over weeks and particularly months, give rise to health problems.'

Dr Jenny Harries, deputy director for Public Health England, told a press conference in Salisbury this afternoon that symptoms to look out for include nausea, blurred vision and vomiting.

The press conference also heard that the Skripals remain in a 'critical but stable condition' while officer Nick Bailey is still conscious but in a 'serious but stable condition'.

Despite facing questions throughout, those involved in the case refused to say whether the nerve agent came as a powder or liquid.

Dr Harries also refused to say why it had taken one week to urge people to wash their clothes and possessions.

She said: 'There is only a small health risk with prolonged and repeated exposure. We expect most people have already washed their clothes, but the this is why we have given out the advice as a precautionary measure.

Did the poison used to target Sergei Skripal kill his cat and guinea pigs too? Fears have been raised that the nerve agent used to target Sergei Skripal may have also claimed the lives of his three pets as it emerged that he was most likely to have been poisoned at his home. Friends said they had not seen Sergei Skripals cat and two guinea pigs or been asked to care for the animals since he was targeted over a week ago. They fear the animals might have come into contact with the nerve agent used in the attack which has hospitalised Skripal, his daughter and a detective who visited the property. One friend said: He imported the cat a couple of years ago from Russia, he got it especially. It was really expensive. Everyone on Sergeis street is really worried about it. If they used nerve agent in the house he was always petting his guinea pigs, so it will have got on them. Yesterday it was revealed that traces of the nerve agent had been found at a pub and restaurant Skripal and his daughter had visited. The friend, who did not want to be named, said the Russian spy would speak about his pets enthusiastically. He had this huge hutch in the corner of his computer room at the front of his house where he kept the two guinea pigs. He would take them out and pet them, or he would go into his kitchen next door and prepare his cats meal while I was there. Meanwhile, police confirmed that two pet rabbits caught up in the chaos after being left stranded at The Mill pub, which was sealed off, had been fed and watered. The pub has been shut down since Monday night after investigators discovered Skripal and his daughter had visited it for a drink on Sunday afternoon. Advertisement

Left to right: Jane Whichello of South Western Ambulance Service, Jenny Harries of Public Health England, Ben Ansell, chief fire officer of Dorset & Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service, Wiltshire Police chief constable Kier Pritchard, Cara Charles-Barks, chief executive of Salisbury District Hospital and Angus Macpherson, Police and Crime Commissioner for Swindon and Wiltshire, at a joint press conference in Salisbury on Sunday at 12.30pm

Deputy Medical Director of Public Health, Dr Jenny Harries (pictured), refused to say why it had taken one week to urge 500 people to wash their clothes and possessions

Military personnel are pictured in hazmat suits as investigators search The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury where Sergei and Yulia Skripal ate and drank before being found in a 'catatonic state' on a nearby bench last Sunday

'Rigorous scientific analysis has been on-going and we have learnt that there has been some limited contamination in both The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury.

'Anyone who visited The Mill pub or Zizzi restaurant where the two affected individuals were can be reassured that this limited exposure will not have harmed their health to date.

'However there may be a very small health risk associated with repeated contact with belongings which may have been contaminated by this substance.'

The warning comes just days after Dame Sally maintained there was no apparent wider risk and stressed: 'My message to the public is that this event poses a low risk to us, the public, on the evidence we have.'

She also advised locals that all the sites the pair were known to have visited had been 'secured'.

The fresh warning affects people who were in either the pub or restaurant between 1.30pm on Sunday, March 4 and when they both closed on Monday night.

Clothes which cannot be washed, for example if they need dry cleaning, should be double bagged in plastic until further notice.

Mobile phones, handbags and other electronic items should be wiped with baby wipes, which should be bagged in plastic and placed in a bin.

Other items such as jewellery and glasses should be washed with warm water and detergent.

Trail of poison: Forensic experts wearing hazmat suits are seen removing police and civilian cars believed to have been caught up in last Sunday's nerve agent attack

A huge military presence is still overwhelming Salisbury a week after the nerve agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal

Members of the military wore protective suits as they discussed parts of the ongoing investigation in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon

A military low-loader vehicle is driven into an area cordoned off behind a police station in Salisbury, Wiltshire, on Sunday

A military fork-lift vehicle was also driven into the area behind Salisbury police station as officers continue to investigate the poison attack in the city last Sunday

Soldiers were today unloading a van close to the police station as they continue to help officers with the investigation

Both military and emergency service personnel were helping in the city on Sunday as customers and pubgoers were told to wash their clothes immediately

A yellow and white police tent was still in placed over the bench where the former double agent and his daughter were found collapsed last week

What if I want to destroy my items? Public Health England gives advice to people in the pub or restaurant - one week after the incident 1. What should I do with the cloths and screen wipes used to clean any items? Place them in a plastic bag and put in the household bin (ordinary domestic waste). 2. I don't own a washing machine can I use a launderette? Yes. 3. What should I do if the clothes I was wearing are dry clean only clothing? Store these clothes in two plastic bags tied at the top safely in your own home. We are currently reviewing the best way of cleaning these clothes and will provide further advice on our website. 4. What should I do with my shoes? Shoes can initially be wiped clean with a damp cloth and subsequently dried or polished as normal. The cloth should be disposed of in a plastic bag in the household bin (ordinary domestic waste). 5. What should I do if I live in the same household as someone who was at the Zizzi restaurant or Mill pub? These actions are only advised for individuals who were in Zizzi restaurant or The Mill Pub within the specified timeframes. The advice relates only to clothes they had on and the personal items they were carrying during the visit. The advice does not apply to members of the same household who did not visit in person, or their belongings. 6. Should I clean the whole house? No, additional specific cleaning is necessary only for clothes you were wearing or items you had with you when you visited Zizzi restaurant or The Mill pub within the specified timeframe. 7. What if I want to destroy my items? It should not be necessary to destroy items, the cleaning procedures outlined above should be sufficient to remove any substances. However, if you do wish to destroy your items, place them in two plastic bags tied at the top and dispose of them in the household bin. 8. Why are you only telling me this now? This is precautionary advice, the immediate risk to the wider public of direct injury has not changed and remains low, however there may be a very small health risk associated with repeated contact with items or belongings that may have been contaminated by this substance. The actions we advise are purely precautionary but will eliminate any possible risk. Advertisement

Dame Sally said the precautionary measures were not intended to cause panic but accepted some people had concerns that exposure could lead to health problems.

She the advice was 'belt and braces' and no cause for alarm and added: 'The risk to the general public remains low and I am confident none of these customers or staff will have suffered harm.'

Dr Jenny Harries, PHE Deputy Medical Director, added: 'The immediate risk to the general public remains low and this has not changed.

'Rigorous scientific analysis has been on-going and we have learnt that there has been some limited contamination in both The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury.

'Anyone who visited The Mill pub or Zizzi restaurant where the two affected individuals were can be reassured that this limited exposure will not have harmed their health to date.

'However, there may be a very small health risk associated with repeated contact with belongings which may have been contaminated by this substance.

'We therefore recommend that a precautionary approach is taken and advise people to clean the clothes they were wearing and any possessions they had with them.'

The public health warning comes after the widow of a man killed in London by Russian spies produced a letter from then-Home Secretary Theresa May in which she promises 'such a crime would never be repeated'.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Marina Litvinenko said she was shocked to learn that the ex-Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned.

Speaking on the Andrew Marr Show this morning, Marina Litvinenko said she was shocked to learn that Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned with a nerve agent in Salisbury last week

Her late husband, former Russian spy Alexander, died in 2006 after being poisoned by radioactive polonium-210 which had been slipped into his tea

Marine said: 'After this meeting I received a letter (pictured). At the end it said, 'I and this Government must continue to pursue justice for your husband's killing and that we will take every step to protect the UK and its people from such a crime ever being repeated'

Police officers had cordoned off part of a Salisbury cemetery (pictured) after Mr Skripal and his daughter visited his wife's grave before they were attacked

A police tent could be seen on Sunday morning, close to where the former Russian spy was found in Salisbury city centre last week

Her late husband, former Russian spy Alexander, died in 2006 after being poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 that had been slipped into his tea.

An inquiry later found that he was probably murdered by agents of the Russian state on the orders of Vladimir Putin.

She told Andrew Marr: 'I believed it would never, ever happen again after the public inquiry provided evidence of the death of my husband.'

Mrs Litvinenko added: 'We had a meeting [with Theresa May] and a discussion about what we might achieve after the public inquiry verdict.

'After this meeting I received a letter. At the end it said, 'I and this Government must continue to pursue justice for your husband's killing and that we will take every step to protect the UK and its people from such a crime ever being repeated'.

MAN, 30, CHARGED WITH BREACHING SALISBURY SPY CORDON Police have charged a man with breaching one of the cordons in Salisbury following the nerve agent attack. Local man Jamie Knight, 30, is accused of breaching the cordon on The Maltings on Friday evening. He was charged with assaulting a police officer, common assault, criminal damage to a police vehicle and a racially aggravated public order offence. The site has been of particular interest to detectives investigating the incident which saw Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia fall ill, with officers in hazmat suits securing a tent covering a bench in the shopping centre area over the weekend. He will appear before magistrates in Swindon on Monday. A Wiltshire Police spokesman said: 'Robust action will be taken against anyone who breaches or interferes with any cordon or the ongoing police investigation. 'We would also like to thank a security guard who assisted officers in detaining Knight.' Advertisement

'Unfortunately, it happened again. It means something was not done.'

And on Sunday, Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said that Labour MPs should not appear on Kremlin-sponsored television station Russia Today.

Mr McDonnell said he would no longer appear on the station and that there would be a discussion on whether others in the party should follow suit.

He told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show: 'I think that is right now and that is what I will be doing. What we are seeing from Russia Today sometimes goes beyond objective journalism from what I've seen.

'I have been looking overnight at some of what's happening in terms of the change in coverage on Russian television in particular and I think we have to step back now.

'I can understand why people have (appeared on RT) up until now because we have treated it like every other television station.

'We tried to be fair with them and as long as they abide by journalistic standards that are objective that's fine but it looks as if they have gone beyond that line, so yes, we will have that discussion.'

The Bishop of Salisbury also described the attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter as being a 'violation' of the city.

Prayers are to be said for those affected later during services at the city's cathedral.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam said in a sermon today: 'There has been a violation of this place and this community and it is more than an attack on individuals.

The Rector of St Thomas' is planning a service in a month's time to bring together those most closely involved in the events of the last week, to pray for the cleansing and healing of the people and the place that has been violated.

'Those who uphold the law have to think a great deal about truth. 'What is truth?' asked Pilate when passing judgment on Jesus. We have all had to think about truth recently in what is said to be, 'a post-truth society', in which there are 'alternative facts' with allegedly 'fake news'.

'When you can't tell truth for falsehood, trust and confidence break down. It is deeply corrosive of good relations. We all know truth can be difficult to tell, and always there is spin, but truth matters.

'Truth and justice are the touchstones of the Rule of Law. Those responsible for upholding the law have to be about the truth and seek justice even when it is difficult and personally costly.'

He said it was not helpful to speculate on who is responsible, but added: 'I do assume that the number of military involved here at the moment isn't just about making sure Salisbury's decontaminated, but is trying to be really clear about where this nerve agent came from and how it might have been administered.'

And it has since emerged that the race to trace the nerve agent used to poison the pair is centre of five sites in the city.

Extensive searches have been carried out at the former Russian spy's home and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.

Chemical warfare experts are now set to turn their attention to The Mill pub and the wooden park bench where the couple were found in a 'catatonic state' a week ago.

Green screens have already been erected outside Zizzi, where traces of the deadly nerve agent have been detected. It is thought unlikely they were poisoned by their food or their drinks.

The pair visited The Mill after their meal at Zizzi. The pub has remained sealed off for a week, but has yet to be examined for contamination by forensic teams.

Police remained outside Sergei Skripal's home in Salisbury on Sunday morning as they continue to investigate the source of the nerve agent

Yulia Skripal (on the left) was photographed with her father Sergei Skripal (right) outside his home in Salisbury in 2016

Police continued to guard the London Road cemetery where Mr Skripal's wife Liudmila is buried and her son Alexander's ashes are interred.

Teams in Hazmat suits removed the plastic flowers from each of the graves as well as a toy dog that had been placed on Alexander's marble plaque.

He died in Russia last year and was cremated but his ashes flown to the UK to be interred in the Salisbury cemetery.

Meanwhile, a bouquet of fresh flowers laid by Mr Skripal at his wife's grave became a primary focus of the forensic inquiry into his poisoning, according to a source close to the inquiry.

It is believed the flowers may have been contaminated with the 'rare' nerve agent - yet to be publicly identified - that has left the pair fighting for life.

This possibility centres on the idea that the flowers, now being examined by chemical experts, were sent to Mr Skripal's home by whoever targeted him.

It is thought they may have been accompanied by something - a card perhaps - to suggest they came from a friend of his wife and a request to take them to the cemetery.

The source said: 'It's all about the flowers at the moment the fresh flowers along the grave, and it appears he [Skripal] went there just before he went to the car park [in Salisbury centre].'

Contact between the flowers and furnishings at the house would explain how traces of the agent were absorbed through the skin of anyone who touched surfaces there  including Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey who became ill following a visit to the Skripals' home.

Wiping your mobile phone with a baby wipe WILL clean it of toxic nerve agent, says chemical expert By Dianne Apen-Sadler for MailOnline Hamish de Bretton Gordon (pictured), the former head of a British Army unit specialising in chemical and biological weapons, has said that the statement may have just created 'more fear' A chemical weapons expert has said advice for revellers to wash their clothes a week after a Russian spy was poisoned shows the chemical used was a 'very persistent nerve agent'. Earlier today Public Health England released a statement telling visitors of the Zizzi's restaurant and The Mill pub in Salisbury to wipe down phones and handbags with baby wipes. The statement added that jewellery and glasses should be washed with warm water and detergent. Hamish de Bretton Gordon, the former head of a British Army unit specialising in chemical and biological weapons, has said that the statement may have created 'more fear'. He told the MailOnline: 'I think it's a bit strange, and it is a belts and braces approach trying to cover every possibility. What it does tell us is what we're dealing with is a very persistent nerve agent. 'From what I know for these people if they weren't ill already it's practically impossible they'd fall ill now. 'If you want a 100% solution this is it, if there was any tiny contamination, but it's so unlikely. The question is has this created more fear than not saying it?' Mr de Bretton added: 'They're right, but it's created more fear than it's cleared up. I think a little bit more explanation is needed.' Some residents living in Salisbury have questioned why the warnings only came a week after Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were attacked. Maureen Jones, 73, who has lived in Salisbury her entire life, said: 'I can't understand why it has taken a week for them to tell people they should do that. 'I mean, the people probably have already washed their clothes without realising they could have been in contact with whatever it is. 'But some people may still have clothes sat in washing baskets or have not got round to doing it yet. 'I haven't been in to the restaurant or the pub before myself, but if I was one of the people affected by this I would be a little annoyed to only be told now that I should wash my clothes and possessions.' A 24-year-old man, who did not wish to be named, added: 'Hopefully it is just a precaution that they have to put this warning out. 'But I had friends who went for a meal in Zizzi's on Sunday, they don't remember seeing the man who was attacked. 'But they are annoyed that they don't know what they could have come in contact with and are just being told to wash their clothes.' Kris Smith, 28, who was in the pub on Sunday and Monday, when it was eventually closed, said: Ive washed all my clothes and stripped the whole house to be safe, stripped the bed and everything. A Zizzi employee, who did not want to be named, said staff were shocked and horrified when told they could be at risk and should visit a doctor. We havent felt ill or anything but it is worrying, people were understandably upset, they said. Advertisement

He may also have become contaminated after rushing to the scene of where they collapsed to treat them.

DS Bailey remains in a serious but stable condition in hospital. The belief that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned at home with a slower-acting toxin than previously thought has gained credence in the past few days.

Toxicology experts say it is possible for the effects of nerve agents to take several hours.

It was unusual for Mr Skripal to lay fresh blooms at the grave. Normally he bought artificial ones every few weeks from the same market stall.

Professor Monique Simmonds, one of the UK's leading botanists and an expert consultant during an investigation into the death of a Russian corruption whistleblower five years ago, said plant toxins can be regarded as a type of nerve agent.

Alexander Perepilichnyy collapsed during a jog near London in November 2012. Reports have suggested the Kremlin wanted him dead because he was a witness in a 145million corporate fraud case involving Russian officials, police officers and the mafia.

Prof Simmonds established that traces of the flower Gelsemium elegans was present in Mr Perepilichnyy's body. The plant can cause a rapid shutdown on nerve and respiratory systems but British detectives concluded at the time that the death was not suspicious.

Yesterday Prof Simmonds said she could not speculate on whether a plant toxin was used in the Salisbury attack. 'There are certainly plants that can change compounds in the body and have an effect on nervous systems,' she said.

Asked about the flowers being a key focus of the investigation, a Metropolitan Police spokesman said: 'We're not confirming individual sources or site locations.'

In other developments yesterday:

Activity around Mrs Skripal's grave intensified, with officers in decontamination suits working close to an orange gurney, normally used for moving hospital patients;

A witness told police that an hour before the couple collapsed he saw a 'man in a mask' acting suspiciously nearby;

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said more than 250 counter terrorism police are involved in the investigation which was proceeding with 'speed and professionalism';

Details emerged about the life of 'deeply religious' Yulia who grew up not knowing her father was a spy;

Anna Chapman, the Russian agent who was exchanged for Mr Skripal, has branded him a 'traitor';

Police issued a statement on behalf of DS Bailey saying he does not want to be considered a hero.

More than 180 troops flooded into Salisbury on Friday to help at the numerous crime scenes. Police have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence.

Military personnel at the South Western Ambulance Service station in Harnham, near Salisbury, on Saturday

Yesterday, forensic inquiries continued at Mr Skripal's four-bedroom semi. At the city's hospital, military transporters removed ambulances that might have been contaminated. But it was Mrs Skripal's graveside that saw the most intensive activity.

Her death certificate says the 60-year-old died of cancer in 2012. Her body was not exhumed but detectives have not ruled out removing it for forensic tests at a later date.

I am not a hero... I was just doing my job

The couple's son, Alexander, died of liver failure aged just 43 while on holiday in Russia last year. Investigators also removed flowers and trinkets, including a toy dog, from his grave in the same cemetery in Salisbury.

Our source said: 'They [investigators] are purely looking at surface material that he [Mr Skripal] might have handled before the nerve agent got to him.

'They believe he visited the grave and put some fresh flowers down that morning. So to them it's something he touched on that day.

'They are being extra careful that anything he has touched could be contaminated and because of the nature of this nerve agent  and they don't know what it is  they are being super, super cautious about everywhere he's been.

Sergei Skripal holding Yulia at the time of her birth with family members

'They don't know how it was administered so they are not closing down any line of inquiry on this and obviously that's why the fire people are going in with full chemical protection just in case.'

Market trader John Bourne, 58, said Mr Skripal bought plastic flowers from his stall every 'four to six weeks'.

He said: 'He's been a good regular customer for a couple of years. I've seen him with his daughter here a few times but I haven't seen her since last summer. The last time I saw him was about three weeks ago.'

Last night, Mr Skripal and his daughter remained in a coma, critical but stable. In a statement Wiltshire Police said DS Bailey 'wishes to say that he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the initial incident.

'He wants to say that he does not consider himself a 'hero'  he states that he was merely doing his job  a job he loves and is immensely proud of.'

Meanwhile, police and volunteers from Citywatch, who sift through CCTV material, have been scouring footage for signs of an assailant. The Mail on Sunday has learned that officers are investigating claims that an 'aggressive' masked man was seen acting suspiciously in the area shortly before Mr Skripal and his daughter collapsed.

A witness told detectives he saw a man with a black mask covering his nose and mouth acting suspiciously around 3pm last Sunday.

At the time Mr Skripal and Yulia were thought to be in the Mill pub a few yards away. The man, who asked not to be named, told The Mail on Sunday he saw the man after he had been out for Sunday lunch with his partner and his parents across the street.

He said: 'We all left together at 3pm and we were walking back into the Maltings [the shopping centre where the Skripals collapsed] to go back to our car when we all saw this man looking very strange and suspicious walking towards us.

'He had on black skinny jeans, a black hoodie pulled up over his head and he had this strange looking mask over his face.

'It had black with a white pattern on it. You could only see his dark eyes and forehead. He had a dark complexion.

'He looked threatening and aggressive and he was walking towards us with purpose.

Six ways hitmen could have exposed the couple to the deadly nerve agent POISONED FLOWERS Skripal regularly placed plastic flowers on his late wife Liudmila's grave, but last Sunday, unusually, according to a source, he took a fresh bunch. The deadly bouquet could have been taken to his house by a hit squad after being laced with poison. A 'TROJAN HORSE' Some sources have suggested Yulia may have unwittingly brought a poisoned package, known as a Trojan Horse, into her father's home. It would have had to remain stable until activated  possibly concealed in a gift of vodka or cigars. THE ZIZZI MEAL Skripal and his daughter ate garlic bread and seafood risotto in a branch of Zizzi just before they fell ill, so their food could have been poisoned. But that would have required the hitman to have access to the kitchen  and know which dish would go to their table. THE MILL PINT The couple also went to The Mill pub in the Maltings which has been sealed off by police all week. The potent toxin could have somehow been slipped into their drinks without the bar staff being aware. THE LETHAL LETTER The would-be assassins could have simply had the deadly chemicals delivered to Skripal's house in a letter or parcel. The ploy is simple but, because his symptoms appear to have developed rapidly while he was in Salisbury town centre rather than at home, seems less likely. THE FACE SPRAY CCTV has captured images of an unknown couple walking close behind the Skripals just before they collapsed on a bench. They could have sprayed the nerve agent at them. The shocking tactic was used in the VX attack on a North Korean at an airport last year. GRIM TASK: A gurney normally used for moving accident victims is taken towards Liudmila's grave yesterday Advertisement

'He gave me a stern look as he passed us by the Works which is about 100 yards from the bench where they found the Russians.'

The witness, who works as a pest controller, contacted police on Wednesday.

He added: 'I rang the police because it was niggling away at me that we had seen this suspicious man less than an hour before this man and his daughter were found on the bench.

There was something not right about him. It wasn't cold, I was out without a coat, so it didn't make sense that he had his hood up and face covered.'

Police contacted the man yesterday and said they would be back in touch to take a formal statement but declined to comment publicly.

Meanwhile, friends of Yulia Skripal in Russia said she decided to build her future in Russia not her father's adopted country Britain  and was 'full of life' before being struck down last week.

They say she grew up not knowing he was a spy. A childhood friend, Irina Petrova, told the BBC she 'hasn't done anything to deserve' being targeted.

It was claimed yesterday by an unidentified relative that the spy's older brother Valery died following an unexplained road crash. Earlier reports had suggested he died after an illness.

Meanwhile, Anna Chapman has branded Sergei Skripal a 'traitor'. Chapman was traded for Skripal in a 2010 spy swap. In an Instagram rant she said: 'As always Russia is guilty by default  despite the fact that traitor Skripal was pardoned by the President, and released.'A sea of rape flowers in blossom in Yingpan Village, Dali, southwest Chinas Yunnan province during the 2018 Spring Festival. Chinas rural tourism is focusing more on developing ecological tourism based on the lucid waters and lush mountains. (Photo from CFP)

Rural tourism has grown into not only a fresh growth opportunity of the whole industry, but also a new engine that helps impoverished rural residents improve their living conditions.

Rural tourism, which usually offers travelers the possibility to acquaint with unique natural sceneries, local conditions as well as folk customs, has gained popularity in the past Spring Festival.

Some Chinese visitors, in the week-long holiday, chose to celebrate a Tibetan New Year in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, or sing and dance in the "guitar town" in southwest Yunnan province, or experience the different folk customs in ancient villages in northwest Gansu province.

The rural areas are now a new driver of the countrys tourism industry, as data released by China National Tourism Administration showed that Chinas rural tourism consumption exceeded 1.4 trillion yuan ($221.2 billion) in 2017.

"A good ecological environment is the fairest public product, and the most accessible welfare for the people." Chinese President Xi Jinping pointed out previously, stressing that lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets.

His words have come true as rural tourism is now a new approach that helps rural residents shackle off poverty and become well off, thanks to the rural vitalization strategy launched by the government.

Farmers now do not need to leave for cities, since they can make money at home.

Foreign tourists learn to make turnip lanterns in Zhuquan Village, Yinan County, east China's Shandong province. (Photo from CFP)

It's also a golden key to address other challenges the rural areas faced, including elderly care in hollow villages where working-age migrant workers have left for cities with their spouses and children but left their old parents in rural areas.

The attractive folk customs are also luring an increasing number of foreign tourists. For instance, a kind of dance named "yangko" and walking on stilts, folk traditions in east China's Shandong province, are popular among foreign travelers.

Woodcut picture in Hefei, Anhui province, and the Miao ethnic batik in Guizhou province also enjoy a reputation among those foreign visitors.

A sea of rape flowers in blossom in Yingpan Village, Dali, southwest China's Yunnan Province during the past Spring Festival. (Photo from CFP)Russia said today that it successfully launched a hypersonic missile capable carrying a nuclear warhead.

President Vladimir Putin called it 'an ideal weapon' when he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month.

The high-speed, high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile - capable of flying at almost 7,700mph across 1,250 miles - was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia's southwest.

'The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target,' the ministry added.

The high-speed, high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile - capable of flying at almost 7,700 mph -was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia's southwest

President Vladimir Putin called it 'an ideal weapon' as he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month

'The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target,' the ministry added. Pictured: The missile flying through the sky in the video

The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win. Pictured: A still from the video released today

Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video shows the plane safely landing after test-firing its payload

The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly

It comes just days after the belligerent Russian leader said he would unleash a 'global catastrophe' if a Third World War were to break out and threaten his country.

The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly.

Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video then shows a missile detaching from the airborne plane and gliding across the dark sky, leaving a fiery trail behind.

Some 250 flights have been conducted in training for day and night launches, and in all weather conditions, it was reported.

The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win.

Putin said the missile flies at 10 times the speed of the sound and can overcome air-defence systems.

The missile has been deployed in the Southern Military District since December 1, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Facebook that work had also been done to modernise the 'unique' MiG-31 supersonic jet that will carry the missile.

Since the start of the year, more than 250 sorties have been carried out by the aircraft to perfect the work of the missile systems, the defence ministry said.

President Putin also showed the crowd video footage of a test of the new Sarmat missile, carried out last year

Social media users were quick to point out that this computer generated sequence from earlier in the month appears to show missiles raining down on the US state of Florida

During his speech, Putin said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO's US-led missile defense 'useless'. Pictured: A demonstration of one of the weapons last week

In his speech at the beginning of the month, Putin said Russia had tested an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception.

He said the weapons include a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-powered underwater drone.

He also showed video footage of the launch of a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile on big screens.

The video footage also contained a computer-generated sequence showing the potential power and reach of the new rocket, which included bombs raining down over the US state of Florida.

During his speech, Putin said the creation of the new weapons has made NATO's US-led missile defense 'useless,' and means an effective end to what he described as Western efforts to block Russia's military development.

In his speech at the beginning of the month, Putin said Russia had tested an array of new nuclear weapons 'invulnerable to enemy interception

The Russian leader said the high-speed underwater drone (pictured) also has an 'intercontinental' range and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could target both aircraft carriers and coastal facilities

He said: 'I want to tell all those who have fuelled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced unlawful sanctions aimed to contain our country's development: All what you wanted to impede with your policies have already happened.

'You have failed to contain Russia.'

Speaking of the new arsenal, Putin said that the nuclear-powered cruise missile tested last fall has an unlimited range and high speed and maneuverability allowing it to pierce any missile defense.

The Russian leader said the high-speed underwater drone also has an 'intercontinental' range and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead that could target both aircraft carriers and coastal facilities.

He said its operational depth and high speed would make it immune to enemy intercept, adding: 'It's just fantastic!'

A computer generated missile is seen separating and flying above the Earth's atmosphere in the video from earlier this month

Putin added to applause that names for the nuclear-powered cruise missile and the drone haven't yet been chosen, and suggested that the Defense Ministry run a nationwide contest for the best names.

The President accompanied his statement to an audience of hundreds of senior officials and lawmakers with videos and computer images of new weapons, which were shown on giant screens at a conference hall near the Kremlin.

'No-one in the world has anything like that,' he said. 'It may appear someday, but by that time we will develop something new.'

Putin said that Russia also tested a new heavy intercontinental ballistic missile, called Sarmat, with a range and number of warheads exceeding its Soviet-era predecessor, known in the West as Satan.

He praised a new generation of young scientists working on such weaponry, calling them 'the heroes of our time'.

The Russian leader emphasised that the development of new weapons that have no equivalent in the West came in response to the US withdrawal from a Cold War-era treaty banning missile defenses and US efforts to develop a missile defense system.

He said that the US has ignored Russian complaints.

'No one has listened to us,' he said. 'You listen to us now.'

He said the new weapons will help ensure global stability and draw a line under attempts to weaken Russia.

He said the Kinzhal, or Dagger, already has been deployed in Russia's Southern Military District.

He said it's a hypersonic missile carried by an aircraft that that flies at 10 times the speed of sound with an unpredictable trajectory towards its target.

Late last week, Putin said he would destroy the world with nuclear missiles if Russia came under attack.

He made clear that if Russia was hit by nuclear weapons and faced being wiped out, then the world would not be worth saving.

In a TV documentary he said: 'I want to tell you, and I want this to be known here and abroad.

'Our plans for using it (his nuclear arsenal), I am hoping it will never happen, our theoretical plans of using it is a so-called retaliatory, counter strike.

'A decision about using nuclear weapon can be made only if our missile warning system recorded not only the launch of missiles, but also gave an accurate prediction of flight trajectories and the time when the warheads fall on Russia.'

He said: 'This is called a retaliatory, counter strike, when we receive a legal right to respond.

'Yes this will be a global catastrophe for humankind. It will be a global catastrophe for the world.

'But as a citizen of Russia, as a head of the Russian state, I want to ask - why do we need a world if Russia ceases to exist?'An investigation has been launched after a bus crash victim's amputated foot was used as a pillow in a government-run hospital in India.

Ghanshyam, 28, was seen lightly dozing off with his head propped up by his removed limb at the Jhansi Medical College in Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday.

It is unclear from video footage of the incident if he was aware of what he was lying on while his severed leg was propped up.

An investigation has been launched after a bus crash victim's amputated foot was used as a pillow in a government-run hospital in India

Ghanshyam was working as a helper on a school bus when it overturned while trying to avoid colliding with a tractor in the village of Bamouri, 34 miles from the hospital.

Twenty-five schoolchildren were also injured in the accident.

His relatives have alleged that doctors were the ones to place the foot under his head as a pillow.

Relative Janaki Prasad said: 'When we reached the hospital, we saw his leg being used as a headrest.

'I repeatedly asked the doctors to intervene but they refused. Finally, after about two hours, I managed to get a pillow for him from the market and that's when the leg was removed.'

The Uttar Pradesh government is investigating the hospital and action will be taken against those found responsible.

Medical Education Minister Ashutosh Tandon has ordered the suspension of emergency medical officer Dr Mahendra Pal Singh, senior resident Dr Alok Agarwal and nurses Deepa Narang and Shashi Srivastava.Olympic skater Adam Rippon has finally met Sally Field's son Sam Greisman after it emerged that the Oscar winning actress had tried to set them up.

Greisman, a 30-year-old filmmaker, was spotted embracing the Olympian at a gala dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

He shared a photo of their encounter on Twitter with the caption: 'Thanks mom.'

Rippon was being honored at the 2018 Human Rights Campaign Gala Dinner with the Visibility Award.

Olympic skater Adam Rippon finally met Sally Field's son Sam Greisman at a gala dinner in Los Angeles on Saturday night after it emerged that she had tried to set them up

Field has so far been quiet about her son's encounter with Rippon but she has made clear her desires for the pair to meet.

Chatter of a would-be romance between Greisman and Rippon erupted on social media last month when the filmmaker revealed that his mother was nudging him to 'find a way' to reach out to the skater.

'Just some really helpful advice from my mom on how to deal with my Olympic crush,' he wrote alongside a screenshot of a discussion with Field in which she called Rippon 'insanely pretty'.

Field then shared her son's tweet and added Rippon to the thread.

Sources said Greisman then reached out to the skater via a direct message on Twitter to apologize for his mother embarrassingly trying to set them up.

Greisman, a 30-year-old filmmaker, shared a photo of their encounter on Twitter with the caption: 'Thanks mom'

Sally Field's son Sam Greisman has reached out to Olympian figure skater Adam Rippon to apologize after his mother publicly tried to make a match between the men

Rippon later appeared on Ellen DeGeneres' show and revealed he had reached out to Greisman.

'I reached out to her son yesterday and I said 'I admire your mom so much because she has courage'. I told him don't be embarrassed about your mom,' he said.

'We have a friendship.'

The Olympic skater made headlines last month after publicly saying he had no interest in meeting Vice President Mike Pence at the Winter Games because of his staunch views against same-sex marriage.

'I personally have nothing to say to Mike Pence,' Rippon said in a tweet last month.

'Given the chance to talk after the Olympics, I would want to bring with me people whose lives have been hurt by legislation he has championed.'

The bold stance against Pence drew plaudits from Field who called him 'amazing' in a tweet just prior to her matchmaking attempt.

'Your Olympics won't be about Mike Pence,' she wrote. 'They will be about your excellence and your grace. And all the young boys and girls you're inspiring.'

Chatter of a would-be romance between Greisman and Rippon erupted on social media last month when he revealed Field was nudging him to 'find a way' to reach out to the skaterDefense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday he will not publicly discuss issues related to North Korea, deferring to diplomats and the White House, ahead of a proposed meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.

Mattis said the situation was simply too sensitive for comment by officials in places such as the Pentagon, which is not directly involved in the diplomatic outreach.

'I do not want to talk about Korea at all. I will leave it to those who are leading the effort,' Mattis told reporters during a flight to Oman.

'Because it's that delicate, when you get into a position like this. The potential for misunderstanding remains very high or goes higher.'

His careful language comes as Republican senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called for the U.S. to 'ratchet up' pressure on North Korea, and the White House said there were no additional conditions for the meeting to go forward.

SILENT TREATMENT: ''I do not want to talk about Korea at all,' said Defense Secretary James Mattis, saying the situation was too delicate

'Lets not be Charlie Brown to North Koreas Lucy. Weve seen this movie before,' Johnson told CNN's 'State of the Union' Sunday.

'If anything I would continue to ratchet up sanctions until they again they have complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearization,' the Trump ally said.

Mattis was in the White House when Trump made the spur-of-the-moment decision to meet with Kim, accepting an apparent invitation conveyed through South Korean officials who were debriefing the administration.

After months of escalating tension over North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile programs, Trump decided on Thursday to agree to meet with North Korea's leader and become the first sitting U.S. president to do so.

President Trump accepted an invitation by the North Korean dictator to have a meeting

On Saturday, Trump said his meeting could fizzle without an agreement or it could result in 'the greatest deal for the world' to ease nuclear tensions between the two countries.

'Who knows what's going to happen?' said Trump.

Trump's move marked a sharp departure from 60 years of largely arms-length U.S. diplomacy when it comes to North Korea, not to mention his own previous rhetoric against Pyongyang.

No venue or date has been announced for the meeting, which is expected to be held by the end of May.

Mattis did not offer any clarity on his expectations, deferring to the State Department, the White House National Security Staff and Trump himself.

'Right now every word is going to be nuanced and parsed apart across different cultures, at different times of the day, in different context,' he said.

On Thursday, the commander-in-chief accepted an invitation to meet face-to-face with the reclusive despot in a dramatic development

'And right now, I want a very straight line from those actually responsible, not from those of us in a supporting or background role.'

A White House official said on Friday Trump remained committed to a meeting based on conditions laid out by South Korea: that Kim is committed to denuclearization, will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests, and understands that U.S.-South Korean military exercises must continue.

The U.S.-South Korean exercises are expected to be held in the coming weeks, raising questions about how the Pentagon would portray them.

'I'm sure the White House and the Department of State will be keeping you very well informed,' Mattis said.

South Korean national security director Chung Eui-yong speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 8, 2018

Deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah said North Korea would not have to meet any new conditions for the meeting to go forward.

'This potential meeting has been agreed to, there are no additional conditions being stipulated, but, again they - they cannot engage in missile testing, they cannot engage in nuclear testing and they can't publicly object to the U.S.-South Korea planned military exercises,' Shah said on ABC's 'This Week.'

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on NBC's 'Meet the Press' the meeting would give Trump a chance 'to sit down and see if he can cut a deal' with Kim

'The president has been very clear in what the objective is here. And that is to get rid of nuclear weapons on the peninsula,' said Mnuchin.A crackdown on welfare fraud has seen the number of female inmates in Australia rise by two-thirds over the last decade.

Australia's prison population is at its highest-ever recorded level, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

But some of the largest increases have come from women, rising to 3,310 female inmates - a record number of women in Australian prisons.

Although female prisoners account for just eight per cent of Australia's prison population, 28.7 per cent of these women are serving time for fraud, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.

A crackdown on welfare fraud has seen the number of female inmates in Australia rise by two-thirds over the last decade. Female prisoners walking in the Brisbane Women's Correctional Centre in Queensland (stock image)

A recent government push to combat social-security fraud involved intensive covert surveillance on women.

This coincided with a report from the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC) which found women were twice as likely to be convicted of welfare fraud offences than men.

Over ten years Australia's female prison population increased by 65 per cent. This is in comparison to a 50 per cent rise in the male prison population over the same period, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the AIC found.

There is a direct link between female convictions and the law enforcement of welfare payments, Professor Julie Stubbs, co-Director of the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice at the University of NSW said.

Over ten years Australia's female prison population increased by 65 per cent. This is in comparison to a 50 per cent rise in the male prison population over the same period. The Sir David Longland Correctional Centre Maximum Security Unit (pictured)

'Areas like fraud and drug crime are really shaped very much by police and prosecution discretion so if Centrelink has a crackdown, or the police in various locations have a crackdown around particular categories of crime, that detects more offences,' said Professor Stubbs.

'In the fraud domain, we see lots of evidence about Centrelink getting tougher on people who receive welfare and so when they change their policing and enforcement practices sometimes that generates extra cases that they wouldn't have come up with before.

'Crackdowns may also influence which cases are seen as fraud rather than simply an error in the over-payment of benefits.'

Although female prisoners account for just eight per cent of Australia's prison population, 28.7 per cent of these women are serving time for fraud, Adelaide Now reported

Women tend to serve sentences for low level or petty crime, the reports found.

There is a direct link between female convictions and the law enforcement of welfare payments, Professor Julie Stubbs, co-Director of the Centre for Crime, Law and Justice at the University of NSW said

The most common offence committed by female prisoners was found to be illicit drug offences, accounting for 21 per cent of female prisoners.

This is in comparison to 14 per cent of illicit drug offences committed by male prisoners. In total, women made up 11.5 per cent of all prisoners with a drug offence.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were dramatically over-represented and were 21 times more likely to be imprisoned than non-indigenous women, the AIC report found.

As crackdowns on previously undetected crimes catch more low-level offenders, more women are being convicted for offences

'Areas like fraud and drug crime are really shaped very much by police and prosecution discretion,' Professor Julie Stubbs said

As crackdowns on previously undetected crimes catch more low-level offenders, more women are being convicted for offences.

'So people who in the past might have been given a caution, or a diversion, or a non-custodial sentence, as a system gets tougher get brought into the harder end of the system into prison,' social justice advocate and criminologist, Professor Eileen Baldry explained.

'The profile of women in prison - on the whole - is that they come from very disadvantaged backgrounds and disadvantaged places.

'Many of them have not finished school, by far the majority of them have children, and their children are at dependence age,' she said.

Women tend to serve sentences for low level or petty crime, reports found

Approximately 60 per cent of women in prison are mothers or primary carers to children, while about 80 per cent of indigenous women in prison are mothers.

For these reasons incarceration may not necessarily be the solution and inter-generational consequences should be considered.

A prisoner costs the taxpayer close to $110,000 per prisoner each year, Adelaide Now reported.The crisis is expected to hit millions of Britons after wholesale energy prices went from a record low last May because of a lack of demand due to global lockdowns to the highest rates since the 1990s. Scott Byrom, Chief Executive Officer of TheEnergyShop.com, told MailOnline the 650,000 customers at the five energy companies to have folded in the past month were likely to be paying around 850-a-year for their energy because of the deals on offer in 2019 and 2020. But could immediately face a hike to 1,277 from October 1 due to the energy cap rise and may be paying as much as 1,500 by next April when they are moved to a new provider. There are concerns that millions more people could be in the same situation after energy consultants Baringa predicted that the number of UK energy companies could fall from 49 to 10 in the next 12 months if wholesale prices remain the same. Experts have said that many of the companies that have gone bust brought in customers on 'dirt cheap' fixed deals on the back of low prices last year - but now have no hope of making any money so either folded or are seeking a Government bailout. Ofgem will automatically move customers of Hub Energy, PfP, MoneyPlus, Utility Point, People's Energy to a new supplier in the coming days with British Gas taking 350,000 of them today and EDF 220,000 last week. Seven firms have collapsed in 2021 in total and many have only been in existence for five years. But energy market rules demand that customers whose supplier goes bust must be offered a fair deal by the new supplier - not the same one they had - meaning they are likely to pay significantly more. Stacey Stothard was one of 220,000 customer at Dorset-based Utility Point, which has gone bust. She believes her bill will now go up by up to 300 or more.A pilot of a United States Navy jet was shocked after he witnessed a mysterious object streak across the sky just above the Atlantic Ocean.

The moment was caught on the pilot's camera and posted by the Stars Academy of Arts and Sciences, a private research company.

An object is captured flying below the US Navy F/A 18 jet in a two-minute clip.

The pilot yelled 'What the f*** is that thing?' as his sensors locked in on the mysterious object.

US Navy pilots spotted a foreign object speeding just above the Atlantic Ocean. On the third attempt, the pilot was able to lock onto the object with the jet's tracking sensors

Christopher Mellon, a former intelligence officer, said the government should fund research into these UFO sightings

It took three attempts for the pilot to lock in on the target as it flew below the jet.

The pilot continues to track the object while speaking with a colleague about what the object could possibly be.

The video was shot off the East Coast in 2015 and then obtained by the Stars Academy.

The organization did not clarify how it captured the footage, but it said it was one of three incidents released to the public where a foreign object was seen by military personnel.

Three incidents were made public last year after reports that the Pentagon spent $22 million on research into UFO's.

Christopher Mellon, a former intelligence official who served under the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations, wrote a Washington Post op-ed about why the government should care more about these sightings.

He said the videos 'appear to provide evidence of the existence of aircraft far superior to anything possessed by the United States or its allies.'

The Stars Academy of Arts & Science released the footage. It was the third video shown to the public last year that featured military personnel spotting foreign objects while on duty

The video said at the beginning that the video went through an approval process before it was released to the public

'Is it possible that America has been technologically leap-frogged by Russia or China?' Mellon asked.

'Or after the videos were first published by the New York Times in December, might they be evidence of some alien civilization?'

Mellon said the government was not treating these sightings as 'serious incidents'.

He compared this flaw to how the government treated counterterrorism efforts by the CIA and FBI prior to 9/11.

While these foreign objects might not appear as a threat now, he warned research is needed to ensure they are not 'isolated incidents'.The moment a woman was punched in the face as several men brawled inside an Adelaide nightclub has been caught on camera.

The brawl sparked inside Black Bull Hotel on Hindley Street, in the city's centre, about 1.30am Sunday.

Footage shows a woman was caught in the middle of the massive melee before a wild punch hit her in the face and knocked her to the ground.

Scroll down for video

The moment a woman was punched in the face as several men brawled inside an Adelaide nightclub has been caught on camera

In the video, two separate groups of men can be seen throwing punches in the middle of the crowded room as horrified revellers look on.

A man in a grey t-shirt attempts to stop more people from joining the fight, as the blonde-haired woman holding a drink can moves behind him.

She appears to try and break up the brawl and is pulled into the middle of the floor, where two men wearing white shirts are fighting.

One of the men, whose shirt has been ripped open, appears to try and hit the man with a powerful, left-handed punch.

The brawl sparked inside Black Bull Hotel on Hindley Street, in the city's centre, about 1.30am Sunday

The man who filmed the footage, Freddie Salerno, said a number of people eventually stopped the fight as a friend tended to the woman

Mr Salerno said it was unclear how the fight started at Black Bull Hotel (pictured)

But he misses his target and hits the woman square in the face, causing her head to violently jolt back before she falls to the ground.

The man who filmed the footage, Freddie Salerno, said a number of people eventually stopped the fight as a friend tended to the woman.

He said it was unclear how the fight started, adding: 'I just came upstairs and heard a lot of screaming and I looked over and saw this.

'Everything calmed down and returned to as it was before the fight. It was as if nothing happened.'

A police spokesperson said officers attended the venue, but earlier in the night for an unrelated incident.

The spokesperson said: 'We had received reports of a person having been stabbed in the hand but further enquiries by attending patrols established the person had injured their hand on a fence and there was no assault.'Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren hit back at President Donald Trump for his latest 'Pocahontas slam' by bringing up sexual violence committed against native American women.

Trump returned to the familiar attack during a Pennsylvania rally Saturday night, mocking Warren, who has claimed native heritage based on family stories from her Oklahoma relatives, but does not claim membership in a tribe.

'Can you imagine covering Bernie or Pocahontas? How about that?' Trump asked the crowd.

Warren had tried to deal with the issue in a speech last month to the National Congress of American Indians, vowing to use the attacks to 'lift up' native peoples every time she is attacked.

In a Sunday interview with CNN 'State of the Union, Warren tried to do just that by bringing up native women who are victims of sexual violence.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren responded to President Trump's latest attack by bringing up native women who are victims of sexual violence

'He wants to try to attack me, Im gonna use it as a chance to try and lift up their stories. And Im going to do that right now, by pointing out that more than half of all native women in this country have been the victims of sexual violence,' Warren said, pivoting to the issue after restating what she has said previously about her family story.

'And more than half of them are attacked by non-natives. And the American government is doing nothing about this,' she said. 'This is an issue thats happening right here in America.'

Warren was asked on CNN to respond to Trump's 'Pocahontas' attack

'Can you imagine covering Bernie or Pocahontas? How about that?' Trump asked the crowd Saturday night

'Native women are subjected to sexual violence at rates much higher than any other group in our country,' she continued. 'We need to put some focus on this and we need to make some changes on this.'

Earlier, she told CNN's Jim Acosta ''I am not running for president in 2020,' and said she had learned of native heritage from her parents, saying her father's family had concerns about their parents' union because of her mother's native heritage.

Warren has said she didn't use her heritage claim to get ahead, although she ended up in university directories listed as minority faculty.

'Its about my familys story,' she said. 'My familys story is deeply a part of me and a part of our brothers'. Its what we learned from our parents. Its what we learned from our grandparents. Its what we learned from our aunts and our uncles,' Warren told CNN.

Warren told a Native American gathering last month: '"Every time someone brings up my family's story, I'm going to use it to lift up the story of your families and your communities.'

FILE - In this July 24, 2017 file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks in a park in Berryville, Va., where Congressional Democrats unveiled their new agenda

Warren also responded to host Chuck Todd on NBC's 'Meet the Press,' who asked about the subject and whether she would go along with a Berkshire Eagle editorial asking her to take a DNA test to resolve the issue.

'Look, I do know. I know who I am. And never used it for anything. Never got any benefit from it anywhere. But what I did a couple of weeks ago is I went to talk to the leaders of the native tribes across the country. And I talked about the fact that President Trump can't seem to hear my name without trying to throw a racial slur into it. Can't seem to make it through a ceremony honoring Native American war heroes without trying to make something else out of it,' she said.

She then made the same point about native women and sexual violence.

'And the United States government does nothing about that. That is just fundamentally wrong. This is a group that is being injured every single day. We need to bring some attention to it and we need to put some resources on it. And we need to make a change,' Warren said.A woman has opened up on what life was like inside the controversial apocalyptic sex cult that counted Rose McGowan and River Phoenix as child members.

Flor Edwards, now 36, spent most of her childhood living in poverty and being raised in the Children of God sect as she and her family moved between various compounds across the world.

Edwards, who left the cult with her family in her early teens, has now written a memoir - Apocalypse Child: A Life in End Times - about her unconventional childhood.

In the memoir, she details being beaten with paddle boards, undergoing apocalypse drills and begging for groceries from strangers so those in the scandal-ridden cult could survive.

Flor Edwards, now 36, spent most of her childhood living in poverty and being raised in the controversial Children of God sect with her family

The Children of God cult was founded by former pastor, David Brandt Berg, in Huntington Beach, California, in 1968, and has frequently been at the center of physical and sexual abuse claims.

Edwards said she never experienced sexual abuse within the cult but said she was aware group sex was occurring from a very early age.

Edwards, who left the cult with her family in her early teens, has now written a memoir - Apocalypse Child: A Life in End Times - about her unconventional childhood

There have been widespread claims in the past that adults would have sex in front of children in the communes.

'I am fully aware that all the adults are inside engaging in sexual congregation,' Edwards writes in her memoir. 'I don't know how I know, but I'm certain an orgy is taking place inside.'

Edwards said she grew up believing she was going to be God's Martyr at the age of 12 because members were told the apocalypse would occur in 1992.

'Death was heavy on my mind. I'd think about it constantly... and imagine my future in heaven. I'd think about (how) I'd never become a woman,' Edwards said in an interview with the New York Post.

Edwards recalled one instance when she was just five when she had to participate in a practice raid ahead of the so-called apocalypse.

She described having to hide with other children as adult members of the group stormed in brandishing broomsticks like guns and pretended to hunt them down.

'(The drill) was to prepare us for the apocalypse,' Edwards said. 'I was terrified.'

For most of her time in the sect, Edwards lived with her parents and siblings in a compound with an 8-foot-tall fence in Thailand.

Other former members include actress Rose McGowan (left) and actors River (right) and Joaquin Phoenix

They were sent places at the request of their leader David Berg.

'He was this obscure image that we had in our minds. I never saw him, my parents never met him,' Edwards said of the leader.

'He was very much like a monarch. I remember being scared that if I said anything against him it would be blasphemous.'

The Edwards family moved to Thailand on Berg's orders and then moved to Chicago in 1994 when Berg had a revelation that the US was now deemed safe and his followers could return.

Soon after settling in Chicago, Edwards and her family moved to California.

She and her siblings eventually convinced their parents to leave the cult.

'We wanted to go to school. My parents did what was best for us - take us all out, and stay a family. They left the group for us,' Edwards said.

Other former members include actress Rose McGowan, actor River Phoenix and his brother Joaquin. Edwards said she never met the Hollywood stars during their time in the sect.

Edwards went on to become a university graduate, writer and educator.

Her memoir Apocalypse Child: A Life in End Times will be on sale on March 13.

Berlin (People's Daily) - The Belt and Road (B&R) initiative is an opportunity for all parties to cooperate, said Shi Mingde, the Chinese ambassador to Germany, in an article he penned for Germanys leading business newspaper Handelsblatt published on Friday.

The article responded with data and facts to skeptical voices from Germany and Europe over the initiative, a massive infrastructure project aiming to connect Asia, Europe and Africa.

Shi emphasized that the B&R initiative is not an effort by China to horde the economic pie, but rather to grow the pie bigger for the benefit of all countries along the trading routes.

Recently, the initiative has faced a string of criticism in Europe, including in Germany's political circles, think tanks and media outlets.

This includes charges that China is "writing new international rules," dubbing the initiative "China's version of globalization," and claims the economic benefits are for "China's exclusive enjoyment.

The initiative even became a topic in the negotiations for the new German government to form its cabinet.

Shi reiterated the five-point nature of the initiative in his opinion piece.

First, it is an integral part of the existing international economic system, not reshaping the world or replacing a system.

Second, the initiative is a pragmatic cooperation platform, not a geopolitical tool of China.

Third, it is an open, inclusive vision and initiative, not an exclusive, closed small circle.

Fourth, the initiative aims to support European integration, not division.

Fifth, the initiative is a grand long-term program, not a one-time project.

Chinas resources and capabilities are limited and the initiative requires the active participation of Germany and Europe. In this regard, Shi emphasized that there is no globalization with so-called "Chinese characteristics."

The B&R initiative promotes connecting developed countries, developing countries and emerging countries.

It aims to improve and complement existing globalization efforts and inject new impetus into globalization.

China is willing to work together with Germany and Europe as a promoter and shaper of globalization.

Shi said that although there are many internationally adopted trade mechanisms and rules, in which China did not participate earlier, but even so, We do not seek to break these mechanisms and rules.

The initiative is a supplement to the global economic governance system. It does not challenge the existing international economic and trade order based on free trade, nor is it a strategy to hedge against Western influence.

Shi concluded that with the B&R initiative, China has never and will not seek to establish its rule, nor will it seek to export its own system to countries along the route.A spoof lonely hearts advert telling British businesses to contact 'Norman D' to avoid post-Brexit tariffs has been banned from the London Underground.

The ad, commissioned by the Normandy Development Agency, called on firms to 'vote with their feet' and relocate to the region in northern France after Brexit.

Transport for London refused to run the campaign which promised the process would be 'as smooth as Camembert' by saying it 'did not fully comply with our advertising guidelines'.

TfL does not allow images or messages which 'relate to matters of public controversy or sensitivity'.

An advertising campaign by the Normandy Development Agency aimed at luring businesses across the

The Normandy ad featured a mock-up of a fictional newspaper with the headline: 'British business owners can now vote with their feet and leave post-Brexit fears behind.'

The campaign, created by London-based creative agency Splash Worldwide, will still run in national newspapers in the coming days and will be displayed on a bus touring Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester and London.

Herve Morin, president of Normandy Regional Council, said: 'Brexit gives Normandy a unique opportunity to welcome British businesses who decide to stay at the heart of the European Union.

'The Brexit deal might not happen tomorrow, but British entrepreneurs are given the choice to decide for themselves if they want to expand their companies in Normandy.'Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo said on Sunday an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not just for show.

'President Trump isn't doing this for theater. Hes going to solve a problem,' Pompeo told the 'Fox News Sunday' program.

The United States expects North Korea to halt all nuclear and missile testing in advance of any meeting, Pompeo and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said.

Pompeo also said U.S. military exercises around the Korean peninsula will continue in the lead-up to the talks. In addition, he said, North Korea must be willing to discuss 'complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization' of its arsenal.

Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo said on Sunday an upcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is not just for show

The United States will make no concessions, he added, and will continue to push its economic sanctions against the country ahead of the meeting, tentatively scheduled for May.

After months of escalating tensions over North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile programs, Trump decided on Thursday to become the first sitting U.S. president to meet with North Korea's leader.

On Saturday, Trump said his meeting could fizzle without an agreement or could result in 'the greatest deal for the world,' with a denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Speaking on NBC's 'Meet the Press' program, Mnuchin dismissed criticism that Trump's decision to meet elevates the North Korean leader's international standing. He said the Republican president has also been criticized for not using more diplomacy to contain Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions.

President Donald J. Trump speaks to supporters at the Atlantic Aviation Hanger on March 10, 2018 in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, where he told the crowd not to boo when he mentioned his meeting with Kim Jon-un. ''President Trump isnt doing this for theater. Hes going to solve a problem,' said CIA director Mike Pompeo

Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Mike Pompeo speaks at the American Enterprise Institute, January 23, 2018 in Washington, DC

President (right) and North Korean despot Kim Jong Un (left) are planning a historic first meeting before May

'Now we have a situation where the president is using diplomacy but we're not removing the maximum pressure campaign,' Mnuchin said. 'That's the big difference here. The sanctions are staying on. The defense posture is staying the same ... so the president is going to sit down and see if he can cut a deal.'

Mnuchin said denuclearization of the peninsula is the objective of a meeting between the two leaders.

'We've been very clear ... that's the objective and that's what we're going to accomplish,' he said. He said he was confident the meeting would take place.

The announcement came during a frenetic week when Trump's chief economic advisor said he is leaving while porn star Stormy Daniels filed a lawsuit against Trump seeking relief from a non-disclosure agreement.

Key advisors including Secretary of State Rex Tillerson were not consulted in advance of Trump's decision to accept Kim's invite, conveyed through South Korean officials who were at the White House.Donald Trump is coming  at last  to the state he loves to hate, setting foot in California for his first time as president.

This is turf he lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by more than 4 million votes in 2016. He has mocked its judges for blocking his agenda, sued over its lax enforcement of immigration laws and threatened to pull out federal agents.

But there's something he's dying to see here: the prototypes for his long-promised wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. And there's something he's eager to do here: raise cash from the Beverly Hills crowd.

Trump's arrival Tuesday will come just days after his Justice Department sued to block a trio of state laws designed to protect people living in the U.S. illegally. Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown likened it to 'an act of war' with Trump's administration.

'The State of California is sheltering dangerous criminals in a brazen and lawless attack on our Constitutional system of government,' Trump complained in his weekly address, accusing California's leaders of being 'in open defiance of federal law.'

President Donald Trump, pictured Saturday night during a Pennsylvania rally, will head to California on Tuesday to raise money and make a splash about immigration

Trump is expected to visit these prototypes of border walls in San Diego, just across the border from Tijuana, Mexico

'They don't care about crime. They don't care about death and killings. They don't care about robberies,' he said, calling on Congress to block the state's federal funds.

Further north in tony Beverly Hills, Trump will entertain 1-percenters at a fundraising dinner where attendees will pay as much as $250,000 each

Last week, Oakland's mayor warned residents of an impending immigration raid  a move that Trump called disgraceful and said put law enforcement officers at risk.

The state has also joined lawsuits aimed at stopping construction of Trump's stalled border wall. And its judges have repeatedly ruled against policies Trump has tried to enact.

In recent months, Trump and other administration officials have threatened both to flood the state with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and to pull ICE out of the state completely.

'I mean, frankly, if I wanted to pull our people from California, you would have a crying mess like you've never seen in California,' Trump said last month, predicting 'crime like nobody has ever seen crime in this country.'

Meanwhile, Trump's acting ICE director has repeatedly threatened to increase its enforcement footprint in the state in retaliation for its limited cooperation with federal immigration authorities - and he appears to be making good on his promise.

'California better hold on tight. They're about to see a lot more special agents, a lot more deportation officers,' Thomas Homan said on Fox earlier this year before his agency conducted a series of raids.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders says California's Democratic politicians are 'stepping out of bounds' by 'refusing to follow federal law' on immigration

White House officials said the trip has been in the works for months and the timing so close to recent flare-ups was coincidental.

When asked if Trump planned to play nice on the trip, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said, 'Look, I think if anybody is stepping out of bounds here, it would be someone who is refusing to follow federal law, which is certainly not the president. And we're going for what we hope to be an incredibly positive trip.'

Trump's overnight visit will include a stop in San Diego to inspect eight sample designs for the wall he's been raring to build. He will also be speaking with members of the military and traveling to Los Angeles for a splashy Beverly Hills fundraiser, where attendees will pay up to $250,000 per person.

Trump's appearances in the left-leaning state during the 2016 campaign were marked by sometimes-violent clashes between his supporters and opposition groups. In some cases, protesters blocked traffic and threw rocks and beer bottles. Protests are expected during this trip.

Trump's more than yearlong absence from the nation's most populous state - home to 1 in 8 Americans and, by itself, the world's sixth-largest economy - has been conspicuous but not surprising. Trump country, it's not.

As a candidate, Trump suggested he could win California, a state that hasn't supported a Republican for the White House in three decades.

Since his election, Sacramento has emerged as a vanguard in the so-called Trump resistance. Democratic state Attorney General Xavier Becerra has filed nearly 30 lawsuits to block administration proposals.

California was the home of Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, but Republican influence here has been fading for years as a surge in immigrants transformed the state and its voting patterns.

The number of Hispanics, blacks and Asians combined has outnumbered whites since 1998. Meanwhile, the state's new voters, largely Latinos and Asians, lean Democratic, and Democrats hold every statewide office and control both chambers of the Legislature by hefty margins.

Trump may not get the hero's welcome in California that he received Saturday night in western Pennsylvania

Two of the border wall prototypes are seen from the Mexican side of the border in Tijuana

Polls have found Trump deeply unpopular in the state, with most residents opposed to policies he's championed, such as expanding offshore drilling.

Jessica Hayes, chairwoman of the San Diego County Democratic Party, said Trump's anti-immigration rhetoric plays especially poorly in a state with close trade and tourism connections with Mexico.

'These are our neighbors. These are our friends,' she said.

Trump has repeatedly floated the idea of flying in to pick the winning design for the border wall, telling rallygoers last year in Alabama: 'I'm going to go out and look at them personally and pick the right one.'

The Department of Homeland Security has said there's nothing to stop Trump from turning the wall design contest into a Miss Universe-style pageant.

But the department also says it doesn't anticipate that a single prototype will be selected. Instead, the samples are expected 'to inform future border wall design standards,' said spokesman Tyler Houlton.A woman has been charged after allegedly running over a two-year-old boy while under the influence of drugs.

Jessica Williams, 22, was arrested by police after the tragedy in Woodberry, New South Wales, left the child fighting for his life on Saturday evening.

Police allege she tested positive for drugs in her system after a mandatory drug and urine test.

Jessica Williams, 22, will appear in court accused of causing serious injuries to a two-year-old boy

Ms Williams was reportedly distraught after realising what had happened at the house

CCTV footage shows the harrowing moment the little boy disappears behind at the house in Woodberry, NSW

A boy points out the moment when a car reverses allegedly knocking over the two-year-old child

The little boy suffered severe internal injuries and remains in a critical condition in hospital in Newcastle.

Ms Williams said she would be apologising to the little boy's father when she sees him.

'I know the father, and I'll say my sorrys (sic) to his face,' she told the Daily Telegraph.

'This was an accident and my every thought hope and love is with this little boy and his family.'

The boy needed surgery which lasted seven hours after emergency services raced to the scene at around 6.30pm.

A spokesman told Daily Mail Australia the boy received 'serious internal injuries and internal bleeding'.

Emergency services rushed to the scene and a boy was taken in for surgery which lasted seven hours

CCTV footage shows the harrowing moment the little boy disappears behind the car, which police said was a Holden Commodore.

Earlier footage shows a group of children playing in the front yard of the suburban property.

Neighbours reported Ms Williams was distraught and told people she would never drive again and wanted to sell the car, the Telegraph reported.

The woman was picking up her own three-year-old child from the house, NSW Police Inspector Alan Janson said.

Police arrested a woman they claim was driving the car, who has been named as Jessica Williams, according to Seven News.

Inspector Janson added: 'She has lost sight of the two-year-old when she reversed out of the driveway.

'It's one of those incidents which is a very tragic and sad accident.'

The little boy underwent surgery for seven hours and his parents remain by his bedside on Sunday waiting for news, according to the broadcaster.

The boy's parents are reported to by their son's bedside at the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle

Officers from the Port Stephens and Hunter Police District carried out investigations at the scene.

A police statement said the woman arrested at another nearby address in Woodberry.

Ms Williams has been accused of several alleged offences including driving with drugs in her system, causing grevious bodily harm and driving dangerously.

She has been granted bail and will appear before Maitland Local Court on March 28 to answer the charges.A former member of Catalonia's regional government has relocated to the UK from her self-imposed exile in Belgium.

Clara Ponsati revealed on social media that she has returned to working at the University of St Andrews in Fife, Scotland.

The Catalan former education minister had been in Belgium since fleeing Spain along with ex-regional president Carles Puigdemont and three other former cabinet members.

Separatists took to the streets during the independence referendum campaign, which was rejected by the Spanish government

The former education minister tweeted to announce that she has taken up a post at St Andrews in Scotland

Ms Ponsati (far left) went to Belgium with Mr Puigdemont (second from the right) as they feared arrest

Following an unsuccessful bid to declare independence from Spain in October, she and others faced a court investigation into the secessionist plot.

She and the others are said to face arrest if they return to Spain. They were at risk of being arrested in Belgium until a judge withdrew the international arrest warrant.

A post on Ms Ponsati's Twitter account, translated from her native language, said: 'The Catalan exile arrives in United Kingdom: enjoying my freedom of movement as a European citizen, this week I've reinstated at the University of St Andrews.'

Police clashed with protesters after they voted for the region to secede from Spain in October last year

It also included what appeared to be a picture of the surrounding coastline. Former SNP MSP and Scottish Parliament presiding officer Tricia Marwick tweeted: 'Welcome @ClaraPonsati. You have many Friends in Scotland.'

An entry on the university's website currently lists Ms Ponsati as a professor at its School of Economics and Finance.

Former SNP MSP Tricia Marwick (left) welcomed Ms Ponsati's new role at the university after she fled Spain with regional president Carles Puigdemont (right)

A spokesman for the University of St Andrews, quoted by The Independent, said: 'Professor Clara Ponsati was granted a sabbatical from her post as a senior academic in the School of Economics and Finance to serve as a minister in the Generalitat de Catalunya.

'We are delighted that she has recently returned to her research work at St Andrews.'Demonstrators have taken to London's Hyde Park after far-right Austrian activist Martin Sellner said he was planning to speak there on Sunday.

Mr Sellner said that 'security risks' and 'left wing threats' had forced him to cancel an earlier planned event with UKIP's youth wing Young Independence.

He later tweeted that he would appear at Speakers' Corner in London's Hyde Park on Sunday, although his anti-immigration group claimed he had been detained at the border.

Pictures today showed demonstrators turning out on both sides as supporters of Mr Sellner clashed with anti-fascist protesters.

A supporter of Martin Sellner is pictured with a flare that was thrown at the group at Speakers' Corner as the Austrian far-right activist said he would address a crowd

Demonstrators have taken to London's Hyde Park after far-right Austrian activist Martin Sellner said he was planning to speak there on Sunday

Pictures today showed demonstrators turning out on both sides as supporters of Mr Sellner clashed with anti-fascist protesters

Mr Sellner (pictured in 2016) is a member of the anti-immigration group Generation Identity

A supporter of Martin Sellner holds a lighted flare that was thrown at the protesters

The Austrian activist is a member of the anti-immigration group Generation Identity.

'This massive immigration is changing the face of our streets, of our cities, and soon the people who have been living here for thousands of years will be an endangered minority,' Sellner said last year.

He tweeted last Tuesday: 'My speech for the Young Independence conference was cancelled for the 2nd time, due to security risks caused by left wing threats.

'But we won't be silenced. On Sunday the 11th I will give my speech on Speakers' Corner and I invite everybody who had a ticket for the conference to come!'

The Generation Identity Facebook page claimed that Mr Sellner had been denied entry at the border.

It is also alleged that his girlfriend Brittany Pettibone, a fellow right-wing activist, was not allowed to enter the country.

But Home Office spokesman said the department would not comment on whether Mr Sellner or his girlfriend had been detained, the Evening Standard reports.

Hope Not Hate said Generation Identity had been handing out leaflets near Hyde Park before the planned speech.

Supporters of Martin Sellner and Brittany Pettibone at Speakers Corner were confronted by members of London Anifacists

Supporters of the Austrian activist held up placards saying 'Free Sellner' amid claims he and his girlfriend had been refused entry at the UK border

The demonstration broke out at Hyde Park after Mr Sellner said he would speak there following the cancellation of an event with UKIP's youth wing

A police officer stands next to signs supporting right-wing Austrian activist Martin SellnerThe White House has unveiled gun and school safety proposals that include arming teachers but backtrack on president Donald Trump's previous calls to raise the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21.

The Trump administration's proposals vow to provide 'rigorous firearms training' to 'specially qualified' teachers on a voluntary basis. This includes assistance from the Department of Justice which will offer firearm training to school staff through their local agencies.

Sunday night's announcements also included news that the president is establishing a Federal Commission on School Safety that will be headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

The White House has announced plans to arm teachers but has backtracked on president Donald Trump's previous calls to raise the minimum age to purchase certain firearms to 21

The president is establishing a Federal Commission on School Safety that will be headed by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos (pictured)

The commission will largely focus on mental health and strengthening school security, but will also explore other solutions such as raising the age requirements for gun purchases, according to the White House.

Today's announcements did not say when the commission's findings will be released, but an official said it would be within a year.

'Far too often the focus has been only on the most contentious fights -- the things that have divided people and sent them into their entrenched corners,' Devos said on Sunday, according to CNN.

'But the plan that we're going to advance and talk about is a pragmatic plan to dramatically increase school safety and to take steps to do so right away.'

As part of the the proposals, the Department of Homeland Security will work with state and local authorities in a public awareness campaign based on their 'see something, say something' anti-terrorism campaign.

The White House plans also mention supporting the transition of military veterans and retired law enforcement officials into education-related careers.

These proposals were expected to include raising the minimum age for buying long guns to 21, a measure Trump has said he would support, but the unveiled plans make no mention of this.

Students have mobilized to call for stricter gun control laws after the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the hands of a 19-year-old former student

Trump held a listening session with gun violence victims last month (pictured) following the Parkland shooting

During a February 28 meeting, the president said: 'Now, this is not a popular thing to say, in terms of the NRA. But I'm saying it anyway, you can buy a handgun - you can't buy one; you have to wait until you're 21.

'But you can buy the kind of weapon used in the school shooting at 18. I think it's something you have to think about.'

Also expected was support for banning bump stocks, a modification to high-capacity rifles that lets them fire like an automatic weapon.

Shooter Stephen Paddock used a bump stock in an October 2017 shooting rampage in Las Vegas that left 58 people dead and more than 850 injured - the worst mass shooting in American history.

However, the proposals made no mention of this.

Critics of the president slammed the White House's announcements, claiming Trump backed down from supporting raising the minimum age for gun purchases because of pressure from the National Riffle Association, the powerful lobbying group.

Nikolas Cruz, 19, (left) killed 17 people last month at a school shooting in Florida, and Stephen Paddock (right) used a bump stock in 2017 to kill 58 people and injure 850 others in Las Vegas

Trump was expected to announce his support for banning bump stocks (pictured in a stock photo), but the proposals announced ion Sunday said nothing on the matter

'This plan is weak on security and an insult to the victims of gun violence,' Democratic Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. said in a statement to the Washington Post.

'When it comes to keeping our families safe, it's clear that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are all talk and no action.'

Co-president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence said in a statement: 'President Trump has offered only drips of water in response to a five-alarm fire.'

The White House announcements did, as expected, include official support for a bipartisan Senate bill known as Fix NICS that Republican Senator John Cornyn and Democratic Senator Chris Murphy introduced to improve federal compliance with criminal background checks.

The news on school safety measures come nearly a month after a mass shooting in Parkland, Florida, renewed debate over gun control.

Student survivors of the shooting have mobilized to call for stricter gun control laws after the deaths of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School at the hands of a 19-year-old former student.

On Friday, the NRA filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida after a Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a law that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than 21

During his presidential campaign, Trump touted his support for gun rights and was endorsed by the NRA.

Since the Florida shooting, he has offered conflicting statements about his views on gun policies, at times calling for new restrictions and at other times rowing back on his comments.

Trump has recently held listening sessions with gun violence victims, legislators and with the NRA - which on Friday filed a lawsuit against the state of Florida after a Republican Governor Rick Scott signed a law that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone younger than 21.Donald Trump Jr took to Twitter asking if a meme of his presidential father meeting Sean Connery was a real CNN story.

The meme shows a picture of the commander-in-chief and Connery from 2006 while a fake CNN banner reads: 'Trump, met with a Russian nuclear submarine captain and a suspected British double agent'.

Two images on the right then show Connery in his roles as James Bond and Captain Mark Ramius from 'The Hunt for Red October.'

And for good measure, a fake scrawl attributes a quote to Nancy Pelosi saying that this is the reason 'we must ban Russian dressing.'

Trump Jr posted the meme to his Twitter account on Sunday morning and wrote: 'Can someone confirm if this is a real CNN headline or not? I can't tell anymore.'

His father has often criticized CNN for of being 'fake news' and not being bipartisan.

Donald Trump Jr tweeted out a meme on Sunday morning of a fake CNN story claiming President Trump, met with a Russian nuclear submarine captain and a suspected British double agent' along with a photo of him with actor Sean Connery

Trump Jr (pictured, left, January 2018, asked his followers: 'Can someone confirm if this is a real CNN headline or not? I can't tell anymore')

Some Twitter users reacted to Trump Jr's tweet with sarcasm and humor.

'About as real as your fathers [sic] fidelity tot his wife,' tweeted one.

'Are you on drugs? Holy s**t. You're on drugs again,' wrote another.

Other users, however, agreed with the 40-year-old and railed on the network.

'The amazing part is, is that we actually have to ask that question,' wrote one Twitter user. 'Who knows with CNN, these guys prop up Dictators in NOKO and exploit children to bash [Republicans] and the second amendment. CNN is the scum of the earth.'

Some Twitter users reacted to Trump Jr's tweet with sarcasm and humor while others agreed, even writing that CNN is 'the scum of the earth'

The president's oldest son has been in the news lately after his wife, Vanessa, was sent a substance in the mail.

Vanessa opened the envelope in February and was transported as a precaution to a hospital in New York, shortly after coming in contact with the substance.

The New York Police Department later confirmed to the press that the substance was nonhazardous.

Daniel Frisiello, 24, of Massachusetts was arrested and charged with threats to injure and providing false information and hoaxes.

Two images on the right of the meme showed as James Bond (left) as 'the suspected British double agent; and Captain Mark Ramius from 'The Hunt for Red October' as 'the Russian nuclear submarine captain (right)

President Donald Trump (pictured, left, with Connery, April 2010) has often accused the network of being 'fake news' and not being bipartisan

Authorities said Frisiello referred to Trump Jr as an 'awful person'.

'You are an awful, awful person, I am surprised that your father lets you speak on TV,' the letter read, according to the Justice Department. 'You make the family idiot, Eric, look smart. This is the reason why people hate you, so you are getting what you deserve. So shut the F**K UP!'

'Truly disgusting that certain individuals choose to express their opposing views with such disturbing behavior,' Trump Jr tweeted, after the incident.

The suspect also sent the other letters to the Interim United States Attorney for the Central District of California, Democratic US Senator Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, a congressional candidate, and a Stanford law professor.A private Turkish plane has crashed in Iran during a flight from the UAE to Istanbul, according to reports in the country.

The country's Civil Aviation Organization spokesman, Reza Jafarizadeh, said the private jet crashed near Shahr-e Kord city, some 230 miles south of the capital Tehran.

Iran's state-run news agency, quoting Red Crescent, said at least 11 people were on board the small plane.

ISNA news agency said 11 people had died in the crash.

The country's Civil Aviation Organization spokesman, Reza Jafarizadeh, said the private jet crashed near Shahr-e Kord city, some 230 miles south of the capital Tehran. Pictured: A photograph reportedly taken just after the crash and now circulating on Iranian media

The semi-official Fars news agency reported that the plane took off from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates and was heading to Turkey's Istanbul.

The reports did not elaborate.

Villagers near the crash say they saw flames coming from the plane's engine before the crash, according to a report by Iran's state-run judiciary news agency Mizan.

The aircraft was a Canadian-made Bombardier, according to the Iranian news agency Tasnim.

It had eight passengers and three crew members on board, said Reza Jafarzadeh, head of the Iran Civil Aviation Organisation.

'The plane is on fire. After the pilot asked to lower altitude, it disappeared from the radar,' Tasnim quoted an ICAO official as saying.

Earlier in February, an Iranian ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, crashed in southern Iran, killing all 65 people on board.

The plane was travelling from Tehran to the southern city of Yasuj in Isfahan province when it came down in the Zagros mountains.

It is said to have collided with Mount Dena, which is 14,435 feet tall.

More to follow...The state of Missouri has become somewhat of a haven for child brides as young as 15 years of age because of lenient laws that requires the signature of just one parent.

A wide-spanning investigation by the Kansas City Star has revealed that more than one thousand 15-year-olds have married in Missouri over the past two decades.

Many of those teen brides and grooms have traveled from other parts of the country in order for their marriages to be legally recognized in the state.

Some of the 15-year-old brides married because they were pregnant and have revealed they did so to protect their older partners from possible statutory rape charges.

Missouri teenager Haylee Salas was 15 and pregnant when she married her 18-year-old boyfriend Ricardo Salas in 2014

Roughly half of the states in America currently have no legal minimum age for marriage if a judge approves and there is parental consent.

In Missouri, a 15-year-old can marry with just the consent of one parent. Those younger than 15 can also marry if a judge approves as well.

Brittany Koerselman, of Iowa, went to Missouri in 2014 when she was 15 so she could marry her 21-year-old boyfriend Jeremie Rook.

She was seven months pregnant at the time and Rook, the father of her baby, was facing possible statutory rape charges after a neighbor alerted authorities about their situation.

'I never wanted to get married, ever, like in my life... But I did it anyway, because it was either that or he go to prison, like, forever,' Brittany, now aged 19, told the newspaper.

The couple (above in 2014), who now have two children together and are planning to build their own house, say they were forced to grow up very quickly when they married

Brittany Koerselman, of Iowa, went to Missouri in 2014 when she was 15 so she could marry her 21-year-old boyfriend Jeremie Rook

Brittany said while she was 'infatuatedly in love' with Jeremie, their marriage only last three years.

'I was 15 years old. I was pregnant. I was still in school. He didn't have a job yet... Plus the pressure. I didn't see things going in a very good direction,' she said.

Brittany and Jeremie, who are raising their young son, now live a few doors down from each other.

The teenager said if she ever marries again, it won't be until she is at least 30 and it would be to Jeremie.

Missouri teenager Haylee Salas was also 15 and pregnant when she married her 18-year-old boyfriend Ricardo Salas in 2014.

After Haylee fell pregnant in her freshman year, Ricardo's family insisted he do the right thing and marry her.

Brittany was seven months pregnant at the time and Rook, the father of her baby, was facing possible statutory rape charges after a neighbor alerted authorities about their situation

The couple, who now have two children together and are planning to build their own house, say they were forced to grow up very quickly when they married.

'Honestly, we have two kids and I would hate for my babies to grow up that quick, even though I did,' Haylee said.

Ricardo added: 'If you don't have to do it, don't do it. You still have a lot of learning and stuff.'

Missouri is among the top 10 states in the country for child marriages with more than 8,000 children under the age of 18 tying the knot in the last 19 years. Texas and Florida are the highest ranked states in the US.

Activists have long rallied to ban marriage prior to the age of 18 in all US states but have been met with push-back from the likes of religious conservatives - particularly in the south of the country.Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi answers questions on China's foreign policies and foreign relations at a press conference on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing on March 8, 2018. (Photo by Weng Qiyu from Peoples Daily Online)

The main highlights of China's diplomatic calendar in 2018 will include four events the country is going to host, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told a press conference on China's foreign policies and foreign relations on Thursday.

Wang unveiled the four events when answering a question raised by Peoples Daily during the press conference on the sidelines of the ongoing first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing.

The first will be the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference, which will take place in Hainan this April and focus on reform and opening-up, the minister said.

In this 40th anniversary year of Reform and Opening-up, the Boao Forum will review Chinas successful experience and sketch new possibilities for further reform and opening-up in the new era, he elaborated.

The second will be the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit, which will take place in Qingdao this June and focus on revitalizing the Shanghai Spirit, according to Wang.

The expanded Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) will rededicate itself to the Shanghai Spirit of mutual trust and benefit, equal-footed consultation, respect for diversity of civilizations and pursuit of common development, he said, adding that the summit will set the SCO on a new journey of consolidation and growth.

A screenshot of official website of the 2018 Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference (Photo from official website of the Boao Forum for Asia Annual Conference)

The third will be the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, which will take place in Beijing this September and focus on the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), according to Wang.

A great opportunity for our African brothers and sisters to participate fully in the BRI, the Summit will give new impetus to the China-Africa comprehensive strategic partnership, said the minister.

The fourth, according to Wang, will be the first China International Import Expo, which will take place in Shanghai this November and focus on further market opening.

The diplomat pledged that China will embrace the world with open arms and enormous market potential. All will be welcome to access and benefit from the new opportunities of Chinas development.

Describing 2018 as the year that kicks off efforts to implement the decisions of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), the minister vowed that guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we in the diplomatic service will take new steps and make new strides.

Last October, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized in his report to the 19th National Congress of CPC that China will work with other countries to foster a new type of international relations and to build a global community with a shared future. This is the aim of Chinas major-country diplomacy in the new era, Wang said.

An event to promote the first China International Import Expo was held by Chinese Embassy in Switzerland in Swiss capital Bern on January 15, 2018. (Photo from official website of the China International Import Expo)

In answering a question raised by a reporter with China Central Television, he disclosed that besides hosting the four diplomatic events he mentioned earlier, President Xi will also attend the BRICS Summit in South Africa, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Economic Leaders' Meeting in Papua New Guinea and the G20 Summit in Argentina in the year ahead.

President Xis personal diplomacy will make a positive and responsible contribution to the well-being of his people, the interests of China and the welfare of the world. It will write a whole new chapter of major-country diplomacy with Chinese characteristics in the new era, Wang concluded.Malema (pictured) was expelled from the ANC - the party of Nelson Mandela - in 2012 and went on to found the revolutionary socialist party Economic Freedom Fighters

New South African president Cyril Ramaphosa has stepped up his charm offensive to lure Julius Malema back to his party - despite the firebrand politician promising to 'cut the throat of whiteness' last week.

Malema was expelled from the ANC - the party of Nelson Mandela - in 2012 and went on to found the revolutionary socialist party Economic Freedom Fighters.

His party now has the third largest number of MPs in the National Assembly, the lower house of the legislature.

For years the EFF ruthlessly attacked former president Jacob Zuma and his government, making accusations of corruption and incompetence.

But since Zuma's resignation last month, the EFF has softened its stance on the governing party and Ramaphosa, instead switching its hostility to the main opposition Democratic Alliance party.

'We would want to welcome (EFF members) back, and in fact we are able to say we would love to have Julius Malema back in the ANC. He is still ANC down deep in his heart,' said Ramaphosa during a voter registration drive in Centurion, near Pretoria.

But last week Malema vowed to unseat a white mayor while praising plans to redistribute land to black South Africans.

Malema, 37, said he wanted to 'remove' Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip specifically because he 'is a white man'.

New South African president Cyril Ramaphosa (pictured) has stepped up his charm offensive to lure Julius Malema back to his party

Julius Malema, who leads the country's Economic Freedom Fighters opposition party, said he wanted to 'remove' Nelson Mandela Bay mayor Athol Trollip specifically because he 'is a white man'

Trollip is pictured showing his ID prior to vote in the municipal election at a polling station on August 3, 2016 in Port Elizabeth, South Africa

He told a packed arena in Johannesburg that 'we are starting with this whiteness. We are cutting the throat of whiteness'

He told a packed arena in Johannesburg that 'we are starting with this whiteness. We are cutting the throat of whiteness'.

During the speech Malema said he wanted to unseat the mayor - a member of the Democratic Alliance - and accused the political group of being a racist party that promotes the interests of whites.

'All white people who are voting DA, who are angry with what we are going to do in (Port Elizabeth)... all of you can go to hell, we don't care about you.

'We don't care about white feelings,' he said to loud applause and cheering.

'We don't hate white people, we just love black people.'

Ahead of a general election due in 2019, a weekend-long voter registration drive was under way across South Africa on Saturday and Sunday, prompting a flurry of political manoeuvering.

Ramaphosa's comments about Malema came after anti-apartheid icon and Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said she would persuade Malema to rejoin the ANC.

Malema previously also ruled out a return to the ANC where he once headed the party's powerful Youth League.

'My grandmother is 87 years old. She said even if she dies, I must never rejoin the ANC,' Malema told a news conference in parliament last month.

'I would rather leave politics and go and be an analyst on Power FM,' he added, referring to a local radio station.

Malema launched his campaign to be elected president in 2019 by aggressively distancing his party from its one-time coalition partner.

The EFF has propped up the administration of Port Elizabeth's mayor since 2016 elections.

Malema shared this picture of himself in September. In 2014 he was criticized for wearing Louis Vuitton shoes and in 2011 he received backlash after flying business class to the three-day nuptials of millionaire property developer David Mabilu

Malema is seen above flashing one of his expensive watches. He loves to wear Breitling and Rolex

Athol Trollip is a member of the DA which has governed Port Elizabeth as well as Johannesburg and Pretoria with the support of Malema's EFF.

Malema has sought to rebuild ties with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) since President Ramaphosa succeeded Zuma last month.

'Ramaphosa must do the right thing. We don't care about him being a billionaire, we want him to do the right thing,' said Malema.

In his speech, Malema welcomed the ANC's recent resolution to seek to expedite the process of redistributing land to 'rightful owners' that is widely understood to mean transferring land owned by whites to blacks.

Malema founded the EFF in 2013 when he was expelled from the ANC along with a number of He is seen above in an October Instagram snap with his wife

Party time: Malema busts a move while holding a glass of champagne in this Instagram snap hashtagged 'weekend vibes'

'We want to give land to our people, it is going to happen, it will happen in our lifetime, whether they like it or not. The land will be returned,' he said.

'We are not going to listen to any Britain, we are not going to listen to European Parliament, we are not going to listen to UN - we are going to listen to the people of South Africa,' Malema added.

He was referring to a letter sent Tuesday by right-wing British UKIP MEP Janice Atkinson to Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson calling on London to 'step in' over the issue of land redistribution in South Africa.

Malema also announced a voter registration drive for EFF supporters.

'All fighters in all branches must be registered to vote. If you are not registered, then you are a criminal.'

According to the Telegraph, he has said he has learned 'to live in conditions of capitalism while fighting and defeating it'.

Malema founded the EFF in 2013 when he was expelled from the ANC along with a number of allies, and the party now has the third largest number of MPs in the National Assembly

In 2014 he was criticized for wearing Louis Vuitton shoes and in 2011 he received backlash after flying business class to the three-day nuptials of millionaire property developer David Mabilu.

He is also known to wear flashy watches such as Breitling and Rolex

In 2010 he came under fire for drinking Moet et Chandon Rose champagne and eating cake at his birthday celebrations, while his supporters, including a large number of elderly people got just water and fruit.

He said: 'We don't want them to stay in shacks, that's why we can't stay in shacks.

'How are you going to inspire them when you are also going to stay in a shack?'Renowned Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Randal Haworth has been accused of drug use and watching pornographic movies and violent videos during surgery.

The famous doctor, whose celebrity clients reportedly include 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Lisa Rinna and former America's Next Top Model contestant CariDee English, had an amended complaint filed against him in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday.

According to the complaint, Haworth 'regularly played hardcore pornography and videos showing extreme and graphic violence, such as actual beheadings, on a monitor, on in the background during during [sic] some of his surgeries', reported TheWrap.

Laura Day, a former patient who filed a malpractice suit in January 2017, also claimed in the new filing that the surgeon failed to disclose he was having issues with his eyesight, particularly his depth perception, following treatment for an eye tumor.

Renowned Beverly Hills plastic surgeon Randal Haworth (pictured, November 2010) has been accused of drug use and watching pornographic movies and violent videos during surgery

In the new court filing, Haworth (in an appearance on 'The Doctors') is accused of 'regularly and unlawfully' using the narcotic Percocet as well as Ecstasy

In the new court filing, Haworth is accused of 'regularly and unlawfully' using the narcotic Percocet 'including before and during his performance of surgical procedures.'

Day also charges in her new complaint that the 'regularly used other illicit drugs, such as cocaine and MDMA, commonly called Ecstasy'.

Additionally, the new complaint accused Haworth bullied patients who complained about his work as well as of forging patient consent forms in order to keep his medical accreditation.

Haworth denied the accusations to TheWrap and called them 'preposterous'.

'They might as well say that I killed JonBenet Ramsey,' Haworth told the news organization.

He did not elaborate on specific accusations but said: 'The truth will eventually prevail.'

The Beverly Hills plastic surgeon has several well known client, among them reportedly 'Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Lisa Rinna.

Haworth's celebrity clients reportedly include Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Lisa Rinna (left) and former America's Next Top Model contestant CariDee English (right). The doctor has denied the allegations and called them 'preposterous'

In the original lawsuit filed in January 2017, patient Laura Day said she was badly injured by a 2015 procedure performed by Haworth (pictured, right, in October 2011). She says she was mentally impaired for months and was left permanently disfigured

He was cast as one of the resident surgeons on Fox's 'The Swan,' a 2004 reality show that chronicled 16 women as they underwent extensive plastic surgery and counseling.

The show was canceled after two season due to a dip in ratings and continued criticism for normalizing cosmetic surgery.

In her lawsuit, Day said she was badly injured by a 2015 procedure performed by Haworth. She says she was mentally impaired for months and was left permanently disfigured.

Day's attorney, Chris Rudd, said he thought the lawsuit was a 'typical' malpractice suit over a botched surgery when Haworth's former surgical assistant and consultant came forward with accusations of misconduct included in the amended complaint.

Rudd told The Wrap he'll be 'seeking very substantial damages for her injuries plus punitive damages for the fraud and intentional torts,' as well as restitution and an injunction.Fifteen members of the same family are being investigated by fraud officers after receiving up to 1million in public funds by claiming they lived in a single flat in Grenfell Tower.

The Naqshbandi family, who are from Afghanistan, have been rehoused in at least three new homes in a luxury development furnished by John Lewis.

One family member is Masi Naqshbandi, one of Britain's most notorious 'crash for cash' conmen.

Masi Naqshbandi (pictured) is one of Britain's most notorious 'crash for cash' conmen

He was jailed for more than seven years in 2012 after he and his gang were convicted of staging 250 crashes to make insurance claims worth 6.5million.

Masi, 33, used the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle, which included a holiday at the seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.

His sentence was reduced to six years on appeal and he was freed in 2015.

Last September he met Prince William at the launch of a support centre for survivors of the Grenfell fire on June 14 last year, which killed 72 people.

The Naqshbandi family claim that a three-bedroom flat on the third floor of the tower was their main residence before the fire.

Those saying they lived in the flat include a couple and six adult children, at least three of whom have partners and a young child each.

However, only four names are believed to appear on the original tenancy agreement.

Concerns among Kensington and Chelsea council officials grew when some of the relatives started listing the flat as their address on official documentation after the tragedy.

Fifteen relatives of the Naqshbandi family say they shared a three-bedroom flat on the third floor of Grenfell Tower before the June 14 fire

Two days after the fire, Masi registered the tower as the address on his son's birth certificate, almost a month after the birth.

Under council rules, adults who can prove they lived in the tower at the time of the blaze are each eligible for rehousing with their families, with all rent and utility bills waived until July 2019.

Before then, they are put up in hotels and given a weekly allowance of up to 300 to cover costs.

The family denies any wrongdoing, and officials accept some of the relatives have legitimately benefited from assistance.

But the surprisingly large number of claimants involved in the case has led the council to begin a fraud investigation. It is understood that some of the evidence has been passed to police.

Officials feel there are many bereaved Grenfell survivors still living in hotels and other emergency accommodation who are more deserving of help.

'Cash for crash' conman who met Prince William after Grenfell fire Masi Naqshbandi, who met Prince William at the opening of a Grenfell support centre in September, was the ringleader of a London-based organised crime gang which perpetrated one of Britain's biggest 'cash for crash' frauds. In 2007 and 2008 he organised and staged 260 fraudulent accidents in an attempt to defraud the insurance industry of 6.5million. The gang would submit fraudulent personal injury, damage, car hire and storage claims under the guise of a legitimate accident management company named Real Accident Helpline. Masi Naqshbandi (pictured left) met Prince William (right) at the opening of a Grenfell support centre in September In some cases vehicles were deliberately damaged to mimic an accident, while in others claims were fabricated by presenting false paperwork. All of the claims raked in tens of thousands of pounds, helping to fund Naqshbandi's lavish lifestyle. Police investigated after one insurer alerted the Insurance Fraud Bureau. In 2012 Naqshbandi was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for conspiracy to defraud. He was freed in 2015. Co-conspirator Sabaoon Hillaman received four years and ten months in prison. Advertisement

Members of the Naqshbandi family have been given at least three new flats in a housing block set aside for Grenfell survivors at Kensington Row, a high-end development in West London.

At least one relative remains in a four-star hotel near Regent's Park  although the booking is under Masi Naqshbandi's name.

An uncle from Afghanistan is also receiving taxpayer-funded aid from the council. He is said to have registered his driving licence at the Grenfell flat last month, eight months after the fire.

One of the siblings, convicted of gang-related violence, has been linked to an address in South London. Three family members were thought to have been in Australia at the time of the inferno.

Masi, his partner Mojda Habib, 30, and their son have recently been moved into a new flat.

When told his and his partner's names appear on an electoral roll dated December 2017 at his in-laws' address in Harrow in North London, he said it was an address he gave for legal reasons for 'overnight stays' and 'day visits' from jail.

He insisted this weekend that he and his partner were living in Grenfell Tower well before the fire and that he had documents to prove this.

He said some relatives slept in the living room and shared bedrooms, but admitted that the entire family did not stay in the flat at the same time.

'We've got evidence that we've been registered with Kensington and Chelsea Council for 20 years when [my family] first moved to this country,' he told the Sunday Times.

'They've moved us like a football  east, west, north, south and even to Coventry  but they finally gave my family this council house [in Grenfell] in July 2016, by which time all the children were grown up.'

EIGHT fraud cases have been linked to Grenfell Tower disaster Scotland Yard has investigated at least eight cases of fraud in connection with the Grenfell Tower fire. In one case, a Vietnamese illegal immigrant pretended his wife and 12-year-old son were killed in the blaze so he could receive charity handouts. Anh Nhu Nguyen was comforted by Prince Charles after he claimed he had lost sight of his family in a smoke-filled stairwell. The 53-year-old pocketed 11,270 from charities and Kensington and Chelsea Council. He was put up in hotels and given clothing, laptops and cash. But after giving tearful interviews about his escape, it emerged that he was a convicted fraudster with 17 aliases who actually lived 12 miles away in Beckenham, South-East London. Pictured: Grenfell Tower in Kensington, west London after the devastating fire He had 28 previous convictions for 56 offences spanning more than 30 years, including theft, dishonesty, arson and grievous bodily harm. Nguyen applied for a new passport by claiming his had been incinerated. Last month he was jailed for 21 months after admitting two counts of fraud by false representation and one of making an untrue statement to obtain a passport. Last week survivor Eamon Zada, 35, was given a 12-week suspended prison sentence after the remains of his cannabis oil factory were found in the burnt-out block. He admitted one count of being concerned in the supply of cannabis. Advertisement

Masi's father-in-law Amrullah Habib told the Daily Mail: 'He lived in Grenfell. He lived here temporarily because they are from Grenfell. Before, they lived everywhere. Very far away. I cannot remember their address or their area.'

Asked how long his son-in-law had been living in Grenfell Tower, he said: 'Maybe a few months. He isn't living here.'

Kim Taylor-Smith, deputy leader of the council, said: 'Fraud is an issue the council takes very seriously, not just because taxpayers' money is being used to support people, but because genuine survivors and bereaved families have raised concerns with us.

'Where officers have doubts, they report it, and then investigations take place. Investigating and proving any type of fraud always takes time.

'It is hugely important that public perception of survivors and bereaved is not tarnished by the acts of a very small minority.'

Scotland Yard said it would investigate 'anyone who we think is fraudulently profiting from the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower'.Advertisement

The neo-gothic 19th century mansion in which the artist George Heming Mason spent his childhood is being sold as a Grand Designs project.

Wetley Abbey was originally the home of famous master potter George Miles Mason, who helped develop sought-after ironstone china and establish Staffordshire as the centre of Britains pottery industry. His son George, the Victorian landscape painter, was born and lived there.

Today the distinctive, 200-year-old six-bedroom Grade II listed manor house in Wetley Rocks, North Staffordshire, requires extensive work to restore it to its former glory.

The abbey - which is now available to buy - was the childhood home of George Heming Mason after the painter's father and master potter made Staffordshire in the West Midlands the centre of the pottery industry in the UK.

The main building is located alongside a modern two-bedroom bungalow in the 4.3-acre grounds in Wetley Rocks, North Staffordshire, and once entertained the cream of West Midlands society when the area was at the centre of industry in the Victorian era

Ornate decoration is featured throughout the abbey in Wetley Rocks and although it needs heavy refurbishment to bring it back to the glory its owners enjoyed when the neo-gothic property was built in North Staffordshire two centuries ago

As well as its elaborate roof panels and gold finish, Wetley Abbey boasts several marble fireplaces, a grand sandstone staircase and even its own reception hall

The abbey's new owners can enjoy the modern furnishings of this bungalow, which is also located in the grounds, as they oversee the renovation of the 200-year-old main property

But it remains an architectural gem, boasting several large marble fireplaces, and ceilings decorated with ornate gold recessed panels and elaborate room entrances.

The main entrance has double doors and opens into what was once a grand reception hall with vaulted ceilings that once entertained the cream of Midlands society, when it was one of the most prominent homes in the region.

The drawing rooms have elaborate windows and a grand sandstone staircase leads to the upstairs while a stunning vaulted corridor with a Minton tiled floor precedes a sitting room.

When not admiring the main building's vaulted ceilings and elaborate windows, buyers can unwind in the site's extensive outside area, which takes in some of the finest views that the countryside of the West Midlands has to offer

Today the distinctive, 200-year-old six-bedroom Grade II listed manor house in Wetley Rocks, North Staffordshire, requires extensive work to restore it to its form and is available to anybody willing to take a Grand Designs approach to the neo-gothic property with the option of living in an onsite bungalow while work is completed

The building boasts several marble fireplaces as well as a grand staircase, intricate ceiling designs and huge windows in what has been described as an architectural gem

A huge path winds up to Wetley Abbey in North Staffordshire, in which the Victorian artist spend his childhood. It is now available for anybody who has the patience to restore the neo-gothic mansion to the glory that it enjoyed more than 100 years ago

The present owner Karl Keeting started renovating the house by re-roofing it with Welsh slate and replacing key windows. Detailed listed building consent has been granted for alterations to be made to the house.

Mr Keeting said: 'We fell in love with Wetley Abbey as soon as we first viewed it. Incredible architecture and a great location in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside, we knew it could be restored to create a wonderful family home with spectacular leisure wing.

The mansion has huge spires as well as distinctive windows, which take in views of the West Midlands countryside in Wetley Rocks, North Staffordshire

Buyers who fancy their very own go at a Grand Designs-style restoration now have the opportunity to restore this abbey's extensive interior to its former glory

New owners would be able to enjoy modern furnishings by relaxing in this bungalow while they take on the challenge of renovating the main building

The abbey's character still shines through in rooms requiring extensive refurbishment to bring it back to the glory it enjoyed back in the 1800s when it sat at the heart of the UK's pottery industry

'We spent a large sum of money in making the building watertight including a brand new roof. We would have loved to have continued with the restoration ourselves however, the lure of a warmer lifestyle for our children meant that we are now living abroad so it is with great reluctance that we have now decided to let someone else take over the dream of restoring Wetley Abbey into what would be one of the best family homes in Staffordshire.'

Purplebricks Local Property Expert Shelly Parkhouse added: 'In my 18 years of estate agency I have never seen a property quite like this. It is stunning and each time I visit, it takes my breath away. Its a unique chance to become a real-life lord or lady of the manor.'

The house, built in the 1820s, has a low-pitched roof at the rear hidden behind parapets looking out across the Staffordshire countryside, along with a two-storey entrance complete with buttresses and gables. In the 1900s a 6,000 sq ft ground floor wing was added.

In addition to the main dwelling there is also a modern two-bedroom bungalow in the 4.3 acre grounds. Wetley Abbey is on the market for 995,000 with Purplebricks.co.ukPresident Donald Trump attacked Rep. Maxine Waters as 'low IQ' in a freewheeling Saturday night speech, and the longtime Democratic lawmaker responded by saying porn star Stormy Daniels may do him in.

Trump went after the California Democrat, who has regularly called for his impeachment, at a racaus Saturday night rally in Pennsylvania.

'And Maxine Waters  a very low IQ individual. Did you ever see her?' Trump told the crowd of cheering supporters.

''We will impeach him. We will impeach the president. But he hasn't done anything wrong. It doesn't matter, we will impeach him,'' Trump said, mocking Waters' calls for his own impeachment.

'She's a low IQ individual. She can't help it. She really is. "We will impeach him." But we have Maxine Waters and plenty of others,' Trump said at a rally for House candidate Rick Saccone, who is facing a tough race in a special election, where he also went after members of the media and Oprah Winfrey.

If for 'some reason, Mueller does not get him, Stormy will,' Rep. Waters responded, bringing up porn star Stormy Daniels, who is suing Trump

Waters  who called it racist when Trump issued an earlier attack on the black caucus member  hit back in an interview on MSNBC Sunday.

'He is expert at name-calling,' she said, ripping the president as a 'con man,' and pointing to his other attacks on Oprah Winfrey, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren.

'It seems that he's identifying and picking up more and more women that he's attacking.'

Then she brought up porn star Stormy Daniels, who is suing Trump and claiming a non-disclosure agreement she reached with Trump lawyer Michael Cohen is invalid. She got a $130,000 payment days before Election Day in 2016. Her lawyer says she had a sexual affair with Trump.

'This business about Stormy is not going to go away. He can call us all the names that he's going to call us,' Waters continued, calling into MSNBC's 'AM Joy' with Joy Reid.

Trump went after Waters, NBC's Chuck Todd, Nancy Pelosi, and Oprah Winfrey at his Saturday night rally in Pennsylvania

Donald Trump and porn Stormy Daniels aka Stephanie Clifford pose together in 2006; the White House says he already won a case in arbitration against her and that he's denied the accusations of an affair

Adult film actress/director Stormy Daniels hosts a Super Bowl party at Sapphire Las Vegas Gentlemen's Club on February 4, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada

Last year, Mueller (seen above in 2008) was appointed as special counsel to investigate alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 election

'This is what this con man does. He diverts attention from himself by attacking others,' before bringing up special counsel Robert Mueller.

'Stormy is not going away. She said 'for if some reason, Mueller does not get him, Stormy will,' she predicted.

Trump previously went after Waters during a joke-filled speech at the Gridiron dinner earlier this month, when he said she needs to take an IQ test.

I certainly expected him to come out with some racist remarks about me,' she said. 'So he did exactly what I expected him to do. And, by the way, I'm told he wasn't funny at all,' she told MSNBC afterward.

'Con man Don is gonna keep it up ... He comes for me, I'm coming for him,' Waters said

She continued Sunday: 'I'm not intimidated by him, she said. And so he can keep calling names. I've got plenty for him. In fact, everybody knows he's a con man. He's been a con man all of his life.'

Waters added: 'Con man Don is gonna keep it up ... He comes for me, I'm coming for him.'

Waters has repeatedly called for Trump's impeachment, even as party leaders urge rank and file members to tamp down the talk.

'I say it is time to get ready for impeachment,' Waters told her state party in February. 'I cannot wait and I'm counting on special counsel Mueller to connect the dots.'A psychiatrist who believed homosexuality was a 'personality disorder' is found guilty of sexually abusing two male patients as part of their 'treatment'.

Dr Melvyn Iscove, 72, was found to engage in masturbation and oral sex with two male patients, and once participated in anal sex in the office as a forms of 'treatment', a committee found.

The discipline committee was organized by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, Canada, and it found that Iscove had a 'special interest in the treatment of patients with problems related to homosexuality.'

The committee released its report last week about the doctor after it suspended his license, the Toronto Star reported.

Dr Iscove denies all allegations and is considering appealing the decision, his lawyer said.

Alfred Kwinter (pictured) is representing Dr. Melvyn Iscove, 72, who was found guilty of sexually abusing two male patients

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario's disciplinary committee released a report last week about why they found the doctor to be guilty of sexual abuse. His license has been suspended until his next hearing

'We're both very disappointed with the result, obviously,' said Iscove's lawyer, Alfred Kwinter to the Toronto Star.

'Dr Iscove has always denied the allegations, he continues to do so, and he's seriously considering an appeal.'

Dr Iscove will have to attend a penalty hearing where he could automatically lose his license.

Most of the allegations date back to the late 1980s, 90s and early 2000s.

'Neither complainant described any emotional or romantic aspects of the sexual activity with Dr Iscove, and both said that at some point, they thought that the sexual activity was part of the therapy and an attempt to cure them of homosexuality by engaging in the acts, rather than fantasizing about them,' the five-member discipline panel wrote in a decision released this week.

In defense to his actions, Dr Iscove said he was following Dr Edmund Bergler's theories, a psychoanalyst from the 1950s who focused on homosexuality.

Dr Bergler theorized homosexuality to be an illness that could be cured with proper treatments.

Defining homosexuality as an illness was discredited by many prominent institutions more than 20 years ago. The World Health Organization, for example, removed it from its list of mental illnesses in 1992.

Dr Iscove was unable to answer the committee on if he thought homosexuality was an illness to be treated during his hearing.

He stated that his 'patients patients only became responsive to his therapy when they were ready to fight it (i.e., the homosexuality),' according to the panel's report.

The two patients who complained against the doctor are both in their 40s and identities have been protected.

The first patient said he started seeing Dr Iscove when he was in his 20s because of his depression, anxiety and fears of being gay.

He said he saw Dr Iscove as a father figure before the psychiatrist asked if he thought of him sexually.

Reportedly, he and the doctor participated in 15 to 20 sessions where they would do mutual masturbation and oral sex.

The second patient started seeing Dr Iscove when he was 18 in the late 80s.

He said he considered himself a heterosexual male up to that point, and he was seeing the doctor for depression and anxiety.

But then Dr Iscove made him read passages from Dr Bergler and claimed his fantasies about heterosexual relationships were actually him covering up his homosexuality, according to the Toronto Star.

The patient started to believe he was homosexual. He told Dr Iscove he wanted to experiment with a homosexual partner and the doctor offered himself as an option instead.

The two participated in mutual masturbation and oral sex. One time the patient even brought a condom and asked Dr Iscove to penetrate him, which he agreed to do.

An official date has not been announced for Dr Iscove's penalty hearing.The 20-year-old woman who ripped her eyes out while she was high on meth has been pictured smiling a month after she blinded herself in the horror ordeal.

Kaylee Muthart gouged out her eyes with her own bare hands outside of a church in Anderson, South Carolina on February 6 in what she believed was a necessary sacrifice to God.

She was left completely blind by the meth-induced psychotic trip.

A month on from the shocking incident, a now drug-free Muthart is having to learn to adapt to life without her sight.

Kaylee Muthart, 20, is pictured above after she gouged out her eyes outside of a church in Anderson, South Carolina on February 6 while she was high on meth

'It's the same life, but I'm just learning everything in a new way,' she told People.

'Life's more beautiful now, life's more beautiful than it was being on drugs. It is a horrible world to live in.'

Following an extended stay in hospital and a psychiatric facility, Muthart returned home on March 1.

'I'll forget I'm blind sometimes because I know what's around me. Not down to a tee, but I know what my mom's house looks like,' she said of learning to adapt to her new sensory abilities.

'You still see but you don't see with your eyes, it's hard to explain because I don't even understand it myself.

'I'm able to be Kaylee again. I'd rather be blind and be myself than be Kaylee on drugs, and I truly mean that with my heart. I'm Kaylee Jean Muthart, just like I was 10 years ago. Just better.'

Muthart was left completely blind by the meth-induced psychotic trip (above). A month on from the shocking incident, she is having to learn to adapt to life without her sight

Muthart, pictured before the incident, had been due to enter a rehab facility for past drug use just days before the horror incident occurred

Following an extended stay in hospital and a psychiatric facility, Muthart returned home on March 1. She is pictured above after being released from hospital

Despite being high on meth at the time, Muthart can describe in graphic detail the moment she ripped out her eyes.

She said the drug trip led her into a state of delirium, which warped her perception of religion.

Muthart said she thought the dead were stuck in their graves and required a sacrifice from her - her eyes - in order to release them to God.

'I thought everyone who had died was stuck in their graves, that God was up in Heaven alone, and that I had to sacrifice something important to be able to release everyone in the world to God,' she said.

'It made the world darker and took everything I believed in and distorted them to make me go down the path to pulling out my eyes.

'It was scary, I didn't understand what God wanted of me, but it made me feel a sense of righteousness that I had to be the one to do it. And I was glad to do it because I've always had a big heart and nobody's ever giving me that love back.

Muthart said she felt like she was running out of time to 'save the world' and was madly searching for an acquaintance. Feeling short on time, she twisted out her eyes for the sacrifice.

'I proceeded to pull out my eyes with my bare hands and twisted them, and pulled them, and popped them. I told the pastor who showed up, 'Pray for me, I want to see the light, pray for me.''

The terrifying ordeal took place outside this church in Anderson, South Carolina on February 6

The horrific meth trip left her permanently blind and in the hospital and psychiatric facility for nearly a month. She returned home to her mother on March 1

Muthart's mother Katy Tompkins said she was left heartbroken when doctors told her the news of her daughter's blindness

Muthart was found ripping out her eyes by a passerby who had desperately tried to stop the young woman from self-harming.

It took a team of deputies to hold her down before she was taken to the trauma unit at Greenville Memorial Hospital.

Doctors then informed her mother Katy Tompkins that Muthart had blinded herself.

The horror incident occurred just days before Muthart was due to attend a rehabilitation facility for her meth addiction.

'That was a struggle. I can't even explain that feeling when I found out. It was horrifying. Complete terror,' Tompkins said.

'It's a horrible thing, but I'm still thankful because God spared her life.'

The incident last month was not the first time Muthart had used meth. She said she started about six months prior.

Months before the February break-down took place, Muthart said she was given marijuana - laced with either cocaine or meth - by coworkers.

She recalled feeling a high that she never experienced before. After doing online research on her symptoms she realized it must have been laced. She then left her job and the co-workers.

Muthart, pictured in 2015, says she's now clean and is learning how to navigate life with blindness. She said in her trip she felt religiously compelled to sacrifice her eyes to God.

A month later she found another job where a co-worker there pressured her to try meth and she eventually agreed.

The drug caused her to stay awake for three days. She took a video recording of her behavior on it.

'I took a video while I was on it, and I had been up three days straight. I eventually got taken home and got sober and watched the videos, and put that person out of my life and stopped using the drug,' she said.

She admitted that after using meth she returned to it because she felt isolated and lonely.

Muthart was due to enter a rehab center in the days before the eye-gouging meth incident occurred.

Reflecting upon the incident she said: 'When I do something, I go big or go home obviously. Humor is something that gets me by, laughing, music, that day itself.'

She said music has been a major part of her recovery. Muthart plays guitar and is still able to learn new songs despite losing her sight.

Muthart is expected to return to rehab for four weeks.

In the mean time she has emptied her life of drugs and is devoting her time to service, working as a public speaker for the Commission for the Blind.

Muthart's mother has also set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for a service dog. The page has already raised $27,000 of her $50,000 goal.The Irish travellers accused of stealing their way through Brisbane have left a vile message for a property manager they allegedly scammed.

At least four women, accompanied by several men, are accused of stealing groceries from supermarkets and scamming restaurants for free meals by claiming they found glass or hair in their food.

This week, after property manager Clara Carmichael spoke publicly about the group allegedly destroying four brand new apartments in Brisbane, one of the men left her a vile and abusive message.

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The Irish travellers accused of stealing their way through Brisbane have left a vicious voice message for a property manager they scammed

'You won't be able to get any more payouts on your big plastic lips or your big plastic rubber face. You're a dirty, smelly Australian slapper. Bye now,' he said.

Ms Carmichael shared the message on Monday after the group trashed a number of rental apartments.

She claimed they left a trail of destruction when they fled the apartments in the middle of the night.

Photos show carpet badly stained with black marks, walls dented and sink basins smashed in.

Ms Carmichael claimed they also left a toilet clogged with potatoes.

'It was a little bit disturbing,' she told the Today show on Monday.

Ms Carmichael claimed the group was violent towards each other and neighbours.

'They terrorised the other tenants in the building. People were scared to come in and out,' she told Seven News.

Photos show carpet badly stained with black marks, walls dented and sink basins smashed in

The group allegedly left the apartments badly damaged, with dents in the walls (pictured)

The Irish travellers accused of scamming and stealing their way around Brisbane allegedly used their children to steal designer shoes, police revealed today

Ms Carmichael said the group of travellers made a good first impression when they applied to rent the apartments.

'Our buildings are close to quite a big church and they said they wanted to live there because they liked to attend church regularly,' she said.

She said it wasn't long before their behaviour turned 'threatening' and they stopped paying rent.

Ms Carmichael said they were forced to remove some members from the building, while others fled in the middle of the night.

'Someone has to say something to stop the reign of terror they're unleashing on the community,' she said.

'People work hard in their businesses and to be scammed like this on such a big level, it's just not fair. It needs to be stopped.'

The rental apartment in Brisbane (pictured) was allegedly trashed by the travelling group, with dents in the walls and badly stained carpet

The property damage is just the most recent in a string of crimes the group of Irish travellers is allegedly behind.

Police have urged members of the public to stay informed as they set up a task force to catch the group.

Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said on Monday some of the group had now left Australia but some still remained at large.

The group will face deportation from Australia when they are caught.

Previously, the group has allegedly used their children to swipe designer shoes, police revealed today as they released new pictures of the suspects.

One mother distracted a shop worker while her toddler allegedly pilfered a pair of Chanel shoes, worth hundreds of dollars, and placed them in a pram.

The alleged crime is among 12 complaints Queensland Police have received about the same group of Irish tourists since January.

The alleged crime is among 12 complaints Queensland Police have received about the same group of Irish tourists since January. Pictured: Images released by police

Detective Fleming said he believes he knows who the alleged culprits are and that the Australian Border Force is trying to track down a group nine ' disrespectful' men and women. Pictured: Images released by police

Officers are trying to assemble enough evidence to have them deported as soon as possible, Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said today in a press conference.

The women are believed to be accompanied in the country by several men.

Police say the men solicit for work offering discounted repairs on driveways and roofing before doing a botched job or failing to even turn up.

Detective Fleming said he believes he knows who the alleged culprits are. The Australian Border Force is trying to track down a group nine 'disrespectful' men and women.

'There's a bit of an art and craft to this, they generally remain highly mobile and they don't stay in one place too long and my experience tells me they are generally alert to the practices of police,' Fleming said.

The women are believed to be accompanied in the country by several men. Police released these images of the men they believe are linked to the women

Police say the men solicit for work offering discounted repairs on driveways and roofing whilst providing sub-standard services or failing to complete the work or to even turn up. Police released these images of the men they believe are linked to the women

Detectives are trying to assemble enough evidence to have them deported as soon as possible, Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming said in a press conference

Police said: 'Some of these people have been working in groups targeting retail stores stealing goods and money, and obtaining free food and beverages from restaurants claiming foreign objects, such as glass, are in their food.' Police released these images of the men they believe are linked to the women

Police said: 'Another incident involved four men claiming to have found hair in their food at a Brisbane restaurant and then leaving without paying'. Police released these images of the men they believe are linked to the women

Police said: 'With all the attention they've got ... I would suspect they would go mobile very quickly either elsewhere in Queensland or interstate.' Police released these images of the men they believe are linked to the women

'Based on the CCTV they don't seem to be concerned in any way shape or form about being seen or detected, that either means they've done nothing wrong or they're incredibly brazen and they have no respect for the law and more importantly have no respect for the people in our community.

'With all the attention they've got ... I would suspect they would go mobile very quickly either elsewhere in Queensland or interstate.'

Superintendent Fleming said it was a case of when, not if, police find the group.

'It's one thing to make a mistake but what we've got before us appears to be a group of people who are incredibly brazen, disrespectful and they're likely to continue to offend,' he said.

'We've brought the case together under one command to try and co-ordinate the investigations across the south-east.'

It comes after CCTV footage appeared to show at least two women filling their bags at Brisbane's Chevron Island supermarket before allegedly making off with stolen shopping.

The CCTV footage show how a staff member approaches the group before the blonde woman appears to frantically unload the goods from her handbag into her basket, revealing the items she allegedly planned to steal.

The owner of a Gold Coast grocery store claims the Irish mothers accused of scamming businesses across Queensland had wads of $50 stuffed in their bras

The supermarket owner alleges the 'attractive' women stole $100 worth of groceries, the man identified as 'Nash' told Hit 105

Shocking footage also shows one of the women allegedly swiping a stack of meat trays from the shop floor.

Queensland police told Daily Mail Australia: 'Police are aware of the incident and are making follow up inquiries.'

Police are now investigating if the mothers are linked to an Irish fraudster who was recently arrested in Broadbeach but failed to show up at court, reported Seven News.

Several small business owners across Brisbane claim they have been scammed by the same women, who have been spotted around the city with two prams and at least four children.

Managers of several restaurants claim the women have been planting shards of glass in their meals before refusing to pay.

The group of Irish 'gypsy' tourists (pictured) accused of scamming restaurants across Brisbane

The three mothers and their children (pictured) have been accused by dozens of businesses in Queensland of planting glass shards in their meals to get a free feed

The group of Irish mothers (pictured) are accused of demanding a lunch worth $20 for free

In another recent scam, the Irish travellers allegedly ordered sandwiches at a coffee shop but when the manager asked for payment, the women claimed they had been given the wrong food the day before and wanted their meals - worth $20 - for free.

The manager said he had worked the previous day and hadn't seen the women at all.

'They started getting aggressive and so then I eventually just gave them three of the sandwiches that they said they ordered and then they asked for another one,' he told the Brisbane Times.

Staff at the International Hotel also claimed the same women came into their venue, asking for free drinks and cigarettes because the cigarette machine wasn't working.

'At the end they complained the steak wasn't cooked properly so obviously we gave them a free meal,' Nikki Watts of the International Hotel told Seven News.

One canny restaurant manager convinced the women to leave their details with him after sensing he was being scammed by the infamous glass trick.

Pictured is a shard of glass an Irish mother claimed to have found in her meal at Bird's Nest Restaurant

Mido Nassif, who works at Wilson's seafood restaurant, asked the women for their contact details on the pretense of wanting to later check if they were OK.

One woman then wrote a note with the name 'Jenny' above a UK address and phone number.

The note said they were staying 'In Birisborin' (Brisbane) at a 'Hilton Hotel'.

The manager said the two women - who were dressed like they were 'going to a nightclub' - left without paying their $260 bill.

The Irish travellers first came to public attention when the owner of Bird's Nest restaurant Marie Yokoyama shared her experience of the glass scam on Facebook and warned other owners to watch out.An upstate New York mom has been charged after her nine-month-old baby boy was found by strangers crawling alone in the middle of a busy road.

Video posted to Facebook, and viewed more than 2.2 million times, showed the infant squirming on his stomach in the middle of Bleecker Street alone on Friday night. Several strangers are seen attending to the baby and attempting to call 911.

Towards the end of the video, a woman is heard running up to the crowd that had assembled and yelling: 'Thats my baby! Oh my god!'

Once the video was brought to the attention of authorities, an investigation was launched. After several hours, police were able to locate 27-year-old Ledrika Ford on the 500 block of Milgate Street, in Utica.

A mom has been charged after her nine-month-old baby boy was found by strangers crawling in the middle of a busy road (left and right) in a viral video, viewed more than two million times, in Utica, New York, on Friday as strangers attended to the baby

After Ledrika Ford, 27, reclaimed the baby (pictured, as strangers find him), she told officers that he was secure in the rear of her car but, when she looked back, he wasn't there. She found the infant after returning to Pellettieri Avenue and Bleecker Street

In a statement released on Saturday morning, Utica Police said Ford told officers that she and an unnamed relative were unsure as to how her infant ended up on the street.

'She advised officers that the infant was secured in the rear of a vehicle that she was in when they left a location on Bleecker Street,' the statement read.

'A short time later, she looked to the back seat and found that the child was not there. They immediately returned to the area of Pellettieri Avenue and Bleecker Street where they located her child.'

Two Utica Police officers and two workers from Oneida County Child Protective Services met at Ford's home on Saturday around 11.30am.

Two Utica Police officers and two workers from Oneida County Child Protective Services met at Ford's home on Saturday around 11.30am. The nine-month-old baby and Ford's other three children - ages one, two and five - were taken away after the two-hour visit (Pictured, Ford and her children)

The 27-year-old mother (pictured), who is not in police custody, was charged with the misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child which could mean up to one year in prison if convicted. She is due back in court on Friday, March 23

After the two-hour visit, the nine-month-old baby and Ford's other three children - ages one, two and five - were taken away. Ford could be heard crying as the car containing her kids drove away.

The 27-year-old mother, who is not in police custody, was charged with the misdemeanor of endangering the welfare of a child which could mean up to one year in prison if convicted. She is due back in court on Friday, March 23.

The baby was taken to a local hospital for evaluation, but police have yet to release the condition of the baby.The Motability scheme providing cars for the disabled has lavished 26million on refurbishing its offices (above: chairman Neil Johnson, in front, and chief executive Mike Betts arrive at Parliamentary select committee hearing into their cash stockpiling)

The Motability scheme providing cars for the disabled has lavished 26million on refurbishing its offices, it emerged yesterday.

Bosses sanctioned the installation of chrome fittings, art displays and stone vases at the taxpayer-funded company.

The revelation follows a Daily Mail investigation exposing how Motability Operations has stockpiled 2.4billion of spare money.

The charitable scheme helps disabled people get around by leasing a car, scooter or powered wheelchair to them.

Customers agree to their 58-a-week state mobility benefits being paid directly to the company, which hands them a new vehicle with insurance, tax, servicing and breakdown cover all taken care of.

But the firm also paid its chief executive Mike Betts 1.7million last year  11 times more than the Prime Minister earns.

From 2011 to 2013, it refurbished its offices in Bristol and London, costing 26million.

The refit provided an 80,000 sq ft campus for 500 employees in Bristol with the relaxed, affluent style of a tech-company, the Sunday Times reported yesterday.

The 60,000 sq ft London base gained soft-back chairs, stone vases and chrome fittings. The two offices have matching boardrooms each with art displays and tables worth thousands of pounds.

Insiders said Mr Betts and his team also spent thousands on away days and overnight stays, including at the Pennyhill Park Hotel, a 19th-century country house and spa in Bagshot, Surrey, and the Runnymede on Thames Hotel near Windsor.

Last night Labour MP John Mann said: This excellent scheme has become bloated by the trappings of largesse. Disabled people and the taxpayer deserve better.

To hear that these executives have been lavishing what is effectively taxpayers money on turning their offices into five-star hotels is quite shocking.

The charitable scheme helps disabled people get around by leasing a car, scooter or powered wheelchair to them

Following the Mails investigation, the Government urged the National Audit Office (NAO) to investigate Motability.

Around 2billion a year is paid directly from the Department for Work and Pensions to the company.

It is a charitable scheme, while also effectively being a private firm with a monopoly.

The Mail found Motability had been putting aside 200million a year in unspent funds for at least a decade.

Conservative MP Philip Davies said the NAO should also examine the office refurbishments, adding: I suppose when youve got 2.4billion of reserves this type of largesse comes quite easily.

Motability said: [We] are proud that our refurbishment in 2011 means our buildings meet the highest standards of access and other facilities for disabled people.Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang presides over a regular press conference. (Photo from website of Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Supporting Africa in realizing peace, stability and development serves the common interests and is also the shared responsibility of the international community, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang told a regular press conference on March 7.

Geng made the comments after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lodged groundless accusations against China-Africa cooperation, saying that Chinese investment leads to mounting debt in Africa.

China welcomes the diversification of Africa's international partnerships and sincerely hopes that various parties of the international community can increase inputs in Africa, the diplomat pointed out, adding that the developed countries, in particular, should earnestly deliver on their commitment.

Geng called on relevant countries to develop relations with Africa with a view of supporting Africa's peace and development and making positive contributions to its prosperity and revitalization, instead of making irresponsible remarks on African countries' efforts to pursue their own development goals and their ongoing cooperation with other countries.

African countries and people know best and are in the best position to say whether the China-Africa cooperation is good or not, the spokesperson highlighted.

As agreed by China and Africa, the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation will be held in September this year, Geng said, adding that China and Africa are now in close communication and coordination and making all-out efforts to prepare for the summit.

We believe that the summit will surely achieve fruitful outcomes and inject strong impetus into the development of Africa and the China-Africa cooperation, Geng said.

The debt owed by some African countries was accumulated over a long period of time instead of in recent years, Geng told a regular press meeting on one day earlier, stressing that China is not the main creditor of African countries.

He said that financing support is indispensable for any country that is at the stage of economic takeoff, especially the initial stage of industrialization. Without financing, it would be difficult for African countries to achieve industrialization and modernization.

Workers test tractors before they go off the production line at an industrial park of the Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology in Wuhu Sanshan Economic Development Zone, east Chinas Anhui province, June 15, 2017. The industrial heavyweight sees soaring orders from the African, Southeast Asian and South American markets in recent years. (Photo by Cheng Yibao from CFP)

China always attaches high importance to Africa's debt sustainability, he said, adding that the country welcomes the concerted efforts made by the international community to support Africa in achieving peace, stability and development.

"We hope that relevant countries can earnestly contribute more to Africa's development and view China-Africa cooperation in a fair and objective way."

China is now the largest trade partner, a major source of investment and a major project contractor of Africa. The country has helped African nations build a host of landmark and large-scale projects, including the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway project and Nairobi-Mombasa railway, and made headway in industrial capacity cooperation with pilot and demonstration countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and the Republic of Congo.

In 2013, China-Africa trade surpassed $200 billion. China was Africa's largest trade partner for five straight years from 2012 to 2016.

A Somali student edits the documentary Africans in Yiwu in a classroom at Zhejiang Normal University, Nov. 14, 2017. (Photo by Gong Xianming from CFP)

There are more than 20 China-built economic and trade parks in Africa. These parks are home to over 360 enterprises, drawing a total investment of nearly $5 billion and production value of $13 billion.

"Certain people and forces are not willing to offer assistance to Africa but harbor 'the mindset of sour grapes' against the achievements of China-Africa cooperation," Foreign Minister Wang Yi said previously, stressing that in front of the historical trend and fruitful results of China-Africa cooperation, any rumor is futile and any provocation is doomed to fail.

Students from the Central African Republic learn bamboo weaving from a teacher in an international town of bamboo craftsmanship in Qingshen county, Meishan city, southwest Chinas Sichuan province, Aug. 3, 2017. (Photo from Yao Yongliang from CFP)Two men have gone on a violent crime spree, attacking bystanders and robbing a bottle-shop, in Perth's northern suburb of Yanchep.

The two men, who police are still looking for, approached two people sitting in a car around 5.40pm.

One of the men punched the passenger in the face while the other punched the driver several times and started to pull the steering wheel as the car was moving, 9News has reported.

Two men assaulted a driver and his passenger while trying to take control of their car. It ended up crashing into a pole (pictured) outside a bottle shop

They then robbed the bottle shop and were chased after by the manager and a staff member, James Shave (pictured)

As the two men struggled to gain control of the car it crashed into a pole outside a bottle shop on the corner of Marmion Avenue and Village Row in Yanchep.

The men then ran into the bottle shop and stole cans of beer before being chased out by the manager and a staff memeber.

'As he started to approach the main doors I said hey you've got to come back here and pay,' said James Shave who works there.

'He ignored it and then me and my boss followed after,' he said.

As the pair, who are thought to be in their early twenties, made a run for it an unidentified woman filmed them causing havoc on a main road.

She recorded the footage on her dash-cam which shows them brazenly running out in front of traffic.

The bottle shop (pictured) is on the corner of Marmion Avenue and Village Row in Yanchep, a northern suburb of Perth.

James said that as they were running out he yelled at them to come back and pay but the two sprinted off

They were seen minutes later wreaking havoc on a main road. The police are still looking for the pair

The two victims of the carjacking were not taken to hospital and the extent of their injuries is unknown.

'It's horrible it's happened, especially in Yanchip, it's a small town,' said James.

Security footage from the bottle shop will be provided to police and they are hoping that will help them hunt the pair down.

As the event was unfolding locals took to community groups on social media to share the news and warn others.The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation auctioned off dates with two of Hollywood's biggest alleged predators during an annual gala in southern France three times since 2015. DiCaprio and Weinstein are pictured together in 2012

The Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation auctioned off dates with two of Hollywood's biggest alleged predators during an annual gala in southern France three times since 2015.

The foundation's annual fundraising auction in St Tropez let guests bid to spend a year working and spending time with Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey, Page Six reported.

The event each year is flooded with Hollywood's most notable stars and brings in tens of millions of dollars for DiCaprio's charity, which donates to a myriad of environmental and wildlife causes.

The 'Courtesy of Harvey Weinstein' prize was offered up in 2015 and 2016 and let the winner share a table with the infamous producer at his company's annual dinner party on the night before the Oscars, and walk on the red carpet with him at the Met Ball.

His ex-wife Georgina Chapman was also involved in his donation to DiCaprio's charity.

The foundation's annual fundraising auction in St Tropez let guests bid to spend a year working and spending time with Harvey Weinstein or Kevin Spacey, Page Six reported. DiCaprio and Spacey are pictured together in 2011

The 'Courtesy of Harvey Weinstein' prize was offered up in 2015 and 2016 and let the winner share a table with the infamous producer at his company's annual dinner party on the night before the Oscars, and walk on the red carpet with him at the Met Ball. DiCaprio and Weinstein are pictured together in 2011

'For the lady attending the parties, be dressed in a one-of-a-kind couture Marchesa dress - and take it home afterwards,' the auction catalog from 2016 reads.

That year's package also included two tickets to the 2017 Super Bowl, two invites to the White House Correspondents' Dinner and two front-row seats to the 'Project Runway' Finale.

The winner was also invited to visit a movie set with Weinstein to 'see how a movie is made in front of our eyes.'

Another part of the prize were two one-month internships at the Weinstein Company in either New York, London or Los Angeles.

It's not clear exactly how high the bidding went, but one bidder won a 'similar prize' after bidding $1.1million at the 2015 event, according to Variety.

And in 2016 guests could bid on the opportunity to have Kevin Spacey come to their homes to put on a private theater performance.

The Leonardo DiCaprio foundation claims it was stiffed by the winners of the Weinstein and Spacey packages. DiCaprio is pictured at his event in 2016

The Foundation still touts the 'highlights' of the 2015 event and auction on its website, and even called Weinstein's donation 'a stunning collection of experiences.'

But the charity claims it was stiffed by the winners of the Weinstein and Spacey packages.

'LDF never received payment for any auction lots donated by Mr Weinstein or Mr Spacey, which were included in our 2015 and 2016 catalogues,' a foundation rep told the Post.

DiCaprio and Weinstein had a professional relationship before sexual harassment and assault allegations against Weinstein were uncovered last year.

DiCaprio starring in his production company's 'Gangs of New York' and 'Django Unchained.'

Once they surfaced DiCaprio issued a statement saying there was 'no excuse' for his alleged actions.

'There is no excuse for sexual harassment or sexual assault  no matter who you are and no matter what profession,' DiCaprio said.

'I applaud the strength and courage of the women who came forward and made their voices heard.'Oregon State University said on Friday that it is investigating an apparent hack of its old cheerleading website that directs viewers to a swingers page.

The school said that it discovered the problem on Friday when it found a message at the top of the old team website informing readers to click a link to redirect them to the team's new page, according to The Oregonian.

The school said that it discovered the problem on Friday when it found a message at the top of the old team website

The message link, The Oregonian noted, was accessible through the university's main site and could be found at the top of every page.

OSU spokesperson Steve Clark (Pictured) later said that the school believes someone hacked the main portal of the University website

OSU spokesperson Steve Clark later said that the school believes someone hacked the main portal of the University website and inserted the link surreptitiously.

Clark noted that he was unsure how long the inappropriate re-direct link had been on the site.

Upon learning of the matter, the University took steps to remove the link and as of 10pm Friday the old cheerleading page had been taken down.

'We are investigating how this occurred and by whom,' Clark added.Theresa May dramatically pointed the finger at Vladimir Putin tonight over the nerve gas attack on a former spy.

The Prime Minister said the facts increasingly suggested Russia was behind the apparent 'hit' on double-agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury.

Branding the attack a 'reckless and despicable act', Mrs May said the substance used was a 'military grade' agent Moscow has produced.

Together with Russia's previous actions and tactics, including the killing of Alexander Litvinenko, the UK authorities had concluded it was 'highly likely' to be involved in the episode.

In a tough statement updating MPs after a meeting of the National Security Council, Mrs May raised the prospect of significant retaliation - making clear that the UK is already consulting Nato and other allies.

'It is now clear that Mr Skripal and his daughter were poisoned with military grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia,' Mrs May said.

'This is part of a group of nerve agents known as novichok.'

Russia's ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office at 3.45 for a 'cool but firm' meeting with Boris Johnson. There was no handshake between the politicians as Mr Johnson outlined the 'outrage' felt by the British people.

Branding the attack a 'reckless and despicable act' this evening, Mrs May said the substance used was a 'military grade' nerve agent Russia has produced

Sergei Skripal (left) and his daughter Yulia (right) have been in a critical condition since they were found unconscious on a bench outside a shopping centre in Salisbury on March 4

Mrs May, who was flanked by (from right) Boris Johnson, security minister Ben Wallace and Home Secretary Amber Rudd for her statement this evening, said she would unveil retaliatory measures on Wednesday after giving Russian time to respond to the evidence

She added: 'Based on the positive identification of this chemical agent by world leading experts at the laboratory at Port Down, our knowledge that Russia has previously produced this agent and would still be cap able of doing so, Russia's record of conducting state sponsored assassinations, and our assessment that Russia views defectors as a legitimate target for assassination the government has concluded that it is highly likely Russia was responsible for the act against Sergei and Yulia Skripal.'

Mrs May said Boris Johnson had summoned the Russian ambassador in London this afternoon and informed him of the findings.

The Kremlin has been given a deadline of tomorrow night to respond to the evidence and the government could outline its 'detailed' retaliation on Wednesday.

'Should there be no credible response we will conclude that his action amounts to an unlawful use of force by the Russian state against the United Kingdom, and I will come back to this House and set out the full range of measures that we will take in response,' she said.

Mrs May said the government would not accept such an attempt to 'murder innocent civilians on our soil'.

'This attempted murder using a weapons-grade nerve agent on a British town was not just a crime against the Skripals, it was an indiscriminate ad reckless act against the United Kingdom, putting the lives of innocent civilians at risk,' she said.

'And we will not tolerate such a brazen attempt to murder innocent civilians on our soil.'

What action could Britain take against Russia if the Kremlin is shown to be behind the poison spy plot? Expel diplomats: Britain could expel Russia's ambassador and other diplomats based at the embassy in Kensington Palace Gardens - round the corner from where Prince William and Kate live. If MI5 have tabs on a Russian spy ring in the UK, Britain could take this poison plot as a reason to expel them. Impose sanctions: Britain already has an extensive range of sanctions against Russia as a result of the invasion of Crimea and eastern Ukraine, but we could extend them. The UK could also impose sanctions on named individuals if they are linked to the murder attempt. Britain could pass the 'Magnitsky List' mirroring US laws imposing travel bans on senior Kremlin officials responsible for the death of Russian accountant Sergei Magnitsky in a prison in 2009. Britain could enact the Magnitsky amendment, imposed conditions on Putin's cronies. The act is named after Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who died in custody after exposing corruption World Cup boycott Official representation could be withdrawn from the World Cup in Russia if Kremlin links are proven. Prime Minister Theresa May told MPs last week that the Government would look at whether ministers and other dignitaries should attend the tournament in that event. The Duke of Cambridge has already said he has no plans to attend. There have been calls for the England team to boycott the tournament but their withdrawal would probably have little impact. A coordinated protest, involving the withdrawal of multiple countries, would be far more effective in damaging Vladimir Putins showcase international event. However, experts say the nerve agent poisoning is unlikely to create enough international momentum to trigger a wider boycott. Statement of condemnation Britain may call on the support its closest allies if there is evidence of a Russian murder attempt on UK soil. A joint statement of international condemnation could be issued from leaders including French President Emmanuel Macron and Germanys Angela Merkel, warning Russia that such actions will not be tolerated. Advertisement

But the Russian Russian Foreign Ministry showed little sign of readiness to explain itself, immediately deriding Mrs Mays remarks as a circus show.

Counter-terrorism police and intelligence officers are thought to have presented compelling evidence at the NSC meeting that Moscow ordered the hit in Salisbury over a week ago.

MPs from across parties voiced support for Mrs May's robust reaction to the outrage on UK soil.

But Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn drew shouts and jeers as he criticised the government for failing to 'talk' to the Kremlim and complained about Tory donations from Russian business figures.

'We need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with Russia on all the issues dividing our countries, both domestic and international - rather than simply cutting off contact and simply letting tensions and divisions get worse, and potentially even more dangerous,' Mr Corbyn said.

He faced shouts of 'shame' and 'disgrace' from Conservative MPs as he told the Commons: 'We're all familiar with the way huge fortunes, often acquired in the most dubious circumstances in Russia, sometimes connected with criminal elements, have ended up sheltering in London and trying to buy political influence in British party politics.

'Meddling in elections, as the Prime Minister put it, and there has been over 800,000 worth of donations to the Conservative Party from Russian oligarchs and their associates.'

Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith branded Russia a 'rogue state' and demanded the 'most severe' response.

He said: 'If we appease a country like this, then we should expect even worse.'

Commons Foreign Affairs Committee chair Tom Tugendhat said the use of nerve gas was a 'war like act'.

Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper said a cross-party stand was needed against Russian aggression.

In an interview with the Evening Standard earlier, Home Secretary Amber Rudd pointed out that Mr Putin had jibed in a Russian TV interview about not being able to forgive 'betrayal'.

She said: 'I'm not going to enter into a kind of great big tit-for-tat with them, which is what they are longing I'm sure for us to do.

'Because when attribution comes we have to be absolutely cool-headed about it. Other people can carry on making their comments.

'I think that the general public are wise enough to take a dim view of that kind of childish joshing.'

Mrs May hinted that the prospect of pulling the England team out of the football World Cup was not being considered.

Asked about the team, she suggested officials could boycott the event but did not go further.

What is the Novichok nerve agent used against the Skripals? The Novichok nerve agent used against former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia is among the most deadly poisons ever created. They were secretly developed by the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold war in the 1970s and 1980s. Communist scientists developed the poison so it would not be able to be detected by Nato's chemical detection equipment. They come in the form of a ultra-fine powder, Novichok is up to eight times more potent than the deadly VX gas. Victims who are poisoned by the powder suffer muscle spasms, breathing problems and then cardiac arrest. There is a known antidote to the nerve agent - atropine can block the poison. But doctors find it very tricky to administer the antidote because the dose would have to be so high it could prove fatal for the person. Novichok poisons are highly dangerous to handle, requiring the expertise of skilled scientists in a sophisticated lab. Dr Vil Mirzayanov, former Chief of the Foreign Technical Counterintelligence Department at Russias premiere, was among the team of scientists who helped develop the agent. Advertisement

The dramatic moment in the House of Commons came after Public Health England stepped up their response by warning members of the public in Salisbury to wash their clothing and possessions  seven days after Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia fell ill.

Three Cabinet ministers - including Boris Johnson - are understood to have been be privately pushing the PM to respond with 'tough action' after claims Britain's response to the 2006 murder of Russian ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko had not been enough.

Ministers, spy chiefs, police and the head of the military were at the talks today on the progress made in the investigation.

Military scientists at the Porton Down research unit expect to be able to say beyond doubt that the rare nerve toxin was devised in a laboratory in Moscow.

The PM is thought to have canvassed views from Foreign Office officials and Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach on the appropriate response if the evidence proves conclusive.

Possibilities include 'full spectrum' retaliation across diplomatic, economic and military fronts such as the immediate expulsion of senior Russian diplomats and spies, potentially cancelling Kremlin-linked oligarchs' visas, and asset freezes and travel bans.

The Government is also expected to meet MPs 'half way' on implementing a British version of the US's 'Magnitsky Act' which lists Russians involved in corruption and human rights abuses who are banned from entering America.

Senior Whitehall sources said the Government could also plan long-term consequences such as boosting Britain's military deployments in eastern Europe.

Further options include covert consequences for Moscow that will never be revealed such as an offensive cyber-attack.

Marina Litvinenko, whose husband Alexander died in London after being poisoned, said the Government had promised her such a crime would not be repeated.

'Unfortunately, it happened again. It means something was not done,' she said.

The PMs spokesman said senior British officials have been speaking with top officials from Britains Nato allies and further talks are expected in the coming days.

Asked specifically if she was using Nato or UN language in her statement, he added: That is not an Article 5 type statement.

Vladimir Putin said in a Russia TV interview he could forgive nearly everything, but not 'betrayal'

He also signalled that the Government could back amendments being tabled by MPs to a Bill going through Parliament to beef up the power to impose sanctions on cronies of Putin using dirty money to love the high life in London.

A group of backbench MPs want the Government to bring in a Magnitsky Law, which has already been introduced in other countries including the US.

The PM's spokesman said the Government has already passed legislation to beef up the sanctions regime.

But he added that Mrs May 'is looking to build the broadest possible consensus and conversations will take place with those who have tabled the amendment'.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson were both at the National Security Council meeting in Downing Street today

Air Chief Marshall Sir Stuart Peach (left) and Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson arrived together for the NCS meeting today

Shouts of 'shame' as Corbyn complains that Britain is not listening to Russia enough Jeremy Corbyn drew shouts and jeers from MPs today as he criticised the government for failing to 'talk' to the Kremlin. The Labour leader was also accused of petty point-scoring after using the occasion to complain about Tory donations from Russian business figures. The comments came as Mr Corbyn responded to Theresa May's statement in the House of Commons condemning Russia for involvement in the attempted murder of a Russian agent on UK soil. After Mrs May said it was 'highly likely' that Moscow had ordered the use of a 'military grade' nerve agent, Mr Corbyn replied: 'We need to continue seeking a robust dialogue with Russia on all the issues dividing our countries, both domestic and international - rather than simply cutting off contact and simply letting tensions and divisions get worse, and potentially even more dangerous.' The Labour leader was accused of petty point-scoring tonight after using the occasion to complain about Tory donations from Russian business figures He faced shouts of 'shame' and 'disgrace' from Conservative MPs as he told the Commons: 'We're all familiar with the way huge fortunes, often acquired in the most dubious circumstances in Russia, sometimes connected with criminal elements, have ended up sheltering in London and trying to buy political influence in British party politics. 'Meddling in elections, as the Prime Minister put it, and there has been over 800,000 worth of donations to the Conservative Party from Russian oligarchs and their associates.' By contrast, a series of MPs from all parties stood to welcome Mrs May's strong reply to the apparent assassination attempt. Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper said a cross-party stand was needed against Russian aggression. Former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith branded Russia a 'rogue state' and demanded the 'most severe' response. He said: 'If we appease a country like this, then we should expect even worse.' AdvertisementThe Walking Dead star Khary Payton has taken to Instagram to defend co-star Lauren Cohan in her months-long dispute for a greater pay raise for the show's ninth season.

Cohan, 36, has been renegotiating her contract with AMC after she was offered a 'modest' salary increase.

In her dispute she allegedly initially fought to be paid on par with the show's lead male actors Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus.

Khary Payton, who plays King Ezekiel took to Instagram to share the blunt message 'Pay the woman'.

Walking Dead star Lauren Cohan, 36, (above) has been in a months-long contract renegotiation after she was offered a 'modest' salary increase

Her co-star Khary Payton, who plays King Ezekiel, has taken to Instagram to share this image and the caption 'Pay the woman' rallying behind her in her fight for a more substantial pay raise

Cohan (right) pictured on the show with Payton (left) has found words of support from her co-stars who agree that she deserves a greater pay raise for the show's ninth season

Payton posted the image on his Instagram page last Sunday coupled with a photo of Cohan where her eyes seem to pierce the camera lens and where her arms are folded, a message that says she means business.

Cohan has been a seven-year staple on the show playing the prominent role of Maggie since season two.

The Walking Dead is preparing to film the ninth season of the comic-based drama.

Cohan allegedly turned down the first contract offer that set a small 'modest' salary increase on the table, seeking to have a contract equal to that of the two male leads, according to Deadline.

Although other sources claim she no longer seeks equal pay but a more substantial pay raise instead, she is yet to come to an agreement with the network.

It was also reported that male leads Lincoln and Reedus get paid 'significantly more' than the female colleagues on set.

Female stars on the show are reportedly paid much less than the male leads such as Andrew Lincoln (left) pictured with Cohan (right) who has been a staple on the show since Season 2

At first Cohan rejected the Season 9 contract offered by AMC because she wanted a contract on par with that of lead actors Norman Reedus (left) and Andrew Lincoln (right)

Khary Payton, above, posted Cohan's image to rally support for her pay raise last week

Even if AMC does not come to an agreement with the Cohan, she has reportedly been receiving a myriad of pilots for other shows where she'd be the lead role, according to Deadline.

At the moment she is not contractually obligated to remain with the show for the next season, which has topped rating charts and is currently the number one drama on television.

She has reportedly already signed to another pilot Whiskey Cavalier on ABC, according to the Hollywood Reporter, alongside actor Scott Foley.

Sources have said that ABC will allow the actress to 'return in a limited capacity' to the set of Walking Dead to close out her character's storyline.

But sources have said that 'the actress and her agents are not happy' with offers from AMC.Paul Holland Cockeran III was charged with murder on Wednesday in North Carolina

A 16-year-old-boy has been charged with murder after allegedly getting into a fight with his good friend and putting him in a chokehold, killing him.

Paul Holland Cockeran III, 16, was charged with murder on Wednesday in Wilkes County, North Carolina, in connection with the death of his friend, 19-year-old Dillion Scott Allison.

Investigators say that the two teens were hanging out in a parking lot smoking pot at around 1am on Sunday, when Cockeran began teasing Allison about a fight that Allison had previously gotten into.

Allison became upset and left the parking lot, police said. But shortly afterwards, Allison went over to Cockeran's house to pick up some clothing he'd left there, and the two go into a physical confrontation.

Dillion Allison (pictured) was hanging out with his friend Cockeran early on Sunday when the two got into a physical altercation. Police say Cockeran put him into a chokehold

During the fight, Cockeran put Allison into a chokehold from behind until he passed out, police said after interviewing Cockeran. No witnesses were present, the Wilkes Journal-Patriot reported.

Finding his friend unresponsive, Cockeran called 911 and attempted to perform CPR on Allison. Paramedics arrived on the scene and continued to attempt live-saving measures.

Allison was transported to Wilkes County Medical Center but did not regain consciousness. The teen was then airlifted to Wake Forrest Baptist.

Cockeran was initially charged Monday on felony charges of assault inflicting serious injury and assault by strangulation.

Investigators say that he fled to Michigan, where he was located and contacted by police. But Cockeran returned on his own to North Carolina, where he surrendered to police voluntarily on Wednesday evening.

On Wednesday, Allison was taken off of life support and died. Cockeran's charges were upgraded to murder.

Allison is seen with a female family member. He did not regain consciousness before being taken off of life support on Wednesday

Cockeran is being held without bond in the Wilkes County Jail, housed separately from the adult inmates. His next court date was not immediately clear from online records.

Allison's mother Jennifer Church said she was relying heavily on prayer and community support to get through the ordeal, and that she wanted to forgive Cockeran.

'I just want to let him know that I'm not mad at him, and I do forgive him and I am sorry that he is going to have to live with that for the rest of his life,' she told WFMY.

'I really do feel like I have learned that no matter what happens in our lives it could always be worse. I know that sounds awful for me to say after I just lost my son, but it could always be worse,' she said.

'There are other families that go through things that are so much worse, so I keep focus on that and I also learned how to forgive,'Disney worker Michael Shaver, 36, of Clermont, Florida, has not been seen since 2015. He was first reported missing last month

Investigators dug up human remains in the backyard of a Disney World worker who was reported missing in February.

Family and friends of Michael Shaver, 36, of Clermont, Florida, say they haven't seen or heard from since 2015, and had only informed police about his disappearance last month.

On February 16, Shaver's wife, Laurie, 35, allowed investigators to initially search the couple's property.

During the search, Lake County Police noticed fresh concrete near the fire pit in the backyard.

They asked Laurie if they could bring a cadaver dog to search the area.

Laurie became uncooperative at that point, however, and police returned later with a warrant to further conduct the search.

'Upon speaking to her fora few minutes the conversation ended up making its way outside the home at which time she stopped being cooperative and she requested her attorney,' Lieutenant John Herrell said in a press release.

The missing mechanic is pictured above (left) on his sister Stacie's Facebook page

Stacie Shaver told police the family didn't report him missing right away because they believed they could locate Michael without their help

According to The Orlando Sentinel, investigators found an arm bone and other human remains along with clothing items this past weekend.

The remains have not yet been positively identified as Michael Shaver's.

Shaver worked a monorail mechanic at Walt Disney World, his family said, according to the newspaper.

Investigators dug up human remains from the backyard of the missing Disney World worker's home

Herrell called the missing persons case 'suspicious' and 'mysterious', while Shaver's sister, Stacie Shaver, told police the family didn't report him missing right away because they believed they could locate Michael without their help.

Most of the missing mechanic's family members reside in New York.

Neighbors told police during questioning they also hadn't seen him in years, and remembered him as a 'quiet' but 'nice' man who cared deeply for his kids, according to Fox 13.

'Hoping that someone will hear this story and maybe know something and come forward with some information we can use going forward,' Herrell added.Iran last night claimed it had sentenced an Iranian-British dual citizen to six years in jail for spying for Britain.

No details of the case were given, including who the person was, when they were arrested or where.

The judiciary's Mizan news agency said Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi had 'referred to a six-year prison sentence for an agent of England's intelligence service'.

It quoted him as saying the same British-Iranian citizen was also under investigation in a separate case related to a private bank, giving no further details.

At least two British-Iranian citizens are known to be held in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (pictured left)

Iran does not recognise dual citizenship, which limits the access foreign embassies have to their dual citizens held there.

Last night a diplomatic source told the Mail: 'As usual the Iranians have been tight-lipped on this.'

At least two British-Iranian citizens are known to be held in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe.

She has been sentenced to five years for plotting the overthrow of Iran's government.

Her employers and the British government say she was in Iran visiting relatives when she was arrested in April 2016.

Kamal Foroughi, a 78-year-old British-Iranian businessman, was arrested in 2011 and convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol charges.

Britain's foreign office says it has raised both cases with the Iranian authorities. In both cases, the families of those held deny the charges.She said her 17-year marriage to David Oldfield was 'over' after they starred in the reality series I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here together.

But it appears Lisa Oldfield is standing by her husband, revealing on Saturday the tempestuous couple are indeed still getting hot and heavy with each other.

The 43-year-old shared a snap to her Instagram of her emergency contraception purchase and made a joke about coercing David, 59, into being intimate with her.

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Back in the sack: It appears Lisa Oldfield is standing by her husband, revealing on Saturday the tempestuous couple are indeed still getting hot and heavy with each other

The outspoken reality star posted a photo of her hand holding the Postrelle-branded medication, which is also known as the 'morning after pill'.

She then described a pretend scenario with her pharmacist, writing they had said to her: 'Before I can prescribe this medication, was there any violence involved?'

The mother of two joked she had replied: 'Well, I did nudge him in the ribs pretty hard to wake him up.'

Precaution: The outspoken reality star posted a photo of her hand holding the Postrelle-branded medication, which is also known as the 'morning after pill'

One of Lisa's followers didn't appear to appreciate the gag, writing in the comments section: 'Stupid joke for women who actually need it' and adding the tag 'idiot'.

'I actually did need it you f***ing idiot,' Lisa quickly responded.

The Real Housewives Of Sydney star hinted her marriage was in a better place with an earlier Instagram post on Saturday.

'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,' she wrote beside a photo of her and David kissing.

'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer,' she wrote beside a photo of her and David kissing

It was a different scenario for Lisa after her eviction from the I'm A Celebrity jungle, when she told the show's co-host Julia Morris her marriage to David was 'over'.

After calling her husband a 't**t', she confirmed she 'will be speaking to a divorce lawyer' upon returning to Sydney.

'I feel like he is a boat anchor around my neck, and after 17 years I've had a revelation,' she described of her husband.She exchanged vows with Karl Stefanovic in a lavish commitment ceremony on Saturday.

And a source claims Jasmine Yarbrough opted to wear white with a hint of red on her big day.

The 34-year-old shoe designer reportedly walked down the aisle in a 'flowing white maxi dress with a bold red pattern,' a source told Woman's Day this week.

And the 'bride' wore... a maxi dress! A source claims Jasmine Yarbrough opted to wear white with a hint of red on her big day with Karl Stefanovic. The 34-year-old shoe designer is pictured here having lunch at Woolloomooloo Wharf last month, weeks before her big day

Lavish digs: The smitten couple celebrated at a $13 million mansion overlooking Palm Beach with 25 loved ones on Saturday

'It was really small,' one neighbour dished. 'It was a really low-key ceremony.'

Meanwhile, Today co-host Karl, 43, wore a blue blazer atop a white shirt paired with tan-coloured chinos.

The smitten couple celebrated at a $13 million mansion overlooking Palm Beach with 25 loved ones.

A private affair: Despite Jasmine happily flashing her engagement ring at a string of recent events, guests and the loved up couple hid from paparazzi who flew overhead in a helicopter on Saturday

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Karl and Jasmine exchanged vows at a luxury property owned by Rob Rankin, a lieutenant of James Packer.

James and Karl's friendship goes back a long way, with the casino magnate previously offering the Channel Nine personality refuge in his Bondi pad following his split from wife Cassandra Thorburn in 2016.

Despite Jasmine happily flashing her engagement ring at a string of recent events, guests and the loved up couple hid from paparazzi who flew overhead in a helicopter on Saturday.

The love of his life: 'We are very much in love. We clicked right from the start,' Karl said after the ceremony. 'It's a commitment ceremony. It was lovely'

'We are very much in love. We clicked right from the start,' Karl said after the ceremony.

'It's a commitment ceremony. It was lovely.'

Karl's younger brother Peter Stefanovic was reportedly by his side during the nuptials, while his wife Sylvia acted as a photographer.

Family affair: Karl's younger brother Peter Stefanovic was reportedly by his side during the nuptials, while his wife Sylvia acted as a photographer

The Sunday Telegraph also received confirmation of the union from Channel Nine's director of publicity and communication Victoria Buchanan.

'Everyone at Nine wishes Karl and Jasmine happiness and good heath [sic] for the future,' she said.

Karl finalised his divorce from wife of 21 years Cassandra Yarbrough in May last year, according to News Corp.

The exes are reported to have settled their divorce in less than six months, with Cassandra walking away with over $6 million is assets.China has achieved initial progress from its nationwide campaign to combat gang and organized crimes that are most resented by the public, according to the office of the leading group for the campaign.

Under the efforts of judicial and law-enforcement organs at each level, the country has cracked down on criminal gangs, arrested a group of gang-related suspects, and prosecuted a number of gang-related and organized crimes, the office added.

In addition, clues pointing to "protective umbrellas" of gang crime have been sent to disciplinary and supervisory authorities for further investigation, said the office, adding that the fight against such crimes is in "crushing tide".

In a document released by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the State Council this January, China announced the start of a new campaign against organized crime and officials who shelter criminal organizations.

The campaign, as part of efforts to fulfill the missions set by the 19th CPC National Congress and instructions from Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, is designed to ensure peoples contented lives, maintain social order, preserve long-term peace and stability of the state, and consolidate the foundation of governance, said the document.

"Gang-related crime is a malignant tumor threatening the healthy development of society, and a disease that people detest," said Wang Guoqing, the spokesperson of the first session of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at a press conference held on March 2 at the Great Hall of the People.

The nationwide campaign to combat criminal gangs and organized crimes is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as the core, he said, adding that it follows the shared aspirations of the public.

"We have every reason to believe that the large-scale campaign will win over people's hearts and be a victory for the rule of law," he added.

More than 2,600 criminal cases related to gambling have been cracked down nationwide since the beginning of 2018, with 7,500 suspects arrested.

Many places across the country have intensified their fight against drug-related crimes as well. Data showed that a total of 1,364 drug-related crimes have been uncovered since January 23, with 1,504 suspects arrested and 43.2 kilograms of drugs captured.She's the only one of her sisters not to have started a family of her own.

But for now, Kendall Jenner is very much enjoying being an auntie.

And the 22-year-old was one of the first to arrive as Khloe Kardashian gathered her nearest and dearest at the Hotel Bel-Air to celebrate her baby daughter on Saturday.

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Here come the girls! Kendall Jenner leads the way as Khloe Kardashian celebrates her baby shower in Los Angeles on Saturday

Looking sharp: Wearing a chic suit, the catwalk model showed her love of high fashion as she stalked into the California venue in stilettos

Model aunt: For now, at least, Kendall Jenner is very much enjoying being an auntie

Changing it up! Later, Kendall changed into a casual cream and violet sweater, which she paired with some straight leg light wash jeans

Wearing a chic suit, the catwalk model showed her love of high fashion as she stalked into the California venue in stilettos.

Despite the wet and rainy weather, the reality star's friends turned out in force to celebrate Khloe's luxurious baby shower which was hosted by Amazon Baby Registry.

Family friend Larsa Pippen, grandma MJ, Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star (and Paris' auntie) Kyle Richards, and Khloe's BFF Malika Haqq and her twin Khadijah were all in attendance.

Grandma to be! Kris Jenner was one of the first to arrive

Keeping dry: Despite the wet and rainy weather, the reality star's friends turned out in force to celebrate Khloe's baby shower, with a luxurious party

Layering up! The matriarch donned a grey textured overcoat which protected her peach colored dress underneath

Almost a great grandma! Kendall managed to get a quick snap of Kris' mother Mary Jo Shannon

Mother and me! Older sister Kourtney 38, brought along her daughter Penelope, aged five, who wrapped up in what appeared to be fur like her grandma

Of course proud mom Kris Jenner, 62, was on hand for the festivities and was looking as stylish as always.

The matriarch donned a grey textured overcoat which protected her peach colored dress underneath.

Older sister Kourtney 38, brought along her daughter Penelope, aged five, who wrapped up in what appeared to be fur like her grandma.

Kourt herself sizzled in a hot pink double breasted coat and not much else.

Family friend Larsa Pippen, 43, made quite an entrance in a pink flowing wrap-style dress and some delicate gold strappy heels.

Elegant! Family friend Larsa Pippen, 43, made quite an entrance in a pink flowing wrap-style dress and some delicate gold strappy heels

Like a princess! Extra host Maria Menounos, 39, also chose a long satiny dress for the shindig, though hers was more of a gold hue

Classic cut: It also featured a plunging neck and very wide sleeves

Extra host Maria Menounos, 39, also chose a long satiny dress for the shindig, though hers was more of a gold hue.

It also featured a plunging neck and very wide sleeves.

Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, 49, opted for a tulle affair covered with embroidered flowers.

A pair of tan platform heels studded with square pointy rivets added an edge to the elegant ensemble.

Details abound! Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards, 49, opted for a tulle affair covered with embroidered flowers

Regal! Socialite Faye Resnick, 60, looked quite dignified in her peach dress thanks to a thick white fur coat, and also sported plum colored heels with a matching purse

Ready for bed? Khloe BFF Malika Haqq (left) and her twin Khadijah arrived in different types of pink satin pajamas

Socialite Faye Resnick, 60, looked quite dignified in her peach dress thanks to a thick white fur coat, and also sported plum colored heels with a matching purse.

Khloe BFF Malika Haqq and her twin Khadijah arrived in different types of pink satin pajamas.

Malika, 35, went with a knee-length teddy, while sister Khadijah donned a robe with black piping.

Flat tummy! Fellow reality queen and Don't Be Tardy star Kim Zolciak, 39, looked to be having quite a good time in a sparkly crop top and sheer cover-up combo

All together! Khloe looked to be enjoying all of her friends

Fellow reality queen and Don't Be Tardy star Kim Zolciak, 39, looked to be having quite a good time in a sparkly crop top and sheer cover-up combo.

And the party was worth turning out for.

From roses spelling out 'girl', to huge displays of pink balloons, and neon lights reading Baby Thompson, no expense had been spared in planning the extravagant celebrations.

Floral fun! Roses spelling out girl was an innovative installation

Name in lights! Neon lights reading Baby Thompson were mounted on the wallHe attended his brother's commitment ceremony to Jasmine Yarbrough on Saturday.

And Peter Stefanovic happily congratulated the couple's union at the close of Weekend Today on Sunday.

Peter, 36, offered an impromptu rehash of the event, where he downplayed the lavish affair Karl, 43, and Jasmine, 34, had at a $13 million mansion in Palm Beach.

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Thumbs up: Peter Stefanovic happily congratulated his brother Karl and Jasmine Yarbrough at the close of Weekend Today on Sunday

Wrapping up the episode with co-hosts Jane Azzopardi and Allison Langdon, Peter revealed tidbits from his older sibling's special day.

'Had a little soiree yesterday, was a whole lot of fun,' he described.

'Congratulations to Karl and Jasmine, they are awesome people, proud of them. We had ourselves a little barbecue, a few XXXX Golds, Karl burnt the snags as usual.'

'Congratulations to Karl and Jasmine, they are awesome people, proud of them. We had ourselves a little barbecue, a few XXXX Golds, Karl burnt the snags as usual,' he described

He then gave the thumbs up signal to the camera and said: 'Great time, great day, love you guys.'

The low-key event was a surprise move for the spotlight-loving couple, who have been flaunting their engagement all over town for the past six weeks.

The unusual ceremony saw Karl and Jasmine exchange vows at a multi-million dollar Palm Beach mansion owned by Rob Rankin, a former chairman of Crown resorts.

Expensive taste: The unusual ceremony saw Karl and Jasmine exchange vows at a multi-million dollar Palm Beach mansion owned by Rob Rankin, a former chairman of Crown resorts

Guests and the loved-up couple hid from paparazzi who flew overhead in a helicopter during the event.

A source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that none of Karl's three children - Ava, 12, River, 11, Jackson, 18 - attend the ceremony.Ferne McCann has credited her daughter with helping her with her trauma after her boyfriend carried out an acid attack in a London nightclub.

The reality star, 27, described her sweet tot, named Sunday, as her 'saving grace' when she struggled with pregnancy after Arthur Collins committed his crime.

Collins was convicted of GBH and ABH against 14 people after he sprayed party-goers with acid following an argument at the Mangle E8 nightclub in east London.

'Saving grace': Ferne McCann, 27, has credited her daughter with helping her through the tough time after her boyfriend carried out an acid attack in a London nightclub

Acid attack: Arthur Collins (left) was convicted of GBH and ABH against 14 people after he sprayed party-goers with acid following an argument at the Mangle E8 nightclub in east London last April

The former TOWIE star explained that she felt she could not show how hurt she was by what happened, as others were left scarred by acid attack.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday, Ferne revealed: 'I never felt it was right to express my pain when people had been physically hurt. In that one week my life had completely fallen apart, but I had to pick up the pieces in front of everyone, while I was carrying a baby,'

The star added that the pregnancy was difficult, but her daughter helped to get her through: 'While it was the most incredible thing, I was stressed and upset a lot of the time. Sunday was my saving grace, because she gave me a reason to look after myself.

'It wasn't my right': The former TOWIE star explained that she felt she could not show how hurt she was by what happened, as others were scarred by acid

Mother-daughter bond: Ferne said, 'Sunday was my saving grace, because she gave me a reason to look after myself  I was carrying this little human.'

However, her life was turned upside down, and Ferne had to consider what life would be like raising her child alone, after making plans to live with Collins.

'Just having those moments when you realise, "Oh my God, I'm on my own". It was like I had to grieve for the life I'd imagined and I had lost.'

Ferne welcomed daughter Sunday in November, and reportedly took her to visit Arthur in Category A Belmarsh prison once - where she reportedly told him: 'This is the last time you will see either of us.'

Prison visit: Ferne welcomed daughter Sunday in November, and took her to visit Arthur in Category A Belmarsh prison once

But a letter was then written to Ferne, asserting Collins' right to see Sunday and to be involved with her.

Ferne has chosen not to battle the assertion, and will accompany her daughter if she has to visit her dad.

The attack left several clubbers hospitalised and scarred for life, while some required skin grafts. Arthur is currently serving a 20-year jail sentence for the act.

Arthur claimed he thought he was throwing a date rape drug, but he was labelled a 'calculating liar' who has not shown the 'slightest remorse' by the judge.He's the former Married At First Sight groom whose on-screen 'marriage' to blonde bombshell Sharon Marsh famously fizzled out.

But it appears Nick Murphy may now be off the market again.

Aided by new $25,000 veneers, the tradie looked confident as he cosied up to a mystery brunette at Baroq House Fridays in Melbourne on Saturday night, where he appeared alongside a line-up of reality TV luminaries.

New flame? Nick Furphy looked chuffed as a gorgeous brunette wrapped her arms around him at a Melbourne event on Saturday night

Nick most recently split with model Amy-Lee Dixon in January.

However, given his amorous appearance with his mysterious new stunner, it seems he isn't wasting any time pining for his ex.

The television star looked to be in his element as the brunette went in to lick him on the cheek.

Off the market? Nick wrapped his arm around the lithe lady as she laughed with glee

The beauty held a drink in one hand whilst using her other to give Nick a saucy squeeze on the shoulder.

In a separate photo, Nick wrapped his arm around the lithe lady as she laughed with glee.

The tradie turned television personality looked dapper in a white linen button down and pair of khaki chinos.

I'm A Celebrity... Get me on the guest list! A crew of reality TV royals seen parading around the premises

And it appeared to be a star-studded party with a crew of reality TV royals seen parading around the premises.

The best of the best turned out for the event, with Alex Nation, Nadia Stamp and Clare Verrall all in attendance.

Even bubbly Brynne Edelsten was spotted at the venue, showing off her natural beauty by going make-up free.She's best known as one quarter of the chart-topping girl band Little Mix.

But Jesy Nelson has reportedly turned her attention to the bright lights of Hollywood as the songstress is keen to kick start her acting career.

The 26-year-old pop princess attempted to conquer the big screen when she was much younger, taking on roles as extras in a few films before making it big on The X Factor in 2011, but sources told The Sun that Jesy has her sights firmly set on acting.

Mixing it up! Jesy Nelson 'has her sights set on Hollywood as she plans to return to acting and launch her big screen career' according to The Sun

A source close to Jesy told the publication: 'Jesy was in a few movies when she was little, and acting is something that she has always dreamed of pursuing.'

According to the tabloid, Jesy was so impressed by fellow X-Factor contestant Harry Styles, who made a successful film debut in the Christopher Nolan blockbuster Dunkirk, that she wants to follow suit and take on her own major role.

The Power hit maker is apparently keen on finding herself a Hollywood agent in to help her crack the industry.

Looking for a change: A source close to Jesy told the publication: 'Jesy was in a few movies when she was little, and acting is something that she has always dreamed of pursuing'

However, loyal fans of the Brit girl group shouldn't be too worried about the band potentially taking a back step for Jesy's acting dreams.

The source continued: 'The girls have an agreement in place that anything to do with Little Mix will always come first for them.

'The band is 100 percent their priority, so any possible acting jobs for Jesy in future would have to fit around their plans.'

Winners: Jesy and her band mates Jade Thirlwall (centre left) Perrie Edwards (centre right) and Leigh-Anne Pinnock (right) won three prizes at the first ever Global Awards on March 1

While the Romford beauty is reportedly determined to make her mark on the film scene, the dream is still 'a side project' for the chart topper, who is said to be ensuring nothing clashes with the bands commitments.

Jesy isn't the only Little Mix star to show an interest in becoming a screen queen, as Jade Thirlwall almost bagged the role of Jasmine in Guy Ritchie's upcoming Aladdin live-action remake.

Little Mix's catchy pop anthems netted them a stellar four nominations at the first ever Global Awards.

Inspired: Jesy was so impressed by fellow X-Factor contestant Harry Styles, who made a successful film debut in the Christopher Nolan blockbuster Dunkirk

Cute couple: Meanwhile, Jesy made her red carpet debut with boyfriend Harry James, 26, in February at the 2018 BRIT Awards

Jesy and her bandmates Jade Thirlwall, 25, Perrie Edwards, 24, and Leigh-Anne Pinnock, 26, could not contain their delight on the night after picking up three gongs at the prestigious ceremony, held at London's Eventim Apollo.

Meanwhile, Jesy made her red carpet debut with boyfriend Harry James, 26, in February at the 2018 BRIT Awards.

The couple went public with their relationship following the start of their romance last summer.A source close to Karl Stefanovic has confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that none of the Today show host's three children attended his commitment ceremony to Jasmine Yarbrough.

Karl, 43, and Jasmine 34, had an intimate ceremony where they pledged their love for one another at a $13 million Palm Beach mansion on Saturday.

Speaking exclusively to Daily Mail Australia the source revealed the TV star only invited two of the three children her shares with his ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn.

Karl Stefanovic and Jasmine Yarbrough CONFIRM they exchanged vows during an intimate evening service in Palm Beach with their families

But despite the invite both Ava, 12 and River, 11, declined to attend the ceremony but did appear to join in the celebrations afterwards.

The source also revealed that Karl's eldest son, Jackson, 18, was not invited to the event after a difficult time with the divorce.

According to The Sunday Telegraph, Karl and Jasmine exchanged vows at a luxury property owned by Rob Rankin, a former chairman of Crown resorts.

James and Karl's friendship goes back a long way, with the casino magnate previously offering the Channel Nine personality refuge in his Bondi pad following his split from wife Cassandra Thorburn in 2016.

'Its a commitment ceremony. It was lovely,' the Today host was reported as saying outside the lavish, private mansion

Despite Jasmine happily flashing her engagement ring at a series of events this past month, guests and the loved up couple hid from paparazzi who flew overhead in a helicopter on Saturday.

'We are very much in love. We clicked right from the start,' Karl told publication after exchanging vows.

'Its a commitment ceremony. It was lovely.'

A family affair! Jasmine's sister Jade, parents Cheryl and Bob and even her 91-year-old nan were reportedly in attendance, as was Karl's brother, Peter (pictured far left)

Karl will take the next week off from Today, with the couple thought to be honeymooning in the South Pacific.

The confirmation comes after Fairfax initially claimed the pair held a 'secret ceremony' under a wooden arch at a private house.

It is unclear whether the ceremony constituted a legally-binding marriage and Daily Mail Australia has contacted the couple's representatives for comment.

The Sunday Telegraph also received confirmation of the union from Channel Nine's director of publicity and communication Victoria Buchanan.

Sudden: A source confirmed to Daily Mail Australia that none of Karl's children - whom he shares with ex-wife Cassandra Thorburn - attended the ceremony

Late notice: The source said Karl's two youngest children only found out about the ceremony three hours before it took place (pictured in white is Jasmine's sister, Jade)

'Everyone at Nine wishes Karl and Jasmine happiness and good heath [sic] for the future,' she said.

Meanwhile, an eyewitness told Now To Love the high profile couple had an intimate ceremony.

'It was really small,' a neighbour reportedly told the publication. 'Karl looked on top of the world, and was laughing and having a great time.

Vows! A 'secret ceremony' was held under a wooden arch (pictured)

The exchange: It's claimed rings and vows were exchanged, but no legally-binding commitment was made

Be my guest! Jasmine's parents Bob (silver vest) and Cheryl (floral dress) are seen on the balcony

'Low-key': 'It was really small,' a neighbour said of the occasion

'Jasmine looked beautiful, but the whole vibe was very, very casual and low-key.'

Jasmine's sister Jade, parents Cheryl and Bob and even her 91-year-old nan were in attendance, as was Karl's brother, Peter Stefanovic and his wife Sylvia Jeffreys.

Delta Goodrem is also said to have scored an invite to the 'low-key affair'.

On top! 'Karl looked on top of the world, and was laughing and having a great time,' the neighbour said

Peter stood by his brother's side, while his wife and fellow Today star Sylvia is said to have slotted in as 'wedding photographer.'

Now To Love's source said Sylvia was the only person taking photos at the event, possibly hinting at a blanket social media ban.

They described a fun-filled event, during which some guests even 'jumped into the infinity pool.'

Beaming! 'Jasmine looked beautiful, but the whole vibe was very, very casual and low-key,' they added

Taking the leap! The neighbour described a fun-filled event, during which some guests even 'jumped into the infinity pool'

Karl and Jasmine have enjoyed a whirlwind romance since meeting at a Sydney boat party in December 2016.

The couple confirmed their engagement last month, with New Idea reporting Karl had popped the question to Jasmine during a holiday in Fiji.

Did she sing? Intriguingly, Delta Goodrem is also said to have scored an invite to the 'low-key affair'

'Happiness and good heath for the future': Channel Nine's director of publicity and communication Victoria Buchanan confirmed the union, alongside a loving statement

In late February, after his bride-to-be flashed her $150,000 engagement ring, Nine's million dollar man confirmed the pair would likely get married this year.

It's unclear whether he has finalised his divorce with ex-wife of 21-years, Cassandra Thorburn.

Last year, Karl responded to criticism regarding how quickly his relationship with Jasmine has moved following his split with Cassandra.

Congrats! 'Everyone at Nine wishes Karl and Jasmine happiness and good heath for the future,' she said

Whirlwind! Karl and Jasmine have enjoyed a whirlwind romance since meeting at a Sydney boat party in December 2016

'I certainly did not expect to meet someone five months after I broke up with my wife,' he told Stellar magazine.

'That was not planned. I did not know her before. I met her on a boat in Sydney.

'We have a really lovely relationship, but its got to be slow for a variety of reasons.'She rose to fame as a contestant turned host on The Biggest Loser.

And Fiona Falkiner proudly showed off her famous curves in a sizzling snap to Instagram on Sunday.

The 35-year-old appeared in a serene mood as she reclined in a hot tub in the New South Wales coastal town of Mullumbimby.

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Smoking hot: Fiona Falkiner proudly showed off her famous curves in a sizzling snap to Instagram on Sunday

'Spa and sauna kinda day!' she captioned the photo, wearing a multi-coloured bikini from Sunseeker Australia that accentuated her ample decolletage.

Fans of the reality star immediately took to the post's comments section to share with the blonde beauty their words of approval.

'You are body goals!' gushed one supporter in an encouraging note.

'You are body goals!' gushed one supporter in an encouraging note

Fiona enjoyed another day of sunshine earlier in the week on Wednesday, spotted at Coogee Beach in Sydney with girlfriend Lara Creber.

The pair appropriately spent International Women's Day together, after striking up a relationship while travelling in South America in October last year.

Fiona confirmed their romance that month in an interview with The Daily Telegraph.

She said she was 'happy' and that Lara is a 'big part' of the joy in her life.

Lovebirds: The pair appropriately spent International Women's day together, after striking up a relationship while travelling in South America in October last year

'I am just focusing on my own happiness at the moment and Lara is a big part of that. She makes me happy and that is all that matters,' she offered.

The TV personality previously revealed that it is her first same-sex relationship and she is just focusing on what makes her feel good about herself.

'I'm at a place in my life where I'm just focusing on what makes me happy and not caring what other people think and focusing inwardly,' she told Cosmopolitan.

'And Lara was part of that journey. I was opening myself up to good people, to good experiences,' she added.It was a scary day for Kimora Lee Simmons.

Police in Los Angeles told TMZ that they received a call that graffiti found in the restroom of a Los Angeles Cinemark theater indicated a serious threat abound against the 42-year-old socialite.

The message read, 'Your going to die, bye bye, 3/10/18, today,' as the veteran model was at the venue at the time of the grisly discovery.

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Difficult day: Kimora Lee Simmons, 42, was the target of a death threat a vandal left on the wall of a restroom in an LA movie theater the socialite was present at when it was found

It was not immediately clear if Kimora remained at the venue after authorities were notified, or who notified them of the graffiti, according to the outlet.

The 6ft beauty had been on the premises as part of her involvement in a charity event in which she accompanied a group of kids from South Central Los Angeles to see the new Ava DuVernay movie Wrinkle in Time, which features an ensemble cast including Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon and Mindy Kaling.

On Friday, Kimora took to Instagram with a clip from the film declaring her affiliation with the organizations.

'Working with organizations like @apch2830 @createnowarts @pac_angels and @ca_childrens_academy in South Central LA so that all kids can enjoy @wrinkleintime,' the Baby Phat executive wrote. 'So important to let youth see what magic they can make with hard work and dedication.'

In style: The model-designer was snapped at New York Fashion Week in 2016

Embattled: Kimora's ex-husband Russell Simmons, snapped at an LA event in November of 2017, has been accused of sexual misconduct by 15 women. He denies the allegations

Kimora made headlines this past January after she took to social media to defend ex-husband Russell Simmons after he was accused by a total of 15 women of acts of misconduct ranging from sexual assault to rape. The Def Jam founder has denied the allegations against him.

She wrote in a January 25 post, 'I add my voice to the chorus of those speaking out against harassment and violence in all its forms.

'I have known Russell for over 25 years. We were close friends, married, divorced, and have remained friends, co-parents and partners throughout it all. These allegations against him are nothing like the person I have known in all that time.'

She described the hip hop mogul, who has stepped away from his companies amid the scandal, as 'a caring and supportive father and someone who has worked tirelessly to uplift disenfranchised communities.'They're used to cooking gourmet meals for some of the country's most successful chefs during exquisite dinner parties.

But on Sunday, My Kitchen Rules contestants were tasked to feed 100 children after an intense sporting session.

However, it wasn't just the kids or group two they were trying to impress, hearts were swooning when the star's learnt they'd also be plating up for guest judge Curtis Stone.

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Not happy! On Sunday's My Kitchen Rules, Curtis Stone was left furious after he found out contestants Emma and Jess lied to him after they said they wouldn't be using tinned mandarins but fresh ones

With Emma continuing to refer to Curtis as 'baby' and her 'husband', the '30ish-year-old' star couldn't help but blush when he first came over to talk to them about their zucchini slice.

After the blonde hunk revealed his mother used to make a great slice too, Emma said to producers during an interview; 'his mum makes a good zucchini slice and she clearly makes some good children'.

But not everything went smoothly when Curtis realised the pair were using tinned mandarins rather than fresh ones.

Caught out! But not everything went smoothly when Curtis realised the pair were using tinned mandarins rather than fresh ones

Suggesting they juice their own and get the nectar out to the fruit itself, both girl's bluntly confirmed that they were 'thinking that anyways' and would be doing that next.

'I kind of fibbed to Curtis,' confessed Emma shortly after when the stuck to the tins.

And with neither the kid's nor group two not enjoying the zucchini slice and salad, it wasn't long before their white lie came back to bite the Botox sisters.

They lied to Curtis! 'When I came over to your section I spoke to you and I was like, "What are those tinned mandarins doing?" and you were like; "Yeah, we're not going to use them",' recalled Curtis during the judgement

'When I came over to your section I spoke to you and I was like, "What are those tinned mandarins doing?" and you were like; "Yeah, we're not going to use them",' recalled Curtis during the judgement.

'But you lied to me. You used them anyway.'

And it wasn't just the lie that upset the Coles ambassador, with their salad also bringing them down.

Not impressed: But Curtis wasn't the only judge disappointed, with fellow judge Colin Fassnidge calling their dish 'a train-wreck'

'That salad, it undid all the work of that delicious zucchini slice.'

But Curtis wasn't the only judge disappointed, with fellow judge Colin Fassnidge calling their dish 'a train-wreck'.

But although Colin made a bet that the sisters would be in the bottom for their dish, they just sneaked through with fan favourites Alex and Emily claiming the lowest scores and in the next elimination.Things don't appear positive for Married At First Sight couple Nasser Sultan and Gabrielle Bartlett ahead of Sunday night's commitment ceremony.

And Nasser may have given away the fate of their tumultuous TV relationship in an Instagram post on Sunday afternoon.

The 50-year-old personal trainer looked happy-as-ever as he cosied up to ANOTHER woman for a cheeky kiss.

'What a piece of sh**!' MAFS fans slam Nasser as he cosies up to 'new wife' ahead of his commitment ceremony with Gabrielle... and the young blonde is already calling the 50s PT bae

Nasser, who is still 'married' to Gabrielle, 44, held the younger blonde in his arms as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

He captioned the shot 'new wife', which sent fans into meltdown.

Clearly not impressed by the star's upload, one invested viewer fumed: 'What a piece of sh**!'

That's a cosy selfie! The svelte blonde, named Leah Bennett, also posted a selfie with the reality star, where she affectionately called him 'bae'

Other commenters said, 'Bro you seriously dont know how to treat a woman' and 'good luck with that!'

Meanwhile, Nasser's co-star Ashley Irvin scolded him for the brazen post, writing: 'Ummmm did publicity approve this photo & caption? Im thinking not.'

The svelte blonde, named Leah Bennett, also posted a selfie with the reality star, where she affectionately called him 'bae'.

However, she also appeared to spend the outing with Nasser's co-star Ryan Gallagher.

Fan or friend? However, the svelte blonde also appeared to spend the outing with Nasser's co-star Ryan Gallagher

The potential fan also shared a picture with Ryan, where she wrote: 'omg so famous.'

Gabrielle is yet to comment or 'like' the post, despite fans tagging her in the upload to ask if he was cheating on her or if they were over.

Nasser and Gabrielle will choose whether they want to 'stay' or 'leave' the social experiment on Sunday night's commitment ceremony.Photo shows Shen Jianjia (center) and two students he has helped. (Photo: www.jrxjnet.com)

Shen Jianjia, a retired soldier of the Han ethnic group living in northwest Chi-na's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, is regarded as a father by 173 stu-dents of Chinas different ethnic minorities.

Over the past 30 plus years, Shen has subsidized or raised 173 children of the Kazak, Uyghur, Khalkhas and Mongolian ethnic minorities. Now, some of them have started their careers, while some also joined Shen in helping more peo-ple.

In 1958, two-year-old Shen and his family settled down in a town of ethnic mi-norities in Tekes County, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Born into a poor family, Shen was often fed by his Uy-ghur, Mongolian and Kazak neighbors, whom he will never forget.

As a receiver of help, Shen decided to assist needy children like him. When he was building a house for a neighbor in 1987, Shen knew a Kazak boy. Due to the long distance between school and his home, which is located in a pas-toral area, the kid was unable to attend high school despite his outstanding performance.

Shen decided to accommodate the boy because he couldnt see the smart student drop out of school because of this. Later that year, he accepted anoth-er five students who were in similar difficulty.

"Though I was living on a skimpy salary of 80 yuan ($ 12.6) per month back in those days, I couldn't reject the students, and I finally got through it," Shen re-called.

Thanks to Shens help, the students were all admitted by universities they pre-ferred.

A total of 173 students were accommodated by Shen over the past 30 plus years. They lived in his house for two to three years, or even seven to eight years. Shen said that most of his current retirement pension, 5,000 yuan a month, is used to help the students.

What he did has touched many peoples hearts and attracted more people to join him. Last year, a charity group was set up to help more students in need.

Zhao Haihu, a comrade-in-arms of Shen, is now a member of a 30-man volun-teer team made of retired soldiers. Zhao is confident that when they put their efforts together, more people will be helped.She was runner-up to one of the most complicated love triangles in Bachelor history.

And now, Lisa Hyde, has broken her silence about Blake Garvey ahead of her starring role on The Bachelor in Paradise.

Speaking to The Sydney Morning Herald in Sunday, the raven-haired beauty said she was nervous the Perth real estate agent might have made an appearance on the show.

'I was a bit worried I'd walk in and see him there': Lisa Hyde has admitted she was nervous about possibly seeing Blake Garvey on Bachelor in Paradise

'I thought he would be crazy to do it, but I was a little bit worried to walk in and see him there', the eye-wear designer told the publication.

The busty reality star conceded she thought her one-time love match was 'in hiding,' adding that no one has really 'heard from him'.

While Lisa was tight-lipped about her own possible romance on the show, she did admit that a number of past contestants have previously caught her eye.

'Crazy to do it': The raven haired beauty admitted the Perth real estate agent would be crazy to do it

'There were a few people that I kind of thought were cute from previous seasons that I thought 'you know what, it would be nice if they were (on Bachelor In Paradise),' she said.

On Sunday, Channel Ten revealed the highly-anticipated show will start airing on March 25, with the full line-up of contestants revealed.

Several of the show's stars took to Instagram to share the snap, including former Bachelor babe Leah Costa.

Eye catching! Lisa admitted that a number of past contestants have caught her eye, hinting at a possible romance in paradise

Looking for love! Lisa shot to fame on Blake Garvey's (pictured) season of The Bachelor, which involved an intense love triangle

'Looking forward to sharing one of the best journeys with the biggest bunch of legends,' the star captioned.

Sitting front and centre, the blonde stunned in a white single and leopard print maxi skirt.

The picture also featured other notable names set to star on the show, including Michael Turnbull, Tara Pavlovic, Keira Maguire and Jake Ellis.

They're starring on the show! Bachelor In Paradise stars Leah Costa and Davey Lloyd

However, one famous face missing from the line-up was Jarrod Woodgate, who has been confirmed to appear on the series.

'Why is Jarrod missing?' asked eagle-eyed fan who noticed his absence.

Leah cryptically replied: 'You'll have to wait and see'.

Is he an intruder? Jarrod reportedly found love with Keira Maguire on Bachelor In Paradise, but he curiously does not appear in the cast photo

Also missing from the snap were a number of the show's other reported stars, including Apollo Jackson and Sam Cochrane.

But while the 'stage five clinger' wasn't in the snap, the picture showed some new faces set to feature in the cast.

Standing in the back row were Eden Schwencke, Mackane Reid and Brett Moore.

Look who's back! Eden Schwencke will also appear Bachelor In Paradise

The three men all appeared on the most recent season of The Bachelorette, but didn't receive much air time, all eliminated by the seventh episode.

And Brett's appearance in the cast line-up seems particularly surprising, given that he is currently thought to be dating former Bachelor star Stephanie Boulton.

The pair were spotted together as recently as Saturday, so it's unclear as to why Brett is appearing on the show.She's the Bachelor babe who's set to wed fiance, Tim Robards in a beach-side ceremony.

And on Sunday Anna Heinrich enjoyed a trip to the sand and surf as she flaunted her honed abs and svelte figure at Bondi beach.

The 31-year-old took to Instagram to flaunt her growing six-pack and pert assets in a mid-riff baring, blue ensemble.

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Abs-oulte babe! Former Bachelor star Anna Heinrich, 31, flaunted her taut tummy in mid-riff baring Instagram snap on Sunday

The bride-to-be certainly put on her Sunday best as she donned a brief, pale blue crop top and vertical striped stove-pipe pants.

She toned-down her daring two-piece outfit with a straw boater hat and nude high-heeled mules.

The blonde beauty completed her beach-chic look by sporting bronzed-lens aviators and a fine silver pendant necklace.

Anna accompanied her Instagram post with the fun-loving hashtags, 'beach hangs' and 'Sunday'.

Positively glowing: Anna's mid-riff baring display comes after she prepares to wed fiance, Tim after the pair found love on the first series of the Aussie series The Bachelor

'Where are the hot chips at??' she added in the post to her 316,000 Instagram followers.



Anna's mid-riff baring display comes after she prepares to wed fiance, Tim after the pair found love on the first series of the Aussie series The Bachelor.

Earlier in the month, her Bachelor beau, Tim couldn't help gushing about his beautiful fiancee when he shared a throwback picture on Instagram.

'Life keeps getting better with you': Tim Robards paid tribute to his fiancee Anna Heinrich as The Bachelor couple packed on PDA in throwback snap on Instagram earlier in the month

The Bachelor power couple, who met five years ago in 2013, proved they weren't camera shy as they locked lips for the very cosy couple selfie.

Gorgeous Anna showcased her sensational cleavage thanks to her busty bra, with her golden locks swept off her shoulders into a bun.

Smitten Tim went shirtless to best show off his impressive muscular physique when he lent in for a kiss from his stunning ladylove.

Must be love: The Tim and Anna love story began on the debut season of The Bachelor in 2013 when she batted out the other women competing for his affections

They looked the picture of perfect happiness when they locked lips in the steamy snap shared on social media.

The engaged star declared 'nothing has changed' between the pair, apart from 'life keeps getting better' with his partner in a loving social media post.

He penned on Instagram:'#ThrowbackThursday to almost 5 years ago to the day after I first told you I loved you.

So exciting: They went onto get engaged in May last year when Tim got down on one knee while the pair were enjoying a boat trip

'I was full of jittery excitement for what the future held and the adventures that awaited us, whilst ignoring the nay sayers and allowing ourselves to just be us and true to ourselves... nothings really changed... except life keeps getting better with you... #PDA #TBT.' (sic)

The Tim and Anna love story began on the debut season of The Bachelor in 2013 when she batted out the other women competing for his affections.

They went onto get engaged in May last year when Tim got down on one knee while the pair were enjoying a boat trip.They've spent more than 40 days in the South African jungle without their loved ones.

And ahead of the anticipated I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! grand finale on Monday, the remaining four stars were reunited with their families.

The emotions were high when Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattison leapt into fiance John's arms and announced: 'I really want I have babies with you! Do you want to have babies with me as well?'

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'I want to have babies with you!' I'm A Celeb finalist Vicky Pattison has emotional reunion with her fiance in the South African jungle as other co-star's families visit the camp site

Reunion! The emotions were high when Geordie Shore's Vicky Pattison lept into fiance John's arm

To her pleasant surprise, John agreed to wanting to start a family with the former reality star too.

The loved-up pair kissed each other and shared a warm embrace, as Vicky complimented her hunky beau: 'I forgot how handsome you were!'

John excitedly told his fiancee their wedding was all booked and all plans were set, but Vicky claimed the time a part felt too long, and suggested they get married sooner than expected.

'I feel like I want to get married this year!' she said.

That's love! To her pleasant surprise, John agreed to wanting to start a family with the former reality star too

Family! Meanwhile, former Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll was greeted by his wife Rochelle and three children Cody, Blake and Sienna

Meanwhile, former Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll was greeted by his wife Rochelle and three children Cody, Blake and Sienna.

He was overjoyed by the reunion, telling the camera: 'I didn't know whether to laugh or cry... I felt like my heart was going to explode!'

They noticed his weight loss and asked him whether the meals were bland or nice in the jungle camp.

When his son proudly told his dad he got a new job at his local KFC, doting father Shannon said he'd be heading to the fast food joint upon his exit from the jungle.

'Seeing my family today is the final inspiration and motivation I needed to push through as hard as I can for the last couple days,' he said ahead of a potential elimination that night.

'I felt like my heart was going to explode!' Shannon was overjoyed by seeing his family and said it was the motivation he needed to push through to the grand finale

Comedian Fiona OLoughlin said she was 'filled to the gill with happiness' when she came face-to-face with her sister Cate and son Albert.

'I love you so much! so good to see you,' she gleamed as she kept hugging and kissing her loved ones.

Fiona said she's found it hard not speaking with her sister, adding: 'We've spoken every day for the last 50-plus years.'

'I love you so much! so good to see you': Comedian Fiona OLoughlin said she was 'filled to the gill with happiness' when she came face-to-face with her sister Cate and son Albert

Boxer Danny Green's mother and sister visited the jungle, surprising the athlete by singing Happy Birthday to the finalist.

They also presented him with a gift bag, which had lollies and cards from his children.

Danny gleamed, saying: 'It really did lift my spirits... it was the best birthday I've ever had!'

When returning to the camp, he was also given a chocolate cake.They have been inseparable since they reunited in Los Angeles earlier this month.

And Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright looked in the throes of love as they headed to TAO restaurant for a romantic dinner in Hollywood on Saturday.

The actress, 30, put on a leggy display as she slipped her gym-honed physique into a red stripy mini-dress, while her 31-year-old husband cut a casual figure in a black t-shirt and joggers.

Smitten: Michelle Keegan and Mark Wright looked in the throes of love as they headed to TAO restaurant for a romantic dinner in Hollywood on Saturday

Michelle dressed down the ensemble by shrugging a light-wash denim jacket over her shoulders and paired the look with gold strappy sandals and a chic white bag.

She styled her brunette tresses in tight curls and enhanced her sun-kissed tan with bronzed cheeks, fluttery eyelashes and a slick of pink lipstick.

Meanwhile, Mark showed off his muscular physique in a all-black ensemble and in a nod to his Essex style, tied a black sweatshirt around his neck.

Power couple: The actress, 30, put on a leggy display in a red stripy mini-dress, while her 31-year-old husband cut a casual figure in a black t-shirt and joggers

Effortlessly stylish: Michelle dressed down the ensemble by shrugging a light-wash denim jacket over her shoulders and paired the look with gold strappy sandals and a chic white bag

Following their loved-up meal, Mark proved he was the perfect gentleman as he held open the car door for the Our Girl star, while sporting a pink lipstick mark on his cheek.

The lovebirds have been spending quality time together after reuniting in the U.S. last week, having been spotted heading to the gym together as well as partying at an Oscar's bash.

Despite leading to the distance between them, Michelle recently admitted she was the one who urged Mark to pursue a career in the States.

The actress sat down with her spouse last year before she decided to sign on for a new series of Our Girl - which meant being abroad for eight months - to discuss their options and she suggested he spent the time following his Hollywood dream.

Glowing: She styled her brunette tresses in tight curls and enhanced her sun-kissed tan with bronzed cheeks, fluttery eyelashes and a slick of pink lipstick

Cute: Following their loved-up meal, Mark proved he was the perfect gentleman as he held open the car door for the Our Girl star, while sporting a pink lipstick mark on his cheek

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, she said: 'Before I went to South Africa last April, we were sat in the gym car park and he was asking how long [I'd be away for]. I said, "What do you want to do?" He said, "I don't know."

'And I said, "When I'm away, why don't you go to America?" He had an agent here. So he did - and look what's happened. It's unbelievable.'

While she's immensely proud of Mark's achievements, she can't believe he doesn't get more star-struck when he's interviewing big-name stars like Sir Elton John, Liam Neeson and Kim Kardashian West.

She added: 'He met Kevin Costner the other day. I was like, "Oh my God, how was it?" He said, "Yeah, alright. Have you had any lunch?"'Their 'marriage' has been a roller-coaster of ups and downs.

And on Sunday's Married At First Sight, Nasser Sultan and Gabrielle Bartlett's romance ended in tears as they both voted to leave the experiment.

The emotion of the commitment ceremony proved to be too much for Nasser, who broke down crying and exited the set before revealing his decision.

Goodbye: Nasser Sultan and Gabrielle Bartlett's romance ended in tears as they both voted to leave the experiment on Sunday's Married At First Sight

The 50-year-old was comforted by his 'wife' Gab, who held him in her arms as he sobbed uncontrollably.

'It's okay babe,' she soothed as Nasser clung to her.

'It's hard, I came in this to find love,' said a heartbroken Nasser.

Overwhelmed: The emotion of the commitment ceremony proved to be too much for Nasser, who broke down crying and exited the set before revealing his decision

The rest of the couples clapped in support once Nasser had found the strength to return to the couch.

After receiving some reassurance from the experts, Nas was finally able to find the courage to announce his decision.

'I think we've both realised that it is what it is,' he said.

'And I think we're both being adults about our decision... and I would like to leave.'

A shoulder to lean on: The 50-year-old was comforted by his 'wife' Gab, who held him in her arms as he sobbed uncontrollably

'I would like to leave': After receiving some reassurance from the experts, Nas was finally able to find the courage to announce his decision

Gab followed by calling Nas an 'amazing man,' saying that she'd love to have a relationship with him in the future, but 'not a romantic one.'

She then revealed her vote to leave, before Nas started to cry again.

'I was really touched by Nasser's reaction,' Gab later told the camera in her private one-on-one.

'There's a lot of love there, it's just not the love that either of us wanted.'

'I think we've both realised that it is what it is,' said a devastated NasserShe is currently soaking up the sweltering sun in Thailand's tropical region Phuket.

And Kelly Brook treated her fans to a glimpse of her picturesque getaway as she posted an array of striking pics with boyfriend Jeremy Parisi onto Instagram on Saturday.

In one of the revealing snaps, the model, 38, injected a hint of glamour as she displayed her curvaceous frame in a floral bikini two-piece.

Show-stopper! Kelly Brook injected a hint of glamour as she displayed her curvaceous frame in a floral bikini two-piece on Instagram on Saturday

The Piranha 3D actress beamed with delight as she took a dip in a clear blue pool, which was adorned with beautiful water lilies.

The busty brunette sported drenched locks while donning her signature sleek makeup look.

In another snap, Kelly appeared smitten as she posed arm-in-arm with handsome Jeremy in front of an elephant in a wildlife sanctuary.

Loved-up: The model, 38, treated her fans to a glimpse of her picturesque getaway as she posted an array of striking pics with boyfriend Jeremy Parisi

The Strictly Come Dancing star still managed to maintain her sensational appearance as she wore a white beach cover-up and paisley print maxi skirt.

Showcasing her jaw-dropping looks, the Kent native swept her brunette tresses into an effortless bun.

Judo expert Jeremy kept it casual in a crisp white shirt and khaki shorts, tied in with a pair of relaxed flip flops.

Idyllic: The Piranha 3D actress beamed with delight as she took a dip in a clear blue pool, which was adorned with beautiful water lilies

Smoldering gaze: The busty brunette sported drenched locks while donning her signature sleek makeup look

Kelly, who has been dating hunky Jeremy Parisi for two and a half years, discussed her figure with Now Magazine earlier this month: 'I feel I look the best I have for a while and I did say to my boyfriend: "Oh my God, all the running has paid off!"

'I dont really notice a difference, but he does. He drags me out all the time to go running, and hes really good at motivating me. But in some nice afternoon light, standing on a beach in a bikini, I dont think I look too bad for a girl whos nearly 40!...

'I liked my body when I was younger and I do look at old pictures and wish for that body back! I like being curvier, I think thats fun, but I actually feel the same.

Showcasing her jaw-dropping looks, the Kent native swept her brunette tresses into an effortless bun

'Regardless of my weight, I always feel the same and I think thats quite important. Im a happy person! I dont really think about it too much  if it wasnt for my boyfriend motivating me, Id probably be a lot bigger than I am!'

Despite many women fantasising about having Kelly's voluptuous body, back in 2014 the model insisted she is far from perfect while discussing her fantastic curves.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan Body, Cosmopolitans Health and Fitness magazine, Kelly admitted: 'Im not a super-skinny girl and I do love food. For me its not about doing 1,000 sit-ups before a photo shoot; its about feeling fresh Ive got rolls and boobs and I dont ever want to change.'She defiantly said she would leave Married At First Sight on her own terms.

And after a roller-coaster of emotion with her husband Nasser Sultan - Gabrielle Barlett, 44, did exactly that.

After ending her 'marriage' with Nasser on Sunday night's episode, the blonde actress took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to her fans.

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'The best is yet to come': Married At First Sight bride Gabrielle Bartlett, 44, has shared a post thanking her fans for their support after ending her 'marriage' to Nasser Sultan

'Bad Luck Donald Duck,' the Northern Beaches resident started. This girl has gotta keep moving...'

She went on: 'What an honour to be in your lounge rooms over the last little while. Your support and love has not gone unnoticed and I will be eternally grateful for each smile on the street, comment on social media, anyone who reached out to me.'

'Bad Luck Donald Duck': The Married At First Sight bride penned a heartfelt message

'And to you, yes Mr you...the gorgeous, masculine, kind hearted man of my equal that I just haven't met yet' she started, 'I'm still looking for you so please keep searching to find me...'

She signed off: 'Sending rays n rays of love.'

Gabrielle's co-star Sarah Roza couldn't help but gush over Gabrielle's post, commenting underneath: 'Gosh, I adore you my love,' before going on to say 'I just know an incredible man will be in your future soon.'

Goodbye: Nasser Sultan and Gabrielle Bartlett's romance ended in tears as they both voted to leave the experiment on Sunday's Married At First Sight

Overwhelmed: The emotion of the commitment ceremony proved to be too much for Nasser, who broke down crying and exited the set before revealing his decision

It comes after an emotional commitment ceremony on Sunday night, which saw her marriage to fitness trainer Nasser Sultan end in tears.

'I would like to leave': After receiving some reassurance from the experts, Nas was finally able to find the courage to announce his decision

The 50-year-old was comforted by his 'wife' Gab, who held him in her arms as he sobbed uncontrollably.

'It's okay babe,' she soothed as Nasser clung to her.

'It's hard, I came in this to find love,' said a heartbroken Nasser.

'There's a lot of love there, it's just not the love that either of us wanted,' said Gab

The rest of the couples clapped in support once Nasser had found the strength to return to the couch.

After receiving some reassurance from the experts, Nas was finally able to find the courage to announce his decision.

However, it was obviously deeply difficult for the 'groom.'

'I think we've both realised that it is what it is,' said a devastated Nasser

'I think we've both realised that it is what it is,' he said.

'And I think we're both being adults about our decision... and I would like to leave.'

Gab followed by calling Nas an 'amazing man,' saying that she'd love to have a relationship with him in the future, but 'not a romantic one.'

She then revealed her vote to leave, before Nas started to cry again.

'I was really touched by Nasser's reaction,' Gab later told the camera in her private one-on-one.

'There's a lot of love there, it's just not the love that either of us wanted.'She's always impeccably dressed for every occasion.

And Kate Beckinsale was even looking her best for her flight, slipping into a chic silk ensemble to travel to New York City on Saturday.

The star, 44, was dressed to impress in a loose-fitting kimono and skinny jeans as she sashayed through JFK Airport in style.

Glamorous: Kate Beckinsale was looking her best for her flight, slipping into a chic silk ensemble to travel to New York City on Saturday

Kate teamed the navy number with a pair of suede heeled boots, adding some extra height to her frame.

She pulled her look together with a trendy choker necklace and a large pair of shades.

The stunning actress styled her long locks in glossy curls and highlighted her pretty features with natural make-up.

Putting her best foot forward: Kate teamed the navy number with a pair of suede heeled boots, adding some extra height to her frame

Earlier this month, Kate commanded her fair share of attention after making a typically glamorous entrance at the star-studded Vanity Fair Oscar party, held at the Wallis Annenberg Centre for the Performing Arts in Los Angeles.

The British actress proved to be an engaging sight courtesy of her sweeping black evening gown, an extravagant new design from Reem Acra Resort 2018.

With a bold plunging front, the dress fully exposed Kates cleavage as she posed for photos before making her way inside.

Stunning: Earlier this month, Kate commanded her fair share of attention after making a typically glamorous entrance at the star-studded Vanity Fair Oscar party

It's form-fitting design drew further attention to the actress's lithe physique, while two embellished cut-out panels on either hip gave the look a distinctive flourish.

Famed for creating a unique range of wedding and red carpet gowns, Reem Acra Resort gave the look a bridal flourish by virtue of its subtle train.

Deft touches of make-up served to accentuate Kate's delicately proportioned features, while her brunette locks were effortlessly styled with a simple centre parting.

Bold look: The British actress, 44, proved to be an engaging sight courtesy of her sweeping black evening gown, an extravagant new design from Reem Acra Resort 2018

Absent on the night was Kate's 22-year-old toyboy, TRL host Matt Rife, who was also missing during her appearance at the Women in Film cocktail party on Friday evening.

On February 17, Kate gave her 2.3M social media followers a behind-the-scenes glimpse at her bubble-bath on the set of Amazon and ITV's upcoming eight-episode thriller The Widow.

According to Deadline, the Love & Friendship actress portrays Georgia Wells, a woman who returns to the African Congo and her old life when she sees her 'late' husband on the news.He's the English actor who is currently in Australia playing Dr. Shaun Murphy on hit US drama television series, The Good Doctor.

And Freddie Highmore, 26, gushed about his busy filming schedule in the lead-up to his Australian tour this weekend.

Speaking to The Daily Telegraph, the hunky thespian, said: 'We've been in such a bubble filming, so it's hard to have any real sense of how much people have been watching ... we only finished filming last week'.

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'We've been in such a bubble filming': Freddie Highmore, 26, gushed about his busy filming schedule in the lead-up to his Australian tour this weekend

In the popular US drama, the highly regarded actor plays a young gifted surgeon who suffers from both autism and savant syndrome.

The Bates Motel star hopes the television series will raise 'awareness' about people living with autism, and also 'anyone who has felt discriminated'.

'Not only in raising awareness how people with autism are dealt with in the workplace but hopefully more widely too. For anyone who has felt discriminated against and hasn't had their fair shot in life,' the Finding Neverland actor said.

'I'm very much looking forward to exploring a country that I have always dreamed of visiting': The actor hasn't been shy to speak of his adoration for the land Down Under, having recently told The West Australian that he has always dreamed of visiting

The actor has previously expressed his adoration for the land Down Under, as he recently told The West Australian that he has always dreamed of visiting Australia.

'With this being my first trip to Australia, I'm very much looking forward to exploring a country that I have always dreamed of visiting,' he told the publication.

'I am likewise excited to meet all those who have so warmly embraced The Good Doctor. Thanks for having me!'

Iconic role: In the popular US drama, the highly regarded actor plays a young gifted surgeon who suffers from both autism and savant syndrome

Freddie's breakthrough role was in the 2004 film, Finding Neverland, although he is best known for his appearance in the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The actor who emanates a great deal of boyish charm was born into a showbiz family.

His mother, Sue Latimer, is a talent agent whose clients include actors Daniel Radcliffe and Imelda Staunton.

Meanwhile his father and younger brother Bertie are also actors.She recently stunned her fans by debuting a chic new short hairdo.

But on Sunday, The Bachelor's Kiki Morris revealed that she's ready to return to her long blonde hair extensions again.

Before having her artificial locks sewn back in, the 30-year-old gave her fans one last look at her cute bob cut by posting a series of selfies to social media.

'Ready for long hair again': Kiki Morris vowed to return to her longer blonde locks on Sunday despite receiving praise from fans for her chic short hairdo

'Ready for long hair again,' wrote the busty Instagram model as she smiled for the camera.

Despite planning to return to her long locks, Kiki has been inundated with praise from her followers for stylish Lara Bingle bob.

'Keep it short!!! Looks great!!!' gushed one fan.

One last look: Before having her artificial locks sewn back in, the 30-year-old gave her fans one last look at her cute bob cut by posting a series of selfies to social media

'The short hairs a good look on you!' Kiki's fans have praised her shorter style, but that hasn't stopped her from planning to put her extensions back in

'The short hairs a good look on you!' said another.

Besides trying different hairstyles, Kiki is also a fan of cosmetic enhancements and plastic surgery.

The reality TV star has admitted to a breast augmentation in the past, and has sparked speculation of possible lip fillers due to her plump pout.

Which do you prefer? Kiki recently sported a much chicer, classier style (R) compared to her usual Barbie doll locks (L)

She's also had Botox, and even underwent a Brazilian butt lift recently.

In December, the Barbie doll beauty showed off her butt shaping sessions on social media.

Kiki competed on season four of The Bachelor, which starred Richie Strahan.Chinese weather girl stuns internet with her incredibly youthful looks after hosting the show for 22 YEARS

A Chinese TV presenter has become an internet sensation as she hasn't seemed to age a day despite having been on screen for more than two decades.

Yang Dan, a weather girl from China's state broadcaster, looks no different today than her 22-year-old self in her first show in 1996.

Incredibly youthful Ms Yang, who is now 44 years old, has been hailed as an 'ageless goddess' after a compilation video of her was shared online by the China Central Television Station.

The video was posted onto Weibo, the Chinese equivalent to Twitter, by the weather programme in order to mark the International Women's Day yesterday.

It shows Ms Yang's age-defying looks over 22 years since 1996 when John Major was the Prime Minister of UK, Bill Clinton was the US President and internet was still a strange thing.

The weather programme wrote in the post: 'Many web users have grown up watching her show. They marvelled why they have grown older but she hasn't.

'What's more? It appears she is younger and younger.'

So far, under the original post, stunned viewers have left more than 20,600 comments to express their amazement.

One commentator, who appears to be Ms Yang's long-term fan, wrote: 'I can't believe she has accompanied us for so many years. Even two decades haven't left any traces on her face. She is still the girl next door.'

Another use said: 'Her first and last look are the most beautiful, and there should be 20 years in between.'

A third viewer joked: 'Did they record all the weather forecasts in one day?'

According to Chinese government's website, Ms Yang was born in November, 1973.

She graduated from Beijing Broadcasting Institute in 1995 and has worked for China Central Television Station's weather show since 1996.

She hosts two weather shows at China Central Television Station and the weather programme at China National Radio, according to China's Huafeng Meteorological Media Group.They were accused of getting an eviction notice at their New York office earlier this week.

And Kendall, 22, and Kylie Jenner, 20, have reportedly received an apology from the leasing company, who own the building in which the reality sister's work on their Kendall + Kylie line, after realising they made a mistake.

According to TMZ, the company has said the notice, which stated the socialites owed more than $57,000 in unpaid rent, was sent due to a 'miscommunication'.

'Miscommunication':Kendall and Kylie Jenner have reportedly received an apology from the leasing company after they were served an eviction notice in their New York offices

A representative for the leasing company told the publication: 'There was a miscommunication due to a change in invoice procedures that led to this confusion.

'We apologize for any negative press the Kendall + Kylie brand has received.

They added: 'They have always been respectful and in good standing tenants.'

MailOnline has contacted Kendall and Kylie's representatives for comment.

Mistake: According to TMZ , the company has said the notice, which stated the socialite's owed more than $57,000 in unpaid rent, was sent due to a 'miscommunication'

At the time, reps for the stars were quick to deny the story with the landlord even issuing a statement on their behalf: 'The Kendall + Kylie showroom in NY has not been issued an eviction notice by our company and they are current in rent.

'The Kendall + Kylie brand have always been respectful and in good standing tenants.'

The socialites, owed more than $57,000 in unpaid rent it was claimed. The story was based on pictures of the document obtained by The Shade Room.

Not them! On Wednesday, the sisters were accused of being served with an eviction notice on the door of their New York office, according to The Shade Room. But their reps say it's not true

The eviction notice, taped to the door of the reality TV stars' 7th floor office states that 'Tenant is justly indebted to Landlord for rent and additional rent for the period from December 1, 2017 through and including March 1, 2018'.

The amount owed is listed as '$53,395.54'.

The legal document states the duo must pay the amount owing in full within five days or 'surrender possession of the Premises to the Landlord'.

Pay up: The socialites owed more than $57,000 in unpaid rent, according to pictures of the document obtained by the site, but the leasing company have since apologised for the error

Top girls: The Jenner sisters recently launched a lingerie line with Topshop, boasting a number of pretty lace sets for fans to get their hands on. Seen here in January 2017

The Jenner sisters recently launched a lingerie line with Topshop, boasting a number of pretty lace sets for fans to get their hands on.

They already have their very own collection with the much-loved high street retailer.

'We have a few years now under our belt and definitely feel like we've hit our stride,' Kylie said of the company to WWD last year.It's the social experiment that has taken fans on a roller-coaster ride of emotion with its endless drama.

And the final weeks of the show will see the ultimate showdown, with a wife swap seeing arch-enemies Charlene Perera and Dean Wells getting paired together.

In the latest preview for Married At First Sight's Monday episode, sparks fly between the two self-proclaimed 'alphas' as they go head-to-head.

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Copping a mouth! Married At First Sight groom Dean Wells will get paired with nemesis Charlene Perera in a wife swap shown in the teaser for Monday's episode

The preview opens with author Tracey Jewel enjoying a drink with groom Telv Williams.

'What do you think about Dean and I,' the published author said, to which FIFO worker Telv says, 'You probably don't want to hear it.'

The teaser then cuts to co-stars Sarah Roza and Patrick Miller, who are sitting together looking pensive.

Unimpressed! It comes after Charlene was unimpressed with Dean's antics on the grooms bos night, which saw the group talk about which brides they found attractive

'I can see there's a huge amount of pressure on you,' he says to the Melbourne-based beauty therapist, who immediately puts her hands over her mouth.

It then cuts to Dean entering in a poorly lit room with Charlene sitting down.

'We look who it is,' he says, with the 'alpha male,' groom obviously still reeling from their altercation at last week's dinner party.

Heated exchange! Things get rough between the two, with Charlene even seemingly threatening deal if he hurts bride Tracey Jewel again

'Bet you were glad you got me,' she says with a sarcastic smile.

The outspoken bride, brewing for an another altercation, can then be heard saying: 'I'd love to ask him what advice he'd give Pat and I... So then I can sh*t down all over it.'

In a second heated exchange, Charlene can then be heard chastising him.

'You're not ashamed of anything you said?' Charlene chastises Dean over his comments during last week's boys night

'You're not ashamed of anything you said?' she says, referencing the controversial boys night last week.

The Sydney-based executive creative director then responds: 'No, I'm not ashamed of it... she wants to demonise me.'

Brand manager Charlene then offers up a threat to the novice rapper, who was involved in a scandalous cheating scandal with busty bikini model, Davina Rankin.

'Be a fricken man': Despite things seemingly going well between Charlene and Patrick, she tells him to be a fricken man while the couple were out for dinner

'If you screw her over again, I will lose my mind.'

The teaser then cuts to the final dates this week, which will see the grooms spoil their wives in order to create a stronger bond with them.

Couple Telv and Sarah are shown kissing in a helicopter ride over Sydney, while Patrick takes things to new heights, taking Charlene to a trapeze school.

Rocky! Things seem on the rocks as well for gold couple Telv and Sarah as well in the final week

In the final week, however, not everything goes to plan with Charlene pictured sitting down with Patrick saying: 'Be a fricken man,' in an exasperated tone, with Patrick looking worried.

Cutting to Sarah and Telv out for dinner, busty Sarah then said: 'You're still not saying that you really want to be with me.'

FIFO worker Telv appears to be getting cold feet about the couple living together.

'I want to live like a married couple,' Sarah then says.

There are now five couples left in the experiment: Troy and Ashley, Charlene and Patrick, Telv and Sarah, John and Melissa and Tracey and Dean.The former Bachelor contestant gave birth to her first daughter Savannah Rose in late December.

And Bec Chinn showed off her slender post-baby body while heading out to Gosford's Wamberal Beach with fiance Dean Vee on Sunday.

The former reality star, 31, appeared in high spirits as she posed for a loved-up selfie with her beau in a red bikini.

Beach babe! The Bachelor's Bec Chin poses for bikini-clad selfie with fiance Dean Vee just 10 weeks after welcoming their first child together

The triangle-cut swimwear flaunted her assets, as the pair appeared to enjoy a child-free outing.

Bec looked stunning without any makeup upon her face, as her brunette locks were left down un-styled.

She styled her laidback beach look minimally with a stylish necklace.

What's her secret? Bec Chin (pictured left on the weekend and right while pregnant) celebrates her birthday with a pool party, revealing slender post-baby body in a sexy one-piece just three months after giving birth to daughter Savannah Rose with fiance Dean Vicelich

Bec appeared to have already bounced back into shape last week when uploading a stunning swimsuit snap to Instagram.

Sporting a revealing one-piece, she celebrated her birthday poolside looking trim and toned.

Fans were quick to comment on her slender shape, with one writing:  And you just had a baby! Looking good birthday girl!

Another wrote: Omg how are you already this amazing after giving birth? Happy birthday beautiful!

Love at first sight! Bec and her partner Dean welcomed their daughter in late December

'My lil darling': Bec also shared another post of herself looking amazing in a slinky black dress carrying her baby girl. She captioned her post: 'Those rare moments you get to look half decent with a newborn #wouldntchangeitfortheworld #mylildarling'

Bec also shared another post of herself looking amazing in a slinky black dress while carrying her baby girl.

She captioned it: 'Those rare moments you get to look half decent with a newborn #wouldntchangeitfortheworld #mylildarling.'

But her fans praised her still stepping out, including one who said: 'Awww you are beautiful anyway!'

'Baby's first Australia Day': She recently enjoyed a beach date with Rose as they celebrated their first Australia Day public holiday together

Baby's day out! Earlier in the month, The Bachelor star shared a sweet photo of her with fiance Dean Vicelich as they took their newborn daughter Savannah Rose on her first family outing

Cute: Bec took to Instagram to confirm her and Dean had welcomed their bundle of joy

In December, Bec took to Instagram to confirm her and Dean had welcomed their bundle of joy.

Sharing a sweet black and white snap of Savannah sleeping, Bec could be seen holding her daughter's hand.

'Welcome to the world Savannah Rose Vicelich. Out of our dreams and into our lives 28.12.17,' she captioned the photo.10 Things I Hate About You alum Julia Stiles was spotted pushing her newborn son Strummer Newcomb Cook after working up a sweat at a yoga class in Manhattan on Saturday.

The Golden Globe nominee - who turns 37 this month - went make-up free for her exercise session and she had her flaxen locks in a messy ponytail.

The native New Yorker - whose yoga mat was tucked beneath her stroller - was bundled in an off-white fur-lined coat, grey scarf, and black skinny jeans.

Mat tucked underneath: 10 Things I Hate About You alum Julia Stiles was spotted pushing her newborn son Strummer Newcomb Cook after working up a sweat at a yoga class in Manhattan on Saturday

Cute white coat: The Golden Globe nominee - who turns 37 this month - went make-up free for her exercise session and she had her flaxen locks in a messy ponytail

Julia will soon bring her four-month-old boy to France when she begins filming the second season of Sky Atlantic's Riviera, on which her husband Preston J. Cook was the 'A' camera second assistant.

'I've turned down some things [this] year because I really want to spend time being a mom and spend time with my baby,' the Columbia University grad told Collider in September.

'That's precious time that you don't get back. When you're in a committed relationship, you have to factor in the other person and what being separated means, and figure out if there's a way to make it work, so that we don't have to be far apart. He works in film, too, so we're both juggling that.'

Stiles plays American art curator and billionaire widow Georgina Marjorie Clios in Neil Jordan's British seaside soap, which was renewed on November 20.

Baby's first flight! The native New Yorker will soon bring her four-month-old boy to France when she begins filming the second season of Sky Atlantic's Riviera, on which her husband Preston J. Cook was the 'A' camera second assistant

Julia told Collider in September: 'I've turned down some things [this] year because I really want to spend time being a mom and spend time with my baby. That's precious time that you don't get back'

Renewed on November 20! Stiles plays American art curator and billionaire widow Georgina Marjorie Clios in Neil Jordan's British seaside soap

The Jason Bourne stunner was eight months pregnant with Strummer when she and Cook tied the knot in a shotgun wedding Labor Day weekend, but the newlyweds met on the 2014 set of Blackway (aka Go With Me).

Preston is quite in demand with three films out this year on which he was second assistant camera - Liam Neeson thriller Hard Powder, The Rock action flick Skyscraper, and Lionsgate's Overboard remake.

Before meeting her husband, Julia reportedly romanced David Harbour, Jonathan Cramer, Luke Mably, Josh Hartnett, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.They rekindled their romance in September last year, when he relocated to the States for university.

And Brooklyn Beckham looked more besotted than ever with girlfriend Chloe Moretz on Sunday, as they packed on the PDA in New York City.

The 19-year-old was seen drawing in the blonde beauty, 21, for a passionate kiss on the street as they bade each other farewell, after their romantic day out.

Just the two of us: Brooklyn Beckham looked more besotted than ever with girlfriend Chloe Moretz on Sunday, as they packed on the PDA in New York City

Pucker up: The 19-year-old was seen drawing in the blonde beauty, 21, for a passionate kiss on the street as they bade each other farewell after a romantic day out

The pair looked happy to be in each other's company as they enjoyed a low-key stroll around the city.

Chloe was casually cool for the outing in tailored trousers and a logo T-shirt, teamed with a smart navy coat and sporty white trainers.

Leaving her hair in its every day style and adding pink sunglasses to her face, the Carrie star cut a relaxed figure as she spent quality time with her beau.

Tender: The oldest of the Beckham clan planted a sweet kiss on his girlfriend as they said goodbye

Gentleman: Brooklyn proved to be the perfect boyfriend as he helped Chloe wheel her luggage to her taxi

Meanwhile Brooklyn proved his typically quirky sense of style in vintage-style jeans, paired with his trademark silver chain and beanie hat.

Wanting to stand out from the crowds, he then added a black bomber jacket, embroidered with a heart on one shoulder and 'Buster' on the back - his family nickname.

The oldest of the Beckham clan was seen walking Chloe and her luggage to her taxi, before he planted a sweet kiss on her as they said goodbye.

Main man: Brooklyn stood out from the crowd in a black bomber jacket, embroidered with a heart on one shoulder and 'Buster' on the back - his family nickname

Comfort: He was then spotted FaceTiming his mother Victoria after Chloe headed to the airport

Chloe had been in New York to celebrate Brooklyn's birthday, along with his famous family.

The youngster was joined by father David, mother Victoria and his siblings Romeo, Cruz and Harper as he rang in his 19th year at a swanky restaurant in the city.

Both parents were quick to gush about their son on his big day - with the former Spice Girl writing on Instagram: 'Happy birthday Brooklyn We all love you so much!! xx So many kisses from us all!! We are so proud of you.'

Known for their close relationship, David then shared a playful snap snap of himself and Brooklyn, and paid tribute to the 'humble' man he has become.

'So proud of you': Both parents gushed about their son on his big day - with the former Spice Girl writing beside a snap of her kids: 'Happy birthday Brooklyn We all love you so much!!'

He wrote in the caption: 'Happy Birthday big boy... So proud of the man you have grown into .... Be passionate , be proud , be humble & be you ... Love u bust.'

Brooklyn has since jetted home to the UK to celebrate Mother's Day as well as his grandmother Jackie Adams' birthday, with the family.

Chloe and Brooklyn first met in 2014, and they went on to date in summer 2016 before the distance proved too much - with the actress based in LA.

However, the duo rekindled their romance in September 2017, when Brooklyn moved to the Big Apple to study photography at Parsons School of Design.Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda are close as can be.

So it was no surprise to see the Dawson's Creek actress greeted with hugs and kisses from her tween when arriving back at their New York apartment Sunday after a trip to Paris for fashion week.

As the 12-year-old threw her arms around mom, it was hard to ignore Matlida's resemblance to dad Heath Ledger, who passed away at only 28-years-old in 2008.

Reunited and it feels so good! Michelle Williams and daughter Matilda Ledger were overjoyed to see each other on Sunday, as the actress arrived home to NYC after a trip to Paris for fashion week

Mommy's girl: Matilda showed her political feelings in a moron T-shirt, which bore the face of President Donald Trump

The ladies looked overjoyed to be reunited during the chilly New York day, where temperatures were around 38F.

Michelle bundled up in a long trench coat on top of flared white jeans.

The Greatest Showman star added on-trend accessories, topping off her look with clear-glasses, white velcro trainers, and a red plaid scarf.

Her daughter looked stylish in a rose gold puffer jacket with fur-trimmed hood, keeping comfy on bottom with a pair of grey sweatpants. She showed her political feelings in a moron T-shirt, which bore the face of President Donald Trump.

Keeping cozy: Michelle was bundled up during the chilly NYC day, donning a long trench-coat and red scarf

Spitting image: As the 12-year-old threw her arms around mom, it was hard to ignore Matlida's uncanny resemblance to dad Heath Ledger (left) who passed away at only 28-years-old in 2008

Matilda was only two when her dad Heath passed away from cardiac arrest brought on by prescription drugs January 22 2008.

At the time of his death, Williams and Ledger were co-parenting their daughter and were said to be no longer romantically involved.

The Manchester By The Sea star has been intensely private about the loss, not speaking about Heath's death publicly in the decade since his passing.

Love it! The Dawson's Creek actress greeted with hugs and kisses from her 12-year-old, who looked stylish in a rose gold puffer coat

Private: The Manchester By The Sea star has been intensely private about the death of ex Heath Ledger, not speaking about his passing death publicly in the decade since. Above the couple are seen in 2006

Michelle has a busy 2018 planned, with three movies on deck this year alone.

She acts opposite Amy Schumer in the upcoming comedy I Feel Pretty, due out April 27 2018.

Her Marvel movie Venom is also already getting buzz after releasing a collection of high-octane teasers late last month.

Venom, which stars actor Tom Hardy as the titular character, arrives in theaters October 8 2018.she's worked hard to preserve her youthful appearance.

But Nicole Kidman, 50, was unrecognizable in Hollywood makeup on Sunday, for her role in upcoming film The Goldfinch.

Her trademark strawberry blonde locks were hidden beneath an ageing but well-tended grey wig, and wrinkles had been added to her usually line-free face via the magic of makeup.

Who's that? Nicole Kidman, 50, was again unrecognizable in Hollywood makeup on Sunday, this time for her role in upcoming film The Goldfinch

The lauded actress was bundled up in a Canada Goose parka for the New York City shoot.

The Big Little Lies actress wore the heavy duty blue jacket over a dress.

Her slim legs were visible underneath the short garment and she kept her feet warm with black Ugg boots.

Keeping warm! The lauded actress was bundled up in a Canada Goose parka for the New York City shoot

Her co-star, Ansel Elgot, showed up on set in rather more modern dress than Kidman.

The 23-year-old actor rugged up in a Supreme x Louis Vuitton hoodie and red Adidas sweatpants.

He completed the casual look with a white T-shirt and white sneakers.

Baby actor: Her co-star, Ansel Elgot, showed up on set in rather more modern dress than Kidman

Cold enough for you? The 23-year-old actor rugged up in a Supreme x Louis Vuitton hoodie and red Adidas sweatpants

Sunday fun day: He completed the casual look with a white T-shirt and white sneakers

Based on the 2013 Pulitzer-winning book by Donna Tartt, The Goldfinch tells the tale of Theo Decker.

Decker miraculously survives a bombing at the Metropolitan Museum of Art that killed his mother, pocketing an irreplaceable artwork in the confused aftermath of the atrocity.

Nicole plays the role of Mrs Barbour, a wealthy socialite who takes in Theo after he is orphaned.

Brrrr-illiant performance! Nicole rubbed her arms against her chest to keep warm while she was wrapped up in a fur-lined coat

Winter style: The Before I Go To Sleep star covered her golden tresses with her beanie and pulled it down over her ears

Her adopted son is being played by Baby Driver star Elgort.

The film also stars Westworld's Jeffrey Wright as Theo's mentor, while Luke Wilson plays his deadbeat father, and Sarah Paulson the dad's girlfriend.

Directed by Brooklyn helmer John Crowley, The Goldfinch not scheduled for release until October 2019.

Keeping warm: The Hollywood star shielded her eyes with a pair of sunglasses as she kept a low-profile on setShe's the songstress who's known for wowing in her incredible stage outfits.

And Rita Ora is showing no signs of slowing down, as she dazzled fans in an all white ensemble while performing in Dubai.

The Anywhere hitmaker made sure she was noticed in a high-leg white leotard which showed off her svelte figure and lean legs as she sang at BASE on Sunday.

Stunning: The glamorous 28-year-old added ivory knee-high boots with sequins encircling their top to the ensemble, and pulled off matching white tights

The glamorous 28-year-old added ivory knee-high boots with sequins encircling their top to the ensemble, and pulled off matching white tights.

She showed off her glowing skin and looked utterly relaxed after her trip to the Maldives last month.

The starlet drew attention to her striking brown eyes with large liquid eyeliner flicks, and added a glossy dusky pink lip. Her platinum blonde tresses were styled in tousled waves, and fell to her shoulders.

Showstopping: Rita Ora dazzled fans in an all stunning white ensemble while performing in Dubai

It's all-white: The Anywhere hitmaker made sure she was noticed in a high-leg white leotard which showed off her svelte figure and lean legs as she sang at BASE on Sunday

Holiday glow: She showed off her glowing skin and looked utterly relaxed after her trip to the Maldives last month

Eye-catching: The starlet emphasised her striking brown eyes with large liquid eyeliner flicks, and added a glossy dusky pink lip

Golden girl: Her platinum blonde tresses were styled in tousled waves, and fell to her shoulders

Showstopping Rita put on an energetic show for her fans, and can be seen to be completely immersed in her performance in a series of snaps.

She quietly became 'Instagram official' with rocker Andrew Watt in December, who was rumoured to be her boyfriend for more than a year.

The couple were first spotted enjoying a cosy holiday in Rome last October - but kept their romance under wraps until late last year.

Performer: Showstopping Rita put on an energetic show for her fans, and can be seen to be completely immersed in her perfomance in a series of snaps

New beau: Rita quietly became 'Instagram official' with rocker Andrew Watt in December, who was rumoured to be her boyfriend for more than a year

Exciting year ahead: As well as her new music releases, Rita is looking forward to performing as a headline act at Henley Festival 2018 on July 11

Stunner: The 28-year-old added a white coat to her ensemble as she sang her heart out for fans

As well as her new music releases, Rita is looking forward to performing as a headline act at Henley Festival 2018 on July 11.

The annual black tie music event will transform the banks of Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire, into a dreamy Great Gatsby vision, with a jam packed music, comedy, food and visual arts line up for five days.

Also headlining the festival are Grace Jones, Nile Rodgers & Chic, Curtis Stigers and Rob Brydon with performing Sinatra at the Sands, as well as the English National Opera.

Slender: Rita looked svelte in her skimpy leotard and captivated the gazes of the audience as she sang

Delighted: The Hot Right Now hitmaker looked relaxed and happy as she took to the stage in the Middle East

Synchronised: Rita put on an incredible show with her backing dancers as she sang in DubaiIMG Model Ashley Graham shared an epic snap of herself and her Lincoln Southwest High School prom date 'Brett' while taking a stroll down memory lane at her childhood Nebraska home on Sunday.

The 30-year-old body activist was feeling nostalgic being back in her Lincoln hometown with her mother Linda, who hosted the baby shower of one of Ashley's two younger sisters on Saturday.

Even at age 17, the Revlon brand ambassador was already quite curvaceous and 5ft9in - towering over many of her schoolmates while clad in her Audrey Hepburn-inspired LBD.

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'Brett + Ash': IMG Model Ashley Graham shared an epic snap of herself and her Lincoln Southwest High School prom date while taking a stroll down memory lane at her childhood Nebraska home on Sunday

Back in her Lincoln hometown: The 30-year-old body activist was feeling nostalgic with her mother Linda (L), who hosted the baby shower of one of Ashley's sisters Saturday

Graham - who boasts 9.2M social media followers - Insta-storied her journey from gawky girl in glasses to a belly-baring, high-heeled teenager.

It's hard to believe the fierce Pantene spokesmodel - who was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a kid - ever suffered through an awkward stage.

The groundbreaking 2016 SI cover girl eventually signed with Wilhelmina Models in 2001 after attending a model convention, and two years later she was with Ford Models.

During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Ashley revealed that one of her first gigs was being a before/after model for a haircare company, which appeared in SkyMall back in 2000.

Audrey Hepburn-inspired LBD: Even at age 17, the Revlon brand ambassador was already quite curvaceous and 5ft9in - towering over many of her schoolmates

'From this to this in just three years': Graham Insta-storied her journey from gawky girl in glasses to a belly-baring, high-heeled teenager

Diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia as a kid: It's hard to believe the fierce Pantene spokesmodel ever suffered through an awkward stage

Fun with make-up: The groundbreaking 2016 SI cover girl signed with Wilhelmina Models in 2001 after attending a model convention, and two years later she was with Ford Models

'Look at me now!' During an appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Ashley revealed that one of her first gigs was being a before/after model for a haircare company, which appeared in SkyMall back in 2000

'They just dropped a wig on me [for the after picture] though, so I knew the product probably didn't work,' Graham admitted on the August 8 episode.

'But you know that's 17 years in the making and look at me now!'

The Brooklyn-based brunette also goes way back with her husband of seven years, Justin Ervin, whom she met church back in 2009.

The LA-based cinematographer accompanied the A New Model author to the United Nations in Manhattan on Thursday where she received the first-ever Womens Empowerment Award.

'This is our first pic together': Graham also goes way back with her husband of seven years, Justin Ervin, whom she met church back in 2009

'Incredible honor!' The LA-based cinematographer accompanied the Brooklyn-based brunette to the United Nations on Thursday where she received the Womens Empowerment Award

The A New Model author told ET back in 2016: 'We are going to totally have kids. We are probably going to do it in the next few years. Just another part of my brand building!'

'We are going to totally have kids,' Ashley told ET back in 2016.

'We are probably going to do it in the next few years. Just another part of my brand building!'

Ashley currently co-judges cycle 24 of Tyra Banks modeling competition America's Next Top Model - airing Tuesdays on VH1 - alongside image architect Law Roach and Paper creative director Drew Elliot.As she gets set to star on BBC TV for the first time in 30 years, Selina Scott seems to have barely aged a day since her last appearance.

The 66-year-old, who was the face of the BBC's breakfast TV on its launch in 1983, showed off her flawless complexion as she posed in a pink flapper mini-dress with a pair of 1920s heels.

She is set to return to the BBC in the third series of The Real Marigold Hotel, in which a group of older celebrities travels around India.

Original face of BBC Breakfast Selina Scott (pictured), 66, is returning to the Beeb to star in The Real Marigold Hotel

The 66-year-old was the face of the BBC's breakfast TV on its launch in 1983 (pictured)

Miss Scott, who visited the city of Udaipur in western India, will star with Dynasty actress Stephanie Beacham, comedian Syd Little, and Boris Johnson's father Stanley, who won fans with his recent appearance on I'm A Celebrity.

Miss Scott said: 'Stanley Johnson was outrageous. He wanted me to take my clothes off and go swimming with him in the lake.

'But knowing what goes into lakes in India, don't even ask, I made an excuse and said I wouldn't go in naked and hadn't brought my costume. Even that didn't put him off.

'Well just strip down to your bra and pants Selina,' he suggested before diving in. Well I wasn't doing that either.'

Selina is set to return to the BBC in the third series of The Real Marigold Hotel, in which a group of older celebrities travels around India

The BBC1 show  to be aired later this year  marks the first time Miss Scott has appeared in a BBC series since leaving for a job in the US in 1988.

In 2008, Miss Scott sued Channel Five for ageism, claiming bosses backed out of an offer to present news bulletins because of her age. They reached a settlement said to be worth about 250,000.

Since retreating from the limelight, Miss Scott has set up a firm in Malton, North Yorkshire, that makes socks out of Angora goat wool.The Egyptian parliament's committee for media, culture and antiquities held a closed-door meeting Sunday to a consider law aimed at regulating online media activities.

The 25-article law was drafted by MP Atef Nasser and approved by 60 deputies.

Nasser, parliamentary spokesman of the "Future of a Nation" party, said his draft law covers all online media activities affiliated with publishing houses, news agencies, press organisations, advertising and commercial businesses, and satellite audio-visual channels.

The draft law stipulates that online activities for each of the above should be headed and run by an executive manager.

"Besides, the law outlines what qualities this manager should have in order to be licensed as a online manager," Nasser added.

The law imposes penalties on unlicensed online activities and content violations such as fake news, statements and information. And it defines the authorities that will be in charge of licensing online media activities.

"It states that once an online media activity is authorised, it should first obtain a 10-year license, which can be renewed for another 10 years under certain conditions," Nasser said.

Nasser, an accountant, told parliamentary reporters that his draft law "aims to impose a kind of discipline on online media activities."

"This new kind of media activities has greatly proliferated in recent years, but many of them were involved in spreading fake or unfounded news without facing any kind of regulation," Nasser said.

Osama Heikal, head of the committee and a former information minister, said the above law was discussed in coordination with parliament's committee of legislative and constitutional affairs, and the telecommunication and information technology committee.

Heikal said that Nasser's draft law includes some significant articles.

"The committee can approve it as a whole or add these articles to the new government-drafted law on media and press regulation, which includes a complete chapter on online activities," Heikal said.

MP Tamer Abdel-Qader, a member of the media committee, told the reporters the new media and press regulation law makes the Higher Council for Media Regulation (HCMR) responsible for licensing modern online media activities such as "online radios."

Abdel-Qader indicated that the new draft media and press regulation law is different from the Institutional Regulation of the Press and Media Law passed by parliament in 2016.

"The two were one law at first, but they were made separate in order to go in line with the 2014 Constitution, which stipulates that an independent law be issued to create three regulatory bodies on the media and the press," Abdel-Qader said.

"The new media and press regulation law focuses on tackling internal conditions of state-owned press organisations such as retirement age and promotion conditions, the licensing of foreign news agencies and satellite television channels."

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She split with her TV 'husband' Nasser Sultan on Sunday night's emotional episode of Married At First Sight.

And now Gabrielle Bartlett has revealed she's found comfort in another MAFS groom.

In an interview with TV Week, the blonde beauty admitted she has formed a very close relationship with Sean, who was paired with bubbly Jo on the social experiment.

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Is Gabrielle Bartlett now dating Sean? Married At First Sight star finds comfort in another MAFS groom after her split from 'husband' Nasser Sultan

Over: Gabrielle split with her TV 'husband' Nasser Sultan during Sunday night's emotional episode of Married At First Sight

'Sean from Adelaide - he's one person that I've become very firm friends with. He's a great bloke,' she explained.

'This is a very intense emotional journey that you go on together. Nobody else can really understand until you've been there and done it. So it really does fast-track friendships to being quite close.'

Meanwhile, after ending her 'marriage' with Nasser on Sunday night's episode, the blonde actress took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to her fans.

Another failed romance: Sean was paired with Jo on the social experiment

'The best is yet to come': Meanwhile, after ending her 'marriage' with Nasser on Sunday night's episode, the blonde actress took to Instagram to share a heartfelt tribute to her fans

'Bad Luck Donald Duck,' the Northern Beaches resident started. This girl has gotta keep moving...'

She went on: 'What an honour to be in your lounge rooms over the last little while. Your support and love has not gone unnoticed and I will be eternally grateful for each smile on the street, comment on social media, anyone who reached out to me.'

'Bad Luck Donald Duck': The Married At First Sight bride penned a heartfelt message

'And to you, yes Mr you...the gorgeous, masculine, kind hearted man of my equal that I just haven't met yet' she started, 'I'm still looking for you so please keep searching to find me...'

She signed off: 'Sending rays n rays of love.'

Gabrielle's co-star Sarah Roza couldn't help but gush over Gabrielle's post, commenting underneath: 'Gosh, I adore you my love,' before going on to say 'I just know an incredible man will be in your future soon.'

Goodbye: Nasser Sultan and Gabrielle Bartlett's romance ended in tears as they both voted to leave the experiment on Sunday's Married At First Sight

Overwhelmed: The emotion of the commitment ceremony proved to be too much for Nasser, who broke down crying and exited the set before revealing his decision

'I would like to leave': After receiving some reassurance from the experts, Nas was finally able to find the courage to announce his decision

It comes after an emotional commitment ceremony on Sunday night, which saw her marriage to fitness trainer Nasser Sultan end in tears.

The 50-year-old was comforted by his 'wife' Gab, who held him in her arms as he sobbed uncontrollably.

'It's okay babe,' she soothed as Nasser clung to her.

'It's hard, I came in this to find love,' said a heartbroken Nasser.

'There's a lot of love there, it's just not the love that either of us wanted,' said Gab

The rest of the couples clapped in support once Nasser had found the strength to return to the couch.

After receiving some reassurance from the experts, Nas was finally able to find the courage to announce his decision.

However, it was obviously deeply difficult for the 'groom.'

'I think we've both realised that it is what it is,' said a devastated Nasser

'I think we've both realised that it is what it is,' he said.

'And I think we're both being adults about our decision... and I would like to leave.'

Gab followed by calling Nas an 'amazing man,' saying that she'd love to have a relationship with him in the future, but 'not a romantic one.'

She then revealed her vote to leave, before Nas started to cry again.

'I was really touched by Nasser's reaction,' Gab later told the camera in her private one-on-one.

'There's a lot of love there, it's just not the love that either of us wanted.'It's the controversial dating series that sees strangers paired up and 'wed' in a non-legally binding ceremony.

And in Monday's Woman's Day, it's been claimed that filming became 'too wild for TV', with not one but TWO couples said to be expecting a child.

'Pregnancy tests were found in two of the apartments,' an insider was alleged to have told the publication.

'Pregnancy tests were found in the apartments': Woman's Day magazine claims that not one but TWO Married At First Sight couples are said 'to be expecting a child'

'A lot of stuff viewers don't get to see went down during filming at Meriton Suites North Sydney,' the source reportedly told Woman's Day.

'Pregnancy tests were found in two of the apartments because there's been so much crossover between the couples hooking up, nobody really knows who they belong to!' the source continued.

Daily Mail Australia has reached out to Married At First Sight for comment.

An insider alleged: 'Pregnancy tests were found in two of the apartments but because there's been so much crossover between the couples hooking up, nobody really knows who they belong to.' Pictured are 'TV husband and wife' Carly Bowyer, 32, and Justin Fischer, 41

The fresh claims follow a similar report by NW on Monday, suggesting Tracey Jewel may be expecting Dean Wells' child.

The 34-year-old relationship expert was alleged to have told the publication: 'I loved being pregnant the first time and I can't wait to experience it again.'

It comes after Tracey, who already is a mother to daughter Grace from a previous relationship, was recently seen displaying what the publication described as a 'rather prominent bump'.

Could she? The fresh claims follow a similar report by NW on Monday, suggesting Tracey Jewel may be expecting Dean Wells' child

Tracey told NW that her desire for a second child helped her to forgive Dean for his poor behaviour on Married At First Sight.

'Dean is such a wild card. I reckon he'd be a fun dad one minute and super strict the next,' she said.

Fans have been taken on a journey through Tracey and Dean's rather tumultuous relationship.

Drama-filled: Fans have been taken on a journey through Tracey and Dean's [pictured] rather tumultuous relationship

Last month, Dean, 39, was revealed to have betrayed his 'TV wife', caught in a flirtatious encounter with 26-year-old bikini model Davina Rankin.

However in a twist, Tracey decided to forgive Dean for his bad behaviour, and give the lad another chance.

Married At First Sight Australia continues Monday at 7.30pm on the Nine NetworkRadio DJ Dave Berry has secretly married girlfriend Sarah-Jane Davies, a year after proposing during a romantic trip to Rome.

The 39-year old exchanged vows with former talent manager Sarah-Jane in front of close friends and family at Old Marylebone Town Hall on Friday.

The happy couple later enjoyed a celebratory reception at private members' only The Ivy Club, according to The Sun.

I do: Radio DJ Dave Berry has secretly married girlfriend Sarah-Jane Davies, a year after proposing during a romantic trip to Rome

Speaking to the publication, Berry - who started dating his new wife a number of years ago but chose to keep their relationship out of the public eye - admitted he got down on one knee during a holiday in the Italian capital.

'I asked Sarah-Jane to marry me whilst in Rome, wed been travelling around the world for a few months and it was the perfect city to do it in,' he explained.

'We got hitched in Old Marylebone Town Hall followed by the most amazing family lunch.'

Previously: Berry's marriage comes seven years after his split with former Sugababes star Heidi Range

Berry's marriage comes seven years after his split with former Sugababes star Heidi Range.

Announcing the end of their eight-year relationship in December 2011, a spokesperson for the Absolute Radio presenter said: 'Dave Berry announced today that his engagement to partner Heidi Range has been broken off.

'Mr Berry announced the news today although the couple agreed to separate in the Autumn.

'The split is amicable and no third parties are involved and he will make no further statement on the issue.'

Romantic: The 39-year old exchanged vows with former talent manager Sarah-Jane in front of close friends and family at Old Marylebone Town Hall on Friday

Heidi also took to her Twitter page to break the news, writing: 'Very sadly, after eight years together, myself and Dave decided to separate a few months ago. I wish him nothing but the best in life x'

The pair had previously told OK! Magazine that they were planning a wedding in London in October 2011, with Heidi adding that she already had her eye on a designer dress.

She told the magazine: 'I havent tried any yet but when I did a gig in Barbados with the Sugababes, Vera Wangs daughter came up to me and said, "My mum was at the gig and shed love to make you a wedding dress". I nearly passed out, Ive always dreamt of a Vera Wang wedding dress!'

The former couple met in 2003 and on New Year's Eve 2009, Berry proposed while the couple were on holiday in India.Australia won't be obliged to join whatever America's next military outing is just because the Turnbull government secured exemptions from steel and aluminium tariffs, our trade minister insists.

US President Donald Trump said in a tweet his administration was "working very quickly on a security agreement so we don't have to impose steel or aluminum (sic) tariffs on our ally, the great nation of Australia".

He also lauded Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's commitment to "a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship", after eight months of Australian ministers and officials putting just this argument to the Trump administration.

Questions have been raised over what such a security agreement might entail, especially in light of Mr Trump telling the prime minister in February he would love Australia to join the US on new freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea.

But Trade Minister Steve Ciobo says there's no implicit understanding about a quid pro quo linking trade and military promises.

"I've seen some, frankly, incredibly wild theories emanating from all quarters including some journalists who should know better," he told ABC TV on Sunday.

"It is effectively just about the paperwork, for lack of a better term, that's got to be undertaken."

Labor's finance spokesman Jim Chalmers said it remained to be seen what expectations might be attached to the deal, but Australia did already have a long history of co-operation with the US on both economic and military fronts.

"I think a whole range of factors come into these sorts of deals that are made between countries, not just the military one but economic co-operation as well," he told Sky News.Banks should face harsher consequences for irresponsible lending that include waiving the debt when they break the law, a consumer group says.

The Consumer Action Law Centre hopes the issue of appropriate remedies for borrowers will be examined by the financial services royal commission, which is holding a public hearing into consumer lending practices.

The centre argues inadequate remedies are a key driver of misconduct in the consumer credit industry, as lenders are generally able to recover the principal amount lent regardless of whether it was lent responsibly.

"While the lender is arguably returned to the original position by being able to recover the principal amount lent, the borrower may have to sell assets such as a home or car to repay this amount," its submission to the royal commission said.

CEO Gerard Brody said the penalties and consequences for breaching Australia's responsible lending laws were insufficient, as the remedy was generally a waiver of interest and fees.

"You still have to pay back the loan and for people, particularly if they are in financial difficulty, that's not a very satisfactory remedy," Mr Brody told AAP.

"We actually think that if banks and lenders breach responsible lending guidelines they should waive the debt.

"That would sharpen their focus to ensure that they're doing the right thing to begin with."

Mr Brody said in the case of mortgages, at the very least borrowers should not end up with a residual debt if the property was sold for less than the loan amount.

The CALC submission said maximum civil and criminal penalties in financial sector laws should be increased, as recommended by the 2014 Financial System Inquiry.

"Penalties must be set at a level to act as a credible deterrent against misconduct, and not just be factored in simply as the cost of doing business," the centre said.

It also argued the standard for responsible lending, which required an assessment of whether the loan was "not unsuitable" for a consumer, was inadequate.

Australia's big four banks feature prominently in the case studies selected by the royal commission for its two-week public hearing into inappropriate or unsuitable lending in home loans, car finance and credit cards.

The royal commission will focus on why it happened as well as what was, or should have been, the response.

A number of consumers will give evidence during the hearing, which begins in Melbourne on Tuesday.The building industry believes that if state governments ease zoning restrictions 20,000 extra homes could be built over the next five years.

The Reserve Bank, in a research paper released last week, said zoning regulations were restricting housing supply, which in turn pushes up prices.

It estimated the average Sydney house, valued at $1.16 million in 2016, represented a $395,000 structure on a $765,000 block of land.

"However, the reason land is expensive is not because it is physically scarce," it said.

Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the Reserve Bank's research backs similar work her organisation did last year.

"We estimated that if you reduce the zoning restrictions alone, 20,000 extra homes could be built over the next five years," she told ABC television on Sunday.

"We know that we need an additional 200,000 homes in Australia to meet current demand, let alone (the) population increases that we're going to face over the next few years."

Ms Wawn advocates a collaborative approach between all levels of government to target these barriers, and as such is supportive of the federal government's city deals with state and local governments to target restrictions on land.

But Planning Institute of Australia said the central bank's research is misleading and yet another attempt to shore up the popular misconception that getting rid of controls on land-use will solve the housing affordability crisis.

Its national principal policy officer John Brockhoff said zoning is one of the keystones of good planning and helps the property market to work efficiently and effectively.

"Planning has a key role in preventing land-market failure leading to wider community costs - expressed in costs to doing business as well as social and environmental costs," Mr Brockhoff said in a statement.

Housing affordability research by the Grattan Institute last week estimated if an extra 50,000 homes were built each year for the next decade, national house prices could be between five and 20 per cent lower.

Welfare advocate ACOSS chief Cassandra Goldie said there is also a need to tackle the measures that are fuelling demand.

"We do think that we need to roll back negative gearing arrangements and reduce the capital gains discount over time," she told ABC television.

She is concerned these measures continue to fuel speculative property investment, which is pushing up housing prices at a time when wages and income support have almost been frozen.An elderly woman has been injured after a car ploughed into her home northwest of Sydney.

A 69-year-old female driver was picking up a relative who was waiting in the driveway of the Cherrybrook home when the crash happened about 1pm on Sunday, NSW Police said in a statement.

An 81-year-old woman was inside the house when the car crashed into it, a NSW Police spokesman told AAP on Sunday.

She was treated at the scene for a suspected fractured leg and facial injuries and was taken to Westmead Hospital for treatment.

The driver of the car was treated for shock and taken to the same hospital for mandatory testing.

There was no structural damage to the house and Fire & Rescue NSW attended the scene to clean up the debris.A Victorian man accused of murdering his partner is a risk of self-harm in custody, a court has been told.

Shane Robertson, 28, is accused of fatally striking 29-year-old Katherine Haley in the head with a blunt object at Diggers Rest, in Melbourne's outer northwest, on Friday night.

Robertson appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday morning, where his lawyer told magistrate Robert Kumar that Robertson urgently needed to see a psychiatric nurse.

"I am concerned about his mental state. There's some suicidal ideation," she said.

"I have concerns of self-harm."

A police summary said Robertson admitted being involved in Ms Haley's death.

On Sunday, the thin young man appeared dishevelled in the court dock, dressed in a black T-shirt and trousers with dyed hair.

The court was told it was Robertson's first time in custody.

He did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody to reappear in court on Tuesday for a filing hearing.

Ms Haley's family earlier said they'd been touched by "an act of pure evil".

"She did not deserve what happened to her," News Corp quoted the family statement as saying.

"Our beautiful Katie girl, not only did we lose a much-loved daughter and sister, but two precious children lost their beautiful mother."

In a Facebook tribute, one friend said her "heart beaks for such a beautiful person and mother gone too soon and so unnecessarily".

"I will miss your face and all our nail dates RIP forever beautiful," the woman wrote.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78.Dealing with crossbenchers who hold the balance of power in WA's upper house has proved trickier than expected, Premier Mark McGowan has admitted on his one-year anniversary in office.

After eight years of Liberal reign, Labor won last year's state election in spectacular fashion, securing 55 per cent of the vote.

But it didn't gain control of the Legislative Council, which has three One Nation MPs and one Liberal Democrat among its ranks.

The McGowan government has twice failed to get a gold royalty hike through the upper house, "no body, no parole" laws have stalled and a taxi plate compensation plan designed to ease the impact of new competition from Uber has already been opposed by the Liberals, which label it a new tax and therefore a broken election promise.

The premier admits it has been tricky negotiating with crossbenchers, and is particularly keen to talk them around to the taxi bill and planned liquor reforms to boost the tourism and hospitality industries.

"I'd urge everyone in the upper house to look at those pieces of legislation on their merits because they're very worthwhile things to support," he told reporters on Sunday.

"If they require any briefings, any meetings, we're more than happy to provide them."

Other major headaches have been in the education portfolio, with Labor backing down from plans to change WA's only academically selective public school and axe the School of the Air.

Taxpayers in isolated areas are still angry, however, over the proposed closure of Moora Residential College and plan to rally at parliament this week.

"Obviously every government makes mistakes and every government does some things well," Mr McGowan said.

"Along the way, you have some thrills and spills, and the thing is, if you make a mistake, you take responsibility and you fix it as soon as you can.

"But we're pleased we've got the state's economy back on track, we've got far more employment growth now in Western Australia, with nearly 40,000 additional people in work."

Mr McGowan made the comments while announcing plans to spruce up the Fremantle Passenger Terminal, where more cruise ships are arriving thanks to moves by his government.

He was particularly pleased with a recent spike in tourism to Rottnest Island, no doubt helped enormously by Roger Federer's quokka selfie, which spread like wildfire on social media.

"That Federer quokka selfie has paid huge dividends," the premier said.Crime writer and Miles Franklin award winner Peter Temple has died.

Mr Temple, 71, died on Thursday at his Ballarat home after battling cancer for the past six months, Fairfax Media reports.

Born in South Africa, he came to Australia as a journalist in the 1980s and as a crime fiction writer won multiple literary awards, including the prestigious Miles Franklin literary award in 2010.

Mr Temple also created the lawyer Jack Irish for a sting of novels, which were later adapted for television with Guy Pearce playing the lead role.Egypts military said on Sunday it had killed 16 extremely dangerous and armed takfiris in Sinai since Wednesday as part of the ongoing Operation Sinai 2018 counter-terrorism effort.

In an official statement, the 15th since the comprehensive operation was launched more than a month ago, Egypts armed forces spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said four takfiris had been killed and three leaders arrested in mountainous areas in Central Sinai, based on intelligence provided by the honorable citizens of Sinai.

Another 12 armed takfiri militants were killed during a shootout as armed-forces units conducted raids in Sinai, with the takfiris found in possession of weapons and satellite communication devices.

The Arabic word "takfiri" refers to extremist Sunni Muslims who accuse other Muslims of being infidels, often as a justification for using violence against them.

According to El-Refaie's statement, a non-commissioned officer and a private soldier from the army were killed in the gunfire, with one officer, a non-commissioned officer and four private soldiers injured.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian air force destroyed nine targets used by terrorist elements, including a hideout, a water tanker and three booby-trapped 4x4 vehicles.

An underground cache of weapons was found by the armed forces in raids in Rafah, including 34 BM-21 Grad" rocket launchers, Kornet anti-tank guided missiles, and four shoulder-launched anti-tank RPGs.

Highly explosive C4 and TNT material was also found by armed-forces units, who destroyed a storehouse used to manufacture improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in North Sinais Sheikh Zuweid, with around 130 explosive devices discovered.

Trenches filled with weaponry, ammunition and military uniforms were also destroyed.

Military engineers detected and destroyed a tunnel opening inside one of the houses located along Egypt's border, also detonating and neutralizing 83 explosive devices that were planted to target troops in the area, and confiscating books that assert the takfiri ideology.

Also destroyed were 285 hideouts in North and Central Sinai containing ammunition, IEDs, books, satellite communications, and a media centre. Six cars and 32 unlicensed motorcycles, some of them hidden underground, were likewise destroyed.

More than 4,680 kilograms of ready-to-sell narcotics were also seized after the armed forces discovered and destroyed six farms growing marijuana and opium poppies.

The navy, in cooperation with the interior ministry, seized a commercial ship in the vicinity of Alexandria Port carrying around 3.5 tonnes of cannabis.

The army said its border guards, in cooperation with air-force units, destroyed five 4x4 vehicles as they attempted to infiltrate into Egyptian through the Western Desert.

In addition, the statement said, combined military and police units continued to secure and protect public and private property, manning 610 security checkpoints nationwide, and arresting a number of suspects and wanted criminals.

The military has also been working with the supply ministry to provide food convoys in Sinai, as well as opening a number of outlets selling food at low prices, continuing the state's efforts to support the people of North and Central Sinai.

Operation Sinai 2018 was launched to implement the plan of comprehensive confrontation of terrorist and criminal elements and organisations in North and Central Sinai, and in other areas in the Nile Delta and desert areas west of the Nile Valley, according to the armed forces.

In a press conference on Thursday, El-Refai said that 105 takfiris and 16 army personnel have been killed since the anti-terrorism operation started on 9 February.

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North Queensland is turning from response to recovery in the wake of major flooding, but the weather bureau is warning more rain could be on the way.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk travelled to the region on Sunday to assess the damage, after the area from Cairns to Townsville was disaster declared.

"I don't think people in the southeast realise how much impact this flood has had on this region and the surrounding communities," Ms Palaszczuk told reporters

The premier said around a third of all the state's local government areas had been disaster declared as a direct result of the flooding, with the town of Ingham north of Townsville still cut in half by floodwaters on Sunday afternoon.

"About 90 per cent of properties have had some impact from the floodwaters," the premier said.

She said the state government would work to make disaster funding available to individuals and local governments.

State Disaster Co-ordinator Bob Gee said the work being done by local councils and emergency crews was outstanding.

"Can I send this message to everyone out there though - the event's not over," Deputy Commissioner Gee told reporters on Sunday.

"Particularly in Ingham, preparation and common sense, people thinking before they act, has worked for us."

The weather bureau is forecasting rain to continue, and while a low pressure system in the Gulf of Carpenteria is now considered unlikely to form into a cyclone, it will leave a trail of wet weather across the northern and Gulf regions as it heads west.

More than 700mm of rain fell in a number of catchment areas in four days, with The Boulders, south of Cairns, receiving 1009mm in the seven days to 9am Saturday.

Over 70 students and staff stranded for nearly a week at an adventure camp near Tully were evacuated on Sunday after authorities managed to get troop carriers into their location and drive them to Tully airport before flying them to Townsville.

Locals have also reported dangerous wildlife in the region thanks to the wet weather, with bull sharks, spiders, and snakes spotted in large numbers, as well as one report of a crocodile lunging at a 4WD.St George Illawarra expect Josh Dugan to come at them full-throttle in his first game against the Dragons since leaving the club for Cronulla last year.

Dugan's grudge match with the Dragons is expected to be the main talking point ahead of Thursday night's local derby, after the Sharks' first-up loss to North Queensland.

Cronulla is Dugan's third club, after he left the Dragons in far friendlier fashion than his early-season departure from Canberra for behavioural reasons in 2013.

But Dragons winger Jason Nightingale said if his attitude ahead of Raiders clashes was anything to go by, the 27-year-old would be fired up for Thursday night's clash at Cronulla's Southern Cross Group Stadium.

"I remember when we played Canberra a couple of times he always turned up and got very excited about those games," Nightingale said.

"He will be nervous but I think very excited to be out there and show us what he's done in the off-season.

"Obviously he's a great player. I'm sure there will be a little bit of banter later in the week, hopefully we can get Josh to say something outrageous."

His playing position is likely to come under the scope at the Sharks this week, with a push coming for Valentine Holmes to move to the wing with Dugan or Matt Moylan options to move to fullback.

Dugan has kept in close contact with a number of Dragons players, after having spent five seasons at the club.

"It will be extra special with Josh Dugan going back," lock Jack de Belin said.

"Obviously there will be a lot of friendly banter and once we get across the line there it will be game on."After the Turnbull government secured an exemption for Australian exporters from new US tariffs on steel and aluminium, Labor wants it to turn its focus to similarly protecting local businesses.

The opposition says it's logical that steel from other countries that was destined for the US but will now be hit with a 25 per cent impost will have to find another home.

"Sometimes that steel is dumped for ridiculously low prices and that smashes our local businesses, our local industry and our local workers," Labor finance spokesman Jim Chalmers told Sky News.

"Our anti-dumping regime is weaker than other countries, and it's insufficiently resourced."

Labor wants the government to triple the penalties for dumping - selling at an extremely low price - products into the Australian market, give the Anti-Dumping Commission more funding, and give that body all responsibilities for dealing with trade issues instead of splitting the job with the Productivity Commission.

The government has also been scrutinised over what notorious deal-maker US President Donald Trump might expect in exchange for offering Australia the rare exemption.

Mr Trump said in a tweet his administration was "working very quickly on a security agreement" so it didn't have to impose the steel or aluminium tariffs Australia.

In February he told Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull he would love for Australia to join the US on freedom of navigation exercises in the South China Sea.

But Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo insist there's no quid pro quo expected on the tariff deal.

Mr Trump's reference to a "security agreement" was just using the specific language of the executive order he issued on the tariffs, Ms Bishop told reporters.

"The exemption is simply an exemption based on what they call national security grounds," she said.

"The United States was not asking anything in return."A woman has been charged with a string of offences after she allegedly hit a toddler with her car in the NSW Hunter Valley.

The 22-year-old woman was allegedly driving the car when it hit the two-year-old boy outside a home at Woodberry, near Maitland, about 6.30pm on Saturday.

The boy suffered serious injuries and was rushed to John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle in a critical condition.

The woman has been charged with a string of offences, including driving with drugs in her system and negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm.

She is expected to appear at Maitland Local Court on March 28.Some of the Irish scammers who've brazenly ripped off Queenslanders have fled Australia, while others have gone to ground.

Police have linked the group to a dozen incidents in Brisbane on the Gold Coast, including fleecing thousands of dollars from elderly home owners with bogus agreements to fix roofs and driveways.

The women in the group have used their children to shoplift, with the kids sneaking things into a pram while the adults distract shop attendants.

The women have also scammed restaurateurs, getting free food and drinks by claiming they found hair or glass in their food.

Police say publicity about the group's crime spree appears to have prompted some to flee.

"We know some of these people have left the country now," Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming told the Nine network on Monday, but said others might still be here.

"This attention has put many of them to ground and - which is a good thing, because our key goal at the moment is to stop these people from committing any more offences."

One of the worst cases involved an elderly man who lost more than $25,000 when he paid men to repair his roof, but they never finished the job.A man has critical head injuries after his car crashed into a tree after reportedly being involved in a street race in Sydney's west.

The 40-year-old was pulled from his car after he crossed to the wrong side of the road and hit a tree when allegedly racing a 22-year-old man in a coupe in Carnes Hill on Sunday evening.

The injured man was taken to Liverpool Hospital where he's in a critical but stable condition on Monday morning.

The 22-year-old initially fled the scene but later returned and was arrested, police said in a statement.

He's since been charged with organising and promoting the race and dangerous driving. He will appear at Liverpool Local Court on Wednesday.Former treasurer Wayne Swan says he would put aside his differences with Kevin Rudd if he was to be elected ALP president.

Mr Swan on Saturday announced his intention to run against incumbent Mark Butler at July's national conference.

"We need everybody in the tent," Mr Swan told Sky News on Monday.

"I stand ready to do my very best to work with Kevin and every other member of the Labor Party to make sure that we win this next federal election."

Mr Swan says he would be prepared to put aside whatever differences he has had with Mr Rudd in the past.

Last year the former treasurer described Mr Rudd's memoir and "personal vindictive approach" as another demonstration of why the ex-prime minister lost the leadership.Government minister Angus Taylor has dismissed the biggest union advertising campaign in a decade as an "act of desperation".

The Australian Council of Trade Unions launched the media blitz on Sunday, the largest since the anti-Work Choices campaign which contributed to the downfall of the Howard government in 2007.

The campaign calls for pay increases for workers and government restrictions on casual employment.

Mr Taylor said the ACTU's claims on workforce casualisation didn't stack up.

"It's an act of desperation by the unions," Mr Taylor told Sky News on Monday.

"Their membership is down to less than 10 per cent of the private sector."

He said under the Turnbull government more than 11,000 jobs had been created with 75 per cent of those permanent roles.

But Labor frontbencher Linda Burney said the union had not overstated their numbers on people being pushed into casual work.

"People are finding putting meals on the table, making ends meet and particularly paying utility bills very difficult," Ms Burney told Sky News.

Casualisation is especially impacting women and young people, Ms Burney said.

"It's very difficult to plan for a future, particularly financially, when your work is totally casualised," she said.

The ACTU will continue the campaign for two months in response to what it describes as a "crisis" of record low wages growth paired with unrestricted causal employment.Stephanie Gilmore and John John Florence have no room for error at Snapper Rocks after both were humbled on the opening day of the World Surf League season on the Gold Coast.

Defending Roxy Pro champion Gilmore was upstaged by young Australian Macy Callaghan while two-time defending world champion John John Florence lost a first round heat for the first time since 2016, to 19-year-old American Griffin Colapinto.

Gilmore will be the first in action, up against South African Bianca Buitendag in the third heat on Monday.

Gabriel Medina will join Florence in sudden death surfing after the 2014 world champion was heavily penalised for interference on a wave that would've earned him in excess of eight points.

Joel Parkinson and Matt Wilkinson also failed to earn direct third round entry, 2012 world champion Parkinson denied by two points in his heat and Wilkinson relegated to third in his high-scoring heat.

A no-show for Sunday's first round, 11-time world champion Kelly Slater is still able to compete in the second round.

Slater, who has not been sighted on the Gold Coast, is said to be still struggling after foot surgery but organisers remain hopeful he will make an 11th hour appearance.

Rain continues to linger on the Gold Coast, but conditions on the water are slightly cleaner than on Sunday's opening day.Girls in Queensland schools will be able to wear shorts instead of skirts with the announcement the state government is about to bring the state's school uniform policy into the modern age.

Education Minister Grace Grace says she'll change the policy to formally allow girls who attend state schools to wear shorts and pants, as well as skirts.

"In today's day and age, there should be no reason why shorts and pants aren't made part of the school formal uniform," the minister told ABC radio on Monday.Egypt and Sudan are in talks to boost bilateral security cooperation as part of wide-ranging efforts to improve relations between the two nations, Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported on Saturday.

According to SUNA, Egypt's acting intelligence chief Abbas Kamel visited Sudan at the invitation of his Sudanese counterpart Salah Abdullah Mohamed Saleh. Kamel also met with several other Sudanese officials, including Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour.

Ghandour asserted the importance of coordination to settle various issues, making use of the recently formed quadrilateral committee comprising the foreign ministry and intelligence heads of both nations.

The committee was formed on the orders of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and his Sudanese counterpart Omar El-Bashir.

Kamel said that there is a strong determination to create the circumstances for a return to normal relations between the two countries.

According to a statement from the Sudanese armed forces, Kamel met with the Sudanese defence minister, Lt. Gen. Awad Mohamed Ahmed bin Awaf, with the two discussing the main challenges facing the region.

"The major challenges facing the region force us to communicate and respond rapidly to different issues in order to resolve them, so they don't become obstacles affecting the relationship between the two countries," Kamel said, according to the Sudanese armed forces statement.

Kamel also said that the principles of honesty and transparency were agreed upon in relation to matters of mutual interest, and he expressed his optimism on the future of Egypt-Sudan relations.

Sudan's Bin Awad described the relationship between the two countries as important and strategic, accentuating the essential nature of communication between their security bodies.

"Egyptian national security represents the security of the nation, and it's a duty to preserve it," he said.

Kamel's visit comes days after the Sudanese ambassador to Cairo returned to Egypt last week, nearly two months after being recalled to Khartoum due to an apparent heightening of tensions between the two nations. The government of Sudan offered no public explanation at the time of the ambassador's recall.

However, relations had been strained due to Sudans claims of sovereignty over Egypts southern Halayeb Triangle region, as well as the Sudanese stance in the talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

In February, a newly formed committee, comprised of the foreign ministers of Egypt and Sudan along with intelligence-agency heads, met in Cairo to "remove any flaws that could hamper this brotherly relationship, solidarity, and unified destiny in the face of bilateral challenges."

The committee was formed following a tripartite summit between the leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in January, where El-Sisi affirmed that Egypt does not interfere in other countries affairs, and has no intention of fighting its brothers in Sudan.

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Venus Williams returns a backhand to Sorana Cirstea of Romania during the BNP Paribas Openat the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams moved a step closer to a possible showdown with her sister Serena with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Sorana Cirstea in Indian Wells on Saturday.

The 37-year-old American reached the third round where she will face either Serena or Dutch player Kiki Bertens, who followed Venus on stadium court.

"It was looking scary in the second set so it was good to pull it out," Venus said. "She (Cirstea) played great points."

Venus and Serena have played 28 times with the most recent being in the final of the 2017 Australian Open, when Serena won 6-4, 6-4.

Their first meeting was at the 1998 Australian Open which Venus won 7-6 (7/4), 6-1.

Serena leads Venus in their career head to head matches 17-11.

Venus won 61 percent of her first serve points and broke Cirstea's serve six times in the 78 minute match.

Venus is making her seventh appearance in Indian Wells and is the oldest player in the women's draw.

"I still have a lot to give. I don't think my dad wants me to ever stop playing," the seven-time Grand Slam champion said.US President Donald Trump is set to make his first visit to California -- a state that is at odds with his administration over issues ranging from immigration to guns -- since taking office

US President Donald Trump is heading to California, a state at the forefront of resistance to his anti-immigration agenda, for what is almost certain to be a contentious trip.

Trump's first trip to California as president, on Tuesday, comes at a time of high tensions between his Republican administration and the Democratic-leaning most populous US state, especially on immigration issues.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has accused the state of deliberately obstructing enforcement of federal law by offering undocumented immigrants sanctuary protections.

Governor Jerry Brown said the Trump administration "is basically going to war against the state of California," after the Justice Department sued to block its sanctuary laws.

"Sanctuary jurisdictions are the best friend of smugglers, gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers, killers and other violent offenders," the president said in his weekly address.

"The state of California is sheltering dangerous criminals in a brazen and lawless attack on our constitutional system of government."

The president will land at the Miramar air base in southern California and then go see prototypes of the wall he wants to build on America's southern border.

California was among the plaintiffs that launched an unsuccessful court challenge to waivers to environmental regulations that were granted so the construction of the prototypes and the replacement of existing border fencing could proceed.

"We're going for what we hope to be an incredibly positive trip," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Friday, while also taking aim at California for "refusing to follow federal law," a reference to the state's efforts to shelter illegal immigrants from deportation.

Trump will also meet with members of the US military, Sanders said.

And he is expected to wrap up the visit with an evening of fundraising in Beverly Hills to raise money for his 2020 re-election campaign.

- 'A place with money' -

Captured undocumented immigrants walk past a stretch of border levee wall while being taken into custody by Border Patrol agents on February 22, 2018 near McAllen, Texas

The "Golden State" and the president are at odds over issues ranging from immigration and the environment to marijuana and guns.

Trump's visit is "part of a bigger concerted effort to push back on liberal efforts on immigration in California," said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

"He's trying to shore up the California GOP (Republican Party) for the mid-terms and 2020," Zelizer said, referring to 2018 Congressional elections and the presidential race two years later.

Despite its generally liberal leanings, "California is a place with money," and the president has had success with people such as Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur known for his conservative positions, as well as in wealthy Orange County, Zelizer said.

The Los Angeles Times reported that donors will contribute up to $250,000 a person to Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican party at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills, citing an invitation obtained by the newspaper.

- Focus on Republican areas -

Hundreds of immigration activists, clergy members and others participate in a protest against Trump's immigration policies in front of the Federal Building in New York

Trump has taken longer to visit California following his election than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, according to US media.

"His whole focus till now has been... on Republican areas," Zelizer said. "He's not someone who wants to see the whole country, not a traveler interested in sensing the pulse of the nation."

Trump's visit to California will be marked by protests, both for and against the president and his policies.

Alliance San Diego, which namely advocates on behalf of immigrants, is planning a news conference and a protest the day before the president's arrival "to set the tone for Trump's visit," said executive director Andrea Guerrero.

Events and demonstrations could last until after his departure, she said.

Jeff Schwilk, the founder of San Diegans for Secure borders, told the Los Angeles Times that he is planning an event to support Trump's visit to inspect border wall prototypes.

In another sign of the tensions at play as Trump readies for his trip, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint in San Diego federal court challenging the Trump administration's practice of "forcibly separating" asylum-seeking parents and young children.A former banker and Hollywood producer, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is intensely loyal to Donald Trump and in public remarks has tried to soften the president's confrontational "America First" economic agenda

With President Donald Trump's top economic advisor Gary Cohn out the door, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin is working to assume the mantle of the White House's main economic voice of reason.

The former banker and Hollywood producer is intensely loyal to the president and, in his public remarks at least, has always strived to put a softer finish on Trump's confrontational "America First" economic agenda.

At first, Mnuchin sided with Cohn in opposing Trump's plans to impose punishing steel and aluminum tariffs. But he soon hewed to the president's position, under pressure from the administration's trade hawks: Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and trade adviser Peter Navarro.

Cohn stepped down Tuesday, having lost the bruising battle over the direction of Trump's trade policy.

As markets roiled in the wake of Trump's tariff announcements and European leaders spoke of retaliatory trade measures, Mnuchin toured television studios to deliver a message of appeasement.

"The president is not a protectionist," the Treasury secretary told CNBC on Friday. "This is not a conventional president and because of that we're getting results we wouldn't have otherwise seen."

Mnuchin pointed, for example, to Trump's intensification of economic sanctions on North Korea, which the administration believes extracted Pyongyang's proposal for Trump and Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un to meet.

Earlier in the week, Mnuchin told Bloomberg TV the tariffs were "a natural evolution of what the president's economic policies are."

The Trump stalwart -- who frequents the corridors of the White House, which abuts the main offices of the Treasury Department -- said the administration was considering "exemptions."

Mnuchin's mollifying words notwithstanding, US trading partners appear no less concerned by the prospect a trade war, given that the hard-liners in the White House now have the upper hand.

- Trade hawks ascendant -

"The protectionists are clearly running the show right now," Brian Gardner, managing director at the investment banking firm Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, told The Washington Post.

"If they replaced (Cohn) with another economic nationalist, then it really gets dicey for the markets and investors."

Navarro, the anti-globalization advocate with China is his crosshairs, is in line to be Trump's chief trade advisor, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Long in the shadow of Cohn -- the former Goldman Sachs president whom Navarro had to copy on emails to Trump -- the Harvard-trained economist is a tough-talking former professor who made his name with anti-Beijing diatribes.

But Navarro triumphed with Cohn's departure.

"I don't worry about getting outmaneuvered," he told The Wall Street Journal. "I just worry about getting things done."

In any event, the pitched White House battle between the proponents of free trade and those who favor protectionist barriers seems to have delighted Trump, arousing his taste for conflict.

"I like having two people with different points of view," Trump told reporters Tuesday. "But I like watching it. I like seeing it. I think it's the best way to go. I like different points of view."

The president even hinted Thursday that Cohn could return to the White House.

"I have a feeling you'll be back. I don't know if I can put him in the same position, though," Trump said, teasing old rumors that Cohn could replace White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

"He's not quite as strong on those tariffs as we want but that's okay."Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos is officially the richest person on the planet

As Amazon became the second US firm to hit a trillion-dollar value on the stock market, founder Jeff Bezos regained the crown as the richest person on the planet.

Amazon's share price has climbed during the year, lifting the personal wealth of the company's 54-year-old founder with it. Forbes estimated his net worth about $166 billion.

He has gone on record with a formula for success that includes taking bold bets, riding change and rebounding from setbacks.

"You need to be nimble and robust so you need to be able to take a punch and you also need to be quick and innovative and do new things at a higher speed, that's the best defense against the future," Bezos said in an interview published in Vanity Fair magazine last year.

"You have to always be leaning into the future. If you're leaning away from the future, the future is gonna win, every time."

- Tinkering toddler -

Jeffrey Preston Bezos's penchant for experimenting reportedly dates to a young age -- with one widely-recounted story telling that he tried to dismantle his own crib as a toddler.

His mother was a teenager when she gave birth to Bezos in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on January 12, 1964.

"You shaped us, you protected us, you let us fall, you picked us up, and you loved us, always and unconditionally," Bezos said in a Twitter message thanking his mom "for everything" on Mother's Day in May.

She remarried when her son was about four years old, and he was legally adopted by his Cuban immigrant stepfather who worked as an engineer at a major petrochemical company.

"My dad came here from Cuba all by himself without speaking English when he was 16 years old, and has been kicking ass ever since," Bezos said in a Father's Day tweet in June.

"Thank you for all the love and heart, Dad!"

This image obtained November 24, 2015 from Bezos's space firm Blue Origin, shows the world's first reusable rocket as it flies from a launch site in West Texas

His mother's family were settlers in Texas, where Bezos spent many a summer working at a ranch owned by a grandfather retired from a job as a regional director at the US Atomic Energy Commission.

Bezos was enchanted by computer science when the IT industry was in its infancy and he studied engineering at Princeton University.

After graduating, he put his skills to work on Wall Street, where by 1990 he had risen to be a senior vice president at investment firm D.E. Shaw.

He surprised peers by leaving his high-paid position about four years later to open an online bookseller called Amazon.com, which according to legend was started in a garage in a Seattle suburb. Bezos was backed by money borrowed from his parents.

Bezos went from being a boy with a love for how things work to being the man who built Amazon.com into an internet powerhouse.

Amazon grew to dominate commerce and become a formidable contender in cloud computing, streaming television, and artificial intelligence with its digital assistant Alexa.

- Long-term thinking -

Bezos has such a proven track record for shaking up the business sectors he enters that he has been dubbed "disruptor-in-chief."

Like his company, Bezos has transformed with time, shaving his head and bulking up his body with exercise. The results were immortalized in a series of photos taken at a conference last year.

A fan of science fiction and in particular the British author Iain Banks, Bezos has passions other than Amazon.

Bezos called Banks "a huge personal favorite" in a tweet early this year while announcing that Amazon Prime video service was working on a television series based on one of the author's novels.

Bezos has invested some $42 million in the building a 150-meter-tall clock designed to keep time for 10,000 years. Built inside a mountain in Texas, the clock will be powered by geothermal energy.

Legend has it that Bezos's e-commerce giant Amazon was started in a garage in the 1990s

"Humans are now technologically advanced enough that we can create not only extraordinary wonders but also civilization-scale problems," Bezos said in a blog post devoted to the clock project.

"We're likely to need more long-term thinking."

Bezos is also behind private space exploration operation Blue Origin, into which he usually invests money from selling Amazon shares.

Blue Origin has outlined plans to build a spaceship and lunar lander capable of delivering cargo to the moon, perhaps to support colonies there.

With the purchase of The Washington Post in 2013, the Internet entrepreneur added a prestigious news operation to his investments.

The Post, and Bezos himself, have been targeted by US President Donald Trump. An open critic of Trump, Bezos has jokingly offered to send him into space.

Bezos has been married to Mackenzie Bezos, a writer, since 1993. They have four children.Barely one years into his term, US President Donald Trump announced a new slogan for his 2020 re-election campaign: "Keep America Great!"

It's barely 2018, but US President Donald Trump is gearing up for a 2020 re-election campaign, with a familiar sounding new slogan: "Keep America Great!"

Addressing a rally in a Pittsburgh suburb, Trump endorsed a Republican candidate in a closely-watched upcoming special congressional election, before turning to his own political future.

"Our new slogan when we start running -- can you believe it, in two years from now -- is going to be: 'Keep America great, exclamation point,'" he said. "Keep America great!"

Trump's snappy but controversial "Make America Great Again" slogan dominated the 2016 election atmosphere, and his supporters -- many of whom wore red hats bearing the phrase at the rally -- have used it as a catchphrase for the president's first year in office.

He also repeated his interest in running against the American talk show queen Oprah Winfrey, a fellow billionaire entrepreneur whose passionate speech at a January awards show sparked fevered speculation about her ambitions.

"Wouldn't we love to run against Oprah," he told a cheering crowd.

"I would love to beat Oprah," he added. "I know her weakness."

Trump also reprised his criticism of liberal Senator Elizabeth Warren, whom he mocks as "Pocahantas," and Senator Bernie Sanders, the far left independent who challenged Hillary Clinton for the Democratic nomination in 2016.

"I look forward to 2020 because I want to see how far left the person is going to be that we're going to run against," Trump said.Japanese priest Sadamaru Okano is one of the 'citizen scientists' collecting radiation readings in the Fukushima region

Beneath the elegant curves of the roof on the Seirinji Buddhist temple in Japan's Fukushima region hangs an unlikely adornment: a Geiger counter collecting real-time radiation readings.

The machine is sending data to Safecast, an NGO born after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster that says it has now built the world's largest radiation dataset, thanks to the efforts of citizen scientists like Seirinji's priest Sadamaru Okano.

Like many Japanese, Okano lost faith in the government after the nuclear meltdown seven years ago.

"The government didn't tell us the truth, they didn't tell us the true measures," he told AFP, seated inside the 150-year-old temple.

Okano was in a better position than most to doubt the government line, having developed an amateur interest in nuclear technology two decades earlier after learning about the Chernobyl disaster.

To the bemusement of friends and family, he started measuring local radiation levels in 2007, so when the disaster happened, he had baseline data.

"The readings were so high... 50 times higher than natural radiation," he said of the post-disaster data.

"I was amazed... the news was telling us there was nothing, the administration was telling us there was nothing to worry about."

A geiger counter operated by the Safecast group is attached to a fence near the stricken Dai-ichi power plant

That dearth of trustworthy information was the genesis of Safecast, said co-founder Pieter Franken, who was in Tokyo with his family when the disaster hit.

Franken and several friends had the idea of gathering data by attaching Geiger counters to cars and driving around.

"Like how Google does Street View, we could do something for radiation in the same way," he said.

"The only problem was that the system to do that didn't exist and the only way to solve that problem was to go and build it ourselves. So that's what we did."

- Making informed choices -

Within a week, the group had a prototype and began getting readings that suggested the 20 kilometre (12 mile) exclusion zone declared around the Fukushima plant had no basis in the data, Franken said.

"Evacuees were sent from areas with lower radiation to areas with higher radiation" in some cases, he said.

The zone was eventually redrawn, but for many local residents it was too late to restore trust in the government.

Okano evacuated his mother, wife and son while he stayed with his flock.

But a year later, based on his own readings and after decontamination efforts, he brought them back.

He learned about Safecast's efforts and in 2013 installed one of their static counters on his temple, in part to help reassure worshippers.

Japanese teacher Norio Watanabe work with Safecast to teach his pupils how to measure radiation

"I told them: we are measuring the radiation on a daily basis... so if you access the (Safecast) website you can choose (if you think) it's safe or not."

Forty kilometres away, in the town of Koriyama, Norio Watanabe was supervising patiently as his giggling teenage pupils attempted to build basic versions of Safecast's Geiger counter.

Dressed in blazers and tartan skirts, the girls pored over instructions on where to place diodes and wires.

Watanabe has been a Safecast volunteer since 2011, and has a mobile Geiger counter in his car.

In the days after the disaster evacuees flocked to Koriyama, which was outside the evacuation zone, and he assumed his town was safe.

"But after I started to do the measurements, I realised there was a high level of risk here as well," he said.

- 'You can't ignore it' -

He sent his children away, but stayed behind to look after his mother, a decision he believes may have contributed to his 2015 diagnosis with thyroid cancer.

"As a scientist, I think the chance that it was caused by the Fukushima accident might be 50-50, but in my heart, I think it was likely the cause," he said.

His thyroid was removed and he is now healthy, but Watanabe worries about his students, who he fears "will carry risk with them for the rest of their lives."

"If there are no people like me who continue to monitor the levels, it will be forgotten."

Safecast now has around 3,000 devices worldwide and data from 90 countries. Its counters come as a kit that volunteers can buy through third parties and assemble at home.

Schoolgirls check an app connected to a geiger counter to measure radiation in a classroom in Fukushima prefecture

Because volunteers choose where they want to measure at random and often overlap, "they validate unknowingly each other's measurements," said Franken, and anomalies or exceptions are checked by Safecast staff.

The NGO is now expanding into measuring air pollution, initially mostly in the US city of Los Angeles during a test phase.

Its radiation data is all open source, and has been used to study everything from the effects of fallout on wildlife to how people move around cities, said Franken.

He says Safecast's data mostly corroborates official measurements, but provides readings that are more relevant to people's lives.

"Our volunteers decide to measure where their schools are, where their workplaces are, where their houses are."

And he believes Safecast has helped push Japan's government to realise that "transparency and being open are very important to create trust."

"The power of citizen science means that you can't stop it and also that you can't ignore it."Conservationists are using a slew of new gadgets to protect Indonesia's wildlife

From cutting-edge DNA barcoding to smartphone apps that can identify illegal wildlife sales, conservationists are turning to hi-tech tools in their battle against Indonesia's animal traffickers.

Spread across more than 17,000 islands, the Southeast Asian nation's dense tropical rainforests boast some of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world, from scaly pangolins to the endangered orangutan.

But that enormous array of flora and fauna means Indonesia is also on the frontline of an illicit global trade estimated to be worth as much as $23 billion a year -- a shadowy operation bringing some species to the brink of extinction.

To tackle the problem, conservationists have begun using a slew of new gadgets to protect the archipelago's rare and threatened wildlife.

"Without a doubt (technology) is probably one of the largest resources that will help the good guys get the bad guys," Matthew Pritchett, from anti-trafficking group Freeland Foundation, told AFP.

"The criminals that are behind the illegal wildlife trade are large organised syndicates that are extremely sophisticated."

To keep pace with these vast trafficking groups, activists are now deploying the kind of technology once reserved for combating drug cartels and crime lords.

For instance, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which works with Indonesian authorities to halt wildlife crime, uses similar computer software to map criminal networks and extract data from seized electronic devices.

- Hunting hotspots -

Conservation group International Animal Rescue Indonesia (IAR) is examining crime scene evidence with the help of DNA barcoding -- a taxonomic method that relies on short genetic sequences to identify species.

Tissue samples from confiscated animals can be cross-referenced with a database of stored genetic codes, helping to unambiguously differentiate between species and sub-species -- not all of which may be endangered.

High-tech conservation in Indonesia

For instance, IAR is building a barcode database for different species of slow loris, a cute but venomous primate being hunted to extinction for use in traditional Chinese medicine.

"If we have animals with a known origin and we have animals that appear, for example, in Jakarta, we can then compare the genetic samples," Christine Rattel, IAR programme advisor, told AFP.

"We can then track down the hunting hotspots and what the trading routes are."

Despite a raft of laws aimed at protecting Indonesia's wildlife, forest rangers and police are under-resourced and lack specialised scientific knowledge, experts say.

Detection is often left to NGOs that scan wildlife markets and social media for threatened species, carry out investigations in the field and then notify police.

"What a lot of people don't realise is that law enforcement officers are not biologists," Pritchett said.

"There might be some of them that specialise, but when it comes down to it we are talking about something like 25,000 to 30,000 species across the world that are protected from international trade."

- Few prosecutions -

This is a gap that the Freeland Foundation wanted to plug when it developed its smartphone identification app WildScan.

Law enforcement officials and members of the public can swipe and click through questions and photos to determine whether they have a protected species in front of them.

If it turns out they do, they can then photograph and report it to authorities across Southeast Asia using the app.

Pritchett said reports generated through the app -- which has a database of some 700 species and 2,000 photos -- have already resulted in authorities taking action in Indonesia and Thailand.

Still, despite the best efforts of conservationists and huge advances in technology, many experts believe the battle is being lost.

Outdated laws, scarce enforcement resources and low prosecution rates remain key challenges in halting the trade, according to a 2015 report by development agency USAID.

Above all, there is a lack of political will to tackle the lucrative black market, said Ian Singleton, director of the Sumatran Orangutan Conservation Programme (SOCP), which uses drones to keep track of orangutans and illegal forest clearing that threatens their habitat.

"Without government will, no amount of technology will ever change anything," he said.Trump's tariff plans have drawn threats of retaliation from China and other nations

China's commerce minister said Sunday that Beijing and Washington are still holding economic talks as he warned that a trade war would harm both nations.

President Xi Jinping's top economic advisor, Liu He, held trade discussions with US officials at the White House earlier this month but the meetings yielded few breakthroughs.

US President Donald Trump has since announced tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, drawing threats of retaliation from China and other nations.

"We are continuing our discussions," Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said during a press conference held on the sidelines of the annual parliamentary session underway in Beijing.

"Because no one is willing to start a trade war, and everyone knows trade wars hurt others without helping themselves," Zhong said.

That may not reflect the current mood in Washington. Last week, Trump tweeted the US could win a trade war.

Zhong also took issue with the statistics behind the trade imbalance -- which showed a record $375.2 billion US deficit with China during Trump's first year in office.

He cited American government research that he said showed the figure for the surplus in China's favour overstated by roughly 20 percent and said that if the US dropped restrictions on high tech exports to China it would further reduce the surplus by 35 percent.

"There is still much for us to do, one side cannot call the shots, we need to work hard together," Zhong said.Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe denies cronyism allegations over the sale of government land

Japan's finance ministry will admit altering documents related to cronyism allegations against Shinzo Abe, local media reported Sunday, a major blow to the premier who enjoys relatively high public support.

If confirmed, the news will also heap pressure on Finance Minister Taro Aso who insisted on Friday he had no plans to resign over the affair.

The media reports come after a finance ministry official, who was reportedly at the heart of a scandal over the cut-price sale of government-owned land to a close friend of Abe, was found dead and a second key official stepped down Friday.

The ministry on Monday will report to the parliament that some of the descriptions in the land sale documents were removed before being submitted to MPs, local media said.

The Mainichi Shimbun reported that it was "likely that the documents had been altered to be coherent with" the speech made in parliament by Nobuhisa Sagawa who stepped down as the head of the National Tax Agency over the scandal.

"It is possible that Sagawa instructed the alterations," the newspaper said, citing government sources.

The scandal has dogged Abe since it first emerged last February, though the prime minister has consistently denied any wrongdoing and his approval ratings remain solid with political opposition to him weak.

According to local media, the land was sold for around one tenth of its market value.

The buyers had announced plans to name Abe's wife Akie the honorary principal of a school being built on the same plot.

Abe says his wife had only "reluctantly" accepted the post of honorary principal and had since "resigned."

Earlier this month, allegations emerged that the finance ministry's documents on the sale had been tampered with before being submitted to parliament.

The allegation has paralysed parliament in recent days, with some opposition lawmakers boycotting debates.

The opposition has accused ministry officials of hiding some key documents and colluding to cover up the scandal.A tiger has killed a man in Indonesia, the second fatal attack this year

A Indonesian man has been mauled to death by a Sumatran tiger in a remote village, authorities said Sunday, the second deadly attack this year.

Yusri Effendi, 34, was found with fatal wounds to his neck by workmates and local villagers in Riau province on Sumatra island on Saturday evening, the local conservation agency said.

The victim was working on a building to lure the edible-nest swiftlet in Tanjung Simpang village when the tiger began lurking around the construction site.

Several hours after first seeing the big cat, Effendi and his three workmates -- thinking the coast was clear -- made a dash for safety, only to come face-to-face with the animal a short distance away.

Effendi's colleagues, who all survived the incident, told authorities they scattered to evade the animal, but the victim was not so lucky.

A search party found the victim unconscious at the edge of a river a short time later, authorities said.

"[When] they opened his clothes they saw a gaping wound on his neck," the Riau conservation agency said in a statement.

Human-animal conflicts are common across the vast Indonesian archipelago, especially in areas where the clearing of rainforest to make way for palm oil plantations is destroying animals' habitats and bringing them into closer contact with people.

Earlier this month, locals from Hatupangan village in North Sumatra disemboweled a Sumatran tiger and then hung the big cat from a ceiling after it attacked a pair of villagers.

Sumatran tigers are considered critically endangered by protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with 400 to 500 remaining in the wild.Egypt's foreign minister Sameh Shoukry is set to start an African tour on Monday, where he will fly to South Sudan and Kenya in a visit that aims to boost bilateral cooperation and discuss a number of regional matters, ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.

In South Sudan, Shoukry and the countrys President Silva Kiir will sign a bilateral political consultation mechanism memo. Shoukry will also meet with several top South Sudanese officials, including Kiir's presidential advisor Nhial Deng, and will engage in talks with the national dialogue committee, which Egypt is keen on supporting.

Last November, Egypt sponsored the signing of a declaration of unification between two factions of the South Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) at the headquarters of Egypt's intelligence agency headquarters in Cairo. The document stipulates supporting peace efforts to end the dispute between the rival factions and the return of refugees displaced by conflict.

The meeting with the South Sudanese officials comes weeks after Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi expressed in a meeting with Ding in Cairo Egypt's willingness to exert efforts to help maintain safety and stability in the brotherly country. El-Sisi also reaffirmed Cairo's commitment to offering assistance to development efforts in South Sudan.

Shoukry will also deliver a shipment of logistical aid from the Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD).

The EAPD was established at the 23rd African Union Summit in June 2014 with the aim of supporting Africas development aspirations through the provision of capacity-building assistance; the transfer of knowledge, skills and expertise; and the promotion of creative industries.

Foreign ministry spokesman Abu Zeid highlighted in a statement Egypt's strategy in supporting development efforts in South Sudan through a number of projects in the fields of electricity, education, irrigation and health.

Shoukry will also follow up on the implementation of a number of cooperation projects, including establishing fish farms, the inauguration of an Egyptian cultural centre in Juba, and new projects and cooperation programmes to support the South Sudanese people.

The Egyptian FM will then head to Kenyan capital of Nairobi, where he will meet with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta and deliver a message from President El-Sisi on boosting cooperation and enhancing relations between the two countries.

Abu Zeid said that the visit to Kenya "holds special importance in light of the historical relations between the two countries and Egypt's keenness to support development in Kenya".

He also highlighted efforts by the EAPD in providing medical aid to Kenya, as well as training 160 Kenyan interns in 90 courses in different fields.

In 2017, President El-Sisi met with President Kenyatta in Cairo, where they discussed boosting relations and intensifying efforts to restore stability in East Africa and the Horn of Africa.

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Japan marked the seventh anniversary of the deadly 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster on Sunday

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe led a sombre ceremony Sunday as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of a deadly earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster that devastated its northeastern coast and left around 18,500 people dead or missing.

The magnitude 9.0 quake -- which struck under the Pacific Ocean on March 11, 2011 -- and the resulting tsunami caused widespread damage and took the lives of thousands of people.

The killer tsunami also swamped the emergency power supply at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, sending its reactors into meltdown as cooling systems failed in what was the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

Abe, lawmakers and family members who lost their loved ones in the disaster bowed their heads in silent prayer at a ceremony in Tokyo at 2:46 pm (0546 GMT) -- the exact moment the quake struck.

Japanese private broadcasters also showed residents in the affected areas offering a moment of silence.

"I offer my condolences to those who lost their beloved family members and friends," said Abe, dressed in formal mourning attire.

Hideko Igarashi, one of the three residents from the disaster-hit region who spoke at the ceremony, said Japan should "never forget what we learned from the disaster".

The 70-year-old woman from Fukushima was hit by tsunami waves right after she began preparing to leave the area with her husband and uncle.

"I grabbed a pine tree but I was swamped by the tsunami... My husband got away from me and he shouted 'Hideko' three times," she said.

Igarashi survived and was later rescued by an emergency team.

"I wish I had told him to run away much earlier."

Japan's ageing Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko did not attend the ceremony this year again, but were represented by their son Prince Akishino and his wife Princess Kiko.

The total of dead or missing from the earthquake and the tsunami stood at 18,434 people, according to the National Police Agency.

In addition, more than 3,600 people -- most of them from Fukushima -- died from causes such as illness and suicide linked to the aftermath of the tragedy, government data shows.

More than 73,000 people still remain displaced, while no one is officially recorded as having died as a direct result of the nuclear catastrophe.

The government lifted evacuation orders of some areas in Iitate village and the towns of Namie, Kawamata and Tomioka last spring, except for no-go zones with high radiation levels.

Authorities are encouraging evacuees to return, but a government survey released earlier this month showed that about half the residents of Namie and Tomioka are not willing to return.

Around 12,000 people who fled their homes for fear of radiation have filed dozens of lawsuits against the government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken nuclear plant.Since taking over the Communist Party in 2012, Xi has steadily tightened his grip on virtually all aspects of the party, state apparatus and even how China's citizens should think

Mao was the "Great Helmsman", Deng the "Paramount Leader" -- now meet Xi Jinping, whose growing personality cult has some calling him China's "Chairman of Everything".

On Sunday, China's rubber-stamp parliament endorsed Xi's move to abolish rules limiting the head of state to 10 years in power, paving the way for another potential title: President for Life.

Since taking over the Communist Party in 2012, Xi has steadily tightened his grip on virtually all aspects of the party, state apparatus and even how China's citizens should think.

Along the way he has accumulated an array of increasingly fawning titles to justify this one-man power grab.

It can be difficult to keep track of them all, but here are the key titles, honorifics and other heapings of praise that Xi will struggle to squeeze onto his crowded business card.

General Secretary of the Communist Party

In a one-party state, this is the most important title in the land. Bestowed upon Xi in 2012, it gave him control over the world's most populous country and is the crucial springboard from which he launched his push for even greater power. He has not looked back.

President

This term is actually not used in Chinese, as all power flows from leading the party. But China introduced it for foreign consumption decades ago to provide the world with a familiar term to use and give the veneer of a state -- rather than purely party -- leader.

Central Military Commission Chairman

Mao once said "power grows out of the barrel of a gun" and the chairmanship of the world's largest armed forces -- also assumed by Xi in 2012 -- is considered the all-important muscle backing up the party chief's power.

Xi Dada

This term, roughly translated as "Big Uncle Xi", emerged soon after he took power and was amplified by state media and party organs to promote him as a warm-and-fuzzy father figure.

Core leader

Xi's official titles are nice, but "core leader" of the party -- which he was declared in late 2016 -- puts Xi in historic company. Only Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin have been thus anointed, which essentially makes the bearer unassailable in the party.

Lingxiu (Leader)

Following the Communists' high-stakes party congress last October, Xi began to be referred to in government meetings and state media as "Lingxiu", a reverential terms with spiritual connotations. The last person so honoured was Mao himself, confirming Xi's designs on Mao-like levels of adulation.

Thinker-in-Chief

Also on Sunday, the parliament approved the addition of Xi's guiding political philosophy -- Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era -- into the nation's constitution. Mao and Deng are the only other leaders to have their names alongside their guidelines in the constitution.

Living deity

Party apparatchiks have fallen over themselves to offer praise for the ascendant Xi at the ongoing parliament meeting in Beijing, but a delegate from Qinghai province -- birthplace of the Dalai Lama -- may have outdone them all. Wang Guosheng, Qinghai's Communist Party boss, said commoners in the province viewed Xi as a "living Bodhisattva", someone on the path to become a Buddha.

'Chairman of Everything'

Xi has taken control of an array of "leading groups" in the party overseeing economic, policy, foreign affairs, national security and just about everything else -- snatching ultimate control in these areas from the government itself, according to some analysts.Activists march during an annual protest against the use of nuclear energy in Taipe

Hundreds gathered at an anti-nuclear rally in Taiwan on Sunday to demand the government keep its pledge to abolish the use of atomic energy by 2025.

Waving placards reading "nuclear go zero," and "abolish nuclear, save Taiwan," protesters rallied outside the presidential office in Taipei on the same day as Japan marked the seventh anniversary of the Fukushima disaster.

Protesters were worried by a recent decision by the cabinet-level Atomic Energy Council to allow state-owned energy company Taipower to restart a reactor at a facility near Taipei, pending parliament's final approval.

The reactor has been offline since May 2016 after a glitch was found in its electrical system, which the company said has since been resolved.

Anti-nuclear groups are now questioning whether President Tsai Ing-wen's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) will keep its promise to phase out nuclear energy.

"It would be violating the spirit of creating a nuclear-free homeland by 2025 pledged by the DPP," said Tsui Shu-hsin of the prospect of restarting the reactor. Tsui is spokeswoman for Nuclear Go Zero Action Platform which organised the rally.

Lawmaker Huang Kuo-chang, head of the opposition New Power Party, echoed the sentiment.

"The government should move forward, not backwards and restarting the reactor would be a regression," he told reporters at the rally.

Although concerns have grown over power supply sufficiency following massive power failures across Taiwan last year, many in the island remain adamantly against nuclear energy

Taiwan currently generates about one-fifth of its energy from three nuclear plants.

Although concerns have grown over power supply sufficiency following massive power failures across the island in August last year, many in the island remain adamantly against nuclear energy.

In 2014, authorities were forced to seal off a nearly-completed fourth nuclear plant after public opposition.

Some at Sunday's rally wore sunflowers on their hats to symbolise clean energy.

"I would rather the government restrict the use of electricity than relying on nuclear energy which is unsafe and generates a lot of waste," said 22-year-old college student Yao Hsing-yu.

Taiwan started annual anti-nuclear rallies to commemorate Japan's nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011 when the Fukushima energy plant was hit by a tsunami following an earthquake, knocking out power to its cooling systems and sending reactors into meltdown.

Taiwan, like Japan, is prone to frequent quakes as the island lies on a number of fault lines.

Last month, 17 people were killed and nearly 300 injured when a 6.4 magnitude quake hit eastern Hualien, leaving almost 2,000 buildings damaged.

"Nuclear facilities are unsafe as Taiwan has many earthquakes. The government needs to take the lead to actively develop alternative and green energy," said 40-year-old protester Fan De-lu.The anti-Muslim riots forced the government to impose a state of emergency across Sri Lanka

Vandals attacked a Muslim-owned restaurant in Sri Lanka on Sunday in an alleged "hate crime", police said, as tensions remain high across the island following a week of violent riots.

The restaurant in Anamaduwa -- 130 kilometres (81 miles) north of the capital Colombo -- was targeted despite police being on high alert after a spate of anti-Muslim attacks.

The government declared a state of emergency last week as 11 mosques were torched and 200 Muslim-owned businesses destroyed in riots by Sinhalese mobs that left at least three people dead and around 20 wounded.

A curfew was lifted in the central district of Kandy, the epicentre of the violence, but soldiers remained on the streets, equipped with emergency powers to detain people to maintain law and order.

Some social media networks including Facebook remain blocked across Sri Lanka. Officials say this was done to prevent the spread of hate speech against Muslims.

A senior police official said disciplinary action would be taken against officers in the Anamaduwa area for failing to prevent the restaurant attack.

"We are treating this as a hate crime. An investigation is on to identify those responsible," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced Saturday that he will appoint a three-member panel of retired judges to investigate the unrest that drew concern from rights groups and the international community.

Police were deployed to mosques across Sri Lanka on Friday to guard worshippers from the island's minority Muslim community during weekly prayers. There were no reports of violence.

Muslims make up 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people. The majority are Sinhalese, a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

Hundreds of Buddhist monks and activists staged demonstrations in Colombo Friday, denouncing violence and urging authorities to punish those responsible.

Police said nearly 150 people were arrested over the violence, including the suspected leader Amith Weerasinghe, a Sinhalese man known for anti-Muslim activism and outspoken social media posts.China's parliament has endorsed Xi Jinping's move to abolish rules limiting the head of state to 10 years in power, paving the way for another potential title: President for Life

The Chinese Communist Party's decision to give President Xi Jinping a mandate to rule for life is further evidence of the world's slide towards more nationalist, authoritarian regimes, analysts said.

China's rubber-stamp parliament, meeting in the imposing Great Hall of the People for an annual session, made Xi the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong on Sunday by scrapping term limits that would have forced him to step down after 2023.

The decision moves one-party China further away from adopting a democratic system that many Western thinkers and politicians had once assumed was inevitable as the country opened up to global trade.

It fits a pattern worldwide that has seen the model of liberal democracy -- based on individual rights, the rule of law and the free press -- lose ground as many countries turn instead to more authoritarian forms of government.

"We think it (liberal democracy) is normal and obviously it's not, because in the whole of human history, democracy has not existed for all that long in terms of the international order," said George Magnus, associate at the China Centre at Oxford University.

Regimes with illiberal leaders "reject the kind of democratic model we have kind of grown up with," he added.

These include Vladimir Putin of Russia, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, who all came to power through the ballot box but have since trampled democratic norms.

Other global contemporary strongmen include Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who took part in a coup against a democratically elected Islamist government.

"It is certain that the club of managed (or guided) democracies is growing," said Caroline Galacteros, director of the Planeting strategic intelligence consultancy in France.

In Europe, Hungary's Viktor Orban has become a posterboy for what he calls a form of "illiberal democracy" while US President Donald Trump also embodies a spreading strain of aggressive nationalism worldwide.

Trump's "America First" mantra and attacks on institutions such as the FBI, the judiciary and the free press are testing the democratic checks and balances in the US constitution.

- Chinese model -

Chinese President Xi, seen meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban last year

Human rights campaigners warn that authoritarians and autocrats worldwide are exploiting discontent over globalisation, industrial decline, terrorism and migration to justify their actions.

According to the Freedom House human rights watchdog, democracy "faced its most serious crisis in decades" in 2017, which was the 12th year in a row that individual freedoms were found to have declined.

Furthermore, under Trump the US has lost the moral authority to effectively condemn abuses in other countries, critics say, while Europe is struggling with its own nationalists in Hungary and Poland.

"This illiberal temptation is something we should not take lightly today and will doubtless constitute one of the battles France, but also the European Union, will have to undertake in 2018, including with some of its members," French President Emmanuel Macron said in January.

- 'Managed democracies' -

Strong populist currents mean Russia's Vladimir Putin and Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan, seen meeting in Ankara in December, also have political wind in their sails

In the 1990s, intellectuals such as Francis Fukuyama questioned whether humanity had reached the "end of history", with liberal democracy and capitalism apparently victorious over communism and totalitarianism.

But by the turn of the century, analysts were warning of the emergence of semi-authoritarian states -- countries that like Turkey and Russia fall somewhere between democracy and dictatorship.

China's trajectory was always unknown, but the country has taken a decisive turn away from the idea of a more pluralistic society with greater political freedoms.

And, thanks to its fast economic growth and growing military might, it is serving as a counter-example for the democratic model -- with fans in sometimes surprising places.

"The great leaders of the world come from countries that are not great democracies," said former French president Nicolas Sarkozy at a conference in Abu Dhabi last weekend.

Sarkozy, who faces multiple investigations over corruption allegations related to his one term in office from 2007-2012, said strong leadership in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia meant there was "no populism" there.

Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, said democratic leaders have a responsibility to speak out against autocracies and despots who depend on large-scale repression to keep their grip on power.

"It is important for democratic leaders both to highlight the emptiness of the autocrats' political programs and to stress the danger of enabling leaders who claim to speak for the majority," he said.

"China has been providing economic support to autocrats around the world and increasingly is trying to silence criticism of its own autocratic model even within liberal democracies."

He cited Beijing's close financial links to repressive regimes in countries such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe.At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured after lightning struck a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Rwanda, a local official said Sunday.

Fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the Nyaruguru district in the Southern Province on Saturday, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told AFP over the phone.

Two others died later from their injuries, he said.

At least 16 people were killed when lightning struck a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Rwanda's Southern Province

He added that 140 people involved in the incident had been rushed to hospital and district health centres, but that many had already been discharged.

'Doctors say that only three of them are in critical condition but they are getting better,' he said.

According to the mayor, a similar accident took place on Friday when lightning struck a group of 18 students, killing one of them.

Last October, lightning killed 18 people in different parts of the country.

Lightning strikes are frequent across Rwanda, which has many hills and mountains, and the police record a number of human and livestock deaths each year.

Lightning killed 30 people, injured 61 and killed 48 livestock in 2016, the most recent year with full figures, according to Rwanda's ministry of disaster management and refugee affairs.An image grab from a video released by the Egyptian Defence Ministry on February 9, 2018 shows Army spokesman Colonel Tamer al-Rifai announcing the launch of a major operation against the Islamic State (IS) group

Egypt's military said Sunday 16 jihadists, an officer and a soldier were killed in the past four days during a major military operation against Islamic State group jihadists in Sinai.

The army launched a sweeping campaign after Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who is standing in elections for his second term this month, gave them a three-month deadline to crush IS in Sinai.

He issued his ultimatum in November after suspected IS gunmen massacred more than 300 worshippers in a Sinai mosque associated with Sufi Muslim mystics.

Since the military, then led by Sisi, ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in 2013, security forces have sought to quell attacks by the Egypt branch of IS.

The jihadists have killed hundreds of soldiers, policemen and civilians, mainly in North Sinai but also elsewhere in Egypt.

They have also killed scores of Christians in church bombings and shootings, as well as bombing a Russian airliner carrying tourists from an Egyptian resort in 2015, killing all 224 people on board.

The military says it has evidence IS has sought to move members to Sinai following its defeats in Iraq and Syria.In February, South African police raided properties belonging to the Gupta family in Johannesburg as part of a graft probe

South Africa has launched proceedings to strip the permanent residency status of one of the lynchpins of a controversial Indian business family accused of corruption, an official said on Sunday.

Ajay Gupta, a fugitive sought by police over alleged graft, now faces the prospect of losing access to banking facilities as well as his South African identity papers if his residency is rescinded.

Ajay is one of three Indian-born Gupta brothers who are among South Africa's richest people who are now being investigated by police over corruption allegations. The country's graft watchdog has also accused them of having improper links to former president Jacob Zuma.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has discussed the "the possibility of revoking Ajay's residency" with President Cyril Ramaphosa, his spokesman told AFP.

"Since then, he has instructed the director-general of home affairs to investigate the legal environment for that to happen," Mayihlome Tshwete told AFP.

Gigaba has had a torrid week after insisting that Ajay's brother Atul was not a South African citizen, only to be contradicted by the election commission which confirmed he was a citizen who was listed on the electoral register.

Gigaba then skipped a sitting of parliament on Wednesday at which he had been due to answer MPs' questions, citing illness.

South Africa has launched several investigations into the Guptas and Indian tax officials this week raided several properties belonging to the brothers in their former hometown as part of a money-laundering probe.

Last month, South African authorities raided Gupta properties in Johannesburg as part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged graft.

Ajay was declared a "fugitive from justice" by police after failing to respond to a summons.

Thirteen other people are facing charges linked to allegations that the Guptas embezzled millions of dollars of public money meant for poor South African dairy farmers.

They are also accused of receiving highly-favourable government contracts during Zuma's presidency.

Led by Atul, the family arrived in South Africa in 1993 as white-minority apartheid rule crumbled, a year before Nelson Mandela won the country's first democratic elections.Syrians run for cover from government shelling on Hammuriyeh in one of the shrinking rebel-held parts of the Eastern Ghouta region on March 6, 2018

New air strikes and barrel bombs pounded Syria's Eastern Ghouta on Sunday as government forces pressed a three-week advance that splintered the rebel enclave and trapped dozens under collapsed buildings.

Defying global calls for a ceasefire, Syria's government has pursued a ferocious Russian-backed air campaign and ground offensive to capture the region, the last rebel bastion on the capital's doorstep.

In three weeks of fighting, it has overrun more than half the area and split the remainder into three pockets, isolating the urban hub of Douma from the rest of the enclave.

On Sunday, government troops battered the edges of each pocket with air raids, barrel bombs, and rockets, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

After fighting all morning, they captured the town of Medeira, which lies at the heart of the three zones, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said.

State news agency SANA had reported troops were focusing on the town in order to cut rebel access routes in Ghouta.

Bombing runs across several towns in Ghouta killed a dozen civilians on Sunday, bringing the total toll from the offensive to at least 1,111 civilians, the Observatory said.

A man pushes a cart past destroyed buildings in the rebel-held town of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta enclave on March 8, 2018

They include dozens of decomposing bodies still trapped under pulverised residential blocks in the towns of Hammuriyeh, Saqba, and Misraba.

In Hammuriyeh, AFP's correspondent saw a young man scrambling frantically over the rubble of a collapsed building in search of his loved ones.

His father, mother, and three siblings were killed in an air raid, but rescue workers have been unable to pull them out.

- Bodies pile up -

Hassaan, a 30-year-old rescue worker, said there were around 20 more families under the rubble.

"We need heavy machinery to get them out, but we can't bring the machines out into the streets because the regime may bomb them," he said.

In the main town of Douma, bodies piled up in the morgue as bombardment prevented families from reaching the cemetery, AFP's correspondent there said.

Families grew desperate for news of loved ones who had fled to other areas that were now inaccessible.

On Saturday, Syrian troops and allied militia cut off the main road leading out of Douma in a major blow to beleaguered rebels attempting to defend their enclave.

Flames rip through a building following Syrian government bombardment of the rebel-held town of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta enclave on the eastern outskirts of Damascus on March 10, 2018

Government forces also captured the town of Misraba.

Some residents fled from the advancing troops, but dozens stayed as soldiers recaptured their neighbourhoods.

SANA reported on Sunday that troops transported "dozens of civilians, including women and children," from Misraba to temporary shelters in government-held zones.

The Observatory told AFP that Misraba was left abandoned after 75 to 100 people were moved out of the town by regime forces.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is keen to recapture Eastern Ghouta from rebels, who have used the region as a launch pad for attacks on the capital.

On Sunday, four people were killed and six wounded in rebel rocket fire on a government-controlled district in eastern Damascus, state television reported.

It broadcast live footage from the battered skyline of Medeira, saying Sunday's gains linked Syrian soldiers advancing from the east with troops based on the western edges of Ghouta.

- Officials mull evacuation -

In recent years, government forces have recaptured several areas around Damascus and other parts of war-ravaged Syria from rebels by pursuing fierce military offensives culminating in evacuation deals.

A delegation representing Hammuriyeh residents were on Sunday considering such an agreement after talks with the regime, a negotiator and the Observatory told AFP.

The delegation met government representatives on Saturday and discussed a proposal that would offer safe passage to rebels and civilians who want to leave, one of its members said.

Syrian men check damage following Syrian government shelling on the rebel-held town of Douma in the Eastern Ghouta enclave near Damascus on March 10, 2018

"The committee is meeting on Sunday to take a decision and inform the regime," the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

The Observatory confirmed talks were taking place on Hammuriyeh as well as the towns of Jisreen and Saqba.

The two main rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta have firmly and repeatedly denied negotiating with the Syrian regime.

Faylaq al-Rahman, the opposition faction that holds Hammuriyeh, insisted late Saturday there were "no direct or indirect negotiations" on an evacuation.

Eastern Ghouta is home to around 400,000 people living under a crippling government siege since 2013.

The United Nations has demanded a month-long ceasefire there to allow for aid to be brought in and for desperately sick and wounded civilians to seek treatment.

Syria's regime has also been accused of using chlorine gas against civilians in Eastern Ghouta in recent weeks.

On Sunday, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis warned it would be "very unwise" for Assad to use weaponised gas against civilians, but delined to say whether doing so would trigger a US military response.Moroccans shout slogans and wave the national flag during a demonstration in the northeastern city of Jerada on December 27, 2017

Moroccan authorities have arrested two leaders of protests that began last December in the northeastern Moroccan town of Jerada, relatives said on Sunday.

Amine Mkallech and Mustapha Dainane were arrested on Saturday and were still being held on Sunday, they said.

Dainane was arrested following a traffic accident at 1:00 am on Thursday, according to a statement from the general prosecutor's office in the nearby town of Oujda.

His arrest "has no connection with the events in the city of Jerada", an impoverished former coal mining town, it said.

Mkallech was also arrested in connection with that traffic accident, a member of the Moroccan Association for Human Rights, Said Zeroual, told AFP.

Dainane gained popularity with spirited speeches during demonstrations in Jerada.

His usually active Facebook page, which displays a photo of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin as its profile image, was no longer available on Sunday morning.

Activists connected to the grassroots Hirak protest movement replaced their Facebook profile pictures with images protesting Dainane's detention, but they were also no longer available.

The accidental deaths in December of two brothers trapped in a mine shaft in Jerada, followed by two other deaths under similar circumstances, gave rise to peaceful demonstrations demanding "economic alternatives" for the former coal mining town.

Thousands of people have left the city since Jerada's coal mines, once its economic lifeblood, were shuttered in the late 1990s.

Hundreds of illegal miners risk their lives in closed mine shafts to extract coal, the sale of which is legal thanks to operating permits issued by Moroccan authorities.

An action plan proposed by the government in February, including health care for former miners with lung disease and inspections of closed mines, succeeded in briefly calming social unrest.

But protests and calls for a general strike have continued, over what many believe to be insufficient government action.Egypt's acting intelligence chief Abbas Kamel met on Saturday with Sudanese president Omar Al-Bashir in Khartoum, where they discussed the importance of communication between the two countries, Sudan News Agency (SUNA) reported.

Earlier on Saturday, Kamel met with his Sudanese counterpart Salah Abdullah Mohamed Saleh, Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, and Minister of Defence Awad Mohamed Ahmed bin Awaf. They discussed boosting bilateral relations, especially in the field of security.

Kamels visit comes within the framework of the recently-formed quadrilateral committee comprising the foreign ministry and intelligence heads of both nations.

The committee was formed earlier this year on the orders of Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Al-Bashir.

Kamel and Al-Bashir also discussed major challenges in the region, which should not affect the relations between the two countries, SUNA added.

Kamel's visit comes days after the Sudanese ambassador to Cairo returned to Egypt, nearly two months after being recalled to Khartoum due to an apparent heightening of tensions between the two nations. The government of Sudan offered no public explanation for the ambassador's recall.

Relations between the two countries had been strained due to Sudans claims of sovereignty over Egypts southern Halayeb Triangle region, as well as the Sudanese stance in the talks on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

In February, a newly-formed committee, comprised of the foreign ministers and intelligence chiefs of Egypt and Sudan, met in Cairo to "remove any flaws that could hamper this brotherly relationship, solidarity and unified destiny in the face of bilateral challenges."

The committee was formed following a tripartite summit between the leaders of Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in January, where El-Sisi affirmed that Egypt does not interfere in other countries affairs, and has no intention of fighting its brothers in Sudan.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara talk to the press after attending an exhibit on Jerusalem at the Unted Nations on March 8, 2018

Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition accused the embattled premier on Sunday of perpetuating a "fake crisis" over a political dispute to potentially force early elections.

The dispute comes as Netanyahu faces a possible indictment on bribery charges in the coming months.

Polls suggest he could remain prime minister and his Likud party could win the most seats in fresh elections despite police investigations into his affairs.

Victory could bolster his political standing ahead of the attorney general's decision on indictments.

Netanyahu has said he wants his coalition to last its entire term, which expires in November 2019 -- something he repeated on Sunday.

But others in his right-wing coalition suggested he had other motives, and speculation intensified throughout the day that Israel could soon be headed for elections.

The coalition is at loggerheads over legislation that would exempt young ultra-Orthodox men from military service, a dispute that has threatened to pull the government apart.

"Over the past week we've baked a good solution for the draft crisis. I can say that there's no draft crisis. It's a fake crisis," Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, told reporters ahead of Sunday's cabinet meeting.

He added that "it could be that there's someone who for personal reasons wants to generate a crisis and lead the state to elections... In the end it's all up to one person who has to decide whether he wants elections or not, and that's the prime minister."

Yaakov Margi of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party implied that compromises had been made to allow for a resolution, saying that "the feeling is that the prime minister has fallen in love with this fake crisis."

"Once the heads of the ultra-Orthodox parties announced they'd agree to a solution, the draft crisis was solved," he wrote on Twitter.

"All the rest is a fake crisis."

- Rabbis reject compromise bill -

The ultra-Orthodox parties are refusing to approve the 2019 budget unless the conscription bill passes.

The bill is bitterly opposed by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is meanwhile insisting that the budget be approved before the end of this week.

At a meeting on Sunday, influential rabbis reportedly decided to stick by the demand that a bill on the military exemption be approved before the budget is passed while rejecting compromise legislation that had been proposed.

Netanyahu met with leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties Saturday night, after which he said they were working on a draft for the bill that would meet legal and political demands.

Speaking with Likud ministers ahead of the Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said they were "working for a stable government that would work until the end of its term in November 2019."

"In order for that to happen, all the parties need to reach agreements and decide to continue together," he said, implying that he was not the cause of the dispute.

Netanyahu has reportedly called on members of his coalition to commit to remaining in the government until the end of the current term as part of negotiations.

The 68-year-old premier could soon face charges in at least two separate corruption affairs.

Last week, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of ultra-Orthodox alliance United Torah Judaism said that Netanyahu wanted early elections.

A spokesman for Litzman said on Sunday that there were currently discussions among all relevant parties over the wording of the conscription bill.Democratic Congo exports cobalt for use in smartphones

DR Congo President Joseph Kabila enacted a law to hike taxes on so-called strategic metals and ordered government consultations with foreign companies worried by the change, an official said Sunday.

"The law has been promulgated in the same form as was adopted by parliament," a presidential adviser who asked not to be named told AFP.

The new text replaces the Democratic Republic of Congo's 2002 mining code, which the government considered to favour foreign investors at the expense of the economy.

The new code allows a levy of up to 10 percent on key minerals, expected to include copper and cobalt.

There would also be a tax of 50 percent on windfall profits -- so-called super-profits that occur when prices go at least 25 percent above a given benchmark.

Cobalt is of particular concern to foreign companies that mine it for use in smartphones.

The government said in an earlier statement that the mining companies' "concerns will be taken into account through a constructive dialogue with the government after the new mining law is approved, with a view to finding a compromise".

The vast central African country is rich in minerals but has suffered violent instability over recent months.

Kabila has postponed elections and his opponents are demanding he step out of the running ahead of a vote scheduled for December.Julius Malema left South Africa's ANC to form the radical Economic Freedom Fighters - now ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa wants him back on board

South African President and ruling ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa stepped up the charm offensive Sunday to lure firebrand Julius Malema back to the party he was expelled from in 2012.

Ahead of a general election due in 2019, a weekend-long voter registration drive was underway across South Africa on Saturday and Sunday, prompting a flurry of political manoeuvering.

Malema founded the radical opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) after he was removed from the African National Congress (ANC) along with a number of allies.

His party now has the third largest number of MPs in the National Assembly, the lower house of the legislature.

For years the EFF ruthlessly attacked former president Jacob Zuma and his government, making accusations of corruption and incompetence.

But since Zuma's resignation last month, the EFF has softened its stance on the governing party and Ramaphosa, instead switching its hostility to the main opposition Democratic Alliance party.

"We would want to welcome (EFF members) back, and in fact we are able to say we would love to have Julius Malema back in the ANC. He is still ANC down deep in his heart," said Ramaphosa during a voter registration drive in Centurion, near Pretoria.

"The ANC is their home."

Ramaphosa's comments came after anti-apartheid icon and Nelson Mandela's former wife Winnie Madikizela-Mandela said she would persuade Malema to rejoin the ANC.

Malema previously also ruled out a return to the ANC where he once headed the party's powerful Youth League.

"My grandmother is 87 years old. She said even if she dies, I must never rejoin the ANC," Malema told a news conference in parliament last month.

"I would rather leave politics and go and be an analyst on Power FM," he added referring to a local radio station.US President Donald Trump, seen at a rally Saturday in Moon Township, Pennsylvania, threatened to tax German cars if the EU fails to lower trade barriers

US President Donald Trump has singled out Europe in a billowing trade row, threatening to tax German cars if the European Union doesn't lower barriers to US products.

His threat, issued amid a roiling dispute over Trump's announcement of tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from nearly every country, came in a campaign rally late Saturday in Pennsylvania.

He told a boisterous crowd that if Europe did not lower trade barriers to US imports, "we're gonna tax Mercedes-Benz, we're gonna tax BMW."

While it was not entirely clear whether the threat reflected actual US policy or merely an effort by the president to play to an appreciative crowd, he had used similar language earlier on Twitter.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum," Trump tweeted. "If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!"

The announcement of duties of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum has stung the EU and other major partners, coming as a surprise to allied countries and even, reportedly, to some close presidential advisers.

- 'Consistent' policy -

But the deputy White House spokesman, Raj Shah, said Sunday that no one should have been surprised.

Asked on ABC's "This Week" whether Trump's national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, was among those caught off guard, Shah demurred.

"I'm not going to get into specifics," he said. "But it's consistent with what the president said not just during the campaign, but for decades."

Failing to include the national security adviser in talks on tariffs would seem highly unusual, given Trump's argument that weakened US steel and aluminum industries would threaten national security.

In his speech Saturday in Pennsylvania -- historically a major steel-producing state, but which has lost thousands of jobs to mechanization and foreign competition -- Trump said that EU countries "kill us on trade."

"We can't even sell our farming goods in there, they totally restrict us. So then they say, 'We want those tariffs taken off.'

"I said, 'Good, open up the barriers and get rid of your tariffs, and if you don't do that, we're gonna tax Mercedes-Benz, we're gonna tax BMW.'"

Both German automakers sell thousands of vehicles yearly in the US, but they also have production facilities in the United States.

- Crunch talks continue -

The president made his comments after crunch talks in Brussels between EU negotiators and US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer aimed at defusing the row and avoiding an all-out trade war.

"As long-standing security partners of the United States, (the EU and Japan) underlined to ambassador Lighthizer their expectation that EU and Japanese exports to the US would be exempted from the application of higher tariffs," an EU statement said after the talks.

But European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem later tweeted: "No immediate clarity on the exact US procedure for exemption however, so discussions will continue next week."

Brussels has pushed back hard against Washington's shock measures, loudly announcing a list of US products it could hit with countermeasures.

Many traditionally pro-trade Republican lawmakers in the US fiercely oppose the tariffs, saying they might help steel and aluminum makers, but would mean higher prices on many other products.

"I think this is counterproductive," Senator Ron Johnson, Republican of Wisconsin, said Sunday on CNN. It "could really result in retaliatory actions by our trade partners and it just injects uncertainty to an economy that was doing quite well."

Trump received rare support, however, from a liberal Democratic congresswoman, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.

Warren, a longtime consumer-protection advocate and possible 2020 presidential candidate, was asked about the tariffs on CNN.

"I have to say, when President Trump says he's putting tariffs on the table, I think tariffs are one part of reworking our trade policy overall," she said. "We need a trade policy that's comprehensive."US President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally Saturday in Pennsylvania that his nuclear talks with the North Korean leader would be a 'tremendous success'

Donald Trump deployed his spy chief Sunday to sell his snap decision to engage North Korea's Kim Jong Un in momentous nuclear talks that the president himself predicted would be a "tremendous success" but others warn carry big risks.

CIA director Mike Pompeo portrayed North Korea as buckling under the pressure of US-led international sanctions, and insisted there would be no let-up for the duration of the negotiations.

"Never before have we had the North Koreans in a position where their economy was at such risk, where their leadership was under such pressure," he said on Fox News Sunday.

"Make no mistake: while these negotiations are going on, there will be no concessions made," he said.

The Sunday talk show appearances by Pompeo and others served to answer critics who warn that the talks, entered into by an impulsive, inexperienced president, carry high risks.

If they fail, the two nuclear-armed states could then be left with few options short of military confrontation, experts on the years-long impasse with North Korea say.

Pompeo suggested that Trump understood the dangers. "The president isnt doing this for theater, he is going there to solve a problem."

Trump used a Saturday night campaign rally in Pennsylvania steel country to defend his decision to sit down with Kim after months of insult-filled brinkmanship, replete with nuclear threats.

He said the United States had "shown great strength" when tensions were high but the regime's leaders "want to make peace."

"I think it's time," Trump told supporters.

Before boarding his Marine One helicopter for the rally, he told reporters: "I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success ... We have a lot of support."

"The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great."

- What next? -

Trump accepted the invitation Thursday after it was relayed to him in an impromptu White House meeting with the South Korean national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong.

Chung, who had met with Kim previously, told Trump that the North Korean leader had pledged to halt missile and nuclear tests during the negotiations, to discuss denuclearization and to raise no public objections to scheduled US-South Korean military exercises.

What comes next is unclear.

Deputy press secretary Raj Shah would not rule out a White House summit or Trump going to North Korea for the talks, although he said on ABC's "This Week" that the latter venue was not "highly likely."

Pompeo said "channels are open" but he shed no light on how the United States will proceed or even whether it has heard back from the North Koreans on Trump's agreement to talk to Kim.

Two key Trump advisers were out of the country, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson being in Africa and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in Oman.

Neither Tillerson, Mattis nor National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster has commented substantively on the North Korea talks.

- 'Potential for misunderstanding' -

"I do not want to talk about Korea at all. I will leave it to those who are leading the effort," Mattis told reporters during a flight to Oman, "because its that delicate, when you get into a position like this."

"The potential for misunderstanding remains very high or goes higher."

Pompeo said there wasn't "any doubt about who is going to take the lead on this."

"The president of the United States is going to take the lead," he said on CBS's "Face the Nation."

Trump reached out to the leaders of China and Japan in phone calls Friday, and later said he had received encouragement for the diplomatic gambit.

A South Korean soldier walks past a television screen showing pictures of US President Donald Trump (L) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a railway station in Seoul

He tweeted that Chinese President Xi Jinping "appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!"

He described Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as "very enthusiastic."

A White House readout of the conversation with Xi said the two leaders committed to keeping the pressure on North Korea until it takes "tangible steps toward complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization."

- Skepticism -

Not everyone was so sanguine about the prospects of a breakthrough, however, and some Democrats shuddered at the thought of such sensitive -- and potentially explosive -- negotiations being in Trump's hands.

"I am very worried that he's going into these negotiations and be taken advantage of," Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading liberal voice, said on CNN.

She said that while diplomacy was good, the State Department has been "decimated" with no US ambassador in South Korea or an assistant secretary for the region.

Republican Senator Jeff Flake of Arizona was skeptical that North Korea would abandon its nuclear weapons.

"I dont think anybody really believes that North Korea is prepared to denuclearize," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"Now, maybe a freeze where they say, `All right. We are a nuclear power. Lets get some security guarantees. But denuclearization, [as] Ive heard it suggested, that thats what the North Koreans have already agreed to, I would question that."The 54-year-old former rebel leader has ruled the densely populated central African country since 2005 after a devastating civil war

Burundi's ruling party has bestowed the title of "eternal supreme guide" on President Pierre Nkurunziza, a party official confirmed Sunday, as critics claimed he wants to lock in power for life.

"He is our elder, our father, our adviser," CNDD-FDD secretary general Evariste Ndayishimiye said in a video sent to AFP whose authenticity was confirmed by an official.

A party statement issued after a meeting Saturday of the party's top leadership in Nkurunziza's native Buye in the north of the former Belgian colony did not spell out the implications of the title.

The 54-year-old former rebel leader has ruled the densely populated central African country since 2005 after a devastating civil war.

A constitutional referendum in May could allow him to run in elections in 2020, paving the way for him to remain in power until 2034.

Critics mocked the development, with one decrying the "cult of personality around his majesty the King Nkurunziza I".

But another party official, who asked not to be named, insisted to AFP the move did not reflect "an excess such as those of (former North Korean dictator) Kim Il Sung, as our detractors suggest".

Burundi has faced a serious political crisis since Nkurunziza sought a fiercely contested third term in office in April 2015.

Post-election violence claimed at least 1,200 lives and displaced more than 400,000 people between April 2015 and May 2017, according to estimates by the International Criminal Court, which has opened an investigation.

Nkurunziza has led several purges in the ranks of the former rebellion and surrounded himself with a select group of generals.

Opposition parties warn the constitutional changes could deal a death blow to the Arusha peace accords that helped to end the 1993-2006 civil war, in which more than 300,000 people died.

The Arusha accords stipulate that no president can govern the country for more than 10 years. The current constitution sets a limit of two five-year mandates.Since January 2017, 948 people in South Africa have contracted listeriosis, a disease caused by bacteria which can contaminate fresh food, notably meat

Victims of the world's worst listeriosis outbreak in South Africa will be invited to sue the owner of the factory named as the source, a human rights lawyer said Sunday.

Attorney Richard Spoor confirmed that his firm would file a class action suit against Tiger Brands whose facility was last weekend officially revealed to be the origin of the listeria epidemic that has claimed 180 lives.

He predicted that, if the litigation is successful, damages of tens of millions of dollars could be awarded to victims and the families of those killed.

Since January 2017, 948 people in South Africa have contracted listeriosis, a disease caused by bacteria which can contaminate fresh food, notably meat.

Several countries across Africa have imposed restrictions on South African meat imports in response to the crisis.

Health officials say the source of the outbreak was an Enterprise Food plant, owned by Tiger Brands, 300 kilometres (185 miles) northeast of the South African capital Pretoria. The factory produced a popular range of ready-to-eat chilled meats including baloney and Frankfurter sausages.

"(We will) put together a class action on behalf of the victims," Spoor told AFP by telephone.

In class actions, groups of people with a common grievance, or their surviving relatives, can come together to bring a single lawsuit. Not all of those affected are compelled to participate and some victims are expected to bring their own legal action against Tiger Brands.

"The reasons for doing that are that the overwhelming majority of those affected by this epidemic are poor people, they're widely distributed and there's an enormous range of damages that people have suffered," Spoor added.

Tiger Brands chief executive Lawrence MacDougall told local media on Friday that "we'll have to deal with (litigation) when we get to it, right now our focus is on food safety".

MacDougall has previously claimed that "there is no direct link with the deaths to our products".

Spoor said attorneys will work in partnership with US-based food safety law firm Marler Clark to file an application in the coming weeks.

He said that the strain blamed by health officials for the lethal outbreak, ST6, was common to nearly all of the victims tested and tied to contamination found at the Tiger Brands-owned factory.

"That looks to us to be an overwhelmingly strong case, it's like a fingerprint -- or the marks on a bullet fired from a gun," he said.

"You're certainly talking about (a settlement) of several hundred million rand (tens of millions of dollars)," he claimed.

Listeria contamination can result in a flu-like illness, infection of the bloodstream and, in severe cases, infection of the brain which can prove fatal.A contestant takes part in the annual Birdman Rally in Australia

Decked out in brightly-coloured costumes and watched on by thousands of cheering spectators, competitors carrying homemade flying devices leapt off a platform above an Australian river in a quirky annual competition Sunday.

The Birdman Rally, which raises funds for charities, is held at Melbourne's Yarra River and involves participants flying homemade gliders without mechanical assistance.

Contestants jump off a four-metre (13-foot) platform above the river, staying in the air for as long as possible before crashing into the water.

They are judged for their costumes, pre-jump performances and how far they fly and fall. The amount the contestants raise for charities before their flights also contribute to their total distance.

While past contestants have turned up in bizarre costumes, including 2017's winner whose parachute was made out of bras, this year's entrants arrived with more traditional-looking contraptions shaped as planes and gliders.

Winner Daniel Mazzei, who called himself the Red Baron after the ace World War I German fighter pilot, plunged into the Yarra with a bright red plane on his back.

"No, I didn't think I would jump as far as I did that's for sure," Mazzei, a builder by trade, said after claiming the trophy.

Mazzei raised money for Bravehearts, a charity that supports victims of child sex assault.

The contestants collected a total of almost Aus$100,000 (US$78,500) for nominated charities, organiser the City of Melbourne said.ATHENS, Greece (AP) - Robin Lod's 87th-minute equalizer allowed once mighty and now financially troubled Panathinaikos to escape against Asteras with a 1-1 home draw in the Greek league on Saturday.

Panathinaikos was level with Xanthi in seventh place. Xanthi hosts Panetolikos on Sunday.

Asteras, just a point above Panathinaikos, was level with Panionios, which surrendered a two goal advantage to draw with visiting Atromitos 2-2.

Atromitos was joint third with Olympiakos, which plays at last-place Platanias on Sunday.

League leader AEK travels to second-place PAOK on Sunday.

Michalis Manias opened the scoring for Asteras in the 69th with a header off Costas Giannoulis' cross.

Lod, despite being closely covered by three defenders, unleashed a shot into the top right corner.

Also, Larissa and Kerkyra ended 0-0.BEIJING (AP) - China said Sunday that it would not initiate a trade war with the United States, but vowed to defend its national interests in the face of growing American protectionism.

"There are no winners in a trade war, and it would bring disaster to our two countries as well as the rest of the world," Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said at a briefing on the sidelines of China's annual parliamentary session.

"China does not wish to fight a trade war, nor will China initiate a trade war, but we can handle any challenge and will resolutely defend the interests of our country and our people," he said.

In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan speaks at a press conference in Beijing, Sunday, March 11, 2018. China says it will not initiate a "disastrous" trade war with the United States, but is vowing to defend its national interests in the face of growing American protectionism. (Li Xin/Xinhua via AP)

It was Beijing's latest statement on "problems in Sino-U.S. economic trade and cooperation," alluding to President Donald Trump's plan to impose heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Trump said Thursday that he was slapping tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum, temporarily exempting big steel producers Canada and Mexico.

Chinese leaders have threatened in the past to retaliate against raised trade barriers, but have yet to take direct action following Trump's announcement.

Citing Chinese researchers, Zhong said the U.S. has been overstating its trade deficit with China by about 20 percent every year. He gave no details on how this figure was reached, but the U.S. and Chinese governments generally report widely differing trade figures because Beijing counts only the first port to which goods go instead of their final destination.

The U.S. reported a $375 billion deficit with China last year, so a 20 percent reduction would still be among the largest trade gaps that it has with any country.

Zhong blamed the trade imbalance in part on controls over U.S. high-tech exports to China, repeating a Chinese claim that Washington could narrow its trade deficit if it allowed Beijing to buy more "dual use" technology such as supercomputers and advanced materials with military applications.

U.S. officials have said such sales would make up only a few percent of the deficit while possibly threatening American national security.

The Trump administration earlier approved higher tariffs on Chinese-made washing machines, solar modules and some other goods, prompting Beijing to accuse Washington of disrupting global trade regulation by taking action under U.S. law instead of through the World Trade Organization.

Liu He, Chinese President Xi Jinping's top economic adviser, visited Washington earlier this month in an attempt to smooth strained ties.

Zhong said that Beijing would continue to "relax market access" to China, and that it would also attach greater importance to intellectual property rights, another point of tension with the U.S.

China absorbed $136.3 billion in foreign investment last year. The country has long been among the top global destinations for investment, but foreign enthusiasm is cooling. Surveys by business groups show companies are shifting emphasis to other Asian economies seen as more profitable or less restrictive.

"We have noticed that some foreign-funded businesses have complained about China's investment environment," Zhong said. "The fact that they have complaints indicates that they are still paying attention to China's development and have confidence in China's market."

The commerce minister reiterated Premier Li Keqiang's promise last week to liberalize the manufacturing industry and expand the opening up of sectors such as medical care, education and new energy vehicles. Specific details were not given, but Zhong pledged to give equal treatment to domestic and foreign businesses alike while continuing to curb "irrational overseas investment" from within China.With Egypt's presidential elections approaching, the Foreign Minister's Deputy Hamdi Loza, who oversees the elections for Egyptians abroad, gave an interview to Al-Ahram Al-Massai where he discussed the ministry's latest preparations for the vote.

Loza said that the ministry is holding training courses for committees that will supervise voting abroad under the supervision of the National Elections Authority (NEA), as well as other procedures aimed at facilitating the highest turnout from expats.

Loza called on Egyptians abroad to participate in the presidential elections, which will begin on March 16 and last for three days.

The embassies do not inquire about any official documents or legal residence; the only thing that matters to us is providing all the facilities for Egyptians to vote, wherever they are, the ambassador affirmed.

On the nature of the cooperation between the foreign ministry and the NEA, Loza affirmed that the NEA is the sole entity responsible for supervising the electoral process, and that the ministry has begun communication with expats after the NEA set the timeline for the presidential elections in January.

In addition to providing advisors, a technical staff from the NEA will supervise the equipment used in voting abroad, Loza said.

The courses will be organised directly before the elections so that supervisors are aware of the latest information related to the electoral process, which will take place from 9am to 9pm for Egyptians abroad.

Loza said that voting for Egyptian expats is limited to countries where Egypt has diplomatic missions.

Voting will not be taking place in countries like Libya, where there is currently no Egyptian embassy due to the security situation, which will prevent the participation of a large number of Egyptians, Loza said.

On the expected turnout of expats, Loza said that he hopes it will be similar to that of the 2014 elections, when Egyptians registered in high numbers to "support their nation and prove to the international community that what happened in Egypt represents the will of the people".

"There are two mechanisms to promote the presidential elections; electoral campaigns, which support candidates and have no connection to Egyptian embassies, and general conferences, which are held to encourage expats to participate in the elections," he added.

The law of the exercising of political rights prevents any official from participating in any activity that can be interpreted as favouring one of the candidates, the ambassador affirmed.

The voting is set to take place on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday to eliminate any obstacles that might prevent Egyptians abroad from participating, the ambassador said.

Loza also said that training sessions are being held for 140 members of the foreign ministry who will be part of diplomatic missions abroad supervising polling stations.

"The foreign ministry members will ensure that no Egyptians who cast ballots abroad will be able to vote inside Egypt during the 26-28 March elections," he added.

Loza also said that 139 diplomatic missions will be supervising the elections worldwide, adding that Kuwait, Jeddah, Riyadh and Dubai have large Egyptian expat communities.

Polling stations will set up inside Egyptian embassies or consulates. Loza said that there will be three polling stations in Germany and two in France, Italy, the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

He said there are no official numbers for Egyptians abroad with the eligibility to vote.

"We have heard about the estimated 10 million Egyptians abroad, just like other numbers, but in reality, we have not witnessed such a number in any previous elections," he said, adding there is no voter database for Egyptian expats.

According to Loza, Egyptian expats are included in the main voter database, which in 2015 registered around 54 million eligible voters.

Egypt currently has a population of around 95 million, according to the latest census in 2017.WARSAW, Poland (AP) - A new Polish law banning almost all trade on Sundays has taken effect, with large supermarkets and most other retailers closed for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse.

The change is stirring up a range of emotions in a country where many feel workers are exploited under the liberal regulations of the past years and want them to have a day of rest. But many Poles also experience consumer freedom as one of the most tangible benefits of the free market era and resent the new limit.

In Hungary, another ex-communist country, a ban on Sunday trade imposed in 2015 was so unpopular that authorities repealed it the next year. Elsewhere in Europe, however, including Germany and Austria, people have long been accustomed to the day of commercial rest and appreciate the push it gives them to escape the compulsion to shop for quality time with family and friends instead.

A parking lot stands empty in Warsaw, Poland, as a ban on most Sunday trade goes into effect across the country on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Large supermarkets and most other retailers closed Sunday for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

The law was proposed by a leading trade union, Solidarity, which says employees deserve Sundays off. It found the support of the conservative and pro-Catholic ruling party, Law and Justice, whose lawmakers passed the legislation. The influential Catholic church, to which more than 90 percent of Poles belong, has welcomed the change.

Among the Poles who see it as a good step toward returning a frazzled and overworked society to a more a more traditional lifestyle is 76-year-old Barbara Olszewska, who did some last-minute shopping Saturday evening in Warsaw.

She recalled growing up in the Polish countryside with a mother who was a full-time homemaker and a father who never worked on Sundays.

"A family should be together on Sundays," Olszewska said after buying some food at a local Biedronka, a large discount supermarket chain.

Olszewska said that before she retired she served cold cuts in a grocery store, and was grateful she never had to work Sundays.

The new law at first bans trade two Sundays per month, but steps it up to three Sundays in 2019 and finally all Sundays in 2020, except for seven exceptions before the Easter and Christmas holidays.

Pro-business opposition parties view the change as an attack on commercial freedom and warn that it will lead to a loss of jobs, and in particular hurt students who only have time to work on the weekends. Even the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions opposes it, arguing that it will just push employees to work longer hours Fridays and Saturdays and that the work will be harder because there will be more customers.

Poles are among the hardest-working citizens in the European Union and some complain that Sundays are sometimes the only days they have free time to shop. According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, only the Greeks put in longer working hours than Poles in the 28-member European Union. The average Polish employee worked 1,928 hours in 2016, according to OECD statistics.

Another last-minute shopper on Saturday evening, Daniel Wycech, 26, saw more drawbacks than benefits.

"It's not really a problem to do more shopping a day ahead of time, but if something breaks in my kitchen or bathroom on a Sunday, there will be no way to go to the store and fix it," said Wycech, an accountant loaded down with bottled water, bananas and other groceries.

"I am angry because this law wasn't prepared properly. It would have been much better to force store employers to make two Sundays per month free for each worker," Wycech added.

There are some exceptions to the ban. For instance, gas stations, cafes, ice cream parlors, pharmacies and some other businesses are allowed to keep operating Sundays. Stores at airports and train stations will also be allowed to open, as will small mom-and-pop shops, but only on the condition that only the owners themselves work.

Anyone infringing the new rules faces a fine of up to 100,000 zlotys ($29,500), while repeat offenders may face a prison sentence. Solidarity, the union that pushed for the law, appealed to people to report any violators to the National Labor Inspectorate, a state body.

Mateusz Kica, a 29-year-old tram driver in Warsaw, did his weekly shopping early Saturday to avoid the huge crowds he expected later in the day. He complained that the new law only relieves shop employees, but that workers like himself will still have to keep working weekends.

"This law isn't really just," Kica said.

In this March 10, 2018 photo, People do last-minute shopping before a ban on some Sunday trade takes place. A new Polish law banning almost all trade on Sundays has taken effect Sunday March 11, 2018, with large supermarkets and most other retailers closed Sunday for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse .(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A parking lot stands empty in Warsaw, Poland, as a ban on most Sunday trade goes into effect across the country on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Large supermarkets and most other retailers closed Sunday for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)

A parking lot stands empty in Warsaw, Poland, as a ban on most Sunday trade goes into effect across the country on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Large supermarkets and most other retailers closed Sunday for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse.(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)French far-right leader Marine Le Pen proposed renaming the National Front party co-founded by her father 46 years ago to National Rally, opening a new era after her resounding defeat in last year's presidential race.

Le Pen's proposal culminated her closing speech at the party's two-day congress in Lille, the capital of the National Front's northern heartland.

The name National Rally must be approved by party members in a mail vote and it's not clear whether they will accept the change.

Le Pen proposed a name change for the National Front at this weekend's party congress to symbolise an identity makeover designed to lift the party from the political netherworld where it has dwelled since Le Pen's calamitous loss in France's presidential election 10 months ago

In another decisive change, the party severed the final ties to firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, 89, by eliminating his title of honorary president-for-life. He was barred from attending the congress.

The moves were part of a makeover designed to revive the nationalist party's fortunes after Marine Le Pen's resounding loss in last year's presidential election to Emmanuel Macron.

After her defeat, Le Pen had promised a 're-foundation' of the party. New faces appeared within the leadership and new bylaws were voted on. But the party's foundation, notably its anti-immigration agenda, remained intact.

However, Le Pen's party reset had an immediate setback when a young official who was appointed last fall as an 'ambassador for the re-foundation' was suspended for allegedly using racial slurs.

France's far-right National Front definitively severed its ties to firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen on Sunday as the nationalist party completes a makeover designed to revive its fortunes

Davy Rodriguez, also deputy director of the party's youth wing, tweeted Sunday that he 'formally denies racist remarks ascribed to me.'

Party spokesman Sebastien Chenu said on CNews that Rodriguez was being suspended 'so light can be shed and he gives us his explanation.'

A video on social networks showed an agitated man identified as Rodriguez making a racial slur and being calmed. In another video, a black man recounts racial insults he said were proffered.

Since taking over in 2011, Le Pen has worked to remove the stigma of racism and anti-Semitism attached to the National Front under her father's leadership. The party, she said, has moved from a protest movement to opposition. Now, she wants it to create alliances and be seen as a party that can govern.

However, she also had to assured members who fear the party is moving away from its core. She defended the French identity and what she painted as the dark forces that threaten it.

'Globalization and Islamization are two ideologies that want to dominate the world,' she said to cheers.

Le Pen hammered away at Macron, an upstart centrist and former investment banker, in her 80-minute speech as the incarnation of globalization that her party is battling.

'The model of Mr. Macron, doesn't lead to liberation but to alienation,' she said, 'an individual attached to nothing.'

National Front party leader Marine Le Pen, right, and former White House strategist Steve Bannon, left, held a press conference at the party congress in the northern French city of Lille

Since taking over in 2011, Le Pen has worked to remove the stigma of racism and anti-Semitism attached to the National Front under her father's leadership

After her election defeat 10 months ago, Le Pen promised a 're-foundation' of the party

The party leader touched the chord that has resonated with sympathizers for decades, protecting France's secular values that she claimed are being destroyed by immigration, notably by Muslims.

'In France, when you're a foreigner, you respect our laws ... When you're a foreigner and a delinquent, you must get on a plane,' she said, drawing cries of 'On est chez nous' (We are in our land).

The National Front of the past has been a political force for decades, a kingmaker in numerous elections and a key player in others under Le Pen, notably for the European Parliament, where it won more seats than any French party.

But Marine Le Pen herself may have credibility issues. Her conservative niece popular with traditional Catholics, Marion Marechal-Le Pen - voted most popular at the previous congress - was heaped with praise by special guest Steve Bannon, U.S. President Donald Trump's former top strategist, during a surprise appearance Saturday.

Marine Le Pen said recently that she is not opposed to ceding her leadership but wants to stay on for at least three more years.

In a nod to the apparently large contingent of members opposed to a name change, Le Pen noted that the National Front name, which the party has had since its founding in 1972, is linked to a 'glorious' past. However, she said it serves as a psychological barrier for potential new members and voters, notably the word 'front,' which connotes opposition.

Despite her troubles, Marine Le Pen was re-elected to a new term as party president at the congress - the only candidate for the post.LONDON (AP) - The Latest on the U.K. investigation into a Russian ex-spy's poisoning (all times local):

10:00 p.m.

A former Moscow neighbor of the ex-spy who was poisoned in England says if the Russian government had wanted Sergei Skripal dead, he would have been killed in Russia a long time ago.

Military and emergency services personnel outside Bourne Hill police station in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as police backed by soldiers continued to search the English town where he was attacked with a nerve agent. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Nikolai Tsiplakov told The Associated Press in an interview on Sunday that he lived in the same building as Skripal's family before the retired military intelligence officer was imprisoned for spying for Britain.

Tsiplakov noted there is no proof of Russian involvement in exposing Skripal and his adult daughter to what British authorities say was a nerve agent.

He said: "You need to understand, he's a former spy and he's a traitor. If they wanted him dead, they would have killed him in Russia a long time ago."

Skripal was freed in 2010 as part of spy swap in which Russians were traded from the West.

Tsiplakov added: "If you need to get rid of a person, when the material is done with and unnecessary, you can throw it away. They can disappear."

Tsiplakov says he was especially close to Skripal's son, Alexander, who died last year at the age of 43.

___

12:55 a.m.

British health officials say the risk to public health after the poisoning of a Russian ex-spy remains low.

Dr. Jenny Harries of Public Health England said Sunday there has been some limited contamination of a restaurant and pub in Salisbury following the nerve agent attack.

She says people who were in the restaurant and pub on March 4 and March 5 should take "simple" precautions by washing their clothes and taking other measures.

Harries says the announcement of these precautions doesn't mean the risk level to the public has been raised.

Hospital officials in Salisbury also said there is no evidence of a wider risk beyond the three people hospitalized since the attack on Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

___

11:50 a.m.

British health authorities have urged people to wash their clothing and possessions as a precaution if they visited a restaurant and pub in the English city of Salisbury, where a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent.

Public Health England has issued advice for anyone who went to either the Zizzi restaurant or The Mill pub at certain hours of March 4 and 5. Ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia reportedly ate at Zizzi before falling critically ill.

The statement says that "while there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either of these locations, it is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin. Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health."

___

10:30 a.m.

British media says traces of the nerve agent used to attack a Russian ex-spy and his daughter have been found in Salisbury where the two were poisoned.

BBC and Sky News said Sunday that traces have been detected. BBC said its sources say traces were found at the Zizzi restaurant where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia reportedly ate before falling critically ill. Sky says traces were found in several locations.

U.K. officials haven't publicly confirmed that any trace of the nerve agent has been found and say the risk to the public remains low. Officials haven't said what type of nerve agent was used.

A large-scale police investigation is underway in Salisbury as forensics experts wearing protective gear search for clues.

The view inside The Mill pub in Salisbury where traces of the nerve agent used to poison Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, which took place on Sunday March 4 were found. British health authorities said Sunday that small traces of contamination have been found in a restaurant and a pub in the English city of Salisbury, after a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Military personnel in College Street Car Park in Salisbury, Sunday March 11, 2018, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, which took place on Sunday March 4. British health authorities said Sunday that small traces of contamination have been found in a restaurant and a pub in the English city of Salisbury, after a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Military personnel in College Street Car Park in Salisbury, Sunday March 11, 2018, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal, which took place on Sunday March 4. British health authorities said Sunday that small traces of contamination have been found in a restaurant and a pub in the English city of Salisbury, after a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Military personnel outside Bourne Hill police station in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as police backed by soldiers continued to search the English town where he was attacked with a nerve agent. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Military personnel outside Bourne Hill police station in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as police backed by soldiers continued to search the English town where he was attacked with a nerve agent. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Wiltshire Police chief constable Kier Pritchard speaks at a media conference in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. Counter-terrorism police and military personnel are investigating the nerve agent poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter.(Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

A police car is removed by military personnel from a car park in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as investigations continue. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Military personnel are prepared before working to remove cars from a car park in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as investigations continue. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

Military personnel are prepared before working to remove cars from a car park in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as investigations continue. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

A car being taken away by military personnel from a car park in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as investigations continue. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)

A car is removed by military personnel from a car park in Salisbury, England, as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent spy Sergei Skripal, Sunday March 11, 2018. British government security ministers held an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the poisoning of former spy Skripal and his daughter Yulia, as investigations continue. (Andrew Matthews/PA via AP)BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian government forces divided the eastern Ghouta enclave outside Damascus into two, pro-government media said Sunday, dealing a major setback to rebels and threatening to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation at the doors of the country's capital.

A military media outlet linked to the Syrian army and its Lebanese allies, the militant group Hezbollah, said pro-government forces broke through rebel lines to establish a corridor through the besieged eastern Ghouta region after capturing the town of Mudeira.

The advance cuts off the towns of Douma and Harasta from the rest of the enclave, according to the Central Military Media outlet. Douma is eastern Ghouta's largest settlement.

This photo released by the Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets, shows a member of the Syrian Civil Defense group carrying a boy who was wounded during airstrikes and shelling by Syrian government forces in Ghouta, a suburb of Damascus, Syria, Sunday, March. 11, 2018. Syrian government forces divided the eastern Ghouta enclave outside Damascus into two, pro-government media said Sunday, dealing a major setback to rebels and threatening to exacerbate an already dire humanitarian situation at the doors of the nation's capital. (Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP)

In Douma, residents and local authorities are now considering evacuating the town, said local council member Iyad Abdelaziz.

"The idea of leaving was refused outright, at first, but now with the regime advances and the siege that's been tightened, there are negotiations about something along those lines," Abdelaziz relayed to The Associated Press by voice note.

Government jets pounded Harasta Sunday evening, said Hezbollah's al-Manar TV station, which was broadcasting live from a lookout over the town.

Hezbollah is one of several regional Shiite militias organized by Iran to support government forces and put down the rebellion sparked by the violent crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in 2011.

The government's advance followed 22 days of intensive ground and air assaults on rebels and civilians trapped inside eastern Ghouta, which have killed over 1,100 people according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group.

At least 12 civilians died under shelling and airstrikes on Sunday, according to the Observatory. The activist run Ghouta Media Center put the toll at 17 dead. The Civil Defense search-and-rescue group, also known as the White Helmets, said the town of Arbeen was struck 44 times, killing 9 people.

The Syrian military command said it established a humanitarian corridor to allow civilians to leave eastern Ghouta, but few have used it. Residents are afraid of being conscripted into the army, or being detained arbitrarily or barred from returning to their homes.

"No one feels safe turning themselves over to the regime and hoping they will be treated as a regular citizen again," said Abdelaziz.

Russia's military command in Syria said Saturday it was negotiating with rebels to let them leave eastern Ghouta, but one of the two leading factions, Faylaq al-Rahman, issued a statement saying it will refuse to surrender or leave. Russia is a key military backer of President Bashar Assad's forces, and is supporting the government's assault on Ghouta.

Residents have been crowding into basements with little food and water, and typically limited ventilation and no electricity, to shelter from the indiscriminate bombardment. The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders said 15 of the 20 hospitals and clinics it supports have been damaged, and said it has recorded more than 1,000 deaths at its medical centers.

The eastern Ghouta enclave has now been split in two, with one side measuring 27 square kilometers (10 square miles) and the other 22 (8 square miles).

Russia's military said 52 civilians were able to flee the enclave for safety in government-held territory outside.

Maj. Gen. Vladimir Zolotukhin of the Russian center for reconciliation of Syria's warring parties said the evacuees would receive "all necessary assistance" within two days, according to Russian news agencies. There were 26 children among the evacuees, according to their reports.

They were the first recorded civilian evacuations from eastern Ghouta since government forces outlined a humanitarian corridor for escape more than one week ago.

Russia and the Syrian government accused rebels of blocking civilians from fleeing.

The U.N. estimates there are 400,000 civilians trapped in the siege.

___

Associated Press writer James Heintz in Moscow contributed to this report.JANESVILLE, Wis. (AP) - Not long ago, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker was the voice of a conservative revolution in the heartland, a Republican at the vanguard and a possible future president. Today, he's the voice of concern, warning his party - at home and nationally - that change is coming again.

In private meetings, public forums and his own policy moves, Walker has made clear he sees worrisome signs for the GOP and the hard-line conservatism that's marked his eight years in office. Wisconsin, which helped hand the White House to Republicans, is looking for something different, Walker has said, and Democrats are motivated.

A recent local election should be a "wake-up call" to the changes afoot in the rural and exurban pockets that 17 months ago voted enthusiastically for President Donald Trump, he recently told a group of GOP donors and activists.

FILE - In this Tuesday, Nov. 1, 2016 file photo, Gov. Scott Walker, R-Wis., left, walks offstage after introducing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump during a campaign rally at the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire in Eau Claire, Wis. Once the voice of a Midwestern conservative revolution, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is now a Republican voice of concern. Walker is pointing to a big Democratic win this year in a Wisconsin Senate special election in a district that Trump won easily in 2016. He says it's a sign that voters are unhappy and Democrats are motivated. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci File)

Walker is acting on his own advice. As he seeks a third term in office, he's embraced a bipartisan tone and a strikingly moderate set of policy proposals. The man who eight years ago set out to dismantle public employee unions is now backing efforts that mirror aspects of former President Barack Obama's health care law and describing his policy differences with Democrats as modest.

"We heard from people across the state. These aren't Republican or Democrat issues. These are things people care about in Wisconsin," Walker told The Associated Press in a recent interview. "As a Republican, I might have a slightly different angle about how to address it. But these are (about) just me listening to people across the state."

Walker's concerns about the mood of white working-class voters resonate beyond Wisconsin and could easily translate to Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Pennsylvania - Rust Belt states that Trump won and that could go a long way toward determining who controls Congress next year.

As a battle-tested Republican from such a state, and who shares the ballot this fall with Democratic Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Walker is worth heeding, said Matt Brooks, executive director of the national Republican Jewish Coalition.

"There are a lot of winds aloft that could have impacts on the broader electoral outlook," Brooks said.

Walker knows something about misjudging the resilience of a political moment.

Riding the tea-party wave and anti-union fervor, Walker got national attention for his push to strip public employee unions of bargaining power, in a state that first encoded such rights 50 years earlier.

Tens of thousands of teachers, prison guards and other public employees demonstrated in the Capitol, and Walker beat back a recall effort, receiving 200,000 more votes than he did in his election win less than two years earlier. Walker tried to use the platform to launch a presidential bid, but his campaign quickly fizzled. By early November 2016, he was at Trump's side at a campaign stop in northwest Wisconsin.

Walker sounded different at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas last month. Behind closed doors, he pointed to a special election upset in Wisconsin this year in the typically Republican, small-town lake lands of northwest Wisconsin, members attending later described. Trump had carried the state Senate district by 17 percentage points.

Walker attributed the stunning reversal in a district of middle- and lower-income white voters in the St. Croix River valley northeast of Minneapolis to Democratic anger with Trump, and wider frustration with the largely stalled agenda in the GOP-controlled Congress.

While a crowded field of Democrats is seeking to oust Walker, it's not yet clear whether he faces a difficult re-election path. But his concerns echo far beyond Wisconsin, said Michael Epstein of Maryland, who was on Walker's presidential finance team and heard Walker's presentation in Las Vegas.

"We're all looking to the midterms with concern," Epstein said.

Months before the January special election in Wisconsin, Walker began preparing for a different political mood in 2018.

Walker, who fought implementation of Obama's 2010 health care law, is now proposing shoring up the private health insurance market. He also wants to ban policy denials for people with pre-existing conditions, a popular provision of Obama's signature law.

Other Democrat-friendly policies he's promoting include protecting Wisconsin's popular SeniorCare discount prescription drug program, bolstering funding for schools and sending families $100 for each child younger than 18. The money would arrive in late summer, just before the fall election.

In the wake of last month's high school shooting in Florida that left 17 dead, Walker came out against arming teachers, something he previously was open to.

Walker's tack to the middle shows how some swing state Republicans are positioning themselves differently given Trump's low approval and a president's party historically losing seats in the first midterm election. By contrast, Nevada Sen. Dean Heller has worked to thaw his once-icy relationship with Trump by championing common policy priorities. Heller faces a primary challenge in a state Trump narrowly lost in 2016.

Democrats say Walker is stealing their best ideas, can't be trusted to follow through on them if he is re-elected and hoping moderate voters forget his conservative record.

"In trying to win a third term, Scott Walker is campaigning as if his first two terms did not exist," said Scot Ross, director of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now.

While Walker hasn't abandoned priorities such as cutting taxes and offering big tax breaks to industry, his focus on swing voters stands in glaring contrast to his first presidential campaign video in 2015, in which he said his GOP rivals "haven't consistently taken on the big fights" and boasted, "I know how to fight and win."

Today he doesn't declare victory.

"In the end, we're a blue state and, at best, we made it purple," Walker told AP.

___

Beaumont reported from Las Vegas.WASHINGTON (AP) - President Donald Trump continues to demand that Republicans be given credit for racking up a scorecard of 5-0 in special congressional elections. The fact his numbers are wrong has not deterred him from repeating the bogus claim for some nine months.

TRUMP: "The Republicans are 5-0 in recent Congressional races, a point which the Fake News Media continuously fails to mention. I backed and campaigned for all of the winners. They give me credit for one. Hopefully, Rick Saccone will be another big win on Tuesday." - tweet Sunday.

THE FACTS: The actual score in congressional races last year - meaning for the House - is 5-1 for the Republicans. The GOP won in Utah, Montana, Kansas, South Carolina and Georgia. Democrats won in California. In every case, the party that had held the seat kept it.

U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., Saturday, March 10, 2018. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Add the Senate race in Alabama won by a Democrat in August and the score is 5-2. That was the only turnover from one party to the other.

Trump has been misrepresenting the results of special elections at least since June, when he led an Iowa rally in a chant of "Five and 0." At the time, the score was 4-1.

Saccone is running for the House in Pennsylvania in the first special election this year.

___

Find AP Fact Checks at http://apne.ws/2kbx8bd

Follow @APFactCheck on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APFactCheckNAIROBI NATIONAL PARK, Kenya (AP) - On the outskirts of a sprawling reserve of Kenyan grasslands where endangered animals roam wild, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lavished praise on an American-funded forensics lab that tracks down elephant-poachers for prosecution, and urged aggressive action in Africa on conservation.

Yet earlier this month, the Trump administration quietly lifted the U.S. ban on importing African elephant trophies, to the dismay of environmental groups who said it sends precisely the wrong message.

U.S. words and deeds are colliding as Tillerson travels across Africa. On trade policy, HIV/AIDS and humanitarian aid, the United States at times seems at odds with itself, muddying efforts to show it wants the continent to flourish and is here to help.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks while touring an anti-poaching forensic lab at the Kenya Wildlife Service in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

In the case of the elephants, conservationists appeared to have a powerful ally in President Donald Trump, who intervened personally last year to stop the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from lifting the Obama-era ban on tusks imported from Zambia and Zimbabwe. Trump took to Twitter to call the practice a "horror show."

At the forensics lab at Nairobi National Park, the only such lab in east and central Africa, Tillerson agreed Sunday when famed conservationist Richard Leakey warned that the "huge interest" in wildlife products such as elephant and rhinoceros parts was fueling the international trafficking trade.

"That's really the key, is to shut it all down," Tillerson said.

But three months after Trump's move to keep the ban in place, his administration reversed course again, saying elephant trophies could be imported on a "case-by-case basis." The U.S. agency said it chose that course of action to comply with a court ruling that said the Obama administration failed to follow proper procedure in enacting the original ban.

In Kenya, where the elephant population has plummeted to roughly one-fifth of what it was in the 1970s, the new Trump policy fell flat.

"The whole world is against it," said Paula Kahumbu, an elephant expert and CEO of Wildlife Direct, a leading Kenyan environmental group. She said past U.S. support for banning the ivory trade has pushed China and other nations to act as well. "To then say, 'Oh, but we have a special case for some of our people, they should be allowed to have ivory,' it totally undermines the U.S. leadership role."

American leadership has been repeatedly questioned since Trump took office in January 2017 as Washington pulls back from past commitments to NATO, to the United Nations and to aid programs that form the core of U.S. "soft power" diplomacy.

Tillerson's trip to Kenya was designed in part to highlight the success of PEPFAR, the 15-year-old HIV/AIDS program that has saved millions of lives and helped see the continent through an epidemic that once threatened to wipe out a whole generation. More than 13 million people with HIV in Africa are on lifesaving antiretroviral drugs thanks to PEPFAR, the U.S. has said.

"It's a very proud moment for us and a very proud moment for the American people," Ambassador Deborah Birx, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, said this past week.

So HIV/AIDS advocates are scratching their heads at why Trump has repeatedly proposed cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from PEPFAR. The nonprofit ONE Campaign warned that the cut would lead to hundreds of thousands more people dying of AIDS each year.

The Trump administration has said despite those reductions, it believes there's enough money left "to maintain all current patient levels" - meaning to not cut off anyone's lifesaving medications. But public health groups say they can't understand why U.S. would pull back from the President George W. Bush-era program at the very moment when Tillerson says the world "can actually now see a future free of HIV/AIDS."

Visiting the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia earlier in his trip, Tillerson urged officials not to go ahead with a plan to impose a 0.2 percent tariff on imports. The goal is to help the AU become financially self-sufficient, but the U.S. is concerned the plan runs afoul of the World Trade Organization, thus keeping U.S. companies out of the African market.

The timing for Tillerson's push was inauspicious: Trump is in the midst of going ahead with steep trade penalties on aluminum and steel imported to the U.S.

___

Reach Josh Lederman on Twitter http://twitter.com/joshledermanAP

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tours an anti-poaching forensic lab at the Kenya Wildlife Service in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

Kenya's Cabinet Secretary for Tourism Najib Balala greets U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson as he arrives to tour the Kenya Wildlife Service in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson bows his head after laying a wreath at Memorial Park in honor of the victims of the deadly 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks with a survivor at Memorial Park on the site of the deadly 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi, Kenya, March 11, 2018. (Jonathan Ernst/Pool Photo via AP)

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lays a wreath during a ceremony at Memorial Park in honor of the victims of the deadly 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing, in Nairobi, Kenya, Sunday, March 11, 2018. In 1998 the US embassies were bombed in near simultaneous attacks in two East African cities, in which over 200 people were killed. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Duke Energy says its top executive's compensation has nearly doubled over the past two years.

The country's No. 2 electricity company by total customers reported to shareholders that Chief Executive Officer Lynn Good was paid more than $21.4 million in 2017, an increase from $10.8 million in 2015.

The company's proxy filing released Friday says Good's base salary rose last year by about 4 percent to $1.3 million, but her stock awards shot up almost 90 percent to more than $17 million.

Duke Energy has 7.5 million customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Kentucky.

The Charlotte-based company won approval to raise prices on about half its North Carolina customers by 6 percent, and wants to increase rates on the rest of its largest market by 10 percent.

___

This story has been corrected to show that Good's reported salary has nearly doubled since 2015.FILOTTRANO, Italy (AP) - Adam Yates soloed to victory in the fifth stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico race on Sunday, while Michal Kwiatkowski finished third to take the overall lead with just two stages remaining.

Yates attacked with about four kilometers remaining of the hilly 178-kilometer (110-mile) route from Castelraimondo to Michele Scarponi's hometown of Filottrano - and no one could catch him.

The British rider crossed the line seven seconds ahead of Peter Sagan and Kwiatkowski.

Britain's Adam Yates celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the 5th stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race, from Castelraimondo to Filottrano, Italy, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Dario Belingheri/ANSA via AP)

"In climbs like this, you just go hard and give as much as you can," Yates said. "I tried to attack after my teammates positioned me well at the bottom of the hill. All I could do was to attack. It fell into place. I don't have a sprint to beat Sagan, I had to go away."

The stage finish was a tribute to Scarponi, who died after a collision with a van while training, shortly before the Giro d'Italia last year.

"I didn't know Michele Scarponi personally. I never spoke to him. But it was an emotional day for many guys in the peloton," Yates said. "It's just a shame he's not here anymore. Every day you go out training and you don't know if you'll come back."

Kwiatkowski moved three seconds ahead of previous leader Damiano Caruso, with Mikel Landa 20 seconds further back.

"I wasn't aiming at being in my best shape at Tirreno-Adriatico, my priority was to prepare for the classics, but it's an opportunity not to be missed if I can win the overall here," Kwiatkowski said.

Kwiatkowski's Team Sky teammate Chris Froome, the four-time Tour de France winner, had a puncture with 5.6 kilometers remaining and finished more than eight minutes behind Yates.

Team Sunweb's miserable week continued as another rider was forced to abandon the race with injuries.

After Tom Dumoulin and Simon Geschke, it was the turn of Wilco Kelderman who abandoned with a fractured shoulder after two crashes.

Kelderman started the stage just 11 seconds behind Caruso.

The sixth and penultimate stage on Monday is another hilly challenge, along the 153-kilometer (95-mile) route from Numana before ending in a sprint finish in Fano.

The race ends Tuesday with an individual time trial in San Benedetto del Tronto.

Poland's Michal Kwiatkowski celebrates on the podium the blue jersey of overall leader after the 5th stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race, from Castelraimondo to Filottrano, Italy, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Dario Belingheri/ANSA via AP)

Britain's Adam Yates celebrates on the podium after winning the 5th stage of the Tirreno-Adriatico cycling race, from Castelraimondo to Filottrano, Italy, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (Dario Belingheri/ANSA via AP)US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Syria on Sunday it would be "very unwise" for government forces to use weaponized gas, as he cited unconfirmed reports of chlorine attacks in eastern Ghouta and slammed Russian support for Damascus.

Mattis stopped short of threatening to retaliate against Syrian forces if a chlorine attack were confirmed.

But he noted America's cruise missile strike on April 6, 2017, on a Syrian air base over a sarin gas attack and said President Donald Trump had "full political maneuver room" to take whatever decision he believed was appropriate.

"It would be very unwise for them to use weaponized gas. And I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration," Mattis said, speaking with a small group of reporters before landing in Oman.

Mattis said he did not currently have clear evidence of any recent chlorine gas attacks but noted numerous media reports about chlorine use.

Rescue workers and opposition activists in eastern Ghouta have accused the government of using chlorine gas during the campaign.

The government firmly denies this.

Damascus and Moscow have accused rebels of planning to orchestrate poison gas attacks in order to draw blame onto the Syrian government.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to continue the offensive in eastern Ghouta, one of the deadliest in the war.

With the conflict entering its eighth year, capturing eastern Ghouta would be a major victory for Assad, who has steadily regained control of rebel areas with Russian and Iranian support.

Mattis chided Moscow for partnering with Assad, suggesting it might even be a partner in the Syrian government's strikes on civilians.

"Either Russia is incompetent or in cahoots with Assad. There's an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas," Mattis said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said earlier this month that Syrian government air strikes on eastern Ghouta and shelling from the rebel-held zone into Damascus probably constitute war crimes.

The White House said last week Russian military aircraft took off from Humaymim Airfield in Syria and carried out at least 20 daily bombing missions in Damascus and eastern Ghouta between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28.

It did not say whether the jets dropped ordnance, which could be harder to determine than tracking the flight paths of Russian aircraft on US radar. But the United States directly accused Russia of killing civilians.

Mattis declined to elaborate on whether Russian jets directly carried out bombings, saying Moscow was involved either way.

"They are Assad's partner and whether the airplane dropping the bomb is a Russian airplane or a Syrian airplane, I'd prefer not to say right now," he said.

The multi-sided war has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011.

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BITOLA, Macedonia (AP) - Thousands of people marched in southern Macedonia on Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation and eventual death of almost the country's entire Jewish population.

Public officials, civic group representatives and relatives of former Macedonian Jews who came from Israel, Latin America and the United States participated in the event in Bitola and lay flowers and wreaths at a Menorah Jewish monument.

Macedonia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when it was occupied by Germany during World War II and then turned over to the Nazis' Bulgarian allies to run. More than 7,000 Jews from the cities of Skopje, Bitola and Stip were confined to ghettos in March 1943 before being deported to the Nazis' Treblinka death camp in German-occupied Poland. Ninety-eight percent of Macedonia's Jews perished there. Bitola lost its entire Jewish community of 3,144.

Jewish women hug each other during a commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust at the railway station in Bitola, southern Macedonia, on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Thousands of people have joined a march in southern Macedonian town of Bitola, commemorating 75 years of deportation and destruction of almost entire country's Jewish community in the Nazi extermination camp Treblinka, during World War II. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

The International March of the Living, the official name of the commemoration, started in front of the monument to deported Jews, with wailing sirens signaling the start. People joined in the march along the same route that Jews were forced to take 75 years ago to the train station, where they were jammed into freight cars for the trip to the death camp.

Hundreds of carnations were laid on the railway tracks.

One of the few Jewish survivors, who was a baby at the time, came from Israel for the remembrance.

"I feel excitement .," said Maty Grunberg, 75, a sculptor from Tel Aviv who was born in Macedonia's capital, Skopje, just a week before the deportation of Jews. "People who survived now have started to recollect the memories, trying to put the pieces together what has happened here. This is a mysterious link I call it - how it is bringing me here from Israel as the only Jewish boy from here that had survived the war."

The Jewish commemorations are to continue Monday in Skopje.

People take part in the International March of the Living, through Bitola, southern Macedonia, commemorating the victims of the Holocaust, on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Thousands of people have joined a march in southern Macedonian town of Bitola, commemorating 75 years of deportation and destruction of almost entire country's Jewish community in the Nazi extermination camp Treblinka, during World War II. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

A Jew puts his arms on a freight wagon, during a commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust at the railway station in Bitola, southern Macedonia, on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Thousands of people have joined a march in southern Macedonian town of Bitola, commemorating 75 years of deportation and destruction of almost entire country's Jewish community in the Nazi extermination camp Treblinka, during World War II. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)

People lay flowers on railway tracks, during a commemoration for the victims of the Holocaust, at the railway station in Bitola, southern Macedonia, on Sunday, March 11, 2018. Thousands of people have joined a march in southern Macedonian town of Bitola, commemorating 75 years of deportation and destruction of almost entire country's Jewish community in the Nazi extermination camp Treblinka, during World War II. (AP Photo/Boris Grdanoski)ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) - There was never a question if Sebastien Bourdais would return to racing after suffering serious injuries from a crash at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

It was rather a matter of how fast he could get back in a car. Doctors told him 2018; Bourdais said he'd be healed in time to race again last year. He succeeded.

But a fiery accident that caused a broken pelvis and a broken hip can change a driver's mentality no matter how determined he was to race again, so it was reasonable to wonder: Would Bourdais be the same driver?

Sebastien Bourdais (18) celebrates after winning the IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Absolutely.

His comeback from a vicious wreck, the kind that can end careers, was completed Sunday when Bourdais showed he's still a winner. He made it two straight at St. Petersburg, the adopted hometown for the Frenchman, and won IndyCar's season-opening event.

It doesn't matter how it happened, or that Bourdais was gifted the victory, only that he could indeed win again.

"I was very emotional in the car. I think you get the questions from people: Is he going to be the same? Is he going to come back? Is he this? Is he this?" Bourdais said. "I really try not to leave any room for uncertainty as far as what I was going to do and how forward I was going to go by coming back last year, 2 months later.

"It's been bumpy, it's been tough, it's been everything in between. It's been pretty hard for myself. It's quite an achievement to be able to restart the season and settle the matter right away and get back on the horse and win another one."

Bourdais won because newcomer rookie Robert Wickens, in his IndyCar debut, lost.

The Canadian dominated the race, leading 69 of the 110 laps, and the win was in his grip until two late cautions set up NASCAR-style late restarts, and contact with Alexander Rossi on the final restart of the race ruined his day. Rossi dove inside of Wickens in the first turn with two laps remaining, Wickens defended his position and the two cars touched. Wickens went off course, Rossi slid back to third and Bourdais sailed by for the 37th victory of his career.

"It would have been a fairy tale to finish that well, but sometimes it's just not meant to be," Wickens said. "My opinion, he just went too deep, locked the rears and slid into me. There's really no other explanation to it. The only pity is he carried on to a podium, and I ended up in the fence."

Wickens ended up 18th.

Even Bourdais, who wept after his win, understood that the race had been Wickens' to win.

"I was really happy for Robert and I'm heartbroken for him," Bourdais said.

Wickens was a star in touring cars in Germany but defected to IndyCar this year at the coaxing of good friend James Hinchcliffe. Although he was one of seven rookies in the 24-car field Sunday, he is 28 and a proven winner.

He is part of an all-Canadian lineup at Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, and he and Hinchcliffe were strong the entire weekend. Wickens was only the third driver since 1993 to win the pole for his IndyCar debut - Nigel Mansell did it in '93 in Surfer's Paradise and Bourdais at St. Pete in 2003 - and the victory would have been a firm announcement of his arrival in the American open-wheel series.

Instead, two late cautions gave Rossi a chance to take it away. Wickens said IndyCar's pace car did not follow the same procedure it had used on the previous restart, and Wickens wasn't able to get the jump he wanted on Rossi.

Rossi was not penalized for the contact and believed he had done nothing wrong.

"I feel bad because I feel like I could have won and he could have gotten second," Rossi said. "They made it very clear in the drivers' meeting that the rule on blocking was you can't move in reaction. If he defended the inside ... and then I continued to go to the inside down the white line, then yeah, that's my decision and that's putting my car in danger. But there's no reason why I can't pop and stay next to him. I don't have to be all four wheels in the part of the track that nobody goes on."

The American, who recently appeared on the reality TV show "The Amazing Race," said he not spoken to Wickens but imagined that Wickens was upset with him.

Bourdais, meanwhile, had positioned himself to capitalize when Wickens and Rossi went haywire.

Bourdais now ranks sixth on IndyCar's all-time list, two wins behind Al Unser for fifth. It was the sixth victory for Dale Coyne Racing, the first since Bourdais won at St. Petersburg last year. The team this year has been bolstered by the ownership group of Jimmy Vasser and James Sullivan, which reunited Bourdais with his former bosses and a new sponsor in SealMaster.

He always believed he'd be back, even after that accident in Indy 500 qualifying last May. In a rehabilitation center and stitched together as the Indy 500 went on without him, Bourdais vowed to get his car back before the end of the season. He made it in time for the final three races of the year, and could have done it sooner had Coyne not already sold the seat to another driver.

Then he almost won the Rolex in January, and cemented his comeback Sunday on his home streets.

"Once I knew what the injuries were and there were not going to be any lasting events, then it was like fast forward and get back on the horse and get back to what I do, get back to my life," Bourdais said. "I don't know my life any other way. I'm 39, and I'm aging, and everybody is starting to make me feel old. This is my life. This is what I want to be doing, and as long as I'm competitive, this is what I'll be doing.

"It's just a great feeling to be able to, like I said, restart that way and make a statement."

The race debuted IndyCar's sleek new race car that is designed to improve competition, level the playing field and cut costs. Sunday saw a race-record 366 on-track passes, breaking the mark of 323 set in 2008.

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More AP Auto Racing: https://racing.ap.org

Sebastien Bourdais (18), right, celebrates after winning the IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Graham Rahal (15), left, finished second and Alexander Rossi (27) finished third. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Sebastien Bourdais (18) celebrates after winning the IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Alexander Rossi (27) and Marco Andretti (98) race through Turn 10 during the IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Robert Wickens leads into Turn 2 during the IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)

Sebastien Bourdais (18) races into Turn 10 before winning the IndyCar Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Sunday, March 11, 2018, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (AP Photo/Jason Behnken)ISLAMABAD (AP) - Pakistan state television reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has arrived in Islamabad as the head of a politico-economic delegation.

During his three-day visit, which began Sunday, Zarif will hold talks with the Pakistani prime minister, foreign minister, interior minister, parliament speaker and army chief.

Pakistan and Iran have had close ties in the past but recent regional alignments and Pakistan's tilt toward Saudi Arabia have perturbed Iran, particularly the assignment of a Pakistani former army chief to head a Saudi-led 39-nation Islamic military coalition to combat terrorism.

The visit likely aims to reduce tensions between the two neighbors.AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) - The Latest on the NASCAR Cup Series race Sunday at ISM Raceway (all times local):

2:11 p.m.

Kurt Busch won the second 75-lap stage in the NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway in a one-lap shootout after a caution period.

Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series driver Martin Truex Jr. (78) leads the field on the green flag during a NASCAR Cup Series auto race on Sunday, March 11, 2018, in Avondale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)

Busch stayed on the track while the leaders pitted after Chris Buescher hit the wall on Lap 146.

Younger brother Kyle Busch won the opening stage and was leading when the caution came out. He ended up seventh in the stage, and regained the lead when the drivers who didn't pit for the caution came in for fuel and tires after the segment.

Kevin Harvick was second behind Kyle Busch on the restart.

Harvick is coming off consecutive victories in Atlanta and Las Vegas and has a record eight Cup victories at the track.

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1:27 p.m.

Kyle Busch won the first 75-lap stage of the NASCAR Cup Series race at ISM Raceway, and Kevin Harvick moved up to second in his bid for a third straight victory.

Busch took the lead from Kyle Larson on Lap 56 after Larson had led every green-flag lap. Busch won the Phoenix fall race in 2015, and has nine Xfinity and two Truck wins at the desert track.

Larson passed Martin Truex Jr. on the first lap, lost the top spot to Truex on the first pit stop, and jumped ahead again off the restart.

Harvick started 10th on the mile oval where he has a record eight victories. He won the last two weeks in Atlanta and Las Vegas.

Larson was third in the stage, followed by Denny Hamlin and Truex.

Corey LaJoie lost an engine on Lap 26, bringing out the caution period that served as the scheduled Lap 35 competition caution.

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12:45 p.m.

Kevin Harvick started 10th at ISM Raceway, chasing his third straight NASCAR Cup Series victory and record-extending ninth at the desert track.

He's also was trying to get past penalties for technical violations found after his Las Vegas victory last week.

Defending series champion Martin Truex Jr. started from the pole, followed by the Hendrick Motorsports trio of Kyle Larson, Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman. Team Penske's Logano started fifth. Logano is the last driver to win three in a row, accomplishing the feat in 2015.

Morning rain gave way to sun well before the drivers hit the track. On Friday, light rain delayed the Xfinity Series race for two hours.

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More AP Auto Racing: https://racing.ap.orgBINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) - Authorities in upstate New York are investigating the death of a Binghamton University nursing student.

Police tell Newsday that 22-year-old Haley Anderson, of Westbury, Long Island, was found dead at an off-campus residence on Friday. Her death was later ruled a homicide.

Police say a male nursing student at the university who had a previous relationship with the victim is a person of interest. They say the male student had left the country on an international flight before the victim's body was found.

Police on Saturday did not reveal the cause of death. Binghamton police officers found the senior's body during a welfare check.

The university's Facebook page offered condolences to the victim's family and friends. It said counseling would be available and there was no threat to public safety.

___

Information from: Newsday, http://www.newsday.comA second fertility clinic says thousands of frozen eggs and embryos may have been jeopardized from a freezer failure.

Pacific Fertility Clinic in San Francisco, California, confirmed that there was a liquid nitrogen failure in a storage tank in the facility.

Dr Carl Herbert, president of Pacific Fertility Clinic, told the Washington Post on Sunday that officials have informed some 400 patients of the failure that occurred March 4.

Herbert says the clinic's staff thawed a few eggs and found they remain viable, but they have not checked any of the embryos.

Scroll down for video

Pacific Fertility Clinic (pictured) in San Francisco, California, confirmed there was a freezer failure that impacted 400 patients in the facility

The clinic said there was a liquid nitrogen problem in the tank and it impacted 15 percent of the facility's total egg and embryo population (stock photo)

On Saturday night, doctors with the clinic called some of the 400 patients who had their embryos and eggs stored in the damaged tank.

Herbert told the Post his discussions with patients were emotional.

'Anger is a big part of the phone call,' he said. 'Our goal is to provide all the patients we see with some kind of a family.  We need to think: If this tissue doesn't work, what are the next steps, and have you not feel defeated.'

The clinic also sent out emails to two other groups of patients about the failure - an estimated 100 patients who had tissue in the problematic tank and another tank, and then a second group whose embryos and eggs remained undamaged.

Dr Carl Herbert, president of the facility, said doctors called patients on Saturday to inform them of the failure. He claims the staff tested some of the eggs and found them still viable

A spokesperson with the clinic said that an estimated 15 per cent of the clinic's total number of eggs and embryos were in the damaged tank.

It's the second such failure at a US clinic in a matter of days.

Last week, an Ohio hospital said more than 2,000 frozen eggs and embryos may have been damaged due to a refrigerator malfunction.

The University Hospital Fertility Center in Cleveland has a long-term storage tank containing liquid nitrogen that suffered equipment failure.

The failure caused the temperature to rise, ultimately making the eggs and embryos at the facility lose their viability. Some of these have been stored for decades.

Approximately 500 to 600 families were affected by the Ohio fertility clinic tank failure.

The hospital started contacting each of the families last week to determine how they would like to proceed with their eggs and embryos.

Amber and Elliott Nash were one couple devastated by the faulty storage tank in the Ohio hospital.

Amber and Elliott Ash may have lost their embryos after a malfunction at the fertility center in Ohio where they were being held which saw temperatures rise and the eggs start to thaw out

Amber told of her grief at losing two embryos. She expects compensation for the mistake

'My heart just sank and I felt physically ill,' Amber Ash said to CBS News.

'I felt just sick to my stomach. The world of infertility is just very isolating world.'

The couple, who have one child together, had the IVF procedure after Elliot was diagnosed with cancer to give them option if they wanted to have a family one day.

But after Amber's first pregnancy, doctors told her she should not carry another child because of complications.

Their embryos were saved for them to have an option of using a surrogate in the future.

The hospital sent letters to the affected families, but Amber told the news station that she heard the news from a family member who saw it on TV.

The couple is hoping for compensation after the error that potentially damaged two of their embryos.

Katelynn Gurbach said her 'deepest nightmares' had come true after her eggs were lost

Katelynn Gurbach also lost her eggs and with them any chances of being a mother.

'The unthinkable, the unimaginable, the unbelievable has happened. My worst fears and deepest nightmares made a reality,' she wrote in a moving post on Facebook.

When Katelynn was 23 years old, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer and underwent fertility treatment at University Hospitals to harvest her eggs.

There were 10 eggs and four embryos in total, but she has now been told that any chances of having a child are lost.

'I always though that they would be there waiting for me. I used to tell them that we were coming for them. That was my whole life. I wanted nothing more than to be a mom,' she told WKYC.

The hospital said it's conferring with experts about why the storage tank malfunctioned.

In order to check viability, the eggs and embryos have to be thawed and then implanted.

All of them have been moved to a working tank and the facility said it would not destroy any of them unless authorized to by the individual.

Egg freezing has grown in popularity, with an estimated 20,000 US women who have had the procedure, according to the Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology.

The procedure can cost between $10,000 to $15,000 depending on the clinic.RENSSELAER, N.Y. (AP) - Three people have been killed, including a child, in an early morning house fire in upstate New York.

The Albany Times Union reports the blaze began early Sunday at a home in Rensselaer (rehn-suh-LEER').

Police have not yet released the names of the victims, but reports say they were a mother, a grandmother and a young son.

The newspaper says a daughter is hospitalized in critical condition and another child was able to escape to a neighbor's house for help.

Authorities say it took firefighters less than an hour to bring the fire under control. The house was completely gutted.

The cause of the fire is unknown.

___

Information from: Times Union, http://www.timesunion.comThe Taoiseach will later begin his St Patricks trip to the US with a series of engagements in Texas.

Austin in Texas is the first stop on Leo Varadkars week-long programme of events stateside.

As is tradition, the focus of the itinerary will be Mr Varadkars meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday.

The problems encountered by the tens of thousands of Irish citizens who live in the US without legal residency are set to feature in the Oval Office discussions.

Mr Varadkar will meet with US President Donald Trump (Matt Cardy/PA)

With Irelands economy supported by thousands of jobs created by US-based multinationals, President Trumps America First protectionist policies may also be raised, as might Irelands controversial tax arrangements with some of those companies.

The ongoing powersharing crisis in Northern Ireland is also likely to feature to the talks.

As well as Austin and Washington DC, the Irish premier will also fulfil engagements New York.

He will also visit a Native American community in Oklahoma.

His meeting with the Choctaw Nation will commemorate the tribes fundraising efforts for the victims of Irelands Great Famine in the mid Nineteenth Century.

In Austin, the Taoiseach will celebrate Irish innovation at the South by Southwest festival and meet the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott.

After further stops in Texas and then Oklahoma, Mr Varadkar travels to Washington DC on Tuesday where he will deliver a foreign policy address to the Brookings Institution.

That evening, the Taoiseach and Senator George Mitchell will be keynote speakers at a congressional event to mark 20 years since the signing of Northern Irelands Good Friday Agreement peace agreement.

His Washington engagements also include meetings with senior representatives of Irish companies succeeding in the US market.

On Wednesday, the Taoiseach will address the annual American Ireland Fund gala dinner.

Keeping with recent traditions, Mr Varadkars bilateral meeting with Mr Trump on Thursday will be followed by the annual Speakers lunch on Capitol Hill and the ceremonial exchange of a shamrock bowl between the President and Taoiseach back at the White House.

On Friday, the Taoiseach will be guest of honour at a breakfast hosted by Vice President Mike Pence.

Mr Varadkar will end his trip in New York where his series of engagements will include the St Patricks Day parade along Fifth Avenue on Saturday.Former West Ham midfielder Frank Lampard described the atmosphere at the London Stadium as toxic after angry protests marred his old clubs Premier League defeat to Burnley.

There were pitch invasions by some supporters while hundreds of others gathered beneath the directors box to protest against the clubs board as the relegation-threatened Hammers crashed to a 3-0 loss.

Some fans even made a throat-slitting gesture while missiles were seen to be thrown in the direction of the executive seats.

A pitch invader is confronted by security during West Hams Premier League match with Burnley at the London Stadium (Daniel Hambury/PA)

On the pitch, West Ham captain Mark Noble grappled one fan to the floor, defender James Collins frogmarched two away and Burnley forward Ashley Barnes tripped another over.

And Lampard, who left West Ham in 2001 to join London rivals Chelsea, hit out at the way the supporters vented their frustrations.

It was very toxic. It was a horrible feeling in the second half, in particular, the ex-England international said on Match of the Day.

Fans coming on to the pitch, I understand Mark Nobles position. He is Mr West Ham and doesnt do this for the fun of it.

He cares and that is why he reacted in that way. This wasnt right. This was very aggressive today.

Frank Lampard started his career at West Ham (Jon Buckle/Empics)

Lampard had some sympathy for the fans, but did not condone their actions.

I understand some of the fans feelings in general, he added.

They move stadium, feeling like they have lost some of their identity moving stadium, with part of the deal to move stadium and fight for Europe and invest.

The club have a 29million net spend since they have moved, which is not really enough, so they have gone backwards.

The fans are asking questions, but the way to ask a question is not a demonstration mid-game as that affects the players.

West Ham fans held up a banner reading `Sold a dream given a nightmare during Satudays match with Burnley (Daniel Hambury/PA)

It is not the first time that there has been unrest at West Hams home matches this season, but Jermaine Jenas says Saturdays was the worse he has seen.

The former Tottenham and Newcastle midfielder said on MOTD: Today was the worst. Ive been down to a few games this season at London Stadium where its also happened.

I remember Brighton at home when they got beat heavily. There was fights breaking out in the stadium then.

"I do feel for the players."



JJ says playing under that pressure doesn't help the West Ham players when in a relegation battle.#MOTD  https://t.co/wU2mRvKA45 pic.twitter.com/qTntOf7zVb  Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) March 10, 2018

I do feel for the players. Dont get me wrong, they are under-performing but playing under that type of pressure on top of being in a relegation battle, it just doesnt help.

Television host James Corden, a West Ham fan, said supporters need to rally behind the team as they try to stay in the Premier League.

Saturdays loss was a fourth defeat in five Premier League games for the Hammers and left David Moyes side 16th in the table, three points above the relegation zone.A week after a former Russian spy and his daughter were found poisoned on a Salisbury bench, a number of the Sunday front pages look at the major incidents wider fallout.

The Sunday Telegraph says Russian officials involved in corruption and human rights abuse could be targeted in a tough new sanctions regime in co-ordination with the United States and Canada.

Meanwhile the Conservative Party was facing criticism after The Sunday Times reported that it had declared donations of more than 820,000 from Russian-linked supporters since Theresa May became Prime Minister in July 2016.

Tomorrow's front page: Tories break May's vow to ban Russian donors #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/RdNyjxJpH2  The Sunday Times (@thesundaytimes) March 10, 2018

The Independent features spy Anna Chapmans comments on its front page, saying the socialite has defended Russia over the attack on traitor Skripal.

The Sunday Express says the spy and his daughter could have been poisoned by a parcel.

And the Sunday People has been told by a defector there are eight targets on a Russian hit list.

What the papers say - March 11 (PA)

SUNDAY PEOPLE: 8 targets on Putins UK hit list #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/D4EH7BGyCp  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 10, 2018

Away from the Salisbury probe and its fallout, the Sunday Mirror says it has found up to 1,000 children could have suffered in Britains worst sex abuse scandal after carrying out an investigation.

The Observer leads with a report on Government data that shows there are almost four times more men than women in Britains highest-paid posts.

OBSERVER: Top paid men outstrip women by 4-1 shock figures reveal #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/lKD6teKJxx  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 10, 2018

Bono has apologised after the Mail On Sunday revealed claims that workers at a charity he co-founded were subjected to a culture of bullying and abuse.

MAIL ON SUNDAY: Shame of the Bono Charity Bullies #tomorrowspaperstoday pic.twitter.com/Whfk8Q4LF6  Neil Henderson (@hendopolis) March 10, 2018

The Sun carries a story about Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt on its front page.The Syrian army has completely surrounded the major town of Douma in the eastern Ghouta region after advancing from Mesraba to Mudeira, two other towns in the area, a military media unit run by the government's ally Hezbollah said on Sunday.

That army advance met up with another from the area around the town of Harasta, cutting the remaining rebel area in eastern Ghouta in two, it said.

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The man who killed three women after a day-long siege at a Northern California veterans home had trouble adjusting to regular life after he returned from the Afghanistan war.

As family and friends of the victims tried to make sense of the tragedy, authorities offered little information on Saturday about why Albert Wong, 36, attacked The Pathway Home and whether he targeted his victims.

Those who knew the women said they had dedicated their lives to helping those suffering like Wong, and they wouldve been in a good position to assist him had Fridays hostage situation ended differently.

Public Safety officers put up caution tape around building following the hostage situation (Josh Edelson/AP)

We lost three beautiful people yesterday, Yountville Mayor John Dubar said. We also lost one of our heroes who clearly had demons that resulted in the terrible tragedy that we all experienced here.

Authorities said Wong, a former Army rifleman who served a year in Afghanistan in 2011-2012 and returned highly decorated, went to the campus about 50 miles (85 kilometres) north of San Francisco on Friday morning, slipping into a leaving party for some employees of The Pathway Home. He let some people leave, but kept the three.

Police said a Napa Valley sheriffs deputy exchanged gunshots with Wong around 10.30 am but after that nothing was heard from him.

Witness Sandra Woodford said she saw police with guns trained outside, but said the only shots she heard were inside Pathway early on Friday. This rapid live-fire of rounds going on, at least 12, she said.

Hours later, authorities found four bodies, including Wong.

His victims were identified as The Pathway Home executive director Christine Loeber, 48, clinical director Jennifer Golick, 42, and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nations veterans, working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Pathway Home said in a statement.

Wong always wanted to join the Army and serve his country and was soft-spoken and calm, said Cissy Sherr, who was Wongs legal guardian when he was a child.

Fernando Juarez, 36, of Napa embraces his 22-year-old sister Vanessa Flores at the Veterans Home of California (Ben Margot/AP)

Ms Sherr and her husband became Wongs guardians after his father died and his mother developed health problems, she said. He moved back in with them for a little while in 2013 after he returned from his deployment in Afghanistan and kept in touch online.

He always had a great smile on his face, she said. He didnt have a traditional upbringing but still he just became a fine young man. I cant imagine what happened. It doesnt make any sense to me.

Wong wanted to go back to school to study computers and business and thought the Pathway House program would help him readjust after the Army, she said.

The programme is housed at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville in the Napa Valley wine country region.

Ms Golicks father-in-law, Mike Golick, said in an interview she had recently expelled Wong from the program. After Wong entered the building, Ms Golick called her husband to say she had been taken hostage by the former soldier, her father-in-law said.

He didnt hear from his wife again.

Marjorie Morrison, the founder of a nonprofit organization known as PsychArmor, recalled Gonzales Shushereba as a brilliant talent who did amazing work with veterans with PTSD, and also focused on helping college campuses successfully reintegrate veterans when they return to school.

Gonzales Shushereba, a mother-to-be, had planned to travel to Washington, DC, this weekend to celebrate her wedding anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.

Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about  helping those in critical need, her husband, T.J. Shushereba, said in a statement.The Williams sisters will face off for the first time since the 2017 Australian Open final after Serena saw off Kiki Bertens 7-6 (7/5) 7-5 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.

It will be the 29th time the Americans have met each other on the WTA Tour, as the younger of the sisters plays in her first competitive tournament since the birth of her daughter last September.

Serena Williams found herself down 5-3 in the first set, but broke back as the set went into a tie-break which she took on the last of four set-points.

Serena Williams will take on her sister Venus (Adam Davy/PA)

Venus-Serena.

A 29th meeting.

The 3R of the #BNPPO18.

Their earliest at an event since the '98 Aus Open.

When they played each other for the very, very first time.



We can't wait. Can you? pic.twitter.com/d5XKPHhpsm  BNP Paribas Open (@BNPPARIBASOPEN) March 11, 2018

Bertens, ranked 29, was broken in the second as Williams served for the match at 5-4, but the next three games all went against serve. Williams, 15-40 down at 6-5 and serving for the match, held out to take the match in one hour 53 minutes.

Earlier on the same court, eighth seed Venus Williams saw off Sorana Cirstea of Romania 6-3 6-4, while last years US Open runner-up Madison Keys lost to Danielle Collins 6-3 7-6 (7/1).

Fourth seed Elina Svitolina reached the third round by beating Mona Barthel of Germany 6-4 6-3, while defending champion Elena Vesnina dropped the first set to Catherine Bellis but battled back to triumph 2-6 6-1 6-1.

.@laraarrua saves two match points and avoids the bagel!



Wozniacki will serve for the match! #BNPPO18 pic.twitter.com/3ngpnl2Gho  wta (@WTA) March 11, 2018

Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki also advanced, courtesy of a 6-4 6-1 victory over Spains Lara Arruabarrena.French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a jibe at Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.

Mr Macron did not name the US president while speaking at the first meeting of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi.

However, while hailing the solar mamas, a group of women trained as solar engineers, he said the women had continued their mission to promote solar energy even after some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.

Mr Trump announced last June that the US was withdrawing from the Paris accord, which aims to slow the rise in global temperature by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shakes hands with French President Emmanuel Macron on his arrival at the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi (Manish Swarup/AP)

Heads and ministers of dozens of countries are participating in the daylong solar summit, co-hosted by India and France.

The Alliance is a treaty-based international body for the promotion of efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

It was launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

Because they (solar mamas) decided it was good for them, for their children, their grandchildren, Mr Macron said.

They decided to act and keep acting, and thats why we are here, in order to act very concretely.

India and France called for affordable solar technology and concessional finance for promoting solar energy.

The summit will discuss framing regulations and standards, credit mechanisms, crowd funding and sharing of technological breakthroughs to promote solar energy in 121 countries associated with the Alliance.

The member countries are fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Sharing my remarks at the ISA Founding Conference. Talked about the importance of the Sun in different cultures, Indias commitment to solar energy and Action Points for the future. https://t.co/ulyi4kAZlf pic.twitter.com/RoIjLBqW8f  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 11, 2018

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a unified effort for promoting solar energy and said the Alliance would help to achieve greater global energy security.

Promoting its development and use can bring prosperity for all and can help reduce the carbon footprint on Earth, Mr Modi told the summit.

If we want the welfare of planet Earth and of the whole humanity, I am confident that we can come out of our personal confines and like a family, bring unity in our aims and efforts (to promote solar energy).An advertising campaign aimed at luring businesses to cross the Channel after Brexit has been banned from London Underground stations.

The ad urged entrepreneurs worried about the UKs withdrawal from the EU to vote with their feet.

It was commissioned by the Normandy Development Agency, which promotes economic growth in the region in northern France.

The Normandy Development Agency is trying to convince British businesses to cross the Channel (Normandy Development Agency/PA)

But Transport for London (TfL) refused to run the ad because it did not fully comply with our advertising guidelines.

TfL does not allow images or messages which relate to matters of public controversy or sensitivity.

The Normandy ad featured a mock-up of a fictional newspaper with the headline: British business owners can now vote with their feet and leave post-Brexit fears behind.

The campaign, created by London-based creative agency Splash Worldwide, will still run in national newspapers in the coming days and will be displayed on a bus touring Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Manchester and London.

Herve Morin, president of Normandy Regional Council, said: Brexit gives Normandy a unique opportunity to welcome British businesses who decide to stay at the heart of the European Union.

The Brexit deal might not happen tomorrow, but British entrepreneurs are given the choice to decide for themselves if they want to expand their companies in Normandy.Shamed MSP Mark McDonald has been urged to quit by one of the women who reported him for inappropriate behaviour.

The woman, who spoke to the Sunday Mail newspaper anonymously, said the behaviour had a devastating impact on her and she had decided to speak publicly after being angered by his media campaign.

Mr McDonald quit the SNP and apologised last week after an internal investigation into allegations made by three women identified persistent behaviour including inappropriate and unwanted text messages, unwanted attention and exploiting his position of power.

Mark McDonald quit the SNP and apologised last week (Danny Lawson/PA)

The married father-of-two, who resigned as childcare minister when the allegations first came to light in November, plans to return to the Scottish Parliament this week as an independent MSP for Aberdeen Donside.

In an interview with Holyrood magazine, he said he would stay on to demonstrate that I have learned from my mistakes.

But the Sunday Mail reported that the pressure of dealing with Mr McDonalds behaviour had led to the woman ending up in hospital and off work.

She said she had chosen to stay silent during the investigation, partly out of respect to Mr McDonalds family, but had decided that enough is enough.

The woman said: I now feel his constant media spin, attempts to gain sympathy and retain his salary have pushed me to the point where I now want to make my side public.

I have to make it clear that his behaviour was beyond the pale and had a devastating impact.

This was more than a few improper texts but a catalogue of attempts to abuse his position of power.

Mr McDonald claims to be sorry but I see his attempt to return to their place of work as a blatant affront to that apology.

Calling for his resignation, she said she was speaking out not only for me but for future generations of women who would work at the Scottish Parliament.

Defending the decision in the Holyrood interview, Mr McDonald said: I dont dispute that I have behaved in a way that fell below the professional standards that should be expected of me but if we are to say that people cannot make a mistake and then rehabilitate and return, what message are we sending out more widely?

He added: I want to come back and demonstrate yes to colleagues, yes to constituents, but also to my kids that this wasnt all that I was. That this wasnt the sum of me, because otherwise this will be their truth.

It would be foolish for me to think that people are going to welcome me back with open arms welcome me back into the fold or anything like that.

I know Ive got to work hard at this and prove myself all over again but Im determined to do that.People visiting Salisbury in the immediate aftermath of the suspected spy attack have been asked to take action amid concerns over a substance used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia.

Public Health England (PHE) published the precautionary advice after the pair were found slumped on a bench in the Wiltshire city a week ago.

Tests subsequently suggested the pair were exposed to a nerve agent.

A third victim, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, was also admitted to hospital after falling seriously ill when he responded to the emergency, however his condition has since improved.

The PHE statement said those who visited areas where traces of the nerve agent were discovered  The Mill pub between 1.30pm last Sunday and closing time at 11.10pm on Monday, and the nearby Zizzi restaurant between 1.30pm Sunday and 9pm the next day  should take action.

This includes advice to:

 Machine wash clothing worn that day

 Double-bag clothing worn that day which would normally be dry cleaned and await further advice

 Wipe personal effects such as mobile phones, purses and wallets with baby wipes

 Hand wash jewellery

Englands chief medical officer Dame Sally Davies said she believed fewer than 500 people would have been in either venue at the times specified.

The health risk to residents in Salisbury remains low. We have published precautionary advice for those who were in The Mill pub or Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury on Sunday 4 or Monday 5 March 2018 https://t.co/bi6goK6GsY  Public Health England (@PHE_uk) March 11, 2018

She said: I want to reassure the general public that the risk to us all from this incident in Salisbury has not changed, and that the risk to us all remains low.

Rigorous scientific analysis continues, but we have now learnt that there has been some trace contamination by the nerve agent in both The Mill pub and Zizzis restaurant in Salisbury.

I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in The Mill pub or Zizzis restaurant.

However, some people are concerned that prolonged long-term exposure to these substances may, over weeks and particularly months, give rise to health problems.

Im therefore advising  as a belt and braces approach  that people who were in [Zizzis or the Mill during the specified times] should clean the clothes they wore and the possessions they handled while there.

This is precautionary advice aimed at only those people who were at the venues at these times, which I believe to be below 500 people. I am confident none of these customers will have suffered harm.

It comes as Armed Forces personnel continue to assist police.

Soldiers were seen at the South Western Ambulance Service station on Saturday as a vehicle was winched on to the back of an Army low-loader and taken away.

Police investigating the suspected attack have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence, Home Secretary Amber Rudd said.

A police officer stands guard at the Maltings in Salisbury (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The attack on Mr Skripal and his daughter was a violation of the city, the Bishop of Salisbury said.

The Rt Rev Nicholas Holtam told BBC Radio Solent: There has been a violation of this place and this community and it is more than an attack on individuals.

Cordons remain in place across the city as investigators in hazmat clothing continue to delicately scour for clues.

Wiltshire Police confirmed it has charged a man who breached one of the cordons on Friday evening.

Jamie Knight, 30, from Salisbury, is suspected of assaulting a police officer, common assault, criminal damage to a police vehicle and a racially aggravated public order offence.

He will appear before magistrates in Swindon on Monday.Teenager Millie Knight celebrated her crazy achievement in claiming a second Winter Paralympics medal in as many days in Pyeongchang.

Knight followed up her second place in the womens downhill with another silver in the VI super-G along with her guide Brett Wild.

She said: If youd said I would have two medals in two days at the Paralympics I would have said you are crazy.

Millie Knight skied to a second silver medal (Adam Davy/PA)

This time four years ago I was sat in the crowd watching Kelly (Gallagher) win gold and now Ive made the podium myself.

I cant quite believe this has happened again. I was really relaxed  I think it (my first medal) took a lot of pressure off, so it meant I slept really well and was in a great place to race.

Her success completed a remarkable comeback for Knight, who had sustained concussion during a crash on the same course in Pyeongchang in February.

She was pipped to gold by Slovakias Henrieta Farkasova, who landed her seventh Paralympic title alongside guide Natalia Subrtova in a time of 1:30.17, over three seconds quicker than Knight.

But there was more medal success for Great Britain as Knights team-mate Menna Fitzpatrick rebounded from her failure to finish in the downhill by taking bronze with guide Jennifer Kehoe.

The Macclesfield 20-year-old had crashed early in her first run on the downhill course but was able to recover and ski down the rest of the course.

Kehoe said: After the downhill we just had a cup of tea and a chat with our sport psychologist who just helped us to think about all of the positives that we have had from this season and the success that we have had.

It was about knowing we can do it and just getting on the hill and doing it and not trying to do anything clever or special.

Defending champion Kelly Gallagher from Bangor finished in eighth place along with her guide Gary Smith.

Gallagher, who was a late admission to the GB squad after a number of seasons affected by injury, said: I just need to ski like Ive got nothing to lose and try to channel that.

Theres three more races and we have a lot to work on. Were here though and a few months ago I was worried at the thought of even inspecting a super-G course.US defence secretary Jim Mattis has said the diplomatic push to solve the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis was at such a delicate stage that he will not publicly discuss the talks.

Mr Mattis was among advisers who were at the White House when President Donald Trump on Thursday decided to accept the offer from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet by May.

The offer was relayed to Mr Trump by a South Korean government delegation that briefed the president on their meeting with Kim last week in the North Korean capital.

US defence secretary Jim Mattis (Andrew Harnik/AP)

I do not want to talk about Korea at all. Its that delicate, Mr Mattis said as he flew to the Middle East.

When you get in a position like this, the potential for misunderstanding remains very high, he said, explaining his unwillingness to talk about any aspect of the diplomatic efforts.

The Pentagon chief said the White House and State Department were best suited to discuss the situation in advance of the May meeting.

He declined to discuss the timing and scale of annual US-South Korean military manoeuvres that were postponed during the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea. Those exercises are expected to be held in April, but no official announcement has been made.

Mr Trump said on Saturday he believes North Korea will abide by its pledge to suspend missile tests while he prepares for the summit. He noted in a tweet that North Korea has refrained from such tests since November and said Kim has promised not to do so through our meetings.

I believe they will honour that commitment, the president said.

Later, at a political rally in Pennsylvania, when Mr Trump mentioned Kims name, the crowd booed but Mr Trump responded: No, its very positive no, after the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice because lets see what happens, lets see what happens.James Corden has accused those claiming Beatrix Potter would not have liked his live action Peter Rabbit film of being snobby.

The actor and talk show host lends his voice to the famous animal in his first big screen depiction.

Leap into action with #PeterRabbitMovie At Cinemas March 16  https://t.co/MRmCqdtc43 pic.twitter.com/GHqMROufUo  Sony Pictures UK  (@SonyPicturesUK) March 5, 2018

It is the first time the Potter estate has given permission for a film but some detractors have said the author, who died in 1943, would not have been happy with the results.

Asked about the mixed views on Potters opinion as he arrived at the London premiere of the film, Corden told the Press Association: Those mixed views I have never have understood, really.

I sort of felt some reticence about doing it when I got offered it simply because of what it means to so many people in this country and across the world.

But then when the Beatrix Potter estate (gave permission), who have turned down I think maybe over 20 proposals, even Walt Disney at one point wanted to make a Peter Rabbit film and they felt it didnt capture the essence of the character and this script did.

Matthew Dennison, whose biography Over The Hills And Far Away was published in 2016, has said Potter would not have approved of the film, telling The Guardian: Peter Rabbit emerges as a bully, and there really isnt any evidence for that in the story.

However, Corden argued: What I love most about what Will (Gluck, the writer and director) has done and I think the Beatrix Potter estate responded to is there is so many small vignettes across the film that he has taken from all of those books.

James Corden (Rick Findler/PA)

At its core, at its actual core, what the film is about, aside from all the big comic set pieces and the brilliant soundtrack and the animation is wonderful, what the film is actually about is acceptance.

Its about going people will look different to you and sound different to you and be different to you and actually if you accept your differences you will find lots of similarities.

What people do is go Im going to put up a wall and this is mine and that is yours and you dont come in here and actually what you should do is open your arms and go well I dont look like you or understand you but perhaps we can find some common ground.

That is what the film is actually about so anyone who is being what I would consider snobby about such an experience, I cant find anything that can be anything other than positive in such a message for young children.

Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, who voices Cotton-Tail, also said she believed Potter would be pleased with the results.

Daisy Ridley (Rick Findler/PA)

She said: I think Beatrix Potter would first be gobsmacked that it had become the success it has and the fact that they (the estate) believed in this script says a lot, because obviously her family knew her.

I think she would be thrilled, I think it shows all of the character that we know and love in a different sort of setting and there are bits that the original books are animated within and its beautiful.

Peter Rabbit is released in UK cinemas on March 16.A new Polish law banning almost all trading on Sundays has taken effect.

Supermarkets and most other retailers closed for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communisms collapse.

The change has stirred up a range of emotions in a country where many feel workers are exploited under the liberal regulations of the past years and want them to have a day of rest.

But many Poles also experience consumer freedom as one of the most tangible benefits of the free market era and resent the new limit.

(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

In Hungary, another ex-communist country, a ban on Sunday trading imposed in 2015 was so unpopular that authorities repealed it the next year.

The law was proposed by a leading trade union, Solidarity, which said employees deserved Sundays off.

It found the support of the conservative and pro-Catholic ruling party, Law and Justice, whose MPs passed the legislation.

The influential Catholic church, to which more than 90% of Poles belong, has welcomed the change.

Among the Poles who saw it as a good step toward returning a frazzled and overworked society to a more traditional lifestyle was 76-year-old Barbara Olszewska, who did some last-minute shopping Saturday evening in Warsaw.

A family should be together on Sundays, Olszewska said after buying some food at a local Biedronka, a large discount supermarket chain.

The new law at first bans trading two Sundays per month, but steps it up to three Sundays in 2019 and finally all Sundays in 2020, except for seven exceptions before the Easter and Christmas holidays.

(AP Photo/Alik Keplicz)

Pro-business opposition parties view the change as an attack on commercial freedom and warn that it will lead to a loss of jobs, and in particular hurt students who only have time to work at the weekends.

Even the All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions opposed it, arguing that it would just push employees to work longer hours on Fridays and Saturdays and that the work would be harder because there would be more customers.

Another last-minute shopper on Saturday evening, Daniel Wycech, 26, saw more drawbacks than benefits.

I am angry because this law wasnt prepared properly. It would have been much better to force store employers to make two Sundays per month free for each worker, Wycech said.

There are some exceptions to the ban, like petrol stations, pharmacies and shops at airports and train stations.

Anyone infringing the new rules faces a fine of up to 100,000 zlotys (21,000), while repeat offenders may face a prison sentence.At least 44 pro-Islamic State militants were killed and 26 more were wounded when Philippine soldiers shelled positions held by the rebels in southern Maguindanao province, the army said on Sunday.

The fighting, initially with about 50 members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), broke out in a remote village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town from Thursday morning and lasted the following day, said Lt. Col. Gerry Besana.

A soldier was slightly wounded, the army said in a separate statement.

The number of BIFF members killed and wounded was based on intelligence information, Besana said. The military did not recover any enemy bodies, he said.

Besana said the military launched artillery attacks with air support as the number of BIFF fighters had risen to about one hundred during the fighting.

The military classifies the BIFF, which it said has about 300 members, as a terrorist organisation, along with the Abu Sayyaf and Maute groups.

"Seventy were killed and injured (on the BIFF side), we are still pursuing about 200 more," Besana said, adding that the clash had displaced about 500 families.

The militants in southern Philippines were regrouping, retraining and recruiting new members for another attack elsewhere after occupying the southern city of Marawi for five months last year, according to the army.

Short link:

Sergio Aguero is set to miss Manchester Citys Premier League trip to relegation-threatened Stoke on Monday after sustaining a knee injury in training.

Aguero announced on his official Twitter feed that he expected to be out for up to two weeks with the injury, meaning he could be back for the trip to Everton at the end of this month.

Aguero wrote: During yesterdays training I had a discomfort on my left knee. The clubs doctors told me Ill be back with the team in approximately two weeks. Now its time for a full recovery!

Sergio Aguero faces a two-week lay off with a knee injury (John Walton/EMPICS)

During yesterday's training I had a discomfort on my left knee. The club's doctors told me I'll be back with the team in approximately two weeks. Now it's time for a full recovery!  Sergio Kun Aguero (@aguerosergiokun) March 11, 2018

Aguero is Citys top scorer this season with 30 goals in 37 appearances in all competitions.

Citys only other out-and-out senior striker Gabriel Jesus returned to action in late February after suffering knee ligament damage against Crystal Palace on New Years Eve.

If Agueros two-week timetable for a return proves correct, the Stoke match will be the only one he misses as City are not due to be in action again until March 31 against Everton, having been knocked out of the FA Cup.

However, Aguero could now miss Argentinas friendly against Italy  due to be played at Citys Etihad Stadium  on March 23, and the match against Spain four days later.An unnamed British-Iranian national has been sentenced to six years in prison on spying charges, the official news agency of Irans judiciary reported Sunday, the latest dual national convicted in the country.

Mizan news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi announcing the sentencing, though he did not elaborate on what the charges entailed.

However, there is no known case of a British-Iranian national being sentenced to six years in prison, suggesting this is a new case.

Iran does not recognise dual nationalities (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

A number of dual nationals with Western ties have been arrested since Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Analysts and family members of dual nationals and others detained in Iran have suggested that hardliners in the Islamic Republics security agencies use the prisoners as bargaining chips for money or influence.

A UN panel in September described an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals in Iran, which Tehran denies.

Iran does not recognise dual nationalities, so those detainees cannot receive consular assistance.

Others with ties to the West detained in Iran include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the soft toppling of Irans government while travelling with her young daughter.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in April 2016 and served a third of her sentence by January 2018, making her eligible for release.

Her family said she remained held as Britain negotiated a settlement with Iran over 400 million held by London, a payment the late Iranian shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered.Politicians are guilty of a dereliction of duty by failing to ensure the tech revolution has worked for everyone in society, Sadiq Khan will warn.

The London mayor will urge the likes of Facebook and Twitter to improve their response to criticism, or face the possibility of further regulation.

Mr Khan will also warn Uber and other tech firms that all companies must play by the rules in the markets in which they operate.

London mayor Sadiq Khan (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

The Labour mayor is the first British politician to give a keynote speech at the South by Southwest conference in Texas.

Mr Khan is set to accuse politicians and governments of sitting on their hands while the tech revolution has happened around them.

He will add: It must ultimately fall to government  working with tech businesses and leaders  to ensure that this revolution is not detrimental to our long-term progress.

Im at #SXSW today and tomorrow to talk about how cities, governments, business and educators can work together to shape the future of tech so that it works for everyone. You can watch my keynote speech tomorrow at 2pm CST/7pm GMT here: https://t.co/qtYA2Y9dDQ pic.twitter.com/8Qa4s6kMjy  Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) March 11, 2018

Theres been a dereliction of duty on the part of politicians and policymakers to ensure that the rapid growth in technology is utilised and steered in a direction that benefits us all.

Mr Khan is expected to read out some of the racist, abusive and illegal tweets that he has received since becoming mayor.

He will also raise concerns over social medias role in influencing elections and referendums, spreading fake news and enabling extremists to radicalise and brainwash others.

Facebook, Twitter and other platforms are finally starting to react to the criticisms and are developing technology to make sure the reporting process becomes quicker and more effective, he is expected to say.

But with the skills and resources these companies have at their disposal, I believe its possible to go further and faster.

If this does not happen, Mr Khan will say that more countries will start to follow or go further than what Germany has done.

Germany has recently introduced tough new laws so that social media companies face large fines if they fail to quickly remove things like hate speech.

Mr Khan will also hint at his ongoing row with Uber, with Transport for London having refused to renew the taxi services licence in September.

Mr Khan will say that in some cases innovation and the sharing economy risks being used as cover to break-up decades of established and hard-fought rights.

He is expected to say: There must be greater responsibility taken by some tech companies for the impact theyre having on the world.

And, crucially, no business or industry should ever consider itself above the local rules, or laws set by democratic processes.

In London, weve been clear with Uber and other companies that everyone, no matter how big or small, must play by the rules. No exceptions.

Our economies have always needed new regulations in place to meet the needs of workers and consumers when the environment changes. Evolving economies must mean evolving regulation, and today is no different.Irish premier Leo Varadkar has said he will raise concerns with President Donald Trump over a possible tit for tat trade war between the EU and US.

Mr Varadkar said tariffs were a road that he did not want either Europe or America to go down.

The Taoiseach made the comments during an interview at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas.

Taoiseach @campaignforleo @SXSW in Austin discussing immigration laws and his trip to US for #StPatricksDay pic.twitter.com/lWKiRimMqQ  Michelle Devane (@michelledevane) March 11, 2018

As a policy I cant imagine how it would be good for anyone, I dont think it would be good for America, I dont think it would be good for Ireland or the EU, Mr Varadkar said.

A possible trade war has been mooted since Mr Trump announced a 25% import tariff on steel and 10% on aluminium.

The EU has threatened retaliatory tariffs on US goods, including bourbon and jeans.

Mr Varadkar, who began his St Patricks Day tour of the US on Sunday, said the day before his White House meeting with Mr Trump later this week, the European Commission will announce its response to the tariffs.

At the Governors mansion in Austin Texas waiting on Taoiseach Leo Varadkar to meet Governor Greg Abbott. First stop on the St Patricks Day visit @pa pic.twitter.com/Xxq8zTxF9i  Michelle Devane (@michelledevane) March 11, 2018

What has been hinted at is tariffs on denim jeans and bourbon whiskey, he said.

When I hear bourbon whiskey I think the next response might be tariffs against Irish whiskey, so what you get into is a spiral of tit for tats.

Asked what hell raise in the White House he said: You cant cover everything but on the very top of that list, or very high on that list will be trade and the risk of a drift in relationships between Europe and America and that really, really scares me.

Earlier, Mr Varadkar announced an extension of his countrys consulate in Texas as part of plans to foster more links with a number of key US states.

Mr Varadkar said the move would help his stated aim of doubling Irelands footprint globally.

The Taoiseach made the comments after a meeting with the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott in Austin.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets Texan Governor Greg Abbott at the Governors mansion for St Patricks Day visit @pa pic.twitter.com/1G7OAghFqH  Michelle Devane (@michelledevane) March 11, 2018

This is a rapidly growing state, growing population, growing economy, Mr Varadkar said.

We opened a consulate here for the first time in Austin three years ago  as part of my plan to double Irelands footprint were going to be expanding that mission.

Honoured to receive a Texas belt buckle from Governor Greg Abbott. Apparently you need one to be a real Texan! Presented the Governor with some Irish Crystal in return #spd2018 pic.twitter.com/Bgsad9OFgH  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 11, 2018

Mr Varadkar said there were about 100,000 people working for Irish companies in the US.

I think that speaks to the developing and changing relationship between Ireland and America which is one that goes both ways in terms of investment, in terms of jobs and in terms of tech in particular, he said.

The Taoiseach said Ireland would be focusing on creating strong relationships with the states of Texas and California.

Mr Varadkar met the Republican governor and his wife Cecilia, who has Irish heritage. Her maiden name is Phelan.

First official engagement for #SPD2018: meeting Texas Governor Greg Abbott and First Lady Cecilia Abbott. Irish and EU companies are huge investors in Texas, and weve had a consulate here since 2015. pic.twitter.com/Yw1kJmXzkw  Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) March 11, 2018

Mr Abbott has been criticised by LGBT campaigners for his opposition to same sex marriage and his stance on a number of other social issues impacting the sector.

Mr Varadkar, Irelands first openly gay premier, said LGBT issues were not discussed in their meeting on Sunday.

The Governments annual St Patricks Day trip aims to advance Irelands economic and political interests in the US. It also seeks to celebrate new and old cultural and community ties between the two countries. This year it will incorporate four cities.

On Monday the Irish premier will meet the Governor of Oklahoma and will also visit a Native American community there.

His meeting with the Choctaw Nation will commemorate the tribes fundraising efforts for the victims of Irelands Great Famine in the mid-19th Century.

Mr Varadkar travels to Washington DC on Tuesday where he will deliver a foreign policy address to the Brookings Institution.

That evening, the Taoiseach and Senator George Mitchell will be keynote speakers at a congressional event to mark 20 years since the signing of Northern Irelands Good Friday Agreement peace agreement.

His Washington engagements also include meetings with senior representatives of Irish companies succeeding in the US market.

On Wednesday, the Taoiseach will address the annual American Ireland Fund gala dinner.

Keeping with recent traditions, the focus of the itinerary will be Mr Varadkars bilateral meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday.

The Taoiseach will meet with Donald Trump (Carolyn Kaster/AP)

It is likely to include a discussion on the issues faced by the tens of thousands of Irish citizens who live in the US without legal residency.

It will be followed by the annual Speakers lunch on Capitol Hill and the ceremonial exchange of a shamrock bowl between Mr Trump and the Taoiseach back at the White House.

On Friday, the Taoiseach will be guest of honour at a breakfast hosted by vice president Mike Pence.

Mr Varadkar will end his trip in New York where his series of engagements will include the St Patricks Day parade along Fifth Avenue on Saturday.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the US is no longer a world leader in LGBT rights.

Mr Varadkar said he believed the majority of American people would agree with him, even if the Trump administration does not.

The Irish premier made the comments during an interview at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas.

Mr Varadkar said he would raise gay rights when he has a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday.

What I intend to say is that for the vast majority of people around the world including people from gay lesbian transgender backgrounds, we have always seen America as a beacon of freedom, the Taoiseach said.

This is the land of the free, the home of the brave.

This is where the LGBT rights movement began.

Leo Varadkar (Niall Carson/PA)

He added: It is really tough to see a country that is built on freedom, and built on individual freedom somehow not being a world leader in that space anymore.

I actually think on this issue the majority of American people would agree with what I have to say, even if the administration doesnt.

Mr Varadkar added that he hoped America would one day take leadership in the area again.M. Jaffer, an Ettam kattai resident was despairing. The main junction is going up in flames. At the same time, the authorities are folding their arms and watching, he complained. Jaffer says that about 20 minutes after the shops were set ablaze, a few Muslim boys from the area had flung stones at the attackers in retaliation. At that time we heard the Army personnel telling their colleagues, they are beating our people; bring your weapons and come here, the Ettam kattai resident related.

Until then they just watched and waited. Is this our Government? Is this our justice system? You know what had happened to the Tamils in 1983? That is what is happening to us today, another frustrated resident of Ettam kattai told reporters just yards away from where the fire was raging. (http://www.ft.lk/news/Fresh-wave-of-violence-erupts-in-Kandy-despite-curfew-and-emergency/56-650819)



Sinhala-Buddhist nationalism embedded in the structures of the Sri Lanka state and embraced by a significant cross-section of the Sinhala-Buddhist polity in the island has raised its gory head once more. We will never be able to understand the foundations of the violence that the Muslims are facing today in Sri Lankan or put an end to anti-minority violence in the long run without unpacking the social, psychological, economic and institutional dimensions of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, even if one views the assault on the Sinhala-Buddhist truck driver, who later succumbed to his injuries, by three Muslim men in Kandy as the immediate background to the current ethnic tensions in the Central Province.

Those instigating and supporting the violence try to scare the majority community that the Muslims are trying to make Sinhalese infertile by mixing sterilization pills in the food served at Muslim eateries with a view to causing a decline in the population of the Sinhalese in the country. Some others blame the Muslims for being a thriving economic force in the country. Others just want a country without Muslims. The Sinhala nationalist discourse of anti-Muslim hatred is based on myths, lies and crude homogenizations about the economic strength of the Muslim community and a cultural desire to eliminate and eject the Other from the nation-state.



As a country that has witnessed massacres targeting the minority communities for many decades, a thirty-year-long civil war centring on the national question in the North-East and inter-ethnic conflicts over land and other natural resources, employment, educational opportunities and access to state power, the Sri Lankan state should have already taken strong measures to win the confidence of the numerically smaller ethnic and religious groups by re-configuring itself as an inclusive body, in contrast to the current state structure that constitutionally offers foremost place to Buddhism, the faith that has the largest following in the island. The government in power, which claimed to pursue a reconciliation agenda to heal the wounds caused by the war, should have also created at the grassroots in the South and the war-affected North-East, not in Colombos plush hotels, spaces that nourish dialogues among communities that fear and mistrust one another at present. The state alone cannot be blamed for the terror that Muslims are facing today because our social organizations, religious institutions and trade unions could not situate their actions and activisms beyond the narrow cultural boundaries they have drawn for themselves and their constituencies. What we have been confronted by the past few days is a socio-institutional paralysis for which the state and non-state forces are collectively responsible.



The minority communities and everybody who yearns for a state that respects religious pluralism and cultural diversity have every reason to reject and rebel against the current Sri Lankan state as it has unambiguously and constitutionally ceased to be a common body that the people can relate to regardless of their identities. But in Sri Lanka, several powerful social and political groups representing the minorities, including the Archbishop of Colombo and mainstream Tamil and Muslim political parties, were willing to leave the constitutional privilege given to Buddhism untouched during debates on the new constitution. Despite the conciliatory positions taken by minority groups, Sinhala chauvinists continue to frame the religious minorities in the country as a threat to their co-existence as a nation.

"Even as we are discussing the current spate of anti-Muslim violence and its causes, we hear stories about courageous and broad-minded Buddhists who have stepped out of their homes to give protection to the Muslims who live in their villages in the Central Province"



The institutional support Buddhism enjoys is undoubtedly one of the cardinal factors that boost the chauvinistic mobs to advance their violent political projects without fear, hesitation or shame and discourage the law-enforcing authorities from acting against perpetrators of the violence without fear of reprisals.The ineffectiveness of the government in taking stringent action against those who participated in the recent violence and their cheerleaders online and offline and its failure to bring to book those who were involved in the violence that hit the country in the past, the silence of a large segment of Sinhala-Buddhist civil society and its religious and social leaders who have not publicly condemned the mobs including the Buddhist monks who took part in the violence, the reluctance on the part of the mainstream media in the South to foreground in their analyses of the violence the destructive link between the ideology of the state and the actions of the mobs and the slowness on the part of the law enforcing bodies to curb the violence are all manifestations of nothing but overt and latent forms Sinhala-Buddhist majoritarianism that is both social and institutional. Majoritarianism does not always require a state to unleash its hatred on numerically smaller populations. Even as the Muslims were falling victim to the violence in the Eastern and Central regions of the country, Valampuri, a Tamil-Hindu nationalist newspaper published from Jaffna, which actively backs the Tamil self-determination project in the North-East of Sri Lanka, penned editorials that were bluntly insulting to the Muslims and attempted to exacerbate anti-Muslim sentiments among the Tamils in the North.

The editor, around the same time, was inducted into the Working Committee of the Tamil Peoples Council, which parades itself as a crusader for justice for Tamils, by none other than the Chief Minister of the Northern Province who is also the Chairperson of the Council. Numerous supporters of Tamil nationalist parties such as TNPF and TNA and even the EPDP based in the island and western metropolis peppered their social media pages with anti-Muslim comments and some even went to the extent of celebrating the assaults on the Muslims by Sinhalese mobs. The anti-Muslim violence in the South brought to the fore vial social media platforms the deep-seated Islamaphobia among the Tamil communities in the country.



The anti-Muslim violence that is aided, abetted and tolerated by an apathetic state should not prevent us from introspecting into non-statist forms of majoritarianism that those of us who lived in the North-East witnessed during the heyday of the LTTE. The Movement, even as it was engaged in a struggle to create a separate, sovereign Tamil state, evicted the entire Muslim population from the areas under its control in 1990. This heinous act of pre-state ethnic cleansing should have reminded us, Tamils that our self-determination project in the North-East, conceived through a single ethnic identity even today by some Tamil nationalists, is potentially genocidal like the Sinhala-Buddhist project of the Sri Lankan state that we have been combating since Independence. Federalism and devolution of political powers including police powers to the Northern and Eastern provinces alone will not ensure the safety of minorities in the island. The political geography of post-colonial ethno-religious violence in Sri Lanka tells us that the minorities outside the Northern Province were severely vulnerable during the ethnic pogroms of 1956, 1977, 1983, 2001 and 2014.The ongoing attacks on the Muslims, their shops and places of worship in the Central Province behove us to give a central place to the safety and security of minorities outside the North-East in the political processes that aim at restructuring the state.



Institutional reforms alone are not sufficient to create a non-racist future. A new political consciousness that strives for justice and equality will bloom among us only if we re-conceive inter-ethnic relations through pluralist notions of territory and state.

We need to remind ourselves that we share our territories and our state with people who dont speak our language and worship our gods, and therefore our collective (national) sovereignty is limited by and contingent on the presence of other communities and the conditions necessary for their socio-political existence. A theory of radical un-freedom underlining our irrevocable commitments towards and connections with one another should inform our conversations about emancipator political and social transformation. We have to always remember, regardless of whether or not we belong to a majority community under a given state, that any line of thought or action that departs from these foundational premises of coexistence and pluralism is genocidal.

Even as we are discussing the current spate of anti-Muslim violence and its causes, we hear stories about courageous and broad-minded Buddhists who have stepped out of their homes to give protection to the Muslims who live in their villages in the Central Province. A Buddhist temple in Gelioya has requested the Buddhists in the village via loudspeakers to protect the Muslims in the area and their properties from the racist mobs. The country needs more such Buddhist temples that can empathize with the trials and tribulations of the non-Buddhist populations. The solidarity shown towards Muslims by peace-loving Buddhists during this crisis should also translate into support for far-reaching societal and state reforms that can ensure non-recurrence of racist violence in the country. Therein lies the future of non-racist coexistence in Sri Lanka.



The writer is a member of the Collective for Economic Democratisation in Sri Lanka and attached to the Department of English, University of PeradeniyaFour Sri Lankans were detained when trying to enter Iran illegally through the border with the Republic of Azerbaijan, Iran Daily reported today.

The Sri Lankan nationals, one of them a toddler, were arrested on Wednesday, according to the Iran police.

Also an Uzbek citizen who tried to enter Iran was arrested on Friday by the Azerbaijani border guard.

Earlier, the border guard of Azerbaijan announced that they had arrested nationals of the Central Asia countries trying to cross the border with Iran illegally.A three-member delegation of the Global Sri Lankans Forum (GSLF) has expressed to the British Government their concern over the current security of Sri Lankans living in the UK in the aftermath of the Brigadier Priyanka Fernando incident.

Their sentiments were intimated to the British Government when they met with the British Parliamentary Under Secretary of State and Minister for Defence People and Veterans, Tobias Ellwood on Sunday.

At the meeting, which was held at the Westminster Parliamentary Complex, the GSLF handed over a report to the Minister.

The report has been compiled over the current security of Sri Lankans living in the UK, in the aftermath of the Brigadier Priyanka Fernando incident and the activities of the LTTE and Tamil Diaspora members during the last 30 years.

The report was handed over by GSLF Co-President Indika Gunasekara, its Secretary Menik Maliyadda and a committee member.

Defence Attache of the Sri Lankan High Commission in the UK, Brigadier Fernando was recalled to Sri Lanka to ensure his safety following the incident where he made a throat-slitting gesture towards a group of protesting LTTE supporters, outside the High Commission of Sri Lanka in London on Sri Lankas Independence Day. (Lahiru Pothmulla)The recent incidents in Kandy have created new challenges to the government locally and in the international level, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said.

Prime Minister Wickremesinghe came up with this sentiments at meeting held with government officials on the recent violence in the Kandy District on Saturday.

"We thought the major challenge which the country had to face was the drought which crippled the agriculture sector but incidents in Kandy have posted challenges in the international levels as well" the Prime Minister said while highlighting that country's image has been tarnished .

" We have been expecting a boom in the tourism industry but in the wake of disturbances in Kandy we don't know whether we could achieve it as expected," he said. He said revenues of tourist industrialists could decline.

The Prime Minister said all these will have to be looked into. "A commission to look into the matter alone is not sufficient as one has to look into repairing the damages. We have to repair the damages now as we cannot wait till the commission report comes out to all that " he also said while assuring that compensation will be paid to the families of those who were killed in the clashes and those whose houses and business establishments were damaged. It revealed in this meeting that nearly 465 houses, business establishments and vehicles were destroyed and damaged by the violence. Nearly 86 has been destroyed, 196 partly damaged while 182 have suffered minimum damages.

Mr. Wickremesinghe assured that those who were behind the violence will be revealed soon. He said the police have also begun investigations on the postings on social media and the initial reports have disclosed that two students in two leading schools have been behind those. In addition he said some men had also made statements which are against their respective religions.

He urged the Maha Sangha and other religious leaders to play a role in educating people on unity and coexistence. The Prime Minister said government is committed towards maintaining religious freedom in the country.

Coming up with a bit of history the Prime Minister said it was King Rajasinghe II who brought Muslims to Akurana. " Muslim's never came and settled in the area using force" he said.

Ministers Lakshman Kiriella, Rauff Hakeem, Ranjith Maduma Bandara and M Abdul Haleem also participated in the meeting. (Yohan Perera and J A L Jayasinghe)A Thousand Voiced Choir by Madhubhashini Disanayaka-Ratnayake is an unusual book. It traces her experiences as head of the English Language Teaching Unit (ELTU) of the Sri Jayewardenepura University during the first two years.It is unusual because we have a very large number of English teachers in this country, of all levels, and nobody as far as I can recall, has ever written a detailed account their teaching experiences.

Madhubhashini Disanayaka



A Thousand Voiced Choir is the story of a satisfying walk through a minefield, satisfying because the authors account of those two years is by all means positive.

English teaching is a minefield. Despite there being so many schools, and tuition gurus, who claim to have brought English fluency to tens of thousands, while laughing all the way to the bank, the desperation to learn English by masses of students is more evident than ever, and it is hard to find a fluent speaker or writer in English. In that context, Madhubhashinis account of how this life-or-death task was tackled at university level is of untold historical value.

She has one thousand undergraduates with very basic English, or not even that, and five teachers, not enough classrooms and facilities. But she takes on this mammoth task, with a can-do spirit which is reflected boldly in the books 144 pages. The book is lavishly illustrated with black-and-white photographs. The last page carries one of a protest poster at the university. It says: Affirm the rights of students to study in the English medium, testimony to the success gained by the ELTU.

"A Thousand Voiced Choir is the story of a satisfying walk through a minefield, satisfying because the authors account of those two years is by all means positive. "



The author, a Gratiaen Award winner and Fulbright Scholar, and the daughter of a renowned Professor of Sinhala is divided in the vein as she puts it:

I myself was divided in the vein as Derek Walcott termed it, between the two cultures. I studied in a Christian Missionary School, where I was the President, in my senior year, of both the Sinhala Society and the Buddhist Society. Both my daughters attend the same Christian Missionary School, but often have Pirith on their birthdays and go to the temple. I write short stories and novels in English but write about Sinhala speakers most of the time. I believe that English has to be learnt but that didnt mean that you should look down on your own culture. I hated Western accents in Sinhala or Tamil speakers, I hated people making fun of the native accentI didnt believe that not knowing English gave you no right to advance in life.

Starting from scratch, the ELTU acquires a pleasant English learning zone in the main library, enough classrooms and teachers so that groups of 6 or 7 members can study on a rotational basis. The author deals with bureaucratic Catch-22 situations and reduces red tape to a minimum. She believes in keeping things short and simple.

The ELTU staff members attend workshops which improve their teaching skills. The students have their own Facebook page; perhaps the crowning moment of all this effort comes when they sing the Pete Seeger classic Where Have All the Flowers Gone.

While some can take English studies for granted, for those from rural schools with mediocre English teachers or no teachers at all, studying the language at university level can be a daunting prospect. The author writes about one female student who habitually frowned when attempting to speak in English out of fear. But the ELTU throws in two drama teachers, as well as meditation and Dhamma discussions in English, film shows and books, in a bid to break down inhibitions, quell fears, calm nerves and to create an environment and mindset conducive to studying a difficult subject.

The book contains too, a history of the Sri Jayewardenepura University. The author discusses the role of Sinhala and English in our universities. As she puts it:

The irony of being appointed as Head of the English Language Unit of the Sri Jayewardenepura University was not lost on me when I received my letter of appointment in 2011. This is the university that prided itself on being the first university to offer degree courses in Sinhala, (The pioneers of university education  the University College of Colombo  had chosen English as the medium of instruction).

"To succeed nowadays, more often than not, one doesnt need English. Once you make it, all you have to do is to hire those who have spent years studying it for a pittance."



The creation of this university was a reaction against the elitism inherent in English education. All in all, this is an eye-opening work. But I have a few criticisms. Take, for example, the following passage.

Anyone conversant with the social factors in Sri Lanka would immediately know that anyone who knows how to speak English like a native speaker has come from a background of relative affluence and with it, the ability to meet the world with confidence and style. It was that, which was being looked for  and that was why it was so difficult for someone who had learnt English as a Second Language as an adult to compete with someone who was always fluent in English, in the job market. It wasnt just knowledge of the language; it was the less clear class markers that were being looked for in the Sri Lankan economic arena that was increasing -- and for me, agonizingly  following Western models without any doubts whatsoever, despite the obvious breakdowns in the USA and Europe, who have seen the harm multinational companies and global banks have done to the economies of the world. That again is an aside  but in a way relevant here, because this attitude harms the local Art student who is poorly equipped to successfully enter the employment market in Sri Lanka.



I have several criticisms of the above passage. I apologise in advance for taking myself as an example. This isnt due to vanity but simply because literary criticism at one level is as subjective as creative writing is.

A personal point of view does not necessarily lead to prejudice, which is what we must avoid. I take myself as the example because, within this context at any rate, I know myself better than anyone else. Looking at that first passage, if we take: Anyone who knows how to speak English like a native speaker has come from a background of relative affluence and with it, the ability to meet the world with confidence and style. It was that which was being looked for  and that was why it was so difficult for someone who had learnt English as a second language as an adult to compete with someone who was always fluent in English, in the job market.



I hardly know any Sri Lankan who knows how to speak English like a native speaker, if by that the author means a British citizen (unless it is someone of British origin, like the late Dr. Arthur C. Clarke, who became a Sri Lankan citizen, and assuming it is British English rather than American English that we are talking about. Actually, the younger generations speak a hybrid of British, American and Sri Lankan English).

I consider myself to be relatively fluent in English. But I dont speak English like a native speaker. I have met Sri Lankans who are even more fluent in English than myself. But none of them speaks it like native speakers unless they have lived and studied in the UK from their childhood. The grammar and syntax of a Lankan, fluent in English will match that of an educated British speaker. But the idioms are different. There are differences in vocabulary, too, though this will depend very much on the education of the speaker and subject matter involved.

Secondly, while I dont dispute the authors statement that such a speaker will come from a background of relative affluence (with real emphasis on relative) I will dispute any suggestion that this automatically gives anyone the ability to meet the world with confidence and style. Apart from the language spoken, there are allied factors such as personality, family background, inner-drive and, unfortunately in Sri Lanka, political and connections.

Those matter everywhere but over here, it is still a case of whom you know more than what you know. Of course, this will depend on the job. Connections wont get anyone a job with a foreign embassy as a translator.

"As for any advantages in the job market, that would depend on the job context. That might be true in sectors like sales of up-market products, and banking, though in banking that hardly seems to be the case when it comes to state banks. It is no longer true of politics and business"



But there are people who cant write a decent letter in English, and speaking it badly, holding top Government jobs including the Diplomatic Service, and drawing astounding salaries and other perks, while people with fluent English labour under them for ridiculously low pay.

If anyone is interested, I can personally cite examples, though not in print.

Nor has my English skills given me any notable advantage in the job market. When it comes to Englishmedium journalism, at any rate, many journalists are less than fluent in English, but they manage. This is true of almost all other job sectors. People manage, thats all. Ever since I began working for newspapers in the 1980s, I have witnessed a massive shift to a Sinhala-oriented culture among what has till then been an English-speaking milieu. Nowadays, youll find a majority of cases with people working in English, but using Sinhala as a personal medium of communication. As for the class markers, my personal experience are that English proficiency has never has never been able to shift them in any significant degree.



While I can enjoy the delusion that a chat in English makes me socially acceptable to the upper crust native speakers of the language, a post-conversational reality check should confirm the depth of this illusion. You always remain Persona Non-Grata. My personal observation is that the death is the greatest leveller, though when you go to a cemetery and look at the tombstones; even this doesnt seem to be true. Money comes to a close second, and language proficiency a very distant third.

Of course, our urban job market has an insidious school and club-oriented network which parallels the obnoxious caste template, and I would not deny that class may ease some things in the job market, and the related marriage market. But the above-mentioned levellers will always remain true within their allotted slots. People check out more than an outsiders English proficiency before opening doors.

I need to question too, the following statement: that was why it was so difficult for someone who had learnt English as a Second Language as an adult to compete with someone who was always fluent in English, in the job market. But we have all of us learned English as a second language. The author is making a clear difference between those who learned English as adults and those who learned it as children. While the latter would have a better start, belonging to the latter category doesnt mean automatic fluency in English. In my case, I always earned good marks for English studies (while studying in Sinhala medium government schools) but fluency in the speech came as an adult (starting at the Advanced Level class when I started trying my English with a friend who was fluent).



Only my first school, Sri Sumanagala Vidyalaya at Panadura, could be said that offered a good standard of English. Isipathana and Ananda in Colombo, my subsequent schools, had poor English standards when I got to them. That would still put me ahead of anyone arriving in Colombo at 18 plus from a Madya Maha Vidyalaya from nowhere.

But many such people have moved ahead in life, and thats not due to their English. As for the local Arts student, who is at a disadvantage in a globalised setting, which follows the Western model, the trouble is not just with English, but with other essential communications tools such as computer skills, plus the degree of sophistication needed to create the right image of oneself for that market. I feel that our education system fails to give that degree of sophistication to the average student, and that isnt just due to lack of English, for there is nothing to say that sophistication is based on English knowledge alone.

As for any advantages in the job market, that would depend on the job context. That might be true in sectors like sales of up-market products, and banking, though in banking that hardly seems to be the case when it comes to state banks. It is no longer true of politics and business. We have an English-speaking elite and a Sinhala-speaking elite in both sectors.

"But there are people who cant write a decent letter in English, and speaking it badly, holding top Government jobs including the Diplomatic Service, and drawing astounding salaries and other perks"



The English-speaking elite still have a foothold at national level politics and corporate business, though if we take the six presidents in our history, only two can claim to be fluent users of English. At the provincial level, it is overwhelmingly Sinhala dominated. Both elites are doing equally well, one might add.

Then again, we have an English-speaking class which is not an elite by any stretch of the imagination. Most of them use some English at work and at home. They are in the corporate sector, banks (mostly private), advertising (again, not everybody), teaching and the media. The latter is Sinhala dominated, but lets consider this for a moment. The number of English speakers in Sri Lanka is estimated between 5 and 10 percent of the population; yet, the country has seven national newspapers in English.

Even if we accept that the circulation is based on advertising rather than news and features, we can only conclude that the impact of English in the country is far out of proportion to the actual number of speakers. One can argue endlessly about all this, but the position of English in our society is continually shifting in relation to local politics as well as its international position in politics and business.



English may be a proverbial sword, but the wielder is only effective as the socio-cultural armour that he is allowed to carry by inheritance, heritage and culture. If one makes a survey of the 100 richest people in the country, a surprising number may not be fluent in English or not have any English at all. The same would be true of knowledge, the other wealth. Can anyone argue that the English literature or journalism we produce is superior to its Sinhala counterpart? In this divided society, political connections matter as much as class, if not more, and money matters more than anything else, including race and caste prejudices.

To succeed nowadays, more often than not, one doesnt need English. Once you make it, all you have to do is to hire those who have spent years studying it for a pittance.Ethiopian soldiers killed nine civilians and injured 12 after mistaking them for rebels near a town along the country's border with Kenya, state media said on Sunday.

The soldiers were deployed to the Moyale area of the country's Oromiya region in pursuit of Oromo Liberation Front fighters who had crossed into Ethiopia from three locations, the Ethiopian News Agency said.

"Nine civilians were killed and 12 others were injured during an operation that was launched with faulty intelligence," members of the armed forces told the agency.

Several soldiers have been suspended and are under investigation, it said, adding that a high-level military delegation had been dispatched to the area to launch an inquiry.

The Oromo Liberation Front is a secessionist group which the government has branded as terrorist.

The incident took place at a time when outbreaks of violence have continued to plague the country, mostly in Oromiya.

Last month, Addis Ababa imposed a six-month, nationwide state of emergency to tamp down unrest in Africas second most populous nation.

The move was made a day after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced his resignation in what he said was a bid to smooth the way for reforms.

His replacement is expected to be named this month.

Short link:

The Special Envoy on Anti-personnel Mine Ban Convention Prince Mired RaadZeid Al-Hussein, spoke to the Daily Mirror about the progress made by Sri Lanka in mine action work. Sri Lanka acceded to the Convention on December 13, 2017. The Convention will enter into force regarding Sri Lanka on June 1, 2018. Sri Lanka will be required to formally report before the Convention on any mined areas under its jurisdiction or control, or any stockpiled anti-personnel mines under its ownership or possession, including those it may have retained or will retain for the purposes of the development of and training in mine detection, mine clearance or mine destruction techniques. Sri Lanka is currently undertaking mine clearance activities and will have to submit an official report on the status of all known mine contamination, and the situation of any landmine victims.

Excerpts:

How do you analyze the progress made by Sri Lanka as a country in this field?

I think Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress. By joining the Ottawa convention, Sri Lankas progress will be more exposed and magnified towards the international community. I think that what is great about the situation in Sri Lanka is that it is very manageable. The goals are realistic and can be achieved. It is a unique situation for Sri Lanka.



How do you view the progress Sri Lanka has made in terms of the destruction of stockpiled anti-personnel mines?

Of course, one of the main obligations now is that Sri Lanka has joined the Convention. The destruction of stockpiled mines is one of the obligations. Any landmines stockpiled in military warehouses need to be destroyed within a certain time frame- four years. The convention will be in force in Sri Lanka on June 1, 2018. The deadline for destruction of stockpiled mines is June 1, 2022. There are, of course, other obligations like clearing of landmines and supporting family members of victims.



How competent is Sri Lanka in terms of scientific and technological capabilities for this purpose as per your observations?

Let me make a distinction here! The stockpiled landmines are the ones not used, but kept in warehouses. There are landmines on the ground as well. That is a different story. Regarding landmines that have already been laid, I think you have the ability and competence in getting the job done. The Sri Lankan armed forces are very disciplined, well trained, and very knowledgeable as well as the other organizations working on the ground in Sri Lanka. They all have the capacity to do the work. I do not think that is the issue. It will be done within the next few years.

"The convention will be in force in Sri Lanka on June 1, 2018. The deadline for destruction of stockpiled mines is June 1, 2022. There are, of course, other obligations..."



How do you compare and contrast the situation in Sri Lanka with other war zones in the world?

In relative terms, I would say Sri Lanka is very close to the top. Compared with other mine affected countries, its a fixed problem that can be dealt with within a few years time. I do not think other countries have that luxury.

Other mine affected countries are going to take years to do the clearing. In relative terms Sri Lanka is in a much better situation.



According to your observation, what is the secret behind Sri Lankas success?

According to what I have seen, the approach is serious. Sri Lanka has worked on a national strategy. It is a great step forward. Also, the establishment of a national authority and a national de-mining centre, allowing international operators to come, the assistance to de-mining process and transparency are there. The Government is very much on board. The President, the Prime Minister, the Foreign Affairs Minister and the Minister for Resettlement and Prison Reforms are all supportive of this process. It will bring success in the future for sure.

Sri Lanka has ability and competence in clearing minefields

The Sri Lankan armed forces are very disciplined, well -trained, and very knowledgeable

Its a great leap forward that Sri Lanka acceded to the Convention

Those involved in Sri Lanka can exchange information with other parts of the world

It isnt an easy thing. Demining can be complicated



What is your assessment of Sri Lankas progress in clearing the mine-affected lands in the north and east?

According to what I have seen the progress is quite systematic. Mine field clearances will be done today and tomorrow. After tomorrow, it will be better. Its a process that takes time. It isnt an easy thing. Demining can be complicated. You need to do the training and have people in place.



What is Sri Lanka supposed to do with the mine affected people?

According to the convention, the mine ban convention is quite unique. There is an Article in the Convention that demands state parties to pay attention to the needs of the family members of the victims of landmines. This is a long term issue. Destruction of stockpiled mines should be done within four years. Clearance of minefields will also happen in a few years time. But, the support for victims is a long-term issue. There needs to be a structure in place. There needs to be legislation that will address the rights of people.

"They know there are a number of landmines on the ground. But, they dont have maps. It can be minimized. There are ways and methods to manage the problem. It is possible though it is difficult."



How serious is this problem in the globe?

Its a big problem. People are still maimed and killed by landmines, unexploded ordnance and Improvised Explosive Devices. May be the numbers arent that high compared to other causes. But, its still a cause. Its a cause that can be dealt with. Traffic accidents will continue until the kingdom comes. We can eliminate this problem if we work on it.



Now the military maintains maps on the areas mined by them. But, the terrorist outfits do not do so. With regard to Sri Lanka how challenging is this issue?

Its challenging. When you have the maps, you know the rough locations of minefields. If you dont have maps, it will be more difficult. There are a number of countries that face this problem. They know there is a threat. They know there are a number of landmines on the ground. But, they dont have maps. It can be minimized. There are ways and methods to manage the problem. It is possible though it is difficult.

"The Sri Lankan armed forces are very disciplined, well trained, and very knowledgeable as well as the other organizations working on the ground in Sri Lanka. "



What is your view on Sri Lankas focus on the demining issue in the post war context?

Its great that Sri Lanka is giving its attention to this issue and working on it. It would have been nicer had Sri Lanka acceded to the convention earlier. But, its better late than never. We are very delighted that Sri Lanka acceded to it.

I am sure that Si Lankan military has built up a lot of experience on this issue. This is the benefit of acceding to the mine ban convention. Those involved in Sri Lanka can exchange information with other parts of the world and learn about different technique and expertise. Mine action is quite a broad field of work.



What is your message to the Government of Sri Lanka?

I wish to congratulate the Government of Sri Lanka for taking this brave decision. Its a rightful decision. In the years to come, once lands are cleared and peoples lives are safeguarded, they can be used for farming and development.Colombo Chief Magistrate today ordered to detain the two students who were arrested over social media posts till March 22 at the Youth Detention Centre at Makola.

They were arrested on Friday (9) and Saturday (10) by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) in Minuwangoda and Homagama.

CID is conducting further investigations. (Darshana Sanjeewa)ith the government having virtually brought under control the ethnic tension and violence in some areas of the Kandy District, President Maithripala Sirisena on Saturday left for India to attend the inaugural ceremony of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) Summit in New Delhi. He was invited by Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Frances President Emmanuel Macron to participate in this First Conference of the ISA. Around 500 Heads of State or governments and other representatives of several countries are attending this Conference with Mr. Macron now playing the world leadership role in global warming issues after the United States President Donald Trump pulled his country out of the historic Paris climate accord reached in 2015.

India -- with its population of about 1.3 billion, the second largest in the world next to China -- is solidly backing the French leader in the effort to strengthen the Paris accord and to prevent a global catastrophe, though the unpredictable and shaky Mr. Trump still says he believes climate change is a hoax made in China. Whatever Mr. Trump may think, the Chinese Communist Party at its plenary sessions yesterday amended the constitution to make President Xi, the President for life at a time when China is emerging as one of the worlds most powerful countries in the economic, political and other fields including the battle against global warming.



The ISA, a treaty based international inter-governmental alliance of 121 solar resource-rich countries lying fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, was founded at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015. Sri Lanka became a founding member of this alliance on February 12, 2018.

According to reports, the conference aims to create a common platform to meet the growing demand for solar power technology, to accelerate and broaden the technology for solar power, to minimize costs of solar projects and to take decisions related to the development of the field.

According to the Guardian newspaper, Indias solar power prices are reaching a new low. Plummeting wholesale prices have put India on track to meet renewable energy targets set out in the Paris agreement. With Sri Lanka negotiating a trade agreement with India much focus needs to be on this vital area so that Sri Lanka also could use more solar energy for industrial and domestic purposes.

The Guardian says wholesale solar power prices have reached another record low in India, faster than analysts predicted and are further undercutting the price of fossil fuel-generated power in the country.



The tumbling price of solar energy also increases the likelihood that India will meet  and by its own predictions, exceed  the renewable energy targets it set at the Paris climate accords in December 2015.

India is the worlds third-largest carbon polluter, with emissions forecast to at least double as it seeks to develop its economy and lift hundreds of millions of citizens out of poverty.

Ensuring it generates as much of that energy as possible from renewable sources is considered crucial to limiting catastrophic global temperature increases, the Guardian reports.

In Rajasthan last year, power companies Phelan Energy and Avaada Power each offered to charge INR 2.62 for a kilowatt-hour (Kw/h) of electricity generated from solar panels they hope to build at an energy park in the desert state. Last years previous record lowest bid was INR 4.34 for a Kw/h .



With the world becoming more innovative, imaginative and enterprising in areas where renewable energy is created, the Cable News Network (CNN) reported recently about the worlds first energy-positive hotel planned for the Arctic Circle. It says, When approaching the Helgeland coastline, in northern Norway, you cant miss the Svartisen glacier spilling down the side of Almlifjellet Mountain. Below, the gin-clear Holandsfjorden fjord -- an extension of the Norwegian Sea -- reflects the blue-toned mountain like a mirror. Its in this unspoiled environment that youll find Svart, which aims to be the worlds first energy-positive hotel when it opens in 2021.

We hope President Sirisena and the government will also give encouragement and tax incentives for such eco-friendly projects so that Sri Lanka will be not only a just country, but also a green country. With about 12 hours of sunlight or solar energy everyday, such a mission should not be too difficult. What is required is a vision and a commitment.Pope Francis on Sunday expressed concern over national policies dictated by fear, speaking only one week after Italy's general elections which brought populist and anti-immigrant parties to the forefront.

The pontiff, who has made the defence of migrants a key pillar of his five-year papacy, has repeatedly called for decisive action to solve political problems causing many to flee from their home countries.

Although the pope did not specifically refer to the elections, his words may resonate as a strong criticism of Italy's centre-right bloc which has strongly campaigned using anti-migrant policy promises.

"The world today is often inhabited by fear. It is an ancient disease ... And fear often turns against people who are foreign, different, poor, as if they were enemies," said the leader of the world's 1.2 billion Roman Catholics.

"There are countries where plans are dictated by the fight against these people," the pontiff added, departing from his prepared text.

The pope was speaking at the celebrations of the 50th anniversary of Rome-based peace group Sant'Egidio Community, which has helped in the last two years about one thousand refugees, mainly Syrian, reach Italy through so-called humanitarian corridors.

The Pope did not single out any country for criticism.

On Tuesday Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican's Secretary of State, second only to the Pope in the Holy See's hierarchy, also signalled the Vatican's concern over the results of the vote.

Anti-establishment 5-Star Movement and the League, a centre-right grouping that employed the most fiery anti-migrant rhetoric during the campaign, were the biggest winners at Italy's elections.

The centre-right has vowed to deport hundreds of thousands of migrants if they are able to form a government - even though that promise will be hard to keep - leaving many migrants in the country pondering over their future.

The League's leader Matteo Salvini clashed with the Pope several times over immigration during the campaign and criticised him for promoting dialogue with Islam.

The Argentine Pope, the first non-European elected to the post in nearly 1,300 years, has in the past criticised President Donald Trump's intention to build a wall to stop illegal migrants crossing the U.S. border with Mexico.

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On Wednesday, 7 March, the head of the Foreign Cultural Relations Sector at the Ministry of Culture, Hisham Mourad, received First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba Marcelino Medina Gonzalez to discuss preparations for next year's 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Egypt and Cuba.

Celebrations will include holding mutual cultural weeks in both countries, including folk art performances and film screenings. The cultural weeks will also present musical groups, visual arts and photography exhibitions.

Mourad and Gonzalez also discussed the means to ratify an agreement on cultural cooperation and exchange.

Gonzalez expressed his countrys desire to reinforce relations with Egypt on all levels, especially cultural and educational, and to send a number of Cuban scholars to study Arabic in Egypt.

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On 8 March of each year, the international community under the auspices of the United Nations celebrates International Women's Day.

For France, the day represents among other things an opportunity to affirm its commitment to Egypt's efforts to uphold equality between men and women, combating violence against women and allowing their participation in all spheres of society.



On 8 March, the French Agency for Development signed with Minister of Investment and International Cooperation Sahar Nasr and in the presence of French Ambassador to Egypt Stephane Romatet, a declaration of intent for a loan allocated to the National Organisation for the Development of Small, Medium and Small Enterprises (SMEs) to promote the creation of womens companies and a technical support programme that extends for several years to strengthen the capabilities of this organisation to recruit more women.



The French Institute Mounira branch organised workshops to raise awareness and to combat sexual harassment of women and students. The workshop was open to the public from 5.30 to 7.00 pm under the title "Face Harassment," presented by Hadia Abdel-Latif.



On the same day at 7:30pm, the French Embassy's First Prize for Equality between Men and Women was handed by actress Hend Sabry to the Women and Memory Forum online femininist campaign in a ceremony at the French Institute in Mounira presided over by Ambassador Romatet and director of French cultural institutes in Egypt and Counsellor of Cultural Cooperation Mohamed Bouabdallah.

The  7,500 prize is dedicated to funding a pioneering initiative for equality between men and women. Prior to the award, a number of outstanding initiatives presented in 2017 were shared with the audience, including initiatives by the French Development Agency, Plan International, the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development and the Sue Ellen Legal Society for Community Development Foundation which offers the "Susanne Habib" Schoolarship for the most deserving girls to study law and become lawyers, as well as a pioneering example of small projects, Yasmin Rahim, the nucleus of the "Egypt Street" project.

The day also witnessed other related activities that took place at the French Institute in Heliopolis and the Alexandria branch, as well as the Francaise Alliance Network in Port Said.

Moreover, the French Institute in Heliopolis will publish a topic on Facebook this month about the works of 18 female Francophone writers as the halls of the institute will be named after them: notably, Olympe de Gouges, Laila Suleimani, Simone de Beauvoir, Andre Shedid, Annie Ernaux and Marguerite Duras.

Believing that the participation of women is a key element of economic vitality, France has been cooperating with the United Nations Womens Agency and the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development for two years, under the auspices of the National Council for Women, and the Egyptian Women, Pioneers of the Future programme that offers Egyptian girls training courses and jobs in French and Egyptian partner companies.

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Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.On Saturday, 10 March, the Food Fiesta organised as part of the 6th India by the Nile Festival in collaboration with the Indian Embassy in Cairo, was hosted by the Semiramis InterContinental Cairo for the second consecutive year.



It celebrated the colourful culture and diverse cuisine of incredible India at its newest restaurant, bar and lounge, India along the Nile, first opened last January.



The food festival was inaugurated by Sanjay Bhattacharyya, ambassador of India to Egypt, his wife and Sameh Sobhy, general manager of the Semiramis InterContinental Cairo, together with executive assistance manager in charge of food Massimo Bernardi, Harish Tiwari, head Indian chef at India along the Nile, and guest chef Vikram Udaygiri, followed by an Indian-inspired gala dinner curated by chef Udaygiri.

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The revenue department, on the other hand, has argued that there are discrepancies in forms submitted by exporters with the customs department and those with the GST Network (GSTN).

New Delhi: In order to help exporters, the Prime Ministers Office has called for a meeting of top officials of commerce and finance ministries on Monday to discuss the issue of GST refunds with them.

Exporters have been claiming that their 70 per cent of refunds are still stuck even after eight months of roll out of the tax regime. During the meet the PMO will assess the impact of delay in refund process on exports and manufacturing, sources said.

According to sources, the meeting would be attended by finance secretary Hasmukh Adhia, commerce secretary Rita Teaotia, CBEC chairperson Vanaja Sarna and top officials from the DGFT. The DGFT is slated to make a presentation before the principal secretary to the PM on the pending refunds to exporters.

The issue has been hanging fire for over five months, with exporters complaining that delay in refunds has blocked their working capital. The revenue department, on the other hand, has argued that there are discrepancies in forms submitted by exporters with the customs department and those with the GST Network (GSTN).Hyderabad: CISR National Aerospace Laboratories is planning to talk with state governments to deploy its multipurpose drone Suchan for agricultural uses. Despite its obvious use in military surveillance, we want to promote it for civilian applications such as in agriculture, mining, etc, said Roshan Antony, senior scientist, MAV Unit, CSIR-NAL.

He said the drone could be of a great use in agriculture. If we can find out the exact area, where the crop is infected, we can apply insecticides only in that area. This would save money for farmers and also reduce the use of harmful chemicals in our food, Mr Antony said at CISR-NAL stall at Wings India.

He said CISR-NAL is in talks with the Karnataka government through the states Knowledge Commission to encourage the drones use in agriculture. Though the exact model of service delivery is yet to be worked out, he said a drone could be stationed at taluka headquarters from where one could service all farmers in that area.Mumbai: International Womens Day was celebrated across the globe on Thursday, 8 March and various special events, causes and much more was planned worldwide on the occasion.

Our Bollywood stars also lent their support to several important initiatives and most of them took to social media with posts celebrating the event, sharing throwback pictures and expressing gratefulness towards all the special women in their lives.

One of the most active celebrities on social media, Amitabh Bachchan backed Governments Swachh Shakti by conveying his thoughts on the importance of toilets for women, which made it to the official video of the mission.

Also read: Holi: Big B, Aishwarya, Aaradhya, Jaya celebrate with Holika, Gujiya and prayers

While the superstar obviously deserves kudos for backing such a noble initiative, the pictures he shared along with the post got him in trouble with the Twitteratti.

Bachchan excluded daughter-in-law, actress Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and only shared pictures with his wife Jaya Bachchan, daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda and granddaughters Navya Naveli and Aaradhya.

T 2736 - On International Women's Day , an ode to women and to the women Champions of Swachh Bharat : #SwachhShakti & @SwachhBharat

Video link: https://t.co/BGvv0uBxHK



and this my Personal commendation :https://t.co/AgZsaUFAbG pic.twitter.com/vFmRUS2Hdn  Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 8, 2018

Twitter users were unhappy about the snub, questioning him about it and calling it unfair.

One of them asked, Isnt your daughter-in-law like your daughter, and some said doing such a thing didnt suit his legendary position.

Also read: Video: Aishwarya gets emotional talking about father at event for noble cause

Some of them stressed on how a daughter-in-law was also someones daughter or that at least he couldve wished her, while some angrily told him not to discriminate between his daughter and daughter-in-law.

Check out some of the tweets:

         ?          share             Yogita (@Yogita_W) March 8, 2018

Aishwarya is missing amit ji . Not fair .. happy woman's day.  Sangita narang (@Sangitanarang1) March 8, 2018

Y no #Aishwaryarai in this post?!  Santhosh Pearson (@santhoshdeenas) March 8, 2018

Aishwarya seems missing sir on the day of "celebrating power women"   Shikha Rastogi (@ShikhaRastogi12) March 8, 2018

This is not fair. Not mentioning Aishwarya Rai. This doesn't suit the legendary position that you hold sir. Be it any personal family issues, you shouldn't have done this on a public platform and that too on Women's Day @juniorbachchan @SrBachchan pic.twitter.com/M5eLXYzBR7  Darshan M Nag (@darshu790) March 8, 2018

        ,                    ..  RAJA Nishant (@007Nishant) March 8, 2018

I know daughter in law can't become daughters....but aap women's day toh wish kar sakte the....mujhe laga sirf yeh middle class logo ki problem hai but I was surprised k celebrities cum idols thinks same  Vasundra Sethi (@SethiArora86) March 8, 2018

Not fair, I m not sure why you did not include Aishwarya , she deserves to be in one of the frame.  Sachi Singh (@sachisingh47) March 8, 2018

Bachchan later retweeted a fan post consisting of a picture with Aishwarya along with others like his mother Teji Bachchan, but the damage was already done.Yes, you heard it right! Manchu Vishnu recently went behind the lens to direct an advertorial film for the Ministry of Water Resources. The actors father and senior actor Mohan Babu will be seen in the ad film meant to promote water resource development and rejuvenation as part of the Ministrys publicity campaign.

The film has been shot at Ramoji Film City and will be ready for release in a weeks time.

The minute-long commecial will highlight the importance of river conservation and rejuvenation that is so vital for our existence, says Vishnu.

He added that he is happy to be part of this Government of India initiative to address the global water crisis. On the work front, the actor is currently wrapping the shooting of Voter.New Delhi: The trend for sporting one statement-making piece of jewellery is the safest bet that rings true on any occasion.

While one may want to look great, there's a very fine line between going "over the top" and wearing "too little."

Jewellery designer Chhaya Jain of Zahav, a couture diamond jewellery brand, has listed down a few tips that can help you rock your trinkets.

1) For a summer brunch: Keeping it casual is the way to go. A light trendy bracelet will fit into your jeans and shirt look or even work well with a pretty dress.

2) For a corporate social: The key to nailing it at an official soiree is to mix your business alter ego with your social time-out one. Opt for jewels that are dainty with just the right amount of dazzle. A pair of classy earrings should do the trick.

3) 'Meet-the-parents' look: An ivory pendant is your best bet if you want to work your charm on your future in-laws. An understated pendant will give a sophisticated look. Team it with a classic boatneck monotone outfit and you're good to go!

4) For a nuptial celebration: Always remember that gold holds a very precious place in the tradition and culture of the country. Fit right in with the most preferred metal of the Indian wedding with a gold and pearl choker that sits close on your collarbone and will complement your lehenga.

5) The 'everyday' look: Sport a light piece of jewellery that goes with your everyday outfit, be it western or Indian wear. A simple light bracelet would suit every outfit. One can even sport a nice ring as a statement piece.

6) Valentines day: Let the ring talk for itself! A heart being the ideal symbol of love, what could be better than gifting your better half a beautiful heart-shaped jewellery?Safety concerns may lead to poor adherence and discontinuation of asthma medications during pregnancy. (Photo: Pixabay)

Women with asthma who use short-acting inhalers to control symptoms may take longer to conceive than women without asthma, a recent study suggests.

Researchers examined data on 5,617 women during their first pregnancies, including 1,106 who said they had been diagnosed with asthma. The women had babies between 2004 and 2011 in New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and the UK.

Compared with non-asthmatics, women with current asthma who used only short-acting rescue medications like albuterol were 15 percent less likely to have conceived in any given monthly cycle, the study found. Women on rescue medications were also 30 percent more likely to have taken more than 12 months to conceive.

While we found that asthma was linked with reduced fertility, the most striking finding was that this relationship was only observed among the group of women relying on short-acting asthma relievers alone to manage their asthma, said lead study author Dr. Luke Grzeskowiak of the University of Adelaide.

No relationship between the use of long-acting preventer asthma medications and fertility was seen, Grzeskowiak said by email. This provides reassuring evidence that women using long-acting asthma medications, to prevent asthma symptoms and maintain good asthma control, should continue to take these when trying to conceive.

Long-acting asthma medications such as inhaled corticosteroids work by reducing inflammation in the lungs. Inflammation is a key step in triggering narrowing of the airways, which makes it more difficult for those with asthma to breathe.

While short-acting asthma medications can help relax the airway to treat asthma symptoms, such as wheezing, they are not able to reduce the underlying inflammation and therefore cannot prevent future symptoms.

Several studies have linked asthma to reproduction-related problems in women, but results have been mixed and the connection is poorly understood.

The study wasnt a controlled experiment designed to prove whether or how asthma or short-acting asthma drugs might directly cause infertility. Its possible that some women might struggle to conceive if their asthma was poorly controlled with short-acting medications.

Another limitation is that researchers relied on women to accurately recall and report on any current or prior asthma diagnosis. Researchers also lacked data on asthma control and lung function during pregnancy.

But its possible that inflammation may play a role in making it harder to conceive, and the findings suggest that women with asthma should take steps to manage symptoms before trying to conceive, researchers note in the European Respiratory Journal.

It has been hypothesized that asthma reduces uterine blood supply and increases infiltration of inflammatory cells into the (uterine lining), which impairs implantation and fertility, said Dr. Eyal Sheiner of Soroka University Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in Beer-Sheva, Israel.

Preventer medications may play a protective role in improving asthma control and reducing associated systemic inflammation which may drive impaired fertility, Sheiner, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email.

Poorly controlled asthma during pregnancy can increase the risk that women will develop a severe form of high blood pressure known as preeclampsia, and it can also lead to restricted fetal growth and preterm deliveries as well as underweight infants.

Like many medications, long-acting preventive asthma drugs and inhaled corticosteroids havent been tested in pregnant women or proven safe for use during pregnancy. Doctors often advise women with asthma to get regular lung function tests during pregnancy, and to take medications if they have severe symptoms.

Safety concerns may lead to poor adherence and discontinuation of asthma medications during pregnancy, with negative impacts on asthma control and pregnancy outcomes, Sheiner said. It is important to know that these medications improve pregnancy outcomes, and also fertility.There were lots of suitcases on display at the Hanager Arts Centre as young audiences lapped up The Secret Life of Suitcases, a children's show about a conscientious office worker who discovers the thrill of adventure.

The show is running at the the Cairo Opera House as part of the eighth edition of the Hakawy International Arts Festival for Children, from 8 to 13 March.

Originally produced by the Unicorn Theatre in the UK, the play has been performed in half a dozen countries, gently mocking that most common pitfall of adult life  focussing too much on work.

In The Secret Life of Suitcases, we meet Larry, who is the typical hard-working employee with no time for anything else, until a blue suitcase arrives at his office and he decides to open it. The play then displays all what Larry  the puppet  is missing while he hides in his office.

With the aid of some props and a dash of imagination, the small suitcase transforms into a boat, a gateway to a forest, and even a rocket that sails into space  a series of journeys that are quite captivating.

Larry meets the people who have sent him numerous suitcases over the years, but which he has always ignored. There are suitcases full of shooting stars, rays of sunshine, and hugs and kisses when most needed.

These are suitcases bearing "things that matter"  as is explained in the course of the show. For they are the foundation of life itself, not to mention happiness.

With great ease, the play delves into the notion of the "busy adult life", explaining that emotions are more important than the material world  that feelings really do matter.

Larry is not alone on the stage, being joined by two human performers  one of them puppet-maker Ailie Cohen from Scotland. They animate the puppet, shift the props and play the role of Larry's talkative boss.

The two humans form part of the decor, and their integration into the scenery is quite impressive. In the opening scene they are wearing dull brown suits, but these are later removed to reveal t-shirts bearing scenes of nature and outer-space, the settings of Larry's imagined journeys.

The use of props is also impressive. The play makes use of suitcases that perform multiple roles; on the one hand, they are indeed suitcases, while on the other they transform into doors and offices.

"We have been performing this play for the past four years," explained Cohen, who co-wrote the show with Lewis Hetherington.

Since it was first co-produced with the Unicorn Theatre in Britain, the show has travelled to the United States, Singapore, Canada, Ireland and Australia. This year's Cairo performance is the first in Egypt.

"We integrated an interpreter into the show, to translate into Egyptian slang, as English is not the first language in Egypt," she explained.

Although the show touches on issues of interest to adults, it is suitable for children aged five and above, says Cohen, who has been working in children's theatre for the past 23 years.

To Cohen, what makes the theatrical experience special is the interaction and flow of energy back and forth between the audience and the performers, until they become one.

"Children are highly emotionally developed in general, and we need the audience," she said. "It's not like TV, where it is left somewhere in the corner playing while no one is watching. Theatre is an uplifting experience and should be part of every child's life."

Check the full programme of the 8th Hakawy International Arts Festival for Children here.

Ahram Online and Al-Ahram Weekly are media sponsors of this year's Hakawy festival.



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

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Rohit Subramanian, Ankita Kumar and William Meara are on a unique journey! The three nutty travellers, as they call themselves, were individual adventurers until their love for travel brought them together, sparking the idea of a 100-day caravan trip.

From the start, the idea seemed enticing! Three solo travellers coming together for an epic road trip! This is the first time something like this is being done in India. Caravanning hasnt been documented here and thats what we aim to do, alongside bringing the van life and camping culture to our country, shares Rohit, whos always wanted to live in a caravan.

For Ankita, the idea has been in the head ever since she read Enid Blytons Five Go Off in a Caravan. William (from Ireland) is always up for adventures! We knew of each other in the past but this is the first time weve come together like this, he adds. Whats interesting is that the trio are chronicling their experiences on the Instagram page @thecaravanchronicles, which has already garnered oodles of attention despite being just a week old!

Travelling in the caravan, named Kiro (from ki in Ankita and ro in Rohit) which means crossroads in Japanese, has been a fun ride since it kick-started in Bengaluru. I was petrified of taking a group journey because Im used to solo travel. But I love the company and every day is a beauty. The best thing is that you wake up to different things every day. Whats more, you are taking your home everywhere you go, gushes Ankita, whos got her roots in Hyderabad, with her father growing up here, and her mother being Telugu-speaking.

William in a relaxed mood during their stop at The Gerry Martin Project in Hunsur, Karnataka

Interestingly, the heart of the trip  the caravan  wasnt easy to find, because the production of the Matador they were keen to travel in stopped in 1999! We sourced the vehicle from Tamil Nadus interiors. It was in a bad shape and we rushed against time to get basics like the painting job, wood work and of course the mechanics and electricals fixed. Since wed travel in uncertain conditions, this had to be taken care of, explains Rohit.

But the 100-day trip, where theyd explore the Western Ghats, covering Kerala, Karanataka, Goa and parts of Maharashtra, isnt just a fun road trip. Surfing, cliff jumping and wind surfing are some of the adventures we plan to take up. But other than that, our truck will be transformed into a food truck for a day when well collaborate with a chef. We also have a band playing a gig for us. We will be giving out books to kids at some of the rural areas we stop in, making our caravan a library for a day. We are going to conservation sites and stocking up our kitchen with organic vegetables produced by farmers. We planned all this in just a month! Rohit declares.

While caravanning can have its own set of troubles, the trio is sure living it up. We had to travel in the summer due to logistical reasons but cannot have an A/C in this van. The beds are comfortable, though! We cook and camp when needed. We give lifts to school kids, travellers and the like. We have an open-door policy in the van which indicates that everyone is welcome, shares Rohit, as Ankita adds, The van is noisy! But there would be no other way to explore the underbelly of India.The Los Angeles born actress best known for her role in the television drama Suits' already has round-the-clock protection. (Photo: DC File)

American actress Meghan Markle has been subjected to customary Army training to tackle any serious eventuality such as a hostage situation as she edges closer to becoming an official member of Britain's royal family following her wedding to Prince Harry in May.

The 36-year-old was joined by her royal fiance as troops from the Special Air Service (SAS), the British Army's specialist unit, used live ammunition as part of a recent training exercise, according to the Sunday Express' newspaper.

The exercise is part of a course devised to ensure Markle is prepared for all possible emergencies as a member of the royal family, with the kidnap and rescue part of the course being described by a former SAS officer as devised to frighten the life out of anyone.

Gerald Moor, a former senior Army intelligence officer, told the newspaper that the kind of training the newest member of the royal family will have undergone is the toughest, provided by the Army's finest.

Moor, who is now CEO of Inkerman Group, which provides security services including kidnap survival courses for corporate and government clients, added: Meghan will have found the experience physically and psychologically gruelling.

The men enact a kidnap situation, during which she will have been treated as a hostage, with the area being stormed by the SAS. She will also have been advised how to develop a relationship with her kidnappers, which is often far better than trying to escape.

She will have been shown how to deal with situations when things go wrong, for example if her close protection officer gets shot and she has to fend for herself.

The training course was based near the SAS headquarters at Hereford with a regiment which undertakes most of the British military's sensitive undercover work, including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism and hostage rescue.

Nearly every senior royal, apart from Queen Elizabeth II, has been on similar courses. However, Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, did not do the course until after her wedding to Prince William.

The reason Markle has undergone the security training before officially becoming a member of the royal family is reportedly because of the heightened security scenario in the wake of five terror attacks in the UK last year.

The Los Angeles born actress best known for her role in the television drama Suits' already has round-the-clock protection.

The royal wedding at St George's Chapel, in Windsor Castle on May 19 is set to be one of the most guarded events of the year, with an elite close protection unit of 30 SAS soldiers on duty.The march, led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) -- a peasants front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was launched from Nashik on Tuesday. (Photo: ANI)

Thane: A protest march by the agitated farmers and adivasis from Maharashtra against the failure of BJP-led government to address agrarian distress has entered the capital city. The march, led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) -- a peasants front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), was launched from Nashik on Tuesday.

The massive march of over 30,000 farmers has headed towards the KJ Somaiya ground in central Mumbai.

The farmers will be protesting outside the legislative assembly in Mumbai on March 12.

Security has been tightened and the police issued traffic advisory for a busy Monday.

According to a report in NDTV, the protestors have now found political support with senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde visiting the protesters late Friday night and welcoming them.

However, he clarified that he had come with party chief Uddhav Thackeray's message and not as a cabinet minister in the state government.

The AIKS welcomed the Sena but also asked why the party, an ally in the government, only had encouragement to offer.

Ajit Nawale from the AIKS said, "It's sad the Sena has only offered support. Their presence and the support is welcome but he (Mr Shinde) is a member of the government. Only support is not fair. You call yourselves tigers. When will you use your claws for farmers interests?"

The Nationalist Congress Party and the Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena have also offered support to the left-affiliated peasants outfit.

Complete loan waiver and immediate implementation of MS Swaminathan committee's recommendations, which ensures fair remuneration are the major demands of the AIKS.

The agitating farmers are also seeking compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for destruction of crops due to hailstorm and pink-worm, allocation of forest land under cultivation to farmers and implementation of Forest Rights Act.Chennai: The Greater Chennai Corporation officials on Saturday seized 600 kg of calf meat, which have been smuggled into the city from other states.

According to officials, the meat would have been sold to hotels ranging from the roadside to top-class restaurants for making mutton biryani. Although the practice of smuggling beef from other states had been curtailed after several raids, the practice had started to evolve again, an official said.

The Chennai Corporation officials had conducted a surprise raid at the small warehouse on the banks of Cooum river on South Cooum River Road, Egmore, following a secret information. The miscreants have been bringing calf meet from other states by trains under the label of fish meat. They will cut the meat into small pieces and sell them as mutton meat, the official explained.

During the raid, it came to light that the meat had been slaughtered on the banks of the Cooum in unhygienic conditions posing health problems to consumers. More than 600 kg of unhygienic calf meat had been seized, said the official.

The official also added that the police complaint has been filed at the Egmore police station against the alleged owner of the shed, Sakthivel and a case has been booked. The unhygienic meat has been dumped into Kodungaiyur dumping yard.The child and development minister made the suggestion at the 65th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Union minister Maneka Gandhi has suggested the Human Resource Development ministry to include books of all religions in the school curriculum as well as provide moral science classes to promote greater religious tolerance among the students.

The child and development minister made the suggestion at the 65th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) recently. It is the highest decision making body in the education sector.

To promote greater tolerance among students belonging to different religions, the minister (Maneka Gandhi) suggested moral science classes and religious books of all religions so that students can start appreciating other religions, an official documentation of the meeting read.

Odisha's Education Minister Badri Narayan Patra, also present at the meeting, suggested modifying the curriculum in a way so as to "endorse the feelings of religious tolerance and patriotism.

Having vegetarian menu for mid-day meals served in schools, saying 'Jai Hind' instead of 'present mam or sir' during school attendance and remodelling of the NCERT syllabus to ensure value and culture-based education were among the other suggestions made during the meeting.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Taking a swipe at US President Donald Trump for backing out of Paris climate agreement, French president Emmanuel Macron lauded the efforts of India, along with other nations, for making International Solar Alliance (ISA) a reality.

However, Macron did not name Trump at the founding conference of ISA in the capital on Sunday.

While hailing the 'Solar Mamas', a group of women solar engineers, he also referred to the countries which decided to leave the climate agreement.

Addressing the summit in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Macron said, "Mr Prime Minister, You made a dream and we did it. It was about this International Solar Alliance. It was two years ago, it was just an idea at that time and we decided all together to act very quickly and today a big change".

Expressing his immense happiness and lauding the efforts of Solar Mamas, he said, "Our solar mamas did not wait for us. They started to act and deliver complete results. They did not wait and stop because some countries (US and others) just decided to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement. Because they (ISA nations) decided it is good for them, their children, and grand children. They decided to act and keep acting".

The oblique reference was towards US President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to curb global greenhouse gas emission and limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.

In November last year, Syria signed the deal, leaving the US as the only country in the world to not support the framework deal to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

Interestingly, France is the co-host for the founding conference of the the ISA which is a treaty based international body with 121 prospective member countries.

As many as 60 nations have signed the agreement to join ISA, while 30 have already ratified the agreement and made it possible to make it a legal entity in December last year.

Macron said the countries at the ISA represent three-fourths of the world population. As much as 20-50 per cent of the population do not have access to power.

The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2020 for which "we need USD 1,000 billion," he said.

On Sunday, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered in New Delhi for alliance's first summit.VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu had a three-hour-long meeting with ministers Yanamala Ramakrishnudu and Kimidi Kala Venkata Rao on Saturday at the Secretariat, over finalising the candidates for Rajya Sabha. He discussed at length the Rajya Sabha candidates and Delhi developments, apart from getting feedback on what New Delhi is thinking over Andhra Pradesh.

Former Union minister Daggubati Purandheswaris comments over the state governments inability in even constructing compound walls also for Central institutions allotted for the state government came up for discussion in the meeting, sources said and added that the CM has directed the ministers to give a strong counter to her comments.

During the meeting itself, the CM spoke to MPs over phone to elicit the details of Delhi developments and also elicited their opinion over selecting the RS candidates.Patidar leader Hardik Patel said, 'It was a mistake. Had I met him (Rahul Gandhi), the BJP would have won 79 and not 99 seats.' (Photo: File)

Mumbai: Patidar leader Hardik Patel on Saturday said not meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi ahead of the Gujarat polls was a mistake as it would have prevented the BJP from retaining power in the state.

The 24-year-old Patidar quota agitation spearhead, who had pledged support with the Congress for the Gujarat polls held in last December, said the opposition party would have got an absolute majority had he met Gandhi.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave in Mumbai, Patel said, "I have said this before as well and I am saying it now. I did not meet Rahul Gandhi. If I can openly meet Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar and (Shiv Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray, there was no issue in meeting Rahul.

"It was a mistake. Had I met him, the BJP would have won 79 and not 99 seats."

The BJP retained Gujarat by winning 99 seats in the 182-member Assembly. The Congress improved its tally, but could not oust the saffron outfit from its stronghold.

After dilly-dallying for weeks, Patel had, in November-end, declared that his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) would back the Congress in the Gujarat polls, after the latter accepted its demand for reservation to the Patidar community.

Patel reiterated his allegation that a high-ranking bureaucrat of Gujarat had offered him a bribe of Rs 1,200 crore to get the agitating Patels call off their quota stir. Stating that innocent people were killed in Gujarat during the quota agitation, Patel said sedition charges were slapped on people, who had to make regular court visits now.

"We also voted for (Narendra) Modi when he was the prime ministerial candidate. We had thought the youth of this country would get jobs...the farmers of the country would get a fair price for their produce, but all these things did not happen," he added. The Patidar leader also said that the BJP ran a communal election campaign, but once it came to power, it started speaking about inclusiveness. Top leaders of the saffron outfit were part of such campaigns, he added.

Referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's recent remarks on Eid celebrations, Patel said the political discourse needed to be more positive, so that people from different communities were encouraged to celebrate their respective festivals.

Speaking at the event, student leader Kanhaiya Kumar said there was a trend in the country of Congress leaders leaving the party, joining the BJP and turning virtuous individuals overnight. "The BJP has become like a washing machine," he added.Nellore: President of Nellore District Congress Committee, Panabaka Krishnaiah said that Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh would bring benefits to the extent of Rs 5 lakh crores. Speaking to media persons at Indira Bhavan on Saturday, he said that Andhra Pradesh is lagging behind in development after the NDA government came to power.

He added that the NDAs dictatorial rule and anti-people policies have been causing innumerable problems to the common man. He called upon the people to teach a lesson to the Union Government. The former senior railway officer said that Congress leaders from Nellore took part in Atma gaurava deeksha held on March 6, 7 and 8 in Parliament Street at Delhi and made their voice heard in the capital. He alleged that the recent Budget is nothing but statistical jugglery. He maintained that a deficit in the previous years was suddenly shown as a surplus in the Budget in 2018-19.

He found fault with the government for poor allocation of crop loan waiver and financial assistance to the unemployed and downtrodden in the society. Attributing the snails pace progress pertaining to barrages on Pennar River at Nellore, Sangam and Somasila project modernisation works to meagre allotment of funds, he demanded the government to provide necessary funds to complete the works for the benefit of farmers. Congress leaders C.V. Sesha Reddy, Chanchalbabu Yadav, Udatha Venkat Rao and Seetharam Babu were present with Mr Krishnaiah.Congress president Rahul Gandhi said, 'We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, completely...in fact, completely (forgiven).' (Photo: Twitter/@INCIndia)

Singapore: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he and his sister Priyanka Gandhi have "completely forgiven" his father Rajiv Gandhi's killers.

During his interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore, Gandhi, when asked if he and his sister Priyanka had forgiven his father's killers, said: "We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, completely...in fact, completely (forgiven)."

"There is a history that when one realises that when these events take place, it's collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught. I remember when I saw Mr Prabhakaran on TV lying dead, I got two feelings - one was why they are humiliating this man in this way. And second was I felt really bad for him and for his kids and I did that because I understood deeply what it meant to be on the other side of that thing. So to me when I see violence regardless of who it is, I know that there is a human being behind that, there is a family behind that, a kid crying behind that. I have been through a lot of pain to get this and it is something I consider very valuable. I find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does," he said.

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber of LTTE, the terrorist group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on May 21, 1991 at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

Gandhi, who is on a five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries, also said: "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That's pretty clear."

Asked if he thinks he had a privilege life being the son and grandson of former prime ministers, he said, "It depends which side of the coin you are...of course there are a number of privileges where I sit, but I would not say that I haven't been through a rough ride."

"I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...surrounded by 15 guys from morning noon and night, I don't thinks that's a privilege. I think that's quite a hard thing to deal with," he said in a video shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle.Who could have imagined, one year ago, that American-Russian relations would deteriorate to a degree that would lead some Russia watchers and America experts to speak about a sense of deja vu, the rhetoric of the Cold War back in circulation, when analysing the new lows in bilateral relations between Moscow and Washington?



US President Donald Trump, upon entering the White House in January 2017, had shown a marked willingness to cooperate with his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin, in order to improve American-Russian relations, on the one hand, and to work with the Russians to find peaceful solutions to crises in Ukraine and Syria, on the other.

The world welcomed such openness on the part of the new US administration and, for a while, things seemed to move in the right direction. Arab countries, Egypt included, thought that this American attitude would help in implementing UN Security Council resolutions related to Syria and Libya, and maybe would have a positive impact on the Middle East peace process.

After all, both the United States and Russia are members of the Middle East Quartet.



By the end of last year, American positions on Russia hardened in a way that startled the world. As an example, the Obama administration had declined to provide the Ukrainian army with lethal weapons, for fear of making matters worse, and hampering implementation of the Minsk Accord.

That was a wise decision and encouraged, to a certain degree, the concerned parties, including Germany and France, to keep working in that direction.

However, the Trump administration, late last year, shifted gears and decided to start exporting lethal weapons to the Ukrainian military. The US State Department announced last week that Washington okayed the sale of Javelin anti-tank missiles and related equipment to Kiev in a deal worth $47 million.



The US Defence Security Cooperation Agency said in an official notice last week that this proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by improving the security of Ukraine.

It added that the Javelin system will help Ukraine build its long-term defence capacity to defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity.



It goes without saying that the Russians would take the necessary measures to keep a certain balance of power between Kiev and the Eastern Ukraine regions that have enjoyed Russian support from 2014 onwards.



In the meantime, the US administration unveiled its Nuclear Posture Review last year that considered both Russia and China as anti-status-quo powers bent on confronting the United States and the international liberal order of the post-Berlin Wall international system. In this review, the United States called for developing smaller, low-yield nuclear weapons to deter Russia and China.



Dana White, spokeswoman of the Pentagon, explained this strategy, stressing that the United States needed to develop such tactical nuclear weapons because of many things Russia has done.

On the other hand, she assured Moscow that American defence plans have never been about Russia. It is highly doubtful that the Russians would buy such assurances.



As a matter of fact, the Russian response to the abovementioned American moves, decisions and policies was not slow in coming.



On Thursday, 1 March, Putin went on national television and said, I want to tell those who have fuelled the arms race over the last 15 years, sought to win unilateral advantages over Russia, introduced sanctions aimed to contain [Russias] development you have failed to contain Russia.

He said that his country has developed a nuclear weapon that makes defence systems useless. He added that this intercontinental ballistic missile is capable of reaching nearly any target in the world, adding that defence systems will not be able to withstand it.



The missile President Putin talked about is a hypersonic missile, meaning that its speed is five times the speed of sound.



The Russian president emphasised that Moscow believes that a strong military is a necessary guarantor of peace in the world.

However, he warned that any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies any kind of attack will be regarded as a nuclear attack against Russia. He made clear that in responding to such attacks, Russia will take action no matter what the consequences are, and that nobody should have any doubt about that.



The Pentagon reacted quickly to the televised speech of President Putin. The spokeswoman of the US Defense Department affirmed that the United States needs to ensure [it has a] credible nuclear deterrent, and we are confident that we are prepared to defend this nation no matter what.



The two superpowers and China are actively engaged in an arms race, not only in nuclear arms but also in new small tactical nuclear weapons that could be used in local theatres of war. In Ukraine, or Syria, for example. Or in North Korea.



In the heyday of the Cold War, there had been two political ideologies fiercely competing: capitalism and communism.

The United States was the uncontested leader of the capitalist camp, which was called the Free World, and the former Soviet Union spearheaded a world revolution to propagate its communist ideology.

The world back then was evenly divided between the two superpowers.



In todays world, things have dramatically changed after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. The Soviet Union became history and the United States is no longer the uncontested leader of the Free World.

To mark the difference, the concept of the Free World itself had undergone revision to reflect the basic changes in the contemporary international system.

It has been replaced by the international liberal order which is not restricted geographically to the Western world, but encompasses countries from east and west that share the liberal and democratic values so cherished by the West. Of course, this liberal international order almost crumbled in the financial crisis of 2007-2008 and saw the rise of nationalist populism across the United States and Europe in later years.

In other words, if there are existential threats to the West, they are not necessarily the doings of the Russians and the Chinese who have every right to defend their national security interests.



Unlike the Cold War years of the 1950s and 1960s, it is difficult today to identify enemies among the superpowers.

We could safely speak of adversarial pattern of relations among them. This could be managed through diplomacy and not through armed containment. The world of today has become so interdependent and international relations so fluid that a return to the Cold War is almost impossible.

However, we should be wary of its shadows. The Arab world should not live under these threatening shadows. Maybe, destiny beckons Egypt to play a greater role in this respect.

The writer is former assistant foreign minister.

*This article was first published in Al-Ahram Weekly

Short link:

Coimbatore: Stating that the DMK government when in power in the state and at the Centre had done nothing to solve the Cauvery water issue, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami said here, had the DMK government taken necessary action in 2007 while in power, the Cauvery problem would have been solved then itself.

Speaking to reporters at the airport here, he confirmed that the state will continue to push for the formation of Cauvery Management Board and the monitoring committee.

On demands for resignation of MPs over the issue, he said there is a political motive behind the same. He added that AIADMK MPs will continue to fight for the rights of our state in and outside parliament.

To a question on efforts taken by his government to release convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, Mr Palaniswami said, no doubt Congress president, Rahul Gandhi had forgiven the convicts. Our government is working as per the Law. From our end, all efforts are taken to set free the convicts. The same will happen if there is a legal framework.Hyderabad: Loud music and a day-long fast observed on the day of her wedding cost a bride her life in Suryapet. The woman, identified as Gayatri, suffered a heart attack right after the noisy wedding procession wound its way at the function venue on Saturday night.

She was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared her brought dead. The incident occurred on Saturday night when Gayatri was getting married to G. Venu in a ceremony being held at a function hall in Suryapet.

"After the wedding, the couple, along with a few of the family members, headed to a temple for prayers. As she stepped out of the temple, Gayatri suffered a heart attack and collapsed," sources said.

She was rushed to a nearby private hospital where the doctors were not present, hence had to be taken to another hospital where she was declared dead after medics tried to revive her by CPR but to no avail.

According to the family members, she was exhausted due to the constant fasts that she was keeping, and even skipping the wedding meals.

The family also said Gayatri may have found the music playing at the celebrations unbearably loud, which could have led to a heart attack. The family has not approached the police about the incident, saying it was a natural death, sources said.Hyderabad: The state government will pay for the Metro corridor between Biodiversity Park and Shamshabad Airport as part of the second phase of the Hyderabad Metro Rail project. The cost of the other corridors of the second phase will be shared by the state and central governments.

Sources in the Chief Ministers Office (CMO) said that this decision was taken on the recommendation of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRL), which prepared the preliminary project report. The state government will decide finally at the next meeting of the state department.

The DMRL has estimated that the total project cost of the second phase will be Rs 14,023 crore. This corridor connectivity to the airport, which the state government will pay for, will cost Rs 4,645 crore.

Metro rail experts and Hyderabad Metro Rail (HMRL) authorities felt that since phase-II is being implemented in relatively less dense corridors than Phase-I corridors and since it is unlikely that private investors will fund the project given the overall national economic scenario, phase-II should be a government project.

They said among the identified phase-II corridors, the airport corridor from Biodiversity Park to Shamshabad Airport with extension of Corridor 3 from Raidurg to Biodiversity Park (30.7 km) is an immediate priority as metro connectivity to the airport will boost the image of Hyderabad as a global destination.Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Declaring that India wanted a solar revolution not just in the country but across the world and announcing the establishment of a Solar Technology Mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the allocation of a whopping $1.4 billion as part of its Line of Credit for 27 solar projects in 15 developing countries.

Mr Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in the national capital that is being attended by over 20 heads and deputy heads of government, a majority of them African.

Mr Modi said, We want a solar revolution not just in India but the world... India will begin the solar technology mission to bridge the gap in solar technology.

Interestingly, 23 out of these 27 projects for which Mr Modi offered financial assistance are in African countries where observers point out that India has been trying its best to counter Chinese influence.

The remaining four projects are in Indias neighbourhood of which two each are in Bangladesh (worth a total of $180 million) and Sri Lanka ($100 million).

This is apart from 13 solar development projects  either completed or under implementation  under Indian Line of Credit worth $143 million in African countries.

The proposed solar projects abroad are also expected to boost the Indian economy since 75 per cent of these have to be sourced from India as per the guidelines.

The $1.4 billion will be part of the $2 billion under the Indian Line of Credit that will be allocated and in turn part of the $10 billion for development projects abroad that have been pledged by New Delhi earlier.

The solar projects pertain to energy for infrastructure such as health centres, high schools, hand-pump boreholes, power plants, street-lighting projects and drinking water-supply located in countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Ghana, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles and Rwanda A total of 32 countries have both signed and ratified the agreement while another 30 have just signed but not ratified it as yet.The bodies were shifted to local government hospital of Ramanpet and a case under Section 174 of CrPC was booked.

Hyderabad: Two children, a girl and a boy committed suicide on railway tracks at Ramanpet on Sunday. The victims were identified as B. Pujitha, 15, and Ch Ganesh, 18, of village Ramanpet.

The children were in love with each other. The girl was from Vaddera caste and the boy from Yadav caste, which is one reason why the parents did not agree to their relationship. The two were counseled by the elders of the village, said an investigating officer from the RPF of Ramanpet.

The bodies were shifted to local government hospital of Ramanpet and a case under Section 174 of CrPC was booked which pertains to death under suspicious condition.As per revenue records purified by the state government recently, there are nearly 72 lakh farmers in the state. (Representational image)

Hyderabad: The Rs 5-lakh free insurance scheme for farmers announced by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao recently will be implemented from June 2 on the occasion of Telangana State Formation Day.

Agriculture minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy on Sunday held a meeting with LIC officials to finalise the modalities for the scheme.

The CM announced that there was no need for farmers to pay any premium to avail this scheme and the government itself will bear the premium on their behalf.

As per revenue records purified by the state government recently, there are nearly 72 lakh farmers in the state.

The families of deceased farmers will get Rs 5 lakh compensation in case of the death of a farmer covered under the scheme for any reason. Though the premium amount for each farmer is yet to be finali-sed, the government exp-ects it to be nearly Rs 1,000.

With this, the government needs to spend around Rs 720 crore every year towards payment of premium on behalf of farmers. The funds required for the purpose will be allotted in the Budget 2018-19.Hyderabad: Telangana Rashtra Samithi chief and TS Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao announced the partys candidates for three Rajya Sabha seats on Sunday. Polling will be held on March 23.

As expected, the CMs nephew and Telugu news channel managing director, Joginapally Santosh Kumar (old Karimnagar district), has been nominated. The other two candidates are the partys Backward Class leaders, Badugula Lingaiah Yadav (old Nalgonda district) and Banda Prakash (old Warangal district).

Mr Santosh Kumar was earlier elevated to general secretary of the TRS.

Going by the existing numbers in the Legislative Assembly, the TRS can easily win all the three seats. To win a Rajya Sabha seat, it requires the support of 30 MLAs. The Congress has only 12 MLAs in the 120-member state Assembly, and the TRS has 89 members. The MIM has seven members, the BJP has five MLAs, the TDP has two MLAs and the CPM has one MLA.

However, with the main Opposition Congress deciding to field former Union minister Balaram Naik as a fourth candidate, the elections have taken an interesting turn.

Mr Santosh, who has been working with the Chief Minister ever since the TRS was established in 2001, has maintained a low profile all these years.

He came into the limelight only after he was made managing director of a Telugu news channel, owned by KCRs family members, a few years ago, and made general secretary of the TRS.

Mr Santosh has the backing of several TRS leaders and activists who requested Mr Rao to give him the Rajya Sabha seat.

The TRS won 63 seats in the 2014 elections; its strength increased to 89 with the defection of MLAs from the TDP, Congress, BSP, YSRCP and CPI.Hyderabad: TRS chief and Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said that he will not quit state politics till the 2019 elections, even though he is playing a crucial role in national politics to float the non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front. He said he will follow in the footsteps of Prime Minister Narendra Modi who continued as Gujarat Chief Minister even as he toured all the states before the 2014 general election, campaigning for the BJP.

Mr Rao was addressing the TRS Legislature Party meeting at Telangana Bhavan on Sunday ahead of the Budget session of the State Legislature.

Mr Rao warned ministers, MLAs, MLCs not to do anything controversial as central agencies like Intelligence, I-T, and Enforcement Directorate will be after them once he announces formation of the Third Front against the BJP. He said they should be careful when speaking over the phone, which may be tapped.Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in a US television interview that Ukrainians, Tatars or 'Jews,' could have meddled in the 2016 US presidential election -- but not the Kremlin. (Photo: File)

Washington: Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested in a US television interview that Ukrainians, Tatars or "Jews," could have meddled in the 2016 US presidential election -- but not the Kremlin.

"Why have you decided the Russian authorities, myself included, gave anybody permission to do this?" Putin asked in the often-combative interview with NBC television.

The leading US intelligence agencies concluded in 2017 that Putin personally directed an intelligence effort to influence the 2016 US presidential election to undermine Democrat Hillary Clinton's campaign and boost Republican Donald Trump.

In February 2018, US Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is conducting a widespread probe into Russia's role in the campaign, indicted 13 Russian nationals and three Russian companies for allegedly backing Trump, maligning Clinton, and engaging in other election interference.

"So what if they're Russians?" Putin said of the allegations, according to transcripts of the NBC interview released late Friday.

"There are 146 million Russians. So what?... I don't care. I couldn't care less... They do not represent the interests of the Russian state."

"Maybe," Putin said, "they are not even Russians but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked; maybe they have dual citizenship or a green card; maybe the US paid them for this."

"How can you know that? I do not know either."

No laws broken?

Despite Mueller's 37-page indictment, Putin said he has seen no evidence thus far that the alleged meddling broke any laws.

"We in Russia cannot prosecute anyone as long as they have not violated Russian law... At least send us a piece of paper... Give us a document. Give us an official request. And we'll take a look at it."

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion with Moscow, and Putin laughed at the mere suggestion.

"Could anyone really believe that Russia, thousands of miles away... influenced the outcome of the election? Doesn't that sound ridiculous even to you?" Putin asked.

On announcing the indictment on the Russians, US Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein said the document made no judgment on whether the alleged Russian propaganda campaign altered the election outcome.

"It's not our goal to interfere. We do not see what goal we would accomplish by interfering. There's no goal," Putin said.

US intelligence chiefs last month said Russia still seeks to meddle in US politics, posing a threat to mid-term congressional elections in November, and the 2020 presidential election.

'Destabilization' campaign

Trump has acknowledged that Russia and "other countries" meddled in the 2016 election, but insisted it had "no impact on our votes whatsoever" and vowed to make sure it wouldn't happen again.

"We'll counteract whatever they do. We'll counteract it very strongly. You don't want your system of votes to be compromised in any way," Trump said on Tuesday. "And we won't allow that to happen."

Russian efforts however are said to go far beyond US elections: US General Curtis Scaparrotti, the commander of NATO forces in Europe, told US lawmakers on Thursday that Russia is working to break up the NATO alliance partly through its online operations spreading false information.

"Russia is carrying out a campaign of destabilization to change the international order, fracture NATO and undermine US leadership around the world," Scaparrotti told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Thursday.It asks people to carry out violent acts including verbal abuse, removing a womans hijab or head-scarf, physical assault and using acid as a weapon. (Photo: Representational/ AP)

London: Britains counter-terrorism officers are investigating a series of anti-Muslim letters circulated across the country calling for people to participate in a Punish a Muslim Day on April 3.

Residents in London, Yorkshire and the Midlands regions of England have reported receiving the letters branded as malicious correspondence by police.

West Yorkshire Police said the investigation into the instances was being coordinated by the UKs North East Counter Terrorism Unit (NECTU) and enquiries were going on.

What I want to do is to reassure the communities of West Yorkshire that these communications are being taken extremely seriously. We understand that they may have caused concern and upset to people, especially the more vulnerable members of society, said Assistant Chief Constable Angela Williams of West Yorkshire Police said.

Public safety remains our priority and I would urge our communities to be vigilant but not frightened, she added.

Counter-terrorism police are treating the letters as a possible hate crime.

Images of the A4 note, which contains a list of violent acts alongside a number of claims of why they were executed, have been widely shared online.

The note incites verbal abuse and assaults on Muslims, as well as attacks on mosques. It asks people to carry out violent acts including verbal abuse, removing a womans hijab or head-scarf, physical assault and using acid as a weapon. These were ranked using a points-based system, with the letter stating, There will be rewards based on action taken.

Police said it had a couple of letters that will undergo analysis in an attempt to determine their origin.

Tell MAMA [Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks], a project that monitors Islamaphobic hate crimes in the UK, said a photo of an envelope suggested at least one of the notes was dealt with at a Sheffield sorting office.

This has caused quite a lot of fear within the community. They are asking if they are safe, if their children are safe to play outdoors. We have told them to keep calm, said Iman Atta from Tell MAMA.

The group said it had received reports of people in Bradford, Leicester, London, Cardiff and Sheffield receiving the letters.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said it was not yet clear whether any criminal allegations relating to the letters had been reported in London.NASA's James Webb Space Telescope is set to peer into reservoirs of interstellar water to understand the origin and evolution of key building blocks for habitable planets.



A molecular cloud is an interstellar cloud of dust, gas, and a variety of molecules ranging from molecular hydrogen (H2) to complex, carbon-containing organics.

Molecular clouds hold most of the water in the universe and serve as nurseries for newborn stars and their planets.

Within these clouds, on the surfaces of tiny dust grains, hydrogen atoms link with oxygen to form water. Carbon joins with hydrogen to make methane.

Nitrogen bonds with hydrogen to create ammonia. All of these molecules stick to the surface of dust specks, accumulating icy layers over millions of years.

The result is a vast collection of "snowflakes" that are swept up by infant planets, delivering materials needed for life as we know it.

"If we can understand the chemical complexity of these ices in the molecular cloud, and how they evolve during the formation of a star and its planets, then we can assess whether the building blocks of life should exist in every star system," said Melissa McClure of the Universiteit van Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

To understand these processes, researchers will examine a nearby star-forming region to determine which ices are present where.

"We plan to use a variety of Webb's instrument modes and capabilities, not only to investigate this one region, but also to learn how best to study cosmic ices with Webb," said Klaus Pontoppidan of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI), an investigator on McClure's project.

The project will take advantage of Webb's high-resolution spectrographs to get the most sensitive and precise observations at wavelengths that specifically measure ices.

Webb's spectrographs, NIRSpec and MIRI, will provide up to five times better precision than any previous space telescope at near- and mid-infrared wavelengths.

The team plans to target the Chamaeleon Complex, a star-forming region visible in the southern sky.

It is located about 500 light-years from Earth and contains several hundred protostars, the oldest of which are about 1 million years old.

The team will use Webb's sensitive infrared detectors to observe stars behind the molecular cloud. As light from those faint, background stars passes through the cloud, ices in the cloud will absorb some of the light.

By observing many background stars spread across the sky, astronomers can map ices within the cloud's entire expanse and locate where different ices form.

They will also target individual protostars within the cloud itself to learn how ultraviolet light from these nascent stars promotes the creation of more complex molecules.

Astronomers also will examine the birthplaces of planets, rotating disks of gas and dust known as protoplanetary disks that surround newly formed stars.

They will be able to measure the amounts and relative abundances of ices as close as five billion miles from the infant star, which is about the orbital distance of Pluto in our solar system.

"Comets have been described as dusty snowballs. At least some of the water in Earth's oceans likely was delivered by the impacts of comets early in our solar system's history. We'll be looking at the places where comets form around other stars," said Pontoppidan.When serial blasts rocked Mumbai on March 12, 1993, it was a shocker for the people of the city as well as police.



In fact, Mumbai was still recovering from the December 1992-January 1993 communal riots post the demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya.

For the then prime minister late P V Narsimha Rao, then Maharashtra chief minister Sharad Pawar, then Mumbai Police chief late Amarjit Singh Samra and crime branch chief M N Singh it was a major challenge.

M N Singh put Rakesh Maria, the then deputy commissioner of police (traffic), to investigate the case.

They were able to zero in on the links within 24 to 36 hours.

The name of Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Tiger Memon - both of whom are still absconding and holed up in Karachi - surfaced.

An abandoned Bajaj Chetak scooter and a Maruti Omni van established the link between the blasts and the Memon family of Mahim.

During the night of March 12, when the police was doing rounds, they found a white Maruti Omni van abandoned near the Doordarshan Kendra at Worli.

In fact, some of Tiger's men were in this vehicle and were heading towards the BMC headquarters, but abandoned it when a bomb in a bus exploded near the Century Mills. The van was full of AK-56s and grenades.

Meanwhile, the RTO, too, was contacted to get details of the van and it was found to be registered in the name of Rubina Memon, wife of Suleiman Memon, who had been acquitted by the TADA court.

Rubina (Tiger Memon's sister-in-law) is serving a life sentence and her ground that she was a housewife and not aware of who was using the car had been rejected.

The police then reached their house - Al Husseini building - in Mahim, raided it and found that the Memons were behind it.

A day later, a skin specialist reported about an abandoned scooter at the Naigaum Cross lane near Dadar.

The scooter, laden with RDX, had failed to explode and was defused by the police.

Maria got a hold of all the keys from the Memon house and used one to unlock the abandoned scooter.

It fitted the slot, thereby nailing the Memon's involvement in the case.China's Xi Jinping on Sunday secured a path to rule indefinitely as Parliament abolished presidential term limits, handing him almost total authority to pursue a vision of transforming the nation into an economic and military superpower.



The move reverses the era of "collective" leadership and orderly succession that was promoted by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to ensure stability following the turbulent one-man rule of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong.

The historic constitutional amendment breezed through the rubber-stamp Parliament with 2,958 in favour, two against and three abstentions despite an unusual bout of online criticism that censors have scrambled to extinguish.

Xi stood up first at the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box, as delegates of the National People's Congress applauded after each vote on the constitutional amendment to lift the two five-year term limit for the presidency.

The first constitutional amendment in 14 years had been expected to breeze through the legislature, which has never rejected a Communist Party diktat in its half-century of existence.

"This is the urgent wish of the common people," said Ju Xiuqin, a delegate from northeastern Heilongjiang province, echoing party claims that the amendment had the unanimous support of "the masses".

Xi, 64, has consolidated power since 2012 when he was appointed to the country's top office: general secretary of the Communist Party.

While the position has no term limits, his two predecessors both gave it up after two terms as part of an orderly process established by Deng.

The country's presidency is a largely ceremonial office, but the constitutional limits meant Xi would have had to give it up in 2023.

But with the new amendments, he could now have a lifetime to push his goal of turning China into global economic powerhouse with a "world-class" military by mid-century.

His rise has been accompanied by tighter restrictions on civil society, with the detention of activists and lawyers, and stricter limits on the already heavily controlled internet.

At the same time, he gained a measure of popularity among Chinese people through a relentless crackdown on corruption that has punished more than a million party officials, and sidelined potential rivals.

While attention has focused on the term limits, the amendments also include major provisions that will engrave Xi's eponymous political mantra in the constitution and hand the Communist Party an even larger role in the country's affairs.

In a written report, the head of Parliament's Standing Committee, Zhang Dejiang, said the amendments "will ensure the constitution improves and develops in step with the times and provide a firm constitutional guarantee for upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era".

The Communist Party says the move merely aligns the presidency with the limit-free titles of party secretary and military chief, claiming "the masses" unanimously called for the removal of term limits.

But the proposal was kept secret until it was revealed in a state media report on February 25, a week before the legislature's opening session.

The party later disclosed that Xi had presided over a meeting of the Politburo in September during which the leadership decided to revise the constitution.

The party then sought proposals and opinions, culminating in a decision in late January to introduce constitutional amendments at the NPC.

"Xi Jinping has presided over so many important projects such as economic reforms and the fight against corruption. There was a consensus that we supported him having more time to finish his work," said Dou Yanli, a delegate from eastern Shandong province.

The surprise move triggered a backlash online, prompting censors to block phrases and words such as "I disagree" and "emperor" and the image of Winnie the Pooh, the cartoon bear to which Xi has been compared.

Activists fear that removing term limits may lead to a further tightening of already strict controls on media, civil society and religion, as Xi tries to impose his highly ideological vision of socialism on every aspect of society.

Beijing-based activist Hu Jia, who says authorities forced him to leave the capital during the congress, called the amendment "illegal".

"Xi asked all people to obey the constitution, and then used the amendment to place himself above it. He used the constitution as the ultimate legal weapon that binds officials.Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde's personal assistant Suresh Shetty, has lodged a complaint at the Market police station here in Sirsi, stating that a false and accusatory Facebook post has been made against the minister.



Prajakeeya party supporters have made a post in their Facebook account accusing Hegde of saying that he will bring down the statue of Nadaprabhu Kempegowda and erect a statue of Shivaji in its place; if he wins the election. The post has been made in a Facebook account titled "Prajaakiya'.

Shetty has added in the complaint that the minister has never made any such statement anywhere, and that the people behind the post are spreading false rumours; as elections are nearing.

The complaint mentions two Facebook accounts titled 'Manju power star' and 'Prajaakiya'.At least eight people were arrested till Sunday by the Rajasthan Police for waving black flags in a public meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Jhunjhunu on March 8.



Of the eight people, the police presented six in a local court on Saturday.

"They were arrested for raising slogans and stopping police personnel from discharging their duties," SHO of Kotwali police station Gopal Singh said.

During the public address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Jhunjhunu to launch the expansion of the "Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao" programme, Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje was shown black flags by some youths.

As soon as Vasundhara began her speech, a group of youngsters started hooting and waving black flags.

According to the police, those who have been arrested are contractual employees of the National Health Mission department who have been demanding permanent appointments.

They have been booked under Section 147 (rioting), Section 353 (assault to deter public servant), and section 336 (act endangering the safety of others) of the IPC.President Xi Jinping has warned Chinese officials to shed "pillow talk" and ensure that they and their families refrain from indulging in corruption as he is set to rule China perhaps for life after the abolition of term limits.



China's rubber-stamp parliament today ratified a historic constitutional amendment abolishing the decades-old practice of two-term limits for the president, paving way for Xi to become China's leader-for-life.

In his interaction with the deputies of the National People's Congress (NPC), Xi said officials should strengthen self-control and not get tempted.

"Don't let pillow talk lead you down to corruption. Don't let your children engage in self-dealing using your name. Don't be dragged into the 'muddy water' by people around you," Xi was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

"Officials should never indulge themselves, never cross the line, never break the rule, and improve immunity to corruption," he said.

Xi underlined a "clean and upright" political ecology and urged leading officials to uphold rule of law.

Leading officials should demonstrate leadership and set an example, he said.

Xi regarded as the most powerful Chinese leaders in recent years carried out an extensive anti-graft campaign in the country's history in the last five years in which over 1.5 million officials, including 101 ministerial-level officials and top generals of the military were punished.

He is also accused by his critics of making use of the anti-graft drive to consolidate his power by removing his adversaries in the party and government.

In his interaction with the deputies, Xi asked officials to uphold rule of law, oppose the rule of man, hold in awe of the Constitution, and exercise their duty within the boundaries of the Constitution and laws, the report said.

Leading officials should also promote core socialist values and prevent relapse of negative elements in traditional values, he said.

The officials should uphold the political virtue, public virtue, individual virtue by refraining from corruption.

He warned that an official should keep both himself and the whole family "clean".Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Suresh Prabhu today said France is keen on investing big in India, which will bring technology and wealth, and create jobs for the country's youth.



Prabhu yesterday met a high-level delegation from France in New Delhi.

India's "strategic partner" is a technologically advanced country, and the relationship with France will help the country grow in a big way, he said today.

"France has always been our strategic partner. In 1998, after we tested nuclear bombs, France stood with us. The country helped us strategically and technologically, as it is a technologically advanced country," the minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

Prabhu said he met a trade delegation from France, which included ministers and industry leaders, for around two-and-a-half hours yesterday.

"They want to invest in the country in a large number along with their technological knowledge. Technology and wealth will come in India and this will also create jobs. So I understand that the expanding ties with France will help our country in a big way," he said.

Indian and French companies and government entities yesterday signed deals in New Delhi worth 13 billion Euro (over Rs 1 lakh crore) across areas like aviation, renewable energy and waste management.

On being given additional charge of civil aviation ministry, Prabhu said that he would take the charge before making any statement.

He was yesterday given additional charge of the civil aviation ministry, a day after the resignation of TDP's Ashok Gajapathi Raju after party supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu decided to pull out his ministers from the Union cabinet.

Speaking at a gathering during a start-up summit at Entrepreneurship Development Institute of India (EDII), Prabhu urged start-up aspirants to "venture into the unknown territory" and undertake projects that have not been taken before, to succeed.

"First identify the gaps that exist in the marketplace. If you fill the gap, you will be successful... Understand a gap but also create a business model around it," he said.

Asking them to listen to their "intuition", the Union minister said, "If you don't believe in your inner voice, you won't succeed. Also, don't emulate any of the successful people and don't think only about jobs, there are more opportunities waiting for you."For stockbroker Kirti Ajmera the memories of March 12, 1993, still haunt him. It was the day his life took a dark turn.



Ajmera, who was then 36, was outside the Bombay Stock Exchange in Fort area. It was a Friday like any other Friday.



He was about to enter the BSE when he heard a loud explosion and saw fire and smoke.



"There was blood all over, parts of bodies, glass shreds, broken panes and smoke," recalled Ajmera, a 61-year-old resident of Malad.



"I too got hurt...I knew I was badly hurt. As I came to senses there was blood all over, smoke, confusion," he said, adding that the people around him were either dead or unconsciousness.



"Somehow I managed to get up....a cab driver came to my help and took me to a hospital," he said.



"My skin had come out, my hand was badly injured, I sustained injuries on my face," he told DH on Sunday, after commemorating the day by cutting a cake to observe what he says is his "second birth".



Ajmera, however, said that not much has been done for the victims.



"As per the GR, the next of the kin of deceased used to get Rs 2 lakh then and the injured a very small sum," he said, adding that now the scenario has changed.



He said that he wants to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and narrate their plight.



"Like me, there were several others who sustained severe injuries. So far, I have had 40 to 45 surgeries and I still have to undergo more surgeries as there are glass shreds which are still embedded in my body," he rued.



"I feel happy that now people are getting adequate compensation in incidents of terrorism," he added.The Congress may have suffered a crushing defeat in the Northeast, but senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia feels that there are "very strong signs" of the party's resurgence in the Hindi heartland which would be crucial in the 2019 general election.



Buoyed by the party's victory in the recent by-polls in the Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, he also said the people had decided to end the 14-year BJP rule in the state where elections are scheduled to be held later this year.



Scindia, widely seen as the front-runner among the Congress's chief ministerial candidates for Madhya Pradesh, also urged "like-minded" parties to join hands to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state.



He said the Assembly poll outcome in Nagaland and Tripura came as a "shock".



In Meghalaya, he pointed out, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party.



"...but the BJP true to its game believes in forming governments by default and a party that has won only two seats in that Assembly was trying every trick in the book to put together a government," he said.



However, "having said that, I think you've had very strong signs of resurgence in the Hindi heartland," the 47-year-old leader said.



The Congress drew a blank in Tripura and Nagaland, while in Meghalaya it failed to form the government.



The BJP has come to power in all the three states forming coalition governments.



Scindia also asserted that the Gujarat Assembly poll result was "truly inspiring".



The MP from Madhya Pradesh's Guna said this was followed by the results in the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by-polls, won by the Congress.



"These are all states which are crucial to the Congress party going ahead. So I think the barometer and the portent that these states portray are very important signs for the Congress party," he said.



However, the Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha said there was still a lot of work to be done by party workers as "we must never take our opponent lightly".



Scindia also dismissed talk of infighting within the party in MP, saying the Congress was a united house in the state.



"We have been working together for the last year, year and a half. We are strategising, planning every activity together, which is what you have seen in these two by-elections. Every single leader of the Congress party was present in this by-election," Scindia said.



"So, I can understand why the BJP is extremely concerned," he added.



Asked if Congress should name a chief ministerial candidate in MP, Scindia said, "I am not going to speak on this issue because I don't think it would be apt. This is a decision that has to be taken by the general secretary and by the Congress high command."



Terming the recent by-poll win in Madhya Pradesh a "very important triumph", he said the Congress won despite the BJP throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" into the election.



It was the might of the government versus the ordinary Congress worker, Scindia said.



"I also do believe that in Madhya Pradesh voters have made up their minds to see the end of the BJP rule in our state for a multitude of reasons," he said.



Asked about his statement during the by-polls campaign that it was a direct fight between him and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Scindia said, "When I say it is a battle between Shivraj Singh Ji and me, in many ways, it is also a metaphor because it is for the people to decide."



"It was either a Shivraj Singh Ji model of promising the earth and being able to deliver nothing or it would be my model - promise less and deliver more," he said.



The Congress last month retained both the Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where by-polls were held.



Brajendra Singh Yadav of the Congress defeated his BJP rival Baisahab Yadav by 2,124 votes to win the Mungaoli seat while in Kolaras, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav prevailed over Devendra Jain of the BJP by 8,083 votes.The personal assistant of Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde on Sunday registered a complaint with the New Market police station, saying miscreants had uploaded a fake Facebook post attributed to the minister.



The post attributes a comment to Hegde that the BJP would replace all Kempegowda statues with those of Shivaji if the party came to power. It is aimed at creating acrimony against Hegde among Kannadigas, the complaint by the minister's PA Suresh Shetty says.

The post, in the name of Manju Power Star, has threatened the minister that he will not be allowed to enter Bengaluru.As many as 27 indigenous diagnostics of rare genetic diseases may soon be available to patients across the country, thanks to a research by a CSIR institute that has transferred the technologies to India's biggest pathological laboratory unit.



Most of these diagnostics are not available in most parts of India.

In a few metro cities, these tests are either too expensive and time-consuming or offered from a government set up with limited reach-out potential.

But in what may improve Indians' access to these tests in the coming days, the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, one of the constituent laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, has perfected these 27 diagnostics after years of research.

The technologies have been transferred last week to Dr Lal Path Lab that would bring them to the market through its network of hundreds of diagnostic laboratories across the country.

"The idea is to offer these tests to the Indian public with a far less waiting time and convenience due to our countrywide reach. As a ballpark figure they will cost half of the current prices available in the market," Atul Thatai, national head of molecular diagnostic and R&D at Dr Lal Path Lab told DH.

Most of these tests, explained IGIB director Anurag Agrawal, were related to neurology and ataxia (a neurological disorder that impacts muscle movement).

There would also be tests for thalassemia beta, Tay Sachs Disease and a type of Parkinson's Disease.

With an ability to undertake 50,000 pathological tests a day, Dr Lal Path Lab is India's biggest player in the diagnostic market.

The company has 26 units in Karnataka, including 22 in Bengaluru, and one each in Hasan, Hubli, Mangalore and Mysore.

In a majority of the cases, an appropriate diagnosis of genetic diseases is not arrived at, due to lack of general awareness on genetic diseases as well as in the absence of inexpensive and appropriate genetic diagnostic services.

An average patient with a rare disease has to go through multiple health care visits and diagnostic tests and takes approximately seven years to arrive at a precise diagnosis.

Better access to genetic diagnostic services could potentially provide a better quality of life to the individual and family, IGIB said in a statement.An FIR was filed against a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA from Uttarakhand for allegedly beating up Dalit women and making casteist remarks here, the police said today.



A video of the incident, which purportedly shows Rudrapur MLA Rajkumar Thukral beating up the women on Friday, went viral on social media.

Thukral was booked under sections 323 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. Two other BJP leaders' name are also mentioned in the FIR, a police official said.

The BJP leader, however, has termed the allegations baseless. "It is a conspiracy to malign my image by making false allegations," he said.

"The case was registered after a person named Ram Kishore filed a complaint on behalf of the victims," Sadanand Date, senior superintendent of police (SSP), Udham Singh Nagar, told PTI.

Investigations are on in this case, the SSP said.

According to reports, a panchayat meeting was held at the MLA's house on Friday morning over a couple's relationship. Both the girl and boy's family members were present. After the family members got into a scuffle, Thukral allegedly lost his cool and hit some of the women.Wearing red 'topis' and carrying red-coloured flags, farmers entered Mumbai as they sang and danced highlighting their plight and the deep-rooted agrarian crisis.



Last Tuesday they have started a march from Nashik and on Sunday, they reached Mumbai. The 180-km-long Nashik-Mumbai march has not been easy for them. Besides, some of them seen walking barefoot, with swollen legs and chappals torn off.



They were seen beating drums, cymbals and playing tarpa, the traditional blow-instrument of the tribals.



Under the leadership of the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha, the farmers' wing of Communist Party of India (Marxist), the march commenced with just 12,000 being part of it and it swelled to nearly 30,000 to 35,000 on Sunday.



On Monday, they plan to gherao Vidhan Bhawan at Nariman Point, however, they may be stopped at the Azad Maidan near the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus.



In the crowd, there were several senior-citizens and women folk, besides a swelling number of the youth population. "One must go to the villages and see. we have decided to come here and draw the attention of the country," said Manik Gavit, a tribal from Nashik-Palghar belt.



"The problem is serious, it is deep-rooted. In the last 25 years more than four lakh farmers have committed suicide across India," said Dr Ashok Dhavale, the Maharashtra President of ABKS. "The agrarian crisis and malnutrition are inter-linked," he said and pointed out that the farmers are feeling betrayed by the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre and the Maharashtra government.



Jiva Pandu Gavit, the six-time CPM MLA from Surgana constituency of Nashik district said, "The government needs to take strong steps to help us; it is not that they are not aware of our problems, but they need to do a lot."



"We have been walking 20 to 30 km daily with two or three breaks," said Kumar Raut, a farmer from Thane district. "We are into the 21st century but still we are trapped in the vicious circle," he said, adding that middlemen, private money-lenders are big issues.Former INX Media promoter Indrani Mukerjea, who is now facing trial in her daughter's murder, has told CBI that she is willing to identify the place where she and her husband Peter Mukerjea met Karti Chidambaram, officials said.



Indrani and Karti were confronted in Byculla prisons in Mumbai on March 4 in connection with the case of INX Media getting government approval for foreign direct investment after money changing hands.

The CBI was planning to seek court's permission for production warrant for Indrani and had even moved an application in the court last week. However, when the issue was taken up in the court on March 9, the agency decided not to press for it as of now while keeping its right to file application once again at the appropriate time.

The agency had twice moved the application but officials said they would wait for an opportune time to do so. According to the application filed in the court, during the confrontation, Indrani has told the investigators that she was "willing to identify the place where she and Peter Mukerjea had met Karti in connection with the FIPB issue of INX Media and where he demanded an amount of $one million for settling such issues".

Karti, who will be produced before the court on Monday as his custody ends, and Chidambaram have denied any wrongdoing. Sources said CBI will seek his custody for another three days and is likely to apprise the court about the contents of the confrontation between Karti and his Chartered Accountant S Bhaskararaman, who is presently in judicial custody.

Indrani had last month recorded a statement before a magistrate claiming that she and Peter met then Finance Minister Chidambaram, in his office, who requested them to help his son's business. She also referred to the meeting she and Peter had with Karti in Hotel Hyat when the latter made the demand for money.

Sources had earlier said, Indrani claimed that INX Media entered into an agreement with Karti-led Chess Management Services Pvt Ltd and payments were made to Advantage Strategic Consultancy Pvt Ltd (ASCPL), a company which is "indirectly linked" to Karti.

Earlier, CBI had said that ED seized invoices and it included one for Rs 9,96,296 to ASCPL, which claimed it was for management consultancy. However, INX ledger extract had shown that the payment was for clearing approval for FDI.Russia said today it successfully launched a hypersonic missile which President Vladimir Putin called "an ideal weapon" as he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month.



The high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia's southwest, the defence ministry said.

"The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target," the ministry added.

The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly.

Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video then shows a missile detaching from the airborne plane and gliding across the dark sky, leaving a fiery trail behind.

The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win.

Putin said the missile flies at 10 times the speed of the sound and can overcome air-defence systems.

The missile has been deployed in the Southern Military District since December 1, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Facebook that work had also been done to modernise the "unique" MiG-31 supersonic jet that will carry the missile.

Since the start of the year, more than 250 sorties have been carried out by the aircraft to perfect the work of the missile systems, the defence ministry said.Mao was the "Great Helmsman", Deng the "Paramount Leader" - now meet Xi Jinping, whose growing personality cult has some calling him China's "Chairman of Everything".



While this is a very popular name, Xi himself is a man of many names. Along the way he has accumulated an array of increasingly fawning titles to justify this one-man power grab.

It can be difficult to keep track of them all, but here are the key titles, honorifics and other heapings of praise that Xi will struggle to squeeze onto his crowded business card.

Another of Xi's popular nicknames is "Big Uncle Xi", emerged soon after he took power and was amplified by state media and party organs to promote him as a warm-and-fuzzy father figure.

Xi's official titles are nice, but "core leader" of the party - which he was declared in late 2016 - puts Xi in historic company. Only Mao, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin have been thus anointed, which essentially makes the bearer unassailable in the party.

Following the Communists' high-stakes party congress last October, Xi began to be referred to in government meetings and state media as "Lingxiu", a reverential terms with spiritual connotations. The last person so honoured was Mao himself, confirming Xi's designs on Mao-like levels of adulation.

Party apparatchiks have fallen over themselves to offer praise for the ascendant Xi at the ongoing parliament meeting in Beijing, but a delegate from Qinghai province - the birthplace of the Dalai Lama - may have outdone them all.

Wang Guosheng, Qinghai's Communist Party boss, said commoners in the province viewed Xi as a "living Bodhisattva", someone on the path to become a Buddha.

There are also names that the Chinese government does not want the president to be called.

Since the move to make Xi president for life was announced, online censors have blocked phrases and words such "emperor" and the image and name of Winnie the Pooh, the cartoon bear to which Xi has been compared.Minister for Food and Civil Supplies U T Khader said that the BJP should answer questions of the people on extending support to separatist PDP in Kashmir to come to power.



"There is a need to look at the background of the parties that the BJP has entered into an alliance with to come to power in Assam, Tripura and Nagaland too," said the minister.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, he said there is no need to give priority to the statement of BJP general secretary N Ravi Kumar, who called ministers Ramanath Rai and Khader terrorists. Those who have lost their senses make such statements, which stay for a few seasons. The people of Mangaluru and Bantwal constituencies and the state know about Khader and Ramanath Rai. The BJP need not certify it, he stated.

Any extent

He said, "The BJP goes to any extent to come to power. The party members should introspect on the parties that had extended support to form the government at Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Nagaland and Tripura. The BJP that has been supporting separatists speaks on patriotism. If the BJP believes in patriotism, then it should come out of the government in Kashmir."

The minister added, "The BJP leaders have no right to call Chief Minister Siddaramaiah a murderer. The Congress will retain power in Karnataka. The personality of an individual will not change by calling someone else a terrorist."Former union finance minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said people of Karnataka should "speak out" against the policies being adopted by the NDA regime, including "curtailing of freedom and liberty," in the forthcoming Assembly polls.



Speaking at the launch of his book 'Speaking truth to power - my alternate view' here, Chidambaram said people had asked "hard questions" in the Gujarat polls bringing the tally of the BJP from a one-time high of 150 plus seats to 99. "According to an analysis, if the Congress had secured more votes in just 12 more polling booths, we would have won six more seats and could have changed the tide in Gujarat," Chidambaram said.

He said the next opportunity to ask "hard questions" was in Karnataka. "Your liberty is be being attacked, freedom is being curtained. Think about it. The time has come to speak out and ask hard questions, otherwise you will not be able to find your voice when you require it the most," the Congress leader said.

Chidambaram said his lecture at a college in New Delhi was cancelled and also that of CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury for "political reasons". "My interview with a private TV channel was pulled out at the last minute. The freedom of the media is being curtailed. Editors are being sacked. I have been branded anti-national several times," he said.

In the talk and interaction coordinated by Congress MP Rajeev Gowda, Chidambaram said the Centre was also "systematically and insidiously" diminishing top institutions. "Appointment to top posts in institutions like Supreme Court and Reserve Bank of India have been kept pending for months," he said.

Chidambaram said lack of additional private investments in the small and medium businesses coupled with lack of industrial credit had severely crippled job creation.

The NDA government, before assuming office, promised two crore jobs a year. "Where are these jobs ? The ILO (International Labour Organisation) describes a proper job as employment that is certain, regular and reasonably secure. But this government added insult to injury of the youth by stating that pakora selling is a job," he said.

Replying to a query, Chidambaram said new project announcements had declined, informal sector was still reeling under the ill-effects of demonetisation, exports were plunging and manufacturing sector growth had slowed down.

To another query, Chidambaram, a former union home minister, said he was of the personal opinion that greater autonomy should be given to Kashmir. He also appreciated Karnataka government's efforts to give primacy to Kannada.US President Donald Trump today predicted "tremendous success" in his upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and said he believes Pyongyang would honour its commitment not to conduct missile tests before their meeting.



Trump, on Friday, stunned the world by announcing that he has accepted a North Korean invitation to meet Kim Jong-un. The announcement was first made by a visiting South Korean delegation led by its national security advisor. Trump later confirmed the news.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honour that commitment!" Trump tweeted.

And a few hours later, a confident Trump told reporters that his policy on North Korea would be a tremendous success.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success. I think this is going to be something very successful," he told reporters before boarding Marine One en route to Moon Township in Pennsylvania.

"We have a lot of support. So, I think North Korea is going to go very well. The problem is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great," Trump said.

A day earlier, the White House had said that Trump will not meet Kim Jong-un until the North Koreans take "concrete and verifiable" steps to meet the commitment they have done for the meeting.

In another tweet, Trump said that the mainstream media was startled and amazed at his decision on Friday.

"In the first hours after hearing that North Korea's leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearization and that missile launches will end, the press was startled & amazed," he said.

"They couldn't believe it. But by the following morning the news became FAKE. They said so what, who cares!" Trump tweeted.

In a series of tweets, Trump gave details of his telephonic talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. During these talks, he also spoke with them about America's trade deficit with them.

"Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the US Currently have a massive USD 100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!" Trump tweeted.

In another tweet, Trump said he spoke at length with Xi about the meeting with Kim Jong-un.

"President Xi told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!" said the US President.

However, the mainstream US media continued to be skeptical of Trump's move on North Korea.

The New York Times in a lead story described it as a gamble. The decision that Trump took during his meeting with South Korean national security advisor Chung Eui-young in the Oval Office of the White House was on the spot.

"Trump accepted on the spot, stunning not only Chung and the other high-level South Koreans who were with him, but also the phalanx of American officials who were gathered in the Oval Office," the daily reported.

"OK, OK," Trump said, cutting short the discussion. "Tell them I'll do it," the president said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Washington Post in an editorial said Trump is right to negotiate with North Korea, but he needs a plan.

"If Trump believes that North Korea is ready to denuclearize, he is almost certainly wrong. Which raises the question: Does the president have a strategy for using the meeting to US advantage?" the paper's editorial board wrote.

Former State Department Spokesman John Kirby said that there is no guarantee that Trump will succeed in his new diplomatic push with North Korea.

"But, I think we should all support the effort," he said.

"This is a moment for all Americans. Trump's big stick has become something of an olive branch. We should not fail to help him grasp it," Kirby wrote in an op-ed on CNN website.Union Minister of Textiles, Information and Broadcasting Smriti Irani, on Sunday, said that a yarn bank would be established in the state at a cost of Rs five crore.



She was speaking on the sidelines of the launch of the portal and mobile app for PowerTex India at 'Textiles in Karnataka,' a buyer-seller meet-cum-facilitation camp in the city.

The minister said there was a need for more than one yarn bank as there was a growing need. The ministry had learnt that weavers were finding it difficult to get the yarn.

Smriti said the state government was neglecting the welfare of weavers. She said if the state government provided land to the ministry, a textile park would be established here. Weavers would benefit a lot from the textile park. She said investors and those establishing an unit at the park would get 50% subsidy.

She announced a scheme for the children of the economically weak who are enrolled in the distant education programme. The central government will pay 75% of their fees, the minister said.

To upgrade powerlooms, the central government would provide Rs 20,000 and 50% subsidy would be given to those who instal solar power panels at their units. Also, loans would be disbursed at 4% interest under Mudra Yojana to those keen on establishing textile units, she added.

Ananth Kumar, Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Chemicals and Fertilisers, said the state should get the Textile Park as it would help the textiles sector.Moderate to low polling was recorded on Sunday in the Lok Sabha byelections in Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur and Phulpur, and Bihar's Araria, being viewed as yet another test for the BJP ahead of the general elections next year.



While 43% of the voters exercised their franchise in Gorakhpur, where Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath cast his ballot, the turnout in Phulpur was lower at 37.39%, the state election officials said.

Voter turnout in the three by-elections in Bihar on Sunday was relatively poor with around 55% electorate exercising their franchise.

Besides, complaints of EVM malfunctioning poured in from Jehanabad and Bhabua, the two Assembly constituencies where there is a straight contest between the NDA and the Grand Alliance.

"We have received a large number of complaints from Bhabua about non-functional EVMs. We have apprised the Election Commission of it," said the acting president of Bihar Congress, Kaukab Kadri.

Ajay Nayak, the chief electoral officer (CEO) in Bihar, said, "if the complaints are found to be genuine, repolling could be ordered on March 13."

Counting of votes will take place on March 14.

A poll official in Uttar Pradesh said there were complaints of EVM malfunctioning at a few booths, but the machines were promptly replaced without affecting the polling.

The reason behind the lower than expected turnout in the high-stakes polls in UP, the country's electorally most significant state with 80 Lok Sabha seats, was said to be a lack of enthusiasm among voters who are now looking forward to the general elections next year.

The by-polls were necessitated after Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their Lok Sabha seats after getting elected to the state Legislative Council.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support. "The people know that development is the only panacea," he told reporters.

Termed by Adityanath as a "rehearsal" for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the bypolls witnessed a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

FIR against BJP chief

Meanwhile, polling for Araria Lok Sabha seat in Bihar was peaceful amid reports of polarisation, following an FIR against Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai for his unsavoury remarks against RJD nominee Sarfaraz Alam.

The state BJP chief had reportedly told voters in Araria that in case the RJD candidate wins, Araria may become the hub for ISI activities.

BJP's Pradeep Singh is the party nominee from Araria against Sarfarz, the son of former RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuudin, whose untimely death led to the bypoll.

Sarfaraz quit as a JD(U) MLA before becoming the RJD candidate from his father's fiefdom.

Taslimuddin had defeated Pradeep Singh by over 1.5 lakh votes during 2014 Lok Sabha elections despite the presence of Modi wave.

The Araria constituency witnessed 56% on Sunday, while in Jehanabad and Bhabua it was 50% and 54% respectively.

The byelections in the three constituencies - one Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats - in Bihar assume significance as this is the first-ever poll which has been held after Nitish Kumar switched sides and formed a government with the help of BJP-led NDA after dumping his previous partners RJD and the Congress in July 2017.Bhavana Belagere, the younger daughter of Ravi Belagere, editor of Kannada weekly 'Hi Bengaluru', filed a complaint with the Subramanyapura police against one Pradeep Kumar for sending obscene messages and photographs to her Facebook account.



In her complaint, Bhavana said Kumar had sent her a Facebook request a few days ago, which she accepted.



He then started sending her obscene messages and photographs and even tried to make video calls, but she refused to reciprocate.

Union Skill Development minister Ananth Kumar Hegde said that everyone has to work together for a skilled India. If there are people who do not want to join us, our government knows how to take them along, he said.



He was speaking at an event organised by the Ministry of Skill Development And Entrepreneurship on Sunday in the city.

"Earlier we could say that If anything came in the way of our progress, we would step over it and move forward. But today, we will have to take everyone along," he said.

About 30% of the people in the country are skilled but we are not able to identify them. We are thinking about how we can upgrade existing skills among people, he said.

Hegde said the government was prepared to provide the necessary funds, technology and platforms for a skilled India.A nationwide state of emergency has been declared in Sri Lanka following the outbreak of violence targeting Muslims and their businesses. The immediate trigger to the current conflagration was an incident of road rage in Teledeniya, a town near Kandy in the central highlands, where a Sinhalese truck driver got into an argument with a group of Muslims. This quickly escalated into violence and the Sinhalese man ended up being beaten to death by the Muslims. Before long, Sinhalese mobs went on a rampage, attacking Muslims and setting alight and destroying their shops and vehicles. Fearing that the violence would spread, the government decided to impose a state of emergency. It has taken scores of goons and extremists who engaged in the violence into custody and has blocked several social media sites to quell the spread of rumours that are fuelling the violence. Many Muslim homes have been destroyed and the government must take steps to provide them shelter and enhance their sense of security.



The state of emergency has been imposed for 10 days. Any extension of the emergency requires endorsement by Parliament. Sri Lankans are not new to living under emergency rule. The country was under a state of emergency for decades and it was only in 2011 that it was lifted. The government must resist the temptation to extend the emergency. Imposing a state of emergency should be in response to a crisis situation and once that crisis eases somewhat, it should be lifted. Only recently, the regime in Maldives declared a state of emergency that is being used to crush the opposition. Sri Lanka must avoid going down that perilous path.

Almost nine years after the end of the civil war, little has been done to make Sri Lanka a more inclusive country. Inter-ethnic group violence is a familiar problem. If in previous decades, Sri Lanka's Sinhala-Buddhist extremists targeted Tamils, in more recent years, the island's Muslims are being attacked. There is a danger of Sri Lankan Muslim youth picking up arms to secure themselves. It would be tragic if Muslims are driven to follow the path taken earlier by the Tamils. Outfits like the extremist Bodu Bala Sena need to be reined in immediately. President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe do not seem to be on the same page with regard to handling the anti-Muslim violence. Sirisena has not heeded the latter's advice on appointing a new law and order minister. This is a time for Sri Lanka's leaders to join hands against extremists. Playing politics at a crucial time like this could prove costly for Sri Lanka.Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani on Sunday said that law and order situation in Karnataka has eroded during the Congress rule.



"Karnataka is not safe in the hands of the Congress. In Bengaluru, a policeman's wife was attacked and her mangalasutra snatched - a tell tale comment of the state of affairs" Irani said at a Mahila Morcha event in Bommanahalli in Bengaluru on Sunday.

She said the BJP was capable of restoring law and order to normalcy in the state. "It is high time that the people of Bengaluru in particular and Karnataka in general decide to do away with Congress and bring BJP the back to power," Irani said.

Irani, who also holds the Textiles portfolio, said that the Centre has made it mandatory for all garment factory owners to constitute be internal complaints committee to look into harassment to women.



Cybercrimes have virtually doubled in the city as against conventional crimes like dacoity, robbery, housebreaking and pickpocketing, indicating the increasing sophistication of criminals.



Data available for the past six months revealed that at least 350 to 380 online fraud cases were registered on an average, while conventional crimes accounted for just 150.

From August 2017 to January 2018, 1,951 online fraud cases have been filed with the Bengaluru cybercrime police station, located at the commissioner's office on Infantry Road, opened exclusively to handle frauds happening in the virtual space.

The statistics agree with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report, which Bengaluru on top of the cities with maximum cybercrimes in 2016.

Station understaffed

The city police, however, seems lackadaisical in their response to the alarming rise in online frauds. The horribly understaffed cybercrime police station is saddle with at least 10 to 15 cases a day.

The 10-member cybercrime police have an inspector, two sub-inspectors and seven constables. As complaints begin to pour in, the staff has time only to receive them and cannot conduct probes.

City police commissioner T Suneel Kumar pointed out that most victims of online frauds are educated people. The only solution is for the users to exercise extreme caution while sharing their bank account details and passwords with strangers.

The cyber crime police station is equipped with technology and trained staff to handle online fraud cases, Kumar said.

A senior police officer belonging to the cyber crime cell of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) admitted that he personally stopped using net banking. "Having investigated various complaints, I can say that it is harder to trace online fraudsters," he said.

In 2001, the state government issued a notification establishing the cybercrime head office with the direction that it should investigate all crimes falling under the Information Technology Act.

As the number of cybercrime cases increased over the years and the head office found it harder to handle all of them, the DG&IGP issued a standing order, restricting the cyber crime police station to handle complaints of credit and debit card cheating if the frauds exceeded Rs 1 lakh.

They also allowed the police station to handle cases of fraudulent money transfers through online banking, lottery frauds and similar offences if the amount involved is Rs 5 lakh or above.

While cybercrime stations are restricted to just two types of fraud cases, the police top brass said all other cybercrimes should be handled by the jurisdictional police stations.

A dedicated cybercrime police station in Bengaluru city was inaugurated last year as the law and order police were found to have difficulties in handling cybercrime-related cases.

In the past decade-and-a-half, the CID cybercrime cell registered 586 cases and filed charge sheets in 156 of them. None of them ended in a conviction. The NCRB also notes that only 40 of the 14,000 cases until 2012 had ended up in a conviction.

Public prosecutor Venkatagiri, who handles cybercrime cases before the court, said lack of training for the police to track the accused often results in their acquittal.

Though the police are trained in modern technology to handle criminals, lack of frequent updates means they fall woefully short of technical skills and lag behind the criminals.

According to Venkatagiri, the police should be trained frequently so that they keep abreast with the emerging technology.

BoX-I

Cybercrime in various avatars

Hacking: When a fraudster breaks into a computer or network to obtain data

Phishing: When cybercriminals impersonate official channels to get sensitive information from users, such as credit card numbers and passwords

Spoofing: When criminals masquerade as a trusted source to deceive someone into divulging information or transferring money

Pharming: When website traffic is redirected to a bogus website

Phreaking: When phone networks are hacked into to make free calls or have calls charged to a different account

Malware: Malicious software designed to secretly access your computer

Virus: Malware that self-replicates and infects your computer, files

Worm: Malware that self-replicates and sends itself to other computers in your network

Trojan horse: Software that pretends to be useful, but is really malware

SAFETY TIPS

Use strong passwords

Protect your computer with activate firewalls

Secure your mobile devices, wireless network

(Source: Cyber Cell, CID)As the second meeting of the Kabul Process came to a conclusion recently, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani made an unconditional call to the Taliban to sit across the table, initiating a conversation for peace in the country with the government.



In the protracted Afghan conflict, multiple stakeholders have seized strategic limelight at several junctures. Moreover, the United States under President Donald Trump has secured profound imminence in Afghanistan: from a mandate of minimal involvement to multiplying forces on the ground.

Russia, Iran, Pakistan, China and India are the few other global players who have emerging stakes in the Afghan state-building process. This is coupled with the mounting pressure on the respective leaders to ensure national security that has come to be threatened by escalating radicalism in Afghanistan.

There has been an incessant call for peacebuilding and transformation of the conflict that is touted as the longest battle fought by the US. In this scenario, Ghani's government has decided to engage progressively with the Taliban, as a legitimate actor in peacebuilding, which has been much talked about as a suitable approach during several multilateral dialogues, especially by China early last year.

On the other hand, Taliban has cleared the air by calling Trump to hold a conversation, recognising them as a legitimate actor in peacebuilding. And the US has shown hesitancy in doing so.

The approach of engaging with Taliban has long been debated upon by the many different actors involved in the Afghan conflict. While India and the US have opposed the proposal plucking out fundamental flaws in the approach, Russia, China and even Pakistan have been strong supporters and have consistently made attempts to engage with the Taliban.

At this juncture where Afghanistan continues to be dishevelled by the mounting Islamic violence, it is paramount to engage with the relevant actors who can facilitate peacebuilding in the domestic realm.

In so doing, Taliban is a conspicuous player while its demands of holding legitimacy in the institutional domain have long been contested by the civilian actors. Its goals are fundamentally in contradiction with the government forces that hold power in the region.

Taliban, with a stance to lead a conversation with the US, have ensured that they gain optimum recognition and legitimacy as a relevant actor in the process of peacebuilding.

The Taliban released a statement recently reiterating their demand to "talk directly with the American officials regarding a peaceful solution to the Afghan quandary". They mooted "we are the real parties, so let's sit and talk directly, without the presence of any third party, either Pakistan or Afghanistan".

In this situation, Trump took a U-turn in urging to rather increase military deployment instead of sitting for a political settlement with the Taliban. Earlier, Laurel Millier, who served as the acting US special representative of Afghanistan and Pakistan until June last year, echoed the goal of Trump's Afghanistan strategy 'to increase military pressure on the Taliban in order to motivate them to engage in a political settlement'.

Contradictorily, Trump in the present situation reckons the need to disengage with the Taliban. Such a stance while ensuring to portray a strong face to counter the Taliban onslaught has also risked the US' Asia policy and its attempt at securing a preeminent position in the subcontinent.

In a conflict situation, Afghanistan provides enormous scope for a regional as well as global actor to proliferate its strategic presence, especially in this scenario the US and China. While China has backed Pakistan and its strategy of expanding its strategic footing in Afghanistan, India has shown strategic neutrality doling out developmental support to Afghanistan.

It is of paramount importance for Trump, therefore, to infuse more consistency to his Afghan policy to ensure sustenance of the hegemony that US has enjoyed for better part of the decade in the face of a volatile China, especially when Xi has a master plan to reign for his entire life.

Taliban's demands

As the prospect for establishing peace in the region dims, the Taliban has made stronger demands to the global player to engage with them directly. This situation ups the ante for the regional player to partake in conversations and bring forth strategic solutions for the long drawn crisis in the region.

More than the loss of resources, Afghanistan has seen massive destruction of human lives, primarily civilians. Hence, the cost of peacebuilding sits heavily on the citizens as much as on the government.

It is prerogative at this juncture, therefore, to institute multilateral forums allowing actors to engage diversely that will aide state building in Afghanistan.

While Ashraf Ghani continues to be mired with domestic challenges, including allegations of unconstitutionally interfering in appointment to the higher institutional bodies, the neighbouring countries are tightening their grip to ensure steady involvement in the peaceful resolution of the Afghan conflict, especially India and China.

It is paramount for the global actors to engage progressively to establish peace in the region and specifically for Trump to secure better understanding of the regional dynamics at this juncture.

(The writer is a researcher at the Observer Research Foundation)In an encounter on March 2, 2018, an estimated 10 Maoists and an Andhra Pradesh Police 'Greyhound' commando were killed on the Telangana-Chhattisgarh border. The incident confirms reports that the Maoists have spread to the south of India beyond the "Red Corridor". Also, they have reportedly migrated to the north eastern region and urban India.



Since the mid-1990s, Maoists have networked with several key militant groups of the North East also. These linkages range from acquisition of small arms, ammunition and communication systems to receive training from the northeast insurgent groups.

These insurgent groups include: the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM), Paresh Barua-led anti-talk faction of the United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA), People's Liberation Army (PLA), People's Revolutionary Party of Kangleipak (Prepak), Revolutionary People's Front (RPF), Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO), Gorkha Liberation Tiger Force (GLTF), Gurkha Liberation Organisation (GLO), Adibasi National Liberation Army, Adivasi People's Army (APA) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB).

Invariably, Chinese small arms trickle into the 'Red Corridor' predominantly through these groups. These north-eastern insurgents and the Maoists have easy access to militants in Myanmar. In turn, the Maoists, provide explosives, especially ammonium nitrate and funds, to these insurgents.

The mutual support between Maoists and north-eastern insurgent groups is not just restricted to materials but extends to moral aspects as well. While the Maoists have strongly supported "people's movements" of the North East, the former in turn have stood by these "revolutionaries".

ULFA leader Paresh Baruah once remarked, "The Indian colonial government is viewed as an enemy by the Maoists. Our enemy is also the same and so there is an understanding with them."

However, it is alarming that Maoists' attempt to push the boundaries of the 'Red Corridor' down south and establish support bases in upper Assam and some tribal areas in the hilly interiors.

The presence of Maoists is reported in pockets of Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Lakhimpur, Dhemaji, Sivasagar, Golaghat and Karbi Anglong districts of Assam and Lohit district of Arunachal Pradesh (which adjoins Tinsukia).

Otherwise, the hub of Maoist activities is reportedly in Sadiya area, situated along the Assam-Arunachal Pradesh border. They have found parts of the North East as a new zone of "revolution" to establish their "base areas".

Two major issues exploited are: deprivation among the tea plantation workers of Assam and anti-dam sentiments in Arunachal Pradesh. Since there is political vacuum in both cases, Maoists are more than willing to fill them. Interestingly, the Adivasis in these tea plantations are descendants of migrants from the present-day Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh during British colonial times. The Maoists have already set up local committees in these areas. It enables them to access the southern parts of Bhutan, which is home to thousands of Nepali refugees.

The Maoists have also sought to extend their presence into southern India. Way back in 2013, the presence and movement of the armed cadres of CPI (Maoist) were noticed in over two dozen occasions at Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur in Kerala as well as Mysuru, Kodagu, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga in Karnataka. Though the adjoining areas of Tamil Nadu have not witnessed any movement of armed Maoist cadres, activities of its front bodies have increased in Erode district.

As is their wont, the Maoists try to exploit the local grievances to gain influence. In the tri-junction area of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, for instance, they smelt an opportunity in the eviction of forest dwellers and tribals from the Western Ghats under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972 and the government's move to implement the Kasturirangan report for conservation of the region's flora and fauna. Significantly, government of Kerala has identified Palakkad and Mallapuram as Maoists-affected districts to receive security-related expenditure to combat Left-wing extremism.

The Maoists have also attempted to spread their tentacles in the urban India. Significant Maoist activities, especially its front organisations, have been reported from cities like Delhi, Gurugram, Noida, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Pune, Nagpur, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Ranchi, Jamshedpur, Raipur, Durg, Patna, Hyderabad, Rourkela, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati and Chandigarh.

The urban fronts comprise organisations involved in "revolutionary democratic" activities, opposition to "war on people", displacement and "violence on women", and in "cultural" activities. Also, significantly, CPI (Maoist) is systematically penetrating the student community as well as the workers in the unorganised sectors, which could have a mega impact on the future course of the movement.

Cadre base

Due to depletion in the tribal cadre base, Maoists have found urban regions a good catchment area for replenishment of their manpower. The main advantage with the urban cadres, which is absent in their tribal counterparts, is the "intellect" to take the movement forward.

Though the urbanites find life in the forest inconvenient, the Maoists wish to cultivate them to lead militant activities that face a leadership crisis due to depleting recruitment, elimination of the existing cadres due to security operations and large-scale surrenders by senior cadres.

Immense financial and human resources are being invested to run "urban activities and guidance on how to develop better coordination among the urban frontal organisations of the party."

Clearly, the proliferation of Maoists into 'new' areas likes the North East, and south and urban India, need not trigger a fear psychosis, but is certainly A cause for concern.

Coordination at three levels a Centre-state, inter-state, and between the central armed police organisations and intelligence agencies - is necessary to effectively counter the 'Red Menace'.

(The writer is Associate Professor, Department of International Studies and History, Christ Deemed to be University, Bengaluru)A large number of MTech students drop out within few months after getting admission to the master's programme at the premier technical institutes to grab the employment opportunity at the public sector units.

"The timing of the recruitment of the CPSE's (central public sector enterprise) recruitment process is normally overlapping to the admission dates of the post-graduate courses (ME/Mtech)," the ministry said in an official letter to the central boards of public sector units recently.

The ministry urged all public sector units to consider rescheduling their annual campus recruitment drive, keep "the issue" in their minds.

The GATE is conducted "primarily" for the purpose of determining a B Tech student's eligibility for "higher studies (MTech or ME), "not for recruitment to any posts in the public sector units," the ministry also stressed.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the National Institutes of Technology (NITs), which have been witnessing drop out of their M Tech students due to public sector units hiring them in the middle of their academic session.

Some of these premier technical institutes have raised the issue with the HRD ministry on various occasions, urging it to work out a solution.

While the IITs and various other technical institutes admit students to M Tech programme on the basis of their scores in Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE), public sector units also hire technocrats on the basis of their GATE scores.

"The interests of the premier institutions are marred as the students block the seats taking admission to M Tech programmes soon after the GATE results in March and later quit their studies half-way when they are offered a job at the PSUs (public sector units) during campus recruitment drive," an IIT faculty told DH.

The GATE is conducted jointly by the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru and the seven older IITs every year.A recent survey showed that voter sentiments have not changed significantly on a potential Del Mar Union School District (DMUSD) bond in November 2018 to address facilities needs.

At the school boards Feb. 28 meeting Adam Sonenshein, vice president of FM3 Research and Associates, reported that support for a bond is right at the 55 percent necessary to pass,10 points below where the measure tested in 2016.

The survey tested ballot language for a $198 million bond to help the districts needs to repair deteriorating classrooms, upgrade science technology and engineering classroom/labs, improve security, fire safety and emergency communications and provide safe drinking water.

In 2016, the board conducted a similar survey and decided not to move forward with a November 2016 bond after results showed just a bare majority believed that the district had a significant need for funding. Compared to other districts that have been successful with bond measures, Sonenshein said there is a relatively low perception of DMUSDs need for funding.

A districtwide measure at the current level of support has significant risk of not passing, Sonenshein said.

At the meeting, the board received the report from the consultants and discussed the survey results.

This is an opportunity for us as a board to listen and take in our communitys thoughts and feelings on our facilities issues, DMUSD President Kristin Gibson said. We dont need to, nor do I think we should, begin making any specific decisions as there is going to be additional information for us to consider in subsequent meetings from our staff and consultants that will give us a more complete picture of all the opportunities available for us.

FM3 Research conducted the phone and online survey in February, polling 530 registered voters in the district likely to vote in the November 2018 election.

The proposed bond measure is required to include the challenging language of $198 million in bonds, averaging $10.4 million raised annually until 2049, tax rates at 3 cents per $100 assessed valuation, requiring annual independent audits, citizens oversight, no money for administrators, all money for local schools.

Voters that live west of the I-5 freeway were significantly more supportive of the measure than those on the east side, with 65 percent of voters west of I-5 in support and 51 percent of the east side in support.

In light of those results, consultant Adam Bauer, president of Fieldman, Rolapp & Associates, suggested that the district continue to explore the option of School Facilities Improvement District (SFID). SFIDs are a means of conducting a general obligation bond within a portion of school boundaries. With a SFID, only the voters who live within the SFID vote and only the residents who live within the SFID are taxed to pay the bonds.

Bauer said a districtwide general obligation bond is usually the best option for a school district but the survey suggests that the district may look at its options differently now. He noted that the west side does show more support but there is still the need for potential school number nine in Pacific Highlands Ranch, which is on the east side. The district would have to explore other funding options available for that ninth school, he said.

Per the survey, the majority of voters think that the schools are safe but were split on the condition of the schools42 percent said they do not want to pay for upgrades to schools and only 38 percent agreed with the statement that school buildings are old, deteriorating, rundown and in need of repair.

Sonenshein said the assessment of overall need for funding is nearly unchanged since the April 2016 survey53 percent saw the need in 2016 and 52 percent in 201822 percent said they didnt know.

Continuing to communicate with voters about the need, we think is really important, Bauer said. Those that did recognize the need were very supportive.

Bauer stated that the board would need to decide by August if it is moving forward on a November 2018 ballot measure.

The districts last attempt at a general obligation bond in 2012 was for $76.8 million. It received 53.7 percent of the vote, short of the 55 percent approval rate required. The district did not have a master plan in place at the timethe board approved a refreshed facilities master plan in 2017.Blog Archive June 2021 (1) May 2021 (77) April 2021 (77) March 2021 (82) February 2021 (68) January 2021 (64) December 2020 (67) November 2020 (66) October 2020 (66) September 2020 (67) August 2020 (74) July 2020 (83) June 2020 (92) May 2020 (86) April 2020 (104) March 2020 (105) February 2020 (74) January 2020 (75) December 2019 (75) November 2019 (70) October 2019 (89) September 2019 (69) August 2019 (81) July 2019 (77) June 2019 (73) May 2019 (110) April 2019 (110) March 2019 (102) February 2019 (85) January 2019 (123) December 2018 (116) November 2018 (112) October 2018 (121) September 2018 (107) August 2018 (150) July 2018 (163) June 2018 (190) May 2018 (145) April 2018 (112) March 2018 (124) February 2018 (113) January 2018 (164) December 2017 (150) November 2017 (144) October 2017 (169) September 2017 (171) August 2017 (135) July 2017 (131) June 2017 (147) May 2017 (160) April 2017 (138) March 2017 (156) February 2017 (143) January 2017 (203) December 2016 (208) November 2016 (185) October 2016 (173) September 2016 (194) August 2016 (232) July 2016 (225) June 2016 (238) May 2016 (231) April 2016 (215) March 2016 (246) February 2016 (226) January 2016 (252) December 2015 (230) November 2015 (250) October 2015 (234) September 2015 (222) August 2015 (253) July 2015 (275) June 2015 (279) May 2015 (223) April 2015 (226) March 2015 (243) February 2015 (258) January 2015 (281) December 2014 (292) November 2014 (296) October 2014 (413) September 2014 (472) August 2014 (506) July 2014 (483) June 2014 (488) May 2014 (512) April 2014 (497) March 2014 (531) February 2014 (482) January 2014 (535) December 2013 (482) November 2013 (441) October 2013 (416) September 2013 (491) August 2013 (521) July 2013 (491) June 2013 (470) May 2013 (457) April 2013 (426) March 2013 (420) February 2013 (414) January 2013 (489) December 2012 (433) November 2012 (504) October 2012 (469) September 2012 (430) August 2012 (427) July 2012 (360) June 2012 (336) May 2012 (362) April 2012 (322) March 2012 (263) February 2012 (224) January 2012 (291) December 2011 (295) November 2011 (325) October 2011 (330) September 2011 (319) August 2011 (333) July 2011 (318) June 2011 (387) May 2011 (373) April 2011 (389) March 2011 (375) February 2011 (335) January 2011 (400) December 2010 (445) November 2010 (395) October 2010 (312) September 2010 (262) August 2010 (277) July 2010 (323) June 2010 (386) May 2010 (360) April 2010 (333) March 2010 (351) February 2010 (336) January 2010 (384) December 2009 (353) November 2009 (300) October 2009 (308) September 2009 (350) August 2009 (298) July 2009 (255) June 2009 (203) May 2009 (193) April 2009 (186) March 2009 (197) February 2009 (173) January 2009 (148) December 2008 (181) November 2008 (197) October 2008 (236) September 2008 (304) August 2008 (314) July 2008 (273) June 2008 (27) May 2008 (1) April 2008 (6) October 2007 (1) May 2007 (1) April 2007 (6) March 2007 (2) February 2007 (1) October 2006 (1) September 2006 (1) August 2006 (4) July 2006 (4) June 2006 (1) July 2005 (1) May 2005 (2) March 2005 (1) June 2004 (2) May 2004 (1) April 2004 (4) March 2004 (2) February 2004 (2) July 2003 (2) June 2003 (5)Latest News

IIT Madras invites applications for executive MBA degree programme The executive MBA programme offer state of the art knowledge that is in sync with the industry requirements

University of Strathclyde offers Dean's International Excellence Award, a merit-based scholarship A total number of 30 scholarships, valued at 4,000 each are available for international students

AP ECET 2021 Answer Key to be released today Answer key would be released by Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, Anantapur on behalf of the AndhraWhatsApp with no internet in Rwanda

Deodate Mungenzi, a third year student of Information and Technology from the Integrated Polytechnic Regional Centre (IPRC) in Kigali, Rwanda, has designed a prototype for using WhatsApp with no internet connection. The prototype enables phone users with Whatsapp installed in their phones to make both domestic and international calls without an internet connection. The first version of software will be upgraded later to beta software until the final stage which is the complete version of the software. The developer is in talks with mobile internet service providers and telecom operators to come up with an agreement.

New data centres for Ghana

An investment enables Rack Africa (West Africa Data Centres) to expand to meet the demand for its colocation and interconnection data centre services in Ghana. The company has a customer base of more than 20 network operators and network services providers from Accra and has the advantage of access to all four undersea cables that land in Ghana. The investment marks the launch of its colocation services in Ghana and West Africa as part of its strategy of building a pan-African data centre platform.

Digital switchover in Nigeria

The digital switchover in Nigeria, known as Free TV has continued its roll out across the nation by successfully launching in Kwara and Kaduna states. The National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) switched on digital terrestrial television (DTT) transmission in Kwara and Kaduna states in December 2017. Inview Nigerias software and services will be integrated onto all of the set-top boxes for the Nigeria digital switchover. The digital switchover is expected to roll out to a further two states within the next couple of months.

Gabon fibre optic project

The African Development Bank and the Gabonese National Agency for Numerical Infrastructure and Frequency (ANINF) have signed agreements for a feasibility study for the countrys component of the Central African Backbone (CAB) project. The project consists of completing the 901,8 km fibre optic connectivity to cover 14 missing links on the Gabonese national backbone. The project will enhance regional integration in the Central Africa region through fibre optic infrastructure enabling cross-border interconnection exchange with neighbouring countries  Congo, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.

New smartphone for African market

A new affordable, easy-to-use smartphone designed specifically for the African market will be launched. Google and Mara Corporation will release the Mara X for the African market in the second quarter of 2018. The Mara X will be a one-of-a-kind high-quality smartphone. It will be launched as part of Googles Android One portfolio, getting a software experience designed by Google to be smart and secure. It will run Android 8.0 Oreo, have two years of OS upgrades and the device has been optimised for the Google Assistant.

Swaziland satellite service

A regional satellite gateway has been established in Swaziland by Q-KON, a telecommunications system integrator. The company will provide reliable primary and backup communication for a major banks ATMs and branches both in-country and back to its headquarters, located in South Africa. Together with iDirect, Q-KON has developed specific satellite access solutions that integrate the always-on, anywhere, and high reliability advantages of satellite services with network efficiency, cost optimisation and SLA support. The services provide cost points below current 3G access and are opening new business models for the financial sector where the demand on 3G connectivity leads to mobile network congestion.

Using IoT to power Africa

Solar-powered equipment, appliances and services will be provided to off-grid homes, farms, schools, health centres and business locations throughout rural Africa. SolarNow offers affordable and flexible credit to widen access to solar energy in the African market. The company uses IoT M2M connectivity specialist Eseye to deliver secure and reliable global cellular network data through the AnyNet Secure SIM, with integration onto the AWS Cloud. The SIM enables SolarNow to remotely activate, provision, authenticate and certify deployed devices over-the-air, in up to 190 countries. The company has gained a new way of interacting with customers through its solar solutions.

Enabling Kenyans to pay via SMS

Nairobi in Kenya has a new digital ordering system, Kionect, that empowers small kiosk owners in Nairobi to order and pay for products from wholesalers via SMS. Orders submitted via a feature phone help create a digital record for kiosk owners to get access to micro-loans to stock inventory and grow their business. Kionect is being piloted with over 1000 micro-businesses in three of Nairobis informal settlements  Kibera, Kawangware and Kariobangi. Diamond Trust Bank is facilitating digital payments between the kiosk owners and the wholesaler, and acts as a re-seller of the platform to its wholesale business clients.

New mobile financial services platform in Tanzania

With over 40-million mobile users in Tanzania, there is a real opportunity to use technology to financially connect those not yet included. Tigo Tanzania, Mastercard and local fintech Selcom have partnered to introduce Masterpass QR on Tigo Pesa, a mobile financial services platform. Almost 7-million registered wallet holders of the solution will be able to pay for goods and services before the end of the second quarter of 2018. By scanning a quick response (QR) code at merchants via their Tigo Pesa app using their smartphone, they will be able to make payment. Feature phone users can use the USSD menu and simply type in a unique merchant code available under the merchants QR code.

Related Articles

By CNN , Mar. 09, 2018





London (CNN)Around 180 British troops have been deployed to the English city of Salisbury to aid in the investigation of a nerve agent attack on a former Russian double agent and his daughter.





Personnel from the Royal Air Force, British Army and Royal Navy were among those sent to Salisbury on Friday, a Ministry of Defence spokesman told CNN.

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CHP cleared the way for lifelong chairmanship

The resolution about the leadership elections regarding who couldnt win the election two in a row should pull out of candidateship got rejected despite of 100 commissioners affirmative votes.

A two-day extraordinary congress of Turkey's main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) ended on Saturday, introducing new regulations in the partys bylaws. The 19th extraordinary congress, held in the capital Ankara, focused on regulations regarding the upcoming presidential elections.

The resolution about the leadership elections regarding who couldnt win the election two in a row should pull out of candidateship were promoted by Muharrem Ince to caucus got rejected.

It was also demanded that the presidential candidate for the 2019 elections be elected with the pre-election process, and that there should be a clear provision for this in the amended bylaw.

Kilicdaroglu also said that CHP parliamentarians who go on television without his permission could be removed from the party. I chose the parliamentarians, I will send them out to the channels I choose and have them talk as I wish, Kilicdaroglu said. If they go on without my permission, they have no place in this party. I will suspend those who still keep old obsessions on the agenda.Erdogan criticizes NATOs attitude

President Erdogan issued statements about Turkeys ongoing Operation Olive Branch and criticized NATOs attitude.

Speaking at 6th Justice and Development Party (AK Party) ordinary congress, President Erdogan criticized NATOs two-faced attitude on Operation Olive Branch.

"WHY DOES NATO NOT COME WHEN TURKEY CALLS FOR HELP?"

"Turkey has always actively participated in military operations whenever it was called by NATO. Why does NATO not come to Syria when Turkey, as one of the key members of the organization, calls for help?" Erdogan said.Turkish troops await order to enter Afrin city center

Operation Olive Branch is coming to an end as Turkish military and Free Syrian Army (FSA) liberate more villages in northwestern Syria's Afrin region from YPG/PKK terrorists.

Turkish forces cleared more villages of terrorists and took control of a strategic dam, reaching Afrin city's border during Operation Olive Branch in northwestern Syria, the Turkish military announced.

Turkish army is currently only five kilometers away from the Afrin city center, as Turkeys Operation Olive Branch enters its 50th day. It is being awaiting last orders to enter Afrin city center.

Later on Saturday, four more villages -- the villages of Kafr Rum and Qurt Qulaq in the northeastern Sharan district, Zellaka in the southwestern Jinderes district, and Kfar Zeit in Afrins city center  had been liberated by the Turkish army.

On Friday, President Erdogan said that Turkish-backed troops had surrounded the Afrin city center and were ready to enter at any moment.

SENIOR YPG MEMBERS 'FLEEING' AFRIN

Senior members of the PKK-linked People's Protection Units (YPG) terror organization are fleeing Syria's Afrin. Speaking to Anadolu Agency on the condition of anonymity, the reliable local sources said one of them is Said Ismet Gubar, who serves as so-called justice minister in the province which the YPG/PKK group occupied.

Gubar fled to Nubl, a small city in northern Syria, which appears to be under the control of Bashar al-Assad regime but is actually occupied by Iran-backed armed groups.Thanks for the tips guys. We decided on the smaller house. It is beautiful and has many other things we want. We wish it was not with an agency, just for the cost but alas it will have to do. We looked at many other houses in the same price range from owners and most were real dumps. While bigger I think I will take smaller and nicer for the same price.



This will give us a home and hopefully we can go from there and maybe take our time. We are currently staying in a residence hotel paid for by my employer but ghat gratuity runs out in two more weeks so we don't have a ton of time to be picky. Oh well.



As for Macrons ideas... Well I can see trying to attract foreign business investors because the French are terrible businessmen. As for who is targeted.. One of the reasons I am leaving the US is because of the huge influx of foreign workers from certain eastern countries... It has caused a huge increase in the local cost of living, not because of a shortage of housing but mainly because these groups of people typically come and live between two and four adults to a household, all of whom pull in top paying tech salaries and therefore they can afford multi-million dollar homes and as a result those are the only homes that are built anymore. You need to be two or three six figure incomes to afford a home in many parts of the US. I certainly hope that does not happen here.WILD dogs are ravaging sheep inside the State Barrier Fence due to holes in its defence.

While there are five recognised biosecurity groups (RBGs) within the fence, some areas are still in the organising stage and lack the resources to cope with the constant threat posed by dogs.

Some producers are also pointing the finger at State government bodies, which have taken over previously-run station country and turned them into eco-tourist parks, that they say are not doing enough to deal with the problem.

Morawa farmer Bruce Davidson said he was on the verge of sending the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) an invoice for the 300 sheep he had lost to wild dogs on his property since April last year.

Mr Davidson said his property was more than 50 kilometres inside the State Barrier Fence but not far from the former Kadji Kadji, Lochada and Barnong stations which were now the property of the State government.

They were mainly lambs that got attacked, but we also lost four ewes, Mr Davidson said.

They went after the lambs because they are smaller and easier to catch.

When the dogs attack they only maul the lambs so you have to go back and euthanise them.

We have a deep pit where we put their remains.

The loss of his sheep was taking an emotional toll on the Dorper sheep and Droughtmaster cattle farmer, who said it was almost not worth running sheep anymore.

We use to run 600 head of sheep but that has dropped back to 300, plus 100 cows, Mr Davidson said.

We have cut back and moved them away from the perimeter.

Mr Davidson said despite the efforts of government bodies to bait wild dogs on conservation land he was seeing heaps of dogs encroaching on his family farm.

Since April last year, between shooting and baiting we have destroyed 12 dogs on my property and there are still heaps coming in, Mr Davidson said.

My first attack was in April  before that we hadnt had one.

We still see them in the area because of their tracks.

We dont have an issue with foxes or cats because of the baiting program, but you can tell the dogs are still around because of their footprints.

Mr Davidson said they had been trapping goats on the northern Yalgoo side of his property but once the dogs came in the goats have gone.

He said the neighbour to the north of his property had, through shooting and baiting, destroyed 18-20 dogs since last April  with all the dogs being killed in about a 10 kilometre radius.

The stations near us were purchased by government departments, he said.

It should be mandatory that if they are not going to shoot them and trap them properly, like the rest of us, then they should put up dog fences around the property to keep them in.

Mr Davidson was pessimistic about solving the issue due to the management of State-owned land.

The problem is still going to be the department, he said.

Theres no trapping, or baiting near public tracks  and everyone knows that dogs travel down tracks and firebreaks.

They also have two litters a year on average, with about five pups per litter.

In 18 months the first litter is breeding again  so it doesnt take long for numbers to get out of control.

Mr Davidson said his property was about 20km from the Irwin River system and there were dogs at the top end of that moving west down the system.

In a few years theyll be through to the coast unless they are stopped now, he said.

Mr Davidson said the other aspect to consider was the push for on-farm biosecurity.

How can you do biosecurity on farm when department land has animals coming off it onto our property? he said.

You dont know where the dogs have been and what diseases they might have.

If any exotic disease comes in, biosecurity wont do anything  itll be too late.

Central Wheatbelt Biosecurity Association executive officer Linda Vernon said the RBG was still in its early stages but already seeing positive results in the region.

The group has funded three local pest management technicians (doggers) who recorded 20 dogs destroyed from trapping or shooting and more than 13,000 baits being laid across the region since July/August last year.

Ms Vernon said the statistics were as only as good as the reporting and some farmers in the area, who were not yet part of the group, had seen results through their own efforts that they hadnt reported.

Stock attacks have decreased overall  according to the data we have collected, Ms Vernon said.

The statistics from 2017 show there were 244 stock attacks reported in the area.

That was down from 461 attacks reported in 2016.

So we have halved our stock losses.

Ms Vernon said since becoming an RBG the group has access to funds, support and resources and a co-ordinated approach to baiting, trapping of wild dogs and other pest management activities for control of foxes, feral pigs and rabbits had been instigated in the region  including on State-owned land.

She said there was a focus on landholders being involved in the group and encouraged landholders to use the Feral Scan wild dog app, which she was actively promoting within the group.

We are taking some confidence in the results we have seen and we have an operational plan for the next two years, working in conjunction with all landholders, she said.

DBCA works with the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development to implement the WA Wild Dog Action Plan 2016-21.

A DBCA spokesperson said the programs for wild dog control on DBCA-managed land include aerial baiting and ground control operations, such as trapping, that were developed in collaboration with DPIRD, local RBGs, local government and landholders.

DBCA uses poison baits containing sodium fluoroacetate (commonly known as 1080).

Use of 1080 is regulated by the Health Department and must comply with the Code of Practice for the safe use and management of 1080 in WA.

Prior to undertaking baiting, the responsible landholder must undertake a risk assessment of the operation, which is why baiting avoids dwellings, roads, recreation sites, water bodies, mine sites and areas of public use.Alicia Vikander sees similarities between herself and Lara Croft.

Alicia Vikander

The 29-year-old actress stars as the iconic video game character in the new 'Tomb Raider' movie, replacing Angelina Jolie as the face of the franchise, and Alicia has revealed she can relate to particular aspects of her on-screen persona.

Asked about her character starting out as a normal girl living her life in London, she explained: "Yeah, lost like most young people - myself included. That was something that I liked, that I wanted to cherish.

"Her dad had disappeared for seven years, and she hasn't really been able to properly mourn him due to not knowing what happened. They want her to take over from him and move back into the manor, but she just feels like she needs to find her own footing in the world and feels the pressure of not knowing what to do or what to become.

"But she's headstrong and she's clever. And so when she's thrown out on this adventure, she not only gets to learn more about her past and who she maybe is, but she also finds courage to embrace who she is."

Alicia relished the opportunity to star in an action movie, but she's admitted she relied on stunt doubles to shoot certain scenes in the Roar Uthaug-directed film.

Asked whether she did all of her own stunts, the Swedish star told CNET.com: "I tried to do [laughs] - as many of them as I could. And then you have an incredible team. I just stood there watching some of these stunt women that we had who, of course, kind of made sure that we can run all those stunts over and over again.

"But I always did try first and they helped me. It was important for me to really try and get up to a physical level so I would be able to do it."Kendall and Kylie Jenner have received an apology from a leasing company after they were handed an eviction notice at their New York office.

Kendall and Kylie Jenner

The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' stars have been issued with an apology by the company after realising it had made a mistake earlier this month.

The company initially claimed that Kendall, 22, and Kylie, 20, owed more than $57,000 in unpaid rent, but the firm has now performed a U-turn, putting the error down to a "miscommunication".

In a statement, the leasing firm told TMZ: "There was a miscommunication due to a change in invoice procedures that led to this confusion.

"We apologise for any negative press the Kendall + Kylie brand has received."

In fact, the firm insisted that, contrary to their earlier claims, the celebrity duo have been perfectly good tenants.

The statement added: "They have always been respectful and in good standing tenants."

Meanwhile, Kris Jenner - Kendall and Kylie's mother - recently claimed that her youngest daughter was "born to have children".

The curvaceous star gave birth to her daughter Stormi Webster on February 1, and Kris revealed that Kylie is a natural with her baby.

She explained: "She's doing really, really great! The baby's happy and healthy! I think she was just born to have kids. I felt like I was the same way.

"I wanted to have a baby when I was 16 years old. I thought about how many kids I would have. So I think that some people are just ... when you know, you know."

Despite this, Kylie has been relying on Kris to help her adjust to life with a newborn.

A source said recently: "Kris has been spending a lot of time at Kylie's house since she came home with Stormi. Kylie has been a natural at being a mother.

"However, it has been overwhelming, and Kylie has relied on Kris during these first few days."Category Select Category Apparel/Garments Textiles Fashion Technical Textiles Information Technology E-commerce Retail Corporate Association Press Release

SubCategory Select Sub-CategoryCHICAGO (dpa-AFX) - SpiceJet and CFM International announced a $12.5 billion agreement that finalizes the purchase of LEAP-1B engines to power a total of 155 Boeing 737 MAX airplanes, along with spare engines to support the fleet. The airline also signed a 10-year Rate per Flight Hour (RPFH) agreement with CFM Services that covers all LEAP-1B engines powering SpiceJet's 737 MAX airplanes. RPFH agreements are part of CFM's portfolio of flexible aftermarket support offerings. As per the terms of the agreement, CFM guarantees maintenance costs for all SpiceJet's LEAP-1B engines on a pay -by-the-hour basis. 'We are looking forward to introducing the new LEAP-1B into our fleet,' said Ajay Singh, Chairman and Managing Director, SpiceJet. 'The CFM56 engines we currently operate have been a highly valued asset for us over the years. 'We are deeply honored that SpiceJet has again placed its trust in CFM,' said Philippe Petitcolin, CEO of CFM parent company Safran. 'It has been exciting to watch this airline grow over the years and we believe it has a very bright future. We are proud to be such a big part of the SpiceJet team over the long term.' 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.DOHA, Qatar, March 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Hamad Bin Khalifa University (HBKU), a Qatar-based educational institution of higher learning, and Orange Business Services, the B2B branch of the Orange Group focused on supporting companies' digital transformations, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at a ceremony held at Orange headquarters in Paris, France on March 9. The MoU is reciprocal and aims to establish an internship program, as well as to enable both institutions to benefit mutually from resources, expertise and human talent.

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/652846/HBKU_and_Orange_Business_Services.jpg )



The three-year MoU primarily revolves around a collaborative internship agreement, which includes up to three HBKU students per year partaking in a three- to six-month placement with Orange Business Services in France, as well as other placements with relevant affiliates within the larger Orange group.

The internship enables students to gain unique experience in IT fields, such as network services, big data, internet-of-things (IOT) solutions, and smart services, with the ultimate objective of achieving a greater understanding of the digital realm.

Dr. Ahmad M. Hasnah, president of HBKU, said: "Part of our mandate at HBKU is to foster an environment that encourages innovation among our students. This is even more applicable in the ICT field, as innovation drives the technological advancements we see every day. Working with our partners at Orange means that we are able to capitalize on exceptional real-life opportunities, as well as give our students the chance to learn and grow beyond the classroom."

As a key global player in the ICT market, and where skills in areas such as data science and analytics, ICT System Integration Programmes or application services have become critical, Orange Business Services is highly engaged to contribute to the training of future talent through education/training programs and partnerships across the globe.

"We are pleasedto welcome students from a high level and world-class university like HBKU and to cooperate with the "Qatar Foundation" which is fully committed to education, science, and community development in Qatar.This MoUsupports the ambition for Orange Business Services to contribute to the development of IT skills" said Beatrice Felder, CEO of Orange Applications for Business, the Orange Business Services entity in charge of IT System Integration and settled in Qatar.

Potential candidates for the internship program will be pre-selected by HBKU and qualified by Orange or the appropriate partner. Additionally, HBKU and Orange plan to leverage their partnership to work across their research groups.

As a higher education institution, HBKU is dedicated to developing human capital in Qatar and ensures that young people are presented with all the necessary information to help them succeed. With a core focus on research-based knowledge, the University provides unique educational and training programs in the areas of computer science, advanced computing and engineering.

Orange Business Services Qatar is a Qatari JV established on August 2012 with Sheikh Fahad Bin Ghanem Al Thani as a majority shareholder. It offers all Orange Business Services solutions and resources capabilities mainly in the ICT System Integration domains such as Smart Cities, Transportation, Health, Media and other market sectors. In partnership with MEEZA, a Qatar Foundation IT services entity, major smart city Msheireb is benefiting from this alliance technological capabilities.

HBKU is devoted to building a culture that fosters innovation. To find out more about HBKU colleges, programs, and research institutes, visit hbku.edu.qa.

Press contacts: Hamad Bin Khalifa University: Aisha Jassim, ajassim@webershandwick.com , +974(0)331-78-848ABU DHABI, UAE, March 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

Award marks first time an integrated Italian oil and gas company has been given a stake in Abu Dhabi's concession areas

Eni awarded 10% stake in ADNOC's Umm Shaif and Nasr offshore concession and 5% stake in Lower Zakum concession, contributing AED 3.2 billion (US $875 million) in participation fees

40-year agreements support ADNOC's long-term growth plans and further diversify and strategically broaden its partner base

The Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) announced, today, the signing of two historic agreements awarding Italy's multinational oil and gas company Eni stakes in two of Abu Dhabi's offshore concession areas. The signing was witnessed by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, and His Excellency Paolo Gentiloni, Prime Minister of Italy.

(Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/650975/ADNOC_Logo.jpg )



(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/652864/Historic_Offshore_Concession_Agreements.jpg )



The awards mark the first time an Italian energy company has been given concession rights in Abu Dhabi's oil and gas sector. Under the terms of the agreements, Eni has been awarded a 10% interest in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a 5% interest in the Lower Zakum concession.

Prime Minister Gentiloni underscored the importance of the agreements between Eni and ADNOC as a significant confirmation of the strategic partnership between Italy and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and as a fundamental milestone for further enhancing the excellent bilateral cooperation among the two countries.

Eni contributed a participation fee of AED 2.1 billion (US $575 million) to enter the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession and a fee of AED 1.1 billion (US $300 million) to enter the Lower Zakum concession. Both concessions will be operated by ADNOC Offshore, a subsidiary of ADNOC, on behalf of all concession partners.

The agreements, which have a term of 40 years, backdated to March 9, 2018, were signed by His Excellency Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, ADNOC Group Chief Executive Officer, and Claudio Descalzi, CEO of Eni.

H.E. Dr. Al Jaber said: "These agreements underline the international market's confidence in ADNOC's long-term growth plans and the UAE's stable and reliable investment environment. They also broaden and diversify our partnership base while contributing experience, technology, capital and market access.

"Our partnership with Eni, and other concession partners, will enable us to accelerate our growth, increase revenue and improve integration across the upstream value chain, as part of our ongoing transformation and build on the foundations that have been laid to deliver a more profitable upstream business.

"With these agreements, ADNOC continues to leverage its 46-year legacy of successful energy partnerships, in support of its 2030 strategy. They will enhance its ability to capitalize on key trends that are driving growing energy demand and ensure ADNOC continues to deliver long-term, robust and sustainable returns for the nation's benefit," H.E. Dr. Al Jaber added.

Eni is active in 73 countries and has operations both upstream and downstream.

Descalzi said: "Eni is committed to apply its experience in the development and production of world-class oil and gas resources, as well as Eni's technology portfolio, in support of ADNOC's objectives to cost-effectively increase production capacity, efficiently manage the concessions' assets and sustain the plateau through targeted enhanced oil recovery programs, at competitive cost.

"Eni also believes further collaboration with ADNOC in the downstream would create synergies, bringing mutual benefits from capital, resources and knowledge sharing, and would create significant added value to ADNOC's refining assets."

The Umm Shaif and Nasr, and Lower Zakum concessions, along with the SARB and Umm Lulu concession areas, have been created from the former ADMA offshore concession, with the aim of maximising commercial value, broadening the partner base, expanding technical expertise, and enabling greater market access.

Eni joins an Indian consortium, led by ONGC Videsh, and Japan's INPEX as stakeholders in the Lower Zakum concession. ADNOC is finalizing opportunities, with potential partners, for the remaining 15% of the available 40% stake in the Lower Zakum concession, and for the remaining 30% stake in the Umm Shaif and Nasr concession. ADNOC retains a 60% majority share in both concessions.

About ADNOC

ADNOC is a major diversified group of energy and petrochemical companies that produces about 3 million barrels of oil and 9.8 billion cubic feet of raw gas a day. Its integrated upstream, midstream and downstream activities are carried out by 14 specialist subsidiary and joint venture companies. To find out more visit http://www.adnoc.aeRattled by the spate of banking frauds, RBI has initiated special audit of state-owned lenders with focus on trade financing activities, especially relating to the issuance of letters of undertakings (LoUs) by them, banking sources said.

New Delhi: Rattled by the spate of banking frauds, RBI has initiated special audit of state-owned lenders with focus on trade financing activities, especially relating to the issuance of letters of undertakings (LoUs) by them, banking sources said.

In addition, the RBI has asked all banks for details of the LoUs they had written, including the amounts outstanding, and whether the banks had pre-approved credit limits or kept enough cash on margin before issuing the guarantees.

Most of the big banking frauds which were unearthed in the recent past, including the one perpetuated by diamantaire Nirav Modi and his associates, pertain to trade finance. Also, many of the willful default cases have their roots in trade finance, the sources told PTI.

In view of the recent Rs 12,646-crore PNB scam, done through fraudulent issuance of LoUs by the connivance of the bank's staff, it was pertinent for the regulator RBI to examine the issue of trade finance which also included issuance of letter of credit (LC) and LoUs, sources said.

Soon after Nirav Modi case came to light, the CBI registered a case against a Delhi-based diamond jewellery exporter Dwarka Das Seth International for an alleged bank loan fraud to the tune of Rs 389.85 crore towards Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC).

Dwarka Das Seth International availed various credit facilities from OBC between 2007-12.

Also, in the Bank of Baroda fraud case of 2015, two Delhi-based businessmen cheated it of Rs 6,000 crore by using the trade finance mechanism.

Investigations in BoB fraud case revealed major irregularities relating to trade finance as several forex transactions were done mainly via advance remittances for import, through newly-opened current accounts. Heavy cash transactions  sometimes four or five times a day  were also noticed.

Besides, the government on its part recently asked the state-owned banks to scrutinise all cases of non-performing assets (NPAs) exceeding Rs 50 crore for possible fraud and report the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

Banks have also been asked by the finance ministry to come up with a "pre-emptive" action plan within a fortnight to combat rising operational and technical risks, and assign clear accountability to senior functionaries.The government and the Reserve Bank of India should make sure that the Rs 13,000-crore PNB scam does not lead to a 'fear psychosis' in the financial system which chills economic activity in the country, FICCI said

Mumbai: The government and the Reserve Bank of India should make sure that the Rs 13,000-crore PNB scam does not lead to a "fear psychosis" in the financial system which chills economic activity in the country, a prominent industry lobby has said.

Emergence of the scam should not lead to a "paralysis" and "fear psychosis", Rashesh Shah, the president of FICCI, told PTI in Mumbai.

Shah, who also chairs the diversified financial services company Edelweiss, said he has written to both the RBI and the government with a request to ensure that the country does not slip into that zone.

On whether the emergence of the Punjab National Bank scam, allegedly involving diamond trader Nirav Modi, is a throwback to the latter part of the UPA-II regime, where the fear of the 3Cs CBI, CAG and CVC  led to a chill in activity, Shah said, "We have to overcome the fear psychosis. Investigation should not result in fear psychosis."

He, however, answered in the negative when asked if scams involving Nirav Modi or the over Rs 3,500-crore fraud involving Rotomac Pens' promoter are akin to the emergence of corruption allegations faced by the Manmohan Singh government in its final years.

Speaking to PTI, a top official from one of the few lenders not having any exposure to the companies promoted by Nirav Modi or his uncle Mehul Choksi of Gitanjali Gems, said the scam has come as a "shocker" which will "definitely have short term impacts" through a slowdown in lending.

A media report on Saturday said banks, especially the state-run ones, have turned defensive when it comes to lending during what is otherwise a "busy season".

The report quoted an unnamed official as saying that lenders do not have the time to go through loan proposals and disbursals have slid down in the list of priorities for bankers.

Shah called the risk adjustment that has either resulted in a chill to fresh lending or upped the borrowing costs, as a shift to risk aversion and maintained that this will be temporary.

He said it will take up to six months for the system to stabilise.

"The fact that it could continue for as long as it did, that is what is the more worrisome part," the banker quoted earlier said, adding that periodic reviews seem to have glossed over the discrepancies.

Shah said emergence of frauds like these should make the banking system stronger, and cited earlier instances like the Harshad Mehta scam in 1992 and the Ketan Parekh scam in 2001 where the system responded by strengthening itself.

"Overall I think we should use this to make the system stronger rather than create a fear psychosis," he said.

Asserting that not all non-performing assets (NPAs) are the result of fraudulent activities, Shah said the emergence of frauds has helped classify NPAs into three broad categories - first, where there is a genuine reason for assets turning sour, second is because of the promoters mistakes, and third, where there is an outright fraud.

Asked if the emergence of the PNB scam will have an adverse impact on public sentiments and if it will influence the general elections, he said newer issues keep cropping in politics but stronger governance processes that come about will be a positive.

Meanwhile, on the progress of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Shah said the biggest challenge to the mechanism is the "frivolous appeals", and requested companies to desist from the same.The Prime Minister's Office has called a meeting of top officials of commerce and finance ministries on Monday to discuss the issue of GST refunds

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office has called a meeting of top officials of commerce and finance ministries on Monday to discuss the issue of GST refunds as exporters claimed that their 70 percent of refunds are still stuck even after eight months of roll out of the new tax regime.

The meeting would also assess the impact of delay in refund process on exports and manufacturing, sources said.

The issue of refunds to exporters has been hanging fire for over five months now, with exporters complaining that delay in GST refunds has blocked their working capital.

The revenue department, on the other hand, has argued that there are discrepancies in forms submitted by exporters with the customs department and those with the GST Network (GSTN).

The Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC) has sanctioned Rs 4,000 crore worth refunds to exporters in four months since October. Still, claims of about Rs 10,000 crore are stuck due to discrepancies in the information furnished by exporters to GST Network (GSTN) through forms like GSTR 1 or Table 6A or GSTR 3B, and the shipping bills filed with the Customs.

According to sources, the meeting would be attended by Finance Secretary Hasmukh Adhia, Commerce Secretary Rita Teaotia, CBEC Chairperson Vanaja Sarna and top officials from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT).

The DGFT, under the commerce ministry, is slated to make a presentation before the principal secretary to the prime minister on the pending refunds to exporters.

The GST Council in October last year had said that an e-wallet mechanism for refunds to exporters would be developed and had entrusted the DGFT to prepare required norms for the implementation from April 2018.

Under the e-wallet mechanism, a notional credit would be transferred to the exporters account based on their past record and the credit can be used to pay taxes on input.

Exports during April-January 2017-18 grew by 11.75 percent to $247.89 billion as against $221.82 billion in the year-ago period.The Centres Representative for talks in Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, says he is `hopeful of a peaceful summer. But there are worrying portents on the ground.

The government appears to be cautiously optimistic about the situation in Kashmir, but there are worrying portents on the ground.

The Centres Representative for talks in Kashmir, Dineshwar Sharma, says he is `hopeful of a peaceful summer this year. He bases that hope on his faith in the people of Jammu & Kashmir, particularly the youth, adding that they understand that all their problems can be addressed only when there is peace.

That sort of hope needs to be tempered with caution, however. To be sure, the governments statistics of violence, agitations (including stone-pelting), and of the number of militants in the field, indicate either a decline or a relatively slow rise through these past few winter months. But that is only to be expected. Winter has always marked a decrease in violence, and even more so of street demonstrations.

In fact, the previous winter was even more encouraging from the governments viewpoint. Many in the corridors of power had become convinced that the uprising which followed the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani had died down, and they could rest relatively easy.

That turned out to be a false hope. Neither the politicians and bureaucrats in government, nor the intelligence agencies, apparently had much idea of just how much violence would erupt during by-elections for two Lok Sabha seats in the second week of April 2017 when winter was still intense.

The by-election for the Anantnag seat had to be cancelled after eight persons were killed in the by-election for the Srinagar seat on 9 April last year. From all indications, there would have been much violence in south Kashmir (the area of the Anantnag seat) if the by-election had been held three days later, as had been scheduled.

The fact that Tasaduq Mufti has been nominated to the state assembly and accommodated as a minister indicates that the state government may have given up on being able to hold that by-election in the near future. Tasaduq, who is the brother of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, was the ruling partys candidate for the Anantnag seat in the Lok Sabha.

Another indicator is that the state government quietly shelved the panchayat polls, which it had slated for 15 February. The state police is said to have made it clear that it would not be able to protect all the elected panches (village representatives).

Aspects of instability

Kashmir is currently unstable from at least four perspectives. The most obvious is the shelling on the Line of Control. The armies of India and Pakistan have been hitting each other, and villages in that belt, with heavy mortar fire through much of the winter.

The second disturbing trend is that a large numbers of militants from Pakistan, and possibly other countries too, are in the Valley, working closely with local militants. There seems to be a smooth synergy between various groups, such as the Hizbul Mujahideen, Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, and several others.

The third troubling factor is that, not only has the number of local militants increased, younger boys, including children and even infants, are becoming radicalised.

The fourth disturbing trend is the increased friction between the major coalition partners in the state government. Their differences over the killing of three persons in army firing in Shopian a few weeks ago, and over investigations into the rape and murder of an eight-year old girl in Kathua are glaring points of disagreement.

Unlike earlier points of contention between the coalition partners, differences on these issues have been publicly visible. These issues have divided society in the state, along regional and religious fault-lines. In the Kashmir Valley, that leads to more support for militancy.

Wide range of inputs

Given these factors, Dineshwar Sharmas hopefulness indicates a welcome buoyancy, based on ground-level inputs. Since the beginning of winter, he has visited the Valley several times, and met a large number of groups and individuals from across the spectrum.

He has also met administrators, police and intelligence officers. As he has earlier been the Director of the Intelligence Bureau, he is no doubt regularly briefed by police and intelligence officers in charge of handling the situation in the state.An industry body has termed Arvind Kejriwal's threat to go on hunger strike if the issue of sealing drive against commercial establishments was not resolved a 'political drama'.

New Delhi: An industry body has termed Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's threat to go on hunger strike if the issue of sealing drive against commercial establishments was not resolved a "political drama".

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on Saturday said the chief minister was shedding "crocodile tears" on the issue that affected the livelihood of numerous people in the last few months.

"Instead of talking about hunger strike, Kejriwal should honestly work for the traders and accordingly pass a bill for a moratorium on sealing in the upcoming session of the Assembly and send it to the Central government for approval," CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said.

The chief minister had on Friday threatened that he would go on a hunger strike if the issue of the ongoing sealing drive against commercial establishments in the national capital was not resolved by the end of this month.

At a meeting with traders in south Delhi's Amar Colony, on whom police had on Thursday allegedly used force while they were protesting against a sealing action in the area, he demanded that the Centre bring an ordinance to stop the drive.

The chief minister talking about a hunger strike is a "political drama and he is shedding crocodile tears," the CAIT said in a statement.

"The trading community of Delhi is not at all impressed by Kejriwal's announcement since he is not doing what he is capable of, but instead trying to score political mileage on an issue which is directly connected with the livelihood of traders and their employees," the body alleged.

The industry body also urged Kejriwal to "depute a senior counsel in the Supreme Court and file an affidavit as asked by the apex court".

Meanwhile, in a show of solidarity, traders, under the aegis of the CAIT, are slated to hold a 'Delhi Trade Bandh' on 13 March.

All major wholesale and retail markets of Delhi, including Connaught Place, Chandni Chowk, Karol Bagh, Sadar Bazar, Kashmere Gate, Bhagirath Place, Lajpat Rai Market, Khari Baoli, Naya Bazar, Kamla Nagar, Chawri Bazar, Nai Sarak, Khan Market, South Extension, Greater Kailash, Lajpat Nagar, Amar Colony and Defence Colony, would down their shutters on that day, the CAIT claimed.As protesting farmers in Maharashtra reach Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called a meeting of officials on Monday to address the issue.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has called a meeting of officials on Monday to discuss issues plaguing farmers in Maharashtra. The meeting is expected to look into the demands of the thousands of farmers who arrived in Mumbai on Saturday wearing red caps and bearing flags of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), a peasants front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which organised the march.

Over 30,000 farmers marched from Nashik to Mumbai travelling 180 kilometres over six days. The farmers arrived in Thane on Saturday and marched to the KJ Somaiya ground in Mumbai on Sunday. The farmers are currently stationed at Azad Maidan after an overnight march from Somaiya ground to CST.

They are expected to march to the Vidhan Bhavan at 9 am on Monday to press the government to implement the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission. According to IANS, complete loan waiver and profit of 1.5 times input cost for all major agriculture commodities are some of the other major demands of the AIKS.

The agitating farmers are also demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for the destruction of crops due to hailstorm and pink bollworm, allocation of forest land under cultivation to farmers and implementation of Forest Rights Act.

The farmers, who started their journey on 6 March from Nashik, plan to encircle the Vidhan Bhavan, where the Budget session of the state legislature is underway, the organisers said.

Though a Bombay High Court order restricts any protests or marches near the Legislative Assembly House area, the farmers on Sunday seemed determined to carry out their march to the Vidhan Bhavan.

Water Resources, Irrigation minister Girish Mahajan who met a delegation of farmers on Sunday afternoon as the chief minister's representative, expressed confidence that the march will conclude peacefully on Monday and with the resolution of the farmers' grievances.

"The govt will look into the demands and will fulfill them. Officials have been called for a meeting tomorrow," he told reporters on Sunday. Mahajan also offered farmers an invitation to talk to the govt.

According to IANS, it has been decided that a delegation of farmers, lead by Ajit Nawale, general secretary, All India Kisan Sabha, Dr Ashok Dhawale and a dozen other prominent farmers leaders will meet the government after 10 am.

Nawale, however, said that the march to the Vidhan Bhavan remains unchanged despite the planned talks between the govt and the farmers.

CNN-News18 reported that the farmers plan to march to Azad Maidan in south Mumbai after midnight in order to avoid inconvenience to students who are to appear for their Class 10 examinations.

The farmers are expected to march through Dadar, Byculla and JJ Flyover to reach CST from where they are expected to march to the Vidhan Bhavan.

March of inconvenience?

According to sources, the government on Sunday requested the farmers to give up the idea of encircling the Vidhan Bhavan stating that it will cause grave inconvenience to the public.

The government has reportedly told Mumbai Police not to stop farmers from marching to the Assembly House. However, according to sources talks are on to persuade the farmers to restrict the march to Azad Maidan.

Keeping the fact that Monday is the first day of the week and also a day when Class X Board exams are taking place, the farmers' march will cause a lot of inconvenience, the government had argued, according to sources.

BMC to install toilets, water tankers at protest sites

The Mumbai civic body stated that it will provide 20 mobile toilets at Azad Maidan, which will be increased at night time to 40 toilets. Further, four water tankers will be put in place at the ground. Pay toilets near Azad Maidan and Mantralaya have been instructed to provide free services for two days.

At Somaiyya grounds, the BMC has put in place three water tankers, each with a capacity of 12,000 litres. Further, 120 mobile seats have been hired at the venue. The civic body said that fogging has also been carried out on Saturday to prevent mosquitoes.

Politicians side with farmers

On Saturday, the BJP government in Maharashtra found itself cornered after alliance partner Shiv Sena announced their support to the march. On Sunday, while Aaditya Thackeray met with the farmers at the Somaiya ground, support poured in from Congress, Nationalist Congress Party as well as Maharashtra Navnirman Sena.

Congress leader Ashok Chavan asked the Fadnavis government to accept the demands of the farmers.

BJP also reached out to the protesters on Sunday with Mahajan meeting a delegation of farmers as a representative of the chief minister. Whereas, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray was expected to meet the farmers at 5 pm on Sunday.

On Monday, NCP leaders Jitendra Awhad, Sunil Tatkare and Dhananjay Munde are expected to join the farmers as they march from Somaiya Ground in Sion to the Legislative Assembly House.

With all eyes set on the Fadnavis government, Monday is crucial not just for Nawale and his 30,000 farmers but also for Mumbaikars.

With inputs from agenciesPrime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with the presidents of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on key issues, including developmental cooperation, besides holding parleys with leaders from nine other countries on the sidelines of the solar alliance meet

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday held bilateral talks with the presidents of Sri Lanka and Bangladesh on key issues, including developmental cooperation, besides holding parleys with leaders from nine other countries on the sidelines of the solar alliance meet.

Apart from meeting Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Bangladeshi President Abdul Hamid, Modi held talks with leaders from the UAE, Seychelles, Comoros, Guyana, Fiji, Djibouti, Somalia, Mali and Rwanda.

Neighbourhood first! PM @narendramodi met Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, on his 5th visit to India as President, on the sidelines of the #ISA. Leaders exchanged views on developmental cooperation, among other areas of bilateral cooperation," Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted.

Neighbourhood first! PM @narendramodi met Sri Lankan President, Maithripala Sirisena, on his 5th visit to India as President, on the sidelines of the #ISA. Leaders exchanged views on developmental cooperation, among other areas of bilateral cooperation. pic.twitter.com/1nshxASx1B  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 11, 2018

In his meeting with Hamid, prime minister Modi discussed connectivity, developmental cooperation, among other issues, he said. Modi's first bilateral meeting of the day was with the Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Bin Al Nahyan.

First bilateral meeting of the day! PM @narendramodi met with Chairman of Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Court, HH Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Bin Al Nahyan on sidelines of the #ISA. Leaders discussed trade & investment, energy, food security, among other issues of bilateral interest. pic.twitter.com/eBOpDQbp3m  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 11, 2018

On the sidelines of the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the two leaders discussed trade and investment, energy, food security, among other issues of bilateral interest, Kumar said.

In his bilateral meetings with Fiji Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, Seychelles President Danny Faure and Comoros President Azali Assoumani, Modi discussed cooperation in the areas of capacity building, climate change and development cooperation.

Modi also met Guyanese President David Arthur Granger and discussed ways to step up cooperation with the Caribbean nation.

Historical linkages with a friend from the Caribbean! PM @narendramodi met President of Guyana, David Arthur Granger on the sidelines of the #ISA. Climate change, renewable energy, trade and investment, capacity building and developmental cooperation were discussed, Kumar tweeted.

Historical linkages with a friend from the Caribbean! PM @narendramodi met President of Guyana, David Arthur Granger on the sidelines of the #ISA. Climate change, renewable energy, trade and investment, capacity building and developmental cooperation were discussed. pic.twitter.com/dGTre8TdVY  Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 11, 2018

On the sidelines of the conference, he also held talks with Djibouti president Ismail Omar Guelleh, Rwandan president Paul Kagame and Somalia's Deputy Prime Minister Mahdi Mohamed Guled.

Modi later met Mali President Ibrahim Baoubacar Keita.

Countering terrorism was the focus of discussion during the meeting between the two leaders, Kumar said.Lamenting frequent disruptions in parliamentary proceedings, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday warned that if the trend continued, the people would lose trust in politicians.

New Delhi: Lamenting frequent disruptions in parliamentary proceedings, Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu on Sunday warned that if the trend continued, the people would lose trust in politicians.

He also expressed concern over lack of quorum in the House and said that he had to press the quorum bell on several occasions.

The responsibility of having a quorum lay with the government as well as the Opposition, Naidu said at the concluding session of a two-day conference of MPs and MLAs in the Central Hall of Parliament.

"All is not well that ends up in the Well (of the House)," he said referring to the washout of the first week of the second part of the Budget Session due to disruptions.

He cautioned that if the trend continued, the "people would lose their trust" in lawmakers and the political class.

The vice president said if the legislatures do not provide a solution to the problems faced by the people, then they would be failing in their duty.

Noting that issues cannot be settled on the basis of numbers alone, he said the opposition should have its say and the government should have its way. This is the only way forward, he said.

Naidu was also of the view that "talk out" or "walk out" should be the only options available in a legislature.

He urged the governments to increase the number of days legislatures meet in a year.

In his address, he hoped that a political consensus would soon emerge on granting reservation to women in Parliament and state assemblies.The huge march by Maharashtra farmers and Adivasis will proceed to the KJ Somaiyya ground in Mumbai before heading towards the state Assembly on Monday

As Devendra Fadnavis government in Maharashtra braces for a massive showdown on Monday, with farmers marching towards Mumbai from Nashik, the crowd has swelled to nearly 35,000 people demanding waiver of all farm loans and implementation of the Swaminathan Commission report.

The All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) protest march reached Anand Nagar in Thane on Sunday, reported ANI. The AIKS is the farmer wing of Communist Party of India  Marxist (CPM). According to NDTV, the number of farmers reached close to 35,000 as more and more people joined the march on the way since it began on 6 March. The march will be attended by AIKS national president Ashok Dawale, CPM MLA JP Gavit, state president Kisan Gujar and working president Arjun Ade among others.

Traffic advisory issued

The huge march by farmers and Adivasis will proceed to the KJ Somaiya Ground in Mumbai before heading towards the state Legilsativ Assembly on Monday. In view of the protests, Mumbai Police has issued a traffic advisory and tightened security for Monday.

The farmers are set to enter Mumbai at 10 am through the Anandnagar toll plaza in Mulund before reaching Somaiyya ground in Sion at 9 pm, via Vikhroli, Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Nagar, Chheda Nagar and Suman Nagar.

The Eastern Express Highway, southbound from Anandnagar toll plaza to the Somaiya ground, will remain closed on Monday for heavy and goods vehicles from 9 am to 11 pm, Mumbai Police said in its advisory. These vehicles will alternately be diverted via Kalwa, Airoli, Vashi Creek and Vitava.

Traffic arrangements during the Long March tomorrow #TrafficUpdate pic.twitter.com/GVYJGkVa79  Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) March 10, 2018

The Traffic Control Branch of the Mumbai Police also advised people to avoid travelling on the route of the march and use alternate routes (eg, LBS Road, Sion-Panvel Road, Thane-Belapur Road, etc).

Speaking to Firstpost earlier, All India Kisan Sabha general secretary Ajit Navale said, "The demands are an increase in Minimum Support Price for crops, immediate implementation of loan waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission, forest rights to the farmers, and good quality education for farmers' children."

On Saturday, the Shiv Sena and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) parties also extended their support to the farmers' march. Navale said Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation minister and senior Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has expressed his support as well.

"Shinde welcomed the protestors in Thane district and extended support to the demands of the farmers. He said he was conveying the message of Sena president Uddhav Thackeray. Similarly, Abhijit Jadhav, an emissary of MNS chief Raj Thackeray, also met us and got me in touch with the MNS chief over the phone. The MNS too has extended support to our demands," Navale told PTI.

Protesting farmers have demanded a change in the plan to link rivers in Nashik, Thane, and Palghar to ensure that tribal lands are not submerged and water from the scheme be made available to these areas as well as other drought-prone districts, the organisers said.

They said that farmers were also protesting against the state government's land acquisition for projects like high-speed rail and superhighways.

"We are demanding an increase in pension schemes for poor peasants and farm workers, compensation for losses due to bollworm and pest attacks and rehauling of the public distribution system," he said.

With inputs from PTIA parliamentary panel has rejected the home ministry's suggestion that the overall internal security scenario in the country was under control in 2016.

New Delhi: A parliamentary panel has rejected the home ministry's suggestion that the overall internal security scenario in the country was under control in 2016, saying Jammu and Kashmir remained on the boil throughout the year and there was a "huge upsurge" in the number of infiltration attempts.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs, headed by senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, also said lack of financial resources has resulted in the loss of lives of police and paramilitary personnel in the fight against Naxals.

"The committee does not share the perception of the ministry that the overall security scenario remained under control during 2016," the panel said in the report submitted to the Parliament on Thursday.

"While the terrorism in the hinterland of the country and the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) remained comparatively muted during 2016," it said, "the opposite is however true in the case of cross-border terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir which remained on the boil throughout 2016 due to a number of terrorist attacks, and huge upsurge in number of infiltration attempts  364 in 2016 as compared to 121 in 2015."

The committee said a new trend of terrorists targeting security establishments of paramilitary and armed forces has emerged.

"The committee is constrained to note that 82 personnel of security forces were martyred last year. At the same time, the committee is anguished at the vulnerabilities and loop-holes in the security of the establishments of the forces exposed by a series of terrorist attacks that occurred in 2016," the report said.

The panel recommended the home ministry must make rigorous efforts to completely stop infiltration from across the border and prevent all types of terror activities in Jammu and Kashmir.

The security of the establishments of the forces should be tightened and attacks on them should not be allowed to recur. The panel also referred to the recommendations of the committee given following the 2 January, 2016 attacks on the Pathankot air base.

It said that despite several steps reportedly taken by the government to strengthen the security measures, it failed to prevent recurrence of such attacks and, Pampore, Uri, Baramula, Handwara and Nagrota were targeted.

"The committee, therefore, recommends that there remains an urgent need to further strengthen the security network and plug the serious gaps in security establishment and intelligence gathering/sharing that have come to the force in the recent attacks," it said.

The panel observed that lack of financial resources is becoming a reason for the loss of lives of police and paramilitary forces in the battle against the Left-Wing Extremism.

"The committee feels that bullet-proof vehicles would not be safe or sufficient for use in LWE areas," it said.Four family members of a pregnant woman were arrested after allegedly beating the latter and her husband for marrying outside their caste in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district, the police said on Sunday.

Jodhpur: Four family members of a pregnant woman were arrested after allegedly beating the latter and her husband for marrying outside their caste in Rajasthan's Jodhpur district, the police said on Sunday.

The incident happened on Friday morning in Bilara city. Sumitra's mother, sister and two brothers were apparently annoyed with her for marrying out of their caste. They kept beating Sumitra and her husband, Om Prakash, with sticks till they fell unconscious, a police officer said.

The seriously-injured couple were lying on the spot until the police rescued them and sent them to a hospital, where they are said to be out of any danger, the officer said.

"We are thankful that the woman did not suffer termination of her pregnancy inspite of being badly beaten. The husband, however, has suffered 2-3 fractures," Rajan Dushyant, superintendent of police (SP), said.

Sumitra had married Prakash, who did not belong to her caste, about four years back. Her family had severed relations with her after the marriage, said city station house officer (SHO) Gautam Jain.

"On Friday morning, when the couple was spotted by Sumitra's family members in Kalanau, they surrounded and beat them up badly with sticks," Jain said, adding that they also filmed this act.

On the basis of the victim's statement, a case was filed against six persons and the four family members were arrested, the SHO said.

The role of two others was being verified by the police, he added.AAP national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh, alleging that it did nothing but loot the state during its 15-year rule.

Raipur: AAP national convenor and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday launched a scathing attack on the Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh, alleging that it did nothing but loot the state during its 15-year rule.

Addressing a rally of around 10,000 people at the Science College grounds, Kejriwal said that the gathering was there not to listen to him but to root out the state government.

The rally was the culmination of the AAP's 'Badalbo Chhattisgarh Sankalp Yatra" which started in November last year.

"People have got frustrated with the ruling BJP and now have decided to bring about a change and elect an honest government," he said.

"During his 15 years of rule, Raman Singh left nothing to ruin Chhattisgarh. I challenge him to show a single good work his government has done for the people during his tenure," Kejriwal said.

He alleged that the people of the state were not getting the benefits of Chhattisgarh's abundance of natural resources as the ruling BJP was looting it to help private companies.

"God has blessed Chhattisgarh with abundant forests, rivers, natural resources including coal, iron ore and diamond mines. But the leaders of the state and its parties have left no stone unturned to loot it. These natural resources belong to the people, but they (BJP and Congress) gave it to companies," he said.

He said that it was a matter of shame that Chhattisgarh, despite these natural resources, was seeing farmer suicides, unemployment and poor healthcare.

Alleging a nexus between the Raman Singh government and the Congress in the state, Kejriwal said the Congress was "sitting in the lap" of Singh and was partaking in the share (from corruption).

He asked the people to vote for AAP in the state Assembly polls slated for later this year and cautioned them against dividing their votes.

"Be cautious about the division of votes. It should not happen that a few votes go to the Congress, some to others. You (people) have to fight this election. AAP has no money. This is not Kejriwal's party, it is yours. You have to fight the election on your own and bring change," he said.

He said that AAP, if it won, would take back the state's natural resources from private firms and ensure that its benefits reached the commom man.

He promised farmers a minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 2,600 per quintal of paddy.

He also told the gathering about his government's good work in Delhi.Anganwadi workers in Punjab's Bathinda have decided boycott the pulse polio drive in support of demands for better pay and regularisation of their services

Anganwadi workers in Punjab's Bathinda have boycotted the pulse polio drive in support of demands for better pay and regularisation of their services, said a media report.

According to The Tribune, around 1,800 Anganwadi workers in the district have been protesting for the last few days over the long pending demands. As the Anganwadi workers decided to pull out of the drive, the district health department said that it will arrange things with the help of nursing students, added the report.

Over one lakh Anganwadi workers and helpers in Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Haryana have been protesting in support of their demands.

According to Hindustan Times, Anganwadi workers have been sitting on a dharna in Bathinda for the past 40 days. In Haryana, they have been on strike since 12 February, while their counterparts in Jammu and Kashmir have been protesting for the last 38 days.

Meanwhile, the second phase of the pulse polio immunisation drive began in parts of the country on Sunday.

In Telangana, a total of 36,55,204 children would be given polio drops at 22,768 booths. A total number of 95,000 people including Auxiliary nurse midwives (ANMs), Asha workers and Anganwadi workers are engaged in the second phase of pulse polio programme, according to United News of India.

In Tamil Nadu's Erode district the drive is being held at 1,287 camps. The district has planned special camps at bus stands, railway stations, said The Hindu.

The Pulse Polio programme for 2018 was launched by President Ram Nath Kovind on 27 January at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. Over 17 crore children, below five years, across the country, are to be given polio drops as part of the Government of India's 2018 drive.

With inputs from PTIThe killing of Mufti Waqas, the mastermind of five recent suicide attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including the Sunjuwan strike, has dealt a severe blow to Jaish-e-Mohammed as he was planning to target other parts of India, officials said.

New Delhi/Srinagar: The killing of Mufti Waqas, the mastermind of five recent suicide attacks in Jammu and Kashmir including the Sunjuwan strike, has dealt a severe blow to Jaish-e-Mohammed as he was planning to target other parts of India, officials said.

Barely 21 kilometres away from the state capital of Srinagar, Waqas, who moved around under the 'code name' of Abu Ansar, was killed in one of the swiftest operations carried out by the Jammu and Kashmir police and the army on 5 March in Haitwara village of south Kashmir's Pulwama district.

After February 10 attack at the Sunjuwan Army camp in Jammu, Waqas, an Afghan war veteran, was high on the radar of security agencies as he was giving continuous updates to 'handlers' in Pakistan and also assuring them that "the next attack" would be in the hinterland of the country.

A crack team was formed by the police with the specific job to trail Waqas, dubbed as a 'killing machine' for his skills in motivating youths to become suicide attackers.

It was found that he was instrumental in brainwashing and radicalising Fardeen Khanday, 16, and Manzoor Ahmed Baba, 21, to turn them into 'fidayeens' (suicide bombers).

The duo along with a Pakistani national stormed a CRPF camp on the intervening night of December 30 and 31, 2017, in South Kashmir's Lethpora, killing five security personnel. All the three terrorists were killed in the retaliatory operation of the security forces.

Waqas had the capability to create many more suicide bombers, officials said. A search was already on for three Kashmiri youths who had joined Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) last year, they said.

Swayam Prakash Pani, who has the distinction of becoming the youngest Inspector General of militancy-hit Kashmir Valley, refused to comment on the details of the March 5 operation which ended barely in 20 minutes.

"I can only say that after eliminating Noor Mohammed Tantray, Tallah Rashid and now Waqas, Jaish has suffered significantly," Pani said.

Officials in the know of the developments said Waqas's next target was to hit a strategic installation in the hinterland. His phone, which was sent for analysis, showed that he was constantly in touch with a few people believed to be Jaish terrorists.

After the news of his death spread, tributes were paid to Waqas by Jaish cadres for his 11-month tenure in Kashmir.

The events leading to the 5 March success were based on a series of raids carried out by police in the highly-sensitive Tral area, which has turned into a Jaish bastion. This put Waqas on the run and he started moving out of Tral area in South Kashmir.

After roaming for a few days, he chose Haitwara village as his hideout as it provided him easy access to Budgam area in central Kashmir.

Before closing in on Waqas, police with the help of the army and the CRPF, had tightened the cordon so that he could not escape.

"This was a make or break mission as we knew if we get him alive, it will be a goldmine of information and if he gets killed, backbone of Jaish terror group would be broken," said an official involved in the operation.The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be pressed to rescue students caught in a forest fire in Tamil Nadu's Theni district, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced

Several students on a mountain climbing training camp in Kurangani hills in Tamil Nadu's Theni district were caught in a forest fire on Sunday, according to media reports.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that 25 students were caught in the blaze.

Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni. @ThanthiTV @pibchennai  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 11, 2018

Sitharaman added that the Indian Air Force (IAF) would be pressed into service and that Southern Command was in touch with the Theni district collector. Sitharaman said she was responding to a request from Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswamy.

According to ANI, Sitharaman spoke to Theni district collector Pallavi Baldev, who informed her that at least 10-15 students had been rescued. Sitharaman added that operations to rescue the remaining students were on.

Madurai circle conservator of forests RK Jegania told the Times of India that the college students were caught in the forest fire around 4 pm. One of the students called her father, who then alerted the forest department, the report added.

They had not obtained permission for trekking. We have dispatched 40 of our personnel for the rescue operation, Jegania said. Baldev said there are no casualties thus far. Once the students are safely brought down, further details will be known, Baldev told the Times of India.

A medical team had been sent to the spot and employees of a nearby private tea estate are also assisting in the rescue operations, Sitharaman said, quoting the collector.

The Kurangani hills are located near Bodinayakanur in southern Tamil Nadu.

Officials in Theni said twelve of the students had been rescued by the local tribals and fire and rescue service and forest personnel and efforts were on to evacuate others.

Police said the students from Coimbatore and Erode were taking training in Kurangai-Kozhuku Hill area when the fire suddenly broke out around noon.

District Superintendent of Police V Baskaran and revenue and forest officials were taking steps to rescue the students from the trapped site.

Officials said the defence minister told the district collector to expedite the rescue operations in coordination with the other department officials including, the air force.

A report from Coimbatore, quoting police, said two IAF 'Sarang' helicopters from Sulur have left for Kurangani forest.

With inputs from agenciesA man's leg, which got severed in a bus accident, was allegedly used as a pillow to prop him up at the state-run Maharani Laxmibai Medical College, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to suspend four staff and order a departmental probe into it.

Jhansi: A man's leg, which got severed in a bus accident, was allegedly used as a pillow to prop him up at the state-run Maharani Laxmibai Medical College, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to suspend four staff and order a departmental probe into it.

Ghanshyam (28) claimed that the hospital staff put the severed leg under his head as a pillow. He had lost the leg in the accident on Saturday and was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.

However, the medical college's principal, Sadhna Kaushik, said a four-member committee has been formed to find out who put the severed leg under the patient's head.

Taking cognisance of the alleged incident, state medical education minister Ashutosh Tandon, late on Saturday night, directed suspension of two doctors and two nurses with immediate effect on the ground of laxity in discharging their duty.

As the video of the man lying on a stretcher in the hospital with the severed leg under his head went viral on social and electronic media, Kaushik said strict action would be taken against those found guilty.

"He (the patient) was given immediate medical aid. The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient's attendant used the leg for the same. We've set up a committee. Strict action will be taken if our staff is found to be at fault," she said, adding it appears to be a case of mischief.

"Head of department of surgery Dr Rajeev Sinha will head the committee and it will give its report in 48 hours. Action will be based on the findings of the report," she said.

Jhansi is 300 kilometres from state capital Lucknow, and the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College is affiliated to the Bundelkhand University, Jhansi. It serves many districts in Uttar Pradesh's backward Bundelkhand region.

A government spokesperson said, the staff who have been suspended are Dr Alok Agarwal (senior resident - orthopaedics), Dr Mahendra Pal Singh (emergency medical officer), sister in-charge Deepa Narang and Shashi Srivastava, a nurse.

Instructions have been issued to initiate departmental action against Dr Praveen Saraogi, an assistant professor in the orthopaedics department, the spokesperson said.

According to the medical college authorities, the CCTV footage would be reviewed to find out who was responsible for placing the severed leg as a pillow. Chief medical superintendent Harish Chandra Arya said stringent action will be taken against the guilty after the inquiry.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said the state government will take action once the full information about the incident is available.

Ghanshyam was a cleaner of the school bus which, on its way to the institute, overturned in Mauranipur, 65 kilometres from Jhansi, as the driver tried to avoid a collision with a tractor-trolley. Nearly a dozen children were injured in the accident, the police said.

He lost his leg in the accident and was sent to the medical college after preliminary treatment at a local health centre.

The incident at the Maharani Laxmibai Jhansi Medical College is the latest in the list of several controversies to have hit Uttar Pradesh's healthcare, including the death of several children at a Gorakhpur hospital last year allegedly due to oxygen shortage.Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he and his family knew that his father Rajiv Gandhi was going to die. During his interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore, Gandhi said he and his sister Priyanka have 'completely forgiven' his father's killers.

Singapore: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he and his family knew that his father Rajiv Gandhi was going to die. Gandhi, who is on a five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries, said: "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother (Indira Gandhi) was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That's pretty clear."

During his interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore, Gandhi, said he and his sister Priyanka have "completely forgiven" his father Rajiv's killers. He said: "We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, completely...in fact, completely (forgiven)."

"There is a history that when one realises that when these events take place, it's collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught. I remember when I saw Mr Prabhakaran on TV lying dead, I got two feelings - one was why they are humiliating this man in this way."

"And second was I felt really bad for him and for his kids and I did that because I understood deeply what it meant to be on the other side of that thing. So to me when I see violence regardless of who it is, I know that there is a human being behind that, there is a family behind that, a kid crying behind that. I have been through a lot of pain to get this and it is something I consider very valuable. I find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does," he said.

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber of LTTE, the terrorist group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on 21 May, 1991 at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

Asked if he thinks he had a privilege life being the son and grandson of former prime ministers, he said, "It depends which side of the coin you are...of course there are a number of privileges where I sit, but I would not say that I haven't been through a rough ride."

"I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...surrounded by 15 guys from morning noon to night. I don't think that's a privilege. I think that's quite a hard thing to deal with," he said in a video shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle.BSP is counting heavily on 'surplus' votes of SP, besides support from Congress and the RLD for the victory of its lone candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls

Lucknow: The BSP is counting heavily on the 'surplus' votes of the SP, besides support from the Congress and the RLD for the victory of its lone candidate in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections from Uttar Pradesh.

Arithmetically for the Bahujan Samaj Party, which has 19 MLAs in the 403-member UP Assembly, the likely support by the Samajwadi Party which has 10 additional first preference votes, the Congress (seven) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (one), will help it get 37 votes required for a win.

"The Samajwadi Party, which will be left with 10 additional votes (after ensuring election of its candidate Jaya Bachhan) is likely to transfer its surplus votes to the BSP," a senior SP leader told PTI.

SP spokesperson Sunil Singh Sajan, when contacted said, "A decision in this regard will be taken soon by party chief Akhilesh Yadav. We are ready for any sacrifice to keep the communal elements at bay."

RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey said, "We have already made up our mind to support the BSP in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections, and the SP in the Legislative Council polls."

Meanwhile, the Congress has decided to support BSP candidate Bhimrao Ambedkar for the Rajya Sabha elections.

"A meeting of Congress Legislature Party was held and after consulting the MLAs, we have decided to vote for the BSP nominee," CLP leader Ajay Singh Lallu said.

"We have decided to join hands with the secular forces against the oppressive and communal politics and decided to vote for the BSP candidate," Lallu said, adding that the central leadership of the party has been apprised of the decision and they have supported it.

The Congress' support comes after BSP chief Mayawati offered a quid pro quo in Rajya Sabha elections in UP and Madhya Pradesh.

Under the deal, her party would support the Congress candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, if all its seven MLAs vote for the BSP's Rajya Sabha candidate in UP.

The BSP, with 19 MLAs, needs 18 more first preference votes to ensure a smooth sail of its nominee, who has already filed his nomination, for the elections to the Upper House of Parliament.

The SP, which has 47 MLAs, would be left with 10 surplus first preference votes after backing its candidate Jaya Bachhan and together with seven Congress and one of the RLD, the BSP would be able to get its candidate elected.

The nomination process for the elections to UP's 10 Rajya Sabha seats will close on 12 March and polling, if necessary, will be held on March 23.

A former BSP MLA, Ambedkar filed his nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha polls on 7 March.

Senior UP BJP leader JPS Rathore when contacted said, "In this Rajya Sabha elections, a candidate needs 37 first preference votes to emerge victorious. Arithmetically, the BJP is easily winning eight out of the 10 seats."

He said, "At present, we have 28 additional votes, and expect a contest for the ninth seat."

With the BJP and its allies storming to power in the state in the 2017 Assembly elections, the saffron party is set to wrest a lion's share of these seats in the Rajya Sabha, which is also called the Council of States.

In the UP Assembly, the BJP and its allies currently have 324 seats (BJP's Noorpur MLA died recently in a road accident).

During the previous biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha, six years back, the SP managed to win six seats by dint of its strength in the state Assembly, whose members are voters in the indirect poling.

In the 245-member Upper House of Parliament, Uttar Pradesh has 31 seats being the most populous state of the country.Stressing the need to 'rise above politics', Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for an all-party meeting at his residence on Tuesday to find solutions to problems being faced by traders because of an ongoing sealing drive in the national capital

New Delhi: Stressing the need to "rise above politics", Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday called for an all-party meeting at his residence on Tuesday to find solutions to problems being faced by traders because of an ongoing sealing drive in the national capital.

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken thanked Kejriwal for the move, while the BJP said it would decide on its participation after consulting state unit chief Manoj Tiwari, who is currently abroad.

"We should rise above politics and come together to find a solution to the problems that have risen due to sealing," the chief minister said in letters sent today to Tiwari and Maken.

Maken, who had written a letter to Kejriwal on Saturday, offering to share with the chief minister what he felt could be a solution to the drive, thanked him for accepting his request.

Praising Kejriwal for inviting the BJP, which rules the three Delhi municipal corporations carrying out the drive, the Congress leader expressed the hope the saffron party would participate in the meet.

The situation demands "positive politics", he said.

The Delhi BJP said Tiwari was abroad as part of a delegation accompanying President Ram Nath Kovind and would be back by 15 March.

An office-bearer of the party said a decision on Kejriwal's invitation would be taken after a consultation with Tiwari.

Kejriwal also suggested that not more than three people from each party be present at the meeting for its smooth functioning.

In January, Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta had alleged that Aad Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders and workers had "misbehaved" with members of a BJP delegation at Kejriwal's residence when they had gone there to discuss relief to traders hit by the sealing drive.

A case was registered in the matter and some AAP MLAs were booked.

The Delhi chief minister had on Saturday written letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi seeking appointments with them to discuss the sealing issue and stressed the need to bring a Bill in Parliament to stop the drive.

The sealing is being undertaken by the municipal corporations on the directions of a Supreme Court-appointed committee. Hundreds of commercial establishments have been closed so far for non-payment of conversion charges and violation of the Delhi Master Plan.Democracies across the world, including the US and India, are at a crossroads and there is a need to stand up against the chaos to protect democracy, Hillary Rodham Clinton said

Mumbai: Democracies across the world, including the US and India, are at a crossroads and there is a need to stand up against the chaos to protect democracy, Hillary Rodham Clinton said.

Speaking at the concluding session of the India Today Conclave 2018, the former US secretary of state said never before did the world need India's energy like now to speak against sexism, racism and stand up at this crossroad moment.

"Don't give way to anger, resentment and disappointment. Stay engaged, speak out," Clinton said.

She said both the US and India were facing serious undercurrents threatening to strike at the roots of democracy, warning that US president Donald Trump "will damage it".

Talking at length about the situation in the US post the 2016 US presidential elections which she lost to realty tycoon-turned-politician Trump, Clinton said she did not have a problem with a power difference in her country but was worried about fewer debates on pertinent issues that will take it towards one-party dominance.

"That is the situation in Washington at present."

She said it was "the first-ever reality TV election" in the history of the US.

"Reality TV because a person who is the most outrageous and prone to say incorrect things gets away with it, drawing big rankings. Many people were, unfortunately, attracted to such diatribes."

Clinton counted the reaction against the immigrants as one of the reasons behind Trump's win.

She said the US has immigrants from Latin America, India and China who are hard working and law abiding but Trump's campaign of Make America Great Again' was backward.

"I won from the places which have 2/3rd share in the gross domestic product."

She also admitted that a smear campaign was on, saying she was going to jail. "That stopped my momentum and decreased my votes."The Congress may have suffered a crushing defeat in the North East, but senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia feels that there are 'very strong signs' of the party's resurgence in the Hindi heartland which would be crucial in the 2019 general election.

New Delhi: The Congress may have suffered a crushing defeat in the North East, but senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia feels that there are "very strong signs" of the party's resurgence in the Hindi heartland which would be crucial in the 2019 general election.

Buoyed by the party's victory in the recent by-polls in the Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, he also said the people had decided to end the 14-year BJP rule in the state where elections are scheduled to be held later this year.

Scindia, widely seen as the front-runner among the Congress's chief ministerial candidates for Madhya Pradesh, also urged "like-minded" parties to join hands to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state.

In an interview to PTI, he said the Assembly poll outcome in Nagaland and Tripura came as a "shock".

In Meghalaya, he pointed out, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party.

"...but the BJP true to its game believes in forming governments by default and a party that has won only two seats in that Assembly was trying every trick in the book to put together a government," he said.

However, "having said that, I think you've had very strong signs of resurgence in the Hindi heartland," the 47-year-old leader said.

The Congress drew a blank in Tripura and Nagaland, while in Meghalaya it failed to form the government. The BJP has come to power in all the three states forming coalition governments.

Scindia also asserted that the Gujarat Assembly poll result was "truly inspiring". The MP from Madhya Pradesh's Guna said this was followed by the results in the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by-polls, won by the Congress.

"These are all states which are crucial to the Congress party going ahead. So I think the barometer and the portent that these states portray are very important signs for the Congress party," he said.

However, the Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha said there was still a lot of work to be done by party workers as "we must never take our opponent lightly".

Scindia also dismissed talk of infighting within the party in MP, saying the Congress was a united house in the state.

"We have been working together for the last year, year and a half. We are strategising, planning every activity together, which is what you have seen in these two by-elections. Every single leader of the Congress party was present in this by-election," Scindia said.

"So, I can understand why the BJP is extremely concerned," he added.

Asked if Congress should name a chief ministerial candidate in MP, Scindia said, "I am not going to speak on this issue because I don't think it would be apt. This is a decision that has to be taken by the general secretary and by the Congress high command."

Terming the recent by-poll win in Madhya Pradesh a "very important triumph", he said the Congress won despite the BJP throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" into the election.

It was the might of the government versus the ordinary Congress worker, Scindia said.

"I also do believe that in Madhya Pradesh voters have made up their minds to see the end of the BJP rule in our state for a multitude of reasons," he said.

The Congress last month retained both the Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where by-polls were held.

Brajendra Singh Yadav of the Congress defeated his BJP rival Baisahab Yadav by 2,124 votes to win the Mungaoli seat while in Kolaras, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav prevailed over Devendra Jain of the BJP by 8,083 votes.The ubiquity of the yellow-red flag in Kannadiga consciousness has made the yellow and red hues the identity colours of Karnataka as a state and Kannadigas as a people.

A flag symbolises identity. A flag symbolises power and jurisdiction. A flag symbolises the collective aspirations of a people. And in any normal human assemblage, identities are multiple, power and jurisdiction are often layered and divided and the collective aspirations of a people also distributed along these multiple identities. These multiple identities are not about part and whole, but are about different aspects of ones identity, of various forms of belonging. This is especially true in an essentially multi-national federal polity like the Indian Union whose linguistic states and the identities contained therein predate the formation of the Union.

Thus, one is at the same time a Kannadiga and a citizen of the Indian Union and the promise of the republic inaugurated on 26 January, 1950, was precisely to create conditions such that these two identities are never in conflict with each other. However, when homogenising forces try to flatten the diverse peoples of the Indian Union, people who are not rootless do not simply succumb to the steam-roller and they hold aloft their banner of resistance. That can take many forms. One of them is a flag. What Kannadigas always knew has now been declared to all other citizens of the Indian Union. Karnataka has its own flag.

On 8 March, the government of Karnataka officially approved the state flag. Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah unveiled it, with the chairperson of the Kannada Development Authority flanking him. The design was arrived at after extensive discussion with stake-holders, including Kannada organisations and renowned Karnataka intellectuals. A few months ago, the government correctly sought public input for such an important matter as the flag of a state belongs to the people and not the government. There are a few discordant voices that have taken exception to the design of the flag and insisted that the widely used yellow-red flag was good enough.

The present flag is a close variant of that banner, with yellow on top, red on bottom with the addition of a white band in the middle which has the official Karnataka state symbol in it, including the lion crest of Ashoka. Siddaramaiah stated what the newly unveiled design symbolises: Yellow represents wealth and celebration, white represents peace and stability, red represents valor and pride. Originally, the yellow and red also represented arrishna (turmeric) and kumkuma (vermilion), thus symbolising auspiciousness and well-being.

Unlike some other states, the yellow-red Karnataka flag is wildly popular. It has for long been the almost official flag of Karnataka. It has till now fluttered proudly on Karnataka Rajyotsava or Karnataka state formation day on 1 November, when in 1956, the largely Kannada speaking regions were united by popular demand under a single homeland. That is what Karnataka represents in addition to the dignified presence of native linguistic minorities like Tulus, Kodavas and others. This Karnataka flag has been held aloft in recent years by APJ Abdul Kalam when he was President of the Indian Union, BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa when he was chief minister of Karnataka, by former Prime Minister of Indian Union HD Deve Gowda at his party rallies and by present Karnataka premier and Congress leader Siddaramaiah.

Thus, there is documented evidence of this flag being used as a banner of Karnataka identity by all hues of political opinion in Karnataka. This flag flies proudly in almost all government offices of Karnataka, including Union government offices.

Even on streets of Karnataka, flagpoles with the banner flying proudly is a common sight. The official website of the Government of Karnataka also proudly uses this flag, though one would assume that this will now be replaced by its close cousin, the official Karnataka state flag. The ubiquity of the yellow-red flag in Kannadiga consciousness has made the yellow and red hues the identity colours of Karnataka as a state and Kannadigas as a people.

However, this widely used flag needed to be modified if it were to be adopted as the official flag of the state of Karnataka. That is due to a few cogent reasons. Firstly, for the Karnataka state emblem to be accommodated in the flag, the white band in the middle was needed. Secondly, the original flag, though widely used, actually belongs to a specific political party called the Kannada Paksha. Though almost defunct, it still holds rights to that flag. This association with a specific political party makes it somewhat of a misfit for a Karnataka state flag. Contrast and compare this with the adoption of the Indian Union flag, which is a minor variant of the Indian National Congress flag, with even the wheel-like of the Charka being retained in the form of the Ashoka Chakra. Charka became Chakra. The rest was all the same. Be that as it may, that flag is the flag of every citizen of the Indian Union.

Interestingly, the one of the most popular native flag for the whole of British Empire in South Asia was a Bandemataram flag unfurled in Kolkata in 1906 at Girish Park and designed by Sachindra Prasad Bose, a Surendranath Banerjee follower who was later jailed in Rawalpindi. That flag had saffron on top, green on bottom but in the middle there was yellow. More importantly, that flag had 8 unbloomed lotuses, signifying the 8 provinces that made up the British Empire in South Asia. It was the most natural thing to do since the warriors fighting for independence from British rule had always imagined this subcontinent as a gigantic federation of national provinces before the centralised Congress system was developed under Gandhi and Nehru.

This representation of constituent provinces as stake-holders in a federal Union is seen in other federal flags like the United States of America where the number of stars have changed according to the number of states and in the flag of Australia where the seven-pointed star represents the six states of Australia and the other representsF the territories. That is not the case in the Indian Union flag. Some assume that the number of spokes in the Ashoka Chakra represents the number of states. That is not true. The number is fixed at 24 and is adapted from the 24 spoke dharma chakra found in many Ashokan edicts where the first 12 spokes represent, according to Buddhist philosophy, 12 stages of suffering and the next twelve spokes represent no cause no effect.

To anyone who thinks that the Karnataka state flag or any other state flag represents some threat to the unity and integrity of the Indian Union, I would invite them to remember the motto Unity in Diversity in letter and spirit.

The Constitution of India does not prohibit state flags. It is not illegal. It does prohibit secession. That is illegal. In fact, centralising, homogenising tendencies that are being propagated by Hindi-Hindu-Hindustan ideological forces are the biggest threat to the unity and integrity of the Indian Union. The result of Urdu-Muslim-Pakistan ideology being imposed on East Bengal is there for all to see.

Thus one has to learn from stable federations that exist in the world. Some examples are the United States of America, Japan, Canada, Australia, France, Hungary, Italy, Indonesia, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Russian Federation, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Germany, Belarus, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Denmark, Egypt, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE and many others. In South Asia, Myanmar and Sri Lankas provinces have their own official flag. And yes, provinces of Pakistan have their own official flag: Each of them.

If anything, as far as unions made of up to state/province/canton/sub-units go, the absence of state official flags for every state of the Indian Union is actually an exception and not the rule. It is insular thinking and belief in exceptionalism premised of anxieties of the Delhi imperium that in the Indian Union one encounters warped narratives like a state flag being a threat to unity.

If Pakistan, with dismemberment of more than half of its territory, has learned from the Bangladesh example and after 1971 (before 1971, the provinces were not allowed their own flags), its provinces started having own provincial official flags, then Delhis anxiety about state flags is troublesome to unity and integrity and not any official state flag.

The Government of Karnataka has sent the Karnataka state official flag for approval to the Government of India. I will hope that the Union government approves it immediately and does not play mischief in the way it has done with the Government of West Bengal by not approving the state name change approved by the its Assembly. In fact, it is hardly logical that Delhi has to approve what people of a state call their state as or what design they adopt as their official state flag.

The Karnataka state flag is not superior to the Indian Union flag. Each flag has its own purpose and scope. Just like the Union government has its own scope and the state government has its own scope. That is called federalism and the federal structure is part of the unchangeable basic structure of the Constitution.

The Karnataka loyalty and identity of a Kannadiga living in Mysuru is not superior or inferior to anything. It speaks to a different aspect of his identity. Indian Union citizenship and loyalty to the Constitution of India is also part of his duty. They are not in conflict.

Those who ask questions such as are you a Kannadiga first or an Indian Union citizen first are trying to create conflict and are the real enemies of unity and integrity and absolute enemies of diversity, equality and dignity.

While Jammu and Kashmir is the only other state with an official state flag, many states have official state anthems: Karnataka (Jaya Bharata Jananiya Tanujate), Tamil Nadu (Tamil Tay Valttu), Andhra Pradesh (Maa Telugu Talliki), Telangana (Jaya Jaya Hey Telangana Janani Jayakethanam), Assam (O Mur Apunar Desh), Odisha (Bande Utkala Janani) and Gujarat (Jai Jai Garavi Gujarat).

Has the presence of these state anthems ever decreased the prestige of Indian Unions anthem? The flag is no different. All states of the Indian Union should have their own flag if they so wish. I congratulate the people of Karnataka on their official state flag. I wish my state West Bengal had its own flag too. I have a feeling that Karnataka won't be the last state to have one.Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Sunday said a third front will be a 'stillborn child,' and asserted that only a 'confederation' of parties, led by his national outfit, can take on the BJP-led NDA effectively.

Hyderabad: Senior Congress leader M Veerappa Moily on Sunday said a third front will be a "stillborn child," and asserted that only a "confederation" of parties, led by his national outfit, can take on the BJP-led NDA effectively.

With reports of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and her Telangana counterpart K Chadrasekhar Rao making efforts to forge a non-BJP, non-Congress front doing the rounds, he said without the Congress, one cannot think of an "alternative" to the BJP.

"It (third front) will be a stillborn child. Without the Congress, which has a spread all over the country, you can't think of an alternative," the former Union minister told PTI.

"The Congress has to lead (a broad anti-BJP front)," Moily said.

"Definitely, they (those trying to prop up a third front) can't do without the Congress. Without the Congress, they can't think of finding a common leader because they are all regional forces," he said, adding that the regional parties will have to bind themselves with a national party (Congress).

The former Karnataka chief minister said that third front combinations in the past without the Congress had failed.

Any third front could ultimately succumb to the pressure of the BJP and only subserve the interest of the lead party of the NDA, Moily said.

"It (anti-BJP front) has to be done by a combination of national party (Congress) and regional parties," he said.

The "communal" BJP and its allies have to be fought by all "secular" parties putting their heads together, he said.

"Otherwise, it (the country) will be just like, as one of my friends was telling, (single-party ruled, Communist) China," he said.

The Congress leader alleged that the country is today ruled by the BJP and "extra-constitutional authority" RSS, and not by the NDA government.

"The private secretaries and staff of the Union ministers are inducted from the RSS," he claimed, adding, "It is quite a dangerous trend for democracy."

Moily said the fight against the BJP required a confederation of forces with "absolute clarity, ideology and philosophy."

"Unitedly (Congress and 'secular' parties) we will succeed, but divided, we won't succeed," he added.The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) cannot wish the Bharatiya Janata Party away as it needs the Centre's help to fulfill many promises it made during the election.

Amaravati (AP): Withdrawing its two members from the Union council of ministers this week may be the easiest thing the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) could do, but it just cannot wish the Bharatiya Janata Party away.

As a BJP leader from New Delhi puts it: "It's a grudging reality that the two parties need each other, more so the TDP."

In the 2014 elections to the Andhra Pradesh Assembly, the BJP polled over 2.4 per cent votes, almost the equal percentage that helped the TDP pip the main Opposition YSR Congress to the post.

This simple arithmetic apart, the TDP has many formidable challenges in the state leading to the 2019 general elections, many of which it cannot surmount without help from the Narendra Modi government.

Merely throwing the entire blame at the Centre's doorstep for many of its own failures will not help the TDP, says the state BJP.

"It is clear that the TDP is blaming us only to mask its failures in fulfilling the promises made in 2014," state BJP spokesperson S Vishnuvardhan Reddy said.

"The TDP failed in providing debt relief to farmers, paying unemployment allowance to the youth...some of the many promises it made ahead of the 2014 elections. Hence, it is now enacting a new drama in the name of special category status," Reddy said.

Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, the state finance minister, however, rejected the charge, saying it was "not correct".

"We have been trying for certain things. The Centre has given us something, but it has not fulfilled the promises 100 percent," he said.

Asked how he saw things moving forward vis-a-vis the BJP, the TDP politburo member said, "We are watching national politics. We are still in alliance."

The blame game and political posturing aside, the TDP desperately needs the Centre's help to fulfil one of its key promises: Of providing five percent reservation to the Kapu community and its sub-sects.

The government hurriedly passed a Bill in the Assembly last December, but it cannot become law unless the Centre makes a constitutional amendment, enabling an increase in the quota over and above the stipulated 50 percent.

That the Kapu vote was a key factor in Chandrababu Naidu's return to power in 2014 is an acknowledged fact, as the TDP virtually swept the two Godavari districts, thanks to the en masse support it secured from the predominant community.

During his forceful demand in the Assembly last Wednesday for special category status (SCS) to the state, Chandrababu Naidu did not miss this point when he asked the Centre to clear the Bill.

Giving a clear shape to the Polavaram multipurpose project, if not completing it ahead of the 2019 elections (as per revised deadline), is another challenge, while building at least a part (government city) of the state's new capital Amaravati is yet the critical one.

The state government cannot accomplish these tasks without the Centre's help.

"There is talk that I will push the entire blame on the Centre for not being able to do anything. I will not do that. I will not push the burden on the Centre," Naidu announced in the Assembly.Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in the Gorakpur bypolls, the priest-turned-politician noted that the public believes in the mantra of development and governance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Attacking the Opposition BSP and SP, Adityanath said, "SP and BSP are indulging in negative politics, politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences (of SP and BSP). And in order to ensure that in future such situations do not arise, efforts have to made to shun politics of casteism and dynastic politics, and focus on development and administration."

On the electoral understanding of the two Opposition parties, he said, "This will have no effect. I had wanted that in this by-election if the SP, BSP and Congress had fought together, then results would have been much better."

Termed by Adityanath a "rehearsal" for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the by-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.

Follow our LIVE blog on Uttar Pradesh by-electionsAny trade war with the United States will only bring disaster to the world economy, Chinese commerce minister Zhong Shan said on Sunday, as Beijing stepped up its criticism on proposed metals tariffs by Washington amid fears it could shatter global growth.

Beijing: Any trade war with the United States will only bring disaster to the world economy, Chinese commerce minister Zhong Shan said on Sunday, as Beijing stepped up its criticism on proposed metals tariffs by Washington amid fears it could shatter global growth.

After pressure from allies, the United States has opened the way for more exemptions from tariffs of 25 percent on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminium that US president Donald Trump set last week. On Saturday, the European Union and Japan urged the United States to grant them exemptions from metal import tariffs, with Tokyo calling for calm-headed behaviour.

But the target of Trumps ire is China, whose capacity expansions have helped add to global surpluses of steel. China has repeatedly vowed to defend its legitimate rights and interests if targeted by US trade actions. Zhong, speaking on the sidelines of Chinas annual session of parliament, said China does not want a trade war and will not initiate one.

There are no winners in a trade war, Zhong said. It will only bring disaster to China and the United States and the world. China can handle any challenges and will resolutely protect its interests, but the two countries will continue to talk, he said. Nobody wants to fight a trade war, and everyone knows fighting one harms others and does not benefit oneself.

Trumps announcement on tariffs underlined concerns about rising US protectionism, which has sparked bouts of turmoil in global financial markets over the past year as investors feared a damaging trade spat will shatter a synchronized uptick in world growth. Chinas metals industry issued the countrys most explicit threat yet in the row, urging on Friday for the government to retaliate by targeting US coal: A sector that is central to Trumps political base and his election pledge to restore American industries and blue-collar jobs.

The US is the worlds biggest importer of steel, purchasing 35 million tonnes of raw material in 2017. Of those imports, South Korea, Japan, China and India accounted for 6.6 million tonnes. Trade tensions between China and United States have risen since Trump took office. China accounts for only a small fraction of US steel imports, but its massive industrial expansion has helped create a global glut of steel that has driven down prices.

The dispute has fuelled concerns that soybeans, the United States most valuable export to the worlds second largest economy, might be caught up in the trade actions after Beijing launched a probe into imports of US sorghum, a grain used in animal feed and liquor.

Protecting American jobs

Zhong said US official trade deficit figures had been over-estimated by about 20 percent, and in any case would be a lot lower if the United States relaxed export restrictions on some high-tech goods. He also reiterated a previous pledge that China would lower import tariffs on consumer goods including automobiles, as part of an effort to boost domestic consumption.

Trump believes the tariffs will safeguard American jobs, though many economists say the impact of price increases for users of steel and aluminium, such as the auto and oil industries, will destroy more jobs than curbs on imports create. Nonetheless, there is growing bipartisan consensus in Washington, and support within some segments of the US business community, for the US government to counter what are seen as Beijings predatory industrial policies and market restrictions on foreign firms.

Trumps administration has said the United States mistakenly supported Chinas membership in the World Trade Organization in 2001 on terms that have failed to force Beijing to open its economy. Diplomatic and US business sources say the United States has frozen a formal mechanism for talks on commercial disputes with China because it is not satisfied Beijing has met its promises to ease market restrictions.Fresh violence erupted in Sri Lanka after a Muslim-owned restaurant was attacked in an alleged hate crime incident in the northwestern province on Sunday, a day after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a commission to probe a spate of anti-Muslim riots in the violence-hit Kandy district that prompted him to impose a nationwide state of Emergency.

Colombo: Fresh violence erupted in Sri Lanka after a Muslim-owned restaurant was attacked in an alleged hate crime incident in the northwestern province on Sunday, a day after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a commission to probe a spate of anti-Muslim riots in the violence-hit Kandy district that prompted him to impose a nationwide state of Emergency.

The restaurant located in Puttalam district's Anamaduwa city,130 kilometres from Colombo, was targeted early morning even as police are keeping a tight vigil following the eruption of communal clashes on Monday that have left two persons dead and damaged several homes, businesses and mosques in the scenic Kandy district.

"Anamaduwe Muslim restaurant was attacked at 4 am (local time) this morning," the Colombo Telegraph reported.

Tensions remain high across Sri Lanka after the violence broke out following the death of a man from the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority last week.

President Sirisena appointed a three-member commission on Saturday to probe the communal clashes in Kandy.

He had declared a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday and deployed the police and military to prevent escalation of violence after clashes between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims erupted in other areas of central Sri Lanka's riot-hit Kandy district.

Muslims make up 10 percent of Sri Lanka's total 21 million population. Sinhalese are a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

A total of 146 suspects have been arrested in Kandy135 over violence and 11 for violating the curfewsince 4 March, a media report said on saturday.

Meanwhile, Kandy's central province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said on Sunday that all government schools which were closed on 7 March due to the unrest will reopen on Monday.

The announcement came after police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said yesterday that curfew will not be imposed in Kandy as situation has been peaceful.

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on Sunday summoned the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission over the temporary ban imposed on social media including Facebook throughout the island nation last week.

The police had claimed that anti-Muslim rioters were using social media to spread anti-Muslim hatred.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said although it was considered a human rights violation, the government had taken the decision in order to curb the spread of false and malicious news and to stop the situation from going out of control.

"The state security was important than anything else and we are glad the situation is now returning to normal," Jayasekara was quoted as saying by the Colombo Gazette.

Tensions between Muslim groups and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community in the country have escalated since the end of the civil war in May 2009.

In 2014, violence directed against Muslim minority groups broke out in the southwestern town of Aluthgama, following a rally by hardline Buddhist nationalist monks, resulting in the death of at least three Muslims.Nepal's newly-elected Prime Minister K P Oli on Sunday won a historic vote of confidence with two-thirds majority in the country's lower House of Parliament.

Kathmandu: Nepal's newly-elected Prime Minister K P Oli on Sunday won a historic vote of confidence with two-thirds majority in the country's lower House of Parliament.

Oli, who was appointed to the post on 15 February, secured 208 votes out of total 268 Parliament members present in the House of Representatives, officials said.

The 66-year-old Oli received the backing of all political parties, except the main opposition, the Nepali Congress and some fringe parties who voted against him.

He received 121 votes from CPN-UML, 52 from CPN (Maoist Center), 16 each from Rastriya Janta Party Nepal and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal and one each from Rastriya Janamorcha, Rastriya Prajatantra Party, Nepal Workers Peasants Party and an independent lawmaker, the officials said.

Oli has consolidated his position by securing more than two-thirds majority votes, the officials said.

Speaker of the Parliament Krishna Bahadur Mahara has announced next session of the Parliament on Friday.

Earlier, Oli had called on all political parties to support the government. The Nepali Congress had said it would not support Oli and play the role of an effective opposition.

According to the new Constitution, the Prime Minister needs to win a confidence motion in Parliament within six months after his appointment. There are 275 members in the House of Representatives including 165 members elected under the first-past-the-post category or direct election and 110 under proportional representation basis.

Nepal concluded three phases of provincial, local and parliamentary elections as part of its efforts to implement the new Constitution that was promulgated in September 2015.

Nepal's new government led by Left parties convened its first parliament session on 5 March after the Himalayan nation successfully held landmark provincial and federal elections.

There are 275 members in the House of Representatives including 165 members elected under the first-past-the-post category or direct election and 110 under proportional representation basis.

The CPN-UML has 121 members, Nepali Congress has 63, and CPN-MC has 53 while Federal Socialist Forum Nepal has 17 and Rastriya Janata Party Nepal has 16 members.

In 2015, when Nepal adopted a new Constitution that split it into seven states, dozens of people were killed in ethnic clashes over territory and rights.

The ethnic Madhesi group, mostly of Indian-origin, protested for months, saying they were not getting enough territory in one of the states and were also facing discrimination.

Violent clashes not only killed 50 people, but also left the country with severe shortages of fuel and medicine because protesters blocked the borders with India. The protesters finally agreed to the elections after some amendments were made to the Constitution.Former Pakistani prime minister Nawaz Sharif was delivering a speech at Jamia Naeemia in Lahore when a man from the audience hurled a shoe at him, media reports said.

Former Pakistani prime minister and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Nawaz Sharif was delivering a speech at Jamia Naeemia in Lahore when a man in the audience hurled a shoe at him, according to several media reports.

Shoe hurled at former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by a student during an event in Lahore: Pakistan Media (file pic) pic.twitter.com/4zmHuiyh4e  ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

Here's the video showing Sharif being attacked in Lahore.

#WATCH - Shoe thrown at former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif at Jamia Naeemia in Lahore. pic.twitter.com/mGtiqVNzpz  News18 (@CNNnews18) March 11, 2018

As Sharif was heading towards rostrum for a speech, a student hurled a shoe at him that hit his shoulder and ear. The student also managed to reach in front of Sharif and chanted "Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah" slogan. The security personnel caught the student and his other accomplice who also chanted "Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah" slogans and gave them a sound thrashing.

According to a report in Dawn, Sharif arrived at Jamia Naeemia to address at a ceremony marking the death anniversary of Mufti Mohammad Hussain Naeemi. After the attack, the PML-N leader went ahead with his address but shortened his speech before thanking the organisers and praying for the deceased cleric.

Police said the attacker, identified as Talha Munawwar, is a former student of the seminary and was shifted to Services Hospital after being beaten up by the seminary staff and students, GeoTV reported.

The religious parties especially Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan had held Sharif and his party (PML-N) responsible for making an attempt to change a clause related to finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution.

Opposition leader MNA Sheikh Rashid condemned the incident, calling it a collapse of intelligence brought about by the 'overconfidence' of the former prime minister, TV channel Dawn News reported.

On Saturday, a person threw ink at Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif while he was addressing a PML-N convention at Sialkot and a few days ago, another PML-N leader, Ahsan Iqbal, had a shoe thrown at him, Dawn News reported. In Saturday's incident, Faiz Rasool, who threw ink at the foreign minister, told the police that he vented his anger because the PML-N had tried to change the finality of the Prophet in the Constitution.

"This hurt the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis including myself," he said.

With inputs from PTITraces of a nerve agent used in the suspected attempted murder of a Russian ex-spy have been found in a pub and a restaurant he visited, England's chief medical officer said

London: Traces of a nerve agent used in the suspected attempted murder of a Russian ex-spy have been found in a pub and a restaurant he visited, England's chief medical officer said Sunday.

Sally Davies said up to 500 people who had visited The Mill pub and the Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, southwest England, needed to wash their clothes and belongings as a precaution.

The 4 March attack on former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia is being treated by detectives as attempted murder.

The pair was found slumped on a bench in Salisbury. They remain in a critical but stable condition in hospital.

"There has been some trace contamination by the nerve agent in both The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury," Davies said.

"I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in The Mill pub or Zizzi's.

"However, some people are concerned long-term exposure to these substances may, over weeks and particularly months, give rise to health problems.

"I am therefore advising... the people who were in either the restaurant or the pub at 1:30 pm last Sunday until evening closing on Monday should clean the clothes they wore and the possessions they handled while there."

Pub and restaurant-goers were told to wash their clothing in the washing machine, while dry-clean-only clothes should be put inside two tied plastic bags and safely stored while awaiting further advice.

Mobile phones, handbags and electronic items should be wiped with sanitary wipes, which should then be disposed of in domestic waste.

Items such as jewellery and spectacles should be hand-washed in warm water and detergent, before being rinsed in cold water.

The risk to public health remained low and the advice was precautionary, Public Health England said.

"It is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin," PHE said in a statement.

"Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health."

Home Secretary Amber Rudd, Britain's interior minister, said Saturday that police were examining more than 200 pieces of evidence, had identified more than 240 witnesses and were ploughing through security camera footage.

Around 180 troops, including chemical warfare experts, have been deployed in Salisbury after investigators requested specialist assistance.

Skripal, 66, came to Britain in 2010 as part of a spy swap. He was a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who was jailed in his country for betraying agents to Britain's MI6 secret service..    -            12-15 ,   PA,  ,    COVID-19         .          ;  ,   ,         ...The Atlantic magazine faced backlash Sunday after publishing a piece that attempted to justify why Women's March co-founder Tamika Mallory has declined to cut ties with anti-Semitic Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

The piece by Atlantic senior editor Adam Serwer explained that "because of the [Nation of Islam's] ongoing presence in many poor and working class black communities, time and again Farrakhan is able to threaten the mainstream political ambitions of black public figures who, for good reasons and bad, choose to deal with him."

"[Many] black people," Serwer added, "come into contact with the Nation of Islam as a force in impoverished black communities ... who have been written off or abandoned by white society.

ABC NEWS STAR JOY BEHAR: HANGING WITH FARRAKHAN 'BAGGAGE'; TALKING TO JESUS 'MENTAL ILLNESS'

"Theyve seen the Fruit of Islam [the Nation's paramilitary wing] patrol rough neighborhoods and run off drug dealers," Serwer added, "or they have a family member who went to prison and came out reformed, preaching a kind of pride, self-sufficiency, and entrepreneurship that, with a few adjustments, wouldnt sound out of place coming from a conservative Republican."

The piece was retweeted by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and praised by CNN reporter Andrew Kaczynski.

"Theres no excuse to not condemn Farrakhans anti-Semitic rhetoric but @AdamSerwer wrote thoughts I had been trying to articulate about why NOI has support in the black community and why some pols are hesitant to alienate his following," Kaczynski wrote.

Washington Free Beacon reporter Alex Griswold was less impressed, decrying the article as "terrible" in a tweetstorm.

"[T]hese are the greatest insights yet as to why Mallory, [Women's March co-chair Linda] Sarsour, et al are so stubborn when it comes to denouncing Farrakhan," Griswold wrote. "He was nice to them. Their critics are mean. Even a well-meaning ally saying 'that's anti-Semitic' felt like a 'personal attack.'"

"It's easy for conservatives to say 'the Women's March has an anti-Semitism problem,'" Griswold added. "I think the truth is bad, but not as stark: the Women's March is run by blindly partisan, emotionally stunted children, who view even the most reasonable rebuke as an attack."

Another Twitter user noted that "It's almost as if [members of the media are] saying there are fine people on both sides at a Farrakhan event," referencing Trump's remarks after the deadly riots in Charlottesville, Va., over the summer. "It was ridiculous when Trump said it and it's ridiculous when [Mallory] gets a pass."

A spokeswoman for The Atlantic did not immediately return questions from Fox News about reaction to the piece among readers or advertisers.Students at a Massachusetts charter school are challenging a new dress code policy that bans the wearing of do-rags and bandannas, calling the head covering a cultural choice.

KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate is facing backlash from male students of color who want to wear do-rags as part of their culture and as a way to keep hair down, Item Live reports.

Jaeqhan McClain, an 18-year-old senior at the school who has always worn a do-rag to class, told Item Live, I just feel like its a part of our culture that theyre trying to take away. Theyre saying were affiliated with gangs.

The school initiated the dress code rule banning the head gear while students are on school property because, the school argues, it could be seen as reflective of gang culture.

To reiterate our rationale, [do-rags] are a direct component of school to prison pipeline and unfortunately, they are also reflective of some gang culture. And they can recede your hairline. Thats not setting you up for success, Shauna-Kaye Clarke, dean of students and culture at KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate, said in an email sent out to the student body on Sunday regarding the ban, Item Live reported.

TEEN CALLS OUT SEXIST DRESS CODE RULES FOR SCHOOL YEARBOOK

Gisnael Silva, a junior at KIPP Academy, is one of the many students who feel the administration's concerns are not valid.

Just because theres a correlation doesnt mean its true, Silva, 17, said to Item Live. Because we look a certain way, we shouldnt be treated a certain way or depicted a certain way.

Silva also pointed out that girls at his school are allowed to wear headwraps to keep their hair in place, and he feels the male students should be able to do the same.

Dolan said to Item Live that do-rags have never been allowed at the school, but a clarification to officially add a section on do-rags and bandannas was made in December, leading to the crack down.

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However, the ban may not be forever. Though the item  along with hats and headphones  is not allowed during school hours, Dolan said the students will have an opportunity to make a case against the ban during a forum led by KIPPs managing director of secondary schools, Nikki Barnes.

We are excited to see students have the opportunity to advocate effectively for change, Dolan said to Item Live. We have lots of kids who wear culturally relevant or religious headgear and we want to make sure thats something they feel comfortable to do in our school. The kids get a chance to advocate for that on Friday.

Were going to listen to students concerns and proposals for changes to the dress code and evaluate whats best for the school, but (were) definitely excited to see what they come up with, Dolan added.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

A group of about 50 former Obama administration officials recently formed a think tank called National Security Action to attack the Trump administration's national security policies.

The mission statement of the group is anything but subtle: National Security Action is dedicated to advancing American global leadership and opposing the reckless policies of the Trump administration that endanger our national security and undermine U.S. strength in the world.

National Security Action plans to pursue typical liberal foreign policy themes such as climate change, challenging President Trump's leadership, immigration and allegations of corruption between the president and foreign powers.

This organization uses the acronym NSA, which is ironic. Three of its founding members  Ben Rhodes, Susan Rice and Samantha Power  likely were involved in abusing intelligence from the federal NSA (National Security Agency) to unmask the names of Trump campaign staff from intelligence reports and to leak NSA intercepts to the media to hurt Donald Trump politically. This included a leak to the media of an NSA transcript in February 2017 of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn's discussion with Russian Ambassador to the U.S. Sergei Kislyak. No one has been prosecuted for this leak.

Given the likely involvement of Rhodes, Rice and Power to weaponize intelligence against the Trump presidential campaign, will their anti-Trump NSA issue an apology for these abuses?

It is interesting that the new anti-Trump group says nothing in its mandate about protecting the privacy of Americans from illegal surveillance, preventing the politicization of U.S. intelligence agencies or promoting aggressive intelligence oversight. Maybe this is because the founders plan to abuse U.S. intelligence agencies to spy on Republican lawmakers and candidates if they join a future Democratic administration.

It takes a lot of chutzpah for this group of former Obama officials, who were part of the worst U.S. foreign policy in history, to condemn the current president's successful international leadership and foreign policy.

After all, ISIS was born on President Obama's watch because of his mismanagement of the U.S. withdrawal from Iraq and his "leading from behind" Middle East policy. The Syrian civil war spun out of control because of the incompetence of President Obama and his national security team.

This was a team that provided false information to the American people about the 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the nuclear deal with Iran. I wonder if the anti-Trump NSA will include videos on its website of former National Security Adviser Susan Rice falsely claiming on five Sunday morning news shows in September 2012 that the attack on the Benghazi consulate was "spontaneous" and in response to an anti-Muslim video.

And of course there's the North Korean nuclear and missile programs that surged during the Obama years due to the administrations "Strategic Patience" policy, an approach designed to kick this problem down the road to the next president. Because of President Obama's incompetence, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un may have an H-bomb that he soon will be able to load onto an intercontinental ballistic missile to attack the United States.

It must appall this group of former Obama national security officials that President Trump is succeeding as he undoes everything they worked on.

ISIS will soon control no territory in Iraq or Syria because of the Trump administration's intensified attacks on it and arming of Kurdish militias.

In sharp contrast to President Obama, President Trump drew a chemical weapons red line in Syria and enforced it.

North Korea is pushing for talks with the U.S. in response to strong United Nations sanctions the U.S. worked to obtain in 2017. And compliance with the new sanctions has been significantly improved, especially by China, as the result of President Trumps actions.

President Trump repaired the damage done to U.S.-Israel relations by President Obama and has recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel  something several previous presidents promised but failed to do.

Iranian harassment of U.S. ships in the Persian Gulf stopped in 2017, likely due to the more assertive Iran policy of President Trump. This includes the president's successful effort to build a stronger U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia.

President Trump is right when he says he inherited a mess on national security from the Obama administration. This is because President Obama and his national security team undermined U.S. credibility and left President Trump a much more dangerous world. I doubt the new anti-Trump National Security Action think tank will succeed in convincing Americans otherwise.NEW You can now listen to Fox News articles!

Next week, Democrat activist Tom Steyer goes to Columbus, Ohio, to host the first of 30 impeach Trump town halls planned in coming months across the country. The gatherings are part of the billionaires $20 million campaign to unseat President Trump. His group, Need to Impeach, not only calls for Trump to be removed from office, but also pressures Democrat candidates to take a stand and join that effort.

Tom Steyer was the nations top political donor from either party in the 2016 election cycle, giving $91 million to Democrat candidates, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. In the current cycle, he has pledged to spend $30 million to help Democrats take back the House of Representatives. That could buy a lot of followers.

Republicans need to make some noise, about Steyer and about the growing effort to impeach the president. They must alert voters that if Democrats take back control of Congress in November, Donald Trumps presidency could be in jeopardy. The left is hoping that possibility will boost Democrat turnout; it could become the biggest weapon energizing Republicans as well. As every politico knows, the midterms are all about who shows up.

Heading into election season, Democrats have a big advantage: they are fired up. As Wendy Davis, the 2014 Democratic nominee for governor of Texas told MSNBC, Dems are "chomping at the bit" to get out and vote. The GOP, as is usually the case for the party occupying the Oval Office, is less engaged, as was seen in the recent Texas primaries. While Democrat turnout surged 84 percent compared to the last midterm, Republicans upped their showing by only 14 percent.

That enthusiasm gap could cause Republicans to lose the House this fall, and possibly even the Senate. If Democrats win the House, they could, with a simple majority, pass articles of impeachment. They do not need Bob Mueller to reveal Russian collusion; opponents have already drawn up a long list of supposed misdeeds, including obstruction of justice, which was one of the charges brought against President Bill Clinton in 1998. We cannot assume this would be an honest undertaking; the definition of high crimes and misdemeanors is alarmingly vague.

Thats where the left is: having fun speculating about impeaching President Trump.

The charges would then be referred to the Senate for trial, where a conviction would require a two-thirds vote.

It is highly unlikely that Democrats could muster that kind of advantage, but impeachment proceedings in the House would undermine President Trump and weigh against him and other GOP candidates in 2020. Republicans must not let this happen.

Democrat leaders recognize the political risk to their own party of the impeachment push, and have cautioned against it. When Texas Rep. Al Green demanded an impeachment vote on the floor of the House in December, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Whip Steny Hoyer issued a joint statement opposing the effort. Even so, 58 Democrats sided with Green. Pelosi told a CNN interviewer that impeaching the president is "It's not someplace that I think we should go, even if they take the House. But in one more sign of the partys internal friction, major donors and some in Congress have ignored those cautions and become ever more determined.

Steyer is not alone in putting money where his mouth is. Hustler publisher Larry Flynt took out a full-page ad in the Washington Post last October promising $10 MILLION FOR INFORMATION LEADING TO THE IMPEACHMENT AND REMOVAL FROM OFFICE OF DONALD J. TRUMP. The ad claims the president was installed only by the quirks of the Electoral College and offers a hotline available to those with dirt on Mr. Trump that might reverse that outcome.

Some Democrat candidates have jumped aboard the impeachment bandwagon. Former circuit court judge Mary Barzee Flores is campaigning to run for a GOP-held seat in Miami, and has pledged to pursue indictment.

She is not alone. The New York Times reports that several candidates in California, Nevada, Wisconsin and other states have also promised to support impeachment. For newcomers trying to grab attention in crowded fields like that faced by Ms. Flores, who is competing against six rivals, pushing impeachment brings attention and, maybe, cash. In her first two months of campaigning, the candidate hauled in $300,000.

One reason that Democrat candidates may campaign on impeachment is that they dont yet have an alternative message. Last year Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer rolled out his partys limp Better Deal for American Workers, which made about as much splash as a perfect dive from an Olympic diver.

More recently, Democrats proposed a new plan, which would raise taxes on companies and individuals, and spend the money on infrastructure. As the recent GOP tax cuts power the economy forward, producing impressive job and wage gains, reversing gears seems like an incredibly poor idea.

Ben Mathis-Lilley at the left-leaning online magazine Slate frequently publishes an Impeach-o-Meter, which currently stands at 50 percent. His barometer, he writes, is a wildly subjective and speculative daily estimate of the likelihood that Donald Trump leaves office before his term ends. It moves up or down mainly depending on what Special Counsel Muellers team is up to. The latest reading of 50 percent reflected uncertainty about whether President Trump conspired with Russians to hack Hillarys emails. The Slate writer says Thats the fun partno one knows!....Its funits a lot of fun.

Thats where the left is: having fun speculating about impeaching President Trump.

The GOP needs to wise up and capitalize on this challenge to our president and our democracy. Candidates need to call out Democrats advocating impeachment, and use that threat to energize voters. Most Republicans still support the president, and they certainly stand behind our democratic process. If they stay home this fall, both could be in jeopardy.President Donald Trump, in a wide-ranging set of remarks at a Pennsylvania campaign rally for congressional candidate Rick Saccone, urged support for the GOP hopeful. He also said that the Democrat in the race, Conor Lamb, was likely to vote the party line despite efforts to distance himself from the national party.

And, on another note, he took a swipe at NBC "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd at the Saturday night event, calling Todd a son of a b-----

The president mentioned a 1999 appearance on "Meet the Press" where he can be seen talking about North Korea and his stance on the situation, which has remained the same since: You got to take them out now!

Its 1999, Im on 'Meet the Press,' a show now headed by sleepy-eyes Chuck Todd, Trump said. Hes a sleeping son of a b----, Ill tell you.

Trump also took the opportunity to slam CNN for its coverage over his decision to meet with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.

"Fake as hell, CNN. The worst. So fake."

Trump was speaking at a campaign rally in Moon Township, Pa., in a show of support for Saccone, who faces a tough special congressional election outside of Pittsburgh.

In lengthy remarks at the evening rally, Trump told Pennsylvania voters that his new tariffs were saving the steel industry and urged them to send a Republican to the House so he can keep delivering those kinds of results.

We need our Congressman Saccone" to "keep America great," Trump said, framing the race as a national referendum ahead of the 2018 midterms, which will determine which party controls Capitol Hill.

The president dismissed Democrat Lamb's efforts to distance himself from his national party and House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. "We need Republicans put in office," Trump later added.

In the final days leading up to Tuesdays competitive election, Trump warned Pennsylvania voters not to fall for Lamb, who has shown support for Trump over his own party.

"The people of Pittsburgh cannot be conned by this guy Lamb," Trump said. "He's never going to vote for us.

"He can say, 'I love President Trump.' I don't want to meet him. I might like him," the president quipped.

He warned that although Lamb has voiced his opinion against Pelosi, if Democrats do win control, Lamb will surely vote the party line.

The president noted that Lamb and Saccone have both endorsed his new tariffs on steel and aluminum. But he made clear that tariffs "are my baby" and are not supported by Democrats. Plenty of Republicans do, as well. But the president said the policy is evidence of his defense of the working class.

Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District has an estimated 17,000 steelworkers and almost 90,000 voters from union households.

"Not all of our friends on Wall Street love it, but we love it," Trump said of the tariffs.

Trump's appearance was an attempt to help Saccone in the closing days of a special election to replace Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, who resigned last year amid revelations of an extramarital affair in which he is said to have urged his mistress to get an abortion when he thought she was pregnant.

Murphy, an eight-term congressman, never had a close election. But Saccone has struggled with his own fundraising and hasn't run as aggressive a campaign as Lamb, prompting criticism from Republicans in Washington.

Trump, referring to those dynamics, noted talk of Lamb as a handsome candidate. But he said he thinks he's better looking, and added that Saccone "is handsome," too.

For his part, Saccone was delighted to have support from the White House.

"The president's support is key to attaining victory," Saccone told rally attendees about 45 minutes before Trump took the stage. "There's no one that I would rather have in my corner than President Trump. Are you with me on that?"



The Associated Press contributed to this report.President Donald Trump is in discussions with President Bill Clintons impeachment lawyer about joining the White House legal team, specifically to assist with the special counsel inquiry, according to reports.

Emmet T. Flood, a veteran Washington lawyer, met with Trump in the Oval Office last week, the New York Times first reported. But no decision has yet been made about hiring Flood, the report said.

The move appears to be an acknowledgment that Special Counsel Robert Muellers investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia is unlikely to end anytime soon, two sources close to the president told the Times.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference and possible collusion in the 2016 presidential election and whether Trump obstructed justice related to the probe, Reuters reported.

In a Washington Post report Friday, sources said investigators for Mueller's Russia probe have asked witnesses about the 2013 Miss Universe Pageant in Moscow, when Trump reportedly wrote a personal letter inviting Putin to attend.

John Dowd, an attorney for President Trump, dismissed the Post report, saying he was not familiar with the letter.

"It's all nonsense," Dowd told the Post.

The Post said representatives of the White House and the Trump Organization declined to comment.

Mueller's team also examined Trump's relationship with billionaire Moscow developer Ara Agalarov and his pop star son, Emin, who had "promised Trump he would meet Putin," he said. Putin canceled his schedule appearance at the last minute, but reportedly sent Trump a "friendly" letter and gift. Trump has offered contradicting stories about whether he has a relationship with Putin.

In June 2016, a music promoter representing Emin Agalarov reached out to Donald Trump Jr. about damaging information against Hillary Clinton, the report said.

Since the summer, White House lawyer Ty Cobb has taken the lead role in the dealing with the special counsel, the Times reported.

Cobb, however, has told friends that he views his position as temporary and does not expect to stay on the job much longer, the report said.

Trumps personal lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, have been negotiating with Mueller over the terms of a presidential interview, the newspaper reported.

Flood is reportedly the only person the White House has been in contact with about the leading role. He had been on the legal team wish list of some presidential adviser since last year, the Times reported.

Flood, who is a partner at the law firm Williams & Connolly, turned down an opportunity to represent Trump last summer, the Washington Post said in another report.

Floods law firm also represents Hillary Clinton, including in the email scandal, which could be a possible reason the firm turned down representing Trump as outside counsel, sources told Reuters, which led to Cobb's hiring.

Flood had been one of more than a half-dozen top lawyers to decline representing Trump, the report said.

Though a Republican, Flood represented President Bill Clinton during his 1998 impeachment proceedings, the Post reported. He also previously worked in the White House counsels office under George W. Bush and represented Vice President Dick Cheney.

When reached by the Times, the Post and Reuters, the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a spokesperson for the law firm also could not be reached immediately for comment.Throughout the first year of his presidency  and even as he campaigned for the office  President Trumps rhetoric regarding North Korea has been harsh.

He warned earlier this year that Americas nuclear capabilities were much bigger [and] more powerful than that of the Asian nation. And at the end of 2017, Trump designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror again  a classification that came with additional sanctions.

On the heels of a planned, historic summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trumps tone softened, saying great progress has been made. But Trump ultimately cancelled that meeting, citing "open hostility" from North Korea.

From agreeing to meet with Kim to dubbing him Little Rocket Man, heres a look at what Trump has said about North Korea and its leader over time.

Back together again

After meeting with a North Korean official in the White House for more than an hour, Trump announced the June summit with North Korea is back on.

We'll be meeting on June 12 in Singapore," the president told reporters after the meeting.

Let's call the whole thing off

Trump announced on May 24 that he has decided to pull out of the June summit with North Korea.

"We were informed that the meeting was requested by North Korea, but that to us is totally irrelevant," Trump said in a letter to Kim. "I was very much looking forward to being there with you. Sadly, based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed in your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long-planned meeting."

"You talk about your nuclear capabilities, but ours are so massive and powerful that I pray to God they will never have to be used," Trump said.

"I felt a wonderful dialogue was building up between you and me, and ultimately, it is only that dialogue that matters. Some day, I look very much forward to meeting you," he added. "In the meantime, I want to thank you for the release of the hostages who are now home with their families. That was a beautiful gesture and was very much appreciated."

Deal or no deal?

After speaking with the South Korean president amid threats from the rogue regime to cancel talks, Trump suggested the historic summit between him and Kim might not happen after all.

If it doesnt happen, maybe it will happen later. You never know about deals. Ive made a lot of deals, Trump said on May 22. You never really know. It may not work out for June 12.

Trump said he wants the Korean peninsula to be denuclearized in an all in one manner.

I can guarantee Kims safety. He will be safe. He will be happy, Trump said. His country will be rich.

Trump also said hes noticed a change in Kims attitude recently.

I cant say that Im happy about it, he added.

Save the date

Trump officially announced that he would meet with Kim in Singapore on June 12.

We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace! Trump said in a tweet.

The announcement came hours after Trump and the first lady welcomed the three Americans freed from detention in North Korea at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland early on May 10.

After Trump met with the three men, he publicly thanked Kim for releasing the prisoners.

Were starting off on a new footing, Trump said.

Positive gesture of goodwill

In announcing that a date and place has been set for his much-anticipated meeting with Kim, Trump also confirmed three American prisoners have been released.

The three Americans  Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song  are returning to the U.S. with newly-confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump said in a tweet. The president confirmed the three men are also in good health.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HISTORIC SUMMIT BETWEEN TRUMP, KIM JONG UN

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump appreciates Kim Jong Uns action to release these American citizens, and views this as a positive gesture of goodwill.

Another American detainee, Otto Warmbier, died in June 2017 after he was released back to the U.S. with severe brain damage.

Good relationship formed

Trump has confirmed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo  his pick to lead the State Department  secretly met with Kim in April and a good relationship was formed. He said the meeting went very smoothly.

The president also disclosed that the U.S. and North Korea have held direct talks at extremely high levels in preparation for the summit.

Kim will do what is right

After Kims first reported visit to China, Trump said there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity.

For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility, Trump said in a March tweet, adding that he is looking forward to his upcoming meeting with the North Korean leader.

He also gave North Korea the benefit of the doubt earlier that month, saying he believes the country will abide by its pledge to suspend missile tests.

When Trump delivered a speech in Pennsylvania, the crowd booed the mention of Kim, but the president stopped them.

No, it's very positive ... no, after the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice because let's see what happens, let's see what happens, Trump said.

Invitation accepted

Trump accepted an invitation from Kim to meet, the White House said. While a time and place has yet to be determined, the two leaders are expected to meet by June.

The invitation to convene was extended by Kim.

Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached, Trump said on social media. Meeting being planned!

The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined, he later said.

Possible progress

As North Korea is reportedly willing to negotiate its nuclear weapons, Trump cautiously acknowledged possible progress.

For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned, Trump said on Twitter. The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!

At a later White House news conference, Trump said he believed North Korea, which has a long history of deception and threats to target U.S. cities with nuclear missiles, is sincere.

We have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically, with North Korea, Trump said. Of the possibility for peacefully resolving the nations deep differences, he said: Itd be a great thing for the world, would be great for North Korea, it would be a great thing for the peninsula.

But well see what happens, Trump said.

Spirit of the Olympics

At the conclusion of the 2018 Winter Olympics, North Korea sent the U.S. a message through South Korea, saying it has ample intentions of holding talks with America.

During a meeting with the nations governors at the White House in February, Trump said those talks will only occur under the right conditions.

The administrations position has been that North Korea must get rid of its nuclear and missile programs first before any talks can take place.

Relationship status: Its complicated

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump reportedly said he probably has a very good relationship with North Korea.

Trump also suggested that he is open to diplomacy with the country hes spent years criticizing, the newspaper reported.

I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised, Trump said.

The Wall Street Journal released the audio and transcript of the interview after Trump denied making the comments.

'Success for the world'

Trump told South Korea that he would be open to talks with its northern neighbor under the right circumstances, the White House said.

Trump also took credit for the talks between North and South Korea ahead of next months Winter Olympics. At a January Cabinet meeting, Trump said it was his administrations pressure on North Korea that caused the rogue nation to negotiate with the South.

"Without our attitude that would have never happened," Trump said of the inter-Korean dialogue. "Who knows where it leads. Hopefully it will lead to success for the world  not just for our country but for the world, and we'll be seeing over the next number of weeks and months what happens."

Whose button is bigger?

After Kim warned Trump about North Koreas nuclear capabilities, Trump hit back on social media, arguing that his Nuclear Button is bigger [and] more powerful.

North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,' the president tweeted. Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!

Kim previously warned the U.S. should know that the button for nuclear war is on my table.

The entire area of the U.S. mainland is within our nuclear strike range, he said. The United States can never start a war against me and our country.

Good news or bad news?

Trump insinuated at the start of the new year that sanctions and additional pressures are having a big impact on North Korea.

Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea, Trump said. Kim now wants to talk to South Korea for the first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not  we will see!

In his tweet, Trump was seemingly referring to the recent, dramatic escape of at least two North Korean soldiers across the heavily militarized border into the southern country He also alluded to Kims recent comments indicating he would send a delegation to the Winter Olympics to be hosted in South Korea.

Trump also took credit for the talks between North and South Korean leaders.

With all of the failed experts weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasnt firm, strong and willing to commit our total might against the North, Trump said in a Jan. 4 tweet. Fools, but talks are a good thing!

'Sick puppy'

While giving a speech on tax reform at a Missouri event in November, 2017, Trump digressed from the topic to call the North Korean leader a "sick puppy."

His comments drew hoots from the crowd.

State sponsor of terror

Trump re-designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror on Nov. 20, 2017, citing its support of international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil.

During a Cabinet meeting, Trump announced the designation came along with new sanctions on the murderous regime as part of the administrations maximum pressure campaign in dealing with North Korea. He said these sanctions will be the highest level of sanctions on the North.

North Korea was on the list but was taken off by the Bush administration in 2008.

Why can't we be friends?

In a series of tweets while in Vietnam, Trump said he doesn't know why the North Korean dictator would "insult" him.

Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me old, when I would NEVER call him short and fat? Trump said. Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!

The comment came after Kim referred to Trump's speech in South Korea as reckless remarks by an old lunatic.

'Dont try us'

In Asia, Trump issued a stern warning to North Korea, saying it would be a fatal miscalculation for the country to attack the U.S. or an ally.

This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past. Do not underestimate us. And do not try us, Trump said during an address at South Koreas National Assembly.

North Korea has interpreted Americas past restraint as weakness, Trump said.

'Lets make a deal'

While on his Asia trip, Trump implored North Korea to come to the table for talks on its nuclear weapons program. Trumps request for North Korea to make a deal was in stark contrast to his previous hardline rhetoric when it comes to the rogue nation.

"It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world," Trump said during a news conference alongside South Korean president Moon Jae-in in November 2017.

Trump also said hes seen a lot of progress in dealing with North Korea but still called the country a worldwide threat.

In a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo the day before, Trump repeated his assertion that the era of strategic patience with North Korea was finished.

Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years, Trump said then.

'Rocket Man' is on a 'suicide mission'

After dubbing him Rocket Man in a tweet, Trump eventually tried out the new nickname for Kim during his inaugural address to the U.N. General Assembly.

During his speech, Trump vowed to totally destroy North Korea if the country so provokes him. He also said Kim was on a suicide mission.

No more talking

After North Korea said it successfully launched a missile over Japan, a U.S. ally, and into the Pacific Ocean, Trump initially had a subdued response.

"Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world," Trump said in a written statement after North Koreas missile soared almost 1,700 miles into the Pacific Ocean, triggering alert warnings in northern Japan and shudders throughout Northeast Asia. "All options are on the table."

The missile launch was said to be a precursor to North Koreas containment of the U.S. territory of Guam by Kim, according to state-run media.

But in a tweet, the president suggested the U.S. is finished talking to North Korea.

The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer, Trump tweeted.

The U.S. is 'locked and loaded'

Trump took to social media in August 2017 to proclaim that the U.S. military is locked and loaded in case North Korea act[s] unwisely.

'Fire [and] fury' isn't 'tough enough'

With the threat of nuclear violence growing, Trump warned North Korea on Aug. 8, 2017 that he would unleash fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.

But when tensions continued to rise and North Korea threatened to attack Guam, Trump said maybe that comment wasnt "tough enough."

"Lets see what [Kim] does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before  what will happen in North Korea," Trump said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump was "sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesnt seem to understand diplomatic language."

Kim Jong Un is 'not getting away with it'

Trump said Kim has disrespected our country greatly.

He has said things that are horrific. And with me, hes not getting away with it, Trump said. He got away with it for a long time, between him and his family. Hes not getting away with it. Its a whole new ball game.

'Strategic patience  is over'

After meeting with the South Korean president in Washington, D.C., in June 2017, Trump said that the era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed.

Frankly, that patience is over, he said.

As Trump made these comments, the U.S. was rocked with the death of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American college student who suffered extensive brain damage while being held captive in North Korea for more than a year.

There are 'worse things' than assassinating Kim Jong Un

In an interview with CBS News during the presidential campaign, Trump said he could get China to make [Kim Jong Un] disappear in one form or another very quickly.

When asked if he was talking about assassinating the North Korean dictator, Trump shrugged.

Well, you know, Ive heard of worse things, frankly. I mean, this guys a bad dude  and dont underestimate him, Trump said. Any young guy that can take over from his father with all those generals and everybody else that probably wants the position, this is not somebody to be underestimated.

'What the hell is wrong with speaking?'

Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Atlanta that should Kim want to come to the U.S., he would be accept[ed].

I wouldnt go there, that I can tell you. If he came here, Id accept him, but I wouldnt give him a state dinner like we do for China and all these other people that rip us off when we give them these big state dinners, Trump said in June 2016.

What the hell is wrong with speaking? Trump said, referencing the criticism he received for being willing to talk with North Korea. Its called opening a dialogue.

'Maniac'

During a GOP presidential debate in September 2015, Trump railed on the maniac in North Korea while answering a question about Planned Parenthood and womens health issues.

Nobody ever mentions North Korea, where you have this maniac sitting there, and he actually has nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and perhaps a couple of other places. But certainly North Korea, Trump said.

You have somebody right now in North Korea who has got nuclear weapons and who is saying almost every other week, Im ready to use them, and we dont even mention it, he continued.

China needs to solve the problem

Even before he was president, Trump urged China to step in and help alleviate problems with North Korea.

North Korea is reliant on China. China could solve this problem easily if they wanted to but they have no respect for our leaders, Trump tweeted in March 2013.

In April 2013, Trump continued that line of thinking, adding that North Korea cant survive, or even eat, without the help of China. He then accused China of taunting the U.S.

As president, Trump has said he is very disappointed in actions China has taken regarding North Korea, particularly allowing oil to go into the nation. He also said a Chinese envoy to North Korea had no impact on Kim.

Additionally, Trump has said hes spoken to Chinas President Xi Jinping regarding the provocative actions of North Korea as well as the planned meeting between Trump and Kim.

President Xi told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative, Trump said in March 2018. China continues to be helpful!

'Wack job'

In April 2013, Trump urged then-President Barack Obama to be very careful with the 28-year-old wack job in North Korea.

At some point we may have to get very tough, he tweeted.

'Negotiate like crazy'

Trump warned that the U.S. needed to do something to stop North Korea in 1999 during an interview with the late Tim Russert on Meet the Press.

"Do you want to do it in five years when they have warheads all over the place, every one of them pointing to New York City, to Washington and every one of us, is that when you want to do it, or do you want to do something now? Trump said. You'd better do it now. And if they think you're serious  they'll negotiate and it'll never come to that.

He said then that if he ever became president, the first step he would take would be to negotiate like crazy to make sure that the country would get the best deal possible. Trump also predicted then that in three or four years, North Korea would have weapons aimed all over the world, including at the U.S.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.President Trump on Sunday slammed The New York Times for what he says is the papers false story about him being unhappy with his legal team for the Russia investigation, taking particular aim at reporter Maggie Haberman, who he called "a Hillary flunky.

Wrong, tweeted Trump. I am VERY happy with my lawyers.  They are doing a great job.

Trump called Haberman -- the newspapers top White House correspondent and who has covered Trump since his time in New York -- a Hillary flunky, (who) knows nothing about me and is not given access.

Haberman, who Trump has purportedly telephoned about stories, tweeted back, Lol -- social media shorthand for laugh out loud.

Trump, in one of several tweets Sunday, said he has no intentions of hiring an additional lawyer for the Capitol Hill and federal investigations into whether the 2016 Trump presidential campaign colluded with Russian officials.

The president said his team of John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow is doing a great job and has shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia  just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary.

Trump also appeared to take issue with a Times story this weekend that stated he has twice backed failed candidates and that his support for Rich Saccone in Pennsylvanias special House race this week, if Saccone loses, would mark the third time Mr. Trump has thrown his political might behind a candidate without success.

The story presumably was referring to Trump already having backed failed GOP candidates Luther Strange and Roy Moore in Alabamas special Senate election last year.

The Republicans are 5-0 in recent Congressional races, a point which the Fake News Media continuously fails to mention, Trump tweeted. I backed and campaigned for all of the winners. They give me credit for one. Hopefully, Rick Saccone will be another big win on Tuesday.

Trump apparently was referring to the five special congressional races Republicans won in 2017 to keep House seats -- in Georgia, Kansas, Montana, South Carolina and Utah.The White House announced a series of recommendations Sunday night meant to stop school shootings, including a full audit and review of the FBI tip line after warnings about a student who killed 17 people at a Florida high school last month were not acted upon.

The administration did not call for immediately increasing the minimum age for buying long guns to 21, as President Trump had previously advocated. However, it did announce that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos would chair a federal commission on school safety to study the proposal.

The recommendations were announced nearly a month after the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

DeVos said in a statement that the commission would look at a "wide range" of ideas in order to ensure that "no student or family should ever have to live the horror of Parkland or Sandy Hook ever again."

Administration officials said they had not set a deadline for the commission's recommendations, but expected they'd made in under a year.



In addition to creating the commission, the White House directed the Justice Department to help states partner with local law enforcement to provide "rigorous firearms training to specifically qualified volunteer school personnel," said Andrew Bremberg, director of the president's Domestic Policy Council.

The administration also reaffirmed Trump's support for a congressional measure, known as Fix NICS, that helps local officials improve efforts to enter data into the National Instant Criminal Background Check System and the congressional STOP School Violence Act to improve school security and provide some funding for such efforts.

The Republican-controlled House is expected to vote next week on the bipartisan measure.

Trump is also calling on states to pass temporary, court-issued Risk Protection Orders, which allow law enforcement to confiscate guns from individuals who pose risks to themselves and others, and temporarily prevent them from buying firearms. The president is also calling for better coordination between mental health care, school officials and law enforcement.

The plan was immediately paned by gun control advocates, including the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence. "Americans expecting real leadership to prevent gun violence will be disappointed and troubled by President Trump's dangerous retreat from his promise," said Avery Gardiner, the group's co-president.



Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., called the plan "weak on security and an insult to the victims of gun violence." In a statement, he added, "When it comes to keeping our families safe, it's clear that President Trump and Congressional Republicans are all talk and no action."

"The White House has taken tiny baby steps designed not to upset the NRA, when the gun violence epidemic in this country demands that giant steps be taken, said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., in a statement of his own. "Democrats in the Senate will push to go further including passing universal background checks, actual federal legislation on protection orders, and a debate on banning assault weapons."

In the weeks since the Parkland massacre, Trump has held listening sessions with lawmakers, survivors of recent school shootings and the families of victims.

He's also met and spoken with the heads of the powerful National Rifle Association. The NRA on Friday sued Florida over a new gun law signed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone under the age of 21.

During those meetings, Trump advocated arming certain teachers and school staffers, arguing that gun-free schools were "like an invitation for these very sick people" to commit murder.

"If you had a teacher who was adept at firearms, they could end the attack very quickly," he has said.

During the often free-wheeling conversations, Trump also seemed to voice support for expanded background checks, which would apply to private gun sales and those at gun shows, instead of just from licensed dealers. He also raised eyebrows by suggesting that law enforcement officials should be able to confiscate guns from those they deem a safety risk even before a court has weighed in.

"Take the guns first, go through due process second," Trump said.

Sarah Sanders, the White House press secretary, later walked back both suggestions, saying, "Universal means something different to a lot of people." She said the president wanted to expedite the court process, not circumvent it.

The NICS bill would penalize federal agencies that don't properly report required records, and reward states that comply by providing them with federal grant preferences.

The bill was written in response to a shooting last November by a gunman whose domestic violence conviction the Air Force failed to report to the National Criminal Information Center database. It has already passed the House, but as part of large bill that allows conceal-carry permits to be valid across state lines.

Fox News' John Roberts and The Associated Press contributed to this report.Massachusetts Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Sunday ruled out a 2020 presidential run and taking a DNA test to prove Native American ancestry -- an issue that has nagged her Senate campaigns and would almost certainly create problems in a White House bid.

Im not running for president, Warren, a champion of the Democratic Partys progressive wing, told Fox News Sunday.

When asked Sunday whether shed agree to calls for genetic testing to resolve the heritage controversy, Warren launched into a family history, as purportedly told by her parents and grandparents, before saying, Its a part of who I am, and no ones ever going to take that away.

Warren, who is seeking a second Senate term this year, has been accused of saying she is of Native American heritage to help in securing jobs, including one as a Harvard law professor.

She has acknowledged identifying as a minority, but denies using such status to help advance her career.

President Trump has repeatedly called Warren, a Wall Street critic and potential White House rival, Pocahontas, a notable American Indian woman in colonial history, to highlight the controversy.

Let me tell you a little bit about my family, Warren said Sunday. My mom and dad were born and raised out in Oklahoma, and my daddy was in his teens when he fell in love with my mother.

She was a beautiful girl who played the piano. And he was head over heels in love with her and wanted to marry her. And his family was bitterly opposed to that because she was part Native American.

And eventually my parents eloped and they survived the Great Depression, they survived The Dust Bowl. They went through a lot of hard times. They raised three boys, my older brothers, all of whom went off to the military.

"They raised me. They knocked around and it was tough but they hung together. They hung together for 63 years. I know who I am because of what my mother and my father told me, what my grandmother and my grandfather told me, what all my aunts and uncles told me and my brothers.This is a rush transcript from "Justice with Judge Jeanine," March 10, 2018. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

JEANINE PIRRO, HOST: Breaking tonight, President Trump doing what he does best.

He did a raucous rally in one of the states that helped put him over the top in 2016.

Hello, and welcome to "Justice." I'm Jeanine Pirro. Thanks for being with us tonight, and thanks to all of you for once again making "Justice" the most of watched cable news show last Saturday.

We have a big show on deck tonight with reaction to President Trump's rousing speech that just finished up, plus the developing news of a summit between the president and Kim Jong-un.

Tonight, I'll be talking with Corey Lewandowski, Seam Spicer, Colonel Allen West and more, plus my opening statement.

But first, some highlights from the president tonight.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They announced he is not going to send missiles up any more until through the meetings. Well, think of that, you know, we were losing -- we were getting a lot of missiles sent. I wouldn't say Japan was thrilled with missiles flying over Japan. They are happy with what I'm doing. And who else could do it? I mean, honestly, when you think -- they're not going to send missiles up. Think of it? They're not sending missiles up, and I believe that. I believe that. I really do. I think they want to do something. I think they want to make peace. I think it's time, and I think we have shown great strength. I think that's also important.

They say, they want to stop the missiles. They want to denuclearize. They want to do all of these things, and all of these people are like they can't believe it. It's unbelievable.

I said to my wife, I said, "You know, it's amazing. They are really nice tonight. It's really amazing. They are all saying this is an incredible achievement. This is." Okay, then, I get up in the morning. Some time goes by, right? Same people, they are saying, "Not that big a deal. Anybody could've done it. Obama could have done it." Obama had a chance -- no, no. They are saying Obama, Obama, Obama. Obama was driving you down.

You take a look at those numbers before we took over. They were heading down.

The economy is the best it has ever been. Your coal -- by the way folks, some of you who are in the coal world. Your coal is coming back. Big, big, big, big. Your steel is coming back. Your steel is coming back.

We've created three million jobs since Election Day. Nobody thought that was possible. We passed the largest tax cuts and reform in American history. We've created more than 300,000 new jobs alone last month.

But our new slogan, when we start running in -- can you believe it, two years from now, is going to be Keep America great, exclamation point. Keep America great!

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: President Trump firing up supporters in Moon Township, Pennsylvania. We'll hear much more from the president later this hour, but now, my opening statement.

Genius is rarely recognized at the time it occurs. Greatness most of often realized not in the moment, but rather in retrospect.

As President Trump waged his unique battle to get North Korea's dictator, Kim Jong-un to the bargaining table, he was roundly criticized for his style, telling Kim Jong-un as he continued to launch his nuclear warheads on intercontinental ballistic missiles that Kim would be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

And Trump threatening in no uncertain terms that his nuclear button was bigger and more powerful than the dictator's.

And in that back and forth, Kim threatens to send a birthday gift on Independence Day to the American "bastards." The name calling was unprecedented. Madman, rogue, gangster, frightened barking dog, dotard, rocket man, little rocket man -- the criticism of course by the American media was relentless.

The narrative was that Trump was instigating a nuclear holocaust. That the United States was giving Kim Jong-un no out other than nuclear war. This in spite of the fact that Kim was repeatedly launching ballistic missiles threatening their reach to Guam, Hawaii and the mainland.

Trump of course, in his usual fashion was undeterred. All the while, continuing to impose a slew of economic sanctions, warning that if forced to defend ourselves or our allies, we would have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea.

So, here we are, March 10th, little rocket man, seeking to sit down with the president of the United States. Never in our history or theirs has this happened. No other president could accomplish this, not Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, not Bill Clinton, not George W. Bush and certainly not Barack Obama -- all either incapable or unwilling to confront a predictable impending disaster that Trump warned of in 1999 long before he became president. Don't believe me, listen to the president just two hours ago.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: You know, they were saying, "Oh, well, Obama could have done that." Trust me, he couldn't have done it. He wouldn't have done that. He would not have done it, and by the way, neither would Bush, and neither would Clinton, and they had their shot, and all they did was nothing.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: The case of Bill Clinton is even worse. He gave more than $4 billion to Kim's father in exchange for North Korea's dismantling and disbanding its nuclear weapons program.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

BILL CLINTON, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is a good deal for the United States. North Korea will freeze and then dismantle its nuclear program. South Korea and our other allies will be better protected.

The entire world will be safer as we slow the spread of nuclear weapons. The United States and international inspectors will carefully monitor North Korea to make sure it keeps its commitments.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: Yes, that worked out really well, Bill. Not only did they not keep their commitment, they built a nuclear armament to threaten our people. So, much for the Bill Clinton-Neville Chamberlain, a peace man approach to dictators.

As far as George Bush in 2008, he did his part in appeasing Kim Jong-il by actually removing, I said removing North Korea from the American State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism. He really had a grasp on the issues, that one.

And Barack Obama, in his inimitable fashion with language we have heard before said, he was going to "work with all the interested partners in the international community to take appropriate steps to the let North Korea know they cannot threaten other countries with impunity." Now what does that mean? Whatever it meant, it didn't scare Kim.

Now, instead of recognizing the historic moment and the genius that got a whack into a madman to the bargaining table, the mainstream media chooses to hit criticism on Donald Trump when their own champions accomplished absolutely nothing.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

JEREMY B. BASH, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE AND CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY: In some ways, the president kind of got boxed in here. He couldn't say no to this invitation.

ERIN BURNETT, ANCHOR, CNN: There is no way that President Trump can be ready by May to have a high-stakes negotiation on denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. It's just impossible. You can't wing it. Kim Jong-un is going to be fully prepared. I think that he's playing to the president's ego and the president's weaknesses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not as if you have a president like Eisenhower who was schooled in diplomacy and politics and the military who knew these issues. This president doesn't read and he doesn't study and he doesn't prepare.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: And of course, the New York Times says that Donald Trump could end up being played by Kim like, "a gold-plated violin."

Well, one more thing, Kim Jong-un knows full well that he comes to discuss full-blown denuclearization, full nuclear disarmament -- not a freeze, not a reduction and he also knows he is not dealing with a Barack Obama who buckles to dictators like in Iran when he caved and gave $150 billion taxpayers' dollars to so-called stop the development of a nuclear bomb.

And get this, we are not even in a position to verify or monitor if there is nuclear disarmament or even do site inspections, and rest assured, there will be no cash sent unmarked on marked planes and various world currencies. Count on a new and totally different agreement with teeth with Donald Trump.

It was Trump's genius in crippling economic sanctions that brought this dictator to his knees, and although the mainstream media is worried, predicting that Trump will be outsmarted and outplayed by this dictator, in truth, the only people who need to be worried are the North Koreans.

Donald Trump is more than the man Kim thinks he is. He's already outsmarted him, and that can get us a peace deal that will certainly last a long, long time.

Joining me now with reaction to President Trump's speech and all of the developing news on North Korea, former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski. All right, good evening, Corey. So, you heard the president's speech I assume.

COREY LEWANDOWSKI, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN MANAGER: I did.

PIRRO: All right, well, he was in typical form, I would say rare form, but that's typical for him in front of a group of thousands, correct?

LEWANDOWSKI: Look, I love Donald Trump when he's in front of 20,000 people talking directly to the American people. He is so good. He is so captivating and what he did tonight was remind the American people by bypassing the mainstream media of all the accomplishments of this administration.

He still gets no credit for Judge Neil Gorsuch, for all the justices he has put on the Supreme Court, the historic tax cuts that he has delivered for the American people. The mainstream media doesn't want to talk about it. So, he gets out and he talks about it and the American people are reminded every time they open their paycheck that it's because of Donald Trump that they have more money.

PIRRO: I want you to listen to one of the things that he said about Maxine Waters.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: Maxine Waters is a very low IQ individual. Do you ever see her? Have you ever seen her? We will impeach him. We will impeach the president -- but he hasn't done anything wrong? It doesn't matter, we will impeach him.

She is a low IQ individual. You can't help it. She really is.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: Well, you know what, I have to tell you, that was a long time coming because she started before he even took office. What do you think of him now focusing on her, low IQ, is that going to stick?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, it's Maxine Waters, it's Nancy Pelosi, it's Pocahontas-- it's all the same people that had been attacking this president and not helping him put an agenda together which the American people want to support, which is less taxes, less regulation.

Look at what he's done on the regulation side. This president has done everything that he has campaigned on, that he has pledged to fulfill including the tariffs on foreign companies that are dumping their steel and aluminum on our soil, and all they can say is, "Let's impeach him." There is nothing to impeach him for other than standing up for Americans.

PIRRO: And you know what's amazing, Corey is the fact that I mean, when you look at Hispanic unemployment, African-American unemployment, you look at all the jobs that are coming to this country, I mean, you would think that those people who are -- who feel forgotten by other administrations at least would recognize that there is something good here, but I want to ask you something, Corey, in your other life, you were in law enforcement, correct?

LEWANDOWSKI: I was, yes.

PIRRO: Okay, how do you feel about what's going on in California. The president talked about this tonight, sanctuary cities. And you know, this mayor, where the Department of Justice is coming after her and California for pretty much warning illegals, not just illegals -- the chambermaids, but the criminal illegals that we are coming for them.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, Judge, I will tell you, someone who is a first responder who went out on the job every day and unfortunately had the unfortunate duty of serving in three funerals for three officers in the state of New Hampshire who were killed in the line of duty, I can tell you this, there is -- it is unforgivable that elected officials warn people that police officers who are sworn to do their jobs are coming to do a duty that they are tasked to do and to give criminals a heads-up that they will be coming against the very nature of the individuals who are serving them every day to keep them safe is so disgusting to me, I hope the Justice Department prosecutes them to the fullest extent of the law.

PIRRO: Well, do you have faith that Jeff Sessions will?

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, I think Jeff on this one is very tough. I think what he's done on MS-13 is tough and I can tell you, I think Jeff is going to do the right thing when it comes to appointing a new special prosecutor to look at these FISA application abuses.

PIRRO: Well, okay, well, he's been talking about it. He is thinking about it. I don't know how long it is going to take him to think about it, but it seems to me that with the FISA court and all the abuses that we have heard of. I mean, that is fundamental. The most secret court in the United States being played by the Clinton campaign, as well as the DNC.

And finally, what do you think of this meeting with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un. You know, I kind of think that Kim wants to meet him, I really do.

LEWANDOWSKI: Well, look, Judge, you know the president very well. He is so gracious and so magnanimous in private, but he's the greatest negotiator our country has ever seen, and I can tell you this, the people of South Korea, the people of Hawaii, the people of Guam -- they can sleep better at night because Donald Trump has pledged to take a meeting, which means no nuclear testing will continue and if that isn't success and I don't know what is, he should be up for the Nobel Peace prize.

PIRRO: Well, let's hope so. Corey Lewandowski, it's good to see you, Corey, take care.

LEWANDOWSKI: Thank you, Judge.

PIRRO: All right, and Colonel Allen West is still on deck tonight to weigh in on the president's speech. Plus, what does President Trump's original White House press secretary think about the North Korea summit and tonight's rally? You're going to find out when I am joined live by the one and only, Sean Spicer, right here, next.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: I'd love Oprah to win. I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness. No, no. I know her weakness. I know her -- you know, I know very well. I was on her last show or one of the last -- I guess, the last week. She had Donald Trump and Donald Trump's family. My, my, my we have come down a long way, haven't we?

I'm now president and probably, you know, but think of it, I know her weakness. Wouldn't we love to run against Oprah? I would love it. I would love it. That would be a painful experience for her.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: President Trump not holding back tonight on any topic, giving a rip-roaring speech at a rally in Pennsylvania. Here with me as the former White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer joins me live. All right, Sean, what do you think of the Oprah comment?

SEAN SPICER, FORMER WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He's in his element tonight. And I think that's what's important. It's the same kind of momentum and energy that won him the election. He did very well in that portion of Pennsylvania, the 18th Congressional District where Rick Siccone is facing off next week on Tuesday and by firing up those people and reminding him not only what's at stake, but what he has done and what he's going to do, he provided the energy tonight that's going to put Rick over the top, I think come, Tuesday.

PIRRO: Yes, well they say, it's a tight race now, correct?

SPICER: Yes, I think is going to be a tight race. It's all going to be about turnout. And that's why it's so important that the president was there because that base of his is so solid that when he goes out and says, "I need this guy there to continue to do all of the things that I'm doing," and he's doing a ton from the regulatory stuff to the economy. He mentioned South Korea, the stuff he's doing on steel and tariffs.

It's so important to that area of Pennsylvania in particular. And it's important that they understand what a partner he needs in the Congress from Pennsylvania.

So, him getting out there, getting back into his element, reminding the crowd what's at stake, why he needs Rick's votes in Congress is crucial heading into these final hours.

PIRRO: And you know what's interesting, Sean is, and you were on the campaign trail with him obviously. I mean, he can still draw that crowd. And he -- you know, he hangs on to them. You know that he could get through that speech in 30 minutes, but he milks it. He makes sure that they get their money's worth. And obviously, there is no money, but that they get -- they wait in line for hours, and he's not going to let them leave disappointed.

But there is another sound I want you to listen to, imagining if he didn't win. Let's take a listen.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: If I don't win the election, their ratings are going to go so far down, they are going to be out of business, every one of them. Can you imagine covering Bernie or Pocahontas? Pocahontas? How about that. Pocahontas. Can you imagine these guys, some of them are actually smiling, but some of them just can't stand it, honestly. Some of them, they can't take it.

Can you imagine having to cover Elizabeth Warren for four years?

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: He's not afraid of anybody, but go ahead, Sean, what is your take on that?

SPICER: Well, I think there is a few things there. I mean, he's absolutely right when it comes to the ratings. Everybody admits it. It was funny, there was an interview with some of the late-night show hosts the other day and they said, "You know, our monologues and our jokes used to always be about the news, but Donald Trump is the news now. He is the first, second, third, fourth segment on every show."

So, part of reason that the late-night shows are all about Donald Trump is because the news is all about Donald Trump.

The thing that I think is fascinating is that they focus more about process and chaos and less about the achievements. You think about Friday, Judge, 313 jobs. The expectation was supposed to be for 200,000. 313 -- that's a 113,000 more Americans that have a job largely because of the tax cuts and the regulations that this president has done and we are only 14 months in.

At some point, the press is going to have a hard time making excuses for not covering the accomplishments of the president.

PIRRO: And you know, Sean, I think it was in the New York Times today that I was reading and almost begrudgingly said, and it looks like it's going to continue going higher, you know, that there will be more jobs. It was like they were upset about it, but I want to ask you something, you know, they talk about chaos in the White House, right?

You were in the West Wing and they say it's a disaster, nobody knows what's going on. That this one left and that one left. What's it like when Donald Trump is in the West Wing? Is there is any question about who is in charge and what the agenda is?

SPICER: No, not to mention that -- look, the thing that I find fascinating about this whole discussion is that as a voter and as an American, here is what I care about -- it's results.

I care about whether more Americans are working, whether or not they are getting higher wages, whether or not our borders are safe. The flow of illegal immigration is down, whether or not ISIS is on the run, whether or not businesses and manufacturing is coming back and businesses are thriving.

All of those metrics are moving in the right direction. I will tell you that I will take chaos and whatever else they throw our way if we continue to have results. Because at the end of the day, you don't want boring and no results.

What this president is giving us is yes, he's mixing it up. He is not satisfied with the status quo. But the bigger point, Jeanine, and this just gets largely missed, he is doing exactly what he said he was going to do, and he's behaving exactly how he has before. He's a disrupter who likes to bring people in, fight it out. Get the best idea and charge forward. He's doing everything he said he was going to do and getting results.

PIRRO: All right, Sean Spicer, thank you so much for being with us tonight.

And the outrageous statements of the week are still ahead we've got some real beauties tonight. And next, it's a star-studded panel ready to do battle with Katrina Pierson and Richard Fowler ready to weigh in on the Trump speech, "Justice" rolls on in a moment.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: Without Donald Trump, the Olympics would have been a total failure. It's true. It's true. You know, might as well say it, nobody else is going to say it, right? I might as well say it. You know, it's a little hard to sell tickets when you think you are going to be nuked.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: There he was wrapping up his big speech a short time ago outside of Pittsburgh and what a speech it was. My political panel is here and ready to react to it, so let's get right to it. Former Trump campaign spokesman, Katrina Pierson and Democratic strategist, Fox News contributor, Richard Fowler.

All right, so, Katrina, he says if it weren't for him, they all would have been nuked. What's your take on that?

KATRINA PIERSON, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN SPOKESMAN: You know, Judge, this is Donald Trump in his element. He loves being around his supporters. He's out there with the people supporting a candidate that he believes is going to help him pass his agenda. He's having a lot of fun. I miss candidate Trump and I think tonight was a really great night for the president.

PIRRO: All right, Richard, your take on that one?

RICHARD FOWLER, CONTRIBUTOR, FOX NEWS: Well, I think the problem the president has and we saw that in this rally today is he doesn't have a clear focus on what his agenda is. He went to Pittsburgh or the suburbs of Pittsburgh to campaign for somebody who is in a tough, tough special election. And I don't think he made that candidate any better because he didn't talk about the candidate at all.

PIRRO: I think he did. Go ahead, Katrina.

PIERSON: Well, he did talk about the candidate and he even brought the candidate on stage and gave him the microphone. He talked about all the policies that he's been pushing at the national level to get a partner and that's going to help him from Pennsylvania.

FOWLER: He also managed to insult Maxine Waters. He managed to go after Oprah Winfrey.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: You just said, Richard.

FOWLER: He managed to go after Chuck Todd.

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: It's insulting.

FOWLER: None of that had anything to do with the Pittsburgh's current Congressional race.

PIERSON: Himself. But see that's where the left and the media gets Donald Trump confused, Richard. You keep saying that he insults individuals when he's really just sticking up for himself. I know you guys aren't used to Republicans fighting back, but that's just something that you're going to have to deal with.

FOWLER: Wait a minute. First of all, I am a very practical progressive. I think the president is right on steel. I think the president also has to talk with North Korea. I think, Judge Jeanine, we weren't outnumbered when I said a couple of months ago, he should have sat down with North Korea and I'm happy the president is doing it. So, I will clap for the president at times.

PIRRO: North Korea is sitting down with him. They asked for a meeting.

FOWLER: Either way, they are sitting and they are having a conversation.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: . sit down with Obama, right? Or the others.

FOWLER: No, wait, listen, but this is not -- this North Korea issue is not a time where we should sit here and say, who is bigger? Who has the bigger muscles? What we need to do -- the reason we are going to talk to North Korea is because this is the most probable scenario of nuclear war on the globe.

So, whether -- if we choose not to deal with them and they launch nuclear weapon, there is no going back from that. The whole world is in peril. And so, I don't care who sits down with who. I am happy the president is having the conversation.

PIRRO: All right, the (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: Well, the only reason that they are sitting down is because there was this argument about who has got a bigger nuclear button and the president clearly won that argument, but what is really important here is to talk about what's happening next. This is something we have not seen. Something the president is not getting credit for because we have the same old suits and geniuses out there that got us into this mess. Constantly criticizing the president.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: All right, I am going to interrupt you for a second. There is a great deal of discussion of Rick Saccone. So, Richard Fowler, you are totally wrong on that one. But I want you both to listen to what the president says on another sound.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: You know, how easy, remember I used to say how easy it is to be presidential? But you know, I'd be out of here right now if -- you'd be so bored because I could stand out, right? I am very presidential.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: Katrina?

PIERSON: You know, if you listen closely, Jeanine, you will hear someone yell, "You are one of us." This is America's president. This is an individual that speaks the way that everyone else does when no one else is listening and Americans loves that.

FOWLER: I am not sure how you could be the American president when you have the lowest approval rating of all American presidents in recent history.

PIERSON: Well, you're the American president when you are passing American policies. The one that actually won the presidential campaign.

(CROSSTALK)

FOWLER: When only 33 percent of Americans approve of him and this is my view, mind you Katrina, mind you, the reason why he's in Pittsburgh is because this is a seat that Donald Trump picked up by 20 points just 16 months ago. Now it's neck-and-neck because of the president's rhetoric and because he's not acting presidential.

PIERSON: It's not because of the president's rhetoric. If there's any candidates struggling out there.

FOWLER: Why? So, why.

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: Richard, because they're not Donald Trump. It's just that simple. These candidates have to step up their game. It is a special election. He wants to get out there to help him and there is only one poll that counted. It was last November. The people have spoken. America's president is there. And don't let the special elections fool you. Just ask Republicans in 2006 and Democrats in 2010.

FOWLER: That's why Republicans in Congress are retiring like it's going out of style. There's more committee Republican -- no more committee chairs who are Republicans who have retired.

PIERSON: So, now you know why people are retiring.

(CROSSTALK)

FOWLER: Because they don't want to run in this midterm election with Donald Trump.

PIRRO: Richard, stop. Richard, would you deny that the economy is in much better shape since Donald Trump has been there?

FOWLER: I don't think this election has anything to do with the economy, but I'll give the president his marks on the economy like I said. I will praise the president when he needs to be praised, but that does not take away from the fact, that overall, across the board, he's unpopular with most of Americans.

PIERSON: And he was unpopular when he won the Electoral College, and that's why we are having tax cuts.

FOWLER: But I am glad you admit that he's unpopular.

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: We are absolutely pushing an America first agenda.

FOWLER: I'm glad you admitted that he is unpopular. We are making progress, Katrina.

PIERSON: Those are the polls. The polls are the point. The polls are always wrong.

FOWLER: You just admitted that he was unpopular.

PIERSON: The polls are always wrong.

FOWLER: You just said it, so we don't assume.

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: On Election Day, all of Hillary Clinton supporters were crying because she was up by 10 and lost handedly, so don't go by polls.

FOWLER: But you just admitted that he's unpopular. You're his former campaign spokesperson.

PIERSON: In the polls, off course, he's unpopular in the polls. Look at the polls. Look at the media outlets.

(CROSSTALK)

FOWLER: I think you said we know he's unpopular but he won the Electoral College.

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: Look at the methodology.

PIRRO: The more you hear it, Richard, don't you (inaudible).

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: No, they don't understand that.

PIRRO: All right, let me final, would you admit, though, Richard, that in spite of whether he acts presidential or not, this man can draw crowds. This man has done more in one year than most presidents, especially in terms of legislation and in terms of the economy. It is totally different now.

FOWLER: I think you have to parse that question. Yes, he draws crowds. He's a reality show star. Of course, he's going to draw crowds. And he's entertaining. There's no question that he's entertaining. I mean, and that's why he's a ratings hike for every news channel, so they cover him wall to wall.

But with that being said, and I will give him marks on the economy, but with that being said, you cannot have the world's leading economy, the world leader of a White House in utter and total chaos, which is where we are right now.

PIERSON: You know what though, Judge.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Have that.

FOWLER: Do we even have a coms director in the White House right now? I don't think so.

PIERSON: Donald Trump is the communications director.

FOWLER: I don't think we can (inaudible) communications director inside the White House.

(CROSSTALK)

PIERSON: What I will say is during the campaign, Richard, Beyonce and Jay- Z could not fill a stadium for Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump filled stadiums all over this country.

FOWLER: That's an absolute red herring.

PIERSON: The president is popular. The people love him. We saw it tonight. We are going to continue.

(CROSSTALK)

PIRRO: Katrina Pierson and Richard Fowler. Thanks, guys.

(CROSSTALK)

FOWLER: Thanks, good to see you, Judge.

PIRRO: And stand at attention, there is a Colonel on deck. Colonel Allan West has a lot to say about the Trump speech, so don't go away.

PIRRO: Welcome back to "Justice" on this busy night of news. My next guest knows a thing or two about politics war and diplomacy. He is a retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel and a former member of the US House of Representatives, Fox News contributor, Colonel Allen West joins me.

All right, good evening, Colonel. Thanks for being with us tonight. I assume you heard the president's speech.

ALLEN WEST, FORMER MEMBER OF THE US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Yes, I've heard many of the different points that came out from it, and I think once again, if we are going to sit down and try to say that President Trump is an atypical type of president who is going to go out and give like you said, a very dry type of campaign speech, that's not his mantra and that's not the type of platform that's he's going to try to use.

But no one can take away from him that he has been able to do something in less than 18 months that the previous 24 years have not been able to do, and that's bringing the leader of North Korea to the table.

PIRRO: Well, you know, given your military background, I mean, you see, I guess, or have a sense of this, you know, more than most of how serious this is with a guy who certainly appear to have the capability of hitting a lot of America with his nuclear warheads on the ICBMs.

WEST: Well, absolutely, you know, I was stationed there in South Korea along the DMZ in the Second Infantry Division back in 1995, and at the time, that was his father that we were dealing with, and of course, we continued on with the concessions to give him the food aid and monetary aid any time he rattled sabers.

But for the first time, we have had a president that pushed back. We can argue about the type of rhetoric that he's used or what have you, but sometimes, a bully need to know that you will stand up to him and you are willing to throw a punch.

The most important thing is that Kim Jong-un knows that he cannot take the first offensive action because China has already said that they will not stand for that. So, we do have a sense of a high ground that we can continue to implement these sanctions which put a stranglehold on him and I think that's what has brought him to the table.

PIRRO: You know, it's interesting, Colonel, you mentioned China. I think it was President Xxi who said that, he was going to be president for life and President Trump made a comment joking about, you know, can you imagine president for life? And everybody comes out and they dump on him and so he's so serious about it.

Why don't you take a listen.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

TRUMP: I was joking and I said, "Ha, president for life. That sounds good. Maybe we're going to have to try it."president for life. But I'm joking. But I'm joking, and they knew I was. Everybody in there was laughing. Everybody is having a great time. I am joking about being president for life.

A couple of them went back, Donald Trump with his dictatorial attitude now wants to be president for life. You know it's straight. Fake news.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: He doesn't get a break.

WEST: No, I'd tell you, you know, anything that President Trump does is going to be looked at with a very particular eye or a very mean and sarcastic view from the liberal progressive media, to include some people saying that even if he sits down at AP's table, they still could end up at war.

But this past week, we just had a woman by the name of Elizabeth Grunick, who wrote a commentary in The Washington Post about why America should try socialism. But we just finished trying it for the past eight years, and Ms. Grunick was not joking, but you would hope that she would have been.

PIRRO: Well, I think, it's certainly is a commentary on where the Democratic Party is going. But you know, the president made it very clear that 2020 is in his sight. You know, it's not "Make America great again," it's going to be "Keep America great," explanation point. But what do you think is going to happen?

I mean, you were in Congress, 2018, you know, it is middle of the first term of a president, not a good year generally.

WEST: Well, I think what you saw happen with Bill Clinton and Barack Obama. Both of them delved into a very unpopular policy and that was healthcare, and that is why they saw massive losses. But right now, when you listen to the Democrats, they are the party that stands for illegal immigration and sanctuary cities. That's not a winning issue.

Bernie Sanders is out there talking about repealing the tax cut law. That is definitely not a winning issue if you want to take away the crumbs that you have just given to people, and if you are looking at restoring our military, you look at having a stronger foreign policy, why would we want to turn it over to a party that had us in a position of weakness?

So, I don't think they have a platform other than, "We hate Donald Trump and we want to impeach him"

PIRRO: Well, it's interesting because tonight, he did renew a call to Congress to stop funding sanctuary cities, chain migration and he hit the Dems tonight for obstructionism. You know, there is now the Department of Justice going after the Mayor in California.

WEST: No, he is absolutely right. Of course, the president is going to be traveling out to California. Look, California is the petri dish for all of the progressive socialist policies that you want to see exported all across the United States of America and you know, me being here in Dallas, Texas, they have this mantra called, "Turn Texas Blue." Why would you want to turn Texas into anything except the economic successful engine that it is? Why would you want to have it look like California? Why would you compare the capital of Texas -- Austin, Texas with San Francisco? That's not a winning proposition.

PIRRO: All right, Colonel Allen West, always good to have you on "Justice." Thanks for being with us tonight.

WEST: My pleasure, Justice, thank you.

PIRRO: All right. She is back. Kathy Griffin is desperately trying to be semi relevant again, so I helped her out by putting her on this week's list of the most of outrageous things I heard this week and I will share it with you next.

PIRRO: Former first daughter, Chelsea Clinton taking a page from Joy Behar's book this week, criticizing the president on "The View." Take a listen.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

CHELSEA CLINTON, FORMER FIRST DAUGHTER: Please do your job. Focus on your job. Please don't worry about like the Oscar ratings or how my mom is doing, although thank you, she is doing great.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: And that's just one of the most outrageous things I've heard this week. Here with me to break it all down, founder and executive director of Turning Point USA, my friend, Charlie Kirk.

All right, good evening, Charlie. What do you say to that one? Chelsea Clinton commenting on "The View."

CHARLIE KIRK, FOUNDER AND EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, TURNING POINT, USA: Well, I kind of laughed at it. You know, the President is doing a great job, but specifically in the last week, he has been doing the job of cleaning up the mess left of former President Bill Clinton. Let's look at two examples. Number one, Korea.

You know, you look back, North Korea had its way to get nuclear weapons because of the lack of leadership and the agreement from former President Bill Clinton. In fact, there are many people including, then businessman Donald Trump that warned the Clinton administration, don't do it. They are going to get nuclear weapons, and of course, you see this week, we are getting closer to peace talks than ever, thanks to the strong leadership of President Donald Trump.

Number two, look at trade. Of course, Bill Clinton pushed forth a disaster of NAFTA, which helped -- millions of jobs left this country and the president took a strong stand to protect US steel in this country.

So, you know what? He is doing his job. It's another outrageous statement from someone who is just swimming in political irrelevancy. Thank goodness her mother is not president of the United States.

PIRRO: Well, all right, well, let's go on to another rather interesting character, Kathy Griffin. Now, Kathy Griffin tweets and she posted a picture on Thursday to mark International Women's Day.

The United Nations designated the day of course to mark contributions of womenkind and she says, "It's #international women's day. I don't want to brag, but I just had to post this picture of me." get this, Charlie, "with the president of the United States." Except the picture is with Hillary Clinton. What is up with this nut?

KIRK: She is a bizarre person. You know, I have never seen anyone so willingly ruin their own career, know what they're doing and then play the victim like two days after. You might remember, she posed with the picture of the decapitated head of the president of the United States and complains that the media is unfairly going after her. It's absolutely outrageous.

PIRRO: But saying that she is with the president of the United States and with Hillary Clinton.

KIRK: It's creating her own reality. I mean, she might want to think that, and then of course, looking at International Women's Day, you look at Hillary Clinton, how you know, she mistreated women over the last 20 years.

I mean, look, Kathy Griffin, she keeps on getting a lot of attention. She is going to try to resurrect her career. Imagine for a second, if a conservative comedian or conservative actor did what she did with the head of a Democrat president, they would be done forever.

PIRRO: Yes, I wouldn't even want to think about it. All right, now here is one that I really get a charge out of. Connecticut governor says that the NRA has become a terrorist organization this past week. And he said the National Rifle Association -- do we have the sound on this? Okay.

(VIDEOCLIP STARTS)

DANNEL MALLOY, GOVERNOR, CONNECTICUT: Yes, quite frankly in some cases, it's a terrorist organization. You want to make safer guns, we will boycott your company. That's who they are. That's what they do.

(VIDEOCLIP ENDS)

PIRRO: Wow, terrorist organization. What do you say to that one?

KIRK: What a disgusting statement, and such a misunderstanding of what the National Rifle Association is. It's the nation's oldest and largest Civil Rights organization in American. In the 1960's when no other organization would do so, the NRA stepped up and trained, empowered and supplied black Americans to be able to fight back against, the Klu Klux Klan. They are anything but a domestic terror organization. It's the opposite. They defend our Second Amendment rights. They are comprised of millions of law- abiding Americans across the country.

You know what, to the governor of Connecticut, none of these mass shooters are NRA members. They are the ones protecting the rights of law-abiding Americans so that we could protect against the criminals. It's a disgusting statement, but I am not surprised given the insanity that left- wing politicians are now swimming in trying to figure out some way to describe what they can't understand which is a grassroots movement that has put them in the political minority.

PIRRO: And you know, Charlie, it's interesting, I mean, when Delta came out and they said, you know, that they were going to deny the NRA whatever it was, you know, the lawmakers said, "You know what, Delta, you are losing your tax break." Charlie Kirk, thanks so many for being us tonight. We'll be right back.

KIRK: Thank you, Judge. You bet.

PIRRO: Finally, tonight, don't forget to friend me on Facebook and follow me on Twitter and on Instagram @judgejeanine, and you never have to miss "Justice." If you can't watch, set your DVR. Thanks so much for watching. See you next Saturday night. I'm Jeanine Pirro advocating for truth, justice and the American way.

And next Saturday, I'll be in LA. "The Greg Gutfeld Show" is next.

END

Content and Programming Copyright 2018 Fox News Network, LLC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright 2018 CQ-Roll Call, Inc. All materials herein are protected by United States copyright law and may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without the prior written permission of CQ-Roll Call. You may not alter or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice from copies of the content.Budget-airliner Norwegian has a quirky repsonse for passenger Gus Dolding who left a scathing poem on Facebook complaining about the service.

UNITED AIRLINES PILOT HAND-DELIVERS WOMAN'S LOST ENGAGEMENT RING

Why can't you be fair

Norwegian Air

No headphones do you include

Nine hours with no free food, Dolding writes in the first of his five-stanza poem.

The British passenger was frustrated by the airlines 120-euro ($147) fee to change the name on a ticket.

I admit it was wrong to put his first name as Bill

William Edward Gabriel, the seat who's bum will fill

One hundred and twenty euros for what?

For two minutes of typing that's rather a lot, the 27-year-old musician continued before requesting the airline not charge him.

Why can't you be fair

Norwegian Air

Just skip that ammendment fee

And just let us change it for free, Dolding finished.

The poem, which Dolding told Daily Mail he hasnt written many of and admits this is the first to be put before the public, quickly gained attention on social media, racking up dozens of shares and likes  and caught the eye of Norwegian, which agreed to waive the fee.

Dolding, who lives in Bristol, England, replied with another short rhyme: Thanks for being fair, Norwegian Air. You waived the fee. So glad are we.

To which Norwegian responded with a poem of their own:

Dear Gus,

We understand all the fuzz

We try out best to reduce all the buss

But fear not because

We do not throw anyone under the buss

Especially not a person like you

Since diamonds in this world are so few, the airliner began before offering an apology.

The airline has been praised by people on Facebook who have described the move as class and brilliant, Daily Mail reported.

FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK FOR MORE FOX LIFESTYLE NEWS

A Norwegian spokesperson told MailOnline, Our customer care team are on hand to support more than 30 million passengers flying with Norwegian each year, and this poem shows they are also a flexible, clever and creative group of people.

Were delighted to resolve the customers issue in a playful way that shows that a little light-heartedness can go a long way, the spokesperson added.A North Carolina man has been arrested in the cold case murder more than 31 years ago of a Massachusetts teen, authorities said Sunday.

Michael Hand, 61, of Troutman, has been charged with murder in the death of Tracy Gilpin, who was 15 when she disappeared in her hometown of Kingston, on Oct. 1, 1986, Fox 25 Boston reported. Her partially clad body was found three weeks later. She died of a blow to her head that crushed her skull.

Gilpin was the sister of Massachusetts top cop.

For the past three decades, we have remained hopeful that Tracys murderer would be identified, State Police Superintendent Kerry Gilpin said. The much-welcomed news of an arrest in the case leaves us cautiously optimistic that justice for Tracy is within reach. My thoughts today are not just with my own family, but also with all the families who have lost loved ones to violence. We will continue to work tirelessly to find justice for all murder victims.

Gilpin said her family was extremely grateful to those who provided information to investigators assigned to her sisters case.

Tracy last was seen purchasing cigarettes at a convenience store. She went there after going to a party with friends.

The woman behind the counter remembers seeing Tracy talking to someone in a jeep in the parking lot, Fox 25 reported in 2016.

The woman says she offered Tracy a ride home when the store close around 11 p.m.

Tracy refused and started walking, the station reported.

A nearby neighbor heard what they thought was a scream and a car taking off. Tracy never came home that night, Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz told Fox 25.

Her body was found 14 miles away in the woods of the Myles Standish State Forest in Plymouth.

She had significant brain trauma, Cruz told the station. She had died due to a massive blow to her head.

Cruz told the station that the evidence suggests that Tracy had been abducted before she was brutally murdered.Chicago's police superintendent on Saturday blasted efforts for greater civilian oversight of the department, citing "real progress" in fighting crime -- just hours after at least eight people were reportedly wounded in overnight shootings.

Hours later, two men were slain on the city's South Side, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Proposals by the city's leading community organizations call for greater oversight by a seven-member civilian board called the Commission for Public Safety and Accountability, the Chicago Tribune reported.

But Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson said no one consulted him or anyone in the CPD for the year and a half it was conceptualized.

We're in the middle of a serious crime fight, and we're finally making real progress, so I dont know how you can turn over crime strategy and every policing decision to some group of people who have absolutely no law enforcement experience, Johnson said.

"(W)e're finally making real progress, so I dont know how you can turn over crime strategy and every policing decision to some group of people who have absolutely no law enforcement experience."  Chicago police Superintendent Eddie Johnson

In January, Fox News reported that murders had declined in the city in 2017 compared with 2016, dropping to 650 kilings from a two-per-day total of 771. Police credited so-called ShotSpotter technology -- consisting of cameras and detection radars deployed in neighborhoods -- for helping to reduce crime.

This year, shooting deaths have included the Feb. 13 slaying of Chicago police Commander Paul Bauer, who was shot multiple times while pursuing a suspect.

However, expanded use of camera surveillance has raised privacy concerns, Fox News reported.

Still, police reform has been a contentious subject in Chicago since November 2015, when a judge ordered the release of video footage showing Laquan McDonald, a black teen, being shot 16 times.

The proposals for the new oversight commission lay out new regulations for selecting community members to new city councils in Chicagos 22 police districts responsible for improving police-community relations.

Under the new reforms, the commission would name a superintendent by selecting three candidates for the mayor to consider. The mayor would share joint-authority to fire or remove the superintendent for cause.

The reforms were modeled off others major cities like Los Angeles and Seattle, which have civilian oversight boards to monitor police.

The new proposals will be introduced at a City Council meeting later this month.A Florida man has been arrested and charged with beating his roommates 11-pound dog, severely injuring the animal, police said.

Brenden Geary, 21, of Palm Coast, is accused of beating and choking Dixie, a Yorkshire Terrier, after the dog went to the bathroom in the house Wednesday.

Fox 35 Orlando quoted Flager County Sheriff Rick Staly as saying Dixie was "just acting like a dog."

He said Geary "did admit he did beat the dog, because the dog had relieved himself in the home."

Dixie was found passed out by his owner, Shaffer ONeal.

O'Neal said his pet's eyes were bloodshot and she had bruises covering her body.

He took the dog home Thursday after she spent the night at the Flagler Animal Hospital.

Shes okay; shes back to normal, ONeal told the Daily Commercial. Shes back with people who love her.

My dog was almost dead, he said. I took her to the emergency hospital, she had signs of asphyxia and abuse.

Geary has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty.Authorities have identified a man arrested Saturday, accused of shooting two police officers in Pomona, Calif., killing one of them.

Isaias De Jesus Valencia, 39, was apprehended Saturday after barricading himself in an apartment and holding a SWAT team at bay for more than 15 hours, authorities said.

Police had tried to stop the suspect Friday night after receiving a call about reckless driving, but he refused to pull over and led officers on a pursuit, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said.

The man crashed during the chase and fled into an apartment complex.

Officers pursued the suspect, who fired through the door, shooting one of the officers, Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell said.

A second officer tried to rescue his wounded comrade and the gunman fired through the door again, striking the officer in the face, the sheriff said.

Pomona Police Officer Greggory Casillas, 30, of Upland, was killed. The other officer was undergoing surgery Saturday and was expected to recover, officials said.

"He left his family at home to protect yours and his ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten," Pomona police Chief Michael Olivieri said at a news conference.

Casillas first joined the police department in Pomona, which is 30 miles east of Los Angeles, as a records specialist in 2014. He then worked as a jailer and became a sworn police officer in September. Casillas was finishing his field training when he was killed Friday night, KTLA reported.

He leaves behind a wife and two small children.

Pamona Police Department tweeted Saturday night: We are deeply moved by the love and support we have received from our law enforcement brothers and sisters, our community and people across the US during this difficult time. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of our brother, Officer Gregg Casillas.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered flags at the Capitol to fly at half-staff and said Casillas' "brave sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Outside the Los Angeles County coroner's office, dozens of police cars lined the streets and officers saluted as the slain officer's body was brought there in a procession Saturday.

The man was holed up in the apartment for more than 15 hours as a SWAT team used flash-bang grenades and cameras to watch him and crisis negotiators tried to coax him into coming out peacefully.

The man was taken into custody without bail and led out of the building wearing only his underpants.

McDonnell said that it had been "a long night" but now that the scene was secure and safe, officials could begin their investigation.

During an afternoon news conference, Olivieri said it was "a sad day" for the Pomona Police Department, community and "law enforcement in general."

"Our Pomona officers were out doing what they always do - putting themselves in harm's way to protect Pomona, a community that we love," he said.

The Los Angeles Times reported the suspect was contained in the apartment and around 7 a.m., local time, a "loud bang was heard." An officer was heard instructing the suspect to come outside the apartment with their hands up.

OFFICERS KILLED IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN 2018

Video footage from local media showed exchanges of gunfire while a wounded officer was on the pavement, receiving medical attention.

At least 21 police officers have died in the line of duty since the start of 2018.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A 9-year-old girl was injured when her 3-year-old cousin accidentally shot her on Chicago's West Side, according to police.

The girl was shot in the right arm Saturday morning with a gun the boy found in a home in the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood, cops told the Chicago Sun-Times.

The girl's parents took her to a hospital where she listed in stable condition, police told the Sun-Times.

Authorities said they were trying to locate the owner of the gun. They said no one had been arrested.

AS BULLETS FLY, CHICAGO POLICE BOSS BLASTS CIVILIAN OVERSIGHT PLANS

"It's an ongoing investigation," Harrison Police District Cmdr. Kevin Johnson told the Chicago Tribune.

Neighbors told the newspaper they did not know the girl had been shot because they did not hear any gunfire. They said they had "no clue" what was happening.Authorities in Georgia are searching for a man accused of posing as an officer, pulling over two women over and sexually assaulting them hours apart on Atlanta-area roadways.

Atlanta Police told FOX 5 a 25-year-old woman said she was stopped by a car around 1 a.m. on Friday on Nash Road on the northwest side of Atlanta. The woman said the man got out of his car, approached her, and sexually assaulted her.

The woman told Atlanta Police the car was a dark color, and had a blue light bar on the roof, but had no police markings.

Less than 4 hours later, a second woman reported a similar time of assault about 15 miles away.

The Cobb County Police Department said the second assault happened around 4:45 a.m. on Friday in Marietta, located north of Atlanta, after a woman was pulled over by what she thought was a police vehicle with a light bar on top of it.

After approaching the woman's vehicle, the male suspect "grabbed the victim by her collar and opened her driver door" as she went to get her driver's license.

"He then began to conduct what she thought was a 'pat down' for her ID," police said. "Instead, he began to grope and sexually assault the victim as she sat in her seat. After a brief time, he stopped and let her leave the scene."

CALIFORNIA BOY, 14, ARRESTED FOR PRETENDING TO BE SHERIFFS DEPUTY, INITIATED TRAFFIC STOP

Both victims described the suspect as a 30-year-old white male, around 6-feet fall with an average build, short dark brown hair in a buzz cut with a square-shaped head, according to police.

"He was wearing a dark jacket with a light blue emblem or some other writing on it, a black vest with a star-shaped gold badge on one side and three service bars (gold) on the other," police said.

Both women reported the man was also wearing a police duty belt with a gun, Taser and radio.

Authorities are reminding drivers that if they feel uncomfortable during a traffic stop, they should pull into a well-lit area if possible and call 911 to verify if they are being stopped by a legitimate officer.Authorities in Florida have uncovered human remains in the backyard of a Walt Disney World monorail mechanic who disappeared three years ago.

The Orlando Sentinel reported that investigators recovered an upper arm bone at the home of Michael Shaver on Friday and found additional bones on Saturday. The paper's report added that the bones were found under a lump of concrete on an outdoor fire pit.

Lake County Sheriff's Lt. John Herrell told the Sentinel that detectives had also uncovered articles of clothing. The remains have been sent to the medical examiner's office for identification.

FLORIDA MAN WHO VANISHED IN 2015 REPORTED MISSING

Despite vanishing in 2015, the 36-year-old Shaver was not reported missing until last month. His older sister, Stacie Shaver, told the Sentinel that her family had not wanted to get authorities involved because "we thought we could find him on our own."

Authorities went to Shaver's home on Feb. 16 and his 35-year-old wife Laurie Shaver allowed investigators to search the home. It's not clear what prompted authorities to visit the home and search it.

Deputies noticed what appeared to be new concrete near the fire pit and asked to bring in a cadaver dog, but Laurie Shaver refused. They returned with a warrant Friday and dug up the arm bone.

Fox 35 Orlando reported that investigators are calling Laurie Shaver a person of interest in her husband's disappearance.

Click for more from the Orlando Sentinel.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.An illegal immigrant charged with vehicular homicide in a fiery crash on a Colorado interstate bonded out of jail Saturday, a week after the deadly hit-and-run incident, despite being wanted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Ivan Zamarripa-Castaneda, 26, allegedly fled the scene of the accident on Interstate 70 involving a tractor-trailer that caught on fire last week, leaving the driver to die, according to the Denver Police Department.

Zamarripa-Castaneda bonded out on Saturday, according to jail records, but it's not clear if he has been taken into custody, FOX 31 reported.

Officials from ICE did not return a request for comment by Fox News on the whereabouts of Zamarripa-Castaneda.

The 26-year-old had bond posted at $25,000, meaning he could get out of jail for $2,500 and avoid federal immigration officials until his next court date. That's because the Denver Police Department and other state agencies stopped honoring detainer orders from ICE since 2013 after courts ruled it was illegal.

The Denver Sheriff Department, which operates the jail, told Fox News last week that unless ICE gets a federal criminal warrant that Zamarripa-Castaneda could leave detention after posting bond.

"The Denver Sheriff Department will not honor civil detainers as it is considered unconstitutional," the agency said in a statement.

ICE officials told Fox News last week they detain up to 40,000 people per day, and don't have the resources to go after every federal warrant.

"By placing retainers on these individuals, we actually help improve public safety by taking these criminal aliens off the streets and ultimately removing them to their country of origin," ICE Director of Communications Carl Rusnok told Fox News.

ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT LINKED TO FATAL HIT-RUN NOT DETAINED IN DENVER DESPITE ICE REQUEST

A criminal defense attorney in Denver said the sheriff's department isn't doing anything wrong, regardless of the crime involved.

"Saying because something's very serious we want to just abandon all of our constitutional principles and do what's quote unquote right doesn't make any legal sense," Chris Decker told Fox News.

But for Don Rosenberg, who lost his son in a 2010 crash involving an illegal immigrant and now is a member of the group "Fight Sanctuary State," the Colorado case is different.

"His rights dont supersede everybody elses right," he told Fox News. "And the first right: Hes in the country illegally. He has no right whatsoever to be here."

Fox News' Alicia Acuna in Denver contributed to this report.A 20-year-old mans pushing of a transgender woman into a river last year, causing her to drown, does not constitute criminal conduct, a Texas judge has ruled.

The decision means Mark Daniel Lewis, of Live Oak, will not face trial in the death of Kenne McFadden, a 26-year-old transgender woman, who was found floating in the San Antonio River.

Lewis was indicted in November on manslaughter charges in connection with the death. He has been on probation in a different case for failing to register as a sex offender.

At a probation revocation hearing Thursday, prosecutors presented evidence of Lewis admission to police that McFadden had groped him, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

A videotaped police interview of Lewis, recorded when he was in jail on another charge, was shown in court. In the video, Lewis reportedly admits to sharing a consensual kiss with McFadden but pushed her away when she grabbed his buttocks, causing her to fall into the river, adding that she had been intoxicated.

I didnt mean to push him into the river, Lewis reportedly said in the video. I meant to push him away.

Prosecutors said Lewis actions were not reasonable on account of the consensual kiss and he shouldnt have used force to express his opposition.

Lewis attorney argued that his client was trying to defend himself and that his actions were reasonable under the circumstances.

Thursdays ruling will prevent Lewis from facing a manslaughter trial due to a double jeopardy rule, according to Assistant District Attorney Jason Goss. Only a preponderance of the evidence to prove a defendant violated its terms is required to revoke probation.

Justice for Kenne protests are being organized by a coalition of LGBT activists, who will march Tuesday in front of the District Attorneys office.A 45-year-old man who signed a 16-year-old girl out of her Pennsylvania school 10 times before they disappeared was able to do so because she listed him as her stepfather in school documents, officials said Saturday.

Kevin Esterly and Amy Yu were last seen nearly a week ago and "could possibly be endangered," the Allentown Police Department said Wednesday when they issued a missing person alert. Police also issued a warrant for Esterly's arrest alleging interference with the custody of a child.

Authorities have said that Esterly signed Amy out of her charter school 10 times between November 2017 and February without her parents' permission.

The girl's parents contacted authorities on Feb. 9 after they found out he signed her out of school without permission, according to court records.

Esterly was able to do so because the teen had altered her student records to list him as her stepfather, Colonial Regional Police told WFMZ-TV.

MISSING PENNSYLVANIA MAN, TEENAGE GIRL HAVE 'SECRETIVE RELATIONSHIP'

Her younger brother and mother told the television station on Friday Amy met Esterly at church years ago, and Amy is friends with one of Esterly's daughters.

John Yu said after his mother dropped him and Amy off at the bus stop Monday, she took off and he didn't know where she was going.

"She left," John Yu said, "She just walked out, and went somewhere."

Mul Luu, told WFMZ-TV she came home and discovered her daughter's passport missing, along with cash.

When authorities contacted Esterly's wife on Monday, they discovered he had withdrawn $4,000 from her bank account and taken personal documents.

Luu told WFMZ-TV that she discovered text messages between Esterly and Amy on her daughters phone, and it sounded like they were in a romantic relationship.

"I pray to God and God help me to bring her back," Luu said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.An eye-opening report has labeled the state of Missouri as a destination wedding spot for 15-year-old child brides because of the states laws.

The report by The Kansas City Star, published Sunday, found that Missouri has become a popular spot for underage couples to get married  although the numbers have been dwindling.

Many states allow children  generally defined as someone under the age of 18  to get married, but their minimum age and other requirements differ.

CHILD MARRIAGE PROTECTS PREDACTORS, MUST END, FORMER BRIDE TELLS KENTUCKY LAWMAKERS

New Hampshire, for example, allows 13-year-old girls and 14-year-old boys to get married. Those under the age of 18 need a parents permission as well as permission from a judge in the county where they live, The Star found.

The state of North Carolina allows those who are at least 14 to wed. Between the ages of 14 and 15, children must obtain a judges consent and a girl must be pregnant or have given birth. Between the ages of 16 and 17, children just need a parents consent.

Fifteen-year-olds should be coloring in coloring books or something.  Pam Strawbridge, recorder of deeds for Pemiscot County, MO

But Missouri, as The Star reported, is the only state that requires only the signature of one parent, even if the other parent objects for those who are 15, 16 and 17 to get married. The state also has no minimum age to marry, but it requires anyone 14 and under to get a judges approval.

CHILD MARRIAGE DROPS IN SOUTH ASIA LEADING TO GLOBAL DECLINE

Many critics seem to think the states marriage laws are outdated.

Pam Strawbridge, whos been issuing marriage licenses in Pemiscot County for 40 years as the recorder of deeds, told The Star that 15 is way too young to get married, but theres nothing she can do about it because its state law.

Strawbridge acknowledged that her own grandmother, who raised 11 children, was married at 13 long ago, but noted that was during a time when marriages among children were more common.

Fifteen-year-olds should be coloring in coloring books or something, Strawbridge said.

Some state politicians seem to agree. Less than a month ago, Missouris House of Representatives voted to advance a bill that would outlaw marriages for those 14 years old or younger.

The bill, backed by Republican Rep. Jean Evans, would require children 15 to 17 to get a judges approval to wed following a court hearing.

The bill, which now heads to the Senate, also would ban marriages if one partner is at least 21 years old and the other is younger than 17.

AS AFRICA TACKLES CHILD MARRIAGE, YOUNG SURVIVORS SPEAK OUT

On Friday, Floridas House and Senate compromised on a bill to ban marriage among those under the age of 17. While pregnancy wont be a factor, anyone marrying a 17 year old couldnt be more than two years older and minors would need parental consent.

Republican Gov. Rick Scott is expected to sign the bill into law.

Unchained at Last, a nonprofit which advocates against child marriage, found that roughly 248,000 children, as young as 10 years old, were married in the U.S. between 2000 and 2010.A search continued in Tennessee on Saturday for a Nashville firefighter who has been missing since early Monday.

Search warrants for two residences were executed Friday in an effort to find Jesse Reed, 32, whose vehicle plunged into the Tennessee River in Waverly, authorities told the Tennessean.

Reeds wife, who was a passenger, escaped from the vehicle and was found alive in a nearby ditch, Fox 17 Nashville reported.

Why Reed, or his body, have not been found yet has left authorities baffled.

The car was empty," Deputy Rob Edwards with the Humphreys County Sheriffs Office said. "The windows were rolled down, which was weird. That was strange."

Locations searched Friday were residences where Reed reportedly has lived -- one in Humphreys County and the other in Cheatham County.

An official from the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation told the Tennessean that the investigation was active and ongoing.

Humphreys County Sherriff Chris Davis said he believed it would be irresponsible to not exhaust all means possible to locate Reed.

"We have no evidence to indicate that he is not still in this water," said Davis, adding that the water search efforts would continue this weekend. "I would like to ask for the continued prayer for the fast recovery and the closure of this situation for the family."

William Swann, the Nashville Fire Departments interim director and chief, thanked the community for the search efforts in a Facebook post.

Before his disappearance, Reed had risked his life to save strangers, Fox 17 Nashville reported. Fire Department performance evaluations said Reed performs his duties with exceptional professionalism.

The Nashville Fire Department told the station that dive teams continue to search the Tennessee River for Reed, deploying underwater sonar and rovers, as well as drones and helicopters.

The Hendersonville Fire Department also sent four divers to help in the search, the report said.A hunt for a person of interest now spans two countries after a 22-year-old student at Binghamton University in New York was found dead on Friday, officials said.



Haley Anderson, a senior nursing student, was found dead at an off-campus residence near the State University of New York at Binghamton, FOX40 reported. Police made the disturbing discovery while responding to a request for a welfare check just before 1 p.m. Friday.

The person of interest, a male nursing student who previously had a romantic relationship with Anderson, fled the country before police found the 22-year-olds body, according to FOX40. Its unclear what country the person of interest traveled to.

This incident and the circumstances of the death was not a random act or involving the conduct of a stranger, Binghamton police said in a news release.

Andersons cause of death was not revealed on Saturday.

Anderson was expected to graduate from the college in May. Athena Anadnostakos, who was Andersons co-worker at Jazzman's Cafe on campus, told FOX40 the student was a very good girl.

"She was a very good girl. She was friendly, joked around, we had a good time together, Anadnostakos told FOX40.

Anadnostakos said the last time she saw Anderson was on Thursday.

"Everybody's sad. A lot of students came who work together, they cried today. The supervisor and Haley were so close. We are very sad, she added.

Binghamton University wrote in a Facebook page the community was deeply saddened by Andersons death.

The Binghamton University community is deeply saddened to learn of the death of senior nursing student Haley Anderson, whose death is being investigated by the Binghamton Police Department. There is no threat to public safety at this time, the Facebook post on Friday stated.

Our entire University community extends our deepest condolences to Haleys family and friends, both here in Binghamton and in her hometown of Westbury, N.Y.More than six months after a statue of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson was removed from a Baltimore park, about 200 residents and elected officials gathered to rededicate the space to abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman.

The Saturday ceremony in Wyman Park Dell, on the 105th anniversary of Tubmans death, happened only a few feet from the bare pedestal where a large, bronze statue of Lee and Jackson riding horses once stood. The space will now be called Harriet Tubman Grove.

We stand on the shoulders of this great woman, Ernestine Jones-Williams, 71, a descendant of the iconic civil rights leader who spoke on behalf of the family, said, reports the Baltimore Sun. We are overwhelmed. Overwhelmed. Thank you, and God bless you.

The statue had stood in the park since 1948, but was removed in August amid a national debate and protests over Confederate monuments and symbols, and how they are viewed. Many people see them as offensive reminders of slavery and racism -- while others consider them a part of their Southern heritage.

Although the public reckoning over the monuments began in the wake of Dylann Roofs deadly rampage in an African-American church in South Carolina, it gained momentum after work by Black Lives Matter activists and the deadly Charleston riots that resulted in the death of counter-protester Heather Heyer. Nationwide, at least 25 statues or monuments honoring the Confederacy have come down.

Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pughs administration removed four Baltimore monuments with ties to the Confederacy mere days after the Charlottesville rally in a quiet, overnight operation, citing safety and security concerns at the time.

WHICH CONFEDERATE STATUES WERE REMOVED? A RUNNING LIST

Carolyn Billups, former president of the Maryland chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, at the time called the citys action sneaky.

Rats run at night, she told the Baltimore newspaper. Its very saddening, but at least the monuments were not torn down by angry mobs.

Ciara Harris, chief of staff to Baltimore Recreation and Parks Director Reginald Moore, said the statues removal has helped turn the park into a gathering place for residents of all backgrounds to meet and talk in a positive space.

Harriet Tubman Grove will provide the city an opportunity to correct historic injustice to a Maryland native. Our city is properly recognizing an African-American hero, said Harris.

City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke called Tubman a heroine and beacon for all ages.

Tubman, who was beaten and whipped by her slave masters as a child, eventually escaped to Philadelphia and rescued several members of her family. When the Civil War broke out, she worked for the Union Army and guided the raid at Combahee Ferry -- which led to the liberation of 700 slaves.

Jackson Gilman-Forlini, 28, of the citys Abell neighborhood, who is studying how society re-contextualizes monuments and memorials over time as part of a masters degree program in historic preservation at Goucher College, told the Sun the rededication was a great thing for the city.

Monuments are seen as permanent, sort of monolithic structures, but inherently their meanings change over time, and really the removal of these monuments was not so much about monuments in general, but about the kind of values that we as a society want to promote, said Gilman-Forlini, who served on the task force last year that studied the removal of the citys Confederate monuments.

This is now the next logical step in the process of asserting those values, those positive values of inclusion, of tolerance, of speaking out against prejudice," he said.The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has every right to try and recoup costs for providing the media with body camera videos, 911 records and written reports in connection with the citys Oct. 1 massacre, a judge has decided.

But police cannot charge exhorbitant fees, such as the range of $233,750 to $458,159 the department has estimated for making such data available, Clark County District Judge Richard Scotti ruled Friday.

An excessive fee is the antithesis to government accountability, the judge wrote in his decision. The government cannot frustrate the Medias efforts to obtain information on behalf of the public by charging exorbitant fees.

"An excessive fee is the antithesis to government accountability. The government cannot frustrate the Medias efforts to obtain information on behalf of the public by charging exorbitant fees."  Clark County (Nev.) District Judge Richard Scotti

In the weeks after the massacre  in which gunman Steven Paddock fired upon a concert crowd from his hotel-room windows, killing 58 people and injuring hundreds more -- media companies, including the Associated Press, have sued the Las Vegas police, trying to obtain police records in relation to the shooting.

The media companies have contended that police officials have been in violation of public records laws.

However, Scotti said it could take at least six months for the police department to comply with the information requests the media has made. He scheduled a hearing for later this month, for an update from lawyers for the department and for media companies.

Records could shed light on the response by public agencies and emergency workers when the shooter opened fire for more than 10 minutes from 32nd-story windows of a casino hotel room into an open-air concert crowd of 22,000 people below.

The judge ruled that Las Vegas police can charge 81 cents a page for evidence logs and interview reports, including 31 cents a page for copying and 50 cents a page for staff time.

Scotti noted that police said there are almost 750 hours of body camera recordings from the shooting. The judge said police can recover copy costs for body camera footage and 911 audio recordings, including time to reproduce them and the cost of the DVD, flash drive, CD or other medium.

Media companies can also be billed for what the judge termed "pre-copy preparations" of incident dispatch logs.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.A Utah woman on trial for trying to hire a hit man to kill her ex-husband was charged for the third time with attempting to get someone to kill more of her enemies, reports said.

Linda Tracy Gillman, 70, was charged Friday with trying to hire a hit man about three weeks ago, KSL reported. The charges came the same day a jury found her guilty on one count of criminal solicitation for attempting to hire a man, who also rents a condominium from her, to arrange to have her ex-husband, Mr. [Duane] Gillman, killed last year, according to charging documents.

Gillman paid the man $5,000 to have her ex-husband and his current wife killed, KSL reported. She allegedly promised to give the man $100,000 once the two people were dead and she was able to collect her ex-husbands life insurance.

MAN CHARGED IN DROWNING DEATH OF TRANSGENDER WOMAN WILL AVOID TRIAL

She was ultimately caught when the man she attempted to hire went to police. Gillman had allegedly planned for the man to ask a third individual to murder her ex-husband and stage it as a drug overdose. Gillman was charged with two counts of criminal solicitation in that incident.

The 70-year-old, however, didnt let that deter her from attempting to wipe out all her enemies. While in jail, Gillman allegedly tried to get another inmate to murder the man who she initially hired to kill her ex-husband.

"Gillman referred to herself as 'the bank,' and said that she 'could make everything happen,'" according to the charging documents.

Gillman allegedly said she would be a free woman if the man was killed, adding that "it would make all her dreams come true."

COUPLE ARRESTED IN FLORIDA DISMEMBERMENT TIED TO SOUTH CAROLINA TRIPLE HOMICIDE: SHERIFF

She was charged with attempted obstruction of justice, but her case was dismissed because of problems with the witnesses.

In her latest attempt to hire a hit man, Gillman wanted a witness and an attorney killed. Authorities thwarted her plot when they caught Gillman attempting to send another $155,000 in a check.

"She had lined up an individual who would take the witness out. And in addition, asked to have an attorney killed in an opposing civil action against her that she had lost," the district attorney said on Friday, according to KSL.

Gillman was charged Friday with two counts of criminal solicitation and two counts of obstructing justice.A storm system moving across parts of the South is expected to intensify on Monday and become a nor'easter, bringing heavy snow and high winds for a third time in less than two weeks to a region still cleaning up from two previous storms.

The National Weather Service's Weather Prediction Center said while there is still some uncertainty about the track, an area from the mid-Atlantic to New England could be affected by the storm.

"The best prospects for accumulating snow will be for the southern and central Appalachians and interior portions of New England," the agency said. "If the nor'easter tracks closer to the coast, then high winds and coastal flooding will be an issue."

Winter Storm Watches have been issued from Connecticut up through to Maine for the possibility of 4 to 8 inches of snow from Monday evening through Tuesday afternoon in the Boston area, and 6 to 12 inches in Maine.

"Difficult travel conditions are possible on Tuesday, including both the morning and afternoon commutes," the weather service said. "Although heavy snow is possible, it is not expected to be as wet and heavy as it was with the past winter storm, which should limit the potential for damage to trees and power lines."

Utility crews across the region are continuing to work through downed trees, branches, power lines and blocked roads to bring back power for residents. The storm on Wednesday was blamed for two deaths in New York and New Jersey.

NEW JERSEY DRIVER KILLED AFTER DRIVING AROUND BARRICADE ONTO LIVE WIRES

In New Jersey, there are nearly 30,000 customers without power as of Sunday after the storm dropped 2 feet of snow in some areas, according to poweroutage.us, which compiles statistics from utilities across the nation.

Utility PSE&G in New Jersey said it had workers from as far away as Indiana helping local crews repair damaged lines and reset utility poles. Nearly 600 additional tree trimmers also were clearing branches and debris.

Those still in the dark took to social media to complain about still being wihout power.

"Ive been requesting anything from your company since Wednesday and I cant even get a person to come down our street," one person wrote to utility Jersey Central Power and Light. "Power is on all around us. Our street is only one in general area out. Not fair."The new leader of Ontario's conservative party is the brother of late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, who became famous for smoking crack cocaine.

The Progressive Conservatives elected Doug Ford as its new leader Saturday ahead of the June election in Canada's most populous province.

Doug Ford is a former city councilor and was his brother's most aggressive defender. Rob's Ford's tenure as mayor of the country's largest city was marred by revelations about his illegal drug use. He was repeatedly videotaped while intoxicated in public. Rob Ford died of cancer in 2016.

Doug Ford has himself been the subject of drug allegations. The Globe and Mail newspaper reported in 2013 that he sold hashish for several years in the 1980s. He denied the allegations.China removed presidential term limits from its constitution on Sunday, giving President Xi Jinping the right to remain in office indefinitely.

The country's ruling Communist Party announced the proposed amendment only last month and there was never any doubt it would pass because its rubber-stamp parliament is packed with loyal party members.

Reuters reports that Xis political theory was also inserted into the constitution, a feat no other leader since Mao had managed while in office. Additionally, clauses were included to give a legal framework to a new super anti-corruption department.

Schoolchildren, college students and staff at state factories will have to study the political ideology, which the Communist Party is trying to portray as a new chapter for modern China, reports BBC.

Only two no votes were cast, with three abstentions, from almost 3,000 delegates.

Xi cast his vote first, on the podium at the front of the hall, followed in turn by the other six members of the partys elite Standing Committee, which runs China.

The room erupted into loud applause when the result of the vote was passed, and Xi was seen applauding as well, but he did not address parliament.

However, history is filled with examples of countries that have gone in the direction of autocracy and dictatorship and regretted it.

"There is a tendency for erratic and sometimes unwise policy choices," Erica Frantz, a Michigan State University political scientist who studies dictatorships, told the Associated Press via email. Those include "more belligerent foreign policy" and greater likelihood of war.

On paper, deleting term limits on Xi's ceremonial post as president from China's constitution is a modest change compared with the increased power he has amassed since becoming ruling party leader in 2012.

But the decision crystalized fears Beijing was discarding shared leadership developed since the 1980s. That system is meant to guard against the excesses of autocratic rule by requiring ruling party figures to give up power on schedule.

"It is likely that over time the quality of his choices will deteriorate," Frantz said.

Some other countries that have experience with one-man rule include Russia and North Korea.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.An ex-Russian spy and his adult daughter were critically injured after they were poisoned by a nerve agent back in March  and now Russia is paying for the attack.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia were found unconscious March 4 on a bench in a shopping mall in Salisbury, about 90 miles west of London. The pair were released from the hospital two months later and moved to a private, secure location.

On Aug. 8, the U.S. announced it was imposing sanctions on Russia for using a chemical weapon in violation of international law, though the Kremlin repeatedly denied involvement. Following a 15-day congressional notification period, the sanctions took effect on or around Aug. 22, according to a statement from the State Department.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said days after the poisoning that it was highly likely Russia was responsible. And the U.S., Germany and France all appeared to back her.

2 RUSSIANS CHARGED OVER NOVICHOK POISONING OF EX-SPY, USED FAKE PERFUME BOTTLE, BRITISH OFFICIALS SAY

Since the March attack, a British couple with no ties to Russia have also been poisoned by the substance in Salisbury.

Dawn Sturgess, 44, died more than a week after authorities believe she was exposed to Novichok  the military-grade nerve agent also used in an attempt to assasinate Skripal. Charlie Rowley, 45, was also exposed to the agent and remains in critical but stable condition.

On Sept. 5, authorities in Britain charged two Russian men, identified as Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov, with the poisoning of Skripal and his daughter, as well as Sturgess.

The nerve agent used to poison the Skripals was smuggled to Britain in a counterfeit Nina Ricci perfume bottle and applied to the front door of their house, according to Metropolitan Police. Police believe the couple later found that same bottle, thus exposing them to the toxic nerve agent.



Heres what we know about Skripal, and the incident that nearly killed him.

His background as a spy

Skripal served with Russias military intelligence, often known by its Russian-language acronym GRU, and retired in 1999. He then worked at the Foreign Ministry until 2003, and later became involved in business.

Skripal was arrested in 2004 in Moscow and later confessed to having been recruited by British intelligence in 1995. He also said at the time that he provided information about GRU agents in Europe, receiving over $100,000 in return.

WHAT'S THE GRU, RUSSIA'S MILITARY INTELLIGENCE AGENCY? 3 THINGS TO KNOW

At the time of Skripals trial, the Russian media quoted the FSB domestic security agency as saying that the damage from his activities could be compared to harm inflicted by Oleg Penkovsky, a GRU colonel who spied for the United States and Britain. Penkovsky was executed in 1963.

In 2006, Skripal was convicted on charges of spying for Britain and sentenced to 13 years. However, he later was pardoned and released from custody in July 2010 as part of a U.S.-Russian spy swap, which followed the exposure of a ring of Russian sleeper agents in the U.S.

Skripals wife and son have both died in recent years.

Prior to his wifes death, however, she reportedly told police she feared for her husbands life, the New York Daily News reported.

How world leaders responded to the attack

On March 15, world leaders said in a joint statement they "abhor" the attack against Skripal.

"It is an assault on U.K. sovereignty and any such use by a State party is a clear violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and a breach of international law. It threatens the security of us all, the statement, signed by British Prime Minister Theresa May, President Donald Trump, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, read.

The leaders called on Russia to "live up to its responsibilities as a member of the UN Security Council to uphold international peace and security."

May had given Russia until midnight on March 13 to respond to the charges. When Moscow failed to respond, May expelled 23 Russian diplomats from the U.K. They were given a week to pack their belongings and head back to Russia.

This will be the single biggest expulsion for over 30 years and it will reflect the fact that this is not the first time the Russian state has acted against our country," May said at the time.

The U.S. also ordered 60 Russian diplomats to leave and announced it would close the Russian consulate in Seattle. In response, Russia then said it would expel 60 U.S. diplomats and close the U.S. consulate in St. Petersburg.

Two dozen countries, including the U.S., ordered more than 150 Russian diplomats out within a one-week span in a show of solidarity with the U.K.

How Russia reacted to the allegations

On March 18, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow would cooperate with the U.K. in an investigation of the poisonings, calling them a "tragedy." However, Putin said if the claims they were poisoned by the Soviet-designed nerve agent were true, the victims would've died instantly.

"Russia does not have such [nerve] agents," Putin said, according to The Guardian. "We destroyed all our chemical weapons under the supervision of international organizations and we did it first, unlike some of our partners who promised to do it, but unfortunately did not keep their promises.

Putin added that he thought "any sensible person would understand that it would be rubbish, drivel, nonsense, for Russia to embark on such an escapade on the eve of a presidential election."

Putin's remarks came after Russia earlier retaliated against the U.K.: Moscow announced March 17 that it also would expel 23 British diplomats, among other diplomatic measures.

Fox News' Travis Fedschun, Zoe Szathmary, Madeline Farber, Kathleen Joyce and The Associated Press contributed to this report.next Image 1 of 2

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Pope Francis is visiting a Catholic organization that has mediated peace accords in Africa and helps Syrian refugees to reach Italy safely.

Francis arrived Sunday afternoon at the Sant'Egidio Community in Rome, a short drive from the Vatican, and greeted well-wishers standing in heavy rain. He then entered the ancient Santa Maria in Trastevere basilica, which the lay organization has used to shelter homeless people on cold nights.

In the early 1990s, the Sant'Egidio Community, which has an extensive network of volunteers, helped broker a peace deal to end fighting in Mozambique.

More recently, it has taken to heart the pope's urging to assist refugees and arranged for airplane flights to bring Syria war refugees on "humanitarian corridors" to Italy.Hundreds of people have been told to wash their possessions as a precaution after traces of the nerve agent used to attack a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were found in a restaurant where the two were poisoned, the chief medical officer for England disclosed Sunday.

Sally Davies said that up to 500 people who have visited pubs and restaurants in the city of Salisbury should take action after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were sickened last week, Sky News reported.

"We have now learned there has been some trace contamination by the nerve agent in both the Mill Pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury," Davies said.

"I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in the Mill pub or Zizzi's."

Davies said people who visited the restaurant after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday until evening closing on Monday should "clean the clothes they wore and possessions they handled while there."

The restaurant and pub were among five locations identified as possible sources of where the nerve agent that sickened Skripal, according to Sky News.

The sites include a bench in the Maltings shopping center where the pair were found unconscious, Skripal's home, the cemetery where his wife and son are buried, and the Bishop's Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant where the pair visited in the hours before they fell ill, law enforcement sources told Sky News.

U.K. officials haven't said what type of nerve agent was used and say the risk to the public remains low.

"However, some people are concerned long-term exposure to these substances may over weeks, and particularly months, give rise to health problems," Davies said on Sunday.

The health agency added that any clothing should be washed in "an ordinary washing machine using your regular detergent at the temperature recommended for the clothing."

It also said to "wipe personal items such as phones, handbags and other electronic items with cleansing or baby wipes and dispose of the wipes in the bin."

UK SECURITY TEAM HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING ON RUSSIAN EX-SPY

A large-scale police investigation continues in Salisbury as forensics experts wearing protective gear search for clues. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Saturday evening it is still "too early" to determine who is to blame for the attack.

Rudd said more than 250 counterterrorism officers are on the scene evaluating more than 240 pieces of evidence and interviewing about 200 witnesses.

Police are looking for clues into what sickened Skripal, 66, a Russian ex-military intelligence specialist who in 2006 was convicted in Russia of spying for Britain, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia. The two remain in critical but stable condition at a hospital, officials said at a press conference on Sunday.

Senior government officials have vowed to respond robustly if the Russian government is found to be responsible.

Skripal was imprisoned inside Russia until he was freed in a 2010 spy swap and settled in England. He had stayed out of the public eye since then.

The father and daughter were found unconscious March 4 on a bench in Salisbury. Skripal lived in the town, located 90 miles southwest of London.

SPY'S POISONING IS LATEST CASE TO STIR SUSPICION OF RUSSIA

The officer who was one of the first on the scene after the Skripals were found and was sickened by the nerve agent, Wiltshire Police Sgt. Nick Bailey, thanked the public on Saturday for their their support during his recovery.

A statement released by Wiltshire Police said: "Nick would like us to say on his behalf that he and his family are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public, and colleagues from the police family."

"He also wishes to say that he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the initial incident," the statement continued. "He wants to say that he does not consider himself a 'hero,' he states he was merely doing his job -- a job he loves and is immensely proud of -- just like all of his other dedicated colleagues do, day in-day out, in order to protect the public and keep people safe."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.A Turkish private jet flying a wealthy socialite and her bachelorette party from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul crashed Sunday in heavy rain in a mountainous region of Iran, killing all 11 people on board, authorities said.

Citing the Turkeys Transport Ministry, Reuters reported Mina Basaran, the 28-year-old daughter of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, and seven of her friends, all flying back from a party ahead of her planned wedding next month were on board, perishing along with three crewmembers.

Iranian emergency management officials said all the passengers were young women, according to state television IRNA.

Mina Basaran, who is part of the companys board of managers and was in line to run the business, recently posted photographs on Instagram of what appeared to be her bachelorette party in Dubai.

Among those photographs was an image of the plane posted three days ago.

In it, Basaran posed on the tarmac carrying flowers, wearing a denim jacket reading Mrs. Bride and the hashtag #bettertogether.

In another picture, she held heart-shaped balloons inside the plane.

A day ago, Basaran posted a picture with seven smiling friends from a Dubai resort. The last videos posted to her account showed her enjoying a concert by the British pop star Rita Ora at a popular Dubai nightclub.

Her fathers company, Basaran Investment Holding, is active in the food, finance, energy, construction, tourism and travel industries, according to the companys website.

Reuters reported that one of the companies of Huseyin Basaran, a former deputy chairman of Trabzonspor football club, is the top shareholder in Bahrain Middle East Bank BSC, a small investment bank. His construction projects include a series of luxury apartment blocks in Istanbul called Mina Towers, named after his daughter.

Iranian state television quoted a spokesman for the countrys emergency management organization as saying the plane hit a mountain near Shahr-e Kord and burst into flames.

Shahr-e Kord is some 230 miles south of the capital, Tehran.

The spokesman, Mojtaba Khaledi, later told a website associated with state TV that local villagers had reached the site in the Zagros Mountains and found only badly burned bodies and no survivors.

He said DNA tests would be needed to identify the dead.

Villagers said they saw flames coming from the planes engine before the crash, according to a report by Irans state-run judiciary news agency Mizan.

The plane took off late Sunday afternoon and climbed to a cruising altitude of just over 35,000 feet.

A little over an hour later, it rapidly gained altitude and then dropped drastically within minutes, according to FlightRadar24, a flight-tracking website.

The flight took off from Sharjah International Airport, according to the General Civil Aviation Authority in the UAE. A private company that handles public relations for the Sharjah airfield, the home of low-cost airline Air Arabia, declined to comment. Sharjah is a neighboring emirate of Dubai.

Turkeys private Dogan News Agency identified the plane as a Bombardier CL604, tail number TC-TRB.

Sundays crash came less than a month after an Iranian ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short regional flights, crashed in southern Iran, killing all 65 people aboard.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.This is the second such attempt this year and it comes amid a backdrop of no ceasefire violations or instigations from across the border, unlike the previous years.Free Freightnet Membership

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Struggling Hitchcock still doesn't have financial plan

STUART VILLANUEVA/The Daily News The Hitchcock Police Department budget has doubled in a three year span.

HITCHCOCK

Despite growing expenditures, including a police department budget that almost doubled in three years, and a need to cut $860,000 in operating costs to keep the city out of the red, Hitchcock leaders have yet to propose any long-term solutions.

Since the consultants presentation on Feb. 26, I have been spending the majority of my time delving into budget data daily and until which time I am prepared to present my findings and recommendations to the city commission, I will not have anything to report, Mayor Dorothy Childress said.

Childress declined to elaborate on what changes might be forthcoming.

Two consultants Feb. 26 laid out a plan to help the city out of an immediate budget bind by reducing city services, eliminating staff positions and a 30 percent cut to all department budgets, but added that the fixes would not be sustainable.

These changes cant be maintained forever, consultant C.B. Bix Rathburn said at the presentation.

The city finds itself in a troubled financial position because city officials have been drawing out of fund balance at the same time that sales tax revenues have declined substantially, the consultants said.

Hitchcock ended the 2014 fiscal year with more than $2 million in fund balance, but that number had declined to about $399,000 before the start of the current fiscal year, according to records.

The city in 2015 received about $2.38 million in sales tax revenue from the state controllers office, records show. That number declined to $1.53 million in 2016 and down to $1.19 million in 2017, records show. That was about a 50 percent decline in two years.

Facing the need to pass a balanced 2018 budget, city officials planned to cover about $690,000 in operating expenses with fund balance money, but had only $399,000 remaining, records show.

The issues have become so severe in the city that public officials might need to consider hiring someone to oversee operations, Commissioner Monica Cantrell said.

I think we need to look into hiring a city manager with the ability and expertise to look into how we might minimize some expenses, Cantrell said. Someone who can help us operate in a professional manner on a leaner budget.

Consultants said that the city should eventually maintain about $3.5 million to $3.6 million in expenses in a given fiscal year. Commissioners in Aug. 21, 2017, approved a general budget of about $4.58 million in both total revenues and expenditures, documents show.

I dont believe in penalizing our community over this, Cantrell said. We need to give the same level of services without any type of increase to their burden, to taxes or their water bill.

The consultants recommendations included eliminating four positions in the police department, two positions in the street department and a mechanic, but Cantrell said she was very concerned about such cuts.

Maybe its combining work hours and eliminating overtime, Cantrell said. But Im for safety and against any cuts to the police department or services.

One of the biggest factors in increasing city expenses came via the police department, records show.

The citys public safety budget almost doubled, from $1.6 million in 2013 to $2.6 million in 2017, according to consultant documents.

Hitchcock Police Department officials Friday did not respond to a request for comment about why the expenditures increased during that time period.

We need a plan, Cantrell said. We need both a short-term and a long-term plan and then a manager to help us execute it. Thats the only way anything gets done in any organization, and especially in a city that really needs that.

Childress said she hoped to present more information in a meeting soon, but no such public meeting has yet been announced.

Commissioners have not yet taken action on the consultants proposal.Reporter

Before coming to work for The Daily News as a staff reporter, Connor worked for us as a freelance correspondent throughout 2017. He has written for other publications such as the Washington Post.Waukesha, WI (53187)

Today

Mixed clouds and sun with scattered thunderstorms. High around 75F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Showers and scattered thunderstorms. Low 57F. Winds SW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.Yei Bishop Appeals For Press Freedom In South Sudan

The bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Yei is appealing for promotion of press freedom across South Sudan.

Bishop of the Episcopal diocese of Yei, Hillary Luate Adeba [Gurtong file photo]

By Daniel Friday Martin



YEI, 08 March 2018 [Gurtong]Hillary Luate Adeba says the media promotes an important role in peace building, reconciling communities and advocates for the rights of the marginalized people in the communities.



As Yei River State or the nation at large, we need to ensure that that the press / media is respected, supported and protected because without the media we will leave in a dark world. I also believe that media is a tool that can be properly used to propagate messages of peace, reconciliation, humanitarian assistance and speaking on behalf of the voiceless in our societies or communities he said.



Hillary is calling on the government to ensure that there is press freedom. Its not good to hear journalists being arrested or detained for telling the truth. The truth must be spoken out so that we all build a transformed nation he added.



The prelate also urges journalists or reporters to stick to their ethics of accuracy, fairness and balanced information delivery to the people.



We are at a situation of crisis and I also want to urge our media workers to really make maximum use of the radio stations or news papers to ensure that they have a role to preach messages of peace, love peaceful co-existence, reconciliation and positive developments in the country. Dont concentrate on negatives most of the times, there are good things that can be talked about to change the mindset of the people in our communities Bishop Adeba stressed.



Meanwhile, Yei River State Information Minister, Alfred Kennedy Duku, says the State government is ready to ensure that there is freedom of speech and expression in the State.

The constitution of the country has stipulated very clearly that there is need for freedom of expression and respect for media. For us in the State we will work to respect the rights and freedom of expression but the freedom of speech and expression should not create hate and violence he added.



Alfred noted that the State government will not allow media houses working to creating violence, preaching hate and disuniting communities. The role of the media is also to promote peace and reconciliation but not violence and as a Government we will not allow that to happen he lamented.



Alfred praised media houses and reporters in Yei for working hard towards peace and reconciliation amidst the difficult economic and political challenges. He appeals to the media houses in the area to remain committed to their work and serve the public with accurate information.





Home  Just In  Kailali Witchraft Torture incident: UML to take action against Mayor

Kathmandu, March 11

The Mayor of a town in western Nepal where a 20-year-old woman was brutally assaulted on Thursday will face action from his party, the CPN UML.

The ruling party has also decided to seek clarification from Ghoda Ghodi Municipality Mayor Mamata Prasad Chaudhary who remained a mute spectator even as witch doctor Ram Bahadur Chaudhary assaulted 20-year-old Radha Chaudhary for over six hours.

The party has already sought a verbal clarfication from the Mayor. We will now set-up a committee to investigate the incident, UML Province 2 chief Jhapat Rawal told Onlinekhabar. Rawal said that the partys district committee had been ordered to investigate the incident.

According to reports, not only did Mayor Chaudhary fail to act in time to save the victim, he put pressure on local police to release the main suspect in the case. Rawal said that the Distritct Administration has been urged to take action against everyone involved in the case.

Meanwhile, Mayor Chaudhary denies he was involved in the case.



Haiti - News : Zapping...





Diaspora: A young Haitian shines in Mexico City

At the 29th National Congress of Civil Engineering 2018 in Mexico City, Rojacques Mompremier, a young compatriot from Cap-Haitien, living in Mexico City, won the Miguel A. Urquijo National Prize for his thesis entitled "Impact of incomplete mixing in the prediction of chlorine residuals in municipal water distribution systems. His thesis director is Dr. Oscar A. Fuentes Mariles. Learn more: Rojacques made his high school education at College Notre Dame du Cap-Haitien (CNDPS) and his university studies at the University of South Florida, Laval, Canada, Instituto Politecnico Nacional (IPN) and the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico (UNAM)



The police officers forbid to talk

Commissioner Frantz Lerebours, spokesman for the National Police of Haiti (PNH) reminded the police officers of all ranks, that it is forbidden to them to grant interviews to journalists without the authorization of the Director General.



Tourism : Investment tracks in Berlin ?

The Minister of Tourism, Colombe Emilie Jessy Menos, met in Berlin (Germany) at the ITB World Fair https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-23784-icihaiti-tourism-haiti-s-booth-at-itb-attracts-many-people.html with Alex Zozaya the CEO of the large hotel group "Appel Leasure Group" on investment leads in the country. Note that this Group has already come to Haiti in 2014, under Minister Villedrouin https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-12546-haiti-tourism-a-prestigious-hotel-group-explores-investment-opportunities-in-the-country.html



Distribution of motorcycles

On Friday, Max Rudolph Saint-Albin, the Minister of the Interior went to Jeremie as part of the distribution of motorcycles to the Board of Communal Section (CASEC) of Grand'Anse.



Balance of lGPNG (February)

The General Inspectorate of the National Police of Haiti (IGPNH) handled 877 cases including 52 complaints related to: threats, illegal arrests, abuse of authority and assault. The IGPNH opened 458 investigations and adopted 9 provisional measures in February 2018.



REMINDER : Advance your clocks by one hour

The Ministry of Communication reminds the population that this Sunday, March 11, 2018, the national time has been advanced by 60 minutes. From 2:00 am you had to advance your clock of 60-minute. https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-23771-haiti-notice-d-2-time-change-in-haiti.html



HL/ HaitiLibre

















Kathmandu, March 11

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli has won a historic vote of confidence in Nepals newly-formed lower House of Parliament. Oli, who was appointed to the post on February 15, has received the backing of all political parties, except the main opposition, the Nepali Congress and Nepal Majdoor Kishan Party.

During the vote on the confidence motion in Parliament on Sunday, 208 of the 268 MPs present in the lower House meeting supported Olis appointment as Prime Minister. Former Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai, the lone MP from Naya Shakti Party, did not vote on the motion as he is out of the country.

Earlier, Prime Minister Oli had called on all political parties to support the government. But the main opposition, the Nepali Congress said it would not vote in favour of Oli and it would play the role of an effective opposition.

According to the new constitution, the Prime Minister needs to win a confidence motion in Parliament within six months after his appointment.Editor's Note: We are reprinting verbatim a March 7, 2018 letter from Kauai County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask responding to a March 5, 2018 letter from the Coco Palms protesters demanding for $200M 'rent'.

March 7, 2018

Noa K. Mau-Espirito

Charles D. Hepa

5001 Laukona Street

Lihue, HI 96766

Re: Kingdom of the Hawaiian Islands Notice to Quit or Pay Rent

Aloha Mr. Mau-Espirito & Hepa,

Please accept this response in regard to the above captioned Notice to Quit or Pay Rent (Notice) received by the Office of the County Attorney on March 5, 2018. For the reasons stated infra the County politely declines to quit or pay rent.

1. The County does not recognize The Hawaiian Judiciary Court of the Sovereign as a lawful court with any jurisdiction whatsoever. Both Federal and State case law is clear that the Hawaiian Kingdom does not exist as a current lawful government.

Whatever may be said regarding the lawfulness of the Provisional Government in 1893, the Republic of Hawai'i in 1894, and the Territory of Hawai'i in 1898, the State of Hawai'i was, on February 9, 2002, and is now, a lawful government. State v. Fergerstrom, 106 Haw. 43 101 P.3d 652 (2004); affirming Nishitani v. Baker, 82 Hawai'i 281, 921 P.2d 1182 (1996), and State v. Lorenzo, 77 Hawai'i 219, 883 P.2d 641(1994). See also Us v Lorenzo, (1993) 995 F.2d 1448 (9th Cir. 1993).

As a matter of fact the real Kingdom of Hawaiis lower courts were called the Superior Court of Hawaii and the Kingdoms highest court was called the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Hawaii. Your Court of the Sovereign appears to be a fictitious court created and or inspired by the larger national sovereign citizens movement which is not a Native Hawaiian movement or Native Hawaiian organization but instead began in the continental United States in the early 1970s with ties to white supremacy and whose ideology later matured in the 1980s. According to materials from the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Anti-Defamation League, during the late 1990s the sovereign citizen movement began forming scores of vigilante common law courts that attempted to intimidate both private citizens and governmental officials into performing some kind of action, usually paying demands for inordinate sums of money exactly like you are attempting to do. Case law throughout the United States clearly establishes that such courts have no authority to compel any action by anyone at all. Furthermore, according to official court documents of the State of Hawaii, Moses Enoka Heanu, the alleged Chief Justice of your court is a registered sex offender who was sentenced to five (5) years in prison for three (3) felony counts of sexual assault in the Third Circuit court of the State of Hawaii in 1998.

2. Although you make general reference to laws in the State of Hawaii, no specific authority is provided to explain what precise laws you are operating under or how you are legally entitled to $200,000,000,000 (Two hundred million dollars) (sic)1. Finally, no explanation is given as to what a Notice to Quit or Pay Rent is. According to Blacks Law Dictionary, Fifth Ed., West Publishing 1979, a Notice to Quit is:

A written notice given by a landlord to his tenant, stating that the former desires to repossess himself of the demised premises, and that the latter is required to quit and remove from the same at a time designated, either at the expiration of the term, if the tenant is in under a lease, or immediately, if the tenancy is at will or by sufferance.

If this is what you intended then the county declines any such demand as you are not a landlord as defined by Hawaii revised Statutes (H.R.S) 521-8, nor is the County a tenant as defined by the same.

3. Finally, the County does not have interest, whether possessory or otherwise in any of the listed properties contained in your Notice whatsoever. According to the records and files of the County Real Property tax office the listed owners of the property are either the State of Hawaii or Coco Palms Hui, LLC.

In conclusion the County of Kauai declines to recognize or comply with the demands in your Notice referenced above.

Mahalo,

Mauna Kea Trask

County Attorney

1) The Notice seeks $200,000,000,000 (Two hundred million dollars). As written the numerical value of the numbers in your Notice is Two hundred billion dollars, not million dollars. Normally the written alphabetical value controls over the numerical one. Attempts to contact you to clarify this matter via telephone from March 6th to 7th 2018 were unsuccessful.

* * * * *

PDF: Protesters $200M Demand Letter

PDF: Full Text of County Attorney Response

Previous Coverage:

* * * * *

Trask: Coco Palms Occupiers Duped by White Supremacist Sovereign Citizens

Kauai Garden Isle, March 9, 2018 (excerpts)

County Attorney Mauna Kea Trask on Thursday cautioned activists who occupied the grounds of the former Coco Palms resort and continue attempting to win title to the property that they are basing their arguments on the authority of a fake court whose chief justice is a registered sex offender.

The individual identified as chief justice was convicted of three felony counts of sexual assault in 1998 and sentenced to five years imprisonment, according to a letter signed by Trask Thursday morning.

Trask added that the non-existent Court of the Sovereign also does not have the same name as any actual court that existed during the tenure of the Hawaiian Kingdom.

The letter speculated that the Coco Palms occupiers had been unwittingly misled by Mainland organizations with ties to white supremacy. Trask contended that some Hawaiian independence groups have advocated for sovereign citizens unbound by laws of a specific country. (Editor's Note: See 2011 article.)

The observations came in a letter signed by Trask and sent Thursday to Noa Mau-Espirito and Charles Hepa, the two chief organizers of the Coco Palms occupation. A day before, the two men sent Trask and Mayor Bernard Carvalho Jr. a document headed Notice to quit or pay rent that cited the alleged Court of the Sovereign in a wide array of demands of county and state officials, two lawyers and a title company in Honolulu that they pay back rent for the property that, Mau-Espirito and Hepa said, amounts to $200 million.

Their earlier filing and the document received by the mayor and county attorneys office this week asserted authority of The Hawaiian Judiciary, Court of the Sovereign which, according to these documents, is presided over by Chief Justice Moses Enoka Heanu.

For several weeks, rumors had circulated (Hawai'i Free Press Feb 13 reported) that Heanu is a registered sex offender who resides on Hawaii Island. Trask said his office, working with state legal authorities, had verified that the supposed chief justice is the same person listed on the sex offender registry.

Trask said the description of the activities of the Court of the Sovereign recycle terminology of white supremacist groups and contended that made up common law courts have no authority and exist to intimidate both private citizens and governmental officials. Such courts, and the fictional Court of the Sovereign, have no authority to compel any action by anyone at all.

Trask cited materials on racist groups maintained by the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks racist organizations as mirroring wording commonly used during the Coco Palms occupation.

Trask also sent a memorandum to a variety of state officials regarding legal information on general Native Hawaiian sovereignty claims. The memo emphasized it was not a legal document in and of itself but had been prepared to try to respond to numerous questions about the Coco Palms occupation that have flooded the mayors and other county offices.

On Thursday afternoon, no people were visible in the former encampment off Kuamoo Road in Wailua. Several tents and a portable toilet were still in place and two small pickup trucks were parked in the area the occupiers had used.

read  Trask: No such courtState Audit of OHA is just the tip of the iceberg!

by OHA Trustee Kelii Akina, PhD, Ka Wai Ola, March, 2018

The recently-released state audit of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs is good news for beneficiaries because it is an important first step in holding OHA Trustees and the administration accountable for every dime we are entrusted with. But it's just the tip of the iceberg! There is much more that needs to be examined, and that will be the purpose of the upcoming independent audit initiated by the OHA Board of Trustees.

While the State Auditor's report, released on February 13, shows serious problems with OHA grants, sponsorships and spending in fiscal years 2015 and 2016, it is merely a starting point. The independent audit, on the other hand, will systematically examine both OHA and its ILCs, providing a more complete picture of OHA's financial health.

For example, while the state audit found mismanagement and inappropriate spending of millions of dollars over a two-year period, the independent audit will cover a five--year period of time and a broader sampling of expenditures. And while the state Audit merely raised questions about OHA's LLCs, the independent audit will provide an actual examination of LLC contracts and financial records.

Essentially, while the state audit points to much of what needs to be changed, the independent audit is needed to identify root causes. Serving as chairperson of the (Independent) Audit Advisory Committee, I advocated for an independent auditing firm to identify fraud, waste and abuse within OHA and its subsidiary ILCs. The work of this independent audit is currently taking place and beneficiaries should stay tuned for the announcement of its findings.

After all is said and done, what is the value of these audits? The answer is that these audits are of great value, indeed. Proper audits are essential to ensuring that the wealth of OHA is used to serve Hawaiian beneficiaries in the areas of jobs, housing, education, healthcare, and other bread and butter issues.

OHA trustees have a fiduciary and constitutional obligation to watch over and administer the Native Hawaiian trust fund. When I became a Trustee, I vowed to pursue three objectives with respect to the Native Hawaiian trust fund:

1. Protect the trust fund.

2. Grow the trust fund.

3. Ensure that trust funds are expended to meet the real needs of Hawaiians;

I am glad to say that the state audit and upcoming independent audit will help to achieve the first of these objectives, to protect the Native Hawaiian trust fund by exposing any areas of fraud, waste and abuse.

Like physicians, we need to get a clear diagnosis of the problem and its causes in order to put OHA back on course financially to serve the Hawaiian people.

Toward this end, E Hana Kakou/Let's work together!

The State Audit of OHA, Report No. 18-03, is available on the Office of the Auditor website at http://auditor.hawaii.gov/.

---30---



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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.The buzziest of buzzwords in urban planning is the smart city a metropolis laced with wireless sensors that track everything from weather and water flow to gunshots and foot traffic. The sensing technology, already emerging in cities from Los Angeles to Singapore , might communicate with smartphones to help commuters get to work more smoothly, or send data to local authorities, who can use it to direct services like police, transit, and even trash collection.

Smart cities might be efficient, but most visions of the smart city put the government or corporations in charge of all this technology. Critics worry that cities may get too smart for their own good, reducing people to data-points and dollar signs, hyper-surveilled cogs in a great machine. The citizens the smart city claims to serve are treated like infants, complained architect Rem Koolhaas in 2014. We are fed cute icons of urban life, integrated with harmless devices, cohering into pleasant diagrams in which citizens and business are surrounded by more and more circles of service that create bubbles of control.

But what if citizens themselves could harness the smart citys sensors and gather their own data, using it to reshape the urban environment in a way that better meets their needs? Thats the intriguing question behind Sensors in a Shoebox, a project to put compact kits of sensors in the hands of Detroit teenagers. Funded by grants from the Knight Cities Challenge and National Science Foundation, its a bottom-up approach to urban technology that aims to empower the community, rather than the technocrats. The aim: Help citizens ask questions about their neighborhoods and come up with their own solutions.

On a recent afternoon at Voyageur College Prep High School, a public charter school in Southwest Detroit, half a dozen eighth- and ninth-graders and three grad students from the University of Michigan gather in a sunny upstairs classroom to hone questions for a survey about Detroits riverfront. The teens and their mentors plan to use the face-to-face questionnaire alongside several of the sensor kits, which will be deployed to track pedestrian traffic, outdoor temperature, andmost important to the kidsair quality. I have asthma, says eighth-grader Arianna Lowe. If its windy and stuff, if theres pollen or if its really foggy, you wont be able to breathe.

Asthma affects nearly one in six Detroit residents. The citys asthma rate is 40 percent higher than that of Michigan as a whole, and sufferers here are more than three times as likely to wind up in the hospital. And air pollution makes asthma worse. You can actually smell the airit smells like cars, says Lowes classmate Leachmie Santiago. For teens and other laypeople to find engineering useful, it needs to be user-friendly and cheap. Thats where civil engineering grad student Katherine Flanigan comes in. In a basement lab on Michigans Ann Arbor campus, Flanigan built sensor kits that would be installed along the riverfront and on the roof of Voyageur Prep. The kitspacked in plastic cases slightly smaller than a shoeboxare built around a wireless sensor node, which is based on technology originally developed by Flanigans advisor, Jerry Lynch, to monitor the structural integrity of bridges. Lynchs Narada node is used by civil engineers around the world. Adapting the technology for ordinary citizens required some creativity. The Narada node has to be wirelessly connected to a large base nearby, Flanigan says, pointing to a steel box the size of a dorm refrigerator. In urban sensing, its not really feasible to have a lot of these base stationstheyre expensive, theyre big, and theres a lot to steal. Also, they require a large solar panel. The solution Flanigan came up with was a cellular modem, which allows the node to send data directly to the cloud. The modem also has the advantage of requiring less powera solar panel the size of an LP record sleeve is plenty. Flanigan designed each node to accommodate four sensors, and users can choose from an assortment that includes a thermometer, a humidity sensor, an accelerometer, sensors for particulate matter or ozone to indicate air pollution, or an infrared sensor that can spot humans or animals.

It really can be configured exactly to what the students want. Then they flip the switch, and its good to go, Flanigan says. And the nice thing is the components are just over time getting cheaper and cheapersome of these components cost pennies, a couple dollars. Thats the hardware; for the software, Lynch came up with a simple solution that is bound to appeal to a smartphone-loving generation. The sensor nodes will report directly to Twitter, tweeting out data points on the hour. Imagine what could have happened in Flint if the average citizen had a water pollution sensor. As Flanigan hustles to finish building sensor kits in time for a planned deployment in early June, Jocylen Fox, development services coordinator at the non-profit Detroit RiverFront Conservancy, is looking forward to seeing the students data. The conservancy is trying to figure out how people are using three-and-a-half miles of parkland and trails along the Detroit River, much of which was until recently surface parking, abandoned piers, and vacant lots. But currently available sensor technology was prohibitively expensive for such a large area; without this project, the conservancy wouldnt have been able to capture enough data. We hope to use this data to be able to improve our spaces and the experience of our visitorsidentify any areas of improvement, Fox says. Im really interested to see what they are able to collect and what recommendations they have.

Source: https://www.citylab.com/life/2017/05/detroit-imagines-a-citizen-led-smart-city/528441/The Cemetery Commission is considering a smaller garage.

Adams Look At Smaller Cemetery Garage Project

ADAMS, Mass.  The Cemetery Commission will ask engineers to scale down the refurbishing of the Bellevue Cemetery Garage.

The Cemetery Commission met with EDM engineer Jeromy Richardson and architect Tim Widman to go over a report outlining three different options for the 50-year-old Department of Public Works garage and the commission agreed to look at a budgeted repair option.

"We have all the backup information and if you give us a dollar amount we can figure out the best strategy with that amount of money," Richardson said.

This project started last year when former Town Administrator Tony Mazzucco asked the Commission to consider using Cemetery funds to possibly install a prefabbed building to replace the two structures at the cemetery.

With the white storage shed at Bellevue on the verge of collapsing, the commission felt it was a good opportunity to possibly build additional storage off the current garage or build completely new.

The commission was working with $100,000 budget but quickly realized this may not be enough after seeing the report that outlined three options: revamping the current garage, revamping and adding onto the garage and a new building. All of these options were well over $100,000.

The commission quickly took the new build option off the table because estimates ran over $500,000, however, the two other options had the commission spending between $137,000 and $450,000.

But the EDM representatives said the building is structurally sound and their report is on the conservative side and can be modified to fit a budget.

"It is not insulated, it needs a new roof and we should replace the windows," Richardson said. "Should we replace the windows? Yes. Do we have to? No. We can still go through the value engineering phase and help you save money."

Richardson added that they can back out utility work, window replacement, and other things that although should be dealt with are not critical to the buildings operations. Widman said even the retaining wall, which they recommend replacing, could be scaled down and a simple regrading may do the trick.

Richardson said there is one crack in the building that will need to be fixed but said it can be repaired for a few thousand dollars.

Chairman Jim Taylor added that even if they update the current structure there will still be a storage issue without the while storage shed. He said they may need to budget in some kind of additional structure even if it is just a prefabricated shed.

Commissioner Fred Hobart still wanted to look at the possibilities of building new.

"No matter what we do to fix the old building it will still be an old building and I think we should build new," he said. "We may have to spend a little more money but in the long run, it would be more feasible."

Richardson said even if they were to pull out the bells and whistles and simply install a prefabricated building, the current cement slab would not hold the new building. He said a new slab would have to be put down and new construction would trigger code updates.

Richardson asked if it was possible to budget in upgrades and add on to the project as money replenishes.

Commissioner Bruce Shepley said the account they are drawing from will not replenish.

"That money has been there a long time and over the years has just been sitting there collecting no interest, so it will not replenish itself," he said. "We have what we have."

He added that optimally they do not want to run down their account completely and said, although he must check with the town accountant, after paying for the report they have about $80,000 to play with.

"If we go above that we have to go to the town and ask for money and there are greater priorities in town than a garage," he said.

Shepley said he would firm up a budget number for EDM to work with and Richardson said he would mark what the town could do on their own to save money in the secondary report.



iciHaiti - Tourism : Haiti's booth at ITB, attracts many people





A remarkable presence for the Haitian delegation participating in the ITB Berlin World Fair in Germany (March 7-11, 2018),the public is numerous every day to discover the beauties of the landscapes, the historical and cultural heritage and the various local products exposed to the pavilion reserved for the Caribbean where is the aiti stand. Tour operators and travel agencies exchanged with the Haitian delegation to promote Haiti in their program. Travel industry professionals from Africa and Europe have begun talks with aiti stand. Tour operators and travel agencies exchanged with the Haitian delegation to promote Haiti in their program. Travel industry professionals from Africa and Europe have begun talks with Colombe Emilie Jessy Menos, Minister of Tourism, to explore and define some of the modalities of cooperation in the field of tourism with the country.



In addition to the representations in workshops including the one on sustainable tourism in which Minister Menos participated, the Haitian delegation was the subject of much curiosity from visitors.



Ministers and Vice-Ministers from Cuba, Kenya, Venezuela, China, India and Guyana came to the booth to greet the Haitian representation at the show.



See also :

https://www.icihaiti.com/en/news-23746-icihaiti-tourism-haiti-at-the-world-s-largest-tourism-fair.html



IH/ S/ iciHaiti





















iciHaiti - Health : The Cuban Medical Brigade, nearly 20 years in Haiti





In 2017, the Cuban Medical Brigade in Haiti treated more than 2 million patients (2,062,576) a substantial increase over 2016, said Lorenzo Mojena, deputy director of the Cuban mission who recalled that last year, Brigade members also completed 1,704,209 community visits, which resulted in the diagnosis of more than 5,000 patients.



The Brigade, that will soon celebrate 20 years of uninterrupted mission in Haiti, has during all its years "assisted 174,667 births, with a clear decrease in the number of caesareans. In the 10 departments of the country, more than 600 doctors, nurses and technicians from the Greater Antilles assisted 5.788 births in 2017, ensuring the well-being of mothers and children," said Lorenzo Mojena.



In 2017, the Brigade reveals that the number of cholera cases has significantly decreased. In 2017 alone 17 patients were registered for an infection rate of 0.02 per 10,000 inhabitants, the lowest that Haiti has experienced since the beginning of the epidemic.



To conclude this brief report Lorenzo Mojena said that last year in Haiti "we performed 40,842 surgeries, including 10,040 major surgeries. "



IH/ iciHaiti

















Imperial Valley News Center

Governor Brown Issues Statement on Death of Pomona Police Officer

Pomona, California - Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today issued the following statement regarding the death of Pomona Police Department Officer Gregory Casillas:

Anne and I are saddened by the tragic death of Officer Casillas early this morning. We offer our deepest condolences to his family and friends. His brave sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Officer Casillas, 30, died Saturday morning after he was shot by a suspect who had barricaded himself in an apartment complex following a pursuit and collision late Friday night. A second officer was also injured in the shooting and is receiving treatment in hospital.

Officer Casillas graduated from the San Bernardino Police Academy last year and served as an officer with the Pomona Police Department for less than a year, where he previously worked as a records clerk and jailer.

Officer Casillas is survived by his wife, Claudia Guzman, and two children.

In honor of Officer Casillas, Capitol flags will be flown at half-staff.Former Nurse Assistant Charged with Civil Rights Offense for Striking Resident of the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center

Memphis, Tennessee - The Justice Department announced that a federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Adrian Wiggins, 53, a former Nurse Assistant at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Memphis, Tennessee, with a civil rights offense. The indictment alleges that, on January 8, 2017, Wiggins repeatedly struck an individual identified by the initials W.B., a resident of the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and caused bodily injury as a result.

The charge provides for a sentence of no greater than 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based on the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Memphis Field Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Pritchard and Reagan Taylor of the Western District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Rachel Kincaid of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division.

An indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.Immigration Attorney Sentenced to More Than Six Years in Prison for Fraud Scheme and Identity Theft in Relation to Visa Applications

Indianapolis, Indiana - An Indianapolis, Indiana immigration attorney was sentenced Friday to 75 months in prison for defrauding the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) and more than 250 of his clients by filing fraudulent visa applications and reaping approximately $750,000 in illegitimate fees. Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan of the Justice Departments Criminal Division and Special Agent in Charge James M. Gibbons of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcements Homeland Security Investigations (ICE-HSI) in Chicago made the announcement.

Joel Paul, 45, of Fishers, Indiana, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jane E. Magnus-Stinson of the Southern District of Indiana. In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Magnus-Stinson sentenced Paul to serve three years of supervised release, and ordered that he pay up to $750,000 in restitution to his victims. In November 2017, Paul pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud, immigration document fraud, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to submit fraudulent U-visa applications.

Immigration fraud undermines not only the publics faith in our institutions and the legal profession, it also jeopardizes public safety and compromises national security, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. Attorneys who commit such egregious fraud on our legal system and their own clients will be held accountable.

Immigration fraud presents a serious threat to the national security of our country, said Special Agent in Charge Gibbons. Illegal schemes like this not only undermine the integrity of our nations legal immigration system, but they create potential security vulnerabilities while also cheating deserving immigrants of benefits they rightfully deserve.

As part of his plea agreement, Paul admitted that from 2013 to 2017, he submitted more than 250 false Applications for Advance Permission to Enter as a Nonimmigrant on behalf of his clients and without their knowledge. Those applications falsely asserted that Pauls clients had been victims of a crime and had provided substantial assistance to law enforcement in investigating the crime. With approximately 200 of the false applications, Paul submitted unauthorized copies of a certification he had obtained from the U.S. Attorneys Office (USAO) for the Southern District of Indiana in 2013, using the certification without the USAOs knowledge to falsely claim that the applicant had provided substantial assistance in a criminal prosecution. In total, Paul charged his clients approximately $3,000 per application.

HSI investigated the case with the assistance of USCIS Fraud Detection and National Security Directorate. Trial Attorneys Molly Gaston, Peter M. Nothstein and Amanda Vaughn of the Criminal Divisions Public Integrity Section prosecuted the case.The Trump Administrations Plan to Put You in Charge of Your Health Information

Washington, DC - Interoperability isnt a word most people hear every day. But when it comes to the future of patient-centered healthcare in the United States, few technological developments may prove to be more important.

Interoperability is essentially the ability of different computer systems to communicate with each other quickly and effectively. For healthcare specifically, that means being able to share patient data in an instant regardless of what hospital, pharmacy, laboratory, or clinic houses the informationand being able to do so with complete reliability and privacy protection.

The Trump Administration views interoperability as a top priority for the Federal government. This week, White House Senior Adviser Jared Kushner laid out President Donald J. Trumps plan at HIMSS18, a leading conference focusing on health information and technology transformation.

Interoperability is about our shared bottom line: saving lives, Kushner said. There is overwhelming consensus: America needs better access to patient data and interoperability now.

Kushner, who leads the White Houses Office of American Innovation, wants the Federal government to set the example. For all of Americas military sophistication, for example, the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs still struggle to exchange information. I could not understand why medical records from the Department of Defense could not be seamlessly transferred to the Veterans Administration, Kushner said.

During his speech to HIMSS18, Kushner shared key principles from the Administrations strategy:

You, the customer, should be in charge: The Administration is taking a whole-of-country approach, Kushner says, and we are on the cusp of a technological healthcare revolution centered on patients. Seema Verma, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, adds that its our data, and we should control it.

Freeing data is only a starting point. Unleashing data will unleash innovation, Kushner said. This is the essence of the Administrations goals: more decision making in hands of customers, medical data belongs to the patients, a whole-of-government approach that leads to private innovation.

Interoperability will improve efficiency and hold providers accountable: Ensuring access to health information empowers patients by helping to reduce waste, fraud, and abuse throughout the system.

Kushner and Verma both stressed the need to move quickly. The time is now, Verma said. Kushner said the Administration was excited to work with healthcare innovators to make interoperability a reality.

We have developed the plan to achieve this, and we are committed to seeing it through, Kushner said.Secretary of State's Meeting with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta

Nairobi, Kenya - Secretary of State Tillerson met with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta yesterday in Nairobi and highlighted long-standing U.S.-Kenya cooperation on counterterrorism, regional security, and trade. He welcomed the joint announcement between President Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga as a positive step toward healing Kenyas ethnic and political divisions.

The Secretary emphasized strong U.S. support for democratic institutions, including the judiciary, civil society, and the media, and expressed concern about restrictions to political space. Secretary Tillerson and President Kenyatta also discussed the shared goal of defeating al-Shabaab in Somalia, strengthening AMISOM, and the need for a viable political process on South Sudan. They also agreed to identify opportunities to expand commercial and business ties.Secretary of State's Meeting with Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf

Djibouti - Secretary of State Tillerson met with Djiboutian Foreign Minister Mahmoud Ali Youssouf in Djibouti on March 9 to discuss the U.S.-Djiboutian partnership, and exchanged views on bilateral concerns, security threats, and economic reforms.

The Secretary expressed appreciation for the Djiboutian governments support for refugees fleeing regional conflicts, and its role in providing humanitarian relief. The Secretary thanked Foreign Minister Youssouf for Djiboutis troop contributions to the AU Mission in Somalia, which advances regional peace and stability. The Secretary conveyed the United States appreciation to Djibouti for hosting U.S. military personnel.A former student is taking her university to court after claiming that two years of study has left her with nothing more than a Mickey Mouse degree that has not helped her career, despite graduating with a first.

Pok Wong is suing Anglia Ruskin University for more than 60,000.

Claims the institution made about a quality education and prospect of employment after graduation were fraudulent, she told The Sunday Telegraph.

It is thought the case could set a precedent for how universities present their courses in marketing materials, as students who spend around 9,000 a year for their education demand value for money and see themselves more as a customer.

Ms Wong said she moved over from Hong Kong to study at the universitys Lord Ashcroft International Business School in Cambridge after being won over by the claims in the prospectus.

But the 29-year-old, who has lodged documents with London county court, alleged that the university failed to deliver and accused it of a breach of contract and fraudulent misrepresentation, listing a lecturer turning up late and students being told to self-study among complaints.

The degree does not play a role to help secure a rewarding job with prospects, she claimed, adding that the prospectus had promised the course would leave graduates well equipped for jobs in the business world, following two years of high quality teaching.

She also alleged she was locked in a room for trying to speak out about the quality of her course during her graduation ceremony, which she has branded as false imprisonment.

Ms Wong hopes the case will encourage other students to demand value for money and seek compensation if universities do not deliver.

The prospectus convinced me that the university is really impressive, she told The Sunday Telegraph. But, as soon as I started in 2011, I realised there were failings. Although I graduated with a first class degree in 2013, it is a Mickey Mouse degree.

I hope that bringing this case will set a precedent so that students can get value for money, and if they dont they get compensated. Anglia Ruskin talked a good talk but then they didnt deliver.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. 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Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. 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A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. 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Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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She has justified the money she is demanding as a refund of her tuition fees for the international business strategy course and the living costs for her time there.

The University is ranked 301-350 in the Time Higher Education World University Rankings for 2018.

A spokesperson for Anglia Ruskin University told The Independent: We are well aware of the claims made by this former student and we are robustly defending the current litigation.

Despite being awarded a First Class degree she attempted to disrupt her own graduation ceremony in 2013 as part of her dispute with the university, an action which would have damaged the experience for many other graduating students. The student was asked to leave the stage and sat in a room adjacent to it. She was free to leave at any time and got up and left, of her own accord, once the ceremony was over.

Her complaints have been through the full Office of the Independent Adjudicator process. She then made a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office which was rejected after a thorough investigation. Subsequently she has launched legal action against us and has been required to pay our costs at an earlier hearing.

As this case is before the court we will not be saying anything further at this stage.

The case echoes that of Oxford University Faiz Siddiqui, who tried to sue the institution for 1m after it did not give him a first-class degree.

Mr Siddiqui claimed that negligently inadequate teaching was partly to blame for his 2:1 degree, which he said prevented him from getting into a top US law school, and, in turn, meant he could not become an international commercial lawyer.

He lost the case, but Mr Justice Foskett, who delivered the verdict, said that as students are incurring substantial debts to pursue their university education, the quality of the education delivered will undoubtedly come under even greater scrutiny than it did in the past.

The Advertising Standards Authority has also warned universities they must be able to stand up to claims objectively if they make them in their prospectus.

The watchdog made six universities remove claims they made in their marketing materials last year.Police investigating the nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy and his daughter have reportedly found traces of the chemical weapon at the Zizzi restaurant the pair dined at before falling ill.

Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, are said to have eaten there in the hours before they became ill.

The eatery was hidden from view behind hoardings on Saturday as officers returned to search for evidence.

No-one else who was at the Italian restaurant at the time is thought to be at risk, according to the BBC, which originally reported the story, nor has it been suggested their fellow diners had any thing to do with the suspected attack.

Police have identified more than 200 witnesses and are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence in the investigation into the attack on, the Home Secretary said.

Amber Rudd said Nick Bailey, a police officer who became unwell after taking part in the early response to the attack, remained seriously ill but was talking and engaging with his family.

Mr Bailey released a statement from hospital saying he does not consider himself a hero and was merely doing his job.

 Sergei Skripal: Forensic police inspect cemetery in Salisbury in connection with Russian spy poisoning case

The Ministry of Defence said armed forces personnel would be returning to Salisbury for a third day on Sunday.

Cordons remain in place at a host of locations across the city, including Mr Skripals house and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.

There was further police activity at the London Road cemetery on Saturday, where officers in hazmat suits had removed items and covered his sons memorial stone with a forensic tent.

Scotland Yard said no exhumations had taken place.

Barriers erected outside a Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury as police and members of the armed forces probe the suspected nerve agent attack on Russian double agent Sergei Skripal (Andrew Matthews/PA) (PA)

Speaking following a meeting of the Governments Cobra emergencies committee, Ms Rudd said there were more than 250 officers from eight out of 11 of the countrys counter-terrorism units involved in the investigation.

She said: I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that.

Ms Rudd said it was still too early to say who was responsible for the attack.

She said: This investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe and also that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution [of the attack] we will be absolutely clear where it should be.

The police have said that if anybody thinks they have any additional information they would welcome them coming forward.

There is also substantial amounts of CCTV they have to go through. This is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and time to get on with it.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 19 September 2021 Bubbles surround Manchester Uniteds Cristiano Ronaldo before the match against West Ham at London Stadium Action Images/Reuters UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA

Many in British media and politics have speculated Russia could have played a part in the attack on Mr Skripal, but Ms Rudd reiterated that it was too early to say who was responsible, and police should be given the time and space to determine the facts.

The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident and accused the British media of whipping up anti-Russian hysteria.

Mr Skripal and his daughter are still fighting for their lives in hospital.

Personnel in protective coveralls and breathing equiptment cover an ambulance with a tarpaulin at the Salisbury District Hospital in Salisbury (AFP/Getty Images) (AFP/Getty)

Mr Bailey, who was part of the initial response by authorities and also remains in hospital, released a statement thanking people for their support.

The statement read: Nick would like us to say on his behalf that he and his family are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public, and colleagues from the police family. People have been so kind and he has expressed that he will never forget that kindness.

He also wishes to say that he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the initial incident.

He wants to say that he does not consider himself a hero, he states he was merely doing his job  a job he loves and is immensely proud of  just like all of his other dedicated colleagues do, day in day out, in order to protect the public and keep people safe.

He would like to thank everyone once again for all of their kind thoughts and best wishes, they are truly appreciated.

He asks respectfully that the media allow his family privacy at this difficult time.

Members of the Falcon Squadron, Royal Tank Regiment, at Winterbourne Gunner, conducting final preparation and training before deploying in support of the civil authorities in Salisbury (EPA)

Police said 21 people had been seen for medical treatment since the incident.

The figure includes members of the public and emergency staff, some of whom have had blood tests as well as receiving support and advice.

The attack is being treated as attempted murder.

Additional reporting by agenciesA former Russian spy who was exchanged for poisoned double agent Sergei Skripal in a Cold War-style spy swap has labelled him a traitor.

Anna Chapman condemned Britains response to the nerve agent attack, which has left the 66-year-old and his daughter Yulia Skripal in a critical condition.

As always Russia is guilty by default... despite the fact that traitor Skripal was pardoned by the President and released, the 36-year-old, who now works as a model and television presenter, wrote on Instagram.

When investigating any murder, the first issue is the motive of the crime. Who benefits from it? In any case, Russia is definitely not interested in such scandal. Does the West need proof to blame Russia?

Ms Chapman, who married to a British trainee psychologist, was allegedly part of a Russian spy ring in the US known as the Illegals Program.

She pleaded guilty to conspiracy to act as an unlawful agent of a foreign government and was among ten sleeper agents returned to Russia in 2010.

They were exchanged for four double agents, including Mr Skripal, who was given refuge in the UK having passing intelligence to MI6 during his time as a GRU military intelligence agent.

 Sergei Skripal: What we know so far

Mr Skripal and his 33-year-old daughter were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury city centre after being exposed to a nerve agent on Sunday.

They remain seriously ill in intensive care and a police officer who was among the first to respond to the incident is also in hospital.

Suspicion has turned to the Russian government, which jailed Mr Skripal for treason in 2006, or former spies he betrayed as a double agent.

Recommended Russian spy Sergei Skripal may have been poisoned at Salisbury home

Security sources told The Independent that he was no longer an active MI6 asset, but may have become a target by attempting to freelance for private intelligence companies run by former spies.

Investigators are looking at the possibility that he was poisoned at his Salisbury home, possibly by the nerve agent being delivered in a package that Mr Skripal unknowingly opened in his daughters presence.

They are also understood to be reviewing the deaths of his wife, in 2012, and son last year, which were originally thought to be of natural causes.

Parallels have been drawn between the attack and the assassination of Alexander Litvinenko, a former officer with Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) who was poisoned with radioactive polonium at a London hotel in 2006.

UK news in pictures Show all 49 1 /49 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 18 September 2021 Children take part in the Settrington Cup Pedal Car Race as motoring enthusiasts attend the Goodwood Revival, a three-day historic car racing festival in Goodwood, Chichester, Reuters UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA

Ministers have declined to say who is believed to be responsible in the wake of high-level Cobra and National Security Council meetings, but threatened further sanctions against Russia if state involvement is found.

Tobias Ellwood, a defence minister, said the Government was discussing its response to the clandestine and sinister attack with Nato allies.

We will respond with the full force of the United Kingdoms resources if that is the appropriate and proportionate thing to do, he said.

Following a meeting of the Governments Cobra emergency committee on Saturday, Amber Rudd revealed that the investigation had widened to involve 250 counter-terrorism police officers, as well as military personnel.

Police have now identified more than 240 witnesses and are examining at least 200 pieces of evidence.

Chemical weapons specialists, Royal Marines, RAF and Army troops remain in Salisbury to remove vehicles and other items that were possibly contaminated for further investigation.

The Russian government has vehemently denied involvement in the attack and accused British authorities and media outlets of pure propaganda.Manchester Piccadilly train station was closed for several hours due to a large protest on the tracks, affecting customers across the UK.

Campaigners waving flags gathered on the tracks in a protest in response to Turkeys war on Syrian Kurds.

Some protesters held a banner reading: Stop Turkey from helping Isis terrorists.

British Transport Police were called to the scene.

A BTP spokesperson said: We were called to Manchester Piccadilly station shortly after 1pm on Sunday following reports of protesters trespassing on the tracks.

The station has been closed while officers at the scene work to ensure their safe removal and the reopening of the station.

National Rail said: A trespass incident at Manchester Piccadilly is causing major disruption to trains at the station.

Trains may be amended, cancelled or delayed by up to 60 minutes.

British Transport Police said all protesters were safely removed from the tracks and the station had reopened.

Friends of Kurdistan Manchester, a solidarity group, said around 400 protesters gathered in an international day of action in defence of Afrin in north-west Syria, where Turkey launched a military offensive against the Syrian Kurdish Peoples Protection Units or YPG two months ago.

Turkeys intent to clear them from the area has been described as ethnic cleansing by those sympathetic to the Kurds.

Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Show all 9 1 /9 Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Smoke billows following a Turkish airstrike on a village in the Afrin district, on 28 January, 2018. Turkey launched operation "Olive Branch" on January 20 against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) militia in Afrin, supporting Syrian opposition fighters with ground troops and air strikes AFP Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Smoke billows from surrounding villages during the Turkish military operation against the Kurdish enclave on 28 January, 2018 AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Twenty-year old Kifah al-Moussa, a Syrian Arab woman living among the Kurds of Afrin province, was working on a chicken farm in the village of Maryameen when a Turkish aircraft bombed the building at midday on 21 January, wounding her in the chest. When she recovered consciousness, she found eight people from one family lying dead around her Yara Ismail Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Mohamed Hussein, a 58-year-old Kurdish farmer, lies in the Afrin hospital, wounded in the head and eye after his home was bombed by Turkish aircraft on the second night of the attack Yara Ismail Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Syrian Kurds sit on benches overlooking a street in Afrin, on 28 January, 2018. Above is a memorial to martyrs who died in the fight against Isis AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Smoke is seen rising on the Syrian side of the border, at Hassa, near Hatay, southern Turkey as Turkish jet fighters hit People's Protection Unit (YPG) positions, on 28 January, 2018 AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures A Turkish made T-155 Firtina (Storm) howitzer is dispatched to the border at Hassa near Hatay, southern Turkey, on 28 January, 2018 AFP/Getty Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures A Turkish soldier waves a flag on Mount Barsaya, northeast of Afrin, on 28 January, 2018 Reuters Turkish attack on Afrin, northern Syria  in pictures Turkey-backed Free Syrian Army fighters are seen in Barsaya mountain, northeast of Afrin, on 28 January, 2018 Reuters

A spokesman for Friends of Kurdistan Manchester told The Independent: Today is an international day of action in defence of Afrin, a canton in the north of Syria which has been under attack by Turkey for six weeks, alongside its allies in the Free Syrian Army.

They have been using air strikes and ground troops against civilians. There have been hundreds of civilian casualties and documentation of war crimes.

They added: This is an international day of protest to break the silence of the international community which hasnt put any pressure on Turkey to stop what it is doing.

Its an attempt to break the silence and raise the issue in peoples consciousness.

"It was a sign of people's frustration that the British government aren't taking this seriously and are letting a potential genocide take place."Hundreds of diners and pub-goers in Salisbury have been told to wash their clothing and possessions after traces of the nerve agent used to poison a former Russian spy were found.

Public Health England (PHE) published the "precautionary advice" after Sergei Skripal and his daughter were found slumped on a bench in the Wiltshire city a week ago.

A third victim, Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, was also admitted to hospital after falling seriously ill when he responded to the emergency, however his condition has since improved.

Anyone who was in The Mill pub between 1.30pm last Sunday and 11.10pm on Monday, or the nearby Zizzi restaurant between 1.30pm on Sunday and 9pm on Monday, are urged to follow the advice.

On Wednesday, England's chief medical officer, Sally Davies, said there was a "low risk" to the public.

Anyone who visited the two locations within the timeframe is advised:

Wash the clothing that you were wearing in an ordinary washing machine using your regular detergent at the temperature recommended for the clothing.

Any items which cannot be washed, and which would normally be dry cleaned, should be put in two plastic bags tied at the top and stored safely in your own home.

Wipe personal items such as phones, handbags and other electronic items with cleansing or baby wipes and dispose of the wipes in the bin.

Other items such as jewellery and spectacles which cannot go in the washing machine or be cleaned with cleansing or baby wipes, should be hand washed with warm water and detergent and then rinsed with clean cold water.

Thoroughly wash hands with soap and water after cleaning any items.

Dr Jenny Harries, PHE deputy medical director, said: "The immediate risk to the general public remains low and this has not changed.

"Rigorous scientific analysis has been on-going and we have learnt that there has been some limited contamination in both The Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury.

"Anyone who visited The Mill pub or Zizzi restaurant where the two affected individuals were can be reassured that this limited exposure will not have harmed their health to date.

"However, there may be a very small health risk associated with repeated contact with belongings which may have been contaminated by this substance.

"We therefore recommend that a precautionary approach is taken and advise people to clean the clothes they were wearing and any possessions they had with them."

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 17 September 2021 Hugo, 7, from London rides past a 4x7 metre rainbow arch, made entirely of recycled aluminium cans, which has been installed by recycling initiative 'Every Can Counts', in partnership with The City of London Corporation in front of St Paul's Cathedral in London, to encourage members of the public to recycle their drinks cans ahead of recycling week, which starts on 20 September PA UK news in pictures 16 September 2021 Sheikeh MOhammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, leader of Abu Dhabi, leaves Downing Street after meeting with Boris Johnson PA UK news in pictures 15 September 2021 Children pose by ice sculptures depicting people collecting water by charity Water Aid to show the fragility of water and the threat posed by climate change in London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 14 September 2021 Heavy rain covers the A149 near Kings Lynn in Norfolk PA UK news in pictures 13 September 2021 Luke Jerram's 'Museum of the Moon' at Durham Cathedral PA UK news in pictures 12 September 2021 Inspirational young fundraiser Tobias Weller crosses the finish line, near his home in Sheffield, as he completes his latest epic feat where he swam and triked his way to the end of his awesome year-long Ironman Challenge. This is the third challenge Tobias, who has cerebral palsy and autism, has completed, raising more than 150,000 for his school and Sheffield Children Hospitals charity PA UK news in pictures 11 September 2021 British player Emma Raducanu, holds up the US Open championship trophy winning the women's singles final of the US Open in New York AP UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA

Police have identified more than 200 witnesses and are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence in the investigation into the attack on, Amber Rudd, the Home Secretary, said.

Ms Rudd said Nick Bailey, a police officer who became unwell after taking part in the early response to the attack, remained seriously ill but was talking and engaging with his family.

Mr Bailey released a statement from hospital saying he does not consider himself a hero and was merely doing his job.

The Ministry of Defence said armed forces personnel would be returning to Salisbury for a third day on Sunday.New Brexit delays at UK borders and airports could endanger extremely time-sensitive transplant operations as medics rush to get organs to patients, MPs and MEPs have warned.

Figures obtained under freedom of information law and seen by The Independent show more than 1,000 life-saving NHS transplants in the past decade relied on the transport of organs across the Ireland-UK border.

While the NHS body responsible said it hoped the current system of sharing organs could continue whatever the final political settlement, it accepted that regulations to ensure a smooth transition beyond Brexit are yet to be agreed in the acrimonious negotiations process.

Recommended EU freezes Brexit talks until Britain produces Irish border solution

1,068 transplants from 692 donors were carried out in Britain using organs from donors in Ireland in the past decade, making the country by far the biggest donor to UK patients. Organ donation and transplantation is very time-sensitive, and organs passing between Ireland and the UK are usually sent through airports, sometimes with a police escort, so that they can reach matching patients in time.

The single market is so much more than just trade. It also means that safe-to-use blood and organs can be sent easily to UK hospitals within hours, Liberal Democrat MEP Catherine Bearder said.

Brexit and lengthy custom checks puts lifesaving transplants at risk. No one put that on the side of a red bus.

Ben Bradshaw, who sits on the Commons Health and Social Care Select Committee, said it was vital to make sure there were no delays to transplants from any new regime.

Organ donations are incredibly time-sensitive, any delays due to new customs checks or extra bureaucracy at the border could undermine the whole transfer process. There are literally lives at stake, the Labour MP said.

No one could have known during the Brexit referendum that voting to leave the EU might jeopardise organ donations coming from the EU to the UK. With new facts like these coming to light, everyone is entitled to keep an open mind about whether Brexit is the right path for the country.

Alex Sobel, an MP and supporter of the pro-EU Best for Britain campaign said: A customs union arrangement is essential in allowing us to collaborate with our European neighbours in many areas. This is particularly stark in matters of life and death  as in the case of organ donation.

The Government do not see a customs union necessary so it is incumbent upon them to provide answers to the many technical questions that will continue to arise as a result of their short-sighted stance.

 Donald Tusk on Brexit negotiations: Ireland first

The current regulatory arrangement is based on the single market and customs union, which Theresa May has pledged to leave. Addressing the related issue of blood transfusions crossing the border, EU chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned in January that blood products cannot simply be imported into the EU just like that.

What about medications? Medicines need to be authorised. [Britain] will be leaving the European Medicines Agency as well, he added, stating that these were specific issues that need to be regulated and that new solutions would have to be found.

Although both the UK and EU say they want to avoid a hard border with Ireland and preserve the wider common travel area, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson admitted on Thursday that there could be customs checks on the border between the Republic and Northern Ireland, but insisted they would be minimal.

Chief negotiator Mr Barnier has also said Britains departure from the customs union means that in airports and ports there would be controls between Great Britain and Ireland  potentially delaying cross-border traffic.

The British Heart Foundation says there is a desperate shortage of organ donations in Britain (PA)

In the last year alone over 450 people have died waiting for an organ due to the desperate shortage in the UK, John Maingay, director of policy at the British Heart Foundation said.

The BHF is keen to work with the Government to guarantee more life-saving operations take place and to give hope to those currently waiting for a transplant they so urgently need.

Our figures show that around eight in 10 of us want to donate our organs and its vital for all of us to have conversations with our loved ones about organ donation so our wishes can be met if the worst should happen.

From 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2017 the NHS Blood and Transplant service retrieved 1,216 organs from EU countries from 818 donors, some of whom donated multiple organs. Irish donations made up the vast majority, with French donors contributing 30 organs as the next largest national group.

Sally Johnson, the director of organ donation and transplantation at NHS Blood and Transplant, said the UK had well-established cooperation arrangements with the Government of Ireland and several European transplant agencies.

People waiting for a lifesaving transplant may need any donor organ to be matched by size, blood group, and tissue type for a successful transplant. Donated organs will be accepted for transplant within the country where they were donated, unless there is no suitable recipient. Where there is no suitable recipient, they will be offered to someone in another country, she said.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that Brexit means Brexit and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UKs economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Partys coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a specific solution would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

We would anticipate the successful professional arrangements currently in place would continue with support from all, whatever the final political settlement resulting from the EU referendum. Any necessary regulatory alignment will be the responsibility of the relevant legal authority, the Human Tissue Authority.

There is an urgent shortage of donors and by appropriately sharing lifesaving donations between partner countries, we maximise transplant opportunities for UK citizens.

This week European Council president Donald Tusk urged the UK to propose a specific and realistic solution to the Irish border issue and said talks could not progress to other issues until it was resolved.The Chancellor refused to say that Brexit is worth it as he insisted the Government has yet to model the economic effects of its hoped-for exit deal.

Theresa May replied yes when asked if it was worth paying the predicted price of leaving the EU, when quizzed by MPs in the Commons last week.

But, asked the same question on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, Philip Hammond declined to say he believed that Brexit was in the interests of the British people.

The British people have decided that we are leaving the European Union and that is what we are doing. Our job is to make sure that we get the best possible deal for Britain, he replied.

It was possible to achieve a smart Brexit that would protect jobs, prosperity and businesses, Mr Hammond added.

The Government has dismissed its own leaked forecasts warning of a severe economic hit from leaving the EU, on the basis they did not model the preferred outcome.

Asked if that exit deal that Britain hoped to achieve had been studied by Treasury officials, Mr Hammond said: Not yet  we havent even embarked on the negotiation yet.

He hinted at doubts over agreeing a transition deal, of about two years, at next weeks EU summit, saying only that it would hopefully be agreed.

The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Show all 8 1 /8 The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Post-Brexit immigration workers sorting radishes on a production line at a farm in Norfolk. One possible post-Brexit immigration scheme could struggle to channel workers towards less attractive roles - while another may heighten the risk of labour exploitation, a new report warns. PA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Customs union A key point in the negotiations remains Britain's access to, or withdrawal from, the EU customs union. Since the referendum there has been hot debate over the meaning of Brexit: would it entail a full withdrawal from the existing agreement, known as hard Brexit, or the soft version in which we would remain part of a common customs area for most goods, as Turkey does? No 10 has so far insisted that Brexit means Brexit and that Britain will be leaving the customs union, but may be inclined to change its position once the potential risks to the UKs economic outlook become clearer. Alamy The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Northern Ireland-Irish border Though progress was made last year, there has still been no solid agreement on whether there should be a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. To ensure borderless travel on the island, the countries must be in regulatory alignment and therefore adhere to the same rules as the customs union. In December, the Conservative Partys coalition partners, the DUP, refused a draft agreement that would place the UK/EU border in the Irish Sea due to its potential to undermine the union. May has promised that would not be the case and has suggested that a specific solution would need to be found. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Transition period Despite protests from a small number of Conservative MPs, the Government and the EU are largely in agreement that a transitional period is needed after Brexit. The talks, however, have reached an impasse. Though May has agreed that the UK will continue to contribute to the EU budget until 2021, the PM wants to be able to select which laws made during this time the UK will have to adhere to. Chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said the UK must adopt all of the laws passed during the transition, without any input from British ministers or MEPs. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Rights of EU citizens living the UK The Prime Minister has promised EU citizens already living in the UK the right to live and work here after Brexit, but the rights of those who arrive after Brexit day remains unclear. May insists that those who arrive during the transition period should not be allowed to stay, whereas the EU believe the cut-off point should be later. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreement (with the EU) Despite this being a key issue in negotiations, the Government has yet to lay out exactly what it wants from a trade deal with the EU. Infighting within the Cabinet has prevented a solid position from being reached, with some MPs content that "no deal is better than a bad deal" while others rally behind single market access. The EU has already confirmed that access to the single market would be impossible without the UK remaining in the customs union. Getty The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Future trade agreements (internationally) The Government has already begun trying to woo foreign leaders into prospective trade agreements, with various high profile state visits to China, India and Canada for May, and the now infamous invitation to US President Donald Trump to visit London. However the UK cannot make trade agreements with another country while it is still a member of the EU, and the potential loss of trade with the world's major powers is a source of anxiety for the PM. The EU has said the UK cannot secure trade deals during the transition period. EPA The biggest issues facing UK on leaving EU Financial services Banks in the UK will be hit hard regardless of the Brexit outcome. The EU has refused to give British banks passporting rights to trade within the EU, dashing hopes of a special City deal. However according to new reports Germany has suggested allowing trade on the condition that the UK continues paying into the EU budget even after the transition period. Getty

Then we start talking with them about a shape of a future partnership. Once we know what the deal looks like, then we will certainly model it, the Chancellor said.

The timetable will raise doubts over the Governments pledge to show the full Brexit modelling to MPs before a meaningful vote on the Prime Ministers deal this autumn.

Any agreement is unlikely to be reached before October, giving little time for the Treasury work to be carried out before the vote.

Looking ahead to the Spring Statement on Tuesday, Mr Hammond insisted he would not relax his grip on the public finances, despite seeing light at the end of the tunnel for the economy.

Britains debt mountain  at 1.8 trillion  was still too high and had to be brought down.

There is light at the end of the tunnel because what we are about to see is debt starting to fall after it has been growing for 17 continuous years. That is a very important moment for us but we are still in the tunnel at the moment, the Chancellor said.

He added: All the international organisations recognise that [Britains debt] is higher than the safe level.

This isn't some ideological issue. It is about making sure that we have the capacity to make sure that we can respond to any future shock to the economy.

For Labour, Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell said the Governments approach was not working and it needed to change direction.

Austerity is holding growth back. Wages are below what they were in 2007-08, so this isnt a matter for celebration, he told the same programme.

What he [Mr Hammond] has done, very cleverly, very cunningly, he has shifted the debt onto the shoulders of NHS managers, onto the shoulders of headteachers and onto the shoulders of local government leaders.The law requires a further referendum before Brexit can go ahead, say campaigners who are mounting a legal challenge to slam the brakes on the UKs withdrawal from the European Union.

The case will argue that the 2011 referendum lock introduced by David Cameron  preventing any significant change to relations with the EU without the publics say  applies to the Brexit talks.

It makes the negotiations illegal without a second referendum because the planned transition period is likely to mean a big transfer of powers to Brussels, according to the anti-Brexit Best for Britain group.

 John Major: British people have 'every right' to reverse Brexit in second referendum

The stance has drawn support from Dominic Grieve, the former Conservative Attorney General, who said: This raises an important constitutional issue.

Parliament provided for a referendum mechanism in the 2011 Act to ensure the public should be consulted on any significant EU treaty change.

The terms of our departure and of transition are going to have major implications on our constitutional framework as and when they come into force.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. PA UK news in pictures 3 September 2021 South Africa's Ntando Mahlangu (centre) wins the Men's 200 metres T61 Final ahead of second placed Great Britain's Richard Whitehead at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games PA UK news in pictures 2 September 2021 A young common seal on the beach at Horsey Gap in Norfolk, as hundreds of pregnant grey seals come ashore ready for the start of the pupping season. PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 29 July 2021 Team GB's Mallory Franklin during the Womens Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo Olympic Games. She went on to win the silver medal Getty UK news in pictures 28 July 2021 Canoers on Llyn Padarn lake in Snowdonia, Gwynedd. It was announced that the north-west Wales slate landscape has been granted UNESCO World Heritage Status PA UK news in pictures 27 July 2021 A view of one of two areas now being used at a warehouse facility in Dover, Kent, for boats used by people thought to be migrants. 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The legal challenge will raise the hopes of pro-EU supporters of a referendum on Theresa Mays deal from the negotiations  now backed by both John Major and Tony Blair.

The referendum lock was conceded by Mr Cameron to pacify Eurosceptics in the Conservative party, long before the first Brexit referendum was planned, but could now be used to thwart Leave supporters.

 John McDonnell: We want another election not another referendum

The EU Withdrawal Bill, currently before Parliament, will scrap the 2011 Act  but until it does, the case will argue, the UK is negotiating a deal with the EU under existing British law.

Eloise Todd, the head of Best for Britain, said: The 2011 Act brought in assurances that any significant changes to the UK's relationship with the EU would be put to a peoples vote.

This case is about giving people the right to make sure their voice matters on the biggest change in our countrys direction since the Second World War.

Labour peer and former cabinet minister Andrew Adonis added: The Government is trying to pull a fast one and repeal their existing legal obligation to hold a referendum on the Brexit deal without anyone noticing.

Well, people have noticed  and I will be seeking to stop this dishonest move in the House of Lords later this month.

The High Court move will use the tactic that gave activist Gina Miller her landmark victory, which required Parliament to authorise the triggering of the Article 50 exit clause.

It will make the point that Brexit will give the EU the final say over whether Britain can remain membership of various EU bodies  over medicines, transport and chemicals  which Ms May wants to stay part of.

The move came as the Chancellor declined to say that Brexit is worth it, as he insisted the Government had yet to model the economic effects of its hoped-for exit deal.

The British people have decided that we are leaving the European Union and that is what we are doing. Our job is to make sure that we get the best possible deal for Britain, Philip Hammond told the BBC Andrew Marr Show.

The Government has dismissed its own leaked forecasts warning of a severe economic hit from leaving the EU, on the basis they did not model the preferred outcome.

Asked if that exit deal Britain is seeking has been studied by Treasury officials, Mr Hammond said: Not yet  we havent even embarked on the negotiation yet.Collapsed outsourcing firm Carillion shelled out 6.4m to advisers the day before it pleaded for an emergency 10m loan from the Government, it has been revealed today.

The huge handout  to private consultants and law firms  lays bare the cynical leadership of the Carillion board, said the head of the Commons business committee, which is investigating the debacle.

Expensive advisers still pocketed millions while workers risked losing jobs and long-suffering suppliers faced financial ruin, Rachel Reeves said.

Frank Field, chair of the Work and Pensions Committee, said Philip Green, Carillions chairman, had pleaded for the bailout with the company teetering on the abyss.

He added: I am not surprised the Government took with a pinch of salt his assurances that all would be reimbursed once he had unscrambled the eggs.

Earlier letters uncovered by the business and Work and Pensions committees, which are holding a joint inquiry, suggested 3.1m was paid out as the emergency loan was sought.

But new information received from the official receiver now shows that Carillion handed out more than twice that amount  a total of 6.4m.

The largest sum was paid to Ernst and Young, one of the big four accounting firms (2.5m), with the other largest payments to Slaughter and May (1.2m), FTI Consulting (1m) and Lazard and Co (0.5m).

 Peter Kyle MP to Carillion auditors 'I wouldn't let you audit the contents of my fridge'

The fees were paid on Friday 12 January as Mr Green and chief executive Keith Cochrane were trying to persuade ministers to prop up the stricken construction and services giant.

Their appeal for help was rejected over the weekend and Carillion called in liquidators the following Monday morning, with more than 1,450 workers losing their jobs.

The committees have published a final request letter, sent by Mr Green on 13 January, which said the loan would be at extremely modest cost to HM Government.

It will not be a bailout, and there can be no basis for saying that Carillion  or its shareholders or management  is being rewarded for failure or for past mistakes, the letter reads.

Mr Green said the previous senior management team have all exited the business and argued the key beneficiaries of a restructuring will be our employees.

Mr Field added: The most troubling element of this letter is its demands for an immediate 10m from taxpayers, the very next day after Carillion shelled out 6.4m to its illustrious advisers, including the EY restructuring gravy train and half the law firms in the City of London.

The smaller suppliers that are the lifeblood of the British economy of course got no such treatment.

Carillion unravelled rapidly after a profit warning last July, when it said problem contracts would cost it 845m in writedowns.

A business review by FTI, published by the committee earlier, said the firm used accounting treatments to make its position appear rosier, rather than tackle underlying problems with its contracts and balance sheet.

Its collapse has triggered a furious political row into why the firm was handed new public contracts even after issuing multiple profit warnings.

Labour has unveiled tougher rules to strip outsourced contracts from rogue suppliers, making it easier to designate private firms with state contracts as high risk if they fail to deliver on a range of behaviour.Philip Hammond has refused a plea by the widow of murdered Alexander Litvinenko for the Tories to pay back more than 820,000 donated by Russian oligarchs, insisting the cash is legitimate.

The Chancellor also denied the Kremlin is laughing at us over Britains response to the killing and the suspicion that Russia was also involved in the poisoning of double agent Sergei Skripal.

Marina Litvinenko called for the return of the Russian cash  given since Theresa May became Prime Minister  saying: You need to be very careful who you are friends with.

But Mr Hammond insisted there were very strict rules surrounding donations, which could only come from British citizens and were carefully vetted.

There are people in this country who are British citizens who are of Russian origin. I dont think we should taint them, or should tar them with Putins brush, he said.

Speaking on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show, Ms Litvinenko said the Prime Minister had broken her pledge  in a personal letter she brandished  to do everything to prevent a repeat of her husbands murder.

But the Chancellor insisted: Nobody is laughing at us. This is a very serious investigation that is going on, lets see where it leads us.

 Tory MP Tom Tugendhat: England fans at World Cup in Russia may be targeted as a result of reprisals for Skripal

It was reported that Russian oligarchs and their associates have registered donations of more than 820,000 to the Tories since the summer of 2016.

Ms May promised to distance her party from Russian donors when she took office, her allies briefing that she would sup with a long spoon and reject a business-as-usual relationship with Moscow.

The Tories have received more than 3m from Russian billionaires and lobbyists for Moscow since their return to government in 2010.

And one of the most controversial donors paid the party more in a year under Ms May than in six years under David Cameron, the paper reported.

Lubov Chernukhin, the wife of a former Putin minister, handed the party 253,950 in the year to September 2017, Electoral Commission figures show, and bid 30,000 to have dinner with Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary.

In her interview, Ms Litvinenko warned the lesson was not learned, more than a decade after her husband, an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin, was fatally poisoned.

 Russian spy latest: Hundreds of Salisbury pub-goers and diners told to wash possessions after traces of nerve agent found

A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that the killing of the Russian dissident had probably been carried out with the approval of the Russian president.

Ms Litvinenko was speaking as Mr Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia remain in hospital following the suspected nerve agent attack in Salisbury a week ago.

Detectives have yet to identify who was responsible, but Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson triggered a diplomatic row by pointing the figure at the Kremlin - something rejected by the Russian Embassy.

Ms Litvinenko showed a letter, sent to her by Ms May, when Home Secretary, promising to continue to pursue justice over the murder, to ensure no repeat.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 10 September 2021 People paddle board during a misty morning in Ullswater, the second largest lake in the Lake District, Cumbria PA UK news in pictures 9 September 2021 Troops from Wiltshire based 4 Armoured Close Support Battalion Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers during final inspection at Wellington Barracks in London, ahead of providing troops for the Queens Guard PA UK news in pictures 8 September 2021 Workers cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London Reuters UK news in pictures Mixing it up: Painting it up press view in London A gallery employee poses for photographers next to a painting entitled Prairie by British artist, Louise Giovanelli during the exhibition 'Mixing it up: Painting it up' at the Hayward Gallery in London EPA UK news in pictures 6 September 2021 Traders in the Ring at the London Metal Exchange, in the City of London, after open-outcry trading returned for the first time since March 2020, when the Ring was temporarily closed due to the pandemic PA UK news in pictures 5 September 2021 People enjoy the warm weather on Sandbanks beach, Poole PA UK news in pictures 4 September 2021 Demonstrators from Animal Rebellion and Nature Rebellion protest in Trafalgar Square in London. 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PA UK news in pictures 1 September 2021 Goldfinches fighting over food in a garden in Strensham, Worcestershire PA UK news in pictures 31 August 2021 Gold Medallist Sarah Storey of Britain celebrates on the podium Reuters UK news in pictures 30 August 2021 Extinction Rebellion protesters hold a a tea party on Tower Bridge in London EPA UK news in pictures 29 August 2021 A police office tussles with a demonstrator on Cromwell Road outside the Natural History Museum during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion in London PA UK news in pictures 28 August 2021 Members of the British armed forces 16 Air Assault Brigade walk to the air terminal after disembarking a Royal Airforce Voyager aircraft at Brize Norton, Oxfordshire POOL/AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 27 August 2021 Fabio Quartararo crashes during a MotoGP practice session at the British Grand Prix, Silverstone Circuit Action Images via Reuters UK news in pictures 26 August 2021 An Extinction Rebellion activist holds a placard in a fountain surrounded by police officers, during a protest next to Buckingham Palace in London Reuters UK news in pictures 25 August 2021 Gold Medallist Great Britains cyclist, Sarah Storey, celebrates after winning the Womens C5 3000m Individual Pursuit Final at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games. It was her 15th Paralympic gold Reuters UK news in pictures 24 August 2021 A demonstrator dressed as bee during a protest by members of Extinction Rebellion on Whitehall, in central London PA UK news in pictures 23 August 2021 Former interpreters for the British forces in Afghanistan demonstrate outside the Home Office in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 22 August 2021 Police officers form a line in front of the entrance to the Guildhall, London, where protesters have climbed onto a ledge above the entrance during an Extinction Rebellion stage a protest PA UK news in pictures 21 August 2021 People take part in a demonstration in solidarity with people of Afghanistan, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 20 August 2021 People zip wire across the sea from Bournemouth pier towards the beach. PA UK news in pictures 19 August 2021 Supporters of Geronimo the alpaca gather outside Shepherds Close Farm in Wooton Under Edge, Gloucestershire PA UK news in pictures 18 August 2021 Former Afghan interpreters and veterans hold a demonstration outside Downing Street, calling for support and protection for Afghan interpreters and their families PA UK news in pictures 17 August 2021 Military personnel board the RAF Airbus A400M at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire, where evacuation flights from Afghanistan have been landing Reuters UK news in pictures 16 August 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer takes part in a minute's silence at Wolverhampton police station for the victims of the Plymouth mass shooting last week PA UK news in pictures 15 August 2021 2Storm, a ten-metre tall puppet of a mythical goddess of the sea created by Edinburgh-based visual theatre company Vision Mechanics, makes its way alongside the seafront at North Berwick, East Lothian, during a performance at the Fringe By The Sea festival PA UK news in pictures 14 August 2021 A woman and two young girls look at floral tributes in Plymouth where six people, including the offender, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident PA UK news in pictures 13 August 2021 Forensic officers in the Keyham area of Plymouth where six people, including the shooter, died of gunshot wounds in a firearms incident on Thursday evening PA UK news in pictures 12 August 2021 Children ride horses in the River Eden in Appleby, Cumbria, during the annual gathering of travellers for the Appleby Horse Fair PA UK news in pictures 11 August 2021 Stella Moris (left) reacts after talking to the media outside the High Court in London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal, n London, following the first hearing in the Julian Assange extradition appeal. The US government has won the latest round in its High Court bid to appeal against the decision not to extradite Julian Assange on espionage charges PA UK news in pictures 10 August 2021 Students react after they receive their A-Level results at the Ark Academy, in London Reuters UK news in pictures 9 August 2021 The final athletes from Great Britain arrive home including Jason Kenny, Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald (front left-right) at Heathrow Airport, London following the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games PA UK news in pictures 8 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Olympic stadium in Japan PA UK news in pictures 7 August 2021 People from the Glasgow Southside community take part in the Govanhill Carnival, an anti-racist celebration of pride, unity and the contributions immigrants have made to the community in Govanhill, at Queen's Park, Glasgow PA UK news in pictures 6 August 2021 Chijindu Ujah of Britain, Zharnel Hughes of Britain, Richard Kilty of Britain and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake of Britain celebrate winning silver as they pose with Asha Philip of Britain, Imani Lansiquot of Britain, Dina Asher-Smith of Britain and Daryll Neita of Britain after they won bronze in the women's 4 x 100m relay during Olympic Games Day 14 Getty UK news in pictures 5 August 2021 A protester places flowers on a photograph of an executed man during a demonstration organised by supporters of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) to protest against the inauguration of Iran's new president Ebrahim Raisi in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 4 August 2021 England's Joe Root looks on as India's KL Rahul doesn't make it to a catch during day one of Cinch First Test match at Trent Bridge, Nottingham PA UK news in pictures 3 August 2021 Great Britain's Laura Kenny and Jason Kenny with their silver medals for the Women's Team Pursuit and Mens Team Sprint during the Track Cycling at the Izu Velodrome on the eleventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 2 August 2021 Great Britains Charlotte Worthington competes during the Womens BMX Freestyle Final at the Tokyo Olympics PA UK news in pictures 1 August 2021 EPA UK news in pictures 31 July 2021 James Guy, Adam Peaty and Kathleen Dawson celebrate winning the gold medal in the mixed 4x100m medley relay final at the Tokyo Olympics AP UK news in pictures 30 July 2021 Great Britain's Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte celebrate their Gold and Silver medals respectively for the Cycling BMX Racing at the Ariake Urban Sports Park on the seventh day of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan PA UK news in pictures 29 July 2021 Team GB's Mallory Franklin during the Womens Canoe Slalom Final on day six of the Tokyo Olympic Games. 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But she said: Unfortunately it happened again and the lesson after the murder of my husband was not learned.

We understand the relationship between two countries such as Russia and the UK need to be at a high level.

But we know Russia never supported the investigation into the killing of my husband, nobody was punished and people who were the killers of my husband were not even suspects.Theresa May has come under pressure to plan strong retaliation against Russia over the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal, ahead of security talks with the Cabinet and after a fresh warning to people in Salisbury.

MPs and the widow of murdered dissident Alexander Litvinenko both demanded a tougher stance against Vladimir Putin, as the finger of suspicion continued to point to a Kremlin plot.

A meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) on Monday is expected to see senior ministers also call for an agreement to beef up Britains response.

In the Wiltshire city, hundreds of diners and pub-goers were told to wash their clothing and possessions, after traces of the nerve agent used to poison the double agent and his daughter were found.

Anyone who was in The Mill pub between 1.30pm last Sunday and 11.10pm on Monday, or the nearby Zizzi restaurant between 1.30pm on Sunday and 9pm on Monday, was urged to follow the advice.

Senior ministers, led by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, are expected to use the special meeting of the NSC to urge stronger measures, despite no confirmation that Russia was responsible for the nerve-agent attack.

Mr Johnson accused Russia of acts of war in an inflammatory Commons statement last week, to the fury of its leaders who have denied any involvement in the attack on the countrys former intelligence officer.

The Prime Minister, who chairs the NSC, is reported to have silenced Mr Johnson in Cabinet last Tuesday when he said Russia was responsible  but he is thought to have Gavin Williamson, the Defence Secretary, among his allies.

They are likely to be emboldened by criticism of British timidity by the widow of murdered Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko, who accused Ms May of broken promises.

Marina Litvinenko produced a letter, sent to her by Ms May, when Home Secretary, promising to continue to pursue justice, to ensure no repeat of her husbands killing on British soil.

Unfortunately, it happened again and the lesson after the murder of my husband was not learned, she told the BBCs Andrew Marr Show.

Ms Litvinenko called for the return of more than 820,000 donated to the Tory party by Russian oligarchs, since Ms May came to power, saying: You need to be very careful who you are friends with.

But Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, refused the plea  insisting the cash was legitimate and denying the Kremlin was laughing at us over Britains response to the Litvinenko killing and the Salisbury poisoning.

He will attend the NSC meeting and warned: If there were to be an involvement of a foreign state, evidenced by this investigation, then obviously that would be very serious indeed and the government would respond appropriately.

Meanwhile, Labour and Tory rebels accused the Government of dragging its heels on a British version of the US Magnitsky Act, to target foreigners involved in human rights abuses.

The 2012 American legislation was designed to punish Russian officials involved in the suspicious death in a Russian jail of the lawyer Sergei Magnitsky while he was investigating official corruption.

Labour claimed the Government halted an expected three-hour committee last month after just 25 minutes, fearing a vote on amending sanctions legislation would be lost.

Conservative MPs seeking to insert Magnitsky amendments into the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Bill said ministers were resisting a key element necessary to ensure the law was actually used.

In Salisbury, the authorities were forced to defend issuing the new guidance to residents, one week after Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, were found on a bench in the city.

Both remain in Salisbury District Hospital in a critical, but stable condition, as efforts continue to establish beyond reasonable doubt who carried out the devastating nerve agent attack.

Dr Jenny Harries, joint director of Public Health England, told a press conference: This is about a very, very small risk of repetitive contact with traces of contamination that people may have taken out.

The advice were giving today about washing clothes  very simple things ... that will remove that risk as we go forward.

Up to 500 people in either The Mill pub or the Zizzi restaurant, between Sunday lunchtime and Monday night, were also urged to double-bag clothing earmarked for dry cleaning and wipe personal effects such as mobile phones, purses and wallets with baby wipes.

Wiltshire Police also told residents not to be alarmed after the military removed a number of vehicles and objects from in and around Salisbury.

Troops, including Royal Marines, were supported by firefighters, police and medics in the now-familiar hazmat suits and gas masks, in the biggest military operation yet.

A military forklift truck was used to lift cars onto the back of low-loader trucks, where they were covered before the military removed them from the scene.

Mondays meeting of the NSC will be the first to discuss the poisonings in Salisbury, bringing together senior cabinet ministers with the heads of MI5, MI6 and GCHQ.Donald Trump has said he believes North Koreas promise not to test nuclear weapons while the proposed meeting with his counterpart Kim Jong-un takes place.

On Twitter, he wrote: North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honour that commitment!

Mr Trumps comments came after he took many by surprise by accepting an invitation to meet with Mr Kim later this year. It remains unclear whether the meeting will take place and a location it yet to be decided.

North Korea has indicated it plans to refrain from testing missiles and nuclear weapons during talks with the US, according to South Koreas National Security Advisor Chung Eui-Yong, who was speaking after officials from the South met with the North.

During his first year in office, Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised North Korea, which has launched a series of intercontinental ballistic missiles and conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test.

The leaders have regularly exchanged insults, with Mr Trump referring to the North Korean leader as Little Rocket Man and threatening the country with fire and fury like the world has never seen.

Mr Kim responded by calling Mr Trump a dotard.

Since the talks were announced, Mr Trump has maintained a positive tone about a potential resolution to the hostilities between the two nations.

 North Korea indicates it could give up nuclear weapons, according to the South

Speaking at a rally in Pennsylvania, he urged the crowd not to boo when Kim Jong-Uns name was mentioned.

When the jeers began, Mr Trump said: No, its very positive ... no, after the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice because lets see what happens, lets see what happens.

Many were less convinced that the meeting would go to plan, with some responding to Mr Trumps positive tweet on social media with comments including You are naive! and Youre being played.

No US President has ever met with a leader of North Korea while in office.

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. 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Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. 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 two countries do not have diplomatic relations and officials suggested it could take longer to arrange such a meeting than the intended month of May.

Samantha Vinograd, a national security official under former President Barack Obama, said: There is no way that President Trump can be ready, by May, to have a high stakes negotiation on denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, its just impossible.

Mr Trump also posted another message on Twitter, knocking the medias response to the meeting plans.

He wrote: In the first hours after hearing that North Koreas leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearisation and that missile launches will end, the press was startled and amazed. They couldnt believe it.

But by the following morning the news became FAKE. They said so what, who cares!

He has also said that sanctions against North Korea would remain in place, despite the plans to meet.

Agencies contributed to this report.A mother made her young children walk more than four miles to school after they were rude to their bus driver.

The unnamed woman, from Harrow, in the Canadian province of Ontario, gave her children a cardboard sign to carry during the two-hour trek in snowy conditions.

It bore the words: Being bad and rude to our bus driver! Moms makin us walk."

Recommended Republican Senate candidate claims he was blocked from Facebook

Her creative punishment was shared more than 38,000 times on social media after she posted her parenting method on Facebook.

My boys have been bad for their bus driver and I got a call from the school yesterday that drew a line for me, she wrote. So this morning we did a 7km walk to show them what every day will be like for them when they get kicked off the bus.

S*** just got real for them. 2 hours later they made it.

The post also received more than 28,000 likes. Hundreds of people wrote that they approved her mothers actions.

Yup, thats the way to do it!!! Good job! wrote one commenter, Omg ur the best, added another.

However, Tina Gatt, manager of community outreach for the local Windsor-Essex branch of non-profit organisation the Childrens Aid Society (CAS), was less impressed with the punishment.

(Facebook (Facebook)

Having the children walk to school showed them the logical consequence of their bad behaviour and could be seen as a reasonable punishment, she told the Canadian Broadcasting Company.

But she said shaming the youngsters on social media was not constructive, she added.

"I don't want to judge or pretend to know all of the nuances of this situation with this parent," she said. But its something to consider when we think about putting signs on kids that says what the bad behaviour is and putting them in a position where you take their picture and put it on social 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

"We would be concerned, and not just Children's Aid, we should be concerned as adults, about shaming children."

The mother reportedly contacted the CAS to share her side of the story after some raised concerns about her Facebook post.

Ms Gatt refused to confirm whether the woman had been in contact with the child welfare organisation.Donald Trump has said that America should consider giving drug dealers the death penalty after claiming that some are killing thousands of people and not even going to prison.

While addressing crowds at a rally in Pennsylvania, the President claimed that countries like Singapore and China have lower recorded rates of drug crimes because of the punishments they enact.

You kill one person, you get the death penalty in many states, or you get life imprisonment, he said. Mr Trump claimed the only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness, adding: These people are killing our kids and theyre killing our families, and we have to do somethingI think its a discussion that we have to start thinking about.

A drug dealer will kill 2,000, 3,000, 5,000 people in the course of his or her livesyou can kill thousands of people and go to jail for 30 days, the president said during the rally.

And then you wonder why we have a problem  thats why we have a problem, folks, and I dont think we should play games, Mr Trump said, before latter adding: I dont know if this countrys ready for it

 Donald Trump 'agrees to meet Kim Jong-un by May' to discuss denuclearisation

The President spoke to supporters for more than an hour in Moon Township, at the rally to support Republican House candidate Rick Saccone.

He is in a tight race against Democrat Conor Lamb, a former Marine and federal prosecutor whos never run for office before, ahead of Tuesdays election.

Mr Saccone spoke before Mr Trump went on stage, with a tweet containing the single word epic being published and swiftly deleted from the Presidents official account a minute before he appeared.

He touted his decision to put heavy tariffs on steel and aluminium imports, claiming were saving the steel and that both steel and aluminium are back.

Mr Trump also congratulated himself for deciding to meet the North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un, telling the crowd to be nice when they started booing at the mention of his name.

He said he believes the totalitarian state wants to achieve peace, following escalating nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and blamed previous administrations for failing to stop its weapons programmes.

Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Show all 29 1 /29 Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump acknowledges the audience after taking the oath of office as his wife Melania (L) and daughter Tiffany watch during inauguration ceremonies swearing in Trump as the 45th president of the United States on the West Front of the US capital in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jim Bourg: "This photo was shot with one of two remote cameras. The cameras were monitored and triggered remotely and the pictures were transmitted to clients worldwide within minutes of being taken." Reuters/Jim Bourg Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Obama farewell address - 10 January 2017 US President Barack Obama wipes away tears as he delivers his farewell address in Chicago on 10 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "In his final days in office, Obama made a visit home to Chicago. As he spoke from the stage to his wife and daughter in the audience, he became emotional when he talked about what they had sacrificed during his time in office. I turned from photographing the Obama women embracing to find him onstage wiping away tears." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inauguration - 20 January 2017 A combination of photos shows the crowds attending the inauguration ceremonies to swear in U.S. President Donald Trump at 12:01pm (left) on January 20, 2017 and President Barack Obama sometime between 12:07pm and 12:26pm on January 20, 2009. Reuters/ Lucas Jackson/Stelios Varias Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Liberty Ball - 20 January 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attend the Liberty Ball in honour of his inauguration in Washington on 20 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "What I see when I look at this picture is the end of a very long day, not to mention weeks and months of preparation by many photographers, editors and network experts and the beginning of everything since." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception - 22 January 2017 US President Donald Trump greets Director of the FBI James Comey as Director of the Secret Service Joseph Clancy (L), watches during the Inaugural Law Enforcement Officers and First Responders Reception in the Blue Room of the White House on 22 January, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "I have covered the White House for 16 years and normally either the President or the pool is in position when an event starts. In this case the President was not where anyone expected him to be. In fact, he was almost blocking the door when the pool came in. We had to scramble to find a position without bumping him or the furniture as he greeted and thanked members of law enforcement for their security efforts during the inauguration. Luckily, he greeted FBI Director James Comey a few seconds after the pool had made its way into the room." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Private phone calls to world leaders - 28 January 2017 US President Donald Trump, is joined by his staff, as he speaks by phone with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in the Oval Office on 28 January, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Very early in the Trump administration, weekends were as busy as weekdays. On Trump's second Saturday the official schedule said he would be making private phone calls to a number of world leaders including Russia's Vladimir Putin. I arrived early and, before sitting down at my desk walked up to Press Secretary Sean Spicer's office. He, too, was just taking his coat off. I gingerly made the suggestion that previous administrations had sometimes allowed photos of such phone calls through the Oval Office windows on the colonnade. To my mild shock, he didn't even think about it twice. "We'll do it!" he said. In truth, I really only expected the Putin call, but we were outside the windows multiple times throughout the day as the calls went on." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway - 27 February 2017 Senior advisor Kellyanne Conway (L) attends as US President Donald Trump welcomes the leaders of dozens of historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) in the Oval Office on 27 February, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "We're often asked how much access we have to the Trump administration, and the answer is we have an awful lot. President Trump himself is very comfortable in the spotlight, and his aides are similarly unfazed by cameras. In this instance, senior advisor Kellyanne Conway was so comfortable in our presence she seemed not to consider the optics of kneeling on a Oval Office sofa to take pictures with her phone." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Angela Merkel heads to Washington - 17 March 2017 Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel and US President Donald Trump hold a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House on 17 March, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Chancellor Merkel made one of the earliest important visits of any US allies to meet Trump in his first months in office. When world leaders give joint news conferences they don't always tend to give each other their full attention - but Merkel watched Trump intently at several key moments, and here seemed particularly rapt." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump welcomes truckers to the White House - 23 March 2017 President Trump reacts as he sits on a truck while he welcomes truckers and CEOs to attend a meeting regarding healthcare at the White House on 23 March, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "The White House organised a listening session with truckers and CEO's of major American companies, regarding healthcare reform. An 18-wheeler tow truck was parked on the South Lawn of the White House and as Trump welcomed the truckers someone invited the him to come and sit in the driver's seat. Trump jumped into the cab and started yelling and pretending to drive - creating one of the most memorable pictures of the year. A lesson learned, always be prepared for the unexpected." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 6 April 2017 US President Donald Trump talks to journalists members of the travel pool on board the Air Force One during his trip to Palm Beach, Florida on 6 April, 2017. Carlos Barria: "During the many trips to President Trump's residence in Florida it is usual to see the president coming to the back of the plane to chat with journalists. During one of the trips to the so called 'Winter White House', Trump had a long talk with reporters while the Air Force One entertainment system was playing one of the latest Star Wars movies. As I was listening to Trump talk I was also looking at the movie waiting for a part of the movie to frame the mood of the day. Of the many scenes, I choose the one with Darth Vader." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump speaks during an interview with Reuters in the Oval Office of the White House on 27 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "A day before President Trump's hundred days in office I was part of the team that interviewed the commander-in-chief in the Oval Office. I was only allowed to photograph Trump during the last five minutes of the interview. The time was very tight so I had to move fast as I had pictures in mind that I wanted to shoot. I walked into the Oval Office and saw that the President had printed maps of the country showing areas in red where he won. I raised my hands holding my camera as high as possible to get the best view of the scene using a 16mm wide angle lens." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures 100 Days - 27 April 2017 US President Donald Trump reacts as he arrives at Harrisburg international airport, before attending a rally marking his first 100 days in office in Pennsylvania on 29 April, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania to celebrate his hundred days in office with a victory rally. He was in friendly territory as he won with a big difference over his opponent Hillary Clinton in Pennsylvania, during the November elections. As usual when the commander-in-chief arrives local residents gather to greet him. This time a small group of military personnel attended the arrival. Surrounded by secret service agents Trump walked from the Air Force One and raised his hand in a sign of victory as the crowd cheered him on." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 2 May 2017 White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer (L) and White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus watch as US President Donald Trump presents the U.S. Air Force Academy football team with the Commander-in-Chief trophy in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington on 2 May, 2017. Photographer Joshua Roberts: "Covering the White House does not just mean covering the President. White House staffers are an important part of the story and their relationship with the President and each other is an indicator of how things are going in the West Wing. The tendency is to focus exclusively on the President once an event starts but I always try to look around to see how people are reacting as things unfold." Reuters/Joshua Roberts Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Secret Service - 4 May 2017 Secret Service agents use a presidential limousine as cover from spraying water as US President Donald Trump lands via Marine One helicopter in New York on 4 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "The best part of any trip to New York City with the sitting US President is the helicopter ride into Manhattan. The ride out at night can be stunning. Here, Secret Service agents protect themselves from the spray from the East River as Trump lands on the helipad." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures NATO Summit - 25 May 2017 US President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump wait the arrival of French President Emmanuel Macron (unseen) before a lunch ahead of a NATO Summit in Brussels on 25 May, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "One of the best parts of travelling overseas for White House coverage is the chance to see the U.S. president in different environments and (literally) a different light. Here, Trump and his wife came out of the shadows to greet France's President Macron." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump meets Putin at G20 summit - 7 July 2017 US President Donald Trump meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin during their bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany on 7 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "On July 7, I witnessed one of the most important meetings of President Trump's first year in office. Trump met Russian President Vladimir Putin during a bilateral meeting at the G20 summit in Germany. The world's eyes were on these two leaders after speculation about Russian interference during the 2016 US elections. We entered the room for less than two minutes, where I took dozens of pictures. But there was this very interesting moment when Trump extended his hand to Putin for a handshake. Putin paused for a second and looked at Trump's hand. That was the picture that I was looking for, a little moment that seemed to say a lot." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures First lady - 8 July 2017 First lady Melania Trump chats with US President Donald Trump during their return from Germany at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland on 8 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "After President Trump's trip to Germany he arrived back at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. First Lady Melania Trump said goodbye to Trump as she was heading off in a different direction that day. While chatting a breeze blew Melania's hair up in the air." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Made in America product showcase - 17 July 2017 Vice President Mike Pence laughs as President Donald Trump holds a baseball bat as they attend a Made in America product showcase event at the White House on 17 July, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "This summer the White House organized an event to showcase 'Made in America' products. All kinds of exhibitors brought their products as the President and Vice President toured the event. One of the companies was Marucci Sport, a manufacturer of baseball bats based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. As Trump approached a table full of baseball bats, photographers at the event, including me, rushed to get a good angle hoping that he would pick up a bat. As we predicted, he did. He took one and joked around as though he was hitting something hard. The only thing closer to him right there, was the media." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House staffers - 25 July 2017 Former campaign manager Corey Lewandowski says hello to reporters as he and White House advisors including Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci accompany President Trump for an event celebrating veterans at AMVETS Post 44 in Ohio, July 25, 2017. Jonathan Ernst: "The most visible person in any White House is naturally the President, followed by the press secretary. But there are also the staff who support them. For those of us covering the Trump administration, there seem to be more compelling figures in the West Wing than ever before. It's crucial to know who's who and why they're important. When I raised my camera and back-pedalled ahead of the group to take this image Lewandowski gave me a hello. I liked the photo, but had no idea it would go a little bit viral, especially since Scaramucci, who was the biggest mover and shaker that week, was hidden back in the pack. But I guess the image catches a glimpse of what it's like to be a West Wing staffer on the road." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Campaign rally - 3 August 2017 US President Donald Trump arrives at a rally in West Virginia on 3 August, 2017. Photographer Carlos Barria: "President Trump travelled to Huntington for one of his usual campaign rallies. While members of his family spoke to the crowd he was waiting under a black curtain to be introduced. Suddenly he walked onto the stage, one of the first frames that I took was of his hand. I set my exposure for the light on the stage hoping to create this dark background and it worked." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Staring into the solar eclipse - 21 August 2017 Without his protective glasses on, US President Donald Trump looks up towards the solar eclipse while viewing with his wife Melania and son Barron at the White House on 21 August, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "On a day when everyone, and I mean everyone, was told not to look at the eclipse without protective glasses, Trump, President of the United States, couldn't help himself." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Harvey - 2 September 2017 US President Donald Trump poses for a photo as he and first lady Melania Trump help volunteers hand out meals during a visit with flood survivors of Hurricane Harvey at a relief centre in Houston, Texas on 2 September, 2017. Photohrapher Kevin Lamarque: "Trump, eager to deliver the image of a hands-on response to Hurricane Harvey, made this visit to a relief centre and obliged this woman with a selfie as Melania continued to work." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures White House - 15 September 2017 Donald Trump welcomes 11-year-old Frank Giaccio as he cuts the Rose Garden grass at the White House on 15 September. Frank, who wrote a letter to Trump offering to mow the lawn, was invited to work for a day at the White House along the National Park Service staff. Frank was so focused on his task that he did not notice the President arrive to surprise him. He took his father jumping in to grab his attention and point Trump out. Photographer Carlos Barria said: The image of Trump shouting at a kid who is mowing his lawn might have many interpretations in today's politically polarized United States. But for me it was just a kid who loved what he was doing, to the point he almost appeared to ignore the President." Reuters/Carlos Barria Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Take a knee - 27 September 2017 A man kneels with a folded U.S. flag as the motorcade of U.S. President Donald Trump passes him after an event at the state fairgrounds in Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S., September 27, 2017. In September, soon after Trump had made comments condemning NFL players who kneel during the national anthem, he made a day trip to a rally in Indianapolis. Jonathan Ernst managed to capture a man on one knee with a tri-folded flag and was able to use a portion of the sign on the building he was kneeling in front of to track the man down and tell his story in full. US Army veteran Marvin Boatright wanted to send a message against social injustice. Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Hurricane Maria - 3 October 2017 President Donald Trump throws rolls of paper towels into a crowd of local residents affected by Hurricane Maria as he visits Calgary Chapel in San Juan, Puerto Rico on 3 October, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "During an afternoon visit to Puerto Rico for President Trump to survey damage from Hurricane Maria and greet some of its victims, Trump made a stop at a church where food and supplies were being distributed. Among the items were paper towels and Trump, apparently caught up in the moment, decided to distribute some of the rolls." Reuters Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Jared Kushner - 1 November 2017 White House Senior adviser Jared Kushner sits behind President Trump during a cabinet meeting in Washington on 1 November, 2017. Photographer Kevin Lamarque: "The role of Jared Kushner has gone through a series of changes. He began front and centre as a high profile adviser, but as time has passed and issues surrounding him have surfaced, he has become more of a background figure." Reuters/Kevin Lamarque Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Trump in China - 9 November 2017 Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping shake hands after making joint statements at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on 9 November, 2017. Photographer Damir Sagolj: "It's one of those "how to make a better or at least different shot when two presidents shake hands several times a day, several days in row". If I'm not mistaken in calculation, presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump shook their hands at least six times in events I covered during Trump's recent visit to China. I would imagine there were some more handshakes I haven't seen but other photographers did. And they all look similar - two big men, smiling and heartily greeting each other until everyone gets their shot. But then there is always something that can make it special - in this case the background made of US and Chinese flags. The first time it didn't work for me. The second time I positioned myself lower and centrally, and used the longest lens I have to capture only hands reaching for a handshake." Reuters/Damir Sagolj Donald Trump's first year: in pictures Air Force One - 10 November 2017 US President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to depart for Vietnam from Beijing Airport in Beijing, China, November 10, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "There is a Reuters photographer in the tight pool covering the US president for every appearance he makes 365 days a year. This was just one of 32 images of mine that were transmitted on the Reuters wire of President Trump visiting China and Vietnam that day. You never know when a sudden interaction, a gust of wind or a unique facial expression will lead to a striking image that grabs peoples' attention." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst Donald Trump's first year: in pictures ASEAN handshake - 13 November 2017 Donald Trump registers his surprise as he realises other leaders, including Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Vietnam's Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte and Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, are crossing their arms for the traditional "ASEAN handshake" as he participates in the opening ceremony of the summit in Manila on 13 November, 2017. Photographer Jonathan Ernst: "Having covered a few ASEAN summits, I knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. Not everyone in the room knew to expect the ASEAN handshake. A lot was written about this unscripted moment, and what deeper meaning it might have. The simple truth is that sometimes in life there are unscripted moments." Reuters/Jonathan Ernst

Mr Trump claimed credit for Isis being driven out of 98 per cent of its former territory in Syria and Iraq, and for rises in some categories of employment figures.

The President also launched wide-ranging attacks on the press, calling CNN fake as hell and taking particular aim at the moderator of NBCs Meet the Press.

Sleepy eyes Chuck Todd, Mr Trump said. Hes a sleeping son of a bitch. Ill tell you.

Dont miss @MeetThePress tomorrow! Mr Todd replied on Twitter. I know folks may be tired in the morning due to springing forward, so set those clocks and DVRs now before your eyes get too sleepy.US President Donald Trump has taken the European Union to task for complaining about the Presidents proposed tariffs on imported steel and aluminium.

He tweeted that if the EU retaliates by placing higher tariffs on American goods, the US would tax cars etc. FAIR!

Mr Trump has proposed a 25 per cent tariff on steel and 10 per cent import duty on aluminium, and tweeted ahead of the formal announcement that trade wars are good and easy to win.

Recommended Donald Trump signs order imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium

Prior to signing the executive order on 9 March, surrounded by American steel workers, the President said that he promised great flexibility and cooperation toward those that are real friends and treat us fairly on both trade and the military.

In the wake of the initial announcement, Brussels trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said certain goods like cranberries, Florida orange juice, Levis jeans, Harley-Davidson motorcycles, peanut butter, Kentucky bourbon and whiskey are on a provisional list of goods that could see high tariffs as a retaliation.

Very soon that list will be public, so you will be able to plan your whiskey drinking, she said at a news conference.

President Trump has recently said trade wars are good and easy to win but the truth is quite the opposite. Trade wars are bad and easy to lose. For this reason I strongly believe that now is the time for politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to act responsibly, European Council President Donald Tusk said.

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister Theresa May added: "The [UK] Government has been clear that tariffs are not the right way to address the global problem of overcapacity, which requires a multilateral solution. We will work with EU partners to consider the scope for exemptions outlined today.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, the World Bank and The International Monetary Fund have all condemned the high tariffs on steel and aluminium.

 Liam Fox calls Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminium 'absurd'

Mr Trumps chief economic advisor Gary Cohn resigned over disputing the Presidents move to go ahead with the tariffs.

A spokesperson for House Speaker Paul Ryan, who has proven to be a fairly reliable ally to the President, said: The Speaker is hoping the President will consider the unintended consequences of this idea and look at other approaches before moving forward.

Mr Ryans home state of Wisconsin could be particularly hard hit by the tariffs, but politically he is also running against a Democratic candidate with ties to the labour unions who support the tariffs.

The tariff was also called a massive tax on American families by Republican Senator Ben Sasse, adding that protectionism is weak, not strong. Youd expect a policy this bad from a leftist administration, not a supposedly Republican one.

Mr Trumps America First foreign policy has centred on the idea that nearly every agreement or deal the US has entered in the last 15 years is unfair and unbalanced against the US and manufacturing industries like steel and coal, whose workers Mr Trump said would not experience betrayal any more after the tariffs go into effect in a few weeks.

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

It took heavy lobbying by world leaders and even fellow Republicans in Congress to get Mr Trump to agree to exempt Canada and Mexico, as negotiations for a revamped North American Free Trade Agreement continue.An image of former Vice President Joe Biden speaking with a homeless man in Washington DC has gone viral, being shared more than 100,000 times on Facebook.

The image was taken outside of an AMC cinema in Georgetown, with Mr Biden said to have been heading to see a film with his granddaughter, who was in the city visiting friends.

The photograph was taken by Caleb Baca on Thursday night, according to local television station Fox 5, but was posted into Facebook businessman Paul Equale, with that post being shared 103,000 times since it was posted on Friday - with more than 148,000 people reacting to it.

Mr Equale said in the post that A bystander took [the] candid shot. Speaking about Mr Biden, he added that character is about what you do when no one is watching.

I'm not exactly sure what he gave the homeless man, but he appeared to write something down on a piece of paper inside the movie theater, which he then proceeded to give the homeless man outside, Mr Baca told Fox 5.

Earlier in the week, Mr Biden was in Pennsylvania campaigning for Democrat Conor Lamb, who is battling Rick Saccone for a place in Congress in a special election in the Pennsylvanias 18th district. He said that Mr Lamb reminded him "of his son Beau".

Mr Saccone is backed by President Donald Trump, who called him a really good person in a rally in the state on Saturday.

There have been a number of reports in recent months that Mr Biden is still considering a run for the presidency in 2020. One such report by Politico, suggested that a number of scenarios were being discussed, including Mr Biden announcing his candidacy early enough to set the field of those who might oppose him, or late and miss the first two contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. The idea of campaigning on a one-term presidency has also been suggested, according to reports.President Donald Trump has attacked his critics and promoted his steel and aluminum tariffs while addressing a raucous rally for a Republican congressional candidate in a tight race.

Mr Trump's appearance was aimed at helping Republican Rick Saccone win against Democrat Conor Lamb in a district Mr Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016.

We need our Congressman Saccone, Mr Trump said. Hitting peak campaign mode himself ,Mr Trump even touted his planned 2020 slogan, Keep America Great!

Recommended Donald Trump says US should consider giving drug dealers death penalty

The people of Pittsburgh cannot be conned by this guy Lamb, Mr Trump said, dismissing Mr Lamb's efforts to run as a moderate Democrat. He's never going to vote for us. He can say, 'I love President Trump.' ... I don't want to meet him. I might like him.

But while he heartily endorsed Mr Saccone as a really good person, Mr Trump spent a lot of time talking about his own fortunes in a Make America Great Again rally in an airport hangar at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

He said it was crucial for Republicans to muster forces to turn back a strong Democratic drive to win one or both houses of the US Congress in November midterm elections.

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

We need Republicans. We need the vote, Mr Trump said, saying Democrats would take away, among other things, your Second Amendment rights to bear firearms.

Continuing his battle against the mainstream news media, Mr Trump insulted NBC News' Meet the Press host Chuck Todd and Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters.

Mr Trump said the country should discuss having drug dealers face the death penalty because they are responsible for thousands of deaths. I don't know if that's popular. I don't know if that's unpopular, he said.

 Donald Trump signs order imposing tariffs on steel and aluminium

A day after getting news that the US economy produced 313,000 jobs last month, Mr Trump said his policies are paying off. He said 25 per cent tariffs on steel imports will boost Pennsylvania's economy.

Critics say the tariffs could trigger retaliatory trade measures and damage the US economy. There are also doubts about how far Mr Trump's policies will go towards resuscitating the battered American steel industry. Your steel is coming back. It's all coming back, Mr Trump told several thousand cheering supporters.

The president vowed to fight any retaliatory trade measures by, for example, slapping taxes on imported European cars.

Mr Trump also said he hoped to run for re-election against Democrat Oprah Winfrey, although the entertainer has ruled out a run. I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness, said Mr Trump.

Mr Saccone is trying to win an election on Tuesday in Pennsylvania's 18th District to replace Republican Tim Murphy, who resigned last year while enmeshed in a sex scandal.

A Saccone loss would be the first loss of a Republican seat in the House of Representatives since Mr Trump took office in January 2017, although Republicans would still control of the chamber.

The race could signal how much help Mr Trump can provide Republican congressional candidates trying to keep control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm elections in November.

Typically the party that controls the White House loses seats in the US Congress in the first election after a new president takes office. Mr Trump hopes a strong economy and tax cuts enacted in December will help him beat the odds.

ReutersAn American news anchor who recently interviewed Vladimir Putin, has suggested that the Russian leader "has something" on Donald Trump.

Megyn Kelly said the US President hurled abuse at other premiers but was so nice" to Mr Putin over fears Moscow could publish damaging information about him.

Mr Putin dismissed the idea that the Mr Trump had singled him out for any preferential treatment, telling the NBC New host that, he merely showed a partner respect.

Kelly asked the Russian leader:Anytime he says anything about you, it is extremely deferential, never a harsh word for you, although if you look at the way he speaks about members of his own party, of his own staff, never mind other political leaders, he frequently, personally insults them. Why do you think hes so nice to you?

Mr Putin replied via an interpreter: "I dont believe he treats me personally with reverence. He understands that if you need to cooperate with someone you must treat your future or current partner with respect, otherwise nothing will come of it.

In a separate interview about her conversation with the Russian President, Kelly told MSNBC presenter Chris Matthews: I would not say that Putin likes Trump. I did not glean that at all from him. I did glean that perhaps he has something on Donald Trump.

She added: I think theres a very good chance Putin knows some things about Donald Trump that Mr. Trump does not want repeated publicly, she added.

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

Her comments came as the FBI continues to investigate possible collusion between Mr Trumps election campaign and Russian hackers, who are alleged to have stolen information linked to the campaign of his rival Hillary Clinton and passed it to Wikileaks so it could be released to undermine her.

A dossier by former British spy Christopher Steele ahead of the election claimed that Mr Trump had deep ties with Russia, and also that he was involved in lewd acts in a five-star hotel during a 2013 trip to Moscow.

The memo was given to an FBI inquiry which is investigating alleged collusion between the Kremlin and Mr Trumps election campaign.

The agency last month charged 13 Russian nationals and three internet companies in the country over claims they ran a social media campaign supporting Mr Trumps White House bid.

Mr Putin said so what over the claims, saying in the NBC interview that even if those charged were found guilty they had no links to the Kremlin.

He even suggested minorities in Russia might have been to blame, saying: Maybe theyre Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked.Japan has reportedly offered to pay more than 2m to fund any international inspection of North Koreas nuclear facilities in a bid to encourage the rogue country to ends its weapons programme.

Tokyo made the gesture after Pyongyang pledged to scrap its weapons and asked for direct talks with Donald Trump over the crisis.

The US President has agreed to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in a meeting expected to take place in May and the country has agreed to halt all further tests.

The first step for North Korea to end its missile programme would be to allow inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess its current nuclear facilities.

Japan has offered to pay Y300 million (2.02m) to help fund the work which has been estimated to cost up to 400 million (2.7m), the Japan Times reported, and to pay more if the bill rises.

Its foreign minister Taro Kono and IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano agreed in Vienna last month to work together more closely in the hopes of resuming the checks, the publication said.

The move is seen as an effort to stay in the loop after South Korea tabled talks between Mr Trump and the North over the missile crisis which has threatened war in the Asian region.

Mr Trump, earlier agreeing to the gathering, tweeted: Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!

The IAEA agency last carried out an assessment of the Pyongyangs nuclear facilities in 2009, when the country expelled its inspectors and resumed its atomic programme.

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

It has launched six nuclear tests to date, with the biggest last September when it exploded a hydrogen bomb that could in theory be loaded onto a long-range missile.

In 2017 North Korea test-fired 23 missiles, including launches of missiles fired over Japan, more than 1,000km away.Pro-choice campaigners are calling on 40,000 Irish people living abroad to return to home to vote in a landmark abortion referendum this summer.

Ireland does not allow overseas voting and the Home to Vote campaign is calling on people to book transport back ahead of the referendum, which is expected on 25 May.

Voters will decide whether women they would like to repeal article 40.3.3 of the constitution, known as the eighth amendment, which gives a mother and her unborn foetus equal right to life.

Recommended Irish government approves wording for abortion referendum

The amendment, which has been in place since 1983, bans abortion even in cases of rape or where a foetus has a fatal abnormality.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said if the referendum backs a change to the constitution, the Government will table legislation for unrestricted abortion in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Thousands of Irish voters returned ahead of the referendum on same-sex referendum in 2015 in which 62 per cent of the electorate chose to change the law.

Now, campaigners are hoping expats will return in droves to vote on abortion and have made a website with information about voter eligibility.

Polls indicate that Ireland will vote to repeal the eighth amendment. Young people in particular, who make up the majority of recent emigrants, favour overturning the law.

Mary Jane Fox, who recently moved to the UK, has said she will travel back for the poll.

Even though Im fresh off the boat in London, Ill be making the journey and encouraging everyone I know to go back too, she said.

Its ironic that so many Irish women are forced to make the same trip in reverse to have an abortion. I want to travel home to make sure this comes to an end.

According to official statistics, more than 30,000 Irish people emigrated between April 2016 and 2017. The Home to Vote Campaign estimates over 40,000 Irish people living abroad are able to vote in the referendum.French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has proposed her National Front party be renamed the National Rally  le Rassemblement National  in a bid to try to improve its image and to help facilitate alliances with other parties.

I propose that the National Front (FN) become the National Rally (Rassemblement National), Ms Le Pen told an annual conference of members in the northeastern city of Lille. But its you who will vote on it, its you who will decide.

Our goal is clear: power, Ms Le Pen  who was re-elected as the partys leader during the conference  told the crowd, who cheered her speech denouncing immigration and the European project.

We were originally a protest party, she added. There should be no doubt now that we can be a ruling party.

However, despite the push to soften the partys image, many pointed out the echoes the new name has of the Rassemblement National Populaire (RNP), an extreme right collaborationist group set up by Marcel Deat during the German occupation of France between 1941 and 1944.

The idea of changing the FNs name was approved by a narrow majority of members, with 52 per cent backing it, according to figures provided by the party. The party had asked 51,000 members a number of questions last year, with the idea of a name change being narrowly approved by the 30,000 people who responded. The new name will now be put out to a vote by members via post, which will take a number of weeks.

In an apparent reference to the fact the name change does not have universal support, Ms Le Pen claimed the National Front name had a glorious history, but it is for many French people a psychological obstacle.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

That 52 per cent was in marked contrast to the responses to two other questions, with 98 per cent saying they want to see immigration to France cut and 90 per cent saying they want a referendum on French membership in the EU.

Ms Le Pen, 49, is aiming to bury the FN name that has been associated with her father Jean-Marie since he co-founded the party in 1972. Ms Le Pen has been the partys leader since 2011.

The name change is supposed to signal a new beginning for the far-right party, which is staunchly anti-immigration and anti-Islam, to enable it to try to gain power. Ms Le Pen garnered 34 per cent of the vote as she lost to Emmanuel Macron in a presidential run-off last year, the best showing ever for the party, but less than might have been expected. Ms Le Pen has been seeking ways to move the party forward since then with support stagnating.

Ms Le Pen has spent the last few years trying to clean up the brand of her party. To that end, the FN severed the final ties to Ms Le Pens firebrand father Jean-Marie during the weekend conference. Ms Le Pen had attempted to banish him from the party in 2015 after he repeated previous comments that the Nazi gas chambers were a detail of history. Mr Le Pen had appealed against the decision, but his expulsion was confirmed last month and he was stripped of his honourary president title during the conference.

 Marine Le Pen pledges to expel 'foreign extremists'

Mr Le Pen called the proposed name change for the FN political suicide in a recent interview with Reuters.

However, despite the move to create a more politically friendly party, including toning down some of the anti-Euro rhetoric that does not have much support outside of the core members of her party, Ms Le Pen was quick to attack the EU and globalisation during her speech.

She said Mr Macrons La La Republique En Marche, or On the Move, party were the embodiment of globalists cut off from Frances roots. In Macrons France, to be on the move is to be a nomad. Just like migrants and tax evaders, she said during the speech on Sunday.

Legal and illegal immigration are no longer bearable, she added. As many far-right parties across Europe have, Ms Le Pen has focused her message on national security and immigration.

It seems clear that the rhetoric from Ms Le Pen, who is facing charges over posting images on Twitter of atrocities said to be committed by Isis, will not be moderated much.

A speech from a former senior aide to President Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, suggested as such as he appeared alongside Ms Le Pen on Saturday and told delegates that history is on our side.

Let them call you racists, let them call you xenophobes, let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honour. Because every day we get stronger and they get weaker, Mr Bannon told the audience.

Ms Le Pens strategy appears to have tempted some in the centre-right Les Republicains party to consider forging an alliance. The National Front has evolved, lets look at whether a deal is possible, Thierry Mariani, a former MP, told the Journal du Dimanche. That notion was quickly dismissed by a party spokesperson.

However, widespread recognition will prove difficult for the FN. In an Ifop poll published over the weekend, 63 per cent of the French public said the National Front would present a threat for democracy if it gained power. Their case will not be helped by the party suspending one of its parliamentary assistants pending an investigation, after a video was released on Saturday appearing to show a racist insult being shouted at a security guard for a local bar.

Mr Macrons government is also sceptical. You can change the name, the logo, the wallpaper, but in the end it is a little family enterprise which serves the interests of the family Le Pen for 50 years now, government spokesman Benjamin Grivaux told French TV. Basically, nothing changes.

Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this reportRussia has said it successfully test-launched a hypersonic missile, one of a range of new nuclear-capable weapons Vladimir Putin has boasted could outmanoeuvre any defence system.

Moscows defence ministry released footage showing a fighter jet taking off before the missile detaches, leaving flames blazing in its wake.

The launch was normal; the hypersonic missile hit the preset target on the test site, the ministry said.

Mr Putin described the Kinzhal missile as an ideal weapon when he announced the new arsenal of strategic weapons earlier this month,

The missile takes its name from a type of double-edged dagger and is said to be capable of travelling at 10 times the speed of sound.

Speaking in an annual state address on 1 March, the Russian leader claimed the missiles speed makes it invulnerable to current missile and air defence systems since interceptor missiles are, simply put, not fast enough.

Moscow says the missile can deliver nuclear warheads at a range of more than 2,000 kilometres and could change trajectory mid-flight, which also allows it to overcome all existing andprospective anti-aircraft and anti-missile defence systems.

The Kinzhal missile launched from a MIG-31 aircraft that took off from a military airfield in south-west Russia.

Other technologies touted by Mr Putin during the speech included a robot torpedo that Russia said could hit US port cities.

The Russian leaders belligerent address raised the prospect of a new arms race. It came weeks after the Washington announced the US would expand its nuclear capabilities and signalled a hardening resolve against Moscow.

Our strategy will ensure Russia understands that any use of nuclear weapons, however limited, is unacceptable, said a Pentagon policy document.

Mr Putin said: To those who in the past 15 years have tried to accelerate an arms race and seek unilateral advantage against Russia, have introduced restrictions and sanctions that are illegal from the standpoint of international law aiming to restrain our nations development, including in the military area, I will say this: everything you have tried to prevent through such a policy has already happened.

No one has managed to restrain Russia.

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

However, US defence secretary James Mattis said the technology unveiled by Russia showed nothing that would change the Pentagons perspective.

He said: I saw no change to the Russian military capability and each of these systems that hes talking about that are still years away, I do not see them changing the military balance. They do not impact any need on our side for a change in our deterrence posture.

Former defence secretary William Perry suggested Mr Putins aggressive stance was almost entirely for domestic consumption and geopolitical posturing.

In an article for Politico, he added: Whether or not these new weapons work and whether or not they are available, they dont change the basic deterrent posture or military capability of Russia.A British-Iranian citizen has been jailed in Iran for six years after being convicted of spying for the UK, according to the countrys judiciary.

Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi said the prison sentence had been given to an agent of Englands intelligence service with dual nationality.

His comments were published by the state-run Mizan news agency, which gave no further details on the person or the case, which appears not to have been previously disclosed.

Recommended Richard Ratcliffe calls on Boris to explain why his wife is not free

It remains unclear when and where they were arrested and convicted.

Mr Jafari-Dolatabadi was quoted as saying the British-Iranian citizen was also under investigation in a separate case related to a private bank.

The UK Foreign Office was not immediately aware of the case and said it was looking to obtain further information.

A spokeswoman said: We are currently investigating the reported sentencing of a British-Iranian dual national with the Iranian authorities.

Iran does not recognise dual citizenship, which limits the access foreign embassies have to their dual citizens held in the country.

At least two British-Iranian citizens are known to be held in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, who was sentenced to five years in jail after being convicted of seeking to overthrow the Islamic Republic in 2016.

The 39-year-old maintains she was in Iran visiting relatives when she was arrested in April that year, and her case has been taken up by the British Government.

Kamal Foroughi, a 78-year-old British-Iranian businessman, remains behind bars in Tehran after his arrest in 2011. He sentenced to eight years for espionage and alcohol possession but his family says there is no evidence he was a spy.

The Foreign Office says it has raised both cases with the Iranian authorities.

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

Irans Revolutionary Guards have arrested at least 30 dual nationals since 2015, mostly on spying charges, according to Reuters.

This week Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffes husband called on British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to explain why she had not been freed.

Richard Ratcliffe said Iranian authorities had sanctioned her release and it was not clear what was delaying his wifes return to the UK.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffes employers and the UK Government have each backed her claim that she was in Iran to introduce her young daughter Gabriella to her parents.Welcome home to the labourers returning from Saudi Arabia. You still have a job: defending the nation on our military bases.

So declared Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of the Houthi rebels de facto government, in a recent al Thawra newspaper article published in Sanaa.

It barely seems possible, but Yemen  a country that has come apart at the seams since the outbreak of civil war three years ago  is facing a new crisis.

 Devastation on the ground in Yemen displayed by International Rescue Committee in shocking video

As a result of reforms to Saudi labour laws designed to tackle the countrys high levels of unemployment, hundreds of thousands of illegal migrant workers have been deported from the Kingdom since November last year.

Saudi Arabias economic overhaul is desperately needed, but could be having a dangerous unforeseen effect.

Forced back to a country in the grip of a humanitarian crisis and with no economic prospects, it is feared thousands of deported Yemenis could be picking up guns to join the Houthis or al-Qaeda, who see the influx of jobless young men as a prime recruitment opportunity.

Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, who is spearheading the Vision 2030 reforms designed to modernise the country and wean it off its reliance on oil, has previously described the jobs of foreign workers as reserves he could give to Saudi nationals at any time of my choosing.

According to statistics from the Saudi interior ministry, 65 per cent of those deported recently are Yemeni  which means a total of 100,000 have already been sent home, and 130,000 more await a similar fate.

Accurate figures are impossible to come by, but estimates given by several sources for this story were usually that around 10 per cent of the 100,000 returnees so far could have joined a fighting force.

One million Yemenis are currently thought to live in Saudi Arabia and remittances sent home by workers abroad are a lifeline for their families. Three-quarters of the 22 million-strong population has become reliant on aid to survive since the conflict began and eight million people now live on the brink of famine in the worlds worst humanitarian disaster.

That money drying up could destroy Yemen, said Farea al-Muslimi, a Yemeni non-resident fellow at Londons Chatham House. It will be worse than the war.

In a country where GDP reached a record low of 515 in 2016 and has only decreased since, the prospect of steady wages has already led thousands of men with little desire or understanding of the reasons for the violence to join a fighting side.

The declaration from Mohammed Ali al-Houthi was really scary, said Faizah al-Sulimani, who left Yemen for Saudi Arabia in 2015 and works on aid projects remotely.

The situation in Yemen Show all 14 1 /14 The situation in Yemen The situation in Yemen Houthi supporters trample on a US flag during a gathering mobilizing more fighters into several Yemeni battlefronts, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen People carry the coffins of men, who were killed in the recent Saudi-led airstrikes during their funeral, in the Old City of Sanaa, Yemen AP The situation in Yemen Pro-government fighters give food to Yemeni children on the road leading to the southwestern port city of Mokha. Yemeni rebels are putting up fierce resistance in a key Red Sea port city where they are encircled by pro-government force Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni stands in front of a graffiti protesting US military operations in war-affected Yemen, in Sana'a, Yemen. According to reports, US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen US Special Forces troops allegedly disembarked from US helicopters in the Yemeni town of Yakla and attacked several houses belonging to members of the terrorist group Al-Qaeda, killing three high-ranking Al-Qaeda members and nine civilians, six women and three children. One American serviceman has been killed and three injured in the attack EPA The situation in Yemen A Yemeni female fighter supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, takes part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen Yemeni female fighters supporting the Shiite Huthi rebels, and carrying weapons used for ceremonial purposes, take part in an anti-Saudi rally in the capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A boy shouts slogans next to pro-Houthi fighters, who have been injured during recent fighting, during a rally held to honour those injured or maimed while fighting in Houthi ranks in Sanaa, Yemen Reuters The situation in Yemen Balls of fire and smoke rise from a Houthi-held military camp following alleged Saudi-led airstrikes, in Sana'a, Yemen EPA The situation in Yemen Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty Images The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy looks on as Yemenis search under the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa Getty The situation in Yemen A Yemeni boy sits amidst the rubble of damaged houses following reported Saudi-led coalition air strikes on the outskirts of the Yemeni capital Sanaa AFP/Getty The situation in Yemen Marine One with US President Donald Trump flies with a decoy and support helicopters to Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, for the dignified transfer of Navy Seal Chief Petty Officer William 'Ryan' Owens who was killed in Yemen Getty Images The situation in Yemen US President Donald Trump aboard the Marine One to greet the remains of a US military commando killed during a raid on the al Qaeda militant group in southern Yemen on Sunday, at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, US Reuters

We havent had salaries paid in Yemen for two years. Its already caused a crisis where people feel like they have no choice but to fight to put bread on the table, she said.

I personally know five young men who were students in other countries and got deported and joined the Houthis and other militias like the Southern Transitional Council. Its very frustrating.

Houthi fighters are paid $100 (72) a month to defend the front lines against a coalition of Yemeni soldiers, tribal forces local to the exiled Yemeni government and Saudi and UAE troops. Al-Qaeda and Isiss Yemeni branches offer similar remuneration.

A 20-year-old injured Houthi prisoner of war The Independent met in government-loyal Marib province last year said he thought when he signed up hed be fighting Americans and Israelis.

They said Id be protecting Yemenis, not fighting them. They said the Americans were coming and they were going to try and change things, he said, wincing through the pain of his bandaged arm and leg.

A prominent Yemeni businessman resident in Saudi Arabia said that over the last two years he has been forced to let 4,000 Yemeni construction workers go thanks to the economic squeeze facing the Kingdom and changes to the permit system making it harder to retain foreign workers.

He was troubled by his decision to fire compatriots, knowing that their prospects were bleak: due to the conflict Yemenis should arguably be able to claim asylum as refugees, but Saudi Arabia is not a signatory of the 1951 UN Refugee Convention.

Conversations with departing employees did not improve matters, he told The Independent in a recent interview in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

Migrant workers here are deeply suspicious of the Saudis. They live in the broken kafala [employment sponsorship] system, they are treated like they are second-class.

Poorly educated people also widely believe the Saudis are secretly in line with the US and Israel and the Trump administration is not helping that image either. After living here for a while they start to think the Houthis have a point.

The move to deport workers without valid papers and hike the cost of residency permits for those who remain has precedent: in 2013 a similar crackdown on foreign labourers led to an exodus of 655,000 people back to Yemen.

 Jeremy Corbyn accuses UK of 'directing' war in Yemen

The decision is widely believed to have exacerbated the already fragile Yemeni economys woes and impacted the failed attempts at a national dialogue to stabilise the country after President Ali Abdullah Saleh stepped down during the Arab Spring.

Most analysts agree that another Saudi purge of one million Yemeni workers in 1990, motivated by the Sanaa governments support for Saddam Husseins invasion of Kuwait, also helped cause economic chaos that was a contributing factor to Yemens last civil war in 1994.

Riyadh has been repeatedly condemned by humanitarian groups over its involvement in Yemens current conflict.

The Saudi-led military coalition of Arab countries propping up the exiled Yemeni government against the Iranian-backed Houthis in control of the capital is accused of failing to take adequate precautions to avoid unnecessary loss of civilian life in bombing campaigns.

Much of the devastation has been caused by arms sold to Saudi Arabia by allies such as the UK and US  a move that officials within Barack Obamas administration worried could amount to complicity in war crimes.

The official UN death toll in the conflict so far is 10,000. It is widely acknowledged, however, that malnutrition and the worlds worst cholera epidemic caused by the Saudi blockades of Houthi air and seaports have probably claimed many more lives.

Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Show all 4 1 /4 Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod Why Yemen's future threatens to destroy its past Hugh McLeod

The architect of Saudis Vietnam, 32-year-old Crown Prince and Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman, is currently on an international charm offensive with stops in Cairo, London, Paris and Washington DC.

He received a warm welcome from the British Government: it emerged on Friday, the last day of the princes three-day visit, that the Kingdom had signed a preliminary deal to buy 48 new Typhoon fighter jets from the UKs BAE Systems for an estimated 8.4bn.

On the one hand they are over here striking military deals as well as announcing new development and humanitarian efforts. On the other, they are condemning Yemenis to death with these new measures at a very critical time for the Yemeni population, said Sherine El Taraboulsi-McCarthy, a research fellow at the Overseas Development Institute.

Kicking Yemenis out shows how all the aid and reform promises are just a image-polishing exercise so they can carry on as normal on the ground.

The Saudi embassies in Beirut and London as well as Riyadhs Centre for International Communications were contacted for comment on this story but did not respond.The traveller who sets off from London intent on flying around the world can do so in three hops  after a fashion.

In the late 1980s, upgraded engines allowed Jumbo jets to reach Tokyo non-stop from the UK. From the Japanese capital, trans-Pacific flights opened up to Vancouver, San Francisco and Los Angeles. From any of these, you could make a final leap back to Britain.

The catch, of course, is that it was a firmly northern hemisphere itinerary. And if you want to make a three-leg trip around the world, I cannot see any possible itinerary that crosses the equator. London-Singapore-Los Angeles-London gets tantalisingly close, but no cigar to celebrate reaching the southern hemisphere: Singapore is around 100 miles north of the equator.

Jakarta, 400 miles-plus south of the equator and currently the longest leap from Heathrow, would be a promising candidate if only it had a direct connection with the Americas.

On 25 March, Qantas begins the first UK-Australia scheduled non-stop service. It would be tempting to speculate that a proper three-hop round-the-world trip becomes feasible.

But the new flight goes from Heathrow to Perth, and Western Australias capital is short on the very long links that are necessary to reach the Americas.

While Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane have good connections with the US west coast, Perth has few Pacific links. Even neighbouring New Zealand merits only one flight a day from Western Australia.

Yet in the same month as the Australian airline deploys a Boeing 787 on the Heathrow-Perth run, the prospect has emerged that the same plane type could connect Perth with Buenos Aires.

Norwegian Air Argentina, the South American offshoot of the Oslo-based carrier, has applied for traffic rights from Buenos Aires to Perth and onwards to Singapore. The mileage, 7,839, looks almost comfortable compared with the 9,000-plus from Heathrow to Perth.

There is, though, a catch, as our old friend Great Circle Mapper shows. The direct track passes more or less directly over the South Pole. There is no technical impediment to a Boeing 787 at altitude at a latitude of 90 south. But Antarctica is the one part of the world where the diversion possibilities of the ultra long-haul aircraft become relevant.

Its all about ETOPS, which the International Civil Aviation Organisation defines as extended range operations by twinengine aeroplanes. While the global aviation regulator prefers the term extended diversion time operations (EDTO), ETOPS is still in common currency (along with its joke rendition of engines turn or passengers swim).

Twinjets have always flown across water, but initially they were not considered suitable for long trans-oceanic sectors: planes with three or four engines offered more resilience. But reliability has improved  along with the cost of aviation fuel. The twin-engined Boeing 777 and Airbus A330 are much more fuel-efficient than the four-engined 747 and A340.

Initially planes had to stay within an hours flying time of a diversion airport; gradually the time was successfully extended to 90, 120 and 180 minutes. With every increase, planes could fly in straighter lines and new routes became feasible.

Just before Christmas 2011, regulators were convinced that the ETOPS limit could be extended to five and a half hours.

Santas short cut, I called it, because it opened up transpolar routes from Britain to Hawaii and even Fiji. These have not yet materialised, though this weeks order for Boeing 787s by Hawaiian Airlines opens the possibility of a UK-Honolulu link.

The 330-minute limit might look arbitrary, but it was chosen because it meant almost nowhere was off limits to a twin-engined plane. The one part of the world where there are no suitable diversion airports within 330 minutes flying time: Antarctica. The blank patch matches the continent pretty closely.

To keep within the stipulated distance of a suitable runway, Norwegians 787s would have to fly perhaps 10 per cent further.

Happily, prevailing wind patterns over the southern oceans make the Perth-Buenos Aires link feasible. Strong, reliable westerlies mean that the captain can set a course from Perth to the south of Tasmania and New Zealand, making landfall in South America over Patagonia.

For the return leg, the best routing swings south of Cape Town and close to the Kerguelen Islands.

A round-the-world traveller could complete the three-hop journey with a link between Buenos Aires and London on either British Airways or Norwegian.

The South Polar Express wont happen for a year or two. It may be that Qantas, having gained experience with the London link, decides to pursue the route, setting up an Antarctic race against a Norwegian opponent; not the first in that part of the world. Cape Town to Auckland is another trans-Antarctic possibility, with Air New Zealand a good candidate.

Just as the 1950s was the decade when the Arctic opened up to aviation, the 2020s could be the era when aircraft start criss-crossing the deep south.An Indian American high school senior in Illinois, Ishan Agarwal, created a nonprofit, Project See Well Do Well, to help poor students in India get eye exams and improve their vision. (www.shdynasty13.wixsite.com/mysite photo)Women in Ghana have been warned against a growing trend for taking pills during pregnancy to lighten the skin of their unborn babies while they are still in the womb.

Medical experts say these illegal drugs can cause birth defects, including damage to limbs and internal organs.

Ghanas Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) says using Glutathione pills for this purpose is dangerous, adding it wants the general public to know that no product has been approved by the FDA in the form of a tablet to lighten the skin of the unborn child.

The practice is growing in Ghana, according to the FDA, with pills often smuggled into the country inside luggage at airports in large quantities.

Security agencies and police are working together to arrest and prosecute companies and individuals in possession of the illegal tablets.Punch

The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said the United Kingdom has paid Nigeria the sum of $70m recovered from the Malabu oil controversial deal.

Vanguard

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the killings in Benue State go beyond what Nigerians see on the surface, stressing that there was the need to get to the bottom of the bloodbath in the state.

The Sun

Despite the promise of prompt passage of the 2018 Appropriation Bill, the National Assembly is yet to communicate its readiness to pass the proposal.

Thisday

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, saturday, made a brief stop in Makurdi, Benue State, where he visited the burial site of the 73 victims of the New Year attacks by herdsmen and also laid a wreath in honour of the dead.

Daily Times

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said that the linking of the exposed illegal importation of military equipment to All Progressive Congress (APC) interests, particularly in Kogi State, is revealing and places a heavy question on the doorsteps of the Presidency and the ruling party.

Guardian

Daily Trust

Presidency to employ 208,000 N/Delta youths The Presidency has unveiled a plan to employ 208,000 youths in Niger Delta with a view to curtailing restiveness in the oil-producing region.

Tribune

Twenty-one days after the abduction of 110 school girls at Dapchi, Yobe State, their parents and other stakeholders are still worried overtheir safety.

The Authority

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday arrived in Makurdi, the Benue State, to condole with the government and people over herdsmens attacks.

The NationAt least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured after lightning struck a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Rwanda, a local official said Sunday.

Fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the Nyaruguru district in the Southern Province on Saturday, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told AFP over the phone.

Two others died later from their injuries, he said.

He added that 140 people involved in the incident had been rushed to hospital and district health centres, but that many had already been discharged.

Doctors say that only three of them are in critical condition but they are getting better, he said.

According to the mayor, a similar accident took place on Friday when lightning struck a group of 18 students, killing one of them.

AFPAs a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles.

Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services.

These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience  the local community.

It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times.

CloseDatabase Administrator Job in Saudi Arabia

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Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted.Security Guards Job Opportunity

Latest Faisal Usman Overseas Employment Promoters Security Posts Qatar 2021 Security Guards are required in Qatar Through Faisal Usman Overseas Employment Promoters. Candidate must Matric SSC or Higher Education and able to speak English.

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Note: Beware of Fraudulent Recruiting Activities. If the employer asks you to pay money for any purpose including processing to shortlisting, do not pay at all and report us using our contact us form. Apply as per instuctions & dates mentioned in official job ad. Govt jobs cannot be applied online here. Error & omissions excepted.The Battle Over Our National Monuments: What You Need To Know

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hispanic Access Foundation. The opinions and text are all mine.

These days, its hard to open a paper or catch the news without hearing about another assault on public lands. Most recently, national monuments have taken center stage, and in particular, youve likely heard about Bear Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments. But do you understand what is happening? Or why it affects you?

Because, here is the reality: as an outdoor-loving individual, these national monuments are more-than-likely one of your favorite places to play. And if these beautiful lands are taken away, where will we be then?

But before we get into that, lets talk about the what:

What is going on with our national monuments?

Since Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante are at the epicenter of this battle, lets chat about those.

Many would argue that the rumble began in 1996 when President Clinton used the Antiquities Act of 1906 to protect almost 1.9 million acres of land in Utah; this is Grand Staircase-Escalante. It was noteworthy because this designation also nixed proposed coal mining.

President Obama designated 1.3M acres of land as Bears Ears National Monument in December, 2016, at the very end of his term. Once again, Utah officials werent happy.

Why was the land protected to begin with?

Its clear that Republican officials in Utah hugely disagreed with the designations, but its important to understand why President Clinton and President Obama protected the land.

Bears Ears gets its name from two distinct buttes that rise more than 2000 feet from the surrounding Colorado Plateau just like a pair of ears! But, more important to note is that the buttes and the surrounding areas have long been considered sacred by a number of indigenous tribes. Ancient cliff dwellings have been found in the area, and thats just the tip of the iceberg. Many estimate that there are some 100,000 archaeological sites protected within the designation.

Grand Staircase-Escalante is no different. Thousands of prehistoric dwellings and artwork have been found within the designated land. Additionally, rock formations showcasing 4 billion years of geology can be found. In short, Grand Staircase is a mecca for geological, archaeological, and paleontological research.

Then what happened?

Nothing, until President Trump took office.

In April 2017, Trump asked Secretary of the Interior Zinke to review more than two dozen national monument designations. At the front of this push were the still-angry Republicans from Utah who felt the sting of Obamas recent designation. The argument? That the designations protected too much land from commercial development.

When Zinkes recommendations came back, the draft called for modifications to a dozen monuments, including shrinking Bears Ears and Escalante, along with allowing commercial fishing in both Atlantic and Pacific waters. In addition to the Utah modifications, his review also called for shrinkage of national monuments in California, New Mexico, Nevada, Maine, two marine monuments in the Pacific and another one southeast of Cape Cod.

In short, it was an assault on public lands.

Without stepping foot in any of them, President Trump heeded Zinkes recommendations and in early December, 2017, shrunk Bears Ears from 1.3 million acres to 228,000. Grand Staircase was shrunk by roughly half: it went from 1.9 million acres to just over 1 million.

Why do I care?

For starters, this is just one more example of the federal government breaking promises with indigenous tribes. Additionally, shrinking these monuments erodes environmental protections and opens this pristine land up to private interests that could potentially destroy many of the natural wonders our country has to offer.

Bottom line: this is all about money. Rolling back these protections opens up the land to a myriad of potential commercial interests, including oil and gas. Is destroying our natural world really worth an increase in your bank account?

What can I do about it?

You hear it a lot, but yall, this stuff really matters. First of all:

READ UP ON THE ISSUES!

If you care about public lands and/or the current attack on our national monuments, do some reading beyond this blog post. Do your research; understand why this matters. There is so much mumbo jumbo rolling around on the internet so be sure to inform yourself.

Then, take some action:

HOLD YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS ACCOUNTABLE!

We all know this, but your voice truly matters. If you disagree with what is happening to our monuments, let your officials know. Write them a letter or give them a call. If youre still old school enough to have a fax machine, send them a fax. It doesnt matter how you communicate your wishes but it does matter that you do so. After all, our officials are in office to represent us, amiright?

Finally:

EDUCATE FUTURE GENERATIONS!

I think about this a lot with Liliana and I imagine its the same with all parents. We can fight the good fight now but how can we expect the same from our children if we dont educate them on the importance of the environment and our natural world? Make sure your kiddos or friends kiddos know and realize that Mother Nature needs to be protected and wont be around for all of us to enjoy if we dont routinely act in her best interests. Its important yall!

*******************

SaveSave

SaveSaveSouth Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell to around 1,600 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but concerns have grown over a possible surge in infections after the Chus...The Molson Coors brewery is seen Wednesday, June 3, 2015 in Montreal. Some 550 workers at Montreal's Molson plant will vote today on a new contract offer from their employer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Ryan RemiorzIn this photo taken Thursday, March 1, 2018, records hang from the ceiling as decorations inside the vinyl records stall of James "Jimmy" Rugami in Kenyatta Market in Nairobi, Kenya. Tucked into a busy market in Kenya's capital is "Real Vinyl Guru", arguably the last record store still in operation in the country and which now enjoys the growing interest of music lovers who want to look beyond sleek digital offerings and return to the pleasure of browsing for a classic find. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)FILE - In this March 9, 2018 file photo, Florida Gov. Rick Scott signs the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Public Safety Act in the governor's office at the Florida State Capitol in Tallahassee, Fla. Soon after Scott signed a school-safety bill that puts new restrictions on guns, the National Rifle Association filed a federal lawsuit to block it. Three weeks of pressure from relatives and students slain in the in the Feb. 14 Parkland, Florida, school massacre provided momentum for the legislation. The governor says the bill balances individual rights with need for public safety. (AP Photo/Mark Wallheiser, File)Republican Rick Saccone, right, acknowledges the crowd during a campaign rally with President Donald Trump, Saturday, March 10, 2018, in Moon Township, Pa. Saccone is running against Democrat Conor Lamb in a special election being held on March 13 for the Pennsylvania 18th Congressional District vacated by Republican Tim Murphy. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)In this image dated Friday March 9, 2018, and issued Saturday March 10, 2018, by Britain's Ministry of Defence, showing troops in protective gear as they work to remove a contaminated police car from the Accident and Emergency entrance at the District Hospital in Salisbury, England. Counter-terrorism police asked for military assistance to remove vehicles and objects from the scene in the city, much of which has been cordoned off over contamination fears of the nerve agent poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter. (Pete Brown/MoD via AP)FILE - In this Nov. 6, 2017 file photo photo provided by the Saudi Press Agency, King Salman attends a swearing in ceremony in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Salman has established special anti-corruption units of prosecutors to pursue embezzlement cases in the kingdom after a recent crackdown. The king's decision was announced Sunday, March 11, 2018, in a report on the state-run Saudi Press Agency. (Saudi Press Agency, via AP, File)Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Thunderstorms. Gusty winds and small hail are possible. High near 80F. Winds NW at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Mainly clear. Low 51F. Winds NNW at 10 to 20 mph.North Korea may demand withdrawal of US troops from S. Korea



By Kim Jae-kyoung



North Korea is likely to demand that the U.S. withdraws its troops from South Korea in return for Pyongyang giving up its nuclear weapons, according to a former special adviser to the U.S. State Department.



She said Seoul and Washington should pay attention to the six-point statement from the latest round of inter-Korean talks, which states the need for the "entire Korean Peninsula," not just North Korea, to be denuclearized.



"This is a crucial point because it is related to the North's ultimate demand," said Balbina Hwang, a visiting professor at Georgetown University's Center for Security Studies.



The ultimate demand in her view is that if the North gives up its nuclear weapons, then the South must essentially give up its deterrence protection under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.



"This of course is related to Pyongyang's ultimate demand about security guarantees, which means it wants an end to the U.S. alliance and the removal of the U.S. presence from the Korean Peninsula, at a minimum," she said.



According to the six-point release, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is willing to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. He made it clear the North would have no reason to have nuclear weapons if military threats against it were resolved and the safety of its regime was guaranteed.



Hwang pointed out this position has never changed since the totalitarian regime was founded, and was essentially why all attempts to resolve the nuclear issue under the past three U.S. presidents _ Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama _ had failed.



As to whether the North will give up its nuclear weapons for a "U.S. security guarantee," she said the U.S. government had already given security guarantees many times, including an official statement by President Bush.



Hwang was a special adviser on East Asian affairs to the U.S. State Department in the Bush administration.



"The point is these statements will never be enough for the North, just as the North's promises are not enough for the U.S.," she said.



Against this backdrop, she believes no "security guarantee" can ultimately satisfy Pyongyang, except possibly the minimum requirement of an end to the U.S.-ROK alliance, and removal of U.S. troops from the peninsula.



"This is the reality that ultimately the U.S. and South Korea must face. Perhaps in the end, the U.S. and South Korea may decide the price of the North's denuclearization is to end the alliance," she said.



"I do not know if this is in the best interests of both countries or not. But certainly, this is something South Korea must decide on its own and not a decision that can or should be made only by the U.S."



The Washington-based North Korea expert remains skeptical about the prospect of U.S.-North Korea talks.



"If the North is serious this time about improving relations with the South, then perhaps the Moon administration may decide it no longer needs the U.S. alliance," she said.



"I do not expect very much real change or progress for a very long time. I suspect that whatever talks between the U.S. and North Korea may occur, they will fail many times before we see any real progress."



As for Moon, she said what he should do depended on his ultimate policy goal _ either he prioritizes inter-Korean peace and peaceful coexistence, or denuclearization of the North.



"Although he claims both, the two are simply incompatible," she said. "He, and the South Korean public, will have to make a choice."

Human rights chief meets Swiss: Swiss envoy meets human rights chief in Seoul: Swiss Ambassador to Korea Linus von Castelmur, right, and Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs State Secretary Pascale Baeriswyl, second from right, listen to National Human Rights Commission Chairman Lee Sung-ho, left, during their visit to the commission in central Seoul, March 8. The meeting took place two days after the EU delegation organized a seminar for positive media reporting on human rights of disabled people on the occasion of the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympics. / Yonhap

By Jung Min-ho







The Korean government has called on a Turkish broadcaster to apologize for using President Moon Jae-in's image falsely as a murder suspect.





The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday it has repeatedly demanded Show TV, a Turkey-based TV channel, apologize after it used Moon's image on a news program on Feb. 25 to represent a murder suspect who allegedly killed a Filipina maid.





The broadcaster also reportedly described Moon and Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka as a "killer couple," showing a photo taken during her visit to Korea for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month. It identified them as a "millionaire businessman and his wife."





The broadcaster deleted the video online after South Korea's embassy in Ankara complained about it but has not yet aired an official apology.





"We made multiple complaints to the broadcaster through our embassy there immediately after the program was aired," the ministry said in a statement. "We have also called for assurances to prevent similar accidents from happening."





The incident came into the media spotlight here after Koreans living in Turkey reported it to the ministry.





"If their president was falsely described as a murder suspect in other countries, the Turkish people and the government would ask for an apology too," a Korean man living in Turkey was quoted as saying.



Defense Minister Song Young-moon speaks to U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift during the latter's visit to the ministry, Thursday. / Yonhap



By Oh Young-jin



Defense Minister Song Young-moo, 70, is a loose cannon. The former chief of naval operations has exploded occasionally but so far without irreparable damage. But left alone, he may bring the roof down, ultimately the house, too.



The latest escapade took place at his office Friday when he received a courtesy call from outgoing U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Scott Swift.



While being open to reporters at the beginning of their meeting, Song told Swift that the U.S. shouldn't bring "strategic assets" to the ROK-U.S. joint exercises.



According to reports, Swift responded: "We are ready." Song obviously thought Swift didn't get what he meant and repeated himself.



Confronted with inquiries about whether future drills will be reduced in scale as Song indicated, the ministry said Song's remark was a joke to tell the admiral that he could take it easy until he retires in May.



It said that Swift was expected to get a promotion to head of the Pacific Command. The Pacific Fleet controls the Seventh and Third Fleets  which would serve as spearheads of a counterattack, with strategic assets such as aircraft carriers and submarines, in case the North invades.



Now, there are at least two things wrong with Song's behavior.



First, he should have known better. A man in his position can't speak of sensitive military affairs then dismiss it as a joke, especially now that Seoul and Washington maintain that the drills  Key Resolve and Foal Eagle  will be conducted as planned at an undiminished scale after the Olympics.



Making the situation tricky are the latest developments, including the two Koreas' agreement to hold a summit in late April. Meanwhile, the Song snafu happened before Friday's announcement of the U.S.-North Korea summit.



Considering U.S. pressure tactics  the significant part being ROK-U.S. military exercises  played a key role in Pyongyang's sudden peace initiative, Song's remarks were not just inappropriate but raised questions about his qualifications.

Then, having said it in public also should be seen in the context of whether he leaked military secrets.



It is not the first time Song has not lived up to the standards expected of a defense minister. He was reprimanded by Cheong Wa Dae for criticizing Moon Jung-in, President Moon Jae-in's senior adviser, during his parliamentary testimony.



Some say Song still drinks a lot, dulling his wit, while others say his naval background has alienated much of the military leadership with an Army background.



Song got his job thanks to his affiliation with President Moon as his military adviser during the presidential campaign. During the hearing, it was revealed that he was a heavy drinker and there were many problems caused by it.



As President Moon is preparing for the April summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he should reconsider taking Song as member of the entourage because he may make mistakes, embarrassing himself and the nation.

The United States will likely remain the largest overseas market for South Korean defense products for at least the next five years, a local think tank said Sunday.

The report by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET) said there is a chance that Seoul may be able to win Washington's next generation trainer jet program, while orders generated by so-called offset deals could push up overall numbers.

The U.S. is already the single largest buyer of South Korean-made weapons, although Seoul imports far more products than it ships to the North American country.

The 2018-2022 forecast said that, in particular, South Korea's T-50A is well placed to secure the Advanced Pilot Training (APT) project that could be worth some 14 trillion won (US$13 billion).

The project aims to replace existing jet trainers like the venerable T-28 Talons with new aircraft. The T-50A is a variant of the T-50 Golden Eagle currently serving in the South Korean Air Force and several other militaries around the world.

KIET said if the jet, built with support from Lockheed Martin, is chosen by the United States it will mark a turning point for South Korea's aerospace industry.

Besides the supersonic trainer jet, the state-run research institute said Asia's fourth largest economy may be able to export submarines, naval auxiliary ships, self-propelled artillery pieces and guided weapons.

It then said to fuel exports, the country needs to engage in a 5P-plus-1G market strategy to maximize the chance of local products being sold abroad.

The 5Ps are place, product, price, promotion and politics, and the 1G represents government.

It said to further bolster the country's export potential, there is a need to strive for economies of scale to lower unit price, as well as for good coordination between the various government ministries that handle diplomacy, defense and industry. (Yonhap)

By Kim Bo-eun



U.S. President Donald Trump referred to talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as possibly resulting in "the greatest deal for the world" or a failure.



"We may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world," he said during a campaign rally for a Republican congressional candidate in Pennsylvania on Saturday, local time.



The U.S. president added Pyongyang wants peace, stating "I think it's time."



The remarks come after Trump last week accepted a proposal from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for talks in May.



The U.S. president accepted the offer, after South Korean envoys who met with Kim came to Washington to deliver the proposal for talks. His response to the invitation came during a 45-minute meeting with National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong.



Chung and National Intelligence Service director Suh Hoon returned from the trip, Sunday, and reported details of the meeting to President Moon Jae-in.



"We highly evaluate the resolution and strong determination of President Moon Jae-in and President Trump toward the achievement of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula, and to achieve peace on the peninsula through this means," Chung told reporters at Incheon International Airport upon arrival.



"We also highly esteem the courageous resolution of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un."



Chung will head to China and Russia and Suh to Japan on Monday, to seek international cooperation in enabling Pyongyang-Washington talks on denuclearization to take place. China has welcomed the developments, while Japan takes a cautious stance, stressing the need to maintain maximum pressure on the nuclear state.



In a meeting with South Korean envoys on March 5, the North Korean leader displayed a surprising shift in stance, stating the regime is willing to give up its nuclear weapons if its security is ensured. Kim also said Pyongyang is willing to negotiate with Washington over its denuclearization. The North stated it will not make nuclear or missile provocations during the period of dialogue.



In addition, the North and South agreed on an inter-Korean summit to take place at the truce village of Panmunjeom in late April. The meeting between heads of state of will take place 11 years since the last in 2007.



President Moon has drawn up a committee headed by presidential chief of staff Im Jong-seok to prepare for the inter-Korean summit.



Last week's meeting in Pyongyang took place as a response to an invitation by Kim Jong-un's sister Kim Yo-jong for Moon to visit Pyongyang for talks, when she came to the South for the PyeongChang Winter Olympics last month. She was the first member of the Kim dynasty to step foot in the South.



Kim Jong-un had his first meeting with South Korean officials since he took power in December 2011, following the death of former leader Kim Jong-il, his father.



Tension on the Korean Peninsula has eased in the New Year, after Pyongyang's repeated provocations last year. They included the regime's sixth nuclear test and intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launchings, resulting in a fiery exchange of rhetoric between Washington and Pyongyang which raised fears of a possible war.



Kim Jong-un extended a rare olive branch in his New Year address, expressing willingness to send a North Korean delegation to the Olympic Games in the South. The Koreas agreed on the North's participation in the Olympics and Paralympics after South Korea and the U.S. decided to delay back their joint-military drills.





By Kim Bo-eun



Questions are arising over what specific measures Pyongyang needs to take toward denuclearization, for talks with Washington to take place.



While U.S. President Donald Trump agreed to dialogue with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in May, the White House said the meeting will not be held if Pyongyang does not take concrete action toward denuclearization.



Earlier, in talks with South Korean envoys on March 5, Kim stated the regime is willing to give up its nuclear program if its safety is guaranteed. The North Korean leader also expressed willingness to hold talks with the U.S. on denuclearization. Kim said North Korea will not make nuclear or missile provocations during the period it engages in dialogue.



However, after receiving criticism for agreeing to talks that would legitimize North Korea as a nuclear state, the White House sounded notes of caution.



"We're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a briefing on Friday.



"The president accepted that invitation on the basis that there are concrete and verifiable steps," she said.



However the White House did not specify the measures Pyongyang would need to take.



"Washington may expect Pyongyang to state it will freeze its nuclear programs, which is different from halting provocations," said Kim Dong-yup, a Kyungnam University professor.



"This would entail disabling its nuclear facilities, and opening them up for inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency," he said.



Kim Hyun-wook, professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy said "Words to not promise anything _ verification (of Pyongyang's willingness of denuclearization) is necessary."



"Determination of whether Pyongyang freezes its nuclear program should be made based on inspection of facilities, before the talks take place."



Meanwhile, it is unclear whether North Korea would be willing to make the offer.



Professor Kim Dong-yup said "In the past, this would not have been likely, but now that North Korea has completed its nuclear arsenal, proposing it will freeze operations of developing additional weapons seems feasible."



"There will be some discord with regards to how much of North Korea's nuclear facilities the IAEA will be able to inspect," Professor Kim Hyun-wook said.



"Pyongyang may not be willing to show all of its nuclear facilities."



South Korean President Moon Jae-in has been asserting North Korea freezing its nuclear program as a starting point for dialogue.

By Doug Bandow





South Korean officials declared North Korea is prepared to negotiate with the U.S. over denuclearizing the peninsula and normalizing relations. President Donald Trump declared his policy has worked and he has accepted an invitation to meet Kim.



The first is good news, if true. But even if true, it is merely the first step to achieving stable peace in Northeast Asia.



The second is less clear. Any talks are likely to be conducted on North Korea's rather than America's terms. The North's professed willingness to denuclearize may not result in denuclearization.



The South Koreans who met with Kim suggest that peace is in the air. The DPRK wants dialogue and is prepared to denuclearize.



However, so far Kim Jong-un has not spoken. In fact, after Seoul's announcement the Communist Party newspaper justified Pyongyang's possession of nuclear weapons. That may just indicate that Pyongyang intends to strike a hard bargain. But we won't really know the North's position until North Korea's Supreme Leader responds.



Moreover, there's nothing particularly new in Pyongyang's presumed offer to talk. In the past North Korea has engaged the U.S. in a dialogue over denuclearization. But that did not mean the North was willing to abandon its weapons.



The reason there have been no recent official talks is because the Trump administration insisted that the North agree to the main issue beforehand: denuclearization. But indicating a theoretical willingness to disarm is not the same.



For instance, the DPRK apparently says it wants sufficient security guarantees. In the past the North demanded that America end the alliance with the Republic of Korea and withdraw U.S. troops from the region.



Asking for more than Washington would give would not be simple duplicity, though North Korea obviously is capable of such. However, even if a Trump-Kim summit occurs, what rational dictator on Washington's naughty list would trust the Trump administration and its successors?



Every president from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama ousted at least one regime not to America's liking. President Obama even targeted Libya's Muammar Gaddafi after the latter negotiated away his nuclear weapons and missiles.



President Donald Trump repudiated the agreement reached between his predecessor and Iran and threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on the North. Kim is unlikely to accept expressions of good will and paper guarantees as sufficient.



Finally, Pyongyang long desired talks with America and there even was talk of a summit between Bill Clinton and Kim Jong-il, shortly before the former left office. It appears that Pyongyang has simply repackaged a long-standing objective.



An anonymous Trump administration official insisted that Washington's policy "will not change until we see credible moves toward denuclearization." He also dismissed entering into talks encumbered by "non-starter conditions" by the DPRK as in the past.



However, the North won't abandon its leverage without receiving something in return. And it can simply move its conditions one step back, from tied to agreeing to negotiate to agreeing to disarm.



Despite such caveats, negotiations offer a way out of today's crisis, with the Trump administration threatening to start a second Korean War. After having helped keep the peace for 65 years, it would be foolish beyond measure for the administration to risk triggering another massive conflict on the peninsula, especially one which could lead to a nuclear exchange.



The DPRK long has been the land of second best options. But in advance of a presumed Kim-Trump summit, Washington should work with South Korea and Japan to develop a common denuclearization offer for the DPRK and then seek Chinese backing.



Denuclearization should remain Washington's long-term objective, but if the North proves less receptive than South Korea suggests, the U.S. also should pursue other advantageous, if short-term, goals in the meantime, such as freezing North Korean missile and nuclear development. And policymakers should consider creative options if these efforts reach a dead end, as in the past.



Kim's apparent offer to talk and meet with Trump is a gambit in a larger strategy for dealing with America. As such, it may prove to be more opportunity than breakthrough.



Still, Trump should pursue the chance to sit down with Kim and search for a peaceful exit from the dangerous policy cul-de-sac into which the administration had driven.



Doug Bandow (chessset@aol.com) is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and a former special assistant to President Ronald Reagan. He is the author of "Tripwire: Korea and U.S. Foreign Policy in a Changed World" and co-author of "The Korean Conundrum: America's Troubled Relations with North and South Korea."

By Gwynne Dyer





Lucky old Italy just got two Donald Trumps for the price of one. One of the big winners in last Sunday's Italian election was the Five-Star Movement, whose 31-year-old leader Luigi di Maio has promised to stop sending out rescue boats to save migrants from drowning when their flimsy craft sink halfway across the Mediterranean. A "sea taxi service," he calls it, and promises to send all the surviving illegal immigrants home.



So does Matteo Salvini, the leader of the League (formerly the Northern League), the other big winner in the election. "I'm sick of seeing immigrants in hotels and Italians who sleep in cars," Salvini told supporters at a recent rally in Milan. He pledges to send 150,000 illegal migrants home in his first year in government.



It is not yet clear whether Salvini and/or di Maio will actually be in government. A coalition between the Five-Star Movement and the League would command a majority in parliament and is one possibility, but other combinations are also possible. However, it's already clear that these two populists won more than half the votes on openly racist platforms.



"Openly racist?" Di Maio and Salvini generally stop just a millimeter short of that, but Attilio Fontana, the senior League member who has just won the governorship of Lombardy, Italy's richest region, has no such qualms. "We have to decide if our ethnicity, if our white race, if our society continues to exist or if it will be canceled out," he said recently.



Now it's true that 600,000 illegal migrants, mostly from Africa and the Middle East, mostly Muslim, and mostly young men, have arrived on Italy's shores in the past four years, which was bound to startle the older residents. On the other hand, there are 60 million people in Italy, so that's just one percent of the population. Why is that such a big deal?



You might as well ask why it's such a big deal that an estimated half-million illegal immigrants enter the United States each year. That is only one illegal immigrant per year for every 600 people who are already in the country. Half of those illegals aren't even Mexicans, and yet Donald Trump won a lot of votes by promising to build a wall on the Mexican border to stop them.



Both in the United States and in Italy, the real fuel behind the populist surge is high unemployment (the official U.S. figure is a fantasy) and long-term stagnation in the incomes of the lower-paid half of the population. The immigration issue just serves as a visible symbol of the displacement so many feel as the economy pushes them to the margins.



The popular discontent and the political malaise cannot be cured by sending a few hundred thousand migrants home, even if that were easily done. In many cases, it is practically impossible.



The Mexican government currently cooperates with the U.S., so at the moment it is relatively easy to send illegal immigrants back across that border. The illegal migrants in Italy and other European Union countries are a quite different story, because their countries of origin will generally not want them back, and EU human rights laws make it hard to just give them parachutes and push them out of planes.



What we are seeing now, however, is a foretaste of the time when the migrant flows grow very large and the politics gets really brutal. In the not too distant future the Mediterranean Sea and the Mexican border will separate the temperate world, where the climate is still tolerable and there is still enough food, from the subtropical and tropical worlds of killer heat and dwindling food.



This is a regular subject of confidential discussions in various strategic planning cells in European governments, and also in the grown-up parts of the U.S. government. Ten years ago a senior officer in the intelligence section of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff told me that the U.S. army expected to be ordered by Congress to close the Mexican border down completely within the next 20 years. And he was quite explicit: that meant shooting to kill.



This was many years before Donald Trump came up with the wall, and even today it's still not needed. But one day it will be, because global warming will hit the countries closer to the equator far harder than the fortunate countries of the temperate zone, and the main casualty will be food production in the tropics and the subtropics.



So the hungry millions will start to move, and the borders of the richer countries in the temperate parts of the world will slam shut to keep them out: the United States, the European Union, Russia, South Africa, Australia. If you think the politics is ugly now, just wait



Of course, a miracle could happen. There could be early and very deep cuts in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, so that most of the catastrophe never arrives. But I'm having trouble even believing in the Easter Bunny any more. This is harder.



Gwynne Dyer (gwynne763121476@aol.com) has worked as a freelance journalist, columnist, broadcaster and lecturer on international affairs for more than 20 years. He is the author of "Climate Wars: The Fight for Survival as the World Overheats."

Secret investigation into secretive Missouri governor can't be trusted



The problem with keeping the whole process of the Missouri House investigation into Gov. Eric Greitens secret is that the public will have no confidence in whatever the committee decides.



Say the panel concludes that, based on its findings, the House should begin impeachment proceedings against Greitens in connection with the 2015 affair that led to his indictment on a felony invasion-of-privacy charge. The only logical response will be to wonder exactly how the committee came to that conclusion.



And if they decide against impeachment proceedings? See above.



Either way, a behind-closed-doors look into the possibly criminal behind-closed-doors behavior of the consistently secrecy-loving governor will do nothing to reassure the public or restore its confidence. How could it?



Nevertheless, the committee formed by House Speaker Todd Richardson to investigate Greitens voted unanimously, without even any discussion, to close Wednesday's meeting at the Jefferson City Police Department. Greitens is accused of taking a compromising photograph of a woman without her consent. He has admitted to the affair but has denied breaking any laws.



Republican Rep. Jay Barnes, who chairs the committee, said that holding open proceedings would undermine the group's ability to uncover the facts.



If that were true, every criminal and civil trial from Cape Girardeau to Cape Town would be similarly hobbled.



Barnes also said the committee has a responsibility to protect the identities of witnesses and warned reporters not to waste their time trying to find out anything about the process until the panel issues a final report.



The problem with that is that like the governor and every member of the panel, the press works for the public, and the public has a more than legitimate interest in making sure that the group decides on the facts rather than for any political or personal reason.



When the governor goes on trial in May, the facts will be reviewed and witnesses heard from in open court.



Though we understand why the panel would want to protect the privacy of the woman allegedly threatened with blackmail by Greitens, impeachment is a serious matter. If those we elect to represent us could in all cases be trusted to do the right thing behind closed doors, this panel wouldn't exist.



Given the governor's affinity for dark-money, secret legal defense donations and a secret messaging app, Greitens may prefer that this, too, go on out of the public eye.



But it's in his interest that it instead happen in broad daylight. To paraphrase Jay Barnes, to do anything else will be a waste of his panel's publicly-funded time.



The above editorial appeared at the Kansas City Star. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

If you had to pick a word that best describes the Trump presidency so far, it might be "surreal." And few developments affirm that more than news that President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un plan to meet for talks this spring.



Supposedly they'll discuss prospects for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula. Yes, "Little Rocket Man" and an American president whom Kim once referred to as a "dotard" in the same room, with a potential to make history.



Fast forward a few years: Trump and Kim meet again, this time in Stockholm to jointly accept their Nobel Peace Prize? Surreal indeed. Fantasy? For now, yes, of course.



Nevertheless, two leaders widely seen as volatile, self-absorbed and belligerent have agreed to do something no other sitting American president and North Korean leader ever have done  sit face-to-face and talk seriously about nukes. As a carrot, Kim has dangled a commitment to halt nuclear and missile testing ahead of the talks, which are slated for the end of May.



Why now? It may be that Kim feels the vise of amped-up economic sanctions and sees in Trump an American leader who, unlike his predecessors, has been exceedingly blunt with threats to "totally destroy" North Korea.



Equally likely, however, is Kim's calculation that Trump would agree to a meeting because, well, he's Trump: a president supremely confident in his negotiating skills, a leader with the hubris to think he can get done what other presidents couldn't, and to do it the Trump way  on his own. Stand down, stuffy diplomats.



Kim also comes to the table with a hand that his father and grandfather didn't have: missiles capped with nuclear warheads. His predecessors also sought newfound legitimacy through a meeting with an American president, but they didn't have the arsenal that Kim now has.



Like his father and grandfather, Kim yearns to be perceived as a leader on equal footing with the American commander-in-chief. What better way to get there than a sit-down with Trump?



Trump no doubt will go into the meeting with visions of himself at the podium in Stockholm. Cue the skepticism, not only of that scene but of the here and now. While the meeting would be unprecedented, any flirtatious Pyongyang offer to denuclearize isn't. In 2005, North Korea pledged to abandon its nuclear weapons program during the "six-party talks." Three years later, Pyongyang restarted its program.



The hasty timetable could also prove counterproductive. The administration has just two months to prepare. The State Department's chief North Korea negotiator, Joseph Yun, is on his way out, and the administration has balked at nominating another experienced negotiator, Victor Cha, the ambassador to South Korea, the New York Times reported.



None of that may matter to Trump, with his penchant for winging it. But his assent to a meeting is indeed a gamble, and the stakes couldn't be much higher. Trump has already made it clear that the only acceptable outcome is denuclearization. Will Kim be willing to relinquish the very nuclear weapons that give him so much clout?



If talks end and Trump doesn't get what he wants, Kim will walk away with strengthened legitimacy  and a nuclear weapons program with American cities as primary targets. Trump will walk away boasting of his reasonableness in meeting with Kim. That could give him flexibility for whatever comes in the future  such as a pre-emptive U.S. strike if North Korea becomes more menacing.



Trump crafted a campaign persona as the quintessential dealmaker. Up until now, his foreign policy track record says otherwise. Meeting with Kim gives him a chance to prove his critics wrong. We hope he can. The likely alternative is a return to the threat of nuclear war.



The above editorial appeared in the Chicago Tribune. It was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

North Korea should take sincere steps for denuclearization



U.S. President Donald Trump is expected to become the first sitting American president to meet a North Korean leader after he accepted Kim Jong-un's invitation to hold a summit. Trump's acceptance came as a big surprise given his hard-line stance on the North over the nuclear standoff between the two countries.



We welcome Trump's bold diplomatic gambit, which could produce a major breakthrough in the North's denuclearization and bring a thaw in bilateral ties. The move could also help defuse tension and establish a lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula.



Now Washington and Pyongyang ought to make strenuous efforts to follow through on making peace and building trust. Most of all, they need to ensure the planned summit is aimed at denuclearizing the peninsula, as the U.S. and its ally South Korea have long sought. For this, the North should take sincere and concrete steps toward denuclearization so it can prove its genuine intention.



The latest breathtaking developments surrounding the peninsula have come since last month's PyeongChang Winter Olympics with the North's charm offensive. During a meeting with President Moon Jae-in's special envoys in Pyongyang last week, Kim expressed his willingness to engage in dialogue with the U.S. to discuss the denuclearization issue. Moon and Kim agreed to hold a third inter-Korean summit. And then Moon sent the special envoys, led by National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong, to the U.S. to deliver Kim's message to Trump.



In fact, few knew beforehand that Kim would propose a summit with Trump. And no one expected the U.S. president to accept Kim's olive branch immediately after Chung relayed the North Korean leader's message Thursday. Trump made the decision so quickly and off the cuff, that it stunned the world. What made him make such a bold decision is an open question.



Trump's announcement of a summit with Kim is unprecedented considering standard diplomatic procedures. This may be a cause for concern among his secretaries and policymakers. That's why the White House said Friday President Trump would not meet Kim unless Pyongyang took "concrete actions."



It is right to have cautious optimism. Kim has yet to promise to give up his nuclear ambitions. And a summit meeting alone will not fix all the problems once and for all. Therefore it is important to keep pressure and sanctions on the North until the recalcitrant country scraps its nuclear program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" manner.



The historic U.S.-North Korea summit is scheduled for May after the inter-Korean summit in late April. Seoul and Washington should step up cooperation to produce successful results from both summits. The two sides should not play into the hands of Kim, who apparently wants to use his nuclear weapons as leverage to extract concessions such as sanctions relief, security guarantees, economic rewards and diplomatic ties with the U.S.



President Moon in particular should play a more active role in mediating between the U.S. and the North in finding a peaceful solution to the nuclear crisis. He needs to keep the momentum for detente to start a peace process on the peninsula. He also must work closely with Chinese, Japanese, and Russian leaders to establish permanent peace in Northeast Asia and across the world.



Korea should take radical action against protectionism



South Korean steelmakers are feared to bear the brunt of growing U.S. trade protectionism. President Donald Trump signed an executive order Friday to impose 25 percent tariffs on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum imports.



The order is set to take effect 15 days after the signing. It is aimed at protecting U.S. steel and aluminum producers and workers in the name of national security. But the imposition of tariffs has raised the specter of a trade war.



The European Union, China and Japan have denounced President Trump's unilateral action. Some countries have even threatened to retaliate against the protectionist move. If such a threat becomes a reality, no one can rule out the possibility of a trade war.



It is not too much to say that no other country would suffer more from U.S. tariffs than South Korea, which is too dependent on exports for economic growth.



Korea is the third-largest steel supplier for the U.S. Its exports of steel products to America amounted to $4 billion last year. But the sum is likely to dive 22 percent to $3.1 billion this year affected by the tariffs, according to Hyundai Research Institute. The tariffs will also cost 14,400 jobs here.



One may say the feared damage is not that serious, taking into account the country's gross domestic product (GDP) of 1,500 trillion won ($1.4 trillion). But the bigger problem is the U.S. protectionist move is not confined to steel and aluminum.



Washington has already slapped anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Korean steel products. It has recently imposed high safeguard tariffs on Korean-made washing machines and solar cells and modules. The next U.S. target might be cars or semiconductors.



The Moon Jae-in government vows to persuade the Trump administration to give an exemption to Korea as it did to Canada, Mexico and Australia. It plans to emphasize the importance of Korea's status as a treaty ally of the U.S.



The government will also call on Washington to take into account the ongoing negotiations for the revision of the Korea-U.S. Free Trade Agreement as well as talks on cost-sharing for the U.S. military presence.



The country will consider filing a complaint with the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the U.S. presses ahead with the steel tariffs. However, this step does not appear to be good enough to cope with the wave of protectionism. It is time to work out more radical measures to defend the interests of domestic industries and workers.





By Tong Kim





In a stunning development last week, U.S. President Donald Trump accepted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's invitation to a summit and Trump will meet with him by May, with place and time to be determined later.



National Security Office chief Chung Eui-yong reportedly delivered a letter with Kim Jong-un's invitation to the White House. Chung told reporters Kim was "eager to meet with Trump as soon as possible."



The topic for a historic U.S.-DPRK summit will be about "permanent denuclearization," without which no durable peace is possible. In 2000 former U.S. President Bill Clinton seriously considered visiting Pyongyang to meet Kim Jong-il, then leader of the North. But that did not happen as time ran out.



Since the president of the United States has decided to meet with the North Korean leader, concerns and caution about directly engaging the North will not change the momentum for dialogue. Until the announcement of Trump's bold decision, most Korea watchers cautioned against the mistakes of the past in negotiating with the North, which Trump himself pledged not to repeat.



Potential candidates of the venue of the summit may be neutral ground such as Panmunjeom, or a third country such as Switzerland, or the United Nations in New York, or even in South Korea. It is not likely the U.S. will accept Pyongyang, and Kim is not asking Trump to come there either.



Earlier last week, Kim Jong-un dictated to a visiting South Korean presidential delegation a surprising five-point statement in a clear departure from his known approach to the United States. He seemed to be reviving the negotiating premises his father held.



His statement included his intent to discuss "denuclearization and normalization frankly if treated normally." He also recalled the death-bed wish of his grandfather for a denuclearized Korean Peninsula, which his father used as a compelling reason for denuclearization.



In further details, Kim Jong-un specified: No reason to keep nuclear weapons if the security of its system is guaranteed and military threats are removed; no nuclear or missile tests while engaging in dialogue; no objection to the scheduled resumption of joint military drills on their normal scale; and no attack on the South by nuclear or conventional weapons.



Many observers struggle to explain the motivation behind Pyongyang's abrupt turnaround on nuclear weapons. Until two weeks ago, the North insisted its nuclear weapons would never be up for a deal. Its constitution and its party convention stipulate the DPRK as "a nuclear state that shall pursue byungjin' policy" for parallel development of its nuclear arsenal and its economy.



Kim Jong-un's circumvention of the legal restraints is easier to explain than the real question of why he so suddenly pivoted to what appears to be an all-out diplomatic offensive. He is the only one who can disregard the laws of his country, and of course in the name of a greater interest to the state. He can change the laws later if necessary.



Trump and his surrogates claim Kim was surrendering to the impact of Trump's tough pressure, backed up by threats of war, against the North as well as a madman's tweets. Even some mainstream media in the U.S. report on the possible positive impact of Trump's approach. The South Korean President and his security adviser Chung give credit to Trump for his tough policy for bringing the North to the table. Trump likes compliments. Diplomacy of flattery seems to work on him.



There is some evidence sanctions are starting to bite the North, perhaps making Kim realize he has no exit from the corner into which he drove himself by advancing a reckless nuclear program that now can threaten the U.S. homeland. However, this remarkable breakthrough all started with progress in inter-Korean dialogue leading up to the Winter Olympics and an exchange of envoys thereafter.



It is not important to decide who deserves credit for Kim's positive strategic decision. Kim has not explained the rationale for his new strategy or a roadmap to denuclearization. And nobody really knows exactly why he is doing this.



What is important is to prepare a good plan for realistic steps to denuclearization. Moon and Trump already agreed, and rightly so, to maintain the pressure campaign until concrete measures are taken on the denuclearization process. Thank God, a breathtaking peace process is beginning on the Korean Peninsula.



Tong Kim (tong.kim8@yahoo.com) is a Washington correspondent and columnist for The Korea Times. He is also a fellow at the Institute of Korean-American Studies.

A streetcar passes through the West Gate circa 1900.



By Robert Neff



The introduction of streetcars into Seoul brought great change and was dubbed by one American magazine as "the first step towards civilization in the Hermit Kingdom.'"



Women were allowed to ride in the streetcars which, in effect, ended the age-old curfew law that prevented women from being out on the streets during the daytime.



But the transition wasn't always easy.





Korean and foreign passengers circa 1900.



Passengers and crew were oblivious to time and often caused the car to be delayed with their tardiness in boarding. Once the crews were well trained and began punctual operations, the passengers, too, were conditioned to respect time. Even the yangban class learned, much to their dismay, the streetcars waited for no one.



But Seoul's streets, even the main thoroughfares, were crowded. Small shops and restaurants intruded into the streets, and often pack animals, including Korean ponies, were tied to the tables where their owners ate and drank. The approach of the streetcars often startled the vicious Korean ponies and caused them to lash out at anything and everything within reach of their hooves or teeth.



But it was the pedestrians that caused the most concern as they seemed oblivious to the dangers the streetcars posed. One early observer described men walking stolidly and with a dignified strut along the track with the expectation that the car would go around them. Unfortunately, the cars did not go around them.





Women board a streetcar circa 1900.



There was also the matter of the common people sleeping on the rails during hot summer nights. One American wrote: "We often saw long rows of white-clad citizens, like prostrate ghosts, laid out on mats of straw, snoring in ecstasy, their necks reposing on the cool, and, to them, comfortable rails."



The people had become accustomed to the timetable of the streetcars and knew that the last streetcar (the Owl) left Queen Min's tomb at 11:30 at night and arrived at the terminal at midnight. Once the streetcar had passed, they could comfortably use the rails as their pillows.





A streetcar passes through the crowded streets circa 1900.



However, on August 4, 1900, "The Owl" was delayed, possibly due to mechanical problems, and departed much later than usual. At least two people were unaware it had been delayed and laid out their straw mats thinking "The Owl" had already passed for the night.



Even though the streetcar was equipped with an electric light and probably a bell, due to the late hour, probably gave no warning rings or calls to alert pedestrians of its approach. The driver, still rather new and thinking that the streets were empty, was most likely going faster than normal in an effort to make up for the lost time.



The tragedy occurred near the bridge just outside the South Gate. The driver spotted the two sleeping men and tried to bring his streetcar to a screeching halt but it was too late. The streetcar rolled over the necks of the sleeping prone figures and decapitated both men like an "electric guillotine."





A streetcar ticket office circa 1900.



A horrified but angry crowd gathered and shouts for revenge echoed in the streets. They attempted to destroy the mechanical murderer that had just mangled their neighbors to death but were stopped by the Korean army and the streetcar company's Western guards.



The following morning the SERC responded by placing posters on all the streetcar poles in the city, declaring the track as the private property of the SERC. Henceforth no one would be permitted to sleep on the rails. These posters were quickly ripped down by the crowds. Eventually the company capitulated to the demands of the Korean public who continued "to enjoy the night air with their necks upon the chilly steel, heroically defying the electric guillotine."





A boy reads the company's proclamation.Chinese President Xi Jinping drops his ballot, during a vote on a constitutional amendment lifting presidential term limits, at the third plenary session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China on Mar. 11. / Reuters-Yonhap



By Nectar Gan





China's legislature gave near-unanimous approval to sweeping changes to the constitution on Sunday, formally removing term limits to enable Xi Jinping to stay on as the president beyond 2023.

The National People's Congress passed the historic constitutional amendments with 2,958 votes in favour, only two against, and three abstentions. One ballot was invalid. A total of 2,964 votes were cast.

The endorsement came as no surprise, given the Communist Party's iron grip on the legislature. But the extremely high approval rate nevertheless gives the controversial move a veneer of universal support within the establishment, despite criticism and scepticism at home and abroad.

With the presidential term limits formally dropped from the constitution, Xi could become one of the country's longest-serving leaders  to the disquiet of many who fear a return to strongman rule.

The two-term limit on the presidency was introduced by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1982 to prevent a repeat of Mao Zedong's tumultuous decades-long reign that only ended in his death. With the vote on Sunday, all three titles Xi holds  including the more important party boss and military chief roles  are free of formal term limits.

The revision is the biggest change to the constitution in 36 years and gained an unprecedentedly high approval rate.











Kendallville, IN (46755)

Today

Rain. High near 75F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 66F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.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.Choreographer Krzysztof Pastors version of Romeo and Juliet, which the Joffrey Ballet performed Friday night at the Music Center, inspires this thorny question: Does a ballet company really need an updated production of every classic work?

Probably not, and in the case of this specific ballet, answer that with a definitive no.

Pastor, who is director of the Polish National Ballet, devised his pseudo-political take on the Shakespearean love tragedy for Scottish National Ballet in 2008; the Joffrey premiered it six years later. Its a jarring departure from John Crankos 1962 traditional and emotionally fulfilling Romeo and Juliet, which was a repertory staple under founder-directors Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino.

Its a reasonable assumption  as well as a simple fact  that living choreographers will have their way with the classics. The art form must evolve, and dancers need new material. This material, unfortunately, poorly represents these spirited dancers and sends the art form reeling backward, rather than advancing it.

This Romeo does hew to the narratives well-known outlines: The children of warring families fall in love, defy their parents and choose death over a life apart. Pastor tacks on a strange conceit, shifting the ballets time period in each of the three acts, the scenes supposedly shifting from the 1930s to the 1950s and finally the 1990s, ostensibly to highlight periods of turmoil within Italian politics.

Christine Rocas with one of the projections meant to convey shifts in decades. Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times

The company against the video backdrop. Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times

He tries to establish place and time with videos of street scenes and the aftermath of Red Brigade bombings, for example, and through Tatyana van Walsums spare set pieces and costumes. But the concept is so poorly executed that its difficult to decipher any switch in eras. Plus, no sword fights. And a glass elevator makes a poor stand-in for a balcony.

Pastor seems mostly focused on 30s fascism. Hes got a group of stiff-legged soldiers, and he turns Juliets father, Capulet, into a kind of Benito Mussolini-esque dictator.

Fabrice Calmels, a tall  no, towering  principal dancer, made Capulet a terrifying monster. When he was onstage everyone cowered, even his wife, an ill-used April Daly, who tried hard with this sorrowful role.

Fabrice Calmels as Capulet and Christine Rocas as Juliet. Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times

Capulet drove the ballets mayhem. Calmels even handed a knife to Temur Suluashvili, the simpering Tybalt, so he can murder Mercutio. The high-spirited Yoshihisa Arai was the lively Mercutio, bringing bravura and joyful gusto to doleful proceedings. Van Walsum cloaked Capulet in a stiff, black tuxedo, making Calmels loom even larger and reducing the story into a tale of one abusive man.

Pastors foundation is classical dance, but he blends in naturalistic gestures and jarringly stylized moves that are intended to telegraph emotion. The consequence is he takes away the dancers ability to shape their own characters. So Juliet, the dynamic and beautiful Christine Rocas, repeatedly executed a side kick that said to Capulet, Get away from me. But it also made her look like a donkey.

Rory Hohenstein as Romeo. Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times

A few characters simply had no personality  including Romeo. In the ballets opening crowd scene, it was hard to find him.

Rory Hohenstein was an unconvincing, restrained lover, uncomfortable perhaps with the awkwardness of his partnering duties. Pastor is unable to give Rocas and Hohenstein anything remotely lovely to express during composer Sergei Prokofievs soaring balcony scene pas de deux. Hohenstein did finally give it the full-throttled treatment in the crypt scene, demonstrably mourning his Juliet.

Despite the chopped up and rearranged score, Prokofiev was well-served by the Music Center orchestra, led by Joffrey conductor Scott Speck. Rocas was another bright spot. Maybe shell eventually get an opportunity to show what she can really do in a production thats worthy of her.

Check back at latimes.com/arts Monday for Times music critic Mark Sweds review of Orpheus and Eurydice, the Joffrey Ballets collaboration with Los Angeles Opera, also at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

Rocas, left, Amanda Assucena and Jeraldine Mendoza. Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times

         

Joffrey Ballets Romeo and Juliet

When: 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday

Where: Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., Los Angeles

Tickets: $38-$144 (subject to change)

"Romeo and Juliet" has two more performances Saturday. Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times

See all of our latest arts news and reviews at latimes.com/arts.

MORE DANCE:

Behind the scenes with the Joffreys collaboration with L.A. Opera

What to see in L.A. dance this week

Los Angeles Ballets Swan LakeBefore introducing director Kay Cannon ahead of the Saturday night premiere of Blockers, SXSW director of film Janet Pierson noted that it was the fourth film that day directed by a woman to play at the festivals marquee venue, the Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas.

As she took the stage, Cannon said: I am a woman. And I directed something. And its rated R. And a comedy. And studio-released. I feel pretty good about that.

Cannon continued by saying she wanted to make this movie because I wanted to tell a no-holds-barred coming-of-age sex comedy from a female perspective.

She then proceeded to explain that she also wanted the movie to explore an extreme form of ingesting alcohol that does not involve the mouth but rather the opposite end of the digestive system.

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And you guys seem like a really fun crowd, Im real excited that youre here. Youre gonna have some drinks tonight, youre gonna go out and party, she continued, while exhorting the crowd not to attempt what they were about to see. Dont do it. I mean that. Im a mom, if I see it I will ... block you so fast. I will pull that tube right out.

Cannons comments more than set the stage for the screening that followed. If there were ever any doubt that there is a special kind of magic during a SXSW premiere in the Paramount and why a certain kind of studio comedy has become a specialty of the fest, the roaring laughter that at times drowned out subsequent lines of dialogue would well dispel it.

The film cannily works on two tracks, as its story follows three teenage girls with a plan to lose their virginity on their prom night. When three of their parents discover the plan  #sexpact2018  they set out to stop it. What follows includes all manner of sex jokes, vomit, wild physical comedy and indeed John Cena attempting to chug beer via a tube inserted in his rear end. It is every bit the wild comedy set piece it sounds to be.

As the parents, Cena, Leslie Mann and Ike Barinholtz capture a sense of manic uncertainty, as they are not entirely sure what they are so upset about or attempting to stop or save by thwarting their daughters plans. As the daughters, Kathryn Newton, Geraldine Viswanathan and Gideon Adlon convey a feeling of emotional hesitation alongside a riotous sense of adventure. Viswanathan feels like the films big discovery with an unpredictable energy, at once manic and low-key.

For the Q&A after the film, Cannon returned to the stage with Mann, Cena, Viswanathan, Adlon and Miles Robbins, who plays one of the girls prom dates.

Mann was asked how she connected to the role.

My daughter was going away to college right around the time that we met and talked about this movie, Mann said. Shes here now, she wants to drop out. But shes not going to.

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In the audience, Manns daughter Maude Apatow slunk into her seat next to her younger sister, Iris Apatow, as their father, comedian and filmmaker Judd Apatow captured it all on his phones camera.

Cannon was asked about the point of view of the storytelling.

Part of what attracted me to the script was that it was from the female perspective, she said. Theres plenty of movies that take it from the male perspective of losing your virginity.

What was really important in the work of making this is that we made them as real as possible, as current as possible, as modern as possible, what theyre really saying, what theyre really doing, what theyre really feeling and approaching it not so much like, This time its ladies, but like this is their experience and this is an underserved story. And it was exciting to serve that underserved story.

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Cannon noted that she is mother to a 4-year-old daughter and that no matter how progressive I am as a parent, I still am worried about the day that she decides to have sex. Were in a movement right now, Times Up and Me Too, and theres a reason for this fear, theres kind of a reason for the double standard in some ways. So my hope for her is that she loves herself and I want her to be able to tell me everything. Which, I dont know, is that a good thing?

Mann chimed in. My kids are good, because theyve agreed to never have sex. Right? she said, as the entire theater seemed to turn toward her daughters, both of whom sunk lower into their seats.

Cena displayed the same charm he does onscreen when asked how he connected to his role. Cannon asked him, What were your sex experiences as a kid?

Cena responded rhetorically, Was it easy for me to play a matter-of-fact big dude who was put in awkward situations? Yes.

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Pierson noted that as the programming team was putting together this years festival, there were a lot of conversations about what is funny in the current cultural climate, and how things that might have seemed acceptable and funny five years ago no longer seem so.

I dont know if this movie would have been made five years ago, Cannon said. I definitely dont feel like I would have been the director five years ago.

I hope that it opens up a conversation and bridges this gap that we can start to treat women as humans as opposed to sexual objects or no thoughts, no feelings, just objects of desire, that theres an agency over their decisions and their choices and theyre in control of their own bodies.

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Mark.Olsen@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocusThe recent success of Lady Bird pointed toward a heightened interest in the kind of mother-daughter stories rarely portrayed onscreen. And certainly nothing quite like Jinn has been seen before.

Premiering as part of the narrative competition at the South by Southwest Film Festival, the movie is the feature debut from writer-director Nijla Mumin. As with the relationship between Lady Bird, filmmaker Greta Gerwig and her hometown Sacramento, the story of Jinn is rooted in Mumins experiences growing up in the Bay Area around Oakland but is not intended as an exact depiction of her life.

In the film, high schooler Summer (Zoe Renee) finds her life upended when her mother Jade (Simone Missick) converts to Islam. Everything seems to change  suddenly Summer is exploring religion, sexuality, identity, friendship and even her relationship to pizza. And Jade faces tumult of her own, when her job as a television meteorologist is suddenly placed in jeopardy by her decision to wear a headscarf on-air.

Though very much a coming-of-age story for Summer, the film pays close attention to Jade as well, making the film feel rounded and detailed in a rare way.

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I knew that I wanted to tell a story about this young girl who was impacted by her mothers decision to convert to Islam and theyre both exploring who they are, said Mumin. So its a coming of age story for Summer but its also for Jade to figure out who she wants to be religiously, spiritually and in her professional life.

Its definitely a mother-daughter drama. From inception thats always what I wanted to do  [explore] how this mother and this daughter are finding themselves in this new religious space with these new people around them, she said. Falling in love, going to work  how is this impacting them both? And ultimately how Summer is going to forge ahead with her identity?

A little more than a week before the films SXSW premiere, Mumin was gathered in a small bungalow office in West Los Angeles, just in the shadow of the 405, with producer Avril Z. Speaks and her two lead actresses.

The filmmakers undertook an extensive search to cast the role of Summer. Though Renee has been seen on the BET drama series The Quad, her role in Jinn makes for a dynamic feature film debut.

Summer has to have this innocence about her, but then she also needs to have this kind of edge, said Speaks. And we were like, I dont know if Zoe is going to have that edge, and she came in and started dancing and she was in it.

I watched her tape so many times after that audition, said Mumin. I just couldnt stop watching it.

Zoe Renee in Jinn, which is competing in the 2018 SXSW film festival. (Bruce Francis Cole / SXSW )

Missick, best known for her recent role on Marvels Luke Cage, came to the movie through her husband, actor Dorian Missick, who was already cast in the project. After Mumin reached out to Simone Missick about being in the film as well, she not only signed on as a performer, but as an executive producer.

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I immediately thought this is something I want to be a part of, said Missick, who tailored her shooting schedule around her work in Marvels The Defenders. So often you see with films  when its a smaller budget indie  if you dont have the right people and the right pieces in place, things go awry. I just wanted to lend whatever hand I could in order to make this movie happen.

Missick immediately noticed differences participating in a film depicting an African American mother-daughter story made by a creative team of African American women.

So often when you see stories about women of color and young women, its with some trauma. Theyre being abused or violated or theres some kind of tragic event, as opposed to seeing what it is like to live in this body, said Missick. Which is universal. Because black girls are no different from white girls or Asian girls or Hispanic girls or Native American girls; we all go through the same questions of self-worth and sexuality and identity. Do we fit in or do we stand out? All of these things that we all as women have to deal with, but now you get to see it in this beautiful brown body.

Mumins debut arrives as part of a recent wave of films coming from creators in the Bay Area, as Boots Rileys Sorry To Bother You and Carlos Lopez Estradas Blindspotting both captured attention at this years Sundance Film Festival, and Ryan Cooglers Black Panther features scenes explicitly set in Oakland.

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It just feels like its the moment for Bay Area filmmakers, said Mumin.

For Renee, the ways in which Summers story was or was not Mumins story was never a point of concern or confusion.

I never felt like I was playing her exactly, said Renee. I felt like I was playing a piece of Nijla, somewhere in her soul, somewhere in her heart, this carefree black girl who just wanted to do everything, who wanted to experience every aspect of life and explore and learn.

And it was awesome because I was able to ask questions and say, How does this work and how did you feel growing up in this life? said Renee. It was cool that she was there as the cheat in the back of the notebook.

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In bringing a story rooted in her own life to the screen, it was important to Mumin to see a lively depiction of a warm, complex Muslim community as she had experienced it.

It means a lot for me, because Im from that community. Growing up, the people I was around, I never saw them on screen. And I know they exist, she said. To be able to show them in this light, in a real, textured, flawed light, is important to me.

At the same time, I wouldnt say this film can speak for all Muslims. My experience is very singular to me. But the response weve gotten so far  people are connecting to it, Muslims, non-Muslims, non-black people. Its becoming a little universal for people, but its also a source of representation for a community we just dont see enough of in media.

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Mark.Olsen@latimes.com

Follow on Twitter: @IndieFocusKathy Griffin is plotting her move back to the spotlight.

The red-haired comedian, who has been in a self-imposed exile since last May after provoking a furor with a photo in which she held up a bloody-looking mask disguised as the severed head of President Trump, has booked a pair of major comedy gigs.

Im going to do a show at Carnegie Hall in New York, she announced on HBOs Real Time with Bill Maher on Friday. And Im going to go right into Trumps backyard and do a show at the Kennedy Center.

Griffins website also announces smaller shows in San Francisco, Seattle and Boston through June.

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Of her return, Griffin told Maher: Im not decimated.

Then she raised her arms and gave the finger to the air above her  to appreciative applause from the audience. (The interview is available on Real Times YouTube account. It is laced with comedic profanities.)

Great news - Im heading back to Carnegie Hall in New York! Tickets will be on sale next week. If you want the first crack at the best tickets, join my email list and youll get a head start!



Link to sign up: https://t.co/2ABuYJyTUt pic.twitter.com/aDlo189KV8  Kathy Griffin (@kathygriffin) March 10, 2018

Griffin became persona non grata in Hollywood following the appearance of what she labeled as a satirical photo. Trump described the image as Sick! Many others  both pro- and anti-Trump  were also critical, including Chelsea Clinton, who condemned the photo on Twitter as vile and wrong.

The image, taken by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields, also drew the attention of authorities, including the Secret Service, who interviewed Griffin at length.

Several venues where Griffin had been scheduled to perform pulled her from their schedules, and CNN ousted her from its annual New Years Eve broadcast that for 10 years had teamed her with Anderson Cooper. Cooper also tweeted his disapproval of the image, describing it as disgusting and completely inappropriate.

Though Griffin announced in July that she had been completely exonerated in the Secret Service investigation, some media outlets surmised that she would remain unemployable.

Griffin sought to apologize for the incident (as she did in a YouTube video, after the photo first hit the web), but she soon became more defiant  insisting that it was a parody inspired by Trumps own sexist remarks. And in recent months, the comedian has focused her professional energies on touring internationally, where the whole incident is part of her act.

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In a recent cover story in the Hollywood Reporter, Griffin told reporter Seth Abramovitch: I didnt commit a crime. I didnt rape anybody. I didnt assault anybody. I didnt get a DUI. I mean, my God, there are celebrities that [expletive] kill people.

A shorn Kathy Griffin, with J.J. Abrams and Mark Hamill at the Oscar Wilde Awards in Santa Monica last week. (Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images )

On Mahers show, she expressed gratitude for his support.

I really want to thank you for being one of the first and only people to publicly support me,  she said. I got texts from celebrities who were like, Dont tell anyone I sent you this text, but I support you all the way!

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She told Maher that the incident had landed her on Interpol watch lists.

I did an overseas tour, and I was detained at every single airport, she said. Theres like whispering, and they put me in a detention room and you dont know how long its going to take.

There were times they took my devices, she added. They can do that.  It happened at LAX. It happened at London Heathrow.

Despite her planned live dates, she said most television networks and streaming services are still keeping her at arms length.

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But the minute I do something that makes money, she tells the Hollywood Reporter, they will all love me again.

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carolina.miranda@latimes.com

@cmonstah

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ALSO

Kathy Griffin proves theres still such a thing as too far

Heres what a defiant Kathy Griffin said at her Trump news conference. (Spoiler: Shes not backing down)

Martin Sheen adds to his presidential resume with CNNs American Dynasties: The Kennedys

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black-ish episode pulled over creative differences between Kenya Barris and ABCSince President Trump took office, California has been the epicenter of the resistance, home to countless protests, marches, impromptu airport rallies and, of course, commentary of various kinds on Facebook and Twitter.

But its all been done at a distance, because Trump has avoided California. Until this week.

Trump will spend Tuesday and a bit of Wednesday in Southern California, visiting prototypes for the border wall hes vowed to build in San Diego and attending a fundraiser on Los Angeles Westside.

What remains unclear is whether his brief visit will bring out major protests. Some anti-Trump activists said they intend some kind of action, but so far there have been no plans for a massive demonstration such as the womens march last year or some of the immigration demonstrations that clogged the streets of downtown L.A.

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Los Angeles Deputy Police Chief Horace Frank, who oversees the counterterrorism and special operations bureau, said that although no permitted protests in the form of marches are planned, authorities do expect to see both opponents and supporters out in numbers during a presidential visit.

We are prepared for anything, he said.

At least one protest is planned in Beverly Hills area between 4 and 8 p.m Tuesday by a Facebook group, Trump Not Welcome in LA. More than 1,000 people have indicated they will attend. LAPD is preparing for many more protests of various sizes on the Westside. Trumps earlier visits to L.A. while he was a candidate did bring out demonstrators.

Some protests are also planned for the San Diego area.

Ron Gochez, a political secretary with political group Union del Barrios Los Angeles chapter, is organizing the Beverly Hills protest. The same group plans a rally against Trump on Monday evening in San Diego, the day before he arrives in the region to inspect prototypes for his proposed southern border wall. He plans to visit Beverly Hills the same day, where he plans to attend a Republican fundraiser.

As of Friday afternoon, Gochez said, more than a thousand people were following the Beverly Hills protest Facebook page even though he was still unclear about where the protest would take place.

He cannot step foot in this state and not expect an organized response to denounce him, Gochez said. We have dignity and we can only demonstrate that through denouncing Trump and fighting for freedom from fear. We are not just going to stand with our arms crossed while they deport us or attack Muslims or womens rights.

California and Trump have been on a collision course since he took office, clashing on immigration, climate change and other issues. The Justice Department last week sued California over state laws aimed at providing sanctuary for those here illegally. Trump and other members of his administration have slammed Oaklands mayor after she issued a public warning last month that immigration agents were about to conduct sweeps across the Bay Area.

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This isnt the first time a state has so vehemently opposed a sitting president, said Louis DeSipio, a professor of political science at UC Irvine.

For instance, a cluster of southern states stood in defiance in the late 1950s and early 60s when the federal government sought to desegregate schools.

Still, California stands out in that youve never had a state as large and as economically and politically important to the nation and the world standing in outright opposition to a sitting president on a number of policies, including immigration, DeSipio said.

Trump has taken longer to visit California than any other president since Franklin D. Roosevelt. Thats likely because he remains wildly unpopular here, said Caroline Heldman, a political scientist at Occidental College.

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He could visit other states to promote his border wall, but hes coming to California, the heart of the resistance movement against his presidency, to provoke a fight and throw some red meat to his base, she said.

Of course, Trump does have his supporters in the Golden State. And a few groups plan to support him at a rally Tuesday morning near the border fence prototypes in San Diego.

Robin Hvidston, executive director of We the People Rising, a Claremont-based organization against illegal immigration, said shell be there. Shes heartened by the visit.

I always point to the fact that more than 4 million Californians voted for Trump, she said.

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Hvidston said Trumps visit demonstrates he is serious about the border.

I think hes been doing great, he said. Hes been shaking things up, said Craig Griffin, 71, Paramount resident. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times )

Craig Griffin, a 71-year-old Paramount resident, said he supports the presidents immigration enforcement, but he doesnt plan to attend any rallies.

Hes hoping any anti-Trump protest will be peaceful.

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I think hes been doing great, he said. Hes been shaking things up.

Griffins neighbor Teresa Ramirez felt differently.

I dont want him visiting here, she said. Why is he coming here? What for? To repeat what hes been telling everyone in the country? ... I feel hes just coming here to spit his toxic words.

Ramirez, a Mexican immigrant who is a naturalized U.S. citizen, hasnt decided whether she will join the protesters.

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Marya Ayloush, a 22-year-old whose father is Syrian Muslim and whose Mexican mother converted to Islam, joined thousands of protesters who converged at Los Angeles International Airport last year to condemn Trumps travel restrictions on predominantly Muslim countries.

She carried a sign that read: I am a Mexican, Arab, Muslim, Woman. Trumps Boogey Man.

This time, however, shell sit it out. Ayloush, a UCLA student majoring in Chicano studies, has finals this week and wont be able to make it. Still, she said, she supports those who will and said she is aghast at Trumps visit.

Its a slap in the face. Hes coming to our state, not to mediate or to try to have dialogue, but coming to incite, she said.

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Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

cindy.carcamo@latimes.com

Follow Cindy Carcamo on Twitter @thecindycarcamoThe former Army soldier who killed three hostages Friday at a Napa Valley veterans care facility he once attended was described as a hero in the service but who struggled once he returned home from Afghanistan.

The Napa County Sheriff-Coroners Office identified the gunman as 36-year-old Albert Wong of Sacramento, who formerly was treated at the Pathway Home, a residential unit within the Yountville Veterans Home. He was found dead next to the bodies of three employees Friday afternoon, all with gunshot wounds.

Wong was deployed to Afghanistan in 2011 and was awarded the Expert Marksmanship Badge. Yountville Mayor John Dunbar described Wong as one of our heroes who clearly had demons.

Cissy Sherr, who with her husband became Wongs legal guardian after his father died when he was a child, said the soldier was deeply affected by the violence he saw.

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I think he realized that it started to catch up with him, she told the Associated Press. A couple of years ago, he told us if a door opens unexpectedly, I ask, What is that?

She said of his time deployed: I had the impression he was kind of put in harms way, knowing that he didnt have a family. He didnt seem the least bit resentful.

Officials have said Wong suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, and thats what sent him to the Yountville facility. Sherr told AP that Wong told her, I think Im going to get a lot of help from this program.

Authorities identified the victims as the homes executive director, Christine Loeber, 48; therapist Jen Golick, 42; and Jennifer Gonzales, 29, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

Authorities have said they dont yet know whether Wong targeted the victims specifically or chose them at random.

Golicks father-in-law, Bob Golick, told the Associated Press that she recently had expelled Wong from the program.

At a news conference Saturday morning, officials said the victims brought a unique sense of purpose and humanity to their jobs.

Mayor Dunbar said the Pathway Home program has been unique from the very beginning, partly because of the way it allowed veterans to interact with the community. The program included activities such as fishing or bowling trips. Pathway serves post-9/11 Veterans affected by deployment-related stress, its website says.

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In some cases, those in the program needed to be reintroduced into daily life, Dunbar said  that included being in crowded rooms or places with loud noises.

Some local businesses would offer the veterans anything they needed, he said, to come and relax.

Sometimes thats part of the programming, to just be human, Dunbar said.

He said Loeber was tireless in her efforts on behalf of veterans: She would sleep in her office more often than not because she had to be there to fill a shift. Thats the kind of personal dedication she showed all of us.

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Sherr said she was still struggling to understand what happened.

He loved computers and he liked music. He was thoughtful and independent, Sherr said. He didnt have a traditional upbringing but still he became a fine young man.In a large white studio in Pasadena, nine art students scrutinized a wall they had covered with cartoon condoms and colorful depictions of chlamydia. They had a health crisis to solve, and one of them had just begun to explain how art was the answer.

Then instructor Dennis Lee cut her off.

This just looks like design for design's sake, he said. Every time you show an idea, you have to reinforce it with insight.

Tough love and critical thinking go hand in hand on the third floor of the ArtCenter College of Design, in Designmatters, an unusual incubator that pairs art students with complicated social issues. Each class is assigned a real-world big client with a real-world big problem  and given 14 weeks to come up with a way to help solve it harnessing the power of art and design.

Long Beach health officials had come to Designmatters with a vexing dilemma: how to stem an alarming increase in cases of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV in a generation that seems apathetic, far removed from the last-century fears of the AIDS crisis.

STD and HIV cases have increased nationwide and gone up and down California. And Long Beach now has the states second-highest rate of chlamydia and third-highest rates of gonorrhea and syphilis. No one factor explains the increases, but health officials point to the popularity of online dating apps, casual hookups and evidence that young people who are busy and otherwise healthy often dont bother with condoms or routine checkups.

What would it take to change that, to motivate the right audience and raise awareness without shaming Long Beach as a hot spot for STDs?

The citys health department, hoping to launch its first campaign in 2018, decided to put the question to students rather than a traditional consulting firm.

Graphic design student Rachel Cho takes a photograph of ideas that were written on Post-It notes during a brainstorming session. Patrick T. Fallon / For The Times

The projects produced by Designmatters  reimagining burn clinics for children in Chile, raising awareness about cervical cancer among Latinas  have earned ArtCenter NGO status from the United Nations, the only design school so recognized.

At a time when many young people feel a call to activism, Designmatters students learn how much hard work it takes to understand and empower others.

Always go back to the person youre trying to help, Lee told the class. Were here to solve a very specific human problem.

Instructor Tyrone Drake emphasized cultural immersion, not scare tactics. Meet people, he told the students. Frequent popular hangouts. Build trust in order to gain insight not visible in the numbers alone.

The whole idea is to get more authentic feedback from people on the street, he said, as opposed to us giving them information and making them feel like we're preaching to them."

For the first few weeks, students explored the city and their own perceptions and misunderstandings about STDs and HIV. They discovered that Long Beach felt like a small town. They learned that syphilis often has no symptoms.

Crammed inside the citys mobile clinic, which offer residents free checkups, student Riley Gish, who had gone from illustration to a major in product design, snapped photos of the faded posters on the vans walls.

If I was coming into a place like this, where Im already scared about whats going on with my body, she said, I mean, it feels so drab and a little broken down. Very clinical. And thats not an environment that makes you feel like youre going to be OK.

Students Rachel Cho, Riley Gish and Amy Huang explore inside the city's mobile testing clinic with health official Kerry Brown. Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times

Later, as she and her classmates visited the citys health department, they stumbled into a hidden corner. Past the nondescript lobby, past the sterile waiting area, back where the nurses met their patients, they laughed out loud and immediately took to Instagram to share colorful hand-drawn signs with blunt, funny messages: R U A Fool? Cover your tool!

Wheres that humor outside these walls? Its like two different worlds, student Amy Huang, who studies graphic design, asked the nurses. Have you tried bringing that into your campaigns?

Such fresh perspectives are key, said Mariana Amatullo, who co-founded Designmatters in 2001. What began as a concept evolved into a full academic department increasingly sought after by both students and companies.

About 80% of Designmatters projects have had at least some elements implemented, Amatullo said, and students often go on to become social entrepreneurs or get hired as design consultants. One became lead designer for UNICEF.

There is a real demand in society for people who understand how issues are interrelated, who have been exposed to working with constraints, with complexities and very volatile social and political situations, she said.

By week seven, the students could recite STD symptoms and knew every sex shop in town. They had hung out at bus stops, chatted with people on dating apps, met a man in his 40s who had been diagnosed with HIV. They had learned that stopping strangers on the street isnt easy  particularly to talk about sex.

What really stood out was peoples pride in their city, said Gish, whose interests in public health and art therapy had drawn her to the project. Thats something we're really interested in tapping into: How can we leverage that love ...

The students, in lieu of midterms, presented five campaign concepts to city health officials. One group took a subtle approach to building awareness around town, with the slogan: Know more about STDs so there will be no more STDs. Another used cartoon images to depict body parts and protected sex practices  to convey information without the awkwardness of words.

A mock-up of using cartoon icons, not words, to teach protected sex practices. Courtesy of ArtCenter

Gishs group, who called their campaign Dear Long Beach, tapped into their sense that residents liked community-oriented messages that neither embarrassed nor felt too sterile. In a series of posters, they paired an image with a surprising fact (There is no cure for herpes, only medications that help with outbreaks) and a personal story, in letter form, from one of the many people theyd interviewed.

Mock-up of a photo version for the "Dear Long Beach" concept. Some said it resembled a stereotypical anti-smoking ad. Courtesy of Riley Gish

Mock-up of an illustration version for the "Dear Long Beach" concept. The class questioned whether the drawings felt relatable or too whimsical. Courtesy of Riley Gish

Dear Long Beach, I was with him for a long time before I knew. I was sure I didnt have anything, Gish said, reading one letter out loud. It wasnt like, Oh Im sleeping around and not using a condom.  When it happened, it was really shocking and painful. I was lied to by someone I was with for years and really, really loved and trusted.

The room was silent as people took in the words. Gish pointed to the bottom of the poster, which urged viewers to read more, share personal stories, perhaps get tested.

The final weeks were tense, as five concepts boiled down to two: Dear Long Beach and Know More. Students argued over typeface and built mock-ups of websites. They created examples of how their messages could be used on murals, T-shirts, stickers and social media.

They tested their ideas on Facebook and pitched them to people in bars. They wanted to be provocative, but not offend or discourage participation.

At 3 a.m., hours before final presentations, they were decorating ArtCenter bathrooms and hallways to show how their campaigns could work in public spaces. If it was just a class, I dont think we would have tried this hard, said Sam Yen, from the Know More campaign.

When the big moment arrived, Gish held her breath. She watched the health officials snap photos of posters and put stickers on the backs of their phones.

Then it was her groups turn to present the final version of Dear Long Beach, which used grainy black-and-white portraits of real people with illustrations artfully masking their identities.

The final version of "Dear Long Beach" used both illustration and photo portraits to mask the identities of the storytellers. Courtesy of Riley Gish

Dear Long Beach is an ode to the city.  It brings the raw, human experience back into an otherwise clinical topic, Gish said. The goal is to leverage personal stories, remove the shame and empower more people in the community to share their stories and opt for healthier behavior.

The Know More campaign was edgier. Some of its posters appeared to be blank  but explained in light text only visible up close that STDs often have no symptoms. Others stressed the risks of hookup culture.

Your boyfriend loves receiving oral sex from his co-worker, his Uber driver, the bartender, that girl in his math class, and you, read one, which also bore a stark warning in one corner: 1 in 2 sexually active persons will contract an STD by the age of 25.

The "Know More" campaign used a combination of bold and faint text to show the realities of hookup culture and why no one is immune to sexually transmitted diseases. The concept recently won a Spark Award. Courtesy of ArtCenter

Students Rachel Cho, left, Amy Huang and Riley Gish talk ideas with instructor Dennis Lee and Long Beach health director Kelly Colopy, right, during the final presentation. Lucia Loiso / Courtesy of ArtCenter

Its very clever. Its very hard-hitting, said Kelly Colopy, the citys health and human services director, who said she was amazed by the insight the group of artists and designers had gained.

She went back to her office, got a budget approved and hired an ArtCenter student to help fine-tune and roll out both concepts.

On her walls, once blank, she put up some of the work. No one else in health, she said, would have a campaign so fresh and with so much potential.

rosanna.xia@latimes.com

Follow @RosannaXia for more education newsA security guard at the Glendale Galleria fired a gun Saturday afternoon trying to stop an attempted smash-and-grab robbery of a jewelry store, authorities said.

Three suspects entered Bhindi Jewelers with miniature sledgehammers and began breaking glass jewelry displays, said Glendale Police Sgt. Dan Suttles. A mall guard nearby fired two or three rounds toward the suspects, but no one was reported wounded.

Police arrested one suspect, who was not named, but two others got away. Authorities initially reported they had arrested multiple suspects.

Even so, Suttles said, theres no risk to the public.

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We dont believe theres any danger to public, Suttles said. This is not an active shooter.

Videos posted to social media show people running out of the mall during the incident as police swarmed the area. Some yelled that there had been a shooting.

Investigators dont believe the suspects were armed. Its unclear whether the two who are at large made off with any merchandise.

In smash-and-grab robberies, thieves enter a store, quickly smash display cases and grab as many items as they can before fleeing, Suttles said.

They go in, start breaking glass, grabbing jewelry as fast as they can, he said.

GPD reporting all is good at the Glendale Malls. Heavy police activity investigating an attempt robbery. Please avoid area until complete.  City of Glendale, CA (@MyGlendale) March 10, 2018

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @AleneTchek

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UPDATES:

4:40 p.m.: This article was updated with more information from authorities.

This article was originally published at 3:35 p.m.Crews from the Orange County Public Works department have collected nearly 14,000 hypodermic needles and cleared more than 5,000 pounds of hazardous waste  including human waste  from the vast homeless encampment along the Santa Ana River trail.

The numbers, released last week, represent cleanup work done from Jan. 22 to March 3 along a two-mile stretch of trail spanning the 5 Freeway in Orange to Ball Road in Anaheim.

The tally  404 tons of debris, 13,950 needles and 5,279 pounds of waste  is simply eye-popping, said Shannon Widor, Orange County Public Works spokesman.

Nothing of this magnitude involving our crews and homeless populations has ever been done before in the county, he said.

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He said the waste included propane, pesticides, solvent and paint. Weve kind of seen it all. Its a good thing its been hauled away. People tend to lose sight that this area is part of a flood control channel, and debris can keep spreading and impact water quality, he added.

Last month, county officials moved more than 700 people living at the encampment near Angel Stadium into motels and shelters temporarily, assigning workers from the Orange County Health Care Agency to conduct assessments of the homeless to help connect them to support services.

Through March 2, 221 clinical assessments have been completed  with 493 referrals given to social services, veterans services, public health and behavioral health and more, county spokeswoman Jen Nentwig said.

The cleanup at the trail is part of an environmental remediation project that will focus on tree trimming, removing 2 to 3 inches of soil and working with Orange County Parks to repair the bicycle path, Widor said.

anh.do@latimes.com

Twitter: @newsterrierThe officers ran into a Pomona apartment building after a pursuit, chasing a suspect who had just crashed nearby and was barricaded in one of the units.

As they approached, gunfire blasted through a door.

Officer Greggory Casillas, a 30-year-old Upland father just six months on the job, was struck and killed. A second officer was shot in the face trying to save him.

The shooting Friday night led to a standoff that ended about 15 hours later when the suspect, identified by authorities as Isaias De Jesus Valencia, 39, was handcuffed and taken into custody by Los Angeles County sheriffs deputies.

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Its a sad day for our community and a sad day for law enforcement in general, Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri told reporters, calling the fallen officer a hero. He left his family at home to protect yours and his ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten.

Casillas joined the Pomona Police Department in 2014. He took on different positions  he was a records specialist and jailer before becoming a police recruit  to better prepare himself to achieve his goal of becoming an officer.

Police Officer Greggory Casillas was shot and killed as he attempted to arrest a man. (Pomona Police Department )

He was sworn in as a police officer in September. Casillas was nearly finished with his field training when he was killed.

Raised in Los Angeles County, Casillas attended local colleges and universities, Olivieri said. He is survived by his wife and two children, as well as his parents and two brothers.

At the end of the news conference, sheriffs deputies surrounded Olivieri as he walked away from the crowd. Some patted him on the back.

It has been a long night, said Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell.

According to an acquaintance, the suspected shooter suffers from depression and drug addiction. Valencia served in the U.S. Army and has two children, said Amos Young, who knew the suspect through his fathers Pomona church, Kingdom of God Revelation Ministries.

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Despite having a home, Valencia often slept on the streets and rejected help from his family, Young said.

Police said the incident began Friday night after they received a call about a reckless driver. The suspect refused to stop, leading police on a pursuit that ended when he crashed into a parked car. The driver then ran into an apartment building.

About 9:10 p.m., dispatchers relayed reports of an officer down in the 1400 block of South Palomares Street near Fernleaf Avenue. A law enforcement source said about 75 officers from several agencies swarmed the scene but were unable at first to move the wounded officers to safety because of gunfire.

1 / 9 Peter Garcia of Pomona prays at a memorial in front of the Pomona Police Department for fallen Pomona Police Officer Gregory Casillas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 2 / 9 Petty Officer Bernadette Ramirez of the California National Guard salutes a memorial in front of the Pomona Police Department for fallen Pomona Police Officer Gregory Casillas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 3 / 9 A handwritten note sits among the many flower bouquets at a memorial in front of the Pomona Police Department. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 4 / 9 Lincoln Ayala, 5, carries a bouquet of roses on Saturday to lay at a memorial in front of the Pomona Police Department for Gregory Casillas. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) 5 / 9 Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell, left, and others show their support to Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri, center in dark glasses. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 6 / 9 A police officer in tactical gear works near the scene where one officer was killed and another wounded after chasing a suspect in Pomona. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 7 / 9 A police officer in tactical gear near the scene where one officer was killed and another wounded Friday at a Pomona apartment. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 8 / 9 L.A. County sheriffs deputies take Isaias de Jesus Valencia, suspected of fatally shooting a Pomona police officer, to a waiting vehicle on Saturday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) 9 / 9 People wait for news near the scene where one officer was killed and another wounded at a Pomona apartment complex. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

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A mother and daughter who gave only their first names said they ran out of their apartment after hearing the crash. Marlene, 12, said she saw the suspect exit a truck with a gun tucked under his arm and run into the nearby apartment.

When the gunfire began, Marlene began recording on her cellphone. The video shows Marlene and her mother, Jessica, 29, running for safety as the gunfire continued.

Hes inside, a woman says in the video. Lets go!

Marlene said she saw police bring a wounded officer outside and rip off his vest. In the video, an officer is seen giving chest compressions to an officer on the ground. Several officers huddle around them.

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Marlene and other neighbors said they spotted a woman they said was the suspects mother crying and vomiting outside the apartment building before she got into a police SUV.

Ninfa Martinez, who lives in a neighboring complex, said she saw residents running out of the building where the shooting occurred.

Then I heard some shots and went back running, said Martinez, 24. It was crazy.

After dawn, Casillas body was escorted by a police procession from Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center to the coroners office. More than a dozen law enforcement vehicles blocked the street in front of the apartment building where the suspect was still barricaded.

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A handful of SWAT officers gathered outside the entrance. Every so often, their muffled megaphone calls to the man to come out echoed through the street.

Neighbors, some wrapped in blankets or wearing hooded jackets, watched the scene unfold from behind police tape. A few stood on top of their cars in the rain for a better view when a flash-bang device detonated about 10 a.m. An officer then again ordered the man to exit through the front door.

Come outside with your hands up, the officer said. Come on out.

Authorities used tear gas to get the suspect to surrender, but he refused to comply, according to the Sheriffs Department. Deputies with the Special Enforcement Bureau eventually entered the building and deployed a police dog.

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After Valencia was apprehended, he was escorted to a waiting patrol car wearing underwear and handcuffs.

He was booked on suspicion of murder and attempting to murder police officers and is being held without bail.

The shooting sparked an outpouring of support from local law enforcement.

Another hero gone too soon. These tragedies are occurring too often, and the pains of sacrifice will never be forgotten, said LAPD Chief Charlie Beck.

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 Media briefing on standoff with suspect in fatal shooting of Pomona police officer (Video by Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The last law enforcement officer killed in the line of duty in Southern California died a little over a year ago. Whittier Police Officer Keith Boyer was fatally shot while investigating a traffic crash in February 2017.

As the sun set Saturday under steady rain, a few dozen people gathered at Pomona police headquarters for a candlelight vigil. Bouquets of flowers with notes of condolences surrounded a water fountain near the entrance.

Pastors led the group in a prayer for police and Casillas family.

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In the midst of all of the good, Lord, it now feels like a step back  a setback. We have stood here too many times, said Pastor Rick DeBruyne of Lincoln Avenue Community Church, citing the years when officers were slain in Pomona: 1996, 2004, 2014.

Times staff writer Richard Winton contributed to this report.

andrea.castillo@latimes.com

Twitter: @andreamcastillo

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sarah.parvini@latimes.com

Twitter: @sarahparvini

alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @alenetchektheyre shooting in my class im hiding in a corner i love you 

Jessica Luckman frantically texted her mother as gunman Nikolas Cruz prowled the halls of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla.

Terrified that he would barge in, Jessica hid as Cruz sprayed her classroom with gunfire. Two other students in the room were hit and died, among 17 killed around the school on Valentines Day. Seventeen others were wounded.

Around the school, students like Jessica tried desperately to reach family and friends using the technology that has always been part of their lives  through text messages. Their words, captured live, offer a vivid snapshot of the horror they experienced.

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Theres a gun

Jessica and her classmates were in their Holocaust class in Classroom 1214  the 1200 building  when Cruz began to shoot.

Jessica, 18, of Parkland, texted her boyfriend and her mom about the gunfire.

Are you ok??? her mom texted back. Omg jess stay safe love you

Jessica wrote back to her.

theres a shooter in the school, she texted. theyre shootings in my class im hiding in a corner i love you

Jessicas boyfriend, Brandon Huff, also was in a Holocaust class, but in a separate part of the school. He had stepped away to use the bathroom when his cellphone began showing a string of horrific text messages from Jessica.

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The texts began at 2:24 p.m., three minutes after Nikolas Cruz entered the school to begin shooting.

theres a gun, Jessica texted.

theres a gun.

i love you.

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Brandon, 18, worried.

He remembers that he couldnt believe what he was reading.

He texted back: What baby.

Jessicas class erupted in screams amid the gunfire. As bullets sprayed into the room, she was terrified the shooter would reach through the broken glass to unlock the door.

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Helena Ramsay and Nicholas Dworets last moments would be in that classroom where teacher Ivy Schamis taught the history of the Holocaust. Helena and Nicholas, both 17, died.

Jessica didnt see them shot, she said, because they were on the other side of the classroom.

She hid between a filing cabinet and the teachers desk, away from the door.

Meanwhile, elsewhere on campus, Brandon took off running toward the 1200 building to reach Jessica. Once he arrived, he could hear the gunshots.

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A security guard told him to keep away. He shouted to the guard he needed to help Jessica.

I need to get to my girlfriend, shes in there!

You cant help her, the guard told him.

Brandon insisted, but was physically turned around by the guard.

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Seventeen minutes after Jessicas first text, Brandon texted again.

Baby are you okay?

Brandon tried to call, but she hung up. The students were trying to be quiet, in case the shooter still was in the building.

The police showed up, telling the students to put their hands in the air.

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A sense of doom

Student Dylan Kraemer also was in Classroom 1214, when Cruz shot through the door as children cowered behind a filing cabinet and their teachers desk.

Cruz fired through the glass panel in the door, never coming face-to-face with his victims, Dylan said.

The first thing I heard was two gunshots in the hallway, the 17-year-old said. I could see him through the window.

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Dylan and a handful of other students pushed a filing cabinet over and hid behind it trying to avoid the gunfire.

When the barrage of bullets was over, it was clear Nicholas and Helena hadnt survived.

They were dead immediately, Dylan said.

Dylan said he called the police and texted both his parents from behind the filing cabinet.

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In texts, he told his mom and dad he loved them.

I didnt know if [the shooter] was going to come back, Dylan said.

Meanwhile, at home, Adam Kraemer, Dylans dad, didnt find the one-line I love you text from his son out of the ordinary  his kid is mushy, he says, so he responded with an I love you too.

But then he heard his wife panic.

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She, too, had gotten an I love you text. But hers also mentioned the shooter.

I felt an icy chill down my spine, Kraemer said. I immediately had a sense of doom, a nauseating feeling.

In Dylans class, after the shooting had stopped, silence filled the room.

Some students had trouble breathing as they panicked in the aftermath.

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Run. Hide

Zach Hibshman is a 16-year-old junior. But ever since he was in middle school, his mom has peppered him with a safety quiz: What do you do if theres a school shooter?

Zach says his moms answer was run and hide.

On Feb. 14, he was standing in an outdoor stairwell by the 1200 building at Stoneman Douglas when the gunfire began about 150 feet from him, he said.

His first thought was to call his mother.

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I was terrified, I didnt know what to do, he said. I got on the phone right away with my mom, and she told me to hide in a closet.

Zach hid in a closet and began texting his sister.

His sister, Taryn Hibshman, is a senior at Stoneman Douglas but had luckily stayed home that day, her brother said.

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As the teens mom jumped in the car to head to the school, Zachs sister remained home and told her brother to calm down.

Bro chill you freaked her out, his sister texted. Shes coming to the school.

That struck Zach as a bad idea.

He texted her back, NO NON NO.

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As time went by, Zach became less frantic.

She told him to keep his phone on silent mode and to stay down and keep texting.

OK, I will, he texted.

At one point, he heard police arrive.

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So we are good, he texted his sister.

She described to him the news coverage being televised live.

They have the shooter. Thats what people are saying, she texted. Just keep texting me. Just keep sending texts.

Now reflecting on what happened, Zach said he has mixed feelings about the texts.

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They bring back memories, he said. But I think its good to keep them with me.

We all seem to be safe

As the shooting unfolded, senior Ryan Deitsch used a classroom closet for shelter.

The 18-year-old student first phoned his family to say there was a Code Red lockdown and that he was unharmed. He didnt think the shooting was real at first, so he also texted his boss at 2:37 that afternoon.

Ryan, who has worked as a restaurant busboy for two years, wasnt making it to his 4 p.m. shift.

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I will make it when I can, Ryan texted. But there is a possible gunman and I cant drive anywhere.

The students text sent a stab of fear through Joe Kellehers heart. Hes the general manager of Runyons, a Coral Springs restaurant.

Kelleher knew some emergency was underway at Stoneman Douglas. Hed just seen the footage on TV.

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I didnt know what to think, he said.

Then he read possible gunman in Ryans text.

All that Kelleher knew was that schools were on lockdown. Kellehers wife teaches at nearby Park Trails Elementary, and his daughter is a student there. His son is a student at Westglades Middle, which is adjacent to Stoneman Douglas. He also has four other employees who attend Stoneman Douglas.

Kelleher texted Ryan back.

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Is everyone ok, he wrote.

Ryan replied, For now we all seem to be safe.

In the days that followed, Ryan became one of the more visible members of the Never Again movement, which is leading to a protest march on March 24.

hi, i got shot twice.

Minutes into the shooting, Thomas Holgate, 17, texted his parents from the school auditorium where he and other students took refuge.

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I just want you to know I love you, he wrote. There is a shooter on campus. We are in code red, all hiding in the auditorium.

His mother texted back with a heart at the end, Love you too.

His dad wrote: Dont joke about that.

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Twenty minutes after the shooter was captured, Thomas was among those to get a mass text from junior Isabel Chequer, one of the 17 who were wounded but survived.

hi, i got shot twice. Ill be okay, she texted. i hope youre okay.

Thomas texted back 90 minutes later.

Im fine. Im so sorry.

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Geggis, Huriash and Pesantes write for the Sun-Sentinel.To the editor: The article frames Colorado bakery Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. as seeking permission to discriminate. (Corporations keep claiming We the People rights. And theyre winning, Opinion, March 2)

I agree it would be discrimination if it was a cake that had already been made. However, the baker is being asked to create the cake, and it is a cake to be used in a ceremony that violates his religious beliefs.

Would a Jewish baker be required to create a cake for a Nazi event? Would a black baker be required to create a cake for the Ku Klux Klan? Is an artist required to paint a portrait of someone he or she does not like?

Surely there are other bakers who would accommodate the couples request, and insisting that this particular baker do it appears to be a spiteful act.

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Don Tonty, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: A business open to the public means open to everyone. An unfortunate consequence of judging and categorizing people based on what they look like and who they love, and then refusing to serve them based on a belief system, is that you may very well be inadvertently serving someone whose less obvious behavior you would abhor if you knew about it.

I wonder how many wedding cakes Masterpiece Cakeshop has baked for pornographers, domestic abusers and others.

Years ago I wrote down a quote (hopefully correctly) that I think captures the essence of Christianity: that God wants people to engage in creative endeavors to bring Him into the Earth, and that the real purpose of living is to seek a true relationship with God through interactions with other people.

It not only feels better when we leave the judging to God, it also takes a great weight off our shoulders.

Jan MacMichael, South Pasadena

..

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To the editor: I have a feeling I know how the U.S. Supreme Court will rule on this given how the winds have been blowing.

That said, its seems like businesses that choose to cater to any and all types of couples should post rainbows in their shop windows to let customers know they are open and supportive. What newlyweds want to buy a wedding cake from a baker who wishes them ill?

Laurie S. Adami, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook.To the editor: Rabbi Sharon Brous March 7 op-ed article, Why Jews should support reparations for slavery, is pertinent as we Jews approach Passover. Nevertheless, I believe she ignores critical aspects of American history.

She does not mention the Civil War or President Lincolns second inaugural address, which wrote into the history of our country the truth that the war arose over slavery, and that the catastrophic loss was likely Gods judgment on the costs of purging that sin from our country. America indeed paid a tremendous price for slavery.

None of this is to diminish the evil of slavery or to deny what happened after the war. But Rabbi Brous ignores this, nor does she address the constitutional issues that may arise with payments based on race. German reparations are no guide  they were made to actual survivors within years of the Holocaust.

As we approach Passover, I agree with Rabbi Brous that Jews should always consider the slavery in their history and what lessons are to be drawn today. Reparations for slavery now in America, I believe, is not one of those lessons.

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Richard Burstein, Sherman Oaks

..

To the editor: As I started reading about the rabbinic dispute over what ought to be done if a palace is built on the foundation of a stolen beam, I assumed the topic would be the state of Israel, built on land taken from the Palestinians.

But when Rabbi Brous wrote our country, she was talking about the United States. I instantly thought of Americas native peoples, who were displaced, warred upon, slaughtered and marginalized in the interests of Manifest Destiny.

Rabbi Brous focus, though, was on a different group: African slaves. In the long and colorful history of American capitalism, wherein countless workers were exploited, none were treated more cruelly.

But will those made wealthy by the unfair treatment of distant forbears ever see it that way? Unless they do, there is little hope of reparations  for anyone.

Janice Blake, Manhattan Beach

..

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To the editor: The collective guilt that Rabbi Brous imposes on us for the conduct of slave masters more than a century ago who are strangers makes little sense, especially when many of us are immigrants or second-generation Americans who enslaved no one and instead fled from the same oppression suffered by American slaves.

Reparations, as she notes, are complex, but she says our failure to work around this reflects a profound lack of moral imagination. She fails to acknowledge and pay tribute to the thousands of civil rights activists who sacrificed to correct the very injustices she seeks to remedy.

No moral imagination is required to write a check to the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Anti-Defamation League or scores of other civil rights groups. Reparations are not the answer.

Louis Lipofsky, Beverly Hills

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..

To the editor: I believe our founding fathers would approve of forming a congressional commission to explore reparations for the descendants of slaves.

As they crafted the Constitution, our founders set aside, for the sake of unity, the divisive question of slavery. They knew there would be a reckoning, of which the Civil War was only the beginning.

Now we their heirs and beneficiaries must continue the work of building a true democracy.

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Mary Bomba, Los Angeles

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookTo the editor: The problem with tariffs goes beyond President Trump. Giving Congress the power to levy tariffs was a major reason for writing the U.S. Constitution in the first place. (Trump just started an unwinnable trade war, editorial, March 8)

Tariffs are critical tools for any government to employ. They also result in higher prices and, therefore, represent a tax on the people to benefit a special interest group. Whether Trumps tariffs, or any tariff, will result in more good than harm is debatable, which is exactly why the Constitution gave Congress the exclusive power to do exactly that  debate them and pursue consensus before applying them.

Sadly, over the last several decades, Congress has ceded this power in bits and pieces to the president. That is wrong. A tax on the people should not be subject to the whim of one person.

Congress needs to reclaim this power and do its job. Furthermore, legal scholars should challenge the various acts of Congress that ceded tariff power to the president.

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Dan Shiells, Santa Barbara

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and FacebookAllies balk at Trump administration bid to block Chinese firm from cutting-edge telecom markets By David S. Cloud Britain and Germany are balking at the Trump administrations call for a ban on equipment from Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei, threatening a global U.S. campaign to thwart Chinas involvement in future mobile networks. Both countries are expected to limit Huawei and other Chinese companies from providing core components including routers. But other types of Chinese equipment for next-generation, high-speed communications could still be installed on British and German networks, officials and analysts say. The U.S. push to ban Huawei has provoked a global dispute in recent weeks, with senior U.S. officials, including Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo, publicly urging NATO allies in Europe to exclude the company and warning that the United States might limit its military presence in countries that did not do so. Read More Facebook

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Confucius Institutes: Do they improve U.S.-China ties or harbor spies? By Don Lee Hanging red lanterns welcome visitors to the University of Marylands Confucius Institute, the oldest of about 100 Chinese language and cultural centers that have popped up over the last 15 years on American campuses, subsidized by millions of dollars from Chinas central government. But last fall, when four U.S. Senate investigators walked into the Confucius offices in Maryland and spent hours questioning staff, they werent looking for an educational exchange. The committee has been seeking detailed information from the university about the program, including contracts, email exchanges and financial arrangements that school administrators have kept under wraps since it started in 2004. American colleges once viewed these jointly funded institutes as an economical way to expand their language offerings  one that could also bring warmer ties with China and, importantly, an influx of Chinese international students paying full tuition. Read More Facebook

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Watch Live: White House holds surprise news briefing amid government shutdown Facebook

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U.S. policy toward China shifts from engagement to confrontation By David S. Cloud For decades, China had no closer American friend than Dianne Feinstein. As San Francisco mayor in the 1970s, she forged a sister-city relationship with Shanghai, the first between American and Chinese communities. As U.S. senator, she dined with Chinese leaders at Mao Tse-tungs old Beijing residence. And in the 1990s, she championed a trade policy change that opened a floodgate of Western investment into China. Today the Democratic senator sees China as a growing threat, joining a broad array of Trump administration officials, national security strategists and business executives who once favored engagement with Beijing and now advocate a confrontational approach instead. Read More Facebook

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Mnuchins attempt to calm markets backfires as Trump takes another shot at the Federal Reserve By Jim Puzzanghera An attempt by Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin to calm plunging financial markets backfired Monday, further rattling investors with new fears about whether major U.S. banks have enough cash on top of worries about interest rates, political instability in Washington and a slowing global economy. Adding to the volatile mix was a fresh attack on the Federal Reserve by President Trump, who declared that the central bank was the U.S. economys only problem and that it didnt have a feel for the market. The Fed is like a powerful golfer who cant score because he has no touch -- he cant putt! Trump said on Twitter. Read More Facebook

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He speaks to Democratic hearts. But is Beto ORourke a serious White House contender? By Mark Z. Barabak Hes a failed U.S. Senate candidate with an undistinguished congressional record who, for the moment, is a blazing-hot 2020 presidential prospect  despite the fact that he may not run and faces long odds if he does. Beto ORourke suggests the will-he-or-wont-he speculation is something he himself cant quite fathom. I think thats a great question, he responded in a Dallas Morning News interview when asked whether his unsuccessful November Senate bid merited a promotion to the White House. I ask that question myself. Read More Facebook

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Russian disinformation teams targeted Robert S. Mueller III, says report prepared for Senate By Craig Timberg, Tony Romm, Elizabeth Dwoskin Special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. (Associated Press) Months after President Trump took office, Russias disinformation teams trained their sites on a new target: special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. Having worked to help get Trump into the White House, they now worked to neutralize the biggest threat to his staying there. The Russian operatives unloaded on Mueller through fake accounts on Facebook, Twitter and beyond, falsely claiming that the former FBI director was corrupt and that the allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 election were crackpot conspiracies. One post on Instagram  which emerged as an especially potent weapon in the Russian social media arsenal  claimed that Mueller had worked in the past with radical Islamic groups. Such tactics exemplified how Russian teams ranged nimbly across social media platforms in a shrewd online influence operation aimed squarely at American voters. The effort started earlier than commonly understood and lasted longer while relying on the strengths of different sites to manipulate distinct slices of the electorate, according to a pair of comprehensive new reports prepared for the Senate Intelligence Committee and released Monday. Read more Timberg, Romm and Dwoskin report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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President Trump announces Mick Mulvaney as acting White House chief of staff By Associated Press President Trump says budget director Mick Mulvaney will serve as acting chief of staff, replacing John F. Kelly in the new year. I am pleased to announce that Mick Mulvaney, Director of the Office of Management & Budget, will be named Acting White House Chief of Staff, replacing General John Kelly, who has served our Country with distinction. Mick has done an outstanding job while in the Administration....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 14, 2018 Facebook

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It aint over when its over: In Michigan, Wisconsin and elsewhere, losers seek to undermine election results By Mark Z. Barabak Democrat Gavin Newsom has yet to become California governor, but already a candidate for state Republican Party chairman is promoting a recall effort. In Michigan and Wisconsin, GOP lawmakers have rushed through legislation to thwart their incoming Democratic governors and hamper others in the opposing party from doing the jobs voters chose them to do. In Congress, GOP leaders have echoed President Trump and sought to undermine the legitimacy of Democrats strong midterm performance, raising unsubstantiated allegations of fraud and political malfeasance. Read More Facebook

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New CFPB Director Kathy Kraninger says she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera On her first full day leading the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Kathy Kraninger said she wont be a puppet of Mick Mulvaney, the controversial acting director whom she replaced in the powerful regulatory position. To underscore that point, the former White House aide said she would even reconsider a Mulvaney action that critics saw as a gratuitous jab at Democrats who championed the agencys creation: changing its name to the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. Kraningers declaration during a meeting with reporters Tuesday addressed one of the main criticisms of her selection. She is considered a protege of Mulvaney, her boss at the White House Office of Management and Budget who has executed a dramatic, industry-friendly shift at the watchdog agency. Read More Facebook

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Trumps pick for chief of staff, Nick Ayers, out of running By Associated Press Nick Ayers, right, with Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch, at the funeral service for George H.W. Bush on Dec. 3. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Associated Press) President Trumps top pick to replace John F. Kelly as chief of staff, Nick Ayers, is no longer expected to fill that role. Thats according to a White House official who is not authorized to discuss the personnel issue by name and spoke on condition of anonymity. Ayers is Vice President Mike Pences chief of staff. The official says that Trump and Ayers could not agree on Ayers length of service. The father of young children, Ayers had agreed to serve in an interim capacity though the spring, but Trump wanted a two-year commitment. The official says that Ayers will instead assist the president from outside the administration. Trump announced Saturday that Kelly would be departing the White House around the end of the year. Thank you @realDonaldTrump, @VP, and my great colleagues for the honor to serve our Nation at The White House. I will be departing at the end of the year but will work with the #MAGA team to advance the cause.  #Georgia  Nick Ayers (@nick_ayers) December 9, 2018 Facebook

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U.S. hiring slows to 155,000 jobs, unemployment rate holds at 3.7% By Jim Puzzanghera Job growth slowed significantly in November but still was solid, indicating the economy remains in good shape but not expanding so quickly that it will lead to sharply higher interest rates. U.S. employers added 155,000 jobs last month, well below analyst expectations and a steep decline from Octobers strong 237,000 figure, the Labor Department reported Friday. Still, monthly job gains are averaging 206,000 this year, the best since 2015. Even the slower pace of 170,000 over the last three months is close to last years average of 182,000 and well above the amount needed to keep up with population growth. Read More Facebook

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Trump is expected to pick State Department spokeswoman for U.N. ambassador By Associated Press Heather Nauert at a briefing at the State Department on Aug. 9, 2017. (Alex Brandon / Associated Press) President Trump is expected to nominate State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert to be the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. Two administration officials confirmed Trumps plans. A Republican congressional aide said the president was expected to announce his decision by tweet on Friday morning. The officials were not authorized to speak publicly before Trumps announcement. Trump has previously said Nauert was under serious consideration to replace Nikki Haley, who announced in October that she would step down at the end of this year. Trump has been known to change course on staffing decisions in the past. Nauert was a reporter for Fox News Channel before she became State Department spokeswoman under former Secretary Rex Tillerson. Facebook

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Senate confirms new consumer financial protection chief: Kathy Kraninger, protege of industry-friendly Mick Mulvaney By Jim Puzzanghera The Senate, in a party-line vote Thursday, confirmed White House aide Kathy Kraninger to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and experts predicted a continuation of the industry-friendly shift it has taken since President Trump installed an acting director last year. Kraninger is a protege of acting director and White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, an outspoken critic of the agency that was created in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis to prevent predatory lending and other abuses that led to it. Democrats and consumer advocates have denounced him for sharply departing from the aggressive watchdog role the bureau had pursued under its first director, Obama-appointee Richard Cordray, including scaling back enforcement and moving to reassess tough new rules on payday loans and narrow the definition of abusive practices by banks and other firms. Read More Facebook

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Shutdown postponed by two weeks under plan approved by Congress By Erik Wasson Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), shown at the Capitol on Tuesday, says President Trumps border wall is a waste of money. (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Congress passed a two-week stopgap spending bill that will delay the chance of a partial government shutdown until Dec. 22 as lawmakers and President Donald Trump negotiate over his demands to pay for a wall on the southern border. The House and Senate passed the measure Thursday without dissent, and Trump has indicated hell sign the bill before the current shutdown deadline of midnight Friday. Negotiations were delayed by memorial services this week for former President George H.W. Bush. The temporary measure gives Democrats and Republicans more time to find a resolution to their biggest hurdle: funding a wall on the U.S. Mexico border wall. Trump says he wants $5 billion for parts of a concrete wall on the southern border and is willing to shut down the government if he doesnt get it. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York has said Democrats will provide no more than $1.6 billion for border security, because the wall is a waste of money. The presidents demands for wall funding from Congress come after he said during the campaign that Mexico would pay for it. This week he said on Twitter that a $25 billion border wall would pay for itself in two months, without providing evidence. Most of the U.S. governments $1.2 trillion discretionary budget has been appropriated already by Congress for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1. Departments at a risk of a partial shutdown late this month include the departments of State, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce, Justice, Treasury and Homeland Security. Talks to resolve the differences have been on hold since a meeting among Trump, Schumer and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi of California originally slated for Dec. 4 was postponed due to Bush memorial events. The three are scheduled to meet on Tuesday, according to a person familiar with the matter. Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard Shelby of Alabama told reporters the rest of the seven-bill spending package being negotiated is basically done. Shelby in recent weeks had tried to broker a compromise in which Trumps $5 billion request would be split over two years, but Schumer has rejected that. Some Democrats have been willing to trade border wall funding for deportation protections for young undocumented immigrants. Pelosi ruled out such a deal in remarks to reporters Thursday. The stopgap government funding measure also would extend the National Flood Insurance Program, which provides subsidized coverage for homes in flood-prone areas, to Dec. 21. Facebook

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Bipartisan Senate group wants to formally blame Saudi crown prince for journalists killing By Karoun Demirjian Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman at the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires. (Associated Press) A bipartisan group of senators filed a resolution Wednesday condemning Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman as responsible for the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, directly challenging President Trump to do the same. This resolution -- without equivocation -- definitively states that the crown prince of Saudi Arabia was complicit in the murder of Mr. [Jamal] Khashoggi and has been a wrecking ball to the region jeopardizing our national security interests on multiple fronts, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said in a statement accompanying the release of the resolution. It will be up to Saudi Arabia as to how to deal with this matter. But it is up to the United States to firmly stand for who we are and what we believe. The resolution put forward by Graham and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who are expected to lead the Judiciary Committee together next year, comes just one day after CIA Director Gina Haspel briefed leading senators about the details of the agencys assessment that Mohammed ordered and monitored the killing and dismemberment of Khashoggi in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey. Senators emerged from that closed-door briefing furious not only with Saudi Arabia, but Trump as well for dismissing the heft of the CIAs findings. You have to be willfully blind not to come to the conclusion that this was orchestrated and organized by people under the command of MBS and that he was intricately involved in the demise of Mr. Khashoggi, Graham said following the briefing, referring to Mohammed by his initials. He added that Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo and Defense Secretary James N. Mattis, who briefed senators last week, were at best being good soldiers and at worst were in the pocket of Saudi Arabia for presenting the evidence of Mohammeds involvement as inconclusive. The release of the resolution condemning Mohammed also comes as the Senate is preparing to move ahead with debate on a resolution to curtail U.S. support for the Saudi-led military campaign in Yemen. Though the Yemen resolution does not directly address Khashoggis murder, its popularity is a sign of how strained the United States patience with Saudi Arabia is on multiple fronts, including its role in worsening the civilian cost of the war in Yemen, cited by the United Nations as the worlds worst humanitarian crisis. Last week, the Senate voted 63 to 37 to advance the Yemen resolution past an opening procedural hurdle. But Graham and Feinsteins resolution on the crown prince has the potential of drawing broader support, especially from Republicans, who are deeply divided about how fiercely to punish Saudi Arabia over Khashoggis killing. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who has been an outspoken advocate for human rights and is seen as one of the more influential foreign policy voices in the GOP, did not vote for the Yemen resolution last week or sign on to a bipartisan measure last month to sanction Saudi officials and cease weapons transfers to the kingdom. But he is an original co-sponsor of the resolution condemning Mohammed over Khashoggis death. So is Sen. Todd Young (R-Ind.), who represents the other end of the GOP spectrum in terms of recent Saudi-related votes and endorsements. Young was an initial co-sponsor of the bill Graham wrote with Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) to sanction Saudi officials deemed responsible for Khashoggis killing and stop the sale of anything but exclusively defensive weapons to the kingdom until it ceased hostilities in Yemen. Young also voted to advance the Yemen resolution  something Graham did as well, though Graham has signaled he will not be lending any similar support to the measure, fearing it may establish a precedent of invoking the War Powers Act too broadly. Sens. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) and Chris Coons (D-Del.) are listed as original co-sponsors of the resolution condemning Mohammed, which also urges Saudi Arabia to negotiate with Houthi rebels to end the Yemen war, work out a political solution to its standoff with Qatar and release political prisoners. But how much sway the resolution has probably comes down to how forcefully the administration decides to heed it -- and thus far, Trump has not shown any interest in condemning the crown prince the way the senators hope he will. Demirjian reports for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Los Angeles County offices and U.S. Postal Service closed Wednesday in honor of George H.W. Bush By Brian Park The Honor Guard carries the casket of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush following his funeral on Dec. 5 in Washington, DC. (Doug Mills - Pool/Getty Images) The U.S. Postal Service will suspend regular mail delivery Wednesday, which President Trump has declared a national day of mourning in honor of former President George H.W. Bush. All retail postal outlets will be closed, and package delivery will be limited. In Los Angeles, all nonessential county departments, offices and libraries will be closed for the day, L.A. County officials said. The Los Angeles County Library said no overdue fines will be assessed for books, and due dates will be moved forward one week. Los Angeles County Department of Public Health offices also are closed Wednesday. The Sheriffs Department, Fire Department, clinics and hospitals will continue to operate, the county said. The Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health clinics are being operated with reduced staffing, and the department asked patients to confirm or reschedule any appointments. All county courts and the disaster recovery centers for the Woolsey fire in Malibu and Agoura Hills will remain open. Larger federal government operations will be closed Wednesday. To honor the life and legacy of President Bush, the Postal Service will observe the National Day of Mourning. Learn how Postal operations will be affected. https://t.co/Mffch7bPCh pic.twitter.com/vG46BsIOpm  U.S. Postal Service (@USPS) December 4, 2018 L.A. County offices and libraries will be closed tomorrow (Dec 5) in observance of the #NationalDayOfMourning for President George H. W. Bush.



The Countys Disaster Recovery Centers in Malibu & Agoura Hills will remain open from 10 a.m. - 8 p.m. pic.twitter.com/Sv1J7GoJ7T  Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) December 4, 2018 @LAPublicHealth offices will be closed tomorrow December 5 in observance of the national Day of Mourning for President George H. W. Bush. Essential Services including clinics and other services will remain open: https://t.co/tZGoGGHRlg pic.twitter.com/ypXsV6vlYY  LA Public Health (@lapublichealth) December 4, 2018 Facebook

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Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick to skip 2020 White House race, sources say By Associated Press Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick speaks during an interview in Boston on Dec. 15, 2014. (Elise Amendola / Associated Press) Former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts will soon announce he wont launch a 2020 presidential campaign, according to three sources familiar with his plans. They did not say why the Democrat decided against a run. A formal announcement was delayed as the country observed a day of mourning for President George H.W. Bush, one source said. News of Patricks plans was first reported by Politico. Patrick, 62, served two terms as governor, from 2007 to 2015, was assistant attorney general for civil rights in the Clinton administration and since leaving the governors office has been a managing director for Bain Capital. Patrick traveled the country in support of Democratic candidates in the recent midterm election. Earlier this year, some of Patricks supporters and close advisors started the Reason to Believe political action committee, a grassroots organization dedicated to advancing a positive, progressive vision for our nation in 2018 and 2020. Reason to Believe PAC had been holding meetups across the country, including in early presidential primary states. While Patrick is opting against a 2020 run, dozens of Democrats are considering jumping in, including nearly a half-dozen members of the Senate, several House members, and other Massachusetts politicians. On Tuesday, Michael Avenatti, the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels and a vocal critic of President Trump, said in a statement that he would run. Patrick had previously expressed some concerns about breaking through if he sought the nomination, telling David Axelrod, a former advisor to President Obama, that he wasnt sure he could stand out in such a large field. Its hard to see how you even get noticed in such a big, broad field without being shrill, sensational or a celebrity, and Im none of those things and Im never going to be any of those things, Patrick said in a September interview with Axelrod. Facebook

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Former Trump adviser Roger Stone invokes 5th Amendment right and wont testify before Senate Judiciary Committee By Associated Press Roger Stone in 2017. (Joe Raedle / Getty Images) Roger Stone, an associate of President Trump, says he wont provide testimony or documents to the Senate Judiciary Committee. An attorney for Stone said in a letter to Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the committees top Democrat, that Stone was invoking his 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in refusing to produce documents or appear for an interview. Stone has been entangled in investigations by Congress and special counsel Robert S. Mueller III about whether Trump aides had advance knowledge of Democratic emails published by WikiLeaks during the 2016 election. Stone has not been charged and has said he had no knowledge of the timing or specifics of WikiLeaks plans. In the letter to Feinstein, Stone said the committees requests were far too overbroad, far too overreaching and far too wide-ranging. Facebook

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Watch live: Vice President Pence and lawmakers honor George H.W. Bush at the U.S. Capitol before he lies in state Facebook

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Rebuilding crumbling infrastructure has bipartisan support. But who gets to pay for it? By Jim Puzzanghera The grades for major U.S. infrastructure would give any parent indigestion if they were on a childs report card. Roads: D; bridges: C+; dams: D; ports: C+: railways: B; airports: D; schools: D+; public transit: D-. The nations overall grade: D+, which translates to being in fair to poor condition and mostly below standards with significant deterioration and a strong risk of failure, according to an evaluation last year by the American Society of Civil Engineers. Read More Facebook

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Trump calls former lawyer Michael Cohen a weak person who is lying By Associated Press President Trump says his former lawyer Michael Cohen is lying to get a reduced sentence. The president is reacting to Cohens guilty plea Thursday to lying to Congress about work he did on a Trump real estate project in Russia. During a surprise court hearing, Cohen admitted to lying in testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee about a plan to build a Trump Tower in Moscow. Cohen in his guilty plea said he made the false statements to be consistent with Trumps political message. Cohens lawyer says he continues to cooperate with special counsel Robert S. Mueller IIIs investigation into Russian election interference and possible coordination with Trump associates. Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Mark Z. Barabak When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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As California Republicans confront a congressional wipeout, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy faces a reckoning By Sarah D. Wire When the House voted to repeal the Affordable Care Act, Kevin McCarthy trooped with other Republican lawmakers to a splashy Rose Garden celebration, smiling alongside President Trump as they celebrated the moment. As majority leader, McCarthy had helped round up the votes to narrowly pass the hard-fought legislation, convincing 13 other California Republicans to go along, even though several faced tough reelection fights. Fewer than half will be returning in January. Read More Facebook

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Michael Cohen, President Trumps ex-lawyer, pleads guilty to lying to Congress about Trump real estate project in Russia By Associated Press Michael Cohen, President Trumps former personal lawyer, pursued a Russian real estate project on candidate Trumps behalf well into the 2016 campaign, he said Thursday while pleading guilty to lying to Congress. Cohen had previously said that the project was abandoned in January 2016, but he now admits he continued to pursue a deal and says he updated Trump and members of his family about the negotiations, according to a new court document. Read More Facebook

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James Comey says acting Atty. Gen. Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer By John Wagner Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker speaks at the Justice Department in Washington on Nov. 14. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais / Associated Press) Former FBI Director James B. Comey apparently isnt too impressed with the mental prowess of President Trumps acting attorney general. Matthew Whitaker may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, Comey said during a radio interview on Monday night in which he sized up the man Trump installed this month to replace ousted Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions. Comey was asked by WGBH News in Boston if he thinks Whitaker could derail the investigation of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Whitaker has spoken critically of the probe, and Trump  as recently as Tuesday  continues to call it a witch hunt. I think its a worry, but to my mind not a serious worry, Comey said. The institution is too strong, and [Whitaker], frankly, is not strong enough to have that kind of impact. He may not be the sharpest knife in our drawer, but he can see his future and knows that if he acted in an extralegal way, he would go down in history for the wrong reasons, and Im sure he doesnt want that, added Comey, who was fired by Trump last year and later wrote a book that portrays the president as an ego-driven congenital liar. Whitaker, a former U.S. attorney in Iowa, was Sessions chief of staff before being picked by Trump to lead the Justice Department. Trump has called Whitaker a very smart man. Earlier this year, Trump called Comey an untruthful slime ball. Wagner writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Interior Department watchdog clears Zinke in investigation of Utah national monument By Juliet Eilperin Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, third from the left, and Gov. Jerry Brown tour fire damage in Paradise, Calif., on Nov. 14. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press) The Interior Departments Office of Inspector General has cleared Secretary Ryan Zinke in a probe of whether he redrew boundaries of a national monument in Utah to aid the financial interests of a Republican state lawmaker and stalwart supporter of President Trump. In a Nov. 21 letter to Zinkes deputy, David Bernhardt, Deputy Inspector General Mary Kendall wrote that her office found no evidence that the secretary or his aides changed the boundaries of Utahs Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in an effort to help former Utah state representative Mike Noel, who serves as executive director of the Kane County Water Conservancy District. Last December, Trump shrank the monument, first established by President Clinton in 1996, by 46% based on Zinkes recommendation. Noel owns 40 acres that had been surrounded by the monument, but now lies outside its boundaries. The new boundaries also would make it easier to construct the proposed Lake Powell Pipeline, which would deliver water to sites in Kane County that include Noels property. Earlier this year, the Interior Department had proposed selling off 120 acres of federal land from the former monument that lay adjacent to some of Noels land holdings, but later reversed the plan. We found no evidence that Noel influenced the DOIs proposed revisions to the [monuments] boundaries, that Zinke or other DOI staff involved in the project were aware of Noels financial interest in the revised boundaries, or that they gave Noel any preferential treatment in the resulting proposed boundaries, Kendall wrote. Neither the Interior Department nor the inspector generals office would release the actual investigative report. In the letter, Kendall writes that her office will provide the report to Congress no sooner than 31 days from Nov. 21, when it is provided it to Zinkes office. The Associated Press first reported the inspector generals conclusions Monday night, but did not provide details from the report itself. Noel emailed Zinke about the effort to alter Grand Staircase-Escalante, according to emails released by Interior under the Freedom of Informational Act. But those emails do not make references to Noels land holdings. Noel also pushed to rename a Utah highway in honor of Trump, but abandoned that effort in March after some of his fellow Republicans objected to the idea. Noel did not respond to requests for comment Tuesday. The inspector generals office still has at least two ongoing probes of the secretary, including one focused on his real estate dealings in Whitefish, Mont., and another regarding his decision to deny a permit to two Connecticut tribes who were hoping to jointly run a casino after MGM Resorts International lobbied against it. Interior Department spokeswoman Heather Swift welcomed the watchdogs conclusions. The report shows exactly what the secretarys office has known all along  that the monument boundaries were adjusted in accordance with all rules, regulations and laws, she said in an email. This report is also the latest example of opponents and special interest groups ginning up fake and misleading stories, only to be proven false after expensive and time consuming inquiries by the IGs office. But Kendalls spokeswoman, Nancy DiPaolo, defended the inquiry, even though she said the report has not been publicly released and we will not be speaking specifically about the matter at this time. The OIG opens investigations based on credible allegations and reports our findings objectively and independently, DiPaolo added. Any time or resources spent investigating conduct or activity that may be a violation of law, regulation or policy is a service to the public, Congress and the Department. Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona, the top Democrat on the House Natural Resources Committee, said in a statement that he still intended to investigate the way Zinke and his colleague redrew the boundaries for Grand Staircase-Escalante and another Utah national monument, Bears Ears, next year. I have great respect for the inspector general, and I accept these findings, but Secretary Zinke should have known the people he listened to while destroying our national monuments had disqualifying conflicts of interest, he said. Should I chair the Natural Resources Committee in the next Congress, the process he and President Trump used to destroy Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante will be front and center in our oversight and investigations efforts. We need to know why they ignored overwhelming public expressions of support for both Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante, why they ignored Native American tribes throughout their decision-making, and why they removed protections on parcels of land with known mineral deposits. Eilperin and Rein report for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump advisor Larry Kudlow says China must do more to end trade war By Jim Puzzanghera Larry Kudlow, President Trumps top economic advisor, said Tuesday that Chinas response to U.S. efforts to rework the two economic superpowers trade relationship has been extremely disappointing but the planned meeting this weekend between the nations leaders is an opportunity for a breakthrough. They have to do more. They must do more, Larry Kudlow, director of the White House National Economic Council, told reporters ahead of a Saturday dinner between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping at the Group of 20 Summit in Argentina. I think the president is exactly right  to show strong backbone when prior administrations did not, to break through these Chinese walls, Kudlow said. Theyre so resistant to change. We have to protect the country. We have to protect our technology, our inventiveness, our innovation. Read More Facebook

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Watch live: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders holds a media briefing amid tensions at the border By Los Angeles Times Staff Facebook

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Democrat TJ Cox grabs lead over Republican David Valadao in nations last remaining undecided House race By Maya Sweedler Democrat TJ Cox slipped past Republican incumbent David Valadao on Monday to take the lead in the countrys sole remaining undecided congressional race, positioning Democrats to pick up their seventh House seat in California and 40th nationwide. Cox, who trailed by nearly 4,400 votes on election night, has steadily gained as ballot counting continues nearly three weeks after the Nov. 6 election, a pattern consistent with the states recent voting history. On Monday, he pulled ahead by 438 votes after Kern County updated its results. Read More Facebook

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Former CIA director Michael Hayden hospitalized after suffering a stroke By Deanna Paul Then-CIA Director Michael Hayden testifies before a Senate committee in 2008. (Saul Loeb / Getty Images) Former CIA Director and retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden has been hospitalized after suffering a stroke, his family said Friday. He is receiving expert medical care for which the family is grateful, according to a statement issued by his namesake organization. The General and his family greatly appreciate the warm wishes and prayers of his friends, colleagues, and supporters. Hayden, 73, served as director of the CIA and National Security Agency during the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. He retired from the CIA in 2009. Hayden has been a vocal critic of Donald Trumps campaign and presidency. Earlier this year, after Trump decided to revoke the security clearance of former CIA director John Brennan, Hayden was one of several former intelligence leaders who signed a statement in opposition. Criticizing the president for crossing a line, he quickly became one of the individuals whose security clearance Trump threatened to review. Deanna Paul writes for the Washington Post. Facebook

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Trump tells troops hes thankful for what hes done for the U.S. and rails against courts and migrants By Associated Press President Trump talks with troops via teleconference from his estate in Palm Beach, Fla., on Thanksgiving. (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump used his Thanksgiving Day call to troops deployed overseas to pat himself on the back and air grievances about the courts, trade and migrants heading to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trumps call, made from his opulent private Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Fla., struck an unusually political tone as he spoke with members of all five branches of the military to wish them happy holidays. Its a disgrace, Trump said of judges who have blocked his attempts to overhaul U.S. immigration law, as he linked his efforts to secure the border with military missions overseas. Trump later threatened to close the U.S. border with Mexico for an undisclosed period of time if his administration determines Mexico has lost control on its side. The call was a uniquely Trump blend of boasting, peppered questions and off-the-cuff observations as his comments veered from venting about slights to praising troops  You really are our heroes, he said  as club waiters worked to set Thanksgiving dinner tables on the outdoor terrace behind him. It was yet another show of how Trump has dramatically transformed the presidency, erasing the traditional divisions between domestic policy and military matters and efforts to keep the troops clear of politics. You probably see over the news whats happening on our southern border, Trump told one Air Force brigadier general stationed at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan, adding: I dont have to even ask you. I know what you want to do, you want to make sure that you know who were letting in. Later, Trump asked a U.S. Coast Guard commander about trade, which he noted was a very big subject for him personally. Weve been taken advantage of for many, many years by bad trade deals, Trump told the commander, who sheepishly replied, Mr. President, from our perspective on the water  we dont see any issues in terms of trade right now. And throughout, Trump congratulated himself, telling the officers that the country is doing exceptionally well on his watch. I hope that youll take solace in knowing that all of the American families you hold so close to your heart are all doing well, he said. The nations doing well economically, better than anybody in the world. He later told reporters, Nobodys done more for the military than me. Indeed, asked what he was thankful for this Thanksgiving, Trump cited his great family as well as himself. I made a tremendous difference in this country, he said. Facebook

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Trump contradicts CIA assessment that Saudi crown prince ordered Jamal Khashoggi killing By Josh Dawsey | Washington Post (Susan Walsh / Associated Press) President Trump on Thursday contradicted the CIAs assessment that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman had ordered the killing of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, insisting that the agency had feelings but did not firmly place blame for the death. Trump, in defiant remarks to reporters from his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida, defended his continued support for Mohammed in the face of a CIA assessment that the crown prince had ordered the killing. He denies it vehemently, Trump said. He said his own conclusion was that maybe he did, maybe he didnt. I hate the crime .... I hate the cover-up. I will tell you this: The crown prince hates it more than I do, Trump said. Asked who should be held accountable for the death of Khashoggi, who was killed at the Saudi Consulate in Turkey, Trump refused to place blame. Maybe the world should be held accountable because the world is a very, very vicious place, the president said. He also seemed to suggest that all U.S. allies were guilty of the same behavior, declaring that if the others were held to the standard that critics have held Saudi Arabia to in recent days, we wouldnt be able to have anyone for an ally. Trumps remarks came after he held a conference call with U.S. military officers overseas, during which he repeatedly praised his administration and sought to draw the officers into discussions of domestic policy. Facebook

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Former FBI Director James Comey gets subpoena from House Republicans By Bloomberg Former FBI Director James B. Comey said he has received a subpoena from House Republicans, according to a Twitter post on Thursday. Bloomberg News reported last week that Comey would be receiving a subpoena alongside former Atty. Gen. Loretta Lynch as part of continuing probes into their handling of investigations into Hillary Clinton and Russian election meddling, according to a top House Democrat. Happy Thanksgiving. Got a subpoena from House Republicans. Im still happy to sit in the light and answer all questions. But I will resist a closed door thing because Ive seen enough of their selective leaking and distortion. Lets have a hearing and invite everyone to see.  James Comey (@Comey) November 22, 2018 Read More Facebook

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Republican David Valadaos lead slips to 447 votes over Democrat TJ Cox in still-undecided Central Valley House race By Mark Z. Barabak Rep. David Valadao (R-Hanford), right, finds himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox. (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) On election night, it looked like Rep. David Valadao had survived a close shave and was destined to return to Washington for his fourth term. But on Wednesday, when Fresno County announced its latest vote totals, the Hanford Republican found himself in an increasingly harrowing cliffhanger against Democrat TJ Cox, with his lead in the Central Valley district shrunken to 447 votes. Thousands remain to be counted. Valadao, a repeated Democratic target, finished election night with a lead of nearly 4,440 votes. Cox, an engineer and a business owner who unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2006, has steadily gained ground in the 21st Congressional District ever since. The trend is consistent with historic patterns showing Republicans in California tend to vote early and Democrats later, meaning their mail ballots continue to stream in past election day. Under California law, ballots postmarked up to midnight on Nov. 6 will be counted. Democrats have already picked up six House seats in California. They ousted Reps. Dana Rohrabacher, Mimi Walters, Steve Knight and Jeff Denham and won the seats of retiring Reps. Ed Royce and Darrell Issa. All six represented districts that backed Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump in 2016. Valadao was the seventh California Republican in a district Clinton won, though his previous successes  he last won reelection by a 14-point margin  suggested his ouster was a longer shot for Democrats. If Cox prevails, it would give Democrats a 40-seat gain nationwide, far more than the 23 seats needed to take control when Congress reconvenes in January. Facebook

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Trump says no new punishments against Saudi Arabia in Jamal Khashoggi murder By Eli Stokols In this Oct. 25 photo, candles are lit in front of a photo of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (Lefteris Pitarakis) President Trump made it clear on Tuesday that he does not intend to punish Saudi Arabia or Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for the murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi, an American resident killed by Saudi officials in Turkey in October. In a remarkable statement replete with exclamation points, Trump cast doubt on the CIAs reported conclusions that it has a high degree of confidence that the crown prince ordered Khashoggis murder and sent his closest allies to Saudi Arabias consulate in Istanbul to carry it out. Read MoreThis article has been updated with staff. Facebook

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Sixteen House Democrats vow to oppose Nancy Pelosi as next speaker By Mike DeBonis | Washington Post House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (J. Scott Applewhite / Associated Press) Sixteen House Democrats said Monday that they will vote to deny Rep. Nancy Pelosi another stint as House speaker, a show of defiance that puts her opponents on the cusp of forcing a seismic leadership shake-up as their party prepares to take the majority. Their pledge to oppose Pelosi (D-San Francisco), both in an internal caucus election and a Jan. 3 floor vote, delivered in a letter sent to Democratic colleagues, comes as Pelosi has marshaled a legion of supporters on and off Capitol Hill to make her case. But her opponents said Monday they are convinced it is time to select a new leader. We are thankful to Leader Pelosi for her years of service to our Country and to our Caucus, they wrote. However, we also recognize that in this recent election, Democrats ran on and won on a message of change. Pelosi has expressed complete confidence that she will retake the speakers gavel in January  eight years after she lost it following massive Republican gains in the 2010 midterms and 16 years after she was first elevated to the top Democratic leadership post in the House. Come on in, the waters fine, she said Friday about a potential leadership challenge. The signers might not be able to force Pelosi out themselves. The size of the Democratic majority remains in flux, but Democrats have already won 232 seats, according to the Associated Press, with five races still undecided. All those races have Republican incumbents, but the Democratic challenger is ahead in only one of them. If the leads hold in the uncalled races, Democrats would have won 233 seats, a 16-seat majority. That means Pelosi could lose as many as 15 Democratic votes when she stands for election as speaker on Jan. 3. Read More Facebook

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Democratic senators sue over Whitakers appointment as acting attorney general By Associated Press Acting U.S. Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitaker (Nicholas Kamm / AFP/Getty Images) Three Senate Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday arguing that Acting Atty. Gen. Matthew Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and asking a federal judge to remove him. The suit, filed by Sens. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Mazie Hirono of Hawaii and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island, argues that Whitakers appointment violates the Constitution because he has not been confirmed by the Senate. Whitaker was chief of staff to Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions and was elevated to the top job after Sessions was ousted by President Trump on Nov. 7. The Constitutions Appointments Clause requires that the Senate confirm all principal officials before they can serve in their office. The Justice Department released a legal opinion last week that said Whitakers appointment would not violate the clause because he is serving in an acting capacity. The opinion concluded that Whitaker, even without Senate confirmation, may serve in an acting capacity because he has been at the department for more than a year at a sufficiently senior pay level. President Trump is denying senators our constitutional obligation and opportunity to do our job: scrutinizing the nomination of our nations top law enforcement official, Blumenthal said in a statement. The reason is simple: Whitaker would never pass the advice and consent test. In selecting a so-called constitutional nobody and thwarting every senators constitutional duty, Trump leaves us no choice but to seek recourse through the courts. The lawsuit comes days after a Washington lawyer challenged Whitakers appointment in a pending Supreme Court case dealing with gun rights. The attorney, Thomas Goldstein, asked the high court to find that Whitakers appointment is unconstitutional and replace him with Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Rosenstein, the second-ranking Justice Department official, has been confirmed by the Senate and had been overseeing special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker is now overseeing the investigation. The Justice Department issued a statement Monday defending Whitakers appointment as lawful and said it comports with the Appointments Clause, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act and legal precedent. There are over 160 instances in American history in which non-Senate confirmed persons performed, on a temporary basis, the duties of a Senate-confirmed position, Justice Department spokeswoman Kerri Kupec said. To suggest otherwise is to ignore centuries of practice and precedent. Facebook

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Gov. Rick Scott says Sen. Bill Nelson concedes Florida Senate race By Associated Press Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott speaks with his wife, Ann, by his side at an election watch party in Naples, Fla., on Nov. 7. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas Republican Gov. Rick Scott says incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson called him to concede defeat in their extremely tight race. Scott issued a statement Sunday saying Nelson graciously conceded their Senate race shortly after the states recount ended. The final results show Scott defeated Nelson by just over 10,000 votes out of 8 million cast. Nelson is scheduled to release a videotaped statement later Sunday. The defeat ends Nelsons lengthy political career. The three-term incumbent was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000. Before that he served six terms in the U.S. House and as state treasurer and insurance commissioner for six years. Scott spent more than $60 million of his own money on ads that portrayed Nelson as out-of-touch and ineffective. Nelson responded by questioning Scotts ethics and saying he would be under the sway of President Trump. Facebook

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Orange County goes blue, as Democrats complete historic sweep of its seven congressional seats By Michael Finnegan Gil Cisneros defeated Republican Young Kim on Saturday in the last of Orange Countys undecided House races, giving Democrats a clean sweep of the states six most fiercely fought congressional contests and marking an epochal shift in a region long synonymous with political conservatism. With Cisneros victory, Democrats will constitute the entirety of Orange Countys seven-member congressional delegation, the first time since the 1930s that the birthplace of Richard Nixon, home of John Wayne and spiritual center of the Republican Party will have no GOP representative in the House. Sitting back in the 1960s, I would never have believed this would happen, said Stuart K. Spencer, a party strategist who spent more than half a century ushering Republicans, including President Reagan, into office. Read More Facebook

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Going, going ... with midterm wipeout, California Republican Party drifts closer to irrelevance By Michael Finnegan For a party in freefall the last two decades, California Republicans learned that its possible to plunge even further. The GOP not only lost every statewide office in the midterm election  again, in blowout fashion  but Democrats reestablished their supermajority in Sacramento, allowing them to legislate however they see fit After major defeats in Orange County and the Central Valley, two longtime strongholds, Republicans will have a significantly smaller footprint on Capitol Hill. (Democrats hold both Senate seats.) When the vote-counting is finished, the GOP may not even have enough lawmakers in Californias 53-member House delegation to field a nine-person softball team. Read More Facebook

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Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter says she will support Rep. Nancy Pelosi for speaker By Maya Sweedler Democratic Rep.-elect Katie Porter is congratulated by volunteers at her campaign headquarters in Irvine. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times) Congresswoman-elect Katie Porter said she plans to support Rep. Nancy Pelosis bid for speaker of the House and will make campaign finance reform her top priority when she enters the chamber in January. Im going to continue to have conversations, but so far I feel like Leader Pelosi is definitely making the things that were a priority to the families that elected me her priorities, including announcing her support for campaign finance reform and anti-corruption as HR1, Porter said in her first public appearance since being declared the winner in Californias 45th Congressional District on Thursday evening. It means a lot to me that she is a Californian. She understands our state, Porter added. When we talk about environmental protections, this is a person who understands as a Californian how fragile our environment is and whats at risk in things like drilling off our coasts. Porter, a law professor at UC Irvine, defeated two-term Republican Rep. Mimi Walters. The 45th District, covering inland Orange County, has never been represented by a Democrat. Porter became the third Democrat to claim a Republican-held seat in Orange County, following the victories of Harley Rouda in the 48th District and Mike Levin in the 49th. A fourth, Gil Cisneros, is running slightly ahead of his Republican opponent in the race for the open seat in the 39th District, which extends into Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. Porter attributed the massive political shift in the county, for decades a conservative stronghold, to increased levels of political engagement. Folks here care about education, they care about the environment, they believe climate change is real, they want healthcare that protects preexisting conditions, they want a tax system that doesnt punish California, they want our schools and places of worship to be safe from gun violence, she said. Those are the issues we campaigned on, and to the extent that Donald Trump and Mimi Walters were on the wrong side of those issues, the voters have made clear what direction they want us to go. Porter was flying back from the East Coast when her race was called, she said. She turned on her phone to find 167 text messages from friends and supporters. Among them was Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who was one of Porters teachers in law school and with whom she has remained close. The pair spoke via FaceTime this morning, she said. Facebook

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Bitter battle for Senate seat in Florida goes to hand recount By Associated Press Employees look through damaged ballots during a recount Thursday in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee / Associated Press) Floridas acrimonious battle for the U.S. Senate headed Thursday to a legally required hand recount after an initial review by ballot-counting machines showed Republican Gov. Rick Scott and Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson separated by less than 13,000 votes. But the highly watched contest for governor between Republican Ron DeSantis and Democrat Andrew Gillum appeared to be over, with a machine recount showing DeSantis with a large enough advantage over Gillum to avoid a hand recount in that race. Gillum, who conceded the contest on election night only to retract his concession later, said in a statement that it is not over until every legally casted vote is counted. The recount so far has been fraught with problems. One large Democratic stronghold in South Florida was unable to finish its machine recount by the Thursday deadline due to machines breaking down. A federal judge rejected a request to extend the recount deadline. We gave a heroic effort, said Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher. If the county had three or four more hours, it would have made the deadline to recount ballots in the Senate race, she said. Meanwhile, election officials in another urban county in the Tampa Bay area decided against turning in the results of their machine recount, which came up with 846 fewer votes than originally counted. Media in South Florida reported that Broward County finished its machine recount but missed the deadline by a few minutes. Counties were ordered last weekend to do a machine recount of three statewide races because the margins were so tight. The next stage is a manual review of ballots that were not counted by machines to see whether there is a way to figure out voter intent. Scott called on Nelson to end the recount battle. Its time for Nelson to respect the will of the voters and graciously bring this process to an end rather than proceed with yet another count of the votes  which will yield the same result and bring more embarrassment to the state that we both love and have served, the governor said in a statement. The recount has triggered multiple lawsuits, many of them filed by Nelson and Democrats. The legal battles drew the ire of U.S. District Judge Mark E. Walker, who slammed the state for repeatedly failing to anticipate election problems. He also said the state law on recounts appears to violate the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that decided the presidency in 2000. We have been the laughingstock of the world, election after election, and we chose not to fix this, Walker said during a morning hearing. Walker vented his anger at state lawmakers and Palm Beach County officials, saying they should have made sure they had enough equipment in place to handle this kind of a recount. But he said he could not extend the recount deadline because he did not know when Palm Beach County would finish its work. This court must be able to craft a remedy with knowledge that it will not prove futile, Walker wrote in his ruling turning down the request from Democrats. It cannot do so on this record. This court does not and will not fashion a remedy in the dark. The overarching problem was created by the Florida Legislature, which Walker said passed a recount law that appears to run afoul of the 2000 Bush vs. Gore decision by locking in procedures that do not allow for potential problems. A total of six election-related lawsuits are pending in federal court in Tallahassee as well at least one lawsuit filed in state court. Walker also ordered that voters be given until 5 p.m. Saturday to show a valid identification and fix their ballots if they have not been counted due to mismatched signatures. Republicans appealed the ruling, but an appeals court turned down the request. State officials testified that nearly 4,000 mailed-in ballots were set aside because local officials decided the signatures on the envelopes did not match the signatures on file. If those voters can prove their identity, their votes will be counted and included in final official returns due from each county by noon Sunday. Walker was asked by Democrats to require local officials to provide a list of people whose ballots were rejected. But the judge appointed by President Obama refused the request, calling it inappropriate. Under state law, a hand review is required with races that have a margin of 0.25 percentage points or less. A state website put the unofficial results showing Scott ahead of Nelson by 0.15 percentage points. The margin between DeSantis and Gillum was at 0.41 points. The margin between Scott and Nelson had not changed much in the last few days, conceded Marc Elias, an attorney working for Nelsons campaign. But he said that he expected the vote tally to shrink due to the hand recount and the ruling on signatures. The developments fueled frustrations among Democrats and Republicans alike. Democrats want state officials to do whatever it takes to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Republicans, including President Trump, have argued without evidence that voter fraud threatens to steal races from the GOP. Facebook

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Democrat Gil Cisneros pulls ahead of Republican Young Kim as more votes are tallied in Orange and San Bernardino counties By Michael Finnegan Congressional candidate Gil Cisneros (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times) Democrat Gil Cisneros pulled ahead of Republican Young Kim in one of Californias undecided congressional races Thursday, an ominous sign for a GOP already reeling from its loss of four House seats in the state. In updated vote counts released by the registrars for Orange and San Bernardino counties, Kim fell 941 votes behind Cisneros in the contest to succeed Republican Rep. Ed Royce in Californias 39th Congressional District. The 39th straddles Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties. In another unresolved House race, Democrat Katie Porter pulled further ahead of Republican incumbent Mimi Walters in the 45th District, which includes Mission Viejo, Tustin, Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita and Laguna Hills. Porter, a consumer attorney and UC Irvine law professor, is now 6,203 votes ahead. The Nov. 6 midterm election has been devastating to Republicans in California. If Cisneros and Porter win, the party will have lost six of its 14 House seats in the state, essentially a wipeout in every contest that both parties spent heavily to win. The three Republicans already bounced from Congress are Reps. Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa, Steve Knight of Palmdale and Jeff Denham of Turlock in the San Joaquin Valley. Democrat Mike Levin won the seat of retiring GOP Rep. Darrell Issa of Vista in the fourth district flipped so far. Facebook

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Florida Senate race likely headed to second recount By Associated Press A Palm Beach County Sheriffs deputy walks past boxes of ballots before a recount on Nov. 15 in West Palm Beach, Fla. (Wilfredo Lee) Unofficial Florida election results show that the governors race seems to be settled after a machine recount but the U.S. Senate race is likely headed to a hand recount. Republican Ron DeSantis is virtually assured of winning the nationally watched governors race over Democrat Andrew Gillum. Florida finished a machine recount Thursday that showed Gillum without enough votes to force a manual recount. Unofficial results posted on a state website show the margin between U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and Gov. Rick Scott is still thin enough to trigger a second review. State law requires a hand recount of races with a margin of 0.25 percentage point or less. Counties have until Sunday to inspect the ballots that did not record a vote when put through the machines. Those ballots are re-examined to see whether the voter skipped the race or marked the ballot in a way that the machines cannot read but can be deciphered. The election will be certified Tuesday. Read More Facebook

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Pelosi says she has the votes to become the next House speaker By John Wagner Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi speaks during a news conference in Washington on Nov. 14. (Susan Walsh) House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi insisted Thursday that she has the votes to become the chambers speaker despite solid opposition from more than a dozen Democrats who want fresh leadership when the party takes control next year. I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, the San Francisco lawmaker told reporters. I happen to think at this point, Im the best person for that. A vote within the Democratic caucus is scheduled for Nov. 28. The full House votes on Jan. 3 to elect a new speaker. During her remarks, Pelosi touted the size of the Democratic victory in the midterms, which she called almost a tsunami. With a few races still to be decided, Democrats are poised to pick up close to 40 seats in the chamber. Pelosi called that the biggest victory for the Democrats since 1974, when the Watergate babies came in. Pelosis comments come as she faces solid opposition from at least 17 Democrats, setting the stage for a battle over who will ascend to one of the most powerful positions in Washington. After a campaign in which some Democrats prevailed in competitive districts by promising to oppose her, a coalition of incumbents and newly elected members has denied her a smooth path to the speakership. The defections, if they stand, would leave Pelosi, who has led the Democrats for more than 15 years, several votes short of the 218 she would need when the full House votes for speaker Jan. 3. However, no Democrat has stepped forward to run against her for a job she held from 2007 through 2010. Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) told reporters Wednesday that shes being encouraged to stand for speaker if Pelosi doesnt have the votes. In an interview with the Washington Post on Thursday, she said she has been overwhelmed by the support from many of her colleagues for her possible entry into the race for House speaker. Over the last 12 hours, Ive been overwhelmed by the amount of support Ive received, Fudge said, adding that there are probably closer to 30" Democrats who have privately signaled that they are willing to oppose Pelosi. Things could change rapidly, Fudge said. Fudge, 66, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, said she is building a diverse coalition as she mulls a speaker run, talking with allies in the caucus, moderate Democrats and newly elected members. To this point, Pelosi has enjoyed the strong backing of the Congressional Black Caucus. On Thursday, Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), one of its members, wrote a letter to colleagues praising her insight, fortitude and strategic thinking and urging support for her speakership bid. Former Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr., an African American who is contemplating a 2020 presidential bid, also voiced support for Pelosi, praising her in a tweet as an architect of the recent midterm success. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), a leader of the resistance to Pelosi, said during an interview on CNN on Thursday that Fudge is the kind of new leader that we need in this party. Shes in touch with middle America. She understands what the American people want. Shes a next-generation leader that people will look to and say, Thats the future of our party, thats the future of our country, and thats exactly the kind of leader that I want to see as our next speaker. Wagner reports for the Washington Post. The Posts Robert Costa, Erica Werner, Mike DeBonis, Paul Kane and Elise Viebeck contributed to this report. Facebook

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GOP Rep. Jeff Denham concedes to Democrat Josh Harder in Central Valley race By Maya Sweedler Rep. Jeff Denham (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) Republican Rep. Jeff Denham has conceded to Democrat Josh Harder in the race to represent Californias 10th Congressional District in the San Joaquin Valley. It has been an absolute honor to serve our community and represent the Central Valley in Congress over the past eight years, the 51-year-old congressman said. The enormity of the responsibility was never lost on me. My wife Sonia and I look forward to starting the next chapter of our lives. Harder said he had spoken with Denham and the two were committed to a productive transition. Denham, an Air Force veteran, previously represented the region in the state Senate for eight years and founded a company specializing in plastic packaging used in agriculture. While a member of Congress, he sat on the Transportation and Infrastructure, Veterans Affairs and Agriculture committees. First-time candidate Harder was born and raised in the district. After graduating from Stanford University, he served as vice president of a Silicon Valley venture capital firm. Since moving back, he has been teaching at Modesto Junior College. Denhams House seat is one of four in California that Republicans lost in the Nov. 6 election, with two contests in Orange County still undecided as of Thursday morning. Jeff Denham called me this morning and we had a very productive conversation. I'm honored that I've been chosen to serve our community in Congress, and we're both looking forward to a productive transition that best serves the people of District 10.  Josh Harder (@JoshHarder) November 14, 2018 Facebook

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Democrat Katie Porter now nearly 3,800 votes ahead of GOP Rep. Mimi Walters By Maya Sweedler Rep. Mimi Walters thanks all of her supporters as she watches election results in Irvine on Nov. 7, 2018. (Alex Gallardo / Associated Press) Democrat Katie Porter opened a 3,797-vote lead Wednesday over Republican Rep. Mimi Walters in Orange Countys 45th Congressional District. In the neighboring 39th, Democrat Gil Cisneros has nearly tied the race against Republican Young Kim. Cisneros now trails Kim by a razor-thin margin of 122 votes. The 39th District straddles Los Angeles, Orange and San Bernardino counties; Wednesdays updated ballot counts came from the latter two. There are more than 202,000 ballots left to count in Orange County, which includes parts of seven congressional districts. The 45th is entirely in inland Orange County. In California, the ballots counted first tend to lean Republican and those tallied later skew Democratic. In the Central Valleys 21st Congressional District, Democratic challenger TJ Cox has pulled within 2 percentage points of Rep. David Valadao, who is serving his third term. The Associated Press had projected a win for Valadao on election night, but his 4,839-vote advantage has shrunk to 2,090. Back in CA-21, Valadao (R) wins a batch of ballots from his stronghold in Kings Co., but by a considerably smaller margin (14 points) than his previous ~30-point margin in the county. We're moving to Lean R from Likely R; today a bit scary for Valadao.https://t.co/WqJVUVkqGW  Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 15, 2018 A spokesman for Valadao told the Fresno Bee that the changes were expected and that [s]tatistically, David Valadao has won this race. Democrats in California have already flipped four House seats, defeating three Republican incumbents and claiming an open seat previously held by the GOP. Reps. Steve Knight of Palmdale, Dana Rohrabacher of Costa Mesa and Jeff Denham of Turlock have already lost their races, and retiring Rep. Darrell Issas San Diego County seat was claimed by Democrat Mike Levin. Facebook

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Trump aide departs West Wing after rebuke from Melania Trump By Associated Press First Lady Melania Trump. (Alain Jocard / AFP-Getty Images) Deputy national security advisor Mira Ricardel is leaving the White House, one day after First Lady Melania Trumps office issued an extraordinary statement calling for her dismissal. No replacement was named. Aides said Ricardel clashed with the first ladys staff over her visit to Africa last month. Yet it is highly unusual for a first lady or her office to weigh in on personnel matters, especially the presidents national security staff. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Ricardel would have a new role in the administration. On Tuesday, Stephanie Grisham, the first ladys spokeswoman, released a statement saying, It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House. President Trumps White House has set records for administration turnover. Ricardel was the third person to hold the post under Trump. An ally of national security advisor John Bolton, Ricardel began her service in the Trump administration as associate director in the White House Office of Presidential Personnel, then moved to the Commerce Department last year. Bolton brought her into the West Wing shortly after taking the job in April. He is traveling in Asia this week alongside Vice President Mike Pence. Facebook

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Race for House Minority Leader is Kevin McCarthys to lose By Associated Press (Bill Clark / CQ Roll Call) House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy is running to take over next years shrunken caucus in closed-door elections that will set the tone for the new Congress. The race for minority leader is McCarthys to lose Wednesday. But the California Republican, who is an ally of President Trump, must fend off a challenge from conservative Jim Jordan of Ohio. Jordan is a leader of the House Freedom Caucus. The two encountered questions and finger-pointing during a private meeting with lawmakers Tuesday night as the GOP sorted through the midterm defeat that put Democrats in the majority next year. Elections Wednesday will also determine party leadership in the Senate. Voting for the biggest race, Nancy Pelosis bid to return as the Democrats nominee for speaker, is later this month. Read More Facebook

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Melania Trump calls for the firing of deputy national security advisor By Justin Sink First Lady Melania Trump arrives at the Chateau de Versailles outside Paris on Nov. 11. (Alain Jocard / AFP/Getty Images ) First Lady Melania Trumps office said she wants Mira Ricardel, the deputy national security advisor, ousted from the White House. It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House, Trumps spokeswoman, Stephanie Grisham, said in a statement in response to a question about reports the first lady had sought Ricardels removal. Ricardel is the top deputy to national security advisor John Bolton. She drew the first ladys wrath after threatening to withhold National Security Council resources during Melania Trumps trip to Africa last month unless Ricardel was included in her entourage, one person familiar with the matter said. Grishams statement comes as several media outlets have reported that President Trump is considering a broader shakeup of his administration, including ousting Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. Sink and Jacobs report for Bloomberg. Read More Facebook

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CNN sues Trump over the suspension of Jim Acostas White House press credentials By Jim Puzzanghera CNN said Tuesday that it is suing President Trump and other administration officials over the decision to suspend the White House press credentials of correspondent Jim Acosta after a conflict at a news conference last week. The suit, to be filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, escalates an ongoing battle between Trump and the cable news outlet that he frequently accuses of disseminating fake news for its aggressive coverage of him and his administration. The wrongful revocation of these credentials violates CNN and Acostas 1st Amendment rights of freedom of the press, and their 5th Amendment rights to due process, CNN said in a written statement. If left unchallenged, the actions of the White House would create a dangerous chilling effect for any journalist who covers our elected officials. Read More Facebook

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Maxine Waters to take aim at Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank as new head of House Financial Services Committee By Jim Puzzanghera Rep. Maxine Waters plans to zero in on two big banks  Wells Fargo & Co. and Deutsche Bank  when she becomes head of the powerful House Financial Services Committee. The Los Angeles congresswoman, now the committees top Democrat, is widely expected to gain the gavel after her party won control of the House in last weeks elections. While Waters has outlined a wide-ranging agenda, she said her focus on bank oversight will target two large institutions she has been tangling with for a while  including one, Deutsche Bank, that spills into her bitter feud with President Trump. With Trump in the White House, I know that our fight for Americas consumers and investors will continue to be challenging. But I am more than up to that fight, Waters wrote in a letter last week to her Democratic colleagues on the committee that was obtained by The Times. Read More Facebook

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Heres how a controversial voting system will decide a congressional race in Maine By Kurtis Lee For the first time in U.S. history, a controversial voting system known as ranked choice is being used to decide a federal election. Its happening in Maine, which adopted the system in 2016. Rather than marking a single candidate, each voter ranks them all, assigning a first-place vote, a second-place vote and so on down the ballot. Read More Facebook

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ACLU files suit to stop Trumps new asylum limits By Associated Press A group of Central American migrants march to the office of the U.N.'s humans rights body in Mexico City on Nov. 8. (Rebecca Blackwell / Associated Press) The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a legal challenge to President Trumps order denying asylum to migrants if they cross the U.S.-Mexico border illegally. The lawsuit was filed Friday in federal court in San Francisco and argues the new rules are against the law. Attorney Lee Gelernt said the regulations will put families in danger. The suit seeks to declare the regulations invalid and wants a judge to stop the rules from going into effect while the litigation is pending. The new rules were spurred in part by caravans of Central American migrants slowly moving north on foot, but officials say they will apply to anyone caught crossing illegally. Officials say about 70,000 people who enter the country illegally claim asylum. The order invoked the same national security powers Trump used to push through his travel ban. Read More Facebook

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Trump on new acting AG: I dont know Matt Whitaker By Associated Press President Trump talks with reporters before departing for France on the South Lawn of the White House on Nov. 9. (Evan Vucci / Associated Press) President Trump is moving to distance himself from Matthew Whitaker as he faces criticism over his choice for acting attorney general. Trump told reporters Friday that I dont know Matt Whitaker and said he didnt speak with Whitaker about special counsel Robert Muellers Russia investigation. Whitaker has made public comments critical of Muellers investigation, and critics have called on Whitaker to recuse himself from oversight of the inquiry. Under former Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions, the investigation was overseen by Deputy Atty. Gen. Rod Rosenstein. Of the scrutiny Whitaker is facing, Trump said: Its a shame that no matter who I put in they go after. He also called Whitaker a very highly respected man. Whitaker was Sessions chief of staff before Trump made him Sessions interim replacement. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg out of hospital after fall By Associated Press The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is home after being released from the hospital. She had been admitted for treatment and observation after fracturing three ribs in a fall. The court said Ginsburg was released Friday. Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg says she is doing well and working from home. The court had previously said the justice fell in her office at the court on Wednesday evening and went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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Gun-control activist Lucy McBath defeats GOP Rep. Karen Handel in Georgia By Associated Press Lucy McBath speaks during a rally for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams on Nov. 2 at Morehouse College in Atlanta. (Alyssa Pointer / Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP) Democratic gun-control activist Lucy McBath has defeated Republican Rep. Karen Handel of Georgia in a suburban congressional district long considered safe for the GOP. Handel had to seek reelection after winning her seat last year in a close special election race against Democrat Jon Ossoff. McBath became an advocate for stricter gun laws after her son, Jordan Davis, was fatally shot at a Florida gas station in 2012 by a man angry over loud music the teenager and his friends were playing in a car. McBaths margin of victory was narrow enough for Handel to have requested a recount. The Associated Press declared McBath the winner Thursday after Handel conceded. Handel conceded in a statement Thursday morning, stating that after reviewing all of the election data, its clear she came up a bit short in Tuesdays vote. Handel congratulated McBath, offering good thoughts and much prayer for the journey that lies ahead for her. McBath, who is African American, declared victory Wednesday. Facebook

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Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg hospitalized after fracturing 3 ribs in fall By Associated Press Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Jacquelyn Martin / Associated Press) The Supreme Court says 85-year-old Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg fractured three ribs in a fall in her office at the court and is in the hospital. The court says the justice went to George Washington University Hospital in Washington early Thursday after experiencing discomfort overnight. The court says the fall occurred Wednesday evening. Ginsburg was admitted to the hospital for treatment and observation after tests showed she fractured three ribs. Ginsburg broke two ribs in a fall in 2012. She has had two prior bouts with cancer and had a stent implanted to open a blocked artery in 2014. Facebook

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White House suspends press pass of CNNs Jim Acosta after heated exchange with Trump By Associated Press The White House on Wednesday suspended the press pass of CNN correspondent Jim Acosta after he and President Trump had a heated confrontation during a news conference. They began sparring after Acosta asked Trump about the caravan of migrants heading from Latin America to the southern U.S. border. When Acosta tried to follow up with another question, Trump said, Thats enough! and a female White House aide unsuccessfully tried to grab the microphone from Acosta. White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders released a statement accusing Acosta of placing his hands on a young woman just trying to do her job as a White House intern, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The interaction between Acosta and the intern was brief, and Acosta appeared to brush her arm as she reached for the microphone and he tried to hold onto it. Pardon me, maam, he told her. Acosta tweeted that Sanders statement that he put his hands on the aide was a lie. CNN said in a statement that the White House revoked Acostas press pass in retaliation for his challenging questions Wednesday, and the network accused Sanders of lying about Acostas actions. This conduct is absolutely unacceptable. It is also completely disrespectful to the reporters colleagues not to allow them an opportunity to ask a question. President Trump has given the press more access than any President in history.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Contrary to CNNs assertions there is no greater demonstration of the Presidents support for a free press than the event he held today. Only they would attack the President for not supporting a free press in the midst of him taking 68 questions from 35 different reporters...  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 As a result of todays incident, the White House is suspending the hard pass of the reporter involved until further notice.  Stephanie Grisham (@PressSec) November 8, 2018 Sanders provided fraudulent accusations and cited an incident that never happened. This unprecedented decision is a threat to our democracy and the country deserves better, CNN said. Jim Acosta has our full support. Journalists assigned to cover the White House apply for passes that allow them daily access to press areas in the West Wing. White House staffers decide whether journalists are eligible, though the Secret Service determines whether their applications are approved. Facebook

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Trump spars with reporters at post-election news briefing, ordering several to sit down By Associated Press  President Trump assails CNNs Jim Acosta at a White House news conference. President Trump sparred with reporters at his post-election news conference, ordering several to sit down and telling another hes a rude, terrible person. He told another reporter hes not a fan of yours, either. The presidents mood turned sour Wednesday after reporters pressed him on why he referred to a migrant caravan making its way to the U.S. on foot through Mexico as an invasion. Trump ramped up his anti-immigrant rhetoric against the caravan in the final days of the midterm elections. Trump was also pressed on why his campaign aired an ad featuring a Mexican immigrant convicted of killing American police officers and linking the mans actions to the caravan. Several television networks pulled the ad after airing it or declined to air it at all. Facebook

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Im living one hour at a time at this point By Christine Mai-Duc Republican congressional candidate Young Kim and gubernatorial candidate John Cox campaign in Rowland Heights. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Republican congressional candidate Young Kim greeted gubernatorial candidate John Coxs giant campaign bus, the words HELP IS ON THE WAY emblazoned across it, as it rolled into the parking lot outside her Rowland Heights field office. Standing beside Cox on Saturday, Kim predicted that a string of GOP victories Tuesday would start with voters repealing the gas tax hike. Can you imagine Gavin Newsom being our governor? Can you imagine Gil Cisneros being your representative? Kim asked the crowd, to loud boos and cries of Nooo! The former state assemblywoman who worked for retiring Rep. Ed Royce (R-Fullerton) is vying for his seat with Democrat Gil Cisneros. She led the crowd in chants of Enough is enough! and, though short-lived, Drain the swamp! Ive served you in Sacramento and Ive seen dysfunction personally, Kim continued. We cannot continue that route. She urged her supporters to stay and help make phone calls or walk neighborhoods. Lets get out there  the 72 hours is really critical. Its all going to come down to a few votes, it could be your vote, she said pointing to her left, then pivoting right, it could be your vote. So dont sit back and do nothing. Every night I go to sleep thinking, OK, how many more votes can I get or how many more people can I call tomorrow? Kim said. It can be physically exhausting but Im mentally, emotionally very energized. She listed off her events so far that day  and the next one she was heading to. Thats just what I can remember, she said. Im living one hour at a time at this point. Kims campaign invited press to two of her events on Saturday. After she was whisked away to her next event  a high tea fundraiser in Walnut, a couple dozen volunteers remained. John Freeman, a statewide field manager for the state Republican Party, tried to pump them up. This is the Super Bowl. Were not in an NFL stadium, were not getting paid millions of dollars, but you know what? Freeman said. Were walking on the field right now. This is that high-stakes-level game. Facebook

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Its going to be tough out there Democratic candidate Katie Porter speaks to volunteers in Mission Viejo. Jon Bauman, Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na, is in the background. (Victoria Kim / Los Angeles Times ) Judging from the cheers in the crowd, about half those assembled at Katie Porters campaign headquarters in Mission Viejo Sunday morning were old enough to remember 70s rock n roll star Bowzer from the band Sha Na Na. Jon Bauman, as Bowzer is known off stage, said it was her position on senior issues including retirement and social security that has him out supporting Porter over her opponent, incumbent Rep. Mimi Walters. I want you to make sure every phone is called and every door is knocked, he told the crowd of about 80 volunteers. There has never been a more important election. Both Bauman and his nephew, California Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, were interrupted by yells from Trump supporters coming from an adjoining hillside. We love Trump, the voice cried out. We love him too, he makes great fodder, the younger Bauman retorted, before introducing Porter. Porter, a UC Irvine law professor and first-time candidate, acknowledged the uphill battle some of her canvassers might face in this more conservative end of the long-red Orange County district. I know its going to be tough out there, she said, motioning to the hillside. But she said the attacks meant the other side viewed her campaign as a significant threat. This election is going to be close, she said. If we dont fight all the way to the finish line, until 8 oclock on Tuesday, this could slip away. Bowzer then took to a keyboard piano to lead the crowd in a reworded rendition of the song Good Night Sweetheart: Good night, Mimi Walters, he crooned. A woman in a black tank top, jeans and flip flops holding a cup of coffee later joined the crowd with her two sons, 17 and 14, the younger one wearing a Trump 2016 T-shirt. She declined to give her name, saying she was concerned about being attacked, but said she lived up the hill and said she had been the one yelling. She said she was encouraging her sons to talk to people on both sides and make up their own minds. We need to have a government that runs the way government teachers are telling kids its supposed to be run, said the woman, a retired registered dental assistant who voted early for Mimi Walters. Referring to Democrats, she said: Theyve had control over all these years and Californias gone to crap. Among those canvassing was Stacie Campbell, 37, who was at the launch with her husband Jerome and three children, the youngest of whom was 2 months old. Campbell, a Mission Viejo resident who runs a business, had never canvassed or volunteered for campaigns before, and her husband is a French citizen and unable to vote. She said they had been talking to their children  the older ones are 5 and 2  about the presidency and the government since Trumps election. Together, they worked on homemade Katie Porter lawn signs and put them up around town. This is the first time its felt like a big deal and there isnt a president up for election, she said. Because her city is a mix of conservatives and liberals  her next-door neighbor is an NRA-supporting Republican  she the race felt mSenior administration officials expressed confidence Sunday that President Trump would not be taken advantage of by North Koreas Kim Jong Un before and during any direct talks, but critics suggested the presidents impulsiveness and inexperience could spell disaster if a meeting between the two leaders proceeds as planned.

Trump would be the first sitting U.S. president to hold talks with a North Korean leader if he follows through on the decision Thursday to accept an invitation to meet with Kim. Amid rising tension over Pyongyangs nuclear and ballistic programs, the two leaders had exchanged a series of threats and insults in recent months.

Some foreign policy observers have attributed the presidents abrupt move at least in part to his fondness for grand gestures, but CIA Director Mike Pompeo said Trump isnt doing this for theater.

Hes going to solve a problem, said Pompeo, who was interviewed on Fox News Sunday. He also insisted that Kim must be prepared to talk about complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization if the meeting is to go ahead.

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Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin also sought to deflect any suggestion that the president would soften the U.S. stance toward North Korea in advance of the talks, even though many observers say that agreeing to direct talks is already a huge and prestige-enhancing concession to Kim.

Were not removing the maximum-pressure campaign, Mnuchin said on NBCs Meet the Press. He added that the sanctions are staying on and that the United States would proceed with military exercises in the region as scheduled.

Trump, he said, simply planned to sit down and see if he can cut a deal.

Trump, in a boisterous campaign-style speech Saturday night in Pennsylvania, indicated he saw little in the way of pitfalls even if the talks failed.

I think we will have tremendous success, he said, describing prospective denuclearization as the greatest deal for the world. But he also raised the possibility that he may leave fast if conditions were not ripe.

Who knows whats going to happen? Trump said.

White House spokesman Raj Shah, appearing on ABCs This Week, reiterated Washingtons expectation that North Korea would not engage in nuclear or missile testing in advance of any talks.

So far, North Korean officials have not verified any of the details about their offer to meet or any preconditions. All messages have been relayed through South Korea.

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Some Trump critics praised the presidents pivot toward diplomacy but raised alarms about the administrations diplomatic acumen. The White House has not named an ambassador to South Korea, who would under normal circumstances be a key interlocutor on matters regarding the North.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), interviewed on Meet the Press, cited the complexity of any talks, which she said were worrying against a backdrop of Trumps failure to heed the advice of experts on the region.

What Im concerned about in these negotiations is we have a State Department thats just been decimated, Warren said. And that really matters, because it means you dont have the people who understand the economics, who speak the language, who know the history.

Warren, who has frequently sparred with Trump, said she wanted to see the president succeed, because if he succeeds, America succeeds. But she said she feared that North Korean leaders would take advantage of him.

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Concern also came from within the GOP ranks, with Sen. Cory Gardner of Colorado saying that the North should have to do more to merit a meeting.

Id like to see come concrete steps  more than just a cessation of testing, he said on CBS Face the Nation.

A former top advisor to President Obama warned against allowing any element of showmanship to affect decision-making on North Korea, citing the volatile situation on the Korean peninsula.

This is not a real estate deal or a reality show, Ben Rhodes, who served as Obamas deputy national security advisor, said on ABCs This Week. But he too expressed hopes that Trumps unorthodox approach would yield good results.

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I think the nation should be rooting for diplomacy to work with North Korea, and I think thats certainly President Obamas view, he said.

Despite the debate surrounding it, the North Korea announcement was in some ways a respite from a chaotic week at the White House.

Trumps economic advisor Gary Cohn said he would depart after losing a bruising battle over the presidents decision to impose hefty tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

The week also saw a gathering legal tempest over White House efforts to silence an adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, who says she was paid $130,000 in hush money over a sexual affair with Trump more than a decade ago and wants to tell her story.

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The White House was also under pressure to craft a coherent policy response to the Feb. 14 shooting that left 17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland., Fla., but has struggled to do so.

On Sunday night, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told reporters on a conference call that she would be heading a new commission on school safety, declaring, We really need to focus on prevention and identifying risks early on.

No timetable was set for the commissions work. The Trump administration is calling on states and Congress to take action, and continues to press for the arming and training of some school personnel.

Young activists, including some survivors of the Parkland shooting, are calling for far more decisive measures to limit access to weapons used in war.

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laura.king@latimes.com

@laurakingLAT

UPDATES:

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4:52 p.m.: This article was updated with background information and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announcement.

This article was originally published at 11:05 a.m.President Trump swooped into the Pittsburgh area on Saturday night in an 11th-hour bid to prop up Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone, who is struggling to fend off a Democratic opponent in a special election being watched across the country as a political sign ahead of the November midterm election.

I need people who can help me. And this guy can really help me, Trump said during the long, raucous rally in Moon Township, during which he trumpeted his recent move to impose new steel and aluminum tariffs on foreign trading partners and his plans to sit down with North Koreas leader.

Republicans are increasingly anxious about avoiding a loss on Tuesday in a district Trump carried by 20 points in the 2016 election. Polls show Saccone, a state lawmaker who served in the Air Force, locked in a tight battle with Democrat Conor Lamb, a former federal prosecutor and Marine officer.

The congressional seat was vacated last year by Rep. Tim Murphy, an antiabortion Republican who resigned after media reports of text messages in which he urged his mistress to get an abortion.

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Its a crazy time out there, Trump conceded, talking about the close race.

Running in a conservative western Pennsylvania district, Lamb has distanced himself from Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco). But Trump warned the crowd that Lamb would vote the party line. Then he joked about the 33-year-old Lambs youthful appearance.

I hear hes nice looking, he said. I think Im better looking than him. I do.

Then Trump praised the Republican candidate.

Personally, I like Rick Saccone, he said. I think hes handsome.

Although the rally was ostensibly to support Saccone, 60, Trump spent most of the time revisiting his own favorite lines. He blasted the media as fake news, touted the countrys strong economy and bragged about his victory over Hillary Clinton 16 months ago.

Trump also said his reelection slogan would be Keep America great, an update to his Make America great again slogan from 2016.

Follow live coverage of the Trump administration on Essential Washington 

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At another point, Trump said drug dealers should face harsher punishments, even the death penalty, because theyre responsible for so many deaths.

Theyre killing our kids. Theyre killing our families. Theyre killing our workers, the president said.

He added, I dont think we should play games.

Explaining his decision to accept an invitation to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the president said he would succeed in eliminating the regimes nuclear weapons even though previous administrations have failed.

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Trump once mocked Kim as little rocket man and a sick puppy, but he cut off the crowd when his supporters booed Kims name.

No, its very positive, Trump said. After the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice, because lets see what happens.

chris.megerian@latimes.com

Twitter: @chrismegerian

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Pentagon proposes scaled-down military parade, not one with tanks and firepower that Trump envisioned

Trump to visit California next week, finallyWarnings begin as soon as you arrive. Beware of the potholes.

Theyre everywhere in this Michigan city near Detroit, rattling travelers teeth and popping tires, making for a lunar-like obstacle course. Local television newscasters hand out gift cards for tire repairs amid their reports on banged wheel rims and stranded motorists. POTHELL!! blared a recent headline in the Detroit Free Press.

Its out of control, said 45-year-old Todd Faulkner, who runs a lawn fertilizer business here.

The problem is not just above ground. Faulkner and his family were evacuated on Christmas Eve 2016 after a giant sinkhole swallowed one neighbors house and forced another to be demolished. Then the Faulkners suffered through months of foul odors as crews repaired aging sewer mains. Nearby beaches on Lake St. Clair closed for weeks over the summer because of fecal contamination from overflowing sewers.

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Such decay is one reason President Trump found such a receptive audience here and in other industrial cities in the Midwest when he vividly described aging airports, lead-tainted water systems and crumbling roads and bridges as evidence of a country that had lost its way, thanks to feckless leaders of both parties whod neglected the basics. The self-professed billionaire builder was the one to fix things, he boasted.

The major artery through Macomb County, Mich., is pocked with gaping potholes, an impediment for companies investing billions of dollars in manufacturing. (Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times )

Here in middle-class Macomb County, where more than half of the 1,500 lanes of road are deemed in poor condition, local business and political leaders say fixing the infrastructure is also essential to fulfilling another Trump vow: restoring the countrys manufacturing base. An industrial renaissance is brewing here, they say, with billions of dollars in investment and thousands of new jobs, but the roads needed to test self-driving cars and carry workers and heavy trucks are falling apart.

Trumps failure so far to gain traction on the infrastructure issue has not received the same attention as last years healthcare failure or the daily chaos at the White House  mainly because he hasnt done much to push a plan. Yet falling short could have broad consequences in undercutting his economic vision.

We have a situation in this country and in this town, and one way or another well have to address it, said Mike Brzoska, president of Chardam Gear Co., which builds gears and assemblies for the aerospace industry.

Brzoska voted for Trump, despite his concerns over global warming, hoping that an experienced businessman could fight for fairer trade and better fiscal policies. His plant is the type of business Trump loves to promote. Its clients include major defense contractors who build Apache helicopters, B-2 bombers and the Patriot missile defense system.

Brzoska doubled his workforce to 135 over the last decade and takes pride in the salaries and health benefits he gives to his employees, who stood with him during a past downturn. He is excited to show off the expanding factory floor, full of the skilled workers needed to cut precise teeth in the cylinders or shave just enough heavy metal off a part to meet specifications.

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He is less eager to show off the eight-lane highway, Mound Road, which leads to his plant.

We have a situation in this country and in this town, and one way or another well have to address it, said Mike Brzoska, president of Chardam Gear Co., which builds gears and assemblies for the aerospace industry. (Noah Bierman / Los Angeles Times )

I dont want to break your neck, he says before opening the door to his Jeep. The passenger window has a big crack left by road debris Brzoska encountered earlier in the week.

Then begins a tour full of swerves, bumps and sudden stops. Asphalt crews are everywhere, spreading temporary fill into holes as fast as they can in a sort of never-ending whack-a-mole game. Brzoska points out the old rebar jutting from the crumbling roadway and the cracks between holes that lead to other cracks.

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What do you do with this? he says at a familiar ditch. This has been patched two weeks ago.

From the decrepit road, the signs of economic development are all around  factories, parking lots full of workers cars, and warehouses for some of the worlds biggest manufacturers. According to county data, the Big Three automakers have invested $10.3 billion in factories along Mound Road since 2010, after the recession-era bailout of President Obamas first year. General Motors is testing its self-driving car in one; Fiat-Chrysler plans to begin assembling Dodge Ram 1500 trucks in another.

Brzoska passes a massive Frito-Lay distribution center, a robotics plant for the German company KUKA, a General Dynamics campus and more. Commerce parks and engineering firms feed off this economic ecosystem. An Army command center is home to tanks and armaments, and logistics companies plot transportation grids and move parts.

It all slows down, however, when the heavy trucks and the commuters hit the road.

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Hours before Brzoskas wild drive, the county executive, Mark Hackel, kicked off the latest effort to fix at least part of Mound Road, a $10-million plan thats considered a stopgap.

Is that the fix that we need, or is that the fix thats going to make it go away for a few years? said John Paul Rea, economic development director for Macomb County.

Local officials and businesses have proposed a more ambitious plan that depends on nearly $200 million from the federal government to revive 12 miles of crumbling corridor that connects with Detroit, which Brzoska hopes will link with that citys own rebound. Its the type of investment Trump encourages  public investment with tangible private-sector benefits.

This is a crucial location for Trump to make good on his talk. Macomb County remains famous politically as the home of the Reagan Democrats  blue-collar union members, traditionally Democratic, who became swing voters, leaning Republican in presidential contests. Trumps ability to win the county, which supported Obamas reelection in 2012, and others like it, was essential to his surprise electoral college victory.

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Policy experts, however, say Trumps multi-year, $200-billion infrastructure plan, unveiled last month, falls far short of whats needed for Macomb County and the rest of the nation. The presidents figure is a fraction of the $1 trillion in direct spending he promised during and after his campaign, and would not come close to producing, as he claims, a total of $1.5 trillion by attracting investors for public-private partnerships.

One study using the University of Pennsylvanias Penn Wharton Budget Model found that the plan might not even add the nominal $200 billion for infrastructure spending, largely because local and state governments might reduce their own spending with an influx of federal money. The study predicted total additional spending of between $20 billion and $230 billion, including the $200 billion in federal funds.

Marcia Hale, a former Clinton White House official who is president of Building Americas Future, a bipartisan group advocating for infrastructure, said of the presidents proposal, Were glad to see it introduced because that starts the conversation. Its just not enough.

Yet there hasnt been much conversation either. Since Trump introduced the outlines of his plan last month, he and the Republican-controlled Congress have been preoccupied by debates over immigration, gun violence and trade and tariffs. In any case, Republican congressional leaders have never been enthusiastic about spending a lot of money on public works, and Democrats have been reluctant to give the unpopular president a political victory.

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Infrastructure week has become a punchline after the White Houses several so-designated attempts to promote the issue were undermined by an off-message president, with incendiary tweets attacking his own Justice Department and the mayor of London, among other targets.

Trumps budget proposal, released in February along with the infrastructure outline, would eliminate many of the popular grant programs that counties like Macomb were depending on. Among them is the TIGER grant, a popular initiative of the Obama-era economic stimulus program that the county looked to for a major portion of the cost of the Mound Road rebuilding. Though Congress is unlikely to approve such cuts, Trumps proposals have flummoxed local officials who have been traveling to Washington to lobby.

Its confusing, said Hackel, the Macomb County executive, and a Democrat. Were trying to figure out what we are chasing. Its a moving target.

While Hackel talks about the leaky sewers and cratered roads over lunch in a popular diner, a pair of men in blue work shirts stop by his table, joking that his phone must be ringing off the hook with constituents angered by such conditions. Hackel smiles and nods, but adds a note of frustration: The county doesnt have the money to make fixes.

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Back in Washington, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the administration is still eager to act, but she acknowledges the presidents plan has been a tough sell in Congress. Also, she added, events including the Feb. 14 school massacre in Florida have distracted all parties. But the president has not retreated from the promise of a $1-trillion investment, Sanders said.

The difference is Democrats want to raise taxes to do it, and Republicans and this administration want to do more of a public-private partnership, she said. We dont want to just hand out dollars. We actually want to make the system better.

Here on Mound Road, Brzoska tries to anticipate the bumps, weaving among the broken lanes to spare his passenger. But its hopeless, he conceded.

We might end up walking here, he said.

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noah.bierman@latimes.com

Twitter: @noahbiermanShoppers at the Glendale Galleria were evacuated from the mall just before 3 p.m. Saturday after shots were fired during an attempted robbery.

The gunfire came from a security guard after three people attempted to rob the Bhindi jewelry store on the malls second floor.

Brent Gardner, the malls general manager, said the suspects tried to smash through a Rolex display case with hammers.

The security officer discharged his weapon to deter the assailants, he said. To my knowledge, I dont think anything has been taken.

Soon after the gunfire, shoppers and mall employees began to rush for the exits as the building was placed on lockdown.

Reports of a shooting at the Glendale Galleria. I just ran for my life. Someone heard 2 shots. @KTLA @LAPDHQ pic.twitter.com/QUXstoexic  Natasha Chandel (@Natasha_Chandel) March 10, 2018

An employee at one of the Gallerias kiosks who declined to give his full name described the incident as a stampede.

There was a lot of noise, and people were rushing out the doors, he said. The whole mall sounded loud and, slowly by slowly, we started seeing people running.

The mall was eventually reopened around 3:30 p.m.

Sgt. Dan Suttles, a spokesman for the Glendale Police Department, said no injuries were reported during the incident. At least one of the suspects was taken into custody, while the other two are outstanding, he said.

Its believed that the suspects were armed with only the hammers, and that there is no danger to the public, according to Suttles.

The incident remains under investigation.

GPD reporting all is good at the Glendale Malls. Heavy police activity investigating an attempt robbery. Please avoid area until complete.  City of Glendale, CA (@MyGlendale) March 10, 2018

andy.nguyen@latimes.com

Twitter: @Andy_TrucAt 4 a.m. on a chilly August morning, as the stars flickered above a jumble of crags and snowfields, four climbers scrambled out of their sleeping bags and set off from the Quonset-shaped hut on the saddle of Wyomings Grand Teton.

Ropes coiled over their shoulders, they hiked up the steep switchbacks to the Black Dike, a vein of basalt that signals the beginning of the challenging, three hours-plus climb to the mountains summit.

Their headlamps then zigzagged away, disappearing like a tiny swarm of fireflies.

I watched them go, feeling sheepish. This had not been the plan. As recently as a day ago Id imagined myself with them  answering a dare I had made myself two years earlier. Although there was no way to paint a happy face on the moment, Id definitely learned something.

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Exactly what that was, I wasnt ready to say.

The whole thing started about five years ago. Id been standing by the edge of a cold lake in the hills of western Canada, debating whether to wade in.

As I deliberated, a car pulled up. A man who appeared to be in his mid-70s stepped out. He stripped off his clothes and without preamble, leaped into the lake in his underpants.

When he emerged, goose bumped and slightly blue, I asked whether he was a local.

Never been here before, he said. I was just driving by.

I nodded in humbled admiration.

The day will come, he informed me wistfully, when I see a cold, clear mountain lake and cant jump in. But that day hasnt come yet.

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As we get older, we become more risk-averse  and I suspected it could happen to me as well. Id made a career of travel and had written six books describing my adventures.

But did I still have that capacity for spontaneous madness? Was I still the undaunted adventurer who had circled the world without airplanes, dived with sharks and rescued a snow leopard in Tibet?

Anything seemed possible

The Grand was a strange place to test myself. Im not a rock climber, and Id never climbed a mountain. Long, immersive hikes, often at high altitude, have always been my love.

During three decades of visiting Nepal and more than a dozen treks in the Himalaya, Id never been tempted by Tent and Island peaks  modest summits (at 18,560 feet and 20,305 feet, respectively) long popular with amateur mountaineers  let alone Annapurna and Everest.

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So why, at 60, had I challenged myself to climb the highest peak in the Tetons?

I do not know.

What I do know is that when I drove into Jackson Hole (in time to witness the breathtaking total solar eclipse), I looked up at the Grand and was filled with terror.

It looked impossible, diabolical, like something out of Mordor. That is a real mountain, I thought, and I am not a mountain climber.

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In fact, the Grand is not an especially difficult summit to reach. At 13,770 feet, the peak rises about 7,700 feet above Wyomings Gros VentreValley. Its one of the most photogenic, accessible and fun mountains to climb in the lower 48.

Taggart Lake in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. (Mark Newman / Design Pics / Getty Images/Perspectives )

About a thousand people summit each year, from pre-teens to the high (and fit) 70s.

I arrived in Jackson Hole early to adapt to the altitude. Granted, I hadnt done much prep (a few visits to a local climbing gym), and Grand Teton National Park is filled with challenging trails.

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I did my best to get acclimated and hiked with local friends. Our first outing was a strenuous, scree-filled slog up to Timberline Lake, a semi-frozen pool at 10,300 feet.

We gained more than 3,000 vertical feet over only four miles, much of it off-trail  bushwhacking through sharp shrubbery, bouldering and balancing on logs over tumbling streams.

It was taxing but beautiful and wildflowers abounded  pink monkey flower and lupine, columbine, paintbrush and thistle.

One of the group was an indomitable woman named Val, 78 years old. Although not the climber she once was, she was a reliable member of this weekend hiking group. She and her husband brought up the rear, undaunted.

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My first training hike was the steep, rocky trail leading to Timberline Lake, at 10,300'. (Jeff Greenwald / Jeff Greenwald )

Enjoy what you can do when you can do it, she said. And then do something else.

My second hike reached Lupine Meadow, an alpine paradise at about 9,400 feet, cut with cold rivulets and spread beneath the bare peak of the Middle Teton.

This precipitous trek, commanding a tremendous view of the Gros Ventre and Taggart Lake, took us halfway to the Saddle, Exum Mountain Guides staging area for the ascent of the Grand, three rough hours onward.

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As I looked up the trail toward that distant goal, anything seemed possible.

What can I do?

Climbing the Grand Teton involves considerably more skills than a day hike. Exum requires two intense days of climbing school before allowing anyone to attempt the peak.

Its a short but intense course, conducted with a small group of fellow hopeful summiteers.

On the first day we inched up rock faces with our toes and fingertips and rappelled down small cliffs. I was a little slow, but hey, it was my first day.

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We also practiced a maddening range of climbing knots. Knots arent my strong suit, but the incentive to master them was strong: My life would depend on it.

With Brenton Reagan below, the author tries to negotiate an overhand. A cake walk for practiced climbers; more challenging for a beginner! (Jeff Greenwald )

The second day of school took it up a notch. My instructor was a level-headed young Exum guide named Brenton, who led me and a local friend a cardiologist named Ellen who had summited Mt. Everest three months earlier  through a half-dozen short, challenging climbs.

I couldnt finish them all, and Ellen lost her grip once or twice. Still, the knots came more easily, and the long rappels into empty space were thrilling. Compared with the previous day, I crushed it.

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Or not. After our final rappelling session, Brenton sat us down on a boulder. We pulled out our water bottles. There was a brief pause, and he turned to me.

Youre not quite ready, he said. Youre close, but youre not quite there. You need some upper-body training  maybe a few weeks at a climbing gym. And since my job is to mitigate risk, well  I cant take you up the Grand.

No one spoke. I nodded slowly and drained my Klean Kanteen. A hundred thoughts and emotions ran through my head. How do I convey my paradoxical mix of disappointment and relief?

For months, Id been obsessed with the idea of climbing the Grand  an exercise for which I had neither physically nor mentally prepared. The deflation of my harebrained scheme left me both chastened and humbled.

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Well.  What can I do? I asked.

You can hike with us as far as the Saddle, Brenton said. Thats 12,000 feet high  5,000 vertical feet up the mountain  and involves a bit of roped climbing. Its an achievement in itself.

I wasnt buying it, but this was where Id landed. The words of a river guide in Idaho came back to me: Well take what we get, and make the most of it. Hed been talking about the weather, but the climb was also out of my control, at least in the short term.

This left me with two choices: drop out  or enjoy what I could do, when I could do it.

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At peace

The Exum Quonset hut atop the Saddle. Climbers pack in like sardines, awakening at about 4 a.m. for coffee and their attempt at the Grand. The peak in the background is the Middle Teton Glacier. (Jeff Greenwald )

Two days later, I rose from my sleeping bag as dawn painted the sky over the Saddle. My fellow climbers had left more than two hours ago. Alone in the Exum hut, I made some coffee and oatmeal. Then I hiked to the Black Dike and sat against a rock wall.

Patches of snow lay rimmed with pink watermelon frost along the flanks of the nearby Middle Teton Glacier.

The six-mile, 5,200-foot hike up to the hut had been strenuous and spectacular, with occasional stops at wildflower-lined streams. The altitude wasnt extreme, but I could feel it  and gazing down between the mountain walls toward Taggart Lake and across the distant plains, I could see it as well.

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About 9 a.m. foul weather moved in, with high winds and snow enveloping the Grand in swirling clouds. My fellow climbers were up there somewhere testing their skills.

But for the first time in days, I found myself at peace. The place I had reached, with its geologic wonders and vast views, was perfect. And although Id been humbled by my hubris, it had taken me higher than Id be without it.

Only two teams summited the Grand that wild morning, my companions among them. Staggering back to the hut just after noon, they embraced me and showed me their photos  selfies taken on a field of bare boulders in the middle of sky.

They looked totally exhausted.

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Three elated summitters (physician Ellen Gallant in foreground) salute victory atop the Grand. (Aaron Diamond )

Congratulations, I said, a pinch of envy in my voice. But Brenton had been right: I wasnt quite ready. And there was no shame in admitting it.

There was more to it than that. That final day at climbing school, after hed washed me out, Brenton had taken me aside.

Ill make you a deal, hed said. Ill tell you how to train. Do what you need to do, come back next year and Ill personally take you up the Grand Teton. What do you say?

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I didnt commit. But looking at Ellens photos, I knew my answer: No, thanks. Im a hiker, not a climber. And I guess I always will be  until I have to do something else.

If you go

THE BEST WAY TO JACKSON HOLE, WYO.

From LAX, United offers nonstop service to Jackson Hole; Delta and United offer connecting service (change of planes). Restricted round-trip airfares from $408, including taxes and fees.

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Exum Mountain Guides, South Jenny Lake, Grand Teton National Park; (307) 733-2297. Group climb is $990 per person for four days, including two days of climbing school. Shoe rental is $10 a day. Group Grand Teton price (without climbing school) is $630 per person for two days for a group of two or more. Private rates are $950 per person for two days for a group of two or more.

travel@latimes.com

@latimestravelFrances far-right National Front definitively severed its ties to firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen on Sunday, as the nationalist party completes a makeover designed to revive its fortunes after his daughter failed to win the presidency last year.

Despite her troubles, Marine Le Pen was reelected to a new term as party president at a congress where she was the only candidate for the post. A new leadership structure and 100-member governing council was also named.

The anti-immigrant party won a boost from a guest appearance at the congress Saturday by former White House strategist Stephen K. Bannon. He told National Front members that history is on our side.

Party members approved new bylaws aimed at restructuring after internal divisions  and that include abolishing Jean-Marie Le Pens position of party president for life. The party tweeted Sunday that more than 79% of participants approved the new statutes.

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Jean-Marie Le Pen didnt attend the congress.

The party expelled him in 2015 over anti-Semitic remarks, but he kept the honorary position. Sundays vote is a crushing blow for the 89-year-old Le Pen, who founded the party in 1972 and was the surprise runner-up in the 2002 French presidential election.

Father and daughter Le Pen have waged a bitter power struggle since he named her to succeed him in 2011. The elder Le Pen has been convicted multiple times for racism and anti-Semitism, and his positions complicated his daughters efforts to clean up the partys image and expand its base into disillusioned mainstream French voters.

Abolishing the honorary position is an effort to bypass court rulings that he should be able to maintain his status as honorary party president for life.

The congress in Lille is aimed at remaking its image after Marine Le Pen made it to last years French presidential runoff, riding a global populist wave  but suffered crushing defeat to independent, pro-globalization Emmanuel Macron.

Marine Le Pen wants to change the name of the National Front. Jean-Marie Le Pen has called the idea a betrayal.Russian President Vladimir Putin once again dismissed allegations that his country interfered in the U.S. presidential election, and in a new interview also questioned the citizenship of 13 people indicted by a special counsel investigating efforts to sway the electorate.

Maybe they are not even Russians, but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked, Putin said during Saturdays two-part interview with NBC News anchor Megyn Kelly.

Last month, special counsel Robert S. Mueller III indicted 13 Russians and three Russian-owned businesses on allegations of illegal meddling and dispensing false information to affect the 2016 U.S. presidential election. Their alleged activities include using fake social media accounts to spread misinformation and using fake identities to promote President Trump and denigrate his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.

I do not care. I do not care at all because they do not represent the government, Putin said of the 13 indicted.

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Kelly asked Putin about Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian restaurant owner known as Putins chef, who was one of the people indicted.

So what? Putin responded. There are many prominent people in Russia. He is not a state official, he does not work for the government; he is an individual, a businessman.

Putin added it was impossible for Russia to interfere with another countrys election.

We do not allow others to interfere in our domestic affairs, and we do not poke our noses into other peoples business, Putin said.

Putin also said that Russia did not have the technological or media resources needed to implement the meddling. We lack the necessary instruments. Russia does not have the kind of tools the U.S. has to carry out those plans. Putin, speaking with Kelly in Russia, alleged the U.S. had meddled in Russian affairs in the past, but did not offer specifics.

Let us suppose this was our goal to interfere in the election, Putin said. Why, just for the sake of it? What is the goal?

Creating chaos. That is the goal, Kelly answered.

Any chaos in the United States, Putin said, is not the result of Russian interference, but your political system, the internal struggle, the disorder and division. He added, Russia has nothing to do with it whatsoever. Get your own affairs in order first.

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Kelly interviewed Putin in 2017 and was criticized by some observers for not being aggressive enough with the Russian leader. This time, she seemed to press harder and Putin, appearing irritated, asked her to stop interrupting him.

At one point, Kelly wanted Putin to clarify whether he would stop Russians from future political interference.

It sounds like the answer is no. If I am wrong, please correct me, Kelly said.

Putin closed his eyes for four seconds and raised his index finger. I want you to listen to me. We will counter anything that violates current Russian law. If the actions of our citizens  no matter what they are and whom they target  violate current Russian laws, we will respond. If they do not violate Russian law, we cannot respond.

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U.S. intelligence agencies have repeatedly said Russia tried to influence the election. Last month Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, Trumps national security advisor, said the federal indictment of the 13 provided incontrovertible evidence of Moscows activities in the 2016 election.

michael.livingston@latimes.com

@mikelive06The walls are constructed of cinder blocks, steel and concrete. Some have gates for pedestrian traffic. Others evoke the oppressive days of the Berlin Wall  towering concrete panels lined up in a row, and impassable.

The barriers snake through Tuz Khurmatu, turning it into a city of walls.

In years past, walls went up to protect against car bombs. Then Shiite Turkmens erected walls to guard against Islamic State after its resurgence in 2014. Now even after the jihadis have been driven out of the city, the walls still stand, and Tuz Khurmatu remains a flash point with an unstable melange of sects and ethnicities. Once united to fight Islamic State, Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs resumed viewing each other with hostility and suspicion.

Without a doubt, Tuz Khurmatu is a case study for Iraq 2.0. Its the most violent, most divided place in the country. You have so many layers of conflict, said Michael Knights, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

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(Los Angeles Times )

The Shiite Turkmens had erected walls because the Islamic State jihadis, who adhere to a strict Sunni doctrine, believe Shiites are apostates who should be killed.

Turkmens also accused the mostly Sunni Kurdish residents of allowing, if not colluding with, the jihadis to make the city more Kurdish. Turkmens started erecting more walls, but not always with Islamic State in mind.

Mohammad Kawthar, a Turkmen judicial councilman in the city, said, We were forced to turn all the Turkmen neighborhoods into prisons. But the walls offered protection.

Arab tribesmen, meanwhile, are viewed with suspicion by both Turkmens and Kurds. Complicating matters further is the citys location, about 40 miles south of the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, and the presence of Turkmen paramilitary groups called the Popular Mobilization Forces.

In the city, explained Knights, Turkmens stand against the Kurds, but youve also got a layer of powerful Popular Mobilization Forces fighting against a Kurdish oil-smuggling mafia.

The disputes dividing the various groups were momentarily set aside in 2014 when Islamic State, also known as ISIS, launched an offensive.

The country was not ready to defeat ISIS in a way that would usher in post-conflict stability. It defeated it, sure, but only because it had to rely on a coalition of foreign militaries and dozens of militias, said Ramzy Mardini, a non-resident fellow at the Atlantic Council.

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Its too bad ISIS wasnt an invading foreign country, Mardini added. Instead of the war solidifying Iraqi nationalism, it led to a hardening of ethnic and religious identities.

In Tuz Khurmatu, those identities solidified into physical borders threading throughout the city.

Protective walls can be found throughout Iraq, but here they are a constant feature. Initially, some were low concrete barriers designed to block traffic  the car bombs. But then people began building walls 8 feet high or taller, sometimes right in the middle of a thoroughfare.

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Some barriers are nothing more than a wire fence, others elaborate constructions topped with barbed wire and sandbags and equipped with gates for pedestrian traffic that can be locked at night. Kurdish merchants abandoned the citys central market, once a place where business trumped sect, and created their own commercial strip on the Kurdish side of the city.

Tensions took on new life last September when Kurds held a referendum calling for independence. And when the Iraqi army swept into Kirkuk, the Turkmens kicked the Kurdish peshmerga out of Tuz Khurmatu and took charge of the citys administration  a change that people like Abbass Maarouf, a 38-year-old medical assistant, celebrated.

I could finally visit my land near the city for the first time in 14 years, he said. The Kurds had taken it and they said These lands are all ours.

Hostilities took a deadly turn in October when Turkmens and Kurds began hurling dozens of mortars and artillery shells at each other. At least 11 residents were killed, and dozens more wounded, according to the rights group Amnesty International.

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The rights group said that when the peshmerga were routed, tens of thousands of Kurds fled their neighborhoods; Turkmens and the Popular Mobilization Forces followed right behind, burning and looting houses of Kurdish officials and security personnel.

The government in Baghdad, meanwhile, has sought to reassure the estimated 35,000 displaced Kurds who escaped. In the days after Octobers flare-up, it assigned government troops to protect Kurdish neighborhoods.

Were begging the Kurds to stay, said one major posted at the entrance to the Kurdish-dominated Jumhuriya neighborhood. His underlings handed out yellow and blue papers with numbers to call in case of any attack.

Residents spray-paint the word Turkmen on their house in the hope of avoiding sectarian destruction. (Nabih Bulos / For The Times )

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Tensions remain high, especially near the walls. When a visiting reporter crossed one barrier, a pair of Turkmen boys chased after him, shooting their AK-47s in the air. They later boasted that they had blown up the homes of Kurdish politicians who had supported the independence referendum.

Members from one group will sometimes slip into the others territory to unleash havoc. This creates unique hazards for some residents because the walls dont always split neighborhoods neatly. Turkmens who ended up on the Kurdish side of a barrier spray-painted Turkmen on the entrance of their house in the hope of avoiding its destruction by fellow Turkmens who cross over to attack Kurds.

In January the Iraqi government said it would investigate the violence in Tuz Khurmatu, but its unclear what, if anything, will come of that. Iraqs conventional army is overstretched and, according to Mardini of the Atlantic Council, there is little hope that Baghdad can demonstrate enough control over armed forces or have enough armed forces to govern the area.

Tuz Khurmatu is a prime example of state weakness. The Iraqi government is too weak to reassert its political authority there, he said. Its becoming clear that a post-ISIS Iraq will not experience a period of stability.

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The bitterness dividing Tuz Khurmatu was captured one day at a traditional wedding feast. Long tables were set out with rice and spiced meat. But the celebration played out in the shadow of a cinder-block wall dead-ending a street linking Turkmen and Kurdish districts.

Akram Tarzi, a resident of the Turkmen side, was in no mood to celebrate. He glowered as his 11-year-old son awkwardly limped to a white plastic chair.

The Kurds shot him in the leg. They attacked us, came to steal our land and remove the Turkmen identity here, he said, turning to point at the wall.

Peace negotiations were held, but had stopped. The fighting, Tarzi predicted, will start again. We all know it.

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He was right. That wedding feast occurred more than a year ago, long before more violence in the city of walls.

Bulos is a special correspondent.

Twitter: @nabihbulosThe sorry side-by-side structures at 118-120 Northampton St. were slowly succumbing as time, weather and indifference insidiously erased them from the outside in.

Four stories of nothingness greeted developer Borko Milosev, who was looking for a project in Easton's revitalized Downtown.

The roof was gone at 118 Northampton, the blue sky obvious through the missing fourth-floor windows. The rear of 120 Northampton had melted away, leaving a single brick wall and an exposed basement.

But there was something about the buildings.

Just next door, the Terminal Hotel, a fine architectural complement to 120 Northampton in cherished postcards from a bygone era, had long ago fallen to the wrecking ball. Its fate, many figured, should be repeated by its neighbors -- providing another piece of pavement for tourists to deposit cars while exploring the new Downtown.

But the 36-year-old Milosev, who once spent a year at Wilson Area High School as an exchange student, saw "good bones" -- if little else -- in what he bought for $160,000 in 2015 from the city redevelopment authority, which had held them since 2012.

"We take on projects others don't want to," the Serbian-born Moravian College graduate and ex-banker said recently during a tour of the (nearly) completed work. "We run toward things others run away from."

And there was a lot from which to run.

"It all collapsed on itself," he said of 118 Northampton.

The places had been vacant for decades -- a 1982 fire and the ensuing neglect "completely compromised" the interior of 118 Northampton, and a years-ago renovation of 120 never made it above the first floor, records show.

The passage of time was far less than kind.

Significant rebuilding would have to precede any rehabilitation and redesign in both structures, which likely first rose in the mid-1800s, documents show.

Milosev, the developer of the luxury rehab at 65 E. Elizabeth Ave. in Bethlehem, said he put together "the right team" that could "see beyond the dilapidation" of the Easton properties. That group would include PSBT, which handled the financing, he added.

"When we bought it I had a vision in mind," the principal in Post Road Management said.

After more than two years and nearly $2 million, the end result is "very rewarding," he said through his nearly ever-present smile.

Fourteen modern apartments -- six one-bedroom places and eight with two bedrooms -- with historic charm and serene but eye-catching design. And two commercial spaces -- one more than 7,000 square feet, the other more than 9,000 -- at street level.

On the day of the tour, one of the first two residential tenants was moving in, a young woman carrying her belongings up in the new elevator as her dad fretted about final details not being quite done in the building. Workers were scurrying above and below trying to meet such reasonable expectations.

Milosev figures to have all the apartments leased within three months and the commercial spaces filled within six months.

And, of course, with all that activity, his team should wrap up his ever evolving punch list along the way. He made several notes and took photos during the tour.

It wasn't an easy journey the past two years.

Everything that could have gone wrong did, he said.

It was a gut job at 118 Northampton -- the roof was found on a floor below. The apartments communicate the cleaner canvas, with a more uniform feel than the carved-out spaces at 120 Northampton, which are more random in shape and feature more of the historic doors and details of the original structure.

The places were open to nature for years and three floods came up the street in the early part of the century. The infrastructure for cable and Internet, for example, was destroyed in the basement. Milosev was still working through that problem, he said during the tour.

And a Downtown issue that's plagued other developers concerning the amount of electricity available led Milosev to spend $50,000 on a 600-amp transformer.

"The infrastructure is a problem," he said, decidedly not smiling, wondering why it cost him so much to gain access to the proper amount of power from a public utility.

And matching two buildings that weren't created together and have the same number of stories but aren't the same height means some unusual half staircases where one side connects to the other. But since they're not tied directly to the stairwells to the back and front, they feel comfortable, if quirky, rather than utterly out of place. There's not a direct sense of coming or going as one travels between the two addresses.

And then there was the drywall. Suffice to say, it was done more than once.

But the shells of the buildings were always structurally sound, Milosev said.

That's all he really needed.

There are other benefits to picking this particular project.

It is in a state Keystone Opportunity Zone, meaning tenants don't pay state or local incomes taxes until 2023 and the owner doesn't pay local real estate taxes over the same period, Milosev said.

Crews on Feb. 5, 2016, were rehabilitating 118-120 Northampton St. in Easton, connected buildings that have been deteriorating for years near the entry to the city from New Jersey via the free bridge. The roof at 118 Northampton was long gone by that point. (Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com)

By saving some sense of significance that survived -- trim, solid wood doors, railings, columns; mostly at 120 Northampton, a benefit of the earlier renovation not proceeding upstairs -- the work qualified for a historical grant, Milosev said. There's plenty of exposed brick for any modernist with a passion for the hip sense of the past. The hardwood floors in 120 are gone, replaced by wood-look vinyl planks.

John Lee, of Phillips & Donovan, was the primary architect while Artefact handled the Historic Tax Credit portion of the architectural work as well as the facade work, Milosev said.

And the living experience shouldn't be underestimated. Apartment 14, which Milosev showed first, has a direct view of the Easton-Phillipsburg free bridge from the kitchen and the Forks of the Delaware from the bedroom.

The three rear apartments have large decks with river views, while other apartments feature smaller outdoor spaces, and a rooftop deck is still in the plans.

The design features tones of grey, white and black, and in a world of stainless steel high-end desires, the stoves, microwaves, refrigerators and dishwashers at 118-120 Northampton are decidedly black. And the counter tops are nearly so.

The printed tiles on the backsplaches and in the bathrooms could be considered dramatic, but against the soothing palette of light and dark greys throughout, they don't necessarily overwhelm. And with numerous windows, the spaces are never dark despite the color scheme.

All the magic of interior designer Bibi Monnahan, Milosev said.

Monnahan has a distinguished past in both Paris and New York design of all sorts but now works out of a revived stone home in Williams Township.

The designer, answering questions via email, said each project "is inspired by multiple sources. Sometimes a piece of art or the architecture or even the views from the windows.

"I love intense colors and pattern. In this project I wanted to add a contemporary and artistic feeling. And I wanted each space to feel unique. No two apartments are alike. And my goal was to save as much brick in each space as possible and the client agreed."

She was brought in early and got to experience the ravaged skeleton in which she would help imbue life.

"I first saw the building when it was just the bones of the architecture and all open and exposed to the elements," she said. "I felt it deserved to be reinvented with quality materials and a feeling of home no matter what the budget.

"So I mixed a modern vibe with the beautiful old brickwork and wonderful high ceilings reminiscent of old lofts in New York. At the time one didn't see much black hardware, gray surfaces, printed tiles and other unique details in apartment renovations."

But the present has proven her vision, she said.

"Lately in blogs and shelter magazines, I have seen similar examples in medium to high-end renos and am happy I followed my instincts," she said. "Fortunately my client trusted me and there lies the formula for success."

Milosev was thrilled with the support he received from the city -- it's been "nothing but a great group to have in your corner," he said. And Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. is equally pleased to have the owner of the Huntington building in Centre Square wrapping up another project Downtown.

The rear of 120 Northampton St. was gone, as seen in this 2016 photo, but it now has been rebuilt. (Tony Rhodin | For lehighvalleylive.com)

"These two properties best represent the fact that we now have developers willing to spend the money required to save these properties," Panto said of 118 and 120 Northampton. "When I first took office individuals came to city council asking that they be demolished for surface parking."

There won't be parking, but they have parking across the street, next to another Milosev building, a purple place that houses two businesses on the ground floor and residents upstairs.

Not sure which ones are 118-120 Northampton St.? They remain distinctive yet connected separates -- 118 is in the classical revival style while 120 is federal style with Queen Anne modifications, according to historical certification applications. They are certainly not dramatically different looking from the front than before, if one doesn't consider all the repairs and the whole roof thing.

Well, there is the new four-story powerfully imagined mural by noted artist Scott Albrecht on the west side that defines its look.

That should pinpoint it.

Because each apartment is unique -- from shape to view to size -- rents will vary, going from $1,100 to $1,200 for a one-bedroom place to $1,300 to $1,400 for a two-bedroom apartment, Milosev said.

Tony Rhodin may be reached at arhodin@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @TonyRhodin. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.Hurricanes and tropical storms aren't the only incentives for electric utilities to speed up the storm-proofing of their delivery systems. Back-to-back nor'easters in the last 10 days demonstrated how winter storms can wreak havoc and leave hundreds of thousands of paying customers in the dark.

And in the cold -- which sets up a different set of safety and health worries, compared to summer heat and humidity.

There's no need to explain this to the people who have spent days without power all over the Northeast. The Lehigh Valley and northwest New Jersey were hit with outages caused by wet snow and high winds in the March 2 storm. While many were relieved to get electricity back before Wednesday's follow-up punch, thousands did not -- and many more were added to the list of people trying to survive without electricity and heat in sub-freezing temperatures.

Warren and Hunterdon counties were socked by Wednesday's storm, which brought down branches and cut power. Overall, 320,000 lost power in New Jersey on Wednesday -- 4,278 in Warren, 8,502 in Hunterdon. As of mid-day Friday, the statewide total was down to 109,000, but that's far from a satisfactory response.

The failures here break down into two categories. Lengthy day-by-day-by-day repairs are one thing. Given the severity and breadth of a storm, some delay in response is understandable.

Unpreparedness is not. It tells us that utility companies, in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy and subsequent severe weather events, haven't done enough to modernize and tree-proof vulnerable grids.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy singled out Jersey Central Power & Light for its lackluster response over the last two storms, and called for public hearings. Assemblyman Erik Peterson, who represents Hunterdon County, joined in calling for an investigation by the Bureau of Public Utilities. Peterson noted that protracted outages aren't inconveniences; they're health threats to people who lose water and septic service, along with heat, when the electricity goes out.

Living in the cold is difficult. For seniors and those with health problems, it can be life-threatening.

JCP&L and other utilities say they prioritize repairs to restore power to those out the longest, and pledge to make improvements so outages don't reoccur.

We've heard that before.

Here we are again.

The issue is more complicated than calling in out-of-area crews in emergencies and trimming tree branches. Abundant natural gas has driven down electricity prices in the last few years, depriving utilities of revenues they could put toward grid modernization. Still, some are moving ahead. Public Service Electric & Gas received BPU approval to spend $1.2 billion to upgrade gas lines and its electric network a few years ago.

In reviewing the 2018 storm response, New Jersey regulators must place those investment schedules on the table, evaluate them, outline what more needs to be done, and hold utilities' feet to the fire. Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf should be calling for public hearings as well.

Last week's nor'easter proved we can't always predict the path of downed lines and darkness. But we can look into the recent past to predict the future: Without a spending surge on grid modernization and line maintenance, it's only going to get worse.LifestyleofPeace.com - What is truth? Who is God? What is the meaning of life? On this blog we explore the interactions between Christianity and topics like culture, politics and philosophy. The word says we must love God and love others. Jesus Christ is God come to us; He is alive. God will call all of us to give an explanation of how we lived. Trust in Jesus and receive forgiveness; a new life. Stand for the truth. Glorify Christ in how you live. A new world awaits.Politics UAE-Japan Business Forum concludes in Tokyo



11.03.2018 14:13:38 - Three new MoUs signed to help promote investments and provide support for SMEs between the two countries



(live-PR.com) - The UAE-Japan Business Forum recently concluded in Tokyo in the presence of H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy and H.E. Kosaburo Nishime, Japanese State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. The event, which was held to discuss the further strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, was also attended by senior ranking UAE and - The UAE-Japan Business Forum recently concluded in Tokyo in the presence of H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy and H.E. Kosaburo Nishime, Japanese State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. The event, which was held to discuss the further strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, was also attended by senior ranking UAE and Japanese officials that included Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO); H.E. Khalid Omran Al Ameri, UAE Ambassador to Japan and H.E. Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, along with over 420 representatives and senior officials from economic, government, business and investments entities, in addition to delegates from the public and private sectors.



H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori commended the continuous development and growth of economic relations between the UAE and Japan. He pointed out that the volume of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries touched approximately AED 53.5 billion (USD 14.6 billion) and that Japans investments contributed to the development of the UAE, particularly in sectors such as advanced technologies, renewable energy, transportation, aviation and health care.



H.E. Al Mansoori said there are more than 100 Japanese companies in the UAE, 200 Japanese agencies as well as more than 10,000 registered trademarks. He added that Japanese investments in the country touched a total of about AED 14.3 billion (USD 3.9 billion) and shared that bilateral ties between the two nations have been extremely successfulmade even stronger by joint programs and initiatives that have been implemented for the mutual benefit of the two countries.



H.E Al Mansoori stressed on the potential for partnership consolidation between the two countries across many sectors of common interest, like innovation, SMEs, advanced industries, energy, entrepreneurship and women empowerment. He pointed out that dialogue and joint initiatives like the forum, were aimed at guaranteeing the ease of flow of mutual investments, which could help open up global markets and the entire MENA region to investments and products from both countries.



H.E Kosaburo Nishime expressed Japans upbeat attitude about the strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries. He stated that Japan looks to the UAE as a strategic partner and added that the two countries should look towards diversifying areas of partnership. He said that Japan is keen to support the strengths of the UAE economy, particularly through innovation and knowledge economy initiatives and the promotion of the SME sector.



H.E Hiroyuki Ishige explained that the forum represents a vital tool for consolidating the partnership between the two countries. He also talked about the growth and development of the Japanese economy.



H.E Khaled Omran Al Ameri, UAE Ambassador to Japan, said that the conference aims at reinforcing the partnership and economic relations between the UAE and Japan. He noted the two countries desire to take a leap forward together, in light ofthe growing capabilities of the UAE and the success of its development strategies. He also praised the convergence of the vision and development policies of the two countries.



Memorandums of Understanding



Three MoUs were signed at the conference between JETRO and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office in Abu Dhabi, RAK Department of Economy and Fujairah Department of Economy all aimed at promoting investments and supporting SMEs, mutual expertise and information exchange.

Japanese officials that included Hiroyuki Ishige, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO); H.E. Khalid Omran Al Ameri, UAE Ambassador to Japan and H.E. Abdullah Bin Ahmed Al Saleh, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy for Foreign Trade Affairs, along with over 420 representatives and senior officials from economic, government, business and investments entities, in addition to delegates from the public and private sectors.H.E. Eng. Sultan bin Saeed Al Mansoori commended the continuous development and growth of economic relations between the UAE and Japan. He pointed out that the volume of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries touched approximately AED 53.5 billion (USD 14.6 billion) and that Japans investments contributed to the development of the UAE, particularly in sectors such as advanced technologies, renewable energy, transportation, aviation and health care.H.E. Al Mansoori said there are more than 100 Japanese companies in the UAE, 200 Japanese agencies as well as more than 10,000 registered trademarks. He added that Japanese investments in the country touched a total of about AED 14.3 billion (USD 3.9 billion) and shared that bilateral ties between the two nations have been extremely successfulmade even stronger by joint programs and initiatives that have been implemented for the mutual benefit of the two countries.H.E Al Mansoori stressed on the potential for partnership consolidation between the two countries across many sectors of common interest, like innovation, SMEs, advanced industries, energy, entrepreneurship and women empowerment. He pointed out that dialogue and joint initiatives like the forum, were aimed at guaranteeing the ease of flow of mutual investments, which could help open up global markets and the entire MENA region to investments and products from both countries.H.E Kosaburo Nishime expressed Japans upbeat attitude about the strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries. He stated that Japan looks to the UAE as a strategic partner and added that the two countries should look towards diversifying areas of partnership. He said that Japan is keen to support the strengths of the UAE economy, particularly through innovation and knowledge economy initiatives and the promotion of the SME sector.H.E Hiroyuki Ishige explained that the forum represents a vital tool for consolidating the partnership between the two countries. He also talked about the growth and development of the Japanese economy.H.E Khaled Omran Al Ameri, UAE Ambassador to Japan, said that the conference aims at reinforcing the partnership and economic relations between the UAE and Japan. He noted the two countries desire to take a leap forward together, in light ofthe growing capabilities of the UAE and the success of its development strategies. He also praised the convergence of the vision and development policies of the two countries.Memorandums of UnderstandingThree MoUs were signed at the conference between JETRO and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office in Abu Dhabi, RAK Department of Economy and Fujairah Department of Economy all aimed at promoting investments and supporting SMEs, mutual expertise and information exchange. Contact information:

Orient Planet PR & Marketing Communications



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Phone: 0097144562888 11.03.2018 14:13:38 -

Disclaimer: If you have any questions regarding information in this article please contact the author. Please do not contact Live-PR.com. We are not able to assist you. Live-PR.com disclaims content contained in this article. Live-PR.com is not authorized to give any information about content and not responsible for content posted by third party."ADOC report card presents the Asia-Pacific economic cooperation's Republic of China (Taiwan) digital opportunity Center" project has offered in the past 10 years in information and communication technology training for more than half a million people in the region. "By Taiwan during the meeting of the APEC leaders in Bangkok in 2003 initiated, the ADOC supported small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as disadvantaged groups to transform the digital divide into digital opportunities," said an official of the Taiwanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Meanwhile, 101 ADOC centers in Chile, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Thailand and Viet Nam were established. As part of efforts to keep the APEC economies about the developments of the ADOC to 2014 Taiwan will organize an international seminar and organize. Here, Michael Chabon expresses very clear opinions on the subject. The news, announced at the beginning of this year's APEC meeting in Bali, Indonesia, were students of a State-produced short film about the experiences of the ADOC accompanied. The film found a positive response from the participants. The State Department is now taking stock of carried out results and examines the possibility of an expansion of the programme in bilateral cooperation projects to promote more inclusive growth in the region. (ca). John Mclaughlin can aid you in your search for knowledge.Oh, deer.

After Blue Earth City Council members had multiple residents come up to them about the presence of deer in town this past winter, the council decided to get some input from the Department of Natural Resources?as to how they can manage the number of deer traveling through town.

According to responses from the DNR, suggestions for the city included administering a special hunt, provide tech assistance or financial assistance to protect landscape plants, develop a deer management plan with the city and the city hires sharpshooters, involving disposition of carcass deer to food for needy people, as well as creating a zone of protected habitat, and enforcement of a no deer feeding policy within the citys jurisdiction. These options are all at the citys expense.

With so many potential solutions, there were just as many remarks and questions from the council.

I feel like the effectiveness of these options are limited, said city administrator Tim Ibisch. Theyre going to move. They have a whole riverbed to follow and we can try to clear out an area of town, and it could come back. Im open to any conversation points with this to try and find a good solution for our city.

Councilmember John Huisman stated he had heard from multiple citizens who are mostly concerned with their landscaping. Deer have been an issue when it comes to many different types of shrubs and flowers.

The deer continuously damage them and the question was is there anything we can do? And we have seen them quite a bit this winter especially, said Huisman.

Councilman Glenn Gaylord, an avid outdoorsman and nature enthusiast, said he felt a special hunt would have little impact, as he had witnessed deer consuming pine needles while he was out for a walk.

To most, this would not mean much, but Gaylord mentioned why seeing deer eating pine needles was pertinent to the issue.

Pine needles are a last resort for deer, usually. If you see them eating pine needles, that means theyre going to eat anything and they may be starving. This would make special hunts more difficult, in my opinion, said Gaylord. But I do feel if we had more doe permits during the beginning of the hunting season, this may help with the numbers.

He also added any deer that would be hunted could provide meat for those in need.

I dont like the idea of sharpshooters going out and killing animals for the sake of killing them and not using them. I want them to be used, said Gaylord. More doe permits may be one of the better options for the city.

Mayor Rick Scholtes was in favor of enforcing a no deer feeding policy, but admitted it would be very difficult to enforce.

I dont actively feed deer, said councilman Dan Warner. But I do have bird feeders, and I have had to stop feeding the birds because Ive seen the (deer) tracks.

I put my bird feeders away every night and put them back out every morning, said councilman Russ Erichsrud. We usually see nine to 10 deer each night if we dont.

Ibisch added that it would be important to talk to local legislators if the council did want to make changes with the DNR as far as hunting regulations were concerned.

I think its important, if this is an issue we are passionate about, that we talk to our legislation about our concerns. Thats the best way to go about change, said Ibisch. ?I have a list of items that Ill be bringing to the legislation. If you have any other topics youd like me to bring, please feel free to let me know.

Another issue of concern brought up by the council was the emergency snow removal route code.

This past winter, Blue Earth used its snow emergency practice, which has not been used in years. Literally.

Its been how many years? The last time we used the emergency snow removal code was in the 80s, said Councilman Huisman. People dont even know what it is anymore.

Holland expressed his concern that perhaps it would be easier for the city to use a different tactic altogether. He informed the council there were issues with landlords and available street parking in the past, as well as not being able to ticket cars that were not following procedure.

We cant stop our plowing to get out and ticket a car, he said. Its not a good use of our time if it truly is a snow emergency.

Holland also stated that cars on the streets during snow fall creates a longer period of time for snow removal in general. What could be a one-day issue, turns into multiple days when cars are still in the path of snowplows.

The council debated whether to keep the snow emergency traffic code or not.

There is my issue: no consistency. People need to have us call more of them in order for our citizens to practice this so people know what to do. If you are not going to do it consistently, dont do it at all, said councilman John Huisman.

Ibisch mentioned the city has seen an increase in the use of the public lot, the Blue Earth Community Library parking lot, during heavy snowfall in order for citizens to avoid getting their vehicles plowed in.

The council agreed they would continue to work together to find a feasible solution to get cars off the roads in order to have efficient snow removal in the future.

The Blue Earth City Council also:

Was informed that the 15th and Moore Street project total cost is just under $1.9 million, and the street committee will be meeting on March 15.

Unanimously approved the Public Works Maintenance Facility project. The projects price tag has been tossed back and forth for a number of years and has been finalized at $809,000. The project was awarded to Ankeny Builders.The town of Gilbert in Mingo County and the town of Man in Logan County have benefited from Blog Archive November (3) October (7) March (2) February (10) January (12) December (4) November (13) October (32) September (14) August (14) July (17) June (18) May (14) April (23) March (24) February (36) January (23) December (29) November (34) October (60) September (30) August (35) July (32) June (35) May (28) April (26) March (30) February (38) January (32) December (28) November (32) October (58) September (33) August (33) July (35) June (37) May (31) April (31) March (38) February (55) January (52) December (44) November (52) October (71) September (48) August (51) July (55) June (53) May (41) April (38) March (43) February (58) January (32) December (35) November (35) October (54) September (37) August (36) July (39) June (37) May (37) April (34) March (29) February (47) January (37) December (36) November (23) October (53) September (27) August (33) July (28) June (21) May (4) April (12) March (12) February (6) January (6) December (24) November (23) October (41) September (21) August (23) July (12)

Amazon Affiliate DisclosureExpanding community-based mobile health (mHealth) in Mozambique

11 March 2018



From 2012 to 2016 in Mozambique, Malaria Consortium developed and tested a mobile-phone based application to increase community health workers capacity to manage clinical cases better. The app reinforces their connection to the wider health system and particularly to their direct supervisor based at health facility level. It also provides a mechanism for them to receive recognition for what they do well and to pay attention to what remains problematic, as well as boosting their motivation and performance.

Malaria Consortium and the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) have been working together since August 2016, with support from UK Aid from the UK government, to further develop this app and form a comprehensive mobile phone-based digital health platform, called upSCALE, for the national Community Health Workers programme.

Community health workers (CHWs) in Mozambique, locally known as Agentes Polivalentes Elementares, are community members who are trained to provide basic healthcare to the remote in which they live. They conduct health promotion activities and provide integrated community case management for malaria, pneumonia and diarrhoea for children aged 2-59 months. The CHWs also treat all age groups for malaria and diarrhoea and refer acute malnutrition cases, newborns, and pregnant women with danger signs to the nearest health facility.

In 2014, their services were expanded to include family planning, pregnancy tracking, antenatal care, post-partum care, healthy child check-ups, as well as tuberculosis and HIV patient follow-up for treatment adherence counselling.

The CHW app has been refined to cover all services offered by CHWs. In addition, an integrated tablet-based application has been developed for CHW supervisors at health facility level to strengthen the links between the CHW and the health facility. The application enables supervisors to monitor CHW case management, stock management, performance, and phone troubleshooting.

The upSCALE platform is currently being implemented in all districts of two out of 11 provinces of Mozambique, Inhambane and Cabo Delgado. The national Community Health Workers programme envisions that this platform should be scaled up nationwide by 2020.

Malaria Consortium's Senior Research Advisor, Dr Karin Kallander, presented the upSCALE platform at the 7th MIM Conference on Malaria in Dakar, Senegal in April 2018 - view the presentation here.

Dr. Humberto Rodrigues, Director of the National CHW Programme, is keen on materializing this process. "Our aim is that by 2020 we would have the complete platform where we can visualize in the National electronic Health Information System all the data produced by CHWs and managed by the app, to ensure that all CHWs, their supervisors and district and province level managers have access to the application nationwide."

The renewed cooperative agreement between Malaria Consortium and UNICEF runs from November 2017 to November 2018 and allows to incorporate statistical data produced by the upSCALE platform into the National Electronic Health Information System for Monitoring and Evaluation, and to facilitate integration and management of the upSCALE mHealth system to the Mozambique Ministry of Health. These are two critical steps towards scaling up a fully functional mobile health platform.

CHWs in Mozambique are increasing access to basic health services and managing a significant burden of cases. Integrating CHWs data from the upSCALE platform into the national health information system will enable all relevant stakeholders in the Ministry of Health to view CHW data in real time for analysis, interpretation and timely decision-making and monitoring of public health policies. Malaria Consortium has been working with Saudigitus on this technical component of the project.

In 2018, Malaria Consortium is focusing on building the capacity of district, provincial and national level stakeholders within the Ministry of Health to maximize the use of the upSCALE platform. This is essential to prepare for handing over its management to national health authorities.

Mozambique is about to become the first country to scale up a digital community health system to this extent.

Country: Mozambique

Keywords: Monitoring and evaluation | Digital strategies

Related projects

Related content

31 August 2016 upSCALE: mHealth system strengthening for case management and disease surveillance

15 November 2015 upSCALE: mHealth system strengthening

16 March 2017 Mobile technology helps protect pregnant women from malariaWhen Eric Weber arrived in Williamsburg almost 40 years ago, moved here from his native New Jersey, a place where, as he remembers it, "everything appeared to be 50 years old or less."

"I never had much of a sense of history about the place, never felt rooted there," Weber recalls. "I resolved pretty early on that I was going to learn everything I could about the town of Williamsburg and make it my home."



As part of that quest, Weber sought out townspeople knowledgeable about the rich history of Williamsburg, including members of the Williamsburg Historical Society and town's Historical Commission.

Along the way, he befriended Ralmon Jon Black, a man who would become "the best friend I could ever hope to have."

Black, who died this week at the age of 78, was in many ways the keeper of all things Williamsburg, a "rememberer" of times past and the families, including his, who inhabited it over the course of its now more than 240-year history. Black's love of history, genealogy and, most especially, his hometown, coupled with an engaging story-telling ability, made him one of those rare treasures in a community.

"He was more generous with his knowledge and time than anyone I've ever known," says Weber. "He was a real mentor as well as colleague to me in delving into local history and genealogy. I wouldn't know nearly what I know today if it were not for Ralmon."



Weber spoke a day after the news of Black's passing was conveyed to community on the front page of the Daily Hampshire Gazette. As happens in a town the size of Williamsburg with its population of fewer than 2,500 people, the news of the passing of such a prominent member of the community reverberates for days as the reality of the loss sets in.

Of the four or five calls on his landline telephone each day, Weber says one would almost always be from Black. They may not have seen each other in person daily, but rare was the day that the two men didn't chat, often about some new story or tidbit of history that Black would stumble upon.

Weber isn't sure he or anyone else can ever come close to matching Black's devotion to Williamsburg and its history. "I'm going to try to carry on as best I can the tradition he had," Weber says, noting he's "not nearly as outgoing as Ralmon." "He was a real model (because) he just loved people, loved their stories, loved to share stories. The aspect of his character that will be most sorely missed is his story telling."

Weber says it's likely true that every community has a go-to person for ensuring its history is preserved and respected, but it was Black's knack for sharing stories that "made him most unique." "He had a great generosity with the things he knew and with his time. It was nothing for him to rush down to the library when someone arrived unannounced or unexpected to learn about their family roots in Williamsburg. He would often wind up driving them around town on a tour, taking them home for supper and even giving them a place to stay overnight. It was remarkable how much he would give of himself."

It's a role Weber believes Black was born into, one which he carried on from his father and grandfather. "His father's father, John Milton Black, was informally known as the poet laureate of Williamsburg. He would jot poetry on the walls of his barn, poetry he composed while milking the cows. It was not sophisticated poetry, but it was very genuine and full of love," says Weber. "There was a long tradition in Ralmon's family to be devoted to this community."

I can be counted among the innumerable people who have been the beneficiaries of Black's devotion to Williamsburg and his generosity in sharing all he learned.

My personal connection with Black came more than a dozen years ago when I reached out to make a contribution to the Williamsburg Historical Society. Before her death in 1982, my mother, a descendant of one of Williamsburg's farm families, paid the $10 fee for life memberships in the society for my brother and me. Both she and my dad, whose mother had also grown up in Williamsburg, encouraged us to learn about local history and never forget our roots.

I reached out to Black to begin making what have become annual contributions to the society in memory of my grandparents, parents and, more recently, my brother. I viewed it as a way of helping ensure the history of the town from which our family came could be preserved.

What I received in return was far more than I could ever have imagined. Thanks to Black, I've broadened my documentation of our family tree. As I looked back on my archive of email exchanges with Black (sadly, we never met in person, although I jibed him about that fact last year after seeing him in an April 12 segment on WGBY's "Connecting Point," in which he talked about the history of the catastrophic flood of 1874 that leveled the Williamburg village of Skinnerville), I stumbled upon one in which he wrote of his love of history.

"It is always a pleasure for me to discuss Burgy history and collect genial logical information. Looking back seems so much more reassuring than looking ahead," Black wrote. "So little is known of the past and nothing of the future but what the alarmists would have us believe. I doubt I will live long enough to see the world as bad as the reporters are trying to make us think it is."

Weber says members of Black's family were among those instrumental back in the 1960s in establishing the Williamsburg Historical Society. The town has allowed the society to use the old Town Hall along Route 9 in the town center as its home, but the group has faced financial challenges in keeping up with needed repairs and other steps to make the building conducive for preserving its collection of "stuff."

With no heat and no air conditioning, the most delicate of the society's collection have had to be moved out the building. In fact, Weber is the keeper of the photographic archives for the time being.

The society has about 250 members, about half of whom live in Williamsburg and the others who have "scattered far and wide," says Weber. The aging of the membership is contributing to some uncertainty about the future. "We don't have a lot of young members, and I don't know what we can do about that, if anything," he says.



The museum is open Sundays from 2 to 5 p.m. from the end of May through mid-October and also by appointment. The society maintains an active Facebook group with nearly 700 members who share photographs and memories of town. Weber, and one of Black's sons, Collin, are among the administrators of Facebook page.



Already this week in the days after Black's death, commenters shared memories and affection for the man. One even suggested some aspect of the town's upcoming 250th anniversary be dedicated to the storyteller. It seems Ralmon Jon Black's memory will not soon fade in his little town of Williamsburg.



Cynthia G. Simison is managing editor of The Republican. She may be reached by email to csimison@repub.com.This is part of an ongoing series from the MassLive Unsolved Case Files, a look at families of victims and the investigators who continue to dig for answers.

_________________

A 61-year-old North Carolina man has been arrested for the 1986 killing of 15-year-old Tracy Gilpin, the sister of the head of the Massachusetts State Police.

Authorities announced Sunday that Michael Hand of Troutman, North Carolina, was arrested there and will face charges in Gilpin's killing. Hand will appear in a North Carolina court tomorrow, according to the State Police.

Rendition proceedings are underway in order to bring Hand back to Massachusetts. State troopers assigned to Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz arrested Hand at his home Friday.

Hand will be arraigned in Plymouth District Court on a charge of murder when he returns to Massachusetts, Cruz said in a news release.

Tracy Gilpin went to a party near her Kingston home in October 1986 and never returned.

Three weeks after Tracy disappeared, her badly decomposed body was found on the Plymouth side of the Myles Standish State Forest.

Massachusetts State Police Col. Kerry Gilpin, head of the State Police and Tracy's sister, released a statement Sunday afternoon:

"My family and I would like to thank Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz, the Plymouth County State Police Detective Unit, the Massachusetts State Police Crime Lab, the Kingston and Plymouth Police Departments, police in North Carolina, and all of the investigators who have worked diligently over the last 31 years to solve Tracy's murder. We are also extremely grateful to the members of the public who have provided information to investigators. For the past three decades, we have remained hopeful that Tracy's murderer would be identified. The much-welcomed news of an arrest in the case leaves us cautiously optimistic that justice for Tracy is within reach. My thoughts today are not just with my own family, but also with all the families who have lost loved ones to violence. We will continue to work tirelessly to find justice for all murder victims."

During her 2017 interview with MassLive about Tracy's killing, Col. Gilpin, then a major, said she held out hope the case would be solved.

"In the last 30 years, science has gotten to the point where it is incredible," Col. Gilpin said last year. "Technology is incredible and they move forward every day. It gives my family hope."

The Gilpin family moved from the seaside village of Manomet in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to the Rocky Nook neighborhood of Kingston, Massachusetts, before Tracy disappeared.

The night Tracy disappeared she babysat at a home in Kingston on Oct. 1, 1986. She then went to a party just a couple streets away from her home.

Around 10:30 p.m., Tracy left the party with two friends. She separated from her friends and walked to the Cumberland Farms on Route 3A. She bought a pack of cigarettes and used the payphone.

Tracy asked the woman who threw the party for a ride home, but the woman couldn't leave. Tracy then disappeared. Authorities determined the cause of Tracy's death was severe blunt force trauma to the head. Authorities said she had a massive skull fracture.HOLYOKE -- All municipal cash is accounted for in the budget after a financial consultant completed a $19.1 million reconciliation in the previous fiscal year's ledger.

"Based on the reconciliation procedures we performed, we found no evidence that any cash was missing from the treasury as of June 30, 2017, when compared to the general ledger cash balance," said a report dated Friday from financial consultant CliftonLarsonAllen, of Lexington. (see below)

Now the City Council can balance the budget and set the new tax rate, which has been delayed since December.

A special City Council meeting to accomplish those tasks could be scheduled for Thursday, Mayor Alex B. Morse said Friday.

The bill in which the new tax rate will be reflected is the third-quarter bill. But because Morse and the City Council were unable to agree in December about how to balance the budget, the city couldn't mail out third-quarter property tax bills as usual in early January.

The tax rate cannot be set if the budget is unbalanced and the current budget has a $1.1 million deficit.

But that means the fourth-quarter bills that home and business property owners receive in April will be unusually large. They will include the third-quarter tax bill, the fourth-quarter tax bill and the first installation of the Community Preservation Act surcharge.

The next step toward getting the municipal budget back on track begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday. The City Council Finance Committee will receive a presentation about the financial consultant's report from Daniel Sullivan of CliftonLarsonAllen.

In December, Joshua Pueschel, who was city auditor until resigning Feb. 15, told the City Council that financial problems included a $2.5 million "reconciliation discrepancy."

But the CliftonLarsonAllen report appears to show the discrepancy was much larger. For the city general ledger as of June 30, the cash balance was $94,331,970. That was less than the city treasurer's cashbook balance of $113,481,459, a difference of $19,149,489, the report said.

The review found that the discrepancy was because of timing differences between the city treasurer and city auditor and "conceptual misunderstanding" of the processes required to record certain transactions on the general ledger, the report said.

For example, the city auditor recorded warrant disbursements in Fiscal 2017 but the disbursements were made in Fiscal 2018. "These should have been classified on the general ledger as warrants payable as of June 30, 2017," the report said. A warrant disbursement is a written order instructing that a certain amount of money be paid at a certain time to a specific recipient.

Also, payroll deductions and cash disbursements in relation to health insurance were handled incorrectly, the report said.

"In the end, all cash variances were completely resolved and we assisted the city in recording correcting journal entries to the general ledger as of June 30, 2017," the report said.

The firm also has made recommendations to City Hall staff to improve processes of recording cash receipts, vendor warrants, payroll warrants, health insurance, the cash reconciliation process and the payroll settings in the financial accounting system, the report said.

Reconciliation of the budget lets the city now contact the Massachusetts Department of Revenue to obtain the certified free cash that is available in the current fiscal year for municipal use. Free cash is money left unspent in accounts from the previous fiscal year.

Free cash and possibly transfers of money unspent in current accounts could be used to balance the budget, leading to the City Council setting the new tax rate.

Another issue the mayor and council will have to address is paying an unusual bill in the form of a loan the city had to take out to keep services funded.

Failure to set the tax rate as scheduled in December left the city unable to collect revenue in the form of property tax bills from home and business owners. But services like police and fire protection and snow removal still had to be paid for, so the city was forced to do short-term borrowing by taking out a revenue anticipation note for $10 million. That will require an interest payment of $77,777, City Treasurer Sandra A. Smith told the City Council Feb. 20. (see below)

It was unclear what, if any, role a cyber attack at the city treasurer's office in June played in the review done by CliftonLarsonAllen. Smith has said she wired $9,997 to someone impersonating a city department head after receiving a funding request by email.

Holyoke police are investigating the incident and Police Chief James M. Neiswanger has said Smith is not a focus of the investigation.

Financial consultant's report about reconciling Holyoke budget: by Mike Plaisance on Scribd

Letter about borrowing from Holyoke City Treasurer Sandra Smith to City Council: by Mike Plaisance on ScribdHATFIELD - As a brisk Sunday afternoon wore on a small crowd of Hatfield residents congregated near Bridge Lane--the location where authorities recently discovered a scorched human body.

State and local police descended upon the secluded byway around 9:30 p.m. Saturday night, after a call for a fire came in from that location. Upon arrival, authorities discovered that the blaze was a corpse that had been set aflame.

The road is directly adjacent to a popular walking trail that runs parallel to the Connecticut River. It's also nearby to many local homes.

Out walking with their dogs Sunday, numerous residents passed by the scene, talking amongst themselves about the gruesome discovery.

"You really wouldn't expect something like this around here," said a resident who lives nearby. "You just hope it wasn't something local. That scares me."

Another resident, who also preferred to go unnamed, said that she walks along the nearby trails at night all the time. "Lot of people come out here, walk their dogs, run," she said. "It's a peaceful community and a great place to walk."

Police dropped by houses around 11 p.m. to interview locals but had declined to provide details on what had occurred in the field, according to residents. Most residents learned about what the discovery was on the evening news.

George Spence, 68, his wife Lisa, 56, and their dog Buddy, live in a nearby house on Maple Street, and saw Saturday night's spectacle of cop cruisers and law enforcement from their bedroom window. "We were sitting in the living room and just saw the cars rushing past and blue lights flashing," Lisa said.

It was unsettling, she added, while noting that this isn't the first time that something morbid has happened at the location. Last August, a local man was killed after driving his car into the Connecticut River off of Bridge Lane.

And the bizarre discovery comes less than two weeks after Joanne Ringer's remains were recovered in a wooded area in the same town. Ringer had been missing for nearly a year.

Two 15-year-old boys, Jayden and Aiden, rode their bicycles by the scene Sunday afternoon, explaining that they had been out riding around the neighborhood Saturday night when Aiden's father called to warn them about the police discovery. "That kind of spooked us out," Aiden said.

The road, which runs through an expanse of preserved farmland before it dead ends at the nearby trail head, swarmed with law enforcement Sunday morning but by late afternoon only one Hatfield police cruiser could be seen patrolling the area. The cruiser dropped off several personnel who climbed into unmarked cars that had been parked nearby, then sped off.

The incident is now under investigation by State Police detectives attached to the Northwestern District Attorney's Office with assistance from the State Fire Marshall's Office and the Hatfield Police Department, said Mary Carey, spokesperson for the DA's office Sunday.

The identity of the victim has not been made public. The official cause of death will be determined by the Medical Examiner's Office, Carey said.Diverse parties involved in the sale of a shuttered nuclear power plant, located on the Connecticut River just north of the Massachusetts border, have reached an agreement.

The memorandum of understanding filed with the Vermont Public Utility Commission March 2 contains nearly $200 million of financial assurances, site restoration standards, and agreed-upon protocols.

Entergy Corp. wants to sell Vermont Yankee to Northstar Services Group, a New York-based demolition company. Northstar says its plan will accelerate the plant's decommissioning by decades.

Entergy had planned to mothball the plant and clean it up by 2075. NorthStar said it could start work no later than 2021 and complete the project by 2030 at the latest.

The memo followed months of closed-door talks between state officials, Entergy, NorthStar, and intervenors in the case. State officials and advocacy groups had questioned whether Northstar's plan was financially feasible or environmentally wise.

Entergy's vocal foe, the New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution, signed off on the deal, as did the Vernon Planning Commission, Abenaki Nation of Missisquoi and the Elnu Abenaki Tribe.

All but the Conservation Law Foundation signed the memo, according to the Rutland Herald. The environmental litigators said the deal still "leaves Vermonters vulnerable to picking up the tab if something goes wrong."

In a joint statement, Entergy and Northstar lauded the negotiated agreement as a "significant milestone."

The transfer still needs approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Vermont Public Utility Commission.

Vermont Yankee - Northstar MOU on nuke plant sale News Release 3-2-18 by Mary Serreze on ScribdSPRINGFIELD -- U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts, raised concerns this week about reports that the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be sending Puerto Rican hurricane evacuees back into homes which are not properly "habitable."

Warren, during an interview on WGBY-TV's "Connecting Point," said she's been "pushing back" on the federal agency over it's definition of "habitable," noting that some of the homes it defines as such lack important features.

"It doesn't have a roof, doesn't have a secure door, it doesn't have windows that don't leak -- it may not have a reliable power source, may not have clean water to it," the senator said, offering an example of a home that FEMA has reportedly found "habitable."

"I have pushed, along with others in the Senate, trying to get FEMA to back off, and so far FEMA has not yet come out with a definitive statement about what they're going to do on this," she said. "And, boy, we're going to be in there pushing."

Warren further decried the federal government's response to hurricane damage in Puerto Rico during a Friday "Open House" event in Springfield.

"Do you realize we're on six months since the hurricanes hit? And still, it appears that somewhere around a quarter of the island's residents do not have reliable electricity," she said. "These are American citizens, and our fellow human beings."

Warren, who led a Massachusetts congressional delegation trip to Puerto Rico in January, argued that the U.S. government "has been too slow (and) done too little" in helping the island recover.

The senator said she again pushed FEMA this week to continue delivering basic services to evacuees, adding that she believes the U.S. has a "critical, moral obligation to Puerto Rico."

Warren and U.S. Sen. Ed Markey, D-Massachusetts, asked the Trump administration last month to extend emergency shelter benefits for Puerto Rican evacuees until March 20, citing reports that those deemed ineligible for the temporary shelter program have few housing options.

About 10,000 Puerto Ricans, including 4,000 families, were receiving FEMA housing benefits, as of February, that allowed them to live in mainland U.S. hotels for free.

The agency planned to re-evaluate families' benefits last month and decide which homes on the island were habitable and who could return to them.

Rick Fontana, New Haven, Connecticut's director of emergency operations, reportedly told television station WTNH last month that "habitable means it has to have a roof, electricity and water, and a roof could be a blue tarp roof."Boston Red Sox players are supporting Craig Kimbrel's family by wearing "We Are #LydiaStrong" T-shirts.

Kimbrel's daughter, Lydia Joy, was born with a heart condition in November. She underwent surgery four days after being born.

Kimbrel returned to Boston at the end of February for Lydia's second surgery at Boston Children's Hospital.

The Red Sox closer remains in Boston. He threw a bullpen session at Fenway Park on Wednesday.

Today were wearing #LydiaStrong shirts as we continue to keep the Kimbrel family and their daughter, Lydia, in our thoughts and prayers. pic.twitter.com/eb2pifQGBh  Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) March 11, 2018

"Praying for Lydia," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Friday when asked for an update on Kimbrel. "Our thoughts and prayers are with him.



"He's actually throwing up there," Cora said. "He threw a bullpen two days ago. He actually took the (radar) gun to it and he feels really good where he's at physically and where his arm is. But obviously for us, for the organization, for everybody, the most important thing is Lydia."An Idaho Senate panel has advanced a plan to collect and remit sales tax on online purchases.

The Senate Local Government and Taxation Committee on March 8 agreed to advance the proposal to the Senate floor for debate. The proposal has already cleared the House.

This is the sixth year Rep. Lance Clow, a Republican from Twin Falls, has attempted to push the measure through the Statehouse.Over eight years nearly 60 CEOs, company presidents, nonprofit executive directors and government leaders have been honored through Idaho Business Reviews CEO of Influence awards program. This year, nominations came in from all corners of the state. Dozens completed detailed applications which were then routed to the 2018 selection committee comprising mostly past recipients of the award.

By: Jeanne HuffPhoto courtesy BluFish Consulting

An extremely rare piece of Michigan property that went up for sale earlier this year has been adapted into a smaller parcel -- and price point.

The historic Cannon River Ranch, a wild stretch of land that encompasses seven miles of private shoreline along the Pere Marquette River, was first listed at $9 million and included 700 unspoiled acres of forest, a historic lodge, and a handful of guest cabins and out buildings.

The reconfigured parcel is now a smaller package that includes the historic lodge, 160 acres, and 6,000 feet of private lineal frontage on the river.

According to listing agent Jeff Chrystal, the new, smaller listing is an attempt to appeal to a broader range of interested buyers.

"Seven hundred acres is a little overwhelming; it's a lot, a lot of property," Chrystal said of the original listing. "We've separated this section out and what that will do is open up so many opportunities for other capable potential purchasers -- for somebody who wants a little slice of heaven up there."

Chrystal said the historic Adirondack-style lodge, which was built in the 1930's by the original owners, is really the heart of the property -- which is why this new parcel was formed around it.

"The main lodge is the spirit of the property," Chrystal said. "It's got all the character and all the charm that makes this property unique. It sits on a pretty square section of land with a lot of frontage.

"It could appeal to some unique users, or a family that just wanted something spectacular," he said.

The property has been in the same family since the 1950's, when George Cannon, an avid fisherman, conservationist and founder of a Muskegon iron foundry, purchased it from its original owners. It's since served as a vacation estate for Cannon's family and colleagues.

Riverfront properties rarely include both sides of the water, which is partly what makes this property so rare.

Additionally, the Pere Marquette is revered for being a world-class fishery; it holds the distinction of being a Blue Ribbon stream and a Wild & Scenic River, both of which are official designations that speak to its untampered nature and the pristine fish habitats it provides.

Further information about the property can be found at thecannonriverranch.com.

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An aerial view of the Pere Marquette and a piece of the property.

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The property is located on the west side of the Lower Peninsula, surrounded by the Huron-Manistee National Forest.

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The 1930's-era Adirondack log cabin, built by the property's original owners, is considered to be the heart of this piece of land.

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A view from inside the lodge.

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The dining room inside the lodge.

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A living-room area and fireplace inside the lodge.

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The lodge's covered porch.

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The Pere Marquette is a renowned fishing river, but of course it also provides excellent paddling.

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A bedroom inside the lodge.

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11 waterfront Michigan cabins to book now for the best summer ever

15 extraordinary historic Michigan homes you need to visitBELMONT, MI -- Mark Worrall knew where to look.

Worrall, a state geologist, told his superiors at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality in April 2017 that drinking water in homes southeast of Wolverine World Wide's now-infamous House Street sludge dump should be tested for toxic chemicals.

Instead of heeding the expert advice, emails obtained by MLive show DEQ supervisors did not act on the warning until a coincidence forced investigators to accelerate a slow-moving investigation into groundwater contaminated by Wolverine waste.

When properties Worrall identified were tested months later, one home's drinking water was so contaminated the results flabbergasted state toxicologists and health experts.

"That is an incredible level!" Michigan chief medical officer Eden Wells wrote upon learning that toxicants at one home were 542 times higher than federal safety guidance.

By that time, Wolverine had been testing for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances called PFAS or PFCs in Belmont for almost four months. Wolverine started testing homes on the northeast side of the old dump site in April, but, despite Worrall's advice to look south, testing in the highly-polluted areas didn't occur until July.

Many homes Worrall identified weren't tested until September.

The delay resulted in months of additional exposure at homes near the old dump to high levels of toxic waterproofing chemicals linked in human studies to certain cancers, thyroid disorders, elevated cholesterol and other diseases.

Jack McNaughton lives about 2,500 feet south of the House Street dump. He's almost 2 years old and his young blood is loaded with PFAS -- about 484,000-ppt.

His home was on Worrall's April list. It was tested Sept. 14.

"In his short life, he would have had so much less water" if the PFAS threat was disclosed earlier, said Jack's father, Seth McNaughton.

"He would have a lot less in his blood."

DEQ handled Wolverine with 'kid gloves'

On April 20, 2017, Worrall wrote to supervisor David O'Donnell that in his "professional opinion" homes south and southeast of Wolverine's dump should be tested "unless a rigorous hydrologic study can be provided in the short term to demonstrate otherwise or if the residences can be demonstrated as having municipal water."

Several weeks later, to support arguments for testing properties southeast of U.S. 131, he drew an arrow on a map showing the probable path a PFAS plume would follow along a glacial groundwater channel leading to the Rogue River.

Later testing data shows that he nailed it.

Worrall included a list of 51 addresses in his April email, one of hundreds from the initial investigation stages obtained by MLive through the Freedom of Information Act.

The correspondence sheds light on the early months of the toxic drinking water investigation on House Street, where Wolverine once dumped tannery sludge laden with PFAS chemicals used to waterproof Hush Puppies shoes with 3M Scotchgard.

O'Donnell and John Pawloski with DEQ Grand Rapids district remediation division had never heard of House Street until January 2017 despite years of involvement with Wolverine dating back to 2010, when the Rockford tannery was demolished.

Emails show that O'Donnell -- who was promoted at DEQ last fall -- allowed Wolverine attorneys to draft talking points for DEQ to use when speaking with homeowners, as well as written communication about the investigation that was subsequently distributed to House Street residents under state of Michigan letterhead.

As the DEQ moved with spurts of urgency forced by happenstance, O'Donnell relied upon Wolverine-hired consultants to answer basic questions about Scotchgard chemistry and showed notable deference to Wolverine's desire to keep the matter quiet.

Because Wolverine was acting under a voluntary program in the state's Part 201 toxic cleanup law, DEQ allowed the company to keep its name out of early public notifications. O'Donnell even refrained from naming the company in many internal emails, opting for euphemisms like "the owner" or "the PLP" (potentially liable party).

As DEQ field staff and Wolverine consultants were canvassing homes near the dump site to collect water samples, O'Donnell wrote to Wolverine adviser Mark Westra on April 19 that his staff "are not going to wear the usual high visibility vests for this one."

"If you want me out there, you only need to ask," O'Donnell wrote.

Westra declined. He was "concerned about having too many people there." He credited O'Donnell's discretion.

"Thanks again for your professional touch with this task," he wrote.

James Clift, policy director at the Michigan Environmental Council, reviewed the DEQ emails at MLive's request. He thinks the "kid gloves" handling of Wolverine reflects an under-resourced DEQ.

Although the legislature recently approved $23 million to tackle PFAS across Michigan, the budget for Part 201 cleanups was running on fumes last year and DEQ was getting a cold shoulder in budget talks.

Money sought to offset expired bond funding was directed to pay for leaking underground storage tanks instead. A 2018 fiscal year PFAS workgroup proposal didn't make it past committee negotiations. Overall future toxic cleanup funds are still a question mark.

Nonetheless, Clift, who served on a DEQ advisory group that helped draft pending cleanup criteria updates, said DEQ's Wolverine approach is "not something new."

"We could go back decades with Dow Chemical and how they basically treated them the exact same way -- not pushing when there were known sources, not pushing immediately when they knew where they were," he said. "Whenever they get a responsible party with money, they tend not to push as hard as they should."

The Wolverine investigation has mushroomed despite initial efforts to keep it hush-hush. A multi-municipality search for dump sites has turned up more than 550 wells with detectible PFAS levels so far. More than 100 are above the Environmental Protection Agency's health advisory level of 70 parts per trillion (ppt) for PFOS and PFOA.

The contamination at some properties is sky-high.

Total PFAS in Sandy Wynn-Stelt's well directly across the street from the dump tested in August at 49,000-ppt -- the highest level state experts had ever seen in drinking water at the time. In January, that was eclipsed by a 61,450-ppt total PFAS sample in Algoma Township, where a separate plume is believed to be from Wolverine sludge used as farmland soil amendment.

The House Street wells were tested in April and July, and some were retested in August. But the alarm wasn't spreading to residents living across the highway, southeast of U.S. 131, until local attorneys began canvassing and media reports surfaced.

The water at Seth and Tobyn McNaughton's home on Chandler Drive NE immediately south of the House Street dump tested at more than 5,065-ppt -- 72 times the EPA advisory level. Scott and Lisa Ingraham live next door. Their well tested at 10,000-ppt.

McNaughton said he had to push the DEQ and local health department for testing after a paralegal at Varnum Law firm in Grand Rapids knocked on their door on Aug. 23.

"What makes me upset is that we found out from lawyers," he said.

"Nobody came to us and said, 'Hey, your health might be at risk. You should probably stop drinking this water, just in case.'"

The family is now suing Wolverine.

Rockford citizens finally unearth forgotten toxic site

News broke about Wolverine's dump at 1855 House St. NE in Belmont on Aug. 30, more than seven months after the Concerned Citizens for Responsible Remediation (CCRR) group of Rockford brought evidence of historical PFAS-laden tannery sludge dumping on House Street to O'Donnell, Pawloski and Worrall on Jan. 24, 2017.

Lynn McIntosh, a Rockford activist who gathered much of the evidence, said the five group members present were told the information would be acted on immediately.

"We were promised," she said. "They were going to act quickly and contact the Kent County Health Department right away. That was clear in our ears."

"What was the delay?"

The emails show Worrall sent O'Donnell a 1965 U.S. Geological Survey aerial photo of disturbed ground on House Street the day after the meeting, but O'Donnell did not connect with Wolverine about the dump until seven weeks later.

On Feb. 21, O'Donnell said it would be "about a year" before DEQ would start a House Street investigation, according to Sara Simmonds, supervising sanatarian at the Kent County Health Department.

In an interview, O'Donnell told MLive that he was hampered at the time by problems connecting with Wolverine attorneys and staff vacancies in the DEQ Grand Rapids district office.

"I don't want to overpromise on getting investigations done," he said.

Two unrelated events forced DEQ's timeline to accelerate.

- On Jan. 31, Owen Marsman, a homeowner on Brent Road NE, applied for a well permit with the county.

- On May 31, the Michigan National Guard sent Kent County test results showing elevated PFAS levels in the Belmont Armory well.

Simmonds sparked the initial PFAS testing after she overheard a March 3 phone call outside her office door about Marsman's well permit, which was delayed due to backwash problems. House Street was on her radar following a Feb. 21 meeting at the DEQ Grand Rapids office about PFAS in Plainfield Township municipal water.

That's where Wolverine came up, Simmonds told MLive.

During a break in the meeting, "O'Donnell mentioned there was another site that he needed to bring up," she said. "It was more in the fashion of an, 'Oh, by the way.'"

Simmonds asked to see the CCRR group's evidence; which included maps, a testimonial from a former Bell Pick-Up disposal driver who recounted dumping Wolverine tannery sludge on House Street and a memo written by Grand Valley State environmental chemist Rick Rediske outlining Wolverine's past Scotchgard use.

Not long afterward, "I hear one of the sanitarians on the phone saying, 'Hey, I need a well permit on Brent Street,'" Simmonds said. "I was like, "Oh, no. No!"

"The property is literally right next door."

Simmonds told DEQ the county couldn't give Marsman a permit unless his well was tested for PFAS. Shortly afterward, O'Donnell emailed Wolverine's longtime attorney, John Byl at Warner Norcross & Judd in Grand Rapids, asking for a "chat."

O'Donnell said he requested that Wolverine sample for PFAS at properties near House Street at the meeting. He said the DEQ's ability to recover investigation costs was contingent on giving Wolverine the opportunity to do the work.

"I told (Byl) we'll do it if you don't want to, but I'd prefer Wolverine take the lead on that," O'Donnell said. "It was in very short order they agreed to, but then they had to gear up to it."

If Wolverine had refused, "I would have to dig into contingency money we were using for emergencies statewide to do that work," he said.

"For me, it was really important to get Wolverine to do that so I could preserve state dollars for other things like vapor intrusion."

In late March, The Michigan Health and Human Services emailed O'Donnell after learning about the pending testing from Kent County. Christina Bush, a DHHS toxicologist who has worked with PFAS for nearly a decade, requested testing for 23 different PFAS chemicals as well as volatile organic compounds and heavy metals.

Leather waste contains dyes, she wrote, and existing data from the Rockford tannery indicated hexavalent chromium, a carcinogen, was present in Rogue River sediment.

Despite her request, only six PFAS compounds were analyzed alongside the other, more common groundwater contaminants.

A week before the first samples were gathered, AECOM consultant Todd Colon emailed DEQ Grand Rapids staff advice learned from PFAS investigation around Wurtsmith Air Force base in Oscoda -- Michigan's first known PFAS contamination site.

PFAS, he wrote, "may spread deeper and farther" than a typical plume.

On April 19 -- a day before Worrall's warning about sampling homes south of the dump -- samples were collected on Brent Road and Brittany Drive NE as well as a couple nearby homes where House Street joins Herrington Avenue. On May 4, the tests came back showing low PFAS levels. And there was a problem with the results.

One of the "field blanks" showed a positive detection.

Blanks are routinely mixed with field samples for quality control. Wolverine alleged the test results showed false positives and requested retesting. For the next several weeks, DEQ staff deliberated about how to cajole continued cooperation from Wolverine, which was paying for testing but wasn't accepting legal responsibility.

In the meantime, O'Donnell located old county records transferred to the state in the 1970s that contained dump licensing information, complaints and waste information.

"Were you aware that we have the old disposal area file for the subject site?" O'Donnell emailed Byl, Westra and Simmonds on May 18.

"Who would have thought."

DEQ allowed Wolverine to draft public notices

Then, on May 31, the armory test results arrived.

Within minutes of receiving an email showing 96.9-ppt in the Belmont Armory well, Simmonds emailed O'Donnell.

"Can we plan a call to talk about this?" she wrote.

The testing was entirely coincidental and took everyone by surprise. As part of a nationwide PFAS search effort, the National Guard had tested the well water at its facility in Belmont, which is an old church that had never stored the AFFF firefighting foam which has caused PFAS plumes at military sites worldwide.

The armory well is roughly 1,000 feet southwest of the dump. Happenstance had forced the investigation to accelerate again. While testing found PFAS between 2.2- and 16.4-ppt north of the dump, a well to the south showed contamination above the EPA level.

Worrall's estimation of groundwater flow proved crucial after the armory results came in. At his urging, the DEQ added four properties at the corner of Herrington Ave. and Chandler Drive to the list of homes Wolverine should test across the highway.

The results later provided evidence to support expanded testing.

As the DEQ and Wolverine were preparing to sample homes on House Street adjacent to the dump, O'Donnell let Byl draft talking points and a letter about PFAS that did not mention Wolverine or Scotchgard, but did mention how PFAS was used in Teflon and GoreTex -- two products that do contain PFAS but are not related to Wolverine.

"The letter obviously reflects the potentially liable party's concern to avoid unpleasant media coverage and the fact that we haven't established a direct link between the disposal facility and the contamination in the armory well," O'Donnell wrote on July 3.

Because Wolverine "is footing the bill for the sampling, I'm willing to work with them."

O'Donnell told MLive allowing Wolverine to dictate public communication was a way to maintain a "cooperative relationship" that "helps me get other stuff later."

"This is about maintaining relationships, making relationships go," he said. "It's not about 'he's the polluter and I'm the good guy.' It's about 'we have a problem; how do we fix it most expediently?'"

"Do I care how its couched as long as I get the data I need?"

Emails show O'Donnell's willingness to work with Wolverine included editing ambiguity about the shoemaker's PFAS usage into subordinates communication with media.

He changed a reply to MLive's July inquiry about the status of tannery cleanup to read that PFOS and PFOA "may have been" in products Wolverine used in shoe-manufacturing, as opposed to "likely" were.

O'Donnell also admitted to disclosing an MLive FOIA request to Byl last summer, which the DEQ then provided to Wolverine's attorney a day before giving MLive the requested files.

"It's not the way it's supposed to be done," O'Donnell apologized to MLive at the time. "It stinks in sort of an ethical way. It's a matter of letting relationships get in the way of thinking."KALAMAZOO, MI -- Colorful balloons with the words "RIP Mujey" floated to the sky Sunday morning in the middle of wooded area in Kalamazoo to honor a slain 16-year-old.

Family members of Mujey Dumbuya placed flowers and crosses as a reminder of the spot where the teen's body was found in January. Dumbuya's family came to Kalamazoo from Grand Rapids March 11 for the vigil.

"I just want to see where my baby was dropped off," Mujey's mother Fatmata Corneh said in a statement from the family's attorney.

Mujey disappeared Jan. 24 while heading to a bus stop to go to school. A body was found in a wooded area of Kalamazoo Jan. 28 and identified as Mujey on Jan. 31.

Jainya Sannoh, Mujey's aunt, said the family believes in life after death and that Mujey's soul is in the area where her body was found.

"This place is like a grave for us," Sannoh said. "It's going to be a place that the family will never ever ever forget."

Stephanie McGill, who met Mujey in elementary school, said it's hard to accept her friend is gone.

"It's like I'm running to her, but somebody is pushing me back because she wants me to stay alive," McGill said. "She wants me to do all the things that she couldn't do because she's gone and I hate to say that."

Sannoh said she wants people to know Mujey was energetic and loved by a lot of people.

"I want people to remember her as the vibrant and smiling lady that she was," Sannoh said. "Not a lady that was laid down here."

She reported her niece as missing when Mujey didn't call her by the morning after her disappearance.

On Feb. 1, the day after the body found in Kalamazoo was identified as that of Mujey, Quinn Anthony James was arrested and charged with an unrelated sex assault from 2014. He is accused of sexually assaulting Mujey and was charged in November 2017.

Mujey was set to testify in an April trial against James, who is now in the Kent County Jail on a $500,000 bond. Police have not named James a person-of-interest in the death, but his attorney said he's being unfairly treated as one.

James worked in maintenance and grounds at Kentwood Public Schools from 2011 until November 2017. Mujey, an East Kentwood High School student, dated one of James' relatives.

Sannoh said the family still has a lot of questions. They are hopeful someone saw something or knows something about Mujey's death and they come forward.

"She is not in this fight by herself, we are all in this fight together," Sannoh said.Sentences may be suspended

JUDGE SUSAN B. JORDAN

Chad Everett Baase, 37, 24-60 months in prison, credit for 18 days served, $2,897.90 costs and fines, for OUIL-3rd offense.

Kelly Asa Brown, 41, 365 days in jail, credit for three days served, 36 months probation, $1,008 costs and fines, for OUIL - 3rd offense.

Douglas Cole Dustin, 27, 270 days in jail, credit for 96 days served, 24 months probation, $958 costs and fines, for weapons-carry concealed, cntr sub pss non-narc, operating-impaired, weapons reckless use.

Cameron Deshawyn Cotton, 28, 93 days in jail, nine days to be served with balance temporarily suspended, 12 months probation, $785 costs and fines, for domestic violence.

Joshua Kevin Duimstra, 28, 365 days in jail, credit for 30 days served with balance temporarily suspended, 12 months probation, $885 costs and fines, for child abuse-4th.

Jamie Kathleen Dutton, 30, 270 days in jail, credit for one day served with balance temporarily suspended, $858 costs and fines, for organized retail crime.

Cory Edward Gauthier, 23, 36-75 months in prison, credit for 99 days served, $998 costs and fines, for CS-OP/maintain lab involv/habitual offender-2nd; 24-204 months in prison, credit 98 days, $548 costs and fines, for fleeing-4th degree; 98 days in jail, credit for 98 days served, $50 costs and fines, for operating-impaired.

Demetrius James Givans Jr., 24, 330 days in jail, credit for three days served with balance temporarily suspended, 24 months probation, $858 costs and fines, for fleeing-fourth degree.

Vincent Lamont Hightower, 47, 93 days in jail, balance temporarily suspended, 12 months probation, $775 costs and fines, for domestic violence.

Kurtis Ray Kuhn, 42, 180 days in jail, credit for 149 days served, for child support-failing to pay.

James Michael Lemar, 45, 365 days in jail, credit for 84 days served, balance temporarily suspended, 36 months probation, $1,165 costs and fines, for false pretenses 200-1000.

Michelle Marie Lock, 35, 270 days in jail, credit for 44 days served, balance temporarily suspended, 24 months probation, $458 costs and fines, for aslt, resis, obst PO.

Justin Michael Meyers, 40, 270 days in jail, credit for four days served, balance temporarily suspended, 24 months probation, $908 costs and fines, for weapons-carry concealed.

Christopher Paul Prater, 32, 23-168 months in prision, credit for 39 days served, $3,833.25 costs and fines, for uttering & publishing (prob.viol.), forgery (prob.viol.).

Ashley Louise Rogers, 28, 365 days in jail, balance temporarily suspended, 24 months probation, $908 costs and fines, for aslt, resis, obst police.

Barbara Louise Williams, 56, 365 days in jail, credit for 27 days served, balance temporarily suspended, 24 months probation, $1,158 costs and fines, for OUIL-3rd offense (habitual offender-2nd).HILLSDALE, MI - After a "tireless search" that spanned two days, a missing 6-year-old boy and his father were found Saturday evening at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit.

With information from the Hillsdale County Sheriff's Office, FBI agents located the pair about 6:30 p.m. March 10, the sheriff's office reported in a statement.

Hillsdale County deputies, with new details collected Saturday, used cell phone technology to "obtain real-time locations" and the county dispatch center tracked Juston Eidenier and his son of the same name.

The boy now is safe and in the care of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and the elder Eidenier was taken into police custody "without incident" on an unrelated felony warrant, according to the sheriff's office.

"Sheriff (Tim) Parker would like to thank the community for all of their tips and calls that ultimately helped bring this child home safely," the statement reads.

Michigan State Police, Detroit police and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children were involved in the search, according to the statement.

Juston Eidenier was reported missing Thursday night from the North Adams area in northern Hillsdale County. He was said to be endangered.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.March 11, 2018

Syria - The Fall Of Two Cities

The Turkish proxy Takfiris have nearly encircled the Kurdish held city of Afrin. The water supply to the city is cut off. It will fall within a few days.

This is the direct result of gigantic miscalculations by the YPG Kurds who controlled the Afrin area. They had a clear offer from the Syrian and Russian government: Hand over the administration to the legitimate Syrian government and the Syrian army will come and defend your land.

They rejected that offer multiple times. They thought they could withstand an attack by a numerical superior enemy which has abundant air and artillery support. Hizbullah can do that but the Kurds are not Hizbullah. Their defense network was mediocre with bunkers easily visible (vid) from the air and ground and without any water supply and other necessities. These medieval fortifications were built over years but fell within hours. There was apparently no second line to fall back to. The tactical military abilities the YPG Kurds have shown were rather amateurish. The announced reinforcements from east Syria made no difference. Now their 'canton' is lost to a very hostile forces. Can it ever be regained?

Meanwhile the U.S. is on the verge of giving away the Kurdish held Manbij to the Turks.

In 2016 the Kurdish PKK attempted to hold onto 'autonomous' city-centers in eastern Turkey. The Turkish army simply shelled those areas into rubble. There insurrection ended with a catastrophic loss of Kurdish fighters. The Kurdish attempts to expand their lands in Iraq by stealing the oil fields of Kirkuk were thoroughly defeated. Now Afrin is lost too.

Why does anyone believe that the Kurds deserve their own state? Their leaders are corrupt and have zero statesmanship. They hang onto illusory aims and ignore the realities of life. Will the Kurds ever learn?

The Syrian Arab Army has split east-Ghouta next to Damascus into two and soon three parts.



Map by Peto Lucem - bigger

Some 70% of the whole east-Ghouta area that the Takfirs held for six years is now liberated. The Syrian army will continue to take the more rural parts and will then keep the upbuild areas (Harasta, Duma, Arbin, Jobar) under fire until the various Takfiri groups agree to give up or to be moved to Idleb governorate. The fall of these Saudi and Turkish proxy forces from their fake 'revolution' throne is another huge victory for the Syrian people. Negotiations about a transfers are ongoing. In Idleb they can join the ongoing Takfiri against Takfiri war between the Turkish supported head-choppers and al-Qaeda aligned hangmen.

Is there a deal between Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey about an 'exchange' of east-Ghouta for Afrin? The parties are very tightlipped about the issue which lets me assume that something of that kind has been agreed upon.

Eliminating the east-Ghouta enclave will free the large number of Syrian soldiers that were necessary to keep the area surrounded. Those troops will likely move south to liberate Deraa city and all land up to the Jordan border. There are strong economic reasons for freeing up the Damascus-Amman highway and the border station in-between.

Posted by b on March 11, 2018 at 17:02 UTC | Permalink

CommentsMarch 11, 2018

Weekly Review And Open Thread 2018-10

Mar 6 - The New Yorker Attempts But Fails To Boost The Steele Dossier

This hyping of Steele as an honest man who only did his duty is pretty disgusting. What was Jane Mayer paid for writing such an inaccurate and unobjective portrait?

Mar 7 - No, Russians Do Not Hack The FCC's Public Comments

In which a federal communication commissioner proves that she has zero understanding of basic web communication.

Mar 8 - Poisoned British-Russian Double-Agent Has Links To Clinton Campaign

The British government and its media are trying their best to make a big scare out of the alleged poisoning of a turned Russian spy. They are blaming Russia without providing any evidence. The Russian government had nothing to win from killing him. Meanwhile the quite direct connection between the poisoned double-agent and the fake Steele dossier is swept under the carpet.

Mar 9 - Trump Threatens Peace In Korea

Lots of powerful entities, including the government of Japan, conservatives in South Korea, the U.S. miliary, the military industry and its hundreds of lobby shops are all interested in making the talks fail. The want war or at least the perception of imminent war. If Trump can get to some agreement with North Korea he deserves some laurels.

Mar 11 - Syria - The Fall Of Two Cities

Anna video footage of the fight in east-Ghouta.

Other issues (I should have written about):

The Russian President Putin was interviewed by the very 'blond' NBC talking head Megan Kelly. Here are a full unedited video of the two part interview and the official English language transcript.

Megyn Kelly: How important do you think it is to project strength as a President? Vladimir Putin: It is important not to project strength, but to show it. It is also important how we understand power. It does not mean banging the table with a fist or yelling. I think power has several dimensions. Firstly, one should be confident that he is doing the right thing. Secondly, he must be ready to go all the way to achieve the goals.

In Winston Churchill, Hollywood rewards a mass murderer - To my astonishment Shashi Tharoor, a famous Indian politician, was allowed to publish this in the Washington Post op-ed pages. His son Ishaan, who writes for the Post news site, must have smuggled it past the editors. An important read for those who believe that Hitler's racism and brutality were exceptional.

He Wouldnt Become an Informant. Now Hes Headed for Prison. The FBI entraps a U.S. citizen from Iran to press him to spy on Iran. The next time someone laments about U.S. citizens of Iranian heritage getting jailed for espionage while visiting Iran, point them to the above.

Posted by b on March 11, 2018 at 17:48 UTC | Permalink

CommentsThe following is our latest Fund Analyst Report for Fairholme Fund (FAIRX). Morningstar Premium Members have access to full analyst reports such as this for more than 1,000 of the largest and best mutual funds. Not a Premium Member? Gain full access to our analyst reports and advanced tools immediately when you try Morningstar Premium free for 14 days.

Fairholme's Morningstar Analyst Rating is cut to Negative from Neutral after more staff departures and ongoing liquidity issues.In Focus with Allison Walker is a 30-minute public affairs program, featuring a roundtable of newsmakers representing a range of perspectives, including local officials and expert analysts as they tackle topical issues of importance to Floridians.

In Focus airs Sundays at 11:30 a.m. and 8:30 p.m., right after Political Connections.Bike Week is in full swing in Daytona Beach.

Bike Week in full swing in Daytona Beach

Tattoo shop celebrates first bike week

Victory Tattoo opened second location last year

While bikers and tourists enjoy the event, a newly opened tattoo shop is celebrating.

The Victory Tattoo shop overcame quite a few hurdles since trying to open its second location last year. While trying to rezone the physical address to allow for a tattoo parlor, Hurricane Irma was making its way to Florida.

This is the first tattoo shop to be beach side in city limits since 1971, tattoo artist Richard Detore said.

According to Detore, the owners were worried about the weather conditions and determining what their next move would be. When it was time, staff members boarded up the business and waited until the hurricane passed. Although the property at the heart of the city did not sustain any damage, the Ormond Beach location did sustain cosmetic damage.

"Throughout this, our customers have been great, we didn't go through any hardship," Detore said.

Bobby Ellis opened Victory Tattoo in Ormond by the Sea in September of 2009. It took about a year to get the rezoning and permits to open their second location on Main Street in Daytona Beach which opened in October of 2017.SOUTHINGTON  Confident of their security plans, school officials put an upgrade to Southington High School surveillance cameras on hold but said they will consider metal detectors and other measures in the future.

Patti Goldberg, whose 14-year old nephew Alex Schachter was killed in the Florida school shooting last month, urged the school board to implement several security measures at a meeting Thursday. She asked for metal detectors at school entrances, bullet-resistant glass on doors and windows, and more guards.

Im not sure the cameras and the buzzers at the front doors are the best and safest security measures, Goldberg said. I believe we need to start with security guards and off-duty police officers for each school.

She also asked that the school board hire more school counselors and psychologists.

There are so many children falling through the cracks who need help, Goldberg said. If (students) can get the support.if they can get help from the counselors, it can change a childs life.

The school district and the town face a mid-budget year loss of $2.1 million in state aid. On Thursday, the board discussed measures to cut expenses that included freezing positions and halting projects, including an upgrade to the video surveillance system at the high school.

School board chairman Brian Goralski said he spoke to Goldberg after the meeting.

I respect her passion and I certainly understand whats driving her, he said.

While the video system upgrade would have been an improvement, Goralski said he supported the projects removal from the budget since it was an upgrade to existing security measures.

Safety is never something were going to compromise on, he said. We currently have a safety plan we believe in.

School superintendent Tim Connellan said he is meeting with leaders of each school and police to review the safety and security protocols and procedures.

The goal is to make adjustments to the plans that are necessary and appropriate to make immediate improvements or upgrades to current procedures, Connellan said.

David Derynoski, a school board member, said metal detectors would mean major changes for the schools. In addition to the new staff detectors would require, students might face delays, similar to lines at the airport, when entering school.

Im not for making these schools into prisons, Derynoski said. We have to take a look at the big picture. Just because you have metal detector doesnt mean its going to be beneficial.

Derynoski said budget constrains wouldnt stop the board from making changes if they thought upgrades were vital, however.

Weve spent a lot of money already doing a lot of different things for a lot of different schools, he said. The schools are secure.

Goldberg said shed like to see more security and mental health services at schools nationwide.

My crusade for mental health and student safety is just beginning, she said at Thursdays meeting. I dont want one more person to feel the way that I feel with this loss.

jbuchanan@record-journal.com

203-317-2230

Twitter: @JBuchananRJMERIDEN  City Democrats are supporting a retired educator and school administrator to run for the 13th Senate District.

Mary Daughtery Abrams filed paperwork to run after Susan Bysiewicz dropped out to run for governor. She is the wife of James Abrams, who represented the 83 House District from 1994 to 2005, when he left office and became a Superior Court judge.

The 59-year old former teacher and assistant principal has been around politics all her life. Her father was active in the party and once ran unsuccessfully for office. She was also involved in her husbands races and legislative career, and understands the demands of campaigning and serving.

I grew up in the area, Abrams said. I really care about it. It is the core of Connecticut, an entirely diverse community. I want to help find ways to make progress by getting people together.

She has the support of the citys Democratic Town Committee and has met with party leaders in Middletown, Middlefield, and Cheshire.

They have been encouraging me to run, she said. Everyone is very excited about the possibility.

The 13th district seat is currently held by state Sen. Len Suzio, a city Republican. Suzio has said he will not discuss the campaign until the current legislative session is over.

I am very familiar with Mr. Suzio, Abrams said. I think it will become very clear where we disagree. I think I can do a much better job.

Abrams was also motivated to run after the 2016 national elections and joins a record number of women looking to enter politics this year. Women currently make up slightly less than 30 percent of the state legislature, despite accounting for just over half of the states population.

Im very strong on womens issues, but I dont see them as a divide, she said. I would love to see more women running for office and Im excited to see more men getting involved.

Abrams could have a challenger for the nomination, though, as new resident Alex Tiktinsky is also considering a run for office. He said he would enter the race if he doesnt think Abrams is capable of beating Suzio.

I understand how a Democrat beats Len Suzio, Tiktinsky said. Its going to be a tough race for any Democrat, hes a formidable opponent.

The district leans Democratic, and went for both Gov. Dannel Malloy, who won re-election over Republican Tom Foley in 2014 and Hillary Clinton, who lost to Republican Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. Suzio lost tight races in 2012 and 2014 won by 800 votes in 2016.

City Democratic Town Committee Chairwoman Millie Torres-Ferguson called Abrams a strong alternative to Suzio.

Mary will spend the next several months trying to draw a distinction between her and Len, Torres-Ferguson said. We feel positive her message will resonate with voters.

Tiktinsky, a 23-year-old campaign staffer who recently moved into the district from Fairfield, said he has already spoken with more than 700 voters in the district. He will continue speaking to voters and make a decision about a possible primary in four to six weeks.

Id like to see what the voters say, Tiktinsky said. Im interested in seeing how Marys process goes.

mgodin@record-journal.com

203-317-2255

Twitter: @CconnbizSTORIES YOU MIGHT LIKEAs winter stubbornly hangs on and brings the possibility of another storm this week, local school districts are updating their year-end calendars to accommodate the number of snow days.

Most districts prefer not to chip away at April school vacation and instead will tack days on at the end of the year, reschedule professional days or turn half-days into full days.

The decision to cancel or delay school usually prompts cheers from students and leaves working parents scrambling to make child care arrangements. School superintendents generally make their decisions on weather forecasts, predictions about road and travel conditions throughout the day, and in consultation with bus companies.

So far, we have had six snow days and will not impact the April vacation, said a spokeswoman for Meriden public schools.  Currently, our last school day is June 14.

If school is canceled again the last day of school in Meriden will be June 18.

Connecticut requires 180 days of student instruction with individual school districts determining the exact number.

Wallingford Public Schools have also used eight snow days. The district allocated nine days for the entire year to be added to the final day and has only one snow day left before it eliminates April 20 (a Friday) off the spring vacation.

We agreed on nine snow days and not to extend it (the school year) beyond 10, said Superintendent Salvatore Menzo. We are not looking to take (away from) April vacation.

Southington Public Schools had used six snow days by Thursday and allowed itself 13 days to add to the June 12 projected school end date. Should it exceed 13 days, the school will begin taking days on April 13 and work backwards. As of Thursday the last day of school is June 20.

Berlin Public Schools have also used six snow days and has set June 22 for its last day. Another day would bring that to June 25. Cheshire Public Schools have used eight days so far. As of Thursday, schools are set to close June 20.

mgodin@record-journal.com

203-317-2255

Twitter: @CconnbizEveryone loves Ontario, especially T.O.!!!Climate change crusader Al Gore praises Ontario's cap and trade system during Toronto visitFormer U.S. vice-president and climate change crusader Al Gore is praising Ontario's cap-and-trade system, calling it better than a carbon tax.Gore, who sat down with Premier Kathleen Wynne in a one-on-one interview in front of hundreds of students at Ryerson University on Thursday, says the way Ontario currently fights climate change is the "superior" system.He says cap and trade lets government work directly with emitters to cut carbon emissions over time.Carbon pricing is shaping up to be a key issue in the province's spring election, with all four candidates vying to lead the opposition Progressive Conservatives vowing to scrap cap-and-trade and fight the imposition of a federal carbon tax, if they're elected June 7.Mithun MK By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Security flaws in India Post's portals meant for official use have exposed bank account details of employees as well as a database of sensitive customer and vendor information to cyber attacks.

The attacks were carried out using a flaw in Apache Struts. Apache Struts is a Java platform used by the Department of Posts to develop Java applications. The database was also found to contain a malicious file that was uploaded by hackers in 2017 with the intention of taking over India Post servers. As of Saturday, India Post was still actively trying to fix the issue.

READ HERE | ISRO computer had malware, couldve been hacked, say researchers

This security flaw, referred to as Apache Struts Vulnerability (ASV) resulted in the data theft of over 200,000 credit card details of over 140 million US customers from the financial services firm Equifax in 2017. This loss could have been prevented by a simple update.

India Post faces the same vulnerability as well as a few other cybersecurity flaws. However, when contacted by New Indian Express the organisation claimed there had been no data loss and downplayed the sensitivity of the data that was exposed to hackers.

The security flaw was found in the domain https://digitization.indiapost.gov.in that contained a vulnerable Uniform Resource Locator (URL). India Post on Saturday confirmed that other URLs too had the similar security flaws.

"There was a Remote Code Execution (RCE) at India Post subdomain which is vulnerable to Apache Struts vulnerability," Robert Baptiste, a French security researcher, told Express over Direct Messages on Twitter.

Baptiste had earlier exposed and helped resolve security vulnerabilities in the Telangana government's National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) beneficiaries website as well as in Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL). "I was not the first to exploit it. Someone has used it before. There were some malicious files created on their server. Someone has uploaded a shell on the India Post office server. They were created on April 13, 2017, and are still here," he added.

Shellfile

Shellfile

Shellfile

Shellfile

Baptiste brought the issue to light on Twitter, as he has done regarding other Indian government sites in the past. On March 6 he tweeted : "Hi @IndiaPostOffice, can you contact me at DM or by mail? This is important," but said he received no response.

On March 8, Express reached out to key officials at India Post. India Post then made contact with the ethical hacker three days after his tweet. On Saturday, India Post confirmed to Express that the security flaw that had only required an update had been resolved, however, the flaw resurfaced a few hours later and was again fixed after Baptiste's intervention.

Hi @IndiaPostOffice, can you contact me by DM or by mail? This is important  Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 6, 2018

Please @IndiaPostOffice contact me by DM. Your users' data is at stake.

If someone has a relevant contact it will be really appreciate! https://t.co/WUk3d4Ovjk  Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 8, 2018

The @IndiaPostOffice issue is fixed! All the details will be available on @NewIndianXpress on Monday! https://t.co/9uFy0h0yxP  Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 9, 2018

Ok, now Im disappointed. After few days, a contact with @IndiaPost has been done. The issue has been disclosed in private. They took down the faulty sub domain. Today, I double checked, the site is back and they didnt fix the issue, WTF?! pic.twitter.com/N6wHjStFJe  Elliot Alderson (@fs0c131y) March 10, 2018

"The vulnerability makes it possible for a hacker to remotely execute code on the India Post computers. In Windows, the command DIR (a type of command) lists all the files and folders in the current folder. This allows the hacker to view, read, modify, download files and create folders on the India Post server," said Baptiste, "I did not download the file for myself but by looking at the file names one can imagine the kind of data inside. "It seems to contains sensitive data such as bank accounts etc. RCE is the worst possible thing in security. You can do what you want and no, I didn't dump the data," he added.

Command DIR

The security flaw was actually detected by an Indian hacker first. This hacker, who spoke to Express on the condition of anonymity, said he had reached out to Baptiste fearing government backlash. "A few of my friends and myself have reported many bugs on government domains before but the response we got from them was very bad. A few of my friends got arrested just for reporting vulnerabilities. This is our present government standards," the Indian hacker told Express.

"I gained access to the whole database and the files which consist of very sensitive data like bills, logins etc. The data which was on that server also consisted of logins, employee details, bills, customers information etc. If any outsiders upload a .php backdoor by exploiting this vulnerability they could modify all the user's payment data etc. Few banking details were there in it. The vulnerability allows the hacker to change even billing details that can result in huge financial losses for India Post. I thought to leak all the data if they didn't respond but instead reached out to Baptiste," he added.

Employee details

India Posts digital journey:

In 2013, India Post handed a Rs 11000 million, six-year contract "for an end-to-end IT modernization program to equip India Post with modern technologies and systems" to Tata Consultancy Services (TCS). Five years since, TCS has helped India Post set up network integration of post offices and also integrated financial systems aimed at computerizing the Savings Bank and Postal Life Insurance (PLI) operations of India Post through one central platform.

The Core Systems Integrator (CSI) project, under which the ASV was detected, has been rolled out in 65 Divisions and 25 other related offices, including the pilot, as on December 10, 2017, according to India Post Annual Report of 2017-18. The project is being developed and handled by TCS, as are other digital assets of India Post.

India Post downplayed the whole issue by saying, "The database just contained names of the post office, their levels, if they got closed, if there is a new post office, such kind of data. Such kind of data is available in the public domain.. There were no bank account details, there was nothing sensitive in the database. Some data is not available for the public or external stakeholders so in that way some data got exposed," said KK Sharma, Managing Director, Center for Excellence in Postal Technology.

"Outside persons normally should not be able to get in, if Robert attempted and was able to get in it means there was some weak point from where he could enter," he admitted.

When asked about the file names and the sensitive data the hackers have found in the database, the official replied saying,"Pan card details? I don't think they should be there, that's not supposed to be part of the network."

Aadhaar data

PAN details

"We have escalated to TCS, which is yet to get back with Root Cause Analysis (RCA). As it was a temporary arrangement, they might not have looked completely. Our website also is taken care by them. Technical work was under TCS. We are yet to make a final view on the issue so we are waiting for the RCA. They will submit the RCA, then if we feel they have not done properly, then we will take due action. No software is perfect from day one. We are thankful to Elliot (Baptiste) for pointing this out. If there are any more issues that need to be reported do contact us," Sharma added.

Express contacted TCS for its response and will update this story when the organisation provides one.

Whats in the files?

Robert Baptiste showed Express the list of files that he retrieved from the India Post portal. These files were in an excel format.

The names of these files may be indicative of their content: accounts payables and receivables, bank master files, BeatMaster distinct employee numbers, budget balance details, customer advance balances, customer bookings, CustomerMasters, customer data, domestic vendor data, Point of Sales (POS) synch reports for several postal circles, aadhaar data from biometric readers collected by post officials, Electronic Billier details, Employee bank account numbers, pan card and aadhaar data of customers.

Who is Robert Baptiste?

Baptiste claims to be a French security researcher. He uses a Twitter handle @fs0c131y under the pseudonym Elliot Alderson. The pseudonym is a reference to the lead character on the popular television series Mr.Robot that chronicles the efforts a hacker with mental illnesses trying to destroy an evil corporation.

Baptiste came into the limelight in India recently after he started exposing security vulnerabilities in the Aadhaar and UIDAI's mAadhaar application. He then went to expose security flaws in the Telangana government and BSNL websites.

When asked why he was so interested in Indian cyber security, Baptiste told Express that Indian cyber security researchers and hackers reached out to him on Twitter with information about security flaws on government websites.

Indian IT laws prevent researchers from tampering with source code and being outside Indian jurisdiction helps Baptiste avoid legal trouble in India.

Many have questioned his methods of fixing the security flaw by dumping details of the security flaws and his findings on Twitter. Baptiste responds to the criticism saying, he only seeks results, wants the problem fixed and I take no money". When asked for long he would stay interested in India he replied, "I dont know Im thinking to switch to another country soon," However, 42 per cent of his Twitter followers are from India.By PTI

THENI, TAMIL NADU: A massive forest fire broke out suddenly in a hill in Tamil Nadu today trapping 36 trekkers, most of them women, with 15 being rescued till late Sunday night.

Rescue operations were being taken up by the fire and forest department officials with the Indian Airforce sending two helicopters on the directives of Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman after she was approached for help by Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

The helicopters undertook a survey of the area and returned to neighbouring Madurai.

They were expected to join the rescue operation later, Theni District Collector Mariam Pallavi Baldev said tonight.

State Health Minister C Vijayabaskar, in a tweet, said 15 of those trapped in the Kurangani hills had been rescued and were being treated for injuries at the government hospital in Bodinayakanur in the district in southern Tamil Nadu.

Baldev said: "I have got calls from people that some are in unconscious state due to fire.

So far there is no confirmation about casualties (death)," she said to a question from reporters on whether there was any death.

The rescue operation had been affected as night had fallen and wild animals had also started leaving the area where the fire was raging in a vast stretch, officials said.

While initial reports said those trapped were students, officials later said the victims, belonging to two groups, were young women and men and three children who were on a mountain climbing/trekking training.

The fire situation looked very serious but could be controlled, an official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

He also said the trekkers had not taken the permission or security for going to the deep forest area.

As the enormity of the situation unfolded, Palaniswami tonight said rescue operations were underway on a war footing and the state had sought two helicopters from the Defence Ministry.

His deputy O Panneerselvem, Forest Minister Dindigul C Srinivasan and top officials were overseeing the operations, on his request, he told reporters in Salem.

Stating that the cause of the fire was not known, he said efforts would be taken to strengthen the forest area security further.

Sitharaman remained in touch with the District Collector and directed the Indian Airforce to co-ordinate in the rescue operations.

Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni. @ThanthiTV @pibchennai  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 11, 2018

In a series of tweets, she said two helicopters of the Indian Air Force from its Sulur base near Coimbatore were being sent to assist in the rescue operations.

"Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district.

Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation.

The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni," she said in a tweet.

In another tweet around 7 pm, Sitharaman said she spoke to the Theni District Collector who informed her that 10-15 students were making their way to the foothills.

A medical team had been sent to the spot and employees of a nearby private tea estate were also assisting in the rescue operations, she said quoting the collector.

Baldev, who met the rescued persons and spoke to them, later told reporters that a 12-member group from Tiruppur and Erode and another comprising 24 people from Chennai, on a trekking camp, reached Kurangani hills yesterday.

They included 25 women and three children.

After staying overnight at an estate in Kozhukumalai, they started their return journey to the plains today when they heard about the sudden forest fire and got separated while attempting to find a safe way.

Kurangani-Kozhukumalai hills are located near Bodinayakanur, about 40 km from here, Officials of Forest, Fire, Police, medical and rescue teams had gone to the spot and were being assisted by the local tribals and employees of nearby tea estates, Baldev said adding the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel were also engaged in the operations.

"It is dark, it is a hilly place and it is not a motorable road.

After a particular distance we have to go by walk and there is a situation were we need to lift and carry the injured physically.

It will definitely take time," she said when asked about the time-frame for rescuing all.

District Superintendent of Police V Baskaran and revenue and forest officials were also overseeing the operations.

Earlier, a report from Coimbatore, quoting police, said two IAF 'Sarang' helicopters from Sulur have left for Kurangani forest.Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the morning. Partly cloudy skies this afternoon. High 81F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Some clouds early with showers likely late, and a thunderstorm is possible. Low 68F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 80%.I think Ford is going to lose .....



The only way he can win is with a campaign of resentment and revenge against the present Wynne government.



If he campaigns with anger/resentment as his message, he will appear as a bully on the stage with the two women of the opposition parties.



If he campaigns without exactly spelling out his "Change" plans, he will appear as condescending towards the two women in the race.



Ford is not the "Macho" personality you want debating the two women sharing the stage.



Meet the man making the royal trumpets for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding

11 March 2018The TelegraphIn January, Richard Smith received an order request to the North Yorkshire workshop he converted from a cowshed attached to his home. It was a Ministry of Defence official requesting 20 state fanfare trumpets - the first five of which needed to be ready for March 14.The exact purpose for the specially-crafted instruments, silver-plated and stamped with the royal coat of arms, was not stated, and indeed remains undisclosed. But news of a recent engagement told the 73-year-old Smith everything he needed to know.For Smith and his 57-year-old technician Richard Wright, it has been a busy few months to ensure the expertly-made instruments are ready in time for the wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19.When we meet a few days before the delivery date - when members of the Household Cavalry and the Lord Lieutenant for North Yorkshire, Barry Dodd CBE, will arrive at his farmhouse to inspect the first batch of trumpets - they are yet to return from the silver-platers in Sheffield.It is nail-biting Smith admits, and that is not to mention the moment when the trumpets are raised to serenade the Queen and Prince Harrys new bride Bum notes are the thing, Smith winces. These are extremely difficult instruments to play. You can expect some bum notes every now and then.Then again, this will not be the first state occasion when Smiths trumpets have made an appearance. Since his company Smith-Watkins was first commissioned by the Ministry of Defence in 2000, he has supplied every military band in Britain. His fanfare trumpets played a starring role in the wedding of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge in 2011, and 35 specially-designed gold plated herald fanfare trumpets were also commissioned to mark the Queens Diamond Jubilee in 2012.When the Queen attends the state opening of parliament it is to the sound of Smiths trumpets, and equally so upon arrival at the Royal Albert Hall for the annual Festival of Remembrance. They are even used to mark the beginning and end of the Grand National, as well as in the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics.Im not sure if the Queen knows who we are but Im very excited every time I see them in use, he says. Im thrilled, to be honest.Trumpets have a long association with the British monarchy. In 1937, fanfare trumpets with valves were specifically designed to mark the coronation of King George VI.The sort Smith has been commissioned to design for the royal wedding have no valves and as a result are fiendishly difficult to play. He offers me a trial blast and all I eventually produce is a short, laboured squeak.Richard Smith is a keen student of trumpet history and says the earliest version of the modern instrument discovered in Britain is the Billingsgate Trumpet, excavated in 1984 from the muddy banks of the Thames, where it is believed to have been dropped in the 14th century by a ships musician. It is now held by the London Museum.Over subsequent centuries, numerous monarchs travelled with trumpets and kettledrummers to herald their arrival; Smith says that when King Charles II returned to London to reclaim his throne in 1660 following the death of Oliver Cromwell (who himself had a personal trumpeter), it was to the blast of a pair of instruments not dissimilar to the ones he designs today. It does get peoples attention I suppose, he says.Richard Smith, who started Smith-Watkins in 1985 and is one of the few remaining artisans in a world of increased mass-production, has always been obsessed by sound.As a youngster growing up in Chelmsford he managed to get hold of an old Bomber Command radio which he spent hours fiddling with at home. It was a beautiful thing, he says. After serving an apprenticeship at the now defunct telecommunications company Marconi, where he learnt the basics of metalwork, he undertook a masters in woodwind sound and PhD in brass sound at Southampton University.The science of sound still fascinates Smith and informs the design of his instruments. He keeps a laboratory in a room at home, where various trumpets are rigged up to various recording software. When I started making instruments I always imagined I was the air pulse travelling down through the mouth piece form the lips and going into the tube, he says.The fanfare trumpets ordered for the Royal Wedding are made up of 42 parts. Smith orders the brass tubes in 3m lengths, which are then sculpted on a special hydraulic table built for him by a farmer down the road - the tubes are then bent into shape before the instruments are assembled piece by piece.The bell (the splayed end of the trumpet) is ordered in from a special designer in Ipswich; the ball, which is used as a grip, comes from Huddersfield. The detail is painstaking; the accuracy of the tubes needs to be down to less than a thousandth of an inch.Before being silver-plated, a special serial number is etched upon the instrument, while the final flourish is to attach a banner bearing the Royal coat of arms.And then, Richard Smith can breathe a sigh of relief and consider his work done. All that is left is to watch proceedings with his heart in his mouth  and pray come May, the great and good gathered at Westminster Abbey do not bear witness to any bum notes.A trust for the late Ndabaningi Sithole is seeking a court order declaring the acquisition of the politician's Chulu Farm illegal, null and void.



This is after it filed a High Court application demanding compensation for the nationalists farm, which was compulsorily acquired by government in 1993.



The application comes at a time President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised his government would compensate former white commercial farmers who lost their land during the countrys bloody land reform programme that took place in the early 2000s.



In the application, yet to be finalised by the High Court, but filed at least two years ago, the Freedom Farm Trust cited Lands minister, (now headed by Perrance Shiri), Local Government minister, (now under July Moyos purview), the Harare City Council and the master of the High Court as respondents.



According to court papers, the Trust was formed to hold property including land, houses, investment and all intellectual properties owned by the late Sithole.



During his lifetime, the late reverend Ndabaningi Sithole owned Subdivision C of Subdivision A of the farm The Rest also known as Chulu Farm in the outskirts of Harare.



Sometime in 1993, the government of Zimbabwe sought to compulsorily acquire Chulu Farm on the basis that the late . . . Sithole had resettled landless Zimbabwean thereon.





The compulsory acquisition was done for purposes of donating the land to the ministry of Local Government Rural and Urban Development. This ministry would give the land to the third defendant (Local Government minister), the court heard.



Following the acquisition of the land, the government issued a notice in October 1993, for people to evacuate Chulu Farm. Since the eviction of the people, the land has been lying idle, the court heard.



Despite the purported compulsory acquisition of the Chulu Farm by the first and second defendant (Lands and Local Government minister) no compensation was paid to the late reverend Ndabaningi Sithole. A compulsory acquisition of land without payment of compensation is illegal, null and void and is tantamount to theft and robbery.



The value of compensation for both land and improvements on the land is $140 000 000. Because the late reverend ... Sithole was a black indigenous Zimbabwean he is entitled to full compensation for both the land and improvements in terms of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the court heard.

The Trust is now seeking an order for the acquisition of the farm to be declared illegal, null and void and be declared property of the estate late Sithole.



In its response to the summons, however, the Lands ministry has said the acquisition of the farm was lawful and remains valid.



Plaintiffs compensation figure of $140 million is not supported by any quantified assessment.

It is a thump suck figure which cannot be accepted by defendant or the court. Second defendants valuers will provide a properly assessed compensation figure.



It is not true that the farm is lying idle. Plaintiff would have saved itself costs by engaging first and second defendants for a settlement first before approaching the courts, the court was told.

The matter is still to be determined by the High Court. Daily NewsThere are growing worries within the MDC that the party is close to completely scuttling its electoral prospects in this year's crunch national elections - amid revelations that the camp loyal to under-fire vice president Thokozani Khupe may be planning to boot out of the party newly-installed leader, Nelson Chamisa.



This comes as Chamisa told the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that Khupe  who stands accused of playing truant, and is on notice in the party  had been given an extra three days to repent or face automatic expulsion from the countrys main opposition.



We are distressed that this unnecessary infighting is continuing unabated, mainly involving a few people who feel that Khupe has been hard done.



The real worry, apart from the threat of another split in the party, is that the elections are now so close and here we are fighting among ourselves for nothing really. We really miss (the late Morgan) Tsvangirai, a senior party official said.



The partys leadership squabble is deepening despite the popular Chamisa having been unanimously endorsed as presidential candidate in this years make-or-break elections by the MDC Alliance.



Apart from Chamisas MDC, the Alliance includes Tendai Bitis Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Welshman Ncubes MDC, Jacob Ngarivhumes Transform Zimbabwe, Zanu Ndonga headed by Denford Masiyarira, and the Multi-Racial Christian Democrats which is led by Mathias Guchutu.

Biti and Ncube are former secretaries-general of the original and united MDC which was led by Tsvangirai  whose recent passing away ignited a damaging three-way leadership tussle within the MDC involving Chamisa, Khupe and Elias Mudzuri.



In the meantime, the MDCs national council  which is the partys highest decision-making body outside congress  has also endorsed Chamisa as the partys acting president, although the gathering that made that decision is being contested by Khupe in the main, as well as Mudzuri.

Khupe, backed by party national chairperson Lovemore Moyo, organising secretary Abednigo Bhebhe and apparently also by suspended national spokesperson Obert Gutu, is steadfastly refusing to accept that Chamisa is the bona fide successor to Tsvangirai.









Yesterday, the faction that is loyal to her pooh-poohed the seven-day ultimatum that she was given by the partys national council to make peace with Chamisa, instead saying it was him who was now facing the boot.





Contacted for a comment, Khupe flatly refused to do so  but Gutu, who is contesting his suspension as the partys spokesperson, said emphatically that she was going nowhere.

I am not aware of any moves to expel vice president Thokozani Khupe from the party. However, in the event that there are some people who are harbouring such evil intentions, then they will very soon be receiving a very rude shock of their lives.





There are constitutional provisions that have to be rigorously followed ... Its not as easy as congregating in a bar and planning to expel certain cadres from the party. No!





Khupe is a founder member of the MDC. She will not be easily pushed out of the party simply to satisfy the evil and self-destructing machinations of a few power-hungry and misguided political charlatans. It is those people who should be expelled from the party, Gutu said, in apparent reference to Chamisa.





The seven-day ultimatum that was issued to Khupe by the national council lapsed on Friday, with the MDC vice president using Twitter to communicate her defiant position on the matter.





I wrote a letter to the partys Guardians Council for them to intervene in terms of our constitution. They are the internal arbiters and are seized with this matter, even as ultimatums are being issued, she tweeted.





But Chamisa confirmed to the Daily News on Sunday yesterday that Khupe had been given an extra three days to repent or face automatic expulsion.



She is being given the last chance and we are in Matabeleland for three days and we will use these three days to persuade her. If she fails (to repent), then she will have expelled herself, Chamisa said.

Meanwhile, Khupe  who claims that she is the only person among the MDCs three vice presidents who is recognised by the partys constitution to lead the party  has set tough conditions for Chamisa, including him relinquishing his claim to the leadership of the party.





Last week, thugs unleashed an orgy violence at the partys Bulawayo provincial offices where Khupe and other senior officials had converged for a supposed private meeting.





Both the Chamisa and the Khupe camps have denied any involvement in the violence which led to the arrest of 15 people, who have already appeared in court facing charges of public violence.

But Chamisa appears to have won the right to lead the divided party, with political analysts saying Khupe should take a cue from Mudzuri who appears to have accepted that the youthful former MDC organising secretary is now in an unassailable position.





Indeed, Mudzuri has not publicly contested Chamisa since the meeting of the national council and the subsequent consultative meeting of the party which was held in Harare  and which also endorsed Chamisa as Tsvangirais successor and the partys presidential candidate in this years ballot.





Last month, Chamisa received a ringing endorsement from the MDC Alliance which emphatically said he would be its sole presidential candidate, and would thus square off against President Emmerson Mnangagwa in this years presidential elections which are due in less than five months time.





The watershed polls will be the first in the past two decades not to feature 94-year-old former president Robert Mugabe and the late Tsvangirai.





Anyone who fails to see that we are done with the succession issue needs to see a witch doctor. Tsvangirai gave us Chamisa and that automatically means that he becomes the presidential candidate who will face Mnangagwa and his junta. Its done.





We are already on the campaign trail having been to Epworth, Mutare and Chitungwiza ... and now we are heading to Chinhoyi. We are not going back. We are going for Mnangagwa ... we will kick out the junta this time around.We have a dynamic leader in Chamisa and we are brave and ready as a team, Biti said then. Daily NewsThe Commercial Farmers Union, largely composed of white ex-farmers, says the British government should play a leading role in compensating them for losses incurred as a result of Zimbabwes Fast-Track Land Reform Programme.



This comes as Lands, Agriculture and Rural Resettlement Minister Chief Air Marshal (Retired) Perrance Shiri has said authorities in Harare are working around the clock behind the scenes to bring closure to the emotive chapter.



Zimbabwe in 2000 embarked on expedited land reforms after the British government reneged on its obligations to compensate white farmers who were historical beneficiaries of racially skewed tenure policies. More than 250 000 black families benefited from land previously held by around 6 000 white farmers.





Government has pledged  and created legal provisions to back this  to compensate white ex-farmers for developments they had made on repossessed land.





Thus far, Government is conducting valuations to come up with the total bill. In an interview with The Sunday Mail last week, Rtd Chief Air Marshal Shiri said: We are doing a lot of work and there have been a lot of engagements that we have made regarding compensation of the settler farmers.





I am sure that in the coming days and weeks, we will give a definitive position of how we will be going forward and the progress we have made. And CFU director Mr Ben Giplin last week said Britain could not afford to ignore paying compensation to farmers in line with the 1979 Lancaster House Agreement.





The Lancaster House Agreement seems to be short on details and that has always been an issue, he said. Britain cannot simply ignore any responsibility, but how they will deal with this is up to the re-engagement process (between Harare and London). We will do our best to assist in this process.





Zimbabwe will need international assistance in the broadest possible way to ensure the country recovers from the economic difficulties it has been going through.

We sincerely believe that compensation can be a part of that process and in this regard are aware of a willingness of international partners, including Britain, to be involved. Mr Giplin said there had been progress in talks with Government but some were yet to be resolved. The proposals contained within the recently released Government Investment Guidelines and Opportunities in Zimbabwe Section 1.9(a) outline renewed commitment to deal with the matter based on international good practices to determine, amongst others, the value of compensation payable and the modalities for payment.





This is currently the subject of high-level engagement with Government and we are hopeful that a consensus on the way forward can be achieved.





Britains Foreign Secretary, Mr Boris Johnson, is on record as saying his country betrayed Zimbabwe

by failing to honour the Lancaster House Agreement provisions on ex-farmer compensation. Government will pay compensation according to Section 295 of the Constitution. Sunday MailInstall the Newser News app

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(Newser)  Despite it getting dragged by the Justice Department and dismissed by a judge, lawyers for Kristian Saucier have proven that a legal argument consisting of "Well, what about Hillary Clinton though?" is a great first step toward a presidential pardon. CBS News reports Saucier, a former Navy sailor, served a year in prison after pleading guilty in 2016 to taking pictures of the reactor inside the USS Alexandria nuclear submarine seven years earlier. Saucier's lawyers admitted he knew the area was classified but say he wanted to show his family his job. Prosecutors said Saucier was disgruntled and risked national security, not to mention obstructed justice by destroying a laptop and camera. Saucier's lawyers argued he shouldn't go to prison because the FBI didn't charge Clinton for mishandling classified information, according to Bloomberg.

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That argument got the case a lot of attention on Fox News and, therefore, a lot of attention from President Trump. Saucier's lawyer, Ronald Daigle, says Fox News coverage was "absolutely" key in getting Trump to care about the case, HuffPost reports. During the presidential campaign, Trump said Saucier's "life was ruined" despite doing "nothing" compared to what Clinton did. Its an old submarine, believe me, they have pictures of that submarine that nobody knows about, probably, right? Trump said days before the election. Saucier, having completed his sentence, appeared on Fox & Friends last week. On Friday, the White House announced Trump had pardoned him. "Congratulations to Kristian Saucier, a man who has served proudly in the Navy, on your newly found Freedom," Trump tweeted. "Now you can go out and have the life you deserve!" (Read more presidential pardon stories.)'Punish a Muslim day' letters probed by terror police

BBC News11 March 2018Letters encouraging recipients to take part in "Punish a Muslim Day" have reportedly been sent to addresses across the country.Images of the A4 notes, which contain a list of violent acts alongside a number of points for performing them, have been widely shared online.They have prompted a chorus of condemnation, with campaigners and MPs describing them as "disturbing".Counter-terrorism police are treating the letters as a possible hate crime.Tell Mama UK, which monitors anti-Muslim activity, said it had received reports of people in Bradford, Leicester, London, Cardiff and Sheffield getting the letters.Director Iman Atta said: "This has caused quite a lot of fear within the community."They are asking if they are safe, if their children are safe to play outdoors."We have told them to keep calm and to phone the police if they receive one of these letters."She said a number of the letters had been posted from Sheffield and bore a similarity to letters sent to mosques in the UK and US in May 2017, which were also posted from Sheffield."They are inciting violence against the Muslim community," she said.Labour MP Naz Shah said several of her constituents in Bradford had received the "hate mail" through their doors.Ms Shah said the letters were an attempt to instil fear but one that would ultimately fail."We stand shoulder by shoulder, and stand side by side, because nothing will divide us," she said."This is hatred and it just doesn't work. You know, it's what we do."She said she had spoken to police, and had been told detectives believed they were dealing with a "linked series of offences".Counter Terrorism Policing North East said it had received reports of "potentially malicious communications sent to individuals across the UK".A police spokesperson said: "Counter Terrorism Policing North East are co-ordinating the investigation at this time and will consider any potential links to existing inquiries."Anyone with any concerns about a communication they may have received should contact their local police force."West Yorkshire Police said it had received six reports while South Yorkshire Police said it had received three.A Metropolitan Police spokesman said it had received two reports of letters being sent to people, one in east London and the other in the SW4 area.(Newser)  A woman who recruited international students for study programs in Hawaii has been charged with sexually assaulting a 16-year-old Japanese exchange student, authorities said. An Oahu grand jury on Thursday indicted 36-year-old Rika Shimizu on five counts of second-degree sexual assault and four counts of fourth-degree sexual assault, the AP reports. Shimizu operated a boarding home for Japanese students who were attending school in Honolulu. Shimizu, of Japan, is in Hawaii on a visa, prosecutors said. She assaulted a boarder beginning in October and lasting until February while the boy was bedridden for several weeks from a head injury, authorities said. Honolulu police arrested Shimizu on Tuesday after the boy reported the assaults. Her bail was set at $600,000.

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The boy told police that Shimizu assaulted him at least 10 times, according to court documents. The boy's injury had left him incapacitated, unable to go to the bathroom alone, prepare meals, or change clothes. Shimizu had threatened to claim the boy had raped her if he reported the assaults, according to the court documents. She also threatened to get him expelled from school and the exchange program. Micky Yamatani, the boy's attorney, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that the teen reported the assaults to his mother. She then contacted a friend, and the boy was taken out of the boarding house. "This is a case of sheer betrayal of the trust this victim and his family endowed on this woman," Yamatani said. "Instead of providing a healthy and nurturing environment, the defendant engaged in sexual assaults of this minor child."

(Read more sexual assault stories.)(Newser)  China's rubber-stamp lawmakers on Sunday passed a historic constitutional amendment abolishing a presidential two-term limit that will enable Xi Jinping to rule indefinitely, reports the AP. The amendment upends a system enacted by former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping in 1982 to prevent a return to the bloody excesses of a lifelong dictatorship typified by Mao Zedong's chaotic 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution. "This marks the biggest regression in China's legal system since the reform and opening-up era of the 1980s," said Zhang Lifan, an independent, Beijing-based political commentator. "I'm afraid that this will all be written into our history in the future." Voting among the National People's Congress' nearly 3,000 hand-picked delegates began mid-afternoon, with Xi leading members of the Communist Party's seven-member all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee in casting their votes.

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The delegates voted 2,958 in favor, with two opposed, three abstaining, and one vote invalidated. "The constitutional amendment item has passed," the announcer declared to polite applause. The 64-year-old Xi appeared to show little emotion, remaining in his seat with other deputies to listen to a report on the work of the congress delivered by its outgoing chairman. While some scholars questioned the wisdom of the move, others said they saw value in sending the message that Xi would be setting policy for many years to come. "In fact, the more Xi Jinping's position is consolidated and the longer his governing time is to last, the more secure it is for the continuity of the policies," said Liu Jiangyong, a professor at Renmin University's School of International Relations. (President Trump, meanwhile, thinks China's move is "great.")(Newser)  Emmy-winning actor Sterling K. Brown is having a moment: Promoting the hit Black Panther, the This Is Us star hosted the latest episode of Saturday Night Live, and by all accounts nailed it, reports EW. He spoofed his tearjerker NBC series with one focused on the Trump administration called This Is US, ("Like This Is Us but without the parts that feel good.") Brown portrays Dr. Ben Carson, whose wife reassures him he'll be a great surgeon general, then laughs hysterically when told that he'll be heading up HUD. Brown also brought the tears to his opening monologue, repeatedly breaking down in a This Is Us spoof, notes the Hollywood Reporter. More clips in the gallery. (Read more Saturday Night Live stories.)(Newser)  British health authorities on Sunday urged people to wash their clothing and possessions as a precaution if they visited a restaurant and pub in Salisbury, where a Russian ex-spy and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent. The statement was the first time British officials urged the public to take specific actions over the attack, reports the AP. Public Health England say the risk is low, but issued advice for anyone who went to Zizzi restaurant or The Mill pub at certain hours of March 4 and 5. Ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia reportedly ate at Zizzi before falling critically ill on March 4. "It is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin," the statement said. "Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health."

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The health agency added that people should "wipe personal items such as phones, handbags and other electronic items with cleansing or baby wipes and dispose of the wipes." Health officials say that up to 500 people may have to take these precautions. The government, meanwhile, hasn't revealed what nerve agent was used in the attack or how or where the Skripals were exposed to the nerve agent. It's not known if it happened in a restaurant, a pub, Skripal's house, or elsewhere. Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Saturday evening it is still "too early" to determine who is to blame for the attack. Rudd said more than 250 counterterrorism officers are on the scene evaluating more than 240 pieces of evidence and interviewing about 200 witnesses. They are backed by roughly 180 military personnel providing logistical support. More here.

(Read more Sergei Skripal stories.)(Newser)  Steve Bannon continued his European tour Saturday as a surprise speaker for the struggling National Front party in Paris, NBC News reports. The former White House strategist paced the stage for half an hour, bathing in applause and urging members to embrace some of their critics' worst epithets. "Let them call you racist," he says. "Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor." The ex-Breitbart chairman also slammed central governments and central banks and said that "history is on our side" in the battle against "globalists."

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A last-minute addition, Bannon spiced up an otherwise "technical party convention" that restored Marine Le Pen to power following the party's hard loss in last year's elections, France24 reports. The congress also stripped her father, party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen, of an honorary "president for life" position (he lost his official leadership role three years ago for making anti-Semitic remarks). As for Bannon, he just gave a talk in Zurich for a crowd of 1,500 and celebrated the victory of hard-right populists in Italy's national election last weekend, Politico and the New York Times report. "All I'm trying to be," says Bannon, "is the infrastructure, globally, for the global populist movement." (Read more Steve Bannon stories.)(Newser)  A Toronto psychiatrist who considered homosexuality a "disorder" also had sex with male patients in his officeand will likely lose his license over it, Newsweek reports. Melvyn Iscove, 72, has been found guilty of sexually abusing two men who came to him in the 1990s and early 2000s. A committee of Ontario doctors heard that Iscove considered sex acts part of a treatment to help them overcome fantasies. One man, identified as Patient A, met with Iscove over "fears he was gay" and soon found the doctor making advances, the Toronto Star reports. "This progressed on later occasions to mutual masturbation and oral sex," the panel writes.

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The other patient came to Iscove with depression and anxiety but identified as heterosexualwhich Iscove dismissed "as a way of denying his homosexuality," says the panel. The two men apparently engaged in mutual masturbation and oral and anal sex in his office. Iscove, who denies the allegations, admits that he supports the theories of Edmund Bergler, a psychoanalyst who argued that homosexuality is a mental illness. As Newsweek points out, the World Health Organization disagrees, and many US states and the province of Ontario have banned gay conversion therapy. Iscove is facing a penalty hearing where his license will be on the line. (Read more homosexuality stories.)(Newser)  Russia says it tested a hypersonic missile capable of traveling at 10 times the speed of sound. According to the BBC, the country's defense ministry released a video showing the Kinzhal missile as it detached from a fighter jet. The officials said the test was a success. "The launch went according to plan: the hypersonic missile hit its target," the ministry reportedly said. The weapon, which is named after a type of dagger, is one of a cache of new weapons Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a state address earlier this month, per the Guardian. Putin reportedly called the Kinzhal an "ideal weapon."

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Ideal or not, the official US stance on the development appears to be that Putin is wasting his nation's money on a show of force. "I saw no change to the Russian military capability," US Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters. "They do not impact any need on our side for a change in our deterrence posture." Putin's unveiling of the military technologies comes as he's poised for likely re-election this month. Russia has also announced the development of an underwater drone capable of blasting coastlines with a powerful nuclear explosion and a futuristic nuclear-powered cruise missile capable of circling the globe. (Read more Russia stories.)(Newser)  On Saturday, President Trump again supported the idea of killing off America's drug dealers. Speaking at a rally in Moon Township, Penn., he said the presidents of China and Singapore inspired him with their policies, USA Today reports. "You kill 5,000 people with drugs because you're smuggling them in and you are making a lot of money and people are dying," Trump told the West Pennsylvania crowd. "And they dont even put you in jail." Then he quoted the president of Singapore: "He said, 'We have a zero tolerance policy. That means if we catch a drug dealer, death penalty.'"

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Dozens in this pro-Trump district nodded in agreement as he spoke, the Washington Post reports. "We love Trump," a man shouted, and a woman cried out: "Pass it!" Trump's talk often veered from the planned subject of Rick Saccone, a Republican running for a US House seat in a tight race with Democrat Conor Lamb. Trump called Saccone "handsome" and dismissed his opponent as "Lamb the sham," then wandered onto other topics. As for drug dealers, Trump has talked execution beforein particular for solving the opioid epidemic. After the rally, Kellyanne Conway said Trump would pursue a more "nuanced" approach, Salon reports. (Read more drug dealer stories.)(Newser)  Mexican authorities say a rudimentary or homemade explosive device was responsible for a tourist ferry blast that injured 26 people Feb. 21 in the Caribbean resort city of Playa del Carmen. But Deputy Attorney General Arturo Elias Beltran said Sunday at a news conference that terrorism and organized crime have been "ruled out," the AP reports. Federal prosecutors say there is no motivation for a terrorist group to have carried out an attack. They also believe criminal gangs would not have done it, knowing it would draw unwanted attention and increased security. Prosecutors also say an object found attached to the underside of another ferry belonging to the same company later near Cozumel Island is a similar "rudimentary artifact." Authorities are pursuing multiple lines of investigation. (Read more Mexico stories.)Sorry!

This content is not available in your regionFairbanks, AK (99707)

Today

Snow this morning will taper off and give way to cloudy skies this afternoon. High near 40F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of snow 70%. 1 to 3 inches of snow expected..

Tonight

Cloudy. Low 27F. Winds light and variable.The Daily News-Miner encourages residents to make themselves heard through the Opinion pages. Readers' letters and columns also appear online at newsminer.com. Contact the editor with questions at letters@newsminer.com or call 459-7574.

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Send Community Perspective submissions by mail (P.O. Box 70710, Fairbanks AK 99707) or via email (letters@newsminer.com). Submissions must be 500 to 750 words. Columns are welcome on a wide range of issues and should be well-written and well-researched with attribution of sources. Include a full name, email address, daytime telephone number and headshot photograph suitable for publication (email jpg or tiff files at 150 dpi.) You may also schedule a photo to be taken at the News-Miner office. The News-Miner reserves the right to edit submissions or to reject those of poor quality or taste without consulting the writer.

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Ranveer Singh starrer aSimmbaa is one of the most-awaited and talked about films in recent times. The film has been making waves ever since the film was announced the makers.

The aBaajirao Mastania actor who is on a career high will reportedly play a quirky cop in the film. The dashing actor who is known for his dedication and impeccable performance has started shooting for Simmba as per media reports.

Interestingly, Rohit Sharma is helming the film which is slated to hit the silver screens on December 28. The aGolmaala director is teaming up with Ranveer for the very first time and a lot of expectations are riding on their shoulders.

Trade pundits are expecting a blockbuster performance from the dynamic duo.

There have been a lot of speculations over the leading lady who will star opposite the aPadmaavata actor. Grapevines were buzzing with the rumours that Alia Bhatt might land the role in the highly anticipated film.

According to a latest report, it seems an internet sensation fondly known as aawinking girlaa might feature in the upcoming film. A And that actress is none other Priya Prakash Varrier.

aThe girlas role is not so big in the film. But Priya has become an overnight craze with the wink of an eye. Bollywood is interested in her. And who better equipped to consolidate Priyaas supremacy in the virtual world in the arena ofA inema than Karan Johar?aa, a source told Deccan Chronicle.

The 18-year-old girl shot to fame with aManikya Malaraya Poovia from the Malayalam flick aOru Adaar Lovea. Her awinka made her the national crush of India and an overnight sensation.

Fans couldnat stop gushing over how cute she looked in the video that went viral within minutes.A

The makers are yet to confirm the development, but if it turns out to be true, we believe it will be the perfect launch for the teen actress.

For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Bongaon :

''We are hopeful to plug the gaps along the countrys borders with Pakistan and Bangladesh in the next three to five years, BSF Director General K K Sharma has said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) plans to put up a Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System (CIBMS) in areas along the India-Bangladesh border, where it is difficult to put up a fence due to the nature of the terrain as well as check cross-border infiltration and smuggling, Sharma said.

CIBMS is an integration of a number of new gadgets and technologies to ensure electronic surveillance of borders. These provide feeds to BSF personnel at the border outposts, where monitors would be installed.

In case of a threat, quick reaction BSF teams will intervene and neutralize it, the official said.

As of now, the CIBMS project will be rolled out in the vulnerable areas of Indias border with Bangladesh and Pakistan. We plan to implement the system within the next 3-5 years, he told PTI in an interview on Friday.

A pilot project of the CIBMS is underway in two 5-km patches along the India-Pakistan border at Jammu and along the India-Bangladesh border at Dhubri in Assam.

Asked about the plans to cover the unfenced border areas between India and Bangladesh, Sharma said, Fences will be erected wherever we can. Where we cannot erect a fence because of the terrain, the gap will be covered by the CIBMS.

On the smuggling of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) at the border areas, the BSF DG said the FICN trade has been on the decline since demonetisation and introduction of new currency.

Read- With China in mind, India, France pledge to work for Indian Ocean freedom of navigation

The security features in the new notes are very hard to copy and that is why the amount of FICN seized is not as much as it used to be before demonetisation, he said.

Sharma lauded the pilot of the Crime Free Zone project along the Bangladesh border in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal and said it will be replicated in other parts of the Indo-Bangladesh border.

In a bid to control cross-border crimes and smuggling, the BSF and its Bangladesh counterpart, the Border Guards Bangladesh (BGB), had jointly launched the Crime Free Zone project on Friday.

The BSF border outposts Gunarmath and Kalyani, and BGB border outposts Putkhali and Daulatpur have been declared as "crime-free" zones.

The aim of the project is to make the area free from illegal, anti-social and criminal activities by integrating efforts of the BSF and BGB in assistance with the district administration, NGOs and border population of both the countries, Sharma added.

Read- Gorakhpur, Phulpur Bypolls: Litmus test for UP CM, SP-BSP alliance

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

With an aim to promote clean energy, the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives on Sunday gathered at the Cultural Centre of New Delhis Rashtrapati Bhavan to attend the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA).

The three-day summit was kicked-off by co-hosts Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron.

Apart from co-host France, countries like Australia, UAE, Niger, Gabon, Seychelles, Ghana, Rwanda, Fiji, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka are also taking part in the ISA summit.

To promote clean energy, the ISA initiative was launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Indo-Africa summit and United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, held in October 2015 and November 2015 respectively.

A year later, Framework Agreement for the ISA was opened for the signature during the CoP-22 in Morocco on November 15, 2016.

Also Read | France pitches for another batch of 36 Rafale jets procurement by India

Currently, there are 121 member countries, out of which 61 have joined the alliance and 32 have ratified the ISA Framework Agreement.

Here are the live updates:

# Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for concessional and less-risky finances for raising the share of solar electricity in the energy mix and pledged to generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in India from renewable energy sources by 2022. (PTI)

# PM Modi and French Prez Emmanuel Macron at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance in Delhi.

PM @narendramodi and French Prez @EmmanuelMacron at Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance in Delhi. pic.twitter.com/xcSbdHk8zE  PIB India (@PIB_India) March 11, 2018

# Vedas consider the sun as the soul of the world, it has been considered as a life nurturer. Today, for combating climate change, we need to look at this ancient idea to find a way: PM Modi

# PM Modi will address the conference shortly.

All set for the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance, where several world leaders are taking part. PM @narendramodi will be addressing the Conference shortly. pic.twitter.com/eBur8EVAnc

 PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 11, 2018

# With PM Modi we are committed and we have same obsession-creating momentum, inspiring people and gathering them to deliver results. But we're obsessed by concrete results, so now we are creating new momentum, we take new commitment to deliver complete results for our countries&planet: E Macron

# French President Macron delivers inaugural address at the International Solar Alliance in Delhi

Delhi: Leaders pose for a group photo at Rashtrapati Bhawan's Cultural Centre where #InternationalSolarAlliance is underway. pic.twitter.com/q7JGxsOmzq  ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Former Bihar Chief Minister and Hindustan Awam Morcha head Jitan Ram Manjhi has accepted the invitation by the former Congress president Sonia Gandhi to attend a dinner hosted by her.

Gandhi has made the arrangements for the dinner which will be hosted for the opposition parties and will be hosted on March 13.

The Congress leader had invited all the leaders of all opposition parties in a fresh bid to forge a united force against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The initiative came as a step towards strengthening the opposition and laying a foundation for a united front in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, said a party insider.

Hindustani Awam Morcha chief Jitan Ram Manjhi to attend dinner hosted for opposition parties by Sonia Gandhi on March 13th. (File Pic) pic.twitter.com/l0DoVR4P8p a ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

Gandhias invitation comes at a time when talks of a non-BJP, non-Congress third-party front were making headlines, following a proposal by Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) Chief and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao for joining national politics.

A senior leader of Congress said, aIt would not only be a dinner, but also showcase the strength of opposition parties who would like to come together to form a front against the misrule of BJP.a

Manjhi recently made headlines by quitting the alliance with the NDA government.A

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Singapore:

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he and his sister Priyanka Gandhi have completely forgiven his father Rajiv Gandhis killers.

During his interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore, Gandhi, when asked if he and his sister Priyanka had forgiven his fathers killers, said: We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, completely...in fact, completely (forgiven).

There is a history that when one realises that when these events take place, its collision of ideas, forces, confusion. Thats where you get caught. I remember when I saw Mr Prabhakaran on TV lying dead, I got two feelings - one was why they are humiliating this man in this way.

Also Read | 'Thanks to Rahul Gandhi, Nirbhaya's brother is a pilot now'

And second was I felt really bad for him and for his kids and I did that because I understood deeply what it meant to be on the other side of that thing. So to me when I see violence regardless of who it is, I know that there is a human being behind that, there is a family behind that, a kid crying behind that. I have been through a lot of pain to get this and it is something I consider very valuable. I find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does, he said.

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber of LTTE, the terrorist group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on May 21, 1991 at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

Gandhi, who is on a five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries, also said: We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. Thats pretty clear.

Asked if he thinks he had a privilege life being the son and grandson of former prime ministers, he said, It depends which side of the coin you are...of course there are a number of privileges where I sit, but I would not say that I havent been through a rough ride.

I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...surrounded by 15 guys from morning noon and night, I dont thinks thats a privilege. I think thats quite a hard thing to deal with, he said in a video shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Ahmedabad:

The Supreme Court has tilted more towards idealism in the recent years, compared to realism in the past, due to the socio-political and economic changes taking place in the country, a senior judge of the apex court said today.

Justice Ranjan Gogoi compared the Supreme Courts 2017 verdict on triple talaq (Shayara Bano) and the 1985 ruling on right to alimony (Shah Bano) to buttress his point.

The Supreme Court, in the triple talaq judgment, did perhaps what it could not do in the Shah Bano case, he said.

The injustices today were not borne out of poverty or illiteracy alone, but due to different identities, diverse opinions and aspirations for autonomy, Justice Gogoi said.

He maintained that the apex courts character and functioning would have to be perceived in the light of the prevailing circumstances.

Justice Gogoi said this as a response to arguments in certain quarters that the Supreme Court is venturing into creating a judicial legislature or that it is entering into the domain traditionally reserved for the executive and legislature.

He was speaking on the topic of Constitutional Realism and Constitutional Idealism: Is the Supreme Court on the Cusp of Evolution? as part of the 13th Justice P D Desai Memorial Lecture.

We are realising that the injustices today are not borne out of poverty and illiteracy alone. They are borne out of different identities, diverse opinions, aspirations for autonomy and the desire to be a free thinker.

However good or bad it may appear to be, we cant help it, this is the new order, the apex court judge said.

Stating that the Supreme Courts stance as regards strengthening civil liberties showed a tilt towards idealism, he said, The court seems to have taken a meaningful leap towards the ideal idea of India, if not towards the new idea of India.

Through this shift, the apex court was gradually enriching the culture of constitutionalism, Justice Gogoi added.

Through its recent judgements, the apex court had been beaming a new light into the promises of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity that we, the people of India, have made to one another, he said, citing the triple talaq ruling as an example.

I dont know why the media and the intelligentsia were quick to draw a parallel between Shayara Bano (triple talaq) and Shah Bano (right to alimony). It is my earnest view that the Supreme Court, in the triple talaq judgment, did perhaps what it could not do in the Shah Bano case.

It extended democratic ideals into a very intimate private sphere of two autonomous individuals. The Shah Bano ruling (1985) began with these words: This appeal does not involve any question of constitutional importance, Justice Gogoi said.

The apex court judge added that both the landmark cases were treated differently.

In the triple talaq judgment, the court tested the practice of unilateral talaq on the touchstone of this very Constitution, he said.

In the Shah Bano case, the court perhaps did not deem the issue to be so much an issue of gender equality.

In the Shayara Bano case, it left no stones unturned when it held triple talaq to be inequitable in terms of Article 14 (dealing with equality), Justice Gogoi noted.

Without an inkling of doubt, this piece of law will be a sterling addition to Indian legal philosophy on gender justice, he added.

Highlighting the reasons for the change in the apex courts approach in dealing with issues of public interest, Justice Gogoi said the country had witnessed a socio-political and economic transformation over the years.

India is transforming from socialism to acquire a new identity. The rise of the capitalist class has made India extremely susceptible to corruption and the consequent criminalisation of politics and economy and aberrations in good governance, he added.

The watchdog vacuum created due to these changes was being filled by the judiciary, Justice Gogoi said.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday said $1 trillion will be needed to achieve one terawatt (TW) of solar power capacity worldwide by 2030.

Speaking alongside Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), he said there are financing and regulation hurdles for achieving the target which need to be cleared by government, private sector and civil society coming together.

Without any names, he referred to countries quitting the historic Paris Climate agreement and said that the International Solar Alliance nations came together to "deliver complete results".

The oblique reference was to US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to curb global greenhouse gas emission and limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.

In November last year, Syria signed the deal, leaving the United States as the only country in the world not to support the framework deal to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

"They (ISA member nations) started to act and to deliver complete results. They didn't wait, they didn't stop because few countries decided to just leave the floor and the Paris agreement," he said. "Because they decided it was good for them, their children and grandchildren and they decided to act and keep acting."



President Macron said countries represented at International Solar Alliance represent three-fourths of the world population. As much as 20-50 per cent of the population do not have access to power, he said.

Also Read | French Prez in India Highlights: Emmanuel Macron arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan; takes part in International Solar Alliance

The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2030 for which "we need $1,000 billion," he said.

"We know the hurdles... (there) are financial hurdles, regulations, capacity hurdles as well. We shall therefore lift every single one of them," he said. "To that effect, it is not enough to look at what governments are doing. We need a new international deal with the private sector, the international public sector and the civil society as well."

"It is common good and it is for the development of all countries," he said.

The French president said three primary things need to be done. Firstly, identify solar energy potential in each country, their projects and financing requirement. Secondly, mobilise available finance and thirdly to provide a favourable framework.

International Solar Alliance, he said, will bring member nations financing as well as share expertise between them.

On financing, he said, the French Development Agency will allocate 700 million euros in additional spending to its commitment to solar energy by 2022, taking the total commitment to 1 billion euros.

"But in order to reach the 1,000 billion dollars by 2030, to reach the 1 TW of solar energy, we need private investors," he said, adding that the alliance will provide a favourable framework.

"It means that we will improve the regulations, the terms in order to support investments in renewable. It is also about improving public procurement and to provide efficient policies," he said, urging nations to facilitate purchase and supply of electricity generated from solar energy.

Stating that existing guarantees need to be reviewed, he said, "We need appropriate guarantee tools. The existing ones are too expensive and do not cover all of the risks".

Lauding India for showing the world the way in scaling up solar power generation capacity, he said, renewable capacity has within two years gone up from 39 gigawatt to 63 GW, while that of solar energy has soared by 140 per cent.

"India proves that it is possible. What you are in the process of succeeding in doing is being watched by the entire world," he said. "You are attracting investment, you are supporting them, you are training young people and so this is what we shall be doing. This is what 121 countries of the alliance in Asia, Africa, Latin America shall be doing."

Also Read | Saudi Arabia: Women exercise their new right to jog on Womens Day

Later he tweeted: "We make Delhi this weekend the world capital of the sun. Through our presence, we seal an alliance to make the energy of the sun accessible to everyone".

"Countries with the most solar potential are often the most in need of energy, but only a small share of electricity generation. With ISA Summit, we bring capabilities closer to needs," he said in a tweet.

Seven months ago, when Prime Minister Modi came to Paris, all was done to make the International Solar Alliance Summit, which was an agreement in principle, a reality. "It's done today."

"We did not come from all continents to deliver additional speeches that will soon be forgotten. We came to ask the topics on the table and give access to solar energy in the world," he added.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

To counter Chinas growing influence in the Indian Ocean, India and France on Saturday signed 14 agreements including a key security accord in the region.

Both our countries believe for the world peace, prosperity, and progress in the future. The Indian Ocean region is going to play a very important role, Prime Minister Narendra Modi as French president Emmanuel Macron stood by his side.

"Stability in the Indian Ocean region is very important for the stability of the entire region, and we are with India for freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific," Macron said in his joint address with PM Modi.

Both countries decided to step up cooperation in the space sector by exploring ways to use satellites for maritime surveillance and collaborating on inter-planetary missions

India's Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and French National Space Agency (CNES) would work together on the design and development of joint products and techniques to monitor and protect their assets in land and sea.

Also Read | France pitches for another batch of 36 Rafale jets procurement by India

ISRO and CNES also inked an agreement for an end-to-end solution for detection, identification, and monitoring of vessels in the regions of interest.

In an apparent reference to China, Macron stressed that "a strong part of our security and the world's stability" is at stake in the Indian Ocean that, like the Pacific Ocean, "cannot become a place of hegemony".

After Brexit, Emmanuel Macron wants France to be Indias best partner in Europe.

Apart from security, the two leaders also pledged to start work at Jaitapur site by the end of the year to build world's largest nuclear power plant, with a total capacity of 9.6 Gigawatts.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Lahore:

A shoe was hurled at Pakistan's ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif by a religious extremist today during a function at an Islamic seminary in Lahore.

The incident took place a day after religious extremist blackened the face of Pakistan's Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif with ink when he was addressing his party's worker's convention in his hometown in Sialkot, some 100-km from Lahore.

On Sunday, Sharif was a chief guest at Jamia Naemia seminary, Ghari Shahu Lahore.

As Sharif was heading towards rostrum for a speech, a student hurled a shoe at him that hit his shoulder and ear.

The student also managed to reach in front of Sharif and chanted "Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah" slogan.

The security personnel caught the student and his other accomplice who also chanted "Labbaik Ya Rasoolullah" slogans and gave them sound thrashing.

Later, the two students were handed over to police. Police identified the shoe thrower as Abdul Ghafoor, a former student of the seminary, and his accomplice as Sajid.

Also Read: Trump-Kim meeting only after 'concrete actions' from North Korea: White House

The situation became very tense after the incident.

Sharif made a brief speech in which he did not mention about the man who threw shoe at him.

The religious parties especially Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan had held Sharif and his party (PML-N) responsible for making an attempt to change a clause related to finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution.

In Saturday's incident, Faiz Rasool, who threw ink at the foreign minister, told the police that he vent out his anger because the PML-N had tried to change the finality of the Prophet in the Constitution.

"This hurt the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis including myself," he said.

Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had to resign last November when hundreds of Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan supporters camped at Islamabad's Faizabad traffic interchange forcing the PML-N government to take action against those in the federal cabinet responsible for attempting to change this clause from the Constitution.

Also Read | French Prez in India Highlights: Emmanuel Macron arrives at Rashtrapati Bhavan; takes part in International Solar Alliance

The mainstream parties -- Pakistan People's Party and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf -- condemned the incident.

PML-N leader and Railway Minister Khwaja Saad Rafique said those afraid of popularity of PML-N are behind such incidents.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.New Delhi:

Chinese parliament on Sunday abolished term limits for its leader, a move that will allow President Xi Jinping to rule the country for life. China's National Peoples Congress passed the constitutional changes during its annual meeting.

The NPC regarded as the rubber stamp Parliament for its routine approval of CPC proposals approved the changes with an overwhelming vote without a hitch.

Out of total 2,964 votes, only 2 delegates voted against making Jinping Chinas president for life. Three delegates formally declined to vote either for or against the proposal.

Jinping is considered as Chinas strongest leader after Mao and is currently heading CPC, the military, and the Presidency, which is mostly ceremonial.

Also Read | With China in mind, India, France pledge to work for Indian Ocean freedom of navigation

The NPC also endorsed another draft constitutional amendment to enshrine Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the fundamental law.

This would make Xi the only leader after Mao and Deng Xiaoping whose thoughts were written into the Constitution. It would place him above the rest of the leaders of the party.

(With PTI inputs)

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.Reference is made to the stock exchange releases by Awilco Drilling PLC ("the Company") on 27 and 28 February 2018 regarding the successfully completed private placement. The Company is pleased to announce that its fully owned subsidiary Awilco Rig 1 Pte. Ltd. on 9 March 2018, signed a contract with KeppelFELS shipyard in Singapore for the building of one new CS60 ECO MW semisubmersible drilling rig. The rig is designed for harsh environment use, and will be equipped and certified for drilling on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, including in the Barents Sea, in water depths up to 5000ft.

The cost for the rig delivered from the yard in Singapore is approximately USD 425 million. Delivery is planned for late Q1 2021. In connection with entering into the contract for such newbuilding, the Company has also negotiated options to build up to three additional rigs of similar design, such options to be independent of each other.

In addition to the newbuilding contract announced above, Awilco Drilling PLC owns and operates the two Enhanced Pacesetter semi-submersibles WilPhoenix and WilHunter, equipped for drilling in water depths up to 1,200 ft and 1500 ft respectively.

Aberdeen, 11 March 2018





For further information please contact:



Jon Oliver Bryce, CEO

Phone: +44 1224 737900

Cathrine Haavind, IR Manager

Phone: +47 93 42 84 64

Email: ch@awilcodrilling.com

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Gonzalo Raffo de Lavalle

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

Helenio Herrera

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

Karl Marx

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

Sun Tzu









We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.



Paulo CoelhoThe death of 22-year-old Binghamton University student Haley Anderson has been ruled a homicide, police said on Saturday.

Anderson's body was found Friday at 23 Oak St. in Binghamton following a welfare complaint.

Binghamton police here at 23 Oak Street. Crime scene unit was here earlier today. I spoke to some residents who say college students live there, and they are always friendly. They also say this is an unexpected scene for the neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/edVqjqGfC6  Briana Smith (@brianasmithnews) March 9, 2018

Police said a male nursing student who is also enrolled at Binghamton University is a person of interest in the investigation, according to WBNG-TV. The student is known to have had a previous romantic relationship with Anderson.

Police said the person of interest left the United States via plane before Anderson's body was found on Friday. They did not reveal his destination.

The death is being investigated by Binghamton Police, New York State University Police at Binghamton, the Broome County District Attorney's Office, the FBI - Binghamton, the NY/NJ High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Program, NY/NJ Port Authority Police and the Nassau County Police Department.

Anyone with information has been asked to contact Binghamton Police Detective Division at 607-772-7080 or 607-772-7082.

Binghamton University's Facebook page offered a message of sympathy to her loved ones.The management of the University of Benin, Edo State, has confirmed the death of one of its students who allegedly committed suicide.

The management of the University of Benin, Edo State, has confirmed the death of one of its students who allegedly committed suicide.The deceased, identified only as Adams, was said to have been found dead in his room at Ekosodin community, in the Ovia North-East Local Government Area of the state.He was said to be a 500-level student in the Department of Computer Engineering.It was gathered that Adams had been sighted at his department where he submitted an assignment, before he returned to his hostel on Thursday.Some of his friends were said to have suspected that something had gone wrong when they could not access his room while he was inside.However, his lifeless body was later said to have been found by his relatives who forced the door open in the evening.Some of his colleagues seen at the department on Saturday declined to speak on the issue and referred our correspondent to the authorities of the school.The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Johnson Kokumo, could not be reached for comments as calls put across to his telephone were unanswered.He had yet to respond to a text message sent to his mobile as of the time of filling this reportBut the Public Relations Officer of the university, Michael Osasuyi, who confirmed the incident, said the institution received the report with surprise.Osasuyi noted that the deceased was a first-class student. He said, The 500-level computer engineering student was discovered in his room at Ekosodin.He hung himself. His father came to see him and that was how it was discovered that he hung himself. The information that got to us was that he was a bright student, a first-class student.Osasuyi urged students, no matter what they might be experiencing, to be bold enough to speak out.Two students -- both 14 -- have been charged in connection with a shooting threat at the Lumberton Middle School, police said Saturday.

According to police, they were told by district administrators that shortly after school was dismissed on Friday a student heard "alarming comments" from another student and reported the incident.

Lumberton Township Police Department detectives said with cooperation of school officials the identified witnesses involved in the incident and the two suspects.

The pair arrested had "made a threat to be involved in a school shooting," police said.

No incident took place at the Burlington County school.

"We will always take any threatening statement, made in any context, as a legitimate threat," said Lumberton Chief of Police Anthony DiLoreto. "We will work diligently with the school district and community to identify, address and mitigate situations that pertain to our students' safety."

Police and school officials are urging any student who sees something suspicious to say something to authorities. They are also urging parents to speak with their children to let them know it's OK to speak up if they if see something they believe is wrong.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsA Camden woman has been jailed after allegedly kidnapping the young child she was supposed to be babysitting.

Nadajia Hill

Camden County police said Nadajia Hill, 22, had assumed care of a 4-month-old boy Friday night from the child's mother, but when the mom went to pick up her son Saturday morning he was missing.

Investigators found Hill had allegedly taken the boy to Newark from Camden using public transportation.

She was on her way back south around 12:30 p.m. Saturday on a New Jersey Transit RiverLine train with the toddler when it stopped at the Riverside station and officers found them.

Police said the baby was in good health and was returned to his family.

Authorities charged Hill with kidnapping and child endangerment and sent her to the Camden County Jail to await a court hearing, officials said.

Camden County police were aided in their investigation by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, New Jersey State Police, New Jersey Transit Police and Newark Police.

Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. Have a tip? Tell us. nj.com/tipsNew Jersey's new governor will consider changes to the state's charter school law, potentially slowing the expansion of controversial, yet in-demand schools championed by former Gov. Chris Christie.

The state on Friday announced a "comprehensive review" of its charter school law, fulfilling one of Gov. Phil Murphy's campaign promises after an era of rapid school choice growth.

It's unclear, however, how long the review will last or whether applications to expand or open charter schools will be considered during the process. Neither the state Department of Education nor the governor's office answered questions about the review.

Yet the bare bones announcement appears consistent with the "time out" on charter school approvals Murphy advocated for during his campaign as well as the "pause" on charter school expansion suggested by his education transition team.

Murphy, a Democrat, has said he wants to put a hold on expanding charter schools until his administration can review the law and figure out what's working and what's not.

The New Jersey Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, applauded Murphy's decision. It previously called for a moratorium on charter school approvals until changes in the law were considered.

"It's past time to look closely at New Jersey's charter school law and see what needs to be changed in order to ensure that every student in every New Jersey public school has the opportunity and the resources needed to succeed," union spokesman Steve Baker said.

New Jersey has 89 charter schools serving nearly 50,000 students, thanks in part to significant expansions approved by Christie, a Republican school choice advocate who deemed charter schools "salvation for families," especially those in urban districts.

Operated independently of local school districts, charters are public schools that receive pass-through funding from the districts students leave, making them free for parents who can't afford private academies.

But critics say charter schools lack oversight, drain resources from traditional public schools and too often fail students with inadequate teaching. As much as Christie supported charter schools, he also ordered 20 of them to shut down because of problems in the schools' academics, finances or administration.

The New Jersey Charter Schools Association said it will use the review as a chance to show Murphy why charter schools should have increased autonomy to innovate, collaborate, and focus on educating the state's vulnerable and undeserved students.

At the same time the Department of Education announced the review, it also rejected five applications to expand existing charter schools: Burch Charter School of Excellence in Irvington; Classical Academy Charter School in Clifton; College Achieve Greater Asbury Park Charter School serving students in Asbury Park and Neptune; Compass Academy Charter School serving students in Millville, Vineland and Pittsgrove; and University Academy in Jersey City.

However, the department granted initial approval for an arts-based charter school to open in Salem County in 2019. That application was already partially through the approval process before Christie left office in January.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Two New Jersey universities are being honored today by a national higher education council for their successful "transformations" over the last several years.

Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken and Saint Peter's University in Jersey City are the 2018 winners of the American Council on Education/Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation.

The honor is being bestowed during ACE's 100th annual meeting at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C.

"Stevens Institute of Technology and Saint Peter's University both illustrate how addressing issues head-on  plus a lot of hard work and collaboration  can help transform an institution," ACE President Ted Mitchell said in a prepared statement.

Stevens is receiving the award in the category for institutions with at least 5,001 students while SPU is receiving the award in the category for institutions with up to 5,000 students.

According to ACE, the award, which comes with a $10,000 prize, was created to recognize institutions that have responded to higher education challenges in innovative ways that resulted in dramatic changes over a relatively brief span.

At Stevens, President Nariman Farvardin, who took office in July 2011, is being credited with putting the institute on the right track after inheriting unstable enrollment, retention and graduation rates; decreased research funding; disillusioned alumni, faculty and staff; and poor relations with the city of Hoboken.

In what ACE calls a dramatic turnaround, Stevens' undergraduate applications and enrollment are up 156 and 29 percent, respectively, and graduate applications and enrollment are up 128 and 24 percent. Graduation, retention and placement rates have increased to 95, 83, and 96 percent, respectively, representing all-time records for the university. Financials, fundraising and the institution's endowment have also all seen drastic improvements, and the university's credit rating has been upgraded.

"The demand for a Stevens education has never been higher," Farvardin said. "With the continued commitment of the university community, the potential of Stevens is limitless. On behalf of Stevens Institute of Technology, I am honored to accept the 2018 ACE/Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation during this catalytic period in our history."

Farvardin's approach was to spearhead an ambitious 10-year strategic plan that deliberately included many voices representing faculty, staff, students and alumni. Multiple opportunities for input and feedback from all stakeholders in the Stevens community were offered.

Saint Peter's is being recognized for its successful transition from a college to a university, a transformation that ACE called less dramatic than Stevens' turnaround but just as significant.

Since its March 2012 approval to become a university, the school has addressed challenges like a growing enrollment, changing student demographics, finances and the need to further build up campus pride, ACE said.

Positive results have included a 20 percent growth in enrollment, stable freshman classes averaging 600 students and increased freshman retention and four-year graduation rates. In addition, the school has expanded academic programs in cutting-edge fields; increased partnerships to "promote real world learning"; strengthened career support (more than 91 percent of the Class of 2017 landed job or enrolled in post-graduate study within six months of graduation); and improved state-of-the-art facilities such as the Mac Mahon Student Center and the new School of Business.

"This honor acknowledges Saint Peter's dedication to transforming the lives of its students as well as the university's unwavering commitment to transforming and improving the institution as a whole," SPU President Eugene J. Cornacchia said. "We take great pride in the outcomes of our efforts and that these results have been recognized by our peers on a national stage."

Fidelity Investments is honored to join ACE in recognizing innovation on the college level, vice president Debra Frey said.

"Stevens Institute of Technology and Saint Peter's University have proven that comprehensive strategic plans, combined with quantitative goals, can put an institution on a path to sustained success," she said.JERSEY CITY -- An arrest has been made in yesterday's fatal hit-and-run on Route 1&9 in Kearny that claimed the life of a man who was released from the nearby Hudson County jail earlier that morning.

Niraj Patel, 21, of Edison, has been charged with leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death in connection to the collision that killed Naphtali Dykes, 30, of East Orange, as he walked near Central Avenue, Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez said in a press release this afternoon.

Responding Kearny police officers found Dykes dead in the middle of the highway at 1:55 a.m. and he was pronounced dead at the scene at about 2:20 a.m., Prosecutor's Office spokesman Ray Worrall said.

Detectives of the Hudson County Regional Fatal Collision Unit identified a man who remained at the scene after inadvertently running Dykes over. He faces no charges at this time, Worrall said.

But after inspecting the crash scene, detectives discovered that another vehicle was apparently involved. After further investigation, the other suspected vehicle was located along with the alleged driver - Patel, Worrall said.

The preliminary investigation revealed that Dykes had been released from the Hudson County jail Hackensack Avenue in Kearny earlier that morning, Worrall said.

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez credited the Kearny Police Department for assisting in the investigation and the Edison Police Department for assisting in making the arrest, Worrall said.

The collision remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to call crash investigators at (201) 915 - 1345 or leave an anonymous tip on the Prosecutor's Office website at: http://www.hudsoncountyprosecutorsofficenj.org/homicide-tip/ .

All information will be kept confidential, Worrall said.Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

By Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

Some civil rights activists in the still racially segmented City of Asbury Park want to literally knock the shore resort's founding father down off his pedestal, calling on municipal officials to remove a 97-year-old statue of James A. Bradley from its prominent place in a park a block from the beach.

"The position on the statue is really a position on our culture on the whole, how embedded racism is in our culture," said Randy Thompson, the founder and CEO of Help Not Handcuffs, a local civil rights group that up to now has focused on pushing for police reforms.

Thompson's group recently started an online petition on Change.org seeking signatures in support of the statue's removal, accompanied by an open letter to Asbury Park's mayor and council that condemns Bradley in scathing terms.

Bradley, the city's founder, was by no means a Confederate general. Rather, he was a successful New York City businessman who in 1871 bought 500 acres of Monmouth County beachfront he later incorporated and named for Bishop Francis Asbury of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Asbury was a hero to Bradley, a converted Methodist said to have amassed his fortune selling brushes to the Union Army during the Civil War.

But despite his Northern roots  he was born in 1830 on Staten Island  Bradley was an avowed segregationist whose views and practices have been an open secret in the city, brought to broader public attention by recent publications that include a book about the history of African Americans in resorts on the Jersey Shore.

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Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

'Jim Crow of the North'

"This statue is an overt symbol of racism and erroneously commemorates a history of segregation that remains a subject of contention in our predominately African American community. James A. Bradley was a key segregationist and was known as the 'Jim Crow of the North,'" the annotated letter states.

"Although we recognize that this is our history, this statue is an affront in a city which prides itself upon being progressive," the letter continues. "Our city can lead the way as we did in legalizing same sex marriage and calling for the legalization of marijuana. We can be bold in addressing the persistent racism that exists in certain aspects of our culture. The first step in doing so is to remove this statue that represents a dark period in our past and an ideology unworthy of honor."

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Muata Greene and Randy Thompson of Help Not Handcuffs, a civil rights group based in Asbury Park, discuss the legacy of segregation dating back to the shore resort's earliest days.. (Video by Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media)

Muata Greene, a member of Help Not Handcuffs, bought a house on the West Side eight years ago after retiring as an EMT from the New York City Fire Department. Greene, whose mother grew up in Asbury Park, is outraged that his tax dollars support the upkeep of Sunset Park, where the statue stands alone in the center of a vast lawn just across Ocean Avenue from the Asbury Park Convention Hall, in view of the boardwalk and the Atlantic Ocean.

"It bothers me," said Greene, 69, a Vietnam veteran. "I'm a property owner, I pay taxes. This is in a public park that my taxes pay to maintain."

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This early photo of African-American bathers in Asbury Park is used on the cover of The Retreats of Reconstruction : Race, Leisure, and the Politics of Segregation at the new Jersey Shore, 1865-1920, a 2016 book by David E. Goldberg. (George Bantham Bain Collection | Library of Congress)

The hotels, restaurants and other tourist attractions that sprung up at the resort that Bradley founded provided jobs for thousands of African Americans who, like their counterparts in Atlantic City, were drawn to the Jersey Shore for employment and a new life in the decades after Emancipation, said David E. Goldberg, author of The Retreats of Reconstruction: Race, Leisure, and the Politics of Segregation at the new Jersey Shore, 1865-1920 (Fordham University Press, New York, 2016).

Those service jobs supported a stable African American community that successfully pushed for civil and economic rights uncommon among blacks in the 19th Century, said Goldberg, a history professor at Drury University in Springfield, Missouri, who was born in Red Bank and grew up in Baltimore.

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Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

But while Bradleys resort provided African Americans with jobs, he used his power and influence as the city's principal landowner, one of its early mayors, and as publisher of its first newspaper, the Asbury Park Journal, to oppose integration on economic and moral grounds, Goldberg said.

In catering to working class tourists endowed by industrialization with time and money to spend, Asbury Park and Atlantic City represented a kind of democratization of leisure  for whites, at least. And while black labor was a necessary component of the resort's business model, Bradley thought white tourists and homeowners would feel their leisure status diminished by the presence of blacks outside of subservient roles as waiters or housekeepers, Goldberg said.

"Bradley saw segregation as a profitable business model," said Goldberg. "The white working class wanted to be catered to, rather than doing the catering."

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Rob Spahr | NJ Advance Media file photo

Among other segregationist measures, Goldberg said Bradley posted signs barring African Americans from boardwalks and bath houses until after 10:30 p.m., justifying the practices in economic terms  even in blacks' own self-interest  in political speeches he gave and editorials he wrote in The Daily Journal, the local newspaper he published.

"In order that those people may earn their living, it is necessary that only the Caucasian race shall find Asbury Park attractive," Goldberg quoted Bradley as saying in a speech in 1893. "The question of color or rights should not enter into consideration."

When Asbury Park was weighing the incorporation of the African-American settlement that eventually became the West Side in 1906, Goldberg said Bradley fired off a series of editorials opposing the move.

"Much disorder prevails in West Park," Goldberg quotes Bradley as writing. "Incorporate them and you can say goodbye to the present boom in Asbury Park real estate."

Bradley warned that black voters were prone to bribery, and as a result, incorporation would corrupt the political system of Asbury Park.

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Star-Ledger file

There were opponents of segregation from within the resort's black community, notes Goldberg, whose earlier writings include a 2006 piece titled, Greetings from Jim Crow, New Jersey: Contesting the meaning and abandonment of reconstruction in the public and commercial spaces of Asbury park, 1880-1890, a play on the vintage postcard and debut studio album released in 1973 by another social commentator associated with Asbury Park, Bruce Springsteen.

"We colored people fought for our liberty some years ago, and we do not propose to be denied it at this late date," the Rev. J. Francis Robinson told his congregants in 1887, according to Goldberg. "We will not be dictated to in this manner by Mr. Bradley or any other man. The colored man contributes largely to the wealth of this country, including the town of Asbury Park, and we are here to stay. We fought to save the Union as the white man did. This country is for the whites and blacks alike, including even the beach of Asbury Park.

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Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

East Side

Thus Asbury Park was divided into its predominantly white East Side between the beach and the New York and Long Branch Railroad tracks  now NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line  and the predominantly black West Side across the tracks, a racial dividing line that roughly still applies today.

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Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

West Side

Largely reliant on tourism jobs, the city's black community was especially hard hit when Asbury Park began to lose its luster in the 1960's, Goldberg said. High unemployment and other ills that accompany concentrations of poverty ensued, and like Newark three years earlier, Asbury Park erupted into rioting in 1970, accelerating its decline.

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The the corner of Main Street and Asbury Avenue on a recent weekday afternoon. (Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media)

Despite a gradual revitalization of Asbury Park's beachfront over the past two decades, the West Side remains a pocket of poverty in otherwise largely prosperous Monmouth County.

The city's overall poverty rate of 31.9 percent in 2015 was four times the county rate of 7.4 percent, according to DataUSA. Within that figure, the poverty rate among black residents is twice the rate as for their white counterparts, according to CityData.

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Modest homes on the West Side, many of them rentals, activists say. (Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media)

The city's median property value was $308,600 in 2015, 22 percent lower than the county's, with a home ownership rate of just 20.2 percent, compared to the county rate of 73.5 percent.

African Americans made up 41.5 percent of the city's population in 2015, compared to 32 percent Hispanic and 24 percent white, according to DataUSA, and civil rights leaders say unemployment, poverty, crime and other problems are most acute in the black community, meaning the West Side.

"There's a big disparity between the West Side, where the African-American community is, and the East Side, by the beach, where the white people live," said Greene, the Help Not Handcuffs member.

When asked whether Bradley was at least partly responsible for today's disparities, Goldberg said, "Absolutely."

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Video by @life.from.above

With present-day economic conditions as challenging as they are for Asbury Park's black community, NAACP President Adrienne Sanders said removal of the Bradley statue is not a high priority for her organization.

"We're not against what Randy's doing, what Help Not Handcuffs are doing," said Sanders. But, she added, "It's not at the top of our list. What we want to see is the removal of disparate education in our school system. What we want to see is more jobs for minorities. We want to see more economic opportunities for minority-owned businesses. We want to end racial profiling. We see segregated housing. The majority of the people who live under the poverty line live on the west side of town."

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Among the scenes at the base of the 1921 statue are the train station at Asbury Park, a resort Bradley fancied to be "attractive to and demonstrative of the values of middle-class white Protestant America," as quoted in Asbury Park: A Brief History, by Joseph G. Bilby and Harry Ziegler. (Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media)

Thompson and Greene of Help Not Handcuffs say removing Bradley's statue is essential precisely because so many of Asbury's current problems can be traced back to the segregation its founder promoted.

The effort to remove the statue from its place at the eastern end of Sunset Park, across Ocean Avenue from the Asbury Park Convention Hall, is opposed by the Asbury Park Historical Society, which says it would constitute a "whitewashing" of Asbury Park's history.



"Mr. Bradley's statue is both a historical reminder of his undeniable accomplishments as well as the shameful 'Jim Crow' period in our nation's history," reads a statement posted on the historical society's web site.

While acknowledging Bradley's segregationist views, the historical society's president, Don Stine, noted that he supplied the North during the Civil War, playing what for him was a lucrative role in the abolition of slavery.

"Obviously. the Union Army needed a ton of brushes during the Civil War, with everything from kitchen duties to horses, to cannons, to general hygiene," Stine wrote in an email. "This is what, I understand, garnered Bradley his wealth."

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Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

As it stands, the heavily patinaed bronze statue says nothing about Bradley's segregationist views, or, for that matter, about his founding of the city. The only text is his name and the year he bought those first 500 acres, 1871.

The historical society's president, Don Stine, said the group is open to the same kind of compromise that has been proposed by historians and others in Southern states opposing the removal of Confederate monuments: a plaque or marker of some kind providing a fuller picture of those being honored.

"I don't think we would have a problem with that," Stine wrote.

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Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media

This is an election year in Asbury Park, when Mayor John Moor, who is white, and one of its four city council members, Jesse Kendle, who is black, are seeking re-election to 4-year terms. In brief phone interviews, both men said they were still weighing the issue and did not have a position on whether the statue should remain unchanged, be removed, or something else.

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Should it stay or should it go?

Jeffrey Roberts, a 47-year-old lifelong Asbury Park resident, paused while out for a spin in his wheelchair in the city's West Side neighborhood to reflect on the statue issue. Roberts said the statue should be removed, not only because Bradley's segregationist views were so wrong, but also because they flew in the face of the easy integration he sees playing out under the founder's metallic gaze on any given summer day.

"The beach is beautiful," said Roberts, who was partially paralyzed as a child but still visits the boardwalk regularly. "In the summer, everybody be together down there: white; black; Mexicans."

"Put that statue in a museum," he said.

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The statue stands along Ocean Avenue at the east end of Sunset Park, near the Wonder Bar, one of Asbury Park's several music venues, with its reproduction of the iconic Tilly mural above the marquee. (Steve Strunsky | NJ Advance Media)

Jenny Smith disagreed.

Smith, a 31-year-old Nutley resident who was walking near the statue on a recent afternoon, has in-laws with a house in Bradley Beach, another Monmouth shore town also founded by the segregationist brush maker. Smith, who is white, said she had been visiting her in-laws and Asbury Park for years without an inkling of Bradley's views. So, to her, those views could not be a big enough public concern to merit tearing down a local landmark that has stood on the same spot for nearly a century.

And even if it were taken away, Smith said, "You can't change history."

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Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Monmouth County residents, environmentalists and local officials won a key round last week in their fight against a "monster" transmission line proposed by JCP&L that would require clear-cutting a 10-mile-long swath of woodlands and erecting towers up to 210 feet high.

Last Thursday, a state administrative law judge recommended that the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities reject JCP&L's application for the project, known as the Monmouth County Reliability Plan, or MCRP, which is intended to improve reliability of power transmission in Monmouth County and beyond.

The judge's ruling was another blow to JCP&L in an already bad week for the utility, when thousands of its customers lost power in Wednesday's snowy nor'easter, the second storm in five days to topple trees, down power lines and darken homes and businesses. The ruling came on the same day that Gov. Phil Murphy ordered an investigation into what he characterized as a sluggish response to power outages by JCP&L and other utilities.

JCP&L wants to string a 230,000-volt line through Aberdeen, Middletown, Hazlet, Holmdel and Red Bank, on poles placed 500 feet apart and ranging from 110 to 210 feet high.

In recommending that the BPU reject the plan, Judge Gail Cookson found, among other things, that it could impact an NJ Transit rail line in a right-of-way it would share, and that JCP&L had failed to show that the project was necessary to ensure the reliability of power transmission.

"Moreover, there is more than just a little aesthetic or local impact from the MCRP," the judge wrote. "The MCRP would visually impact seventy-three (73) historic properties, including many located in the heart of the historic district in Middletown."

Opponents of the plan applauded the 180-page decision as exceptionally thorough, well reasoned, and good for residents.



"You won't have these enormous monopoles dotting the landscape of these towns," said Murray Bevin, a lawyer for a group of four municipalities plus Monmouth County, which intervened as the Joint Municipal Group.



Peter Dickson, a lawyer for members of the public banded together as Residents Against Giant Electric, or RAGE, called it an "amazingly good" decision.

JCP&L has 13 days to appeal the judge's ruling to the BPU. A spokeswoman for the utility, Stephanie Walton, issued a statement saying JCP&L was weighing its next move.



"We strongly disagree that JCP&L failed to prove the need for the Monmouth County Reliability Project," Walton stated. "The initial decision contradicts the findings made by the regional grid operator and industry experts. Any alternatives to the proposed project would cause significantly greater disruption to the community, environmental impacts and project costs."

The BPU has 45 days to act on the judge's recommendation, including rejecting it, accepting it, or accepting it with modifications. If the board fails to act, the decision becomes final.

A BPU spokesman, Peter Peretzman, issued a statement saying the board, "will issue an Order within the time prescribed by the New Jersey Administrative Code."

The project would be constructed within a railroad right-of-way for NJ Transit's North Jersey Coast Line measuring about 100 feet wide. Locating the line within the right-of-way would minimize its impact on the communities it would traverse, according to JCP&L.

While JCP&L says the line would improve reliability of power transmission across Monmouth County, the company was acting at the urging of PJM Interconnection, a company that administers the Eastern Interconnection grid, an electricity network in 13 states including New Jersey. PJM insists that the transmission lines is necessary to insure reliability of the Eastern grid.



In 2016, JCP&L asked the BPU to exercise its authority under state law to approve the project without consent of the municipalities where it would be located. But several parties who oppose the plan intervened in the application process, including the state Rate Counsel, the New Jersey Sierra Club, the Joint Municipal Group, and RAGE.



In a measure of public opposition to the project, an overflow crowd of 1,000 people packed the auditorium and cafeteria at Middletown High School North in January 2017, with speakers including children up past their bed time. It was a public hearing presided over by Cookson, where some carried signs that were also posted around the affected communities. "No monster power lines in our neighborhood," read the signs, which also included the group's website, StopJCPL.org.

The $110 million project has been criticized by environmentalists who oppose the deforestation it would involve and the threat the project would pose to hawks and bald eagles, which would be at risk of fatally colliding with the lines in fight.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said if the project were truly necessary, JCP&L should be willing to place the lines underground. Otherwise, he said, the utility should not be incurring a cost that would ultimately be passed on to ratepayers.

"They should be fixing their power lines and not be wasting money on this," said Tittel, referring to the recent power outages. "As a JCP&L customer who lost power, I can say that."

Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.Under mostly sunny skies, Ocean County held its annual St. Patricks Day Parade in Seaside Heights Saturday.

"It's a good family event. Everybody seems to come out and have a good time," said Seaside Park resident Ron Lang, 60, who's been attending the parade for the past three years. "With it being a hometown parade, we love it."

Despite a brisk wind and temperatures in the low 40s, thousands of people watched more than 140 groups march in the parade celebrating Irish history along the Jersey shore.

The parade's Irish Woman of the Year was Ocean County Freeholder Virginia E. Haines who was honored along with the town's municipal workers.

The grand marshal for the parade was the mayor of Toms River, Thomas F. Kelaher.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ladytiamoyo. Find NJ.com on FacebookBy Rick Fuentes

As New Jersey settles into a new political camp, many in the public safety and health professions continue to be concerned over the urgency to legalize the recreational use of marijuana.

The implied benefits from legalization have been trumpeted alongside a litany of sunny forecasts about flush budget coffers, free community college, restocked state pension accounts and reducing the disparate arrests of minority populations for simple marijuana possession.

Such rosy outlooks from elected officials must always bear the weight of public scrutiny.

Jersey lawmakers supporting legalization have looked to Colorado to promote a set of subjective beliefs. In 2012, Colorado voted to permit the recreational sale of marijuana, and officially opened its headshops in 2014. In 2013, the American people were assured that the Obama Justice Department would closely monitor the impacts of legalization. Later that same year, the so-called Cole Memo had the effect of winking at federal prosecutors to do the opposite.

This forbearance on the part of the previous administration has not deterred the good work of Colorado public safety and health officials, federal drug enforcement task forces and professional medical societies from continuing to collect and analyze impact data. Four years later, the results are in and Colorado is suffering a reality that goes at odds with the utopian sales pitch of the pro-legalization lobby.

According to Colorado state law enforcement, marijuana is now involved in one of every five fatal accidents and roadside arrests for intoxication, climbing faster than any other cause. Some have downplayed drugged driving by minimizing its risk in comparison to alcohol and cell phones. While there is still no chemical test or legal standard for marijuana impairment, making light of the perils of driving while stoned is to put your thumb on the scale of other known harms.

At least 70 percent of Colorado's 272 municipalities have seen the need to ban the sale of recreational marijuana in their communities. Reasons include concerns over gang activity and crime rates, vagrancy and homelessness, juvenile use, school suspensions, overdoses and odors.

State-licensed marijuana buds, chewables and oils in Colorado contain THC levels ranging from 30 to over 90 percent, respectively. It is cause for alarm that each variety is several times the potency of the illegal Woodstock weed inhaled or ingested by the Baby Boomers of the 60s. As a result, Coloradans of all ages are getting higher for longer. Too many are ending up in emergency rooms, (LINK) inadvertently overdosing on slow-acting edibles packaged like well-known candy brands that are both familiar and appealing to children, such as Colorado's recently outlawed, THC-laced gummy bears.

Colorado legalization has not eliminated the black market and has opened the door for Mexican drug cartels to operate in the heartland. There is so much legal and illegal growing and distribution in Colorado that it has spilled across state lines. As a result, state attorneys general in Nebraska and Oklahoma joined in 2015 to sue Colorado for exporting marijuana into their states.

Legalization will not replace an unregulated black market in New Jersey; rather, it will compete poorly, hobbled by a sales tax climbing to 25 percent. Surplus marijuana will have to go somewhere, an awfully bad story for the border states of New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware.

It is well-known that Colorado has more marijuana businesses than Starbucks and McDonalds combined. Sixty percent of the those recreational stores are located in neighborhoods of color where drug use was already a problem.

In opposition to stated goals, law enforcement advises that marijuana-related arrests are up dramatically for Hispanics and African-Americans, notably involving illegal possession by those under 21 years of age.

Reducing the impact upon minority communities in New Jersey has become a cause celebre to champion legalization.

Since the opposite has been the outcome in Colorado, will failure to achieve that goal in our state fall upon the police as a scapegoat for the shrewd geo-ethnic calculations of an industry that preys upon the poor?

Recasting underage possession as a civil matter, as some have suggested as an alternative to criminal arrest, is a statutory sleight of hand that continues to neglect the individual health and community damage wrought by juvenile use and their arm's length access to sellers.

And what about state revenues from taxing marijuana -- the polestar of New Jersey's push for legalization?

Deducting regulatory and enforcement costs, in fiscal year

,

only one-half of one percent of its $36 billion total spending budget. That's little more money than is needed to rebuild the Bayonne exit on the New Jersey Turnpike. Another cautionary tale comes from the State of Washington, where one-half of marijuana tax money collected

, violating an agreement to commit those monies to drug prevention and school funding. Similar agreements are proposed in the New Jersey legalization bill.

Right now, there is good news in New Jersey.

As we continue to grapple with a devastating opioid crisis, a recently released national survey found that teen use of marijuana in New Jersey to be among the lowest nationally. Not so in Colorado. Illicit marijuana use by children 12 to 17 years of age is leading the nation, juvenile marijuana arrests are up five percent and emergency poison control calls for exposed children, including toddlers, is up 150 percent.

Mounting evidence points to cognitive abnormalities in brain development and the loss of IQ points from habitual adolescent use. This should cause great concern to parents, doctors and educators, and should certainly not be taken lightly in the well of our legislative chambers.

There are many more findings on the ill effects to public safety and health from Colorado's recreational sale of marijuana in all its forms. These outcomes apparently did not inform the advocacy of several high ranking New Jersey legislators, whose recent scouting ventures in Colorado and Nevada appeared to focus upon one shiny object: sales tax revenue.

No one appears eager to touch the third rail of marijuana politics; that is, weighing public health and safety costs against revenue projections, understanding the known harms to children, and considering alternative remedies to simple possession offenses, such as decriminalization.

At the end of it all, when both sides have thrown down their cards and the matter is reduced to a tally and a signature, I fear for the young, especially those still in the grip of adolescence and with little concern for their own mortality.

They are not the sophisticates in this debate; they are left to untangle their government's odd advocacy for one illicit drug and contempt for all the others. I am reminded, as I would remind others who will participate in this fateful decision, of a doctrine essential to the ethical practice of medicine. Primum non nocere -- First, do no harm.

Rick Fuentes is the former colonel and superintendent of the New Jersey State Police.

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.I believe marijuana-law reform is a top priority for our state, and any legislation addressing the issue must be crafted in a careful, thorough and thoughtful way. That is the approach I see state Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) taking.

On principle, consenting adults should be free to engage responsibly in a relatively harmless activity -- using marijuana -- without fear of being labeled a criminal. In practicality, reasons to support legalization for recreational use are numerous and powerful. For one, the vast and expensive resources dedicated to marijuana-related violations would be much better utilized elsewhere.

We could also see great investment in our local and state economies, while considerable tax revenue could support our educational system and currently underfunded services. Additionally, marijuana's medical benefits have been shown time and time again. (Though heavily restricted, medical marijuana use is already legal in New Jersey.) Legalizing expanded use would greatly reduce black-market demand as well as the violence associated with supplying illicit drugs.

The state Senate has been taking its time crafting liberalization legislation, studying and learning from states that have already legalized recreational marijuana. The result should be be a smart, carefully considered bill that reforms our current laws in a way that benefits our economy and protects the health and safety of residents.

I look forward to New Jersey being the next state to take this positive step forward.

Ernest Robinson, Lindenwold

Editor's note: Sweeney supports having a vote on S-830, sponsored by Sen. Nick Scutari, D-Union, which would legalize possession of small amounts of marijuana by those 21 and older. The bill is believed to have insufficient support at this time, as another group of senators favors ending most criminal penalties, but not legalization.

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Prop up nuclear plants to save jobs

As a local taxpayer, I agree with state Senate President Stephen Sweeney's efforts to try to save New Jersey's nuclear power plants (by requiring ratepayers to subsidize the plants with a new surcharge on their electricity bills.)

The issue really comes down to whether we want to pay more or less for our monthly electric bills, and if we want more or fewer jobs in New Jersey.

If these plants are closed it will result in higher electric bills. (Operator PSEG is demanding the subsidy, claiming that the nuclear plants will soon become unprofitable.) if they are kept in operation, it would help to lessen electrical costs in the long term. For many residents, that's the only math that matters.

It should also be noted that at least 2,000 South Jersey residents would be out of a job if these plants, located in Salem County, stop operating. Add to that the higher health costs associated with using more natural gas to make electricity, since it is a polluting, fossil fuel. This is is what we will see if the cleaner nuclear plants close.

It is in New Jersey's best interests to keep these nuclear plants in operation.

Eric Agren, West Deptford Township

Send a letter to the editor of South Jersey Times at sjletters@njadvancemedia.com

Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and find NJ.com Opinion on Facebook.It's been a pleasure to watch Gov. Phil Murphy spend the last few months removing the stains left by Gov. Chris Christie. The new guy is reversing course on things like climate change, women's health, and medical marijuana.

But that stuff is easy politics, a matter of signing executive orders. The hard part begins on Tuesday, when Murphy presents a budget that will almost certainly include more tax hikes and more spending than even Democrats want.

"We will reclaim our progressive soul of this great state," Murphy said in Washington on March 1.

Most folks I talk to in Trenton expect a train wreck. I am not so sure, yet. But they make a powerful case.

For one, Murphy has no experience managing a Legislature, and is making rookie mistakes that invoke the ghost of Jimmy Carter. He has infuriated key Democrats by failing to consult them, or even tell them what's in his plan. Christie revealed more, they grumble.

"It's unnerving," says Sen. Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, a leading liberal. "The best way to work out our differences is to have communication, and right now that is not happening between us and the governor. That creates a distance, which leads people spinning stories, which leads to hostility."

Put aside the personal stuff, and you get to meaty divides over substance. Murphy is the Bernie Sanders of New Jersey politics, and he made no secret of it during the campaign. He proposed raising taxes by $1.3 billion, and launching a menu of new spending programs, from expanded preschool to free community colleges and muscular support for affordable housing.

The tax hikes will be a heavy lift.

"He should provide a balanced budget without tax increases, no matter how ugly that may be," says Sen. Paul Sarlo, D-Bergen, chairman of the budget committee. "We can have a separate discussion later about tax increases. I'm not sure we need higher taxes. I made that clear to the administration, but they haven't bounced any ideas off me."

Democrats control everything in Trenton now, but that is not as important as it might sound. Because New Jersey is full of regional fiefdoms, where loyalty to the tribe is far stronger than loyalty to the party. Gov. Jon Corzine had a Democratic legislature as well, and things got so bad in his first year that the government shut down over a dispute on taxes.

As you move South, the Democratic tribes become more conservative, and even stronger. Murphy's team is taking great heart from a recent Rutgers poll that showed wide support for higher taxes focused on the rich. But legislators don't care about statewide polls; they look at their districts, and many of them are full of voters traumatized by this state's high taxes.

So, that's the case for a train wreck. Now, let's look at the other side.

The best news for Murphy is that Senate President Steve Sweeney last week proposed a big tax hike of his own, a bump in the corporate tax rate for larger companies, which would raise just under $700 million a year.

That's a peace offering, or at least a cease-fire, a huge deal.

Sweeney had opposed Murphy's plan to hike the millionaire's tax, out of concern that the new federal tax bill already gives top earners new reason to flee the state for lower-tax havens, since it caps the deduction for New Jersey's high state and local taxes.

Now, instead, Sweeney is proposing a substitute bill that would raise about the same money. And it is aimed at the economic elite, making it a political twin to the millionaire's tax.

"We view it as a positive step," said one source with knowledge of Murphy's thinking.

Sweeney remains bitter towards Murphy over last year's campaign, when the state's largest teachers' union, the NJEA, spent more than $5 million trying to replace Sweeney with a Trump supporter. Sweeney, backed by other Democrats, begged Murphy to press the NJEA to stop.

But Murphy, for reasons that remain a mystery, refused. It was a rookie mistake that left lasting damage to his reputation among resentful Senate Democrats.

So, Sweeney's new willingness to meet Murphy halfway on such a core issue is a breakthrough, assuming Murphy has the brains to make a deal by signing on to Sweeney's plan, or splitting the difference.

The Rutgers poll is another boost for Murphy, who won decisively after campaigning like a progressive on steroids.

The poll says that most people in New Jersey feel they pay too much in taxes, and that they don't get a good bang for their tax bucks. But it also said about 70 percent are happy to tag the rich, in a day when economic injustice has spun out of control.

"Most New Jerseyans see it as the only viable option," says poll director Ashley Koning. "Tax the rich, but don't tax me."

So, get your popcorn and pull up a chair. We're about to see the first real test of Murphy's political skill. As this state teeters on the edge of an economic abyss, here's hoping he's got the gift.

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.WASHINGTON -- Gov. Phil Murphy and the entire 14-member New Jersey congressional delegation stood in unison Friday in opposition to President Donald Trump's proposal to open the Atlantic Coast to offshore oil drilling.

In separate letters to U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke, the governor and the federal lawmakers again stated their concerns about the threat offshore drilling poses to New Jersey's economy, which is dependent on tourism and fishing.

"New Jersey cannot afford to expose its treasured costal communities to the threats" posed by the proposed drilling, Murphy wrote.

The officials submitted their comments on the final day for weighing in on the proposal with the Interior Department.

The congressional letter came after several Republican lawmakers met with Zinke and came away believing he would eventually drop the Jersey Shore and other areas in the Atlantic from the latest proposed five-year drilling plan.

"The people of New Jersey have made their concerns about offshore drilling clear--they do not want oil rigs off shore and our pristine beaches and waters at risk from oil spills," said U.S. Rep. Chris Smith, R-4th Dist., who organized the congressional letter.

The lawmakers also submitted a transcript of a Feb. 14 meeting in Hamilton where area residents spoke out against the drilling proposal.

State officials fear the impact of an oil spill on a New Jersey tourism industry generating $43 billion annually and supporting 500,000 jobs, and a fishing industry adding $7.9 billion a year to the state's economy and creating more than 50,000 jobs.

Trump, overturning a five-year plan that excluded the Atlantic Coast until at least 2022, proposed opening almost the entire continental shelf to oil drilling. He has called climate change a Chinese hoax and ran for president on a pledge to increase U.S. energy production, including oil.

Murphy, a Democrat, said he favored the opposite approach.

"New Jersey is committed to protecting its natural resources and realizing a new clean energy future through support of smart energy policy and renewable energy sources," Murphy wrote. "We will not accept outdated, dangerous approaches that promote reliance on fossil fuels and result in more environmental degradation."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.Gov. Phil Murphy lit into Jersey Central Power & Light on Saturday as tens of thousands of the company's New Jersey customers remained without power in the wake of back-to-back winter storms, threatening to use "all the authority at my disposal" to have the power restored.

All four of the power companies that service New Jersey still had customers in the dark as of Saturday. But JCP&L, the state's second largest power provider, had the most: more than 50,000 -- some of whom have been without power since the first nor'easter hit eight days ago.

JCP&L said Saturday the majority of the 3,400 customers who have been powerless since the first nor'easter March 2 will have their electricity restored by late Saturday night.

The majority of central Jersey customers affected by the second storm, which hit Wednesday, are expected to get their power back by late Sunday, and north Jersey customers by late Monday, the company said.

In a statement released Saturday afternoon, Murphy called that timeline "embarrassing and unacceptable."

"As I have said throughout the week,

JCP&L'

s preparation for and response to the past week's weather events is completely unacceptable," the governor said.

"I will not accept any of the company's excuses for why thousands of New Jerseyans continue to be without power," Murphy added. "I am prepared to use all the authority at my disposal to get power restored."

Private companies provide New Jersey's power, and the state is not directly responsible for -- or capable of -- restoring electricity. But the state Board of Public Utilities regulates the power companies.

On Thursday, Murphy -- a Democrat who is only seven weeks into his tenure as governor -- ordered the BPU to investigate how the companies responded to the storms and if they followed protocol. Murphy said at the time it was "too early" to determine what kind of punishment the state could dole out.

Murphy's office said Saturday the governor has voiced his frustration directly to

JCP&L

and that he is ready to "use all aspects of his executive authority" under

"to take any steps necessary to restore power." But the office did not clarify what steps he could take.

JCP&L did not immediately return a message seeking comment about Murphy's remarks Saturday.

Murphy's office noted that

JCP&L

agreed to repair poles in their service areas that belong to other companies.

"These efforts, which should have been taken days ago, are small steps in the right direction," Murphy added. "But we have a long way to go. People are mad as heck, and so am I."

JCP&L

said nearly 6,000 people -- line workers, hazard responders and assessors, forestry crews, job dispatchers, and electrical contractors -- are working to bring power back.

"Crews are restoring customers around the clock and many people in the affected areas will get their power back on before our estimates," company president Jim Fakult said.

"The damage to our system has been substantial, with more than 600 broken poles and more than 1,700 spans of wire needing to be replaced," Fakult added. "Our restoration times reflect this wide-spread damage and also the thousands of single outages that require crews to travel to each individual location to make repairs."

As of late Saturday night, about 23,000 JCP&L customers were still without power, while PSE&G had about 6,800, Orange & Rockland had about 3,200, and Atlantic City Electric had 2.

In all, about 33,000 of the state's 4 million power customers remain in the dark.WASHINGTON -- Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. said Saturday that President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans "declared war on Paterson and cities across America" by passing a tax bill that gives most of its benefits to corporations and the rich.

Pascrell, a senior member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee, made the charges in the Democratic response to Trump's weekly address.

"With their mean-spirited policies, congressional Republicans have declared war on Paterson and cities across America like it," said Pascrell, D-9th Dist. "The GOP tax scam they just jammed into law is Exhibit A of their malfeasance."

According to the Tax Policy Center, a progressive research group, the richest 1 percent of taxpayers will receive 21 percent of the benefits, more than the 17 percent going to the bottom 60 percent.

After the tax provisions benefiting the middle class expire in 2025, the richest 1 percent would get 83 percent of the benefits in 2027. Meanwhile taxes would go up for those earning $75,000 or less, according to the Republican-led Joint Committee on Taxation.

"Republicans have gone into overdrive claiming that their disastrous new tax law will be a boon for middle-class Americans," Pascrell said "That's a lie."

Despite some salary increases and one-time bonuses to employees, corporations are spending most of their tax cut to buy back their own stock.

The richest 10 percent of Americans own 80 percent of securities, according to a study by Edward N. Wolff, an economics professor at New York University, and companies have spent $171 billion on stock purchases compared with $6 billion on raising employee pay or handing out one-time bonuses, according to CNN.

The tax legislation curtailed the federal deduction for state and local taxes, which disproportionately affected New Jersey and other high-tax states that send billions of dollars more to Washington than they receive in services.

"The Republican tax scam took away many deductions and credits American families enjoy," Pascrell said. "The elimination of these deductions will also squeeze communities from coast to coast to make savage cuts to basic services. I'm talking about paying teachers and firefighters, promoting public safety, and paving roads."

Because the bill caps the state and local tax deduction, every member of the New Jersey congressional delegation except Rep. Tom MacArthur voted against the measure.

MacArthur, R-3rd Dist., refuted Pascrell's arguments, saying that "working families across the nation are already seeing the benefits" of the new tax law.

"The average family in every single congressional district across the state will save thousands of dollars in federal taxes, allowing hard-working folks to keep more of their money," MacArthur said. "The facts are catching up to the naysayers and it's clear that tax reform is lowering the cost of living in New Jersey."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.A coffee shop in Oakland, California refused to serve a police officer in February and later explained in an Instagram post they would no longer be serving officers because "police presence compromises our feeling of physical & emotional safety," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The coffee shop, Hasta Muerte Coffee, opened a few months ago with help from a large crowdfunding campaign, the Chronicle reported. There is a mural outside the cafe to memorialize victims of police violence, including Oscar Grant, a man killed in 2009 by Oakland police officer Johannes Mehserle.

In February, when a Latino police officer tried to order a coffee, the barista told him the cafe did not serve police. The employee did not explain why, and Hasta Muerta did not respond directly to the Oakland Police Department's attempts to reach out, instead posting their message on Instagram.

According to the Chronicle, Oakland police officials said Friday (March 9) they will use the incident in training to "drive home the point" that officers must treat people equally, regardless of their feelings about the police. The Oakland Police Department tweeted Thursday the organization "respects business owners right to serve anyone they choose."A woman was sentenced Friday (March 9) to 21 years and four months in prison after she was accused of drugging children at an Oregon daycare so she could ditch the job to workout and go tanning, according to The Oregonian.

The daycare the 32-year-old woman, January Neatherlin, was running was also illegal, the newspaper reported.

Police in Bend, Oregon, were tipped off by the woman's ex-boyfriend and a former roommate when Neatherlin was seen leaving home when she should have been at the daycare.

Citing a sentencing memo, the newspaper reports the children who had been left in Neatherlin's care during that time had melatonin -- a sleep aid -- in their systems.

"Neatherlin had been telling parents they couldn't pick up or drop off their kids between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.," according to the report. "Police checked Cross Fit and Tan Republic records to find that's when she would leave the house, hours she referred to as 'nap time.'"Residents of Belle Chase may have reason to complain, because they may NOT have been able to enjoy the music from Saturday's (March 10) BUKU Fest finale as easily as the folks in Gretna and Algiers.

"You could sit inside with the TV on, and still enjoy BUKU Fest," said Algiers Point resident Rhonda Melancon. "The walls, the floors, the windows were shaking and I live five blocks from the river."

Melancon said that some of her neighbors, who are new to The Point and had never been flooded by BUKU's musical leakage, were startled by the pounding. They stood outside marveling, she said.

"I told them, 'Welcome to BUKU; you get to enjoy it from your porch.'"

Malancon said the electronic dance music onslaught peaked before 10 p.m. She and her neighbors can therefore blame a Northern California EDM maestro named Bassnectar for the sonic tsunami.

Bassnectar has a reputation for pleasing his beyond-devoted, head-bobbing fans with an earthquake of bass that blankets the surrounding countryside. If Spinal Tap attempted to play at volume 11 (out of 10), Bassnectar seems to be shooting for 13.

BUKU Fest's new "Power Plant Stage," where Bassnectar performed, was angled away from the Irish Channel and the greater Uptown section of New Orleans and toward the West Bank.

Being in the photo pit at the edge of the stage for the first few Bassnectar songs was sort of like dancing at a disco while simultaneously being given CPR.

Note: My editor said she hoped I'd worn earplugs while I was in the pit, so my hearing wasn't damaged. I had not. But lucky for me, I've reached that age where, basically, I've heard everything I need to.

Truth is, as Bassnectar's fans appreciate, the absolutely crushing beat is a thrill. The throbbing rhythm combined with an explosive light show and confetti cannons makes the Bassnectar show a blast. It's no surprise that the huge BUKU crowd seemed entirely enthralled.

"I totally get it, I love bass," Melancon said, explaining that her husband had been a professional musician for 20 years.

But does the bass have to be able to cross the Mississippi like a thunderstorm?

Melancon said that she and her fellow Algerians are "really pretty laid back about things. You have to be to live in New Orleans."

But, she said, "what was happening last night was a pure invasion of our own homes."

Melancon said she had to medicate her dogs, because of the fireworks-like fury of the music. She said she called the cops, but they said there was nothing they could do.

Since she doubts that BUKU will ever turn down the volume, Melancon has dreamt up a subversive solution to the problem. The people of Algiers, she said, should have their own free festival on the levee during BUKU.

"If you want to go to BUKU Fest but don't want to pay, come over and party with us. Believe me, you get the full effect," she said.

For it's part, BUKU Fest claims to keep the neighbors' wellbeing in mind when planning the party.

"We are aware that some residents were disrupted by the sound on Saturday night," a festival representative wrote, "When producing BUKU, our impact to the community is at the forefront in our planning process and all possible efforts are made to mitigate the disruption. Sound levels were not higher than an average concert and the main stage ended at 11 p.m."

Doug MacCash has the best job in the world, covering art, music, and culture in New Orleans. Contact him via email at dmaccash@nola.com. Follow him on Twitter at Doug MacCash and on Facebook at Douglas James MacCash. As always, please add your point of view to the comment stream.The best news about the legislative session that starts Monday is that it could be shorter than usual.

As it became clear last week that nothing was going to get done in the special session, Gov. John Bel Edwards and House and Senate leaders said they would favor ending the regular session 10 to 20 days early.

That would allow Gov. Edwards to call a second special session in mid-May to try to get legislators to replace temporary taxes expiring June 30.

Perhaps by then the House will be able to pull itself together. House Speaker Taylor Barras should be embarrassed by the dysfunction in his chamber.

Two tax measures failed in the special session simply because House members couldn't agree on which legislation should go up for a vote first. Republican leaders wanted a sales tax measure to go first, and Black Caucus members wanted a property tax revision to go first.

Neither faction trusted the other to vote the way they had promised. Meanwhile, the Senate was in limbo because it has to wait on the House to send over tax legislation.

"I've never been so tired of doing nothing," state Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, said. Amen, Rep. Ivey. Louisianians are sick and tired of it, too.

House members, including the sponsor of one of the key pieces of tax legislation, complained that Mr. Barras didn't include them in negotiations. Black Caucus members, who are essential to a successful tax vote in the House, were basically ignored. The speaker apparently thought the caucus would do whatever the governor wanted, even if it went against their principles. That is insulting.

Mr. Barras blamed Gov. Edwards for not getting enough Democrats to vote for the tax bills, and the governor may have over-estimated what he could do. But the speaker doesn't seem to understand how to wrangle votes from his own members. Lesson one: Talk to people about what they are willing to support.

The failure of the special session is going to make it extremely difficult for lawmakers to produce a workable budget. Without new revenues to replace the taxes that are expiring, next year's budget will be short an estimated $692 million.

That could mean devastating cuts for health care and higher education, which are the easiest programs to cut under state law. Residents who are disabled or mentally ill are the most vulnerable. Even if lawmakers come through with funding later, the 50,000 students who depend on TOPS scholarships may not know how much they're getting until after they are enrolled. Medical students will be in the same bind.

Some legislators already seem ready to give up on the budget before the regular session even starts. But Gov. Edwards and lawmakers owe it to Louisiana residents to lay out what they can pay for and what they can't.

Appropriations Committee Chairman Cameron Henry and other House Republicans have insisted that more cuts should be made. OK, what are they? We want a list.

The Legislature has met seven times in two years -- five times in special session and twice in regular session. They are about to start session No. 8. They've achieved next to nothing so far and wasted millions of dollars of the public's money.

Some legislators have made a valiant try at solving Louisiana's financial woes. But as a whole, the Legislature has shown a lack of backbone.

Many members seem to be trying not to make voters mad, so they can get re-elected in 2019. And some of them are trying their best to make Gov. Edwards look bad, hoping that a Republican will win that office back next year.

Voters shouldn't put up with that sort of game-playing. Do-nothing legislators don't deserve to get another term.Today

Scattered showers and thunderstorms. High 87F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 75F. Winds light and variable.

Tomorrow

Partly cloudy with afternoon showers or thunderstorms. High 87F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.Close friends of Bethany Noelle Schuch say she was known for having a generous heart, and always expressed a joy for life.

"She was always smiling and full of life and generosity," Rachel Steinman, a friend of Schuch's for 20 years, said Saturday. "She gave everything she had, and more. The world is a darker place without her bright blue eyes and her smile."

Schuch, 35, died Wednesday in an apparent murder-suicide near West Linn. She had been in a troubled relationship with her alleged killer, David Cote, 34, and friends say he had threatened her in the past.

"She stayed with David longer than she should have or wanted to because she had such a big heart," said Crystal Anoushiravani, who had been friends with Schuch since high school. "She was letting him stay at her house months after they had broken up because she was worried about it."

Anoushiravani said that last year Cote threatened Schuch and her four dogs with a knife, and verbally threatened Schuch several times.

That led to Schuch being granted a restraining order against Cote last year. But records show that the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office never served the order because it was unable to locate him.

In the petition for the restraining order, Schuch said she feared imminent bodily injury, and referred to Cote as mentally unstable.

Anoushiravani said that around the time that Schuch got the restraining order, she moved to the West Linn area, and that friends were guarded about her new location because of Cote's threats.

"We all blocked him on social media to keep her safe," Anoushiravani said.

It's not yet clear how Cote located Schuch earlier this week.

Cote had a record of threatening behavior. According to court records, Cote was sentenced to 45 days in jail in 2014 after he pleaded guilty to stalking and menacing a woman in Deschutes County.

Friends said Schuch worked with her mom, a nurse practitioner, and incorporated her dogs into the mental-health practice.

"She loved her dogs and they were a huge part of her life," Anoushiravani said.

"Because they were always with her, she trained them all to be therapy dogs. When patients needed extra support, they would come up and cuddle with them."

Anoushiravani said that Schuch called her dogs her "fur babies," and was known for throwing them elaborate birthday parties, complete with cake-like dog treats.

Casey Harper said Schuch recently spent a weekend visiting her and her family in California, which was indicative of the way she built an extended family of friends.

"We had the best time together," Harper said. "Beth was an only child and chose to surround herself with people she chose to be her family. She was my second sister and an aunt to my children."

Anoushiravani also described their friendship as a sort of sisterhood, and said that friends always turned to Schuch when they wanted to have fun.

"She was the person who always knew where to go when we'd come into town," Anoushiravani said. "She was the best host. She knew all the happy hours to go to. She knew all the live shows. She was always on it. She was such a fun person to be around."

Steinman said Schuch had the purest heart of anyone she knew.

"She loved wholeheartedly, even when the love wasn't returned to her," Steinman said. "She knew her friends better than they knew themselves."

Anoushiravani said she believes authorities should have done more to protect Schuch.

"There should have been more of an investigation, given his history and the threats and weapons in his past," Anoushiravani said. "There needs to be a better protocol for how information is looked at when a restraining order is being filed on a person with a history of mental health issues."

-- Grant Butler

503-221-8566; @grantbutlerOne analyzed mass bee die-offs and found a way to remove from soil the perilous chemical that killed them. The other found a way to make life easier for humans, creating a microwave that can perfectly warm your entree while leaving a salad on the same plate cool and crunchy.

Both are still in high school. And this week, they're the pride of Oregon.

Raley Schweinfurth, a senior at Oregon Episcopal School and self-made honey bee expert, and Shahir Rahman, a Westview High senior and microwave maestro, are staking their home state's claim to innovation and academic excellence at a prestigious contest that runs through Tuesday.

The pair are among just 40 seniors nationwide selected to compete this year in the country's oldest science and math competition for high school seniors. Started in 1942 and previously sponsored by Westinghouse and then by Intel, the contest is now known as the Regeneron Science Talent Search.

By making it to the finalist stage, both have qualified for $25,000 scholarships. If their work wows an elite set of judges prowling the Washington, D.C. competition grounds this weekend and into Monday, they could walk away with even grander accolades.

Schweinfurth and Rahman trace their interest in their research back many years and both say it started simply. Schweinfurth loves to eat fruit and honey, so a documentary about honey bee colony collapse caught her attention.

In June of 2013, at the end of her eighth-grade year, Schweinfurth was horrified by the mass deaths of 50,000 bees in a Wilsonville parking lot. Days later, hundreds died in Hillsboro. Both incidents were attributed to insecticides containing a neonicotinoid.

Schweinfurth's scientific impulse kicked in. Would the toxic chemical show up in local honeys? Too young to drive, she persuaded her mom to drive her to area farms so she could buy, then test, them.

Schweinfurth's main fame derives from her prowess at the keyboard. She plays piano, harpsichord and celeste and is the primary keyboardist for the Portland Youth Philharmonic. She also plays in a piano quartet that has raised money to pay for music education in public schools and has played a piano solo with the Portland Chamber Orchestra.

Raley Schweinfurth ran chromatography tests at a university lab to detect the impact of insecticides on local honey.

But she's really into science, too. And eventually she persuaded her school's science teacher to give her permission to do off-campus research on honey at Portland State University. There, lab officials allowed her to use equipment to conduct high performance liquid chromatography.

Local honeys did contain trace amounts of neonicotinoid, she found. Then, in 2015, Oregon banned use of those chemicals to control insects. Schweinfurth's follow-up tests showed that worked. Local honeys were neonicotinoid-free.

The outcome of Oregon's attempt to protect bees with a neonicotinoid ban was "wonderful news," she said.

The soil beneath the trees in that Wilsonville parking lot told another story, however. Years after the mass bee deaths, the insecticide was still present. Time and sunlight had not washed it away.

But she found something that did: Plant growth. Ground cover, it seems, can remove the toxin from soil. She plans to do further research to zero in on which particular plants do so most effectively.

Shahir Rahman has used sensors, algorithms and plenty of experimentation to figure out how to make microwaves smarter.

Rahman, the Westview student, said he began doing science experiments in kindergarten. An early line of inquiry he recalls: What kind of paper airplane flies furthest?

His current line of study was kicked off when he noticed that his father's nightly ritual of heating tea to the very high temperature he prefers often ended with unwanted boil-overs and wasted tea.

He remembers asking, "What can I do to make this microwave smarter?" He started by buying an old microwave from Goodwill and taking it apart.

"I knew nothing about programming or taking apart things. I was starting from zero."

But he learned to code and to write algorithms for machine learning, he said. He figured out how to help microwaves get smart. The key, he learned, was to sense the viscosity of different foods and liquids, something he could do well with a $60 thermopile array sensor.

He has mastered teaching microwaves to heat that plate of chicken, rice and salad to three different just-right temperatures for the typical human and created a smart phone application that allows a user to customize his or her just-right temperatures for various foods.

Shahir Rahman has competed on Westview's cross country and track teams.

A long distance runner on his school's track and cross country teams, he's working to get a patent on his invention and expects smart microwaves to reach the market before too long. Meanwhile, he will head to MIT this fall to begin studying computer and electrical engineering.

Schweinfurth is unsure where she will go to college or what she'll major in. She applied "all over the place" and is "looking for a good fit."

Both said they had high hopes for the science talent search competition. "I am looking forward to sharing ideas with the 39 other finalists from around the U.S. and making new friends," Schweinfurth said days before heading to D.C.

Winners will be announced Tuesday, with 10 of the 40 taking home a top prize. "Of course making it to the finals is a really big honor already," Rahman said Tuesday. "But I really hope I can win."Many Democrats proclaim we need more diversity and people of color in public office. Three Democrats are running in the Senate District 24 primary. Only one, Kayse Jama, is a person of color.

Jama has an amazing story. Born in Somalia, He became a refugee when civil war broke out and eventually ended up in Oregon. Jama worked hard, got a degree, and went on to become the founder and executive director of Unite Oregon. Jama has spent his life and career working to help people, and along the way has earned many prestigious appointments and a list of impressive awards including the Oregon Immigrant Achievement Award from the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the 2009 Lowenstein Trust Award (presented to the "person who demonstrated the greatest contribution to assisting the poor and underprivileged in Portland"), the 2012 Portland Peace Prize and the 2016 Rankin Award in recognition of "lifelong activism and extraordinary service."

I wonder how genuine the other candidates are in their commitment to equity and equality when instead of supporting an eminently qualified candidate like Jama they choose to run against him. Do they think perpetuating a corrupted system, where getting elected requires friends with deep pockets, is good for our community? Do they think their political connections and ability to make deals will make them good stewards of the culturally diverse district? If we are serious about systemic change that empowers all people, there is one choice: Kayse Jama for Senate District 24.

Sandy Krebs, Southeast PortlandMaxine Bernstein's March 5 article, "Tribal members to challenge decision in destruction of sacred burial site," discussed U.S Magistrate Judge Youlee Yim You's decision on a religious freedoms case brought to Oregon courts by local tribal elders.

Once again, we have failed to look beyond industrial improvements. A tribal burial ground was destroyed to widen a road. I know everyone would love to improve their morning commute, but at what cost? Is there not inherent value in protecting not just our environment, but respecting land that is an integral part in a local community's culture and religion?

For too long, America has laid down railroads, buildings and freeways without any thought or regard to anything other than profit. It is time to stop putting profit over progress -- real progress that fulfills the promises and ideals upon which our nation was founded. Progress that supports the environment, celebrates diversity and individuality and truly respects all people of all races, ethnicities, religions, genders, sexual identities, ages and abilities.

These thoughts may seem naive and idealistic, and as a college student I concede they may be. But just because they are ideals doesn't mean they aren't valuable or necessary, and as we've seen all over the news lately, students are changing the world.

Gina Kelley, Forest GroveOregonians have the right to know what their government is up to, but public agencies' notions of transparency don't always match those of citizens or the media. That's why the Oregon Legislature created the role of public records advocate.

The idea is that the advocate will mediate disputes between those who want records and the state agencies who have them.



Gov. Kate Brown picked Ginger McCall for the job. As an attorney, McCall has represented records requesters as well as government agencies.

McCall will come to Oregon from a job at the U.S. Department of Labor. She doesn't start until April 25. But this is Sunshine Week, a time when people across the country celebrate the public's right to access information, so The Oregonian/OregonLive talked to McCall about her new gig.

The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Why are public records important?

They are the best chance that we as a public have to understand the function of government  and understanding the function of government is necessary to exercise our rights within a democracy.

What's the most important thing you've learned through a records request?

When I was at Electronic Privacy Information Center, the organization had been working on the airport body scanners for a long time. There were a lot of questions we had about the scanners. Right after I started there, we actually got documents responsive to requests. The document that we got showed the machines were unable to pick up powdered explosives, which at the time was the biggest threat we were facing in airports. And the images were very graphic. It was essentially a naked picture of a person. We took those documents out to the public, and we took them to Congress, and we did the rounds on the national news circuit. Eventually, we actually saw a change in the program. The machines you see in the airport now are not the machines that were originally there. That was a huge success and that huge success was made possible by the documents we got.

What drew you to the job?

I'm so excited I got this job. It is literally my dream job. Legal mediation was an area I was interested in moving into, but my passion is in open government, so it was a perfect marriage. I've been doing government transparency work since I graduated from law school. My initial interest in going to law school was to do public service law. I've been very interested in open government for the entirety of my career and a few years ago I moved over to working for government because I wanted to see what it was like on the ground.

So you picked a job in government specifically to get a better understanding of transparency issues from the inside?

I did. Both sides often tend to assume there is bad faith, and I think a lot of that is caused by a communication breakdown and a failure of both sides to understand the other side.

What frustrated you when you made records requests?

Oh boy. The main frustration was really the delay and the processing of the records. That, I think, is the main frustration for most requesters. You end up waiting months or maybe even years. Those delays of months or years can effectively make it impossible for you to fulfill that original goal you had when you made that request. I think exemptions can also be a source of frustration. We used to joke there was a 'this will embarrass us' exemption.

Do you plan to tackle issues regarding how much agencies charge for records?

Definitely. Because I think that fees can effectively be a barrier to access for a lot of requesters.

What frustrated you when you were on the government side and receiving records requests?

Oh boy. Overly broad requests that are effectively impossible to process. For instance, here at the Department of Labor, we once received a request for  full stop  all of our Secretary's emails.



Can you explain why that was problematic?

You can narrow it to just business emails, it should just be work related emails. A time window is always helpful. And then narrowing it to a specific subject is always helpful. If you read that request broadly, it's every email he's ever sent since email was invented. If you have one requester that just makes a lot of requests or overly broad requests, that ends up clogging the queue and no one can get their requests processed. I think that ends up being government's biggest frustration. Also, resources. As technology has changed, there are a lot more records than there used to be, but we don't have technology to process these requests. The technology exists but we often don't have the room in the budget for that technology.

What do you see education for agencies looking like?

I hope that that training will be tailored to the specific agency I'm speaking to. That training would address not just the facts of the open records law, but some best practices of how to efficiently process open records requests and how to connect with requesters in a way that makes the requesters feel like the agency cares about their records requests. Part of the education for agencies is educating them about why records laws are important in a democratic society.

And for the public?

Some people don't know that they have this right at all. A lot of them wouldn't know how to draft a request.



I hope to educate requesters on how to make a request that's properly tailored. Part of my educational mission in this office is to work with requesters to teach them how to make a request that is going to get a response.

Do you see, in this role, having the ability to change some of Oregon's open records laws?

I hope so. At this point I don't have any concrete opinions on what I would change. I'll have to get in there to make a recommendation. That's something I did on both the government side and advocacy side, was weighing in on potential legislation.

What I hope to do as part of this role is hold sessions with the public to get feedback from them on what changes they think need to be made, what problems they see with the law. I'm hoping to have the same listening sessions with agencies.

 Bethany Barnes

Email Bethany: bbarnes@oregonian.comNearly four years before Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and educators at a Parkland, Fla., high school, he confided in a therapist that he saw himself in a dream drenched in human blood.

A May 3, 2014, notation in a Broward County schools psychiatric file said Cruz "reported (a dream) last week of him killing people and covered in blood. He smiled and told the therapist that sometimes he says things for shock value."

After Cruz's disclosure to his therapist at the alternative Cross Creek School, administrators developed a "safety plan" to ensure the welfare of Cruz and others while he was on summer vacation. The plan included provisions for removing "all sharp objects from the home" and encouraging the youth to "verbalize what the problem is."

If talking about "the problem" was seen as a solution to Cruz's volatile behavior -- and, in the short term, it may have been -- it did not last. Portions of his psychiatric file, obtained by the Miami Herald Friday, show a young man whose mental health exhibited frequent and extreme swings. His attitude would brighten for weeks at a time, and then descend again into paranoia and anger.

That pent-up rage exploded Feb. 14 Day when Cruz took an Uber car to his former high school in Parkland and walked onto campus carrying a bag with a semi-automatic rifle and magazines of ammunition. He went on a six-minute rampage, shooting into locked classrooms and through windows and walls and blasting people in the hallways. He killed 17 people, 14 of them students.

Then, wearing an old Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Junior ROTC polo shirt, he fled the building with panic-stricken students and escaped the school before police entered. He was caught soon after.

Cruz was charged this week with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 counts of attempted murder. He has already confessed to police and this week withdrew a not-guilty plea. His attorneys at the Broward County Public Defender's Office hope to negotiate for a plea of guilty in exchange for a life sentence. Cruz, who was ordered held without bond Friday on the additional attempted murder counts, could face the death penalty.

The shooting in Parkland has set off a renewed gun control movement and led students at the school to call for a nationwide protest on March 24 to call for stronger gun measures. In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott signed legislation Friday restricting some access to rifles and allowing police to strip people with mental illness of the right to own a gun. Nationally, members of Congress have filed gun legislation.

The rage and obsession with violence documented by Cruz's therapists during nearly two years of interactions when he was 15 to 17 years old continued through his school career. Again and again, authorities were warned about his explosive tendencies and lack of impulse control. Again and again, authorities ignored the warnings.

In addition to the troubling behavior Cruz exhibited at the schools he attended -- including an incident in which he reportedly brought a backpack with bullets to class -- law enforcement officers were also alerted that Cruz might be dangerous.

The FBI did not act on two tips about Cruz, one of which involved Cruz posting online that he planned to become a "professional school shooter." The Broward County Sheriff's Office was also warned about Cruz, and had received a report that he "planned to shoot up the school."

Cruz alternated between periods of good behavior and periods of paranoia during which he acted out at school and at home, making fun of his peers, cursing at school staff and making threats, according to notes from his time at Cross Creek. The records obtained by the Herald documented weekly therapy sessions from February 2014 to December 2015.

In one session, Cruz acknowledged to his therapist that he watched YouTube to "research wars, military material and terrorist topics." He said he wore military clothing. His mother, Lynda Cruz, who has since died, told Cruz's therapist that his obsession with the military resulted from his "excessive gaming."

School administrators spoke with Lynda Cruz in the months that followed about their mutual concerns about Cruz's desire to own a gun and take shooting lessons. The therapist, a Sept. 23, 2014, notation said, "shared concerns with parent about his obsession with guns/military and his poor anger control." The note also cited concerns over the possibility that Cruz would "deploy aggressive behaviors at home."

At the time, Lynda Cruz was considering buying her son a pellet gun for his birthday. A different therapist who appears to have visited the family at their home suggested the mother develop a "plan" in which the youth would be allowed to buy a gun if he was able to "earn it" with good behavior. There was "a plan in place at home in order to control his use of the pellet gun."

Cruz's school therapist, however, expressed reservations. "Parent was advised against getting him a gun (pellet) or classes for his birthday," the September notation said. "Parent advised to restrict access to any weapon."

The therapy files also show Cruz's strong desire to be sent to a regular high school. He frequently discussed transferring with his therapist but also expressed anxiety about being mainstreamed.

In some sessions, the therapist described Cruz as "receptive" or noted that he'd had "positive" behavior at school. The therapist role-played with Cruz to teach him how to interact with his peers and avoid conflict. But after other sessions, the therapist noted troubling behavior at school and at home.

In one April 2014 session, the therapist discussed Cruz's "aggressive behavior at home due to his not getting his way." Cruz responded by saying that he saw the therapist as a threat. The therapist noted that Cruz was "very paranoid."

The next month, Cruz cursed at school staff and made comments to his teacher that made the school "fear that he may act out and harm others," the therapist noted. Cruz told the therapist he liked to make his teacher feel uncomfortable. A meeting was scheduled to discuss a treatment plan "to keep client and others safe," the therapist wrote.

Around this time, the therapist explained to Cruz that he wasn't ready to attend a regular high school.

Cruz also fantasized about a "perfect summer" that revolved around guns and shooting, according to a short paper he wrote.

Under the heading "What my perfect summer would be," Cruz wrote about "buying some type of gun and shooting at targets that I set up with large amounts of ammo just for fun for hours," stopping only when he got bored or ran out of ammunition. Cruz said he also wanted to get a job and make money "so I can get things that I want for myself (instead) of come to this time wasting school that support stuped [sic] selfish children that I don't care about and gets in the way of my chances of leaving this place."

Cruz also wrote about his loneliness. "I will never be happy with my life I have no money or friends (sic)," he wrote. He complained about his "annoying mother who won't leave me alone."

In preparation for a summer 2014 recess, Cruz's school therapist and psychiatrist jointly wrote a letter to another one of the his psychiatrists articulating serious concerns. "At home, he continues to be aggressive and destructive with minimal provocation," the letter said. "For instance, he destroyed his television after losing a video game that he was playing. Nikolas has a hatchet that he uses to chop up a dead tree in his backyard. Mom has not been able to locate that hatchet as of lately."

"When upset he punches holes in the walls and has used sharp tools to cut up the upholstery on the furniture and carve holes in the walls of the bathroom," the letter added.

By the next April, though, after Cruz had shown "tremendous progress" in his behavior, Cross Creek began efforts to move him to a traditional school.

Psychiatric notes from that period describe a significantly less erratic youth. His mother reported that he was making friends and had exhibited no signs of inappropriate behavior "in the community. She is happy that he has been doing better," an April 28, 2015, notation said.

Cruz had been able to "control" his behavior, both in school and at home, the April 28, 2015, notation said. He was noticeably less aggressive. Teachers did not report having to place him in "time outs."

"Parent has requested student to be mainstreamed," the report said.

In discussions about Cruz's desire to attend a "regular" school, psychiatric progress notes said he was encouraged to continue mental health medication, therapy and social work case-management at home, and was discouraged from becoming a cadet: "Interested in ROTC?" the report said. "Not advised."

Cruz started attending Stoneman Douglas part-time by October 2015. Later that fall, the therapist noted that Cruz was going to be mainstreamed full-time beginning in January. At the last documented session, in December 2015, Cruz told his therapist he felt he would do very well at his new school.

-- Tribune News ServiceLast summer, one of the many fires with which federal and local officials had to contend raged in the Umpqua National Forest in southwest Oregon, close to the California border.

During one flight over the fire in August, a Bureau of Land Management pilot saw something he later said "wasn't supposed to be there." A "spot fire" had broken out beyond the edge of the main blaze, likely set off by a windblown ember.

If the second fire, discerned through an infrared camera since smoke limited visibility to just 100 feet, wasn't addressed quickly, it could threaten yet more property and lives.

But the pilot hadn't spotted the spot fire from a helicopter or airplane. He was operating a drone.

That spot fire in Oregon was ultimately contained before it became an issue, according to a video produced by the Department of the Interior highlighting a success story, officials say, in the federal government's effort to modernize fighting forest fires with a fleet of unmanned aircrafts.

The BLM, a division within Interior, later estimated the early detection of the fire by the drone saved $50 million in land and infrastructure value that could have otherwise been lost.

"I think that is a pretty compelling example of how drones work," Mark Bathrick, director of Interior's Office of Aviation Services, said in an interview.

Increasingly, this is what the federal government expects its forest firefighting efforts to look like.

Last year, the Western United States experienced one of its worst wildfire season in years, with an area the size of Delaware burning within California alone. Those fires, along with a trio of devastating hurricanes that hit the opposite coast, made 2017 the costliest year on record for natural disasters in U.S. history.

In response, the federal government relied on unmanned aircrafts, which are increasingly cheaper to buy and deploy, more than ever to aid the efforts of firefighters on the ground. Meanwhile in Congress, lawmakers are frozen in a political stalemate over how to fix a system for funding firefighting efforts that both parties agree is broken.

Last year, Interior, which leads interagency efforts on unmanned aircrafts outside the Pentagon, flew 707 drone missions on 71 wildfires.

"I had the opportunity to join our wildfire professionals last year and was able to test some of the technology that is now being used," Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said in a statement. "After seeing the capabilities, I know it will continue to make a big difference in firefighting."

In total, the department conducted nearly 5,000 flights altogether for various purposes, including drawing maps, surveying wildlife and conducting search-and-rescue missions, according to a report published last month. That volume of flights is a marked increase from 2016, just one year prior, when Interior conducted 750 flights.

Right now, the federal government just uses small drones to surveil fires and aid firefighters on the ground, like BLM did in Oregon - not to actually extinguish them.

But that is a capability the federal government says it is working on. The goal: To deploy retardant-dumping helicopters capable of being flown either manned and unmanned, so firefighting efforts can continue around the clock. At night and in the early morning, darkness and low-lying smoke, respectively, obscure the views of firefighters above, often making missions too dangerous to do.

Another potential use, being tested at the University of Nebraska, is to use drones to start prescribed burns, potentially to control invasive species and prevent more dangerous, uncontrolled fires.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which crafts regulation for drone use, gives Interior more leeway than other government agencies outside the military, allowing the department's unmanned pilots to fly beyond their line-of-sight in firefighting and search-and-rescue missions.

Interior currently only oversees its own drones. But last month, the department solicited bids for companies to fly drones over forest fires for longer-term data collection.

Right now, Interior is not replacing human pilots with drones, said Bathrick, instead providing "enhanced situational awareness that just didn't exist in the past." But he added drones generally allow missions to be done "in one-seventh the time and at about one-tenth the cost."

The falling cost of drone technology come just as the federal government faces shortfalls in funds for fighting forest fires.

As the law is currently written, the U.S. Forest Service, a division of the Agriculture Department that works with Interior to manage fires, must take money from other parts of its budget to pay to put out flames during parched years when firefighting money runs dry.

Because firefighting officials cannot tap traditional relief funds set aside for hurricanes and other disasters, they are stuck in a vicious loop, borrowing money meant for measures for fire prevention, like clearing underbrush.

House Republicans and some Democrats, led by Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, have pushed forward legislation easing requirements for time-consuming environmental reviews on tree-thinning projects undertaken to prevent wildfires.

That measure passed the House in November, but some Senate Democrats along with environmental groups are concerned the legislation is a pretext for giving loggers easier access to public forests.

--The Washington PostBalenciaga first debuted their political, Bernie Sanders-inspired statement pieces in their Fall/Winter 2017 collection. And although creative director Demna Gvasalia denies that the designs were political or inspired by "The Bern," this has been exactly what made the collection such a hit, grabbing the attention of both hypebeasts and American voters that year.

Now the logo is back, this time on Balenciaga's leather Piscine Flat Sandals in "bleu ocean" at $595. Only this time, "2017" is out of the picture. Apt because, well, it's 2018 anyway and that political moment has passed.

Update your warm season rotation. https://t.co/anyW9pIGeH

 HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) March 11, 2018

Still, you're bound to get anyone's attention wearing these bad boys as soon as the warm weather hits.

Image via Getty

Finishing up with the thought that I began with yesterday, from Fiona Givens and Terryl Givens, The Christ Who Heals: How God Restored the Truth that Saves Us, pages 105:

The tide did not turn decisively against a generous and forgiving God until a few centuries after Origen. Since about the fifth or perhaps sixth century, Ludlow continues, the idea of an eternal hell has been overwhelmingly powerful. This dominance was due partly to the theology of Augustine of Hippo [natch!  dcp]: he denied universal salvation with a forcefulness which had a profound influence on both Catholic and Reformed traditions. The limited, exclusive heaven left an undercurrent of bewildered Christians. As the author of the Clementine Recognitions, a fourth-century narrative, put the urgent question: If those shall enjoy the kingdom of Christ, whom His coming shall find righteous, shall then those be wholly deprived of the kingdom who have died before His coming? The answer for the vast majority of Christian history has been an almost unqualified yes. With the exception of a few righteous patriarchs rescued by Christs harrowing of hell (visit to the spirit world), there was emphatically no salvation for those who died outside or before the Christian dispensation, or for those who rejected or deferred the call to repent.

Of course, this is directly relevant  gloriously relevant, in my view  to what we might term the temple theology of the Restoration.

In this context, a little mini-essay that I wrote on behalf of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints back in 2005 seems directly apropos:

Everyone Else Makes Such Lonely Heavens

***

And heres a short video clip, produced by the Church, thats worth a look. Less than 2.5 minutes:

Christ and the Rich Young Ruler

***

I really like this piece, written by a Latter-day Saint adult-convert and doctorate-holding intellectual who leans liberal, theologically, and who is normally a bit resistant to popular Mormon veneration for Church leaders:

Mormon prophet surprises California Mormons with unannounced appearance

I particularly enjoyed President Nelsons brief comment (as Jana reports it) of his experience since being ordained president of the Church. Weve seldom had such glimpses into what its like to be a prophet.As recently as the 1980s, the West African nation of Ghana was in crisis, crippled by hunger after a series of military coups. But it has held peaceful elections since 1992, and its economic outlook turned considerably brighter about a decade ago, with the discovery of major offshore oil deposits.



Now, as oil prices rise again and the countrys oil production rapidly expands, Ghana is on track to make a remarkable claim for a country mired in poverty not long ago: It is likely to have one of the worlds fastest-growing economies this year, according to the World Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Brookings Institution.



Its projected growth in 2018, between 8.3 and 8.9 percent, might outpace even India, with its booming tech sector, and Ethiopia, which over the last decade has been one of Africas fastest-growing economies thanks to expanding agricultural production and coffee exports.



According to the IMFs projections, only Bhutan, with a minuscule economy, and Libya, whose war-ravaged economy plunged in recent years, may have a higher rate of growth this year.



In January, Ghanas benchmark stock index achieved the worlds highest rate of growth, 19 percent, according to Bloomberg.



And oil is not the only resource helping to drive Ghanas economy. Cocoa is Ghanas other natural bounty, and producers are piggybacking on the oil boom.



Edmund Poku, the managing director of Niche Cocoa, said his processing factory in Tema, an industrial suburb of the capital, Accra, already has contracts to sell all of the powder, butter and chocolate bars it plans to make in 2018.



This is the first year weve done that, Mr. Poku said as employees in white lab coats ducked into his office from the factory floor for the days marching orders.



Inside Mr. Pokus noisy chocolate factory, crews of technicians sat behind banks of computers, operating machines that roast, grind, boil, press and blend hundreds of pounds of cocoa beans every day.



His factory embodies the goal of economists and technocrats across Africa: a local enterprise that offers hundreds of well-paid, skilled jobs and uses cutting-edge technology.



Mr. Poku has doubled his factorys capacity in the last two years and plans to hire another 100 workers this year. He predicted other business sectors would also have the opportunity to expand.



Once people see that the economy is growing, banks and investors will be more willing to see Ghana as a good place to make investments, he said.



While the country is on a roll now, economists and other experts have urged Ghana to avoid the so-called resource curse that has plagued other nations that rely too heavily on the extraction of petroleum and minerals  industries often associated with graft and corruption.



President Nana Akufo-Addo, who was elected in late 2016 on a wave of discontent over the economy, has pledged to heed that advice, and to funnel oil revenues into education, agriculture and manufacturing, to diversify the economy.



In his recent State of the Nation address, Mr Akufo-Addo called the agriculture industry the backbone of his development agenda and said that factories like Mr. Pokus have been the takeoff point for industrialization in most developed societies. He said he also plans to expand incentives for cocoa processors.



Cocoa sales are helping lift Ghanas agriculture sector, which at the end of last year posted its best quarter of growth since 2010, driven by a bumper cocoa crop. Cocoa prices, along with prices for another of Ghanas exports  gold  are rising again.



The cocoa processing industry is expanding to take advantage of an influx of raw beans, said Eric Amengor, the deputy research manager at the Ghana Cocoa Board. Applications for permits to build new factories are flooding in, he added.



But critics say that a program to set up new factories across a range of industries  one in each of Ghanas 216 districts  has been slow to get started.



Growth in industries like finance and health care has also lagged, in part because government investment has been restricted over the last few years, in order to correct for years of overspending. After an initial oil boom in 2011, an overextended public payroll and increasing debt interest payments drove the country into a deep budget deficit when oil prices fell.



But today, Ghana seems to be getting back on stable budgetary footing, analysts said.



While the long-term goal is to diversify the economy, the main reason behind all the current optimism in Ghana is still oil.



In the last 18 months, two major oil fields off Ghanas coast have started production. In 2017, production jumped to nearly 60 million barrels, resulting in oil export revenues 124 percent above the previous year, according to central bank statistics.



In September, Ghana won an offshore boundary dispute with neighboring Ivory Coast, which is expected to clear the way for further oil exploration. Exxon Mobil signed an exploration deal with the government in January.



The boom has some experts worried.



If you suddenly see a resource bonanza coming, theres a tendency to spend money you dont have, and that has been the case in the Ghana situation, said John Page, a senior fellow in the global economy and development program at the Brookings Institution.



At the same time, Mr. Page cautioned, if the Ghanaian currency strengthens as a result of oil exports, it could place domestic manufacturers at a disadvantage to imports and lead to a slowdown in manufacturing investment.



What happens in Ghana could hold lessons for other West African countries, including Senegal, which recently announced discoveries of oil and gas off shore, and Mauritania, which has signed an exploration deal with Total, the French oil company.



While Ghana may have a shot at claiming the title of fastest-growing nation this year, it will still have to prove it can parlay its oil boom into high-quality jobs and sustainable growth.



Its our hope that our leaders can use these resources strategically, said Alhassan Atta-Quayson, an economist at the University of Education in Winneba, in Ghanas western coastal region, not far from the offshore oil wells. So far, not much has been done. You dont feel the effect of Ghana being an oil-producing country.



Across the nation, many ordinary citizens feel left out of the economic expansion.



The unemployment rate, although below the average of 7.4 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, increased from 4 percent in 2011 to 5.8 percent last year, according to the World Bank. Among youth, the rate is as high as 11.5 percent.



On the streets of Accra  where the population has increased by nearly one million in the last decade, to 2.7 million, as people pour in from the countryside in search of work  optimism can be hard to detect.



Kekeli Aryeetey graduated from Pentecost University College in Accra several years ago with a degree in finance. She was laid off from a microfinance firm, and then from a travel agency, before deciding to open a shop selling bulk rice and palm oil.



As a student, she imagined her future in an air-conditioned office with a decent salary and annual vacations. Her income now is about $67 per month, below the national average of $115. She is waiting for the oil money to trickle down.



The government speaks very big, she said, but in terms of our daily activities, I dont see anything. You can go to school, get a qualification, but its not enough. Were still struggling for jobs.

Source: Graphic.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has pledged the commitment of his government to increasing the contribution of the solar energy to the countrys energy-mix.



Despite an abundance of sunshine in Ghana, with many parts of the country enjoying high levels of solar irradiation (5.524 kwh/m2/day), all year round, President Akufo-Addo noted that solar energy only contributes 1% to the energy mix, as opposed to 59% from fossil fuels, and 40% from hydro.



On the basis of my countrys specific needs, Government is keen on developing utility-scale solar energy projects, as well as accelerating the development of mini-grid solutions in off-grid and island communities for lighting, irrigation and other economic activities, President Akufo-Addo said.



To this end, and in keeping with Ghanas commitments under the Paris Agreement, the President outlined some solar energy programmes for implementation by 2030, which include the attainment of utility-scale solar electricity from about 22.5 megawatts to 250 megawatts.



Additionally, the President stated that 200,000 solar systems for households, commercial and government facilities in urban and selected non- electrified rural communities will be installed, as well as the establishment of 55 mini-grid electrification systems with an average capacity of 100 kilowatts.



These systems, he stressed, will be based on solar PV technology, which will be hybridized with other generation options to serve islands and off-grid communities.



The deployment of two million solar lanterns to replace kerosene lanterns, currently being used by our rural non-electrified households, the President assured, will be done.



President Akufo-Addo made this known on Sunday, 11th March, 2018, at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance, held in New Delhi, the capital of India.



A major strategy to achieving these targets in Ghana, the President told the gathering, is to build the relevant domestic capacity in the manufacture and assembling of solar energy systems and accessories within Ghana.



This will also help create job opportunities for our vibrant and hardworking youth. Ghana is a haven of peace and security. My government is keen on building the most business-friendly environment for investment, especially for investment in the renewable energy sector, the President said.



He continued, Our country is endowed with great potential, where security and the rule of law are upheld, where investments are secure, and, by the end of the year, we are projected to be the fastest growing economy in the world.



Establishment of ISA



President Akufo-Addo attended the International Solar Alliance Summit at the invitation of the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron.



The Summit, which was attended by 25 Heads of State and Government, provided a dedicated platform for co-operation amongst solar resource rich countries, aimed at realising the common goals of increasing the use of solar energy in meeting the energy needs of ISA member countries in a safe, convenient, affordable, equitable and sustainable manner.



In his remarks, President Akufo-Addo noted that the establishment of the International Solar Alliance, in our view, is very appropriate in todays circumstances. That is why Ghana did not hesitate in ratifying the framework agreement of this noteworthy Alliance.



He was confident that together, we can ensure the satisfactory performance of the ISA Framework Agreement, and, thereby, make the laudable objectives of the International Solar Alliance reality.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe Nkawkaw Divisional Police Commander, Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACOP) Edward Adu Boadu-Akumah, has assured the public of safe Easter festivities in the Kwahu Area this year.



He, however, advised the public to be vigilante and cooperate with the police to ensure an incident-free and lively Easter festivities.



Speaking in an interview with the Ghana News Agency, ACOP Boadu-Akumah assured the public that the police was putting in place measures to ensure their safety during the Easter festivities.



He said more police personnel would be deployed from other parts of the Eastern Region to the Kwahu Area during the Easter festivities.



ACOP Boadu-Akumah advised the public to desist from walking in dark and quiet places during the festivities to avoid attacks or being robbed.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoFailure on the part of over 6000 Ghanaians to make good on their word and return home after the expiration of their US visas is the major reason many other colleagues of theirs are bounced when they apply for visas to travel to the United States of America.



This was revealed by US Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson when he took his turn on '21 minutes with KKB' as he spoke to GhanaWeb editor, Kwabena Kyenkyenhene Boateng on a wide range of issues.



Mr. Jackson who was detailing the reasons for difficulty in accessing US Visas said Ghanaians are mostly denied these permits because previous patterns show that several travelers; about 7,000 out of the 16,000 persons offered visas annually overstay their permit, creating problems for the US embassy who then is left with the sole responsibility of fishing out these illegal persons and processing them for deportation.



Because almost 7,000 of your country men have overstayed their visas or committed crimes in the United States and are in some stage of the deportation process, it makes it harder for other Ghanaians to get visas so they have to show that they will have strong ties to Ghana, that is the US law, that they show that they have strong ties to Ghana.



The less privileged, less educated who are single and young he explained, stand a much smaller chance of securing visas to the US compared to persons who have higher standing in society. Such persons according to him, are trying to secure their future and have very little to lose should they decide to stay longer than they are due and are therefore taken through a more stringent screening process and many of them are denied visas.



We look at everything about the person but poor, less educated Ghanaians who are single and young are more likely to overstay their visas, thats just a fact and so they get additional screening. People who are young and single in particular have a hard time demonstrating that they have strong ties to Ghana.



He cited Ghana as the 5th ranked country with the largest number of illegal immigrants in the United States of America, the other four being India, China, the Philippines, and Russia whose numbers are higher compared to that of Ghana.



Each year, approximately 16,000 Ghanaians are issued visas for travel to the United States for business, education and tourism. The reason that there is a high bar for showing strong ties to Ghana is because Ghanaians constitute the 5th largest number of people who have overstayed their visas in the United States. Up there with India, China, the Philippines, Russia which have much larger populations than Ghana does."



"There are more Ghanaians who are in deportation proceedings right now than people from Mexico or people from Nigeria which also have larger populations than Ghana.

Source: Ghanaweb.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe United States (US) Ambassador to Ghana, Robert P. Jackson is hopeful that homosexuality will be legalised in Ghana within the next decade.



Ambassador Jackson in an interview with Ghanaweb stated that he was hopeful all Ghanaians regardless of their sexual orientation will enjoy the same rights within the next decade.



He said: "We are not asking that homosexuality be legalised. I want to be clear about that. I hope that within the next decade or so, that every Ghanaian regardless of sexual orientation will enjoy the same rights and be treated the same way".



According to him, the US administration is not asking for it to be legalised but he accepts that it will a long process.



"This is a long process and it was a long process in my country. Homosexual marriage has only become law in very recent years and prior to that, when I was growing up nobody talked about homosexuality.



"Everyone who was gay suffered enormous discrimination and that has changed in the United States because people have a better understanding of the science and of the issues now".

He said that a greater understanding of "science and issues" will make Ghanaians more tolerant of homosexuals.



"I think as Ghanaians gain a greater understanding of the science and the issues, they will also be tolerant because this is a very tolerant country because this is a very tolerant country and this is one area where Ghana's tolerance seems very limited".



Currently, under Ghanaian criminal law (Chapter 6 of the Criminal Code, 1960, as amended by The Criminal Code (Amendment) Act, 2003) same-sex sexual activity among males is illegal.



"More gays in Ghana than Ghanaians know about"



Ambassador Jackson also claimed that there are far more homosexuals in Ghana than Ghanaians know about but they are private about their sexuality because of societal norms.



"I believe that everyone should enjoy the same human rights and personally I believe that people are born either heterosexual or homosexual, It is not a lifestyle choice.



"Statistics indicate that probably, 10 per cent of people are born gay... I think there are far more gays in Ghana than Ghanaians realise... but because of societal attitudes, they keep their sexuality very private.



"But, the United States is not asking anyone to change their religious beliefs or to legalise homosexuality, we are asking that all people be treated the same, that they have the same human rights and the same right to privacy".

Source: Graphic.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoThe one district-one factory promise of the Akufo-Addo government might not be realised, US Ambassador to Ghana Robert P Jackson has said.



President Akufo-Addos vision of one district-one factory may not be realised in his first term or even his second, if there is one, but the idea is exactly what is needed to get beyond aid  that you have to industrialise, that you build your industrial base, that you create jobs so that people do not want to trek across the desert and be potentially enslaved in Libya or even if they make it to Libya, drown in the Mediterranean, Mr Jackson said on 21 Minutes.



As far as President Akufo-Addos Ghana Beyond Aid aim is concerned, Mr Jackson said: We need to make Ghana attractive for young people to stay here and see that they can be entrepreneurs, that they can have a real bright future here.



Meanwhile, Mr Jackson says President Akufo-Addo is more visionary than some of Ghanas recent leaders.



I do think that he is more visionary than some recent Ghanaian leaders.



Asked if that meant that Mr Akufo-Addos immediate predecessor John Mahama was not visionary, Mr Jackson said: I think ex-president Mahama had a vision, too, so, I want to give him credit where credit is due, his emphasis was on infrastructure, which is very important  schools, clinics, hospitals, roads, President Mahama did a lot for this country.



He continued: President Akufo-Addos focus on the private sector and making the private sector the engine of growth rather than government being the driving force is how I see the difference between the two of them. Both of them had visions for the country, I think President Akufo-Addos vision of private sector-led growth is likely to create more jobs and propel the economy forward faster than the infrastructure investments but the infrastructure investments were important.









Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured VideoPaddy's Irish Pub is coming alive... in Chicago.

The Windy City's Replay Lincoln Park transformed itself into the iconic "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" bar on March 9.

Replay Lincoln Park is no stranger to themed pop-ups, it's been a Rick and Morty bar and Moe's Tavern (from "The Simpsons") in the past.

As Paddy's, Replay will be serving up cocktails from the FXX comedy, including Wolf Cola (whiskey with a special pop-up soda), Rum Ham (rum, BBQ bitters, sweet vermouth with a ham and pineapple garnish) and Fight Milk (vanilla vodka, cold brew coffee, creme de cacao and vanilla cream).

Keeping with the theme, Replay will be selling cheesesteaks, hosting "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" trivia and even having a performance of "The Nightman Cometh."

The pop-up runs until March 19. Replay Lincoln Park is located at 2833 N. Sheffield in Chicago. For more information, check out the Facebook event.

Don't want to go all the way to Illinois to get your "Always Sunny" fix? It may not be Paddy's, but you can go to Mac's Tavern which is owned by Rob and Kaitlin McElhenney, who play Mac and Dee on the show. Mac's Tavern is located at 226 Market St. in Philadelphia's Old City. For more information on Mac's visit macstavern.com.

While you're at it, see what cheesesteak is the best, according to Rob McElhenney, in our list of the best Philadelphia cheesesteaks (according to celebs).

Want more Philadelphia stories? Click here for all our coverage on the City of Brotherly Love. You may also enjoy these videos from our Life and Culture Team.Mexico City is about to be just a direct flight away.

Philadelphia International Airport will be offering daily non-stop flights to the capital of Mexico starting on July 5.

American Airlines will be conducting the flights, which will depart Philadelphia at 6:29 p.m. every day for Benito Jaurez International Airport in Mexico City. Flights from Mexico City to Philadelphia will arrive at PHL at 2:55 p.m.

The new flights are expected to generate $57 million of annual revenue/output for the Philadelphia area, according to Philadelphia International Airport.

This isn't the only non-stop flight to Mexico that the airport offers. Direct flights to Cancun have been offered at the airport for years via American and Frontier Airlines.

Mexico City ups the amount of international direct flights available at Philadelphia International Airport to 38, 17 of which are capital cities. Other international non-stop flights at the airport include Reykjavik, Iceland; Paris, France and Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Heading to Mexico City? Things to do in Mexico's capital include the opulent Palacio de Bellas Artes, the Frida Kahlo Museum and Ciudadela Market.

For more information on Philadelphia International Airport visit phl.org. For more information on American Airlines, go to aa.com. You can also learn more about PHL in the stories below:

Want more stories about Philly? Click here for all our coverage of the City of Brotherly Love. You may also enjoy these videos from our Life and Culture team:Police in Carlisle are investigating a report of an attack on a teacher by a student at Carlisle High School.

A video claiming to be of the Carlisle High incident was posted on social media. Borough police said they are aware of the incident and declined to comment because the case involves a minor.

Police said only that they have "taken appropriate action" together with the district.

The video apparently shows a female student attacking another student from behind in the hallway. When the teacher gets involved in the altercation and grabs the student, the video shows the student punching the teacher, knocking her to the ground and dragging her down the hallway.

The police referred all further questions to the Carlisle Area School District.

Reached at home on Saturday afternoon, Paula A. Bussard, president of the school board, said any comment on the incident would come from Superintendent Christina Spielbauer. Bussard said she would take a message for Spielbauer to call PennLive for comment, but as of publication, efforts to reach Spielbauer for comment were unsuccessful.SHAMOKIN - The Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association wants to know why an inmate at the Coal Twp. prison in Northumberland County accused of attacking two guards was in general population.

The inmate had been released from restricted housing within three days of Thursday evening's assault, association president Jason Bloom said Saturday.

A corrections officer suffered a broken nose and a trainee was injured, he said. Both were treated at a hospital. The guard has not returned to work, Bloom said.

The inmate, who has not been identified, has been transferred to the Frackville state prison, according to Trisha Kelley, the superintendent's assistant at Coal Twp.

The housing unit where the assault occurred was locked down the remainder of the evening, she said. State police at Stonington are investigating the incident, she said.

Bloom called on the Department of Corrections to reevaluate the length of time an inmate is kept in restricted housing.

Inmates should be aware there will be repercussions not just a slap on the wrist for assaultive behavior, he said.

Staffing always is a concern because "we're always outnumbered," he said. Inmates don't go any place, but staff works in shifts, he said.

Safety concerns is the reason federal corrections officers want the U.S. Bureau of Prisons to rethink its decision to eliminate 6,100 unfilled positions nationwide, including more than 200 in the commonwealth.

A bipartisan coalition of federal lawmakers in Pennsylvania in a letter has urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the BOP to reconsider the decision.

Shane Fausey, president of Local 4047 of the American Federation of Government Employees at the Allenwood complex, joined other union leaders in applauding the coalition's effort.

"I want to ask (BOP) Director (Mark) Inch and Attorney General Sessions exactly how much is a correctional officer's life worth," he said.

Inch is scheduled to testify Friday before the House Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security and Investigations Subcommittee in Washington.

The committee will examine the missions and operations of the BOP to make sure it has the necessary tools and staff to keep prisons safe and orderly, Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte, R-Va, said.Five people were arrested Saturday afternoon while protesting the construction of the Atlantic Sunrise pipeline in Lancaster County.

The protesters were taken into custody at about 4 p.m. during a protest at the contraction site in Manor Township, according to the district attorney's office.

Four women and one man were charged with misdemeanor counts of defiant trespass and disorderly conduct.

"The five were arrested after refusing warnings from police to vacate a construction site on Witmer Road, specifically a piece of equipment to be used for drilling," according to a statement from the district attorney's office.

The protesters are currently in the custody of state police, their identities are expected be released at a later time.

"The interaction between police and the protesters was cordial and respectful. Police are appreciative there was no physical resistance or escalation of behavior," according to a statement.A female student at a Cumberland County school was taken into custody Friday after authorities say she attacked a teacher who was trying to break up a fight.

The incident occurred Friday afternoon at the Carlisle High School. Carlisle police said yesterday they were aware of the incident, which spawned a video on social media, but declined to comment because it involved a juvenile, only saying they have "taken appropriate action."

Carlisle Superintendent Christina Spielbauer said today it started with an altercation between two female students.

"When a teacher attempted to intervene, one of the students involved turned and attacked the teacher," Spielbauer replied in an email today.

The teacher was not seriously injured, and no other students or staff members were injured, she said.

Carlisle police were called and took the student into custody. She faces criminal charges and will be disciplined through the school's code of conduct, Spielbauer said.

"This isolated and unfortunate incident is not reflective of our student body or school environment," Spielbauer said. "The Carlisle Area School District takes the safety and security of all students and staff very seriously, and actions of this nature will not be tolerated."

The student's name has not been released.Sunday is expected to be another dry and sunny day for central Pennsylvania, according to forecasters.

But forecasters are watching a storm system that is expected to move along the coast of New Jersey on Monday.

As of Saturday night, central Pennsylvania is expected to dodge the the worst of the system that will move along the Atlantic coast on Monday into Tuesday.

The Harrisburg area is expected to receive "little to no snow" on Monday from the system, according to Kevin Fitzgerald, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service at State College.

Forecasters at AccuWeather are predicting about a quarter-inch of snow for Harrisburg area.

Further to the east, about 1 to 2 inches of snowfall is currently expected from Reading east to Philadelphia and from Coatsville north to Mount Pocono on Monday, according to the National Weather Service at Mount Holly, New Jersey.

If the storm system moves further west, Fitzgerald said central Pennsylvania could see more snow.

"Right now, it looks like it will miss the area," he said. "But it's early."

For Sunday, expect a high near 44. Low around 28.

MONDAY: There will be a 40 percent chance of snow, mainly after 1 p.m. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 41. Low around 29.

TUESDAY: Partly sunny, with a high near 41. There will be a 20 percent chance of precipitation at night. Low around 27.

WEDNESDAY: Partly sunny, with a high near 39. Low around 25.

THURSDAY: Mostly sunny, with a high near 45. Low around 31.

You can see live weather updates via the National Weather Service and other Twitter sources below.

Tweet us at @pennlive with photos of inclement weather at your place, incidents you see on your commute or send a submission to submissions@pennlive.com.In order accurately to talk tariffs, one has to dig deep into the annals of American financial history.

Kirstin Snow (PennLive file)

So let's revisit Economics Class, 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off,' Ben Stein as the teacher. (It's best enjoyed in Stein's characteristic, flat, drone...)

In 1930, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of the... Anyone? Anyone? ...the Great Depression, passed the... Anyone? Anyone? The tariff bill? The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act? Which, anyone? Raised or lowered? ...raised tariffs, in an effort to collect more revenue for the federal government. Did it work? Anyone? Anyone know the effects? It did not work, and the United States sank deeper into the Great Depression.

Also perhaps read in a flat tone are the remarks from U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa.:

"I think the tariffs are a big mistake...the problem that needs to be addressed, it's Chinese over capacity...Here's the reality...American imports from China are trivial. They only provide two percent of the steel we import.

As one rarely to agree with Toomey, he's correct in that the countries providing us the most steel are Canada, Brazil, and Japan- in that order.

President Donald J. Trump, after a large kerfuffle amongst his own party, added some scant specifics to his otherwise detail-free proposal.

Chiefly, that Canada and Mexico would be exempt from the 10 percent aluminum and 25 percent steel tariffs. Adding even more, um, clarification, he suggested that he would look at the tariffs on a country by country basis, dependent on which ones are good 'friends' to America.

Our Asian and European allies could be left out of such a scenario, thus creating a trade war and weakening diplomacy, That's left us in the kumbaya circle awkwardly holding hands with none other than Russia.

All of this is to go into effect in fifteen days, and without the skillset of Gary Cohn, former chief economic advisor to the president, whom only days ago hung up his cha-cha heels and danced away from the White House as soon as the tariff announcement was made.

Trump promised on the campaign trail to protect US steelworkers' jobs, but his plan was opposed by Cohn, who - with the backing of many executives in other industries - argued that the impact on trade and on companies using cheap steel imports would outweigh any benefits of the tariffs.

Cohn isn't the only high profile person shaking their heads at this proposal. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., is particularly concerned about how this will affect Harley-Davidson, whose headquarters are in his state.

The Washington Post reports:

"What an extremely stupid move," said Li Xinchuang, vice secretary general of the China Iron and Steel Association. "A desperate attempt by Trump to pander to his voters, which I think in fact runs counter to his 'America First' pledge."

Lest we forget, China is one of our top importers of American coal- the dying industry Trump promised to bring back.

Also ironically ticked-off is Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, an advocacy group backed by the billionaire GOP donor Koch brothers.

He warned in an interview that the tariffs could harm Republican prospects in the November midterms, when Democrats hope to retake control of Congress.

"If American consumers are paying higher prices on a wide range of products just as the economy is starting to take off, it can slow the economic recovery," Phillips said. "It could definitely impact the midterms."

And the cherry on top of the tariff sundae- staunch Republican, anti-tax crusader and President of Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, even had his own twitter rant exclaiming, "Tariffs are Taxes!" (four times in a row) followed by "Tariffs are a powerful weapon to force negotiations. So are nukes. Until you use them."

Would anyone like to predict what will finally come of the tariff proposal?

Anyone? Anyone?

PennLive Opinion contributor Kirstin Snow is the principal of Snow Public Affairs in Harrisburg. Her work appears weekly opposite conservative commenator Charlie Gerow.For the first time in memory there's a glimmer of hope for peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile the potential for a different kind of war looms larger.

Republican strategist Charlie Gerow (PennLive file)

President Donald Trump signed decrees last week placing punitive new tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Last week he made a surprise pre-signing announcement that sent shock waves through the markets, caused consternation amongst our allies and alienated many in his conservative base in Washington.

Concerns over an expanding trade war were heard across the political spectrum. President Trump had earlier tweeted that "trade wars are good and easy to win," but few were buying it.

The president fulfilled a veiled campaign promise in imposing the new tariffs. The new tariffs are clearly part of his deeply held belief that we've been taken advantage of by foreign competitions and that it's time to put "America First" again. But they bring with them some very negative consequences, both foreseeable and unforeseen.

While the president's new tariffs won't undo all of the good that his economic policy is doing -- especially through de-regulation and tax reform -- but they are an unnecessary and dangerous threat to economic growth and job expansion.

The protectionists who promote high tariffs claim that it preserves American jobs and national security.

The truth is that while there may be some marginal job security and even minimal job creation as a result of imposing punitive tariffs, they are grossly outweighed by job losses in other sectors of the economy and a stifling of economic growth.

Tariffs are a tax.

The taxpayers are every consumer who will pay more for products as a result of the new tariffs and workers in industries that use aluminum and steel.

There are about 200,000 workers employed in the production of aluminum and steel in the United States.

Meanwhile there are 5.5 million in businesses that use aluminum and steel to produce other products. One study noted that while the new tariffs arguably would help create some 33,464 jobs, they would erase more than 146,000. That's not a good deal by any reckoning.

Especially with the administration's far-sighted vision for repairing and improving our infrastructure, the added tariffs are not helpful. The steel and aluminum needed to build bridges and pipelines and upgrade ports can't be made exponentially more expensive if we're going to be successful.

National security has likewise been put forward as a justification for tariff barriers to trade.

But look at where we get our aluminum and steel. The No. 1 importer of both steel and aluminum is Canada, our neighbor to the north. Hardly an adversary, they've been tied to us by mutual defense treaties for decades.

Following Canada are Brazil and South Korea, both allies. China, for all the bluster about them, doesn't even crack the top 10 and accounts for only about 2 percent of our steel and aluminum imports.

The nostalgic view of steel manufacturing, especially for Pennsylvanians and others across the "Rust Belt" is easily understood. But we didn't lose our steel manufacturing industry because we didn't make the best steel. It was the cost of doing so, from labor to environmental regulations, that curtailed our manufacturing.

Automation and technology took over. Today steel manufacturing facilities require a tiny fraction of the human workforce necessary a few decades ago.

Technology killed more steel manufacturing jobs than trade. Imposing high tariffs in an attempt to revive a by-gone era misses the mark.

Some speculated that the president chose to announce the imposition of tariffs when he did to boost Republican Rick Saccone's candidacy in the congressional special election in southwest Pennsylvania this coming week.

But the 18th Congressional District illustrates the opposite. You'd be hard-pressed to find a steel mill in the district.

The region's economy has evolved to "Meds and Eds" over the past couple of decades. UPMC is the largest employer in the area, not US Steel. The middle class is supported by jobs in hospitals and universities these days. The big creator of new jobs there is the energy sector and natural gas in particular. Pipelines to transport that gas are vital, and they'll cost more with high tariffs on steel.

The middle class will bear the brunt of both higher prices for goods and retaliation from other nations which has already begun.

Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross recently held up a soup can and noted that the increase in its cost would "... not be a noticeable thing." Of course, he didn't hoist up a car or a washing machine. Nor did he hold up millions of anything, because it is across the economy that the pain will be felt, both in increased consumer costs and job losses.

Yes, there have been foreign governments that have cheated. They've "dumped" steel. They've used government subsidies we thankfully don't offer. They've stolen our intellectual property.

Sadly, imposing high tariffs, while punitive, may not put a stop to any or all of that. High tariffs will, however, hurt American consumers and workers.

Free and fair trade is a much better option.

PennLive Opinion contributor Charlie Gerow is the CEO of Quantum Communications in Harrisburg. His work appears weekly opposite progressive commentator Kirstin Snow.In this March 10, 2018 photo, People do last-minute shopping before a ban on some Sunday trade takes place. A new Polish law banning almost all trade on Sundays has taken effect Sunday March 11, 2018, with large supermarkets and most other retailers closed Sunday for the first time since liberal shopping laws were introduced in the 1990s after communism's collapse .(AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)Delegates applaud as Chinese President Xi Jinping walks to his seat after casting his vote for an amendment to China's constitution that will abolish term limits on the presidency and enable him to rule indefinitely, during a plenary session of the National People's Congress at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Sunday, March 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)Los Angeles County Sheriff deputies escort a handcuffed man suspected of fatally shooting a Pomona police officer to a waiting car Saturday, March 10, 2018, in Pomona, Calif. Authorities say a gunman suspected of shooting a Southern California police officer to death and wounding another one was arrested Saturday, ending a standoff that lasted more than 15 hours. Los Angeles County Sheriff Jim McDonnell says the suspect was taken into custody shortly after 2 p.m. Saturday. (Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times via AP)Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi waits to receive heads of states at the International Solar Alliance founding conference in New Delhi, India, Sunday March 11, 2018. Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday co-chaired the first Founding Conference of International Solar Alliance (ISA) in the capital. The summit which was representative by more than 50 countries aims to mobilize $1 trillion of investments by 2030 for massive deployment of solar energy. (AP Photo/Manish Swarup)Former White House strategist Steve Bannon holds a press conference with National Front party leader Marine Le Pen, right, at the party congress in the northern French city of Lille, Saturday, March 10, 2018. Steve Bannon has given a big boost to French far right leader Marine Le Pen, telling a cheering crowd at a congress of her National Front party that "history is on our side." (AP Photo)President Trump took off Saturday for the Moon  Moon Township, Pa., just south of Pittsburgh  and tried to sell America a bad batch of green cheese. The rally that "45" held this weekend in a desperate, 11th-hour bid to prop up sagging GOP congressional candidate Rick Saccone in a special election in Pennsylvania's soon-to-be-no-more 18th Congressional District seemed to leave the media at a loss for words to describe these rallies which, simmering in blood-red Mussolini sauce, are both painfully predictable and yet still very much #NotNormal.

The New York Times, still floundering around for the right voice in the Trump Era, described the president's performance as "rambling and animated, boastful and jocular." I watched the exact same speech and am still struggling to nail down which part was "jocular." The part where Trump falsely claimed he was supported by 52 percent of women, when actually he was supported by 52 percent of WHITE women, suggesting how little the president really thinks of his millions of nonwhite female constituents? The not-ready-for-prime-time moment when he called an American journalist, Chuck Todd, "a sleeping son-of-a-bitch"? Or when he claimed that a black female congresswoman, Rep. Maxine Waters, is a "low-IQ individual"? Or when he celebrated International Women's Day by blasting Waters, Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi, Oprah Winfrey, and Elizabeth ("Pocahontas") Warren, yet had little bad to say about male Democrats (except for Barack Obama, of course)? His contribution to public policy consisted of a plea to execute drug dealers  just as they do in authoritarian states like Singapore and China.

Trump's speech might more accurately be described as "racist and misogynistic, autocratic bordering on fascism"  but I guess those words aren't in the New York Times stylebook. Anyway, the politically most salient point about Trump's effort to save right-wing state lawmaker Rick Saccone  who, in typical fashion, was a little-seen prop for the president's freestyle egomaniacal monologue  is that it was probably too little, too late.

A Democratic win in the 18th  in Pennsylvania's far southwest corner, a rust-bitten wedge dotted with shuttered and struggling steel mills and coal mines, which went for Trump in 2016 by a whopping 20 percentage points  will be seen as a big upset and a repudiation of the White House. That upset might not happen, but the chances for Democrat upstart Conor Lamb are looking better by the day. Several recent polls show Lamb  a 33-year-old attorney trained here in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania, with a slight lead. According to recent articles coming out of the Beltway, Team Trump and other GOP leaders have already started playing the blame game for an expected defeat, calling out Saccone as a sub-par candidate who couldn't be saved.

I know a little bit about what's now PA-18; I lived there briefly in the early 1980s as a young journalist for the Washington Observer-Reporter. I remember trying to figure out why schools were closed and public officials all vanished on December 1 (it was the first day of deer season!), struggling to understand town board members when they addressed folks as "you'uns" (a less refined version of Pittsburgh's "yinz"), and my trips on winding two-lane roads to dying coal hollows like Marianna, where the remaining residents bought dresses and guns in a downtown general store in the Land Before Walmart.

Some 35 years of additional oxidation later, it's a place seemingly tailor-made for a candidate like Lamb  smart, good-looking and with an impeccable resume that includes stints as an attorney for the Marines and a federal prosecutor. Handpicked for the special election by local Democratic bosses, which meant he didn't have to face a primary electorate that has been moving left, even in the Rust Belt, Lamb seems to bring everything you'd want in Deer Hunter country.

Except enthusiasm.

I was struck reading my colleague Jonathan Tamari's recent reporting from the district, where Democratic and middle-of-the-road voters seem truly energized  about sending Trump a one-fingered salute. Conor Lamb? Meh. Wrote Tamari: "Outside Lamb's rally with Biden at Robert Morris University, several Democrats said they wished Lamb was closer to their views on guns, abortion, and wealth disparity. But even those who described themselves as liberal still wore Lamb campaign pins, saying he gave them the best shot to win here  and send a message to Trump." Typical was voter Evelyn Harris, who told the Inquirer reporter that Lamb is "not as far left as I'd like."

These are the voters who deliver special elections, and they may do so on Tuesday because of antipathy for Trump, not because of any love for Lamb. And there's a lot for the Democratic base and voters on the left not to like about their special-election candidate. Although ostensibly pro-union, Lamb won't support a $15 living wage. His attacks on fellow Democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi are more than a tad awkward in this season of #MeToo politics. But then, Lamb goes out of his way to not mention that he's a Democrat, or discuss any policy at all other than he's for "working people."

While there's no dispute that Western Pennsylvania leans right on guns, Lamb's passion for weaponry  he filmed a campaign spot firing an AR-15  is shameful in a political moment dominated by the Parkland massacre. Hours after a teen gunman mowed down 17 people in the corridors of that Florida high school, Lamb (who mildly supports stronger background checks and thus sits a tad left of his fellow gun zealot Saccone) said, "I believe we have a pretty good law on the books." Since Parkland, Florida's NRA-backed Gov. Rick Scott has shown more gumption on guns than Lamb. Let that sink in. Sometimes firing an assault rifle for the camera isn't a mark of political courage but cowardice.

That said, the Tea Party-backed Saccone, a Trump acolyte, would be measurably worse than Lamb. Still, one senses  given rising rage toward Trump, his abusive governing style and his trail of broken promises  that Democrats would vote for Being There's slow-witted Chauncey Gardiner if they believed it would deliver a blow to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. The numbers bear that out. In a slew of special elections since the start of 2017, Democrats have shown the greatest gains in areas that went for Trump  regardless of the candidate.

The thing is, a Lamb victory on Tuesday might give Democrats exactly the wrong lesson  that all they need to do is fire a few rounds from their semi-automatic and mansplain Pelosi and they can buy a one-way ticket to Reagan National  going into the wider 2018 midterms. What has really explained the rising fortunes of Democrats, including special-election wins in red states and gains in places like Virginia? A new study by two top political scientists has found one giant X-factor  the surge in energy from mostly suburban women, especially in the 30-70 age bracket.

"The new upsurge is not centered in the progressive urban enclaves where most national pundits live; nor is it to be found among the grizzled men in coal country diners where journalists escape to get out of the bubble," write Lara Putnam and Theda Skocpol in the journal Democracy. "Neither of those poles looks much like most of America anyway. About half the country lives in the suburbs, twice the number who live in either fully urban or rural settings. More than half of Americans are also women  and of those, half are in their thirties to sixties. It is in this Middle America, and among these Middle Americans, that political developments since the November 2016 election have moved fastest and farthest."

Putnam, who teaches not far from PA-18 at the University of Pittsburgh, adds that she "has come to believe there is an epochal 'generation' in the making: a cohort of Americans for whom life-cycle stage and personal trajectory collided with public events  the election of Donald Trump; the Women's Marches and calls to action that followed  in ways that changed life after life in very similar, and very consequential, directions." Needless to say, Conor Lamb, his AR-15, or other Democrats who wish to imitate him don't do a lot to move these voters.

This isn't the only way forward; another new study published in the Times last weekend urged the Democrats to push to regain a few million young and mostly nonwhite Obama voters who failed to show up at the pols in 2016; that wouldn't mean so much in predominantly white PA-18, but it could sway key Senate races from Texas to Ohio. That, and tapping into the energy of angry, anti-Trump women. Playing for the God, guns and gold crowd that went ga-ga for Trump in 2016 seems a much lower priority  especially when it might drive away the first two groups.

But if the past is prologue, Beltway Democrats are going to get the wrong message from whatever happens on Tuesday. The worst plan for moving past the Trump nightmare would surely be to lead a flock of "Lambs" into November, some of whom will surely be slaughtered at the polls.Milan Sullivan, a Mastery-Shoemaker junior, wonders where the outrage is when shootings happen in the black community. Read more

Milan Sullivan is horrified that 17 people died in a mass shooting at a Parkland, Fla., high school. And she does not disagree with the teenage survivors who have stood up since the massacre, demanding action on gun violence.

But she's not leaving class next week for the National School Walkout, and she won't board a bus for Washington for the March for Our Lives on March 24. Sullivan, a junior at Mastery Charter School-Shoemaker, is all for activism, but she is like a lot of her classmates: hesitating a little over this particular movement.

For some students, it's because they feel too removed from things that go on in suburban high schools in far-away places, or they feel numb to gun violence. Others wonder: Where was the attention during the protests over issues pressing our community, whether it be Black Lives Matter or the murder of a friend or relative?

"Politicians are going out of their way to help these kids," Tatiana Amaya said of the Parkland activist students. "And there's just a disconnect  when something happens in the white community, the black community is expected to support them, but people don't stand up for the black community. The focus isn't 'What can we do to make black and brown kids feel safe in school?' "

Amaya, Sullivan, and the other members of Raised Woke, a Mastery-Shoemaker club focused on social justice and youth engagement, wonder where the outrage is when people in predominantly black neighborhoods get shot.

They're not alone. From Florida to Chicago, some people in marginalized communities have been asking the same question in the wake of the Parkland massacre.

"When something happens in the black community, we don't get a lot of support," Sullivan, 17, said.

Or, as Kaiyah Taylor put it: "We have a lot of dying in our community, and no one is paying attention."

(Her brother's friend was recently gunned down on her block, Taylor said, and there was no media coverage, no story about what the victim was like, no uprising to demand answers.)

No one disputes that the mass slaughter in a matter of minutes by a teen toting an assault weapon rekindles what has been a bitterly fought and politically divisive national debate in the last two decades. But for this group of Mastery-Shoemaker students, a collection of dynamic, bright high school juniors, the issue is complicated, and a lot of it is about race.

What would have happened if the mass shooting happened in Philadelphia, not suburban Parkland? the students asked during a recent wide-ranging conversation. Would the outrage have been as sharp? As national? They couldn't imagine any celebrities coming to survivors' aid with cash and acclaim.

"We do care," said Ahmad Abdullah, 17, "but we have to take care of ourselves."

Why do black shooters tend to be portrayed as thugs and white shooters quickly labeled as mentally ill? the teens wanted to know.

And frankly, there's also an element of desensitization, said Nathaniel Brown.

"We're numb when it comes to gun violence," said Brown. "We see it every day. Honestly, you can only cry but so much."

Around the Mastery-Shoemaker conference room where the students gathered, everyone nodded. Then the talk turned to President Trump's call to arm teachers as a way to ward off school shooters. Kyra Lewis is OK with arming "certain people  like security guards, or the deans."

But most students shared Perla Espinal's view.

"School is a safe place  we don't want guns in school," said Espinal, 16.

"That's promoting gun violence," said Amaya. "It shouldn't be that you have to have guns to feel safe."

The students are planning some action. Raised Woke is organizing Mastery-Shoemaker participation in the National School Walkout on April 20, the 19th anniversary of the Columbine school shootings.

"It's not like we don't care," said Amaya. "We need to urge our politicians to be accountable."

"This is not a time for us to be petty," Lewis said. "It's 'I see you, now can you see us?' "

Darin Toliver, a social worker and member of the Mayor's Commission on African American Males, understands the teens' complicated feelings.

"It's like the opioid crisis vs. the crack dilemma," Toliver said. "Today, we're talking about safe injection sites, but when blacks were being infected by the crack epidemic, no one seemed to care."

But this is a "pivotal moment in our history," said Toliver. "The individuals who were slaughtered on Valentine's Day, it was more than just white kids in a suburban high school being killed. It transcends color lines. It's a climactic period where enough is enough."

The Philadelphia Student Union, a citywide youth organizing group, is also using the movement to amplify its voice. Some of its members will participate in the national walkout Wednesday, converging on the Philadelphia School District's North Broad Street headquarters and then marching to City Hall.

Rather than focusing on a ban of assault weapons or other, less-germane-to-them issues, the group has come up with its own, Philadelphia-centered list of demands. Among them is divestment from school police officers, more mental and emotional health services, more guidance counselors and social workers, and "gun control that does not result in targeted policing of black and brown bodies."The Philadelphia Police Departments headquarters, known as the Roundhouse at Seventh and Race Streets. Read more

A 46-year-old woman was struck and killed Saturday afternoon in South Philadelphia by a driver who was attempting to flee the scene of an automobile accident.

Shortly before 4:30 p.m. at 23rd and Jackson Streets, the driver of a white SUV struck multiple vehicles and then the woman, who died at the scene, according to Philadelphia police.

The driver, who was not identified, was transported to Penn Presbyterian Medical Center by police. Authorities offered no additional information about the woman's identity or the accident.Two pitbull-type dogs were found fighting during a raid of this property on the 1200 block of South 35th Street in South Philadelphia Saturday night. Fourteen people were taken into custody. Read more

Authorities broke up a dog-fighting ring in South Philadelphia on Saturday, rescuing two dogs, recovering drugs, firearms, and cash, and taking 14 people into custody, according to the Pennsylvania SPCA.

With backup from Philadelphia police, PSPCA's Humane Law Enforcement team raided a property around 9 p.m. Saturday on the 1200 block of South 35th Street, where they found two "pitbull-type" dogs fighting, according to a release Sunday by the PSPCA.

A search warrant was secured, and a subsequent sweep of the property uncovered two firearms, a large amount of cash, unspecified drugs, and a blood-spattered wooden fighting ring, according to the PSPCA.

Both dogs were taken to a PSPCA shelter hospital for treatment of wounds. They were in stable condition Sunday and will remain in the custody of the PSPCA until their owners give them up or the court case is resolved.

"Cases like this remind us that while we may not always hear about it, dog fighting is still happening in the city of Philadelphia," Nicole Wilson, director of Humane Law Enforcement at the PSPCA, said in a statement. "Our team has boots on the ground 365 days a year, investigating cases like this, and working to bring those involved to justice."

Early Sunday, an additional search warrant was executed on a suspect's vehicle. There, PSPCA officers found a dog wearing a weighted collar, consistent with fighting. While at that location, investigators found another dog in another vehicle. The dog appeared ill and was taken to the shelter for medical evaluation and treatment, according to spokeswoman Gillian Kocher.

Authorities did not release the names of those taken into custody or indicate whether charges had been filed Sunday. Dog-fighting is a felony, according to the PSPCA.

Authorities ask anyone with information about any cases of animal cruelty to call the PSPCA's cruelty hotline at 866-601-SPCA. Tips can be left anonymously.The Pennsylvania House of Representatives will return to session Monday amid tighter security after a lawmaker, alleging she was stalked and threatened, obtained a restraining order against a fellow member of the chamber last week.

The protection-from-abuse order against embattled Rep. Nick Miccarelli states that the Delaware County Republican shall be "evicted and excluded" from any location at which his accuser, Rep. Tarah Toohil, works or lives. Miccarelli is also prohibited from having any contact with the Luzerne County Republican.

Whether that means Miccarelli will be prevented from returning to the Capitol building for the House's first session day in more than a month is unclear. That apparently will be a moot point.

Miccarelli's spokesman, Frank Keel, issued a statement Saturday saying the lawmaker from Ridley Park will not be at the Capitol on Monday but will be in his district office.

"He will not willingly submit to the 'Jerry Springer' environment his accusers wish to create in Harrisburg," Keel said in the statement. Miccarelli, who has maintained his innocence, could not be reached for comment.

Authorities in the General Assembly have never had to protect one member from another. But officials for the Republican Caucus and the governor's office said enhanced security measures would be in place.

"House security with Capitol Police are working to ensure the safety of members and staff on the floor, and the public, members and staff in the Capitol building," said Stephen Miskin, a spokesman for the House Republicans.

Capitol authorities are trying to determine how to enforce the terms of the restraining order, a source with knowledge of security measures in the building said. The source spoke on the condition he not be identified because he did not have authorization to speak about the matter to the news media.

The source predicted House lawyers would seek guidance from the judge who signed the order on how much physical distance is required between Toohil and Miccarelli.

In her application for the restraining order, Toohil alleged Miccarelli, a former boyfriend, threatened to kill her when they dated and stalked her on the floor of the House. She also stated that Miccarelli was "obsessed" with the on-camera suicide of State Treasurer Budd Dwyer, who shot himself at a news conference in 1989 as he was facing sentencing on corruption charges, shocking a roomful of journalists and Pennsylvanians who were watching live on television.

As he has in the past, Keel on Saturday characterized Toohil's request for a restraining order against Miccarelli as being part of a "well-orchestrated smear campaign."

"Furthermore, the temporary PFA order is expansive, unprecedented and unwarranted," Keel said. "It was pushed through by Toohil without all the facts and without affording Nick the opportunity to be heard. He looks forward to being able to tell his side of the story and present the actual facts to the judge this Thursday." Details were not immediately available Saturday, but that presumably is a reference to a hearing to determine whether the protection order should be made permanent.

Noting Miccarelli's 18-year military service, including in the Iraq war, Keel's statement contends the veteran is "now being deprived of his rights to defend himself and could lose everything based on nothing more than baseless allegations." He called Toohil's claims that Miccarelli was "obsessed" with the Dwyer suicide "a disgusting lie" that "demonstrates the ruthless attack he is facing."

Luzerne County Judge Michael Vough signed Toohil's application Friday and issued a temporary restraining order against Miccarelli. The order states that violations could result in charges of indirect criminal contempt, which carry a maximum penalty of $1,000 in fines and six months in jail.

The order does not address specifically whether Miccarelli is permitted to enter the Capitol complex; he and Toohil work in separate wings of the building. The judge's order states that the "defendant shall be evicted and excluded from the residence at: anywhere plaintiff resides or works."

On Friday, Toohil revealed in a public statement issued through her attorney that she was one of the two women who filed a confidential complaint with the House alleging sexual or physical assault by Miccarelli. The Inquirer and Daily News and the Caucus, a publication of LNP Media Group, first reported on the complaint in February.

In that complaint, Toohil alleges Miccarelli kicked, pinched, or hit her when the two dated in 2012, including at legislative events they attended. And she described him wielding a gun during an argument while driving at high speed. The second woman, a private consultant who has not made her name public, accused Miccarelli of forcing her to have sex after they stopped dating in 2014.

The allegations are under review by the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office and House GOP lawyers.

Toohil alleged in the restraining-order petition filed Friday that Miccarelli physically assaulted her and threatened to shoot her. "In 2012, [the] defendant pointed his gun at me threatening to kill me and himself," Toohil wrote. In 2011 and 2012, he "hit, pinched, kicked me [and] verbally abused me."

The petition also alleged Miccarelli had been "stalking and staring at her" and "finding ways to physically intimidate" Toohil on the House floor. "He stands close to my desk on the House floor," she wrote, adding that Miccarelli "walks by my office when there are other ways to go."

Toohil also alleged that Miccarelli has carried a gun on the House floor and that he was "obsessed with violence and firearms." At least a dozen members carry firearms on the floor, according to an investigation by the Caucus last month. House Speaker Mike Turzai, (R., Allegheny) has said there is no House rule against it.

The Luzerne County judge's restraining order includes a provision that Miccarelli must relinquish any guns within 24 hours of being served with a copy of the order. It was unknown if Miccarelli had been served Saturday.

Earlier this month, Miccarelli was stripped of his security privileges and his parking spot was moved from a basement garage to outside of the Capitol building. He must now enter through public doors with metal detectors, sources say.

Gov. Wolf's press secretary, J.J. Abbott, said the Capitol Police and Pennsylvania State Police were taking "every precaution to protect the people who visit, work, and serve in our Capitol complex."

Abbott repeated Wolf's call, issued last month, for Miccarelli to resign.

"No person, especially any victim of his abuse, should fear for their safety because he still holds the office that he has disgraced," Abbott said.

House Republican leaders have also called on Miccarelli to resign.Two 14-year-olds were taken into custody and charged with making terroristic threats and creating false public alarm after threatening Friday to participate in a school shooting, Lumberton police said.

The teens are among several people to face charges related to alleged threats of gun violence in local schools. Also on Friday, Evesham police arrested two students and charged them with making separate shooting threats on Snapchat against a middle school and a high school, according to officials.

In the Lumberton case, the school district notified the police when a Lumberton Middle School student reported overhearing alarming comments shortly after class dismissal. The student was also threatened, police said.

Police did not identify the students charged or provide details on what they allegedly threatened to do.

"We will always take any threatening statement, made in any context, as a legitimate threat when it comes to the safety of our students," Police Chief Anthony DiLoreto said in a news release. "We will work diligently with the school district and community to identify, address and mitigate [any] situation that pertains to our students' safety."Must-Read Travel Guides

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If you wish to contact me for questions, advertising, collaboration inquiries, comments, suggestions, reviews or just about anything, please send an email to. I will try my best to reply quickly! Unless, of course, I'm on a trip! :D All rights reserved. All photos and content in this blog are owned by(unless otherwise stated). Parts of the articles may be excerpted (a link to this site should be provided), but not reproduced as a whole. Photos may not be used without permission. Thank you very much!Unless otherwise stated, I personally write my blog posts and it expresses my own thoughts and opinions. I pay for all the expenses of my trips (unless otherwise stated). I welcome collaborations, advertorials and reviews as long as they are beneficial to my readers. All reviews on collaborations contain my own views and opinion and were not influenced by anyone. For inquiries, you may contact me here . Thank you very much!Really, the situation in California requires very little commentary or analysis. Just reporting the news does all the work for you.

 OC Homeless Camp Cleanup: 400+ Tons Of Debris, Nearly 14,000 Needles, 5,300 Pounds Of Human Waste ANAHEIM (CBSLA/AP)  The Orange County Public Works department says 404 tons of debris has been removed from a former homeless encampment where more than 700 people lived until they were recently moved to motels and other housing. Debris including 13,950 needles and 5,279 pounds of fecal matter and other human waste was found along the roughly two-mile stretch of bike trail roughly from I-5 in Orange to Ball Road in Anaheim, the Orange County Register reports.

By the way, if you never saw any of the videos of the homeless encampment theyre talking about, heres one YouTub video, about 10 minutes long, that you can dip into or fast forward through to get a sense of things.

I drive by a small homeless encampment in the border of Oakland and Berkeley when I drive to campus that features its own solar power array, and I see people charging up their smart phones and tablets every time I go by. But lets keep going:

 Bay Area coffee shop wont serve police for safety of customers A coffee shop in Oakland is refusing to serve law enforcement officers for the physical and emotional safety of our customers and ourselves, according to the shops social media. Hasta Muerte Coffee, an employee-owned co-op, will not serve officers in uniform and turned away an officer a few weeks ago, as reported by NBC Bay Area. The sergeant who was turned away from the shop a few weeks ago said he was surprised by employees refusing to serve him, but walked out without any incident or any coffee. Coffee shop workers did not respond to requests for comment on the policy, but a post on their Instagram account showed a photo with writing in Spanish that says, Talk to your neighbors, not the police.

Why not hang out a sign that says: Robbers welcome, since we hate cops. Heres the complete statement the coffee shop posted in Instagram:

Last Friday February 16th a police (OPD) entered our shop and was told by one of our worker-owners that we have a policy of asking police to leave for the physical and emotional safety of our customers and ourselves. Since then, cop supporters are trying to publicly shame us online with low reviews because this particular police visitor was Latino. He broadcasted to his network that he was refused service at a local business and now the rumblings are spreading. We know in our experience working on campaigns against police brutality that we are not alone saying that police presence compromises our feeling of physical & emotional safety. There are those that do not share that sentiment  be it because they have a friend or relative who is a police, because they are white or have adopted the privileges whiteness affords, because they are home- or business- owning, or whatever the particular case may be. If they want to make claims about police being part of the community, or claims that race trumps the badge & gun when it comes to police, they must accept that the burden of proof for such a claim is on them. OPDs recent attempts to enlist officers of color and its short term touting of fewer officer involved shootings does not reverse or mend its history of corruption, mismanagement, and scandal, nor a legacy of blatant repression. The facts are that poc, women, and queer police are complicit in upholding the same law and order that routinely criminalizes and terrorizes black and brown and poor folks, especially youth, trans, and houseless folks. For these reasons and so many more, we need the support of the actual community to keep this place safe, not police. Especially in an area faced by drug sales and abuse, homelessness, and toxic masculinity as we see here on this block. We want to put this out to our communities now, in case we end up facing backlash because as we know OPD, unlike the community, has tons of resources, many of which are poured into maintaining smooth public relations to uphold power. It will be no surprise if some of those resources are steered toward discrediting us for not inviting them in as part of the community.

Finally, what story about California would be complete without an update on Jerrys Folly: the high-speed train to nowhere:

 Cost for California bullet train system rises to $77.3 billion The price of the California bullet train project jumped sharply Friday when the state rail authority announced that the cost of connecting Los Angeles to San Francisco would be $77.3 billion and could rise as high as $98.1 billion  an uptick of at least $13 billion from estimates two years ago.The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit has agreed with the EEOC that a funeral home engaged in unlawful discrimination when it fired a male funeral director who was transitioning to female and dressing as a woman at work. The case is EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes.

The opinion is by Karen Nelson Moore, a Clinton appointee and one of the most left-wing federal appeals court judges in America. She was joined by Bernice Donald and Helene White. Donald, an Obama appointee, is also a far leftist. White was nominated by Clinton but blocked by then-Senator Spencer Abraham. Later, Bush nominated her in one of those deals that generally favors Democrats.

The case is the handiwork of Chai Feldblums EEOC. Feldblums desire to run roughshod over religious liberty in order to maximize LBGT interests is well-documented. As we reported, Feldblum has said Im having a hard time coming up with any case in which religious liberty should win over gay rights and that in almost all cases sexual liberty should win because thats the only way that the dignity of gay people can be affirmed in any realistic manner. Sen. Mike Lee quotes Feldblum as saying no individual exceptions based on religious beliefs should ever be allowed if they conflict with the goal of liberty for gay people.

EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes is the Feldblum EEOCs latest effort to impose this vision. As a threshold matter, I doubt that, correctly interpreted, federal anti-discrimination laws  the ones Congress actually passed  prohibit a funeral home from requiring a male funeral director (transitioning or not) to wearing a mans suit. I question whether these laws say anything about transgender issues. Certainly, the lawmakers who passed them didnt imagine they do.

I want to focus, however, on the treatment by the EEOC and the court of the defendants assertion of religious rights. The district court had held that the EEOCs discrimination claim must be considered in light of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA), which prohibits the government from enforcing a law if that law substantially burdens the individuals religious exercise and is not the least restrictive way to further a compelling interest.

The EEOC tried to short-circuit the owners reliance on RFRA by effectively reading that act into oblivion. It argued that because Congress intended RFRA to apply only to suits in which the government is a party, and because the funeral home director (represented by the ACLU) intervened in the case, RFRA cannot apply.

This argument was too much for even the leftist Sixth Circuit panel to stomach, and for good reason. The EEOC can always ask the ACLU and like-minded groups to intervene in EEOC cases whenever a defendant raises a RFRA defense. Such groups will be oh-so willing to comply, especially since little work will be required of them  they can simply piggyback on the governments prosecution. If such intervention eliminates RFRA from the case, as EEOC argued it did, RFRAs protections would become a virtual dead letter.

Having rejected the EEOCs attempt to repeal RFRA, the Sixth Circuit considered the merits. It held that, as a matter of law, permitting the transitioning funeral director to dress like a woman did not substantially burden the religious exercise of the funeral home owner.

The owner, a practicing Christian, believes that that God has called him to serve grieving people and that his purpose in life is to minister to the grieving. His company website declares that its highest priority is to honor God in all that we do as a company and as individuals.

Clearly, then, the owners operation of his funeral homes is a religious exercise within the meaning of RFRA. The Sixth Circuit panel did not dispute this.

However, the court viewed the RFRA issue as whether the Funeral Home has identified any way in which continuing to employ the [transitioning director] would substantially burden the owners ability to serve mourners. In my view, the issue is whether allowing the director to dress as a woman would substantially burden the owners ability to serve mourners consistent with the companys religious mission, as the owner sees it  in other words, consistent with his mission to honor God.

It seems clear that the EEOCs demand would substantially burden this right. The owner plainly does not believe he would be honoring God at funeral services in which the director, a man in transition, dresses like a woman. Rather, he believes he would be dishonoring God by violat[ing] Gods command[] that gender is an immutable God-given gift, not a changeable social construct.

Thus, the EEOCs position presents the owner with the very dilemma RFRA was intended to prevent. He must either violate his religious faith or abandon his business.

The Sixth Circuit reasoned that RFRA doesnt apply because tolerating [the transitioning directors] understanding of her sex and gender identity is not tantamount to supporting it. This is sophistry.

The director can understand his or her sex and gender identity anyway he or she wants; the owner has no say over that. But if a man, biologically speaking, handles a funeral service dressed like a woman where company rules require that men wear a suit, the owner is supporting the directors understanding.

RFRA is triggered in this case for the same reason it was triggered in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby. There, the business owners had a sincere religious belief that life begins at conception. Thus, they object[ed] on religious grounds to providing health insurance that covers methods of birth control that. . .may result in the destruction on an embryo.

The Supreme Court held that by requiring [the owners] and their companies to arrange for such coverage, the HHS mandate demands that they engage in conduct that seriously violates their religious beliefs. That was enough to trigger RFRA.

In the funeral homes case, the owner has a sincere religious belief that gender is a God given gift, not a changeable social construct. Thus, he objects on religious grounds to having his companys funeral services handled by a man dressed as a woman. Requiring him (if he wishes to stay in business) to permit this amounts to a demand that his company engage in conduct that seriously violates the owners religious belief.

If RFRA is triggered, as it should be in this case, thats not the end of the inquiry. The EEOC would still prevail if it could show that its demand is (1) in furtherance of a compelling governmental interest and (2) the least restrictive means of furthering that interest.

The district court ruled against the EEOC on the second point. It found that the agency failed to explore accommodation of the funeral homes competing rights under the RFRA and to pursue the alternative least restrictive of the employers legitimate religious interest.

The Chai Feldblum EEOCs unwillingness to search for an accommodation comes as no surprise. As noted above, Feldblum has a hard time imagining how religious concerns might offset, however slightly, LBGT interests. But Congress didnt just imagine accommodation of religious concerns; Congress mandated it.

The Sixth Circuit has three new judges, all nominated by President Trump. With the addition of these three, the liberals are now in the minority, I believe.

Thus, its possible that a request for review of EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes by the full court might produce a different outcome. It seems worth a shot.On Friday Washington Post fact checker Glenn Kessler took a look Minnesota Fifth District/DNC Vice Chairman Rep. Keith Ellisons statements about his relationship with hate cult leader Louis Farrakhan. Ellisons relationship with Farrakhan goes way back, but it turns out that Farrakhan has several fans in the Democrats Congressional Black Caucus as well. This long suppressed 2005 photograph of Farrakhan & Friends was only recently disclosed. We few, we happy few, we band of brothers

In his Wall Street Journal column last month, Jeryl Bier reported that Ellison and Farrakhan had a reunion of sorts in September 2013 with a follow-up meeting in Farrakhans hotel room when Farrakhan visited Washington in 2015. I noted Ellisons responses in Ellison speaksa little, in Ellison speaksa little more and, most recently, in Ellison explains: Dems dont care.

Kessler doesnt specifically credit Bier, yet he takes up the question raised by Biers column and considers Ellisons recent statement implying that he has no relationship with Farrakhan. Kessler finds that Ellison has not been entirely straightforward on the matter. He gently judges that Ellison needs to provide a better explanation for what he was doing in Farrakhans hotel suite in 2016 and what they discussed. Yet in assessing the number of Pinocchios to be awarded Ellison, Kessler does not hold back. He awards Ellison four Pinocchios.

To borrow a resonant phrase, I find it gratifying to see Ellisons chickens coming home to roost. Ellison is not accustomed to such scrutiny from the local press or the mainstream media. At the Daily Caller, Peter Hasson notes CNNs blackout on the Democrats Farrakhan scandal. With rare exceptions at CNN and elsewhere, the mainstream press has turned a blind eye to Farrakhan & Friends. Chicago Tribune columnist John Kass calls out the left on this score. The mainstream press is the lefts media adjunct.

I have written a lot about Ellison since he emerged as a Democratic candidate for Congress in 2006, some of which I summarized in Louis Farrakhans first congressman and Keith Ellison for dummies as well as in The Ellison elision. This is my point, and I do have one. Ellison has built his whole damn career on lying about his relationship with Farrakhan. The Four Pinocchios Kessler awards to Ellison leave about 3,996 to go.US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley addressed the multitude assembled at the AIPAC policy conference in Washington this past Monday (video below, text here). I am reliably informed by my friends who were there that, with the possible exception of Prime Minister Netanyahus speech, Ambassador Haleys remarks constituted the highlight of the event. They also emphasized to me that you had to have been there to understand why.

Even so, this is great. AIPACs mission is enlisting bipartisan support for Israel. It shuns remarks with a partisan edge, yet Ambassador Haley herself drew a striking contrast with the Obama administration. To no audible dissent, she described Obamas parting shot at Israel in the UN as shameful. Perhaps the truth has a force of its own. In any event, the video is both interesting on its own terms and heartening as a political document.

Quotable quote: Just about a month before I arrived, the United States allowed Resolution 2334 to pass. It was a shameful day for America. We refused to stand up for our friend when it was singled out for terrible mistreatment. On my first day I assured the Israeli ambassador that on my watch that would never happen again. And Im proud to say it has not happened again.

One more: We will continue to demand that Israel not be treated like some sort of temporary, provisional entity. It cannot be the case that only one country in the world doesnt get to choose its capital city. It cannot be the case that the U.N. Human Rights Council has a standing agenda item for only one country. It cannot be the case that only one set of refugees throughout the world is counted in a way that causes the number to grow forever. It cannot be the case that in an organization with 193 countries, the United Nations spends half of its time attacking only one country. We will not accept it any longer.The Democrats are trying to make something out of Donald Trumps alleged dalliance, twelve years ago, with porn performer Stormy Daniels. I wrote about it here. Frankly, I dont think anyone cares.

But the story is interesting because it raises questions about what, in our era, constitutes a scandal. Trumps long-ago romps with Danielsassuming the stories are truedont qualify. There is one person, of course, who has a right to be outraged and probably is, but Melania doesnt work for the Washington Post or the New York Times, and what she makes of the story is none of our business.

Worst case, Trump paid Stormy Daniels. But he didnt kill her. That distinguishes him from the Liberal Lion of the Senate. If you want a scandal, and a cover-up that succeeded to a remarkable degree, look no further than Chappaquiddick. The Democratic Party conspired to cover up Ted Kennedys crimemanslaughter, in a particularly vile formto preserve his political viability, at the cost of an innocent young womans life.

To this day, most people have no idea what the Chappaquiddick scandal was all about. That is how successful the Democrats cover-up has been. Most Americans assume that Kennedy was guilty of drunk driving and negligently causing the death of Mary Jo Kopechne. But the truth is much worse.

Several books have told the real story, but the movie Chappaquiddick may finally blow the lid off the Democrats cover-up. Based on the trailers, it apparently will tell the truth: that Ted Kennedy, after driving off a bridge into Poucha Pond, escaped from his car but made no attempt to save Miss Kopechne. That Kopechne didnt drown, but eventually suffocated for lack of oxygen as she waited for Kennedy to rescue her. That Kopechne could have been saved if Kennedy had simply called the local rescue squad. That Kennedy was such a self-centered coward that he left Kopechne to die, concerned only for his own political future. That instead of calling for help, he walked back to the house where his party was still in progress. That when he arrived, he tried to convince his cousin Joe Gargan to say that he had been driving the car. That he never did call the police to report the accident, but rather spent the night trying to concoct an alibi. That the Democrats fixed the legal process so that Kennedy would pay no meaningful penalty for the death he callously caused. That Kennedy pretended to have been injured in the accident in order to excuse his cowardice, and wore a neck brace to Kopechnes funeral to further that lie.

There have been more disgusting human beings than the Liberal Lion of the Senate, but Kennedy was very near the bottom of the scale. Yet he remained a hero to Democrats until the day he died, forty years after he killed Mary Jo Kopechne. That is what I call a scandal: not only Ted Kennedys manslaughterfrankly, a charitable characterizationbut the Democratic Partys decades-long cover-up.

Donald Trump should take no grief for whatever he did years ago with the still-alive, still-flourishing, and reportedly financially better-off Stormy Daniels. If I were Trump, every time a reporter tried to ask me about Daniels, I would respond by talking about Chappaquiddick.A front-page story in the Washington Post informs us that, in 2013, Donald Trump wrote a note to Vladimir Putin inviting him to attend the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. As the Post puts it, Donald Trump was so eager to have Vladimir Putin attend the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow that he wrote a personal letter to the Russian president inviting him to the event, according to multiple people familiar with the document. In a line it must relish, the Post adds at the bottom of the typed letter, Trump scrawled a postscript adding that he looked forward to seeing beautiful women during his trip.

At one level, this is a non-story. Of course the sponsor of a major event in a foreign country wanted the high-profile leader of that country to attend.

But why did Trump hold his event in Moscow. The answer, according to the Post, is that he wanted to expand his brand to Russia.

There was nothing illegal in this. And given Trumps lack of a moral compass, Im confident he saw nothing wrong with expanding his brand to one of Americas main adversaries  a nation whose immoral conduct poses a threat to peace and world order.

Five years later, I see a measure of poetic justice in the fact that Trumps desire to cozy up to Putins Russia has come back to bite him. However, the size of the bite exceeds the gravity of the offense, and it is America, not just Trump, that is suffering from it.Current challenges related to international law dominated presidential aide Krzysztof Szczerski's Friday talks in the UN Security Council in New York.

Krzysztof Szczerski called the talks very interesting, and said they mainly concerned the implementation of international regulations and problems with the execution of Security Council resolutions.

"It was a very interesting debate (...) we talked about what international law means today, what the main challenges are, how its implementation is progressing, about Security Council resolutions not always being implemented by everyone, and about not all legal violations meeting an adequate response,", Szczerski said.

He added that also discussed were problems connected with new forms of aggression which find no anchoring in international law.

At a press conference in the Polish Consulate, minister Szczerski referred to the US Department of State's dementi of online rumours that the US Administration was freezing contacts with Polish authorities over a controversial anti-defamation law. Krzysztof Szczerski stressed that nothing confirmed the rumours, which turned out to be fake news. See also: Minister Szczerski: Polish-American alliance strong as ever

Minister Szczerski said that he discussed plans for top-level Polish-US meetings during earlier talks with US officials, and assured that "nothing stood in the way" of such contacts. He stressed that the US Administration was ready to meet with Polish authorities, including President Andrzej Duda.( Read 35546 Times)

Source :

UDAIPUR-Born weighing 600 grams and 620 grams, the Chinta Devi twin girls tale of survival is an extraordinary one. The micro-preemie, who was born prematurely at just 24 weeks of gestation [ Five and half months] and, fought for four months to survive a stormy course in the neonatal ICU of Jivanta Childrens Hospital, Udaipur are among the smallest twins ever survived in India.Born to couple Chinta Devi and Chandeshwar Ram from Motihari, Bihar married for 21 years and conceived after IVF technique at Neelkanth Fertility Centre, Udaipur. She had uncontrolled blood pressure, gestational diabetes and started bleeding at 24 weeks of her pregnancy.As the survival of babies was getting compromised was taken up for an emergency cesarean section- said Dr. Simi Sood. Twin girl babies were born weighing just 600 grams and 620gms at birth on 25th October 2017. These twins were barely larger than a human hand and were very precious and the only hope for the family.They required artificial breathing support to regularize her breathing and then quickly transferred to Jivanta neonatal ICU.These tiny twins were managed & looked after at Jivanta Neonatal ICU under the precise care of Neonatologist Dr. Sunil Janged, Dr. Nikhilesh Nain & trained nursing staff. In the beginning, babies were struggling to breathe, so were put on a ventilator & given surfactant to expand tiny immature lungs. Babies had an infection in the blood, heart functions and pumping was poor. The baby also had a large connection between two major vessels [ patent ductus arteriosus], which was closed with medicines. Their gut was immature & could not be fed, so babies were put on TPN which means giving all essential nutrients such as protein, carbohydrate by blood. To get Venous access umbilical lines were put. Such babies losses water very quickly through their parchment-like skin & their weight drops down further. Regular screening of heart & brain were performed to rule out any bleeding in the brain. Due to brain immaturity baby used to forget to breathe, we call it as apnea of prematurity. Babies required ventilatory support for 80 days and multiple blood transfusions.In all he was in NICU for 115 days, on discharge, their weight was 2 Kg and 1.94kg. By far their progress in NICU is satisfactory, Brain is structurally normal, eyes are developing normally.It was a long & tough journey for me & my team. At the best of centers, only 30% of such babies born this early survive. Most doctors do not even attempt to save such babies, as the possibility of healthy survival is low. It is the latest technology, the high-end expertise of our NICU team, which has pulled this off  said Dr. Sunil Janged, Chief Neonatologist at Jivanta Children Hospital.All this would not have been possible without the support of Doctors and Jivanta management team. It was not possible for us to bear hospital expenses as we belong from a low-income family from Bihar. The hospital waived 50% of the treatments cost to send a pro-girl tolerance message to the society. We named them  Srishti and Drishti - echoed the proud father, Chandeshwar Ram.Dr. Pradeep Suryawanshi [ Senior Neonatologist from Pune] added,  The existing record for smallest twins to survive in India is from Kerala - twin girls weighing 452 gm and 500 gm. Baby born this small have the extremely poor function of all body organs & all of them need support for survival. This is where skilled & dedicated Neonatologist & Nursing staff is required, as the margin of error is close to zero. Problems related to any single system can singularly kill the baby & only 5-10% survive without brain damage.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Dublin, March 9 : The Irish government has agreed on a national referendum on abortion to be held by the end of May which could radically transform the lives of thousands of women, the media reported.

The cabinet, meeting on International Women's Day, approved a bill on Thursday allowing the long-anticipated referendum to go ahead, reports the Guardian.

Voters will be asked if they want to repeal article 40.3.3 - known as the eighth amendment - which since 1983 has given unborn foetuses and pregnant women an equal right to life, effectively enshrining a ban on abortion in the country's constitution.

If Ireland votes in favour of repeal, the government has said it will introduce legislation permitting unrestricted abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Currently, terminations are only allowed when the life of the mother is at risk, and the maximum penalty for accessing an illegal abortion is 14 years in prison.

Since 1983, an estimated 170,000 women have left Ireland to have terminations, and up to 2,000 women each year illegally take the abortion pill, accessed online, the Guardian reported.

Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, said: "This referendum is about asking our citizens to allow women to make major decisions for themselves. It's about trusting women to decide, in the early weeks of their pregnancy, what's right for them and their families..."

The bill will be debated in parliament over the next 24 hours, and full details will be published on Friday.

Extra time has been granted to keep the Irish parliament open on Friday to allow for extended debate on the referendum proposals.Dubai, March 10 : Turkey should "take into account Arab sovereignty and deal with its neighbours wisely and rationally", said Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Saturday.

The UAE Minister tweeted a series of three messages on Twitter, saying "it is no secret to the observer that the Arab-Turkish relations are not at their best", Xinhua news agency reported.

Therefore, Gargash added "support for movements that seek to change regimes by violence does not represent a rational approach to the neighbourhood, and Ankara is required to respect the sovereignty of the Arab states".

The UAE top diplomat stated "the Arab world will not be led by its neighbours, and its current conditions will not remain permanent, and the neighbouring countries should distinguish in dealing with the Arabs between the facts and myths".

Turkey is involved in the Syrian civil war with its own troops on the ground in order to push back Kurdish separatist forces from the Turkish-Syrian border region around the Syrian city of Afrin.

After Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt cut diplomatic and trade relations with Qatar in June last year, Turkey has expanded trade relations with Qatar in order to mitigate the losses triggered by the quartet's boycott.Tehran, March 11 : Iran is ready to allocate a credit line of $3 billion for Iraq's post-war reconstruction, media reports said on Saturday.

The credit line will be given so that "Iranian companies and its private sector can have a more serious cooperation in rebuilding Iraq," Xinhua quoted Iran's first Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri as saying.

Jahangiri called for increasing economic relations between Iran and Iraq in oil, gas and power sectors, in addition to cultural ties and pilgrimage tours.

"We must make efforts to increase the level of bilateral economic trade to above $7 billion," he said.

Jahangiri also demanded the removal of banking problems and bureaucratic barriers.

According to the report, Ali Salehabadi, the chief executive officer of Export Development Bank of Iran, announced in February that his bank would soon open a credit line of 18 million dollars with an Iraqi bank to expand Iran's exports to the Arab country.

"If other Iraqi banks meet the capital adequacy ratio, we are ready to allocate more lines of credit to the country," Salehabadi said.Damascus, March 11 : Syrian Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad on Saturday denied his government's possession of chemical weapons or chlorine gas.

The foreign ministry renewed the government's stance regarding the recent accusations against Damascus of using chlorine gas in the battles against the rebels in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus, Xinhua reported.

"We completely deny any presence of chemical weapons including the chlorine gas and we condemn any use of such weapons. We think that there is no reason for any country in the world to threaten Syria as some have done or to use their weapons to target Syria," he said.

Mekdad warned against the possible move by foreign powers such as the US and Britain to carry out military actions against Syria over the use of chemical weapons.

He also said that the rebels have been staging chemical attacks to frame the Syrian government, adding that intelligence information indicated that the rebels were planning a new chemical attack in Eastern Ghouta soon.

"We suggest everyone not to take any risk of military actions because the international situation is incapable of handling such aggressive practices at a time we look forward to seeing peace prevailing all over the world," he added.

In January, activists claimed the Syrian forces used chlorine in an attack on the rebel-held Eastern Ghouta, causing 21 people to suffer from breathing difficulties.

Last April, the US struck a military base in central Syria with more than 50 Tomahawk missiles, in retaliation to an alleged chemical attack by Syrian government forces on a rebel-held town in the northwestern province of Idlib.

The Syrian government denied the accusations, saying it is the rebels who mounted the attack to frame the government and draw in a military action from the US.Washington, March 11 : The US President Donald Trump predicted on Saturday that the talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be "a tremendous success," while praising China's collaboration.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well. I think we will have tremendous success," Efe quoted Trump as saying.

"The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they are looking to de-nuke," Trump added.

The US President applauded the cooperation of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe regarding North Korea.

"Chinese President Xi Jinping and I spoke at length about the meeting with Kim Jong-un of North Korea. President Xi told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

In a separate tweet Trump wrote "Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea."

Trump commented on the news that he had accepted a historic meeting with Kim, an event that would presumably take place in May at a place yet to be determined and which would be the first meeting in history between the leaders of the US and North Korea.

The astonishing announcement of the meeting between the two leaders was made by South Korea's National Security Bureau chief Chung Eui-yong, who met with Trump at the White House on March 8 to convey a message from Kim Jong-un, whom he had seen in Pyongyang on March 5.

Later, however, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders lowered expectations by stating that "neither a place nor a date are fixed."

The news of the possible meeting between Trump and Kim was well received internationally, given the escalation of tensions and threats last year, but some analysts were skeptical about the risk of scheduling this meeting without any public preparatory contacts between Pyongyang and Washington.London, March 11 : The UK police have identified more than 240 people as witnesses to the poisoning of former Russian sky Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the English city of Salisbury, according to Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Speaking after a meeting of the government's emergency committee, Cobra, Rudd on Saturday said the government was using enormous resources to try and identify those responsible for the attempted murder, reports the BBC.

"I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism," she said.

The committee heard that 250 counter-terrorism police have identified more than 240 witnesses and were looking at more than 200 pieces of evidence.

Rudd said both Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia, 33, who are being treated at Salisbury District Hospital, remain in a "critical but stable condition" after being exposed to a nerve agent on March 4.

"This investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe and also that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution (of the attack) we will be absolutely clear where it should be.

"The police have said that if anybody thinks they have any additional information they would welcome them coming forward.

"There is also substantial amounts of CCTV they have to go through. This is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and time to get on with it," the BBC quoted Rudd as saying.

Skripal was convicted by the Russian government of passing secrets to British intelligence agency, the MI6, but given refuge in the UK in 2010 as part of a "spy swap".

Russia has denied any involvement.

Also on Saturday, the police were active at Salisbury's London Road cemetery where Skripal's wife Liudmila and their son Alexander are buried.

The cemetery was cordoned off on Friday, but police confirmed officers were not exhuming a body.New Delhi, March 11 : Announcing an additional 700 million euros investment for solar-energy, French President Emmanuel Macron, at the first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit here on Sunday, called for "joint duties" for a "planet that has to be shared".

Macron along with Prime Minster Narendra Modi co-hosted the first ISA summit at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, in the presence of the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.

"The French Development Agency will allocate additional 700 million euros to its commitment to solar energy by 2022," the French President said at the summit, that aims at deployment of over 1,000 GW of solar energy and would mobilize more than USD 1,000 billion into solar energy by 2030.

This, Macron said, takes France's total commitment to 1,000 million euros.

"In 2015, we said we will allocate some 300 million Euros to support projects in the member countries, these commitment by the France was met couple of months ago," he said.

Backed and conceptualised by India, the ISA currently has 121 prospective member countries and territories. It was launched jointly by Modi and former French President Francois Hollande at the landmark 2015-Paris Climate Agreement.

Of the 121 member nations of ISA, 60 have signed the treaty and about 30 nations have ratified it.

Speaking at the summit, Macron said that while some (the US) decided just to leave the Paris Agreement, others decided to act because they wish good for their children and grand children.

"All of us her have experienced global warming, some of you here have lost your territories, economy and life of citizens, "We should not forget that we only have one planet and we are sharing it and for that there is no alternatives. There is a joint destiny which means we also have some joint duties.

"Without concept of climate justice there would had been no Paris Agreement... We would have blamed each other and we would go nowhere," he added.

The French President pointed out that while the countries between two tropics account for three-fourth of the world's population with potential of 138 GW of solar power in next five years, however only 50 to 60 per cent people have access to electricity.

Macron said it was needed to identify the projects in every single country.

"Each country with its solar energy potential will identify here there needs and how much finance they need. A 100 projects have already being listed here by 36 member countries," he said, further calling the member states to invest, adding, "these projects are very profitable".

Under ISA, 100 centre for excellence across the alliance members will train 10,000 technicians to achieve the targets.

He said that ISA shall help small enterprises in the small countries to help them mobilize all the projects and that emergent need is to mobilize the available finance.

"But in order to reach 1000 billion USD by 2030, to reach One TW (1,000 GW) solar energy, we need private investors. The alliance will provide favorable framework," he said, adding that expensive existing guarantee mechanism, that assures private investors, are being reviewed by France, India, World Bank and other member states.

The French President also stressed on the affordable low cost solar solutions, adding "alliance should be a place where technology can meet the expectations of people and country".

He further lauded India for its solar mission.

India, with 20 GW installed solar capacity has one of the fastest growing solar mission in world, about eight times increased over past four years. India's wind power generation capacity is 32.8 GW.

India aims at achieving 175 GW of clean energy by 2022, of which 100GW is solar.Washington, March 11 : US President Donald Trump is considering Christopher P. Liddell, a White House official who was an executive at Microsoft, to succeed departing Gary Cohn as the top economic adviser, a media report said.

Citing two persons who were briefed on the discussions, The Seattle Times reported on Saturday that Liddell, who is the White House director of strategic initiatives, is seen as a front-runner to replace Cohn as director of the National Economic Council.

However, a firm decision has not been made

Christopher P. Liddell, worked as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Microsoft and later for General Motors. He joined the Trump administration last year and has worked closely with Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser.

Gary Cohn, former president of Goldman Sachs bank, resigned last week amid a major internal clash over Trump's decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports.

It is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from Trump's team. Cohn, who had been rumoured just weeks ago as a potential next Chief of Staff, will leave the White House in the coming weeks, CNN reported.

Shahira Knight, a deputy to Cohn who was crucial to the legislation revamping the tax code, and was one of the favourites to replace. But Knight was uninterested, officials were quoted as saying.

Liddell, a New Zealander by birth, became Microsoft's CFO in 2005, leading the company through the economic downturn. After joining General Motors in 2010, he helped guide the automaker's recovery from bankruptcy, the report said.Los Angeles, March 11 : Actress Priyanka Chopra will soon head to Ireland to shoot for the final episodes of "Quantico" season three.

Michael Seitzman, showrunner of the American drama on ABC, on Sunday shared the update with the fans through a Twitter post.

"For all you 'Quantico' fans asking what we're up to...We are off to Ireland for the last couple episodes of an epic Season 3," Seitzman tweeted on Sunday.

Priyanka will be back as FBI agent Alex Parrish in the new instalment of the series. The Indian actress got global acclaim after the show and also won two People's Choice Awards for her role.

Season three will see Alex going back to navigating the dangerous waters of the CIA that she left behind when she retired to Italy. The show also stars Russell Tovey, Alan Powell and Blair Underwood.

"Quantico" season three is scheduled to premiere in April. It is aired in India on Star World and Star World HD.Mumbai, March 11 : Actor Anupam Kher says talking to the students of Babson College in Boston about the power of failure was an enriching experience.

"Thank you students, President Kerry Healey and organisers of India Symposium at Babson College, Boston for your love, warmth and appreciation," Anupam tweeted on Sunday.

He added: "It was a great learning experience for me to talk to you about power of failure and life lessons. #MotivationalLecture #YoungBrightMinds."

Earlier this month, the actor was also invited to speak at LSE SU India Forum (LIF) 2018 hosted by the London School of Economics.

On the work front, Anupam is busy with American medical drama "Bellevue".Kuala Lumpur, March 11 : Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said his grandmother and then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi told him she will be killed and that he told his father Rajiv Gandhi that he may meet a similar fate.

The younger Gandhi also told the IIM alumni in Malaysia that he and his sister Priyanka had "completely forgiven" their father's killers.

"My grandmother told me she was going to die and my father... I told him he was going to die," he said, referring to their violent deaths within a span of seven years.

Indira Gandhi was shot dead by two of her bodyguards at her official residence on October 31, 1984 while a suicide bomber from Sri Lanka's now vanquished Tamil Tigers group blew up Rajiv Gandhi at an election rally in Tamil Nadu on May 21, 1991.

Gandhi said: "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That's pretty clear.

"In politics, we deal with forces, big forces, which are normally not visible. You are dealing with structures that are powerful. Those are not visible but they can hurt you," he added.

Asked if he and Priyanka Gandhi had forgiven his father's killers, Gandhi said: "We were very upset and hurt for many years. We were quite angry. But somehow, (we have) completely... in fact, completely (forgiven them).

"When one realises that when these events take place, it's (a) collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught.

"When I saw on TV (Tamil Tigers chief Velupillai) Prabhakaran lying dead, I got two feelings - first was why they are humiliating this man in this way.

"And second was... I felt really bad for him and for his kids," Gandhi said.

"We have been through this experience, so we understand. I literally find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does. I don't like any kind of violence."

Sri Lankan security forces shot dead Prabhakaran and virtually destroyed the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, ending a quarter century of separatist war in the island nation.Bhubaneswar, March 11 : Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday said the state government has decided to establish 50 more courts while it has established 170 courts in the last four years.

"Our state government is committed not only to the cause of justice, but also justice at the doorstep for the people of Odisha. In the process, new courts are being established every year and during the last four years the state government has established more than 170 courts," said the Chief Minister.

Patnaik was speaking at the Bhoomi Poojan ceremony of the Judicial Court Complex in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

Chief Justice of India (CJI) Justice Deepak Misra performed the Bhoomi Poojan ceremony of the Judicial Court Complex in the Civil Court premises here.

The Chief Minister said this year, the government has decided to establish fifty more courts, including family courts and additional district judge courts.

Besides that, the government has recently established three commercial courts to create an investor-friendly atmosphere in the state, the CM added.

Later, Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra attending the state level conference on "Juvenile Justice: Issues and Challenges" at the Judicial Academy in Cuttack on Sunday.

He said providing employment opportunities to juveniles can help in curbing crime and other offences committed by them and also enhance their self-confidence.

"It is only through proper employment, juveniles in conflict with the law and order be made to return to the mainstream," said Justice Misra.Kathmandu, March 11 : Nepal's Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli won a vote of confidence by a two-thirds majority on Sunday during a floor test in Parliament. Oli was appointed the Prime Minister 25 days ago.

The Nepal Congress decided to sit in the opposition saying it will see the performance of the government for another 100 days and will take all possible steps if the government tries to become authoritarian.

While questioning the intent of the government in seeking a two-thirds vote as it had already secured a majority, Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa warned Oli "not to dream to become Li Kuan Yew of Singapore in the name of two-third majority".

In the 275 seat Federal Parliament, 268 votes were cast and Oli received 208 votes.

The move came as a surprise to many as Oli and the Madhesi parties did share "acrimonious" relations in the past where Madhes based parties used to depict him as an "anti-Madhesi" leader.

After the vote, the communist government has a two-thirds majority, for the first time in the post-1990 era after the restoration of democracy.

Among the 10 parties and an independent representing the Lower House, Oli is widely expected to garner support of six parties and the independent lawmaker.

The Prime Minister on Sunday said that there is nothing like a ruling party or opposition when it comes to the nation's prosperity.

"National development campaign does not belong to only ruling party, but it is a common journey. The campaign maybe led by the ruling party or me in the capacity of Prime Minister," he said while addressing a parliamentary meeting.

He pledged to work for the welfare and aspirations of the people, while stressing the need for developing agriculture, trade, energy, for creating the base for the prosperity of the country.Shillong, March 11 : Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma will face a floor test at a special session of the Assembly on Monday to prove his majority, officials said on Sunday.

Prior to Sangma proving his majority in the 60-member House, Protem Speaker Timothy Dalbot Shira will preside over the session to elect the Speaker of the newly constituted tenth Meghalaya Assembly.

Former Chief Minister Donkupar Roy of the ruling Meghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA) government and opposition Congress legislator Winnerson D. Sangma are in the race to occupy the top post of the Assembly.

Roy, the longest serving legislator, is also the President of the United Democratic Party, which is the key partner in the National People's Party-led government. Sangma is a two-time Congress legislator from Salmanpara constituency in the West Garo Hills.

Sangma was sworn in as the 12th Chief Minister of Meghalaya on March 6 after six non-Congress parties, include one Independent came together and formed the Meghalaya Democratic Alliance coalition government.

"The MDA is confident that its nominee Donkupar Roy will be elected as the Speaker of the Assembly and the Chief Minister will prove that he enjoys absolute majority in the Assembly," Home Minister James Sangma told IANS.

He said the six-party MDA coalition includes 19 members from the National People's Party, six from the United Democratic Party, four from the the People's Democratic Front, two each from the Hill State People's Democratic Party (HSPDP) and the BJP, one from the Nationalist Congress Party besides one Independent.

The NPP, which won 19 assembly seats in the just concluded polls, is the second largest party after the Congress with 21 seats.

Meghalaya is another state, after Manipur and Goa, where the Congress has not been able to forge a post-poll alliance with any of the regional parties despite emerging as the single-largest party.

"We are hoping against hope (Speaker's election). There are a few friends at the other side and let us see tomorrow," former Excise Minister and Congress Spokesperson, Zenith M. Sangma told IANS.

Lone Khun Hyniewtrep National Awakening Movement legislator Adelbert Nongrum and two Independents, S.K. Sun and Lambor Malngiang, are yet to declare their support for any of the two candidates.

Polling for 59 of the state's 60 assembly seats was held on February 27. The election to one seat was countermanded following the killing of a Nationalist Congress Party candidate Johnathone Sangma.Tel Aviv, March 11 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if the deal to limit Iran's nuclear programme was not changed or revoked.

During remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his discussions with US President Donald Trump and other officials in Washington last week focused mainly on Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I said that the nuclear agreement with Iran contains within it many dangers for the world, including the special danger of the nuclearisation of the Middle East," Netanyahu said, according to an statement.

"Many countries in the Middle East are saying that they are also allowed to enrich uranium if Iran is allowed to do so; therefore, the way to prevent this danger, the nuclearisation of the Middle East, is to either thoroughly correct the agreement or abrogate it," he said.

Netanyahu reportedly referred to Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to buy nuclear reactors from the US.

"Moreover, I remind you that Iran declares, on an almost daily basis, its intention to wipe out Israel. It is hardly worth saying that we will not allow this, to put it mildly," he added.

Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the six world powers in order to limit Tehran's nuclear plan and prevent it from achieving atomic weapons.

In January, Trump announced that he will waive sanctions against Iran and extend the nuclear deal after he disavowed the deal three months earlier.

Israel is widely believed to hold hundreds of nuclear warheads, which the country has never officially acknowledged to exist.Srinagar, March 11 : Militants on Sunday hurled a grenade at the house of a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) legislator in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam district, officials said.

The grenade was hurled at MLA Abdul Majeed Paddar's house in Noorabad area.

"The grenade exploded outside the MLA's house without causing any damage," police said.Tura (Meghalaya), March 11 : As many as eight rebels of the outlawed Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) are set to surrender before Meghalaya Home Minister James Sangma on Monday, an official said on Sunday.

The eight rebels -- Klubirth Sangma alias Keke, Chonbirth Ch. Marak, Rahul S. Sangma alias Nikam, Sujit G. Momin alias Roben, Hendison M. Sangma alias Newak, Barningstone S. Sangma alias William, Thangkam Ch. Momin alias Bilwat, Pinbil Ch. Marak alias Churik -- were once the close aides of Sohan Dalbot Shira, the military wing chief of the GNLA.

"They gave themselves up to the police authorities at Akelgre village in East Garo Hills. They will officially surrender to Home Minister tomorrow at the police headquarters in Shillong," Ringrang Momin, the district police chief said.

The group is expected to lay down two AK-56, INSAS rifle, SMG (submachine gun), .22 air rifle, .22 pistol, among a huge cache of ammunition before the Home Minister.

He said the rebels had been with Shira during the gunfight with Special Force (SF-10) commandos at Sudugre area in Meghalays's East Garo Hills. Shira was shot dead.

Shira was wanted in several cases of murder, kidnapping, bombings and extortion in Garo Hills, besides the killing of Nationalist Congress Party candidate (NCP), Jonathone Sangma on February 18.

Sangma was killed along with his bodyguard and two party workers in an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) explosion in East Garo Hills when their convoy was returning from an assembly election campaign.

Polling for 59 out of the state's 60 assembly seats was held on February 27. The election to one seat was countermanded following the killing of Sangma.New Delhi, March 11 : The first-ever Indo-French Knowledge Summit ended successfully here on Sunday with a landmark agreement on mutual recognition of educational qualifications between the two countries and a record 15 other MoUs signed between universities and research institutions on joint initiatives and partnerships.

The two-day summit, which coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron, was organised by the French Embassy in India and co-hosted by the Human Resource Development Ministry.

More than 350 people from nearly 80 Indian and 70 French institutions, along with key enterprises, participated in the summit which also received the support of the Science and Technology Ministry, Campus France and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Addressing the participants at the closing session, Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said the agreement will go a long way in boosting the educational relationship between the two countries.

"It will encourage mobility of students from both the countries by facilitating possibilities for them to continue their studies in the other country and would also promote excellence in higher education through cooperation, university and research exchanges."

He said the government will soon launch its 'Study in India' Programme to encourage more foreign students to take up education in India.

"Currently there are 47,000 foreign students learning in India and by 2022 we will have at least 100,000," he said.

Javadekar also mooted the idea that both the countries should look at the possibility of allowing professionals to practice in each other's country on reciprocity basis.

He said that a Joint Working Group between the two countries will be formed to take ahead the bilateral cooperation in education and research. The JWG will meet in September.

In her remarks, French Minister of Higher Education and Research and Innovation Frederique Vidal said education can become an effective weapon to fight poverty and inequality.

"For a meaningful cooperation, there is a need to simplify administrative procedures to increase student mobility, to address all academic issues to promote cooperation as well as foster new partnerships between institutions for the future," she said.

She said the recommendations by Round Table Chairs will guide the Indo-French cooperation in education and research over the next five years.

A Franco-Indian Education Trust was also unveiled at the closing session. It will be funded by the Indian industry and French companies in India to offer educational scholarships and merit-based financial support to Indian students.

The Knowledge Summit is the first Franco-Indian Summit for university, scientific and technology cooperation with the broader objective to design a roadmap of cooperation between the two countries for the next five years, in collaboration with companies.

The event offered a common moment for a common goal -- increase student mobility, enlarge Research & Development collaborations and link campuses to companies by focusing on employability.

Earlier in the day, an Indian delegation, led by Javadekar, and Vidal held a meeting where they discussed efforts to deepen science and technology, engagement between higher educational institutions of India and France, Joint Action Plan for cooperation between these institutions in Joint Ph.D. programme (twinning), student exchange, joint supervision of doctoral programmes, collaborative research, semester teaching assignments and more involvement of French Academicians under GIAN programme.Tehran, March 11 : A Turkish jet with 11 people on board crashed in the suburban area of Iran's western city of Shehr-e Kord on Sunday, the media reported.

The plane was seen catching fire in the air, before it crashed into the heights of Helen Mountain near Dorak Anari village, Xinhua reported.

The plane was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul, the report said.

This is not the only plane crash in Iran in recent times. In February, an Iranian Aseman Airlines plane crashed in the country's central Isfahan province, killing 60 passengers and six crew members on board.Srinagar, March 11 : The remark of state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu that "Jammu and Kashmir is neither a political issue nor a conflict state" on Sunday evoked strong criticism from both mainstream and separatist leaders.

Opposition National Conference leader Ali Muhammad Sagar said the Chief Minister must immediately issue a clarification whether or not her Finance Minister's remarks reflect the stand of her party.

Separatist leader Muhammad Yasin Malik said the statement was proof of what he alleged was the "sold out mentality of the ruling PDP".

Mirwaiz Umer Farooq-led Hurriyat Conference in a statement said: "Such falsehood is part of the propaganda being deliberately built to mislead and misdirect audiences in order to dilute the reality of the Kashmir dispute and weaken the discourse on Kashmir".

Drabu had said in New Delhi that "J&K is not a conflict state and nor a political issue but a society with social issues in search of itself".

Meanwhile, sources in the Peoples Democratic Party said Drabu has been asked to withdraw the statement as this does not reflect the stand of the Party.

According to the state Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Abdul Rehman Veeri the party's disciplinary committee has sent a letter to the minister which said: "Your statement has the potential of creating a serious dent to the image and credibility of the party. Therefore you are advised to explain as to why statement detrimental to the party interests was made."London, March 12 : Services at London's King's Cross and Manchester Piccadilly ground came to a halt amid demonstrations against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria on Sunday, media report said.

Waving flags in support of a number of Kurdish organisations, the demonstrators disrupted transport networks for a number of hours, Xinhua reported.

At the time of Manchester Piccadilly's closure, British Transport Police superintendent Mark Cleland said the force appreciated and respected "the right to peaceful protest".

However, "Those involved in this afternoon's incident will be subject to intense investigation with a view to arrest and prosecution," Cleland said.

Hours later, the sudden protest in London King's Cross also forced that station to close.

King's Cross station was temporarily closed as police stopped protesters from accessing the tracks, British Transport Police said.

They then moved outside the station, blocking Euston Road briefly before heading towards Russell Square.

National Rail said Kings Cross station has fully re-opened but trains to and from there may still be delayed or revised as the service recovers, according to BBC.

The demonstrations in Britain and other parts of Europe followed several months of conflict between Kurdish groups and Turkish forces in Afrin, northern Syria.

The Kurds' supporters are angered by Turkey's assault on Afrin, which it launched on January 20 with the stated aim of dislodging the People's Protection Units (YPG), a U.S.-back Kurdish militia that Ankara considers a terrorist group.North Jersey Gastroenterology

NJ Top Docs is proud to present North Jersey Gastroenterology with the title of being an NJ Top Docs Practice for another year! Dr. Jonathon S. Stillman, Dr. Steven David, Dr. Bonnie Kingman Cheng, Dr. Joseph Anthony Zangara, & Dr. Ravishankar Ramamoorthy of North Jersey Gastroenterology have all been reviewed and approved as NJ Top Docs.

These five NJ Top Docs at North Jersey Gastroenterology maintain the highest levels of accreditation and pursue ongoing education to stay ahead of the latest trends in gastroenterology.

Helping patients maintain a healthy digestive system is a top priority for Dr. Stillman, Dr. David, Dr. Cheng, Dr. Zangara, and Dr. Ramamoorthy. A few of the services that these doctors offer to help their patients include:



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NJ Top Docs is a division of USA Top Docs which allows patients to meet providers online before making their appointment.

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You can also follow us on Facebook and Twitter.Pixel Film Studios Plugins - FCPX Brush - Final Cut Pro X A brush tool for Final Cut Pro X that offers limitless creative potential!

For the first time ever Final Cut Pro X users have the ability to use a brush directly inside of Final Cut. FCPX Brush Tool was designed exclusively for Final Cut Pro X and provides simplified brush controls as well as hot keys to quickly and effortlessly edit the canvas. This innovative tool offers two modes to edit the canvas, Frame by Frame and Add to Subsequent frames.

FCPX Brush is crafted to offer Final Cut users the ability to intuitively draw directly inside of the editing software. The goal of this plugin is to give users the freedom to be creative allowing unique effects like the popular scribble effect found in many popular music videos.

This tool provides simplified brush controls as well as hot keys to easily edit the canvas. Brush style controls consist of sliders and pop-ups which are located directly inside of Final Cut Pro. Hold down the command key to erase brush strokes from the canvas and use the plus and minus keys to adjust the overall brush size. Let the FCPX Brush tool be an extension of your creativity.

FCPX Brush offers additional pop-up menus consisting of two different modes to edit the canvas: Frame by Frame and Add to Subsequent Frames. Frame-by-frame animation will be for more in-depth manual alterations. Subsequent Frames is used when the desired effect is to have all of the following frames have the exact same drawing.

Users have the option of erasing brush strokes, selecting clear canvas, or just the deleting the current frame if desired. Explore the freedom of using a brush directly inside of Final Cut Pro X all with a non destructive workflow.

"With FCPX Brush I can now give that extra touch of creative design to my videos by adding highlights and scribble effects," states Matthew, a small-time film artist.

Established in 2006, Aliso Viejo, California-based Pixel Film Studios is an innovative developer of visual effects tools for the post-production and broadcast community. Their products are integrated with popular non-linear editing and compositing products from Apple FCPX. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac OS X, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks and trade names are the property of their respective owners.Welcome Guest! You Are Here:Ghanaians require visas to visit many of these countries but these don't come cheap for many countries.

READ ALSO: Chris Attoh talks sexuality in revealing interview

In this list, we have complied the prices of five of some of the most sought after visas for Ghanaians. The list only looked at the cost of visas for visit or tourist visa which typically last for six months or under. Despite widespread calls, many of these embassies do not offer for refunds when visas are bounced.

READ ALSO: 5 ways the rich in Ghana waste their money

United States of America

The United States comes on top with the most expensive visas on our list of countries. A tourist visa to the United States would set an applicant back by 160 dollars which is approximately 704 cedis. This could be more depending on what pertains at the currency markets.

READ ALSO: Jon Benjamin

United Kingdom

Britain is a very popular destination for many Ghanaian travellers. That is because of the colonial link between our two nations. However, it doesnt cost peanuts to obtain a visa to the United Kingdom. Prospective travellers from Ghana would have to part with 119 dollars for a standard visit visa to the UK, which is about 522 cedis.

READ ALSO: 5 things Ghana brought to the world

Australia

The world's largest island is also popular place of travel for many Ghanaians despite the many hours of flying that it would take one to get there. Visas are also another hurdle that a prospective traveller would have to deal with. A subclass 600 tourist visa to the down under would set you back by 135 Australian dollars which is approximately 166 cedis.

READ ALSO: How these two Ghana footballers ended up on the streets of India awaiting jail terms

Canada

Despite being a fellow Commonwealth country, Ghanaians do not enjoy visa free access to Canada. Ghanaians wanting to visit the land of maples, would have to cough up 100 Canadian dollars which is about 333 cedis.

READ ALSO: The yearly salaries of these Ghanaian players will surprise you

China

In the last two decades, China has become a significant player in terms of trade and development cooperation for many countries. And Ghana has not been left out. The worlds second biggest economy is the source of many items on sale on many Ghanaian markets. Aside trade, the Far East country has been a great attraction for many Ghanaians. Staying true to the low prices Chinese products are well-known, visas to visit the country are relatively cheaper compared to other leading economies. A visa to China would cost you just 50 dollars which is just about 219 cedis, making it the cheapest on our list.President Donald Trump gave a raucous, freewheeling speech in Pennsylvania on Saturday, in which he lashed out at some of his favorite targets, one by one.

Trump was in the state to stump for GOP special election candidate Rick Saccone, but only mentioned him in passing. Instead, Trump spent much of the speech railing against his critics and touting his achievements.

At one point, Trump unveiled what he said would be his 2020 campaign slogan: "Keep America Great, exclamation point."

"We can't say Make America Great Again because I already did that. Right?" he said.

Trump was particularly energetic in attacking the media, leveling a profane taunt toward NBC's Chuck Todd, whom the president has nicknamed "Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd."

"He is a sleeping son of a bitch, I'll tell you," Trump said Saturday.

He went after CNN, too, for its coverage of his recent decision to accept a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Trump called the network "fake as hell CNN. The worst. So fake."

Trump also railed against top Democrats rumored to be considering a presidential bid in 2020. He suggested that the media would be disappointed with a Democratic victory, as Trump's presidency has been a boon for television ratings.

"Could you imagine covering Bernie? Or Pocahontas?" he said, using a derogatory nickname for Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. "How about that? Can you imagine having to cover Elizabeth Warren for four years?"

Trump also slammed House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and attacked Rep. Maxine Waters as "a very low-IQ individual," but said he'd be delighted if Oprah Winfrey ran against him so he could defeat her.

"I'd love Oprah to win, I'd beat Oprah. I know her weakness," he said. "Wouldn't we love to run against Oprah? I'd love it. That would be a painful experience for her."

Trump also praised himself for a number of recent developments, including his decision to impose tariffs on aluminum and steel for many countries, and his decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

At one point, he even appeared to take credit for the recent Olympic Games held in South Korea.

"[South Korean President Moon Jae-in] said without Donald Trump, the Olympics would have been a failure," Trump said.

Is there anything more fun than a Trump rally?

Late in the speech, Trump pivoted to the opioid epidemic and grew impassioned when he mentioned China and Singapore's solutions to drug dealers: the death penalty.

"These people are killing our kids and they're killing our families, and we have to do something," he said. "We can't just keep setting up blue-ribbon committees with your wife and your wife and your husband, and they meet and they have a meal and they talk, talk talk talk, two hours later, then they write a report."

Trump said leaders from China and Singapore had previously told him that both countries eliminated drugs by executing dealers, though he noted that he wasn't certain about American public opinion on the policy.

"I think it's a discussion we have to start thinking about. I don't know if we're ready  I don't know if this country's ready for it."

Eventually, Trump turned the speech over to Saccone, after delivering some barbs at his Democratic opponent, Connor Lamb. Lamb and Saccone are locked in a tight race that has prompted Republicans to fear they'll lose a seat in a district that went heavily for Trump in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump said Lamb was "nice looking" and "a nice guy," but urged the crowd to vote for Saccone as Lamb couldn't be trusted to vote with Republicans.Elon Musk seemed very happy after the maiden launch of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy, the world's most powerful operational rocket.

But a different expression came over Musk's face shortly after that launch  and it has stuck with me. In a post-launch press briefing on February 6, Musk leaned forward on his elbows to watch a video recap of the mission. He had a subtle smile and a relaxed expression. He seemed a little bored.

If I had just successfully launched a 230-foot-tall rocket toward space, landed two 16-story, multi-million-dollar boosters back on the ground, sent a car toward Mars, and undercut a major competitor's costs four-fold all in one go, I would have acted a bit more excited.

Perhaps Musk was tired, or he'd gotten the unabashed celebration out of his system beyond the sight of reporters. Yet his space business  and in particular missions involving Falcon 9 rockets  is likely starting to feel routine for Musk. That may even be true for his thousands of employees.

That shift was especially clear on Tuesday, when SpaceX launched a Spanish satellite called Hispasat 30W-6. The event was the 50th launch of the company's Falcon 9 rocket, a reusable workhorse launch system that's the smaller predecessor to Falcon Heavy.

That's a major milestone for a company that opened an empty office in 2002, filled it with a handful of employees (and a mariachi band) and was nearly bankrupt a few years later.

"Just ten years ago, we couldn't even reach orbit with little Falcon 1," Musk tweeted shortly after this week's launch.

It's even more remarkable to consider that SpaceX rocket launches will only get more and more routine and boring.

SpaceX has come a long way in 50 launches of Falcon 9

SpaceX wasn't always the impressive company that it is today. Many insiders found Musk's effort laughable, especially after SpaceX hit a string of failures from 2006 through 2008, as it attempted to launch Falcon 1  its first orbital-class system.

"The reason I ended up being the chief engineer or chief designer [at SpaceX] was not because I wanted to, it's because I couldn't hire anyone; nobody good would join," Musk said during a 2017 talk about how he plans to colonize Mars. "It ended up being that by default. I messed up the first three launches, the first three launches failed. Fortunately the fourth launch  that was the last money that we had  the fourth launch worked, or that would have been it for SpaceX. But fate liked us that day."

With the advent of Falcon 9, a system developed primarily using funding from NASA, Musk eventually made his rocket boosters reusable. His aim: dramatically reducing the cost of sending people and cargo into space, and paving the way to the moon and Mars.

However, Falcon 9 also hit some serious setbacks, as not all of those 50 launches went off without a hitch.

There was the 2012 loss of an Orbcomm satellite, the loss of a resupply ship bound for the International Space Station in 2015, and the 2016 launchpad explosion of a Falcon 9 rocket (which destroyed a satellite Facebook had hoped to use).

There was also an apparent failure in January to deploy the US government's top-secret "Zuma" satellite. SpaceX is likely to be cleared of blame for the alleged problem, since the company that built Zuma asked to use a non-standard deployment system. (A conspiracy theory also suggests a "failure" was a ruse to hoodwink US adversaries like Russia and China.)

A record-setting year ahead?

As time passes, the rate of SpaceX's failures has atrophied and its number of successes has skyrocketed.

The company is even gearing up to launch its first NASA astronauts to the space station using Falcon 9, perhaps even by the end of 2018.

Gwynne Shotwell, the president and COO of SpaceX, told Space News in November that the company hopes to launch a record-breaking "30 to 40" missions in 2018. Most of those will be on Falcon 9 rockets  which means a 600-ton rocket would be lifting off once every nine to 12 days. That's a 66%-122% increase over the company's launch rate in 2017.

If the feat is achieved, SpaceX's launch total would eclipse all US orbital-class launches combined in 2017, according to Spaceflight101's statistics. The company would also do nearly $2.5 billion worth of business, given Falcon 9's $62-million price tag.

Looking to the Big F--king Rocket

Now that the Falcon Heavy rocket has been shown to work, SpaceX is shifting more resources toward its most ambitious project to date: the Big Falcon Rocket (also called the Big F--king Rocket), which is shown in the animation above.

The 348-foot-tall, fully reusable system is scheduled for an "aspirational" first launch toward Mars in 2022. The enormous spaceship it will carry is slated to roll out of SpaceX's facilities in McGregor, Texas, and begin hopping around the desert with short test launches sometime in 2019.

In a series of remarks in September 2017, Musk said the BFR will come to replace everything SpaceX has built thus far, since its total reusability means it won't cost much to launch  the biggest cost would just be the price of fuel.

"We want to have one system, one booster and ship, that replaces Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon," Musk said of SpaceX's other rockets. "If we can do that, then all the resources that are used for Falcon 9, Heavy, and Dragon can be applied to this system."

Musk is just getting started

Over dinner after Falcon Heavy's launch, a friend made an apt comparison about Musk's accomplishments thus far: Compared to how long the other players in the spaceflight industry have been around, Musk isn't even in kindergarten. He's a pre-schooler.

We are currently witnessing SpaceX evolve from an all-bets-are-off startup into a reliable and increasingly boring transportation company  one that takes cargo and people into the final frontier.

But boring is good in spaceflight. Boring means safe, reliable, and routine. And Falcon 9's newfound routineness, including the reuse of its boosters, is just the beginning of the new commercial space race.

I look forward to seeing who emerges as the most capable  and boring  aerospace company of them all.He has been identified as Emmanuel Kotey.

READ MORE: Policeman killed in Kwabenya jailbreak posthumously promoted as ASP

The dawn attack freed six Ghanaian suspects and one Nigerian.

A police officer was on duty at the time was shot and killed by the gunmen.

Kotey was reportedly arrested at Asikasu near Asamankese in the Lower West Akyem Municipality of the Eastern Region, Police told the media.

He was arrested as a result of police-community collaboration and we are handing him over to Accra as soon as possible to continue with the police investigations because the offence was committed in Accra, ASP Ebenezer Tetteh the Eastern Regional Police Public Relations Officer told Accra-based Citi FM.

The latest arrest brings to four the number of escapees arrested.

Two of them have been jailed 30 moths after they pleaded guilty to conspiracy to escape from lawful custody and escaping from lawful custody.Because almost 7,000 of your countrymen have overstayed their visas or committed crimes in the United States and are in some stage of the deportation process, it makes it harder for other Ghanaians to get visas so they have to show that they will have strong ties to Ghana, that is the US law, that they show that they have strong ties to Ghana," he told Ghanaweb.com.

He explained that poor, less educated Ghanaians who are single and young are more likely to overstay hence they undergo additional screening before visas are issued to them.

He said one of the criteria in the screening process is a demonstration of strong ties to Ghana by the applicant.

This, he said, was because Ghanaians constitute the 5th largest number of people who have overstayed their visas in the United States.

He said: We look at everything about the person but poor, less educated Ghanaians who are single and young are more likely to overstay their visas, thats just a fact and so they get additional screening. People who are young and single in particular have a hard time demonstrating that they have strong ties to Ghana.

Each year, approximately 16,000 Ghanaians are issued visas for travel to the United States for business, education and tourism. The reason that there is a high bar for showing strong ties to Ghana is that Ghanaians constitute the 5th largest number of people who have overstayed their visas in the United States. Up there with India, China, the Philippines, Russia which have much larger populations than Ghana does."

READ MORE: Ghanaians win US Visa lottery than any other countryBriefing the media, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Ken Yeboah, said the two had approached one Sheikh Alhaji Mohammed Maaye, a spiritualist in Suame, to sell human parts to him at the cost of GHC2,500.

The spiritualist then informed police. Police then armed with this information proceeded to the residence of the spiritualist located at Suame Zongo and arrested the suspects with the fresh head, which was concealed in a black polythene bag, he said.

According to him, the suspects later led police to retrieve the headless body of the deceased at the outskirt of Ampabame near Sokoban in an uncompleted building.

When the headless body of the boy was found, it was noticed that the deceased both hands had been cut off," COP Ken Yeboah said.

READ MORE: Man commits suicide over 900 cedis debt"The perpetrators should be killed the same way they killed my son," the grieving mother told Accra-based Citi FM. "They used a knife to cut off his head and I want the same to be done to them."

READ MORE: Police arrest two for selling human head to spiritualist

"I am in grief and I have not even eaten for five days. If Government does not treat the perpetrators in the same manner, I will not be a happy mother. The situation might even lead to my death, she lamented.

The deceased was killed and his body dismembered by two men who had intended to sell the body parts to a spiritualist in Suame, Kumasi, for GHC2,500.

The spiritualist, Sheikh Alhaji Mohammed Maaye, hinted the police of the dastardly act of the two, Vikuriba Joe Zoot, 21, and Kozel Borama, 25, which led to their arrest.

The spiritualist then informed the police. Police then armed with this information proceeded to the residence of the spiritualist located at Suame Zongo and arrested the suspects with the fresh head, which was concealed in a black polythene bag, the Ashanti Regional Police Commander, COP Ken Yeboah told the media.

When the headless body of the boy was found, it was noticed that the deceased both hands had been cut off," COP Ken Yeboah said.

READ MORE: 5 perish in fatal road accident at NkoranzaThe move to get some African countries to legalise gay marriage has been on top of the agenda European countries and the USA.

Some few weeks ago, President Nana Akufo-Addo caused an uproar in the country when he suggested in an Aljazeera interview that the legalisation of homosexuality in Ghana was bound to happen if gays push harder for it.

Indeed, South Africa is the only country in Africa to have legalised the act. However, there are reported cases of gays being lynched in that country.

Speaking on GhanaWeb's "21 Minutes with KKB" show, the USA ambassador to Ghana Robert P. Jackson said the USA is only asking that all people be treated the same irrespective of their sexual orientation.Many of the traders have decried the compensation packages as too meagre while others claimed the president when he won power in 2016 assured them that he will not evict them.

Commenting on the development on Radio Gold's "Alhaji and Alhaji" programme on Saturday, Mr Kwakye Ofosu said he is opposed to the move and urged the president to move to the Flagstaff House.

He said: "I am not by any stretch of imagination criticising any move to enhance the security of the President; but that effort must respect the rights and livelihood of others...It is because we recognise the need to secure the President that a specific place has been provided with tax payers money for him and that is the villa attached to the flagstaff house.

"It is a very secure environment and whatever it is that is wrong with that place that makes it inhabitable; its not beyond our capacity as a country to resolve for which reason it will become necessary to go and evict people living their lives. So I am opposed to this effort to alter and disrupt the lives of poor and vulnerable Ghanaians only because they live next to the Presidents house.Independent reports that the head of the State Islamic University (UIN) in Yogyakarta city, Yudian Wahyudi, says the policy is to prevent radicalization on campus.

He explains: Female students wearing the burqa, and radical groups, they are disturbing the teaching process.

We are putting moderate Islam forward, as a preventive action to save the students.

However, he added that the institution is not against regular headscarves that do not cover the face.

ALSO READ: Switzerland may be the next European country to vote against Burqua

Reactions to Universitys Burqa Ban

This new policy has been severely criticised by some groups.

A womens rights activist named Lathiefah Widuri Retyaningtyas said, Using full-face veils is a choice and we cannot interfere with their choice and their freedom.

In a statement, the Islamic Defenders Front said the policy did not make sense.The training topics cut across 'The Role of Branding in Achieving a Sustainable Business,' 'How to have a well organised account for our businesses,' 'why we must pay tax,' 'how to position on brands before a global audience offline and Online'.

Speakers at the hangout included a lecturer at the department of Mass communication, Lagos State Polytechnic, Steve Adesemoye, who is also a Public relations and brand development expert; an accounting consultant and Managing Partner of Corporate Surgeon, Kazeem Adegoke; CEO of Pentacept, a digital marketing firm and a google certified trainer, Kehinde Olofintuyi.

In her introductory speech, the Brand strategist, NixxHash Communications, Adenike Fagbemi noted that the 21st century business owner need to flow with the trend in order to stay in business. Thus, according to her would help determine the lifespan as well as the sustainable value the business has.

"We find out that we are loosing out in some very basic tips as business owners. Technology, time and space keeps throwing things at us and if we can not keep up, we get kicked out. This training which also came in form of a Hangout is solely to brainstorm and reflect on the things we are getting right and those we need to put into consideration if truly we want to stay in business.

"We need to understand that training, retraining for business owners is very key to growth. We need to consistently tell ourselves that we need to upgrade. We should not be too comfortable as local champions rather yearn for more knowledge as no knowledge is a waste," Fagbemi noted.

Adesemoye trained the participants on the role of branding in helping entrepreneurs stay at the top of their business.

He harped on the need for them to understand their target audience, identify their needs and purchasing power, then create a solution to meet the need and deploy the resources to meet the need.

Adesemoye added that it is very important for business owners to constantly monitor their brand, income and consumers in order to quickly identify changes in their needs due to regular technological disruptions.

Adegoke noted that business owners must keep good record of their business incomes and expenses in order to pay appropriate taxes so as not to fall into trouble with revenue agencies.

He advised participants to be pro-active with the payment of their taxes to relevant regulatory agencies, saying failure to do so at the appropriate time may result in 'over-billing' by the revenue agency.

"If you wait for the revenue agencies to come to you to ask for taxes which is your obligation to the government, you may end up being overbilled. To avoid that, ensure you always keep a good financial record so you can pay what is accountable to government at the appropriate time," he advised.

Olofintuyi tasked the business owners to leverage on the opportunity of social media to take their goods and services to a larger audience.

To do that, he advised them on how to use Facebook and other social media platforms to reach only the audience who will be interested in what they are doing.

"You don't just put up an advert on social media for everybody, by doing that you will be wasting money, they are ways to strategically advertise on social media that only those who are interested in what you do and have the purchasing power will see your advert and they will contact you.

"You have to identify your audience and put out contents that will address them and reach them directly," Olofintuyi said.

While speaking on the success of the event, Mrs Fagbemi said it was an educative and mind rubbing section where all the business owners had the opportunity to get tips on how to build their brands into sustainable ones amidst the 21st-century challenges.

"It was indeed interactive and we were also able to conclude that Collaboration is the New Competition. We all need to rise together and fight the mentality of just getting better than our competitors in order to grow," Fagbemi said.According to New Telegraph, members of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) of the institution and the management have been having disagreements over the non-payment of ASUPs special allowance identified as Peculiar Academic Allowance (PAA).

The lecturers have reportedly protested to demand the payment of the allowance but the polytechnic management did not respond to their demands.

This, therefore, prompted the lecturers to declare an indefinite strike on Friday, March 9, 2018, same day the first semester exams billed to commence.

ALSO READ:MAPOLY lecturers reject appointment of retired principal as Rector

Lecturers vow to paralyse academic activities if their allowance is not paid

Meanwhile, before the lectures embark on their strike, they had reportedly announced that no academic activities of any sort would be allowed to take place in the school including the semester examination.

This according to reports is the reason the students of the Polytechnic besieged the office of the Rector, Ven. Ogbonnia Ibe-Enwo and demanded that he should pay their lecturers their allowances.

The students who were armed with placards with different inscriptions calling on the management to address the issue marched around the Polytechnic.This according to to the Head of Public Affairs, US Consulate in Lagos, Darcy Zotter, is a new opportunity Nigerian students should take advantage of.

Zotter, who spoke at the When Women Win Conference in Lagos on Friday, March 9, 2018, said that 65 students in science, technology, and engineering disciplines would form 65 percent of the beneficiaries, while 41 percent would be for the humanities.

Zotter added that African students were deemed fit for the scholarship because they possessed language skills and had traditionally done well for themselves in terms of education.

She, therefore, advised interested candidates to visit the Education USA centre or the website to get important information.

ALSO READ:

Meanwhile, the US Colleges scholarship offer to Nigerian students is coming barely a week after the Chinese Government awarded scholarship to 47 students of the University of Calabar.

Chinese government offers 47 UNICAL students scholarship

In a bid to celebrate the 47th anniversary of China-Nigeria diplomatic ties, the Government of the Peoples Republic of China offered scholarships to 47 Nigerian students.Speaking during a recent chat with Sunday Scoop, Asuzu noted that he kept having sex during the period he was down with the stroke, adding that he feared his wife would desert him.

ALSO READ: Nollywood actor reportedly now begs for money

He said: When I was down with a stroke, my wife was the only one who didnt forsake me. It was a terrible situation because I did not work for three years, yet I was spending money.

"I must confess that I was afraid that my wife would leave me at that time. Though the illness was serious, it didnt affect my sex life. Naturally, I am hyperactive in bed and I dont joke with sex. I have been married officially for five years.

Ernest Asuzu makes miraculous recovery

The popular actor who was reported to have suffered a stroke in late 2015, and rumoured to have been reduced to begging for money has finally had a turn around in his life.

Asuzu's life is said to have been turned around after spending one year in Mercyland getting fully healed of his stroke during his stay.

The recovering actor was gifted with a brand new jeep and cash to start afresh by Prophet Jeremiah Omoto Fufeyin of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministry, Warri, Delta state.

The prophet gave him a brand new jeep worth N3.5m, and a parting sum of N1.5m to enable him to start up a new life.

Ernest Asuzu accuses Nollywood of abandoning him

After suffering from stroke, Nollywood actor Ernest Asuzu, said he was abandoned by his fellow actors.

The actor stated this during an interview with Linda Ikeji Blog on September 28, 2017.

According to Ernest, the Actors Guild of Nigeria, under the administration of Ibinabo Fiberesima, didn't check on him during his trying times.

The Actors Guild of Nigeria also responded to Ernest Asuzu's claim that he was abandoned by Nollywood to face his illness alone.

While speaking to Pulse Nigeria, Abubakar Yakubu - AGN National Secretary under Ibinabo Fiberesima -agreed that the body is indeed obligated to check up on sick actors.

According to him, the Ibinabo Administration was popular for reaching out to sick actors within and outside Lagos State, and had tried their best to help Asuzu.

ALSO READ:Ibinabo Fiberesima AGN president lashes out at Ernest Asuzu

Apologizing for the outcome of Ernest Asuzu's case, he said: "We don't join issues, what has happened has happened. We tried our best, but If he feels that he was abandoned, we are sorry about that.

You know, we are all humans and the illness lingered for long."

Yakubu added that there is currently no bad blood between Ernest Asuzu and the AGN body. "He still comes to the AGN office. He has forgotten all about that," he said.Instablog9ja reports that the 36-year-old mother of four residing at No 47, Ogundana Street, off Allen Avenue, Ikeja, brought Chioma Samuel to Lagos from Umuoju, Ngwu, Abia State in January 2018 following the death of her father.

After promising Chioma a good life, Nkeiruka reportedly made the young girl's life a living hell, mentally and physically abusing her.

According to the reports, on Wednesday, March 7, 2018, the suspect is alleged to have used a heated clothes iron to burn the victim's hands and legs.

Nkeiruka also allegedly poured hot water on Chioma, burning her skin.

However, the suspect met her Waterloo on Thursday, March 8, 2018, when she took her children to school.

Thankfully, other mothers in school caught sight of the injuries on the upper and lower limbs of the victim who had followed the suspect to the school.

After asking Chioma some questions on how she had sustained the injuries, they awaited Nkeiruka who had gone to drop her kids in their respective classrooms.

The suspect was about to drive off when she was confronted by these women who almost mobbed her out of anger.

The women insisted that the suspect take Chioma to a hospital for treatment or else they would petition the Commissioner of Police Lagos State.

However, Nkeiruka refused to heed their warning and returned to the school the following day, Friday, March 9, 2018, accompanied by Chioma whose wounds remained untreated.

Seeing that their warnings had been taken for granted, the women called the attention of the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, to the matter which eventually led to the arrest of the suspect.

According to the reports, the suspect will be charged to court on Monday, March 12, 2018.

Banker detained over child abuse

The Lagos Police Command has arrested one Mrs Nkechinyere Nwajagu, on Friday, January 5, for child abuse.

Nwajagu who is a banker was reportedly arrested and arraigned in court for locking up a child who was brought to her to work as a housemaid.

The child was allegedly brought to her by a woman she claims was her elder sister.

Instablog9ja reports that according to the police public relations officer, SP Chike Oti, the suspect reportedly locked up the child in a poorly ventilated apartment before leaving for work and would not release the child until she returned home at night at the close of work.

The police report read: "Nwajagu, from Ajali in Orumba LGA of Anambra state but residing at No.12 Baderin street, Mafoluku Oshodi, reported to the police last night at Makinde Police Station Oshodi from where she was taken to the Human Rights Section of Lagos State Command Ikeja."The twitter account, @BabaKunyi has been advertising money rituals without human sacrifice by posting photos of what appears to be satisfied customers with huge wads of cash and claims of quick solutions to spiritual problems

The accounts bio implores people to call a number provided within and be free from their spiritual problems.

If you want to be a bit more formal, theres an incomplete email address in one of the tweets carrying Baba Kunyis rave reviews.

ALSO READ: We cannot confirm if Magun and money rituals are real

Although it has only two tweets, it appears the account has been active since February 2018.

One of the tweets carries a photo of what appears to be Baba Kunyi sitting over an earthenware pot with large wads of cash scattered around the room.

Theres no indication of where Baba Kunyi is located. Theres a website, babakunyi.com, but it appears to lead nowhere.

Digital marketing for Babalawos

As strange as this is, it is not the first time that a Twitter account, ostensibly belonging to a ritualist, is advertising quick solutions to your spiritual problems" on Twitter.

Tweets from 2016 show users expressing their surprise at finding a Babalawo on their Twitter streets.

But where this other Babalawo failed, .

The account has been sending tweets at some of the most influential Nigerians on Twitter, with messages from satisfied customers.

Whether the idea is to get them to retweet, or for Wizkid to call him for special consultation, well never know.

What we do know is that its working. While the account has only 39 followers as of the time of writing this, its second tweet already has over 300 retweets.

Most of them are out of shock, wed suppose, more at the fact that a practice that is usually treated with discretion is being advertised so blatantly on Twitter.

Social media platforms have become fora for important conversations, news and trends over the last few years.

Within the large pool of users, vendors and businesses have also found a way to see their wares.

On Twitter, a platform built primarily for opinions expressed in the simplest terms and the conversations that unavoidably follow, any newbie would be surprised at the scale of business that is transacted.

Most Twitter users have grown familiar with the hashtag #MyCustomerMayBeOnYourTL.

Blood money and other stories

But nothing quite prepares you to scroll through your TL on a cool Saturday morning and see Baba Kunyi accosting you with something that immediately reminds you of Kanayo. O. Kanayo in a Nollywood movie.

Money rituals and similar practices are elements of the dark aspects of the Nigerian truth that we rarely speak about.

Growing up, it was not out of place to hear suppositions about a wealthy man who had most likely acquired his wealth through rituals or similar practices.

Traditional fetish practices are a part of most indigenous religions where they serve as offerings and supplication in the way that a Christian would pray, fast or offer alms to the less-privileged.

Nollywood has played its role in ensuring that we cannot run from this part of our culture. The local film industry regularly churns out movies where rituals and similar practices form the object of the plot.

Were tempted to find out if Baba Kunyi does provide the service he claims to provide.

The photos he has posted reek of Instagram filters, which probably means theres someone who does not know his Instagram photos have become a marketing tool for monry rituals.

Theres also the chance this is the work of an internet troll or another hare-brained scheme from the stables of Twitters resident scum lord, Pablo Ayodeji.

Since I put pen to paper on this, Baba Kunyi has added 8 more followers to his Twitter account.Following the success of its first edition, R.S.V.P created a month-long celebration of modern re imagined versions of African culture that featured five distinct interactive exhibitions in Cuisine, Art and Music. These collaborations projected the relationship between fine dining, music, arts and how each of them have played dynamic roles in Africas heritage, individually and collectively.

In collaboration with Michelin Star Chef - Kwame, top online arts platform - ArtOja, Sculptor - Obinna Makata, Graphic Designer - Omoligho Udenta and Contemporary Artist/DJ -AYE!, R.S.V.P played host to lovers of the brand and food enthusiasts to a spectacular experience.

The month long celebration kicked of with commissioned art installations within R.S.V.Ps restaurant by ARTOJA, Omoligho Udenta and Obinna Makata. Guests enjoyed infamous dishes and cocktails in a rare interactive space.

Following the indoor experience was 'NAGO', a soundscape and poolside party curated by AYE! which took place on the 23rd, Feb 2018. The night featured non-stop music, signature cocktails and R.S.V.P's infamous cocktails.

Bringing the event to a wrap on the 24th February was the Kitchen Takeover by Chef Kwame Onwuachi; a celebrated US based Jamaican/Nigerian chef who is brought a unique menu twist to Dinners. Having spent some days visiting Nigerian restaurants, both local and intercontinetal, Chef Kwame created a special menu inspired by Africa.

This year's edition signifies an applaudable success for not just the brand but, the purpose of the event. Click on the link below for more images https://www.dropbox.com/sh/nbe5umjklkfz0xp/AAC4uOBRAmIrs0pimQEPMyLla?dl=0

For updates and information, follow R.S.V.P using:Michika, 77, died in a hospital in the early hours of Sunday, March 11, 2018.

He was said to have been rushed to the hospital on Saturday, March 10 but passed away on Sunday morning.

According to a family member, Aminu Iwaya, who was quoted by Channels TV, Michika died at the Federal Medical Centre in Yola.

"Michika was rushed to Federal Medical Centre on Saturday afternoon for medical attention by family members", he said.

Confirming the incident, Yohanna Mathias, the Chief Press Secretary to the current Adamawa state governor Mohammed Jibrilla, said his boss cut short his visit to Mubi in order to attend Michigan's funeral on Sunday afternoon.

ALSO READ: Top 3 tourist sites in Adamawa state

Michika served as the first civilian governor of Adamawa from January 2, 1992 to November 17, 1993.

He was a member of the then ruling National Republican Convention (NRC).He said his statement, which he made last week on the floor of the Senate was taken out of context.

Ekweremadu stated this on Saturday, March 10, 2018, at the Diepreye Alaimieyeseigha Memorial Banquet Hall, Onopa, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State.

The state governor, Seriake Dickson hosted the Deputy Senate President and the executive members of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region) to a dinner at the Hall.

Ekweremadu maintained that he would never make derogatory statements against the Nigerian military.

Last week, while reacting to Senator Ahmed Ogembe's story of how Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello allegedly organised thugs to disrupt an empowerment program he had put together for his constituents, Ekweremadu said suggested that the military could take over power.

He had said, "So today I am advising the Governor again, that road he is travelling will not lead him to anywhere. Ultimately, these people he is seeing here will be back here and he will leave office.

"If he doesnt stop, there is no how he will come back in 2019, never, no he will not. God will show him that he is a God of justice and this is a message to all those people who have caused all kinds of problems in Nigeria at different levels.

"The problem in Nigeria is that our democracy is receding. Who says army cannot take over? Let us not joke with our democracy....that is the issue.

"The house of a senator was destroyed in Kaduna State, we are talking about Kwankwaso who was stopped from going to his State where he ruled for eight years. In Kaduna, Shehu Sani cannot organise a meeting and we are about a democracy? The international community needs to know this because they helped us install democracy."

ALSO READ: Ekweremadu's coup invitation was very irresponsible

But Ekweremadu insisted that his comments were misconstrued, adding that statements made by lawmakers in the course of their duty should be situated within the proper context before any form of reaction.

He said his remarks on the floor of the Senate were to caution his colleagues to avoid the mistakes of the past which he said led to the abrupt end of the First Republic.The National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Uche Secondus, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, and ex-Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and other national and state PDP leaders gave the eulogy on Saturday, March 10, 2018.

A statement issued by the press unit of the Delta State Government House said the politicians spoke at Ovwor-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State during a grand reception in honour of Ibori.

They said Ibori is a unifying factor in the development of the Niger Delta region and Delta State in particular.

Critics have faulted the accolades, describing it as shameful and disgraceful considering Ibori's corrupt past which was not referenced during the event.

Ibori's UK conviction

On February 27, 2012, Ibori pleaded guilty before Judge Anthony Pitts in a London court to 10 counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.

The ex-governor admitted to stealing $250 million as alleged by the Metropolitan Police.

The prosecutors alleged that Ibori spent some of the stolen money buying six houses in London - paying 2.2 million in cash for one Hampstead mansion - and putting his children in expensive British private schools.

After he pleaded guilty, Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, Sasha Wass, made a short submission, saying the prosecution was discontinuing Ibori's trial because the former governor had "accepted the entirety of the prosecution's case as it has always been set out."

He was later sentenced to 13 years in UK prison. He was, however, released and deported to Nigeria in February 2017.

PDP extols Ibori

Regardless of Ibori's antecedent, the PDP leaders still parades him as a man of honour, saying the party needs his leadership skills to wrestle power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2019 election.

"Ibori must be celebrated because he is a man of the people not just in Delta state but across the nation, today, he is a factor in this country. On behalf of the masses of our country, we salute you, we salute your courage because you are a man who believes in the struggle of the party" PDP Chairman, Secondus said.

"You [Delta State] have a son that has built a political structure that is envied across the nation. Delta State remains the only state in the nation that has a stability in political succession. It remains the only state where all the Governor that have ruled the state are still members of the PDP," he added.

ALSO READ: Ibori challenges 2012 fraud conviction in UK

According to Governor Okowa, Ibori laid the foundation of development in the state and established a political structure which served as a bridge builder and development agent across the country.

On his part, Uduaghan called for an end to rumour mongering and sycophancy in the state

In response to the praises, Ibori advised the political class especially those seeking political office not to heat up the polity, saying power belongs to God and that only He can give power.Welcome to the Pulse Community! We will now be sending you a daily newsletter on news, entertainment and more. Also join us across all of our other channels - we love to be connected!The money is said to be in addition to their legitimate salaries and allowances.

Speaking in an interview with TheNews, Sani revealed that he and his colleagues receive N13.5 million monthly as "running cost", aside from a N700,000 monthly consolidated salary and allowances which they also receive.

Some lawmakers who spoke anonymously to Premium Times said Sani's revelation has damaged the reputation of the federal legislature and that it may cause division between constituents and their representatives.

Some of the Senators and members of the House of Representatives are said to have initiated a take-down move against Sani already.

"He has brought his useless activism to the chamber creating the impression that we are all thieves without telling Nigerians details of what the money is used for. There are always ways of dealing with characters like that. Just wait and see", one of the aggrieved lawmakers was quoted as saying.

Sani's Punishment

It was gathered that the anti-Sani lawmakers are plotting to pressure the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to exclude Sani from subsequent 'secret meetings' of the Senate, especially those where finances might be discussed.

They might also recommend Sani to be probed by the Senate's ethics committee.

If the recommendation is adopted by the house, the committee would investigate Sani and recommend a punishment.

This is the first time a Senator would reveal the salaries and allowances the lawmakers earn since Nigerians have been clamouring for a cut in their jumbo pay.

The lawmakers have been rebuked for their exorbitant monthly pay while millions of Nigerians wallow in poverty.

If found guilty by the ethics committee, Sani faces up to six to 12 months suspension.

In March 2017, the committee recommended 12 months suspension for former Senate Leader, Ali Ndumewho was accused of alleged wrongful indictment.

ALSO READ: 5 things Shehu Sani wants you to know about what senators earn

Ndume had asked for Saraki to be investigated over the allegations that he ordered the importation of bulletproof range rover with fake documents and also demanded the investigation of Senator Dino Melayeover perjury allegations.

The suspension was later reduced to six months by the lawmakers.

In the same vein, a house of representatives members from Kano, Abdulmumin Jibrin, was suspended for 180 days for revealing what is today known as budget padding.The Anambra lawmaker accused one Victor Uwajehof sponsoring the mischievous and malicious propaganda to tarnish his image.

In a statement issued at the weekend by his media team, Uba described the report of his arrest as misleading, adding that the court under Justice Binta Nyako decline jurisdiction of the case but instead ordered that the Attorney General of the Federation be served.

According to the court proceeding, Justice Nyako requested that the Anti-Corruption and Integrity Forum (ACIF) serve the Attorney General first before presenting the case in her court.

It is important to note that ACIF is a group used several times by Uwajeh in perpetrating his blackmail and extortion of money from his victims, the statement said.

ALSO READ: Court clears Senator of alleged certificate forgery

According to investigation, Uwajeh has no certificate or document to back-up his claim as a UK private investigator or anywhere in the World as claimed by him. He is currently standing trial on a four count charge bothering on fraud, impersonation and forgery.

Uwajeh who lives and survives on blackmailing, also attempted to swindle Senator Uba and so many others. He is currently into hiding after being investigated by the police over forgery, theft, documents falsification and was eventually charged to court, it added.It must be approved by a mail vote of all party members in the coming weeks.

The name National Front bears an epic and glorious history that no one must deny, Le Pen told a cheering crowd at the end of the partys annual congress in Lille. But she also said that for many in France the name was a psychological brake that kept them from joining the party or voting for its candidates.

Le Pen spoke a day after the surprise appearance of Steve Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Donald Trump, at a party congress. In a fiery speech Saturday, Bannon told party members to let them call you racists and praised the National Front for standing up to Frances political and economic establishment.

But Le Pen suggested in her speech that the name National Front was too reminiscent of the partys early history as a radical fringe group. She said the party needed to woo voters outside its base and attract political allies, not antagonize them.

The National Front has struggled to remain visible in the French political landscape since the defeat of Le Pen by the centrist Emmanuel Macron in last years presidential election. The party also fared poorly in the legislative elections that followed.

It must become clear to all that we have become a party intent on governing, Le Pen said. More than a project, this name must be a rallying cry, a call to join us.

Le Pen has pursued a so-called un-demonization strategy since she was chosen in 2011 to lead the party, which was founded by her father, Jean-Marie Le Pen, in 1972. Le Pen, who on Sunday was re-elected for a third term as the partys president  she was the only candidate  has tried to move past the partys racist and anti-Semitic roots.

Jean-Marie Le Pen, who was kicked out of the party by his daughter in 2015, recently called a name change suicidal. He did not attend the party congress, where a vote of party members stripped him of an honorary title he held.

Still, Marine Le Pen made clear that a new name would in no way change the partys anti-immigration, anti-European Union and anti-globalization platform. In her speech, she railed against the submersion of immigrants and against globalism and Islamism, two ideologies that want to dominate the world.

This is our home, the crowd chanted after she said legal and illegal immigration are no longer tenable.

Although the National Front members gathered in Lille cheered and clapped at the announcement of a new name, it is unclear how the rank-and-file around the country will vote on it. In an earlier vote on changing the name, only a narrow majority of party members, 52 percent, approved the idea.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.But it needs to be somebody thats strong enough to go against the Democrats. Her preferred alternative: Nikki Haley, the United Nations ambassador and former South Carolina governor.

One of her friends, Linda Leonhart, agreed. I will definitely take a look to see who has the courage to take on a job like this and do what needs to be done, she said.

While the men in the pulpits of evangelical churches remain among Trumps most stalwart supporters, some of the women in the pews may be having second thoughts. As the White House fights to silence a pornographic actress claiming an affair with Trump, and a jailed Belarusian escort claims evidence against the U.S. president, Trumps hold on white evangelical women may be slipping.

According to data from the Pew Research Center, support among white evangelical women in recent surveys has dropped about 13 percentage points, to 60 percent, compared with about a year ago. That is even greater than the 8-point drop among all women.

That change is statistically significant, said Gregory A. Smith, Pews associate director of research, who also noted a 9-point drop among evangelical men. Both groups have become less approving over time.

If that drop in support translates into a lack of enthusiasm among core Trump supporters in the midterm elections in November, as it did for many of President Barack Obamas voters in 2010, the Republican Party could be more vulnerable in its efforts to maintain control of Congress. In 2020, it would also possibly open a lane for a primary challenger to the president.

The women in suburban Dallas all conceded they have cringed sometimes at Trump, citing his pettiness, impulsiveness, profanity and name calling. Still, they defended him because he delivered on issues they cared most about, such as the appointment of Justice Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court.

Certainly we are all embarrassed, but for the most part he represents what we stand for, said Leonhart, who is active in the womens ministry at her church.

A clear majority of white evangelical women, even in the face of the #MeToo movement and renewed claims of marital infidelity against the president, continue, along with white evangelical men, to form Trumps most cohesive block of support.

Trumps ability to connect so strongly with evangelical voters was among the most notable surprises of the 2016 campaign. Since his election, he has courted evangelical leaders aggressively and, more important, has delivered on promises to appoint conservatives like Gorsuch to federal courts. Men who see themselves as leaders of religious conservatives, such as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr. and Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, have remained doggedly supportive.

And the majority of evangelical women remain in his corner.

But it has not been easy.

I dont know any evangelical woman who is going to defend the character of the president, said Carmen Fowler LaBerge, host of The Reconnect, an evangelical-centered radio show.

Many things the president says and does are things that many evangelicals use as examples with our kids of what should not do, added LaBerge, who did not support Trump in 2016. This is not who we are as evangelicals. This is not how we treat people.

Some evangelical women simply keep their views private. Gathered at a well-appointed home in Falls Church, Virginia, last week, eight Christian women agreed to talk about their feelings about the president, on one condition: that they not be identified.

They feared reprisal in the workplace, at their childrens schools, even at their church. They meet in secret and have a private Facebook group, which its organizer said has about 160 members, to talk about their support for Trump.

They said that Christian voters who backed Trump had been derided as unthinking, unsophisticated hypocrites, but for many of them that only affirmed their resolve. One of the women said that her parents had come to the United States illegally from El Salvador and that she was born a short time later. Her father is now a citizen. She supports Trump and his hard-line plans on immigration.

I would say that this year has only made me more of a certain supporter, said another of the women, Joanna, who agreed to be identified only be her first name. Ive been really excited to see him come through with his promises, one by one, against incredible odds.

Still, there is a tension among evangelical women. They said they largely cast their votes against Hillary Clinton more than for Trump.

At least in my experience, it was more of an anti-Hillary vote than a pro-Trump vote, LaBerge said.

Karen Swallow Prior, a professor at Liberty University who opposed Trump and voted for a third-party candidate, said, Now that Trump is in office and we are evaluating his performance then, I am glad to see that people are less in lock step and thinking critically about him as a leader, and it doesnt surprise me that his overall support would decline from 80 percent.

I was one of those culture war evangelicals in the 80s and 90s, Swallow Prior said. I was appalled by the candidacy and presidency of Bill Clinton. It was hammered into my mind that character mattered, and that did change when Trump came along. In some ways, I felt betrayed by my evangelical peers who taught me and cemented in me the idea that character matters. I didnt abandon that belief. I feel like some evangelicals did.

Her outspoken criticism is all the more notable given that the president of Liberty University, Falwell, remains one of the presidents most vocal defenders.

Evangelical voters, often portrayed as a monolith, are becoming increasingly difficult to define. The support for Trump reflects a growing pragmatism among evangelical voters who are willing to accept a less than ideal model of Christian faith in exchange for policies that they endorse.

I think theyve become experienced and very practical, said Frances FitzGerald, author of the recent book The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America. By large majorities they used to believe that to be elected, you had to be of good character. No longer. Its We want a president to do what we want him to do, and hes going to do it if we turn out and vote.'

Trump also appeals to white evangelicals in other ways with his strong language, disruptive view of presidential norms and his policies on taxes. Religious right rhetoric has always been very martial, isolationist and martial at the same time, FitzGerald said.

In surveys conducted by LifeWay Research in Nashville, evangelical voters in 2016 cited the economy (30 percent) and national security (26 percent) as their top two issues. Abortion was cited by just 4 percent, said Scott McConnell, the companys executive director.

Evangelical voters began to emerge as a political force with their support for Ronald Reagan in 1980 and became a more coherent movement with the 1988 presidential campaign of the religious broadcaster Pat Robertson and the rise of Christian Coalition. But there are now few obvious leaders of religious conservatism and voters have become more conventional in their assessment of candidates.

And even among religious conservatives, the Pew poll suggests tolerance for Trump has its limits.

It may simply be that theres not a single breaking point as much as a tipping point, the Oh Lord, I cant stand another one of these,' said William Martin, a scholar at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and author of With God on Our Side, which charted the political rise of the religious right.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.Opinion

Ryan Bridge: The Govt's COVID-19 messaging is all over the shop - do lockdowns stop when enough Kiwis are vaccinated?Property details:

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Price: $ 150 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: N7147 Zip/Postal Code: 85936 Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential State/Province: Arizona Location: 859**, Saint Johns, Arizona

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We're sorry, this article is not currently availableDespite intense competition in the room AC segment, Voltas surprised the Street with 32 per cent growth in Q3 and that too without sacrificing margins.

The early onset of summer, the launch of inverter window air-conditioners (ACs) and potential benefits accruing from Budget proposals have put Voltas in the spotlight.

The market seems to have had an inkling, given the Voltas stock was up over 6 per cent in the last few days.

According to analysts, the early onset of summer might help AC manufacturers in hiking prices, which will support margins and drive their top line.

Analysts at IIFL said given the aggressive pricing policy adopted by LG, the industry had not increased prices despite the rise in commodity costs and change in energy ratings.

A severe summer can boost demand and lead to increase in prices -- about 4-5 per cent -- from March onwards, said IIFL.

This scenario will help the revenues and profitability of all players, including Voltas, which surprised the Street with 32 per cent growth in AC sales in the December quarter (Q3) while maintaining margins.

Motilal Oswal Securities analysts said despite intense competition in the room AC segment, Voltas was able to expand market share without sacrificing margins.

Operating profit margins stood at 8.6 per cent in Q3, compared to 8.3 per cent in Q2 and 7.5 per cent in the year-ago quarter.

Also, the March and June quarters are seasonally strong with better margins, thus price hikes will support margins to offset cost pressures.

The Budget proposals on boosting housing, smart cities and infrastructure can drive AC demand and Voltass projects business further.

Additionally, given the power efficiency-related rating changes applicable on ACs from the current quarter, inverter ACs can also drive growth.

Against this backdrop, Voltas has announced the launch of a window AC with DC inverter technology.

The Street might keep an eye out for the products success.

Voltas will also be launching other consumer durables, such as refrigerators and washing machines, by the second half of 2018 as part of the Voltas Becko brand, through its joint venture with Arcelik.

This will drive its top line further.

The companys unitary cooling products segment, accounting for 40 per cent of its top line, is doing well and its electro-mechanical projects and services (EMP) segment is also stable -- EMP revenues grew 7 per cent in Q3.

Weak oil prices and geopolitical issues had affected orders from West Asia, yet Voltas was able to offset the trend with orders from the domestic market, largely driven by government spending.

Domestic orders constitute 64 per cent of Voltass total order book of Rs 4,850 crore.

The company is aiming to earn margins of 7-7.5 per cent from the EMP business.

Given the long-term growth visibility in room ACs, prospects from the Arcelik JV and recovery in EMP margins, many analysts are positive on the stock.

Photograph: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters.IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron at the International Solar Alliance Founding Conference in New Delhi on Sunday. Photograph: Press Information Bureau of India



Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects to raise the share of solar power in the energy basket, provide cheaper electricity and cut carbon emissions.

Speaking at the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance, he said India will generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2022.

This would be more than double the present renewable energy capacity and would be enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time.

Modi, the chief architect of ISA that seeks to bring together 121 nations, presented 10 action points including making affordable solar technology available to all nations, raising the share of electricity generated from photovoltaic cells in the energy mix and framing regulations and standards to support the initiative.

He said better and cheaper solar technology should be easily available to all nations. "We have to increase the share of solar in energy mix," he said.

Also, innovation has to be encouraged so as to provide solutions to different needs.

"We have to provide concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects," he said.

The ISA's major objectives include global deployment of over 1,000 GW of solar generation capacity and mobilisation of investment of over $1 trillion (Rs 66 lakh crore) into solar energy by 2030.

Regulatory aspects as well as standards have to be framed which will expedite adoption of solar solutions, Modi said, adding that consultancy support has to be development for putting up bankable solar projects in developing countries.

Stressing on inclusiveness, he said a vast network of centres of excellence has to be created.

Solar energy policy has to be to looked at in totality for development so that it can contribute to achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), he said. "We have to strengthen ISA Secretariat and make it more professional."

Modi called for rising above narrow private goals to make collective effort for the betterment of the mankind.

He said India has launched the 'world's biggest renewable energy programme with a target to generate 175 GW of electricity from renewable sources'.

Of these, 100 GW is to come from solar and 60 GW from wind. "Of the target for solar energy generation, we have already achieved 20 GW installed solar power," he said.

IMAGE: Modi shakes hands with the Chairman of the Crown Prince Court of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Hamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, as he receives him for the ISA founding conference. Photograph: PTI Photo



India needs some $83 billion (Rs 5.47 lakh crore) between FY2018 and FY2022 to meet its 175 GW target, according to industry estimates.

Electricity from renewable sources is cheap, reliable and clean. Besides providing an alternative to polluting coal-based electricity generation, photovoltaic (PV) has big potential to power irrigation and reduce the use of back-up diesel generators.

At present, the country's renewable energy installed capacity is 63 GW. Solar and wind power tariffs have dropped to an all-time low of Rs 2.44 per unit and Rs 3.46 per unit, among the lowest in the world.

China is targeting over 360 GW of renewable capacity generation during the period.

As a demonstration of India's commitment to ISA, Modi said 500 training slots will be created for member countries and a solar technology mission will be started to lead R&D in the sector.

To supplement solar energy generation, India has distributed 28 crore LED bulbs in the last three years which have helped save USD 2 billion and 4 GW of electricity, the prime minister said.

ISA, headquartered in Gurgaon near here, is now a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation that was established following the Paris Declaration as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.

The prime minister said of the 121 countries associated with ISA, 61 have joined the alliance and 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement.

Indian 'Vedas' have since thousands of years considered sun as at soul of the universe and a nourisher of life, the PM said.

"We have to look at this ancient balanced and all-encompassing philosophy when when we today look for ways to deal with the challenge of climate change," he said.

Modi had in a speech at London's Wembley Stadium in 2015 proposed the idea of an inter-governmental organisation comprising of 121 countries, which lie either completely or partly between the two tropics, with an aim to promote solar energy.

ISA was launched by him at the India Africa Summit in New Delhi and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in October 2015 and November 2015, respectively.

On Sunday, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered in New Delhi for alliance's first summit. The summit was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking on the occasion, Macron said $1 trillion will be needed to achieve one terawatt (TW) of solar power capacity by 2030.

"The development of solar energy will not just lead to our prosperity, but will also reduce the carbon footprint of the earth," Modi said on Sunday.

Stating that better and affordable solar technology is available to all must be ensured, he said, results would be even better if other forms of energy are linked to solar.

Solar energy can have a variety of uses - agriculture, solar water pumps, clean cooking. "We need to encourage innovation in the solar energy sector to find different uses for it," he said.A lot of AIDS vaccine research is going on, but it is hard to say when it will be available, says Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative.

Image: A file photograph of a nurse holding vials of blood during tests of an AIDS vaccine at the Bamrasnaradura Hospital in Bangkok on February 9, 1999. Photograph: Sukree Sukplang/Reuters.

Research on Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS, has advanced tremendously since the disease was first reported in 1981. Anti-retroviral drugs have allowed people living with AIDS enjoy longer and healthier lives.

However, the development of an HIV vaccine continues to be a formidable challenge for scientists.

Mark Feinberg, president and CEO of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), who was in India recently, spoke to Ankur Paliwal about challenges in developing a vaccine, recent breakthroughs, and a rising anti-vaccine movement.

Why is it so challenging to make an AIDS vaccine?

Most of the available vaccines against diseases such as polio, measles and yellow fever have one thing in common: they fight diseases against which you have natural immunity. That means your bodys immune system naturally produces antibodies against a pathogen, say polio virus, to destroy it.

But what is different about HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is that most of us do not have natural immunity against it. So, our bodies cannot launch an antibody attack against HIV. There is something about HIV that allows it to escape our immune system.

Only a few individuals are able to generate broadly neutralising antibodies, or bnAbs, which can neutralise a large percentage of multiple strains of HIV. Scientists are researching those individuals to study if these bnABs can be developed synthetically.

Another challenge is the genetic diversity of the virus. It constantly changes and mutates. HIV attacks the very immune system that is supposed to protect us. Ideally one vaccine should work around the world. But we do not know whether that will be possible.

At what stage is AIDS vaccine research?

A lot is going on. Among other projects, two large studies in Africa are testing two different AIDS vaccines. One is to improve upon the vaccine trial done in Thailand in 2009, which for the first time showed that the vaccine provided 30 per cent protection against HIV.

Another study is testing a global HIV vaccine to check whether or not it is effective against most HIV strains. Africa has all the strains of the virus, including Clade C, which is prevalent in India. But it is hard to say when the vaccine will be available.

However, significant progress has been made on other interventions, which are likely to be available in the next five years. These include regimen advancement of pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP drugs, from one pill a day to a pill once a week or once a month. PrEP is generally prescribed to people who are at high risk of getting infected.

Similarly, researchers are testing whether broadly neutralising antibodies can be used as a PrEP injectable once every three months or so. We are going to keep improving the interventions as we work towards developing a vaccine.

What role is robotics playing in vaccine research?

Robotics is transforming the vaccine development process. Scientists have used robotics to shorten the time required to produce stable cell lines, which are needed to produce antibodies for a vaccine.

In a recent interview, you said the world was going to be in a much riskier place if the public-private partnerships continued to fail in developing vaccines...

We do not have effective tools against a lot of infectious diseases, including ebola, zika and AIDS. Traditional vaccine manufacturers are used to developing vaccines against infections that many people would get. For diseases like ebola and zika, you do not know what the outbreak trajectory will look like.

But we cannot wait for outbreaks to occur. So, we have to develop vaccines for pathogens we know about, and make vaccines faster for pathogens we do not know about.

The government has a public health responsibility but that does not mean that it needs to do all the work by itself. Different elements come from different places. So, the best scientific ideas tend to come from academic groups, development of vaccines is the expertise of industry, and the government knows what public health needs are, and can fund the project.

If the governments were to take that on all of it, they would not have the expertise or capabilities to deliver the results, especially when it comes to infections that are unpredictable.

Recently, people protested in the US, Italy and other countries against making vaccines mandatory in national programmes. Do you think scientists are a part of the problem because they do not engage with the public to address their fears?

The anti-vaccine movement falls into the category of well-meaning people who do not have access to accurate information. That well-tested vaccines are safe is proven. Scientists might not know what is the best way to reach out to the public and deal with the scepticism around vaccines.

Sometimes, the problem is that when scientists engage with people, they speak a different language. With the increase in inaccurate and unscientific information floating around, the job of scientists is getting harder. So yes, they need to engage better.

Should people be given a choice to deny taking the vaccine?

People do not have a choice to put fellow citizens at a risk that could kill them.Fresh violence erupted in Sri Lanka after a Muslim-owned restaurant was attacked in an alleged hate crime incident in the north western province on Sunday, a day after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a commission to probe a spate of anti-Muslim riots in the violence-hit Kandy district that prompted him to impose a nationwide state of emergency.

The restaurant located in Puttalam district's Anamaduwa city,130 kilometres from Colombo, was targeted early morning even as police are keeping a tight vigil following eruption of communal clashes on Monday that have left two persons dead and damaged several homes, businesses and mosques in the scenic Kandy district.

"Anamaduwe Muslim restaurant was attacked at 4 am (local time) this morning," the Colombo Telegraph reported.

Tensions remain high across Sri Lanka after the violence broke out following the death of a man from the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority last week.

President Sirisena appointed a three-member commission on Saturday to probe the communal clashes in Kandy.

He had declared a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday and deployed the police and military to prevent escalation of violence after clashes between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims erupted in other areas of central Sri Lanka's riot-hit Kandy district.

Muslims make up 10 per cent of Sri Lanka's total 21 million population. Sinhalese are a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

A total of 146 suspects have been arrested in Kandy -- 135 over violence and 11 for violating the curfew -- since March 4, a media report said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kandy's central province Chief Minister Sarath Ekanayake said today that all government schools which were closed on March 7 due to the unrest will reopen on Monday.

The announcement came after police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said yesterday that curfew will not be imposed in Kandy as situation has been peaceful.

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on Sunday summoned the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission over the temporary ban imposed on social media including Facebook throughout the island nation last week.

The police had claimed that anti-Muslim rioters were using social media to spread anti-Muslim hatred.

Sports Minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said although it was considered a human rights violation, the government had taken the decision in order to curb the spread of false and malicious news and to stop the situation from going out of control.

"The state security was important than anything else and we are glad the situation is now returning to normal," Jayasekara was quoted as saying by the Colombo Gazette.

Tensions between Muslim groups and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community in the country have escalated since the end of the civil war in May 2009.

In 2014, violence directed against Muslim minority groups broke out in the southwestern town of Aluthgama, following a rally by hardline Buddhist nationalist monks, resulting in the death of at least three Muslims.

IMAGE: Sri Lanka's Special Task Force soldiers stand guard on a road after a clash between two communities in Digana, central district of Kandy, last week. Photograph: Dinuka Liyanawatte/ReutersA man's leg, which got severed in a bus accident, was allegedly used as a pillow to prop him up at the state-run Maharani Laxmibai Medical College in Jhansi, prompting the Uttar Pradesh government to suspend four staffers and order a departmental probe into the incident.

Ghanshyam, 28, claimed that the hospital staff put the severed leg under his head as a pillow. He had lost the leg in the accident on Saturday and was brought to the hospital in a critical condition.

However, the medical college's principal, Sadhna Kaushik, said a four-member committee has been formed to find out who put the severed leg under the patient's head.

Taking cognisance of the alleged incident, state medical education minister Ashutosh Tandon, late on Saturday night, directed suspension of two doctors and two nurses with immediate effect on the ground of laxity in discharging their duty.

As the video of the man lying on a stretcher in the hospital with the severed leg under his head went viral on social and electronic media, Kaushik said strict action would be taken against those found guilty.

WATCH: Docs suspended after patient's amputated leg used as pillow at UP hospital

"He (the patient) was given immediate medical aid. The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient's attendant used the leg for the same. We've set up a committee. Strict action will be taken if our staff is found to be at fault," she said, adding it appears to be a case of mischief.

"Head of department of surgery Dr Rajeev Sinha will head the committee and it will give its report in 48 hours. Action will be based on the findings of the report," she said.

Maharani Laxmibai Medical College is affiliated to the Bundelkhand University, Jhansi. It serves many districts in Uttar Pradesh's backward Bundelkhand region.

A government spokesperson said, the staff who have been suspended are Dr Alok Agarwal (senior resident - orthopaedics), Dr Mahendra Pal Singh (emergency medical officer), sister in-charge Deepa Narang and Shashi Srivastava, a nurse.

Instructions have been issued to initiate departmental action against Dr Praveen Saraogi, an assistant professor in the orthopaedics department, the spokesperson said.

According to the medical college authorities, the CCTV footage would be reviewed to find out who was responsible for placing the severed leg as a pillow. Chief medical superintendent Harish Chandra Arya said stringent action will be taken against the guilty after the inquiry.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said the state government will take action once the full information about the incident is available.

Ghanshyam was a cleaner of the school bus which, on its way to the institute, overturned in Mauranipur, 65 km from Jhansi, as the driver tried to avoid a collision with a tractor-trolley.

Nearly a dozen children were injured in the accident, the police said.

He lost his leg in the accident and was sent to the medical college after preliminary treatment at a local health centre.

The incident at the Maharani Laxmibai Jhansi Medical College is the latest in the list of several controversies to have hit Uttar Pradesh's healthcare, including the death of several children at a Gorakhpur hospital last year allegedly due to oxygen shortage.

Photograph: ANIFrench President Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte Macron visited the Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will on Monday host the French President in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi, where the two leaders will participate in several programmes, including a boat ride on river Ganga.

The two leaders will first leave for Mirzapur, where they will inaugurate a solar power plant, before returning to Varanasi, official sources said in New Delhi.

In Varanasi, the two leaders will visit the Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul and interact with artisans.

They will also witness a live demonstration of their crafts. Prime Minister Modi and President Macron will then arrive at the famous Assi Ghat in Varanasi, where they will board a boat for a ride along the ghats of the Ganga.

The boat ride will end at the historic Dashashwamedh Ghat.

Modi will also host a lunch in the honour of the French President.

In the afternoon, the Prime Minister will flag off a train from Varanasi's Maduadih Railway Station to Patna.

IMAGES: French President Emmanuel Macron with First Lady Brigitte Macron during their visit to Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday. All Photographs: Atul Yadav/PTI PhotoAll India Kisan Sabha's protest march by over 30,000 farmers reached Mumbai from Nashik on Sunday.

Supported by almost all political parties, the farmers will hold a protest outside the Maharashtra legislative assembly on Monday.

The farmers, who covered a stretch of 30 km every day to reach Mumbai, started on the 180-km march commenced on March 5 from the CBS Chowk in Central Nashik.

In Mumbai, Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray addressed the farmers.

The farmers of the state have been demanding a complete waiver of loans and electricity bills.

Last year, the Maharashtra government had announced a loan waiver of Rs 4,000 crore under the first phase of the farm loan waiver scheme.

WATCH: Farmers' protest march to Mumbai

All photographs and video: Sahil SalviAs many as 43 per cent voters cast their mandate in the Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency on Sunday while Phulpur recorded an even lesser 37.39 per cent turnout as the crucial bypolls to the two Lok Sabha seats were held peacefully, the state election office said.

IMAGE: UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath after casting his vote in Gorakhpur on Sunday.

Photograph: PTI Photo

57% polling in Araria LS bypoll Fifty-seven per cent polling was recorded in the by-election to the Araria Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar on Sunday, a senior poll official said. The bypoll in Araria is being viewed as a test for the ruling Janata Dal-United-BJP combine as well as the opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal-Congress alliance, ahead of the big battle in the general elections due next year. In the Bhabua and Jehanabad assembly constituencies, where by-polls were also held, the voter turnout was 54.03 per cent and 50.06 per cent respectively after polling ended at 5 pm, Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Ajay V Nayak said. The ruling JD-U-BJP combine and the opposition RJD-Congress alliance were locked in a battle on the three seats. This is the first electoral battle in the state since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also heads the JD-U, walked out of the alliance with the RJD and the Congress and joined the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance last year.

The polling was by and large peaceful, the election official added. The by-election to the Araria seat was necessitated by the death of sitting RJD lawmaker Mohd Taslimuddin. The contest is mainly between RJD's Sarafaraz Alam, Taslimuddin's son, and BJP's Pradip Singh, who had won the seat in 2009 and finished runner-up in 2014. In Jehanabad, the RJD hopes to retain the Assembly seat that fell vacant after the death of Mundrika Yadav. The party gave ticket to Yadav's son Kumar Krishna Mohan. On the other hand, the BJP is hopeful of retaining the Bhabhua Assembly seat riding on a sympathy wave for Anand Bhushan Pandey whose death at the age of 48 necessitated the bypoll. The saffron party fielded Pandey's wife Rinky Rani. Counting of votes will take place on March 14.

Polling began at 7 am and passed off peacefully at 5 pm, the state election office said.

"Gorakhpur recorded a turnout of 43 per cent and Phulpur 37.39 per cent," it added.

There were complaints of EVM malfunctioning at a few booths, but the machines were promptly replaced without affecting the polling, an election official said in Lucknow.

The reason behind the lower than expected turnout in the high-stakes polls in the country's electorally most significant state was said to be a lack of enthusiasm among voters who are now looking forward to the general elections which are barely a year away.

Tight security arrangements were in place to ensure free and fair polling. Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary and homeguard jawans, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces were deployed to ensure peaceful bypolls.

The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats after getting elected to the state legislative council.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said the Bharatiya Janata Party was getting widespread support.

"The people know that development is the only panacea," he told reporters there.

Attacking the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, he said, "These parties are indulging in negative politics, politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences because of this.

"To ensure that in future such a situation does not arise, efforts have to be made to shun politics of casteism and dynastic politics, and the focus should be on development and administration."

Asked about the SP and BSP entering an electoral understanding, Adityanath said it would have no effect on the outcome of the polls.

"If the SP, BSP and Congress had fought together, then results would have been much better for us," he said.

IMAGE: A policewoman checks the ID cards of voters during Jehanabad assembly bypoll, in Jehanabad, Bihar, on Sunday. Photograph: PTI photo

Termed by Adityanath as a 'rehearsal' for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the bypolls are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the SP and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel, respectively.

The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

10 candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.

Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who represented the seat Lok Sabha five times.

Prior to Adityanath, the seat was represented in parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice.

Phulpur, once represented by the country's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as Maurya won there.

Maurya exuded confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing bypolls.

"I am confident that on March 14 (when results are declared), the record made in Phulpur in 2014 (Lok Sabha elections) will be repeated, and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious," he told reporters after casting his vote for the Phulpur seat along with family members.

Asked about the BJP's plans to counter the electoral understanding between SP and BSP, Maurya said, "We have already expanded enough, and in future if any political party wants to join us, it will be definitely deliberated upon. But, today from UP's point of view, the poll alliance of the BJP, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party exists. Apart from this, we do not have any other alliance. And, banking on this alliance, we will win 80 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state," he said.

IMAGE: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and his wife Raj Kumari Maurya show their inked fingers after casting their votes in Phulpur Lok Sabha bypoll, in Allahabad on Sunday. Photograph: PTI Photo

Taking a jibe at the SP-BSP tie-up, the minister said, "Their (SP-BSP) votes will be transferred only when they have enough votes."

"The votes (of the people) are with us. But, they have only leaders who make statements...The voters of Mayawatiji have deserted the BSP and have reposed their faith in Modiji, Yogi and BJP. We are winning both the Lok Sabha seats, and with wider margin," Maurya claimed.

Union minister Shiv Pratap Shukla cast his vote in Gorakhpur, while UP Health minister Sidharth Nath Singh exercised his franchise in Phulpur.

Interestingly, it was on this day last year that BJP and its allies stormed to power in the UP assembly elections.

In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency, there were 970 polling centres and 2,141 polling booths, while in Phulpur, there were 793 polling centres and 2,059 polling booths.

According to the Election Commission, there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur parliamentary constituency, while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has a 19.49 lakh electorate. As many as 4,728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were used in the bypolls and provisions were made for web-casting from 95 critical booths.

Counting of ballots will be taken up on March 14.'Over the last two decades, the India-French relationship has grown steadily, no major political difference having darkened the sky between Paris and Delhi,' says Claude Arpi.



IMAGE: French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte Marie-Claude Macron at the ceremonial welcome at Rashtrapati Bhavan, March 10, 2018.

The French leader and the first lady are flanked by President Ram Nath Kovind, First Lady Savita Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra D Modi. Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

President Emmanuel Macron's visit was already a success before he landed in Delhi.

For the first time, a French President was on the cover of a national magazine (India Today). Another first: Macron gave an interview from the Elysee Palace in Paris which was broadcasted in prime time on a major television channel (again, India Today) and the President spoke in English. Hard to believe?

This undoubtedly symbolises the changing, though always special, relations between France and India, celebrating 20 years of 'strategic partnership'.

Let us not forget that the accord signed in 1998 by then president Jacques Chirac and then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee is the oldest such partnership.

Over the last two decades, it has grown steadily, no major political difference having darkened the sky between Paris and Delhi.

Relations have always been easy

Between 1947 and 1954, the relations were often tense due to the issue of the French settlements in India which would only be solved with the de facto transfer of Pondicherry to the Union of India at the end of 1954.

What is less known is that, despite differences, India and France continued to work together.

On October 26, 1953, a secret cable addressed to Nehru sent by H S Malik, the Indian ambassador in Paris, demonstrates this.

'All of us in the Embassy who have been working on the implantation of the contract with the Defence Ministry here for the supply of Ouragan (Toofani in India) aircraft were greatly relieved and delighted when we got the news that our four pilots with the four Ouragans had reached Palam safely.'

Malik informed the prime minister of the wonderful cooperation received 'both from the French officers of the Ministry of Defence, from the Cabinet Minister downwards, and from the French industry.'

Let us remember that this was perhaps one of the most trying times on the ground, particularly in Pondicherry.

A contract had however been signed with Dassault in June 1953 for 70 planes; as Malik noted, four planes had already reached India by air, while another 35 had been sent with the Dixmude aircraft carrier. The remainder 32 aircraft would be delivered in early 1954.

Malik told the prime minister: 'I have been thinking for some time whether it would not be possible to use the opportunity provided us by this cooperation and collaboration by the French to relive somewhat the existing unfortunate state of relations between India and France on account of the position which we naturally have had to take up vis-a-vis the stupidity and lack of imagination of the French over the question of the French Settlements in India.' The issue of the French settlement was eventually solved in October 1954.

Since the signature of the 1998 Strategic Agreement, France has constantly been supportive of India, particularly during the Pokhram nuclear tests, for a permanent seat for India in the UN Security Council and has shown comprehension for India's nuclear policy.

The present visit

On his arrival, the French president stated that the visit would open a new era in strategic partnership for the coming decades: 'Our two democracies have common channels like terrorism, lots of common risks and common threats. But we have to protect this history and the state for freedom.'

'I want my country to be the best partner in Europe,' President Macron said. 'This is a strong message. I want Indian citizens coming to France for studying, becoming entrepreneurs and opening start-ups.'

Some 14 bilateral agreements were signed at Hyderabad House, strengthening the bilateral economic, political and strategic ties between the two countries.



IMAGE: The Macrons pay their respects at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat. Photograph: Altaf Hussain/Reuters

The joint statement

Issued after the bilateral talks, it affirmed: 'Both leaders agreed to deepen and strengthen the bilateral ties based on shared principles and values of democracy, freedom, rule of law and respect for human rights.'

A message that India and not China was the partner????

On the emotive side, 'the valiant sacrifices made by Indian and French soldiers during the First World War' was mentioned. Modi agreed to participate in the closing of the First World War Centenary celebrations, which will take place on November 11 in Paris.

The deals

The first is, of course, the Rs 59,000 crore (Rs 590 billion) deal for 36 Rafale fighters in September 2016. It will soon prove to be a game changer, partly due the offset clauses forcing the French to reinvest in India 50% of the total deal's amount, but also for India's western and northern fronts.

But Delhi also knows that it needs to diversify its diplomatic relations if it wants to play a major role in the world. Here too, France could also be a crucial partner.

In an article for Carnegie India, C Raja Mohan and Darshana Baruah wrote about the Deepening the India-France Maritime Partnership (external link): 'Faced with growing geopolitical turbulence and more aggressive maritime maneuvering, India and France are eager to expand their strategic engagement in the Indo-Pacific.'

According to the joint Statement: 'The leaders appreciated the deepening interactions in the maritime domain for enhanced cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region... The leaders reiterated that this cooperation will be crucial in order to maintain the safety of international sea lanes for unimpeded commerce and communications in accordance with the international law, for countering maritime terrorism and piracy, for building maritime domain awareness, for capacity building and for greater coordination in regional/international fora in the region.'

It may translate into a logistics accord allowing India access to the strategically important French base in the Reunion Islands near Madagascar.

Another possibility is the opening to India of the French facilities in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa where India's rival China has already a military base. This is part of India's new maritime strategy.

Defence collaboration

The shortest article of the joint statement is worth noting: 'The leaders noted ongoing discussions between DRDO and SAFRAN on combat aircraft engine and encouraged necessary measures and forward looking approaches to facilitate early conclusion.'

The idea is to develop a M88 engine for the Light Combat Aircraft Tejas with Safran, one of Dassault's partners of in the Rafale deal.

The LCA Tejas, manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited, is presently equipped with a General Electric F404 IN20 engine.

India is obviously keen to resurrect the Kaveri engine project, which was originally started in the 1990s, and develop an indigenous jet engine. Safran is ready to collaborate on the Kaveri engine programme as part of the 50% offsets for the Rafale deal.

A report in The Tribune recently hinted that 'the M88 engine would be used as the base engine to adapt it for the LCA programme or it would be an altogether new development using Safran technology to create a new engine from the ground upwards.'

That would be a major joint project.

The Solar Alliance

The cherry on the visit's cake was the co-hosting of the International Solar Conference, ISA. Macron's visit was delayed for a few months due to the importance of the joint initiative.

An alliance of more than 121 countries launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in November 2015, the ISA wants to create a coalition of solar resource rich countries and address each participant's special energy needs.



IMAGE: Students take a selfie with Macron, who turned 40 in December, at Delhi's Bikaner House. During his interaction with the students, the French president said, 'I want to double the number of Indian students coming to France and also want to increase the number of French students going to India.

He also told the students, 'When facing difficulties: accept to go to sleep with doubts but always refuse to wake up with them.' Photograph: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

More convergences

One is the vibrant educational cooperation between Indian and French universities and academic institutes.

A host of agreements were signed during the Knowledge Summit, the first Indo-French conference on research and higher education in presence of the French and Indian minister of education.

The joint statement spoke of increasing the number and quality of student exchanges, with the aim of reaching 10,000 students by 2020. An agreement for the mutual recognition of degrees, should 'facilitate the pursuit of higher education by Indian students in France and French students in India and enhance their employability.'

One could, however, notice the quasi absence of defence and humanities participation in the Summit; a regrettable lack.

However, looking toward the future is the Indo-French Centre for Promotion of Advance Research (CEFIPRA) which crossed 30 years of existence in 2017. Initiatives such as the CEFIPRA could be the link between the discoveries in fundamental research and their technological applications.

There is no doubt that research in new fields such as Artificial Intelligence, quantum communications, drone technology, etc. can only fructify in a relationship of total trust. As is the case between India and France today, very few countries can boast of such cloudless relations with Delhi.

One can nevertheless regret that Pondicherry was not included in the presidential tour. It would have been an occasion to turn a historical page of bilateral relations.

Next time? The Summit should be a bi-yearly affair according to the joint statement.Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.At some point experts claimed that the Marange diamond fields contained between 2 and 7 billion carats of raw diamonds and that Zimbabwe was sitting on over 25 percent of the known diamond deposits in the world.

Others even put the value of the Marange deposit at $800 billion.

The majority of the stones mined in Marange were believed to be largely industrial while the quality gem stones were said to be not more than 20 percent.

However, it is not a secret that the diamond fields failed to boost the countrys economic fortunes.

Politicians claim that between $13 billion and $15 billion in diamond revenues was stolen from Marange.

ZCDC, a company formed in 2016 to clean up the mess in Marange, thinks that they can make diamonds contribute meaningful revenues to the fiscus through transparent mining operations.

Company chief executive Morris Mpofu told Rough & Polisheds Mathew Nyaungwa on the sidelines of a mining conference in Cape Town early February that the stones from Marange were heavily under invoiced and underpriced, which prejudiced the state of much needed revenue.

He said, under his guidance, ZCDC had re-oriented its valuation framework and diamond value management through cleaning to ensure that the company get the right market price for its stones.

Mpofu also said the company was open to form partnerships with foreign firms.

Below are excerpts from the interview.

Can you shed light on how the Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) came about as well as the state of your operations?

ZCDC is a wholly state-owned company whose shareholding is from the Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) and we were established by government as a conglomerate to consolidate all the mining concessions which were previously mined by the joint ventures that were there in the past [in Marange]. So, we started operations in March 2016 at three sites on those mines and our special grant of about 795 000 hectares of conglomerates I think also from the onset I need to demystify and address the perception that the state-owned company ZCDC was established to consolidate the Marange mining companies. We were not consolidating mining companies, we were consolidating mining concessions, which had expired for those individual mining companies. So, government  noting that there were challenges of transparency, accountability on the declaration of receipts, under-invoicing of foreign currency receipts, non-declaration of fiscal revenues on the taxes and the like  then decided to establish this company. So, we were established to ensure that we bring total responsibility, accountability and transparency in diamond mining. Since we have been established  now just under two years  we have transformed the mining framework for diamonds to come up with a new business model that responds to government demands and that ensures that it commits itself to the fundamental facets that I have just indicated, which are transparency, accountability, and responsibility. When we say accountability, we mean that we need to be totally accountable to the public. We need to produce diamonds in a manner that ensures that we fully account for all the receipts and also ensures transparency by declaring our production, declaring ourselves so that the public knows every time what is happening in diamond mining. As you are aware diamonds are a very sensitive product shrouded in secrecy in some areas and some countries and mines and this is what we are trying to demystify by establishing ourselves in the manner that we have modelled our business model.

Are you still mining alluvial diamonds in Marange?

We opened in March 2016 (I myself joined ZDC in March 2017) and when we started we were concentrating on alluvials because we were taking ore from where those miners had left, but we also invested in exploration and evaluation to try and establish the confidence levels that are there because what we noted was that as these mining companies were mining alluvials there was no reasonable investment into exploration to plan for the future because you know alluvials are a quick win, take and go. This is what was happening, instead of planning to invest into evaluation of the resources so that you build confidence levels and be able to ensure you build sustainable mining, so in our model we had to ensure we come up with organisational stability, business growth and mining sustainability. Business growth then required that we evaluate resources. So we then evaluated resources in the short space of time that we did investment, it was very intensive and we established that alluvials had depleted, in fact rich alluvial deposits in those locations had depleted, so we had to plan ahead and now start exploration and evaluation to move into the conglomerate because it is the next quickest win since it is also open-cast mining. So, we then developed a model for conglomerates that we have started to implement.

So, in other words, you are saying that ZCDC is currently mining conglomerates?

Yes! I want to say that as we got to the end of last year maybe last quarter we were doing 90 percent alluvials and 10 percent conglomerates. Today we are doing 90 percent conglomerates and 10 percent alluvials. We have a new plant that we have installed, which would be soon commissioned by government so that we get 100 percent conglomerates, which is going to increase our capacity of utilisation from 30 to 80-90 percent.

In terms of carats, what will you be looking at per year once you increase your capacity utilisation?

I cannot tell you the projections now until we kick-off the plant, but suffice it to say that we are targeting the conglomerate side to produce 200 000 carats plus every month.

The so-called legacy Marange mining companies often said they failed to access capital to dig deeper, are you well-resourced?

I wouldnt agree with you that it was lack of resources that prevented them to dig deeper, because alluvials were giving them easy cash, very easy cash with low cost of production per carat, which the gains from alluvial mining were supposed to be re-invested into digging deeper, but we were capitalised by government so we used that money  to purchase the right equipment, the right plant and continue with exploration so that we can dig deeper.

How much did you get?

We got about $80 million from government.

I heard your new mines minister saying that this year you are looking for $187 million (interrupted)

Yes! Now this is for business growth because we are operating three mines at the moment and we are likely going to open another three mines this year we are already advanced in terms of the evaluations that we are doing to open those three mines.

Who previously owned the three concessions you are currently operating from?

The ones we are mining at the moment is ex-Marange, ex-Mbada and ex-DTZ-OZGEO, which is in Chimanimani.

You havent touched the other concessions?

Yes, we are doing it in stages, there is an expectation that you go there and all of a sudden you open seven mines. Its not possible you need to evaluate the resources, you need to have confidence levels, upgrade resources to invest in grade so that you can open that mine. So thats why we are doing it systematically and there are some mines, which we cannot open maybe because the former miners did deplete the resources, but we may look for greenfield investments in the same areas. We are still searching for the source of Zimbabwes kimberlites. So, we are investing in exploration, we are moving outside the Marange area. We are going to Mwenezi and Chihota to look for the kimberlite so that we have mining sustainability.

Talking of exploration, I once had an interview with your former minister Walter Chidhakwa and he told me that you also had exploration activities in Penhalonga, apart from Chihota. Did you abandon your exploration work in Penhalonga?

Oh, that time we were involved in exploration in Penhalonga because we were also assisting in gold mining, but in Penhalonga there are also indications that there might be diamond deposits. However, at the moment we have not invested in that, we are concentrating on what we consider to be potential quick wins because you know with exploration, in some cases even the companies like De Beers and Alrosa, it takes 10 years or so to start a kimberlite mine, but we dont have that luxury ourselves. We want to go to where there is recent data and then we reduce the time because we are going to operate on the basis of what we call the three half-times  the three being half the time, half the operating cost and half the capital cost because Zimbabwe does not have time. When we say we are open for business we want dollars today, government is looking for fiscal revenue, foreign exchange, so that they can back-up the development of the country and stability of the economy. So, we need to generate revenues today.

So, you are currently involved in only two exploration projects?

Yes!

That is Chihota and Mwenezi?

Yes, Chihota, Mwenezi and also the production geology as we move, so we are investing immediately $20 million and we are already mobilising ourselves to move to the sites working in partnership with mining promotion council owned by government, which is responsible for geology.



I read recently that there was a diamond rush in Chiredzi, south-east Zimbabwe (interrupted)

Oh yes there was a recent diamond rush in Zimbabwe and as mandated by government to mine diamonds when we hear such news we also rush so that we are able to ring-fence and protect the government resource. We did some quick geology, assessment and evaluation and it appeared those were just quartz. In fact, in that area there is no diamondiferous ores that can be of a worry, there were just quartz.

Do you see ZCDC forming a JV with a well-established diamond mining company?

Yes, diamond mining requires partnership. Why I say so, especially for Zimbabwe is that we are a young diamond mining country, we have not gotten into it yet in the manner that we should and as such we need partnership with those that have been there for a while, so we look for best practices, we look for cutting edge technology, we look for skills transfer and we also look for capital because we dont have adequate capital. If you speak of the $187-million that we are looking for this year, its for the entire value-chain of our diamond production from the mine to the finger, so you see we need partnerships and we are very much open for business. As we seek for partnership, we are going to carefully screen and see who are the beneficial partners that we need to partner with. As we speak where we are mining we have already capacitated ourselves. We are set to go, we have a very strong balance sheet, so we would want to liberate on the strength that we have built ourselves so that we bring in partnerships and we grow in the manner that countries such as Botswana have done so. We are already working with Botswana in many areas. That was our first port of call. We recognise the 50 years that Botswana has in diamond mining, exposure and expertise, so we are tapping into various areas that we think are going to benefit Zimbabwe.

Has there been any interest from foreign firms to form partnerships with ZCDC?

There is a lot of interest especially at the Mining Indaba here, I think we had about 20 meetings with potential investors, suppliers and very high value, high level interested parties who would want to partner [with us]. Its a matter of what model are we going to adopt to partner with anyone because it has also to be in the best interest of the country.

At some point you were said to have stopped diamond sales and had engaged Botswana to assist you evaluate your stones. Have you resumed sales or you are still stockpiling?

That is not the reason why we stockpiled. Let me start with the reasons why we stockpiled: it was because the system for marketing of our diamonds got distorted during the legacy period that am talking about, it got distorted, we were having under invoicing, we were not getting value for our diamonds and that underpricing was prejudicing the country. So when we got in with a new model of mining we thought that we need to re-orient even our marketing structure for diamonds, even our selling of diamonds, so we stopped supplying the market and started stockpiling whilst we were engaged in effective value management, which meant that we wanted to ensure that by the time we go back to sell we have addressed all the bottlenecks, challenges, the rigidities When we were in that mode we were also looking for expertise and thats why we searched far and wide to get the expertise so that they assist us to bring up the value [of our diamonds]. We have now gone back to the market, this first quarter. We could not sell in the last quarter [due to the holiday] but starting this year were glad that looking at the market fundamentals prices seem to have adjusted upwards. We are back on the market, we have three tenders that we are running this quarter to sell over 1 million carats.

Are you convening these tenders in Zimbabwe or you are targeting international trade centres such as Antwerp and Dubai?

On this particular stock and as far as government policy is concerned our Minerals Marketing Corporation Zimbabwe (MMCZ) is the one conducting the tenders back home. We invite buyers, they come and view, submit their bids then we open the bids and award the purchases according to the reserved pricing that we would have set, which is a result of the evaluations that would have been done by experts. So we are currently selling home, inviting bidders but we engaged even with the mines minister, with Antwerp and other selling markets so that as we move to the future, as we increase our production, we can go to other markets and allow competitiveness so that we can increase the value of our diamonds and increase our revenues to government.

There had been a lot of talk that diamonds produced in the Marange area were of a low-value. Do you agree?

Its not true that they are of a low value. If you look at the historical performances, there has been an up and down in prices. We have achieved prices over $100 per carat and those were alluvials, mind you, and if you look at prices that were very low like $30 per carat those were prices that were suppressed, under invoiced and underpriced. So, we are saying that we have re-oriented our valuation framework, the diamond value management attempt to ensure that we seek the right market price. That right market price is what is going to come out when everyone is honest to themselves when they look at the diamonds. We are glad that the comments that we got from the experts that assisted us is that we have diamonds of good quality and as we move into the conglomerate and further down to the kimberlite mining we know that we will improve in quality as we go. We improve in quality by ensuring that especially on the alluvial side there is an effective diamond value management through cleaning of diamonds. The cleaning process has to be very strict and tight to ensure you bring out the clarity of the diamond so that its value is easy to ascertain.

Mathew Nyaungwa, Editor in Chief of the African Bureau, Rough&Polished



Australia will on Monday see January results for credit card purchases and balances, highlighting a modest day for Asia-Pacific economic activity. In December, purchases were worth A$27.9 billion and exports were at A$52.9 billion.

Japan will release Q1 numbers for the BSI manufacturing index, plus preliminary February numbers for machine tool orders.

In the previous three months, the large all industry index score was +6.2, while the large manufacturing index was at +9.7. Machine tool orders surged 48.8 percent on year in January.

The Philippines will provide Q4 data for current account. In the third quarter, the current account surplus was $554 million, while the capital account surplus was $36 million and the financial account surplus was $855 million.

Singapore will see January figures for retail sales; in December, sales fell 0.5 percent on month and climbed 3.7 percent on year.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Economic News

What parts of the world are seeing the best (and worst) economic performances lately? Click here to check out our Econ Scorecard and find out! See up-to-the-moment rankings for the best and worst performers in GDP, unemployment rate, inflation and much more.Editors Pick

CVS Health is set to recruit qualified candidates to fill 25,000 clinical and retail jobs during a one-day national career event on Friday, September 24. This will enable CVS to meet the high demand for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, nurses, and retail store associates to support flu season, COVID-19 vaccinations and testing.

Twitter, Inc. (TWTR) announced Monday that it has entered into a binding agreement to settle the consolidated class action lawsuit commenced in 2016 in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. Under the terms of the proposed settlement, Twitter will pay $809.5 million...

Drug major Pfizer has again expanded the earlier two recalls of its anti-smoking Drug Chantix (Varenicline) in the form of tablets, to now include all the lots, for the potential presence of nitrosamine impurity, N-Nitroso- varenicline, at or above the FDA interim acceptable intake limit (ADI), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or FDA said in a statement.China has approved the removal of term limits for its leader, in a move that effectively allows Xi Jinping to remain as president for life.

The constitutional changes were passed by China's annual sitting of the National People's Congress on Sunday.

"As an important content of the amendment, the inclusion of Xi's thought into the country's fundamental law reflects the common aspiration of the entire Party and all Chinese people of various ethnic groups," said Shen Chunyao, chairman of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the 12th NPC Standing Committee.

China had imposed a two-term limit on its president since the 1990s.

But Mr Xi, who would have been due to step down in 2023, defied the tradition of presenting a potential successor during October's Communist Party Congress.

Instead, he consolidated his political power as the party voted to enshrine his name and political ideology in the party's constitution - elevating his status to the level of its founder, Chairman Mao.

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Political NewsA young woman studying at the National University of Samoa is traveling to the Big Apple.

Solivalealofiolenuu Wilson, the daughter of the late Filoitumua Dick and Foluena Laina Wilson, of Sapapalii, Safotu and Vaivase-tai, is heading to New York to attend the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women (C.S.W.62).

It is the second time in two years that a Samoan young woman has been selected for sponsored participation in this annual conference.

The Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Accounting and Economics students will take part in the conference to be guided by the theme: Challenges and opportunities in achieving gender equality and the empowerment of rural women and girls.

Soli was selected from hundreds of applicants worldwide.

As part of a delegation of young women from across the world under the umbrella of the World Y.W.C.A, Soli is representing not only Y.W.C.A. Samoa but also her family and community that have been very strong supporters throughout her journey.

Id like to think that I am going, not only to participate, learn and build my network there, but to also represent my country, my amazing family, my mother, and Vaivase Tai E.F.K.S. Youth family, she said.

Most especially, my Y.W.C.A. sisters and the never ending efforts they have put into our Rise Up Programs and every single young woman whos life was influenced through it. This is for you!

Soli is an active member and an up and coming peer educator of the Y.W.C.A. of Samoa and will participate in the World Y.W.C.A. official launch of the Rise Up Training Manual in New York during the C.S.W.62.

The Rise Up programme has reached over 200 young women.

It has helped to enhance their knowledge and understanding of common social global issues they are facing such as Violence Against Women and Girls, Climate Change, Leadership and Decision making, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, Human Rights and Economic Empowerment.

Since its launching in 2016, the Rise Up Programme in Samoa has expanded extensively, to rural communities in Upolu and Savaii, creating safe spaces to share, educate and encourage our girls to Rise Up!

The programme creates a safe space for young women to discuss topics that are still considered taboo in our homes Churches and communities.

I get words of encouragement and expand and enhance leadership skills as well as the satisfaction of being a part of something with a greater purpose, Soli said.Local business, Pacific Oil, has secured a joint venture with large U.S. multinational company, Dr. Bronners.

Under the name SerendiCoco Samoa, the venture will see a commitment to export three thousand tonnes of coconut oil from Samoa to supply the U.S. manufacturer as well as support the conversion of local producers into organic certified and fair trade farmers.

Prior to the merger, Pacific Oil primarily supplied Europe and was subject to unstable global prices for coconut oil.

According to Pacific Oils Director, Fanene Samau Sefo, it was more often than not at a low price, which was not beneficial to the company and the farmers.

But things are about to change.

Speaking to the Samoa Observer, Fanene said they expected their first shipment to go out at the end of this month.

This comes after 18 months of preparing the groundwork to meet the requirements of their agreement.

With the new joint venture, we are now paying a much higher price for copra than we ever used to because the price is now good, he said. At the moment we have 1,050 farmers who sell to us, but that list is expanding because what we have done in the past 16 months is convert all our farmers who supply us into organic and Fairtrade farmers.

This is new for us, we formed a joint venture with this company. The deal is we provide the oil and we sell it to them. They (Dr. Bronners) came here about three years ago and started looking around for a company that could provide them with coconut oil.

Up until now, they have been getting their oil from the Philippines because they are the highest producers of coconut oil, but they werent happy with the quality.

So they tested the quality of our oil and they were very happy with it.

Previously Pacific Oil only produced crude coconut oil from copra.

However they have recently installed a refining plant in Nuu as per their agreement.

Currently they have 500 tonnes of refined oil ready for shipment over the next three months.

Fanene is conscious that they will need to meet the challenges of supply and he said Pacific Oil, along with the Samoan Government and donor agencies, will be working to support the farmers and their sustainability goals by facilitating large scale tree planting projects.

Bronners want three thousand tonnes of oil a year, Fanene said.

So at the moment were not getting enough copra, thats the constraint. We have to produce that volume of oil but we hope that as time goes on, we will get to that, so what we are trying to do is provide more and get our people to get out there and work the coconuts and turn it into copra because theres money in it for them.

The company is helping the farmers. We are working with the Ministry of Agriculture to replant the coconut trees through a replanting programme.

Dr. Bronners is a manufacturer of certified organic and fair trade soaps and personal care products in the U.S. and has been in existence since 1948. The company is well known for their philanthropic and activist work since it began and its unconventional story of origin and recognisable brand of text filled packaging has a cult status in the U.S. In 2014, they had total revenue of $80.3 million with their popular liquid soaps accounting for 67 per cent of it.

According to publications from Dr. Bronners, the projects funded through the fairtrade premium will address educational and health care issues in the remote villages with a focus on youth employment.The Samoa Fire and Emergency Services Authority (S.F.E.S.A.) will soon receive five more firefighting trucks thanks to the government of Japan.

The offer follows a signing ceremony between Ambassador Maugaoleatuolo Shinya Aoki and Commissioner of S.F.E.S.A., Lelevaga Faafouina Mupo.

A grant of up to US$88,819 (T$211,200) will fund the procurement, reconditioning and shipment from Japan to Samoa of five used fire-fighting trucks to increase the authoritys fleet.

The trucks consists of two pumper trucks, one rescue truck, one tank truck and one pumper with tank truck which were requested specifically in capitalising some of the new substations in the rural areas of both Upolu and Savaii island.

Additionally, the project will assist the S.F.E.S.A. to provide water supply in rural areas which are experiencing water shortage.

Ambassador Maugaoleatuolo said it was important to assist in this area because emergency services play a vital role in community.

The work of S.F.E.S.A. is not limited to responding to fire emergencies, they also provide assistance during natural disasters, he said.

In 2015, F.E.S.A. received four used firefighting trucks from Japan. Last month, Japan procures a 30m ladder firefighting truck and one firefighting pumper truck.A family at Sogi fighting a Government eviction notice will find out in in six weeks whether they can remain on the land they claim as rightfully theirs.

The hearing of the Tokuma Family land claim against the Samoa Land Corporation has been adjourned by Justice Leiataualesa Daryl Clarke, to await a decision.

On Friday, the lawyers presented their final submissions.

Pau Tafaogalupe Mulitalo, who is representing the Turaroe descendants, told the Court that the Tokuma family should not have to leave the land.

Referring to the leader of the family, Nanai Tokuma, he said Sogi is the only home he has known all his life.

Nanai Tokuma had lived on the disputed land all his life since he was born in 1940, said Mulitalo.

Furthermore, Percival Earnest Patrick authorised the late Turaroes family to live on the land where they have built a house until today.

And even though the Government claimed the land belongs to them, they did nothing to evict the Tokuma family all these years, but instead they stepped back and allowed this family to live on the land.

Lawyers, Tafailagi Peniamina and David Fong, represented the Samoa Land Corporation and the Ministry of Public Enterprises.

Mr. Fongs closing submission argued that Nanais evidence is all hearsay.

He was not there regardless of the information he had provided, said Mr. Fong.

He is 78 years old now and in his evidence he was about 12 to 13 years old when his father told him these stories.

So I believe that he was very young and given the time frame it has been more than decades.

This is hearsay and I think the Court should take into consideration that this information are not admissible and reliable.Theres a new cafe in town. Across from the Manumea Hotel at Vailima, is the newly opened Blended Taste Cafe.

Owner, Azarel Mariner Maiai, told the Samoa Observer she called her cafe Blended Taste for one reason - to provide a variety of food to satisfy customers.

Blended taste aims to bring different food to different people, Mrs. Maiai said.

I think that Vailima is a very good place given that a lot of our community live up here in this area and there are not many options for food going on, so we wanted a small cafe to cater for the traffic that is going up and down every day.

Outside of the cafe, you will enjoy the vibrant colours that portray the meaning behind the name Blended Taste. As a woman of strong faith, the colours also portray the wonders of the mystery ahead of her.

Looking at Blended Taste, I wanted something that was real and represented who we are. There are carvings of Bible scriptures in there mainly because everything that this business has earned was God-given.

We handpicked bright colours because they bring meaning and at the same time illustrates that we are not just providing food, but a place where you can just relax and enjoy your coffee.

The fulltime working mother, who is a newbie to running a business, says establishing Blended Taste was a challenge and despite the busyness, she wanted to try something new in 2018.

I never wanted to go down this path, but I guess the New Years resolution is also trying something new and trusting God, by letting go of yourself and just believing that God will be taking care of everything. I give it back to Him and lay it at His feet.

I trust that He will be guiding and teaching us because this is all new for us. We can only see where He takes us and we are looking forward to it, Mrs. Maiai added.

She believes any development that is founded in God will flourish.

He gives us the talent to try new things and this is all very new for us, but we are daring to try it.

Mrs. Maiai said they had rented the place for six months and there was no progress at all, but they relied on Gods perfect timing.

I think life is all about balance as well, having to be a working mother and also having to run a business is always a challenge, but I guess this is where your trust in God comes in to balance all things in your life.

I reckon it is good time management and all about managing your stress and eating well, also seek help from your family if you are not able to meet all the requirements that you need.

Mrs. Maiai shares her New Years resolution could not have been achieved if it werent for the support of her families and friends.

We were able to accomplish this from the good support of friends and families. It all started from the love for food from family members and I think that above all else God is a creative God.

I think that is a good thing about being in Samoa, you have a lot of the support from your families and friends who are there to help.

The success of any business is having the support of your family.

Mrs. Maiai acknowledged the good support from the Scalinis, their colleagues and Bonnies Complex for their helping hand.

A lot of these are all part of Gods way of working through them to and hopefully we could help them in the future in any small way we can.

I am grateful for people who went out of their way and helped us in building Blended Taste. We thank God for them and we pray that He will bless their businesses and whatever they place their hands on.

We hope that in a couple of months from now that our business will grow and that it will meet the needs of the people around here.Minutes before President Trump entered the White House Roosevelt Room on Thursday to announce sweeping tariffs on imported metals, the presidents economic A-team stood stone-faced near the presidents podium  but not Peter Navarro.

The 68-year-old former UC Irvine economics professor looked almost gleeful as he waited for Trump to issue final orders levying 25% duties on foreign steel and 10% on aluminum, all in the name of national security.

Trumps move defied his own party and has infuriated U.S. allies. But the tariffs represent just the kind of shocking shake-up of the status quo on trade that Navarro has long advocated.

And in the last several weeks, perhaps no one has emerged as a more forceful public champion of the White Houses explosive new trade policy than Navarro, who has made multiple appearances on national television and other media to explain and defend the tariffs in his characteristically combative style.

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Lets remember this, he told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace a week ago. Donald Trump ran against 16 Republicans. None of those Republicans supported Donald Trumps positions on trade. He beat every one of them.

Many lawmakers, businesses and economists believe the tariffs ultimately will hurt American consumers and the economy, while weakening relations with key allies such as Canada and the European Union. Trumps National Economic Council director Gary Cohn resigned in protest last week.

For Navarro, who declined to be interviewed on the record, the tariff plan marks something of a personal vindication and another stunning turn in his brief stint in Washington and long career as an academic and wannabe politician.

A noted China hawk and onetime big fan of Hillary Clinton, Navarro volunteered on Trumps campaign as an economic advisor (the only one with an economics PhD). And after Trumps victory, the president named him head of a newly created National Trade Council.

Navarro gave up his tenured position in California, and an active life in sunny Laguna Beach, and came to Washington to run a small office and work on the presidents Buy American, Hire American agenda.

But within a few months, the trade council was dissolved, and Navarro found himself in a kind of White House purgatory. Though his work continued, access to the president was restricted as he was eclipsed by rival administration officials favoring more open-trade policies.

So-called globalists in the West Wing, led by Cohn, a former Goldman Sachs executive, had successfully tempered  or at least delayed  Trumps protectionist and nationalistic moves.

But with battles over healthcare and taxes behind him, the president has been itching to push through hard-line measures on trade that he promised on the campaign trail, reportedly telling his staff, Where are my steel tariffs?

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That provided an opening for Navarro.

Although the steel and aluminum tariffs followed a lengthy investigation by the Commerce Department, Navarro has persistently advocated for such actions, using what some said was guerrilla warfare to bypass Cohn to reach the president, a claim Navarro called a cheap shot on Fox News.

Over the years many people have rung alarm bells about the industrial decline in America, but Navarro has been at the forefront of linking the weakening of domestic manufacturing from global trade to the future of the countrys defense and national security.

That was the rationale Trump cited for the tariffs, although his later decision to exempt Canada and Mexico, as well as possibly others, is seen by scholars as undermining the legal basis for the restrictions and has been criticized as a tool for gaining economic leverage.

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Trump elevated Navarro to the position of assistant to the president shortly before making the tariff announcement 10 days ago, allowing Navarro once again to report directly to Trump.

Now, there is speculation that Navarro is in the running to replace Cohn as head of the National Economic Council.

If youre of the mind-set you want somebody in there who has the Trumpian viewpoint on economies, hes the right person for the job, said Harry Kazianis, a friend of Navarros who directs defense studies at the Center for the National Interest. Trump is going to want his own guy, somebody that he trusts and is on the same wavelength.

Like Trump, Navarro is a newbie in Washington politics with unconventional views and a pugnacious style to match. Raised in the East Coast mostly by his mother, a Saks Fifth Avenue secretary, Navarro served in the Peace Corps in Thailand out of college and in 1986 earned a PhD in economics from Harvard University.

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For the next three decades, Navarro made Southern California his home, first teaching in San Diego and then moving to UC Irvine until retiring from its business school last year. Early in his academic career he developed an expertise in public utilities and energy policy, and over the years his articles and dozen books have spanned a variety of subjects, including cyber-learning, investment strategies, and, of course, Chinas rise and what he considers Americas biggest threat.

Along the way, Navarro ran for office three times as a Democrat. He lost each bid, including one in 1996 when then-First Lady Hillary Clinton came to San Diego, to Navarros great delight, to give a lift to his campaign for a seat in Congress. Navarro would later tell The Times that he was seduced by her charm and power.

Navarros thinking on trade has turned dramatically as well. Like many mainstream economists, he was at one time a believer in free trade and wrote extensively in support of such deals that he and his boss in the Oval Office are now trying to redo or dismantle, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Nor was Navarro always a China basher. In an August 2016 interview, he said the turning point came in the early 2000s when he began to notice many people, including his own former students, struggling to get jobs. He came to the conclusion that their troubles, as well as other problems in the economy, could be traced to China. All roads led to Beijing, he said.

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Many economists consider Navarros views as extreme and he has been marginalized by China academics. But one person who agrees with Navarro is Trump, who on the campaign trail accused China of raping our country and threatened to impose 45% tariffs on all Chinese imports.

Navarro is the person who gives voice to the presidents gut instincts, said Derek Scissors, a China expert at the American Enterprise Institute. With or without Navarro, the president was bound to act on the steel tariffs, Scissors said. Now Navarros resurgence in the White House, coupled with Cohns departure, will only reinforce Trumps protectionist instincts, raising the risk of more stringent actions, he said.

If the president seems like hes too globalist a few months from now, then he would probably turn to Peter and say, What can we do to remind people of America First? 

That may involve China, as a pending case involving Chinese theft of intellectual property and forced technology transfers could prove even more consequential for the U.S. and global economy than the fallout from the steel and aluminum tariffs.

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In a matter of weeks, Trump could decide to impose broad tariffs or restrict imports and investments from China, which almost certainly would escalate risks of a trade war.

That once again would thrust Navarro into the spotlight.

Navarro has been preparing for years for a U.S. confrontation with Beijing. His provocative books, such as The Coming China Wars and Death by China: Confronting the Dragon  a Global Call to Action, are widely viewed as polemical works. And his unorthodox  many would say faulty  analysis on trade deficits and the economy, as well as his acerbic style, have turned off many in his profession.

But Navarros supporters note that in recent years, more China experts have come closer to Navarros pessimistic take on the Asian nation as more threat than ally, as Beijing has backpedaled on promises to open up markets while also becoming more expansionary and assertive politically.

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For Navarro, what matters inside the White House is that the president sides with him, his friends say.

I think the presidents views on trade, his rhetoric on trade have been pretty consistent for a long time, said Scott Paul, president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, an advocacy group for whom Navarro wrote a chapter for a 2009 book.

While [Trumps] direct engagement on policy has waxed and waned on trade, I think his beliefs and his point of view have remained pretty steadfast, and Peter reflects that and is an implementer of that policy, Paul said. Eventually Navarro was going to win this argument because he agrees with Trump.

don.lee@latimes.com

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Follow me at @dleelatimes

UPDATES:

6:55 p.m.: This article was updated with background on Navarros career.

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This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m., March 10.Normally when you think about sectors of the U.S. economy that are subject to government protections or emergency oversight, you think of financial institutions and automakers such as GM, which received bailouts in the wake of the financial meltdown in 2008 and 2009.

Or, most recently, tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on foreign imports of aluminum and steel.

But last week, the actions of a federal agency few San Diegans had ever heard of highlighted a larger discussion about the relationship between national security interests and the tech sector.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States on March 4 put the much-anticipated shareholder meeting of San Diego Fortune 500 company Qualcomm on hold. The committee said it will conduct a 30-day review to investigate fully the $117 billion hostile takeover bid by Singapore-based Broadcom to acquire Qualcomm.

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The reasons?

General concerns about national security and specific anxieties whether a Broadcom takeover would hurt the global leadership position the U.S. maintains when it comes to developing the latest technological advancements.

Broadcom has promised to move its headquarters to the U.S. and within days of the committees announcement, made a pledge to establish a $1.5 billion fund to train U.S. engineers to ensure America keeps it lead in future wireless technology.

But aside from how the Qualcomm vs. Broadcom showdown end, the growth and penetration of the cutting-edge semiconductors bring up larger questions about government review and protections in both civilian and military spheres of the tech sector.

Technology is increasingly vital to national security, given the future of wirelessly connected, autonomous fighting machines, said Patrick Moorhead, president of Moor Insights and Strategy, a high tech analyst firm based in Austin, Texas.

Concerns about China and tactics of companies based in China who compete  and allegedly steal  advancements developed by U.S.-based companies have been raised for years.

Last month, FBI director Christopher Wray told the Senate Intelligence Committee in Washington that telecom companies should be wary of technology firms in China that have links to foreign governments.

Were deeply concerned about the risks of allowing any company or entity that is beholden to foreign governments that dont share our values to gain positions of power inside our telecommunications networks, Wray said.

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It provides the capacity to maliciously modify or steal information, Wray testified. And it provides the capacity to conduct undetected espionage.

Wray said the Chinese government may be spying on U.S. citizens via the smartphones made by Huawei, a tech company based in China since 1987.

Huawei denied the claims, telling Newsweek in a statement that Huawei is trusted by governments and customers in 170 countries worldwide and poses no greater cybersecurity risk than any ICT (information and communications technologies) vendor, sharing as we do common global supply chains and production capabilities.

When did tech become so vital to national security?

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Protecting technological secrets has long been a national security priority. Military and intelligence analysts, for example, worried about encryption during the height of the Cold War.

But concerns have risen at a pace commensurate with U.S. consumers and businesses becoming more connected to  and dependent on  digital technologies and devices.

U.S. companies, including Qualcomm, have core intellectual property that is increasingly used in defense applications, even if the details are classified.

The Department of Homeland Security includes the Information Technology Sector as one of 16 critical infrastructure areas considered so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, national public health or safety or any combination thereof.

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There has long been a connection between national security and companies delivering advanced technologies for U.S. defense purposes  such as Raytheon, Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

But the rapid growth in the tech sector has been seen in military as well as civilian systems, said Olivier Blanchard, senior analyst for Futurum Research, a firm that specializes in digital transformation and emerging technologies.

Its all amalgamated now, Blanchard said, citing the advent of personal computing, the Internet and wireless technologies. Everything is connected in ways that we couldnt really imagine back in the 1950s and 60s when the most technologically advanced thing we owned was a television.

Now all of our economic systems, our banking systems are based on (tech). Our cars are starting to drive themselves. Everybodys got a GPS tracker on them. All of our emails, our conversations and itineraries, contact lists and social media, personal details are constantly being transferred and shared and stored online or on devices. These are all matters of national defense. All of them.

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What they worry about

Guillermo Christensen, a cybersecurity expert who is a partner in the Washington D.C. law firm of Brown Rudnick, said the worries of national security policymakers can sometimes differ from those running private companies.

Lets say you have a company producing coating thats used on a stealth aircraft and the Chinese or the Russians steal it and they start putting that on their aircraft, said Christensen, a former officer at the Central Intelligence Agency.

The company really hasnt lost any money because the U.S. government is not going to buy those aircraft from the Russians so (the company) is not losing business here. But the United States and our allies have potentially suffered pretty serious harm if those aircraft end up fighting our guys over Syria or somewhere like that and their aircraft are much better.

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In an increasingly digitalized world that sees Americans storing more of their critical personal information in the cloud and in data warehouses distributed around the globe, Christensen said the risk that a company or an entire country could be shut down is heightened.

Though Russia has denied it, its agents have been suspected of hacking into systems in Estonia, Georgia and Ukraine. And Iran was accused by some in a recent cyberattack in Saudi Arabia.

We call it the fifth domain in warfare terms, Christensen said. The next wars will start and, for some people, will end in a cyber domain without much of any violence being conducted, other than through electrons.

A long history

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Protectionism is as old as the U.S. itself.

Thats something we find that every nation does, said Kerry Fields, professor of business law and ethics at the USC Marshall School of Business. Free trade means we need to balance national interests in a fair and reasonable manner.

Alexander Hamilton instituted policies to shield infant industries in the new nation from foreign competition. Congress enacted the first sugar tariff in 1789 and sugar prices have remained artificially high ever since.

But those kinds of protections dealt with the financial health of particular industries. The emphasis on tech, at least for now, is concentrated on protecting national security interests and making sure U.S. companies keep their competitive edge.

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Through expansion into so many areas of society, tech has established itself not only as an essential part of the economy but to the country as a whole, Fields said.

We look at the stock market and the hottest stocks in the past several years have been high-tech stocks, Fields said. Its almost like defense, finance and and technology are three legs on a very important national security stool.

Late last year, the U.S. government banned the use of Kaspersky Lab anti-virus software on all federal computers and connected networks amid concerns the Russian-based company had ties to the Kremlin.

Its the breadth and depth of the risk posed by technological advances, the digital platforms, that should greatly concern American decision makers, Fields said.

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Government review of mergers and acquisitions, such as the one involving Qualcomm and Broadcom, will be become more commonplace in a country becoming more digitally dependent, Christensen said.

And with advancements in things like medical technologies, it will be even more important that they run well, Christensen said. Because I sure dont want my super-eyesight that Ill get some day  malfunctioning because some Chinese hacker decided to shut me down, right?

A week of twists and turns in the Broadcom-Qualcomm drama

Sunday  The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States orders Qualcomm to delay its annual shareholder meeting, which was scheduled for Tuesday. The delay gives Qualcomm a 30-day reprieve from Broadcoms $117 billion hostile takeover bid to allow U.S. regulators to conduct a national security probe of the potential deal.

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Monday  Bloomberg News reports that all six of Broadcoms candidates for Qualcomms board have strong support, citing unnamed sources that had seen early vote totals. Qualcomm CEO and board member Steve Mollenkopf had the second lowest vote total of the combined 17 Qualcomm-Broadcom candidates, according to Bloomberg. Chairman Paul Jacobs, son of co-founder Irwin Jacobs, also was in danger of losing his seat. Bloomberg noted that many of Qualcomms largest shareholders had not cast ballots and that they can change their votes up until the day of the annual meeting.

Tuesday  Shareholder meeting delayed and rescheduled to April 5.

Wednesday  Broadcom promises to make the U.S. a global leader in new 5G networks and says it will maintain the research and development resources Qualcomm devotes to 5G and innovation in future wireless standards. The company also said it would create a $1.5 billion fund to train and educate engineers in the U.S.

Friday  Qualcomm long-time executive Paul Jacobs steps down as executive chairman of the board in a move likely aimed at appeasing angry shareholders as the San Diego cellular giant tries to fend off Broadcom. Independent board member Jeffrey Henderson will serve as non-executive chairman of the board. Jacobs will remain a director. The executive chairman post will be eliminated.

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Also Friday  The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter, reports that Intel is weighing a range of acquisition options, including a bid for Broadcom. The people told the newspaper, however, that such an offer is not guaranteed. One source told the Journal that it would be unlikely.

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rob.nikolewski@sduniontribune.com

(619) 293-1251 Twitter: @robnikolewskiDockless bike sharing, the novel idea that rolled out with a rough start in San Diego in February, could spread to North County coastal communities as soon as this summer.

Led by Encinitas, the proposed one-year pilot program may also include Del Mar, Solana Beach, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base, and North County Transit District.

The short-term bicycle rentals are based on a phone app, like Uber and other ride-sharing programs. Renters can pick up their bike in one place, such as a bus stop or train station, and leave it someplace else, maybe parked on the sidewalk outside their workplace, anywhere within the companys service area.

Bike sharing is seen as a way to get more cars off the road, reduce pollution and greenhouse gases, and encourage more people to get out of their vehicles and exercise.

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One of the things we are trying to solve is that first-last mile in transit, said Crystal Najera, an Encinitas climate plan administrator leading the group project.

Studies show more people would use public transit if there was an easy, inexpensive way to travel the final short distance from a train station, for example, to a workplace or other destination.

Three companies began offering dockless bike-sharing operations last month in San Diego. But the sudden appearance of so many rental bikes, including the recent addition of electric-powered bikes and scooters, has led to problems.

The most frequent complaint seems to be about parked bikes blocking busy sidewalks. Other issues include people riding illegally on the sidewalks, vandalism, abandoned bicycles and people riding without helmets.

Some San Diego merchants, frustrated by the sudden abundance of app-rented bikes, have asked the city to set new limits on them, but so far its unclear how that might work.

North County can avoid some of those problems by making an exclusive deal with a single vendor, Najera said.

Using a single company across all the coastal region also has the advantage of making it easier for people to rent and return bikes anywhere within the cities.

As with any new business, there are kinks to be worked out, experts say. But participation is high, and the business appears to have a big future.

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As a result of that optimistic outlook, entrepreneurs with deep pockets are willing to drop huge sums of money into bike-sharing startups.

The idea began a few years ago in China, where it spread rapidly to more than 200 cities. A few large markets have become saturated with the service there, and news photos from some cities show piles of hundreds of the distinctively colored bicycles, damaged and discarded in public places.

Dockless bikes rent for $1 to $2 an hour in San Diego, an artificially low price set to build a market for the brand.

Its very cheap, but its questionable whether (the price) is sustainable, said Howard LaGrange, an avid cyclist and Oceansides bicycle and pedestrian coordinator.

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Oceansides City Council is scheduled to hear a report on the regional proposal April 11 and decide whether to participate.

Ive been pretty supportive, LaGrange said Wednesday. The concern is the placement of bikes in the community  and whether they are bunched up and impeding people on the sidewalks.

A GPS system connected to the bikes could be one way to solve the sidewalk problem, by limiting locations where people could leave the free-standing bikes.

Overall bike-sharing appears to be a good program, LaGrange said, and one thats evolving rapidly as it adapts to the available technology and the way people use it.

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If enough jurisdictions are interested, the North County partnership will seek more information and possibly approve a contract with a single vendor to operate throughout the coastal communities, Najera said.

Details of the proposal are still being ironed out, but the dockless rental system is preferred, she said.

Potential vendors will be encouraged to discuss how they would handle issues such as parking, right-of-way, training programs, the use of helmets and other safety factors, Najera said.

Weve heard a lot of interest from the public, she said.

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Del Mars City Council voted unanimously on Monday to join the cities exploring the idea. Encinitas and Solana Beach are both scheduled to hear reports and consider their participation later this month.

Del Mar Councilman Dave Druker advised caution, saying the cities should be sure that the chosen vendor is prepared to be in business for the long term and not just until the investors money is gone.

It looks like we are going to have to put a little time and effort into this just to get it off the ground, Druker said.

Other council members said they see advantages, especially for tourism, which is a significant contributor to the local economy.

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As a resident, Im excited about this because it means when people come visit me they have another way to get around town, said Del Mar Councilwoman Ellie Haviland.

Three dockless bike rental companies  LimeBike, Ofo and MoBike  offer the service in San Diego.

LimeBike is a Silicon Valley startup that rents dockless bikes in dozens of U.S. cities and added National City and Imperial Beach last year. Ofo and Mobike are both Chinese companies that rent millions of bikes around the world.

DecoBike, a Florida-based company, began offering a slightly different service  dockable bikes  in San Diego in 2015.

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The dockable system requires renters to return the bicycle to any of about 180 self-service stations spread across the city.

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philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehlCITY COUNCILS

DEL MAR

The Del Mar City Council met Monday for a presentation on bluff stabilization from roughly 17th Street to Seventh Street. The council agreed to enter into an agreement with Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Oceanside, Camp Pendleton, SANDAG and the North County Transit District to develop and implement a one-year pilot regional bikeshare program. A $1,710,867 construction contract with Eagle Paving Co. was awarded for Streetscape Segment 5 (Camino del Mar between Carmel Valley Road and 4th Street/Del Mar Heights Road South). Councilmember Ellie Haviland encouraged residents to come to the March 19 meeting when a workshop on gun issues would be scheduled, and to visit https://neveragainca.com for details.

POWAY

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The Poway City Council met in special closed session Tuesday to discuss litigation. In regular session, the council held hearings and approved a proposal to expand a gas station at 12462 Poway Road with a mini-mart and car wash; and a request to allow a metal shipping container to stay at Misty Meadow Road, provided the container be painted to match the house on the property. Permits were approved for a proposed 53-unit mixed-use development at 13247 Poway Road. The council heard comments from the public on requests to allow a vehicle towing and storage yard at 13130 Adah Lane, and a mixed-use project on Poway Road that includes 13,000 square feet of commercial use with 216 residential units. The council also began the process to create two landscape maintenance districts for the purposes of taxation.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

BONSALL

The Bonsall Unified School District board met Thursday and appointed Eric Ortega to fill the board seat vacated by Dr. Erin English. The board approved its second interim financial report for fiscal year 2017/18 and adopted a resolution to identify budget cuts needed in 2018-19 and 2019-20. The board gave preliminary approval to change the daycare program at Bonsall West Elementary from grant-funded to fee-based for 2018-19.

CARDIFF

The Cardiff School District board met Thursday to review and accept the audit report on its Measure GG Bond Fund audit. The board also reviewed a Measure GG facilities expense report, and heard a bond implementation update. A closed session to discuss litigation and negotiations followed.

ESCONDIDO

The Escondido Union School District board met Thursday in closed session to discuss litigation and personnel. In open session, the board held a public hearing on a request from the Heritage K-8 Charter School for its five-year charter renewal. Reports were presented on the Measures of Academic Progress, and on the Solar Feasibility Study. The board gave You Make Escondido Shine awards to Alison Gonzalez Marcial, Bushra Abdullah and Javier Bolanos Tinoco of Rose Elementary, and Samara Molina Martinez, Ceryna Danielle Ontiveros and Christopher Alberto Rubio of Orange Glen Elementary.

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The Escondido Union High School District board met in closed session Tuesday. In regular session, the board heard a presentation and approved the English Learner Master Plan; the second interim budget report was also approved.

FALLBROOK

The Fallbrook Union Elementary School District board met in closed session Monday to discuss labor negotiations and litigation. In regular session, the board agreed to add four temporary part-time school counselors for the elementary sites, and agreed to raise Level I developer fees for residential and commercial/industrial development. Reports on the budget and on the AVID program at Potter Junior High were presented.

The Fallbrook Union High School District board met Wednesday in closed session to discuss personnel. The board then met for a study session to discuss its bond update and capital planning.

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RAMONA

The Ramona Unified School District board met Thursday in closed session to discuss negotiations and litigation. In open session, the board approved a tentative agreement with the California School Employees Association Chapter #733, and heard a report on a solar feasibility study.

SOLANA BEACH

The Solana Beach School District board met in closed session Thursday to discuss litigation and labor negotiations. In open session, the board reviewed several projects and accepted the completed results, and approved other contracts for services at various schools. The board also received its 2016-17 General Obligation Bond audit.

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VISTA

The Vista Unified School District board met in closed session Thursday to discuss personnel. In open session, the board heard a report on school safety, an update on the VUSD Blueprint for Educational Excellence and Innovation, and an update on school transportation services. The board gave conditional approval to the renewal petition for Bella Mente Montessori Academy, including the hiring of a full-time school psychologist and an assistant principal to monitor the schools special education program. A petition to establish a Classical Academy Vista Charter School was denied. The board approved a resolution demanding federal gun control action including regulating access to firearms, funding public-health research on firearms-related issues, and advancing mental health support.

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laura.groch@sduniontribune.comSolana Beach this summer will become the first city in San Diego County to offer its residents the chance to buy electricity from someone other than San Diego Gas & Electric Co.

One might think that a mighty feat for the next-to-smallest city in San Diego County, with a population of about 13,400 people.

Yet the coastal community often takes the lead on environmental issues, and has been among the first in the county and the state to ban polystyrene take-out food containers, single-use plastic grocery bags, and smoking in public places and on the beach.

Renewable energy is another area where the city wants to take the lead by establishing a government-run alternative to the investor-owned utility that has dominated the market.

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Council members have said they intend to procure lower rates  about 3 percent lower than comparable SDG&E rates -- for residents and businesses, contribute to a cleaner environment, and set an example for other communities in the region with its June 1 launch of a program called a Community Choice Aggregation.

A representative of the San Diego-based nonprofit Climate Action Campaign, Sebastian Sarria, congratulated the council on its decision to launch the program.

You will be giving families and businesses a choice, Sarria said, adding that community choice energy is a tried and true program serving dozens of cities across California.

The 3 percent discount approved last month would save the typical family about $2 a month on electricity in summer, when people switch on their air conditioning and consumption peaks. A typical monthly bill of $108.42 per month would decline to $106.35, according to an example listed in a city staff report.

Almost two-thirds of the SDG&E bill is a charge for transmission and distribution, and that amount will not change, the report states.

By increasing the percentage of green energy, the program helps Solana Beach meet a goal outlined in its state-mandated climate action plan.

At least 50 percent of the energy provided by the city will come from renewable sources such as solar, wind and hydroelectric. SDG&Es electricity is 43 percent green, the largest share among major utilities in the West.

Solana Energy Alliance, or SEA, is the name chosen for the new CCA, and the city will offer options for customers to upgrade to a 100 percent renewable energy program called SEA Green. Solar panel owners can join the SEA NEM program to get credit for electricity their systems return to the grid through a net metering program.

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The Solana Beach City Council voted at its Feb. 28 meeting to continue its roll-out of the alternative energy program and is set to adopt a rate schedule Wednesday. Councilwoman Ginger Marshall opposed the launch, saying she considers it a risky business.

The rest of the council is very positive and wants to move forward with this, Marshall said. I hope it works out.

However, she said it would be more prudent to work with other cities as partners to share the financial risks involved. Shes said before that the city is too small to shoulder the burden alone.

Other council members said extensive studies and the experiences of an increasing number of cities show little risk and many potential economic and environmental benefits. Councilman Dave Zito called it a great opportunity for Solana Beach.

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Also, they said, nearby cities can join the Solana Beach program later if they choose.

SDG&E officials did not return a call for comments on the Solana Beach project. In the past, the utility company has been less than enthusiastic about forming public utility districts.

Some Solana Beach residents have received letters from SDG&E parent company Sempra Energy stating the need for more research and discussion before proceeding with the plan, but the council and residents dismissed those suggestions, saying more than ample work has been done.

Four other North County cities  Carlsbad, Del Mar, Encinitas and Oceanside  are taking a different approach.

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They have agreed to share the costs of a year-long, $100,000 study to determine the feasibility of forming a joint powers authority to offer their residents community choice energy. The results of that multi-city study are expected sometime this summer.

Residents in each of those cities have spoken publicly about the benefits of community choice energy.

The city of San Diego released its own study last year that concluded a CCA would lower costs and increase the percentage of green energy for its residents. But so far the city has made no commitment to the idea.

Solana Beach decided last year to take a solo approach by contracting with two private companies  The Energy Authority (TEA) and Calpine Energy Solutions  to set up and operate its CCA.

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TEA focuses on operations, while Calpines responsibility is primarily data management. The City Council will oversee the partnership, select energy providers, and set rates based on information provided by the consultants and staff members.

Solana Beach and any other San Diego County alternative energy provider will continue to use SDG&E to provide and maintain the wires, poles and other components of the delivery system. However, each CCA will contract with its own energy providers to purchase the juice delivered on the system.

All residents will automatically be enrolled in the new program, but everyone will have the option to drop out and return to SDG&E if they wish.

Solana Beach residents have expressed widespread support for the idea.

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Im an empty nester now, and I dont really use a lot of electricity anymore, said Frank Stribling. He was one of more than a dozen speakers who urged the council to proceed at a meeting last year when it agreed to hire the energy consultants.

Ive investigated, and it doesnt really make economic sense for me to put solar panels on top of my roof, Stribling said. This  the CCA would allow me to use clean and renewable energy without putting solar panels on top of my roof.

I want choice, and I want more access to renewable energy, said another resident, Beverly Martinez.

Residents can expect to receive their first enrollment notices for the program in April.

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philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehlOne can only hope it will be a stormy night on March 15 when the Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Public Library (RHRTPL) presents How Frankensteins Monster Came to Life, a literary program commemorating the 200th anniversary of the publication of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein.

The event is free and open to the public.

After all, tempestuous weather foreshadows events throughout Frankenstein, and the novel was penned in 1816 during what Shelley called a wet, ungenial summer.

With Frankensteins Monster Came to Life, the RHRTPL joins the ranks of hundreds of organizations around the globe celebrating the bicentennial of Frankenstein through programs, readings and other events.

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Senior Librarian Matilda Flores worked with RHRTPL staff and frequent program partner Mount San Jacinto College (MSJC) to develop a program that would be educational and spine-tingling. Shortly after contacting Dean Jeremy Brown with the idea for a lecture, Professors Susan Winslow and Audrey Holod were on board, Flores said.

Winslow, an assistant professor of English and advisor to the MSJC Menifee Valley Campus Creative Writing Club, will offer a glimpse behind the pages and into the perfect storm that led to Frankenstein, including that cold summer on Lake Geneva; a book of old German ghost stories; and a now infamous directive from the poet Lord Byron: We will each write a ghost story.

I dont want to spoil too much of what I will be covering regarding the background behind the novel, Winslow said. Its my belief that two of our greatest horrors stories came from this one haunted summer.

Holod, who is also an assistant professor of English at MSJC, will explore the enduring appeal of Frankenstein, a novel with the distinction of never having been out of print and which is, according to the Open Syllabus project, the most frequently taught work of literature in college English courses.

In Winslows opinion, the themes in Frankenstein still resonate. There are some very deep concepts in the book that I think related to Shelley personally, such as creation, loss, rejection, and fear, Winslow said. All of these concepts are relative today, as well, which makes this book still easy to connect to for readers.

The international celebration of Frankensteins 200th anniversary was spearheaded by the Keats-Shelley Association of America via its National Endowment for the Humanities-funded initiative Frankenreads which brings together partner organizations in the U.S. and abroad to honor the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelleys Frankenstein.

IF YOU GO:

When: 6:30-8 p.m. March 15

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Where: Ronald H. Roberts Temecula Public Library at 30600 Pauba Road in Temecula

Cost: Free

Who should attend: This is an adult program, however, RHRTPL welcomes high school students interested in learning more about this classic novel

For more information, contact Matilda Flores, Senior Librarian, at (951) 693-8900 or matilda.flores@rivlib.net. Space is limited. Carpooling is encouraged. Program dates and times subject to change.Novelist Kristin Hannahs new book, The Great Alone, takes its title from a poem about Alaska, which is where her story is set.

The protagonist is 13-year-old Leni Allbright, coming of age in a family headed by a father struggling with the ghosts of Vietnam. Alaska beckons him as a place to make a fresh start, but it has its own dangers.

Already atop the New York Times best seller list, The Great Alone is Hannahs first novel since The Nightingale, which came out in 2015 and was a huge critical and commercial success. It is being made into a movie.

Hannah, who lives in the Pacific Northwest, will be at Warwicks Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

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Q: What got you thinking about this story?

A: My family has a long history of trekking north. We started in Huntington Beach and moved first to the Pacific Northwest and then in the late 70s my dad and mom went to Alaska looking for adventure. They met a homesteading family up there and they ended up starting a business. So Ive been going to Alaska basically most of my life and I guess you could say Im enamored of the state.

Q: What do you like about it personally, and what do you like about it as a novelist?

A: As a novelist it is just a larger-than-life canvas. Everything about Alaska is harsher and more beautiful and more dangerous than most ordinary places. So it really allows me to put my characters in the middle of this remarkable landscape and tell a story that I felt hadnt been told before, in a setting that most people are unfamiliar with.

Personally, its just the people and the beauty of the land itself.

Q: Did any of your familys experiences make it into the book?

A: A little bit. The narrator is a 13-year-old girl and the book takes place in 1974. Shes coming of age at basically the same age I was coming of age in a time that was socially and politically turbulent. The country was divided. The Vietnam War was front and center. I had a lot of friends whose dads didnt come home or came home changed. I think my opinions about all that really informed the character.

Additionally, my family moved around a lot so I was always the new girl in school. I was able to bring that to the novel as well.

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Q: What about the turbulence of the 70s did you find interesting?

A: When I started writing it a few years ago, the 70s suddenly felt very relevant again in terms of whats happening in America right now. The division, for one thing. Its interesting because in terms of popular culture and art, theres a resurgence of the 70s right now. So I dont think I was alone in noticing that connection.

Q: Theres an element of extremism in your book, as there is now. Was that something that resonated with you?

A: In the 70s, there was the whole get back to the land, get back to nature kind of movement going on. In addition to that, up until the mid-70s you could still homestead in Alaska. Its the classic kind of homesteading where you go out to some place where nobody else is and you have several years to prove up your land and then you own it.

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What you end up getting is this really sort of classic American pioneer and sensibility. But then I was able to add in as a novelist this new doomsday-prepper, survivalist kind of slant because we see so much of that going on.

Q: You mentioned Vietnam. The father in the book is suffering from PTSD. Why did you want to write about that?

A: He is suffering from undiagnosed, untreated PTSD, which was very common and remains very common. This is the third or fourth time that Ive written about it. Im deeply interested in the topic and I feel very, very strongly that we need to keep it in the national conversation and do our very best to care for the people and the families who serve our country.

Q: Domestic violence also plays a role in your story. What do you hope people take away from your portrayal of it?

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A: Its such a difficult subject yet I think its so important. Its interesting to me how aware we are at this particular moment in time, with the Me Too movement and whats going on and the state of womens rights and womens lives. I just think its important to bring domestic violence into that and to have a conversation. My hope was to shed a light, which is what fiction does, on how the situations can happen and how, hopefully, women can rise out of it and end up triumphing in their lives.

Q: Were those sections hard for you to write?

A: Because there were some really dark themes, the challenge for me as a novelist was to keep the balance in the book. It was important to me that it also be a book about strong women and a strong community and a young girl learning to survive on her own, apart from her family.

Q: Youve had strong women in a number of your books. Why is it important to you to portray them that way?

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A: It took me a while to realize that was what I was doing. I have in fact been writing about really strong women coming into their own for at least a decade and I think its because too often in fiction and in history and in life womens stories are lost or placed second in the narrative.

Were in a moment in time when people are realizing that there are a lot of amazing women doing remarkable things. Courageous women. I think it helps us all, and helps the younger generation, to read about women who kick a little butt.

Q: Youve written more than 20 novels and your last one, The Nightingale, was a huge success. Did that put more pressure on you this time out, or were you able to take it in stride?

A: I really thought I was going to be able to take it in stride because Ive been writing for so long. But in fact it was a little daunting to write the book that follows the book everybody read and everybody loved and everybodys book club chose. So it did take me a while. In fact, I wrote a version of The Great Alone that was very, very different from this and ended up throwing it away after 18 months because I just didnt think it was good enough.

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I had to start over, and I think thats when I had a stern talking-to with myself: Youre a writer. Write about strong women surviving in an impossible landscape and just write the book you want to read.

Q: What involvement have you had with The Nightingale movie?

A: Ive been able to read the script. We have a female director, female writer, female producer, female studio head.

Q: Your timing seems good  lots of push for more women in all kinds of roles in Hollywood.

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A: It feels like a remarkable time, certainly in my life, for womens issues and womens lives and womens stories being on the forefront. Its pretty exciting.

The Great Alone, by Kristin Hannah, St. Martins, 448 pages

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john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-2236Thirteen Mexican immigrants found off the La Jolla coast in a panga-style boat were taken into custody Saturday morning, authorities said.

San Diego lifeguards intercepted the boat in the surf and towed it a little farther out to sea for the safety of those onboard the panga, an official said.

The U.S. Coast Guard got a report shortly before 7 a.m. that the boat appeared disabled, San Diego lifeguard Lt. Rich Stropky told OnSceneTV.

He said no one was injured.

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The boat had a motor, but people were using oars, trying to row to shore from about half a mile out, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said.

Lifeguards were asked to check on the bright blue panga and found it just off the Childrens Pool, off Coast Boulevard.

After they towed the boat farther from the coastline, the Coast Guard took over and towed the boat to shore, at a lifeguard station.

A federal official said the 12 men and one woman were Mexican citizens who entered the United States illegally. The Border Patrol took them into custody.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune.com

Repard writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.A countywide network of religious congregations that provide winter shelter for hundreds of homeless people hopes to expand and offer its services year-round while also increasing its number of LGBTQ-friendly hosts.

Homelessness doesnt start in October and end in May, said Interfaith Shelter Network Executive Director Trisha Brereton, referring to the months in which the organization operates.

The network provides shelter for about 250 people a year during that time frame, and allows each person stay up to eight weeks.

The network consists of 120 congregations, with 67 hosting shelters in two-week rotations for up to 12 people a night.

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Making the network operate year-round would require 26 more hosts in each of its seven branches countywide, or 182 more participants.

Thats a significant increase, as the organization usually gets just a few new participants each year, she said.

Brereton said new congregations often join the network after attending forums hosted by San Diego City Council members.

The latest event was a symposium held Tuesday at St. Pauls Episcopal Cathedral on 6th Avenue, where San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer offered his support for the program.

This is a network that works, he said to a small crowd that included people from congregations not yet participating in the program.

A special focus of the Tuesday forum was on serving the LGBTQ community, which makes up a disproportionately high percent of the homeless population.

This is about creating a safe space for those in need, regardless of somebodys race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age or disability, Faulconer said.

Fernando Lopez, the new executive director of San Diego Pride, talked about his own experience with homelessness, with details he said he had not shared publicly.

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Lopez said it was not easy growing up in Imperial Valley, which he called the most homophobic county in California. Life at home was even harder.

After his mother moved out, Lopez said he was left at home with his father.

Lopez said he came out to his father in a dramatic way, then paid the consequences. What followed was years of homeless, sleeping on couches and in cars, Lopez said.

He moved to San Diego, where he was so poor he stole sugar packets just to consume some calories, he said.

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At a low point, when he sat contemplating suicide in front of a Hillcrest cafe, Lopez said he felt a stranger touch his arm and say, Whats wrong, and what can I do to help?

The person was Ben Cartwright, now director of community outreach for San Diego Pride, who took Lopez in for a month. In that time, Lopez said he got a promotion at work, his life improved and he decided to focus on advocacy as a career.

I know that each of you are here because youre ready to use your lives and resources in service of the mending of the lives of others, he said, encouraging people in the symposium to join the network.

Lopez said his story is not unique.

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Discrimination against the community leads to LGBTQ youth having higher absentee rates in schools, lower grades, diminished education opportunities and higher rates of depression, he said.

All of these things are coupled with the fact that many parents throw their children out like garbage, he said.

LGBTQ youth have a 120 percent increased risk of experiencing homelessness, and of 1.6 million homeless youths each year, 40 percent identify as LGBTQ, he said, citing a study released last year by Chapin Hall, a research and policy center at the University of Chicago.

There are more than 90 LGBT open and affirming congregations in this region, and I know were all ready to act, he said about the need for more homeless services to the community.

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Any congregation interested in joining the network is asked to call Trisha Brereton or Bill Zucconi at the Interfaith Shelter Network at (619) 702-5399.

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gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

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Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

760-529-4939More than 200 residents and elected leaders gathered in a tree-lined corner of a Baltimore park Saturday to rededicate the space, which had long venerated two Confederate generals, to the famed abolitionist and Underground Railroad conductor Harriet Tubman.

We stand on the shoulders of this great woman, said Ernestine Jones-Williams, 71, a Baltimore County resident and a Tubman family descendant who spoke on behalf of the family. We are overwhelmed. Overwhelmed. Thank you, and God bless you.

The ceremony in Wyman Park Dell, on the 105th anniversary of Tubmans death, took place feet from the now-empty pedestal of a large, bronze, double-equestrian statue of Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, and officially renamed the space Harriet Tubman Grove.

The statue had stood in the park since 1948, but was removed in August amid a national debate over Confederate symbolism and monuments, and how they are viewed by those who see them as offensive reminders of the countrys racial history and those who proudly consider them a part of their Southern heritage.

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The public reckoning over the placement and meaning of such statues in public spaces, began in large part in 2015, after white supremacist Dylann Roof shot nine African Americans to death in a church in Charleston, S.C. It grew in August after a violent white supremacist rally to protest the planned removal of a statue of Lee in Charlottesville, Va., led to the death of a counter-protester.

Mayor Catherine Pughs administration removed four Baltimore monuments with ties to the Confederacy days after the Charlottesville rally in an unannounced, overnight operation, citing safety and security concerns. The four were the Lee-Jackson monument, a monument to Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument and the Confederate Womens Monument.

At the event Saturday, city officials and local residents cited the events in Charleston and Charlottesville, but largely focused on more local efforts to have Baltimores statues removed, including a grass-roots petition drive.

They said the removal of the statues has imbued the spaces where they once stood, such as the Harriet Tubman Grove, with their own symbolic power.

Since the removal of the Lee-Jackson statue, this park has become a gathering place for city residents of all backgrounds to meet, talk and enjoy the location as a space that symbolizes hope and positive change, said Ciara Harris, chief of staff to Baltimore Recreation and Parks Director Reginald Moore. Harriet Tubman Grove will provide the city an opportunity to correct historic injustice to a Maryland native. Our city is properly recognizing an African American hero.

City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke called Tubman, who was born a slave on Marylands Eastern Shore but went on to lead many other enslaved people to freedom along the Underground Railroad, a heroine and beacon for all ages.

About 200 people attended the ceremony dedicating a portion of a park after Harriet Tubman. (Algerina Perna / Baltimore Sun )

Marvin Doc Cheatham, a longtime local civil rights leader who has been working to get Tubman recognized in more official ways across the city for years, thanked the community for its work in renaming the grove.

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You did what needed to be done to say, Yes, we need to move on,  he said.

Jackson Gilman-Forlini, 28, who is studying how society re-contextualizes monuments and memorials over time as part of a masters degree program in historic preservation at Goucher College, said the rededication was a great thing for the city. He served on the task force formed by Pugh last year to study the removal of the citys Confederate monuments.

Monuments are seen as permanent, sort of monolithic structures, but inherently their meanings change over time, and really the removal of these monuments was not so much about monuments in general, but about the kind of values that we as a society want to promote, said Gilman-Forlini, who also works for the city as a historic preservationist. This is now the next logical step in the process of asserting those values, those positive values of inclusion, of tolerance, of speaking out against prejudice.

These kind of gatherings in many ways are much more powerful than new monuments may necessarily be, because these are about community action and about the experience of the individual working in a community to assert positive values, he said. In that way I think this is really the best thing that we could be doing right now as a means of healing past injustices.

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Rector writes for the Baltimore Sun.A resident shot and killed a man who was allegedly breaking into his parked vehicle on an El Cajon street early Sunday.

The incident happened on Mona Place near Chase Avenue about 1:15 a.m.

The unidentified resident told police he woke up to his dogs barking, looked outside and saw a man burglarizing his vehicle in front of his house, El Cajon police Lt. Walt Miller said.

The man armed himself with a handgun and went outside to confront the suspect.

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Police believe the two men got into a confrontation and the resident shot the suspect multiple times, hitting him at least once. The injured man then tried to flee in his own vehicle, but he crashed a short time later into the front yard of a house on West Chase Avenue, Miller said.

The 32-year-old man died before he could be taken to a hospital.

Miller said the shooter was cooperating with police. It is unclear if the man will face any charges, as the incident is still under investigation.

The dead mans name was not released, pending family notification by the Medical Examiners Office.Thirteen unauthorized immigrants from Mexico found off the La Jolla coast in a panga-style boat were taken into custody Saturday morning, authorities said.

San Diego lifeguards intercepted the boat in the surf and towed it a little farther out to sea for the safety of those onboard the panga, an official said.

The U.S. Coast Guard got a report shortly before 7 a.m. that the boat appeared disabled, San Diego lifeguard Lt. Rich Stropky told OnSceneTV.

He said no one was injured.

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The boat had a motor, but people were using oars, trying to row to shore from about half a mile out, a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said.

Lifeguards were asked to check on the bright blue panga and found it just off the Childrens Pool, off Coast Boulevard.

After they towed the boat farther from the coastline, the Coast Guard took over and towed the boat to shore, at a lifeguard station.

A federal official said the 12 men and one woman were Mexican citizens who entered the United States illegally. The Border Patrol took them into custody.

pauline.repard@sduniontribune

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Twitter: @pdrepardLast fall, as fatalities piled up and criticism mounted over Mayor Kevin Faulconers handling of the hepatitis A outbreak, San Diego officials approved a no-bid contract worth up to $1.3 million to pressure-wash downtown sidewalks.

The job was awarded to Massachusetts-based Clean Harbors, one of the largest environmental cleanup shops in North America.

According to documents obtained under the California Public Records Act, the city paid for more than spraying sidewalks soiled by human waste and other debris. On most days, it paid thousands of dollars in overtime to shuttle work crews to and from Los Angeles.

The city also paid $179 per diems for each worker, also called a subsistence charge, added to cover the cost of bringing in out-of-town cleaning crews, records show.

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The agreement, which was approved on an emergency basis for up to one year, also included daily fees for equipment like utility trucks, passenger vans and pressure washers. Other vendors said that line-item billing practice was unusual.

Clean Harbors also was permitted to charge the city by the hour for setting up and breaking down equipment each day, another billing item local providers said they do not typically charge.

Kevin Reynolds, owner of a San Diego commercial power-washing company called JetClean USA, said it was unusual for a vendor to charge customers for employee travel to and from job sites.

Why are they paying six men to drive back and forth from Los Angeles at time and half? asked Reynolds, whose firm was never approached about providing the power-washing service. Why arent local people given an opportunity to compete for these jobs?

Reynolds also questioned the citys decision to sanitize the sidewalks with a 15 percent bleach solution. He said his company regularly employs other antimicrobial agents that could be more effective, or he could even use an electrostatic chemical spray application.

Guys like us, we just want the opportunity to present ideas and proposals that stand on their own legs, Reynolds said. If theyre not compatible, they can be rejected. If theyre a good idea, then contracts could be issued.

City spokeswoman Katie Keach said San Diego cast a wide net before selecting the Massachusetts-based firm.

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The city posted an electronic request for information at 8:44 p.m. on Sept. 6, one week after county health officials directed San Diego to take steps to respond to the hepatitis A outbreak. Responses were due by 2 p.m. on Sept. 8.

The city said 144 pre-registered vendors received the notification, but only five companies responded to the request.

Consistent with city regulations related to emergency conditions, the city executed an emergency contract with Clean Harbors Environmental Services Inc. for sanitation services for public rights-of-way located within the city, Keach wrote.

City officials said the agreement was cost-effective and necessary to help control the deadly outbreak, reducing the spread of the virus by sanitizing downtown streets.

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The County Health Officer declared a public health emergency and the city acted appropriately to address the situation via an emergency procurement, Keach said by email.

Clean Harbors said it was contractually prohibited from discussing client matters.

We refer all billing and selection questions pertaining to our power-washing work to the city of San Diego, spokesman Keith Ferguson said in a statement.

Records show Clean Harbors started work on Sept. 11, when a two-man crew disinfected various streets on a shift that stretched 15 hours.

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The City Council ratified the agreement Oct. 9, three weeks after Clean Harbors submitted its initial invoice for $19,180.

City officials say the power-washing plan is working.

Sidewalks are visually cleaner and the odor issues have significantly improved, Mario Sierra, the Environmental Services director, said in a statement. The sidewalk sanitizing happens weekly in select areas based on need.

According to a blanket purchase order approved by the city, Clean Harbors was expected to dispatch six-member cleaning teams for 130 days at $81 an hour per worker, for total costs of $505,000.

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The purchase order also provides for 2,340 hours of set-up and demobilizing time at a cost of $42.50 per hour, or $99,000. It also includes 4,680 hours of overtime for an additional $298,000.

At $329 per day, the pressure-washer budget was almost $43,000. The utility truck charge came to $22,555 over 130 days and the pickup truck or passenger van cost was $142 a day, for a total of $18,460. The purchase order also included $20,000 for gloves and boots.

Note here that the city was not obligated to spend that amount, and that the duration of the outbreak emergency was unknown at the time, Keach said in her statement.

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Trevor Saunders owns Clarion Commercial, which cleans windows and pressure-washes sidewalks and other spaces across San Diego County. He reviewed the citys billing records and said the costs paid to Clean Harbors seem high.

We would have appreciated a chance to bid on this project, Saunders said. There are plenty of local companies that could handle this work.

The Clarion Commercial owner, who has run his own shop since 2009, said he does not bill clients for the time his crews spend getting to and from work sites and he also does not charge separate fees for the equipment they use.

We dont charge for travel time, he said. The customer can always find someone closer.

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Pressure-washing downtown San Diego sidewalks is a years-old practice that merchants have paid for as a way of maintaining a vibrant and attractive business climate.

The nonprofit Downtown San Diego Partnership, for example, operates a Clean & Safe program that includes regular sanitizing of sidewalks in neighborhoods stretching from Little Italy and the marina to Cortez Hill and East Village.

Clean & Safe pays its contractor about $50 for each block that is cleaned, or about $845,000 a year. The schedule calls Green Clean Water & Waste Services to power-wash 1,426 blocks a month, or almost 18,000 city blocks of sidewalk annually.

In September, as the hepatitis A outbreak worsened, the Mayors Office said responding to the threat and solving the homelessness crisis that exacerbated it was the citys highest priority.

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The response worked. In January, county public health officials called off the emergency, although by then 584 cases had been reported and 20 people died.

Keach said the city has issued a more formal request for proposals to continue pressure-washing downtown sidewalks. The solicitation closed March 6 and the bids are now being evaluated. The new contract, which would be awarded for five years, may cost less than the city has been paying.

Contractor is responsible for providing all labor, materials, supplies, equipment, permits, documentation, containers, and transportation/disposal necessary to successfully perform the services, the request stated.

The power washer contract is not the first time the city has hired out-of-towners to do work that locals might have wanted.

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When 1.2 million library items were moved into the citys new central library in 2013, the city hired a moving company from Chicago. Movers were flown in and stayed at the Town & Country resort. The contract cost $450,000.

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jeff.mcdonald@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1708 @sdutMcDonaldGeneva Sands/ABC(PARKLAND, Fla.) -- Students, teachers, parents and administrators across the country are invited to take part in a National School Walkout this month in a call on Congress to pass tighter gun control laws.



The ENOUGH National School Walkout will be held on March 14, exactly one month after the mass shooting at a Florida high school that killed 17 people and sent shock waves across the nation.



The event will be at 10 a.m. across every time zone and last 17 minutes, one minute for each of the victims gunned down in the Feb. 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.



The walkout is organized primarily by young people working with Womens March Youth Empower. Those behind the Womens March also ran the anti-Trump Womens March demonstrations in January 2017.



Womens March Youth Coordinator Tabitha St. Bernard Jacobs, one of the few adult allies guiding the students in the youth-led movement, told ABC News that while the walkout was sparked by the Florida school shooting, the event is about calling out gun violence.



St. Bernard Jacobs said it is a way to shed light on the type of gun violence that exists not just in schools, but everyday gun violence, like shootings that impact minority communities or devastate cities like Chicago, Illinois.



The walkout's goal is "to demand Congress pass legislation to keep us safe from gun violence at our schools, on our streets and in our homes and places of worship," according to the event website.



Over 2,000 walkout events are registered for March 14.



Students from New Jersey to California have said they will participate, as well as groups from schools as far as Ireland, Switzerland, Israel and Mexico, according to the event website.



How participants spend those 17 minutes of the walkout is up to them, St. Bernard Jacobs said before adding that they encourage whatever is best for each environment.



Some people are doing a lie-in, while others are holding rallies, St. Bernard Jacob said.



She stressed that this is not a protest against schools; it is a way to encourage school administrators to help students "amplify their voices."



She went on to add, "Some schools are looking to this as an opportunity to really educate their young people about what it means in this moment to be engaged."



The March 14 event is one of many student walkouts erupting throughout the U.S. as a new generation of youth advocates lead a fierce push for gun reform. While many school districts are supportive of the protests, some schools have reportedly threatened to punish students participating in walkouts.



The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said schools can punish students for missing class for walkouts, but the punishment should only be because students are missing school; it cannot be a harsher punishment because the students participated in a protest.



Dozens of colleges and universities have said they won't penalize applicants who are peaceful student protesters, including Brown University, which posted a note on Twitter.



"Applicants to Brown: Expect a socially conscious, intellectually independent campus where freedom of expression is fundamentally important. You can be assured that peaceful, responsible protests against gun violence will not negatively impact decisions on admission to Brown," Brown University tweeted.



"That's very encouraging," St. Bernard Jacobs said of the schools supporting students' decisions to protest gun violence. "This is a moment for youth to find their voice."



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

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March 11, 2018 Sen. Bam to probe job threats in BPO sector Sen. Bam Aquino will examine the threats to jobs in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the effects of the Tax Reform Acceleration and Inclusion (TRAIN) Law. After receiving reports that the BPO sector may need to reduce their workforce or set aside expansion plans in the country, Sen. Bam set a second hearing on the issue on Monday (March 12). "The BPO sector is a major source of livelihood for Filipino families. We cannot afford to give away job security and job opportunities, especially with the rising prices of goods," said Sen. Bam. Sen. Bam revealed that several BPOs may relocate, abort expansion, or re-shore workers due to the effects of the TRAIN Law. "When we first conducted the hearing last year, AI emerged as the main threat to our BPO industry. Now, we saw the need to include the government tax reform program as it is also taking a toll on the sector," said Sen. Bam, chairman of the Committee on Science and Technology. During the TRAIN's period of amendments, Sen. Bam pushed for the retention of a special tax rate for regional operating headquarters and regional headquarters (ROHQs/RHQs). However, the provision was vetoed by Malacanang, much to the dismay of the BPO sector. Sen. Bam said the veto will lead to an increase in cost of doing business, which will affect the status of 5,000 workers and prevent other BPOs from setting up shop in the Philippines. On the part of artificial intelligence, the Information Technology and Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) mentioned that they are anticipating a decline in demand for low-skilled jobs in the IT-BPO industry of about 43,000 jobs by 2022. However, Sen. Bam allayed fears by calling on government agencies and private companies to work together to upgrade skills and abilities of Filipino workers through training and education. Sen. Bam emphasized the opportunity presented in the IBPAP report that if the existing IT-BPO workforce and if fresh college graduates are re-skilled and up-skilled, "we can meet the anticipated increase in demand of 388,000 jobs for mid-skilled tasks, and 309,000 jobs for high-skilled tasks in 2022."Press Release

March 11, 2018 De Lima pushes for national strategy to address vision defects Opposition Senator Leila M. de Lima has filed a measure seeking to institutionalize a National Sight Strategy that provides a comprehensive national plan of action to address the prevalence of vision defects, including blindness, in the country. De Lima filed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1709, to be known as the National Sight Strategy Plan Act, as she expressed concern over the serious and negative impact that vision defects pose to the citizenry. "Sight is one of the most prized senses. But the high incidence of vision defects and abnormalities pose serious public health issues," she said in her bill's Explanatory Note. About two million Filipinos are estimated to suffer from moderate to severe visual impairment. Philippines, based on World Health Organization, is among three countries in the Western Pacific that account for the most incidence of blindness in the region. "Visual impairment results in lost employment opportunities, decreases productivity, impedes learning and diminishes the general well-being of those who suffer from them," she added. Under her measure, the Department of Health (DOH) is mandated to formulate a National Sight Strategy that should address the collection, collation, organization and publication of data and statistics on the incidence and prevalence of vision abnormalities. In addition, the DOH shall lead in the formulation and implementation of a comprehensive national strategy to address vision health issues, including the conduct of public education promoting and improving vision health at all ages. The DOH, she continued, should also lead in the development of the study and practice of vision health-related professions and the undertaking of studies and consultation to formulate recommendations on the inclusion of vision care services in national health programs. "This proposed measure seeks to address the need to strengthen vision care in the country," De Lima said, adding that the physical well-being of the people, including their vision health, is a primary concern of the State.Arvida Group says it's on track to complete 94 new units in the second half and has "strong relationships" with its development partners, including the beleaguered Fletcher Construction.

Of the 94 units, 85 units have already been completed and as of Feb. 28, 66 had been sold and settled during the second half, which ends March 31, the retirement village operator said in a statement. Arvida is on track to settle at least 70 new unit sales during the second half.

"Construction continues to progress well across all development projects, chief executive Bill McDonald said. We maintain strong relationships with our development partners that will see delivery of all projects to our expectations and to a high specification.

Those partners include Fletcher Construction, which Arvida said remains committed to the completion of Stage 1 at Rhodes on Cashmere in Christchurch. Tendering for Stage 2 of the development is currently being finalised, with construction expected to commence later this year as scheduled, said McDonald. Stage 1 involves building 18 apartments, while stage 2 will include another 12 apartments and 36 care suites, according to Arvida's annual report.

Fletcher Construction, a unit of Fletcher Building, saw heavy losses in its Building & Interiors division, which has dragged the group's net profit into the red. Fletcher Building recently unveiled further provisions at B+I, which amount to two-year losses of $952 million for a business that has some of New Zealand's most complex and expensive vertical construction projects on its books, on which it has faced significant cost blowouts. The company signalled its withdrawal from the sector and won't bid for new contracts.

Arvida shares last traded at $1.21 and have shed 4.7 percent this year. Fletcher Building shares fell 0.2 percent today to $6.40, having shed 16 percent so far this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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In an unfortunate turn of events, the forests in Kurangani caught fire, trapping students who had gathered at the Theni range for trekking. One person is feared dead.

On Sunday evening, a forest fire erupted in Theni. At least 20 college students, who had gone trekking in the Kurangani region were trapped. However, locals estimate the number of students around 55.

Forest fire at #Theni District. 40 students suspected to be trapped in region. Defence ministry has requested IAF to help rescue and evacuation. @thenewsminute https://t.co/MDNJdIrT6C  priyankathirumurthy (@priyankathiru) March 11, 2018

Besides fire services, the police and the defence forces have also been pressed into action for rescue operations.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said she was responding to the request of TN CM Palaniswamy and that the Indian Air Force will assist with the rescue operations. She tweeted:

Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni. @ThanthiTV @pibchennai  Nirmala Sitharaman (@nsitharaman) March 11, 2018

She added that Southern Command was in touch with the collector of Theni district.

However, the darkness is making rescue operations increasingly difficult. Locals, doctors and service personnel are actively involved in the rescue operations, while ambulances are on standby. Rescue teams are attending to those who are trapped, while the district collector continues to onitor the situation.

Theni collector Mariam Pallavi Baldev, IAS meets rescued people & monitoring the situation #Theni pic.twitter.com/XSsDtk3ySJ March 11, 2018

Meanwhile, wishes and prayers continue to pour in:

#Theni Hope all students and other people trapped are rescued soon. Good to see IAF coming into rescue operation.  Chennai_wasi (@catlover_ind) March 11, 2018STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The most exquisite art form in the world of dance was celebrated Saturday evening when the Staten Island Ballet hosted its 25

th

annual gala at the Richmond County Country Club.

The silver anniversary unfolded in the plush banquet room of the former Italianate mansion in Dongan Hills, marking a quarter century of dance excellence.

The setting was just paces from a small stage at Staten Island Academy's Hagen Hall, where the SIB was born on a crisp January night back in 1993.

"Tonight, we celebrate 25 years in the not-for-profit arts community. This is not just a milestone, it is a miracle," said Ellen Tharp, artistic director of the SIB. "At a time when so many dance companies are folding for lack of support, our Staten Island community believes that culture is a vital part of our future and our children's future."

Members of the Staten Island Ballet Dance Troupe perform at the Richmond County Country Club Posted by Carol Ann Benanti on Saturday, March 10, 2018

The grand gala featured a a divine dinner, fine wine and spirits, a dazzling floor show -- with dancers seemingly popping out of giant, sparkly champagne bottles -- and plenty of casino gaming and prizes.

"Art is education. Art teaches you not only how to hold your tea cup, but how the rest of the world holds theirs," Tharp said. "I am proud to be a native Staten Islander and a part of this community. Looking ahead to the next 25."

Deputy Borough President Ed Burke was even on hand to declare Saturday, "Staten Island Ballet Day."

Tharp said the SIB has always prided itself for being recognized citywide by both the New York City Department of Education and the Department of Cultural Affairs for its continuous excellence in dance arts and education.

And students regularly advance into the dance world, win Broadway roles and find arts management jobs.

"It took more than 3,300 young dancers and 800 top dance artists, and more than 200,000 great supporters to install Staten Island permanently on our city's cultural map, but they did it," Tharp said.

The gala revisited how the ballet rose from a small troupe of six, without a permanent home, into the borough's largest and oldest performance arts institution dedicated to dance.

Students capture college scholarships based on dance skills, such as the $30,000 award this school year to a talented young women at a university in New York.

SIB students also impress Ivy League admissions staffs, resulting in admissions, personal interviews and coveted callbacks they might never have gained otherwise, parents in attendance said.

"Whether a child will walk into a courtroom as a lawyer, or enter a boardroom as an entrepreneur, or decide to teach or heal, the unmistakable poise, discipline and confidence that ballet builds will last a lifetime," Tharp added.

And Tharp said the bottom line for the 25 years she and supporters have nurtured is simple: "The dance studio is -- and always has been -- a sanctuary and safe place where children explore their differences, and find artistry together."

The gala chairs were Linda Conniff, Michelle DeSantis, Lucia DiChiara-Pizzi and Debora Porazzi.

"We applaud and celebrate the accomplishments of the numerous students who have studied [here] through the years and now dance with SIB and other professional companies or utilize their learned talents and achievements successfully in various occupations," DeSantis said. "We ... are grateful for the opportunity to appreciate this cultural institution in our own community. We look forward to another 25 years-plus of excellence and professionalism that is the Staten Island Ballet."STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- The U.S. Embassy in Mexico City has revised its travel restrictions to Playa del Carmen -- a popular Mexican tourist destination between Cozumel and Cancun -- due to an ongoing security threat.

The State Department announced the restriction, which prohibits federal employees from traveling to Centro, Calica, Gonzalo Guerrero, Quintas del Carmen and Villas del Carmen neighborhoods of Playa del Carmen. U.S. citizens are also advised to avoid these areas.

The previous restriction prohibited U.S. government employees from traveling to resort areas in the Riviera Maya, including hotels, shops, restaurants and bars near Playa del Carmen.

U.S. government personnel are now authorized to travel to resort areas in Riviera Maya, including those areas near Playa del Carmen that are outside the restricted neighborhoods of the alert.

The revised restriction comes after the State Department announced the travel warning March 7 due to several reported security threats. A U.S. consular agency in Mexico has been closed and will reopen Monday. Cruise lines have canceled excursions to the popular tourist destinations as well.

U.S. government employees are still prohibited from using ferry services between Playa del Carmen and Cozumel, and U.S. citizens are advised not to use the ferries.

The advisory comes in the wake of two explosive devices found on vessels used by tourists. One of the bombs exploded, injuring five U.S. citizens.

The explosions prompted cruise lines to cancel excursions using the ferries. The explosions remain under investigation.

The State Department recommends travelers in the area:

Be aware of your surroundings and exercise increased caution.

Purchase travel insurance that specifically covers you in Mexico and includes medical evacuation insurance.

U.S. citizens should avoid those neighborhoods in Playa del Carmen listed above until further notice.

Contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate if you need assistance.

FOLLOW ANNALISE KNUDSON ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER.STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Government agencies, scientists and residents have studied questions over how to best protect Staten Island shores and the people who live on them since Hurricane Sandy took the lives of 24 Islanders five years ago.

With the increasing occurrence of hurricanes, sea level rise and climate change, securing the borough from turbulent seas has become an urgent need. The geography of New York City raises the stakes even higher, as waves are pushed through the funnel created by Long Island and New Jersey directly into Staten Island.

"New York is third on the list in terms of storm vulnerability after New Orleans and Miami," Stewart Farrell, director of Stockton University Coastal Research Center in New Jersey, previously told the Advance.

Now, President Donald Trump has proposed to significantly cut federal funding for resiliency projects -- including a grant program that is funding several projects on Staten Island -- in his budget plan, released last month.

And while most agree that protecting Islanders from future storms like Sandy is definitively needed, there has been debate over how the resiliency money is being spent and who gets what.

COST OF LIVING BREAKWATERS

Tottenville will be getting two projects for a multi-layer coastal defense system. The Living Breakwaters Project is expected to be complete by 2021, and will consist of a system of about 3,200 linear feet of nearshore breakwaters, sand replenishment between Manhattan Street and Loretto Street, oyster restoration and an educational building.

The separate, but complementary project -- the Tottenville Shoreline Protection Project -- will run along the Tottenville shore from approximately Carteret Street to Page Avenue. It consists of an earthen berm, a stone core sand-capped dune, an eco-revetment and a raised pathway.

The cost of the shoreline project is $9.3 million, while the cost of the Living Breakwaters is over $60 million. Both projects will be paid for with grants from the Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery Program (CDBG-DR), which is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Trump has proposed eliminating this program completely in his budget.

The city is providing an additional $14.4 million for erosion control measures within the shoreline project. While project leaders are hoping to secure an additional $10 million for the breakwaters, some beachfront residents say they don't need the money. Goodwin Halvorsen, who lives on the Tottenville shore, said where he lives is at a higher elevation than his neighbors farther east.

"Why are we not spending all this money to make sure they get the best protection we can give them?" he asked in January.

According to the Breakwaters Project Benefit Cost Analysis, the probable base cost of the breakwaters alone is $56,400,00 and the cost of the additional line items is $10,100,000. It also states that operations and maintenance of the project over the next 50 years will cost $107,623,114.

Following construction, the Breakwaters will be maintained by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation.

'REBUILD BY DESIGN' PROJECTS ELSEWHERE

In June 2013, HUD launched the "Rebuild by Design" competition in response to the damage and devastation caused by Hurricane Sandy. The year-long competition brought together interdisciplinary teams to design and rebuild more resilient communities for the future.

Developed by SCAPE Landscape Architecture PLLC, the Living Breakwaters was one of seven winning proposals across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut awarded funding in June 2015.

While $60 million may be a lot of money -- considering that the Breakwaters will not stop storm surge, according to experts -- it pales in comparison to other Rebuild by Design projects.

Though a project in the Bronx is budgeted at $20 million and one in Bridgeport, Conn., will cost just $10 million, the rest are upward of $100 million and cross several neighborhoods. A Manhattan project called the "Big U" was awarded $353 million, and a project in New Jersey that will span Hoboken, Weehawken and Jersey City was awarded $230 million in CDBG-DR funds from the competition.

Like Staten Island's Living Breakwaters, "Resilient Bridgeport," the $10 million project in Connecticut, features offshore breakwaters, as well as a waterfront berm, education and community center and street elevation.

GREAT KILLS BREAKWATERS STUDY

In Great Kills, SCAPE and several others conducted a $300,000 study on the possibility of adding offshore breakwaters outside Great Kills Harbor. The study did not include cost estimates for the offshore breakwaters, and there have been no current plans to install the structures since the study was completed in December 2014.

"The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New York City Mayor's Office of Recovery and Resiliency, and Department of City Planning continue to evaluate the results of the study evaluating the use of offshore breakwaters to mitigate wave action and erosion at Great Kills Harbor on the eastern shore of Staten Island and the potential to develop a breakwater at this location," a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Conservation said.

The study found that in-water structures may not be cost-effective solutions for reducing coastal hazards within the harbor itself, due to the natural protection already provided by a nearby peninsula, Crooke's Point.

TRUMP'S PROPOSED CUTS

Trump proposed his budget plans on Feb. 12, including a 14 percent cut to HUD for the 2019 fiscal year. This would cut $6.8 billion from the department's current $48 billion spending, and would be the most significant cut to HUD since Ronald Reagan slashed its funding in the 1980s, according to the Washington Post.

Trump's budget plan would completely eliminate funding for CDBG-DR and it is unclear how disaster recovery money would be affected or delivered without the program, the Post reported.

The CDBG-DR grants also funded the city's Build it Back program with $2.2 billion. This program has helped many Staten Islanders move back into their homes damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

Jim Pistilli, co-chair of Citizen Advisory Council for the Living Breakwaters and Tottenville Shoreline Protection projects and president of the Tottenville Civic Association, spoke to the Advance in January about protecting the town's residents.

Pistilli helped his neighbors put their lives back together after Hurricane Sandy destroyed homes and took the lives of 13-year-old Angela Dresch and her father, George.

"I think we would be greatly remiss if we didn't do anything," he said. "As president I never want to see that hurt again. I think we would be stupid not to do something. I knew little Angela growing up."PHILIPSBURG:--- Jimmy Challenger ran on a platform of Political Stability, establishing a multiannual plan to achieve Financial Independence, allowing us to comfortably pay for the Social Wellbeing of the people  his concerns for the country continue to grow day by day  and foresees that St. Maarten will face one of two things within the next governing period: An instruction from the Netherlands to take over the Countrys (Political) Management or another Snap Parliamentary Election.

Challenger who has a background in International Business  a former graduate of the Hanze University of Groningen in the Netherlands  and who continues to work in the Financial Sector, mainly in Banking and Insurance, believes that the political representation in Philipsburg has to change quickly or the island will derail  bringing many into a Forced Unwanted Change that would forever alter the way of life as we know it on St. Maarten, including reduced local and international investors. One key factor that venture capitalists consider prior to making any investments in an economy, is political stability  St. Maarten has had political instability for the past eight years, further reducing the investor confidence levels with each government that falls prematurely.

The country experienced IRMA  the strongest hurricane in recorded history  which crippled the countrys one pillar tourism economy. Major hotels were destroyed and forced to close for reconstruction and repairs, the International Airport  Princess Juliana  is still not operational at its full capacity due to major damage to its terminal building and further to this, many retail stores, restaurants, bus and taxi operators are feeling the pinch of the loss of revenue. Mass unemployment, coupled with reduced profit and income tax has crippled the spending power of the government  as they await financial support from the Netherlands.

Challenger wants to bring new and amended legislation to support the business community, including establishing much needed educational tools and resources to ensure a more robust (small) business development, Challenger stated: Our educational system must support financial planning at every level, it must support political awareness based on our political system, it must also recognize that achieving these goals must begin from early childhood stimulation and development. Properly financing these institutions  is the key to bringing about positive change at an early start in life.

Challenger continued: People are on survival mode, coping with their personal struggles the best way they can. The New Politics in Philipsburg will materialize through education of our people, who would then have a bigger appreciation for sound financial management and accountability by those in elected office who manage our resources. Through Divine alignment  when the people realize and move away from the short term gains offered by politicians who lack true will power to improve our lives but rather continue to fail us with old political tactics of self-gain, when we stop electing people to office that only provide temporary fixes, true leaders will rise. Continued placement of the wrong people into office will result in total derailment of our way of life and rights to self-determination as a people  true and meaningful representation must come, it is long overdue.PHILIPSBURG:--- Last weekend was all about SXM Doet, the largest volunteer initiative of the Dutch Kingdom, with the goal of motivating local projects that benefit the community. It was exactly the push that was needed to start what might as well be the biggest SXM Doet project this year, the playground of the Community Centre of Simpson Bay. Cherise Rambhadjan, one of the project leaders and parent of the Sr.Regina Primary School, explains: The project was big, ambitious and much needed. Although it could never be accomplished in the two SXM Doet days, it did give us the budget to start things up and the motivation to make it happen. The days set by SXM Doet were also good as a deadline to keep the project moving along.

The project got started about a month ago when parents and friends of the School helped clear the rubble on the playground that was still left after Irma. That was the start we needed said Rambhadjan From there we got more and more people and companies involved. We had huge help from Arjen Vliegen, Home Comfort Service, about how best to rebuild and how to tackle the project as cost-effectively as possible. Our project then got moved forward tremendously when we got a crew and materials donated by Designers Choice, owned by Eric van Putten. In the last phase, Armond Salomons from Upsurge B.V. joined the project giving us the final direction we needed. Working with these professionals really gave us peace of mind because it meant the structure was being built to be solid and safe for the kids to play with.

We received extra funds from Bente & Jip who raised money after Irma with their school the Chr. Basisschool de Elout and we even received a surprise Fun miles donation. Special thanks also goes out to FKG, GEBE, CC1, CGC and all the volunteers who did their part in bringing this project to what it is now. With SXM Doet as the motivator, the extra donations and the terrific team of people who helped us, we ended up doing way more than we envisioned we could when we got started. Now the kids of both the Sr. Regina School and the Simpson Bay Community can enjoy a stronger and better playground and in the process weve gotten to forge some stronger bonds with fellow parents and friends.PHILIPSBURG:--- After one week of discussions with party leaders, MPs-elect, social partners and others, informateurs Mr. Jan Beaujon and Dr. Arduin will be submitting their findings to His Excellency, Governor Eugene Holiday. The first question on everybodys mind is which parties are going to form a coalition? Since the people of Sint Maarten are so accustomed to government-coalitions being formed almost immediately after the election results are made known, this week became a week of speculation, anxiety and having things done differently. In my opinion, this has also been a good week for political parties because they got the opportunity to give much thought to whom they could work with as well as to the future plans, projects, and programs they need to implement in order to move Sint Maarten forward during its recovery and reconstruction phase.

In last weeks article, I mentioned that the formation of government, after an election, consists of two very distinct yet very interrelated phases. Phase one is the formation of a parliamentary coalition in order to obtain a majority of seats in the parliament or the legislative branch of government. This phase is finalized with a government accord or agreement. Phase two is the formation of the executive branch of government. This phase is finalized with a governing program and the appointment of ministers.

After the informateurs submit their advice to the Governor, he will then need to meet with the parties that gained seats, to brief them on the findings in the report. The report would answer the fundamental question as to which political parties would be able to form a new government that is supported by the broadest possible majority in Parliament. Furthermore, it is expected that the informateurs will be able to indicate how parties intend to tackle the other questions listed in the assignment letter issued by the Governor, such as the reconstruction of Sint Maarten, the relationship with the Kingdom, the next hurricane season, the landfill and waste management as well as how to involve the social partners in the rebuilding of Sint Maarten.

Mind you, the report of the informateurs is only an advice. The decision to form a majority-coalition rests solely on the shoulders of the political parties and their leaders. Fortunately, this time around such a decision would not only be based on numbers but also on the research and findings of the informateurs. Subsequently, parties will enter the negotiation stage, taking into consideration their combined seats, their views on moving Sint Maarten forward as well as the ministries to be assigned to the respective coalition partners. Once parties have been able to form a majority-coalition they will sign a governing accord and then inform the Governor accordingly. The Governor will accept this governing accord and consult further with the party leaders concerning the appointment of a formateur, which will be agreed upon by the party leaders. Once the formateur has been appointed, he/she then guides the second phase of the formation of the Government which includes the preparation of the governing program and the selection of ministers to execute said program on behalf of the coalition. Unlike the parties manifesto, which only lists the broad intentions of the party, the governing program must be specific, detailed and prioritized. It gives the what, why, who, when, how and the how much it will cost.

SMCP indicated in its Manifesto that in order to ensure a good synchronization between the coalition partners and the Council of Ministers, the Prime Minister should be chosen from the coalition. The ministers, on the other hand, should be capable, qualified and experienced for the ministry they intend to lead.

Thus far, the informateur process has gone very well. And I hereby publicly commend the winning parties for adhering to the process. This in my opinion is a clear sign of maturity among the parties. It is my hope that the second phase of the government formation, under the guidance of the formateur, will go equally well.

In part one I wrote that, SMCP is hopeful for a national parliamentary coalition. However, if this is not possible then the broadest possible based coalition that offers a strong chance of Sint Maarten having a durable parliament and a stable government is what parties should aim for.

The people have spoken via the ballot and now it is up to the political parties, their leaders and the MPs-elect to present the country a cohesive parliament and a stable government for the next four years. This is what Sint Maarten needs more than ever if she is going to be a leader in this region.

Wycliffe Smith

Leader of the Sint Maarten Christian PartyMacron pledges 700 million euros for new solar projects



New Delhi, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for solar projects in developing countries, as world leaders met in India to promote greater investment in renewable energy.

Macron, who in December warned that the global shift to a green energy future was too slow, said France would extend an extra 700 million euros ($861.5 million) through loans and donations by 2022 for solar projects in emerging economies.

France had already committed $300 million euros to the initiative when it co-founded with India a global alliance in 2015 to unlock new cash for solar projects in sunny yet poor nations.

"We need to remove all obstacles and scale up," Macron said at the launch of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi -- who has committed to reducing India's sizeable carbon footprint through a massive scale-up in renewable energy -- said it was vital that nations were not priced out.

"We have to make sure that a better and cost-effective solar technology is available to all," Modi told the gathering of investors and world leaders from about 20 mainly African nations.

"We will have to increase solar in our energy mix."

India, the world's third-largest polluter, is undergoing spectacular growth in its solar sector and is on track to become one of the world's largest clean energy markets.

It pledged at the Paris climate summit in 2015 to source at least 40 percent of its energy from renewables by 2030, mainly via solar.

The energy-hungry giant of 1.25 billion people is banking on solar to electrify homes for hundreds of millions of its poorest citizens without adding to its considerable emissions output.



- Sunny outlook -



Macron and Modi hope the alliance will spur $1 trillion in new solar spending by 2030 in 121 countries lacking investment in the sector.

These countries have "the paradox of being the sunniest in the world while enjoying the least solar energy," said Segolene Royal, a former French minister in India as a special envoy for the alliance.

Macron told world leaders in Paris in December that "we are losing the battle" against climate change and urged faster action to combat global warming.

The French leader called on private sector attendees in New Delhi to engage more actively because "solar investments are becoming more profitable".

Energy and investment has been a focus of Macron's three-day visit to India.

He and Modi will open a new 100-megawatt solar plant near the holy city of Varanasi on Monday built by the French company Engie.

India and France also signed a technical agreement Saturday on the French-assisted nuclear power project at Jaitapur in western Maharashtra state.

But the two leaders have also struck a key defence accord for the Indian Ocean. Under the deal, India and France will open their naval bases to each other's warships, a move seen as an attempt to undermine China's territorial ambitions.

Modi, who welcomed Macron with a bear hug on his arrival Friday, said the accord was crucial as the Indian Ocean region would play a "very significant role" in the days to come.

France's 40-year-old president and his wife Brigitte on Sunday also visited the Taj Mahal, a few hours drive from the Indian capital.

Marvelling at the monument to love is a near-mandatory stop for visiting leaders, with Canada's Justin Trudeau and Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu also touring the Mughal-era marble wonder during tours of India this year.The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2018 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy StatementTrump sees 'tremendous success' in upcoming N. Korea talks



Washington, March 10 (AFP) Mar 10, 2018



President Donald Trump predicted "tremendous success" Saturday in upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, adding that the reclusive state had promised not to shoot missiles in the interim.

The comments came after the American leader said he has received encouragement from the leaders of China and Japan as he moves toward the high stakes summit, announced suddenly this week.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success... We have a lot of support," Trump told reporters before boarding his Marine One helicopter to travel to a rally in Pennsylvania.

"The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great."

Earlier, Trump said China's President Xi Jinping was appreciative of his decision to opt for diplomacy rather than "the ominous alternative," while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was "very enthusiastic" about talks with North Korea.

Trump reached out to the Asian leaders in phone calls Friday after his stunning decision to accept an invitation to meet Kim before the end of May.

The turnabout -- a huge surprise after months of intensifying brinksmanship over the North's nuclear and missile programs -- caught even Trump's top aides off guard.

Just hours before Trump made his announcement Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said direct talks with North Korea were "a long way" off.

Tillerson, who was traveling in Africa, canceled his scheduled program in Kenya because he felt unwell after a "long couple days" working on North Korea and other issues, his Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Steve Goldstein said in a statement.

Goldstein later said Tillerson was feeling better and would resume his travel schedule Sunday.

White House officials initially waffled on the president's intentions.

"We're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Friday.



- Emphasizing the positive -



But in a series of tweets late Friday and Saturday, a seemingly ebullient Trump emphasized the positive.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!", he said.

Trump praised a possible future agreement with the nuclear-armed North as "very good" for the international community as a whole.

"The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined," he wrote.

Early Saturday, Trump tweeted that Xi "appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!"

A White House readout of the conversation said the two leaders committed to keeping the pressure on North Korea until it takes "tangible steps toward complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Song Il credited the turnabout to Kim's "broadminded and resolute" decision to contribute to peace and security in the Korean Peninsula.

"The United States should know and understand our position and should further contribute to the peace and security-building in the Korean Peninsula with (a) sincere position and serious attitude," he wrote in an email to The Washington Post.



- 'Diplomacy without diplomats' -



Not everyone was so sanguine about the prospects of a breakthrough, however, and some Democrats shuddered at the thought of such sensitive -- and potentially explosive -- negotiations in the hands of an impulsive, inexperienced president.

"If you want to talk to Kim Jong Un about his nuclear weapons you need experienced diplomats," Hillary Clinton, Trump's rival in the 2016 presidential elections, told Dutch tabloid Algemeen Dagblad.

The former diplomatic chief said the State Department was "being eroded," and experienced diplomats on the North Korean issue were in short supply because many have left.

"You cannot have diplomacy without diplomats," she said, adding that "the danger is not being recognized by the Trump government."

Clinton's words echo those of veteran diplomat and former US ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, who warned that negotiating with North Korea was not "reality television."

"It's a real opportunity ... I worry about the president's unpreparedness and lack of discipline. But I commend him for his very bold move in accepting the invitation," Richardson told AFP on Friday.

"But this is not 'The Apprentice' or a reality TV event. It's a negotiation with an unpredictable leader who has at least 20 nuclear weapons and who threatens the United States."Trump sees 'tremendous success' in upcoming N. Korea talks



Moon Township, United States, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



President Donald Trump predicted "tremendous success" Saturday in upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and suggested the reclusive state wants to "make peace" despite a years-long nuclear standoff.

The comments came after the American leader said he has received encouragement from the leaders of China and Japan, and assurance that North Korea had promised not to shoot missiles in the interim, as he moves toward the high stakes summit, announced suddenly this week.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success... We have a lot of support," Trump told reporters before boarding his Marine One helicopter to travel to a rally in Pennsylvania.

"The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great."

At the rally, he told supporters that the United States had "shown great strength" when tensions were high with Pyongyang, but he went so far as to say the reclusive regime's leaders "want to make peace."

"I think it's time," Trump said.

He also boasted that his reducing the North Korean nuclear threat helped save the Winter Olympics that were held last month in South Korea.

"It's a little hard to sell tickets when you think you are going to be nuked," the president added.

Earlier, Trump said China's President Xi Jinping was appreciative of his decision to opt for diplomacy rather than "the ominous alternative," while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was "very enthusiastic" about talks with North Korea.

Trump reached out to the Asian leaders in phone calls Friday after his stunning decision to accept an invitation to meet Kim before the end of May.

The turnabout -- a huge surprise after months of intensifying brinksmanship over the North's nuclear and missile programs -- caught even Trump's top aides off guard.

Just hours before Trump made his announcement Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said direct talks with North Korea were "a long way" off.

White House officials initially waffled on the president's intentions.

"We're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters Friday.



- Emphasizing the positive -



But in a series of tweets late Friday and Saturday, a seemingly ebullient Trump emphasized the positive.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!" he said.

Trump praised a possible future agreement with the nuclear-armed North as "very good" for the international community as a whole.

He also tweeted that Xi "appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!"

A White House readout of the conversation said the two leaders committed to keeping the pressure on North Korea until it takes "tangible steps toward complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Song Il credited the turnabout to Kim's "broadminded and resolute" decision to contribute to peace and security in the Korean Peninsula.

"The United States should know and understand our position and should further contribute to the peace and security-building in the Korean Peninsula with (a) sincere position and serious attitude," he wrote in an email to The Washington Post.



- 'Diplomacy without diplomats' -



Not everyone was so sanguine about the prospects of a breakthrough, however, and some Democrats shuddered at the thought of such sensitive -- and potentially explosive -- negotiations in the hands of an impulsive, inexperienced president.

"If you want to talk to Kim Jong Un about his nuclear weapons you need experienced diplomats," Hillary Clinton, Trump's rival in the 2016 presidential elections, told Dutch tabloid Algemeen Dagblad.

The former diplomatic chief said the State Department was "being eroded," and experienced diplomats on the North Korean issue were in short supply because many have left.

"You cannot have diplomacy without diplomats," she said, adding that "the danger is not being recognized by the Trump government."

Clinton's words echo those of veteran diplomat and former US ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, who warned that negotiating with North Korea was not "reality television."

"It's a real opportunity.... I worry about the president's unpreparedness and lack of discipline. But I commend him for his very bold move in accepting the invitation," Richardson told AFP on Friday.Putin: villain abroad, hero at home



Moscow, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



To the West he is public enemy number one: snatching land from his neighbours, interfering in foreign elections and unveiling weapons that he says render Washington's missile defence systems obsolete.

But despite -- or because of -- his reputation abroad, Vladimir Putin is still widely popular in Russia and is all but guaranteed to win a presidential election this week with a landslide.

In part this is because over almost two decades in power he has cracked down on dissent and consolidated Kremlin control over the media.

The president's most vocal opponent is also barred from appearing on the ballot on March 18 owing to a criminal conviction.

For millions of Russians, however, Putin is the man who brought stability after the political and economic chaos of the 1990s, as well as restoring Moscow's standing on the world stage following the humiliating collapse of the Soviet Union.

"Putin is a mirror and everyone can see in him what they want," independent political analyst Konstantin Kalachev told AFP.

"For some he is the man who got Russia back off its knees, got the army and defence back on track. For others he raised the quality of life and made sure pensions were paid on time," he said.

For those abroad, Putin -- who in recent years has been variously portrayed as an octopus, The Terminator, Hitler and Batman's nemesis The Joker on the cover of Western news magazines -- means something else entirely.

"But being the West's main enemy is an acknowledgement that he is the number one politician. If they're scared of you, it means they respect you," said Kalachev.



- 'Pole of evil' -



The US and Europe hit Russia with sanctions in 2014 over the annexation of Crimea and Moscow's backing of rebels in Ukraine's east.

Since then Russia's support of the Syrian regime in a bloody civil war, allegations that Moscow interfered in US presidential elections and the discovery of a state-sponsored Olympic doping programme have further hurt the country's reputation abroad.

Putin often frames negative foreign coverage of his leadership as a sign that Russia is under attack from a West uncomfortable with the country's new global role.

As he unveiled what he called "invincible" new weapons in his state of the nation address this month, he reminded the audience of the time in the early 2000s when "no one listened to us".

"Listen to us now," he said before playing video montages that displayed the weapons' capabilities.

The Russian moderator of a televised discussion last year jokingly told Putin he was the "pole of evil" around which Western powers "consolidate and mobilise".

"Can you imagine how they would manage without you?" the moderator asked an appreciative president.



- No other option -



While support for Putin in Russia has dipped slightly in recent months, according to official polls, around 70 percent of those who are planning to vote say they will back the current president.

His closest competitor, Communist candidate Pavel Grudinin, is projected to garner less than eight percent of the vote.

"(Putin) expertly exploits all the fears and the complexes of the population," Kalachev said, adding that the greatest fear was a return to the instability of the 1990s.

"People are afraid of losing what they already have...and this fear is especially strong in the provinces, where it is hard, but still possible, to live," he said.

Despite Putin's campaign promises when he returned to the Kremlin in 2012 after four years as prime minister, his last term was marked by recession and a fall in living standards.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has called for a boycott of the polls since he was barred from standing, rejects the idea that Putin retains real support in the provinces.

"They say there: well alright, Putin, there's nobody apart from Putin, I'll vote for him! That's the only reason why he gets any votes," Navalny told AFP in a recent interview.

At a recent campaign rally in Moscow, supporters of the president expressed a similar sentiment.

"I do not see another candidate who could be our commander in chief," Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov told the 100,000-strong crowd. "He's the only one. Putin is our president."Mattis in Oman to meet with Sultan Qaboos



Muscat, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis arrived in Oman on Sunday ahead of a meeting with Sultan Qaboos to discuss ongoing security concerns, including the situation in neighbouring Yemen.

Mattis's visit, his first as Pentagon chief, comes amid regional strains over the Yemen conflict and a diplomatic rift between Qatar and a bloc of countries led by Saudi Arabia.

"The unity of the (Gulf Cooperation Council) has been strained, to put it mildly, so I am also wanting to hear what the sultan says can be done about that, as well as the situation on his border in Yemen with the various factions that are fighting there and certainly the civil war," Mattis told reporters accompanying him on the trip.

"The Gulf's cohesion is critical we believe to maintaining stability in the region."

Qaboos, an elusive figure who is the longest-serving ruler in the Arab world, has kept a low profile on regional disputes, and has carved out a niche for Oman as a diplomatic back-channel, notably between the West and Iran.

Under Qaboos, Oman has maintained good ties with countries outside the six-country Gulf Cooperation Council bloc to which it belongs, including neighbouring Yemen.

In March 2015, the sultanate was the only GCC country not to join the Saudi-led coalition air war on Iran-backed Shiite rebels in Yemen, but also maintained solid relations with Riyadh.

Muscat hosted talks with Yemeni rebels towards resolving the war, as well as discussions between Iran and Western powers that led to a landmark July 2015 deal to curb the Islamic republic's nuclear programme.

Mattis is also slated to meet with Oman's defence minister Monday and other senior Omani officials.Mattis won't talk about situation in North Korea



Muscat, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday he would not be speaking about the delicate situation with North Korea, saying the White House and State Department are leading the negotiations.

"This is a diplomatically led effort," Mattis told reporters when asked about a possible meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

"When you get into a position like this, the potential for misunderstanding remains very high... so I want those who are actually engaging in the discussions to be the ones who answer all media questions about it," he added.

"Right now, every word is going to be nuanced and parsed apart across different cultures at different times of the day in different contexts, and right now I want a very straight line from those actually responsible, not from those of us in a supporting or background role," Mattis said.

Top South Korean official Chung Eui-yong announced Thursday that Kim and Trump will meet by May to secure a deal to remove nuclear weapons from the Korean peninsula.

Mattis was among the senior officials present in the White House when Trump accepted the invitation.

Chung said Kim is committed to denuclearisation, and Kim had pledged that North Korea would refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests during talks.

Mattis did not comment when asked about Foal Eagle joint drills with South Korea, which are expected to begin in the coming weeks.Areva settles nuclear dispute with Finland's TVO



Paris, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



French nuclear power giant Areva said Sunday it has settled a long-running dispute with Finnish utility TVO over a troubled next-generation reactor, agreeing to pay 450 million euros ($554 million) in compensation.

Since 2005, Areva, together with German engineering giant Siemens, has been building the Olkiluoto 3 reactor in western Finland, touted as the world's first European Pressurised Reactor (EPR).

But delays and cost overruns have dogged the project which will not go online until May 2019, a decade later than the original starting date.

In their long and bitter dispute, which the two sides finally took to arbitration by the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, Areva was claiming damages of 3.4 billion euros and TVO was claiming 2.6 billion euros.

The supplier consortium companies, Areva and Siemens, have signed "a comprehensive settlement agreement" with TVO, Areva said in a statement.

The settlement agreement "concerns the completion of the OL3 EPR project and related disputes."

The entry into force of the deal was "subject to certain conditions that are currently expected to be met during March 2018."

Under the deal, the supplier consortium companies are to pay financial compensation of 450 million euros to TVO.

TVO chief executive Jarmo Tanhua said the Finnish group "welcomes the agreement which ensures that the OL3 EPR project continues to have the necessary financial, technical and human resources for the completion and successful start-up of the plant and also settles other outstanding issues.

"We very much look forward to working closely with our partners to fully implement this agreement and to promptly accomplish the several crucial project steps leading to the start of regular electricity production of the unit," he said.

kd/spm/gd

AREVA

SIEMENSEthiopia says nine civilians were killed in accidental shooting



Addis Ababa, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



The deaths of nine civilians in Ethiopia's restive Oromia region, home to its largest ethnic group, was due to an accidental shooting by soldiers, state media said Sunday.

Soldiers opened fire on the civilians near the town of Moyale on the southern border with Kenya after mistaking them for members of the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who were attempting to sneak into the country, Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported.

"The wrong information that members of the force received led to the confrontation that killed nine people and injured another 12," ENA said, without specifying when the incident took place.

Five soldiers involved in the shooting have been jailed, the state agency added.

The government's version of events could not immediately be independently confirmed.

The shooting was the latest episode of violence in the region of ethnic Oromos which has been a hotbed of anti-government sentiment since protests broke out there in late 2015.

That unrest, which spread to the neighbouring Amhara region and caused hundreds of deaths, pushed the government to declare a 10-month state of emergency in October 2016.

Ethiopia declared another emergency last month after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced he would resign.

Rights groups including Amnesty International condemned the decree, saying they feared it could lead to abuses by security forces.

Top officials from the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) met on Sunday to start the process of choosing a replacement for Hailemariam, who will remain in his post until the succession is complete.Reporter Podcast Understanding the Riddles of Greenland

Christoph Seidler traveled to the vast Greenland ice sheet to visit scientists studying global warming there. In an interview, the reporter talks about what makes such projects so special and why he almost didn't make it back.Budhi Gandaki project faces another hurdle

The development of Budhi Gandaki Hydropower Project has once again hit a snag with the Ministry of Energy failing to receive an official letter from the Prime Ministers Office about the Cabinets decision to provide viability gap funding (VGF) for construction of the 1,200MW project.CM Rai flays attempts to muzzle the media

Province 1 Chief Minister Sherdhan Rai has ruled out any possibility of muzzling the media in the country. Rai, who is also a former communications minister, said that any attempt to go against the constitution would be foiled as the citizens governments were formed at all three levelsfederal, provincial and local.ITHACA, N.Y.-- Cornell University police are asking the public for help finding more information about a suspect who used racial slurs during an assault early yesterday morning.

Three Cornell students were assaulted and one was called racial slurs, according to the university police.

The assault happened at Eddy Street and Dryden Road early Saturday morning, police said. Police arrived in response to a fight at 1:30 a.m.

Witnesses told police that a male student was harassed with racial slurs and physically beaten by an unknown man. Two other students intervened and were also assaulted, police said.

Two of the victims required medical attention at Cayuga Medical Center, police said.

Police are asking for help in identifying the suspect or anyone else who might have been a witness.

Police ask that anyone with information call (607)255-1111 or use the department's anonymous tip system.ITHACA, N.Y. -- At least two Cornell students were assaulted and one was called racial slurs, according to a statement from university president Martha E. Pollack.

The assault happened in Collegetown, an area near the university, early Saturday morning, Pollack said. One of the students aided the other during the assault and both were treated for their injuries, Pollack said.

One of the students laid near a food truck while the other sat on the grass when police arrived, according to The Cornell Daily Sun. Ithaca and Cornell police responded to several calls about a fight at approximately 1:30 a.m. and witnesses said the student was assaulted by a man who used racial slurs, the Daily Sun reported.

Cornell Police searched the area but didn't find the suspect, who was last seen heading south on Eddy Street, the Daily Sun reported.

The assault is still under investigation, the Daily Sun reported.

Cornell Police ask that anyone with information call 607-255-1111.

Saturday's assault happened approximately two blocks from an assault in September, in which one Cornell student has been accused of a hate crime for punching a black student and calling another student a racial slur, the Daily Sun reported.UPDATE: Police: Syracuse man hit by car on Burnet Avenue dies from injuries

Scott Griffin, 57, died nearly two weeks after being struck by a car in downtown Syracuse.

Scott Griffin's life can be reduced to a bunch of statistics. On any given night, he could've been one of the 425 single adults staying in a homeless shelter in Syracuse.

He, like millions of other adults in this country, was an alcoholic who struggled to stay sober, and Friday, he became the second pedestrian in a week to die after being struck by a car while walking in Syracuse.

According to police, Griffin fell into the path of a car while crossing the street in the 600 block of Burnet Ave. shortly after 5 p.m. Feb. 27.

While authorities have not yet confirmed Griffin's passing, his good friend John Tumino, founder of the nonprofit organization In My Father's Kitchen, said the hospital notified him Friday evening that Griffin had died.

To his friends, Griffin, 57, was so much more than a statistic. A ringer for David Crosby from the band Crosby, Stills and Nash, Griffin was a man who often thought of others before thinking of himself.

"If you needed a shirt off his back, he'd give it to you in a second," said his friend, Steve Clemens. "He would get stuff just in case people might need it someday."

Clemens was living on the streets in Syracuse five years ago when he met Griffin, who was also homeless at the time. Clemens said he and Griffin would often stay on the streets together, taking turns staying awake and keeping watch while the other slept.

Later, when Clemens had housing and was diagnosed with neuropathy, a condition that affects nerves and that made him temporarily unable to walk because of the pain, Griffin would go out of his way every day to make sure his friend had everything he needed.

"He would go get breakfast at the Samaritan Inn and bring it to where I was," Clemens said. "Every day, because I was so sick and he knew it, he would come and make sure that I was okay. Every day--several times a day--to make sure that I was taken care of."

Clemens said after his diagnosis, Griffin surprised him with a foot massager to help ease his pain that Christmas.

"We're talking about homeless people--he had no money--he managed to save his money to get me that for Christmas," he said. "That's just the kind of guy he was. He was just always giving, giving, giving. He didn't care what he had. He cared what other people had."

Building hope and Changing Lives. John and Leigh Ann Posted by In My Father's Kitchen on Friday, May 6, 2016

His friends agree that Griffin was always better at caring for other people than he was at caring for himself.

"He actually used to work with people who were going through addiction, and one of the things that he would always say to me was, 'I'm good at giving advice; I just can't take my own advice,'" Tumino said.

Tumino's nonprofit gives assistance to the homeless and refugee community. He met Griffin three years ago when Griffin was sleeping across the street from City Hall.

It was Tumino the hospital called when they used fingerprints to identify Griffin days after he was admitted. Another homeless man who knew Griffin was estranged from his family suggested the hospital call Tumino. After he heard the news, Tumino visited Griffin and prayed for a miracle as his friend remained in a comatose state.

Tumino said Griffin would seek help for his alcoholism, but inevitably, he would always start drinking again.

The addiction was just too strong.

Things weren't all bad for Griffin, though. At the end of the year, Tumino said, he found housing through the help of Catholic Charities.

Tumino saw Griffin just two weeks before the accident, and, as always, he encouraged his friend to seek help for his addiction, but Griffin seemed resigned to what Tumino called an existence of suffering.

"He said, 'John, I just can't do it,'" Tumino said.

Aside from his big heart, Tumino recalled Griffin also had a wonderful sense of humor. He was quick-witted and could dole out one-line zingers like no one else. He made people laugh.

Tumino is in the process of planning a memorial service for Griffin, but no date has been set.

He said he will try to set up a video chat at the service so that Clemens, who's now living in South Carolina near his family, will be able to say a few words about his friend.

As for Clemens, he said he knows Griffin wouldn't want him to be upset, so he's trying to think of the good times he shared with his friend.

"How can you not love a guy who had a heart of gold? I miss him. I really do," Clemens said.

Save

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SavePolice in the Capital Region have identified a body found in the Hudson River on Saturday.

Brianna Beebe

Rensselaer Police said Brianna L. Beebe, 26, was last seen Thursday at her residence and was reported missing on Friday, WRGB-TV reported.

She was reported missing on Friday and her body was discovered Saturday morning in the water near Forbes Ave. And Tracy St. in Rensselaer.

Her cause of death is undetermined and pending an autopsy at Albany Medical Center, but police told the Times Union on Friday that she could be a danger to herself.

The investigation is on-going by the Rensselaer Police Department, New York State Police-Schodack BCI and Troop G Major Crimes unit.

Watch the WRGB-TV report below.STC musical to be featured at Iowa Thespian Festival

Into the woods, its time, and so I must begin my journey. Into The Woods by Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine. And so, the STC Music ...Contempt of court against Kantipur: CJ Parajuli forms 7-member full bench

In what appears to be a blatant disregard to the widespread condemnation, Chief Justice (CJ) Gopal Parajul has formed a seven-member full bench of Supreme Court (SC) under his leadership to conduct the hearing in a contempt of court case against Kantipur.U.S. space agency NASA releases a spectacular new imagery of the largest known planet in the solar system, Jupiter.

The Poles Of Jupiter

The new photos show the gaseous giant's poles. The image was taken by Juno spacecraft's Jovian Infrared Auroral Mapper instrument.

JIRAM probes Jupiter's weather layer to up to 50 to 70 kilometers under the planet's cloud tops. The instrument takes images of light that emerge from deep within the planet.

Prior to Juno we did not know what the weather was like near Jupiters poles," says Alberto Adriani, co-investigator of Juno. "Now, we have been able to observe the polar weather up-close every two months."

The Cyclones At Jupiter's Poles

Adriani explained that the width of each of the northern cyclones is the distance between New York City and Naples, and the Southern cyclones are even more massive in comparison. The Cyclones have very violent winds, sometimes reaching a whopping speed of 350 kilometers per hour.

The co-investigator also added that the remarkable feature about the cyclones is that they are enduring and very close together. A feature such as it is something that is like nothing else that has been observed so far in the solar system.

The poles of Jupiter are an absolute contrast to the more familiar white and orange belts and zones that circle the gas giant at lower latitudes.

A central cyclone, which dominates the gas giant's north pole, is surrounded by eight circumpolar cyclones (as seen in the photo). The surrounding cyclones range in diameter from 4,000 to 4,600 kilometers across.

The south pole of Jupiter also has a central cyclone with five cyclones surrounding it, each of these measures around 5,600 to 7,000 kilometers in diameter.

"This composite represent radiant heat: the yellow (thinner) clouds are about 9 degrees Fahrenheit (-13 Celsius) in brightness temperature and the dark red (thickest) are around -181 degrees Fahrenheit (-118.33 Celsius)," describes NASA.

Nearly all the polar cyclones, at both the north and south pole of Jupiter, are so tightly packed that their spiral arms are in contact with the cyclone located just next to them. Interestingly, even though the Cyclones are spaced tightly, they still remain distinct and have morphologies that are individual. It is an observation that was made over seven months.

Adriani has questioned why the Cyclones do not merge, especially since in the case of Saturn, Cassini has observed that each pole has just one cyclonic vortex. The observation has led Adriani to believe that not all gaseous giant planets are created equal.

Adriani's observations were published in the journal Nature on March 8.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.A massive, odd-looking fish was found washed ashore on a beach in Australia and it has captured the attention of many, with some suggesting it could be the ancient and mysterious coelacanth. What is it?

Big Fish

John and Riley Lindholm were strolling along Moore Park Beach in Queensland, Australia when they chanced upon a strange creature on the shore. It was a massive fish with an estimated length of about 2 meters and weight of about 150 kilograms. It had a gray and silver color, with a large gaping mouth.

The monster fish did not appear to have any injuries, so the couple believes that the fish might have just died and ended up on the shore.

Incidentally, Mr. Lindholm is a charter skipper, but even with his experience with different fish species, he could not identify the mystery fish. He thought that the fish could have been a groper, but wasn't entirely convinced.

The couple took photos of the creature and posted it on a social media forum in hopes of possibly identifying the creature. Some suggested that it might be a cod, a groper, or a tripletail.

The couple went back to search for the fish the next day, but it was already gone.

What is it?

Interest in the creature spread rather quickly and people naturally gave their insights on what the fish could be. Some have suggested that it could be the ancient coelacanth, an ancient fish species that was believed to have gone extinct along with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago until it was rediscovered in 1938 by a South African museum curator.

However, though the living fossil does share several characteristics with the mystery fish such as its massive size and wide mouth, authorities believe another fish to be the likelier culprit.

The Queensland Boating and Fisheries Patrol consulted experts at the Queensland Museum in hopes of identifying the fish. According to the QBFP, although it's quite difficult to determine the fish species, it appears to be a Queensland groper, one of the largest bony fishes that have been implicated in fatal attacks on humans.

The Queensland Groper

In Queensland, the groper is a no-take species, meaning that it is a protected species and that catching or possessing it is prohibited. If the mystery fish is, indeed, the Queensland groper, authorities can no longer determine its cause of death.

"If accidentally caught, protected species should not be removed from the water - they should be immediately and carefully returned to the water," said a spokesperson from the QBFP.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.China's 8-ton space station Tiangong-1 is expected to come crashing back to Earth. It isn't yet clear where it will exactly land and when this will happen.

However, when it does fall, is there any danger it could hit someone on the planet?

Some Parts Of Tiangong-1 May Not Be Incinerated

Chinese officials said that most parts of the space lab will burn up during its fall. However, there are parts that may not be incinerated, particularly the heaviest and densest ones such as those that make up the spacecraft's engine.

Probability Of Causing Danger Is Low

Still, the chances of these parts hitting somebody on the head is considered small. For one, this debris could end up in the water as about 71 percent of Earth is covered in water. The 29 percent of our planet's surface is entirely uninhabited. At least half of the world's population is crammed on 2.9 percent of the Earth's surface.

Nonetheless, China said that it would carefully monitor the descent of the spacecraft and inform the United Nations when the spacecraft starts its final plunge.

"The probability of endangering and causing damage to aviation and ground activities is very low," China told the UN's Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space. "China will make strict arrangements to track and closely monitor Tiangong-1 in its orbital development and will publish a timely forecast of its re-entry."

Caveats

Most orbits, however, are designed to maximize the time that spacecraft spend over dry land. It means that China's Tiangong-1, which flew at about 43 inclination to the equator, could have more land under its path particularly now when it is falling.

China and many experts believe that the probability of a space debris from the Chinese space lab crashing into somebody's head is small, but this is not entirely impossible. In 1997, a woman in Oklahoma was hit by a debris from a rocket.

Space Junk Survivor

Lottie Williams lived to tell the tale as a space junk survivor. She was at a park when she saw what appeared to be a shooting star. A little while later, she was hit on her shoulder by a 6-inch piece of black metallic material.

She later learned that she was possibly hit by a piece from a Delta II rocket body that reentered the atmosphere. NASA tests revealed that the characteristics of the fragment were consistent with those of the materials of the rocket.

"It looks as though one lady who was standing outside, early morning in Tulsa, Okla., was actually struck by the piece on the back," said Nicholas Johnson, who was NASA's chief scientist for orbital debris at the time. "It was so light-weight that it really hit her like a feather, or a leaf floating off a tree."

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Astrophysicist and television show host Neil deGrasse Tyson has discredited the flat Earth theory, blaming its rise on the freedom of speech and on a faulty educational system.

In a new YouTube video posted March 9 on the StarTalk channel, Tyson explains his argument to co-host and stand-up comic Chuck Nice. To support his point that the Earth is truly round, he mentions various evidence, some from ancient Greeks and others from more recent space observations.

What Is The Flat Earth Theory?

Flat-earthers follow the empirical approach in forming their belief. Instead of relying on existing theories, they use their own senses to observe their environment to understand the planet's true nature.

Members of the movement believe that since the ground and the bottom of the clouds are flat, then it means the Earth is not round as what proponents have taught.

An example of a flat Earth proof is a study that was repeatedly conducted over a body of water stretching for an average of six miles. Known as the Bedford Level Experiments, it concludes that the water surface is not flat and therefore, doesn't match up with the existing theory that the planet is round.

Evidence That The Earth Is Round

Tyson opened the nine-minute show by mentioning the most obvious proof of all, a video taken from space that shows the planet as a rotating sphere.

The astrophysicist then went on to joke that "something doesn't square" as there are plenty of people who claim the sun, moon, and other planets to be round but not the Earth. He disproved this idea by pointing out that due to the way energy behaves, plus the laws of physics, the universe naturally forms spherical bodies.

Although some of them may turn out a little distorted because they rotate too fast, almost everything found in the universe is spheres, except for asteroids and some other few.

Tyron added that another evidence of the planet's round curvature can be seen during lunar eclipses. If the Earth was indeed flat, then its shadow should appear flat as well. Instead, a perfectly round shadow is cast during such phenomenon.

Ancient Greek Experiment By Eratosthenes

Furthermore, he talked about an experiment conducted by Eratosthenes back in 250 B.C. Upon observing wells in two different cities during summer, he notes that the bottom of the well in Syene can be seen clearly during noontime. Meanwhile, at the same time of the day, the well in Alexandria was still so full of water that its bottom is not visible at all.

Tyson gave two explanations for this. First, that the planet is round with a sun located at a farther distance. Second is that the planet is flat but only has a small sun. Based on the results, however, the flat Earth explanation is not possible.

Neil deGrasse Tyson's Message To Flat-Earthers

If there is anything that flat-earthers prove, Tyson identified that it's the current educational system's failure to teach critical analysis to students.

"Our system needs to train you not only what to know but how to think about information and knowledge and evidence," he says, addressing believers of the flat Earth theory. "If we don't have that kind of training, you'd run around believing anything."

The discussion featured in the video is based on a chapter included in Tyson's book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.Diversity in power

There is need to re-think Nepals dependence on hydro-power and revise policy to add solar energy to the mixDr KC to file PIL and criminal complaint against Parajuli

Activist and orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC and his team plan to file a Public Interest Litigation demanding Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajulis academic and birth certificates to be made public.At least 16 dead as lightning strikes Rwanda church



Kigali, March 11 (AFP) Mar 11, 2018



At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured after lightning struck a Seventh-Day Adventist church in Rwanda, a local official said Sunday.

Fourteen victims were killed on the spot as lightning hit the church in the Nyaruguru district in the Southern Province on Saturday, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told AFP over the phone.

Two others died later from their injuries, he said.

He added that 140 people involved in the incident had been rushed to hospital and district health centres, but that many had already been discharged.

"Doctors say that only three of them are in critical condition but they are getting better," he said.

According to the mayor, a similar accident took place on Friday when lightning struck a group of 18 students, killing one of themHearing on contempt of court case against Kantipur inconclusive

The hearing on the contempt of court case against Kantipur ended inconclusively at the Supreme Court (SC) on Sunday.You have permission to edit this article.

Edit CloseHorrors unconfronted

Lack of protection from sexual assault is connected to lawlessness and internalisation of criminalisationWhen Roberto Ramirez tells people in Baton Rouge where he works, he gets some puzzled looks.

In Tucson, everyone knows about BASIS, Ramirez said. In a few years, people will be very familiar with BASIS here too.

BASIS, short for Building Academic Success in School, runs some of Arizonas highest performing public schools and its high schools routinely top national best-of lists. In the past decade, it has grown from two schools to a network of 23 charter and five private schools.

Ramirez is a 10-year veteran of this organization, which opened its first school in Tucson in 1998. In October, he was tapped to move 1,200 miles east to Baton Rouge to lead BASISs first school in Louisiana.

BASIS Baton Rouge is under construction and set to open in August. General contractor Buquet & LeBlanc of Baton Rouge is building the nearly $10 million, 40,000-square-foot primary school building. A new middle/high school facility will follow in the future. The school eventually plans grow to almost 900 students in kindergarten through 12th grade, though its first graduating class wont be until 2027.

The school is being built on seven acres that Womans Hospital is leasing to BASIS for free. For months, the school has been running print and radio ads. In addition, the hospital has played host to weekly informational sessions.

Despite the buzz, BASIS has downscaled its initial enrollment projections. So rather than 450 students in kindergarten to sixth grade, its now expecting just 300 and 350 students in grades K-4. Kindergarten is the most popular and is filling up, but the upper grades have been tougher to fill, mostly because students are already in school somewhere else, Ramirez said.

Top-rated charter school plans to open in Baton Rouge in 2017 PHOENIX  The leader of an Arizona-based charter school network announced Sunday that the organization plans to expand into southeast Louisian

Shawn Gose first heard about BASIS years ago and she was immediately hooked.

She and her husband, Ty, have three boys, and her oldest, Grady, 5, is about to start kindergarten. Both parents grew up attending public schools in other states. But she had concerns about public schools in Baton Rouge after working in several of them years ago for a local nonprofit.

I know there are great teachers in a lot of those schools but I also encountered some teachers who just hated their jobs, Gose recalled.

BASIS, however, looked different. The more she learned, the more excited she got. The family is even moving across town to be closer to their new school.

Gose said shes talked several parents into joining her. Among other things, she said, she likes that children will get ample recess and have two teachers per class.

(BASIS) is easy to talk about. Its not like I have to push it on anyone, Gose said. Everyone is so hungry for just a good school in Baton Rouge thats free. You grab their attention very quickly.

BASIS is using a 2011 Louisiana corporate partnership law, the first charter school to do so. Under that law, a corporate entity such as Womans Hospital can provide financial support to a charter school  in this case, the land BASIS is building on  and lay claim to up to half of the slots in the new school.

Stan Shelton, a senior vice president with Womans Hospital, said only about 20 of Womans more than 2,000 employees have applied so far and had their children admitted to BASIS, but he expects that number will grow over time.

Top stories in Baton Rouge in your inbox Twice daily we'll send you the day's biggest headlines. Sign up today. e-mail address * Sign Up

Shelton said that for more than a decade the hospital has envisioned including a high-performing school on its the 200-acre campus, where the hospital relocated in 2012. The idea is that the school would be part of a 100-acre mixed-use development called Materra likely to start construction in 2019. In addition, the hospital plans to relocate its child care center onto its campus.

There will be an opportunity for our employees to live, work, have child care from birth through preschool, and then have a school to attend all the way to 12th grade, Shelton said.

One attraction is that unlike many magnet schools in Baton Rouge, BASIS requires no entrance exams or minimum GPA. To enroll, a BASIS student need only live within the boundaries of the East Baton Rouge Parish school system.

East Baton Rouge Parish school leaders have expressed hope that BASIS will prove pleasing to residents of south and southeast Baton Rouge. These residents are targets of the recently revived St. George movement, which seeks to form a city and later a public school district in that part of the parish.

The new BASIS school is the only charter school located within the boundaries of the proposed city. If St. George eventually controls public schools in that area, BASIS would be one of those schools and its not clear what its fate would be.

Well cross that bridge when we get there, Ramirez said. Our focus would be to provide the best school we could regardless of politics.

BASIS schools are unapologetically difficult. Students take Mandarin Chinese starting in kindergarten, and algebra and geometry starting in seventh grade. They start taking AP courses in eighth grade and have taken an average of 11 AP exams by the time they graduate.

Aspects of BASIS have inspired criticism. Its schools offer no public transportation. They educate relatively few special-education children compared to other public schools and even fewer children for whom English is a second language.

BASIS schools also have relatively few high school graduates compared to the number of children that start there.

In an essay last year addressing these and other criticisms, Peter Bezanson, CEO of BASIS.ed, said the bulk of the students that leave do so between eighth and ninth grades. He said such departures are perfectly natural for children finishing middle school grades, especially in the choice-rich environments within which BASIS Charter Schools exist.

Another sore spot is that only two of BASIS 23 charter schools provide federally subsidized free meals; many of its schools report having no poor children at all. At its poorest school, BASIS DC, located in the nations capital, only 17 percent of its students qualify for free lunch.

BASIS Baton Rouge is planning to offer federally subsidized free meals, but it has estimated that only 20 percent of its students in Baton Rouge would qualify for free or reduced-price lunch and breakfast, a figure below almost every public school in the state.

BASIS charter school gets provisional contract nod; East Baton Rouge Schools Superintendent Drake reorganizes top staff Scottsdale, Arizona-based BASIS Schools won a provisional operating contract Thursday that will allow it open for students in 2018 and is hopi

Bezanson has said that figure is not a goal, just an estimate. As part of its contract with the East Baton Rouge Parish school system signed last July, BASIS promises to exercise reasonable efforts to recruit and enroll economically disadvantaged students or risk corrective action up to having its contract revoked.

Ramirez said that while BASIS has very high expectations, it also offers ample help to its students: BASIS is going to be rigorous and challenging in general, but with the support system we have in place, (students) will be ready.As Jay Dardenne, Commissioner of Administration, right, watches, Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks at a press conference after the legislature adjourned sine die to end the special session to address the state's fiscal crisis Monday March 5, 2018, in Baton Rouge, La.At the beginning of the 2017 regular session, House Speaker Taylor Barras and the Republican leadership talked about bold, brave, new ideas that would percolate up to fix a financial structure that routinely cant raise enough money to pay the states bills.

Not a single plan emerged from last years legislative meeting, which necessitated the 15-day special session that ended last week  again without passing a single measure to address another looming shortfall.

Lawmakers convene again Monday for their regularly scheduled session with the task of balancing the state budget by cutting up to $700 million, now their only option. That means, once again, the least protected expenses  for higher education, health care, and prisons  are vulnerable.

+9 'We better get serious:' Here's what lies ahead for Louisiana lawmakers after special session The special session's slow-moving collapse has come to an end at the Louisiana Capitol with the state no closer to bridging a looming budget g

All this brings to mind the words Dean Acheson, the mid-20th century statesman, used to deep-six J. William Fulbrights candidacy for Secretary of State in 1960. He told newly elected President John F. Kennedy, over tea, that the foreign policy specialist was great about making speeches calling for bold, brave, new ideas, and yet always lacking in bold, brave, new ideas, according to David Halberstam in "The Best & The Brightest."

A more worrisome quote from the Eastern establishment came last week from Standard & Poors, the credit rating agency whose opinion impacts how much Louisiana taxpayers will have pony up for interest on state loans. In our view, political risk  as evidenced by the legislative gridlock during the special session  has emerged as a credit weakness, which has the potential to stunt what otherwise has been recent positive momentum in the state.

Rating agency: Louisiana Legislature's gridlock 'a credit weakness' for state One of the major credit ratings agencies has offered a dire assessment of the state's financial outlook, just days after lawmakers abruptly en

Legislators, and the states voters, are sharply divided about governments role in how best to make peoples lives easier. One side says government needs to get out of the way and stop spending so much. The other side sees government as a catalyst for improvement.

It is a conflict that legislators need to work out in public debate.

But each side is operating in a bubble with its own set of facts and its own slogans that only reinforces views of supporters and demonizes those of opponents, said state Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner.

The divide is truly over rhetoric. Are we going to deal with a pragmatic problem? Or are we going to say what people want to hear? Stokes told The Advocate last week.

U.S. Sen. John Kennedy blisters Gov. John Bel Edwards, says voters doubt fiscal crisis U.S. Sen. John Kennedy on Tuesday accused Gov. John Bel Edwards of trying to tax the state into prosperity and said Louisiana voters do not be

State Rep. Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville, has pressed a measure that would have lowered the overall tax rate but got rid of most exemptions. It failed in committee.

All I heard was We have a spending problem. All I wanted was to get the bill out on the floor so we could have a serious debate, Havard said. We do raise enough revenue, plenty of revenue, really. And its not a spending problem, though there are areas where we can be more efficient. Its just that industry, particularly big industry, has too many exemptions. But I dont see any urgency among my colleagues to make true tax reform.

Changing the status quo in Louisiana is difficult. Its like a warm blanket for many people, said state Rep. Barry Ivey. Maybe its a protection instinct. But the bigger problem is declining revenues because of the states tax policy.

The Central Republican was elected as a tea party conservative and has forwarded many ideas that would change how state government does business.

And he is the target of much anger aroused when he accused his colleagues on the House floor of dragging their feet rather than give the Democratic governor a political win by doing tax reform.

But Ivey is undeterred, if not optimistic.

Hes filed 32 bills for this session, including legislation that would change a lucrative local property tax break  the Industrial Tax Exemption Program  from two five-year periods to one of seven years total. It would give manufacturers stability and allow local governments to levy taxes earlier, he said.

Ivey, Havard and Stokes are outsiders in a House with so many political factions that leadership cant find the 70 votes needed to pass tax legislation.

Having plenty of down time as they waited for leaders to negotiate during the special session, frustrated legislators found each other and started talking about forming another clique, which Ivey calls the pragmatists.

New York Times columnist: Louisiana's self-inflicted damage foreshadows effect of federal tax cuts Louisiana has made a strong claim to the title "the state thats caused the most self-inflicted damage through tax cuts," according to a New Y

Havard, a small businessman,calls the forming delegation the centrist caucus and says about a dozen representatives from both parties are poised to join.

Stokes, a certified public accountant with strong ties to the business community, wouldnt hazard a guess on how many potential members the caucus might have, but says the ranks are growing mostly from legislators who are just plain tired of only talking rhetoric and not doing anything.If the state of Louisiana does not have the money for the basics like fixing roads and paying prosecutors, why in the world are we even arguinICP construction moves ahead at snails pace

The construction of Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Bhediyari of Biratnagar, slated to be completed by December, is moving ahead at snails pace due to delay made by the contractor.Newsflash. The General Counsel to the Archdiocese of New Orleans is anti-abortion.

If she were a believer in reproductive rights, of course, Wendy Vitter wouldn't have the job.

But she has been so coy about her advocacy of Catholic orthodoxy that the Judiciary Committee has invited her to reconsider her responses to a questionnaire she has been required to fill out as a nominee for a federal judgeship.

Asked to list all her public statements, Vitter provided a list running to more than 20 pages of speeches delivered to various groups over the years, almost always about what her husband was doing in Washington. What he was doing as a member of the House and then the Senate, that is. David Vitter's spare-time activities were not a suitable subject for a Republican Women's Club luncheon.

You would not know from the list submitted by Wendy Vitter that she ever delivered an anti-abortion speech. The Alliance for Justice, which occupies the opposite end of the political spectrum, was happy to remedy her omissions and announce its opposition to her nomination. The Alliance for Justice report emboldened Dianne Feinstein of California, ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, to point out that Trump judicial nominees have a habit of hiding important facts.

Orleans Parish prosecutors were also adept at hiding important facts when Harry Connick was DA, and the Alliance for Justice cannot resist pointing out that Wendy Vitter was one of his assistants. There is no proof that she took part in the office sport of railroading suspects, although she did rise to become Connick's chief of trials.

The Alliance for Justice now adduces plenty of evidence that she advanced the anti-abortion views of which her employer and her husband would approve. In completing her questionnaire, Wendy Vitter failed to mention, for instance, that in 2013 she rallied protesters outside the site of a new Planned Parenthood clinic in New Orleans and led a panel at a Louisiana Right to Life conference, that was receptive to the theory that abortion causes breast cancer and contraceptive pills can kill.

Whacky stuff, but nothing there to embarrass a GOP nominee, and Wendy Vitter might, in any case, claim that the omissions were inadvertent, because she cannot be accused of hiding her anti-abortion light under a bushel. Elsewhere in the questionnaire, she noted that she chaired the Notre Dame Seminary Priests for Life luncheon in 2013 and won the Right to Life Foundation Award in 2017.

Feinstein suggests Wendy Vitter might fit a pattern as a Trump nominee with a skeleton in the closet, but, even if she was deliberately unforthcoming, she can scarcely hold a candle to some of those who went before. Brett Talley of Alabama, for instance, covered up major conflicts of interest and blogged in favor of the Klan, while Gordon Giampietro of Wisconsin not only shares the Vitters' views on abortion but forgot to mention that he opposes gay rights and has knocked the Civil Rights Act.

If Wendy Vitter is unfit for a seat on the federal bench, it is not because she left out occasions when she advanced a cause the whole world knows she favors. Both our current U.S. Senators claim she is qualified, although their views may be taken with a grain of salt given their political indebtedness to her husband. Bill Cassidy gave David Vitter much of the credit when he was elected to the Senate in 2014, and John Kennedy got his chance when David Vitter did not seek re-election in 2016 after losing a bid for governor. When Cassidy says Wendy Vitter is an excellent choice and Kennedy says she has done very important work, it's phonus bolonus for sure.

She quit the DA's office in 1992 and spent one year at a private firm before abandoning the law. Appearing at a Tea Party gathering in 2010, she said she was proud to be a stay at home mom. While that role is admirable, it may not be the best training for a federal judge. Wendy Vitter's experience in federal court is limited to one appearance as co-counsel 25 years ago. She has worked at the archdiocese since 2012.

The gaps in her questionnaire are likely to be overlooked, because what matters is who she is married to. You didn't think judicial nominations were apolitical, did you?

Email James Gill at Gill1407@bellsouth.net.I am bullish on gold. From a technical perspective, gold has been consolidating its 2012 downtrend below $US1370 an ounce. More recently, the precious metal has made a string of higher lows, indicating an impending bullish move. It appears volatility has returned in 2018. Liquidity, strong organic cash build, zero debt and exploration upside make RRL my pick of the Australian gold stocks. The 3.5 per cent fully franked dividend yield is a kicker.

*Patersons raised capital for RRL in 2008 National Australia Bank (NAB)



I am bullish on banks in the short term. The NAB share price appears to be the most resilient of the banks in the past month. Its recent dividend yield was above 6 per cent. I believe outside any broader market shock, the banks should find support from investors heading towards reporting and dividend season in May. Potential negative news flow from the Royal Commission poses a risk to the banks. HOLD RECOMMENDATIONS

Seek (SEK)



Forever overvalued in my view, but a quality growth story. Seek continues to generate increasing revenue and EBITDA of 26 per cent and 20 per cent respectively in the 2018 first half. A big acquisition or entry into another international market could be a game changer for this online recruitment company. BetaShares US Equities Strong Bear Hedge Fund  Currency Hedged (BBUS)

I am bearish US equities over the medium term and am happy to hold this leveraged short until the middle of the year. Increasing volatility in equities, a rising gold price, fundamental shifts in global monetary policy and a stronger Japanese Yen point to rising fear in global markets. Not for your average investor.

SELL RECOMMENDATIONS

Dominos Pizza Enterprises (DMP)



In my view, this former stock market darling is now a disappointment. The share price is way off its 52 week high of $67.05 on May 11 last year. The companys franchise model has attracted scrutiny. Dominos is continuing to remove wages underpayments from its system. Recently, about 16 per cent of shares on issue were short, up from 9 per cent in April 2017. It recently had the third largest short position on the ASX. The shares were trading at $43.02 on March 8. Sydney Airport (SYD)



A highly geared bond proxy, which recently broke its five year uptrend. I believe bond-like equities will continue to experience selling pressure over the medium term. High multiples in the past five years have been justified by lower global bond yields, which I forecast will move higher. Were also concerned about capital expenditure.



The energy giant has made a solid start in 2018. It recently reported an 18 per cent increase in net profit after tax to $1.024 billion for full year 2017. The recent acquisition of Exxon Mobils stake in the Scarborough gas field provides much needed additional production. WPL is now a buy for growth and yield. InvoCare (IVC)



The funeral operator was heavily sold before and after a solid full year 2017 result. For a business with stable operating metrics, its share price can be quite volatile. We exited the stock in late 2017 and now think theres value. The shares closed at $13.64 on March 7. HOLD RECOMMENDATIONS CSL (CSL)



This blood products company has been one of our best performers over many years, but following a strong share price performance since its first half 2018 result, we think its time to move to a hold. Were still positive about the long term outlook, but expect the price to consolidate. Its a premium stock, but is now trading on full multiples. Seek (SEK)



This online recruitment company has performed very well over the past year. Although we have generally seen offshore growth as the real appeal, were impressed with the performance of domestic operations in the 2018 first half. Taking full ownership of Seek Asia is sensible. At around $20, we believe in the long term value of SEK, but find it hard to see short term upside, so we have reduced it to a hold. The shares closed at $20.02 on March 7. SELL RECOMMENDATIONS Dominos Pizza Enterprises (DMP)



Its already fallen from its lofty highs, but we expect it to fall further. In our view, its excessive valuation was predicated on offshore growth that had stalled, and the de-rating is likely to hurt shareholders who convinced themselves that the pizza maker was a tech stock. IOOF Holdings (IFL)



Its market capitalisation has grown above $3.6 billion after acquiring the wealth assets offloaded by ANZ. Recent inflows are welcome, but, in our view, the valuation of this financial services company is stretched and the stock has room to fall.



PHK uses CSIRO developed technology to treat contaminated water. The company recently announced a maiden profit with strong growth prospects. Given water shortages in South Africa amid Chinas pollution crackdown, we think the tailwinds are strong for the company and the sector. Iluka Resources (ILU)



Mines mineral sands, including zircon and rutile. Iluka reported positive dynamics in a zircon market with moderate demand growth and tight supply conditions. The zircon price continues to grind higher, recently hitting a fresh five year high. This paints a brighter outlook for Iluka. HOLD RECOMMENDATIONS BlueScope Steel (BSL)



A steel producer and supplier. Recently, US President Donald Trump announced tariffs on imported steel and aluminium. At first, the announcement sounded negative. But we believe BlueScope may be exempt from tariffs, as its already a producer in the US via its North Star steel mill. Additionally, Chinas pollution crackdown is supporting global steel prices. Watpac (WTP)



Watpac is a construction and mining services firm. On February 26, WTP entered into a scheme implementation agreement with its major shareholder BESIX Group SA. If successfully implemented, the agreement enables BESIX to acquire a further 50 per cent of the shares it doesnt already own in WTP at 92 cents. Prior to this announcement, the WTP stock was priced at 67 cents. Watpac shares closed at 76.5 cents on March 7. SELL RECOMMENDATIONS Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings (NEC)



The stock had recently gained more than 30 per cent since reporting strong half year results. However, in our view, the TV industry is in structural decline, so we cant justify NECs recent 13 times forward earnings valuation  one of the highest in the stocks history. Retail Food Group (RFG)



A franchisor of well known brands, such as Michels Patisserie, Gloria Jeans and Donut King. Its business model is under immense stress and the company may face a class action. The companys debt in its recent report was more than market capitalisation on March 8, which we find worrying.

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Please note that TheBull.com.au simply publishes broker recommendations on this page. The publication of these recommendations does not in any way constitute a recommendation on the part of TheBull.com.au. You should seek professional advice before making any investment decisions.On the of 21st of February the share price of ASX junior biotechnology company Viralytics Limited (VLA) jumped 168% in a single day. The catalyst was news of a takeover bid from US pharma giant Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK) at $1.75 per share, with the pre-offer trading price of $0.63 rising to $1.69 by the close of trading.

While the train has left the station for newcomers to VLA, that kind of move invariably attracts the attention of investors searching for other biotech stocks with takeover potential.

While the potential rewards of getting it right with this strategy are substantial, the risks suggest most investors should proceed with extreme caution.

Potential targets you might find on financial websites are companies known to everyone in the market, raising the possibility the share price is already reflecting the takeover. The moral here is insiders often smell takeover long before retail investors get wind of the deal.

In addition, retail investors with market experience know rumours are a tool used by some investment banking and private equity firms to drive up share price, with the increase rapidly fading away once the rumours prove untrue.

Announced acquisitions do not always come to fruition, with the share price crashing once problems with the takeover become known.

Given these risks it is somewhat surprising even the most prestigious analyst firms from time to time release speculative lists of companies ripe for a takeover. For the intrepid investor with high risk tolerance, there are steps one can take to increase the odds of a successful investment.

First, merger and acquisition activity tends to increase during periods of stellar economic growth. Despite market volatility in recent months, the most recent Global PMI (Purchasing Managers Index) from JP Morgan in conjunction with London-based financial services firm IH Markit suggests we are in a robust global economy.



>> BACK TO THE NEWSLETTER: Click here to read other articles from this weeks newsletterJapan pledges continued support

Japanese envoy says Japan is ready to help Nepal in infrastructure and economy developmentKhokana residents blame govt for displacing Newars

What should have been the reason for celebration for locals of Khokana in Lalitpur, the site for numerous major development projects, has become rather the source of trouble for residents as they have come out strongly protesting against these projects.With credentials like this, one would think that the University of South Dakota would be thrilled to have her and would be doing everything to keep her, especially given the fact that the law school has only one tenured female faculty member and was cited by the ABA in its last site visit for its lack of gender diversity. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Although the law school has been strongly supportive of Myanna, the central University Administration seems to be doing everything they can to make her feel unwelcome.

After graduating first in her class at the University of Oregon School of Law in 2008, she had two clerkships, including for the Hon. Procter Hug, Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Myanna started her academic career as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Whitter Law School in 2010-11 and then accepted a tenure-track position at Western State College of Law in 2011-12. She was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014, effective for the 2014-15 academic year. In 2014, she was recruited by the University of South Dakota School of Law Dean Thomas Geu and offered a lateral position as an Associate Professor for the 2015-16 academic year, which she accepted. Since arriving at USD, Myanna has continued to thrive. She has published four highly-regarded law review articles since joining the faculty there, and has consistently received outstanding teaching evaluations. In 2016, she received a Fulbright Fellowship to the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies in Potsdam, Germany. She is highly involved in service to the school, the community and the broader profession and has brought significant positive attention to the school.

Myannas problems started in her second year at the law school. In 2016, Jim Moran, the Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs, initiated an effort to strip Myanna of her title as Associate Professor and demote her to Assistant Professor. The Provost apparently objected to the law school offering a lateral appointment as Associate Professor to Myanna without his prior approval, even though it was clearly within the Deans authority to do so, and the appointment was approved by the University President. Myanna was forced to hire a local attorney, at considerable expense, to defend herself against that blatant attempt to breach her contract. Ultimately, she was successful in retaining her title, but it became clear that the Provost would do everything within his power to prevent her from getting tenure in a timely fashion.

From the time that the law school recruited her, Myanna had been promised that she would be eligible for tenure consideration in her third year. Under the law schools tenure rules, it is standard procedure for Associate Professors to apply for tenure in their third year as Associate Professors. At the start of this academic year, Myannas third at USD, Dean Thomas Geu reaffirmed his support for Myanna to apply for tenure this year and directed the Associate Dean of Academic Affairs to seek external reviews of Myannas scholarship for inclusion in her tenure package. Although her law school colleagues were strongly supportive, Myanna anticipated that she would encounter resistance from the Provost and President and might ultimately have to resort to legal action. Accordingly, she retained my services to assist her in the tenure process. The first step in the tenure process was to file a petition for prior service credit for to the USD Board of Regents. This is also standard practice at USD. According to the Board of Regents policy manual, the Board strongly suggests that faculty members submit requests for prior service credit toward tenure only after the faculty member has assembled a complete portfolio for tenure review. Myanna submitted her petition, along with a complete tenure portfolio and other supporting materials, on time, in September.

In her petition, she requested that she be given three years of credit for her five years of teaching at ABA-Accredited law schools prior to joining the USD faculty. Under law school tenure rules, associate professors are normally eligible for tenure in their sixth year of service (three years as an Assistant Professor, and three as an Associate Professor) so three years was all she needed to be ensure her unequivocal eligibility for tenure. The petition was required to be reviewed by the Dean, Provost and President before submission to the Board of Regents. Dean Geu wrote a detailed memorandum in support of the petition, explaining why Myanna deserved three years of prior service credit. But the Provost and President refused to concur with the Deans recommendation. They each wrote separate perfunctory memos to the Board recommending that Myanna receive only one year of prior service credit. They offered no specific rationale for their recommendations.

The Board of Regents met in October, and, following the Universitys recommendation granted Myanna only one year of prior service credit towards tenure. When I inquired as to whether the Board had actually reviewed Myannas petition on the merits or had simply followed the Presidents recommendation, I learned that the University had not actually forwarded Myannas petition and supporting materials to the Board, so the Board had never had the opportunity to consider them. I filed a grievance with the University protesting this gross procedural failure. The President initially denied the grievance, but then agreed to an informal settlement conference. During the conference, I asked him why he opposed Myannas petition, and he explained that it had nothing to do with her personal merits, but that he was personally philosophically opposed to any new faculty member receiving tenure without an extended period of service in residence at the University of South Dakota. He agreed to write a new recommendation to the Board, recommending an additional year of prior service credit (but still not the two additional years we were requesting), and explaining that his recommendation was not based on the specific merits of Myannas petition but rather on his personal views in general regarding how long a professor should have to be in residence at USD before they should be given tenure. He also agreed to forward Myannas full original petition and supporting materials and any additional materials that she or I wished to include for the Boards reconsideration in support of our request for two more years.

Meanwhile, the Faculty Retention, Promotion and Tenure (RPT) Committee had already begun to review Myannas tenure application. With a deadline looming for the RPT Committee to complete their work and Myannas prior service credit petition still under consideration, the Committee inquired whether Myanna still wished to move forward with her application. She replied that she did. Indeed, from the beginning of the process, Myanna made it clear that she was not relying solely on the prior service credit process to establish her eligibility for tenure. The Law School and University tenure rules make clear that while six years of service is the normal period for tenure consideration, outstanding candidates who met the standards for tenure early could apply early under an exception to policy. Myanna had checked the box on the Universitys required standard tenure application form indicating that she wished to be considered under this exception. Understanding this, the RPT Committee unanimously voted to recommend Myanna for tenure, and presented a thorough report and recommendation to the Dean which was strongly supportive of her candidacy.

While the Dean was reviewing Myannas tenure package and preparing his recommendation, the Board of Regents met again and reconsidered Myannas prior service credit petition. Again, the Board followed the Presidents recommendation and awarded her with one additional year of prior service credit. The Dean asked Myanna if she still wished to proceed with her application, as it would be considered early based on the Boards decision. He advised her that if she was denied on the merits that she would then receive a terminal year contract. Myanna reaffirmed to the Dean that she wished to move forward with her application. The Dean then prepared his recommendation. Like the RPT Committee, he strongly endorsed her application, reporting that her records contain overwhelming evidence that she exceeds the standards for tenure based on her accomplishments at USD Law. The Dean noted that he was applying the Universitys exceptional circumstances exception for early tenure for those faculty members who have established records clearly worthy of tenure and promotion with outstanding potential. The Dean noted that, although nominally considered early, Myanna was, in fact in her eighth year of law teaching overall, her seventh on the tenure track, her fourth as an associate professor and her third as an associate professor at USD law school, which is the normal time in service as an associate professor. The Deans report was submitted to the Provost on January 30, 2018.

Over a month later, Myanna received a brief, one paragraph memorandum from the Provost stating that she was not eligible to be considered for tenure because a decision to recommend tenure normally will be made during the faculty members sixth year of service at the law school and the Board of Regents awarded her only two years of prior credit. The Memo concluded we are returning your materials to you. Please note that this is not a judgement one way or the other on the merits of your candidacy.

Although it is not entirely clear why the Provost and President are so opposed to Myanna receiving tenure, there have been some disturbing signs that there are other factors at play in Myannas case beyond these administrators professed belief that lateral hires should not be promoted on the same schedule as homegrown faculty members. In 2016, Myanna published an article in the Columbia Journal of Environmental Law Trophy Hunting Contracts - Unenforceable for Reasons of Public Policy, 41 Colum. J. Envtl. L. (2016) (SSRN Link) that was highly critical of trophy hunting. Although the article was very well-received in the legal academy, the article was very controversial in South Dakota, where hunting, including big-game hunting, is still a popular activity. The article ignited considerable controversy in South Dakota and the law school was criticized for allowing Myanna to publish it. Rather than encouraging Professor Dellingers colleagues to come to her support, the law faculty were directed not share their views externally and not to respond to comments posted on the USD Law listserv. The Provosts unsuccessful efforts to demote Myanna began shortly thereafter.

Based on the Provosts pattern of hostility to Myanna, we were disappointed but not surprised by his latest action of refusing to process her tenure file. However, it is not at all clear under what authority the Provost purports to be acting. The Law School Tenure Rules do not specify any role for the Provost in the tenure process and the University tenure rules and Board of Regents tenure policy clearly state that the Law School has the authority to establish its own tenure rules. Although the Provost was plainly hoping that Professor Dellinger would simply give up on her tenure application and wait to apply for tenure next year, Professor Dellinger decided she was not willing to give up without a fight. Thus, on Friday, March 9, Myanna and I filed a Motion for Declaratory Judgment (link to Motion)(link to Motion Exhibits) in the South Dakota State Circuit Court in Vermillion seeking a declaration that she is eligible for tenure consideration this year and an order directing the Provost to continue processing her application on the merits. We have asked the Court to set an expedited schedule for the Provosts response and a hearing, if necessary.

We are hopeful of a positive outcome in the Court. Certainly the facts and the law are on Myannas side. Unfortunately, Myannas extended legal battles to defend her rights have put a severe financial strain on her. USD is one of the lowest-paying law schools in the country (even third year Associate Professors like Myanna are still paid under six figures) so there is not a lot left over for legal fees. Although I have done all of my work on the case either pro bono or at a deeply discounted rate, it is still a major struggle for Myanna to pay for the ongoing fees and costs of litigation. Accordingly, Myanna has set up a Legal Defense Fund with Go Fund Me. This fund will be used to pay for court costs (filing fees, pro hac vice fee, etc.), and past, present and future legal fees. If the Court orders a hearing in the case, I have promised Myanna to represent her at the hearing pro bono, but the fund would be used to pay for my travel expenses to South Dakota, which is not the cheapest place to get to. If you have a few bucks to spare and would like to support Myanna, please consider donating to the fund.

Stay tuned here for further developments on the case. In the meantime, I welcome your comments, questions and ideas on the matter and on the Declaratory Judgment Motion. In particular, if anyone knows of any analogous cases involving a dispute between a law school and University administration on a tenure eligibility question, Myanna and I would be very interested to hear about it. Thank you.

UPDATE MONDAY, MARCH 12. I am pleased to report that earlier today the Provost informed Professor Dellinger that USD was reversing course and, with the consent of the Board of Regents, the University would now process her tenure dossier and forward it with a recommendation to the Board of Regents as we had sought in our Motion for Declaratory Judgment. Of course, this does not guarantee that Professor Dellinger will actually be awarded tenure, but it is a major step in the right direction and I am cautiously optimistic that she will get the recognition that she has worked so hard for and richly deserves. Thank you to all who wrote in support and/or contributed to Professor Dellinger's legal defense fund. DFLets have inclusive prosperity

Economic growth only will not reduce the poverty and inequality prevailing in NepalSleep is essential for our health as it allows our body to regain its immunity, balances our hormone levels, decreases our blood pressure and cleans toxins from our brain, among others.

There is research and studies that explore sleep, but you will be surprised to find many news or notions that you've heard to be merely a myth.

Below are several of those myths about sleep that are untrue as compiled by kompas.com:

1. You can strive to become a morning person

The matter of becoming a morning person is actually more complex than it seems as there are several factors that affect a person's chronotype, which relates to the tendency of someone to sleep in 24 hours. There are those who tend to wake early, those that have the ability to stay up, and both.

Researchers said a human's body clock changed throughout their life and was affected by several factors, such as getting enough sunlight and genetics. Most people are able to arrange their bed time, but there are also those who genuinely have difficulty when being asked to turn into a morning person or stay up late.

Read also: Five plants to help you sleep and breathe better: NASA research

2. Sleeping less than seven hours every day is enough

A neuroscience researcher from University of California Berkeley, Matthew Walker, tried to debunk this myth by suggesting to not turn on the alarm and waking up naturally for one week. This will allow us to see how many hours are needed by the body to regain its function.

Based on the study, most people needed around seven to nine hours of sleep. There are those who claimed to only need five hours, and still have a fresh and normal body. But Walker said, although your body is able to adjust to such habits, the test showed that it would experience some disruption.

3. The only consequence of lack of sleep is a tired body

According to Walker in his book Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams, lack of sleep relates to decreasing health functions, which can lead to memory problems, increased cancer risk, depression and anxiety, heart disease and could trigger Alzheimer's.

4. Snoring is annoying, but not a big issue

If you snore when you sleep, you may want to visit a doctor as snoring may indicate sleep apnea or a sleep disorder that may lead to other health issues.

Snoring is caused by decreased of air flow that can torture your heart and cause cardiovascular issues and weight gain.

5. You can catch up on lack of sleep

You're probably thinking that you can catch up on lack of sleep over the weekend or during holidays. Chronobiology expert Till Roenneberg said in his book Internal Time: Chronotypes, Social Jet Lag, and Why You're So Tired that people should always sleep consistently. Sleeping in another day is not a good solution and cannot replace all the effects of the lack of sleep.

Read also: How to get more sleep in 2018

6. It's OK to consume sleeping pills often

Walker said those who consumed such medicine were actually not asleep or still awake. "They are actually being drugged," he added.

Sleeping medicine can harm your body, like weakening the connection of your brain cells that lead to weakened memory from time to time.

7. Waking up in the morning to exercise is better than a good night of sleep

Exercise is important to maintain your stamina. However, experts say that working out should be done when your body is rested.

If you're lacking sleep but insist on exercising, your muscle cells won't receive the benefits of the activity.

8. It is OK to use mobile devices before sleep as long as you turn off the blue light

The blue light emitting from a mobile device can keep us awake as it blocks the production of melatonin by the brain as the signal of time to sleep.

Experts say that no matter what you do, such as eliminating the blue light, the activity of using such devices before sleep can mess with your sleep quality.

9. Some people just don't dream

Experts asserted that we all dreamed, although usually forgot them after waking up.

Dreams do not only happen when we're experiencing rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. When we're dreaming, we process our emotions and experiences during the day. Walker also stated that dreaming was an important part of our emotional and mental health. (kes)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Dylan Amirio (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, March 10 2018

The film showcase event that is Film Musik Makan (FMM) will return for its fifth year to once again celebrate the synergy of film, music and food.



Organized by the Kolektif community with Bahasinema and Spasial, this years event will be held at Goethehaus in Central Jakarta on March 10 and at Spasial Arts Warehouse on March 11 in Bandung, West Java.



The films to be showcased this year include Suryo Wiyogos collection of short films titled Joko, Eden Junjungs Happy Family, Thai director Auncha Boonyawatanas Malila: The Farewell Flower and Ismail Basbeths Mobil Bekas dan Kisah-Kisah dalam Putaran (The Carousel Never Stops Turning).



These films, while never screened in Indonesian cinemas, have been shown at a range of international film festivals, such as the Busan International Film Festival, the Tokyo International Film F...Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Beijing, China  Sun, March 11, 2018 15:19 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c9509b3 2 World China,president,Xi-Jinping Free

China's parliament voted Sunday to abolish presidential term limits, clearing the path for President Xi Jinping to rule for life.

The almost 3,000 delegates to the country's rubber-stamp legislature passed the measure as part of a package of changes to the country's constitution, with 2,958 voting for, two against and three abstaining.

The move reverses the era of "collective" leadership and orderly succession that was promoted by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to ensure stability following the turbulent one-man rule of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong.

The historic constitutional amendment breezed through the rubber-stamp parliament with 2,958 in favour, two against and three abstentions despite an unusual bout of online criticism that censors have scrambled to extinguish.

Xi stood up first at the imposing Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box, as delegates of the National People's Congress applauded after each vote on the constitutional amendment to lift the two five-year term limit for the presidency.

The first constitutional amendment in 14 years had been expected to breeze through the legislature, which has never rejected a Communist Party diktat in its half-century of existence.

"This is the urgent wish of the common people," Ju Xiuqin, a delegate from northeastern Heilongjiang province, told AFP, echoing party claims that the amendment had the unanimous support of "the masses".Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 11, 2018 17:25 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c954127 1 City death,hari-darmawan,Matahari-Department-Store,retailer Free

The family of Matahari Group founder Hari Darmawan, whose dead body was discovered in the Ciliwung River, did not request that an autopsy be carried out on Haris body.

Family spokesman Ilham Fadjriansyah said the family believed what happened to the former retail tycoon was purely accidental.

We dont want an autopsy because we believe this was an accident, he said as quoted by liputan6.com on Saturday.

Iham said the decision was made based on a family meeting, under the knowledge of Haris wife, Anna Yanti, who lives in Denpasar.

(Read also: Matahari founder found dead in Ciliwung River)

Haris body was discovered near his home in Puncak, Bogor, on Saturday morning after he was reported missing a few hours earlier.

The 77-year-old was the founder of Matahari Group, among the first modern retailers in the country. He is survived by his wife and three children.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 11, 2018 22:37 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c958fad 2 Business KADI,sunset-review,hot-rolled-plate,imports,anti-dumping-duties Free

The Indonesian Antidumping Committee (KADI) has instigated a sunset review of hot rolled plate imports from China, Singapore and Ukraine prior to the expiration of antidumping duties.

KADI chief Ernawati said the investigation, which began on March 5, was conducted as a followup to a request from two local steel plate manufacturers  PT Gunung Raja Paksi and PT Krakatau Posco.

The initiation of the investigation was based on the request by PT PT Gunung Raja Paksi and PT Krakatau Posco to continue the imposition of the antidumping duties on imported hot rolled plate products, she said in a statement on Saturday.

Although the steel products from the three countries have been charged with the punitive duties since April 1, 2016, the market shares of the imports have continued to surge.

In 2015, the combined market share of the imports from these countries was only 57 percent. However, the share climbed to 60 percent and 66 percent in 2016 and 2017, respectively. (dpk/lnd)Local governments vow to improve education quality in public schools

With the school level education coming under their jurisdiction, the local governments have started to unveil their programmes to ensure quality education and make schools zone of peace.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Semarang  Sun, March 11, 2018 11:41 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c94ac1c 1 National Kostrad,preschool,accident,Purworejo Free

Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) is investigating an accident involving an armored personnel carrier and dozens of pre-school children in Purworejo, Central Java, which killed one officer and the schools principal.

Kostrad are claiming the responsibility to investigate the accident and prevent it from happening again, Lt. Col. Inf. Putra Widyawinaya, Kostrad spokesperson, said in a press release released on Sunday.

The Kostrad base in Purworejo received dozens of preschool children on Saturday as part of a field trip that allowed them to ride in armored personnel carriers.

One was traveling along the Bogowonto riverbank at around 10 a.m. when it went over an area of weak soil, causing the vehicle to tilt and roll over.

Some of the passengers fell into the river and was carried away by the strong current, Putra explained.

Pvt. Randi Suryadi and Ananda Preschool principal Iswandari drowned in the incident.

Randi had managed to save several children before he succumbed to exhaustion and was carried away by the current.

Kostrad offers its condolences to the families of the victims, as well as to the public, Putra said. (evi)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Theresia Sufa (The Jakarta Post) Bogor  Sun, March 11, 2018 15:05 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c95074f 1 National matahari,Matahari-Department-Store,bogor,Ciliwung-river,hari-darmawan Free

The death of Hari Darmawan, the founder of retail giant PT Matahari Department Store, was likely caused by an accident, according to Matahari Recreational Park (TWM) manager Ilham Fadjriansyah.

The 78-year-old businessmans body was found in the Ciliwung River in Bogor, West Java, on Saturday, some 100 meters from where he was last seen.

He had been declared missing the night before.

Ciliwung River runs through TWM, where Haris villa is located. The rivers current was stronger than usual due to heavy rainfall on Friday, Ilham said.

"Hari probably lost his balance as he was trying to take a closer look at the current, and then fell into the river, he said in a press statement obtained by The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

The Cisarua Police and park employees launched a search for Hari that covered both the park and the river. His body was found among some rocks at around 6 a.m. between Leuwimalang and Jogjogan village.

Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Andi M Dicky said his team had yet to determine the cause of death.

Haris body has been taken to Ciawi General Hospital for an autopsy.

His funeral will be held in Bali, Ilham said. (srs)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Suherdjoko (The Jakarta Post) Purworejo, Central Java  Sun, March 11, 2018 20:09 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c95861a 1 National Purworejo,Kostrad,accident Free

Private Randi Suryadi, 25, who died on Saturday in an accident involving an armored personnel carrier, 14 preschoolers and six teachers, was saving the children before he succumbed to exhaustion and was carried away by the current of Bogowonto River.

Endah Purwaningsih, a survivor who was treated in the hospital, said Sunday the military personnel moved fast to save all. They held us all, carried us, she said.

Besides Randi, the principal of Ananda Preschool, Iswandari, 51, also died in the accident.

The accident happened when dozens of preschoolers from several schools came to an Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad) base in Purworejo, Central Java, on Saturday morning. The children were allowed to ride three M113 armored personnel carriers around the base. The first batch rode safely, but the second batch had one carrier slip on loose ground near the river. It tipped over and fell into the river.

Such field trips have been routinely hosted by the Kostrad base.

Army spokesperson Brig. Gen. Alfert Denny Tuejeh said in his release that Private Randi died in his attempt to save the other passengers from the sinking vehicle.

His body was returned to his hometown in Sumedang, West Java, while Iswandari was buried in Purworejo on Sunday morning. Reports said Randi had asked permission to leave next week to marry.

As of Sunday, four survivors, three children and an adult, were still being treated in Purworejo Regional Hospital. (evi)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin (Agence France-Presse) Lahore, Pakistan  Sun, March 11, 2018 19:45 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c957508 2 World Pakistan,protest,politics Free

An Islamic seminary student hurled a shoe at Pakistan's former prime minister on Sunday, an act considered a major insult in the Muslim country.

Nawaz Sharif, who was ousted last year over graft charges, appeared visibly shocked as the shoe hit his shoulder while he was addressing a gathering at a seminary in Lahore.

The incident came a day after an individual hurled ink at Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, a member of the ruling party and a close Sharif aide, while he was speaking at a party rally in eastern Pakistan.

The shoe hurling was broadcast live on Pakistani TV channels. In the Muslim world, such a gesture is considered particularly insulting.

Shoe hurled at former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif by a student at Jamia address in Lahore. pic.twitter.com/MlHYDkNeG0  Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) March 11, 2018

The perpetrator then jumped on stage where Sharif was standing and began chanting before he was overpowered by the crowd and handed over to the police.

According to police officials, the man is a student at the seminary.

Minutes later, Imran Khan, leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf opposition party and an arch rival of Sharif who has frequently criticised the former prime minister, condemned the incident.

"This is not the way to express yourself and I condemn whoever did it," Khan said.

Sharif, a three-time prime minister, was ousted by the judiciary in July 2017 over corruption charges which he is currently facing in Pakistani courts.

Highly condemnable act somebody throws ink on foreign minister @KhawajaMAsif.. Beware it is a dangerous/unfortunate start to pull up the tussle/confrontation/rivalry among political parties!#KhawajaAsif #PMLN #PTI #DemocracyDemonetised #PPP pic.twitter.com/EPnlpqOuYl  Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) March 10, 2018Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Sun, March 11, 2018 17:40 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c954771 1 National Holi-Festival,bali Free

Thousands of people took part in Holi, a festival of colors, in Puputan Badung Park in Denpasar, Bali, on Saturday. The participants came from various backgrounds, including Balinese, Indian citizens, people of Indian descent living Bali, as well as other expatriates and tourists.

"I came because its a fun activity to take part in on a Saturday. Ive never attended a Holi event before but I love the fun where everyone can come and meet," Anna Prinkki, a US citizen living in Bali.

Locals, expatriates and tourists all enjoy the festival on Saturday. (JP/Zul Edoardo)

A Balinese man, Komang Adi, 36, was enthusiastic about taking part in the festival with his two daughters. "This is the first time for me celebrating Holi. It's great. And the kids look happy," said Komang.

Holi is an Indian festival that celebrates the start of spring in India. "When nature changes, people in India play with colors. It's a fun time," Indian consul general in Bali, RO Sunil Babu, told The Jakarta Post.

Sunil said the Indian Consulate General in Bali had celebrated Holi annually for the last five years. "Many people here have seen Holi in Bollywood movies. This is a chance for everybody to play Holi on their own," he said.

Last week, Medan also held a Holi event, which saw thousands of Indian citizens and locals having fun with colors. (evi)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 11, 2018 16:10 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c951cf3 1 City robbery,ATM,jakarta,crime Free

The Tanjung Priok Port Police arrested three men over the weekend for allegedly stealing money from a man who was withdrawing cash from an ATM inside a convenience store.

The three suspects allegedly tampered with the ATM, preventing the victim from inserting his card.

The perpetrators approached the victim and offered help, and suddenly the victims card was replaced with their card, said police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Hadi Santoso, as quoted by tribunnews.com.

He said each of the perpetrators had different roles. One was in charge of sticking the toothpick into the card slot, swapping the victims card and withdrawing the money, while another offered assistance and tried to peek at the victims personal identification number (PIN), and the third was the driver.

The victim realized his money had been stolen, and reported it to the police, who later arrested the three suspects within 24 hours as the alleged crime was caught on CCTV. The suspects were found in Taman Sari, West Jakarta.

The police confiscated evidence such as the toothpick, Rp 1.2 million (US$87) in cash, 27 ATM cards from various banks and two cell phones. They are charged under Article 363 on theft with a penalty of up to seven years imprisonment. (wnd/evi)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Jennifer Epstein (Bloomberg) Washington  Sun, March 11, 2018 16:25 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c9529b1 2 World US,trump,drugs,death-penaly Free

President Donald Trump attempted to energize his Republican base ahead of a Pennsylvania special election, talking up the plan for tariffs on steel imports, criticizing the media and Democrats, and praising the concept of the death penalty for drug dealers.

In his speech, Trump for the first time mused publicly about the possibility of targeting convicted drug dealers with the death penalty. He praised Singapore and China for their zero-tolerance policies on drugs.

I think its a discussion we have to start thinking about, Trump said.

Trump endorsed Republican Rick Saccone, a state representative locked in a tight race with Democrat Conor Lamb. Its a must-win Congressional race for Republicans in a district the party has held for more than a decade, as they try to tamp down worries of a Democratic wave in Novembers midterm elections.

We need Republicans put in office, Trump said during a rambling speech that ran well over an hour in an airplane hangar at Pittsburgh International Airport, in Moon Township. We have to get out, and we have to vote.

Trump also touted his new tariffs on steel and aluminum, which are popular in the district in the heart of steel country. Were saving the steel, and a lot of steel mills are opening up, the president said minutes into his speech. He later said the countries of the European Union had banded together to screw the U.S. on trade, and repeated a recent threat to slap tariffs on German luxury cars.

Trump derided Democratic Representative Maxine Waters as a very low IQ individual and said that Washington DC was full of evil people.

The visit is a politically risky one for Trump, since Saccone has lost his early lead in the race as Democrats in the district, with an anti-Trump message, gained momentum.

A Republican loss would be embarrassing for the president and -- less than three months after a stunning Democratic upset in the Alabama U.S. Senate race -- would be another sign of a weakened party heading into the midterm elections.Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, March 11, 2018 23:05 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c95a3d4 2 Business Wingstop,fast-food-chain,US,expansion Free

United States fast-food chain Wingstop plans to add at least six more outlets in Indonesia this year, driven by its confidence over its business prospects in Southeast Asias biggest economy.

On Saturday, the company opened its 22nd restaurant in Indonesia, located in fX Sudirman, Central Jakarta.

Wingstop Global CEO Charlie Morrison said the new outlets would mostly be opened in Jakarta and other cities in Java. The companys plan would support its mid-term goal to operate more than 60 stores in Indonesia in the next five years, he added.

Indonesia is Wingstop's second largest market outside of the US, behind Mexico, and is its fastest-expanding market globally with annual double-digit sales growth.

Morrison attributed its success in Indonesia to the different flavors and various menus Wingstop has on offer, claiming that the company did not have any direct competitors in Indonesia.

Wingstops expansion plan in Indonesia is part of its global expansion strategy to help it become a worldwide top 10 fast food chain.

Apart from Indonesia, it is also seeking to establish this year a number of restaurants in four other markets, namely Australia, France, Panama and the United Kingdom.

Last year, the companys global revenue amounted to US$1 billion. (kmt/lnd)Share this article Whatsapp

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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post) Yogyakarta  Sun, March 11, 2018 12:32 1289 2c798a31c212039f000dc5df9c94ce39 1 National niqab,UIN,Yogyakarta,moderate-Islam,radicalism Free

Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University (UIN Sunan Kalijaga) in Yogyakarta decided to revoke a counseling program for niqab-wearing students on Saturday after becoming the first university in Indonesia to prohibit full Islamic veils on campus.

The decision was made to maintain a conducive academic climate, UIN Sunan Kalijaga rector Yudian Wahyudi said in a statement received by The Jakarta Post.

He did now, however, mention whether the university would rescind its ban on the niqab, for which it has received criticism from religious and law experts who call it discriminatory and a human rights violation.

Yudian said the move was a show of UIN Sunan Kalijagas commitment to moderate Islam.

"These girls must understand that the niqab is just a part of Arabic culture, therefore it is not appropriate in Indonesian society, he said recently, adding that the ban would also prevent security and attendance issues.

If we cant see the students face, we cannot confirm whether it is really her attending the lecture. Furthermore, the niqab is not part of the schools dress code.

Upon implementing the ban, the university announced it would provide a counseling program for niqab-wearing students with the aim of encouraging a dress code in line with moderate Islam.

Forty-one students were registered in the program, which would have been led by five experts in the fields of psychology, Islamic studies and social science, when it was cancelled. (srs)The government plans to draw up by May a set of measures to help medical institutions avoid having problems with foreign tourists over the payment of medical expenses and differences in customs, government sources said Thursday.

With more and more foreigners traveling to Japan, the government will soon launch a working group to discuss the matter. Measures that may be considered include making a unified manual for hospitals in dealing with foreign patients and encouraging local governments to offer consultation services.

The number of foreign visitors to Japan has continued to rise over recent years on the back of a weaker yen and relaxed visa requirements for tourists, with the figure hitting a record 28.69 million in 2017 from 8.61 million in 2010.

At the same time, the government is concerned over a growing number of unpaid medical bills by foreigners, some of whom come to Japan without travel insurance, and other problems stemming from differences in customs.

Read also: Garuda launches insurance for frequent fliers

In one case, a woman who gave birth prematurely during her trip was unable to pay the 8 million yen ($75,000) bill and the medical institution concerned sought donations from foreign residents in Japan to cover the expenses, according to the sources.

In another case, a medical institution experienced problems in completing the procedures of sending back the body of a foreigner who died due to an acute disease.

The working group, to be set up under a government task force on health care and medical policies, will be joined by officials of relevant ministries, the Japan Medical Association and hospital groups.

The participants will also discuss ways to encourage medical institutions to hire more interpreters and introduce translation devices. They will also consider the need to create a system to reduce the financial burden the institutions may have to bear when a problem occurs.Mahara elected Speaker of HoR unanimously

Krisha Bahadur Mahara has been elected Speaker of House of Representatives unanimously after the main opposition Nepali Congress too extended its support to the CPN (Maoist Centre) leader in Parliament on Saturday.Those visiting the city of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), may want to drop by the NTB Islamic Center, which serves as one of the province's main religious destinations.

The center is home to the Hubbul Wathan Grand Mosque and four towers, including the 99-meter-tall Asmaul Husna Tower.

Other than worshippers, around 200 domestic and foreign tourists, who are mostly from Malaysia and vacationing in Lombok, reportedly come to the place every day to pray. An elevator is provided for visitors to go to the top of the tower with a fee of Rp 5,000 (50 US cents) and Rp 10,000 for domestic and foreign tourists, respectively.

"The ticket is quite affordable," NTB Islamic Center management agency technical implementation unit head, Jamsuri, told tempo.co on Monday.

Read also: West Nusa Tenggara launches first halal tourism kampung

Muslim and non-Muslim visitors are allowed to enter Hubbul Wathan Grand Mosque on the second floor, but are required to don a cloak-like outfit to cover certain parts of the body from public view. Meanwhile, the third floor will be prepared as a tourist zone with all kinds of information. "A dedicated elevator has been prepared," said Sulaiman.

The 7.47-hectare NTB Islamic Center complex that has been open to the public since Dec. 16, 2016, also features photographs of mosques from all around the villages in Lombok, also known as the Island of a Thousand Mosques.

Built by the NTB provincial administration, the place also hosts a display room, an educational complex and an Islamic study center at the Attaqwa Grand Mosque.

Meanwhile, the 99-meter-tall Asmaul Husna Tower, which was inaugurated by NTB Governor Muhammad Zainul Majdi in 2013, serves as a perfect location to conveniently view the entire Mataram city. (kes)Tourism New Zealand has released the newest version of its Halal Food Guide. Designed to accommodate Muslim travelers visiting the country, the current guide has 289 new restaurants and cafes added to the earlier version.

First launched in 2016, the Halal Food Guide highlights halal-certified cuisine, as well as supermarkets and take away food outlets with halal certification. Along with general travel information, the guide is equipped with 567 halal-certified listings.

The guide was curated by Tourism New Zealand, Kiwi Muslim Directory and Federation of Islamic Associations of New Zealand (FIANZ).

Steven Dixon, Tourism New Zealand regional manager for South and Southeast Asia, said the improved guide showed New Zealands commitment in accommodating the needs of Muslim travelers as well as establishing the countrys stance as one of the most popular travel destinations in the world.

Read also: How to honeymoon in New Zealand with Gwen Winarno

We would like to assure that halal-certified food is easily accessible to Muslim travelers in New Zealand. We recognized the importance of partnering with Kiwi Muslim Directory and FIANZ in consistently renewing the Halal Food Guide. With our newest guide, Muslim travelers can choose from a plethora of cuisine in all areas and cities, said Dixon.

Nawaz Ahmed, project manager of the Kiwi Muslim Directory, added that the institution wished to continue working with Tourism New Zealand in renewing the food guide and finding new ways to make travelers feel content. Its platform consists of websites and print media to bridge Muslim organizations, volunteers and communities.

Several recommended halal food joints in New Zealand include Bawarchi Indian Restaurant in Central Auckland, Garudas Food Truck in Wellington, The Herb Centre Cafe in Christchurch and KL Aroma Restaurant in Dunedin.

The food guide is available for download from the Tourism New Zealand website.

Lonely Planet reported that Muslim travelers were the third-biggest spenders in global travel. A number of countries have made the effort to make Muslim travelers feel welcome. Japan has started to make halal bento boxes and Russia has opened several halal hotels. (wen)Sorong in West Papua, which serves as a transit spot for travelers en route to diving haven Raja Ampat, is home to interesting tourist attractions.

The Sorong administration reportedly plans to expand Tanjung Kasuari Beach, Raam Island (also known as Crocodile Island), Doom Island and a conservation forest.

Sorong Tourism Agency head Yacobus Sedik told Antara on Friday that the administration was planning the infrastructure development to support tourism in the aforementioned places.

"We're currently educating locals on how to protect the historical buildings left from World War II that we can use as heritage tourism," said Yacobus.

Read also: Raja Ampat easier to reach thanks to Garuda's new Jakarta-Sorong service

Below is what to expect from the four destinations:

Tanjung Kasuari Beach

A post shared by Lindy Masui (@lindymasui) on May 18, 2017 at 2:15am PDT

Located in Saoka subdistrict in Maladumes district, this pristine beach is around seven kilometers from Sorong city center.

Blessed with refreshing atmosphere and white sand, the place has become a popular destination among the locals and is always packed during holidays despite not yet managed professionally.

Raam Island

A post shared by INFO WISATA DI INDONESIA (@jalanjalandiindonesia) on Jan 14, 2018 at 1:32am PST

Also known as Crocodile Island, due to its shape, this destination is home to white sand beaches, breathtaking under-the-sea panorama, World War II underwater wrecks and culinary tourism.

Part of Sorong Kepulauan district, it can be reached with a 25-minute motorboat ride.

Read also: Guide to visiting Raja Ampat for first-timers

Conservation forest

The forest at the 14-kilometer point in Sorong was declared a conservation forest by the Forestry Ministry in 1981. It is located on Jl. Sorong-Klamono in Klablim subdistrict, Klaurung district, around 7 kilometers from the city center.

Locals can be found visiting the forest as an alternative tourist destination to enjoy the fresh air while marveling at the ancient tall trees and interesting bird species like the yellow-crested cockatoo, Papuan hornbill and palm cockatoo.

Doom Island

A post shared by Prayudhi M Wn Ajawaila (@yudhit_ajawaila) on Jan 9, 2018 at 4:26am PST

Known as a historic island, this place used to be the Dutch administration center in East Indonesia during World War II.

Accessible by motorboat from Sorong, around a 10-minute journey, it is famous for its splendid underwater scene and Dutch heritage houses. The most beautiful scene on the island can be viewed from the Bethel Doom Church located on the top of the hill, where visitors can marvel at an uninterrupted view of Raam, Soop and Dofior islands with coral cliffs in the background.

The island is also less polluted as vehicles are rarely used there. At the port, tourists can expect to be greeted by dozens of becak (pedicabs) that are ready to transport them around. (kes)Mahara sworn in as speaker

CPN (Maoist Center) leader Krishna Bahadur Mahara has been sworn in as the Speaker of the House of Representatives.McGrath, who is also the Development Officer for Sheffield Students' Union was overseeing a club night when she asked the attacker why he was topless and covered in paint.The attacker, who is a club member of Sheffield Medics' Rugby, proceeded to headbutt her. "His response was to grab my full drink out of my hands, pour it over my head, and run away," she wrote in her post. "Completely shocked, I followed him to challenge his aggressive behaviour. He proceeded to turn around and wordlessly delivered a swift blow to the bridge of my nose with his skull. "Blood immediately started to gush from my face and I was left in absolute shock." According to McGrath, the attacker was caught on camera by the security team and spent the night at the police station. McGrath also added that part of her job is to oversee club nights and read security reports and often victims are scared to take further action. "Far too often I see female victims not taking crimes of sexual or physical assault further. I refuse to be intimidated by this display of toxic masculinity and let this piece of scum evade the punishment he deserves." She will be taking her case to court. Sheffield Medicals Rugby told The National Student that the club is conducting its own internal investigations. "The Club will be holding an EGM to fully reiterate expectations of individuals' conduct both on and off the pitch. "The Club member responsible for these actions has been removed under a lifetime ban and the Club has no association with the individual. "As a Club, we fully support Megan McGrath in whatever action she decides to take and wish her a quick recovery."On this weeks Designated Survivor, the White House deals with its latest crisis, the hacking of the International Space Station, of the American rocket intended to bring water to the astronauts in space, and subsequently of Russian rockets.

The United States and Russia work together to save their astronauts, as Kirkman also enlists the help of Dr. Andrea Frost, treating audiences to a 24 reunion. Kim Raver will be sticking around, though in what capacity beyond their space technology expert remains to be seen.

Of course, last episode was left on the revelation that Damian Rennett was still alive and had decided to pay a visit to the woman whod tried to kill him. The Final Frontier picks things right back up, as he tries to convince Hannah that he has time-sensitive information her government would find valuable.

It seems the writers have decided to further extend the whole can we trust Damian? debate that had already gone on for too long by the time he went over the side of the bridge. Bringing back Damian was neither intriguing nor exciting, and yet it looks like hell be sticking around.

Revelations about his double dealings and his motivations fall flat and lack narrative value, because as an audience weve lost interest in his character, and not just because hes been gone from our screens for a few weeks.

The same can be said about the Icarus namedropping. Unless it ties in to new and exciting conspiracies, weve seen enough of the Icarus investigation already, without having it being brought up once again.

Something the last couple of episodes have done extremely well however, including The Final Frontier, has been to add new layers to Tom Kirkmans character. Hes the easiest man to love; hes a kind, moral and empathetic man who can be counted on to always make the right decision.

The downside to having such a decent man be a shows protagonist is that it also makes him extremely predictable, and therefore a little boring. He will always do the right thing, and therefore no outcome to crises the show faces is all that surprising to audiences.

Thankfully for the future of Designated Survivor, it looks like the showrunners are about to give their President some complexity. First with his threatening of his wifes killer last week, and now with his firing of Vice President Cornelius Moss after he went behind his back to broker a deal with the Russian ambassador.

Of course, we still see the old Tom in his interactions with his closest staff and with Penny, especially. The latter is handled especially beautifully; we see Penny act out some of her grief as she gets into fights at school in attempts to defend classmates who were being bullied. Scenes between her and her father are how we see how Tom handles his trauma away from the spotlight, yet still with the pressures to keep it together for his family. It also allows for Alexs sudden death to land emotionally with viewers.

This was a crisis like any other, but with the added flair of connecting to this half-seasons new conspiracy. This week also redressed a recurring issue of the show, which is that it tries to pack too many plotlines into 40 minutes; it effectively streamlined its narrative and kept the pace well. And though Damian returning may be incredibly frustrating, especially when it means benching Aaron Shore, the episode allowed for character development and for another exiting addition to the supporting cast. The Final Frontier bodes well for whats to come in later weeks.

Designated Survivor is available to watch on Netflix, with new episodes arriving weekly.Unfortunately, The Content Is Not Here

You have arrived at this page because the page or post you were looking for no longer exists. Please check our main navigation pages for other content: 

Home PageNepali Cong CWC meeting on March 23 to review poll debacle

Three months after the competition of elections to the House of Representatives (HoR) and Provincial Assemblies (PA), the Nepali Congress (NC) has called a Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting on March 23 to review partys performance in those polls.Parajuli misuses his office to fix rivals

Ever since controversies over his personal and academic details surfaced, Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli has tried to use judiciary to defend himself and hound those who questioned him.There hasn't been much movement on the film since its announcement in 2015.

Source: The Wrap

We haven't heard much about the planned Booster Gold movie since its announcement in 2015, but DC hasn't given up yet with Greg Berlanti at the helm. The biggest factor is finding a way to fit the movie in with the rest of the DC Cinematic Universe. In 2016, a year after the film was first announced, Berlanti said the film wouldn't be a part of the shared DC film universe, but it seems that might have changed.



"That's really on them, they're still kind of determining their order of business on that end."

No director is attached to the project, but Berlanti is open to attaching himself to the project.

"If the studio is excited  it's obviously their determination. We finished all the work we need to do on the draft, I would love to do something in that space. I'm still a little clueless on how movies come together. I show up to work every day and make the work as good as I can but then they call me and say, 'We're making it!'"

Berlanti also didn't name the most recent writer on the project, but Zack Stent has previously been attached.Watertown's game-winning kicker leads the Week 5 list of top area football performers

Kickers need love too. Dont be shocked that the player leading the Public Opinions Week 5 list of top area high school football performers is kicker Andrew Czech.Pay royalty or face rap, regulator tells casinos

After serving a three-day ultimatum, the Department of Tourism on Saturday issued a public notice directing the royalty defaulting casinos and mini-casinos to settle the payment within 35 days or face legal action.

E very family is different, and every family faces different struggles that they have to tackle, and they have to find out where that will ultimately leave them. In Meditation Park, family matriarch Maria (Cheng Pei-Pei) has to decide just where her fork in the road leads, after finding out about her husband Bing's (Tzi Ma) infidelity.



The Reel Roundup got a chance to sit down with writer/director Mina Shum to chat about the importance of Meditation Park as it relates to family, diversity and Canadian identity, and to find out which of her personal attributes can be found within the film.



You both wrote and directed Meditation Park. What is it like melding those two things together?



Shum: Sometimes it's ideal to be writer and director, because it's really easy to track the intention that was in your heart that created the character to translate to screen. The hard part about it is when you start cutting the things that you wrote out, as the director. The whole idea is to serve the film and serve the story, so it benefits to cut stuff out.



It used to be harder for me to do, and now I'm just cutthroat. We started filming and realized we needed to cut a day out of the filming; the shooting schedule in Vancouver was just too expensive. My two collaborators, Raymond Massey and Stephen Hegyes, turned to me in the first couple days of filming and said, "So, we might end up having to cut something because were running over already." So I looked at them and I was like, "Okay." And they were just like, "We were just warning you, sometime down the line in this 18-to-19-day shoot, you might have to cut something." And I went home that night and I cut it. I cut a day and I phoned them the next day and said, "I'm cutting this. We're not losing anything, I'm just marrying some information into other scenes and whatnot."



So even though it was painful to cut, it was beneficial that I wrote and directed, because then I knew why that scene was originally there and what I needed to keep to go into the next scene. There's, in some ways, a purity of storytelling when you are the writer/director.



Since the film is very much about family, were there any personal influences or experiences of yours that you incorporated into it?



Shum: Really the whole idea for the film came to me because I grew up in a household where my mother taught the girls to be independent, to be liberated, to not listen or need anybody, and yet my mother was completely devoted to her family and her husband. And now that my father's passed on, she actually came out into the world and started having her own friends. And I really saw my mother doing things she never did before, like going to the crazy drum circle with her daughter, Mina, because she's just willing to experience it. And that wouldn't have happened had she not been given her own life at some point.



You serve as a mother  as a Chinese mother in a traditional home  and you've got the added thing of trying to make a better life for your family in a new country. And you don't know English very well, youve never had a job here. So thats really where the idea sparked, from family, experience-wise.



And then also, for some reason, within a condensed period of two or three years, there were all these stories of infidelity around the older women in my family, or friends of family, and how it was always the women who had to make peace with it. I thought there was a lot of power and a lot to be derived from that kind of courage.



But the film is called Meditation Park for two reasons: it's a park in my neighborhood, but also, we're all in Meditation Park, all of us. We're all just trying to figure out how to find happiness in this little time we have, when we know it's gonna end.



So I wanted to make a film where  even [with Don McKellar's] Gabriel, who's selling parking, or the Liane Balaban part, when she's only in one scene  all they're trying to do is find their happiness. They're trying to find how they fit into the world and find harmony with themselves and the inevitable place we all end up in in the end, and trying to make peace with that in their lives right now.



As you were saying, Meditation Park centers specifically  and mostly around  the family's matriarch, Maria. Is there any personal ode to your own mother within the story?



Shum: Oh God, it's hilarious  at one point we were filming the scene where Sandra's character, Ava, shows up to give her mother the wedding invitation. But we're filming the scene with Sandra, and Maria at one point has a line where she says, "What am I supposed to do with that?" And it was so like my mom the way she said it, and I just turned to Sandra and was like, "You know, I didn't think this was therapy." She just laughed at me! She was like, "Bullshit this is not therapy. It's all therapy!" And I guess so!



My mom is super resilient. You could punch her in the face, she would fall down, and she'd get back up with a smile and go, "Alright, on with the day." So definitely, that backbone is in Maria. That no matter what, she can get through anything.



Sandra Oh's character is first-generation Canadian, as a lot of Canadians are. Even I'm first generation Canadian. Why did you feel it was important to depict a first-generation Canadian family?



Shum: Sometimes I'm a lazy fiction writer. So I don't go very far to find my stories. But also, I'd never seen this story before. I've never seen a story where we recognize the first-generation [Canadian children] of immigrants and their impact within the fabric of our country.



Also, it was very telling to me when I was talking to my best friend, who's a principal. He's progressive, left-of-center  all the right things to be pro-immigrant, pro-women. And when I told him the story of the film, he said, "I never thought of the women who are selling parking to have such a rich inner life." And I said, "Oh my God, that you said that to me means this has to be a movie." Because to assume that just because media only has people of certain color, of certain height, of certain hair color as heroes; that the guy that's doing your laundry  who's Chinese, who doesn't speak English very well  doesn't have struggles just like you in the same Meditation Park that you live in, that to me was a huge imbalance that I had to write.



I'm kind of shocked and saddened by the fact there arent more stories like this [laughs]. We take up how much of the population, right? It's not equitable. But it certainly comes from a place of love, of trying to get humanity to understand all humans.



So if I can see myself on screen, then maybe someone unlike me will look at me with more compassion and understanding. But also, someone who looks like me might feel a little bit more courage because they've seen themselves. It's both acknowledgement and also enlightening to others, that's what I feel. But also most importantly was that the story was never polemic; that it was entertaining.



One thing I really enjoyed about it was that the characters  even the side-characters, like the ladies who were helping Maria sell the parking  were all just so good. Is there a certain process you try to take to get the best out of your cast? You have Sandra Oh, you have Cheng Pei-Pei...



Shum: Oh yeah! I was told Ang Lee does the same thing  it's this idea of dinners, little gatherings, lots of conversation about the character way before you go on set. And then we did have an afternoon where I got the actors in different groupings, and we worked on improvs around their characters.



At one point, Cheng Pei-Pei and Tzi Ma [were] improvising a scene where Tzi shows up to Pei-Pei's house and says, "I'm moving to Canada. Will you come?" And it was one of the most beautiful moments; beautiful to experience that in a rehearsal room, but also very important for them as a root backstory for them later.



So there's choosing key moments that they needed to come to life a little. Having them work together beyond the dialogue of the movie was also very important. You gotta feel each other's souls. I think one of the great successes of the film is the chemistry between the cast. Those dinner scenes feel very natural, so loving.



Lastly, I wanted to ask you about filming Maria's scenes. I found that when she found her liberation, it was very heartwarming. How did it feel as a director to shoot those scenes, and as a writer, writing it out, how did that feel?



Shum: I always knew that we needed to shine [a light on] her courage in the film, so that other people could see it. There's a couple moments where she's liberated, but really, it's not until the end of film where she's fully liberated. So I wrote the scene going to Bowen Island on the ferry, because it's literally the last shot in the film. She's standing there, and when the ferry turns, there's this optical illusion  it creates this feeling [that] she's in Heaven [sings "Ahhh!"], visually.



The first scene we shot in the entire film was the last scene of the film. And we shoot the scene, it's silent. It's just [an] acting moment for [Pei-Pei]. The whole crew was in tears, and I shed tears when I was directing this scene, and this was the first day! And I knew the film was gonna be amazing. [laughs] After that, I was like, "Okay, this is all gonna work!"



Because you don't quite know until you put someone on the spot. What if they're nervous? What if they have to smoke 15 cigarettes before? No, Pei-Pei just got up there. She's a consummate professional, because she's been doing it since she was 17, too. I've never worked with someone who doesn't want a stand-in; she likes to stand on her own marks. She can do things over and over again with beautiful precision and variety. But for her, in this movie, it was personal. She also felt that it was important to speak for her generation.



PM Oli assures zero tolerance against corruption

Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli expressed his commitment that he will not take part in any corruption and will not let anyone indulge in corruption.Theres a chance you might bump into a ranger on your safari in Malawi checking up on the well-being of big game and monitoring the park for signs of poaching, but other tourists are wonderfully few and far between.

The first time I heard a lion roar, the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. It wasnt fear, as I felt completely safe: it was the combination of surprise and sheer delight. In Malawi, such moments are not infrequent. That doesnt make them any less special, but its a definite reason to visit one of Africas emerging stars.

Lion in Majete National Park

The lion in question  a fully grown alpha male  roams wild in the Majete National Park in southern Malawi. Taking a nighttime drive from Robin Pope Safaris Mkulumadzi Lodge, suddenly we saw him stalking through the bushes parallel to the road. The rangers spotlight was tinted red so as not to startle him, but Ive no doubt he was already aware of our presence and making sure we werent doing anything untoward on his turf. We followed this mighty lion for a minute or two until he finally became irritated with our presence, turned to face us, and roared and roared and roared.

Elephant numbers are growing

Large parts of Malawi are protected areas, many cared for by the NGO African Parks. Their conservation work had been so successful, in fact, that elephant numbers in particular are outgrowing the land available, necessitating drastic measures.

Elephant birth control is in its infancy (excuse the pun), and culling is understandably controversial.

Instead, African Parks has embarked upon the largest elephant translocation project ever tried, moving some 500 elephants north from the Majete and Liwonde National Parks to the Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve, a recovering ecosystem. Prince Harry is the projects patron, and was personally involved in the elephants logistically challenging relocation.

Id seen the overcrowding firsthand in Liwonde. Mvuu Lodge takes its name from the hippos in the river (mvuu means hippo in Chichewa), but though said hippos are certainly numerous, its the size of the elephant herds which is most impressive.

Individuals and small family groups would wander through the camp, occasionally resulting in a stand off with a vehicle, but the best and safest way to see them was from a boat on the river. Wed motor quite close to the riverbank, then cut the engine so as not to disturb them as they came to the waters edge to drink.

The calves seemed completely fearless; older elephant were a little wary at first, watching us carefully, but were ultimately convinced wed do them no harm and went about with their business. More and more elephants came out of the bushes, to the point there must have been 40 or so, every one magnificent.

Elephants are gentle giants: unless they feel threatened and stampede, theyre not really dangerous creatures. With hippos its a different matter as theyre very aggressive and territorial; theyve been known even to attack boats.

Are hippos the most dangerous land mammal in Africa?

People will often tell you that the hippo is the most dangerous land mammal in Africa, but my guide, Angel, thinks that statistic is out of date. When poaching was rife in Liwonde, poachers were frequently victims as they strayed into the hippos paths after dark. Now that poaching has stopped, not a single person has been killed in the park by a hippo. That has to be a good thing for man and beast alike.

It seems that hippos like challenging expectations. Officially they are herbivores, not even interested in the fish swimming about them as they wallow in rivers and lagoons. But as we motored along the river, stopping now and then to get a closer look at the kingfishers, egrets, and other riverine birds, we came upon a commotion: two crocodiles and a hippo wrestling in the water.

The prize they were fighting for was the corpse of a dead, already slightly bloated crocodile, and all three were gnashing their teeth, thrashing about, and snatching at limbs and flesh. The hippo managed to tear off a large lump of tail and tucked in with apparent glee. It was the first time Angel had seen such a thing, and though rather morbid, it was a privilege to witness an animal at its most wild and primal.

Ours was the only boat in the river that day, and including Angel there were just five people aboard. That feeling of exclusivity is the single best reason to safari in Malawi as opposed to in better known destinations in East Africa. Staying at a lodge or camp, its not unusual to be the only guest. When you drive out, take a nature walk, or set sail, youre unlikely to encounter another person.

Theres a chance you might bump into a ranger or scout checking up on the well-being of big game and monitoring the park for signs of poaching, but other tourists are wonderfully few and far between. The point of a safari is to see wild animals in their natural habitat, and that requires a wilderness unspoilt by the presence of man.

Fact file

Sophie Ibbotson travelled to Malawi with Africa Exclusive (www.safari.co.uk). A 7-day safari with luxury accommodation in the Liwonde National Park and Nkhotakota Wildlife Reserve starts from 3,267 pp.Organisation: Namakera Mining Company Limited

Duty Station: Uganda

About US:

Namakera Mining Company Limited is a mining company located in Eastern

Uganda near the towns of Mbale and Tororo, approx. 190 km from the Uganda

capital, Kampala and close to the border with Kenya. The Namekara Vermiculite

deposit is hosted in the Bukusu Complex, one of a number of Carbonatites in the

Uganda/Kenya border area and the only one known to host commercially viable

vermiculite. Namekara is the registered holder of Mining License ML 4651, upon

which it operates the Namakera Vermiculite Mine and conducts exploration

activities on the Busumbu Phosphate Project. Namekara is also the registered

holder of Exploration License EL 1534 that covers the majority of the Bukusu

Complex and which is also considered prospective for vermiculite, phosphate,

copper, iron, zircon and rare earths mineralisation.

Job Summary: The Qualified

Fitter and Turner will support the mine located in Manafwa District, Eastern

Uganda.

Key Duties and Responsibilities:

The incumbent will be required among

other things, to achieve the following; The incumbent will be required amongother things, to achieve the following;

Maintain Plant Equipment.

Installation of New Plant Equipment

Operating of Lathe, Pedestal Drilling

Machine, Hand held Equipment like, Grinders and Drilling Machines,

Using of measuring  outside and inside

mics, verniers, telescopic gauges, thread and blade mics, bore mics

Maintain a safe work environment

Maintain housekeeping and safety on

machines











Experience: Qualifications, Skills andExperience:

The ideal candidate should have the following attributes and

qualifications;

Trade test Fitter and Turner

qualification.

Five years experience as a qualified

Fitter and Turner

Previous experience working in a similar

environment is preferred.

Bi lingual of which English is one

language spoken and written.

Person must be physically fit to perform

physically demanding work.

How to Apply:

All suitably qualified and interested candidates should send their

applications together with copies of relevant certificates and CVs to;

The Human Resource Superintendent,

Namekara Site

Manafwa

Email to: vacancies@namekara.com

NB: Any active canvassing

will automatically disqualify candidates.

Deadline: 16th March 2018As security forces continue carrying out preemptive operations in PA (Palestinian Authority) areas, an additional four suspects were taken into custody on motzei Shabbos, suspects believed with ties to acts of terror, violence and attacks against Israeli citizens and security personnel.

Security forces on motzei Shabbos were also on the look out for PA residents inside Green Line Israel illegally. They operated in the Etzion district of Yehuda towards sealing areas used by PA residents to cross into Green Line Israel illegally. 21 illegals were apprehended during this effort, all on their way to Green Line Israel.

The preemptive operations are aimed at significantly lowering the number of attacks against Israelis, motorists and security personnel. Bchasdei Hashem there were no injuries to security personnel reported in the operations.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)PM Oli wins vote of confidence with three-fourth majority

Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli has won the vote of confidence with a three-fourth majority on Sunday, garnering 208 votes in the 275-member strong House of Representatives (HoR).Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu met with the leader of the UTJ faction Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman on Sunday night, in an effort to reach an agreement with regards to the current coalition crisis surrounding the IDF Conscription Law.

The meeting is taking place following the issuing of a letter by the Moetzes Gedolei Yisroel of Agudas Yisroel that told their Knesset members that no change should be made with regards to their demand that the Draft Law be passed in all three readings in the Knesset before the party will be allowed to vote on the 2019 Budget.

The Moetzes of Agudas Yisroel forms the Rabbinical oversight committee for the three Agudas Yisroel Knesset members and instructs them on how to vote in the Knesset. Netanyahu is meeting with Litzman in the hopes of reaching some kind of agreement that will prevent early elections.

Earlier, Justice Minster Ayelet Shaked told Ynet that: There are at least three viable options on the table with regards to finding a solution to the current crisis. These are solutions that both the Charedim as well as Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman can accept. The question is, do the parties in play want to solve the crisis, or woud they rather drag the country through an unnecessary set of elections and dismantle a right-wing government.

Shaked added: I believe that dismantling this government, which works well and is doing work that hasnt been done before, would be highly irresponsible on the part of those who bring it down.

Netanyahu is also scheduled to meet with Chairmen Moshe Kahlon of the Kulanu Party and Avigdor Liberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu parties tonight, in the hopes that he will be able to reach a compromise with them as well.

Members of Netanyahus government have been quarreling over whether to extend military draft exemptions afforded to Yeshiva Bochrim. Chareidi MKs say they will not vote for the 2019 budget without the draft exemptions, while Avigdor Lieberman has vowed to bolt the coalition if the budget isnt passed soon.

Israeli media reported that elections could be held as early as June, if a motion to dissolve Israels parliament is tabled this week.

A deal to save the government can still be achieved, but coalition partners were digging in their heels and blaming each other for the current crisis. Netanyahu took much of the fire.

If the prime minister will decide to take the whole country to personal elections that will cost billions, that will paralyze the market, then thats really serious and the public will settle accounts with him, coalition partner and Education Minister Naftali Bennett told Israeli Army Radio. Meanwhile, Israeli police have recommended indicting Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in two separate cases and his close associates have been implicated in another case. Netanyahu has vehemently denied wrongdoing in all of the cases, saying he is the victim of a politically motivated witch hunt by an overaggressive police force and a hostile media aimed at toppling him.

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem / AP)Tony Hetherington is Financial Mail on Sunday's ace investigator, fighting readers corners, revealing the truth that lies behind closed doors and winning victories for those who have been left out-of-pocket. Find out how to contact him below.

Ms L.H. writes: Uniform Tax Credits contacted me about a possible refund of income tax as tax relief is due on the cost of my work clothing. I signed up after being told they would take 20 per cent of my refund as a fee  or nothing at all if I was not entitled to a refund.

It turned out I was due 257 from the tax office and this was sent to KLG Limited, the company that runs Uniform Tax Credits. That was months ago, but I have still received nothing.

Badge of dishonour: The Inland Revenue approved ID

It is bad news, I am afraid. KLG Limited has pocketed your money and thousands of pounds in tax refunds belonging to other customers  and owner Michael Byfield has put the company into liquidation.

As well as Uniform Tax Credits, KLG has called itself Your Tax Returned. I reported in 2016 that the company had tried to charge a reader hundreds of pounds in fees for a tax refund he was going to get anyway as he had been overtaxed on his pension. Under pressure, KLG backed down and cut its bill to show just the refund linked to work clothing.

Twice last year The Mail on Sunday printed complaints about the size of KLGs fees and the difficulty in getting income tax refunds via the company. Byfield blamed cheques being lost in the post.

Recently, KLGs website has been displaying a picture of a tax adviser wearing a prominent badge identifying him as an Inland Revenue approved agent. This is hugely misleading. For a start, the Inland Revenue is now Revenue & Customs.

Also, it does not issue any such badges. A spokesman told me: Revenue & Customs does not accredit or in any way approve agents. We take firm action against any agents who are not complying with the law. Revenue & Customs offers comprehensive information on how to claim a tax refund. Our services are free and you can claim quickly and easily online.

KLGs offices in Swansea

My guess is that the picture misused by KLG comes from New Zealand where the tax department is still called the Inland Revenue and there is a system of approved agents.

Your 257 was sent by the tax office to KLG last September. The company sat on your money until January 25 when Byfield appointed liquidators to wind up the business. Preliminary figures show KLG has debts of 129,866.

I asked the liquidators to check you are listed as a creditor. They replied that you are not. So Byfield has somehow managed to leave you out of company records which makes me wonder how many other taxpayers are owed refunds and how much KLG really does owe customers. One person has been repaid though. In 2016, KLG borrowed 5,000 from Lesley Byfield, the bosss former wife. She was repaid in full last September. KLGs office in Swansea is now closed and it does not reply to phone calls or emails.

I have repeatedly invited Michael Byfield, who lives in Gerrards Cross, Buckinghamshire, to explain why customers refunds were not ring-fenced, rather than being spent on running his business. Byfield has offered no comment and no explanation.

Byfield portrays himself as a successful property dealer and businessman, but his treatment of KLG customers is not the first question mark linked to his name. He also runs BCB Solutions Limited which was behind My Claims Expert, a PPI reclaim business.

It advertised: Our average claim is well over 2,000. The Advertising Standards Authority banned the advert after Byfield failed to prove the figure included unsuccessful claims as well as those he had won.

KLGs liquidators have assured me they are looking into the companys collapse. Whether or not this leads to Byfields disqualification as a company director. Is it not time MPs ordered tax refund agents to hold customers cash in ring-fenced accounts rather than spend it on themselves and their firms?

Row over 1,000 hire car excess

Avis eventually refunded 1,000 to our reader

P.G. writes: My wife was involved in an accident last June which was not her fault. She was using a car hired from Avis and the third party who caused the accident immediately accepted responsibility.

Avis then took 1,000 from our credit card account for the excess on the insurance. We did not mind as we presumed it would soon be repaid. We have tried contacting Avis, only to be pushed aside. I contacted the third party and was told it was all sorted.

Your wife has been stuck in the middle of a dispute between Avis and the other drivers insurance company. Although you and your wife are 1,000 out of pocket, you have been shut out of the negotiations between the two sides.

Your wife was driving along a village road in Milnthorpe, Cumbria. As she drove past stationary vehicles, one of them, a pick-up truck, pulled out and hit the passenger side of her car. About a month later you spoke to the company that owns the pick-up truck and you were told that all the paperwork had been sent to its insurer, so your wife should be repaid the 1,000.

But Avis has told me a rather different story. Although the driver of the truck and his employer may have admitted liability verbally, once their insurer became involved they tried to blame your wife.

Avis said: We empathise with this customers frustration over the delay in processing the refund of their excess, which was due to the third party claiming the customer was liable for the accident.

It took seven months for Aviss legal team to get the other side finally to admit liability. The 1,000 has now been credited to your card.

If you believe you are the victim of financial wrongdoing, write to Tony Hetherington at Financial Mail, 2 Derry Street, London W8 5TS or email tony.hetherington@mailonsunday.co.uk. Because of the high volume of enquiries, personal replies cannot be given. Please send only copies of original documents, which we regret cannot be returned.We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. This week, FirstGroup, Tesco and TI.

Tesco is finally back on analysts' radars, after a torrid few years, says Midas

Questor, Sunday Telegraph - TI

How can a company built on the combustion engine cope as the industry switches to clear greener alternatives, asks James Ashton in the Sunday Telegraphs Questor.

That, he says, is the question facing TI, which supplies all of the major car makers.

The company believes it is well placed. Electric cars still need cooling, heating and braking.

But Questor says that worrying what is lacking is orders and revenues from the new-wave stuff. The company will signal the direction of travel with its full-year figures on March 20.

The shares are not particularly expensive, it adds.

There could be a decent growth story here but doubts remain whether TI has emerged from the hands of successive financial owners best placed to exploit it. Sell, it says.

Midas, Mail on Sunday - Tesco

Tesco has had a torrid few years, but it is finally back on analysts radars after its 3.7billion merger with cash and carry group Booker, says the Mail on Sundays Midas.

Barclays, for example, reinstated an overweight rating on Tesco shares with a target price of 225p - they are currently 212 3/4p.

The retail giant reinstated a dividend and the end of last year, a sign that it is confident enough about cashflow to start giving money back to shareholders once again.

UK sales were up 2.1 per cent in the 19 weeks to January 6, it said in a buoyant update at the start of the year.

While it still faces challenges, including a slow down in spending, it is responding by overhauling its value ranges, cutting costs and improving margins.

The Booker deal should also help, since the new, enormous business will have even greater power than Tesco had alone. Cost synergies should also boost profits, and Tescos access to restaurant chains and corner shops.

Midas verdict: Hold  analysts seem optimistic about the potential for this new behemoth and those who already hold shares are now being rewarded for their patience with a dividend. Anyone not already in may want to hold off until the dust settles on the Booker deal.

> Read the full Midas column

Inside the City, The Sunday Times - FirstGroup

FirstGroup has still not paid a dividend since it begged shareholders for 615million of cash almost five years ago, says John Collingridge in The Sunday Times Inside the City.

Debt to the tune of 1.2billion was still outstanding as of September.

Trading is hardly helping, and shares are wallowing at 85.4p.

Firsts UK rail operations are seeing revenues grow, but not fast enough.

Luckily it has the lucrative Great Western franchise and First may be handed a new deal until 2024 without competition.

It won the TransPennine franchise in 2016 and has a 70 per cent share in the South Western Railway operation, but neither route is growing as fast as hoped, says Inside the City.

Sell, it says.The Institute of Directors was on the brink of self-destruction this weekend after its chairwoman, Barbara Judge, resigned after being suspended for alleged sexist and racist remarks.

Her deputy, City grandee Sir Ken Olisa, also quit. He said her position had become untenable and that he had vowed to stand down alongside her. He said: My position was, If she goes, I go. 

The row is also threatening to damage Stephen Martin, 52, the IoDs 344,000-a-year Director General.

Elitist: Lady Judge denies the bullying claims

The extraordinary debacle  with accusations of bullying, secret tape recordings, racism and sexism at the IoD, which is supposed to set an example of exemplary corporate conduct  is threatening to leave the 115-year- old organisation rudderless.

The spat comes as the traditionalist group is losing members and income  and struggling to stay relevant to younger entrepreneurs.

In her resignation letter, Lady Judge said: I accept that the language used when discussing the employment situation of individuals with protected characteristics was not of the modern standard.

I deeply regret the language I used and apologise if this caused any distress or upset. However, this in no way reflects my life- long, firm commitment to ethnic minorities, beginning with civil rights work in the 1970s, and the promotion of women in the workplace.

As for the false claim that I said, Blacks can get aggressive, I never, ever said this or made a racial slur of any kind: any suggestion I did is an outright lie. Sir Ken and Lady Judge, who are close allies, had attended a gruelling meeting of the IoDs council on Thursday.

She gave a prepared speech explaining she felt victimised by the way the investigation into her behaviour had been conducted. She said she would step aside from her 20,000-a-year post so as not to impede the inquiry, commissioned by Dame Joan Stringer, the IoDs senior independent council member.

The council, chaired by Dame Joan, nonetheless decided to suspend Lady Judge.

Key figure: Stephen Martin allegedly made a covert recording

Director General Stephen Martin, a former building firm boss and Brexit supporter, is one Lady Judges opponents. He has been criticised by Sir Ken for allegedly making a covert tape recording of her.

She is said to be in a state of profound despair this weekend about the row, which blew up after she was the subject of no fewer than 41 accusations.

Late on Friday, in a triumphalist statement that did not include a single word of thanks to Lady Judge and Sir Ken, or indeed any sadness at the whole affair, Mr Martin said: This is a victory for ordinary staff members, who had the courage to risk jeopardising their careers, to speak out about the conduct and language of people in senior positions.

The charges against Lady Judge, some of them explosive, some relatively trivial, are outlined in a draft report by lawyer Caroline Prosser seen by The Mail on Sunday.

Always immaculately power-dressed herself in pie-crust collar shirts and regal bespoke tailored skirt suits, Lady Judge is said to have advised a female member of staff that she should not dress like a tart. She is also alleged to have made comments on April 12 last year to Mr Martin, suggesting that people on the IoD secretariat were not good at their jobs because they were black and pregnant.

City grandee Sir Ken Olisa, also quit

Comments like these, if true, would rightly be unpalatable to many in todays business climate.

Her friends, however, say her attackers have lacked sensitivity towards her as a newly bereaved widow sending their first letter of complaint shortly before the memorial service for her late husband, entrepreneur Sir Paul Judge, who died last year.

But even before the astonishing row that erupted last week, the venerable bosses club was struggling to stay relevant to a new generation of entrepreneurs.

And it comes at a tricky time for the organisation, which is trying to increase its dwindling membership and its income.

The number of members fell by more than 400 in the year to 2016, according to the latest figures available, and there was a fall in new joiners of around 1,100 compared with the previous year. Revenues fell slightly to 27million in 2016 from 27.8million in 2015.

The 71-year-old Lady Judge was the IoDs first female chair. But in other respects she is an Establishment figure with elitist attitudes that do not sit well with todays inclusive business culture.

The row has served to highlight the generation gap among entrepreneurs and the IoD faces an uphill task in trying to replace its ageing clientele.

Younger businessmen and women gravitate towards places such as chic members club Shoreditch House, lured by its rooftop pool and proximity to the tech businesses that have sprung up in East London. Once the dust on this contretemps has settled, the IoDs stuffy HQ in Londons Pall Mall will still be in the wrong part of town  and lacking appeal to anyone under 65.PM Oli to seek vote of confidence today

Twenty-four days after being appointed the countrys executive head, Prime Minister KP Oli is seeking vote of confidence in the House of Representatives (HoR) on Sunday, where he is set to secure a two-thirds majority for the first time in the post-1990 era.Tika R Pradhan is a senior political correspondent for the Post, covering politics, parliament, judiciary and social affairs. Pradhan joined the Post in 2016 after working at The Himalayan Times for more than a decade.RJP-N to cast vote of confidence in favour of PM Oli

Rastriya Janata Party-Nepal (RJP-N) has decided to cast the vote of confidence in favour of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. With the support of the Madhes-based party, PM Oli-led government now has a two-thirds majority.SC full bench to hear Kantipur case today

Hearing on contempt of court case against Kantipur daily is scheduled for Sunday in a five-member full-bench of the Supreme Court.EC from DC Newsletter: Am I Asking for Too Much?

Not only is this a health issue, but this is a theological issue for me...the earth and everything in it is the LORD's. We are just visitors. Protecting and taking care of the earth is the least we can do to thank the Creator.





We sometimes forget about the economical aspect of a healthier world. Someone has to build, manufacture and design green equipment. There are jobs to be had here. Sustainability is the most economic expansive thing at this moment. There is a new era awaiting us if we understand that there can be economic development and sustainability in coexistence.

Recently,that could soon go the way ofand the local response was actually quite enthusiastic. It seems there are quite a few locals committed to sustainability and encouraging public partnerships that benefit the environment.Remember that KCMO was on the receiving end of a great deal of cash from the Prez Obama Administration for athat, like most government efforts, offered some press conference highlights and a reason to at least have a conversation about local impact on the environment. However, the previous administration also had a great manyefforts to champion the eco-economy. Example: TheNevertheless, Kansas City's leading elected official continues his advocacy for the new green economy with his latest shout out to constituents. Take a look what Congressman Cleaver has to say along with a highlight that seems appropriate for Sunday.I had the pleasure of joining experts from the Environmental Protection Agency a few weeks ago during a Green For All hearing in Kansas City, Missouri. The panel was traveling across the country to discuss the importance of clean energy.They talked about the critical need for a Clean Power Plan. President Barack Obama revealed the Clean Power Plan to the world in 2015. Now, the Trump administration would rather jeopardize Americas global leadership and public health by moving backwards. The EPA, now under the environmentally-insensitive leadership of Scott Pruitt, seeks to undermine our nations top scientists and the EPAs legal obligation by proposing the repeal of the Clean Power Plan. If this happens, it will be something America will deeply regret.As a parent and grandfather, I cannot help but think of the environmental consequences that repealing the Clean Power Plan will have on children. I just want my grandchildren to be able to breathe. Am I asking for too much?Warmly,Emanuel Cleaver, IIMember of Congress##########Accordingly . . .We ask our blog community if this effort to preserve a legacy of the Prez Obama Administration is an efficient use of local environmental political capital or will the money go up in smoke???You decide . . .ROASTERIE HONCHO DANNY O'NEIL RECENTLY POSTED SCATHING ATTACKS AGAINST LAW ENFORCEMENT FOLLOWING HIS TICKET FOR ADMITTEDLY EXPIRED TAGS!!!

In a post on Instagram, O'Neill wrote (emojis removed):





"Citizens of Fairway!!! Know that you are safe...even safer today after this violation. Officer Barney Fife dutifully chased us through traffic...it was a pretty, sunny day; we saw him weaving in and out of traffic, lights blazing, and were wondering what criminals they were after. Well, surprise of all surprises...Barney was chasing US! Lights and guns a-blazing...we had an expired tag! Who knew? But wowza was he prepared! $133! At several dinner parties over the years the Fairway police have come up...similar circumstances...Cat in tree, expired plates, license plate light out...and of course total laughter at the overreaction of the Barnies. We have a lot of friends in Fairway and just want to let each of you know, you are safer as a result of forcing this Brookside deadbeat in to get an updated tag. I was crazy...I should have been locked up and the key thrown away! Not sure he could have towed the Tesla but ka-ching...Ill bet he would have figured it out$! "

"Entitled and ridiculous is what you are. We will never spend our money in your establishment. Since when dont rich douche bags have to abide by the law... maybe you should have the balls to do a ride a long???"

"Screw your company and you. Police bashing POS. Take responsibility for your shit. 3 months expired plates and you wanna run off and start calling an officer names and bashing others as well. Nice attempt at a shitty insincere apology."

"Congrats on losing thousands of customers for your police bashing you entitled little cry baby. Will never spend another cent on a Roasterie product again!"

TKC SUGGESTS THAT MR. O'NEILL WRITE A REAL APOLOGY TO POLICE FOR HIS SOCIAL MEDIA HATERATION!!! THE MOVE WOULD REQUIRE THE COFFEE DUDE TO SWALLOW SOME PRIDE WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE SITUATION DEMANDS!!!

In the aftermath of metro-wide mourning following, a Kansas City power player took to the Internets to denigrate police following a routine traffic stop.To wit and withto readers who tipped us to this story before any other local media outlet . . .Take a look . . .For those who are too young to remember,is a fictional character in the American television program The Andy Griffith Show, portrayed by comic actor Don Knotts. Fife was often the butt of many jokes and is pejoratively used as a derogatory reference to some members of law enforcement.After Blue Lives Matter contacted a Roasterie spokesperson about O'Neill's post, he deleted the post from social media.O'Neill now says that he has accepted responsibility for his violation and expressed his regret for making the post.However . . .The response from law enforcement and #BlueLivesMatter advocateshas been. . .Clearly, this is a horrific mistake for such aEven worse, this controversy puts him at a disadvantage now that aAccordingly . . .Remember not so long ago TKC warned that the Roasterie was kind of jerky for blighting KCMO Westside residents with a stupid plane and shining bright lights directly on working-class houses in a really inconsiderate move that would evoke outrage in any other neighborhood . . . Fact of life: If somebody is willing to trash neighbors in such a manner . . . That kind of arrogance rarely offers police the respect they deserve.But it's Sunday so we're not holding a grudge . . .So far his superficial effort to spin and deflect from the controversy has obviouslyand a real act of contrition might be what the situation demands if the Kansas City power player is serious about making amends to police.You decide . . .Popular Australian TV morning host Samantha Armytage has fallen madly and deeply in love with Greece, greekcitytimes.com reported recently in the following article:

After taking a holiday to Greece last year to celebrate a friends wedding in Mykonos island and spending time in Athens, Sam says she experienced the best food, hospitality, beaches and also tells the world, Greeks know how to live.

According to Sam Armytages write up on her love affair with Greece, which was shared in the Daily Telegraph:

I TOOK a holiday in Greece last year, lobbing in with some locals (long-time family friends) for a big, fat, fun-tabulous three-day wedding. Which, along with the toga and souvlaki, those brilliant Greeks invented  and still execute beautifully.

The trip was fuelled by the best food Ive ever eaten, filled with the most outrageous, hospitable, gregarious people Ive ever met (plus a few European royals!) and punctuated by days lazing on blue boats in even bluer seas, lots of carefree laughs, and even more delicious tucker.

The Greeks know how to live. If I could have bottled this ability and brought it home on the Qantas flight I would. But alas, I got as far as Dubai and the memories of the octopus and those tomatoes stuffed with rice were fading as quickly as my tan.

While my Greek friends are fun (and did I mention their food?), what I adore about them most is their pride in their culture. They are great storytellers  the way to any journos heart  and even the youngsters at the dinner table tell ancient tales that could rival the guides at the magnificent Acropolis Museum.

Hearing stories about gods and goddesses by candlelight on a warm Greek summer night will beat anything TV can offer. Yes, even Sunrise although we too create order out of the chaos of the universe every morning. (Confession: I was so inspired on my return to Australia, I named my four chooks Harmonia, Persephone, Calliope and Eos.)

Yes, my name is Samantha Armytage and I love Aristotle, Socrates and Plato. I like to think of those major philosophers as the first A-list celebrities. Rock stars, if you like. They were well-known, wealthy and powerful, the masses hung on their every word and they had to endure rumours about their sexual preferences. And they have a longevity that Paris Hilton can only dream of. Now this might sound flippant, but one centurys Pericles is another centurys (Brad) Pitt. No-one embraced celebrity culture more than ancient Athens. Humans through the ages have looked for role models in society, and for good or bad these mere mortals become heroes. Their thinkers were superstars.

And in a similar way to us, their best musicians and boxers and soldiers were the ones they most admired. Deep down we like to think our best-known people  the ones whose homes and hairstyles and relationships we admire and pore over in the tabloid magazines  also have the best morals and values and manners.

*This story first appeared in The Sunday Telegraph Stellar Magazine.

Read more here.

RELATED TOPICS: Greece, Greek tourism news, Tourism in Greece, Greek islands, Hotels in Greece, Travel to Greece, Greek destinations , Greek travel market, Greek tourism statistics, Greek tourism report

Photo Source: Wikimedia Commons Copyright: Eva Rinaldi License: CC-BY-SA

Source: greekcitytimes.comJapanese investments in the UAE have touched a total of about Dh14.3 billion ($3.9 billion), said Saeed Al Mansoori, UAE Minister of Economy, noting that there are more than 100 Japanese companies in the country.



There are also 200 Japanese agencies as well as more than 10,000 registered trademarks, he added, speaking at the recently concluded UAE-Japan Business Forum recently in Tokyo.



The event, which was held to discuss the further strengthening of bilateral relations between the two countries, was attended by senior ranking UAE and Japanese officials.



Al Mansoori commended the continuous development and growth of economic relations between the UAE and Japan. He pointed out that the volume of non-oil trade exchange between the two countries touched approximately Dh53.5 billion ($14.6 billion) and that Japans investments contributed to the development of the UAE, particularly in sectors such as advanced technologies, renewable energy, transportation, aviation and health care.



Al Mansoori stressed on the potential for partnership consolidation between the two countries across many sectors of common interest, like innovation, SMEs, advanced industries, energy, entrepreneurship and women empowerment. He pointed out that dialogue and joint initiatives like the forum, were aimed at guaranteeing the ease of flow of mutual investments, which could help open up global markets and the entire MENA region to investments and products from both countries.



Kosaburo Nishime, Japanese State Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, expressed Japans upbeat attitude about the strengthening of bilateral ties between the two countries. He stated that Japan looks to the UAE as a strategic partner and added that the two countries should look towards diversifying areas of partnership. He said that Japan is keen to support the strengths of the UAE economy, particularly through innovation and knowledge economy initiatives and the promotion of the SME sector.



Hiroyuki Ishige explained that the forum represents a vital tool for consolidating the partnership between the two countries. He also talked about the growth and development of the Japanese economy.



Khaled Omran Al Ameri, UAE Ambassador to Japan, said that the conference aims at reinforcing the partnership and economic relations between the UAE and Japan. He noted the two countries desire to take a leap forward together, in light of the growing capabilities of the UAE and the success of its development strategies. He also praised the convergence of the vision and development policies of the two countries.



Three MoUs were signed at the conference between JETRO and the Abu Dhabi Investment Office in Abu Dhabi, RAK Department of Economy and Fujairah Department of Economy all aimed at promoting investments and supporting SMEs, mutual expertise and information exchange.  TradeArabia News ServiceTurkish Airlines has decided to purchase 50 firm and 10 optional aircraft, a total of 60 wide-body aircraft, of which six to be delivered in 2019, 14 in 2020, 10 in 2021, 12 in 2022, 11 in 2023 and 7 in the year 2024.



According to this, a total of 30 B787-9 aircraft, of which 25 firm and five optional, will be purchased from Boeing and a total of 30 A350-900 aircraft, of which 25 firm and five optional will be purchased from Airbus.



Related MoU with Airbus was signed last January at the Elysee Palace, Paris, during Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogans official visit to France with French President Emmanuel Macron in attendance. Also last September, during President Erdogans visit to New York to join the United Nations General Assembly, Boeing and Turkish Airlines had announced a commitment to order 787-9 Dreamliners.



Commenting on the closed orders M. Ilker Ayc, chairman of the board and the Executive Committee, Turkish Airlines, said; Today, were pleased to conclude this process which will bring a landmark benefit not only to Turkish Airlines, but also to Turkeys aviation, by firmly ordering these aircrafts to be added to our ever-expanding fleet. Goodwill agreements turned into firm orders; which we consider to be a very important initiative to meet our need for wide-body aircraft at Istanbuls New Airport, which will serve as our new hub once its construction process completed. This great step, which will further strengthen our ever-expanding fleet for 2023, our Republic's 100th year, and bring our passenger's satisfaction to a much higher level will bring a great acceleration to the steady rise of our country's flag carrier, Turkish Airlines, and will also be a considerable added value for Turkish Civil Aviation. - TradeArabia News ServiceThe International Air Transport Association (Iata) has announced that Norway has become the first market to implement the New Generation of Iata Settlement Systems (NewGen ISS).



NewGen ISS was adopted by the Passenger Agency Conference (PAConf) in November 2017. It represents the most extensive and ambitious modernisation of the Iata Billing and Settlement Plan (BSP) since it was created in 1971 to facilitate the global distribution and settlement of passenger funds between travel agents and airlines. In 2017, the BSP processed $236.3 billion in airline funds with virtually 100 per cent on-time settlement.



As the first market to implement NewGen ISS, travel agents and airlines in Norway are in the vanguard of a vital transformation to modernise the industrys settlement functions while ensuring the viability of the travel agent shopping channel used by millions of passengers every day. While Norway is a relatively small travel market, it is technologically advanced and has a history of embracing new solutions, making it the ideal environment to go live with NewGen ISS, said Aleks Popovich, Iatas senior vice president, Financial and Distribution Services.



NewGen ISS consists of four pillars:

 Iata EasyPay - a new voluntary pay-as-you-go e-wallet solution for the issuance of airline tickets in the BSP with a low cost per transaction. As a secure form of payment, Iata EasyPay transactions are not part of a travel agents cash sales at risk. This allows travel agents a means to lower their financial security amounts held with Iata and to issue transactions which are not included in their BSP Remittance Holding Capacity (below)



 Remittance Holding Capacity (RHC), a risk management framework to enable safer selling and mitigate losses resulting from travel agency defaults. For the majority of travel agents, RHC is calculated based on the average of the three highest reporting periods of the previous 12 months plus 100%. Furthermore, measures are available allowing travel agents to manage their RHC, and to continue selling in a secure manner should their RHC ever be reached, such as with Iata EasyPay.



 Three levels of travel agent accreditation, offering agents greater flexibility. Travel agents will be able to choose among the model most applicable to their business, as well as to convert across levels as their business evolves. These models are:

GoGlobal Accreditation is a one-stop-shop accreditation for agents with operations in multiple BSPs. Multi-Country agents will meet a single global set of requirements and criteria and will be able to accredit all their locations worldwide under a single Passenger Sales Agency Agreement.

GoStandard Accreditation corresponds most closely to the current accreditation and is for agents operating in a single country. These agents will have access to all the BSP forms of payment: cash, credit card and Iata EasyPay. Initially, all agents in Norway will have GoStandard Accreditation.

GoLite Accreditation is a simpler form of accreditation for agents that will ticket only using IATA EasyPay and/or customer credit cards. As there is limited financial risk, the security requirements are minimal.

 Global Default Insurance  an optional financial security alternative for travel agents that presents a cost-effective and flexible alternative to bank guarantees and other types of security.



Norway will also be the first market to roll out another vital innovation when the Transparency in Payments (TIP) initiative is launched there in April. TIP is an industry initiative focused on providing airlines with increased transparency and control in the collection of their sales through the travel agency channel. At the same time, it will enable travel agents to take advantage of new forms of payment for the remittance of customer funds. No form of remittance is barred by TIP, but travel agents can only use those forms to which an airline has previously given consent. Importantly, if an airline consents, TIP allows travel agents to use their own credit cards - previously not supported in the BSP.



NewGen ISS go-live in Norway represents the culmination of years of planning, engagement and effort with participants across the air travel value chain, including airlines, travel agents, and IT and system providers. Congratulations to all our partners in Norway who have worked with us to achieve this milestone, Popovich said.



Over the coming weeks, NewGen ISS will be implemented in Finland (March 16), Sweden and Canada (March 26), Denmark (April 1), Bermuda (April 9), Iceland and Singapore (April 16), with rollout expected to be completed in all BSP markets by Q1 2020. - TradeArabia News ServiceRiyadh Travel Fair, Saudi Arabias largest travel trade show, is set to be the kingdom's biggest event on record showcasing more than 270 exhibitors, national pavilions and seminars set to welcome an anticipated 30,000 visitors.



Riyadh Travel Fair (RTF) 2018 will open its doors for the 10th consecutive year, with the 2018 edition to be located at the Al Faisaliah Hotel, Riyadh from April 10 13.



The four-day event will become the focus of business networking opportunities, insightful seminar sessions, ministerial discussions and the recognition of 10 months of the tourism industrys achievements.



The 2018 edition will be the largest on record with an increase in both the number of exhibitors and expected visitor arrivals. More than 270 exhibitors will be present representing more than 50 countries. Over 50 national and regional pavilions will have a prominent presence with the show floor space also increased by 10 per cent compared to the 2017 event.



Last year the Riyadh Travel Fair featured 270 exhibitors with visitor attendance at 27,329. That was an increase of 30 per cent compared to the 2016 edition. This year will continue our year-on-year growth as exhibitors hit over 270 and expected visitors numbers over 30,000, said Bander' Al Gryni, general manager, ASAS Exhibitions  organiser of Riyadh Travel Fair.



Al Gryni continued: Year after year, we have seen a consistent positive growth in the number of participants, exhibitors and attendees at RTF. With Saudi nationals increasingly travelling both domestically and overseas, the opportunities that the Riyadh Travel Fair provides for domestic and overseas destinations, hospitality service providers and other tourism-related businesses, to directly meet with the kingdoms leading travel professionals and travellers has never been more significant.



The Riyadh Travel Fair is open to both travel professionals and the general public looking for in-depth destination information and special deals. Visitors to the 2018 edition will be able to interact directly with various tourism authorities, hotels, airlines and travel agents from around the world. The Arabian Gulf region will have a strong presence at the fair including pavilions sponsored by; Abu Dhabi Tourism & Cultural Authority (Strategic Partner), Sharjah Commerce & Tourism Development Authority (Platinum Sponsor), Indonesia Tourism (Diamond Sponsor), Al-Riyadh Travel & Tourism (Gold Sponsors), Czech Republic Tourism (Silver Sponsor).



National pavilions confirmed to attend include Egypt, Bahrain, Poland, South Korea, Greece, Austria, Hungary, and Jordan, to name just a few.



Exhibitors from Asia, Oceania, Europe and North Africa will also be present, along with hotels, airlines, travel agencies, online booking sites, car rental and tourism companies such as Rotana, R Hotels, Lufthansa, Al Shidi Group, Royal Caribbean International, Capital Travel, and Silkway Travel, to name a few.



Riyadh Travel Fair is organized by ASAS Exhibition and Conference Organising company under the sponsorship of Abu Dhabi Tourism and Culture Authority as Strategic Partner. - TradeArabia News Service

UML, Maoist Centre issue whip, urging lawmakers to vote for PM Oli

The ruling CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Centre) have issued a whip to their lawmakers to vote for Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli.Will not accept verdict issued by CJ Parajuli: Dr KC

Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH) senior orthopaedic surgeon Dr Govinda KC has said that he will not accept any verdict given by Chief Justice Gopal Prasad Parajuli.pardeepdhull@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 11

The US move to impose tariffs on aluminium imports may not have considerable direct impact on the Indian metal industry, aluminium manufacturers said.

The US decision to impose 10 per cent tariff on imported aluminium may not have significant direct impact on Indian aluminium industry, but it may have resultant impact due to increased availability of export volume for ex-America global market, Aluminium Association of India Chairman T K Chand told PTI.

Chand is also the Chairman and Managing Director of Aluminium major Nalco.

Vedanta Ltd, which is also a leading aluminium producer, said the company exports around 5 per cent, which is around 1,00,000 tonnes of its aluminium volumes, to the US market, hence the duties are not a game changer for it.

Moreover, the market prices will adjust accordingly with higher premiums to reflect the higher cost of supply due to the 10 per cent duties, Vedanta Ltd Chief Sales & Marketing Officer (Global Aluminium Business) Jean-Baptiste Lucas said.

But, we obviously regret such unilateral decision in breach of WTO rules on a fast growing market, which will continue to be a large net importer of aluminiumthese additional costs will put an extra burden on our US customers that will ultimately make them uncompetitive, Lucas added.

Trump last week signed two proclamations that imposed 25 per cent tariff on imported steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, a move that is likely to foment a global trade war. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11

The brave-heart families of donors Kiran and Sureishta Kumari from Himachal Pradesh are not only united with each other as coming from the same home state, but also because of their exemplary spirit of giving while facing their darkest tragedies as they consented for organ donation of their departed dear ones in the past two days here at the PGI.

Kiran (21), a BA final-year student of Government Degree College, Joginder Nagar, Mandi, sustained grievous head injury on March 8 following a tragic accident with a two-wheeler.

After initial treatment in a local hospital in Tanda, the family shifted her to the PGI, Chandigarh, in the early hours of March 9. My daughter was the heart and soul of our family. Sporty, vivacious, bubbly, Kiran had a spring in her step. She would help anyone, any time and not think twice about it. For someone so full of life and compassion, to go so early at the age of only 21 is just so unfair, said an inconsolable Ravinder Singh, father of donor Kiran, and an agriculturist from Joginder Nagar, as the family consented to donate the organs of their dear daughter, after she was declared brain-dead in the mid-night here at the PGI.

Following the familys consent, the kidneys of donar Kiran were retrieved, which on transplantation saved the lives of two critical patients suffering from end-stage kidney ailments, thereby, giving them second chance at life.

Kiran aspired to join police services and serve others. With organ donation, we tried to fulfill her ardent wish to serve others, said the father.

In the second case, donor Sureishta Kumari (48), a resident of Bharmoti village in Hamirpur district, was admitted to Fortis Hospital following an intracranial bleeding. However, the destiny had something else in the offing and Sureishta could not be retrieved from her critical condition and was declared brain-dead on March 9.

Sureishtas family expressed willingness to donate organs of their dear one when the attending doctors discussed the matter of organ donation with them. Immediately, Fortis Hospital got in touch with the PGI for further management and donor was accordingly shifted to the PGI on March 9.

Husband Swarup Singh and daughter Anu of the donor consented for organ donation, following which kidneys and cornea were retrieved for transplantation. As one of the kidneys was not found usable, the other kidney was transplanted to one terminally ill patient suffering from renal ailment. The corneas, on transplantation, will restore the sight of two corneal blind patients.

It is my wifes chance to live through others. Hopefully, our decision will save others from the pain and trauma of losing their dear one with which I will live till my last breath. This will be our biggest tribute to the departed soul, said Swarup.

About donors

Kiran (21) from Joginder Nagar, Mandi, sustained grievous head injury on March 8 following a tragic accident with a two-wheeler. She was declared brain-dead in the mid-night here at the PGI. While Sureishta Kumari (48), a resident of Bharmoti village in Hamirpur district, was admitted to Fortis Hospital following an intracranial bleeding. Sureishta could not be retrieved from her critical condition and was declared brain-dead on March 9.Ali Ahmed

Ali Ahmed

Blogger on strategic issues

AN editorial in The Tribune ('Generals speaking', March 2) has it that there is dissension in the ranks. The editorial follows two generals who, while speaking at a seminar in Panjab University, Chandigarh, seemingly contradicted earlier utterances of their Chief. Recounting recent forays by the Army Chief into political territory, the editorial concludes that the generals, including the Army Chief, should drive in their respective lanes.

At the Chandigarh seminar, the head of the Army's Western Command said that the idea of a two-front war is not 'smart'. Recall, a 'two and a half front war' was the Chief's innovative formulation last year, referring to a collusive threat from China and Pakistan, alongside a domestic 'half front' unsettled, presumably by a Maoist-jihadist insurrection.

The second general, its training command head, called out the lack of traction of the political track with Pakistan, even though the Line of Control (LoC) has been activated with artillery crunches, resulting in deaths and displacement on both sides. The Chief is part-owner of the policy reversal of ceasefire on the LoC, having under his belt the proto-surgical strike in cross-border raids on the Myanmar border that were then grafted on to the LoC. Predictably, escalation resulted and with little prospect of a negotiated return to the pre-existing ceasefire.

Both generals have a point. They are mindful, perhaps, that with the defence budget this year reaching its lowest level since the 1962 war in terms of percentage, it would be prudent for India to cut its coat according to the cloth on hand.

A textual view is that the two are drawing attention to the advantages of strategic prudence. Since there can always be two views on strategic matters, their querying the Chief's perspective is unexceptionable. A professional diversity of opinion such as this must enliven Army commanders' conference, enabling robust policy input from the Army's side.

However, strategic debate apart, can a subtextual view be taken of their remarks, one perhaps unintended by the two, but one informed by the subtext of their remarks?

The two army commanders were speaking at a seminar on Pakistan. Drawing analogy from Pakistan's case, the training command head had this to say, "This (Pakistani praetorianism) is in stark contrast to India where the armed forces owe allegiance to the Constitution, and not to any party, person or religion (italics added)."

Normally, there would be no need to give voice to this homily. The distinction between India and Pakistan would appear to be self-evident. However, the times are changing. A cautionary word that Indian politics is headed the way of Pakistan is not infrequently heard.

The training command head said as much, likening Pakistan to a mirror on the wall, which India needs to look at so as not to "make the same mistakes, particularly in light of growing radicalisation and intolerance within our own society over mundane issues."

The two statements together indicate an unease with the political forces causing distress in society, and an apprehension of the military's growing proximity to such forces.

The seeming proximity is seen in the Army Chief's utterances. His latest remarks in the context of elections in three north-eastern states drew attention to the threat of illegal immigration. At the start of the ongoing run-up to the Karnataka elections, the Chief went down to Coorg and pitched for the Bharat Ratna for a son-of-the-soil, Field Marshal Cariappa. Rawat's positions have constantly been at odds with one of the two coalition partners in J&K, where the Army is the protagonist.

It is increasingly evident that the Army Chief's remarks are aligned with the political plank with the right wing ruling party. The benefits in a tough-on-national-security image are, perhaps, excusable. More problematic is ballast for the political project under way of the ruling party and its supportive pseudo-cultural formations.

This has led to a growing suspicion that the Army Chief is down a political route, out of sync with the tradition of public reticence by military chiefs and the apolitical character of the Army. Since political and professional are inversely proportional, this impacts military professionalism.

The Army's leadership needs to cauterise the Army from the influences from without. The Army commanders form the Army's collective leadership. The subtext in the words at the seminar of the two army commanders  perhaps unintended by the two  appear to call on their Chief to pull back from the brink. It is a timely call worth heeding.Sandeep Dikshit

Sandeep Dikshit

There has been a distinct change in tone at South Block these days. The over-the-top serenading of visitors continues unabated; the naav pe charcha with the French President is the latest in the series. But the Governments security managers have turned remarkably reticent  and, realistic  on Indias military capabilities in dealing with China.

The governments usually pugnacious instincts have been tempered by Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharamans sobering admission about a change in the balance of power on the Doklam plateau. The Chinese Peoples Liberation Army, she told Parliament, has set up a permanent military base in Doklam where in the past it would periodically whip-up a road building scare but rolled up its plans for another day.

The Defence Ministers acknowledgement puts in doubt the Governments brave spin on the 73-day faceoff at Doklam. The standoff did end in an honourable draw, as the Government claimed. But the contestation did not end on August 28, 2017, when New Delhi claimed soldiers from both sides relocated to their original positions.

In hindsight, China called off the military confrontation to ensure PM Modis presence at the BRICS summit at Xiamen. Once the heads of government emplaned from Xiamen, China unfolded the second act of the Doklam episode by pushing in heavy construction material. Soon tents and roads came up. India this time did not send its soldiers marching in. The Ministry of External Affairs deflected queries about the authenticity of freely available satellite photos, indicating a continuing Chinese military buildup.

On the border with Pakistan and in the Kashmir Valley, the wisdom of fruitless application of military force is under question after the Indian armys death toll touched a record high for two successive years. Things are still not panning out well in Nepal either despite an icebreaking visit by Sushma Swaraj. Sensing the possibility of forming a front in SAARC where it often bats alone against India, Pakistan Prime Minister also landed in Kathmandu to meet the new Government believed to be still cut up with New Delhi.

But Nepal and Pakistan are mere pinpricks compared to the ground India has lost in Doklam. Strategic experts batting for the Government had projected the end of the standoff as an event from which countries with territorial disputes with China will draw the right lessons. They should now be asked what lessons these countries, especially Bhutan, should draw from the Chinese upper hand in Doklam?

And poor Bhutan, on whose behalf India had claimed to have interceded, has come off the worst. Except for patrols and occasional threats to build a road, China used to stay clear of Doklam. In border talks with Thimphu, it would offer the disputed areas in the northern sector in exchange for ownership rights over the disputed areas in the north-western sector. Chinas occupation over half of Doklam means its next offer for settlement of the land dispute with Bhutan may not be too generous. In an election year, the chatter in the bazaars of Thimphu may well blame an Indian miscalculation for the weakened bargaining power.

On paper, it looks deceptively simple to turn the clock back on acrimony. India needs to accept the reality of Chinese control over Aksai Chin in return for minor adjustments to the existing positions in Arunachal Pradesh. Once this framework is in place, both sides can thrash out their differences on overlapping claims in 16 locations where confrontations take place between patrols. This simplistic formulation overlooks the negativity that has since continued to accumulate. India has also waded into the big power game, joining forces with a US-led effort to gain dominance on islands scattered in a chain across the Indian Ocean. The intention is to prepare for a future when a rising superpower may ignore or try to change international rules in its favour. That superpower by logic of deduction can only be China. Under pressure from US and friends in the maritime domain, China is bound to undertake theatre switching by occasionally putting India on notice on the line of actual control.

For the moment, however, an opportunity beckons. China is once again putting its friendly face forward in preparation for another major regional summit  the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO).

But there is more to it than ensuring a major summit passes off uneventfully. Xi Jinpings permanent power grab and the slowing down of the Chinese economy may be forcing him to narrow differences with neighbours. That is why after rejecting multilateral negotiations, Beijing has now held talks on a code of conduct on South China Sea with the 11-nation ASEAN grouping. That best explains the Chinese Foreign Ministers suddenly magnanimous offer to take forward our traditional friendship and be a friend and partner of the Indian people.

The Modi Government has sensed that opening and sought to avoid being provocative to China by asking its senior leaders and officials not to attend Dalai Lamas events.

The easing of tensions could not have come at a better time for India and China. Their trade surplus with the US is facing close scrutiny and both need each other at a time of impending economic squeeze. Along with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman going to Beijing this month end, her predecessor in the Commerce Ministry Suresh Prabhu too needs to engage with his counterparts to put the derailed India-China economic relationship back on track.

Sitharaman, meanwhile, can test whether the Chinese Foreign Ministers conciliatory words are to ensure the smooth conduct of the SCO summit or do they have a larger bearing. The BJP had claimed the military hotline with China was a done deal till Doklam happened. In case China demurs on activating the hotline, the Modi government needs to revive the previous governments proposal for a mountain corps that it has strangely consigned to the back burner.

While keeping its defences up, India needs to strike a conversation on integrating the rival trade routes. The economic success of stand-alone Chinese Belt and Road corridors and India-promoted transport arteries is doubtful. Nihilistic competition could sink both countries into bitter rivalries that could draw in other regional countries. The beginning of a dialogue would encourage both sides to take a relook at the past investment proposals. The securitisation of the foreign policy due to nationalist impulses in both countries is leading to undesirable competition. It is time to put some cooperation in the mix as well.

sandeep4731@gmail.comuttara@tribuneindia.com

Houston, March 11

Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was murdered in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas City last year, led a peace walk with her husband's hundreds of friends and co-workers.

Sunayana led the memorial peace walk on Friday what would have been the 34th birthday of Kuchibhotla.

Kuchibhotla was fatally shot in Olathe, Kansas, in February last year by a US navy veteran. His colleague Alok Madasani was also critically injured in the attack.

"We're gathered here because of man's one action and the hate that took of an innocent life," Sunayana told the large crowd gathered outside of Garmin where Kuchibhotla and Madasani were engineers.

The approximately 3-km peace walk from the Garmin headquarters to the bar was meant to honour the life of Kuchibhotla.

Last week, Adam Purinton, 52, pleaded guilty before a Kansas court.

He was charged with first-degree murder of Kuchibhotla, 32, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of his friend, Madasani.

Purinton yelled, "Get out of my country", before shooting Kuchibhotla, who later died from injuries sustained in the attack.

He also shot and wounded Ian Grillot, an Olathe man who tried to defend Kuchibhotla and Madasani. Grillot also attended Friday's walk.

"Sunayana has not let this tragedy defeat her, instead she used the circumstances to find a voice and spread a message," Garmin CEO Clifton Pemble said to the crowd before the walk began.

"The goal is to share more immigrant stories from the past and present and to spread a positive message that America is welcome to everybody from all walks of life," Sunayana said.

"It's a terrible reason that we are here right now but seeing the support for the community and the continued support a little year after it's just absolutely wonderful," Grillot said.

Sunayana, recently launched Forever Welcome, a Facebook page for immigrants who did not feel that way after the shooting.

"Olathe will not let one act of evil define us. We are moving forward," Olathe Mayor Michael Copleland said. As are Grillot, Madasani and Sunayanatied together by hate but united by love.

"You all being here is our answer to that one man, that our community believes in being united," Sunayana said.

Purinton will be sentenced in May, likely to life in prison. He still faces hate crime charges that could carry the death penalty. PTImonicakchauhan@gmail.com

London, March 11

A Sikh law student in the UK felt "victimised" after he was dragged out of a bar because he was wearing a turban, media reports said.

Amrik Singh, 22, claimed that he was ordered to leave Rush Late Bar in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, yesterday for wearing his religious headgear, BBC reported.

Singh was told that the bar had a "no headwear" policy.

He tried to explain to a bouncer who approached him that the turban protected his hair and was part of his religion. But his pleas were ignored - and he was "dragged away" from his friends before being removed from the venue, the report said.

Singh was also allegedly told, "I didn't think you were allowed to come in a pub and drink anyway."

"I'm heartbroken. The reason why I was removed was because I refused to remove my turban," he wrote on Facebook.

Singh said the bouncer had approached him saying that he needed to remove my turban, the report said.

"I explained that a turban isn't just headgear, but part of my religion and that it protected my hair - and that I was allowed to wear a turban in public," he said.

"The bouncer ignored this and said I needed to take it off. I refused and was subsequently dragged away from my friends," he added.

"The fact that I was being removed because of my religious views really upset me. My ancestors have fought for the British army previously," the Sun reported.

"Furthermore, me and my parents were born in Britain and all uphold British values.

"The worst part of it was the fact he compared my turban to wearing a pair of trainers," Singh, a final year law student at Nottingham Trent University, added.

The management, however, has apologised and said the staff involved faced suspension pending an investigation.

In a statement to the Labour councillor for Mansfield, Sonya Ward, Rush Late Bar said that it was not their policy.

Good morning, this is absolutely NOT our policy. We are investigating this incident and the security member in question has been suspended, Ward shared the statement on Twitter.

In February, an Indian Sikh environmental activist's turban was ripped by a white man shouting "Muslim go back" during a racist attack outside the UK Parliament. PTIeditorial@tribune.com

Vishal Joshi

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, March 11

The special investigation team (SIT) probing the murder of three young siblings from Sarsa village in Kurukshetra has not found anything incriminating against accused Sonu Malik, the victims father.

Karnal SP Jashandeep Singh Randhawa, part of the SIT, said the recent polygraph test and other investigations had not hinted at Maliks involvement in the crime.

However, he said the role of Maliks relative Reena Malik, widow of main accused Jagdeep Malik, was still being investigated.

He clarified that Sonu had not been given a clean chit and the SIT had sought a few clarifications from him in the case. We have certain details and hope to sum up the investigation in the next few days, said Randhawa.

Sameer (11), Simran (8) and Samar (3) were shot dead in Morni on November 21 and their bodies were retrieved from the forest area on information provided by Sonus cousin Jagdeep.

Main accused Jagdeep, who later allegedly committed suicide in judicial custody, and Sonus wife Suman had suspected his role in the triple murder.

Suman had alleged that her husband had an extramarital affair. She had further alleged that Sonu wanted to get her killed in a bid to free himself of all responsibilities and for property gains. However, the SIT official refrained from making any comment on the alleged extramarital relationship of the suspect.editorial@tribune.com

Mukesh Tandon

Tribune News Service

Panipat, March 11

Lt Preeti Choudhary, an NCC cadet, has brought laurels to her native village Binjhol in the district by winning the Sword of Honour for being the best all-round cadet at Officers Training Academy (OTA) in Chennai. The villagers greeted members of members of her family today and distributed sweets to celebrate the success of villages daughter.

They said, Preeti mhari beti hai. Usne mhare gaon ka naam roshan kar diya. Ib mhari chhori aur padhengi aura aage badhengi. (Preeti is our daughter and she has done our village proud. Now, our daughters will be inspired to study and make it big in life).

Preetis uncle Mahender Singh said, Preeti was born in Binjhol village and started her schooling here. As her father was an Army officer, she got studied at several places. She did her graduation from Government Girls College in Sector 11, Chandigarh.

She always wanted to become an Army office like her father, he added.

Her father Capt Inder Singh (retd) and mother Sunita Devi always supported her. Her elder sister Priya is a software engineer and her brother Ankit is pursuing BSc. He also wants to become an Army officer.

Mahenders wife Krishna Devi said Preeti was intelligent in studies and was eager to join the Army from her childhood. She had brought glory to our family, she said.

Binjhol resident Monica said: Preeti has brought honour to every girl of the state and the nation. Though she did not study here, but it is a matter of pride for everyone. Girls of our village will take inspiration from her.

Village sarpanch Sangeeta Devi said, Preetis success will change mentality of villagers, who oppose higher education for girls. We will convene a meeting soon to honour her.

She added, This year, our village is at the number one position with sex ratio at birth (SRB) of more than 1,700 girls against 1,000 boys.editorial@tribune.com

Ravinder Sood

Palampur March 11

The Centre has cleared the expansion of the Gaggal airport in Kangra district, which will then be used by the Air Force.

Kangra MP Shanta Kumar on Friday hailed the decision of the government to set up a new Air Force base at the Gaggal airport. He said the decision had been taken keeping in view the defence requirement of the country. The government had planned to develop an alternative air base near the border.

Shanta Kumar said the air base would be strategically important in view of the increasing tension with the neighbouring countries.

This will not only be beneficial from the security point of view, but also benefit tourists and locals, he said, adding that it would also contribute towards the development of the state.

The Kangra MP said the Centre had also given its go-ahead to the construction of the Pathankot-Leh-Ladakh railway line and fourlaning of the Pathankot-Mandi highway. He assured residents, whose land would be acquired for setting up the air base, of providing adequate compensation. Shanta said the Central Government would work towards their rehabilitation so that they would not have to face any inconvenience.

The locals will face inconvenience due to acquisition of their land, but they should understand that it will not only strengthen the countrys strategic position in the northern region, but also develop the area, he added.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

It is said that the 12,700-crore PNB scam could have been detected much earlier if governments would not have succumbed to the pressure of chartered accountants (CAs). Prima facie, this could be a plausible explanation for suspending a particular provision of the Companies Act, 2013, that pertained to the formation of an independent regulator for professionals certifying books and accounts of companies.

Why does India allow merely self-regulation of auditors despite alarming number of accounting scams? Major economies such as the US and the UK have already created independent accounting regulators. India is, however, relying on auditors' self-regulation through their own body  the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

It is not that the country did not learn from the Satyam scam. It did frame a new legislation to regulate companies and passed the Companies Act on August 29, 2013, after several rounds of discussions with various stakeholders. Apparently, some of these stakeholders persuaded the government to withhold Section 132 of the Act that could have established an independent regulator by curtailing powers of the ICAI.

Proverbial incompetency

The inefficiency of the CA club is best explained by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address at the ICAI foundation day eight months ago: Curriculum is made by you only; you conduct the exam; Rules and regulations are also made by you, and your institute only punishes the culprits. Now the question arises that the temple of democracy i.e., Parliament of India, which is the voice of 125 crore countrymen, has given you so much authority, then why is it that in the last 11 years, only 25 charteredd accountants have been prosecuted. Did only 25 people make a mess?

On that day, i.e., July 1 last year, PM Modi had made it very clear that the ICAI was unable to rein in its members and some of them were helping rogue businessmen to rob the country. CA brothers, a person or a client pays taxes only when the environment around him is conducive which motivates him to pay the taxes honestly. If he sees that the adviser (CA) himself is asking him to hide the truth then he will boldly traverse the wrong path. Thus, it is equally important to identify such wrong advisers and take strict actions against them, PM Modi was candid that day.

Delayed response

The PMs speech in July had made it amply clear that he was more than convinced about the incompetence of the ICAI in penalising its dishonest members. It is, therefore, intriguing that he let off the ICAI with only a warning. What made him wait until this month? The Cabinet, under his chairmanship, approved the proposal to establish an independent regulator for the auditing profession  the National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)  on March 1, 2018. A government spokesperson said the need for establishing NFRA was felt in the wake of accounting scams, to establish independent regulators, independent from those it regulates.

It was a delayed response to financial frauds, but better late than never. The country finally got what was absolutely necessary. It, however, lost about five years, including one crucial year under the Manmohan Singh regime.

Lobbyists at work

Sources in the government and industry suggest that the lobbyists left no stone unturned to keep the Section 132 (establishment of an independent regulator for CAs) under suspension and stall any move of the government to create the NFRA. This also exhibits a lack of conviction or moral weakness of the Minister of Corporate Affairs (MCA). The person in position under the UPA regime should also be held guilty.

The ICAI has been vehemently opposing the idea of an independent regulator. According to reports by the Standing Committee, the ICAI argued that the creation of an independent regulator was nothing but duplication of efforts wherein costs were higher than benefits. It said that the NFRA would result in two regulatory bodies governing the same audit profession. The bulky self-governing body even questioned the government's decision to curb the powers of the ICAI, which was also created by an Act of Parliament.

In a letter to the parliamentary panel in August 2015, the ICAI had said that the chartered accountants profession sees constitution of the NFRA as an interference in the functioning of the profession and pressed for the omission of the Section 132.

The panel, however, strongly favoured the creation of an independent regulator in place of self-regulation by the CAs. It compared the ICAI with the Medical Council of India (MCI), another corrupt self-regulatory body of medical professionals. Discouraging regulation of a profession by elected regulators like the MCI, the NITI Aayog had said that the process was flawed: It creates an ab-initio conflict of interest and therefore, this system must be discarded in favour of one based on search and selection. Regulators of highest standards of professional integrity and excellence must be appointed through an independent and a transparent selection process by a broad based search-cum-selection committee.

Rogue accountants

So powerful was the lobby of the CAs that the government and other regulatory agencies could not take any action against erring members of the ICAI. For instance, the ICAI did not act on complaints forwarded by the government in November 2015 indicting auditors of 132 listed companies whose scrips were suspended by the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi). Similarly, the ICAI did not act against 34 chartered accountants, who had worked as mediators in money laundering with the help of a group of companies. Their details were provided to the body by the Special Investigating Team on the black money in April 2016.

There are several such accounts where the CAs looked the other way and took their right of self-regulation for granted.

A feeble shot

Although the CA-corporate nexus has been an open secret, the government only acted after losing Rs 12,700-crore to Nirav Modi. The decision of having an independent regulator for the CAs is on the lines of the global trend. But there are some practical issues that need to be resolved before enacting the NFRA. According to a recent cabinet decision, the new regulator would be empowered to investigate the CAs and their firms of listed and large unlisted companies. The prescribed threshold is Rs 100 crore. The ICAI will continue to enjoy its power with respect to audits pertaining to private limited companies and public unlisted companies below the threshold limit. According to sources, the limit is expected to be around Rs 100 crore. This escape route would, however, be misused by rogue industrialists and the CAs. They can create several shell companies or subsidiaries below the threshold limit and escape the scrutiny of the NFRA. Instead of the dual authority, the government should take away the ICAI's regulatory powers and ask the body to focus on matters related to education and certification of the CAs.

SELF-REGULATION TO INDEPENDENT REGULATOR

Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI)

Established by the Chartered Accountants Act, 1949

Has been sole regulator of chartered accountants

Governed by a council with 32 members elected by CAs

Government nominates 8 members in the council

Proposed National Financial Reporting Authority (NFRA)editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, March 11

Two days after state Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu said Kashmir should not be seen as a political problem, his party today hit out at him saying that J&K was a political problem and its resolution formed the PDPs core agenda.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Muftis uncle and partys second in command Sartaj Madni asked senior PDP minister Drabu, credited with forging partys alliance with the BJP in 2015, to retract the statement immediately if it has been reported correctly in the media.

Party vice-president Madni also advised all senior leaders of the party to be careful while issuing statements and making observations on the basic political philosophy and core agenda of the party.

It is unfortunate that the problem is seen by some forces in the subcontinent as a mere management assignment to contain peoples aspirations and the resolution commitment is being aimlessly undermined, Madni said in a statement. The PDP feels highly perturbed at the obvious lack of urgency in resolving this issue and reiterates its commitment to uphold the partys stated objectives in which the resolution of the political issue has paramount importance.

At a function in New Delhi on Friday, Drabu was quoted as having said Kashmir should not be seen as a conflict state or a political problem but as a society with social issues. Drabus assertions evoked sharp criticism from the opposition National Conference and separatist leader Yasin Malik.

Madni said ever since the PDP was formed, it had relentlessly pursued the Kashmir resolution through reconciliation and dialogue, both at internal and external levels.

Recalling the vision of party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Madni said the resolution of the Kashmir problem formed the core of his struggle and sacrifices.

Any impression of the political issue getting under the carpet can have a very negative impact and can spin the situation into another cycle of destabilisation in the region. In such a scenario, the sufferings of the states people will immensely compound and the upcoming generation will move out of the space of reconciliation, he said.

The PDP vice-president said after the fractured election mandate of 2014, the party entered into an alliance based on an agenda towards seeking a national reconciliation on J&K, besides catalysing reconciliation and confidence-building within and across the Line of Control.

Madni said the PDP was committed to pushing its agenda for peaceful and dignified resolution of the Kashmir problem which alone would lessen the tension in the region and release huge financial resources of the two countries for development of their economies.

Explanation sought

Peoples Democratic Party disciplinary committee chairman Abdul Rehman Veeri has asked Haseeb Drabu to explain the statement attributed to him on the Kashmir issue.editorial@tribune.com

Tribune News Service

Jammu, March 11

Displaced Kashmiri Pandits today accused the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights (UNHCHR) of maintaining silence on the plight of 3.5 lakh displaced Kashmiri Hindus and other victims of Pakistan-sponsored terrorism in J&K.

Community members alleged that the rights body was showing selective concern for human rights in the state and was not taking into account the mayhem being created by terrorists and separatists for the last 28 years.

Zeid Raad Al Hussein, UNHCHR High Commissioner, is maintaining silence on the issue of human rights violations of Pandits. This is unacceptable to the victims of militancy, alleged Ashwani Chrungoo, president, Panun Kashmir, a representative body of minority Hindus, at a meeting held here today.

He expressed satisfaction over the response of the Indian representative to Pakistan at the UN Human Rights Council session.

Panun Kashmir said the recent statement of Finance Minister Haseeb Drabu that the J&K issue should not been seen as a political issue was a nice rebuttal to Pakistan, which had raked up Kashmir at a human rights meeting recently.

JL Kaul, vice-president, Panun Kashmir, said no mandate was allowed to anyone to negotiate with the unity and integrity of India in Jammu and Kashmir.

Virender Raina, national spokesperson, Panun Kashmir, said Pandits had been longing for a Bill on Hindu temples and shrines. The demand of the Hindus of Kashmir to preserve, protect and promote their cultural and religious tradition of thousands of years is an important concern not only for the Hindus living in J&K, but also those across the nation, he added.pardeepdhull@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 11

The Indian Air Force was pressed into service on Sunday to rescue college students caught in a forest fire in Tamil Nadus Theni district, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said.

Sitharaman said she has asked the Southern Air Command to coordinate the search and rescue operation and evacuate those trapped in the fire.

The @IAF_MCC are working with local authorities in Theni distt, Tamil Nadu to evacuate all trapped in the forest fire in Kurangani. Smt @nsitharaman has spoken to Collector of Theni Distt & Southern Air Command to co-ordinate a quick & effective Search & Rescue effort, a tweet on the official Twitter handle of the defence minister said.

Around 20 college students are trapped in the forest fire near Kurangani.

The Defence Minister said that IAF has been pressed into service following a request from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K Palaniswami.

Sitharaman was approached by Chief Minister K Palaniswami for help after the students were trapped in the forest fire.

The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni, she said. PTIgspannu7@gmail.com

Puducherry, March 11

Puduchery Lt governor Kiran Bedi suggested that the traffic police personnel here should learn English and Hindi to communicate effectively with tourists arriving here and guide them.

Addressing a meeting of traffic police officers here today, the former IPS officer said that traffic police should be trained to communicate with tourists in English and Hindi.

She said the traffic police should be strict in enforcing the rules whether it is encroachment of the road by the poor man or parking of vehicles by the rich.

Puducherry Government had in November said that the Centre has earmarked Rs 109 crore to promote tourism projects under Swadesh Darshan in the Union Territory, a former French colony which attracts a large number of tourists across the globe.  PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 11

The founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) inaugurated by PM Modi and French President Macron today had 22 heads of states and governments in attendance. This included 17 Presidents, 5 Prime Ministers, 2 Vice-Presidents ,4 Deputy PMs and 20 cabinet ministers from 61 signatory countries, including 32 which have ratified the agreement . The Tribune caught up with some leaders on the sidelines. Guyanese President David A Granger underlined that climate change is a real threat and India has demonstrated important leadership. While Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza stressed that despite Donald Trumps opposition, the Paris Climate Agreement is the only way to move forward. He also clarified that President Maduro had to pull out of ISA because of internal election process. Smita Sharma spoke to world leaders.

David A Granger,

President of Guyana

What is the takeaway from ISA?

The one big takeaway is that there will be some amount of technology transfer to Guyana, which is well positioned in the Tropic of Cancer and just a few degrees above the Equator. We would like to see Indian firms investing in Guyana. We are the gateway to South America. Guyana is probably the only English-speaking Caribbean country at the ISA.

How do you look at Trump's opposition to Paris agreement?

Many countries have ignored the opposition because they feel that climate change is something real. So it is just a matter of time before the doubters come on board. Living in Guyana we are quite aware of the dangers of climate change. For the first time in my life I heard about Houston being flooded and hit by hurricanes. So we have to mitigate the adverse effects of climate change. I think ISA is a good move.

What is the importance of India for the alliance?

It has shown the leadership and shared the responsibility. India has demonstrated the leadership and it is for respective heads of states now to follow the lead.

Jorge Arreaza,

Foreign Minister, Venezuela

What is a deliverable outcome from the solar alliance?

We are petroleum producers but the potential of sunlight we have in Venezuela is very important. And we are going to use the resources that come from oil production to finance solar energy projects not only in Venezuela but in the Caribbean islands as well. They have no oil, some have no water. So we are going to finance solar projects... We have a lot of confidence in India and PM Modi.

How significant is Paris Agreement given Trumps opposition?

The Paris Climate Agreement is the only way forward to avoid humanity from extinguishing. Does US want people to die or humanity to become extinct? We do not. There are countries of Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia that are working together and we will make it inspite of the United States.

Why could President Maduro not attend ISA conference?

We have elections in Venezuela in nect six months. He is very busy in the election processes and he is head of our party. Hence, he had to cancel.1. Yes. Several other districts factor them in. It would provide a more complete picture.

2. Yes. Theyre not as accurate, but they can be useful in spotting a trend in infections.

3. No. The district is keeping tabs on those numbers, so the public doesnt need to.

4. No. As long as the public health district is aware of those stats, thats all that matters.

5. Unsure. The district isnt obligated to include them, but it might be helpful.

Vote

View Resultspardeepdhull@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 11

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced an additional investment of 700 million euros for global solar energy generation by 2022 to reduce the use of fossil fuel and help combat climate change.

Speaking at the launch of the first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit, Macron called for joint duties towards a planet that we are sharing and took a dig at his US counterpart Donald Trump who pulled out of the 2015 Paris climate deal.

Macron said the summit to revolutionise the use of the clean energy by generating over 1,000 GW of solar power by 2030 was an outcome of the Paris accord even as some left the floor but others decided to act and keep acting.

The French President co-chaired the summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan that was also attended by the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.

Among those present were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

The French Development Agency will allocate additional 700 million euros to its commitment to solar energy by 2022, Macron said.

This will take Frances total commitment to the solar alliance to 1,000 million euros.

In 2015, we said we will allocate some 300 million euros to support (solar) projects in the member countries. This commitment by France was met a couple of months ago. Conceptualised by India, the solar alliance currently has 121 member countries. Out of those, 60 have signed the solar treaty and some 30 have ratified it.

The alliance of sun-rich countries was launched jointly by Modi and then French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of the landmark 2015-Paris climate talks.

Without taking President Trumps name, Macron at the Delhi summit said while some left the climate deal others stayed because they wish good for their children and grand children.

All of us her have experienced global warming. Some of you here have lost your territories, economy and life of citizens.

We should not forget that we only have one planet that we are sharing and for that there is no alternative. There is a joint destiny which means we also have some joint duties.

Without the concept of climate justice there would have been no Paris Agreement. The French President pointed out that the alliance of the countries situated between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer account for three-fourth of the worlds population with a potential of 138 GW of solar power.

But, he said, only 50 to 60 per cent people living in the region have access to electricity.

Macron said the alliance needed to identify solar projects in every single member country.

Each country with its solar energy potential will identify here their needs and how much finance they need. One hundred projects have already been listed, he said, further calling the member states that investments in these projects are very profitable.

Under the ISA, 100 centres for excellence would train 10,000 technicians to achieve the target of 1,000 GW of solar energy that needs $1,000 billion, the President said.

He said the ISA should help small enterprises in small countries to help them mobilize projects and finances.

But in order to reach $1,000 by 2030, to reach 1,000 GW solar energy, we need private investors. The alliance will provide a favourable framework, he assured, adding that France, India, the World Bank and other member states were reviewing expensive existing guarantee mechanism.

The French President stressed on the affordable low cost solar solutions, saying the alliance should be a place where technology can meet the expectations of people and country.

He lauded Indias solar commitments that has 20 GW installed solar capacity - one of the fastest growing in the world. The country has increased its solar power capacity by about eight times over the past four years.

Indias wind power generation capacity is 32.8 GW. It aims to achieve 175 GW of clean energy by 2022, of which 100 GW is solar.  IANSgspannu7@gmail.com

Ahmedabad, March 11

A bidi manufacturer on Sunday allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself with his licenced revolver at his bungalow near the Sarkhej-Gandhinagar (SG) Highway here, police said.

An official from the Sarkhej police said that Jitendra Patel (65), popularly known as Rajabhai Bidiwala, allegedly shot himself, between 1 am and 6 am, at his bungalow behind Karnavati Club.

He was also involved with the pharmacy business, the official said.

The reason behind the extreme step is not yet clear.

The Forensic Science Laboratory has been called to help in the investigation, the official said.  PTIROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 11

India and France today co-chaired the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) that was launched at the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement conference to tap solar energy and renewables in Tropical Belt countries.

Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the conference at Rashtrapati Bhavan with 22 Heads of States and Governments, including Presidents of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka as well as UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in attendance.

In his opening remarks, PM Modi presented a ten-point action plan to make solar energy and technology affordable through concessional financing for all developing nations. ISA aims to generate over 1,000 GW of solar capacity and mobilise investment of over $1 trillion by 2030 for developing countries. India is committed to generating 175 GW from renewable energy sources by 2022.

Vedas consider the Sun as the soul of the world, it has been considered as a life nurturer. Today, for combating climate change, we need to look at this ancient idea to find a way, the PM said. To promote the use of solar energy, the availability of technology and development, economic resources, reduction in prices, development of storage technology, mass manufacturing, and innovation require a complete ecosystem, he further added.

In remarks alluding to US President Donald Trump, Macron said some countries left the Paris Climate Accord while others decided to act and keep acting. We should not forget that we only have one planet and we are sharing it and for that there are no alternatives. There is a joint destiny which means we also have some joint duties, added Macron. France has pledged nearly USD 862 million of additional loan and donations for solar projects in emerging economies by 2022.

Macron and Modi will also jointly inaugurate Uttar Pradeshs largest solar plant in Mirzapur on Monday. The outcome document Delhi Solar Agenda notes that renewable energy is an important pathway to a less carbon-intensive, more efficient and more sustainable energy system and seeks to pursue an increased share of solar energy in the final energy consumption of respective national energy mix of member countries. Of the prospective 121 plus members, 61 have so far signed up for the inter-governmental body while 32 countries have ratified the ISA framework till date.

Aiming at 175 GW from renewables by 2022: pm

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said India will generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2022. This would be more than double the present renewable energy capacity and would be enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time

He also called for concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects to raise the share of solar power in the energy basket, provide cheaper electricity and cut carbon emissions

Macron takes a dig at Trump; hails Indiagspannu7@gmail.com

New Delhi, March 11

India and France have decided to set up a joint working group to institutionalise cooperation in conservation of environment, Union Minister Harsh Vardhan has said.

The environment minister held delegation-level talks with Brune Poirson, French Minister of State for Ecological and Inclusive Transition, who is the part of a team led by President Emmanuel Macron on cooperation in the field of conservation of environment and biodiversity.

"India and France decide to set up a joint working group to institutionalise cooperation in the area of conservation of environment. French Minister Poirson said, it is an ambitious beginning & India France should overcome barriers in deepening cooperation," Harsh Vardhan tweeted on Saturday.

"The French Minister said, she will ask her country's embassy in New Delhi to work out further modalities. Ms Poirson also showed keen interest in the innovative #GreenGoodDeeds campaign and its promotion through a mobile application," he posted.

He also held a bilateral meet with Frederique Vidal, French Minister for Education Research and Innovation.

The environment minister also said Vidal agreed to Indian proposal to hold the first Indo-French Science and Technology Joint Committee Meeting in Delhi during May or June to help expand the scope and contents of future cooperation.

The first summit of #InternationalSolarAlliance, co-hosted by India and France begins; 61 nations join the alliance while 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement, says @narendramodi.pic.twitter.com/dORPiS1CQO  Dr. Harsh Vardhan (@drharshvardhan) 11 March 2018

"India and France being founder partners of Intl. Solar Alliance plan to set up Indo- French Solar Energy Research & Innovation Centre for developing deployable solar technologies," he tweeted.

Harsh Vardhan had also called on visiting Guyana President David A. Granger and discussed the issue of climate change and its impact on India's natural resources in particular.  PTI.gspannu7@gmail.com

Smita Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 11

The Pakistan High Commission here has lodged complaints of harassment with the External Affairs Ministry, which has assured them of an investigation, official sources said on Sunday.

The ministry also alleged that several Indian mission staffers in Islamabad have been severely harassed and intimidated.

Harassment is the new normal for Indian High Commission personnel in Islamabad. The High Commissioners car was recently stopped by Pakistani agencies in the middle of a busy road to prevent him from attending an event, a source said.

Noting that the Pakistan High Commission has brought to the Ministry of External Affairs notice some incidents of alleged harassment over the last few days, sources said these will no doubt be investigated.

India makes all efforts to provide a safe, secure and hospitable environment for diplomats to work in. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Islamabad. The Indian High Commission in Pakistan has been facing tremendous harassment for long, particularly in the last year, the source said.

Aggressive surveillance, violation of physical space and tailing of officers in close and dangerous proximity is a perennial issue. Agency personnel keep shooting videos of the officers thrusting phones on their faces.

Obscene phone calls and messages are constantly received on phones. In view of such an atmosphere of intimidation, most families have returned to India and children have been withdrawn from schools, the source said.

In more trouble, over the last few months, several Indian High Commission staffers have been severely harassed and intimidated, the source said, adding that in one case an officials home was broken into and a laptop stolen.

However, Indian diplomats chose to tackle this matter with quiet and persistent diplomacy rather than by airing issues in the media, the source said.

The strong reaction came after Pakistani news paper Dawn quoted Pakistani officials of accusing India of harassing its diplomats and their families in the country and threatened to pull out the families if the intimidation did not stop.

A demarche was made to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the External Affairs Ministry in Delhi, a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

However, sources here said India has repeatedly requested Pakistan to mutually ensure that High Commissions are allowed to do their job in an atmosphere free of harassment and intimidation, that staff be allowed to work and that construction projects get completed on time.

We would like to continue the fine tradition of allowing diplomats to do their jobs, the source said.

Sources also said that on February 16, the Indian High Commissioner met the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan to lodge a strong protest against multiple acts of hooliganism against Indian properties and personnel.

Indias residential complex in Islamabad was raided by Pakistan agencies which expelled all Pakistani service providers and later disconnected power and water supply.

Despite the Foreign Secretarys assurance, the power supply was not restored for over two weeks. The Pakistan High Commission faces no such disruptions, the source said.  With PTIgspannu7@gmail.com

Suresh Dharur

Tribune News Service

Hyderabad, March 11

The battle of political one-upmanship in Andhra Pradesh over the raging issue of Special Category status is intensifying by the day.

The opposition YSR Congress Party has dared the ruling Telugu Desam Party to quit the NDA if it was serious about protecting the interests of the state.

How can the TDP chief (N Chandrababu Naidu) continue in the NDA after withdrawing his representatives from the Union Cabinet? Had the TDP pulled out its ministers in September 2016, when the Centre ruled out Special Category status and mooted special package, the state would have got its due by now, the YSRCP president YS Jaganmohan Reddy said.

Jagan, who is positioning himself as the lone fighter for Special Category status, has stepped up attack on the chief minister for enacting a drama to divert public attention from the failures of his government.



Addressing a series of roadside meetings during his ongoing state-wide walkathon Praja Sankalpa Yatra, the opposition leader alleged that Naidu had failed to extract adequate funds from the Centre despite being a crucial ally of the BJP.

The YSRCP has already issued an ultimatum to the Centre, saying its MPs would resign en masse from the Lok Sabha if it failed to grant special status by April 6.

If Naidu is sincere about protecting the interests of the state, he should quit the NDA and end the alliance, Jagan said.

Though his two ministers have quit the Union Cabinet, TDP is not ready to extend its support for the no-confidence motion to be moved by us on March 21. We have also given them the option for moving the motion so that we can support it, but they are in no position to accept the proposal, Jagan said.

Last week, two TDP representativesP Ashok Gajapatiraju and YS Chowdaryresigned from the central ministry in protest against denial of special status to the state. However, the regional party said it would continue to be part of the NDA.ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 11

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis despatched Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan to begin talks with leadership of the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), which has mobilised nearly 35,000 farmers to gherao the state legislature on Monday.

With the farmers Long March from Nashik to Mumbai entering the city limits this afternoon, the Maharashtra Government requested the farmers to halt at Vikhroli where they are to put up for tonight. Even as elaborate security arrangements have been made in the city, the police have issued traffic advisory to avoid jams.

As the first batch of marchers entered the city after walking 180 km over the past five days, they were welcomed by representatives of several left organisations such as the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, IPTA, etc. Representatives of several Sikh organisations were also among those who welcomed the marchers as they entered Mumbai.

Earlier today, Fadnavis requested the AIKS to nominate five leaders with whom he could begin negotiations. The Chief Minister had earlier refused to meet with leaders of the Left organisation but later relented after it became clear that the number of farmers marching towards Mumbai had not dwindled over the past week.

Later this afternoon, Mahajan began talks with the farm leaders at a building in the area, state government sources said. According to the original plan announced by the leaders of the AIKS, the farmers will begin marching from Vikhroli to downtown Mumbai early Monday so as to reach Mantralaya, the state legislature, in the afternoon.

The AIKS has warned of an indefinite gherao of Mantralaya till the government fulfilled its demands.

Apart from farmers, AIKS has mobilised tribals in and around Nashik who are demanding implementation of the Forests Right Act in the state. Meanwhile Fadnavis decision to field Mahajan, a junior minister, to hold talks with the farmers has given rise to speculation that the CM has fallen out with his senior colleagues. Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, who had helped Fadnavis negotiate the farm loan waiver last year, is said to have fallen out with him while Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar too has complained to party leadership against the CM.

Cant be insensitive to peasants: RSS

No government can be insensitive to questions related to farmers. It has to be sensitive towards farmers and find ways to address their problems. It is their job to think and find a solution. Bhaiyyaji Joshi, RSS General Secretarymonicakchauhan@gmail.com

Mumbai, March 11

Patidar leader Hardik Patel today said not meeting Congress president Rahul Gandhi ahead of the Gujarat polls was a mistake as it would have prevented the BJP from retaining power in the state.

The 24-year-old Patidar quota agitation spearhead, who had pledged support with the Congress for the Gujarat polls held in last December, said the opposition party would have got an absolute majority had he met Gandhi.

Speaking at the India Today Conclave here, Patel said, "I have said this before as well and I am saying it now. I did not meet Rahul Gandhi. If I can openly meet Mamata Banerjee, Nitish Kumar and (Shiv Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray, there was no issue in meeting Rahul.

"It was a mistake. Had I met him, the BJP would have won 79 and not 99 seats." The BJP retained Gujarat by winning 99 seats in the 182-member Assembly. The Congress improved its tally, but could not oust the saffron outfit from its stronghold.

After dilly-dallying for weeks, Patel had, in November-end, declared that his Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS) would back the Congress in the Gujarat polls, after the latter accepted its demand for reservation to the Patidar community.

Patel reiterated his allegation that a high-ranking bureaucrat of Gujarat had offered him a bribe of Rs 1,200 crore to get the agitating Patels call off their quota stir.

Stating that innocent people were killed in Gujarat during the quota agitation, Patel said sedition charges were slapped on people, who had to make regular court visits now.

"We also voted for (Narendra) Modi when he was the prime ministerial candidate. We had thought the youth of this country would get jobs...the farmers of the country would get a fair price for their produce, but all these things did not happen," he added. The Patidar leader also said that the BJP ran a communal election campaign, but once it came to power, it started speaking about inclusiveness.

Top leaders of the saffron outfit were part of such campaigns, he added. Referring to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's recent remarks on Eid celebrations, Patel said the political discourse needed to be more positive, so that people from different communities were encouraged to celebrate their respective festivals.

Speaking at the event, student leader Kanhaiya Kumar said there was a trend in the country of Congress leaders leaving the party, joining the BJP and turning virtuous individuals overnight.

"The BJP has become like a washing machine," he added. PTIuttara@tribuneindia.com

Shiv Kumar

Tribune News Service

Mumbai, March 11



Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday sent Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan to begin talks with leadership of the All-India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), which has mobilised over 30,000 farmers to gherao the state legislature demanding a loan waiver.



With the farmers Long March from Nashik to Mumbai entering the city limits this afternoon, the Maharashtra government requested the farmers to halt at Vikhroli where they are to stay for tonight.

As they first batch of marchers entered the city, they were welcomed by representatives of several left organisations like the Centre for Indian Trade Unions, IPTA, etc.

Representatives of several Sikh organisations were also among those who welcomed the marchers as they entered Mumbai.



The protesters have planned to gherao the state legislature on Monday.

Earlier on Sunday, Fadnavis requested the AIKS-the farmers' wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) to nominate five leaders with whom he could begin negotiations.

The chief minister had earlier refused to meet with leaders of the left organisation but later calmed down after it became clear that the number of farmers marching towards Mumbai had not dwindled over the past week.

Mahajan began talks with the farm leaders later in the afternoon at a building in the area, state government sources said.



According to the original plan announced by the leaders of the AIKS, the farmers will begin marching from Vikhroli to downtown Mumbai early Monday in order to reach Mantralaya, the state legislature, in the afternoon.



The AIKS has warned of an indefinite gherao of Mantralaya till the government fulfilled its demands.



Apart from farmers, AIKS has mobilised tribals in and around Nashik who are demanding implementation of the Forests Right Act in the state.



Meanwhile Fadnavis decision to field Mahajan, a junior minister, to hold talks with the farmers has given rise to speculation that the chief minister has fallen out with his senior colleagues.



Revenue Minister Chandrakant Patil, who had helped Fadnavis negotiate the farm loan waiver last year, is said to have fallen out with him while Agriculture Minister Pandurang Phundkar has complained to party leadership against the chief minister.



ROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Yash Goyal

Rajasthans Shekhawati belt has been a playground for poll politics since Jawaharlal Nehru. With the Jats in dominance in Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Nagar and Churu districts, all Prime Ministers have showered sops on the people of this area.

Some days ago, PM Narendra Modi did launch National Nutrition Mission-2022 and expand the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao movement during his Rajasthan tour, but he made no effort to please the Jats. Even his own party MLAs and MP had expected some praise as a morale- booster. It was the PMs third visit to the state in seven months. The first one was in Udaipur and the second Barmer.

While Nehru had set up the Central Electronic Research Institute at Pilani, Indira Gandhi had laid the stone of a copper plant at Khetari. Deve Gowda had launched a German-based potable water scheme in the salty terrain of Mandwa, Rajiv Gandhi had set up girls hostels and AB Vajpayee had announced reservation for Jats, Bishnois and Meos during his Sikar tour.

Basking in the partys N-E success, the BJP believes the PMs visit will help break caste equations in the Shekhawati region. But the BJP, holding three of the seven Assembly seats in Jhunjhunu, forgets it lost the Surajgarh constituency to Congress Shravan Kumar in the 2014 byelections.

Election phobia

Owing to a string of defeats in the byelections to the Lok Sabha, Assembly, civic bodies and Panchayati Raj institutions since February, a panic-stricken Raje government has announced a number of sops in the annual state Budget, despite the state reeling under a revenue deficit, as per the CAG report-2017. The government has announced a Rs 8,000 crore crop loan waiver scheme for farmers, done away with toll tax on highways, raised the upper age limit for jobs to 40, announced tax relief for various sectors and free college education to middle-class families besides 1 per cent quota for five communities, including the Gurjars.

The All-India Kisan Sabha and the Gurjar Sangarsh Samiti have rejected the governments farm loan waiver and quota.Threatening to revive agitation, the Gurjars are adamant on 5 per cent reservation by bifurcating 21 per cent of the OBC quota while the farmers want loan waiver from not just the coop banks but all other banks too besides implementation of Swaminathan Committees recommendations.

Congress-mukt RS

After the Rajya Sabha biennial elections on three seats on March 23, the Congress will have no representation from Rajasthan as the BJP will hold all 10 RS seats. The BJP has decided to give one seat to National Peoples Party patron Kirorilal Meena after his ghar vapsi. The party has four MLAs.

Adieu to jeans

No more jeans, Higher Education Minister Kiran Maheshwari has made it compulsory for girls to come in salwar-suit with dupatta or a sari from the next academic session. The boys will be attired in a shirt and trousers. Both would have to wear shoes or sandals.The colour of the uniform would be decided by respective colleges.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, March 11

Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a polling percentage of 43 per cent while Phulpur saw a turnout of 37.39 per cent on Sunday, Election Commission sources said.

The voting for the by-elections to the two Lok Sabha seats began on a dull note but picked up momentum in the day amid tight security, they said.

The by-polls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively following their election to the state legislative council.

Read: Bihar by-poll: Araria Lok Sabha seat records 57% voting

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

"The people know that development was the only panacea," he told reporters.

Attacking the BSP and the SP, the chief minister said: "These parties are indulging in negative politics, politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences (of SP and BSP).

"And in order to ensure that in future such situations do not arise, efforts have to be made to shun politics of casteism and dynastic politics, and focus on development and administration," he said.

When asked to comment on the SP and BSP entering an electoral understanding, he said, "This will have no effect. I had wanted that in this bye-election if the SP, BSP and Congress had fought together, then results would have been much better (for us)." Termed by Adityanath a "rehearsal" for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the bye-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel, respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur.

Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Before Adityanath, his mentor Avaidyanath had represented it in Lok Sabha thrice.

Phulpur, once represented by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Maurya won there.

Exuding confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing Lok Sabha bypolls in the state, Maurya said on Sunday the 2014 Lok Sabha record would be repeated by the saffron party.

"I am confident that on March 14, the record which was made in Phulpur in 2014 (Lok Sabha general elections) will be repeated, and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious," he told reporters after casting his vote for Phulpur parliamentary constituency along with his family members.

On being asked about the BJP's expansion plans in the state in view of the electoral understanding between SP and BSP, Maurya said, "We have already expanded enough, and in future if any political party wants to join us, it will be definitely deliberated upon.

"But, today from the UP's point of view, poll alliance of the BJP, Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) exists. Apart from this, we do not have any other alliance. And, banking on this alliance, we will win 80 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state," he said.

Taking a jibe at the SP-BSP tie-up, the minister said: "Their (SP-BSP) votes will be transferred only when they have enough votes. The votes (of the people) are with us. But, they have only leaders who make statements. The voters of Mayawatiji have deserted the BSP and have reposed their faith in Modiji, Yogi (Adityanath) and BJP. We are winning both the Lok Sabha seats, and with wider margin".

Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and homeguard jawans, 65 companies of central paramilitary forces have been deployed to ensure peaceful bypolls.

In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency, there are 970 polling centres and 2,141 polling booths, while in Phulpur, there are 793 polling centres and 2,059 polling booths.

According to the Election Commission, there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur parliamentary constituency, while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has 19.49 lakh electorates.

As many as 4,728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines are being used in the bypoll and provisions for web casting from 95 critical booths have been made.  With agencies







vinaymishra188@gmail.com

Ruchika M Khanna

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 10

The man behind the multi-crore fake GST bills scam, Manish Aggarwal, a small-time accountant, has been nabbed by the Ludhiana police. The accused also had a role in the VAT refund scam in Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana two years ago.

He has been booked for cheating, fraud and criminal conspiracy as well as under the Goods and Services Act.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

According to the police, Aggarwal worked hand in glove with a clerk (under suspension) in the Excise and Taxation Department, Rajiv Kumar, who is yet to be traced. They set up fake firms, registered these under GST and purchased bills from small retailers which they sold to exporters and large manufacturers in Ludhiana and Mandi Gobindgarh, SHO Jatinder Singh told The Tribune.

The firms bought GST bills at 2-7 per cent of the GST levy on goods sold from retailers. They then sold these bills at 5-14 per cent to exporters and large manufacturers, who took input tax credit by submitting these bills while there was no actual sale/export of goods. Aggarwal was tracked through the IP address of a computer used by him to register a company.monicakchauhan@gmail.com

Gagan K Teja

Tribune News Service

Patiala, March 11

SAD leader Bikram Singh Majithia on Sunday said he was shocked to see such a huge turnout at the partys rally in the Chief Ministers hometown, which was also the district of Health Minister Brahm Mohindra and Forest Minister Sadhu Singh Dharmsot.

Addressing a rally in Samana, he alleged, The police was trying to push a few Congress workers in front of my car to stop me from reaching the venue, but even if they shoot me, I will not stop from raising my voice against the government.

He said, The government is all set to collapse within a year.

Takes a dig at the chief minister, he said, It took him one year to take out his helicopter and find out that illegal mining was going on in the state.

He said that the media team of captain, which was flashing photos of illegal mining, should also flash pictures of the families of farmers who were committing suicide.

He said: The former prime minister, Manmohan Singh, despite being a Sikh could not see the pain of Punjabis, and now the Congress has inducted Navjot Sidhu and Manpreet Badal, who are bigger disaster for Punjab.

He mocked at them by calling them Manpreet Badal Bunty and Navjot Sidhu Babli

He said how people can expect Manpreet Badal to be loyal to Punjab when he could not be loyal to his paternal uncle.

Majithia said the state was in poor fiscal health and the Congress was unable to manage its affairs.

He said the CM was behaving like Aurangzeb, committing atrocities on commoners by withdrawing all facilities given to Punjab residents by the SAD. He also said that Charanjit Singh Channi a khota sikka.

Majithia said, Contrary to what the AAP said, it is actually the Congress and the AAP, who were hands in glove during 2017 Assembly.

He said: Navjot Singh was not trustworthy. He is soon going to ditch the Congress and rush towards the BJP and urged the BJP leaders to keep their doors close for Sidhu.

SAD president Sukhbir Badal said, The residents of Patiala, which should ideally have been most elated that they belong to the CM district, were most annoyed with the him.

He said the CM never bothered to enter the district as he is the Maharaja of Patiala and is not available to the commoners

Sukhbir said: One thing that he learnt from his father Parkash Singh Badal was that a politician should always stick to the promises they make to public, but Captain has never kept his promises.

He alleged that the Congress leaders and workers were equally annoyed with the CM as he was inaccessible.

I fail to understand how their treasure was empty even as they have withdrawn all the benefits that are given to Punjabis by the SAD-BJP, he asked.

He questioned the Congress on their allegations that the SAD had made 70 per cent youth drug addicts.

He asked what the government was doing to cure the drug addicts in the state and why there are no reports about drugs now.editorial@tribune.com

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Sangrur, March 11

The farmers dharna at Cheema Mandi since February 23 in support of their long-pending demands is getting support from area residents, who have been supplying food, milk and other items daily to feed hundreds of protesters.

The protesters cooked food for the initial two or three days but later, residents of surrounding villages took the responsibility of feeding them and taking care of their other daily needs.

They are not fighting for members of their union only, but for all farmers of Punjab, said Gurmeet Singh, a farmer of Hero Kalan, who along with other villagers were going back after serving food to protesting farmers.

On February 23, when farmers from various districts of the state were going to New Delhi to voice their long-pending demands under the banner of Rashtri Kisan Mahasangh Bharat, a representative body of 67 farmer organisations from various states, the police intercepted them at various places in Sangrur, Patiala and Mansa. Instead of going back, all converged in Cheema Mandi and started an indefinite protest here on February 23.

The Mahasangh has called a meeting of its general body at Kurukshetra on March 18-19. During that meeting, we will take a final decision on whether to end our protest. We are facing problems due to lack of washroom, but are getting food, milk from surrounding villages, said Jagjit singh Dallewal, state president of BKU Sidhpur.

Not just villagers, gurdwaras from Cheema Mandi and surrounding villages too have also started serving langar (Community kitchen) to these protesters.

Their main demands include complete debt waiver and the implementation of Swaminathan report.editorial@tribune.com

Dehradun, March 11

Uttarakhand Congress president Pritam Singh today asserted that the Congress would register a big win in the local bodies polls.

Addressing a convention organized by minorities cell of the Congress in Dehradun today, Pritam Singh said that the people of the state were fed up with the state BJP government, who so far has done little for the welfare of the people.

The people of the state are now in a mood to teach BJP a lesson and the coming local bodies elections would be disastrous for the state government, Pritam said.

He said now when there are BJP governments at the Centre and in the state, the BJP needed to reply that where is the development. He said even the welfare schemes started by earlier Congress government for minorities and dalits had been discontinued.  TNSvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Tokyo, March 11

Japanese in Tokyo and along the northeast coast are marking the seventh anniversary of the tsunami that took more than 18,000 lives and triggered meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

Residents in coastal towns observed a moment of silence on Sunday after sirens wailed at 2.46 pm, the moment the magnitude-9.0 offshore earthquake that triggered the tsunami struck on March 11, 2011. The tsunami overwhelmed sea walls and washed away buildings, cars and entire neighbourhoods as it swept inland.

PM Shinzo Abe said at an official ceremony in Tokyo that reconstruction is making steady progress, but more than 70,000 people are still displaced from their communities and many will never be able to return.  APROBINSINGH@TRIBUNE.COM

Beijing, March 11

China removed presidential term limits from its Constitution on Sunday, giving President Xi Jinping, 64, the right to remain in office indefinitely, and confirming his status as the countrys most powerful leader since Mao Zedong died more than 40 years ago.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Chinas ruling Communist Party announced the proposed amendment only last month and there was never any doubt it would pass as parliament is packed with loyal party members who would not have opposed the proposal.

The amendments also include inserting Xis political theory into the Constitution, something that was already added to the party charter in October at the end of a party congress, a feat no other leader since Mao had managed while in office.

Additionally, clauses were included to give a legal framework to a new super anti-corruption department.

Only two no votes were cast, with three abstentions, from almost 3,000 delegates.

The room erupted into loud applause when the result of the vote was passed.

Xi swiftly consolidated power after taking over as party chief in late 2012, and the move to lift the presidential term limits is not unexpected. He began his second five-year term as party chief in October and at the end of the week will be formally appointed by parliament to his second term as President.

The limit of two five-year presidential terms was written into Chinas Constitution in 1982 after Maos death six years earlier by Deng Xiaoping, who recognised the dangers of one-man rule and the cult of personality after the chaos of the Cultural Revolution and instead espoused collective leadership.

Shen Chunyao, chairman of the Legislative Affairs Commission of parliaments standing committee, dismissed concerns the move could risk a return to strongman rule or lead to political turmoil or infighting.

In the run-up to the vote, critics on Chinese social media attacked the move and drew parallels to North Korea or suggested a Mao-type cult of personality was forming. But the government quickly mounted a propaganda push, blocking some comments and publishing pieces praising the proposal. The government has said lifting the term limits is about protecting the authority of the party with Xi at its centre. The partys official Peoples Daily has said this does not mean life-long terms.

For India, observers say, Xis continuation will have particular significance, especially in the backdrop of last years 73-day-long Doklam standoff where Chinese troops tried to build a road in the area claimed by Bhutan to reach close to Indias narrow corridor connecting its northeastern states.

Under Xi, China has poured billions of dollars into Indias neighbourhood in projects like China-Pakistan Economic Corridor traversing through PoK, projects in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, raising India's strategic stakes.

Significantly, todays amendment also removed term limits for the vice-president. The inclusion of the vice-president was notably aimed at reinforcing Xis support base as his trusted lieutenant, 69-year-old Wang Qishan, is tipped to take over the post despite a widely-followed convention by Chinese leaders to retire after 68 years of age.  Agenciesvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Houston, March 11

Sunayana Dumala, the widow of Indian engineer Srinivas Kuchibhotla who was murdered in a racially motivated hate crime at a bar in Kansas City last year, led a peace march with her husbands friends and co-workers.

Sunayana led the memorial peace walk on Friday what would have been the 34th birthday of Kuchibhotla.

Kuchibhotla was shot in Olathe, Kansas, in February last year by a US Navy veteran. His colleague Alok Madasani was also critically injured in the attack.

Were gathered here because of mans one action and the hate that took of an innocent life, Sunayana told the gathering outside of Garmin where Kuchibhotla and Madasani were engineers.

The goal is to share more immigrant stories from the past and present and to spread a positive message that America is welcome to everybody from all walks of life, said Sunayana, who recently launched Forever Welcome, a Facebook page for immigrants. The 3-km peace walk from the Garmin headquarters to the bar was meant to honour the life of Kuchibhotla.

Last week, Adam Purinton, 52, pleaded guilty before a Kansas court. He was charged with first-degree murder of Kuchibhotla, 32, and two counts of attempted first-degree murder in the shootings of his friend, Madasani. Purinton, yelled, Get out of my country, before shooting Kuchibhotla, who later died from injuries sustained in the attack. He also shot and wounded Ian Grillot, an Olathe man who tried to defend Kuchibhotla and Madasani. Grillot also attended Fridays walk.  PTIvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Moon Township, March 11

US President Donald Trump said his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un could fizzle without an agreement or it could result in the greatest deal for the world to ease nuclear tensions between the two countries.

I may leave fast if progress does not seem possible, Trump said at a campaign rally for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone in western Pennsylvania. Trump said he believes North Korea wants to make peace and that, I think its time. A time and place to meet has not yet been set, although the meeting is supposed to happen by the end of May.

Who knows whats going to happen? said Trump, who added that if the meeting takes place, I may leave fast or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world.

Trump made the shocking decision on Thursday to meet with Kim after the North Korean leaders invitation was relayed by a South Korean delegation who visited the White House. The move abruptly reversed decades of US policy aimed at preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Earlier in Washington, Trump sought to rally international support for a potential summit, saying North Korea had agreed to not conduct another missile test until after proposed meetings had taken place.

North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honour that commitment! Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trumps comments aligned with what a South Korean official stated on Thursday about the possible talks. Trumps tweet made no mention of nuclear tests, however. It was not immediately clear which meetings Trump was referring to or their timing. South Korean officials said this week that Trump had agreed to an invitation from Kim to meet by May.

The White House has been under fire for agreeing to talks and responded to the criticism on Friday by warning that no summit would occur unless Pyongyang took concrete actions over its nuclear programme.

Trump also took to Twitter on Saturday to characterize the leaders of China and Japan as supportive of the potential dialogue, yet did little to clear up confusion over the preconditions and timing of any talks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative, Trump wrote on Twitter. China continues to be helpful! Trump also tweeted on Saturday: Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea.

The United States has long said it wants any talks to aim at Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons and missile programmes.  Reuters

Keep America Great! slogan for 2020uttara@tribuneindia.com

Doha, March 11

Qatar has filed a complaint with the UN Security Council over the violations of the country's air and sea spaces by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Bahrain, local media reported on Sunday.

The Permanent Representative of Qatar to the UN Sheikha Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani handed over the complaint to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, the Qatar News Agency (QNA) reported on Sunday.

According to a Foreign Affairs Ministry statement, a UAE military aircraft on January 14 overflew Qatari territorial waters without permission from the authorities in Doha.

On February 25, another aircraft approached the Qatari border before changing course after warnings were issued, reports Xinhua news agency.

Subsequently, a Bahraini military aircraft on February 28 also overflew the exclusive economic zone of Qatar.

The complaint also said that on January 19, Qatari maritime surveillance saw a UAE naval ship unload a boat into the Qatar economic zone.

The Qatar government warned against the continued violation attempts by UAE and Bahrain that would increase tension in the region, the complaint said.

The UAE and Bahrain along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt severed diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting "extremism and terrorism".

The blockading countries also imposed transport and trade sanctions by air, land and sea. IANSvinaymishra188@gmail.com

Johannesburg, March 11

South Africa has launched proceedings to strip the permanent residency status of one of the lynchpins of a controversial Indian business family accused of corruption, an official said today.

Ajay Gupta, a fugitive sought by police over alleged graft, now faces the prospect of losing access to banking facilities as well as his South African identity papers if his residency is rescinded.

Ajay is one of three India-born Gupta brothers who are among South Africas richest people who are now being investigated by police over corruption allegations. The countrys graft watchdog has also accused them of having improper links to former president Jacob Zuma.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has discussed the possibility of revoking Ajays residency with President Cyril Ramaphosa, his spokesman said. Since then, he has instructed the director-general of home affairs to investigate the legal environment for that to happen, Mayihlome Tshwete said.

Gigaba has had a torrid week after insisting that Ajays brother Atul was not a SA citizen, only to be contradicted by the election commission which confirmed he was a citizen who was listed on the electoral register. Gigaba then skipped a sitting of Parliament on Wednesday at which he had been due to answer MPs questions, citing illness.

South Africa has launched several investigations into the Guptas and Indian tax officials this week raided several properties belonging to the brothers in their former hometown as part of a money-laundering probe.  AFPpardeepdhull@gmail.com

London, March 11

British media reported on Sunday that traces of the nerve agent used to attack a Russian ex-spy and his daughter have been found in Salisbury where the two were poisoned.

BBC said its sources say traces were found at a restaurant where Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia reportedly ate before falling critically ill, and a pub. BBC also reported that up to 500 people who dined at the restaurant or frequented the pub have been told to wash their possessions as a precaution. Sky News says traces were found in several locations.

But UK officials havent publicly confirmed that any trace of the nerve agent has been found and say the risk to the public remains low. Officials havent said what type of nerve agent was used.

A large-scale police investigation is underway in Salisbury as forensics experts wearing protective gear search for clues. Among the sites they are searching are the Zizzi restaurant, which is closed to the public, and the gravesites where Skripals wife and son are buried.

Skripals house has also been extensively searched for clues and traces of the nerve agent.

Wiltshire police planned to hold a news conference today to release further details about the widening investigation.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said Saturday evening it is still too early to determine who is to blame for the attack. Senior government officials have vowed to respond robustly if the Russian government is found to be responsible.

Rudd said more than 250 counterterrorism officers are on the scene evaluating more than 240 pieces of evidence and interviewing about 200 witnesses.

They are backed by roughly 180 military personnel providing logistical support, including the removal of ambulances feared to possibly be contaminated by the nerve agent.

Police are looking for clues to what sickened Skripal, 66, a Russian ex-military intelligence specialist who in 2006 was convicted in Russia of spying for Britain, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia.

Skripal was imprisoned inside Russia until he was freed in a 2010 spy swap and settled in England. He had stayed out of the public eye since then.

The father and daughter were found unconscious March 4 on a bench in Salisbury. Skripal lived in the town, located 140 kilometers southwest of London.  APOn a cold February day, the hills surrounding Halifax in West Yorkshire begin to turn white. On the outskirts of town, a community centre fills with laughter and a dozen languages as members of Sisters United take their seats around the organisers, Veeca Smith Uka and Florence Kahuro.

Some of the women and their children are from Halifax, others from further afield: Albania, Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Somalia, DR Congo, Cameroon and Afghanistan. For many, it was the first time they had left home that week. Florence cuts a striking figure as she delivers the notices: the local church has donated a cheque to pay for tea and cake, and that afternoon there will be dancing to celebrate.

Veeca  known as Vee  explains why she and Florence set up the group, which supports around 50 women of 17 nationalities at weekly meetings. My goal was for women not to feel trapped in their properties. So many were at home, suicidal and depressed. They were isolated and had no confidence because they couldnt speak the language.

Both women have been living here just over a year, and they struggled with life in a new town, alone. When refugees and asylum seekers come to this country, they dont understand what to do or if they get status, how to look for a job, and then they find that their housing benefits have stopped, Vee told UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. The church didnt know that people are suffering in their community; our MPs, our community, they dont know what people like us go through. We do know, and we try to bridge the gap.

When Vee first met Florence, they recognised in each other a shared passion to help others. For 33 year-old Florence, the details of her past are too painful to recount; the abuse she experienced led to utter despair.

When I told Vee about my life, she wasnt judgmental. So I thought, this is the right person, we can achieve something together, explains Florence. I could see myself slipping away. I was so desperate, I had no one. I thought I wouldnt see tomorrow, but I still had hope and I thought, you have to help other women Florence, thats what you have to do now. Because there are women out there with even less support.

"They always put a smile on peoples faces"

When Florence moved into her flat in Halifax with her daughter, 4, she was initially delighted. But when an immersion tank in one of the flats above hers crashed through two floors in the block, and the extractor hood fell from above her oven cutting her arm, her sanctuary began to feel unsafe. Watching news of the tragic fire in which residents of Londons Grenfell Tower lost their lives, Florence was determined that a similar disaster should not take place. She began organising the blocks residents, and before long, Sisters United was formed. Florence contacted the councils fire and environmental services, bought chains for the doors, forced the housing provider to fit emergency lighting in stairwells, fix boilers and fit fire doors.

So far weve achieved a lot in making sure the accommodation is safer. But when it comes to housing, in the whole of Halifax theres not an asylum seeker or refugee whos been given good accommodation, she says. Theres damp, overcrowding, darkness. Theres mice, rats, cold - in some of the flats the heaters arent working. 

Vee fled to the UK from Nigeria, where she faced persecution because of her sexuality. After applying for asylum and being sent with her three children to Halifax, her main concern was their safety. But when she arrived she found the flat she had been allocated was unclean, there were no chairs and the oven and boiler were broken. Due to delays in receiving support, the family was left without money and her son had to walk four miles to school. Vee was determined that Sisters United would provide that safety net.

Every Monday Vee meets newly arrived asylum-seekers in Halifax at St Augustines community centre and takes them on a walking tour of the town. She fills in forms for them, registers them at their local GP and accompanies people to hospital if they dont speak good English. When theyre out of hospital, she brings them food. She checks which schools the families have been allocated, she applies for bus passes and school meals for the children, and finds them uniforms.

Florence Kahuro, one of the founders of Sisters United, in Halifax, West Yorkshire. Sisters United help women overcome the challenges of being asylum-seekers in the UK.  UNHCR/Laura Padoan

Lora Evans, a programme leader at St Augustines, says that within a fortnight of arriving Vee had started volunteering. Vee is doing everything, she said. I just cannot believe how much empathy and space she has in her heart for other people: she has an unlimited amount of time and patience. Vee has inspired other women, shes mobilised men and women across the community.

Although Halifax has recently become a dispersal area for asylum-seekers, St Augustines leader Vicky Ledwidge talks proudly of its heritage in welcoming new communities. Built on the textile industry, she explains that there is a history of contribution from people of migrant backgrounds. Were a patchwork community, she says.

Both Vee and Florence are always here, theyre bouncy and brilliant and they always put a smile on peoples faces because theyre incredible ladies. Both have been amazingly active in starting Sisters United. Its so incredibly brave of them to do it. Theyve paved the way and now the men are starting to come together too.

"If you believe in humanity you go out there and fight, you dont sit back and wait."

Back at the community centre, Vee is in charge of the sound system as Florence leads the dancing. Nigerian music is followed by Balkan and then Middle Eastern songs. The women laugh as they learn new moves and children tear about excitedly.

Rosa* takes to the floor to demonstrate the folk dancing of her native Albania and describes how she has been helped. At first I was afraid, thinking I cant speak or do anything for myself. But Vee says, anything you need, I can help you. It doesnt matter the time or what shes feeling, shes always there.

After hours of talking and dancing, and with all the cake eaten, Sisters United head home. Vee and Florence are clearly proud that their friendship has grown to encompass other women, not just asylum-seekers and refugees.

Sisters United is a home, its a safe place, explains Vee. Were always here for each other. In my world, I dont believe in impossibility. Women should feel respected, they should have their dignity. Weve accepted our similarities rather than our differences. Sisters United is helping to integrate people into society.

Florence adds: I want Sisters United to be in all cities in the UK, I want it to be global, to give people hope so that they dont give up. We want to encourage women that there is more to life than just giving up If you believe in humanity you go out there and fight, you dont sit back and wait.

*Name changed for protection reasonsSunrise presented by Vancouver Sun

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We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe Church is mourning the death of Cardinal Karl Lehmann, one of the most prominent faces of the Catholic Church in Germany and in the world. Religious and political leaders have expressed their sorrow, amongst them, German Chancellor Angela Merkel who spoke about Cardinal Lehmann, who died Sunday aged 81.

By Stefan J. Bos



He was one of the most prominent faces of the Catholic Church and German television opened with the news that Cardinal Karl Lehmann had passed away.

Germany's Catholic Bishops Conference said in a statement that its former head, Cardinal Karl Lehmann died Sunday at his home in Mainz.

Cardinal Lehman had a stroke last September and in recent days, as his death seemed imminent, Catholics across the country had prayed for him.

In published remarks, the current head of the Bishops Conference, Cardinal Reinhard Marx, said the "church of Germany is bowing humbly in front of a personality" who he added "influenced the Catholic church worldwide."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel agrees.

Merkel mourning

She said she is very sad about Lehmann's death and called him one of the most prominent faces of the Catholic Church in Germany.

Merkel explained in a statement that she is "deeply grateful" for what she said were her good conversations and meetings with him over the years.

The chancellor called him "an exceptionally gifted mediator" not only in talks between German Catholics and Rome but "also in the spirit of the economic movement between the Christian churches and between Christians and believers of other religions."

Cardinal Lehmann  who was made a cardinal by John Paul II in 2001, made clear he wanted to serve people.

He said: "The position of bishop has not be given to be honored by people. But it is a mission. The bishop is not here to rule, but to serve."

Theology Professor

Lehmann was born on May 16, 1936, in the southwestern German town of Sigmaringen.

Before he became cardinal, he was a professor of theology and appointed as Bishop of Mainz in 1983.

As president of the German Bishop's Conference, he led the country's more than 23 million Catholics for 20 years.

His funeral Mass was set for March 21 at the Mainz Cathedral.Pope Francis visited the Rome-based Sant'Egidio Community which is celebrating an important anniversary this year, and is known for its service to peace, to the poor, to migrants, to the sick, to interreligious dialogue. It is currently involved in peace mediation in the Central African Republic.

By Linda Bordoni

Pope Francis has encouraged members of the SantEgidio Community to continue courageously in their mission to build bridges, keep dialogue open, stay close to the poor and the discarded, and pray for peace.

The Popes words came on Sunday afternoon during a visit to the headquarters in Rome of the Community that is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

During a celebration of the Liturgy of the Word inside the beautiful Santa Maria in Trastevere Basilica which the lay organization uses to shelter the homeless and offer Christmas lunch to the poor, the Pope spoke with gratitude of the work carried out by the world-wide network of SantEgidio volunteers and its mission to broker peace and accompany the poor.

Prayer, Poverty, Peace

Prayer, poverty and peace are the three Ps upon which the Community rests, he said, and he thanked its members for their wish to continue to look to the future with a sense of responsibility in a time that he described as a time of fear before the vast dimensions of globalization: fears that are often focused on the stranger, on he who is different, poor as if he were an enemy.

Humanitarian corridors

Francis thanked SantEgidio members for praying for peace and for working for peace, and he highlighted the predicament of the Syrian people, some of whom have been safely brought to Europe where they have found welcome and support thanks to the humanitarian corridors the Community has organized in collaboration with other faith-based organizations.

Globalization of solidarity

Reflecting on the fact that the only sustainable future for a global world is one where people can live together in peace, the Pope called on the SantEgidio Community to continue to help foster a globalization of solidarity and of the spirit by building bridges, keeping dialogue open and favouring encounter.

Today, in an uncertain world, with so many ongoing wars, the Pope told SantEgidio members to courageously push forward with their programmes for children in the peripheries, with their Schools of Peace, staying close to the elderly who are so often discarded, and continuing to open humanitarian corridors for those fleeing war and hunger.

The poor are your treasure he said.

A boat maker in Long Hau Commune works on his product. - VNA/VNS Photo

From the fourth to the eighth month of the lunar year, in order to prepare for the coming flood season, local boat makers are busy with orders from customers in neighbouring areas: Can Tho, An Giang, Kien Giang and Vinh Long. During peak time for boat making, the sounds of hammers, chisels, saws and motorboat engines fill every corner of the commune. Arriving at the commune at that time, people can see numerous boats of different kinds and sizes on both the canal and the shore.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, a talented artisan in the area with 50 years of experience in building boats, said that his grandfather Pham Van Thuong was considered the father of boat building in Long Hau Commune.

Thuong was also called Sau Xuong Cui by the locals.

No one knows where he was from, but the story goes that he got married to a local girl and set up his own business in the area.

At first, he only built boats for his relatives. Then he taught his neighbours the techniques of boat building and they gradually spread throughout the region.

In the past, the locals only built Xuong Cui, a type of small boat used to catch fish in canals. Local boat makers started building different kinds of boats.

Sixty-year-old boat maker Nguyen Van Tot said that the commune used to make about 20,000 boats each year because high floods regularly arrived in the Mekong Delta province. During flood season, boats are not only a major means of transport for locals in the region, but are also used to catch fish, so people were eager to purchase boats.

In 2015, there were about 400 families in the commune making boats. Now, there are only 41 families.

Many boat makers in Long Hau Commune have changed jobs. Some left their hometown and moved to the neighbouring provinces of Tien Giang and Long An to continue working as boat makers.

Tot said that in the last few years, flood season arrived late and prolonged droughts hit the Mekong Delta provinces, negatively affecting the boat making industry and Long Hau boat makers.

Ho Van Kiet, another local boat maker, said that four generations of his family made boats in Long Hau Commune.

Previously, he employed 15 skillful boat makers in his workshop, which could make 300-400 fishing boats for customers in the provinces of Long An, ong Thap, An Giang and Kien Giang.

However, in the flood season of 2016, his workshop made a few dozen boats for customers from Can Tho only. He received few orders from other provinces.

If the business gets worse, I will have to close my workshop, he said.

Boat maker Nguyen Van Se said that because of reduced demand and reduced production, many young people left the hometown to seek jobs.

If more and more local people give up making boats, who will preserve Long Haus traditional occupation? Se worried.

Souvenir boats

Boat maker Nguyen Van Tot, of Long Hung 2 Hamlet, Long Hau Commune started making boats when he was 15 year old. He can talk for days about Long Hau boats and their differences from boats made in other boat making villages in Cai Rang, Can Tho, Ca Vom An Giang, Long An or Thap Muoi.

When the trade of wooden boats in Long Hau Commune slows down, he is very concerned about preserving the tradition,Thanh Nien ( Young people) newspaper reported.

In the last few years, besides making boats for transport and fishing, Tot made souvenir boats.

The souvenir boats are displayed in tourism areas or sold to tourists.

Tot said that making a souvenir boat was similar to making a real one, with even more tasks to do, such as rubbing, painting and writing wishes on it.

It takes few months to complete a set of more than 20 souvenir boats, Tot said.

Tourists, especially overseas Vietnamese, liked to visit his workshop to witness how to make a boat and purchase souvenir boats, Tot said.

He also said that his boats are also used to hold flowers.

Tot said that he was seeking co-operation opportunities with flower growers in Sa ec and a Lat to provide flower decorative products.

Now, Tot said he was also concerned about the next generation of boat makers because few young people were interested in the job.Modi broke protocol to receive Macron and his wife Brigitte at the airport AFP/Money SHARMA

Macron, who was welcomed by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi with his traditional bear hug on his arrival late Friday, also said "collective security" will be on top of the agenda during talks later Saturday.

"France is the entry point to Europe. We want to be India's best partner in Europe," Macron said after a ceremonial reception at New Delhi's presidential house.

"The first (objective of my visit) is to seal for the decade to come a strong pact around collective security in the region between our two democracies."

The two countries are to sign an accord to step up military cooperation in the Indian Ocean where regional power China has been flexing its muscles.

Macron also talked about his personal rapport with Modi which was established after their meeting in Paris last year.

"I think we have very good chemistry, our two great democracies have a historic relationship," the French president said.

Modi broke protocol to receive Macron at the airport Friday, exchanging warm hugs and robust handshakes.

"Welcome to India, President @EmmanuelMacron! Your visit will add great strength to the strategic partnership between India and France," he tweeted Friday.

On Sunday, Macron will attend a solar power summit designed to showcase India and France's commitment to fighting climate change, which both leaders have made a priority.

Travelling with his wife Brigitte, France's 40-year-old president will also visit the monument to love, the Taj Mahal, a few hours drive from the Indian capital on Sunday.

On Monday, he heads to the chaotic Hindu holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the river Ganges, which the Indian premier has promised to modernise and clean up.

Macron's visit comes after a somewhat misstep-laden visit to India by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau.

Both he and Macron are often compared internationally because of their broadly similar political views, as well as youth and good looks.

But Trudeau's visit hit a series of embarrassing bumps and he received a fairly cool reception from Modi.

Trudeau was pilloried on social media and in the Canadian press for donning traditional Indian clothing at every opportunity.

And there were red faces when it emerged a former Sikh militant was invited to a dinner with him in Mumbai.

Macron has so far opted for more sober and predictable dress - a dark suit.Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc

He is accompanied by Deputy PM, FM Pham Binh Minh; Vice Chairman of the National Assembly Uong Chu Luu; Minister-Chairman of the Government Office Mai Tien Dung; Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung; Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh; Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Nguyen Xuan Cuong; Minister of Science and Technology Chu Ngoc Anh; Minister of Labor-Invalids and Social Affairs Dao Ngoc Dung; and Head of the National Assemblys Committee for Peoples Aspirations Nguyen Thanh Hai.

This is the first time PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits New Zealand since he took office in 2016.

The visit is expected to further enhance political trust and lay a firm foundation for the two countries to deepen cooperation in accordance with the orientations figured out by both sides in the Viet Nam - New Zealand Action Plan for the period 2017-2020.

Both sides signed the Action Plan in November 11 last year on the occasion of New Zealander PM Jacinda Arderns tour to Viet Nam to attend the APEC High-Level Economic Leaders Meeting in Da Nang.

During PM Phucs Australia visit, the two countries will upgrade the bilateral ties to a higher level on the occasion of the 45th founding anniversary of diplomatic ties.

The Vietnamese Government chief will also attend the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit with a focus on improving security and prosperity in the Rregion.

This will be the 6th ASEAN-Australia heads-of-government summit since 1977, but the first to be held in Australia.

The Summit of heads of government will be the centerpiece of a series of meetings in the week of 1218 March which will highlight the breadth and significance of the ASEAN relationship.Professor Nguyen Mai, former vice chairman of the State Committee for Cooperation and Investment (now the Ministry of Planning and Investment)

Differences

The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), regarded as a new-generation free trade agreement, is predicted to take effect from early 2019. As such, it means that Vietnams state agencies, enterprises, and people only have about 10 months to make preparations to be on par with the agreement.

Without the participation of the US, the CPTPP is inevitably different from the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). Specifically, 20 TPP provisions in the fields of investment, intellectual property, and others have been suspended. Most of them are related to the US market, or are the outcomes of reform pressure from those in agreement with the US.

Once the CPTPP comes into force, the parties will defer the implementation of the provisions listed in the agreements annexes, until they have agreed to terminate the suspension of one or more of the provisions.

According to Japans Minister for Economic Revitalisation, the suspension of some provisions is the easiest way for the parties to continue with the implementation.

Regarding intellectual property, the TPP was expected to invalidate some of its member countries laws and practices in protecting new pharmaceuticals from competition with generic drugs. Under the CPTPP, there is no requirement for members to change laws and practices for new pharmaceuticals, including bio-productions. The CPTPP members also agreed to suspend the obligation to extend patent terms in the event of unreasonable delays in granting patents or in licensing the import of certain drugs.

In addition, some intellectual property provisions included in the TPP have also been suspended in the CPTPP. For example, member countries no longer have to extend the duration of lifetime copyright protection from 50 years to 70 years, which will reduce tangible costs for CPTPP members compared to the TPP. A total of 11 TPP intellectual property provisions were suspended in the CPTPP.

The scope of the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanism is narrower in the CPTPP. Under the CPTPP, private companies that enter into an investment contract with the government will not be able to use ISDS clauses if there is a dispute about said contract.

It should be noted that local companies may not use ISDS to sue the host government, but may use it to sue the government of another CPTPP member country. ISDS only deals with disputes over investment-related provisions of the CPTPP.

Moreover, these companies have no authority to dictate how ISDS panels are formed. An ISDS panel includes three arbitrators: one appointed by the government, another by the claimant, and a presiding arbitrator appointed by the government and the claimant together.

Under the TPP, the GDP of countries ratifying the agreement had to reach 85 per cent of the total GDP of the 12 signatory countries for the deal to take effect. In its stead, the CPTPP requires only six member countries to ratify the agreement.

Of note, the CPTPP has removed the 85 per cent cumulative GDP threshold requirement for TPP ratification by stipulating that the new-generation agreement could be triggered once six out of the 11 members have completed their domestic ratification process, regardless of the cumulative GDP.

The CPTPP is a new-generation FTA which is superior to previous ones. During TPP negotiations with the US as a key member, many other countries, including Vietnam, had to make concessions towards a number of provisions related to intellectual property, labour, and unions, as required by the US. Therefore, the suspension of 20 of these provisions will be beneficial for Vietnam.

Among the obligations to be suspended, other members have agreed to allow Vietnam to exempt certain important commitments related to intellectual property, investment, government spending, financial services, and telecommunications.

New markets

The US was the mainstay of the TPP. With US participation, the deal grouped together 12 countries with a combined GDP accounting for 40 per cent of global GDP, and with a total population of more than 800 million people. Without the US, the CPTPP market makes up only 13.5 per cent of global GDP, with 489 million people. Vietnam and other member countries were targeting the US market when entering into the TPP agreement. The US withdrawal from the TPP naturally caused the calculations and expectations of each country in the CPTPP to change.

According to the National Center for Forecast Studies, when the TPP was to include the US, Vietnam would have reaped a great deal of benefits, including an expected GDP increase of 6.7 per cent, and export growth of 15-17 per cent. With the CPTPP, these estimates have been adjusted to 1.32 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Nevertheless, how things will eventually turn out still greatly depends on real-life developments in the country and across the globe.

Vietnam has signed many FTAs with other CPTPP member countries, so the CPTPP would leverage more of Vietnams trade and investment access in CPTPP territories, especially regarding potential markets in the Pacific such as Canada, Mexico, and Peru  none of which are subject to existing trade agreements with Vietnam.

Challenges to trade

Twenty-three years after Vietnam made its integration into the regional and global markets in 1995, local enterprises have been growing well. It is still important, however, for the country to renovate its institutions, reform national administration, enhance investment in science and technology, improve quality of skilled human resources, and raise the competitiveness of all three aspects: products, enterprises, and nation.

The same applies to participation in the CPTPP. If we are well prepared for macroeconomic management, and ready to create favourable conditions for business and investment, the opening of the market will benefit both businesses and the people.

However, some of Vietnams products  particularly its food products  will face greater foreign competition in the domestic market. Juan Carlos Dominguez, executive director of the Asprocer Association, predicted that Chiles 2017 pork exports to CPTPP countries  standing at $141 million  might go up by 10-15 per cent when the agreement comes into force.

According to Heinz Reimer, vice president of the Canadian Cattle Breeders Association, the CPTPP will open the door for Canadian beef to enter Vietnam. This would enable Canadian farmers and food processors to achieve the ambitious target of increasing the countrys total annual export value of agricultural products to at least CAD75 billion ($60.7 billion) by 2025.

The above predictions mean that Vietnamese enterprises need to make further investments in technology and production processes to compete with products from CPTPP members in the domestic market. At the same time, to make the best use of opportunities arising from the CPTPP, the countrys agricultural firms need to rapidly step up the export of their products and foodstuffs to CPTPP member states.

Investment attraction

The CPTPP provides a fairly comprehensive chapter on cross-border investment, including principles relating to most-favoured nation treatment, the transparency and disclosure of information, the rights of investors and investment recipients, and settlement of disputes.

Vietnamese laws have already set forth quite appropriate regulations on investment. However, attention should be paid to three demanding requirements prescribed in the CPTPP: the publicity, transparency, and predictability of the legal system and changes of law (a disadvantage for Vietnamese law); strict regulations on intellectual property rights, despite the suspension of some related provisions such as those regarding pharmaceuticals; and labour and worker rights, including the right to form independent unions. These requirements demand the amendment of various articles in legal documents on investment.

The CPTPP facilitates cross-border investment, enabling Vietnam to lure more investment from other member countries, especially from the likes of Canada and Mexico, with whom Vietnam does not have FTA agreements. In the other direction, this constitutes an opportunity for Vietnamese companies, especially big groups, to seek investment opportunities in CPTPP countries.

It should be noted that foreign investment will continue to flow into Vietnam, but the focus should be placed on selecting or prioritising projects that could potentially bring about benefits and efficiency. Vietnam ought to end unfair competition among localities that hope to lure in investments through the provision of excessive incentives. This naturally minimises national interests.

In order to attract foreign investment, it is necessary to approach the provisions of the CPTPPs investment chapter to make necessary adjustments and supplements to the Vietnamese legal system.

Regarding intellectual property

Former Minister of Science and Technology, Nguyen Quan, who took part in most of the rounds of TPP negotiations on intellectual property, indicated that Vietnam faces three major challenges when it comes to intellectual property: there is no regulation that criminalises violations of intellectual property, as is required by the CPTPP; protection of medicines, especially the protection of test databases; and issues related to agriculture.

As such, intellectual property remains a big test for Vietnam. To earn benefits from the CPTPP, Vietnam needs to amend and supplement the Intellectual Property Law in accordance with the provisions of the agreement. At the same time, the challenge should be considered an incentive to better implement legal documents on intellectual property protection, counterfeit, and trademark violations.

Business opportunities

Enterprises can be considerably affected by FTAs, including the CPTPP.

Firstly, they need to actively learn about the CPTPP in order to firmly grasp the commitments of Vietnam and its partner markets within the framework of the agreement, especially regarding information on preferential tariffs.

Enterprises also need to change their way of doing business, considering competition pressure as the driving force for innovation and development. The CPTPP will certainly provide them with more opportunities to actively build and adjust their medium- and long-term business strategies, with a focus on increasing the research and application of science and technology, and on maximising the potential of state support.

Elsewhere, enterprises need to actively promote trade and investment, select markets and partners for additional capital, access modern technology from large economic groups, and effectively participate in the global supply chain.

Last but not least, they ought to attach importance to intellectual property registration for the inventions, trademarks, trade names, and industrial designs they have developed. Localities and their businesses need geographical indications to be protected in CPTPP member countries.Saturday Night Live Sterling K. Brown Season 43 Episode 15 Editors Rating 3 stars * * *  Previous Next  Sterling K. Brown. Photo: Will Heath/NBC

In the fall of 2017, Sterling K. Brown won his second Emmy for playing the weepy Randall Pearson in the NBC series This Is Us. (His work on the show has also won him a SAG Award, a Critics Choice Award, and a Golden Globe.) Lately, hes been surprising audiences with his unexpected role in Black Panther. So, hosting SNL is only the latest feather in Browns cap. True, hes not known as a king of comedy, but this means the writers should have free rein to parody This Is Us, Black Panther, or even The People V. O.J. Simpson as they see fit. If Brown is willing and able, SNL just might unlock the comedic possibilities in him that Hollywood has yet to see.

The Bachelor Finale Cold Open

This takes one of this weeks hot topics  the controversial finale of The Bachelor  and translates it to the political realm. Becca (Cecily Strong) faces her unsteady love interest Robert Mueller (Kate McKinnon), who admits that he may not have all he needs to nail Donald Trump with charges of collusion. Sure, he might be able to get Trump on obstruction, but this admission shatters all of Beccas dreams. Thats it, Becca cries while wiping away tears, Hes just going to be president? Mueller cant say, but he can follow her from room to room, linger outside the bathroom, and continue to dredge up new conversations to keep Becca in it a while longer. Even if this feels more like a slow acting exercise for Strong and McKinnon  who are absolutely up for it  give the writers credit for a smart idea.

Sterling K. Brown Monologue

Greeting the crowd, Brown mentions that This Is Us is the saddest thing you can watch on TV other than the news. He also admits that he is known for being somewhat sensitive, but swears he wont get overwhelmed by hosting SNL. Unfortunately, he cant stop fighting the tears off. Even remembering that Kenan Thompson came to him with a sketch idea about Siamese twins attached at the butt gets him misty. You are ruining you for me, says Leslie Jones, when she tells Brown that the show needs to get underway. This is a wonderful host monologue, leaning on what the audience already knows about Brown and exploiting that talent for laughs. Plus, his Kenan Thompson impression is pretty good.

Celebrity Family Feud: Oscar Edition

For this edition of the Feud, Steve Harvey (Kenan Thompson) welcomes the 2018 Oscar winners  Frances McDormand (McKinnon), Guillermo del Toro (Beck Bennett), Allison Janney (Heidi Gardner), and Jordan Peele (Chris Redd)  to battle Oscar losers  Common (Brown), Sally Hawkins (Melissa Villasenor), Willem Dafoe (Moffat), and Timothee Chalamet (Pete Davidson). The Feud has no winners and losers, however, as everyone is too dumb and self-involved to get points on the board. In the flood of micro-impressions, McKinnons belligerent McDormand, Gardners smarmy Janney, and Moffats creepy Dafoe are worth mentioning. As a whole, though, its an easily skippable sketch.

This Is U.S.

A commercial parody for a show thats very, very like This Is Us, save that its about the drama transpiring in the White House. Dr. Ben Carson (Brown) gets no respect, Sarah Huckabee Sanders (Bryant) cant deal with the lies, and Jared Kushner (Davidson) needs to borrow cash from the UAE. Says an imaginary critic, Like This is Us, but without the parts that feel good. This is an astute and clever take on both the tropes of This Is Us and the current disturbances in the White House  plus Browns nasal, whiny Ben Carson is excellent.

Family Dinner

Claire (Villasenor) brings her beau Justin (Brown) home for dinner and to meet her parents, the Hendersons (Bennett and Bryant). All goes swimmingly, until mom mentions her favorite animated film is the latest Pixar movie Coco. After Justin loses his shit because Shrek is clearly a superior film, things go south. When dad does a Shrek impression, Justin tosses a drink into his face and says, Keep his name out of your mouth, you dumb son of a bitch. Then Claire spills the news that she and Justin are getting married  in a wedding officiated by Puss in Boots himself, Antonio Banderas. The set-up is more tantalizing than the execution here, but Brown really sells the absurd premise with an admirable emotional commitment.

Sasquatch

Deep in the forest, a Sasquatch surprises a group of campers huddled around a fire. While Matt (Brown) calms everyone with knowledge of primates that he learned from Discovery Channel, Randy (Mikey Day) tries to fend off the strange advances of the beast. After shoving its fingers in Randys mouth, peeing on his hat, and generally beating the crap out of him, the Sasquatch traps Randy in a tent for some final indignities. I hate most crotch-kicking humor so I might be the wrong judge on this one, but theres nothing creative about these physical bits. Also, it feels weirdly like a repurposed version of those Messin with Sasquatch beef jerky commercials. (Okay, if Jack Links paid for this one as subliminal advertising, kudos.)

Weekend Update

Update comes out swinging this week, taking on the Stormy Daniels controversy, Robert Muellers investigation, and Donald Trumps impending meeting with Kim Jong-un. Trump, Michael Che says, is Twitter crazy, while Kim Jong-un is crazy crazy. That is, one guy trolls Oprah online and one guy murdered his uncle with a cannon. Jost cant believe were putting our lives in the hands of the only two guys connected on Dennis Rodmans LinkedIn page. Eric and Donald Trump Jr. (Alex Moffat and Mikey Day) come on to defend their dads behavior. While its still fun watching Eric ape his big brother and get blown away by everyday objects, that sideshow is now the entire focus of the bit.

The jokes in the second half arent as noteworthy, but theres a fun one about McDonalds turning its iconic M upside down for National Womens Day: Not to be outdone, In-n-Out Burger changed its name to Adequate Foreplay. Then Jost and Che get a visit from meteorologist Dawn Lazarus (a visiting Vanessa Bayer), who talks about the big storms on the East Coast. Of course, shes nervous, so her chirpy weather analysis sounds a little more like, This years got temps in the simple dibits, and Absolutely dump after dump, wow! Its the same gag as in the past, but Bayer is such a natural for the forcefully cheery role, it still works just as well.

Black Panther Deleted Scene

In the dream realm of Djalia, Black Panther protagonist TChalla (Redd) meets up with his long-dead great, great grandfather TKana (Brown) to talk through his anxieties. In addition to other long-dead ancestors, theres also Uncle MButu (Thompson), a guy whos just grilling cheeseburgers and wondering, Wheres the weed at? MButu obviously sticks out: While everyone else has a panther for a spirit animal, hes got a warthog. Hes also a little low on cash, so hes hoping TChalla might spot him some vibranium. If MButu represents a familys genial dirtbag uncle, theres still some ground for this sketch to cover here. That said, Thompson reaction to a bite of frozen hamburger  and watching the cast react to him  is a delight.

Doctor Love

During a check-up, Dr. Hodges (Brown) asks Sean (Bennett) about his smoking, drinking, and sexual activity. The doctor is surprised to hear the young man is at it seven or eight times a week with the same partner, and unprotected, no less. (Oh, damn! You up in it, thats dope.) Hes also surprised to hear that Sean feels no love for the woman in question  that cant be the same guy who walked in the door, the confident man who bangs it down raw dog. After the doc uses a stethoscope to listen to Seans heart and discovers he has been hurt before, the scene quickly devolves into the dramatic realizations and frenzied activity of the end of your favorite rom-com. Its quick, to the point, and terribly gross in an enjoyable way.

Movie Coverage

When a female actor (Gardner) refuses to stay on-set while a male actor (Brown) does his close-up, a blonde, Southern script reader (Strong) steps in to read the actresses lines, but refuses to say curse words because of her promise to God. This means all of the lines sound something like, Im going to shoot you again, you dumb fudge, bang bang bang, ha ha ha. This does not make it easy for the actor to focus, but the films director (Mooney) is convinced everything looks great. As the script reader cries things like, Youre going to miss this A and the best pair of Ts that you ever TFed, the actor nearly walks off the set.

Rock vs. Rap

Goateed, metal-loving Chris Fitzpatrick (Mooney) takes to the streets of New York City to confirm that rock is better than rap. In his brief man-on-the-street interviews, he asks passersby how they feel rock is trying to change the world, and if something feels kinda off about rap. Surprise, most of the white people dig rock, and he cant make sense of anyone who not only loves rap but can explain why. By the end of the sketch, Chris decides to fuse rock and rap because he believes no one has ever done it before. Though theres no great gestalt here, but Mooney excels at these live interviews, so there are some fun moments of clueless white people agreeing with the clueless white guy.

Dying Mrs. Gomez

Michael (Brown) rushes to the deathbed of Mrs. Gomez (Villasenor), who needs to tell him something. I never made it as a wise man, Mrs. Gomez says, and as she carries on speaking, she sounds more and more like the lyrics to Nickelbacks This Is How You Remind Me. When she flatlines, Michael steps in to tell Mrs. Gomezs daughter and the paramedics how much the old lady rocked. Soon enough, he has the entire room head-banging to the Nickelback jam. Mrs. Gomez even comes back from the dead to sing one last chorus. Its an incredibly silly sketch with a big crescendo during which all the players commit in a way thats worth watching.

As a first-time host, Sterling K. Brown did a remarkable job. Silliness was in the air for the writers this week, while Brown grounded all of his characters with very solid acting skills  and for the most part, that combination worked well. The This Is Us parody killed, and the Black Panther parody was buoyed by a mischievous energy. The cold open was a mixed bag, but Update bounced back well after a relatively toothless week. Next week, SNLbrings Bill Hader back to host.MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery is remembering a Congressional Medal of Honor winner on the 50th anniversary of his death during the Vietnam War.

A ceremony will be held Monday honoring Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard L. Etchberger of Hamburg, Pennsylvania.

Etchberger died during fighting in Laos on March 11, 1968. He is the only person of his rank to win the nation's highest military honor.

A statue and memorial bench are being unveiled at Maxwell's Non-Commissioned Officer School.

Etchberger was a radar technician manning a secret position that came under enemy attack. He won the medal for repeatedly exposing himself to enemy fire to save fellow troops.

Etchberger was fatally wounded after getting his remaining crew members aboard an evacuation helicopter. He was 35.In 1983 Richard Berkowitz and Michael Callen, two gay men in their twenties, published a manual called How to Have Sex in an Epidemic: One Approach, under the guidance of Dr. Joseph Sonnabend. At this early point in the AIDS epidemic, it was unclear exactly how the disease spreadwhether from a single agent or a []It's possible to avoid the banks entirely.

How would you like to bank with the government, pay interest 2 per cent lower than now on most of your home loan, with a tax cut of around $1000 per person?

It's possible, but only if we have the guts to dramatically intensify competition  not just for manufacturers and other cosseted sectors that have been through economic reform  but also for our still-cosseted banks. The Productivity Commission (PC) is conducting a review of competition in finance right now, but this fearless architect of disruptive reform for some can't quite stir itself to even consider serious reform at the big end of town.

In 2010, when Mervyn King was governor of the Bank of England (Britain's equivalent of our Reserve Bank), he said this: "Of all the ways of organising banking, the worst is the one we have today." Banking's fatal flaw is this: although the money in our economy is a classic public good, like the air we breathe or the radio spectrum over which we communicate, almost all of it is privately created  by commercial banks like NAB and Westpac when they advance loans.

That flaw not only hogties our federal government to underwriting banks if they get into trouble  as when it guaranteed more than a hundred billion dollars of bank borrowing one panicked weekend in late 2008  even as the bank executives continued making out like bandits. It also means that one of the central tools of macroeconomic policy functions through its influence on the appetite to borrow  something which is notoriously fickle and so amplifies the economic cycle economic managers are trying to moderate.The Turnbull government has left open the prospect of supporting World Trade Organisation action by other countries against Donald Trumps steel and aluminium tariffs - despite an exemption for Australia - while also hosing down speculation it could challenge Beijings assertive behaviour in the disputed South China Sea.

A day after Mr Trump and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull confirmed Australia would not be hit with the punishing new trade barriers, Trade Minister Steven Ciobo indicated the government might still back other affected countries in support of the principle of free trade.

The government meanwhile sharpened its denials that the reprieve involved any quid pro quo gesture from Australia, with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop insisting there is no further security arrangement and indicating Australia had no plan to carry out more confrontational patrols in the South China Sea.

Trade Minister Steve Ciobo with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull

Mr Ciobo, asked whether despite Australias own exemption the Turnbull government would as a matter of principle support WTO action by other countries hit by the tariffs, said Australia would practice what we preach on free trade.Peter Coffee, vice president of strategic research at Salesforce, told the conference AI is already well established in the sales channel. "Once it starts doing something useful we stop calling it AI, we call it voice recognition or face recognition," he says. The AI panel at Salesforce World Tour in Sydney. Coffee says a lot of the core technology driving AI has been around for 60 years but now we are in an environment where the data needed to power AI is available. "This is not so much invention but navigation," he says.

But Coffee warns there are limitations in the use of artificial intelligence. "These things do remarkable stuff and they don't have any common sense altogether," he says. "What could go wrong?" Michael Priddis, chief executive and founder of Faethm, a research and development business focused on the applications and implications of emerging technologies, says a distinction needs to be made between process AI and service AI in the sales channel. "I see a lot of process AI hidden in an organisation, it is safe, it is hidden from the customer," he says. "The safest place is internally. But we are seeing companies start to use service AI to use social understanding of the customer to generate sales." Michael Priddis, chief executive and founder of Faethm.

Fear factor Lisa Bouari, chief executive and founder of outThought, provides conversational virtual assistants and artificial intelligence solutions to businesses. She says customers are often not aware when AI is being used in sales. "Simple things like predictive insight, sales reps have been using for a while and not realising it," she says. "I think it is becoming more obvious now so people are more aware they have it available to them." Lisa Bouari, chief executive and founder of outThought.

Bouari says for AI to become more widely accepted and used trust needs to be built. "There is definitely a big fear factor," she says. "A fear of what is going to happen to the data, what will people be able to do with the data. Also the users and how are they going to adopt this and be totally open about some of the information we are putting there. There is definitely a trust issue around the data." Interwoven in the fabric of our lives Toby Walsh, Scienta professor of artificial intelligence at the University of New South Wales, says the continued rise of AI is inevitable. "Eventually it is going to be like electricity, it is going to be interwoven into the fabric of our lives and almost everything will use AI," he says.

Walsh says AI offers huge opportunities for businesses. "The opportunity is to make it much more personalised, to try and offer customers the thing they are much more likely to want," he says. "There are also opportunities that the consumer may be a little less pleased with, increasingly we will move to dynamic pricing where the price you get offered will be different." Walsh says at the moment dynamic pricing operates at a crude level where Mac users are sometimes offered more expensive prices than PC users on the basis that they can afford a more expensive computer so may be able to afford to spend more. "It is going to become much more personalised because you are being tracked all the time," he says. "Google, for example, tracks a billion shop visits every year and has access to 75 per cent of all credit card activity in the US, it's not just your online activity that is being tracked but it is also related to your offline activity." Walsh says the rise of AI presents a challenge to small business.Hundreds of police stood along major roads in central Beijing and at the front of hotels accommodating the 2980 National Peoples Congress delegates ahead of the vote, indicating the sensitivity of a constitutional change. Chinas parliament may have reliably approved the legal changes presented to them by the communist party on every previous occasion, but a heavy security presence still blankets the city whenever parliament sits.

On the perimeter of Tiananmen Square PLA soldiers in green coats stood 100 metres apart, many with fire extinguishers. Inside the Great Hall of the People the delegates clapped in time with music as Xi led the state leaders onto the stage to take their seats to watch the vote. The vote passed with just two opposing votes and three abstentions, according to sources inside the meeting. Credit:Sanghee Liu Because it was a constitutional change, for the first time in 14 years a paper ballot was required, offering the choice of approve, abstain or object, instead of a show of hands or pressing a button.

The 28 red ballot boxes were publicly inspected by a supervisory panel. The media stayed to see the ballot papers handed out, but were then told to leave. Paper ballots were to be electronically scanned after lodgement and compiled by computer. Of the 2980 delegates, 2963 attended and 17 didnt. Chinese president Xi Jinping, right, talks to his colleague Li Zhanshu, a member of the standing committee of politburo before deputies to the First Session of 13th National Peoples Congress voted for Constitution amendment. Credit:Sanghee Liu

Xi loyalist and Politburo Standing Committee member, Zhang Dejiang gave a speech that emphasised the need to rally even closer around the party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core. But there was no chance the proposal would be voted down. The party is the real decision making organ in China, and many of the 21 changes to the national constitution on Sunday afternoon aimed to cement the partys central role. The two term limit on president had been put in place in 1982 in the wake of the chaos of the Mao era. The reformer Deng Xiaoping wanted to create a system of collective leadership, and an orderly transition of power twice a decade, to ensure the one-party state would not revert to one-man rule. Xi sees himself as a reformer who can lead Chinas modernisation by 2035, and its rise as a global power by 2050, but the path will take longer than the two-terms the presidency had been confined to. But concerns have been raised that consolidating power in one man increases the risk to China, and may even provoke political instability.

Two thirds of NPC delegates must vote in favour of the changes to the constitution, which were presented together for one vote. Ahead of the vote, analysts said Xi would be aiming for an approval rate of 99 per cent, because 100 per cent may not appear legitimate. Among the delegates voting were Liu Yonghao, chief executive of New Hope, which is a joint venture partner with Gina Reinhardts Australian agribusiness. After a backlash on social media to the news announced publicly only a fortnight ago that the two term limit on the president would be removed, official media had sought to justify the change as preserving Chinas trinity leadership system. The NPC spokesman Zhang Yesui told Chinese media last week the move aligned the presidency with the other two leadership roles, general secretary of the communist party and military chief, also held by Xi.

Under the communist party constitution, neither the general secretary or military chief have terms limits, so changing the presidents role in the national constitution would strengthen and improve Chinas leadership system, he said.

Peoples Daily said it would not necessarily mean a lifelong tenure for president as the retirement system for leading cadres, including health requirements, hadnt changed. NPC general secretary Wang Chen had told delegates last week the proposal to remove the term limit came from the grass roots during consultations and surveys last year. The proposal surfaced at a party meeting five months ago, but was kept quiet until a fortnight ago, when the news appeared to shock many Chinese. The constitutional changes also enshrine the political theory of Xi Jinping Thought on Chinese socialism in a new era. Officials will be required to swear an oath to the constitution when taking office.Austin, Texas: Civil society organisations are increasingly being sidelined by governments in Asia, which treat them as malign extensions of Western power, says a digital human rights expert.

Malavika Jayaram, executive director of Hong Kong-based Digital Asia Hub, speaking at the South by Southwest interactive festival, said the zeal for economic growth among some Asian nations has led them to sour on what they see as a sinister agenda in foreign civil society groups.

There are a lot of conspiracies that civil society is actually getting in the way of progress [in Asian nations], said Malavika Jayaram, of Hong Kong-based Digital Asia Hub.

Thats why those governments are clamping down in a lot of countries for funding for civil society, Jayaram said. They think its interference in local governance.Mr. Peter Turnquest, Deputy Prime Minister announced in Parliament recently that "The Bahamas is set to be blacklisted as a tax haven by the European Union (EU) next week." More...

But everyone knew this would come. The EU and OECD and the other alphabet soup entities have been doing this to The Bahamas and other tax havens now for decades.

It is a bit of a joke that the European Union could even consider blacklisting countries for tax compliance issues. They have one of the world's largest tax havens on the continent and the EU can be considered a tax haven itself. I understand if you work there or "serve" as a Member of the European Parliament you pay no taxes. What a contradiction.

What it all amounts to is these countries, the US included, do not want to expend the effort to resolve their own tax laws that make people want to preserve what they have earned for their family.

To quote P.J. O'Rourke "Don't Vote, It Just Encourages The Bastards." But in the case of the EU they are an unelected group of people enforcing rules and regulations on countries. We didn't even vote for them!

"For libertarians, who believe in economic and individual freedom and limited government, the tyranny of excessive centralized control by unelected and unaccountable bureaucrats is anathema. It should be resisted as undemocratic and against the interests of a countrys citizens." More...

One thing you can be sure of, comply with this and something else will surface in the near future that the EU is concerned about with tax havens. It's their MO.New Jersey Man wins State Police raffle, over $300K raised for Trooper IslandFLETCHER POLICE ARREST MAN AFTER DOMESTIC SHOOTING INCIDENT

INCIDENT OCCURED SUNDAY MORNING ON PHILLIPS COURT IN FLETCHER

Fletcher, NC  Officers with the Fletcher Police Department were dispatched to a report of a female victim

with a gunshot wound that occurred at 7:58am on Sunday March 11th at 18 Phillips Court in Fletcher.

Officers and medical personnel arrived on scene and found a 31 year old female with a gunshot wound to her upper body. The

victims husband was present at the scene and was interviewed by Fletcher Police as a suspect in the incident.

At the time of this media release, the female victim was being treated at an area hospital and in stable condition. The

North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation is assisting in the investigation.

Arrested as a result of the investigation and charged was:

NAME: Nosher Chiah, Asian Male, 33 years of age

ADDRESS: 18 Philips Ct, Fletcher, NC

CHARGES: Assault With a Deadly Weapon Inflicting Serious Injury

Bond: $60,000

Discharging a Firearm within Enclosure to Incite Fear

Bond: $40,000

Assault on a Female

Bond: No Bond

Due to the nature of the initial call, the Henderson County Sheriffs Department also responded and assisted with

securing the sceneWiGBits Headline News Would you like to receive our WiGBits? Signup today!

WiG Entertainment News Would you like to receive our WiG Entertainment News? Signup today!

Digital Issue Would you like to receive our Digital Issue? Signup today!It was a terrifying night for a father and his teenage son. Portland Police Bureau officers say around 8:15 p.m. on Thursday, the two were carjacked by a group of teenagers at Southeast 117th Avenue and Alder Street.

Sean Connolly tells FOX 12 he and his son are doing OK, but are not ready to go on camera.

Connolly says he fell for it - the classic, someone waving in the middle of the street to get the driver's attention. But, he says he never expected to be threatened with a gun and watch as three teenagers drove his car out of sight.

Neighbors say the area is quiet.

"Friendly, it feels safe. There's a lot of families with kids," said Orion Lumiere, who has lived around the area for several years. "It doesn't feel like the kind of place there would be a carjacking."

Police say Connolly saw a teenager in the middle of the street as he was driving, and stopped to see what was wrong. Connolly pulled over, and the teenager knocked on his window.

Police say two more teenagers joined, and that's when Connolly and his teenage son were threatened with a gun.

Emily Sanchez lives at the intersection where police say it all happened. She was home that night and heard everything.

"I just thought it was maybe a couple arguing, and so I went outside and then I heard the word, "Gun!" So I went back inside," she said.

Sanchez says she heard the voice of a young boy. It was Connolly's son, who police say was in the car with him when they were confronted.

"He looked like he was running away from something. And so I called him over and was like, 'Are you okay?' And he was like, 'Yeah, we just got carjacked at gunpoint.'"

Connolly says he ran after one of the suspects - a straggler that didn't immediately make it inside his car. He says they got into a scuffle but the teen got away.

"Scary, especially since I live right there. So I was like, 'I don't want this stuff happening around here,'" said Sanchez.

Neighbors admit this area is peaceful and they're not too worried about it happening again.

"Honestly, I think it's a total anomaly. I've been around here a lot and I've never even seen people be rude to each other," said Lumiere.

Police say Connolly's son was robbed of his cellphone, and Connolly says the suspects also got away with his laptop.

Investigators describe the first suspect as an African American male teen, 5 feet 10 inches to 5 feet 11 inches tall, slim build, short hair, and wearing a dark color hooded jacket.

The second suspect was described as an African American male teen, 5 feet 8 inches tall, medium build, wearing a big camouflage jacket and dark pants.

The third suspect was described as being an African American teen male, 5 feet 5 inches tall, slim build, short hair, possibly wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey. Police say Connolly believed this suspect was the youngest of the three.

Connolly's car is a silver 2014 Subaru Forester with Oregon plates 205GUP.

Anyone who sees the vehicle is asked to call 911 immediately. Anyone with non-emergency information the incident is asked to contact Detective Heidi Housley at 503-823-0400.LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) Around 8:30 p.m., Lafayette police were called to a home in the 700-block of Union Street on Friday for a report of a suspicious odor and suspected drug abuse.

While investigating, police saw 46-year-old Jason Eli Reed walking near the home. While officers were questioning Reed about the situation, he hit one of them and was arrested.

Officers found a meth lab on him, which fell out of his pocket during the confrontation. The Indiana State Police Meth Suppression Team was called to assist in the collection and disposal of the meth lab.

Minor injuries were reported by one officer and Reed. The officer refused treatment and continued working their shift.

Reed was taken to a local hospital for treatment and was released to be taken to the Tippecanoe County Jail. He was arrested for manufacturing/dealing methamphetamine, possession of methamphetamine, battery on law enforcement and resisting law enforcement.

The investigation is ongoing and anybody with information regarding this incident is encouraged to contact the Lafayette Police Department 765-807-1200 or the We-Tip Hotline 800-78-CRIME.WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI)  The Purdue All-American Marching Band is preparing for a trip overseas this spring break.

The band is taking its talents to Dublin, Ireland for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. The trip is optional for band members, although most are joining in.

The band was invited back to the parade after a successful trip in 2013.

Assistant Director to the marching band, Matt Conaway, said this is great exposure for the students involved.

"We're recognized for the parades that we do and the St. Patrick's Day Parade in Dublin, it doesn't get any better than that this time of year," he said. "We'll have almost a million people on the streets watching us, a nation wide television audience in Ireland. It's just nice to be able to bring the Purdue sound over there to Ireland again."

The Purdue Marching Band prides itself on making trips internationally to spread the sounds of the school.



China News on Women





Sorry, the page you requested was not found. If you're having trouble locating a destination on Womenofchina.cn, try visiting the Womenofchina Home pageKris Meekes bid to secure second place at Rally Guanajuato Mexico was all but ended when he crashed his Citroen C3 in Sunday mornings opening speed test.

Stage info: SS20 Alfaro 1, 24.32km

Sundays opening test will be entrenched in drivers minds as two sections have already been driven in Saturdays Otates. The opening half contains fast and flowing corners as it climbs and descends before becoming more technical as it moves into the second part. It is also one for the high-fliers with a huge sixth gear jump a couple of kilometres from the end.

He tipped the car onto its side at a slippery right corner on cobblestones 4km from the end of the Alfaro special stage. Fans pushed it back onto its wheels and he finished almost 40sec slower than Dani Sordo.

Sordo climbed into second with a 25.7sec advantage over Meeke with two passes through the Las Minas test remaining before this afternoons finish. Meeke had 22.9sec in hand over Andreas Mikkelsen in fourth.

Meekes error rekindled memories of a dramatic finale 12 months ago when he won the rally despite a dramatic crash into a car park less than a kilometre from the finish.

I was just coming on to the cobbles and the car slid. There was a deep gulley on the outside and I caught a wheel which put us on our side, Meeke explained. His C3 was missing its aerodynamic rear wing but the Briton was confident he could hold onto third.

Sordo was third fastest in his Hyundai i20 and was quicker than Meeke at the split times all the way through the test.

I had a lot of dust in the middle of the stage. I tried to enjoy it and Im happy with the car. If we can finish on the podium that would be good, said the Spaniard.

Jari-Matti Latvala blitzed everyone to win the stage by 9.7sec in a Toyota Yaris in his efforts to regain another place on the leaderboard. Leader Sebastien Ogier was second in his Ford Fiesta to increase his advantage to 48.0sec.

The Frenchman has his eyes on maximum Power Stage points later fter opting for a mix of hard and soft compound Michelin tyres. We've taken the optimum tyre choice for the Power Stage, not for this one, he said.

Head to WRC+ to watch WRC All Live from Rally Guanajuato Mexico

VIDEO

More NewsParliament trip for Senedd yr Ifanc representatives to mark International Womens Day

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Mar 11th, 2018

Two representatives from Senedd yr Ifanc last week celebrated International Womens Day by shadowing MP Susan Elan Jones in Parliament.

Abi Catherall and Amy Lloyd, who are members of Senedd yr Ifanc / Wrexhams Youth Parliament, had the opportunity to learn about the work of the Clwyd South MP and her journey as a woman in politics.

Following the visit to Parliament, Tricia Jones, Youth Support Worker said: This year marks 100 years of some women in the UK being given the vote and the young women of Wrexhams Senedd yr Ifanc felt that needed to be celebrated.

We have given young women across the county opportunities to shadow some of Wrexhams influential women.

Susan welcomed Abi and Amy to Parliament to learn about the role of a Member of Parliament and to speak about her own journey as a women in politics.

Susan Elan Jones MP said: I was delighted to welcome Abi and Amy to Parliament. This is a very historic year as it marks the centenary of some women receiving the vote. We need more women as elected officials at all political levels including Council, Assembly and Parliamentary.

Amy Lloyd, Wrexham Member of UK Youth Parliament/Member of Senedd yr Ifanc said: I really enjoyed myself, and it was an opportunity that I may never receive again.

I am grateful to Susan who took time out of her day to do this for International Womens Day.

Abi Catherall, Member of Senedd yr Ifanc added: I learnt a lot today, I am really grateful for the opportunity.

It was very interesting to see behind the scenes of Parliament as well as the work that takes place in the House of Commons

The Senedd yr Ifanc is the Youth Parliament for Wrexham County, they work with young people aged 11-25. If you would like more information on the Senedd yr Ifanc or are interested in joining please email youngvoices@wrexham.gov.ukFORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - As deputies began responding to last month's deadly Florida school shooting, the school's armed resource officer radioed that shots were coming from the freshman building, but he advised officers to stay back - a seeming failure to follow widely established guidelines to immediately confront the attacker in active shooter situations.

Broward County Deputy Scot Peterson's radio calls in the minutes after the Feb. 14 shooting show he almost immediately realized gunshots were being fired inside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. That contradicts a statement issued Feb. 26 by his lawyer saying Peterson, who was assigned to the school, "believed that those gunshots were originating from outside any of the buildings on the school campus."

If Peterson knew the location of the shooter, Broward County Sheriff's Office mass shooting guidelines required him to enter the building and kill or stop the gunman. Such protocols are near-universal among U.S. law enforcement agencies.

Peterson, who has denied wrongdoing, retired shortly after the shooting rather than accept a suspension. Broward Sheriff Scott Israel and President Donald Trump publicly criticized his actions and he is being investigated by internal affairs.

The radio transmissions, released late Thursday, also appear to contradict reports that a Broward captain ordered deputies not to enter the building. In fact, it was Peterson who advised officers to stay at least 500 feet away. It's not clear if anyone heeded his request, but it contradicts standard active shooter procedures in place since the 1999 mass shooting at Columbine High School, when officers remained outside while waiting for a SWAT team, which allowed the two shooters time to continue their rampage unchallenged.

Chris Grollnek, a former law enforcement officer who specializes in security issues, especially active shooter situations, said the timeline and radio transmissions show "what not to do" when confronting a mass shooter and indicate Peterson had inadequate training. Peterson's records show he passed an active shooter class in 2016.

Broward sheriff's Col. Jack Dale disputed Grollnek's conclusion, saying in a statement that the training Peterson and other deputies take includes live-fire simulations for both single deputy and multiple deputy situations. He said Grollnek "has the advantage of hindsight, the deputies did not."

"We are only beginning to understand how the situation unfolded. To attribute failures to training and leadership is far too premature," Dale wrote.

When suspect Nikolas Cruz began his six-minute shooting rampage with an AR-15 assault-style rifle, investigators say, Peterson was near the school's administration building, which is separated by a courtyard and classrooms from the freshman building. Responding to reports, he arrived outside the freshman building nearly two minutes later, issuing his first radio transmission: "Be advised we have possible, could be firecrackers, I think we have shots fired, possible shots fired - 1200 building." The 1200 building is also known as the freshman building.

Investigators say school surveillance video shows Peterson then took up a position near the freshman building - a spot he wouldn't leave until the shootings were over. He then called for backup and for the school and a nearby intersection to be shutdown. He then reiterates, 38 seconds after his first call, "We're talking about the 1200 building." Two minutes later, "We also heard it's by, inside the 1200 building."

As backup deputies arrive, Peterson radios them, "Do not approach 12 or 1300 building. Stay at least 500 feet away at this point." By this time, investigators say, video shows that Cruz had abandoned his jammed weapon. The 19-year-old former Stoneman Douglas student then mixed in with the fleeing mass and left the school before being arrested a mile (1.6 kilometers) away more than an hour later. His attorneys have said he would plead guilty in return for a life sentence instead of the death penalty.

Peterson's attorney, Joseph DiRuzzo III, did not return an email and call seeking comment Friday.

The transmissions also show that Capt. Jan Jordan never radioed orders to deputies telling them to stay out of the building, as some media have reported. In her first transmission, 10 minutes after the shooting began, Jordan says, "I know there's a lot going on. Do we have a perimeter set up right now and everyone cleared out of the school?" She is told no. Almost two minutes later, she replied that a perimeter needed to be set up around the school, the students needed to be evacuated and the area around the school shut down.

Grollnek said there are only three reasons a perimeter should be set up: if a manhunt is underway and police are trying to prevent the shooter's escape; if police want to prevent the scene from being trampled so police dogs can get a good scent; or in a hostage situation, to prevent innocent bystanders from getting shot in crossfire.

In this case, he said: "The innocent bystanders were inside. There was not a good reason to set up a perimeter."

___

Pane reported from Atlanta.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - Ten corporations were honored at the BancorpSouth Conference Center on Saturday for the annual state-wide Corporate Honors Gala.

The "OurMississippi Honors" recognizes Mississippi corporations for their diversity practices.

Some individuals were given awards like the Legendary Achievement award and the Business-Woman of The Year award.

Well-known actor Louis Gossett Jr. was a guest speaker and was also recognized for his work.

He says it is an honor, especially at this point in his career.

He says he loves to share positivity to the youth.

"We're going in the right direction," Gossett Jr. said. "Just take a deep breath and congratulate them on their diversity and let them know we are going in the right direction."PANAMA CITY BEACH, FL (WSFA) - Panama City Beach's spring break alcohol ban is now in effect.

During the month of March, no alcoholic beverages can be consumed on sandy beaches, right of way or in parking lots.

"There is zero tolerance for criminal behavior. Use common sense and leave Spring Break with a great suntan, not a criminal record," said Bay County Sheriff Tommy Ford in a statement.

Other ordinances in effect in Panama City Beach:

Anyone under the age of 21 can't be inside establishments serving alcohol and licensed for consumption on premises after midnight, except active duty military personnel with ID, in the unincorporated areas of Bay County. (County Ordinance 15-24)

Law Enforcement officers can order a nuisance party to cease and desist. A nuisance party is defined as a party, usually at a residence, where minors and underage drinkers find easy access to alcohol and causes noise, litter, traffic congestion, a neighborhood disturbance, and creates an unsafe environment that leads to property damage, violence, and criminal behavior. (County Ordinance 15-45)

Digging holes deeper than two feet on the sandy beaches of Bay County is prohibited. (County Ordinance 15-02)

It is illegal to operate a rented scooter at night during Spring Break. (County Ordinance 16-07)

Copyright 2018 WSFA 12 News. All rights reserved.TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) - A man whose driver's license has been suspended for almost 20 years was arrested for DUI after crashing into a utility pole.

Bobby Hitchcock, 61, was arrested by the Tallahassee Police Department for a DUI as well as a hit and run with damage to unattended property.

On March 8 around 3:23 p.m., officers arrived at a traffic crash at the intersection of Lake Bradford Road and Gamble Street.

A tow truck driver with Professional Park Services (PPS) said he followed Hitchcock as he walked away from the car. The driver followed Hitchcock from Gamble to Gene Street before officers talked to him.

Based on the crash scene, officers determined that Hitchcock's car failed to stay on Gamble Street and drove off the road, hitting a utility pole.

Hitchcock initially told investigating officers that he crashed his "boss man's" car.

Documents say the car belonged to a man with a business on Still Court Road. When contacted, the man confirmed Hitchcock worked for him as a mechanic.

While being interviewed, officers saw that Hitchcock was intoxicated and having difficulty standing. The police report states that Hitchcock's eyes were bloodshot, watery, and glassy. It also says that his speech was slurred and there was an odor of alcohol coming from his breath.

Hitchcock stated that the crashed car belongs to his boss. He denied driving the car because, "I'm not supposed to be driving anything."

Hitchcock told officers he no longer drives, however a criminal history check revealed he was out on bond for driving with a suspended license on March 1.

According to Hitchcock, he was going to a store at the intersection of Lake Bradford and Gamble Street. Next, he walked to the Circle K located on Lake Bradford Road and said he would be on video in the Circle K.

Hitchcock said the key is always kept in the ignition and it was possible someone else took the car.

When officers said they would view the video from the Circle K and said they didn't believe him, Hitchcock stated, "send me to prison."

Officers viewed the Circle K footage before the crash and Hitchcock was not seen on video.

He told officers he bought a beer from Circle K, but later stated he did not go into the store. Hitchcock said he was walking back from the Circle K when he saw his boss's car against the pole.

Hitchcock said he panicked and was going to walk back to his home, who he rents from his boss.

He couldn't explain why he didn't stop to speak to the PPS driver or ask him to call the police. Officers later saw that Hitchcock's boss contracts with PPS to tow vehicles.

Several times during the interview, Hitchcock said he was responsible for the crash. He told officers multiple times to put him in handcuffs.

Officers said Hitchcock eventually became uncooperative due to his intoxication level.

Hitchcock was then arrested for DUI and leaving the scene of a crash with property damage. He was transported to Leon County Jail.

While at LCJ, Hitchcock refused to take a breath sample and was issued a DUI citation. He was also issued citations for driving with a suspended or revoked license, and hit and run with damage to unattended property.

An investigator revealed that Hitchcock's license has been revoked since Sept. 27, 1989 for a DUI in Mississippi.

His second conviction for DUI was on Sept. 10, 1992 in Mississippi and his third was in Alabama on Oct. 18, 1994. Another DUI conviction came in Louisiana on August 29, 1995. He also has a previous DWLSR conviction in Leon County from July 18, 2002.

Hitchcock is currently out on bond.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 07:32:44|Editor: Mengjiao Liu

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INDIAN WELLS, the United States, March 10 (Xinhua) -- No. 8 seed Venus Williams moves into the third round of the BNP Paribas Open on Saturday afternoon with a straight-set victory over No. 35 Romania's Sorana Cirstea.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion won her opening match in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, and now faces the winner between her younger sister Serena Williams, 36, and No. 29 seed Kiki Bertens of the Netherlands in the next round.

Venus achieved victory behind winning 81 percent of Cirstea's second service points, leading her to six breaks of serve during the match.

It was Venus' seventh appearance in the California desert, and third since 2001, after an absence of 15 years.

At 37 years old, Venus is the oldest in women's single draw at 2018 Indian Wells.CANBERRA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Shark sightings in the Australian state of Victoria have spiked the day after a 69-year-old man fought off a shark by punching it in the nose.

With Victoria celebrating Labour Day on Monday with a public holiday and unseasonably warm weather, Victorians flocked to the state's beaches on Saturday and Sunday.

Revellers were not alone in the water, however, lifesavers on Victoria's Surf Coast reported four shark sightings on Saturday ranging from one to two meters in length.

At least two bronze whalers and two hammerhead sharks were identified by spotters in helicopters.

Spotters in the area were put on high alert for the weekend after Robert Frostland, 69, was attacked by a 3.5 meter shark in the area on Friday.

Frostland was finishing his daily ocean swim at 4 p.m. local time on Friday when he spotted the shark heading straight for him.

"The water was crystal clear so I could see it clearly," Frostland told reporters on Saturday.

"First thing I saw the fin, just circle around me and then it came straight at me.

"I punched it; I was just treading water, waiting for it each time, six or seven times, just punched it each time.

"It swam around and came back and I was waiting for the jaw to open."

There were 15 unprovoked shark attacks in Australian waters in 2017, resulting in nine injuries and one fatality.TRIPOLI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Libyan navy on Saturday night rescued 335 illegal immigrants off the country's western coast, a navy spokesman said.

The coast guard picked up the immigrants including at least seven children during three rescue operations dozens of kilometers west of the country's capital Tripoli, navy spokesman Ayob Qassem told Xinhua.

All of them were provided medical treatment and were well cared for, Qassem said, without mentioning if there were any casualties.

Libya has become the preferred departure point for illegal immigrants hoping to cross the Mediterranean into Europe, because of insecurity and chaos in the North African country following the 2011 uprising that toppled former leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Improved weather conditions have increased the flow of migrant boats from Libya towards Europe, particularly off the country's western coast.DUBLIN, March 10 (Xinhua) -- A massive rally was held Saturday in the Irish capital Dublin to protest against a government-proposed referendum to repeal a law which forbids abortion in the country.

Organizers of the rally claimed that close to 100,000 people from all over the country and abroad took part in the peaceful rally, which lasted for three hours in the afternoon.

Participants, waving banners, flags and placards bearing different anti-abortion slogans, flocked to a square opposite Leinster House, the parliament building, after marching through the downtown areas of the city.

Many pregnant women and young children of both genders were seen in the rally.

Dozens of vehicles decorated with anti-abortion and pro-life slogans were deployed during the parade. A small aircraft towing a huge banner was also used in the rally.

The speeches drew occasional shouting from the huge crowds.

The massive rally, which was organized by a local non-political party-affiliated organization under the slogan of Save The Eighth, came a day after the lower house of the Irish parliament started debating a government-tabled bill proposing to hold a referendum by the end of May to repeal the eighth amendment of the Constitution.

The article virtually bans abortion in the country as it creates a constitutional recognition of an unborn child's life.

The government also proposed in its bill that termination of a pregnancy up to 12 weeks shall be allowed if the Eighth Amendment is repealed in the coming referendum.

The referendum bill is subject to the debate and approval of the lower house. After a heated debate on Friday, the house decided to hold a second debate on the bill on March 20.Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen, and Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming attend a press conference on opening up on all fronts and promoting high quality development of commercial business on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Xin)Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 11:13:07|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan (C), Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy China International Trade Representative Wang Shouwen (R), and Vice Minister of Commerce Qian Keming attend a press conference on opening up on all fronts and promoting high quality development of commercial business on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Different statistical methods widen U.S. trade deficit with China by around 20 percent, Chinese commerce minister said Sunday.

A joint work group found that the trade deficit number tracked by the United States was overestimated by 21 percent last year, Zhong Shan, the Minister of Commerce told a press conference on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress.High-speed trains ready to be put into use at a highway-speed train base in Wuhan, capital of central China's Hubei Province. . (XINHUA/Xiao Yijiu)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China will enhance strength in science and technology in the coming years to create more opportunities for itself and the world.

"China will do more to implement the innovation-driven development strategy", Premier Li Keqiang said Monday when delivering a government work report at the first session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Li said that application-oriented basic research would be strengthened, a number of science and technology innovation programs be launched, and a number of top national laboratories be set up this year.

During the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in October, President Xi Jinping said innovation was the primary driving force behind development and the strategic underpinning for building a modernized economy.

China aims to make itself a country of innovators, according to Xi.

At a press conference held Saturday on the sidelines of the session, Wan Gang, minister of science and technology, said China is taking a leading position in strategic hi-tech sectors.

Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) in southwest China's Guizhou Province. (XINHUA/Liu Xu)

Major achievements include the launch of the Tiangong-2 space lab, the Jiaolong deep-sea manned submersible, the Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST), launch of dark matter probe satellite Wukong and the quantum science satellite Mozi, and the test flight for airliner C919.

China's Tianzhou-1 cargo spacecraft moves towards the Tiangong-2 space lab for docking, as seen on a screen at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center in Beijing, Saturday, April 22, 2017. (XINHUA/Wang Sijiang)

China has also been the world leader in applications for invention patents for seven consecutive years. China's mainland held about 1.36 million such patents by the end of 2017, meaning on average 9.8 invention patents per 10,000 people, according to the State Intellectual Property Office.

Technological innovation has provided strong support for the nation's supply-side structural reform and significantly improved people's lives, Wan said, citing its role in mobile communication, pharmaceuticals, epidemic prevention, new energy vehicles as well as air pollution control and poverty alleviation.

In addition, hi-tech will be applied to judicial organs.

"China will speed up the construction of smart courts," said Chief Justice Zhou Qiang when delivering a work report of the Supreme People's Court to the session.

Courts will better use artificial intelligence, voice recognition, big data and other digital technologies to improve trial and social governance, Zhou said.

Jia Jia, an interactive robot that looks like a real Chinese young woman in traditional outfit, talks through internet with Kevin Kelly on screen, founding executive editor of Wired magazine, in Hefei, capital of east China's Anhui Province, April 24, 2017. (XINHUA)

Meanwhile, China also shares its scientific and technological achievements with the world.

China has sent experts and medicine to Africa to help locals fight against Ebola and Zika virus, offering Chinese wisdom and strength to tackle infectious diseases globally, Wan added.

"The technological advancement in China serves the world and benefits all human beings, rather than posing a threat to others," said Yang Changfeng, a member of the 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Yang, also the chief designer of the BeiDou system, said China plans to send 18 BeiDou-3 satellites into space in 2018. The system is expected to provide navigation and positioning services to countries along the Belt and Road by late 2018.

Named after the Chinese term for the Big Dipper, the BeiDou project was formally launched in 1994, and began to serve China in 2000 and the Asia-Pacific region in 2012.

A Long March-3A carrier rocket carrying the 22nd satellite in the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) lifts off from Xichang Satellite Launch Center, southwest China's Sichuan Province, March 30, 2016. (XINHUA/Wang Yulei)

"The BeiDou system not only belongs to China, but the whole world," Yang said, noting that China has been promoting cooperation with Asia-Pacific nations, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the Arab League in the construction of BeiDou system.

The system plays an important role in telecommunications, transport, forest fire prevention and disaster prevention and relief. "We've been improving our services for our global users," Yang said, adding that they are promoting the system in international organizations.

Wang Shoujun, chairperson of China National Nuclear Cooperation (CNNC), a leading nuclear power company, said its nuclear projects in Pakistan had reached 4.63 million kilowatts, while installed capacity in operation exceeded 1.3 million kilowatts.

"These projects have effectively alleviated local power shortages, boosted the country's economic development, and improved the locals' living quality," said Wang, also a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC.

Workers inspect the converter station in Jinhua, east China's Zhejiang Province, Feb. 23, 2017. (XINHUA/Xu Yu)

China's utility giant State Grid has already built up power supply facilities in countries along the Belt and Road routes, and exported advanced electricity supply equipment to 83 countries and regions across the world.

In December 2017, an ultra-high voltage power transmission project of the State Grid was put into operation in Brazil. The project helps transmit clean energy to southeastern load regions from northern Brazil, meeting the power demands of 22 million Brazilians each year.

From 2003 to 2017, the State Grid Jilin Province Electric Power Supply Company, a subsidiary of State Grid, built more than 2,000 kilometers of power lines and built or expanded more than 10 power stations in Ethiopia.

"There was severe power shortages in Ethiopia. Our power supply projects have solved the problem now," said Wang Jinhang, an NPC deputy and chairman of the company.

Wang said they also provided training for local workers, who would be able to do relevant work in their countries or other countries, which also helped create more jobs for locals.

"The rapid development of China boosts the flow of global labor. More Chinese companies have gone global, while more foreign workforces have come to China," said Hu Keyi, chief engineer of Jiangnan Shipyard Group.

"Don't be surprised when you see European employees in a Chinese shipyard today. They love their jobs and Chinese food, and also enjoy life in China," said Hu, a member of the National Committee of the CPPCC.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 11:28:09|Editor: Liangyu

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Chinese Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan answers questions at a press conference on opening up on all fronts and promoting high quality development of commercial business on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China welcomes Japan's participation in the Belt and Road Initiative, Commerce Minister Zhong Shan said here Sunday.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is open, inclusive and transparent," Zhong said at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.

Noting that Japan has been paying close attention to issues related to Belt and Road Initiative, Zhong said China is willing to cooperate with Japan within the Belt and Road framework.YANGON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Horse-drawn carriages, which have been used as low-cost transport means over the past century in Myanmar's second largest city of Mandalay, is facing elimination, Myanmar Digital News reported Sunday.

Fare for the horse-drawn carriages is the cheapest for getting around Mandalay, however, in the coming years, such carriages will slowly disappear, drivers from the horse-drawn carriage station were quoted as saying.

Until now, people from Moekaung Market, Seinpan Ward and Ayartun Ward used these carts, so do visitors from nearby Sagaing region's Shwebo, Monywa, Chaung U, Ye U and Tentse towns travelling to western wards in Mandalay, the drivers said.

Over the past two decades, Mandalay residents mostly travel around by bicycles, motorbikes, trishaws, thus replacing horse-drawn carriages. However, the Inwa region, which foreigners mostly visit, still has hundreds of such horse-drawn carriages, the drivers added.

According to statistics, tourist arrivals in Mandalay increased by about 100,000 or 26 percent correspondingly, hitting 483,784 in 2017.

In 2016, 385,031 tourists visited the last royal capital, a year-on-year rise from 160,795 in 2012.

The majority of the visitors came from China, followed by France, Germany, Thailand and Britain.JAKARTA, March 11 (Xinhua)-- Rescuers have discovered 2 corpses and are continuing search and rescue operation for the missing persons on Sunday after a boat carrying boarding school students capsized in waters off East Java province, a rescuer disclosed.

"Searching for the missing students continued today (Sunday), " Johar Satrio, rescuer at the search and rescue office in the province told Xinhua by phone.

The rescuers combed to the east of the scene due to wind blowing to the direction, according to him.

Search and rescue operation personnel includes those from search and rescue office, soldiers, police and sailors, according to him.

Motor Kota Baru boat carrying 20 students from Abu Hurairah boarding school was hit by huge waves when it was passing the waters near Pulau Sepekan of Sumenep in Madura district, said Satrio.

The incident took place during poor weather condition, he added.

Satrio said that two students remain missing in the incident, as he revised down the figure from three.

The boat was heading to Tanjung village, as the students were on the way to attend a sermon, according to him.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 13:23:23|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's crackdown on corruption in the past five years has impressed the world and its resolve to root out the scourge has inspired many in different parts of the world.

Since November 2012, more than 1.5 million corrupt officials have been punished and a total of 440 centrally-administrated senior officials investigated, according to the disciplinary arm of the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

While going after corrupt officials including both high-ranking "tigers" to lower-level "flies" on the domestic front, Beijing has also carried out such operations as "Sky Net" and "Fox Hunt" to hunt down venal officials who have fled abroad.

Such endeavors, observers say, are helping China march toward the final victory of its anti-corruption drive, and have offered valuable experiences for other countries.

ROLE MODEL

China's campaign has made it increasingly difficult for corrupt officials to evade justice, and that represents a critical factor leading to the final victory against corruption, noted Xulio Rios, director of Spain's Observatory of Chinese Politics.

Judging by what China has achieved in fighting corruption, the country is clearly in the front rank of the global cause against foul practices of abusing public posts for personal gains, he added.

Cambodia's top graft-buster, Om Yentieng, attributed the effectiveness of China's anti-corruption campaign to Chinese President Xi Jinping's zero-tolerance against corruption and the Chinese people's strong support.

"With President Xi's unwavering political commitment, it seems that the culture of zero-tolerance against corruption has become ingrained in the psyche of the Chinese people," he told Xinhua in a recent interview.

"This is a role model for other countries, including Cambodia," added Yentieng, who heads Cambodia's Anti-Corruption Unit.

The whole world looks with admiration to China's anti-corruption campaign, said Mahmoud Raya, manager of Beirut-based news website "China In Arab's Eyes."

China's successful experiences in fighting corruption can be an example for all the other countries aspiring to get rid of corruption, said Raya.

Alexey Maslov, a professor with the Oriental Studies Department at the Russian Higher School of Economics Research University, told Xinhua that China's anti-corruption campaign serves as a reference to Russia.

It is a long-term mission with clear plans and mechanisms, which can be carried out through all local party branches, he noted, adding that without such a mechanism, the government could only punish corrupt individuals without really eliminating the problem.

INSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE

During its ongoing annual session, the National People's Congress of China, the country's top legislature, will deliberate a draft supervision law designed to lay a legal foundation for an upgraded anti-graft taskforce.

Upon adoption of the law, a new supervisory network would be established, consisting of supervisory commissions at the national, provincial, municipal and county levels, with legally defined duties and protocols.

China's supervisory network reform will boost the country's efforts to fight corruption and thus benefit its economic development, Teddy Kaberuka, an economic analyst in Rwanda, told Xinhua.

The new setup would sustain China's achievements in the anti-corruption campaign, he said, adding that a strong anti-corruption institution is very important for the country's economic development.

With the proposed reform of the country's anti-corruption system, the CPC and the Chinese government are rapidly translating the resolve against corruption into realities, said Luxman Siriwardena, executive director of Pathfinder Foundation, a think tank in Sri Lanka.

China's effective approach against corrupt officials offers a great lesson for Sri Lanka, which is also a developing country, he said, adding that efforts should be taken to ensure that corruption will never be a stumbling block for the overall development of a country.

(Xinhua reporters Mao Pengfei in Phnom Penh, Lyu Tianran in Kigali, Wang Chendi in Moscow, Li Liangyong in Beirut and Zhu Ruiqing in Colombo also contributed to the story.)HAVANA, March 10 (Xinhua) -- Cuba will kick off the second stage of the general elections on Sunday which will eventually lead to the change of the island-state's presidency.

Over 8.8 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at more than 24,000 polling stations to determine 605 members of the National Assembly of People's Power, the county's top legislative body. The assembly will convene next month to elect a new president for Cuba as President Raul Castro will not seek a third term.

In November last year, Cuban voters selected 12,515 delegates (councilors) to municipal government assemblies at the first stage of the general elections.

On April 19, the National Assembly is set to vote for the 31 members of the State Council, including its new president, vice presidents, secretary and other members.

"When the National Assembly is constituted in April 2018, I will have finished my second and last term leading the state and the government, and Cuba will have a new president," Cuban President Raul Castro said in a speech to lawmakers in December last year.

Raul Castro, 86, officially came to power in 2008, after his brother Fidel Castro was forced to retire on health reasons.

Raul Castro will continue to serve as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba until 2021. He has been nominated to a seat in the next legislature, but will not take on any major political responsibility.

According to official data, this year's candidates are on average 49 years old and about 53.6 percent of them are women.

Raul Castro was scheduled to hand over the presidency to a new leader on Feb. 24. However, the National Assembly decided to extend his term for nearly two more months after the general elections were postponed. The delay was caused by hurricane Irma devastating the island country last year.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 14:28:31|Editor: Liangyu

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's national legislature will take steps to make a foreign investment law and do research on formulating a real estate tax law, according to a work report released Sunday.

The legislation plan was included in the work report of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), to be delivered Sunday to the first session of the 13th NPC for deliberation.LUSAKA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The International University of Africa in Sudan will honor Zambia's first President Kenneth Kaunda this year for his contribution to the continent's liberation, a university official said Saturday.

Tagjadin Beihin Nia, the university's director for external affairs said over phone that the board of the senate of the university decided to honor Kaunda for his role in the liberation struggle and his recent fight against HIV/AIDS on the continent.

It was important for Africa to honor its leaders that have left an indelible mark on the continent while they are still alive, Nia said in a statement released by Zambia's embassy in Ethiopia.

Zambia's Ambassador to Ethiopia Susan Sikaneta, who is also ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Sudan, thanked the university over its decision to honor Kaunda in the phone call.

Kaunda served as the first president of Zambia from 1964 to 1991.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 15:08:36|Editor: Chengcheng

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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Two Afghan civilians were wounded after NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces opened fire in southern province of Kandahar on Sunday, a local official said.

"Initially an explosion went off near a mobile patrol of coalition forces Sunday morning near Kandahar airport. The foreign security force secured the area and warned people to keep away from the site," a provincial security source told Xinhua.

Some passersby ignored the warning of security force and tried to pass the area and two civilians were wounded by ensuing gunshots, he said.

It was not immediately known if the blast causes casualties or damage. The source added that an investigation was launched into the incident.

The main U.S. and NATO military base in southern Afghanistan is located in Kandahar airport.

Security situation has been improving in Kandahar, the former stronghold of Taliban, over the last months, as security forces have conducted search and cordon operations across the province. But the militants attack government interests in the province from time to time.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 15:58:45|Editor: Liangyu

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A deputy to the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) casts her ballot on a draft amendment to the country's Constitution at the third plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th NPC in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress, the national legislature, adopted an amendment to the country's Constitution on Sunday.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 16:08:48|Editor: Liangyu

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The third plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature, adopted an amendment to the country's Constitution on Sunday.

Lawmakers at the ongoing NPC annual session agreed that the constitutional revision, which accords with the aspiration of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the people and has won approval from both inside and outside the Party, is of historic significance for ensuring prosperity and lasting security of both the Party and the country.

The draft amendment was submitted to the first session of 13th NPC for deliberation on Monday.

Revising part of the Constitution is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee from the overall and strategic height of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, said Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, when joining NPC deputies in a panel discussion on Wednesday.

This was the first amendment to the country's fundamental law in 14 years.

The People's Republic of China enacted its first Constitution in 1954. The current Constitution was adopted in 1982 and amended in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004.

While the reform and opening-up drive, which began 40 years ago, has made amazing progress, it brought major changes to the country's Constitution.

From 1988 to 1999, amendments included reform of land-use rights, a legal status for the private economy, the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, replacing the phrase "planned economy" with "socialist market economy," and incorporation of Deng Xiaoping Theory.

The most recent amendment in 2004 protected private property and human rights and gave the Theory of Three Represents constitutional authority.

China's Constitution has been developed along with the people's practices of building socialism with Chinese characteristics under the CPC leadership, according to Li Shuzhong, vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law.

"The amendment makes the Constitution in keeping with the times by incorporating new achievements, experiences and requirements of the Party and the country's development as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era," Li said.

A constitutional change is either proposed by the NPC Standing Committee or by more than one-fifth of all NPC deputies, and then requires the approval of two-thirds or more of NPC deputies during the annual session.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 16:28:50|Editor: Chengcheng

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DOHA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Qatar has filed a complaint to the UN Security Council over the violations of Qatar's air and sea spaces by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Kingdom of Bahrain, Qatar news agency (QNA) reported Sunday.

The Permanent Representative of Qatar To the United Nations Sheikha Alya Ahmed Bin Saif Al-Thani handed over a complaint message to the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

According to Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement, an Emirati military aircraft on January 14 overflew Qatari territorial waters without permission from authorities in Doha.

Besides, on February 25, another emirati military aircraft approached the Qatari border before changing course after warnings were issued.

Subsequently, a Bahraini military aircraft on February 28 also overflew the exclusive economic zone of Qatar, Qatari government said.

The complaint also said that on January 19, Qatari maritime surveillance saw a UAE naval ship unload a boat into the Qatar economic zone which kidnapped a Qatari fishing boat.

Qatar government warned against the continued violation attempts by UAE and Bahrain that would increase tension in the region, the complaint said.

The UAE and Bahrain along with Saudi Arabia and Egypt, cut diplomatic ties with Qatar in June 2017, accusing Doha of supporting "extremism and terrorism."

The blockading countries also imposed transport and trade sanctions by air, land, and sea.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 16:33:50|Editor: Xiang Bo

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Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), delivers a work report of the Standing Committee of the 12th NPC at the third plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th NPC at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Yao Dawei)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's national legislature Sunday highlighted national security legislation as one of the major legislative achievements over the past five years.

A series of laws were enacted in the period, including laws on national security, counter-espionage, anti-terrorism, administration of activities of overseas nongovernmental organizations in the Chinese mainland, cybersecurity, national intelligence, and nuclear safety, according to a work report of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC), delivered by Zhang Dejiang, the committee's chairman, at a plenary meeting of the 13th NPC session.

"These laws provide a strong legal guarantee for safeguarding China's national security, and other core and key interests," Zhang said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 16:38:51|Editor: Chengcheng

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BRUSSELS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The talks between the European Union (EU) and the United States on U.S. President Donald Trump's imposition of controversial tariff on steel and aluminum imports seem to have got into a standoff, as top EU trade official puts the blame on the U.S. side.

The EU's Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom said Saturday that the United States has failed to provide full clarity on how the EU could be exempted from Washington's steel and aluminum tariffs, but said talks would continue next week.

"As a close security and trade partner of the United States, the EU must be excluded from the announced measures. No immediate clarity on the exact U.S. procedure for exemption however," Malmstrom tweeted after a trilateral meeting with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer and Japanese Minister for Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko in Brussels.

U.S.-EU TALKS IN STANDOFF

Saturday's meeting had been previously planned but took on greater importance because of Trump's announcement of a 25 percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports to "protect national security."

Brussels has gone the furthest in fighting back against U.S. stiff tariffs, threatening retaliatory levies on U.S. imports like peanut, bourbon, cranberries and orange juice, if the 28-nation bloc cannot be spared.

In announcing these measures, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker said the EU could match "stupid with stupid."

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the U.S. very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum," Trump tweeted Saturday.

"If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!" he added.

Trump said Canada and Mexico have been spared for now, and other countries could also win exemptions as long as "their products no longer threaten our security."

The EU insists that it is committed to open, global trade. Malmstroem said the real problem is an oversupply of steel on global markets, and she rejected Trump's assertion that the tariffs are needed to protect U.S. national security, especially when most EU countries are members of NATO.

The EU, Japan and the United States have agreed to meet again in the margins of the Paris ministerial meeting of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to discuss overcapacity issues.

U.S. TARIFFS CONDEMNED WORLDWIDE

Trump's announcement of the U.S. tariff, which will take effect 15 days after he formally unveiled them Thursday, has sparked fears of a new trade war and has triggered global dissent.

"Nobody can win this kind of race," German Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters Friday, adding that Germany would support the EU if it ultimately decided to adopt retaliatory measures, but called for diplomatic talks to resolve the trade conflict as a first resort.

Marina Whitman, professor emerita of business administration and public policy at the University of Michigan, said Trump's tariffs "are likely to raise prices of consumer goods containing aluminum or steel and, more important, will raise them for manufacturers whose products use aluminum and steel, making them less competitive."

"A lot more people are employed in the U.S. in companies using aluminum and/or steel in their products than in those making them," she said. Moreover, "it is a major step toward undermining the international rule of law in trade, which the U.S. took the lead in creating ever since WWII."

A recent study by Trade Partnership, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, also estimated that Trump's new tariff on steel and aluminum would result in a net loss of 146,000 U.S. jobs after accounting for positive impacts on U.S. steel and aluminum producers.

Commenting on the U.S. policy, Canadian experts said it is a clear bargaining tool for Trump to pressure Canada in the ongoing North American Tree Trade Agreement (NAFTA) talks.

"Because other countries are subjected to these tariffs, it should actually increase demand for steel and aluminum from Canada," said James Brander, a trade expert at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.

"Trump is using this (as) a tactic to try to put more pressure on Canada and Mexico to go along with some of the things the U.S. wants in the NAFTA negotiations," he added, "If it doesn't work, they will be included in the tariffs."

(Xinhua reporters Shuai Rong, Wang Zichen, Li Baodong, Xu Jing and Zhu Sheng also contributed to the story)MOMBASA, Kenya, March 11 (Xinhua) -- At least six people including five children died after they fell into a pit latrine in the coastal Kenyan city of Mombasa, the police said Sunday.

Local Police Commander Christopher Rotich said the incident happened during a wedding ceremony on Saturday evening.

According to the police, one survived the fall and is receiving treatment in hospital. At least eight people escaped unhurt.

"They were on top of the pit taking photos of the couple before the concrete disintegrated, the concrete slab that covered the septic tank couldn't bear the weight of people," Rotich said.

The police are working with structural engineers to assess the scene to determine the exact cause of the fall.

Last year, four children died in a similar way in the same area following heavy rains.ISTANBUL, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Ata Dogruel will be staying on the attic of a building in Istanbul for 28 days without interruption, and he relies on others to provide food and feed him.

Dogruel, a young artist, proclaimed before starting his show that he is inquiring into the relationship between people and society, and between social dynamics and the limits of being an individual.

For his performance, Dogruel divided the attic into two parts, with one part painted in black and the other in white, and a table and two chairs standing in the middle.

When he feels hungry, he spends time inside the black quarter. After he is full, he goes inside the white part. He refrains from talking throughout his performance.

The first of its kind in Istanbul and Turkey, this long-haul live performance made its debut in the metropolis on Feb. 16 under the title of "Needed: You" spanning over 672 hours, or 28 days, with no intervals, featuring art performances by ten Turkish artists.

The live show, which includes nine performances in total, is being performed on all the six floors of the building of Performistanbul, a dedicated space for performance art in Istanbul's iconic Galata neighborhood.

"The event welcomes the audience to actively participate in the whole process," Simge Burhanoglu, the curator of the show, told Xinhua.

"Their interactive collaboration with the artists is the prerequisite for the entire process," she said.

For Burhanoglu, it is an existential invitation aiming to encourage visitors to realize their strength and key roles they can play in the lives of others.

"The audience is expected to enter the door unbiased, then they find a suitable spot for themselves and feel valuable," she explained.

With her performance titled "What do you want," artist Ekin Bernay was taking her viewers on a healing journey by helping them discover what they want from life.

"I am this room. I am here to listen and I am here to hold you tight," Bernay wrote on a sheet of paper hanging on the wall of her show room.

"On these walls, you can find yourself and you can leave a part of you with me," reads another sheet, which encourages the spectators to write down their stories on it.

With "Dance Party For One" by Selin Kocagoncu, visitors can dance freely to the music in the dark, while with "In Project: PC," viewers can leave voice messages to another artist Batu Bozoglu, who carries a speaker all the time repeating the messages which are read out through a computer-synthesized voice.

Artist Ozlem Unlu was spending her time inside of a mummy on a throne, both made of plaster, trying to draw attention to power and the limitation to freedom.

In Burhanoglu's view, performance art in Turkey has not found its deserved place.

"It is very different from a paint exhibition and it doesn't display something tangible," she said.

She thinks, however, that Turks are ready to experience something new in the art scene and the interaction with artists is appealing to them more than ever.

So far more than 2,000 visitors have come for the live show, the curator said. She is expecting another 2,000 before the performance ends on March 16.ADDIS ABABA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government said Sunday nine civilians were mistakenly killed and 12 injured by soldiers in Southern Ethiopia in an operation to sniff out rebels.

In a press statement, the Ethiopia Command Post Secretariat said the incident happened on Saturday when an army unit deployed around Moyale city on the border with Kenya to intercept suspected Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) fighters opened fire on civilians on a basis of mistaken information.

The press statement further said a colonel and five other soldiers have been disarmed and put under arrest pending investigation regarding the deadly incident.

Moyale is in Oromia regional state, which has been a state of unrest since late 2015 that has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.

The unrest has forced the Ethiopian government to impose a six-month martial law starting February 16, saying it was to protect the country's constitution, citizens and their property from the dangers that would arise from the ongoing violent demonstrations in different parts of the country.

The current martial law period is the second the East African country has imposed since the second half of 2016. Ethiopia had witnessed a 10-month long state of emergency period since October 2016.MANILA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A total of 44 militants have been killed in continuing clashes between government troops and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF), an army spokesman said on Sunday.

Lt. Col. Gerry Besana told reporters that the military offensive that started on Thursday continues, and so far 44 militants have been killed and 26 were wounded.

Besana said that the number of casualties was based on "intelligence information," saying troops did not recover bodies of the dead fighters.

The military reported on Friday that heavy fighting broke out around 6 a.m. local time on Thursday between government troops and some 50 militants in the southern Philippines in Lower Salbu, a village in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town in Maguindanao province that resulted in the initial deaths of 12 BIFF militants.

Besana said the fighting spread to nearby villages in Datu Saudi and Datu Unsay. The number of the BIFF swelled to about 100, prompting the troops to call for reinforcements.

The troops used artillery and military aircraft to pound the BIIF position.

"Many died in the ground operations on the first day, many also died on the second day during artillery and close air support (operations)," Besana said.

Besana said 34 of the 44 militants who were reported killed have been identified by the relatives.

The BIFF is composed of around 300 men based on their latest estimate. The military classifies the group as a terrorist organization, along with the Abu Sayyaf and the Abu Sayyaf Group.

Besana said the military believes that at lest 70 BIFF have so far been killed and injured in past clashes. "We are still pursuing about 200 more," he said.

The latest fighting has displaced about 500 families, based on the count of local government officials. The military is helping in attending to the needs of the displaced population, said Besana.

BIFF members are mostly disgruntled former members of the larger insurgent group Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) which signed peace accord with the government.

The BIFF is among the several groups in Mindanao that pledged allegiance with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria a few years ago.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 18:04:03|Editor: Shi Yinglun

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JERUSALEM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Israeli military will start a general staff exercise to enhance its ability to respond to emergencies, said a statement issued by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) on Sunday.

As a part of the exercise, the Home Front Command will carry out the National Home Front Drill named "Solid Stand," which will take place throughout the country, according to the statement.

The objective of the general staff exercise is to enhance the headquarters' response to a variety of emergency and warfare scenarios and to improve the readiness and operational communication between the commands, said the Israeli army.

The exercise is not related to "Juniper Cobra 2018," the IDF's joint exercise with the U.S. military, added the IDF.

Drills will be carried out in several locations throughout the country over the course of the week.

Planned ahead as part of IDF's training program in 2018, the objective of this year's exercise is to improve Israel's ability to respond to threats on both a national and local scale.

Home Front Command forces will train alongside National Emergency Management Authority personnel, local authorities, Israeli security and rescue forces, the education system and both public and private organizations, said the IDF.

As part of the drill, an alarm will sound throughout Israel on Tuesday.

The alarms will be broadcast on radio and public address systems, online, on devices for the hearing impaired, on television and on the Home Front Command smartphone application.

The sounding of sirens will train the Israeli public to seek and enter shelters in or near their homes and workplaces and will evaluate the working order of the national siren system, said the IDF.

Children and students in daycares, kindergartens and schools will practice entering shelters during the drill. IDF bases, government offices and public institutions will conduct similar drills, noted the IDF.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 18:14:05|Editor: Mengjie

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The total value of privately offered funds stood at 12 trillion yuan (about 1.9 trillion U.S. dollars) at the end of February.

The figure was up 2.08 percent from the end of January, according to the Asset Management Association of China Sunday.

The number of private funds rose 2.5 percent to 70,800 at the end of last month.

Due to weak performance of China's stock market last month, combined value of funds investing in securities shrank slightly to 2.6 trillion yuan.

In February, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.4 percent, while the Shenzhen Component Index was down by 3 percent, data showed.

The value of private equity funds, which invest in non-listed companies, rose 2.6 percent to 6.6 trillion yuan, while that of venture capital funds rose 3 percent to 660 billion yuan.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 18:19:06|Editor: Chengcheng

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BAGHDAD, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi security forces launched Sunday an operation to clear remnants of Islamic State (IS) militants from villages near Iraq's northern city of Kirkuk, the Iraqi military said.

A statement by the paramilitary Hashd Shaabi said that the federal police and several Hashd Shaabi brigades advanced in the early morning to drive out IS militants from a cluster of villages around the town of al-Ryahd in southwest of the city of Kirkuk, some 250 km north of Baghdad.

The operations was based on intelligence reports, which said that a number of IS militants hide in the area and are preparing for terrorist attacks against the security forces and civilians in the oil-rich Kirkuk province, the statement said.

During the past few months, dozens of IS militants fled their former urban strongholds in Mosul, Salahudin province and Hawijah area in the west of Kirkuk after the Iraqi forces cleared these areas during major anti-IS offensives.

However, remnants of IS militants resorted to hideouts in rugged areas near the rivers of Tigris and Zab, as well as Himreen mountainous areas to continue their almost daily attacks against civilians and Iraqi forces.

On Dec. 9, 2017, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi officially declared full liberation of Iraq from IS militants after Iraqi forces recaptured all the areas once seized by the extremist group.

However, small groups and individuals of IS militants are still capable of carrying out attacks against the security forces and civilians despite operations from time to time to hunt them down.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 18:34:08|Editor: Chengcheng

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KABUL, March 11 (Xinhua) -- One member of Haqqani militant group was killed and five others were arrested in Afghanistan's eastern province of Wardak, the Interior Ministry said Sunday.

"Two Haqqani network key commanders named Obaid Ullah and Abdul Haq were arrested together with three other members of the group following a special operation in Tangi area, Sayyed Abad district, Wardak province Saturday night," the ministry said in a statement.

The operation began on specific intelligence information about the presence of militants in the village.

The Special Operations Police Forces surrounded the area, following which a gunfight was triggered and which continued for several hours.

A bomb-making expert of the group named Qari Ebrar was killed after the shootout, the statement added.

No security force or local villagers were injured in the province, 35 km west of Kabul.

The operation was the latest raids against the insurgency, its supply lines and militants' mid-level command structure.

As a Taliban-linked group of militants, the Haqqani network mostly operating in eastern provinces and capital Kabul, has been responsible for many high-profile attacks against security forces.

The network, which was designated as a terrorist group by the United States in 2012, has yet to make comments.DHAKA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Law enforcers have detained 39 aid workers at Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar district, some 292 km southeast of capital Dhaka.

A senior police official said they have been working at the camps without any valid documents.

"They entered Bangladesh with tourist visa and didn't have permission to work here," Afzurul Haque Totul, additional superintendent of Cox's Bazar district police, was quoted as saying in a report of the Daily Star on Sunday.

They were working under different international aid agencies, he said.

While entering Rohingya camps on Sunday morning, police detained them as they failed to show any documentation in favor of their work in the camps, the police official added.File photo shows a family return home after rebels of Al-Shabaab vacated their strognhold in Mogadishu, on Aug. 11, 2011. (Xinhua/Faisal Isse)

NAIROBI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The international community should rally behind efforts to revitalize the war against Al-Shabaab militants in order to hasten Somalia's reconstruction, a senior AU official has said.

Francisco Madeira, Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission for Somalia, told Xinhua Friday that a mixture of diplomatic, military and economic tools is required to boost the war against terrorism in the Horn of African state.

"Liberating Somalia from the crippling influence of Al-Shabaab and violence is the first step to stabilize the country," Madeira said during an interview in Nairobi.

The veteran Mozambican diplomat who is also the head of African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) noted that military assault against Al-Shabaab fighters has paid dividends but warned the Al-Qaida-linked terror network remained a huge threat to peace and stability in the greater Horn of Africa region.

"It is the responsibility of Somalia government and armed forces, neighbors and other partners far afield to root out terrorism and insecurity," said Madeira.

The AU envoy noted that targeted airstrikes and enhanced intelligence gathering has dealt a huge blow to Al-Shabaab as evidenced by deaths and defections of senior commanders.

At the same time, Madeira said enhanced collaboration between African Union troops and Somali armed forces has dislodged Al-Shabaab in key strongholds.

"Our anti-terrorism strategies are yielding results and there has been destabilization within Al-Shabaab. The day this armed group denounced violence, it will create a conducive environment to work for peace in Somalia," Madeira told Xinhua.

He stressed that enhanced coordination coupled with empowering Somalia's disciplined forces is key to salvaging the country from the grip of terror and civil strife ahead of exit of AU troops that is expected to end next year.

He said military interventions to root out terrorism in Somalia have ushered in some levels of stability in the country hence attracting foreign direct investments.

Madeira noted that the AU troops in collaboration with Somalia National Army have managed to bring stability in regions that were terrorism havens.

"We will continue to fight alongside Somalia troops to eradicate terrorism in the country," said Madeira.

He added that the African Union is also keen on strengthening cooperation with China to help address Somalia's endemic challenges like terrorism, civil strife and natural calamities.CAIRO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Egyptian forces have killed 16 extremely dangerous militants since Wednesday as part of the ongoing Operation Sinai 2018, the army said in a statement on Sunday.

"Three leaders of terrorists were arrested in mountainous areas in Central Sinai, based on intelligence provided by the honorable citizens of Sinai," said Tamer al-Refaay, the military spokesman.

A non-commissioned officer and a private soldier from the army were killed and other six army men were wounded in the fire exchange, al-Refaay added.

The statement added the air forces' raids have destroyed nine targets used by terrorists including a hideout, a water tanker and three booby-trapped 4x4 vehicles.

Also, a storehouse used to manufacture improvised explosive devices in North Sinai's Sheikh Zuweid city with around 130 explosive devices were destroyed, it added.

More than 120 militants and terrorists have been killed since the country's anti-terror military operation began on Feb. 9.

The operation, dubbed "Sinai 2018," comes weeks before Egypt starts its 2018 presidential elections scheduled for late March, where incumbent President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi is expected to make an easy win for a second term.

The operation was launched as part of the efforts to reach the three-month deadline set by President Sisi to eliminate terrorism after the mosque attack that killed 310 people in the northern Sinai city of Arish in November, 2017.

Egypt's army has been struggling to uproot the strongholds of militants, now belonging to the Islamic State branch in Sinai, since the ouster of the Islamist leader Mohamed Morsi, in response to mass protests against his rule in 2013.NEW DELHI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The founding conference of International Solar Alliance (ISA) was co- hosted Sunday by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and visiting French President Emmanuel Macron in New Delhi, officials said.

The summit is underway at Rashtrapati Bhavan, the official residence of President of India.

India, which is being viewed as a key player in tapping solar energy, has pledged to generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity in India from renewable energy sources by 2022, said Modi during his address at the summit.

Modi presented a 10-point action plan that includes making affordable solar technology available to all nations, raising the share of electricity generated from photovoltaic cells in the energy mix and framing regulations and standards to support the initiative.

"We have to provide concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects," he said.

Macron in his address said while the world has taken great strides in understanding the importance of solar energy, much needs to be done.

France is the only developed economy to support the ISA.

During the day-long conference of the ISA finance mechanism for the promotion of solar energy, crowd-funding and technology transfer is being deliberated upon.

The conference is being attended by heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives of different countries, besides heads of UN dignitaries, presidents of multilateral development banks, heads of global funds and financial institutions and energy-related institutions.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 19:44:21|Editor: Chengcheng

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by Wesley W. Busch, Liu Liwei

HOUSTON, March 10 (Xinhua) -- The world is crunching toward a new energy future which is promising for both producers and consumers, but insufficient investments, unstable geopolitical factors and the cost of applying new technology to daily life add uncertainties to the future.

U.S. EMBRACING NEW ENERGY REALISM

U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry, as he spoke to those attending CERAWeek held by IHS Markit on March 5-9, said the United States and the world are now witnessing a new energy realism.

He said the new energy realism rests on the fact that America is amid an incredible energy revolution.

"This dramatic process is a decisive break from the 1970s, when America followed a flawed policy," he said.

According to Perry, the United States has moved from an era of perceived energy scarcity to one of unprecedented energy abundance. "That abundance is the result of technology and innovation," he said.

In an interview with Xinhua during CERAWeek, Secretary General of the International Energy Forum (IEF) Sun Xiansheng said the United States used to be a major importer of oil, but there has been a big change since American shale oil production increased sharply in recent years which resulted in the reduction of oil import from the Middle East.

"The U.S. shale production plays an important role in keeping market balance," Sun said, adding that the world consumption center has shifted from the West to the East.

Sun believed the new trend has a significant impact on global economic development and provides a chance for both the United States and China to have a closer cooperation in energy.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) released an energy outlook at CERAWeek, which indicates that China and India are leading the oil demand, driven by their robust economic growths.

GLOBAL UNCERTAINTY REMAINS

The uncertainty mainly lies in the question of whether there will be sufficient investments into the oil industry that will deflect the possibility of bottlenecks in the supply chain as demand continues to grow.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, on more than one occasion, told attendees of CERAWeek that investments need to be made or there could be a bottleneck in the supply of crude oil in three years.

Investment into the industry had two consecutive years when there was 25 percent or more decline on an annual basis -- 2014 to 2015 and again 2015 to 2016. Since that time, investments have risen, but certainly not to the level before 2014.

According to Birol, the world loses 3 million barrels a day because of the decline of aging fields.

Mohammad Senusi Barkindo, secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), agreed with Birol on the assessment that investments must be made.

"We have seen sharp contraction in investment, especially long-cycle projects both onshore and offshore," Barkindo said, adding "2018 not looking very positive at the moment."

The OPEC secretary general raised a call to arms for the industry.

"The global industry needs to focus on this imagined threat, because we are sowing the seeds for a possible or believed future energy crisis. That is not in the interest of this global economy," he said.

Crude oil prices are also sensitive to geopolitical factors.

With growing energy demand, world engines need to import more energy from other countries and regions and have to face the challenge of geopolitical sophistication and uncertainties.

RENEWABLES ON THE TRACK

Today, fossil fuels are about 81 percent of the fuel mix in the world. Leading industry organizations believe that number will decrease, but to what level is unknown.

Most industry leaders agree that the pollution problem associated with fossil fuels is caused by the generation of power. Many power plants have transitioned from the use of coal to natural gas, which is much cleaner.

For instance, China is converting its power generation from coal-fueled plants to gas-fueled plants.

Furthermore, renewables are beginning to have more of an impact in the fuel mix and appear to play a growing role in the years to come.

The emergence of renewable energy is a positive global trend, but more time is needed to develop technology and management in this field, Sun said.

"Personally, I believe renewable and clean energy is a positive trend in the future. The only question is how fast it will grow. If all the countries work together and make more efforts, the day may come quicker," Sun said.

According to Sun, over the last two to three years, the cost of renewable energy has decreased significantly thanks to technological development. However, there remain huge cost challenges in this field.

China is leading the way in promoting renewables and electric vehicles (EVs).

Executive Vice President of the State Grid Corporation of China (SGCC) Wang Min said at CERAWeek that SGCC has built the world's largest Internet of Vehicles (IoV) network in terms of coverage and the number of devices, connecting 17 charging facility operators and providing access to about 170,000 charging docks.

Besides using cutting-edge technologies, such as big data and cloud computing, the SGCC has also achieved universal plug-in and payment methods for most charging stations nationwide. EV owners can use a mobile phone app to locate nearby charging docks.

The quick charging facilities have been built by the SGCC to cover 150 cities across China and along a 31,000-km stretch of highways.

The five-day CERAWeek, which ended Friday here in Houston, is an annual energy meeting held by the London-based information company IHS Markit featuring prominent speakers from energy, technology and financial sectors.

This year's meeting was attended by more than 3,000 guests from over 50 countries and regions.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 20:19:25|Editor: Mengjie

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HANGZHOU, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A fugitive suspected of corruption who was returned to China from Myanmar in November has pleaded guilty in a court in east China's Zhejiang Province.

The hearing of Chen Suiyuan, 52, was held at the people's court of Wencheng County earlier last week.

At the hearing, public prosecutors charged 19 counts of crime against Chen, a former employee at the Agricultural Bank of China in Wencheng, accusing her of embezzling foreign exchange worth 2.43 million yuan (about 380,000 U.S. dollars) between November 2005 and April 2006.

The majority of the funds were used to pay her debts, the public prosecutors said.

Chen fled to Vietnam with her husband in April 2006, and later lived in Thailand and Myanmar. She was listed in an Interpol Red Notice in October of the same year.

In July 2015, her husband returned to China to turn himself in. But Chen refused to do so until her arrest in November.

The court's ruling will be announced on another day.Russia prevents terrorist attack in Saratov region Source: Xinhua 2018-03-11 20:19:25 MOSCOW, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Federal Security Service said it foiled an attempt to launch a terrorist attack in southwest Russia's Saratov region on Sunday, killing several perpetrators. Editor: ChengchengSource: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 20:39:29|Editor: Lifang

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Pastry chefs make pastry work "Beauty and the Beast" in Istanbul, Turkey, March 10, 2018. Pastry festival in Istanbul has displayed a colorful world of pastries and cakes, mostly in the forms of human figures, animals, flowers, and social lives. (Xinhua/He Canling)

ISTANBUL, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Pastry festival in Istanbul has displayed a colorful world of pastries and cakes, mostly in the forms of human figures, animals, flowers, and social lives.

They are works of pastry chefs from 40 countries who are attending Master of Cake pastry festival in Istanbul, a two-day event that ends on Sunday evening, and all the pieces are edible.

With wild imagination and deft hands, the chefs turned pastries into impressive artistic pieces, from busts of different figures to images of monsters, lovely little elephants and two flying eagles sharing a fish.

The iconic Trevi Fountain in Rome is here, and there is a soldier driving two monsters toward a prisoner chained to a stone pole, and a mounted general fighting hard against enemies.

In a small workshop, pastry chefs are doing their jobs. In front of a house, an old man was cutting firewood, while his wife with apron on was greeting him.

In a market with different kinds of vegetables and fruits, about three dozens of traders and customers were busy with business, no different from real life in all aspects.

Eda Dartepe is the maker of "Flowers in the vase." It took her three weeks to present such a visual feast featuring long-stem peonies, roses and chrysanthemum with fresh foliage.

"I worked day and night to make every single detail truthful," she told Xinhua.

Yasemin Benli joined the contest for top-rate cake by making a traditional Turkish dessert known as baklava. "It is a special dessert having numerous shapes, sizes and flavors," she explained.

Baklava mainly consists of 35 layers of phyllo dough and is stacked and brushed with butter and sugar syrup, and then cut into rectangles. Walnut or pistachio nuts can be used interchangeably.

According to elderly Turks, it takes years to learn how to make baklava.

Among the works that drew the attention are miniatures of well-known art pieces and architectural masterpieces as well as protagonists from movies like The Little Prince, Finding Nemo and Beauty and the Beast.

Daniel Dieguez from Spain was working on life-size Beauty and the Beast with Turkey's distinguished chef Tugba Gecgil in front of visitors for them to monitor every step of making such an installation.

"We have been working on this real-size installation, made of chocolate and dough with cherry syrup, since last week," Dieguez told Xinhua.

For Turks, pastries are an indispensable part of their daily lives.

"This passion of Turkish people dated back to the Ottoman era, which was famous for its rich and creamy desserts," said Ayse Celem, the owner of a small coffeehouse in Istanbul.

The winner of the pastry contest is set to be announced on Sunday evening and awarded a prize of 2,000 U.S. dollars.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 21:14:36|Editor: Jiaxin

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TAIYUAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- An ancient town in north China has received a loan for development from France, authorities said Sunday.

Qixian ancient town in Shanxi Province has been provided by the Agence Francaise de Development with 70 million euros (about 86 million U.S. dollars) of loan.

It is the French agency's first loan in the area of cultural heritage in China.

The money will mainly be used for repairs of ancient architecture, infrastructure construction and renovation in Qixian. The total investment in the project is about 670 million yuan (about 105 million U.S. dollars).

The town has about 2,500 years of history. Records show that it was built during the late Spring and Autumn Period (770 B.C.-476 B.C.). One of its streets has been listed among China's most important historical streets.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 21:49:40|Editor: Chengcheng

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JERUSALEM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if the nuclear deal to limit Iran's nuclear program would not be changed or revoked.

During remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his discussions with United States President Donald Trump and other officials in Washington last week focused mainly on Iran.

"I said that the nuclear agreement with Iran contains within it many dangers for the world, including the special danger of the nuclearization of the Middle East," Netanyahu said, according to a statement released on his behalf.

"Many countries in the Middle East are saying that they are also allowed to enrich uranium if Iran is allowed to do so; therefore, the way to prevent this danger, the nuclearization of the Middle East, is to either thoroughly correct the agreement or abrogate it," he said.

Netanyahu reportedly referred to Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to buy nuclear reactors from the United States.

"Moreover, I remind you that Iran declares, on an almost daily basis, its intention to wipe out the State of Israel. It is hardly worth saying that we will not allow this, to put it mildly," he added.

Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the six world powers in order to limit the Islamic republic's nuclear plan and prevent it from achieving atomic weapons.

In January, Trump announced that he will waive sanctions against Iran and extend the nuclear deal after he disavowed the deal three months earlier.

Israel is widely believed to hold hundreds of nuclear warheads, which the country has never officially acknowledged to exist.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at the Prime Minister's office in Jerusalem, March 11, 2018. (Reuters Photo)

JERUSALEM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Sunday of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if the nuclear deal to limit Iran's nuclear program would not be changed or revoked.

During remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his discussions with United States President Donald Trump and other officials in Washington last week focused mainly on Iran.

"I said that the nuclear agreement with Iran contains within it many dangers for the world, including the special danger of the nuclearization of the Middle East," Netanyahu said, according to a statement released on his behalf.

"Many countries in the Middle East are saying that they are also allowed to enrich uranium if Iran is allowed to do so; therefore, the way to prevent this danger, the nuclearization of the Middle East, is to either thoroughly correct the agreement or abrogate it," he said.

Netanyahu reportedly referred to Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to buy nuclear reactors from the United States.

"Moreover, I remind you that Iran declares, on an almost daily basis, its intention to wipe out the State of Israel. It is hardly worth saying that we will not allow this, to put it mildly," he added.

Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the six world powers in order to limit the Islamic republic's nuclear plan and prevent it from achieving atomic weapons.

In January, Trump announced that he will waive sanctions against Iran and extend the nuclear deal after he disavowed the deal three months earlier.

Israel is widely believed to hold hundreds of nuclear warheads, which the country has never officially acknowledged to exist.by Maria Vasileiou

THE HAGUE, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Eight European Union (EU) member states launched a joint communique earlier this week urging more caution in eurozone reforms, but this "strong political signal" to Berlin and Paris is unlikely to become a game changer, Dutch experts say.

"The coalition of the Eight, in which the Netherlands played a leading role, gives a strong political signal to Germany and France and the way they approach European integration," said Adriaan Schout, coordinator Europe and senior research fellow at Clingendael, Netherlands' leading institute of international relations. "The move should also be seen as a sign of tiredness with the Franco-German dominating activism."

A WARNING MESSAGE

In the communique, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden suggest more caution to "far-reaching proposals", referring to the joint eurozone budget or common finance ministry put forward by French President Emmanuel Macron for deepening eurozone integration.

Instead, "stronger performance on national structural and fiscal policies in line with common rules" are more needed to build a strong eurozone, said the communique.

The Northern group also sends a message to the Commission, the EU's executive arm, which has supported Macron's proposals, said Schout. "Simply the emergence of Macron has created a lot of room of manoeuvre for Jean-Claude Junker (the Commission's president) to push ahead for more Europe."

The main message is to warn against the Germany-France tandem pushing European integration forward without consulting other member states, said Ben Crum, professor of political science at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU).

Germany has opened the door to eurozone reform, as also indicated by the new government agreement, even though it is still unclear how far Berlin will finally proceed with Macron's reforms. "Since his election Macron has eagerly courted Germany, and Berlin has put a lot of hope on the French president," noted Crum. Following the formation of the new government in Berlin, Chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to continue talks about reforming the eurozone with Macron.

"In recent years, step by step, Germany's prominence has been materializing across the European policy domain and the institutions," said Crum.

Berlin has taken the lead on the handling of the euro-crisis and the refugee crisis. Moreover, Germans are taking over at a majority of EU institutions, as amplified with the recent appointment of Martin Selmayr, secretary-general of the European Commission since March 1, 2018.

With the Brexit, "there was a 'window of opportunity' that the Germany-France tandem would use to push European integration forward" and have failed to engage and mobilize the rest of the member states and appear to maintain a rather arrogant attitude towards them, said the political scientist, who is also co-leader of European law and governance at Access Europe, the Amsterdam-based Centre for Contemporary European Studies.

Therefore the northern eight called on Germany and France to get out of their tight embrace and to properly engage with the other member states. "It is exactly this that has been challenged by the coalition of the eight, and in which lies its importance," said Crum.

WHY GROUP OF EIGHT

The Netherlands is working in various ways on coalitions, explains Schout, but "other countries also fear the departure of the UK and look into the Netherlands to take over Britain's role".

The Dutch government has repeatedly rejected the notion of "the inevitability of closer cooperation in a European federal state" after Brexit and criticized the narrative of "ever closer Union".

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has sought to form alliances, on certain cases in cooperation with his Benelux counterparts, among Nordic, Baltic and central European countries, including Austria and the Visegrad Four -- Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

For this battle against "far-reaching proposals" the Netherlands looked towards the north, leaving aside its Benelux allies, Belgium and Luxemburg. "It is quite subtle to manage a group of countries. You can sense the difficulties and disagreements in forging such an alliance," said Schout. "Luxemburg and Belgium are formally much more on line with the Macron proposals."

Now with non-euro members Denmark and Sweden allied, the group of eight seeks to avoid a split between the 19 euro-countries and the rest of the EU, noted Schout. "Deeper integration draws the wedge between those in and those out of the euro area. If Southern countries reform, we do no need deeper integration so that this wedge will not arise."

DEFENSIVE STATEMENT

But the group of eight is not the most impressive coalition in terms of membership, argued Crum. The eight countries represent 13.5 percent of EU's GDP and just 9.7 percent of the bloc's population. Germany and France jointly amount to 36 percent and 29.3 percent respectively, while the southern seven EU countries represent 36 percent of EU's GDP and 38 percent of its population.

Also, the joint statement issued by the eight "is rather defensive and restrictive in substance, and hence unlikely to enthuse many," said Crum. For these reasons the statement is not expected to be a game changer on the specific issues it addresses, the expert suggested.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 22:14:45|Editor: Yurou

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File Photo taken on Feb. 22, 2017 shows a warning sign at Okuma near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (Xinhua/Hua Yi)

by Jon Day

TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- "Everyone used to call her 'Grandma.' She was one of the sweetest, kindest and most generous people you could ever hope to meet, especially under such appalling circumstances in Fukushima," Kana Fujimoto, a Tokyo-based volunteer recalled, sadly.

The 31-year-old volunteer for the Save Minimisoma Project referred to a senior widow, who she came across, in the project hosting the victims of the massive earthquake and the ensuing tsunami and nuclear disaster on March 11, 2011.

However, "Grandma" has already passed away.

"She had a toothy smile that could warm you from the inside out, words of wisdom that would provide pause for thought in such a time of sheer turbulence and, there was always a handful of candy available to kids, whose lives had also been uprooted and turned upside down," Fujimoto told Xinhua.

The project has run its course providing emergency relief supplies to the thousands who were somewhat unceremoniously dumped into small "temporary shelters" in Fukushima Prefecture comprising rows of camp-like wooden huts, since the disasters took place seven years ago.

A contingent of Tokyo-based volunteers like Fujimoto, joined with local outreach groups and continued their work since then.

In recent times, essentials such as food, fresh water and vegetables were no longer the priority and the majority of those placed in shelters had been moved into regular subsidized accommodation.

For the elderly victims of the disasters, however, the real crisis for them was still unfolding on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, with the ultimate conclusion being the very bleakest imaginable.

Many individuals and families from the hardest hit areas like Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima, even if they had to do a stint in temporary accommodation, through family and work connections had managed to restart their lives in other parts of the country.

"And while the disasters for many will forever haunt their memories, they're safe in the knowledge that now, life is as normal as it can be and they are fully-functioning members of society," anthropologist and sessional lecturer, Keiko Gono, told Xinhua recently.

"But for the elderly people who did not have the resources or the will, for that matter, to fully leave their hometowns and for some even on a psychological level, it meant they have been permanently displaced albeit physically and/or mentally," Gono explained.

While it is hard to quantify because there is no pathology for "death by isolation," "or death by loneliness," she firmly believes that a staggering number of seniors passed away before their time simply due to a lack of social care, connection and sense of community.

For an 87-year old like "Grandma," for example, to be told that she had no choice but to leave the home she built with her husband, the family farming business, the neighbors and broader community she so fondly associated with, and suddenly find herself in an emergency shelter resembling an internment camp, the psychological effects would be damaging beyond belief.

According to the latest statistics conducted between December and February this year, in the seven years after the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, only 4 percent said they had recovered their community bonds, while just 15 percent from the hardest-hit areas said they had regained their communities, but only to some extent.

Gono explained that these numbers were probably just the tip of the iceberg, as typically speaking and as per Japanese culture and norms, Japanese seniors would be far less likely to complain about their situation if it meant a trouble to others.

This area has been one of the government's biggest failings, and the phenomena of senior social isolation and death from loneliness have been allowed to slip through the cracks, said the anthropologist.

The fact that professional counseling and mental health services are woefully lacking for these seniors who have lost spouses, seen families relocate and barely visit, and, bluntly speaking, are utterly isolated with all dreams of ever returning to their homes dashed, is nothing less than shameful for the government here.

"Without serious intervention, these dear old people, through no fault of their own, will literally die alone," Gono said.

The statistics underscore this seemingly forgotten social injustice.

The numbers of people who lost everything in the disasters and died alone after being placed in temporary housing hit a record-high just last year.

According to official accounts, 63 people living unattended lost their lives in temporary accommodation. Of those 52 were in Miyagi and 11 of the isolated deaths were in Iwate prefecture.

The number of unattended deaths, unfathomably, rose by 27 cases when compared to the previous year, according to the statistics.

Since the disasters in 2011, officials figures showed that 235 people died in complete isolation and more than 80 percent of these possibly preventable deaths happened to people aged over 60.

"Grandma did everything she could to help others. For a while she could do her own shopping and when her shopping arrived there was always an extra radish or some tangerines for her neighbors, snacks for the kids, and, perhaps, most importantly, a smile for everyone that seemed to say 'you'll be ok. We'll be ok. We're in this together'," said Fujimoto.

"But the cruel irony of the situation was the older and more immobile Grandma became, the less people would see her. She was placed a long way from her friends, and if she didn't have the energy to go to the local store, she could go weeks without any human interaction," she explained.

Fujimoto added that there were a lot of good charities and outreach groups doing the very best they could to create inclusive environments, particularly for the youngest and the oldest who needed it most. But, funds were always short, and not all the volunteers lived in the area.

Fujimoto herself was commuting from Tokyo once or twice a week soon after the disaster, but had to scale back her volunteering due to the expense of traveling and her own family needs.

More recently, she managed to get there every other week as something was "different" about Grandma.

"She'd started saying things like she was lonely and wanted to be with her friends and that her husband had told her that she didn't need to live like this and that he was waiting for her with a smile," said Fujimoto.

"The last time I saw her, I could sense she could no longer battle the loneliness. From being such a vibrant community member to a forgotten soul was just not livable for her and heartbreaking for me," she said.

A few minutes passed as Fujimoto wept silently for the loss of a life that had meant so much to her and many other people.

There should have been more care available. Similar-aged people could be housed together with carers helping them interact, she said.

"This country should have done better," she said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 22:24:46|Editor: Chengcheng

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TEHRAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- An Iranian atomic official on Sunday discouraged France from following the pace of the United States over Iran's 2015 international nuclear deal and missile program.

"France has tried to side with the United States in recent years" but, it will have a hard time if it chooses to side with U.S. interests and stand against Iran, said spokesman for the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Behrouz Kamalvandi.

Besides, France would not succeed in creating a "coalition" among the European countries against Iran's defense power, Kamalvandi was quoted as saying by Iran Daily.

Kamalvandi also undermined the likelihood of reapplying sanctions by the United States against Iran over its missile program.

"The Islamic Republic will never agree to negotiations over its missile program," he added.

The U.S. President Donal Trump has criticized a deal sealed between Iran and the world powers in 2015 which put an end to the country's controversial nuclear program. He has urged negotiations on some parts of the deal.

Pushed by the U.S., Europe has stepped up its pressure on Iran to start negotiations on the country's developing missile program.

Iran has reiterated that its military forces will continue boosting the country's defense capabilities and deterrent power.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 22:29:46|Editor: Yurou

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Prime Minister of Nepal K.P Sharma Oli reacts after he secured the majority of the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), the lower house of the Federal Parliament, in Kathmandu, Nepal, on March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Sunil Sharma)

KATHMANDU, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Prime Minister of Nepal K.P Sharma Oli secured Sunday the majority of the vote of confidence from the House of Representatives (HoR), the lower house of the Federal Parliament.

Oli bagged 208 votes out of the 268 votes in the lower house of the Federal Parliament, HoR Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara said during the parliament session in the Capital.

Sixty members of parliament voted against the prime minister, while seven remained absent in 275-member HoR.

Addressing the Parliament session, the prime minister expressed confidence that his government would work to steer the country toward political stability and economic prosperity.

Oli also vowed to control corruption in the country, saying that his government will have a policy of "zero tolerance toward corruption."

The prime minister also urged the main opposition Nepali Congress to make a fair judgment toward his government.

According to existing constitutional provisions of Nepal, the new prime minister must secure the vote of confidence from the Parliament within 30 days of his/her appointment.

Oli, the chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist Leninist), became the 41st Prime Minister of Nepal on Feb. 15 this year.

Oli came to power, two months after the Himalayan nation held historic provincial and parliament elections simultaneously in two phases last year.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 22:34:47|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Three museums in China want to see history education improved, after scandals insulted victims of the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

The recent scandals have "severely damaged national dignity," said a joint statement issued by the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Beijing, the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders, and the Sept. 18 Historical Museum in Shenyang.

Laws should be completed, and moral education should be enhanced, according to the statement.

"Museums should use a variety of forms to present history correctly and help the public form correct historic views," said the statement.

On Thursday, police in east China's Nanjing city said they had detained a man for posting a video online that used insulting words at the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders. The suspect was detained by Shanghai police for five days last month after posting content that insulted the victims of the Nanjing Massacre on WeChat.

In February, police in Nanjing detained two men for posing in front of a war ruins site in Japanese army uniforms.

Japanese troops captured Nanjing, then China's capital, on Dec. 13, 1937, and killed 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers over six weeks.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 22:39:48|Editor: ZD

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's national legislature underlined Party's leadership when summarizing its work over the past five years on Sunday.

The leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is the essential element and greatest strength of the people's congress system, said Zhang Dejiang, chairman of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, when delivering a work report of the committee at the first session of the 13th NPC.

Chinese leaders Xi Jinping, Li Keqiang, Li Zhanshu, Wang Yang, Wang Huning, Zhao Leji and Han Zheng attended the plenary meeting.

"We must uphold the centralized, unified leadership of the Party Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at the core," Zhang said.

The national legislature should closely base the planning and advancement of its work on the overall work of the Party and the country, and promptly follow up on the needs of the Party and the people, he said.

Zhang stressed that the national legislature should fully implement Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

During the period, the national legislature enacted 25 laws, revised 127 ones, passed 46 decisions on legal questions and other major issues, and issued nine legal interpretations.

In terms of their oversight duty, lawmakers have inspected enforcement of 26 laws and one legislative decision, heard and deliberated 83 work reports, and conducted 15 special inquiries and 22 research projects.

Efforts were made to raise public awareness of the Constitution. With the NPC Standing Committee's decision, all officials have to publicly swear allegiance to the Constitution when taking office.

Since 2013, the NPC Standing Committee has launched a two-year research program and developed guidelines to improve people's congresses at county and township levels, followed by revision to several laws.

In 2015, the 12th NPC passed a revision to the Legislation Law, granting more Chinese cities the power to issue local regulations.

Zhang voiced his confidence in the people's congress system.

"The confidence the Chinese people have in the people's congress system derives from their confidence in the strong leadership of the Party and in the path, theory, system and culture of socialism with Chinese characteristics," he said.

Zhang also underlined the role of the people's congresses in realizing the principle of "the people running the country" and advancing law-based governance.

Although this system has proved to be an effective political system, Zhang said that it does not mean that the national legislature can be complacent.

He suggested that new mechanisms for legislative, oversight and deputy-related work should be explored, and efforts should be made to enrich and broaden the practices of people's congresses.

According to the report, in next five years China's national legislature will speed up compiling the civil code, formulate a foreign investment law and e-commerce law, and do research on formulating a real estate tax law.

Environment laws will be one of the priorities. The soil pollution prevention law will be drafted while the law on solid waste control will be revised.

It also plans to revise the criminal procedure law and draft a community correction law.

Before the plenary meeting, executive chairpersons of the presidium of the first session of the 13th NPC held their third meeting Sunday morning, followed by the fourth meeting of the presidium, both of which were presided over by Li Zhanshu.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 22:54:49|Editor: yan

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Beijing has witnessed a safe and orderly Spring Festival travel rush that lasts from Feb. 1 to March 12, railway police in Beijing said Sunday.

The police have dealt with more than 172,000 cases of passengers carrying prohibited items, busting 2 groups and capturing 412 people suspected of ticket scalping, the police said in a statement.

The police examined 273 units and 3,512 locations as part of their fire control operation during the period, it said.

They also helped passengers retrieve 4,193 pieces of lost luggage worth over 1 million yuan (158,015 U.S. dollars), according to the statement.

Hundreds of millions of Chinese traveled during the Chinese Lunar New Year for family gatherings or vacations. The annual travel rush around the festival often puts the transport system to test.

About 2.98 billion trips are expected to be made during the period.TOKYO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- More than 70,000 people are still living as evacuees seven years following triple disasters that hit Fukushima and its neighboring areas on March 11, 2011, said Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday.

"With the passage of seven years, I can see that reconstruction of the affected region is steadily making progress," the prime minister said at a memorial ceremony in Tokyo.

But he also admitted that sufferings caused by the disaster are still carrying on.

"Many people continue to endure uncomfortable lives for seven long years. There are also many people who have no prospect of ever being able to return to their homes," Abe said.

He promised to continue to undertake reconstruction but did not mention the cleanup work of the Fukushima nuclear plant which is expected to take generations with hefty costs and unsolved technical problems.

A 9.0-magnitude earthquake in 2011 triggered a massive tsunami which destroyed the emergency power and then the cooling system of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, and caused a serious nuclear disaster, forcing some 300,000 people to evacuate.

As of March 9, 2018, the triple disasters have left 15,895 people dead, 2,539 missing, and 73,349 living as evacuees.

Government data also showed that as of the end of September last year, at least 3,647 people had died due to health problems and other reasons while they were evacuees.

Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori told a press conference earlier this week that the evacuation zone that equaled to some 1,600 square kilometers in 2011, accounting for 12 percent of the whole prefecture, has been reduced to 370 square kilometers, some 2.7 percent of the prefecture.

However, according to local government statistics, only 15 percent of the evacuees chose to go back home after the evacuation order was lifted in their hometowns.

Due to aftermaths of the 2011 disaster, the population of Fukushima prefecture decreased by some 14,800 people compared to before the earthquake, to 187.6 million as of Feb. 1, 2018, according to Uchibori.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 23:19:53|Editor: Lu Hui

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The third plenary meeting of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) is held at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 11, 2018. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China's National People's Congress (NPC), the national legislature, enshrined Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era in the country's Constitution on Sunday, codifying its guiding role.

The amendment, adopted at the first session of the 13th NPC with an overwhelming majority, wrote Xi's thought into the Constitution's preamble, along with other guiding theories including Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the Theory of Three Represents.

Scientific Outlook on Development has also been incorporated into the Constitution as a guiding theory.

"As an important content of the amendment, the inclusion of Xi's thought into the country's fundamental law reflects the common aspiration of the entire Communist Party of China (CPC) and all Chinese people of various ethnic groups," said Shen Chunyao, chairman of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the 12th NPC Standing Committee.

"It has been the fundamental theoretical guide for the historic achievements and shifts made in the cause of the Party and the country since the 18th CPC National Congress," Shen said at a press conference held right after the amendment was adopted.

The CPC announced the formation of Xi's thought for the first time at its 19th National Congress in October, hailing it as "the latest achievement in adapting Marxism to the Chinese context and an important component of the theoretical system of socialism with Chinese characteristics."

Upon conclusion of the congress, Xi's thought was written into the Party's Constitution as a new guide to action.

This was the first amendment to the country's fundamental law in 14 years.

Key concepts, policies and strategies the Thought encompasses were embedded in the Constitution.

Included are a vision of innovative, coordinated, green and open development for all; the five-sphere integrated plan for coordinated economic, political, cultural, social and ecological advancement; the goal of a "great modern socialist country"; and an oath of allegiance to the Constitution.

The amendment has enriched clauses on the patriotic united front, harmonious relations among ethnic groups, and peaceful foreign policies, including the addition of building a community with a shared future for humanity.

The expression that China will "adhere to the peaceful development path and the mutually beneficial strategy of opening-up" was added to the preamble.

The following sentence was also added in the Constitution to stress the overall CPC leadership: "The leadership of the Communist Party of China is the defining feature of socialism with Chinese characteristics."

"The greatest strength of the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics is the leadership of the CPC," said Cao Qingyao, an NPC deputy and a district Party chief of Chongqing Municipality.

"The revision has enriched provisions concerning upholding and strengthening the overall CPC leadership and is significant to ensuring the Party and the country to forge ahead along the path of socialism with Chinese characteristics," Cao noted.

Other revisions include adding core socialist values and granting Chinese cities, with subordinate districts, the power to make local laws and regulations.

The people's congresses and their standing committees in these cities will be able to adopt local laws and regulations under the condition that they do not contradict the Constitution, national laws and regulations, and provincial laws and regulations, according to the amendment.

A revision to a clause concerning the Chinese President and Vice President's terms of office was also incorporated. "It is a key measure to improve the state leadership system," Shen told the conference.

Supervisory commissions have been listed as state organs in the Constitution, with a section about such organs added to the third chapter, "The Structure of the State."

Supervisory organs are listed together with administrative, judicial and procuratorial organs of the State, all of which are created by the people's congresses to which they are responsible and by which they are supervised.

Lawmakers at the session agreed that the constitutional revision, which accords with the aspiration of the Party and the people and has won approval from both inside and outside the Party, is of historic significance for ensuring prosperity and lasting security of both the Party and the country.

The draft amendment was submitted to the first session of 13th NPC for deliberation among nearly 3,000 deputies on Monday.

A constitutional change is either proposed by the NPC Standing Committee or by more than one-fifth of all NPC deputies, and then requires the approval of two-thirds or more of NPC deputies during the annual session.

The amendment was put into effect Sunday.

Revising part of the Constitution is a major decision made by the CPC Central Committee from the overall and strategic height of upholding and developing socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era, said Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, when joining NPC deputies in a panel discussion on Wednesday.

The People's Republic of China enacted its first Constitution in 1954. The current Constitution was adopted in 1982 and amended in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004.

While the reform and opening-up drive, which began 40 years ago, has made amazing progress, it brought major changes to the country's Constitution.

From 1988 to 1999, amendments included reform of land-use rights, a legal status for the private economy, the theory of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, replacing the phrase "planned economy" with "socialist market economy," and incorporation of Deng Xiaoping Theory.

The most recent amendment in 2004 protected private property and human rights, and gave the Theory of Three Represents constitutional authority.

China's Constitution has been developed along with the people's practices of building socialism with Chinese characteristics under the CPC leadership, according to Li Shuzhong, vice president of the China University of Political Science and Law.

"The amendment makes the Constitution in keeping with the times by incorporating new achievements, experiences and requirements of the Party and the country's development as socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era," Li said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 23:29:55|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A senior legislator on Sunday reiterated that the Communist Party of China (CPC) sticks to Constitution-based governance.

The Party has repeatedly stressed that it must act in accordance with the Constitution and laws, Shen Chunyao, chairman of the Commission for Legislative Affairs of the 12th National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, said at a press conference.

A constitutional amendment was adopted by the first session of the 13th NPC on Sunday.

Shen cited Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, as saying that leading officials should uphold rule of law, oppose rule of man, hold in awe of the Constitution, and exercise their duty within the boundaries of the Constitution and laws, when joining a panel discussion with NPC deputies from Chongqing.

Explaining a revision that requires all state functionaries to take oath of allegiance to the Constitution when assuming office, Shen said it was introduced to educate and inspire state functionaries on their constitutional responsibilities.

An oath-taking ceremony will be arranged at the ongoing NPC session for the newly elected or appointed leaders and officials, he said.

In addition, to improve the implementation of the Constitution, the name of the NPC Law Committee has been changed into NPC Constitution and Law Committee, according to Shen.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 23:29:56|Editor: Lu Hui

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BEIJING, March 11 (Xinhua) -- China will help African countries nurture independent growth and development capabilities as part of new measures to boost China-Africa economic and trade cooperation, a deputy commerce minister said Sunday.

Efforts will be made to help reduce poverty, create jobs, develop economy and improve people's livelihood in Africa, offering training and jobs to young people in particular, Qian Keming told a press conference on the sidelines of the first session of the 13th National People's Congress.

Besides the ongoing ten cooperation projects covering a wide range of fields from industrialization to public health, which were announced at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit in Johannesburg in 2015, China are designing new measures to enhance bilateral economic and trade cooperation based on African countries' demands, according to Qian.

China will align the Belt and Road Initiative with the African Union Agenda 2063 and development strategies of individual African countries, he said.

"We also plan to work with third-party institutions, including international poverty alleviation and development agencies, to beef up support for Africa and lift bilateral cooperation to a new phase," Qian said.

The new FOCAC summit will be held in Beijing in September, with focus on the Belt and Road Initiative.BUNIA, DRC, March 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 166 people have been killed in the fighting following inter-ethnic clashes in Ndjugu, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), since last December, said a military report issued Sunday.

In the report, military authorities in Ituri province said the figure includes nine troops and three policemen killed by attackers since conflict erupted in December.

The army also said 1,700 houses have been torched in more than 40 localities. According to the report, February was the most violent with massive displacements reported.

Conflicts have hit several parts of Ituri, where Hema and Lendu tribes have had tense relations for decades, with land issues being a main cause of conflicts.

Fighting between the two ethnic groups between 2000-2006 led to the death of more than 60,000 people and burning of thousands of houses.

The UN mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) expressed concern Wednesday in Kinshasa on the current tension in Ndjugu, and called for a joint effort between communities and authorities to quickly end hostilities.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 23:39:58|Editor: yan

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GAZA/RAMALLAH, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Palestinians slammed Sunday the White House announcement to host a donor conference next Tuesday over the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, saying it should be dealt with as a political affair.

Member of Palestine Liberation Organization Ahmad Majdlani said that the Gaza Strip issue is political in the first stance and not a humanitarian or relief, and Washington knows well that the reasons behind the coastal enclave are tied to the Israeli blockade.

"The situation in Gaza requires political processing before being dealt with as a humanitarian case as Washington promotes," said Majdalani, and that the U.S. conference is "part of the liquidation project aiming at detaching the Gaza Strip from the West Bank and eliminating the possibility of establishing the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967."

The Washington Post reported last Thursday that U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt said the White House will hold a conference this week to look into saving the situation in Gaza.

Greenblatt reportedly said that the conference will focus on ideas to enhance the Gaza Strip's economy and living conditions, and urged Islamic Hamas movement running the coastal enclave since 2007 to give up armed resistance and commit to peace negotiations.

Hamas movement spokesperson Hazem Qasem denounced the White House conference. He told Xinhua that Hamas "rejects the U.S. conditions and will not concede to U.S. administration's blackmail against the movement no matter what difficulties come in its way."

Top official of the left wing Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Kayed Al-ghoul told Xinhua that the White House "is aiming at reestablishing the U.S. role in managing the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by its various dimensions," and added that "Washington wants to use the conference as a blackmail tool against the Palestinian Authority and Hamas to make the Palestinians accept the liquidation project of the century deal."

Meanwhile, Islamic Jihad movement spokesperson Dawood Shihab also warned against the conference, saying that the White House conference aims "to make the Gaza affair a humanitarian file in order to ... lift the obligation of the Israeli occupation."

The ties between Palestine and the United States have been witnessing rising tensions since last October, and peaked when U.S. President Donald Trump recognized on Dec. 6, 2017 Jerusalem as a capital of Israel and ordered the moving of the U.S. embassy to the city.BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Brunei has implemented several initiatives and programs to enhance the effectiveness of the Arabic language education in Arabic schools, Haji Awang Badaruddin, the sultanate's Minister of Religious Affairs said.

The minister explained that the curriculum of the Arabic language for young students has been updated with emphasis on communication skills, local daily the Borneo Bulletin reported on Sunday.

The minister further explained that the programs also aimed at increasing competency among Arabic language teachers in Arabic and religious schools, such as a 10-week Arabic language teaching course. The Ministry of Religious Affairs through its Islamic Studies Department also actively carried out several cocurriculum activities and initiatives students, including inviting more students to interact in Arabic language through quizzes, conversations, debates, role-playing and choral speaking.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-11 23:55:00|Editor: Yurou

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Syrian soldiers wave the victory sign in farms at the outskirts of the rebel-held town of Jisreen in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus, capital of Syria, on March 11, 2018. The Syrian army on Sunday effectively split the rebel-held areas in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus into three sectors, laying a siege on a major rebel bastion, according to the War Media, the media wing of the Syrian army. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian army on Sunday effectively split the rebel-held areas in the Eastern Ghouta countryside of Damascus into three sectors, laying a siege on a major rebel bastion, according to the War Media, the media wing of the Syrian army.

Following days of intense battles, the Syrian army tightened the noose on the rebels inside Eastern Ghouta, storming the town of Medyara on Sunday, the only link to be taken for the Syrian forces advancing from the east to reach the army units in the city of Harasta in the western part of Ghouta.

With this progress, the Eastern Ghouta is sliced into three sectors, the city of Harasta in the west is besieged, and the Douma district, the major rebel bastion in the northern part of Eastern Ghouta, has also become besieged from all directions.

In the south, several towns and areas are surrounded.

The Syrian army has captured 52 percent of Eastern Ghouta in recent days, as part of an ongoing wide-scale offensive to dislodge the rebels from that key area on the eastern rim of Damascus.

Eastern Ghouta, a 105-square-km agricultural region consisting of several towns and farmlands, poses the last threat to the capital due to its proximity to government-controlled neighborhoods east of Damascus and ongoing mortar attacks that target residential areas in the capital, pushing people over the edge.

Four major rebel groups are currently positioned inside Eastern Ghouta, namely the Islam Army, Failaq al-Rahman, Ahrar al-Sham, and the Levant Liberation Committee, known as the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front.

The UN humanitarian agencies have sounded the alarm about the worsening humanitarian situation for 400,000 people in that region, where activists said around 1,000 people have been killed since late last month by the heavy bombardment and military showdown in areas of Eastern Ghouta.KHARTOUM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and Qatar discussed Sunday the commitment to peace in Darfur region and follow-up on the peace process.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir received Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani in Khartoum on Sunday.

"We discussed commitments to Darfur peace and follow-up on the peace process. We are delighted that many groups are willing to join the agreement," al-Thani told reporters.

"The Doha agreement was the only means and the road to peace in Darfur," said Sudanese Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, adding that the two countries discussed over the finalization of Doha documents, especially the reconstruction in Darfur.

Earlier, Sudan and Qatar had agreed to form a joint consultative committee to hold meetings between the two nations twice a year.FREETOWN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Sieera Leone's electoral commission said Sunday partial results of the March 7 general election show that the candidate of the main opposition party is leading with 43.33 percent.

The candidate of the ruling Sierra Leone People's Party came second with 42.57 percent, according to results based on 75 percent of the total votes counted, said N'Ali Koroma, chairman of the National Electoral Commission.

The presidential candidate of the National Grand Coalition is in the third position with 6.95 percent of votes.

Over 3 million voters cast their ballots on March 7 to elect a new president, members of parliament and local councils.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 00:25:04|Editor: yan

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GAZA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned Sunday that it might be forced to make "tough decisions" due to a worsening budget deficit.

"If donor countries do not make new financial contributions to help UNRWA provide its main health and education services by May, services will be at risk," UNRWA's Director of Operations in Gaza Matthias Schmale told reporters.

He added that "UNRWA has not closed any of its institutions and did not take any actions to do so, but if these states do not fund UNRWA to support its services, the administration may make difficult decisions."

Schmale also said that UNRWA was forced to halt its unemployment contracts this year "in order to continue providing food aid to Palestinian refugees until June," adding that "if the agency does not receive funding then all its service will be at risk, including food aid for Palestinian refugees."

Pointing out that "77 percent of the 1 million Palestinian refugees who receive food aid in Gaza live below poverty line," the senior official criticized the international community for leaving the issue of Palestinian refugees unresolved.

He called on Arab, European countries as well as China and Brazil to provide urgent assistance to UNRWA in order to continue its services.

"UNRWA is being undermined by the United Nations General Assembly and no member state has called for a change in our mandate, which will only change with a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian refugee cause," he said.

UNRWA announced that 90 countries will participate in an international conference scheduled to be held in Rome on Thursday to discuss the financial crisis of the agency.

"The conference will be held under the patronage and invitation of the Swedish, Jordanian and Egyptian governments," UNRWA spokesman Sami Mushaasha told the official Voice of Palestine radio earlier Sunday.

The conference call "came in the context of the worsening financial situation of the agency and its consequences on the services provided by UNRWA in all areas of its work, after the reduction of U.S. financial support," said the spokesman.

UNRWA recently launched a global fundraising campaign to meet its fiscal deficit and challenges as a result of the reduction of U.S. support.

The United States recently announced to withhold 65 million U.S. dollars out of the 125-million-dollar grant planned for UNRWA. Washington later also suspended its 45 million dollars in food aid pledged last month to UNRWA.

This came after the U.S. administration threatened to reduce financial support to the Palestinians until they agree to return to the table of peace negotiations with Israel, which has been stalled for four years.

UNRWA has been suffering from severe financial difficulties for several years and complained at the end of last year of a budget deficit of 49 million dollars which severely affects its services.by Xia Lin, Wu Xiaoling, Ye Zaiqi

SAN FRANCISCO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- To compete on the basis of cooperation while seeking fun out of life: many Chinese engineers and programmers have become aware of some noticeble things after years of working at high-tech enterprises in Silicon Valley in the U.S. western coast.

NICE PERCH, FIERCE VYING

More career opportunities, higher incomes, easy path to get green cards and gateway to start their own business, all these make the Bay Area in San Francisco a fancy destination for many talented people.

"Opportunities abound in Silicon Valley. If you don't like your current job, recruiters from other companies will pop up to arrange you an interview for another one," said Zhang Xiaodan, software engineer for a pillar company in Silicon Valley.

She came from Beijing and settled down in the Bay Area in 2015. Due to company policy, the name of the company she works for can only be revealed under its official permission.

"I have certainly seen a lot of young Chinese engineers take their positions and their interview or things like that far more seriously than if I was to try to break it down by ethnic groups," Steve Mansour, CTO of Accord Interest and once hired by Apple and PayPal, told Xinhua.

However, with nice perch come high intensity and fierce competition. In Silicon Valley, the negativity of a fancy job is especially excruciating, as top talents from all over the world work together.

"You work for extended hours, mostly not because your boss asks you to do so. You just want to complete your project as soon as possible. Or, you will lag behind your peers," 38-year-old Zhao Yao told Xinhua. He came from Hunan province in southern China, and is now the director of data science at a high-tech start-up Shape Security in Silicon Valley.

From 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. each day and six days a week - this might be the common cycle most engineers and programmers in Silicon Valley endure year round.

PARTNERS RATHER THAN ENEMIES

Not everyone aces out, though everyone tries so. Influx of better equipped and younger talents as well as updated technology require all valley players to exert their uttermost to catch up with every bit of ongoing and upcoming change.

"You face a steep learning curve with new things. It matters a lot as to how fast you learn, what questions you can raise and how you get accustomed to the volatile environment around you," Zhao told Xinhua.

Though the rivalry goes increasingly ferocious, engineers and programmers are smart enough to know that collaboration leads to co-win. In essence and out of necessity, they should be partners rather than enemies.

"Many researchers were very smart and creative, but they worked alone most of the time, which made their project small and narrow," said Zhao when recalling his years at other corporations from 2009 to 2012.

Zhang made it better by learning from her seniors, saying that "I would pull experience from them. They were friendly and tended to help."

Zhao agrees. "If you tap multiple resources collectively, you can make your things bigger, with much more impact," he summed up his life lessons this way.

TICKING UP OFF-DAYS

In Silicon Valley, thousands of Chinese engineers and programmers make a decent income through hard work, and navigate between job and family to seek fun out of life.

"We put priority on family. For example, I knew my wife when I studied at the Qsinghua University. When I came to the United States for my doctorate, she followed my path to be here," Zhao told Xinhua.

With a family and often children to be taken care of in addition to a highly demanding job, women engineer need to keep a balance between family and career. Sometimes, they sacrifice more than their other halves.

"If you don't have a family, life will be easier. With a family, you have to spare time to take care of your children. If I had a family, I would surely pay more attention to it," said Zhang, who, still single, is foreseeing what is coming to her.

Instead of a functional family, she keeps a cat to help alleviate pressure.

"Just like me, other programmers try to look for some fun in leisure days. For example, we can be volunteers. It ticks up our off-days," she added.

FRIENDHSIP AND INTEGRATION

For most engineers and programmers, a weekday pattern of long hours in office and commuting between company and home is exhausting, but hard to escape.

Zhang practices Yoga against chronic hurt that might arise from her treadmill. Social events include dining out and excursion, which help connect her with new and old friends, especially those she knew years ago when she was in Beijing.

"Some old friends moved to North America. I often contact them for a party. We need to have new friends, while keeping in touch with the old ones," said Zhang.

Friendship within same race and tolerance among races, or multiculturalism, are widely respected in Silicon Valley.

While adhering to traditional virtues like low profile and modesty, Chinese engineers and programmers are quick to adapt to new environment.

"The younger generation is more open and motivated. They are not as introverted as us. These can help them integrate," Zhao said.

Integration into local community used to be a headache, as Chinese engineers were immersed in unique cultural and social surroundings.

However, they never stop from integrating, and are being better accepted by the mainstream society while their world unravels and expands.

"As they get here into the United States, and as they sort of become assimilated into the valley here, I noticed a lot of changes," Mansour said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 00:40:07|Editor: Yurou

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Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ghandour (L) welcomes Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani (R), Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, in Khartoum, Sudan, March 11, 2018. Sudan and Qatar have agreed to establish a joint consultative political committee to convene twice a year, said Sudan's Foreign Ministry on Sunday. (Xinhua/Mohamed Khidir)

KHARTOUM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Sudan and Qatar have agreed to establish a joint consultative political committee to convene twice a year, said Sudan's Foreign Ministry on Sunday.

The decision was made during the meeting between Sudanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Ibrahim Ghandour and Mohamed Bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, Qatar's Deputy Prime Minister, according to a statement of the ministry.

"Ghandour welcomed the Qatari deputy prime minister and conveyed to him Sudan's appreciation to the Qatari leadership and the brotherly people of Qatar for their stances in support of Sudan," the statement read.

The statement further said the talks between the two ministers tackled mutual cooperation in different economic and political fields, especially boosting peace and development in Darfur.

"The talks dealt with development at regional and international levels as well as ways of enhancing coordination and consultation on all issues of mutual concern," the statement said.

The visiting Qatari official is expected to submit to Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir a letter from Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani, the second letter of its kind within 10 days.

On Feb. 28, the Qatari ambassador to Sudan handed over to Bashir a letter from the Qatari emir, regarding ways of boosting bilateral relations.NEW DELHI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 10 people were killed and two others injured Sunday after an auto rickshaw collided head-on with a goods truck in India's eastern state of Bihar, officials said.

The accident took place near Harpur Alauth village of Samastipur district, about 82 km east of Patna, the capital city of Bihar.

"Today in a deadly head-on collision between an auto rickshaw and a goods truck, 10 people were killed and two others injured," a police official posted in Samastipur district said. "Eight persons died on the spot and two succumbed in the hospital, while as two others are undergoing treatment."

Reports said following the accident driver and cleaner of the truck fled the spot, leaving behind vehicle.

Police have registered a case and seized the goods truck, besides initiating investigations into the accident.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced a compensation of 6,153 U.S. dollars to each family that has lost member in the accident, local media reports said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 01:35:12|Editor: yan

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TEHRAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A Turkish jet with 11 on board crashed in the suburban of western Shahr-e Kord city of Iran on Sunday, the Aviation Organization of Iran (OVA) confirmed.

The plane was seen caught fire in the air, and then it crashed into the heights of Helen Mountain near Dorak Anari village.

There were three crew members and eight passengers in the plane, according to Public Relations of the OVA.

The plane was flying from Sharjah of the UAE to Istanbul which disappeared from the radar, the state IRINN TV said.

Iranian Red Crescent operators have been dispatched to the area, but the due to the rainy air and mountainous geography of the region, the operators should walk four hours to the accident location, according to spokesman of the Emergency Organization of Iran.

Rezaee Far, the chief of Accidents Bureau of the OVA, said that based on the preliminary reports, the crashed plane type was Bombardier CL60.by Huang Heng

LOS ANGELES, March 11 (Xinhua) -- "It looks like President Donald Trump has started to do something in order to live up to another aggressive campaign promising to address trade imbalances after the tax reform has been done last year," Dominic Ng, Chairman and CEO of East West Bank, said.

When talking about dispute between the United States and other countries on higher steel and aluminum import tariffs imposed by Washington Thursday, Ng pointed out the domestic political purpose was behind the decision, but the trade deficit problem could be overstated by politicians and lead to a trade war with other countries, including China.

"It's a strange phenomenon that the steel and aluminum tariff issue actually has very small impact on Chinese exporters since only a measly two percent of total U.S. imports of steel products, by value, came from China in 2017," he said in a recent interview with Xinhua at the bank's headquarters in Pasadena City of California. "But most people interviewed by local media in street showed they believed China will feel pain."

According to statistics, Canada is the biggest supplier of steel to the U.S.. In Asia, South Korea accounted for almost 10 percent of all U.S. steel imports last year and Japan for nearly six percent. Meanwhile, the European Union cried so loud because it worries that steel that might've gone to the U.S. will now find its way to Europe, pressuring local steelmakers even further.

"So do you believe the tariff hike will rescue the six big producers left in the country?" Ng doubted, saying it will only result in dispute in the World Trade Organization (WTO) for years.

In the interview, Ng emphasized that even though public opinion in the United States has been turning against free trade, but they would not like a trade war, not to speak of a ridiculous trade war basing on wrong calculation.

"A trade war must have a internecine result," the banker said. His bank, with 36 billion U.S. dollars of assets, was listed by the Forbes in January as one of the top five on the annual list of America's Best Banks 2018.

Ng called on U.S. media, economists and Trump's trade advisers to take their responsibilities to deliver a simple truth to the president and public that the current officially reported U.S.-China trade numbers are grossly inaccurate because they are based on outdated methods of data collection and calculation and have not been properly updated to reflect today's global economy.

"Currently, statistical agencies pin the entire trade value of a product to the last place it was exported from, even though the parts in the product come from many other countries. This method of data collection is based on the International Monetary Fund's Balance of Payments Manual, which was first released in 1948, and never appropriately overhauled to reflect the new complexities of global value chains."

Ng then put his Apple iphone on the table and explained how the iPhone alone may add 17 billion U.S. dollars to the fault trade deficit with China in 2016.

"One iPhone comes from different countries and regions, such as displays are manufactured in South Korea, processors come from the United States, touch ID sensors in Taiwan and barometric pressure sensors from Germany. Final assembly takes place in China," he said.

"Even though work in China is only a tiny fraction of the total manufacturing cost, the entire import cost of the iPhone is attributed to China in U.S. trade statistics."

"It's like a boy sending a box of pizza to your house, he took you 100 bucks, you can't say the boy earned you 100 bucks. He got only very small part from the business, the restaurant, market, farm, everyone are on the chain..."

He said, basing on traditional way, official trade statistics compiled by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis recorded a U.S. net trade deficit with China of 309 billion U.S. dollars in 2016, or 1.7 percent of U.S. gross domestic product (GDP), but if under value-added methods for tabulating trade created by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the number will be much lower.

"While data for recent years is not available, if we assume a stable ratio between traditional and value-added data, then the adjusted U.S. trade deficit in 2016 with China would come down from 309 billion dollars to 169 billion dollars," Ng said, adding "it is a much more sensible and useful starting point for discussions about policies to reduce U.S. trade imbalances with China."

Ng's argument was supported by a study from Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, which shows that using a value-added approach to measure bilateral trade reduces the U.S.-China trade imbalance by 33 percent in 2013.

He also mentioned that public debate largely ignores the U.S. services trade surplus with China and track the negative impacts much more easier than the benefits since the economic globalization is so complicated that it goes far beyond common American's basic knowledge.

"There's no question that trade integration with China has had negative impacts for specific demographics and regions in the U.S., particularly for workers in low value-added manufacturing sectors. However, it is important to keep in mind that the trade deficit with China has also yielded tangible benefits to the United States."

He listed the benefits of trade with China that are often difficult to measure and thus do not receive significant attention, including generating substantial savings for American consumers, hugely benefiting the U.S. from an environmental perspective, and moreover, helping the United States to focus efforts toward higher value-added activities.

"Better statistics would go a long way to help us overcome myths and political gamesmanship, and instead identify and tackle the real problems in the U.S.-China trade relationship," he said, while repeating that trade is just a part of economic cooperation between the two countries.

The key to resolve the trade problem is not trade itself, Ng said, adding a comprehensive cooperation framework is necessary.

"If the two countries work together, they can achieve a lot to the world, from economic development to anti-terrorism operations," he said.

"As long as both sides have the intention of creating a win-win solution, respect the issues they are facing, and proactively and constructively resolve them, this will push the U.S.-China trade relation to be more fair, balanced, and mutually beneficial," he concluded.LAGOS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Local authorities confirmed on Sunday that 16 people were killed and several others injured in attacks on several villages in north-central Nigeria's Plateau State.

State police spokesperson Terna Tyopev told reporters in Jos, the state capital, that a herdsman was arrested with an AK-47 assault rifle.

The attacks took place between Wednesday, March 7, and Friday, March 9, Tyopev said.

He said the herdsman, Muhammadu Musa Bimini, was arrested by mobile policemen on March 8.

Meanwhile, leaders of the affected communities have said that as many as 25 people were killed in the attacks.

The community leaders, who also briefed the media on Sunday in Jos, said many others are still missing.

The attacks occurred barely 24 hours after Nigerian leader Muhammadu Buhari left Jos, the state capital, after a one-day visit.

Plateau State is situated in Nigeria's middle belt where the Muslim-dominated north and the Christian-majority south meet.

On March 7, 2010, members of local Muslim and Christian communities fought each other in revenge for previous killings.

The state has witnessed some bomb blasts and constant rifts between Berom and Fulani herdsmen, with many, especially women and children, murdered in cold blood.RABAT, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan Prime Minister Saad Eddine El Othmani responded Sunday to reports predicting the collapse of his government, denying any snap elections.

"The government will continue its work until the end of its mandate in 2021," Othmani said during a meeting of his ruling Justice and Development Party (PJD) in Rabat.

He deemed the growing reports speculating an early election as "smear campaign" by those "who do not like to see PJD leading the government."

The government is working "smoothly," the PM said, adding "it is normal that differences exist between majority parties."

The Majority Charter that was signed recently will serve as a contractual document as well as a political and moral frame of reference for the coalition parties' joint action, he stressed.

The charter was signed after 10 months of forming of the government and amid rumors of growing gap between PJD and several of its partnering parties.BERLIN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Protests against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria turned violent in Berlin and Dusseldorf on Sunday, as tensions between Ankara's supporters and Kurdish activists spill over into Germany, German Press Agency (DPA) reported.

Around 200 protesters marched through the German capital, waving red, white and green Kurdish flags and chanting "Afrin", the name of the city that Turkish troops are battling to retake from Kurdish fighters.

Pro-Kurdish demonstrators began throwing rocks at a building in Berlin's central and multiethnic Kreuzberg area, reportedly in response to provocations from one of the residents in a block of flats.

The owner of a nearby cafe said the man had been waving a Turkish flag, according to the DPA report.

Dozens of riot police were on the scene, and several officers responded by storming the protesters, tackling at least three men to the ground and leading them away.

Spontaneous protests have taken place across Germany during the weekend. The country is home to a large Turkish immigrant population.

The Kurds' supporters are angered by Turkey's assault on Afrin, which it launched on Jan. 20 with the stated aim of dislodging the People's Protection Units (YPG), a U.S.-back Kurdish militia that Ankara considers a terrorist group.

Also on Sunday, two opposing protest groups clashed at Dusseldorf Airport, police told DPA. Around 200 people took part in the two protests.

It was unclear whether anyone was seriously injured in the violence that broke out between the two sides, DPA said.PARIS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- French far-right leader Marine Le Pen on Sunday said she wanted to change the name of the National Front Party (FN) to the "National Rally" in a bid to give a new start to the anti-immigrant party which she said must be opened to alliances to be "a ruling party".

"At a time when France is experiencing a political re-composition, (the new name) must, and this is perhaps the most important, express a desire to gather," Le Pen said.

"The name must be more than a project -- it must be a rallying cry, a call to join us, to all those who have France at heart," she added.

The 49-year-old eurosceptic leader argued that the National Front party her father created on 1972 had been "for many French people a psychological obstacle", associated with anti-Semitism and homophobia image.

Le Pen brought anti-establishment FN party into the country's political mainstream during France's presidential election last year.

She lost the race against the centrist and pro-market Emmanuel Macron with 33.9 percent of the vote, or more than 11 million voters who cast ballots for her. This record score mirrored a growing public support for the anti-immigrant party.

However, her disappointing TV debate before the presidential race on May 2017 and lower-than-expected elected lawmakers offset the far-rightists' stunning record.

At the party's congress in Lille, north France, Le Pen told the gathering that FN, mired in internal rifts, was recovered and gained a foothold despite the ceiling glass that had dashed far-rightists' hope to snatch the first place in the race to Elysee Palace.

Relying on her project to renew the FN, she told the party cardholders "our goal is clear: power".

"We were originally a protest party. There should be no doubt now that we can be a ruling party," she added, reiterating her stance against immigration and globalization.

According to the party's figures, 52 percent of its members supported their leader's proposal to change the party's name. They are called to vote on the new name by post. The result would be unveiled next month.

In 2011, Le Pen succeeded his father Jean-Marie Le Pen to head the National Front party. She has been working to softening the party's image by targeting widespread support of young public and workers.

At this week's congress, unopposed, she was reelected to lead the party.All 11 people on board the Turkish plane crashes in Iran on March 11, 2018 are confirmed dead. (web photo)

TEHRAN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- All 11 people on board the Turkish plane crashed in Iran on Sunday are dead, Iran's Emergency Organization announced.

The locals reached the wreckage of crashed plane late evening on Sunday and encountered the corps which are not identifiable and need DNA examination, the spokesman for the organization said.

A Turkish jet with 11 on board crashed in the suburban of western Shahr-e Kord city of Iran's Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province at 18:35 local time (1505 GMT) on Sunday, the Aviation Organization of Iran (OVA) confirmed.

The plane was seen caught fire in the air, and then it crashed into the heights of Helen Mountain near Dorak Anari village.

There were three crew members and eight passengers in the plane, according to Public Relations of the OVA.

The plane was flying from Sharjah of the UAE to Istanbul which disappeared from the radar, the state IRINN TV said.

Iranian Red Crescent operators have been dispatched to the area, but due to the rainy air and mountainous geography of the region, the operators should walk four hours to the accident location, according to spokesman of the Emergency Organization of Iran.

Rezaee Far, the chief of Accidents Bureau of the OVA, said that based on the preliminary reports, the crashed plane type was Bombardier CL604.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 03:25:28|Editor: yan

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DAMASCUS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Syrian Arab Red Crescent (SARC) said Sunday it was ready to deliver humanitarian aid to the Kurdish-controlled Afrin enclave in northern Syria.

In a statement, SARC said it is getting ready to deliver an urgent humanitarian aid convoy to Afrin as well as the Tal Rifat area in the northern countryside of Aleppo province in northern Syria.

It said the delivery is in response to the increasing humanitarian needs in Afrin and Tal Rifat.

On March 1, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delivered aid to the aforementioned areas.

Afrin has been subject to a Turkish-led military campaign targeting the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG).

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Sunday that the Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels are advancing in Afrin near the city itself after capturing areas in the countryside of Afrin near the Turkish border.

The observatory, which relies on a network of activists on ground, said the humanitarian situation in the city is tough as thousands have fled their homes in the countryside and sought refuge in the city of Afrin while the area's one million inhabitants also live in hard conditions.

Turkey launched the "Olive Branch" operation on Jan. 20 to wipe out the YPG, which Ankara considers as a terror group affiliated to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party.BERLIN, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The German charitable association "Essener Tafel" will once again serve non-Germans after its controversial decision in January to provide services only to Germans stirred public debate, German media reported on Sunday.

Officials in the western city of Essen said a decision was taken on Friday to remove the "temporary measure as soon as possible".

Jorg Sartor, who serves as chairman of the food bank's board of trustees, confirmed to DPA news agency that it will serve foreigners by the end of March.

The Essen Tafel took decided in December to ban foreigners from participating in the food bank's programs as of January.

Last month, Sartor defended the decision, saying roughly 75 percent of the people who went to Tafel locations in the city were foreigners. He said the board believed the figure was too high.

The Essen Tafel, like others across the country, operates by providing membership cards to those in need. One card is allotted per family. In order to qualify, a potential member must be a beneficiary of social assistance.

At the time, board member Rita Nebel said despite roughly 6,000 people covered by Tafel Essen membership, "you could sometimes pick the few German people out of the crowd at the food handovers."

Following the decision, six of the food bank's delivery vans and the entrance of one of its locations were vandalized, according to a report by German broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

Similar organizations around the country also criticized the Essen Tafel for its decision, arguing that people in need should not be blocked from assistance because of their nationality.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 04:10:35|Editor: yan

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CAIRO, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Egypt's exports to Turkey rose by 38.5 percent to near 2 billion U.S. dollars, while its imports from Turkey declined by 13.7 percent in 2017, the Egyptian minister of trade and industry said Sunday.

"Egypt's exports to Turkey achieved an unprecedented growth last year, amounting to 1.998 billion dollars compared with 1.443 billion dollars in 2016," said Tarek Kabil in a statement.

The minister pointed out that Turkey is the second largest importer of Egypt after the United Arab Emirates.

The growth in trade cooperation comes amid tense political ties between Egypt and Turkey over the past few years after the Egyptian army ousted former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests against his one-year rule.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan supported Morsi and currently outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group, while Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi, who led Morsi's ouster as the army chief then, labels the Brotherhood as a terrorist organization and the states supporting the group as pro-terrorism.

Basant Fahmy, member of the parliament's economic committee, said that Egypt and Turkey managed to separate between their economic and political ties.

"The development in Egyptian-Turkish economic relations is an evidence that the two countries are moving forward practically and in a civilized way in this regard," the lawmaker told Xinhua, adding that it is hazardous to mix political affairs with economic ones.

In mid-January, an Egyptian official report said that the country's non-oil exports increased by 9 percent to exceed 21 billion dollars in 2017 compared with 19.3 billion dollars in 2016.

"The rise of Egypt's exports and the decline of its imports are attributed to the Egyptian new monetary policies that focuses on supporting production," Fahmy told Xinhua, stressing that Egypt's local currency liberalization increased the competitiveness of Egyptian products.

Egypt has been suffering economic recession over the past few years of political instability and relevant security challenges.

To boost economy, Egypt started in late 2016 with full local currency floatation as an initial step of a strict three-year economic reform program based on austerity measures, fuel and energy subsidy cuts and tax hikes.

Egypt's reform plan has been encouraged by a 12-billion-dollar loan from the International Monetary Fund, half of which has already been delivered to the most populous Arab country.KIGALI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- At least 14 people were killed and around 140 others injured when a church was hit by lightning in southern Rwanda on Saturday, sources said on Sunday.

Some of the injured were in critical condition, Francois Habitegeko, mayor of Nyaruguru District, Southern Province, told a media briefing on Saturday.

The death toll of the tragedy remains at 14 on Sunday, Governor of Southern Province Marie Rose Mureshyankwano confirmed to Xinhua.

Volunteers and Rwanda Red Cross staff have been helping the affected families in burying the victims, said a Red Cross official who requested anonymity.

Some 70 of the injured were admitted to Munini hospital, and 58 of them have been discharged, said Innocent Ndebeyaho, director of the hospital, on Sunday.

One of them was referred to University Teaching Hospital of Butare, a national referral hospital, he said.

About 70 others were taken to other health facilities and have been discharged, he added.

The lightning hit through the open back door of the church, affected those sat behind and killed all people who had phones with them, Ndebeyaho quoted survivors as saying.

The lightning also damaged the back wall of the church, said the director.

Southern Province is prone to lightning, according to governor Mureshyankwano.

Two more people were reportedly killed by lightning on Sunday in separate cases in the districts of Gisagara and Huye in the province, the governor said.

In another lightning strike on Friday, two people, including a primary school pupil, were killed and 16 others injured in Nyaruguru District, bringing to 18 the total number of people killed in the province in the past three days.ALGIERS, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Algeria will host a high-level African meeting on combating terrorism-financing next month, Algerian Foreign Minister Abdelkader Messahel announced Sunday.

Following his talks with visiting Chairperson of African Union (AU) Commission Moussa Faki in Algiers, Messahel told reporters that the meeting will be held on April 9, as it has been approved by the AU Peace and Security Council in September 2014 to enhance cooperation in combating terrorism among the African states.

Messahel pointed out that the meeting is of great importance given the current circumstances, as it will be an opportunity to exchange views on counterterrorism laws within the member states, and ultimately draw up unified positions between them in this field.

It also aims to identify the role of African bodies working in the field of combating terrorism, money laundering, smuggling and crime, he added.

Algeria hosted in October 2017 the working group of the Global Forum to Combat Terrorism in West Africa, in which participants discussed ways and means of fighting terrorism and drying up its funding sources.

Algeria has repeatedly warned that kidnappings in exchange for ransom, transnational organized crime, human trafficking, money laundering, illegal migration, arms and drugs trafficking are providing huge profits for terrorist groups, and help them expand their criminal activity in the region.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 04:40:40|Editor: yan

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DUBAI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed two agreements with Italy on Sunday, under which the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) offered shares of several oil fields to Eni, Italy's energy giant.

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed and Italy's Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni attended the signing ceremony, UAE's state news agency WAM reported.

Under the terms of the deals, Eni has been awarded 10-percent stake shares of the Umm Shaif and Nasr oil fields and 5-percent shares in the Lower Zakum.

ENI paid a participation fee of 2.1 billion dirham (575 million U.S. dollars) to enter the Umm Shaif and Nasr fields and a fee of 1.1 billion dirham to enter the Lower Zakum.

The agreements, with a term of 40 years starting from March 9, were signed between Sultan bin Ahmad Sultan Al-Jaber, the Chief Executive Officer of ADNOC Group, and Eni's CEO Claudio Descalzi.

Some 90 percent of the UAE's oil reserves are located in the Gulf country's capital Abu Dhabi.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 04:50:41|Editor: yan

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JERUSALEM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Elbit Systems, a major Israeli defense electronics company, will buy the state-owned Israel Military Industries (IMI) at a cost of 1.8 billion new shekels (about 522 million U.S. dollars), the Israeli Ministry of Finance said in a statement on Sunday.

Another 100 million new shekels will be paid by Elbit later if IMI reaches specified overseas sales goals in 2018, the statement said.

Elbit would also relocate the IMI facilities from central Israel to the southern Negev area, a move that would allow real estate development in central Israel and economic development in Negev.

The Israeli media "Globes" reported that IMI is the maker of iconic Israeli infantry firearms like the Uzi, the Galil assault rifle and the Negev machine gun, as well as much of the IDF ground forces' ammunition, multiple types of rockets for air and artillery systems, and precision ordnance.

Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon said the agreement reached Sunday continues the ministry's policy of "vacating areas in demand areas for the benefit of the public."

"Transferring the plants to the Negev will allow for the construction of thousands of homes while strengthening industry and employment in Negev," he explained.

Israeli media quoted Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman as saying that "the defense establishment is the biggest social and political engine in the country, and moving the IMI factories ... will bring Negev thousands of jobs and billions in investment."

The privatization of IMI was first approved by the Israeli government in 2013, and Elbit won the government's tender process for the purchase, according to the Israeli media.LONDON, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Girls as young as 11 were drugged, beaten and raped in the western British town of Telford with up to 1,00 children estimated to have suffered abuse over 40 years, a British newspaper reported on Sunday.

"Authorities failed to act over 40 years -- despite repeated warnings to social workers -- with up to 1,000 girls, some as young as 11, abused in Telford," the newspaper Sunday Mirror said in a special report.

The rape hell of vulnerable young girls in Telford went on for a shocking 40 years, the newspaper said.

As many as 1,000 children could have suffered at the merciless hands of perverts and torturers in Telford since the 1980s, it said.

Girls as young as 11 have been lured from their families to be drugged, beaten and raped in an epidemic that, say victims, is still ongoing, Sunday Mirror said.

Three people were murdered and two others died in tragedies linked to the scandal, the newspaper revealed after 18-month investigation.

"The scale of the abuse uncovered in Telford -- population of 170,000 -- is feared to be the most brutal and long-running of all," it said.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 05:15:45|Editor: Yurou

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The file photo taken on Dec. 29, 2017 shows two Iraqi soldiers talking outside the damaged al-Nuri mosque, in Mosul, Iraq. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) on March 11, 2018 offered to reconstruct the historical Grand Mosque of al-Nuri and its famous leaning minaret, the Iraqi government said. On June 21, 2017, IS militants blew up Mosul's al-Nuri Mosque and its al-Hadbaa minaret. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

BAGHDAD, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Sunday offered to reconstruct the historical Grand Mosque of al-Nuri and its famous leaning minaret, the Iraqi government said.

A statement by the office of Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said that the UAE Ambassador to Iraq Hassan Ahmed al-Shihi submitted the request on behalf of his country when he was received by Abadi in the office.

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al-Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, initiated the offer of reconstruction of al-Nuri Mosque and its al-Hadbaa minaret, one of the most famous landmarks in the Old City of the devastated city of Mosul, the statement said.

Shihi said that a special envoy from the UAE would come to Baghdad for this purpose, according to the statement.

For his part, Abadi confirmed Iraq's keenness to strengthen relations with the UAE on the basis of mutual interests of the people of the two countries, it added.

Mosul, 400 km north of Iraq's capital Baghdad, has been under control of the extremist Islamic State (IS) militants since June 2014, when government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.

On June 21, 2017, IS militants blew up Mosul's al-Nuri Mosque and its al-Hadbaa minaret, as Iraqi forces were pushing near the Mosque area in the western side of Mosul.

Al-Nuri Mosque was built in 1172 with its famous leaning minaret, which gave the city its nickname "al-Hadbaa" or "the hunchback." It has a symbolic value, as it was the place where IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi declared the cross-border "caliphate" in Iraq and Syria in his sole public appearance in July 2014.

On July 10, Abadi officially declared Mosul's liberation from IS after nearly nine months of fierce fighting to dislodge the extremist militants from their last major stronghold in Iraq.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 05:20:45|Editor: yan

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RABAT, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Qatari Prime Minister and Interior Minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al-Thani, arrived Sunday in Morocco for a working visit that aims to cement bilateral ties.

Upon his arrival at Rabat Airport, the Qatari Prime Minister was greeted by his Moroccan counterpart Saad Eddine El Othmani.

The two leaders will co-chair on Monday the seventh session of the High Joint Commission of the Moroccan-Qatari Cooperation.

The Qatari official is also expected to meet with top Moroccan officials.

Morocco maintains close ties with all Gulf countries. The North African Kingdom has not taken any side in the ongoing dispute between Qatar and its Gulf neighbors and performed as a mediator in the crisis.TRIPOLI, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Libya's eastern-based army, led by General Khalifa Haftar, seized a foreign ship that entered a banned military zone in eastern Libya, a spokesman said on Sunday.

"Omar al-Mukhtar Operation Chamber, in cooperation with the air force, managed to seize a foreign ship near Darna city. The ship's Syrian captain and Turkish crew were arrested," Army Spokesman Ahmad Mismari said in a press conference on Sunday in Benghazi.

"The ship's crew is being investigated and the ship's country of origin has not been identified," he said, adding that there is likely a link between the crew and terrorist groups in the city.

The army's Omar al-Mukhtar Operation Chamber said earlier in a statement that the ship was seized late Saturday night 14 miles off Sousse town, near Darna.

"It was targeted by a warplane after entering the territorial waters without permission from the authorities and refusing to comply with the repeated warnings," the statement said.

The vessel was towed to the port of Ras Hlal, 50 miles east Darna, the only city in eastern Libya outside the control of the army.

Darna has been besieged by the army, which is demanding the armed group of the Shura Council of Mujahideen of Darna to leave the city. The army accuses the group of being loyal to al-Qaida.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 05:55:49|Editor: Yurou

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JERUSALEM, March 11 (Xinhua) -- The Commander of the U.S. Forces in Europe Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotti underlined on Sunday U.S. support for Israel in case of war in a joint large-scale military exercise in Israel.

The remark was made during a meeting between Scaparrotti and Israel's Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Gadi Eizenkot, at the military's headquarters in Tel Aviv.

"The U.S. is deeply committed to the defense of Israel," Scaparrotti said, according to a statement released by the Israeli military's spokesperson unit.

"We will continue to work alongside the IDF (Israel Defense Forces) to promote stability throughout the region, not only for the purposes of this exercise, but in the event of any real-world contingency," he said.

Eizenkot remarked that Scaparrotti's visit, part of the "Juniper Cobra 2018" joint drill, "proves once again the commitment of the United States to the security of the State of Israel."

The month-long exercise is the ninth time that the militaries of the two close allies have trained together in the biennial Juniper Cobra exercise.

"This training is intended to improve our ability to defend against missile and rocket threats and to advance the capabilities of both forces against various threats," Eizenkot said.

The exercise was launched last Sunday.

As part of the exercise, some 2,500 U.S. troops who are routinely based in Europe were deployed in Israel and about 2,000 Israeli Aerial Defense troops, logistics units, medical forces and other IDF units.

A military notice released last week said that the participating forces are performing together computerized simulations of a variety of rocket threat scenarios in different regions of Israel.

The simulations include testing of the anti-ballistic missile system Arrow, Iron Dome anti-rocket system, the medium-range interceptor Patriot missile system, and David's Sling, which was designed to intercept medium-range missile from southern Lebanon's Hezbollah militants and became operational in April 2017.Source: Xinhua| 2018-03-12 06:40:54|Editor: yan

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BOGOTA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- Colombians went to the polls on Sunday to elect members of Congress in what President Juan Manuel Santos touted as "the most peaceful elections" in decades thanks to peace talks with the country's guerrilla groups.

The former Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) are now the Revolutionary Alternative Common Force, a leftist political party that has candidates running for congressional seats.

Meanwhile, Colombia's second-largest guerrilla force, the National Liberation Army (ELN), declared a unilateral three-day truce to allow voting to proceed without incident.

"These elections will be the most tranquil, the most peaceful that we Colombians have had in a long time, in recent history," Santos said, adding "not a single voting station had to be moved for security reasons."

Santos, who cast his vote near the presidential headquarters in Bogota just past 8 a.m., also celebrated the FARC's participation in the electoral process.

"These elections are very special: it is the first time in half a century that the FARC, instead of sabotaging the elections, is participating in the elections ... It is very important for our democracy, and that is what the peace process was about," said Santos.

The FARC's Jorge Torres Victoria, who fought under the name "Pablo Catatumbo," was voting for the first time in his life, and hoping to win a Senate seat.

"In my 64 years, this is the first time I am exercising my right to vote, and I am very happy and very moved to do so for the reconciliation of our country," Torres said via Twitter.

The FARC, which signed a peace pact with the government 15 months ago, is assured 10 congressional seats, five in the Senate and five in the Chamber of Representatives, as part of its peace agreement with the government, but could garner more depending on the number of votes the party gets.

More than 36 million Colombians are eligible to vote for the 166 representatives and 102 senators of Congress, which begins sessions on July 20.News

Phoenix, Arizona - Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich joined a bipartisan coalition of 54 state and territorial attorneys general to call on Congress to pass legislation supporting victims of child pornography. The proposed Amy, Vicky, and Andy Child Pornography Assistance Act would make it easier for child pornography victims to obtain restitution.

While nothing can undo the harm done to these victims by perpetrators who produce, share and view these images, Attorney General Brnovich and other attorneys general wrote in their letter, Congress can act to make it easier for victims to receive meaningful restitution.

Under current law, a child pornography victim must pursue every case in which a defendant was found to possess their image, although they may receive only a small amount of restitution in each case. Digital images of each child victim are trafficked worldwide, and there may be thousands of defendants found to possess each victims images. As a result, victims must pursue thousands of cases to obtain full restitution.

The surge in child pornography on the Internet has led to increased victimization and trafficking to meet the demand for new pictures and live video of sexual violence against increasingly younger children, the letter states. The highest 'value' images traded online are those which depict the youngest victims and the most horrific sex acts. Additionally, the FBI reports there are now more investigations of child exploitation with a connection to the Internet than ever before.

The bill passed the U.S. Senate on January 23, 2018 by unanimous consent and is now being considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

All state attorneys general signed the letter, along with attorneys general from the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.Arizona News

Phoenix, Arizona - Attorney General Mark Brnovich announced Wednesday Arizona consumers will receive up to $6.28 million in payments as part of an ignition switch-related settlement with General Motors LLC.

In 2014, GM announced a series of recalls, including recalls related to faulty ignition switches that could switch to off or accessory while consumers were driving. The Attorney Generals Office filed an Arizona Consumer Fraud Lawsuit that alleged GM concealed defects, engaged in false advertising, and created a corporate culture that devalued vehicle safety. However, there were no claims for consumer payments in the states original 2014 lawsuit.

In 2015, Attorney General Brnovich took office and vowed to make consumer restitution a top priority. Brnovich amended the lawsuit against GM to include a claim for payments for consumers.

"Consumers should always come first in consumer fraud and class action lawsuits," said Attorney General Mark Brnovich. "When I took office, I couldn't believe consumer payments weren't the focus of the state's lawsuit against GM. I wasn't going to settle until Arizona consumers received compensation."

Under todays proposed settlement, approximately 33,000 Arizona consumers who purchased certain GM vehicles between July 2009 and July 2014, and did not resell those cars before the recalls were announced, would be entitled to payments.

In October 2017, GM settled similar claims with the other 49 states, and no state obtained payments for consumers. Had Arizona participated in this multistate settlement, it would have obtained approximately $2 million, which is less than 30% of the total amount GM will pay to Arizona and Arizona consumers under this separate settlement.

In order to receive a payment, consumers must sign a release form, which will be mailed by a claims administrator. The payment amount would depend on the number of claimants and the alleged defects at issue for each consumers vehicle. Each payment would be at minimum $200.

GM has agreed to pay Arizona consumers up to $6,287,600 through the claims administrator, pay the claims administrators costs and fees, and pay the State an additional $1,000,000.



The settlement requires court approval before it is final. If the court approves the consent decree, GM will select a claims administrator to oversee the refund process.

This case was handled by Matthew du Mee, Unit Chief Counsel of the Consumer Litigation Unit, and Assistant Attorney General Dana Vogel.Health News

Rochester, Minnesota - By losing weight, you have definitely improved your overall health, and youve decreased the risk that your arthritis symptoms will worsen. Unfortunately, weight loss doesnt reverse the effects of osteoarthritis on your joints. That means weight loss alone usually isnt enough to completely eliminate pain and other symptoms caused by osteoarthritis. But, along with maintaining your weight loss, exercising regularly, taking medication and participating in physical therapy all can help you manage arthritis pain.

Osteoarthritis is sometimes called wear-and-tear arthritis because it often develops over time as the cartilage within joints breaks down. Cartilage is the hard, slick coating that cushions the ends of your bones and allows them to move freely. In time, the cartilage may wear away completely, so bone grinds directly on bone, causing pain and making it hard to move the joint. Other common symptoms of arthritis  in addition to pain and loss of flexibility  include joint stiffness, redness and swelling.

Being overweight or obese significantly raises the risk of developing osteoarthritis in the hips, knees and spine. Thats because extra weight places added pressure and strain on those joints, putting the cartilage at higher risk for damage. In addition, fat tissue produces proteins that may cause harmful inflammation in and around your joints that contributes to osteoarthritis.

Losing weight decreases stress on the joints. That makes it less likely the cartilage will break down further. Weight loss also may help lessen inflammation, and that can reduce arthritis symptoms. However, weight loss cant fix the damage thats already been done to cartilage. And once cartilage begins to break down, that process cannot be reversed.

So, while weight loss is an excellent step in helping to manage arthritis symptoms, it typically needs to be coupled with other therapies to most effectively minimize the inflammation and pain caused by osteoarthritis.

Physical therapy, in particular, can be useful for easing arthritis symptoms. A physical therapist can work with you to create an exercise program that strengthens the muscles around your joints, increases your range of motion and reduces pain. Regular, gentle exercise that you do on your own, such as biking, swimming or walking, also can help. Your physical therapist can give you suggestions for the activities that will work best for your situation.

Some people find that movement therapies, such as yoga and tai chi, help ease osteoarthritis pain and increase their range of motion. These therapies involve gentle exercises and stretches combined with deep breathing. If youre interested in trying tai chi or yoga, ask your physical therapist to recommend an instructor. Its important to work with someone who understands how to provide guidance to people with arthritis, so the exercises dont harm your joints.

You also may need medication to control arthritis symptoms. Nonprescription pain relievers, such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen, usually can help ease pain. Prescription drugs, including stronger nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medications, also can reduce inflammation.

In addition, if you smoke, quit. Smoking is related to accelerated damage of connective tissues and developing arthritis and pain from arthritis.

Talk with your health care provider about creating a treatment plan to help you deal with arthritis. With your weight loss, youve already tackled one of the more difficult parts of controlling this disease. Working with your provider, you can find ways to reduce your symptoms and control your osteoarthritis now and in the long run. - Dr. Eric Matteson, Rheumatology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MinnesotaThank you for reading!

Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading.Coun Perez reiterates warning to barangay leaders involved in drugs

07 Aug 2017 Hits:37 Comments(0)

Liga ng mga Barangay President, Councilor Jerry Perez yesterday reiterated his warning to all barangay officials from using or selling drugs. Perez said he is closely monitoring the activities of all the barangay officials and vowed sanctions against erring leaders. Aqui gane na mio barangay ya quita ya iyo na puesto cunel dos barangay leaders quien mas temprano ya sale positivo na...LAHORE: The face of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif was blackened with ink by a religious extremist while he was addressing his party's workers' convention in Punjab province of the country.

Asif was attending an event late last night in Pakistan's Sialkot when the incident took place. The Foreign Minister is seen waving his hand to the gathering when suddenly someone from behind threw black ink targetting his face.

#WATCH: A man throws ink on Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif while he was attending an event in Sialkot, Pakistan last night. pic.twitter.com/1Rcm6JTP2U  ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

The suspect, who was thrashed by the party workers before being handed over to police, allegedly said that Asif's party had tried to change the finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution which hurt his sentiments.

Asif was speaking at the PML-N workers' convention in Sialkot, his hometown (some 100km from Lahore), when a middle-aged man with long beard, who was standing close to him, threw ink on his face.

The workers grabbed the man and thrashed him before handing him over to police. The foreign minister was escorted by his guard after the incident. However, after washing his face, Asif returned and completed his speech.

"I do not know this man. It appears my opponents had given him some money to throw ink at me but I pardon this man and will ask the police to release him," the minister said, adding this incident does not affect his politics.

"Such an incident adds sympathy for him," he said.

Meanwhile, the Sialkot city police identified the man who threw ink as Faiz Rasool.

"Rasool doesn't have any connection with any political party. He told police in his statement that he threw ink at the foreign minister because his party had tried to change the finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution. This hurt the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis including his," a police officer quoted Rasool as having said in his statement.

He said since the minister is not interested in getting an FIR registered against Rasool, police will set him free after meeting all legal requirements.

Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had to resign last November when hundreds of Tehreek-e-Labbaik supporters camped at Islamabad's Faizabad traffic interchange, forcing the PML-N government to take action against those in the federal cabinet responsible for attempting to change this clause from the Constitution.

In another incident, a shoe was hurled at former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif by a student during an event in Lahore. Nawaz Sharif was meeting those present at the stage when a shoe came towards him.

The shoe was thrown by a former seminary student during the former prime minister's visit to Jamia Naeemia seminary in Garhi Shahu. As Nawaz reached the dais to address the event, a shoe was thrown at him by someone from the audience. Caught unaware, the shoe hit the former premier on his chest.

(With inputs from agencies)Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Sunday of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East if the deal to limit Iran's nuclear programme was not changed or revoked.

During remarks at the beginning of the weekly cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said his discussions with US President Donald Trump and other officials in Washington last week focused mainly on Iran, Xinhua news agency reported.

"I said that the nuclear agreement with Iran contains within it many dangers for the world, including the special danger of the nuclearisation of the Middle East," Netanyahu said, according to a statement.

"Many countries in the Middle East are saying that they are also allowed to enrich uranium if Iran is allowed to do so; therefore, the way to prevent this danger, the nuclearisation of the Middle East, is to either thoroughly correct the agreement or abrogate it," he said.

Netanyahu reportedly referred to Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to buy nuclear reactors from the US.

"Moreover, I remind you that Iran declares, on an almost daily basis, its intention to wipe out Israel. It is hardly worth saying that we will not allow this, to put it mildly," he added.

Netanyahu has been a vocal opponent of the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and the six world powers in order to limit Tehran's nuclear plan and prevent it from achieving atomic weapons.

In January, Trump announced that he will waive sanctions against Iran and extend the nuclear deal after he disavowed the deal three months earlier.

Israel is widely believed to hold hundreds of nuclear warheads, which the country has never officially acknowledged to exist.New Delhi: Actor Varun Dhawan, who is looking forward to the release of his upcoming film 'October' on Sunday shared a new poster of the film.

The actor shared the poster of the film and captioned it, "Sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all but baby I can't help myself. #OctoberTrailer out tomorrow @BanitaSandhu @ShoojitSircar @ronnielahiri @writeonj."

Sometimes the greatest way to say something is to say nothing at all but baby I cant help myself. #OctoberTrailer out tomorrow @BanitaSandhu @ShoojitSircar @ronnielahiri @writeonj pic.twitter.com/LOpuiyFqnD  Varun DAN Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) March 11, 2018

Varun and the film lead actress Banita Sandhi are sitting on a log against the backdrop of a beautiful green forest. Varun, who is said to be carrying an intense look in the movie, can't take his eyes off the young girl in the poster.

The first trailer of the film will be out on March 12.

Earlier, the 'Badlapur' star had teased his fans about the story of the film and asked them to wait for the trailer to know what the film is all about.

"#October is not a movie about love at first sight. Its not a movie about hugs, kisses and dates. You want to know whats it about then watch the trailer in 2 days," he wrote.

#October is not a movie about love at first sight. Its not a movie about hugs, kisses and dates. You want to know whats it about then watch the trailer in 2 days pic.twitter.com/jglA2ab1J7  Varun DAN Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) March 10, 2018

Co-produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, 'October' is slated to release on 13 April. The film celebrates love, nature and the autumn season.

In an interview to IANS, Varun had said that shooting for October brought him close to nature and that impacted his performance in a positive way.

After wrapping up his shooting schedule in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, for his next film Sui Dhaaga, he left for Mumbai for the trailer launch of October.

"Wrapped in Chanderi. Had such a beautiful time shooting with these people in this beautiful place. Thank you to police and government for making our stay and shoot smooth. Back soon to launch the trailer of October," Varun tweeted.

Wrapped in chanderi. Had such a beautiful time shooting with these people in this beautiful place. Thank you to police and government for making our stay and shoot smooth. Back soon to launch the trailer of #October pic.twitter.com/jUyehsibZg  Varun DAN Dhawan (@Varun_dvn) March 10, 2018

On the other hand, 'Sui Dhaaga' is a story of pride and self-reliance, rooted in the heart of India. The film also stars Anushka Sharma in key role and is slated to release on September 28.New Delhi: A consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines understood to have expressed interest in the disinvestment of national carrier Air India, according to sources.

Moving ahead with the strategic disinvestment of loss-making Air India, the government is expected to soon invite Expression of Interest (EoI) from the bidders.

Against this backdrop, sources said a consortium of three full services, including Jet Airways, are keen to put in their bid for the national carrier.

Jet Airways along with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines are interested in participating in Air India disinvestment, sources told Press Trust of India.

When contacted, a Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline would not like to comment on speculations. Also, queries sent to Air France-KLM and Delta remained unanswered.

Jet Airways' possible bid for Air India by way of a consortium also comes less than four months after the Naresh Goyal-led airline enhanced cooperation agreement with the Air France-KLM Group.

Interestingly, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube had a decade-long career at Delta Air Lines before joining the Indian carrier last year. Immediately before coming to Jet Airways, he was Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific) at the American airline.

Air France-KLM and its partners Delta and Alitalia operate the largest Trans-Atlantic joint-venture with over 270 daily flights.

Though Air India is saddled with huge debt, acquiring the airline can help boost the acquirer in terms of foot print and bilateral rights.

While a group of ministers are still in the process of finalising the contours of Air India stake sale, the civil aviation ministry has so far said that officially it has received expression of interest from at least no-frills carrier IndiGo and an unidentified foreign airline.

The enhanced partnership between Jet Airways and Air France-KLM Group, announced in November, would help in boosting connectivity between 106 European cities and 44 domestic destinations.

At that time, Naresh Goyal had said he would speak to the group chairmen of Air France-KLM and Delta to explore the possibility of deepening this cooperation through joint purchase of fuel and closer tie-ups in engineering and maintenance all of which would be revenue accretive.

The government expects to complete the privatisation of Air India this year and is likely to put up for sale as four different entities.

Last month, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had said he had many discussions with many different players for Air India as well as various different entities that belong to the Air India group.

Air India, its low-cost arm Air India Express and subsidiary AISATS are likely to be offered as one entity, while regional arm Alliance Air would be a separate entity.

Besides, Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) and Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) will be sold separately.

AISATS is a 50:50 joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines' group entity SATS Ltd.

Last year, aviation services provider Bird Group had expressed interest in acquiring Air India's ground handling subsidiary AIATSL.

On March 6, the Civil Aviation ministry had said Air India has been showing "considerable improvement" in operational and financial parameters.

In June 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its in-principle nod to the strategic disinvestment of the airline, which has a debt burden of over Rs 50,000 crore.

Subsequent to the decision, the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM), headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was set up to decide on specific issues.

The national carrier is staying on taxpayers' money under the turnaround plan approved by the previous UPA government in 2012.

Under the plan, the airline is to get Rs 30,231 crore up to 2021, subject to achieving certain milestones. So far, the government has infused Rs 26,545.21 crore into the carrier.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has written to Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Manoj Tiwari and Congress unit chief Ajay Maken over the issue of sealing in the national capital. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader has extended invitation to both Tiwari and Maken for an all-party meeting convened by him at his residence on Tuesday.

In his letter, Kejriwal has said that there is a need for us to rise above party lines to find a solution to the sealing issue. Calling the sealing issue grave, Kejriwal has written that it is very essential to take a joint stand on the issue for the welfare of people living in Delhi.

#Delhi #Sealing issue: CM #ArvindKejriwal writes to BJP's Manoj Tiwari & Congress' Ajay Maken, invites them for a meeting on 13 March over the matter. pic.twitter.com/0gX0fop8p8  ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

Kejriwal has written to Maken that since the Congress leader has been a minister for Urban Development, he is sure of getting good and practical suggestions on the issue from him.

I assure you from my side that my party and government will do whatever is needed to put an end to sealing and to reopen shops that have already been sealed, wrote the Delhi Chief Minister.

The AAP leader has requested that only three members from each party join the meeting so that it ends in a fruitful manner.

On Saturday, Kejriwal had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi warning that crime in the capital may increase if the sealing drive is not stopped.

"The traders are on the verge of starvation and each shop is means of livelihood for many people. If all of them are rendered unemployed (due to sealing) then it may have a huge impact law and order situation," he wrote in his letter to the PM.

Backing the shopkeepers who have been impacted by the sealing drive, he said these people are not corrupt. "Shops are being sealed in Delhi these days of shopkeepers who work for 24 hours a day and pay taxes to the government. These are not corrupt people. These are people who contribute to the development of the country," he said.

He lashed out at the Centre for not doing justice to the shopkeepers, claiming that they are facing the brunt of the Centre's faults. "The reason behind sealing is anomalies in the law. It is the responsibility of the Central government to remove these anomalies. However, the government has not done anything and the shopkeepers are paying the price for it," the Chief Minister wrote in a strongly-worded letter to the PM.

He appealed to the PM asking for a law to be made against the sealing drive so that the shopkeepers do not face any more harm. "There is only one solution now. A bill has to be brought in Parliament to remove anomalies in the law and save traders from unemployment," he said.New Delhi: France will commit 700 million euros to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday at the founding conference of the organisation, reiterating the European country's commitment to reduce the use of fossil fuel and help combat climate change.

Macron said the summit to revolutionise the use of the clean energy by generating over 1,000 GW of solar power by 2030 was an outcome of the Paris accord even as "some left the floor" but others decided to act and keep acting.

The French President co-chaired the summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan that was also attended by the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.

Among those present were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

"The French Development Agency will allocate additional 700 million euros to its commitment to solar energy by 2022," Macron said. This will take France's total commitment to the solar alliance to 1,000 million euros.

"In 2015, we said we will allocate some 300 million euros to support (solar) projects in the member countries. This commitment by France was met a couple of months ago."

Conceptualised by India, ISA is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to mobilise $1 trillion in funds for the future solar generation, storage and technology across the world. It has 60 signatories, with 30 of those countries having ratified the agreement.

The alliance of sun-rich countries was launched jointly by Modi and then French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of the landmark 2015-Paris climate talks.

Without taking President Trump's name, Macron at the Delhi summit said while some left the climate deal others stayed because they wish good for their children and grandchildren.

"All of us here have experienced global warming. Some of you here have lost your territories, economy, and life of citizens.

"We should not forget that we only have one planet that we are sharing and for that there is no alternative. There is a joint destiny which means we also have some joint duties.

"Without the concept of climate justice, there would have been no Paris Agreement."

The French President pointed out that the alliance of the countries situated between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer accounts for three-fourths of the world's population with a potential of 138 GW of solar power.

But, he said, only 50 to 60 percent people living in the region have access to electricity.

Macron said the alliance needed to identify solar projects in every single member country.

"Each country with its solar energy potential will identify here their needs and how much finance they need. One hundred projects have already been listed," he said, further calling the member states that investments in "these projects are very profitable".

Under the ISA, 100 centers for excellence would train 10,000 technicians to achieve the target of 1,000 GW of solar energy that needs $1,000 billion, the President said.

He said the ISA should help small enterprises in small countries to help them mobilize projects and finances.

"But in order to reach $1,000 by 2030, to reach 1,000 GW solar energy, we need private investors. The alliance will provide a favorable framework," he assured, adding that France, India, the World Bank and other member states were reviewing expensive existing guarantee mechanism.

The French President stressed on the affordable low-cost solar solutions, saying "the alliance should be a place where technology can meet the expectations of people and country".

He lauded India's solar commitments that have 20 GW installed solar capacity  one of the fastest growing in the world. The country has increased its solar power capacity by about eight times over the past four years.

India's wind power generation capacity is 32.8 GW. It aims to achieve 175 GW of clean energy by 2022, of which 100 GW is solar.

(With agency inputs)Tehran: A Turkish jet with 11 people on board crashed in the suburban area of Iran's western city of Shehr-e Kord on Sunday, the media reported.

The plane was seen catching fire in the air before it crashed into the heights of Helen Mountain near Dorak Anari village, Xinhua reported.

The plane was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul, the report said.

This is not the only plane crash in Iran in recent times. In February, an Iranian Aseman Airlines plane crashed in the country's central Isfahan province, killing 60 passengers and six crew members on board.A quick glance at the top news of the day:

1. Kisan Long March: Maharashtra government advises SSC students to reach exam centres before time

With thousands of farmers in Maharashtra continuing their protest, the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination on Sunday issued an advisory to cautioning the students to reach their respective examination centres before time to avoid any hassles. Read full report

2. After shoe thrown at Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan Foreign Minister's face blackened with ink

The face of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif was blackened with ink by a religious extremist while he was addressing his party's workers' convention in Punjab province of the country. Read full report

3. Two doctors suspended after accident victim's amputated leg used as pillow at Jhansi hospital

The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday suspended two doctors and launched an investigation after a patient's amputated leg was used as a pillow to prop up his head. Read full report

4. Azam Khan gives it back on Jaya Prada's 'Khilji' jibe: 'Naachne waali ne kuch kahaa hai'

Former Uttar Pradesh minister and Samajwadi Party leader Azam Khan has hit back at former party colleague Jaya Prada, by saying that when would he have time for politics if he responds to naachne gaane waali. Read full report

5. Kamal Hassan slams PM Modi govt's GST, notes ban move, denies funding by Christian missionaries

Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hasan on Sunday criticised the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill and the notes ban move of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the center. Read full report

6. iPhone6 wrapped in sealed packet donated to Subrahmanya Swamy temple in Andhra Pradesh

Officials at the famous Subrahmanya Swamy temple in Mopidevi in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh were left stunned when they opened the offerings box or hundi on Saturday. Read full reportIn a big move, the Election Commission (EC) has reportedly filed a revised petition in the Supreme Court to make the Aadhaar linking mandatory with all Voter ID cards.

The poll panel, which has previously supported the move, claimed that the mandatory seeding can prevent voter fraud and ensure each person has only one vote, reported the Sunday Indian Express.

Earlier, the EC said that linking the 12-digit unique identity to all voter cards is voluntary.

However, the poll panel changed its stance after former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AK Joti took charge in 2016.

As many as 32 crore Aadhaar numbers have been linked to voter ID cards so far, incumbent Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said on Saturday.

"So far, as many as 32 crore Aadhaar numbers have been linked to voters' ID cards. Another 54.5 crore will be done as soon as we get a nod from the Supreme Court," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 14th National Conference of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO in Bengaluru.

Asked how long it would take to link another 54.5 crore Aadhaar numbers, Rawat said "we did 32 crore in just three months".

In February 2015, the poll panel had issued guidelines for linking Aadhaar with Electors' Photo Identity Card (EPIC), popularly known as the voter ID card, as part of the National Electoral Rolls Purification and Authentication Programme (NERPAP).

However, the Supreme Court stayed the move in its August 2015 ruling, stating that the unique identification number or the Aadhaar card will not be used by the respondents for any purpose other than the PDS scheme and in particular for the purpose of distribution of food grains, and cooking fuel such as kerosene.

Later in July 2017, the EC submitted its application to the top court for the collection of Aadhaar details of voters and linking them to their database.

All matters pertaining to Aadhaar have been placed before a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court.

Though the EC supports compulsory seeding of Aadhaar with the voter card, it is not in favour of using the Aadhaar card as the Electors' Photo Identity Card.

Karnataka-based Mathew Thomas had moved to the top court in November last year challenging the constitutional validity of the Aadhaar Act claiming that it infringes upon the Right to Privacy and the biometric mechanism was not working properly.

With agency inputsTargeting New Delhi again, Pakistan has accused India of harassing diplomats and their families living in the country. Pakistan-based publication Dawn quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the matter was taken up with the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi.

According to the report, Islamabad has warned that it will pull out its diplomats and their families if the "intimidation" is not put to an end.

The diplomatic source was further quoted as claiming that children of Pakistans deputy high commissioner were stopped and harassed while they were going to school. He further alleged that members of diplomatic were being abused during their movement in public.

A senior diplomat from Pakistan was also harassed while moving in the national capital, said the report. Besides, the report also cited a number of alleged accidents of vehicles belonging to the Pakistani High Commission.

The report just a day after India lashed out at Pakistan at United Nations for playing the victim card after providing safe haven to terrorists like 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden and 26/11 perpetrator Hafiz Saeed, the chief of Lashkar-e-Taiba.

It is extraordinary that the state which protected Osama Bin Laden and sheltered Mullah Omar should have the gumption to play the victim, said India's Second Secretary Mini Devi Kumam while responding to Pakistan's accusations of human rights violations at 37th session of UN Human Rights Council.

"In gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1267, the UN designated terrorists like Hafiz Mohammed Saeed are freely operating with State support, and the UN designated entities are being politically mainstreamed in Pakistan," added Kumam.

Saeed, the mastermind of 2008 Mumbai attacks, is the founder of banned terrorists organisation Lashkar-e-Toiba and the Jamaat-ud-Dawa. Following his release from house arrest by a Pakistan court last year, there was widespread global outcry. Saeed went on to launch his political party, and announced his decision to contest polls in Pakistan.New Delhi: French President Emmanuel Macron took a jibe on Sunday at US President Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, however, Macron lauded the efforts of India, along with other nations, for making International Solar Alliance (ISA) a reality.

French President Macron did not name Donald Trump at the founding conference of ISA in the capital on Sunday. While hailing the 'Solar Mamas', a group of women solar engineers, he also referred to the countries which decided to leave the climate agreement.

Addressing the summit in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Macron said, "Mr Prime Minister, You made a dream and we did it. It was about this International Solar Alliance. It was two years ago, it was just an idea at that time and we decided all together to act very quickly and today a big change".

Expressing his immense happiness and lauding the efforts of Solar Mamas, he said, "Our solar mamas did not wait for us. They started to act and to deliver complete results. They did not wait and stop because some countries (US and others) just decided to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement. Because they (ISA nations) decided it is good for them their children and grandchildren. They decided to act and keep acting".

The oblique reference was towards US President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to curb global greenhouse gas emission and limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.

In November last year, Syria signed the deal, leaving the US as the only country in the world not to support the framework deal to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

The Alliance is a treaty-based international body for the promotion of efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It was launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

Interestingly, France is the co-host for the founding conference of the ISA which is a treaty-based international body with 121 prospective member countries.

As many as 60 nations have signed the agreement to join ISA, while 30 have already ratified the agreement and made it possible to make it a legal entity in December last year. India and France called for affordable solar technology and concessional finance for promoting solar energy.

Macron said the countries at the ISA represent three-fourths of the world population. As much as 20-50 percent of the population do not have access to power. The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2020 for which "we need $1,000 billion," he said. Today, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered here for alliance's first summit.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a unified effort for promoting solar energy and said the Alliance would help to achieve greater global energy security.

"Promoting its development and use can bring prosperity for all and can help reduce the carbon footprint on Earth," PM Modi told the conference.

"If we want the welfare of planet Earth and of the whole humanity, I am confident that we can come out of our personal confines and like a family, bring unity in our aims and efforts (to promote solar energy)."

(With agency inputs)NEW DELHI: French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a four-day visit to India, will on Monday visit Varanasi. He will be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the two leaders will participate in several programmes, including a boat ride on river Ganga.

The two leaders will first leave for Mirzapur, where they will inaugurate a solar power plant, before returning to Varanasi, official sources said.

In Varanasi, the two leaders will visit the Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul and interact with artisans. They will also witness a live demonstration of their crafts.

Following this, PM Modi and President Macron will arrive at the famous Assi Ghat in Varanasi, where they will board a boat for a ride along the ghats of the Ganga. The boat ride will stop its voyage at the historic Dashashwamedh Ghat.

The Prime Minister will also host a lunch in the honour of the French President.

In the afternoon, PM Modi will flag off a train from Varanasi's Maduadih Railway Station to Patna.

on Sunday, the French President visited the Taj Mahal in Agra, officials said.

Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) officials said Macron spent over an hour, evincing keen interest in the exquisite inlay work of the 17th century monument.

Guide Lalit Chawla said that the President also watched the sunset from the Taj.

President Macron, who arrived in New Delhi late Friday night with wife Brigitte and top French businessmen and officials, was greeted by PM Modi at the airport. The two shared a warm embrace. On Friday, Macron inspected a Guard of Honour, visited Raj Ghat and met Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj before holding a bilateral meeting with PM Modi.

This is Macron's first visit to India after he assumed office in May in 2017.

(With inputs from agencies)Chennai: Actor-turned-politician Kamal Hasan on Sunday criticised the Goods and Services Tax (GST) bill and the notes ban move of the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the center.

The veteran Tamil actor, while addressing a press conference echoed similar sentiments as Congress president Rahul Gandhi that ''demonetisation should not have been implemented.''

"I would somehow support this (Rahul's statement)," Hassan said.

Hassan, who had recently launched his new political outfit ''Makkal Needhi Maiam'' (MNM) to bring about a ''qualitative change'' in the Tamil Nadu politics, made these remarks hours after Rahul Gandhi criticised the Centre's notes ban move.

"If I was the Prime Minister, and someone had given me a file with demonetisation written on it, I would have thrown it in the dustbin," Rahul Gandhi had said while a gathering of the Indian diaspora in Malaysia.

Rahul said that demonetisation was not a good initiative as it caused huge damage to the country's economy.

Taking everyone by surprise with his reply, Rahul said that he would not have rolled out demonetisation had he been in the government.

''If I was the Prime Minister, and someone had given me a file with demonetisation written on it, I would have thrown it in the dustbin," he said.

"...out through the door, and into the junkyard. That is what I think should be done with demonetisation," the young Congress chief said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on November 8, 2016, announced that Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes would cease to be legal tender.

The Congress party and most of the other opposition parties have been very critical of the Prime Minister's demonetisation move, saying it has caused huge damage to the Indian economy.

Rahul had in February said that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were making attempts to "capture" all institutions in the country.

The Congress president went on and said the idea of demonetisation neither came from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nor Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He claimed that it was the 'Sangh' that gave the idea of demonetisation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who then announced it on November 8, 2016.

However, contrary to what the critics said about the demonetisation move, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently rejected claims that the goods and services tax (GST) and demonetisation of old Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes have permanently slowed down the Indian economy.

These are just short-term pain, the IMF said.

Hassan further took the occasion to rebuff rumors of him being associated with the Christain missionaries and said, "They say I am funded by Christian missionaries. I can only laugh about it as it is not even a sensible argument".

He also dubbed the condition of women as despicable and shameful.

"I visited so many houses in (Thekkady) Periyar and found so many incidents taking place against the women," Hassan said.

Kamal Hassan had recently floated his own political party named MNM to contest in the next state assembly elections in Tamil Nadu.

(With ANI inputs)LUCKNOW: The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday announced a compensation of Rs 2,00,000 for the patient whose amputated leg was used as a pillow to prop up his head in Jhansi.

The Chief Minister also asked the Chief Medical Secretary to submit a report of the incident within a day.

Earlier today, the UP government suspended two doctors and launched an investigation into the matter.

Administrators at the government-run Maharani Laxmibai Medical College and Hospital in Jhansi had vowed "strict action" after visuals showing a man lying on a stretcher with the amputated limb being used as a headrest became viral.

"We have set up a four-member committee to find out who put the severed leg under the patient`s head," Sadhna Kaushik, principal of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College and Hospital in Jhansi, had said.

"Strict action will be taken if our staff is found at fault," she had said earlier, adding that ''two doctors have been suspended pending investigation.''

The doctors at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College had allegedly put the amputated leg under the victim's head in order to help him.

The sight of a person's amputated leg being used as a pillow, however, came as a huge shock to many who were present there.

The shocking incident came to light after a local TV channel aired visuals of the victim's amputated leg being used as a pillow as he lay on a stretcher inside the casualty ward of the hospital.

The man, who was a cleaner in a school bus, had sustained serious injuries when the bus carrying children of a private school turned turtle in a bid to avoid a collision with a tractor in Mauranipur area in Jhansi district on Saturday.

The cleaner was immediately rushed to the Jhansi medical college hospital where the doctors amputated his leg to prevent the infection from spreading, reports said.

The relatives of the man, who was identified as 28-year-old Ghanshyam, later told reporters that the hospital staff ignored their requests that he be given a pillow.NAGPUR: Farmers' problems should be understood sensitively and practical solutions found for them, the RSS said on Sunday. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) General Secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said there was a need to change the agrarian policy and the government has to ensure that farmers get a proper price for their produce.

However, he noted that there were a few obstacles in doing so. Replying to a query on farmers' issues, he said their problems should be understood sensitively and practical solutions found for them.

"No government can be insensitive on the questions related to farmers and it has to be sensitive towards farmers and find ways to address their problems. It is their job to think and find a solution," Joshi told reporters here at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) of the RSS, the ruling BJP's ideological mentor.

His remarks assume significance as they come against the backdrop of thousands of farmers from various districts of Maharashtra marching towards Mumbai to protest outside the state assembly.

Joshi said the farmers also need to change their mindset and while farming, they must keep government policies in mind.

Replying to another question on the banking scams and the overall economic scenario, Joshi said these financial irregularities indicate that there are loopholes in the system. "Such incidents (banking frauds) are a big challenge and posing danger to the country," he said, adding that the government and the financial institutions of the country should take them very seriously.

He also suggested that the financial system should also be made more fool-proof.

Speaking on the expansion of the Sangh, Joshi said the acceptability of the organisation has increased in the country. He, however, clarified that the increase in the RSS' acceptability has nothing to do with the BJP assuming power at the Centre.

He also asserted that the BJP's massive victory in 2014 had nothing to do with the RSS and the party came to power as the atmosphere was favourable for it, he said.All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi has now raked up the assassination of the father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, by Nathuram Godse. Referring to Godse as Number 1 Hindu Ratna terrorist, Owaisi dared anyone to serve him a notice over his statement.

He said that Muslims have never tried to sell India but have been oppressed and threatened for the past 70 years. We have been threatened for the past 70 years. But now we are not willing to get frightened. The most you can do is kill us, then do it. But if we live, we will live here and if we die, we will die here, said Owaisi.

The Hyderabad MP further said that Indian Muslims would neither go to Syria nor Pakistan. He said, Those who had to go to Pakistan have already gone. Our forefathers fought against the British, they raised slogans of Hindustan Zindabad.

Addressing a public gathering in Pune, Owaisi also talked about the controversial triple talaq bill, which is currently stuck in the Rajya Sabha. Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, Open your eyes and mind Mr Modi, you are not a well-wisher of Muslim women, you are our enemy and making preparations for injustice to us.

This comes just days after Owaisi hit out at Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar over the latters controversial remark on Ayodhya Babri-Ram Janmabhoomi issue. Demanding the arrest of the spiritual guru, Owaisi said that Sri Sri was trying to threaten Muslims.

"This is nothing but threatening us. When the matter is sub-judice, with what motive is Sri Sri Ravi Shankar making those statements? He has committed contempt of court by speaking about a matter that is pending in the Supreme Court," he said on Tuesday.

The AIMIM leader said that in the wake of the threatening talks, the Supreme Court should take up the proceedings on the Babri case only after the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "After his open threat of infighting people saying that if the issue is not decided in favour of X group, then India would become like Syria, I think the Supreme Court should not hear this matter till the next Lok Sabha elections because politics is being done over it," he said adding that the statement was deliberately made before the hearing on the issue in the court on March 14.

Owaisi also alleged that Ravi Shankar's comments show he was not a man of peace and does not believe in the Constitution.

(With agency inputs)Kuala Lumpur: Nearly 27 years after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said he and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, have completely forgiven their father's killers.

Speaking to a large audience of IIM alumni at an interactive session in Singapore on Saturday, the Gandhi scion said, We have forgiven our father's murderers. Whatever may be the reason, I don't like any violence of any kind.

              ,          :      Congress (@INCIndia) March 10, 2018

Rahul went on to admit that the siblings knew their father would be killed someday. "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That`s pretty clear.

"My grandmother told me she was going to die and my father...I told him he was going to die."

"In politics, we deal with forces, big forces, which are normally not visible. You are dealing with structures that are powerful. Those are not visible but they can hurt you," he said.

"We were very upset and hurt and for many years. We were quite angry. But, somehow, completely...in fact, completely (forgiven), said Rahul.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a woman suicide bomber of LTTE, the terrorist group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on May 21, 1991 at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

"When one realises that when these events take place, its collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That`s where you get caught. When I saw Prabhakaran lying dead on TV, I got two feelings - first was why they are humiliating this man in this way.

"And second was...I felt really bad for him and for his kids," said Rahul.

In October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated by security guards with whom the siblings used to play badminton.

"I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...Surrounded by 15 guys from morning noon and night, I don't think that's a privilege. I think that's quite a hard thing to deal with," he said.

The Amethi MP took over the baton of leading the Congress party from his mother Sonia Gandhi in December 2017. The Gandhi family has been at the helm of the Congress's affairs since independence for at least 38 years - Jawaharlal Nehru for more than three years, followed by his daughter Indira Gandhi, her son Rajiv Gandhi for eight years each, and his widow Sonia Gandhi for 19 years.

Rahul took over the baton of leading the Congress party from his mother Sonia in December 2017.Singapore: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that his family has "completely forgiven" his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's killers as they find it "difficult to hate people".

'' I and my sister Priyanka have completely forgiven our father's killers,'' Rahul said.

The young Congress said this during an interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore.

During his interaction, Rahul spoke about the assassination of his grandmother Indira Gandhi and father Rajiv and said that it was a price that the family knew they had to pay for taking a stand.

"We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die," he said in a video shared by Congress on Twitter on Saturday.

"We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, (we have) completely...In fact, completely (forgiven them)," he added.

Former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a woman suicide bomber of LTTE, the militant group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on May 21, 1991, at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

"There is a history that when one realises that when these events take place, it's collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught. I remember when I saw Prabhakaran on TV lying dead, I got two feelings - one was why they are humiliating this man in this way,'' he said.

"And second was I felt really bad for him and for his kids and I did that because I understood deeply what it meant to be on the other side of that thing. So to me when I see violence regardless of who it is, I know that there is a human being behind that, there is a family behind that, a kid crying behind that. I have been through a lot of pain to get this and it is something I consider very valuable. I find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does," he said.

Asked if he thinks he had a privileged life being the son and grandson of former prime ministers, Gandhi, who is on a five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries, said, "It depends which side of the coin you are...Of course, there are a number of privileges where I sit, but I would not say that I haven't been through a rough ride."

He said his grandmother was assassinated in 1984 by security guards with whom he used to play badminton.

"I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...Surrounded by 15 guys from the morning, noon and night, I don't think that's a privilege. I think that's quite a hard thing to deal with," he said.

(With PTI inputs)SRINAGAR: Three soldiers, posted in Jammu and Kashmir, committed suicide in separate incidents over the last four days.

Constable Prukha Sukhdev of the 79 Battalion of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), posted in the Sonwar area of Srinagar, shot himself with his service rifle inside the camp on Saturday morning, March 10. The jawan died on the spot, added a police officer.

Sepoy Birender Sinha, who was posted at the 30 Rashtriya Rifles of camp at Langate in Jammu and Kashmir's Kupwara district, committed suicide by shooting himself with his service rifle.

The incident took place on Wednesday morning, March 7, in the Handwara area of Jammu and Kashmir.

A day before, another jawan, shot himself with his service rifle at an Army camp in Warnov area. Thirty-six-year-old Naik Shankar Singh, a resident of Rajasthan, was posted with the 18 Rashtriya Rifles. He died on spot, said police.

The immediate reason behind the suicide in all the three cases is not yet known.

A total of 92 personnel from the three armed forces  the Indian Army, Indian Navy, and Indian Air Force  committed suicide in 2017. The army had the highest suicide number, Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre told the Lok Sabha, in a written reply last year.

According to the figures, two officers, and 67 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) and Other Ranks (OR) committed suicide in the Indian Army. The number of JCOs and ORs who committed suicide was 100 in 2016, 77 in 2015, and 82 in 2014.

Among the Army officers, there were four suicides in 2016, one in 2015 and two in 2014.SRINAGAR: Terrorists on Sunday hurled grenade at the house of an MLA from Noorabad in Jammu and Kashmir's Kulgam. The grenade exploded outside and no injuries were reported.

On Saturday, terrorists hurled grenade at Kral Khud police station in J&K's Srinagar. There were, however, no reports of casualties.

"The grenade exploded without causing any casualty. Some vehicles parked outside the police station, however, were damaged," the police had said.

"A few gunshots were also heard in the area after which the area has been cordoned off," the police added.

Yesterday's incident surfaced almost a month after a terrorist was killed in a grenade attack on a police station in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district. He was trying to escape from the police custody

One policeman was also injured in the grenade explosion when the terrorist was challenged by the guard while trying to escape from the police station. The incident had taken place in Tral in Pulwama.

The slain militant was identified as Mushtaq Ahmad Chopan alias Haroon. He was the son of Ghulam Muhammad of Wagad hamlet in Tral.RANCHI: A Bharatiya Janata Party leader (BJP) from Lohardaga was on Sunday shot dead in Ranchi. The deceased has been identified as Pankaj Gupta. The attackers shot the BJP leader in his head after which he died on the spot.

The attack took place at the Piska Railway station soon after he had stepped out of a train. The incident reportedly took place at around 8:30 am near Ramlal sweets at the station.

Furious locals jammed the roads near the station to protest against the shooting that took place in broad daylight. The attackers managed to escape the crime scene. Police said that efforts are on to identify the culprits and assured that arrests will be made soon.

Gupta had reportedly bought a land in Piska and used to visit the place frequently for its construction. It is being suspected that the attack may be linked to a land dispute.

BJP has strongly condemned the attack and demanded that the accused should soon be arrested.Kanpur: Sandeep Soni, a carpenter from Kanpur's Uttar Pradesh has been denied a loan from bank despite getting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recommendations in his case.

Soni had sought the Prime Minister's help in 2016 in securing the desired loan from a Bank of Baroda branch.

He, however, regretted that his request for a loan has been turned down by a bank which he had approached.

Soni, a resident of Barra, had inscribed all the 18 episodes and 706 shlokas of Bhagwad Gita on wood and gifted the same to Prime Minister Modi.

Inspired by his work, the Prime Minister Modi then personally recommended him to officials for a loan under Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to start a factory.

The 32-year old carpenter has now written a letter to the Prime Minister complaining that he is unable to do business because of the way bank employees are troubling him.

Narrating his ordeal in the letter, Soni claimed that he has been running from pillar to post for more than a year to get the loan.

"They (Bank of Baroda) said that take Rs 10 lakhs and start your work and didn't give me the Rs 25 lakh", Soni was quoted as saying by ANI.

During his meeting with the Prime Minister, the latter encouraged him to start a business of his own since he was highly impressed by the gift which the Kanpur carpenter had presented him on March 08, 2016.

"It's been over a year my work is stuck due to monetary constraints, my project was of Rs 25 lakhs and the bank gave me Rs 10 lakh only, and every other day they (bank) inform me about several rules," Soni said.

Despite all odds, Soni is hopeful that the Prime Minister will address his woes and take strict against the defaulters.

(With ANI inputs)Mumbai: With thousands of farmers in Maharashtra continuing their protest, the Maharashtra government on Sunday issued an advisory asking the students appearing in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination to reach their respective examination centres before time to avoid any hassles.

The advisory was issued keeping in view the farmers' scheduled protest outside the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday.

At least 30,000 farmers led by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) had reached Mumbai late on Sunday and will head to the Maharashtra Assembly and press for their demands on Monday.

Traffic on most of the roads would be blocked due to the farmers march so the Maharashtra government advised the students appearing for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination to reach their centres before time on Monday.

Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde has tweeted, In light of Kisan Long March, SSC students appearing for exams tomorrow are advised to ensure that they reach exam centres well beforehand to avoid delays. Concerned officials are hereby instructed to ensure safety & well-being of the students, safeguarding their academic future.

In light of #KisanLongMarch, #SSC students appearing for exams tomorrow are advised to ensure that they reach exam centres well beforehand to avoid delays. Concerned officials are hereby instructed to ensure safety & well-being of the students, safeguarding their academic future.  Vinod Tawde (@TawdeVinod) March 11, 2018

Nearly 17 lakh have been registered to appear in Maharashtra State Boards SSC examination.

The students will appear for the Mathematics examination tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police had also put traffic restrictions in place for Sunday when the farmers marched into Mumbai.

The Mumbai Police have said that the Eastern Express Highway south-bound from Anand Nagar Toll Plaza till Somaiyya Ground will remain shut for heavy vehicles and all kinds of vehicles carrying goods from 9 am till 10 pm today.

The farmers march started on Wednesday from Nashik and the farmers have planned to gherao the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha after reaching Mumbai on March 12.

The Shiv Sena also extended their support to ongoing farmers protest against the failure of Devendra Fadnavis government.

The state government had announced loan waiver of Rs 4,000 crore last year.Mumbai: Over 35,000 farmers from across Maharashtra, who embarked on a `Long March' from Nashik on March 6 to press for a complete loan waiver, will protest outside the Vidhan Bhavan (Maharashtra Assembly) on Monday.

Led by the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), the farmers had reached Mumbai late on Sunday.

Apart from the opposition parties, Shiv Sena, a partner in the ruling BJP-led coalition, too has vocally supported the agitation.

In a bid to resolve the crisis, the state government reached out to farmers, promising to meet their demands, but farmers' leaders said they will press on with their protest at the Vidhan Bhavan (Legislature Complex).

The farmers, under the aegis of the Left-affiliated AIKS, are demanding, among other things, proper implementation of the Maharashtra government's loan waiver scheme.

Braving scorching heat, they had covered around 180 km on foot in six days.

The protesters halted at the Somaiya ground in suburban Chunabhatti from where they will set out for Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai, where the Budget Session is underway.

"We will gherao (lay siege to) the Vidhan Bhavan on Monday to demand a complete loan waiver, fair price for farm produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations, compensation for hailstorm-affected farmers among other things," Kisan Gujar, president of the state council of AIKS, had earlier said.

"Today, our number is over 35,000. Over 20,000 farmers from other parts of the state will join on Monday," he said, adding the farmers were also protesting against land acquisition for projects such as high-speed railway and super-highways.

"Though we have been approached by the government officials advising us not to stay near the Vidhan Bhavan for long, everything will depend on how the government deals with our demands," Gujar said.

From the government's side, Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, who is also guardian minister for Nashik district, met farmers' leaders in Mulund as the march entered Mumbai, and assured that most of their demands will be met.

"The Chief Minister (Devendra Fadnavis) has sent me to meet you. Most of your demands will be met. We will take a delegation to the Chief Minister," Mahajan said, addressing the protesters.

Senior BJP leader and Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar also assured that the chief minister will meet the protestors' delegation, and blamed the "apathetic" approach of past governments for the farmers' woes.

"Our government is committed to address all the grievances of farmers, which have accumulated due to the apathetic approach of the last several years...We are very sensitive towards farmers and two ministers (Tribal Development Minister Vishnu Savara and Mahajan) have already been asked to look into their demands," Mungantiwar said.

Ajit Nawale of the AIKS, however, dismissed the overture.

"The days of living on assurances have passed. Unless the government gives us something concrete, commits itself in writing, we will march towards the Vidhan Bhavan," he said.

Senior Shiv Sena leader and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde and Yuva Sena (Shiv Sena's youth wing) chief Aditya Thackeray also greeted the protesters in suburban Vikhroli.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena stood "shoulder to shoulder" with farmers in their struggle.

It was wrong to say that farmers were demanding loan waiver, as they are not criminals that they should need a `waiver', Aditya said, adding "farmers are fighting for `freedom from debt'."

As so many farmers have marched to Mumbai despite the government's grand loan waiver, Sena leaders have demanded to see the list of actual beneficiaries of the scheme, he said.

Opposition Congress, NCP, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) and AAP, as well as ruling ally Shiv Sena have extended support to the farmers' march.

Patidar leader from Gujarat Nikhil Sawani, who joined the march, said his community supported the protesters.

As the march reached suburban Vikhroli, the phalanx of farmers - comprising both men and women - extended for almost three kilometres.

Meanwhile, the state government today issued an advisory to those appearing in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination cautioning them to reach their respective examination centres before time to avoid any hassles.

The advisory was issued keeping in view the farmers' scheduled protest outside the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Traffic on most of the roads would be blocked due to the farmers march so the Maharashtra government advised the students appearing for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination to reach their centres before time on Monday.

Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde has tweeted, In light of Kisan Long March, SSC students appearing for exams tomorrow are advised to ensure that they reach exam centres well beforehand to avoid delays. Concerned officials are hereby instructed to ensure safety & well-being of the students, safeguarding their academic future.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti said that adequate security arrangements had been made.

(With Agency inputs)MUMBAI: The massive protest march by 30,000 farmers against the failure of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government to address agrarian distress has reached Anand Nagar in Thane. The group is expected to reach the outskirts of Mumbai today and will knock the doors of the assembly on Monday to stress on their demands.

The march, led by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) -- a peasants front of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) - was launched from Nashik on Tuesday. The 180-km long foot march which began with the participation of about 12,000 farmers, has gathered the support of 30,000 people now, AIKS has claimed. A complete loan waiver is one of the main demands of these farmers.

They will be protesting outside the legislative assembly in Mumbai on March 12, seeking answers from the government for their demands. They have been claiming that the government has not acted on the promises that were made to them.

"Farmers in the state are reeling under the ripples of agrarian distress and they are under huge financial burden. The government has not done anything to provide them any relief. So they are left with no option but to express their anguish through the protest march," Ajit Nawale, state general secretary of AIKS, said.

Stressing on the level of discontent among the farmers, Nawale said that the number of protesters will go up to 55,000- 60,000 figure when it will reach the destination.

Apart from a complete loan waiver, the farmers are demanding a profit of 1.5 times input cost for all major agriculture commodities and want immediate implementation of MS Swaminathan committee's recommendations to ensure fair remuneration.

The farmers are also demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for the destruction of crops due to hailstorm and pink-worm, allocation of forest land under cultivation to farmers and implementation of Forest Rights Act.

While the organisers have said they would try to reach the assembly in peaceful manner, the government is likely to stop the protest march at Azad Maidan.

In June 2017, similar protests had boiled over most parts of the state, forcing the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led government to announce a conditional Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver, which farmers claim has not been implemented properly.

Similar demands of loan waiver and 50 per cent profit over the input cost have been made by farmers across the country, putting the BJP-led central government in a fix.

BJP is not just facing flak from the opposition but its estranged ally Shiv Sena has also extended its support to the protesting farmers.MUMBAI: A group of 30,000 farmers which left Nashik on Tuesday, protesting against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government over the agrarian distress, reached Mumbai on Sunday. The group will be gathering around the assembly on Monday to bring attention of the government to their demands.

Soon after the All India Kisan Sabha-led farmers reached Mumbai, Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray met them and heard their concerns. BJP is not just facing flak from the opposition but its estranged ally Shiv Sena has extended its support to the protesting farmers.

#WATCH: Over 30,000 farmers of All India Kisan Sabha march in protest demanding a complete loan waiver among other demands. The march started from Nashik and reached Mumbai today. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/dKinWWnmhf  ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

The 180-km long foot march which began with the participation of about 12,000 farmers, has gathered the support of 30,000 people now, AIKS has claimed. A complete loan waiver is one of the main demands of these farmers. They have been claiming that the government has not acted on the promises that were made to them.

Apart from a complete loan waiver, the farmers are demanding a profit of 1.5 times input cost for all major agriculture commodities and want the immediate implementation of MS Swaminathan committee's recommendations to ensure fair remuneration.

"Farmers in the state are reeling under the ripples of agrarian distress and they are under a huge financial burden. The government has not done anything to provide them any relief. So they are left with no option but to express their anguish through the protest march," Ajit Nawale, state general secretary of AIKS, said.

The farmers are also demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for the destruction of crops due to hailstorm and pink-worm, allocation of forest land under cultivation to farmers and implementation of Forest Rights Act.

In June 2017, similar protests had boiled over most parts of the state, forcing the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led government to announce a conditional Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver, which farmers claim has not been implemented properly.

Similar demands of loan waiver and 50 per cent profit over the input cost have been made by farmers across the country, putting the BJP-led central government in a fix.Los Angeles: Actress Jessica Alba has undergone post-pregnancy transformation by chopping off her long hair.

Alba posted a video and a picture of her transformation on her Instagram page reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She captioned the photograph: "This happened. Thanks, Chad Wood hair for the awesome haircut. It feels so good to shed the pregnancy hair. Whaddaya think?"

Alba, who also has daughter Honour, nine, and Haven, six, with her husband Cash Warren, felt like she needed a new look after welcoming her third child, a son, reports femalefirst.co.uk.

She chopped the inches off her hair with the help of celebrity hairstylist Chad Wood, who also posted a video of the transformation to his social media page.New Delhi: Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi's 1989 released 'Chandni' is still considered as one of the iconic films from the Hindi film industry. The film won the National Film Award and is regarded as one of the best of Yash Chopra's films.

On Sunday, Rishi's wife Neetu Kapoor took to Instagram to share a throwback picture of Rishi and Sridevi with a caption. read, "Reminiscing !!!! When pple said this movie brought back romance in their lives my all time favorite #chandani," she posted.

In the photo, Sridevi and Rishi are seen shaking their legs against the backdrop of snowy mountains. The photo is taken from the popular number 'Chandni'.

Rishi Kapoor and Sridevi were one of Bollywood's most loved on-screen couples. Together they have given some of the hit films like 'Chandni', 'Nagina' and 'Banjaran'.

Sridevi passed away following an accidental drowning in a bathtub in her hotel room in Dubai on February 24 where she had gone to attend the wedding of her nephew Mohit Marwah.

Sridevi began her career at the age of 4 in the devotional film 'Thunaivan', and went on to work in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi productions. After her marriage to Boney Kapoor, she took a break from the film industry for her family for 15 years and made a comeback in 2012 with 'English Vinglish'.

She was last seen on the big screen in 'Mom' in 2017.Mumbai: Actor Varun Dhawan says his upcoming film 'October' is not about hugs, kisses and dates.

The actor took to Twitter to tease his fans about the story of the film and asked them to wait for the trailer to know what the movie is about.

'October' is not a movie about love at first sight. It's not a movie about hugs, kisses and dates. You want to know what's it about, then watch the trailer in two days," Varun posted on Saturday.

Co-produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, 'October' is directed by Shoojit Sircar. It also features Banita Sandhu. It is slated to release on April 13.

The film celebrates love, nature and the autumn season.

In an interview to IANS, Varun had said that shooting for 'October' brought him close to nature and that impacted his performance in a positive way.

After wrapping up his shooting schedule in Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, for his next film 'Sui Dhaaga', he left for Mumbai for the trailer launch of 'October.

"Wrapped in Chanderi. Had such a beautiful time shooting with these people in this beautiful place. Thank you to police and government for making our stay and shoot smooth. Back soon to launch the trailer of 'October'," Varun tweeted on Saturday.

Slated to release on September 28,'Sui Dhaaga' is a story of pride and self-reliance, rooted in the heart of India. It also stars Anushka Sharma.Mumbai: Filmmaker Shoojit Sircar has demanded the authorities to ban plastic completely to save the environment.

"Ban plastic completely. I am not requesting, I am demanding to the authorities," Sircar tweeted on Sunday.

BAN plastics completely. I am not requesting, I am demanding to the authorities.. If we genuinely want to save the environment, we need to do this right away...let us set an example...  Shoojit Sircar (@ShoojitSircar) March 11, 2018

"If we genuinely want to save the environment, we need to do this right away...Let us set an example," he added.

Talking about his love for nature, Sircar said, "My favourite past time is watching trees and watching nature is my meditation."

Sircar, known for films like "Vicky Donor", "Madras Cafe" and "Piku", picked up a story which celebrates love, nature and the autumn season to narrate through his next directorial "October".

The film stars Varun Dhawan and Banita Sandhu. Co-produced by Ronnie Lahiri and Sheel Kumar, "October" is slated to release on April 13.Chennai: Rich tributes were today paid to Indian cinema icon Sridevi here by a host of stars of Kollywood, from where she took the baby steps to a glittering career.

A prayer meet was held at a city hotel for Sridevi, who passed away in Dubai on February 24, in which her husband Boney Kapoor, and daughters Jhanvi and Khushi were among those who attended. The event was out of bounds for the media.

Earlier, leading actors paid their homage to Sridevi at a meeting held in the office of the of the South Indian Artistes' Association (SIAA), popularly known as 'Nadigar Sangam', here.

Several prominent Tamil film stars, including Sivakumar, actor-director K Bhagyaraj, "Kutti" Padmini and Sripriya, who had long association with her, paid floral tributes to a photograph of Sridevi kept at the office SIAA office.

SIAA President and actor Nasser led the fellow artistes in paying tributes to Sridevi, who died at the age of 54.

Actor-director Manobala, also a member of the SIAA, tweeted and shared a photograph of the SIAA members paying their tributes to Sridevi.

Actor Ajith, his wife and actress Shalini, director Priyadarshan and actress Meena visited the residence of Sridevi here and conveyed their condolences.

Sridevi, Indian cinema's first woman superstar, had an illustrious career spanning over four decades after making her debut as a child artist in Tamil film "Thunaivan" in 1969.

After making her mark in the south Indian films, she entered Bollywood.

Sridevi's body was cremated on February 28 in Mumbai. The ashes were immersed in Rameswaram sea last week.Washington D.C.: Hugh Grant is now a father of five!

Grant's ex-girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley revealed he has welcomed baby no. 5 with girlfriend, Swedish television producer Anna Eberstein.

She let the news slip while promoting her series 'The Royals'. "I'm very lucky that 31 years into our friendship, he's still my best friend in the world," Hurley told E! Online.

"He's a really great guy. I see him a lot; I speak to him a lot. You know, he's now a father of five; he has five kids and he's a great dad. Yeah, he will remain my best friend for life."

Elaborating about the newborn during an appearance on Bravo's 'Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen', the actress said, "He had another one last week. He has five. He was over 50 when he spawned them all! He's an enchanting dad-really, really sweet. Having these kids has transformed him from a very miserable person into a fairly miserable person. It's improved him. He's gone up the scale."

The baby is the 'Notting Hill' star's fifth child and third with his current girlfriend Anna Eberstein. Grant and Eberstein's elder children are five and three.

He also has a six-year-old daughter and five-year-old son from his relationship with ex-girlfriend Tinglan Hong.Actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan has raised the issue of women security in Tamil Nadu saying, the way women are treated here currently is shameful. Speaking in Erode, the actor-politician also brushed aside allegations of being funded by Christian missionaries.

They say I am funded by Christian missionaries and to that all I can do is laugh it off as it's false, said Haasan, who recently launched his political party Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM).

He further said that it was not about actors becoming politicians, it's about concerned citizens getting involved, further raising the issue of women security saying the way women are treated currently is shameful.

Few days back, the superstar had noted that he was not for total liquor prohibition in the state. He had, instead, said that the need was to check the spread of liquor shops. "The question is whether the liquor shops should be spread out like this. We have to go in search of a post office but there is no need to search for a TASMAC (Tamil Nadu government liquor outlet). We have to change this situation," he had said.

Kamal's remarks came at a time when major opposition political parties in Tamil Nadu have been demanding implementation of a total ban on the sale of liquor in the state.

Kamal had expressed his thoughts in a column in the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan. It is not possible to make an entire society to dislike liquor, the actor wrote in the Tamil magazine.

Kamal argued that total prohibition would result in the creation of a mafia which has been seen in the history of the world. He said liquor drinking is not like gambling that could be stopped suddenly.

Kamal said human body would not agree to stop consumption of liquor suddenly. He said liquor consumption could be reduced but whether it could be stopped totally is doubtful.AGARTALA: Free and fair elections are not possible in Tripura under current circumstances, said Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury.

Situation in Tripura is such that no free and fair election is possible. The atmosphere of terror is widespread. Markets haven't opened. People aren't coming out to buy their daily requirements. In such situation to expect a free and fair election is preposterous, said Sitaram Yechury on Sunday.

Our party cadre are under constant threat. Till you restore normalcy Charilam election should be postponed but EC refused. So in that situation it will be exposing more of our people for more harm. This is anti-democratic and this election will be a farce, said Yechury.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its allies demolished the last Left Front bastion in the country in March, securing a majority in the 60-member Assembly. The Left Front was ousted from power in the state after 25 years by the BJP wave.

Following the ouster of the Manik Sarkar government in the state, Marxist icon Vladimir Lenins statue was demolished.

Yechury has blamed the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) for incidents of violence, adding that people of Tripura would give and answer to them.

Violence in Tripura shows the inclination of RSS and BJP. There is no political future for them other than violence. People of Tripura will give an answer to them, he said.Agartala: The CPI(M) in Tripura today withdrew from the election to Charilam Assembly seat, citing "post-poll violence" in the constituency.

Polling to the Charilam seat was postponed following the death of CPI(M) candidate Ramendra Narayan Debbarma, a week before the February 18 elections in the state.

The party had later fielded Palash Debbarma from the seat.

Palash Debbarma was pitted against BJP leader and newly appointed Deputy Chief Minister Jishnu Debbarman, who is not a member of the 60-member Tripura Assembly. The Congress has nominated Arjun Debbarma from the seat.

Charilam is slated to go to polls on March 12.

CPI(M) state secretary Bijan Dhar said the BJP, along with Indigenous People's Front of Tripura (IPFT), has resorted to "post-poll violence in the constituency".

"The CPI(M) candidate was compelled to stay outside the constituency despite being a permanent resident of the place. He is not in a position to move in the constituency even with security cover. Any election held in such a situation would be nothing but a one-sided exercise," Dhar said.

The CPI(M) had earlier requested the Election Commission to postpone the Charilam poll till "normalcy gets restored" in the area.

"Since our appeal for postponement has not been considered, we have unanimously decided to withdraw from the election," Dhar said.

Reacting to the CPI(M)'s decision, BJP state in-charge Sunil Deodhar said the Left party was making baseless allegations.

Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Electoral Officer Debashish Modak said the last date for withdrawal of candidature from the Charilam election was February 26.

"The electronic voting machines will have a symbol for them (CPI(M)) and the election process will continue as scheduled," he said.

State BJP leader Biplab Kumar Deb yesterday became the chief minister of the first BJP government in Tripura, ending the 25-year rule of the Left Front. Jishnu Deb Burman was sworn in as the deputy chief minister along with seven other ministers.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah had attended the function.

The BJP-IPFT alliance had won the polls with a two-thirds majority in the Assembly. While the BJP had bagged 35 seats, the IPFT won eight out of the 59 seats that went to polls.AGRA: Ahead of French President Emmanuel Macron's visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra on Sunday, preparations are on in full swing to welcome the dignitary. It is during those preparations that a huge lapse by the Archeological department came to light. A big beehive right at the Royal Gate fell off after which thousands of bees were seen hovering in the area.

Soon after, there was chaos at the heritage monument as visitors panicked and attempted to run away from the bees.

Acting swiftly, the officials of the department removed the bees. Meanwhile, visitors were made to take a different route to visit the world wonder.

President Emmanuel Macron is scheduled to visit the Taj at 5:10 pm after which he will be flying back to Delhi at around 6:10 pm. The sale of tickets for visitors was closed after 3 pm on Sunday and the monument was shut for public at 4pm.

After his visit to Agra, President Macron will head to Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on March 12. He, along with PM Modi, will inaugurate a solar plant in Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

Earlier in the day, the French President Emmanuel Macron announced an additional 700 million euros investment for solar-energy at the first International Solar Alliance (ISA) summit in Delhi and called for "joint duties" for a "planet that has to be shared".

Macron along with PM Modi co-hosted the first ISA summit at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, in the presence of the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday suspended two doctors and launched an investigation after a patient's amputated leg was used as a pillow to prop up his head.

Administrators at the government-run Maharani Laxmibai Medical College and Hospital in Jhansi had vowed "strict action" after visuals showing a man lying on a stretcher with the amputated limb being used as a headrest became viral.

"We have set up a four-member committee to find out who put the severed leg under the patient`s head," Sadhna Kaushik, principal of the Maharani Laxmibai Medical College and Hospital in Jhansi, had said.

"Strict action will be taken if our staff is found at fault," she had said earlier, adding that ''two doctors have been suspended pending investigation.''

The doctors at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College had allegedly put the amputated leg under the victim's head in order to help him.

However, the sight of a person's amputated leg being used as a pillow came as a huge shock to many who were present there.

The shocking incident came to light after a local TV channel aired visuals of the victim's amputated leg being used as a pillow as he lay on a stretcher inside the casualty ward of the hospital.

The man, who was a cleaner in a school bus, had sustained serious injuries when the bus carrying children of a private school turned turtle in a bid to avoid a collision with a tractor in Mauranipur area in Jhansi district on Saturday.

The cleaner was immediately rushed to the Jhansi medical college hospital where the doctors amputated his leg to prevent the infection from spreading, reports said.

The relatives of the man, who was identified as 28-year-old Ghanshyam, latert old reporters that the hospital staff ignored their requests that he be given a pillow.

"When we reached the hospital, we saw his leg being used as a headrest," Janaki Prasad, a relative, said.

"I repeatedly asked the doctors to intervene but they refused," Prasad added, saying Ghanshyam`s relatives eventually bought a pillow from a local market.

Kaushik, however, said that the patient was given "immediate" medical attention and one of his relatives placed the leg under his head, according to the PTI.

"The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient`s attendant used the leg," she said according to PTI.

All this came in the wake of reports that sweepers and ward boys have been treating the patients and even performing minor surgeries in the district hospitals in UP.



Many state-run hospitals in Uttar Pradesh are ill-equipped, severely underfunded and stretched to breaking point. Just a handful of specialists are available to treat millions.

Last year, dozens of children died in a single week at a government hospital in Uttar Pradesh that suffered oxygen shortages.

And an unlicensed doctor was arrested last month for allegedly infecting at least 46 people with HIV by re-using a syringe.

(With PTI inputs)Beijing: China's rubber-stamp parliament today ratified a historic constitutional amendment abolishing decades old practice of two term limits for the president, paving way for President Xi Jinping to become China's leader-for-life.

Set for his second five-year term as President this month, 64-year-old Xi, the most powerful leader in recent decades heading the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC) and the military, will now be the first Chinese leader after the founder chairman Mao Zedong to remain in power lifelong.

The constitutional amendment removing the term limits for the president and the vice president was approved by the parliament with 2,958 in favour, two against and three abstentions, official media reported.

The National People's Congress - regarded as the rubber stamp parliament - chose to follow paper ballot system instead of hand raising and electronic voting. The ballot contained agree, disagree and abstain clauses.

President Xi stood up first at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box.

The first Constitution of China was enacted in 1954. The current Constitution has been in place since 1982 and has undergone four amendments in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004.

Ahead of the vote by deputies in the NPC, the seven member Standing Committee - the top most body of the ruling Communist Party of China - unanimously approved the amendment to abolish the presidential term limits.

The amendment effectively ended the collective leadership system followed by the CPC to avert a dictatorship emerging in otherwise a one-party state akin to the era of Mao which witnessed the most brutal events like Cultural Revolution resulting in the killings of millions of people.

Observers say the constitutional amendment in effective pays the way for China's transition from being one party state to one leader state with Xi, described by some as an Emperor, to remain in power in the foreseeable future.

Xi, christened as "lingxiu" - a leader with highest prestige, is aggressively pushing Chinese military's modernisation to make the world's largest army a mightier force capable of winning modern wars. The proposal of limitless tenure for Xi has sparked worldwide concerns specially in China's neighbourhood.

For India, observers say, Xi's continuation will have particular significance, specially in the backdrop of last year's 73-day-long Dokalam standoff where Chinese troops tried to build a road in the area claimed by Bhutan to reach close to India's narrow corridor connecting North Eastern states.

Under Xi, China has been pouring billions of dollars in India's neighbourhood in projects like China-Pakistan Economic Corridor traversing through PoK, connectivity projects in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Maldives, raising strategic stakes for India.

Significantly, today's amendment also removed term-limits for the Vice President.

The inclusion of the Vice President was notably aimed at reinforcing Xi's support base as his trusted lieutenant, Wang Qishan (69), is tipped to take over the post despite a widely-followed convention by Chinese leaders to retire after 68 years.

Wang headed the dreaded anti-graft campaign carried out by Xi since he began his first term in 2013 in which over 1.5 million officials including over 100 ministers and top Generals of the military were punished with closed door trials which in turn ensured Xi's swift consolidation of power.

The NPC in the next few days is also set to ratify new name for all top government posts. The entire Chinese government is set to change, including the entire cabinet.

Xi began his second five-year term as General Secretary of the CPC and Chairman of the Central Military Commission last year after the once-in-a-five-year congress of the party endorsed him for a second term. Two five-year tenures were permitted for top leaders of the party.

His predecessors - Jiang Zemin who was in power from 1993 to 2003 and Hu Jintao from 2003 to 2013 - stepped down as the General Secretary of the party as well as the president after widely followed rule as well as a convention of two terms to promote collective leadership system in the one-party state.

Xi, a princeling and son of a Vice Premier, who was the Vice President under Hu took over all the three posts in 2013 and subsequently emerged as the most powerful leader of China after Mao with little or no resistance in the party.

The president's post is largely ceremonial while the real power rests with the CPC General Secretary and Chairman of the Military Commission, the overall high-command of the military.

But the president is the only one with a formal limit of two terms - introduced by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping in 1982 to prevent another lifelong dictatorship after Mao's rule.

The NPC also endorsed another constitutional amendment to enshrine Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era into the country's Constitution.

This would make Xi the only leader after Mao and his predecessor Deng whose thoughts were written into the Constitution. It would place him above the rest of the leaders of the party. The thoughts of two of Xi's predecessors were mentioned in the Constitution but not their names.

There is eerie silence all over the country over the approval of the amendments, with Chinese censors aggressively removing anything remotely connected to the comments in the social media through the firewalls.LAHORE: A shoe was hurled at former Pakistan prime minister Nawaz Sharif by a student during an event in Lahore. Nawaz Sharif was meeting those present at the stage when a shoe came towards him.

The shoe was thrown by a former seminary student during the former prime minister's visit to Jamia Naeemia seminary in Garhi Shahu. As Nawaz reached the dais to address the event, a shoe was thrown at him by someone from the audience. Caught unaware, the shoe hit the former premier on his chest.

The student who hurled it climbed the stage and shouted slogans. The attacker was detained and handed over to the police. The organisers said they were trying to ascertain the identity of the attacker and how he was able to enter the hall.

Nawaz addressed the event, marking the death anniversary of cleric Mufti Mohammad Hussain Naeemi, after the chaos ended. Although he reportedly shortened his speech, only to thank the organisers.

The incident comes just a day after ink was thrown on Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif.China's rubber-stamp parliament is set Sunday to hand President Xi Jinping free rein to rule the rising Asian superpower indefinitely, with potential abstentions offering the only suspense in the historic vote.

The National People's Congress is all but certain to approve a constitutional amendment that has stunned many in China, sparking an unusual bout of criticism that censors have scrambled to extinguish.

The move reverses the era of "collective" leadership and orderly succession that was promoted by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to ensure stability following the turbulent one-man rule of Communist China's founder Mao Zedong.

Xi, 64, has consolidated power since taking office as general secretary of the Communist Party in 2012 -- his most important title, which has no term limits but which his two predecessors both gave up after two terms.

He would have had to give up the presidency after the end of his second term in 2023, but he could now have a lifetime to push his vision of a rejuvenated China as a global powerhouse with a "world-class" military.

His rise has been accompanied by tighter restrictions on civil society, with the detention of activists and human rights lawyers, and stricter limits on the already heavily-controlled internet.

At the same time, he gained a measure of popularity among Chinese people through a relentless crackdown on corruption that has punished more than a million party officials, and sidelined potential rivals.

"I think that during the past five years, he has been carrying out a soft coup, including making the Politburo a mere figurehead," Chinese political commentator Wu Qiang told AFP, referring to the 25-member Communist Party body one level under the ruling council.

"He wants to prevent power from falling into the hands of technocrats like Jiang (Zemin) and Hu (Jintao)," Wu said, referring to Xi's two predecessors.While attention has focused on the term limits, the amendments also include major provisions that will engrave Xi's eponymous political mantra in the constitution and hand the Communist Party an even larger role in the country's affairs.

The legislation is expected to easily secure the two-thirds of votes needed to pass in the legislature, which has never voted down a Communist Party diktat in its half-century of existence.

But if any of the nearly 3,000 legislators are secretly unhappy about the move, they could cast a protest vote by abstaining.

While the voting is secret, analysts say there are probably ways to know how delegates vote.

"Some deputies who insist on Deng Xiaoping's reform line will think that this constitutional amendment is a retrogression and abandons Deng's legacy," Beijing-based political commentator Hua Po said.

"They may vote against or abstain from voting to safeguard Deng's political legacy," Hua said.The Communist Party, which says the move merely aligns the presidency with the limit-free titles of party and military chief, claims "the masses" unanimously called for the removal of term limits.

But the proposal was kept secret until it was revealed in a state media report on February 25, a week before the legislature's opening session.

The party later disclosed that Xi had presided over a meeting of the Politburo in September during which the leadership decided to revise the constitution.

The party then sought proposals and opinions, culminating in a decision in late January to introduce constitutional amendments at the NPC.

The surprise move triggered a backlash online, prompting censors to block phrases and words such as "I disagree" and "emperor" and the image of Winnie the Pooh, the cartoon bear to which Xi has been compared.Open source

From the beginning of the day on March 11, in the area of the antiterrorist operation, three shellings of Ukrainian positions by militants were reported. This is stated by the press center of the Donbas conflict headquarters on its Facebook page.



In the Luhansk direction, illegal armed groups from grenade launchers and large-caliber machine guns fired at Ukrainian fortifications near Troitske, Luhanske and Novozvanivka settlements.



"As a result of enemy attacks in Novozvanivka, one soldier was injured," the report said.



In the Donetsk direction, according to the headquarters, silence remained during the day.



"Despite this, during the execution of the military assignment for the transportation of property, as a result of the explosion, a Ukrainian serviceman was killed. Another soldier received wounds during the inspection of the minefield," the headquarters said.





Related: OSCE intensely monitors situation in Uzhgorod from Ivano-FrankivskOver the last 24 hours, Russian mercenaries have increased the intensity of attacks on Ukrainian positions. Dmytro Hutsulyak, the speaker of Ukraine's defence ministry said that at a briefing in Kyiv on Sunday.

According to him, the militants used RPGs and small arms to attack Novhorodske and Malynove (both in Luhansk region). 82 mm mines hit Katerynivka (Luhansk region). Mortar attacks were observed in Bohdanivka (Donetsk region).

In Vodyane, mercenaries opened fire from heavy machineguns, which resulted in one Ukrainian serviceman sustaining a severe combat wound.

Ukraine's government troops did not return fire.There has been no response from the Russian side since January, U.S. Special Representative in Ukraine says

Open source

The U.S. government did not get from Russia any evaluation of their offer to deploy the UN peacekeeping mission in Donbas. Kurt Volker, the Special Representative for Ukraine said that to reporters in Brussels as quoted by UNIAN news agency.

'The ball is on the Russian side now. We presented our view of the peacekeepign mission - in terms of geography and the liabilities of this mission; we discussed that with Russians in details. In January, during the meeting with Surkov (Vladislav Surkov, the presidential counselor of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, - 112 International), they told us they would consider it and develop their own offers, so that we could discuss them at the next meeting. We haven't got a word from them since then; however, we expect it to happen very soon', he said.

Earlier, Russian president Putin said his government is 'at the very least, not against' deploying UN peacekeepers all over Donbas, but 'it should be agreed with the unrecognized republics of Donbas'.

Commenting on Russia's draft resolution on UN peacekeepers deployment in Donbas, Volker said such conditions are unacceptable for the U.S. and the United Nations, since deploying peacekeepers only along the division line will only deepen the conflict, not solve it.kafanews.com

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has allocated 25.9 million euros for the construction of three solar power plants in Vynnytsia. This is reported on the page of the President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko on Facebook.



"This project is another step towards the energy independence of our country, as well as new jobs for 350 people who will be engaged in construction, and 15 more employees engaged in servicing the station," the statement said.

Earlier Volodymyr Groysman, Ukraines PM, wrote that gas consumption in Ukraine reduced by 6 billion cubic meters over the last three years. Still, the state can continue the decreasing process and reduce gas consumption by 5 billion cubic meters.

Related: Ukraine can reduce gas consumption by 5 billion cubic meters, - PMThe heads of the parliaments of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland signed a letter at a meeting in Vilnius saying that the Nord Stream-2 threatens the energy independence of the EU states, reports the Polish Radio. Earlier, the officials of Moldova and Ukraine left their signatures.



Speaker of the Sejm of Poland Marek Kuchcinski stressed that due to the unification of a whole group of countries their opinion will have more weight than if they had spoken separately.



"One principle is a common concern for the security of all the countries of the European Union, as well as of the countries in its eastern part. We want to cooperate with everyone, but we also want to respect and care for the security of the citizens of our Baltic countries and Poland. We support Ukraine, which these days leads a hard struggle for its independence," said Kuchcinski .



The text of the letter indicates that energy security is one of the main conditions for the existence of a united and prosperous Europe. Nord Stream-2, though positioned as an exclusively commercial project, is a tool for creating Europe's energy dependence on Russia and further political blackmail.



Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia and Moldova called on the countries of Europe to ensure the full implementation of EU rules when operating the Nord Stream-2.



Earlier, Mateusz Moravetski, Prime Minister of Poland, stated that Nord Stream 2 was dangerous both for the Baltic States and for Europe as a whole.Open source

Peter Szijjarto, Hungarian Foreign Minister, says that the OSCE observation mission will open in Zakarpattia. This was reported by the press service of the ruling Fides Party, to which Szijjarto himself belongs.



He said that he repeatedly appealed to the OSCE with the request to send observers in addition to Donbas, also to the western part of Zakarpattia and ensure the safety of the Hungarian community.



"It is unacceptable that in Ukraine, Hungarians are constantly intimidated and restricted in their rights," Szijjarto said.



On Friday, March 9, the OSCE Secretary General sent a message confirming that a permanent mission presence of 12 people has been established in Uzhgorod, Szijjarto said. He also stressed that the OSCE Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights responded positively to his request for a mission in Zakarpattia.



This statement has raised doubts, since there is no such information on the official website of the Hungarian government or on the OSCE website. In addition, to send the mission they need consensus in the OSCE, and it is impossible, because Ukraine opposed. And even if the mission in Zakarpattia operated within the framework of the already functioning SMM in Donbas - its mandate covers the entire country - it is questionable why the message came from the Hungarian party, and not from the official representatives of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine.

Related: EBRD allocated 26 million euros for construction of solar power plants in UkraineOpen source

The OSCE special monitoring mission in Ukraine does not confirm the information about the opening of the observation mission in Zakarpattia, but it says about the intensified monitoring in Uzhgorod. This was reported in the press service of the OSCE SMM, Radio Liberty informs.



"In response to recent events in the city of Uzhgorod and its environs, the OSCE SMM increased monitoring in this area," the reply says.



The OSCE SMM notes that they will continue monitoring the situation in Uzhgorod "through continuous patroling" from Ivano-Frankivsk.



Earlier the media reported that on March 10, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Siyarto said that the OSCE had informed him about the opening of an observation mission in Zakarpattia. In particular, it was reported that the OSCE mission would allegedly be based in Uzhgorod, the mission included 12 people.



In Regional State Administration they declared that they do not know anything about the opening of the office of the OSCE mission.



In February, two incidents occurred in Uzhgorod, related to the Society of Hungarian Culture: attacks on the building on 27th and 4th of February.



On March 4, the chairman of the National Police, Serhiy Knyazev said that law enforcers solved both crimes. According to him, only five people were detained, the probable organizer-foreigner is on the wanted list.



On March 5, the chairman of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Gennady Moskal said that law enforcers detained people suspected of setting fire to the office of the Society of Hungarian Culture in Zakarpattia on the night of February 27, and also identified the organizer of the attack on the Hungarian center in Uzhgorod. According to him, this is a member of the "Ministry of State Security" (MGB) of the unrecognized republic of Transnistria, who immediately fled home after committing the crime. "



Relations between Ukraine and Hungary have sharply deteriorated recently due to the new Ukrainian law "On Education", which provided for the gradual transition to education in the state Ukrainian language. Budapest saw this as a violation of the rights of the Hungarian minority. Kyiv rejects these accusations.

Related: Ukraine can reduce gas consumption by 5 billion cubic meters, - PMReuters

Russia tested 210 kinds of weapons in Syria. This was told by the Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a new film about the president called "Putin", TASS reported.



The head of the military department noted that Syria "has given vast experience to the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation."



"We watched 210 samples of weapons, checked with the Syrians on the battlefield. What we saw, made comments, additions - that's all, of course, in the future will save lives for those who come with this weapon to fight further," he said.



Russian forces have launched a military operation in Syria since the fall of 2015. The Kremlin officially announced the support of the regime of President Bashar Assad and sent aircraft, ground troops and ships to Syria. Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly stated about the "withdrawal" of Russian troops from Syria in connection with the "execution" of the assigned combat missions.



International organizations blamed Russia for attacks on civilian objects, in particular hospitals, and Bashar Assad's regime used chemical weapons, which resulted in large-scale civilian casualties.

Related: EU has no fatigue from Ukraine, - MogheriniOpen source

Nobody addressed the Zakarpattia regional state administration with proposals to open a monitoring mission. This in the commentary to Hromadske radio said the speaker of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration Yaroslav Galas.



"There were no proposals to the administration to open a permanent monitoring mission, and the administration did not give consent," he said.



According to him, it is possible that such an agreement is not required, but "they should have informed the administration".



We recall that today the press service of the ruling Fidesz Party in Hungary issued a statement by Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto who announced the opening of an OSCE observation mission in Zakarpattia.

He said that he repeatedly appealed to the OSCE with the request to send observers in addition to Donbas, also to the western part of Zakarpattia and ensure the safety of the Hungarian community.



"It is unacceptable that in Ukraine, Hungarians are constantly intimidated and restricted in their rights," Szijjarto said.



On Friday, March 9, the OSCE Secretary General sent a message confirming that a permanent mission presence of 12 people has been established in Uzhgorod, Siyarto said. He also stressed that the OSCE Secretary General and the High Commissioner for Human Rights responded positively to his request for a mission in Zakarpattia.



This statement has raised doubts, since there is no such information on the official website of the Hungarian government or on the OSCE website. In addition, to send the mission they need consensus in the OSCE, and it is impossible, because Ukraine opposed. And even if the mission in Zakarpattia operated within the framework of the already functioning SMM in Donbas - its mandate covers the entire country - it is questionable why the message came from the Hungarian party, and not from the official representatives of the OSCE SMM in Ukraine.

Related: Hungarian Foreign Minister: OSCE mission open in Zakarpattia regionCriminal leader Sumbat Abasov was detained tonight. Mass media department of Ukraines Border Guard Service reports.

Sumbat Abasov was detained 50 meters away from the state borderline. He was trying to enter Russia without any documents illegally.

The detainee was on the wanted list for illegal activities on the territory of Ukraine. Georgian citizen was transferred to the National Police.

As we reported earlier, Zaur Dombayev, Russian criminal leader, was detained in Kyiv region in February. He is well known under the nickname Khasan. He is accused of participation in illegal armed formations and disruption and deterioration of crime situation in the country.As'ad's Bio

As'ad AbuKhalil, born March 16, 1960. From Tyre, Lebanon, grew up in Beirut. Received his BA and MA from American University of Beirut in pol sc. Came to US in 1983 and received his PhD in comparative government from Georgetown University. Taught at Tufts University, Georgetown University, George Washington University, Colorado College, and Randolph-Macon Woman's College. Served as a Scholar-in-Residence at Middle East Institute in Washington DC. He served as free-lance Middle East consultant for NBC News and ABC News, an experience that only served to increase his disdain for maintream US media. He is now professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus. His favorite food is fried eggplants.Open source

The annexation of Crimea is illegal, Russian authorities are guilty of human rights violation in Crimea, Ukraine impedes the only Russian politician, who supports its national sovereignty, visit the state under the law. Ksenia Sobchak, the candidate for Russian presidential election, wrote this on Instagram.

She stressed that she applied with the request letter to Ukraines Border Guard Service asking to visit Crimea.

I mentioned in the letter, that my visit has nothing to do with the campaign. I do not conduct any election campaign in Crimea, neither do I have any campaign materials there, Sobchak wrote.

Klimkin called her request for legal entry, followed by an illegitimate campaigning, held in the occupied territory is clearly a case of schizophrenia, of a political sort. Sobchak said that his reply is strange.

Ukrainian authorities impeded the only Russian politician, who supports its national sovereignty, visit the state under the law. So who actually benefits from Crimeans occupation and war in Donbas, who acts for the benefit of Putin, LNR and DNR (Luhansk Peoples Republic and Donetsk Peoples Republic, - ed.)? Who has schizophrenia? she wrote.

Previously, Ksenia Sobchak said she sent Ukraine's embassy a request to enter Crimea from the territory of the mainland Ukraine, which meets the demands of the Ukrainian law. Later, the Ukrainian embassy in Russia denied this piece of information.

Speaker of the State Border Service of Ukraine Oleg Slobodyan said that if Sobchak appears on the Ukrainian border, State Border Service "will carry out a set of measures to verify the possible violation of its Ukrainian legislation.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!)Enjoy two great bands from past Globalquerque!s as Zimbabwe meets Argentina on the Dirty Bourbon stage.



Mokoomba is a 6-piece band that plays a unique blend of Tonga and Luvale traditional rhythms fused with dashes of funk, ska and soukous. Hailing from Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe, the band has toured over 50 countries around the world.



The name Mokoomba stems from the deep respect that the Tonga people have for the Zambezi River and for the vibrant life that it brings to their music and culture. This exciting group certainly has a unique sound that is set to take the world music scene by storm!



ENGINE is a powerful musical and theatrical act, based on two dancing guitars and a harmonica overlapped by the raw blending of three actor-musicians voices. The songs are a weave of Latin American rhythms, rich harmonies and rock dynamics, interspersed by simple yet powerful theatrical eruptions. The protagonists sing ceaselessly and dance scandalously, sometimes on stage and sometimes in the audience. ENGINE, the invisible machine, provides the concerts rhythm. People may wonder: how can just three people create such a sublime mess?



For over four years, Alejandro Tomas Rodriguez (Argentina) and Robin Gentien (France) have been traveling the world sharing various musical and theatrical performances. They have also been teaching, exposing themselves to a multiplicity of cultures and communities, and incorporating all their experiences into their art and craft. In 2016, they were joined by Pierre Lauth-Karson (France), creating the final cog in the ENGINE.







The Revolutions International Theatre Festival returns for its eighteenth year of bringing thrilling, punk-rocking, hilarious, clowning, disturbing, political, and groundbreaking international performance to Albuquerque. Presented by Tricklock Company, the festival embodies Tricklocks mission of international exchange, collaboration, and artistic freedom.



Join Tricklock and artists from Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Chile, Canada, Argentina, France, Hungary, and the USA as we celebrate the arts and their essential ability to cross borders and oceans, bringing us all together in the shared, sacred space of artistic exchange. Dont forget The Reptilian Lounge, ABQs longest running late night cabaret, the Excavations: new works series, and more!In London yesterday visiting Saudi Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman (MbS) allowed the signing of a set of trade memoranda with various British companies, including buying Typhoon aircraft, and many other things, 18 such deals, although some sources say only 14, total value maybe about $90 billion, although much of that already in the works and in the end may amount to what the $110 billion plus deals he agreed to with Trump, not much at all. One large item not in the deal, a promise to let London handle the upcoming massive IPO for 5% of ARAMCO, with both New York and Riyadh itself still in contention for that one, the main claim to privatization of the Saudi economy that its PR machine has been relentlessly spinning about loudly for some time now. I continue to forecast that wherever it is done, it will end up being a Saudi insiders deal to get some shares of ARAMCO into MbS approved private princely hands.

But the deal that triggers this post is one that signals the final end of two closely related deals made in 1928 between the leading oil companies of the day, the As Is Agreement and the Red Line Agreement. The first is the more important one, although the latter involved the dramatic drawing of a red line on a map by Calouste Gulbenkian that basically supported the As Is one. That one was made at a secret meeting held at Achnacarry Castle, after a round of grouse hunting, between the worlds three most powerful oil CEOs, Sir Henri Deterding, host and owner of the castle and Chairman of Royal Dutch Shell from 1900-1936 (created by him by merging his Royal Dutch shipping company with Marcus Samuels Shell Company based in the Dutch East Indies, now Indonesia, originally actually dealing in shells but then in oil production), Sir John John Campton, Chairman of then Anglo-Persian Oil Company, which became Anglo-Iranian Oil Company in 1935 when the nation showed its alliance with Hitler and his Aryan racial master race theory (and was briefly nationalized by Mossadegh in Iran in 1951, only to have that undone by the mostly US Project Ajax, which let some US oil minors in) and which is now British Petroleum (and was 50% owned by the British govermment from WW I when Churchill nationalized it to guarantee oil for the British navy until Thatcher sold off the family silverware shares in the 1980s), and finally Walter Teagle, Chairman of New Jersey Standard, the largest successor to Rockefellers Standard Oil, which would later become Exxon, and more recently would buy up the second largest successor, Mobil, originally New York Standard.

They divided up the Middle East among them, with the Red Line emphasizing it. For our purposes here, the crucial matter is that Saudi Arabia, not then definitely known to have any oil, was granted to Jersey Standard, aka Esso aka Exxon. In 1938 petro-geologists from the company found oil and cut the first deals with then King Abdulaziz to start production, which did not really take off until after his death in the early 1950s, although it was co-founder (with Venezuela) of OPEC in 1960, and is and long has been and will continue to be the worlds largest exporter of oil. ARAMCO was the company, originally Jersey Standard (Exxon), New York Standard (Mobil) , Califonrnia Standard (Chwevron), and the now defunct Texaco. By the end of the 40s, the Saudis hasd intiated a 50-50 profit sharing agreement. By the time of the first oil price shock in 1973 that they initiated, they had bought out these US companies, and while everybody calls it ARAMCO (Arabian-American Oil Company), it is officially the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. Nevertheless, the ols US companies continued to get contracts to do various things for and with ARAMCO.

So, in London MbS allowed a British breach of the old As Is/Red Line Agreement from 1928. For the first time a Briitsh-based oil company will get in on the action in Saudi Arabia, in tis case, good ols Royal Durtch Shell, which is really part British part Dutch (the Dutch royal family still holds shares, I unserstand). They are going to be brought in, reportedly, to help with developing shale oil production of natural gas, apparently on the fringes of the al-Ghawar field, by far the largest oil pool in the world, responsible currently for about 4-5% of world oil production. This may yet not come to pass, but it does indeed mark the final end of the 90 year old agreement that said oil production in Saudi Arabia was strictly for the American oil companies (among non-Saudi ones). Time passes on.

Barkley RosserYEREVAN, FEBRUARY 23, ARMENPRESS. At a joint press conference in Yerevan with FM Edward Nalbandian, foreign minister of Madagascar Henry Rabary Njaka talked about the expansion of cooperation between the two countries. Henry Rabary Njaka says great potential exists for enhancing cooperation.

The hospitality of Madagascar is mentioned often, but I can say that Armenian hospitality is truly unique. All what weve done in the past days was very impressive and even extremely touching at certain moments. I can say this is just the beginning, our contacts must be continuous in both Yerevan and Antananarivo. Madagascar and Armenia are members of that big family, Francophonie, we share important values and in this family we must certainly also protect values of humanism and brotherhood. All thats important, like human rights, fundamental freedoms, respects of one people towards the other, all these values unite us. I am stunned on how much similarities these two peoples have, the Madagascar FM said, stressing that both sides have relevant will for advancing bilateral relations.

He mentioned that during the meeting with his Armenian counterpart they addressed several issues including the upcoming visit of the President of Madagascar to Armenia.

I believe this visit will be a great honor for the people of Madagascar. Our teams will begin permanent contacts starting today to prepare that state visit. We expect success from that visit, he said.

Henry Rabary Njaka expressed admiration for Armenias economic growth, mentioning that Madagascar can only benefit from it.

You were recording double-digit economic growth even five years after declaring independence, he said, adding that Madagascar needs a friendly country like Armenia, which is rather experiences in several sectors.

English translator/editor: Stepan KocharyanYEREVAN, MARCH 7, ARMENPRESS. Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan on March 7 received the delegation led by Mayor of Lyon Georges Kepenekian who arrived in Yerevan on an official visit, the Presidential Office told Armenpress.

Welcoming the Lyon delegation, the President congratulated Georges Kepenekian on being elected Mayor of Lyon and wished him numerous achievements. Serzh Sargsyan said Armenians will consider the achievements of our compatriot in France as their own since they are important component of the Armenian-French friendship. According to the President, Georges Kepenekian with his activity proved that he is a deserving citizen of France and a devotee of the Armenain people. President Sargsyan expressed confidence the Lyon Mayor will serve at best his experience and abilities to intensify the relations between Lyon and Yerevan and strengthen the friendship between the Armenian and French peoples. President Sargsyan also congratulated the Lyon Mayor on being awarded with a Gold Medal of the Mayor of Yerevan.

Serzh Sargsyan warmly remembered his visit to Paris a month ago and first meeting with President Macron, as well as his visit to Lyon in spring of 2017 and interesting talk with former Mayor of Lyon, a great friend of the Armenian people Gerard Collomb.

Commenting on the Armenian-French unique relations, the President said the friendship has no boundaries, and the two countries always should expand the cooperation and strengthen the relations every year.

Mayor of Lyon Georges Kepenekian thanked the President for the congratulations and wishes. He said his delegation includes experienced specialists of different fields thanks to whom he hopes to expand multilayer cooperation in Armenia. The Lyon Mayor talked about the productive meetings held in Yerevan and the cooperation agreements reached in several fields.

The delegation members also introduced their impressions from the Yerevan meetings stating that they see a great cooperation potential with Armenia and are confident that Armenia can look at the future with a great optimism.

The meeting also touched upon the summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie which will be held in Armenia this year in October. The President said Armenia approaches to the organization of this event with a great responsibility as it considers the Francophonie a leading civilization value system that played a key role in the human civilization and progress.



English translator/editor: Aneta Harutyunyan



YEREVAN, MARCH 11, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Ambassador to Iran H.E. Artashes Tumanyan had a meeting on March 10 with Ziya Hashemi, the new director of IRNA, the countrys main state-media, the Armenian Embassy of Iran told ARMENPRESS.

At the meeting Mr. Hashemi warmly recalled his earlier visit to Yerevan a few years ago in the capacity of a lecturer of the University of Tehran. Speaking about the Iranian-Armenian community Mr. Hashemi praised the role of its representatives in the country.

Underscoring Armenias high level in science, Mr. Hashemi attached importance to the development of scientific cooperation.

He also addressed the need for strengthening cultural ties and expressed readiness to serve IRNAs capabilities for spreading information and raising the level of awareness about Armenia in Iran.

The Armenian Ambassador thanked for the meeting and was pleased to note the cooperation which has been established with IRNA.

H.E. Artashes Tumanyan spoke about the ARMENPRESS-IRNA memorandum of cooperation signed October 21, 2017 in Tehran, mentioning that the parties are carrying out concrete actions for realizing the deal.

Both sides concurred on the need for consistently continuing the work aimed at raising the level of mutual recognition in the two countries.

The sides also discussed the issue of opening IRNA and ARMENPRESS representation offices in Yerevan and Tehran respectively.

English translator/editor: Stepan Kocharyan"When pressed whether he or the ABC Commission had 'any evidence, actual or anecdotal, that the cap ought to be 25,000 [barrels] versus 250,000 versus 2.5 million,' he responded, 'I don't believe that we do.' ... When pressed further whether any state agencies had 'any evidence that the cap ought to be at 25,000 barrels as opposed to 250,000 or 2.5 million,' he responded, 'I know of no agencies that would - other than the legislature and the legislative research division.'"

"He admitted, 'I don't know the reason for [the legislature] setting any threshold.' ... When presented with a statement by a legislator that the previous legislature simply 'picked a number,' he admitted, 'I have no idea how the previous legislature picked that particular figure. ...'

Q: [Brewers] really only have two choices, right? They can enter into an agreement with a distributor or they can stunt their growth by producing fewer than 25,000 barrels. ... Is there another choice that I'm missing?

A: They could become a distributor and not be a brewer.

Q: So they could change professions, essentially?

A: There's a lot of different opportunities. People do it all the time.

Q: They could become barbers too, right?

A: Absolutely.

The plaintiffs in a complaint challenging the constitutionality of two state laws involving beer distribution and franchise laws have filed a brief opposing a state motion to dismiss and transfer the case.The brief filed by the plaintiffs - Craft Freedom LLC, The Olde Mecklenburg Brewery LLC, and NoDa Brewing Co. - was filed Wednesday, March 7, in Wake County Superior Court. The initial hearing is set for March 16.The original complaint sought a permanent injunction against enforcement of the state's distribution cap and franchise laws. It says the distribution cap and franchise laws are inflicting injury and threaten to impose additional damage to the brewers.It says the "arbitrary" distribution cap punishes craft breweries for their own success by forcing them to relinquish distribution rights if they sell more than 25,000 barrels each year. (A barrel of beer is 31 gallons.) The franchise law results inIn its motion to dismiss, the state says the plaintiffs' complaint can't survive dismissal "for multiple reasons."The state, it says, is immune from the suit and plaintiffs have failed to establish the state has waived its immunity. Second, the state says the plaintiffs' claimsThe motion says the complaint should be dismissed with prejudice and asserts the challenge, according to statute, must be heard by a three-judge panel of the Superior Court.In their brief, the plaintiffs challengeThe complaint challenges two state laws - the distribution cap,- and the franchise law. That law, says the complaint,The plaintiffs' brief includes a deposition by N.C. ABC Commission Administrator Robert Hamilton.the brief says,According to the deposition:The plaintiffs also said Hamilton admitted some of today's alcohol sales and distribution laws were based on practices taking place before Prohibition, more than a century ago -Brewers, Hamilton said in the deposition,Thus the following exchange:Attorneys Bob Orr and Drew Erteschik are representing the plaintiffs. Erteschik said the lawyers won't comment about the case in view of the upcoming hearing.When they filed the complaint May 15 of last year, the lawyers released the following statement:On April 26, 2017, the state House voted 95-25 to approve House Bill 500, a watered-down plan that originally would have raised the barrel limit to 200,000. The state's wholesale distributors said the increase would place their own businesses in jeopardy and persuaded lawmakers to eliminate the cap-raising provision.John Marrino, who owns Olde Mecklenburg brewery in Charlotte, told Carolina Journal as lawmakers debated the measure last year. NoDa is in Charlotte, as well.North Carolina operates under a so-called three-tier system - breweries, distributors, and retailers. The state's weathered laws reinforce that system and truly define distributors as the middle men.says the original complaint.Now that it is fully apparent, to all who have the ability to pay some modicum of attention, that Imposter President Biden has extreme cognitive issues, in addition to being an inveterate liar: Can OUR Republic continue with this Executive Office that has completely failed, so many times, on far too many issues here at this early date in this abysmal presidency?

No, Joseph R. Biden is completely unqualified, morally and cognitively, to represent real Americans, and lead this Republic of disparate peoples.

Yes, Joseph R. Biden has started whispering again, even softer now than before; so, I know he still cares, plus, OUR media will soon stop reporting on Afghanistan in favor of OUR Socialist issues.Press Briefing by Press Secretary Sarah Sanders

Press Release:



Issued on: March 9, 2018  James S. Brady  2:17 P.M. EST James S. Brady Press Briefing Room



MS. SANDERS: Good afternoon. Happy Friday.



Q Happy Friday.



MS. SANDERS: We are once again seeing strong evidence that the American Dream is back and real under President Trump's leadership. Based on today's jobs report, the President's economic policies of historic tax cuts and deregulation are working.



The Obama administration was losing around 1,000 jobs a month in the manufacturing industry. But since the President's election, manufacturing jobs have increased by 275,000.



Over 300,000 jobs were created in February alone, bringing the total number of jobs created since President Trump was elected to nearly 3 million.



The Federal government is getting out of the way, and the American people are innovating, building, and creating jobs.



In other news today, the President has pardoned Kristian Saucier, a Navy submariner. Mr. Saucier was 22 years old at the time of his offenses, and has served out his 12-month sentence. He has been recognized by his fellow servicemembers for his dedication, skill, and patriotic spirit.



While serving, he regularly mentored younger sailors and served as an instructor for new recruits. The sentencing judge found that Mr. Saucier's offense stands in contrast to his commendable military service. The President is appreciative of Mr. Saucier's service to the country.



With that, I will take your questions. John.



Q Sarah, what are the considerations that are under discussion for the location that this meeting between the President and Kim Jong-un would take place?



MS. SANDERS: Yeah, as we said last night, a time and place have not yet been determined. We'll certainly make those announcements when more decisions and more information is available on that front.



Q But what are the considerations that are under discussion for where this could take place? I mean, you wouldn't - I take it you wouldn't want to have it in downtown Pyongyang.



MS. SANDERS: Yeah, and we're not going to have those conversations between me, and you, and the press. Those will be conversations that take place at a much higher level, and, certainly, outside of this room.



Q And just if I could -



MS. SANDERS: Sure.



Q The South Korean national security advisor said that the U.S. responded positively to a South Korean request for a waiver on the steel tariffs. Could you tell us where you are on that?



MS. SANDERS: As the President's proclamation said yesterday, there were two countries that were specifically excluded, and there would be the opportunity for us to negotiate on matters of national security with other countries. And we're going to be doing that with a number of different countries.



Jonathan.



Q Sarah, does the President think that Kim Jong-un is sincere about talking about denuclearization?



MS. SANDERS: The President is hopeful that we can make some continued progress. Look, what we know is that the maximum pressure campaign has clearly been effective. We know that it has put a tremendous amount of pressure on North Korea. And they have made some major promises. They've made promises to denuclearize. They've made promises to stop nuclear and missile testing. And they've recognized that regular military exercises between the U.S. and its ally, South Korea, will continue.



The maximum pressure campaign, we're not letting up. We're not going to step back or make any changes to that. We're going to continue in that effort, and we're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea.



Q But does he think that Kim Jong-un can be trusted as a negotiating partner?



MS. SANDERS: Look, we're not in the negotiation right now. We've accepted the invitation to talk, based on them following through with concrete actions on the promises that they've made.



Q And if I could just ask you just one other thing. Lindsey Graham said about this news. He said, "A word of warning to North Korean President Kim Jong Un - the worst possible thing you can do" with Donald Trump, in person, is to meet with him "in person and try to play him. If you do that, it will be the end of you - and your regime." Is Lindsey Graham reading the President correct on that? Is that a correct -



MS. SANDERS: I think that Lindsey Graham knows that President Trump is one of the best negotiators. And certainly, I think that he has great confidence in his ability, and is glad that he'll be the one at the table for the United States. I think Senator Graham has been on the other side of that, and certainly knows the capabilities and the determination of President Trump.



Jeff.



Q Sarah, why did the President accept this invitation without any preconditions? For example, without demanding that the North Koreans release the three Americans that are being held there.



MS. SANDERS: Look, that's something that we're going to continue advocating for and pushing for. But let's not forget that the North Koreans did promise something: They've promised to denuclearize, they've promised to stop nuclear and missile testing, and they've recognized that we're going to continue in our military exercises.



Let's be very clear: The United States has made zero concessions. But North Korea has made some promises. And, again, this meeting won't take place without concrete actions that match the promises that have been made by North Korea.



Q And I wanted to follow up on that because you just said that now. Do you think that a two-month time period is enough time to make sure that they will actually fulfill those promises? He said he wants to do it by May.



MS. SANDERS: Look, we're working on the determination of the time. But let's not be lost in the fact that this didn't happen overnight. This maximum pressure campaign and this process has been ongoing since the President first took office.



For the first time in a long time, the United States is actually having conversations from a position of strength, not a position of weakness, like the one that North Korea finds itself in due to the maximum pressure campaign.



Q Does that mean it might not be May?



MR. SANDERS: Again, we haven't set a time or a location. Those things have yet to be determined.



Q Sarah, you said they promised to denuclearize. Did they promise to denuclearize or did they promise to talk about denuclearizing?



MR. SANDERS: The understanding, the message from the South Korean delegation is that they would denuclearize. And that is what our ultimate goal has always been, and that will have to be part of the actions that we see them take.



Q Is that before or after the meeting?



MR. SANDERS: We'd have to see concrete and verifiable actions take place.



Q Before the meeting?



MS. SANDERS: Yes. Yeah.



Q Sarah, isn't the President giving Kim Jong-un exactly what he wants, which is respect and stature on the international stage?



MR. SANDERS: Not at all. I think that the President is getting exactly what he wants. He is getting the opportunity to have the North Koreans actually denuclearize.



Look, you have to remember, nothing is changing from the United States' position. We're going to continue the maximum pressure campaign. We're going to continue working with our allies and partners to do that. And we're going to continue to ask them to step up and do more. Nothing is changing from our side when it comes to this conversation.



Q But there's no guarantee this will be any more than a photo op? Kim Jong-un gets his equal footing, in his view, on the world stage, with the leader of the free world, and the President gets nothing.



MR. SANDERS: I certainly disagree with - I definitely don't think that the President is getting nothing, when we've already said - and, frankly, I've said it many times since walking in here in the last 10 minutes - that the President will not have the meeting without seeing concrete steps and concrete actions take place by North Korea.



So the President would actually be getting something, and, frankly, the world would be getting something. If we can get to a place where North Korea is denuclearizing, that is a massive step and it's something that will make the entire globe much safer. And even President Moon has said that this is because of the leadership of President Trump.



Q And one small follow-up question, which is - and I apologize for that - which is, given the economic news and the North Korea news, what words would you use to describe the President's mood right now?



MR. SANDERS: The President is in a great mood. The President has been in a great mood because we've had not just a successful couple of days; we've had a successful year. And we're very focused on making sure we have seven more.



Kristen.



Q Sarah, thank you. Top officials at the White House and at the Pentagon seemed to be taken by surprise by the announcement. Was this done in a haphazard way?



MR. SANDERS: Not at all. As I said, that this has been part of an ongoing campaign that's been going for over a year. And just because some of the individuals that may regularly leak to the press weren't involved in the conversation doesn't mean that the appropriate parties that lead those agencies were not in the room and not part of that discussion.



Q But the President came here to the briefing room, though, before reaching out to the President of China. Is that appropriate? Should he not have reached out to his international partners first before making an announcement here?



MR. SANDERS: Look, we had ongoing conversations with leaders across the world. The President simply said there would be an announcement. He had several conversations with world leaders, both last night and today.



Q Were you aware he would make this decision beforehand?



MR. SANDERS: Again, the President had conversations with a few world leaders, both last night and today. This is something that all of these countries have been working together on and something that we're going to continue to work with our allies and partners on.



Q And was the Secretary of State aware that he was going to make that decision, Sarah?



MR. SANDERS: Yeah, and the Secretary of State's deputy was in the room at the time these conversations went on. So it's absurd to pretend like they weren't part of this process and haven't been part of this process all along.



Jeff.



Q Sarah, to follow on what Peter was asking, how will the President and the United States be able to verify this before the meeting? How will they be able to verify the denuclearization?



MR. SANDERS: That's something that will be determined through the national security and intelligence community. Certainly not something I would read out to you guys from here.



Q The President has said repeatedly that previous Presidents, his predecessors, have mishandled this and misplayed this. Why can he be so confident that this is the right move, when, just in October, he was telling his own Secretary of State it would be a waste of time to talk directly?



MR. SANDERS: Well, I think it's really clear that they've misplayed it, or we wouldn't be in the position that we're in. The President wouldn't be having to clean up the mistakes of the previous three administrations. The President is getting promises out of North Korea that haven't been made in any recent years. And again, we are going to continue the maximum pressure campaign to make sure that they follow through on these commitments.



Q Who would he like to have with him -



MR. SANDERS: Sorry, I'm going to keep moving.



Q If I could just ask, who would he like to have with him at the meeting? The Secretary of State? I mean, there is not an ambassador now in South Korea. Does he plan to step up more before this meeting?



MR. SANDERS: Look, the President has an incredible team that is surrounding him, both from the National Security Advisor, Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the intelligence community. But at the end of the day, the ultimate person to lead that negotiation - or that conversation and be at the table will be the President.



Jon.



Q Thanks a lot, Sarah. The North Korean government has made promises before; they've reneged on those promises in two prior administrations. What's different now? Why should we trust Kim Jong-un now?



MR. SANDERS: Again, because the United States is going to continue that maximum pressure campaign. We are making no concessions and we are not going to move forward until we see concrete and verified actions taking place by North Korea. We are also operating from a position of strength that we haven't had in previous administrations due to the maximum pressure campaign - not just by the United States.



Let's not forget that a lot of our allies and partners, like China, South Korea, Japan, have stepped up and done infinitely more over the past year due to the President's leadership than they have in the previous administrations.



So this is a collective effort to put that pressure on North Korea, and it's going to continue. North Korea is in a place of weakness, and that is certainly recognized by the promises that they've made through this conversation.



Q Kim Jong-un has starved his own people, he's murdered his own people. You could say he's responsible for the death of Otto Warmbier. Why put him on the same stage as the President of the United States?

Kate Wilhelm, author of many of science fiction's seminal books and stories (e.g. Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang), would have been a titan in the field if she had only written; but Wilhelm's prodigious authorly accomplishments are matched by her influence on the generations of writers trained in the Clarion Workshops, which she co-founded with Robin Scott Wilson and her husband Damon Knight.



Kate was the sole surviving member of that original trio, and this week she died, at the age of 89.

Wilhelm was one of my instructors in 1992, and remained a friend and mentor; at her urging I joined the board of the nonprofit Clarion Foundation and have returned to the workshop several times to teach, striving to uphold the standards she set in her many decades of service to the field and its practicioners.

Kate was reportedly lucid until the end, and died in the midst of her loved ones. She is already sorely missed.





If you want to learn more about Kate, try this 2012 Starshipsofa podcast where she appeared alongside Ray Bradbury; and read her memoir, Storyteller, which tells the history of the Clarion Workshop as well.

Her son, Richard Wilhelm, suggests that we read Gordon van Gelder's 2001 appreciation of Kate's life and accomplishments. I'll quote from it below:

There is also extraordinary intelligence at work in her fiction. One of Kate's mystery novels hinges on the use of the "morning after" abortion drug, RU-486. Half a decade later, I was in an editorial meeting in which a mystery using the same plot element was being touted as the next big commercial thing, and I realized once again how often Kate grasps a new concept, turns it over and around, and holds its flaws up to light before most people have even recognized it for what it is. Small wonder her stories seem to be ahead of their time so frequentlytwenty-five years before "Survivor" hit the TV screens, she practically predicted it in "Ladies and Gentlemen, This Is Your Crisis." Before I get carried away and take over the bulk of this issue, let me restrain myself to a few more points: *

The role of family in Kate Wilhelm's work is an essay in itself (if not an entire book)her portraits and studies of siblings, married couples, and children are assured and perceptive. One critic told me he saw Constance Leidl and Charlie Meiklejohn as stand-ins for Kate and Damon, but I find the resemblances superficial. It's definitely true, however, that family plays a big role in Kate's life as well as in her fictionin fact, she collaborated with her son Richard on one book, and note whose work graces the cover of this issue (F&SF, March 2001). *

Another state secret: the last part of a story Kate usually writes is the title. People in the sales department at St. Martin's didn't like the title Death Qualified and threatened to rename the book "The Butterfly Effect." (These included some of the same people who felt that "The Silence of the Lambs" was a weak title.) Kate's working title for the novella in this issue was "What Color Were Leif Ericson's Underpants?" *

In high school, Kate took an employment aptitude test that told her she was meant to be an architect. Before you laugh, think of how prominent a role buildings play in novels such as Smart House, The Good Children, and Cambio Bay. If you ever get the feeling that you could find your way around one of the houses in Kate's books, that might be because she draws maps of the major locales for her books while she's working on them. *

At one point, I found myself hard-pressed to identify what literary traditions fostered her fictionfor someone who is so very widely read, Kate Wilhelm's work strikes me as being very independent. Then I sat on a panel at an sf convention in Ohio in which we discussed what (if anything) characterizes Ohioan fiction. Maureen McHugh and the others (including Ron Sarti and Juanita Coulson) very eloquently summed up the characteristics of what Maureen dubbed "heartland" fictionmodest, independent, suburban fiction that's far more interested in average folks than in supermen. I cited Leigh Brackett and The Long Tomorrow as a prime exampleand I find that Kate Wilhelm's work fits in this tradition. Somewhat. Hers is not fiction that can be pigeonholed easily.

Kate Wilhelm announcement [Richard Wilhelm/Facebook]News / National

by Staff Reporter

President Mugabe called Thokozani Khupe to Blue Roof as Tsvangirai lay on his death bed. It is understood that he offered MDC Vice President Thokozani Khupe a spot as one of the vice presidents in the outfit that he was planning  now known as New Patriotic Front.The Sunday Times of South Africa reports that Mugabe called Khupe to his Blue Roof residence to discuss the offer. Our further investigations indicate that Mugabe put Jonathan Moyo on the phone too as they sought to find a common ground.Mugabe then dispatched emissaries to speak with Khupe in South Africa during the so-called Coalition workshop in February this year. It is unknown whether Khupe agreed to work with Mugabe at the time. What is known is that there were two meetings with Mugabe's emissaries in South Africa where the modalities of working together was being worked out.At the time it was becoming apparent that Tsvangirai was not going to survive the cancer. Khupe also had a tentative memorandum with Joice Mujuru to work together in the event that she (Khupe) assumed the presidency of MDC.Khupe has been vehemently opposed to the MDC Alliance that Tsvangirai forged with Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube. Under the Alliance agreement, Ncube's MDC would be allowed to choose the bulk of candidates to contest the parliamentary seats in Matebeleland.This did not go down well with Khupe who felt that Tsvangirai was sacrifising her on the altar for little benefit. She then boycotted meetings with Tsvangirai for more than a year. By the time Tsvangirai died, Khupe had snubbed four meeting requests from Tsvangirai to iron out their differences.A power struggle ensured at Tsvangirai's death with Khupe, Mudzuri and Chamisa claiming to be the legitimate leaders of MDC. Chamisa then called a National Council meeting that endorsed him as Acting President and 2018 Presidential candidate for MDC.Khupe has withdrawn to Bulawayo - her percieved stronghold where she is mounting resistance against Chamisa presidency. She is expected to launch a splinter party in the next few days. It is not yet certain if Khupe's party will join with Mugabe's New Patriotic Front.News / National

by Staff reporter

THE Zimbabwe Consolidated Diamond Company (ZCDC) has disputed reports that it is exporting diamonds to Botswana, but says it is drawing lessons from the neighbouring country's mining and processing of the gems.ZCDC CEO Morris Mpofu said the government had facilitated engagement with entities in Botswana that are involved in the diamond industry.Botswana is one of the largest producers of diamonds in the world with the sector accounting for above 85% of export revenues.Gaborone has also managed to gradually reduce its reliance on the precious mineral through building capacity in other economic sectors, something that Zimbabwe is trying to emulate."In order to tap into Botswana's experience in diamond mining, in 2017 the government of Zimbabwe engaged the Ministry of Mineral Resources, Green Technology and Energy Security in Botswana to facilitate engagements between its state entity ZCDC and other Botswana state entities such as the Minerals Development Corporation of Botswana, Diamond Trading Company of Botswana and the Botswana Diamond Hub," Mpofu said.ZCDC acknowledged the need to address bottlenecks in downstream processes that have for long led to poor branding of Marange diamonds, consequently resulting in under-pricing."Facilitated by the ministries of Mines from the two countries, ZCDC is engaging Botswana in the following areas of cooperation aimed at increasing operational efficiency, production effectiveness and industry growth: rough diamond mining and processing, sorting and valuation of rough diamonds, skills transfer and human capital development exchange programmes, product security models and technology transfer across the entire diamond value chain," Mpofu added.ZCDC has also set in motion programmess to capacitate the local cutting and polishing industry.It is also spearheading the establishment of a Gemology Centre in Mutare whose planning is at an advanced stage.Zimbabwe has not benefited much from the discovery of large diamond deposits in the Chiadzwa area in Manicaland due to leakages and lack of investment.News / National

by staff reporter

ZANU-PF Bulawayo Province yesterday welcomed to the party 28 new members who defected from the Agrippa Mutambara-led Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF).The members were presented before the party's provincial leadership at Davies Hall. More ZimPF members have reportedly defected from the embattled opposition party but failed to make it to yesterday's meeting due to transport logistics problems.Politburo member and legislator for Makokoba Retired Colonel Tshinga Dube paid membership fees for the 28 new members who were immediately issued with membership cards.Speaking to the new members, Zanu-PF Bulawayo provincial chairperson Professor Callistus Ndlovu described the development as the "biggest coup in Bulawayo."He urged the new members to be the party's ambassadors and recruit more members ahead of this year's elections."I want to welcome all of you. This is the biggest coup staged in Bulawayo. I understand there are more people that have defected from ZimPF and were meant to be with us today but failed to join us due to logistical challenges. Now that you have returned home, don't allow other party members to take your lives and control you. Be yourselves and add value to the party. Go out there and mobilise others to join the party. Politics is a game of numbers and we need those numbers to win resoundingly in this year's election," he said.Zimbabwe National Liberation War Veterans' Association Bulawayo provincial chairperson Cephas Ncube commended the new members for joining Zanu-PF. He said while people were free to join political parties of their choice, they should remember that Zanu-PF is the one that brought about such freedoms."You've taken the right decision because it's Zanu-PF that fought for this country. You've come back home. Yes, there are opposition parties but it is important to realise that there are there because of the environment created by Zanu-PF, an environment of freedom of expression and freedom of association," he said.Rtd Col Dube encouraged the new members to be resolute and not be bullied out of the party by other party members."There are some who might want to chase you out of the party. Come and report such cases. Stand your ground because you are equal members of the party just like everyone else. This is a people's party, it's not mine or the chairman's. It's for all of us. I applaud your decision to join the party," he said.ZimPF, from which the 28 defected, was formed in 2015 by ex-Zanu-PF members led by former Vice-President Dr Joice Mujuru, Mr Rugare Gumbo and Mr Didymus Mutasa but split last year.News / National

by Staff reporter

DESPERATE Constitutional law expert Professor Welshman Ncube has defended election of Nelson Chamisa as MDC-T president as the latter extended an olive oil to his defiant deputy.MDC-T deputy president Thokozani Khupe has declared herself the legitimate elected acting leader and appears to have defied a seven-day ultimatum by the party to shape up of face the consequences.Prof Ncube, who is also spokesman for the opposition MDC Alliance, was addressing hundreds of supporters at a Cross Dete rally on Saturday.He said there was nothing illegitimate about Chamisa's ascendancy as he chronicled how the late MDC-T leader Morgan Tsvangirai picked the youthful politician as his successor."Our president chose Chamisa and the MDC-T national council endorsed him," said Ncube."Those saying he is illegitimate because he wasn't nominated by congress are lost. In any case, who calls for the congress, isn't it the national council?"Chamisa took over power following Tsvangirai's death last month in a process bitterly contested by Khupe and other senior party leaders such as co-vice president Elias Mudzuri, secretary general Douglas Mwonzora and now-suspended national spokesman Obert Gutu.Mwonzora attended the Dete rally where Chamisa commended him for driving all the way from Harare to join the rest of the crew.News / National

by Stephen Jakes

A political commentator Pedzisai Ruhanya has warned the if it is true that MDC-T troubled Vice President Thokoani Khupe met former President Robert Mugabe at his blue roof house at a time when MDC-T late leader Morgan Tsvangirai died, then this has potentially damaging implications to her political credibility.The Sunday Times reported about Khupe and Mugabe meeting raising a stink to MDC followers on the motive of the said meeting."So Hon Khupe had a secret meeting with Mugabe at Blue Roof in January while Tsvangirai was on death bed according to the South African Sunday Times? This villager studied something called political communication," Ruhanya said."Should the meeting as reported by the paper verified as true, it has potentially damaging implications that this Zaka villager will adampurate in the coming days. Its coming out clear who did what, where, how and why with Zanu PF in the MDC-T beyond propaganda. A day in politics is long!"News / National

by Staff reporter

Stupidity must hurt  Khupe for Presidency (@Team_Khupe) March 11, 2018

MDC-T deputy Thokozani Khupe told party deputy treasurer Charlton Hwende that he is being hurt by stupidity.Hwende was celebrating an 'expose' which has come to light that it is a smear campaign in a poorly done article from the Sunday Times which alleges that President Mugabe called Thokozani Khupe to Blue Roof as Tsvangirai lay on his deathbed. It is understood that he offered Khupe a spot as one of the vice presidents in the outfit that he was planning - now known as New Patriotic Front.In 2017, Hwende celebrated the Khupe's assault by thugs linked to the then party President Morgan Tsvangirai.There is no evidence anywhere in the story of Khupe "associating" with Mugabe, however, the suspected architect of the Charlton Hwende went to town about it.Hwende said, "Khupe's association with Mugabe exposed. She has promised a big announcement tommorow."Dr Khupe replied him with a few words saying, "Stupidity must hurt"News / National

by Staff reporter

Brigadier General (Retired) Ambrose Mutinhiri the leader of the opposition party, the National Patriotic Front (NPF), has claimed that former president Robert Mugabe declared that he was not going to endorse his former confidante, President Emmerson Mnangagwa.Mutinhiri, whose NPF party has been endorsed by Mugabe also said that the former president will not endorse the injustices taking place under Mnangagwa.Speaking to the Standard, Mutinhiri said, "You know what, when this issue came up at my meeting with president Mugabe last Sunday, he was emphatic and unequivocal about his position. Let me recall what he told me about this, [Mugabe said] "ED thinks I am an idiot."How does he think I believe their claim that they are about upholding the legacy of the president, my legacy, when I'm down because of them and when they have been dragging me in the mud?People, especially in Zanu PF, want honest holders of the legacy of the president and they condemn hypocrisy, they condemn military brutality against the people.He went on to say: "ED says he wants me to endorse him, what will I be endorsing? Hypocrisy? Brutality against the people?The killing and battering of children (CIO and police officers) who worked with me? No, no, no; I'm not an idiot.Opinion / Columnist

SO much has been happening since the Bishop was away. So, so much! Morgan Tsvangirai was buried with his MDC-T in Buhera. Thokozani Khupe was butchered by hoodlums in the crumbs of what's left of the MDC-T. Nelson Chamisa grabbed the MDC-T crumbs right under the nose of Khupe and the unlikeable Elias Mudzuri.The young but unnecessarily excitable Chamisa, who some say has already been captured by the MDC-T hoodlums, has even gone to the extent of promising gullible Zimbabweans a bullet train. His visibly stunned audience at Chinhoyi wondered what the little boy was talking about. Bullet train to an audience in Chinhoyi? Well, as Chamisa was busy building castles in the air, Khupe and his boys were bleeding profusely in Bulawayo after another thorough beating from the MDC-T thugs.You hear and see all this and say: "Umm, Bishop indeed so, so much in just a few weeks." Indeed, too much vanhu waMwari, but then mati madii? From the Blue Roof Mansion in the leafy low-density suburb of Borrowdale, former president Mugabe and "musikana wangu" Grace were cooking a dynamite of some sort. I never thought one day I would ask this question, but hey good people  what's up with Bob? Hanzi chiiko nemudhara wedu? Is this what 94 minus 52 can do to one of independent Africa's founding fathers?Well, what the former president and his unrepentant wife are cooking is only dynamite insofar as it is likely to explode with devastating consequences right in their faces. Otherwise, to all right-thinking Zimbabweans they are cooking mbwezhu nedzimwe mbwende dzevanhu.Pardon me dear congregants, ndiri kuramba ndongobatwa nesetswa. Kikikikikiki, kikikikikikiki, kikikikikiki, Ambrose Mutinhiri kikikikiki, kikikkikiki! Leader of a political party? Kikikiki! Your ex-wife Tracy akakuramba, saka tokuda kuti zvidii? Imi vanhu sekaiwo neni mhani! You know panoti timid? You know panoti deadhead? Panoti flat tyre? Welcome to Mutinhiri's world of wonder!Now if you think Mutinhiri is a big old joke, there is an even bigger monumental joke in this joke. The spokesperson of Mutinhiri's supposed political party, is none other than the ever clever Jealousy Mawarire. Kikikikiki! Who is that musician who sang "anongori majokosi chete?" Jealousy of all the people? Yakakomborerwa zvayo Zanu-PF!For those who can't keep up with Jealousy's political prostitution, this is that guy who in 2013 filed a case at the Constitutional Court challenging the then president Mugabe to set dates for Presidential and parliamentary elections. Morgan Tsvangirai at that time was enjoying himself in the Prime Minister's Office and so was against the holding of elections. Jealousy did what he has always done and what he will soon do. Tsvangirai and his MDC-T were walloped by Zanu-PF. Kwanzi Tsvangirai akafa ane chigumbu chikuru kunaJerasi.Anyway, Jealousy doesn't really care. He moved to Mai Mujuru's party. Just like we are laughing now, we laughed when we heard that Jealousy was part of Mai Mujuru's media team. And Jealousy being Jealousy he didn't waste time showing his true prostitution colours.In April last year, after exhibiting some serious judo and karate moves on one Gift Nyandoro whom he was accusing of personalising Mai Mujuru, Jealousy left that little opposition party. Unfortunately and without any shame, he left Nyandoro with a broken leg and in a wheelchair.This is the same Jealousy who is now the spokesperson of Mutinhiri's supposed party. Mutinhiri hokoyo nema huuhaa, huuhaaa!Maybe someone needs to sing Michael Jackson's song "Money" to Jealousy. Bishop Lazarus wasn't exactly a fan of that King of Pop but a few lyrics from the song will do a lot of good for Jealousy. It goes ". . . Money, money, money; Lie for it; Spy for it; Kill for it; Die for it!" MJ, as they called him, wasn't done. With that shrill voice he went ". . . The thrill for the money; Are you infected with the same disease? Of lust, gluttony and greed?" Then the killer line: "If you want it, then earn it with dignity." Woohh, kanga kakaoma kamwana kekwaJackson. Whoever fooled him to destroy his cute face with those stupid plastic surgeries?Bishop Lazarus is adding a line to the song. But then "Jealousy won't listen for the money!" Just keep watching the space. Jealousy has joined many opposition political parties and he has destroyed many. After leaving journalism, it has become a profession and an obsession for him to go after anything that threatens Zanu-PF's hegemony.But then let me not major on the minor. Mutinhiri and Jealousy are just dirty raw materials in the scheme of things. Even if they were to fart hard and loud, no one would really care a hoot about them.This supposed Mutinhiri's political party is actually Professor Jonathan Moyo's project and Grace Mugabe's dream. Poor Mutinhiri was roped in to give a semblance of a link to the liberation struggle since the G40 cabal has learnt the hard way that 38 years after the attainment of independence, the liberation struggle still has a strong bearing on the country's identity. In the beginning they tried Dr Sydney Sekeramayi and for a while zvakaita kunge zvaita.Former president Mugabe is in this project just because of 94 minus 52. It's a true statement that; "as we grow old, we grow young". Forgive the former president, but then what is Jonathan's game plan?The easy conclusion is that Jonathan wants the former president through Mutinhiri to divide Zanu-PF votes during the forthcoming elections. Well, yeah but Jonathan is more sinister than that. He has not yet abandoned his imperialistic agenda. Actually, Jonathan roped in the former president so that the former president could destroy himself first and then Zanu-PF eventually.As I preach to you dear congregants, every right-thinking Zimbabwean is wondering, "Ko Mudhara Bob apindwa nei? Why can't he take a deserved rest? Why is he now destroying his legacy?" Well, the former president won't take that deserved rest because paita nyasire and mujambajecha. Jonathan nekoko, Grace nepapa. What do you expect the old man to do?Which is why Bishop Lazarus always had this feeling that "Operation Restore Legacy" wasn't taken to its rightful conclusion. That conclusion is right at the Blue Roof Mansion bedroom. Takasiya mudhara wedu in a tight corner with the greedy and insecure former First Lady.If you think Bishop Lazarus is exaggerating, then how do you explain kuti the former president, our African icon, akanzi "shut up," by the former First Lady as she was addressing workers at her company? All the former president had done was to ask, the former First Lady whether indeed she had paid the workers their dues. Can't we see the former president is in serious trouble?Now part two of Jonathan's project  with everyone wondering what has gone wrong with the former president, Jonathan wants President Mnangagwa to lose his cool and go head-on with the former president. When this happens, Jonathan's idea is for people to then turn around and say, "but why can't President Mnangagwa see he is dealing with an old man? Why can't he feel pity for the old man?"In the end, the former president will destroy his legacy, he will be ill-treated by the current administration and President Mnangagwa will come out as a heartless leader. Let's not be fooled.Bishop Lazarus was alarmed when he saw some Zanu-PF youths last week chanting; "Pasi naMugabe!" No, no, no! Let's not fall into Jonathan's evil trap. That is exactly what he wants and we should never, ever give it to him.Instead, let's take "Operation Restore Legacy" to its rightful conclusion. Inzwa! Inzwa, manyepo. Hehe, Bishop is saying; "Grace and Mugabe, ngavarambaniswe." Ummm, imi vanhu musamhanye. If that were to happen I don't think anyone would shed tears, but my thinking is that as a matter of urgency we need to rescue the former president.Ezekiel 12 vs 2 says: "Son of man, you live in the midst of the rebellious house, who have eyes to see but do not see, ears to hear but do not hear, for they are a rebellious house." Former president Mugabe has been taken hostage in this rebellious house.People like Father Mukonori, Father Ribeiro, Dr Gideon Gono and former presidents like Chissano, Mbeki and Kaunda among others should be dispatched to the Blue Roof Mansion to make the former president understand what is going on. These people should make the former First Lady understand the trouble she is putting herself into. All this is likely to end very, very bad for her.After realising that "mudhara wedu" has fallen for their evil plan, Jonathan and his gangsters are now flying him to South Africa to make him believe. Surely, we can't let Jonathan do this to the former president. If we let things go as they are, let's brace for more embarrassing statements from the former president. It's a blue lie that age is nothing but just a number.Luke 12 vs 56 warns us all saying: "You hypocrites! You know how to analyse the appearance of the earth and the sky, but why do you not analyse the present time?" Let's analyse the present time.Bishop is out!Opinion / Columnist

In one of his mature Odes, Quintus Horatius Flaccus, better known in the English-speaking world as Horace, coined the famous "delicta maiorum immeritus lues".Now sounding pedantic and obscure in a world where Latin is decidedly dead both as a spoken and written language, this line of timeless counsel and warning roughly translates to "you undeservingly pay for the failings of the ancestors".Horace wrote his Odes at a tumultuous time when feudal Rome bled from civil upheavals at home, and debilitating wars abroad.Soon Julius Caesar would be dead, assassinated in 44BCE, forcing a whole generation of otherwise hopeful youngsters, Horace among them, to enlist in the military under the generalship of Caesar's killer, Brutus, by then Rome's new ruler.Before long, Brutus would himself also fall to Rome's violent, supplanting sword, to be replaced by Octavian, better known in history as Augustus Caesar.Beyond these bloody internal conflicts, and ironically enough, Rome faced a period of unprecedented biological expansion, but one contradicted by a crippling pressure on scarce farming land thanks to a limiting geography and gross social inequities.The poor continued to be displaced, the displaced continued to get poorer; in the end both groups desperately voting with their feet.The net result was the swelling of Rome's cities already overburdened by an ill-fed, restive, floating and jobless underclass.And from this prolonged, distracting national and social crisis, Rome's once famed and imposing edifices and temples were crumbling, spewing implacable sorrows that blighted its citizenry while foreclosing prospects for many generations to come.For Horace, Rome was thus paying for neglect by its "gods".To escape this unhappy fate bearing down so heavily on it, Rome and her sapped and wizened children needed to roll up sleeves; needed to bend double to put everything right.An unhappy and morose generation Rome thus raised and had, one born bitter, fated to survive behind its broken walls and its tumbling temples.In the eyes of Horace's censorious generation, everything pointed to failings of Rome's ancestors, all of which now had to be repaid undeservingly by itself.Traverse ancient times and the world of Rome, fast-forward to modern times into Zimbabwe under Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa, with the Horatian aphorism in mental tow.The temptation to draw an analogy is irresistible.Unavoidably, you are hit by both incongruities and parallels.Incongruities to the extent that ED  like most of us still in Government  parallels Horace's "ancestors" whom the current generation is wont to blame for the unhappy state in which "Rome" finds itself. Seemingly blameworthy, that places ED outside the pronominal "you" covered and impliedly exonerated by Horace's aphorism.The "you" whose referent is the generation which unfairly pays and puts right failings of its ancestors.Except to think so amounts to taking cheap, oppositional pot-shots at ED, something strongly tempting and hardly unexpected as we creep near and nearer the election season.For with the election season come easy analyses, even easier verdicts.But such lack of balance in analyses and evaluations is not for national platforms where thoughtful discourse must unfold and reign, always tempered by sense, scale and sound perspective.Not so with the current debate on ED's first 100 days in office, a debate which on balance, seems to suffer from, and to be blurred by easy ratings, hasty and pre-conceived condemnation of "Rome's failing ancestors".There is more to further complicate balanced assessment: an inordinate build-up of oversized yet understandable crisis of expectation spawned by "Rome's" prolonged social distress.Both factors have made Zimbabweans to crave to find a scapegoat. Both factors have made Zimbabweans think and expect "Rome" to be re-built in a day!Much worse, there is a serious conceptual handicap in the whole debate, one quite embarrassing given our vaunted level of literacy.A simple management notion and tool  100 days in this case  has been taken and understood literally, and has been turned into a measurement of a political tenure of a leader who is still new and has just begun finishing the tail-end of an about-exhausted term of his predecessor.How a nation famed for lofty tertiary accomplishments mistakes notion of "100 days" which is culled from foreign history, and from the toolbox of an implementation management theory  Results Based Management or its variant called Rapid Results Initiative  for a socio-economic miracle, one just can't fathom.Reduced to absurdity, the notion of 100 days has been viewed as a calendar issue, a manual exercise where waiting citizens tick and count down days as these pass, tick and count from the comfort of their armchairs, while ED single-handedly slogs it out for them, pounding and forging goodness whose delivery on our hungry tables falls due on the 100th day pronto!At the end of which solitary Presidential effort  lo and behold  up and out pops a "brave new world" where everything is in abundance; where everyone eats everlastingly to the fill of their bellies, thereby turning a once morose generation happy ever after!Decidedly a delectable model for repairing and rebuilding Rome's the crumbled temples, except only in the never-never land!Again from the ensuing debate one also gets an apocryphal tale of epochal closure.A neat age born on ED's inauguration day, and then closed and securely fastened a lazy 100 days later.Not quite the same as ticking away calendar time and watching the heavenly sun peep up, grow older, and then glowingly die.But something deeper  epochal  to suggest fundamental social changes wrought by, and in, those hundred epochal days! And because there is closure attached to it, those 100 days then define a political career, define and encompass ED's term.Depending on resultant verdict  and by whom  ED either strolls to a renewed mandate, belauded; or gets dismissed and discarded, tearfully.So, it's not strange that both verdicts and fates do fly about nowadays, of course largely depending on the beholder.There is yet a third dimension which one gets from the whole debate.The 100 days must and should correct problems, sorry all "failings", by "Rome's ancestors", failings spanning over nearly 38 years that have elapsed from Zimbabwe's creation day.Short of this, then it means same head only dressed with a different haircut!This argument is given legitimacy by an accompanying sub-plot which says that ED, after all, served as a minister for the larger part of that period! And who would deny that?But that fact of history is then summoned to persecute him, to make him blameworthy as a failing ancestor.It is this reasoning which gives birth to what I call ED's "Horatian burden".But this so-called "deserved burden" needs to be examined, interrogated, so we determine its legitimacy, its utility therefore, in the current argument and situation.My submission is straightforward: it does not take much to show how mistaken, empty and fallacious this whole argument is.I will just raise a few commonsensical counts that fault and even ridicule it.First, it is not unanimously given that Rome's ancestors, of which ED was a part, failed. Commonsensical  how does a generation that founded a nation fail?Can a non-existent Rome have ancestors in the first place, fail in the second place, when both require and imply Rome's prior existence?Which is to say  and I say it boldly  Rome's founding ancestry is its own raison d'etre!Whatever it's failings, however blameworthy, it can never be repudiated by children of Home, sorry, Rome.Simply, it carries to the grave and beyond privileges of founders of any nation.You might not find this pleasing but it is a fact. That accords ED's generation a certain pre-existent and imperishable validity, indeed puts ED and his generation of freedom fighter beyond the debate of national culpability.If you want to nail this privileged generation, look for other sins! But be sure these are sins before creation.Rome has to become, has to come into being, has to be founded before it has its walls and temples which then fall and crumble, indeed which then must be re-built by whomsoever, whenever in Rome's infinite life.What is more, Rome has to remain in being for it to have "failing ancestors" who neglect its temples.This is how the primacy of Independence and continued sovereignty comes in, pre-dating and preceding the advent of a blaming, self-righteous generation.It is that simple, logical.I may sound flimsy and rationalising. Except I am making an argument founded in history and with universal validity, even though Zimbabwe might tragically choose to be lost to it.The Americans revere George Washington not because he was sinless. Or that he founded and ran an administratively clean, ever-achieving, faultless government. Or that under him no American walls and temples cracked and tumbled.As a matter of historical fact they did; they still do.But America and its history panegyrizes him for giving them a nation, for giving them their Rome!All else stood tolerated by his contemporary citizens; stands tolerated and forgiven by successor generations of America ad infinitum.A key ingredient to forging a sense of nationality is myth-making around a nation's founding ancestry, which however failing, stands excused and endlessly polished for all time refulgence.A founding generation can never exceed the threshold of collective national tolerance, whether by time, or by changing national exigencies!In any case, ED's generation cannot be visibly eligible for blame over the 37 years of failings while being invisible and un-praiseworthy for the pre-1980 struggles which created the very Zimbabwe they stand blamed for ruining.And to make this point and the preceding one is not to seek to place this founding generation beyond scrutiny. Or even to imply or suggest that they have an everlasting mandate to govern or mis-govern.It is simply to insist on sense, scale and perspective on the verdict we pass on it, in relation to supervening processes of post-coloniality. Critically, it helps us situate developments of the past more than 37 years.We cannot choose but accept a broad evolutionary perspective by means of which we escape the pitfall evident elsewhere in our region and beyond where post-liberation politics  whether oppositional or governing  become anti-liberation politics that repudiate a people's founding processes, a people's founding heroes and, thereby repudiates a Nation.This takes me to the second fallacy.It does not make sense for anyone to make ED the fall guy for problems of an era for which he was not the Patriarch.One cannot describe him as a minister for those 37 odd years without entering an argument in his mitigation, if not defence.Until November last year when ED became President, this country had a President and a leader. A patriarch occupying the highest pedestal in the pantheon of Rome's ancestors!And he lives, even though now out of office.Does it really make sense to load ED's first 100 days with the cure, or expectations of it, for alleged failings of a dispensation in which he was a ministerial minion?Does the notion of delegated authority mean anything to this whole debate? Does the notion of responsibility mean anything at all in this whole debate?We argue as if the above notions don't apply to Zimbabwe and Zimbabweans.We scapegoat wantonly as if we have not seen the inside of a management school. Just check how the whole debate on disturbances that rocked our country soon after Independence has unfolded.You would think this country had no leader, no executive Prime Minister, no Commander-in-Chief for the duration of those disturbances.And if minors can become majors for our convenience, then why talk about usurpation of power this last November when in fact your arguments impliedly make ED the Principal right from Zimbabwe's creation day?Please Zimbabweans, let's make up our minds!You can't have an argument where you crowd national goodness with so many fathers, while orphaning national failings in the same breadth.And if minions can shoulder blame for failings of the past 37 years, why doesn't the same logic excuse ED for the 100 days posited as failing days?To me the whole argument is both illogical and insincere.Beyond this insincerity, who does not know that at the heart of what commentators have glibly termed succession battles which raged in the ruling party before this new era, was a clash of contending visions on post-Land Reform Zimbabwe?That pitted against a greedy and ambitious cabal was a group of veteran-cadres, both inside and outside Government, who saw beyond the worn and staid rhetoric of old nationalism and Cold-War type of anti-Western politics which though central to the liberation struggle and the recovery of Land, had become a needless cost after 2015?Or that this firebrand rhetoric had become a smokescreen for primitive accumulation by a few, while duping the youths through empty promises of indigenisation and empowerment for which there is absolutely nothing to show on the ground as I write?Except of course a badly depressed economy, an isolated country and high incidences of corruption?And to point out these excesses is not to undermine my founding premise, namely that founding ancestors broadly deserve to enjoy a pre-existent culpability benefit in the national estimate.That premise simply says whatever mistakes of commission and/or omission which this generation makes, these can never be a basis for repudiating or de-legitimising it given its founding role in the national process.And where the founding generation shows a capacity to overtake and transform itself through vigorous self-criticism, genuine self-correction and bold self-renewal, but without jeopardising national peace, national stability and national cohesion, then it makes itself even less culpable, in fact untouchable, in the national estimate.Zanu-PF showed this capacity last November, which is how it was able to mobilise and create a broad front for its own, and for national transformation, all to give us the new order whose management hallmark is the much misunderstood 100-day accountability cycle.It simply does not make sense to tether and judge ED by the more than 37 years which have gone by while acknowledging the two-week November 2017 revolution which made him eligible for the 100-day assessment.For implied by the whole countdown is an acceptance that a rupture took place following those two weeks, one that abstracted ED from a past he shared but did not direct, and placed him in a new era for which he now stands fully accountable.The 100 days that have gone by are neither a term nor a delivery schedule for an instant panacea to challenges that have built over more than three decades of our Independence.Those legacy challenges can be explained by certain hard choices the founding generation had to make when it found itself in the governing saddle.There was a whole baneful legacy of near-century colonialism which had to be reversed. Spectacularly, the founding generation reversed a century's ills in just about 37 years.It did more.It created a foundation for future growth: by way of securing Independence, national peace and cohesion; by way of creating an educated nation; by way of restoring land rights; and by way of laying infrastructure for expanded social services.A key principle in economics is that any choice you make levies a cost by way of foregone alternatives.Economists have a term for it: opportunity cost.One would have to be naive to think that all of the above gains of the past 37 years would be got and enjoyed without levying opportunity costs. Or that except for its failing ancestors, Zimbabwe could have discovered another path of development which would have been cost-free to the current generation.Until another life on another planet under other laws is found, for as long as the scarcity factor exists, any choice a generation makes creates costs for those to come.Which means every generation pays a cost arising from choices made by its predecessors.The only issue is size of the cost. But a cost there will always be.Horace can be forgiven for thinking before the advent and development of a "dismal science" we call economics.But with the hindsight of this science, Horace's aphorism reads like some stupidity only cleverly put.ED should invent or deserve his own burdens. Not Horace's.There is no 100 days to count, stop and condemn. There is only a performance and execution continuum, only partitioned into small, executable, manageable, incremental acts between which are 100-day cycles for tracking, monitoring, evaluation and, if need be, adjustments. The first act or task wrapped by the first 100 days was for ED to set goals, show direction and define strategies towards those goals.Above all, it was about breaking a ponderous inertia which had set in, stymying all initiatives. Getting the country to work again, and in honesty, within a permissive and supportive environment both nationally and globally. If the 100 days gone by did not deliver all these, by all means crucify him. But not for failing to rebuild Rome in a day.Kwete! Bodo! Hwava!Mr George Charamba is the Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services and Presidential Press Secretary. He wrote this article for The Sunday MailOpinion / National

There are reasons why every political party tries to have women in top positions. Most African countries are patriarchal.They believe men make the rules and women were created to serve men and make their lives comfortable. Most men, deep down in their hearts, believe that, like British children in the earlier centuries, women should be seen but not heard.Our men believe this, but they have discovered that times are changing and women are becoming more and more vocal by the day.Whether they like it or not, they know that for them to win elections, their parties must paint a picture of gender balance or at least an illusion of it.Because they need women to vote for them, they throw in a few women candidates to lure female voters.Women usually rally behind these women as we are often blackmailed by feminists for not backing other women. We also vote for them because we want to be represented when men decide issues of survival for us.We believe we need voices in Parliament that understand our needs and fight for them.We have been conditioned to rally behind any and all women who decide to venture into politics.Because of this, most women find themselves at the helm of their parties regardless of whether they have the capacity to lead or not.Zimbabwe has Auxillia Mnangagwa. The MDC-T has Thokozani Khupe. Zanu-PF has Oppah Muchinguri.An opportunity presented itself for these women to prove their worth to the millions of Zimbabwean women (and men) they represent.About two weeks ago, Elizabeth, the wife of the dearly departed Morgan Tsvangirai, was barred by her mother-in-law from attending her late husband's funeral. She was caught on camera stating that if Elizabeth attended the funeral she would commit suicide.It has come out that some families in Zimbabwe use funerals to settle scores. There are cases of parents who refuse to bury a dead daughter until the husband pays lobola for her.In homicide cases, we have heard of families that dump corpses at the homes of those accused of murdering their loved ones. We have also heard of people that refuse to attend their children's funerals for one reason or another.All this is done to make the bereaved or "culprit" "pay" for something they may or may not have done. The most rampant and most notorious, though, is the abuse of widows by their late husband's families.The news that Elizabeth was banned from attending the funeral caused an outcry among Zimbabwe's social media users.Some said Gogo Tsvangirai must be given a rope to hang herself and others narrated their own similar experiences. A lady called Tariro M @MsTarieM posted this on Twitter:"Elizabeth's situation is exactly what my mother went through when my father died. She was asked to leave with just her clothes and nothing else. She was asked to leave us behind as well. They said 'our' children are not going anywhere. That was in June 1987! Things must change please."Others told stories of how when their fathers died, their paternal relatives took all their furniture, cars and houses in some cases, leaving them and their mothers with nothing.We have some who have also expressed that this is normal in the some Zimbabwean cultures and what Gogo was doing was nothing out of the ordinary.They lambasted the ZBC for publishing the video of Gogo saying that, insisting it was a private moment and should never have been broadcast. Part of me agrees with them.It is sad to see someone's way of grieving being dissected and criticised by everyone, the sensitive and the insensitive.The bigger part of me is glad we saw this because it has exposed a rot in our society that must be dealt with urgently.Now that we have women representing us at high levels of government, we should not have a problem with such issues.Our female politicians should have come at this story with guns blazing. Our honourable first lady, the mother of the nation as I heard her husband refer to her the other day, should have come out in (public) defence of one of her daughters, Elizabeth.But she was conspicuous by her silence. Khupe should have publicly rallied behind her deceased boss's wife.She should have stood by her and showed us that she was disturbed by gogo's sentiments and was not going to support them in any way. Instead, she sat by gogo's side through it all.Tsvangirai's son introduced his family at the farewell rally held at freedom square and neglected to introduce his stepmother.His wife was there too. If I were her, I would be pretty scared that if the family I married into is like this, it could happen to me too.I have been heartbroken since this story broke. How do things like this happen right in our faces? Why do we allow them to happen?If this can happen to someone as "high up" there as Elizabeth Tsvangirai, wife of our former prime minister and president of the MDC-T, imagine what is happening to Mary and Zodwa, some unknown women with nobody to fight for them.Some say there must be a reason why gogo behaved that way. Maybe there is something Elizabeth did wrong. Maybe she cheated on her husband. Maybe her husband did not want her anymore.Maybewell, there are too many theories, but I believe none of them matters. If Elizabeth was a terrible wife who gave her husband hell, then Tsvangirai should have dumped her before he died.Nobody has the right to fight battles with his wife on his behalf now that he's gone and he can neither condemn nor condone what is happening.Evils like this one should not be allowed to happen. As societies, we must reject such man-made tragedies vehemently. We need to put a stop to using women (and men) and then discarding them when we are done with them.Where was gogo Tsvangirai on October 18, 2017, when Tsvangirai was ill and pretending to the world he was still strong; and Elizabeth took that long and painful walk with him at the airport?When Tsvangirai needed Elizabeth to be her date for Mnangagwa's inauguration on November 24, 2017, nobody threatened to kill themselves if she dared attend that function with him.And when Mnangagwa and his entourage visited the Tsvangirais on January 6, 2018, Elizabeth was right there by his side.If Elizabeth and her husband were indeed separated and playing happy families for the cameras, probably to make Tsvangirai look good and to preserve his dignity, then please, let the charade continue.His dignity must have been preserved even as he lay in his beautiful casket. Elizabeth's dignity must have been kept intact. The show must gone on.She should have been allowed to bid farewell to her co-star, her husband, her patient and who knows? Maybe he was her love and she was his.I had hoped against all hope that someone would eventually make gogo see reason. I learned with great despair on Monday night that they had refused to let Elizabeth accompany the body of her late husband to Buhera.I prayed they would at least allow her to attend the funeral. I waited for Tuesday morning with a mixture of hope in humanity and fear of disappointment in my heart. Tuesday morning came and here is what happened, where I am devoid of fact I will use my imagination.Khupe woke up on Tuesday, the day of Tsvangirai's burial, and probably went through what all of us (women) go through when we have to get ready for an event.She looks like a calm and collected woman, so she probably woke up in good time, took a bath and carefully dressed up in what she decided to be a stylish and somber-looking outfit.She wore a black suit, black shoes with a silver buckle on top; and completed the outfit with a lovely black hat with gold trimmings.At round about the same time, the ever beautiful Oppah Muchinguri, the Zanu-PF chairperson and Environment minister, was most likely calmly putting herself together in her mansion.I can just picture her standing in front of her gold-encrusted (probably) full-length mirror as she checked her subtle lipstick while rehearsing the speech she would later read to a booing crowd.I never got the chance to see what she was wearing, but I suppose as usual, she was dressed to the nines.Neither of them spared a thought for Elizabeth, who woke up with a heavy feeling in her heart. With the knowledge that she was about to live through one of the worst days of her life.My eyes are tearing up as I imagine her remembering some sweet thing her husband once said to her and also tearing up as I am now.She has always carried herself with dignity and I am imagining her giving herself this pep talk as her sister who was sleeping next to her started to stir: "Keep your head up, Elizabeth, for Morgan's sake, just keep your head up, this too shall pass."Then she got up and prepared herself for the final verdict of whether or not she deserved to bid farewell to the most turbulent few years of her life.I am ashamed of us Zimbabwean women.I am utterly disgusted by women in Zimbabwean politics.With the legalization of recreational cannabis use just months away, the federal government is "stepping a little into the dark," according to the scientist who helped create pot use guidelines for Canada.

Dr. Benedikt Fischer, a senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, said cannabis is a complex drug  and there's still a lot we don't know about its effects.

"We're stepping a little into the dark, into the fog, with this step forward for legalization," Fischer said.

Even MP Bill Blair, the federal government's point man on pot, has said there's a need for more scientific evidence to help people make responsible choices once they're able to buy marijuana legally.

"I think we need to continue to work hard to identify what is a safe level of use, what effects this could have. We have a lot of anecdotal evidence and frankly not a lot of good health evidence to help people make healthy choices," Blair told CBC.

He said young people in particular need access to better science.

"We have the highest rates of cannabis use in the world, and clearly just trying to frighten them into abstinence hasn't worked. I think we should inform them into healthier choices," Blair said.

New money for research

The recent federal budget included new money for cannabis research  $20 million over five years to be divided between the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse and Addiction.

The budget also set aside almost a billion dollars for Canada's three granting councils, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), to conduct general research that will include marijuana.

Dr. Samuel Weiss is the scientific director of neurosciences, mental health and addiction at CIHR. He's also co-ordinating government-wide research on cannabis use.

That research is focusing on 12 priority subjects, but Weiss said there are a few areas in particular that need more research, including neurodevelopment.

Story continues

"Understanding the impact that cannabis has on neurodevelopmental outcomes, for example  preconception, pregnancy, the fetus, and child and youth brain development," Dr. Weiss told CBC in an interview.

He also points to the need for a better understanding around impairment and "its effects on cognitive function, driving and workplace safety."

Weiss said most of this research is only possible now that marijuana is about to become legal.

"The fact that it was an illegal substance made it almost impossible to study it before in a significant way. But now that it is to be legalized, it opens the door for more studies," Weiss said.

Legalization raising new questions

But Fischer said the very act of legalization raises more questions.

"Does it change who uses cannabis, how people use cannabis and what the ... acute and long term health consequences are?"

He also points to questions about how people intend to ingest the drug.

"Twenty years ago, pretty much everybody who used cannabis were either smoking a joint or, to a lesser degree, a hash pipe. Now we have vaping, e-cigarette devices, we have edibles, drinkables. All of those modes of use are available and evolving," he said.

Fischer said he also wants the federal government to do more studies on how to treat those addicted to marijuana.

"The toolbox of treatment options or evidence-based forms of treatment for cannabis is extremely limited. There's no evidence-based or approved pharmatherapy, like there is methadone for opioids," he said.

Despite all these unanswered questions, Fischer agrees it will be easier to answer them in a legal system than in an illegal one.

Conservative health critic Marilyn Gladu said she is pleased the government is doing the research but she questions its logic in funding that research, pointing out that the budget earmarked about $550 million to create the legal network  but just $20 million for targeted research.

"I don't know the government has the right priority on this," Gladu said.Former Toronto city councillor Doug Ford was named the Ontario Progressive Conservative leader after a turbulent party convention on Saturday, but runner-up Christine Elliott says she won't concede and that there were "serious irregularities" in the race.

Ford narrowly eked out a win on the third ballot of preferential voting. His victory was revealed by party president Jag Badwal after a chaotic day that included members being sent home from the Markham, Ont., convention hall as officials worked to resolve an issue regarding some key ballots  a process that took more than seven hours.

Elliott, the former MPP and three-time leadership candidate who finished second in the voting, was not in the room for Ford's victory address to media.

In a statement, Elliott suggested she will not concede, citing "serious irregularities" in the leadership race.

CBC News reported earlier Saturday that Ford had indeed won the snap, six-week leadership race, but party officials decided not to announce any results until outstanding questions over some disputed ballots could be answered. Sources said there was confusion over which riding a number of ballots came from.

"There's a review underway of an allocation of a certain list of electors that needs to be resolved because it may have an impact on electoral votes," said Hartley Lefton, chief of the PC's leadership organizing committee. His words were drowned out by jeers and boos from the crowd.

However, Lefton said later Saturday that the party's chief electoral officer determined that the issue was not statistically significant enough to change the outcome of the race.

In her statement, Elliott said thousands of PC members were assigned to incorrect ridings and that she won the popular vote.

"I will stand up for these members and plan to investigate the extent of this discrepancy," she said.

Last week, Ford himself said he would support a review of the "scandalous" PC leadership process.

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"Even if I win I'm going to say this is ridiculous. We've got to do a complete review of the party. We've got to find out when things were mailed out, all the people who weren't allowed to vote," he said.

"Win or lose, they've got to investigate this. If they want to drag it out for another week, I'm all in favour of it."

Party officials said that voter turnout was higher than in any other leadership contest in its history, with 64,053 preferential ballots cast over the week-long voting period, though 71,450 total members were registered. The previous record was 44,188 ballots cast in 2002.

'I will get our party back on track'

Staunch social conservative Tanya Granic Allen was eliminated on the first ballot, while Toronto lawyer and businesswoman Caroline Mulroney finished third.

In a brief statement to reporters, Ford thanked his supporters and his family, including his brother and former Toronto mayor Rob Ford  Doug's closest confidant until his death in 2016.

"I will get our party back on track," Ford said.

"To the people of Ontario, I say, 'Relief is on its way.' And to Kathleen Wynne I say, 'Your days as premier are numbered.'"

Ford added that he has not spoken to Elliott.

Ford campaigned with a distinctly populist bent and promised to scrap the carbon tax, which he called a "cash grab."

A former one-term Toronto city councillor, he ran to be the city's mayor in October 2014, finishing second behind John Tory, and launched another mayoral bid last September before joining the leadership race.

In a statement on Saturday, Tory congratulated Ford on his win and said he "will be reaching out to Mr. Ford to arrange a meeting to discuss Toronto's needs."

Turbulent leadership race

Ford's win comes after a tumultuous six weeks for the Ontario PCs.

The 44-day leadership race was triggered by the January resignation of former leader Patrick Brown following allegations of sexual misconduct made by two women. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and served CTV News, which first published the allegations, with a notice of libel.

Similarly, in the weeks that followed, problems with the voter registration process drew significant backlash from Ford, Mulroney and Granic Allen. Ford said the leadership vote process was "not transparent" and alleged that only select members were receiving their registration code in time to cast a ballot. Others complained that the online registration was overly complicated.

The leadership organizing committee prolonged the registration deadline three times, but such actions were not enough to fend off allegations of vote suppression and corruption within the party ranks.

Ford, Mulroney and Granic Allen all called for the party to extend the voting period, while Elliott declined to do so.

The matter, however, was settled on Friday afternoon by an Ontario Superior Court judge, who dismissed an injunction application from a disenfranchised party member to prolong the vote.

Brown's sudden departure also led to a power struggle in the PC's top ranks and illuminated deep divisions within caucus. It raised serious questions about the validity of the PC membership list which, according to Brown, ballooned under his tenure from some 12,000 to more than 200,000.

However, in a memo to staff last month, interim leader Vic Fedeli said that Brown had inflated the numbers by about 70,000.

In an address to members on Saturday, Fedeli said that in the last several weeks, the party has grown to its strongest point in years.

"Every single activist measure for our party is stronger today than it was six weeks ago," he said to raucous applause.

"Please, do not let the small differences that are inevitable in a leadership distract us from our shared purpose," said the MPP from Nipissing.

"The real campaign, the real test, still lies ahead of us."

Fedeli went on to warn that "disunity" within the party would be a gift to Liberals heading into the June 7 election, and he encouraged each candidate to get behind the new leader despite their differences.

"Stay together. Stay strong," he said.

- LIVE BLOG RECAP | Relive the PC leadership convention as it unfoldedTourists are urged to use "extreme caution" when visiting the Playa Del Carmen area.

The American government is issuing a travel warning for Playa del Carmen after an explosion rocked the area.

The city, which is about an hour south of Cancun, was shaken to its core after a bomb went off last month on a passenger ferry boat. Two dozen people were injured, including five Americans.

Less than two weeks later, undetonated bombs were found on another ferry owned by the same company.

The security alert bans all U.S. government employees from visiting the town, while tourists are urged to use "increased caution."

The timing couldn't be worse as spring break festivities kick off  with more than 100,000 Americans flocking to Mexican beaches in the coming weeks.

Over the past year, there has been a dramatic increase in violence around Playa del Carmen.

In January 2017, a gunman opened fire in a nightclub during a popular music festival, killing five people including an American teenager who was trampled to death while trying to escape.

Despite the travel advisory, CBS News' Travel Editor Peter Greenberg doesn't think anyone should cancel their plans.

"I have never felt unsafe or threatened in Mexico," he told Inside Edition. "I was just there last week. Tourism is the No. 1 industry in Mexico. It is in their best interest to make the environment safe and they've done it. Last year, like 35 million visited and nobody had a problem, so think about it. Now, if you're talking about drug violence and gang violence over the last six years, 60,000 people killed that's Mexican gangs vs Mexican gangs. American travelers [and] tourists have never been targeted."

"All tourism and economic activity in Playa del Carmen continues in a normal manner," the state government wrote in a statement, noting that hotel occupancy at the resort was 80 percent. "We do not know why the U.S. government decided to emit this alert."

The U.S. Embassy has not said whether the explosions were part of a specific plot targeting Americans in Mexico.

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Related Articles:The Libyan navy rescued 252 migrants Saturday who were trying to reach Europe, in two separate operations off the countrys western coast.

We were alerted  to the position of a migrant boat around 30 kilometres (20 miles) off Zawiya, west of Tripoli, navy Captain Rami al-Hadi Ghomed said.

He said the 140 migrants on board, including 14 women and four children, were brought back to Tripolis naval base before being transferred to a detention center.

Since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi, unruly Libya has become a key launching pad for migrants making desperate bids to reach Europe, often on unseaworthy vessels.

The second rescue operation took place around 50 kilometers off Garabulli, east of the capital.

The navy rescued 112 migrants, including 30 women and three children, aboard an inflatable boat, said navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem.

Recent years have seen thousands of migrants infiltrate the vast southern border of Libya in attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The situation has deteriorated since Gadhafis fall as lawlessness and insecurity have pushed more migrants already present in Libya to attempt the perilous crossing.

At least 337 migrants have died or disappeared off the coast of Libya since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration. (AFP)

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr.FRANKFURT (Reuters) - The billionaire founder of United Internet has urged internet providers to found a joint company to build out Germany's high-speed broadband network, challenging market leader Deutsche Telekom to back the venture. Ralph Dommermuth said industry should take the lead on laying the glass fiber network in Germany, where just 2.5 percent of households are directly hooked up to such ultra-fast connections - less than in other developed nations. The new government formed by Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to back broadband investments to the tune of 10-12 billion euros over the course of this parliament as part of an effort to create a 'Gigabit society' by 2025. That amount, Dommermuth said in an interview with newspaper Welt am Sonntag, would only cover a fraction of the overall cost of providing nationwide glass-fiber coverage that he estimated at 80 billion euros. German business groups have already cautioned that under-investment in connectivity threatens to sap its export competitiveness as manufacturing processes become increasingly automated. "Each telecommunications company that wants to participate in this alliance would contribute capital according to its market share," Dommermuth said in the interview, released ahead of publication on Sunday. If companies paid in 10 billion euros and a further 10 billion came in the form of state subsidies, it would be possible to borrow a further 10 billion euros, Dommermuth said, creating an overall investment pot of 30 billion euros. Deutsche Telekom's participation would be "decisive" in the venture. "If it takes part, we will definitely get involved," he said. United Internet would be willing to contribute 1.4 billion euros - in line with its 14 percent market share - or more. The combined investment would be enough to provide fiber to 70 percent of households in Germany, he estimated. It was not clear whether Dommermuth, a self-made businessman with a fortune estimated by Forbes magazine at $6.4 billion, had approached Deutsche Telekom before going public with his proposal. Deutsche Telekom CEO Tim Hoettges has come under fire for defending its continued reliance on so-called 'vectoring', which uses the old copper telephone network to reach households and has limited potential to be upgraded. Hoettges has hit back by saying that Deutsche Telekom is investing far more than all of its rivals put together, having spent 5.4 billion euros on broadband in Germany last year. United Internet, which operates under the 1&1 brand, rents out capacity from Deutsche Telekom, among others, to provide digital subscriber lines to homes and businesses. Hoettges is concerned that, if the regulator stipulates that access to glass-fiber networks should be open, Telekom's competitors will end up profiting unfairly from its investments. Deutsche Telekom did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Dommermuth's proposal. (Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Clelia Oziel)A small film called Ava  the story of a teenage Iranian girl facing pressures from family and society  is the biggest movie at this year's Canadian Screen Awards. It has eight nominations and one special win already: it was announced in late January that Ava had won the Best First Feature Award, sponsored by Telefilm Canada.

Telefilm is the country's main film funding agency, helping Canadian filmmakers get their movies made. Last fiscal year, Telefilm allocated more than $100 million to the production and promotion of Canadian films.

But Ava was not eligible for Telefilm funding.

That's because writer-director Sadaf Foroughi is a Canadian citizen but decided to make Ava in Farsi, her native language, and film it in Iran.

The co-production with Iran and Qatar qualified as a Canadian film under the federal government's rules, since key creative roles are filled by Canadians. But Telefilm only finances films made in English, French or Indigenous languages.

As a result, Foroughi had to rely on smaller grants from arts councils, which meant making her film on a shoestring budget, and sometimes not having enough money left over to feed herself.

"I had lots of difficulties," she told CBC News. "Sometimes I ate less to keep all the money, because I knew that I didn't have any other funds."

Films in Mandarin, Korean also shut out

Foroughi is not the only diverse Canadian filmmaker facing this language barrier.

Last year, Old Stone by director Johnny Ma won the same Best First Feature award sponsored by Telefilm. It was nominated for five Canadian Screen Awards, but it also wasn't eligible for Telefilm funding because it was made in Mandarin.

Albert Shin was born in Canada of South Korean descent, and decided to make his debut feature film, In Her Place, in Korean. His film played the Toronto International Film Festival, and garnered seven Canadian Screen Award nominations in 2015.

Even though it also qualifies as a Canadian film, it too was ineligible for funding from Telefilm because of language, a situation Shin calls "frustrating."

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He feels a film can be "uniquely Canadian" due to the artistic sensibility of its writer and director, even when it is set outside of Canada and filmed in a language other than English, French or an Indigenous language.

A 'very difficult choice'

The executive director of Telefilm Canada says the agency receives four to five times more requests from filmmakers than it can afford to fund.

"It's a very difficult choice to make," said Carolle Brabant, who is stepping down this month after eight years in the job, adding, "We would love to, if only we had more money to do so."

Brabant said there has been some discussion around changing the eligibility requirements, but "we're not ready yet."

Chair of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television Martin Katz pointed out that Indigenous language films used to be ineligible, as well. That rule was changed a few years ago.

"If we look at a film like Ava, which is such a beautiful film in Farsi, and it's really about issues that young women all over the world are facing at the same time, I think we look at that and step back and ask ourselves the question 'Why are our rules like that? Why are our rules not different?'"

Given that Canada participates in international co-productions all over the world, Katz thinks there should be a way to make those films "part of the Telefilm family."

One veteran Canadian filmmaker did find a way. Deepa Mehta got around the language rules when she made her Oscar-nominated 2005 film Water in Hindi: she shot an English version at the same time just to qualify for Telefilm funding, even though it was never released.

Films 'uniquely Canadian'

For those filmmakers caught in the funding gap due to their choice of language, change can't come soon enough.

"We can make films that take place in different countries but they're uniquely Canadian because we're a country that embraces other cultures and other creeds and religions," Shin said.

"We can be in the forefront of that  we have the population to do it, we have the stories to do it. This is a unique thing that Canada can bring to the world cinema stage."

For now, Shin has to keep those ideas on hold. He's writing his next feature film in English so it will be eligible for Telefilm funding.

Foroughi, however, is already planning her next movie in Farsi.

"[Telefilm] has to believe in us," she said. "I think we have talent even if the film's language is in Chinese or Korean or Arabic or Persian, but we are Canadian."

The Canadian Screen Awards broadcast gala will air on CBC-TV on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe is expected to make remarks following a meeting Friday afternoon with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The meeting follows an event earlier in the day during which Canada's Public Safety Minister said allegations of "racial bias" have harmed the morale of RCMP members.

The comment from Ralph Goodale comes only days after the federal police watchdog, the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission for the RCMP, announced it has started probing the RCMP's investigation of the death of Colten Boushie for signs of racial discrimination, along with other areas of police conduct.

"Internal challenges, like abuses of power, allegations of racial bias, infringements of civil liberties, bullying and workplace harassment have harmed the RCMP's reputation and damaged the morale of members," said Goodale at the Regina RCMP Depot on Friday.

New RCMP commissioner

Goodale's remark came just before Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named Brenda Lucki, the commanding officer of RCMP's Depot division in Regina, as the RCMP's first permanent female commissioner.

Trudeau said Lucki  set to become the RCMP's 24th top cop starting on April 16  has already taken steps as the person in charge of training new RCMP recruits.

"[She] has been focused on ensuring that cadets receive the best possible training, including diversity training, so that when they receive their field placements, they are ready to investigate crimes, enforce the law and keep our communities safe and secure," said Trudeau.

Changes to legal system coming: PM

Following Lucki's appointment, Trudeau was asked if he regretted the tweet he sent out after a jury found Gerald Stanley not-guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Colten Boushie.

Trudeau said he would not comment on the Stanley trial, but said, "I think it is impossible to look at the situation in our justice system and not recognize that our system has not fairly treated Indigenous people over the past decades, over the past centuries even."

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He added that the federal government will move forward "in the coming weeks on concrete measures to improve outcomes within our justice system, improve relations with Indigenous peoples in our country."

Cadets faint during ceremony

Friday's ceremony was brought to a halt at least twice when RCMP cadets appeared to faint in the background as Goodale, Trudeau and Lucki made their remarks.

Carolyn Meadow, a spokesperson for the RCMP, said it was hot in the room and the cadets had overheated because of the thickness of their uniforms. She said the cadets were being looked after by doctors.

Lucki's appointment is just one of several announcements Trudeau is expected to make in Regina.

Trudeau later stopped at the George Bothwell branch of Regina Public Library, where he touched on changes to parental leave announced in the last budget.

- Reporter Stephanie Taylor will be live-tweeting during Trudeau's visit. Follow her reports here or scroll down to the bottom of the story. On mobile? Click here.

Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe was set to meet Trudeau at the legislature at 2 p.m., where the pair was expected to touch on issues central to Saskatchewan.

Those include getting pipelines built to bring oil to tidewater, grain backlogs that are impacting the province's farmers, and Saskatchewan's decision not to step in with the federal government's carbon pricing policy.By Megumi Lim RIKUZENTAKATA, Japan (Reuters) - When a massive earthquake struck in 2011, Japanese oyster fisherman Atsushi Fujita was working as usual by the sea. Soon after, a huge black wave slammed into his city and killed nearly 2,000 people. Seven years on, Fujita and thousands like him along Japan's northeast coast have rebuilt their lives alongside huge sea walls that experts say will protect them if another giant tsunami, which some see as inevitable in a seismically active nation like Japan, was to strike. The 12.5-meter (41-ft) concrete wall replaced a 4-meter breakwater that was swamped in the March 11, 2011 disaster. The earthquake and tsunami, which reached as high as 30 meters in some areas, killed nearly 18,000 people across Japan and triggered a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant. "It feels like we're in jail, even though we haven't done anything bad," the 52-year-old Fujita said. (Click http://reut.rs/2oT9XTa to see a picture package of the sea walls built after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.) Since the disaster, some towns have forbidden construction in flat areas nearest the coast and have relocated residents to higher land. Others, such as Rikuzentakata, have raised the level of their land by several meters before constructing new buildings. A common thread, though, is the construction of seawalls to replace breakwaters that were overwhelmed by the tsunami. Some 395 km (245 miles) of walls have been built at a cost of 1.35 trillion yen ($12.74 billion). "The seawalls will halt tsunamis and prevent them from inundating the land," said Hiroyasu Kawai, researcher at the Port and Airport Research Institute in Yokosuka, near Tokyo. "Even if the tsunami is bigger than the wall, the wall will delay flooding and guarantee more time for evacuation." ADJUSTING Many residents initially welcomed the idea of the walls but have become more critical over time. Some say they were not consulted enough in the planning stages or that money spent on the walls has meant that other rebuilding, such as housing, has fallen behind. Others worry the walls will damage tourism. "About 50 years ago, we came up here with the kids and enjoyed drives along the beautiful ocean and bays," said Reiko Iijima, a tourist from central Japan, who was eating at an oyster restaurant across from the seawall. "Now, there's not even a trace of that." Part of a wall in the city of Kesennuma, further south, has windows in it - but these, too, draw complaints. "They're a parody," said Yuichiro Ito, who lost his home and younger brother in the tsunami. "It's just to keep us happy with something we never wanted in the first place." Fisherman Fujita said that while the tsunami had improved oyster farming in the area by stirring up sea floors and removing accumulated sludge, the sea walls could block natural water flows from the land and impact future production. Many municipalities said the giant walls had to be in place before permission could be granted for reconstruction elsewhere. "I can't say things like 'the wall should be lower' or 'we don't need it,'" said Katsuhiro Hatakeyama, who has rebuilt his bed and breakfast business in the same location as before. "It's thanks to the wall that I could rebuild, and now have a job." But many find the wall hard to adjust to. "Everyone here has lived with the sea, through generations," said Sotaro Usui, head of a tuna supply company. "The wall keeps us apart - and that's unbearable." (Additional reporting by Kim Kyung-hoon, Writing by Elaine Lies; Editing by Karishma Singh and Neil Fullick)You'd be forgiven for thinking that St. Patrick's Day is only meant to be celebrated on March 17  after all, the word "day" is in the title.

However, residents of Richmond, in Quebec's Eastern Townships, have a different take on it.

Richmond's celebrations stretch over three weekends, which include banquets, music, poetry and the highlight of the month: The parade.

"In Quebec, I think there's about five parades and we're the second biggest one," said Erika Lockwood, president of the Richmond St. Patrick's Society, in an interview on CBC's All in a Weekend.

The event has been known to temporarily triple the town's population of 3,000, as visitors pour in from across the region.

"I think local businesses, when they started participating in it, it grew and it grew," said Lockwood, who also runs a local pub.

Organizers hire marching bands from the town, and bring in animals from the country.

"We have over 200 horses that are also included in our parade," she said.

Lockwood said organizers even get a bit of help from "leprechauns"  a group of revellers who sneak out in the wee hours before the parade, to paint a green line on the streets along the parade route.

She said the celebrations take months of planning, usually starting in October.

"Winter's long for everyone in Quebec. It's like the first spring party. It wakes everyone up and everyone looks forward to it and there's a lot of energy. It's a great atmosphere," she said.

200 years of Irish residents

While the parade is in its 141st year, the town's Irish roots date back more than 200 years, according to the book Irish Settlement and National Identity in the Lower St. Francis Valley, written by Peter Southam, a retired history professor from University of Sherbrooke.

The book is published by the Richmond St. Patrick's Society.

Lockwood said most people in Richmond tend to claim some Irish ancestry  particularly when March rolls around.

Story continues

But even for those without an Irish branch to the family tree, it's an occasion to celebrate and bring everyone in the bilingual community together, said Lockwood.

For example, one event, a Green Bingo, brings together seniors from both anglophone and francophone seniors' homes.

According to Statistics Canada, about 2,200 people list French as their mother tongue in the city, while 745 list English.By Angus McDowall BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army intensified its onslaught in eastern Ghouta on Saturday with advances that a war monitor and state media said had splintered the enclave, though a rebel official denied this. Syrian state television broadcast from inside Mesraba, a town lying along the road connecting the northern and southern halves of the rebel-held stronghold. The capture of Mesraba and advances into nearby farmland brought important roads directly under fire by the army, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. That has in effect cut the large towns of Harasta and Douma off from each other and the rest of the enclave, it added. However, Hamza Birqadar, a spokesman for Jaish al-Islam, one of the two main insurgent groups in eastern Ghouta, denied that either Harasta or Douma had been cut off. The relentless three-week assault on the last major rebel stronghold near Damascus has captured about half its area and killed 976 people, according to the Britain-based Observatory. State television showed a huge plume of dark smoke rising behind houses and trees in eastern Ghouta, with the sound of blasts in the background. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia, his main ally, say the campaign is needed to end rebel shelling of Damascus and end the rule of Islamist insurgents over the area's civilians. The offensive follows the pattern of previous assaults on rebel strongholds, deploying air power and tight sieges to force insurgents to accept "evacuation" deals. These involve rebels surrendering territory in exchange for safe passage to opposition areas in northwest Syria, along with their families and other civilians who do not want to come back under Assad's rule. Late on Friday, a small number of fighters and their families from the former al Qaeda affiliate previously known as the Nusra Front left eastern Ghouta under such a deal. But the group represents only a small portion of the insurgent presence in the enclave. Jaish al-Islam and the other main eastern Ghouta rebel group Failaq al-Rahman have said they are not negotiating a similar deal for themselves. Capturing the enclave would represent Assad's biggest blow against the rebels since they were driven from Aleppo in December 2016. It would seal a string of military victories for the Syrian leader since the entry of Russian jets into the war on his side in 2015 turned the course of the conflict against the insurgents. SHORTAGES The intensity of the government's attack on an enclave that has been besieged since 2013 and suffers acute shortages of food and medical supplies has drawn Western condemnation and demands by U.N. aid agencies for a humanitarian halt in fighting. State television broadcast from Mesraba showed a large group of civilians hiding in a house. People across eastern Ghouta have sheltered in basements from the ceaseless bombardment in recent weeks. A middle-aged man interviewed by the channel shouted slogans in support of Assad and against the rebels while women and small children stood behind him as men in army uniforms looked on. State media said the 60 civilians found in Mesraba by the army had been held by insurgents as human shields, something the rebel groups deny. Footage taken on the streets of Mesraba showed tanks near half-collapsed buildings and walls pocked with bullet holes. The United Nations estimates that 400,000 people are trapped in eastern Ghouta. "Living conditions are harsh ... Shop owners and traders are sending their workers to the shelters to sell food for three times the price before the offensive," said a man in the eastern Ghouta town of Saqba who identified himself as Abu Abdo in a voice message. Aid agencies have tried to deliver food and medicine into eastern Ghouta, but have been able only to bring in a portion of the amount they wanted. A convoy was unable to finish unloading on Monday because of continued fighting, bringing in the remaining undelivered food parcels on Friday despite bombardment nearby. However, U.N. agencies said most medical supplies had been stripped from the convoy by Syrian government officials and that the food supplies brought in were insufficient. Medical charities operating in eastern Ghouta have reported several incidents in recent weeks of what they say was chlorine gas use in government bombardments, causing choking symptoms. On Saturday, Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, rejected those charges and accused the United States of orchestrating the accusations in order to support militant groups. "We did not deny a single request for investigation," Mekdad told a news conference. The government has opened what it says are several safe routes out of eastern Ghouta for civilians, but none are known to have left so far. Damascus and Moscow accuse the rebels of preventing people from fleeing the fighting. Insurgent groups in eastern Ghouta deny this, saying people have not left for fear of government persecution, but a Reuters witness on Friday saw gunfire and mortar fire from inside rebel territory near one of the crossing points. Sajjad Malik, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees representative in Syria, who went in with the convoy on Monday, said in comments published on the agency's website that people did not feel safe to leave. People in Douma told him they feared crossing rebel checkpoints and were uncertain whether they would be safe when they reached government-held areas, Malik said. (Reporting by Angus McDowall; Additional reporting by Kinda Makieh in Damascus; Editing by Dale Hudson and Gareth Jones)British police have identified over 200 witnesses and are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence in their investigation into a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter, the interior minister says.

After chairing a meeting of the U.K. government's emergency response committee, Amber Rudd said more than 250 counter-terrorism police were involved in the investigation, which was proceeding with "speed and professionalism."

It's the second such meeting for the COBRA (Cabinet Office Briefing Room A) committee in less than a week, as Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, remain in critical condition in hospital.

British officials say Skripal and his daughter were exposed to a rare nerve agent of undetermined origin.Their prognosis is unclear and officials have not said if they have suffered irreversible damage.

Rudd led Saturday's talks and briefed senior cabinet ministers, including Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, on the police investigation.

Nearly a week has passed since father and daughter were found unconscious on a public bench in Salisbury in southern England last Sunday.

A police officer who was one of the first to attend the scene and was subsequently hospitalized is said to be making good progress and is now able to talk, although he remains in serious condition. Det.-Sgt. Nick Bailey had visited Sergei Skripal's home after the discovery of the pair in the centre of the cathedral town.

Wiltshire Police, the local force, issued a statement on Bailey's behalf in which he thanked the public for messages of support he has received.

"He does not consider himself a 'hero.' He states he was merely doing his job," the statement said.

Large military presence

About 180 members of the armed forces, including chemical warfare experts, are now on the ground in Salisbury helping Scotland Yard's anti-terrorism unit in the investigation.

On Friday, their attention switched focus to a cemetery in Salisbury where Skripal's wife is buried and a memorial for his son is located. Skripal's wife, Lyudmila, 59, died of cancer in 2012. His son Alexander, 43, died while on holiday in St. Petersburg last year after reportedly suffering from liver failure.

Story continues

Special tents have been set up over the two sites as experts in hazmat suits scour the area for clues.

Earlier Friday, members of the armed forces removed a police car used in the initial response from Salisbury district hospital.

Other vehicles, including ambulances, were expected to be taken away for inspection on Saturday.

Meanwhile, experts are also continuing to examine the nerve agent used in the attack in the hope it will lead to whoever was responsible.

Skripal betrayed dozens of Russian agents to British intelligence before his arrest in Moscow in 2004. He was sentenced to 13 years in prison in 2006, and in 2010 was given refuge in Britain after being exchanged for Russian spies.

The incident has been likened to the case of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, a critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who died in London in 2006 after drinking green tea laced with radioactive polonium-210.

Britain has said it will respond robustly if evidence shows Russia was behind the attempted murder. The Kremlin has denied any involvement in the incident and says anti-Russian hysteria is being whipped up by the British media.NAIROBI (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson canceled scheduled events on Saturday on the second day of a visit to Kenya because he had been feeling unwell, a State Department spokesman said, adding that he would resume his program on Sunday. "The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as North Korea and has canceled his events for the day," spokesman Steve Goldstein told reporters traveling with Tillerson. "Some events will go ahead without him, while they are looking at the possibility of rescheduling others," said Goldstein, under-secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs at the State Department. Goldstein later said the secretary's health had improved. "The Secretary is feeling better and will resume his normal schedule tomorrow," he said. Tillerson, 65, is four days into his first diplomatic trip to Africa, where he has visited Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya, and is scheduled to go on to Nigeria and Chad. During the trip he has also been involved behind the scenes in discussions within the administration on a possible meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. A U.S. embassy official in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, said U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Bob Godec and Kenyan Health Minister Sicily Kariuki would attend events on Saturday morning. Tillerson had been scheduled to lay a wreath at the site of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Nairobi, in which more than 200 people were killed, and attend an event to highlight U.S. health assistance in Africa. (Reporting by pool reporters, additional reporting by Omar Mohammed; Writing by Lesley Wroughton and Duncan Miriri; Editing by Stephen Powell)Xxenogenesis (excerpt, musical bed)

REPLIKANTS - Slickaphonics - 1999, 5 Rue Christine

Protected Hex

MEG BAIRD and CHARLIE SAUFLEY - V.A.: Hexadic III - 2018, Drag CIty - V.A.: Hexadic III -

Hawk Mountain

FERN KNIGHT - Fern Knight - 2007, VHF

Ko (instrumental)

TASHI DORJI - V.A.: Hexadic III - 2018, Drag CIty - V.A.: Hexadic III -

Abandon Problems

RICHARD YOUNGS - V.A.: Hexadic III - 2018, Drag CIty - V.A.: Hexadic III -

Satan

HYNESS - the End of Music - 2018, Sore Lips - the End of Music -

Archangel's Thunderbird

the BREEDERS - All Nerve - 2018, 4AD - All Nerve -

Cold Turkey (John Lennon cover)

LENNY KRAVITZ - V.A.: Instant Karma - the Campaign to Save Darfur - 1999, Amnesty International

Xxenogenesis (musical bed)

REPLIKANTS - Slickaphonics - 1999, 5 Rue Christine

Hatred

SALAD BOYS - This is Glue - 2018, Trouble in Mind - This is Glue -

I Close My Eyes and Think of God

COMET GAIN - Realistes - 2002, Kill Rock Stars

On My Mind - Remix Edit TV

SKYTONE - Remixed - 2018, the beautiful music - Remixed -

Love Constitution Remix

CANDY OPERA - 45 Revolutions per Minute - 2018, Firestation, recorded in 198? - 45 Revolutions per Minute -

Lee Remick (Go-Betweens cover)

PATIENCE HODGSON - V.A.: Write Your Adventures Down - a Tribute to the Go-Betweens - 2007, Sony Red Label Australia

Lightning's Girl

NANCY SINATRA - 7-inch A-side - 1967, Reprise

Walk On By (comp: Bacharach/David)

the STRANGLERS - 7-inch A-side - 1978, United Artists

Flower

DEERHOOF - Holdypaws - 1999, Kill Rock Stars

Xxenogenesis (musical bed)

REPLIKANTS - Slickaphonics - 1999, 5 Rue Christine

Never My Love (Association cover)

HAR MAR SUPERSTAR (feat. Adam Green) - V.A.: Whip It (Sdtk) - 2009, Rhino

There is an Everlasting Song

BELLE and SEBASTIAN - How to Solve Our Human Problems Pt. 3 - 2018, Matador - How to Solve Our Human Problems Pt. 3 -

the Wild House

MARK RENNER - Few Traces (compilation) - 2018, RVNG Intl, originally recorded in 1986) - Few Traces (compilation) -

In Every Dream Home a Heartache (Old Grey Whistle Test)

ROXY MUSIC - the Eno Years (compilation) - 1975, Anti-Gravity, recorded for BBC 1972

Innkeeper

GIANNA LAUREN - V.A.: 2017/2018 Sampler - 2017, Forward Music Group - V.A.: 2017/2018 Sampler -

These 3 Things

OUGHT - Room Inside the World - 2018, Merge - Room Inside the World -

Tehn faedd

WHENCE CAME PESTILENCE - Rained a Ton - 2017, Baffled Octopi - Rained a Ton -

Drei en Drei (instrumental)

TO BE - V.A.: Brain Festival Essen II - 1978, Brain

Inner Voice (instrumental)

RUPHUS - V.A.: Brain Festival Essen II - 1978, Brain

Dot Net (instrumental)

BATTLES - La-Di-Da-Di - 2015, Warp

Xxenogenesis (musical bed)

REPLIKANTS - Slickaphonics - 1999, 5 Rue ChristineIndia and France singed 14 key agreements in strategic areas of security, nuclear energy, protection of classified information and also in field of education, environment, urban development and railways.

These agreements were signed after extensive bilateral talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron in New Delhi. French President Macron was in India on four-day official state visit. His visit was aimed at strengthening bilateral economic, political and strategic dimension of engagement between India and France.

Signed Agreement are

MoU on cooperation in the field of Environment.

MoU on technical cooperation in the field of Railways.

India-France Migration and Mobility Partnership Agreement.

Agreement to facilitate Mutual Recognition of Academic Qualifications.

Letter of Intent for creation of permanent Indo-French Railways Forum.

Agreement on cooperation in the field of Sustainable Urban Development.

MoU for co-operation in projects in ISA member countries in areas of solar energy

Implementing Arrangement for pre-formulation studies of a Maritime Awareness Mission.

Agreement regarding provision of reciprocal logistics support between their Armed Forces.

Bilateral Arrangement on cooperation in matter of Hydrography and Maritime Cartography.

Agreement regarding exchange and reciprocal protection of classified or protected information

Credit Facility Agreement of Euros 100 million for funding of Smart City Projects through a Challenge Process

Industrial Way Forward Agreement between NPCL and EDF, France for construction of six nuclear reactors at Jaitapur, Maharashtra.

Agreement on Prevention of Illicit Consumption and Reduction of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs, Psychotropic Substances and Chemical Precursors and Related Offences.

India-France relations

India and France share close and friendly relation. The relationship is based on shared values and real convergence on a whole range of regional and global issues. Both countries had announced a Strategic Partnership in 1998 and since then, relationship has been further strengthened.

Both countries have enhanced and ongoing cooperation in defence, maritime, space, security, and energy-related sectors. They are also increasingly working together on all issues of concern including terrorism, climate change, sustainable growth and development, infrastructure, smart urbanization, S&T cooperation, and youth exchanges.

France is a major supplier of military equipment to India. It was one of few nations that did not condemn Indias nuclear tests in 1998. It was first country with which India entered into agreement on Civil Nuclear Cooperation in 2008. France is one of largest suppliers of nuclear fuel to India. It also supports Indias bid to become permanent member of UN Security Council (UNSC) as well as G-8.

The bilateral trade between India and France for period April 2016 to March 2017 had reached US$ 10.95 billion. France is 9th largest foreign investor in India with cumulative investment of US $6.09 billion from 2000 to 2017. Close to 1,000 French companies are present in India. About 120 Indian companies have invested in France and employ close to 7,000 people.India and France have inked strategic pact providing for use of each others military facilities including opening naval bases to warships. It was signed during official state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India. The agreement reflects growing depth between both countries in defence ties and comes amid Chinas growing military expansionism in Indo-Pacific region.

Key Facts

The agreement will facilitate reciprocal provision of logistic support, supplies and services between armed forces of India and France during authorised port visits, joint exercises and joint training among others. It will be crucial in order to maintain the safety of international sea lanes for unimpeded commerce and communications in Indo-Pacific region. The deal is similar to logistical support pact (LEMOA) with US on use of each others land, air and naval bases and is indicator of strategic depth and maturity reached in India-France defence ties.

Key Takeaways from Joint Statement on Defence relations

Both countries have decided to create an annual defence dialogue at the ministerial level to explore ways to further deepen defence and strategic ties. They also signed pact on exchange and reciprocal protection of classified or protected information.

On ties in maritime security sphere, both countries will have unprecedented level of cooperation to ensure peace and stability in Indian and Pacific Oceans. Space agencies of both countries will also have joint monitoring mechanism for developments in maritime sphere, while their navies of will share intelligence and call their respective military bases for any requirement.

Both sides also emphasised the importance of the joint military exercises and affirmed their intention to enhance the level of the exercises. They acknowledged that Make-in-India initiative offers valuable opportunity for Indian and French defence enterprises to enter into co-development and co-production projects in defence sector, including through transfer of technologies.After many meetings and debates, the Chicago delegation succeeded in working with the New York United Federation of Teachers, Local 2 (UFT) to push the AFT to take stronger stands on charter school accountability and school closings  though many delegates from Chicago would have liked the language to have been even stronger.

Generally speaking, the New York delegation represented organizing charters as the best model for handling their role in reshaping unions, despite the fact that according to many reports few charter schools in New York have been organized as is the case in Chicago. This logic is the same touted by the Progressive Caucus of the AFT. The few that have been organized are a part of the UFT local though they have separate contracts negotiated with the help of UFT. The Chicago delegation reflection the mindset that allowing new charters to continue to proliferate while attempting to organize existing charters is an end game in which public schools and the union lose.



Jen Johnson, CTU, Local 1 in Substance

In an exclusive interview with Radio Farda, the woman renowned as the second Daughter of Enghelab (Revolution) Street insists that despite her conviction for publicly removing her headscarf, she remains staunchly against compulsory hijab.

Tasnim news agency, close to the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), quoted prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on March 7 as saying she had attempted to "encourage corruption through the removal of the hijab in public."

Dolatabadi did not identify the woman but announced she had been sentenced to 24 months in prison and three months without parole.

Her attorney, Nasrin Sotoudeh, has identified her as Narges Hosseini.

We are going to appeal the verdict, Sotoudeh confirmed.

Hosseini was the second woman to stand on an electricity box on crowded Revolution Street in the heart of Tehran and remove her headscarf, waving it in the air as a flag of victory.

Hosseini was arrested on the spot and spent 20 days behind bars before being released on bail of 600 million rials (roughly $16,000).

Speaking with Radio Fardas Vahid Pourostad, Hosseini confirmed that she had been sentenced to 24 months imprisonment.

Based on the verdict, 21 months of her prison term will be suspended.

Even though I have been convicted, I believe more than ever that the compulsory hijab law in Iran should be resisted, she said.

Hosseini said she didnt expect such a tough sentence.

I had prepared myself for any conviction before removing my headscarf, but I did not expect to be condemned to prison and paying a huge fine. I was shocked by the verdict, she said.

She said she was amazed by the comments of the judge, who said, Yes, it is accepted that hijab in Iran is mandatory and compulsory, but it is based on the law and one should obey the law; meaning that you should legally put a scarf, even a light and thin muslin, on your head.

Hosseini reiterated she felt it was her duty to publicly protest compulsory hijab.

The women who protested compulsory hijab by removing their headscarves in Iran have been branded the Girls of Revolution Street on social media.

In the past, women arrested for appearing in public without what is considered proper covering were quickly released or sentenced to short jail terms and fined the equivalent of about $25.

Earlier this year, Iranian authorities announced they had detained 29 women who removed their head scarves as part of a campaign against the country's mandatory Islamic dress code.

Police claimed the women had been tricked into removing their headscarves by a propaganda campaign conducted by Iranians living abroad.

The U.S. State Department condemned the arrests, saying the women were exercising their human rights and fundamental freedoms by standing up against the compulsory hijab.

Amnesty International reiterated its calls on Iranian authorities to end the persecution of women who speak out against compulsory veiling and abolish this discriminatory and humiliating practice.

Women's dress has been heavily scrutinized in Iran since the 1979 revolution, when adherence to an Islamic dress code became compulsory.

The dress code dictates that women's hair and bodies must be covered in public.

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has accused foreign "enemies" of funding the recent protests.

Khamenei's remarks in a March 8 speech were his most extensive public comments on the series of peaceful acts of protest.

Referring to enemy" plots, Khamenei claimed some girls were deceived and removed their veils.

He dismissed the protests as a small issue," but added, What I find worrying is that some of the elite are now questioning the mandatory hijab.

Khamenei said some of the countrys journalists, intellectuals, and clerics may be unknowingly following the path of the enemy.Three Iranian students who were detained during the widespread protests earlier this year have been sentenced to nine years in prison by the Revolutionary Courts.

Leila Hosseinzadeh, a student of anthropology at Tehran University, was sentenced to six years imprisonment and prohibited from leaving Iran for two years, the Trade Councils of Iranian Students reported on its Telegram channel.

Based on the same report, Sina Rabeiei, a social sciences student at Tehran University, was sentenced to a year in prison and a two-year ban on leaving the country. Mohsen Haghshenas, a Tehran University theater student, was sentenced to two years incarceration.

The students were all charged with propaganda against the regime, acting against national security, and disturbing peace and public order through participation in unlawful assemblies.

Immediately after the protests broke out on December 28, 2017, the Intelligence Ministry detained more than 100 students mainly affiliated with Tehran University.

Two pro-reformist representatives of Tehran in parliament, Farid Mousavi and Mahmoud Sadeghi, said at the time that most of those students were detained as a preventive measure.

Nevertheless, prominent lawyers including Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and Nasrin Sotoudeh immediately noted that Irans criminal code does not allow the authorities to arrest people solely on the grounds of preventive measures.

However, Sadeghi said on March 2 that lawsuits against nearly 50 students had been filed.

Two days earlier, 22 students associations of Tehran University had warned that several students had been summoned to court again and were facing serious charges.

Furthermore, 1,500 students of Tehran University and the School of Medical Sciences issued a statement insisting they would remain sensitive against any possible imprisonment, deprivation and trouble awaiting the students.

The detention of students continued even after the protests against dictatorship, corruption, poverty, and unemployment, died down in January.

Parisa Rafeiei, a student in Tehran Universitys School of Fine Arts, was arrested on February 25 and has not been released.

According to Rafeieis father, she was arrested by intelligence agents from the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps and her whereabouts are still unknown.

Marzieh Amiri, a student of social sciences at Tehran University, has also been detained since March 8 and along with several other female detainees was transferred to the general ward of Qarchak Prison.

At least 22 people were killed and up to 5,000 arrested between December 28, 2017, when the protests began in the city of Mashhad, and first week of January.

New York based Center for Human Rights in Iran (CHRI) reported, Officials have avoided blaming security forces for the deaths, but anti-riot police and the semi-official Basij volunteer militia force, which operates under the control of the IRGC, have been instructed to quell the protests.

A student activist told Radio Farda that many students had received warnings prior to the protests not to voice radical demands. Student activists intensified their criticism of government policies and also demanded the authorities respect their collective rights.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 11

Trend:

Georgian Prime Minister Georgy Kvirikashvili will pay an official visit to Azerbaijan on March 12, apsny.ge reported.

Georgy Kvirikashvili will meet with his Azerbaijani counterpart Artur Rasizade, after which an expanded meeting will take place with participation of the two countries' government members in the Cabinet of MinistersBaku, Azerbaijan, March 11

By Ilkin Shafiyev - Trend:

The National Entrepreneurship Support Fund of Azerbaijan (NFES) can expand the volume of concessional lending for 2018, the Funds Executive Director Shirzad Abdullayev said on.

According to the 2018-state budget of Azerbaijan, it is planned to allocate soft loans of 170 million manats through the NFES this year.

"We have additional financing resources. That is, we, on our part, can expand financing up to 200 million manats in 2018. Everything depends on agreements between banks and entrepreneurs," Abdullayev said, adding that in case of necessity, the volume of concessional lending can be increased.

The NFES was established in 1992. During the period from 1992 to 2017, 34,600 entrepreneurs were granted 2.1 billion soft loans worth 4.5 billion manats.

(1.7001 manats = $1 on March 6)Baku, Azerbaijan, March 11

Trend:

Azerbaijans Azercosmos OJSC will operate satellites and other devices used at different heights in order to support the countrys socio-economic development, commercial, scientific activities and for state purposes, according to the amendments to the decision of Azerbaijans Cabinet of Ministers "On the approval of the Charter and the structure of the OJSC Azerkosmos".

On the basis of approved development directions, the Cabinet of Ministers will approve the companys long-term development plan, the provisions of its structural subdivisions, branches and representative offices, as well as the statutes of the structures (with legal entity status) subordinated to the OJSC.

According to the amendments, Azerkosmos will represent Azerbaijan in the INTERSPUTNIK International Organization of Space Communications, the European Telecommunications Satellite Organization, the European Space Agency, the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, and also cooperate with space agencies and organizations of other countries in the field of peaceful use of space.

Azercosmos will also put forward relevant proposals for the implementation of international treaties on the use of outer space for peaceful purposes, to which Azerbaijan is a party. Its tasks also include promotion of space science and technology, organization of meetings, conferences, seminars and other events in the country and abroad.

The total revenues of Azercosmos OJSC, Azerbaijans satellite operator, from the operation of Azerspace-1 and Azersky satellites reached $91 million.

The revenues from the operation of Azerspace-1, Azerbaijans first satellite, since its launch into orbit, amounted to $72 million, while the revenues from the operation of Azersky satellite amounted to $19 million.

Azerspace-1 was launched on Feb. 8, 2013. Its service area includes the countries of Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa.

The Azersky satellite was handed over to Azerbaijan in line with an agreement inked Dec. 2, 2014 at the BakuTel exhibition by Azercosmos OJSC and the French Airbus Defence and Space company.Baku, Azerbaijan, March 11

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Iranian Energy Ministry pays 3,700 rials for purchasing per kilowatt of power generated in the countrys waste-to-power plants, an energy official said.

The Iranian head of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Organization (SATBA), Mohammad Sadeqzadeh, has said that Energy Ministry in the meantime pays about 3,000 rials in subsidy to the production of per kilowatt of power generated from garbage.

According to the official website of Energy Minister, the countrys waste-to-energy plants produce 11 megawatts of power.

Five waste-to-power plants in the cities of Shiraz, Tehran, and Mashhad are available in the country.

Mohammad Sadeqzadeh further said that the production of power from waste in Iran costs two folds more compared to the generation of power from other types of renewable energy.

Nominal electric generation capacities of hydroelectric plants (11,811 MW) and Bushehr nuclear power plant (1020 MW) are equal to 15.1 and 1.3 percent of electric generation capacity, while the share of renewables stands at only 0.41 percent or 322 MW.Tehran, Iran, March 11

By Kamyar Eghbalnejad  Trend:

A top Iranian merchant has called for inking a free trade agreement with Azerbaijan in order to boost bilateral ties.

Iran and Azerbaijan should move towards signing a free trade agreement, Pedram Soltani, the deputy head of Iran Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines & Agriculture (ICCIMA), told Trend.

I believe that the two countries are capable of boosting the current level of bilateral trade, he added.

According to the State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan, the trade turnover with Iran in 2017 amounted to $257.1 million, 27.4 percent more than in 2016. In 2017, the export of Azerbaijani products to Iran amounted to $16.8 million.

An Azerbaijani delegation led by the economy minister and the co-chairman of the State Commission for Cooperation between Azerbaijan and Iran in the economic, trade and humanitarian spheres, Shahin Mustafayev, will pay a visit to Tehran on March 12-14.

The sides are expected to explore avenues for expansion of bilateral ties.Cubans go to the polls on Sunday in a one-party vote that marks the penultimate step in a political process that will culminate next month with the selection of the Communist-ruled islands first non-Castro leader since the 1959 revolution, Reuters reports.

The government depicts the vote, which takes place every five years and in which Cubans are asked to endorse two official lists of candidates for the national and provincial assemblies, as a symbolic show of unity.

This year, though, the newly-seated national assembly will on April 19 select a new president to replace Raul Castro, 86, who together with his late older brother Fidel Castro ruled the Caribbean island for nearly six decades.

While Castro is expected to remain at the helm of the powerful Communist Party, First Vice-President Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, is expected to become president.Egyptian forces have killed 16 extremists over the past four days during the ongoing counterterrorist operation on the Sinai Peninsula, the army said in a statement on Sunday, Sputnik International reports.

According to the statement, four especially dangerous extremists were killed in central Sinai, and 12 more in another part of the peninsula.

Cairo has been engaging in anti-terror activities on the Sinai Peninsula for years, where militants have repeatedly staged deadly attacks. In 2014, a state of emergency was introduced on the peninsula after militants attacked Egyptian security officers in the area.

The major anti-terror offensive in the area started on February 9.Cuba will kick off the second stage of the general elections on Sunday which will eventually lead to the change of the island-state's presidency, Xinhua reported.

Over 8.8 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at more than 24,000 polling stations to determine 605 members of the National Assembly of People's Power, the county's top legislative body. The assembly will convene next month to elect a new president for Cuba as President Raul Castro will not seek a third term.

In November last year, Cuban voters selected 12,515 delegates (councilors) to municipal government assemblies at the first stage of the general elections.

On April 19, the National Assembly is set to vote for the 31 members of the State Council, including its new president, vice presidents, secretary and other members.

"When the National Assembly is constituted in April 2018, I will have finished my second and last term leading the state and the government, and Cuba will have a new president," Cuban President Raul Castro said in a speech to lawmakers in December last year.

Raul Castro, 86, officially came to power in 2008, after his brother Fidel Castro was forced to retire on health reasons.

Raul Castro will continue to serve as first secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba until 2021. He has been nominated to a seat in the next legislature, but will not take on any major political responsibility.

According to official data, this year's candidates are on average 49 years old and about 53.6 percent of them are women.

Raul Castro was scheduled to hand over the presidency to a new leader on Feb. 24. However, the National Assembly decided to extend his term for nearly two more months after the general elections were postponed. The delay was caused by hurricane Irma devastating the island country last year.A military truck rolled over in the southern Turkish province of Hatay as one soldier was martyred, and two others were injured due to the crash, military sources told Anadolu Agency late Saturday.

The truck tumbled down a road's shoulder in Yayladagi district of Hatay due to unknown reasons, said military sources.

Three soldiers, who were in the truck, were taken to Yayladagi State Hospital by ambulances, however one of them, who was in critical condition, died despite medical interventions.

The two other injured soldiers' health status was reportedly fine.Ankara expects Berlin to find perpetrators of recent attacks on Turkish mosques in Germany, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said Sunday, Turkish media reported.

Two Turkish mosques, one in Berlin and another in Lauffen am Neckar town, were attacked in the last few days.

The attack in Lauffen am Neckar on Friday was claimed by a PKK-linked group, but the perpetrators of the Berlin attack have not been found yet.

"We follow with concern the increasing attacks on Turkish mosques in Germany by racist, anti-Islam factions and PKK terrorist organization," the statement said.

The ministry warned there should be no tolerance for the PKK and urged German authorities to take steps to prevent similar attacks in the future.

PKK's statement that similar attacks will continue and the responsibility it claimed for the attack in Lauffen am Neckar, shows the real face of the terror organization, the ministry said.US President Donald Trump said Saturday that he expected success in solving the North Korean issue amid the announcement of possible talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Sputnik International reports.

"I think North Korea is going very well, I think we will have tremendous success. I think this is going to be something very successful. We have a lot of support So that would be great," Trump told reporters before leaving for a rally in US state of Pennsylvania as quoted in a White House press release.

He also said that expected Pyongyang to stick to its promise to cease all ballistic missile and nuclear tests and noted that North Korea was looking to denuclearization.

On Tuesday, South Korean delegation announced that North Korean side and its leader Kim Jong Un confirmed commitment to demilitarization of the Korean Peninsula during the meeting in Pyongyang. Additionally, North Korea expressed a willingness to hold talks with the United States, as well as pause all nuclear tests and missile launches during the negotiations.

The announcement of a meeting between the US and North Korean leaders came after months of contentious exchanges between the two men and rounds of sanctions imposed by Washington.

On Thursday, South Korean National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong said at a White House briefing that US President Donald Trump had agreed to meet with Kim by May to achieve permanent denuclearization.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have escalated drastically last year due to the North's nuclear activity, which led to the United Nations Security Council imposing its toughest ever sanctions on the country.By KiMi Robinson, KYODO NEWS - Mar 11, 2018 - 12:57 | Feature, All

Since September, undocumented adults living in America legally through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program have been in a state of limbo.

When the Trump administration last year announced March 5 as the end of the Obama-signed program that protects from deportation the so-called "Dreamer" children who entered the United States more than a decade ago and have remained illegally, more than 700,000 people, many of whom have no home outside the country, saw their futures become uncertain.

They thought they could live, work, and go to school in the United States -- not as citizens but also not illegally -- indefinitely after giving the government their and their families' personal information for vetting and also applying and paying for renewal of their temporary status every two years.

But the Trump administration has shown a commitment to pursuing an end to DACA in federal courts, despite U.S. judges temporarily blocking the government from implementing the March deadline.

(Photo courtesy of Daishi Tanaka)

"I have felt a real fear, an incredible amount of pressure and fear, ever since September," Daishi Tanaka, a 20-year-old DACA recipient and Harvard University student born in Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture, said of his state of mind since the announcement of DACA's ending.

While he is set to graduate next summer, DACA only protects Tanaka through February 2019, preventing him from finding employment in the United States after graduation, even with a Bachelor's degree from Harvard.

Tanaka, who is one of approximately 130 Japanese DACA recipients, lived in the United States without legal status for 12 years. His Japanese father and Filipino mother, who both have family living in the United States legally, brought Tanaka to Los Angeles as a 6 year old.

He described the "tremendous discrimination" against half-Filipino children in the rural neighborhood in which they lived. Tanaka's parents said he was bullied in kindergarten as a tall, chubby boy who "spoke better English than his teacher."

He has not seen his parents, who returned to their home countries before his mother was able to move back to Shizuoka, since shortly before the 2016 presidential election.

Tanaka is unable to obtain a U.S. passport that would allow him to return after leaving the country, and his parents are not permitted to return after overstaying their visas.

Though they would like for him to live in Japan with them, Tanaka is steadfast in his desire to stay in the United States and eventually apply to law school -- something he can do only if Congress agrees on a bill that would allow him to stay legally.

"He's using us as hostages," Tanaka said of Trump, who in January proposed a path to citizenship for nearly 2 million undocumented immigrants in exchange for $25 million in funding to reinforce the U.S.-Mexico border wall. "I think that it's absolutely disgusting how politicians have played with us."

Tanaka, who aspires to become an immigration lawyer, would not accept legal status if it means deporting undocumented parents of DACA recipients and others living and working in the United States illegally.

"You have to protect all of the (undocumented) 11 million in the country...who are being criminalized every day by the perpetuating words of Donald Trump," said Tanaka, who plans to submit a renewal application that if accepted would allow him to stay beyond his graduation from Harvard next year.

(Photo courtesy of Daishi Tanaka)

Twenty-seven year old Daniel, a former DACA recipient from South Korea who asked that his name be concealed as he considers legal U.S. immigration options, similarly pursued his education and career in the United States alone.

For five years, he was unable to see his parents, who had returned to South Korea after more than a decade of fighting for legal status in the United States following an unfulfilled promise of employer-sponsored visas. With DACA status, the consultant was able to obtain a Master's degree and a well-paid job in California.

"DACA was a huge game-changer in my life," said Daniel.

"For (Trump), it's something on paper. But for (Dreamers), he's ruining lives."

When Trump promised to rescind DACA during his presidential campaign, Daniel became less sure about how long he could continue living in the United States. Unwilling to disrupt his career and return to a country that hasn't been home for more than 17 years, Daniel obtained permanent residency in Canada.

A month before Trump announced that DACA would be ending, seeing no better options, he moved to Ontario, Canada.

"I was prepared to say, 'I don't ever want to leave the U.S.," said Daniel. "But when Trump got in the picture, that wasn't conceivable anymore."

"Maybe he'll actually pull through and do something nice," he said.

Currently, DACA recipients can apply for renewals as legal battles work their way through appeals courts and, eventually, the Supreme Court. The government has stopped processing new applications, and Congress has not yet passed legislation that would allow DACA recipients to legally remain in the country and work.KYODO NEWS - Mar 11, 2018 - 09:01 | World, All

Japan will offer more than 300 million yen ($2.8 million) to help the International Atomic Energy Agency inspect North Korea's nuclear facilities if Pyongyang agrees to inspections, Japanese government officials said Saturday.

(KNS/Kyodo)

The offer is aimed at prompting North Korea to take action to abandon its nuclear weapon development program. Japan and the United States see IAEA inspections as the first step toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

For Japan, it also offers a way to remain in the loop on the international response to North Korea following the announcement that the United States and South Korea both plan to hold summit talks with the North.

Japan plans to cover most of the initial costs of 350 million to 400 million yen thought to be needed to finance inspections of the North Korean nuclear complex in Yongbyon, which includes a uranium enrichment plant, reactor and spent fuel reprocessing facility, according to the officials.

Japan also is considering offering more if the cost goes up, for example due to new facilities being found, the officials said.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono and IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano agreed in Vienna last month to work together more closely in the hopes of resuming the inspections.

The IAEA has not had direct access to North Korean nuclear facilities since its inspectors monitoring them were expelled in April 2009.

The U.N. nuclear watchdog set up a specialist team last August to prepare for the possible restart of inspections, and so it could move quickly if an agreement were reached.

According to the South Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said during a meeting in Pyongyang on March 5 with envoys representing South Korean President Moon Jae In that he is committed to denuclearization.

Kono may discuss ways to verify the denuclearization process when he meets one of the envoys, South Korean National Intelligence Service director Suh Hoon, in Tokyo on Monday to hear details of the Pyongyang talks.

Japan is expected to work with the United States and South Korea to work out a roadmap for North Korea's denuclearization based on a September 2005 joint statement that came out of six-party talks, which also included China and Russia.

The roadmap would likely set out several stages, with verification by IAEA inspectors at each stage, ultimately leading to the dismantling of the nuclear facilities and weapons.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry source said the process would require patience, as even figuring out the locations of all the nuclear facilities in North Korea would be a difficult task.Cloud

DOD's latest cloud moves leave plenty of questions

The Department of Defense answered several important questions about its commercial cloud strategy on March 7, but the industry day and draft solicitation for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud acquisition raised a few new ones.

DOD officials confirmed that they intend to make a single award, and set an aggressive timeline to finalize that award by the end of the fiscal year. Both points have prompted some grumbling from the industry.

The Coalition for Government Procurement, an association that represents much of the federal IT contractor community, posted a critique that said a single award, indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract "is being proffered notwithstanding the fact that there exists a statutory and regulatory preference for multiple award IDIQs."

"A single-award contract vehicle creates the ultimate barrier to entry for  the very capabilities DOD needs to maintain the technological advantage necessary to defend this nation," the coalition argued.

IBM General Manager for Federal Sam Gordy was similarly critical. The Pentagon would never limit the Air Force to flying only cargo planes for every mission," Gordy told Washington Technology, an FCW sister publication. "Locking the entire U.S. military into a single, restrictive cloud environment would be equally flawed.

"I think what you're seeing in industry is a lot of head-scratching," Oracle Senior Vice President Ken Glueck told FCW. "This seems to be moving in a technical direction that is not reflective of the way the private sector is consuming scalable, secure cloud."

Amazon Web Services, the firm seen by many as a leading contender for the JEDI award, sidestepped the single-award question. We are confident commercial cloud will drive innovation," an AWS spokesperson said. "As we have always said, an open and competitive bidding process allows for the customer to thoroughly analyze the various providers and select the solutions that best meet their needs."

The Coalition for Government Procurement noted that the Federal Acquisition Regulation "requires DOD to document its decision/rationale for a single award," and urged DOD to make that documentation public. While no such document has yet been shared, DOD officials were frank in explaining why they've been unmoved by the multiple-award argument over the last few months.

"The lack of standardization and interoperability today creates pretty significant barriers to accessing our data where and when it is needed," Defense Digital Service Deputy Director Tim Van Name told reporters on March 7. "We believe that a multiple-award cloud would exponentially increase the overall complexity. The systems in different clouds, even when designed to work together, would require complex integration, which raises the bar for the development, testing and ongoing maintenance."

"Were confident that the single award is the best thing for the department," he said.

And while Van Name and other officials stressed that the team that wins the single award could be structured in any number of ways, the general reaction has been that the draft request for proposals points to an award centered on a single cloud service provider.

It would be possible for a systems integrator to be the prime, REAN Cloud Managing Partner Sekhar Puli told FCW, but "it's going to difficult" if DOD demands a single CSP.

"What Im reading makes me believe  that theyll pick a single CSP" as the prime, Puli said in a March 9 interview. "But Ive learned my lesson the hard way. Common sense doesn't always prevail."

What to make of the shrinking OTA

Puli was alluding to the week's other big cloud news from DOD -- a decision to dramatically lower the ceiling of an Other Transaction Authority agreement with his firm from $950 million to $65 million.

That five-year agreement, awarded in February by the Defense Innovation Unit Experimental, originally allowed REAN to provide cloud migration services DOD-wide. On March 5, however, DOD told reporters it had "narrowly tailored" the deal to cover only U.S. Transportation Command, for whom REAN had done prototype work to win the award.

As of late on March 9, Puli said, he still didn't know why the change has been made. "A couple of days ago we got a email that told us, 'your contract had been reduced,' but nothing more than that," he said.

Oracle filed a protest against the OTA award, but the Government Accountability Office has not yet ruled, and Puli dismissed the protest as "smoke and mirrors."

"There is something else that has caused this change, that unfortunately is not public," he said.

One longtime industry executive told FCW that while OTAs can be a valuable tool for newer technologies and services, DIUx's deal with REAN may simply have been too big and broad in scope to bypass the traditional acquisitions process. The fear now, he said, is that the controversy around this award could make it harder for agencies to use OTAs even on a smaller scale for legitimate purposes.

Puli pushed back on that argument, noting that another DIUx OTA for $750 million has so far gone unchallenged. "So is $750 million ok, and $950 million not?" he asked. "And if thats the case, then fine  then why not take the contract down to 750? Or change [the other award] from 750 to $65 million as well?"

While REAN is obviously unhappy to lose the acquisition for working across DOD, Puli said, his real frustrations are two-fold.

First, he said, the OTA has been conflated with JEDI, and wrongly seen as a nod toward selecting Amazon as DOD's preferred CSP. REAN's award is "completely independent of JEDI," Puli stressed, and his firm works with Microsoft and Google as well as AWS.

"We dont want to be in just one cloud as a systems integrator," he said. "We are the movers.  Where you want to live is not a decision that we will make for you."

And second, he said, announcing the change through the media was not only unpleasant, but unnecessary.

There's no requirement "saying you have to issue task orders for the full $950 million," Puli said. "They could have just squashed it behind the doors and said [to other DOD components], 'dont issue any task orders.'"



Workers who don't have access to employer-sponsored retirement plans can choose to fund IRAs instead, the two main types of which are the traditional and Roth varieties. And even though Roth IRAs impose income limits for contributions, many personal-finance experts love these accounts for the numerous benefits they offer. In fact, my esteemed colleague Sean Williams has even gone so far as to call the Roth IRA the greatest retirement savings tool out there.

But while there are certainly a number of good reasons to put money into a Roth IRA, these accounts don't make sense for everyone. Here are a few reasons not to choose a Roth.

Roth road sign with arrow pointing right

IMAGE SOURCE: GETTY IMAGES.

1. You need a tax break today

One key difference between a traditional and Roth IRA is that with the former, the money you contribute goes in tax-free, thereby resulting in an immediate tax break. The flip side to that is having to pay taxes on withdrawals in retirement -- a fact countless seniors bemoan. Still, if you're desperate to lower your taxes at present, you'd be wise to stay away from a Roth IRA, because you won't get any up-front benefits for contributing to such an account. Rather, you'll have to wait until retirement to reap the benefits of tax-free withdrawals, and that's a long time to sit tight.

2. You have no family

One downside to funding a traditional IRA is that you must take required minimum distributions, or RMDs, starting at age 70 1/2. This means that your can't money can't sit in your account forever, but rather, you're forced to withdraw your balance over time. Roth IRAs, by contrast, don't impose RMDs, so they're a great option for those looking to leave money behind to their heirs. But if you don't have any family, and therefore aren't concerned with leaving behind a financial legacy, this benefit won't do anything for you.

3. You don't know what tax rates will look like in the future

Story continues

Thanks to the recent tax overhaul, almost all individual income tax brackets went down in 2018, which means workers and retirees alike are paying less tax this year on their highest dollars of earnings than they were in 2017. Now the benefit of a Roth IRA is that you essentially get to lock in your current tax rate on the money you contribute while eliminating the risk of brackets going up by the time you reach retirement. But what if the opposite ends up happening? What if, instead of tax rates rising across the board, they wind up even lower than they are today? It's a possibility we can't discount, and if it happens, you'll lose out by not having taken that tax break up front.

4. You can't trust yourself with that money

Because you get an up-front tax break for funding a traditional IRA, you'll generally face steep penalties if you withdraw funds from that account before age 59 1/2. But Roth IRAs work differently. Since you're funding a Roth with after-tax dollars, you're allowed to access the principal portion of your balance at any time, and for any reason, since the IRS has already gotten its share of that money. But this flexibility is both a blessing and a curse, because while it's nice to have access to that cash, if you open a Roth, you may be tempted to blow through that money sooner, thus causing yourself to come up short in retirement.

Remember, any time you remove funds from a retirement account, you don't just lose out on the principal you withdraw; you also lose out on its growth potential. So imagine you take a $20,000 withdrawal from your Roth IRA at age 50 to pay for a dream vacation. By the time you retire at 70, you won't just have $20,000 less in that account; you'll have $77,000 less, assuming your investments could've generated an average annual 7% return, which is still a few points below the stock market's average. And that's why you should steer clear of a Roth IRA if you don't trust yourself to leave your money alone during what should be its growth period. Otherwise, you'll risk not having enough to support yourself during your golden years.

Let's be clear: There are plenty of good reasons to house your retirement savings in a Roth IRA. At the same time, these accounts aren't for everyone, so it pays to be aware of the drawbacks mentioned before making your decision.

Related: Why Millenials Need To Start Saving For Retirement



More From The Motley Fool



The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Good morning, Cyber Saturday readers.

Whats happening in the chip industry is more sensational than a soap opera.

This week the U.S. Treasury asked Qualcomm to postpone by 30 days an annual shareholder meeting that could have resulted in the companys hostile takeover by Broadcom, a Singapore-based rival. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States is now investigating whether Broadcoms $117 billion conquest attempt could have national security consequences, given Qualcomms sensitive government work and the role it plays in developing technology behind next-generation 5G telecom infrastructure. Should the U.S. allow a foreign force to snap up a domestic concern so seemingly vital to its future?

The situation gets more complicated. The U.S. committee is less concerned about the firms geographies and more about their investment strategies. (Broadcom, formerly headquartered in the U.S., is already seeking to repatriate.) The big issue for the committee is Broadcoms private equity-style approach to management which, the regulatory body said in a letter, could mean reduced R&D investments in favor of short term profitability. Broadcom has attempted to assuage concerns by promising to fund innovation.

Broadcoms case is not helped, however, by its LBO-like raiding tactics. The firm, which has vied for months to consummate its proposed deal, is leading an effort to replace six members of Qualcomms 11-person board of directorsa move that, if successful, may as well seal the tie-up. They are, one could argue, acting like barbarians at the logic gate.

Qualcomms management team, meanwhile, prefers to maintain its independence and pursue a $44 billion purchase of NXP Semiconductors, a Dutch chipmaker. And Intel, the big chip kahuna, isnt sitting idly by either. Threatened by the prospect of a combined Broad-Qual, the company is said to be waiting in the wings, ready to swoop in and make a bid for Broadcom if the Qualcomm coup looks likely to succeed. This is the stuff that corporate sagas are made of.

Story continues

The subtext of all this is the U.S.s fear of ceding power to China. The deal-reviewing committee has warned that foreign titans like Huawei and ZTE Corp. are poised to take the lead in 5G unless the U.S. takes steps to defend its silicon might. What may seem like arcane corporate infighting has the gravest implications for nations fortunes.

Tune in next time for more melodrama. Till then, have a great weekend.

Robert Hackett

@rhhackett

robert.hackett@fortune.com

Welcome to the Cyber Saturday edition of Data Sheet, Fortunes daily tech newsletter. Fortune reporter Robert Hackett here. You may reach Robert Hackett via Twitter, Cryptocat, Jabber (see OTR fingerprint on my about.me), PGP encrypted email (see public key on my Keybase.io), Wickr, Signal, or however you (securely) prefer. Feedback welcome.

THREATS

Freeing up freezes. The U.S. Senate is set next month to approve a banking bill that includes a bipartisan measure arising from last years massive Equifax data breach: free credit freezes. The legislative move would eliminate a source of revenue for the big three credit bureaus, and make it easier for consumers to lock down their lines of credit, helping prevent identity theft. Some consumer advocates argue that the policy doesnt go far enough to limit the operations of the bureaus, which maintain vast stores of personal information without peoples consent.

Have fake news, will travel. A new study that examines the flow of information on Twitter has found that people are predisposed to boost the signal of lies. False news travels faster, farther and deeper through the social network than true news, writes Steve Lohr at The New York Times. Relatedly, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says the service wants to lets all users verify their identities. The move could help counter the rise of propaganda bots and other scams.

Heroes and villains. Marcus Hutchins became an instant celebrity last year after stopping WannaCry, a global, business-crippling ransomware attack widely attributed to North Korea. His life turned upside down soon after when U.S. law enforcement arrested him for allegedly creating password-stealing malware. New York Magazine has a compelling profile of the hacker, whose is now living on bail in Los Angeles.

Dark web takedown. In this piece, Wired goes inside last years international raid on dark web marketplaces. Once Dutch police found the servers of a popular market, Hansa, they plotted to take control of the operation. In coordination with the FBI, which shut down another such market, AlphaBay, the Dutch police seized and ran Hansa for a month, ensnaring its buyers and sellers in a surveillance dragnet. The team is still making arrests based on the trove of data it amassed.

I guess thats why they call it seaweed.

Share todays Data Sheet with a friend:

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ACCESS GRANTED

Blockchain (noun | blockchain | ?blak-?ch?n): a digital database containing information (such as records of financial transactions) that can be simultaneously used and shared within a large decentralized, publicly accessible network; also : the technology used to create such a database

Merriam-Webster has just added blockchain to its dictionary, along with cryptocurrency, initial coin offering, and 847 other new words. If youre looking for a more in-depth explanation of blockchain tech, I might be so bold as to recommend Fortunes Blockchain Mania! cover story from September 2017, which this week earned an honor from the Best in Business journalism awards, administered by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers.

FORTUNE RECON

A Look at the Books of Billion-Dollar Tech Company Tanium, by Robert Hackett

Apple ID Logins on the Dark Web: Heres How Much They Cost, by Don Reisinger

Elon Musk Blasts Steven Pinker Over Artificial Intelligence Comments, by David Z. Morris

Icelands Big Bitcoin Heist Leads to 11 Arrests, by David Meyer

Reddit CEO Steve Huffman Acknowledges Users Shared Russia Propaganda, by Jonathan Vanian

Ripples XRP Could Improve Cross Border Money Exchanges, by Adam Lashinsky

Bitcoin: Coinbase Seeking M&A Deals With LinkedIn Hire, by Jen Wieczner

ONE MORE THING

Astana, we have a problem. An urban explorer broke into a Kazak spaceport to photograph Soviet shuttles left for scrap. The photos are magnificent, capturing the abandoned craft in all their dusty, derelict beauty. (The facility still serves as a launchpad for rockets bound for the International Space Station.) The trespasser says that Russian agents have been on his or her tail since. As they say, dont try this at home, kids.* Malmstrom set to meet Lighthizer on Saturday

* EU will offer no concessions to win exemption

* EU-U.S. talks will not solve all issues, EU says

* EU warns could go to World Trade Organisation

BRUSSELS, March 10 (Reuters) - The European Union and Japan are seeking to be excluded from U.S. steel and aluminium tariffs in talks with U.S. President Donald Trump's trade envoy on Saturday, with the EU warning it will retaliate if Washington does not relent.

Trump set import tariffs on Thursday of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminium. But he exempted Canada and Mexico and held out the possibility of excluding other allies .

The EU executive said it remained unclear how an exclusion would work. It said it wanted details from Saturday's talks with U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Brussels but that it did not expect the meeting to resolve all the problems.

"We need a dialogue with the United States. It's clear. We need clarity," European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said on Friday.

"We are an ally, not a threat," he said, rejecting any hint that the bloc's exports threatened U.S. national security - Trump's justification for imposing the tariffs.

Lighthizer's meetings with EU trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom and separately with Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko were long planned, but they took on added urgency as allies warned the U.S. moves could provoke a global trade war.

Japan, the United States' top economic and military ally in Asia, is among the other nations seeking to join the exemption list.

In talks, the United States should not expect any EU concessions to win an exemption, EU officials said.

"This is not a trade negotiation," Katainen said. "Now we are talking about unilateral action against international rules, and we want to sort it out before it really becomes a problem."

The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 28-nation EU, the world's biggest trading bloc, has said it is ready to impose safeguards, tariffs or quotas to protect its own steel and aluminium industries from products diverted to Europe because of the U.S. measures.

Story continues

It has already started monitoring incoming metal flows to see whether a surge occurs.

The EU is also maintaining a threat of counter-measures that would target U.S. imports ranging from maize to motorcycles, and may publish its list next week to allow industry and other interested parties to give their input. Under World Trade Organization rules, such counter-measures have to be in place within 90 days of the U.S. tariffs entering force.

European steel and aluminium associations have warned that the U.S. tariffs could cost their sectors thousands of jobs. (Reporting by Phil Blenkinsop, Robin Emmott and Alissa de Carbonnel, writing by Alissa de Carbonnel, editing by Larry King)Europe finishes in the black after US adds 313K jobs in February

The pan-European STOXX 600 provisionally rose 0.43 percent by the close, but off session highs. Sectors finished mostly higher.

President Donald Trump implemented import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum Thursday. Canada and Mexico were exempted from the tax, with Trump also suggesting that other allies could also benefit from exclusions.

A report from the U.S. Labor Department revealed that the nation had added 313,000 jobs last month, surpassing analyst expectations of 200,000.

European stocks finished Friday's trading session on a positive note, following a better-than-expected jobs report from out of the U.S..

The pan-European STOXX 600 provisionally rose 0.43 percent by the close, but off session highs. On the week, the STOXX 600 popped 3.05 percent.

Looking to European bourses, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent, while France's CAC 40 rose 0.39 percent. Germany's DAX however came under slight pressure, closing down 0.07 percent.

Equities in the region received a lift in the second half of the session after a report from the U.S. Labor Department revealed that the nation had added 313,000 jobs last month , surpassing analyst expectations of 200,000. Construction was the biggest sectoral gainer, with 61,000 new job roles, followed by retail. At Europe's close, Wall Street posted sharp gains following a strong jobs report , with the Dow soaring over 250 points.

Autos under pressure

While the majority of Europe's sectors higher, autos fell 0.12 percent amid heightened fears of a global tit-for-tat trade war . Looking into the sector, Germany's Schaeffler and Continental both slipped to the bottom of the sector, with the latter suffering from a rating downgrade from CFRA Research.

In individual stocks news, GVC Holdings posted a full-year net gaming revenue rise of 17 percent in 2017. The online gambling firm said its latest figures were lifted by gains from the bwin.party business it bought three years ago. Shares of GVC Holdings jumped 5 percent.



Meantime, shares of Lagardere tumbled over 7 percent after the French media group reported worse-than-expected earnings figures on Friday. The company forecast its 2018 operating profits to be stable in comparison to last year.

Story continues

British satellite firm Inmarsat saw shares slip 6.7 percent after it reported earnings and said that it had cut its dividend, in order to spend more on delivering Wi-Fi on commercial planes, according to Reuters.

Tariffs, North Korea developments shake up markets

On Thursday, Trump implemented import tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Canada and Mexico were exempted from the global duties, with the U.S. president suggesting other allies could benefit from the exclusions.

Despite the concerns surrounding tariffs, basic resources outperformed other sectors Friday, as metal prices and oil prices extended gains.



In what has proved a boon for Asian markets, Trump also said Thursday that he would meet his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong Un . The first-of-its-kind U.S.-North Korea summit could mark significant progress in denuclearizing the Korean peninsula.





More From CNBC

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Lloyd Blankfein plans to step down as soon as the end of this year, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The investment bank intends to replace Blankfein, 63, with one of its two co-presidents, David Solomon or Harvey Schwartz, the newspaper said Friday, citing people familiar with the matter that it didnt name. A spokesman for Goldman Sachs didnt immediately return a call for comment.

Blankfein, who underwent chemotherapy for cancer more than two years ago, led the firm through the financial crisis in better shape than most rivals, and the company capitalized with record trading revenues. In recent years, the bank has been hit by a slowdown in the markets business.

Blankfein has stitched together a patchwork of new initiatives: a consumer bank, a heightened focus on lending and more resources for asset management, including a suite of exchange-traded funds. Mostly he has doubled down on the trading and risk-taking that otherwise fell out of favor across much of Wall Street.

Solomon and Schwartz were appointed to their roles in late 2016 after the firms longtime president Gary Cohn left to join Donald Trumps administration.

Goldman Sachs shares advanced 1.5 percent to $270.44 as of 12:08 p.m. in New York, near their highs for the day, after trading as low as $267.04 just after the Journal report.Amid a contentious, neck-to-neck race for Pennsylvanias 18th Congressional District, Republican candidate Rick Saccone hopes that throwing his support behind President Trump -- and, more importantly, Trumps manufacturing-friendly policies -- could win him the first special election of 2018.

Saccone, 60, is running against 33-year-old Democrat Conor Lamb on March 13 for a congressional seat that opened after Republican Rep. Tim Murphy, an avid pro-life lawmaker, resigned amid reports that hed asked his mistress to get an abortion when he believed she was pregnant.

Now, in addition to parlaying his decades-long experience in government as a key to success, Saccone is hitching his wagon to Trumps. Hes a vocal supporter of Trumps plan to implement tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum, and the Republicans 2017 Tax Act, which, perhaps most notably, slashed the corporate tax rate to 21% from 35%.

Im coming to you from Steel City, Saccone told FOX Business David Asman. This is very important here, Ive always supported the steel industry, and I support our steelworkers. Our steelworkers can compete with anyone in the world, as long as the playing field is level.

Lamb, whos pitching himself as a moderate Democrat who would vote to get rid of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, has also voiced his support for the tariffs. The federal prosecutor is receiving backing from notable Democrats, including former Vice President Joe Biden.

Trump will be campaigning on behalf of Saccone, a state representative, in Moon Township, Pennsylvania Saturday evening. The president has previously offered support for the religious conservative.

Will be going to Pennsylvania today in order to give my total support to RICK SACCONE, running for Congress in a Special Election (March 13). Rick is a great guy. We need more Republicans to continue our already successful agenda! he tweeted in mid-January.

Trump, who ran on a pro-manufacturing platform, narrowly carried the Keystone State in the 2016 presidential election, but lost Allegheny County -- the second biggest in the state -- to Hillary Clinton.

Story continues

President Trump is just trying to restore some balance to the playing field, Saccone said. And I want to help him. Im ready to go down there and be his wingman.

Related ArticlesMEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Mexico should replicate U.S. President Donald Trump's 25 percent steel tariffs with its own customs duties on the metal to avoid being used as staging point for third countries to export to the United States, the industry chamber said on Friday.

Trump excluded Mexico and Canada from the tariffs he announced on Thursday, which could make steel exported from those key U.S. trade partners cheaper than from other countries.

In a full-page newspaper advert statement, Mexico's national steel chamber said Trump's exemptions created a risk that countries subjected to the U.S. tariffs would seek to export first to Mexico, and then north to take advantage of the rule.

The chamber said Mexico should not impose tariffs on countries and regions it had free trade agreements with, such as the European Union and Japan.

(Reporting by Sharay Angulo; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel)Trump's steel tariffs are wrong and the EU should be excluded from them, trade chief says

Trump fueled concerns of a potential trade war on Thursday, when signing two proclamations that will lead to tariffs on imported steel and aluminum.

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced it will raise import duties on U.S. bourbon, peanut butter, cranberries and orange juice, if the U.S. would move ahead with steel tariffs.

The EU's trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom said Trump's tariffs are the wrong way to deal with steel overcapacity.

President Donald Trump 's approach to steel overcapacity is wrong, the European Union's (EU) trade chief said Friday, hoping to get confirmation from the U.S. that the bloc will be excluded from the new tariffs.

Trump fueled concerns of a potential trade war on Thursday, when signing two proclamations that will lead to tariffs on imported steel and aluminum. Canada and Mexico are exempt from the tariffs. The EU, which has presented counter-measures to respond to Trump's tariffs, is hoping that the U.S. will remove the group of 28 nations from the list.

Speaking at a panel discussion on Friday in Brussels, Cecilia Malmstrom, the European Union's trade commissioner, criticized Trump's decision to impose tariffs on steel and aluminium products.

"We had been in talks with our American friends for quite some time to explain to them that whereas we share the concerns over overcapacity in the steel sector, this is not the right way to deal with it," Malmstrom said.

Western countries, including the U.S., Italy and Belgium, have been hit by a collapse in steel prices. Lower demand for the product and, until recently, rising production in China, have led to job losses in the industry and lower prices.

"And it is certainly not the right way to include Europe in that because we are friends, we are allies, we work together, we cannot possibly be a threat to national security in the U.S. so we are counting on being excluded," the Swedish politician said.

On Wednesday, the European Commission announced it will raise import duties on U.S. bourbon, peanut butter, cranberries and orange juice if President Donald Trump would move ahead with tariffs on steel and aluminum.

Story continues

The EU also said at the time that it would take the case to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and coordinate with other trade partners against the proposed U.S. tariffs.

Trump backed his decision to impose tariffs on the basis of internal or national security, which the EU has dubbed as "deeply unjust."

"We cannot see how the European Union's friends and allies in NATO can be a threat to national security in the U.S. We find that assumption deeply unjust," Malmstrom told the press on Wednesday.

Malmstrom is due to meet Robert Lighthizer, the U.S. trade representative in Brussels on Saturday. She said she will ask for clarity from the U.S. as to whether the EU will be excluded from the tariffs.

"We hope that we can get the confirmation that the EU is excluded from this and that we can go on to continue our dialogue on how to deal with the problem with the U.S. and Japan and others," she said.

"If not, well we have been very clear that we think this is not in compliance with WTO so we will go to WTO possibly with some other friends...and we are also preparing with the member states a list of rebalancing measure that could possibly enter into force. We hope that will not be the case of course, because nobody has an interest of escalating this situation, but if we have to do that, that's what we will do," she added.





More From CNBC

Payal259 wrote:





Q2. I am also not sure if the usage of "one nurse at least" is incorrect?



Q3. What is the difference between intended to / intent of? Which of these is correct?



Thanks a lot! Hi mikemcgarry could you please provide some insight into choice E here? I went for D because of the coordinating conjunction "and".Q2. I am also not sure if the usage of "one nurse at least" is incorrect?Q3. What is the difference between intended to / intent of? Which of these is correct?Thanks a lot!

that

intended to walk

1) Here's (E) again: "and this is intended to ensure one nurse at least to be assigned for every four patients put through triage in a hospital emergency room." "This" is a pronoun functioning as the subject of a clause. Typically if a pronoun is the subject of a clause, it will refer back to the subject of the previous clause. In this case, "this" seems to refer to "the state," but it doesn't make any sense to write that "the state is intended to ensure one nurse." Also, claiming that the rules intend "one nurse" is illogical. Rather, the rules intend "one nurse be assigned."2) In the OA, "at least one" is modifying "nurse." This makes sense, as the modifier is giving info about the number of nurses. Another way to use the phrase "at least" is as an adverb meaning "if nothing else."For example, "I didn't make dinner for my children, but at least I remembered to take them out of the car." Here, "at least" is modifying the verb "remembered." In the phrase "one nurse at least to be assigned," it's unclear if "at least" is modifying the number of nurses, or if it's intended to mean "if nothing else" and modify "to be assigned." So I don't know if we can say that "one nurse at least" is definitively wrong, but its usage is at best ambiguous here, so "at least one" is clearly better.3) "Intended" is used here as a past tense verb followed by an infinitive action. For example, "Christinaher dog at noon, but she became distracted, and her new Persian rug suffered the consequences." "Intent," on the other hand, is a noun, which can be used to mean more or less the same thing. "It was Christina's intent to walk her dog..."However, "Intent + of + Verb-ing" seems strange to me. "He had every intention of mowing the lawn," seems fine but "he had every intent of mowing the lawn," does not. So given the choice between "intent + of + verb-ing" and "intended + infinitive verb," I'd prefer the latter. But it's perfectly reasonable to look for more concrete decision points.I hope that helps!_________________Skywalker18 wrote:

Zambia is a closed economy in which the best and the brightest work for domestic companies and few foreign companies operate. Because of limited innovation by domestic companies, the economic growth in Zambia has been non-existent. To spur innovation, the government has proposed allowing foreign companies to operate in Zambia. While this move may increase the overall economic growth in Zambia, it will increase competition for local talent, thereby decreasing the domestic companies overall ability to innovate.



Which of the following is an assumption made in the argument?





A. Foreign competition will not spur the innovation engine at domestic companies, which has been stagnant because of lack of competition.



B. Innovation by foreign companies is not likely to improve the rate of economic growth in Zambia.



C. Lack of domestic innovation today is primarily caused by the complacency of domestic companies which face little competition.



D. Management practices brought and shared by the foreign companies in Zambia will not significantly enhance the ability of domestic companies to innovate with whatever workforce they are left with.



E. Many foreign companies that start operating in Zambia do not offer below average wages to the local talent.



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Premises:Zambia is a closed economy with few foreign companies.Because of limited innovation by domestic companies, the economic growth in Zambia has been non-existent.To spur innovation, the government has proposed allowing foreign companies to operate in Zambia.While this move may increase the overall economic growth in Zambia, it will increase competition for local talentConclusionThis move will decrease the domestic companies overall ability to innovate.A. Foreign competition will not spur the innovation engine at domestic companies, which has been stagnant because of lack of competition.The argument talks about "ability to innovate". There will be fewer smart people so lower ability to innovate. Whether foreign competition will spur innovation in domestic companies (and hence domestic companies may actually innovate more than before) is irrelevant. The argument does not assume anything about the level of innovation after the foreign companies come in. It only talks about "higher economic growth" and "lower ABILITY to innovate".B. Innovation by foreign companies is not likely to improve the rate of economic growth in Zambia.Not true. The argument actually says that economic growth is expected to increase with this move.C. Lack of domestic innovation today is primarily caused by the complacency of domestic companies which face little competition.Not known. The argument doesn't say why innovation doesn't happen. Perhaps the domestic companies don't have the skill set, perhaps they don't have the required experience, we don't know. The argument doesn't say that the domestic companies will start innovating once the foreign companies come in. It just says that the ability to innovate will reduce.D. Management practices brought and shared by the foreign companies in Zambia will not significantly enhance the ability of domestic companies to innovate with whatever workforce they are left with.The argument says that the ability to innovate will reduce if foreign companies come in because they will take away some work force. It assumes that the foreign companies will not bring in any value which will significantly enhance the "ability" to innovate. Taking away some work force may reduce the ability but if some practices brought in by foreign companies significantly increase the ability, the move will not decrease the domestic companies overall ability to innovate.Hence, this is something the argument assumes.E. Many foreign companies that start operating in Zambia do not offer below average wages to the local talent.Not an assumption. Even if they do offer below average wages, some talent will be taken away by them and the ability of domestic companies to innovate will reduce.Answer (D)_________________True North Jerky Gets New Owners

continued

The Hellers are livestock farmers who both have master's degrees in animal science and years of experience in the food safety industry. They took over in January, but on a February afternoon, Wesolowski was still in the back room of the store in the Old US-12 strip mall, grinding meat and stuffing casings for sausage. John Heller says he's still learning Wesolowski's recipes and is grateful for his help during the transition period.



"The guys, especially, love this stuff," says customer Debbie Peters. "It's tender, not chewy, like a lot of jerky can be." Shopping for herself today, she picks out a package of Thai sweet chili jerky from among the twenty or so beef and turkey flavors. True North also processes wild game--mostly deer--for customers, and Wesolowski says he sees "about a bear a year," which he makes into sausage.



John adds that they sell "much more than jerky," including smoked fish, as well as pork, chicken, bacon, ribs, steaks--and ground beef patties, hot dogs, and brats for grilling. Summer sausage and a line of Wisconsin cheeses are popular for party platters.



The couple met as MSU students in the school's meat lab. Both had grown up showing livestock--John in Chelsea (he's known Wesolowski for thirty years, because Wesolowski's two daughters were in 4-H with him), and Courtney in Portland, Michigan. After college, John worked for Neogen, a food and animal safety company out of Lansing, and Courtney for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, a nonprofit working globally on food security and regulatory issues.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Singapore City, Mar 10 (IBNS): Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who was apparently grilled by a questioner during a session in Singapore, said the same wouldn't have been done to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The questioner, who identified himself as PK Basu, said he had authored the book "Asia Reborn", and is a teacher of economic history, asked Gandhi, "Why is it that, when your family ruled the country, India's per capita income grew slower than the world average, but since your family relinquished the PM-ship, India's per capita income has grown much substantially faster than the world average?"

Gandhi shot back with, "And what is your hypothesis?"

Answering the Congress leader's question, the professor asked Gandhi to read his book to know his hypothesis.

"I asked you the question. I'm here to ask the question... My hypothesis is in my book. Please read the book," he said as audience laughed and clapped.

However, unfazed, Gandhi shot back, "So you are saying that I have absolutely no role in Indian politics from 2004 to today? You are saying that? Make up your mind. I either have a role or I don't, you can't give me both options."

He added, "Now you notice something else... Mr Narendra Modi would never do that. You would never have the ability to say in front of Modiji what you said to me. And I am absolutely blazingly proud of that."

Later Gandhi said, "Anybody in this room who thinks that the Congress is not party to that success, anybody who thinks that gaining Independence was not part of that success, that one man, one vote which the RSS opposed, was not part of that success, anybody who thinks that Green revolution was not part of that success... anybody who thinks that the telecom was not part of that success.. anybody who thinks that liberalisation was not part of that success... needs to write a new book."

With political discourse hitting new lows everyday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi shows how to gracefully handle detractors and call their bluff. #RGinSingapore #IndiaAt70 pic.twitter.com/OnTJz0kzUx  Congress (@INCIndia) March 8, 2018

The Congress party, who didn't take too kindly the manner in which its party president was questioned, tweeted, "With political discourse hitting new lows everyday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi shows how to gracefully handle detractors and call their bluff. #RGinSingapore #IndiaAt70"

Image: twitter.com/OfficeOfRGKathmandu, Mar 11 (IBNS): Nepal Prime Minister KP Oli won the vote of confidence during a floor test in the Parliament of the country on Sunday.

According to reports, Oli won by a two-thirds majority during the crucial floor test.

He was appointed as the PM of the Himalayan nation few days ago.

Meanwhile, in the floor test, Oli received 208 votes in favour of him.

Out of 268 votes, only 60 people voted against him, reports said.

Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara concluded the meeting and announced next meeting of the current session will commence on Friday, March 16, reported The Himalayan Times.

Image: KP Sharma Oli Twitter pageWrite In America Gallery Los Angeles African American Photo Art on Exhibit, LA City Hall, ends 3/20

Mar. 20

The Write in America gallery exhibit was designed to inform the public and give Angelenos a snapshot of the rich tapestry of African American history in Los Angeles. Currently, the photo exhibit is available for viewing from February 2, 2018- March 20, 2018 on the 3rd floor of City Hall.

https://lasentinel.net/write-in-america-los-angeles-sentinel-black-media-professionals-honored-during-african-american-heritage-month.html

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Fax: 323 733 5833The role of women and their possible help in fighting extremism is often ignored and underestimated, a group of experts told United States lawmakers recently.

Studies have shown that women can effectively communicate antiterrorism messages throughout families and communities, said Jamille Bigio. She noted that women can bring these messages to homes, schools and other social environments.

Bigio is a senior fellow for women and foreign policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. She spoke at a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee hearing on the role of women in fighting terrorism around the world.

Traditional efforts by governments and nongovernmental organizations to fight radicalization rarely include women, she told the hearing.

Bigio met last week with members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs' subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade. They called the meeting to discuss ways of overcoming what some lawmakers called a strategic blind spot in the efforts to stop extremism and terrorism.

Antiterrorism efforts have not given enough thought to the idea that women represent a resource in the fight against extremism, said Congressman Ted Poe, chairman of the subcommittee. Poe added that women are in a strong position to challenge extremist narratives in homes, schools and societies the world over.

Sense of belonging

Haras Rafiq leads Quilliam International, a London-based research group that studies extremism around the world. He told lawmakers that the failure of communities to develop a shared sense of belonging is a major cause of the growth of extremism.

Rafiq said that a failure to teach democratic values also adds to the problem. Challenging extremism is the duty of all responsible members of communities, he added.

Another speaker was Valerie Hudson of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. She told the lawmakers that researchers have looked into several issues that have stopped women from acting to stop extremism and radicalization.

Hudson blamed rules governing property rights, marriage and other laws that prevent women from getting the resources needed to stop radicalization in the family.

She doesnt have the say within her house, Hudson said.

She added those issues make women less effective in terms of stopping their sons and, sometimes their daughters, from becoming terrorists.

Economic possibilities

Another speaker at the hearing, Farhat Popal, is an official with the Womens Initiative at the George W. Bush Institute. She noted that education and economic opportunities for women are important to stopping violent extremism.

Education and economic opportunities are two ways that we can work towardsdevelopment in Afghanistan, said Popal.

Her organization follows womens rights in many countries, including Afghanistan. She added that those opportunities will help stop extremism because it will build communities that have trust and inclusion.

Bigio, of the Council on Foreign Relations, said there is a strong need to bring women into the fight against extremism.

The Trump administration is developing a new national counterterrorism strategy and a new national strategy in countering violent extremist groups, Bigio said, adding these should include women.

I'm Susan Shand.

________________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

role  n. a duty or part performed, especially as part of a process

senior fellow  n. a teaching position at a research center or university

radicalization  n. the process of becoming different or new from the traditional

strategic - adj. relating to a general plan that is created to achieve a goal in war, politics

resource  n. a supply of something; a thing that proves useful

challenge  v. to question the action or authority of

narrative - n. a story that is told in full detail

opportunity  n. a situation in which something can be done2 hours ago

US stocks fall on fears of contagion from China real estate

Stocks slumped on Wall Street Monday in a broad sell-off that extends an already weak streak for major indexes. Worries about debt-engorged Chinese property developers  and the damage they could do to investors worldwide if they default  are rippling across markets. The S&P 500 fell 1.8% as of 11:50 a.m.

Read ArticleSouth32 Limited operates as a diversified metals and mining company primarily in Australia, Southern Africa, North America, and South America. The company has a portfolio of assets producing alumina, aluminum, bauxite, energy and metallurgical coal, manganese ore and alloy, ferronickel, silver, lead, and zinc. It also exports its products. South32 Limited has a strategic alliance agreement with AusQuest Limited for exploration opportunity under at its Morrisey nickel-copper project. The company was formerly known as BHP Coal Holdings Pty Limited and changed its name to South32 Limited in March 2015. South32 Limited was incorporated in 2000 and is headquartered in Perth, Australia.

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 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Mettler-Toledo International, Inc. is a supplier of precision instruments and services. The firm manufactures weighing instruments for use in laboratory, industrial, packaging, logistics, and food retailing applications. It also manufactures several related analytical instruments and provides automated chemistry solutions used in drug and chemical compound discovery and development; and also, metal detection and other end-of-line inspection systems used in production and packaging and provides solutions for use in certain process analytics applications. Its operations are conducted by the following segments: U. S. Operations, Swiss Operations, Western European Operations, Chinese Operations and Other. The U.S. Operations segment represents certain of the company's marketing and producing organizations located in the United States. The Swiss Operations segment includes marketing and producing organizations located in Switzerland, as well as extensive R&D operations that are responsible for the development, production, and marketing of precision instruments, including weighing, analytical, and measurement technologies for use in a variety of industrial and laboratory applications. Th

Read MoreAnadarko Petroleum Corporation engages in the exploration, development, production, and marketing of oil and gas properties. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, WES Midstream, and Other Midstream. The company explores for and produces oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids (NGLs). It is also involved in gathering, processing, treating, and transporting oil, natural-gas, and NGLs production, as well as the gathering and disposal of produced water. The company's oil and natural gas properties are located in the United States onshore and deepwater Gulf of Mexico; and Algeria, Ghana, Mozambique, Colombia, Peru, and other countries. As of December 31, 2018, it had approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves. The company was founded in 1959 and is headquartered in The Woodlands, Texas.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Bristol-Myers Squibb: 1096271 B.C. ULC, 345 Park LLC, A.G. Medical Services P.A., AHI Investment LLC, AbVitro LLC, Abraxis BioScience Australia Pty Ltd., Abraxis BioScience Inc., Abraxis BioScience International Holding Company Inc., Abraxis BioScience LLC, Abraxis BioScience Puerto Rico LLC, Acetylon Pharmaceuticals Inc., Adnexus, Adnexus a Bristol-Myers Squibb R&D Company, Allard Labs Acquisition G.P., Amira Pharmaceuticals, Amira Pharmaceuticals Inc., Amylin Pharmaceuticals, Apothecon LLC, B-MS Generx Unlimited Company, BMS Benelux Holdings B.V., BMS Bermuda Nominees L.L.C., BMS Data Acquisition Company LLC, BMS Forex Company, BMS Holdings Sarl, BMS Holdings Spain S.L., BMS International Insurance Designated Activity Company, BMS Investco SAS, BMS Korea Holdings L.L.C., BMS Latin American Nominees L.L.C., BMS Luxembourg Partners L.L.C., BMS Omega Bermuda Holdings Finance Ltd., BMS Pharmaceutical Korea Limited, BMS Pharmaceuticals Germany Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals International Holdings Netherlands B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Korea Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Mexico Holdings B.V., BMS Pharmaceuticals Netherlands Holdings B.V., BMS Real Estate LLC, BMS Spain Investments LLC, BMS Strategic Portfolio Investments Holdings Inc., Blisa Acquisition G.P., Bristol (Iran) S.A., Bristol Iran Private Company Limited, Bristol Laboratories Inc., Bristol Laboratories International S.A., Bristol Laboratories Medical Information Systems Inc., Bristol-Myers (Andes) L.L.C., Bristol-Myers (Private) Limited, Bristol-Myers Middle East S.A.L., Bristol-Myers Overseas Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Investment Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (China) Pharmaceuticals Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Israel) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (NZ) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Proprietary) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Shanghai) Trading Co. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (Singapore) Pte. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb (Taiwan) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb (West Indies) Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb A.E., Bristol-Myers Squibb Aktiebolag, Bristol-Myers Squibb Argentina S. R. L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty. Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Axia Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb B.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Belgium S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Business Services Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada Co., Bristol-Myers Squibb Canada International Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Delta Company Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Denmark Filial of Bristol-Myers Squibb AB, Bristol-Myers Squibb EMEA Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Egypt LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Epsilon Holdings Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Ltda., Bristol-Myers Squibb Farmaceutica Portuguesa S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb GesmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb GmbH & Co. KGaA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holding Germany GmbH & Co. KG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings 2002 Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Germany Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Ireland Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Holdings Pharma Ltd. Liability Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Ilaclari Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb India Pvt. Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Company Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb International Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Investco L.L.C., Bristol-Myers Squibb K.K., Bristol-Myers Squibb Kft., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg International S.C.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb MEA GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb Manufacturing Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Marketing Services S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb Middle East & Africa FZ-LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Norway Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Nutricionales de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb Peru S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (HK) Ltd, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma (Thailand) Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Holding Company LLC, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharma Ventures Corporation, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceuticals Unlimited Company, Bristol-Myers Squibb Polska Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Products SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Puerto Rico/Sanofi Pharmaceutical Partnership Puerto Rico, Bristol-Myers Squibb Romania S.R.L., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.A.U., Bristol-Myers Squibb S.r.l., Bristol-Myers Squibb SA, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership, Bristol-Myers Squibb Sarl, Bristol-Myers Squibb Service Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Services Sp. z o.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Spol. s r.o., Bristol-Myers Squibb Theta Finance Ltd., Bristol-Myers Squibb Trustees Limited, Bristol-Myers Squibb Verwaltungs GmbH, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Colombia S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Costa Rica Sociedad Anonima, Bristol-Myers Squibb de Guatemala S.A., Bristol-Myers Squibb de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Bristol-Myers Squibb/Astrazeneca EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Pfizer EEIG, Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership, Bristol-Myers de Venezuela S.C.A., CHT I LLC, CHT II LLC, CHT III LLC, CHT IV LLC, CR Finance Company LLC, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals, Cardioxyl Pharmaceuticals Inc., Celem LLC, Celem Ltd., Celgene, Celgene A.B., Celgene AS, Celgene Ab (Finland), Celgene Alpine Investment Co. II LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. III LLC, Celgene Alpine Investment Co. LLC, Celgene ApS, Celgene B.V., Celgene BVBA, Celgene Brasil Produtos Farmaceuticos Ltda., Celgene CAR LLC, Celgene CAR Ltd., Celgene Chemicals Sarl, Celgene China Holdings LLC, Celgene Co., Celgene Corporation, Celgene Distribution B.V., Celgene EngMab GmbH, Celgene Europe B.V., Celgene Europe Limited, Celgene European Investment Company LLC, Celgene Financing Company LLC, Celgene Global Holdings Sarl, Celgene GmbH [Austria], Celgene GmbH [Germany], Celgene GmbH [Switzerland], Celgene Holdings East Corporation, Celgene Holdings II Sarl, Celgene Holdings III Sarl, Celgene Ilac Pazarlama ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Celgene Inc., Celgene International Holdings Corporation, Celgene International II Sarl, Celgene International III Sarl, Celgene International Inc., Celgene International Sarl, Celgene K.K., Celgene Kft., Celgene Limited [Hong Kong], Celgene Limited [Ireland], Celgene Limited [New Zealand], Celgene Limited [Taiwan], Celgene Limited [UK], Celgene Logistics Sarl, Celgene Ltd, Celgene Luxembourg Sarl, Celgene Management Sarl, Celgene NJ Investment Co, Celgene Netherlands B.V., Celgene Netherlands Investment B.V., Celgene Pharmaceutical (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Celgene Pte. Ltd., Celgene Pty Ltd, Celgene Puerto Rico Distribution LLC, Celgene Quanticel Research Inc, Celgene R&D Sarl, Celgene RIVOT LLC, Celgene RIVOT Ltd., Celgene RIVOT SRL, Celgene Receptos Limited, Celgene Receptos Sarl, Celgene Research Incubator At Summit West LLC, Celgene Research S.L.U., Celgene Research and Development Company LLC, Celgene Research and Development I ULC, Celgene Research and Development II LLC, Celgene Research and Investment Company II LLC, Celgene S. de R.L. de C.V., Celgene S.L.U., Celgene S.R.L., Celgene SAS, Celgene Sarl AU, Celgene Sdn Bhd, Celgene Services Sarl, Celgene Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Celgene Sp. Z.o.o., Celgene Sro [Czech Republic], Celgene Summit Investment Co, Celgene Switzerland Holding Sarl, Celgene Switzerland II LLC, Celgene Switzerland Investment Sarl, Celgene Switzerland LLC, Celgene Switzerland Sarl, Celgene Tri A Holdings Ltd., Celgene Tri Sarl, Celgene UK Distribution Limited, Celgene UK Holdings Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing II Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing III Limited, Celgene UK Manufacturing Limited, Celgene d.o.o., Celgene sro [Slovakia], Celmed LLC, Celmed Ltd., ConvaTec Divestiture, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals, Cormorant Pharmaceuticals AB, Crosp Ltd., Delinia Inc., Deuteria Pharmaceuticals Inc., DuPont Pharmaceuticals, E. R. Squibb & Sons Inter-American Corporation, E. R. Squibb & Sons L.L.C., E. R. Squibb & Sons Limited, EWI Corporation, EngMab Sarl, F-star Alpha, FermaVir Pharmaceuticals L.L.C., FermaVir Research L.L.C., Flexus Biosciences, Flexus Biosciences Inc., Forbius, Galecto Biotech, GenPharm International L.L.C., Gloucester Pharmaceuticals LLC, Grove Insurance Company Ltd., Heyden Farmaceutica Portuguesa Limitada, IFM Therapeutics, Impact Biomedicines Inc., Inhibitex, Inhibitex L.L.C., Innate Tumor Immunity Inc., JuMP Holdings LLC, Juno Therapeutics GmbH, Juno Therapeutics Inc., Kosan Biosciences, Kosan Biosciences Incorporated, Linson Investments Limited, Mead Johnson (Manufacturing) Jamaica Limited, Mead Johnson Jamaica Ltd., Medarex, Morris Avenue Investment II LLC, Morris Avenue Investment LLC, MyoKardia, O.o.o. Bristol-Myers Squibb, Oy Bristol-Myers Squibb (Finland) AB, Padlock Therapeutics, Padlock Therapeutics Inc., Pharmion LLC, Princeton Pharmaceutical Products Inc., Receptos LLC, Receptos Services LLC, RedoxTherapies Inc., Route 22 Real Estate Holding Corporation, SPV A Holdings ULC, Seamair Insurance DAC, Signal Pharmaceuticals LLC, Sino-American Shanghai Squibb Pharmaceuticals Limited, Societe Francaise de Complements Alimentaires(S.O.F.C.A.), Squibb Middle East S.A., Summit West Celgene LLC, Swords Laboratories, VentiRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., Westwood-Intrafin SA, Westwood-Squibb Pharmaceuticals Inc., X-Body Inc., ZymoGenetics, ZymoGenetics Inc., ZymoGenetics LLC, ZymoGenetics Paymaster LLC, iPierian, and iPierian Inc..The following companies are subsidiares of Eli Lilly and: 1096401 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, ARMO BioSciences Inc, ARMO Bioscience, Advanced Cardiovascular Systems, Alnara Pharmaceuticals, Alnara Pharmaceuticals Inc., Andean Technical Operations Center, Applied Molecular Evolution Inc., AurKa Pharma, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals Inc., ChemGen, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals, CoLucid Pharmaceuticals Inc., Dermira, Devices for Vascular Intervention(DVI), Disarm Therapeutics, Dista Ilac Ticaret Ltd. Sti., Dista S.A., Dista-Produtos Quimicos & Farmaceuticos LDA, ELCO Dominicana SRL, ELCO Insurance Company Limited, ELCO Management Inc., ELCO for Trade and Marketing S.A.E., ELGO Insurance Company Limited, Elanco Animal Health Ireland Limited, Elanco Switzerland Holding Sarl, Eli Lilly (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Eli Lilly (Philippines) Incorporated, Eli Lilly (S.A.) (Proprietary) Limited, Eli Lilly (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Eli Lilly (Suisse) S.A., Eli Lilly Asia Inc., Eli Lilly Asia Pacific SSC Sdn Bhd, Eli Lilly Australia Pty. Limited, Eli Lilly B-H d.o.o., Eli Lilly Benelux S.A., Eli Lilly Bienes y Servicios S de RL de CV, Eli Lilly CR s.r.o., Eli Lilly Canada Inc., Eli Lilly Cork Limited, Eli Lilly Danmark A/S, Eli Lilly Egypt for Trading, Eli Lilly European Clinical Trial Services SA, Eli Lilly Export S.A., Eli Lilly Finance S.A., Eli Lilly Ges.m.b.H., Eli Lilly Group Limited, Eli Lilly Holdings Ltd., Eli Lilly Hrvatska d.o.o., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc., Eli Lilly Interamerica Inc. y Compania Limitada, Eli Lilly International Corporation, Eli Lilly Ireland Holdings Limited, Eli Lilly Israel Ltd., Eli Lilly Italia S.p.A., Eli Lilly Japan K.K., Eli Lilly Kinsale Limited, Eli Lilly Nederland B.V., Eli Lilly Nigeria Ltd., Eli Lilly Norge A.S., Eli Lilly Pakistan (Pvt.) Ltd., Eli Lilly Polska Sp.z.o.o. (Ltd.), Eli Lilly Regional Operations GmbH, Eli Lilly Romania SRL, Eli Lilly S.A., Eli Lilly Saudi Arabia Limited, Eli Lilly Services Inc, Eli Lilly Services India Private Limited, Eli Lilly Slovakia s.r.o., Eli Lilly Sweden AB, Eli Lilly Vostok S.A. Geneva, Eli Lilly and Company, Eli Lilly and Company (India) Pvt. Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company (Ireland) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (N.Z.) Limited, Eli Lilly and Company (Taiwan) Inc., Eli Lilly and Company Limited, Eli Lilly de Centro America S.A., Eli Lilly do Brasil Limitada, Eli Lilly farmacevtska druzba d.o.o., Eli Lilly y Compania de Mexico S.A. de C.V., Eli Lilly y Compania de Venezuela S.A., Glycostasis Inc, Greenfield-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Heart Rhythm Technologies Inc, Hybritech, Hypnion, ICOS Corporation, ImClone GmbH, ImClone LLC, ImClone Systems Holdings Inc., ImClone Systems LLC, Imclone Systems, Irisfarma S.A., Ivy Animal Health, Kinsale Financial Services Unlimited Company, Lilly (Shanghai) Management Co. Ltd, Lilly Asia Ventures Fund I L.P., Lilly Asia Ventures Fund II L.P., Lilly Asian Ventures Fund III L.P., Lilly Cayman Holdings, Lilly China Research and Development Co. Ltd., Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Lilly France S.A.S., Lilly Global Nederland Holdings B.V., Lilly Global Services Inc., Lilly Holding GmbH, Lilly Holdings B.V., Lilly Hungaria KFT, Lilly Japan Financing G.K., Lilly Korea Ltd., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V., Lilly Nederland Finance B.V. - GCC, Lilly Nederland Holding B.V., Lilly Pharma Ltd., Lilly Portugal - Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Lilly S.A., Lilly Suzhou Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Lilly Trading Co. LTD, Lilly USA LLC, Lilly Ventures Fund I LLC, Lilly del Caribe Inc., Lilly ilac ticaret limited sirketi, Lohmann Animal Health, Loxo Oncology, Lylly Centre for Clinical Pharmacology PTE. LTD., Novartis Animal Health, OY Eli Lilly Finland AB, Origin Medsystems, PT. Eli Lilly Indonesia, Pacific Biotech, Pharmaserve-Lilly S.A.C.I., Physio-Control, SGX Pharmaceuticals, SGX Pharmaceuticals Inc, Spaly Bioquimica S.A., UAB Eli Lilly Lietuva, Valquifarma S.A., and Vital Pharma Productos Farmaceuticos.Women have not been spared in war-torn Yemen where the Houthis have killed 675 women over the last three years, according to the Yemeni minister of social affairs and labor.

The [Houthi] coup militias have killed more than 675 women since their coup against the legitimate government, Ibtihaj Abdullah Al-Kamal was quoted by Middle East Monitor as saying.

Besides the hundreds of women wounded, more than 4,500 cases of violence against women were registered in a number of provinces, the official said.

He accused the Houthi group of forming a womens military brigade, recruiting more than 350 women and using them in military operations and raids.

According to Middle East Monitor which carried the statements, the accusation was made Thursday on International Womens Day, where the world witnessed celebrations, strikes and protests to mark the day.

In May last year, it was reported that the Houthis opened training camps for women who were then being exploited and deployed across Yemen.

The Houthis took control of the capital Sanaa back in September 2014, with the assistance of an alliance of convenience with late and former president Ali Abdullah Saleh and forces loyal to him.

The Saudi-led coalition was invited in March 2015 by the internationally recognized President Abd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi to defend the country against the Houthi armed group.

Human Rights Watch accuses the Houthis of abduction, enforced disappearance and torture of a number of individuals, including journalists and political prisoners.Energy minister Jeff Radebe said Eskom will sign agreements with 27 renewable energy projects this coming week, according to the City Press.

The deals are expected to involve R56 billion in capital expenditure, and Eskom chairperson Jabu Mabuza said the company will soon discuss the details of the announcement.

The renewable energy projects will add 2,305MW of electricity capacity once they enter commercial operation in 2020.

These projects will provide 61,600 full-time jobs, of which 95% will be for South Africans, mostly during plant construction, said Radebe.

SA Renewable Energy Council chairperson Terence Govender told the City Press it would take two to five months after the deals are signed for project construction to begin.

Radebe added that he would also like to see two projects under the coal IPP programme signed, along with 19 other renewable energy projects which would be announced in the future.

Together, this will achieve a further R103 billion of investment in the economy with substantial foreign direct investment, he said.

The announcement comes after allegations of mismanagement and corruption at Eskom, which were reflected in its financial results.

Eskom expects a loss of R8.1 billion in the short term, which is set to balloon to R26.5 billion in the medium term.

Now read: Eskom refuses to reduce staffArmenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan pledges investments worth $780,000,000

US says it is willing to consider return to nuclear deal with Iran

Azerbaijani-Turkish military exercises are being held in Nakhchivan

Businessman Samvel Karapetyan: I don't agree that systems have changed in Armenia, only people have changed

Two residents of Armenia's Kasakh who disappeared in Vorotan section and were returned, are at home

Kyrgyz MP proposes to appoint one Ambassador to Armenia and Azerbaijan

Armenia Central Bank head: Buffer of Armenian financial organizations is sufficient to resist challenges

OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Special Representative for South Caucasus to visit Armenia

Armenia PM sends telegram of condolence to Russia President

Armenia Deputy PM: Government shouldn't be involved in business

Nearly 700 projects considered during "Armenia 2020-Armenia 2041" meeting

Putin, Aliyev hold phone talks

Armenian filmmaker calls on Armenia citizens to join march to Yerablur Military Pantheon on Independence Day

Digest: Armenian women die in the Netherlands shooting, Azerbaijan returns 2 Armenians

Relatives of deceased servicemen protesting in front of Armenia government building

Russian Expert Center: Russia is ready to offer Yerevan buses and new metro wagons

"High-Level Observer Day" held as part of "Three Brothers-2021" Azerbaijan-Turkey-Pakistan military drills

Flights to and from Gyumri and Moscow launched

Russia deputy PM: Development of new strategic document has started with Armenia

Armenian businessman: I would like for Armenia to have three official languages

Karabakh emergency situations service: Remains or relics of soldiers not found in Hadrut today

COAF and AMAA partner to revamp dairy production in Lori Province of Armenia

Gunshots heard in Armenia's Kut village again

Alexey Overchuk: Russia is ready to help Armenia overcome economic crisis and pandemic

Armenia economy minister: Unblocking of communication will help increase country's GDP by 30%

Armenia army's units to march on country's Independence Day

Armenia PM congratulates Vladimir Putin on United Russia Party's victory

Malta Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sergey Smbatyan, performs at InClassica festival (PHOTOS)

Russian official: Bandwidth of Upper Lars checkpoint to grow by 6.5 times in 2022

Armenian Deputy PM: Armenia-Russia trade turnover made up $1.9 billion in first semester of 2021

Nursultan Nazarbayev congratulates Armenia President on 30th anniversary of Independence

Iran Ambassador to Armenia: We hope alternative road to Goris is built as soon as possible

Egypt President congratulates Armenia President on 30th anniversary of Independence

Erdogan to visit Russia on a working visit

Young Dutch man with mental disorder shoots at passers-by, kills 2 female members of AGBU Holland

Russia ambassador to Armenia: Innovative approaches needed to deepen bilateral relations

Greek MFA slams Turkey for illegal fishing in its territorial waters

PM: Armenia greatly interested in opening communications

Armenia-Russia cooperation agreement signed

Deputy PM: Armenia-Russia-Azerbaijan trilateral platform discusses issues I have spoken about many times

Armenia PM spokesperson: No contacts taken place so far with Turkey

North Korean MFA slams new defense alliance created by Australia, UK and US

20 Turkey citizens seek asylum in Armenia in past 3 years

Armenia economy minister on Goris-Kapan motorway situation: We are very actively rebuilding bypass road

Russia deputy PM: Issue of corridors not being discussed

Armenia deputy PM: Unblocking of roads will have positive effect

Deputy PM: Cooperation within EEU is main guarantee of Armenia's economic recovery

Azerbaijan FM heads for US

Iran sending sizeable military forces to Azerbaijan border

2 Armenian General Benevolent Union women die from stabbing (PHOTOS)

8 dead after shooting at Russia university

342 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Armenia opposition MP: No security mechanisms on Goris-Kapan motorway to prevent abducting, getting lost

Yerevan hosting Armenian Business Forum 2021

Australia PM says France submarine deal not in his countrys interest

Half of Earth's coral reefs die out in last 70 years

World oil prices falling

Firefighting resumes at Armenia national park

Over 70% of ballots counted in Russia State Duma elections

Largest Armenia flag to be installed in Yeraskh village of Ararat Province (PHOTOS)

Azerbaijan returns 2 Armenia citizens

Women protest in Kabul in defense of their rights

Russia elections over

Those apprehended outside jewelry center in Yerevan are tourists from Iran, not Turks or Azerbaijanis

Frances Macron cancels Swiss counterparts visit

Manny Pacquiao to run for Philippine president

Yerkir.am: 2 Turks or Azerbaijanis apprehended outside jewelry center in Yerevan

Details of Iran nuclear physicists assassination by Israel intelligence are disclosed

France MFA announces crisis in US relations

UK lawmakers accuse Johnson of more casual approach to national security

Goris city deputy mayor: Azerbaijan military hit Armenian young man with handheld transceiver antenna

Khatibzadeh: Iran hopes Iranian truckers detained by Azeris in Armenia's Syunik will be released immediately

Turkeys Erdogan: Georgia premier conveyed Armenia PMs proposal to hold meeting

Australia plans to soon buy or lease submarines from US or UK

Protest being staged outside Armenia government building

Armenia ombudsman: National Security Service taking active measures to have our compatriots returned

Colorado killer sentenced to 1,282 years, in addition to life in prison

Armenia village mayor: Those who ended up in Azerbaijan-controlled territory are 20-, 21-year-old boys

Kazakhstan, Belarus to arm CSTO

Cement plant opens in Artsakh

Goris deputy mayor on probability of Armenia residents ending up in Azerbaijan: 4 people, they disappeared by car

Armenia National Security Service: 2 residents end up in Azerbaijan-controlled territory

Islamic State claims responsibility for Syria natural gas pipeline attack

507 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

Final day of elections in progress in Russia

Birds dying en masse in New York

Armenia parliament to hold hearings on September 22

Drone mistakenly drops package of drugs into US schoolyard

Researchers uncover risk of mutated coronavirus

Several hundred people go on protest action at US Congress

France: One person dies in a fight with participation of 150 bikers

Nuclear Chief of Iran does not plan to negotiate nuclear transaction in Vienna

US Capitol is preparing for rally of Trump supporters

21 people detained in Yerevan protests

Armenia Parliament Speaker on yesterday's incident with children of Artsakh on Goris-Kapan road

8 new cases of COVID-19 reported in Artsakh

Karabakh President receives Deputy Director of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund

Presidents of Tajikistan and Iran sign Memorandum of Cooperation

Situation at Charles Aznavour Square in Yerevan is tense, police are apprehending demonstrators

Yerevan citizens hold demonstration demanding cancelation of Independence Day eventTalks between US and North Korea could fizzle without an agreement or it could result in the greatest deal for the world to ease nuclear tensions between the two countries, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday, Reuters reported.

I may leave fast if progress does not seem possible, Trump said at a campaign rally for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone in western Pennsylvania. Trump said he believes North Korea wants to make peace and that, I think its time.

A time and place to meet has not yet been set, although the meeting is supposed to happen by the end of May.

Who knows whats going to happen? said Trump, who added that if the meeting takes place, I may leave fast or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world.

Trump made the shocking decision on Thursday to meet with Kim after the North Korean leaders invitation was relayed by a South Korean delegation who visited the White House.US President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to tax European cars if the European Union retaliates against his steep tariffs on aluminum and steel, The Hill reported.

Trump suggested in his tweet that the U.S. would not impose the aluminum and steel tariffs on the E.U. if they dropped their tariffs.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the U.S. very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum. If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!" Trump tweeted.

Earlier this week, Trump officially announced tariffs of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, despite major opposition from his own party.

The EU threatened an "arsenal" of retaliatory measures when the tariffs were first proposed, including imposing import tariffs on products made in red districts.Home | News | General | Despite stealing $250M public funds, PDP leaders say Ibori a blessing to Niger Delta

- PDP leaders showered praise on former governor of Delta state, James Ibori,

- Despite the fact that Ibori admitted stealing public funds and jailed in the UK, the PDP leaders said Ibori is a blessing to the Niger Delta region

- The opposition party leaders said they needed Iboris leadership acumen to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)

The national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Uche Secondus, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta, and ex-Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan and other national and state PDP leaders on Saturday, March 10, eulogised former Governor James Ibori .

Premium Times reports that the PDP leaders praised the sterling leadership qualities of former Governor James Ibori, describing him as a unifying figure and a blessing to the Niger Delta region.

NAIJ.com gathered that a statement by the press unit of the Delta state government house said the officials spoke at Ovwor-Olomu in Ughelli South local government area of Delta state during a grand reception in honour of Ibori.

READ ALSO: Benue herdsmen attacks: Obasanjo reportedly backs Ortom on anti-open grazing law

Recall that Ibori returned to Nigeria on February 5, 2017 after serving jail term in the UK.

Former Governor Ibori had on February 27, 2012, pleaded guilty in a London court to 10 counts of money laundering and conspiracy to defraud.

Before Judge Anthony Pitts, he admitted stealing $250million as alleged by the prosecution.

The metropolitan police accused Ibori of spending some of the stolen money buying six houses in London  paying 2.2m in cash for one Hampstead mansion  and putting his children in expensive British private schools.

After pleading guilty, Crown Prosecution Service lawyer, Sasha Wass, made a short submission, saying the prosecution was discontinuing Iboris trial because the former governor had accepted the entirety of the prosecutions case as it has always been set out.

Ibori was later sentenced to 13 years in UK prison. He was however released and deported to Nigeria in February 2017.

The PDP leaders, however, described the former governor as a unifying factor in the development of the Niger Delta region and Delta state in particular.

Despite being aware of Iboris antecedent, the PDP national chairman, Secondus, and his colleagues, lavishly showered praise on Ibori at the occasion, saying the PDP needed his leadership acumen to wrest power from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Secondus said: Ibori must be celebrated because he is a man of the people not just in Delta state but across the nation, today, he is a factor in this country. On behalf of the masses of our country, we salute you, we salute your courage because you are a man who believes in the struggle of the party.

You [Delta State] have a son that has built a political structure that is envied across the nation. Delta State remains the only state in the nation that has a stability in political succession. It remains the only state where all the Governor that have ruled the state are still members of the PDP.

In his own remark, Governor Okowa said Ibori laid the foundation of development in the state and established a political structure which served as a bridge builder and development agent across the country.

Uduaghan on his part, called for an end to rumour mongering and sycophancy in the state.

The chief host of the reception, John Oguma, said Ibori impacted positively on the state.

Oguma described Ibori as a national leader who helped in stabilising the nations political terrain.

In his response, Ibori advised the political class especially those seeking political office not to heat up the polity, saying power belongs to God and that only He can give power.

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He said he has forgiven all those who played one role or another in his incarceration.

NAIJ.com previously reported that the governor of Bayelsa state, Seriake Dickson and Ibori inaugurated an advocacy for a referendum.

The duo said the their call for a referendum in Nigeria is to the interest of the people of the south south region.

Speaking at the conferment of chieftaincy titles by the Pere of Kabowei Kingdom, HRM Erebelu Shedrack, Aduwo III, on their subjects in Patani, Delta state, the duo said the interest of the region is paramount to them.

Nigerians want PDP back in 2019 - Goodluck Jonathan declares at PDP Caucus Meeting - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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Loading...Home | News | General | Over 300,000 PDP, APGA and other party members defect to APC (photos)

The ruling party, All Progress Congress (APC) on Saturday, March 10, received big shots from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM) and other parties in Katsina state.

Those who defected to the ruling party includes, Senator Ibrahim Idah (PDP), Hon. Yau Umar Gwajo-Gwajo (former Speaker under PDP), Alh. Bature Umar Masari (former director general PDP Katsina state campaign organization for 2015 general elections) and Hon. Musa Adamu Funtua (former commissioner of agriculture under PDP).

Others include Engr Nura Khalil, gubernatorial candidate under ACN, Abubakar Shuaibu Bakori, Dr. Yushau Armayau (former chairman PDM and 34 Local government executives), Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi Tsauri (APGA and his supporters) and 264 Councillors of the PDP defunct local government administration.

READ ALSO: There is no war or any insecurity issue in Rivers - PDP tells Buhari

See photos below:

L-R: APC national chairman John Oyegun and Katsina state governor, Aminu Bello Masari receiving PDP members who defected to APC. Photo credit: Facebook, APC news blog

APC supporters at Katsina polo club, Katsina state for the defection of over 300, 00 defectors from the PDP, APGA, PDM and other parties. Photo credit: Facebook, APC news blog

Mammoth crowd in Katsina state as the ruling party, APC receives over 300,000 people who decamped into the party on Saturday, March 10. Photo credit: APC news blog

Oyegun applauded the quality and calibre of decampees into the state. Photo credit: Facebook, APC news blog

The national chairman of the party, Dr. John Oyegun applauded the quality and calibre of decampees into the state, adding that the defection was first of it kind since he has been receiving decampees.

According to an earlier report by NAIJ.com, the national chairman of All Progressive Congress (APC) on Saturday, March 10, declared the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Katsina state as dead and buried.

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News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Oyegun made the declaration in the state during a grand reception organized by the state APC chapter to receive prominent politicians who defected to his party from the PDP.

APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 - on NAIJ.com TV:

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Loading...Home | News | General | Emir of Kano challenges northern elites to address rate of poverty, ignorance

- The Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi Lamido II has challenged leaders to force changes that will better the lives of common man

- The monarch noted that the north needs to change is its perception towards education

- The Emir also added that the northern region was backward in some areas

The Emir of Kano, Mohammed Sanusi Lamido II has challenged leaders to stand up, initiate and force changes that will better the lives of the common man and stop living in a system that keeps them permanently backward in all aspect of human endeavour, Independent reports.

NAIJ.com gathered that the Emir speaking at the Convocation Lecture for the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th combined Convocation ceremony of the Gombe State University (GSU) stressed that ignorance and poverty must be addressed before making any headway.

He pointed out that one attitude the north needs to change is its perception or the poor attitude towards education.

READ ALSO: If Tinubus reconciliation fails, there will be mass defection from APC - Shehu Sani

After giving statistical data based on UN agencies and the National Bureau of Statistics on the Norths backwardness, especially the North-East and North-West, where the largest population of the country resides and where there is also the largest concentration of Muslims,

The Emir stated that the northeast and northwest region was backward in the areas of having the highest maternal, infant mortality rate, under-five deaths, lack of access to modern education employment among many others.

However, he regretted that it is the system that has kept the region from attaining its full potential despite having large land mass, highest number of people and most divers, having abundant resources especially in agric.

What led to the start of the project in Kano? We cannot have economic growth until we move into the grassroots and deal with the issues. Take the Northern Nigeria, 70 Percent of Nigerias landmass, highest number of people, grossly endowed with abundant natural resources, most diverse in many aspects but the poorest part of the world.

In terms of lack of having access to modern education, employment, access to road networks, the region is lagging behind. These are numbers that we have and we can go on and on.

The number of adolescent girls given into early marriage, you will discover that the North-East and the North-West have the highest negative indices, and we are far, far behind the rest of the world.

One out of six out of school children in the world is in Nigeria and 70 percent could be from the north. Now, we cannot continue to be talking about marginalisation when we need to address these issues, he said.

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According to an earlier report by NAIJ.com, Emir of Kano Muhammadu Sanusi II on Monday, February 19, faulted the usage of hate speech on social media and called on relevant authorities to checkmate the menace before it drags the country into anarchy.

The Nation reports Sanusi who made this known through the district head of Rogo, Alhaji Muhammad Muhammad Muaraz said political leadership across board must arise and fight against the usage of hate speech.

Do you prefer a restructuring of Nigeria or should we just split-up? - on NAIJ.com TV:

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Loading...Home | News | General | UTME 2018: Security agents arrest identical twins for exam malpractice in Borno

Maiduguri  Two identical twins have been arrested for alleged examination malpractice in the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME), at the University of Maiduguri centre, Borno.

Mr Babagana Gutti, Chief Examiner Officer in the state, said that the twins were apprehended by the security operatives on Saturday in Maiduguri.

Kano State Deputy Governor Professor Hafiz Abubakar monitoring the conduct of the ongoing Joint Admission and Matriculation Examination across the State.

Gutti said that the lookalike brothers tricked invigilators and security personnel to gain entrance to the centre.

He said one of them tried to sit for the examination on behalf of his brother.

The JAMB official explained that one, Hussain Andulhammeed, was captured in the biometric registration for the Compute Base Test (CBT), adding that the second persons Hassan took advantage of their semblance and sat for the examination in place of his brother.

We do not suspect foul play until one of the invigilators noticed the other identical twin outside the examination hall.

The invigilator became curious and asked him few questions; but not satisfied with answers he put them together for verification.

It is unfortunate our findings showed that he was in the examination hall in place of his brother, he said.

Gutti added that the candidates had been penalised and handed over to security personnel.

He explained that the examination was going smoothly in the eight designated centres in the state.

NAN report that about 1,700 candidates registered for the examination in the state. (NAN)

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Loading...Home | News | General | Rivals clash as Sierra Leone poll runoff looms

Rival supporters clashed in Freetown on Saturday after results from Sierra Leones presidential election indicated a runoff would be needed with no candidate set to secure the 55 percent required to win outright.

Jonathan-led EISA declares Sierra Leonean elections peaceful

With incumbent Ernest Bai Koroma standing down after two terms, his All Peoples Congress (APC) candidate Samura Kamara was just leading Julius Maada Bio of the main opposition Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP), based on 50 percent of returns from the National Electoral Commission (NEC).

The NEC gave former foreign minister Kamara 43.2 percent share of the vote so far against 43.09 percent for former general Bio in Wednesdays poll.

European Union observers on Friday described the election as transparent, credible and well-organised, but noted sporadic intimidation and violence, concerns echoed by the Freetown-based Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI).

 Shops close in panic 

The early results triggered unrest as supporters of the two main parties clashed in the capitals central business district, leading police to make several arrests.

Just after the announcement of the results by NEC people started to celebrate, which angered other onlookers, trader Abubakar Sesay told AFP.

I was forced to close my business as everyone was running from the scene. Many shops closed due to the panic, Sesay said, adding that he witnessed stone-throwing.

Kandeh Yumkella, a former high-ranked member of the SLPP now standing for a National Grand Coalition (NGC), was in third place with 6.69 percent.

The share of his votes in the runoff could prove decisive in determining the eventual winner in the West African country where corruption is rife.

Wednesdays presidential, parliamentary and local council elections had passed off largely peacefully despite a police raid on Bios residence.

 Hacking claim 

The raid followed accusations of vote hacking despite Sierra Leone using a manual voting system.

The NEC had called Friday for patience in the count, saying it will prioritise accuracy over speed.

A runoff poll must take place two weeks after final results are unveiled.

The APC had said Friday it had a comfortable lead, causing the SLPP to accuse it of endangering public order and national security.

The SLPP claimed the APC was preparing to release fake presidential results but remained confident of victory.

The two parties have dominated Sierra Leones politics since independence in 1961, but third parties are hoping to make their mark after mounting charismatic campaigns.

The NGC, whose message of reform has struck a chord with educated urban voters, said Friday it had identified a number of serious irregularities in the voting process which will in some areas require immediate recounts.

The export-dependent economy of a mineral-rich but impoverished country is in a dire state following the 2014-16 Ebola crisis and a commodity price slump that has driven away foreign investors.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Obaseki eulogises late Dr. Akinluyis selfless service to humanity

Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, praised late Dr. Ebenezer Akinluyi, for his outstanding contributions to the field of human medicine and championing the cause of the downtrodden in society.

Obaseki

Late Akinluyi, before his death, had a distinguished career in the public and private sectors as Obstetrician and Gynecologist. He died at the age of 75. At various times, Akinluyi had served on several medical boards in the old Bendel State and Edo State, including the Edo State Health Management Board.

The governor, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Chief Taiwo Akerele, at a church service held in honour of late Dr. Akinluyi, held at the All Souls Anglican Church in Benin City, at the weekend, praised Akinluyi for advancing the cause of humanity through his career, which spanned several decades.

Obaseki said, The contributions of Akinluyi will not be forgotten in a hurry because of his selfless and humanitarian services in the health sector in Edo State.

Those whose path crossed Akinluyis will remember him for his humility.

He was reputed for charity and using his personal resources to save the lives of patients, who could not foot medical bills. The state government and good people of Edo State will remain grateful for Dr. Akinluyis immense contributions to the health sector in the old Bendel and later Edo State.

According to Obaseki, As a mark of honour to immortalise the likes of late Dr. Akinluyi, this administration will continue to initiate and implement policies aimed at improving access to quality healthcare services to Edo people.

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Loading...Home | News | General | FG pledges commitment to ease process of doing business  Fashola

The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has pledged the commitment of the Federal Government to ease process of doing business in Nigeria.

Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola

Fashola said this on Saturday in Kano during tour of electrification project in Sabo Gari Market being executed by a private firm, Sabo Gari Energy.

He said that the commitment to promote ease of doing businesses was because small and medium scale businesses were the major drivers of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

The minister said Sabo Gari Energy project was critical because power was being generated and delivered to traders in the market without a grid system.

He said the project had increased traders access to power, adding that instead of waiting for transmission grid, energy was being generated and consumed in the market.

We have seen the control room, where the energy comes, the solar panel, where solar energy is being converted into alternating current electricity.

About 3,000 out of the 12,000 shops have signed contract to be connected and about 500 have been connected and the last section of the market is being wired.

As the wiring continues, it is also creating employment in the procurement, manufacture, sale and installation.

About 120 technicians have been employed, what this mean is that opportunities are coming and this is what our government is all about, he said.

According to him, from one of the customers we spoke to, he was spending about N2,000 a week on five hours electricity but now, he is getting 10 hours for half of that price.

He said that money would be saved in the process, adding that the expectation would be that the saved money would be transferred to goods and services to reduce prices.

The minister said the project was being executed by the Federal Government in partnership with the Kano State Government through the Rural Electrification Agency.

Fashola said plans were concluded to extend similar project to Ariaria market in Aba, Shomolu Printing Community in Lagos and the Sura market.

He said the new projects would be executed before the end of 2018, adding that the idea was to move away from the theory of electricity to the practice and realities.

At the National Housing Programme site in Kano, Fasola said similar pilot housing programme was being replicated in 33 states of the federation.

The minister said the idea was to see how Nigerians would react to the programme in terms of acceptability and affordability before rolling out mass housing programme.

He said the decision to start with pilot programme was informed by the empty house found in most parts of the country.

He said the concern of the Federal Government in construction infrastructure followed the number employment created in construction sites.

NAN

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Loading...Home | News | General | Secondus urges APC to emulate PDP in project executions

Mr Uche Secondus, National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to emulate their PDP counterparts, who were busy developing their states through grassroots-oriented projects.

Secondus gave the advice on Saturday at the inauguration of the 8.4 kilometres reconstructed Ughelli-Afiesere-Ofuoma road project in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta.

Uche Secondus

The party chairman, while commending the developmental stride of the PDP state governments, urged the APC state governors to emulate them.

He said Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta had impacted positively on the people through his people-oriented projects and urged the people to give him the maximum support.

Gov. Okowa has proven to be among the best governors in the country through the execution of developmental projects with direct positive impact on the lives of the people.

The only way to develop the Niger Delta region is through the construction of roads as demonstrated by the governor.

So, I will implore the people of Delta to intensify their support for Gov. Okowa for more development projects, he stressed.

In his remarks, Gov. Okowa said that the state government was linking up the entire state with the construction of roads, which would have a multiplier effect on the economy and also promote ethnic integration among groups in the state.

He said that the government had a well mapped out policies and programmes, particularly in the health and education sectors, assuring the people that his administration was committed to meeting their needs.

In his address of welcome, the Chairman of Ughelli North Local Government Area, Mr Godwin Adode thanked Gov. Okowa for the project, saying it would help to boost the economy of area.

NAN

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Loading...Home | News | General | Anti-Corruption war: Why President wont give assent to CBN-domiciled NFIU Bill  Investigation

By Soni Daniel

Fresh indications emerged last night, on why the Presidency might not rush to give assent to the new Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit Bill, when it is eventually transmitted to it by the lawmakers.

Buhari in the senate

The two chambers of NASS passed the new NFIU bill, which has formally transferred the controversial agency from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in a bid to prevent the country from being axed from Egmont Group, the international financial watchdog.

The meeting of the group takes place on tomorrow, Monday, during which Nigerias suspension since July, 2017, is expected to be reviewed.

There are concerns about the possible outcome of the review.

A top government official told Sunday Vanguard that the Presidency was not convinced that moving the NFIU to the CBN was what the Egmont Group demanded from Nigeria as a condition for lifting its suspension.

The official argued in a memo placed before the federal government that it was incorrect to say that Egmont suspended Nigeria because its NFIU was located within EFCC.

The official said, the truth is that Egmont group only raised some concerns in relation to established principles and guidelines and all that is needed for Nigeria to do in this situation is to address the issues strictly as observed, and incorporate the items as indicated as being deficient in the EFCC Act, by way of the passage of the EFCC Amendment bill and report to the agency.

The bill proposing the amendment of the EFCC Act which has addressed the concerns of the Egmont Group has been submitted to the groups Membership Support and Compliance Working Group, and it has made its observations and advised that some provisions contained in the EFCC Amendment bill be made clearer.

It is pertinent to note that if this is done as pointed out by the agency, the suspension by Egmont Group will automatically be lifted at the same plenary without recourse to any other issue.

But if Nigeria chooses to tow the line otherwise not suggested by the Egmont Group and decides to create a new FIU, as being proposed in the NFIA bill and relocates the FIU to the Central Bank or any other entity, the Egmont Group may consider this as a fundamental change in the structure of the FIU and the resultant effect may be an automatic expulsion, which may further subject Nigeria to the process of reapplication for membership, under the revised Egmont Group membership procedure adopted in 2014.

It will therefore not be proper to submit to the Egmont Group an entirely different law for consideration, as against what is already before them. Any attempt to do this will not only ridicule Nigeria before the international community, but Nigeria will be viewed as a very unserious, insincere and irresponsive country.

The Germany experience should guide our decision. The German FIU was expelled from the Egmont Group in January 2017 on the grounds that there was a fundamental change in its structure by relocating the FIU from the German Police to the Customs.

It is for these reasons that when the bill comes to the Presidency, it would be thoroughly examined to determine whether its functions are repeated in any existing law in Nigeria and if indeed it will bring about the needed change, before the president can sign it into law.

Additionally, we need to find out if CBN has the institutional capacity to run an NFIU and if we are not convinced, the bill would not be assented, the official said.

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Loading...Home | News | General | On Damascus road (1) by Femi Aribisala

By Femi Aribisala

As he journeyed he came near Damascus, suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice. (Acts 9:3-4).

My wife was coming back from a trip to the United States and I went to Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Lagos with my six-year old son to meet her. She had two major pieces of luggage. I put one in the boot and the other in the back seat of the car. It was around seven-thirty in the evening, and we set out for home.

The Okota Road, Isolo

Soon, a car overtook us with some people who seemed to be shouting at us for some inexplicable reason. I was lost in thought and paid little attention to them. It is commonplace in Lagos for some driver to be upset with you rightly or wrongly. But no sooner had they overtaken us than they swerved and blocked the road with their car. Immediately, some men jumped out menacingly.

Armed robbers

From that moment everything became surreal. Indeed, it seemed that everything went into slow motion. I could not believe the dexterity and spontaneity of my reactions. I slammed on the brakes and the car stopped. I quickly switched the car to reverse gear and pressed on the accelerator and the car moved back. Our assailants were banking on the element of surprise, but my prompt reactions upstaged them. Having quickly reversed the car, I again brought it to a stop.

In front of us on the road were four armed men.

I had always believed in myself. I saw myself as a self-made man and I regarded myself as a problem-solver. True, this was a rather bigger problem than I have had to deal with before. This problem seemed to be one of life and death. But it was a problem nevertheless. Therefore, unlike others who might have simply surrendered, I decided to solve the problem.

I needed to make a quick decision. I had to decide whether to continue to reverse the car, which I could only do for so long; or to go forward, never minding our assailants; or to surrender, which might be fatal.

James Bond

I seemed to have all the time in the world to make this split-second decision. I decided to fight for my life rather than surrender to the unknown. I made up my mind to go forward at top speed to the right and try to avoid their car, which was biased to the left side of the road. I also decided that, if the man to my extreme right did not get out of the way, I would overrun him with the car.

I put the car back into the first gear and went ahead to execute my plan. I slammed hard on the accelerator. The man to my extreme right literally had to jump out of the road because I aimed the car directly at him. I managed to avoid the car with which they had blocked the road and made a dash for it. I told myself if they chased me in their car they would not be able to catch me. These people did not know whom they were dealing with.

But before I could begin to congratulate myself on turning the tables on our abductors, my plans went disastrously wrong. A lamppost appeared out of nowhere, and I slammed headlong into it.

I have been back on that road so many times since that day and have wondered why I did not see that lamppost. But I did not. Once I hit the lamppost, I was trapped. Once I hit the lamppost, all my brilliantly executed escape plans turned out to be foolhardy. Once I hit the lamppost, I knew I was in trouble. I looked out the window to see that the man I nearly ran down had got up and was now coming towards me. I knew there could only be one thing on his mind: vengeance.

Jesus, my saviour

But before I could panic or be resigned to my fate, something even more dramatic happened. I heard a voice. It was not a booming voice. It was a still small voice. It was authoritative and calm. It spoke with quiet reassurance. Femi, it said, nothing is going to happen to you here.

Before I could even think about what this meant under the circumstances, the offended armed robber drew near. Again, I saw everything in slow motion. Grimacing, he pointed his gun at me and fired.

I saw a flash of light and the glass at my side of the door came crashing down. Dont ask me why, but I opened the door and came out of the car. Only then did I realise I could not walk. There was something wrong with my left leg. I noticed then that the bullet must have hit me in the leg, but I never felt it enter my body.

With the benefit of hindsight, I wonder what my assailant must have thought had happened. There must have been something disturbing about pointing a gun at a man from virtually point blank range and firing, and nevertheless the man you fired at calmly opened the door and came out. In this part of the world where many believe in the occult (juju or voodoo), I wonder what the man thought happened to the bullet he fired directly at me.

Prince of peace

I am not a brave man. I would hardly describe myself as courageous. I had, for example, a chronic fear of flying as a result of a hair-raising flight I had in the early 1980s from Lagos to Jos. And yet, I was not afraid of our assailants on Airport Road.

Surprisingly, I was somewhat indifferent to the attack. I seemed to be abstracted from the entire incident, and to be like someone standing on the side lines watching an unfolding reality show. And yet. I knew, however the matter was resolved, my life would never be the same again.

I now know that apart from the armed robbery, something definitely supernatural was going on. I now know that it was God who spoke and told me in effect not to worry, and that nothing was going to happen to me. I now know that when God speaks, he speaks peace. The psalmist says: I will hear what God the LORD will speak, for he will speak peace to his people and to his saints. (Psalm 85:8).

When God speaks peace, peace is established. (Mark 4:39). Therefore, on that fateful night, in the middle of a deadly armed robbery attack, I experienced inexplicable peace: a peace that surpasses all understanding. (Philippians 4:7).

As I came out of the car, the armed robber who had shot at me did not shoot again. I say this because he could easily have done so. I believe he knew he could not have missed me the first time, and yet I was apparently unhurt.

Instead of shooting again, he came over and slapped me. Why were you driving like that? he demanded. How else, I wonder, should one drive when accosted by armed robbers? Of course, I did not dare tell him that.

Please dont be offended, I pleaded. I was only trying to get away from you as best as I could.

CONTINUED

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Loading...Home | News | General | Hope for older persons in Nigeria

Dr Emem Omokaro , the Executive Director, Dave Omokaro Foundation (DOF), says Nigeria is putting in place a social infrastructure that will enhance the welfare of its older citizens.

Emen Omokaro, left: says social infrastructure plans underway for older persons in Nigeria

Omokaro said this in Abuja on Saturday in an interview with newsmen at the end of a five-day training in Ageing and Policy Formulation, jointly organised by DOF and International Institute on Ageing United Nations-Malta (INIA).

According to her, Nigeria is overhauling its systems to ensure that its older citizens are included in its policies.

Omokaro said that it was imperative for the society to maximise every opportunity to include older persons in its development policies and regulations.

She, however, underscored the need to involve those who were knowledgeable in ageing issues in the drafting of ageing policies.

She also said that the policies, which should be comprehensive and multi-sectoral, must adopt a life-course approach which was human-based and capable of engendering inter-sector synergy.

Besides, Omokaro said that the policies should be based on principles that would protect the dignity of older persons as well as their values, inclusion, participation, independence and security.

She stressed the need to promote capacity building and data acquisition, while involving competent personnel in ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that understood core ageing issues in plans to mainstream the ageing factor into the sectors.

Policy must include core living healthcare, continual long-term care, palliative care and continual engagement of older persons; their independence and lifelong learning.

The policy must be multi-sectoral, with a life-course approach that is human-based. It is very important to maximise every opportunity to include older persons in all national development projects, Omokaro said.

Also speaking, Dr Andrew Mbewe of the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that having specific policies in place for older persons would facilitate efforts to alleviate some of the challenges they were facing.

He urged the government to adopt the 2016 Global Strategy on Health and Ageing, which underscored the need to include older persons in health schemes so as to attain universal health care.

Besides, Mbewe said that it was important for older persons to improve their functionality, adding that efforts should be made to have facilities that would enable older persons to have hitch-free access to buildings, for instance.

In Japan and other developed countries, there are social and environmental services that keep older persons going.

But we dont have such facilities here and older persons in the country need such facilities in order to help them live healthy, he said.

He, therefore, urged all those who were trained in ageing issues and ageing policy formulation processes to become advocates of ageing in the country.

NAN

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Loading...Home | News | General | President Buhari commended for rejecting Peace Corps bill

The Conference of Nigeria Political Party (CNPP), Edo Chapter, on Saturday, commended President Muhammadu Buhari over his rejection of Peace Corps bill.

File: Peace-Corps

The chapter chairman, Mr Roy Oribhabor, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin.

He said the rejection of the bill was a welcomed development and right step in the right direction.

He gave his reason for commending the Presidents action, saying it was mere duplication of mandate of security agencies in the country.

According to him, we should and must stop playing politics with issues we know will not mean well for the country.

As it were, we already have several security agencies whose function or mandates overlap; creating another one in the name of creating employment will create chaos in the system.

This is why the Edo CNPP wishes to commend the President for such bold step and futuristic evaluation of the situation.

However, to fight unemployment, we believe that qualified members of Peace Corps can be recruited into sister agencies like police and civil defense.

Edo CNPP strongly believed that the rejection of Peace Corp bill was done in good fate for the betterment of Nigeria and Nigerians.

Therefore, we call on Nigerians and affected members of the public, particularly members of the corps, not to view it as hatred or lack of concern by the president but accept the decision without disappointment.

Research conducted by us shown that Nigerians are happy with the rejection, but call on Mr President to prevail on the sister agencies to recruit them accordingly.

Too many security agencies will give room for lack of proper coordination and clashes within security arrangement.

Finally, Edo CNPP urges PMB to maintain his stand in spite of the open shows of opposition demonstrated so far by some persons without considering the financial implications.

NAN recalls that the President Buhari had recently refused to assent to the bill as passed by the National Assembly. (NAN)

ESI/ACO/AFA

Edited by Abiodun Oluleye/Felix Ajide

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Loading...A suspension of humanitarian operations has been extended in a remote town in northeast Nigeria where three aid workers were killed in a Boko Haram attack, medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said on Saturday.

MSF and the UN pulled out their staff from Rann, on the border with Cameroon in Borno state, after the attack on March 1.

The UN suspended its activities for one week until Friday.

IGP Ibrahim Kpotun-Idris, Governors, traditional rulers and guests during the Northern states stakeholders security summit held in Kaduna on Wednesday

But the suspension has now been extended until Tuesday next week at the earliest, the UN in Abuja said, while MSF said it had no timeline for a return.

We think that the entire area is not protected, the charitys emergency coordinator for Borno, Kerri Ann Kelly, told AFP.

Until theres more protection it will be very hard to operate. Its a fairly exposed area I had 19 people up there that day, lying on the ground going on for 90 minutes, so security drives the mission.

MSF, the UN childrens agency Unicef and the International Committee of the Red Cross were among those providing emergency food, medical care and other programmes to some 80,000 people in Rann.

Of those, about 55,000 were living in a camp for people displaced by the Islamist insurgency, which began in 2009 and has ravaged the northeast, killing at least 20,000.

Kelly said the suspension leaves those people without healthcare and no access to food distribution  and time was pressing to resume activities before the arrival of annual rains from mid-May.

Last year, Rann was cut off due to flooding during the rains, while across the northeast food shortages become more acute and diseases such as malaria increase.

If we cant get up there, the rainy season is going to be a problem We are really concerned about being able to be prepared for this rainy season, said Kelly.

But even before then, there are fears about the effect of a prolonged suspension on clean water and sanitation programmes for those in the camp, after previous outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as typhoid and cholera linked to poor hygiene.

The UN has appealed this year for $1.05 billion to fund its operations in northeast Nigeria, where the insurgency has left millions homeless and dependent on aid.

The Rann attack  which also saw eight Nigerian security personnel killed  also prompted fresh doubts about government claims the jihadists are virtually defeated.

The surrounding countryside has witnessed a series of attacks, highlighting the continued difficulty for the military to secure hard-to-reach areas outside urban centres.Home | News | General | Shipments for 2 modular refineries to be installed in Delta, Rivers coming soon  FG

-As NDDC completes 372 projects in 2017

-Sets up Job Placement Centres to engage 200,000 youths in Niger Delta

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

Shipments for two modular refineries that will be installed in Delta and River States will be arriving very soon.

A picture taken on September 16, 2015 shows workers trying to tie a pipe of the first refinery in Nigeria, which was built in 1965 in oil rich Port Harcourt, Rivers State. The Port Harcourt refinery is Nigerias oldest, built in 1965, nine years after crude was first found under the marshy soil and creeks of the delta, where the Niger river meanders to the Gulf of Guinea. Refineries in nearby Warri and Kaduna in the north central region were built in the years that followed, while a new plant was added to the same site in Port Harcourt in 1989. In recent years, however, it became a byword for corruption, a murky, state-run body where billions of dollars in revenue apparently disappeared. AFP PHOTO

This was disclosed at the meeting presided over by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja at the weekend.

A statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande said the meeting was briefed on the progress of the modular refineries and that one set of modular refinery package shipment has since arrived Nigeria.

He said after undergoing clearance at customs, it will be installed in Delta State; while another set, which is expected to arrive the country in April this year, would be installed in Rivers State.

He explained it was one of the highlights of the meeting of the Niger Delta Inter-Ministerial Committee called to assess progress on the implementation of the Buhari administrations New Vision for Niger Delta.

He said the meeting also received reports of ongoing development projects being implemented in the region.

The operation of the modular refineries would include the involvement of communities where they are located.

Prof. Osinbajo said this would ensure that communities benefit directly from the refineries which would help create jobs and engage youths in the region.

It will be recalled that in December last year, the Inter-Ministerial Committee received a report that 38 licensed privately financed greenfield and mini-modular refineries investors have so far indicated interests in the establishment of refineries in the region, with at least ten (10) of the licensed refineries investors at an advanced stage of development.

In the same vein, the NDDC reported at the meeting its progress in the implementation of its projects in the region. In 2017, a total of 372 projects covering roads, bridges, electricity, water, amongst others, were completed by the commission.

The development projects include the 25.7 km Nembe-Ogbia road, which would be commissioned soon; the construction of Otueke Internal roads in Ogbia LGA, Bayelsa State; Kira Dere Mogho road and Bridge in Gokana LGA, Rivers State.

It was also disclosed at the meeting that the Nigerian Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State, was set to commence the admission of students into the university for the 2017/2018 academic year, and start lectures next month.

A total of 196 students have so far been accepted into the University to commence their academic programmes, while 76 applications still pending. Lectures are expected to fully commence later in April.

President Muhammadu Buhari had approved an increase in the take-off grant allocated to the University from the N2bn earlier announced to N5bn. This sum was included in the 2018 budget presented to the National Assembly in November 2017.

Similarly, an additional N1B was approved by the President to support essential infrastructure works and staff recruitment in the University in November 2017.

The Delta State government has also donated two 500KVA generators to the University.

The Maritime University was recently granted approval in January by the National Universities Commission (NUC) to commence undergraduate degree programmes effective from the 2017/2018 academic session.

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) had listed the University in its Central Admissions Processing System in January 24, 2018, while interviews for academic staff positions were conducted between 1st and 2nd of March, 2018.

The NUC had approved that academic activities commence in three faculties namely; Transport, Engineering and Environmental Management, with a combined total of 13 departments with various specializations  from Marine Engineering, Marine Economics to Climate Change, Fisheries and Aquaculture.

It will be recalled that, following the commencement of operations in 2017, the university had, in November 2017, invited job applications for academic staff with advert placement in major national dailies.

It also includes the construction of Iselu-Okaigben-Idung-Boko-Onicha Ugbo road, in Edo State; the Orie Ukwu Amaoji market road, Isiala Ngwa North LGA, Abia State and the Ashikem-Ufono-Betwaswan road in Obudu, Cross River State.

The Commission is also working with all related parties, including AMCON, to ensure the establishment of Amakpe modular refinery to be installed in Eket, Akwa Ibom State. The refinery has a capacity of producing 6,000 barrels per day.

The NDDC has also established Job Placement centres which is expected to engage about 208,000 youths in the Niger Delta. To help reduce unemployment and youth restiveness in the region, the NDDC centre would match existing vacancies with available skills within the region.

On the progress of Ogoni clean-up, the Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) under the Ministry of Environment, is set to commence the procurement process for contracting experts for the remediation and clean-up of impacted sites. This process is open to competent national and international companies involved in environment, water and livelihood projects.

In the same vein, the final draft of the Strategic Implementation Work Plan (SIWP), which provides a framework for the development of the Niger Delta, was also submitted to the committee.

In attendance at the meeting were the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Uguru Usani; Minister of State for Environment, Ibrahim Jubril; the Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Mr. Nsima Ekere; the Director-General of Nigeria Maritime Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside; and the Special Adviser to the President on the Presidential Amnesty Programme, Brig-General Paul Boroh (rtd).

Others at the meeting include the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Adamu A. Rasheed; the Vice Chancellor of the Maritime University, Prof. Mrs. Ongoebi Etebu; and representatives of other relevant MDAs.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Ogun 2019: Why the Amosun effect will not be constrained  Opeyemi

By Emmanuel Aziken

Special Assistant on Media to the Governor of Ogun State, Soyombo Opeyemi, speaks on developments in the state and 2019 elections

Opeyemi

The nation appears again to be gripped by 2019 election fever, bringing governance practically to a standstill in most parts of the country. How do we ensure elected public officials deliver dividends of democracy to the people till the expiration of their tenure?

I agree 2019 is around the corner and there are lawful political activities here and there, not campaigns. But in my own state, governance has not come to a halt. As a matter of fact, the tempo of services to the people of Ogun State continues to increase by the day. Just recently, you read about the rice revolution in the state. Rice, of course, is a major staple in the country. I do not know of a house where rice is not consumed almost on a daily basis. If you dont eat, your children will eat. It doesnt make sense for us to continue to spend two billion dollars yearly on rice importation, thereby developing the economies of other countries. That is why the Amosun administration keyed into the Anchor Borrowers Programme of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to scale up rice production in the state. The governor believes in partnership with out-grower farmers, not political farmers. Government serves as off-takers. You remember the Commodity Boards of those days. Gradually, we are bringing back the good old days in the sector. We should plant, process and package what we consume. Our Mitros Rice is more nutritious than the imported ones and cheaper. The popular Ofada rice is now stone-free courtesy of the rice mills installed by the state government. This is a product of vision and has nothing to do with 2019.

At the last count, Amosun has inaugurated over 125 multi-billion naira companies in Ogun State. The frequency of this inauguration has not waned despite 2019. This is as a result of the enabling environment provided by this government. If your company is not in Ogun State, it is probably not in Nigeria.

Talking about the Mitros Rice, the opposition alleged in a recent advert that your government was involved in rice padding, adding some bags of sand to make a rice pyramid. How do you react to that?

And you believe that?

But the information is right there in the public domain.

By who?

The Ogun State chapter of Labour Party made the allegation.

Does Labour Party exist in Ogun State? Where are their members? A party that could not win a councillorship position, that could not even field candidates in most of the elections, you call that a party? We all knew it was disgruntled politicians at work, the merchants of Pull Him Down. Otherwise, how can anyone in his senses accuse a government of packaging bags of sand as rice? No focused government will be distracted by such inane falsehood. And thats why no government official dignified such a foolery with a response.

Does Governor Amosun believe in restructuring?

Of course, he does. He believes in restructuring that will make Nigeria more united. He said that much recently. Even before the term gathered much traction recently, he had always talked about state police and fiscal federalism. A situation where Ogun State that is currently Number 2 in terms of non-oil contribution to the Federation Account is ranked a distant 26 out of 36 states in terms of revenue allocation from the same central purse is clearly not acceptable. The governor had spent humongous amount on federal roads, it will be good if these roads revert to states and the Revenue Allocation Formula is altered in favour of states.

Ogun APC is said to be in crisis due to the alleged plan by Amosun to shut out some candidates?

The line here is thin. This should be a matter for the party. But I do not see any crisis anywhere. Can you see any yourself? No one has been shut out of any elective race. And no candidate has even complained of being shut out. So this observation is quite strange. The party has thrown its doors wide open for all contestants from the state. Once you are a bonafide indigene of Ogun State, you are free to contest in any election. Democracy is a game of numbers.

The governor is alleged to be planning to install his Chief of Staff, Tolu Odebiyi, as his successor at all cost?

I dont know what you mean by at all costs. Amosun has always won transparent elections. 2019 will not be different for the party. But the governor has the constitutional right to promote the candidacy of anyone. It is his inalienable right, you know. If you are from Ogun State and you are interested in contesting any election, and Amosun feels you have what it takes to deliver, why will he not support you? If the cap fits the Chief of Staff, why should Amosun not support him?

Do you think Tolu Odebiyi has what it takes to lead Ogun State?

He does. He is very competent to govern this state. Apart from his personal qualities that eminently qualify him to build on the very strong foundation laid by Governor Amosun, he has a rich political heritage, which clearly sets him apart. He will be a good helmsman.

Do you think the All Progressives Congress can win the governorship contest in 2019?

The APC remains the party to beat. The party remains intact in Ogun State. Unlike the opposition PDP, theres no crisis in the APC. The Labour Party exists on the pages of newspapers while the PDP is torn apart. Above all, the sterling performance of the current Amosun-led government will result in overwhelming victory for the APC in 2019.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Benue killings: Youths, women will become Boko Haram in 15 years to come if

BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI and Ndahi Morama, Maiduguri

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the killings in Benue State go beyond what Nigerians see on the surface, stressing that there was the need to get to the bottom of the bloodbath in the state.

OBJand governor Ortom of Benue

Obasanjo, who spoke, yesterday, at Genabe village on the outskirts of Makurdi town where he visited the graveside and laid a wreath at the tomb of the 73 persons massacred by suspected herdsmen on New Years Day in Logo and Guma local government areas of the state, noted that Nigerian leaders carry the burden of leaving no stone unturned to get to the root cause of the killings and put a stop to it.

It is sad, it is sad beyond description and that is why I have taken it upon myself, having been to Maiduguri where we held a meeting of the Zero Hunger Forum, where if circumstances had been normal here in Benue, the governor would have been with us, because the first meeting was held here in Benue, he said.

I felt I should come from Maiduguri to pay a condolence visit and share the sadness of Benue people with them. And I felt coming to this graveside and laying a wreath will express sufficiently my sorrow and my sympathy and empathy with the families, the governor and all the people of the state and indeed all Nigerians without any exception because a loss of a Nigerian life anywhere is a loss to all of us.

And the situation that has been described is that since the death of the 73 that were buried here, there had been more than 80 others killed in different parts of Benue; it is even more shocking to me to hear and I believe it will be more shocking to many Nigerians who will be hearing that, as has been put across.

There is no doubt that we havent got it right. We havent got it right because whatever is behind this, normally, in any civilized society we must get to the root of it.

And until we get to the root of this, we will be burying victims. We will be assuming what is not assumable, because we must know why is this happening and why we must put an end to it. And somebody must accept the responsibility to put an end to this. Or if it has to be a collective responsibility, then so be it. But there must be an end to it.

I do hope that there would be an end to this. Governor, please accept my condolence and do not give up trying to work with men and women that have the interest of this state and the interest of Nigeria at heart to find a permanent solution.

This to me goes beyond what is on the surface. And we need to find out what is at the bottom of it. And that is the responsibility of leaders and, of course, they must leave no stone unturned to find what the root cause of this and put a stop to it.

Earlier, yesterday, the former President was in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, where he said the lingering Boko Haram crisis ravaging some parts of North-East had an incubating period.

He said unless the level of education in the North-East matched what is obtainable in the South-West, to inculcate the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram, women, children and youths will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come.

Obasanjo spoke at the end of 2- Day Third Meeting Of Nigeria Zero Hunger Forum (NZHF) which took place at the Multi- Purpose Hall, Government House, Maiduguri.

Obasanjo, who was Chairman of the occasion, said, Boko Haram did not start overnight. It had an incubating period, but I do not know how long,

And although I do not know how long it took to incubate, I am sure if the level of education in the North-East matched the level of education in the South-West, there wouldnt have been Boko Haram.

If we do not cater for and educate women, children and youths, they will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come.

Education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram.

He however commended Governor Kashim Shettima for his foresight by investing heavily in the education and agricultural sectors, which, he said, had started yielding positive results for the people of the state, especially the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

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Loading...Home | News | General | Tears of joy as Obianos wife re-unites woman with family 35 years after being presumed dead

By Vincent Ujumadu

TEARS of joy flowed freely at the Home for the Mentally Challenged located at Nteje in Oyi local government area of Anambra State when the First Lady of the state, Mrs. Ebelechukwu Obiano reunited a 72-year-old woman, Mrs. Rose Anene, presumed dead 35 years ago, with her family.

Mrs. Anene, who hails from Umudioka Village in Awka, reportedly, left her home in 1983 following an alleged spell that resulted in depression and mental challenge. At the time she disappeared, the woman left behind five young children, all of whom are now grown ups.

Mrs Obiano

In 2004, however, she was picked up from Lagos and subsequently brought home and admitted at the Nteje mental facility established by the Caring Family Enhancement Initiative (CAFE), a non-governmental organization, NGO, founded by Mrs. Obiano and managed in collaboration with the state Ministry of Social Welfare, Children and Women Affairs. The state Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Dr Victoria Chikwelu, said Mrs. Obiano took special interest in the woman, adding that it was only four days ago that the First Lady ordered that Anene be reunited with her family in Awka, having been certified fit.

Upon Mrs. Anenes miraculous revelation that she hailed from Awka, we had to traverse the length and breadth of Awka before we could link her up with her children at Umudioka, Awka, Chikwelu said.

Initially, Mrs. Anene was identified as Yoruba in the home because she spoke only Yoruba, until her recovery when started speaking Igbo. The recovery and remembrance of her husbands village in Awka was astonishing and she later led officials of the mental home to meet her family members.

First son of Mrs. Anene, Mr. Chukwudi Anene, 41,who was six years old when his mother left home, thanked God that he is alive with his siblings to see their mother back home, regretting, however, that their father was no long alive to witness the miracle.

He revealed that previous efforts to trace their mother when they grew up proved abortive, and thanked Mrs. Obiano for wiping their tears by treating and reuniting them with their mother and prayed that God would continue to bless her.

Mrs. Anenes first daughter, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Uzozie, went down memory lane on their ugly experiences growing up without their mother and promised that they would take good care of her to ensure she enjoyed her remaining years on earth.

The Transition Committee Chairman of Awka South Local Government, Mr. Leo Nwubah, promised to ensure that Mrs Anene was totally reintegrated into the society and protected from stigmatization.

After a formal handover of Mrs. Anene to her family, Mrs. Obiano presented a sewing machine, some clothes and an unspecified amount of money to enable her start a tailoring business in her home.

Mrs. Anene was among 12 inmates made up of eight women and four men, discharged at the same time, with Mrs. Obiano expressing delight that the Nteje Home for the Mentally Challenged was fast realizing its objective with the recovery and discharge of many inmates.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Diarrhoea accounts for 88% of deaths worldwide  UNICEF

By Vincent Ujumadu, Awka

THE United Nations Childrens Fund, UNICEF, has attributed 88 percent of deaths worldwide to diarrhoeal illness occasioned by unsafe water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene.

Speaking during the presentation of three hilux vans and two motor bikes to the Anambra State government in Awka to facilitate water and hygiene programmes in the state, the UNICEF chief of water sanitation and hygiene programme in Nigeria, Mr. Zaid Jurji also described diarrhea as the second killer disease among children under five years despite being easily preventable.

Unicef

According to him, $1 investment in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, programme could yield an average return of more than $25 in good health, productivity, learning, among others, adding that with political will and determination, Nigeria could achieve it because of its cost effective nature.

The UNICEF chief said: Increasing access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene should be a priority for the country. First, it is a human right. Second, improved services have a positive impact on health, attendance of children in schools, work and economic productivity of individuals. It calls for a collective effort by the duty bearers (the authority) and the rights holders (the people).

The first step is for the authorities at federal and state levels to fully recognize the importance of an immediate action on this matter. Extending improved water and sanitation services should become a national priority.

Based on World Bank estimates, Nigeria needs to invest at least three times more than what is does today to achieve WASH Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, by 2030.

This is estimated at 1.7% of the countrys Gross Domestic Product, GDP, which translates to an investment of $US 8Billion every year until the year 2030 for Nigeria to meets the SDGs.

There is, therefore the need for leaders to speak to their people and promote the importance of improved and safe WASH services and their impact on health and wellbeing in general.

He said that a study by the World Bank showed that 30% of water points and water schemes fail within their first year of operation and expressed the commitment of UNICEF to work closely with the Anambra State government to make universal access to WASH a reality in the state.

Jurji further explained that UNICEF has been active in Anambra since 2012 through the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform II Programme (WSSSRP II) funded by the European Union, working closely with Anambra State Rural Water and Sanitation, RUWASSA, to provide improved access to WASH services in the four local government areas of the state where UNICEF was intervening and urged the state government to sustain the collaboration with the world body.

Receiving the vehicles, Governor Obiano commended UNICEF for the donation, adding that the vehicles would assist greatly in the activities of water, sanitation and hygiene programmes in the state.

He, however, called for proper monitoring of the use of the vehicles to ensure their judicious use.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Female Traditional Ruler: At a point during my coronation I became a man  Obi Martha Dunkwu, Omu Anioma

By Jimitota Onoyume, Asaba

Obi Martha Dunkwu, Omu Anioma is a notable female chief in Delta State. In this interview, she speaks on how she oversees the affairs of her community. She spoke on the side lines of Peaceworks, a Niger Delta dialogue facilitated by Dr Judith Asuni of Academic Associates.

Omu Anioma

Were there battles you fought to ascend the throne?

There were no battles. Our forefathers set up the Omu traditional institution over 700 years ago. In Aniomaland, from Asaba to Agbor, among others, the forefathers designed that every community must have a traditional ruler but in Omu, we have a traditional ruler who is a man and another who is a woman. However, the male traditional ruler is superior in communities where there is also a female traditional ruler because man comes first, and, when you are crowned as in my case in Omu, you must come to the palace to reign; you must leave your marital home. At the point of coronation, you are bestowed male rights; that is why you can break the kolanut, you become a man and a woman put together. I tried to find out why. Research shows that God created man and woman, but it is the woman that is better positioned to understand woman. That is why the Omu means Eze Nwanye, female king in charge of women, female youths, markets, ancestral shrines, businesses. More importantly, she is the spiritual custodian, the one who advises the male traditional ruler and the town spiritually. That is why they felt this woman should not be married so she can be in a state of chastity. The woman is also seen as the mother of all in the town. If you are living with a man and he slaps you, it is believed to be a slap on the town. But as Omu, you can marry out children who will bear children for you. Female chiefs of Omu are patterned in a way that they are different from male chiefs. There is no contest. You dont aspire to it. It is God who reveals who will become the traditional ruler for women. In some Anioma communities, it is hereditary; in others, it is rotational.

What is the experience like? How do you operate in an environment in which many believe royalty exclusively belongs to men?

Because I am a media practitioner, I have brought visibility to the Omu throne. Definitely, men will not feel at ease. And of course some traditional rulers will not feel at ease but it is not a modern creation; it has been there for ages and there is nothing they can do about it. Our forefathers wanted the woman to play her role and the man to also play his role to move the community forward. I am a member of the Omu traditional rulers council to speak for women. And in case there is trouble, it is easy for you to come in. I have my own palace and chiefs. In my area, you find men who are not comfortable with my status but I did not choose myself; it is spiritual. I just want the hand of God to continue to be on my head. I dont want anybody to like me. I just do the right thing, do what the ancestors want me to do.

Are you a Christian?

I am a traditionalist. I worship God through the ancestors. Every religion worships God, the only difference is how you go to God. I took one course in comparative religion in the United States out of interest.

You are from a region where women suffer deprivation in terms of widowhood. How have been involved in redressing this challenge?

In my community we have abolished harmful burial rites. We have sensitized our men because if the rites continue, their daughters will also experience them. We have also sensitized the women because they implement these rites. We have also reduced the mournful period. Where you had one month, we have reduced it to two weeks; three months to one month and so on and so forth. In my place, a man shaves his head for the deceased wife and the wife shaves her head for the deceased husband. Before now, when a man dies, the wife wears black clothes for one year and I asked the men and women why? They could not give any strong reason and we have dropped the practice. People are now focused on training their children.

There is also a problem of inheritance for the girl-child in some communities in the Niger Delta. It is so bad for married women in the communities that they cant build houses in their names for fear of their husbands and the culture. In the west, they are more advanced.

The Yoruba woman inherits from the father. The northern woman too doesnt suffer this. It is worse in the east where women cannot inherit anything. But in Okpanam where I am from, many women can now give their daughters properties. The man in the Niger Delta should realise that he is undoing himself by not allowing his wife to actualize her potentials. When a man sees it as competition, this is where the problem comes. Men should allow women to invest for the sake of their children. The man is undoing himself when he creates the circumstances that make the wife to use the name of her brothers to build and when she passes on the property goes to the brothers who do not pass it on to her children.

Your stool, did it originate from Benin Kingdom?

History says we came from Benin, Igara, some parts of the East. The word Omu is palm front. A research by a professor from Igbuzor concluded that yam is male and palm tree female. Palm front connotes fertility; that is why the stool is Omu.

Word for Niger Delta women.

They should continue to be good wives. Do that which God wants you to do

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Loading...Home | News | General | Ekiti College of Tech to ease unemployment through entrepreneurship

Provost, Foluke Ajibulu, bags doctorate degree

By Rotimi Ojomoyela

A plastic surgeon, Professor Joseph Oluwasanmi, has advised tertiary institutions on the need to develop entrepreneurship studies in order to address the nations unemployment problem.

Founder of the College, Chief. Boboye Olanipekun; the Provost ,Dr. Mrs Folu Ajibulu , JP, flanked by the Heads of Department.

Oluwasanmi spoke at the matriculation ceremony of Fabotas College of Health Sciences and Technology, Ado Ekiti.

The Chairman of the occasion, while congratulating the founder of Fabotas Technology, Chief Olanipekun Boboye for establishing the institution, said the establishment was a reflection of dedication of service.

Oluwasanmi, the first professor of plastic surgery in Africa who served as health commissioner in Ekiti State between 1999-2003 during the regime of Governor Niyi Adebayo, said, This institution is not for employment seekers but employers of labour.

At the 7th matriculation ceremony of the institution, which was established in 2011, no fewer than 240 students were matriculated.

Also speaking at the occasion, Ekiti State Commissioner for Education, Mr Jide Egunjobi, said entrepreneurship must be developed in Nigeria. Egunjobi asked the people of Ekiti to key into the continuity agenda of Gov Ayo Fayose for more development to take place in the state. The Provost of Fabotas, Mrs Foluke Ajibulu, said the college had been encouraged for its focus on entrepreneurship and capacity development. The founder of the school, Olanipekun, said all the courses offered by the college had been accredited. He therefore urged stakeholders to assist the college on enrolment mobilization.

The Provost, Ajibulu, at the ceremony, was conferred with an award of Honorary Doctorate Degree by Cornerstone University of Theology.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Billionaires in Nigeria not generous on global health

Ahead of the release of Bill and Melinda Gates Annual Letter on February 13, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Gates Foundation, briefed a group of journalists from different African countries on the highpoints of the Annual Letter and a number of issues around health and development. The letter centred on The 10 Toughest Ques tions We (Foundation) Get over the years from non-profit partners, government leaders, supporters and critics. Bill sees a world thats getting better, saying the number of children who die every year has been cut in half since 1990 while extreme poverty declined by nearly half.

Chioma Obinna participated in the telephone conference.

Excerpts:

Bill Gate

Where do you feel your greatest achievement is: Microsoft or philanthropy?

I think a lot of people would point to the Foundation, because, along with our partners, by getting out new vaccines and working with primary health care systems, we have gone from having over ten million children die under the age of five back in the year 2000 to now where its under five million. So thats been pretty amazing progress. Also, although polio is not done, if were successful in getting rid of the last cases this year, that is something the whole world would celebrate. I personally find it hard to compare because I think software and the Internet are doing great things, and certainly, in my 20s and 30s, thats what I was good at doing. And learning how to work with scientists and building teams, the skill and money were absolutely necessary for me to have the opportunity to be doing the Gates Foundation work. So Im very lucky that Ive had these two careers that are both fun every day and have had a positive impact. It was 10 years ago that I left my full time work at Microsoft and went to the Foundation. So that has been full time work for 10 years. Of course the Foundation started in a big way in 2000. And we have grown quite a bit in the past 10 years. The resources in the Foundation come from two sources: The success I had at Microsoft and the success Warren Buffett had at Berkshire Hathaway. So he and my wife Melinda and I are the three trustees. And he (Buffet) recommended that I write an Annual Letter talking about what had gone well what had gone poorly and what people should expect from the Foundation in the years ahead. And Warren has always encouraged us to be very bold in the things we do pick, things that even though might not succeed, that if they do succeed they would have high impact. Most of you probably know that the two big causes we work on are global health and education. Around global health, as we have expanded over the past 10 years, we have been able to add a lot of work in agriculture financial services and sanitation as well. We are very active in Africa. If you had to categorize our spending, a lot of it is up in research, working on HIV vaccine, TB vaccine, malaria vaccine and all the new tools for the diseases that disproportionately affect Africa in particular. The second category is the actual delivery effort, working with countries to strengthen their primary healthcare systems or the systems they use to support their farmers. And so the work has been very exciting and a lot of good progress has been recorded in areas like the under- five survival rate going up, malaria deaths going down quite. There is a lot still to be done to understand things like death in the first 30 days. So we are doing a lot gathering information from families who give us permission to look at those deaths and understand how we can bring them down because they have not come down as much as others. And understanding things like nutrition, many of the kids who survive don t fully develop mentally and physically and the science of that has not been totally understood. So a lot of the work now is giving us insight so that hopefully we can substantially reduce malnutrition. We picked ten questions this year that cover quite a range of things and I am glad to elaborate on any of those or answer any other questions you have.

Your Foundation has invested so much in developing countries especially in the area of health and development. Have the results met your expectations; if not, what are the gaps?

There are two types of gaps in health. One is that we are missing tools that would make a huge difference. And so we need to fund research. In the case of HIV we dont have a vaccine. We are spending literally hundreds of millions of dollars with many different approaches to try and invent that vaccine. Our Foundation and the U.S. government are the two big funders there. And so tools like that or a malaria vaccine and TB vaccine, there is a big gap because we wont be able to bring those diseases down until we have the new tools. Then there are gaps in terms of financing existing tools. And thats why we created, in the case of vaccines, GAVI, the Global Alliance of Vaccines, that buys vaccines at the lowest price and then uses donor money to finance most of the cost. We do ask the recipient countries to pay a small amount. And then if a countrys economy grows enough eventually, they graduate from that. In most areas, the main limiting factor is the quality of the delivery system. That is, getting things out into the rural areas and having the trained staff there. And the key is not so much the hospital systems for that as it is the primary healthcare system. And so we do a lot of work to help countries improve their primary healthcare system and the practices within it. Thats turned out to be super important. We are doing that not only in Nigeria but also intensely in places like Ethiopia.

What would you say to convince billionaires in Nigeria to consider the commonwealth in their country instead of pursuing big (inaudible) [naira] and stashing it offshore? What did it take you to give up a significant portion of your wealth to help people in need?

The person we work with the most is Mr. Dangote and I am always amazed how generous he has been both with his resources and his time. Just this week, he and I spent six hours on video conferences with six of the northern states where we twice a year, check in with them and look at their primary healthcare quality in terms of the staff, the location, the supply chain and the results they are getting in terms of vaccination and other interventions. And so, in the entire world, Mr. Dangote has been a very key partner. And the big challenge of improving the primary healthcare, particularly in the North, I know we would not have a chance of doing that without him. I have had a chance to meet with other Nigerians but, in fact, he is the only one who I am personally aware of his significant activities that is working in this key sector. There may be other people working in sectors like education or other environments that we dont work in. Whenever I travel, I try to sit down with successful people and encourage them that philanthropy can be a great thing. I was looking over the Nigeria purported list of wealthy people and it was interesting that a number of those seem to be based in London. But I am always interested in suggestions about how we draw more people in. We need lots and lots of partners, particularly if they understand the local issues and how the government works locally. They have credibility and understanding that we dont have. And so we would love to have more partnerships like we have with Mr. Dangote.

With your large presence in Africa, are you collaborating with any 100 per cent Africa-owned companies, innovative start-ups or actors in the private sector to create efficient solutions in healthcare and other areas that you are working in?

There certainly are. The companies we work with have a presence in Africa and there are certainly smaller organizations, profit and non-profit like eHealth in Nigeria, or some of the scientific companies in South Africa. One of the two philanthropists that we work with is Patrice Motsepe in South Africa. Aliko Dangote who has been an incredible partner in Nigeria works with us on things like nutrition and the primary healthcare sector. We have an investment with the World Bank where we gave them $100 million and they created a fund to invest in African healthcare. And we have another fund with Abraaj which is a health fund that we put $100 million in to invest in healthcare assets. In the case of healthcare, it varies from country to country but, at the hospital level, many of the countries that will be for profit type entities and certainly all the supply chain things are going into hospitals. For things like delivering to primary healthcare, we always encourage countries to use the private sector to do that. But in some cases they feel like that should be done by government employees. So the health sector will have a lot of private participants in it. And we are super supportive of that for the hospital services.

We head for the AIDS Conference in Amsterdam in July. I would like you to shed more light on what the Foundation is doing with regard to NCC and kids born by mothers with HIV?

HIV is one of the biggest programs at the Foundation. The other two that are very large are malaria and polio. And so we are supporting a wide range of activities to reduce the AIDS epidemic including the mother to child transmission. On advocacy, we are the biggest funder of a thing called One; for bringing in the private sector, we are the biggest funder of a thing called Red. We are by far the biggest supporter of the Global Fund, the non-governmental supporter of the Global Fund and working very closely with Global Fund on their programmes. There are specific groups that are working on the mother to child that we have funded over time and those numbers have been brought down. It is unfortunate that in a lot of countries it is still not down to zero because if you get the woman and you give the full regimen, which is the full ARV regimen, not just the single drug approach that was used for a long time, the chance of transmission is greatly reduced at the time of delivery. And then there are other tools to try and avoid transmission through breastfeeding. I havent looked at how much the numbers have come down this year but I know it is harder to get that down to zero than we expected and Global Fund has that as one of its top priorities because it is in some ways even worse than all the other forms of transmission.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Hosting of Ibori will boost PDPs fortunes in 2019Okoh

The immediate past Vice Chairman of Ughelli South Local Government Area in Delta State, Dr. Olorogun Eunice Daji Okoh, has asserted that the hosting of former Delta State governor, Chief James Onanefe Ibori by Olomu Urhobo Political Class at Ovwor-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area yesterday will boost the fortunes of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, both at the state and federal levels in the 2019 general elections.

Ibori

The political amazon , a member of the prestigious Urhobo Peoples Integrity Organization, who made the assertion in a media chat with newsmen noted that the hosting is an honour to  a very key and influential personality(Chief Ibori) of our great party both at the state and national levels. Hence this event attracted the who-is-who in the party, including the national chairman of PDP, Prince Uche Secondus.

Okoh who recalled that Chief Ibori played a very great role in the emergence of the late Alhaji Musa YarAdua as the president of the country expressed optimism that Chief Ibori will turn the fortunes of PDP at the national level in 2019 general elections, as she noted further that the epoch making event was a clear indication that her party is stronger and united now.

According to her, Delta State is a core PDP state, so there should be no doubt as to whether we will win the 2019 general elections or not, more so with the laudable achievements of our hard working governor, Dr. Arthur Ifeanyi Okowa.

She, however, urged Deltans to continue to pray for and support him to continue to do more good things for the state.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Igbo have no confidence going to Abuja because nothing is done on merit  Iwuanyawu

 On 2019: Sycophants, for selfish interest, want Buhari to run at all costs

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and an Igbo leader, in this interview, situates the PDP and the Igbo people within the politics of 2019.

Iwuanyanwu

What do you think about the defection of Professor Jerry Gana, among others, from the PDP?

Profs. Jerry Gana and Tunde Adeniran are highly respected people in the party. They didnt tell me they were going away. If they had told me, I would have probably offered advice. In all the parties today, you will notice that there is general disaffection, even in APC. My belief is that before you join a political party, you must know the philosophy and strive at all times to protect it. This idea of people jumping from one party to the other, I dont think it shows proper democratic conduct because, if democracy must be preserved, even if you have not got what you want in a party, you have to stay and fight within that party to ensure that things are alright; but you know that is not common in Nigeria today. What it means is that most political parties in Nigeria are not ideologically driven. To be honest, when you talk of APC and I talk of PDP, they are the same people. APC says PDP was corrupt but the truth is that virtually all the leaders of APC today came from PDP and some of them are even returning to PDP. There is that forward and backward movement in todays politics in Nigeria which I think is not very good. I think people should not keep changing parties. It is even worse for people who are elected. For example, somebody is elected to be a governor on the platform of a party, he moves to another party. Why are you changing? Didnt you know that there is a programme of your party before you joined? There are people at the National Assembly who are elected on the platform of a party, they leave; why when the electorate voted for you because you were in a particular party, because you had a manifesto, you had a programme of that party and that is why they voted for you? I think these are some of the things we have to rectify in the future otherwise our politics will continue to be chaotic and confused.

The defectors are said to be planning to work with the Obasanjo coalition. What does that portend for the PDP?

I can tell you that PDP is stronger today than ever before. PDP is the strongest party today; we have scaled all the hurdles, we have removed all the elements that made it to have crisis. Some of them were dealt with at the national convention, congresses in the ward, local governments and states. I am not aware that the APC has had national convention up till now. When you test the stability of a party is after a convention. PDP has fulfilled that constitutional requirement but these other parties have not. I have seen some of them say that they are extending the life of the executive; it is unconstitutional because the constitution of a party says elections should be held after certain number of years. I am sure some of those decisions will be challenged in court.

Obasanjos advice to Buhari on 2019 too late

Obasanjo made some points obviously but I dont agree with all of them. For example, telling the President not to contest (2019), I dont think anybody has any right to tell any Nigerian not to contest election. Buhari has the right to contest election. He is a Nigerian citizen. There is no age limit. In some countries I have seen a 93-year-old contesting for election and Buhari is only 73 years old. There is also something I feel very sad about: sycophants. Buhari should beware of sycophants asking him to run again. Some people say the only person who can rule Nigeria is Buhari, they say they are calling on him to contest, that if he doesnt contest, there will be no Nigeria. I have heard somebody say that if Buhari doesnt contest, they will go to court to get an injunction to make him run; these are cronies. I advise him not to listen to them. Buhari is a friend and I appreciate his efforts especially in fighting corruption. I know his effort during his first time when he fought indiscipline, but there is no doubt about it that things are hard. Anybody who goes to tell him that things are normal is deceiving him.

Solution to fuel crisis

I find it very hard to know why Naira, which was 160 to a dollar, within a short time, fell to nearly 400 before we started coming down to 350, and I heard that two windows were created; some people buy dollar at 200 while others buy at 350. And that is part of the reason we have problem. Fuel price is controlled by the value of Naira. The talk about hoarding and so on, I am sure there is hoarding but I think the main problem is that the price of fuel is dictated by the fluctuation in the foreign exchange rate. The solution is for Nigeria to refine the crude here.

Why Nigeria should not sell its raw material

I was the founding Chairman of Raw Materials Research Development Council and my goal at that time was that we should not export any material without value added. At that time we had 21 states and I said we should build 21 refineries in Nigeria. I had made arrangements with some foreign people who were prepared to participate but our private sector people were not strong enough to support the project. The Federal Government should invest now and sell later to the people; that would be the opportunity for them to participate in the economy. This idea of selling everything today creates only a few rich people because, if you start privatizing, how many people can afford it? At the end of the day, you create a few super rich while the middle class is wiped out. We did our best in the PDP to make sure the middle class was still there. Thats why we retained petrol subsidy. So what I think the government should do is to still subsidize the price of fuel with the excess money they are getting from crude. Well, I heard government say they will put the money in construction and so on. The excess money is quite a lot but part of it must be spent on subsidy so that everybody can afford fuel. And government must immediately take steps on a long term solution. I can tell you that Raw Materials Research Development Council can come up with refineries, the type we can manage. In Biafra, they designed refineries; if the President today gives an executive order to the Raw Materials Research Development Council that within 6 months they should design refineries, I am sure they will do it.

So you believe genuinely that Buhari can run in 2019

Buhari can run for election if he wants but he should not be deceived by these people; he has to make the decision himself, he has to look at his health. The way to do it is not for the cronies to tell us he is the only person who can rule because they are annoying Nigerians; Nigerians are offended when these people say everything is in order. Buhari is liked by the people obviously; if he makes up his mind to run, he should talk to Nigerians, and say when I came I promised this and that. In corruption I have done this, in security I have done this and that; it is unfortunate today that we have unemployment on a large scale, we have these problems most of our people are suffering, workers in this country today, the salary they are paid they cannot feed; if I return, this is what I am going to do, to restore the situation.

In 2015, he made promises. Do you think he has fulfilled those promises and, going by what is on ground, why would you want him to run again when former President Obasanjo has advised him that we need a younger person?

I am saying that no human being can tell another person to run or not to run. To run for an election is a personal decision. What annoys me is that some people say only Buhari can rule Nigeria. I dont think it is right; in fact, many Nigerians are annoyed about that. Only he, his family and his doctors, and not his cronies, know the condition of his health. He is there already, so he knows whether he can run for second term or not because it is clear to most of us that these people asking him to seek re-election want to ride on his popularity to power.

Is the National Assembly right to reorder election timetable?

The National Assembly has the right to make laws. I dont see anything wrong with it. And I want to commend the National Assembly because I have seen that they take bipartisan position on issues of national interest most of the time.

What kind of a candidate should the PDP produce to defeat the APC in the presidential election in 2019?

We dont know who is going to be our candidate but we have many candidates who can defeat APC and other parties. We have learnt from the experience of the past, we want a President who will be in firm control of his ministers so that we dont have a situation where some corruption was quite there. We want such a leader so that everybody is transparent. I can tell you that I havent seen any proven case of corruption against former President Jonathan for example as a person but people around him were corrupt. We want a leader who has political experience and not someone who is a learner because Nigeria is so complex.

The APC government said it had technically defeated Boko Haram but while we were still talking about the remaining Chibok girls still in captivity, you now have over one hundred others from Yobe kidnapped; how do you score the administration on security?

Government has done very well; before they came, the insurgents were expanding, they bombed Abuja. Now, government has been able to contain them to the North-East; so it is not fair for anybody to say this government has not done well. Having said this, a battle such as this cannot be easily won and government must find a new strategy to win the battle. We have been told that ransom was paid in exchange for some of the Chibok girls, even though the information is not confirmed, and that this is very attractive to terrorist. When they are broke they will look for soft targets; so what happened in Yobe is not different. The kidnapping in Chibok girls opened a new frontier of terrorism where people can now make money by kidnapping a whole school and girls become an attraction because they can marry them. When Boko Haram started, they were putting up their flags; they are people looking for secession. I still remember the statement made by former Libyan leader Gadaffi at a point, he said Nigeria should be split into two countries, North and South, and I believe that most of the arms used by Boko Haram are coming from that direction. So I believe that this is a long term plan made to convert northern Nigeria to an Islamic republic. But secession wars are not easy to win. And you cannot say it is a religious war because the people they are killing are Christians and Muslims. And government cannot fight this war without the cooperation of the people.

In 2015, Nigerians voted against Jonathan partly because of the kidnapped Chibok girls and that was just one year to the election in 2014. Now, the Yobe incident is happening also one year to another election; do you think this one will work against the sitting President should he decide to run again?

I am a leader in PDP and PDP is going to win; there is no doubt about it. I told you they are not organised; if there are free and fair elections, we are going to defeat them and Nigerians should be careful not to talk of using the police or INEC or so to derail the mandate of the people. Nigerians are primed to face any consequences, Nigerians have suffered a lot. So I think, frankly speaking, they (APC) have done their best but I think PDP will do better.

As an elder in the South-East, what advice do you give to the Igbo as they engage in the 2019 general elections?

We have suffered a lot in the present dispensation. Every Nigerian knows that South-East has been completely neglected. Can you imagine a people whose leaders helped to get independence for this country being so treated? At every stage in the history of Nigeria, the Igbo have played a major role. But if you look at the structure of government today, it is clear that we are not quite involved; it is true somebody will say that every state should have a minister; Igbo are no fools not to know. But we have seen the whole ministerial positions given, the Igbo are sensible enough. And, above all, in the Security Council, no single Igbo man is there and they claim the Igbo didnt vote for the government; yes, the Igbo didnt vote for the government but if they are well treated, they have nothing against Buhari or anybody. Buhari is a friend to many Igbo like me. I like him and I have always talked good of him. But the truth is that Igbo feel very sad because if you look at every appointment, it is not that we dont have people; we have people who can be taken and, because of this now, Igbo dont have confidence; they cannot come to Abuja with confidence because they believe that they dont have anybody. When you come to Abuja today, nothing is done on merit. If they say there is recruitment, if nobody recommends you, if you dont have a big man talking for you, you cannot get the job.

Where do you stand on restructuring?

In those days when we left school, you didnt need anybody to talk for you, anybody to recommend you. If there was vacancy, you go there and, if you are qualified, they take you; that is the type of government where Igbo can survive and that is why we are looking for restructuring very badly.

Even this Boko Haram challenge, if you restructure, it may even help to solve it because you will find that natives will have more work to do than soldiers. The idea of flooding everywhere with the military, natives can do the job.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Ambode deserves second term  Alaba Igbo Traders

Lagosians have been enjoined to support the re-election of Governor Akinwumi Ambode.

Making the appeal in Lagos, the Chairman, Alaba Igbo Traders Association, Chief Valentine Obasi, described Ambode as a progressive who has transformed Lagos State beyond expectations.

Akinwunmi Ambode

According to Obasi, the governors performance has surpassed the expectations of many Nigerians.

When Ambode assumed office, there was this initial fear about whether he would be able to step into the shoes of his predecessor considering the enviable record of the predecessor, but, against all expectations, Ambode took the challenge and, today, Lagos is a success story under him. That is why he has been winning awards. We should all support Ambode for second term so that he can transform Lagos into Dubai of Africa, the union leader stated.

He vowed to mobilize Igbo traders in Alaba and other parts of Lagos to vote for Ambode for second term, saying the support for the governor by members of his association was in recognition of his excellent performance.

Look at the massive construction of roads. Today when you get to the Lagos toll-gate especially at night, you think you are in London or Paris. Look at the transformation going on in Osodi, Epe and other places. Nobody should deny him his dues, Obasi said.

The market leader appealed to the governor to provide a security post in Alaba market in order to protect traders from harassment by hoodlums and touts.

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Loading...By Obi Nwakanma

President Muhammadu Buhari provoked guffaws in many quarters when he said last week in Accra at the 61st Independence celebration of the Republic of Ghana where he was an honored guest that he would help Ghana fight corruption. Many saw the irony in the situation. First, Nigeria under Buhari is in no position to teach anyone, least of all the Republic of Ghana, how to curb corruption, or how to organize an effective response of government in the civilized process of public governance that should curb or limit corruption.

In the first place, Ghanas presidency is a democratic presidency. But the office of the Nigerian president is designed to be a tin-god presidency. It is the very source of national corruption. It is not even President Buharis fault. It is just the way it is meant to be: the office of the president of Nigeria was designed constitutionally to be corrupt. It only requires its individual occupant, often typically socialized within the Nigerian national ethos, which is in its very sense corrupt, to attain and perform extreme levels of corruption that should normally startle any other society, but which we in Nigeria take for granted.

Secondly, President Buhari certainly has very little of the mental sophistication of the Ghanaian president, Dr. Nana Akufo-Ado, who personally reminds me of Aesop, as described in the legends. He is certainly not much to look at, but his mind bristles with genius and learning. Where Nana Akufo-Ado could understand systems, and comprehend the process required in creating systems, as result of his very high intellectual exposure, President Buhari might, from both his regimental training and his academic limitations dismiss serious analysis as too much turenchi, and move on to quick solutions, or what he might consider quick and practical solutions that often narrows down the edges of a problem, rather than its soul. It is a matter of orientation.

The Ghanaians are beating Nigerians to it. They are electing well-grounded and articulate public servants to steer them through the miasma of post-imperial catastrophe. Ghana began well with Nkrumah, and then fell off to the deep end with its relay of crises, following the years of military dictators after the overthrow of Nkrumah. After the early blight of its republic which saw the dispersal of Ghanaians all over the world, Ghana was forced radically to a new path by Jerry Rawlings. While Ghana was busy rebuilding, Nigeria was heading to its own path of self-destruction.

Although Ghana like Nigeria is a multi-ethnic and multi religious society, its citizens are profoundly nationalist  Ghanaians are proud Ghanaians because they have always been oriented towards a profoundly exceptional Ghanaian nationalism. They may have their difficulties, and certainly contradictions, but it is a relatively safe society for her citizens; there is a higher tolerance for the rule of law; Rawlings, if he did not achieve much, achieved a fundamental nationalist orientation, and the idea that public action has consequence, and that sanction was inexorable irrespective of ones status in Ghana. Where there is no fear of consequence as in Nigeria, where the EFCC is for instance, a hunting tool of the presidency rather than an independent investigative body accountable to the public, and which also should have an independent watchdog over its functions and activities in a system of concentric oversight, there will be impunity. And impunity is the product of a disregard of laws by those who feel themselves above or unaccountable to the law. For instance, people often say, the President is the Chief Security Officer of the land. This is ignorant talk. This should never be, and Im certain is not designed to be so. The Nation has a Chief Law Enforcement Officer, and that by law is the Inspector-General of Police, who is the Chief Security Officer appointed by Law, and paid for by Law, who ought to answer to the Chief Law Officer of the Federation, the Attorney-General of the Federation, and Minister for justice. The president is the president, not the Chief Security Officer of the land.

The Presidents chief adviser on National Security is his National Security Adviser who provides independent executive advisories and assessments for the president and his National Security Council. But the Chief Security Officer of the land  the Inspector General of Police  reports to the presidency, but is not, or by sensible law, must not be beholden to the president. He must be beholden to the constitution that established the office and its functions, which should be to serve and protect the national security interests of the federation once appointed and to report to parliament, and the Chief Law Officer, the Attorney-General of the Federation, whose office on the protocol list is next to the Vice-President, and who once appointed by the president and ratified by the National Assembly, reports both to the president and to the National Assembly on the questions of Law and the National Security of the land. The Attorney-General therefore has a dual mandate. It is the most powerful executive office in the land other than the president, and by the established principle of that office, he is the chief agent of the state, not of the president. He is therefore, or ought therefore to be, independent of the president. He it is, for instance, who on advice of the National Assembly, appoints an Independent Public Prosecutor to investigate the president should the occasion arise. But what we have in Nigeria is utterly different and chaotic. We inverted the systems that should have protected the rule of law, and created a monstrous presidency. That is why we have corruption.

Corruption is a national security issue. Until we reform and reposition the office of the Attorney General, the system of national policing, the court systems, and the enforcement capacities of the courts, whose function the constitution currently places in the hands of the executive, Nigeria will continue to be mired in corruption. Lets be very clear about this, however. The main problem in Nigeria is really not corruption. It is a systemic failure and institutional dysfunction.

The executive office is the source of all national corruption. Yet Mr. Buhari continues to play the ostrich on this matter, and continues to trumpet this fictional fight against corruption. This president, let us be clear, is not fighting corruption, or does not yet know how to fight corruption. To fight corruption, President Buhari must first dispense with his own extremely corrupt executive privileges. This constitution created an executive office modeled after a feudal authority, and it is by law unaccountable and cannot be transparent. It is shielded by a right to secrecy, and by an absolutist right to executive impunity. This president can appoint himself Minister for Petroleum, refuse or close down any legislative investigations into his office, and order the police, if he chooses to close down parliament, should it go any further. He could even order the police to arrest Supreme Court Judges. This president appoints ministers to an Executive Council. The keyword here is council. But that is only in name only according to the powers granted the executive office by the constitution. The President is rightly in charge of the National Civil Service, but the independence or autonomy of the Civil Service guaranteed through a constitutionally established civil Service commission is compromised by the current structure and orientation of the Civil Service Board.

There cannot be corruption without a compromised civil service. A civil service without the tools; the quality of personnel; the sense of a nationalist orientation, and the right quality of leadership or doctrine, will create grounds for corruption. So, what is corruption? We in Nigeria generally think of corruption only in terms of embezzlement of public funds. But the question is, what factors make the embezzlement or the misuse of public funds possible in the public system with all the so-called checks placed through the expenditure rules of the civil service? How is it that a Minister of government, a chairman of a public corporation, a National Legislator, an Adviser in the office of the president; a governor, a Permanent Secretary, a local government chairman, or even an executive officer in JAMB can have access to government funds  particularly cash given that by law, no minister handles cash, or supervises procurement? How are the pay-offs made? How are the public tenders rigged; how are the bribes paid; and how are the budgets inflated to create a muck-up? These are the questions, and it is the fundamental question. It is not merely about integrity, for an individual may have integrity, but may be forced by systemic failure to be corrupt.

The greatest source of corruption in Nigeria is the current Nigerian constitution, and the ways it established and concentrates powers in executive offices. These offices have absolute powers, and have created the oga-at-the-top situation, which makes public office feudal, unaccountable, and inured to inspection and sanction.

It is top-down governance rather than horizontal governance. And president Buhari has not proposed a sensible reform formula to deal fundamentally with this question. He is just simply saying, I shoulda and I woulda. Close to four years after he took office he is still making excuses and blaming his predecessor. He has nothing to teach Ghana.

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Loading...Home | News | General | University lecturers use research grant to buy big cars, build houses, drink beer  Ugwoke, labour leader

Says prostitutes from Italy bribe to graduate with second class upper

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru, Abuja

Comrade Samson Chijioke Ugwoke, National President of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, has accused those saddled with the administration of universities of gradually killing education through corruption.

Labour

He claimed that female students abandon their studies to do prostitution abroad, especially in Italy, but end up graduating, sometimes, with second class upper degree because they bribe lecturers with lorry loads of cement when they come back.

Besides, the SSANU National President, who is the Chairman of Joint Action Committee, JAC, comprising National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT, Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Educational Institutions, NASU, and the SSANU, said some university lecturers use research grant to buy big cars, build houses and drink beer, while little or nothing is done on research.

This, he said, was the reason for the mega rally university non-teaching staff had that took them to the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Assembly where they called for investigation into university administration across the country.

Ngokwe told Sunday Vanguard, The mega rally is to sensitize the public about the plight of the university system as some people are gradually killing education through corruption in Nigeria. They dont want any probe.

We have asked government to set up Visitation Panels to all the universities that are overdue, let them study what is happening in the universities and unravel the corruption taking place because they are collecting IGR and they account to nobody.

We are not even talking about sex for marks, abuse of young girls and money for marks; when some graduating students make 2:1, some of them are not even in the country, some of them are doing prostitution in Italy but they are getting 2:1.

When she comes back and sends a lorry load of bags of cement to the lecturer, she will be awarded A in his course. So many unwholesome things are happening in the system.

Let them investigate the research allowances they get which they are using to buy big cars and building houses and a lot of other works are finished at the beer parlour. By 3 oclock they are already drinking till 11pm, that is where they do the research.

These are things we know and nobody is talking. They are at the staff club drinking beer till 10, 11 pm. Is that where they do the research? Let government investigate the research allowances that are given out in the universities.

The union leader pleaded with the National Assembly to wade into corruption in the university system so as to make the place a proper place for education.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Breaking: Chinas parliament abolishes presidential term limits, Xi to rule for life

Chinas Xi Jinping on Sunday, March 11, secured a path to rule indefinitely as parliament abolished presidential term limits, handing him almost total authority to pursue a vision of transforming the nation into an economic and military superpower.

Vanguard reports that the move reverses the era of collective leadership and orderly succession that was promoted by late paramount leader Deng Xiaoping to ensure stability following the turbulent one-man rule of Communist Chinas founder Mao Zedong.

READ ALSO: PDP may lose more people - Makarfi

NAIJ.com gathered that the historic constitutional amendment breezed through the rubber-stamp parliament with 2,958 in favour, two against and three abstentions despite an unusual bout of online criticism that censors have scrambled to extinguish.

Xi stood up first at the imposing great hall of the people in Beijing to cast his paper ballot in a red box, as delegates of the National Peoples Congress applauded after each vote on the constitutional amendment to lift the two five-year term limit for the presidency.

The first constitutional amendment in 14 years had been expected to breeze through the legislature, which has never rejected a Communist Party diktat in its half-century of existence.

This is the urgent wish of the common people, Ju Xiuqin, a delegate from northeastern Heilongjiang province, told AFP, echoing party claims that the amendment had the unanimous support of the masses.

"Xi, 64, has consolidated power since 2012 when he was appointed to the countrys top office: general secretary of the communist party. While the position has no term limits, his two predecessors both gave it up after two terms as part of an orderly process established by Deng.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that the Peoples Republic of China on Monday, June 12, donated N60 million to support the Future Assured Initiative of the wife of the president, Mrs Aisha Buhari. The official presentation of the cheque was performed by the Chinese Deputy Chief of Mission, Lin Jing, who represented the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Zhou Pinjian, at the State House in Abuja.

Nigerians share their thoughts exactly 1 year before elections - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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Loading...Home | News | General | Herdsmen crisis: It is wrong to label attackers as Fulani - Atiku warns

- The former vice president Atiku Abubakar has frowned against labelling attackers as Fulani

- He said people should be held responsible for their conducts as individuals and not on the basis of their ethnic affiliation

- He said the vast majority of Fulani people are peaceful and live in harmony with other ethnicities

The former vice president Atiku Abubakar has frowned against the tribal profiling of violent criminals on rampage across central Nigeria.

This Day reports that he emphasised that people should be held responsible for their conducts as individuals and not on the basis of their ethnic affiliation.

It is a misnomer to use the term killer herdsmen of Fulani extraction or killer Fulani herdsmen. Atiku said.

READ ALSO: PDP may lose more people - Makarfi

NAIJ.com gathered that Atiku was asked: As a Fulani yourself, how do you feel about ongoing security crisis largely caused in many parts of the country by killer herdsmen of Fulani extraction? 

After giving his response by listing a litany of issues, which included blaming leadership crisis, rising population and climate change, Atiku wrapped up by reminding his interviewer that the Fulani are a predominantly good tribe.

He said: The vast majority of Fulani people are peaceful and live in harmony with other ethnicities.

When kidnappers kidnap, we do not identify them by their ethnicity. We identify them as kidnappers, pure and simple.

There may be fringe elements with criminal tendencies. Some may be Fulani. Some may not even be. Let us identify them by their activities and not by their ethnicity."

Atikus comments echoed the position of the Buhari administration on the reporting of herdsmen crisis.

In February, presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, slammed a section of the media for displaying an alarming lack of respect for journalism ethics and press laws in the Nigerian media

We want to state emphatically that a segment of the Nigerian media is sinking deeper and deeper into the mesh of hate speech in spite of repeated appeals by recognised and reputable media bodies, the Government and concerned Nigerians, Shehu said in a February 8 statement.

The interview came amidst rising tension over attacks linked to herdsmen, especially across the northcentral.

Dozens of deadly attacks carried out this year alone have left more than 500 people dead across the region.

While reported attacks are mostly against farming communities of other tribes, predominantly Fulani settlements have also come under deadly assaults.

Over the past week, dozens were killed in attacks on Fulani communities in Gembu and other communities around the Mambila plateau, Taraba state.

But social commentators are criticising the media for either under-reporting attacks on the Fulani or reporting most attacks, including those against Fulani communities, as being carried out by Fulani herdsmen.

Some journalists are guided by their ignorance of the ethnic terrain of northern Nigeria, said Aliyu Tilde, a retired university lecturer in Bauchi, The Nigerian media is dominated by southerners and they have little to no knowledge about the north.

He traced the misconception and stereotypes that southerners hold against northerners to Nigerias post independent conflict when one of the countrys earliest coup plotters wrote a book.

It started with Adewale Ademoyegas book titled Why We Struck, he used the book to paint the Fulani as bad even from the first chapters, Tilde said.

The media in the south jumped on that book and have passed its inaccurate content to new generations, he added.

Tilde, now a farmer, said journalists must first understand the dimensions of the frequent killings in the north before filing reports.

There are at least three key dimensions to the crisis. First is the farmers-herders clashes which are usually due to encroachment on farmlands.

The second is tribal where you have some tribes wanting to be left alone to dominate their own region forever.

The third involves criminal elements who are exploiting the porous security situation to perpetrate attacks. Sometimes, the attackers are Fulani. But definitely not always, he said.

Tilde said the media could help reduce violent clashes, especially those with ethnic or religious undertone, if reports are disseminated to the public with professionalism.

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He cited an early February incidence in which about eight Fulani travelers were burnt in Gboko, Benue state, saying the media downplayed the attack by initially withholding the identities of the victims.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com had previously reported that former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday, March 10, arrived in Makurdi, the Benue state, to condole with the government and people over herdsmens attacks.

Victims of Herdsmen killing buried in Benue State - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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Loading...- The national president of SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, has accused university lecturers of using research grant to buy cars

- He claimed that female students abandon their studies to do prostitution abroad but end up graduating with good grades

- Ugwoke said that those saddled with the administration of universities of gradually killing education through corruption

The national president of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Samson Ugwoke, has accused those saddled with the administration of universities of gradually killing education through corruption.

Vanguard reports that he claimed that female students abandon their studies to do prostitution abroad, especially in Italy, but end up graduating, sometimes, with second class upper degree because they bribe lecturers with lorry loads of cement when they come back.

We gathered that the SSANU national president, who is the chairman of Joint Action Committee (JAC), comprising National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Educational Institutions (NASU) and the SSANU, said some university lecturers use research grant to buy big cars, build houses and drink beer, while little or nothing is done on research.

This, he said, was the reason for the mega rally university non-teaching staff had that took them to the federal ministry of education and the National Assembly where they called for investigation into university administration across the country.

Ngokwe said: The mega rally is to sensitize the public about the plight of the university system as some people are gradually killing education through corruption in Nigeria. They dont want any probe.

"We have asked government to set up visitation panels to all the universities that are overdue, let them study what is happening in the universities and unravel the corruption taking place because they are collecting IGR and they account to nobody.

We are not even talking about se.x for marks, abuse of young girls and money for marks; when some graduating students make 2:1, some of them are not even in the country, some of them are doing prostitution in Italy but they are getting 2:1.

When she comes back and sends a lorry load of bags of cement to the lecturer, she will be awarded A in his course. So many unwholesome things are happening in the system.

"Let them investigate the research allowances they get which they are using to buy big cars and building houses and a lot of other works are finished at the beer parlour. By 3 oclock they are already drinking till 11pm, that is where they do the research.

These are things we know and nobody is talking. They are at the staff club drinking beer till 10, 11 pm. Is that where they do the research?

"Let government investigate the research allowances that are given out in the universities. The union leader pleaded with the National Assembly to wade into corruption in the university system so as to make the place a proper place for education.

Meanwhile, we had previously reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) urged by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to release its findings on the alleged N2 billion fraud at the University of Ilorin.Home | News | General | Herdsmen kill at least 5 persons in Plateau

Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have killed at least five people in central Nigerias Plateau state, police said Saturday, in the latest violence linked to tensions over grazing rights.

Thursdays attack happened just as President Muhammadu Buhari was rounding up a tour of Plateau and four other flashpoint states.

Herdsmen on rampageherdsmen

The gunmen were believed to be herdsmen. They attacked some communities in Miango district and killed five people, state police spokesman Terna Tyopev told AFP.

He said dozens of people were injured while many houses and properties were destroyed in the mayhem.

Local media said apart from the incident in Miango, six people were also killed at Ganda village in Bokkos local government area of the state.

The police could not immediately confirm the attack.

Speaking to Nigerias Guardian newspaper, community leader, Matawa Mankut put the toll at six dead when cattle rearers invaded the village on Friday.

We are at the burial ground in Ganda village to give the deceased a mass burial, he said, urging the authorities to end the violence.

Since the start of the year, Nigeria has seen a growing number of clashes between largely nomadic herders and farmers over land, water and grazing rights.

Buhari has been under pressure to end the killings.

Plateau state lies in Nigerias so-called Middle Belt that separates the predominantly Muslim north from the largely Christian south.

It has long been a hotbed of ethnic, sectarian and religious tensions between indigenous farming communities, who are mainly Christian, and the nomadic Hausa/Fulani cattle herders, who are Muslim.

Tensions have boiled over access to land and resources, escalating into a rift that has deepened along nominally religious lines.

In January, eight people were killed in tit-for-tat attacks in the rural districts of Bokkos and Bassa of the state

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Loading...Home | News | General | Presidential aspirant, Ikubese consults Falae, canvasses for restructuring

Says 2019 electionll be more about personalities than parties

By Anthony Ogbonna

While stating his reasons for picking the 2019 Presidential gauntlet, as being his desire to rescue Nigerians from the misrule of both the now ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, party and the opposition Peoples Democratic party, PDP, last year, Dr. Thomas-Wilson Ikubese has, over the weekend, continued his nationwide consultations with leaders of thoughts, political blocks and elder statesmen in Nigeria.

Dr. Thomas-Wilson Ikubese visits Chief Olu Falae

The YesWeFit presidential aspirant, who had vowed to unseat President Muhammadu Buhari come 2019, visited the former Secretary to the Federal Government, Chief Olu Falae, in his Akure residence last weekend.

Ikubese who thanked Chief Falae for his steadfastness over the Nigerian project and his various pragmatic contributions towards the emergence of a functional Nigerian state, also canvassed for the true restructuring of the country.

According to Ikubese, an unrestructured Nigeria is a nation sitting on a keg of gunpowder!

Dr. Ikubese also said that the political parties will be less significant come 2019 election. He said instead, the focus would be more on the personalities.

According to him, the 2019 Presidential election will be a watershed in the annals of Nigerian history as it will be more about personalities rather than political parties. Nigerians are tired of the APC and PDP parties and earnestly seek a credible alternative to take Nigeria out of the woods.

Ikubese said he is the only one capable of taking Nigeria out of the woods.

While welcoming him and his entourage, Chief Falae thanked Ikubese for blazing the trail in youth advocacy in Nigeria, saying his wake up call on Nigerian youths to get involved in altruistic politics is beginning to yield fruits, with more and more youths showing interest in governance.

Ikubese also commiserated with Chief Falae on his 2015 kidnap saga and the recent attack on his farm, all of which he described as symptomatic of failed leadership and the need for a restructured state.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Governor Al-Makura reacts to death of his predecessor as Nigeria mourns later former governor

Umaru Al-Makura describes the death of his predecessor, Alhaji Aliyu Akwe-Doma, as a personal loss

- Al-Makura was one of the many dignitaries that paid the deceased last respect

The governor calls the late Akwe-Doma an advocate of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance

The governor of Nasarawa state, Umaru Al-Makura, is currently mourning as he has described the death of Alhaji Aliyu Akwe-Doma, his predecessor and former deputy governor of Plateau, as a personal loss.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor expressed his feelings in an interview with newsmen shortly after the burial ceremony of the ex-governor in Doma, Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa state on Sunday, March 11, 2018.

The report said Al-Makura described the deceased as a galvanizer of self-reliance, an advocate of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance, adding that the loss of Akwe-Doma was a personal one, given their close relationship.

He was the second civilian governor of Nasarawa state who worked tirelessly for four years to galvanize the people towards self-reliance, progress and peaceful coexistence.

I consider this a very huge personal loss, given my relationship and affinity with him.

Despite the fact that l stood and won an election against the late politician, our relationship was close and cordial.

We shared ideas and listened to each other on matters of public interest, especially with regards to Nasarawa state, he said.

NAN further reports that several dignitaries attended the burial ceremony of the former governor who died at 75 on March 6 at an Israeli hospital.

Some of them include Al-Makura, his deputy, Silas Agara, members of his executive council and the first democratically elected governor of the state, Sen Abdullahi Adamu, Mike Abdul, the deceaseds deputy and Paulen Tallen, a former deputy governor of Plateau.

Also in attendance were Sen. Walil Jibrin, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Andoma of Doma, Alhaji Ahmadu Aliyu-Ogar, members of Nasarawa state House of Assembly.

Labaran Maku, one time deputy governor in the state and former Minister of Information, Emir of Lafia, Dr Isa Mustapha-Agwai, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Alhaji Aliyu Wadada, former member, House of Representatives, Sen Suleiman Adokwe and other traditional rulers in the state attended the burial ceremony.

NAN reports that the deceased, born on September 1, 1942 in Doma local government of Nasarawa state, was the governor of the state from 2007 to 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

We earlier reported the death of Akwe-Doma as confirmed by his nephew, Ahmed Bako.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Lai Mohammed accuses naysayers of lying against President Buhari's massive efforts to rebuild economy

- Information minister Lai Mohammed says there is so much that President Buhari is doing right, but some people are spoiling everything on social media

- He said, for instance, the economy was growing back steadily after the last recession and statistical evidence prove it to be true despite fake news

- Mohammed said this is why the government has launched a new app that chronicles all the activities of the Buhari administration for Nigerians wanting to know the real truth

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said that naysayers had taken to Social Media and spending huge amounts of money to distort the situation in Nigeria.

The Minister stated this at a mini town hall meeting which he organised for members of staff of the Nigerian Embassy in Berlin, Germany and a cross-section of Nigerians residing in the European country.

Mohammed was in Berlin to attend a meeting of African Tourism Ministers, on the sidelines of the International Travel Trade Fair in the German capital.

A statement issued on the mini town hall meeting in Berlin was made available to newsmen in Abuja by the Mr Segun Adeyemi, the Special Adviser to the minister.

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

The minister said the naysayers, who were hoping to override the string of achievements by the present administration in the country, were spending huge amounts of money to spread fake news about Nigeria.

He said: Contrary to the fake news being peddled in the Social Media by the naysayers, President Muhammadu Buhari is putting Nigeria back on its feet.

That is why Nigerians at home and abroad must ensure they have access to authentic information.

One way is to download the FGNiAPP on their hand-held devices. It is free.

The economy is on a steady growth, as attested to be by the latest report from the National Bureau of Statistics:

The economy attracted 12.2 billion dollars in foreign investments in 2017, up from $5.38 billion in 2016.

That represents 138 per cent increase.

The economy further consolidated its recovery from recession with GDP growing by 1.92 per cent in Q4 2017,compared to 1.40 per cent in Q3 2017 and a contraction of -1.73 per cent in Q4 2016;.

This means the economy ended 2017 with a growth of 0.82 per cent compared to a contraction of -1.58 per cent in 2016.

GDP growth in Q4 2017 was driven by growth in crop production, crude production and natural gas, metal ores, construction, transportation and storage, trade, electricity and gas production,.

These are indications that the administrations diversification effort is working.

Mohammed blamed the incessant clashes between farmers and herdsmen on environmental, rather than ethnic or religious issues.

He noted that contrary to the narrative being pushed in certain quarters that gave ethnic and religious coloration to the clashes, they were caused by purely environmental issues.

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Mohammed said whereas, Nigerias population in 1963 was about 48 million, it is now about 180 million with the countrys land mass remaining the same.

He said the implication was that, there were more people per square kilometre, adding that this development raised the chances of clashes over dwindling resources.

The minister also said that Lake Chad that which used to provide water and other resources to more than 30 million people in four countries, including Nigeria in the early 1960s had shrunk by about 90 per cent.

He said the lake which had shrunk from 25,000 square kilometres to 2,500 square kilometres, forced those affected to move south in search of resources.

These and other reasons, like desertification, have altered the resource landscape, heightened competition for dwindling resources and raised the possibility of clashes between farmers and herders.

Mohammed, who assured of the Federal Governments commitment to finding lasting solution to the clashes, noted that the establishment of ranches was one sure way of reducing such clashes.

He, however, said that in resolving the crisis, both the farmers and the herders must be willing to shift slightly from their positions grounded in their way of life over centuries.

Lai Mohammed's words come just as the federal government fulfilled a key economic promise the ruling All Progressives Congress made during the 2015 election campaigns.

NAIJ.com reported on Thursday, March 9 that the federal government's cash transfer of N5,000 every month commenced in Kaduna state with 10,623 beneficiaries drawn from nine local government areas of the state.

The state commissioner for rural and community development Hassan Usman Hunkuyi declared that the local governments were drawn from the three senatorial zones.

Usman said: ''In the northern senatorial zone, we have Ikara, Kubau, Lere LGAs, while in the central senatorial zone, we have, Birnin Gwari Chikun, Kajuru LGAs, and the southern senatorial sone, we have Kachia Kauru and Sanga LGAs.''

Minister of industry says economy is improving; Nigerians disagree - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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Loading...Home | News | General | How I facilitated the 2006 impeachment of Governor Fayose as a mere journalist - Buharis aide reveals

- Babafemi Ojudu reveals that as a mere journalist, he facilitated the impeachment of Governor Ayodele Fayose in 2006

- Ojudu, a former managing editor of TheNEWS, believes Fayose is already scared

- He promises to stop Fayose's dream of continuing in government through his anointed candidate

The special adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on political matters and governorship aspirant in Ekiti state, Babafemi Ojudu, has revealed his role in the impeachment of current Governor Ayodele Fayose during his first term in 2006.

Ojudu, a former managing editor of TheNEWS reportedly said Fayose was afraid. He also promised to end the governors continuity agenda.

Ojudu, who reportedly spoke before he declared his governorship ambition, said he was contesting on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

He said he facilitated the impeachment of Fayose in 2006 as a mere journalist and also defeated him by a wide margin in the senatorial election held in 2011.

Daily Independent reported him as saying the last three and half years under Governor Fayose had been disastrous while for Ekiti state adding that the people were groaning under the yoke of an oppressive government.

Fayose is just deceiving the people. Go around with him now, nobody hails him anywhere again. Since we got into Ekiti, he ran away since yesterday.

We told him we have our billboards in town, come and remove one and let me see you. I am his husband. The Yoruba people have a saying that were ni oga (the mad man has a master).

In 2006, I chased him out of this place. I took all his lawmakers who were members of PDP, I took them to Lagos for two months. I kept them there.

When I was ready, I brought them back to impeach him. In 2011, he contested against me for Senate, I defeated him. I had 68,000 votes, he had 21,000 votes.

So, forget about all these myths he sells to you out there. I am back again and I know I am the one who can chase him out. If there is anybody he fears, it is me. We will take care of him on July 14.

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Mind you, he is not contesting; but even if he is contesting, I am telling you now that I have defeated him many times over in the past.

If somebody is an incumbent and I was not a politician then, I was a journalist like you and I was able to impeach him.

Also, I was not an incumbent, I defeated him in a senate election. I am telling you that I am the one who is capable of defeating him and I will defeat him again, he said.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Babafemi Ojudu promised to probe the administration of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti state if he is elected governor.

Ojudu, who described the government of Fayose as a useless government, made the statement while declaring his interest in the governorship race.

Should President Buhari seek reelection in 2019? - on NAIJ.com TV

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Loading...Home | News | General | Just in: Days after multiple attacks in Plateau, police arrest herdsman with military rifle, confirm 16 killed

Though peace gradually returning to Daffo rural communities in Bokkos local government of Plateau over a recent attack, the states Police command has confirmed the arrest of a herdsman who was apprehended with a military AK 47 rifle.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Terna Tyopev, the commands spokesman, who confirmed the arrest on Sunday, March 11, in Jos, gave the rifles number as HC2614.

Tyopev said that the herdsman, whose name was given as Muhammadu Musa Bimini, was arrested by mobile policemen on March 8, at Daffo adding that the suspect had been transferred from Bokkos to the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Jos and was already being interrogated.

READ ALSO: Why we may not support Buhari's re-election in 2019 - Igbo leaders

The police spokesperson also confirmed that 16 people were killed in the multiple attacks on several villages that took place between Wednesday, March 7, and Friday, March 9 and that the command had deployed more personnel to restore peace to the troubled areas.

He advised the people to remain calm and avoid taking laws into their hands.

NAN also reported that leaders of the affected communities have said that 25 people were killed in the attacks.

Represented by Rev Mamot Adams and Macham Makut, the report quoted the community as saying that the bodies of those killed were recovered and given two mass burials in two batches.

The community leaders blamed the attacks on our Fulani neighbours, according to NAN which also said they listed villages attacked to include Nghakudung, Shilim, Morok, Mandung, Faram, Filla and Hotom.

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Also attacked were Dai, Kungul, Hurum, Dahua, Malul, Warrem, Josho and Ganda.

The leaders said that more than 5,000 people had been displaced, adding that some of them were in camps run by churches just as they called on security agencies to intervene toward halting the attacks so as to restore permanent peace to the communities.

We want government to take urgent steps to end the attacks because our youths are already agitated, he said.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that former vice president Atiku Abubakar frowned against the tribal profiling of violent criminals on rampage across central Nigeria.

The report said he emphasised that people should be held responsible for their conducts as individuals and not on the basis of their ethnic affiliation.

It is a misnomer to use the term killer herdsmen of Fulani extraction or killer Fulani herdsmen. Atiku said.

Victims of Herdsmen killing buried in Benue State - on NAIJ.com TV

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Loading...Home | News | General | APC senator challenges President Buhari to name politicians who lobbied for Osinbajo's job

- President Buhari said in Jos, Plateau state capital that some people sponsored rumours about his alleged death in London

- Senator Sani wants President Buhari to name those that sponsored the rumours and tried to get Osinbajo to take over his (Buhari's) job and give the vice president position to them

- Sani also challenged the federal government to release list of Nigerians with properties abroad in another tweet

Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central, has demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari should reveal the names of politicians that reportedly lobbied the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to make them Vice President when the it was rumoured that the Nigerian leader had died in London.

The controversial senator said in a tweet on Thursday, March 9 that it had become imperative for the president to name those that lobbied for jobs in hopes that he was really dead.

READ ALSO: Governor Bello sacks all commissioners, 21 council administrators and SEC members

Sani's words followed the confession by President Buhari that while he was on medical vacation, some people spread the rumour that he was dead and started lobbying the Acting President to make them his Vice President.

Sani tweeted:

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that Sani, in another more recent tweet, demanded that the federal government make public names of Nigerians with properties abroad.

Senator Sani urged the Nigerian federal government to publicly reveal the names of Nigerians owning properties abroad.

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Sani made the demand on Saturday, March 10 in a tweet on his Twitter handle.

Sani said that rather than the list being disclosed only to the federal government, it should be published for all citizens to see in order to show transparency.

Is Osinbajo a better president than Buhari? - on NAIJ.com TV

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Loading...Home | News | General | Just in: Nigerian army sounds serious message to sponsors of attacks in Benue, Taraba and Adamawa

The Nigerian army, on Sunday, March 11, vowed to sustain its efforts to identify and arrest sponsors of attacks on killings in the three states of Adamawa, Taraba and Benue adding that no suspect would be spared by the military agencies.

The army said this in a statement by Brigadier General Texas Chukwu, its director public relations, while expressing concerns at the continued attacks and killings in some parts of the affected states.

The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn to the continued disturbing, senseless killings and wanton destruction of properties in Adamawa, Benue and Taraba states.

READ ALSO: APC receives over 300,000 decampees including PDP big shots in Katsina

In view of this, we strongly warn the perpetrators of these crimes to desist forthwith.

The Nigerian army in conjunction with sister services and other security agencies are working assiduously to identify and arrest all those involved regardless of their disposition in the society including government functionaries.

We would like to unequivocally reiterate that the Army Headquarters warns the arsonists and the killers to stop or face decisive action by troops.

Our Rules of Engagement (ROE) is clear on arson and murder, therefore, no such criminal acts would be allowed in any of the aforementioned states, the statement said.

The statement warned the public that when troops are called out for internal security operations, they are not to joke or persuade anyone.

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We have warned our commanders on the ground to take decisive actions or face court martial, it said.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that one of the survivors of the attack allegedly perpetrated by herdsmen on Monday, March 5, in Omusu, Ojigo ward of Edumoga local government area of Benue state recently gave horrifying details of the attack that claimed 26 lives most of whom were women and children, Vanguard reports.

See the faces of newly arrested criminals in Lagos state - on NAIJ.com TV

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Loading...Home | News | General | Igbo will benefit more if President Buhari is elected for second term - VON DG tells southeast

- Osita Okechukwu, director general of Voice of Nigeria, has said that Igbo would be the major beneficiaries of President Buhari's second term in office

- He called on Nigerians of Igbo extraction to back the president for a second term in office

- Okechukwu said voting for any other northerner means postponement of the golden opportunity which Mr Presidents re-election offers NdIgbo

Director general of Voice of Nigeria, Osita Okechukwu, has said that NdIgbo would be the major beneficiaries of President Muhammadu Buharis second term in office, Punch reports.

NAIJ.com noted that Okechukwu, a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress, stated this in Enugu on Sunday, March 12.

He advised Igbo to back Buhari for a second term, adding that restructuring was already on the agenda of the Buhari-led federal government.

READ ALSO: Governor Dankwambo of Gombe state offers employment to 51 first class graduates

Okechukwu also said that supporting Buhari will give Igbo the chance of producing his (Buhari) successor in 2023.

Okechukwu expressed certainty that President Buhari would seek re-election.

In his reaction to Ohanaezes declaration that it was only concerned with restructuring, and was not thinking of the 2019 general elections, Okechukwu said: Restructuring is not a one-day event, but the golden opportunity of Buhari being the only northerner, going by the 1999 constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, and the zoning convention, with only four years that ends in 2023, is a matter of fact.

Voting for any other northerner means postponement of the golden opportunity which Mr Presidents re-election offers NdIgbo.

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Meanwhile, NAIJ.com previously reported that a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and director general of the Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, said that majority of the party's state chapters in the southeast had endorsed President Muhammadu Buhari for re-election in 2019.

Okechukwu stated this in reaction to comments credited to a former interim chairman of the APC, Chief Bisi Akande, who said there was no automatic ticket for President Buhari in 2019.

Political analysts interpreted Akande's comment to mean leaders of the southwest region were withdrawing their support for the president.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Ekweremadu denies calling for military coup, says he was misquoted

- Senator Ekweremadu, who recently became a professor of law, said his words were taken out of context

- The deputy senate president said his words were warnings to colleagues to beware of the damage past mistakes can cause if repeated

- Ekweremadu also insisted that the Nigerian Armed Forces remain one of the best on the African continent and he would not insult them

The Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate Ike Ekweremadu has denied that he called for a military coup detat in Nigeria.

According to Punch, the high-ranking lawmaker said his words on the floor of the upper house of legislature were quoted out of context.

Ekweremadu was said to have made the denial on Saturday, March 10 in the oil-rich Bayelsa state.

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

He was attending a dinner hosted by state governor Seriake Dickson for him and executive members of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region).

At the dinner, Ekweremadu claimed that he never made any derogatory remarks against the Nigerian military, which he says remains one of the best fighting forces on the continent.

He insisted that he was misquoted and went on to say that statements made by lawmakers in the course of their duty should be taken within the proper context before any form of reaction.

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He said his remarks on the floor of the Senate were to caution fellow lawmakers to avoid past mistakes that led to military coup in the First Republic.

NAIJ.com had reported the Nigerian military's sharp reaction to Ekwermadu's words on the floor of the Senate.

The Nigerian military declared that it was derogatory for the deputy president of the senate, Ike Ekweremadu, to claim that the military can still take over the government of the country because its democracy was already receding.

The military, in a statement by the acting director of defence information Brigadier-General J. A. Agim, said the statement was derogatory to the entire military countrys armed forces.

Street gist: Should the Nigerian senate be scrapped? - on NAIJ.com TV

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Loading...Home | News | General | Just in: President Buhari releases new excise duty rates as alcoholic drinks, cigarettes are now to cost more

Nigerias President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an amendment to the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco that would see the prices of the two sort-after commodities rise with effect from June 4, 2018.

Premium Times reported this as part of a statement released in Abuja on Sunday, March 11, by Kemi Adeosun, the finance minance.

The statement said the new excise duty rates were spread over a three-year period from 2018 to 2020 in order to moderate the impact on prices of the products adding that the regimes followed all-inclusive stakeholder engagements by the tariff technical committee of the finance ministry.

Adeosun said the upward review of the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco was for a dual benefit of raising the governments fiscal revenues and reducing the health hazards associated with tobacco-related diseases and alcohol abuse.

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

The Tariff Technical Committee (TCC) recommended the slight adjustment in the excise duty charges after cautious considerations of the governments fiscal policy measures for 2018 and the reports of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Technical Assistance Mission on Nigerias fiscal policy.

The effect of the excise duty rates adjustment on trade and investment was also assessed by the federal ministry of trade and investment and it adopted the recommendations of the TTC.

Furthermore, peer country comparisons were also carried out showing Nigeria as being behind the curve in the review of excise duty rates on alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

For alcoholic beverages, the current ad-valorem rate will be replaced with specific rates and spread over three years to moderate the impact on prices, she said.

This will curb the discretion in the Unit Cost Analysis (UCA) for determining the ad-valorem rate and prevent revenue leakages.

For tobacco, the government will maintain the current ad-valorem rate of 20 per cent and introduce additional specific rates with the implementation to be spread over a three-year period to also reasonably reduce the impact on prices, the statement said.

According to the statement, each stick of cigarette will attract a N1 specific rate (N20 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2018; N2 specific rate per stick (N40 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2019; and N2.90k specific rate per stick (N58 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2020.

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Also, the new specific excise duty rate for alcoholic beverages shows that beer and stout would attract N0.30k per centiliter (Cl) in 2018 and N0.35k per Cl each in 2019 and 2020.

The report said wines would attract N1.25k per Cl in 2018 and N1.50k per Cl each in 2019 and 2020, while N1.50k per Cl was approved for Spirits in 2018, N1.75k per Cl in 2019 and N2.00k per Cl in 2020.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Kemi Adeosun, on Tuesday, March 6, said that there will be no extension of the Saturday, March 31 deadline of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) set by the federal government.

Kemi said this in an interview at a live breakfast show tagged 'Good Morning Nigeria' on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), the Punch reports.

Meet talented musician who works as a Uber driver - on NAIJ.com TV

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Loading...Home | News | General | Mothers day: Kiss Daniel thrills fans at JJT park in Lagos

Scores of Lagos residents on Sunday converged on the recently unveiled Johnson Jakande Tinubu (JJT) Park in Alausa, Ikeja to celebrate this years international womens day amidst pumps and pageantry.

Fun lovers besieged the Johnson Jakande Tinubu (JJT) Park, Alausa, Ikeja as Nigerian recording artist and performer, Kiss Daniel (Anidugbe Oluwatobiloba Daniel) performs live in commemoration of the international mothers day celebration, on Sunday, March 11, 2018.

The special celebration sponsored by Friesland Campina, makers of Peak Milk, was preceded by a tour of exciting places in Lagos State.

There were lots of food, drinks and exciting prizes for winners of the mini competition on general knowledge quiz.

Speaking on his experience, a Lagos resident, Mr Abiola Dauda who took his wife out for the mothers celebration at JJT Park, said the experience was pleasant and awesome.

He said: We are here to be part of the celebration and this has really been an eventful one. We came in after the church service this morning and the first thing was that we had a tour round interesting places in Lagos State. Even though we might have been passing through those places everyday but the hustle and bustle of Lagos has made us not to appreciate some of those images that we have all around Lagos but today we had fun going round.

He particularly commended the State Government for upgrading the JJT Park to its present State, saying the environment was serene and conducive.

JJT Park is really phenomenal. This is the type of park that people pay so much to experience but Lagos State, in trying to set the pace for other States, has made the park free of charge. People come in from to relax, have a good time and the experience had been very fantastic.

The quality of the toilet is very clean; the environment is green and relaxing. I must really commend the effort of the Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode and the executive. if this is what they are doing with our taxes, its worth it. More kudos to him.This is something that makes Lagos State to stand out among the other States in Nigeria, Dauda said.

Also, another fun seeker, Mrs Folashade Olaoye said the awesome experience she was subjected to at the park, made her to be proud to be a mother.

I am proud to be a mother. It was fun today; I met new people and enjoyed myself in this very nice environment. I want to thank the organisers of this event and the Lagos State Government for this nice environment, she said.

On her part, Mrs Ajayi Oluwayemisi said the experience would linger for long in her mind, as she had fun to the fullest.

I am happy to be alive today to be among the living. This is a very great park and the environment is very neat for the people to enjoy themselves, she said.

High point of the event was the performance by hip hop star, Kiss Daniel who thrilled the audience with his hit songs.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Show Nigerians your developmental Projects  Secondus to FG, APC

The National Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, [PDP] , Prince Uche Secondus has challenged the All Peoples Congress [APC] led Federal Government to show Nigerians evidence of its developmental impact on the country within the last three years.

Speaking when he commissioned the 8.4 kilomitres reconstructed Ughelli-Afiesere-Ofuoma, road project in Ughelli North local government , Prince Secondus said that the APC had not only failed to fulfill its campaign promises to Nigerians but had succeeded in inflicting untold hardship on the people because they took over power at the centre through deceit.

Uche Secondus

He urged APC Governors to emulate their PDP counterparts who are busy developing their states through grassroots oriented projects, emphasising that Deltans should intensify their support for Governor Okowa for more development projects. The National Chairman empahasised that said Dr. Okowa has proven to be among the best Governors in the country through the execution of developmental projects with direct positive impact on the lives of the people and commended him for affecting positively the lives of Deltans through the construction and rehabilitation of roads across the state, He pointed out that the only way to develop the Niger Delta region was through the construction of roads.

In his remarks, Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa said that the state government was linking up the entire state with the construction of roads which will have a multiplier effect on the economy and engender ethnic integration among groups in the state.

He stressed that government had impacted on the lives of Deltans through well mapped out policies and programmes particularly in the health and education sectors, assuring the people that government would remain committed to meeting the needs of the people.

The Chairman of Ughelli north local government area, Mr Godwin Adode in his welcome address thanked Governor Okowa for bringing succor to the people through the construction of the road.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Ibori, a unifying figure in Nigeria- Secondus, Okowa, Uduaghan

Peoples Democratic Party [PDP] National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan and other national and state party leaders at the weekend eulogised the sterling leadership qualities of former Governor James Ibori, describing him as a unifying figure and a blessing to the Niger Delta region.

The leaders who spoke yesterday at Ovwor-Olomu in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State during a grand reception in honour of Chief James Ibori described him as a unifying factor in the development of the Niger Delta region and Delta State in particular.

Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa (2nd left); PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus (3rd left); former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Ibor (3rd right)i; Olorogun John Oguma (2nd right); Immediate Past Governor of Delta State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan (right) and Osun State PDP Governorship Aspirant, Chief Gbenga Owolabi, during the Thanksgiving and Grand Reception in Honour of Chief James Ibori.

The PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus who eulogised Chief Ibori at the occasion said the PDP remains the only political party that can rescue Nigerians from the maladministration of the All Progressive Congress (APC).

Ibori must be celebrated because he is a man of the people not just in Delta state but across the nation, today, he is a factor in this country. On behalf of the masses of our country, we salute you, we salute your courage because you are a man who believes in the struggle of the party, he said.

 You [Delta State] have a son that has built a political structure that is envied across the nation. Delta State remains the only state in the nation that has a stability in political succession. It remains the only state where all the Governor that have ruled the state are still members of the PDP. he added.

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa said Chief Ibori laid the foundation of development in the state and established a political structure which served as a bridge builder and development agent across the country.

He thanked the people of the state for their support and called for greater unity among deltans and assured them of more democratic dividends.

Dr. Uduaghan on his part, called for an end to rumour mongering and sycophancy in the state

Responding, Chief Ibori advised the political class especially those seeking political office not to heat up the polity emphasising that power belongs to God and only he can give power.

He said that he has forgiven all who played one role or the other in his incarceration.

The chief host of the reception, Chief John Oguma said chief Ibori had impacted positively on the state and as a national leader stabilised the political terrain, adding that Governor Okowa had been endorsed for a second tenure in office.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Benin industrial park: Edo Govt warns trespassers

The Edo State Government has warned trespassers encroaching on the land marked out for the Benin Industrial Park, to desist immediately from any development work on the land, as activities are gearing up for the commencement of work on the park. L-R: Omo N Oba N Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II; former Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole; Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo; Governor of Edo State, Mr. Godwin Obaseki and Minister of State for Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire at the ground-breaking ceremony of Benin Industrial Park (PIB) at Iyanomo, Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area, Edo State, on Saturday, November 11, 2017.

The warning, contained in a statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Osarodion Ogie Esq. in Benin City Edo State, noted that relevant Geographic Information System (GIS) data have been gathered to ensure that the perimeter of the land is properly delineated.

The statement said, Individuals and groups encroaching on the land acquired by the State Government for the development of the Benin Industrial Park are warned to desist forthwith.

It added, The state government had on September 28, 2017, put out a notice informing the public of the acquisition of the property, after which it ascertained the level of development on the land, to guard against activities of land grabbers and other miscreants.

To establish the level of development on the land at the time, the state government had earlier carried out an aerial survey of the property through the Geographic Information System (GIS) Agency. The survey revealed little development on the land.

He said government has observed that some persons are illegally moving into the land to develop private properties, warning that such people will be considered criminals and the full wrath of the law will be unleashed on them.

He cautioned individuals with illegal structures on the land to stop work immediately, noting, All those who have erected illegal structures on the property after the acquisition of the land will not be compensated, as the Development Control Unit in the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development has been directed to commence markings on the land.

He reiterated that the area acquired for the Benin Industrial Park has been mapped and anyone developing properties on any part of the land does so at his or her own risk.

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Loading...WABC-TV(BINGHAMTON, N.Y) -- An international manhunt was underway on Sunday for a person of interest in the killing of a 22-year-old nursing student -- who was found dead in her Binghamton, New York, home by police conducting a welfare check, authorities said.



The body of Haley Anderson was discovered on Friday near the campus of State University of New York, Binghamton, where she was a registered nursing student, police said. Following an autopsy on Saturday, Anderson's death was ruled a homicide, police said.



"This incident and the circumstances of the death was not a random act or involving the conduct of a stranger," the Binghamton Police Department said.



Police said they are searching for Anderson's former boyfriend, also a nursing student at SUNY Binghamton, as a person of interest in the homicide. Investigators suspect the boyfriend, whom they did not immediately identify, has fled the country.



"The victim and male student had a previous domestic/romantic relationship. The investigation determined that the person of interest has left the United States by international air travel flight, prior to the discovery of Haley Anderson's deceased body," according to the police.



Anderson -- who was originally from Westbury, New York, which is in Long Island -- lived about a mile from the university. Police officers were sent to her residence around 1 p.m. on Friday to check on her well-being and discovered her body, officials said.



On her online LinkedIn profile, Anderson said she also worked as a barista at Jazzman's Cafe in Binghamton.



In a statement on Facebook, SUNY Binghamton officials said the university "community is deeply saddened to learn of the death of senior nursing student Haley Anderson."



In a statement, the university said there was "no threat to public safety at this time" and that counseling was being offered to students and staff.



"Our entire University community extends our deepest condolences to Haleys family and friends, both here in Binghamton and in her hometown of Westbury," the statement read.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.True North Jerky Gets New Owners

The Hellers met in MSU's meat lab.

by Shelley Daily

Published in March, 2018

When Joe Wesolowski was ready to retire from True North Jerky & Foods, he says he wanted one thing from the new owner: "someone that would be successful." That someone turned out to be two people: Chelsea couple John and Courtney Heller.



The Hellers are livestock farmers who both have master's degrees in animal science and years of experience in the food safety industry. They took over in January, but on a February afternoon, Wesolowski was still in the back room of the store in the Old US-12 strip mall, grinding meat and stuffing casings for sausage. John Heller says he's still learning Wesolowski's recipes and is grateful for his help during the transition period.



"The guys, especially, love this stuff," says customer Debbie Peters. "It's tender, not chewy, like a lot of jerky can be." Shopping for herself today, she picks out a package of Thai sweet chili jerky from among the twenty or so beef and turkey flavors. True North also processes wild game--mostly deer--for customers, and Wesolowski says he sees "about a bear a year," which he makes into sausage.



John adds that they sell "much more than jerky," including smoked fish, as well as pork, chicken, bacon, ribs, steaks--and ground beef patties, hot dogs, and brats for grilling. Summer sausage and a line of Wisconsin cheeses are popular for party platters.



The couple met as MSU students in the school's meat lab. Both had grown up showing livestock--John in Chelsea (he's known Wesolowski for thirty years, because Wesolowski's two daughters were in 4-H with him), and Courtney in Portland, Michigan. After college, John worked for Neogen, a food and animal safety company out of Lansing, and Courtney for the U.S. Meat Export Federation, a nonprofit working globally on food security and regulatory issues.



Now Courtney oversees most of the sheep operation at Gottlieb Farm, which has been in John's family for four generations. His parents live there, too, and the couple have

...continued below...

three homeschooled kids: Bohdan, eight, Annika, six, and Caleb, four. She says the farm offers plenty of real-life education--they once welcomed seventy newborn lambs in seventeen days. About half the lambs shown at the Chelsea Fair are from their farm.Bohdan showed sheep at the fair for the first time last year after receiving extra encouragement from his dad. "I kept telling him, 'It's not about winning, it's about the experience,'" says John. That was about the time he was considering buying True North. "It started to become more difficult saying that to my son and not saying it to myself, too."[Originally published in March, 2018.]Home | News | General | Buhari mourns ex-Adamawa gov, Michika

By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

ABUJA  PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has commiserated with the government and people of Adamawa State on the passing away of their first civilian governor, Alhaji Abubakar Saleh Michika, on Saturday.

Abubakar Saleh Michika

President Buhari In his condolence message by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Chief Femi Adesina on Sunday, commiserated with the family, friends and professional colleagues of the astute administrator, political strategist and community developer, who worked variously with reputable international organisations before bringing his experience and skills to contribute to the development of Nigeria.

He commended Alhaji Michikas strong sense of patriotism and commitment to national development which he said prompted him to alter his career path from the private sector, and take up public office by contesting and winning the gubernatorial elections in 1992.

He believes the country will sorely miss the wise counsels, visionary leadership and disciplined lifestyle of the former Adamawa State governor.

The President, who according to the statement has sent a Federal Government delegation led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Mr Boss Mustapha to commiserate with the family, prayed that the almighty God will grant the soul of the departed eternal rest, and comfort his family.

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Loading...Home | News | General | Ambodes mum makes public appearance in rare photo as governor celebrates women on Mothers Day

- Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state joined other Nigerians to celebrate women on Mother's Day

- Ambode posted a photograph he took with his mother and his wife as part of the celebration

The governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Sunday, March 11, took to social media to display the photograph he took with his mother, Christianah, and his wife, Bolanle, as he celebrated all women at Mothers Day.

This is the first time many would see the mother of the governor, who has been receiving endorsements from various groups ahead of the 2019 general elections in the country.

READ ALSO: Governor Bello sacks all commissioners, 21 council administrators and SEC members

A special Mother's Day to all our lovely mothers, most especially to my mother, Mrs Christianah Ambode and my wife, Bolanle Ambode. God bless all our mothers, the governor said in a short statement accompanying the photograph.

Ambode, Christianah, his mum and Bolanle, his wife as the governor celebrated Mother's Day. Credit: Akinwunmi Ambode

As expected, the message by the governor elicited comments from Nigerians, many of who prayed for him and his mother. Some others noted the resemblance between him and his mother.

Ayobami Adedokun said: Happy Mother's day, God bless the womb that bore our governor. God bless all mothers and would be mothers in Jesus name, amen.

Also, Kemi Awolesi commented: Waoo,Excellency photocopy koo easy, you are celebrating your mother today; your own children will celebrate you too. You will eat the fruits of your labour as well sir.

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Aremo Seyi Esudamilare Sotubo said: Congrats to all living mothers and prayers of long life to us all the orphans.

NAIJ.com earlier reported that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday, March 6, directed that students in public and private schools in the state should sing the National Anthem in Yoruba language daily, to preserve and promote the Yoruba culture.

The deputy governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, relayed the directive at a meeting with principals and head teachers of public schools in Lagos. She said that Yoruba language would also be made a compulsory subject for students.

What do women really want from men? Nigerians speak - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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Loading...Home | News | General | US embassy reveals Tillerson's arrival date for visit to Nigeria is just hours away

- The US Embassy confirmed that Tillerson will arrive in Abuja on March 12

- A statement from the embassy revealed Tillerson's programme while in Nigeria

- The American government official is visiting Nigeria for the first time

The U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, will arrive in Abuja on Monday, March for his first official visit to Nigeria.

A Press Advisory from the U.S. Embassy said Tillerson would hold talks with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

When he arrives, Tillerson will become the highest ranking official in the Trump Administration to visit Nigeria.

The secretary is expected to hold a press conference at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday by 11.45 a.m.

READ ALSO: Governor Bello sacks all commissioners, 21 council administrators and SEC members

Tillerson is expected to be joined in the press availability by Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, the embassy stated.

Tillerson has been on a week-long tour of Africa.

He has visited the Horn of Africa just days after he announced a new 533 million dollars aid package for Africa out of which 128 million dollars was earmarked for Nigeria and countries of the Lake Chad region.

When Tillerson meets Buhari, both men are expected to discuss counter terrorism efforts and humanitarian issues in Nigerias Northeast and the Lake Chad basin.

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He is also expected to discuss how to advance peace and security, promote good governance, and spur mutually beneficial trade and investment with the president

During his trip, he is expected also to meet with U.S. Embassy personnel and participate in events related to U.S. government-supported activities.

NAIJ.com reported some days back that the US Secretary of State Tillerson departed the north American country for Africa on a week-long four-country official visit to Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti.

The visit will end March 13. Tillerson, during the visit, would engage with President Muhammadu Buhari and other top government functionaries, and the leaders of the three other countries.

The trip, Tillerson's first official visit to Africa, as Secretary of State, would take him first to Ethiopia and then to Djibouti from where he would go to Kenya, and then to Chad, before coming to Nigeria.

How would you feel if Donald Trump bombed Boko Haram like Syria? - on NAIJ.com TV

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Source: Naija.ng

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Loading...Home | News | General | Plateau: Death toll rises to 16  Police

25 people died  Residents

The death toll from the attacks on communities in Plateau State has risen to 16, the Police have said, but residents claimed 25 people have been killed.

Residents blamed herdsmen for the attack on communities in Bokkos Local Government Area, including on the days President Muhammadu Buhari visited the state.

File: Clash in Plateau

Sunday, the states Police Command confirmed the arrest of a herdsman with a military AK-47 rifle.

Terna Tyopev, the Commands spokesman, who confirmed the arrest yesterday in Jos, gave the rifles number as HC2614.

He said the herdsman, Muhammadu Bimini, was arrested by mobile police officers on March 8, at Daffo.

Tyopev said the suspect had been transferred from Bokkos to the state Criminal Investigation Department, CID, in Jos and was already being interrogated.

The Police spokesman said 16 people had been confirmed killed in the multiple attacks on several villages between Wednesday, March 7, and Friday, March 9.

He said the Command had deployed more personnel to restore peace to the troubled areas, and advised the people to remain calm and avoid taking laws into their hands.

Meanwhile, community leaders, who briefed journalists in Jos yesterday, said 25 people were killed in the attacks, while many others were still missing.

Represented by Mamot Adams and Macham Makut, the community said the bodies of those killed were recovered and given mass burials on Friday and Saturday.

The community leaders blamed the attacks on herdsmen and listed villages attacked to include Nghakudung, Shilim, Morok, Mandung, Faram, Filla and Hotom.

Also attacked were Dai, Kungul, Hurum, Dahua, Malul, Warrem, Josho and Ganda.

They said more than 5,000 people had been displaced, adding that some of them were in camps run by Churches.

They called on security agencies to intervene toward halting the attacks to restore permanent peace to the communities.

We want government to take urgent steps to end the attacks because our youths are already agitated, one of the elders added.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | News | General | Delta NHP director tasks contractors on deadline

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

South-South Zonal Director of National Housing Programme, Mr. Daminabo Oko-Jaja has tasked contractors handling the housing project in Delta State to step up their efforts towards meeting the December target date of completion.

Oko-Jaja gave the charge at Issele-Asagba while inspecting progress of work on the project.

He disclosed that the Federal Government was desirous of commissioning the project at the end of the year, saying it was designed to address the nations housing deficit and provide decent, affordable and quality residential accommodation for Nigerians as well as create employment opportunities for the army of the unemployed in Delta State.

Oko-Jaja, therefore, urged the contractors to abide by the contractual terms and deliver to specification and date of completion, adding that any encumbrances to the project completion should be avoided at all cost.

The Team Leader, Godwin Otobo, who conducted the zonal coordinator inspection team round the project site said the first phase of the project comprised of 68 units of 23 blocks of flat, made up of 28 units of two-bedroom semi bungalows, 16 units of three-bedroom semi detached bungalows and one block of three-storey condominium four blocks of 24 mixed units.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: General

Loading...Home | World | Africa | Hwange Colliery workers' presentation to the honourable minster of labour and social welfare

Honourable minister we are humbled by your concern for our welfare as workers of Hwange Colliery Company Limited. This you have demonstrated before through food aid and today you are with us in person. We are at a loss of words good enough to express our appreciation for your visit. Please receive the list of our concerns as workers of Hwange Colliery Company Limited.

In engaging with management may it be on record that we come sincerely and we need to be assured that there will be no victimisation. All deliberations to be truthful in a bid to harmonize industrial relations

1. The people in the tent are legitimate. They are our wives, brothers, sisters and represent our opinion, concern and a breakdown in industrial relations and money issues in Hwange Colliery Company Limited.

2. We need commensurate remuneration timeously:

2.1 .Outstanding half salaries from February 2017 to August 2017 like now.

2.2 .Outstanding full salaries from September 2017 to February 2018 like now.

2.3 .2018 Salaries going forward to be paid concurrently with the scheme of Arrangement instalments.

2.4 . Statutory remittances: We humbly appeal to your office to ensure that HCCL remits statutory obligations like MIPF and Union contributions.

3. All policies that were revised without having gone through works council or may have visited works council as undiscussable or directives must be suspended and referred back to works council e.g Medical Policy, Funeral Policy, Education Policy, Holiday bonus policy.

4. The government as a major should intervene in the resolution of this impasse by way of financing and oversight management.

5. The takeover of Hwange Coal Gasification Company should be expedited to allow HCCL to start making and selling coke. The Coke is not only our reason for being as a company and it is also our cash cow, selling at USD300.00/tonne as compared to HPS selling at USD27/tonne.

6. HCCL should focus on Under ground Mining where the return on investment is high. Underground Mining production cost is at USD12/tonne selling at USD300/tonne compared to HPS that whose production cost is USD25/tonne and selling at USD27/tonne.

7. Eliminate the use of hired trucks for trucking coal from Open Cast to processing and use our existing conveyor belt the WPC line.

8. Contracts must be managed properly with a clear intention to benefit the company. Contracts like those of Chrome Base Mining, Mota Engine, TAF Security, Colbro, Pelhouse Mining should be investigated and regularised.

9. There is need to establish a tender board to manage procurement irregularities e.g the Pelhouse Mining tragedy. Workers are wondering why the HCCL has abandoned the renowned CAT machines and settled for second hand machines from unknown manufacturers like BML from India.

10. Retrenchment by nature has traumatising tendencies. It must be once and closed off to allow industrial relations to return to normalcy. HCCL has run the longest continuous Retrenchment period from May 2016 to date. After retrenchment HCCL created a ballooning management structure that cannot be sustained by the current levels of production. The positions of Executive Managers can not be justified under the circumstances.

11. Middle managers to lower level employees were shrunk to unsustainable levels resulting in compromised efficiency, safety and more man hours that are difficult to compensate by way of off days since manning levels are inadequate. This over time is also not being paid for.

12. Poor recruitment practices. Employment of people should be reflective of a clear succession plan. Advertisements should only be flighted where there are no chances for internal promotions. Head hunting should be for unavailable special skills not for jobs like that of Buyers and should have been sanctioned by works council. The current shipping of people from Kwekwe/Zimasco to occupy positions in Finance and Procurement has frustrated and caused animosity among the work force.

13. Competent board appointees. It is the feeling of the workers that board appointees should have requisite qualifications and capable of adding value to the organisation. A deliberate effort must be made to appoint competent locals.

14. Accountability and allegation of corruption: The MD and his executives must account for their failure to turn around HCCL as a national asset. Results of forensic audits should be followed up and people held accountable for bad decision. The conduct and relationship between the Executives and AVIM or Feel Cool Investment, Pelhouse should be investigated and people held accountable. AVIM or Feel Cool are being paid millions for services they did not provide and the Audit Manager is reported to be aware of this. HCCL Volvo equipment are cannibalised to fix Inducto Save a Contractor's equipment suite. Ollican from Kwekwe supplied a Crane that is not being used but are being paid for the hire.

15. Withholding of contracts: Some employees are working without employment contracts for over one year. They went through all the required procedures but for reasons best known to himself the MD has withheld his signature on the contracts for the SHEQ Manager, Marketing Manager, Estates Manager, Audit Manager, Community and Commercial Services Manager and the Company Lodge and Clubs possibly waiting for some people from somewhere. These employees are clearly serving at the mercy of the MD and not the system.

16. Use of houses to defray outstanding salaries : All HCCL employees to be accommodated in self-contained houses after which they should be issued with the right of first refusal to buy the house. The houses should be evaluated by an independent registered evaluator. All houses must be sold.

17. Cost management: We need to run the Company lodge as a business where cost benefit analysis are done and also cost management put in place. Eg The Managers have overstayed at the company lodge some from October 2016 to date and they are being provided with food. These must move into houses that they have been offered because that is what the company can afford. Eveyone is making sacrifices in this Mine.

18. Deceptive tendencies: With all due respect we regret to note as workers that we and the community are very disappointed that the MD has the temerity deliberately issue untrue statements in the print media and national television. E.g HCCL was last capitalised in 1985 yet we had Terex 2006, BELL phase 1 and 2 in 2007/8, Volvo trucks 2010/11, Sunny 2013, BELAZ and BML 2015 and recently the Scheme of arrangement. He is also on record for saying that the workers are being paid every month, and that service provision by the Estates Department was weighing heavily on the Mine.The MD has developed tendencies of diverting attention from the real issues at the Mine and this must stop forthwith. The truth is that everyone must be seized with the resuscitation of the Underground Mine, Open Cast Mine and the Coke Works. Estates was weaned off the HCCL under the Divisionalization turn around strategy. To date Estates is the only profit making division surviving without help from the parent company. Instead Estates had bailed out the main company on numerous occasions through set off arrangement with Main Company debtors.

19. Realignment of the Human Resources Department: Our HR has become too partisan. Here are the people who have become champions of the destructions of worker rights. It has chosen to side with management and has relegated our otherwise vibrant works council to a forum for receiving directives. Workers want the restoration of our rich legacy in the area. HR must play its advisory role and stop this oppression of workers. They are stealing our leave days by forcing us to complete leave forms against our will.

20. Loss of confidence in the leadership of the MD and his Executive Managers: The workers have supported this team even in times when salaries were not being paid at all. The painful truth is that this team has ran out of ideas to turn around this national asset. There is no coal coming out of the Mines and here they are opting instead to spend energy of service provisions an area that is not even a problem. what other indicators/evidence of failure do we want to see. This team is even thinking of selling a hospital that they did not even build. We are not sure if they understand the history of this hospital.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Home | World | Africa | Mliswa urges Mnangagwa to bring back 'Gammatox'

Member of Parliament for Norton Temba Mliswa said ZANU-PF should take back the sacked members of the "Gammatox" faction chief among them Jabulani Sibanda and Ray Kaukonde rather than focusing on a truce between Emmerson Mnangaggwa and Robert Mugabe.

Ironically Mliswa was part of the Gammatocks cabal hence he was expelled from the party to become an independent candidate.

Mliswa took it to micro blogging Twitter expressing his love for the ruling party saying, "Rather than focus on a truce between EDM & RGM, ZANUPF should work on a truce between themselves & "Gammatox" members who're in the majority but watching to see what happens. Warvets should mediate & not "G40" sell outs. J. Sibanda, Kaukonde et al should be invited back time's moving."

Meanwhile, Mliswa also reiterated that ZANUPF is lacking visibility and activity in their youth structure though they have the numbers but their rival Chamisa is now ahead.

"It seems that after Chamisa's appointment to lead, ZANUPF continue to be found wanting with regards activity and visibility in their youth structures.

A vibrant youth leader is required, as they have the numbers but the footprint is weak," he tweeted.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Home | World | Africa | ZLHR celebrate International Women's day

The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights has joined the world in celebrating the International Women's day.

"ON the day of commemorating the United Nations International Women's Day under the theme; "Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women's lives", Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights (ZLHR) takes opportunity to implore the government to intensify efforts to promote, protect and safeguard the fundamental rights of women. Observed each year on 08 March, International Women's Day presents an opportunity for the world to remember the long journey that women have travelled in the struggle for equality and to celebrate the remarkable progress made in all spheres of life including economic, political, social and cultural," said ZLHR.

"Around the world, not only are women exercising and enjoying their political rights, but they are increasingly participating as economic decision-makers and contribute to the cultural and scientific lives of their communities and their countries. The theme for this year's International Women's Day draws attention to the rights and activism of rural women, who lag behind in every measure of development."

ZLHR said these women living in all settings, both rural and urban deserve to be empowered as they work tirelessly to claim women's rights and help them to realise their full potential.

"For Zimbabwe, it is encouraging that the 2013 Constitution now guarantees women's rights particularly Section 80 of the Constitution, to complement an impressive body of international standards, including for the protection of the human rights of women, from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women," ZLHR said.

"Regrettably, in Zimbabwe, women continue to be subjected to unequal treatment and continue to face several barriers that hamper their progress in all spheres of life. ZLHR remains concerned at the violation of the civil, political, social and economic rights of women by both State and non-State actors including some law enforcement agents."

ZLHR said it therefore calls on the Zimbabwean government to: End impunity and the silent suffering of women in rural, per-urban and urban areas, ensure alignment of all laws with the Constitution, including reviews of economic and financial legislation, for more participation and economic empowerment of women, Guarantee the rights to freedom of association, assembly and expression without fear of persecution, arrest and intimidation. Implement legislative and administrative measures to outlaw discrimination against women and promote the status of women.

CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM: Africa

Loading...Op Ed: Could an Amazon Token Become a Viable Worldwide Cryptocurrency?





Combining the benefits of a utility-based cryptocurrency and a company that exhibits the characteristics of a power law network creates the perfect opportunity for a globally adopted cryptocurrency  the Amazon Token.

Amazons Full-Circle Economy In this hypothetical futuristic scenario, Amazon extends on the suite of products and services it provides customers in 2018 including: online shopping, physical grocery, web services, artificial intelligence, internet of things, video and music streaming, healthcare (in development) and banking (small business loans). For reference, Amazon ships to 100 countries and has separate retail websites for 15 countries. In the United States alone, 55 percent of online shoppers begin their searches on Amazon and over 80 million shoppers subscribe to Amazon Prime. In the future, the customer-obsessed, low-priced Amazon economy could expand into all industries and become self-sufficient. In other words, Amazon will be selling everything to everybody in the best and cheapest way possible. In this hypothetical scenario, instead of 15 individual Amazon marketplaces scattered across the world operating in country-specific currencies, imagine a global Amazon e-commerce store with a single sign-on, billions of unique ASINs, and the Amazon Token as a single payment method. In a recent study by LendEDU, 52 percent of 1,000 Amazon customers surveyed responded that they would use an Amazon-created cryptocurrency to make purchases on the Amazon website. So, what might the Amazon token look like? Amazons Past Attempt at Tokenization: Amazon Coin In 2013, Amazon released the Amazon Coin, a virtual currency designed for U.S. customers to purchase apps, games and in-app items on Kindle Fire on the Amazon Appstore. Each never-expiring Amazon Coin is worth a cent, meaning that 100 Amazon Coins are worth one dollar. Users are enticed to use Amazon Coins in the Amazon Appstore because they can earn up to a 24 percent discount on their purchases. For the curious reader, Amazon Coin can be purchased here. Ultimately, the Amazon Coin hasn't been a smashing success for a variety of reasons: Interestingly enough, Amazon is not the only company that has previously attempted (and failed) to create a long-lasting virtual currency for a niche in their ecosystem. In 2005, Microsoft created the Microsoft Points currency for content on the Xbox marketplace. In 2009, Facebook created Facebook Credits for game purchases and virtual gifts. Neither currency is widely used. The Amazon Token (AMZN) By focusing on their entire ecosystem instead of a niche, Amazon could create a cryptocurrency that creates a single portal for global commerce and delights customers. If implemented correctly, its possible to imagine that an Amazon Token (lets call it AMZN) could become the worlds first global currency and trillion-dollar protocol. Implementation There are many ways that Amazon could implement the AMZN token and varying degrees by which that token could become embedded in the Amazon economy. In this example, keeping in mind that Amazons vision is to be accessible for everyone, lets assume that all products and services offered by Amazon will be available to everyone in the world, but that they must be paid for in the AMZN token. In other words, the AMZN token unlocks the door to the Amazon platform. Users will not be forced to use any of Amazons services, but rather, they will choose to use AMZN Tokens because Amazon offers the cheapest and best products and services. For this example to work, well also assume: Amazon will create a mobile application and web-version of their AMZN Token wallet, allowing users to store their AMZN token securely and send/receive it efficiently, and that Amazon will facilitate and maintain an underlying exchange so that users can purchase AMZN tokens on a secondary market. Type of Token Depending on Amazons interests (and on the way that the various regulatory issues with cryptocurrencies and utility tokens get resolved), there are various types of token that they could consider when architecting the AMZN Token. A Utility-Based Token The AMZN Token will serve as a medium of exchange on any Amazon platform, while also unlocking additional utility (benefits) that fiat currency cannot. In this case, Amazon would set a date after which it would no longer accept fiat currency on any of their platforms. The company could leverage its behemoth network effect and immediately onboard their 80 million plus Prime users. Small quantities of AMZN tokens could be air dropped or placed in Prime users wallets for free, to speed up the onboarding process. Once the change to the AMZN cryptocurrency is made, the only difference to Amazon platforms is that all transactions on all Amazon platforms are occurring in AMZN tokens, rather than in local fiat currencies. Amazon stock will continue to operate as usual. A Hybrid Token The AMZN Token will be a hybrid between a security and utility-based token, unlocking additional benefits that fiat currency cannot and entitling token holders to Amazons future cash flows, similar to a stock. The hybrid token model requires a larger tolerance for risk but could potentially obviate the need for reliance on financial intermediaries in the future. Using the AMZN Token to consume goods and services within the Amazon ecosystem is an audacious thought, but what about using the AMZN Token to replace the existing concept of shareholder value? If backed by Amazons Free Cash Flow, the Token begins to resemble the characteristics of a traditional equity security, enabling fractional ownership in the company. Now, token holders are not just speculators, but actual consumers and owners of the Amazon ecosystem. Hoarding tokens and hoping to benefit from speculators driving up the price is no longer a viable strategy. Instead, spending the tokens actually drives tangible value to all participants  more sales should ultimately lead to more free cash flow. Taken to its extreme, the usefulness of the traditional public market becomes questionable as Amazon has the ability to raise capital through token sales, manage the Amazon Token exchange, and directly link beneficial outcomes for both consumers and shareholders. Amazon could even pay employees  anyone from a warehouse worker to CFO  in their Amazon Token. Should other companies decide to follow suit, there will be major implications for financial markets. Life With the AMZN Token in 2050 Now consider the case of Oscar, a 25-year-old Seattle resident who represents a regular first-world citizen in 2050. His healthcare is covered by Amazon Health; he shops at Whole Foods; he streams Nicolas Cage on Amazon Video; he shops on Amazon.com; his personal savings are managed by the robo-advisors at Amazon Bank; he stores his data on Amazon Web Services; and Amazon Alexa manages his apartment while hes at work. Last week, Oscar travelled to Japan for work using tickets he purchased with AMZN tokens. While he was in Japan, he didnt have to worry about any annoying foreign transaction fees or hassles with currency conversion  his hotel, local merchants and restaurants all accepted AMZN tokens. Even the last-minute Prime delivery of snacks he ordered to his hotel were paid for in AMZN tokens. Oscar rarely spends fiat currency  he doesnt have to. Even his favorite local shops and farmers markets accept Amazon tokens. Thankfully, the Amazon Bank program also helps him earn 3 percent interest on his savings every year by staking his unused tokens and paying back interest after projects are complete. For example, the robo-advisor algorithm allocated some of Oscars tokens to finance a 6-month process to build an Amazon warehouse in Jakarta, Indonesia. Once the warehouse was finished, Oscars staked tokens were returned to him with 3 percent interest. He is happy that his AMZN tokens helped contribute to the global marketplace and indirectly provided jobs for employees in Jakarta. Nobody is forcing Oscar to use Amazon services, he chooses to utilize Amazon for everything because he loves it  it is the best and cheapest option for every product and service he needs. FAQ & Implications This idealized vision for the AMZN Token is great, but there are many questions the company would have to answer before the AMZN Token can become a universal cryptocurrency and medium of exchange. Since its inception in 1994, Amazon has pioneered e-commerce, web services, digital content and artificial intelligence. In doing so, it has created one of the worlds most valuable networks. With the recent development of cryptocurrencies, Amazon has a unique opportunity to leverage its network to create a truly globally accepted currency  as this hypothetical AMZN Token demonstrates. Perhaps Amazons pre-existing network, products and services could even give the companys token a competitive advantage over Bitcoin to become a widespread, globally-accepted medium of exchange.

This is a guest post by Erik Kuebler. The opinions expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Media or Bitcoin Magazine. The author does not have a relationship with Amazon.com.



Story continues

Amazon Coin is exclusively useful for the niche market of the Amazon Appstore. The Amazon Coin is not an option to purchase any other goods or services offered by Amazon.

There is no secondary market for users to resell unused Amazon Coins to one another.

Many users feel that the Amazon Coin creates an unnecessary layer of friction in the payment process, asking questions such as, Why would I need to convert my fiat currency into a virtual currency to purchase an item on the Amazon Appstore that can already be purchased with my fiat currency?



Token Velocity : How will Amazon make sure that users are actively spending the token? Otherwise, as price of the AMZN token appreciates, users might hoard the token, which will continue driving price upwards. If customers dont spend the AMZN token, it will become a store of value, rather than a medium of exchange. However, this problem should be alleviated if all AMZN services are priced in AMZN tokens, as it would be the only way to access the network.



Dynamic Pricing : How will Amazon price their services across the world? One way could be to dynamically peg the price of AMZN services to local fiat prices. For example, a baguette from a Whole Foods in the United States could be priced at $1. If one AMZN token is worth $1, then the baguette would cost 1 AMZN token. If one AMZN token is worth $10, then the baguette would cost 0.1 AMZN Token.



Fiduciary Duty : Is the Amazon corporation responsible for ensuring that their token holders AMZN tokens appreciate in value? Does Amazon properly align incentives between consumers and the corporation?



Outside Speculation : If the AMZN token is tradeable on secondary markets, will the price become too volatile for consumers?



Token Economics : How many AMZN tokens should Amazon issue? Should they issue a fixed amount of tokens? How will Amazon enact monetary policy?



Macroeconomic Implications: The AMZN Token could cause inflation rates in local fiat currencies to rise. U.S Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell recently shared that he believes Amazon and e-commerce have helped keep prices and inflation lower in the past decade. Should Amazon decide to take its 44 percent share of all U.S. e-commerce, the dollars inflation rate could be affected.



This article originally appeared on Bitcoin Magazine.China bitcoin mining

An investigation by The Citizen lab has found evidence that Egyptian authorities are mining cryptocurrencies on citizens computers and laptops.

Using Internet scanning the researchers found deep packet inspection middleboxes on Telecom Egypt connections. Unencrypted traffic, (that uses http, not https) was redirected to browser cryptocurrency mining scripts. The researchers suggest this was done in order to extract revenue from unsuspecting internet users.

The report also identified the same malicious system being used in Turkey to inject citizens devices with spyware. Both Egypt and Turkey have been increasingly authoritarian in recent years, breaching multiple human rights obligations. Reporters Without Borders ranked Egypt 161st out of 180 currencies in its 2017 World Press Freedom Index, and 800 people have been sentenced to death since 2013. Journalists, human rights defenders, and protesters have experienced mass arrests, disappearances, and torture.

After an extensive investigation, the team was able to track the network injections from both Egypt and Turkey to Sandvine PacketLogic devices  an American-based firm which sold the Turkish system as part of a $6,000,000 contract. At the time the deal caused a prominent member of the company to resign in protest.

Attitudes to cryptocurrency are split in the highly religious Egypt. Earlier this year Egypts foremost religious leader called for a blockchain ban, stating that Bitcoin was illegal under Sharia law.

Whilst some authorities in Egypt are against the technology, the attackers are likely making large amounts of money. A report from Talos earlier this month, a leading cyber security intelligence firm, estimates that malicious mining could be netting attackers over $100m a year. The report estimated that each infected device can generate about 28 cents a day. With 2000 devices that adds up to $568 per day, and $200,000 a year. Its likely however that the nation-wide system uncovered could have many many more devices infected  leading to much higher profits.

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This type of attack has grown hugely in recent years, with malware research labs alleging that over 1.5 million devices have been affected. Website owners have deployed the technology as an alternative to ad-hosting. However, the primary use has been by hackers who slide the system onto internet users without them knowing.

The news of Egypt and Turkeys use of the software comes as a reminder not only of the shaky human rights situation in these countries, but of state-sanctioned spying globally. As we progress through 2018 the internet is increasingly becoming less of a tool to connect citizens, and more a weapon to spy on them.

Featured image from Shutterstock.



The post Report Alleges Egyptian Government is Secretly Mining Cryptocurrencies on Citizens Devices appeared first on CCN.

I think it's sort of transparently dishonest to say "I don't know why anyone would care". Of course you do. HOWEVER, nobody deserves to be outed and nobody owes it to a community to come out.

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Is this the same Brian Moylan who writes Housewives recaps? smh.

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yes, lmao. and sometimes orange is the new black and queer eye.

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this is random but what's ur icon from?

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Yep. and he is obsessed with the grotesque Erika, to the point that she got him to write her book

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Yep. And you can tell by his Housewives recaps (and RHOBH appearances) that he's desperate to be hella famous

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looool he blocked me on twitter recently for calling him out on his completely transparent racist drag race recaps

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omg these receipts!  Yeah, Lee's response did seem odd to me, but then reading this dude's petty responses really made me wonder what the actual context was of his asking in the first place. Yeah, fuck this guy.

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Most white gay culture critics are awful people who hid under their sexuality for defence when being messy



Especially the ones at Huffpo and formerly gawker where this douche came up



Edited at 2018-03-11 01:34 am (UTC)

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it's just like when gay men go after women, call them sluts or make fun of their appearance, and then use the fact their gay as a shield or excuse, as if gay men can't be misogynistic because they're gay.





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Its always fun and games until the outed person commits suicide. This shit is not okay. You don't know someone's situation or state of mind when you out them.



I feel like people don't take this as seriously with celebrities because they're all just spoiled brats and not real people with emotions, right? Not everyone wants to be your inspiring role model, some of them are just trying to survive.

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Well said. It's not your life and it's not yours to fuck with, no matter how important you think visibility is for progress.

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mte

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yep

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ia

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mte

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met

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all of this

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What a fucking piece of turd.

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I think it's important to be out of the closet and visible as a queer person as it leads us more towards acceptance. That being said, everyone gets to decide for themselves what parts of them are up for public consumption.

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If I'm reading this correctly, Anderson Cooper was completely out, not hiding it one bit, even participating on a parade float... Yet, he was then outed? When he was never even in?



Not sure if this is a surejan.gif moment or an ok...work.gif moment.

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he wasnt out on a public platform. thats why moylan put so much effort into outing him and why cooper decided to formally do so in 2012.

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Then I must not have the right definition of the word public, because I don't what an Oscar party hosted by Vanity Fair, or being on a parade float with your same-gender partner in front of thousands of people is, besides public.

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why is this confusing ? people get to decide what parts of themselves they want to share with any given person/all people. all of my friends are lesbians and none of them are 100% out to both their families and the people at work. some are out to family but not work. some are out at work but not with family. i'm out to some family but not others. literally fucking none of us deserve to get outed to anyone we choose not to tell about our sexuality. when my friend's local pride chapter posted her picture on facebook without permission did she not have a right to get angry that she was potentially being outed to her co-workers ? because that's the kind of argument you're making

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His sexuality was long called "an open secret", meaning he was out in his personal life but hadn't made it public knowledge.

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"she"?? Is that a typo?

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was you lying about your race a typo?

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these comments never get old

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nah it wasnt, he was being a dbag



lmao which i know you know by now but like, for the sake of actually answering this simple question



Edited at 2018-03-11 05:07 am (UTC)

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He seems like a "See You Next Tuesday", people should come out when they feel like it, simple ideal I know but what is the personally decent thing.

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whats a "See You Next Tuesday"? synt?

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C u next Tuesday

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Its a sort of mnemonic. C U Next Tuesday.

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It means they hope they'll get to see you again on the following Tuesday because you're full of (C)harisma (U)niqueness (N)erve and (T)alent.

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clean way of saying cunt

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i recognized moylan's name from gawker immediately. i don't know anything about his current work.

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The question is definitely intrusive. Obviously the interviewer asked it because he wanted the clicks and the controversy, and he certainly didn't respect the Lee Pace's privacy or how it would affect him. I hate public outings, they aren't ever for the benefit of the the man or woman in question.

Also, why does Moylan put the queer community in those quotations?

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A lot of gay people take offense at the term queer, since it has been used as a slur for so long.

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I think it's more that Brian finds that an insufficient term; he wants Lee to say "I'm totally super-duper 100% GAY." Except, like, he can say whatever he wants regarding his own life??

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this fucking cavetroll. outing someone is never ok.

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just here to say I LOVE SOLDIER'S GIRL. We watched it in my GSA in high school and it is a devastating story. Calpurnia Adams is a cool lady and Lee Pace slays that role.

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i watched it in college and it's so sad ;____;

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When The Fall first came out in 2006 I was OBSESSED with Lee (ok still am lol i luuhv him)so ofc I went and tried to watch everything he'd been in. Found a copy of Soldier's Girl at Amoeba and immediately went home and watched it.



I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO WATCH IT AGAIN. That movie absolutely DEVASTATED me. It was so lovely and sweet (until it wasn't) but it fckd me up. Every time I think I've got the balls to watch it again I nope out before I even reach for the box lol

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Thanks OP for posting this. Brian is problematic af

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Not problematic, a raging asshole

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LinkTChalla really interrupted Nakia from saving women being human trafficked just to invite her to his ceremony to become king, then flew off in a damn spaceship after leaving those girls stranded in the middle of the jungle with a bunch of vehicles he disabled LMAO  THOTs and Prayers (@brownlashon) February 19, 2018



I mean, lmao. I mean, lmao.

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That was disrespectful

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omg 

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Lol I thought the same thing. But this shit is pushing it.

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lmfao

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They took the disablers off the cars though. No leaving Wakandan tech behind

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Lmao I thought that was weird too. They just said Bye!

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I'm seeing BP again at 12:45 today and gonna laugh

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lol i never thought of it that way. t'challa still a fuck boy

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The whole point of the movie and the villains motives was how Wakanda had been selfish and at the end started to change and make a difference for black people who werent just part of their society.

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lol 

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lmaooo

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I thought she said something along the line of telling him she didn't need his help so that's why he backed off after that??? I probably need to see it again to be sure

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"Tell no one about our society that has representatives at the UN and is invited to world summits"

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I'm pretty sure they thought she was actually in trouble and that her mission had gone wrong.



Everybody tryna go viral and shit.

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LMAO it reminds me of that scene in the first Spiderman movie (with Toby McGuire) where he rescues Mary Jane from being attacked in an alley...only to leave her alone in a different alley. At night in the rain.

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lol, this is some serious reaching.

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Uhmmmm nah



Also, more like daylight savings CRIME. Im so sleepy 



Edited at 2018-03-11 02:43 pm (UTC)

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.......Those people were Muslim?

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mte how do we know this

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That whole scene was a reference to Boko Haram, an Islamic group, kidnapping schoolgirls in Nigeria



also, the women were wearing a style of hijab that I've never seen on non-muslims. Obviously I don't know every item of clothing ever worn in Africa, but the filmmakers must have known that people would think of muslims if they saw a group of women in hijab

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The "wallah" was really what tipped people off

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I didn't think they were muslim, I know it is a reference to boko haram but it doesn't come across that they are bad for their religious views, just bad for what they are doing to the women

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i haven't seen bp but arab portrayal in american media is almost uniformly negative. i saw a supercut someone made to make the point, and it had clips of like, the ridiculous libyan terrorists in back to the future and remember being like haw haw we've moved on from that and then they went on to the most egregious scenes from the far more recent black hawk down and my heart kind of sank. i've definitely become more sensitive to it.

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All of these police shows bomb squad shows etc *stares at ncis* are all about Arabs being terrorists it actually makes me physically ill.

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it's depressing af

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Black Hawk Down is...something else.

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Same. It wasn't even focusing on that aspect, just that those girls were kidnapped. It even pointed out how young boys are forced into that life when Nakia stops T'Challa from killing that boy

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Same. It as a commentary on Boko Haram and it was needed. I loved how they also showed boys are being taken too.



Some Arabs on twitter are reaching like never before but I love how black muslim twitter is telling them off lol.

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Same.



I actually liked the reference to Hanuman though. It made me want to know more about the Mountain clan.

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I guess they're trying to say that them taking off their headscarves after they were freed was the bad part? But I just saw Black Panther on Saturday and I honestly don't remember them doing that.

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oh umm 

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I took it as a commentary on Boko Haram.



People are really reaching to find fault with Black Panther. Like that Black Panther is an evil film tweet.

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Oh shit now that you mention it, I ~do remember that scene! Lol cuz I remember thinking Boko Haram smh

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the people who wouldn't think Boko Haram and know that they're not the mainstream are people who will never see the movie.

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I dont even remember that scene, oop

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What would have been if this was a movie with white actors?

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I might get dragged for this and I just want to discuss this but i guess maybe it should have been racist asf white kidnappers in this instead. Like in where white people are power thirsting villains in this story. But nah. That could spin the other way cos theyd get what they want in this movie if for that

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Yep, how many white dudes travel around the world to rape underage girls? That's a disgusting villain they barely use in movies.

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They definitely would have been in some nameless desert.

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Then we'd know for sure the negative image was done on purpose.

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some try really hard to put a negative spin on this movie huh?

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Doing the most

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Linkhttps://www.sephora.com/product/supergoop-x-milly-defense-refresh-setting-mist-broad-spectrum-sunscreen-spf-50-P429535?skuId=2057560&icid2=products%20grid:p429535



I have mixed feelings about this product because of the high alcohol content, but I think I'll just use it during my commute home because the sun gets so strong in the afternoons. I have mixed feelings about this product because of the high alcohol content, but I think I'll just use it during my commute home because the sun gets so strong in the afternoons.

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alcohol as the first ingredient? yikes, i would only use this to clean my bathroom

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lolll that's probably smart of you!

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My friend tried the Coola version, which is the same concept. Idk about the alcohol content of each product, but her face reacted poorly after using it a few times, and when she gave it to me, I stopped using it because the it was hard to get over the initial sting and smell of the alcohol, which I found uncomfortable. Also, I didn't enjoy the stickiness on the eyelids. I would definitely test it out one afternoon before buying.

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i really hate doing this w my lips, it looks scary

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im doing like 2 days of camping with no running water and in a sunny place, and i need tips on how to keep it fresh on limited supplies



p.s any dupes for bareminerals? they do miracles on my skin but my wallet is cursing me

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Moisturizer sun screen and a good lipbalm, make it tinted if you want be fab. Unscented facw wipes (charcoal).

You're going camping, nature doesn't care. Check for ticks morning and night.

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thank you for the tips!

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Also definitely unscented face wipes! And a smaller bug spray so you have it with you everywhere. Use these shower sheets! I camp and hike often, and I looove these. They aren't sticky or leave residue either, and the cleanliness typically lasts a while: https://www.sephora.com/product/shower-sheets-large-body-wipes-P415782 Also definitely unscented face wipes! And a smaller bug spray so you have it with you everywhere.

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yoooo, a while ago i asked for transfer-proof lipstick reccs and lemmie tell you... someone reccd beauty bakerie and that shit is LEGIT. it does NOT budge at all, even if u put ur mouth thru hell. like i stg i spent ages sucking the soul out of my bf and my lips were still perfect after. bless.

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I love that brand, Syruptitious is my go to liquid lipstick.

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LMAO

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this is the exact advice ive been looking for the last few days. tysm

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lmfao that's the kind of review i need tbh

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magnificent review

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The review I really want.

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can i ask about dryness? i have yet to find a liquid lipstick that i dont have to put balm under and over, which kills its longevity...

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its a sex thing sweatie

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I love this review, sis thanksssss <3

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THESE are the types of reviews we fucking need. Doing the lords work sis!

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He reminds me of Gia Gunn sorta but he has a nice smile :)



and Shay Mitchell looks gorgeous...gonna google her now.

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she def had injections to make her top lip bigger

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wow i thought this was Gina Rodriguez at first.

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Honestly, this lip injection trend is doing a number to my self esteem. I have never felt beautiful, but now I look at my lips and think they are just so small, I've stopped wearing lip products because I don't want bring any attention to my mouth.



I feel this way about a lot (pretty much all) of cosmetic surgery/injectables, but there is something about the combination of how pervasive this procedure is, how noticeable the results are, and the affordability (I have seen so many ads on how it's cheap so you have "no excuse" not to get it done), that really make this procedure erode my sense of self more than others.



Anyway...beauty post! Living it London I can't find Korean/Japanese sunscreens very easily, but I have heard good things about European sunscreens which have ingredients banned in N. America that are supposed to be comparable. Does anyone have recommendations?

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Just order them on eBay or look at Amazon. I live in the EU and I've tried a bunch of sunscreens here but I still order my Biore off eBay.



I can recommend a few if you don't want to bother though. I like Vichy Dry Touch Face, it comes in 30 & 50 SPF -- it's perfumed but it's fine. Eucerin's Sun Fluid Mattifying, comes in 30 or 50 too. I tried LRP's Anthelios XL Ultra Light Fluid and it was greasy as fuck, I did not like it.



If you have Garnier's Ombrelle in the UK, they have some decent sunscreens too. Don't know if Boots carries ACO (it's a Swedish brand) but their mattifying sunscreen is nice too.



EDIT: I have a tiny, rosebud mouth and I was super insecure about it too. I woke up one day and stopped giving a fuck. If I could get Francis Bean Cobain's doc, I would try it at least once, but for now, I've accepted the mouth I have. I wear whatever lip products I want now. Hang in there bb!



Edited at 2018-03-11 08:14 pm (UTC)

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whenever I see a model or actress with thin lips I think they must have great self esteem to not fall down the lip injection trends

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it's because those women value something else about themselves rather than just their looks and it's obvious.



Not only that, but you have to be able to look at urself and think the overall package is great and not pick on specific features to fix. Why would you want to look like every other insta thot, unless insta thot is your career aspiration?

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i also use biore bc its cheap and it can be found on amazon, though its a bit drying and im note sure how healthy the ingredients are



my fave if bodyshops, its a bit pricy but good

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PLEASE do not let this affect you.



This is a trend and its ridiculous. A few years down the line people will move on to something else and these woman will be disfigured forever.

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I buy all my Korean/Japanese stuff online, there's plenty of websites: Yesstyle, Sweetcorea, Dokodemo, Jolse. Amazon and Ebay also sell Asian products.

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i feel the same way about my thin lips /: i have the combo no one wants: big nose and small lips. it is disheartening the way i'm treated sometimes, but honestly i have had some pretty great partners who have helped my confidence

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Aww I know what you mean, people are so rude about thin lips these days, but obvious lip fillers really dont look any better either/celebritys get made fun of for that, so it seems like theres no winning

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I think naturally big lips look totally fine, but 95% of lip injections look like absolute shit. The place where I get facials and stuff does injections so I follow them on social media, and every time they post lips I'm just like "noo, that looks terrible!"

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Lip injections look so gross. I hate them. I used to get teased for my cute full lips and now these celebs are doing the most the get them. *wheezes*

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That screenshot is ridiculous

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i just got a job at sijcp and im soooo hype, y'all!! i've been training so far, and soon we'll be doing the ~official sephora training~ aka makeovers, facials, etc.



anyone who worked there before/are working there now wanna share experiences?

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May I ask what your interview process was like? Theyre always hiring for part time people and Ive been nervous to apply.

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this fucking scare campaign

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nnnnnn

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Omg, I love it. The foolish will make themselves look like clowns to look "beautiful".

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they look like they've got those wax candy lips on



jfc nightmare fuel

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Pls tell me this is shopped.

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The girl on the right......

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That's Kim on the right right? She doesn't look human anymore, hideous.

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no i think its larsa pippen, kims best friend. i think shes like an NBA wife or something.;

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It's fucked up that so many women and girls think they have to all look a certain way to be beautiful. It makes me sad. Everyone ends up looking the same and it always looks a little "off."

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lmaooo they all look like shit.

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this is soooo fucking terrifying.

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Whoa....thats ridiculous

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They all look like the same woman in different stages of life.

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People are going to mock lips like this in retrospect like every does with thin eyebrows from the early 2000s

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...Who are these people? The one on the far left looks like Khloe but idk.

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3/4 look like they're having a severe allergic reaction

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I think it's hilarious non-black women are scrambling to look like this when black women are being called "n-word lips" or are being made fun of for having fuller lips... SMH



Edited at 2018-03-11 10:30 pm (UTC)

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Kim and Brielle look sooo bad :(

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I hate that lip injection overdrawn look. Its fine on instagram but in real life its so awkward looking.



I need to get another Sephora lipstories lipstick, they are so nice for only $8.

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Are the Charlotte Tillbury lipsticks any good, specifically the KISSING formula? I've been looking for a muted cool-toned pink for ages so I've got my eye on Liv It Up.

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lip injections really annoy me when beauty gurus have them and then try to give you their opinions on lip products. like they shill some drying ass liquid lipstick when it'll emphasize the natural lines in normal people's lips

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And some beauty gurus just do not know when to stop when it comes to lip injections. Nicol Concilio's lips look INSANE. Or at least they did. I think she had to stop because her body was rejecting the injections or something.

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I really hate how many YouTube beauty gurus promote lip injections and act like it's no big deal and totally normal to get procedures like that done, especially when they're still like 21-24 years old and have a young following. It makes me think about how many girls' and womens' minds are being warped by people they consider "friends" even though it's still just some random "famous" person. People think YouTubers are relatable and accessible, but they're literally always advertising to you and you're basically paying them to shill a bunch of crap you don't need. idk, I have such mixed feelings about the beauty community on YouTube.

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totally mte. it's easier to brush off celebrities as having unattainable attributes, but girls are literally looking to these gurus for advice on appearance-based things...and then cosmetics procedures become natural progression of that

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Gone are the days when youtubers were relatable, unless you watch people with very small followings. It's just funny to me that these people think they're "creatives" and don't realize they actually work in the advertising industry and just peddle products.

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A zit popped up on my chin over night. SMH. NO ONE INVITED YOU HERE. GO AWAY.

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LinkThere is so much to read I still havent caught up. The whole situation is insane.

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saving this read for my commute, i love a good publishing fraud drama

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People who fake medical conditions to scam people out of money are some of the lowest of the low.

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I believe Im 23!!! Or whatever. She is the worst

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This is wild. I wish I had been on the scene to watch the Msscribe debacle unfold in real time.

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It was the wildest thing I have ever seen. The HP fandom on LJ was such a shit show, lmao.

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Those were truly the glory days of fandom_wank.

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I was not in the HP fandom and was barely on LJ, but that wank drew EVERYBODY like the Earth's magnetic core. Everyone had to try to explain what fandom and fanfic were to their mundy friends in order to share the story.

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I joined F_W after all of that passed. I read up on the whole thing, though and it still boggles my mind. Wow.

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I still dedicate a day to read the entire damn drama + rereading the old F_W days. Those really were the good old days.

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I googled msscribe and while reading, I found a link to the 10 best tales of fandom drama which reminded me of Victoria Bitter. I don't know if I read about her here but that was a trip.

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omg victoria bitter

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I was only about ten years old when that happened so I didn't get to experience the glory in real time, sad!

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same



I was in HP fandom but was a lurker so most of it passed me right by. I do remember peripherally witnessing some of the events in the later part of the saga but being blissfully unaware of the whole context

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i reread that account at least once a year. i wish i had been active in the fandom and old enough for it lol.

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No fucking way. Trash.

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omg i just read through the whole saga and... jesus. it honestly blows my mind that something like this could've been kept a secret for longer than a few months given the internet and how easy it is to reveal your personal info online.

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faking a medical condition is never a durable long term plan tbh. Not only is it inevitable that people will eventually catch on, but it's also one of those unforgivable lies people won't get over. Why people keep trying this shit is insane to me

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I kinda think people do it because HIPAA laws (in America anyway) allow for zero access to anyone but the patient and health proxies to medical records, so its nearly impossible to verify someone is lying that way. That, and people know its shitty to imply someone is lying about a serious medical condition. Its bonkers to me as well that people do it .

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ia. at least cassandra claire or whatever only got ppl to buy her laptops.

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A lot of people are desperate for attention and to feel important and tragic. There are easier ways to make money, but they choose this road for psychological reasons.

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Well if they solicited money on the internet and received it under fraudulent pretenses, they can be charges for wire fraud.

Sorry to say, but I rarely believe someones hard luck story unless their is at least another person who verifies it.

I was just approached about a month ago by a guy in a panic on the street asking me for 60.00 so he could get his pregnant wife to the hospital. Halfway through his panicked appeal a guy pops his head out of a business beside us, and a guy asks "Is he asking you for money?, He ain't got no wife, it's a scam"

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Preying on people's sense of compassion and empathy for a scam is gross as hell. I had a similar experience in Philly years ago and it still pisses me off. Ask for money, fine, but don't make shit up.

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There's a guy near my office who does this sort of thing constantly. I'm so thankful someone warned me about him because I may have fallen for it (I hate confrontation to begin with) or even giving him anything.

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Yup when I used to work in a strip mall there were these dickhead parents who had their young kids hawking little bags of famous Amos for a school fundraiser, and the sport always changed depending on which kid was begging and which season it was. It was so fucking gross seeing these parents not only scamming but forcing their kids to scam during the summer when they should be outside playing and having fun

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this reminds me of the Florida Project. This is sad because it's clearly the only way the parents think they can make money. I'm sure they would generally prefer to have a real job and to let their kids be kids but people do some sad shit when they're desperate.

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I have had his book (Illegal Contact) on my TBR list for a while due to the raving reviews - I guess I won't be reading it now!



I also read something about him (her?) catfishing readers, getting them to send him naked pics and using their stories in books?

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And, yes, to your question, heres one story: Same here, I was looking forward to listening to the Illegal Contact series. Ugh.And, yes, to your question, heres one story: http://twitter.com/sweetsakuradoll/status/972031764766994432

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holy shit

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Ignore the rave reviews. I read Evenfall and it was soooo bad. Like the worst quality fanfic

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Straight women need to stop fetishising me.

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I never liked Santino Hassalls books (ok at least the one they cowrote so maybe it wasnt 100% their fault) but I always appreciated them as an ACTUAL lgbt voice writing and publishing M/M instead of another str8 woman. Now, never the fuck mind :/

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Jennelle (the girl on the cover) posed as a CIA agent named Chris and would email her mother (from Jenelle's email) saying he's watching the family and protecting them from their enemies who he is not afraid to kill if need be.



And the mom totally believed this and thought it was 100% legit. this went on for years, and Jenelle's mom loved "Chris" like a son and begged to meet him. Jenelle and her mom were paranoid narcissists and fed off each other, basically. Anytime someone upset them they immediately jumped to "they want me dead."



long story short Jenelle and her mother convinced Jenelle's dad and Jenelle's bf to kill two of her "enemies." anyway my point being that weirdo catfishing is fascinating. i'm reading this catfishing story right nowJennelle (the girl on the cover) posed as a CIA agent named Chris and would email her mother (from Jenelle's email) saying he's watching the family and protecting them from their enemies who he is not afraid to kill if need be.And the mom totally believed this and thought it was 100% legit. this went on for years, and Jenelle's mom loved "Chris" like a son and begged to meet him. Jenelle and her mom were paranoid narcissists and fed off each other, basically. Anytime someone upset them they immediately jumped to "they want me dead."long story short Jenelle and her mother convinced Jenelle's dad and Jenelle's bf to kill two of her "enemies." anyway my point being that weirdo catfishing is fascinating.

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lmao i heard about this on Murder, Myth, and Mystery and the whole story was wild from start to finish.

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it really is. it happened about an hour from where i live so i heard about it a lot but reading this book it's even crazier than i realized. like i didn't know the mom was convinced her estranged oldest daughter (jenelle's sister) wanted to kill her. it is a t r i p

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This remind me of my colleague's client... I'm a social worker and one of my colleague has been complaining for weeks about one of her client who has a mental illness (no diagnosis yet) that make her invent all kind of problems and she just goes to random associations with social workers all the time to ask for help lol Last week my colleague learned her client went to the national league against cancer of my country to ask for reimbursement for her travel expanses to treat her terminal cancer...which she obviously do not have lol





Edited at 2018-03-11 08:27 pm (UTC)

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this pacehim realness lol.

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I watched a 48 hours or Dateline (can't remember which, I went down a youtube hole watching mystery after mystery for a few weeks) about this case and SHIT. WAS. WILD. They really played up that Jennelle is/was/supposedly "mentally and socially slow" but she was clearly extremely manipulative. I remember the interviewer trying to call her out on her shit and she just started bawling and had her lawyer call off the interview when it was obvious the interviewer didn't believe her. Mom was just as bad, and dad and boyfriend got wrapped up in it and murdered people... fucking crazy.

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This story makes my head hurt

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LinkNot the answer I was expecting tbh

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Ooh, we're finally asking men this question? Either way, this is a surprisingly good response. Good on you, Alfred!

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Wait, he's claiming that he introduced Woody and Mia to each other? I always read that they randomly met at some NYC party. Plus Woody had already worked with Mia's sister Tisa on the film Manhattan months before he officially met Mia, so there was already a connection there. Weird.

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Yeah, I thought of that too, but I've read a couple of bios on both Woody and Mia and don't remember him being named as the specific person, so that's why I'm surprised, lol. Michael and Mia already knowing each other wouldn't surprise me though, they did seem to have similar groups of friends in the '60s

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BEST MOVIE EVER

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such a lovely role tbh

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Every person who says this is another nail in his coffin.

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good. the more actors to renounce WA the better. more will follow suit.

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"Caine is a patron of the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children"



Wow, finally people actually sticking up for their cause

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Babysteps, we need more high profile men stepping up to the plate.

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At first, I felt he was too soft on him, bringing up the wonderful time they had together and saying that he has no regrets. I feel like people are going to rip him up just for that, but I think he's just being honest about what it's like to find out, in the most horrific way, that someone isn't the person you thought they were.



Now, if he could give Diane Keaton a lesson on the proper way to respond...

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Wow, Im actually pleasantly surprised. I always assumed he was part of the aint shit old white British men club a la John Cleese. Good for him.

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im happy to read this. more people need to stand up publicly and denounce him as well. [obviously]

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*birdman hand rub* YAAAS ALFRED.

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iconic gif iconic gif

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The one with the exploison in the background with the doves flying by? Also iconic.

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Y E S

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we need more responses like this

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I have always liked him for some reason? Like i don't follow him but if i see him in a movie i like him? Good thing to know he is decent

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Okay, didn't expect this from that ol' Tory. But hey, it's good!

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this is a good statement, i wish more ppl would come forward and follow suit

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but when he is gonna apologize for doing dear dictator

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LinkOrmat Technologies, Inc. operates as a holding company. The firm engages in the provision of geothermal and recovered energy power business. It operates through the following segments: Electricity, Product and Energy Storage. The Electricity segment focuses in the sale of electricity from the company's power plants pursuant to PPAs. The Product segment involves in the manufacture, including design and development, of turbines and power units for the supply of electrical energy and in the associated construction of power plants utilizing the power units manufactured by the company to supply energy from geothermal fields and other alternative energy sources. The Energy Storage segment consists of battery energy storage systems as a service and management of curtailable customer loads under contracts with U.S. retail energy providers and directly with large commercial and industrial customers. The company was founded in 1965 and is headquartered in Reno, NV.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of DaVita: Aberdeen Dialysis LLC, Accountable Kidney Care LLC, Adair Dialysis LLC, American Fork Dialysis LLC, American Medical Insurance Inc., Animas Dialysis LLC, Arcadia Gardens Dialysis LLC, Ashdow Dialysis LLC, Atlantic Dialysis LLC, Austin Dialysis Centers L.P., Barnell Dialysis LLC, Barrons Dialysis LLC, Barton Dialysis LLC, Bastrop Dialysis LLC, Beachside Dialysis LLC, Beck Dialysis LLC, Bellevue Dialysis LLC, Bemity Dialysis LLC, Beverly Hills Dialysis Partnership, Birch Dialysis LLC, Bladon Dialysis LLC, Bliss Dialysis LLC, Bohama Dialysis LLC, Bowan Dialysis LLC, Braddock Dialysis LLC, Bridges Dialysis LLC, Brimfield Dialysis LLC, Brook Dialysis LLC, Brownsville Kidney Center Ltd., Brownwood Dialysis LLC, Bruno Dialysis LLC, Buckhorn Dialysis LLC, Buford Dialysis LLC, Bullards Dialysis LLC, Bullock Dialysis LLC, Calante Dialysis LLC, Campton Dialysis LLC, Canyon Springs Dialysis LLC, Capes Dialysis LLC, Capital Dialysis Partnership, Capron Dialysis LLC, Carlton Dialysis LLC, Carroll County Dialysis Facility Inc., Carroll County Dialysis Facility Limited Partnership, Cascades Dialysis LLC, Caverns Dialysis LLC, Cedar Dialysis LLC, Centennial LV LLC, Central Carolina Dialysis Centers LLC, Central Georgia Dialysis LLC, Central Iowa Dialysis Partners LLC, Central Kentucky Dialysis Centers LLC, Channel Dialysis LLC, Cheraw Dialysis LLC, Chicago Heights Dialysis LLC, Chipeta Dialysis LLC, Churchill Dialysis LLC, Cinco Rios Dialysis LLC, Clark Dialysis LLC, Clayton Dialysis LLC, Cleburne Dialysis LLC, Clinica Central do Bonfim S.A., Clinton Township Dialysis LLC, Clyfee Dialysis LLC, Columbus-RNA-DaVita LLC, Conconully Dialysis LLC, Continental Dialysis Center Inc., Couer Dialysis LLC, Court Dialysis LLC, Cowell Dialysis LLC, Cowesett Dialysis LLC, Crossings Dialysis LLC, Crystals Dialysis LLC, Cuivre Dialysis LLC, Culbert Dialysis LLC, DC Healthcare International Inc., DNP Management Company LLC, DPS CKD LLC, DV Care Netherlands B.V., DV Care Netherlands C.V., DVA Healthcare - Southwest Ohio LLC, DVA Healthcare Renal Care Inc., DVA Healthcare of Maryland LLC, DVA Healthcare of Massachusetts Inc., DVA Healthcare of New London LLC, DVA Healthcare of Norwich LLC, DVA Healthcare of Pennsylvania LLC, DVA Healthcare of Tuscaloosa LLC, DVA Holdings Pte. 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It owns 81% working interest in 642,300 net acres of developed land and 87% working interest in 376,700 net acres of undeveloped land, and 613 net producing natural gas wells and 3,034 net producing oil wells in Canada; and 96% working interest in 248,900 net acres of developed land and 91% working interest in 222,100 net acres of undeveloped land in the Aquitaine and Paris Basins, and 325 net producing oil wells and 3.0 net producing gas wells in France. The company also owns 49% working interest in 930,000 net acres of land and 51 net producing natural gas wells in the Netherlands; and 36,900 net developed acres and 965,900 net undeveloped acres of land, and 61 net producing oil wells and 8 net producing natural gas wells in Germany. In addition, it owns offshore Corrib natural gas field located to the northwest coast of Ireland; and 100% working interest in the Wandoo offshore oil field and related production assets that covers 59,600 acres located on Western Australia's northwest shelf. Further, the company holds 138,000 net acres of land in the Powder River basin, and 136.6 net producing oil wells in the United States; and 951,200 net acres of land in Hungary, 244,900 net acres of land in Slovakia, and 2.4 million net acres of land in Croatia. Vermilion Energy Inc. was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read More1 Wall Street analysts have issued "buy," "hold," and "sell" ratings for Pharos Energy in the last year. There are currently 1 hold rating for the stock. The consensus among Wall Street analysts is that investors should "hold" Pharos Energy stock. A hold rating indicates that analysts believe investors should maintain any existing positions they have in SOCLF, but not buy additional shares or sell existing shares.

View analyst ratings for Pharos Energy or view top-rated stocks.Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday angrily lashed out at NATO, accusing the Western military alliance of failing to back Turkey's campaign against Kurdish militia in Syria. Erdogan's latest comments were among the toughest he has directed in recent times against NATO, which Turkey joined in 1952 as the US sought to make sure it did not fall under Soviet sway after World War II. Turkey launched its operation on January 20 seeking to oust the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) from the Afrin region of northern Syria with its forces now just a few kilometres away from Afrin town. But the YPG has been a key American ally in the fight against jihadists in Syria and the operation has raised tensions with Washington and European NATO powers, notably France. "Hey NATO! With what has been going on in Syria, when are you going to come and be alongside us?" Erdogan said in remarks to supporters in Bolu, a city east of Istanbul. "We are constantly harassed by terror groups on our borders," he said. "Unfortunately until now, there has not been a positive word or voice." After the start of the campaign, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Turkey had a right to defend itself but emphasised it must be done "in a proportionate and measured way." Erdogan slammed Washington for arming the YPG, saying the group had received 5,000 trucks and 2,000 cargo planes of weapons. "Is this friendship? Is this NATO unity?" he asked in a later speech, noting how Turkey had backed the alliance by participating in its operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere. "Are we not a NATO member?" He also said Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels were now just four to five kilometres (about three miles) from Afrin which they were poised to take. Turkey regards the YPG as a terror group and a branch of militants in Turkey who have waged an insurgency for decades. Speaking on Saturday, Erdogan said after taking Afrin, Turkey's offensive would expand to key border towns controlled by the YPG right up to the Iraqi frontier.BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's police chief Catherine De Bolle was named as Europol's new executive director on Thursday, another first for a woman who says she is getting used to taking on roles traditionally held by men.

When she became Belgium's first female Federal Police commissioner in 2012, de Bolle said she had thought "the glass ceiling was broken" but she acknowledged that there was still a persistent gender imbalance in her field.

"I have always been the first (woman) in most of the jobs I have done," she told EU ministers at Thursday's Justice and Home Affairs Council.

Her biggest challenge at Europol would be to balance the needs of individual member states with those of the bloc's institutions, she said.

De Bolle's appointment falls on International Women's Day, an annual celebration of the movement for women's rights.

She takes over from Rob Wainwright at the European Union's law enforcement agency on May 1.

(Reporting by Samantha Koester; Editing by Louise Ireland)As Pope Francis marks the fifth year of his papacy next week, the pontiff once hailed as a fearless reformer is under fire for his handling of the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church. Since taking over in March 2013, the 81-year-old Argentinian has championed the cause of the marginalised, saying he wanted a "poor church for the poor" and shunning papal palaces and ostentatious displays of wealth. His reform agenda has introduced the possibility in certain cases to allow divorced and remarried believers to take communion, although he still agrees with the Church's traditional positions on other issues, such as abortion, artificial contraception and gay marriage. But the sex abuse scandals have haunted his papacy and last month the Vatican announced it was reviving its anti-paedophile panel. A trip to Chile in January was seen as a resounding failure after he defended a bishop accused of covering up the crimes of a paedophile priest. Francis, who like his predecessor Benedict XVI, promised a "zero tolerance" approach to sexual abuse, sparked uproar when he said: "The day they bring me proof against Bishop (Juan) Barros, then I will speak." But he later apologised to the victims and sent a Vatican top expert on sex abuse to hear the witnesses in the case. - 'Repeating mistakes of the past' - Marie Collins of Ireland, who was raped as child by a priest, told AFP that while it might be "human nature to want to defend your institution... the Church, instead of learning from the past, is repeating the mistakes of the past." "The Church tends to make the same mistake -- in every country where survivors start to come forward, they are treated in the same way," said Collins, who resigned last year from the now revived anti-paedophilia commission. Francis was similarly lenient towards Don Mauro Inzoli, an Italian priest nicknamed "Don Mercedes" for his expensive tastes. Don Inzoli had been effectively defrocked by Benedict, but Francis overturned that ruling, mitigating his sentence to "a life of prayer." Nevertheless, after the priest was sentenced to nearly five years in prison in Italy for sex abuse of adolescents last June, the pope dismissed him of clerical duties. When Francis set up the commission in December 2014 to look into how to protect minors and vulnerable adults in the Church, Collins was one of two abuse survivors to sit on the panel. - Children 'continue to be abused and raped' - Collins walked out in March 2017, denouncing the "shameful" lack of cooperation within the Vatican and complaining that a tribunal announced in 2015 to deal with paedophile priests has never actually been set up. German Cardinal Gerhard Mueller, the Church's top doctrinal watchdog who has since been ousted by Francis, argued that the tribunal would double up with already existing bodies. Catherine Bonnet, a French child psychiatrist who also sat on the commission, complained that "in three years we only had six plenary meetings in Rome". "We did have regular e-mail exchanges, but it's hard to debate in that way," she told AFP in an interview. "We have made proposals on important points, but, to my knowledge, Pope Francis has not given answers, which is really worrying. "The problem is that the pope is extremely busy with many issues. But the issue of protecting today's children is urgent. Children continue to be abused and raped within the Church." Collins, too, said "the words coming from the pope and the Vatican are very good. The problem is, the actions don't follow through." For her, the problem was "that those within the Vatican don't see how their actions are viewed from outside." The decision, for example, to hold the funeral of disgraced US Cardinal Bernard Law in the St. Peter's basilica in December may have been within liturgical tradition. But it caused offence to survivors of sexual abuse in the US. Law, a former Boston archbishop, became one of the main faces of the sex abuse crisis in the Roman Catholic Church after admitting that he failed to protect children from predator priests, despite evidence they had been molesting youngsters. Another case casting a shadow over Francis' papacy is the Vatican's finance chief Cardinal George Pell, who is facing committal proceedings in Australia to determine whether he should stand trial on multiple historical sexual offence charges. As the Vatican's number three, 76-year-old Pell is the highest ranking Catholic official to face such charges. The pope did however, oversee a change in Church law in 2016 allowing bishops to be dismissed in cases of "negligence" when reporting incidents of paedophilia. The Vatican also organises awareness classes and the Pope regularly meets with survivors of abuse. But Church law does not oblige the hierarchy to denounce suspected cases of abuse to the civilian authorities. "We must be as transparent as possible, it is the duty of the Church to do everything possible to avoid abuses," said German theologian Hans Zollner, regarded as one of the leading experts in the field.Florida may soon have one of the countrys strictest child marriage laws after state lawmakers overwhelmingly approved a bill barring marriage for those under the age of 17.

The bill passed the House on a 109-1 vote on Friday. Republican Rep. George Moraitis was the sole representative to vote no. Hed said previously that it was very reasonable for children aged 16 or older to marry with parental consent.

The bill now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Rick Scott, whos expected to sign it into law.

Activists hailed the new legislation as an important milestone in the fight to end child marriage in the U.S. My heart is happy, rape survivor Sherry Johnson, who was 11 when she was forced to marry her 20-year-old assailant, told The Associated Press. My goal was to protect our children and I feel like my mission has been accomplished.

Johnson, who was in the visitors gallery during the House vote, has campaigned for years to get child marriage banned in Florida. According to the AP, lawmakers repeatedly cited her story as an example of why the state needed to take a more rigid stance on the issue. The activist was reportedly applauded by lawmakers after the bills passing.

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The measure that passed was a weakened version of an earlier bill that sought to establish 18 as the minimum marriage age in Florida. Under the measure sent to Scott, 17-year-olds can get married so long as their partners are no more than two years older than they are and parental consent is obtained.

Floridas current law allows 16- and 17-year-olds to marry with parental consent  and in cases of pregnancy, a judge can approve the marriage of a younger child. Since 2012, at least one 13-year-old and several 14-year-olds have wed in Florida, reported the AP.

Im very happy, even though its not at the top line of 18, Johnson said of the revised bill. I can deal with the line of 17 with all of the requirements.

Other activists were more muted in their celebration.

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Its not what we wanted, but its much, much better, Amanda Parker of the AHA Foundation, a womens rights organization, told PBS Frontline. We really wanted to see a bright line minimum marriage at 18. We know that 17-year-olds are the most likely to be married out of all minors, so were still leaving a big chunk of the population at risk of child marriage in Florida.

More than 16,000 minors were married in Florida between 2000 and 2015, according to a Frontline analysis of child marriage in the U.S. Of those minors, more than 60 percent were 17 at the time of marriage.

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Child marriage remains legal in the U.S., where every state has legal loopholes or exceptions permitting those under the age of 18 to marry, according to Reuters.

Several states, including Alaska and New Hampshire, are mulling bills to raise the minimum marriage age. In Tennessee, a bill that sought to ban child marriage was effectively killed by House Republicans last week.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition accused the embattled premier on Sunday of perpetuating a "fake crisis" over a political dispute to potentially force early elections. The dispute comes as Netanyahu faces a possible indictment on bribery charges in the coming months. Polls suggest he could remain prime minister and his Likud party could win the most seats in fresh elections despite police investigations into his affairs. Victory could bolster his political standing ahead of the attorney general's decision on indictments. Netanyahu has said he wants his coalition to last its entire term, which expires in November 2019 -- something he repeated on Sunday. But others in his right-wing coalition suggested he had other motives. The coalition is at loggerheads over legislation that would exempt young ultra-Orthodox men from military service, a dispute that has threatened to pull the government apart. "Over the past week we've baked a good solution for the draft crisis. I can say that there's no draft crisis. It's a fake crisis," Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, told reporters ahead of Sunday's cabinet meeting. He added that "it could be that there's someone who for personal reasons wants to generate a crisis and lead the state to elections... In the end it's all up to one person who has to decide whether he wants elections or not, and that's the prime minister." Yaakov Margi of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party implied that compromises had been made to allow for a resolution, saying that "the feeling is that the prime minister has fallen in love with this fake crisis." "Once the heads of the ultra-Orthodox parties announced they'd agree to a solution, the draft crisis was solved," he wrote on Twitter. "All the rest is a fake crisis." The ultra-Orthodox parties are refusing to approve the state budget unless the conscription bill passes. The bill is bitterly opposed by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman. Netanyahu met with leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties Saturday night, after which he said they were working on a draft for the bill that would meet legal and political demands. Speaking with Likud ministers ahead of the Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said they were "working for a stable government that would work until the end of its term in November 2019." "In order for that to happen, all the parties need to reach agreements and decide to continue together," he said, implying that he was not the cause of the dispute. Netanyahu could soon face charges in at least two separate corruption affairs. Last week, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of ultra-Orthodox alliance United Torah Judaism said that Netanyahu wanted early elections. A spokesman for Litzman said on Sunday that there were currently discussions among all relevant parties over the wording of the conscription bill.Pro-Kurdish demonstrators staged protests against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria on Sunday scuffling with Turks and German police at Duesseldorf airport, while in Britain they temporarily closed two train stations, authorities said. Several people in Germany were left injured after police used pepper spray against some demonstrators opposed to Turkey's ongoing military operation "Olive Branch" against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's Afrin region. The unannounced rally of about 150 people -- one of several Kurdish demonstrations in Germany at the weekend -- turned rowdy and led to "a number of people suffering injuries", federal police told AFP. Images on social media showed the protesters holding a banner that read "Afrin is becoming our Vietnam -- We will defeat fascism". Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to "purge" Kurdish militia from the town of Afrin as his forces and allied Syrian rebels advanced to within a few kilometres. In Britain on Sunday flag-waving pro-Kurdish protesters forced the closure of Manchester Piccadilly train station and King's Cross station in London. In the capital British police massed at the station entrance to prevent the crowd marching on to the concourse or platforms, causing service interruptions. Meanwhile in Manchester scores of demonstrators made it onto the tracks, closing the station for several hours which led to trains being halted and impacting travellers across the country. Superintendent Mark Cleland of the British Transport Police said: "Those involved in this afternoon's incident will be subject to intense investigation with a view to arrest and prosecution".Sure, every foodie loves tacos and enchiladas. But what about lesser-known Mexican classics like cochinita pibil, the impossibly flavorful, slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatan peninsula? Or escamoles, the ant larvae from central Mexico known as "insect caviar"? Or empanadas de mole, pastries filled with the savory chocolate sauce of the Oaxaca region? Mexico has always been a major player on the world food scene. But increasingly, top chefs are embracing and promoting the country's richly varied regional cuisine, driving the Mexican gastronomic experience to a whole new level. One of the poster boys for the trend is Alejandro Ruiz, whose Mexico City restaurant Guzina Oaxaca drew a rave review in The New York Times with its "chic interpretations of traditional classics." Ruiz comes from the village of La Raya in the southern state of Oaxaca, where he grew up grinding corn and cooking for his family to help his mother, who worked full-time washing clothes. His restaurant, which opened in 2014, is a celebration of his home state, a mountainous region known for its huge diversity of ingredients and deep culinary traditions. "Where I come from, the kitchen is the most important part of the home," Ruiz told AFP. "What I do (in the kitchen) is who I am, it's where I was born, it's my mother's milk. It's in my DNA. What's my identity? Oaxaca." - 'Whole other level of flavor' - Oaxaca isn't the only region whose traditional cuisine has been elevated to new levels of chic. Mexico stretches from the deserts of the northern border to the tropical forests of the south, with long Caribbean and Pacific coastlines in between, giving it immense biodiversity and a sprawling palette of ingredients. Its flavors are also shaped by its complex history, blending influences from its many indigenous groups, the Spanish conquistadors, European elites, slaves from Africa, immigrants from all over and the ever-present United States. Laura Siciliano-Rosen, co-founder of the food blog Eat Your World, loses count listing her culinary adventures in Mexico's myriad regions and sub-regions. Dining in Mexico, she says, one minute you can be eating sinfully delicious tacos. Then, a few hours by bus -- or a few Mexico City blocks or market stands away -- "suddenly you're eating turkey and hardboiled eggs and these really rich pastes, 'recados,' from the Yucatan peninsula, which is just a whole other level of flavor that only exists there." Mexican food's strength is its "regionality," she says -- something that is only just starting to be exported abroad. "The more people are learning about the regionality of the cuisine and how distinct and complex it is, the more they're blown away, like 'Wow, this is real Mexican food,'" she says. - Peruvian fusion, Mexican diversity - William Drew, of the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants list, says this is exactly what has propelled Mexican restaurants onto the closely watched ranking. "The diversity is extraordinary," he says. "If you think you know what Mexican cuisine is, then you probably haven't experienced enough of it." Mexico has two restaurants in the current top 50, which remains dominated by Europe: Enrique Olvera's Pujol and Jorge Vallejo's Quintonil, both in Mexico City. But Mexico's top chefs are nervously eying their colleagues to south, in Peru -- whose fusion-fueled cuisine makes it a rival contender for the title of Latin America's hottest food destination. Peru's mix of Andean, European and Asian influences -- symbolized in recipes like "ceviche," a refreshing dish of raw fish marinated in lime -- has made its cuisine all the rage. In fact, Peru has two spots on Restaurant's current top 10: Virgilio Martinez's Central at number five, and Mitsuharu Tsumura's Maido at number eight. The top Mexican restaurant, Pujol, comes in at 20. - Street food - That is making some people in Mexico nervous. Mauricio Avila works at the Mexican culture ministry, and his job is to compile and preserve Mexico's gastronomic heritage. "Mexicans love food, and we're proud of our food, but we don't advertise it. We've always believed it wasn't fancy enough for foreigners," he says. His office is actively encouraging the trend of celebrating Mexico's traditional regional cuisines. The government has released a 78-volume collection on "Indigenous and Popular Cuisine" -- each dedicated to a place, an ingredient or an ethnic group. It is also working on an index of ingredients. Sasha Correa, a Venezuelan gastronomy expert at Spain's renowned Basque Culinary Center, says Mexico has an allure all its own. "In a short time, Mexico has not only joined the phenomenon (of high-end dining in Latin America), it has done it with force, personality and a lot of distinctive elements," she says. And pity the misguided foodie who travels to Mexico City and only eats in trendy restaurants, when it is bursting with amazing food at nearly every street corner. "An ideal trip to Mexico City is doing a mix" of the two, says blogger Siciliano-Rosen. "But if you can't do the high-end, just do the low-end 100 percent, because there's so much variety, it's so accessible, and you can try anything and it's all going to be good."A mystery group of Hong Kong investors is backing a new long-haul budget carrier, betting on the rise of low-cost travel despite the wafer-thin margins of the airline industry.

Air Belgium chief executive Niky Terzakis gave little away about his Hong Kong backers, who control a 49 per cent stake, saying only that they were not airline people.

Everyone keeps focusing on [their identities], he complained. He added that details of the investors would be in the public record very soon and the majority shareholding was in Belgium and Europe.

The ambitious start-up, which has not sold a single air ticket yet, aims to launch its first flights this month  from Brussels to Hong Kong  given the soaring appetite for flights to, from and within China, which is on course to surpass the United States as the largest aviation market by 2022.

In an exclusive interview, Terzakis, the former boss at cargo airline TNT Airways, was cautious about success. Its no secret, operating an airline in Europe is a complicated thing. Usually its airlines that need the money, he said.

The recent demise of three European airlines  Italys Alitalia, UK leisure operator Monarch and Germanys Air Berlin  and German national carrier Lufthansa taking full control of rival Brussels Airlines last year, placing it under its low-cost long-haul unit, have underscored the volatility of the business.

But Terzakis batted off some concerns, as he said: Lets be fair, we are a niche player. The advantage we have is a clean sheet of paper. Now the legacy airlines are highly competitive in some aspects and many are creating low-cost airlines.

Rising oil prices have been cited as another cause for concern, with jet fuel making up as much as 40 per cent of an airlines costs. The price of oil fell from nearly US$110 (HK$858) a barrel in 2014 to US$35 two years later, but it has slowly rebounded, closing at US$63 on Friday. The airline would start flying initially with four second-hand fuel-hungry Airbus A340-300 aircraft.

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On top of that, the model of a true low-cost long-haul carrier is starting to show cracks as Norwegian Air displayed in its recent financial results, losing US$38 million in 2017 as traditional airlines fought back.

The upstart Belgian airline, with 360 staff employed by the end of next month, is still waiting for permission from authorities to start flights. Air Belgium also has no domestic or regional destinations to transfer passengers between short- and long-haul routes.

Almost a decade ago, home-grown airline Oasis Hong Kong, which had a business model similar to a budget airline, collapsed with HK$1 billion (US$128.2 million) in debts. It also lacked short-haul routes, which are important to transfer passengers onto long-haul flights and fill planes profitably.

Its difficult to tell whether Air Belgiums strategy is financially sustainable, associate professor in aviation management at Polytechnic University Achim Czerny said. The airline business is risky and there is certainly no guarantee that they will survive.

Air Belgiums arrival would make it one of the first of a spate of new budget long-haul carriers from Europe or the United States to land in Hong Kong.

Choosing to fly to China was a simple decision as airlines currently only service five Asian destinations from Belgium. Air Belgium is aiming to fly to six destinations in the Greater China market, including Beijing and Shanghai. However, these are some of the most congested airports and difficult to obtain rights to fly to.

Henri Hie, a former executive at Air France and now an aviation professor at PolyU, said the new airline corresponds to Chinas development and real demand for direct and affordable fares for tourists.

But he doubted whether a low-cost start-up could succeed particularly with home-grown Chinese airlines already launching cut-price flights to Europe.

Travel intelligence company Forward Keys revealed that there would be at least 30 new China-Europe flights per week by June, even before Air Belgium manages to secure flights into mainland China.

Data, based on growth in confirmed air ticket bookings this summer, showed outbound China travel to Europe would grow by 7.4 percentage points to hold a 10 per cent market share, second only to the Asia-Pacific but more popular than the Americas, Africa and the Middle East. Travel into China from Europe would grow 13.2 percentage points to enjoy a 27 per cent market share over other parts of the world.

David Tarsh, a Forward Keys spokesman, said: The Chinese market is growing healthily  you expect there to be a good market in aviation between China to Europe in the long run.

Citing solid economic growth contributing to outbound travel, he said the big picture looks good but its much harder to predict what happens in the competitive environment because airlines can choose which routes to fly and you dont know what the competition will do and how fiercely they will regard you and that could make it more difficult.

Terzakis described Air Belgium as a hybrid budget long-haul airline with a premium business class and no-frills economy service.

We want to come in with a different product, a fresh view. And, of course, low cost, Terzakis said.

Typically for a low-cost carrier, Air Belgium would not fly from the countrys main international airport. To save money, it will use Brussels South Charleroi airport, home mostly to budget carriers and located some 60km from the city centre.

The positioning in the market is quite simple. We want to be a very competitive airline, merging service classes and the low-cost element of it, Terzakis said. We intend to offer competitive rates. We think the market wants good choices and good fares.

Air Belgium is in a race to get its paperwork to launch its flights to Brussels on March 25, the same day that Cathay Pacific Airways launches its four weekly flights to the city.

Terzakis said his airline would not pretend to compete with Cathay other than by offering affordable air tickets; however, he declined to give details on pricing.

This article Mystery Hong Kong investors bet on low-cost start-up carrier Air Belgium first appeared on South China Morning Post

For the latest news from the South China Morning Post download our mobile app. Copyright 2018.British Prime Minister Theresa May will chair a meeting of her national security team Monday after weekend confirmation that traces of a nerve agent used in the attempted murder of a Russian former double agent were found in a pub and a restaurant he visited. May and senior ministers will receive an update on the investigation into the March 4 attack on Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter Yulia, as pressure mounts in Britain for answers over the incident. The Times reported that the prime minister is on the brink of publicly declaring Russia's involvement, possibly following the national security council meeting. She is considering a raft of "hard line" responses, with diplomatic expulsions and rescinding the visas of Kremlin-linked residents among the possible measures, the paper said. The Russian pair were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury, southwest England, and remain in a critical but stable condition in hospital. Authorities have yet to confirm the precise substance involved in the attack. Sally Davies, England's chief medical officer, revealed Sunday that up to 500 people who may have come into minimal contact with the nerve agent should wash their clothes and belongings as a precaution. The advice was aimed at locals who visited The Mill pub and Zizzi's restaurant that the targeted duo visited prior to falling ill. "There has been some trace contamination by the nerve agent," Davies said. "I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in The Mill pub or Zizzi's." The BBC reported a table at the restaurant was so contaminated that it had to be destroyed. Davies added that pub and restaurant-goers last Sunday or Monday should wash clothing in the washing machine, while dry clean-only clothes should be put inside two tied plastic bags and safely stored while awaiting further advice. She also gave detailed instructions for cleaning items such as mobile phones, handbags, jewellery and eyeglasses. - Precautionary measures - The advice, given a week after the incident, surprised residents repeatedly reassured they were in no danger. Steve Cooper, who was in the pub around the same time as Skripal, told the BBC he was "concerned". The risk to public health remained low and the advice was precautionary, Public Health England said. "It is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts," PHE said in a statement. "Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health." Nick Bailey, one of the first police officers on the scene after Skripal and his daughter fell ill, is in hospital but conscious, local police have said. Alastair Hay, an environmental toxicology professor at Leeds University, said the advice on cleaning clothes and possessions would provide an "extra guarantee of safety". "If no one has had physical symptoms suggestive of nerve agent contact by now it is unlikely that they are a risk," he said. "Nerve agents vary in their rate of environmental breakdown. Sarin is one of those that degrades more rapidly whereas VX is more persistent." Meanwhile, Britain's armed forces are expected to continue assisting police in the probe Monday. Around 180 troops, including chemical warfare experts, have been deployed in Salisbury after investigators requested expert assistance. Interior Minister Amber Rudd has said police were examining more than 200 pieces of evidence, had identified more than 240 witnesses, and were ploughing through security camera footage. The Telegraph reported that experts were testing the substance to ascertain if it was produced in Russia. - 'Nothing was done' - Skripal came to Britain in 2010 as part of a spy swap. He was a former colonel in Russia's military intelligence who was jailed in his country for betraying agents to Britain's MI6 secret service. Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson has been pointing the finger at Moscow. A public inquiry into the 2006 radiation poisoning death of Russian secret service defector Alexander Litvinenko concluded in 2016 that the killing in London had "probably" been carried out with the approval of President Vladimir Putin. Litvinenko's widow Marina said it seemed that Britain was unable to protect those to whom it offered political asylum. She revealed a 2016 letter from Theresa May, now Britain's prime minister, saying that "we will take every step to protect the UK and its people from such a crime ever being repeated". "We can see nothing was done," she told Sky News television.Before you proceed to snap up the first condo you come across, know that your investment is infinitely better made when youve done diligent research. Because when all is said and done, the rental real estate field still requires investors to have a good understanding of what does  and what doesnt  make for a money-making rental property.

So what makes a good rental property investment? For answers, we looked at apartments and condominiums across Singapore that commanded gross rental yields of 4% and above, to identify their common characteristics.

Current gross rental yields are calculated by taking the annual rental income of the development and dividing it by recent resale prices of the corresponding project. To ensure consistency, we only considered rental and sales transactions involving one-and-two bedroom units, and projects with at least five sales and five rental transactions of such units from January 2017 to January 2018.

Private residential properties with rental yields of 4% and above from Jan 2017  Jan 2018

Note: The list of properties differ slightly from those in our previous articles owing to changes in analysis parameters.

Common characteristics of high-yield Singapore properties

Singapores rental market remains in the doldrums, despite signs of a property market recovery from last year. Overall gross rental yields for non-landed private homes from January 2017 to January 2018 are hovering just around 3.2% - the lowest in a decade.

What are some characteristics that set these high-yield rental properties apart from the rest? From the list above, we have observed the following factors:

1) Proximity to the city centre

Location, location, location,  surely youve heard this phrase often enough to know of its importance. And indeed, it is pretty much the number one rule in real estate, since a homes value pretty much depends on where its at.

Its also a clear key criterion for real estate rentals, as you can see from our list. Six of the eight properties yielding 4% and above are located in the Central Region.

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Prime district properties located close to the Central Business District (CBD) also tend to see higher levels of rental demand. For instance, Lumiere, which had an average rental yield of 4.7% from January 2017 to January 2018, is smacked right in the CBD, and is just a stones throw away from International Plaza and Icon Village. Meanwhile, Suites at Orchard on Handy Road, which yielded an average of 4.1% within the same time period is less than five minutes drive or just two MRT stops away from Raffles Place.

Elsewhere, Alexis, The Centren, Kerrisdale and Burlington Square are all located in the city fringes of the Central Region.

2) Proximity to MRT stations

Based on our study, the majority of properties that yielded 4% and above from January 2017 and January 2018 are within 500m of the nearest MRT station.

In the prime districts, Lumiere is located 260m from the Tanjong Pagar MRT station, while Suites at Orchard is located just 112m from the Dhoby Ghaut MRT station.

Meanwhile, in the city fringes, Burlington Square is a mere 189m from Rochor MRT station. The Centren and Alexis are located 284m from Aljunied MRT station and 421m from Queenstown MRT station respectively. Elsewhere, Kerrisdale is located roughly 401m from Farrer Park MRT.

Find more properties near MRT stations here.

3) Distance to schools

Proximity to schools is another common characteristic of high-yield rental properties in Singapore, as observed in the cases of Haig 162 in Marine Parade and West Bay Condominium in Clementi.

For example, Haig 162, a 99-unit freehold development along Haig Road, is just minutes walk to Tanjong Katong Primary School and Tanjong Katong Secondary School. It is also within 1km radius of international schools such as the Canadian International School (Tanjong Katong Campus) and Chatsworth International School (East Campus).

Meanwhile, West Bay Condominium is about five minutes drive from the National University of Singapore (NUS), and is within 1km radius of schools like Waseda Shibuya Senior High School and Kent Ridge Secondary School.

Incidentally, both projects are not within 500m walking distance from the nearest MRT station. Find more properties near schools here.

While knowing some of the core characteristics of high-yield investment properties is vital in helping you find positive cash-flow properties, it is important to note that rental yield is just one part of the total return of investment equation. When considering real estate investment, it is equally important to pay attention to capital growth potential.

The general rule of thumb is, the lower the purchase price, the higher the potential for upside, and the higher the likelihood that rental yields will be favourable - such as this list of winning projects that won the EdgeProp Value Creation Award based on capital appreciation and rental returns. Read on for more!

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How much can you borrow for a HDB, EC or condo?President Donald Trump is in talks to add a high-profile Washington lawyer to the White House legal team to help respond to the special counsels Russia probe, reported The New York Times and Reuters.

Emmet T. Flood, who represented President Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings in the late 1990s, met with Trump in the Oval Office last week to discuss the possibility of representing him, the Times first reported Saturday.

Its unclear if Flood expressed interest in joining the White House after last weeks reported meeting. He passed on an opportunity last summer to represent Trump, according to the Times.

Flood is a partner at the D.C.-based litigation firm Williams & Connolly LLP, which represents Hillary Clinton. He previously served in the White House Counsels office under President George W. Bush and represented Vice President Dick Cheney in a civil suit brought by former CIA employee Valerie Plame.

White House lawyer Ty Cobb, as well as John Dowd and Jay Sekulow of Trumps personal legal team, round out the team of attorneys assigned to deal with special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into whether Trumps 2016 presidential campaign colluded with the Russian government.

If added to the White House legal team, Flood would be tasked with helping Trump handle Justice Department inquiries. Flood reportedly spoke with Trump about potential White House positions, as well as the possibility of being associate attorney general, Washington Post reporter Robert Costa tweeted Sunday.

Dowd told Reuters on Saturday that he did not know anything about Flood possibly joining the White House legal team. A representative for the White House did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment. Flood declined to comment.

In response to the report, Trump tweeted Sunday that he wasnt adding another lawyer to help out and accused the Times of intentionally writing a false story.

Trump claimed the reports author, Maggie Haberman, knows nothing about him. Haberman is a renowned White House correspondent who has interviewed Trump several times.

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Haberman fired back minutes later in a series of tweets, noting that several people close to Trump confirmed Saturdays report. She suggested Flood may have rejected an offer from Trump to join his legal team.

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Read the full report at The New York Times.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Surprising absolutely nobody, Chinas rubber-stamp parliament voted in favor of a measure to change the constitution and repeal presidential term limits, essentially allowing President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely. The National Peoples Congress said that 2,958 of the votes castor 99.8 percent of the 2,964 votes castwere in favor of the change. Only two people voted against the move, three abstained, and there was one spoiled ballot. The identifies of the five dissenters isand will almost certainly remaina mystery, notes the Guardian.

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I can now announce that the proposals to amend the constitution of the Peoples Republic of China has passed, an announcer said, starting what would be a 20-second round of applause from the people who voted to do away with one of the signature moves set up after Mao Zedongs tenure. Now the move officially makes Xi the most powerful Chinese leader since Mao himself. It isnt just that he got to scrap away term limits, the members of the National Peoples Congress also voted in favor of amendments that insert Xis political theory into the constitution, a feat no other leader since Mao had managed while in office, notes Reuters.

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From now on its difficult to see anyone ever challenging Xi, who has managed to change Chinas political structure in a few years. BBCs Stephen McDonell explains:

Only five years ago Beijing was being ruled by a collective leadership. Under ex-President Hu Jintao you could imagine differing views being expressed in the then nine-member Politburo Standing Committee. There was a feeling that Mr Hu needed to please various factions within the Communist Party and it seemed that every 10 years a new leader would come along with their own people in a process of smooth transition. From today all this has gone. The constitution has been altered to allow Xi Jinping to remain as president beyond two terms and they would not have gone to this much trouble if that was not exactly what he intended to do. There has been no national debate as to whether a leader should be allowed to stay on for as long as they choose. Quietly but surely Xi Jinping has changed the way his country is governed, with himself well and truly at the core.

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Some though warn the move could actually make Xi more vulnerable in the long term. He just dug a huge hole for himself, Li Datong, a former editor of the state-run China Youth Daily newspaper, tells CNN. The top leaders term limits are the biggest common denominator shared by all political forces in China, he added. Its removal could trigger political infighting thats why this move is dangerous.

Political commentator Cary Huang also said Xis attempt to become Chinas de facto monarch could have pitfalls. History has shown that many political leaders who sought lifelong service have not managed to realize their vision, Huang warned in Hong Kongs South China Morning Post. Some have been deposed  others have been assassinated by political enemies.No doubt disappointing many progressive Democrats, Sen. Elizabeth Warren repeated several times on Sunday that she isnt running for president in 2020. But she did leave herself some wiggle room in the answer. The senator from Massachusetts appeared in three Sunday talk showsCNNs State of the Union, Fox News Sunday, and NBCs Meet the Pressand was asked about her future political plans.

I am not running for president of the United States. I am running for the United States Senate. 2018. Massachusettswoohoo, the senator said on NBC. She repeated the same thing on CNN: I am not running for president in 2020. Throughout the interviews, Warren insisted Democrats cant just be seen as a party that suddenly cares about politics every four years.

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Sen. Elizabeth Warren: I am not running for president in 2020 https://t.co/0dy8gxtdRw https://t.co/M99yjYnqvR  CNN (@CNN) March 11, 2018

NBCs Chuck Todd repeatedly pressed Warren about whether she would be serving her full six-year term if she wins in November and she constantly refused to do so, suggesting there could be something up her sleeve. So no pledge, though, on the six years? Todd asked for the last time. I am not running for president, Warren answered.

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THIS MORNING:

.@chucktodd: "So no pledge, though, on the six years?"@SenWarren: "I am not running for president."#MTP  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 11, 2018

Todd also asked Warren about a call from a Massachusetts newspaper that she take a DNA test to prove her Native American heritage. I know who I am and never used it for anything, Warren said. Never got any benefit from it anywhere. The Berkshire Eagle called on Warren to take the test, noting that the issue had become an Achilles heel for the senator.

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WATCH: @SenWarren talks on her Native American heritage and says, "I know who I am. And never used it for anything. Never got any benefits from it anywhere." #MTP pic.twitter.com/d9ZOGZOBgg  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 11, 2018

In the interviews on Sunday, Warren made clear her family history is more important to her than what a DNA test might say. Its a part of me, and nobodys going to take that part of me away, she said, without actually answering the question directly. Its about my familys story.

Because my familys story is deeply a part of me and a part of my brothers, Warren said after CNNs Jim Acosta also asked Warren if she gets upset when President Trump calls her Pocahontas.. Its what we learned from our parents. Its what we learned from our grandparents. Its what we learned from our aunts and uncles.The 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi were very close to getting off to a tragic start after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a passenger plane be shot down after warnings that it had a bomb on board. In a two-hour documentary titled Putin that was published on Russian social media, Putin said he received an ominous phone call mere hours after the Olympics opening ceremony was set to start. I was told: a plane en route from Ukraine to Istanbul was seized, captors demand landing in Sochi, Putin said in the film, according to Reuters.

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The pilots of the Turkish Pegasus Airlines reported that a passenger had a bomb and the plane had to change course to Sochi. There were 110 passengers on the Boeing 737-800 flying from the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv to Istanbul. Andrey Kondrashov, the reporter who interviewed Putin, pointed out in the documentary that some 40,000 people had gathered for the opening ceremonies.

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In discussions with his security officials, Putin asked what the standard operating procedure was for cases like this, and he was told that in an emergency situation the plane had to be shot down. I told them, Act according to the plan, Putin said. The Russian president then went to the opening ceremony and there was a period of five to seven minutes when he could not tell anyone about what was happening.

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A few minutes later it became clear it was all a false alarm. Turns out the passenger who allegedly had the bomb was actually drunk and the Pegasus Airlines flight would continue its original route. The same official. He tells me that this was drunken antics from the passengers. And that the plane would soon land in Istanbul as expected, the Russian president said. When Kondrashov asked Putin what he felt between the two phone calls, the Russian president refused to say: This is something I would prefer not to talk about.

Putin is virtually assured a victory in the elections that are set to be held next Sunday, March 18.President Donald Trump has been in talks with a veteran Washington lawyer who has lots of experience helping presidents engulfed in legal woes to possibly join his team. Emmet T. Flood, a partner at the firm Williams & Connolly who represented Bill Clinton during the impeachment proceedings, met with Trump last week to discuss the offer, according to a report that first appeared in the New York Times and was later confirmed by the Washington Post. Flood is seen as a highly respected lawyer inside Washington who worked in George W.

Bushs White House and represented Vice President Dick Cheney.

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Although no decision has been made and White House insiders deny that the move would represent an increased level of concern over the inquiry, it at least marks a recognition that special counsel Robert Muellers probe isnt going away anytime soon. Ty Cobb, who is leading Trumps response to the investigation, had often said Muellers probe was almost over, a prediction that has proven to be highly optimistic. Trump isnt looking to replace Cobb, who has long told friends he sees his posting as temporary.

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Apparently it isnt just the position of White House counsel that could be attractive to Flood. Flood reportedly spoke with Trump about numerous potential positions at the White House, including the possibility of being associate attorney general, the Washington Posts Robert Costa tweeted Sunday.

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a bit of news: Emmet Flood is being considered for associate attorney general, per people familiar with the discussions. That possibility, along w/ potential WH posts, came up in convo w/ the president  Robert Costa (@costareports) March 11, 2018

Trump sharply pushed back against the story on Sunday, tweeting that it was wrong to say he was unhappy with the legal team. He went on to accuse the Times of publishing a story it knew was false and disparaged one of the reporters who wrote the story, Maggie Haberman, calling her a Hillary flunky who knows nothing about me and is not given access.

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The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong. I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and.....  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018

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...have shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 11, 2018

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Haberman also took to Twitter to respond to Trump, first writing a simple Lol before going into more detail, noting several people confirmed the story. Plus she also noted other outlets confirmed the piece once it was published. Perhaps, Haberman said, Trumps tweets raise the possibility Flood has turned him down.

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Several people close to Trump confirmed our story. Trump also met with Emmet Flood in the Oval last week for purpose of potentially hiring him. Our story was confirmed by other outlets. https://t.co/UmnZMLogAf  Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 11, 2018

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....which raises possibility Flood has turned him down https://t.co/UmnZMLogAf  Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) March 11, 2018

It wouldnt be the first time. Flood had been interviewed over the summer about the possibility of joining the White House Counsels Office to help manage Muellers investigation but he declined. He was one of several Washington attorneys to decline the position.The US Chamber of Commerce sent a key vote letter to the Senate in support of S.2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The bill looks to provide community banks with regulatory relief after the blanket implementation of financial regulations following the 2008 financial crisis.

US Chamber of Commerce Backs Dodd-Frank Relief for Small Banks

The letter highlights the difficulties faced by mains street businesses in the wake of regulations like the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010.

Main Street businesses depend on community and regional banks for the financing necessary to get started, sustain operations, manage cash, make payroll, and create well-paying jobs. The one-size-fits-all approach to regulation implemented in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis has severely constrained these banks ability to serve consumers and small businesses in their communities, the letter explained.

On Tuesday, a bipartisan effort resulted in 17 Senate Democrats joining Republicans to advance the bill. A vote of 67-32 ended the debate on a motion to proceed, more than the 60 vote majority needed. The proposed legislation is expected to clear the Senate by next week at the latest.

In the letter, Jack Howard, Senior Vice President of Congressional and Public Affairs for the chamber, writes, This bipartisan legislation is a step towards right-sizing regulations on community and regional banks and would help reverse the decade-long decline in small business lending.

What Will S.2155 Accomplish?

S.2155 would amend several provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as other rules related to regulations in the financial industry. It specifically changes the regulatory framework for small depository institutions. These are lenders with assets under $10 billion (also classified as community banks).

Changes to consumer mortgage and credit-reporting regulations will also be implemented along with the authorities of the agencies regulating the financial industry.

The bill will stop clumping community banks together in the same regulatory frameworks designed for Wall Street institutions. According to the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), this is Fueling banking industry consolidation and leaving local communities with fewer financial services options.

Proponents of the bill see more cash being available to businesses, which includes banks, credit unions and free-market groups. Opponents on the other hand see the dilution of the Dodd-Frank Act as the precursor to another financial crisis.Unique bank of love in Slovakia

The bank of love caught the attention of the BBC.

One building in Banska Stiavnica harbours a safe for love inside, the Love Epicentre. Its main attraction is the unique Archive of Love, created from the 2,900 verses of the Marina poem.

The poem Marina was written in 1846 by Andrej Sladkovic to his love Marina, a love that wasnt destined to be. The poem is 2,900 verses long and it is officially recognized as the longest love poem in the world, Dobre Noviny wrote.

We are really happy that we succeeded in enlisting it as a world record in the World Record Academy in April 2017 , said Katarina Javorska from the non-profit organization Marina and Sladkovic for Dobre Noviny.

The main topic of the poem is not only Sladkovics love for Marina, but also his love for Slovakia and for life in general, Dobre Noviny reported.

Deposits for love

Almost 100,000 love deposit boxes have been created for visitors from the poem. Each love safe represents one letter, sign or space of the longest love poem in the world. The archive of love is ready to keep and protect more than 100,000 stories of love. It will become the place with the most dense concentration of love in the world  the Love Epicentre - when it is full, Dobre Noviny wrote.

Couples may keep their love by leaving photos, love letters, rings or tickets to the cinema from the first meeting in the bank of love. It is safe; messages are protected by a special signet. Only its owners know what is inside, said Katarina Javorska for the BBC.

Story of Marina and Sladkovic

Andrej Sladkovic was born in 1820, as Andrej Braxatoris. He was from poor family and had to interrupt his studies several times to make money for it. During one such break, his friend recommended him for the position of teacher in one of the richest families in Banska Stiavnica, the Pischl family, Dobre Noviny reported.

While teaching for the family he met Marina and they fell in love. The gap between their property and origin, however, was an obstacle. Marinas family pushed her into marrying someone else while Sladkovic was hundreds of kilometres away, studying in Bratislava. Marina wrote him a letter that she was being forced to marry someone else; Sladkovic responded that if she would be happy, he wouldnt stay in her way. But if she could wait, he would be faithful to her, Dobre Noviny wrote.

Marinas family insisted on her marrying a rich man, Juraj Gerzso. The wedding took place in 1845; Marina was 25 years old. As 25 was an advanced age for getting married at the time, it may indicate that she waited as long as she could, Dobre Noviny reported.

A new Verona

The love between Marina a Sladkovic was not brought to fruition, however, its message still lives thanks to the opening of the Love Epicentre located in Marinas house in Banska Stiavnica, Dobre Noviny wrote.

Many people visit Italian Verona because of the fictional story of Romeo and Juliet. The Slovak story of Marina and Sladkovic is real. We believe that Marinas house in Banska Stiavnica may soon become the same kind of attraction like Juliets balcony in Verona, said the founder of Love Epicentre Jan Majsniar, as quoted by Dobre Noviny.

video //www.youtube.com/embed/VEa-pz6EK6g

11. Mar 2018 at 8:10 | Compiled by Spectator staffJewish cemetery in Batovce being renewed

A remainder of the Jewish community in Slovakia is located in Batovce, one of many cemeteries that lays testament to the community that once thrived in Slovakia.

The Jewish cemetery in Batovce has been in an abandoned condition for years: dilapidated walls, rumpled gravestones, prayer room in pieces, and weeds and bushes everywhere, My Levice wrote.

Many young inhabitants of Batovce do not even know that there is Jewish cemetery in the village and that a Jewish community used to live there, My Levice reported,

Partial reconstruction was successful in the past with help of the Jewish Religious Community, however, the cemetery has become overgrown again without any maintenance, My Levice wrote.

The village started to clean the cemetery in the beginning of February. At first, access to the cemetery had to be made, My Levice reported.

We are cleaning the cemetery step by step, at least, what remains. Weve returned one hundred years later, as we can see from some of the gravestones that have been preserved, said mayor of the village Peter Burco, as quoted by My Levice. We are only at the beginning of our path to renew the cemetery, he added.

Forgotten history

Some of the gravestones have been reconstructed in the past, as the descendants of some of those buried are apparently still alive, My Levice wrote.

While renewing the cemetery we would appreciate any support and help from the Jewish Religious Community and descendants of the buried, said the mayor for My Levice.

There is only one mention of Jews in the monography about Batovce from 1970; in 1919 there were 33 mentions. They had a cemetery and praying room, too, My Levice reported.

While the history of the Roma community there is well documented, there is practically nothing written about the history of Jews who significantly influenced life in the village. The history of Jews in Batovce ended in 1942, when most of them were transported to death camps. Those who survived did not return, My Levice wrote.

A new monography of Batovce will begin to be written this year. The Jewish community will get space in it because of its significance, My Levice reported.

11. Mar 2018 at 17:30 | Compiled by Spectator staffWall Street analysts have given Enel Generacion Chile a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Enel Generacion Chile wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.Growing marijuana has turned from a cause for conviction to a well-paid job for locals of a destitute town north of Gisborne.

In a rundown woolshed in Ruatoria, 17 of them laugh over reggae music.

Some are as young as 18. Some have been to prison. Soon, they could be earning about $80,000 each.

Its white bread sandwiches and sausage rolls for lunch, washed down with a chilled Steinlager. They will swim in the Waiapu River afterward.

Well deserved after a tough morning harvesting thousands of marijuana crops in Marchs heat.

Together they have pulled 5000, metre-high hemp plants from the Ihungia Station property. They managed to do so before the rain hit mid-week.

It hangs over wire lines to dry under the sheds shelter. The stench inside makes your eyes ache.

They do not laugh because they are carrying out illicit activities to the obliviousness of authorities, or because they are high on their own product.

They laugh because they are happy. Happy to no longer be behind bars, to be off the benefit and to have found a source of income that does not break the law.

They are employees of health product company Hikurangi Enterprises subsidiary, Hikurangi Hemp.

Hikurangi currently holds a license issued by the Ministry of Health to grow two strains of marijuana for research and development purposes.

The workplace could soon be the first legal commercialised operation of New Zealand-grown medicinal marijuana products if Labours Misuse of Drugs (Medicinal Cannabis) Amendment Bill is enacted.

It passed its first reading in January. The Government is now accepting submissions to present to Parliaments health select committee this year. It will need to pass another two readings in Parliament before it is made into law.

AT A CROSSROADS

As the bill stands, Hikurangi managing director Manu Caddie is not confident the "good proportion" of his workers with convictions will be allowed to keep their jobs.

He employed them because they know marijuana plants best. He calls their cultivation convictions "recognised experience".

"They are the ones that need the jobs, want the jobs, who are going to be the best growers."

To him theyre colleagues, not criminals.

"Its something they did out of necessity to put food on the table for their families. Its a sensitive issue for our staff."

Regulators are reluctant to let them work with "weed" because they could end a shift with "buds" in their back pocket to sell illegally again, he says.

Ministry of Health prevention manager Emma Hindson says the bill does not disqualify workers with criminal records but if it is enacted, the ministry is likely to bar workers with a drug conviction working for licensed growers or manufacturers.

"[The act is] likely to be guided by hemp regulations which prevent licence holders, company directors, and responsible people from having a drug conviction."

Caddie says thats illogical. If workers are paid $80,000 annually, they will have no reason to return to the black market.

"Theyve done their time, theyve paid the price, theyve been convicted and paid whatever penalties they needed to.

"They want a legitimate job, they dont want to be looking over their shoulder and [have] the police chasing them. They want to be able to feed their family."

In Hikurangis select committee submission, the company will fight for the Government to allow it to employ once-illicit suppliers, Caddie says.

"It would be such a shame if they were excluded from it."

To be victorious, Hikurangi must prove it has high security measures in place.

Its crops now are completely open. A thin, blue mesh fence surrounds them. The property is entered into through farm gates.

It will look different in a year, Caddie promises. Only authorised staff will be able to enter the property with swipe cards. Guards will stand at the gates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Marijuana will be transported in armoured cars.

The Opposition has not yet queried the security of operations like Hikurangis.

National health spokesman Jonathan Coleman said his party supported the bill to select committee stage, but it "is a long way from perfect".

"The Government needs to provide a whole lot more detail. Until we see the details, we cant make any analysis."

He was quick to rule out supporting people with drug convictions working with marijuana.

"That sounds like a bad idea to me. It would be inappropriate for people with drug convictions to be involved in any Government-sanctioned medicinal marijuana scheme."

MONEY TALKS

The bill allows for the development of a domestic industry to make medicinal cannabis products for New Zealanders who have one year left to live. It does not mention exporting the products.

But Caddie says marijuanas export value could add $1 billion to the economy in three years. He is pushing the Government to include a provision for exportation in the bill.

Global suppliers are already knocking on Hikurangis door offering big bucks for New Zealand-grown marijuana and its extracts.

Hikurangi just signed a conditional $160 million three-year supply deal with United States health product manufacturer Rhizo Sciences to export cannabidiol extracts, THC extracts and whole cannabis flowers to Seattle.

Three more international suppliers have shown interest since, Caddie says.

"[I was] talking to a European dealer this morning who has got buyers and he said, New Zealanders, if you guys can export stuff, weve got buyers that would love to access it."

Inking conditional deals is deliberate. It proves to politicians that big business is behind the bill.

The world will pay up to US$10,000 (NZ$13,700) for 1 kilogram of marijuana extracts, Caddie says.

What we want to show is the evidence that people want to buy this stuff at this price, and the job creation."

If the bill is enacted this year, another 122 locals would be working at Hikurangis Ihungia Station this time next year, he says.

REGULATION V RUATORIA

Plans have been in place to fix up Ruatoria township, originally named Cross Roads, since 2008.

So far Gisborne District Council has reinforced the river, fenced where the forest meets road and added a speed bump and noticeboard to the main drag.

But unemployment remains high and benefits are common.

At the end of last year, more than 900 people in the East Coast were on a benefit, excluding pensioners, Statistics New Zealand data shows.

Caddie says Hikurangi has created "a real buzz around town".

The company wants locals to invest in it. Its executives will travel the region this month, offering equity for as little as $50 through a private crowdfunding round.

Hikurangi needs $12m to build greenhouses, processing facilities and carry out clinical trials for CBD oil.

It plans to get $3m of that from crowdfunding, another $3m from institutional investors and $2m from a commercial partner.

Caddie wants the Government to pick up the remaining $4m tab. It is an investment in the region, he says.

"If you let us do this, this is going to have a transformational impact. Successive governments have asked for transformational projects for places like the East Coast. This is one of those."

He was open to giving the Government a stake. But, given the Governments commitment to regional economic development, he hoped it would offer a grant or a low interest loan instead.

Some of Hikurangis 17 staff will travel to Wellington to present the companys select committee submission in person mid-year.

There may be fewer laughs that day as they battle for a bill that has brought hope to their hometown.

- Sunday Star Times"A little fill here and there may seem to be nothing to become excited about. But one fill, though comparatively inconsequential, may lead to another, and another, and before long a great body may be eaten away until it may no longer exist.

Our navigable waters are a precious natural heritage, once gone, they disappear forever," wrote the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its 1960 opinion resolving Hixon v. PSC and buttressing The Public Trust Doctrine, Article IX of the Wisconsin State Constitution.Some people make a choice to live in the present  carpe diem (seize the day) as they called it in the Latin language during Roman times  because thats how they want to live. No big future plans or aspirations, no sky-high objectives. One day at a time  no tomorrows.

Nguyen Van Phuoc is such a person and hes made a fantastic career as a professional photographer in Da Lat without ever putting together long-term strategies or career plans. Nicknamed MPK (Michel Phuoc Khung  Happy Crazy Man) during his wild younger days, hes now a well-known photographer around the country, settled with a wife and young child.

Michel is 61 years old but looks a lot younger, he explains to me that for him the beauty of life is in its spontaneity and natural state, not in design or planning. Things have always come naturally to me at the right time in life, he states over a coffee.

When I was in my mid-20s during the 1980s life was pretty tough. I made a living as a rice porter, hauling 3 tons of rice per day for the grand sum of 36 Vietnamese dong per day, says Michel with a laugh.

With a job like that I had no choice but to live in the present as dismal as it was! I could barely feed myself, let alone dream of a bright future!

Its obvious right off the bat that Michel has an artistic flare  dabbling in poetry, short stories, and music since his youth. His look, vibe, and his clothing style all exude creative thinking and artistic talent. So, no surprise that he branched off into photography.

I was wandering around Ho Xuan Huong (Xuan Huong Lake) in Da Lat one afternoon during those rice porter days and spotted some photographers taking pictures of the scenery. I wanted a few photographs of myself so I took what I had left from my salary and one of the photographers snapped a few for me.

Michel goes on, The photos were then developed and it hit me like a bolt of lightning: I could do something artistic, something I love, and have a much better life than I do now.

And that was probably the most strategic planning hes ever done and all hes ever needed!

He scraped together enough cash to buy a camera and a few rolls of film  very hard to find in the early 80s pre-Doi Moi (Doi Moi was the creation of a structured socialist-oriented market economy in Vietnam that started in the mid-80s. Until then many technology products were still very scarce) but he scrimped and saved and somehow managed.

I started approaching tourists in the city and adjacent picturesque countryside. I was born and raised in Da Lat so I knew the best shooting locations by heart. Couples on honeymoon, romantic trips, families, groups, clubs  I worked with all of them over the years, states Michel.

He went on to explain that after a few years of that photography work it became routine.

I enjoyed working with different types of people but became disillusioned over time  I wanted more creativity, more expression, to experience life outside the box. I was just taking photographs, not creating anything. I started thinking there must be a lot more to life than that routine.

From one day to the next Michel turned artist with his camera as his tool to capture the beauty of life in its natural state. Flowers, rain, dew, fields, streams and lakes all became his preferred subjects  even abstracts of urban living and homes were added over time.

He still survived doing commercial photography but I started holding the camera and pointing it where I wanted to go in life, not where the paying work was.

When we met Michel was busy planning his 37th exhibition, which took place in Da Lat over the Tet (Vietnamese New Year) holiday period in February.

He explained that there is no shortage of financial support from his fan base, and sponsors always appear at the right time.

Hes also held exhibitions in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, and Vung Tau over the years and has hundreds of thousands of followers on his website.

I expected him to say that he sells his photographs at the exhibitions but he shocked me: Hell no! he laughed.

I give my photographs away most of the time! Of course I dont donate them to just anyone, but when I meet people with a true passion for my work, Im happy to share with them. I believe things all come back to us in the end.

And they do, as evidenced by the financial support he gets for his exhibitions from his fans.

Opportunities always come along and in the meantime life flows naturally each day, he says, eager to bolt off into todays adventure: Thanks, but Ive got to run  lots of preparation for my upcoming exhibition.

A man who really knows what carpe diem is all about.BRUSSELS -- The European Union and Japan urged the United States on Saturday to grant them exemptions from metal import tariffs, with Tokyo calling for calm-headed behavior in a dispute that threatens to spiral into a trade war.

U.S. President Donald Trump set import tariffs on Thursday of 25 percent on steel and 10 percent on aluminum, to come into force in 15 days. But he exempted Canada and Mexico and held out the possibility of excluding other allies.

After meetings with U.S. trade envoy Robert Lighthizer in Brussels, EU and Japanese trade officials said negotiations would need to continue.

Europes trade chief Cecilia Malmstrom described talks with Lighthizer as frank and said they had not brought clarity on the exemption procedure. Talks would continue next week.

As a close security and trade partner of the US, the EU must be excluded from the announced measures, she tweeted after bilateral and trilateral meetings.

Japanese Trade Minister Hiroshige Seko said he had expressed Japanese concern to Lighthizer and warned of major market disruption.

We call for calm-headed behavior, he told reporters.

Seko did not go into what conditions might allow Japan to evade tariffs and, asked if Lighthizer had brought up the U.S. trade deficit with Japan, Seko said no.

He only explained the schedule and the procedures, he said.

Any Japanese response, he said, would be in line with World Trade Organization rules: If there is a violation, then we will seek consultations, Seko said. We will look at the impact on Japanese businesses and make a final decision.

Japans trade ministry issued a statement earlier on Sunday, saying that Seko told Lighthizer that exports of steel and aluminum from Japan, which is a close ally of the U.S., would not affect U.S. national security. Seko also said these exports had made key contributions to U.S. industries and jobs, the statement said without elaborating.

The European Union and Japan, the United States top economic and military ally in Asia, also reiterated that their exports were not a threat to U.S. national security, rejecting Trumps justification for imposing the tariffs.

Lighthizer did not make any immediate comment after the meetings.

The three parties did agree on joint steps to tackle global steel over capacity and distorted market practices, including stronger rules on subsidies and more sharing of information about market abuse.

The visit had been planned for weeks as a follow-up discussion on over capacity, seen by observers as a swipe at China. However, it took on more urgency after Trumps tariff move.

Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen warned Washington on Friday not to expect any concessions to win an exemption.

This is not a trade negotiation, he said. We are talking about unilateral action against international rules.

The European Commission, which coordinates trade policy for the 28-nation EU, the worlds biggest trading bloc, has said it is ready to impose safeguards, tariffs or quotas to protect its own steel and aluminum industries from products diverted to Europe because of the U.S. measures.

It has already started monitoring incoming metal flows to see whether a surge occurs.

The EU is also maintaining a threat of counter-measures that would target U.S. imports ranging from maize to motorcycles, and may publish its list next week to allow industry and other interested parties to give their input. Under World Trade Organization rules, such counter-measures have to be in place within 90 days of the U.S. tariffs entering force.

European steel and aluminum associations have warned that the U.S. tariffs could cost their sectors thousands of jobs.A company slammed for attempting to replicate a sacred statue of a Vietnamese goddess on top of the holy Sam Mountain in southern Vietnams An Giang Province has been slapped with an administrative fine and forced to remove the illegal construction.

The fine of VND20 million (US$1,317) was issued on Friday by the administration of An Giangs Chau Doc City, where the statue is located, according to its deputy chairman Tran Quoc Tuan.

Dozens of workers had already started working on removing the replica as of Friday, Tuan said, which would take roughly a week to finish.

This incident has been a profound lesson for the administration of Chau Doc in managing constructions within the Sam Mountain relics, Tuan said.

MGA Vietnam Ltd., which is behind the illegal statues construction, made headlines last month when it was discovered that the company was building the replica without public knowledge or permission from authorities.

The original statue is of Ba Chua Xu (Holy Mother of the Realm), a prosperity goddess in local folk religion rumored to be responsive to loyal followers, who pay tribute every year to her shrine located at the foot of the mountain.

The replica was therefore viewed as disrespectful to the beliefs of her worshippers, who insisted there could only be one statue of Ba Chua Xu.

MGA is also building a cable car system leading to the top of the mountain, which is part of an over VND1.5 trillion ($66.08 million) project to develop a religious tourism compound at the Sam Mountain.

The project includes a five-star hotel, a massive square, a 117-meter tower among other construction items.

Nguyen Phi Tien, director of MGA Vietnam, said the new statue would serve future visitors taking the cable car to the mountaintop, allowing them to pay tribute to Ba Chua Xu without queuing for her shrine at the foot of the mountain.

According to a local official, the illegal replica once removed would be replaced by a Jade Buddha statue for worshipping purposes.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Here are todays leading news stories:

Society

-- Hot weather is forecast to continue affecting southern Vietnam in the next three days, raising temperatures to up to 36 to 38 degrees Celsius, the National Center for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting reported, adding that unseasonal rain may occur in the region on Wednesday next week.

-- The Bich Thuy eatery in the popular tourist city of Da Lat has been suspended for seven days for using violence to stop its guests from leaving a negative review on social media, while Lo Thieu Mai Trang, the waitress who directly assaulted the customers, was fined VND2.5 million (US$110).

-- Police in Ho Chi Minh City on Saturday night arrested two suspects who had kidnapped two Vietnamese-American girls, a six-year-old and an eight-year-old, and demanded a ransom worth $50,000.

-- Over 40 Korean members of the Korean-Vietnamese Peace Foundation returned to the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam on Saturday to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Korean troops massacre of villagers in the locality during wartime.

-- A tanker carrying 2,000 metric tons of oil caught fire after an explosion in the northern city of Hai Phong on Saturday evening.

-- A young man was killed following a collision between his motorcycle and a bus in Dong Da District, Hanoi on Saturday afternoon.

-- A security guard officer of a branch of FPT Telecom Group in the southern province of Binh Duong was found dead at the venue on Saturday morning. Officers are investigating the alleged murder and hunting for the suspect.

-- Border guard officers in the south-central province of Binh Dinh on Saturday rescued a fishing boat along with its four crewmen, which had been drifting since Friday following an engine breakdown.

Business

-- Ho Chi Minh City-based oil and gas group SaigonPetro has suggested that the Ministry of Industry and Trade implement certain policies to encourage citizens to use the E5 biofuel following the elimination of the A92 fuel, which was previously the most popularly consumed gasoline in the country.

-- The Peoples Committee in the north-central province of Nghe An granted investment licenses to nine projects and signed 16 memoranda of cooperation, whose capital investment totaled VND13 trillion ($571.1 million), during a meeting on Saturday, which was attended by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Over 40 people from South Korea have arrived in a hamlet in the central Vietnamese province of Quang Nam to commemorate the victims of a massacre carried out by Korean troops during the war 50 years ago.

Forty-one members of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation expressed their apologies and formally bowed in front of family members of the deceased in Ha My Hamlet, Dien Duong Commune, Dien Ban District during a ceremony on Sunday morning.

The Korean members came from all walks of life, but they gathered at the commemoration for just one purpose, which was to extend their sincere apologies to the late victims, their families, as well as the Vietnamese people, Kang U-il, chair of the foundation, remarked.

Dang Thi Kha, one of the survivors in the massacre which took place in 1968. Photo: Tuoi Tre

The massacre took place in early 1968, when South Korean troops lined up the unsuspecting locals in a field before shooting straight at them.

Their mission was to eliminate every single communist in the hamlet.

Many families were completely wiped out following the incident.

I was angry. I lost five family members including my mother and older brother. The massacre happened when I was just three years old, Dang Thi Kha, a survivor, said.

Kim Mae Hwa (R), whose cousin was among the Korean troops, apologizes to Nguyen Thi Thanh, a survivor of the massacre. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Now as the Korean people are saying sorry, I understand that my anger would not be able to change the past, Kha continued.

On Saturday, members of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation visited the memorial boards of massacre victims in Phong Nhat and Phong Nhi Villages, both located in Dien Ban District, and Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province.

They also extended their apologies to the victims family members and other survivors.

Members of the Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation pay tribute at the memorial board in Quang Nam Province on March 10, 2018. Photo: Tuoi Tre

According to The Hankyoreh, a total of 320,000 South Korean troops were sent to Vietnam during the war years of 1965 to 1973.

About 1,004 civilians in Tay Vinh Village in the south-central province of Binh Dinh were killed by the Korean Tiger division in 1966, and another 357 were murdered by the Blue Dragon division in Quang Nam Province in 1968.

The Korea-Vietnam Peace Foundation is a non-profit, non-governmental organization established in September 2016 to raise awareness of and redress Korean wrongdoing during the war in Vietnam.

A Korean man cleans up the memorial board of the Vietnamese victims. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!The former head of the high-tech division under Vietnams Ministry of Public Security has been arrested for being involved in a large-scale gambling ring.

Officers in the northern province of Phu Tho on Sunday captured and initiated legal proceedings against Major General Nguyen Thanh Hoa, former head of the high-tech division, which is managed by the general police department under the Ministry of Public Security.

Hoa is allegedly involved in a gambling ring that is worth over VND1 trillion ($43.9 million).

The arrest has been approved by the provincial Peoples Procuracy.

During a press conference of the Ministry of Public Security on January 15, several reporters brought up rumors on social media regarding the involvement of Maj. Gen. Hoa in a huge gambling ring.

The information also mentioned a former leader of the general police department.

On January 29, Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh announced that police in Phu Tho Province had broken up the illegal ring, which organized gambling across nations.

Officers also confiscated more than VND1 trillion.

In addition, the amount of foreign currency which was sent overseas via the gambling activities was estimated at $3.6 million.

During a meeting on Sunday morning, the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee ordered a further investigation into the case of organizing gambling, gambling, fraud and money-laundering in Phu Tho.

This is a very serious, complicated, and sensitive case on an especially large scale, the Secretariat stated, adding that it involved numerous sectors, localities, and individuals, including members of the police force.

The Ministry of Public Security later tasked the Department of Police and competent authorities in Phu Tho with probing the case.

Further investigation is ongoing, a police official stated, adding reports on social media would continue to be verified.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!Former Neighbours star Dichen Lachman has a recurring role in the third season of Animal Kingdom.

She will portray Frankie, an edgy, free spirit who arrives at the Cody house with her partner, Billy (Denis Leary). Theyve been living in a car up and down the West Coast. While Frankie seems innocent, but shes far more dangerous.

Lachman has enjoyed previous roles in Dollhouse, Altered Carbon, Supergirl, Agents of SHIELD, The 100 and Shameless.

Animal Kingdom by TNT is based on the 2010 Australian film by David Michod, and features Ellen Barkin, who plays the matriarch of the Cody clan.

It airs in Australia on Netflix.

Source: DeadlineIf TV is guilty of one thing it is in casting familiar faces.

Every Cloud Productions once conceded that Newtons Law was originally conceived for Miriam Margolyes, as a gay, Jewish solicitor, but ABC wanted broad appeal and the show finished up with Claudia Karvan (no disrespect, she is top talent).

But if we are to break a few barriers then casting directors, producers and networks need to take more risks.

Some shows recently have taken some real risks with principal roles and uncovered some new faces: Sunshine, Sisters, Cleverman, 800 Words, Wanted, Friday on my Mind, Pulse.

In no particular order, here are a few other faces wed like to see more of

Katrina Milosevic (pictured top)

Is there nothing Wentworths Boomer cant handle? From comedic to dramatic scenes (sometimes at the same time) she delivers with utter conviction. Originally cast in a minor role is it any wonder producers brought her to the fore alongside marquee names? Time to break out into a star vehicle.

Xavier Samuel

Chameleon actor seen most recently in Riot and Seven Types of Ambiguity, Xaviers talent have also been recognised in the US by The Twilight Saga. But commercial TV is yet to give him a lead.

Jenni Baird

A superb performance as villainess Regina Bligh in A Place to Call Home, proving to be the narrative backbone of an entire season. A star in waiting.

Susan Prior

If youve ever seen her work on Puberty Blues or Top of the Lake you will know the truth which Prior delivers. Australia needs more Prior please.

Tess Haubrich

A dynamite performance in the most recent Wolf Creek. This former Home and Away actress stepped up to the plate in an action role.

Mark Coles Smith

Soon to appear in Picnic at Hanging Rock, there is a quiet strength to this young mans work, no doubt thanks to his roots growing up on a cattle station in Broome.

Fiona Choi

Once Family Law wraps its final season what next for this spirited performer? Her own comedy we hope.

Roz Hammond

You know her laugh-out-loud comedy from Mad as Hell. But who is writing a narrative comedy for her please?

.and a special mention for Chris Van Ingen, an actor living with cerebral palsy whose performance in Barracuda reminded us that authenticity brings out the best. Casting directors take note.POMONA, Calif. (AP)  A man who led police on a pursuit in Southern California barricaded himself in an apartment and then shot two police officers through a door  killing one of them, authorities said.

More than 12 hours later, the suspect remained in a standoff with authorities, Los Angeles sheriff's officials said Saturday.

Police tried to stop the man around 9 p.m. Friday after receiving a call about reckless driving, but he refused to pull over and led officers on a pursuit, sheriff's Capt. Christopher Bergner said. The man crashed during the chase and fled into an apartment complex.

The officers pursued the suspect and he barricaded himself inside an apartment, and shot two Pomona police officers, Bergner said.

The wounded officer was undergoing surgery Saturday and was expected to recover, he said.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must report that one officer did not survive. The second officer is in stable condition," Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri said in a tweet early Saturday.

The names of the officers were not immediately released.

A SWAT team surrounded the apartment complex and police used flash-bang grenades during the standoff, officials said. But the suspect remained holed up in the apartment Saturday morning and police said it wasn't clear how many weapons he might have.

Outside the Los Angeles County coroner's office, dozens of police cars lined the streets and officers saluted as the slain officer's body was brought there in a procession Saturday morning.

Investigators believe the suspect is alone in the apartment but have not confirmed his identity, Bergner said. Crisis negotiators were speaking with the suspect throughout the night, he said.

See Also:Protesters took to the streets of Taipei, Taiwan, on March 11, demanding the abolition of nuclear power.

According to reports, over 2,000 people marched on what was the 7th anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The protest was organised by the National Decommissioned Nuclear Action Platform. Its aim was to highlight the issues around nuclear waste disposal and energy transformation, as well as calling for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities. Credit: munch via StoryfulLA PAZ (Reuters) - Bolivia unfurled a nearly 200-km long (124 miles) bright blue flag on Saturday in a show of support for the landlocked country's bid to regain sovereign access to the sea.

Tens of thousands of Bolivians held the so-called "flag of maritime revindication," which stretched like a long ribbon along a highway in the Andes between the towns Oruro and Apacheta, on the outskirts of La Paz.

The display of patriotism aims to cheer on Bolivia's legal team ahead of oral arguments it will deliver at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) regarding the country's claim to sovereign access to Chile's Pacific coast.

Bolivia lost its access to the Pacific Ocean in a late 19th century war with Chile, but maintains a navy and wants a corridor to the sea to boost its exports of natural gas and minerals.

"We'll show the International Court of Justice and all people on the planet that our cause is just, reasonable and sound," President Evo Morales said after flying over the flag in a helicopter.

Morales has faced street protests in recent months over his plan to seek a fourth presidential term next year, after a court eliminated term limits last year.

Bolivia and Chile will start nine days of oral arguments before the ICJ on March 19.

(Reporting By Daniel Ramos, Writing By Mitra Taj; Editing by David Gregorio)Threatening letters calling for a "Punish a Muslim Day" on 3 April are being investigated by counter-terror police.

Muslims in London, Yorkshire and the Midlands have reported receiving the letter that calls for attacks in a points-scoring system.

The note incites verbal abuse and assaults on Muslims, as well as attacks on mosques.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed it had received six reports related to the letters.

The force said it had a couple of letters that will undergo analysis in an attempt to determine their origin.

Tell MAMA, a project that monitors Islamaphobic hate crimes, said a photo of an envelope suggests at least one of the notes was dealt with at a Sheffield sorting office.

Iman Atta, the project's director, said: "This has caused quite a lot of fear within the community. They are asking if they are safe, if their children are safe to play outdoors.

"We have told them to keep calm."

In a statement, the organisation said: "We urge anyone who has received this letter to report to us in confidence or to ring the non-emergency 101 number.

"It is essential that all letters and envelopes are kept and handled minimally to preserve evidence for the police to investigate.

"Incidents like this are rare but we urge vigilance and calm as we remind Muslim communities that our confidential support service is available to assist in this matter."

A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: "Counter Terrorism Policing North East are coordinating the investigation at this time and will consider any potential links to existing enquiries.

"Anyone with any concerns about a communication they may have received should contact their local police force."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said it was not yet clear whether any criminal allegations relating to the letters had been reported in London.A rare cloud formed over Nevada Thursday and one onlooker got a photo of the mysteriously-shaped phenomenon. The National Weather Service in Elko, Nevada, posted a photo of the cloud to Twitter and thanked Christy Grimes for taking the photo.

The cloud looks exactly like what its name would suggest. Three sides of a horseshoe set on a background of other clouds.

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Twitter users were confused by the photo of the cloud and couldnt help but bring up the idea of possible alien involvement. But the NWS Elko took to Twitter to explain the cloud. The cloud is formed through a process involving the movement of the wind.

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Essentially the cloud forms in a vortex, or an area of spinning air. This is what forms a cyclone or a tornado, when that happens the vortex is vertical. When it forms horizontally, it forms a sort of crescent cloud, according to the Cloud Appreciation Society.

There are various stories about the luck the cloud brings or doesnt bring to those who see it. Some people think when the cloud is turned down, as it appeared in Nevada, it drops luck on those down below, according to the Society.

Twitter users thought the cloud looked a little different than a horseshoe. Some thought it looked like a mustache floating right in the middle of the sky.

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Others thought it looked more like a staple for paper than a horseshoe.

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One user even took the opportunity to explain the cloud using a small drawing and explained it as a weak & sideways cousin of a waterspout or tornado, said user Mika McKinnon.

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This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekEarths surface is littered with the instruments of radio astronomy: There are giant dishes or clusters of individual antennae in West Virginia, Puerto Rico, China, Chile, Australia and South Africa, among many others. But that isnt enough to satisfy some astronomers, who dream of setting up shop at a still more exotic localethe far side of the moon.

It sounds like a wild stunt and would be incredibly expensive to implement, but theres a very real need driving astronomers to consider the concept. Radio astronomers gather light with the very longest wavelengths, which means it can cross the entire universe, albeit as a faint signal. That makes it scientists best hope for studying the very beginning of the universe, since the farther light has traveled to reach us, the older it is.

But that super-faint ancient light has a ton of competition: Radio waves are what we humans use to power huge swathes of our communications technology, since they can cover long distances and we know how to encode information in them. And no matter how good your radio telescope is, it will always struggle to focus on light from a star 12 billion light-years away when a cell phone is blaring just 12 yards away. And the cell phonesand GPS satellites and television signals and Wi-Fi networks and every other form of radio broadcastare everywhere, forming a barrage that scientists call interference.

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Which, lets be clear, is good for humans. Scientists are people too, we like our cell phones, Liese van Zee, a radio astronomer at Indiana University, told Newsweek. Thats why she and a handful of colleagues lead the Committee on Radio Frequencies, a group of scientists that works with the Federal Communications Commission to make sure regulations take scientific needs into consideration, like banning the signals that most strongly interfere with observations.

Story continues

03_09_radio_telescope_alma

Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images

Making deals will never be enough to rescue radio astronomy from interference but maybe the moon could bequite literally, since the whole appeal is that the sheer bulk of the moon blocks all those radio waves from ever reaching the far side. The far side of the Moon is the best place in the entire inner solar system for radio astronomy, Joseph Silk, an astronomer at Johns Hopkins University, told Newsweek.

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Of course, the logistics are challenging, to put it mildly: Humans havent even set foot on the moon since 1972. But Silk argues that much of the infrastructure scientists would need to do to support the telescopes would fit fairly smoothly into current Trump administration plans to return to the moon. If were setting up camp there anyway, he says, we may as well set up some telescopes as well.

All of this is futuristic, it's going to take time, Silk added. But in principle, there should be no reason why we cant do this. Much of the construction work could be accomplished by robots, he says, although they would need some human overseers nearby to cut down on communications delays that would occur with Earth. One can imagine just covering this large area on the moon with telescopes, Silk saidpotentially hundreds of them.

Read more: To Hear the First Stars in the Universe, Astronomers Had to Find to the Quietest Place on Earth

Most popular: What Is a Horseshoe Cloud? Viral Photo Captures Rare Phenomenon

But lots of people dream about the moon, and other schemes could interfere with radio astronomy. This is the one quiet place in our solar system, which we preserved, says Jill Tarter, an astronomer at the SETI Institute who uses a California-based radio telescope array as part of the scientific search for extraterrestrial intelligence. Were now thinking about fantastic new space opportunities that could very well pollute it before we get a chance to exploit it for radio astronomy.

That means that even without any current plans to build an observatory on the moon, it would be worth planning ahead to make sure we dont bungle our chances, creating just the same problems on the moon as we have here on Earth. Tarter suggests that wannabe lunar communicators could build systems that can flip between settings so as to interfere less with astronomy, or establish a sort of timeshare arrangement. The only opportunity that we have for that kind of thinking is the moon, she adds.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekAs many as 50,000 people gathered in the Slovakian capital of Bratislava to protest against the recent killings of a Slovakian journalist and his fiance.

The demonstration was held in SNP Square following the killings of Jan Kuciak and Martina Kusnirova at their home in Velka Maca, according to the Slovak Spectator. The gathering was thought to be one of the biggest public gatherings in Slovakias history, the newspaper reported, and attracted double the crowd of a similar memorial event held on March 2.

This footage shows protesters singing the Slovakian national anthem inSNP Square.

The demonstrators called for a thorough investigation into the killings. Kuciak, 27, had been investigating links between some of Slovakias top politicians and the Italian mafia when he was shot dead, the Guardian reported. Credit: Tomas Harsanyi via StoryfulThe imminent demise of China's Tiangong-1 satellite has been splashed over the internet for months now. But most are focused on whether it could end up landing on you (it won't), not on what it was doing up there in the first place.

The satellite, whose name means "heavenly palace," was designed to help China practice building a space station. When the satellite was being designed, its mission was meant to last for only two years. Its key tasks were to receive other spacecrafts docking in with it and to host an astronaut for less than two weeks.

The agenda was designed to make Tiangong-1 a step toward building a larger, more permanent space station around 2020. Creating such infrastructure has been a goal for the country since 1992.

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03_09_tiangong_china_launch

Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

The first docking spacecraft launched October 2011, just a month after Tiangong-1 with a suite of medical experiments on board. That was followed by additional spacecrafts in 2012 and 2013. The last of those docking missions carried three astronauts.

At the end of 2015, China stopped giving the satellite the nudges that are required to keep a steady orbit. That was meant to be followed by a carefully targeted plummet to Earth to destroy the satellite, but the spacecraft stopped responding to commands in March of 2016.

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Read more: China Prepares for Moon Colony By Keeping Students in 'Lunar Palace' for 200 Days

That's why scientists aren't sure where it will end up when it finally falls in the next few weeksalthough because most of Earth's surface is covered in water, there's a very low probability Tiangong-1 will cause any damage when it falls. Scientists are monitoring the satellite and will have a few hours to pinpoint that more precisely.

Story continues

Tiangong-1 was followed by a second similar satellite in 2016 and China plans to launch the first permanent module later this year, targeting 2022 for a full-blown space station.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekThe Syrian Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, accused government forces of targeting their search and rescue operations, as they released a video showing their panic after an explosion near one of their vehicles.

The video is described as showing a barrel-bombing on a street in Douma, in the rebel-controled East Ghouta area. Members of the civil defense team have been working in the area. In the clip, the person holding the camera dodges into a hallway as the bomb approaches, before moving back out into a dust-filled street.

There were numerous reports of airstrikes and shooting in the area on March 10, despite the presence of an International Committee for the Red Cross convoy on the ground in Douma.

Also on that date, the White Helmets reported the death of Mohammad al-Masarwa, a former director of operations in East Ghouta. No details of how al-Masarwa died were provided, and his death does not appear to be related to this video. Credit: Syrian Civil Defense via StoryfulBritain will not slash taxes and regulations after Brexit to undercut European rivals, Philip Hammond has said. In a marked softening of tone, the chancellor said that Britains social, economic and cultural model would remain recognisably European after it left the EU. - The Times

Luxembourg has hit back at claims that it is giving finance firms easy access to the EU by allowing brass plate operations to list an address in the Duchy even though they have no real presence there. Luxembourgs officials took offence at accusations by Eoghan Murphy, Irelands former finance minister, that some countries had engaged in very aggressive behaviour including creeping regulatory arbitrage. - Telegraph

Senior Conservative MPs are urging members of Theresa Mays cabinet to stop publicly setting out their demands for a transitional deal on Brexit, saying the move could make negotiations with the European Union more difficult. The warnings from senior leave campaigners and allies of the Brexit secretary, David Davis, come as ministers prepare to clash over issues of immigration and trade in a series of key meetings this autumn. - Guardian

One in five UK estate agents are at risk of going out of business amid a growth in online companies, new research shows. Almost 5,000 estate agents are showing signs of financial distress, said accountancy firm Moore Stephens. - Guardian

Prudential is about to look for buyers for about 10 billion of its annuities business, which could lead to the sale of the entire 45 billion division and the transfer of thousands of policyholders to a new provider. Britains biggest insurer recently ran a search for investment bankers to advise it on the divestment and has tentatively decided to start with a 10 billion sale, which may be broken up into two blocks of 5 billion. - The Times

Five more banks have agreed to pay a total of $111m to settle claims that they manipulated currency markets, as the foreign exchange scandal continues to haunt the finance industry. Lawyers behind the claims in the US hope to bring similar cases to the courts on this side of the Atlantic in the near future. - Telegraph

Every driver in Britain is being overcharged for motor cover because insurers are using secret deals to grossly inflate repair bills, a Daily Telegraph investigation has established. Insurers are routinely inflating repair costs by as much as 100 per cent, while receiving undisclosed kickbacks for the difference, it can be revealed. - Telegraph

British motorists face a 10% rise in the cost of their annual car service and repair bills if the UK leaves the EU without a trade deal, an industry body has warned. The UKs collective car repair bill could rise by more than 2bn due to tariffs and other barriers arising from a hard Brexit, according to a report published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), which assumes the UK is forced to fall back on World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. - Guardian

Business owners affected by Royal Bank of Scotlands restructuring scandal have expressed frustration at what they say is a lack of progress in the lenders compensation scheme. RBS has paid millions in automatic refunds of fees it wrongfully charged, but the bank has taken longer than expected to get its complaints and appeals process off the ground. - The Times



The number of overeducated workers has increased by a third in the past decade but companies are failing to make use of the skills of their staff, a study has found. The mismatch between training and what employers find useful could contribute to another ten years of stalled productivity and falling wages, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says. - The Times

Scottish pub tenants have until Monday to make their voices heard over landmark legislation that would end a centuries-old system forcing them to buy supplies from their owners. More than 1,000 pubs north of the border are under tied agreements, which means they have to buy some or all of their drinks from pub company owners, often at inflated prices in return for promises of lower rent. - Telegraph

A developer of luxury retirement homes is eyeing a slice of the lucrative UK market after teaming up with a big American partner. The partnership between Elysian Residences and established US player One Eighty is developing homes with five-star hotel services including a concierge, spa facilities and a private dining room, as well as 24-hour medical facilities on site in a bid to challenge established players such as McCarthy & Stone. -Telegraph

Virgin Atlantics boss has claimed the airline will overtake its big rivals in the lucrative transatlantic market following a tie-up with Air France. The deal, which saw Virgin Group sell a 31pc stake to Air France-KLM, means the airline will collectively offer more than 300 daily non-stop flights between North America and Europe and the UK. - Telegraph

Bupa is close to selling about half of its care homes to the former chief executive of Priory Clinics. HC-One, led by Chai Patel, is in advanced discussions to buy 150 homes from Bupa. HC-One was created in 2011 out of the rubble of Southern Cross, which collapsed. - Times

The deteriorating health of the UK population has boosted turnover at one of Britains largest private hospital operators as the NHS comes under growing strain. Increasingly unhealthy lifestyles and a growing number of elderly people have helped drive sales up 9pc at Nuffield Health to 840m. - Telegraph

The billionaire behind the Three mobile network has netted 1.4bn from the sale of a chunk of his telecoms empire. Li Ka-shing has offloaded Hutchison Global Communications, which runs fixed-line and wifi services, to American private equity group I Squared Capital for HK$14.5bn, equivalent to 1.4bn.The unit being sold operates in Hong Kong and China as well as serving businesses in Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. - TelegraphAfter a story in conservative media linking a Democratic senator to a Russian oligarch was quickly debunked, Donald Trump decided to promote it anyway. In response, the president was fact-checked.

Wow! -Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch. Warner did not want a paper trail on a private meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame. All tied into Crooked Hillary.  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 9, 2018

Trump debunked

As the Russian investigation heats up and puts pressure on the White House, conservative news outlets have done their part to deflect onto other stories despite the lack of credibility.

On Thursday, Fox News reported that Democratic Sen. Mark Warner had engaged in a text message conversation with a lobbyist for a high-profiled Russian oligarch who allegedly promised access to Christopher Steele, the man behind the infamous "pee tape" dossier. The story was quickly debunked, with even Republican Sen. Marco Rubio dismissing it.

Rubio debunks Fox News "bombshell" on Dem's attempt to contact Trump dossier author: It had "zero impact" https://t.co/JGx23qda9Z pic.twitter.com/86rQwO7XUk  The Hill (@thehill) February 9, 2018

Despite this, Donald Trump decided to post about the story on his Twitter account, once again getting his information directly from the Fox News broadcast. "Wow!

-Senator Mark Warner got caught having extensive contact with a lobbyist for a Russian oligarch," Trump tweeted. "Warner did not want a 'paper trail' on a 'private' meeting (in London) he requested with Steele of fraudulent Dossier fame," he added, before claiming, "All tied into Crooked Hillary."

Instant backlash

In response to the president promoting false information on his social media account, critics were quick to hold Trump's feet to the fire.

"Warner wasn't 'caught'. Senator Burr, GOP Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, approved of the communications. The entire committee was appraised months ago," a tweet read.

Someones been watching too much Fox News!



You got caught - conspiring with Russia & obstructing Justice!  Nate Roy - RESIST  (@natehoIe) February 9, 2018

From Fox News' propagandists to your Twitter feed.



Warner wasn't "caught". Senator Burr, GOP Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, approved of the communications. The entire committee was appraised months ago.  Pe Resists (@4everNeverTrump) February 9, 2018

"Uh, wait, how's that now?

For the record, are you taking the position that contact with Russian oligarchs is bad? Can we hold you to that?" Walter Shaub wrote. "Someones been watching too much Fox News! You got caught - conspiring with Russia & obstructing Justice!" an additional tweet noted."

Oh, just like that time Jr, Jared, & Manafort met with the Russians to get dirt on Hillary. And when Hope Hicks said no one would ever see the emails between Jr & the #Russians. Yeah, that's crazy! #TrumpRussia  Latrice Y Castillo (@mochamomma75) February 9, 2018

#Hannity is not official intelligence, Mr. President. After hearing this did you contact your many government intelligence agencies to verify if this is true? I will bet that you didn't.    (@ReelNeal) February 9, 2018

Uh, wait, how's that now? For the record, are you taking the position that contact with Russian oligarchs is bad? Can we hold you to that?

p.s. see below https://t.co/23rYytTjw8  Walter Shaub (@waltshaub) February 9, 2018

"Hannity is not official intelligence, Mr.

President. After hearing this did you contact your many government intelligence agencies to verify if this is true? I will bet that you didn't," a follow-up tweet pointed out. "Oh, just like that time Jr, Jared, & Manafort met with the Russians to get dirt on Hillary. And when Hope Hicks said no one would ever see the emails between Jr & the #Russians. Yeah, that's crazy!" a Twitter user wrote. As the negative reactions continued to pour in, the opposition to the entire administration heats up with a government shutdown possibly on the horizon.The National Rifle Association (NRA) filed a lawsuit on Friday against Florida lawmakers' approval of broader gun-control and school security measures, Vox News reported. According to the lawsuit filed by the gun association, the new legislation goes against the Second and Fourteenth Amendments of the United States Constitution. The Fourteenth Amendment guarantees equal protection, and the Second Amendment gives people right to bear arms.

NRA responds to new gun restrictions in Florida

On Friday, Governor Rick Scott signed a new state law that raised the age for purchasing firearms to 21 and allows the arming of trained school workers.

Florida lawmakers passed the bill following the recent Parkland shooting that claimed the lives of 17 students and staff. The suspect, Nikolas Cruz legally purchased the gun he allegedly used to kill the students and educators. Just moments after signing the bill, NRA responded by filing the lawsuit against the state lawmakers.

In his statement, Chris Cox, Chief lobbyist of the NRA, stated that the bill particularly violates women under the age of 21 who are less likely to engage in violent crime. According to a report by the Huffington Post, 80 percent of all people killed by intimate partners in the US are women; 53 percent of these deaths are due to fatal gunshots. Cox is optimistic that the court will ban the new law as it disrupts the constitution.

The new law

The Florida bill raises the legal age limit for purchasing guns from 18 to 21. The bill also includes a three day waiting period for most firearms. It also gives the police the power to seize guns from any individual deemed dangerous to themselves and others. Though the bill does not include a ban on assault weapons, it restricts the use and selling of bump stocks in the region.

In his remarks on Friday, Gov. Rick Scott said the bill is a step forward in making sure every student in Florida has a safe learning environment and reassures all parents sending their kids to school that they will return home safely. The governor publicly supported the bill but was mainly concerned with the act of arming teachers.

After signing the new law, Scott said that as much as he does not support arming educators, the bill offers local districts together with their respective police departments the chance to decide whether or not to follow through with the act.

A student from Parkland was quoted as saying she does not understand how people to fight a law that protects children and the whole community. However, the NRA maintains that the law should be banned, giving individuals under the age of 21 a right to bear arms.After yet another controversial week for Donald Trump, critics have piled on heading into the weekend. As expected, comedian Bill Maher pull no punches when dealing with the president.

"Youve got to love this White House. Every day it's like The West Wing meets Clueless.  @BillMaher #RealTime pic.twitter.com/8Bd5LkNjMN  Real Time (@RealTimers) February 10, 2018

Maher on Trump

Over the last week, various news items have taken their turn to dominate the news cycle, with each one more damaging or embarrassing for Donald Trump. Whether it was Trump's order for the Pentagon to throw him his own military parade, the resignation of White House adviser Rob Porter due to a history of domestic violence allegations, another government shutdown, or the latest revelations in the Russian investigation, the president is not having the best week, all while the stock market continues to fall at record levels.

Trump wants a big military parade...its gonna be spectacular: tanks, missiles, fighter jets. All presided over by a loose cannon.  @BillMaher #RealTime pic.twitter.com/VHJWJtNTSU  Real Time (@RealTimers) February 10, 2018

As Friday came to a close, Bill Maher made sure to take a few shots at Donald Trump's bad week during the opening monologue of the February 9 edition of "real time with Bill Maher" on HBO. "Youve got to love this White House. Every day it's like The West Wing meets Clueless," Maher said.

"If somebody told me two years ago that we would be doing jokes  often  where the punchline is 'America is really owned by Russia,' I would've said you're crazy."  @BillMaher #RealTime pic.twitter.com/X1jafZe5et  Real Time (@RealTimers) February 10, 2018

Not stopping there, Bill Maher poked fun at the president over his planned military parade.

"Trump wants a big military parade...its gonna be spectacular," Maher said with sarcasm "Tanks, missiles, fighter jets. All presided over by a loose cannon," he added.

Schiff speaks

After several more comedic shots, Bill Maher welcomed Rep. Adam Schiff to the show, the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee to discuss the Russian investigation.

"What I find it so astounding about the last year is how much this deeply flawed president could remake an entire political party in his own image," Schiff said of Trump and the impact he's had on the Republican Party.

"What I find it so astounding about the last year is how much this deeply flawed president could remake an entire political party in his own image."  @RepAdamSchiff #RealTime pic.twitter.com/DMZIoIug9T  Real Time (@RealTimers) February 10, 2018

Both Maher and Schiff both doubled down with their attack on Donald Trump, focusing on his denial of being in cahoots with Russia, the controversial Nunes memo, and his refusal to release the Democratic memo that many believe would debunk what came from the Republicans.

"We need to get back to the mission of our committee, and that is investigating what Russia did, what the Trump campaign did, and what they may have done in combination," Schiff said.

"We need to get back to the mission of our committee, and that is investigating what Russia did, what the Trump campaign did, and what they may have done in combination."  @RepAdamSchiff #RealTime pic.twitter.com/yMNRsqkAgn  Real Time (@RealTimers) February 10, 2018

Later in the show, Maher admitted he was still stunned by how deep the Trump administration seemed to be with the Kremlin. "If somebody told me two years ago that we would be doing jokes, often where the punchline is 'America is really owned by Russia,' I would've said you're crazy," he said.Wall Street analysts have given iShares MSCI India ETF a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but iShares MSCI India ETF wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.CONSOL Coal Resources LP produces and sells high- British thermal unit (Btu) coal in the Northern Appalachian Basin and the eastern United States. It owns a 25% undivided interest in the Pennsylvania mining complex, which consists of three underground mines and related infrastructure that produce high-Btu thermal coal located primarily in southwestern Pennsylvania. The company markets its thermal coal principally to electric utilities. CONSOL Coal Resources GP LLC operates as a general partner of the company. The company was formerly known as CNX Coal Resources LP and changed its name to CONSOL Coal Resources LP in November 2017. CONSOL Coal Resources LP was founded in 2015 and is headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

Read MoreGreen Dot Corp. operates as a financial technology leader and bank holding company, which engages in the provision of modern banking and money movement accessible for all. It operates through the following segments: Account Services; Processing and Settlement Services; and Corporate and Other. The Account Services segment consists of revenues and expenses derived from deposit account programs, such as prepaid cards, debit cards, consumer and small business checking accounts, secured credit cards, payroll debit cards, and gift cards. The Processing and Settlement Services segment comprises of products and services that specialize in facilitating the movement of funds on behalf of consumers and businesses. The Corporate and Other segment represents eliminations of intersegment revenues and expenses, unallocated corporate expenses, depreciation and amortization, and other costs that are not considered when management evaluates segment performance. The company was founded by Steven W. Streit in October 1, 1999 and is headquartered in Pasadena, CA.

Read MoreConocoPhillips engages in the exploration, production, transportation and marketing of crude oil, bitumen, natural gas, natural gas liquids, and liquefied natural gas on a worldwide basis. It operates through the following geographical segments: Alaska; Lower 48; Canada; Europe, Middle East and North Africa; Asia Pacific; and Other International. The Alaska segment primarily explores for produces, transports and markets crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The Lower 48 segment consists of operations in the U.S. and the Gulf of Mexico. The Canada segment is comprised of oil sands development in the Athabasca Region of northeastern Alberta and a liquids-rich unconventional play in western Canada. The Europe, Middle East and North Africa segment consists of operations and exploration activities in Norway, the United Kingdom and Libya. The Asia Pacific segment has explorations and product operations in China, Indonesia, Malaysia and Australia. The Other International segment handles exploration activities in Columbia and Argentina. The company was founded in 1875 and is headquartered in Houston, TX.

Read MoreOch-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC is a publicly owned hedge fund sponsor. The firm provides investment advisory services for its clients. It primarily caters to institutional investors which include pension funds, fund-of-funds, foundations and endowments, corporations and other institutions, private banks and family offices. The firm invests in equity and alternative markets across the world. It employs quantitative and qualitative analysis to make its investments. For its multi-strategy portfolios, the firm employs strategies like convertible and derivative arbitrage, corporate credit, long/short equity special situations, buyout investments, merger arbitrage, private investments, and structured credit. It also invests in real estate and traditional real estate assets including multifamily, office, hotel and retail, loans, portfolio acquisitions, loan pools, operating companies, structured debt products, public securities, and non-traditional real estate assets including gaming, distressed land and residential, cell towers, parking, golf, debt and senior housing. For private equity investments, it considers investments in a variety of special situations that seek to realize value through strategic sales or initial public offerings. The firm typically invests in the energy investments. It prefers to invest in United States. It also manages a buyout fund, Och-Ziff Energy Fund. Och-Ziff Capital Management Group LLC was founded in 1994 and is based New York City with additional offices in Houston, Texas, London, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Japan, Bangalore, India, Singapore, and Beijing, China.

Read MoreTransMontaigne Partners L.P. provides integrated terminaling, storage, transportation, and related services. The company operates through Gulf Coast terminals, Midwest terminals and pipeline system, Brownsville terminals, River terminals, Southeast terminals, and West Coast terminals segments. It offers its services for companies engaged in the trading, distribution, and marketing of light and heavy refined petroleum products, crude oil, chemicals, fertilizers, and other liquid products. The company operates 8 refined product terminals in Florida with approximately 7.0 million barrels of aggregate active storage capacity; a 67 mile interstate refined products pipeline; 2 refined product terminals with approximately 5 million barrels of active storage capacity; and 5.4 million barrels of aggregate storage capacity. It operates 1 crude oil terminal in Cushing with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 1.0 million barrels; 1 refined product terminal located in Oklahoma City with aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 0.2 million barrels; 1 refined product terminal located in Brownsville with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 0.9 million barrels; and a 16 mile LPG pipeline from its Brownsville facility to the U.S. border. In addition, the company operates a 174 mile bi-directional refined products; 7.1 million barrel terminal facility on Houston Ship Channel; 12 refined product terminals with approximately 2.7 million barrels of aggregate active storage capacity, as well as operates a dock facility; 22 refined product terminals located along Colonial and Plantation pipelines with an aggregate active storage capacity of approximately 11.9 million barrels; and 2 refined product terminals with active storage capacity of approximately 5.0 million barrels. TransMontaigne Partners L.P. was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Read MoreAll Aberdeen Reads selection tells story of World War II survival

A former Aberdeen woman has written her mom's WWII-era story and it's the topic of this year's All Aberdeen Reads.LOS LUNAS  From the Roundhouse to the White House, local matanza cooks took a taste of New Mexico to Washington, D.C., last month.

Los Lunas residents Steven Otero and Herman Garcia have cooked many matanza meals at the state Capitol as well as at the annual Hispano Chamber of Valencia Countys annual Matanza.

Oteros catering service, Getaway Grill, has also been featured on Andrew Zimmerns Bizarre Foods show on the Travel Channel.

Invited by U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, the men and their helpers cooked and served a menu of beef and chicken fajitas, red chile baby back pork ribs, carne adovada, beef and pork carnitas, chicharrones and traditional sides, such as calabacitas, frijoles, tamales, caldo and posole.

Oteros wife, Jeanette, made her secret salsa and Spanish rice, and every dish was served with flour or blue or yellow corn tortillas. Desserts included biscochitos made by Dolores Otero Padilla, plus empanadas and pastelitos from Mannys Fine Pastries in Los Lunas.

They said they had never tasted such good food, Otero said of the response to the food. They feel this was the best New Mexico food theyve ever had.

The Getaway Grill cooks have been asked to make the New Mexico dinner an annual event.

And of course we said yes, Otero said.

Every detail of the dinner was carefully attended to because they wanted to represent New Mexico.

Designed by Amelia Garcia Lucero, the folded menus were made of thick, adobe-colored art paper with a retablo-style painting of the patron saint of cooking, San Pasqual, on the cover.

The painter is Oteros son, Nicolas, who has illustrated childrens books for the iconic New Mexican author Rudolfo Anaya and is an art teacher at Bosque Farms Elementary School.

The original painting was presented to Lujan.

Every person who attended the dinner received one of these commemorative menus, Otero said.

Even the Getaway Grill aprons the cooks wore were specially made by Marcie McKenzie in yellow canvas embossed with the Los Lunas emblem.

Otero said the congressman wanted his Washington, D.C., staff to experience New Mexicos most traditional dishes, which Otero explained are a hybrid of Spanish and Native American foods.

Garcia prepared the red chile and grew the chile from Chimayo seeds, the significance of which is that Chimayo is part of Lujans district.

It was hot chile but they loved it, Otero said.

Five cooking buddies and friends made up the Getaway Grill group, plus Oteros wife, Jeanette.

Robert Aragon drove so that all the food could actually come from New Mexico.

He had three coolers full of the frozen meat, packaged vegetables, tortillas, Navajo Nation pinto beans and pastries.

Altogether, they cooked 16 hot dishes for the event, plus brought New Mexico honey from Bosque Farms resident Ralph De Baca, and Rio Grande Roasters coffee from Barry and Lori Wood.

We wanted to make sure that we showcased New Mexico at this event so we didnt want to bring anything that was not from New Mexico, Otero said.

While they were in Washington, the group visited the Vietnam Memorial Wall during the changing of the guards and took pictures of Daniel Fernandezs name, the Los Lunas Vietnam War hero who gave his life to save his fellow soldiers.

They also went to the Korean and World War II memorials, the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Thomas Jefferson and Washington monuments.A 1940s pinup leans from a stool into a body of water, her rubber-gloved hands churning the waves as the sun blazes.

Culled from a triad of photo realism, Surrealism and Pop Art, the painting is a collage of photography and oil, of fantasy and portrait wrapped in a menage of mystery.

Jennifer Nehrbass is both the model and the artist. With gallery representation in Denver; Park City, Utah; Linz, Austria; and at Albuquerques Central Features, she moved from 10 years of design at Ralph Lauren to the near North Valley in the Los Griegos neighborhood.

Its been a personal journey from small-town Wisconsin to the top of the fashion food chain to a converted New Mexico carport-turned-studio. A roadrunner named Joan clicks outside the window.

The painting  Exiting Empire  began with a forested background before it was returned by the Albuquerque Museum and the artist changed the painting. Nehrbass husband photographed her costumed as the model in echoes of photographer Cindy Sherman.

Sherman is known for changing her persona with costumes and makeup to examine womens roles in society.

The pinup is obviously uncomfortable in her highly stylized background.

Shes in a messy situation, the artist acknowledged.

Nehrbass based a cameo series of oval portraits on the Margaret Atwood novel The Penelopiad. The book describes Homers Penelope recounting her life with Odysseus.

Hes always gone and she has all these suitors and they all want to take her money, Nehrbass said. He comes back and he kills all her handmaids.

Getting exposure

Central Features owner Nancy Zastudil has carried Nehrbass work since she opened the gallery in 2014. Central Features is something of a hybrid; its a commercial gallery with sponsor support, making it eligible for grants.

First of all, I love the scale; she works really large, Zastudil said. I love that she started out using her own body and she focuses on the female body. I love that she can replicate the patterns of textiles really well.

Nehrbass landscapes begin as collages pieced together like crazy quilts after an online photo search.

I love found imagery, Nehrbass said. I will take a mountain in Austria and something from Montana and its completely made up. This is the romanticization of that landscape. I like that its clean, that you can see the cuts.

I need things crisp, she added. I try to paint messy and it doesnt work.

Nehrbass grew up in Port Washington, Wis., where her artistic leanings surfaced early through coloring, stitching and clay. In high school, her thoughts turned to architecture until the required physics and math stopped her.

Getting started

She graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in studio arts and textile design.

Then Nehrbass spotted a tiny Ralph Lauren internship ad in the back of the New York Times magazine. She borrowed $200 from her mother and flew to the city during spring break. I felt like Mary Tyler Moore, she said. I had a red cape on.

She landed a $7-an-hour two-week internship that bloomed into a 10-year career.

The first day I went in, I got cupcakes for somebody, she said. I spent two weeks mixing two shades of blue for an antique document they wanted to reproduce.

But she soon switched from gofer and blender to designing sheets, towels and wallpaper.

It was like getting a masters degree in design, she said. But I missed the art part of my life. After I started painting (again), I said, I cant go back to the corporate world anymore.'

She visited a friend in Santa Fe and fell in love with New Mexico.

Nehrbass earned a masters of art degree at New York University, then a masters in fine arts at the University of New Mexico. UNM offered more than double the studio space and personalized attention.

She dabbled in life as an adjunct professor before turning to painting full-time.

Her influences include the contemporary artists Mickalene Thomas and Ridley Howard. She likes to visit Home Depot to gather color chips.

You pull a little bit from everybody, she said. Youre always looking for the next shot. If I dont get to the studio for a couple days, everybody knows it. I tell my husband, You didnt marry a housefrau.

Paintings always like a jealous husband.Ill never forget standing before an all-black canvas at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, Ohio. The painting was by Frank Stella, and the curator boldly stated, Are you aware that you are standing before a revolution in art? Well, no, I wasnt. All I really saw was black: no illusionistic representation, no perspective. Is this a revolution or a hoax?

Such is the topic of Yasmina Rezas popular play from the 1990s, Art, currently playing at the Adobe Theater, in a first-rate production directed by Marc Comstock.

Serge, a successful dermatologist, has just purchased a painting by a fashionable modern artist for 200,000 euros. Although all we can really see is a white canvas, he insists there are many other shades of color, barely perceptible, but observable if you look closely. His best friend, Marc, is appalled by what to him is a colossal rip-off; after laughing out loud, he tells Serge exactly what he thinks. This difference of opinion will test their friendship, while a third friend  the weak-willed Yvan  is caught in the middle.

The play provokes the question, What determines the value of art? But the play is even more concerned with the dynamics of power among men. After all, if Marc is right, Serge is a dupe; if Serge is right, he possesses something of great value that Marc, in his ignorance, is unable to appreciate. Marc is a classicist, Serge is a modernist; Serge was once a protege of Marc, and now he asserts his independence, offended at his friends unwillingness or inability to see the beauty of the masterpiece he has acquired.

As Serge, Joe Dallacqua masterfully evinces ostentatious elegance and preening cultural posturing. Does he really love the painting? Or has he been seduced by all the hype? His elongated vowels and crisp diction perfectly suggest the kind of self-important snob most people have little patience for.

Matt Heath is great as Marc, and reminded me of Wallace Shawn in My Dinner With Andre, where again we see two friends spar intellectually over values and ideas.

In Comstocks lively direction, Yvan is caught  in the most concrete way imaginable  between the two, receiving blows that are more than just metaphorical. Jeremy Joynt is very good as the spineless amoeba, as hes called, although either he or the playwright has taken the conceit so far as to be almost unbelievable.

Vic Browders set design is excellent, suggesting as it does a modern art connoisseurs posh abode. Louissa ONeills costume design is also well-done, with punctilious attention to detail (even down to the color and design of the socks). The color tone of the set is mostly various shades of green, and costume, lighting and set design are nicely complementary.

Art is playing through March 25 at Adobe Theater, 9813 Fourth NW, Albuquerque. Go to adobetheater.org or call 898-9222 for reservations.The cartoons of Ricardo Cate whiplash from biting political commentary to provocative takes on Native American life in New Mexico.

Best known as a cartoonist with the Santa Fe New Mexican, Cate is the subject of an exhibition at the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center beginning March 17. The show will be on display in the Art Through Struggle Gallery through Jan. 6, 2019.

Cates cartoons reveal a sensibility borne of a twisted hybrid of Mad magazine, Richard Pryor and Cheech and Chong, rooted in Marvel comic books.

Ive been doing cartoons since the seventh grade with my best friend David, Cate said in a telephone interview as he was traveling from his home at Kewa Pueblo (Santo Domingo) to Albuquerque. Wed exchange them in the hallways. Nobody liked us.

His friend David was half-Sioux and didnt speak the Keres language of the pueblo. Unlike their peers, Cate and his friend spoke English to communicate.

The pair drew their teachers and classmates, sometimes picturing themselves as superheroes.

Cate would go on to draw for his high school and college newspapers, then for his unit publication in the Marine Corps.

He showed his work to the New Mexican in 2006.

I basically just walked in, and I wouldnt take no for an answer, he said.

Editors repeatedly told him he needed to join a Florida-based cartoon syndicate.

I couldnt understand that, he said. I said, Im standing right here; I have my cartoons.'

Finally, the editor-in-chief leafed through his examples.

She starts laughing, and other people started coming in, Cate said. Pretty soon, theres 15-20 people in there, and theyre all laughing.

She said, Weve got to have this cartoon. 

I was very apprehensive about this, Cate said. Would people accept it? Would my people accept it?

Six years ago, his strip hopscotched from the side to the top of the comics page. In 2012, Cate produced the book Without Reservations. Its still selling on Amazon.com.

Now my cartoon is three times more popular (in the New Mexican) than Peanuts,  Cate said. And the readership is primarily non-Native.

IPCC museum Director Monique Fragua was familiar with Cates work from a museum gala.

He did a live art painting, she said. It was a scene with the museum and some kids and their teacher and some pottery.

The kid says, But we have all these things at home.

His cartoons are always so humorous. He has this lens of being Native American, and especially with everything going on in society and the world. He looks at it like its always been going on.

Hes fascinating, she added. Hes also super down-to-earth.

The cartoonist gleans his ideas from the world around him.

Humor is just about everywhere, Cate said. I just saw a sign on the highway saying, Expect delays. 

He once drew a cartoon with the same title featuring a cowboy riding down the highway. He added a group of Native Americans in feathers and war paint hiding behind the sign.

Cates background reads like a road movie. Hes an activist, stand-up comedian, writer, teacher, veteran, onetime college athlete and four-time Dakota Access Pipeline protester. His celebrity fans include Wes Studi, Jackie Chan, Winona La Duke and Dennis Banks, co-founder of the American Indian Movement.LAS CRUCES  Hundreds gathered for the dedication of a monument to women veterans who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces.

Ive been wanting one for a long time. Today is special day, said Capt. Betty Somppie. Shes 102 years old and served during World War II as an original member of the 1st Womens Auxiliary Army Corps.

She was a special guest at the dedication for the Women Veterans Memorial at Saturdays ceremony in Veterans Memorial Park in Las Cruces.

Shoshana Johnson, a U.S. Army specialist and prisoner of war in Iraq in 2003, paid homage to the trailblazing women in uniform.

Its amazing to realize how many women have served before me, that have gone the distance, gone to extremes of disguising themselves as men in order to serve their nation. And yet there are those who still question whether we can serve, whether we have the heart, the mind or the strength to serve. Well, we have been serving, Johnson said.

United Military Women of the SouthWest spearheaded the effort to create a monument to women veterans, the first in New Mexico and one of a handful in the United States. The only other monument paying tribute to all women veterans who have served in all branches of the military is located at the entrance to Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

It makes people aware women are veterans, too, said Karen Woods, president of United Military Women of the SouthWest. Woods served in the Navy for 22 years and in retirement has worked tirelessly for a memorial. She said women veterans are often the hidden heroes in their communities.

You have to educate people, Woods said.

Daryl Mashk, a Navy veteran, drove from Albuquerque with her husband to attend the dedication in Las Cruces. It makes it all worth while. You sit there and you realize people recognize you for what you did, she said.

The city of Las Cruces donated space at Veterans Memorial Park and the state Legislature provided a grant of $406,500 for the project. Other funding came from donations from private citizens businesses of all sizes.

The monument features six life-size bronze sculptures of women in uniforms dating to World War I through present day conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The work pays tribute to their service in the Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and Army National Guard.

The U.S. military opened all combat positions to women in 2016 but women have been serving their country in nearly every armed conflict dating to the Revolutionary War.

You have your freedom because we have put on the uniform. When you told us we didnt have the right, we did it anyway, Johnson said during the ceremony.

After the dedication, Tamieka Henry and her friend Rosemary Montoya, both 23-year-old soldiers with the Army National Reserve, proudly snapped photos in front of the monument.

My mother is a vet and she was my main motivation to serve, Henry said.

Im honored to be here with so many women who have sacrificed so much,Montoya said.Michelle Lujan Grisham left her Democratic rivals in the dust on Saturday, winning 66.9 percent of the votes cast by New Mexico Democratic Party delegates in a four-way race for governor.

A third-term congresswoman and former state Cabinet secretary, Lujan Grisham brushed aside allegations of favoritism and rules violations levied by her Democratic foes in the run-up to Saturday's pre-primary nominating convention.

I am honored to have received such resounding support from Democrats across all of New Mexico, Lujan Grisham said in a statement after the votes were announced.

Her victory also ensures she will have the top spot on the June 5 primary election ballot. Whoever wins the Democratic Party's nomination for governor would face off against Republican Steve Pearce, who is running unopposed, in the November general election.

Former Albuquerque media executive Jeff Apodaca came in second among Democratic gubernatorial candidates with 21.2 percent of delegate votes. State Sen. Joseph Cervantes of Las Cruces got about 10 percent of the votes cast and political outsider Peter DeBenedittis of Santa Fe received slightly less than 2 percent after urging his supporters to cast their votes for Apodaca.

Candidates who fail to win 20 percent of the delegate vote are required to submit a larger number of voter petition signatures if they still want to qualify for the ballot.

Cervantes told the Journal he has no plans to drop out of the race, and intends to turn in additional signatures in the coming days.

It's a big state and there are a lot of people who are going to decide the race other than the couple hundred who were at the convention, Cervantes said.

He also described the convention as a fiasco  a reference to long lines to vote and alleged bribes made to delegates.

Nearly 1,500 Democratic Party delegates from all 33 New Mexico counties attended Saturday's event, which was held at the Albuquerque Convention Center. The state's other two main parties, Republicans and Libertarians, have already held their own conventions.

New Mexico Democrats are feeling the wind at their back in this year's election cycle, banking that a strong field of candidates and local voter discontent with President Donald Trump will translate to favorable results come November.

But there were also signs of discord on Saturday, as a protester was escorted out of the venue after interrupting the start of Lujan Grisham's speech.

There are contested Democratic primary races in several open statewide races, including a six-way contest for the Albuquerque-based 1st Congressional District seat that Lujan Grisham has held since 2013.

In that race, former state Democratic Party chairwoman Debra Haaland led the pack with 34.8 percent of the delegate vote, with former law school professor Antoinette Sedillo Lopez coming in second with about 25.1 percent of the votes cast.

We were able to break through, Haaland, who would be the first Native American woman elected to Congress, told reporters after the final votes were announced. I think we'll gain some momentum going forward.

None of the other four candidates in the race reached the 20 percent threshold, with Albuquerque city councilor Pat Davis coming closest at 13.6 percent.

In the state auditor's race to challenge Republican Wayne Johnson, state Rep. Bill McCamley of Las Cruces won 60.5 percent of the delegate vote with Albuquerque attorney Brian Colon getting the remaining 39.5 percent of the vote.

In the land commissioner race, state Rep. Stephanie Garcia Richard of White Rock posted a strong showing, winning 43.7 percent of the votes cast by more than 1,400 delegates. Garett VeneKlasen was close behind with 39.1 percent, while state Sen. George Munoz of Gallup got 17.2 percent of the vote.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Howie Morales of Silver City cruised to victory in the lieutenant governor race, winning nearly 50.3 percent of the delegate vote. Former state Rep. Rick Miera of Albuquerque came in second with 27.8 percent of the delegate votes, with ex-Public Education Commissioner Jeff Carr of Eagle Nest and Dona Ana County Commissioner Billy Garrett failing to reach the 20 percent mark.

Hitting that threshold has traditionally been seen as a sign of candidate strength, but some candidates have gone on to victory in the primary election despite falling short at the pre-primary convention.

Most recently, former Attorney General Gary King won the Democratic party nomination for governor in 2014, despite falling short of the 20 percent mark at that year's convention. King went on to lose in the general election to Gov. Susana Martinez, a Republican who was running for re-election. Martinez is barred from seeking a third consecutive term in office and will step down at the end of this year.

Several incumbent Democrats were unopposed in winning primary ballot designations Saturday. That list includes Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Attorney General Hector Balderas, state Treasurer Tim Eichenberg, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich and U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

In the summer of 2016, amid a congressional panels national probe into whether fetal tissue was being sold at a profit to researchers, University of New Mexico regents reached out to a local private law firm to explore a related matter.

The universitys Health Sciences Center had for years used fetal tissue as it researched ways to improve outcomes for premature babies, and such work had elicited some community criticism.

So the regents contracted Sutin Thayer & Browne to provide the regents advice and counsel regarding issues of compliance with federal law, including one specifically related to fetal tissue acquisition, according to the Aug. 30, 2016, engagement letter obtained by the Journal.

We understand the sensitive nature of this work, and will keep our relationship and work confidential to the maximum extent possible, Sutin attorney Jay D. Rosenblum wrote in the letter.

More than a year after records show Sutin halted work on UNMs behalf, much remains unknown  even to some regents.

Sutin charged UNM nearly $43,000 for about five months of service, records show. Costs included work by a forensic accountant subcontracted by Sutin.

But Sutin never filed a written report, and the states largest university continues to closely guard the details of the firms work  redacting all references to its specific nature in letters and invoices provided to the Journal in response to a public records request, citing attorney-client privilege.

Not even the chancellor of UNMs Health Sciences Center, Dr. Paul Roth, knows what, if anything, Sutin gleaned.

Roth said Sutin attorneys never talked to him during the engagement  a project he said he knew nothing about until hearing some people make reference to it afterward.

But the Journal has obtained unredacted copies of the Sutin invoices, which show the firm did have repeated contact with the U.S. House Select Investigative Panel on Infant Lives, staff for Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, and a pro-life group that had denounced UNMs fetal tissue research practices and ties to abortion providers.

Regent President Rob Doughty, the lone UNM signatory on the Sutin agreement, did not respond to multiple Journal messages last week.

Investigating concerns

The Sutin engagement came amid some public outcry about UNMs research.

Congress Republican-led Select Panel and others had questioned the universitys relationship with Southwestern Womens Options abortion clinic, which had provided fetal tissue to UNM.

In June 2016, the Select Panel chair, Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., said the tissue transfers violated state law and called on New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas to investigate. HSC denied her assertions, as did members of the Select Panels Democratic minority who wrote Balderas the following month with concerns Blackburn was using the power of Congress to chase unfounded allegations of anti-abortion extremists. (Balderas office has since announced that it found no criminal violations.)

On Aug. 29, 2016, Doughty emailed fellow regents to say he had given much thought to the public and national attention UNMs fetal tissue research had attracted. He said he determined it was in the boards best interest to retain private counsel, who would be tasked with ensuring that the board has all information reported on this topic and that said information is complete and accurate.

In the email obtained by the Journal, Doughty wrote, While I have no reason to doubt the testimony of the HSC staff, I believe it is incumbent on the board of regents to be exhaustive in our concern about this issue.

In an emailed response to Journal questions about Sutins work, Regent Brad Hosmer said he had responded to Doughtys Aug. 29 message by thanking the board president for the initiative. Hosmer said his past experience as inspector general of the U.S. Air Force showed him the best way to clear an allegation is a thorough investigation.

The Sutin engagement letter  which, like Sutins invoices, was addressed to Doughtys private Albuquerque law office  was dated the next day. Doughtys signature represents approval by Regents of the University of New Mexico, according to the document.

Hosmer said he recalls no full board vote on the matter.

Both Hosmer and Regent Suzanne Quillen say Doughtys Aug. 29 email marked the first time they were notified of a possible outside legal contract.

However, by that point, Sutin had already logged more than 25 hours of work for UNM over a months time, according to invoices. That included an Aug. 6, 2016, meeting with Doughty, board Vice President Marron Lee and then-regent Jack Fortner, the bills show.

Five months earlier, the same trio, plus then-Student Regent Ryan Berryman, voted for the controversial restructuring of the Health Sciences Centers governing board  which had included five regents and two community members  and instead vested HSC governance with an all-regent board of three. The move, which Quillen and Hosmer opposed, also put Roth more firmly under the UNM presidents authority.

Bob Frank, UNMs then-president, said the regents did not consult with him about hiring Sutin, though he knew about it.

As I recall, the issue was: Was there a smoking gun that they didnt know about? In other words, was there something that wasnt coming forward that was going to come out and haunt the university, and they felt a need to do extra diligence to ensure that didnt exist, Frank said.

UNM was already paying a Washington-based attorney from the McDermott, Will & Emery law firm to interface with the Select Panel on its behalf. Frank said he did not think anything was amiss given his conversations with the Washington lawyer and UNMs in-house counsel.

But some regents, he said, were very suspicious about it.

Fortner, who made the initial call to Sutin, told the Journal that Pearce had previously told him the Select Panel had evidence UNM was participating in buying and selling fetal tissue. Fortner said he saw it as due diligence on the regents part to get an independent review. Lee did not respond to Journal messages.

Pearce contacts

Sutins bills reference a number of emails and a conference call with regents over the course of the job, but Quillen said she was never included in Sutins fetal tissue project communications.

None of the invoices make specific mention of communication with Quillen, Hosmer, Regent Tom Clifford or Berryman.

But they do reflect 14 contacts with staff for Steve Pearce, the Republican congressman from southern New Mexico, including multiple emails and phone calls with Pearces then-Chief of Staff Todd Willens.

In an emailed statement, Pearce spokeswoman Keely Christensen said the office wanted transparency on the UNM issue.

The offices communication with the Select Panel and the University were to ensure that all freedoms and liberties of taxpayers were upheld, she said.

Pearces office confirmed that its staff helped set up a meeting between the regents and the Select Panel at the regents request, but the regents never showed up on the scheduled date.

Sutins invoices also note multiple contacts with the New Mexico Alliance for Life, an anti-abortion nonprofit and vocal opponent of UNMs fetal tissue research, and state lawmaker Rod Montoya, a Republican representative from Farmington who has complained about what he considers a lack of transparency at UNM regarding its fetal tissue research.

Montoya confirmed having phone conversations and a meeting with one Sutin attorney, who he said reached out to him at the regents suggestion. Asked last week by the Journal if he had information about UNMs Health Sciences Center, Montoya said, No. Just questions. Just things I thought should be looked into.

Records show Sutin also had regular contact with Judith Wagner, a forensic accountant it subcontracted on Sept. 20, 2016. The arrangement called for an investigation, though UNM redacted the description of Wagners focus in documents provided to the Journal.

The final service billed to UNM is a half-hour spent Jan. 5, 2017, reviewing and analyzing the Select Panels final report  which was publicly released the previous day  and emailing Doughty.

Failure to launch

Hosmer said he asked University Counsel Elsa Cole multiple times last spring for documents related to Sutins engagement, including a written report. He said she responded via email on May 12, 2017, to all regents, attaching a letter from Sutin.

Hosmer did not provide the document, but related it to the Journal as saying essentially that when the U.S. House of Representatives Select Panel was not funded for the 115th Congress, there was no longer a body to which to respond and accordingly Sutins work stopped at that point without a final report or summary.

I found that interesting, Hosmer said, since up to that point, the Sutin work was presumably for the regents, not for the U.S. House of Representatives Select Committee.

Quillen told the Journal she and Fortner had also asked for a report, directing inquiries to Doughty and Lee.

Any engagement and expenditures of this nature deserves a full written report outlining the results of the investigation to not only the full board of regents but the university at large, Quillen said in an emailed response to Journal questions.

Roth at HSC said he can only guess that the law firm did not identify any big issues.

Im only assuming that had they found anything of substance, I probably wouldve heard about that, Roth told the Journal last week. But, no, there hasnt been any report or any feedback.

An internal email obtained by the Journal sheds some light on the projects results, however limited.

Four months after Sutins work halted, Cole and fellow UNM attorney Kim Bell met with Sutins Rosenblum and Wade Jackson for an update.

Cole related the conversation in a May 17, 2017, email to regents and UNMs then-President Chaouki Abdallah. She wrote that the Sutin attorneys said they were not anywhere in their review and had no conclusions, since Wagner had compiled only publicly available information.

When the Select Panel released its final report in January 2017 and dissolved, the Sutin firm (including Ms. Wagner) ceased its work, Cole wrote. Mr. Rosenblum described their effort as preparatory work that resulted in  a failure to launch. He said the investigation was in hiatus and they would be ready to resume their work if the Regents so instructed them.

Rosenblum did not respond to Journal messages.

Fortner, who resigned from the board last May, said he does not recall if he saw Coles email and did not know why Sutin attorneys would have characterized the project that way. He said he had at one point received an oral report indicating they had found no evidence UNM bought or sold fetal tissue.

The same Cole email also raises questions about whether Cole approved the Sutin engagement, which does not bear her signature. UNM procurement policy says the Office of University Counsel must approve the purchase of legal services.

Citing exact language in the engagement letter, a UNM spokeswoman said last week the Sutin arrangement occurred through and with the consent of the Office of University Counsel.

But Coles email to regents last year suggested otherwise.

In it, she wrote that Sutin representatives acknowledged she never signed an Aug. 18, 2016, version of the engagement letter and instead entered the engagement with the different letter dated Aug. 30, 2016.

I asked what their authority was for the statement in the letter that Pursuant to the Outside Counsel Guidelines, attached to the Contract as Exhibit A, this engagement has occurred through and with the consent of the Office of University Counsel, she wrote. They did not recall what circumstances led them to include this language.

But UNM spokeswoman Cinnamon Blair told the Journal last week that after Cole sent that email last May, shed had a recollection that she had in fact approved the engagement.

The Journal asked Cole for any signed and dated document signifying her approval of the Sutin agreement. She has not provided one.With critics having raised questions about whether UNMs Health Sciences Center acquisition of fetal tissue for research purposes was done legally, the universitys regents contracted Albuquerques Sutin Thayer & Browne law firm for advice and counsel on UNMs compliance with federal law.

Dr. Paul Roth, UNMs Health Sciences chancellor, said he was never contacted during the engagement, nor did he know about it at the time.

But copies of Sutins invoices to UNM do offer insight into what the firm did during its five-month, $43,000 engagement.

The invoices show research into state and federal laws and frequent conversations with the forensic examiner Sutin subcontracted. They also reflect:

 14 contacts with staff for U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce, including several with his then-chief of staff.

 Four phone calls with an attorney for New Mexico Alliance for Life and one meeting with the anti-abortion groups attorney and executive director.

 Two telephone calls and one meeting with state Rep. Rod Montoya, R-Farmington.

 Review and analysis of legislative appropriations to determine how UNM and HSC are funding, risk of de-funding.

 Review and analysis of growth of HSC appropriations and level of detail in line-items.

 Researching UNM Medical Group Inc. and corporate structure of Health Science Center.

 Review and analysis of the UNM Student Counseling web page.

 Review and analysis of letters from the Select Panel to UNM and Southwestern Womens Options.

 Review and analysis of an Alliance for Life news release.

 Emails with the University of South Florida regarding the public records request.It might seem like a good problem to have: boxes of Amazon items arriving at your doorstop, unsolicited and free of charge.

But the goodies might be part of whats called a brushing scam involving identity theft thats involved strange deliveries arriving at homes in the U.S. and, in several cases, to student dormitories in Canada. The ploy is used by third-party retailers seeking to write their own five-star reviews in order to boost their online sales, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.

Because sellers arent allowed to review their own products, what theyre doing instead is this: establishing a phony email address and then setting up fake Amazon accounts so they appear to be independent customers. They then purchase their own merchandise with an untraceable gift card and send it to any random person, according to the Boston Globe.

Once the item is shipped  it doesnt really matter where  the seller who is controlling the buyers email account can write a review of the product, thus becoming a verified buyer writing a verified review, according to the Globe. Thats important because Amazon highlights verified reviews and gives better display to products that have a greater number of verified reviews.

The scam looks a lot less like a potentially harmful crime and a whole lot more like a generous friend or family member, but it could be a sign of trouble, the ID Theft Resource Center said.

Thats because it means someone has gained access to your name, mailing address and potentially other information, the resource center said. Depending on how they accessed your information, they could be privy to a lot more of your personally identifiable information than you realize.

A likely source of the stolen personal information is one of the many data breaches that have hit retailers.

The resource center recommends contacting Amazon about unwanted packages and changing passwords on online accounts to protect them against hacking.

  

An ever-growing number of people are turning to peer-to-peer payment sites, such as Venmo  the figure is estimated to be 78.7 million users in the U.S. this year, rising to more than 110 million by 2021.

Heres how it works: When consumers download the Venmo app, they create an account connected to their bank account or credit or debit card. The app allows them to transfer or receive money from other Venmo users and transfer some or all of their Venmo balance to their bank account.

As with almost everything conducted online, its important to protect against identity theft and other kinds of fraud.

Here are some tips, courtesy of the Federal Trade Commission:

 Peer-to-peer payment systems require access to your financial information, so check your account settings for additional security measures that arent on by default. Consider turning on multi-factor authentication, requiring a PIN, or using fingerprint recognition like Touch ID.

 Some systems or apps might share transaction details on social media. Check social media settings to ensure youre not sharing personal information by default. Adjust settings based on what youre comfortable exposing.

 Scammers try to get you to pay them in many different ways  including by sending money online  so make sure you know who youre sending money to. The FTC suggests that if youre receiving money from someone you dont know  maybe as payment for tickets to a concert or a game, or for an item youre selling  transfer the money to your bank account and make sure its there before sending any goods.

Ellen Marks is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal. Contact her at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division at 1-844-255-9210, toll-free.When new solutions to persistent problems present themselves, one must seize them. New Mexico has an opportunity to do so today when it comes to our growing opioid epidemic. But at least so far, we lack the state leadership to take charge of the situation.

It is estimated that nearly 500 New Mexicans die every year from opioid overdoses. Tens of thousands more struggle with opioid use disorders (OUD), with limited access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) like methadone or buprenorphine. New Mexico has only 29 sites that provide methadone, and these are located in only four municipalities across the state. We also still need more buprenorphine prescribers across the state. Project ECHO has helped scale up the number, but people are still having a hard time finding prescribers. The state Human Services Department is aware of these limitations and is working to improve access to MAT for New Mexicans, but these changes will take time. We need action now.

Expanding access to medical cannabis for people with opioid use disorders offers promising help. Credible studies show that many medical cannabis patients are already substituting cannabis for other drugs, including heroin and prescription opioids, and it is helping to improve their quality of life. Research suggests that medical cannabis can ease pain from opioid withdrawal and related symptoms like insomnia, nausea and anxiety. It can also help people seeking treatments like naltrexone, methadone or Suboxone to maintain their MAT regimen.

More than two dozen health professionals who work with New Mexicans suffering from addiction have signed on in support of using cannabis for OUD. And we are learning that states with medical and legal cannabis are seeing decreases in the rates of opioid overdose deaths. The body of evidence is building.

New Mexicos Medical Cannabis Advisory board recommended adding OUD to the list of qualifying conditions both in 2016 and 2017. And in 2017, a bipartisan bill that would have added OUD to the medical cannabis program passed both chambers of the state Legislature. Even though the measure passed with strong margins and was sponsored by a Republican leader, Governor Martinez vetoed it.

This year the Legislature spoke again. Both the House and the Senate passed measures formally requesting the secretary of Health approve the petition before her to add opioid use disorder as an eligible condition for medical cannabis. Also, the Medical Cannabis Advisory Board submitted its written report explaining its 2017 unanimous recommendation to add OUD to the list of qualifying conditions.

The advisory boards report is clear: allowing medical cannabis for the condition of opioid use disorder reduces harm. Responding to the secretarys decision denying the boards 2016 recommendation to add OUD in 2016, the report states the secretarys decision was misguided in that it ignores the lower rate of addiction seen with cannabis than with opioids  risks of dependency of cannabis at 9 percent vs. heroin at 23 percent  when considering (the) low risk of cannabis addiction when used to treat opioid use disorder versus untreated opioid use disorder, which can lead to opioid overdose and death.

New Mexico has led the way before. In 2009 we were the first state to list post-traumatic stress disorder as a qualifying condition for medical cannabis, and now Americans with PTSD in 28 U.S. jurisdictions are eligible to access medical cannabis. We have the opportunity to lead the nation again. And we have the obligation to do so, especially with New Mexicans dying every day from opioid overdoses.

The point of our medical cannabis law is to aid those who are sick and dying to access cannabis in a regulated system for beneficial use. With a growing number of lives being claimed by opioid overdoses, and treatment for OUD that is hard to access, now is the time to expand available options to New Mexicans, not limit them.

It is long overdue for New Mexicos Secretary of Health, Lynn Gallagher, to listen to the experts and permit compassionate, effective therapeutic treatment of opioid addiction and dependence with medical cannabis.I will never forget when, during the first year at my school, my students asked, If I come back to visit next year, will you be gone? There was huge turnover in my district and teachers did not stay long. My students knew this. Teachers left for districts with higher test scores, new opportunities and better pay in other states or professions. Last school year, my current students teacher left mid-year for a position out of state, leaving them to build a relationship with the new teacher after the holiday break. This year, one of the students asked me if I would be back after the break. I had to work hard to convince him that I wasnt going anywhere.

Our students deserve, and families should demand, highly effective teachers who have the ability to accelerate the academic growth of their students. But we must provide such teachers with reasons to stay beyond commitment to their students. In New Mexico, salary increases and professional incentives are virtually nonexistent for many educators who have topped out at the Level 3 licensure. Our students are losing the teachers they value, and their academic outcomes are suffering as a result.

Low socioeconomic areas like Bernalillo, Belen, Grants  and Kirtland where I teach  find it even more challenging to keep highly effective teachers. The students in these districts desperately need consistency and high quality but often see teachers leave after one or two years. Teachers in every district make a difference, but in areas like mine students look forward to having the teachers that their brothers and sisters have had. My students siblings tell me often that they cant wait to have me in sixth grade. James is the brother of a student I had last year. He struggles in many subjects, but has an A in my class. My team often tells me it is because of the relationship I have with him. I agree. Teachers who stay in their community have years of experience and knowledge that is invaluable in teaching.

In every career, professionals need to be able to grow. When it comes to teachers, our states current system only allows for growth up to a point. The system is not set up to keep great teachers where they are most needed. But we can change this.

First, a Level Four license should exist for the educators who have attained masters degrees and certification, and who also participate in leadership roles while staying in the classroom. At Level Four, educators will remain in the classroom working directly with students to help them achieve at a high level while providing other teachers the support they need to improve their teaching.

Second, New Mexico should provide a certain level of financial reward as teachers gain experience and increase their professional growth, especially when that teacher is making a difference in closing the achievement gap for students.

New Mexicos teachers should be given the opportunities to grow in the greatest career field, education.

Ruth Gallegos teaches sixth grade Language Arts at Kirtland Elementary School. She is a Teach Plus New Mexico Teaching Policy Fellow.New Mexicos early childhood advocates were deeply disappointed last month when HJR1, a constitutional amendment to fund more public pre-K by increasing annual withdrawals from the Land Grant Permanent Fund, made it through the House on a narrow vote only to die in the Senate Finance Committee. Opponents of the measure have stressed its fiscal implications. But the plan has another, more critical problem: Expanding state pre-K will do little to nothing to help the disadvantaged children universally invoked to promote it.

The accelerating pre-K campaign got a particular boost this past November when the Legislative Finance Committee released a report tracking links between a range of factors and childrens progress from kindergarten to eighth grade. As widely cited by HRJ1 supporters, the report found that students who attended pre-K show lasting academic gains through 8th grade and concluded, NM needs to expand use of pre-K.

A report promoting pre-K isnt surprising. But highlighting pre-K as a key recommendation of this report is a little peculiar. Thats because pre-Ks positive long-term impacts as documented in the LFC report itself were tiny  and, more important, dwarfed by several other school-related factors found to have much greater effect on childrens academic success.

In one example, the report stressed that 69 percent of kindergartners who attended pre-K were reading at grade level. Thats an improvement over the 66 percent reading at grade level who hadnt attended pre-K, but not by much.

Similarly, low-income eighth graders who attended pre-K scored higher on the PARCC reading exam than a comparable group who didnt attend, but only two points higher  723 compared to 721  and still far below the exams proficiency cut-off score of 750. Just one out of five of low-income eighth graders who had attended pre-K were at least minimally proficient in math  barely above the 17 percent who hadnt attended.

These impacts are especially tiny in relation to the achievement gap pre-K is supposed to be closing. On the 2015 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) exams for both reading and math, for example, just 14 percent of low-income eighth graders in New Mexico scored at proficient or above, compared to 33 percent proficient in reading and 38 percent in math for higher income students. On the 2017 PARCC reading exam, 22 percent of low-income children across all grades were proficient in reading, compared to 43 percent for their more advantaged peers.

While increases in childrens performance associated with attending pre-K were essentially negligible, however, the report highlighted several factors found to be associated with substantial improvement in student achievement.

First among those was the quality of childrens teachers, which the LFC researchers identified as having the most impact on a students academic achievement of all school-related factors. If students have three years of highly effective teachers, their math and reading scores can increase by 16 percent, the researchers explained, however if students have ineffective teachers, their scores can drop by as much as 33 percent.

The report found, furthermore, that in schools enrolling over 90 percent low-income students more than a third of teachers are currently rated as less than effective. And it found that improving the effectiveness of childrens K-12 teachers had an impact on childrens academic proficiency exceeding that of pre-K by a large margin.

In just two years, low-performing schools participating in the Teachers Pursuing Excellence peer mentoring program increased the percentage of students scoring at or above proficient from about 24 percent to almost 35 percent in reading and from about 16 percent to 27 percent in math.

The bottom line is this: New Mexicos disadvantaged children dont need more school; they need good school. And that means schools with effective teachers who show up to teach.

Tacking additional grades onto a poorly performing school system wont help the children who need help the most. Improving the 13 grades they already attend could help them a lot.

The American Enterprise Institute is a nonpartisan, conservative think tank.Few Americans know North Korea better than Bill Richardson, but the former New Mexico governor was just as shocked as you and me when he learned last week of President Donald Trumps plans to sit down face-to-face with the Hermit Kingdoms president, Kim Jong Un, to talk nuclear weapons.

Richardson, an ex-United Nations ambassador and sometime diplomatic troubleshooter for the U.S. in North Korea, pronounced himself flabbergasted on CNN shortly after a hastily arranged announcement by the South Koreans on the White House driveway Thursday night. Moments later in a telephone interview with me, Richardson said the news came as a very pleasant surprise.

Im 95 percent against what President Trump does in domestic and foreign policy, the one-time Democratic presidential candidate said. But Im going to give him credit for this very bold and potentially important breakthrough.

Richardson has experience negotiating with Kim Jong Il  the late father of the current North Korean president. He has never met the son. But Richardson has kept in touch with members of the North Korean government through his contacts at the U.N., and he knows Kim Jong Un is wily and unpredictable.

Richardson said Trump  or at least his foreign policy team  better do some homework and make sure the big summit doesnt just turn into a prestige-building exercise for the North Koreans.

I think its important that he prepare properly and that we have a strategy for what our objectives are, Richardson said. We have to be careful of falling into a trap. Kim Jong Un (believed to be only in his early to mid-30s) has been underestimated and he has an agenda.

Richardson said its laughable to think Kim would unilaterally disarm a nuclear arsenal it has taken North Korea decades to achieve. And he doubts there will be any major breakthroughs during the meeting between the two unpredictable and notoriously hot-headed leaders. But the tough-talking Trump has created an opportunity to push a U.S. agenda in North Korea that eluded former Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

President Trumps first objective should be to completely freeze their missile activity that would include a nuclear warhead potentially reaching the mainland and U.S. territories like Guam, Alaska and Hawaii, Richardson said, suggesting that site inspections could be a part of such a deal. They are not going to disarm  lets be realistic. Theyre not going to just fold. They are going to want a lot in return, but we can at least be setting a negotiating framework for a potential verifiable agreement. It has to be verified or its not worth it, and we are a long ways away from that.

Richardson suggested Trump press for the return of U.S. soldiers remains held by the communist country since the Korean War ended in 1953. And he noted that three Americans remain imprisoned in North Koreas brutal justice system. Thats an urgent concern considering the fate of Otto Warmbier, an American college student who was brutalized, and effectively murdered, by the regime in captivity just last year.

Richardson, who wrote a book on negotiating called How to Sweet Talk a Shark five years ago, said both leaders have a chance to get something from the suddenly highly anticipated meeting at a still-to-be determined location in May.

Part of the reason (Kim) is moving toward diplomacy, I think, is Ive heard from North Korea that the extended sanctions have hurt him quite a bit, Richardson said. And in the end, I dont think he wants a military conflict with the United States. He would lose.

But the North Korean leader has gotten the United States attention. Boasting strides in nuclear weapons technology that seemed far-fetched a decade ago, Kim will bargain from a new position of power.

He has reached the point militarily with missile and nuclear technology where they are a very awesome power, Richardson said. Hes reached the point where he feels his leverage is at his greatest right now. Thats when you start negotiating.

Email: mcoleman@abqjournal.com. Go to www.abqjournal.com/letters/new to submit a letter to the editor.WASHINGTON  Just because some pundits and political observers often compare President Donald Trump to Andrew Jackson  the nations seventh president  doesnt make the comparison accurate.

Daniel Feller, a University of Tennessee history professor and expert on Jacksons presidency and life, will discuss the reasons for the frequent comparison and why it so often misses the mark during a lecture on March 18 in Albuquerque. The talk, titled Donald Trump and the Jacksonian Tradition in American Foreign Relations, is part of the Albuquerque International Associations continuing lecture series.

Feller, who also previously taught history at the University of New Mexico, said the Trump comparisons to Jackson started before Trump won office and were based (and largely still are) on the notion of Jackson as a populist champion of the common man.

President Trump and his people have embraced Andrew Jackson for that reason and his critics  mainly Democrats and sometimes left-leaning media  have said Yeah, you are just like Andrew Jackson, not for being a populist but because youre a racist and a bigot and an ignoramus and a demagogue,  Feller said. My modest interjection into this debate is to say, can we actually go back and look at Andrew Jackson and see what the real Andrew Jackson was like instead of these images that are caricatures on both sides?

For one thing, while Trump had never held political office or served in the military and came from a wealthy background, Jackson arose from near-nothing and eventually came to the presidency with a distinguished record as a general, a member of the Tennessee Supreme Court and as a former legislator who served in the both the U.S. House and Senate. And despite his reputation as a ferocious warrior/general who led the American forces to victory against the British in the Battle of New Orleans  the final major confrontation of the War of 1812  Jackson was reserved and non-confrontational in a military sense once he won the presidency.

Feller said that many people confuse Andrew Jackson the general with Andrew Jackson the president.

Of course, much of Jacksons legacy today focuses on the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which forcibly moved Native Americans from their lands in the American South toward the west. Trump was widely criticized in November when he honored Native American Code Talkers at the White House in front of a portrait of Jackson, while derisively referring to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., as Pocahontas, a famed Native American known for her association with the settlement of Jamestown, Va.

Feller noted that Jacksons Indian removal policy has historically gotten little attention, but that it has become a more important issue since the Civil Rights Act passed in 1964. He said Jacksons role  portrayed by some historians as sympathetic because he believed the Indians would otherwise be eradicated completely  deserves the renewed attention.

It absolutely be should be a part of the conversation, Feller said. The question of Native Americans, or Indians, place in American society is still unresolved. It was very important to him and it was a very important issue in his time. We are in a way rescuing it (the issue) from obscurity.

Feller also said its ironic that among major American political figures today, Jacksons role in questioning the power of big banks and their power over the common man more closely aligns with Warren than with Trump.

Its natural for us to look for historical guideposts for policy to ground ourselves, Feller said. As a historian, I can say if were going to do that, lets at least try to get it right.New Mexico is not meeting the needs of those with Parkinsons disease and related conditions  and its a patient population that will likely only grow, according to a University of New Mexico physician who specializes in movement disorders.

Dr. Sarah Pirio-Richardson spoke last week in favor of a new comprehensive movement disorder center at UNM, something the university is exploring with some recent direction from New Mexico lawmakers.

The House of Representatives in January passed a memorial asking UNMs Board of Regents to craft a plan for a center and present the details to a legislative committee by Nov. 1.

According to the memorial, movement disorders affect 250,000 New Mexicans, but the state has just three physicians with the associated fellowship training.

Addressing the regents Health Sciences Center Committee, Pirio-Richardson said movement disorder centers already operate around the country, and demand exists in New Mexico, especially given the states aging population.

As one of two UNM physicians who specialize in movement disorders, and collaborate actively with a neurosurgeon, Pirio-Richardson said the university has a good foundation to care for those with Parkinsons, essential tremor and other conditions that affect mobility.

But the problem is were spread thin  were spread over multiple clinics, multiple sites and days, she said.

A comprehensive center could provide patients with the most current treatments, access to clinical trials and coordinated care from teams that encompass movement disorder physicians, neurosurgeons, psychologists and physical, occupational and speech therapists  all in one venue, she said.

Regent President Rob Doughty expressed support for the project and asked UNM physicians to make the same report to the full Board of Regents.

Former regent and former state lawmaker Jamie Koch, who has Parkinsons, has helped lead the push for the center.

Dr. Christopher Calder, interim chair of UNMs neurology department, said these focused facilities speak to growing subspecialization and advances in treatment.

All neurologists dont do everything anymore, he said. There are a lot of treatment options we didnt use to have. There are a lot of things I wouldve treated 20, 30 years ago when I started my career that I certainly wouldnt touch now.

Dr. Paul Roth, UNMs Health Sciences chancellor, said faculty is analyzing the staffing needs to run a center, while administrators at UNM Hospital and Sandoval Regional Medical Center are exploring what it might cost to construct it.

He said lawmakers expect UNM to have a capital and operating funding proposal ready for the 2019 session.Copyright  2018 Albuquerque Journal

SANTA FE  If a Santa Fe judge had been given correct information in 2016, Thomas Ferguson would most likely have been behind bars when he allegedly tortured and beat his girlfriends teenage son, Jeremiah Valencia, to death in November.

But miscommunication, or lack of communication, between prosecutors in Rio Rancho and Santa Fe helped Ferguson slide through the legal system and remain a free man.

In 2015, Ferguson pleaded guilty to kidnapping and aggravated battery charges after he was accused of beating and sexually assaulting a girlfriend over several days in 2014 at his Santa Fe house. After spending 16 months in jail awaiting trial, he was set free but faced as many as nine years in prison if he violated his probation terms set by a judge.

Violate them he did. Less than a year later, he was arrested for allegedly beating another woman in Rio Rancho. Based on those new charges, a Sante Fe prosecutor initially asked for revocation of Fergusons probation.

But that effort to put Ferguson back behind bars was dropped after the prosecutor, Natalie Perry, was told that the Rio Rancho case against Ferguson would not proceed, Perry said in an interview last week.

The staff at the Santa Fe District Attorneys Office remained unaware that Ferguson eventually pleaded guilty in the Rio Rancho case, to a count of battery against a household member in Sandoval County Magistrate Court, in July 2016.

Officials express surprise and dismay that the true status of Fergusons Rio Rancho case fell through the cracks.

Even this week, Fergusons Rio Rancho guilty plea came as a shock to former prosecutor Perry. She learned about the guilty plea from a Journal reporter.

She says she was told by Rio Rancho prosecutors that they werent going to pursue Fergusons domestic violence charge there.

Perry said that, if shed known the Rio Rancho case was moving forward, she could have asked Santa Fe District Judge T. Glenn Ellington for more time to build a probation violation case that could have landed Ferguson in prison until 2025.

That is disturbing, Perry said of the Rio Rancho conviction. I dont think people know that. Im shocked.

Sandoval County District Attorney Lemuel Martinez says he has no idea why prosecutors in his office would have told attorneys in Santa Fe that the Ferguson Rio Rancho case wasnt going to move forward. The attorneys who worked on the case are no longer with his office, Martinez added.

I dont know who Santa Fe talked to in my office, or who in my office told them that, but its not true, Martinez said. I dont know why they would say that if it went forward.

Last month, Ferguson, 42, was indicted on 18 counts in the death of 13-year-old Jeremiah Valencia, son of his girlfriend Tracy Ann Pena. He has entered a not guilty plea.

Hes accused of torturing the boy over time with implements including a home-made spear and five-pound hammer, to the point that Jeremiah needed a cane to get around, before beating him to death and stuffing him in a dog kennel to die at the family groups Nambe house on Nov. 26.

At the time of Jeremiahs death, Ferguson was facing years in prison if he violated probation for his 2015 kidnapping and battery convictions in Santa Fe. Yet, despite the Rio Rancho charges, and the fact that he later failed to complete the program he was sentenced to in connection with the Rio Rancho case, he remained on the streets.

Rio Rancho case

According to a criminal complaint filed in Sandoval County Magistrate Court, a state probation and parole officer went to the Rio Rancho house where Ferguson was staying in February 2016 and saw that the woman who answered the door, Angelica Abeyta, had bruising around her eyes. She eventually told officers that Ferguson physically abused her.

The report caused Perry, then a Santa Fe prosecutor, to file a motion in District Court to revoke Fergusons probation from the 2015 case and send him to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence.

In a status conference for the probation violation on April 11, 2016, Ferguson showed up without a lawyer, according to audio recordings from the hearing. Judge Ellington first told Ferguson to apply for a public defender and rescheduled the hearing for a week later.

The following week, on April 18, Deputy District Attorney Susan Stinson, who was standing in for Perry, told Ellington that the defense and the state had reached an agreement in which Ferguson didnt have to acknowledge facing a new criminal charge.

The agreement is that the defendant would admit having negative contact with police and be reinstated on probation under the conditions originally ordered, Stinson said. That is after Ms. Perry had a discussion with the attorney handling the new charges down in Sandoval County, and I dont know that those are going forward at this point.

Ferguson admitted that he violated terms of his probation. And what did you do to violate? Ellington asked.

Negative contact with law enforcement, sir, Ferguson responded.

Ellington reinstated him to probation under the original terms.

The guilty plea

But records show that, during the time between the first and second hearing in Santa Fe, actions taken in Sandoval County Magistrate Court made it clear that the Ferguson case was going forward.

According to documents from Sandoval County, Ferguson waived a trial by jury in the Rio Rancho domestic violence case on April 15, 2016, three days before he was reinstated to probation in Santa Fe District Court.

On July 15 of that year, Ferguson pleaded guilty to battery on a household member, according to the court documents. He was sentenced to 364 days in the Sandoval County jail, but he was given credit for the 60 days he had already spent in jail awaiting trial on this case and was required to serve the remaining 304 days under the Sandoval County Misdemeanor Compliance Program. Sandoval County court personnel were aware of Fergusons prior criminal case in Santa Fe. A court order, signed by Sandoval Magistrate Judge Richard Zanotti, says Fergusons requirement of participating in a 52-week domestic violence program was to run concurrently with his pre-existing Santa Fe County probation.

Perry said this week that she couldnt recall the name of the Rio Rancho prosecutor who told her that the domestic violence charge from Rio Rancho would be dropped. She speculates that the victim, Abeyta, decided not to cooperate at first, but later changed her mind.

But Abeyta said in a recent Facebook message to the Journal that she was cooperating with law enforcement and prosecutors in Sandoval County throughout the case.

I was willing to testify and he pled guilty, but I didnt change my mind at all, Abeyta wrote. I even have a restraining order on him and everything. I totally cooperated with them!

Sandoval County District Attorney Martinez identified two lawyers who worked on the Rio Rancho case who no longer work in the office. Im not going to talk to them, Martinez said. Theyre gone. It should be on Santa Fes notes. This doesnt jive with the outcome of the case.

Current Santa Fe District Attorney Marco Serna, who took office in January 2017, said he also couldnt find an explanation in the case notes, which are not available to the public, and added that Stinson  who filled in for Perry at the crucial probation hearing in 2016  told him that she doesnt recall the finer details of the case.

But Serna, too, was surprised to hear from the Journal that Ferguson was convicted of a crime while out on probation.

Really? We even looked in Odyssey (an online court management system) and couldnt find it, Serna said of recent check of Fergusons court record.

That may have been because Fergusons last name is spelled Furgeson on the Sandoval County charging documents. The case can be seen by typing the misspelled name into the nmcourts.gov database. But it doesnt appear at all, under either spelling, on a more secure site that attorneys and reporters can use to access court documents.

All obligations met?

Roughly a year after that conviction, a report from the Sandoval County Misdemeanor Compliance Program dated July 14, 2017  still several months before Jeremiah was killed  says Ferguson received an unsatisfactory discharge from the program for failing to complete required treatment along with a 52-week domestic violence program.

Despite those failures, the case was closed and a note on online records says all obligations met. Sandoval County spokeswoman Melissa Perez could not provide an explanation as to how the case was closed, even though Ferguson failed to meet the requirements of the compliance program.

The Sandoval County Misdemeanor Compliance Program does not have the ability to close out a court case; that can only be done by the courts, Perez said in an email. Therefore, we are unable to address questions about why the case was closed in Magistrate Court.

Now, Ferguson will remain in jail while awaiting trial for Jeremiahs death and faces life plus 168 years in prison if hes convicted on all the counts.

Abeyta, the woman Ferguson pleaded guilty to beating in Rio Rancho, wrote on Facebook to the Journal that Ferguson busted her nasal area and broke bones near her eye as well as her finger. She said she feels safe now, knowing hes in jail.

Thank God he will never be free again, Abeyta wrote. I didnt feel justice was served for what I went through, and now look what happened to that little boy. That is so sad.Abadi closes deal on airports

Baghdad and Erbil will soon announce final agreement over control of airports and borders, which, as expected, will revert to the central government.

On March 6, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said, Inshallah, we will pay the regions salaries and reopen the airports before Nowruz [Persian New Year on March 21].

The pending agreement will place security of the Erbil and Sulaimaniyah airports with Iraqs Ministry of Interior and National Intelligence Services. The Iraqi Civil Aviation Authority would continue its management of the airport, probably with some engagement of Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) officials.

The government of Iraq closed the Kurdistan Regions airports on Sept. 29 in response to the Iraqi Kurdistan referendum. Last month, Baghdad extended the ban on the airports until May, although Abadi has since granted permission for flights to the umrah in Saudi Arabia, in addition to signaling that a final agreement on control of the airports and borders may be imminent.

Abadi added in remarks March 7 that Baghdad would only pay a portion of KRG salaries, because the Kurdistan Region exports approximately 300,000 barrels of oil per day, about 10% of all Iraqi exports. The government of Iraq will conclude an audit of KRG ministries prior to issuing payments.

The pending deal on the airports follows a March 4 vote by the Iraqi Council of Representatives (parliament) to reduce the Kurdistan Regions percentage of the Iraqi federal budget from 17% to 12.5%. The country's total general budget of approximately $88 billion did not include funding for the Iraqi peshmerga, as Omar Sattar reports.

Iraqi Kurdish parliamentarians boycotted the vote.

To reduce or modify the budget, the government would have to propose another law to the parliament. Only then could Kurds negotiate again to amend the law or reach other solutions, such as the prime minister cutting expenditures to address the KRG budget deficit, Sattar writes.

Iraqs always contentious budget deliberations have occurred amid discontent over taxes and perceptions of nepotism, Salam Zidane reports.

International Monetary Fund concerns about the Iraqi budget, both the revenues allotted to the Kurdistan Region and the cuts in taxes, may place $5 billion in loans on hold until after the Iraqi elections in May, according to Iraq Oil Report.

Russia prepares for gray-zone conflict in Syria

Maxim Suchkov explains how the crash of a Russian An-26 transport plane in Syria that killed six crew members and 33 passengers may lead Moscow to rethink its tactics after the Russian presidential election March 18.

Although the Saudi-backed Salafi group Jaish al-Islam claimed responsibility for the crash, the lines of responsibility are still blurred. Last month, we discussed in this column the role of Jaish al-Islam as a potential spoiler in the UN Security Council-mandated cease-fire in Eastern Ghouta. Some Russian sources also claim American complicity in a broader effort to complicate Russias military operations in support of the Syrian government.

The plane crash is the latest development in the recent streak of bad luck Moscow has faced in Syria, coming on top of mounting pressure over the situation in Eastern Ghouta and US considerations of a possible new strike on positions of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over renewed charges he has used chemical weapons, Suchkov writes in his March 9 article. With just nine days until the presidential election in Russia, such moves are largely perceived as a product of 'American efforts to poke Putin in the eye,' but a bigger worry in Moscow is how far it can all go before endangering Russia's efforts in Syria.

He continues, Russia once saw a return on its investments like the de-escalation zones, its use of private military companies (PMC) and engaging opposition groups. But these efforts are no longer producing the kind of results Moscow wants. Perhaps others have learned to adapt and deal with them. But Russia will not back down in the face of challenges, even if it means more political losses or physical expenditures. Instead, it will revise its course. Moscow already appears to be shifting its military and diplomatic strategies. Russia's Defense Ministry plans to make use of the 'gray zone,' that Cold War-like area between peace and conventional warfare.

Suchkov adds, With Tehran long staying its own course and wisely taking a low public profile on these matters, Ankara's position on these matters is critical. Erdogan has long been criticized for his failing strategy in Syria, but Turkey remains a key state to both Russia and the United States.  Turkey will understandably seek to play both Russia and the United States for its own interests, and Moscow and Washington will be working to persuade Ankara that each would make a better partner than the other. Therefore, the stakes are high and Erdogan's decisions in the next few weeks could define the major parameters of Turkey's position in Syria for the foreseeable future. In the Syrian conflict, the tables have been turning quickly. The sense that things arent working out properly is strong in Moscow, with even staunch advocates of Russias Syria policies now wary and calling for policy updates. Moscow has been cautious not to take any radical steps before the March 18 election day to dodge possible risks. But Russia's plans to amend its strategy are underway and will have been implemented once Putin receives his fourth-term mandate.

Erdogan and King Abdullah get closer

Jordan and Turkey are bolstering ties in a bid to unify positions toward regional challenges where the two countries share mutual interests, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Syrian crisis, Osama Al Sharif reports.

Among all Arab leaders, King Abdullah II of Jordan has been most affected by the Trump administrations decision to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, as well as uncertainty over the US peace plan and the overall lack of progress toward a two-state solution. The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Jerusalem, which puts the king, whose population is at least half Palestinian, in a precarious position, given Ammans close ties to Washington.

Abdullah's pivot toward Turkey comes at a time when Jordan is worried that some key Arab states might be ready to embrace Trumps plan even if it rejects the two-state option. There is a belief in Jordan, supported by anti-Iran statements from the Saudis, that Riyadh considers the issue of Iran as a regional threat to be more important and pressing than the Arab-Israeli conflict. Egypts position is unclear but will be crucial in determining the fate of the US peace plan, Sharif reports.

He adds, It is no secret that relations between Amman and Riyadh have further cooled since Trumps decision on Jerusalem. According to local analysts, the Saudis resisted calls by Amman to hold an emergency Arab summit on Jerusalem after the US announcement. In addition, Saudi Arabia was not satisfied with Jordans reaction to its moves beginning last June to pressure and isolate Qatar. Amman did not cut ties with Doha, choosing instead to only downgrade diplomatic relations and close Al Jazeera offices. Other reasons for the cooling in bilateral relations concerns Ammans position on the war in Yemen  Jordans participation in the Saudi-led coalition was symbolic and short-lived  and courting of the Muslim Brotherhood, which has representation in the Jordanian parliament."

The trend toward closer coordination between Jordan and Turkey, and the distance of both from the Gulf, might also reflect a shift toward regionalism by the countries of the Levant. In September 2017, we wrote in this column about Lebanese President Michel Aouns call for a Levantine common market.

In a sign of deteriorating relations between Turkey and the Gulf, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman lumped Turkey with Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood in a triangle of evil, accusing Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as seeking to re-establish the Ottoman Empire. The crown princes remarks were ridiculed as childish by an Iranian official, as reported by Al-Monitor staff.When Omar Sartawi, an unorthodox Jordanian chef, advertised his first Jameed Chocolate, round, white truffles with the salty taste of dried yogurt, many Jordanians thought he was joking.

Sartawi, with his partner Nadine Othman at White Design House, posted the chocolates on social media in January and the photos immediately went viral with reactions ranging from surprise to praise. An absolutely distinctive combination that I love, wrote Lina Asms.

Samer Abuqaoud, a young Jordanian, could only bring himself to taste the jameed-flavored chocolate with his eyes shut. As far as he was concerned, jameed, the salty dried yogurt made from goats milk, complemented not chocolates but the popular Jordanian dish mansaf, which is a mixture of lamb, bread and rice and is served on social occasions.

Undeterred by the sceptics, Sartawi told Al-Monitor, We were thinking about developing Arab and Jordanian dishes, and that is how it all started. I consider myself lucky because I am part of a culture that has a diversified cuisine with the tastiest food in the world. I wanted to create a different perspective of our food. So I went with the jameed-flavored white chocolate idea. We took one of the [special tastes] in Jordanian gastronomic culture, jameed, and aimed to make it a dessert that can [become popular] in the West.

Sartawi is a seasoned chef and owns a famous restaurant in Amman called Sandouk al-Taam. He also likes to design food, and co-owns a design company.

I wanted to see how to use an ingredient that Jordanians like and accept but that is unknown to foreigners, he said. Then I wanted to create a twist that would make the same taste familiar to the foreigners and totally new for Jordanians.

Sartawi spent three months working on the chocolate composition. He said, Three months were enough to change my perspective of things. I found the solution ultimately and created a new and delicious flavor and recipe that includes jameed. Some people liked it, while others thought it was strange.

Eman Abuqaoud, a Jordanian journalist, described the jameed chocolate as sweet and sour. She said she was used to eating jameed in the mansaf dish, but her curiosity pushed her to try the new chocolate. I liked how jameed  which has a high concentration of salt  was mixed with a high level of sugar and was served as dessert, she told Al-Monitor. I went with my cousin Samer to taste the new chocolate, but he could only bring himself to eat it with his eyes shut. The transformation of jameed into a chocolate ingredient was bizarre for him, but when he finally tasted it, he liked it.

Abdul Karim al-Hawyan, the leader of a Bedouin tribe, rejected the combination outright. He told Al-Monitor, Mansaf should not be touched, and jameed is a key ingredient in this dish, in addition to meat. It is a traditional and national dish that should not be messed with. He refused to taste the new chocolate.

Sartawi noted, I respect all peoples opinions, and at the end of the day people will say what they will. But I accept criticism. The chocolate was widely welcomed, and I am happy about it. I sent Jameed Chocolate to New York, Canada, France and Britain and to most Arab countries. I also sent it to the chocolate-renowned countries Belgium and Switzerland, and people were interested.

He added, I am happy to spread my culture to as many people as possible. We are trying to deliver this Jordanian product to the world. I believe in it, and I think we can give the world a taste of it.

The Jameed Chocolate pack contains six pieces and costs $7, in the same price rage as upmarket chocolate. Curious Jordanians and foreigners rushed to the restaurant that Sartawi manages to buy this chocolate with a twist.

Fahmi al-Zohbi, an anthropologist at Yarmouk University and member of the Jordanian Anthropology Society, which studies the culture of communities, believes that developing popular food culture and spreading it to other countries encourages bridging cultures. He told Al-Monitor that if the exported food has a strong taste, it might be more difficult for others to accept it, as it may not fit with their gastronomic culture and palate. In such cases, he added, traditional food of a country often gets slightly changed on foreign soil.

Zohbi said, Some people refused the use of jameed in chocolates because they are attached to their cultural symbols  whether these symbols are related to gastronomy or to national ideals. It is hard for Jordanians to accept this product because they are used to serving mansaf to their guests. But the product will be accepted in the West because of the difference of culture.

Sartawi will not stop at jameed-flavored chocolate. He is determined to prepare new Oriental dishes with a different recipe to spread Arab cuisine in the West. But such a step requires months of experimentation to get the right portions of the new ingredients in the traditional dish.The two-minute video was no different from the videos in which Islamic State captives were paraded by the peshmerga or the Iraqi forces. The room was dim, the 12 women  including a teenager  and the five men were terrified of the police officer ordering them to give their names, place of residence and ethnicity. They were allegedly caught in a brothel in Erbil; the women were portrayed as sex workers and the men as customers. Most were from the Kurdistan Region, but three of the women were from Baghdad. One woman even carried a toddler.

My wife had loaned 100,000 dinars [$84.50] to the woman from Kirkuk and when she went to collect the debt from her, the Erbil police raided the house and took her away, too. That night they insulted her and she was beaten until the following morning, the husband of one of the women from Baghdad told the NRT broadcasting company outside a courthouse in Erbil. Is this the justice they talk about?

What were you doing there? the police officer ordered. I came for a f---, one of the terrified Kurdish men responded. How much did you pay? the officer asked, getting a response of 40,000 [dinars].

The video recorded at the Erbil police station was meant to be an admission of guilt, a method all too familiar in the judicial system of the Kurdistan Region. The Kurdish police forces often record video confessions of offenders and post them on police Facebook pages, and the Kurdish media regularly broadcast these videos. But this latest video created a wave of protest and resentment because of the way the police dealt with this issue, and there were calls for the police officers to be fired and for people in authority to be held responsible.

Women's rights groups in Sulaimaniyah and Erbil called on the public prosecutor to investigate the issue, and try those responsible and protect the women featured in the video. In the Kurdish social media there was an uproar and many feared that in a society where honor-related crimes are almost daily occurrences, these women would be killed by their families.

In fact, not far from the police station where the video was recorded, the bodies of eight unidentified women are kept in a refrigerator in a morgue, most of whom the police believe were victims of honor killings. Their corpses, disfigured by their families and disemboweled by wild dogs, make their identification almost impossible.

This is in contradiction with the principles of human rights and the ethics of lawful investigation; it is also against  social norms, said the Kurdistan Independent Human Rights Commission in a statement expressing its concern pledging to ask the public prosecutor to open an investigation.

The practice of TV confessions has been happening in Iraq for decades, and the regime of Saddam Hussein used this method repeatedly against its enemies, including the Kurds. Many Kurdish government officials old enough to remember Saddams brutal rule recognize the similarity of the methods the Kurdish security forces use and the methods that Saddams security apparatus deployed against captive Kurdish peshmerga fighters and political prisoners in the 1980s  inflicting fear in order to deduce TV confessions under duress. Yet there have been no calls to end the video confessions of offenders in the Kurdistan Region.

The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has repeatedly been criticized for the methods its security forces use in detention; this criticism has come from international human rights organizations and the US Department of State's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, & Labor.

In its 2016 report, the Kurdistan Independent Human Rights Commission did not mince its words when it came to the issue of the rule of law. Regarding the rule of law, there was no progress in upholding justice, not because there are no laws  in fact there are good laws  but they are not implemented, the commission said.

Whether this recent public outrage leads to effective pressure on the KRG to end these dubious methods of investigation such as video confessions is open to debate. But some have come to believe that the KRG should stop following in the footsteps of the previous regime in forcing people to make video confessions. No human being has the right to trample on the dignity of another human being. No matter what offense they have committed, you have no right to humiliate them, Zana Boskani, a shopkeeper in Sulaimaniyah who has watched the video and felt outraged, told Al-Monitor. There is a contradiction here. We were victims of this culture of forced confession during the previous regime, but now we have become the abusers.

Many people posted on their social media pages the poem Prostitute by famous Kurdish poet Sherko Bekas that describes how a prostitute lifts her dress in a public place and says, I only sell my own body/ just my own and nothing else/ but on the street I see them/ they have sold/ the body of the mountain/ the body of the plains and the fields/ the body of the sunlight and the rain/ and without a care, they have sat upon the throne/ of this countrys honor.RAMALLAH, West Bank  The Palestinian Museum has started a $2 million project that will create a digital archive of historical documents, photos and films that reflect the history of Palestine. The three-year project will collect records of daily life such as personal photos and official documents from both Palestinian individuals and institutions.

The museum, located in the town of Birzeit in the central West Bank, aims to search, research, digitalize and publish 145,000 items over a period of three years, according to an announcement made by the museum on Feb. 18. The funding for the project comes from the Arcadia Fund, a London-based fund founded by Lisbet Rausing and Peter Baldwin in 2001. It supports charities and scholarly institutions that preserve cultural heritage and provide open access.

Zina Jardaneh, the chair of the board of the Palestinian Museum, told Al-Monitor over the phone, The archive will be one of the most important components of the museum's digital platform, as it will document, digitize and publish 145,000 endangered archival items in both Arabic and English.

She said that the project enhances the museum's mission as a transnational cultural institution connecting Palestinians and supporters of the Palestinian cause with Palestine's history and civilization.

The digital archive project, according to Jardaneh, will partially help recover Palestinian historical documents that have been lost since 1948.

Israel destroyed a large part of the Palestinian heritage during various periods, most notably during the Nakba of 1948 and the 1982 invasion of Beirut, where the PLO's research center was looted. Add to this the shutting down of the Bayt al-Shareq institution in Jerusalem in 2001 and the confiscation of its documents, research and studies. The institution served as the headquarters of the Arab Studies Society and the office of PLO official Faisal al-Husseini.

The project will also make the recovered documents of Palestinian history available to an audience beyond Palestine. The digital archive will not be published on the museum's website alone. The University of California, Los Angeles will also publish the digital archives on its website as part of a partnership and cooperation agreement between the Palestinian Museum and the university based on the recommendations of the Arcadia Fund, Jardaneh noted.

She added, We believe the project is a founding step for the first digital archive of its kind in Palestine, and we hope work on the digitization of the Palestinian history will continue even after the project is completed in order to preserve Palestinian history and allow access to these archives for future generations to come."

The Palestinian Museum will rely on an advisory committee made up of historians and academics from inside and outside Palestine in order to develop a plan for the collection of the necessary items and data.

It will also employ 16 people, some of whom will work on finding the groups and people to secure material from, while the others will be working on digital archiving.

Jardaneh said that the Palestinian Museum team will focus on the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the area within the Green Line, Jordan and Lebanon to scout, digitize and archive historical items.

Iyad Issa, the director of the project, told Al-Monitor that the Palestinian Museum is currently working on the establishment of an information infrastructure to facilitate the research mechanism and help convey the Palestinian version of historical events.

Although the project is still in its initial phase, its founders have started working on building a team tasked with digitizing and a team of researchers tasked with finding historical photos, records, documents and old artworks in order to digitize and document them and then return them to their owners.

Issa said, We are trying to build and train the staff and help them acquire the necessary expertise that we unfortunately lack in Palestine, hence the cooperation with UCLA, which has a skilled archiving team that will train the Palestinian staff and will also publish the digitized archives on the university's website.

According to the project plan, Issa noted, during the first year of the project, the staff will get historical items from their owners and bring them to the museum for digitization and publication on a dedicated online platform at the museum. The items will subsequently be given back to their owners. These could be refugees, journalists, traders, businessmen or citizens who lived in various Palestinian cities and from Palestinian institutions that own photos, documents and records.

Issa said that in the second and third year, a special app for cellphones will be developed and used to enable the staff to archive the items on the spot as they scout both photos and documents around towns and villages. The project is a first and good step to establish a permanent archiving unit in the museum," he said.

Samih Shabib, a writer and political analyst who was the head of the documentation department at the Palestinian Research Center in Beirut from 1980 to 1994, told Al-Monitor, Palestinian documentation suffers from a whole panoply of problems, one of which is that a lot of historical information disappears with the death of its owners before it is documented or archived.

Ever since the outbreak of the Palestinian revolution in 1964, we have failed to date the history of the Palestinian cause using sources and references that can be consulted, so documenting and digitizing archives would be very useful for us to preserve our national history, he added.

Shabib stressed the need to establish a national comprehensive body to develop a plan for the digital archiving of the entire Palestinian history.

The digital archive project will contribute to the preservation of an important part of Palestinian history for future generations to come following decades during which this history was lost due to the lack of supervision and documentation. This project will also preserve the national and historical narrative and protect it from extinction and provide a database for researchers around the world.Saudi Crown Prince and Defense Minister Mohammed bin Salman is buoyed by his successful visits to Cairo and London as he comes to Washington. Riyadh is sticking to its hard-line foreign policy and expects complete support from the Trump administration. But unstated are Saudi concerns about the scandals and chaos surrounding the administration and their potential consequences.

The crown prince is eager to secure international support for his tough line toward Iran and Qatar and his 3-year-old war in Yemen. The Saudis have broken ties with both Tehran and Doha since King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud ascended the throne. Prince Mohammed has hinted that the Saudis want regime change in both. Mohammed stars in a Saudi video that shows him leading a victorious Saudi army into Tehran; the video has gone viral in the region. Saudi forces enforce the land blockade of Qatar and Riyadh makes no secret it wants a change in the emirate.

But the prince just sacked the top commanders of the Saudi military. The joint chiefs of staff were fired this month with no warning. Mohammed, who is the mastermind of the Yemeni war, was frustrated that despite an enormous defense budget, the Saudi armed forces' performance in Yemen has been unimpressive at best. Despite occasional local successes, the war is an expensive quagmire with no end in sight. The Saudi army has barely crossed the border. Houthi rebel missiles continue to be fired at Saudi targets despite intense airstrikes. The Saudis seem determined to continue trying for a military solution and Mohammed says his new generals will be believers, presumably in him.

In Cairo, the Egyptians supported Mohammed's regional agenda completely and finalized the legal process for the turnover of two islands in the Straits of Tiran to Saudi control. The territory transfer is deeply unpopular in Egypt but it is the price for Saudi financial support. The Egyptians support the Yemeni war but have ruled out sending troops to fight there. Egyptians know from bitter experience the folly of trying to conquer Yemens Zaydi tribes.

In London, the war in Yemen and UK support for it is opposed by the Labor opposition and much of the public. The prince has been accused of deliberately starving the Yemeni people and engaging in war crimes. But the highlight of the princes visit was the announcement of a preliminary agreement for the purchase of 48 Typhoon jet fighters for the Royal Saudi Air Force. If completed, it will be the largest arms deal since Mohammed became defense minister by far. The Saudi media, controlled by the country's royal court, trumpeted the prince as the victor in the battle of London over the British critics.

The Saudi relationship with the Trump team is closer than with any president since George H.W. Bush and the liberation of Kuwait. Since last year's May summit, Washington has praised the elevation of Mohammed to heir apparent and endorsed his Vision 2030 plan to modernize the kingdom. The decision to let women drive in the kingdom rightly enjoys wide support.

Other policies are much more controversial. His anti-corruption drive in November was endorsed by US President Donald Trump but castigated in the Western media as a clumsy shakedown with little legitimacy. The whole affair is likely to produce more unseemly revelations. Human rights activists have noted that executions have doubled in the kingdom since Mohammed became crown prince. The long-promised opening of ARAMCO to foreign investment, the centerpiece of Vision 2030, is now put off to 2019.

As Al-Monitor has reported, opposition to US support for the war in Yemen is strengthening in the Senate. The Democrats who were reluctant to criticize the US posture when Barack Obama was in office are much less constrained now and more attentive to the humanitarian disaster the war has created. The Saudis have successfully blocked most media coverage of the war but even the White House has cautioned Riyadh to ease the blockade.

Behind the formal meetings and official statements, the Saudis will try quietly to evaluate the future of the Trump team. The removal of Jared Kushners top-secret clearance and the mounting legal jeopardy surrounding his future imperil the princes most valued interlocutor. The money trail to Kushner is under investigation. Trashing Obama, a Saudi favorite pastime, is not a smart long-term approach to a democracy. The Saudi strategy toward America is built fundamentally on the Trump family connection, expensive lobbyists and Iran bashing. The prince has little experience with the complexities of Americas politics, which are more complicated than ever in the Trump era. All the more reason to take stock.The Weddell Sea in Antarctica is the coldest sea on the planet yet is home to an extraordinary ecosystem.

Looks like an opening at 3 degrees to port. Keep it going dead ahead.

Captain Paul Rudzycki radios down from the crows nest high above the ship.

Around us, a jigsaw of fractured sea ice stretches as far as the eye can see. The occasional iceberg looms, intense blue below the surface in the morning sun.

The captain guides our way through leads in the ice, the bow pushing forwards towards open water. Here and there a couple of penguins potter about, leopard seals just lying there, raising a head as we pass.

Were a little way east of the Antarctic Peninsula, hoping to reach the 64th parallel, the beginning of what could be the largest protected area on Earth.

Not many ships venture this far and little is known about what lies beneath the surface. The Arctic Sunrise, our Greenpeace host vessel, has already had to turn back once, this Antarctic summer.

But we make steady progress and after 48 hours of nudging, retreating and bypassing, eventually, the ship breaks through to the isolated sanctuary zone.

Nothing has changed in what we see across the enormous icescape but Its an important moment for the Greenpeace campaign team.

I checked on the satellite and theres one other ship with us here in this entire space across the Weddell Sea, says campaign leader Will McCallum.

People want this to happen

Were just on the fringes of the proposed protected zone, which would safeguard a vast 1.8 million square kilometre area, all part of a growing push for large-scale protection of the worlds oceans.

Last year a huge area of the Ross Sea on the other side of the continent became a Marine Protected Area.

The Weddell Sea proposal put forward by Germany and backed by the EU, comes up for discussion in October when the governments responsible for the conservation of Antarctic waters (CCAMLR) come together in Hobart.

Its been acknowledged theres a global imperative to protect at least 30 percent of the worlds oceans by 2030, said McCallum. This is in order to ensure the health of our seas and mitigate the impacts of climate change.

McCallum points to the Greenpeace petition backing the Weddell Sea proposal, its already collected more than a million signatures. This campaign seems to have gripped the public imagination, he said. People have a resonance with Antarctica and its spectacular wildlife, people want this to happen.

Vested interests

Of course, there are many with vested interests who would be keen for the sanctuary proposal not to go through, the krill fishing industry for example.

Under the terms of the bid, all fishing would be banned, as would any kind of direct human impact like oil drilling and deep sea mining.

Its hard to imagine any human influence here as the Arctic Sunrise gently pushes through a sea of ice heading back for the Antarctic Peninsula. A lone ship in an unexplored sea. It cannot feel more isolated, remote, and just stunning.

Of course, thats the point of the campaign, to protect the Weddell Sea now, while its still in good shape, with an incredibly diverse and rich ecosystem.

And as we go, the clouds morph and shape and colour into a fantastic, unworldly painting across the evening sky at the ends of the Earth.In part three of the series on North Korean defectors, Al Jazeera speaks to cartoonist Sung-guk who fled in 2010.

Seoul, South Korea  Around 31,000 North Koreans have defected to South Korea since the end of the Korean War in 1953.

Almost 71 percent of those defectors are female, most in their 20s and 30s.

Only a few take the most dangerous route through the Korean Demilitarized Zone that a North Korean soldier took late last year.

Most of the North Koreans defect via the long and expensive journey that takes them into China after crossing the Yalu River.

This journey takes the individuals to Chinas southern border into Vietnam and Laos before they arrive in Thailand.

They are often flown into South Korea from Thailand. Some even opt to go to the US, according to Liberty in North Korea, an NGO based in the US and South Korea.

But their arrival into South Korea does not signal an end to their worries and problems.

Part 1 -Korean government doesnt treat defectors as people

Part 2  As a refugee, South Korea has given me everything

In part three of the series, Al Jazeera speaks to 37-year-old cartoonist Choi Sung-guk who also works as a lecturer and broker, helping more North Koreans escape the country and arrive in South Korea.

I was under surveillance for copying and distributing South Korean movies in the North when I decided to flee in 2010.

I actually sent out my family first  my mother, sister and my nephew  to China because I was worried. However, after they left, I was arrested and sent to a detention centre for six months. I manage to flee the country myself after that detention period was over.

Things didnt work out well for my family in China though. They were arrested and the government tricked my sister. They sent her to North Korea as a spy to complete a mission. But she was caught and killed. I found out when I was in the detention centre.

In North Korea, I worked at an animation company, making local versions of The Lion King, Titanic, etc. I worked as a wedding and birthday photographer and since hairstyles were tightly controlled in the country, I took photos of people and photoshopped different hairstyles on those.

My trip to South Korea was short and easy. I fled to China, then Laos and then to Thailand before arriving in South Korea. All in 15 days.

Choi Sung-guk is glad the world can see how stubborn Kim is [Faras Ghani/Al Jazeera]

I started working as a program developer and web designers after arriving here. But I was always interested in comics and cartoons. What I saw here was really boring so I took up working at a broadcasting network, as a radio jockey and also a journalist and thats when I started to understand the South Korean society.

I also realised the cultural differences between the two Koreas and how people had different attitudes towards unification. And thats why I started my webtoon three years ago and help towards reducing the cultural gap.

Through my art work, I want to teach people the differences and the similarities we have. I also want to dispel the prejudice the youth has about unification.

Out of the 32,000 defectors in South Korea, the most visible are the 100-odd that are not living well. Rest of them are not visible because they are well integrated and are able to make the money they need to survive.

In North Korea, people have to report on each other. Whenever someone is eating meat, a neighbour, who cant have meat, will report him. I try and show stuff through my art, through scenarios that are more ordinary.

Sometimes, I will include historical stuff or academic information in order to get people to understand why it is that North and South Koreans are different. All my work is through collected via people around me and from my work as a broker.

There has never been anyone who has asked me to send them back permanently. I have had requests for people to go back for a few days to see their family and I have managed to get that done. But nobody wants to go there forever.

As told to Faras Ghani and Hae Ju KangGovernments across the world should legalise and regulate temporary climate migration, rather than try to prevent it.

After a particularly bad year for rainfall, Miguel told a group of researchers that he was leaving Mexico for the US. This wasnt a permanent move he explained, he would be back. In fact, hed made the move several times before. The only solution is to go away, at least for a while. Each year, Im working for three to five months in Wyoming. Thats my main source of income.

The ability to cross the border and find work in the US has become a lifeline for many of Mexicos farmers. For many, their plan is not to move permanently and settle. But rather to use temporary migration as a safety net against drought. My grandfather, father and I have worked these lands, he told the researchers. But times have changed  The rain is coming later now, so that we produce less.

It is in these years of reduced cropping that people make journeys like Miguels. Typically people move alone, without their family members. The aim is to earn enough money to replace the lost farming income. And possibly to send money back to family members who have stayed behind.

In particularly bad years, this flow of money from overseas is what keeps small farms afloat.

It was over a decade ago that these researchers spoke to Miguel and other people in his situation. Trumps threat of a border wall, and an increasingly hostile environment for migrants in the US makes journeys like this harder and more dangerous.

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For millions of people across the world, this pattern of migration is becoming a form of climate change adaptation. As the impacts of climate change begin to take hold, droughts become longer and more severe. This inevitably hits agriculture.

Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim, an indigenous woman from the Mbororo pastoralist community of Chad, explained her situation to the UNs Migration Agency. Migration has now become an inevitable method of adaptation for us  As a means of survival for us and our animals, we are forced to continuously migrate despite all the risks involved.

For pastoralists, migration has always been a way of coping with altered weather patterns. However, many pastoralists are now caught in a trap. Climate change is amplifying droughts and changes in rainfall. At the same time, migrating is becoming harder due to conflicts and tougher border controls.

Ibrahim explained to the UN, This is our form of adaptation. We have always mastered it, but if nothing is done to ensure the safety of our space and activities, we risk, one day, being forced to abandon our way of life and join the swelling ranks of the unemployed in the city.

The choice here is between continuing a difficult, but effective form of migration that ensures survival, even in the face of drought. Or, if this becomes impossible migrating permanently to a city.

Billions are spent every year trying to make agriculture resilient to climate effects. But for people who are already poor, even slight reductions in farming income can be catastrophic.

Migration and finding alternative work has, therefore, become part of their safety net in the face of climate change. Migration has become a form of home-grown climate change adaptation.

Migration usually comes with risks and costs. As these increase, this vital form of climate adaptation becomes harder. Worryingly, this is happening at exactly the point when all possible forms of climate adaptation need to be on the table. Especially ones that are already working for millions of people across the world.

To harness, rather than stifle, this form of climate adaptation, several things need to happen.

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The first is to create more open borders. This would open up new migration options for millions of people who urgently need them. At the moment, most migration caused by drought happens internally. People dont cross international borders. Instead, they tend to move within their county to find work.

By creating new visas and new legal migration options governments could extend this pattern. People would have more options and more choices about where they move to. This would further strengthen migration as a climate adaptation strategy.

Governments often fail to understand that people will migrate, even if a safe, legal option doesnt exist. Governments have a stark choice ahead of them. They can either facilitate safe, legal migration. Or they can attempt to stop people moving and create crises like the one that is currently unfolding along Europes southern coastline.

As the impacts of climate change begin to bite, more and more people will want to move as a way of adapting to climate change.

Governments should be harnessing, rather than preventing, the use of migration as a climate adaptation strategy. Governments must begin to understand that allowing this to happen, making it legal and facilitating it is their best option. The alternative is trying to prevent it and creating a crisis.

The testimonies in this article were collected from various sources for the Moving Stories project.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.Ground and air operation in northeastern Nigeria begins a day after the armed group pledged allegiance to ISIL.

Chad and Niger have launched a joint army operation against Boko Haram fighters in Nigeria, military sources say.

A source from the Niger government said the two countries had launched a ground and air operation against Boko Haram in northeastern Nigeria.

We can confirm that Chadian and Nigerian forces launched an offensive this morning from Niger. The offensive is under way, Colonel Azem Bermandoa, spokesperson for Chads army, said on Sunday.

The offensive marks Nigers first major push into Nigerian territory to combat Boko Haram. It had until now only defended itself against incursions in border areas.

Chad, backed by its air force, has already sent troops many kilometres inside northeastern Nigeria, winning back areas from the group near the Cameroon border.

So far more than 30 towns and villages have been retaken from Boko Haram since Chad and Niger joined efforts by Nigerian and Cameroonian troops to fight the group.

The fresh offensive comes after the African Union on Friday endorsed the creation of a regional force of up to 10,000 men to join the fight against the group which on Saturday pledged allegiance to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Trade damaged

For Chad, Niger and Cameroon, defeating Boko Haram is crucial. Five years of violence has cut of much of trade between them and Africas biggest economy, Nigeria, Al Jazeeras Ahmed Idris, reporting from Abuja, said.

There is also the fear that the group, if left unchecked, will expand its area of control and become a bigger threat for the entire region.





The regional force, the idea for which was adopted at an AU summit in January, will be based in Chads capital NDjamena, the pan-African blocs Peace and Security Council said.

It will be mandated to prevent the spread of Boko Haram activities and other terrorist groups and eradicate their presence, the body agreed in a meeting earlier week.

Diplomats said Chad, Nigeria, Cameroon, Niger and Benin had committed to providing troops, who would operate freely in a still-undefined region.

On Saturday, at least 51 people were killed and more than 100 injured in three bombings at markets and a bus station in the northeastern Nigerian town of Maiduguri.

Aliyu Musa, a UK-based specialist on Boko Haram, said the group had found itself stuck between fire from Nigeria and multinational forces and were now looking for soft targets.

That is why they are attacking bus stations where they find civilians that are kind of unaware, he told Al Jazeera.

It will continue like this until finally the forces are able to force them to succumb.

Saturdays triple blasts were the worst attack on the city since suspected Boko Haram fighters failed in their bid to seize it at the end of January.Another mosque frequented by the Turkish community in Germany was attacked on Friday.

A mosque in Berlin has been set on fire by masked assailants in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Witnesses told us that three assailants with covered faces threw burning material and immediately ran away, said Bayram Turk, the head of the mosque association.

This attacks comes only a few days after another mosque frequented by the Turkish community in Germany was attacked on Friday.

Turkish Community in Germany

On Friday, the Aksemsettin Mosque  belonging to the Muslim-Turkish association Islamic Community National View (IGMG)  in the town of Lauffen am Neckar was also attacked.

Germany has a three million-strong Turkish community, many of whom are second and third-generation German-born citizens of Turkish descent whose grandparents moved to the country during the 1960s.Bannon tells French far right history is on our side

Former top Trump aide has addressed the party conference of a National Front that is seeking to bounce back from electoral setbacks.People in Syria and out have reportedly offered to stand between the YPG and Turkish forces set to storm the city.

People are planning to act as human shields in an effort to protect the Syrian city of Afrin as the Turkish military and its allied forces prepare to capture the Kurdish-controlled urban centre.

Turkey launched its cross-border operation on January 20 saying it needed to eliminate the Kurdish militia known as the Peoples Protection Units (YPG), which is backed by the United States, but which Turkey describes as a terrorist group.

After weeks of fighting, Turkish soldiers and allied Free Syrian Army (FSA) fighters are now on the outskirts of the city and poised to enter. A number of towns and villages were taken from the YPG on Sunday by Turkeys military and its allies in the north and south of the Kurdish district.

The speed of the assault has taken everyone by surprise, said Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from the border town of Gaziantep. He added that supporters in Turkey were also planning to come and act as human shields in an attempt to prevent an all-out attack on Afrin.

There were people who said they wanted to help the YPG against the FSA and the Turks, and so they offered themselves as human shields  an offer that was accepted by the YPG. And its not just people from the Kurdish areas who are going there. Were also hearing reports of womens groups, socialist groups that are also offering their services  to put themselves between the FSA and the Turks and the YPG.

What the Kurds are saying with this human shield is we dare you to consider the humanitarian issues.





Vulnerable civilians

Over the last 48 hours, Afrin city has reportedly been targeted by Turkish air raids, water has been cut off, and the internet severed.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday said his forces would be inside Afrin in a matter of days, but for humanitarian reasons, they were taking their time to strategise and prevent civilian deaths.

More than one million people are now in Afrin city and villages around it after fleeing the fighting, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitor group.

Were hearing from people inside the city itself that most houses accommodate four to five families with the number of people who have moved because of this offensive into the city, Fisher reported.

Erdogan said on Sunday Turkish troops and allied Syrian rebels were now just four to five kilometres from Afrin.

Turkeys president said so far 950 square kilometres of the district had been captured during the military offensive. The operation was not to occupy but liberate, he said, and then hand over to residents.

In the Afrin region, the owners of the lands have started to come back, said Erdogan.

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In a statement to the UN Security Council on Sunday, the Kurdish council that governs Afrin demanded a response to the Turkish offensive.

The international community must support the resistance of Afrin people and break silence towards the invasive attacks, it said, calling on the UNSC to establish a no-fly-zone over Afrin.

Is this friendship?

Erdogan also denounced NATO on Sunday, accusing the Western military alliance of failing to back Turkeys campaign.

Hey NATO, with what has been going on in Syria, when are you going to come and be alongside us? Erdogan said in remarks to supporters in Bolu, a city east of Istanbul.

We are constantly harassed by terror groups on our borders. Unfortunately, until now, there has not been a positive word or voice. Is this friendship? Is this NATO unity? Are we not a NATO member?

The YPG has been a key American ally in the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) in Syria and the operation has raised tensions with Washington and European NATO powers.

Ankara views the group as an extension of the Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which it and other countries describe as a terrorist organisation.Colombias ex-FARC rebels face first electoral test

FARC participates in first electoral contest since it transformed itself into a political party following the 2016 peace deal.Leaflet offers vague rewards of points for throwing acid and beating Muslims or bombing mosques and nuking Mecca.

Counterterrorism police in the UK are investigating a possible hate crime after several people received letters calling on them to attack Muslims on April 3, termed in the leaflet as punish a Muslim day.

Several Britons in London, the West Midlands and Yorkshire said they received the printed letter through the post, according to reports.

Some uploaded images of the document on social media.

The leaflet says: They have hurt you, they have made your loved ones suffer. They have caused you pain and heartache. What are you going to about it?

It goes on to offer rewards for attackers, from 10 points for verbally abusing a Muslim and 50 points for throwing acid in the face of a Muslim, to 1,000 points for bombing a mosque and 2,500 points to nuke Mecca.

There are more than 2.5 million Muslims in Britain, where Islam is the second-largest religion.

On Saturday, West Yorkshire police joined Londons Metropolitan Police in attempting to catch the person or persons responsible for this.

Public safety remains our priority and I would urge our communities to be vigilant but not frightened, West Yorkshire police said in a statement. We are stronger when we stand together as one and will not be divided.

Tell MAMA, an organisation monitoring anti-Muslim hate crime, said it was working with police.

[The matter] is being treated with the utmost seriousness, the organisation said.

It is essential that all letters and envelopes are kept and handled minimally to preserve evidence for the police to investigate, the monitor said, advising recipients.

Reflective of hate against Muslims

British Muslims, faith leaders, politicians and civil rights groups have expressed fear and outrage at the development.

This vile letter campaign sent to Muslims across the UK has caused deep distress and alarm. We welcome the action being taken by the police to investigate this matter, Miqdaad Versi, assistant secretary-general of the Muslim Council of Britain, one of the UKs largest Muslim umbrella organisations, told Al Jazeera.

Sadly, it is reflective of hate against Muslims which continues to manifest itself alongside the rise of the far right. Our elected officials need to stand up and take action against Islamophobia in the same way they have taken action to counter bigotry against other groups, Versi added.

Yasmin Qureshi, Labour Party politician and a practising barrister, said: Im shocked to learn that extremist cowards are distributing anonymous letters encouraging people to attack Muslims.

Jess Phillips, Labour Party MP for Birmingham Yardley, said: This is utterly unbelievable, if any of my constituents have received them please get in touch.

Understandably, this is very distressful, not only those who have received the letter, but also for the wider communities, said Naz Shah, MP for Bradford West in West Yorkshire.

The head of counterterror policing in the northeast of England, Russ Foster, has provided reassurance that a thorough and professional investigation is well under way and urges any further victims receiving any such communication to report the matter to the police, Shah said.

The Church of Englands head of interfaith relations, Andrew Smith, tweeted: Angry to hear about appalling punish a Muslim letters that have been sent. Cant imagine how horrible & frightening it must be to get a letter like that. Time to redouble our efforts to build peace in our society & support those feeling scared or intimidated. The work goes on.Dangerous explosives continue to haunt Iraqs Mosul post-ISIL

The most dangerous job for Iraqi soldiers in Mosul is now identifying and disarming unexploded munitions buried in the rubble of the devastated city.At least 42 people killed in relentless air raids as Syrian government forces encircle the central town of Douma.

At least 42 people have been killed in Syrias Eastern Ghouta as government forces continue to launch air raids on the rebel-held enclave while edging closer to its central towns.

Activists in Douma, one of the main urban centres, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Syrian jets have not stopped bombing towns all over Ghouta.

Syrian state television reported the town of Mudeira had been seized on Sunday by the army, which was now able to link up with units on the other side of Eastern Ghouta.

Government forces have now surrounded Douma after capturing the neighbouring town of Mesraba, 10km east of Damascus, on Saturday, it said.

The advance on Mudeira has driven a wedge deep inside the rebel-held territory, leaving Douma and Harasta cut off.

Civilians trapped

The UN estimates there are 400,000 civilians trapped in Eastern Ghouta.

Activist Nour Adam said eight people died in Jobar, a town east of the capital Damascus, and 16 people from the same family were killed in an attack on Douma.

The rest died in attacks that hit the towns of Harasta, Zamalka, and Irbin, Adam said.





On Saturday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based war monitor, told Al Jazeera that Eastern Ghouta had been divided into three  Douma and its surroundings; Harasta in the west; and the rest of the towns further south.

The governments latest offensive on Eastern Ghouta, which began on February 18, has killed 1,099 civilians over the past 21 days, the Syrian Observatory reported.

The figure includes 227 children and 145 women, while at least 4,378 others have been wounded.

The Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said on Sunday a government attack on Irbin a day earlier involved chlorine  phosphorus. It was the second alleged chemical attack to hit the suburb in a matter of days.

The government denies using either incendiary weapons or chlorine gas bombs and said on Saturday it had information the rebels were planning to stage a fake chemical attack to discredit the army.

Previous pattern

The Syrian governments offensive follows a pattern of previous assaults on opposition strongholds, deploying massive air power and tight sieges to force rebel fighters to accept evacuation deals.

These involve rebels surrendering territory in exchange for safe passage to opposition areas in northwest Syria, along with their families and other civilians who do not want to come back under Assads rule.

Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from Gaziantep along the border in neighbouring Turkey, said Russian-backed Syrian forces tend to use military gains to try and secure a political advantage.

[They do so] by saying to fighters maybe you should move to another part of Syria, Fisher said.





On Friday, a number of rebel fighters and their families were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta, state media reported.

These include rebels from Jaish al-Islam, one of the main opposition groups in the enclave, which announced it had agreed to the evacuation of several Hayet Tahrir al-Sham fighters  previously part of al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front  who were detained by the group.

Wael Olwan, spokesman of the rebel group Failaq al-Rahman, with ties to the Free Syrian Army, denied on Sunday that such negotiations were taking place  despite the governments claims that talks with rebel groups were under way.

Suffocating siege

The Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta has been under the control of armed opposition groups since 2013  two years after a popular uprising called for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.

The area has been under a suffocating siege by government forces since then in an attempt to drive out rebels.

The ongoing fighting on multiple fronts, coupled with continuous shelling and air raids, has prevented desperately needed food and medical supplies from being delivered to residents trapped inside.Hong Kong election tests Beijings increasing interference

The vote is seen as a litmus test gauging reaction to Beijings increased interference in the citys governance.Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says government will continue rebuilding homes in regions still affected by 2011 disaster.

Japan has marked seven years since a devastating earthquake and tsunami levelled towns and struck a nuclear power station on the countrys east coast.

At a memorial ceremony in Tokyo on Sunday, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and members of the imperial family honoured the roughly 16,000 people left dead as a result of the 2011 disaster.

When I think of the despair of those who lost beloved members of their families and friends in the disaster, I am overwhelmed even now with deep sorrow, Abe said in his address.

Abe stated that reconstruction efforts in the northeastern region will continue, including finishing the construction of 90 percent of homes in areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami by this spring.

Even today, more than 70,000 people are still under evacuation, with some leading uncomfortable lives for a long time, Abe said. There are many for whom it is still unclear when they will return to their hometowns.

A moment of silence was observed at 2:46pm (5:46 GMT), the time that the 9.1-magnitude earthquake struck in 2011.

Radiation levels

Decontamination efforts continue in northeastern Japan years after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant was damaged by the tsunami and released radioactive material into the air.

While the government has since lifted evacuation orders on several towns, about 50,000 people affected by the incident still live outside of the region for reasons that include fears for their safety, the Japan Times reported.

Some areas near the plant are designated as difficult to return, meaning that residents are forbidden from returning to their homes indefinitely.

A recent survey released by Greenpeace Japan estimated that the radiation levels in two towns in Fukushima were up to 100 times higher than the international limit for public exposure.

Citizens, including children and pregnant women returning to their contaminated homes, are at risk of receiving radiation doses equivalent to one chest X-ray every week, said radiation specialist Jan Vande Putte, who headed the study. This is unacceptable and a clear violation of their human rights.

The disaster initially cost the government about $199bn in financial damage, according to Japans Reconstruction Agency.Right-wing party leader says change long overdue; party must meet new aspiration of governing, not protesting.

Frances National Front leader Marine Le Pen revealed plans to change her partys name in what observers said was an attempt to part ways with her father and party founders racist-laden legacy.

Le Pen  who ran unopposed and secured re-election as the right-wing partys leader during the two-day congress in Frances northern city of Lille  said on Sunday the word front inspired a sense of opposition, was outdated, and would be dropped.

This name, National Front, bears an epic and glorious history, which no one can deny But you know it is for many French people a psychological obstacle. We were originally a protest party There should be no doubt that we can be a ruling party, Le Pen said.

The new moniker, Le Rassemblement National (National Rally), must still be approved by party adherents who in a poll last year expressed mild support for the proposed move, with a slight majority of 52 percent voting in favour of the change.

Abdel Mestre  a journalist for the Paris-based paper Le Monde, and a longtime observer of the French far-right  said the name is not wholly new and it has been used during the 1986 legislative elections.

#RassemblementNational + maintien de la flamme = une image pic.twitter.com/9DQJLSNWle  Abel Mestre (@AbelMestre) March 11, 2018

An overwhelming majority of the movements adherents  79 percent  have agreed to a new party structure that includes the creation of a 100-member governing council, and the retraction of an honorary title granting the partys founder, Jean-Marie Le Pen, lifelong presidency.

In 2015, 94 percent of party members voted to expel the controversy-stricken founder and rescind his honorary status as president-for-life, but were not able to enforce the decision because of legal challenges.

The octogenarian has been living in political isolation ever since.

Let them call you racists

Former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon addressed party supporters at the congress on Saturday.

He expressed his unequivocal support for the anti-establishment, ultra-nationalist Le Pen and, in a show of populist euphoria, called on followers to celebrate accusations of racism and xenophobia.

Let them call you racists, let them call you xenophobes, let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honour. Because every day we get stronger and they get weaker.

What Ive learned, Bannon added, is you are part of a worldwide movement that is bigger than France, bigger than Italy, bigger than Hungary, bigger than all of it.

The 56-year-old, who is on a European tour, recently told reporters he aspires to be the face of universal populism.

All Im trying to be is the infrastructure, globally, for the global populism movement, Bannon told the New York Times on Saturday.

Racist slurs

The National Front has long struggled to brush off the ideological residue that propelled the once modest movement to national prominence.

A close aide to Le Pen and assistant-director of the partys youth wing was filmed hurling racist slurs at a security guard outside a bar in Lille on Friday.

"Espece de negre de merde" : @DavyRodriiguez directeur adjoint du FNJ applique en direct l'invitation de Steve Bannon a ce que chacun exprime librement ses pulsions racistes. #CongresFN2018 pic.twitter.com/EgVk0O6aJt  Claire Underwood (@ParisPasRose) March 10, 2018

You piece of nig%@* sh#t, Davy Rodriguez said in the video, using the racist name for black people.

While Rodriguez denied making such a statement, claiming the video was pure montage, the party announced his suspension.

Marine Le Pen, who made it to last years French presidential runoff only to suffer a crushing defeat at the hands of political novice Emmanuel Macron, has consistently looked to modernise her party in an effort to appeal to more centrist voters.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has warned that land grabs would not be tolerated as the ruling African National Congress (ANC) moves to change the Constitution to expropriate property without compensation.

Land remains an emotive issue in South Africa and most of it remains in white hands over two decades after apartheids demise, despite government programmes aimed at redistribution to narrow glaring racial disparities in ownership.

Clashes over land

Earlier this week, takeovers of vacant land in a suburb between Johannesburg and Pretoria provoked clashes with police.

Speaking to the media in televised remarks near Pretoria after spending the day on a voter registration drive, Ramaphosa was asked about land invasions and the subsequent clashes with police.

We should not tolerate disorder and lawlessness of that type. Nobody has any right to invade land, to violate other peoples rights, Ramaphosa said on Sunday.

All those who want to invade land they will get to know that we will not allow that.

Markets spooked

Gauteng Premier David Makhura said those who invade lands were not local homeless or landless people; and that the invasions appeared to be organised.

The ANCs proposal to change the Constitution to allow the government to expropriate land without payment has spooked markets and evoked the takeovers of white-owned farms in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

But Ramaphosa has been at pains to say such a policy in South Africa would be done lawfully and in a manner that did not threaten the economy or food security.

Ramaphosa replaced Jacob Zuma last month as president after Zuma, whose administration was marred by scandal and missteps, was forced from office by the ANC.

Earlier on Sunday, local media quoted Ramaphosa as telling a church service that: We are now in healing mode. God is addressing our problems, he is addressing our challenges.Saudi Arabia has established specialised anti-corruption units of prosecutors tasked with investigating corruption cases in the kingdom, state media reported.

The Saudi Press Agency announced King Salmans decision on Sunday.

According to the announcement, the decision came from the kings concern over combating corruption in all its forms aiming to protect the homeland and its resources, maintain public money and protect the integrity of the public employment.

The decision comes after the kingdom seized more than $100bn in anti-corruption settlements in January.

The amount, $106.7bn, included various types of assets, such as real estate, commercial entities, cash and more, according to the countrys chief prosecutor.

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Dozens of royal family members, ministers, and top businessmen were arrested in early November during an anti-corruption crackdown launched by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

The crackdown, which came about via royal decree, was in response to exploitation by some of the weak souls who have put their own interests above the public interest, in order to illicitly accrue money.

Allegations against those detained included money-laundering, bribery, and extorting officials. Most detainees have since been released, after reaching financial settlements with the government.

Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor of contemporary Arab politics at Qatar University, said the purge was part of Mohammed bin Salmans plan to consolidate economic as well as political power in Saudi Arabia.

That required destroying other economic empires in Saudi Arabia, he told Al Jazeera in January, after the release of prominent Saudi businessman Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, who was among those detained.Communal violence in central Kandy region has led to the deaths of at least two people with dozens injured.

The United Nations on Sunday condemned a string of anti-Muslim attacks in Sri Lanka including the burning of mosques and businesses.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman told the Sri Lankan government the people behind the violence should be brought to justice.

During his visit, Feltman condemned the breakdown in law and order and the attacks against Muslims and their property, a UN statement said.

Feltman, who met with local Muslim leaders to show solidarity, urged swift and full implementation of the governments commitment to bring the perpetrators of the violence and hate speech to justice, to take measures to prevent recurrence, and to enforce non-discriminatory rule of law.

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Violent attacks against Muslims swept the central district of Kandy over the last week.

The violence, triggered by the death of a Sinhalese Buddhist man after being beaten by a group of Muslim men over a traffic dispute, left at least two dead with and mosques, dozens of homes, and businesses torched or destroyed.

Several dozen people were wounded in the riots.

Authorities declared a state of emergency and imposed a curfew in an attempt to curtail the violence, but Sri Lankan Muslims told Al Jazeera they were concerned the attacks would continue.

Police have arrested the suspected instigators of the riots.

On Saturday, President Maithripala Sirisena announced a three-member panel will be appointed to investigate and lifted the curfew. However, soldiers remained in the streets.

The violence has raised fears of instability in Sri Lanka, a South Asian island nation still struggling to recover from nearly three decades of ethnic civil war.One of the most infamous moments in American military history.

As the 50th anniversary of the My Lai massacre approaches, survivors of the 1968 massacre spoke to the dpa news agency about the deaths of up to 504 civilians at the hands of US soldiers during the war in Vietnam.

Although 26 US soldiers were charged with war crimes, only the platoon leader Lieutenant William Calley was convicted of murder. Calley made his first public apology in 2009:

There is not a day that goes by that I do not feel remorse for what happened that day in My Lai  I feel remorse for the Vietnamese who were killed, for their families, for the American soldiers involved and their families.

I am very sorry  If you are asking why I did not stand up to them when I was given the orders, I will have to say that I was a second lieutenant getting orders from my commander and I followed them  foolishly, I guess.

March 16

Pham Thi Thuan had just woken up and was cooking potatoes when the Americans landed nearby and began killing her neighbours.

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It was March 16, 1968, the height of the Vietnam War, and the men of the US Armys Company C were tasked with uprooting the Vietcong around Quang Ngai.

On that particular day, they were to enter Son My, which included the hamlet My Lai that would later lend its name to the massacre, to kill local fighters. Military intelligence had determined that the villagers were harbouring Vietcong, although Thuan denied this was the case.

They first killed the people at the rice paddies, as well as the cattle, said Thuan, an 80-year-old rice farmer from Son My village.

We just worked for ourselves, she said. Only a handful of weapons were captured, and the only American casualty that day was a soldier who deliberately shot himself in the foot.





Killing babies

American soldiers treated all the villagers, including women and children, as hostile. One of them, Private Paul Meadlo, recounted what he had done in a 1969 interview for CBS News.

You just spray the area on them and so you cant know how many you killed cause they were going fast. So I might have killed 10 or 15 of them, he told interviewer Mike Wallace.

Men, women, and children? asked Wallace.

Men, women, and children, he replied.

And babies?

And babies.





Laughing soldiers

Pham Thanh Cong, the 61-year-old retired manager of Son Mys memorial museum, lost his mother, three sisters and one brother. Cowering in their bomb shelter, the soldiers shot them before throwing a grenade into the bunker. Cong was saved because the bodies of his dead family members shielded him.

When the soldiers received their orders, why did they follow? he pondered during a recent meeting at the massacre site.

They killed people without feeling. When the people were laid on the ground, they also laughed, he added.

Thuan was somewhat luckier. She was escorted to a nearby canal with her two children along with, by Vietnamese estimates, 170 others.

The soldiers opened fire and Thuan fell in, but the bullets missed her and her two small children, who were hiding underneath her, and she too was shielded by dead bodies.

Six survivors

According to the memorial museum, Thaun and her children were among just six people who survived in the ditch.

Thuan waited for hours, she said, for the Americans to go away.

They relaxed at the bank and waited there, and we escaped after they moved to another place, said Thuan.

The massacre ended when American Warrant Officer Hugh Thompson noticed with alarm the actions of his fellow Americans as he flew his helicopter overhead.

It looks to me like theres an awful lot of unnecessary killing going on down there, he said over the radio at the time. Something aint right about this.

Seeing a group of 11 survivors being chased by the soldiers, he landed his chopper in between the two groups.

He ordered his door gunner, Specialist Lawrence Colburn, to point his gun at the soldiers and open fire if they tried to attack anyone else. The soldiers stood back as Thompson called in helicopters to evacuate the civilians.





US-Vietnamese friendship

Despite what happened that day 50 years ago, both Cong and Thuan said they held no ill-will towards the American people.

We love them. Thanks to them we have liberation today because they protested against the war, said Cong.

I cannot forget, they killed people here, but we try to forgive them and look forward to the future, he added.

Thuan lauded the growing relations between the United States and Vietnam today, which has seen substantial improvement since the two countries re-established diplomatic ties in 1995.

Today, the Vietnamese and Americans people cooperate to make friendship, she said.

As we do that, we try to make sure there are no more massacres.Syrias army and rebel groups locked in battle, as civilian death toll hits 1,099, according to UK-based war monitor.

The Syrian army and rebel groups early on Sunday engaged in fierce battles in Eastern Ghouta, where fighting has killed at least 1,099 civilians over the past 21 days, a war monitor said.

The death toll, recorded by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR)  a UK-based war monitoring group  included 227 children and 154 women. At least 4,378 others were wounded.

Warplanes covered the sky in Eastern Ghouta yesterday, Abdelmalik Aboud, an activist in the town of Douma, told Al Jazeera on Sunday.

The shelling was focused on the underground shelters and mosques and the places that people have tried to hide in, due to the constant bombardment, he added.

The rising toll comes amid claims of yet another chemical attack overnight on the town of Arbin in Eastern Ghouta, a suburb of the capital, Damascus.

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The Syrian Civil Defence, a volunteer rescue group also known as the White Helmets, said the Syrian government hit Irbin with chlorine gas, phosphorus bombs and napalm.

This is the second alleged chemical attack in a matter of days.

On Wednesday night, activists in residential the town of Hamouriyah released videos appearing to show phosphorus bombs being dropped and many victims struggling to breathe.

Syrias Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad denied the reports during a press conference in Damascus on Thursday.

Mekdad said terrorists controlling the area and those who support them should be held accountable.

Latest offensive

Eastern Ghouta has been under control of armed opposition groups since 2013  two years into a popular uprising in Syria calling for the removal of President Bashar al-Assad.

With Russias intervention in 2015, Assads forces have been able to regain most of the rebel-held territory, but Eastern Ghouta remains one of the last armed opposition strongholds.

The area, home to some 400,000 people, has been under a suffocating siege by government forces since 2013, in an attempt to drain the armed opposition operating there.

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Government forces, aided by a Russian aerial campaign, have managed to make major advances into the territory since the start of the latest offensive on February 18.

On Saturday, Syrian forces captured the largest town in Eastern Ghouta  Mesraba  effectively splitting the rebel-held enclave in three.

In addition to capturing Mesraba, government forces have also encircled the towns of Douma and Harasta, deep inside the enclave.

Aboud, the activist inside Douma, said many people were afraid.

They are afraid of the government advance because they know that the regime is spiteful of Douma and Eastern Ghouta, said Aboud.

Syrian state media says government forces now control 51 percent of Eastern Ghouta.

Encircling towns is something Syrian government forces have done consistently, Al Jazeeras Alan Fisher, reporting from Gaziantep on the Syrian-Turkish border, said.

By cutting off roads and important supply lines, theyve essentially left the fighters with no place to go, he added.

The Syrian governments offensive follows a pattern of previous assaults on opposition strongholds, deploying massive air power and tight sieges to force rebel fighters to accept evacuation deals.

These involve rebels surrendering territory in exchange for safe passage to opposition areas in northwest Syria, along with their families and other civilians who do not want to come back under Assads rule.

On Friday, a number of rebel fighters were evacuated from Eastern Ghouta.

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Jaish al-Islam, one of the main rebel groups in Eastern Ghouta, announced it had agreed to the evacuation of several Hayet Tahrir al-Sham fighters  previously part of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front  who were detained by the group in Eastern Ghouta.

According to Syrian state media, 13 fighters were evacuated with their families through the al-Wafeedin passage and bussed to Idlib province.

Marwan Kabalan, a Doha-based Syrian analyst, says the deal is part of Assads strategy to divide and conquer.

Hes isolating the two big cities [Douma and Harasta] in Eastern Ghouta  hes weakening them and hes supporting this military approach through a political strategy  separating them on the ground while trying to strike a deal with Jaish al-Islam, Kabalan told Al Jazeera.

Verge of major disaster

The United Nations refugee agency representative to Syria, Sajjad Malik, entered the town of Douma in Eastern Ghouta on Monday accompanying an aid convoy.

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When asked what he saw in Eastern Ghouta, Malik said the area was on the verge of a major disaster.

You walk in that town and you see destruction, you see displacement. There are dead bodies still in destroyed buildings. The smell is very strong in those areas, he said.

There are people who are living in overcrowded basements. People coming out of those basements when we were there  its hard to describe them. Their pale skin, you could see rashes on their skin, you can see that theyre stunted.Turkish MP Conkar accuses some circles in the UAE of leading a lobbying campaign against Ankara.

Turkish and United Arab Emirates (UAE) officials traded fresh barbs on Sunday after a top diplomat in Abu Dhabi accused Ankara of not respecting the sovereignty of its Arab neighbours.

Anwar Gargash, the UAE minister of state for foreign affairs, took to Twitter on Saturday, saying Arab-Turkish relations were not at their best, adding that Ankara should respect Arab sovereignty.

In reaction, Ahmet Berat Conkar, a senior MP of Turkeys ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), called Gargashs comments baseless and unfortunate.

This official cannot speak on behalf of Arabs in general; he can only speak regarding the country he represents. He should know his place in that respect, Conkar told Al Jazeera.

We have a large circle of friends in the Arab geography. We cooperate with a large number of Arab countries, said Conkar, who is also a member of the Turkish parliaments foreign affairs committee.

Gargash, on his Twitter account, called on Ankara to deal with its neighbours in a wise and rational manner in order to return to balance.

Opposition to the main Arab states and supporting movements that seek to change regimes by violence do not represent a rational approach to the neighbourhood, and Ankara is required to respect the sovereignty and respect of the Arab states, he added in a series of tweets.

Stained relations

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been a major supporter of Qatar since Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt severed diplomatic ties and trade relations with Qatar on June 5.

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Relations between Turkey and the three Gulf states acting against Qatar have since turned sour.

The four Arab countries accused Doha of supporting terrorism and fostering ties with their regional rival, Iran. Qatar denies the accusations.

Turkey has built a military base in Qatar in line with an agreement signed in 2014.

Shortly after the diplomatic crisis erupted, Turkeys parliament fast-tracked bills for troop deployment to and military training cooperation with Qatar.

Ankara also supported the Arab Gulf state by providing necessary products blocked from entering by its neighbours.

Lobbying against Turkey

Conkar denied Gargashs claim that Ankara supports regime change through violence, adding that the UAE backed such a change in the case of the 2013 coup in Egypt.

This [accusation towards Turkey] is coming from a country that openly supported the coup in Egypt. The UAE backs the military government there, which overthrew a democratically elected government by carrying out massacres, he told Al Jazeera.

The UAE follows policies against political forms of Islam and openly took a stance against the democratically elected Muslim Brotherhood-dominated administration in Egypt before and at the time of the coup.

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Conkar also said: Certain circles with ulterior motives in these countries [UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain] have apparently been ganging up and lobbying against Turkey. And it seems that the UAE circles are taking the lead in these efforts.

He added that such bilateral discussions should be through political channels in line with diplomatic practices, not through media channels.

Erdogan had lashed out at the UAEs foreign minister in December after he retweeted a post accusing troops led by Ottoman commander Fahreddin Pasha of ransacking the holy city of Medina about a century ago.

This man is spoiled with petrol and spoiled with money. While my ancestors were busy defending Medina, you impudent man, what were your ancestors doing? You should account for this first, Erdogan said.

The city, which houses the Prophet Muhammads tomb and is revered by Muslims, was ruled by the Ottomans until they were defeated by the British and their Arab allies in World War I.

Follow Umut Uras on Twitter: @Um_UrasDaughter of Turkish billionaire Huseyin Basaran among those killed when private jet crashes in central Iran.

A Turkish private jet carrying 11 people crashed in Irans Zagros mountainous region killing all passengers on-board.

The plane, which was flying from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul, Turkey, crashed in a mountainous area on Sunday evening, Reza Jafarzade from Irans Civil Aviation Organization told Irans state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA).

The Canadian-made Bombardier CL604 aircraft reportedly burst into flames near Shahr-e Kord city, about 370km south of the capital, Tehran.

We can confirm that a Turkish private jet  while passing through our airspace disappeared from the radar and crashed near Shahr-e Kord, Jafarzadeh said.

Among those who were killed was Mina Basaran, daughter of Turkish billionaire Huseyin Basaran, according to IRNA.

The younger Basaran, who was due to marry at the end of March, was reportedly in Dubai to celebrate her bachelorette party.

The plane was also carrying three crew members, an official for Turkeys transport ministry said.

Snowy weather

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear. Tasnim news agency quoted an ICAO official as saying: The plane was on fire. After the pilot asked to lower altitude, it disappeared from the radar.

Turkeys NTV channel, quoting the Turkish transport ministry, said the plane belonged to Istanbul-based Basaran Holding Company, which is active in the energy, construction and tourism sectors.

Kerem Kinik, head of the Turkish Red Crescent, told Reuters news agency there was no chance of any survivors, given the aircraft was a jet and flying in snowy weather. But the aid agency was unable to officially confirm fatalities yet, he added.

The incident comes weeks after an Iranian passenger plane with 65 people on board crashed in central Iran during a flight from Tehran to Yasuj, killing all on board.

The plane went down on February 18 in a mountainous area near the town of Semirom.UK police to Zizzi: Keep calm and wash your clothes

Patrons of a pub and restaurant in Salisbury are being urged to wash their clothes and possessions after Russian ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter fell ill in a suspected nerve agent attack.Former NYT editor Jill Abramson probably reflects the paper's Upper West Side of Manhattan when she reveals she carries as an amulet (against the reality of a Trump presidency)  a little Obama doll in her purse  to comfort herself. "It's easy to look at what's happening in Washington, DC, and despair. That's why I carry a little plastic Obama doll in my purse. I pull him out every now and then to remind myself that the United States had a progressive, African-American president until very recently. Some people find this strange, but you have to take comfort where you can find it in Donald Trump's America."

The left (I refuse to call regressives "progressives") is finding it hard to deal with a reality in which the markets are up, unemployment is down, household income is rising, ISIS is being crushed, and Kim Jong-un is being lassoed.

Somehow, her former paper scoured the earth to find a method-actor pig-farmer in Athens, Ohio who has found another way to shut out reality and keep his worldview intact  he plugged his ears with white noise to cut out all news.

Jeffrey Satinover observes: "'He is as ignorant as a contemporary citizen could ever hope to be' states the author. But, no, that's not so. For this gentleman simply knows nothing where there is something to be known. Believing readers of the Times, however, and authors for the Times, they are far more ignorant than the know-nothings for they are chock full of beliefs that more often than not, and mostly on matters of great importance, are flatly false. It's not nearly so bad to say, 'I don't know if the earth is round or flat' as it is to be arrogantly certain that it's flat."

For the rest of us, this week's news shows how transformational the president is. Abramson, I suppose, will just have to clutch her doll more often, and the pig-farmer, like Rip van Winkle, eventually will awake from his self-induced slumber  in his case, to a world he could hardly imagine: a far more prosperous, orderly, peaceful place than the left-wing globalists have imposed for a couple of decades.

Russiagate Falls, FBI/DOJgate Rises

Lee Smith, no Trump fan, explains why the media are blindsiding the public on a nonexistent Russian collusion fairy tale.

[T]here is a growing consensus among reporters and thinkers on the left and right  especially those who know anything about Russia, the surveillance apparatus, and intelligence bureaucracy  that the Russiagate-collusion theory that was supposed to end Trump's presidency within six months has sprung more than a few holes. Worse, it has proved to be a cover for U.S. intelligence and law-enforcement bureaucracies to break the law, with what's left of the press gleefully going along for the ride. Where Watergate was a story about a crime that came to define an entire generation's oppositional attitude toward politicians and the country's elite, Russiagate, they argue, has proved itself to be the reverse: It is a device that the American elite is using to define itself against its enemies  the rest of the country.

He describes how the intelligence agencies leaks to complaisant reporters like Jane Mayer and Adam Entous were used by the intel-leakers to further their aims of bringing down the president:

According to British court documents, The New Yorker was one of the publications that former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele briefed in September 2016 on the findings in his now-notorious dossier. In a New Yorker profile of Steele this week  portraying the spy-for-corporate-hire as a patriotic hero and laundering his possible criminal activities  Jane Mayer explains that she was personally briefed by Steele during that time period. The New Yorker has produced tons of Russiagate stories, including a small anthology of takes on the Mueller indictments alone. Of course, there's one by the recently-hired Adam Entous, the former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal reporter who broke the news that the Washington firm Fusion GPS, which produced the Steele dossier, had been hired by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee  a story that helped Fusion GPS relieve some of the pressure congressional inquiries had put on the firm to release its bank records. No doubt Entous will continue to use his sources, whoever they are, to break more such stories at The New Yorker.

The media-intel collaboration began under Obama, and Entous hawked it and their cover story. Why would he bite the hands that fed him by revealing an unwarranted governmental intrusion on the privacy of Americans?

Methodically, Smith unravels how Entous was repeatedly used to tar Russia and the attorney general with lies or improperly unmasked information.

I cannot argue with his conclusion:

If you think Russiagate is real, then you will probably conclude that Sessions, Prince, and Page are all part of a single, monstrous criminal conspiracy  and that Adam Entous is one of the most important journalists in American history, an indefatigable shoe-leather reporter who helped whistleblowers inside the federal government put the truth before the American public, like Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein, and Neil Sheehan combined. If you think the collusion story is nonsense, then Entous is just a political operative with a convenient byline. And if you think Russiagate is a campaign of political warfare waged in the shadows by bureaucrats who violated the privacy of American citizens in order to undo election results they disagreed with, then Entous is something worse  an asset whom sectors of the intelligence community have come to rely on in order to manipulate the public.

In any event, this past week, Attorney General Jeff Sessions dropped a bombshell on the leakers and their media handmaidens. He announced that he had already appointed an "outside Department of Justice official" to investigate the charges brought by the House Intelligence Committee and the matters revealed by the ongoing inspector general's investigation of wrongdoing by DOJ and FBI officials.

Sessions added: "Also, I am well aware we have a responsibility to insure the integrity of the FISA process. We're not afraid to look at that. The inspector general, some think that our inspector general is not very strong, but he has almost 500 employees, most of which are lawyers and prosecutors, and they are looking at the FISA process. We must make sure that it's done properly, and we're going to do that. And I'll consider their request."

It's certainly likely that such familiar names to us as "Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, James Baker, Bill Priestap, Bruce Ohr and likely Nellie Ohr, have cut some kind of deal with the outside prosecutor for process leniency in exchange for cooperation with the IG and DOJ prosecutor," says my friend Rattler Gator. And I find that most probable.

If they are, the persons who pulled their strings are not likely to get a pass.

Speculation mounts online that this unprecedented corruption of the intel apparatus has a hidden motive: the Obama administration's collusion with the Iranian mullahs. Time will tell if that proves true. After all, as Lee Smith noted, the first evidence we have of this arose in connection with spying on those in Congress who opposed the Iranian deal.

It got worse when the Obama administration started spying on its domestic opponents during the Iran deal, when the Obama administration learned how far it could go in manipulating the foreign-intelligence surveillance apparatus for domestic political advantage. As Adam Entous, then of The Wall Street Journal, wrote in a December 2015 article, "the National Security Agency's targeting of Israeli leaders and officials also swept up the contents of some of their private conversations with U.S. lawmakers and American-Jewish groups.

I suspect that some evidence now in the hands of the I.G. and Sessions's appointed attorney has come from a friendly intel service (no  not the U.K., of course) that has the goods on Iranian collusion and is more than willing to share it.

Kim Jong-un Moves Away from Threats to Talks

If the Sessions announcement weren't enough, the report later in the week that Kim Jong-un and the president will meet to discuss denuclearization of North Korea caused, in Thomas Lipscomb's words, "a lot of wet floors in DC."

The usual news parrots grabbed their rolodexes to interview those responsible for Kim's nuclearization to warn the president that he is in dangerous waters and needs their expert advice to handle this.

The Obama administration's designated liar, Susan Rice, met with the Democrats' favorite TV propagandist, Andrea Mitchell, to issue  from her vast experience  a warning:

Former Obama administration official Susan Rice on Friday questioned President Donald Trump's ability to successfully execute a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and she warned an unsuccessful meeting could increase the risk of conflict. MSNBC's Andrea Mitchell  in response to an announcement that Trump will meet with Kim in the coming months  said to Rice that while the United States doesn't necessarily have a strategy for negotiations for an upcoming meeting, North Korea does. "What is the downside, if there is this big-flags-waving, red carpet summit and then no results?" Mitchell asked the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and national security adviser. "I think it's very risky," Rice said. "It risks the president's credibility, the credibility of the United States, and worse still, I think it increases the risk of conflict if they go into something with very high expectations, poor preparation, and the president acting in his typically mercurial way." "We could end up in a much worse place then we are today," Rice warned.

"Dilbert" creator Scott Adams had a lot of fun with CNN's response: "More Wolf Blitzer just called the North Korean breakthrough 'the other major story we're following.' #StormyCNN"

"If you aren't watching CNN pundits trying to explain how the worst president of all time is about to denuclearize North Korea in his sophomore year, you're missing the show of the year. #POTUS"

I agree with Stelian Onufrei, who tweeted the history of these savants on foreign affairs:

Trump Admin: -Withdraws from TPP -Virtually destroys ISIS -Talks with NK to denuclearize Obama admin: -Covertly gave Iran $1.7 billion -Gave Russia control over US uranium production with Uranium One deal -Gave up key US internet infrastructure to international body

...and Hale Razor on the Democrats' foreign establishment's demonstrated failure in reining in North Korea:

@hale_razor



2009: ignoring N Korea is working

2010: " "

2011: " "

2012: " "

2013: underground test of 10 kiloton bomb

2014: ignoring is working

2015: " "

2016: underground test of 25 kiloton bomb

2017: ENGAGING N KOREA WILL KILL US ALL!

2018: Disarmament meeting

In fact, Trump has handled this masterfully, pressuring countries and companies not to deal with North Korea, strengthening Japan's will, bringing our forces into the area, encouraging the interdiction of supply ships to North Korea, and placing an already basket-case nation on the verge of collapse and its leader increasingly likely to be assassinated by his starving people.

The president tweeted: "The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined." I believe him. Contrary to the claim that he goes into these things without careful planning and strategy, he seems to always scope out everything step by step to achieve his aims.

They laughed and said he couldn't get the nomination. He did. They never believed he would be elected. He was. They said his election would tank the market. It's risen substantially. They said his blunderbuss style would cause the world to blow up. Obama said the lost jobs would never come back. They have. It's more likely that the president will bring peace to the Middle East and Asia. (I hope you noticed Crown Prince Mohammed of Saudi Arabia sitting with Tawadros II, head of the Coptic Church in Egypt, under a painting of Christ  signaling that Christians in that part of the world were under his protection. Could you have ever imagined this under Clinton or Obama? Seriously?)

After ISIS and North Korea, I expect that the Iranians are next on the neuter list, and that has to scare the bejeebers out of those who've been peddling the Russiagate nonsense, which I think is in large part to hide their own collusion with the ayatollahs.

Trump and Tariffs

As for the claim that the tariff impositions on aluminum and steel will create more than an extra incentive for China to help rein in Kim, Mexico and Canada are already negotiating for exemptions from the tariff, and steelworkers and the AFL-CIO are hailing the move.

Lest you think the Democrats have no real plan to secure a blue wave at the midterms, they announced that if they win, they want to raise taxes when they retake Congress.

I suppose they also could steal another idea from the South African minister of finance, who says he'll end poverty by just printing more money. It worked so well in Zimbabwe and Venezuela.'Believe All Women' at Your Peril

We've heard it all before: "start by believing." "Believe survivors." At a recent panel discussion at the Ottawa City Hall, where my wife, Janice Fiamengo, was one of three featured participants, the subject of #MeToo and "Believe All Women" came up during the Q&A. (See 1:35:34 to 1:38:27 of the embedded YouTube video below.) An audience member claimed that it behooved us in most cases to give credence to women bringing forth their stories of sexual abuse. The young woman was skeptical of the court process as a way of resolving issues of sexual violence in women's favor and contended that we need "non-criminal" forms of restorative justice, some form of "healing or accountability." Janice and her co-panelists, authors Paul Nathanson and David Shackleton, quickly put paid to that notion. Non-legal judgments via social media and public shaming could be as onerous and punitive as legal sentencing, turning men who had not been proven guilty into social lepers and bankrupts. The legal system may be flawed, but, as Shackleton remarked, it is the best we have and is theoretically capable of improvement.

In fact, an argument against #MeToo and the concomitant pursuit of non-legal incrimination is often put forward by the subtler variety of feminists, such as Josephine Mathias in the National Post and Bari Weiss in the New York Times, but for a completely different reason. They maintain that false allegations in the public sphere, such as the Duke Lacrosse and Rolling Stone moments, may discredit the "Believe All Women" movement; in the words of Weiss, such fictions "will tear down all accusers as false prophets." It is not the harm to innocent men that concerns Weiss, but the damage to female credibility. The movement must be maintained. Here I would indicate that, contrary to the young questioner who distrusted the cumbersome apparatus of the courts, which lead only to "re-victimization," as well as Shackleton's faith in a self-corrective justice system, court judgments in our SJW era tend to favor women  and when they don't, the cry goes up for a quasi-legal system based on the "preponderance of evidence" rather than the "presumption of innocence" model  that is, on whatever narrative the judge or adjudicator tends to believe as more persuasive, evidence be damned. After all, women who lie or collude are only victims too troubled to get their stories straight. In any event, whether utterly oblivious of the need for reasonable assessment and sober judgment before taking action, as in the example of the young woman in the Q&A session, or arguing against public dissemination of false reports, as the more sophisticated feminists hold, the problem remains. A deep emotional commitment to a cause, scanting the imperative to seek evidence before judgment or refusing to recognize that abuse comes in many forms, including women who trivialize their complaints or are complicit in unsavory acts in order to further their careers, is, to put it bluntly, immoral. What we are observing is an ideological compulsion that militates against reason and fairness. A case in point: Andrea Dworkin, one of the stoutest pillars of radical feminist theory, claimed in her autobiographical writings that she had been abused and raped from the age of nine and continuing for decades. As Dworkin assured us in her book Intercourse, "[v]iolation is a synonym for intercourse"; again, in Our Blood, that "[u]nder patriarchy, every woman's son is her potential betrayer and also the inevitable rapist or exploiter of another woman." It's a bridge too far for most sensible people. Even feminist former columnist for The Globe and Mail Leah McLaren dismisses her stories as "full of inconsistencies and logical gaps." No wonder Dworkin, who said, "There is always one problem for a woman: being believed," is herself unbelievable. Her voluminous deposition is a form of abusing her readers with mainly self-indulgent fables. Of course, belief in such matters should depend on the search for credible evidence and the objective assessment of facts, but such an approach has been blithely discarded by another radical feminist and collaborator, Catherine MacKinnon. In Feminism Unmodified, she wrote: "Our critique of the objective standpoint as male is a critique of science as a specifically male approach to knowledge. With it, we reject male criteria for verification" (emphasis mine). It follows that truth deriving from objective analysis is a male conspiracy meant to subjugate women. Ergo, women must be believed regardless of evidence, the rule of law, and objective verification, since these are merely patriarchal strategies to enforce the masculine will. The nonsense brachiates with every passing day, wherever we might look. In a recent profile for Canada's elite left-wing rag The Walrus, Canada's minister of foreign affairs Chrystia Freeland declared: "I'm a woman. I'm a wife. I'm a mother. One hundred years ago, I would've been beaten by my husband. That's what happened to pretty much all women." Judging from her photo, I suspect that Freeland is not 100 years old, but then, I suppose we must give her the benefit of the doubt. She is a high-ranking government apparatchik who must know what she is talking about. Naturally, feminists will point to statistics showing that men predominate in cases of domestic violence. The category of domestic violence has been a boon for feminists, who argue that IPV (intimate partner violence) is almost entirely one-sided, with women the vast majority of victims. But I know of many innocent men falsely accused by their partners, who have lost everything, including the right to visit their children, and of others who decide to plea-bargain rather than spend years in court. Plea-bargaining obviously swells the number of ostensibly violent men, a welcome datum for the feminist thesis. I have an acquaintance who, insisting on his integrity, refused the plea offer, resulting in a five-year ongoing trauma that has rendered him penniless and now, with a criminal record, effectively unemployable. His life is ruined. Additionally, many studies have argued that "gender symmetry" in instances of domestic violence actually exists and that "battered husband syndrome" is a fact of life. Erin Pizzey, founder of the first women's shelter in the U.K., discovered to her surprise that over 60%of the women admitted to the center were no less violence-prone than their male partners. The issue is clearly vexed. As David Horowitz writes in RealClear Politics, "In the hysterical atmosphere created by the #MeToo movement  a by-product of the Women's March and the 'movement' that produced it  mere accusations become tantamount to guilt with chilling results, and ominous implications for a country built on due process, and the defense of individual rights." If, he continues, "elites believe that the core truth of our society is a system of interlocking and oppressive power structures based around immutable characteristics like race or sex or sexual orientation, then sooner rather than later, this will be reflected in our culture at large." And the culture will suffer for it. The "Believe All Women" meme is now rooted in our manifold hierarchies of oppression. It will continue to do untold harm to both men and women unless we can return to the approximate sanity of the past, before the absurdly named "Twitter" feeds, the duplicitous and unaccountable intimacy of Facebook, and the Fake News Media came to substitute for investigative justice.The maritime disputes that China has with Japan in the East China Sea and in the hydrocarbon-rich and multi-trillion-dollar trade route in the South China Sea with Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, and the Philippines caused Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the United States Pacific Command, to say during the New Delhi Raisina Dialogue in mid-January, "I believe the reality is that China is a disruptive transitional force in the Indo-Pacific. They are the owners of a trust deficit."

In the brutal 2014 World War II movie Fury, a soldier definitively states, "Ideals are peaceful. History is violent." That's what the entire world and particularly Southeast Asia should be pondering about China's ascendant rise. Are the Chinese peaceful, violent, or somewhere in between? The evidence suggests more violence than peaceful coexistence if the global community doesn't allow unfettered Chinese ambition.

With navy chiefs from India, Japan, and Australia who compose the four-nation realist balancing structure against China known as the "Quad," while also supporting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Admiral Harris's statements were significant and could be one of the chief reasons President Trump imposed tariffs on Chinese products. Moreover, the Center for Strategic and International Studies' Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative has "satellite imagery" detailing Beijing's "long-term strategy employing coercion and military force to establish dominance over the South China Sea."

China's actions undermine the claim that it wants an equitable and fair resolution to these land-grab and intimidation quarrels in its oceanic influence. And while there is military dialogue among China, the Quad, and ASEAN in these maritime disputes, the political dialogue is lacking, thereby ratcheting up tensions and potential for warlike escalations. But does that need to be the case when China has said "that it has no hostile intent, that its military (PLA) is for defensive missions, and that defense spending is transparent"?

The PLA, which is the world's largest military, has recently asserted that it needs double-digit budgetary increases "to deal with increased global uncertainty." The Chinese military-industrial establishment has also "flexed its muscles domestically" against President Xi because its members believe that Trump's threats of force against their proxy, North Korea; attempts at self-rule by Taiwan; and continued border disputes with India over the Himalayan region of Ladakh and Bhutan's Doklam plateau, which borders India and China, are threats against Chinese growth.

India's troubles with China are particularly troubling since over two billion people are involved when combining the two countries' citizenry. China's presence on the plateau caused Prime Minister Modi to send troops in a confrontational stance against the PLA in 2017. These probes have rattled Modi's government in India and caused him to refuse endorsement of Beijing's ambitious One Belt One Road Initiative (BRI), "a sprawling plan aimed at connecting China with much of Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

This ambitious though troubling initiative takes on deep geopolitical significance over the release of a new study by the Center for Global Development that found elevated debt risks over the BRI linked to Chinese predatory lending practices:

For the 68 countries identified as potential borrowers in the BRI, 23 were found to be already at 'quite high,' risk of debt distress and nine countries, particularly Pakistan, Djibouti, Laos, the Maldives, Sri Lanka, Montenegro, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia have problems servicing their debt.

This "backlash" across the region against the BRI over China creating indentured nation-state servants adds further distrust of Chinese intentions when taking into account the PLA's "saber-rattling" through increased military drills. Vietnam is showing its displeasure with Beijing by a growing military relationship with the U.S. when it allowed the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier in early March to dock in Da Nang. Even peaceful Australia finds itself pushing back:

A hidden world of Chinese inducements, threats and plausible deniability that sits between the poles of economic attraction and military force where soft power gives way to more precise concerns about covert interference by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

This new "Life in China's Asia" should cause capitals from Washington to Tokyo and all the way to the E.U. grave concern. Sure, the U.S. is still the dominant power in Asia, but China is rapidly closing that gap. A Chinese regional hegemonic march could be derailed by domestic or economic concerns; however, China will "supplant the United States as the region's economic, military and political hegemon" soon, according to the book Unrestricted Warfare by PLA Colonels Qiao Liang and Wang Xiangsui, upending seventy years of liberal, peaceful security and coexistence since the end of WWII. Then the U.S., Australia, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, Taiwan, and all of Asia will need to ask difficult questions about security cooperation, free trade zones, and whether to accept Chinese dominance the way they have Washington's since the late 1940s.

According to Chinese analysts, now that Xi has cast aside presidential term limits by saying "he could rule for the foreseeable future," a new era of China returning to "strongman rule," where power is grabbed and "ideological ambitions" are on full display, means that authoritarianism will be exported by China. Possibilities of a new Cold War between the U.S. and China while Xi takes on Mao-like status have enabled his ability to govern without restraint, promote Communist Party ideals like never before, and truly give the world an autocratic form of government as a viable substitute to U.S. leadership. Now that Xi and the party are seemingly above the law, state-owned enterprises and private companies that all have "communist cells" embedded in their endeavors are now above legal and regulatory oversight and answer only to the president. If the BRI is any indication of Chinese leadership under Xi, then the consequences of him being ruler for life are chilling for Asia, the U.S., and world security. Xi's biggest priority seems to be legitimizing his authority for life and placing the party above all aspects of China, the Indo-Pacific areas, and possibly the world.

Is this all the West's fault for decades of hapless economic giveaway policies to China and for believing that China, like Russia and Iran before it, will take on Western Judeo-Christian standards of human rights while evolving into a "benign regional hegemon"? Yes, it is. While the CCP has to restrain the PLA and global hegemonic appetites in the name of economic growth dependent on trade, that doesn't mean Beijing will embark on peaceful relations with its neighbors. Recent examples backing up this claim are Iran's land grabs in Iraq, Syria, and Yemen and Russian annexations in Crimea, South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Georgia.

However, Xi stated that China "never engaged in colonialism or aggressions thanks to its 'peace-loving cultural tradition.'" Typically, the way regional and aspiring global hegemons behave is that they wield economic power for dominating purposes, build large militaries, confront near and far rivals, and use institutions to broaden their scope of influence. That describes Xi's China at this time.

Dr. Victor Davis Hanson says, "Strategic deterrence had been lost due to the prior US administration allowing unchecked Chinese ascendance and a comatose approach to North Korea." Germany, Japan, Italy, and South Korea integrated into the world community because of heavy U.S. and allied military presence and economic pressure. Otherwise, those countries faced being annihilated by the Soviet Union and North Korean regimes. Fantasies of China doing the same may not be well founded.

Massive U.S. Defense Department cuts for over five years and NATO's unwillingness to approach 2%-of-GDP spending have allowed China's rise. "Strategic patience," didn't work, though forcefully attempted. The years ahead will need vigilance and policies for challenging "an ideologically driven Chinese government."

Image: Uwe Dedering via Wikimedia Commons.It's an incredibly unjust framing of the argument, because there are myriad legitimate doubts about the efficacy of Trump's protectionist trade policy. Inexhaustible amounts of evidence exist to suggest that such policies do little to spur economic growth, at best, and at worst, they are economically destructive.

I've noticed recently an interesting dichotomy of general presumptions being made by President Trump's most fervent supporters. It goes like this. If you're for Trump's protective trade policy demanding tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, you're a patriot who's looking to protect American workers' jobs. If you're against that policy, you're a globalist cuck who doesn't care about American workers.

First of all, the steel industry is thriving and has been growing in America. We are the fourth largest steel-producing nation in the world, and the steel industry has seen substantial growth in recent years. It simply happens to be doing that with fewer workers.

That's not the result of our nation being the victim of some predatory trade policy of foreign nations. It's the result of innovation and global competition, two inescapable realities in any free marketplace, neither of which is a bad thing.

But Trump continually touts that steel imports have created an "unfair" balance of trade, leading us to have deep trade deficits with certain countries.

Let's pretend that the opposite of the dreaded trade deficit, a trade surplus, is some kind of economic Nirvana that we are desperate to achieve, as the argument seems to be.

We've experienced that several times in the past. Here's an example of a time when we had a pretty large, sustained trade surplus: every single year of the Great Depression.

Any guesses as to how we achieved that?

There are several reasons for the Great Depression, but you'd be hard pressed to find economists who don't give a lot of the credit for those awesome trade surpluses to the Smoot-Hawley tariff.

There is an open question as to whether the Smoot-Hawley tariff factored heavily into the stock market crash of 1929, but there is no question that the tariff attributed to the depth of the Great Depression and the severity of the trade war which followed. As Burton Folsom, Jr. describes in New Deal or Raw Deal: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America,* Smoot-Hawley "instituted the highest trade tariff in American history" and was a major contributor leading to the Depression:

Foreigners were understandably outraged. In Switzerland, for example, the leading industry was watch (and clock) making, and the leading customer for these timepieces was the United States. But the sharp increase in tariffs made Swiss watches less competitive than the inferior American brands. What the United States may have gained in shutting out Switzerland was more than lost when Switzerland passed retaliatory tariffs and refused to import U.S. cars, typewriters, or radios.

He continues, saying that "the Smoot-Hawley tariff was a direct attack on our home economy. When we pay more for American-made watches and wool blankets than foreign-made substitutes, we are able to buy fewer American made [sic] radios, cars, or telephones."

Now, Trump's steel tariff is not Smoot-Hawley, and I'm not suggesting it's the same in scope. That bill taxed 3,218 imported items. And Trump is taxing steel and aluminum imports while enjoying executive flexibility to carve out exemptions for, say, Mexico and Canada that did not exist in 1930 (thanks to the 1962 Trade Expansion Act, which broadened executive scope in trade).

But history has been pretty clear about one thing: tariffs create negative consequences beyond the "saving American jobs and industry" that have been routinely pitched to justify them.

This brings us back to steel.

In the vein of Folsom's argument that a tariff is an unrecognized "direct attack on our home economy," famed economist Walter E. Williams noted in 2016 that we should "examine not only what is seen but what is unseen" when it comes to tariffs.

He argues that the 2002 George W. Bush tariff levied taxes on imported steel of 8 to 30% "in an effort to save jobs and protect the ailing steel industry."

The domestic price of some items, such as "hot rolled steel," rose by as much as 40%. Yes, it benefited "1,700 or so" steelworkers. But without question, "steel users" such as "the auto industry and its suppliers, heavy construction equipment manufacturers," were "harmed" by the tariff. "It is estimated," Williams continues, "that the steel tariffs cost 4,500 job losses in no fewer than 16 states, with more than 19,000 lost in California, 16,000 in Texas, and about 10,000 each in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois."

"It would have been cheaper," Williams says, "to tax ourselves and give those steelworkers a $100,000 annual check." It would have been less costly but "politically impossible. Why? Because the costs of protecting those steel jobs would have been apparent and thus repulsive to Americans. Tariffs conceal such costs."

So what's different today? China is "dumping" steel at $200 a ton when the going rate is $500 a ton because the Chinese are able to find fewer buyers in their flagging industrial production marketplace? And it's not just their flagging economy. The expected slowing global demand for steel in 2018 was discussed in 2017, so what we have here is a global overabundance of product, which naturally yields a reduction in price.

How is such a thing anything but a boon to the American economy, where there are roughly 120,000 steelworkers but roughly six million workers who rely upon steel consumption for their industries' health? Isn't the net benefit of such reduced production cost due to cheaper imports a much larger net benefit for all Americans than temporarily protecting some of those steelworkers' jobs by demanding that all of those other companies purchase their steel at a higher price than a willing seller might offer?

As Mercatus Center senior research fellow Dan Griswold explains, "[t]hree-quarters of the steel used in the United States is within the construction industry, the automobile industry, the energy sector, you've got appliances ..."

That's a lot of potentially reduced cost to a lot of industries, and the benefit of cheaper steel could translate to a lot of economic growth and a lot of less expensive goods for American citizens.

This isn't rocket science, and we shouldn't kid ourselves to believe that Trump's tariffs are about economics. It's politics.

China has massive tariffs on imports, which has arguably led to its flagging economy. Why we should follow that country's lead is beyond me.

When you frame it as a political move, I understand why people say we should place a tariff on Chinese steel as retaliation for China's heavily taxing our exported products. But that's essentially an economic sanction upon a political enemy, not something that will yield practical economic benefit to our country. And it's certainly not something that will "save American jobs" or be of net benefit to the American people as a whole, unless you consider our pressing of the Chinese government as something that will yield some sort of long-term benefit beyond the prospect of a trade war or, God forbid, actual war.

William Sullivan blogs at Political Palaver and can be followed on Twitter.

*Folsom, Jr., Burton. New Deal or Raw Deal: How FDR's Economic Legacy Has Damaged America. New York, NY. Threshold Editions, 2008, pp 31-32.In [an] interview airing Sunday on "Meet the Press", Warren repeated herself several times when pressed by host Chuck Todd on whether she planned to serve another six years in the Senate.

Elizabeth has told at least two Sunday morning political talk shows that she is not a candidate for the presidency in 2020. CNN is touting the appearance of Elizabeth Warren on its State of the Union broadcast this morning, in which the Massachusetts senator tells Jim Acosta, "I am not running for president in 2020. The Hill , meanwhile, reports:

"So look, I am not running for president of the United States. I am running for the United States Senate," Warren said. "But let me actually make a  underline a point on this one, and that is we can't just be a party that says, "Oh, we're paying attention about what happens every four years." And I know there's a lot of anxiety, particularly on the Democratic side, about how we are going to deal with Donald Trump in 2020," she added.

A lot of anxiety? I thought that Dems believe that Trump is such a disaster that beating him should be easy. Maybe Warren has noticed that the economy is booming, and those manufacturing jobs that were not coming back, according to Barack Obama are multiplying. Could it be that Warren realizes she and her party have underestimated Donald Trump?

Todd pressed her on whether or not she might try to run for president in 2024 (after Trumps second term?):

"I take it as a no you're not pledging to serve your full six-year term if you win reelection?" Todd asked in response. "I already told you. I have no intention of running for the United States, for president," she responded. "This government is working better and better and better for a thinner and thinner slice at the top. I am in these fights, and I am in this fight to retain my Senate seat in 2018. That's where I'm focused. That's where I'm going to stay focused. I'm not running for president." "So no pledge, though, on the six years?" Todd asked, one last time. "I am not running for president," Warren responded firmly.

So, she is keeping her options open. I would note that she is also not ruling out running as vice president on a ticket headed by someone else.

One other possible factor in her mind is that pressure for her to take a DNA test to prove her contention of Native American heritage is rising. Last week, the largest newspaper in Western Massachusetts, the Berkshire Eagle, editorialized that she must resolve that debate by taking a DNA test, like those widely advertised on television. She seems utterly opposed to doing so, even though it would be simple and cheap. Instead, she is doubling down on the claim that it was a story that her family told her.

She told CNNs Acosta:

"It's about my family's story. Because my family's story is deeply a part of me and a part of my brothers," Warren said. "It's what we learned from our parents. It's what we learned from our grandparents. It's what we learned from our aunts and uncles.

Tens of millions of Americans have been told stories by their families about Santa Claus bringing the kids presents. That is a very convenient term for her to employ.President Trump has been continuously thwarted in Congress as he seeks money to build a border wall. After all, his critics contend, he said he would make Mexico pay for the thing, so why should they vote any money forward for it, especially the tens of billions of dollars it requires?

The best one, is the taxing of immigrant remittances, a straightforward exit tax taken directly from cash transmitted through the banking system. It works because the money is often earned under the table and is thus, untaxed the way other Americans's income is. It also makes sense because the cash being remitted is critical to the Mexican and Central American governments that depend on the incoming funds (in Mexico's case, more important than oil earnings), and less of it coming across gets the message across that Mexico is paying, even if not all of the remittances are sent by illegal migrants. (Most of it is.)

The other good idea would likely have a direct impact on U.S. finances, in a sort of passive way, that nevertheless could have a big effect, as well as affect only true illegal immigrants milking the system. That is the Center for Immigration Studies's idea of selling the wall to Congress, getting the funding, building the wall, and then benefiting from the fact that with fewer border crossers, there will be fewer welfare bills. Just those savings would pay for the wall, the CIS argues.

Because illegals, with their low education levels, lack of English (much lower than the world at large, by the way), resistance to assimilation, and proneness to look for a Chavista-style handout from the public fisk - are big users of welfare, no matter what the open-border activists say. Without paying a dime in taxes, this comes in their use of Medicaid, food stamps, public education, hospital emergency rooms, student financial aid, police and jail services, and even wear and tear on our infrastructure as they go to their illegal jobs. Letting them in to stay is in fact the importation of poverty, something that drives down student test scores, bankrupts hospitals, fills jails and drains the public coffers.

Paul Sperry, in his column at the New York Post, writes:

Mexico wont have to pay for the wall, after all. US taxpayers wont have to pick up the tab, either. The controversial barrier, rather, will cover its own cost just by closing the border to illegal immigrants who tend to go on the federal dole. Thats the finding of recent immigration studies showing the $18 billion wall President Trump plans to build along the southern border will pay for itself by curbing the importation of not only crime and drugs, but poverty. The wall could pay for itself even if it only modestly reduced illegal crossings and drug smuggling, Steven A. Camarota, director of research at the Center for Immigration Studies, told The Post.

It's an important idea as President Trump makes his first visit to California to inspect the progress of the border wall and all its prototypes in San Diego, and sell the wall to the public. The U.S. wouldn't make any profit off ending welfare subsidies for illegals, but finding ways to do it to finance the wall should be good enough for most of the public. What's more, it's doable. In the past, any effort to get illegals off welfare rolls they are not entitled to be on has been stopped by leftwing judges, eager to beef up the Democrats' voter rolls one way or another. With illegals unable to get over at all, and many self-deporting as well, there would be no court cases to thwart the matter.

Then maybe we can get back to celebrating legal immigration and welcoming immigrants as our economy needs. Seems worth trying and President Trump would be wise to push this line of thinking during his San Diego border trip.Mike Pence goes for the jugular with anti-Christian Joy Behar

Vice President Mike Pence is considered a gentleman. He's someone who stays out of the spotlight, says quiet and sensible things, steers clear of controversy, plays by the rules, follows Christian principles, seems neat and orderly, and comes off as an all-around nice guy. It's easy to see him as a duplicate of President George W. Bush, who let the left run roughshod all over him for his gentlemanliness, and out of decorum, never let out a peep. Even when Hugo Chavez smelled sulfur, hollered 'donkey,' and spewed filthy race-tinged rape-fantasy rants against then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Bush kept silent. All out of respect for the office, or something like it. Chavez knew he'd do nothing and repeatedly got away with it, knowing the rest of the left would cheer. President Trump's election showed it doesn't pay to be that kind of gentleman - it pays to fight.

Thank goodness Pence is on the same page. After leftist television host Joyce Behar questioned his sanity for professing his Christian faith, his supporters, who watch that kind of TV, were up in arms. And Behar was forced to apologize to him privately, for going overboard and being such a pig. Pence wasn't interested. He directed her to speak to the real people she had insulted: all Christians. No Snowflake - Fightin' Mike Pence /// Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr Behar, of course. didn't. But with his move, he laid the pressure on her, and there is remains as her viewers go the way of the NFL's viewers. Pence's move was a good one because it showed that the man had more fight in him than Bush, and wasn't afraid to be who he was. No, it's not gay people who have problems being "who they are" these days, it's Christians. It's the big problem in the Christian community these days. Not even the pope wants to admit he's Christian, it sometimes seems. Christianity is embarassing, socially unacceptable, too hard, all that dreck, never anything worth standing up and fighting for these days. But Pence didn't back down and that sets a good standard. And in doing this, he made it just a little easier to be Christian. Hollywood culture and people like Joy Behar, have gotten away with putting Christian beliefs down for decades. Now with Pence's leadership and viewer anger, working in tandem, the cost of that just went up for the intolerant. Thanks, Mike Pence.Oleg Deripaska, an aluminum magnate, penned an op ed in the Daily Caller that makes the claim. Fox News obtained secret text messages between Senator Mark Warner and a Washington attorney, Adam Waldman, who represents Mr. Deripaska. Warner was reaching out to Deripaska to get in touch with Christopher Steele, the man who wrote the dossier.

A Russian billionaire says that liberal moneyman George Soros is funding Fusion GPS, the Democratic party opposition research firm that funded the Steele Dossier.

Washington Times:

Mr. Warner used Mr. Waldman as a go-between to reach Mr. Steele, a former British spy to whom the committee wants to speak. The back-and-forth from Warner to Waldman to Steele did not appear to be productive. Mr. Deripaska, in an op-ed in the Daily Caller, does not touch on Steele but on Fusion and Daniel J. Jones, an ex-intelligence staffer for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, California Democrat. Mr. Jones now runs his own investigative firm, Penn Quarter Group, and has been in contact with Fusion, which is still trying to bolster the disputed Steele dossier. Mr. Deripaska discloses that Mr. Waldman testified before the Senate Intelligence Committee, and thus Mr. Warner. He said he testified that Mr. Jones told Mr. Waldman that Mr. Soros was funding Fusion. He writes, Yet on March 16, 2017, Daniel Jones  himself a team member of Fusion GPS, self-described former FBI agent and, as we now know from the media, an ex-Feinstein staffer  met with my lawyer, Adam Waldman, and described Fusion as a shadow media organization helping the government, funded by a group of Silicon Valley billionaires and George Soros. My lawyer testified these facts to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Nov. 3. Mr. Deripaskas column contended that Washingtons Russia narrative is all wrong. A message left with Fusions attorney was not immediately returned.

This is hardly earth shattering news, but it does raise some fascinating questions. Why does anyone still believe in the legitimacy of the Mueller investigation? True, Mueller has used other avenues to go after Trump and his people than the Steele dossier, most notably, the tangled finances of Paul Manafort and the inability of some aides to tell the truth to federal investigators. But as far as the main narrative that tells us Trump is a traitor who worked with the Russians to win the election, Mueller has come up empty.

The Steele dossier has been useful in attempting to delegitimize the Trump presidency. But any prosecutor worth his salt would have taken Fusion GPS apart piece by piece, exposing all these connections to liberal billionaires who have been working to get Trump even before the election.Some good numbers for Hispanics and President Trump

We were happy to see a good jobs report on Friday, from 313,000 new jobs to the labor force participation rate climbing back to the 63%. I was really pleased with the black and Hispanic unemployment rates. According to news reports, "[a]t 4.9 percent in February, Hispanic unemployment is just a tenth of a percentage point above the historic low."

Remember the Zogby poll that showed Hispanic support for Trump at 39%. It makes sense to me that Hispanic support for President Trump would be closely related to job growth. We remind you that this is one poll, and we need to see a trend. Nevertheless, 39% is a good number, and remember that Hispanics do more than just talk about immigration. The media may not believe it, but Hispanics are interested in jobs and other quality-of-life issues. Looking ahead to 2020, President Trump around 40% with Hispanics means he could carry New Mexico and Nevada, as President Bush did in 2004. We remember that President Bush won between 40 and 45%, depending on what study you want to believe. So are we seeing Hispanics react to economic growth the way that everyone else does? My answer is yes, or at least that's what I am hearing as I go around and talk to businessmen and workers. Maybe "la economia" does it for President Trump. PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk) and follow me on Twitter. Image: Michael Vadon via Flickr.Bu according to CNN, this is not news. Peter Hasson reports in the Daily Caller :

The Democratic Party has become the party of Jew-haters and is quite comfortable accommodating them in its ranks. I never thought that such a thing would happen in America, but no less a figure than the Democrats deputy chair, Representative Keith Ellison, has gone on the record as saying that nobody in the party is concerned about his (and 7 other office holders) ties with Louis Farrakhan, a Jew hater of the first order.

CNN is confirming the observation of Iowahawk, aka, David Burge:

Journalism is about covering important stories. With a pillow, until they stop moving.  David Burge (@iowahawkblog) May 9, 2013

The days of media being able to keep a lid on stories are over. Social media and conservative outlets are able to deliver the message. I earnestly hope that President Trump will receive and accept an invitation to speak to a Jewish group and address this situation, emphasizing both the Democrats indifference to Jew hatred  so far, I have not seen a single Democrat condemning Ellison or the other Members of Congress who choose to associate with Farrakhan  and the cone of silence adopted by CNN and others.

He might even ask why Jewish donors continue to support a political party that is comfortable with a Jew-hater like Farrakhan, noting that Farrakhan has called Hitler "a very great man."Charshanbe Soori, is an ancient Persian Festival of Fire and one of the most beloved celebrations among the Iranian people. This festival has historic and ceremonial roots.

The Iranians will hold the fire festival very soon, on March 13, 2018. It always begins at the sunset of the last Wednesday of the Persian year, which will happen this year, too.

In this fire festival, ordinary Iranians pile tinder from bushes and pieces of wood in public places such as streets, alleys and squares, and then set them alight. People gather around the bonfires and jump over them, with shouting. The intention is to hope for enlightenment and happiness throughout the coming year. But it's not only that. The other reason is problematic for Iran's detested rulers, because with the help of fire, the people also recall tribulations. These include the long battle against dictatorship and the ignorance of reactionary forces throughout their history. For Iranians today, this especially includes the 39-year dark era of the ruling mullahs in Iran, from 1979 until now. By the light of fire, Iranians think about the true facts of their situation, and for many, the need to end this regime. The fire is conducive to meditative thinking. So with the fire festival, it is not uncommon for Iranians to think of ending the repression, torture, executions and human rights abuses that have taken over their country, and contemplate how the arrival of spring, as the New Year begins, (on the 20th of March 2018) brings hopes for ending this regime forever.

The fire festival has many customs. Spring housecleaning is carried out to welcome the New Year as well. This year, many people hope that that the whole country will wipe out the regime for a complete cleaning.

I am not projecting as I describe the Iranian festival this way. During the past decades, the Fire Festival (Charshanbeh Soori) in cities across Iran became the scene of protests and expressions of outrage against the regime. Last year, the sound of exploding grenades and firecrackers was heard constantly in many cities, following the explosion of firecrackers by angry young Iranians. In this case, the regimes agents blacked out a whole town where it happened, and the attack of security forces on people turned to confrontation. Then clashes broke out between the youth and regimes mercenaries who tried to disperse them.

But this year, the fire festival will be far different from that of last year, especially after the two-week uprising that rocked Iran earlier this year. The regime is now very fearful of the fire festival and has issued harassing directives in the public media to deter the people from holding the customary fire festival.

The mullahs not only fear more of the ongoing protests by Iranians throughout the country, they fear new calls for a nationwide uprising to mark this particular celebration, by the Iranian opposition Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK). Senior Iranian officials have acknowledged this group as the organizer of the recent flare-up of protests across the country. The upcoming fire festival and the calls for protest make the situation more crucial for the regime and its suppression forces.

According to a National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) report, the first vice-president of the Iranian regime noted recent protests in early January in Iran, and said: It is the peoples hatred, anger, and grudges toward the officials and the system that should worry us.

Eshaq Jahangiri, this same Iranian vice president, also warned against the danger of the people's protest turning into hatred and anger. In a speech on Tuesday, March 6, he spoke on the subject of the general demonstrations in Iran last January, saying, Of course, some irrelevant words were spoken in some protests that were not acceptable to us...

Death to Khamenei and Death to dictator were among those words, in fact, they were the main slogans chanted by people during the protests showing peoples hatred and anger towards the regime.

The street protests in Iran began on Dec. 29, 2017, beginning in the provincial city of Mashhad, with slogans against the poor livelihoods Iranians suffer as the mullahs grow rich, but they quickly swept the country and targeted the entire regime. Demonstrators in more than 200 small and large cities in Iran chanted slogans against Khamenei and the regime's top officials, and additionally condemned its interference in the region. The whole picture of their desire to overthrow the regime.

With the coming heated fire festival, the people in Iran have this message to the regime now: Fire is the symbol of our long battle against dictatorship, we are all altogether, and repression will not affect us.

Any wonder the mullahs are afraid?

Hassan Mahmoudi is a human rights advocate, specializing in political and economic issues relating to Iran and the Middle East.Google is presently developing a variety of new features for its Pixel Buds wireless earphones, as suggested by a teardown of the latest version of the Google app performed by 9to5Google. Among other things, the Alphabet-owned company is working on a triple-tap functionality meant to be used for quickly turning off the earbuds. The shortcut may allow attentive users to get some additional battery life out of their earphones if they often happen to be carrying them around outside of their charging case. The software thats presently running on the device doesnt allow for it to be turned off manually, less the Pixel Buds are placed in their charging case. While the headphones dont consume much power even while theyre on if you arent actively using them, a triple-tap shutdown shortcut may still prove to be useful to people who end up frequently relying on it.

The Smart Detection functionality that makes the Pixel Buds pause playback when the right bud is removed has now been renamed to In-ear detection but still isnt live in the 7.23 version of the Google app, according to some newly discovered code. Google has yet to reflect on the feature in an official capacity but is expected to launch it on a global level in the coming months. The Mountain View, California-based tech giant also appears to be developing customization support for the double-tap action which can so far only be used for Google Assistant-enabled notifications and stopping the companys artificial intelligence companion from speaking. In the future, the same action will also allow for song skips and possibly some other shortcuts, as indicated by a number of code strings discovered in the latest version of the Google app.

Originally introduced last October, the Pixel Buds were met with a mixed response from critics and consumers alike, with many praising their audio quality and unique features such as live translation support but being disappointed by their overall build sturdiness and design in the context of their $159.99 price tag. Google may launch a follow-up to the Pixel Buds next fall when its also expected to debut the Pixel 3 series of Android flagships.Owners of the V30 and V30 Plus in LGs home country of South Korea are now receiving an update meant to enable some features of the more recently released V30S ThinQ on their handsets, the phone maker said earlier this week. The new software package comes bundled with the vast majority of functionalities LG touted as the key selling points of the V30S ThinQ earlier this month in Barcelona, Spain. Among other things, the companys 2017 Android flagships are now being updated with support for LGs new artificial intelligence-powered camera experience and QLens, a computer vision solution reminiscent of the Google Lens and Bixby Vision.

The new AI-enabled camera app that will soon be available on all members of the V30 family in the South Asian country is advertised as being highly automated in nature, being capable of identifying ones subjects and adjusting the shooting settings accordingly so as to make them pop out as much as possible. The software is said to be able to recognize countless objects and creatures one might be interested in photographing while still featuring a robust manual mode thats widely touted as the most in-depth one in the mobile industry. QLens and voice-enabled controls are also part of the package, whereas the handset itself is available in a new Moroccan Blue color option, in addition to the Platinum Silver variant which the Seoul-based tech giant already introduced late last summer with the original V30 lineup.

On a hardware level, the V30S ThinQ is a revised version of the V30S Plus, boasting 6GB of RAM and 128GB of internal flash memory, in addition to coming bundled with a pair of LG-made earphones capable of leveraging its quad-DAC setup. The new smartphone is scheduled to be released in South Korea later this month but its global availability date has yet to be specified. Likewise, it remains unclear whether LG is planning to bring the AI features of the V30S ThinQ to its older V30 models in other parts of the world.The Nokia 9 Android flagship will feature an in-display fingerprint reader, according to recent reports out of China. Theres still no consensus among industry insiders on whether the upcoming high-end mobile device from HMD Global will actually be launched as the Nokia 9, with some sources previously suggesting the product will be advertised at the Nokia 8 Pro, thus being the third addition to the handset family that already includes the 2017 Nokia 8 and the Nokia 8 Sirocco which the Finnish phone company announced earlier this month at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

The Nokia 9 is expected to be the last premium Nokia smartphone released over the course of this year, with HMD most likely targeting a late summer launch. IFA 2018 may hence end up being the trade show that sees the official unveiling of the next Nokia flagship which should begin retailing before the next holiday season, as suggested by recent reports. Much like other 2018 smartphones from HMD, the Nokia 9 is widely expected to launch as part of Googles Android One program, running a stock version of Android Oreo out of the box. The Nokia 6 (2018), Nokia 7 Plus, and the Nokia 8 Sirocco are all being released under the same initiative thats meant to serve as the spiritual successor to the Nexus program, albeit without any major design input on Googles part. The Nokia 9 may also have a curved display panel similar to the one found on the Nokia 8 Sirocco which is in turn reminiscent of Samsungs Edge Display panels.

Its presently unclear which company may end up supplying the fingerprint sensor modules to HMD for the Nokia 9 but if the firm is truly adamant to commercialize an in-screen authentication solution, it may end up collaborating with Synaptics. The San Jose-based company is presently offering one of the most versatile and accessible such technologies in the industry and already had its optical scanner implemented into the Vivo X20 UD, the worlds first smartphone with an in-display fingerprint reader.SOFEX, The Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference is a special forces and homeland security event that is held every two years in Jordan. The edition 2018 of SOFEX, will take place from the 7 to 10 May 2018 at the King Abdullah I airbase in Marka, near Amman, Jordan.



SOFEX 2018 Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference will take place in Amman, from the 7 to 10 May 2018.

Founded in 1996 by His Majesty King Abdullah II, The Special Operations Forces Exhibition and Conference (SOFEX) continues to grow with each edition and is acquiring paramount ranking amongst the specialized global defense exhibitions and is considered by the international Special Operations and homeland security decision makers as well as the specialized industry as the vital gathering for exchanging views and experiences.

SOFEX is a four-day event that kicks off with a prominent one day conference that includes a series of comprehensive and topical seminars delivered by top military officials from around the world, tackling a wide range of issues pertinent to current counter terrorism and homeland security issues.

The SOFEX Exhibition surpasses expectations each year in terms of an increase in the number of participants that include Exhibiting Companies, International Pavilions, International Delegates and International Delegations headed by Ministers of Defense, Chiefs of Staff and Special Operations Commanders ,as well as numerous impressive deals that are signed at every SOFEX event. The 75,000 m of indoor and outdoor exhibition space attracts exhibitors and national pavilions from all corners of the globe.

Special Operations Forces and Homeland Security exhibitors, include small and medium size Defense and Security companies, as well as the major international defense manufacturers of military equipment and weapons. An ideal opportunity to network with key military and government decision makers responsible for the security of their citizens.

The SOFEX exhibition area consists of 75,000 sqm of indoor and outdoor exhibition space, 6 exhibition halls, 10 private hospitality chalets, purpose-built live fire and mobility demonstration areas and state of the art media centre.

The SOFEX is covered by several dozens specialized defense and trade media representatives including Janes, the defense and security intelligence magazine who provides the print edition of the Official Show Daily and Army Recognition, the Official Online Show Daily News and Web TV for SOFEX 2018.Hindu new year Sri Vilambi Nama Samvatsara Ugadi Predictions world wide, political, social in Vedic Astrology and Panchangam at 18:43 hrs IST, 17 March 2018.

As new year entered around sunset, Ugadi will be celebrated on next day, 18 March 2018.

It has Kanya (Virgo) Lagna with Jupiter (Retrograde) in Libra, Saturn and Mars in Sagittarius, Rahu in Cancer, Mercury conjunct Venus with Sun and Moon in Pisces, and Ketu in Capricorn.



This year Sun (Surya) is King, Saturn (Sani) is the Minister while Venus (Sukra) is the commander-in-chief of army among Nava Nayakas for Ugadi 2018-19.

Narural benefics Venus, Moon, Mercury get 6 out of 9 portfolios this year, while natural malefics get the remaining 3. But they get the all import King and Minister positions, which make public administration a tough job.

Police will fail to control traffic jams, accidents due to overspeeding, drunk and drive or drug cases.

More people will try to break law, rules. Courts will be busy with petty cases.

Cyber crime, financial crimes increases. More scams related to taxes, banks, financial institutions, which were done in the past will be exposed this year.

More companies and individuals will either evade tax or declare bankrupty.

India-Pakistan war is possible at border but Indian army will win, despite losing few soldiers.

Himalayan Mountains and surrounding countries or states will face earth quake this year.

Food and beverages will be adulterated. More hindus will be attacked in few Indian states and Nepal.

Indians living oustide India can face tough economic and social situations.

Bad days to start construction, buying or moving into new house in 2018

Between 04-25 May, 24 September  09 October, 24-30 October, 12 November  10 December 2018, transit of Sun, Venus and Jupiter indicates bad days to start any new constructions, extensions, buying or selling, moving into new houses, marriages, initiation of new mantras or installation of yantras.

However, work that has been already started can continue and also repair work can be done for damages.

Vilambi Nama Samvatsara Ugadi Predictions (2018-19 quarterly) :

18 March  30 June 2018 : Saturn-Mars conjunction in Sagittarius, with Mars aspecting Sun in Pisces will cause increased temperatures.

Ruling parties will lose power if elections are conducted during this time period. Fire accidents, death of celebrities, accidents increases.

Rains can start early and cities will experience traffic jams, road blockages.

New laws can be passed to protect women. Sports other than cricket will gain popularity in Indian subcontinent.

Space research will be successful.

Saturn-Mars conjunction in Sagittarius, with Mars aspecting Sun in Pisces will cause increased temperatures. Ruling parties will lose power if elections are conducted during this time period. Fire accidents, death of celebrities, accidents increases. Rains can start early and cities will experience traffic jams, road blockages. New laws can be passed to protect women. Sports other than cricket will gain popularity in Indian subcontinent. Space research will be successful. 01 July  30 September 2018 : Kala Sarpa Yoga caused during this time (most planets being positioned in between Rahu-Ket) will make it tough for governments of many countries to run administration smoothly.

Mars stationary in Capricorn, most planets either opposing each other or in 6th-8th houses to each other will create conflicting situations.

Natural calamities will hit many countries with oceans on both sides.

Indian east coast along with Bangladesh will be severely hit by cyclone.

Eclipses can cause damage through cyclones in USA and Asia-pacific islands.

Indian cricket team can face tough situations in England tour.

These 3 months can bring death of few celebrities and politicians. Few incidents related to students will lead to unrest among society.

China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea etc countries towards east of India will be hit by Earthquake, which can cause severe damage.

Kala Sarpa Yoga caused during this time (most planets being positioned in between Rahu-Ket) will make it tough for governments of many countries to run administration smoothly. Mars stationary in Capricorn, most planets either opposing each other or in 6th-8th houses to each other will create conflicting situations. Natural calamities will hit many countries with oceans on both sides. Indian east coast along with Bangladesh will be severely hit by cyclone. Eclipses can cause damage through cyclones in USA and Asia-pacific islands. Indian cricket team can face tough situations in England tour. These 3 months can bring death of few celebrities and politicians. Few incidents related to students will lead to unrest among society. China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea etc countries towards east of India will be hit by Earthquake, which can cause severe damage. 01 October  31 December 2018 : Kala Sarpa Yoga continues while Mars and Ketu conjunct in Capricorn, Jupiter moving into Scorpio causes cyclones and other natural calamities.

One more cyclone in Bay of Bengal can hit Indian east coast and Bangladesh. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sri Lanka will experience heavy rainfall.

Corrupt officials will be exposed and caught. Few leaders will face the wrath of courts and go to jail.

Smog in Delhi returns to cause disturbance in daily life. Few ruling parties can lose power or lose few important seats (Rajasthan).

Kala Sarpa Yoga continues while Mars and Ketu conjunct in Capricorn, Jupiter moving into Scorpio causes cyclones and other natural calamities. One more cyclone in Bay of Bengal can hit Indian east coast and Bangladesh. Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Sri Lanka will experience heavy rainfall. Corrupt officials will be exposed and caught. Few leaders will face the wrath of courts and go to jail. Smog in Delhi returns to cause disturbance in daily life. Few ruling parties can lose power or lose few important seats (Rajasthan). 01 January  31 March 2019 : Jupiter crossing entire Vrischik Rasi (Scorpio) in short span and then moving into Dhanus Rasi (Sagittarius) to conjunct Saturn will lead to peaceful situations.

However, Ketu conjuncting Saturn indicates war of the magnitude of a World War. Middle-East will be most effected in 2019.

Kalasarpa Yoga continues for some time and causes political turmoil.

Contagious diseases will spread. Political equations, alliances will change rapidly.

New parties in South India will attract many seasoned politicians from other parties. Indian government can dissolve Lok Sabha and go for early elections.

Terrorist activities can increase but will be controlled effectively.

As per Vedic Panchangam (Almanac), cabinet (Nava Nayaka) for the year Vilambi Nama Samvatsara (2018-19):

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Page: 1 2 3 Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile beer

Rebel

User ID: kaput

03-11-2018 04:41 PM



Posts: 628









Post: #1 Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

Advertisement





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgekMIIBL6I



SOON!



"to the question whether or not the motion of the Earth in space can be made perceptible in terrestrial experiments. We have already remarkedthat all attempts of this nature led to a negative result. Before the theory of relativity was put forward, it was difficult to become reconciled to this negative result."



- A. Einstein SOON!"to the question whether or not the motion of the Earth in space can be made perceptible in terrestrial experiments. We have already remarkedthat all attempts of this nature led to a negative result. Before the theory of relativity was put forward, it was difficult to become reconciled to this negative result."- A. Einstein beer

Rebel

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 04:46 PM



Posts: 628









Post: #2 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

Quote: Russia says it has successfully test-launched a hypersonic missile, one of a range of nuclear-capable weapons announced by President Vladimir Putin earlier this month.



The country's defence ministry released video footage showing the missile detaching from a fighter jet and leaving a fiery trail behind it.



It said the intended "target" was hit.



On 1 March, Mr Putin described the Kinzhal missile - named for a type of dagger - as "an ideal weapon".



He said it was part of a new stockpile of "invincible" weapons.



The Kinzhal is said to travel at 10 times the speed of sound and have a range of 2,000km (1,200 miles).

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-43362213 "to the question whether or not the motion of the Earth in space can be made perceptible in terrestrial experiments. We have already remarkedthat all attempts of this nature led to a negative result. Before the theory of relativity was put forward, it was difficult to become reconciled to this negative result."



- A. Einstein LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 05:59 PM











Post: #3 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

beer Wrote: (03-11-2018 04:41 PM)



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgekMIIBL6I



SOON!





Too soon Too soon LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 06:14 PM











Post: #4 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

Yep...



From a Mig-31. Ag 10

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:30 PM











Post: #5 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

Wont do a thing to a drone swarm. engineering

Banned

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:40 PM



Posts: 5,299









Post: #6 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

They are making all this stuff up, the "invincible" nuke and now a mig launched hypersonic missile capable of going 8 thousand mph.



It's not that I am underestimating them it's just that Russia doesn't have the capability to do these things. They can't even create an operating system or build a car. If they have any of these things it was given to them and even then it would only be knock offs.











Though if they do have such a weapon it shows YET again Russia is the one country pushing the world to war. The USA developed it for science and these other lower tier countries develop it for war. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:00 PM











Post: #7 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile





I think the Mig-31 is the fastest plane.





According to a NYT article:



To complete the list, he mentioned a smaller hypersonic missile that is already operational and has a range of more than 2,000 kilometers (1,250 miles) and a new laser weapon.



Putin emphasized that the new weapons were designed in full compliance to the U.S.-Russian arms control agreements, adding that Russian military experts and diplomats would be ready to discuss new weapons systems with their U.S. counterparts.



"We aren't threatening anyone, we aren't going to attack anyone, we aren't going to take anything from anyone," he said. "The growing Russian military power will guarantee global peace."



https://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2018/03...clear.html





P.S. Yes, the Russians are being helped. They didn't even need to spend $1.5 trillion on designing a new plane.I think the Mig-31 is the fastest plane.According to a NYT article:P.S. Yes, the Russians are being helped. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:01 PM











Post: #8 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

engineering Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:40 PM) They are making all this stuff up, the "invincible" nuke and now a mig launched hypersonic missile capable of going 8 thousand mph.



It's not that I am underestimating them it's just that Russia doesn't have the capability to do these things. They can't even create an operating system or build a car. If they have any of these things it was given to them and even then it would only be knock offs.



[video=youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVFNLdTuN-s



Though if they do have such a weapon it shows YET again Russia is the one country pushing the world to war. The USA developed it for science and these other lower tier countries develop it for war.





Hah! I wonder what's it's like to live in your version of "reality"



No further comments required* Hah! I wonder what's it's like to live in your version of "reality"No further comments required* Pasta Lover

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:08 PM



Posts: 9,463









Post: #9 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

Ok, an old patriotically oriented sycophant fired some fake missile. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:20 PM











Post: #10 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

thermobaric weapons and hypersonic kinetic energy weapons make the US nuclear arsenal obsolete.



What are going to do if Russia sinks our aircraft carriers with hypersonic missiles? We can't bomb them with nukes because they didn't hit us with nukes.



If hit them with nukes, it's all over for the dollar no one will ever use it again. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:33 PM











Post: #11 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:20 PM) thermobaric weapons and hypersonic kinetic energy weapons make the US nuclear arsenal obsolete.



What are going to do if Russia sinks our aircraft carriers with hypersonic missiles? We can't bomb them with nukes because they didn't hit us with nukes.



If hit them with nukes, it's all over for the dollar no one will ever use it again.



Not only Russia, but China.. which is a close ally of Russia.



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-1...re-surface





The U.S. military is basically obsolete



This is a good thing. It was time someone put that rabid dog down, it has destroyed and destabilized more than enough of the world over the past few decades. Time for bankrupt America to go home and fix the disaster at home before it becomes even more of a shithole. As of today America has 5 of the most dangerous cities in the world.. with more to come. Pretty sad for a so-called developed first-world country. Not only Russia, but China.. which is a close ally of Russia.The U.S. military is basically obsoleteThis is a good thing. It was time someone put that rabid dog down, it has destroyed and destabilized more than enough of the world over the past few decades. Time for bankrupt America to go home and fix the disaster at home before it becomes even more of a shithole. As of today America has 5 of the most dangerous cities in the world.. with more to come. Pretty sad for a so-called developed first-world country. USSR

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:40 PM



Posts: 1,023









Post: #12 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

engineering Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:40 PM) They are making all this stuff up, the "invincible" nuke and now a mig launched hypersonic missile capable of going 8 thousand mph.



It's not that I am underestimating them it's just that Russia doesn't have the capability to do these things. They can't even create an operating system or build a car. If they have any of these things it was given to them and even then it would only be knock offs.











Though if they do have such a weapon it shows YET again Russia is the one country pushing the world to war. The USA developed it for science and these other lower tier countries develop it for war.





Behave adequately... if you see the Russian... (This post was last modified: 03-12-2018 02:27 PM by USSR .) LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:42 PM











Post: #13 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:33 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:20 PM) thermobaric weapons and hypersonic kinetic energy weapons make the US nuclear arsenal obsolete.



What are going to do if Russia sinks our aircraft carriers with hypersonic missiles? We can't bomb them with nukes because they didn't hit us with nukes.



If hit them with nukes, it's all over for the dollar no one will ever use it again.



Not only Russia, but China.. which is a close ally of Russia.



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-1...re-surface





The U.S. military is basically obsolete



This is a good thing. It was time someone put that rabid dog down, it has destroyed and destabilized more than enough of the world over the past few decades. Time for bankrupt America to go home and fix the disaster at home before it becomes even more of a shithole. As of today America has 5 of the most dangerous cities in the world.. with more to come. Pretty sad for a so-called developed first-world country. engineering

Banned

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:41 PM



Posts: 5,299









Post: #14 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:20 PM) thermobaric weapons and hypersonic kinetic energy weapons make the US nuclear arsenal obsolete.



What are going to do if Russia sinks our aircraft carriers with hypersonic missiles? We can't bomb them with nukes because they didn't hit us with nukes.



If hit them with nukes, it's all over for the dollar no one will ever use it again.

USA has better kinetic and hypersonic weapons though.

Plus it has a thousand countermeasures for everything including those thousand countermeasures.



I would think intercepting any missile by disabling it's electronic is also a possible.

EMP, jammers, viruses, even blowing up guidance systems.



The only thing not obsolete really is kinetic weapons. Nothing is going to stop a mechanized military.



To be totally honest I think Ukraine alone could march into Moscow.

USA has better kinetic and hypersonic weapons though.Plus it has a thousand countermeasures for everything including those thousand countermeasures.I would think intercepting any missile by disabling it's electronic is also a possible.EMP, jammers, viruses, even blowing up guidance systems.The only thing not obsolete really is kinetic weapons. Nothing is going to stop a mechanized military.To be totally honest I think Ukraine alone could march into Moscow. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:54 PM











Post: #15 RE: Russia successfully test-fires Kinzhal high-precision hypersonic aircraft missile



But I think Russia has a really nice sub. And I don't know why they couldn't have this hypersonic missile.

I get an impression, that a missile going that fast might be

harder to get to hit a small target accurately.

I think our smart bombs have course corrections, as they near the target.



If U.S. and Russia both became serious about having a mutual defence alliance, they they could take a load off each other.

It is costly to keep nuclear missiles ready to launch at a minutes notice all the time.



America and Russia could be allies.



We both would be much better off letting Ukraine, and the surrounding area, be independent or allied with whoever, as they please, and save the cost of arguing with each other about it.

Same with middle eastern nations.

We would be better off cooperating with each other.

If one of us is friends with an oil producing nation, or any resource..

If the nation that was the friend of the source, could resell at cost, or a very modest mark up, and both nations would probably profit more, than they would in competition over who controls the source nation.

Don't waste all that effort on military or political conquest.

Spend just a little bit if you must, in higher oil prices.

But there is no reason either nation would have to pay more. If two consumer nations cooperated instead of competing,. They could 'fix' prices, for instance,

If they wanted.



I think a nation can accomplish more in its own interest, if it concentrates on developing the property it already holds, than if it concentrates on acquiring more property.



If the people who own a property, want to become part of your nation. Or become your friend or allie.

Then fine. Let them.

But, if they don't. They will probably be more trouble than they are worth.

The inherited instinct we have to expand our dominion, can frustrate our efforts, to make a comfortable nation,out of the territory we already hold.



We could save alot of very valuable time and energy, if we spent it on our own personal business. I understand that I don't really know much, if anything about it.But I think Russia has a really nice sub. And I don't know why they couldn't have this hypersonic missile.I get an impression, that a missile going that fast might beharder to get to hit a small target accurately.I think our smart bombs have course corrections, as they near the target.If U.S. and Russia both became serious about having a mutual defence alliance, they they could take a load off each other.It is costly to keep nuclear missiles ready to launch at a minutes notice all the time.America and Russia could be allies.We both would be much better off letting Ukraine, and the surrounding area, be independent or allied with whoever, as they please, and save the cost of arguing with each other about it.Same with middle eastern nations.We would be better off cooperating with each other.If one of us is friends with an oil producing nation, or any resource..If the nation that was the friend of the source, could resell at cost, or a very modest mark up, and both nations would probably profit more, than they would in competition over who controls the source nation.Don't waste all that effort on military or political conquest.Spend just a little bit if you must, in higher oil prices.But there is no reason either nation would have to pay more. If two consumer nations cooperated instead of competing,. They could 'fix' prices, for instance,If they wanted.I think a nation can accomplish more in its own interest, if it concentrates on developing the property it already holds, than if it concentrates on acquiring more property.If the people who own a property, want to become part of your nation. Or become your friend or allie.Then fine. Let them.But, if they don't. They will probably be more trouble than they are worth.The inherited instinct we have to expand our dominion, can frustrate our efforts, to make a comfortable nation,out of the territory we already hold.We could save alot of very valuable time and energy, if we spent it on our own personal business. Advertisement

















So which is it, will the MiTo be discontinued or replaced by a crossover? Well, as things stand right now, we're talking about the former solution, as neither it nor the Giulietta are considered priorities.There are many problems with the MiTo... other than the design being 10 years old. Alfa Romeo knows that people in China or North America don't want it. It's also built to a different standard than the Giulia and Stelvio, while the 2-door body offers very limited practicality.Speaking on the sidelines of the Geneva Motor Show, FCA chairman Sergio Marchionne told Auto Express that "if there is a MiTo [in future] I don't think it will be in the [current] shape. The market has shrunk  two-door B-segment hatchbacks is a very shrinking market.SUVs and crossovers are booming right now, and Alfa is likely to focus on those. Their next product is likely to be a more massive 4x4 that sits above the Stelvio, likely competing with the BMW X5.Alfa's boss Reid Bigland even suggested that the MiTo and Giulia might be scrapped altogether, but insisted the two current generations are still very good cars.If the MiTo does indeed transition into a small crossover, it could call upon the shared technology from the Fiat 500X and Jeep Renegade, both of which have done relatively well.Other companies are doing similar revisions. For example, the French DS brand is looking to replace the DS3 with the DS3 Crossback , likely also for the sake of its Chinese buyers. Ford isn't going to offer a new Fiesta in America, so it's mostly been replaced by the EcoSport.We'll likely know more about what Alfa plans to do on June 1st when a new strategy will be revealed. However, we all know Sergio's ideas don't always materialize on time.President Biden will use his first address before the UN General Assembly to lay out his vision for an era of "intensive diplomacy" with allies and "vigorous competition" with great powers  without a Cold War with China.

Why it matters: Biden will take the podium in New York on Tuesday with his own international credibility in question after the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan. His administration also is struggling to build international momentum to fight climate change, the pandemic and rising authoritarianism.Ahead of Malaysia's August general election, the scandal-plagued ruling party will soon vote on new constituency boundaries that would allow it to maintain power even if fails to win a majority of votes, as happened in 2013, The Economist reports.

Why it matters: This comes as at least six countries, including the U.S. Department of Justice, are carrying out a criminal inquiry into more than $4.5 billion missing from a state development agency Prime Minister Razak Najib oversaw. Despite poor approval ratings and a dismal track record, the proposed electoral map virtually guarantees Najib another term, per the Economist.

Najib has denied any wrongdoing, and last year President Trump welcomed him at the White House. The DOJ has also filed suits to seize 1.7 billion in assets from jewelry to real estate to Hollywood movie rights.

How it's done: "The constituencies in the maps proposed by the government-appointed election commission range in size from 18,000 voters to 146,000. The Barisan Nasional controls all the 15 smallest districts; 14 of the 15 biggest ones are in the hands of the opposition. The average Barisan seat has 30,000 fewer voters than the average opposition one." In the 2013 election, the ruling Barisan Nasional got 47% of the popular vote and secured 60% of the 222 seats in parliament.Prime Minister Netanyahu briefed the Israeli cabinet today on his visit to the U.S. and his meeting with President Trump at the White House last Monday. According to two officials who attend the cabinet meeting, Netanyahu told the ministers:

"There is no concrete U.S. peace plan on the table at the moment. I am not saying there couldn't be one in the future, but right now there is none."

At a briefing with Israeli reporters last week after his meeting with Trump, Netanyahu said the President didn't share a draft of the U.S. plan for Israeli-Palestinian peace, or a timetable for releasing his plan.

Where things stand: In the last few months President Trump's "peace team," led by senior adviser Jared Kushner and special envoy Jason Greenblatt, has been working on a plan for re-launching peace talks. Those efforts encountered serious difficulties after Trump's Jerusalem announcement on December 6th. Since then, the Palestinians refuse to engage in any contacts with Trump's advisers.

In a Washington Post Op-Ed published last Thursday, Greenblatt wrote:

"The president has been clear that he wants a fair and enduring agreement between the Israelis and Palestinians that will enhance Israels security and give all Palestinians the opportunity for a prosperous future. We are ready to work with any party truly interested in peace to reach this goal".South Sudans elite are using the countrys main revenue source, oil, to fund militias and atrocities in the country, according to documents obtained by The Sentry, an investigative group founded by George Clooney and John Prendergast.

Political backdrop: South Sudan has been in a state of turmoil since the ongoing civil war broke out in 2013. The violence has left famine in its wake and millions of South Sudanese internally displaced and seeking refuge in neighboring countries. A ceasefire signed in December hasn't been followed.

Whats happening, per the report: South Sudans state oil company, Nile Petroleum Corporation (Nilepet), has funded militias responsible for violence. More than $80 million was recorded as being paid to South Sudanese politicians, military officials, government agencies, and companies with links to politicians that paid for military transport and other logistics linked with atrocities.

The petroleum ministry helped provide funds, food, and fuel to militia groups in the Upper Nile state that are reportedly behind attacks on villages and civilians.

funds, food, and fuel to militia groups in the Upper Nile state that are reportedly behind attacks on villages and civilians. Nilepet made payments to a company called Golden Wings Aviation and other companies for an army logistics operation in June 2015. The UN has claimed this company transported weapons to Unity state during a period of violence in 2014 and 2015.

to a company called Golden Wings Aviation and other companies for an army logistics operation in June 2015. The UN has claimed this company transported weapons to Unity state during a period of violence in 2014 and 2015. Other companies the records list as having received similar payments for military logistics operations include Interstate Airways, partially owned by South Sudans First Lady, as well as Nile Basin for Aviation, an airline owned by family members of top military and government officials.

list as having received similar payments for military logistics operations include Interstate Airways, partially owned by South Sudans First Lady, as well as Nile Basin for Aviation, an airline owned by family members of top military and government officials. Crown Auto Trade, a Toyota dealership majority-owned by a prominent South Sudanese businessman, is also reportedly listed in the records as having received $8 million in payments from Nilepet for providing vehicles and importing armored personnel carriers. The businessman, Obac William Olawo, denies transporting troops, weapons, or equipment.

There were 84 security-related transactions between March 2014 and June 2015, according to the documents The Sentry obtained.

Go deeper:President Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu in their meeting at the White House last Monday that he won't show flexibility in the negotiations with France, Germany and the U.K. on amending the Iran nuclear deal, two senior Israeli officials told me.

The officials say Trump told Netanyahu that until now the three European powers only proposed "cosmetic changes" that he doesn't find satisfactory. Trump said he demands "significant changes" in the Iran deal itself and not simply the addition of a supplemental agreement between the U.S. and the European countries, according to the officials.

The bottom line: Trump stressed that if his demands are not met, the U.S. will withdraw from the deal.

The Israeli officials who were briefed on the Trump-Netanyahu meeting spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the diplomatic sensitivity of the matter. The White House and Netanyahu's office didn't deny the details in this report and refused to comment on it.

Trump has set May 12th as the deadline to reach an agreement with France, Germany and the U.K. to "fix" the nuclear deal and avoid U.S. withdrawal. In the last 2 months, two rounds of talks were held in London and Paris between senior diplomats from the four countries. A third round is expected this Thursday in Berlin. Israel is not a party to the talks directly but is updated on their contents.

A few hours after Monday's Trump-Netanyahu meeting, Vice President Mike Pence gave a speech at the AIPAC conference in Washington and spoke about the Iran deal. He said:

"President Trump has called on the Congress and our European allies to enact real and lasting restraints on Irans nuclear and ballistic missile ambitions. Earlier this year, the President waived sanctions to give our lawmakers and our allies time to act. But make no mistake about it: This is their last chance. Unless the Iran nuclear deal is fixed in the coming months, the United States of America will withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal immediately. "By Trend

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias armed forces have 106 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said March 11.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts.

The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations. Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.By Rashid Shirinov

Serial assembly of Azerbaijani-Iranian cars at the automobile plant in Azerbaijans Neftchala Industrial Park will begin in April this year, Emin Akhundov, founder of AzerMash company, told Trend on March 11.

He noted that the opening of the plant is expected in late March 2018, and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, whose visit to Azerbaijan is scheduled for March 28, is expected to take part in the opening ceremony.

Akhundov said that production of Dena, Rana, Soren and Samand cars as well as a number of Peugeot models will be established at the plant. Its annual capacity will be about 10,000 cars.

In the future, it is planned to deliver cars to Ukraine, Russia and Central Asia countries, Akhundov noted, adding that currently, the negotiations are underway to establish the manufacture of spare parts at the plant.

Iran Khodro and subsidiary of AzerMash AzEuroCar LLC signed an agreement on August 6, 2016, on the establishment of a joint automobile plant in the Neftchala Industrial Park. The total cost of the project is estimated at $14.11 million. Azerbaijan invested 75 percent of the funds, while Iran invested 25 percent.

Earlier, AzEuroCar informed that the new cars will cost around $5,800-7,000 and meet Euro 5 standard. The plant intends to cooperate with the Sumgayit Industrial Park and SOCARs new plant.

Azerbaijan and Iran have had diplomatic relations since 1918. Political and economic ties between the two countries have increased in recent years and the two sides have made serious efforts to boost mutual ties. Azerbaijan and Iran have already prepared grounds for private sector investors in order to improve mutual cooperation. Currently, about 450 companies with Iranian capital operate in Azerbaijan.

---

Rashid Shirinov is AzerNews staff journalist, follow him on Twitter: @RashidShirinov

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzBy Trend

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev received Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria March 9.

The president noted that political relations between the two countries are developing successfully. President Aliyev hailed the long-term successful development of the bilateral cooperation in a variety of fields, including military sphere, adding that Izoria`s visit to Azerbaijan created a good opportunity for discussing cooperation prospects in this area.

Izoria reiterated the Georgian people`s respect for the Azerbaijani president, and praised President Aliyev`s great contributions to the successful development of ties between the two countries.

The Georgian minister also said his country supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Azerbaijan. Touching upon Georgia-Azerbaijan-Turkey cooperation, Izoria described it as an important factor in strengthening regional stability. He stressed successful joint military exercises of the three countries.

Noting that Azerbaijan and Georgia enjoy successful interaction in economic, energy and transport areas, the president emphasized the importance of the global projects implemented by the two countries. President Aliyev said Azerbaijan backs the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAzUsername: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 5 Vote(s) - 2.6 Average

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Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created. TurtleMan

lop guest

User ID: kaput

03-11-2018 06:53 PM











Post: #1 Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

Advertisement If an attack occurs from any direction towards Israel, it will have been completely scripted and planned by Israel.



From my research, as a historian at Tel Aviv University, I have evidence to prove that every major war against Israel has actually been completely scripted by Israel for very specific purposes.



If it breaks out again, perhaps on Tuesday Israeli time, I promise you, no matter where the rockets come from, they will be sent by Israel itself.



This is Netanyahus only chance for survival. He knows his time is finished and he is willing to do anything to stay in power.



The people must realize what is about to happen and what has historically happened in their country. Its a travesty.



If war breaks out on Tuesday Israeli time, you will hear it here first that the war was started by Israeli (outside of its borders) purely to save Netanyahu from inevitably going to jail...



1967 and 1973 (The Egyptian and Syrian attack on Israel) were actually carried out at Israels request. They will do it again... Mark it down.



Im not Israeli. Im an objective truth seeking American. And I will not leave this country until Netanyahu is finished. If you never hear from TurtleMan again, you know I was offed... Pray for me... Thank you LOP. From my research, as a historian at Tel Aviv University, I have evidence to prove that every major war against Israel has actually been completely scripted by Israel for very specific purposes.If it breaks out again, perhaps on Tuesday Israeli time, I promise you, no matter where the rockets come from, they will be sent by Israel itself.The people must realize what is about to happen and what has historically happened in their country. Its a travesty.If war breaks out on Tuesday Israeli time, you will hear it here first that the war was started by Israeli (outside of its borders) purely to save Netanyahu from inevitably going to jail...1967 and 1973 (The Egyptian and Syrian attack on Israel) were actually carried out at Israels request.Im not Israeli. Im an objective truth seeking American. And I will not leave this country until Netanyahu is finished. If you never hear from TurtleMan again, you know I was offed... Pray for me... Thank you LOP. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:10 PM











Post: #2 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

My research shows they are surrounded.



You arent studying history of Israel without the Bible are you?



1967 war they kicked ass.



The next war is almost here.









And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.



Trump just did it. So many people die in the next war that it takes seven years to bury the bones.



So why cant the world just leave it alone.





King James Bible

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:



The hook in the jaw is hate for Gods chosen people. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:15 PM











Post: #3 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

You probably believe the Palestianian lie and the EU refugee lie too.



No such thing as Palestianians. They are philistines. Israel spared them a few thousand years ago.



Not one refugee went to a Muslim country.



This sends Jews home.





King James Bible

For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.



Changes political landscape to antisemtism. Germans dont hate Jews do they? Lol LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:21 PM











Post: #4 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:10 PM) My research shows they are surrounded.



You arent studying history of Israel without the Bible are you?



1967 war they kicked ass.



The next war is almost here.









And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.



Trump just did it. So many people die in the next war that it takes seven years to bury the bones.



So why cant the world just leave it alone.





King James Bible

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:



The hook in the jaw is hate for Gods chosen people.

The jews sure did kick ass in 1967. The jews killed 167 U.S. Sailors over a 3 hour period of bombing the USS Liberty. The jews sure did kick ass in 1967. The jews killed 167 U.S. Sailors over a 3 hour period of bombing the USS Liberty. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:31 PM











Post: #5 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:10 PM) My research shows they are surrounded.



You arent studying history of Israel without the Bible are you?



1967 war they kicked ass.



The next war is almost here.



And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.



Trump just did it. So many people die in the next war that it takes seven years to bury the bones.



So why cant the world just leave it alone.





King James Bible

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:



The hook in the jaw is hate for Gods chosen people.

This forum is full of shills of Israel and this is a very good proof.

Look they are usually first to answer when some thread talks of Israel. Seems they

yet believe the sh*t they post people will read and say "oh this guy is true" when what

we think is: ha, the stupid shill doing probably even for free. If it is for money the shill

will have a hell of next life with all their bosses. Channelings are precise on what is coming

for them: bosses and helpers in controlling humanity will start together to f*#k themselves

for the next 13 thousand years until they are bored of killing one to other and do the most horrendous horrors. Enjoy your next life and see if you "kick ass" too as you say in your post. This forum is full of shills of Israel and this is a very good proof.Look they are usually first to answer when some thread talks of Israel. Seems theyyet believe the sh*t they post people will read and say "oh this guy is true" when whatwe think is: ha, the stupid shill doing probably even for free. If it is for money the shillwill have a hell of next life with all their bosses. Channelings are precise on what is comingfor them: bosses and helpers in controlling humanity will start together to f*#k themselvesfor the next 13 thousand years until they are bored of killing one to other and do the most horrendous horrors. Enjoy your next life and see if you "kick ass" too as you say in your post. TurtleMan

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:12 PM











Post: #6 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

http://lunaticoutpost.com/thread-16339.html LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:13 AM











Post: #7 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

No you are very wrong!



The attacks on Israel are not started by Israel at all, they are started entirely by giant criminal terrorists who want to destroy Israel and all of it's inhabitants.



The only reason Israel would start a war is to stop and kill very horrible terrorists!!! take that fact and accept it.



I guess every war the U.S has been involved with was started by the U.S as well!



You are a pro terrorist racist TERRORIST!

Monk-1

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:14 AM



Posts: 5,687









Post: #8 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-12-2018 11:13 AM) No you are very wrong!



The attacks on Israel are not started by Israel at all, they are started entirely by giant criminal terrorists who want to destroy Israel and all of it's inhabitants.



The only reason Israel would start a war is to stop and kill very horrible terrorists!!! take that fact and accept it.



I guess every war the U.S has been involved with was started by the U.S as well!



You are a pro terrorist racist TERRORIST!



If they know what a predator humans are they should leave. If they know what a predator humans are they should leave. Monk-1

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:15 AM



Posts: 5,687









Post: #9 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

Holocaust hypocrites LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:16 AM











Post: #10 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:31 PM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:10 PM) My research shows they are surrounded.



You arent studying history of Israel without the Bible are you?



1967 war they kicked ass.



The next war is almost here.



And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it.



Trump just did it. So many people die in the next war that it takes seven years to bury the bones.



So why cant the world just leave it alone.





King James Bible

And I will turn thee back, and put hooks into thy jaws, and I will bring thee forth, and all thine army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed with all sorts of armour, even a great company with bucklers and shields, all of them handling swords:



The hook in the jaw is hate for Gods chosen people.

This forum is full of shills of Israel and this is a very good proof.

Look they are usually first to answer when some thread talks of Israel. Seems they

yet believe the sh*t they post people will read and say "oh this guy is true" when what

we think is: ha, the stupid shill doing probably even for free. If it is for money the shill

will have a hell of next life with all their bosses. Channelings are precise on what is coming

for them: bosses and helpers in controlling humanity will start together to f*#k themselves

for the next 13 thousand years until they are bored of killing one to other and do the most horrendous horrors. Enjoy your next life and see if you "kick ass" too as you say in your post.

The Palestinians are a big terrorist group, that is a solid fact.



How the Palestinians are not even trying to get rid of Hamas with them knowing they are a terrorist group shows what terrorists Palestinians are! and how the Palestinians are not even trying to stop Hamas from greatly harming their own fellow Palestinians by how Hamas uses countless Palestinians as human shields shows that the Palestinians are SO horrible that they don't care about their own people being greatly harmed and killed!!!!!



and THAT is why Israel does not want the Palestinians living in THEIR land, if the Palestinians were good normal people then Israel share the land with the Palestinians LIKE ISRAEL DOES WITH OVER A MILLION ARAB ISRAELI'S!!!!!



Pro Palestinians are terrorist supporting terrorists who should be put in prison ASAP!!!!!!

Monk-1

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:17 AM



Posts: 5,687









Post: #11 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-12-2018 11:16 AM) LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:31 PM) This forum is full of shills of Israel and this is a very good proof.

Look they are usually first to answer when some thread talks of Israel. Seems they

yet believe the sh*t they post people will read and say "oh this guy is true" when what

we think is: ha, the stupid shill doing probably even for free. If it is for money the shill

will have a hell of next life with all their bosses. Channelings are precise on what is coming

for them: bosses and helpers in controlling humanity will start together to f*#k themselves

for the next 13 thousand years until they are bored of killing one to other and do the most horrendous horrors. Enjoy your next life and see if you "kick ass" too as you say in your post.

The Palestinians are a big terrorist group, that is a solid fact.



How the Palestinians are not even trying to get rid of Hamas with them knowing they are a terrorist group shows what terrorists Palestinians are! and how the Palestinians are not even trying to stop Hamas from greatly harming their own fellow Palestinians by how Hamas uses countless Palestinians as human shields shows that the Palestinians are SO horrible that they don't care about their own people being greatly harmed and killed!!!!!



and THAT is why Israel does not want the Palestinians living in THEIR land, if the Palestinians were good normal people then Israel share the land with the Palestinians LIKE ISRAEL DOES WITH OVER A MILLION ARAB ISRAELI'S!!!!!



Pro Palestinians are terrorist supporting terrorists who should be put in prison ASAP!!!!!!



No all the people in palestine are not terrorists. You are a big idiot. No all the people in palestine are not terrorists. You are a big idiot. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:19 AM











Post: #12 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

HAMAS IS FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THE PALESTINIANS WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED IN GAZA BY HOW HAMAS USES COUNTLESS PALESTINIANS AS HUMAN SHIELDS!!!!!! Monk-1

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:20 AM



Posts: 5,687









Post: #13 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-12-2018 11:19 AM) HAMAS IS FULLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ALL OF THE PALESTINIANS WHO HAVE BEEN KILLED IN GAZA BY HOW HAMAS USES COUNTLESS PALESTINIANS AS HUMAN SHIELDS!!!!!!

We don`t blow up entire countries that are "human shields" now do we? We don`t blow up entire countries that are "human shields" now do we? Monk-1

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:20 AM



Posts: 5,687









Post: #14 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

shyster LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-12-2018 11:24 AM











Post: #15 RE: Im studying the history of Israel. All wars against Israel are self-created.

TurtleMan Wrote: (03-11-2018 06:53 PM) If an attack occurs from any direction towards Israel, it will have been completely scripted and planned by Israel.



From my research, as a historian at Tel Aviv University, I have evidence to prove that every major war against Israel has actually been completely scripted by Israel for very specific purposes.



If it breaks out again, perhaps on Tuesday Israeli time, I promise you, no matter where the rockets come from, they will be sent by Israel itself.



This is Netanyahus only chance for survival. He knows his time is finished and he is willing to do anything to stay in power.



The people must realize what is about to happen and what has historically happened in their country. Its a travesty.



If war breaks out on Tuesday Israeli time, you will hear it here first that the war was started by Israeli (outside of its borders) purely to save Netanyahu from inevitably going to jail...



1967 and 1973 (The Egyptian and Syrian attack on Israel) were actually carried out at Israels request. They will do it again... Mark it down.



Im not Israeli. Im an objective truth seeking American. And I will not leave this country until Netanyahu is finished. If you never hear from TurtleMan again, you know I was offed... Pray for me... Thank you LOP.

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The problems encountered by the tens of thousands of Irish citizens who live in the US without legal residency are set to feature in the Oval Office discussions.

Expand Close Mr Varadkar will meet with US President Donald Trump (Matt Cardy/PA) PA Wire/PA Images / Facebook

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#VTUPDATE Manchester Piccadilly has been been closed until further notice. Train services running to and from this station may be cancelled, delayed or terminated at and started back from Stockport. https://t.co/ka4aYo2fEI  Virgin Trains (@VirginTrains) March 11, 2018

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Sophia Gibson, from the West Winds estate in the town, loves music, dressing up, playing with her school friends and watching TV with her brother Mason (2).

But she has a rare form of epilepsy known as Dravet Syndrome which means she has up to 100 seizures a day.

The most severe attacks put the Clifton School pupil at serious risk of death.

"We love Sophia so much and we feel like we have to do what we can to give her a childhood," mum Danielle told Sunday Life.

After extensive research, Danielle and Darren believe that Sophia needs a higher dosage of cannabis than what is legal in the UK.

Over the last year, their local community in Newtownards has helped raise more than 20,000 for the potentially life-changing trip to Holland.

On April 2, they will take the ferry from Belfast to Cairnryan before another boat trip from Newcastle to Amsterdam. They will then travel close to the Hague where they will take Sophia to see a GP.

There she will be referred to a neurologist, who will issue a script for medicinal cannabis which they will take to a pharmacy regulated by the Dutch government.

"It's been a lot of research, phone calls, emails and dead ends but we feel like we have to do this for Sophia," said Danielle.

"It's not a case of us giving her something off the street - she's our daughter and she will be closely monitored by health care professionals throughout it."

They believe that the whole plant medicinal cannabis with THC, which is available in Holland, will change Sophia's life.

Danielle said: "This is about giving a little girl the quality of a childhood. All we need now is the right dosage for Sophia's weight and height, but we cannot bring it back legally without an import licence because it's over the 0.2 per cent limit for THC. Over there, it's whole plant medicinal cannabis with THC which is what she needs.

"If we don't get an import licence, we can come home with the legal amount of THC and bring it through customs, but we'll have to lobby the Home Office to either get a research licence for Sophia, or a trial with a UK doctor.

"Stormont officials have told us that if Sophia gets this personal import licence she will be the only child in Northern Ireland with one. So, really it's a case of staying in Holland until we get the licence, or the money runs out.

"This cannabis oil is legal in so many American states and recently the law was changed in Australia too, so we're not trying to give her a drug that is completely unknown. It's legal in other places. This isn't recreational use either, it's medicinal."

Darren added: "To sit and watch your daughter suffer so much, knowing full well that there's medication out there that has been proven to help children like Sophia, breaks my heart every day.

"It feels like we've been hitting brick walls, getting nowhere, and all we want to do, as parents, is to try and give Sophia some sort of quality of life."

In Darren and Danielle's view, the drugs which she is being given at the moment are not improving Sophia's condition and they fear the drugs will only get more powerful as she gets older, leaving her in a vegetative state.

"We have to watch her turning blue and grey round the mouth and think to ourselves, 'Is this the last seizure that is going to take our daughter?'

"We are pleading with the Home Office to issue a licence for Sophia before it's too late."

The couple say that independent councillor Jimmy Menagh has been "supportive from day one" and that the UUP's Philip Smith and DUP politicians Jim Shannon and Michelle McIlveen have been very helpful. However, they feel politicians generally have ignored the need for medicinal cannabis in Northern Ireland.

Darren said: "Why do we have to put a fight up to get our daughter medication that's proven to help other people like her? Why do we have to beg for help? We should have the right, as parents, to give our daughter what we believe is going to help her and we fully believe that this will help her."

Danielle sleeps with Sophia every night to make sure she's safe, and, unlike most six-year-olds, Sophia hasn't been able to have a birthday party because, on the two occasions they've tried, she has taken huge seizures with the excitement. "We don't know how long Sophia has on this earth but we want to make as many memories as we can," she said.

Darren added: "Every single seizure she has has the potential to kill her."

n To find out more, visit www.gofundme.com/helpforsophias

seizuresUsername: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 5 Vote(s) - 3.4 Average

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Page: 1 2 3 4 How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country Natura Naturans

Registered User

User ID: kaput

03-11-2018 07:23 PM



Posts: 13,155









Post: #1 How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

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https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-1...ur-freedom The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free. --Baruch Spinoza It was not socialism that destroyed Venezuela, it was the corruption of government officials that looted the country until nothing remains but dire poverty and starvation. It started with Hugo Chavez's family and extended to the military bribed with oil money to support the government. Today, the richest person in Venezuela is Hugo Chavez's daughter, with perhaps $5 billion accumulated by crimes such as buying all the rice and reselling it for high prices. Here is one Venezuelan's experience:The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free. --Baruch Spinoza LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:27 PM











Post: #2 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

Not sure what made it fall.



Hard to see from here.



Lots of nations are corrupt. Not many fall.



Coincidence that US had an interest in regime change over there? LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:34 PM











Post: #3 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

He had help. Natura Naturans

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:34 PM



Posts: 13,155









Post: #4 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:27 PM) Not sure what made it fall.



Hard to see from here.



Lots of nations are corrupt. Not many fall.



Coincidence that US had an interest in regime change over there?

In Venezuela, the corruption was at the very top of the pyramid. The police and military were paid to look the other way. As more and more wealth was siphoned away the currency collapsed as the government kept the printing presses going full speed until it cost more to print the worthless money than the money was worth. Now the people have no money to buy things, the monthly wage they get doesn't even buy food for a week.



https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-03-1...ur-freedom In Venezuela, the corruption was at the very top of the pyramid. The police and military were paid to look the other way. As more and more wealth was siphoned away the currency collapsed as the government kept the printing presses going full speed until it cost more to print the worthless money than the money was worth. Now the people have no money to buy things, the monthly wage they get doesn't even buy food for a week. The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free. --Baruch Spinoza LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:35 PM











Post: #5 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:34 PM) He had help.

You havent noticed that every country that the US helps goes to sh*t. You havent noticed that every country that the US helps goes to sh*t. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:38 PM











Post: #6 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

Have you also noticed that every catholic country is as poor sh*t. Any correlation there. Corrupt as all get out.



Philippines is a good example. Highly educated. But has massive corruption.



Now they are summarily executing drug users.



Catholics are heathens. [/u] Natura Naturans

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 07:52 PM



Posts: 13,155









Post: #7 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country





Diario las Americas claims that Maria Gabriela Chavez, 35, has $4.2billion in assets held in American and Andorran banks

Hugo Chavez famously declared 'being rich is bad' and during his lifetime railed against the wealthy for being lazy and gluttonous

Efforts to determine Chavez's wealth have been made before, without much luck



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...eport.html Being the ex-President's daughter pays off: Hugo Chavez's ambassador daughter is Venezuela's richest womanDiario las Americas claims that Maria Gabriela Chavez, 35, has $4.2billion in assets held in American and Andorran banksHugo Chavez famously declared 'being rich is bad' and during his lifetime railed against the wealthy for being lazy and gluttonousEfforts to determine Chavez's wealth have been made before, without much luck The highest activity a human being can attain is learning for understanding, because to understand is to be free. --Baruch Spinoza 1110.00

Manifest Alchemy

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:32 PM



Posts: 13,290









Post: #8 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

Gee, I guess imperialism is going to have to fix things. "The Precipitant has a smaller place in reality, thus it is mortal."

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8uMCQrAxylM

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0619bdpOolA fnord

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:33 PM











Post: #9 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

Certainly US Venezuela policy has sanctioned that country since Hugo Chavez came to power, and chose a path different from that recommended by the US state department.



Any system of government can be made to work if it is supported by the people, and supportive of the people.



Any system of government by and for the elites is bound for failure. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:44 PM











Post: #10 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:34 PM) He had help.

Yes he had help from the American Democrat Party. Yes he had help from the American Democrat Party. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:45 PM











Post: #11 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

Sactions are directly against government official not Venezuela or its people. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:13 PM











Post: #12 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country





California seems to be doing the same thing. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:21 PM











Post: #13 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

Collectivism and centralization always ends this way.



Some take longer than others but they always collapse into ruin and bloodshed.



Fact KingBum

Registered User

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:39 PM



Posts: 4,200









Post: #14 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 07:34 PM) He had help.

Yes he did, Chevron always helps the little guy. Yes he did, Chevron always helps the little guy. Idealism is the fools shepherd and the braggarts laurels.



Its time to stop pointing fingers, finger pointing gets us nowhere...Steve.



504100 - My number when not logged in. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 09:41 PM











Post: #15 RE: How the Socialist Government Of Venezuela Destroyed Their Country



Having fixed prices for essentials

Really hampers progress



Supposedly gasoline per litre

Was less than 10cents until this year

https://tradingeconomics.com/venezuela/gasoline-prices



An interest rate above 20%

When other nations are extremely low

Would also create strange imbalances



If ever there was chance to justify

Toppling corruption and to free millions...





Very strange economic data from VHaving fixed prices for essentialsReally hampers progressSupposedly gasoline per litreWas less than 10cents until this yearAn interest rate above 20%When other nations are extremely lowWould also create strange imbalancesIf ever there was chance to justifyToppling corruption and to free millions... Advertisement

















Moncks Corner, SC (29461)

Today

Rain. High near 80F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Rain this evening with thunderstorms developing overnight. Low near 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.The foreign exchange crisis has not abated despite Mr ONeills sweet-talk promises. More than 70% of company executives in a recent business survey cited the lack of forex as the major constraint to business.

Severe cash flow problems are getting worse by the day  last fortnight the government had to scrabble round looking for sufficient funds to pay public servants.

The corruption, waste and mismanagement he has presided over in recent years has crippled Papua New Guineas finances and all but destroyed the economy.

Now those dangers are engulfing the nation. The prime ministers tardy response to the earthquake is an example.

PORT MORESBY - For the last three years Papua New Guinea had been living dangerously, thanks to the actions of prime minister Peter ONeill.

Former Papua New Guinea prime minister, eminent economist and now MP for Port Moresby North-West, Sir Mekere Morauta

Businesses continue to lay off staff; many are facing bankruptcy, especially small PNG-owned enterprises.

Businesses are owed tens of millions of kina by the government, exacerbating their cash flow problems and starving the businesses of working capital.

Last week a helicopter company flying relief missions in the earthquake zone reported it had been refused fuel because the government had not paid its bills.

There is enormous waste and mismanagement of expensive boomerang borrowings from China. Most of this money is being spent on inflated self-glorifying projects in Port Moresby rather than on productive infrastructure and investment in health and education.

Thousands of Chinese labourers are being brought in to work on these projects rather than Papua New Guineans being employed, and many stay to take even more jobs away from Papua New Guineans.

All this has resulted in a deep recession in the non-resource sector, on which over 80% of people rely to make a living.

These problems are real, and they have real effects, as we are now seeing. All have been inflicted on the nation by Mr ONeill. All existed before the earthquake, and now we have severe earthquake problems to deal with.

The prime ministers so-called solutions to his financial and economic disaster are in fact likely to make matters worse.

The more the prime minister borrows, including the K14 billion he is currently negotiating with China, the heavier the already unsustainable debt burden will become, and even more spending cuts will have to be made in critical areas such as health, education, transport, rural infrastructure and law and order.

Debt servicing is about 20% of internal revenue  far too high already.

Mr ONeills plan to borrow budget support from the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank will only add to our financial and economic woes. It is extraordinary that these multilateral institutions will entertain such loans given the existing levels of debt and no guarantee that the money will be used productively.

These loans are simply signals to Mr ONeill that his governments endemic corruption, waste and mismanagement can contine indefinitely.

And of course the Bank of Papua New Guinea is continuing to print money to feed Mr ONeills profligacy and extravagance.

I also have deep fears about further asset sales. Mr ONeill sold Oil Search shares at a loss of about K1 billion. Now we hear he is also looking at further sales, including the State shareholding in PNG LNG, Ok Tedi, and Air Niugini. If this is not the case then the prime minister should say so.

All this is to fund recurrent expenditure and APEC. There is no attempt to restructure the economy and government finances; no repayment or restructure of debt.

Soon we will run out of assets to sell, and we will become a nation of beggars, with our sovereignty as a nation sold down the river.

I question where the supposed K450 million earthquake fund has come from, and what measures are in place to ensure that it is not diverted into the wrong pockets, as has happened with other emergency funding measures.

The public has a right to know that the money is actually there, and that it will be spent on helping the families of those who have died in this tragedy, and the many thousands of terrified people who are going hungry and who have no homes and no services.

Mr ONeill owes many of these people millions of kina in PNG LNG royalties and other benefits, which appear to have disappeared into thin air.

The earthquake is a national disaster and Parliament needs to be recalled immediately so a national conversation on the emergency and the recovery can take place.

The Budget needs to be recast immediately, so that sufficient and continuing assistance can be given to the victims and to reconstruction.Username: Password: or Register Thread Rating: 1 Vote(s) - 5 Average

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Page: 1 2 Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass? TurtleMan

lop guest

User ID: kaput

03-11-2018 07:46 PM











Post: #1 Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

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There are currently mass drills going on between the US and Israeli in case any type of attack occurs. How can anyone predict when a massive attack is going to come from an outside source? Who would be so stupid to telegraph an attack, and who would attack anyways because they would be subsequently destroyed by the IDF?My argument would be that the only way they can predict an attack is if they are the original root cause.



As has happened in the past, which can be proven by any historian looking in the right place, the same can happen in the future. Israel attacks itself when it suits its purpose. Disgusting, but true. Netanyahu and whatever den of allies he has left, does not care one iota for the Israeli common citizen. He only cares for himself. Someone with nothing to lose is the most dangerous person in the world.



And then we get this message today:

On this upcoming Tuesday, March 13 the Home Front Commend will operate a drill.

During the drill there will be a siren heard at 11:05am and 7:05pm.

Don't be panic, this won't be the breakout of world war 3.

If there will be a need for a real siren, another siren will be followed by the first one.



I am not concerned for the first few sentences, Im concerned for the last sentence.



How would they they be able to predict the possibility or need for a real siren? And if they can predict the possibility, why would they not tell us that even if there is the slightest chance of war, that we should leave the city?



I asked is this normal? Should we come to school on this day? And they informed me that yes I was fully expected to come to class.



Does this make sense? The message clearly states that there is some possibility that a real siren, I would assume meaning a real attack, could occur. Why should we come to school if there is ANY possibility of a real siren? Why would they not warn us to leave the city? And how the heck does anyone know that a real attack could come if the Israeli leadership was not actually planning on doing it themselves, which they have a historical record of doing so, just to take the heat off of Netanyahu, who is about to be crucified by the government?



It truly sickens me if any of my analysis is true.



I truly hope that none of this happens, but if it does, Bibi, you are going to burn buddy. Truly.



You best just go on your way... You deserve to be behind bars the rest of your life... You cannot escape His Justice. No matter what you try... No one is stupid enough to attack Israel. Thus if an attack happens onto Israel, there would only be one reason for it. The leadership wants it to happen. Netanyahu is a cornered rat. He has lost all of allies. He has nothing left and his time is finished. He will not go quietly. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that multiple wars that were caused by external sources throughout Israeli's history, were in actuality carried forth by Israeli elements outside of the country. They were always well-planned and scripted for very specific purposes, one reason being to never be implicated that they were the original cause.There are currently mass drills going on between the US and Israeli in case any type of attack occurs. How can anyone predict when a massive attack is going to come from an outside source? Who would be so stupid to telegraph an attack, and who would attack anyways because they would be subsequently destroyed by the IDF?My argument would be that the only way they can predict an attack is if they are the original root cause.As has happened in the past, which can be proven by any historian looking in the right place, the same can happen in the future. Israel attacks itself when it suits its purpose. Disgusting, but true. Netanyahu and whatever den of allies he has left, does not care one iota for the Israeli common citizen. He only cares for himself. Someone with nothing to lose is the most dangerous person in the world.And then we get this message today:On this upcoming Tuesday, March 13 the Home Front Commend will operate a drill.During the drill there will be a siren heard at 11:05am and 7:05pm.Don't be panic, this won't be the breakout of world war 3.If there will be a need for a real siren, another siren will be followed by the first one.I am not concerned for the first few sentences, Im concerned for the last sentence.How would they they be able to predict the possibility or need for a real siren? And if they can predict the possibility, why would they not tell us that even if there is the slightest chance of war, that we should leave the city?I asked is this normal? Should we come to school on this day? And they informed me that yes I was fully expected to come to class.Does this make sense? The message clearly states that there is some possibility that a real siren, I would assume meaning a real attack, could occur. Why should we come to school if there is ANY possibility of a real siren? Why would they not warn us to leave the city? And how the heck does anyone know that a real attack could come if the Israeli leadership was not actually planning on doing it themselves, which they have a historical record of doing so, just to take the heat off of Netanyahu, who is about to be crucified by the government?It truly sickens me if any of my analysis is true.I truly hope that none of this happens, but if it does, Bibi, you are going to burn buddy. Truly.You best just go on your way... You deserve to be behind bars the rest of your life... You cannot escape His Justice. No matter what you try... TurtleMan

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:16 PM











Post: #2 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

If any attack happens on Israel, he will surely blame it fully on Iran, and subsequently drag the US into World War 3 with Iran. Wake up people. This is not a joking matter... The writing is on the wall if you can put the puzzle pieces together. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:18 PM











Post: #3 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

More than likely. The short fat fuk is capable of any atrocity. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:20 PM











Post: #4 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

Yep, pressure is growing to make resign Netanyahu because corruption scandals he is involved in.



So what you do? You create a new war and then martial law and you kill those that wanted you out of power, then make suffer the rest of the nation, back to survival mode and they are focused now in finding food and such and not anymore demanding someone to resign.



This, with all kind of variations, is what was done everytime for thousands of years.



Sometimes it is used a part of a country that wants secesion so the focus of people is now

on fighting those that want the separation. And if you are said to hate those you are on the side of the one you formerly wanted to be out because the corruption scandals... TurtleMan

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:27 PM











Post: #5 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:20 PM) Yep, pressure is growing to make resign Netanyahu because corruption scandals he is involved in.



So what you do? You create a new war and then martial law and you kill those that wanted you out of power, then make suffer the rest of the nation, back to survival mode and they are focused now in finding food and such and not anymore demanding someone to resign.



This, with all kind of variations, is what was done everytime for thousands of years.



Sometimes it is used a part of a country that wants secesion so the focus of people is now

on fighting those that want the separation. And if you are said to hate those you are on the side of the one you formerly wanted to be out because the corruption scandals...

Yep. Yep. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:30 PM











Post: #6 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

Really. They were stupid enough in 1967. I say you are wrong. False flag with over a million troops attacking. Not even Netanyahu could pull that off. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:33 PM











Post: #7 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

Psalms 83 war.







King James Bible

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.





face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.



The hoarde is buried. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:34 PM











Post: #8 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:33 PM) Psalms 83 war.







King James Bible

And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.





face of the serpent. 15And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. 16And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. 17And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.



The hoarde is buried.

And the Christian sacrifice commences. I meant the heretic sacrifice. Sorry And the Christian sacrifice commences. I meant the heretic sacrifice. Sorry LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:35 PM











Post: #9 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

Israel is the woman. The flood is the forced that go against Israel. Can you figure out the serpent part. Lol LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:43 PM











Post: #10 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

TurtleMan Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:16 PM) If any attack happens on Israel, he will surely blame it fully on Iran , and subsequently drag the US into World War 3 with Iran. Wake up people. This is not a joking matter... The writing is on the wall if you can put the puzzle pieces together.

because that is where the blame should be put. Iran has been threatening Israel for decades, they have recently been building up troops and bases right on Israel's northern border. They have been caught numerous times smuggling weapons to Hezzbolah in Lebanon....all this for shits and giggles?.....of course not, Iran is planning and plotting to attack Israel.



I hope we see preemptive moves from Israel. because that is where the blame should be put. Iran has been threatening Israel for decades, they have recently been building up troops and bases right on Israel's northern border. They have been caught numerous times smuggling weapons to Hezzbolah in Lebanon....all this for shits and giggles?.....of course not, Iran is planning and plotting to attack Israel.I hope we see preemptive moves from Israel. Mark Baas

Caring Karen Cares

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:44 PM



Posts: 45,215









Post: #11 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?se...chariah+12 Mark Baas

Caring Karen Cares

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:45 PM



Posts: 45,215









Post: #12 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:35 PM) Israel is the woman. The flood is the forced that go against Israel. Can you figure out the serpent part. Lol

Scum is, as scum does, especially Freemason scum. Scum is, as scum does, especially Freemason scum. Mark Baas

Caring Karen Cares

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:46 PM



Posts: 45,215









Post: #13 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

Lol Mark Baas

Caring Karen Cares

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:49 PM



Posts: 45,215









Post: #14 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

Which makes it very fortunate that the CT scene usually is ridden with Freemasons, the same goes for the New Age movement. LoP Guest

lop guest

User ID: 1337

03-11-2018 08:52 PM











Post: #15 RE: Is Netanyahu and his allies planning an attack on Israel to save his own ass?

LoP Guest Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:43 PM) TurtleMan Wrote: (03-11-2018 08:16 PM) If any attack happens on Israel, he will surely blame it fully on Iran , and subsequently drag the US into World War 3 with Iran. Wake up people. This is not a joking matter... The writing is on the wall if you can put the puzzle pieces together.

because that is where the blame should be put. Iran has been threatening Israel for decades, they have recently been building up troops and bases right on Israel's northern border. They have been caught numerous times smuggling weapons to Hezzbolah in Lebanon....all this for shits and giggles?.....of course not, Iran is planning and plotting to attack Israel.



I hope we see preemptive moves from Israel.

Iran gonna wipe out Saudi Arabia first. Iran gonna wipe out Saudi Arabia first. Advertisement

















Lunaticoutpost.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program , anaffiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.Amazon, the Amazon logo, MYHABIT, and the MYHABIT logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.Don't be a pest to the forum.No profanity in thread-titles or usernamesNo excessive profanity in postsNo Racism, Antisemitism + HateNo calls for violence against anyone..This website exists for fun and discussion only. The reader is responsible for discerning the validity, factuality or implications of information posted here, be it fictional or based on real events. The content of posts on this site, including but not limited to links to other web sites, are the expressed opinion of the original poster and are in no way representative of or endorsed by the owners or administration of this website. The posts on this website are the opinion of the specific author and are not statements of advice, opinion, or factual information on behalf of the owner or administration of LunaticOutPost.Com. The owners or administration of this website can't be hold responsible for content hosted on sites that posters link to in; including, but not limited to, posts, signatures, private messages and such. This site may contain content not suitable for minors and if you feel you might be offended by such content, you should log off immediately.This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Users may make such material available in an effort to advance awareness and understanding of issues relating to civil rights, economics, individual rights, international affairs, liberty, science & technology, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.In accordance with industry accepted best practices we ask that users limit their copy / paste of copyrighted material to the relevant portions of the article you wish to discuss (no more than 50% of the source material) provide a link back to the original articleIf you are a legal copyright holder or a designated agent for such and you believe a post on this website falls outside the boundaries of "Fair Use" and legitimately infringes on yours or your clients copyright please contact [email protected] This website is owned by :Marco ZwaneveldDrijfriemstraat 522516 XR The HagueNetherlands.I will not rent, sell, share or otherwise disclose your personal information to any third party.We might contact you from time to time regarding your purchases or the services (like forums and announcement lists) you have subscribed to.Some of the 3rd party advertisers on lunaticoutpost.com may use cookiesto track peformance and/or to serve relevant ads.If you wish to read more and/or opt out of such cookies, please visit: http://www.networkadvertising.org/choices/A group of Irish people in Australia are accused of being behind a series of scams across the Gold Coast.

Police say groups of men, and women with children, have been targetting small businesses and elderly residents since January.

12 separate incidents are being investigated.

Tony Flemming from Queensland Police told 9 News in Brisbane, that some people have been scammed out of thousands of dollars.

These are serious allegations and wed very much like to hear their side of the story, the detective superintendent said.

Five men are alleged to have defrauded an elderly man of more than AUS$25,000 for repairs to a roof that wasnt conducted.

Brittney Kleyn for 9 News in Brisbane says the gang breaks up into small groups and is often accompanied by children who are used as a distraction.

"Police are very keen to catch up with these thieves. We hear they [the police] have a task force designated to this case around the clock," said Ms Kleyn.

"And if they are caught it is likey that they could be deported."

- Digital DeskThe husband of a woman missing from Cork since last year has told RTEs Ray D'Arcy show that his interviews with the media have helped gardai find fresh leads in the search for his wife.

Richard Satchwell has made a number of media appearances in recent weeks, and told Ray D'Arcy that criticism of these interviews were unfair as they had helped gardai with their investigation.

Tina Satchwell, 46, went missing from the couple's home in Youghal last year and a search is currently underway at Mitchel's Wood in Castlemartyr, Co Cork.

Ray asks Richard Satchwell about not reporting his wife Tina missing for four days. #RayDarcyShow is live now. pic.twitter.com/Oi0qmytDUm  The Ray D'Arcy Show (@RTERayDarcyShow) March 10, 2018

Speaking on the Ray D'Arcy show, Mr Satchwell said: Ive never approached a TV programme or newspaper or anything, I wont talk to the press anyway.

As for why am I on the telly or this or that? If Im doing it, Im wrong for doing it. If I dont do it then, I dont care.

He said that an appearance on TV3's Ireland AM during the week led to a man getting in contact with him with information about Tina.

When I was up in TV3 doing Ireland AM, on Thursday, after doing an interview, I was approached by the producer who said there was a guy whod come into TV3 after seeing I was on and said he wanted to speak to me," he said.

"He seemed genuine to me, I came out to speak to him. He held my hand all the time he was talking to me and he says, I am 100% certain that on a date in January, that I was talking to your wife'."

Mt Satchwell said gardai have followed up on the information since the meeting.

When asked by Mr D'Arcy whether he had any involvement in Tina's disappearance, Mr Satchwell said it has been "very tough".

"It's the first thing that comes into people's minds, oh it has to be the husband," he said.

"But everybody who knows us, knows different," he said.

'It's the first thing that comes into people's minds, oh it has to be the husband', Richard Satchwell talks to Ray about comments that he had some involvement in his wife Tina's disappearance. The #RayDarcyShow is live now. pic.twitter.com/USwejrrP2J  The Ray D'Arcy Show (@RTERayDarcyShow) March 10, 2018

He later appealed for Tina to get in touch, and said that anyone withholding information should be "ashamed of themselves at this point".

Anyone with information is asked to contact Midleton garda station at 021 4621550 or the garda confidential line on 1800 666111.

- Digital DeskBy Elaine Loughlin

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has met The Terminator in Texas.

Both Leo Varadkar and Arnold Schwarzenegger were speakers at the South by South West (SXSW) festival in Austin this afternoon and bumped into each other at the event.

However, before Mr Varadkar spoke at the event he met with the actor and former Governor of California and told Mr Shwarzenegger: I love your work, by the way.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meeting Arnold Schwarzenegger in the Hiton Hotel in Austin, Texas. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Mr Varadkar explained that he was in Austin, Texas as part of his St Patrick's Day trip to the US.

"I just got here last night so I am here for the week, based in the States, you know St Patrick's day is coming up," the Taoiseach said.

The question is are you coming to Santa Monica? asked Mr Shwarzenegger.

While the Taoiseach said he had been to Santa Monica many times adding that he "loves the beach" he told the actor he would not be making a visit this time, to which Mr Shwarzenegger said: you are always welcome, it's good to see you.By Patrick Flynn

The search for a man reported to be lost in Co Clare has been stood down after he turned up safe and well in Co Kerry.

The man in his 30s from Kerry is understood to have been visiting Killaloe with friends.

Its believed he left his bed and breakfast accommodation in the early hours of the morning but lost his way.

He is believed to have called a family member in Kerry to tell them he was lost close to Killaloe. Contact with the man was later lost after his phone battery died.

The man's family contacted gardai at Killaloe and informed them he said he was near a wooded area. Gardai carried out an initial search and later requested assistance from the Irish Coast Guard.

The Killaloe unit of the service mounted a search while the Shannon based Irish Coast Guard helicopter, Rescue 115, was also placed on standby.

While the search was going on, word filtered through to search teams at around midday that the man had been located safe and well. Its understood he had made his way to Castleisland in Co Kerry although it wasnt clear how he got there.

Once it was confirmed it was the same man that search teams had been looking for in Clare, the search operation was stood down.

Meanwhile, a young man has been airlifted to hospital after he was injured in a fall from a horse during an event in North Clare.

The accident happened near Ballyvaughan at around 1.00pm. The man was treated at the scene by ambulance paramedics before being airlifted to University Hospital Galway for treatment by the Emergency Aeromedical Service (EAS) air ambulance.Update 10.40pm: Leo Varadkar has said he will raise concerns with President Donald Trump over a possible tit for tat trade war between the EU and US.

Mr Varadkar said tariffs were a road that he did not want either Europe or America to go down.

The Taoiseach made the comments during an interview at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas.

"As a policy I can't imagine how it would be good for anyone, I don't think it would be good for America, I don't think it would be good for Ireland or the EU," Mr Varadkar said.

A possible trade war has been mooted since Mr Trump announced a 25% import tariff on steel and 10% on aluminium.

The EU has threatened retaliatory tariffs on US goods, including bourbon and jeans.

Mr Varadkar, who began his St Patrick's Day tour of the US on Sunday, said the day before his White House meeting with Mr Trump later this week, the European Commission will announce its response to the tariffs.

"What has been hinted at is tariffs on denim jeans and bourbon whiskey," he said.

"When I hear bourbon whiskey I think the next response might be tariffs against Irish whiskey, so what you get into is a spiral of tit for tats."

Asked what he'll raise in the White House he said: "You can't cover everything but on the very top of that list, or very high on that list will be trade and the risk of a drift in relationships between Europe and America and that really, really scares me."

Update 7.51pm: Taoiseach announces extension of consulate in Texas to boost links with US

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has announced an extension of his country's consulate in Texas as part of plans to foster more links with a number of key US states.

Mr Varadkar said the move would help his stated aim of doubling Ireland's footprint globally.

The Taoiseach made the comments after a meeting with the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott in Austin on the first day of his St Patrick's Day visit to the US.

"This is a rapidly growing state, growing population, growing economy," Mr Varadkar said.

"We opened a consulate here for the first time in Austin three years ago - as part of my plan to double Ireland's footprint we're going to be expanding that mission."

The meeting was the first in the Taoiseach's week-long trip to the US for the annual St Patrick's Day festivities.

Other scheduled engagements in the Texan city on Sunday included a discussion about Irish innovation at the South By Southwest festival.

Mr Varadkar said there were about 100,000 people working for Irish companies in the US.

I think that speaks to the developing and changing relationship between Ireland and America which is one that goes both ways in terms of investment, in terms of jobs and in terms of tech in particular.

The Taoiseach said Ireland would be focusing on creating strong relationships with the states of Texas and California.

The Government's annual St Patrick's Day trip aims to advance Ireland's economic and political interests in the US. It also seeks to celebrate new and old cultural and communities ties between the two countries. This year it will incorporate four cities.

On Monday the Mr Varadkar will meet the Governor of Oklahoma and will also visit a Native American community there.

His meeting with the Choctaw Nation will commemorate the tribe's fundraising efforts for the victims of Ireland's Great Famine in the mid 19th Century.

Mr Varadkar travels to Washington DC on Tuesday where he will deliver a foreign policy address to the Brookings Institution.

That evening, the Taoiseach and Senator George Mitchell will be keynote speakers at a congressional event to mark 20 years since the signing of Northern Ireland's Good Friday Agreement peace agreement.

His Washington engagements also include meetings with senior representatives of Irish companies succeeding in the US market.

On Wednesday, the Taoiseach will address the annual American Ireland Fund gala dinner.

Keeping with recent traditions, the focus of the itinerary will be Mr Varadkar's bilateral meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday.

It is likely to include a discussion on the issues faced by the tens of thousands of Irish citizens who live in the US without legal residency.

It will be followed by the annual Speaker's lunch on Capitol Hill and the ceremonial exchange of a shamrock bowl between Mr Trump and the Taoiseach back at the White House.

On Friday, the Taoiseach will be guest of honour at a breakfast hosted by Vice President Mike Pence.

Mr Varadkar will end his trip in New York where his series of engagements will include the St Patrick's Day parade along Fifth Avenue on Saturday.

- PA

Earlier: Taoiseach confident Eighth Amendment legislation will be passed by end of year if there is yes vote in referendum

By Elaine Loughlin In Austin, Texas

The Taoiseach is confident legislation to replace the Eighth Amendment will be passed by the end of the year if there is a yes vote in the upcoming referendum.

Speaking in Austin, Texas where he is beginning his St Patrick's Day trip to the US, Leo Varadkar said he had tasked Health Minister Simon Harris with producing legislation which can be pushed through the Oireachtas if the public decides to take abortion out of the Constitution.

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar meets Texas Governor Greg Abbott at the Governors Mansion in Austin at the beginning of his week long visit to the United States of America. Pic: Niall Carson/PA Wire

Mr Varadkar met with the Governor of Texas Greg Abbott this morning in his first engagement in the US.

However, speaking after their meeting, Mr Varadkar said he had not raised the issue of LGBT rights with the Governor.

Last year, the Republican Governor signed a law that allows adoption or foster care agencies to refuse to place children with certain prospective parents, including same-sex couples if the provider feels it conflicts with their "sincerely held religious beliefs."

Critics said the Bill to protect the religious rights of faith-based groups in state child welfare programs could be used to discriminate against LGBT families in adoptions.

He has also sought to ban transgender people from using the bathrooms of their choice.

During their meeting, Mr Abbott 's introduced the Taoiseach to his wife Cecilia who has Irish ancestry.

Turning to domestic matters, Mr Varadkar said Government had been working on the legislation that would replace the Eighth Amendment and he is confident this legislation could be passed within the lifetime of the Government.

Mr Varadkar said: "If you remember when I was elected as Taoiseach back in June one of the things that I committed to, I gave every minister two or three things to focus on and one of the things that I gave the Minister for Health to focus on was having a referendum this year, ideally by the summer.

"Notwithstanding a few delays along the way, we are actually on track the legislation is now in the Dail and I am confident that we can have referendum in May and that would allow us to get legislation through within a matter of months.

"We have been working away on that legislation, the policy paper is already done will be able to publish a draft scheme of general scheme of the legislation, we plan to do that by the end of March and if there is a yes vote in the referendum we would then have a couple of months to get that legislation through.

"So I certainly think that can all be done within this calendar year, within the lifetime of this Government," said the Taoiseach.Three people have been injured during a suspected stabbing in Co Down.

It happened during the early hours of Sunday morning in the Queen's Park area of Saintfield.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the US is no longer a world leader in LGBT rights.

Mr Varadkar said he believed the majority of American people would agree with him, even if the Trump administration does not.

The Taoiseach made the comments during an interview at the South by South West festival in Austin, Texas.

Mr Varadkar said he would raise gay rights when he has a bilateral meeting with President Donald Trump in the White House on Thursday.

"What I intend to say is that for the vast majority of people around the world including people from gay lesbian transgender backgrounds, we have always seen America as a beacon of freedom," the Taoiseach said.

"This is the land of the free, the home of the brave.

"This is where the LGBT rights movement began."

He added: "It is really tough to see a country that is built on freedom, and built on individual freedom somehow not being a world leader in that space anymore.

I actually think on this issue the majority of American people would agree with what I have to say, even if the administration doesn't.

Mr Varadkar added that he hoped America would one day take leadership in the area again.

- PAJames Corden has accused those claiming Beatrix Potter would not have liked his live-action Peter Rabbit film of being "snobby".

The actor and talk show host lends his voice to the famous animal in his first big screen depiction.

It is the first time the Potter estate has given permission for a film but some detractors have said the author, who died in 1943, would not have been happy with the results.

Asked about the mixed views on Potter's opinion as he arrived at the London premiere of the film, Corden told the Press Association: "Those mixed views I have never have understood, really.

"I sort of felt some reticence about doing it when I got offered it simply because of what it means to so many people in this country and across the world.

"But then when the Beatrix Potter estate (gave permission), who have turned down I think maybe over 20 proposals, even Walt Disney at one point wanted to make a Peter Rabbit film and they felt it didn't capture the essence of the character and this script did."

Matthew Dennison, whose biography Over The Hills And Far Away was published in 2016, has said Potter would not have approved of the film, telling The Guardian: "Peter Rabbit emerges as a bully, and there really isn't any evidence for that in the story."

However, Corden argued: "What I love most about what Will (Gluck, the writer and director) has done and I think the Beatrix Potter estate responded to is there is so many small vignettes across the film that he has taken from all of those books.

"At its core, at its actual core, what the film is about, aside from all the big comic set pieces and the brilliant soundtrack and the animation is wonderful, what the film is actually about is acceptance.

"It's about going 'people will look different to you and sound different to you and be different to you and actually if you accept your differences you will find lots of similarities'.

"What people do is go 'I'm going to put up a wall and this is mine and that is yours and you don't come in here and actually what you should do is open your arms and go 'well I don't look like you or understand you but perhaps we can find some common ground'.

"That is what the film is actually about so anyone who is being what I would consider snobby about such an experience, I can't find anything that can be anything other than positive in such a message for young children."

Daisy Ridley attending the Peter Rabbit UK Gala Premiere in London. Photo: Rick Findler/PA Wire.

Star Wars actress Daisy Ridley, who voices Cotton-Tail, also said she believed Potter would be pleased with the results.

She said: "I think Beatrix Potter would first be gobsmacked that it had become the success it has and the fact that they (the estate) believed in this script says a lot, because obviously her family knew her.

"I think she would be thrilled, I think it shows all of the character that we know and love in a different sort of setting and there are bits that the original books are animated within and it's beautiful."

Peter Rabbit is released in Irish cinemas on March 16.

- Press AssociationUpdate 9.30pm: Hundreds of people in Salisbury in the UK have been told to wash their clothes and possessions.

Traces of nerve agent have been found at the Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant, where Sergei and Yulia Skripal went before they were found slumped on a bench a week ago.

A special service is being held tonight at Salisbury Cathedral, to thank British emergency services.

Bishop Nicholas Holtam says it's been a worrying time for the city.

"As well as a shocking attack on two individuals, this was a violation of our community," he said during his afternoon sermon

"The Rector of St Thomas' is planning a service in a month's time to bring together those most closely involved in the events of the last week, to pray for the cleansing and healing of the people and the place that has been violated.

"Those who uphold the law have to think a great deal about truth. 'What is truth?' asked Pilate when passing judgment on Jesus. We have all had to think about truth recently in what is said to be, 'a post-truth society', in which there are 'alternative facts' with allegedly 'fake news'.

When you can't tell truth for falsehood, trust and confidence break down. It is deeply corrosive of good relations. We all know truth can be difficult to tell, and always there is spin, but truth matters.

"Truth and justice are the touchstones of the Rule of Law. Those responsible for upholding the law have to be about the truth and seek justice even when it is difficult and personally costly."

Meanwhile, investigators wearing hazmat suits and gas masks were seen bagging up items inside The Mill pub, where traces of a nerve agent were found.

Update 3.42pm: Police tell residents 'not to be alarmed' as military remove vehicles and objects at nerve-agent attack site: Wiltshire Police told residents "not to be alarmed" as the military removes a number of vehicles and objects from in and around Salisbury.

Troops, including Royal Marines, were supported by firefighters, police and medics at Bourne Hill police station in the biggest military operation yet.

Uniformed men put on the now-familiar hazmat suits and gas masks before numbering at least eight marked police vehicles and civilian cars with white spray paint.

A military forklift truck is being used to lift the cars onto the back of low-loader trucks, where they are being covered before the military remove them from the scene.

Update: 2.15pm: Armed Forces arrive at nerve-agent attack site

The Armed Forces have arrived at Bourne Hill Police Station in Salisbury, where they set up a number of tents in the car park.

For a third consecutive day, uniformed members of the military were seen putting on protective suits.

Update: 10.30am: Wiltshire Police have charged a man who breached one of the cordons in Salisbury.

Jamie Knight, 30, from Salisbury, breached the cordon on The Maltings on Friday evening.

A police spokesman said: "He was swiftly arrested and has now been charged with assaulting a police officer, common assault, criminal damage to a police vehicle and a racially aggravated public order offence.

"He has been remanded in custody and is due before Swindon Magistrates' Court tomorrow morning.

"Robust action will be taken against anyone who breaches or interferes with any cordon or the ongoing police investigation.

"We would also like to thank a security guard who assisted officers in detaining Knight."

Meanwhile, pub-goers and diners in Salisbury are being urged to wash clothing and possessions after traces of a nerve agent were found.

Public Health England issued the advice as a precaution, but said the risk to the general public remains "low".

Anyone who was in The Mill pub between 1.30pm last Sunday and 11.10pm on Monday, or the nearby Zizzi restaurant between 1.30pm on Sunday and 9pm on Monday, are urged to follow the advice.

7.15 am: Police investigating the suspected nerve agent attack in Salisbury have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence, Amber Rudd said.

The Home Secretary revealed the scale of the probe as investigators are said to have found traces of the chemical weapon at the Zizzi restaurant in the city centre.

The eatery was hidden from view behind hoardings on Saturday as officers returned to search for evidence, with the BBC later reporting the nerve agent was detected in one part of the premises.

Spy Sergei Skripal and daughter Yulia are said to have eaten at Zizzi in the hours before they were taken ill last Sunday afternoon.

No-one else who was at the restaurant at the time is thought to be at risk, nor has it been suggested that their fellow diners had any thing to do with the suspected attack, the BBC said.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who fell seriously ill after tending to the pair, released a statement from hospital saying "he does not consider himself a hero" and was "merely doing his job".

Soldiers were seen at the South Western Ambulance Service station on Saturday after a vehicle was winched on to the back of an Army low-loader and taken away.

Cordons remain in place at a host of locations across the city, including Mr Skripal's house and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried.

There was further police activity at the London Road cemetery on Saturday, where officers in hazmat suits had removed items and covered his son's memorial stone with a forensic tent.

Scotland Yard said no exhumations had taken place.

Speaking following a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee, Ms Rudd said there were more than 250 officers from eight out of 11 of the country's counter-terrorism units involved in the investigation.

"I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that."

Ms Rudd said it was still too early to say who was responsible for the attack.

She said: "This investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe and also that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution (of the attack) we will be absolutely clear where it should be," she said.

"The police have said that if anybody thinks they have any additional information they would welcome them coming forward.

"There is also substantial amounts of CCTV they have to go through. This is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and time to get on with it."

Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still fighting for their lives after being exposed to a toxic substance in the Wiltshire city.

Mr Bailey, who was part of the initial response by authorities, also remains in hospital, although he released a statement thanking people for their support.

The statement read: "Nick would like us to say on his behalf that he and his family are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public, and colleagues from the police family. People have been so kind and he has expressed that he will never forget that kindness.

"He also wishes to say that he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the initial incident.

"He wants to say that he does not consider himself a 'hero', he states he was merely doing his job - a job he loves and is immensely proud of - just like all of his other dedicated colleagues do, day in day out, in order to protect the public and keep people safe.

"He would like to thank everyone once again for all of their kind thoughts and best wishes, they are truly appreciated.

"He asks respectfully that the media allow his family privacy at this difficult time."

Police said 21 people had been seen for medical treatment since the incident.

The figure includes members of the public and emergency staff, some of whom have had blood tests as well as receiving support and advice.

The attack is being treated as attempted murder.

- Press AssociationThe man who killed three women after a day-long siege at a Northern California veterans home had trouble adjusting to regular life after he returned from the Afghanistan war.

As family and friends of the victims tried to make sense of the tragedy, authorities offered little information on Saturday about why Albert Wong, 36, attacked The Pathway Home and whether he targeted his victims.

Those who knew the women said they had dedicated their lives to helping those suffering like Wong, and they would've been in a good position to assist him had Friday's hostage situation ended differently.

"We lost three beautiful people yesterday," Yountville Mayor John Dubar said. "We also lost one of our heroes who clearly had demons that resulted in the terrible tragedy that we all experienced here."

Mayor of Yountville, California, on victims of veterans home shooting: "The three women that were lost yesterday dedicated their lives to helping our veterans." pic.twitter.com/P5BqG77MBN  NBC News (@NBCNews) March 10, 2018

Authorities said Wong, a former Army rifleman who served a year in Afghanistan in 2011-2012 and returned highly decorated, went to the campus about 50 miles (85 kilometres) north of San Francisco on Friday morning, slipping into a leaving party for some employees of The Pathway Home. He let some people leave, but kept the three.

Police said a Napa Valley sheriff's deputy exchanged gunshots with Wong around 10.30 am but after that nothing was heard from him.

Witness Sandra Woodford said she saw police with guns trained outside, but said the only shots she heard were inside Pathway early on Friday. "This rapid live-fire of rounds going on, at least 12," she said.

Hours later, authorities found four bodies, including Wong.

His victims were identified as The Pathway Home executive director Christine Loeber, 48, clinical director Jennifer Golick, 42, and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

"These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation's veterans, working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan," The Pathway Home said in a statement.

Wong always wanted to join the Army and serve his country and was "soft-spoken and calm," said Cissy Sherr, who was Wong's legal guardian when he was a child.

Ms Sherr and her husband became Wong's guardians after his father died and his mother developed health problems, she said. He moved back in with them for a little while in 2013 after he returned from his deployment in Afghanistan and kept in touch online.

"He always had a great smile on his face," she said. "He didn't have a traditional upbringing but still he just became a fine young man. I can't imagine what happened. It doesn't make any sense to me."

Wong wanted to go back to school to study computers and business and thought the Pathway House program would help him readjust after the Army, she said.

The programme is housed at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville in the Napa Valley wine country region.

Ms Golick's father-in-law, Mike Golick, said in an interview she had recently expelled Wong from the program. After Wong entered the building, Ms Golick called her husband to say she had been taken hostage by the former soldier, her father-in-law said.

He didn't hear from his wife again.

Marjorie Morrison, the founder of a nonprofit organization known as PsychArmor, recalled Gonzales Shushereba as a "brilliant" talent who did amazing work with veterans with PTSD, and also focused on helping college campuses successfully reintegrate veterans when they return to school.

Gonzales Shushereba, a mother-to-be, had planned to travel to Washington, DC, this weekend to celebrate her wedding anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.

"Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about - helping those in critical need," her husband, T.J. Shushereba, said in a statement.

- Press Association and Digital DeskMore Australians will make payments through social media platforms as "social commerce" gains further traction as a form of online retail, digital payments business PayPal predicts.

With banks also looking at ways to allow consumers to manage money via apps such as Facebook or WhatsApp, PayPal's chief executive for Asia Pacific, Rohan Mahadevan, said a key focus was on allowing purchases to occur simply on those platforms.

Shopping via social media has not taken off to the same extent in Australia as elsewhere in Asia. Credit:AP

There has been a boom in shopping via platforms such as Facebook across the region, he said, but the trend has not taken off to the same extent in Australia, partly because of the country's existing payment and online retail infrastructure.

Sales via smart phones account for just under 50 per cent of online retail in Australia, compared with 63 per cent in India and 72 per cent in China, according to forecasts from Forrester. Mobile payments in 2017 were worth a whopping US$15 trillion in China last year, he said.Beijing: New Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate appreciates the door-opening power of heading a large government-owned enterprise when in Beijing, where the state continues to hold significant busines sway.

On a flying visit to China last week, a market she established for Australian vitamins as Blackmores' chief, Holgate swiftly secured a meeting with the president of China Post, and executives from some of China's biggest companies.

Two weeks ago she met with the president of the Bank of China, also state-owned. If there is strain in the diplomatic relations between the Australian and Chinese governments, Ms Holgate hasn't felt it.

Christine Holgate is the chief executive of Australia Post. Credit:Dean Sewell

"Being an Australian government company is deeply trusted here," she said.When a billionaire hedge fund guru offers to give you some advice it probably pays to listen.

Certainly the room at the annual dinner for the Melbourne Foundation for Business and Economics - an offshoot of Melbourne University - needed no second invitation when Michael Hintze began explaining some of the important lesson he has learned in amassing a near $2 billion personal fortune.

Sir Michael Hintze had some advice for a high-powered crowd. Credit:Louise Kennerley

The advice well that boiled down to getting up early, diving deeply, using your imagination and don't always listen to your father.

In an often light hearted address Hintze - a noted climate sceptic and conservative party donor - told the audience how he had managed to save $108.64 by the age of 13 with the money in a Commonwealth Bank account earning 2 per cent per annum interest paid once a year. He then saw a poster advertising bonds with a 8 per cent return and payments on a quarterly basis.Sweden is a nation known for its exorbitant personal income tax rates, its generous welfare state and obnoxious pop music.

It is also, increasingly, known for producing innovative, world beating companies.

As Australia continues its desperate, tiresome and necessary struggle to become more innovative are there lessons to be learned from the Nordic state?

Stockhom - Europe's unicorn factory Credit:Bloomberg

Swedish business has been in the news quite a bit lately.Western Sydney University has called on the NSW Govermment to commit long-term financial support to Australia's oldest art school.

Arts minister Don Harwin has given his backing for the National Art School to remain at the historic Darlinghurst Gaol, its home for more than a century after the Herald revealed the Western Sydney University interest in taking over the site and the school's management.

After nearly a decade of uncertainty and neglect, a commitment to the site was not enough, a university spokesperson said. ''The NAS deserves a secure funding stream and a commitment of long-term financial support, including badly needed renovations of the Darlinghurst Gaol site.''

The National Art School is the alma mater of some of Australia's greatest artists Margaret Olley, Max Dupain and Tim Storrier.

Western Sydney University denied it had made a proactive bid, but rather characterised talks as a negotiation between the NAS, Western Sydney University, and the Department of Premier and Cabinet which had ceased when the government withdrew from the process.Peter Temple, the first crime writer to win Australias most significant literary award, the Miles Franklin, has died. He was 71.

Temple died at home in Ballarat on Thursday. He had had cancer for the past six months, having dealt with a bout of the disease several years ago. He is survived by his wife Anita and his son Nicholas.

Temple was also the first Australian writer to win the British crime writers association major award, the Gold Dagger, which he did for The Broken Shore in 2007. It was Truth, the follow-up to that novel, that won the Miles Franklin in 2010. He won five Ned Kelly awards, the local crime-writing prizes, beginning in 1997 for his first book, Bad Debts.

Temple was perhaps best-known for his Jack Irish novels, which featured his Fitzroy-based solicitor-cum-fixer hero. The Jack Irish books  there were four  had a magnificent stable of recurring characters many of whom drank in a fictional pub, The Prince of Prussia. In total he wrote nine novels.Loose lips over Lilley



What secretive television publicists will not tell you, you can always rely on politicians to blab. Plans for the new Netflix comedy from Chris Lilley have been difficult to unearth but the series, which will be filmed in Queensland, has the political class squawking in a way that the television marketing class often don't. The series will run for 10 episodes and will be filmed between March and June; Queensland's premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the series would employ up to 350 people, including around 100 full time crew positions.



Squinters star LA bound



Andrea Demetriades, one of the stars of the ABC's brilliant new comedy Squinters, has secured a role in a new US pilot, Murder, being filmed in Los Angeles. The series will star another Aussie actress, Pallavi Sharda, as well as US stars Michael Chiklis, Teyonah Parris and Leonard Roberts. The series, which is based on the British series of the same name, peels open a homicide but leans heavily on a more documentary style. The British series was described as a cross between The Killing and Making a Murderer; it was created by Robert Jones and Kath Mattock.



Logies lockout



Voting is now open for the 60th annual TV Week Logie Awards, but the six-decade old "night of nights" seems to have stumbled in a tangle of nomination oversights which stem from an archaic system in which networks can only nominate 10 actors, 15 presenters and five dramas in the event's popular categories. Among the oversights in the popular categories are comedian and artist Ahn Do, the ABC's Michael Rowland (though his co-host Virginia Trioli is on the list) and Studio 10 host Sarah Harris.



Scholarship jury named



Insight host Jenny Brockie, journalist Dan Ilic, The Project co-host Hamish Macdonald and legendary newscaster Jim Waley will join award-winning producer Anita Jacoby on the jury for the sixth annual Jacoby-Walkley Scholarship. The prize, a 14-week paid journalism internship, including 10 weeks at the Nine Network working on 60 Minutes, A Current Affair and Today, was named in honour of Jacoby's father, broadcast pioneer Philip Jacoby; it is open to final-year university students and graduates aged 26 or under. Entries close on Thursday April 26; for more information see walkleys.com.



Arnold lands US pilot



Australian actor Luke Arnold has secured a role in a new US pilot, For Love. He will play Christof Dumaine, the younger son of the powerful Dumaine family; his elder brother Gabriel is to be played by Ethan Peck, the grandson of the legendary actor Gregory Peck. The series is being marketed as an "epic love triangle" set in the "secret world of magic" in modern-day New Orleans. The pilot episode, written by Michael Cooney, opens when a young woman, with whom Gabriel Dumaine is in love, receives a phone call from the fiance she believes had died five years earlier.

When Canberra radio presenter Kristen Henry wore a T-shirt to Prince William and Kate Middleton's 2011 wedding that said 'Harry! This could be us!' she knew one way or another she would be back for the younger prince's wedding - bride or not.

Unfortunately the MIX106 morning host isn't Prince Harry's bride for his May 19 nuptials, but she is leading a group of Canberra women on an incredible excursion to London to see the cheeky flame-haired Royal marry American actress Meghan Markle.

Linda Butler, Kristen Henry, Janine Vickers, Karinda Moffitt, Jessica Kirsopp, Georgia Totter, Julie Hope and Kylie Wilson are heading to the UK for the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

When Henry's own fiance declined to travel with her to England for the wedding, Henry - who "spent days on the lounge crying after Diana died, I didn't move" - decided to put a call out on social media to find Canberra's most hardcore Royal Family fans to go with her.

She "pulled out all the stops, every favour in the book" to design the UK trip of a lifetime, and whittled down 350 applicants to just nine.A Lyneham man spent the weekend in custody after beating his friend unconscious outside Canberra strip club Wanderlust.

Surveillance footage from a nearby brothel captured the early Saturday morning assault.

Documents tendered in court say the footage shows Patrick Jason Merritt hitting the victim in the head before he falls to the ground. Merritt, 29, bends over and punches the man several more times before he and another man drag the victim to the side of the road.

"The punches appear forceful," the documents say.

He and another man ran off when an employee from one of the nearby establishments said she had called police.An Australian National University law academic has lodged a complaint against her employer with the Australian Human Rights Commission, alleging the university has discriminated against her on the basis of her sex, including by paying her less then male colleagues for equal work.

Associate professor Skye Saunders, an expert in sex discrimination law and formerly an employment relations solicitor, filed the complaint late last year following unsuccessful talks with the university.

Dr Skye Saunders speaks at an International Women's Day event this week. Credit:Jamila Toderas

The complaint relates to alleged breaches of the federal Sex Discrimination Act, including with relation to a gender pay gap.

The university declined to comment. A spokesman said in an email: "ANU does not comment on individual staffing matters".A gap of almost $7 million in the Brisbane Metro budget has revealed the first stages of the project have been delayed.

The Brisbane City Councils quarterly financial report revealed $6.9 million was underspent for the quarter's projected spend towards the $944 million project.

Brisbane City Council's Brisbane Metro is expected to cost $944 million. Credit:BCC

In October the council announced the next step in the project was to buy two crucial parcels of land that were owned by the state government.

The first parcel of land is a 1600-square-metre lot on Grey Street at South Brisbane, beside the bus station, and the second is a 4.5-hectare block of land at Rochedale.Several of the brazen Irish scammers accused of ripping off Brisbane restaurants and businesses to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars have left the country, police say.

The revelation from police came as audio emerged of a voicemail reportedly left on the phone of the property manager responsible for several apartments they allegedly trashed across Brisbane.

Landlord Clara Carmichael told Seven News on Friday the accused fraudsters ditched four apartments on the citys south side after failing to pay rent, leaving holes in the walls and clogging toilets with potatoes.

So you wont be able to get any more payouts on your big plastic lips or your plastic rubber face, a man with an Irish accent says in the audio, broadcast by the Nine Network's Today program on Monday.The bridge has since been washed away but that hasnt managed to dampen the spirits of the town, Mr Robb said. It is what it is, people deal with it and get on with it, he said. The train line in town was the only way you get from one side of town from the other and people were walking across there with their carton of beer. Then you have other people drive their boat into town so they can get their beer. It is pretty much all about the beer, everyone is prepared, they have their water they have their food but no one seems to have enough supply of beer so they have to keep going into town to get it.

The bridge across Palm Creek washed away over the weekend after major flooding in Ingham, north Queensland. Credit:John Stephen Robb State Disaster Co-ordinator and Deputy Commissioner Bob Gee warned the flooding event was not over. "We've still got half the town (Ingham) split, highways cut off, so road safety, thinking about the water you're using and staying prepared," he said. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk travelled to Ingham on Sunday to assess the damage and said there were still a number of isolated properties. I spoke to the mayor to make sure we have communication open to those people, she said.

She commended north Queenslanders for doing a mighty job in helping help each other, especially farmers near Tully who helped emergency services find back roads to reach 71 year 6 students and eight teachers stranded at Echo Creek Adventure Camp since Wednesday. The first lot of children have been evacuated, the second lot are being evacuated this afternoon, she said. I understand all these children will be home eating dinner with their families tonight." Three children with gastro were airlifted to Cairns on Saturday, however authorities decided it was safer to leave the remaining students where they were until Sunday morning.

Department of Education deputy director general Jeff Hunt said the children had made the most of lighter rainfall on Saturday. The children were able to get out and participate in the normal camp activities like archery, adventure course, climbing frames and the like, he said. Deputy Commissioner Gee grew up in flood country and said these kids will remember this for the rest of their lives. A local in Ingham taking advantage of the north Queensland floods.

Three-hundred-and-thirty-nine rapid assessments had been done so far, Ms Palaszczuk said after the region between Cairns and Townsville was declared a disaster by the state government and a catastrophe by the Insurance Council of Australia. The Department of Environment and Science northern wildlife operations manager Dr Matt Brien warned residents in flood-affected areas between Townsville and Cairns to stay away from floodwaters. Crocodiles prefer calmer waters and they may well be on the move as they search out a quiet place where they can wait for the floodwaters to recede, Dr Brien said. Similarly, snakes are good swimmers and they too may turn up in unexpected places." A spider clings to a branch to stay dry as flood levels slowly ease across parts of north Queensland. Credit:Andrea Gofton/Facebook

The warning comes as Ingham residents, whose homes were flooded on Friday, share photos of the town's wildlife, including one spider clinging to a branch, surrounded by floodwaters. Disaster assistance was made available for the local government areas of Hinchinbrook, Mareeba, Cassowary Coast and Yarrabah on Saturday. More than 200 homes were inundated at Ingham, where flood waters started to recede on Saturday, and some residents at Innisfail had to evacuate. While rain started to ease on Saturday, the Bureau of Meteorologys senior forecaster Rick Threlfall warned the Herbert River was likely to stay above the major flood level of 2009 for Sunday. Floodwaters inundated homes across north Queensland, including this Morehead Street property at Ingham. Credit:Joanna Pickersgill/Facebook.

It is a very slow-reacting river the Herbert River, it is only very gradually going to recede through the remainder of today and Monday, he said. It is still quite showery but nothing like theyve seen, no widespread heavy rainfall, so it shouldnt add to the flooding problem. Most of the shower activity is really just on the north east and the tropical coast around Tully and Innisfail but away from there, we are not expecting any significant rainfall over the next couple of days. SES assisting residents in the flooded Shire of Hinchinbrook. Credit:Facebook - Kylee Blanch The Bruce Highway remained blocked in the area after the Herbert River peaked at 14.7m on Friday.Police are investigating the murder of Willie Thompson. Credit:Victoria Police

A $1 million reward is being offered to catch the killers of a ''forgotten gangster'' from the Underbelly gangland war.

Purana taskforce has reopened the cold case of Willie Thompson, who was murdered in 2003.

Detective Inspector Tracie McDonald said his death in Malvern East came during a time when a number of gangland figures were being murdered, but it never received much public or media attention.

The reward comes as part of a review of unsolved cases investigated by the Purana Taskforce.A man has died after he lost control of his motorcycle and hit by a second rider near Nannup on Saturday afternoon.

At around 2.30pm, the 48-year-old man was riding a black 2015 model Harley Davidson motorcycle west along the Brockman Highway with a group of other motorcycle riders.

Brockman Highway. Credit:Hannah Barry

Around 5km east of Nannup, he lost control of his motorcycle.

It left the road and struck a tree stump, and the bike was propelled back onto the highway.Trade Minister Steven Ciobo has not ruled out supporting World Trade Organisation action by other countries against Donald Trumps steel and aluminium tariffs even though Australia itself has secured an exemption.

Mr Ciobo warned the world was in choppy waters on trade with the next year or two set to be rough. He rubbished as frankly incredibly wild theories any suggestions that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signed a new security agreement with the United States President in return for relief on the threatened tariffs.

Asked on ABCs Insiders program whether, despite being assured of an exemption, the Turnbull government would stand up on principle for other countries hit by the tariffs - for instance by supporting action in the WTO - Mr Ciobo said Australia would practise what we preach on free trade.

We need to assess it on a case-by-case basis and wed look at that, he said.

The European Union and Japan, which are US allies, are still fighting to be spared from the 25 per cent tariffs on steel and 10 per cent tariffs on aluminium.Former treasurer Wayne Swan will run against Labor frontbencher Mark Butler to be the party's next president.

Mr Swan on Saturday announced his intention to run against the incumbent ALP president at July's national conference.

Wayne Swan has announced he will run for ALP president. Credit:AAP

"I want to make a contribution to winning the battle of ideas with the right- wing that's taken over the Liberal Party," Mr Swan said in a Facebook video.

"I've got the time, I've got the energy and I've got the organisational and policy experience to beat the Tories.The jury found Lindsey intended to either kill or cause really serious injury to Chayse, who suffered a severe brain injury, spinal and facial injuries, marks on his neck and bruising to his genitals on June 26, 2016. He died two days later in hospital. Chayse Dearing's foster grandmother Mariah Strahan outside court on Sunday. Credit:Nicole Precel Chayse's mother, Michelle Dearing, her hair pulled back, breathed heavily as the jury left the courtroom. Ms Strahan said Chayse was a beautiful little boy.

"He was happy all the time," she said. "That was taken away from all of us. "It's not easy for (Michelle). It's not easy for anyone who loses a child." Ms Strahan said the case had been "torture". "It's been very hard for all of us to sit in court and listen to the injuries that Chayse had. Anything that's gone on, it hasn't been easy for any of us," she said. "(Michelle) was devastated that she's lost Chayse and nothing is ever going to bring Chayse back. But we're relieved, too, that now the whole of Australia can know that he did murder Chayse."

"You can't explain what he did, none of us will ever know why he did it, we still will never, ever know why he did it. It's just obviously the evil within him." Chayse was a healthy and happy baby when his mother, Michelle, and two women left the infant with Lindsey in a Glenroy unit so they could go to a 24-hour Kmart. All four adults smoked ice in the hours before the women left Chayse with Lindsey, but he admitted to police later he had been awake for days on end. At 8.21am, Lindsey phoned Ms Dearing to report Chayse wasn't breathing and the women returned soon after to find emergency workers treating the baby, who was bluish-grey and had blood around his nose. Lindsey and Ms Dearing had been together three months and were engaged two days before Chayse was attacked.

Convicted killer Dwayne Lindsey Lindsey told Ms Dearing and police Chayse was sleeping on his chest when he saw a spider and bolted up, causing the baby to fall and hit his head on a heater. Defence counsel Scott Johns, SC, said the medical evidence showed the baby was shaken, and said the marks on his neck and groin could have been caused when Lindsey tried to rouse Chayse, or as they slept. But prosecutor Nick Papas, QC, told the jury Lindsey lost control, became violent and intended to cause harm. A neighbour told the trial he heard Lindsey call "Hey you" dozens of times about 8am. He also heard swearing, the sound of stomping and a panicked howl, the court heard.A lawyer for accused murderer Shane Robertson has told a court she is worried about her client's mental state and urged that he be urgently referred for psychiatric treatment.

Robertson, 28, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Sunday accused of murdering his partner, 29-year-old Katherine ''Katie'' Haley, at Diggers Rest on Friday.

Katie Haley, 29, was found dead at a home in Diggers Rest on Friday. Credit:Facebook

His lawyer, Sharon Healey, asked that Mr Robertson be seen urgently by a forensic psychiatric nurse.

"I'm concerned about his mental state," Ms Healey said.Preconditions: US President Donald Trump. Credit:AP

Washington: US President Donald Trump's condition for meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is that there be no nuclear or missile testing, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday.

"There shouldn't be confusion," Mnuchin told NBC's Meet the Press when asked about White House press secretary Sarah Sanders' statement on Friday that there would be no meeting without concrete and verifiable actions by North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. Credit:AP

"The President has made it clear that the conditions are that there's no nuclear testing and there's no missiles and those will be a condition through the meeting.""What I've learnt is that you're part of a worldwide movement, that is bigger than France, bigger than Italy, bigger than Hungary - bigger than all of it. And history is on our side," he said. "The tide of history is with us, and it will compel us to victory after victory after victory."

"I came to Europe as an observer and to learn," Bannon said, wearing his typical rugged attire before a cadre of the party elite dressed in suits.

Bannon's surprise visit to the party's conference in Lille - announced via Twitter late on Friday - was his most recent stop on a European tour that has included Switzerland along with Italy, where last week, voters abandoned establishment parties and opted for a hung Parliament dominated by right-wing anti-immigrant populists.

He also encouraged the party to stick to its nationalistic roots. "Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists," he said.

His speech contained a familiar litany of attacks against a global elite, former Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and journalists. Some of it translated; some of it did not. When Bannon, a former Goldman Sachs investment banker, mentioned that he once sold a company to the French bank Societe Generale, the room erupted in jeers, not cheers. "I thought you might like that," he said in response.

On some level, the speech presented another development in the relationship between far-right movements in the United States and Europe, particularly in France. Last month, Marion Marechal-Le Pen - the niece of National Front leader Marine Le Pen - spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor in Maryland.

Her speech echoed many of the statements of Donald Trump, whom Bannon helped to get elected to the US presidency. "I am not offended when I hear President Donald Trump say 'America first'," she said. "I want Britain first for the British people, and I want France first for the French people."

But in general, the meeting between Bannon and the party of Marine Le Pen came at a particularly fraught moment for Bannon himself and the National Front, with each trying to remain relevant in an unforgiving political environment.Photo: Okanagan Bat Project

A deadly bat disease has not shown up in the North Okanagan, but officials are monitoring the spread closely.

First detected in Washington State, White-Nose Syndrome is a fungal disease responsible for the deaths of millions of insect-eating bats in North America.

To monitor the spread of the disease, the BC Community Bat Program coordinators have been collecting reports of unusual winter bat activity across southern BC and ensuring that dead bats are sent to the Canadian Wildlife Health Centre lab for disease testing.

Those officials are asking that the public report any dead bats.

We are asking the public to report dead bats or any sightings of daytime bat activity to the Community Bat Project as soon as possible (1-855-922-2287 ext 13 or [email protected] ) says Paula Rodriguez de la Vega, Okanagan coordinator of the BC Community Bat Program.

Information gained from dead bats and reports of live bats can help determine the extent of the disease, and determine priorities for conservation efforts.

Spring conditions now mean increased bat activity  and an increased chance of detecting the disease.

White-Nose Syndrome is harmless to humans, but still, Rodriguez warns to never touch a bat with your bare hands.

"Bats can carry rabies, a deadly disease. Please note that if you or your pet has been in direct contact with a bat, immediately contact your physician and/or local public health authority or consult with your private veterinarian."

Currently, there are no treatments for White Nose Syndrome.

However, mitigating other threats to bat populations and preserving and restoring bat habitat may provide bat populations with the resilience to rebound.Reports of UFO sightings occur. Although some sightings science cant explain. In his new book, The Future of Humanity, physicist, Michio Kaku, discusses alien life and their possible physical traits. Below, learn more about where aliens may exist and what they may look like (page 4), and what Stephen Hawking warned us about (page 10).

Where aliens may exist

Kaku has a theory about where aliens may exist. He believes alien civilization are present on ice-covered moons, where life would be completely underwater. He cites possible locations as the moon, Europa, on Jupiter, or the moon, Enceladus, on Saturn.

Hint: Well know a lot more about aliens by 2035.

Expect science to confirm alien life soon

Ive bet a cup of coffee to any and all that by 2035 well have evidence of ET, Dr. Seth Shostak, of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute, told Kaku. Im optimistic by nature  as a scientist, you have to be [] I feel that were on the cusp of learning something truly revolutionary, Shostak said.

Hint: The government admits to spending $22 million on UFO research.

The search for alien life

The Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program, a $22 million secret military program investigating unidentified flying objects, was launched back in 2007 and shut down sometime in 2012. According to Pentagon spokesman Tom Crosson, It was determined that there were other, higher priority issues that merited funding and it was in the best interest of the DoD [Department of Defense] to make a change.

Hint: Alien hands are somewhat human-like.

Likely aliens have opposable thumbs

Aliens would have a type of opposable thumbs or grasping appendages, Kaku stated in his book. They would be essential for hunting and making tools, which they would have to do to be sophisticated enough to make contact.

Hint: Alien ancestors were predators will good eyesight.

Aliens likely have good vision

In all likelihood, intelligent aliens in space will have descended from predators that hunted for their food, Kaku wrote. This does not necessarily mean that they will be aggressive, but it does mean that their ancestors long ago might have been predators. We may be well served to be cautious, he added. Kaku believes aliens have stereo vision, which allows eyes to compare images and track distance, according to the New York Post.

Hint: Aliens have their own language.

Must have own language

In order to hand down and accumulate essential information from generation to generation, some form of language is crucial, Kaku wrote. While this isnt a physical trait, this is a key factor of alien life. They must be able to communicate information to each other to survive and thrive in their environment.

Hint: Theres an animal with similar traits.

1 animal on Earth meets Kakus criteria

Does any of Kakus criteria about physical traits of an alien sound familiar? It should. One animal who lives underwater meets every one of Kakus criteria but one. That animal is the octopus. An octopus possesses stereo vision and tentacles that act as hands. The only trait an octopus lacks in language.

Hint: An octopus-like animal can develop language.

Language is possible

Cephalopods could easily develop their own language, Kaku said. On a distant planet under different conditions, one can imagine that an octopus-like creature could develop a language of chirps and whistles so it could hunt in packs, Kaku wrote. One could even imagine that at some point in the distant future, evolutionary pressures on Earth could force the octopus to develop intelligence. So an intelligent race of octopods is certainly a possibility.

Hint: Are we at risk if aliens visit us or want our planet?

National security is behind the times

All indications from the United States government suggest our country is not at risk of an alien invasion. But if you ask billionaire Robert Bigelow, who has an obsession with all things space-related and was the catalyst for starting the governments secret UFO investigation, he will firmly proclaim that the United States is behind the times when it comes to extraterrestrial investigations.

Next: What did Stephen Hawking warn us about in regard to aliens?

Aliens could be big trouble for us

One of the most far-fetched topics that Hawking has warned the world about is the potential for destruction at hands of a hostile, alien civilization. Back in 2010, Hawking spoke on a Discovery Channel special and shared grave concerns for what intentions aliens might have in coming to visit us on Earth.

If aliens visit us, the outcome would be much as when Columbus landed in America, which didnt turn out well for the Native Americans, he said. We only have to look at ourselves to see how intelligent life might develop into something we wouldnt want to meet.

In the coming years, Hawking further clarified his comments on potential alien civilizations. Considering the relative youth of humanity and how weve only scratched the surface of space travel and technology, we would be vastly overmatched. He felt that any life intelligent enough to travel all the way to Earth could be nomadic, looking to find planets with resources to be harnessed.

Next: What are the possibilities of alien life?

We shouldnt worry anytime soon

Hawking went further to calm the fears of anyone that saw their anxiety go through the roof when he predicted that aliens may be extremely hostile. Although he stood by his theory that an alien civilization traveling to Earth would be planet-destroying nomads, Hawking also theorized that this isnt a problem we need to worry about anytime soon.

The probability [of finding alien life] is low. Probably, Hawking said. But the discoveries from the Kepler mission suggest that there are billions of habitable planets in our galaxy alone. There are at least 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe.

The notion of aliens arriving on Earth isnt something that Hawking envisioned happening in the next 20 years, or so he said back in 2016. You have time to build your laser-proof shelter.

Additional reporting by Trisha Phillips and Ryan Davis.

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Read more: Are These Celebrities Aliens? Hollywood Stars Who Some Believe Arent Really HumanComanche power plant shutdowns prompt civil lawsuit

A rural electric association alleges it had to pay more than $20 million to get replacement power during Pueblo Comanche power plant's shutdowns.It was a long list included an economy out of control, unmanageable government debt, uncontrolled resource exploitation, unfettered corruption, massive environmental degradation, failing infrastructure, and more.

In a recent article I itemised some of the many problems Papua New Guinea currently faces.

These words are emblazoned in bold letters over an imposing and studious image (right) of the man himself on the PNG APEC website, which you can visit here .

TUMBY BAY - We will provide a secure environment where leaders, ministers and delegates can advance APEC's policy agenda, and can leave Papua New Guinea knowing they have visited a culturally rich, economically modernising country.

Health and hospitals in crisis, curable diseases out of control, schools without adequate buildings, books and teachers and positions on the lower rungs of every social indicator in the world.

A list that hardly describes a nation culturally rich and economically modernising.

Apart from most politicians and the wealthy elite, all these problems are clear to anyone who cares to look. They are also clearly written on the faces and in the minds of ordinary Papua New Guineans.

A walk through the streets of Port Moresby will tell you all you need to know about the state of the nation.

Talk to people outside the cities and towns and there is a palpable sense of pessimism. Talk to expatriate Papua New Guineans in Australia and they regale you with stories of how they had to leave their beloved country to experience anything like a satisfactory lifestyle.

The delegations coming to APEC in November are going to be very large. Apart from the talkfest theyll be looking for an authentic cultural experience in this land of the unexpected. Theyve probably begun researching it already.

In other words, they will be out and about talking to people, be it business types or the waiters and cleaners in their hotels. They will quickly realise all is not well in Peter ONeills Papua New Guinea.

They will also have the international media in tow. The reporters will be on the prowl looking for sensational stories to titillate their readers. Be prepared for a slew of cannibal yarns.

With all this in mind one has to wonder what Peter ONeill is up to. Surely he knows the truth will come out. This wont be like a cocooned royal visit. A few coats of paint and a carefully plotted route from the airport wont cut it this time.

Even so, the National Capital District is planning to chase the street vendors out of town for the duration. Presumably theyll also have teams washing buai stains off the pavements and walls.

The Post-Courier newspaper is currently conducting a survey about how people feel about this. Given that colourful street vendors are an attraction sought out by visitors to countries like Papua New Guinea the logic of shoving them out of sight seems terribly flawed.

However, tidy up as they might, the authorities are not going to be able to stop people talking and the delegates and the media are going to pick up on whats going on pretty quickly.

And knowing Papua New Guinean people, they are going to be candid with the information they pass on. Friendly, unassuming, obliging, polite - but also very frank.

There must be a few politicians wondering how they got talked into hosting APEC. Theyll be asking themselves why it is necessary to expose Papua New Guineas dirty laundry to the world. They must be anticipating a public relations disaster.

Or are they?

What if these delegates conclude that Papua New Guinea is a third world nation of unaccountable riches ripe for exploitation, ably assisted by a greedy, compliant and naive government easily bought off?

Is this ONeills real agenda? Is this really what he wants the world to conclude?

Hes run the place into the ground and creamed everything off the top for himself and his cronies and now might be thinking its time to flog off what remains.

Maybe he hopes this APEC will be a special trade show for the worlds carpetbaggers.

Unfortunately, thats a scenario I find easy to understand.An appeals court in the United States ruled on Wednesday that a Christian-owned funeral parlor illegally fired its transgender funeral director after she revealed she would begin dressing as a woman at work.

The court said that RG & GR Harris Funeral Homes in Michigan and its owner Thomas Rost violated laws following the removal of Aimee Stephens from her duties in 2013. Circuit Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote in a 49-page document that the funeral home broke the laws stipulated in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

"Discrimination against employees, either because of their failure to conform to sex stereotypes or their transgender and transitioning status, is illegal under Title VII," Moore's ruling read.

Stephens, who was formerly known as Anthony Stephens, originally filed her complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 2014 but the funeral home's lawyers defended the case by citing the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The lower court in Detroit favored the funeral home's arguments in 2016 by considering that Rost conducted his business "as a ministry."

Stephens joined the company as a man in 2007 and rose through the ranks as a funeral director. In 2013, however, she began her transition and planned to come to work as a woman.

Rost, a staunch Christian, claimed that Stephens' transition went against his religious beliefs. The company shouldered the cost of its workers' clothes and Rost refused to pay for Stephens' women's clothing.

Moore, however, stated that the RFRA does not support the funeral home's defense, as it was not legally obligated to shoulder employee's clothing. It was also not a church that observes Christian holidays. Further, the funeral home has clients from all walks of faiths. The judge also said that Rost's tolerance of Stephens' new gender identity is not equal to supporting her lifestyle.

The funeral home's counsel, the Alliance Defending Freedom through lawyer Gary McCaleb, told the press that it would appeal Moore's decision. Meanwhile, the EEOC has not yet made a statement regarding the case.The residents of a private condominium in Florida filed a Fair Housing complaint with the Department of Housing and Urban Development after its board passed a resolution banning Bible studies and Christian music in its community.

A "religious cleansing" at the Cambridge House in Port Charlotte, Florida, soon followed the passing of the resolution and saw the removal of door crosses, a courtyard angel fountain and a St. Francis of Assisi statue, according to reports. A sign declaring the banning of Christian music was also placed on the organ found at the condo's common area for the information of its residents.

Resident Donna Dunbar, who works as a Seventh Day Adventist lay minister, received a letter from the condominium's management that prohibited her from holding Bible studies at the Cambridge House's social room effective Feb. 16. Dunbar had held the sessions once a week with a group of ladies from her church. The other residents use the social room for watching movies or card games several times a week on other nights.

The management had previously asked Dunbar to obtain insurance if she and her group wanted to continue using the room, which she immediately did. She, however, still received the cease and desist letter from Gateway Management.

The complaint concerning Dunbar's situation was filed with the housing authority, addressed to Sec. Ben Carson, with the help of the First Liberty Institute and Greenberg Traurig. The complainant asked the HUD to investigate Cambridge House and take action over its discrimination.

The complaint alleged, "The Cambridge House Resolution, both in text and in application, is discriminatory and violates the Fair Housing Act because it prohibits Mrs. Dunbar and other Christian residents from accessing common condominium areas for any religious activity, while allowing other residents to use those same facilities for similar non-secular purposes."

Since the ban, the minister has been holding her weekly sessions at her own unit, which was not big enough to meet a dozen attendees.A priest has testified against another clergyman who is on trial at the High Court in Glasgow for a string of sexual abuse charges. The unnamed priest, now 61, claimed that Father Francis Moore, now 82 and retired, assaulted him in bed as he was sleeping.

In his testimony, the priest said that he had woken up one night to find Moore by his bed and touching his genitals. The latter, who appeared quite drunk, apologized when the witness got mad but the incident happened again after a few weeks.

"His hand was under the covers on my genital area," the priest said in his testimony.

"His head was close to my genital area," the witness added and stated that he had reported what happened to the bishop.

Moore is standing trial for abusing a boy at the St. Mark's Primary School over 40 years ago. A former altar boy also testified that Moore had abused him at the beach during one of their recreational activities.

The witness revealed that Moore had taken special interest in drying him with his trunks off after they swam. The priest sexually abused the boy but it was not until he was 18 when he told someone about what happened.

Another witness, now in his 50s, claimed to have been abused by Moore when he was around 11-13 years old. Like the witness from the beach, this man said that Moore had taken interest in drying him at the changing room at the Magnum Leisure Center in Irvine.

Moore has denied the claims of all his accusers. He said he had been asked to undergo a lie detector test with the police during his interrogation in 2015.

"It disgusts me that would happen to a child," he said in response to the allegations he had abused a boy at St. Mark's. Moore also denied he knew the boy when the National Child Abuse Investigation Unit showed the picture.

Moore became an ordained priest in 1960. He had been in six parishes in the southwest region of Scotland.A Catholic bishop in Iceland is speaking up against a proposed ban on circumcision. Bishop David Tencer from Reykjavik expressed his views during an interview about the bill that lawmakers lodged and said it could be tantamount to religious persecution.

Speaking with the country's public broadcaster, RUV, the head of Iceland's Catholic diocese expressed that the intention of the bill could be misdirected as "an attempt to persecute individuals for their religion." Previously, Tencer also expressed solidarity with Jews and Muslims who believe in the practice of circumcision.

"Jesus Himself was circumcised, as were His apostles," the bishop wrote in his letter to other religious leaders. "We fully support Muslims and Jews in their fight to freely express their faith."

There are over a thousand Muslims and fewer than 250 Jews in a small country like Iceland. Its lawmakers believe, however, that like female genital mutilation that has been prohibited in the country since 2005, circumcision should also be banned.

Silja Dogg GunnarsdAttir from the Progressive Party proposed the bill as part of children's health rights.She clarified that this was not about religious beliefs but was instead a health issue.

"Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to believe," GunnarsdAttir said.

Religious leaders, however, said that if the bill becomes a law, it would make criminals out of those who believe in the practice. Those found doing circumcisions could land six years in prison, as stipulated in the bill.

Rabbi Yair Melchior also contended that a circumcision ban does not exist in any country but Iceland politicians could set a precedent. Jewish spokesperson Avi Mayer stated that circumcision was actually encouraged to prevent the spread of diseases like HIV/AIDS.

Iceland lawmakers are expected to vote on the bill before June. They began deliberations last February.The chairpersons of two committees under the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops are calling on lawmakers to create "common-sense gun measures" in the wake of the recent attack at a Florida high school.

Bishop Frank Dewane and Bishop George Murry, who head the Domestic Justice and Human Development committee and the Catholic Education committee respectively, released a statement urging people in authority to come up with better approaches to end gun violence and preserve human life. The bishops also offered prayers to the victims of mass shootings and their families.

"This moment calls for an honest and practical dialogue around a series of concrete proposals a not partisanship and overheated rhetoric," their statement read. The bishops also reiterated that they fully support the banning of assault weapons and they are not in favor of arming teachers in schools, which had been President Donald Trump's informal solution to curb mass shootings.

In addition to creating effective gun measures, such as raising the age of gun ownership eligibility and thorough background checks, the bishops also call for better guidelines for gun storage and safety measures. These might include training and providing incentives to law enforcement so that they will be able to identify potential mass shooters better.

The bishops also cited the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who have become determined advocates of gun control measures. On Feb. 14, 17 people died after a troubled student open fired at the said high school.

There have been several school shootings in the first two months of 2018, but the assumed total - 18 - also include suicides and shooting incidents that involved school kids that actually did not occur on campus. Regardless, easy access to guns has become a never-ending debate among Americans such that many people - including the bishops - are weighing in on what needs to be done to prevent further loss of innocent lives.Email Whatsapp Menu Whatsapp Google Reddit Digg Stumbleupon Linkedin Comment

The suburban Washington church known for its historical ties to George Washington and Robert E. Lee made headlines last year when it decided to remove monuments of the country's first president and the controversial Confederate general.

Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia, sits prominently a block off King Street, the main thoroughfare, on Washington Street (how appropriate!) in the city's Old Town district. Nearby you find a mixture of colonial and faux colonial architecture intermixed with 19th century townhomes and some modern edifices. The architectural styles vary, but brick is predominant.

This gives the city a charming appearance, much like Georgetown but with slightly more affordable real estate and considerably better public schools than the nation's capital.

Designed by the architect James Wren, of no relation to the considerably more famous Sir Christopher Wren, Christ Church was built between 1765 and 1773. Back then it was a parish of the Church of England, when the established church of the mother country was also established in Virginia and some of the other original 13 colonies.

As such, it epitomizes the stereotype that many have of the Episcopal Church  you know, the church of presidents and the establishment. While that was true once upon a time, Episcopalians today are increasingly uncomfortable with their history, particularly against the intersectionality that dominates Mainline Protestant denominations.

The parish's Vestry, a quaint Anglican term for the church council or board of directors, decided Washington and Lee's individual records on slavery was indefensible even against the greatness of America's first president. Because memorializing the simple fact that Washington and Lee sat in their pews made some, to quote the church, "feel unsafe or unwelcome" the monuments had to come down.

This provoked significant controversy. Just consider the following sensational headline, "Washington and Lee's Christ Church to obliterate their memorials over slave ownership."

When I visited Christ Church on a recent Saturday morning I was surprised to find the Washington and Lee monuments still up. Turns out, they haven't been taken down, at least not yet. And by the way, it really isn't accurate to call them monuments. While identical to each other, save for engraving, they are little more than glorified plaques that, frankly speaking, look like low-budget gravestones.

The friendly docent on duty that morning, who confessed he was a Roman Catholic married to an Episcopalian, was open about discussing the controversy.

He said the overwhelming majority of visitors  the church is one of Alexandria's main tourist sights  were against removal. I asked him for a rough percentage.

"It isn't even close," he said. "Everyone wants them to stay up."

Most visitors are surprised to see such simple monuments, he says. Apparently, many have the impression that the church has statues of Washington and Lee.

"This is an Episcopal church," he told me, stating what I thought was the obvious. "Catholics have statues."

For starters, that's just not true as there are plenty of so-called Anglo-Catholic parish churches with statuary of Mary or other saints. Regardless, I understood he was pointing out that much grander monuments than the plaques to Washington and Lee are being removed across the Old Confederacy.

I disagree with the reason Christ Church gave  they need a better public relations adviser  but I agree they should come down.

Not because I support the whitewashing of history. I don't. Rather, neither monument is in keeping with the mostly 18th century interior. In fact, both are actually quite modern, having only been installed in 1870.

Christ Church is a fine example of Georgian church architecture. It is also a style that, unlike Romanesque (Norman) or Gothic, was never really revived.

It should be preserved, which means removing the Washington and Lee monuments.

Spires and Crosses is published every week.Something occurred to me the other day: Anchors don't prevent ships from getting knocked around by waves.

The first half of Hebrews chapter 6, verse 19, reads:

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Stitched into your great aunt's decorative pillows, declared from many a pulpit, typed up in whimsical font over an "inspiring" image - this verse is familiar because it's easy to follow.

Even if you know nothing about sailing, you know that anchors are heavy and meant to keep ships in one place. Hope = an anchor. Anchors = steadiness. Therefore, hope = steadiness. Simple word math, equaling an encouraging sentiment.

But encouraging sentiments are flimsy, and rather ineffective in the midst of struggle.

I recently found myself scrambling for steadiness; I was experiencing things I had no grid for, encountering emotions I couldn't quite articulate, and I felt entirely unsettled. I needed something solid I could actually cling to while the waves were sloshing around and the cargo was knocking and rolling across the ship deck. And I know that God offers us much more than "encouraging sentiments" when He sees us flailing. So I ventured to ask: What is He actually saying in Hebrews 6:19?

Let's break it down like this:

Anchors

Anchors aren't cushions, or safe havens. They don't keep wind from getting caught up in the sails. They don't hold the ship deck steady, preventing it from rocking this way and that.

What anchors do is ensure that a ship will not aimlessly drift out to sea. They offer the comfort of keeping the ship "grounded" and provide you with the ability to know where you are, even if you're being pushed by winds or pulled by currents. Anchors allow you to orient yourself, regardless of what's going on around your "ship."

The soul

I have heard "the soul" defined as the mind, will, and emotions of a person; these are the things that feel most unsettled when our circumstances start to change, and they're the things that feel most difficult to address because they're pretty much intangible. But in this verse, God is saying that we have actually been provided with a grounding point for our heart, a grounding point for our thoughts, a grounding point for our ability to decide.

This hope

Our grounding point for all of those things is "this hope" - which begs the question, "What hope?"

If you're a Christian, your hope isn't an encouraging sentiment, or a powerful wish. Your hope is actually a person, with character you can be strengthened to know: Your hope is kind. He doesn't force Himself on people, He doesn't mow over people's feelings in the name of religion... He sees and He values the individual, exactly where they're at.

He is passionate. He initiates, He comes for His people. He does not tolerate injustice, so He willingly gave His only Son, Jesus, as a sacrifice to pay the price of sin... so that He can readily and completely forgive you, every time you ask.

He is always, only, ever, GOOD. Not just in a "the opposite of bad" way, but "good" in a sense of the word that we can't fully grasp here on earth. Good in a wholesome, peaceful, inarguably-wonderful kind of way. He does not lie, He does not manipulate. He is abounding in steadfast love.

We can trust His heart, and we can trust His intentions.

And the hope we have is that, if you have accepted His son Jesus into your heart, He's on your side! It's not hope like "Ah, I really hope this happens." It's hope like: "Look what has happened!!! Therefore, whatever I'm facing actually has to collide with the reality of God's heart for me. And that gives whatever I'm facing some HOPE - even if I don't see change, I know something will, because God's love for me is a fact I can stand upon."

He sees your heart and He is actively defending it, advocating for it, lovingly mindful of it as He walks alongside you.

Part of our hope is knowing that He will not let us down: Romans chapter 8, verse 32 says "He who did not spare His own son, but willingly gave Him up for us - how will He not also, along with Him, give us all things?" If you think God is in the business of withholding from His children, I would encourage you to really meditate on what the sacrifice of His Son must have been like for Him.

"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure."

Who God is allows us to ground our feelings, thoughts and willpower, and orient ourselves despite whatever is happening. For He is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews chapter 13, verse 8) and the only true source of hope. And that is anchoring.

Mayce is a young writer from The States who loves the adventure of living life alongside Jesus. She is currently living in Australia, where she works as a full-time volunteer with Youth With A Mission, Brisbane.Muslims hide in church in Central African Republic in fear of lives

More than 1,000 Muslims have been hiding from a hostile militia inside a Roman Catholic Church at a compound in Bangassou, Central African Republic.

Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need, which has been in contact with the church in Bangassou, told The Christian Post in an email that reports that describe the anti-balaka militia group as "Christian" are wide of the mark

"To call the anti-balaka a Christian militia, as is often done, is a mistake," said Maria Lozano, communications manager at Aid to the Church in Need International. "Our partners in the field told us several times that there is not much about them that is Christian. They carry fetishes and amulets for protection. The conflict is between Muslims and non-Muslims, the many followers of traditional religions and non-Christian sects."

Lozano told the Post that Seleka and Muslim rebels from Sudan and Chad have destroyed and attacked the homes of both Christian and Muslim communities.

"The local non-Muslim people created the anti-balaka militia to defend themselves, and they are full of anger after having to endure long months of assaults and violence," she said.

There is growing evidence that parts of CAR are degenerating into lawless chaos.

According to a report last week from Doctors Without Borders, groups of women have been kidnapped and raped by local armed groups. Survivors were taken to Bossangoa hospital last week.

"The women we saw were coping in many different ways but all were incredibly traumatized. Some were in total shock, while others were paralyzed by fear, or found it very hard to speak about the incident," said Soulemane-Amoin, the Doctors Without Borders midwife at Bossangoa hospital.

"A number of the women had fresh knife wounds. It was horrible to witness and my heart goes out to them. Our maternity team treated them with dignity, patience and provided them with a safe and confidential space to start processing what had happened."

An ACN report from January on the situation in Bangassou noted that some 2,000 Muslims initially took refuge at the grounds of the Catholic church in May 2017, and around 1,000 continue to shelter there.

"All around this place there are armed men on the prowl, hoping that one of the Muslims will emerge, so that they can kill them," said Father Yovane Cox, a Chilean missionary at the compound.

"Some of the Muslims try to leave the site to go and look for firewood, while others do so in order to scavenge in the houses that have been abandoned around the area (in search of food they need to survive on)," he added.

This had led to Muslims being caught by the anti-balakas, who have murdered them on the spot.

The Chilean missionary said that priests at the Catholic mission are helpless and need assistance if they are to protect the Muslims from the militia.

"By the silence of the state authorities and the inaction of the U.N. forces in not wanting to move the few Muslims still left on this site, they are simply inviting a confrontation between the two groups and a resulting bloodbath," Cox said.

"What we are sounding the alarm about and what we are asking them to do is to please relocate them from this site, because it is the only way of saving those still remaining here, who are for the most part women and children."'Okami HD' release date news: Action-adventure game to launch on Switch later this summer

Nintendo announced that "Okami HD," Capcom's remaster of 2006 Clover Studios' classic adventure game, is scheduled to release for Nintendo Switch later this summer.

Polygon reported that Nintendo made the announcement during its Nintendo Direct presentation on Mar. 8. Although Capcom released the same remaster for PlayStation 4 (PS4), Microsoft Windows and Xbox One last year, Eurogamer reported that the upcoming Switch version has two features not seen on the other platforms. The Switch version's Handheld mode offers full touchscreen controls and support when players paint using the Celestial Brush. In Switch version's TV or tabletop mode, on the other hand, players may be able to use motion controls with the aid of the Joy-Cons.

In the Japanese game whose title roughly translates to "great god" or "great spirit" in English, players take on the role of Amaterasu, the Shinto sun goddess who is said to inhabit the form of a legendary white wolf, Shiranui. One hundred years ago, Amaterasu fought the eight-headed demon and repressive monster named Orochi with the help of the Celestial Brush. However, they were both consumed by their battle, causing them to both disappear from the face of the world.

Now, Orochi came back to life to terrorize the once peaceful Kamiki Village. Orochi put a curse across the village turning it into a ruined wasteland, infested with monsters. The only hope to stop Orochi's evil plans is Amaterasu who has also come back to life. The sun goddess will set out on an adventure with the aid of a mysterious fairy sprite named Issun to find the 13 powers of the Celestial Brush which were lost when she battled with Orochi.Thousands rally against bid to loosen Irish abortion laws

At least 10,000 people rallied in Dublin on Saturday against Irish government plans to ease some of the world's most restrictive abortion laws, with some activists saying opinion polls were failing to fully reflect anti-abortion sentiment.

Voters will be asked as soon as May if they wish to repeal the eighth amendment to Ireland's constitution  inserted in 1983 to enshrine the equal right to life of the mother and her unborn child  and instead enable parliament to set the laws.

The government has said it will begin drafting legislation in line with the recommendations made by an all-party parliamentary committee for terminations with no restrictions to be allowed up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy.

In the largest protest of the campaign so far, a march over one kilometre long snaked across the capital, with protesters chanting "pro-life" and "Repeal kills" and a few holding up pictures of aborted foetuses. Irish state broadcaster RTE estimated that tens of thousands took part.

"If the eighth amendment is repealed it will destroy Ireland," said John O'Leary, an unemployed 50-year-old holding a banner of Saint Patrick, Ireland's patron saint.

Abortion has long been a divisive issue in once stridently Catholic Ireland where a complete ban was lifted only in 2013 when terminations were allowed in cases where the mother's life was in danger.

Two opinion polls in January found that over 50 percent of voters would support a proposal to allow abortion up to 12 weeks into a pregnancy, with just under 30 percent opposed and the rest undecided.

However, the polls showed a sharp generational divide with a clear majority of voters over 65 opposed.

"I am canvassing three times a week and people are pro-life, they are just afraid to say it," said Deirdre Lawless, 32, a schoolteacher from the rural west of Ireland.

A number of activists complained of what they believed was a strong media bias in favour of loosening abortion laws. But they also said that the pro-choice movement may be overconfident.

"We will win because of the hubris of the other side," said Gerry McGeough, 59, a member of the Catholic Irish nationalist group Ancient Order of Hibernians who travelled down with several busloads of activists from the Northern Ireland county of Tyrone. "Traditional Ireland has finally awoken," he said.Sub-Zero Ice Cream

Sub-Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream is now open at 9315 Spencer Highway. next door to MOD Pizza and YoYo's Chinese restaurant. Drawn to the idea of "customizable food," Jerry and Naomi Hancock wanted to apply it to desserts.

With a background in chemistry, Jerry developed a method to freeze ice cream using liquid nitrogen.

This ice cream became the first Sub Zero Nitrogen Ice Cream restaurant in 2004.

The Facebook page is at www.facebook.com/subzerodeerpark.

Waterford Deer Park

The Waterford Deer Park is an assisted-living senior facility located at 201 McDermott Street in Deer Park.

It was forced to close after Hurricane Harvey because of damage sustained by wind-blown rain.

The Waterford has won many awards over the years for its customer satisfaction and beautification efforts, and will reopen this month.

Call 281-542-9445 or visit www.thewaterford.org.

Market Days

Market Days moves into its seventh year of being a successful monthly event in Deer Park.

This local marketplace is run by two Deer Park residents, Betty Geck and Miranda Brown.

The venue gives residents a place to show off their homemade, homegrown or handmade items including food, clothes, jewelry and plants.

Market Days takes place on the third Saturday of each month in front of the Municipal Court/Theater building at 1302 Center St. at the intersection of 13th St. from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

To reserve a booth or get more information, find them on Facebook or email Betty at marketdays@yahoo.com.

Port of Galveston Cruise Terminal

The Port of Galveston Cruise Terminal broke all of its previous records for the month of December 2017, embarking 113,488 cruise passengers.

The port originally began cruises in September 2000 after a $10.6 million renovation of the Mallory Building on Pier 25.

They had one cruise ship; the MS Celebration.

Fast forward to December 2017, when the port welcomed its 9 millionth cruise passenger and had 33 cruise ship calls, which was another record for the port.

Interim Port Director Peter Simons said that all indications suggest the port will continue to surpass records throughout 2018.

K&K Yoga

K&K Yoga is now open at 2318 Center St., No. 113. Contact them at 832-879-4778 or visit www.k-kyoga.org.

You can find their schedule on Facebook.

TexSmiles

Dr. Pamela Liu has recently opened her new 2,200 square foot TexSmiles dental office next door to Planet Fitness at 3601 Center St. in the Deer Park Marketplace retail center.

Costco

Costco recently announced they have purchased land near Baybrook Mall and plan to construct a new Costco in the near future.

K. Hovnanian Builders

Residential homebuilder, K. Hovnanian Builders, has announced they have purchased property and will soon start new home construction near the intersection of Center Street and Red Bluff Road, north of that intersection.

They will construct over 400 homes ranging in price between $250,000 to $350,000.The Fort Bend woman accused of locking seven special-needs adopted kids in a room and feeding them only rice and beans was sentenced Friday to 35 years in prison.

Paula Sinclair pleaded guilty to four first-degree felony charges of injury to a child causing serious bodily injury, more than a year after authorities removed malnourished kids from the 55-year-old's Richmond home.

"The facts of this case are horrendous," said Fort Bend prosecutor Melissa Munoz. "Paula Sinclair abused, exploited and starved her children for her own personal gain. She imprisoned them in their own home and treated them like animals. She deserves to spend every minute, every hour, and every day of the 35-year sentence she received in prison."

But Sinclair's lawyer, Don Hecker, laid the blame primarily on Sinclair's partner, 78-year-old Allen Richardson.

"She maintains that maybe 80 percent of this or more was attributable to the co-defendant," he said.

The high-profile case started in November 2016, when Child Protective Services removed the seven malnourished children from the upscale Long Meadow Farms subdivision home that Sinclair shared with Richardson.

The children, ages 13 to 16, were kept in a single room that reeked of human waste. They were sometimes hit with a wooden paddle or bat, authorities said at the time. Whenever Sinclair would leave, she'd lock them all in a closet, the Fort Bend County Sheriff's Office said.

READ MORE: Eighth adopted child of parents facing abuse claims died of bronchitis

At least one of the children had Down syndrome and was wearing a dirty diaper when authorities showed up to remove the kids. Another recounted being bound with duct tape when her mother and stepfather left.

"I cannot think of a more deplorable situation than what we have learned in this case," Sheriff Troy Nehls said at the time. "These people are taking advantage of a lousy situation at the expense of children who cannot fend for themselves. It is absolutely heart-breaking."

Caseworkers interviewed the children - who had never attended school - and a few weeks later Sinclair and Richardson were both arrested, according to court records.

Initially, they were both charged with aggravated kidnapping and injury to a child, but prosecutors later added aggravated assault charges.

Paula Sinclair and her then-husband Larry originally adopted eight children between April 2003 and October 2004, according to CPS. Though the adoption process would have included a background check and a six-month trial period, CPS doesn't typically check in on adopted kids again unless they get a tip about abuse.

In 2011, one of the adopted children - a 7-year-old boy - died of bronchitis. The death didn't prompt any investigation because a doctor ruled it natural causes.

By that point, the Sinclairs had already stopped living together and finalized their divorce.

Paula Sinclair eventually moved in with Richardson, at the Richmond-area home he owned.

Though a sheriff's deputy stopped by in April 2016 for a welfare check, authorities didn't find anything. Then on Nov. 22, a CPS caseworker responding to an abuse tip showed up at the home and found the children living in squalid conditions.

A judge granted CPS temporary custody of the children the following day. They are all still in foster care, spokeswoman Tiffani Butler said Saturday.

Sinclair's criminal case would have gone to trial in April, and her lawyer said that the possibility of "stacked," or consecutively run, sentences factored in her decision to take a plea.

"She's 56 years old so the stack would mean she'd never get out," Hecker said.

Richardson's case is still scheduled to go to trial this year. Online records show Larry Sinclair was also charged in connection with the case and is due back in court in April.

"Crimes such as these reveal the evil that exists in some individuals," District Attorney John Healey. "Thank God this ugliness is countered by the humanity and compassionate dedication of all who worked tirelessly, and those who are still working, to protect these precious children."GENNA MARTIN/SEATTLEPI.COM

One person was shot to death early Sunday near a northwest Houston apartment complex, according to police.

Just before 7 a.m., a woman called police saying her son had spotted the shooter who opened fire at the apartment complex in the 3900 block of Hollister.A brazen crew of thieves smashed in the front doors of a Harris County courthouse annex early Sunday and hoisted out an ATM, dragging the machine behind their pickup truck as they fled down the street.

Initially, it was a 3 a.m. call for a "possible open door" that brought Harris County Precinct 6 constable deputies to the annex in the 1000 block of South Sgt. Macario Garcia.

But once they showed up, deputies realized the building was a little more than possibly open.

"Upon our arrival, we observed that the entire door was missing from Court 62," said Sgt. Alfredo Soto.

The neighbor who called police said that she'd heard a revving vehicle and screeching tires before she spotted the fleeing pickup.

"She looked outside and saw a truck - unknown make or model - leave the premises dragging something, which probably appeared to be an ATM," Soto said. "She said it was something fairly large that was being drug. She was uncertain from where she was standing. But it appears that an ATM is missing from the interior."

Authorities are reviewing surveillance footage but could not immediately offer a suspect or vehicle description and did not know how many thieves were involved.

"Unbelievable," Soto said. "Especially at a county building. I would have never would have expected it."An immigantion hotline will extend its hours beginning Monday to help with the numerous issues Houston immigrants are facing, including detention and discrimination, advocates announced Saturday.

The hotline, which provides referrals to attorneys and legal services, will operate 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday, according to organizers of the Immigrants' Rights Hotline Town Hall Saturday at the Baker Ripley Neighborhood Center in southwest Houston.

After the travel ban, there was just huge outcry, lots of interest from people from the airport, volunteers, the community with ongoing concerns so we opened the hotline to answer those questions, said Andrea Guttin, the legal director for the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative.

The Immigrants Right Hotline  833-HOU-IMMI or 1-833-468-4664  is a free service provided by non-profit staff and U.S. Department of Justice accredited representatives.

The hotline is a collaboration of the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas, Houston Volunteer Lawyers, Baker Ripley, Boat People SOS, United We Dream and the Houston Immigration Legal Services Collaborative.

ACLU of Texas senior staff attorney Edgar Saldivar stressed the importance of being informed to avoid misinformation.

The Constitution applies to everyone, whether you are a citizen, an undocumented person, even a tourist, he said. You have basic Constitutional rights that apply to you as long as you are on American soil.

The continued demand from the community for the hotline has resulted in an increased number of places where callers can be referred to for assistance. Another goal is to connect people with community groups and community events, Guttin said.

Right now we are also trying to focus on having people call the hotline if they have experienced racial profiling by police or if immigration and customs enforcement have not followed proper procedure, have entered a property without a warrant, if there are some kind of constitutional violation, Guttin said.

Carlos Zamora, with Mi Familia Vota (or My Family Votes), noted the difference citizens can make when they exercise their right to vote.

We are working to make people understand the importance of participating in the midterm elections, since many people say Oh yeah, I vote in the presidential elections, but not in these, Saldivar said. They have to understand the importance of voting because they impact them directly, their community, their family, their county.

Attendees shared experiences as immigrants or acquaintances of immigrants who have suffered racial profiling.

Damaris Gonzalez, a DACA recipient and community organizer for United We Dream Houston, said she understands what it is like to live in fear, but that it only takes a step to refuse to live that way.

We are all human beings and if we do things for humanity and share stories, we can do a lot because I believe that there is power in everyone and so use that power to fight against the oppression that keeps on attacking our communities, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez said she decided to take a stand and fight the partnership between U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement with state and local law enforcement.

It makes me very sad there are a lot of Dreamers and that a lot of them we have abandoned that I can no longer stay quiet. For long time I have stayed still, but it is now time to do something, said attendee Fanny Montan.Some Jack Yates High School students were more focused on cafeteria dance-offs with police officers than the hip-hop royalty in their midst on Friday in the final moments of school before spring break.

But Brad Jordan didnt mind. Hell catch the serious ones, the musical talents and the business minds this fall when he returns to campus as a guest lecturer.

Unassuming in a pullover sweater, jeans and glasses, Jordan is a southern hip hop pioneer, rapper and record producer best known as Scarface of the Geto Boys. He visited the school Friday to talk to students about a music entrepreneurship program coming to Yates next academic year.

I was still in high school when my career started, Jordan said, lamenting that he had to learn the business through trial and error during his early days as a member of the Houston rap group.

Jordan grew up on the citys south side in a community much like where the students he will be teaching live now. His three decades in the music business spans from eight-track tapes in the late 1980s to digital streaming today. He intends to teach the rudiments of music production and, of course, how to make money.

Well learn how to produce, well learn how to write, well learn how to engineer, we will learn how to make videos, Jordan said. We will learn how to put our music on a platform for sale and you will be paid for the music if you sell any records.

Considered one of the top lyricists of all time, Jordan wrote and produced the Geto Boys biggest single Mind Playing Tricks On Me. He has collaborated with hip-hop giants including Jay-Z, Kanye West, DJ Khaled and Nas.

In a 2013 interview with Complex, Jordan said he never saw or received checks in the millions until he became president of Def Jam South two decades ago.

The spring break send-off was part of an ongoing intervention program from the One Houston, One Hood initiative, which seeks to redirect students from todays tribulations to tomorrows promise.

The program, which made a stop this year at the Houston Independent School Districts Worthing High School, sprang from brainstorming sessions between One Houston, One Hood leader Gerry Monroe, Houston Police Department officials and Houston City Council member Dwight Boykins, who represents the area.

It looks like every time they take a holiday break, we end up losing kids. A lot of these kids that were losing come from schools on that Scott Street corridor  thats why we targeted Yates and Worthing first, said Monroe, an education activist and Yates alumnus.

He said Fridays event was a platform to protect students and prepare them for opportunities that await them this academic year and next.

We might have a multimillion-dollar business run out of a schoolhouse, said Monroe, who cut a music video and performed the rap lyrics for his school board campaign last year.

Officers who shared cake and punch with students represented the Houston Police Department, HISD Police Department and the Harris County Precinct 7 Constables Office.

HPD Assistant Executive Chief Troy Finner, who oversees the departments field operations, said the event creates opportunities to interact with young people in a positive environment, which aligns with the community policing goals of HPD Chief Art Acevedo.

Most are doing well, but theres a group we have to extend ourselves to, he said by phone. Acevedo wants us to make every contact count and its great when we can do that at school.

The music entrepreneurship program also offers a bridge to college as well as a new school-to-work option amid HISDs financial and accountability turmoil.

Yates Principal Kenneth Davis said a music studio is part of the new building under construction. Houston Community College is helping the school develop a curriculum in which students will earn college credits.

People get confused. They think the money is made at the microphone. Ninety percent of the product is not behind the microphone  its behind the scenes, Davis said. The new studio that were developing is actually a music studio with sound boards and mixing, to industry standards, and theyll be able to create music and put videos and programs together  and rap and sing.

Students who will attend Yates next year expressed excitement about the new music entrepreneurship program.

I like the idea that I can come into the class and mess around with some beats  and turn it into something, said junior Zachary Steward, 17, a band drum major.

Yates alumnus Christopher Knight, now the band director, said the program gives students a multi-faceted way of looking at music.

For me growing up, we were just players but we did not look at the business side, he said. If I had the same opportunity  I would probably be much farther in my music career.By Yonette Joseph

New York Times LONDON  U2s frontman, Bono, said this weekend he was furious after a charity he co-founded was rocked by newly revived accusations that it had fostered in its Johannesburg office an atmosphere of bullying, abuse and, in one case, an attempt at sexual coercion.

Bono apologized to the former employees of the charity, ONE, who have detailed on social media and in a British newspaper what they said were demoralizing treatment by managers at their office in the South African capital from late 2011 to 2015.

He said the charity, which aims to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, had failed to protect the workers.

I need to take some responsibility for that, Bono said in a statement issued Saturday and published by The Mail on Sunday. We are all deeply sorry. I hate bullying, cant stand it.

Among the accusations, which first surfaced publicly last year: One employee said she had been demoted after refusing to have sex with a Tanzanian minister. Others told of being made to do domestic work at a managers house.

Seven former employees have now begun legal action against the charity, seeking 3.6 million pounds, or about $5 million, in damages, according to a spokesman for ONE.

On Sunday, the spokesman, Ian Koski, confirmed in emails and a phone call that the organization had received notification of an intent to file. Bono was not named in the filing.

The accusations were revealed in November 2017 when a former ONE employee from the Johannesburg office, Idriss Ali Nassah, wrote on Twitter about the abuse accusations against the powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and hinted at problems at the charity.

The Weinstein situation et al had me thinking about rampant abuse of staff by two directors @ONEinAfrica office, he said on Twitter.

According to Koski, the organization, whose previous chief executive died in 2016, got wind of the brewing scandal when other employees began sharing their experiences on social media. The charity then opened an investigation.

The chief executive of ONE, Gayle Smith, said in a statement that the inquiry showed there had been an institutional failure.

The investigation yielded evidence of unprofessional conduct and, in particular, what I would characterize as bullying and belittling of staff between late 2011 and 2015 in our Johannesburg office, the statement said.

Smith said staff members were called names and confirmed that some had accused a manager of demanding that they carry out domestic tasks at her home. In addition, she said, the group found out that its African branch had been operating as a nonresident taxpayer from 2010 to 2015 and had not been paying taxes.

Smith said the organization could not confirm the accusation of attempted sexual coercion and retaliation, which the statement described as appalling claims. However, she added, We do not discount any allegation  we investigate them and will continue to do so should others arise.

The statement said the inquiry had concluded that the situation was not adequately addressed nor resolved by executive management at the time.

Smith, who joined the company in 2017, has apologized to all 14 employees who came forward with complaints, Koski said. Seven of them say they intend to sue, he said, including Nassah, who posted the first message on Twitter.

On Sunday, he said in a Twitter post: For years @ONECampaign  all the way to the president and C.E.O.  knew of the abuses. It enabled the abuses. It tolerated them. It looked the other way. It didnt care.

ONE, which Bono helped found in 2004, has 9 million volunteers and staff members around the world: in Abuja, Nigeria; Berlin; Brussels; Johannesburg; London; New York; Ottawa; Paris; and Washington, where the charity has its headquarters.

The charity does not depend on government financing, raising funds through corporations and individuals. It advocates government action on causes like battling tuberculosis and malaria.

The charity has a global operating budget of $35 million. Former Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain; Sheryl Sandberg, Facebooks chief operating officer; and Aliko Dangote, Nigerias wealthiest person, are among the prominent figures on its board.

The ONE revelations come as several charity organizations are grappling with accusations of misconduct. Oxfam, one of Britains largest charities, has acknowledged that staff members committed sexual misconduct in Haiti in 2011.

A high-ranking UNICEF official, Justin Forsyth, resigned in February after he was accused of misconduct against female employees while he worked for another charity organization, Save the Children.

And Brendan Cox, the widower of the murdered British lawmaker Jo Cox, stepped down from two charities created in her memory after accusations of sexual misconduct were revealed this year.

Bono said he had been aware of concerns about low morale and poor management in this office but nothing along the lines of what emerged recently.

The poorest people in the poorest places being bullied by their circumstance is the reason we set up ONE, he added. So to discover last November that there were serious and multiple allegations of bullying in our office in Johannesburg left me and the ONE board reeling and furious. You question the whole reason youre doing this.

He added: The head office failed to protect those employees and I need to take some responsibility for that. In fact, if they would agree, I would like to meet them and apologize in person.Next Game: McDaniel College 3/14/2018 | 4 p.m.

SWARTHMORE (PA)  Swarthmore College outscored visiting Delaware Valley University, 7-0, over the middle two quarters, en route to an 11-5 non-conference win.The Garnet won for the third time in four tries while the Aggies fell to 0-3.DelVal picked up the opening tally asconnected four minutes in. Swarthmore got the next two goals before the Aggies'tied it off a feed fromwith 2:09 left in the first quarter.The Garnet got a goal from Cam Marsh just nine seconds later and it ignited an 8-0 run. Marsh had three of the tallies in the spurt.DelVal made things interesting in the fourth as it scored three straight times to make it 10-5.started it with 10:02 remaining off a feed fromand Coyle followed 45 seconds later off aassist. Laurence connected fromwith 7:44 to go. Neither team scored for the next six minutes until Swarthmore's Jimmy Eberle made it an 11-5 final.DelVal won both the faceoff (10-9) and turnover battles (12-13) while both teams were strong in clears (10-for-14 for the Aggies, 10-for-12 for the Garnet). Coyle added two ground balls to his two goals. Laurence had a goal and assist.led the way in ground balls with three.was credited with nine saves.Marsh had three goals and an assist while Austin Chang finished with three goals and two helpers for five points. Two goalies combined for seven saves.DelVal will have its home opener on Wednesday, March 14 (4 p.m.) when McDaniel College comes to Doylestown for a non-conference game.Before he was sentenced to 40 years in prison Friday, a sobbing San Antonio man asked the court and his family to forgive him for not protecting his 5-year-old son, Josiah Williams, who was beaten and so malnourished he weighed 38 pounds at the time of his death.

Im asking for their forgiveness. I wasnt the father I was supposed to be. Im sorry, Charleston Williams told Judge Ron Rangel through heavy sobs before he was sentenced to prison. He was my son! He was my son!AUSTIN  Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar and Gov. Greg Abbott huddled in Austin on Sunday to discuss improved trade between the Lone Star State and Ireland, ranging from technology, healthcare and liquified natural gas industries.

Varadkar was in Austin as his first stop on a multi-state tour that will conclude with a meeting in Washington with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence.HEATHER MAC DONALD: The day before I was slated to speak at Claremont McKenna College last April, I got one of those red-flagged urgent e-mails from an administrator. She explained that the college had picked up word of a brewing protest, and was considering moving the event to a building with fewer plate-glass windows and better means of egress. This was not exactly reassuring.

After hearing no additional news about a potential disruption, the administration decided to keep the event in the original building, the Athenaeum. But by the time I arrived, a massive mob of protesters had gathered, so a police escort brought me into the building through a secret passageway.

The auditorium was almost completely empty. Some 300 students had blockaded the building, making mincemeat of the police barricades that had been set up to keep the entrances open. The police simply stood down, as is too often true in our Black Lives Matter era. They didnt want to offend the students, and they certainly didnt want to be caught on video using force.

But what was most disconcerting was the fact that the few people who were in the room were transfixed by what was happening outside. Students were shouting and pounding on the plate-glass windows. The lectern had been moved, before the speech, away from the windows, so that when the lights went on inside, I would not be visible to the mob outside.

I took two questions via livestreaming, and at that point the police decided that they could no longer guarantee my safety. They quickly devised an escape plan: I was hustled through the kitchen and into a waiting police van, and sped away to the Claremont Police Department.

The incident was not the high point of open-mindedness in academic history.

FRANK FUREDI: We have to remember that the type of horrible experience that Heather had is just the tip of the iceberg. Fortunately, aggressive mobs of students are still relatively rare, but for every mob scene, there are lots of incidents of censorship and intimidation going on in college classrooms, seminars, and cafeterias.

These incidents represent a much larger problem. One set of radical political views dominates our campuses, and students who deviate from those views are being forced to self-censor. Americans tend to think that this trend is the legacy of the 1960s radicalism that played out in this country. Yet the same phenomenon is occurring across the entire Anglosphere. Similar attitudes have emerged on campuses in Canada, Australia, and my home country of Englandnone of which had quite the same experience with cultural leftism in the 1960s.

In my latest book, Populism and the Culture Wars in Europe, I argue that these struggles on campuses have little or nothing to do with 1960s radicalism. Todays radicals have certainly adopted some of the rhetoric of old-fashioned leftism, but theyve reformulated it into a therapeutic identity politics that would be unrecognizable to the antiracists of the 1960s.

The problem, in my view, begins with how were bringing up our children. Were no longer teaching our young people proper values, such as character and resilience. Instead, we merely validate them. From their earliest days of school, we teach them that they are weak individuals in need of constant therapeutic support. In England, the safe space pedagogy was introduced in elementary schools long before students began to demand safe spaces at universities. High school students were told that they didnt have to listen to lectures about suicide or other difficult subjects because they were likely to be traumatized.

So by the time they enter university, students have become entitled to this kind of protection and validation. They actually feel that they have a right not to hear words that jar or challenge them, and that speaking these words is a cultural crime.

MAC DONALD: Frank Furedis book Whats Happened to the University? is an astounding compendium of a cultural shift, with mind-boggling examples. However, I disagree, to a certain extent, with his diagnosis of the crisis on campuses. I think that it is fundamentally an ideological problem, not a psychological one. Greg Lukia- noff, president of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, pinpointed the beginning of this trend in 2013. That was the year we reached critical mass in what has been the dominant ideology at universities for the past two decades: victimologyparticularly, racial victimology. Universities today are dedicated to the proposition that American institutions, including universities themselves, create a literally threatening environment of oppression for people of color.

You have minority students at Brown, for example, meeting with the provost and demanding that they be exonerated from any kind of academic expectations, such as showing up for class, because they have to protect their ability to exist on the Brown campus. This rhetoric has become standard. To be a minority on campus, in this view, is to be at actual risk of your life. Note that white male studentsheterosexual white male studentsare perhaps the most vilified group on campus, and yet they are not demanding safe spaces.

The threat to free speech and the betrayal of the academic mission of rational, civil discourse are, of course, terrifying developments. Those threats, however serious, are not the worst aspect of academic culture today. The worst aspect is the cultivation of racial victimology and the belief in permanent, endemic racism. Even if we were to enforce civil debate, that racial victimology would persist, and it is poisoning our society.

Were no longer teaching our young people proper values, such as character and resilience.

FUREDI: I dont think that theres much to debate regarding whether the problem is psychological, political, or cultural, because what were seeing is an intertwining of trends in all these areas. I disagree with Heather, however, about which students are driving the shift toward victimology.

In England, its being driven by students at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which are the British equivalents of Ivy League universities. If you look at the leaders of the movement, theyre not people of colortheyre not minorities of any sort. They come from the most privileged backgrounds. Theyre all white, and a large percentage of them are actually white heterosexual men. They are as busy demanding safe spaces as anybody else. Privileged white students have led the way, and then constructed alliances with minority students.

More evidence that the culture of victimhood isnt exclusively driven by ideology is the fact that conservative students are mimicking the same behaviors as their progressive peers. When push comes to shovewhen they feel under pressuremembers of the alt-right are just as likely to play the victim card as the social-justice warriors.

Of course, the biggest culprits at the moment are still on the left. But it is disturbing when conservatives, who claim to defend free speech, suddenly decide to shut down the free speech of, say, anti-Zionist speakers. It is an absolute double standard. The fact that everyone is playing the victim card is what we should be disturbed about.

MAC DONALD: Its trueand regrettablethat some right-wing Jewish students claim that they are victimized on college campuses, a claim undermined by their academic success. But the primary driver of the rise of victimhood is still the narrative of racial oppression. I doubt whether any putative campus victims are being injured psychologically by what they perceive as discrimination. Rather, I think that they are merely leveraging the rhetoric of injury in order to make their case against heteronormativity, white privilege, and the other bogeymen of the day.

FUREDI: Youre right that there is a highly performative element in the campus outrage culture, especially when the cameras are around. People cry and hug each other. Its a bit like a medieval Passion Play.

But Ive also seen how the propensity for real psychological trauma has increased among young people in recent years. Ive witnessed this shift firsthand over the 20 years that I spent administering exams at my university. Two decades ago, about two students out of 100 would attempt to opt out of any given exam because of mental-health problems, saying that their girlfriend or boyfriend had left them and that they were too traumatized to sit for the test.

My response to this used to be, Well, tough. Go do your exams. But about ten years ago, the number of students asking to opt out increased to about 15 percent. By the end of my time as an examiner, one out of four students used these excuses not to take their exams, and we increasingly granted their requests.

The trouble was that at a certain point, these students had begun internalizing their own rhetoric. After having been taught to self-victimize and to perceive hardship in every aspect of their lives, they have developed actual trauma. Its a self-fulfilling prophecy.

If they were simply playing at mental illness, this would be a much easier problem to deal with. It wouldnt take much effort to isolate and confront outbursts of self-serving melodrama. But when you have students becoming paralyzedfrozen to the ground when, say, Trump gets elected or Brexit gets adoptedthen universities begin to look like clinics.

MAC DONALD: Yet the data show that, overall, millennials actually have fewer mental-health problems than the baby boomers. Theres less drug addiction among todays young. Theres less suicide and less depression.

Rather than campuses experiencing a mental-health epidemic, your Passion Play analogy is absolutely right. Self-engrossed students are acting out little psychodramas of oppression. The reason for the rise of this trend is that they now have an appreciative audience of diversity bureaucrats.

Theres a codependent relationship between the ever-expanding diversity bureaucracydedicated to the idea that racism is permanent and endemicand the students conjuring up evidence of oppression around every corner. My guess is that, if you could take away the diversity bureaucrats, so that nobody would be paying these students much attention for their fits, the problem would go away quickly.

FUREDI: The most successful solution will be one aimed at the students. We need to build up a larger cohort of students able to stand on their two feet, who are independent-minded and who actually think that freedom and democracy are good things. Most important, we need students who will confidently push back against the trends of outrage and censorship.

Initially, they will be a minority, but we should remember that a large number of students already oppose the current trends. The right-thinking students are simply being drowned out by their radical peers, but eventually more might begin to reassert rationality on their campuses.

MAC DONALD: At an even higher level, we need to confront head-on the falsehood that college campuses and American society are filled with racism. This untruth is the root cause of the entire disturbance at universities today. Students are shutting down speech not just because they disagree with it but also because, they claim, racism lurks behind every word and thought of their opponents.

To reverse this trend, everybody has to start telling the truth. The next time students demand to shut down a speaker by claiming that they are oppressed, the college president should stand up and say, Are you kidding me? You are the most privileged human beings in history. You have at your fingertips the thing that Faust sold his soul for: knowledge. Every book that has ever been written is available to you. When these students claim that theyre oppressed, theyre effectively saying that their professors are racists, though nothing could be further from the truth. Rarely, if ever, has a college president had the temerity to say, My faculty wants everybody to succeed. There has never been a more compassionate, tolerant environment in human history.

And if he wanted to be really accurate, such a president could say, Every single hiring process involves a desperate search to find minority candidates, and we give heavy preference to minority applicants in student admissions.

FUREDI: The reluctance of administrators to speak against these students is one part of the larger disintegration of adult authority. Adults once saw it as their duty to transmit the legacy of the past to the next generationparents passed on the values that they learned as children to their own children, and professors and administrators did the same for students on campuses.

Now, instead of that method of socialization, parents and administrators are using psychological techniques. Thats why we now have counselors in schools beginning at a very early age. Therapists are even showing up at our day-care centersand theyre talking to primary school children so frequently that by the time the kids turn nine, they sound as if theyve been studying Freud. Im stressed out. Im so depressed. I need to chill out. We have socialized a generation with self-victimization, and the kids have internalized its terms.

Our older approach to socializing students rested on moralitythe idea that certain beliefs and standards of conduct exist that everyone should strive for. But psychology has wiped away the notion of shared beliefs, which means that people determine whether a given action or belief is moral based on how it makes them feel. If you appeal to normative ideals, you are attacked for trying to impose your values on others.

The whole domain of morality has become absent from campus life. Ive given lectures at Catholic universities, where professors of theology tell me that theyre scared to teach real theology because students will accuse them of indoctrination. So instead of teaching the Catholic theology in which their universities are rooted, they cover Hinduism on one day, Judaism the next day, and Protestantism the next day; it becomes a cafeteria of diverse religions.

This kind of relativismfear of embracing or excluding any viewsseems to be the dominant ideal on college campuses. We dont judge one another. Yet making sound judgments and teaching students to evaluate ideas are fundamental duties of any university.

MAC DONALD: This argument that colleges are filled with relativists has become extremely prevalent, but I have a different view. I think that we have hysterical moralists on campus. These student radicals believe unwaveringly that they know the truth, and their truth is that America is racist. To them, their colleges and their country are unequivocally racist, sexist, homophobic, and fascist. They have not the slightest hesitation about passing unrelenting, unappealable moral judgment on anyone who does not fit in those intersectional categories of transcendent victimhood.

I dont see how one could claim today that colleges are nonjudgmental, excessively tolerant places. They are precisely the opposite. Traditional religion is not the only form of morality; these social-justice progressives have a form of morality just as rigid as the worlds most dogmatic religions.

FUREDI: Youre right that these students are quick to condemn people who dont share their views or who dont fit in to the supposedly oppressed categories. However, non-judgmentalism still reigns supreme within their own ranks.

This is the principle behind safe spaces. They dont criticize one another, and they dont question one another. They champion the ideal of segregated and segmented lives: black people can live in one place, gay people can live in another, and so on. So non-judgmentalism is the first-order principle for these students, and bitter condemnation is reserved for people whoin their vieware threatening that nonjudgmental paradise.

The problem is that these students have forgotten the difference between non-judgmentalism and genuine tolerance. In a tolerant system, we make judgments but agree to coexist with those with whom we disagree. But these students have convinced themselves that it is necessary to create a world entirely free of judgment. Like the French rebels of 1968, they want a world in which it is forbidden to forbid. Yet, because judgment is not only necessary but also inevitable, the nonjudgmental students end up resorting to a kind of fascism to force their ideal on others.

MAC DONALD: The fruits of political correctness in our day are flatly unimpressive. We have made a great deal of progress since the early twentieth century, when public discourse could unapologetically demean ethnic minorities. But much of the harm that we see on campuses today stems from the misguided belief that were still in that mind-set.

One illustration of this blindness to historical change came during the wave of Black Lives Matter campus protests in the fall of 2015. Black Princeton students announced self-pityingly: Were sick and tired of being sick and tired. This was a phrase first uttered by Fannie Lou Hamer, a civil rights activist who grew up on a Mississippi cotton plantation and who was beaten in the 1950s for trying to vote. She had grounds for being sick and tired of being sick and tired. But any Princeton student who feels as though hes oppressedI dont care if hes black, purple, or greenis out of touch with reality. So I am perfectly happy to say to that student, Youre wrong. You are not oppressed. You are fantastically privileged simply by virtue of the boundless intellectual resources available to you. And every adult on this campus wants you to succeed.

Such students are being encouraged to carry a chip on their shoulder. Chinese children are studying day and night to gain access to the allegedly white-supremacist college environment that these complainers claim jeopardizes their very existence. Not only will the victimology ideology prevent its adherents from seizing academic opportunities; it will likely follow them for the rest of their lives, distorting their view of reality and further diminishing their opportunities.

FUREDI: Unfortunately, most people who buy into this philosophy cant be reasoned out of it. Our job is to dissuade people who might be considering that way of thinking.

My first rule of thumb when debating the social-justice Left is to use humor, because its very effective to say, You cant be really serious. You dont really mean it. Expose their statements to reality and to the facts, but in a lighthearted way. You may not convince your opponent, but youll get whoevers listening on your side.

Im reminded of the little boy telling the emperor, Youre not wearing any clothes. Thats essentially what we have to do. If these people claim to be oppressed, they need to show us where that oppression is coming from.

Reasonable people can win this debate, as long as we address our arguments to the more skeptical members of the younger generation, many of whom will soon hold positions of influence. We need to inspire these students to have the courage to defend open discourse.

To accomplish this, of course, well have to show a bit of courage ourselves. I think that your experience at Claremont McKenna, Heather, demonstrated exactly this kind of courage. Few people would have endured that kind of onslaught, standing by to address students after push had come to shove. Sustaining free speech on campuses will require the efforts of more people willing to do that.

Photo: Xiaoling/Xinhua/Alamy Live NewsJonathan Cheban attends the Philipp Plein fashion show during New York Fashion Week: The Shows on February 10, 2018 in New York City. Mike Pont | Getty Images

"It literally is like eating paper that disintegrates in your mouth," Cheban, who is known to his social media followers as "Foodgod," tells CNBC Make It. "There is absolutely no taste. "It looks really good, it's decadent but it really tastes like nothing," he says. If you want a truly tasty gold topped meal, Cheban says there are two restaurants serving luxurious fare worth the price tag, both for under $100.

1. Gold-covered doughnut

The world's most expensive doughnut, the Golden Cristal Ube. CNBC | Secret Lives of the Super Rich

Chef Bjorn Delacruz creates a handcrafted doughnut with premium ingredients like $200-per-bottle Cristal champagne and ube, a purple yam from the Philippines. It's also covered in 24-karat gold dust and gold leaf. "Their doughnuts are covered in gold, but the inside is actually the most incredible thing in the entire world," Cheban says. "One of my favorite things that I've had with gold." Cheban bought a box of the doughnuts  which sell for $100 a piece  for his mother's birthday last July. A dozen will set you back a whopping $1,200. The sweet treats can be found via the Manila Social Club in either Brooklyn, New York or Miami, Florida, depending where the chef is at the time.

In January, the eatery's Brooklyn location announced it would close for six months as Delacruz decided to take a trip, "setting up donut shops and hosting exclusive dining experiences around the country," according to Manila Social Club's Facebook page.

2. Gold-topped baked potato

Courtesy of KomodoToday, Americans work remotely in almost every industry. A Gallup survey of over 15,000 adults, found that a whopping 43 percent of employed Americans spend some time working remotely. But according to remote job search engine FlexJobs, 14 remote jobs in particular dominate the landscape of work-from-home opportunities. Here are the most common remote jobs, according to FlexJobs, and how much they pay, according to PayScale:

14. Customer service representative

Average pay: $27,872/year FlexJobs description: Remote customer service representatives assist customers via email, phone, chat or social media. Customer service reps typically find themselves answering product questions, helping resolve problems, and potentially selling services to customers as well.

13. Virtual assistant

Average pay: $32,760/year FlexJobs description: Virtual assistants provide administrative support to individuals, teams or companies. Some tasks include handling correspondence, answering phones, booking travel, helping customers or clients, and more.

12. Bookkeeper

Average pay: $34,112/year FlexJobs description: Bookkeepers typically prepare financial reports, allocate and verify accounts, reconcile accounts, perform audits and more. Bookkeepers are often needed to work from home and usually require previous accounting experience.

11. Medical coder

Average pay: $35,713/year FlexJobs description: Medical coders assign and validate appropriate procedural and diagnostic codes in a medical setting. Specific certifications are often required, such as RHIA, RHIT, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, or CPC-H.

10. Online tutor

Average pay: $36,233/year FlexJobs description: Remote tutors are needed for all grade levels, including college. Tutoring can be conducted via phone, email, or video chat and a bachelor's degree or expertise in the subject being tutored is typically required.

9. Teacher

Average pay: $48,159/year FlexJobs description: Remote teachers utilize online platforms to teach students via video or voice. Much like in-person teachers, virtual teachers may grade student work, hold conferences with parents, and provide one-on-one student assistance.

8. Writer

Average pay: $48,489/year FlexJobs description: A quintessential work-from-home job, writers can find jobs writing on a wide variety of topics and for a wide variety of companies. Those wanting freelance or part-time options can find a plethora, while full-time employee positions exist as well.

Malcolm P Chapman | Getty Images

7. Accountant

Average pay: $49,749/year FlexJobs description: Accountants handle a multitude of financial-related tasks such as invoices, billing, taxes, payments, and more. Remote accountants can typically work from home easily utilizing general accounting or company-specific software.

6. Account manager

Average pay: $51,181/year FlexJobs description: Account managers can be found at a variety of companies. Their tasks typically involve managing client accounts and relationships. Account managers may ensure client deliverables are met by running status meetings or giving presentations. Some account manager roles may involve sales and travel.

5. Nurse

Average pay: $60,132/year FlexJobs description: Remote nurses provide support via phone or video conferencing to answer patient questions. Some travel to patients' homes to provide care. Remote nurses need to be excellent communicators and able to coordinate with doctors and other medical professional in a virtual capacity.

4. Developer

Average pay: $69,313/year FlexJobs description: Software developers can come with a variety of titles, such as front-end developer, back-end developer, iOS developer, and JavaScript developer, to name a few. Typical duties include programming, developing and software architecture, websites, apps or products.

3. Business development manager

Average pay: $71,233/year FlexJobs description: Business development managers typically work to gain new clients and business via phone, emails, in-person meetings and video calls. Most remote business development managers need to have sales experience, and some positions may require specific knowledge of an industry.

2. Speech-language pathologist

Average pay: $79,268/year FlexJobs description: Speech-language pathologists provide speech therapy services by conducting evaluations, creating treatment plans and writing progress reports. Remote speech pathologists are most often hired by medical or educational companies and utilize online software and video conferencing to perform tasks from home.

1. Client services directorSenate Intelligence Chairman Richard Burr (R), R-N.C.; and Senate Intelligence Vice Chair Mark Warner, D-Va., hold a news conference on the status of the committee's inquiry into Russian interference in the 2016 election on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, October 4, 2017.

With the growing number of connected devices in the world, especially voice-activated devices that listen constantly, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., is worried about the security of our conversations.

"The challenge has been so far is the devices makers on the higher end are happy to help, but if somebody is selling a cheap appliance or a cheap sensor and it costs $10 or $15, they don't want to spend the extra $0.15 or $1 to put in basic security," Warner said to CNBC.

"I think the cost that would come back in when you realize all these potential devices that are basically hackable, expanding the surface of vulnerability is going to be 100X to go back and retrofit."

Warner spoke about about hacking concerns in light of Russian meddling during the last U.S. election at the South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, on Sunday. Last year, Warner led a congressional push to regulate online political ads after Russian operatives bought ads on Facebook, Twitter and Google in an effort to influence the 2016 presidential election.

Gartner estimated there will be 11.2 billion connected devices across the world by the end of this year, with consumer-focused products making up the majority of that figure. The number is expected to grow to 20.4 billion by 2020. About 39 million Americans own a smart speaker such as the Amazon Echo or Google Home, according to a recent study from NPR and Edison.

While the larger smart device manufacturers like Amazon, Apple and Google are "further along" at providing security, Warner is concerned about cheaper manufacturers who may not provide these safeguards in order to cut costs.

"When you get up to personal assistants I think there are some securities in there, but when you get into sensors, there's all kinds of low-end devices that are made remarkably cheap that are going to be connected," Warner said.

The minimum United States government should do is purchase IoT (internet of things) devices with minimum safeguards, which is what his bipartisan legislation with Sen. Corey Gartner, R.-Co., would require Warner said.

"Any IoT device that we purchase with public dollars has to be patchable, can't have an embedded password, ought to have some ability of known vulnerabilities so that at least we guarantee that the billions of devices the government will buy over the next few years don't come fraught with peril," Warner said.At South by Southwest Ashton Kutcher isn't just the star of 'Two and a Half Men' and the producer of Netflix series, 'The Ranch.'

The former "That 70s Show" regular happens to be the ultimate tech investor, with an enviable track record: He was an early investor in Twitter, Uber, Spotify, AirBNB, and many more. For hundreds of entrepreneurs in Austin, he offered the potential for their startup to win funding, and the kind of high-profile attention that could bring their company to the next level.

Kutcher has been a fixture at SXSW for years. This year, the actor and Guy Oseary, his fellow partner at Sound Ventures, hosted a startup competition called Perfect Pitch for early-stage entrepreneurs.

After over 200 companies applied, the list was whittled down to five companies.

Hundreds of people attending SXSW filed into a restaurant in downtown Austin to watch the CEOs do a quick two-minute presentation to a panel of judges, after which they peppered them with questions for six minutes. In addition to Kutcher and Oseary, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff and actor Matthew McConaughey also judged the competition.

"We are based in L.A., we see a ton of companies out of San Francisco and New York. What we wanted to do was recognize and realize that companies come from everywherethey come from the Midwest, the south, come from all across the world," said Kutcher in an interview after the competition wrapped up.

"We've been coming to SXSW for years, but [now are] actually doing something that is meaningful for companies, that actually shows and inspires the entrepreneurial spirit across the country in every market," he added.

And Kutcher says the competition is designed to improve Sound Ventures' chances of finding a winner: "The more companies you look at, the higher probability that you are going to find something that's great and I think we found something great today."

That "something great" is an educational platform called 'LearnLux,' which offers online tools for financial literacy. LearnLux considers itself a disruptor of the financial services industry, helping millennials learn personal finance skills and connect them to the resources they need.The long-awaited initial public offering of Saudi Arabia's massive oil company could be delayed until 2019 at the earliest, the Financial Times reported on Sunday, citing British officials briefed on the matter.

Saudi Aramco IPO was expected to come to market sometime this year, potentially the largest ever. However, the FT stated that advisors are struggling to arrive at the $2 trillion valuation sought by Saudi's crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman.

Last week, Bloomberg reported that Saudi Arabian energy minister also suggested the flotation might be delayed. If so, it would represent a setback for the world's largest oil producer's efforts to reform its economy, as the Aramco IPO is seen as a linchpin in its strategy.

According to the FT, people briefed on the negotiations say London was a prime contender to land the actual listing. The battle between where Aramco's stock would list is seen as a horse race between the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange.

The full Financial Times story can be found on its website.Ministers 1) Hammond hints that he could turn on the spending taps

Tories slam Corbyn for locking Labour into 106 billion splurge  Sun on Sunday

Philip Hammond has claimed that bullish signs from the economy mean that he should soon be able to turn on the spending taps to counter the political threat from Jeremy Corbyn. The Chancellor, who will deliver his first Spring Statement on Tuesday, declared that there was light at the end of the tunnel after nearly a decade of austerity  raising the prospect that he will soon be releasing more money for the public services. Mr Hammond has been under intense pressure from Downing Street to release more money for the NHS, students and key workers after being alarmed by the ease with which Mr Corbyn has picked up votes by promising to plough billions of pounds into public pay rises and welfare payments.  Mail on Sunday

Comment:

Its time for a new economic recycle  Philip Hammond, Sun on Sunday

Editorial:

Use Brexit billions to slash taxes  Sun on Sunday

Ministers 2) Gove to ban electric dog collars

Cruel electric shock collars used to train pets will be banned under new animal welfare laws to be unveiled today. Environment Secretary Michael Gove believes the devices  which cost as little as 20  cause unnecessary suffering. The move has delighted animal charities who have been campaigning for many years for the collars to be outlawed. A consultation period will be held before the government amends the law to make it a criminal offence to use the collars, which give an electric shock if the pet disobeys an instruction. The new laws will also cover devices which squirt noxious sprays or emit sounds which can upset a dogs acute sense of smell or have a painful effect on its hearing.  Sun on Sunday

Ministers 3) Cabinet rebels urge May to punish Russia

Rudd reveals scale of Salisbury attack investigation  Mail on Sunday

Tories break Mays vow to ban Russian donors  Sunday Times

Australia, Poland, and Japan could join World Cup boycott  Mail on Sunday

Theresa May is facing a cabinet revolt over the poisoning of Sergei Skripal, with senior ministers demanding tough measures to punish Russia. Ministers were amazed when May banned a cabinet discussion of the poisoning last Tuesday, silencing Boris Johnson when he suggested the Kremlin was responsible. Skripal, 66, a Russian former double agent, and his daughter Yulia, 33, were found slumped on a bench in Salisbury on Sunday afternoon. The prime minister faces an ambush at a meeting of security ministers tomorrow Those pushing for a hard line include Johnson, Gavin Williamson, the defence secretary, and even Philip Hammond, the chancellor, who has told ministers Britain should make a strong response. The home secretary, Amber Rudd, is also more hawkish in private than her public statements suggest.  Sunday Times

Editorial:

Britain needs a new foreign policy  Sunday Telegraph

Amber Rudd: Our once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape our response to domestic abuse

Our new consultation on domestic abuse is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to improve Britains response to this terrible crime. I know The Suns readers care deeply about domestic abuse survivors and I urge everyone, but especially those who have suffered to take part. Its appalling that 2 million people are victims of domestic abuse every year. The majority are women and whilst convictions are up by a third since 2010 we must do more. We are providing new money to stop abuse occurring. Children who witness domestic abuse are far more likely to experience abuse as an adult and so I am setting up an 8m fund to support them with their recovery. 2m has been dedicated to female offenders because it is a telling statistic that over 60% say they have suffered domestic abuse.  Sun on Sunday

Remainers mount legal challenge to force second referendum

Cable attacks Corbyn over failure to keep Brexit promises  Sun on Sunday

A legal challenge to force Theresa May to concede a second EU referendum has been launched by anti-Brexit campaigners. They claim a loophole in the Prime Ministers Brexit tactics means that she will be legally obliged to offer a second vote. Anti-Brexit group Best For Britain, which is leading the challenge, says it is using the same legal arguments successfully deployed by campaigner Gina Miller. Last year, she forced Ministers to give Parliament a say before the Brexit process was triggered. The new challenge centres on claims that existing legislation guarantees a new referendum if Mrs May pushes ahead with plans for the UK to remain part of some EU bodies such as the European Medicines Agency.  Mail on Sunday

Comment:

The EU has revealed itself as a grubby old boys club  Dia Chakravarty, Sunday Telegraph

>Today: ToryDiary: Even fans of the EU are getting fed up of its bullying approach to the Brexit talks

>Yesterday: Suella Fernandes MP in Comment: Brexit. I am more excited than ever about what the future holds.

as Duncan Smith outlines impact of EU migration on the welfare system

A paper produced by Iain Duncan Smith, the former Tory leader and Work and Pensions Secretary, states that migrants in work claimed more than 2 billion, while those out of work received 1.1 billion in tax credits and benefit payments, in the last year for which figures are available. The figures, based on calculations by the Migration Watch think tank, came as Mr Duncan Smith set out proposals for post-Brexit rules preventing EU migrants from entering Britain unless they have already secured a job, and imposing a five-year delay before they are allowed to claim income, family or housing benefits. The senior Conservative MP said HMRC and the Treasury had been reluctant to provide similar information on claims in the past  meaning it was not available during the referendum campaign  but could now be calculated based on statistics published by HMRC and his former department.  Sunday Telegraph

Gove and Davidson unite to unhook the UKs fishing policy  Sunday Express

Legatum Institute in turmoil after departures  Mail on Sunday

Trump steps up trade attacks on the EU  Sunday Telegraph

>Today: Peter Marshall in Comment: We must all now focus on finding a way to build a positive future relationship

>Yesterday: ToryDiary: Trumps economic nationalism could be his undoing

Tories must become party of hope, says Skidmore

The public expect us to do more than just deliver Brexit  Chris Skidmore, Sunday Telegraph

Harman mulls bid for Speakership as Tory MPs take aim at Bercow

Jeremy Corbyn has positioned Labour as the party of hope and the Conservatives must set out a positive vision of the future in order to claim the title for themselves, the Tories new policy chief says. Writing in the Telegraph, Chris Skidmore, the Conservative Partys vice-chairman for policy, says Brexit offers the party an opportunity for renewal amid a looming threat of socialism. Mr Skidmore, a former Cabinet Office minister, warns that the answer to combating this threat is not simply to highlight it but to set out a positive vision and formulate policies that will resonate with the electorate, demonstrating that we are on their side. His comments come amid mounting concern among senior MPs and ministers that the Conservatives are losing the battle of ideas as the party and Government focus on the mechanics of Brexit.  Sunday Telegraph

Harriet Harman is preparing to launch a campaign to become Speaker of the House of Commons as John Bercow faces a fresh bid to oust him. The former Labour deputy leader has told friends she is prepared to throw her hat into the ring after bullying allegations were raised against Bercow. The BBCs Newsnight programme alleged last week that Kate Emms, who was Bercows private secretary from May 2010 to February 2011, developed post-traumatic stress disorder after working for him. The Speaker denied the claims. With allegations of bullying by MPs sweeping Westminster, however, the Tory MP Andrew Bridgen will table a motion of no-confidence in the Speaker tomorrow. James Duddridge, a Tory MP who has previously called for Bercows head, revealed he is considering reporting the Speaker to parliaments sleaze watchdog.  Sunday Times

Speaker should step back as bullying probe goes on  The Observer

Civil war looms as Momentum tries to wrest Labour from the unions

Party pledges no purge of staff after bitter battle for top post  The Observer

Fresh doubts over groups adherence to donation rules  Sunday Telegraph

When Labours ruling national executive committee (NEC) met on Tuesday, Jon Lansman  the gnome-like founder of Momentum, the grassroots supporters of Jeremy Corbyn  mischievously sat down next to Jennie Formby, the political director of Unite, Britains biggest union. A month ago this would have been a scene of hard-left harmony, a duo representing Corbyns loudest cheerleaders and his partys biggest paymaster. Last week it was an act of passive aggression as the two wings of the Corbynista coalition found themselves locked in a bitter civil war to control the party The contest has laid bare personal, political and factional disputes that have riven the party for decades, but had remained dormant while the far left rallied to Corbyns cause in his battle with the moderates. Last week these tensions boiled over.  Sunday Times

Comment:

Communists join other factions vying to control a hollow Dear Leader  Sarah Baxter, Sunday Times

Dont look to McLuskey and his sorry ilk to defend workers interests  Nick Cohen, The Observer

Hundreds of Labour activists threaten to resign over new all-women shortlist rules

Hundreds of women Labour members are planning to quit the party if its ruling body confirms that men who believe they are female can stand on all-women shortlists for parliamentary candidates. The threat comes after Labours equality committee announced last week that all-women shortlists and womens reserved places are open to self-defining women. About 200 women members now plan to quit if Labours National Executive Committee make it an official policy. A campaign group, known as MayDay 4 Women, has drawn up a resignation statement, which 100 Labour women members have put their names to and a further 100 have signed anonymously.  Mail on SundayPeter Marshall: We must all now focus on finding a way to build a positive future relationship

Sir Peter Marshall was Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General 1983-88 and UK Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva 1979-83.

We may not say, along with Henry Ford, that history is more or less bunk. But in the management of our affairs we often seem to behave as if that was our opinion.

Brexit is a prominent case in point. Let us therefore take a cold look at the facts

i.The EU has lost its way

At the outset, in the days of the European Economic Community, lesprit communautaire had a specific significance: it expressed the community spirit, the complement of, but also to some extent a check on, lacquis communautaire, the accumulation of EEC treaties, laws, precedents and powers.

Lesprit communutaire has all but vanished, for a number of reasons including:

The replacement of the Fourth Republic in France by the Fifth Republic. under de Gaulle. Gaullisme could scarcely be described as Atlanticist, positive-sum or UN-minded.

The quasi-gratuitous decision at the Stuttgart Summit in 1983 to add the words and Member States of the Community after peoples in the formula an ever closer union among the peoples.

The raft of treaties initiated or adopted in the Delors era, which greatly increased the size of lacquis. It was a fuite en avant, ignoring the step-by-step approach insisted on by Schuman; and above all

The transformation of the 2001 Convention on the Future of Europe, set up by the Declarations of Nice and Laeken, from what was supposed to be a stock-taking and consultative exercise into a vehicle for drawing up a constitution.

This was the opposite of what was wanted, and immediately rejected in referendums in France and the Netherlands. Nonetheless, EU enthusiasts served up the text again, largely unchanged, but in the optically different guise of reform, rather than further transfers of sovereignty, status allegedly not requiring member state approval by referendum. The resulting Lisbon Treaty effectively type-cast the EU as an inward looking inflexible bureaucracy

Sadly, the EU has lost its way.

ii. British failures

The British enjoy a deservedly high reputation for their positive and constructive role in the work of major international organisations in general. Our participation in the EEC/EC/EU is the sorry exception.

Ministers of whatever political stripe seemed as unwilling to explain the benefits of membership at home as they were to take a constructive part in the management of affairs in Brussels.

We were market-takers instead of market-makers. We embraced a passive and deferential Anglo-Brussels Orthodoxy, of which the central message was that, in the end, we have to do what Brussels says.

Our years of membership can be roughly divided into periods of Catch-up, Opt-out and Cop-out, corresponding approximately to the Margaret Thatcher, John Major and Blair/Brown premierships.

Three great British failures:

a) Stuttgart.

We failed to challenge the addition at the Stuttgart Summit in 1983 of and member States. In his memoirs, Geoffrey Howe, who led the UK delegation as the very newly appointed Foreign Secretary, subsequently noted that we attached less importance than we should have done  to this blueprint for the future. .

(b) Nice and Laeken

No-one grasped the golden opportunity offered by thsi stock-taking exercise to introduce greater flexibility into the EU. Had we done so, we would have had a much less turbulent 21st Century to date.

(c) The Lisbon Treaty

Nonetheless, all might not have been lost but for our third failure: not to have gripped the specious reform process, ending up as the Lisbon Treaty. Inexplicably, the Blair administration indicated they would go along with it, subject to a few red lines.

III Elaborate European constructs go against our national grain

Dispassionate study of our relationship with our European partners since 1945 suggests that the balance of the argument rests with the Leavers. Thus:

(1) The first post-war weighty expression of British opinion on the subject was Churchills Zurich speech in September, 1946. He saw Britains role in the uniting of Europe as support from the outside.

(2) Having just conducted an extensive programme of nationalisation, the Labour Government was not enthused by the Schuman Declaration (1950), nor minded to take part in the proposed Coal and Steel Community. When asked whether Britain was part of Europe or not, Attlee replied were semi-detached  a meaningful phrase on this side of the Channel, but not having the same useful associations on the other.

(3) The European Defence Community (1954) foundered because the French were unwilling to join unless the UK did so as well. This was not a starter. The problem was solved by Anthony Edens inspired idea of Western European Union (WEU)

(4) In spite of pressure for the other side of the channel, we declined to commit ourselves to the idea of European Economic Community. We stood aside from the Treaty of Rome (1957)

(5) It did not take us long to realise that this was a mistake, at least in economic terms. We applied for EEC membership in 1961. By the end of 1962 it was generally assumed that we were coming up the straight. On January 14, 1963, at one of his Olympian-style press conferences in the Elysee, de Gaulle unilaterally and without the slightest warning, declared we were not fit for membership, thus effectively vetoing our bid.

(6) It was not until de Gaulles departure in 1969 that we could hope to seek membership with any real hope of success. We achieved this in 1971, and actually acceded on January 1, 1973.

(7) But the terms on which we joined we so onerous that Mrs Thatcher a decade later insisted on, and secured, a substantial rebate. We want our money back.

(8) (6) and (7) do not constitute an ideal basis for an enduing warm relationship.

IV Conclusion: this dance can no longer go

In Walpoles famous phrase, this dance can no longer go.

We have to face the possibility that our EEC venture was doomed from the start by the brutality of the de Gaulle veto, and the harshness of the entry terms. The impact of the former in particular was near-toxic.

We have to face the fact that the EU was unable or unwilling to meet David Camerons plea in 2015, to the President of the European Council, for the flexibility to achieve a new settlement for the UK in a Reformed European Union.

The EU was, and is, headed in a direction which is against our nature. But we are part of Europe. We must find a positive-sum relationship with our partners which corresponds to both realities.

We need to rekindle lesprit communautaire, on both sides of the channel. It is at the core of the Prime Ministers proposal, in her Florence speech, for a new era of co-operation and partnership. Our future relationship should be a Positive-Sum Game.A positive correlation has been cited between robot investment and job creation, a nuance overlooked by most of mass media, which tends to favor sensationalist headlines like "robots are killing jobs," according to Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).

Perceptions to the contrary run rampant, perhaps, in part, because the U.S. federal government spends less than other industrial nations on worker training and retraining for the increasingly digital, high-technology manufacturing workplace. Thus, when displacement does happen, it may create more pain than opportunities, but it doesnt have to be that way, he said.

Automation, competitiveness

"Ask companies how many jobs theyd have if they hadnt invested in automation," Burnstein suggested to the audience of automation industry leaders. (An anticipated 650 were expected to register for the A3 Business Forum in January, a new record, along with another of record growth in U.S. robotic investments.)

"Many manufacturers I ask say theyd have no jobs if they didnt automate critical processes because theyd be out of business, unable to compete," Burnstein said, giving multiple examples. China, he said, is investing in robotics in record numbers because it wants to remain competitive on global markets as its labor costs rise.

When robot sales increase, unemployment falls; when robot sales fall unemployment increases, a trend thats held from 2010 through 2016, the most recent year for which data was available.

Productivity is key to growth and competitiveness, Burnstein said, because greater profits bring more investments and more jobs.

Amazon invests highly in automation, with well more than 100,000 robots to date; the company plans to add 100,000 more jobs within 18 months, he said.

Further, technology always has changed the nature of jobs, Burnstein reminded the audience. As technologies were applied to farming, more food of higher quality was produced with fewer farmers, and people learned new jobs.

Focusing on fears, Burnstein said, takes attention away from opportunities. He added the U.S. skills gap is real and requires attention so workers can be reapplied in higher value areas.

Applying talent in other areas

Accenture changed the nature of 17,000 jobs with technology applications. Those workers were retrained and reapplied in other positions, according to Natalie Pierce, attorney and co-chair robotics, artificial intelligence and automation industry practice group, Littler.

Pierce said we have to pay careful attention to how technology investments are outpacing training. While Germany and China invested heavily in robotics and other automation, they included worker retraining in their budgets. Proposed spending on U.S. worker retraining (administration budget) is less than the last budget cycle. Also, the U.S. Dept. of Labor 5-year strategic plan has no mention of robotics or artificial intelligence, according to Pierce. She made the comments as part of a panel discussion on the future of automation.

More qualified workers needed

As part of a global 2018 economic outlook and forecast at the meeting, Brian Beaulieu, principal at ITR Economics, noted the quit rate at U.S. companies is rising because labor is scarce. Robotics arent taking jobs away, he said. Theyre being used because companies cannot find qualified people and need automation to stay in business, stay competitive, and grow.

Beaulieu predicted the skilled labor shortage will continue globally over the next 10 years, and "automation is going to ride that puppy." Repeatedly, he said he hears people cannot be found for many jobs; theres no alternative but to automate to continue to grow.

To improve margins, Beaulieu said companies and their workers need investments in productivity tools such as automation. Because of the need to raise wages and keep talent, there will also be a need to raise prices to avoid eroding profits.

Appealing to millennials

Beaulieu relayed some of his own experiences with millennials to help with job retention. ITR Economics has 52 employees at present; a majority are millennials, he said. Some advice:

1. Talk with them. Theyre the smartest generation yet and have energy. They have idea after idea. They understand processes better. Generally, after three months, theyll suggest a better way to do something. Respect, and listen to them.

2. Work/life balance. They may not work the traditional 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at their desks. "They believe in this work/life balance crap. They are expensive, and they dont work like we do. I had one tell me I was killing him; he worked 45 hours for two weeks in a row." [Laughter.]

3. Worker retention. If millennials have a sense theyre helping you change the world, you have a better chance at retaining them. Explain your vision and how they fit in.

4. Feed them. Put out snack bowls. "We have lunch for our staff twice a month. Feed them. They may never leave now; they think Im their dad," he added. [Laughter.]

5. Cultivate new leaders. By 2036, most baby boomers will be dead, which will help us out of the "decade of downturn that starts in 2030. Just try not to let the kids hurry you along," he advised.

STEM: Schooled by a 10-year old

Since the demographics are worsening for engineering talent, companies have to find ways to excite youth about science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) professions.

Jay Flores, global STEM ambassador for Rockwell Automation, said that action is required when children say: "Im just not a math person. When children have trouble tying their shoes, you dont tell them to wear Velcro shoes the rest of their lives; you help them."

Similarly, we should help children with math, so can help design better planes or make better breakfast cereal, Flores said.

At the Rockwell Automation trade show (Automation Fair), at the "Engineering our Future" booth, a 10-year-old girl explained to Flores her robot for FIRST Robotics was named Tobor, because thats robot spelled backward. Then she explained the function and use of an ultrasonic sensor in the robot, "More articulately than I did," after training on sensors, which was part of getting up to speed with Rockwell Automation.

Flores, 22, said, "I told her I wanted to be just like her when I grow up."

An estimated 500,000 students will be touched by FIRST Robotics this year. Flores said the goal isnt to use kids to build robots, but to use robots to build kids that take on the challenges of the future. Flores added the finals will be in April in Houston and Detroit, and are free to the public to attend.

If you dont think you have time to advocate for an automation transformation, think again about where well be without a dynamic next generation of engineering leaders.

Mark T. Hoske is content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, mhoske@cfemedia.com.

ONLINE

This online version of this article is longer, with images, graphics, five tips on appealing to millennials and more on FIRST Robotics. Digital edition:

Online extra: Author notes on jobs

Author notes: Burnstein also said two major mass media sources have refused to report the news that automation appears to be saving jobs, favoring more sensational messages to the contrary. As anecdotal evidence of the importance of jobs-related information and automation to A3, the word job appears 25 times in my conference notes in 2018. In my A3 notes from 2017, the word appeared 14 times. Disclosure: A3 is a Control Engineering content partner.

Control Engineering has a page with more robotics coverage.A New York man will serve time for trafficking cocaine in Fairfield County, the Department of Justice announced Friday.

Dominick Pacifico, 34, of Stony Point, New York, was sentenced to five years in prison for trafficking cocaine, the DOJ said. That federal prison sentence will be followed by four years of supervised release

In May 2017, the Drug Enforcement Administrations Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force launched an investigation into cocaine trafficking activity in the Stamford area. The task force was specifically looking into the activity of a man named Stephen Mazzo, the DOJ said.

On May 31, 2017, investigators were conducting surveillance on Mazzo and saw him leave a Norwalk hotel with a plastic shopping bag that he had not been seen with when he entered the hotel, the DOJ said. Law enforcement stopped Mazzos vehicle later on Route 15 south in Stamford.

When Mazzos vehicle was searched, the DOJ said, law enforcement found the shopping bag, filled with more than 400 grams of cocaine. He was immediately placed under arrest.

When investigators returned to the hotel, the discovered that Mazzo met with Pacifico, who had been living at the hotel for several weeks.

A search of Pacificos hotel room led investigators to items used to package drugs for distribution. While searching Pacificos vehicle, the DOJ said, investigators found about 959 grams of cocaine separated into multiple packages for distribution and $34,525 in cash.

He was arrested and charged.

On Dec. 7, 2017, Pacifico pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, 500 grams or more of cocaine.

Mazzo also pleaded guilty to a related charge. He awaits sentencing.Alex von Kleydorff / Hearst Connecticut Media

Police said Norwalk and Westport residents have received calls from scammers asking them to pay to have their power restored.

Norwalk police said scammers have called local businesses and residents, pretending to be from Eversource. The callers have told homeowners their power will not be restored until they paid the company, the department said on social media.GOP leaders say agenda is more than masks, rallies welcome them back

Pa. Republican leaders say their agenda is about more than school masks as protest over statute of limitations for abuse victims greet them.Aetna Inc. operates as a health care benefits company in the United States. It operates through three segments: Health Care, Group Insurance, and Large Case Pensions. The Health Care segment offers medical, pharmacy benefit management service, dental, behavioral health, and vision plans on an insured and employer-funded basis. It also provides point-of-service, preferred provider organization, health maintenance organization, and indemnity benefit plans, as well as health savings accounts and consumer-directed health plans. In addition, this segment offers Medicare and Medicaid products and services, as well as other medical products, such as medical management and data analytics services, medical stop loss insurance, workers' compensation administrative services, and products that provide access to its provider networks in select geographies. The Group Insurance segment offers life insurance products, including group term life insurance, voluntary spouse and dependent term life insurance, group universal life insurance, and accidental death and dismemberment insurance; disability insurance products; and long-term care insurance products, which provide the benefits to cover the cost of care in private home settings, adult day care, assisted living, or nursing facilities. The Large Case Pensions segment manages various retirement products comprising pension and annuity products primarily for tax-qualified pension plans. The company provides its products and services to employer groups, individuals, college students, part-time and hourly workers, health plans, health care providers, governmental units, government-sponsored plans, labor groups, and expatriates. Aetna Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in Hartford, Connecticut.

Read MoreBodycote plc provides heat treatment and thermal processing services worldwide. The company operates through Aerospace, Defence & Energy; and Automotive & General Industrial segments. It offers heat treatment services, including altering the microstructure of metals and alloys, such as steel and aluminum to impart properties comprising surface hardness, temperature resistance, ductility, and strength; metal joining services consisting of electron beam welding, HIP diffusion bonding, hydrogen brazing, induction brazing, and vacuum and honeycomb brazing; and hot isostatic pressing (HIP) services, including isostatic pressing and HIP supporting services, as well as Powdermet technology, a manufacturing process used in the production of complex components using powder metallurgy. The company also provides surface technologies, which are used to prolong the working life of components and protect from environmental factors, such as corrosion and abrasion. Its surface technologies include anodizing, ceramic, flame and combustion spraying, high velocity oxygen fuel, plasma spray, electric arc spraying, aluminide coatings, liquid coatings, and thermo-chemically formed ceramic coatings to enhance wear resistance. The company serves automotive, aerospace and defense, energy, and general industrial markets. Bodycote plc was founded in 1923 and is headquartered in Macclesfield, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreInmarsat plc provides mobile satellite communications services on land, at sea, and in the air worldwide. The company operates through five segments: Maritime, U.S. Government, Global Government, Aviation, and Enterprise. It offers voice and data broadband services; global maritime distress and safety system services; mobile and fixed voice services; a portfolio of machine-to-machine services that provide two-way data connectivity for messaging, tracking, and monitoring of fixed or mobile assets; maritime satellite services, including very small aperture terminals and television receive only antenna services; and Global Xpress, a high-speed broadband service that offer seamless connectivity for advanced data services on land, at sea, and in the air. The company also offers in-flight voice, data, safety, and cabin connectivity services for business and commercial air transport. It owns and operates 13 satellites. The company serves the aviation, government, enterprise, and maritime sectors. Inmarsat plc was founded in 1979 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreBrookfield Asset Management, Inc. engages in the management of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. It operates through the following segments: Asset Management, Real Estate, Renewable Power, Infrastructure, Private Equity, Residential Development, and Corporate Activities. The Asset Management segment includes the management of its listed partnerships, private funds and public securities. The Real Estate segment is comprised of the ownership, operation and development of core office, core retail, LP investments and other properties. The Renewable Power segment encompasses the ownership, operation and development of hydroelectric, wind, solar, storage and other power generating facilities. The Infrastructure segment consists of the ownership, operation and development of utilities, transport, energy, data infrastructure and sustainable resource assets. The Private Equity segment refers to the broad range of industries, and is mostly focused on business services, infrastructure services and industrials. The Residential Development segment represents homebuilding, condominium development and land development. The Corporate Activiti

Read MoreSRC Energy Inc., an oil and natural gas company, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of oil, natural gas, and natural gas liquids primarily in the Denver-Julesburg Basin of Colorado. As of December 31, 2018, it had net proved oil and natural gas reserves of 88 million barrels of oil and condensate, 771.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas, and 89.1 million barrels of natural gas liquids; and operated 985 net producing wells, as well as had 95,200 gross and 86,200 net acres under lease in the Wattenberg Field. The company was founded in 2005 and is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.

Read MoreZurich Insurance Group AG is a holding company, which engages in the provision of insurance products and related services. It operates through the following segments: Property and Casualty Regions, Life Regions, Farmers, Group Functions and Operations, and Non-Core Businesses. The Property and Casualty Regions segment provides motor, home and commercial products and services for individuals, as well as small and large businesses on both a local and global basis. The Life Regions segment refers to the comprehensive range of life and health insurance products on both an individual and a group basis, including annuities, endowment and term insurance, unit-linked and investment-oriented products, as well as full private health, supplemental health and long-term care insurance. The Farmers segment includes non-claims administrative and management services to the Farmers Exchanges, which are owned by policyholders. The Group Functions and Operations segment comprises the Group s Holding and Financing and Headquarters activities. The Non-Core Businesses segment includes insurance and reinsurance businesses that the Group does not consider core to its operations and that are therefore mos

Read MoreJohn Hancock Premium Dividend Fund is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by John Hancock Investment Management LLC. It is co-managed by John Hancock Asset Management. The fund invests in the public equity markets of the United States. It seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors, with an emphasis on the utilities sector. The fund primarily invests in dividend paying preferred stocks and common stocks of companies. It benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against a composite benchmark comprised of 70% Bank of America Merrill Lynch Preferred Stock DRD Eligible Index and 30% S&P 500 Utilities Index. The fund was formerly known as John Hancock Patriot Premium Dividend Fund II. John Hancock Premium Dividend Fund was formed on December 21, 1989 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Mohawk Industries: A&S Energie NV, A&U Energie NV, Aladdin Manufacturing Corporation, Aladdin Manufacturing Of New York LLC, Aladdin Manufacturing of Alabama LLC, Alsace Logistique S.A., Avelgem Green Power CVBA, Avon Pacific Holdings Ltd, B&M NV, BGE Mexico S. de R. L. de C.V., Berghoef GmbH, Berghoef-Hout B.V., Bienes Raices y Materiales del Centro S. de R.L. de C.V., C.F. Marazzi S.A., Canterbury Spinners Ltd, Carpet Foundation Ltd, Cevotrans BV, Ceramus Bahia S/A  Produtos Ceramicos, DT Mex Holdings LLC, DTM/CM Holdings LLC, Dal Italia LLC, Dal-Elit LLC, Dal-Tile Chile Comercial Limitada, Dal-Tile Colombia S.A.S., Dal-Tile Distribution Inc., Dal-Tile Group Inc., Dal-Tile I LLC, Dal-Tile Industrias S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile International Inc., Dal-Tile Mexico Comercial S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Dal-Tile Operaciones Mexico S. De R.L. De C.V., Dal-Tile Peru SRL, Dal-Tile Puerto Rico Inc., Dal-Tile Services Inc., Dal-Tile Shared Services Inc., Dal-Tile Tennessee LLC, Dal-Tile of Canada ULC, Daltile, Daltile, Dekaply NV, Durkan, Dynea NV, Eliane Argentina Sociedad Anonima, Eliane S/A - Revestimentos Ceramicos, Emilceramica India Pvt Ltd., Emilceramica S.r.l, Emilgermany GmbH, Emilgroup Asia Ltd, Explorer S.r.l., F.I.L.S. Investments Unlimited Company, Feltex Carpets Ltd, Feltex Carpets Pty Ltd, Feltex New Zealand Ltd, Fibremakers Australia Pty Ltd, Flooring Foundation Ltd, Flooring Industries Limited S.a r.l., Flooring XL B.V., Floorscape Limited, Godfrey Hirst & Co Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Australia Pty Ltd, Godfrey Hirst Group, Godfrey Hirst NZ Ltd, Hytherm (Ireland) Limited, IVC BVBA, IVC Far-East Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., IVC France S.a r.l., IVC GROUP LIMITED, IVC Green Power NV, IVC Group, IVC Group GmbH, IVC Luxembourg S.a r.l., IVC Rus OOO, IVC US Inc., International Flooring Systems S.a r.l., International Vinyl Company - Vostok OOO, KAI Group, KAI Keramica Ltd, KAI Mining EOOD, KERAMA CENTER OOO, Kerama Baltics OOO, Kerama Export OOO, Kerama Marazzi OOO, Kerampromservis (LLC), Khan Asparuh - Transport EOOD, Khan Asparuh AD, Khan Omurtag AD, Koninklijke Peitsman B.V., Kraj Kerama OOO, MG China Trading Ltd., MI Finance SRL, MUD (Holding) Brazil Ltda., Management Co EAD, Marazzi Acquisition S.r.l., Marazzi Deutschland G.m.b.H., Marazzi France Trading S.A.S., Marazzi Group, Marazzi Group F.Z.E., Marazzi Group S.r.l., Marazzi Group Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Marazzi Iberia S.L.U., Marazzi Japan Co. Ltd., Marazzi Middle East FZ LLC, Marazzi Schweiz S.A.G.L., Marazzi UK Ltd., Mohawk Assurance Services Inc., Mohawk Australia Pty Ltd, Mohawk Canada Corporation, Mohawk Capital Finance S.A., Mohawk Capital Luxembourg SA, Mohawk Carpet Distribution Inc., Mohawk Carpet Foundation Inc., Mohawk Carpet LLC, Mohawk Carpet Transportation Of Georgia LLC, Mohawk Commercial Inc., Mohawk ESV Inc., Mohawk Europe BVBA, Mohawk Factoring II Inc., Mohawk Factoring LLC, Mohawk Finance S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Acquisitions S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Funding S.a.r.l, Mohawk Foreign Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Foreign Investments Inc., Mohawk Global Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Holdings International B.V., Mohawk Industries Inc., Mohawk International (Europe) S.a r.l., Mohawk International (Hong Kong) Limited, Mohawk International Capital N.V., Mohawk International Financing S.a.r.l, Mohawk International Holdings (DE) LLC, Mohawk International Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk International Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk International Netherlands B.V., Mohawk International Services BVBA, Mohawk KAI Luxembourg Holding S.a r.l., Mohawk KAI Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Capital S.A., Mohawk Luxembourg Financing S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Holdings S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Luxembourg Pacific S.a r.l., Mohawk Marazzi International BV, Mohawk Marazzi Russia BV, Mohawk New Zealand Limited, Mohawk Operaciones Mexicali S. de R.L. de C.V., Mohawk Operations Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk Pacific Investments S.a r.l., Mohawk Resources LLC, Mohawk Servicing LLC, Mohawk Singapore Private Limited, Mohawk Trading (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Mohawk Unilin Luxembourg S.a r.l., Mohawk United Finance B.V., Mohawk United International B.V., Mohawk Vinyl Financing S.a r.l., Molber Beheer B.V., Monarch Ceramic Tile Inc., P.F. Onroerend Goed B.V., PF Beheer B.V., Pergo, Pergo (Europe) AB, Pergo Holding BV, Pergo India Pvt Ltd, Polcolorit S.A., Premium Floors Australia Pty Limited, RR Apex LLC, Rata International Pty Ltd, Recubrimientos Interceramica S. de R.L. de C.V., Riverside Textiles Pty Ltd, S.C. KAI Ceramics SRL, Sibir Kerama OOO, SimpleSolutions USA LLC, Soft Step (Australia) Pty Ltd, Spano Group, Spano Invest BVBA, Spano NV, Stroyagromekhzapchast ChaO, Stroytrans OAO Orelstroy, Summit Wool Spinners Ltd, The Flooring Federation Ltd, Tiles Co OOD, Unilin (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd., Unilin ApS, Unilin Arauco Pisos Ltda., Unilin BVBA, Unilin Beheer BV, Unilin Distribution Ltd., Unilin Distribution Ukraine LLC, Unilin Finland OY, Unilin Flooring India Private Limited, Unilin Flooring SAS, Unilin GmbH, Unilin Holding BVBA, Unilin Insulation BV, Unilin Insulation SAS, Unilin Insulation Sury SAS, Unilin Italia S.R.L., Unilin North America LLC, Unilin Norway AS, Unilin OOO, Unilin Panels SAS, Unilin Poland Sp.Z.o.o., Unilin SAS, Unilin Spain SL, Unilin Swiss GmbH, Unilin s.r.o., World International Inc., Xtratherm, Xtratherm Limited, Xtratherm S.A., and Xtratherm UK Limited.Best Buy Co., Inc. engages in the provision of consumer technology products and services. It operates through two business segments: Domestic and International. The Domestic segment comprises of the operations in all states, districts, and territories of the U.S., operating under various brand names, including Best Buy, Best Buy Mobile, Geek Squad, Magnolia Audio Video, Napster, and Pacific Sales. The International segment includes all operations outside the U.S. and its territories, which includes Canada, Europe, China, Mexico, and Turkey. It also markets its products under the brand names: Best Buy, bestbuy.com, Best Buy Direct, Best Buy Express, Best Buy Mobile, Geek Squad, GreatCall, Magnolia and Pacific Kitchen and Home. The company was founded by Richard M. Schulze in 1966 and is headquartered in Richfield, MN.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of HCA Healthcare: 2490 Church LLC, 360 Community Alliance LLC, 4600 Waters Avenue Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., 52 Alderley Road LLP, AC Med LLC, ACH Inc., ADC Surgicenter LLC, AOGN LLC, AOSC Sports Medicine Inc., AR Holding 1 LLC, AR Holding 10 LLC, AR Holding 11 LLC, AR Holding 12 LLC, AR Holding 13 LLC, AR Holding 14 LLC, AR Holding 15 LLC, AR Holding 16 LLC, AR Holding 17 LLC, AR Holding 18 LLC, AR Holding 19 LLC, AR Holding 2 LLC, AR Holding 20 LLC, AR Holding 21 LLC, AR Holding 22 LLC, AR Holding 23 LLC, AR Holding 24 LLC, AR Holding 25 LLC, AR Holding 26 LLC, AR Holding 27 LLC, AR Holding 28 LLC, AR Holding 29 LLC, AR Holding 30 LLC, AR Holding 31 LLC, AR Holding 4 LLC, AR Holding 5 LLC, AR Holding 6 LLC, AR Holding 7 LLC, AR Holding 8 LLC, AR Holding 9 LLC, ASD Shared Services LLC, Acadiana Care Center Inc., Acadiana Practice Management Inc., Acadiana Regional Pharmacy Inc., Access 2 Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Health Care Physicians LLC, Access Management Co. LLC, Ace Leasing II LLC, Acute Kids Urgent Care of Medical City Childrens Hospital PLLC, Acworth Immediate Care LLC, Administrative Physicians of North Texas PLLC, Advanced Bundle Convener LLC, Advanced Plastic Surgery Center of Terre Haute LLC, Advanced Practice Providers of Gulf Coast PLLC, Alaska Regional Medical Group LLC, Albany Family Practice LLC, Aligned Business Consortium Group L.P., All About Staffing (India) Ltd., All About Staffing Inc., All About Staffing Philippines Inc., Alleghany General and Bariatric Services LLC, Alleghany Hospitalists LLC, Alleghany Primary Care Inc., Alleghany Specialists LLC, Alliance Surgicare LLC, Alpine Surgicenter LLC, Alta Internal Medicine LLC, Alternaco LLC, Altitude Mid Level Providers LLC, Ambulatory Endoscopy Clinic of Dallas Ltd., Ambulatory Endoscopy Holdco LLC, Ambulatory Laser Associates GP, Ambulatory Services Management Corporation of Chesterfield County Inc., Ambulatory Surgery Center Group Ltd., American Medicorp Development Co., Anchorage Surgicenter LLC, AppleCare/Memorial Immediate Care Joint Venture LLC, Appledore Medical Group II Inc., Appledore Medical Group Inc., Appomattox Imaging LLC, Arapahoe Surgicenter LLC, Arlington Diagnostic South Inc., Arlington Neurosurgeons PLLC, Arlington Primary Care PLLC, Arlington Primary Medicine PLLC, Arlington Surgery Center L.P., Arlington Surgicare LLC, Arthritis Specialists of Nashville Inc., Ashburn ASC LLC, Ashburn Imaging LLC, Athens Community Hospital Inc., Atlanta Healthcare Management L.P., Atlanta Home Care L.P., Atlanta Market GP Inc., Atlanta Outpatient Surgery Center Inc., Atlanta Surgery Center Ltd., Atlantis Surgicare LLC, Atrium Surgery Center L.P., Atrium Surgicare LLC, Augusta CyberKnife LLC, Augusta Inpatient Services LLC, Augusta Management Services LLC, Augusta Multispecialty Services LLC, Augusta Primary Care Services LLC, Augusta Specialty Hospitalists LLC, Augusta Urgent Care Services LLC, Aurora Endoscopy Surgicenter LLC, Austin GI Surgicenter LLC, Austin Heart Cardiology MSO LLC, Austin Medical Center Inc., Austin Physicians Management LLC, Austin Urogynecology PLLC, Aventura Cancer Center Manager LLC, Aventura Comprehensive Cancer Research Group of Florida Inc., Aventura Healthcare Specialists LLC, Aventura Neurosurgery LLC, BAMI Property LLC, Backlogs Limited, Bailey Square Ambulatory Surgical Center Ltd., Bailey Square Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Bannerman Family Care LLC, Barrow Medical Center CT Services Ltd., Basic American Medical Inc., Basil Street Practice Limited, Bay Area Healthcare Group Ltd., Bay Area Surgical Center Investors Ltd., Bay Area Surgicare Center Inc., Bay Area Surgicenter LLC, Bay Hospital Inc., Bayonet Point Surgery Center Ltd., Bayshore Family Practitioners PLLC, Bayshore Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Bayshore Occupational and Family Medicine PLLC, Bayshore Partner LLC, Bayshore Radiation Oncology Services PLLC, Bayshore Surgery Center Ltd., Bayside Ambulatory Center LLC, Bedford-Northeast Community Hospital Inc., Behavioral Health Sciences of West Florida LLC, Behavioral Health Wellness Center LLC, Bellaire Imaging Inc., Belleair Surgery Center Ltd., Belton Family Practice Clinic LLC, Big Cypress Medical Center Inc., Blacksburg Family Care LLC, Blossoms Healthcare LLP, Blue Ridge-TKC LLC, Bone & Joint Specialists Physician Group LLC, Bonita Bay Surgery Center Inc., Bonita Bay Surgery Center Ltd., Bountiful Surgery Center LLC, Boynton Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Bradenton Cardiology Physician Network LLC, Bradenton Outpatient Services LLC, Brandon Imaging Manager LLC, Brandon Regional Cancer Center LLC, Brentwood ASC LLC, Brigham City Community Hospital Inc., Brigham City Community Hospital Physician Services LLC, Brigham City Health Plan Inc., Brighton Surgicenter LLC, Brookwood Medical Center of Gulfport Inc., Broward Cardiovascular Surgeons LLC, Broward Healthcare System Inc., Broward Neurosurgeons LLC, Brownsville Specialists of Texas PLLC, Brownsville Surgery PLLC, Brownsville Surgical Specialists PLLC, Brownsville Surgicenter LLC, Brownsville-Valley Regional Medical Center Inc., Buford Road Imaging L.L.C., Byron Family Practice LLC, C. Medrano M.D. PLLC, C/HCA Capital Inc., C/HCA Development Inc., C/HCA Inc., CAREOS Surgicenter LLC, CC Clinic PLLC, CCBH Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, CCH-GP Inc., CFC Investments Inc., CH Systems, CHC Finance Co., CHC Holdings Inc., CHC Management Ltd., CHC Payroll Agent Inc., CHC Payroll Company, CHC Realty Company, CHC Venture Co., CHC-El Paso Corp., CHC-Miami Corp., CHCA Bayshore L.P., CHCA Clear Lake L.P., CHCA Conroe L.P., CHCA Mainland L.P., CHCA Pearland L.P., CHCA West Houston L.P., CHCA Womans Hospital L.P., CHCK Inc., CJW Infectious Disease LLC, CJW Wound Healing Center LLC, CLASC Manager LLC, COL-NAMC Holdings Inc., COSCORP LLC, CP Surgery Center LLC, CPS TN Processor 1 Inc., CRMC-M LLC, CUC PLLC, CVMC Property LLC, Calder Immediate Care PLLC, California Imaging Center Manager LLC, California Urgent Care LLC, Calloway Creek Surgery Center L.P., Calloway Creek Surgicare LLC, Cancer Centers of North Florida LLC, Cancer Services of Aventura LLC, Capital Anesthesia Services LLC, Capital Area Cardiology, Capital Area CareNow Physician Associates, Capital Area Multispecialty Providers, Capital Area Neurosurgeons, Capital Area Occupational Medicine PLLC, Capital Area Primary Care PLLC, Capital Area Primary Care Providers, Capital Area Providers, Capital Area Specialists PLLC, Capital Area Specialty Providers, Capital Area Surgeons PLLC, Capital Division - CCA Inc., Capital Division Inc., Capital Network Services Inc., Capital Professional Billing LLC, Capital Regional Healthcare LLC, Capital Regional Heart Associates LLC, Capital Regional Psychiatry Associates LLC, Cardiac Surgical Associates LLC, Cardio Vascular Surgeons of North Texas PLLC, Cardiology Associates Medical Group LLC, Cardiology Clinic of San Antonio PLLC, Cardiology Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Texas PLLC, Care for Women LLC, CareNow, CareOne Home Health Services Inc., CarePartners HHA Holdings LLLP, CarePartners HHA LLLP, CarePartners Rehabilitation Hospital LLLP, CareSpot Professional Services of Middle Tennessee LLC, CareSpot of Brentwood (210 Franklin Road) LLC, CareSpot of Cool Springs (100 International Drive) LLC, CareSpot of Donelson (2372 Lebanon Road) LLC, CareSpot of Hendersonville (280 Indian Lake Boulevard) LLC, CareSpot of Hermitage (5225 Old Hickory Boulevard) LLC, CareSpot of Lebanon (1705 West Main Street) LLC, CareSpot of Mt. Juliet (S. Mt. Juliet Road) LLC, CareSpot of Murfreesboro (1340 Broad Street) LLC, CareSpot of Nashville (2001 Glen Echo Road) LLC, CareSpot of Nashville (West End Avenue) LLC, Career Staffing USA Inc., Carlin Springs Urgent Care LLC, Carolina Forest Imaging Manager LLC, Carolina Regional Surgery Center Inc., Carolina Regional Surgery Center Ltd., Cartersville Medical Center LLC, Cartersville Occupational Medicine Center LLC, Cartersville Physician Practice I LLC, Catalog360 Limited, Cedar Creek Medical Group LLC, Cedars International Cardiology Consultants LLC, Cedars Medical Center Hospitalists LLC, Centennial Cardiovascular Consultants LLC, Centennial CyberKnife Center LLC, Centennial CyberKnife Manager LLC, Centennial Heart LLC, Centennial Hospitalists LLC, Centennial Neuroscience LLC, Centennial Psychiatric Associates LLC, Centennial Surgery Center L.P., Centennial Surgical Associates LLC, Centennial Surgical Clinic LLC, Centennial Womens Group LLC, Center for Advanced Diagnostics LLC, Center for Advanced Imaging LLC, Center for Digestive Diseases LLC, Center for Occupational Medicine LLC, Centerpoint Cardiology Services LLC, Centerpoint Clinic of Blue Springs LLC, Centerpoint Hospital Based Physicians LLC, Centerpoint Medical Center of Independence LLC, Centerpoint Medical Specialists LLC, Centerpoint Orthopedics LLC, Centerpoint Physicians Group LLC, Centerpoint Womens Services LLC, Central Florida Cardiology Interpretations LLC, Central Florida Division Practice Inc., Central Florida Health Services LLC, Central Florida Imaging Services LLC, Central Florida Management Services LLC, Central Florida Obstetrics & Gynecology Associates LLC, Central Florida Physician Network LLC, Central Florida Regional Hospital Inc., Central Health Holding Company Inc., Central Pasco LLC, Central San Antonio Surgical Center Investors Ltd., Central Shared Services LLC, Central Tennessee Hospital Corporation, Central Texas Cardiac Arrhythmia Physicians PLLC, Centrum Surgery Center Ltd., Charleston CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Chatsworth Hospital Corp., Chattanooga ASC Acquisition Inc., Chattanooga Diagnostic Associates LLC, Chattanooga Healthcare Network L.P., Chattanooga Healthcare Network Partner Inc., Chelsea Outpatient Centre LLP, Chesterfield Imaging LLC, Chicago Grant Hospital Inc., Childrens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Chino Community Hospital Corporation Inc., Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Hospitals Inc., Chippenham & Johnston-Willis Sports Medicine LLC, Chippenham Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Chippenham Pediatric Specialists LLC, Chiswick Outpatient Centre LLP, Christiansburg Family Medicine LLC, Christiansburg Internal Medicine LLC, Christina Cano-Gonzalez M.D. PLLC, Chugach PT Inc., Church Street Partners, Citrus Memorial Hospital Inc., Citrus Memorial Property Management Inc., Citrus Primary Care Inc., Citrus Specialty Group Inc., Citrus Surgicenter LLC, City of San Antonio H2U Employee Health and Wellness Center PLLC, Clarksville Surgicenter LLC, Clear Creek Surgery Center LLC, Clear Lake Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., Clear Lake Cardiac GP LLC, Clear Lake Family Physicians PLLC, Clear Lake Medical Tower Owners Association Inc., Clear Lake Merger LLC, Clear Lake Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Clear Lake Regional Medical Center Inc., Clear Lake Regional Partner LLC, Clear Lake Surgicare Ltd., ClinicServ LLC, Clinical Education Shared Services LLC, Clinishare Inc., Coastal Bend Hospital CT Services Ltd., Coastal Bend Hospital Inc., Coastal Carolina Home Care Inc., Coastal Carolina Multispecialty Associates LLC, Coastal Carolina Primary Care LLC, Coastal Healthcare Services Inc., Coastal Imaging Center L.P., Coastal Imaging Center of Gulfport Inc., Coastal Inpatient Physicians LLC, Coliseum Health Group Inc., Coliseum Health Group LLC, Coliseum Medical Center LLC, Coliseum Park Hospital Inc., Coliseum Primary Care Services LLC, Coliseum Primary Healthcare - Macon LLC, Coliseum Primary Healthcare - Riverside LLC, Coliseum Professional Associates LLC, Coliseum Same Day Surgery Center L.P., Coliseum Surgery Center L.L.C., College Park Ancillary LLC, College Park Endoscopy Center LLC, College Park Radiology LLC, Colleton Ambulatory Care LLC, Colleton Diagnostic Center LLC, Colleton Medical Anesthesia LLC, Colleton Medical Hospitalists LLC, Colleton Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery LLC, Collier County Home Health Agency Inc., Collin County Diagnostic Associates PLLC, Colorado Health Systems Inc., Columbia ASC Management L.P., Columbia Ambulatory Surgery Division Inc., Columbia Arlington Healthcare System L.L.C., Columbia Bay Area Realty Ltd., Columbia Behavioral Health Ltd., Columbia Behavioral Healthcare Inc., Columbia Behavioral Healthcare of South Florida Inc., Columbia Call Center Inc., Columbia Central Florida Division Inc., Columbia Central Group Inc., Columbia Champions Treatment Center Inc., Columbia Chicago Division Inc., Columbia Coliseum Same Day Surgery Center Inc., Columbia Development of Florida Inc., Columbia Doctors Hospital of Tulsa Inc., Columbia Eye and Specialty Surgery Center Ltd., Columbia Florida Group Inc., Columbia GP of Mesquite Inc., Columbia Good Samaritan Health System Limited Partnership, Columbia Greater Houston Division Healthcare Network Inc., Columbia Health System of Arkansas Inc., Columbia Healthcare System of Louisiana Inc., Columbia Healthcare of Central Virginia Inc., Columbia Hospital Corporation at the Medical Center, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Arlington, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Bay Area, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Central Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Corpus Christi, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Fort Worth, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Houston, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Kendall, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Massachusetts Inc., Columbia Hospital Corporation of Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Miami Beach, Columbia Hospital Corporation of North Miami Beach, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Broward, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Dade, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Florida, Columbia Hospital Corporation of South Miami, Columbia Hospital Corporation of Tamarac, Columbia Hospital Corporation of West Houston, Columbia Hospital Corporation-Delaware, Columbia Hospital Corporation-SMM, Columbia Hospital at Medical City Dallas Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Hospital-El Paso Ltd., Columbia Integrated Health Systems Inc., Columbia Jacksonville Healthcare System Inc., Columbia LaGrange Hospital LLC, Columbia Lake Worth Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Columbia Medical Arts Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center Dallas Southwest Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center at Lancaster Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Arlington Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Denton Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Las Colinas Inc., Columbia Medical Center of Lewisville Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of McKinney Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Center of Plano Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Medical Group - Centennial Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Daystar Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Parkridge Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Southern Hills Inc., Columbia Medical Group - Southwest Virginia Inc., Columbia Medical Group - The Frist Clinic Inc., Columbia Midtown Joint Venture, Columbia North Alaska Healthcare Inc., Columbia North Central Florida Health System Limited Partnership, Columbia North Florida Regional Medical Center Limited Partnership, Columbia North Hills Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Columbia North Texas Healthcare System L.P., Columbia North Texas Subsidiary GP LLC, Columbia North Texas Surgery Center Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Northwest Medical Center Inc., Columbia Northwest Medical Center Partners Ltd., Columbia Ocala Regional Medical Center Physician Group Inc., Columbia Ogden Medical Center Inc., Columbia Oklahoma Division Inc., Columbia Palm Beach GP LLC, Columbia Palm Beach Healthcare System Limited Partnership, Columbia Park Healthcare System Inc., Columbia Park Medical Center Inc., Columbia Parkersburg Healthcare System LLC, Columbia Pentagon City Hospital L.L.C., Columbia Physician Services - Florida Group Inc., Columbia Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Primary Care LLC, Columbia Psychiatric Management Co., Columbia Resource Network Inc., Columbia Rio Grande Healthcare L.P., Columbia Riverside Inc., Columbia South Texas Division Inc., Columbia Specialty Hospital of Dallas Subsidiary L.P., Columbia Specialty Hospitals Inc., Columbia Surgery Group Inc., Columbia Surgicare of Augusta Ltd., Columbia Tampa Bay Division Inc., Columbia Valley Healthcare System L.P., Columbia West Bank Hospital Inc., Columbia Westbank Healthcare L.P., Columbia-CSA/HS Greater Canton Area Healthcare System L.P., Columbia-CSA/HS Greater Cleveland Area Healthcare System L.P., Columbia-Georgia PT Inc., Columbia-Osceola Imaging Center Inc., Columbia-Quantum Inc., Columbia-SDH Holdings Inc., Columbia/Alleghany Regional Hospital Incorporated, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of Central Texas, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of Northern Ohio, Columbia/HCA Healthcare Corporation of South Carolina, Columbia/HCA Heartcare of Corpus Christi Inc., Columbia/HCA International Group Inc., Columbia/HCA John Randolph Inc., Columbia/HCA Middle East Management Company, Columbia/HCA Physician Hospital Organization Medical Center Hospital, Columbia/HCA San Clemente Inc., Columbia/HCA of Baton Rouge Inc., Columbia/HCA of Houston Inc., Columbia/HCA of New Orleans Inc., Columbia/HCA of North Texas Inc., Columbine Psychiatric Center Inc., Columbus Cardiology Inc., Columbus Cath Lab Inc., Columbus Cath Lab LLC, Columbus Doctors Hospital Inc., Commonwealth Perinatal Services LLC, Commonwealth Specialists of Kentucky LLC, Community Hospital Family Practice LLC, Comprehensive Radiation Oncology LLC, Comprehensive Radiology Management Services Ltd., Concept EFL Imaging Center LLC, Concept West EFL Imaging Center LLC, Congenital Heart Surgery Center PLLC, Conroe Hospital Corporation, Conroe Montgomery Physicians Group PLLC, Conroe Orthopedic Specialists PLLC, Conroe Partner LLC, Conroe Specialists of Texas PLLC, Continental Division I Inc., Coral Springs Surgi-Center Ltd., CoralStone Management Inc., Corpus Christi Healthcare Group Ltd., Corpus Christi Heart Clinic PLLC, Corpus Christi Primary Care Associates PLLC, Corpus Christi Psychiatric Specialists PLLC, Corpus Christi Radiation Oncology PLLC, Corpus Christi Surgery Center L.P., Corpus Christi Surgery Ltd., Corpus Christi Surgicenter LLC, Corpus Surgicare Inc., Countryside Surgery Center Ltd., Crewe Outpatient Imaging LLC, Cumberland Medical Center Inc., Cy-Fair Medical Center Hospital LLC, DFW Physicians Group PLLC, DOMC Property LLC, DS Real Estate Holdings LLC, Daleville Imaging L.P., Daleville Imaging Manager LLC, Dallas CardioThoracic Surgery Consultants PLLC, Dallas Cardiology Specialists PLLC, Dallas Hand Surgery Center PLLC, Dallas Medical Specialists PLLC, Dallas Neuro-Stroke Affiliates PLLC, Dallas Pediatric Neurosurgery Specialists PLLC, Dallas/Ft. Worth Physician LLC, Davie Medical Center LLC, Daytona Medical Center Inc., Dean 4641 LLC, Deep Purple Investments LLC, Del Sol Bariatric Clinic PLLC, Delray EFL Imaging Center LLC, Denton Cancer Center PLLC, Denton County Hospitalist Program PLLC, Denton Pediatric Physicians PLLC, Denton Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Denver Clinic Surgicenter LLC, Denver Mid-Town Surgery Center Ltd., Denver Surgicenter LLC, Derry ASC Inc., Diagnostic Breast Center Inc., Diagnostic Mammography Services G.P., Diagnostic Services G.P., Dickson Surgery Center L.P., Doctors Bay Area Physician Hospital Organization, Doctors Hospital (Conroe) Inc., Doctors Hospital Columbus GA-Joint Venture, Doctors Hospital Surgery Center L.P., Doctors Hospital of Augusta LLC, Doctors Hospital of Augusta Neurology LLC, Doctors Osteopathic Medical Center Inc., Doctors Same Day Surgery Center Inc., Doctors Same Day Surgery Center Ltd., Doctors-I Inc., Doctors-II Inc., Doctors-III Inc., Doctors-IV Inc., Doctors-IX Inc., Doctors-V Inc., Doctors-VI Inc., Doctors-VII Inc., Doctors-VIII Inc., Doctors-X Inc., Doctors Memorial Hospital of Spartanburg Limited Partnership, Dominion Hospital Physicians Group LLC, Dublin Community Hospital LLC, Dublin Heart Specialists LLC, Dublin Multispecialty LLC, Dura Medical Inc., E.P. Physical Therapy Centers Inc., EASTSIDE URGENT CARE LLC, EHCA Diagnostics LLC, EHCA Eastside Occupational Medicine Center LLC, EHCA LLC, EHCA Metropolitan LLC, EHCA Parkway LLC, EHCA Peachtree LLC, EHCA West Paces LLC, EIRMC Hospitalist Services LLC, EMMC LLC, EP Health LLC, EP Holdco LLC, EPIC Development Inc., EPIC Diagnostic Centers Inc., EPIC Healthcare Management Company, EPIC Properties Inc., EPIC Surgery Centers Inc., EPSC L.P., East Falls Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery LLC, East Falls Family Medicine LLC, East Falls Plastic Surgery LLC, East Florida - DMC Inc., East Florida Behavioral Health Network LLC, East Florida Cardiology Network LLC, East Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, East Florida Division Inc., East Florida Emergency Physician Group LLC, East Florida Healthcare LLC, East Florida Hospitalists LLC, East Florida Imaging Holdings LLC, East Florida Primary Care LLC, East Houston Primary Care PLLC, East Houston Specialists PLLC, East Layton Internal Medicine LLC, East Orthopedics PLLC, East Pointe Hospital Inc., Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment LLC, Eastern Idaho Brachytherapy Equipment Manager LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners ACO LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners Holdings LLC, Eastern Idaho Care Partners LLC, Eastern Idaho Health Services Inc., Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Eastside Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Eastside General Surgery LLC, Eastside Heart and Vascular LLC, Eastside Medical Center LLC, Eastside Surgery Center LLC, Edmond General Surgery LLC, Edmond Hospitalists LLC, Edmond Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Edward White Hospital Inc., El Paso CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, El Paso Healthcare Provider Network, El Paso Healthcare System Ltd., El Paso Healthcare System Physician Services LLC, El Paso Nurses Unlimited Inc., El Paso Primary Care PLLC, El Paso Surgery Centers L.P., El Paso Surgicenter Inc., Eldridge Family Practitioners PLLC, Elite Family Health of Plano PLLC, Elite OB-GYN Services of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of El Paso PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Irving PLLC, Elite Orthopaedics of Plano PLLC, Elstree Outpatient Centre LLP, Emergency Physicians at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Emergency Providers Group LLC, Emergency Psychiatric Medicine PLLC, Encino Hospital Corporation Inc., Endocrinology Associates of Lees Summit LLC, Endoscopy Surgicare of Plano LLC, Endoscopy of Plano L.P., Englewood Community Hospital Auxiliary Inc., Englewood Community Hospital Inc., Envision Stakes LLC, Eye Care Surgicare Ltd. a Missouri limited partnership, FHAL LLC, FMH Health Services LLC, Fairfax Surgical Center L.P., Fairview Medical Services LLC, Fairview Park GP LLC, Fairview Park Limited Partnership, Fairview Partner LLC, Family Care Partners LLC, Family Care of E. Jackson County LLC, Family First Medicine in Brownsville PLLC, Family Health Medical Group of Overland Park LLC, Family Health Specialists of Lees Summit LLC, Family Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Family Practice at Forest Hill LLC, Family Practice at Retreat LLC, Family Practitioners of Montgomery PLLC, Family Practitioners of Pearland PLLC, Fannin MOB LLC, Fannin MOB Property Management LLC, Far West Division Inc., Fawcett Memorial Hospital Inc., Florida Care Partners LLC, Florida Care Partners Orlando LLC, Florida Home Health Services-Private Care Inc., Florida Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Flower Mound Surgery Center Ltd., Focus Hand Surgicenter LLC, Foot & Ankle Specialty Services LLC, Forest Park Surgery Pavilion Inc., Forest Park Surgery Pavilion L.P., Fort Bend Hospital Inc., Fort Chiswell Family Practice LLC, Fort Myers Market Inc., Fort Pierce Immediate Care Center Inc., Fort Pierce Orthopaedics LLC, Fort Pierce Surgery Center Ltd., Fort Walton Beach Medical Center Inc., Fort Worth Investments Inc., Forward Pathology Solutions LLC, Four Rivers Medical Center PHO Inc., Frankfort Hospital Inc., Frankfort Wound Care LLC, Freeport Family Medicine LLC, Fremont Womens Health LLC, Frisco Surgicare LLC, Frisco Warren Parkway 91 Inc., Frist Clinic Express LLC, Ft. Pierce Surgicare LLC, Ft. Walton Beach Anesthesia Services LLC, G. Rowe M.D. PLLC, G. Schnider M.D. PLLC, G. Voorhees M.D. PLLC, G.P. Martin Fletcher & Associates LLC, GA PHYSICIAN SERVICES LLC, GA Urgentcare Holding LLC, GHC-Galen Health Care LLC, GI Associates of Denton PLLC, GI Associates of Lewisville PLLC, GME Services of Osceola LLC, GPCH-GP Inc., GYN-Oncology of Southwest Virginia LLC, Gainesville GYN Oncology of North Florida Regional Medical Center LLC, Gainesville Physicians LLC, GalTex LLC, Galen (Kansas) Merger LLC, Galen BH Inc., Galen Center for Professional Development Inc., Galen College of Nursing, Galen Diagnostic Multicenter Ltd., Galen GOK LLC, Galen Global Finance Inc., Galen Health Institutes Inc., Galen Health Partners Limited, Galen Holdco LLC, Galen Hospital Alaska Inc., Galen Hospital of Baytown Inc., Galen Hospital-Pembroke Pines Inc., Galen International Holdings Inc., Galen KY LLC, Galen MCS LLC, Galen MRMC LLC, Galen Medical Corporation, Galen NMC LLC, Galen NSH LLC, Galen Property LLC, Galen SOM LLC, Galen SSH LLC, Galen Virginia Hospital Corporation, Galen of Aurora Inc., Galen of Florida Inc., Galen of Illinois Inc., Galen of Kentucky Inc., Galen of Mississippi Inc., Galen of Virginia Inc., Galen of West Virginia Inc., Galen-Soch Inc., Galencare Inc., Galendeco Inc., Galichia Anesthesia Services LLC, Galichia Emergency Physicians LLC, Garden Park Community Hospital Limited Partnership, Garden Park Hospitalist Program LLC, Garden Park Investments L.P., Garden Park Physician Group - Specialty Care LLC, Garden Park Physician Group Inc., Gardens EFL Imaging Center LLC, Gastroenterology Specialists of Middle Tennessee LLC, General Hospitals of Galen Inc., General Medical Clinics Limited, General Surgeons of Houston PLLC, General Surgeons of North Richland Hills PLLC, General Surgeons of Pasadena PLLC, General and Cardiovascular Surgeons of Conroe PLLC, Generations Family Practice Inc., GenoSpace LLC, Georgia Health Holdings Inc., Georgia L.P., Georgia Psychiatric Company Inc., Glemm SA, Good Samaritan Hospital L.P., Good Samaritan Hospital LLC, Good Samaritan Surgery Center L.P., Goppert-Trinity Family Care LLC, Grace Family Practice LLC, Gramercy Eye Surgicenter LLC, Gramercy Surgery Center Ltd., Grand Strand Regional Medical Center LLC, Grand Strand Senior Health Center LLC, Grand Strand Specialty Associates LLC, Grand Strand Surgical Specialists LLC, Grandview Health Care Clinic LLC, Grant Center Hospital of Ocala Inc., Grayson Primary Care LLC, Greater Gwinnett Internal Medicine Associates LLC, Greater Gwinnett Physician Corporation, Greater Houston Preferred Provider Option Inc., Greater Tampa Bay Physician Network LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physician Specialists LLC, Greater Tampa Bay Physicians - Pinellas LLC, Green Oaks Hospital Subsidiary L.P., Greenview Hospital Inc., Greenview PrimeCare LLC, Greenview Specialty Associates LLC, Gulf Coast Division Inc., Gulf Coast Electrophysiology Associates PLLC, Gulf Coast Inpatient Specialists LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Center Primary Care LLC, Gulf Coast Medical Ventures Inc., Gulf Coast Multispecialty Services LLC, Gulf Coast Physician Administrators Inc., Gulf Coast Provider Network Inc., Gwinnett Community Hospital Inc., Gynecology Specialists of Utah LLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Del Sol Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Las Palmas Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - Medical City Dallas PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers - St. Davids Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers LLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Clear Lake Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Conroe ISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Conroe Regional Medical Center PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  Corpus Christi PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  El Paso PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  PISD PLLC, H2U Wellness Centers  San Benito CISD PLLC, HBP Lone Star Inc., HCA - IT&S Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S Inventory Management Inc., HCA - IT&S PBS Field Operations Inc., HCA - IT&S TN Field Operations Inc., HCA - Information Technology & Services Inc., HCA - Raleigh Community Hospital Inc., HCA - Viera ALF LLC, HCA - WHS Progressive LLC, HCA - WHS Services LLC, HCA ASD Financial Operations LLC, HCA ASD Sales Services LLC, HCA American Finance LLC, HCA Carenow Limited, HCA Central Group Inc., HCA Central/West Texas Physicians Management LLC, HCA Chattanooga Market Inc., HCA Development Company Inc., HCA Eastern Group Inc., HCA Global Capital LLP, HCA Gulf Coast GME PLLC, HCA Health Services of California Inc., HCA Health Services of Florida Inc., HCA Health Services of Georgia Inc., HCA Health Services of Louisiana Inc., HCA Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Health Services of Midwest Inc., HCA Health Services of New Hampshire Inc., HCA Health Services of Tennessee Inc., HCA Health Services of Texas Inc., HCA Health Services of Virginia Inc., HCA Health Services of West Virginia Inc., HCA Healthcare Mission Fund LLC, HCA Healthcare UK Limited, HCA Holdco LLC, HCA Human Resources LLC, HCA Imaging Services of North Florida Inc., HCA Inc., HCA International Holdings Limited, HCA International Limited, HCA LewisGale Regional Cancer Centers Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Long Term Health Services of Miami Inc., HCA Luxembourg 1 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg 2 Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Equities Sarl, HCA Luxembourg Finance Limited, HCA Luxembourg Investments Sarl, HCA Management Services L.P., HCA Medical City Limited, HCA Medical Services Inc., HCA Midwest Comprehensive Care Inc., HCA Outpatient Clinic Services of Miami Inc., HCA Outpatient Imaging Services Group Inc., HCA Patient Safety Organization LLC, HCA Pearland GP Inc., HCA Physician Services Inc., HCA Plano Imaging Inc., HCA Property GP LLC, HCA Psychiatric Company, HCA Purchasing Limited, HCA Realty Inc., HCA Richmond Cardiac Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA SF LLC, HCA SFB 1 LLC, HCA Sarasota Orthopedic and Spine Clinical Co-Management Company LLC, HCA Squared LLC, HCA Staffing Limited, HCA Swiss Capital 1 LLP, HCA Swiss Capital 2 LLP, HCA Switzerland Finance GmbH, HCA Switzerland Holding GmbH, HCA Switzerland Limited, HCA UK Capital Limited, HCA UK Holdings Limited, HCA UK Investments Limited, HCA UK Limited, HCA UK Services Limited, HCA Wesley Rehabilitation Hospital Inc., HCA Western Group Inc., HCA-Access Healthcare Holdings LLC, HCA-Access Healthcare Partner Inc., HCA-California Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-EMS Holdings LLC, HCA-EmCare Holdings LLC, HCA-Georgia Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCA-HBPS Holdings LLC, HCA-HealthONE LLC, HCA-Solis Holdings Inc., HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Continental LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of Gulf Coast LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of North Texas LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Service Holdings of TriStar LLC, HCA-Solis Mammography Services LLC, HCA-Solis Master LLC, HCA-Urgent Care Holdings LLC, HCAPS Anesthesia Manager LLC, HCAPS Conroe Affiliation Inc., HCOL Inc., HD&S Corp. Successor Inc., HDH Thoracic Surgeons LLC, HHBY Holdings LLC, HHNC LLC, HICCH-SCL LLC, HM Acquisition LLC, HM OMCOS LLC, HMMG 1226 LLC, HPG Energy L.P., HPG Enterprises LLC, HPG GP LLC, HPG Solutions LLC, HSS Holdco LLC, HSS Systems LLC, HSS Virginia L.P., HTI Gulf Coast Inc., HTI Health Services of North Carolina Inc., HTI Hospital Holdings Inc., HTI MOB LLC, HTI MSO LLC, HTI Memorial Hospital Corporation, HTI Physician Services of Utah Inc., HWCA PLLC, Hamilton Memorial Hospital Inc., Hamsard 3160 Limited, Harley Street Clinic @ The Groves LLP, Hathor Chelsea Ltd., Healdsburg General Hospital Inc., Health Care Indemnity Inc., Health Insight Capital LLC, Health International Billing Partners Limited, Health Midwest Medical Group Inc., Health Midwest Office Facilities Corporation, Health Midwest Ventures Group Inc., Health Partners of Kansas Inc., Health Service Partners Inc., Health Services (Delaware) Inc., Health Services Merger Inc., Health to You LLC, HealthCoast Physician Group LLC, HealthONE Aurora Investment LLC, HealthONE Care Partners LLC, HealthONE CareNow Urgent Care LLC, HealthONE Clear Creek LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Bariatric Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Behavioral Health LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cancer Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Cardiovascular LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Medical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Neurosciences LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Occupational Medicine LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Oncology Hematology LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Orthopedic Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Otolaryngology Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Pediatric Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Primary Care LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Specialists LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Spine Surgeons LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgery Neurological LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Surgical Specialties LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Transplant Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Womens Services LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services - Youth Rehabilitation LLC, HealthONE Clinic Services LLC, HealthONE High Street Primary Care Center LLC, HealthONE IRL Pathology Services LLC, HealthONE Institutes for Clinical Research LLC, HealthONE Lowry LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Red Rocks LLC, HealthONE Radiation Therapy at Thornton LLC, HealthONE Ridge View Endoscopy Center LLC, HealthONE Surgicare of Ridge View LLC, HealthONE Urologic LLC, HealthONE at Breckenridge LLC, HealthONE of Denver Inc., HealthOne Heart Care LLC, HealthOne Lincoln Investment LLC, HealthOne Westside Investment LLC, HealthTrust Europe Company Limited, HealthTrust Europe LLP, HealthTrust Locums Inc., HealthTrust Workforce Solutions LLC, Healthcare Oklahoma Inc., Healthcare Purchasing Alliance LLC, Healthcare Sales National Management Services Group LLC, Healthcare Technology Assessment Corporation, Healthco LLC, Healthnet of Kentucky LLC, Healthserv Acquisition LLC, Healthtrust Inc. - The Hospital Company, Healthtrust MOB Tennessee LLC, Healthtrust Purchasing Group L.P., Healthtrust Utah Management Services Inc., Healthy State Inc., Heart Specialist of North Texas PLLC, Heart of America ASC LLC, Heart of America Surgicenter LLC, Heartcare of Texas Ltd., Hearthstone Home Health Inc., Heartland Womens Group at Wesley LLC, Heathrow Imaging LLC, Heathrow Internal Medicine LLC, Hendersonville Hospital Corporation, Hendersonville Hospitalist Services Inc., Hendersonville OB/GYN LLC, Hendersonville ODC LLC, Hendersonville Primary Care LLC, Henrico Doctors Hospital - Forest Campus Property LLC, Henrico Doctors Neurology Associates LLC, Henrico Doctors OB GYN Specialists LLC, Henrico Surgical Specialists LLC, Heritage Family Care LLC, Heritage Hospital Inc., Heritage Medical Care LLC, Hermitage Primary Care LLC, Hidalgo County Family Practitioners PLLC, Hidden Lakes Health Center PLLC, Highlands Regional Medical Center, Hip & Joint Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Homecare North Inc., Hometrust Management Services Inc., Horizon Orthopedics LLC, Horizon Surgical LLC, Hospital Corp. LLC, Hospital Corporation of America, Hospital Corporation of Lake Worth, Hospital Corporation of Tennessee, Hospital Corporation of Utah, Hospital Development Properties Inc., Hospital Partners Merger LLC, Hospital Realty Corporation, Hospital-Based CRNA Services Inc., Hospitalists at Centennial Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Fairview Park LLC, Hospitalists at Greenview Regional Hospital LLC, Hospitalists at Horizon Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists at Parkridge LLC, Hospitalists at StoneCrest LLC, Hospitalists at Wesley Medical Center LLC, Hospitalists of the Wabash Valley LLC, Houston - PPH LLC, Houston CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Houston Healthcare Holdings Inc., Houston NW Manager LLC, Houston Northwest Concessions L.L.C., Houston Northwest Operating Company L.L.C., Houston Northwest Surgical Partners Inc., Houston Obstetrics and Gynecology for Women PLLC, Houston Pediatric Specialty Group PLLC, Houston Urologic Surgicenter LLC, Houston Womans Hospital Partner LLC, ICU Associates of West Houston PLLC, IMX Holdings LLC, IRL Pathology Services MidAmerica LLC, Idaho Behavioral Health Services LLC, Idaho Physician Services Inc., Illinois Psychiatric Hospital Company Inc., Imaging Realty LLC, Imaging Services of Appomattox LLC, Imaging Services of Jacksonville LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana LLC, Imaging Services of Louisiana Manager LLC, Imaging Services of Orlando LLC, Imaging Services of Richmond LLC, Imaging Services of Roanoke LLC, Imaging Services of West Boynton LLC, InVivoLink Inc., Independence Neurosurgery Services LLC, Independence Regional Medical Group LLC, Independence Surgicare Inc., Indian Path Hospital Inc., Indianapolis Hospital Partner LLC, Institute for Womens Health and Body LLC, Institute of Advanced ENT Surgery LLC, Integrated Regional Lab LLC, Integrated Regional Laboratories LLP, Integrated Regional Laboratories Pathology Services LLC, Intensive Care Consortium Inc., Internal Medicine Associates of Huntsville PLLC, Internal Medicine Associates of Southern Hills LLC, Internal Medicine of Blacksburg LLC, Internal Medicine of Pasadena PLLC, Internist Associates of Houston PLLC, Isleworth Partners Inc., J. M. Garcia M.D. PLLC, JCSH LLC, JDGC Management LLC, JFK Internal Medicine Faculty Practice LLC, JFK Medical Center Limited Partnership, JPM AA Housing LLC, Jackson County Medical Group LLC, Jackson County Pulmonary Medical Group LLC, Jacksonville CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Jacksonville Multispecialty Services LLC, Jacksonville Surgery Center Ltd., James River Internists LLC, John Randolph Family Practice LLC, John Randolph OB/GYN LLC, John Randolph Surgeons LLC, Johnson County Neurology LLC, Johnson County Surgery Center L.P., Johnson County Surgicenter L.L.C., Jordan Family Health L.L.C., Jupiter EFL Imaging Center LLC, KC Pain ASC LLC, KC Surgicare LLC, KPH-Consolidation Inc., Kansas CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Kansas City Cardiac Arrhythmia Research LLC, Kansas City Gastroenterology & Hepatology Physicians Group LLC, Kansas City Neurology Associates LLC, Kansas City Pulmonology Practice LLC, Kansas City Surgery Center Properties LLC, Kansas City Vascular & General Surgery Group LLC, Kansas City Womens Clinic Group LLC, Kansas Healthserv LLC, Kansas Pulmonary and Sleep Specialists LLC, Kansas Trauma and Critical Care Specialists LLC, Kathy L. Summers M.D. PLLC, Kendall Healthcare Group Ltd., Kendall Regional Medical Center LLC, Kendall Regional Urgent Care LLC, Kennedale Primary Care PLLC, Kingwood Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Kingwood Surgery Center LLC, Kingwood Surgicenter LLC, Kissimmee Surgicare Ltd., Kyle Primary Care PLLC, L E Corporation, LAD Imaging LLC, LGMC Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, LOC @ The Christie LLP, LOC @ The London Bridge Hospital LLP, LOC Partnership LLP, LPN TeleBehavioral Health PLLC, Lafayette OB Hospitalists LLC, Lafayette Urogynecology & Urology Center LLC, Lake City Imaging LLC, Lake City Regional Medical Group LLC, Lake Forest Family Health PLLC, Lakeside Radiology LLC, Lakeside Womens Services LLC, Lakeview Cardiology Specialists LLC, Lakeview Hospital Physician Services LLC, Lakeview Internal Medicine LLC, Lakeview Medical Center LLC, Lakeview Regional Medical Center Inpatient Services LLC, Lakeview Regional Physician Group LLC, Lakeview Urology & General Surgery LLC, Lakewood Surgicare Inc., Laredo Medco LLC, Largo Medical Center Inc., Largo Physician Group LLC, Las Colinas Primary Care PLLC, Las Colinas Surgery Center Ltd., Las Encinas Hospital, Las Palmas Del Sol Cardiology PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Internal Medicine PLLC, Las Palmas Del Sol Urgent Care PLLC, Las Vegas ASC LLC, Las Vegas Surgicare Inc., Las Vegas Surgicare Ltd. a Nevada Limited Partnership, Lawnwood Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, Lawnwood Healthcare Specialists LLC, Lawnwood Medical Center Inc., Layton Family Practice LLC, Leaders in Oncology Care Limited, Leadership Healthcare Holdings II L.P. L.L.P., Leadership Healthcare Holdings L.P. L.L.P., Lees Summit Family Care LLC, Leslie Cohan M.D. PLLC, Lewis-Gale Hospital Incorporated, Lewis-Gale Medical Center LLC, Lewis-Gale Physicians LLC, Lewisville Primary Care PLLC, Lewisville Surgicare LLC, Lincoln Surgery Center LLC, Live Oak Immediate Care Center LLC, London Oncology Clinic LLP, London Pathology Limited, London Radiography & Radiotherapy Services Limited, Lone Peak Hospital Inc., Lone Star Intensivists at Gulf Coast PLLC, Lonestar Provider Network, Longview Regional Physician Hospital Organization Inc., Lorain County Surgery Center Ltd., Los Gatos Surgical Center a California Limited Partnership, Los Robles Regional Medical Center, Los Robles Regional Medical Center MOB LLC, Los Robles SurgiCenter LLC, Loudoun Surgery Center LLC, Louisiana Psychiatric Company Inc., Loveland Surgicenter LLC, Low Country Health Services Inc. of the Southeast, Lowry Surgicenter LLC, M. Jamshidi D.O. PLLC, MCA Investment Company, MCA-CTMC Holdings LLC, MEC Endoscopy LLC, MFA G.P. LLC, MFM Fact PLLC, MGH Medical Inc., MH Anesthesiology Physicians LLC, MH Angel Medical Center LLLP, MH Asheville Specialty Hospital LLC, MH Blue Ridge Medical Center LLLP, MH Eckerd Living Center LLLP, MH Highlands-Cashiers Medical Center LLLP, MH Hospital Holdings Inc., MH Hospital Manager LLC, MH Master Holdings LLLP, MH Master LLC, MH McDowell Imaging LLLP, MH Mission Hospital LLLP, MH Mission Hospital McDowell LLLP, MH Mission Imaging LLLP, MH Physician Services LLC, MH Transylvania Imaging LLLP, MH Transylvania Regional Hospital LLLP, MHS Partnership Holdings JSC Inc., MHS Partnership Holdings SDS Inc., MHS SC Partner L.L.C., MHS Surgery Centers L.P., MMC Sleep Lab Management LLC, MOSC Sports Medicine Inc., MOVCO Inc., MP Management LLC, MRT&C Inc., MSL Acquisition LLC, MVH Professional Services LLC, Macon Healthcare LLC, Macon Northside Health Group LLC, Macon Northside Hospital LLC, Macon Psychiatric Hospitalists LLC, Madison Behavioral Health LLC, Mainland Family Medicine PLLC, Mainland Multi-Specialty Group PLLC, Mainland Primary Care Physicians PLLC, Management Services Holdings Inc., Manatee Surgicare Ltd., Marietta Outpatient Medical Building Inc., Marietta Outpatient Surgery Ltd., Marietta Surgical Center Inc., Marion Community Hospital Inc., Mark Gottesman M.D. PLLC, Martin Fletcher & Associates L.P., Martin Fletcher Associates Holdings Inc., Mary Alice Cowan M.D. PLLC, Maternal Fetal Medicine Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Maternal Fetal Services of Utah LLC, Maury County Behavioral Health LLC, Mayhill Cancer Center LLC, McAllen Comprehensive Upper Extremity Center PLLC, McKinney Surgeons PLLC, Mechanicsville Imaging LLC, Mecklenburg Surgical Land Development Ltd., Med City Dallas Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Med Corp. Inc., Med Group - Southern Hills Hospitalists LLC, Med-Center Hosp./Houston Inc., Med-Point of New Hampshire Inc., Medi Flight of Oklahoma LLC, MediCredit Inc., MediPurchase Inc., MediStone Healthcare Ventures Inc., MediVision Inc., MediVision of Mecklenburg County Inc., MediVision of Tampa Inc., Medical Arts Hospital of Texarkana Inc., Medical Associates of Ocala LLC, Medical Care America Colorado LLC, Medical Care America LLC, Medical Care Financial Services Corp., Medical Care Real Estate Finance Inc., Medical Care Surgery Center Inc., Medical Center - West Inc., Medical Center Imaging Inc., Medical Center Surgery Associates L.P., Medical Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Medical Center of Plano Partner LLC, Medical Center of Port St. Lucie Inc., Medical Center of Santa Rosa Inc., Medical Center of Southwest Florida LLC, Medical Centers of Oklahoma LLC, Medical City Dallas Hospital Inc., Medical City Dallas Partner LLC, Medical City Dallas Primary Care PLLC, Medical City Frisco, Medical City OB-GYN PLLC, Medical City Pediatrics PLLC, Medical City Specialty Surgicenter of Dallas LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Alliance LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Frisco LLC, Medical City Surgery Center of Lewisville LLC, Medical City Transplant PLLC, Medical Corporation of America, Medical Group - Dickson Inc., Medical Group - Southern Hills of Brentwood LLC, Medical Group - Southern Hills of Nolensville LLC, Medical Group - StoneCrest FP Inc., Medical Group - StoneCrest Inc., Medical Group - Stonecrest Pulmonology LLC, Medical Group - Summit Inc., Medical Imaging Inc., Medical Imaging of Colorado LLC, Medical Office Buildings of Kansas LLC, Medical Oncology Associates LLC, Medical Partners of North Florida LLC, Medical Plaza Ambulatory Surgery Center Associates L.P., Medical Specialties Inc., Memorial Family Practice Associates LLC, Memorial Health Primary Care at St. Johns Bluff LLC, Memorial Healthcare Group Inc., Memorial Neurosurgery Group LLC, Memorial Satilla Specialists LLC, Memorial University Medical Center, Menorah Medical Group LLC, Menorah Urgent Care LLC, Mercy ASC LLC, Metairie Primary Care Associates LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Boerne LLC, Methodist Ambulatory Surgery Center of Landmark LLC, Methodist Cardiology Physicians, Methodist CareNow Physician Associates, Methodist CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Methodist Healthcare System of San Antonio Ltd. L.L.P., Methodist Inpatient Management Group, Methodist Medical Center ASC L.P., Methodist Physician Alliance, Methodist Physician Practice Services LLC, Methodist Physician Practices PLLC, Metroplex Surgicenters Inc., Metropolitan Multispecialty Physicians Group Inc., Miami Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Miami Beach Healthcare Group Ltd., Miami Dade Surgical Specialists LLC, Miami Lakes Surgery Center Ltd., Miami-Dade Cardiology Consultants LLC, Michael Mann M.D. PLLC, Mid-America Surgery Center LLC, Mid-America Surgery Institute LLC, Mid-Cities Surgi-Center Inc., Mid-Continent Health Services Inc., MidAmerica Division Inc., MidAmerica Oncology LLC, Middle Georgia Hospital LLC, Middle Georgia Urgent Care Services LLC, Middle Tennessee Neurology LLC, Midtown Diagnostics LLC, Midwest Cardiology Specialists LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular & Thoracic Surgery LLC, Midwest Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of Kansas LLC, Midwest Division - ACH LLC, Midwest Division - CMC LLC, Midwest Division - LRHC LLC, Midwest Division - LSH LLC, Midwest Division - MCI LLC, Midwest Division - MMC LLC, Midwest Division - OPRMC LLC, Midwest Division - RBH LLC, Midwest Division - RMC LLC, Midwest Division Spine Care LLC, Midwest Doctors Group LLC, Midwest Heart & Vascular Specialists LLC, Midwest Holdings Inc., Midwest Infectious Disease Specialists LLC, Midwest Medicine Associates LLC, Midwest Metropolitan Physicians Group LLC, Midwest Oncology Associates LLC, Midwest Trauma Services LLC, Midwest Womens Healthcare Specialists LLC, Mikrod Services Inc., Mill Creek Outpatient Services LLC, Millenium Health Care of Oklahoma Inc., Mission Bay Memorial Hospital Inc., Mission Community Anesthesiology Specialists LLC, Mission Employer Solutions LLC, Mission Health, Mission Health Partners Inc., Missouri Healthcare System L.P., Mobile Corps. Inc., Mobile Heartbeat, Mobile Heartbeat LLC, Montgomery Cancer Center LLC, Montgomery Hospitalists LLC, Montgomery Regional Hospital Inc., Montgomery Surgery Associates LLC, Mountain Division - CVH LLC, Mountain Division Inc., Mountain View Hospital Inc., Mountain View MRI Associates Ltd., Mountain West Surgery Center LLC, MountainStar Behavioral Health LLC, MountainStar Brigham General Surgery LLC, MountainStar Canyon Surgical Clinic LLC, MountainStar Cardiology Ogden Regional LLC, MountainStar Cardiology St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Intensivist Services LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Cache Valley LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - Ogden Regional Medical Center LLC, MountainStar Medical Group - St. Marks Hospital LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Neurosurgery-St. Marks LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Primary Care LLC, MountainStar Medical Group Timpanogos Specialty Care LLC, MountainStar Specialty Services LLC, MountainStar Urgent Care LLC, MountainView GME Primary Care LLC, Mountainstar Brigham OBGYN LLC, Mountainstar Cardiovascular Services LLC, Mountainstar Ogden Pediatrics LLC, Movement Disorders of North Texas PLLC, Mt. Ogden Utah Surgical Center LLC, NPAS Inc., NPAS Solutions LLC, NT Urgent Care PLLC, NTGP LLC, NTMC Management Company, NTMC Venture Inc., NTX Pathology Program PLLC, Nashville Psychiatric Company Inc., Nashville Shared Services General Partnership, Nashville Surgicenter LLC, Natchez Medical Associates LLC, Natchez Surgery Center LLC, National Association of Senior Friends, National Contact Center Management Group LLC, National Patient Account Services Inc., National Transfer Center Management Services LLC, Navarro Memorial Hospital Inc., NeighborMD Management LLC, Network MS of Florida Inc., Network Management Services Inc., Neuro Affiliates Company, Neuro-Hospitalist of Clear Lake PLLC, NeuroHospitalist of McAllen PLLC, Neurological Eye Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Neurological Specialists PLLC, Neurological Specialists of McKinney PLLC, Neurology Associates of Hendersonville LLC, Neurology Associates of Kansas LLC, Neurosurgery Atlanta LLC, Neurosurgery of Kingwood PLLC, Neurosurgical Associates of North Texas PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of El Paso PLLC, Neurosurgical Specialists of North Texas PLLC, Nevada Surgery Center of Southern Hills L.P., Nevada Surgicare of Southern Hills LLC, Nevada Urgent Care Holdings Inc., New Iberia Healthcare LLC, New Iberia Holdings Inc., New Port Richey Hospital Inc., New Port Richey Surgery Center Ltd., New Rose Holding Company Inc., Niceville Family Practice LLC, North Augusta Imaging Management LLC, North Augusta Imaging Services LLC, North Augusta Rehab Health Center LLC, North Austin Plastic Surgery Associates PLLC, North Austin Surgery Center L.P., North Brandon Imaging LLC, North Central Florida Health System Inc., North Central Methodist ASC L.P., North Charleston Diagnostic Imaging Center LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Lake City LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Live Oak LLC, North Florida Cancer Center Tallahassee LLC, North Florida Division I Inc., North Florida Division Practice Inc., North Florida GI Center GP Inc., North Florida GI Center Ltd., North Florida Immediate Care Center Inc., North Florida Neurosurgery LLC, North Florida Outpatient Imaging Center Ltd., North Florida Physician Services Inc., North Florida Physicians LLC, North Florida Radiation Oncology LLC, North Florida Regional Company Care LLC, North Florida Regional Freestanding Surgery Center L.P., North Florida Regional Investments Inc., North Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., North Florida Regional Psychiatry LLC, North Florida Regional Trauma LLC, North Florida Rehab Investments LLC, North Florida Surgical Associates LLC, North Georgia Primary Care Group LLC, North Hills Cardiac Catheterization Center L.P., North Hills Catheterization Lab LLC, North Hills Orthopaedic Surgeons PLLC, North Hills Surgicare L.P., North Houston - TRMC LLC, North Miami Beach Surgery Center Limited Partnership, North Miami Beach Surgical Center LLC, North Palm Beach County Surgery Center LLC, North River Physician Network LLC, North Shore Specialists of Texas PLLC, North Suburban Spine Center L.P., North Tampa Imaging LLC, North Texas - MCA LLC, North Texas Cardiology PLLC, North Texas Craniofacial Fellowship Program PLLC, North Texas Division Inc., North Texas General L.P., North Texas Geriatrics PLLC, North Texas Heart Surgery Center PLLC, North Texas Internal Medicine Specialists PLLC, North Texas Medical Center Inc., North Texas Neuro Stroke OP PLLC, North Texas Pulmonary Critical Care PLLC, North Texas Sports and Orthopedics Center PLLC, North Texas Stroke Center PLLC, North Texas of Hope PLLC, North Transfer Center LLC, Northeast Florida Cancer Services LLC, Northeast Methodist Surgicare Ltd., Northeast PHO Inc., Northern Utah Healthcare Corporation, Northern Utah Healthcare Imaging Holdco LLC, Northern Utah Imaging LLC, Northern Virginia CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Northern Virginia Community Hospital LLC, Northern Virginia Hospital Corporation, Northern Virginia Surgicenter LLC, Northlake Medical Center LLC, Northlake Physician Practice Network Inc., Northlake Surgical Center L.P., Northlake Surgicare Inc., Northside MRI Inc., Northwest Fla. Home Health Agency Inc., Northwest Florida Healthcare Systems Inc., Northwest Florida Multispecialty Physicians LLC, Northwest Florida Primary Care LLC, Northwest Medical Center Inc., Notami (Opelousas) Inc., Notami Hospitals LLC, Notami Hospitals of Florida Inc., Notami Hospitals of Louisiana Inc., Notami Hospitals of Missouri Inc., Notami LLC, Notco LLC, Nuclear Diagnosis Inc., OB Hospitalists of Womans Hospital PLLC, OB/GYN of Brownsville PLLC, OB/Gyn Associates of Denton PLLC, OBS Diagnostic and Treatment Centre LLP, ODP Holdings LLC, ODP Manager LLC, ODP Properties LLC, OHH Imaging Services LLC, OPRMC-HBP LLC, Oak Hill Acquisition Inc., Oak Hill Family Care LLC, Oak Hill Hospitalists LLC, Oakwood Surgery Center Ltd. LLP, Ocala Health Company Care LLC, Ocala Health Imaging Services LLC, Ocala Health Primary Care LLC, Ocala Health Surgical Group LLC, Ocala Health Trauma LLC, Ocala Regional Outpatient Services Inc., Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery LLC, Ocala Stereotactic Radiosurgery Partner LLC, Occupational Health Services of PRH LLC, Occupational and Family Medicine of South Texas, Ogden Imaging LLC, Ogden Internal Medicine & Urology LLC, Ogden Regional Health Plan Inc., Ogden Regional Medical Center Professional Billing LLC, Ogden Senior Center LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy LLC, Ogden Tomotherapy Manager LLC, Okaloosa Hospital Inc., Okeechobee Hospital Inc., Oklahoma Holding Company LLC, Oklahoma Outpatient Surgery Limited Partnership, Oklahoma Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Oklahoma Physicians - Surgical Specialties LLC, Oklahoma Surgicare Inc., Old Fort Village LLC, On-Site Primary Care PLLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi LLC, Oncology Services of Corpus Christi Manager LLC, OneSourceMed Inc., Online Pathology Services Limited, Orange County Healthcare LLC, Orange Park Hospitalists LLC, Orange Park Medical Center Inc., Orlando CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Orlando Outpatient Surgical Center Ltd., Orlando Surgicare Ltd., Orthopaedic Specialty Associates L.P., Orthopaedic Sports Specialty Associates Inc., Orthopedic Hospital Ltd., Orthopedics Specialists LLC, Osceola Neurological Associates LLC, Osceola Physician Network LLC, Osceola Regional Hospital Inc., Osceola Regional Hospitalists LLC, Osceola Surgical Associates LLC, Outpatient Cardiovascular Center of Central Florida LLC, Outpatient GP LLC, Outpatient Services - LAD LLC, Outpatient Services Holdings Inc., Outpatient Surgical Services Ltd., Outpatient Womens and Childrens Surgery Center Ltd., Overland Park Cardiovascular Inc., Overland Park Medical Specialists LLC, Overland Park Orthopedics LLC, Overland Park Surgical Specialties LLC, Oviedo Medical Center LLC, Ozarks Medical Services Inc., P&L Associates, P/SL Hyperbaric Partnership, PET CT LLP, PMM Inc., POH Holdings LLC, PSG Delegated Services LLC, PTS Solutions LLC, Pacific Partners Management Services Inc., Palm Beach EFL Imaging Center LLC, Palm Beach General Surgery LLC, Palm Beach Healthcare System Inc., Palm Beach Hospitalists Program LLC, Palmer Medical Center LLC, Palms West Gastroenterology LLC, Palms West Hospital Limited Partnership, Palms West Surgery Center Ltd., Paragon Physicians Hospital Organization of South Texas Inc., Paragon SDS Inc., Paragon Surgery Centers of Texas Inc., Paragon WSC Inc., Paragon of Texas Health Properties Inc., Parallon Business Solutions LLC, Parallon Enterprises LLC, Parallon Health Information Solutions LLC, Parallon Holdings LLC, Parallon Payroll Solutions LLC, Parallon Physician Services LLC, Parallon Revenue Cycle Services Inc., Park Central Surgical Center Ltd., Park Ridge Surgery Center LLC, Park South Imaging Center Ltd., Park View Insurance Company, Parkersburg SJ Holdings Inc., Parkland Hospitalists Program LLC, Parkland Oncology LLC, Parkland Physician Services Inc., Parkridge East Specialty Associates LLC, Parkridge Hospitalists Inc., Parkridge Medical Associates LLC, Parkridge Medical Center Inc., Parkridge Professionals Inc., Parkside Surgery Center Inc., Parkway Cardiac Center Ltd., Parkway Hospital Inc., Parkway Surgery Services Ltd., Parthenon Insurance Company Limited, Pasadena Bayshore Hospital Inc., PatientKeeper, PatientKeeper Inc., Patients First Neurology LLC, Pavilion 2 Condominium Property LLC, Pavilion 2 Medical Office Building Condominium Association Inc., Pavilion Surgicenter LLC, Peach State Anesthesia Partners LLC, Pearland Institute for Womens Health PLLC, Pearland Partner LLC, Pediatric Anesthesia Consultants of San Antonio PLLC, Pediatric Cardiac Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Critical Care of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Hospitalists of Conroe PLLC, Pediatric Intensivist Group LLC, Pediatric Intensivists of El Paso PLLC, Pediatric Intensivists of North Texas PLLC, Pediatric Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Pediatric Specialty Clinic LLC, Pediatric Surgicare Inc., Pediatrics of Greater Houston PLLC, Pensacola Primary Care Inc., Physician Associates of Corporate Woods LLC, Physicians Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Physicians West Surgicenter LLC, Pinellas Medical LLC, Pinnacle Physician Network LLC, Pioneer Medical LLC, Plains Healthcare System Inc., Plano Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., Plano Heart Institute L.P., Plano Heart Management LLC, Plano Surgery Center - GP LLC, Plano Surgery Center Real Estate LLC, Plano Surgicenter Real Estate Manager LLC, Plano Urology PLLC, Plantation General Hospital L.P., Plaza Medical Specialists PLLC, Plaza Primary Care PLLC, Plaza Transplant Center PLLC, Podiatry of Clear Lake PLLC, Poinciana Medical Center Inc., Port St. Lucie Surgery Center Ltd., Portland Primary Care LLC, Portsmouth Regional Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Portsmouth Surgicenter LLC, Preferred Hospitals Inc., Preferred Works WC LLC, Premier ASC LLC, Premier Medical Management Ltd., Primary Care Medical Associates Inc., Primary Care Plano PLLC, Primary Care Services of Orlando LLC, Primary Care South PLLC, Primary Care West PLLC, Primary Care of West End LLC, Primary Health Asset Holdings Ltd., Primary Health Group Inc., Primary Health Inc., Primary Health Network of South Texas, Primary Health Physicians PLLC, Primary Medical Management Inc., Proaxis Therapy HealthOne LLC, Provident Professional Building Condominium Association Inc., Psychiatry Services of Osceola LLC, Pulaski Community Hospital Inc., Pulaski Urology LLC, Pulmonary Renal Intensivist Group LLC, Putnam Community Medical Center of North Florida LLC, Putnam Hospital Inc., Putnam Radiation Oncology LLC, Putnam Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Putnam Surgical Group LLC, Quantum/Bellaire Imaging Ltd., Quick Care Centers LLC, Quivira Internal Medicine Inc., RCH LLC, RMC - Pulmonary LLC, RMC Transplant Physicians LLC, RMCA Professionals Mgmt LLC, ROi CPS LLC, Radford Family Medicine LLC, Radiation Oncology Center of Thornton LLC, Radiation Oncology Manager LLC, Raleigh Community Medical Office Building Ltd., Rapides After Hours Clinic L.L.C., Rapides Healthcare System L.L.C., Rapides Regional Physician Group LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Primary Care LLC, Rapides Regional Physician Group Specialty Care LLC, Rapides Surgery Center LLC, Raulerson GYN LLC, Raulerson Gastroenterology LLC, Raulerson Primary Care LLC, Raymore Medical Group LLC, Red Rock Holdco LLC, Red Rock at Smoke Ranch LLC, Red Rocks Surgery Center LLC, Redmond Anesthesia Services LLC, Redmond Hospital Services LLC, Redmond Neurosurgery LLC, Redmond Park Health Services Inc., Redmond Park Hospital LLC, Redmond Physician Practice Company, Redmond Specialty Services LLC, Regional Hospital Healthcare Partners LLC, Research Cardiology Associates LLC, Research Family Physicians LLC, Research Internal Medicine LLC, Research Neurology Associates LLC, Research Neuroscience Institute LLC, Resource Optimization & Innovation L.L.C., Reston Hospital Center LLC, Reston Hospitalists LLC, Reston Surgery Center L.P., Retreat Cardiology LLC, Retreat Hospital LLC, Retreat Internal Medicine LLC, Retreat Surgical Associates LLC, Rhodes Limited-Liability Company, Richmond Imaging Employer Corp., Richmond Multi-Specialty LLC, Richmond Pediatric Surgeons LLC, Ridgeline Surgicenter LLC, Rim Building Partners L.P., Rio Grande Healthcare MSO Inc., Rio Grande NP Inc., Rio Grande Regional Hospital Inc., Rio Grande Valley Cardiology PLLC, Rio Grande Valley CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, Rio Grande Valley Urology PLLC, Riverside CyberKnife Manager LLC, Riverside Healthcare System L.P., Riverside Holdings Inc., Riverside Hospital Inc., Riverside Imaging LLC, Riverwalk ASC LLC, Roanoke Imaging LLC, Roanoke Neurosurgery LLC, Roanoke Surgery Center L.P., Roanoke Valley Gynecology LLC, Robotic Radiosurgery LLP, Rocky Mountain Pediatric Hematology Oncology LLC, Rocky Mountain Surgery Center LLC, Rome Imaging Center Limited Partnership, Roodlane Medical Limited, Rose Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Rose Health Partners LLC, Rose Medical Plaza Ltd., Rose POB Inc., Rosewood Medical Center Inc., Rosewood Professional Building Ltd., Round Rock Hospital Inc., Round Rock Trauma Surgeons PLLC, Royal Oaks Surgery Center L.P., S.A. Medical Center Inc., SAPN LLC, SCRI Global Services Limited, SCRI Holdings LLC, SCRI Scientifics LLC, SJMC LLC, SSHR Holdco LLC, SSJ St. Petersburg Holdings Inc., STPN Manager LLC, SWMC Inc., Sahara Outpatient Surgery Center Ltd., Salem Hospitalists LLC, Salem Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Salt Lake City Surgicare Inc., Samaritan LLC, San Antonio Division Inc., San Antonio Regional Hospital Inc., San Antonio Surgicenter LLC, San Bernardino Imaging LLC, San Joaquin Surgical Center Inc., San Jose Healthcare System LP, San Jose Hospital L.P., San Jose LLC, San Jose Medical Center LLC, San Jose Pathology Outreach LLC, San Marcos ASC LLC, San Marcos Surgicenter LLC, Sante Fe Family Practitioners PLLC, Sarah Cannon Development Innovations LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute LLC, Sarah Cannon Research Institute UK Limited, Sarasota Doctors Hospital Inc., Savannah Behavioral Health Associates LLC, Savannah Health Network LLC, Savannah Health Services LLC, Savannah Inpatient Services LLC, Savannah Multispecialty Associates LLC, Savannah Pediatric Care LLC, Savannah Primary Care Associates LLC, Sebring Health Services LLC, Selma Medical Center Hospital Inc., Senior Health Associates LLC, Short Pump Imaging LLC, Silicon Valley Health Holdings LLC, Silicon Valley Surgery Center L.P., Silicon Valley Surgicenter LLC, Sky Ridge Spine Manager LLC, Sky Ridge Surgery Center L.P., Skyline Medical Group LLC, Skyline Neuroscience Associates LLC, Skyline Rehab Associates LLC, Skyline Specialty Associates LLC, Smith Laboratories Inc., Solis Mammography at Bayshore Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Clear Lake Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Conroe Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Denton Regional Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at HCA Houston Tomball LLC, Solis Mammography at Kingwood Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Las Colinas Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Alliance LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center Arlington LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Lewisville LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of McKinney LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical Center of Plano LLC, Solis Mammography at Medical City Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography at Pearland Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Rose Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Skyline Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at StoneCrest Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at West Houston Medical Center LLC, Solis Mammography at Womans Hospital of Texas LLC, Solis Mammography of Cedar Hill LLC, Solis Mammography of CyFair LLC, Solis Mammography of Dallas LLC, Solis Mammography of Flower Mound LLC, Solis Mammography of Frisco LLC, Solis Mammography of Garland LLC, Solis Mammography of Grand Prairie LLC, Solis Mammography of Houston NW LLC, Solis Mammography of Katy LLC, Solis Mammography of Louetta/249 LLC, Solis Mammography of Mainland LLC, Solis Mammography of Mansfield LLC, Solis Mammography of Mesquite LLC, Solis Mammography of Montgomery LLC, Solis Mammography of North Cypress LLC, Solis Mammography of North Loop LLC, Solis Mammography of Sugar Land LLC, Solis Mammography of West Plano LLC, Solis Mammography of Womans Place LLC, South Atlantic Division Inc., South Austin Surgery Center Ltd., South Austin Surgical Management LLC, South Austin Surgicenter LLC, South Brandon Imaging LLC, South Florida Division Practice Inc., South Texas Surgicare Inc., South Transfer Center LLC, South Valley Hospital L.P., Southeast Georgia Health Services LLC, Southern Hills Medical Center LLC, Southern Hills Neurology Consultants LLC, Southern Kentucky Medicine Associates LLC, Southern Kentucky Surgicenter LLC, Southern Texas Physicians Network, Southpoint LLC, Southtown Womens Clinic LLC, Southwest Florida Health System Inc., Southwest Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., Southwest Medical Center Family Practice LLC, Southwest Medical Center Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Southwest Medical Center Surgical Group LLC, Southwest Medpro Ltd., Southwest Surgical Clinic Inc., Southwest Virginia Orthopedics and Spine LLC, Spalding Rehabilitation L.L.C., Specialists in Obstetrics and Gynecology PLLC, Specialty Associates of West Houston PLLC, Specialty Physicians of Northern Virginia LLC, Specialty Surgicare of Las Vegas LP, Spotsylvania Condominium Property LLC, Spotsylvania Medical Center Inc., Spotsylvania Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Spotsylvania Regional Surgery Center LLC, Spring Branch Family Practitioners PLLC, Spring Branch Medical Center Inc., Spring Hill Hospital Inc., Spring Hill Imaging LLC, Spring Hill Physicians LLC, Springview KY LLC, Spruce Pine Healthcare LLC, St. Davids Austin Area ASC LLC, St. Davids Cardiology PLLC, St. Davids CareNow Urgent Care PLLC, St. Davids Healthcare Partnership L.P. LLP, St. Davids Heart & Vascular PLLC, St. Davids Neurology PLLC, St. Davids OB Hospitalist PLLC, St. Davids Ortho Neuro and Rehab PLLC, St. Davids Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation PLLC, St. Davids Quality Alliance LLC, St. Davids Specialized Womens Services PLLC, St. Davids Trauma Surgeons PLLC, St. Lucie Hospitalists LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Hyperbarics LLC, St. Lucie Medical Center Walk-In Clinic LLC, St. Lucie Medical Specialists LLC, St. Lucie West Primary Care LLC, St. Marks Ambulatory Surgery Associates L.P., St. Marks Gynecology Oncology Care LLC, St. Marks Investments Inc., St. Marks Physician Billing LLC, St. Marks Professional Services LLC, St. Marks South Jordan Family Practice LLC, St. Martins Healthcare Limited, St. Martins Ltd., St. Martins Medical Services Limited, St. Petersburg General Surgery LLC, Stafford Imaging LLC, Statland Medical Group LLC, Steamboat Springs Surgicenter LLC, Sterling Primary Care Associates LLC, Stiles Road Imaging LLC, StoneCrest Surgery Center LLC, StoneSprings Medical Office Building Property LLC, StoneSprings Surgicenter LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - Family Practice of Murfreesboro LLC, Stonecrest Medical Group - SC Murfreesboro Family Practice LLC, Stones River Hospital LLC, Suburban Medical Center at Hoffman Estates Inc., Sugar Land Surgery Center Anesthesia LLC, Sugar Land Surgery Center Ltd., Sullins Surgical Center Inc., Summit Convenient Care at Lebanon LLC, Summit General Partner Inc., Summit Heart LLC, Summit Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Summit Research Solutions LLC, Summit Surgery Center L.P., Summit Surgical Associates LLC, Summit Walk-in Clinic LLC, Sun Bay Medical Office Building Inc., Sun City Hospital Inc., Sun City Imaging LLC, Sun Towers/Vista Hills Holding Co., Sun-Med LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Holdings LLC, Sunrise Flamingo Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center LLC, Sunrise Mountainview Hospital Inc., Sunrise Mountainview Multi-Specialty Clinics LLC, Sunrise Outpatient Services Inc., Sunrise Physician Services LLC, Sunrise Trauma Services LLC, Surgery Associates of NTX PLLC, Surgery Center of Atlantis LLC, Surgery Center of Aventura Ltd., Surgery Center of Bay Area Houston LLC, Surgery Center of Greenview L.P., Surgery Center of Independence L.P., Surgery Center of Overland Park L.P., Surgery Center of Port Charlotte Ltd., Surgery Center of Rome L.P., Surgery Center of the Rockies LLC, Surgical Associates of Southwest Virginia LLC, Surgical Care Medical Group LLC, Surgical Center of Irving Inc., Surgical Facility of West Houston L.P., Surgical Park Center Ltd., Surgical Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Conroe PLLC, Surgical Specialists of Corpus Christi PLLC, Surgicare America - Winter Park Inc., Surgicare Merger Company of Louisiana, Surgicare Outpatient Center of Baton Rouge Inc., Surgicare Outpatient Center of Jackson Inc., Surgicare of ADC LLC, Surgicare of AGI LLC, Surgicare of Alpine LLC, Surgicare of Altamonte Springs Inc., Surgicare of Anchorage LLC, Surgicare of Arapahoe LLC, Surgicare of Arlington LLC, Surgicare of Ashburn LLC, Surgicare of Augusta Inc., Surgicare of Aurora Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Aventura LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Bay Area LLC, Surgicare of Bayonet Point Inc., Surgicare of Bayside LLC, Surgicare of Bountiful LLC, Surgicare of Brandon Inc., Surgicare of Brentwood LLC, Surgicare of Brighton LLC, Surgicare of Brooksville LLC, Surgicare of Brownsville LLC, Surgicare of Buckhead LLC, Surgicare of CAREOS LLC, Surgicare of Central Florida Inc., Surgicare of Central Park Surgery Center LLC, Surgicare of Central San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Chattanooga LLC, Surgicare of Chippenham LLC, Surgicare of Citrus LLC, Surgicare of Clarksville LLC, Surgicare of Corpus Christi LLC, Surgicare of Countryside Inc., Surgicare of Dallas Specialty LLC, Surgicare of Denton Inc., Surgicare of Denver Clinic LLC, Surgicare of Denver LLC, Surgicare of Denver Mid-Town Inc., Surgicare of Dickson LLC, Surgicare of Eastside LLC, Surgicare of Evans Inc., Surgicare of Fairfax Inc., Surgicare of Florida Inc., Surgicare of Flower Mound Inc., Surgicare of Focus Hand LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Co-GP LLC, Surgicare of Fort Worth Inc., Surgicare of Ft. Pierce Inc., Surgicare of Good Samaritan LLC, Surgicare of Gramercy Inc., Surgicare of Greenview Inc., Surgicare of Hanover Inc., Surgicare of Houston Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Houston LLC, Surgicare of Houston Womens Inc., Surgicare of Indianapolis Inc., Surgicare of Kansas City LLC, Surgicare of Kingwood LLC, Surgicare of Kissimmee Inc., Surgicare of Lakeview Inc., Surgicare of Las Vegas Inc., Surgicare of Laurel Grove LLC, Surgicare of Lorain County Inc., Surgicare of Los Gatos Inc., Surgicare of Los Robles LLC, Surgicare of Loveland LLC, Surgicare of Madison Inc., Surgicare of Manatee Inc., Surgicare of McKinney Inc., Surgicare of Medical City Dallas LLC, Surgicare of Memorial Endoscopy LLC, Surgicare of Merritt Island Inc., Surgicare of Miami Lakes LLC, Surgicare of Mountain West LLC, Surgicare of Mt. Ogden LLC, Surgicare of Nashville LLC, Surgicare of Natchez LLC, Surgicare of Newport Richey Inc., Surgicare of North Austin LLC, Surgicare of North San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Northeast San Antonio Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park II LLC, Surgicare of Orange Park Inc., Surgicare of Orange Park Ltd., Surgicare of Orlando Inc., Surgicare of Overland Park LLC, Surgicare of Palms West LLC, Surgicare of Park Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Pasadena Inc., Surgicare of Pavilion LLC, Surgicare of Physicians West El Paso LLC, Surgicare of Pinellas Inc., Surgicare of Plano Inc., Surgicare of Plantation Inc., Surgicare of Port Charlotte LLC, Surgicare of Port St. Lucie Inc., Surgicare of Portsmouth LLC, Surgicare of Premier Orthopaedic LLC, Surgicare of Reston Inc., Surgicare of Ridgeline LLC, Surgicare of Riverside LLC, Surgicare of Riverwalk LLC, Surgicare of Roanoke LLC, Surgicare of Rome Inc., Surgicare of Rose LLC, Surgicare of Round Rock Inc., Surgicare of Royal Oaks LLC, Surgicare of Silicon Valley LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge LLC, Surgicare of Sky Ridge Womens Center LLC, Surgicare of South Austin Inc., Surgicare of Southeast Denver Inc., Surgicare of Southern Hills Inc., Surgicare of Southern Kentucky LLC, Surgicare of Southwest Houston LLC, Surgicare of Spotsylvania LLC, Surgicare of St. Andrews Inc., Surgicare of St. Andrews Ltd., Surgicare of St. Davids Austin LLC, Surgicare of Steamboat Springs LLC, Surgicare of StoneCrest LLC, Surgicare of StoneSprings LLC, Surgicare of Stuart Inc., Surgicare of Sugar Land Inc., Surgicare of Swedish LLC, Surgicare of Tallahassee Inc., Surgicare of Terre Haute LLC, Surgicare of Thornton LLC, Surgicare of Travis Center Inc., Surgicare of Tulsa Inc., Surgicare of Utah LLC, Surgicare of Wasatch Front LLC, Surgicare of West Hills Inc., Surgicare of Westlake Inc., Surgicare of Wichita Inc., Surgicare of Wichita LLC, Surgicare of Willis LLC, Surgicare of Wilson County LLC, Surgicare of Winchester LLC, Surgicenter of East Jefferson Inc., Surgicenter of Johnson County Ltd. a Kansas limited partnership, Surgicenter of Kansas City L.L.C., Surgico LLC, Swedish MOB Acquisition Inc., Swedish MOB I Ltd., Swedish MOB II Inc., Swedish MOB III Inc., Swedish MOB IV Inc., Swedish MOB LLC, Swedish Medpro Inc., TBHI Outpatient Services LLC, TCMC Madison-Portland Inc., THN Physicians Association Inc., TUHC Anesthesiology Group LLC, TUHC Hospitalist Group LLC, TUHC Physician Group LLC, TUHC Primary Care and Pediatrics Group LLC, TUHC Radiology Group LLC, Tallahassee Community Network Inc., Tallahassee Medical Center Inc., Tallahassee Orthopaedic Surgery Partners Ltd., Tampa Bay Health System Inc., Tampa Surgi-Centre Inc., Tarrant County Surgery Center L.P., Tchefuncte Cardiology Associates - Lakeview LLC, Teays Valley Health Services LLC, Telehealth Physician Services LLC, Tennessee Healthcare Management Inc., Tennessee Valley Outpatient Diagnostic Center LLC, Terre Haute Hospital GP Inc., Terre Haute Hospital Holdings Inc., Terre Haute MOB L.P., Terre Haute Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Terre Haute Regional Hospital L.P., Texas CareNow Physician Associates, Texas HSS LLC, Texas Institute of Medicine and Surgery, Texas Psychiatric Company Inc., The Austin Diagnostic Clinic PLLC, The Cancer Care Center of North Florida LLC, The Cardiovascular Partnership for Quality LLC, The Charter Cypress Behavioral Health System L.L.C., The Christie Clinic LLP, The Glynne Medical Practice Limited, The Harley Street Cancer Clinic Limited, The London Breast Institute UK Ltd, The Medical Group of Kansas City LLC, The Neurohealth Sciences Center LLC, The Physicians Clinic Limited, The Prostate Centre Limited, The Rankin Foundation, The Regional Health System of Acadiana LLC, The Wasatch Endoscopy Center Ltd., The West Texas Division of Columbia Inc., Timpanogos Pain Specialists LLC, Timpanogos Regional Medical Services Inc., Total Imaging - Hudson LLC, Total Imaging - North St. Petersburg LLC, Total Imaging - Parsons LLC, Town Plaza Family Practice LLC, Travel Medicine and Infections LLC, Travis Surgery Center L.P., Tri Cities Health Services Corp., Tri-City Multi-Specialty LLC, Tri-County Community Hospital Inc., Tri-County Surgical Specialists LLC, TriStar Bone Marrow Transplant LLC, TriStar Cardiovascular Surgery LLC, TriStar Family Care LLC, TriStar Gynecology Oncology LLC, TriStar Health System Inc., TriStar Joint Replacement Institute LLC, TriStar Maury Behavioral Healthcare LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Centennial Primary Care LLC, TriStar Medical Group - Legacy Health LLC, TriStar Medical Network LLC, TriStar OB/GYN LLC, TriStar Orthopedics LLC, TriStar Physicians LLC, TriStar Radiation Oncology LLC, Trident Ambulatory Surgery Center L.P., Trident Behavioral Health Services LLC, Trident Eye Surgery Center L.P., Trident Medical Center LLC, Trident Medical Services Inc., Trident Neonatology Services LLC, Tulane Clinic LLC, Tulane Professionals Management L.L.C., Tuscan Imaging Center at Las Colinas LLC, U.S. Collections Inc., Ultra Imaging Management Services LLC, Ultra Imaging of Tampa LLC, University Healthcare Specialists LLC, University Healthcare System L.C., University Hospital Ltd., Uptown Primary Care Associates LLC, Urgent Care Enterprise LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Ann & Simmons LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Cactus & Southern Highlands LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Charleston/Sloan LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Clayton LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Craig & Decatur LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Cheyenne LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Durango & Flamingo LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Eastern & Horizon Ridge LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Rainbow/Mardon LLC, Urgent Care Extra - Warm Springs & Green Valley LLC, Urgent Care Extra Silverado & Maryland LLC, Urgent Care Extra-Tropicana & Jones LLC, Urgent Care Nevada LLC, Urological Specialists of Arlington PLLC, Urology Associates (London) Limited, Urology Center of North Georgia LLC, Urology Services of El Paso PLLC, Urology Specialists Devonshire LLP, Urology Specialists London LLP, Urology Specialists of Kingwood PLLC, Urology Specialists of Richmond LLC, Urology Surgery Center of Colorado LLC, Utah CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Utah Imaging GP LLC, Utah Medco LLC, Utah Surgery Center L.P., VH Holdco Inc., VH Holdings Inc., VHSC Plantation LLC, VIP Inc., Valify, Valify Inc., Value Health Holdings Inc., Value Health Management Inc., Vascular and Endovascular Specialists LLC, Venture Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Venture Medical Management LLC, Village Oaks Medical Center Inc., Virginia Care Partners ACO LLC, Virginia Gynecologic Oncology LLC, Virginia Hematology & Oncology Associates Inc., Virginia Hospitalists Inc., Virginia Psychiatric Company Inc., Virginia Quality Care Partners LLC, Vision Consulting Group LLC, Vision Holdings LLC, W & C Hospital Inc., WCP Properties LLC, WHG Medical LLC, WHMC Inc., WJHC LLC, Walterboro Community Hospital Inc., Warren County Ambulance Service LLC, Wasatch Front Surgery Center LLC, Washington Holdco LLC, Waterway Primary Care LLC, Weatherford Health Services LLC, Weatherford Mammography JV LLC, Weatherford Regional Medical Center, Welbeck Street Diagnostic Centre LLP, Wellington Diagnostic Services LLP, Wesley Cath Lab LLC, Wesley Manager LLC, Wesley Medical Center LLC, Wesley Physician Services LLC, Wesley Physicians - Anesthesiologist LLC, Wesley Physicians - Cardiovascular LLC, Wesley Physicians - Medical Specialties LLC, Wesley Physicians - Obstetrics and Gynecology LLC, Wesley Physicians - Primary Care LLC, Wesley Select Network LLC, Wesley Urgent Care LLC, West Boynton Beach Open Imaging Center LLC, West Creek Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, West Creek Medical Center Inc., West Florida - MHT LLC, West Florida - PPH LLC, West Florida Behavioral Health Inc., West Florida Cardiology Network LLC, West Florida Cardiology Physicians LLC, West Florida CareNow Urgent Care LLC, West Florida Division Inc., West Florida Gulf Coast Primary Care LLC, West Florida HealthWorks LLC, West Florida Imaging Services LLC, West Florida Internal Medicine LLC, West Florida PET Services LLC, West Florida Physician Network LLC, West Florida Professional Billing LLC, West Florida Regional Medical Center Inc., West Florida Specialty Physicians LLC, West Florida Trauma Network LLC, West Florida Urgent Care Network LLC, West Hills Hospital, West Hills Surgical Center Ltd., West Houston ASC Inc., West Houston Healthcare Group Ltd., West Houston Internal Specialists PLLC, West Houston LLC, West Houston Medical PLLC, West Houston Outpatient Medical Facility Inc., West Houston Surgicare Inc., West Jacksonville Medical Center Inc., West Jordan Hospital Corporation, West LPN Fort Worth Oncology PLLC, West LPN Inc., West Los Angeles Physicians Hospital Inc., West McKinney Imaging Services LLC, West Paces Services Inc., West Park Surgery Center L.P., West Valley Imaging LLC, West Valley Medical Center Inc., West Valley Medical Group LLC, West Valley Medical Group Specialty Services LLC, West Valley Therapy Services LLC, Westbury Hospital Inc., Western Plains Capital Inc., Westlake Surgicare L.P., Westminster Community Hospital, Westside Surgery Center Ltd., Wichita CareNow Urgent Care LLC, Wildwood Medical Center Inc., Willis Surgicenter LLC, Wilson County Outpatient Surgery Center L.P., Womans Health Group PLLC, Womans Hospital Merger LLC, Womans Hospital of Texas Incorporated, Women Practitioners of Houston PLLC, Women Specialists of Bayshore PLLC, Women Specialists of Clear Lake PLLC, Women Specialists of Mainland PLLC, Womens & Childrens Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Center LLC, Womens & Childrens Pulmonology Clinic LLC, Womens Center at Brookside LLC, Womens Health Center of Central Florida LLC, Womens Health Center of SWVA LLC, Womens Hospital Indianapolis GP Inc., Womens Hospital Indianapolis L.P., Womens Link Specialty Obstetrical Referral Clinic PLLC, Womens Multi-Specialty Group LLC, Womens Surgical Specialists of Texas PLLC, Womens and Childrens Professional Management L.L.C., Womens and Childrens Specialists LLC, hInsight-Airstrip Holdings LLC, hInsight-BMA Holdings LLC, hInsight-Customer Care Holdings LLC, hInsight-Digital Reasoning Holdings LLC, hInsight-Healthbox Holdings LLC, hInsight-I2 Holdings LLC, hInsight-InVivoLink Holdings LLC, hInsight-LS Holdings LLC, hInsight-Loyale Healthcare Holdings LLC, hInsight-Mobile Heartbeat Holdings LLC, hInsight-NX LLC, hInsight-PWS I Holdings LLC, hInsight-Procured Holdings LLC, and hInsight-VAI Holdings LLC.Cenovus Energy Inc., together with its subsidiaries, develops, produces, and markets crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas in Canada, the United States and the Asia Pacific region. The company operates through Oil Sands, Conventional, and Refining and Marketing segments. The Oil Sands segment develops and produces bitumen in northeast Alberta. Its bitumen assets include Foster Creek, Christina Lake, and Narrows Lake, as well as other projects in the early stages of development. The Conventional segment holds assets primarily located in Elmworth-Wapiti, Kaybob-Edson, and Clearwater operating areas of British Columbia and Alberta, as well as various interests in natural gas processing facilities. The Refining and Marketing segment transports and sells crude oil, natural gas, and NGLs. This segment owns a 50% ownership in Wood River and Borger refineries located in the United States; and owns and operates a crude-by-rail terminal in Alberta. Cenovus Energy Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of Exxon Mobil: AKG Marketing Company Limited, Aera Energy LLC, Al-Jubail Petrochemical Company, Ampolex (Cepu) Pte Ltd, Ancon Insurance Company Inc., Barnett Gathering LLC, Barzan Gas Company Limited, Caspian Pipeline Consortium, Celtic Exploration Ltd., Coral FLNG S.A., Cross Timbers Energy LLC, Ellora Energy Inc., Esmeroon Oil Transporta Imperial Oil Limited, Esso (Thailand) Public Company Limited, Esso Australia Resources Pty Ltd, Esso Deutschland GmbH, Esso Erdgas Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 15) Limited, Esso Exploration Angola (Block 17) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Angola (Overseas) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Chad Inc., Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Deepwater) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria (Offshore East) Limited, Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited, Esso Exploration and Production UK Limited, Esso Global Investments Ltd., Esso Italiana S.r.l., Esso Nederland B.V., Esso Norge AS, Esso Petroleum Company Limited, Esso Raffinage, Esso Societe Anonyme Francaise, Exxo Holdings Inc., Exxon Azerbaijan Limited, Exxon Chemical Arabia Inc., Exxon International Finance Company, Exxon Luxembourg Holdings LLC, Exxon Mobile Bay Limited Partnership, Exxon Neftegas Limited, Exxon Overseas Corporation, Exxon Overseas Investment Corporation, ExxonMobil (China) Investment Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil (Taicang) Petroleum Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil Abu Dhabi Offshore Petroleum Company Limited, ExxonMobil Alaska Production Inc., ExxonMobil Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., ExxonMobil Australia Pty Ltd, ExxonMobil B Resources Company, ExxonMobil Capital Finance Company, ExxonMobil Capital Netherlands B.V., ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH, ExxonMobil Cepu Limited, ExxonMobil Chemical France, ExxonMobil Chemical Gulf Coast Investments LLC, ExxonMobil Chemical Holland B.V., ExxonMobil Chemical Services (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ExxonMobil China Petroleum & Petrochemical Company Limited, ExxonMobil Development Africa B.V., ExxonMobil Development Company, ExxonMobil Egypt (S.A.E.), ExxonMobil Exploracao Brasil Ltda., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Malaysia Inc., ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Norway AS, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Romania Limited, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Tanzania Limited, ExxonMobil Finance Company Limited, ExxonMobil Financial Investment Company Limited, ExxonMobil France Holding SAS, ExxonMobil Gas Marketing Europe Limited, ExxonMobil General Finance Company, ExxonMobil Global Services Company, ExxonMobil Golden Pass Surety LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Company Holland LLC, ExxonMobil Holding Norway AS, ExxonMobil Hong Kong Limited, ExxonMobil International Services SARL, ExxonMobil Iraq Limited, ExxonMobil Italiana Gas S.r.l., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Inc., ExxonMobil Kazakhstan Ventures Inc., ExxonMobil LNG Services B.V., ExxonMobil Lubricants Trading Company, ExxonMobil Oil Corporation, ExxonMobil PNG Limited, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical BVBA, ExxonMobil Petroleum & Chemical Holdings Inc., ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, ExxonMobil Production Norway Inc., ExxonMobil Qatargas (II) Limited, ExxonMobil Qatargas Inc., ExxonMobil Ras Laffan (III) Limited, ExxonMobil Rasgas Inc., ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company, ExxonMobil Russia Kara Sea Holdings B.V., ExxonMobil Sales and Supply LLC, ExxonMobil Technology Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Finance Company, ExxonMobil Ventures Funding Ltd., Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Co. Ltd., Golden Pass LNG Terminal Investments LLC, Golden Pass LNG Terminal LLC, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures LLC, Imperial Oil Limited, Imperial Oil Resources Limited, Imperial Oil Resources N.W.T. Limited, Imperial Oil/Petroliere Imperiale, Infineum Italia s.r.I., Infineum Singapore Pte. Ltd., InterOil Corporation, Jurong Aromatics Corporation Pte Ltd, MPM Lubricants, Marine Well Containment Company LLC, Mobil Australia Resources Company Pty Limited, Mobil California Exploration & Producing Asset Company, Mobil Caspian Pipeline Company, Mobil Chemical Products International Inc., Mobil Corporation, Mobil Equatorial Guinea Inc., Mobil Erdgas Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, Mobil Exploration & Producing Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil International Petroleum Corporation, Mobil Oil Australia Pty Ltd, Mobil Oil Exploration & Producing Southeast Inc., Mobil Oil New Zealand Limited, Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, Mobil Producing Texas & New Mexico Inc., Mobil SerLimited, Mobil Venezolana De Petroleos Inc., Mobil Yanbu Petrochemical Company Inc., Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., Mountain Gathering LLC, Mozambique Rovuma Venture S.p.A., Palmetto Transoceanic LLC, Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural Gas Global Company LDC, Permian Express Partners LLC, Phillips Exploration LLC, Qatar Liquefied Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited, Ras Laffan Liquefied Natural Gas Company Limited (II), SPI Limited, Saudi Aramco Mobil Refinery Company Ltd., Saudi Yanbu Petrochemical Co., SeaRiver Maritime Inc., South Hook LNG Terminal Company Limited, Tengizchevroil LLP, Terminale GNL Adriatico S.r.l, Trend Gathering & Treating LLC, Wolverine Pipe Line Company, XH LLC, XTO Delaware Basin LLC, XTO Energy Canada, XTO Energy Inc., and XTO Holdings LLC.FactSet Research Systems Inc. (the ""Company"" or ""FactSet"") is a global provider of integrated financial information, analytical applications and services for the investment and corporate communities. Since inception, global financial professionals have utilized the Company's content and multi-asset class solutions across each stage of the investment process. FactSet's goal is to provide a seamless user experience spanning idea generation, research, portfolio construction, trade execution, performance measurement, risk management, reporting, and portfolio analysis, in which the Company serves the front, middle, and back offices to drive productivity and improved performance. FactSet's flexible, open data and technology solutions can be implemented both across the investment portfolio lifecycle or as standalone components serving different workflows in the organization. FactSet is focused on growing the business throughout each of its three segments, the Americas, EMEA (formerly known as Europe), and Asia Pacific. The Company primarily delivers insight and information through the workflow solutions of Research, Analytics and Trading, Content and Technology Solutions (""CTS"") and Wealt

Read MorePraxair, Inc. produces and distributes industrial gases. It operates through five segments: North America, Europe, South America, Asia, and Surface Technologies. The company offers atmospheric gases, including oxygen, nitrogen, argon, and rare gases; and process gases, such as carbon dioxide, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, specialty gases, and acetylene. It also supplies wear-resistant and high-temperature corrosion-resistant metallic and ceramic coatings and powders to the aircraft, energy, printing, primary metals, petrochemical, textile, and other industries. In addition, the company offers electric arc, plasma and wire spray, and high-velocity oxy-fuel equipment; and distributes hardgoods and welding equipment purchased from independent manufacturers. It serves various industries, such as healthcare, petroleum refining, manufacturing, food, beverage carbonation, fiber-optics, steel making, aerospace, chemicals, and water treatment. Praxair, Inc. was founded in 1907 and is headquartered in Danbury, Connecticut.

Read MoreHarvest Minerals Limited engages in the mineral exploration and production of organic natural fertilizers in Brazil. The company holds 100% interests in the Arapua fertilizer project located in the state of Minas Gerais in Brazil; the Mandacaru phosphate project comprising three exploration licenses covering an area of 5,908.67 hectares located in the Ceara State, Brazil; and the Sergi potash project located in the Sergipe State, Brazil. It also holds interest in the Capela potash project situated in the Sergipe State, Brazil. The company was formerly known as Triumph Tin Limited and changed its name to Harvest Minerals Limited in December 2014. Harvest Minerals Limited was incorporated in 2010 and is based in Perth, Australia.

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 2021 Market data provided is at least 10-minutes delayed and hosted by Barchart Solutions. Information is provided 'as-is' and solely for informational purposes, not for trading purposes or advice, and is delayed. To see all exchange delays and terms of use please see disclaimer. Fundamental company data provided by Zacks Investment Research.Over 90 percent of Americans favor universal background checks, and the number is even higher for gun owners. Nearly similar majorities oppose large clips, bump stocks and the proliferation of assault weapons. The vast majority of assault weapon owners purchased them because of the rush of experiencing a rapid firing weapon, not because they wanted to use them on other people. Rather than taking away this right, I believe that a sensible solution would be to keep them locked up at firing ranges, where they can be used safely. Storing them in a private home only increases the chances that it can be stolen or fall into the hands of someone who will use a battlefield weapon on streets filled with civilians. If someone feels such an urgent need to use them on human beings, there are plenty of governments and militias looking for mercenaries in places such as Syria.

Poet William Blake made a splendid contrast of what happens as children endure the loss of innocence in his Songs of Innocence and Experience. After every mass shooting, politicians and the gun lobby use some form of the same wearying phrase: Now is the time for prayers, not for a discussion of gun control legislation. Prayers are not enough. The children of Marjory Stoneman Douglas, like the children of Sandy Hook, have experienced the terror of an active shooter violating their education space. Fortunately, the vast majority of us have been spared such experiences. That is why now is the time to speak about sensible firearms controls. Now is the time to listen to, and follow the children who are demanding sensible gun legislation. Now is the time. Before the next time.

The Rev. Dr. Stan Sears is a minister with the Auburn Unitarian Universalist Society, which was founded in 1833 and is located at 607 N. Seward Ave., Auburn. Services are held at 10:30 a.m. Sundays. All men, women and children of every race, religious creed, political conviction and sexual orientation are welcome.

Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0thyssenkrupp AG operates in the areas of automotive technology, industrial components, plant technology, marine systems, steel, and materials services in Germany, the United States, China, and internationally. The company's Automotive Technology segment develops and manufactures components and systems and automated production systems for the automotive industry. Its Industrial Components segment manufactures and sells forged components and system solutions for the resource, construction, and mobility sectors; and slewing rings, antifriction bearings, and seamless rolled rings for the wind energy and construction machinery sectors. The company's Plant Technology segment builds plants for the chemical, cement, and mining industries. Its Marine Systems segment provides systems in the submarine and surface ship building, as well as in the field of maritime electronics and security technology. The company's Materials Services segment distributes materials and offers technical services for the production and manufacturing sectors. Its Steel Europe segment provides flat carbon steel products, intelligent material solutions, and finished parts. thyssenkrupp AG was founded in 1811 and is headquartered in Essen, Germany.

Read MoreRockwell Collins, Inc. designs, produces, and supports communications and aviation systems worldwide. The company's Interior Systems segment offers commercial aircraft seats; galley structures, food and beverage preparation equipment, and water and waste systems; oxygen and passenger service equipment; cabin lighting systems; and business jet and general aviation interior products. Its Commercial Systems segment provides cabin management systems; data link, frequency, very high frequency, and satellite communications systems; landing, radio navigation, and geophysical sensors, and flight management systems; situational awareness and surveillance systems and products; integrated flight controls; simulation and training systems; maintenance, repair, parts, and after-sales support services, and aftermarket used equipment. The company's Government Systems segment provides communications systems and products; radio navigation products, global positioning system equipment, and multi-mode receivers; avionics systems; precision targeting, electronic warfare, and training systems; simulation and training systems; space wheels; visual system products; maintenance, repair, parts, and after-sales support services, and aftermarket used equipment. Its Information Management Services segment offers voice and data communication services; flight support services; airport communications and information systems; train dispatching and information systems; mission critical security systems; and cabin connectivity solutions. The company serves original equipment manufacturers of commercial air transport, business and regional aircraft, commercial airlines, U.S. Department of Defense, other ministries of defense, other government agencies, defense contractors, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration, and passenger and freight railroads, as well as airport, critical infrastructure, and business aircraft operators. The company was founded in 1933 and is headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Read MoreThis is from my email, I have done a bit of minor editing to remove identifiers. It is long, so it goes under the screen break:

Background

I joined Google [earlier]as an Engineering Director. This was, as I understand it, soon after an event where Larry either suggested or tried to fire all of the managers, believing they didnt do much that was productive. (Id say it was apocryphal but it did get written up in a Doc that had a bunch of Google lore, so it got enough oversight that it was probably at least somewhat accurate.)

At that time people were hammering on the doors trying to get in and some reasonably large subset, carefully vetted with stringent smart tests were being let in. The official mantra was, hire the smartest people and theyll figure out the right thing to do. People were generally allowed to sign up for any project that interested them (there was a database where engineers could literally add your name to a project that interested you) and there was quite a bit of encouragement for people to relocate to remote offices. Someone (not Eric, I think it probably was Sergey) proposed opening offices anyplace there were smart people so that we could vacuum them up. Almost anything would be considered as a new project unless it was considered to be not ambitious enough. The food was fabulous. Recruiters, reportedly, told people they could work on anything they wanted to. There were microkitchens stocked with fabulous treats every 500 and the toilets were fancy Japaneseuhauto cleaning and drying types.

And infrastructure projects and unglamorous projects went wanting for people to work on them. They had a half day meeting to review file system projects becauseit turns out that many, many top computer scientists evidently dream of writing their own file systems. The level of entitlement displayed around things like which treats were provided at the microkitchens wasintense. (Later, there was a tragicomic story of when they changed bus schedules so that people couldnt exploit the kitchens by getting meals for themselves [and familyseen that with my own eyes!] to go and take them home with them on the Google Bus  someone actually complained in a company meeting that the new schedulesmeant they couldnt get their meals to go. And they changed the bus schedule back, even though their intent was to reduce the abuse of the free food.)

Now, most of all that came from two sources not exclusively related to the question at hand:

Google (largely Larry I think) was fearless about trying new things. There was a general notion that we were so smart we could figure out a new, better way to do anything. That was really awesome. Id say, overall, that it mostly didnt pan outbut it did once in a while and it may well be that just thinking that way made working there so much fun, that it did make an atmosphere where, overall, great things happened.

Google was awash in money and happy to spray it all over its employees. Also awesome, but not something you can generalize for all businesses. Amazon, of course, took a very different tack. (Its pretty painful to hear the stories in The Everything Store or similar books about the relatively Spartan conditions Amazon maintained. I was the site lead for the Google [xxxx] office for a while and we hired a fair number of Amazon refugees. They were really happy to be in Google, generallynot necessarily to either of our benefit.)

I was there for over ten years. Over time, the general rule of you get what you incent made the whole machine move much less well and the burdens of maintaining growth for Wall Street have had some real negative impact (Larry and Sergey have been pushing valiantly for some other big hit of course).

So, onto the question at hand:

I know bits and pieces about Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon. Ive known some people whove worked at Netflix but generally know less about them. Google I know pretty well. Ive worked at a bunch of startups and some bigger companies. I havent worked for a non-tech company (Ford) since I was 19 (when I was an undergrad I worked in the group that did the early engine control computersa story in itself).

I think the primary contributions the tech companies make to organizational management are:

significantly decreasing the power that managers hold

treating organization problems as systems problems to be designed, measured, optimized, and debugged [as a manager, I, personally, treat human and emotional problems that way also]

high emphasis on employing top talent and very generous rewards distributed through the company*

*only possible in certain configurations of course.

What also went well at Google: Google avoided job categories that were, generally, likely to decrease accountability:

Google avoided the job class of architect  which was both high status and low accountability, making it an easy place for pricey senior people to park and not have much impact (Sun Microsystems was notorious for having lots and lots of architects)

Google avoided the category of project manager, which would have allowed engineering managers to avoid the grungy part of their job (and be out of touch with engineering realities). I dont know the history of that particular orientation  we did have something called a TPM (technical program manager) who were intended to make deep technical contributions, not just keep track of projects.

Google exploited level of indirection to avoid giving managers power over their employees or the employees excess emotional bonds to their managers.

hiring committees who would remove the managers from the process of hiring and (mostly, especially in the early days) project assignment

promotion committees who would judge promotion cases, removing the power of promotion from the manager (didnt scale well, as indicated by the link I sent you)

raises had a strong algorithmic component; promotions and bonuses were both linked to performance ratings in a way such that getting high scores (at the current level) led to big bonuses, so if an employees case wasnt perfect for promotion they wouldnt feel they were incurring a financial penalty. That gave promotion committees more liberty to say no by default and managers less incentive to fight like badgers to get their people promoted.

What didnt go so well

The industry has its own weird relationship to business:

product managers can be valuable if they have either strong business skills or a deep instinct for something amazing that should be built to create a business. Google (and others) explicitly treated product managers as mini-CEOs so they attracted a lot of people whowanted to be a mini-CEObut werent necessarily cut out for a CEO role. (At this point I have a generally low opinion of product managers and people who aspire to product management, with notable exceptions of course.)

Google- and software industry-specific: lots of developers want to make free software, lots of developers only know how to make things for other developers, so trying to be in a business where theres deep domain knowledge required, or lots of actual business competition (where marketing, awareness, and business strategy are key) mean that overfocus on really, really smart software engineers as the almost exclusive hiring target makes it difficult to succeed.

Selling adsIm not in favor of it as an engine of commerce. Amazon has profound and distinguished power accrued over time by ruthless exploitation of scale in low margin industries where everyone is making it for a dollar, selling it for two which makes them very dangerous for every competitor.

You get what you incent

product managers were rewarded for launching, which means theyd tend to launch and ditch

its hard not to reward managers for group size; Google was no different  this was the place where it was hardest to avoid fiefdoms that come with centralization of power

What degraded over time at Google:

Some things having to do with too much money, not necessarily related to tech management in particular:

sense of company mission vs. sense of entitlement.

pursuing company mission vs. individual advancement.

influx of people responding primarily to financial rewards (related).

Some things related to scale that might work better in an organization based on tight, interpersonal relationships (the opposite of the decreased manager power referenced above):

some processes implicitly dependent on people largely knowing one another or being one degree of separation apart (e.g., promotion)

the ability to reward creative, risky work; the ability to reward engineering work that had little visible outcome.

Other companies in bits and pieces

As indicated Im very admiring of Amazons strategic approach and its business-first focus. Google did a lot of awesome stuff, but it had incalculable waste and missed opportunities because of the level of pampering and scattershot approach. If you want a real tech company model, Id pick Amazon (even though Im not sure Id ever work there).

Facebook is kind of nothing. Its a product company and I (personally) dont think the product is very compelling. I think they hit a moment and will see the fate of MySpace in time. I cant pick out product innovations that were particularly awesome (other than incubating on college campuses and exploiting sex more or less tastefully). And, their infrastructure is pretty crude which means theyll run into the problem, eventually, hiring the kind of people who can do the kind of scaling theyre going to need.

Apple  I dont know a ton about them currently, but theyre old. Real old. I interviewed there some time ago and they told me they like to set arbitrary deadlines for their projects because once people are late they work harder. I didnt pursue the job further, although I have no idea if thats any sort of a broad practice or a current practice. What they *do* epitomize is the notion that new business models are more important than new technologies so things like flat rate data plans, $.99 songs, not licensing their OS, are real, interesting tech company contributions  I havent seen much of that sort of thing since Steve Jobs died, but Im also not that close to them. Thats obviously not exclusive to tech companies, but something that may be more possible where you have new inventions.

Microsoft  the epitome of high pressure big software, abuse of market dominance, decline, and then pivot into new relevance. IBM II. I dont know that theres much about their culture or current business thats particularly admirable. Theyve got this partner system thats insane where theyve set up a high stakes internal competition that just looks terrible for any kind of team cohesion or morale. I wouldnt want to work there, either, although (like Amazon) I have a number of friends I really respect who work there. Generally, there are tradeoffs for having an environment with lots of competition for material rewards  I dont personally like them so they wont attract people like me so Id like to believe theyre terrible for businessalthough Im not at all sure thats true.

Netflix  little info, really. Competent and pivoting but I dont know much good or bad.

Amazon  totally admirable, really scary, really effective, and very business-focused. Changing capex into opex via Cloud was one of those changes in business mode that I saw in Apple, along with sell close to cost using Wall Street money so that no one can compete while you push down costs via scale so no one new can afford to enter the market. They also are willing to ditch products that dont work. It sounds like a hard place to work.

===

Challenges I see in other industries: low imagination, fiefdoms / politics, inefficiency, communication problemsall could benefit from tech company input. If youre in a low margin, low revenue businessits just going to be hard without the ability to attract and retain top talent, which is usually going to have a money component. But, best practices certainly help along with awareness of the importance of things like business model, systems design within the business, communication and culture, relationships to power, politics, and incentives

Remaining challenges in tech industry: scaling and incentives (and incentives at scale :). I also see a major extrovert bias, which might seem a little funny for tech. But, again, product managers (or, God forbid, Sales people) are all really subject to the lets just get some people in a room style of planning and problem resolution. I firmly believe some massive amount of productivity is squandered from people choosing the wrong communication paradigm  I think its often chosen for the convenience or advantage of someone who is either in an extrovert role or who is just following extrovert tendencies. Massive problem at Google, which is ironic given their composition. Amazon had some obvious nods to avoiding these sorts of things (e.g., reading time) but I dont know how pervasive they were or how effective people believed them to be.Even after over 635,000 have died in the U.S. as a result of the coronavirus, some celebrities have continued to loudly protest against the advice of doctors and other medical professionals. Over 4.5 million around the world have died as a result of the pandemic.There is a predictable pall of gloom in the liberal, secular circles in the country as the newbie BJP beat the 20-year-old Manik Sarkar government of the CPM in the Tripura Assembly elections last week. The anti-BJP non-Communists were hoping that the CPM in Tripura would defy in what was seen as Prime Minister Narendra Modi- and party president Amit Shah-driven BJP juggernaut. When the CPM was reduced to 16 seats and the BJP captured 35, the sighs of despair resounded loudly from the liberal quarter. Both Mr Modi and Mr Shah knew that they did not merely win as in other state Assembly elections, and that this was sweet ideological triumph more than anything else. The two hit out where it really hurt.

So, is this really the end of the Left in east India? The fall in West Bengal is followed by the defeat in Tripura. The two became the impregnable red bastions of the east. The apparently invincible Left has been shattered. In West Bengal, the credit goes to the indefatigable and feisty Mamata Banerjee and her All India Trinamool Congress (AITMC) that she had single-handedly forged. In Tripura, the BJP gets the laurel. But it should not be forgotten that the Left Front in West Bengal and the CPM in Tripura had a long run and it is not bad either for the people of the two states, or even for the Left parties themselves, that the Left Front and the CPM had been trounced. It was long overdue. The comrades needed to be woken out of their political reverie. The story of the Left Democratic Front led by the CPM is different because it never enjoyed an unbroken reign as in the other two eastern states.

Former CPM general secretary Prakash Karat in an informal interaction with a group of newspaper journalists had made the incisive observation in 2010 that the young members of the CPM in West Bengal did not know a time when the party was not in power, and that they did not know what struggle and protest meant. He was anticipating the 2011 defeat in the state. The same could be said of CPM in Tripura as well. But the come back for the Left in these two states could be a long and arduous one. It may not happen in the next election or even the one after that. They may have to sit out in the wilderness for many years. This is not really doomsday for any political parties. The Labour Party in Britain was out of power for 18 years between 1979 and 1997, when the Conservatives ruled the roost, under the charismatic Margaret Thatcher for 11 of those 18 years. But a reformed Labour, many critics called it a Thatcherite Labour, under Tony Blair whose admiration for the Iron Lady was no secret. And Blair had a tough time steering the old Labour from the trade unions and to forge a market-friendly and not-so-welfare-minded new Labour.

Even before losing power in West Bengal, chief ministers Jyoti Basu and his chosen successor Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee showed clear signs of pragmatism with regard to private investment, and Bhattacharjee had even agreed with then Union home minister L.K.Advani about the problem of intruders from Bangladesh and the existence of madrasas. But it failed to save the party from defeat. Manik Sarkar did not show the pragmatic flair of Basu and Bhattacharjee. There is, however, a difference between the defeat of the Left Front in West Bengal and that of CPM in Tripura. Mamata Banerjee was a non-ideological leader in the Congress mould, and the defeat of the Left Front did not mean the defeat of Left ideology. In Tripura, on the other hand, it is the defeat of Left ideology and the winner is a party that is rooted in right-wing ideology. And that could be a troubling development. The BJP might pretend that it is not a hidebound ideological party like the Left and that it is more interested in what it professes to be good governance and development. But there is little doubt that if the CPM tries to bounce back, then the BJP would not hesitate to bare its ideological fangs, which translates into toxic Hindutva.

There is also a deeper problem with the CPM. Its party ideologues still call the shots as can be seen from the resistance to align with Congress as part of a secular front to fight the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha election. Some of them like Karat cling to the ruins of Marxism, which is quixotic and tragic. Party general secretary Sitaram Yechury still quotes Marx, but he is willing to be flexible when it comes to the question of political alliances. The bare truth is that Marxism can now only be used by radical academics to interpret the world, and that it is incapable of changing the world. Many of the nostalgia-soaked Leftists still believe in the dictum of the youthful Marx who had written in his Notebooks that hitherto philosophy had interpreted the world, but the point is to change it. Marxism has become obsolete and it is not equipped to change the 21st century world despite capitalism and globalisation being in deep trouble.

Many in the conservative Indian bourgeois, who harbour fierce hatred of Communism and who in a way form the support base of the BJP, seem to believe that the defeat of the Communist parties in the elections is the defeat of Marxism as an ideology, and the with the death of ideology the Communists would wither away. It could be a miscalculation. Communist parties would survive in Indian politics despite electoral setbacks. They may win fewer seats for quite some time because the Communists have become an integrated part of Indias parliamentary democracy and its political pluralism. It could be the case that the Kerala Communists could be carrying the party standard in the future because they have shown that you can lose an election and that you wait out to win the next a lesson that the party in the other two states got to learn. Both West Bengal and Tripura need a political opposition. The one-party rule of the Left cannot be replaced with the one-party rule of the Right. Congress has ceased to be a credible political party in these two states. Communism is dead, but Communist parties are alive.Mumbai: Kareena Kapoor Khan's son Taimur has become an Internet sensation, and the actor on Saturday said she does not like the fact that her little one is being watched so closely.

The one-year-old star kid has been followed by the paparazzi round-the-clock since his birth in December 2016.

Also read: Watch: Saif Ali Khan plays cricket in Rajasthan, Taimur and Kareena watch on

"I do not like the fact that everyday Taimur's moves are monitored, pictures are out, what he is doing, where he is going, what he is wearing, discussing his hairstyle. He is just a 14-month-old. I don't know how to stop it. You are just following him around," Kareena said.

The actor, however, added, "I think he is getting used to it because off late, if I compare his pictures, he has started posing."

She was in conversation with senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai on 'The Kapoor Clan: Films, Family and Feminism' with her sister actor Karisma Kapoor at the India Today Conclave here.

Also read: See pic: Taimur Ali Khan cant stop smiling while enjoying ride on dad Saifs lap

In 2016, soon after Bollywood power couple Kareena and Saif Ali Khan decided on calling their first child, Taimur, people on social media started questioning the choice of name.

"There was (a) lot of trolling, but there was an immense amount of support as well. Not that the trolls or anything matters. Because the night before (the delivery) when we went to the hospital, Saif asked me, if it's a boy, do I want to change the name from Taimur?

"... He even told me to change the name to 'Faiz', as it is more poetic and romantic. I was like no, 'If it is a boy, my son is going to be a fighter, he will be called 'Taimur'. Taimur means iron, and I will produce (an) ironman. I am proud to have named him Taimur," Kareena said.

The 'Bajrangi Bhaijaan' actor said, after Taimur's birth, her life was "no more my own", and her son was her heartbeat.

"... (My heart) it beats in this gorgeous looking boy, who I see every night sleep and everything is in his two tiny little hands," Kareena said.

Karisma shared that it was a tough time for her sister to cope with the controversy over her son's name barely after the arrival of her newborn.

"Saif was so tense seeing Bebo in that state. They (remained) were strong and stuck to their decision to name him 'Taimur'. Today, he is the love of the country and of the world," she said.

Karisma, who has two kids - daughter Samiera and son Kiaan, said her children were her "greatest blessing(s)".

"Children are the most important thing in the world. It is the greatest blessing in the world. It (motherhood) has made both (Kareena and me) of us more mature, giving and selfless.

"Today, my life is very normal. I go to drop my kids to the school, (I) go to the market with them, (I) go to the toy shop. There is no question of having a bodyguard and cars around," she added.

On a lighter note, Sardesai asked Kareena that she was meant to fly and do things in her own way, be it selection of movies or getting married to Saif, who had quite a reputation.

Also read: Loving his ride: Taimur looks adorable even when tensed on a horse with dad Saif

The actor shot back saying, "Are you saying Saif was not marriage material? I like bad boys. There is nothing wrong in that."You can imagine why he would not be too fond of the noise or loud voices around him. Thats all his life had been for a long time, even before a photo he took would make him world famous. Nick Ut, born Huynh Cong Ut, was born four years before the Vietnam War began. He grew up hearing the noise of bombs exploding and people screaming. At 15, he took the cameras  Leica, Rolleiflex, and Nikon  left behind by his photographer brother who died in the war. Six years later, on June 8, 1972, he took a picture that the world would call Napalm Girl, of a group of children including a nine-year-old naked girl running from an explosion, screaming towards Nicks camera, somewhere in Trang Bang, South Vietnam.

Decades have passed and the Pulitzer-winning photographer is an icon, a celebrity everyone wants a selfie with. There are scores of young photographers waiting to meet him in Thiruvananthapuram where he has come to attend the International Press Photo Fest Kerala. At the Mascot Hotel in Thiruvananthapuram and outside the Tagore Hall where he sits, answering many interviews and photo requests, Nick says quietly, there is noise everywhere.

But he never complains, never says no to the many requests coming his way. He knows his fame, he knows what his photo made him. It brought him a Pulitzer, it brought him admirers across the world. But most importantly and Nick would remind you this, it changed the war.

President Nixon saw the picture. Everyone knows the picture. Thats what stopped the war  the girl in the picture, Nick says. He visited the girl  Phan Thi Kim Phuc Oont  later at her house and hurt his leg as a grenade exploded.

She was playing outside her house that day the napalm was dropped. She and a couple of children were jumping about. Kim looked up and saw the bomb. She said, run run run, but it was too late. Her clothes were burned and so was her body.

There was a lot of doubt at the time if the picture of a naked girl could be used in the paper. Nick had by then been working for AP for a while, getting his brothers job after calling the boss many times. They didnt want to hire him initially since his brother had died working for them. But Nick was persistent. He would study at the darkroom of AP, Saigon. Other photographers  the famous Eddie Adams included  were there and Nick learnt the work. His boss asked him one day to shoot pictures of Buddhist monks burning themselves and Nick got his photograph on the front page. He became a war photographer when in 1968, he took pictures of the Viet Cong attacking the American Embassy in Saigon.

The day of the napalm attack, Nick had enough pictures of the war. When Kim unexpectedly ran towards his camera, Nick thought she was going to die. He poured on her body the water he had, covered her up and took her to the hospital along with the other children. At the hospital, when they were hesitant to let the children in, Nick flashed his media card. I warned the doctor and nurse. I told them if they didnt help her, the picture of the nude girl will be everywhere in the world. They took her in. She was saved. He had said in a previous interview that if he had not helped her and she died, he would have killed himself too.

But Nick lived on, leaving Vietnam once Saigon fell and the war was over. He was in Japan for a couple of years before AP called him to LA. He spent the remaining of his five decades as a photographer in LA. He nearly got Iraq war too. But his friends told him that he has had enough in his life. He is married and has children. It was not 1972. Back then I was single. It was fine if I died  everyone dies once, he says.

In LA, Nick took photographs of Hollywood stars. He was not thrilled at first but after a while, began enjoying it. I liked it, meeting many big movie stars. They know who I am. Nick Ut your picture changed the war, they tell me. Through all these years, he kept in touch with Kim. The first time her dad showed her the newspaper cutting, she asked why she was naked while all the other have clothes. But later she thanked me. That photo changed all our lives. Even now he calls her once every week, or else month.

The press photographers in Kerala have asked him if he could come again next year and bring Kim along.

I have asked her; she is now taking care of her ailing mother.

Nick is enjoying his time in Kerala, he will be travelling across the state, clicking. But he is too busy with interviews, he says. As camera clicks fire away, Nick smiles, poses, and declares Woah, machine gun. And winks.London: A seven-year-old Indian-origin boy who suffers from cerebral palsy left with his family for the US on Sunday for a revolutionary treatment that has the potential to improve the quality of his life and give hope to others with neurological disorders.

Jay Shetty suffers from a debilitating form of cerebral palsy and autism since he was a baby, which means he cannot walk, talk or sit up unaided.

He is now set to undergo a pioneering clinical trial at Duke University Medical Centre in North Carolina, which relies on the infusion of his younger brothers umbilical cord blood frozen at birth.

After a lot of research on stem cells, we had decided before I got pregnant with Kairav, our younger son, that we would save our childs cord blood. Then towards the end of the pregnancy in 2015, I got in touch with Duke University and they were planning on doing a sibling cord blood therapy trial, said Jays mother Shilpa.

She and husband Raj had the umbilical cord blood of their younger child frozen and stored by UK-based blood bank Cells4Life.

Umbilical cord blood is rich in a kind of stem cell that can, in theory, help heal most parts of the body, either by stimulating growth or by transforming into the required type of mature cell.

These can then be put back into the body, even many years later. It relies on a close tissue match for the recipient, to lower the odds of the body rejecting it.

When the Shettys contacted Duke University, they were told that Kairavs blood was a match for Jays - raising the prospect of the UKs first such sibling cord blood therapy on Jay.

Stem cell is a cure for some and improvement for all, so we are pretty sure it will definitely have some improvement in Jays life, said Shilpa.

The family from Maharashtra, who have been based in London for over 15 years, are determined not to be put off by some dissenting voices within the medical community who cast doubts on the rare procedure.

According to Shilpa, because it is not an invasive therapy, they want to go into it with a positive nothing to lose attitude.

It is in its early stages and it has always been the norm that people will doubt treatments which have not been proved yet. But stem cells in general after years of proven research are known to have the ability to reach the damaged organ and regenerate new cells, she said.

Claudia Rees, Operations Director at Cells4Life, describes the procedure as a cutting-edge treatment, considered a cornerstone of a relatively new area of science known as regenerative medicine.

Stem cells and cord blood have already been used to cure diseases such as leukaemia, lymphoma and testicular cancer; in the near future it is likely that these treatments will provide hope for common and often life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, Alzheimers and diabetes, said Rees.

Cells4Life believes the results of Jays procedure will be very exciting, made possible by parents choosing to bank their childrens cord blood at birth at an estimated cost of around 2,000 pounds.

Jay will be in the US for the treatment for a week and undergo rehabilitation in the UK after the cord blood transfusion procedure. The family have managed to raise nearly 26,000 pounds through fund-raising to assist with the massive costs involved.

Jay cannot express and communicate much but we are pretty sure he knows whats going on as he is pretty bright. Kairav is two and half, so doesnt know much. But he knows a lot of travelling revolves around Jay for therapies. So, he is used to it, said their mother, who believes even a small improvement in Jays quality of life as a result of the therapy would be a success story for their family.Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu has been assigned with the additional charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry. (Photo: DC | File)

New Delhi: Two days after Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) Ashok Gajapathi Raju stepped down from the position of Civil Aviation Minister, the portfolio was handed over to Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu.

Suresh Prabhu has been assigned with the additional charge of the Civil Aviation Ministry.

Suresh Prabhu had stepped down from the designation of Minister of Union Railways in 2017 and was given the charge of Commerce and Industry ministry while Railways was alloted to Piyush Goyal.

"The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Suresh Prabhu, Cabinet Minister shall be assigned the charge of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, in addition to his existing portfolio," news agency ANI tweeted Rashtrapati Bhawan as saying.

The President accepted the resignation of two TDP ministers from their posts in the Central government.

Two Union Ministers, Ashok Gajapathi Raju and YS Chowdary, have submitted their resignations to the Prime Minister on Thursday evening following the TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu's announcement.

The portfolio of Civil Aviation ministry was taken over by Prime Minister Narendra Modi following the resignation of Ashok Gajapathi Raju.

Also Read: PM Modi takes over portfolio after TDP minister quits

Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said that two of his lawmakers will resign from their ministerial posts as the Centre has not considered their demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh.Hyderabad: Telugu Desam (TD) and Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) did not get any invitation till Saturday for the much hyped dinner to be hosted by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

Another TD MP J.C. Diwakar Reddy said the same and added that if the Congress invites, also they will not attend the dinner.

Against the backdrop of the Third Front proposal from Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Sonia Gandhis dinner is creating interest in political circles.

A senior TRS leader said that if any party attends Sonia Gandhis dinner, it does not mean that the party will sail with the Congress. He said that the dinners are different and politics is different.Theni: About 25 trekkers, some of them women, are feared trapped in raging fire deep in the reserve forest atop the Kurangani hills near here even as massive rescue operations by multiple agencies, including the Indian Air Force, managed to rescue around 15 and rushed them to the government hospital with burn injuries.

With little or no communication facilities in the remote woods, due to lack of mobile phone towers, information was hard to get. However, tribals and some local villagers rushing in to volunteer help have been providing invaluable support to the rescue teams that took time to reach the spot braving the fire. First information said the trekkers were mostly from Chennai, Tirupur and Erode. They had gone in batches to spend the weekend in the forest and planned to return Sunday evening.

First reports, obtained from video shots from mobiles used by some local rescuers, showed the victims, many of them girls, in great pain and crying for water. Some of them had their dresses in tatters and burnt, bodies badly burnt and bruised. They were terrible visuals.

"Forest officials could be at fault. They should have either stopped these people from going in, considering there have been sporadic and widespread forest fire during the last few days in the region", said an official involved in the tough rescue operation, requesting anonymity.

The thick smoke, heat from the high flames and night fall made the rescue work difficult even as more help was expected, thanks to the instructions from Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman to the IAF and also the steps taken by Chief Minister K. Palaniswami. "15 people have been rescued from the fire so far. All rescued have been admitted to Bodinayyakanur government hospital for treatment. Special medical teams have been sent to Bodinayyakanur hospital," Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar wrote on his official Twitter page. Sources said some of the rescued have suffered serious burn injuries.

It was not immediately known how long these people were stranded, but the news broke a little after 5 pm on Sunday when the ever-alert Sitharaman took to Twitter to announce that IAF helicopters will join the operations to rescue those caught in the fire. State fire services sources said they got information from one of the trekking members at around 3 pm and they pressed several teams into rescue mission immediately.

Videos and photos shared on social networking sites showed how tough it would have been for the rescuers to bring the people, stuck amid the difficult hillside and the raging flames, to safety due to the tough terrain. The videos also narrated the harrowing tales of those rescued and brought to hospitals. Since the fire took place in an area where the mobile network is not good, getting information proved to be very tough for both the officials and media.

A senior district forest official said personnel from the Forest Department were assisting the rescue team in saving the people from the spot.

Medical staff that waited in ambulances on foothills administered first aid to the girls rescued from forest fire before shifting them to near-by hospitals. Theni collector Mariam Pallavi Baldev visited the rescued women at hospitals and assured them of all help.

Police said the students from Coimbatore and Erode were taking training in Kurangai-Kozhuku Hill area when the fire suddenly broke out around noon. District Superintendent of Police V Baskaran and revenue and forest officials were taking steps to rescue the students from the trapped site.

Officials said the Defence Minister told the District collector to expedite the rescue operations in coordination with the other department officials including, the Air Force. Sources said it is the forest fire season in the dry Western Ghats, especially in the Theni and Palani hills and the forest department does not allow any trekking anywhere along the ghats.Women show their fingers marked with indelible ink during Phulpur Lok Sabha bypoll election at a polling center in Allahabad on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: Polling in bypolls of the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats was marked by a low turnout on Sunday but was largely incident free.

According to the Election Commission, Gorakhpur recorded a voter turnout of 43 per cent (till 5 pm) and Phulpur managed only 37.39 per cent voter turnout.

Despite a high voltage campaign, the low voter turnout has left political parties worried and poll pundits wondering.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

The agenda of good governance and development will win. Bypolls will be a positive referendum on my one year of governance, the chief minister said.

The bypolls are significant since they mark the new alliance of SP and BSP which could change the complexion of politics in the state if it proves a success.

Attacking the alliance, the Chief Minister said, These parties are indulging in negative politics, politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences of SP and BSP governments, he said.

The bypolls were necessitated after Yogi Adityanath and deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively, following their election to the State Legislative Council.

Gorakhpur seat is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the Chief Minister, who has held the seat in the Lok Sabha five times.They relented only after the police assured them of taking stern action against him.

Chennai: High drama prevailed at Kilpauk medical college hospital on Saturday as relatives staged a protest demanding severe action against the murderer of Aswini, a victim of stalking.

Aswinis mother M. Sankari and her relatives who have been waiting at Kilpauk medical college hospital, where autopsy took place, staged a sudden protest before the mortuary building on hospital premises. The sobbing and whimpering relatives got angry when the police officers asked them to sign necessary papers to take Aswinis body.

Police should book Alagesan under severe sections and do justice to my daughter, Sankari pleaded with the cops who were desperately trying to assuage the relatives. However, the protesting relatives yielded and agreed to accept Aswinis body only after the police assured of stern actions against Alagesan.

Aswini was hacked to death by Alagesan near her college on Friday evening in K.K. Nagar. Although the police claimed the failed relationship was the possible cause of the murder, Aswinis mother had refuted the claim.

At the same time, when Aswinis body had been kept at her residence at Alappakkam for homage, the police had been recording Alagesans statement at Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital. Aswini was taken to Porur graveyard and last rites were performed there, a relative with tears said.

Had mob not attacked him, Alagesan would have killed self

According to the police sources, Alagesan, who had been in Rajiv Gandhi government general hospital and getting treatment for injuries inflicted by onlookers, in his statement said that Aswini had started to avoid him on the advice of her mother and refused to talk.

Alagesan also said that, had the crowd not attacked him, he would have too committed suicide at the spot, the police said.HYDERABAD: TRS chief and CM K. Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday said that he will not quit state politics till the 2019 elections, even though he is playing a crucial role in national politics to float the non-Congress, non-BJP Third Front.

He said TRS leaders could be booked to create panic and block Third Front attempts.

Mr Rao said TRS will win 106 seats out of 119 in the Assembly elections in 2019 and will make a clean sweep within GHMC limits along with the MIM, according to the latest survey by professional and independent survey agencies.

However, Mr Rao kept the party guessing on what would be his role after the 2019 elections.

All the party's MLAs and MLCs attended the meeting and the party's Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha members were also invited to attend.

Mr Rao handed over responsibility for the Rajya Sabha elections to his son, IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, finance minister Etela Rajender and energy minister G. Jagadish Reddy. Mr Rao is learnt to have assured tickets to all sitting MLAs barring three or four 'problematic' MLAs and asked those to mend their ways.

He was particularly angry with MLA Bodige Shobha for assaulting staff of a toll plaza a few months ago after she was asked to pay toll tax; the CM warned that such incidents will bring disrepute to the party and government.

The CM was also upset at MLAs Gangula Kamalakar and Vidyasagar for reacting angrily in the House for even minor issues and asked them to remain calm.

The CM told ministers and MLAs to come to the House well prepared and counter the Opposition's attack with facts and figures.

He cautioned that the Congress party may try to disrupt the Governor's speech on Monday but the treasury benches should maintain restraint.If the Reserve Bank of India has been caught napping in the Punjab National Bank episode, one reason could be that the RBI does not have a full-time deputy governor to supervise banks.

If the Reserve Bank of India has been caught napping in the Punjab National Bank episode, one reason could be that the RBI does not have a full-time deputy governor to supervise banks. The last person to hold the post was S.S. Mundra, who retired in July. For close to seven months, the government hasnt found a replacement for Mr Mundra. Sources say the RBI has four deputy governors, including one from the banking sector. The three other deputy governors are Viral Acharya, B.P. Kanungo and N.S. Vishwanathan, all economists. Not having a DG supervising banks, a role that also includes inspection, is now a glaring loophole, which allowed the PNB fraud to go undetected by the bank.

Those in the know say that the government had initiated the process to appoint the fourth DG before Mr Mundra retired on July 30, but scrapped the panel of shortlisted candidates who had been interviewed. In December, over four months after interviews were conducted, the process was restarted with the government yet to shortlist a new set of candidates.

Trouble in paradise

The subterranean tensions between the two coalition partners in Jammu and Kashmir has had its most telling effect on the states officials. For chief minister Mehbooba Mufti it is the Peoples Democratic Party government in the state supported by the BJP high command. The chief ministers PDP has final say in all matters of governance in J&K.

Sources say that the general administration department that is headed by Ms Mufti has issued over 200 transfer orders of babus in the state without holding Cabinet meetings to avoid interference from any political quarters (read BJP) in the last two years. Even senior Indian Administrative Service and Indian Police Service officers were transferred in the last one year without discussion in Cabinet meetings. It is believed that 45 IAS and 20 IPS officers were prematurely transferred during 2016 and 2017. Few officials have been transferred three to four times in the last two years. Though the government claims that the transfers were made in the interest of the state administration, apparently, the manner in which they were done are in violation of J&Ks transfer policy, which states that premature transfers shall be made only in unavoidable circumstances. Maybe that is the view in PDP circles as well.

MEA reshuffles envoys

The ministry of external affairs is witnessing the first changes under new foreign secretary Vijay Keshav Gokhale, who took charge in late January, succeeding S. Jaishankar. Among the first appointments was of senior diplomat T.S. Tirumurti as secretary for economic relations, the position Mr Gokhale held before taking over the post of foreign secretary. Now, the MEA has effected a wider reshuffle and ambassadorial appointments. Sripriya Ranganathan has been appointed Indias new envoy to South Korea to replace Vikram Doraiswami, who is returning to headquarters. Joint secretary (South) Vinay Kumar has been named ambassador to Kabul while 1985-batch IFS officer Narendra Chauhan is the new envoy to the Czech Republic, replacing Krishan Kumar, who is moving to Norway as ambassador. Ravi Thapar, a 1983-batch IFS officer, has been named envoy to Serbia. Sources say the MEA is also looking to appoint new ambassadors to Japan and Thailand, with chief of protocol Sanjay Verma, a 1990-batch IFS officer, reportedly the frontrunner for the Tokyo posting.Samsung reportedly beleives that the in-display sensor may have a lot of issues, which cannout be affordable for the company's flagship Galaxy S and Note series devices.

When Samsungs Galaxy S8 came out last year, the world of technology assumed that the virtual home button could pave the way to an in-display fingerprint sensor embedded in the Galaxy Note 8. However, the Galaxy S9 is out in the wild, still not featuring the in-display fingerprint scanner. While all eyes are now on the Galaxy Note 9 due to be launched later this year, renowned analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has hinted that the Note 9 will also skip the technology, making it clear Samsung could be relying on advanced software-based facial recognition system and iris scanners.

According to our understanding of the technologies, under-display fingerprint solutions may currently have many technical issues (e.g. screen protectors and different environments affecting recognition rates and power-consumption), states Kuo in a note to AppleInsider.

While Qualcomm and Synaptics have come up with the in-display fingerprint technology, its still not up to the mark for use in flagship premium smartphones from Samsung. Vivo will be bringing the technology to masses in an upcoming smartphone catering to the budget segment, followed by several other Android OEMs catering to affordable segments. Even Apple was expected to debut the technology last year with its flagship iPhone X, but instead chose to ditch their TouchID in favour of FaceID.

The fingerprint sensor took its own sweet time to be good enough for being used widely after its mass debut with 2013s iPhone 5S. The in-display sensor uses optical technology and is presently in an infancy stage. Therefore, if Samsung plans to implement the optical fingerprint technology, it could do it with the Galaxy S10. However, going with the market trend, Samsung could be looking to improve its face unlock feature to give tough competition to Apples FaceID enabled iPhones.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.The patent image shows the camera being placed in a standard spot of the phone, where the notch is supposed to be.

Before iPhone Xs notch deliberately being ripped off recently by all existing popular companies, the Essential phone was the pioneer by introducing smallest camera notch on its flagship phone. However, after Apple following the same concept but with an added tech called Face ID, its now the trend of 2018, since Google has also implemented notch support for in its latest Android P Preview version released this week.

Essential had no intentions to embrace this notch, in fact, now its trying to ditch the notch by sticking the camera directly behind the display. Latest patents from the Andy Rubins company suggest that Essential is trying to integrate the camera the display panels directly without the need of a notch. Reportedly after a gradual start from the company into the smartphone world last year, if this patent comes to life, it might be a revolutionary jump to the upcoming smartphones in the future.

According to TechCrunch, the patent describes a multi-layered display with camera in which a substantially transparent region allows light from outside to reach the camera to record an image. The patent points to a potential application in which the camera is mounted behind the LCD.

The patent image shows the camera being placed in a standard spot of the phone, where the notch is supposed to be. We can also see the camera placed behind a screens layer, which apparently records the light from the outside coloured by the colour filter layer.

According to the report, another patent form an irregularly shaped electronic display, including a hollowed out display within which a sensor, such as a camera, can be placed. The manufacturing techniques enable the creation of the hollow anytime during the manufacturing process. The resulting electronic display occupies the full side of the mobile device, with the sensors placed within and surrounded by the display.

The integrated camera serves two purposes: to record pictures, the patent reads, and to act as a camera icon, that when selected activates the camera. By removing the camera from the front side of the mobile device, or by integrating the camera into the display screen of the mobile device, the size of the mobile device display screen can be increased.

The similar ditching of notch reports have surfaced online recently, the report stated that Apple is also planning to ditch its most controversial notch by using similar kind of display mechanism. Furthermore, Essential has a lot of patents registered on its name, which they chose to ignore them, like Huaweis pop-out camera keyboard and another similar mechanism, which was introduced in the Vivos Apex phone recently. However, the company did not respond to these newly surfaced patents yet.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.SALT LAKE CITY  Calling it "a great ride" and declaring that "16 years is enough," longtime state Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, has announced his retirement from the Utah Legislature, according to UtahPolicy.com.

Noel, who first took office in 2002, over the years built a reputation for challenging environmentalists and conservationists and advocating for rural Utah. He did not immediately respond a request for an interview Friday.

As the sponsor of the failed Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway bill, Noel received a deluge of angry phone calls and emails from Utah residents and people around the country. The decision to not seek re-election, however, was made for personal reasons, not political ones, UtahPolicy.com reported.

When the Legislature passed HCR11 in 2017, a resolution calling on President Donald Trump to rescind the Bears Ears National Monument designation, Noel was one of its most outspoken advocates. The president acquiesced to the request, causing a national controversy between the right and the left.

The reason Noel sponsored HB487, according to what he told the House committee, was to honor Trump for "taking the courage and the abuse" necessary to review former President Barack Obama's Bears Ears National Monument declaration and reduce its size.

He told the committee that the Legislature should recognize Trump for that feat because "it's an absolute lie" that Trump has "decimated the public lands."

"If we don't stand up for the things that are right, who will do that?" Noel asked the committee.

He praised Trump's Bears Ears action as a reversal of executive overreach and a return of power to the people.

Don Peay, a leader of Trump's campaign efforts in Utah, said lawmakers' action in 2017 "may be the first time that this body has passed a resolution that a president has actually acted upon."

Sen. Jim Dabakis, D-Salt Lake City, made headlines when he said he would propose an amendment to Noel's bill adding "Stormy Daniels Rampway" to the frontage roads of the highway if the bill made it to the Senate.

Noel pulled the bill after saying he and his family were getting death threats from Trump haters, according to UtahPolicy.com.Like many, we were troubled to learn that the U.S. recently denied refugee status to almost 80 people who are members of persecuted religious minority groups in Iran. Most are Assyrian and Armenian Christians; there are also small numbers of Zoroastrians and Mandaeans.

These people left Iran and arrived in Austria under the provisions of a special U.S. program aimed at providing a lifeline to persecuted religious minorities in Iran. Endangered people are pre-vetted while still in Iran, and in the past almost 100 percent of applicants were approved after arriving in Vienna. Yet, for no apparent reason, this group of pre-vetted refugees waited for well over a year in Vienna only to be told that their applications had been denied and that they had two weeks to leave Vienna  with their savings drained and nowhere to go.

What follows are the facts we know, what we do not know and what we ask of the U.S. government.

The State Department repeatedly has designated Iran as a country of particular concern (CPC) for its systematic ongoing and egregious violations of religious freedom and its targeting of religious minorities. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson highlighted Irans religious freedom violations, especially the persecution of Christians and Baha'is, during the August 2017 launch of the State Departments Religious Freedom Report. Vice President Mike Pence has eloquently advocated for persecuted members of minority religions, and the Trump administration has condemned Irans treatment of Christians and other minorities.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) and the State Department have documented that Irans religious minorities face a horrible array of abuses, including severe physical and psychological mistreatment, harassment and surveillance, sham trials and imprisonment on absurd charges related to their religious practices, and in some cases they have faced death. Imagine the terror of life under a regime where you can be charged with corruption on earth, propaganda against the system and actions against national security simply for seeking to peacefully live out your faith.

We also know that the abysmal conditions for Iranian religious minorities prompted Congress in 2003 to expand the Lautenberg Amendment, which expedites refugee resettlement in the U.S., to include religious minorities from Iran. (The amendment originally focused on resettling in the U.S. of Jews and evangelicals from the former Soviet Union. This aspect of the law continues unabated.)

After negotiations with the Austrian government, the State Department created a program through which the Austrian embassy in Tehran issues transit visas to certain religious minorities to travel to Vienna, where they can be safe while their cases are processed for refugee resettlement in the U.S. (This is necessary because there is no U.S. Embassy in Iran.) Before their arrival in Vienna, these people must undergo a lengthy security clearance, with additional security checks conducted while they are in Vienna. Because of the extensive security clearance they must go through before leaving Iran and due to the almost 100 percent approval rate for resettlement in America for those who come to Austria, the majority of these people sell most of their belongings before leaving Iran.

Since 2001, more than 32,000 Iranian persecuted religious minorities have been able to join their family members already living in the U.S. Even since 2017 and the implementation of new security protocols, more than 800 were approved under the amendment and granted safe haven in the United States.

These are the facts we know. What we dont know is why these 80 persecuted religious minorities were denied U.S. refugee resettlement. Even though the amendment mandates that the government must justify a denial to the maximum extent feasible, they merely were told that their applications were denied as a matter of discretion, with no case-specific details provided. State Department officials have stated that the new security protocols resulted in the increased denials. But such a basis is confounding given that these cases do not differ materially from those that have been approved.

It also is unsettling, given the seemingly group nature of the denials and that the Iranian government also often uses security concerns to target its religious minorities. Furthermore, if these victims of persecution truly are security concerns, why would the U.S. government offer to help resettle them in other countries? And why has the State Department accepted no new cases for processing in Vienna for the past year? This has stranded over 4,700 vulnerable people in Iran, including Christians, Jews, Bahais, Zoroastrians and Mandaeans. These are people who have registered for the program, and now it appears we are threatening the closure of Vienna as their lifeline to freedom.

These questions demand answers  promptly. These applicants are out of money, have suffered tremendously in Iran and have been left in limbo in Vienna, where they are not allowed to work or go to school.

We urge the administration to get to the bottom of what is going on, take the steps needed to immediately reconsider these denials in as transparent a way as possible, fulfill the congressional intent of the Lautenberg Amendment, respond to the concerns raised by members of Congress, including the co-chairs of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission  Reps. Randy Hultgren, R-Ill., and James McGovern, D-Mass.,  and reinvigorate the Vienna program and implementation of the Lautenberg Amendment.

Anything less endangers persecuted religious minorities whom we as a nation have rightly pledged to protect.

Robert P. George is McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University. Katrina Lantos Swett is president of the Tom Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. Both authors have chaired the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.Nearly a decade has passed since Dodd-Frank became law. This controversial bill  which was jammed through Congress with almost no weigh-in from Republican lawmakers  was designed to increase oversight of Americas largest banks. In theory, the law would strengthen our financial system; in practice, it has been an unmitigated disaster, especially for small and mid-sized banks, which have borne the brunt of the regulatory burden.

Americas largest banks have the resources to comply with the 83 million paperwork-hours and $39 billion in costs imposed by Dodd-Frank. But small and mid-sized banks do not. Indeed, the law has all but regulated smaller banks into oblivion. To conform with the estimated 22,000 pages of regulations introduced by Dodd-Frank, community banks have been forced to divert precious resources to shore up their compliance staff. And when small financial institutions are unable to front the costs of regulation, they have no choice but to reduce the scope of their business or close shop completely.

The fallout from Dodd-Frank has been acutely felt right here in Utah. Since 2010, the number of FDIC-insured commercial banks in our state has dropped from 53 to 42. During a similar time span, the number of NCUA-insured credit unions fell from 94 to 66. Fewer community financial institutions leads to less competition, making it more expensive for Utahns to purchase a home or start a business.

Banks and credit unions across the state have described how Dodd-Frank has subjected customers to more paperwork, longer wait times and slower services. This bureaucratic mess causes headaches for Utahns under the best of circumstances and financial troubles under the worst.

The good news is there is a commonsense alternative to Dodd-Frank. Congress can implement sensible reforms to simplify Americas financial rulebook, ease the burden on small and mid-sized financial institutions and help grow the economy. My priorities for reform have consistently been regulatory relief for small and mid-sized financial institutions and a renewed focus on responsible and efficient regulations.

To address the difficulties faced by small and mid-sized financial institutions, the Senate this week is debating the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which includes a number of my legislative priorities. This bipartisan bill applies lessons learned from the last eight years under Dodd-Frank to right-size existing regulations while maintaining the safety and soundness of the financial system.

Let me be clear: This bill is not some gift for Wall Street; rather, it is designed to provide appropriate regulatory relief to small and mid-sized financial institutions, the kind that most Utahns utilize. It simplifies capital requirements for small banks, allows banks under $10 billion to engage in a wider range of financial activities, and exempts regional financial institutions from enhanced regulations and costly stress tests designed for the largest, globally interconnected banks.

In todays era of extreme partisanship, this bill is a breath of fresh air. What the Senate has been able to accomplish this week is based on sensible debate, reasonable compromise and hard policy choices. While there remain other reforms that could relieve the stress of overburdensome regulations, this bipartisan bill is a much-needed start.

I commend my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their work and am pleased to have a number of my priorities included that will benefit Utah. It is time for the House of Representatives to take up the Senate bill and provide commonsense regulatory relief for the American people.Pignanelli and Webb: The 2018 legislative session concluded last week and, as usual, it consisted of an awful lot of talk. But sometimes all those words require some translation. So we reprise our annual service to readers, noting what they said ... and revealing what they really meant.

Gov. Gary Herbert: "Out of deference and respect to lawmakers, my office and I stayed mostly quiet during the session." (Why should I interfere as legislators beat each other up; I look more like a statesman.)

Many lawmakers: We certainly respect ballot initiatives, but just want to ensure that they are appropriately implemented." (These dang things are a terrible nuisance. We know better than the hundreds of thousands of Utahns who sign petitions and vote for initiatives.)

Senate leadership: "Rumors of friction between us and the House are overblown. We respect the speaker and his passion. (Its a total zoo over there, while we govern with dignity, gentility and style.)

House leadership: "Rumors of intense shouting matches between us and the Senate leadership are fake news. We respect the president and his deliberative style. (Getting action out of that arrogant House of Lords is intensely frustrating. The Senate should be called the House of Turtles.)

Politically correct lawmakers: "Capitol Hill must be a safe place for everyone, so we are requiring lobbyists and journalists to take sexual harassment training. (They cant refuse or they appear insensitive. Its great watching them squirm.)

Bitter people who post on social media: The Legislature is a self-serving cadre of crooks. (I have no clue how it works or anything about legislators, but I hate anyone more important than me.)

Most all legislators: The best government is closest to home, so we appreciate the insights and hard work of our partners at the county and city levels. (The state created those entities and well bully them any time we wish.)

Veteran lobbyists: "We are proud to be a critical part of the important legislative process." (Were like gut bacteria; no one wants to acknowledge us, but they know they need us.)

Ambitious legislators: "I admire the strong, steady guidance and experience of our leaders. (Finally, some of those dinosaurs are retiring, providing a long overdue opportunity for me.)

Nervous Republican lawmakers: We need to ensure that the nomination process is fair and reasonable. (We need to figure out a way to quell those crazies on the Central Committee or chaos is ahead.)

Nervous Democrat lawmakers: "I am committed to bipartisanship in solving the state problems and I value my relationships with Republicans." (My bills are stuck, but I dont want to further irritate them.)

Real nervous Democrat lawmakers: Every day I promote Utah values in the Legislature." (I need to start crafting a moderate image to withstand the upcoming Romney tsunami.)

House Speaker Greg Hughes: I am retiring from the Legislature to use my skills in other endeavors that benefit our state. (I correctly predicted Trump. Im solving homelessness and the opioid crisis. Were funding education at unprecedented levels. The big office on the second floor beckons.)

Senate President Wayne Niederhauser: Leading the Senate has been a joy and an opportunity of a lifetime. (I am so looking forward to a long bike trip. Id rather dodge potholes and life-threatening drivers than endure another day dealing with the House mob and smug news reporters.)

Senate Minority Leader Gene Davis: "We are a real moderating influence in the Senate." (Once in a while they let us select a luncheon menu.)

House Minority Leader Brian King: We enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Republican House leaders. (Goodness, they despise the Senate even more than they do the loyal opposition.)

GOP legislative leadership: "We appreciate the efforts of Gov. Herbert and his staff for their input into the legislative process." (Weve been running the show for years and it ain't changing now.)

Visionary lawmakers: We believe changing the name and governance structure of the UTA will provide a fresh start. (If this doesnt work, we stick it under UDOT.)

Swing district legislators: "Im working hard with my fellow lawmakers to dedicate tremendous amounts of resources to public education." (I hope we did enough to avoid irritating half my voters, but not so much that I irritate the other half.)

Key lawmakers: We look forward to a productive partnership with Salt Lake City as we develop the Inland Port in the northwest quadrant. (There is no way we entrust the largest economic development project of the century to those radical left wingers. Theyre lucky to have a seat at the table.)

Capitol Hill reporters: "We demand unimpeded access to scrutinize perks and gifts to lawmakers from lobbyists." (We have the divine right to enjoy those ultra-convenient and coveted reserved parking places.)

Republican LaVarr Webb is a political consultant and lobbyist. Previously he was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and Deseret News managing editor. Email: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as minority leader. His spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is the president/CEO of the Special Olympics of Utah. Email: frankp@xmission.com.Im privileged to represent Utahs 4th District, a vibrant, enterprising community that serves as home for more direct-selling companies than any other congressional district in the nation. Direct selling is a flourishing retail channel where independent contractors sell some of the best-known and high-quality products in the world.

Direct selling offers low startup costs and low-risk money-making opportunities for everyone. Stay-at-home spouses can earn money to contribute to a family vacation. Students learn skills to manage a business and also buy a new laptop. A retired person can supplement their savings for more financial security. This industry makes that possible.

These are all people who are working hard to realize the American dream, and they deserve protection from fraud.

These sellers deserve to know the difference between a legitimate direct-selling business and pyramid schemes, which is why I am supporting legislation to protect these entrepreneurs who are seizing the opportunity to own a small business.

Unlike legitimate direct sellers, pyramid schemes usually charge steep upfront costs, and the compensation is primarily focused on recruiting other victims of the fraud. By impersonating direct sellers, they deceive honest aspiring business builders, part-time sellers and personal consumers into assuming upfront expenses they cant afford. Pyramid schemes also undermine the most valuable attribute of the relationship between direct sellers and their customer  trust.

Fifty states have anti-pyramid statutes, defining a pyramid scheme and allowing for prosecution by state law enforcement. Twenty-one states, including Utah, have adopted model anti-pyramid legislation recommended by the nonpartisan Council of State Governments. However, there is not a federal law on the books identifying and punishing pyramid schemes. Thats an oversight that Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Marc Veasey, D-Texas, are seeking to correct with HR3409, the Anti-Pyramid Promotion Scheme Act.

The Blackburn-Veasey bill defines pyramid fraud and makes it easier to prosecute. It distinguishes legitimate forms of direct selling, including personal consumption, from fraudulent imposters. Similar language was included in the Fiscal Year 2018 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill by Rep. John Moolenaar, R-Mich., that passed the full House in September. As a member of the Financial Services Committee, Im responsible for protecting small and large businesses from being overburdened by regulations and government mandates. But this is an example where a lack of clarity in the law deprives honest businesses of much-needed guidance. And since many direct-selling companies operate internationally, it deprives international regulators of the guidance they often seek from U.S. law.

The Blackburn-Veasey legislation and Moolenaar amendment is a long overdue answer to these deficiencies. It will protect consumers from swindles, and honest, hardworking salespeople of every background and aspiration, as well as the companies they represent, from the financial and reputational harm done by being falsely associated with operators of pyramid schemes. Thats why I have agreed to co-sponsor HR3409 and support the Moolenaar amendment in the Fiscal Year 2018 funding bill.

The economic impact of direct selling in my state alone is more than $1 billion. Nationwide, direct selling generated more than $35 billion in retail sales in 2016 and 20.5 million Americans were engaged in some capacity with direct selling. I want to protect their interests. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will join me and expedite passage of this urgently needed consumer protection.SALT LAKE CITY  The Utah Legislature, version 2018, came down mostly supportive of a handful of new legislative efforts aimed at keeping the state's booming tech and innovation economy prospering.

Perhaps most significant was the passage of SB104, a bill sponsored by Sen. Ann Milner, R-Ogden. The initiative, with $2.5 million in funding, will incentivize students to pursue education paths in one of five yet-to-be-determined but likely tech-centric categories, according to Milner.

After graduation, the program participants would have 25 percent of outstanding tuition costs and fees eliminated for every year they work for a Utah employer.

"It really is trying to align, at the top level, our ability to meet some job needs," Milner said. "(The program) provides a final kind of piece of that puzzle for meeting our talent needs in the state of Utah."

Business leaders across the state have been bemoaning the lack of local talent to fill the unmet need in Utah's quickly expanding technology and innovation sector, a point that was further driven home at the Silicon Slopes Tech Summit last month. At that event, Aaron Skonnard, CEO of Pluralsight, a wildly succesful Utah-based online education company, noted there were currently 4,000 unfilled tech jobs in the state.

The program, which could help aid up to 500 students pursuing technology career pathways, is also aimed at keeping more of Utah's homegrown talent in the state after graduation.

Abby Osborne, vice president for government relations for the Salt Lake Chamber, said the initiative will be a net economic-positive for the state.

"We export way more jobs than we import," Osborne said. "Were using our taxpayer dollars to educate them and then we are exporting them. Lets incentivize them to stay there. What they are going to return to the economy far exceeds what this is going to cost us."

A pair of bills looking to cultivate more interest from companies developing autonomous vehicle technology met with mixed results this session. While SB56 passed and will pave the way for new commercial truck platooning systems to operate legally on Utah roadways, another effort, HB371, failed to make it over the legislative fence.

The House bill, sponsored by Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, would have put Utah out in front of the half-dozen or so states that are most aggressively pursuing new autonomous vehicle regulations. Spendlove said the effort could have had a big upside, economically speaking, for the state.

"Essentially, this lays out the framework for encouraging the development of these cars here in Utah," Spendlove said. "Encouraging these cars to come into our market and anticipating the changes that are not just coming, but are on us."

Federal legislation efforts were put on pause in early February as the U.S. Senate's AV Start effort, aimed at providing some nationwide regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, was put on hold after a handful of senators voiced concerns about safety assurances and other issues. The U.S. House passed its own version of the bill last fall.

Efforts to manage the growth, both in residential population and commercial development, in the Point of the Mountain area got a boost with HB372 sponsored by Rep. Lowry Snow, R-Santa Clara, who also co-chairs the Point of the Mountain Development Commission.

Snow's bill created an 11-member authority to oversee the redevelopment of the current Draper prison site. The board will be made up of four lawmakers, four appointments by the governor, one each by Draper and Salt Lake City, and one by higher education.

The 700-acre site, due to be vacated in 2021 when the new prison in Salt Lake City's northwest quadrant is due to open, is the equivalent of 70 city blocks and could potentially be the source of 50,000 new jobs. Work done by the commission over the last year has also underscored the intent to lure a nationally recognized research center to anchor the development, which will likely include a mix of residential, office and retail space.

And, Utah's very successful Silicon Slopes Tech Summit, which drew almost 15,000 attendees to its most recent event in January, will get a $250,000 boost from SB146, sponsored by Sen. Jake Anderegg, R-Lehi. The money is earmarked for marketing and outreach efforts to draw more out of area participants to the gathering, which nearly tripled in size from 2017 to 2018.SALT LAKE CITY  In a third year of prioritizing homelessness initiatives, the Utah Legislature passed a package of bills to help fund the three new homeless resource centers that are set to break ground this spring.

Both bills  one to fund the yearly operations of the new shelters, and the other to pay for police and fire impacts to host cities  created controversy at first because they would collect local sales tax dollars from cities not hosting shelters, but versions that passed were mostly supported by the end of the session.

A bill with heavy political backing was HB462, which, if signed by Gov. Gary Herbert, will use $6.6 million from the state's general fund to pay for half of the new homeless resource centers' annual operations costs. The shelters' owner, Shelter the Homeless, will need to fundraise the other half of the annual costs.

"This was extremely critical to the operations of these resource centers to be able to offer the supportive services we anticipate with each center," said Preston Cochrane, Shelter the Homeless' executive director.

Now, Shelter the Homeless will begin a bid process to determine who will provide services and operate the shelters, as well a provider to lead the new homeless systems "coordinated entry" system.

"It's important to address this as a state," Cochrane said. "Everyone plays a part in addressing the homeless and helping those that are dealing with crisis situations."

The other bill, SB235, if approved by the governor, will use $5 million collected from local sales tax revenue to help pay for police and fire needs that come with the impact of the homeless resource centers.

Cities hosting shelters  Salt Lake City, South Salt Lake, Midvale, Ogden and St. George  will be granted the funds by the Utah Homeless Coordinating Committee if they demonstrate the need for additional police or fire protection as a result of the shelters.

South Salt Lake Mayor Cherie Wood said that bill's passage was a "big win" for her city, which will be requesting $2.6 million of the funds once they become available in January 2019.

Wood said the funds will be used to hire 12 new police officers and 12 new firefighter/paramedics so the area around the future 300-bed men's shelter at 3380 S. 1000 West can be staffed by two police officers and two firefighters 24-7.

"I'm pleased lawmakers heard the concerns of South Salt Lake and responded with financial support to pay for the needs we believe come with the impact of the homeless resource centers," she said.

The men's shelter was "state-mandated and forced upon us," Wood said, so she applauded state leaders for fulfilling promises that were given to South Salt Lake when Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams chose her city to host the shelter.

"We've done everything we could think of to ensure we would get what we were promised," she said. "So long as lawmakers understand our needs and hear our pleas when we have them, I'm hopeful that it will be a successful model."

Midvale Mayor Robert Hale also applauded the bill, noting that Midvale intends to apply for about $1 million of the funds to hire two more police officers for the area.

Last year, lawmakers funded two officers for Midvale, but Hale said the city's needs changed after Operation Rio Grande, which seemed to generate more homeless activity along TRAX lines and 7200 South, forcing the city to pull police officers out of neighborhoods to respond to those needs.

With $1 million from the state, the city should be able to hire two more police officers to staff the areas full-time around the shelter and along 7200 South so other officers can go back into neighborhoods.

"I know it's been hard for other cities and the state to see some of their money evaporate, but we've kind of taken a burden on here in this city," Hale said. "All we're asking is to be made whole as a city that is taking care of (the homeless) and trying to keep businesses and residents safe."SALT LAKE CITY  The most extensive form of Medicaid expansion to be approved by state lawmakers under the Affordable Care Act cleared its final hurdle in the Legislature by passing the Senate on the final night of the session.

But exactly what the future holds for the federal program's role in Utah remains to be seen.

The expansion requested by HB472 would expand Medicaid coverage to an additional 65,000 to 70,000 Utahns if approved by the federal government, its sponsors estimate, but some health advocates warn that approval will never come.

Stacy Stanford, a policy analyst for Utah Health Policy Project, warned this week that "the proposal in HB472 is a nonstarter with the federal government, with an extremely unlikely chance of approval."

Stanford said there is no precedent for the federal government accepting a partial Medicaid expansion that includes a 90 percent federal matching rate, and that there would even be legal hurdles to doing so.

But the bill's floor sponsor, Sen. Brian Zehnder, R-Holladay, told fellow lawmakers Thursday that the Trump administration was giving promising signs that Utah's waiver request could be granted.

"We have been invited to apply for this waiver by the current administration in Washington. That is very encouraging to me and many others in this room," he said.

HB472 instructs the state Department of Health to submit an expansion waiver request with the federal government by Jan. 1 of next year.

Also complicating the question of expansion is a potential ballot measure that calls instead for the fullest Medicaid expansion possible: coverage for everyone in the state who belongs to households earning at or under 138 percent of the federal poverty line.

"We're still moving forward with our campaign," said RyLee Curtis, spokeswoman for that campaign called Utah Decides Healthcare. "(The bill) doesn't change our plans at all. In our eyes, it doesn't fix the problem."

Curtis predicted the initiative would bring coverage to approximately 150,000 Utahns who fall in what is frequently described as a Medicaid coverage gap.

The Utah Health Policy Project has said Utahns in that gap are earning too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little  or at 138 percent or less of the federal poverty line  to qualify for critically important subsidies on the federal health exchange.

"For Medicaid to be expanded, anything less than that is not acceptable to the ballot initiative," Curtis told the Deseret News.

She added that the campaign is "still on track to hit our goal" with the signatures required by April 15 to qualify for the ballot, but declined to give a specific number.

Utah Decides Healthcare is seeking a 0.15 percent sales tax increase to raise $91 million in state funds, thereby drawing down $800 million in matching federal money to fund coverage for newly insured enrollees.

Because the ballot initiative calls for the full expansion that was intended under the Affordable Care Act, the new funds would be granted mandatorily rather than being subject to a waiver, Curtis said.

HB472 calls for expansion of coverage to Utahns up to 100 percent of the federal poverty line, using a 90 percent federal funds matching rate. Rep. Robert Spendlove, R-Sandy, the bill's sponsor, has said it is structured to ensure the state would spend no new money on the program and would be able to rescind the expansion if the federal matching rate falls below 90 percent.

HB472 also mandates that "certain qualified adults  meet a work activity requirement," its summary states.

The Legislature has debated expanding Medicaid for several years, but prior to Spendlove's bill, efforts at large-scale extension of coverage, including Gov. Gary Herbert's Healthy Utah plan that he pushed in 2015, were never able to gain enough support due in large part to opponents' fears of overwhelming the state budget.

A limited form of expansion, estimated to affect 4,000 to 6,000 people and targeted to homeless and otherwise extremely poor Utahns needing behavioral health or substance abuse disorder treatment, passed the Legislature in 2016 and was formally approved by the federal government in November 2017.

Sen. Gene Davis, D-Salt Lake City, ran a bill seeking full Medicaid expansion this session, but the Senate Rules Committee never assigned it to a committee hearing.The Nokia 9 smartphone might feature an in-display fingerprint sensor. Sources have told Nokia Power User that the company might be planning to add the feature to its upcoming flagship smartphones. The report notes that this was the same source who also leaked information about the penta-lens camera.

Currently, Vivo is the only manufacturer to offer a device with an in-display fingerprint sensor. It is not yet known when other major manufacturers will adopt the technology. According to noted analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Samsung may not use the tech in its upcoming flagship due to the feature still being in its infancy. He notes that issues like incompatibility with screen protectors, power consumption and more would keep the Korean manufacturer away from adopting the technology.

Coming back to the Nokia 9, the report also notes that the company may be looking to maximise the display area in the upcoming device. As a result, the phone may feature a notch, similar to what most other phones are offering these days. It should also be noted that the Android P Developer preview also comes with support for notched displays.

The Nokia 9 is expected to launch around August-September alongside the Nokia 8 Pro. Both devices are expected to come with Snapdragon 845 SoCs, with the Nokia 8 Pro is tipped to feature a penta-lens camera setup.A regular reader of these notes has sent me a photo of an old poster advertising 'Irish Whisky' which I think must have been in circulation in the late nineteenth century.

The poster is about 'Cowan's No. 4 fine old Irish Whisky' and shows three men in a small rowing boat, one of them sitting on a large barrel with a whiskey jug in his hand. There is another man sitting on the shore with a glass in his hand and a little dog beside him. The curious thing about this poster is that it has the word 'Dundalk' in the right-hand top and the person who sent it to me wants to know if I had any information about its origins?

When I looked up this type of poster I was surprised to learn that it was one of many printed by the distilling company of William Cowan & Co., Ltd., of Belfast in the late nineteenth century. It is described as being of the 'Begorra' class of illustration because it shows Irish peasants, mostly men, in those type outlandish costumes which the Americans seem to have believed that Irish were dressed at the time. The strange thing about the copy sent to me is that all other similar posters have the word 'Belfast' in the place were 'Dundalk' is printed on this one. Now, I have been unable to find any reference to a Cowan's Distillery in Dundalk and I can only assume that this was issued for a retailer in Dundalk selling this brand.

Another thing I learned was that there is a big interest in these old whiskey posters at the present time and that the ones with Belfast on them are selling on the net for about 15 Euro apiece. It would seem therefore that the 'Dundalk' poster is somewhat of a rarity and might be worth a lot more. A word of caution, however, as anyone who watches programmes about antiques and collectables will already know, it all depends on condition and on whether or not it is a 'reproduction'; that is not an original!

Another curious thing about the poster, and indeed the distillery which produced it, is that the drink is spelled 'Whisky' and not 'Whiskey'. Most people will know that the word comes from the Gaelic term 'Uisce Beatha' meaning the 'Water of Life' but that the Scottish spirit industry writes it as 'whisky', without the final 'e' and the Irish whiskey is traditionally written with the 'e'.

All of which brings me back to the distilling industry in Dundalk which, in the nineteenth century, was one of the biggest employers in the town of Dundalk. Its origins here are pretty obscure, as it seems to have sprung out of the brewing activities of the town which goes back into the sixteenth century or even earlier. Wikipedia says that the Dundalk Distillery was one of the earliest in Ireland and was founded in 1708 but this cannot be correct because the one at Roden Place was not founded until 1799 by two Scotsmen James Gillichan and Peter Goodbey and was taken over in 1807 by Malcom Brown who had married into the Gillichan family and changed the name to the Malcom Brown & Co. Distillery. According to Padraic Ua Dubhthaigh in his 'Book of Dundalk' by 1837 this distillery was employing over 100 men and distilling 300,000 gallons of whiskey (per annum?). This employment had risen to over 200 men by the end of the century and the company were purchasing a lot of grain from local farmers and also producing yeast which was being exported to other breweries and distilleries. It was sold to a Scottish combine, Distillers Ltd., in 1912 but trade declined with the establishment of the Irish State and it was finally closed in 1926.

Another distinction that the local Distillery could boast about was that it had the highest industrial chimney in Ireland at 162 feet and containing over half a million bricks. This large chimney was used as a landmark for ships entering the harbour from the Bay for over a century until it was demolished in 1934.

I have been unable to find out under what brand name the Dundalk produced whiskey was sold but I suspect that it was blended with other whiskeys and sold under many different labels. Harold O'Sullivan listing the Dundalk distillery industries in the Historic Towns of Ireland Atlas, writes that there was a distillery in East Bridge Street in 1840 and that it was a 'rectifying' distillery, whatever that might mean. He does not mention any other local distilleries so, perhaps, by the mid-nineteenth century, the Malcom Brown company had a monopoly in the district.

The Dundalk Distillery had many other influences on the history of the town, such was the great fire of 1862 which raged for five hours and caused damage estimated at 10,000, which would be rated at maybe two million Euro in present day money. It was also effected by the Civil War in that a man from the Upper End of the town, on his way to work in it, was killed by the explosion of what is regarded as the 'first car bomb in the world', when a fuel truck was deliberately exploded at the corner of Earl Street and Park Street in a morning in July 1922.

Part of the old Distillery was sold to Messrs P.J. Carroll tobacco manufacturing company in the 1920 and used by them as a bonded warehouse for tobacco being imported for the manufacture of cigarettes. This building was donated by Carrolls to the Dundalk Urban District Council in the 1980s and now serves as a fine County Museum. Another part of the property was sold to Thomas McDonald & Sons, prominent local builders who incorporated the brick from the demolished Big Chimney in many local homes. The County Library now stands on the same site, in part of the old Distillery grain stores. St. Patrick's Parochial House, known by some as 'Hatter's Castle' for reasons that it might better not to go into at the present time, was built in the 1940s between the County Library and St. Patrick Church.The Rebuilding Ireland report for 2017 was released last week and among the data released in the report, is the statistic that there are 80 vacant new homes in the county.

It makes Louth among the counties with the highest ratio of vacant new homes in the country. With 80 vacant housing units and 45,448 households in Louth, it gives a vacant housing units per 1,000 households ratio of 1.76 - just Roscommon, Leitrim, Laois and Longford have higher ratios.

According to the report, 11 developments were surveyed in Louth in 2017. Five of these developments have been removed from the Unfinished Housing Developments database as they are substantially and/or are fully active.

There remains 6 unfinished housing developments in Louth  this is a reduction of 45.5% on 2016.

The report says that further work is being done to establish vacancy levels for all housing in the country  not just unfinished developments. It says that local authorities are currently preparing Vacant Homes Action Plans and identifying Empty Homes Officers, in order complete the task.

It says that local authorities are being tasked to establish, where empty homes are located, who owns these vacant properties, and then to prioritise and target those areas where housing demand is most acute.

It also states that local authorities will continue to identify and acquire homes throughout each county in order to build up their stock of public housing.A gathering of around 45 people met at the Market Square in Dundalk on Saturday, to welcome a group of walkers on a memorial run from Dublin airport to Belfast, to mark the 30th anniversary of the killings of three unarmed IRA members in Gibraltar.

Thirty years ago this month, Mairead Farrell, Sean Savage and Dan McCann were shot in Gibraltar by the British SAS. When their bodies were brought home via Dublin their remains were met along the route to their homes in Belfast by supporters from every town they passed through.

The walkers on Saturday retraced that route from Dublin and arrived in Dundalk just after 12:00.

A spokesperson for Dundalk Sinn Fein said it was very emotional, everyone was there to remember what happened, some of us had known the three who had been killed.

We were all there to honour them. The walkers stopped for a photo and were then on their way and without planning or thinking about it we just joined them and walked with them out of the town.

In 1988 as the funeral made its way north towards Belfast the hearses were attacked and there was an attempted hijacking of the remains by the RUC.

After Mairead Farrell and Dan McCann were interred and just before they interred Sean Savage, the funerals were attacked by Loyalist killer Michael Stone, who murdered three people that day and injured sixty others.

The Gibraltar/Milltown Anniversary Committee are holding a series of events in Belfast to commemorate all those who were killed during that period.By Brooke Maree Williams

Bordered by Devon and Somerset counties and dropping away steeply to the Bristol Channel, the hilly, open moorland of Exmoor in southwest England is a place of freezing wet winters with driving winds. Vegetation here is tough and of little nutritional value. Only the hardiest of creatures endure in this harsh environment. The Exmoor pony is one of them, though it's currently listed as "endangered" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust.

Unique among the mountain and moorland breeds, Exmoor ponies are distinctly recognizable by their uniform bay, brown or dun color and lighter, oatmeal-colored markings around their nose and eyes. The hair on their coats is set in such a way that water simply runs off their backs, away from their eyes and other vulnerable body parts. Their coats in winter are composed of two different layersfine, springy hairs grow against the skin providing an insulation layer, while the top layer is coarse, greasy and water-repellant. Snow falling on their bodies simply sits until it is shaken off, rather than melt and cause precious body heat to be lost.

During winter, the Exmoor pony's winter coat is composed of two different layers, which allows it to retain body heat during the English moor's freezing wet winters. Thomas Haeusler

It is believed that these ponies derive from the original prehistoric horse that made the trek from Alaska to Britain some 130,000 years ago. There is mention of the ponies of Exmoor as early on as in the Domesday Booka manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in AD 1086. Along with the Przewalski's horse of Mongolia, these primitive ponies provide an insight into what the original horses must have looked like many thousands of years ago.

"Their characteristics all represent adaptations to surviving harsh elements, living on poor food supply and avoiding predators; none even hint at people selectively breeding them for an unnatural purpose," said Sue Baker, author of Exmoor Ponies: Survival of the Fittest.

"Their history suggests that they are minimally altered from the indigenous British wild pony and were the raw material for the development of many, if not all, the other British native pony breeds. Their genes are therefore the reservoir of all that is required for a free-living pony. Not only has the primitive appearance survived in the Exmoor but also natural behaviors in terms of herd life, food selection and survival instincts. Given enough of the right habitat, they have no need of us."

These tough little animals were initially known as "horsebeasts" due to their robustness and strength. Initially, they roamed free in Exmoor, which for many centuries was a designated royal hunting forest where the king or queen of England and their cohort could hunt red deer. The isolation of the moor helped maintain the breed's genetic integrity. The number of ponies on the moor varied over the years, rising to about 1,000 at times according to records, and they were managed by a warden, along with the cattle and sheep that were grazed on the moor. After Exmoor was sold to private owners in 1818, many of these ponies were sold to individuals and were used on farms for ploughing, pulling carts and for transportation. Some of these ponies also became the foundations for new breeding programs. However, the majority of the herds still roamed free on the moor in designated areas.

Surviving wild Awareness film about the free-living herds of registered Exmoor ponies within the Exmoor National Park and how locals and visitors alike can help in the cons...

The Exmoor Pony Society was established in 1921 to watch over the preservation of the breed and ensure that they remained an important part of their natural habitat. Popularity of the Exmoor as children's ponies peaked in the 1930's, largely due to the success of the books written by Golden Gorse and the future of the breed appeared to be quite solid.



Before the World War II began in 1939, the wild ponies on the moor numbered around 500. But the War brought tragedy for the breed. While some ponies served their country in mounted home guard units, many more became casualties of war. Gates to the moors and private paddocks were left open, ponies were used as target practice and stolen by hungry nearby city-dwellers. By the time the War ended in 1945 there were just 50 Exmoor ponies left on the moor. The breed was at great risk of extinction and if it were not for the dedication and work of a number of conservation groups and individuals it may not have recovered.

It was a joint effort bringing the breed back from the brink. With so few ponies left, it was imperative that genetic diversity was maintained as much as possible and that the resilience of the breed was kept intact.

Mary Etherington from the Royal Dick Veterinary College was a keen supporter of the breed and helped raise national awareness of the importance of the preservation of the breed, including getting London Zoo to exhibit two ponies in 1948 to help bring attention to the dire situation these animals were in. The Exmoor Pony Society put in place strict quality control and inspection protocols to preserve the integrity of the breed while bringing the numbers back up.

Today, about 150 Exmoor ponies roam free on the moor and many more are being reared on farms in other parts of the United Kingdom. There are around 500 breeding mares and 100 licensed stallions throughout England, and about 3,000 Exmoor ponies worldwide. But though their numbers are on the rise they are still recognized as a rare breed by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust and the Farm Animal Genetic Resource Committee.

They are regularly rounded up for health checkups, which include procedures such as worming and hoof trimming. Young ponies are often captured and sold at auctions to private owners or stud farms. Recently the ponies have been doing well at the prestigious Horse of the Year Show in Britain.

In recent years, there has been a growing understanding of the ponies' conservation value as well. The characteristics that make them so well adapted to the harsh conditions of the moor has proven to be instrumental in maintaining the integrity of that landscape. Their strong jaws, for instance, enable them to survive on poor quality vegetation such as gorse, shrubs and coarse grasses, while leaving the more delicate flora alone.

"For conservation purposes they have a number of things in their favor," said Susanna Baker who works with the Yorkshire Exmoor Pony Trust, a charity that grazes these ponies in various locations around Yorkshire. "They are independent, self-sufficient and adapted to British conditions." Baker has a working knowledge of these ponies and sees them as a valuable asset to environmental conservation.

"They thrive on poor forage and do a sterling job eating vigorous vegetation that out-competes more fragile plants," she said. Baker also explains that while other mountain and moorland breeds may be suitable depending on the local conditions, the Exmoor have not been bred to suit a human purpose or human perception of beauty and are closer to a wild pony than other breeds.

Today, wild Exmoor pony herds are managed throughout Britain. A herd was even exported to the Czech Republic in 2014 in an effort to re-introduce wild ponies over there. That program was such a success that in 2015 a second consignment of ponies was sent there. The aim of this particular project is to revitalize land in the Czech Republic that has been over-farmed and restore it to its former beauty and productiveness.

In most parts of the world true wild-type horses and ponies are non-existent, being either wiped out through hunting or their native characteristics bred out via human selection. The ponies are not only a benefit to the environment but their presence attracts visitors and creates awareness around environmental conservation. When asked about the future of the breed, Sue responds: "Exmoors inspire great devotion and so the breed will probably be secure in terms of overall numbers."

The grazing Exmoor pony herds in other parts of the United Kingdom give the breed extra insurance, for if a natural disaster or disease were to wipe out the main populations on Exmoor, the breed's genetics would not be lost. These tough little ponies, though still classed as rare and endangered, are definitely on the way up and will hopefully be around for many years to come.

Reposted with permission from our media associate Earth Island Journal.(Photo: Marcelo Schneider/WCC)World Council of Churches General Secretary, Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit greets Dr. Mohammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, general secretary of the Muslim World League who visited Geneva' s Ecumenical Center in Switzerland on Nov.9, 2017.

One of the most important tasks of the Muslim World League is the defeat of virtual extremist messages that are spreading hatred in the world, the Islamic organization's secretary general has said at a meeting with a top Christian leader.

Dr. Mohammad bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, general secretary of the Muslim World League visited the World Council of Churches in Geneva' s Ecumenical Center in Switzerland on Nov.9.

In his opening remarks, Al-Issa said: "Peace cannot be achieved without total justice, abstract justice can only lead to false peace," the WCC said in a statement.

He said, "Religious freedom is a human and logical necessity, a given if we understand the holy texts correctly."

The Muslim World League is an international non-governmental Islamic organization based in the Holy City of Makkah, or Mecca in Saudi Arabia.

The Muslim leader said, "We have to combat extremists, the means and media used by them. Their objectives are purely material. We all have to be well informed, open to dialogue and new information, keep the truth and listen to all parties"

WCC general secretary Rev. Olav Fykse Tveit who welcomed Al-Issa to the Ecumenical Center said, "As religious leaders we have a special responsibility to elevate the sanctity of the life of all human beings created by the Holy God.

"As communities of faith we are called to show this as love to one another, in relations of respect and care to everybody."

Tveit noted, "We believe in one God that has created one humanity to live together with its diversity and differences.

"We are here to share our reflections and commitment to show together what we believe this means in practice.

"Together we should call for the care of the life of everybody created by God. Therefore, we must be accountable to those are searching for justice and peace in our use of our Holy texts.

'UNITY AND CO-EXISTENCE'

Al-Issa responded: "I am very satisfied to be present and learn more about the distinguished work of the World Council of Churches on peace, unity and co-existence. We seek to achieve the same humanitarian objectives within our religions."

He stressed, "We might differ, but we have to achieve love and humanity together. Religions have nothing to do with terrorism and violence. It is our responsibility to cleanse Islam from incorrect ideas."

Al-Issa added: "World religions are neutral, they have nothing to do with profits and individual ambitions. The ones who kidnap religions are the ones that create the problem."

The Muslim leader said, "We have to unite and co-operate, those in all different religions and denominations; first reconciliation among us, and then show this paradigm to the rest of the world.

"As soon as we transform ourselves, we will be able to present mindful and unbiased solutions to others as well.

"In order to make an impact we would need to work together - through interreligious dialogue - in a sustainable way, neutral, with no political slogans. We need to develop strategic plans together and then make an impact to the world."(Photo: Reuters / Thaier Al-Sudan)Iraqi Christian devotees exchange greetings after a Christmas mass at St. Joseph Chaldean Church in Baghdad Dec. 25, 2012.

Red lights will illuminate the Colosseum in Rome later this month to draw attention to the persecution of Christians around the world, and especially in Syria and Iraq.

On Saturday, Feb. 24, at 6 p.m. the red spotlights that will flood the Colosseum will represent the blood of Christians who have been wounded or lost their lives due to religious persecution, Catholic News Agency reports.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/colosseum-to-be-lit-red-for-persecuted-christians-42868.

"Our aim is to break through the indifference, above all that of the international community, and to strive to ensure that after February 24th no one can continue to ignore the persecution of Christians," said Alessandro Monteduro, the director Aid to the Church in Need's Italian office.

He said martyrdom is not a thing of the past.

At a press conference in Rome, Feb. 7, Monteduro announced that the Colosseum - an ancient symbol of Christian martyrdom - will be lit up in red at 6 p.m.

At the same time, the Maronite cathedral of Saint Elias in Aleppo, Syria and the Church of Saint Paul in Mosul, Iraq will do the same.

In the Church of St. Paul, on Dec. 24, the first Mass was celebrated after the city's liberation from ISIS.

Present at the press briefing were Patriarch Louis Raphael I Sako, head of the Chaldean Catholic Church from Iraq, and Franciscan Father Firas Lutfi.

Lutfi is a parish priest at the Church of Saint Francis in Aleppo and is superior of the city's Franciscan community at Terra Sancta College.

Sako said: "Turning on the red light will bring hope to these people who suffered a lot. The Church in Iraq gives thanks to the Western Churches and the charities that made a miracle in Iraq."

Mantovano noted, "So many Christian communities around the world are suffering hunger, poverty and violence on account of their faith.

"On several occasions already, we have illuminated some of the most important monuments in the world in red to draw attention to the martyrdom of our Christian brothers and sisters.

"On this occasion, our intention is to also involve these communities directly, with the help of two of them that have suffered among the most in recent years, namely those in Syria and Iraq."

The event, sponsored by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), follows a similar initiative last year, which lit-up London's Parliament building in red, as well as the Basilica of the Sacred Heart in Paris and the cathedral in Manila, Philippines.

In 2016, the famous Trevi Fountain in Rome was lit.

Monteduro, told journalists Feb. 7 that the "illumination [of the Colosseum] will have two symbolic figures: Asia Bibi, the Pakistani Christian condemned to death for blasphemy and whose umpteenth judgment is expected to revoke the sentence; and Rebecca, a girl kidnapped by Boko Haram along with her two children when she was pregnant with a third."

"One of the children was killed," he said, "she lost the baby she was carrying, and then became pregnant after one of the many brutalities she was subjected to by her captors."

Once she was freed and reunited with her husband, she decided she "could not hate those who caused her so much pain," Monteduro said.

Aid to the Church in Need released a biennial report on anti-Christian persecution Oct. 12, 2017, detailing how Christianity is "the world's most oppressed faith community," and how anti-Christian persecution in the worst regions has reached "a new peak."

13 COUNTRIES REVIEWED

The report reviewed 13 countries, and concluded that in all but one, the situation for Christians was worse in overall terms for the period 2015-2017 than during the prior two years.

"The one exception is Saudi Arabia, where the situation was already so bad it could scarcely get any worse," the report said.

China, Eritrea, Iraq, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Syria were ranked "extreme" in the scale of anti-Christian persecution.

Egypt, India, and Iran were rated "high to extreme," while Turkey was rated "moderate to high."

The Middle East is a major focus for the report and it says, "Governments in the West and the U.N. failed to offer Christians in countries such as Iraq and Syria the emergency help they needed as genocide got underway.

"If Christian organizations and other institutions had not filled the gap, the Christian presence could already have disappeared in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East."

The exodus of Christians from Iraq has been "very severe."

Christians in the country now may number as few as 150,000, a decline from 275,000 in mid-2015.

In the early part of 2017 there were some signs of hope, with the defeat of the Islamic State group and the return of some Christians to their homes on the Nineveh Plains.

The departure of Christians from Syria has also threatened the survival of their communities in the country, including historic Christian centers like Aleppo, ACN said.

Syrian Christians there suffer threats of forced conversion and extortion. One Chaldean bishop in the country estimates the Christian population to be at 500,000, down from 1.2 million before the war.

Many Christians in the region fear going to official refugee camps, due to concerns about rape and other violence, according to the report.(Photo: popetawadros.org)The Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, meets Pope Tawadros II in Cairo on March 5, 2018.

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and promised to promote interfaith dialogue as part of his domestic reforms, the office of the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion says.

Prince Mohammed made an official visit to London to promote Saudi Arabia as a tolerant, modernizing economy and build a wider trade and investment relationship with Britain, a long-term defense ally, Reuters news agency reported.

Prince Mohammed, who is pledging to modernize his country with reforms, made a symbolic visit to Welby, the head of the Church of England at Lambeth Palace in central London.

"The Crown Prince made a strong commitment to promote the flourishing of those of different faith traditions, and to interfaith dialogue within the Kingdom and beyond," a statement from Lambeth Palace said.

"The archbishop shared his concern about limits placed on Christian worship in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and highlighted the importance for leaders of all faiths to support freedom of religion or belief, drawing on the experience of the UK."

RESTRICTIONS ON CHRISTIANS

Saudi Arabia does not tolerate non-Muslims practicing their faith publicly, and Christians can risk arrest by praying in private homes.

Open Doors, a group that monitors persecution of Christian throughout the world says that Christians make up 1.4 million of Saudi Arabia's 33 million people who are mainly Sunni Muslims, who practice Wahhabism, a purist and strict interpretation of Islam.

"Saudi Arabia is built on Wahhabism, a purist and strict interpretation of Islam. Public sentiment towards Christians in the country is generally quite negative, and the government maintains a tightly knit Islamic system that treats Christians as second-class citizens.

"Islamic leaders attempt to impose strict Islamic law on all people in the country, and often pose problems for converts to Christianity," says Open Doors.

Welby, who had a managerial corporate career before being ordained priest, "emphasized the crucial role that Saudi Arabia could play in protecting minorities across the world", including Anglicans "who often as a minority faith community have few advocates for freedom of religion or belief where they live."

The Archbishop also "voiced his distress at the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, and asked that all that is possible be done to alleviate the suffering of civilian populations and to seek an end to the conflict", Lambeth Palace said.

The prince, who became heir to the throne in an internal palace coup last June, has challenged the conservative religious establishment in Saudi Arabai, The Times (London) reported.

Saudi Arabia's religious police have had their powers of arrest removed, while longstanding restrictions on cinemas, pop concerts and women driving have been lifted.

The Crown Prince has also attacked the aggressive role that the clerics have played over the past 30 years and said that he wanted to return the country to "moderate Islam," while abroad, he and supporters inside the government have cracked down on funding of radical mosques.

Saudi commerce minister, Majid al-Qasabi, said in an interview with The Times that the country is the home of the "Two Holy Mosques", in Mecca and Medina and that, "We are preaching a peaceful Islam, a humanitarian Islam," he said. "We are human before we are Muslim or Christian."

VISIT TO EGYPT

The visit to Lambeth Palace was part of an official visit to the UK by the Crown Prince, and followed a visit to Egypt earlier the Sam week, The Anglican Communion News Service reported.

On Monday, the Crown Prince met with Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria of the Coptic Orthodox Church and discussed "the brotherly relations between the kingdom and Egypt," the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

The Saudi ministry said, "They stressed the importance of the role of different religions and cultures in promoting tolerance, renouncing violence, extremism and terrorism and achieving security and peace for the peoples of the region and world.

"The Crown Prince paid tribute to the role of the Copts in stabilizing Egypt and standing with the issues of the Arab and Islamic nation."

Speaking to reporters after that meeting, Pope Tawadros said that "The Prince spoke a lot about his love for Christians". He revealed that the Crown Prince had invited Tawadros and all Copts to visit Saudi Arabia, said the Anglican news service.Last week, the Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate (GBP/AUD) worsened from Monday to Friday.

The GBP/AUD pairing opened in the region of 1.7785 on Monday morning but closed around 1.7689 on Friday evening.

Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Losses Triggered by Slowing UK Production Last Week

The Pound progressively declined against the Australian Dollar last week, partly owing to persistent concerns about US steel tariffs damaging the UK economy.

Elsewhere, Friday morning brought a spread of disappointing economic data. Summarising the collection of UK data releases, Office for National Statistics Senior Statistician Ole Black said;

Manufacturing has recorded its ninth consecutive month of growth but with a slower start to 2018. Total production output continues to advance, bolstered in January by the Forties oil pipeline coming back on stream after Decembers shutdown. Construction continues to be a weak spot in the UK economy with a big drop in commercial developments, along with a slowdown in house building after its very strong end to last year. The total trade deficit widened again as rising oil prices made for dearer fuel imports.

Other data out on Friday last week included the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) GDP estimate for February, which was downgraded from 0.5% to 0.3%.

NIESR Head of UK Macroeconomics Research Amit Kara said;

We estimate that economic growth nudged lower to 0.3 per cent in the 3 months to February. Activity has eased slightly and is likely to slow further in March when the full impact of the recent extreme weather conditions will be realised. Economic growth continues to be driven by both the manufacturing and the service sectors, supported by a buoyant global economy, while construction output lags.

Australian Dollar to Pound Exchange Rate Boosted by US Tariff Plans

The Australian Dollar was affected by updates to US metal tariff plans last week, when it was hinted at a possible Australian exemption to the charges.

In an ambiguous but hope-sparking statement, US President Donald Trump said;

We have a very close relationship with Australia. We have a trade surplus with Australia. Great country, long-term partner. Well be doing something with them.

Elsewhere, opposition to the trade tariff plans continued, particularly in the UK and EU. A spokesman for the UK Prime Minister said;

Tariffs are not the right way to address the problem of global overcapacity. We will work with EU partners to consider the scope for exemptions.

From the EU, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom said;

We have been very clear that [the US plan] is not in compliance with the WTO. We will have to protect our industry with rebalancing measures, safeguards.

Pound to Australian Dollar Weekly Exchange Rate Forecast: Are GBP/AUD Gains ahead on UK Budget Statement?

With last weeks glut of UK data now passed, Pound traders are looking ahead to the upcoming Spring Budget statement from Chancellor Philip Hammond.

Mr Hammond is expected to give a brief summary of the UK economy at the present time, detailing changes to public finances alongside data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Downplaying this budget compared to the more high-profile Autumn Statement later in 2018, a Treasury spokesman has said;

There will be no red box, no official document, no spending increases, no tax changes. The Chancellor will publish updated economic forecasts; we expect the speech to last between 15-20 minutes.

If the budget statement ends up being a non-event then the Pound could slide in value against the Australian Dollar.

On the other hand, however, if Mr Hammond suggests that the UK economy is in good health during Q1 2018, then the GBP/CAD exchange rate could pick up.

When it comes to Australian domestic data, Australian Dollar traders may end up facing disappointment with the ecostats on offer.

The most significant announcements will come on 13th and 15th March, consisting of confidence scores and a Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) bulletin.

The confidence stats from NAB and Westpac are forecast to show falling levels of business and consumer confidence in February and March, respectively.

Unless the later RBA bulletin suggests that the Australian economy is in a stable position at present, the Australian Dollar may decline in value against the Pound.

Both currencies may also be affected by US news next week, specifically pertaining to the ongoing steel tariffs story.

If Australia or the UK are confirmed to be exempt from the planned trading charges then both currencies could appreciate; of the two, an Australian exemption is slightly more likely given Trumps comments last week.Born and raised in Canada, 32-year-old Robert Woodrich now lives in Thailand, where he runs a business. But because of his Swiss ancestry, he sees Switzerland as a third home away from home.

swissinfo.ch: Your name doesnt sound Swiss. Whats your connection to Switzerland, and when did you start to identify with your Swissness?

Robert Woodrich: I was born abroad, in Windsor, Canada  due south of the US city of Detroit. My Swiss citizenship passed to me from my Oma [grandmother] on my mothers side, who hailed from Zurich and Schwyz during a time when women could not yet vote.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of swissinfo.ch.

I learned about my nationality at a young age; my parents used to joke about being able to send me to Switzerland should conflict erupt during the Cold War. I really began to feel a strong connection to the country during my youth, when I visited sites such as the original Kapellbrucke [Lucernes Chapel Bridge] and later made my first solo trip to visit family in Richterswil near Zurich at the age of ten.

My interest in Switzerland stems from the family connection, of course, but I also find that Switzerland and Canada are quite similar in their federal systems of government, high standards of living, and multilingualism. As a teenager, I became rather interested in politics, and Swiss direct democracy appealed to my strong sense of fairness. Later on, I joined the Swiss-Canadian Chamber of Commerce and I now belong to the Swiss-Thai Chamber of Commerce.

swissinfo.ch: What is your occupation? How did you find your job, hows it going?

R.W.: My job is to manage a creative digital agency that I co-founded called PAPER & PAGE.

I first made the move to Thailand in 2013, having been selected to intern in public information and strategic communications with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). Although I cherished my time with ESCAP and fell in love with the host country, UN interns are unpaid and so I opted to head back to Canada to take a government post.

Fast forward to 2016, when I landed an opportunity to work with an American public relations firm in the heart of Bangkok. This position allowed me to learn about the regional business landscape, network, and start to prepare longer-term plans. After about one year with Burson-Marstellers affiliate in Thailand, I made the transition to founding and running my own company.

Less than one year since the founding, we work with brands as big as Hilton Hotels & Resorts, as well as renowned local restaurants and retailers.

swissinfo.ch: Where exactly in Thailand do you live? Whats your life like, and hows the food there?

R.W.: I live in an area of the city called On Nut, which is alongside the Sukhumvit line of the BTS sky train. Being here enables me to enjoy a normal life, complete with supermarkets and wide sidewalks, quite unlike what most visitors would experience around such hot-spots as Khao San Road. There are many ways in which I enjoy a higher quality of life in Thailand in comparison to Canada. For example, I can afford to hire a maid who cleans my laundry, and I live 50 metres from a main transit line. Such luxuries would be unthinkable to most Canadian millennials.

The food is absolutely brilliant, although not identical to that found in western Thai restaurants. Green curry and pad thai are ubiquitous, but one dish I had never sampled until moving here is khao soi  an egg noodle curry. Its quite rich, but I would recommend it to those seeking something a little different.

swissinfo.ch: Why do you prefer Thailand to Switzerland?

R.W.: Although I have never lived in Switzerland, I did consider moving before entering graduate school. However, I gathered that my lack of a network and shared cultural experiences (for example, military service) would make this rather difficult.

Now, contrast that with moving to a country on the other side of the world, where I have been able to establish my own firm and meet people from across the globe. There is something to be said for the opportunities available to highly-skilled foreigners in this region.

swissinfo.ch: Whats your impression of Switzerland from abroad?

R.W.: My impression of Switzerland from abroad is probably rather romantic  my fondest memories are from long ago, whereas things have changed since then. However, in a time when European countries lurch from one crisis to the next, Switzerland still appears a political oasis of sorts.

swissinfo.ch:Are you interested in politics in your country of residence?

R.W.: No-one is free to comment on anything pertaining to the monarchy from within Thailand, and yet it is hard to discuss politics without doing so. A point I can make is that it is surreal to live under a military junta, coming from a part of the world where we take liberty for granted. Foreigners are largely unaffected by domestic politics, except for when laws pertain to business, immigration, and taxation.

Yes, I find the local political situation rather fascinating. However, cognizant of my status as an outsider, I make an effort not to impose my views on others.

swissinfo.ch: Do you participate in Swiss elections and votes, and if so, how?

R.W.: I do participate in Swiss elections and referenda, preferring e-voting when possible. While my ballot papers arrived with consistency in Canada, I now seem to receive far fewer. One of the drawbacks of life in a developing country.

swissinfo.ch: Why do you miss Switzerland. a country where you have never lived?

R.W.: I miss Switzerland because of what it represents for me  a time when my family and I all lived together in one place. These days, we are scattered across three continents. On a more practical level, I would certainly appreciate some of Switzerlands cleanliness, natural landscapes, and political stability.













swissinfo.ch





Switzerlands asylum centres were only half full last year, but the cost per asylum seeker was 60% over the budget.

As the SonntagsZeitung newspaper reported on Sunday, nearly half of the 3,700 federally managedbeds for asylum seekers were empty last year.

The newspaper got the data from the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM), which said that only two of the 20 or so federal asylum centres had been more than 75% occupied in 2017. The high vacancy rate led to higher expenses per person.

+ 2017 saw a huge drop in the number of asylum applications

The official budget per asylum seeker per day is CHF83 ($87), and it covers food, security and care. In 2017, the average cost was CHF132. At one centre in a village in the Bernese Oberland, it was CHF350 because there were so few asylum seekers living there.

The newspaper, accusing the government of poor budgeting, suggested that CHF30 million could have been saved.

In reply, SEM pointed out that Switzerland had to be prepared to cope with fluctuations in capacity, including a possible surge of asylum seekers. It pointed out that some asylum centres had been closed in response to the declining demand last year, thus eliminating 900 beds.

Compensation for rejected asylum seeker

Also on Sunday, the SonntagsZeitung reported that the federal government had compensated a rejected Tamil asylum seeker for pain and suffering. Via a lawyer, the man filed suit, saying he been arrested and tortured after his expulsion from Switzerland.

The lawyer reportedly settled the case with the Federal Court, winning tens of thousands of Swiss francs for his client. It was the first time that a rejected asylum seeker had won such a settlement.

Switzerland has been rejecting Tamil applicantsin recent years, despite the United Nations belief that torture is still going on in Sri Lanka.













SonntagsZeitung/swissinfo.ch/sm





Pro-Kurdish demonstrators staged protests against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria on Sunday scuffling with Turks and German police at Duesseldorf airport, while in Britain they temporarily closed two train stations, authorities said.

Several people in Germany were left injured after police used pepper spray against some demonstrators opposed to Turkeys ongoing military operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in Syrias Afrin region.

The unannounced rally of about 150 people  one of several Kurdish demonstrations in Germany at the weekend  turned rowdy and led to a number of people suffering injuries, federal police told AFP.

Images on social media showed the protesters holding a banner that read Afrin is becoming our Vietnam  We will defeat fascism.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to purge Kurdish militia from the town of Afrin as his forces and allied Syrian rebels advanced to within a few kilometres.

In Britain on Sunday flag-waving pro-Kurdish protesters forced the closure of Manchester Piccadilly train station and Kings Cross station in London.

In the capital British police massed at the station entrance to prevent the crowd marching on to the concourse or platforms, causing service interruptions.

Meanwhile in Manchester scores of demonstrators made it onto the tracks, closing the station for several hours which led to trains being halted and impacting travellers across the country.

Superintendent Mark Cleland of the British Transport Police said: Those involved in this afternoons incident will be subject to intense investigation with a view to arrest and prosecution.German police said Saturday they had opened a probe into attempted murder after a fire at a mosque near Stuttgart where Molotov cocktails were thrown.

The arson at the mosque in the town of Lauffen on Thursday night caused material damage before the imam managed to extinguish the blaze. There were no casualties.

Stuttgart prosecutors and local police said five people were being sought for attempted murder.

A joint statement said several Molotov cocktails were thrown into the mosque through an open window, adding that they were treating the incident as a possible racist or anti-Islamic attack.

Germany is home to some three million ethnic Turks. On Saturday the leader of the community, Gokay Sofuoglu, denounced the incident as an inhuman crime and an act of terrorism.

There were 950 attacks in Germany last year on Muslims or places linked to Islam, according to the interior ministry.Pro-Kurdish protestors demonstrating against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria scuffled with Turks and German police at Duesseldorf airport Sunday, leaving several people injured, authorities said.

Police used pepper spray against some demonstrators, who were protesting Turkeys ongoing military operation Olive Branch against the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units in Syrias Afrin region.

The unannounced rally of about 150 people  one of several Kurdish demonstrations in Germany at the weekend  turned rowdy and led to a number of people suffering injuries, federal police told AFP.

Images on social media showed the protesters holding a banner that read Afrin is becoming our Vietnam  We will defeat fascism.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to purge Kurdish militia from the town as Turkish forces and allied Syrian rebels advanced to within a few kilometres.Russia foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova became the latest woman to accuse senior lawmaker Leonid Slutsky of sexual harassment on Saturday.

Four journalists have accused Slutsky, the head of the Dumas foreign affairs committee, of inappropriate sexual conduct over the past few weeks.

Leonid started saying things in a restaurant that I found very unpleasant, Zakharova told Russias NTV television when asked about the claims.

I was surprised to see that those present did not say anything at the time and did not support me, she said, adding that the incident took place in Saint Petersburg five years ago when I was not a well-known person.

I completely oppose those who say that see, she only makes this up now, shes that kind of girl, she does not dress properly, all of this is invented.

Three of the journalists have gone public with their accusations, which include making lewd sexual comments and groping, breaking the silence on a subject that remains largely taboo in Russia.

Slutsky has labelled the claims as cheap, low-grade provocation and dismissed them as a political attack ordered by his enemies. He even said the scandal boosted my gravitas rather than took it away.

However on on International Womens Day on Thursday Slutsky apologised for the first time.

I would like to apologise to those of you I have wittingly or unwittingly caused distress, he said on Facebook. Trust me, I meant no harm.

The 50-year-old MP in the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party has been widely supported by his colleagues so far, including the partys leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky, who accused the women of receiving orders from the West.

all/dl/achHere are five major dates in Russia since the disintegration of the USSR or the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

 1991: the Soviet Union dies 

December 8, Russian President Boris Yeltsin, elected six months earlier at the first multi-party ballot, agrees with his Belarussian and Ukrainian counterparts to replace their union, the USSR, with a commonwealth.

As the Soviet Union disintegrates, leader Mikhail Gorbachev resigns. The USSR ceases to exist in international law on December 31, 1991.

Yeltsin launches a raft of free-market reforms and ruthlessly expands his powers, presiding over rampant corruption and a sell-off of assets to allied oligarchs.

He is discredited further by a severe financial crisis in the summer of 1998 which leaves millions of Russians in poverty, with the health and education systems collapsing.

 1999: Putin arrives 

When Yeltsin resigns on New Years Eve, 1999, he names his prime minister, the ex-spy chief Vladimir Putin, as president.

Putin is elected in March 2000 and then again in 2004.

As Yeltsins prime minister, Putin had overseen the launch of a second war to crush separatist rebels in Russias North Caucasus region of Chechnya, sealing his image as a strongman.

The separatists had carried out a series of bloody attacks which traumatised Russians.

Tens of thousands die in Moscows bombing of the regional capital Grozny before the conflict ends in 2009.

During his first two terms as president, Putin asserts his dominance over parliament and regional governors, imposes control over the media and empowers the security services.

He also sidelines influential oligarchs from politics, including Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the ex-Yukos chief, who is jailed for 10 years.

Russias economy recovers, thanks to high energy prices, a strict control of monetary policy and reform.

 2008: Interim president 

At the end of his second term in 2008, Putin  in line with the constitution  hands the presidency over to his protege Dmitry Medvedev and takes the post of prime minister.

He is widely seen as retaining the reins of power, however, and remains Russias most popular figure.

 2012: Putins comeback 

Putin scores a crushing first-round presidential election victory in March 2012 that he insists is honest but the opposition and international observers say is tainted.

On the eve of his inauguration for a term extended to six years, thousands of protesters stage a so-called March of Millions, which is repressed by police.

A crackdown on civil society follows Putins return to power, with activists arrested, the Pussy Riot rock band jailed and draconian new laws passed.

 2014: Russia flexes muscles 

In March 2014, Putin annexes the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, which sparks the worst diplomatic crisis between Russia and the West since the Cold War.

The move prompts the European Union and United States to impose sanctions on Russia.

Moscow is also accused of backing pro-Russian separatists in the east of the strategically placed former Soviet republic.

Russias role as a key international player is sealed when in September 2015 it intervenes in Syria, turning the tables in the civil war in favour of ally President Bashar al-Assad.A delegation from Syria's rebel-held Eastern Ghouta was on Sunday considering a partial evacuation deal to halt a fierce government offensive, a negotiator and monitor told AFP.

The two main rebel groups in the region, which borders Damascus, have firmly and repeatedly denied negotiating with the Syrian regime.

But on Sunday, as the governments Russian-backed assault entered its fourth week, influential figures in one rebel-held town were considering a possible evacuation offer.

A committee from Hammuriyeh met with regime representatives on Saturday, a member of the committee told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The committee discussed a proposed reconciliation that would guarantee exit for those that want to leave, both civilians and rebels, from Hammuriyeh to other areas in Syria under rebel control, the delegate said.

Civilians and fighters could be bussed to rebel-controlled parts of Daraa province in Syrias south, or to Idlib in the northwest, held by rebels and a former Al-Qaeda affiliate.

Government forces would then take control of Hammuriyeh, and residents who wanted to stay on in the town would be allowed to do so.

The committee is meeting on Sunday to take a decision and inform the regime. If they do not agree, there would be a resumption of the military operation on Ghouta, including Hammuriyeh, the negotiator added.

Following weeks of bombing, it was relatively quiet in the town throughout the night and into Sunday.

In recent years, the regime has recaptured several areas around Damascus from rebels by pursuing fierce military offensives culminating in evacuation deals.

 Russian role in talks 

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said negotiations for evacuations from multiple towns were ongoing Sunday.

A decision could be taken any moment for Hammuriyeh, Jisreen, and Saqba, said Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman.

All three towns are controlled by Islamist rebel group Faylaq al-Rahman, which has repeated denied engaging in talks with the regime.

There are no direct or indirect negotiations with the Russian enemy or its allies, said the groups spokesman Wael Alwan late Saturday.

No one has been authorised to negotiate on behalf of rebels in Ghouta, he added.

The second main rebel group in Ghouta, Jaish al-Islam, has also denied rumours it is negotiating its own withdrawal.

But it has admitted engaging in talks with the United Nations and world powers on Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a jihadist group once linked to Al-Qaeda.

Those negotiations resulted last week in Jaish al-Islam releasing 13 HTS members it was holding. The jihadists and their relatives were then evacuated to northwest Syria on Friday.

HTS, which has a small presence in parts of Ghouta, has not commented publicly on the negotiations.

Russian news agency Interfax said Sunday that the Russian Centre for Reconciliation, based alongside Russias air force at the Hmeimim military airport in western Syria, was facilitating negotiations with rebels in Ghouta.

It did not specify which rebel factions were engaging in the talks.

The fighters are considering the possibility of evacuating several dozen residents in exchange for an opportunity to leave the area with their families, a representative of the centre, officer Vladimir Zolotukhin, told Interfax.Sunday, March 11, 2018

Historical Pattern

Why does a nation time after time follow the same patterns rising to empire-like power and then expanding the military to control others? Emerging nations arise from the void of older established nations neglecting them, as they are on the outskirts of the main power play action. Britain and Japan off the continent. Later Germany ignored in the tussle between France and Britain in centuries past, rises to great power status in the World Wars. Low military spending was the key to the Prussian school system excellence before those wars. Now America, protected by two oceans, emerges and militarizes after World War II. The pride makes them think they are invincible, not realizing that the military economic diversion will ultimately lead to the fall of the empire. Poor science, and the military Keynesianism mistake of John Maynard Keynes, leads powerful nations to believe they can afford to spend a lot on the military. Short term thinking also leads to poor high military budget decisions. But ignorance of the Reuschlein findings, model, and defense strategy are prideful errors that really hurt. Most people are number-phobic and don't see the negative consequences of military spending. They recognize the economic boom in military buildup areas, but fail to see the compensating decline in manufacturing in the rest of the country, especially the industrial Midwest Great Lakes states in America. Then the deficit and war bonding lift the economy in major wars, unless they don't match the military spending as in the economic decline in 1944 through 1947 for America in World War II and the two years after the war.

Famous Presidencies

America was very fortunate to have Washington as their first president. He set the pattern of limiting himself to two terms to avoid the tendency of leaders to cling to power. Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. But it's hard not to notice all of America's top presidents have a war associated with them. Wanting to set the historical record is very tempting to presidents and national leaders. Winning a war is a big part of being a big part of history. So the lure of fame urges many a leader into war. Switzerland, run by a committee, is war averse, while most single leader nations are war prone. Another characteristic of major war presidents is that they were not around to see the previous major war first hand. Average age for starting a war among American presidents is 57, hence the 54 year cycle of major wars leaves them all too young to participate in the last major war. Having served in a war can temper a leaders judgement, avoiding the reckless rush into war.

Hottest Downloads Exceeded

Since the publication of my "Hottest Downloads" press release April 14, 2017 three more academia.edu papers greatly exceeded anything on that list in the next half year. These three new blockbusters were first "Dear Future US President" posted on May 8, 2017 soared to 87 downloads on 103 views, an astonishing 84% download to views rate. The second came out as I renewed my association with "Dungeons and Dragons" founder Gary Gygax's followers. Telling my story of how the ten years of wargaming with Gygax lead to his invention was so fascinating that 130 downloaded and 229 viewed "History of Gary Gygax and War Economy" with a download to views rate of 57% this was posted on June 18, 2017. Then in August 2017 "Military Complete Geography" was posted with its summary of the military political economy of the 50 United States. This was viewed by 158 and downloaded by 163 with most downloading two copies each. This is a download rate of 103%. My press release of almost the same name August 8th looked mainly at the top 32 states, with some small inaccuracies and incompleteness.

Nobel Prize Interest Peaks in Third Year

No one but the Norwegian Nobel Committee has tried to look at all my 183 press releases on ExpertClick.com. That signature convinced me they were very serious about my nomination from the starting two months of February and March 2016. Then nothing happened for a while as the Columbian President won the Peace Prize in 2016. But in 2017 some very strange things started happening. Twelve days before and 10 days before someone looked at 24 of the most recent press releases. I thought this meant the chair and vice chair of the five member committee were studying me. Then the same thing the night before the announcement, perhaps a search for a third vote. Then the award went to an anti-nuclear group ICAN with no coverage except the live broadcast on the BBC. The world said "ho hum". Since then twice in November, three times in January, four times in February and on March 8th the signature pattern repeated, looking at the last 26 or 24 in a row. Of these ten different visits since the last announcement, three may have come from Germany or France, one from Australia, and one from Switzerland, since the wordpress.com website seems to precede the access to the ExpertClick.com press releases. Thorbjorn Jagland, Secretary General of the Council of Europe since 2009, works in Strasbourg, France and may live across the river in Germany. He has the economics background to follow me most closely. Australia could be a false lead, and Switzerland could be Thorbjorn Jagland on assignment in say Geneva, since he is the Chancellor of the Council of Europe. It seems like I may be a favorite this year, look out October 5th.

For the original number one downloaded paper on academia.edu website:

https://www.academia.edu/34337629/MILITARY_COMPLETE_GEOGRAPHY_2017_9_pages

Please cite this work as follows:

Reuschlein, Robert. (2018, March 11), "Pride Leads to Empire Fall", Madison, WI: Real Economy Institute. Retrieved from: https://www.expertclick.com/NewsRelease/Pride-Leads-to-Empire-Fall,2018155054.aspxReaders of last weeks column answered Frank Trevinos question about the Saenz Clinic, providing additional information about the history of this West Side institution, which was founded and operated by Daniel Saenz, M.D., from the late 1920s through the late 50s, first at 201 S. Laredo St. and later at 1723 Buena Vista St.

Thanks to city-directory research by volunteers at the San Antonio Conservation Society, we knew that the clinic became the Trinity Hospital and Pharmacy. That was after Saenz sold the clinic to Dionicio Garcia, who had been the clinics pharmacist since the early 1950s.

I was born there, along with three of my five sisters, said Father David H. Garcia, pastor of Mission Concepcion and director of the Old Spanish Missions in San Antonio.

Dionicio Garcia was one of only eight Hispanics in the University of Texas School of Pharmacys class of 1940, which also included Ramiro Estrada, who later became both a medical doctor and a lawyer in San Antonio. Saenz, who was born in Mexico but grew up in Brownsville, also was a pionee. According to his Express-News obituary, provided by his great-niece, Sandra Teran Stone, he was the first Mexican-American to graduate from a medical school in Texas when he earned his doctorate in 1921 from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

After buying the clinic from Saenz, Garcia renamed it Trinity Clinic, since it was at the corner of Trinity and Buena Vista, his son wrote. He then upgraded it to become Trinity Hospital with 20 beds, which served mostly the Prospect Hill neighborhood (with) several doctors offices, a lab, the pharmacy and a waiting room.

The hospital closed in the late 1960s as it became too costly to run such a small operation, the younger Garcia wrote. However, the pharmacy, lab and several doctors offices continued until the property was sold in 1971 to a doctor. The building later was demolished to make way for a Section 8 housing building for seniors, called Sacred Heart Villa, a project that was spearheaded by Sacred Heart parish close by.

Father David Garcia recalled that his father did a lot of charitable work, as he wrote off charges for the hospital or medicines when people from the area could not pay. The priest and his sisters are all very proud of the health care provided by my father and Dr. Daniel Saenz to the people of the West Side for several decades after World War II.

Just as the clinic had a second act, so did Saenzs medical career. The Saenz Clinic had been a popular provider of maternity services, and the doctor had simultaneously served as chief of medical services and gynecology from 1922 to 1946 at Robert B. Green Hospital when it was the principal county-operated medical facility, says his obituary. After more than 20 years in practice at the citys then-largest hospital, Saenz returned to school in Galveston for more study to earn his credentials in psychiatry.

Alberto C. Serrano, M.D., met Saenz there in 1957, after Serrano arrived from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to start a residency in psychiatry. By my second year, Serrano wrote, Dr. Daniel Saenz came to the Department of Psychiatry as a visiting professor to teach a course on philosophy to the psychiatry residents as part of our training curriculum.

In addition to the wealth of information he was able to share with us, I was impressed with his warmth, scholarship and modesty. We became friends and met frequently during his regular annual visits, Serrano said.

After Serrano completed his residency, he became a member of the UTMB psychiatric faculty. In 1965, A new medical school was to start in San Antonio, and Saenz helped recruit his former student for a joint position as chief of child and adolescent psychiatry at the new University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio and medical director of the Bexar County Community Guidance Center.

Serrano and his wife, Reina, moved to San Antonio in 1966; the two psychiatrists talked frequently about clinical and academic issues. They and their wives would get together for concerts of the San Antonio Symphony and Chamber Music Society. Saenz, according to his obituary, played the violin and piano. Serrano remembered that Saenz and his wife, Helena, were musicians and held soirees at their home on Bandera Road.

Helena Saenz was an artist who exhibited and sold her award-winning pottery pieces at local galleries and art shows through the 1960s. Some were collected by museums, Stone said, including Austins Laguna Gloria.

Daniel Saenz worked until shortly before his death in 1983, serving from 1977 onward as a clinical lecturer at the San Antonio medical school, where he is remembered with the Daniel and Helena Saenz Trust Fund, established in 1990 through a bequest from his estate to provide scholarship support to deserving medical students.

For those who wrote asking for help establishing genealogical connections with Daniel Saenz, Stone  whose grandmother Lydia (Saenz) Moreno was the sister of his father, Guadalupe Saenz  noted that the doctors mother was Bacilia Recio and that Daniel and Helena Saenz did not have children. She checked her family tree, for which she has done extensive research, and did not find any of the names mentioned, although the surname is common in Matamoros, where Daniel Saenz was born, and in Brownsville, where he grew up, so there may yet be some kinship.The late morning sun beat down on a dozen firefighters Saturday as they pushed two 35,000-pound fire engines, each filled with another 6,000 pounds of water, up a slight incline and into their bays at the Bexar-Bulverde Volunteer Fire Department.

The temperature somewhat unfairly rose to 80 degrees before the push-in ceremony, which the North Bexar County fire department had to celebrate the arrival of the new engines. Luckily, the traditional ceremony includes spraying the trucks  and some nearby people  with water.

Jordan Poss, 8, walked onto the scene with her mother and her friend, joining dozens of local children and parents as the firefighters strained against the front of the second truck.

I was surprised because they were pushing a fire truck, Jordan said.

Her friend Yara Abdelgabar, 10, agreed.

I thought they were just going to drive it in, Yara said. I thought theyd need more people.

The push-in ceremony dates back to a time when fire engines were drawn by horses that could not easily back them in, leaving humans to do the work. Water from old engines often spilled as it was transferred to the new ones, necessitating that the new engines be wiped down.

Fire Chief Jerry Bialick called Saturdays proceedings a success.

Nobody got hurt and the fire trucks didnt roll down into a ditch, Bialick said.

Pierce Manufacturing, based in Wisconsin, gave the fire department a discount for buying both engines at once, Bialick said. They cost $670,000 apiece, replacing trucks that had been in service for about 10 years, he said.

Fire trucks live a hard life, Bialick said. They go from zero to 100 in a hurry. They also idle for long periods of time, wearing the engines down, he said.

Tax revenue from the fast-growing Emergency Services District No. 3 paid for the new Engines 103 and 104, and $50,000 worth of equipment, including battery-operated Jaws of Life extrication tools. The engines arrived at least two months ago, but radios and other equipment needed installation and firefighters had to be trained on the new trucks before the first one went into service last week.

Bialick said the upgraded trucks were a necessity in fast-growing ESD 3, bordered by San Antonio to the south, Comal County to the north and east and Camp Bullis to the west. New subdivisions sprouting up in the area have increased the fire departments call volume, and San Antonio pays the department to act as first responders in a recently annexed section of U.S. 281, said Ken Jarvis, a spokesman for the BBVFD. The fire department has ordered a new ladder truck and plans to double in size, from two stations to four.

Most of the children watching Saturday came out after their parents heard of the event on Facebook. Yara said she plans on being a pediatrician, but wants her son or daughter to be a firefighter.

Thats something that helps the community, Yara said.Last summer, tasked with helping displaced Texans find safe places to live after one of the nations worst floods, the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided to experiment.

Rather than muscling up its program for short-term housing, FEMA called on the state of Texas to help find trailers, lease apartments and repair flood victims homes.

But the effort, led by Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush, has been hogtied in a web of paperwork, legal wrangling and efforts to increase staffing, a Houston Chronicle examination of local, state and federal records and interviews shows. It took nearly a month for FEMA to ask for help and to work out an agreement with Bushs office. And five months later, the state General Land Office has added 33 disaster recovery workers, after initially saying it needed 90.

Thousands of Texans, meanwhile, are still waiting for help with temporary housing. Some have given up on the government.

Texas now expects to spend just $1.1 billion of the more than $2.6 billion land office officials say FEMA budgeted for short-term housing programs. State officials say the larger number was an early estimate based on maximum potential sign-ups.

We cant force people to use these programs, Bush said in an interview Friday. Constituents had ample opportunity to use these programs, and many chose to go a different path. And, look, I get it. Your house is the most important investment that you make.  And so to have a contractor come to your home in the midst of so many scams and rip-off artists leaves a lot of people without comfort.

Hurricane Harveys six-month anniversary passed with fewer than 8,000 Texas families having made it into trailers, apartments or homes leased or repaired by FEMA-funded programs. That equates to roughly 2 percent of the 371,000 applicants who have qualified for federal assistance.

By comparison, roughly six months after a rainstorm inundated southern Louisiana in 2016, about 18 percent of approved FEMA applicants had moved into similar federally funded temporary housing.

FEMA officials have cautioned against comparing disasters and emphasized that the agencys short-term housing programs are designed to serve only people without other options.

Interviews with state and local officials, however, indicate that negotiating FEMAs intricate partnership with the Texas General Land Office and local governments delayed the rollout of Harvey housing programs by weeks, and in some cases months. The arrangement continues to be plagued by communication breakdowns, they said.

Weve been asking, Where are those dollars and whos getting those dollars and how many homes are being repaired? Were still having problems on that end, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, an increasingly vocal critic, said Wednesday. Theres a lack of cooperation and inclusiveness, and we just need to get that worked out. Quite frankly, we just need to get that worked out yesterday.

By the time Tracy Wilson got a call in mid-February to gauge her interest in a bare-bones FEMA repair program, she had already given up on getting substantial help from the agency. The 57-year-old accountant and her daughter had been living with family since Harvey flooded their southwest Houston home.

After a couple of months, I kind of blew it off, because its just another government thing, Wilson recalled thinking. Its not going to happen.

Government-paid contractors eventually performed short-term repairs in her home, but she still doesnt plan on moving back. Nails still stick up out of her floor, and she worries about the mold.

Months of paperwork

FEMAs role in housing recovery after disasters such as Harvey is twofold. In the storms immediate aftermath, the agency provides financial assistance to help families find safe, dry places to sleep. This can include $500 in emergency funds, a hotel room or money for a few months rent.

FEMA then works with state officials to develop programs to get families with limited options into apartments, trailers or partially repaired homes on a short-term basis. This is where FEMA changed the process after Harvey.

Rather than implementing most of these temporary housing programs on its own, FEMA took a hybrid approach. It maintained control over determining program eligibility, but put state and local officials in charge of tasks such as following up with families, procuring contractors and purchasing manufactured housing units.

An aide to Gov. Greg Abbott said FEMA asked the governor to have the state run the short-term housing programs because the federal agency didnt have sufficient resources to do so, based on the severity of damage from Harvey.

FEMA Federal Coordinating Officer Kevin Hannes cited Harveys widespread impact and Texas leadership capacity.

As we came into Harvey and we were looking at how extensive the damage could be  knowing that Texas is a leader in many facets in the country  we had started those discussions, he said. How do we improve the process to make housing more tailored? Instead of top-down-driven, one solution set, is there a vehicle to really improve the process, to give multiple options, to empower the states to lead their recovery effort?

The new approach led to months of legal wrangling and paperwork.

It wasnt until Sept. 22 that the state land office and FEMA agreed to the broad terms of their partnership. Next, the agencies had to hammer out plans for each of their temporary housing programs, which include two rental options, manufactured housing units, recreational vehicles, quick-fix home repairs and more extensive home reconstruction.

State and local officials were most enthusiastic about the more comprehensive repair program, which offers homeowners up to $60,000 in repair work. They worked to get it off the ground first, leaving for last the basic, $20,000 repair program designed to convert homes into temporary shelters. This plan was finished on Nov. 30, more than three months after Harvey made landfall.

The $20,000 program requires the state to provide 10 percent of the money. FEMA fully funds the other programs.

Pete Phillips, the land offices senior director of community development and revitalization, said the state thought it was providing a better service to Texans by delaying the quick-hit program and urging FEMA to qualify more people for the comprehensive repair option. He added that FEMA didnt wait until negotiations were finished to begin placing mobile homes.

By early March, contractors had completed repairs on just 55 homes through the $60,000 program, compared with 6,159 homes through the $20,000 program. Meanwhile, 2,160 Texas families had moved into mobile homes, and just 49 had been served by either of the rental programs the land office is partnering with FEMA to implement.

Phillips said some Texans had resources available and could take responsibility for their own recovery instead of waiting on the government for help.

Texans, I think, are not like our neighbors in Louisiana, he said. We dont count on the government for our recovery.

Broke every month

By December, renters made up more than 77,000 of the Texas families with FEMA-verified losses due to Harvey. Steven Booth, his wife, Catherine, and their six children are among them.

The Booths were evacuated from the house they rented for two years in Aransas Pass to an extended-stay motel in Austin.

FEMA twice has denied the familys request for rental assistance and money to replace essential belongings, such as beds that were ruined when Harvey damaged the roof of their former home. Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid, a nonprofit group that provides free legal services to low-income residents, is filing appeals on the familys behalf with FEMA, which Booth contends did not adequately inspect damage.

FEMA paid the bills when the Booths moved into the extended-stay motel in Austin, but that help ended in December, and the couple now is struggling to pay the $1,300 a month it costs to stay there. Booth is working as an apprentice electrician as his wife cares for their children, who range in age from 1 to 14.

We are pretty much broke every month, said Booth, 41.

Slow to hire

As the programs started functioning on all three levels of government, one of them faced a personnel shortage. Its normal, experts say, for the land office to have reduced its disaster-recovery staff after winding down the work on the last few disasters, including hurricanes Ike and Dolly.

And that was the case in Austin. At a legislative committee meeting in April 2017, Phillips said that under Bush, the land office had reduced its number of disaster-recovery staff from 92 to 52.

Those individuals who remain at the staff are the most highly educated and dedicated professionals, he said.

But the office has struggled to staff up since Harvey. In documents provided to FEMA in October, Phillips team said it could need up to 90 more workers. It has hired 17, he says, and has transferred 16 others from other duties. He says 83 people are now working on disaster recovery, and he could add 20 more.

Sadly, the job market is great, so its tough getting people to take some of these jobs, and Im not going to hire just to fill a position, he said. I want quality staff, people who are going to be passionate.

Out of options

By February, Wilson, whose home flooded three times in as many years, felt like she was running out of options.

First, flood insurance paid less than half of her policy limit. Then the city of Houston said she couldnt rebuild without elevating her home. Nonprofits and contractors turned her away, if they responded at all.

FEMAs bare-bones repair program, designed to provide a quick fix, became a last resort.

Yet after the government-paid contractors finished tearing out her kitchen cabinets, replacing panels of missing drywall and installing a new toilet, she felt no closer to moving home. Wilsons shoes still stuck to the tar-covered floor when she walked. The unhooked gas line marked where her stove used to be. And then there was the mold.

They put together a cookie-cutter plan, she said. And that cookie cutter doesnt fit everybody.Standing on the end of the robotic arm outside the International Space Station, the Earth appears as a vast, azure expanse 250 miles below. Staring down, it feels as though you could easily, maybe even happily, fall into that glow. Its intoxicating.

But look up, and the total blackness of space  dotted by stars and planets bright enough to overcome the reflected glare of sunlight off the space station  is even more overwhelming. Out here there is majesty above and below, and in the strata between is the technological marvel of the station itself, prickly with antennae, solar panels, puffy insulation, wiring and a docked Soyuz spacecraft, which is ultimately your ride back home.

The sight is beautiful, awe-inspiring, humbling and a hundred other joyful adjectives, none of which do the scene justice.

Too bad its not real.

Remove the virtual reality headset, and youre back on Earth. Specifically, youre in a small office in Building B9 on the NASA Johnson Space Center campus, surrounded high-tech hardware  sensors, cameras, large display monitors  and the mundane furnishings of government life: aging desks, beige walls, plywood dividers, fluorescent lighting. Its a jarring comedown after frolicking in simulated orbit.

But this is one of many rooms at NASA where astronauts come to train for flights to the International Space Station and, maybe in the near future, to the moon and Mars. Here, NASAs modern knights go over processes theyll employ in spacewalks and ISS procedures. Some of what they learn here may save their lives.

For almost 30 years, NASA has been building a virtual reality universe behind these 1960s-era walls at Johnson Space Center, cobbling makeshift headsets and writing homegrown software to train astronauts for life in space long before they suit up. Those early efforts were crude and expensive, but kept the space agency on the cutting edge of virtual reality even as the technology seemed to vanish for a while for consumers.

$40K headset now $500

The technology is now enjoying a renaissance, and NASA is rushing to take advantage of it. VR headsets that gamers purchase for a few hundred bucks and connect to off-the-shelf personal computers are supplanting those that used to cost NASA tens of thousands of dollars to design and build.

And NASAs VR software, which allows the stunning recreation of the ISS, the Earth below it and cosmos above, is slowly being nudged out by commercial and open-source 3D software thats also used to build popular video games. Besides the cost savings, NASA can take advantage of advances in VR technology almost as fast as it comes to market.

You can leverage all the work the commercial world is doing, instead of paying an expensive engineer to maintain complex software, said Eddie Paddock, the manager of the VR effort at Johnson Space Center. The four employees and two interns who work with him are responsible for creating simulations and training astronauts with them.

Paddocks lab is dotted with artifacts from VRs earlier epoch. There are headsets that look like steampunk props from a Terry Gilliam movie, but theyre very real  NASA engineers built them by hand back in the day, at a cost of $30,000 to $40,000 each. Now, you can bring home from Frys or MicroCenter a consumer headset with dramatically better resolution and faster displays for less than $500.

The space agencys interest in virtual reality dates to the early 1990s, though some old-timers say NASA was exploring the concept even before the term virtual reality was coined in the mid-1980s.

The VR lab, founded in the early 1990s by David Homan, was involved in training astronauts during the Space Shuttle era. Homan made his earliest mark by using VR to train the astronauts who were involved in the spacewalk to repair the Hubble Space Telescope.

One of the contraptions built for that mission is still used in the lab: Charlotte, a metal cube with handles on it thats attached to a web of cables. It simulates the feel of an object that has no weight, due to the lack of gravity in space, but still has substantial mass. Astronauts who spacewalk to do work outside the space station spend time wearing VR headsets, pushing and pulling on Charlottes handholds, and in their VR headsets they might see a satellite or other mission hardware instead of a spartan metal cube  just as their predecessors did 25 years ago.

Paddock says astronauts who go through the training report back after they return home that they felt as though they had already been there thanks to this training. They can practice difficult and even risky procedures in the comfort of an air-conditioned office.

Space is a dangerous place, Paddock says. The lab is an environment that is much less hazardous.

Not just off-the-shelf

While a lot of the VR training happens on the ground, some of it needs to take place in space. Because astronauts spend months on the space station, Paddock says, their training needs to be refreshed periodically. Or, if a spacewalk is required to fix something outside the station, he and his team can put together a VR training routine and upload it to the ISS.

Right now, the VR gear used on the space station is a hack in the old-school NASA VR tradition. The headset used by the ISS crew is a full-sized Lenovo ThinkPad laptop mounted onto a headpiece with the screen fixed in front of the wearers face. What would be clumsy and awkward on Earth is not a burden in the microgravity of orbit. But still, its not the best setup, Paddock says.

So, in April, a SpaceX supply mission will bring the ISS residents some newer gear: Two VR headsets made by Oculus, the company credited with rebooting public interest in virtual reality, and a pair of faster HP ZBook laptops to power them.

The headset, a model called the Oculus Rift, sells for $399. The ZBook has a price tag on HPs website of around $2,000.

One of the uses for the onboard VR system: Refreshing crew members on use of SAFER, a jetpack built into the suits used in spacewalks. SAFER, or Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue, allows an astronaut to return to the shuttle should she or he become untethered and float away. Its a safety feature thats never had to be used, and hopefully never will be, but astronauts need to keep up their training on the feature. The ISS crew dons their VR gear and regularly simulates having to activate SAFER.

Its a lot easier, and a lot safer, to do it in VR than to have them suit up and do it in a spacewalk, Paddock said.

Two-way payoff

The software that has long been used to display the virtual worlds in NASAs universe is called DOUG, which stands for Dynamic Onboard Ubiquitous Graphic. It both renders the spectacular images seen in NASAs VR system, as well as handles the physical rules of how objects behave. It looks as good as any rendering engine found in commercial applications, such as computer games.

But it is expensive to update and maintain, and NASA is starting to turn to the same kind of graphics engines found in popular video games. The space agency is working with two in particular: the Unreal engine, developed by Epic Games, and Unity, an open-source engine that claims to be the most-used game renderer in the world.

In addition, NASA is using an Nvidia application called the Holodeck  named after the virtual reality playground in Star Trek: The Next Generation  to begin evaluating designs for the Deep Space Gateway, a space station that is planned to orbit the moon and ignite the agencys manned exploration efforts in deep space.

NASAs work with these technology companies pays off for them as well. They learn from NASA, and vice versa, Paddock said.

For example, during a recent visit to NASA, Oculus Chief Technical Officer John Carmack was interested in the tweaks Paddocks team made so virtual reality software runs more smoothly on the HP ZBook laptop. Carmack was one of the co-founders of Dallas-based id Software, and wrote the graphics engines for the classic first-person shooters Doom and Quake. That could potentially help the gear made by Oculus, which is now owned by Facebook, run on home computers that are less powerful, and thus less expensive.

dwight.silverman@chron.com | twitter.com/dsilverman | houstonchronicle.com/techburgerThe restored World War I-era Hangar 9, Hotel Emma and a house in King William are among 10 preservation projects to be honored by the San Antonio Conservation Society later this month.

Recent wheelchair-accessibility upgrades to the River Walks 1940s river bend area also will be celebrated for adding ramps, elevators and grading that have been seamlessly integrated into the original design, a society news release states.

Ten local groups and individuals also will be recognized at the groups annual dinner and awards ceremony March 28 at the San Antonio Country Club. The deadline to buy tickets, which cost $94 per person, is Friday.

Those properties and people embody the purpose of the society to keep the history of Texas intact in order to educate the public about our inherited regional and cultural values, Susan Beavin, society president, said in the release.

Honorees include retired union activist Bob Comeaux, who led a community effort to save a house in the Beacon Hill area from demolition. As a result, the city adopted an ordinance giving elderly or longtime homeowners, military veterans and those with chronic health problems more time to make repairs to avoid emergency demolition.

Other people or groups being honored are master carpenter Joe Ramos; architect Lewis S. Fisher; author-journalist Lewis F. Fisher; preservation architect Allison Chambers; the King William Association; the late restoration craftsman Harold Kempfer; preservation advocate Jean Heide; preservationist and UTSA Professor William Dupont; and Carolyn Chipman Evans, founding executive director of the Cibolo Nature Center & Farm.

Projects nominated by the public, vetted by a committee and selected by a panel of independent experts from Austin are:

Hangar 9, 8081 Inner Circle, built in 1918 and owned by Brooks.

Hotel Emma/Pearl Brewhouse, 136 E. Grayson St., built in 1894 and owned by Pearl Brewhouse Hospitality LLC.

Malvina Nelson House, 202 King William St., built in 1889 and owned by Juan M. Fernandez and Regina Moya.

Commercial building at 2340 S. Presa St., built in 1923 and owned by Kathryn H. Ruckman.

Hannah Landa Memorial Branch Library, 233 Bushnell St., built in 1929 and owned by the city of San Antonio.

Landmark Inn State Historic Site in Castroville, built in the 1850s and owned by the Texas Historical Commission.

Maverick Building Apartments, 400 E. Houston St., built in 1922 and owned by AREA Real Estate.

River Walk Bend, built in 1941 and owned by the city of San Antonio.

VIA Centro Plaza/Washington Hotel, 909 W. Houston St.; built in 1905 and owned by VIA Metropolitan Transit.

Herff-Rozelle Farm in Boerne, built in 1854 and owned by Cibolo Nature Center & Farm.SEGUIN  The doctor charged with the murder of two neighbors in the Elm Grove subdivision later told investigators that he shot them because he feared they were Russian mobsters intent on killing his mother, who lived nearby, court records show.

But mere minutes after the Feb. 25 incident, 56-year-old Robert E. Fadal II emerged from his home and stated he had killed two innocent people, according to emergency responders who were trying to aid the victims, according to affidavits filed to obtain search warrants in the case.

Authorities suspect a factor in the crime may be drug use by Fadal, who they say appeared paranoid when questioned and spoke of receiving internet threats for having cracked a worldwide financial conspiracy.

Anthony and Tiffany Strait, who owned a landscape company, were apparently slain without warning after arriving from their nearby residence to help Fadals mother move some belongings, accompanied by their three sons, ages 7, 9 and 10.

There is nothing indicating there was any disturbance, any altercation, any squabble between the parties, said Lt. Craig Jones of the Guadalupe County Sheriffs Department, noting evidence suggests Fadal fired from a balcony at his nearby home.

Tiffany Strait, 30, died at a local hospital. Anthony Strait, 27, was pronounced dead inside the gated Fadal family compound, comprising several homes, at the end of Timber Elm Road.

The slayings devastated relatives of the Straits. The couple had been together nearly a decade but just wed last May.

Its a really rough time for us trying to understand why this man did this, said Xiomara Strait, Anthonys mom. These were two beautiful people who had three beautiful children.

Her son had quit an oilfield job in 2016 and started Strait A Landscaping so he could spend more time with his family, she said.

The crime also sent shock waves through the normally quiet neighborhood of double wides and traditional homes off Texas 46 near the Guadalupe River, just east of New Braunfels.

Its torn everybody apart, said Alvin Ashcraft, 61, who heard the tragedy unfold from his home a block away. Cant nobody understand why hed do that.

There was a bunch of screaming by a woman and kids, he said, then a gunshot followed by more screaming, then another shot, followed by childrens screams.

Fadal had a reputation as a hot head, said Ashcraft, adding, however, He seemed normal to me.

Kay Shaw, a neighbor of the Straits, recalled them as super nice people.

When I heard what happened, I just came apart, said Shaw, 64. We were just dumbfounded.

One warrant was used to secure a blood sample from Fadal, who seemed calm and displayed a flat affect while discussing the shooting, investigators said, leading them to suspect he was under the influence of methamphetamine or prescription drugs. Results of the test have not been made available.

Deputy Robert E. Murphys affidavit said Fadal refused to speak around any radios, internet-based devices or even a clock, saying he feared he would be recorded. He also asserted that his life was in jeopardy for having infiltrated an international monetary conspiracy.

Robert Edward Fadal stated that he believed that the persons in the 2005 GMC Sierra who had arrived at his mothers home were there to murder his mother in retaliation for his infiltration, Murphy wrote. Based on my training and experience, people who commit this kind of act for no apparent reason are under the influence of some sort of substance.

Fadal is jailed in lieu of $5 million bail on a charge of capital murder of multiple persons. His attorney, James E. Millan, declined comment.

The suspects explanation of the deadly incident was met with skepticism and scorn by Straits family.

Hes making up a story, said Xiomara Strait. There is a motive behind it, but he is not wanting to say what the motive is.

She and her husband, Fred Zajonczkoski, said Fadal knew Anthony and Tiffany Strait from numerous past social visits to the compound and should have recognized them and their vehicle.

That GMC had been in and out of that place many, many times, Zajonczkoski said. Hes trying to pull an insanity defense.

Prosecutors, still awaiting the investigative report from the sheriffs department, say the case wont be presented to a grand jury before April 5, at the earliest.

Millan filed a motion Feb. 28 seeking an evidentiary hearing and a bond reduction, which a court clerk said has yet to be ruled on.

All thats on hold right now, Millan said last week. I cant talk about anything right now.

Investigators recovered a shotgun, two pistols and a rifle that is believed to be the murder weapon from Fadals home, according to an inventory filed with the court from a second warrant. Also recovered were several computers, ammunition, a hand-written letter and a spiral notebook with writing in it.

Deputy Mark ZuaZua said in the warrant application that Fadal admitted shooting the Straits and told investigators of a suicide note in his residence regarding the Russian Mob and events occurring within the stock market.

The defendant said hed been the subject of online threats since he had investigated manipulations of the stock market, ZuaZua wrote, adding, Robert stated within the last 2 weeks the threats increased as they began leaving signs showing him they knew where he lived.

Robert stated he became increasingly worried about his personal safety due to the ongoing threats and he had made preparations within the home to defend himself, wrote ZuaZua, quoting Fadal as saying he believed the Straits arrived at his mothers residence to murder his mother in retaliation for his infiltration.

On March 1, the Texas Medical Board temporarily suspended Fadals medical license due to his arrest after determining his continuation in the practice of medicine poses a continuing threat to public welfare.

Fadal notified the agency he was not in practice from 2006-09, said a board spokesman, who couldnt say when the suspect last saw patients regularly. Fadals home address is listed online as the location of his practice.

A staffer at Guadalupe Regional Medical Center, where Fadal worked in the emergency room in the 1990s, recalled him as brilliant, but distant.

Fadals prior criminal history included seven traffic tickets between 1994 and 2012, according to Guadalupe County court records, which also list five civil disputes and his divorce.

Fadal filed for divorce in July 2007 after 13 years of marriage to Rebecca Castro Fadal, with whom he had two daughters.

Despite efforts to reconcile, the split was finalized in March 2012.

Castro declined comment for this story, as did Tiffany Straits family.

Veronica Carte, whose billing service briefly included Fadal as a client, recalled him as disorganized, demanding and unreasonable.

It got to be so bad that I had to fire him. He was very, very difficult to deal with, she said. When I saw what had happened (to the Straits) on the news, I thought of all the problems I had with him.

Fadal sued her in 2011 over their contract but the case was dismissed the next year.

Lisa Burns, whose local dental office once employed Tiffany Strait, is raising funds to benefit the three orphaned boys, who are in the care of their maternal grandparents.

More than $3,200 had been donated so far at the site, https://www.gofundme.com/tiffanyanthonystrait.

Its a devastating circumstance across the board, said Burns. They were good people doing good things. They werent in a shady part of town. They werent doing something sketchy. They were helping move furniture on a Sunday morning.Chalker said he's sold a couple hundred of his own ovens, custom making each one as orders come in. Just in case, the ovens "are made to be mass produced as well." It takes Chalker about five hours to build one oven, but he said it would take six hours to build 10 ovens because of the way he's designed them to be built.

Although Chalker didn't sell any hybrid ovens this weekend, and has actually only sold a handful of his ovens in New York altogether, his ovens are in numerous states and have users stretching as far as Sweden, the Philippines and Japan.

The Home & Lifestyle show wasn't slow just for Chalker.

"A lot of vendors lost money, I think," said MaryEllen Weiskotten who had a booth selling wines from Thousand Islands Winery in Alexandria Bay. Renting a booth for the weekend cost $250-$300, and for those like Weiskotten who had to pay for a couple nights in a hotel they may not have come out in the black from the event.

Weiskotten said the indoor garage sale, vendors in the mall outside the main event space, which had the intent of drawing people into the show may have had the opposite effect as people may have not wanted to pay to enter the event when they could stroll the garage sale for free.U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders rolled through San Antonio on Friday to spur on a budding group of supporters here, and he hardly could have timed the stop better.

Sanders two-day swing through Texas came on the heels of a pair of momentous San Antonio election results linked to his progressive movement: the ousting of Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood, fueled in part by on-the-ground efforts from ex-Sanders staffers, and the unlikely second-place finish by one of Sanders 2016 delegates, Rick Trevino, in the Democratic primary for the 23rd Congressional District race.

Speaking to a fundraising crowd at Brick at the Blue Star Arts Complex early Friday evening, Sanders opened his rousing address by broaching the topic of his presidential campaign.

He reminded the mostly young crowd, many wearing shirts and pins left over from the campaign, of the need  even in red states  to stand up, fight back and demand a government that represents all of us, not the 1 percent.

And, man, is Texas heeding that call! Sanders said, his voice rising with each word.

Sanders speech centered on the idea that his movement shouldnt be limited to blue states or areas  part of the reason hes heading to deep-red Lubbock on Saturday.

I honestly, honestly have never believed in this blue-state, red-state nonsense, Sanders said. Any state in this country, which is every state in this country, which has working people who are struggling, can and must become a progressive state.

After his fundraiser pit stop, Sanders drove north to give a similarly energetic speech at Trinity University, his last event in a day that also included an interview at South by Southwest in Austin.

Speaking to a packed auditorium that seats 2,700 at Trinity, Sanders eventually got around to the topic of student debt. He recalled a recent campaign stop in Wisconsin where a teacher told him tearfully that she had to inform her daughter she couldnt afford to send her to college.

All over this country we have bright working-class kids who have the ability to go to college but dont have the income, Sanders said. Our job is to understand that in a highly competitive global economy, we must make public colleges and universities tuition-free.

Trevino has put that idea squarely at the center of his platform, one that mirrors the overall points Sanders campaigned on in 2016. During the first leg of his primary campaign, Trevino also in some ways drew on Sanders idea of campaigning anywhere and everywhere.

Progressive activist and former Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower, a close observer of Trevinos campaign, marveled at his instincts during the past couple of months.

Rick is about as grassy as you can get, Hightower said. He doesnt need a GPS to find the grass roots, he is grass roots. And as he showed in that election, he went to places that the other candidates didnt even know existed.

Minutes before Sanders appeared onstage, Trevino grabbed the microphone and set the stage for Sanders with a brief address to the crowd.

All of us here, we take this movement seriously, Trevino said. I love the name Our Revolution because it is ours. It doesnt belong to the Democrats. It doesnt belong to the Republicans. It belongs to the American people.

Trevino beat long fundraising odds, spending about $20,400 to secure a spot in the runoff. His second-place finish seemed even less likely given the size of the district, which stretches from San Antonio to El Paso. Conventional wisdom said Jay Hulings, a former federal prosecutor who spent nearly $400,000, would be able to reach more voters  yet he finished a distant fourth.

In Bexar County, defense attorney Joe Gonzales, LaHoods primary challenger, received a money influx himself: nearly $1 million from a PAC backed by liberal investor George Soros. LaHood, whos drawn national attention his first term for espousing anti-Islamic and anti-vaccination views, blamed his loss largely on Soros influence, another force that came into play beginning around early February.

A political action committee called Real Justice, co-founded by former Sanders campaign senior adviser Becky Bond, spent another $90,000 for Gonzales and reached nearly 100,000 voters, according to a news release, between San Antonio and Dallas, where the groups preferred candidate Elizabeth Frizell is seeking a recount after a narrow loss.

The group texted thousands of voters and, using the wide social media reach of another of its co-founders, social activist Shaun King, worked to inform people of Gonzales platform  and what they viewed as LaHoods problems.

This is a classic case of someone who just misuses power, and I think thats part of the broader point that were making with Real Justice PAC, said Karthik Ganapathy, the spokesman for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison and an organizer with the PAC. I think a lot of people dont realize how broad the discretion is that DAs and prosecutors get to have once theyre elected.

Earlier, in Austin, Sanders focused on voter turnout.

If you in Texas are prepared to work hard, stand up, fight back, go out to your neighbors, talk to those people who voted for Trump, make sure that every friend you have, and family member that you have, comes out and votes  yeah, I believe that Texas can go blue, the Vermont senator and 2016 Democratic presidential contender said to applause.

Sanders set a goal of 50 percent voter turnout, a high bar in a mid-term election. Turnout in Texas was under 34 percent in the 2014 general election and 38 percent in 2010. And while Democrats had a surge in turnout in Texas primary elections this year, Republicans still outnumbered them.

The way we defeat Trump is for every person in this room, and all of us,  to get involved in the political process in a way that we have never done in the modern history of this county, he said.

But he urged respect when people who oppose the president talk to his supporters.

Our job is to talk to people, people who voted for Trump, respectfully. I do not believe that in Texas, or any place else, that most people who supported Trump are racists or sexists or xenophobes, Sanders said. I think they are people who are hurting, who want real change in the way our government works in terms of the needs of the middle class.AUSTIN  Little wonder that Beto ORourke seems to be making U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz a bit nervous as the Democrat barnstorms the state, charms a swath of the grass-roots and collects millions of dollars for his longshot effort to topple the Republican incumbent.

Cruz has seen this movie before. He once starred in it.

Six years ago, Cruz was the longshot, an insurgent conservative who started far behind in the polls in the race for U.S. Senate against then-Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst.

Cruz relentlessly traveled Texas, got support from national activists and benefited from a tea party wave sweeping the country, beating the establishment candidate.

Now Cruz is the one to beat as a new surge rolls across the nation  but this wave is composed of Democrats fighting President Donald Trumps policies and seeking to seize the House and Senate from the GOP.

To be sure, Texas primary election results appear to indicate that Cruz has little need to worry about November, even though Democratic participation soared.

Democrats blue wave smacked into the red reality of still-higher Republican turnout.

There were 1.5 million votes cast in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate, and Cruz got 1.3 million of them, or 85 percent, against four unknown foes.

On the Democratic side, ORourke got less than half of Cruzs tally, just 641,337, or about 62 percent of the 1 million-plus votes cast. He had two unknown competitors and the one closest to him, Sema Hernandez, received nearly 24 percent of the vote.

And yet, Cruz isnt acting like a candidate with nothing to worry about.

The senator and former GOP presidential contender released a radio ad with a smart-aleck jingle attacking ORourke, to the tune of the country song, If You're Gonna Play in Texas (You Gotta Have a Fiddle in the Band). Cruzs version: If you're gonna run in Texas, you can't be a liberal man.

RELATED: Watch the ad here:



Now Playing: Ted Cruz for Senate Statewide Radio Ad. Video via YouTube. Video: Ted Cruz, YouTube

RELATED: Watch the Stephen Colbert parody here:

Now Playing: Ted Cruz gets a lyrical lesson after committing a cardinal sin of songwriting in a new 2018 radio campaign ad. Video via YouTube. Video: The Late Night Show with Stephen Colbert, CBS

By way of introducing our liberal opponent to Texas voters, the ad says ORourke wants those open borders and wants to take our guns and takes issue with him using the nickname Beto.

I remember reading stories, liberal Robert wanted to fit in. So he changed his name to Beto, and hid it with a grin, says the jingle.

ORourke, a congressman from El Paso, emphasized how long hes had the nickname by tweeting a photo of himself as a youngster wearing a shirt with the name Beto on the front.

As for the jingles other jabs, ORourke backs immigration reform including a fair path to citizenship and gun control measures such as universal background checks and a ban on assault weapons.

On the burning issue of ORourkes nickname, theres no evidence he wanted to be called Beto in order to fit in. But there is plenty of evidence that Cruz began calling himself Ted for that very reason.

Cruz, whose given name is Rafael Edward Cruz, devoted part of his memoir to his quest for popularity in junior high school. The diminutive of Rafael is Rafaelito, which in Cruzs case was shortened to Felito, leading to the torment of his name being rhymed with Fritos, Cheetos, Doritos and Tostitos by other kids.

When he discussed the issue with his mom, Cruz said, she suggested that he could change his name.

Ted immediately felt like me, he wrote. His father was furious with the decision, he said, viewing it as a rejection of him and his heritage. But Ted it stayed.

Asked about this on CNN, Cruz suggested we all lighten up. But theres a serious undertone to the issue. By emphasizing ORourkes given name, Cruz highlights that the congressman isnt Hispanic, even though ORourke speaks fluent Spanish and is from the border. This could be important, given Hernandezs performance in the Democratic primary.

At the same time, the primary votes that went to ORourke are unlikely to go to Cruz in the general election, since the Republicans views are anathema to Democratic values. Democrats are working to drive more people to the polls. And despite the hype, Democratic hopes for a November victory are pinned on congressional and legislative races. In statewide races like ORourkes, losing by only single digits would be progress.

Cruz wants no part of Democratic progress, so it makes sense that hes running hard.

We have always taken this campaign seriously. We are taking nothing for granted, Cruz told reporters.

ORourke is taking it seriously, too, refusing to play along when CNN anchor Alisyn Camerota asked whether he, as a former punk-rock band member, might come up with a song to counter Cruzs jingle.

When ORourke responded by talking about issues, Camerota asked, Why arent you taking my punk-rock bait?

Because I just don't think that's what folks in Texas want us to focus on, ORourke said. I mean, we can get into name-calling and talk about why the other person's such an awful guy or we can focus on the big things that we want to do for the future of our country, for the generations that will succeed us.

This is the most critical moment in the most important year of our lifetimes, and we've absolutely got to get it right.

Its enough to make someone nervous.Place Your Advert

Thousands of Active jobseekers are looking for new agricultural positions in 2020. Call us now to discuss the options for advertising your vacancy in our job section.Clarkson urges government to boost UK food self-sufficiency

'It should be much more like 80%, were capable of it'British Soldiers Aid Police in Poisoning Probe

By VOA News March 09, 2018

British soldiers have been deployed to the normally quiet town of Salisbury to help officials decontaminate the area after a Russian former double agent and his daughter were poisoned with a nerve agent.

About 180 troops have been sent to the southwestern English town to remove vehicles involved in the incident as well as objects that could have been contaminated.

Forensic experts in bright yellow hazardous-materials suits have cordoned off the home of Sergei Skripal, who along with his daughter, Yulia, 33, were found unconscious Sunday on a bench outside a shopping mall. Both were in critical condition in a local hospital, poisoned with what authorities said was a rare nerve agent.

Officials have also cordoned off an Italian restaurant and a pub Skripal and his daughter visited before their collapse, as well as a cemetery where Skripal's wife, Lyudmila, is buried and where there is also a memorial headstone for his son, Alexander.

Lyudmila died in 2012 of cancer, while Alexander was cremated last year after reportedly dying of liver problems at age 43.

Detectives are retracing the Skripals' movements as they try to discover how and where the toxin was administered.

Officials said 21 people in Salisbury had received medical treatment as a result of the nerve agent, including a police officer who was in serious condition.

Police have not publicly talked about the nerve agent that poisoned Skripal or who might have been responsible. But suspicions are pointing to Russia.

'Pushed around'

British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said Britain was being "pushed around" by the Kremlin.

Prime Minister Theresa May has promised an "appropriate" response if it is discovered that Russia is responsible for poisoning Skripal, but has urged caution.

"Let's give the police the time and space to actually conduct their investigation," May told ITV news Thursday.

Russian officials deny the Kremlin had anything to do with the assassination attempt.

Skripal served in Russia's military intelligence agency, GRU, and was exchanged in a spy swap in 2010 on the runway at Vienna's airport.

After serving four years in prison in Russia for spying for Britain's espionage service, MI6, Skripal was one of four Russian double agents exchanged for 10 Russians expelled from the United States, including Manhattan socialite Anna Chapman.

The incident is drawing comparisons to the case of Alexander Litvinenko, a Russian KGB officer-turned-British intelligence agent and a highly public critic of President Vladimir Putin.

Litvinenko died an agonizing death days after drinking tea laced with radioactive polonium-210 in a London hotel in 2006. British doctors struggled in that case to identify the substance that killed him.

A British inquiry concluded Putin probably approved the killing. The conclusion was angrily dismissed by the Kremlin as a politically motivated smear.

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Secretary General and President Margvelashvili discuss deepening NATO-Georgia Relations

NATO - North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

09 Mar. 2018

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with President Giorgi Margvelashvili on Friday (9 March 2018) and thanked him for Georgia's remarkable contributions to international security and to NATO operations and missions, including the contribution to the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and to the NATO Response Force. He commended Georgia for the progress in implementing important reforms that will strengthen Georgia's democracy and rule of law. He encouraged Georgia to continue on this path.

The Secretary General said that the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package is delivering results and that NATO-Georgia cooperation continues to deepen. He looked forward to Georgia's participation at the NATO Summit in July.

The Secretary General expressed his condolences for the recent death of a Georgian citizen in the Georgian region of South Ossetia and his hope for the prompt release of the two others who were detained.

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Sri Lanka ups security to prevent more anti-Muslim violence

Iran Press TV

Fri Mar 9, 2018 08:49AM

Police in Sri Lanka have stepped up security around mosques ahead of Friday prayers to try to prevent more violence against Muslims, who have been targeted by Buddhist mobs for several days despite a state of emergency.

Fresh tensions erupted in the Buddhist-majority city of Kandy and the surrounding hillside when Buddhist rioters took to the streets on Wednesday night in reaction to the death of a young man from their community, who according to authorities was killed after a grenade he was carrying detonated prematurely in his hands.

Sinhala-Buddhist mobs oddly accused the minority Muslim community for the death.

The government ordered a state of emergency on Tuesday and deployed troops to the city, but the Buddhist mobs have been defying the curfew by continuing attacks on mosques and Muslim properties.

Meanwhile, all Muslim-owned businesses remain shut. All schools have also been suspended in Kandy since Wednesday.

"There is some fear among Muslims that they could be targeted on Friday... We will ensure their safety and security," said Army Chief Mahesh Senanayake while visiting Kandy on Thursday.

He promised an increased military presence near mosques across the country.

Despite a night curfew in the city, police said three boats belonging to a Muslim businessman had been torched.

According to a local Muslim politician, who spoke to CNN on Wednesday, four mosques, 37 houses, 46 shops, and 35 vehicles were destroyed in the initial outbreak of violence.

Images shared on social media also showed widespread damage to the Muslim areas of the city and nearby villages.

Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe denounced the "racist and violent acts" in Kandy and promised to "take further action."

Muslims, who make up only eight percent of the country's population, have systematically been targeted by the Sinhalese Buddhists since 2014 in southwestern Sri Lanka after a Buddhist monk was allegedly attacked by a Muslim group. The unrest has so far displaced 8,000 Muslims and 2,000 Sinhalese Buddhists.

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Israel holding joint military drill with US amid threats of new war on Lebanon

Iran Press TV

Fri Mar 9, 2018 07:44AM

Thousands of American and Israeli military forces are holding a month-long joint military exercise in the occupied territories amid the Tel Aviv regime's rising threats of a new war against Lebanon.

US and Israeli officials said Thursday they had launched the so-called Juniper Cobra 2018 military drill that simulates a missile attack on Israel.

Some 2,500 forces, including 1,400 marines and 1,100 naval personnel from the US European Command (USEUCOM) as well as 2,000 Israeli soldiers are taking part in the biennial drill, in what is said to be the largest joint combat exercise between Israel and the US.

Two US Navy vessels have taken up positions off the coast of Israel and will be taking part in the exercise.

During the ninth Juniper Cobra military exercise, the US and Israeli forces will train on the long-range Arrow and Patriot missile systems, the medium-range David's Sling, and the short-range Iron Dome.

Since 2001, Israeli and US forces have conducted a total of eight Juniper Cobra joint combat exercises, including the most recent exercise in February 2016.

Israeli air force commander B.G Tzvika Haimovich said the drill "will serve as an opportunity" for Israel's military "to enhance operational capabilities in the face of high-trajectory threats."

"In the coming weeks we will train together to face complex and challenging scenarios, which are relevant to the dynamic range of threats that we must be prepared to face," he said.

Lt. Col. Tal Kaduri, head of cooperation for Israel's air force, also said the main goal of Juniper Cobra is to see how both forces can answer what he claimed to be "the evolving threats that Iran is posing."

The exercise comes as Israel has recently stepped up its threats against Lebanon, prompting speculation that a new Israeli act of aggression is on the horizon.

Israel waged two all-out wars against Lebanon  in 2000 and 2006  but fell short of its military objectives in both cases in the face of strong resistance by Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance movement and national army.

Earlier this month, the Israeli military's Major General Yaakov Barak said the next war on Lebanon would focus on killing Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the Hezbollah head, among other goals.

Any future war, he added, is expected to be very different from previous ones, and that Israeli ground forces are "ready and prepared" to be sent into the Lebanese territory more quickly, widely and deeply than before.

Ever since their latest military confrontation, Tel Aviv has been taunting Lebanon by violating the Arab country's airspace and territorial integrity.

Over the past weeks, Lebanese and Israeli officials have been engaged in a war of words over Beirut's offshore oil and gas exploration projects.

Hezbollah has vowed to defend the rights of the country in oil and gas exploration in the eastern Mediterranean region against any new Israeli aggression.

Moreover, senior Israeli and US officials held a meeting in Washington last December, during which they agreed to form an alliance to counter Iran in the Middle East region, curb the Islamic Republic's influence in Syria and block Tehran's support for Hezbollah.

Israel reportedly seeks a similar alliance with Saudi Arabia against Iran and Hezbollah.

In November 2017, Nasrallah said Saudi Arabia has appealed to the Israeli regime to launch a military onslaught against Lebanon in the name of fighting Hezbollah, and is ready to spend billions of dollars to attain this objective.

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DR Congo: UN warns of spike in displacement amid funding shortfall

9 March 2018 - The United Nations migration agency is hoping that the upcoming donor pledging conference for the humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) will generate more financial support to cope with a spike in the number of people displaced by violence.

"Some funding has come in but not nearly enough to meet the critical needs of millions in the DRC," said Jean-Philippe Chauzy, Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in the African country, noting that the 13 April conference is an opportunity to generate more financial pledges to "avert unnecessary deaths and suffering."

Since the last quarter of 2017, violence carried out by armed groups in the DRC has caused a spike in the number of the displaced, to more than 4.5 million. Due to lack of funding and access, a majority have yet to be reached with aid.

In the Beni Territory of North-Kivu, attacks by armed groups displaced more than 2,200 people from their homes in the first week of February alone. This is in addition to the 1,500 people who were displaced at the end of January. As of mid-February, more than 12,000 displaced people were sheltering in that locality.

IOM says their most basic needs like food and shelter are not being met because no humanitarian actors have yet to reach the areas where displaced people are arriving.

In the Djugu Territory, just south of North-Kivu, inter-ethnic violence between Hema and Lendu groups is flaring up, with 28,634 people fleeing burning villages and for fear of their lives to Bunia, Ituri's provincial capital, in the last couple of weeks.

In the greater Kasai region, previously considered calm, intercommunal and land-related conflicts have been escalating since 2016. During the worst days of 2017, the region had a population of about 1.3 million internally displaced people. Today, the region hosts 896,000 internally displaced people.

The security situation has improved in some areas over the past months, prompting some internally displaced people to return to their places of origin. But those returning to burned down villages are in urgent need of humanitarian support.

Since its release, only $4.7 million has been given towards IOM's $75 million appeal for 2018, the agency said.

The pledging conference will be held in Geneva, hosted by the UN, the European Commission and the Netherlands.

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UN envoy on conflict-related sexual violence reports on visits to Iraq and Sudan

9 March 2018 - A senior United Nations official has stressed the need to ensure survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in Iraq are fully protected and that perpetrators are brought to justice.

Pramila Patten, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict, this week concluded a visit to the country, where thousands of women and girls have suffered at the hands of the extremist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or Da'esh).

She undertook an eight-day mission to Iraq, which ended on Monday, prior to which she was in Sudan from 18 to 25 February.

In Iraq, Ms. Patten met with Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi and other Government officials in the cities of Baghdad, Erbil and Mosul, as well as with civil society groups, religious leaders and other stakeholders.

"I heard first-hand the heart-wrenching accounts of survivors of Da'esh sexual violence," she told journalists at UN Headquarters in New York on Friday.

"Many of the women who remain displaced expressed serious safety concerns regarding their return to their homes due to activity from different militia groups and the reported presence of former Da'esh combatants within their community. Sunni women in particular shared their fear of reprisals on account of the wrong perception of affiliation with Da'esh."

Ms. Patten characterised the plight of survivors who have returned home with children fathered by the extremists as "extremely disturbing."

"While some religious leaders may show some empathy, the tribal leaders display a profound reluctance to accept children born of rape. And I was informed by the provincial authorities of Mosul of the setup of different orphanages with thousands of children," she said.

Ms. Patten was invited to Iraq by the Government, which in 2016 signed an agreement with the UN aimed at preventing and addressing conflict-related violence.

It envisions support in areas such as evidence collection, strengthening of the legal framework and victim compensation.

In her talks with the authorities, Ms. Patten said she stressed the importance of ensuring that alleged Da'esh perpetrators are held accountable  not only for terrorism-related charges but also for sexual violence crimes.

Regarding Sudan, Ms. Patten said her visit marked the first time the UN Office of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict has been invited to the country.

She travelled to the capital, Khartoum, and two states in Darfur, where millions are still living in camps more than a decade after fighting broke out between armed rebel groups and Government forces and allied militias.

Despite an apparent improved security situation in the province, Ms. Patten said talks with displaced women and girls in two camps revealed how precarious things are there.

"I learned that the women and girls are especially at risk of sex violence when they step out of the camps, especially to pursue their livelihood activities," she said.

"In El Genaina (capital of West Darfur state), I heard from women who are unable to return to their pre-war homes due to security concerns and fear of being raped. In addition, some women told me about sexual violence committed in the context of intercommunal conflicts over land and natural resources," she said.

And in that regard, she said the initiative of the Government to collect illegal arms and ammunition "is quite positive and is a critical measure in the right direction to improve the security of women and girls."

However, Ms. Patten noted there is what she described as "a deep-seated culture of denial of sexual violence" in Sudan, making it difficult to address the crime.

She hoped one outcome of her visit will be the country's adoption of a cooperation framework with the UN to address conflict-related sexual violence.

Her proposal is that it will focus on five areas, including survivors' access to medical, psycho-social and legal services; security sector training and engagement with religious leaders and civil society.

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Pentagon Approves Military Parade  Without Tanks

By VOA News March 09, 2018

The Pentagon says it is planning a military parade requested by U.S. President Donald Trump later this year, but says the celebrations will not include tanks because they could damage Washington's roads.

Trump asked the military last month to explore the possibility of staging a military parade in the nation's capital on Nov. 11, Veterans Day.

A Pentagon memo released Friday said the parade will end with a "heavy air component," meaning many airplanes flying overhead.

"Include wheeled vehicles only, no tanks  consideration must be given to minimize damage to local infrastructure," the memo said.

The memo was written by the office of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis to give initial guidance to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which will stage the parade.

The Pentagon memo did not include a cost estimate for the parade. The White House budget director recently told Congress the cost to taxpayers could be between $10 million and $30 million.

The guidance said the parade should focus on the "contributions of U.S. military veterans throughout history," starting from the American Revolutionary War, and should include veterans wearing period uniforms. It said the airplanes used at the end of the parade should also include "older aircraft, as available."

Trump should be surrounded in the reviewing area at the Capitol by veterans and Medal of Honor recipients, the memo said.

The Pentagon said the parade, which will travel from the White House to the U.S. Capitol, should place an "emphasis on the price of freedom."

The Veterans Day holiday this year coincides with the 100-year anniversary of the end of World War I.

The inspiration to hold a military parade came from the president's trip to France last year when he and first lady Melania Trump watched Bastille Day events in Paris July 14, as the guests of French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte.

Military parades in the United States are generally rare. In 1991, U.S. troops paraded through Washington to celebrate the ousting of Saddam Hussein's Iraqi forces from Kuwait in the Gulf War.

National Security correspondent Jeff Seldin and the Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Trump agrees to meet DPRK's Kim by May, tweets about "great progress"

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 17:57, March 09, 2018

WASHINGTON, March 8 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Donald Trump has agreed to meet Kim Jong Un, top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), by May at Kim's invitation, "to achieve permanent denuclearization", a visiting South Korean envoy said here on Thursday.

Trump could be the first sitting U.S. president to meet the DPRK's top leader, which observers say would be a big step toward resolving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue.

Kim has said the DPRK "will refrain from any further nuclear or missile test," Chung Eui-yong, South Korea's top national security adviser, told reporters at the White House after briefing Trump on the outcome of a South Korean delegation's meeting with Kim earlier this week.

Kim was also committed to denuclearization of the DPRK, Chung added.

"He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue," said Chung, who arrived in Washington Thursday with South Korean National Intelligence Service Director Suh Hoon.

The White House has announced that routine U.S. military exercises with allies in Asia will continue. The next U.S.-South Korean drill is expected in April.

Signs of further detente on the Korean Peninsula were detected as Kim made a tension-easing gesture during the high-level South Korean delegation's two-day visit to Pyongyang. For the first time since he assumed power, Kim personally hosted a dinner for the delegation.

"He expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible," Chung said.

"Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong Un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization," the envoy added.

He said Seoul and Washington are optimistic about continuing a diplomatic process to test the possibility of a peaceful resolution.

Trump posted a tweet soon. "Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea (DPRK) during this period of time," the tweet said.

He added: "Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!"

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump "will accept the invitation to meet with Kim Jong Un at a place and time to be determined."

"We look forward to the denuclearization of North Korea (DPRK). In the meantime, all sanctions and maximum pressure must remain," Sanders added.

Washington has been pushing forward its "maximum pressure" campaign against Pyongyang mainly through economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation. Experts say the strategy may not achieve its expected results but could further escalate tensions.

U.S. lawmakers appeared to be cautiously optimistic about the dramatic easing of tension between Washington and Pyongyang. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said in a statement that the United States now has "the best hope in decades to resolve this threat peacefully."

Edward Royce, a Republican Congressman and chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said: "We can pursue more diplomacy, as we keep applying pressure ounce by ounce."

On Thursday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the United States and the DPRK to hold talks sooner rather than later. He also called for resolving the legitimate security concerns of all sides including the DPRK on an equal footing.

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Hashd al-Sha'abi formally inducted into Iraq security system

Iran Press TV

Fri Mar 9, 2018 01:06AM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has issued a decree, ordering the formal inclusion of pro-government fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) in the Arab country's security forces.

According to the decree announced on Thursday, the volunteer forces, better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, will be granted many of the same rights as members of the military.

The decree added that Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters will be given equivalent salaries to those members of the military under the Ministry of Defense's control.

They will also be subject to the laws of military service, and will gain access to military institutes and colleges.

The fighters have played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas to the south, northeast and north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, ever since the terrorists launched an offensive in the country in June 2014.

Iraq has repeatedly condemned allegations of sectarian nature against Hashd al-Sha'abi.

In December 2016, Baghdad warned Riyadh of the ramifications of meddling in Iraq's internal affairs, after Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iraq cannot realize unity with the presence of the Popular Mobilization Units.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly labeled the PMU, which incorporates volunteer forces from different Iraqi factions and tribes, as a Shia movement and called for the dismantling of the group.

The Iraqi parliament on November 26, 2016 approved a law giving full legal status to Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters. It recognized the PMU as part of the national armed forces, placed the volunteer fighters under the command of the prime minister, and granted them the right to receive salaries and pensions like the regular army and police forces.

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Hashd al-Sha'abi inclusion in Iraq's security service helpful, says Abadi

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 10, 2018 01:18PM

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has defended his decree to formally incorporate pro-government fighters from the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) into the Arab country's security service, stressing that such a move would help establish security and stability.

Speaking at a security and defense exhibition in Baghdad on Saturday, Abadi stated that the integration of the volunteer forces, better known by the Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi, "preserves the identity of security forces."

Abadi added that the move now meant that only members of state bodies could legally possess firearms.

According to the decree announced on Thursday, Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters will be granted many of the same rights as members of the military.

The decree added that Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters would be given equivalent salaries to those members of the military under the Ministry of Defense's control.

They will also be subject to the laws of military service, and will gain access to military institutes and colleges.

The fighters have played a major role in the liberation of Daesh-held areas to the south, northeast and north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, ever since the terrorists launched an offensive in the country in June 2014.

Iraq has repeatedly condemned allegations of sectarian nature against Hashd al-Sha'abi.

In December 2016, Baghdad warned Riyadh of the ramifications of meddling in Iraq's internal affairs, after Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir said Iraq could not realize unity with the presence of the Popular Mobilization Units.

Saudi Arabia has repeatedly labeled the PMU, which incorporates volunteer forces from different Iraqi factions and tribes, as a Shia movement and called for the dismantling of the group.

Hashd al-Sha'abi discovers bomb-making workshop near Syria border

Separately, Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters have uncovered a workshop used for making improvised explosive devices near the border with war-ravaged Syria.

The media bureau of the Iraqi pro-government forces, in a statement released on Saturday, announced that the site contained missiles and explosives, which were meant to be used against military and civilian targets.

The statement added that Hashd al-Sha'abi forces had successfully defused the munitions, and completely vacated the workshop.

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Syrian Army recaptures Beit Sawa in Ghouta

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Damascus, March 10, IRNA/SANA -- Syrian Arab Army units continued on Friday their military operations in Eastern Ghouta, targeting the gatherings of Jabhat al-Nusra terrorist organization and the armed groups affiliated to it, establishing full control on Beit Sawa village.

SANA's reporter said that the Syrian Arab Army continued concentrated operations carried out under heavy fire cover against the dens of al-Nusra and the groups affiliated to it positioned in Eastern Ghouta.

The Army managed to recapture the village of Beit Sawa, resulting in cutting off one the most important supply routes used by the terrorist organizations to procure ammunition and militants, and that will limit their ability to maneuver and will make their fortified positions vulnerable to the army's fire.

The reporter added that the army units are continuing their operations against the remnants of the Jabaht al-Nusra and its affiliates in the area, heading towards Madira town to the northwest of the village of Beit Sawa, with the aim of cutting off the terrorists' supply lines between the north and the south parts of Ghouta.

In parallel with the military operations, the authorities established a new safe corridor connecting Jisreen to al-Mleha town to evacuate the civilians who manage to leave Eastern Ghouta, in addition to the safe corridor leading to al-Wafedeen camp which has been secured for 11 days, although the terrorist groups are still preventing civilians from leaving by targeting the corridors with shells and explosive bullets.

9376**1377



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Terror backers use chemical attack claims to block Syria army gains: Ja'afari

Iran Press TV

Sat Mar 10, 2018 05:48AM

Damascus says the accusations leveled by the US and its allies against the Syrian government regarding the use of chemical weapons in the Eastern Ghouta region are meant to protect the terrorist groups and block the army's advance against foreign-backed militants.

In an interview with Russia's Sputnik news agency released on Friday, Syria's ambassador to the United Nations Bashar Ja'afari said the parties supporting terrorism in Syria have "consistently" used the "false" allegations of chemical weapons use as a pretext to increase political pressure on the Syrian government.

In over 140 letters addressed to the UN Security Council and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), Damascus has documented information on the possession of chemical materials by the countries that support terrorists, but the data was deliberately ignored, he pointed out.

Recently, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which is sympathetic to the anti-Damsacus militants, claimed a suspected chlorine attack had taken place in the militant-held al-Shifuniyah village of Eastern Ghouta on February 25.

Prior to the report, the Russian Defense Ministry had warned that militant groups in Eastern Ghouta were preparing a false flag attack in a bid to blame the Syrian government for using chemical weapons against civilians.

Russia rejected the allegations against the Syrian government as "unfounded," stressing that only an international body can rule on the issue based on an "impartial" probe.

On March 5, The Washington Post quoted US officials as saying that the government was considering new military action against the Syrian government in response to reports of suspected chemical weapons use.

Britain and France have also said they would attack Syria if such claims are proven.

This is while Syria turned over its entire chemical stockpile under a deal negotiated by Russia and the United States back in 2013.

Elsewhere in his interview, Ja'aafari accused Saudi Arabia and Qatar as well as a number of Persian Gulf regimes of having worked to finance terrorist organizations in Syria and fuel the crisis in the Arab country.

He also said that the Turkish government has facilitated the entry of tens of thousands of terrorists via its border to Syria and armed and financed them.

Turkey also set up training camps on its territory for terrorists and facilitated their access to toxic chemicals, he added.

Referring to Turkey's military campaign on the Syrian district of Afrin, Ja'afari said, "Syria will not hesitate in defending every inch of its territory, whether against armed terrorist groups or the invading Turkish, US or Israeli forces."

Ankara launched the Afrin operation on January 20 to eliminate Kurdish militants. Syria condemned the Turkish campaign as an act of aggression, which is meant to support terror outfits operating inside the conflict-plagued country.

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Naidu To Send Envoy To Sonia's Dinner Meet?

If the reports coming from the Telugu Desam Party sources are to be believed, party president and Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu might respond to the friendly hand extended by the Congress party to the TDP.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi called for a dinner-conclave of like-minded polticial parties in New Delhi on March 13 to discuss the possibility of forming a common front of all non-BJP parties to take on the saffron party in the 2019 elections.

Interestingly, Sonia also called the TDP to the dinner meeting, while ignoring the Telangana Rashtra Samithi which is also said to be a non-BJP outfit.

Though Naidu did not open up on this invitation from Sonia, party sources say he is evincing interest in this meeting.

However, he might not attend the meeting directly, but send a senior party leader to the meeting to know Sonia Gandhis mind.

Since the Congress doesnt have much stakes in AP now, the TDP president seems to have felt no harm from aligning with it, say sources.

Naidu might show some valid reasons to align with the Congress.

First, Sonia Gandhi had a chat with the TDP MPs in Lok Sabha and expressed her solidarity with their agitation seeking justice to AP.

Secondly, newly-elected Congress president Rahul Gandhi also declared that his party would grant special category status to AP soon after coming to power in 2019.

However, the TDP chief will politically weigh all options before taking any decision on joining the Congress camp.

He formed a strategy committee Naidu comprising state ministers Y Ramakrishnudu, Kala Venkat Rao, S Chandramohan Reddy, K Achen Naidu and K Srinivasulu, besides legislative council chief whip P Kesav, media advisor Parakala Prabhakar and AP state planning board vice-chairman Ch Kutumba Rao, to work out the party strategy to be adopted in the coming days.

Party MPs from Delhi informed Naidu that many political parties in the Parliament also appreciated the TDPs decision to come out of the NDA government was timely and wise.

The MPs also informed Naidu that they all promised support to the TDP in its fight for Special Category Status (SCS) for Andhra Pradesh.

Click Here for Latest Direct-to-OTT Releases (List Updates Daily)Contributed /

Charles Teichert Jr., a former Greenwich resident, was honored for his 69 years of service to Boy Scouting at a recent annual awards banquet in California. He was congratulated by Tim Thomton of the San Diego/Imperial Council of Boy Scouts of America.

Teichert, who lived in Greenwich for 65 years, served 55 years in the local Boy Scouts of America, spent 20 years on the Representative Town Meeting, was chief and president of the Amogerone Fire Department, was co-chairman of the original United Way Block Parties on Greenwich Avenue, was president of the Kiwanis Club, was a member of the Former Fire Chiefs Club and was chairman of the Volunteer Firemans Association.Published on 2018/03/11 | Source

The Hollywood-born "Me Too" movement against sexual harassment has had the paradoxical effect that many working women now find themselves isolated in the office as their male colleagues studiously avoid them.

Advertisement

Korea has an ingrained office drinking culture, where all kinds of bullying by superiors goes on amid enforced conviviality. To be on the safe side, men now deliberately exclude women from office gatherings and business trips, leading to an equally unwelcome form of ostracism.

One 29-year-old office worker at a mid-sized company in southern Seoul said, "I feel very uncomfortable at work these days". She said her boss told female staff to go home when he took out the men out drinking.

But the office worker would have liked to bond with her coworkers and felt that opportunity was taken away from her against her will. "I didn't do anything wrong, but I felt like I was being treated like I had", she said.

Another office worker at a shipping company in Seoul said, "I rarely talk with my boss these days. He used to be very chatty with the female staff, but nowadays he only gives instructions by text message". Her boss apparently told other workers that he feared any comments could be misunderstood by female staff. "I feel like I became invisible in my office", she said.

The overly sensitive reaction among men at work is called the "Pence Rule" after the bizarre code of conduct of the evangelical U.S. Vice President Mike Pence. In 2002 Pence said he would never meet an unaccompanied woman without his wife present.

Online communities here are filled with comments from men saying that their female colleagues scare them now.

"We need to keep our distance from women, since we don't know what they may do", one wrote. One male office worker in southern Seoul said, "My male coworkers are telling each other to watch out for female staff who may jump on the #Me Too bandwagon. My friend advised me recently to avoid interacting with women at work".

Women may be suffering disadvantages at work if the Pence Rule keeps them from vital tasks and prejudices their male colleagues against them.

One 29-year-old staffer with a medical equipment maker in Gyeonggi Province said she was abruptly excluded from a business trip next month to China and a man was assigned instead. "I spent a lot of time convincing buyers in China as I prepared for the business trip, but all my efforts were wasted", she said. "Since the #Me Too campaign started, my boss seems to be scared to go on business trips with female staff. This will reduce opportunities for me to achieve results at work".

In the U.S., where the hysteria started, senior executives are also avoiding interacting with female staff, which often reduces the women's chances of getting ahead in business.

Koh Kang-sup at the Young Professionals Institute of Korea said, "The Pence Rule is a flawed approach. Avoiding addressing the crux of the problem will only deepen the rift between men and women in the office. We need to find ways to address the issue together".The worst part of dealing with any hardship or difficult circumstances is having to do it alone. There is something therapeutic about learning that you are not the only one who experiences what you experience or feels the way you feel.

When it comes to children and adults on the spectrum, although it is true every diagnosis is unique, often the way it manifests from person to person can be similar. Even though these parents may have adequate therapeutic resources, it still may seem no one understands what their struggles and rewards are.

It is to create that sense of commonality that the Autism Resources of Utah County Council (ARUCC) and Vivint Gives Back has created the community cafe series. Research shows the community cafe forum brings people with similar needs and concerns for informal collaboration. This setting, which includes dinner, breaks barriers, creates authentic conversation and leads people to take action.

Participants are divided into small groups and given questions leading to targeted conversation. There are four questions which go from broad to specific, building on each other to generate effective brainstorming. The desired outcome is for people to discover there are many things they can accomplish together with the resources they currently have.

Moving forward, the goal is to plan three of these events per year. The long-term goal is to increase the capacity of attendance and participation by teaching other parents to run dinners in their own communities.

The upcoming session, Connections, is being held on Thursday, March 15, from 6 to 8:30 pm at the Utah Autism Academy, located at 1875 S. Geneva Road in Orem. Registration must be completed by March 12 by contacting Laurie Bowen at laurie.bowen@uvu.edu.

If you are a parent of a child or adult diagnosed in the spectrum and understand the feeling of isolation, this is an event you will not want to miss. This is the chance to understand there are many other parents like you with whom you can build relationships and find support.A Pleasant Grove man was arrested Friday morning on reports of severely beating a woman and threatening to kill her.

On Thursday, police responded to an apartment complex in Pleasant Grove on reports of a potentially violent situation. Police were told by the reporting individual that they could hear a woman screaming stop and dont kill me, reports state.

When police arrived, they couldnt hear anything outside of the apartment, though the door was cracked. Police entered the apartment, yelling police and once they did, heard a man and woman screaming in the back of the apartment, reports state. The woman was sobbing and again screamed, Dont kill me.

Police heard the voices coming from the bathroom door, so they broke the door down and found the suspect, Maurice Gallon Jr., standing over a woman who was huddled by the bathtub, shielding herself with her hands over her face, reports state.

Gallon, 25, was ordered into the hallway where he was placed into custody. The woman had trouble speaking with police because of the extremity of the injuries to her face and mouth, reports state.

Gallon told police he assaulted the woman because she kept laughing at him, reports state.

The woman told police that she was talking on the phone with her boss while Gallon was in the kitchen. Gallon threw something at her to get her attention, which upset her and started an argument.

Gallon told the woman that he was so angry, he wanted to kill himself. But if he was going to kill himself, he was going to kill her as well, she told police.

The woman tried to leave the apartment, but Gallon grabbed her keys, reports state. She ran to the bathroom, but Gallon pursued her, and assaulted her by punching her in the face, slamming her head against the wall and choking her, reports state. The woman said she nearly blacked out at least once.

A child was reportedly in one of the rooms while the assault happened.

Police believed Gallon has multiple extreme mental illnesses that may have contributed to the assault, reports state.

Gallon was booked into Utah County Jail on suspicion of one first-degree felony of attempted murder, one third-degree felony of aggravated assault, one class B misdemeanor of domestic violence in the presence of a child and one class B misdemeanor of unlawful detention.

Gallon is being held in custody on a $25,000 cash-only bail.Recently, I came home and was surprised by a vast expanse of black cloths with piles of dirt on them.

It was later at night, and my wife didnt mention any messy plans for the evening. I didnt see her anywhere, so I called for her to see if she was upstairs. My wife poked her head out of our bedroom and she was accompanied by a saleswoman.

The woman was going door-to-door, selling Kirby vacuum cleaners and was cleaning hallways and mattresses in exchange for pitching her product.

My wife had agreed to let the woman come in and clean our home. For a couple of hours, we watched the salesperson clean our mattress and shampoo our walkway with the $2,500 vacuum she was selling.

The amount of dirt she could pick up was admittedly impressive and if the vacuum could do what she said it could, then Id be an idiot not to buy it and throw away my old cleaning supplies.

That being said, we didnt make the purchase. Im a millennial, and that means I dont trust a lot.

Studies have shown that millennials are, on average, more media savvy than older generations. Ads are less effective on us and we dont fall for sleek marketing.

Were the product of the great recession and saw firsthand how companies only stand by their employees until they find a way to automate more jobs.

The only people who tried to distance themselves further from traditional institutions than us were our younger, hippy parents when they smoked peyote in the desert and called themselves Juniper and Honeysuckle.

We millennials noticed many of our cultures flaws, and because of that, dont put a lot of trust in others, which is why, even if that $2,500 vacuum was as good as the salesperson made it sound, she couldnt have sold me on it.

I notice that a distrust of others is becoming now a feature of American life and no longer a flaw. That will create problems. The right distrusts the left, employers distrust employees, people distrust their political leaders and vice versa.

Instead of living by the mantra, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, we say, Do unto others before they can do unto you.

If we cannot trust one another, we cannot progress as a society. Im not sure what the best way to fix Americas trust issue, but we have to do something.

One could argue that we have to take personal responsibility to research things ourselves, but if there is anything that Utah, the Land of Pyramids, has taught me, its that the Dunning-Kruger effect is real, and most of us are really bad at separating fact from fiction because we dont know what we dont know, much less what others are hiding from us.

Another may argue that we need to start recording everything. Associate Supreme Court Judge Louis Brandeis once said that, Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants, and some would say that secretly exposing bad behavior is the sun shining down on others. The fewer secret places people have to hide their bad works, the more likely we can force societys hand to act in a trustworthy way. The problem is this method doesnt address the possibility that people may find more sophisticated ways of hiding their deeds, nor does it allow for honest mistakes.

Shining a light on everyone all the time will be problematic too because of our social media lynch mob culture.

The third option is to practice what we preach, because its the right thing to do. Im a strong believer that people can hold seemingly contradictory beliefs, but I also believe that people can be hypocrites.

With enough discussion or nuance, Im sure most people who say X and do Y can show a degree of logical consistency, but sometimes X and Y just arent compatible.

I think companies, politicians and regular people all need to stand as examples of what it means to be consistent in their values.

As a Christian, and a Mormon, I believe how we live is as important as how we die.

We cannot build a long-lasting legacy if we forfeit what we think is right with what we think will earn us a short-term win.

The Party of Lincoln cannot promote family values while backing the guy with three marriages and an NDA with a porn star. People will not fall in love with the UTA just because we give it a different name. And I cant trust a vacuum company when I see their SEO game is so on point, they have a monopoly on Googles first page of search results.

Its time people stand by what they believe in and win if they win or lose if they lose.

Im not saying we shouldnt compromise with others, but we shouldnt compromise our integrity.

Blindly trusting people will eventually cause pain, but trusting no one will hurt society.

We should all do our part to restore trust in our country.

And to the saleswoman who cleaned up our home, sorry I couldnt pull the trigger on your vacuum, but I appreciate the demonstration.COVID-19 mu variant detected in Maryland. Here's what to know.

Only 56 cases of the new variant have been identified, while delta remains the most prominent variant.A Class 7 student allegedly committed suicide in Jabalpur after a boy and his parents allegedly humiliated and attacked her parents, police said on Sunday.

The 14-year-old girls parents had reportedly complained to the boys parents that he was harassing her, police added.

According to the police, the boy allegedly often harassed the girl on her way to school or tuitions.

On Saturday evening, the girl told her mother about the boys behaviour and added that he had thrust a mobile phone into her hand and asked her to call him later.

The girls parents went to the boys house at night to complain about his behaviour, said police. They alleged that the boy and his parents attacked and humiliated them, police said.

After seeing her parents humiliated, the girl allegedly hanged herself at home. She was rushed to hospital, but was declared dead on arrival, said police.

Assistant sub-inspector of police, Alpnarayan Mishra, the investigation officer in the case, said they had apprehended the boy and arrested his father under section 306 of the Indian Penal Code which relates to abetment of suicide. Mishra said if charges of sexual harassment were found true, additional legal sections would be added.

Police are trying to ascertain the boys age. Mishra said the boys parents gave his age as 17, but the girls family insisted he was an adult.The presence of hard rock is impeding the rescue of the 4-year-old Roshan child who fell into a 40-foot deep open borewell on Saturday noon in Dewas district, over 153 kms from Bhopal.

The rescue operation has been going on for nearly 24 hours, with 60-member rescue team of militarys engineering wing led by Col Ajay Kumar and 15-member team of state disaster response force (SDRF) from Bhopal taking over the rescue operation on Saturday evening. The rescue operation continued throughout the night. The rescue teams have dug up to a level of around 35 feet.

The child has been trapped in the borewell for nearly 25 hours. He is being fed water and milk through a pipe, with authorities saying that his condition is stable as he is responding. The condition of the child is being monitored through a camera. On Sunday morning, a microphone was lowered into the borewell. Roshan said he be taken out and demanded milk. He also spoke to his mother.

Three earthmoving machines are digging around the borewell to reach the child. Lights were set up during the night at the spot. The crowd continues to be at the spot to see the ongoing rescue operation. The local villagers made arrangements for the officials and members of the rescue team. They provided water, tea and some refreshments to them.

Collector Dewas Ashish Singh said, All possible efforts are being made to safely rescue Roshan. The presence of hard rock slowed our rescue operation. There was a proposal to use dynamite in a small quantity to crack open the hard rock. But we decided not to go for that option as it might endanger the life of the child, he said.

Singh said digging will be done to a level of around 40 feet. After that rescue teams will dig a tunnel towards the spot where Roshan is stuck in the borewell. It may take few hours more, he said.

Around noontime on Saturday, Roshan, son of a farm labourer Bhim Singh of Umriya village, fell into the borewell while he was playing in the area. The borewell where the boy fell had been dug in the farm of one Hiralal a few weeks back. The digging had not been completed and the water level had not been reached. Villagers informed the authorities and a rescue team with doctors and an ambulance was sent from the district headquarters Dewas nearly 110 km away. District authorities sought the help of military and SDRF in the rescue operation. Both the teams reached Dewas in the evening and took over the rescue operation.A research scholar from Delhi has accused a scientist at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal of sexually harassing her during her stint at the institution last year, police said on Sunday.

The alleged harassment took place in July 2017, according to the complainant. An FIR was registered at Khajuri police station in Bhopal on Sunday after her complaint to the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) was forwarded to Madhya Pradesh police.

Till the time of the copy being published, police had not made any arrests in the case.

The girl stated in her complaint that the scientist harassed her in his office on July 24, 2017. Upset over the incident, she flew back to New Delhi, said assistant sub-inspector Prabhwati of Khajuri police station, the investigating officer in the case.

After speaking to her family members, she lodged the complaint with the PMO. The PMO forwarded the matter to MP police a few days ago, Prabhwati added.

The officer said police asked the complainant to come to Bhopal to get her statement recorded, but she refused. I went to Delhi to record her statement and now a case under IPC (Indian Penal Code) section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) has been registered.Bollywood actor Sridevi died suddenly on February 24 in Dubai, leaving millions of fans grieving at her untimely demise. However, even after two weeks of her death, stories and pictures about her have not stopped coming out.

Now, a picture of the late actor with her sister-in-law Sunita Kapoor, Anil Kapoors wife, has surfaced online. The picture shows the two sisters-in-law attending a wedding. Both are dressed in pink  while Sridevi can be seen wearing a baby pink sari with dense silver embroidery, Sunita wears a dark pink suit with heavy Kundan jewellery.

The photos caption reads, Throwback?? The Late Sri Devi with Sunita Kapoor (mother of Sonam Kapoor) Snapped together at the Antumoh wedding days before her tragic demise. How happy & content she looks with that radiant smile. Follow @JustFilmy1.

It is hard to guess when the picture was taken. The caption, however, suggests that it is from the wedding of Sridevis nephew Mohit Marwah in Dubai, days before her passing away.

Sridevis husband Boney Kapoor lit the pyre at her cremation in Mumbai on February 28. He has since been engaged in rituals, which included immersing Sridevis ashes at Rameswaram and Haridwar.

A condolence meeting for Sridevi will be held on Sunday by film producer-politician T Subbarami Reddy. The meet will take place at Park Hyatt Hotel on Sunday evening in memory of the actor, who featured in two of Reddys co-productions Chandni and Lamhe.

Filmmakers and actors like Chiranjeevi, Mohan Babu, Nagarjuna, Jayaprada, K Raghavendra Rao, Ram Gopal Varma, Suresh Babu and Allu Aravind are likely to attend the meeting.

Follow @htshowbiz for moreTension along the India-Nepal border in Tanakpur and Banbasa in Uttarakhands Champawat, eased on Sunday, after the district administration put into place a number of safety measures, officials said.

Following a two-day bandh called by a faction of the Nepal Maoists in a number of anchals (zones) in south-central Nepal bordering India on March 9 and 10, demanding pension and martyr status for Maoists cadres who were killed during the two-decade long insurgency in the Himalayan country, tension prevailed along the international border.

During the strike, the Maoists fanned anti-India sentiments condemning the big brother attitude of India, following which the district administration stopped vehicles from entering Nepal on March 9, as a precautionary measure, officials said.

Vehicles have started plying across the international border on Saturday after the leader of the Maoist faction that called the bandh was arrested in Kathmandu, some of them said.

Tension along the India-Nepal border has been diffused and vehicles were plying normally between the two neighbouring countries, said Champwat superintendent of police Ramchandra Rajguru.

Though the Sashatra Seema Bal (SSB) patrols the border, we are also keeping vigil so that Nepal Maoists are not able to create tension along the border and fan anti-India sentiments, he said.

Earlier, the SSB conducted a drive to remove encroachments from the no-mans land that demarcates the international border at Tanakpur and demolished makeshift shops erected by Nepali shopkeepers and traders during the two-month long Purnnagiri Mela that began earlier this month.

The action by the Indian authorities led to tension along the border as hundreds of Nepali nationals demonstrated against the Indian governments move, saying that they will not allow Indians to enter the Nepal side as their business was hit, Rajguru said.

The situation is now normal after talks between the traders and the Champwat administration, he said.

In March 2017, the SSB opened fire, killing one person on the India-Nepal border near Lakhimpur Kheeri in Uttar Pradesh when a number of Nepali nationals were making a culvert on the no-mans land, said Dharmendra Chand, a social activist from Tanakpur .

The incident led to tension along the Tanakpur- Banbasa international border and half a dozen motorcycles, bearing Indian number plates, were set ablaze in bordering Mahendra Nagar in Nepal, in retaliation, he said.A 38-year-old woman succumbed to her injuries on Sunday after her 18-year-old daughter allegedly bludgeoned her with rods at their Ghaziabad residence on March 9, police said.

The victims husband lodged a complaint against his daughter and her female teacher at the Kavi Nagar police station. He alleged that his daughter was in a relationship with her teacher and wanted to run away with her.

The police lodged an FIR under IPC section 304, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, against the 18-year-old and her 35-year-old teacher.

The victims husband said his daughter attacked her mother on Friday when both were alone in their residence.

My daughter attacked my wife with sticks and rods, which led to severe injuries to her head. My daughter fled the spot and my wife was bleeding heavily when my younger daughter arrived from school. My daughter wanted to run away with her female teacher. Both were in a relationship for since over three months and we had objected to it. We had no altercation for any other reason, the victims husband said.

After the younger daughter found her mother severely injured, a call was made to the police and the woman was rushed to a hospital and later referred to a hospital in Delhi where she succumbed on Sunday.

The father said his daughter had run away with her teacher around two months back and the family had to seek help from police to bring her back. Her teacher is separated from her husband and living alone. After attacking my wife, she is absconding. I am sure she has gone to her teacher, he added.

He said that due to the alleged relationship, he had to discontinue his daughters studies in Class 11 as the teacher was employed at the same school.

The family stays at a locality under Kavi Nagar police station area of Ghaziabad and womans father operates a transport business. He forwarded a police complaint, naming his daughter and her female teacher, on Sunday morning after the woman succumbed at the hospital.

We have registered the FIR and searching for the young woman and her teacher. The family has alleged that the girl attacked her mother because of the relationship between the two women. It is a subject matter of investigation, said Samarjeet Singh, station house officer, Kavi Nagar police station.The tussle between the bureaucracy and the political executive in Delhi took another turn on Sunday, when the government accused chief secretary Anshu Prakash of refusing to accept budget-related files at his residence on Sunday afternoon.

The government issued a statement accusing the chief secretary of not accepting important files, while the officials of Joint Forum of Delhi Government Employees (comprising of officers from IAS, DANICS and DASS) termed the government allegations as yet another effort to intimidate the chief secretary.

On Sunday afternoon, chief minister Arvind Kejriwals media advisor Nagendar Sharma tweeted, Delhi chief secretary refuses to accept files on Sunday at his residence, sent by CM, related to budget speech on mohalla and polyclinics, stating files be sent to his office tomorrow (Monday) during working hours.

Senior officials from the government employees forum said that the latest allegations were another effort by the government to malign the chief secretary.

A senior officer of the joint forum, who did not wish to be named due to the sensitive nature of the matter, said, There was no message from the CMs office or residence regarding the files being sent to the chief secretarys house. The chief secretary was not at home and the staff at his residence have instructions not to accept any closed packets. The files in question were sent in a closed packet.

The official added that the chief secretary does not directly deal with the budget. They are trying to intimidate him (Prakash). Files related to the budget are dealt by principal secretary (finance) who reports to the state finance minister, the official said.

In the evening, the AAP government released a statement that the files sent to the residence of the chief secretary were related to fixing accountability in setting up of mohalla clinics and polyclinics. According to the statement, the first file was related to setting-up of mohalla clinics and contained Kejriwals comments on why the health department, despite having received NOCs for 530 sites, has only been provided an estimated timeline for construction of only 243 new mohalla clinics.

The statement added that the second file was related to polyclinics and it mentioned a tentative timeline of 12 months for the operationalisation of 47 polyclinics each in two phases. The chief minister desired that the information sought about specific timelines was sought from the CS and should be provided by him [sic], the statement read.

The tussle between Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government and the bureaucrats erupted after chief secretary Anshu Prakash last month alleged that he was assaulted by AAP MLAs in a meeting at Kejriwals residence on the night of February 19. Following the incident the bureaucrats have resolved to boycott all meetings with ministers.In a suspected case of honour killing, a 40-year-old man allegedly stabbed his 13-year-old daughter to death on Wednesday because he was allegedly enraged over her friendship with a man who runs a mobile shop in their neighbourhood in east Delhis Karawal Nagar, police said.

The body of the girl was found dumped near a drain at Tronica City area of Loni in Ghaziabad on Friday, two days after she was reported missing from her Karawal Nagar house.

Police said the girls father said he had discovered her body, almost ten kilometres away from his home, even as the Karawal Nagar police, who had registered her kidnapping case, had failed make any headway in the case.

AK Singla, deputy commissioner of police (northeast), said the girls father, Sudesh Kumar, was arrested on Saturday after they identified that the motorcycle on which the girl was seen riding pillion in a couple of CCTV cameras belonged to him. The helmet that the man, who was riding the motorcycle, matched with Kumars helmet that the police found in his home.

We first allowed the family to perform the last rites of the girl. Kumar was taken into custody and interrogated. He was confronted with the CCTV footage and other evidences we had collected against him during the probe. Kumar confessed to the crime after which we arrested him, said Singla, adding Kumar runs a pastry shop.

During the interrogation, Singla said, Kumar revealed that his daughter befriended a mobile shop owner in their neighbourhood. Around a year ago, Kumar had seen his daughter with the man and had scolded her for it. The father had asked her to stay away from him. He had also warned the mobile shop owner with dire consequences if he continued meeting his daughter.

But despite Kumars repeated warnings, his daughter continued meeting the man. Kumar told police that he lost his cool when he saw his daughter with the man on Tuesday and decided to teach him a lesson, said DCP Singla.

On Wednesday, Singla said, the girl left home, saying she was going to buy momos. Kumar suspected that she was lying and was actually going to meet her friend. He picked up a knife, followed his daughter and found her with the man again. Seeing Kumar, the man fled leaving the girl alone.

Kumar then asked her to sit on his bike. He took her to an isolated place in Tronica City and slit her throat multiple times with the knife. He also stabbed his daughter in her face, said a police officer associated with the case. After killing his daughter, Kumar dumped the knife and his clothes with blood stains in the drain.

He returned home and then went to the police station with his family members to file his daughters missing complaint, said the officer, adding they have recovered the knife and the clothes from the drain.Enemys enemy is a friend. And now Delhi University scientists are taking up this age-old proverb in their fight against vilayti kikar  an alien invasive species of tree that has played havoc with the citys biodiversity for long.

The scientists have identified at least seven species of plants, mostly vines that they claim are killing and replacing the kikar. It is a kind of biological control of the kikar, which the researchers have stumbled upon.

Kikar, like any other plant, needs sunlight for photosynthesis  a process through which they manufacture food. The sunlight is needed to produce glucose from CO2 and water. These climbers , once they reach the top of the kikar, gradually engulf the entire canopy. As a result the kikar doesnt get sunshine and cant perform photosynthesis. Eventually they die, said CR Babu, who heads the biodiversity parks project of Centre for Environmental Management of Degraded Ecosystems at DU.

The kikar or Prosopis juliflora was brought to Delhi from Mexico by the British more than a century ago. The exotic plant became invasive and wiped out most of the native plants and along with it the animals, which once used to roam in the ridges. With its deep roots, it had also wreaked havoc on citys groundwater.

We have identified at least seven species of vines that are killing the vilayti kikar along the Kamla Nehru Ridge. At least 20-30 kikar trees in the northern ridge have already died and many are in the process of drying up, as the sunshine has been cut off by the climbers. You can tell that they are dying just by looking at them. They dont look healthy anymore, said AK Singh, scientist in-charge of the Kamla Nehru Ridge.

While two of them are exotic species, including bougainvillea and rubber vine, five are native to India. Most of the native species have high medicinal value. The geloi (Tinospora cordifolia) is used to treat liver diseases, makora (Jackal jujube) is good to treat stomach ache and Asian bushbeech (Gmelina asiatica) is used as a blood purifier.

Scientists said the climbers can attack any tree, as they need a support to grow. As the kikar is the most dominant species in the northern ridge and can be found everywhere, they have come under attack.

The woody stem of the rubber vine is so strong that it literally strangles the plant. We have seen such strangulation marks even on a banyan tree in the ridge, said Faiyaz Ahmed Khudsar, scientist in-charge of the Yamuna Biodiversity Park.

The kikars leaf contains toxins, which when falls on the ground, inhibits the growth of other plants. That is why several native plants were almost wiped away. But these toxins hardly have any effect on these climbers.

Experts said that unlike the kikar, which is an alien invasive species and had gone out of control destroying the local biodiversity, these native species would do no harm to Delhi and the ridge.

The kikar was harmful because it came from outside and was gradually destroying the local biodiversity. But these plants are native to India and are a part of the local community. Hence, they cant be harmful for the ecology, said Khudsar.

The kikars deep roots absorb water, leaving the ground almost dry. As a result other native plants used to dry. But while some of these climbers have tuberous roots which can store water for the growing plant, others like the geloi can absorb moisture from the air with their hanging roots.

Over the past few years, the Delhi government had been trying hard to find out ways to eliminate the kikar. While the government had allocated Rs 50 lakh in its budget in 2017, the forest department had approached the Forest Research Institute to finalise a plan to do away with the menacing species.

Hindustan Times had earlier reported that scientists were trying to find out ways to replace the kikar with other plants. They had to trim the thick canopy of the kikar so that sunlight could reach the forest floor and allow native plants to grow. But later they stumbled upon these seven species of plants that could eventually help in eliminating the kikar.

Plants such as the geloi grow naturally and abundantly. There is no need to plant their saplings. We just ensure that they dont attack other plants such the banyan. If we see any indigenous plant like the banyan being attacked we remove the climber to save the tree. When it comes to the kikar, we just allow the climbers to engulf it, said Harmeek Singh, supervisor of the Kamla Nehru Ridge.

We cannot just cut down the kikar as it is prohibited. But now that we have identified some native species, which can help us in replacing the kikar, we are planning to take this model forward in other parts of Delhi. You can say this is some kind of biological control for the kikar, said Babu.With just 65 trained sniffer and explosive detection canines available, the Delhi Polices dog squad has been understaffed and overworked the past few years. From visiting crime scenes and tracking footsteps of suspects, sniffing out narcotics and explosives, guarding high-profile events, and participating in mock-drills and other police preparedness operations, the four-legged cops work an average 8-10 hours every day.

The burden on the existing lot is further expected to increase as at least 10 dogs are set to retire by the end of this year. Meanwhile another five will be relieved next year, bringing down the strength of the squad to 50 or less. The situation would worsen if some dogs die before their retirement age, a problem which the city polices canine team has been facing the past few years.

According to a police report, a total of 106 dogs from the squad have either retired or died during service since 2010 Commonwealth Games when the strength of the police dogs unit was 110.

In order to make up for the dwindling numbers, Delhi Police purchased 61 trained dogs between February 2013 and March 2017 from the Remount and Veterinary Corps (RVC), Indian Armys administrative and operational branch that is responsible for breeding, rearing, and training of all animals used in the army. The RVC also supplies such training animals to states police and paramilitary forces.

A report accessed by Hindustan Times shows not a single dog has been purchased in the past year. The RVC has also turned down the Delhi Polices latest request to provide 100 trained dogs (26 trackers and 74 explosive detectors), which means that no new dogs will be inducted in the squad till the end of this year.

due to own commitments, trained dogs being sought by your HQ (Delhi Police headquarters) are not available for sale at present. The same can only be considered after December 2018, replied the director general, RVC, in a letter to the city police.

In 2016, the then city police chief prohibited the force to purchase dogs from open market or private breeding centres and directed that trained dogs for the squad can only be acquired from the RVC or Central Industrial Security Force (CISF). The directions were issued keeping in view the past bitter experiences the department faced when dogs were purchased from the open market.

dogs to be purchased from RVC and CISF only. During the recent induction, it was observed that some of the dogs purchased from the market did not appear to be purchased. Dogs bought from private persons have not been the best of the breed, the then police chief had said in his order.

As of today, the dog squad, which comes under the Delhi Police crime branch, has a total of 65 canines  four cocker spaniels and 61 Labrador retrievers. However, none of these are German shepherds or dobermans, which are widely considered the best trackers, sniffers and explosive detection dogs. Of these 65 dogs, 16 are tracker dogs while the remaining 49 have expertise in detecting explosives.

Earlier, the canine squad used to have only dobermans and German shepherds. But lack of availability of dogs of the two breeds, their high mortality rate and ferocious nature, has forced the city police to replace them by Labrador retrievers and cocker spaniels, says deputy commissioner of police (crime), Rajan Bhagat, who heads the canine squad.

We prefer to purchase and train Labradors and cocker spaniels because their natural ability to adapt to any schedule and Delhis atmospheric conditions. The trainers find them easy to train and handle. Besides, the two dog breeds are easily available in official breeding and training centres and also suit the work required by the city police, said Bhagat.

During the Commonwealth Games, there were 15 German Shepherds in the squad. While 10 of these retired over the years, five died during their service period. But not a single dog of this breed has been added in the squad since 2010, says a police officer associated with the squad.

The last German shepherd, Ruby, died last year, a few months before her retirement. She was helpful in cracking two murder cases in 2015, including that of the murders of two children in south Delhis Sangam Vihar. A tracker, Ruby had led the investigators to the spot in a jungle where the alleged killers had consumed liquor and smoked bidis after committing the crime. The spot was around 200 meters away from the crime scene.

A few months ago, the home ministry had asked the Delhi Police for action plan for greater use of dog squad at airport and public places, keeping in view the inputs regarding possible terror strikes in the city. The increasing and continuous work pressure has forced the city police to push for increasing the strength of the squad to 100.Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Sunday invited the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress state leadership for an all-party meeting at his residence on Tuesday to find solutions to ongoing sealing drive in the city that has irked traders and shop owners.

Kejriwal, who is also the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convener, wrote letters to Delhi Congress chief Ajay Maken and BJPs Delhi unit president Manoj Tiwari, inviting them for the meeting to discuss the problems being faced by traders due to the sealing drive in some major Delhi markets.

Maken, who had suggested on Saturday that AAP and Congress leaders meet, took to twitter to thank Kejriwal and agreed to discuss the issue with him on Tuesday. He added that it was a good move to invite the BJP because the three municipal corporations engaged in the sealing drive are run by the BJP.

The Delhi BJP was yet to officially confirm if it will be joining the meeting though some party leaders said that they were unlikely to attend because chief ministers invitation was a drama. The leader of Opposition in the Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta said: The last time we went to meet Kejriwal on this issue, we were manhandled. He is not serious about solving the traders problems.

Till Sunday, over 3,000 shops and commercial establishments across the city have been sealed in a sealing drive that started on December 15 on the directions of a Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee.

In separate letters to Tiwari and Maken, Kejriwal wrote: A terrible situation has emerged in Delhi due to sealing. For public welfare it is necessary that we should rise above politics and come together to find a solution to the problems that have come up due to sealing.

Kejriwal suggested in the letter that not more than three people from each party should be at the meeting so that it can be held smoothly. My government and the party will do everything possible in its domain to stop sealing in the city and re-open the sealed shops, he wrote.

On Friday, Kejriwal had threatened to go on a hunger strike if the ongoing sealing drive was not stopped by March 31. He had made the announcement at the Old Double Storey market in Lajpat Nagar IV, where four policemen and two traders were injured on Thursday after the police personnel allegedly baton-charged businessmen protesting the sealing drive.

BJP may skip

Tuesdays all-party meeting at chief minister Arvind Kejrwals residence to discuss the sealing drive will be the first such gathering at his home after the alleged assault on chief secretary Anshu Prakash by AAP MLAs last month.

The Delhi BJP is likely to boycott the meeting. Leader of opposition Vijender Gupta said the AAP government was not serious about solving the problems of traders.

Gupta said that in January, he with Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and other leaders had gone to the CMs residence to discuss the sealing drives but they were manhandled by AAP volunteers. The AAP had denied the charge.

We have learnt from the previous incidents of manhandling with the BJP delegation and the assault on the chief secretary that anybody visiting the CMs residence should wear a helmet. He is just playing politics and doing drama on the sealing issue, Gupta said when asked about the BJPs response to the CMs invitation.

Without confirming if the BJP would accept the CMs invitation, Gupta said that before calling any all-party meeting, Kejriwal should answer why did he not intervene in the Supreme Court in this connection and why did he not meet the monitoring committee overseeing the sealing drive and find a solution.

The BJP leader asked why was the government not notifying the 351 roads for mixed land and commercial use even when it was approved by the lieutenant governor on February 8.

Tiwari, to whom the invite was sent, is out of the country, the partys Delhi spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said.

Former commissioner of MCD KS Mehra said the parties can elicit a common way to solve the issue. Since the Supreme Court stayed the amendments proposed in the master plan, now the DDA will have to convince that these proposed amendments will not, in anyway, pollute the environment. The authority will also have to highlight its benefit to various sections of the society, Mehra said.On Thursday afternoon, Abhay Kumar, LP Maurya, both private guards, and Rajendra Singh, their supervisor, held an important meeting at Nehru Park in south Delhi.

The meeting was necessitated after two policemen came in the morning and asked them to watch out for troublemakers and not to allow too many people near the statue of Vladimir Lenin in the park. The guards had not heard about the man whose statue they were supposed to guard; it also did not help that the statue has no plaque.

We searched for Lenin on Google and figured that Lenin was some popular Russian leader, says Kumar. But realising that Leninism and Bolshevism were too difficult a concept to grasp for the trio, they soon abandoned the research.

We decided to focus on the task at hand. We are keeping a close watch on the increasing number of people who are coming to take selfies with the statue. In fact, a few people also came and garlanded it, says Kumar. No one gave it a second look until a few days back.

Except for some of the citys communists, who come to pay a customary visit on April 22 to commemorate the Bolshevik leaders birthday, and again on November 7, to mark the anniversary of the October Revolution.

For the uninitiated, Delhi is one of the three cities in the country, including Kolkata and Vijayawada, and among the few in the world, where Lenin statues stand tall. The grand statue in Nehru Park  Lenin in his trademark three-piece suit  is said to have been unveiled by then Soviet Union Premier, Nikolai Ryzhkov, in the presence of then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on November 1, 1987 during the 70th anniversary of the Russian Revolution.

In several east European countries, Lenin statues have been brought down since the collapse of the Soviet Union. In Ukraine, many have been toppled since 2013, when the protesters took to streets against the then President Viktor Yanukovich .

In Delhi, a city where theres a statue to gawp at every turn, Lenin has had a lonely  but peaceful  existence in the park, which is favourite with couples. But the vandalisation of two Lenin statues in Tripura after the BJP swept to power in the recently held assembly elections, ending 25 years of Left rule, has changed that. Lenin is not left alone these days  he has many curious visitors, who take selfies and have impromptu discussions on his life and legacy.

I wonder why a park with a statue of Lenin is named after Nehru, says Rohit Saha, a software engineer who lives in Sarojini Nagar and a regular at the park. Frankly, I have been coming to the park for many years now, but had a close look at it recently. Every statue should have a short bio of the leader, warts and all, says Saha as he does his evening workout , a few metres away from the statue.

I personally feel that statues are more about politics than history. There is hardly anything intrinsically educational about them, says Saha, looking at his watch. People should know the truth behind every statue.

The Lenin bust at AK Gopalan Bhawan came from the embassy of the erstwhile USSR, it is claimed. (Burhaan Kinu/HT Photo)

However, Sucheta Mahajan, professor, Centre for Historical Studies, JNU, says that statues installed in public spaces are both about history and education.A few years back, when I visited Nehru Park with my children, they asked me so many questions about Lenin. Statues create curiosity about a person, about his life and ideas, she says.

After Lenins statute in Tripura was toppled, there has been a raging debate in the country about Lenins legacy and his relevance in contemporary times. He has been variously referred to as a tyrant, a despot, a terrorist, a foreign leader, whose statute should have no place in India. Never before has Lenin faced such scrutiny in the country. In fact, very few might know that The Posts and Telegraphs department in India released a special commemorative stamp, featuring Lenin in 1970 on the occasion of his first birth centenary.

Lenin should not be seen merely as a communist leader. We need to appreciate his support for Indias freedom movement. He effusively praised Lokmanya Tilak. The last book Bhagat Singh read was on Lenin, says Mahajan.

Navnita Chadha Behera, professor, political science, Delhi University, says that one may not agree with Lenins views but vandalism is not an answer.  We need to understand that it is an evolving world and ideas of leaders like Lenin were relevant at a certain juncture in history. You may disagree with them, but in a democracy ideas need to be countered with ideas, she says.

Though he criticised vandalism, historian Ramchandra Guha said in a tweet that it would be better if there were statues of Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Vaclav Havel and the Dalai Lama  great foreign leaders whom Indians can learn from and look up to.

To repeat, the vandalizing of existing statues is absolutely unjustified. But the eulogies being offered (to) us of Lenin are utterly disingenuous. He was a tyrant, a despot, Guha said in another tweet.

The Lenin bust at AKG Bhavan  the headquarters of CPI(M)  is also attracting a few selfie hunters these days.Piyush Shalya, 26, a civil services aspirant, who was taking a selfie with the bust of Lenin on a hot Friday afternoon, said, Very few people understand his (Lenins) economic acumen. He felt that the forces that drove the bourgeoisie to exploit the proletariat will eventually drove the capitalist nations to exploit poor countries. But yes, he was a dictator,  says Shalya. A fan of Lenin, he angles for a better frame. This is such a beautiful Lenin bust.

The bust has an interesting backstory. Rajendra Sharma, editor of Lok Lahar, the CPI(M) Hindi mouthpiece, says it used to be inside the Russian embassy in Delhi before the fall of the USSR.

The Russian embassy did not find it feasible to keep it in view of the tumultuous political situation after the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and we got it as a gift, says Sharma . The large stone bust is installed right in front of the bust of AK Gopalan. The offices library has a picture of Lenin, and a frame next to it with Lenins message in relief: Without revolutionary theory, there can be no revolutionary movement.

Alka Raghuvanshi, an art historian, feels that statutes should also be looked at as public art, and not just politics. After all, the statues, she says, represent a city ethos, its icons and are an intrinsic part of the citys identity. They are landmark in all major cities in the world. The statues should have aesthetically harmonious relationship with a city. It is always not the case in Delhi, she says.

What you may not know about Lenin Simbirsk, the city of Lenins birth was renamed Ulyanovsk in his honor (his birth name). In August 1887, 17-year-old Lenin entered Kazan University to study law. He was expelled in December, however, for taking part in a student protest. He married fellow revolutionary Nadya Krupskaya in 1898. Born Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, Lenin used a number of pseudonyms, including K. Tulin and Petrov, before he took the name Lenin in 1901. This is said to have come from the River Lena where he was in exile for three years in Siberia. In 1900, Lenin founded a communist newspaper called Iskra in 1900. He died in a village called Gorki Leninskiye. His corpse was embalmed and placed in a mausoleum on Moscows Red Square.Two college students were killed as a joyride with friends turned fatal when the woman behind the wheel, who was allegedly drunk, lost control and crashed the car at high speed on a road divider in north Delhis Mukherjee Nagar early on Sunday morning, police said.

The victims were 20-year-old Siddharth Singh, a student of Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology in Janakpuri, and 21-year-old Ritesh Dahiya, who studied at Delhi Universitys Sri Venkateswara College.

Three women studying law at Amity University in Noida were injured. Police arrested the 19-year-old woman who was driving the Hyundai i20 and booked her for causing death by negligence. Diksha Dadu, a first-year Amity University law student was drunk at the time of the crash, deputy commissioner of police (north-west) Aslam Khan said. According to an investigating officer, alcohol bottles and plastic disposable cups were found in the wreckage of the car. Police are awaiting the medical report of the five students.

Police said Dadu and another woman in the front seats escaped critical injuries as the airbags deployed on impact.

The three on the rear seat were gravely injured as the speeding car climbed the road divider, knocked down an iron board, a cement slab and a marble signboard before flipping and colliding with a traffic signal around 2.30am, police said.

The three women are from the same batch at Amity University. Dadu lives with her parents in Rohini, while her two friends stay in a hostel. The students families declined to comment.

Giving the sequence of events, an investigator said the women had gone for dinner to Murthal to celebrate a successful mock parliament they had at their university. They were joined by two friends  Singh and Dahiya, who had brought his car. They visited a 24x7 outlet in Connaught Place before driving to DUs North Campus and nearby markets, said the investigator, who asked not to be named.

The damage to the car and objects it collided with suggest the vehicle was driven at more than 100kmph, he said.

According to police, the car brought down a traffic signal on another road divider.

A very loud sound, similar to a blast, drew my attention  The woman in the drivers seat managed to pull herself out, but the others were trapped. We worked 15 minutes to extricate all the people. The two men had died by then, said Ashok Arora, a shopkeeper in the area.Paul Norman wants to know what to do about drawing water from Skaneateles Lake, and he's not very encouraged by the state's answers so far.

The 80-year-old former Auburn city clerk has owned property on the western shoreline since the 1960s, and has drawn water from a 220-foot intake for drinking, bathing, washing dishes and the like, ever since. But with the harmful algal blooms that cropped up last summer, he's looking for answers about whether that's safe, and if not, what to do about it.

"This is a topic of conversation all over the lake," he said. "What are we going to do?"

The state Department of Health's answer? Don't drink untreated surface water, algal bloom or no.

The most common toxin found in harmful algal blooms in central New York is called microcystin. Contact with it and the blooms can cause diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, skin, eye and throat irritation and breathing difficulties. Microcystin is a liver toxin, too, and animals and pets have died from ingesting it.

DOH, however, said there are plenty of other things to worry about besides microcystin, even in one of the cleanest lakes in the country. Considering HABs, however, it particularly stresses not to use water that is strongly colored, looks paint-life, or is scummy.Violence targeting the Muslim minority in Sri Lanka has continued despite the imposition of a nationwide state of emergency, the first time such a provision has been invoked in more than six years. On the face of it, the violence witnessed at Kandy in central Sri Lanka and Ampara on the eastern coast is linked to the death of a man from the Sinhala Buddhist majority recently after he was beaten by Muslims, and the discovery of a Muslim mans body in a burnt building. But scratch a little deeper and other fault lines emerge.

The end of the countrys civil war in 2009 was followed by the emergence of hardline Buddhist nationalist groups, such as the Bodu Bala Sena, especially during the term of former president Mahinda Rajapaksa. These groups fed on the triumphalism among Sinhalas after the LTTE was vanquished. They have played on long-standing, albeit unfounded, fears of the Sinhala and Buddhist character of Sri Lanka somehow being under threat, while simultaneously spewing hatred against the Muslims, the third largest community which accounts for almost 10% of Sri Lankas 21.2 million population.

Sri Lanka watchers have noted the way violence erupted in the central and eastern parts of the country almost simultaneously and the use of messaging apps to spread rumours, giving rise to suspicions that it was pre-planned.

Despite the imposition of emergency, security forces stood by and watched during the latest attacks in the central part of Sri Lanka. India, already concerned about Chinas growing influence in Sri Lanka, will be worried by any strife with ramifications for regional security. Given the bloodshed it has witnessed, Sri Lanka should be well aware of the long-term consequences of ethnic and sectarian strife. This alone should be a good enough reason for the government to crack down on the perpetrators of the latest violence and to demonstrate that it is committed to protecting the islands minorities.There was a time when all that pregnant women could think of wearing was frumpy, loose fitted long dresses and kaftans. However, the new age women refuse to go for unflattering, oversized dresses. Closer home, Bollywood celebs such as Kareena Kapoor Khan, and Lisa Haydon have been mascots of pregnancy style. But the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton, who is expecting her third child next month, is also not far behind. From high-waist dresses to bright colours, heres a look at her maternity style.

Britain's Prince William and Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge greet well wishers as they leave The Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. (PHOTO: Hannah McKay/ REUTERS)

PATTERNS

Subtle and minimalistic patterns are the perfect way to get a classic look. Kate Middleton chose a red-and-white houndstooth coat by Catherine Walker, and completed the look with a Chanel bag and earrings by In2Design, a Swedish designer. The effortless look appears just right for a day event. If you arent a fan of the houndstooth pattern, opt for patterns like checks and stripes. There are also various texture to choose from.

Kate Middleton went for a cornflower blue coat. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

MONOTONE

While giving a speech on mental health, Middleton went for a cornflower blue coat from Sportmax over a blue dress from Seraphine and heels in the same colour. The outfit has been put together smartly, considering the nature of the event. Going for single tones is a great way to keep the look fuss-free yet impactful. However, you can add a printed scarf like Kate to break the monotone. Also, letting your hair loose with soft waves is a safe bet.

Kate Middleton in Jenny Packham gown. (PHOTOS: )

HIGH-WAIST DRESS

Many ladies shy away from wearing high-waist dresses, as such outfits highlight the bump. But see how Kate makes it look so flattering. She opted for an empire waistline green Jenny Packham gown for her appearance at BAFTA. The lady added an oomph factor with a complimenting clutch. The silhouette is flattering for women with a petite frame, and perfect for an evening out. Its as comfortable as glam it is.

Kate Middleton in a floral dress. (PHOTO: REUTERS)

A HINT OF SHINE

Are you afraid of wearing silks and satins? Well, there is no reason to be. A printed dress with ruffled ends can pep up any formal outing for you. take your cues from Middleton, who chose a gown by Erdem for a black-tie dinner at the residence of the British Ambassador in Stockholm. You can easily reinterpret this look to suit your taste. To balance the look, style your hair in a pony or a bun and keep the makeup minimal.

Kate wore this red coat from Boden over a beige dress. (PHOTO: AP)

BRIGHT COLOURS

Wear bright hues just like Middleton. On a visit to Mittal Childrens Medical Centre in London, Kate wore this red coat from Boden with a beige dress. Take your pick from the trending reds, oranges and yellows, and team them with neutral colours to balance the look.

Kate Middleton in printed dresses teamed with basic hue heels.

PRINTS GALORE

From small paisley prints to bolder floral prints, you can wear them all just like Kate. She went for bold floral prints on black, polka prints and circular designs on blue. Avoid gigantic printed dresses and gowns, as they may make you look broader and shorter.

Kate switching high-heels with block heels and sport shoes for different events.

HEELS AND FLATS

It is said that a pregnant woman must avoid heels, but not all follow the set norms. All through her pregnancy Kate didnt totally ditch heels; she opted for block heels instead of pointy pencil heels. She also opted for sneakers on a few occasions. Taking your cues from her, you can also pack away those tricky pointy heels and wear kitten or block heels.Sustainability is not a process. Its a ways of living life. And being eco-positive, maximising employment and putting a tab on depleting resources is something that the global and Indian fashion industry has been striving towards for the past few years. For carrying this baton for over three decades to help empower craftsmen and be ecologically conscious, textile revivalist, conversationalist and fashion designer Madhu Jain was conferred the prestigious Nari Shakti Puraskar 2017. She was given the award on International Womens Day (March 8) by the President of India, Ram Nath Kovind, at a ceremony held at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

She is among 30 women and nine organisations who were rewarded for being catalysts of change. Hailing craftsmen as the heroes, Jain says, The truth is simple, there would be no indigenous handlooms sector without skilled craftspeople  from weavers to embroiderers  all of whom have finely honed proficiencies that cannot be learnt overnight. Theirs is a considerable competence that comes from generations of learning and practice. Artisans are irreplaceable. To my mind, ethics in fashion is increasingly becoming important, and we need to be responsible on the ramp and off the ramp, too. Part of our responsibility lies towards nurturing the wealth that originates from the nimble fingers of our artisans. And the way to respect and nurture their profession is to ensure markets for their work.

The award also recognised Jains contribution to innovating with textiles, like her Bamboo-Silk Ikat textile, which is biodegradable and leaves a negligible ecological footprint, and took over 15 years of work to create.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreScientists have found strong connections between Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and heart attacks. Inflammation has long been recognised as playing a key role in the development of heart disease. IBD is an umbrella term for two chronic inflammatory conditions that affect the gastrointestinal tract - Ulcerative Colitis and Crohns disease.

While studies have shown a clear increased risk of heart disease in other chronic inflammatory conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, this link is unclear in patients with IBD. A three-year study concluded that in the more than 22 million patients who were assessed, heart attacks were almost twice as common in patients with IBD. Our study adds considerably to a growing set of literature highlighting the chronic inflammation in IBD as having a role in the development of cardiovascular disease, said Mahazarin Ginwalla from the University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center in the US.

The study was presented at this years American College of Cardiology meeting in Orlando, US. The researchers found that traditional risk factors for heart disease such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and smoking were also more prevalent in patients with IBD. According to the study, the patients with IBD had about 23 per cent higher odds of having a heart attack. The researchers observed that the highest risk was in younger patients (less than 40 years of age), while IBD is commonly diagnosed between the ages of 15-30.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreWithin a span of an hour, three people died in two drowning incidents in Gurgaon on Sunday, police said.

In the first incident, two teenage boys  both children of labourers hailing from Bihar  died on Sunday evening after they began drowning in a pond in Kadipur village near Sector 10A.

Police have identified the victims as Aakash, a resident of Vikas Nagar, and Adarsh, a resident of Ravi Nagar. Both of them were 16-years-old and were cousins, police said.

As per the police, the incident occurred around 4pm, when the two boys, had gone to bathe in the pond and drowned owing to the water being extremely muddy and slippery.

A friend who had accompanied them on the outing was shooting videos of the two in deep waters from a distance.

A man in a nearby gym noticed the two boys drowning and alerted bystanders and the police. Bystanders managed to pull their bodies out and the two were rushed to the Civil Hospital in a semi-conscious state, but they had swallowed a lot of dirty water, and died under treatment. Their bodies have been sent for postmortem and a report is expected on Monday, inspector Yashwant Singh, station house officer of Sector 10 police station said.

As per the police, the friend had gone to alert the family members of the victims when they started drowning. The incident was an accident and, hence, no case has been registered regarding the matter, Singh added.

In the second incident, a 32-year-old woman drowned and died after she lost her balance and slipped while attempting to immerse religious offerings in a pond on Darbaripur road in Badshahpur.

The victim has been identified as Seema, who was accompanied by her niece when she went to carry out the immersion around 5pm.

According to police, her niece was standing at a distance, when Seema accidentally slipped into the pond.

As the pond was filled with mud, Seema slipped and got pulled into the water. Her niece alerted bystanders but she had already disappeared from view by that time. After receiving information, the police and fire department pulled out her body, sub-inspector Satyavender Singh of Badshahpur police station, the investigation officer in the case said.

Incidents of drowning are not uncommon in Gurgaon.

On July 30, 2017, within a span of a few hours, four people died in two incidents at the Chandhu Budhera canal.

In both the incidents, two men had gone for a swim along with their friends and drowned after drifting towards deep waters.

A month earlier, at the same spot, a New Delhi resident who had gone for a swim with his five friends died after drowning in Chandu Budhera canal on June 8, 2017.

On April 6, 2017, one person died after slipping into Dhankot Canal after he had gone there with another man to take a bath.At least 25 students were caught in a forest fire on a mountain climbing training camp on Sunday in Kurangani hills in this district of Tamil Nadu with 12 being rescued so far, officials said.

Defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who was approached by chief minister K Palaniswami for help to rescue them and been in touch with Theni District Collector, said 10-15 students were making their way to the foothills (after being rescued).

In a series of tweets, she also said two helicopters of the Indian Air Force from its Sulur base near Coimbatore were being sent to assist in the rescue operations.

Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni, she said in a tweet.

In another tweet around 7 pm, Sitharaman said she spoke to the Theni District Collector who informed her that 10-15 students were making their way to the foothills.

A medical team had been sent to the spot and employees of a nearby private tea estate were also assisting in the rescue operations, she said quoting the collector.

Kurangani hills is located near Bodinayakanur in southern Tamil Nadu.

Officials here said twelve of the students had been rescued by the local tribals and fire and rescue service and forest personnel and efforts were on to evacuate others.

Police said the students from Coimbatore and Erode were taking training in Kurangai-Kozhuku Hill area when the fire suddenly broke out around noon.

District Superintendent of Police V Baskaran and reveune and forest officials were taking steps to rescue the students from the trapped site.

Officials said the Defence Minister told the District collector to expedite the rescue operations in coordination with the other department officials including, the Airforce.

A report from Coimbatore, quoting police, said two IAF Sarang helicopters from Sulur have left for Kurangani forest.Buoyed by its recent success in Tripura, the BJP has turned its focus on the upcoming by-election for Chengannur assembly constituency to launch its mission Kerala, while the ruling CPI(M) is putting all its might to prevent a saffron surge in the state, the last Left bastion.

The Congress, which of late ceded some opposition space to the BJP in the southern state, too is pulling out all the stops to regain the seat, giving an unprecedented political importance to the otherwise innocuous bypoll.

No by-election in the recent past generated as much political interest with all the three parties launching vigorous campaigns, declaring their candidates even before the poll date is announced.

The BJP is viewing it as an opportunity to announce its arrival in the state. Its leaders are claiming that Chengannur will be the launching pad for the party in the southern state.

For the CPI(M), it will be more than a referendum on its government. The party leaders, privately admit, a win for the BJP here could change the contour of state politics.

For the Congress also stake is high to retain its stronghold that slipped out of its kitty in the last assembly election.

The death of sitting MLA K K Ramachandran Nair two months ago necessitated the by-election, likely to be held in May.

The constituency had witnessed a fierce three-cornered contest in 2016 in which the CPI(M) candidate had won with a margin of over 7000 votes.

This time the left party has fielded Alappuzha district secretary Saji Cherian to take on senior BJP leader P S Sreedharan Pillai and Congress veteran S D Vijayakumar.

For us Chengannur is the launching pad for the state. Situation is quite favourable for the party after our resounding victory in Tripura, said BJP candidate Pillai.

He said after the humiliating defeat in Tripura, the CPI(M) is playing communal card to woo minority voters in a desperate bid to retain the seat.

The constituency has 20% Christian voters.

In 140-member Kerala assembly, the BJP has a lone member, O Rajagoplan, former Union minister of state for railways.

But the recent victory in the Left-ruled Tripura, where the BJP could not win a single seat in 2013 elections, charged up the partys rank and file.

There are even talks that BJP president Amit Shah will campaign in Chengannur.

The party has also introduced many centrally-sponsored schemes in the constituency recently. Last week a passport seva kendra was opened.

But all is not well in the saffron camp. One of the NDA allies the Bharat Dharma Jana Sena (BJDS), which has a significant following among the districts backward Ezhava community, is upset with the BJP.

There were talks that the BJP would get its leader Thushar Vellapally elected to Rajya Sabha from a state in north India. But there is no formal announcement yet in this regard.

Sulking Vellapally can be a threat to the BJP, and efforts are on to placate him.

CPI (M)s Cherian said: The RSS-BJP combine cant enact Tripura in Kerala. It is a different ball game altogether.

The state is well equipped to contain the saffron surge, he added addressing party workers.

The CPI(M) even claimed that the BJP is not even a contender as their contest will be with the Congress.

The Congress leaders too claim, their fight will be with the CPI(M).

We are not worried about the three-cornered fight. We will expose both the Centre and state governments antipeople policies. We have got a definite edge, said state Congress president M M Hassan.CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Sunday said that the party would raise in Parliament the issue of violence allegedly unleashed by workers of the BJP and its ally the IPFT and the demolition of Russian revolution leader Vladimir Lenins statues in Tripura.

Whatever happened in the state is anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional. I will talk to the other opposition parties about it and it will surely be raised in Parliament. A party can win and a party can lose elections, but that doesnt allow the winning party to unleash attacks on the other. Violation of democratic rights is unacceptable, Yechury told journalists at the CPI(M) headquarters.

He also said that these issues would also be brought to the Centres attention. Yechury who landed in Agartala on Saturday for a two-day tour of Tripura, visited Belonia where Lenins statue was toppled. Sabroom was another town where another statue of the Marxist icon was pulled down.

Criticising the BJP for toppling the statues and alleged attacks on CPI (M) workers, he said that the Marxist ideology cant be pulled down.

I oppose the politics of vandalisation of statues. Our politics is of battle of minds. They can destroy statues, but cannot destroy our ideology, Yechury said.

Reign of terror prevails in most of the rural areas of the state. Many party offices were ransacked, looted, gutted and some were even occupied and the comrades were forcefully driven out of their places. All the attacks were pre-planned and not spontaneous. If the BJP desires to rule Tripura without opposition, they are mistaken, he said.

He appealed to the new BJP government to ensure an end to the violence and threats of extortion by providing compensation for loss of properties, provide proper medical treatment and return occupied party offices to the right owners.

Referring to the electoral defeat, Yechury said the party would analyse the elections to examine the reasons for the setback.

Replying to a query on promoting young faces, he said, What is required is an alternative policy rather than an alternative leader.Eight members of rebel outfit Garo National Liberation Army (GNLA) surrendered before a church leader who facilitated their surrender before the police on Sunday.

The militants surrendered with assault rifles, small arms and Chinese-made grenades, said a source privy to the development.

At the time of the copy being published, police were yet to announce the surrender, which is being seen in the hills as the start of the end of the rebel outfit.

We would have liked to make a proper announcement at the right time but the news is going viral on social media. So, obviously, you can draw your own conclusion, said a senior police officer connected with operations in Garo hills.

The eight GNLA members belong to the last known batch of the outfit, according to the officer, who did not want to be named. A lone militant remains at large and is expected to surrender soon, said the officer

The surrender, first before Rev ST Sangma, follows the killing of the outfits commander-in-chief Sohan D Shira on February 24.

The GNLA is suspected to be involved in the killing of NCP candidate from Williamnagar, Jonathone N Sangma, in an IED blast last month. Election to the assembly seat was countermanded after the incident. The GNLA did not claim responsibility for the killing.The Indian Air Force (IAF) is likely to start the process of inviting foreign military contractors to build fighter jets in the country under the governments Make in India plan in the next four weeks , a person familiar with the project said.

This multi-billion-dollar project to build 114 jets will be directly linked to the development of an indigenous futuristic stealth fighter  the Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA), the person added.

The air force plans to issue a request for information (RFI) before DefExpo-2018  a military systems exhibition by the defence ministry  opens in Chennai on April 11.

The document will not specify the number of engines the jets should have, leaving the field open for makers of both single- and twin-engine planes, said the person who asked not to be named.

An earlier plan involved pursuing two separate projects to build single-engine and twin-engine fighters in India but that distinction has been discarded now.

The RFI is the first step towards finding a new warplane for the air force and global plane manufacturers will respond to it with operational features and technical parameters of their platforms. That will pave the way for the air force to make a case for getting the ministrys acceptance of necessity (AoN)  the governments stamp of approval to pursue a military programme.

After the AoN comes, we could either opt for a government-to-government deal or put out a tender. Both options are open at this stage, said a senior officer tracking the air forces modernisation on the condition of anonymity.

The manufacturer that India finally decides to collaborate with will have to commit to transfer of technology not only for the fighter to be built in India but also for the AMCA that is on the drawing board.

We have asked the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) to prepare a list of technologies they need help with for the AMCA. There will be clear clause on the transfer of those technologies in the contract, said the officer quoted above.

Experts say the full-scale engineering development of the AMCA up to the prototype stage will take upwards of a decade and its flight first could take place around 2030.

India had floated a global tender for 126 planes more than a decade ago but it was cancelled after Prime Minister Narendra Modi declared in April 2015 that India would directly buy 36 Rafale jets from France.

Six fighters took part in that contest before the Rafale and the Eurofighter made it to the last round.

The new competition is also likely to be among Rafale, Eurofighter, MiG-35, F/A-18, F-16 and Gripen.

The technology has evolved during the past decade. In their present form, F/A-18 and Gripen NG would not have been rejected in the older contest, the officer said.

The air force wants to speed up the project as the count of its fighter squadrons has shrunk to 31 compared to an optimum strength of 42-plus units required to fight a two-front war.

The Chinese and Pakistani air forces operate at 60 and 25 fighter squadrons respectively.They are yet to take oath as legislators, but before doing that some newly-elected MLAs from Naga Peoples Front (NPF) want to ensure that they move around in comfort.

On Saturday, 11 of the 27 new legislators from the opposition party wrote to the commissioner and secretary of the Nagaland assembly to allot them Toyota Innova- Crysta instead of Renault Duster.

It is learnt that the assembly secretariat is planning to allot Duster vehicle to the MLAs. We the undersigned NPF legislators have decided not to accept the said allotment because of maintenance issue, the letter said.

Instead, arrangement may kindly be made for allotment of Toyota Innova Crysta (top model) to all of us, it added.

It is not learnt whether the assembly secretariat has made any proposal yet on allotment of vehicles to newly elected MLAs.

While a top-end model of Duster costs nearly Rs 13 lakh, the high-end variant of Innova Crysta costs over Rs 22 lakh.

Some members of the NPF dont like it (Duster). They opted for the other brand (Innova-Crysta). I too signed the letter, confirmed Imkong L Imchen, NPF MLA from Koridang in Mokokchung district.

NPF-led Democratic Alliance of Nagaland (DAN), of which BJP was also a part, was in power in the state from 2003. But ahead of last months election, the saffron party severed its ties with the regional outfit and joined hands with newly former Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP).

Though NPF emerged as the single largest party winning 27 seats in the 60-member assembly, NDPP-BJP alliance, which secured 29 seats (NDPP with 17, BJP-12) was able to form the new government headed by Neiphiu Rio withe the support of an Independent and a JD (U) legislator.

We came to know about the plan to allot vehicles on Saturday. Since Duster is not viable to operate on Nagalands hilly terrain, we want Innova Crysta. We have not heard back from the secretariat. Hopefully, they will take a decision next week, said CL John, NPF legislator from Tehok in Mon district.

Condition of roads in Nagaland is among the worst in the northeast and in successive elections political parties make promises of smooth roads and better connectivity.

This time BJP had promised all-weather roads, latest technologies in road construction and maintenance and a task force to clear landslides and repair roads and drains within 24 hours.Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said democracies around the world were at a crossroads and the need of the hour was to strengthen them.

Urging India to become more active and involved in the future of Asia, Clinton said much of the continents future will be written by its people.

Democracies around the world, including US and India are at the crossroads. It should be of concern not just for governments and political leaders, but also business leaders, media and ordinary citizens, Clinton said while delivering a keynote address at the conclusion of the India Today Conclave here on Saturday.

Our shared future in the 21st century and beyond will be written to a great extent in Asia and much of the future of Asia will be written in India not only by the Indian government, but by the states across India and most importantly by the 1.3 billion people living here, she said.

I firmly believe that India needed to be more active and involved in the future of Asia. India is making leaps in science and technology, enhancing human knowledge and innovation. In United States, one third of the startups are led by Indian Americans, she said.

She added that the world is counting on Indias leadership on climate, human rights and other issues.

India-US friendship remains rooted in shared values and vision. India and United States stand for free nation and free market. We believe in democracy, pluralism, opportunity and innovation. These beliefs are more important today than they ever have been.

We face similar economic challenges and threats of terrorism and nuclear proliferation, new threats of robotics and artificial intelligence, job creation, threats to our security from cyber warfare. The kind of threats that are subtle, but increasing to democracy itself from rising authoritarianism and false weaponised information, she said.

Stating that women and young people need to join politics, she said she was working on it in the US.

We need many voices for speaking up for fundamental rights, speaking out against racism, sexism or any attempts to normalise bigotry. We need to make sure that democracies in India and the US do not give way to anger, resentment and disappointment, she said.

During the interactive session, she said this is the time for people from all walks of life to come together and defend democracy and make it more effective.

Clinton also said India has a special place in her heart and peoples lives were enriched by Indias gift to the world like scientific innovation, arts, fashion, food, films and Yoga.India and Pakistan have accused each other of ill-treating diplomats and their families, including by intimidation and harassment, people familiar with the developments said on Sunday.

Pakistani newspaper Dawn, quoting unnamed sources, reported on Saturday that a demarche was made to the Indian high commission in Islamabad and the external affairs ministry in Delhi in which Pakistan threatened to pull out the families of diplomats from India.

It is becoming difficult for the Pakistani diplomats posted in India to keep their families with them due to increase in harassment incidents, the newspaper quoted a source as saying.

Neither India nor Pakistan issued any formal response to these developments, but officials in India countered that it was Pakistan which was making the lives of Indian diplomats and their families in that country difficult.

Officials said that India, too, had apprised Pakistan of these problems and threats.

Read more | Kulbhushan Jadhavs story amounts to a deja vu of India-Pakistan diplomatic lows

Two Indian officials, who asked not to be named, pointed to a series of incidents allegedly indicating harassment of Indian diplomats in Islamabad -- forcibly stopping high commission vehicles, hampering the work of a residential project, threatening a contractor who maintains the Indian chancery building.

In one case, an officials home was broken into and a laptop stolen while the high commissioners car was recently stopped by Pakistan agencies in the middle of a busy road to prevent him from attending an event, they said.

They said this was in contrast with the facilities India provided the Pakistani high commission.

The Indian high commissioner in Islamabad met the foreign secretary of Pakistan on February 16 to lodge a strong protest against multiple acts of hooliganism against Indian properties and personnel, officials said.

The Indians maintained there was a continuous pattern to this harassment. Membership to certain Islamabad clubs, open to all diplomats, were not being given to those from India, said one of the officials quoted above.

Meanwhile, a Pakistan foreign official, who asked not to be named, pointed to incidents over the past three days in which the children of Pakistans deputy high commissioner were stopped on their way to school, and a car of another diplomat was chased and scratched.

Read more | An uneasy truce: India, China balance decades-old strategic mistrust with diplomacy

The official quoted above, who said that the Pakistan high commission had sought a meeting with the ministry of external affairs this week, alleged that a total of six incidents of harassment were reported by Pakistani diplomats in a span of three days.

Ties between India and Pakistan have been particularly strained over the last few months over increased ceasefire violations across the Line of Control and the treatment meted out to an Indian prisoner in Pakistan Kulbhushan Jadhav.

The latest row came at a time when the two sides were looking to break the ice by exchanging prisoners  women, the elderly, and the mentally feeble  being held in each others countries.India and the US will discuss this week further action to be taken against Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) emir Hafiz Saeed, Indian and US officials familiar with the matter said. The background is the Islamabad high courts decision on March 9, paving the way for the registration of Saeeds Milli Muslim League (MML) as a legitimate political party.

This will be one of the key focus areas of meetings when foreign secretary Vijay Gokhale and defence secretary Sanjay Mitra engage their counterparts in Washington this week, the officials cited above said. The two secretaries are going to Washington for three days starting Tuesday to work out the agenda of the so-called 2-plus-2 dialogue between the Indian and US foreign and defence ministers on April 18. Indias ambassador to the US Navtej Sarna was in India this month to brief the two secretaries as well as the ministers on the forthcoming dialogue.

The two countries also plan to do more to tackle terror. The second meeting of the Designations Dialogue, a mechanism created last year to discuss bilateral co-operation on terrorism-related designations according to Indias ministry of external affairs, is also scheduled for this month. The Indian and US officials said this meeting will process new names or entities for designation as terrorists or terror groups by Washington.

Last August, Hizbul Mujahideen and its emir Syed Salahuddin were designated by the US as Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and specially designated global terrorist respectively with accompanying sanctions. Hafiz Saeed, LeT and Jamaat-ud-Dawa (the parent radical religious body formed by Saeed), have already been proscribed by the US.

The Indian and US officials said that Washington was very concerned after Hafiz Saeed was released by a Pakistan court last winter  so much so that Islamabad was served a demarche by the Trump administration. With 6 out of 166 killed in the 26/11 Mumbai massacre being US nationals, Washington has made it amply clear that it wants Pakistan to incarcerate the LeT emir. Indian officials say that in January, the US shared with the country its concerns over Pakistans inability to take strong legal action against Saeed. The US has placed a bounty of $10 million on Saeeds head.

Apart from this, the two secretaries will also discuss developments in Afghanistan, Iran and the Maldives, the island nation to which LeT has spread its tentacles. India will also inform the US that terrorist infiltration to create violence and mayhem in Jammu and Kashmir continues unabated from Pakistan with no less than 25 terrorists believed to have already infiltrated this year due to lack of snow on high mountain passes, the Indian officials said.

Defence secretary Sanjay Mitra will prepare the groundwork for deepening defence cooperation with US, including a decision on possible acquisition of hunter-killer drones from Pentagon, they added.Taking a swipe at US President Donald Trump for backing out of Paris climate agreement, French President Emmanuel Macron lauded the efforts of India, along with other nations, for making International Solar Alliance (ISA) a reality.

However, Macron did not name Trump at the founding conference of ISA in the capital on Sunday. While hailing the Solar Mamas, a group of women solar engineers, he also referred to the countries which decided to leave the climate agreement.

Addressing the summit in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Macron said, Mr Prime Minister, You made a dream and we did it. It was about this International Solar Alliance. It was two years ago, it was just an idea at that time and we decided all together to act very quickly and today a big change.

Expressing his immense happiness and lauding the efforts of Solar Mamas, he said, Our solar mamas did not wait for us. They started to act and to deliver complete results. They did not wait and stop because some countries (US and others) just decided to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement. Because they (ISA nations) decided it is good for them their children and grand children. They decided to act and keep acting.

The oblique reference was towards US President Trumps decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to curb global greenhouse gas emission and limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.

In November last year, Syria signed the deal, leaving the US as the only country in the world not to support the framework deal to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

Interestingly, France is the co-host for the founding conference of the ISA which is a treaty based international body with 121 prospective member countries.

As many as 60 nations have signed the agreement to join ISA, while 30 have already ratified the agreement and made it possible to make it a legal entity in December last year.

Macron said the countries at the ISA represent three-fourths of the world population. As much as 20-50 per cent of the population do not have access to power.

The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2020 for which we need USD 1,000 billion, he said.

Today, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered here for alliances first summit.Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday urged home minister Rajnath Singh to intervene in the case against Kashmiri photojournalist Kamran Yousuf, who was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) last year.

"Spoke to home minister @rajnathsingh ji to look into Kamran Yousufs case. Ive requested him to intervene so that the life of a young budding journalist does not get ruined," she tweeted.

The NIA arrested Yousuf last September on charges of stone-pelting. A decision on his bail plea is awaited. He was booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act along with 11 other people.

Rights organisations such as Amnesty International and Committee to Protect Journalists have called for Yousufs release and dropping of all charges against him. The Kashmir Editors Guild has also sought his release.Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged leaders from 33 countries on Sunday to ensure concessional financing for promoting solar energy and boost investment in renewable energy to fight climate change.

Modi by his side, French President Emmanuel Macron, who offered an extra $861.5 million by 2022 for solar projects in developing countries, called for scaling up efforts to promote renewable energy and took a dig at US President Donald Trump for pulling out of the Paris climate deal.

Modi and Macron co-chaired the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), an initiative the two countries launched coinciding with the 2015 Paris climate meet which has so far been ratified by 30 countries. A total of 62 countries signed up for the alliance.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said India would generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable sources by 2022, more than double the countrys existing renewable energy capacity.

Presenting a 10-point action plan, Modi said, We have to provide concessional financing and less risky funds for solar projects as he stressed on making solar technology affordable available to all nations, raising the share of electricity generated from photovoltaic cells in the energy mix and framing regulations and standards to support the initiative.

In agreement, Macron said $1 trillion will be needed to achieve one terawatt (TW) of solar power capacity by 2030 and pointed out there are financing and regulatory hurdles for achieving the target. He said the government, the private sector and civil society should come together to address this challenge.

As Macron hailed the solar mamas, a group of women trained as solar engineers, he said they had continued their mission to promote solar energy even after some countries decided  just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.

President Trump announced last June that the US was withdrawing from the Paris accord, signed by some 200 countries in December 2015 in their bid to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Modi called for rising above narrow private goals to make collective efforts for the betterment of mankind. He said India has launched the worlds biggest renewable energy programme with a target to generate 175 GW of electricity from renewable sources.

Of that, 100 GW is to come from solar and 60 GW from wind. Of the target for solar energy generation, we have already achieved 20 GW installed solar power, he said.

India needs some $83 billiont ill 2022 to meet its 175 GW target, according to industry estimates.

At present, the countrys installed renewable energy capacity is 63 GW. Solar and wind power tariffs have dropped to an all-time low of Rs 2.44 per unit and Rs 3.46 per unit, among the lowest in the world.

China is targeting over 360 GW of renewable capacity generation during the period.

Modi said the vedas have for thousands of years considered the sun as the soul of the universe and a nourisher of life. We have to look at this ancient balanced and all-encompassing philosophy when we today look for ways to deal with the challenge of climate change, he said.

Heads of government from 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives from other countries gathered at Sundays meeting.

Macron said France would extend an extra 700 million euros ($861.5 million) through loans and donations by 2022 for solar projects in emerging economies.

France had already committed $300 million euros to the initiative when it co-founded with India a global alliance in 2015 to unlock new cash for solar projects in sunny-yet-poor nations.A day after he was quoted in media reports as saying that Jammu and Kashmir should not be seen as a conflict state or a political problem, but as a society with social issues, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday asked state finance minister Haseeb Drabu to retract his comment.

News agency PTI on Saturday quoted Drabu as saying at an event in Delhi, Dont see J&K as a conflict state and a political issue, it is a society which has social issues right now. We are trying to find our own space and we are going through a process which many other countries are also going through.

PDP vice-president Sartaj Madni, in a press statement, asked party leader Drabu to retract the statement immediately if it has been reported correctly in the media.

The statement said, The party recognises Jammu and Kashmir as a political issue and ever since its emergence the party has relentlessly been pursuing its resolution through reconciliation and dialogue, both at internal and external levels.

Referring to the vision of party patron Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Madni said the resolution of Kashmir problem formed core of his struggle and sacrifices.

Madni also advised all senior leaders to be careful in their statements and observations while commenting on the basic political philosophy and core agenda of the party.

Later on Sunday evening, the PDP released the full text of Drabus speech, saying it has been reported out of context.

Drabu also responded to questions, explaining that the issue regarding Jammu and Kashmir was not only a governmental issue but also a peoples issue. He said, Its not only a political problem, theres also a social issue involved. You realise how the society has been ravaged. I think people need to address that also. We have been struggling with the political issue for 70 years, so why dont we look at some of the social issues.

He added, The whole text of the speech has been released and it should be very clear from that.

Earlier in the day, the National Conference (NC) lashed out at the PDP. In a statement, the NC said that the comment was a shocking and shameful U-turn by the party which, for years, sought support and votes primarily to help in the resolution of the political issue that has claimed thousands of lives and pushed the state into the throes of instability and suffering.

NC general secretary Ali Muhammad Sagar said in the statement, Till today we were led to believe that the PDPs basis was the resolution of the political issue and its rhetorical advocacy for dialogue was a cornerstone of its narrative. Today, the same party suddenly declares that Kashmir is not a political issue and the problems we are facing are not any different from those being faced by people outside Kashmir.Remote sections of Madhya Pradeshs Kanha National Park, a top tourist destination as a tiger reserve, are the new refuge of Maoists, according to security forces battling them in neighbouring Chhattisgarh.

MP officials, however, insist that the Maoist presence is mostly limited to Chhattisgarh forests bordering the 960 sq km park, which is also popular as Kanha Tiger Reserve.

Members of the CPI(Maoist) Vistaar Dalam (area expansion brigade formed about two years ago) stamped their presence in Kanha on February 12, attacking two forest posts, according to police.

The rebels beat up forest guards, snatched their wireless set and mobiles, and set fire to their maps and topography sheets. This was the first time Maoists attacked Kanha staff. Both the posts were in the tribal-dominated Mandla district.

The Vistaar Dalam has a presence in Balaghat, the only MP district affected by left-wing extremism, by the Centres reckoning. Both Balaghat and Mandla border Chhattisgarh.

The Maoists wanted to intimidate the guards. This is a familiar, initial strategy. Their goal is to ensure forest guards do not report their presence to seniors, said an intelligence officer who tracks left-wing extremism. The officer did not want to be named.

Another Maoist attack in Kanha occurred on March 2, when a semi-permanent forest post at Lathawar, also in Mandla district, was set on fire.

The Maoist plan to penetrate Kanha is not new. They have been working on this for over a decade, warned the intelligence officer.

In 2006, security forces recovered more than 30 pages of a typed document from the jungles of Chuuikhadan (Rajnandgaon). These listed Maoist plans to build a new corridor in Balaghat, Mandla and Dindori on the Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh (MMC) tri-junction.

This so-called MMC corridor, which includes Kanha, is a new worry for security forces, who believe Maoists are building this to escape the crackdown in Chhattisgarhs Bastar region.

GP Singh, inspector general of police, Durg, Chhattisgarh, said, It is a fact that Maoists are making Kanha National Park a safe haven. The recent attacks in the tiger reserve are examples.

What worries security forces

Chhattisgarh police have intelligence that the Vistaar Dalam has grown from a few members to around 180. Gathering intelligence is a nightmare. Nearly 80% of the park is not explorable and Maoists are banking on this, said a senior police officer. He too did not want to be named.

Gathering intelligence is a nightmare. Nearly 80% of the park is not explorable and Maoists are banking on this.

Referring to the attacks on the forest posts, the officer said, It means they have done their mapping and want to establish a base. Maoists are eyeing Kanha and it will be naive to deny this.

MP police, Kanha officials play down fears

Makrand Deouskar, inspector general of police (intelligence), MP, said the presence of Maoists in Kanha was an important development, but denied the safe haven fears of Chhattisgarh police. No locals have joined the Maoists and they are not getting support from villagers, said Deouskar.

The parks field director, Sanjay Shukla, said, Kanha is not a safe haven for Maoists. They are active mostly in Kawardha and Mungeli (in Chhattisgarh). Teenpani chowki area, where an attack took place on February 12, is also close to Chhattisgarh.

Contrary to police belief that Maoists set the forest post at Lathawar on fire, Shukla said, We think it was handiwork of local villagers.

He said tourism would not be affected in any way. Tourism is confined mostly to western parts of Kanha. There is little tourism in Phen sanctuary or the eastern parts adjoining Chhattisgarh.

Kanha has more than 85 tigers, according to OP Mishra, in-charge of the tourism section in the park. Kanha attracted 140,000 tourists in 2017, he said.

Chhattisgarh too has a national park-tiger reserve adjoining Kanha. Chhattisgarh announced the Bhoramdeo Tiger Reserve in 2017. Tigers have not been spotted in Bhoramdeo, but officials expect the ones in Kanha will, in due course, move in.

Chhattisgarh is in process of displacing 27 villages under the Bhoramdeo reserve limits. Police have information that Maoists are reaching out to people in some of these villages to foment trouble.The Telugu Desam Party (TDP) has re-nominated parliamentarian CM Ramesh for a second term in the Rajya Sabha, while Kanakamedala Ravindra Kumar will be the partys second candidate for the March 23 biennial elections to three seats in Andhra Pradesh.

State chief minister and party president N Chandrababu Naidu finalised the two names at a meeting on Sunday. TDP Andhra Pradesh unit president Kala Venkata Rao said in a brief statement that Naidu held prolonged consultations with party leaders for three days before taking the final decision.

The party was initially planning to field candidates for the three Rajya Sabha seats falling vacant on April 2.

Of the three seats, the TDP with 102 lawmakers in the 175-member assembly can effortlessly win two. The opposition YSR Congress, which has 44 MLAs after the defection of 23 to the TDP, has the strength to win the third seat. All the three contestants are likely to be elected unopposed.

YSR Congress candidate Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy filed his nomination papers three days ago.

According to TDP sources, who dont want to be named, the selection of Kumar  a lawyer and the partys legal cell convenor  has surprised many as he faced stiff competition from leaders such as Varla Ramaiah, Masala Padma and B Ravichandra Yadav.

Also, the sources said Ramesh, a businessman-turned-politician from Kadapa, had to lobby hard to push his name for a re-nomination.

In neighbouring Telangana, the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi has the capability to win all the three Upper House seats in Parliament comfortably, with 90 MLAs, including defectors from other parties.

TRS president and chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, popularly known as KCR, announced on Sunday the names of Joginapalli Santosh Kumar, Badugula Lingaiah Yadav and Banda Prakash Mudiraj as party candidates of the elections.

Kumar is KCRs nephew and is from the Velama community. The other two belong to other backward castes  Yadav is from the Yadava, or shepherd, community and Mudiraj is from the fishermens community.

The All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen or AIMIM, with seven legislators, has extended support to the TRS candidates.

The Congress, which has 13 MLAs in the Telangana assembly, decided to field former Union minister P Balram Naik for the Rajya Sabha.

In both states, the selected candidates of the TDP and the TRS would file their nomination papers on Monday, the last date for the paperwork. Voting will be necessary in Telangana if the Congress does not withdraw its candidate.Odisha police on Sunday arrested three persons on charges of raping and killing a 16-year-old Dalit girl, who was reported missing a month ago.

The decomposed body of the minor girl, who was missing from Sudasailo village under Govindpur police station limits of Cuttack district, was found from a paddy field. The body was buried 4 ft deep pit, said police.

"We found the body after questioning the three accused," said Cuttack (Rural) superintendent of police, Madhab Sahu.

Police said the accused, including a tractor driver, abducted the girl on February 11 and sexually assaulted her. They killed her after she said she would reveal their crime. The girl's father identified her body from the jeans and kurta she was wearing when she went missing," said Sahu. Police sent the body for post-mortem.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its latest figures for the year 2016 put Odisha at number 3 in crimes against women, behind Delhi and Assam in terms of crime rate (number of crimes per 100,000 population). In 2016, 17,837 cases of crimes against women were reported in Odisha.

The state has one of the lowest conviction rates (6 %) in cases of crimes against women, compared to the national average of 19%, according to NCRB data.

The state topped NCRB figures in the section "assault or use of criminal force to women with intent to disrobe under section 354 B of IPC" with 2,117 cases in 2016.Tibetan Prime Minister-in-exile and the Central Tibetan Administration (CTA) president Lobsang Sangay on Saturday urged Chinese President Xi Jinping to resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue.

As President Xi Jinping sets out to begin his second term, I urge him to peacefully resolve the issue of Tibet through dialogue between the envoys of the Dalai Lama and the representatives of the Chinese government, Sangay said in a message on the 59th anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day, observed on March 10 every year, to commemorate the armed rebellion of 1959 against the China by Tibetan people.

A function was organised by the-exile-government to commemorate the Tibetan National Uprising Day. Actor and member of Parliament George Baker was the chief guest on the occasion.

Sangay said, Since the occupation of Tibet, the Chinese government has continually subjected Tibetans to extensive repressive policies.

Quoting watchdog Freedom House reports of 2017 and 2016, he said the reports listed Tibet as the second least free country after Syria and worser than North Korea, South Sudan and Eritrea.

Despite the continued repression, people in Tibet have resisted Chinas discriminatory behaviour with unwavering conviction and peaceful protests in last five decades, Sangay added.

Due to the hardline policies of the Chinese government, as many as 152 Tibetans, including monks, nuns, nomads and farmers, from all the three provinces of Tibet have self-immolated since 2009, latest being three days ago, said Sangay.

Blaming the Chinese government for discriminatory policies with Tibetans, he said, Also de-linking the Dalai Lama from Buddhism in Tibet is another root cause of resistance among Tibetans.

To artificially say that you can practice Buddhism but not follow the Dalai Lama is akin to saying you can be a Catholic but not follow the Pope. This is a fundamental misreading of the very foundation of Tibetan Buddhism and Tibet as a nation, he added.

TYC appeals to boycott Chinese products

SHIMLA The Tibetan Youth Congress (TYC) on Saturday staged a rally in Shimla urging people to boycott China made products. Tibetans have also urged the locals to exhort public representatives to raise issues pertaining to them.

Part of a campaign- Bharat Jagaran Yatra- aimed to raise awareness on Tibets issue and garner support of the Indian people and government leaders to recognise that Tibet was historically an independent country and is currently an occupied nation by the communist government of ChinaThe West Bengal government has decided to launch a Rs 700-crore project to bring 50 lakh women from rural Bengal under the self help group (SHG) model, in a bid to reach out to village women of the state, who form a huge voter base.

According to West Bengal co-operation minister, Arup Roy, around two lakh SHGs are already in operation in the state and around 50 lakh women are already associated with the existing SHGs.

Our target is to bring another 50 lakh rural women under the scheme by helping them to open another two lakh SHGs. This process will be completed during the financial year 2018- 19, Roy said, announcing the project.

The scheme will have three phases. The first phase will be identification of women who are not currently covered under SHG network, and arrange for their training, the cost of which will be borne by the state cooperation department.

The second phase is providing them loans from different cooperative banks and cooperative societies at low rates of interest. The final phase is promoting and marketing the products of these SHGs through outlets and network of different state government departments like agriculture marketing, food & supplies and small & medium industries department, among others.

A senior Trinamool Congress leader, who did not wish to be named, explained the rationale and the shrewd timing of the scheme.

Although the project will start before the three-tier panchayat polls scheduled in June this year, it will not take a full shape before the rural body polls. However, when the scheme will start reaping benefits for the beneficiaries by the end of the current financial year of 2018-19, the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be knocking at the doors, he said.

Interestingly, while addressing the core committee meeting of Trinamool on March 9, state chief minister, Mamata Banerjee had said that her focus now was 2019 Lok Sabha polls, as she had handed over the responsibility of panchayat polls to party leaders.

Banerjee had telephonic conversations with DMK acting president, MK Stalin and Telengana chief minister, K Chandrashekar Rao, and a meeting with NCP leader, Praful Patel at the state secretariat of Nabanna on Friday.

She is also expected to be present at the two-day meeting convened by NCP chief Sharad Pawar at New Delhi on March 17 and March 18, where the possibilities of creation of an united anti-BJP platform is expected to be discussed.

According to West Bengal Swarojgar Corporation Ltd chairman and Trinamool MLA, Pulak Roy, this scheme will be an extension of the chief ministers dream for development of the women of West Bengal and making them self-reliant.

Already her project Kanyashree has received accolades from the global forum. I am sure that this project will be a major milestone in making the rural women of Bengal self-reliant, he said.The ghar wapsi of Lalsot MLA Kirodi Lal Meena is being seen as a booster shot to the ruling BJP in Rajasthan ahead of the assembly elections later this year.

Meena, a five-term MLA and two-time MP, is an influential leader and his community has a significant presence in 28 assembly seats in 11 districts of eastern Rajasthan.

An indication of the importance of the move was an emotional chief minister Vasundhara Raje referring to Meena as brother in her speech to welcome him at the state BJP office on Sunday.

Meena, who had left the BJP in 2008 after differences with Raje, also struck the right note, urging the chief minister to forget the friction between them over the past 10 years and exhorting party workers to put the bypoll defeat behind them and work hard to defeat the Congress in the assembly polls.

State BJP president Ashok Parnami said Meenas entry would strengthen the party even as the Congress downplayed the move. Congress leader Jitender Singh said Meenas performance as NPP (National Peoples Party) president has not been impressive and the community has traditionally supported the Congress. The BJP cadres certainly looked enthused with Meenas entry.

Meena had launched the Rajasthan unit of NPP ahead of the 2013 state elections and his party has four MLAs in the 200-member assembly. The three other MLAs include Meenas wife Golma Devi, who was elected from Rajgarh-Laxmangarh, Geeta Verma (Sikrai), and Naveen Pilania (Amber).

While three NPP MLAs returned to the BJP taking its tally to 162 in the assembly, the return of Pilania is uncertain. Pilania has said he will take feedback from people before taking a final decision.

Talk of Meena returning to the BJP gained ground after the results of Meghalaya assembly elections were declared earlier this month. The NPP formed the government in the northeast state with BJPs support.

Sources said Meena met union home minister Rajnath Singh recently and attended a rally of Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during by-elections in that state last month.

However, Meenas record in winning elections after he left the BJP is patchy. In 2013 elections, he had claimed the NPP would bag at least 30 seats but the party managed to win four. He contested from two constituencies  Sawai Mahdopur where he lost to erstwhile Jaipur royal Diya Kumari of BJP, and Lalsot that he won by a slender margin of 491 votes.

Ever since Sachin Pilot, a Gujjar, took over the Congress leadership in the state, he has been seen warming up to the Meenas. Raje-led BJP has tried to counter this by making overtures to Meenas while at the same time trying to keep the Gujjars in good humour.Terming the 10 years that he remained away from BJP as his vanvas (exile), National Peoples Party state chief and MLA Kirori Lal Meena, who returned to the saffron party Sunday said it was an unconditional ghar wapasi (homecoming) for him. Meena said even in vanvas, his ideology remained in sync with the BJP.

Hours later, BJP announced his name along with Madanlal Saini and Bhupendra Yadav as its three candidates in Rajasthan for the elections to the Rajya Sabha. The announcement comes a day ahead of the last day for filing nominations and hours after Meena, a five-term legislator, emphatically claimed that he wanted to work in the state.

Meena along with wife and Rajgarh-Laxmangarh MLAs Golma Devi, and Sikrai (Dausa) MLA Geeta Verma, joined the ruling party at BJP headquarters in presence of chief minister Vasundhra Raje. A large number of NPP workers also joined BJP. However, a fourth NPP MLA, Navin Pilania, did not join the BJP and kept away from the development.

I want to work in Rajasthan. I or my supporters are not hankering for any post in the organization or in the government, Meena said addressing the media. Meena also claimed that he was not interested in being sent to the Parliament and in a lighter vein, appealed to Raje and state BJP chief Ashok Parnami to not separate me and my wife Golma, as even if he was sent to the Rajya Sabha, he would not be spending much time in Delhi.

There was some misunderstanding 10 years ago... It is as if my vanvas (exile) has come to an end today. I am like a bird that ventures out to sea but returns to the ship. I am very happy to return to my old home unconditionally, said Meena.

Meena said that he would tour the state, meet party workers, and stop the Congress from coming to power. After winning the bypolls, Congress has started dreaming about forming government in Rajasthan and has even started distributing portfolios. I will ensure that this dream never comes true.

Hitting out at the Congress, he claimed that former chief minister Ashok Gehlot had targeted him during an agitation in Udaipur. Meena said that he has led 380 agitations in the state and 103 politically motivated cases were registered against him.

Meena also recalled his journey as a RSS worker how former Rajasthan chief minister Bhairon Singh Shekhawat had convinced him to contest Assembly elections in 1980. My background is of RSS ideology. After having worked for the RSS, I joined the BJP and never looked back, Meena said.

Welcoming Meena into the party fold, Raje said her brother has returned home

We had parted ways due to some reasons but now you have returned and together we will ensure partys win in the coming elections, she said.

Golma Devi and Geeta Devi, in their address, exhorted the party workers to work hard and ensure BJPs success in the elections.

Parnami, meanwhile, read out the letter written by Meena in which he had proposed the merger of NPP with BJP.

Earlier, Meena was welcomed to the party office amid slogans of Rajasthan ka ek hi lal, Kirodi Lal, Kirodi Lal.Peoples representatives have criticised removal of around 18,000 sanitation workers from gram panchayats in Rajasthan, saying the move will affect cleanliness drives in rural areas.

The state government had deployed two sanitation workers at each gram panchayat, and they were paid wages from the funds received under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS). In 2016, chief minister Vasundhara Raje announced Mukhyamantri Swachh Gram Yojna (MSGY) to ensure cleanliness in villages with NREGS fund support.

Sanitation workers were removed from panchayats after the Centre asked the state government last month to stop using job scheme funds for village cleanliness.

Withdrawal of sanitation workers from gram panchayats is a big jolt to the Prime Ministers dream project Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), said Bhawani Singh Rajawat, BJP MLA from Ladpura in Kota district.

I have raised the issue in the state assembly. Municipal bodies have sanitation resources and staff in urban areas. The decision to deploy sanitation workers at gram panchayats was good; their removal is not justified, Rajawat said. Rural areas either do not have drains, or if they have drains, there is no dedicated staff for sanitation.

Kota District Sarpanch Association president said, The state government should reinstate sanitation workers at gram panchayat level to ensure cleanliness in rural areas.

Responding to Rajawats question in the assembly on removal of sanitation workers, state panchayat raj minister Rajendra Singh Rathore had said, The government had kept two sanitation staff for every 150 houses at a gram panchayat. Around 18,000 sanitation workers were removed after the union governments objection (to wage payment from NREGS funds.

Rathore said the chief minister and the panchayat raj ministry would soon write to the Centre seeking permission to reappoint sanitation workers in rural areas.

On February 20, the SBM director in the state asked district authorities to stop providing manpower to the CMs cleanliness scheme through NREGS funds. The CMs scheme aimed at making villages clean and creating awareness about cleanliness among rural people, besides encouraging them to recycle biodegradable waste.Bharatpur police arrested two men on Sunday on charges of smuggling cows to Haryana allegedly for slaughter. Four cows were recovered from their possession. The two opened fire at the police team when intercepted, police said.

After a tip-off, police raided the hills between Taira and Takora villages under Kaman police station and intercepted the two trying to cross over to Haryana. They opened fire at our team, but luckily no one was hurt, said Kaman police station SHO Neki Ram.

Police recovered two country-made weapons with four live cartridges from their possession. They were taking the cows from Hathiya village of Mathura, Uttar Pradesh to Jakhokar, Haryana, through Kaman, Bharatpur, for slaughter, the police officer said.

The two have been identified as Sajid Mev and Manoj Mev of Hathiya village. Police said they are inter-state cattle smugglers. They were arrested under various sections of the Rajasthan Bovine Animal (Prohibition of Slaughter and Regulation Temporary Migration or Export) Act, 1995.

The rescued cows were shifted to Kalavata cow shelter in Kaman.

As per police data, due to its proximity to Haryana and easy access to villages on the other side of the state border, Bharatpur villages prove an easy conduit for bovine smuggling. Different police stations of the district have registered 65 cases each in 2015 and 2016 and 27 cases in 2017 (until May) under the bovine act.

An average of seven cases of cow smuggling were registered every month this year in Alwar, and five in Bharatpur. Rajasthan registered 389 cases in 2017. One third of these were registered in Alwar and Bharatpur, making the two districts the hub of illegal trade. Police filed charge sheets in 90% of the cases. The remaining cases have either been dropped or are still being investigated.

In September 2017, Rajasthan government appointed additional director general of police (crime) Pankaj Kumar Singh as the nodal officer to curb cow vigilantism. Additional superintendents of police in Alwar and Bharatpur were made the district nodal officers. The appointments followed direction by the Supreme Court on preventing cow vigilantism.

The state government set up 39 police outposts in October 2014 to prevent cattle smuggling, six each in Alwar and Bharatpur.Every foodie loves tacos and enchiladas. But what about lesser-known Mexican classics like cochinita pibil, the impossibly flavourful, slow-roasted pork dish from the Yucatan peninsula? Or escamoles, the ant larvae from central Mexico known as insect caviar? Or empanadas de mole, pastries filled with the savoury chocolate sauce of the Oaxaca region?

Mexico has always been a major player on the world food scene. But increasingly, top chefs are embracing and promoting the countrys richly varied regional cuisine, driving the Mexican gastronomic experience to a whole new level. One of the poster boys for the trend is Alejandro Ruiz, whose Mexico City restaurant Guzina Oaxaca drew a rave review in The New York Times with its chic interpretations of traditional classics.

Ruiz comes from the village of La Raya in the southern state of Oaxaca, where he grew up grinding corn and cooking for his family to help his mother, who worked full-time washing clothes. His restaurant, which opened in 2014, is a celebration of his home state, a mountainous region known for its huge diversity of ingredients and deep culinary traditions. Where I come from, the kitchen is the most important part of the home, said Ruiz.

What I do (in the kitchen) is who I am, its where I was born, its my mothers milk. Its in my DNA. Whats my identity? Oaxaca.

Empanadas is a traditional dish from Mexico. (Shutterstock)

Whole other level of flavour

Oaxaca isnt the only region whose traditional cuisine has been elevated to new levels of chic. Mexico stretches from the deserts of the northern border to the tropical forests of the south, with long Caribbean and Pacific coastlines in between, giving it immense biodiversity and a sprawling palette of ingredients.

Its flavours are also shaped by its complex history, blending influences from its many indigenous groups, the Spanish conquistadors, European elites, slaves from Africa, immigrants from all over and the ever-present United States. Laura Siciliano-Rosen, co-founder of the food blog Eat Your World, loses count listing her culinary adventures in Mexicos myriad regions and sub-regions.

Dining in Mexico, she says, one minute you can be eating sinfully delicious tacos. Then, a few hours by bus  or a few Mexico City blocks or market stands away  suddenly youre eating turkey and hardboiled eggs and these really rich pastes, recados from the Yucatan peninsula, which is just a whole other level of flavour that only exists there.

Mexican foods strength is its regionality she says  something that is only just starting to be exported abroad. The more people are learning about the regionality of the cuisine and how distinct and complex it is, the more theyre blown away, like Wow, this is real Mexican food, she says.

Escamole is a dish made from the ant larvae from central Mexico. (Shutterstock)

Peruvian fusion, Mexican diversity

William Drew, of the prestigious Worlds 50 Best Restaurants list, says this is exactly what has propelled Mexican restaurants onto the closely watched ranking. The diversity is extraordinary, he says. If you think you know what Mexican cuisine is, then you probably havent experienced enough of it.

Mexico has two restaurants in the current top 50, which remains dominated by Europe: Enrique Olveras Pujol and Jorge Vallejos Quintonil, both in Mexico City. But Mexicos top chefs are nervously eying their colleagues to south, in Peru  whose fusion-fueled cuisine makes it a rival contender for the title of Latin Americas hottest food destination.

Perus mix of Andean, European and Asian influences  symbolised in recipes like ceviche, a refreshing dish of raw fish marinated in lime  has made its cuisine all the rage. In fact, Peru has two spots on Restaurants current top 10: Virgilio Martinezs Central at number five, and Mitsuharu Tsumuras Maido at number eight. The top Mexican restaurant, Pujol, comes in at 20.

Street food

That is making some people in Mexico nervous. Mauricio Avila works at the Mexican culture ministry, and his job is to compile and preserve Mexicos gastronomic heritage. Mexicans love food, and were proud of our food, but we dont advertise it. Weve always believed it wasnt fancy enough for foreigners, he says. His office is actively encouraging the trend of celebrating Mexicos traditional regional cuisines.

The government has released a 78-volume collection on Indigenous and Popular Cuisine  each dedicated to a place, an ingredient or an ethnic group. It is also working on an index of ingredients. Sasha Correa, a Venezuelan gastronomy expert at Spains renowned Basque Culinary Center, says Mexico has an allure all its own.

In a short time, Mexico has not only joined the phenomenon (of high-end dining in Latin America), it has done it with force, personality and a lot of distinctive elements, she says. And pity the misguided foodie who travels to Mexico City and only eats in trendy restaurants, when it is bursting with amazing food at nearly every street corner. An ideal trip to Mexico City is doing a mix of the two, says blogger Siciliano-Rosen.

But if you cant do the high-end, just do the low-end 100%, because theres so much variety, its so accessible, and you can try anything and its all going to be good.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreA 20-year-old college student was stabbed in the stomach on Saturday by another youth in Andheri (East) after a fight allegedly over a girl.

The Andheri police said the victim, Deepan Baruah, is out of danger and they have arrested two of the five accused under section 307 of the IPC. They detained the other three till Sunday night.

According to the Andheri police, the incident took place at around 9am outside a building in JB Nagar, near Jyoti Hotel. Baruah is a resident of Marol in Andheri (East) and studies in a college. Baruah and one of the five accused were in love with the same girl. They had fought over her in November last year but back then the issue had been settled, said an officer from the Andheri police station.

Baruah and the girl are in the same college. The two had decided to meet in JB Nagar on Saturday. The accused reached there and a heated argument took place between them over the girl.

Baruah was also there with a group of friends. The fight escalated and one of the accused stabbed Baruah with a knife in the stomach. Baruah was rushed to a nearby hospital.

The police said the other three will be arrested if their involvement in the crime is ascertained.A month after a 31-year-old fishermans body was found near the INS Kunjali coast area, the police handed over the body to his family.

Ganesh Ramdas Patils body was traced down by the Cuffe Parade police on January 26. They carried out a spot investigation and registered an accidental death case. They started searching for missing complaints across the city, mostly coastal police stations . Meanwhile, the body was sent to GT hospital in south Mumbai and kept in the mortuary.

During investigation it was found that a missing complaint had been reported on January 21 at Versova police station. The man was identified as Ganesh Ramdas Patil, who resided with his family in Versova.

When the family was contacted, they were not able to identify the body as it had been decomposed, after which, the police carried out a DNA test and after confirmation handed over the body to the family.

We contacted the family members and asked them to visit the hospital. But as the body had been decomposed, they were not able to identify it. However, the victims brother doubted that the t-shirt on the body looked similar, but he wasnt sure and neither could he confirm, said an official. The Cuffe Parade police then carried out the DNA test after taking a sample of the deceaseds mother Kusum Ramdas Patil.

We received the DNA report which confirmed the match. However, we handed over the body to the deceaseds brother, Madhukar Ramdas Patil last week, said Rashmi Jadhav, SPI, Cuffe Parade police station.

Mahesh Dolake, assistant police inspector, Cuffe parade police station was investigating the matter and said that on January 20, a day prior, Patil and few others went fishing.

The people with him had come back and informed the family about his drowning.A group of 50 residents took to the streets and staged a Rasta Roko after the Adharwadi dumping yard caught fire again on Sunday evening.

The protest disrupted traffic around 8pm at Lal chowky in Kalyan (West). Residents demanded relief from the smoke covering the entire area near the dump yard.

The civic body has failed to look after our health, said Sushant Rane, 30, a resident of Wadeghar, Kalyan (West).

Adharwadi dumping ground in Kalyan again caught fire on Sunday evening, after fire officials had managed to douse Saturday nights fire.

The dump yard caught fire in the evening due to strong winds, said a fire officer of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC).

This is the third time that the dump yard has caught fire this week. After the fire broke out for the first time on Tuesday, the civic body had asked the fire department to keep a watch at the dump yard and take necessary measures in case of untoward incidents.Throughout the day, on Sunday, thick smoke filled the air and spread 2 to 3kms away from the dumping yard.

Fire broke out several times throughout the day. But we managed to control it. Our team has been continuously watering the dump yard to control the heat, said Sudhakar Kulkarni, fire officer, KDMC.

The 6 acre dump yard used by the civic body to dump around 650 metric tonnes of waste caught fire on Saturday evening, which led to thick smoke in the air, throughout the night.

Though fire officials suspect that the cause of the fire is due to the heat in the atmosphere, the civic body chief P Velarasu has asked the fire department to conduct a detailed study.Over 35,000 farmers from across Maharashtra, who embarked on a Long March from Nashik on March 6 to press for their various demands, arrived in Mumbai on Sunday.

Apart from Opposition parties, the Shiv Sena, a partner in the ruling BJP-led coalition, too has vocally supported the agitation.

The farmers, led by Left-affiliated All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), are demanding, among other things, proper implementation of the Maharashtra governments loan waiver scheme.

The protesters have covered around 180km on foot in six days.

The protesters will halt at the Somaiya ground in suburban Chunabhatti tonight, and set out for the Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai, where the Budget session is underway, on Monday, said leaders of the agitation.

We will gherao (lay siege to) the Vidhan Bhavan tomorrow (Monday) to demand a complete loan waiver, fair price for farm produce, implementation of the Swaminathan Commissions recommendations, and compensation for hailstorm-affected farmers among other things, Kisan Gujar, president of the state council of AIKS, said.

Read more | March to Mumbai: Maharashtra farmers brave injuries, heat for kids as Sena, MNS back them

Today, our number is over 35,000. Over 20,000 farmers from other parts of the state will join us tomorrow, he said, adding the farmers were also protesting against land acquisition for projects such as high-speed railway and super-highways.

Though we have been approached by the government officials advising us not to stay near the Vidhan Bhavan for long, everything will depend on how the government deals with our demands, Gujar said.

Senior BJP leader and finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar said chief minister Devendra Fadnavis will meet the protesters delegation, and blamed the apathetic approach of past governments for the farmers woes.

Our government is committed to address all the grievances of farmers, which have accumulated due to the apathetic approach in the last several years...We are very sensitive towards farmers and two ministers (tribal development minister Vishnu Savara and Nashiks guardian minister Girish Mahajan) have already been asked to look into their demands, Mungantiwar told PTI.

Ajit Nawale of the AIKS, however, dismissed the overture. The days of living on assurances have passed. Unless the government gives us something concrete, commits itself in writing, we will march towards the Vidhan Bhavan tomorrow, he said.

Senior Shiv Sena leder and cabinet minister Eknath Shinde and Yuva Sena (Shiv Senas youth wing) chief Aditya Thackeray also greeted the protesters.

Thackeray said the Shiv Sena stood shoulder to shoulder with farmers in their struggle.

It was wrong to say that farmers were demanding loan waiver, as they are not criminals that they should need a waiver, Aditya said, adding farmers are fighting for freedom from debt.

Opposition Congress, NCP, Raj Thackeray-led Maharashtra Navnirman Sena and AAP, also extended their support.The recently released Economic Survey of Maharashtra 2017-18 has revealed that the number of students at primary schools in the state has been declining for the last three years.

The survey reveals that the number of children attending Class 1 to 8 had fallen from 16.17 million in the academic year 2014-15 to 15.91 million in 2017-18  a drop of 1.6%. The enrolment at secondary and higher secondary level (Class 9 to 12) went up by 7.6%, from 6.18 million to 6.64 million over the same period.

Experts have not been able to identify the exact reasons behind the drop in the number of children in primary school; they have implied that the fall in the number of children in primary schools could be because of rising dropout rates and a dip in fertility rates. Though India is ensuring that a larger proportion of children remain in school, dropout rates are still a concern. A study titled School Dropouts: Examining the space of reasons authored by Arun NR Kishore and KS Shaji, published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine, says that in 1993, 27 million children were enrolled in Class I in schools across the country. In 2003, only 10 m of these children (one in three) reached Class 10.

Two separate sets of data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) can explain the fall in the number of children in primary schools. The NFHS 4 for 2015-16, released last year, says that the number of children below 15 years, as a percentage of the total population of Maharashtra, fell to 24.5% in 2015-16 compared to 30.6% in 2005-2006 when NFHS 3 was compiled. Similarly, the fertility rate  the number of children born to a woman  has declined from 2.1 to 1.9 between the periods of the two surveys.

During this period, the states population has grown, though moderately, and NHFS data does not indicate whether this fall in proportion of under-15 in the states population has also resulted in a decline in absolute numbers. But data from the national population census reveal that the absolute number of children are also declining. The states child population (in this case, children up to six years) was 13.32 million in 2011  a decline of around 345,000 from the earlier population count in 2001. As a percentage of the total population, the proportion of children up to six years has dropped from 17.1% in 1991 to 14.1% in 2001, falling further to 11.9% in 2011. The proportion could be below 10% now if the trend has continued.

All these data suggest that women in Maharashtra are having fewer children, resulting in the drop in the number of students in primary schools. Data on school enrolment also suggest that the decline in number of students in primary schools could be because of a drop in the absolute numbers for that age group. A study of over 100,000 households, conducted last year by the Maharashtra government, found that 99.3 per cent children in age group 6-14 years were attending school.

The changes in Maharashtras child demographics follow trends in other parts of the country. The NFHS shows that in Kerala, the proportion of children below 15 years fell from 24.4% of the population in 2005-06 to 20.2% in 2015-16. Even in Bihar, where fertility rates are still high  though it fell from 4 in 2005-2006 to 3.4 in 2015-16, the proportion of under-15 fell from 43.8% to 39.3 during the same period.

Education experts have said that when there is a drop in the number of students in schools because of demographic changes, there is an opportunity to improve facilities in schools as the per-capita spend (money spent on each child) on education goes up, with opportunities to pursue a lower student-teacher ratio and better infrastructure.

Of course, teaching and learning standards, especially in schools run by the state government and municipal corporations, continue to be abysmal. The Annual Status of Education (ASER) survey showed that only 27% of students in Class 8 can read Class 2-level texts and 31% of Class 8 students can do the simple mathematical exercise of dividing numbers.Bypolls in three constituenciesAraria Lok Sabha seat and Bhabua and Jehanabad assembly seatspassed off peacefully in Bihar on Sunday, with 54% of the electorate exercising their franchise although polling was marred by malfunctioning of electronic voting machines (EVMs) in Bhabua and boycott at a few booths.

The bypolls that were necessitated owing to demise of the lawmakers witnessed 57% voting in Araria, 54.3% in Bhabua and 50.6% in Jehanabad.

The bypolls will decide the fate of 38 candidates who were in the fray. But in all the constituencies, the nominees of RJD-Congress alliance and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) are the major contenders.

Pradip Singh (BJP) and Sarfaraz Alam (RJD) are the main contenders from Araria while Rinki Rani Pandey (BJP) and Shambhu Singh Patel (Congress) are the top two candidates in Bhabua. Abhiram Sharma (JDU) and Krishna Mohan alias Suday Yadav (RJD) are the lead contenders in Jehanabad.

The by-elections in Bihar assume considerable significance mainly because they have been held for the first time under the new political set up that saw Nitish Kumar-led JD (U) parting ways with the RJD-Congress alliance and joining hands with the BJP once again.

In a high-voltage drama in July last year, Kumar stepped down as Grand Alliance (GA) chief minister only to be sworn in again as the NDA leader with the BJPs support.

Chief election officer, Bihar, Ajay Nayak said the bypolls passed off peacefully with no reports of violence from any part of the three constituencies. There were reports of delays in voting at some booths. Decision for re-poll will be taken after analysing the reports of election officers in the field, he said.

Reports said the Bhabua district administration recommended re-polling on 24 booths where voting could not commence within two hours of the schedule due to faulty EVMs. Voters in villages like Kohari, Hariharpur, Manihari and Tiloi as well as Bhabua Town could not cast their votes as EVMs were not operational.

A few incidents of poll boycotts were also reported. Reports said that voters of Jokikat area of Araria refused to cast their votes at booth number 181 and 182 in protest against the governments apathy to building roads to their village. Natives of Miria village of Bhabua and Akhtiyarpur of Jehanabad also boycotted the bypoll to vent their anger over absence of roads to villages.

An incident of criminals firing in the air was reported from Shakurabad area of Jehanabad. The police later said firing had nothing to do with the election, as it happened in a village of the bordering Arwal district, which was a few hundred metres away from a polling booth in Jehanabad.A local court on Saturday sentenced a man to 10-year jail in a culpable homicide case. The convict, 23-year-old Raj Kumar alias Babadin of Colony Number 4, had stabbed an 18-year-old woman for refusing to serve him water in September 2016. The court also imposed a fine of 1,500 on Kumar.

The matter dates back to September 15, 2016, when the victim, Gulafsa, was sitting outside her house about 10.30pm. Kumar, her neighbour, came and asked for water and she obliged. However, Kumar started to ask for water repeatedly and she refused, following which he started abusing her, grabbed her hair, dragged her and slapped her.

Kumar then stabbed her in the abdomen with a knife. Gulafsas mother tried to rescued her, but was also attacked. A woman neighbour, who tried to intervene, was also thrashed by the convict. The commotion woke up Gulafsas brother, who tried to chase Kumar, but he escaped.

The police took the injured to a hospital and registered a case against Kumar under Sections 304(2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 323 (punishment for voluntary causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 506 (punishment for criminal intimidation), 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to disrobe woman) and 354B (assault or criminal force with intent to disrobe woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

However, three days later on September 18, Gulafsa had died of stab injuries and Section 302 (murder) of the IPC was added to the FIR.

Kumars advocate told the court that when Gulafsa was attacked, she had only one stab wound and went back home a day after she was admitted to the hospital. The advocate said she had returned to the hospital on September 18 with four such wounds. This led to a doubt and hence, Kumar was not found guilty of murder.

After the incident in September 2016, Raj Kumar and his accomplice Ajay were arrested. As per the defence counsel, Ajay was falsely implicated as his name was not in the FIR. Ajay was, thus, acquitted by the court for want of evidence. Kumar, however, got 10-year jail for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.A year and half after the Chandigarh district court officially designated an additional district and session judges court as a family court, the move has garnered positive outcome, preventing prolonged litigation.

Out of 187 matters, 181 cases of couples seeking divorce/separation were settled at the preliminary level in 2017. Six more such cases have been settled in the first two months of 2018.

Even though the womens cell of Chandigarh police is supposed to motivate couples in matrimonial dispute cases through counselling, such cases have been growing over the years. The matters that arent resolved at this level reach the family court.

As per Section 9 of The Family Courts Act, 1984, it is the duty of the court to make efforts for settlement. Referring to the provision of the Act, a separate room next to the court was made last year.

District attorney Manu Kakkar said, We make every endeavour at the stage of anticipatory bail application to unite the couples involved in matrimonial disputes.

Kakkar said that one such dispute leads to multifarious litigations which adds up to more cases to be adjudicated in different courts.

Matters resolved

One such matter dates back to September 29, 2017,wherein a complaint of mental and physical harassment and demand of dowry was filed by a 28-year-old woman against her husband, who was a pilot, at the Chandigarh court.

The couple had met during a training when both of them were working with the same airline in 2007.They got married in January 2013. It was alleged that the womans in-laws were not satisfied with the dowry. The matter was resolved through a compromise. However, later due to some altercation, the matter was amicably settled in November 2017.

In another matrimonial dispute case involving a woman inspector,30, and her 33-year-old husband who was working as a government official in the UT food and supply department, the matter was settled at a preliminary level.The couple, who got married in March 2013, was handicapped. The matter was settled in February 2018, after the womans in-laws agreed to pay 1 lakh to settle the matter within a month of the case coming up in the court.

Similarly, a 27-year-old computer engineer from Chandigarh got married to an IT engineer,29, who was working in Singapore. The couple who had got married in July 2016 filed for a divorce petition. The matter was settled in December 2017.

Vipan Negi, a lawyer who specializes in matrimonial disputes, said, The family court resolves disputes amicably. Many a times, the judicial officer even counsels the couple involved.

Separate entity

The family court was given a separate entity in September 2016 in the court of justice Ashwani Kumar, civil judge, after which it was shifted to the court of justice Neerja Kalson, additional district and sessions judge, in October 2016.A couple of months after Kalsons transfer, additional district and sessions judge Aradhna Sawhney was given the charge.So moving was the thank you note from a 10-year-old Chandigarh boy that Supreme Court made his handwritten postcard a part of its order on his parents divorce.

God always has something for you: A KEY for every problem, A LIGHT for every shadow, A RELIEF for every sorrow and A PLAN for every tomorrow, said the boys note.

The child, present in court during the hearing on March 5, was thankful to the court after the long-drawn divorce battle between his parents, who are both from the legal fraternity, came to an end, seven years after it began in 2011.

Granting divorce to the couple through mutual consent, the court ruled that they need not wait for another six months, and that it was convinced that the couple had taken a conscious decision, uninfluenced by any extraneous factors. The court also directed them not to file fresh cases on dispute without its permission.

The couple had 23 civil and criminal cases going on in Punjab and Haryana high court and various other district courts, including some in Chandigarh. Married in 1997, the couple also has a daughter.

This is a rich encomium paid to the court by the son of the appellant and respondent. The little one present in court today is exuberantly happy and sought liberty to present a handmade card expressing his joy on the settlement of all disputes and litigations between his mother and father, justice Kurian Joseph said in his order while referring to the childs note.

What has been closed is not simply 23 cases; in the background of both the parties, they would have easily gone for many more litigations in the coming years, justice Joseph observed, reminding courts that they should make an endeavour and persuade the parties in arriving at a settlement.The family of the 28-year-old man from Kotkapura, who was killed after being hit by a Range Rover in Sector 49 on Thursday night, have raised questions over the police releasing the accused on bail.

We had not even arrived in Chandigarh to collect the body on Friday, but the SUVs driver had already been released on bail, complained Ashok Kumar, a relative of the victim, Aman Raswanta.

Also read | Killed in race between SUVs in Chandigarh: Aman aspired to settle abroad, was waiting for visa

Accused Chamkaur Singh Virk, 29, was arrested on Friday afternoon on the charges of Sections 279 (rash and negligent driving), 304 (A) (causing death by negligence) and 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.

But was bailed out hours after his arrest, even as the complainant had specifically detailed him escaping with his friends after the accident.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Jaswinder Singh said investigation was underway. Stringent sections of the IPC will be added if required, he added.Popular Telugu actor Vishnu Manchu, last seen on screen in Gayatri, has donned the directorial hat for the first time in his career for an ad film Ministry of Water Resources. The commercial production is in response to veteran actor Mohan Babu, Vishnus father, agreeing to do a TVC to promote and support the ministrys water resources development and rejuvenation publicity campaign. Shot in Ramoji Film city. The film is ready and will be released to public in a weeks time.

Speaking about the new role, Vishnu said in a statement: The 1 minute TVC will highlight the importance of river conservation and rejuvenation that is so vital for our existence. It is a far-reaching initiative and I am glad to be part of this Government of India initiative to publicize the importance to deal with rapidly building water crisis at both the global and human scale. Elated by the opportunity to direct a socially relevant, he said the television commercial provides lots of resources and ways for one to become involved to protect our rivers and rejuvenate them.

On the career front, he awaits the release of two Telugu projects -- Achari America Yatra and Voter, which will also be released in Tamil as Kural 388.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

ott:10:ht-entertainment_listing-desktopPeople who visit Kerala usually hit the beaches or head for the hill stations, they are not much aware of the rich heritage of the port towns, a government official of the southern state has said. The state is now focusing on the development of its heritage sites in Malabar region as tourist hotspots, Jafar Malik, the additional director general of Kerala Tourism Department, explained.

The port of Muziris and the historic towns of Kodungallur, Pattanam and Paravur were once the trade hubs for businessmen arriving from Rome and Greece and other parts of the globe, the official said. The remnants of the port and the historic towns in North Kerala have been excavated and restored to a large extent as tourist spots, Malik, who was recently here to promote tourism in his state, said. Kerala wants to increase its domestic tourist footfall by 50 per cent in five years - from 1.31 crore in 2016 to 2.5 crore, the official said. Of the 1.31 crore domestic tourists, 1.31 lakh was from Bengal alone, he said.

We have seen a rise in number of tourists arriving from Bengal in the past few years. The number has drastically increased from 35,000 even a few years ago to 1.3 lakh in 2016, Malik said, adding that Kerala has set a target of 2.5 lakh tourist footfall from this state in the next five years. The international tourist arrival in Kerala stood at over 10 lakh in 2016 and its tourism department wants the numbers to increase by 100 per cent by 2022, he said. The development of the new tourist sites will draw more people to the state, he asserted.

The port city that once figured in the spice route of merchants and traders from Persia, Greece and Rome is just over an hours drive from Kochi in central Kerala, the official said. The Muziris heritage site is spread over a large stretch, encompassing parts of Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. People from different parts of the country and abroad will be able to soak in the rich culture of the region, Malik added.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreTravelling to different places shapes a childs mind and outlook as much as it does for an adult. Travelling helps children grow more confident and explore the world outside of their local culture.

School summer break is not far away and now is the perfect time to plan a family vacation in advance. Here are some of the most wonderful spots across India where you could go hiking with your kids.

Tadiandamol, Coorg

Tadiandamol is the highest peak in the Coorg district of the state of Karnataka, with an elevation of 5740 feet. The enchanting trail leads through the lush grasslands and streams of the vast Shola forests.

It is considered a day hike, making it a moderate one, which makes it apt for children of all ages.

Chopta-Chandrashila, Uttarakhand

The Chandrashila trek from Chopta is a comparatively easy one, making it ideal for beginners and families looking to enjoy the stunning sight of the thick green forests, framed by the majesty and grandeur of the Himalayan peaks in the distance.

A family of average fitness that loves nature would find this an enchanting experience, with wonderful bird spotting and picnic spots around.

Spotted deer in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park in Mumbai. (Shutterstock)

Valley of Flowers, Uttarakhand

Situated in the Western Himalayas 300 km north of Rishikesh, near the Badrinath temple, this trekking route lies in a splendid national park. The valley is covered in a thick blanket of snow in winter, but the melting waters and warmer weather of August bring the valley into bloom.

Vibrant alpine flowers in a variety of shade create a blanket of beauty that is an absolute treat for the eyes and for some stunning pictures. The pristine beauty is bound to make a strong impression on your children.

Chembra Peak, Kerala

Situated 290km from Bangalore, the Chembra Peak trekking trail takes four hours to complete and covers the beautiful green misty hills around the Wayanad range and passes through its highest summit.

Beginning from the edge of a beautiful tea estate, the bright green cultivated slopes of the trek will be interspersed with the rough and dense forests, as well as clouds engulfing the peaks and making the entire experience magical for you and your family.

Sanjay Gandhi National Park, Mumbai

People living in the concrete urban sprawl of Mumbai are blessed to have the natural jungle of Sanjay Gandhi National Park as a haven  a biological treasure in the citys backyard.

There are several guided nature walks with experienced naturalists that will definitely bring great insights into the natural world and the life that inhabits it, opening your familys eyes to their untrammeled beauty.

The park is blessed with multiple hiking paths and trails  the Shilonda Trail, the Malad Trail line, the Kanhery Trail, the Bamboo Hut trail, Highest Point Trail, Kashmiria Trek, and the Nagla-Block Trail  each with its own unique sights to experience.

 Curated by Jayanth Sharma, co-founder and CEO, Toehold - a one-stop shop for travel and photography enthusiasts.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for moreAn entrepreneur has created SuperShe Island, a private retreat off the coast of Finland where no men are allowed, the CNN has reported. The female-only island of mythical Themyscira-like destination, which opens for business in July, aims to provide women space away from societys pressures and embrace an all-female energy, the CNN quoted entrepreneur Kristina Roth as saying. Were the average of the five people we surround ourselves with, Roth said. My philosophy is if you surround yourself with amazing women, and if you can bring together amazing women globally then youre going to be the average of that group.

The island, which can house 10 people in four luxurious cabins, offers wellness activities and opportunities for bonding. The founder of SuperShe -- a lifestyle blog and networking group that encourages women to connect with, befriend and encourage other women -- took inspiration from her own life for the resort. I really lived in, worked, lived, breathed in a man-dominated world, explained the former CEO of a consultancy business. When I really started to travel more the last couple of years... I just met a lot of amazing women around the world.

Roth bought the island -- somewhat ironically -- after her boyfriend introduced her to the beauty of Finlands landscape. I fell in love with this area of the Finnish archipelago. My Finnish boyfriend introduced me to the archipelago and after Id bought the island, we started renovating it. Women cannot automatically book a place on a SuperShe retreat as Roth, who picks the visitors herself, looks into many things before they can take pleasure in the landscapes of the island. The number one thing thats important to me is that you have an amazing personality -- like upbeat, cool personality -- because youre on [an] island, Roth said. Thats whats going to make it fun and exciting for everyone.

Not everyone is on board with Roths plans, with some women branding the idea elitist on social media -- a claim Roth rejects. The retreat being a female-only space doesnt make it inherently feminist, critic Ruth Pearson, 24, told CNN Travel. It is a space created by a rich, white woman for other women like her. Pearson is concerned by the vetting process and the price tag, which is likely to be pricey. These factors will disproportionately affect people of colour, with disabilities, trans women and those who are gender non-conforming, meaning this island is only for one very narrow type of woman, Pearson said.

Roth, however, disagreed and said SuperShe welcomed all women, including those from the LGBT community. According to Roth, the island is a zone without sexual tension, meaning you just come and you just want to chill. The Finnish archipelago is known for its evergreen trees and their healing properties, rocky coast, warm sea water in the summer and beautiful sunrises. I love the Caribbean and I love Hawaii, but I was personally very surprised by how at home I felt here and how beautiful it was, she said. Seeing how much positive feedback I received through the island, and its not even open yet, Im very excited to take this global, she said. I know that Im on the right track, that I really am craving something thats needed and wanted.

Follow @htlifeandstyle for morePresident Xi Jinping can now continue after his tenure ends in 2023 as China on Sunday amended its constitution to remove the two-term limit, amid fears among experts both in China and abroad that he is building a cult of power and personality around himself.

The move effectively means that Xi could remain president for life.

Nearly 3,000 legislators or deputies of the National Peoples Congress (NPC), Chinas rubber-stamp parliament, voted to amend the constitution. At the same session, the NPC also granted the Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era constitutional authority in a landmark amendment.

China has had a two-term limit for presidents since 1982. On Sunday, that limit was officially scrapped at a session of Chinas legislature at the Great Hall of the People. As many as 2,958 deputies voted in favour of changing the constitution; two voted against it and three abstained.

The decision to amend the constitution was a foregone conclusion after it was made public a week before the annual session of the NPC that started on March 5. A report in the official Xinhua news agency made it public on February 25.

Since he took over as Communist Party of China (CPC) general secretary and then as president in 2013, the 64-year-old former governor of Fujian province has gradually consolidated power, taking control of Chinas key institutions. He is the chairperson of the powerful Central Military Commission and was designated the core of the party in 2016.

Soon after taking over, Xi launched a massive anti-corruption campaign, which, his critics say, was used for purging his political opponents, besides netting thousands of officials.

His international connectivity and infrastructure programme, the Belt and Road Initiative has garnered worldwide attention with dozens of countries joining it.

Speculation that Xi intended to stay beyond his tenure was rife in the run-up to the once-in-five year CPC congress last October. The speculation got stronger when, breaking from tradition, Xi didnt appoint a successor at the end of the October congress.

It was later revealed that Xi had presided over a meeting on the CPC politburo as early as September when it was decided to change the constitution.

The move has faced both domestic and international criticism and questions from academics and journalists.

China needs a certain amount of centralisation. But what do we do after the centralisation ? If it is back to the Mao era, of course, the centralisation is a bad thing. If we can further promote the reform of market economy and legal democracy, then the centralisation is a good thing, Professor Hu Xingdou, a Beijing-based expert on Chinese politics and economics said.

Delegates have been primed on the importance of delivering a resounding endorsement of the proposed changes  they have been whipped (in parliamentary parlance) and made aware of the importance of showing unity around the decision to centralise power in Xis hands, Jonathan Sullivan, director, China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham said.

Sullivan added: It doesnt mean Xi is going to become a despot or rule for life  although there is an extremely strong likelihood that he will continue to rule after 5 years. Xi has a strong vision for China and the leadership has indicated that the timing is right for China to make a play for a global leadership role.

To do that, China needs a strong leader to see the country through difficult domestic conditions and an international environment in flux, he added.

Hu said the decision to scrap the limit has both positive and negative aspects.

It is Deng Xiaopings great legacy to limit the term of state leaders. Deng Xiaoping published an article about the reform of the leadership system of the party and the country in 1980. In 1982, the constitution was amended to establish two terms of the chairman and vice chairman of the country, Hu said.

Breaking the two terms of office term now may be conducive to further promoting the deepening of reform and opening up and promoting the constitutional democracy. But if it is not in the direction of a market economy and the constitutional democracy, then breaking the two-term term limit is certainly disastrous, he added.

This was the first amendment to the countrys fundamental law in 14 years.

The Peoples Republic of China enacted its first constitution in 1954. The current constitution was adopted in 1982 and amended in 1988, 1993, 1999 and 2004, Xinhua said in a report.

A constitutional change is either proposed by the NPC Standing Committee or by more than one-fifth of all NPC deputies, and then requires the approval of two-thirds or more of NPC deputies during the annual session.Any trade war with the United States will only bring disaster to the world economy, Chinese commerce minister Zhong Shan said on Sunday, as Beijing stepped up its criticism on proposed metals tariffs by Washington amid fears it could shatter global growth

After pressure from allies, the United States has opened the way for more exemptions from tariffs of 25% on steel imports and 10% on aluminium that US President Donald Trump set last week.

On Saturday, the European Union and Japan urged the United States to grant them exemptions from metal import tariffs, with Tokyo calling for calm-headed behaviour.

But the target of Trumps ire is China, whose capacity expansions have helped add to global surpluses of steel. China has repeatedly vowed to defend its legitimate rights and interests if targeted by US trade actions.

Zhong, speaking on the sidelines of Chinas annual session of parliament, said China does not want a trade war and will not initiate one.

There are no winners in a trade war, Zhong said. It will only bring disaster to China and the United States and the world.

China can handle any challenges and will resolutely protect its interests, but the two countries will continue to talk, he said.

Nobody wants to fight a trade war, and everyone knows fighting one harms others and does not benefit oneself.

Trumps announcement on tariffs underlined concerns about rising U.S. protectionism, which has sparked bouts of turmoil in global financial markets as investors feared a damaging trade spat would shatter a synchronized uptick in world growth.

Chinas metals industry issued the countrys most explicit threat yet in the row, urging on Friday for the government to retaliate by targeting US coal - a sector that is central to Trumps political base and his election pledge to restore American industries and blue-collar jobs.

The US is the worlds biggest importer of steel, purchasing 35 million tonnes of raw material in 2017. Of those imports, South Korea, Japan, China and India accounted for 6.6 million tonnes.

Trade tensions between China and United States have risen since Trump took office. China accounts for only a small fraction of US steel imports, but its massive industrial expansion has helped create a global glut of steel that has driven down prices.

The dispute has fuelled concerns that soybeans, the United States most valuable export to the worlds second largest economy, might be caught up in the trade actions after Beijing launched a probe into imports of U.S. sorghum, a grain used in animal feed and liquor.

Protecting American jobs

Zhong said US official trade deficit figures had been over-estimated by about 20 percent, and in any case would be a lot lower if the United States relaxed export restrictions on some high-tech goods.

Trump believes the tariffs will safeguard American jobs, though many economists say the impact of price increases for users of steel and aluminium, such as the auto and oil industries, will destroy more jobs than curbs on imports create.

Nonetheless, there is growing bipartisan consensus in Washington, and support within some segments of the U.S. business community, for the US government to counter what are seen as Beijings predatory industrial policies and market restrictions on foreign firms.

Trumps administration has said the United States mistakenly supported Chinas membership in the World Trade Organization in 2001 on terms that have failed to force Beijing to open its economy.

Diplomatic and U.S. business sources say the United States has frozen a formal mechanism for talks on commercial disputes with China because it is not satisfied Beijing has met its promises to ease market restrictions.US president Donald Trump on Saturday unveiled a new campaign slogan for his second term run  Keep America Great!

He couldnt use the old one  Make America Great Again, he told an election rally in Pennsylvania, because he had already delivered on that. We cant say Make America Great Again because I already did that.

Our new slogan when, we start running in, can you believe it, two years from now, is going to be Keep America great, exclamation point, he said, drawing an exclamation mark in the air and punching in the period mark at the bottom.

The President just finished 13 months of his first term in office but has already started his run for his second term, which will be determined by Americans voters in 2020.

The Trump campaign announced a new manager recently, Brad Parscale, a long-time Trump organisation employee who served in the last campaign as head of digital media.

In fact, Trump had launched his re-election campaign, Trump 2020on February 19, 2017, at a rally in Florida, then barely a month in office, as the country and the world were getting used to an unusual American president, who has still not stopped delivering surprises  the last one being his decision to accept an invitation for talks from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump announced the new campaign slogan while stumping for Rick Saccone, a Republican candidate running for the US House of Representatives in a special election  bye-election  from Pennsylvania.

The president had won that congressional district by a wide margin in November 2016, but the Republican candidate is not doing so well, with his Democratic rival just two points behind in polls. The polling takes place on Tuesday.

But while seeking vote and support for the candidate, the president looked itching to start his own. He attacked Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren, who is among those widely expected to run, and Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show icon who triggered talk of a run with an impassioned speech at the Golden Globe awards recently.

But Trump said he looked forward to running against Winfrey, who has since the awards denied she is interested in a run. I know her weakness.

Wouldnt we love to run against Oprah? he asked. I would love it. I would love it. That would be a painful experience for her.Fresh violence erupted in Sri Lanka on Sunday after a Muslim-owned restaurant was attacked in an alleged hate crime in a northern city, a day after President Maithripala Sirisena appointed a commission to probe a spate of anti-Muslim riots in the violence-hit Kandy district.

The restaurant located in Puttalam districts Anamaduwa city, 130 kilometres from Colombo, was targeted early morning even as police are keeping a tight vigil following eruption of communal clashes on Monday that have left two persons dead and damaged several homes, businesses and mosques in the scenic Kandy district.

Anamaduwe Muslim restaurant was attacked at 4 am (local time) this morning, the Colombo Telegraph reported.

Tensions remain high across Sri Lanka after the violence broke out following the death of a man from the mainly Buddhist Sinhalese majority last week.

Sirisena appointed a three-member commission on Saturday to probe the communal clashes in Kandy.

He had declared a nationwide state of emergency on Tuesday and deployed the police and military to prevent escalation of violence after clashes between majority Sinhala Buddhists and minority Muslims erupted in other areas of central Sri Lankas riot-hit Kandy district.

Muslims make up 10% of Sri Lankas total 21 million population. Sinhalese are a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

A total of 146 suspects have been arrested in Kandy - 135 over violence and 11 for violating the curfew - since March 4, a media report said yesterday.

Meanwhile, Kandys central province chief minister Sarath Ekanayake said today that all government schools which were closed on March 7 due to the unrest will reopen tomorrow.

The announcement came after police spokesman SP Ruwan Gunasekara said yesterday that curfew will not be imposed in Kandy as situation has been peaceful.

Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka on Sunday summoned the Telecommunication Regulatory commission over the temporary ban imposed on social media including Facebook throughout the island nation last week.

The police had claimed that anti-Muslim rioters were using social media to spread anti-Muslim hatred.

Sports minister Dayasiri Jayasekara said although it was considered a human rights violation, the government had taken the decision in order to curb the spread of false and malicious news and to stop the situation from going out of control.

The state security was important than anything else and we are glad the situation is now returning to normal, Jayasekara was quoted as saying by the Colombo Gazette.

Tensions between Muslim groups and the majority Sinhalese Buddhist community in the country have escalated since the end of the civil war in May 2009.

In 2014, violence directed against Muslim minority groups broke out in the southwestern town of Aluthgama, following a rally by hardline Buddhist nationalist monks, resulting in the death of at least three Muslims.Nepals Prime Minister KP Oli sailed through a vote of confidence on Sunday with two-thirds majority, the first such feat for a ruling alliance since the restoration of democracy, with support from two Madhesi parties.

Having gained the backing of Madhes-based Rastriya Janata Party Nepal and Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum, the ruling Left Alliance of CPN-UML and CPN (Maoist Center) now has a clear majority in the 275-seat parliament. Out of the 268 votes cast, Oli received 208, while 60 legislators opposed the motion.

The floor test assumes significance as all major posts such as president, vice president, prime minister, speaker and deputy speaker will go to the ruling parties.

Rastriya Janata Party Nepal and Sanghiya Samajbadi Forum, which have 17 and 16 seats respectively in the House, are likely to join the government and have been bargaining for the posts of vice president and deputy speaker.

Their support to Oli came as a surprise to many, given their past acrimony. Oli was considered an anti-Madhesi leader. He had often lashed out in public against Madhesi leaders and never tried to hear their demands such as amending the Constitution.

Opposition Nepali Congress alleged that Oli was trying to become an authoritarian ruler. We cannot understand the intent behind the two-thirds majority when he is sitting in comfortable majority, said NC leader Gagan Thapa.

Isnt he wanting to become an authoritarian ruler with two-third votes? he asked.

We have seen monarchs in the past that used to exercise such political power, met political accidents and were stripped from powers, he said.

But replying to the fear of NC, the prime minister said, I am becoming the PM of the country, not of one or two political parties. The vote is for well-being of the nation, not for its misuse or snobbishness. I will fulfil the promises I made here.To the West he is public enemy number one: snatching land from his neighbours, interfering in foreign elections and unveiling weapons that he says render Washingtons missile defence systems obsolete.

But despite -- or because of -- his reputation abroad, Vladimir Putin is still widely popular in Russia and is all but guaranteed to win a presidential election this week with a landslide.

In part this is because over almost two decades in power he has cracked down on dissent and consolidated Kremlin control over the media.

The Presidents most vocal opponent is also barred from appearing on the ballot on March 18 owing to a criminal conviction.

For millions of Russians, however, Putin is the man who brought stability after the political and economic chaos of the 1990s, as well as restoring Moscows standing on the world stage following the humiliating collapse of the Soviet Union.

Putin is a mirror and everyone can see in him what they want, independent political analyst Konstantin Kalachev told AFP.

For some, he is the man who got Russia back off its knees, got the army and defence back on track. For others, he raised the quality of life and made sure pensions were paid on time, he said.

For those abroad, Putin -- who in recent years has been variously portrayed as an octopus, The Terminator, Hitler and Batmans nemesis The Joker on the cover of Western news magazines -- means something else entirely.

But being the Wests main enemy is an acknowledgement that he is the number one politician. If theyre scared of you, it means they respect you, said Kalachev.

Pole of evil

The US and Europe hit Russia with sanctions in 2014 over the annexation of Crimea and Moscows backing of rebels in Ukraines east.

Since then Russias support of the Syrian regime in a bloody civil war, allegations that Moscow interfered in US presidential elections and the discovery of a state-sponsored Olympic doping programme have further hurt the countrys reputation abroad.

Putin often frames negative foreign coverage of his leadership as a sign that Russia is under attack from a West uncomfortable with the countrys new global role.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (left) speaks with US NBC news network anchor Megyn Kelly (right) at the Kremlin in Moscow. (AFP Photo)

As he unveiled what he called invincible new weapons in his state of the nation address this month, he reminded the audience of the time in the early 2000s when no one listened to us.

Listen to us now, he said before playing video montages that displayed the weapons capabilities.

The Russian moderator of a televised discussion last year jokingly told Putin he was the pole of evil around which Western powers consolidate and mobilise.

Can you imagine how they would manage without you? the moderator asked an appreciative President.

No other option

While support for Putin in Russia has dipped slightly in recent months, according to official polls, around 70% of those who are planning to vote say they will back the current president.

His closest competitor, Communist candidate Pavel Grudinin, is projected to garner less than eight percent of the vote.

(Putin) expertly exploits all the fears and the complexes of the population, Kalachev said, adding that the greatest fear was a return to the instability of the 1990s.

People are afraid of losing what they already have...and this fear is especially strong in the provinces, where it is hard, but still possible, to live, he said.

Despite Putins campaign promises when he returned to the Kremlin in 2012 after four years as prime minister, his last term was marked by recession and a fall in living standards.

A commuter sits in a bus passing in front of a campaign billboard of Russian President Vladimir Putin, reading "Simferopol for a Strong Russia!" in Simferopol. (AFP Photo)

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who has called for a boycott of the polls since he was barred from standing, rejects the idea that Putin retains real support in the provinces.

They say there: well alright, Putin, theres nobody apart from Putin, Ill vote for him! Thats the only reason why he gets any votes, Navalny told AFP in a recent interview.

At a recent campaign rally in Moscow, supporters of the President expressed a similar sentiment.

I do not see another candidate who could be our commander-in-chief, Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov told the 100,000-strong crowd. Hes the only one. Putin is our president.Russia said on Sunday it successfully launched a hypersonic missile which President Vladimir Putin called an ideal weapon as he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month.

The high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the south military district in Russias southwest, the defence ministry said.

The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target, the ministry added.

The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly.

Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video then shows a missile detaching from the airborne plane and gliding across the dark sky, leaving a fiery trail behind.

The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win.

Putin said the missile flies at 10 times the speed of the sound and can overcome air-defence systems.

The missile has been deployed in the southern military district since December 1, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Facebook that work had also been done to modernise the unique MiG-31 supersonic jet that will carry the missile.

Since the start of the year, more than 250 sorties have been carried out by the aircraft to perfect the work of the missile systems, the defence ministry said.As general elections approach and Pakistani politicians return to their constituencies to muster support, the anger of some people on how the government has performed seems to be coming to the fore.

On Sunday, two men lobbed shoes at ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif while he was addressing a gathering in Lahore. On Saturday, a man threw ink at foreign minister Khawaja Asif during a workers convention in Sialkot. The same day, a shoe was hurled at interior minister Ahsan Iqbal in his home constituency of Narowal. So far, all the attacks have been on the ruling Pakistan Muslim League  Nawaz (PML-N) politicians.

Sharif was attacked as he reached the podium to deliver a speech at an event organised by the Jamia Naeemia outside a madrassa.

The shoe hurled by a man hit him between the neck and shoulder.

The attacker then jumped on the stage and raised slogans in favour of Mumtaz Qadri  the killer of Punjab governor Salman Taseer  before fainting as the crowd tackled him down.

Meanwhile, another man hurled his shoe at the former premier, nearly hitting him. It landed on a man standing behind Sharif.

The Punjab police took both attackers and one witness into custody.

Sharif appeared shaken by the incident which also suggests the challenges his party faces from militant religious parties, some of which were once allies of his government.

The attacks on key members of the ruling party have been going on during the past week. On Saturday, a man was taken into police custody after he threw ink at foreign minister Khawaja Asif during his speech at the PML-N workers convention in Sialkot.

Asif, however, directed the concerned authorities to release the suspect, saying he did not have any personal enmity with him, adding that the man must have carried out the act at the behest of someone in return for some money.

The same day, a man lobbed a shoe at interior minister Ahsan Iqbal while he was addressing a workers convention in Narowal. Media reports suggested that the man, identified as Bilal Haris, tried to get closer to the minister as soon as he arrived on the stage in Aliabad to address PML-N supporters.

He then hurled a shoe at Iqbal, which reportedly touched his arm.

Party workers soon got hold of the man and handed him over to police.

According to a private news channel, the minister had to leave his speech incomplete and came down from the stage. Police are investigating the case.

Reacting to the reports, Ahsan Iqbal said, It was a 3rd degree cheap PTI (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) tactic.

Nothing happened, neither touched me nor interrupted my speech, he said, adding, However PTI (was) exposed, condemned by people.Vous etes confrontes a une infestation par la puce, la punaise de lit ? Voici plusieurs actions qui sont a mettre en uvre pour faire []US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a hefty import duty on European cars if the European Union retaliates against his steep tariffs on aluminium and steel.

Earlier this week, Trump officially announced tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminium, despite major opposition from his own party, triggering a possible trade war with China and Europe.

The EU threatened an arsenal of retaliatory measures when the tariffs were first proposed, including imposing import tariffs on products made in red districts.

Trump threatened to tax European-made cars if they retaliated against the aluminium and steel tariffs with their own taxes on US imports like Harley Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and blue jeans.

The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on steel and aluminium, Trump said in a tweet Saturday.

If they drop their horrific barriers and tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big deficit. If not, we tax cars etc. FAIR! Trump said in a tweet.

During a joint White House news conference with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, the European Union has been particularly tough on the US.

The European Union, Trump rued, makes it almost impossible for the US to do business with them. And yet they send their cars and everything else back into the US, he said.

And they can do whatever they like, but if they do that, then we put a big tax of 25 per cent on their cars, and believe me, they wont be doing it very long, Trump asserted.

The European Union has not treated us well, and its been a very, very unfair trade situation. Im here to protect, and one of the reasons I was elected is Im protecting our workers, Im protecting our companies, and Im not going to let that happen, Trump asserted.

As such Trump asserted that he is going ahead with his plans to sign the executive order to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminium.

Were doing tariffs on steel. We cannot lose our steel industry. Its a fraction of what it once was. We cant lose our aluminium industry; also a fraction of what it once was. And our country is doing well. The massive tax cuts, and all of the deregulation has really kicked us into gear, he said.

But I have to work on trade deals. Were working on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) right now, and if were able to make a deal with Canada and Mexico in NAFTA, then there will be no reason to do the tariffs with Canada and Mexico, Trump said.

The NAFTA is a deal signed by Canada, Mexico, and the US, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.British health authorities on Sunday asked nearly 500 people, who were at a restaurant and pub linked with the poisoning of a Russian spy, to clean up their possessions to remove any traces of the deadly nerve agent used against the targets.

Trace amounts of the substance used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, were found at the Mill pub and Zizzi Italian restaurant in Salisbury, where the duo had been before they were found collapsed on a bench at The Maltings shopping centre in the city.

The risk to the general public remains low and I am confident none of these customers or staff will have suffered harm, said Prof Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England.

She said after rigorous scientific analysis, there was some concern that prolonged exposure over weeks and months could cause health problems, but it was not a subject for panic.

People who were at either the pub or the Italian restaurant before they were shut down last Monday have been advised to wash their clothes, ideally in a washing machine. Clothes which cannot be washed, for example if they need dry cleaning, should be double bagged in plastic until further notice, the advice notes.

Other belongings such as mobile phones, handbags and other electronic items should be wiped with baby wipes, which should be bagged in plastic and put in the bin and items such as jewellery and glasses should be washed with warm water and detergent, the BBC reported.

Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, both remain critically ill in hospital after being discovered on Sunday.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was the first police officer to come in contact with the circumstances, remains seriously ill in hospital but has been talking to his family.

In a statement, he thanked well-wishers but stressed that he did not consider himself a hero but that he was merely doing his job along with other officers.

The pub and restaurant are two of five sites in Salisbury focused on by investigators, including the shopping centre bench, Skripals home and the cemetery where Skripals wife and son are buried.

Around 21 people required medical treatment in the days following the poisoning.

A 30-year-old man has been charged with breaching a cordon at one of the sites, The Maltings shopping area, on Friday night.

He was also charged with assaulting a police officer, criminal damage to a police vehicle, common assault and a racially aggravated public order offence, and is due before magistrates in Swindon on Monday.

Army officers with specialist chemical training continue to assist the British police and have overseen the removal of vehicles of interest, including an ambulance. More than 250 counter-terrorism police are involved in the investigation, which has yielded 200 pieces of evidence so far and more than 240 witnesses, according to the police.

We need to give the police and the investigators the space to get on with (it). I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that, said UK home secretary Amber Rudd, after chairing another emergency meeting over the issue on yesterday.

The Bishop of Salisbury Nicholas Holtam, said the attack on Skripal and his daughter was a violation of the city.

Russia has continued to deny any association, but the attack has been compared to the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who ingested the rare and highly radioactive polonium 210 in London 11 years ago.

Colonel Skripal was convicted of treason in 2006 and jailed for 13 years for selling secrets to MI6, which had recruited him in the 1990s. The senior intelligence officer with Russian military intelligence GRU, was pardoned in a spy swap in 2010 and settled in Salisbury, Wiltshire.Anyone who went to a restaurant in Salisbury where the former Russian agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia dined last Sunday have been told to wash their clothes and possessions.

Public health officials issued a precautionary advice to the public on Sunday, as military experts in chemical and biological warfare joined one of the largest investigations in Britain into the suspected poisoning of Skripal and Yulia, widely attributed to elements in Russia, but denied by Kremlin.

As traces of a nerve agent were reportedly found in the English town, health officials mentioned the Zizzi restaurant as well as The Mill pub in Salisbury, where the Skripals went, and advised people who visited the two establishments on March 4 and 5 to undertake action, such as washing or dry-cleaning the clothes they wore, wiping their phones, and washing jewellery with detergents.

The advisory leaflet says: While there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either of these locations, it is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin.

Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health. This risk can be removed by taking the actions we are explaining in this leaflet.

Paul Cosford, director of health protection at Public Health England said: All known first responders have been contacted through their organisations and encouraged to seek further advice should they experience any symptoms. The sites recently visited by the two people affected have all been secured and PHE is reminding local clinicians of the symptoms to look out for.

Sites of investigations include Skripals home and the cemetery where his wife and son are buried. Over 250 personnel are involved in the investigation, which has reportedly yielded 200 pieces of evidence so far and more than 240 witnesses.

Marina Litvinenko, widow of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, who was killed by poisoning in London in 2006, told BBC on Sunday that Skripals case needed to be properly investigated before blame can be apportioned but it would appear lessons from her husbands death had not been learned.

Skripal, a retired Russian military intelligence officer, was convicted by the Russian government of passing secrets to British intelligence agency MI6 in 2004, but was given refuge in the UK in 2010 as part of a spy swap.US defense secretary Jim Mattis warned Syria on Sunday it would be very unwise for government forces to use weaponised gas, as he cited unconfirmed reports of chlorine attacks in eastern Ghouta and slammed Russian support for Damascus.

Mattis stopped short of threatening to retaliate against Syrian forces if a chlorine attack were confirmed.

But he noted Americas cruise missile strike on April 6, 2017, on a Syrian air base over a sarin gas attack and said President Donald Trump had full political manoeuvre room to take whatever decision he believed was appropriate.

It would be very unwise for them to use weaponised gas. And I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration, Mattis said, speaking with a small group of reporters before landing in Oman.

Mattis said he did not currently have clear evidence of any recent chlorine gas attacks but noted numerous media reports about chlorine use.

Rescue workers and opposition activists in eastern Ghouta have accused the government of using chlorine gas during the campaign.

The government firmly denies this. Damascus and Moscow have accused rebels of planning to orchestrate poison gas attacks in order to draw blame onto the Syrian government.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has vowed to continue the offensive in eastern Ghouta, one of the deadliest in the war.

With the conflict entering its eighth year, capturing eastern Ghouta would be a major victory for Assad, who has steadily regained control of rebel areas with Russian and Iranian support.

Mattis chided Moscow for partnering with Assad, suggesting it might even be a partner in the Syrian governments strikes on civilians.

Either Russia is incompetent or in cahoots with Assad. Theres an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas, Mattis said.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said earlier this month that Syrian government air strikes on eastern Ghouta and shelling from the rebel-held zone into Damascus probably constitute war crimes.

The White House said last week Russian military aircraft took off from Humaymim Airfield in Syria and carried out at least 20 daily bombing missions in Damascus and eastern Ghouta between Feb. 24 and Feb. 28.

It did not say whether the jets dropped ordnance, which could be harder to determine than tracking the flight paths of Russian aircraft on US radar. But the United States directly accused Russia of killing civilians.

Mattis declined to elaborate on whether Russian jets directly carried out bombings, saying Moscow was involved either way. The multi-sided war has killed hundreds of thousands of people since 2011.Xi Jinping has joined the pantheon of Chinese leadership two decades after bursting onto the scene as a graft-fighting governor who went on to earn comparisons with Mao Zedong in his quest for unrestricted power.

The rubber-stamp parliament further enhanced Xis considerable power on Sunday when it approved a constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits.

The move allows the 64-year-old Xi to remain in power for as long as he wishes, ruling as a virtual emperor, and is the latest feather in the cap of a Communist princeling who is re-making China in his own image.

Xi, who was given a second term as the partys general secretary at the five-yearly party congress in October, has amassed seemingly unchecked power and a level of officially stoked adulation unseen since Communist Chinas founder Mao.

Even though his father Xi Zhongxun -- a renowned revolutionary hero turned vice premier -- was purged by Mao, Xi has remained true to the party that rules with an iron fist and over which he reigns supreme.

Xi is the first Chinese leader to have been born after 1949, when Maos Communist forces took over following a protracted civil war.

The purging of his father led to years of difficulties for the family, but he nevertheless rose through its ranks.

Beginning as a county-level party secretary in 1969, Xi climbed to the governorship of coastal Fujian province in 1999, then party chief of Zhejiang province in 2002 and eventually Shanghai in 2007.

That same year, he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee.

A screen shows the results of a vote on an constitutional amendment during a plenary session of China's National People's Congress (NPC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The totals shown are 2,958 approve, 2 oppose, 3 abstain. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) (AP Photo)

Following Maos disastrous economic campaigns and the bloody 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the Communist leadership sought to prevent further chaos by tempering presidential power through a system in which major personnel and policy decisions were hashed out by the ruling Politburo Standing Committee.

The move helped prevent political power from becoming too concentrated in the hands of a single leader but was also blamed for policy indecision that led to growing ills such as worsening pollution, corruption and social unrest.

But Xi Dada (Big Uncle Xi), as he has been dubbed by Communist propaganda, has broken sharply with that tradition since taking over as president in 2013 and now looms over the country in a deepening cult of personality.

He has used crackdowns on corruption and calls for a revitalised party to become the most powerful Chinese leader in decades.

Fighting graft and upholding party leadership were already central to him when he spoke to AFP in 2000.

At the time, Xi vowed to root out corruption following a $10 billion smuggling scandal, but ruled out political reform to confront the problem, saying he would work within the one-party structure and system of political consultation and supervision by the masses.

The peoples government must never forget the word the people and we must do everything we can to serve the people, but to get all the government officials to do this is not easy, in some places this is not done very well and in other places it is done very badly, Xi told AFP.

Residents celebrate lantern festival to mark the end of winter near a mural depicting Chinese President Xi Jinping in a residential compound for retired soldiers in Beijing. (AP Photo)

Chairman of everything

Xis face now graces the front page of every paper in the country, while his exploits and directives headline each nights evening news.

Shops sell commemorative plates and memorabilia with his image alongside Maos and he has accumulated so many political and military titles -- from president, to Central Military Commission chairman and party core -- that he has earned the nickname Chairman of Everything.

The Communist Partys power-broking congress in October confirmed Xis induction into the leadership pantheon alongside Mao and market reformer Deng Xiaoping by writing his name and political ideology into the partys constitution.

While calling for Chinas great rejuvenation as a world power, Xi has cultivated a personal image as a man of the people who dresses modestly and buys his own steamed buns at an ordinary shop.

Following a divorce from his first wife, Xi married the celebrity soprano Peng Liyuan in 1987, at a time when she was much more famous than him. The couples daughter, Xi Mingze, studied at Harvard but stays out of the public eye.

But Xi has presided over a tough crackdown on civil society and freedom of speech that belies the chummy image -- and he tolerates no ridicule or slander of his person.

Social media users who have dared to compare his round mien to that of the affable Winnie the Pooh have found their posts quickly deleted, and a man who referred to him as Steamed Bun Xi -- a knock at his breakfast publicity stunt -- was jailed for two years.Caitlyn Jenner has called Donald Trump out for his regressive stance on trans issues in the past, and she's still not seeing any progress. "As far as trans issues, this administration has been the worst ever," she told NewsWeek at the Champions of Jewish Values International Awards Gala in New York City on Thursday. "Theyve set our community back 20 years, easily," she continued. "Its going to be hard to change, but weve been through these types of things before and well continue to fight it."

Jenner previously called Trump out for his decision to stop allowing trans students to use the bathroom that corresponds with their gender identity. "Well @realDonaldTrump, from one Republican to another, this is a disaster," she wrote on Twitter. "You made a promise to protect the LGBTQ community. Call me."

As per her conversation with NewsWeek, Jenner would like to see Trump "do a better job when it comes to equality" in general. Were all Americans. I think of it this way. We have diversity in mankind, humankind. We have diversity all over the place, diversity in the way people look, diversity in religion, diversity in skin color, she said. Wouldnt it be a dull world if everybody was the same?

Jenner recently spoke to CNN in a segment for International Women's Day. "Women are brought up to kind of be a second-class citizen. Emotionally weaker. Physically weaker. I've always been inspired by strong women," she said. Watch a clip from her interview here.Officials from Singapore's Government have being asked to give counsel on their strict anti-drug policy, among a number of proposals being explored, as the Trump Administration continues to scratch their heads over the "Opoid Crisis."



To give context to the crisis, its a problem of polarization. The doctor's who normally license pain-killers to patients in dire need of relief are now being met with sanctions. On the hand, recreational use is hard to police on a case by case basis. In 2016 alone, nearly 60,000 were lost to Opoid abuse, according to theWashington Post.



Donald Trump has apparently been speaking in private with Singaporean officials, about using the Death Penalty as a measure against the crisis. The application of the Death Penalty in Singapore has been met with its fair share of criticism. The country pushes its ideals as progressive policies without fear of scrutiny, when in fact Draconian law always carries with it a blatant disregard for human rights. We're talking about systems that weigh economic factors up against their humanitarian records. Trump was quoted as saying at a White House Summit on Opioids last week:

"Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do.



[via the Independent]





After pleading guilty to two counts of Wire Fraud this week, Billy McFarland has now been ordered to pay back the $26 million he admitted to stealing from investors. Rapper Ja Rule has since defended his honest intentions for the Festival, pointing to a lack of complicity between he and his business partner.



The funds for the now infamous Fyre Festival were accrued through false statements, including fraudulent bank loans and false insurance policies. The amount to be repaid is in excess of $26 million, in accordance with the plea bargain he signed addressing the numerous lawsuits filed by the wronged investors.



Billy Mcfarland confessed feelings of remorse in his closing statements.

I deeply regret my actions, and I apologize to my investors, team, family, and supporters who I let down,"

Fyre Fest, as you might recall, was being hyped as the ultimate musical getaway. Once festival goers arrived in the Bahamas, after paying tickets ranging between $5,000 and $250,000, they found themselves in a misshapen lot instead of the luxury accommodations they had been promised.



As previously reported, McFarland is also facing between 8-10 years in a federal prison. The final decision is set for June 21st.



[via billboard]A nation-wide manhunt for Juelz Santana seemed out of the question considering the light nature of the offence, in reference to the rapper running from TSA agents. As previously reported, they had found an unconcealed firearm in his luggage.



Now, New Jersey Law states that travellers boarding outgoing flights via the state are required to "unload and unpack" any firearms inside of a hard sided case made specifically for the weapon.

The South Passaic Daily Voice has learned that Juelz Santana is planning on turning himself in today, the longer he waits the larger his bail. He isn't going to face additional charges for evading capture, unless it is proven beyond proven doubt that he understood the consequences of his action. Then again, Santana is hard pressed to forget his prior felony conviction, which outlaws him from carrying a weapon, much less aboard a flight.



The rapper who escaped Newark Airport in a taxi, has been the brunt of jokes for the past day and a half. Along with the firearm, the rapper is believed to have left behind his passport and ID. We'll be sure to provide updates as they become available.Professional cutting horses have never actually worked on a ranch running cattle, but they've trained all their lives to act like it. Roy Carter teaches that instinct - how to separate a cow from the herd.

"When it starts following the cow with his ears," says Carter, a cutting horse trainer with deep crags in his face and a turkey feather in his flat-brimmed hat, "then you know you're getting somewhere."

Carter, 65, has been coming to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo since he was a kid - his father worked on a farm on Westheimer Road, back when it wasn't full of strip malls. By age 13, he'd gotten into bull riding, and had his face bashed in during one competition, requiring reconstructive surgery. A few years later, he broke his neck and his back.

"I went out and sat in my car for two hours and cried, thinking of what I was going to do for a living," he recalls, after a visit to the doctor. "And then I went out and rode bulls for another 13 years."

He hadn't gone to college, so bull riding was among his only options. He loved it more than anything, and it paid the bills. "I didn't save any money," he says, "but I always had money in my pocket."

Carter finally quit bull riding in 1985. It wasn't the injuries, he says, just time, and a weariness with constant travel. The next best thing was training cutting horses, so he trained under the best in the business, Keith Barnett - everybody seems to know each other in this industry, since you've either taught or been taught by or trained horses for most everybody else.

"He's a legend," say at least three people who pass by Carter as he leans on a stall door in the recesses of NRG Arena where horses wait their turn to show.

The money's a little steadier in the training business than it is riding bulls, but it's by no means assured. Cutting horses are a luxury good: Most are owned by folks with expendable income who just like to compete on the weekends, and a good one can go for upward of $100,000. One of Carter's clients flies in from Idaho a few times a year to ride the horse he trains for her.

Around Houston, the business sank a little during the oil bust, as energy executives cut back on those little extravagances. It's coming back, says Johnny Causey, chair of the rodeo's cutting horse committee. But then there's always the risk of having a few bad shows, not bringing in the prize money you're counting on - if that goes on long enough, you start losing your reputation, and your horses won't sell for as much.

That hasn't happened for Carter, who now trains 22 horses at his ranch in Perrin, a tiny town in North Texas. Still, he stays diversified by breeding bucking bulls as well, about 30 of them, which he leases out to rodeos around the state. They're friendly when they're not trying to kill you, he says.

On Tuesday, Carter was showing one of his clients' horses, a dark brown 5-year-old mare with a small star on her forehead named Freckles Powder River. She's small and skittish - Carter had to treat her gently for a long time, before she learned to trust. "She didn't like herself when I got her," he says.

After walking her in circles to keep her calm while other horses took their turn, Joenell, Carter's wife, handed the mare off to him. Hunched in the saddle, Carter rode her forward into the milling herd, and went straight for a brown cow with a big white stripe on its face.

Cutting horse judging is a subjective process. There are a few rules: You've got to single out a cow and keep it away from the rest of the herd until it comes to a standstill. After that, it's mostly style - how the horse moves, low to the ground, pivoting on its massive haunches, springing forward with explosive speed to counter every desperate end run.

By those metrics, Freckles Powder River did well. But she didn't get a chance to show off as much as Carter would've liked, and by the end, he knew he wouldn't be winning any money in this division. "These cattle are faking everybody out," he said, after handing the mare back to Joenell.

If he goes home without ending up in the winnings this year, Carter won't panic. "Unless it happens consistently!" he says, with a big laugh.

But after this long, he doesn't have as much to prove. "I'll be honest. I've done very, very well. And I'm about at the end," Carter says. "Youth always takes over."Five years after Pope Francis ascended to the papacy, a new survey of U.S. Catholics reports that most still harbor warm feelings toward the pontiff - but his popularity is waning among political conservatives.

According to a new study from the Pew Research Center, the first Latin American pope retains a soaring 84 percent favorability rating among Catholics overall, with only a 1-point drop since 2014. A majority (58 percent) also still believe he represents a major positive change for the Roman Catholic Church.

But there are signs Francis' honeymoon period has ended in some circles. Roughly a quarter (24 percent) of American Catholics say he is naive, up from 15 percent in 2015, and 34 percent now say the pontiff is too liberal, compared with 19 percent who said the same three years ago.

The divisions appear to be more political than theological. According to the survey, the share of Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics who say Francis is too liberal has more than doubled since 2015, jumping from 23 percent to 55 percent. Similarly, while only 16 percent of Republican Catholics surveyed in 2015 said Francis is naive, roughly a third say so today.

By contrast, the report shows that when it comes to Democratic or Democratic-leaning Catholics, "there has been no statistically significant change in opinion on either of these questions."

"Catholics who are Republican and Republican-leaning have become more negative to Pope Francis," said Greg Smith, associate director of research at Pew. "I think this survey shows very clear evidence that Catholic attitudes about Pope Francis have become very polarized along partisan lines."

The change follows several years of Francis invoking traditional Catholic social teaching to stake out positions widely seen as politically liberal. Since becoming the bishop of Rome, the pontiff has published an apostolic exhortation deeply critical of unfettered capitalism, repeatedly offered vocal support for immigrants and produced an encyclical calling for action on climate change.

These moves have frustrated many Catholic Republican politicians in the U.S.

House Speaker Rep. Paul Ryan, former Sen. Rick Santorum and former presidential adviser Steve Bannon have all challenged or spoken critically of the pope's views on things such as economics, refugees and the environment.

President Trump himself, a Protestant, has engaged in a war of words with Francis, who questioned Trump's faith.

"A person who thinks only about building walls - wherever they may be - and not building bridges, is not Christian," Francis said in February 2016 when asked about the potential of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Meanwhile, Catholic writers such as New York Times columnist Ross Douthat have railed against the pontiff for rhetoric regarding whether divorced and remarried Catholics should be allowed to receive Communion.

The pope also has garnered attention for his more conciliatory approach to gay people, making headlines in 2013 after he responded to a question about gay priests by saying "who am I to judge?" Francis has not, in fact, challenged the church's traditional opposition to same-sex relationships but has introduced a change in tone on the issue.

The Pew report also suggests U.S. Catholics are more accepting of gay marriage than ever: 67 percent supported same-sex marriage in 2017, compared with 57 percent who said the same in 2015.

Researchers also noted that Catholics who attend Mass weekly or more often are "far more likely" than Catholics who attend services less often to "positively rate the pope's performance on each issue asked about."

"You have to remember, the pope is still the pope," Smith said.

Compared with previous Pew studies on his predecessors, Francis' favorability ratings surpass any of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI's and approach those of St. John Paul II in the 1980s and 1990s.

Despite partisan differences on Francis, Catholics from across the political spectrum are in rough agreement about the pope's handling of the child sex abuse crisis.

In 2015, 57 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning Catholics and 56 percent of Democratic and Democratic-leaning Catholics said Francis was doing an excellent or good job addressing the sex abuse scandal. In 2018, the portion of those giving him positive marks on the issue has dwindled to 45 and 44 percent, respectively. (The survey was conducted before the recent media firestorm regarding Francis' promotion of a Chilean bishop suspected of covering up abuse by a pedophile priest.)

Pew's survey of 1,503 adults was conducted Jan. 10-15 and has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 6.4 percentage points among Catholics.CORPUS CHRISTI - Along the waterways of this South Texas city, tall cranes lean over half-built oil storage tanks, construction crews work to complete export terminals and bulldozers clear paths for new pipelines, telltale signs that a flood of oil is coming this way.

Over the next few years, millions of barrels of crude produced in the Permian Basin in West Texas and New Mexico will pour into Corpus Christi on its way to seaports in Europe and Asia, making the city the main corridor for U.S. energy exports and giving the region a pivotal role in reshaping global oil markets.

But as the second U.S. shale boom gains speed, port officials here are trying to secure more federal money to dredge the Corpus Christi ship channel so it can accommodate the biggest oil tankers, capable of carrying the equivalent of the nearby Eagle Ford Shales daily output. Their success is not only critical to local economy, but also to Texas and U.S. oil companies that are producing more oil than domestic refiners can absorb, making exports vital to growth of the industry.

Everybody wins, said Kurt Barrow, an analyst at research firm IHS Markit. The producers crude is making it to market. The midstream companies benefit from being able to build new pipes. Trading companies can trade the crude.

Exports are particularly important to economic growth because they pump new money into regional, state and national economies, instead of just recirculating it through retail and other service industries. Corpus Christi port officials estimate that dredging the ship channel would clear the way for some $36 billion a year in exports to flow through the region.

This week, the Port of Corpus Christi Authority asked U.S. lawmakers to approve the $225 million it needs to finish the project by 2021. Otherwise, it could take more than a decade to deepen the ship channel, a project first proposed in 1990.

RELATED: U.S. shale set to dominate global oil growth for years

Here we are, 28 years later, and we still havent turned a spade of dirt yet, Sean Strawbridge, chief executive of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority.

Corpus Christis funding shortfall comes as energy analysts project rapid growth in U.S. oil exports, a development made possible by the lifting of a 40-year oil export ban in late 2015. Since then, exports have risen as high as 2 million barrels a day.

The International Energy Agency last week projected that nations oil export capacity will more than double to 4.9 million barrels a day by 2023, as U.S. companies upgrade or build 10 crude export terminals in coming years. Corpus Christi, one of the closest seaports to both the Permian Basin and the Eagle Ford in South Texas, has already drawn $50 billion in energy investments, and will receive the lions share of the additional crude volumes Texas drillers pump in coming years because of its proximity to the fields.

It helps that after a two-year oil bust, Texas oil fields are booming once again, and are set to lead a second domestic energy surge that forecasters believe will meet most of the growth in global demand over the next five years. The first U.S. shale boom, which began in 2010 and ended in mid-2015 after oil prices collapsed, sent huge quantities of crude to U.S. refineries and storage tanks.

But this time, domestic refiners can only absorb a fraction of the oil produced here, because most were built to process heavy crude that comes from Canada, Venezuela and the Middle East. That means U.S. oil companies must sell most of the new oil they produce overseas and carve out a much bigger international market as demand grows in places like China and India.

Global oil consumption is projected to grow by more than 1 million barrels a day each year through 2023, according to the International Energy Agency, which monitors the worlds oil markets. American frackers will likely find the best deals in Europe, where refiners pay higher prices. By 2022, U.S. exporters will reach their peak in Europe, at 1.6 million barrels a day, Wood Mackenzie estimates.

RELATED: U.S. petroleum exports, led by Texas, hit record levels

In the following year, 2023, the United States will likely raise its Asian oil exports to 1.3 million barrels a day, with about half going to China. All told, U.S. exporters will ship 4 million barrels a day of crude around the world, Wood Mackenzie said. Meanwhile, refining capacity in the Middle East and West Africa is set to increase, so those producers will keep more oil in their own countries and export less.

Near Corpus Christi, Houstons Occidental Petroleum, the largest exporter of Permian Basin crude, recently began expanding its oil export terminal and expects to begin partially loading VLCC vessels or Very Large Crude Carriers, at its docks by the end of the year. At the ship channels current depths, Occidental can load about 1.3 million barrels on the tankers; deepening and widening the channel would allow Occidental load the ships to their 2 million barrel capacity.

But progress on the expanding the Corpus Christi ship channel has been slow. The Trump Administrations fiscal 2019 budget provides for $13 million to dredge the Corpus Christi ship channel. The Port of Corpus Christi Authority requested $60 million in federal funds for each of the next three fiscal years to complete the project in 2021.

Additional multimillion dollar investment will also be needed to fully develop the export hub, analysts said.

Even the projects that have been proposed and under construction still wont be sufficient, said John Coleman, senior analyst at energy research firm Wood Mackenzie. They will have to make more investments in marine terminals and dock space to handle all of that crude heading in their direction.

That says a lot about how much oil is expected to flow to Corpus Christi. Oil companies have begun building two major pipelines to run from the West Texas oil patch to the Gulf Coast port. Three other pipeline projects are in planning stages.

The advent of shale oil and gas has brought tens of billions in investments to Corpus Christi since 2011 and oil companies show no sign theyll slow down investments. Last year, Exxon Mobil Corp. and the Saudi Basic Industries Corp., announced plans to spend $9 billion building a petrochemical plant just north of Corpus Christi.

Related: Companies skip busy Houston Ship Channel for less crowded, costly ports

Cheniere Energy, a Houston liquefied natural gas company, expects two super-cooling facilities that turn natural gas into liquid to come online in 2019, and it expects to decide whether it will build a third later this year. Howard Energy Partners, a San Antonio energy transportation company, plans to build 2.5 million barrels of oil storage capacity, as well as a dock that can load a Suezmax vessel - which can carry 1 million barrels of oil - within a day.

The investments are going to be crazy over the next 10 years, said Philip Ramirez, president of Turner Ramirez Architects, a Corpus Christi commercial architecture firm that Exxon selected to help design the layout of its petrochemical project. Were talking about jobs by the hundreds.

Corpus Christis unemployment rate has dropped from 8.3 percent in January 2011 to 5 percent last year. And in that time, the number of welders, civil engineers, construction workers, waiters and waitresses and cashiers have all increased.

Bill Stockley, who owns a local six-person FastSigns franchise, has watched his sign-printing business grow 15 percent after Exxon Mobil and Cheniere Energy began ordering signs for their construction sites. The local economy has grown, too, he said.

Theres a lot more hotels opening and a lot more restaurants, Stockley said. There are better jobs and more money to be spent. It filters down to a lot of people.

Still, port officials worry efforts to expand the Corpus Christi ship channel will take too long. In November, the Port Authority, which has set aside $102 million for the dredging project, paid the Army Corp of Engineers $32 million to accelerate initial efforts to deepen and widen the port. That dredging has yet to begin, though officials said they believed the project would get underway this year.

Weve got to do this project, said Strawbridge of the Port of Corpus Christi Authority. If you dont invest in the port, youve just created a bottleneck.A revelation last week that the prosecutor who sent Alfred Dewayne Brown to death row really did have the evidence all along that could have cleared Brown was shocking to some.

To me, it was merely confirmation.

Starting in 2014, I spent more than a year reporting on the case of Brown, who was convicted in 2005 of killing Houston Police Officer Charles R. Clark and a store clerk in a three-man robbery of a check-cashing store.

Brown had always maintained his innocence, saying he made a landline call that could prove he was at his girlfriends house at the time officials said he was with the killers. At trial, no record of that call was presented. His defense attorney told me she didnt know that kind of record was available, and apparently prosecutors thought the same thing initially.

Read more: Its absolutely perjury

Yet, somehow, years later, as Brown languished on death row, the record showed up one day when a homicide detective handed over a box of documents he found in his garage.

The Harris County District Attorneys office quickly agreed to a new trial, but insisted that longtime Prosecutor Dan Rizzos failure to turn over exculpatory evidence was inadvertent. Rizzo even swore to it in an affidavit.

That phone record wasnt my focus back in 2014. I was writing mostly about how a corrupt grand jury system contributed to Browns wrongful conviction.

But a review last week of a lengthy interview I had with with Rizzo in 2014 turned up comments, never published, defending his actions, Browns conviction, and his own ethics and commitment to justice.

They also reveal a chilling steadfastness, and ever-so-subtle suggestion that others could be at fault.

This particular record, I dont think we ever received it, Rizzo said of the landline phone record.

Read more: A disturbing glimpse into the shrouded world of the Texas grand jury system

Rizzo had a friendly manner about him, and I remember him taking time to tell me how he cared for his elderly mother, and sometimes played accordion at the bingo hall.

Rizzo told me that in response to Browns appeals, he had gone back and reviewed as much of the Brown file as he could find, explaining, I wanted to find out if this guy was potentially innocent, which could be the worst thing that ever happened to me, or anybody.

His review left him convinced that Brown was guilty. Still, he said that when a prosecutor called him to say the phone record had been found in garage of detective Breck McDaniel, he was at a loss to understand.

I was shocked that it was there, first of all, he said. I told her Id be surprised I would have missed something.

Although Rizzo acknowledged that as lead prosecutor he was technically responsible for all evidence in the case, Rizzo explained that McDaniel was the phone expert, and had a duty to turn over records to the prosecution.

At one point, Rizzo made a point of saying that he knew McDaniel kind of well, and he didnt think he would fail to turn over evidence.

I dont think he withheld those things, Rizzo said. At a different point, he said he was glad McDaniel had found the record, adding I think the fact that that he came up with that shows me he wasnt trying to withhold something, in any way.

In the end, Rizzo acknowledged that the document shouldnt have gotten lost. It should have been turned over to us and it should have been turned over to the defense.

McDaniel, who now has a cell phone evidence consulting company in Austin, did not return my call. Id like to hear his side.

That said, the idea that Rizzo violated Browns rights merely by mistake never seemed plausible. For one thing, records showed Rizzo was the one who requested the phone record. A transcript revealed how he allowed grand jurors to threaten and intimidate Browns chief alibi witness, his girlfriend, until she eventually changed her story.

The girlfriend later recanted her testimony against Brown, and claimed Rizzo had intimidated her to change her initial story. Rizzo rejected that claim.

And now comes the revelatory evidence.

Read more: Delayed Justice: Death row inmate waits for day in court

Kim Ogg, the current district attorney, released a newly discovered email McDaniel sent to Rizzo before Browns trial.

In the email, he alerts Rizzo that the landline phone record doesnt show what they hoped it would. McDaniel says he was hoping it would clearly refute the girlfriends story and Browns alibi. Instead, it showed a call was made from the girlfriends apartment at the time Brown said it was made.

I think it is a new development, McDaniel writes of the phone record.

Yes, it was. And it should have been a turning point as well. It could have helped Brown avoid conviction, helped him avoid losing 12 years of his life, including nearly a decade on death row. Potentially, it could have steered officials toward the real killer.

Instead, Rizzo appears to have done nothing with the record. He hasnt responded to Chronicle inquiries in recent days, and didnt return my call. At this point, though, I cant imagine a good explanation.

He could claim he didnt see the correspondence, but what prosecutor investigating a cop-killing doesnt open an email from the homicide detective? Especially one with a detailed subject line containing the name of his key suspect, and the words court order and home phone? It came in on a Tuesday, not a weekend. It came in at 4:21 p.m., not in the wee hours.

Some legal experts have suggested that Rizzo may have committed perjury in an affidavit in 2008, during the appeals process, when he swore that he did not suppress knowledge of or information about a land-line call.

Of course, the statute of limitations on such offenses are probably long past. Even potential action by the State Bar of Texas would have limited effect on a retired prosecutor.

But that doesnt mean we dont need an accounting of exactly what happened in this case, not just with regards to Rizzos actions, but of the police, and of the other prosecutors who were in charge of reviewing the case later.

Former District Attorney Devon Anderson ordered prosecutors to scour the evidence to determine whether Brown should be retried. Ultimately, the evidence wasnt there. The charges against Brown were dropped, he was freed, and is now still in the process of trying to claim state compensation for the years lost.

Prosecutors need to answer for those lost years as well. We need an investigation by an independent prosecutor, preferably from another county. Ogg is a respected prosecutor, but too many hands have touched this case in Harris County.

Its unclear whether any of those folks were aware of the newly released email, whether they covered it up, too, or whether they didnt try to dig deep enough to find the truth.

The people need answers and so does Brown. He lost his liberty for nearly a decade and was condemned to die - either because of someones incompetence, or someones unconscionable deceit.

We all deserve to know which. And we deserve the outcome that Rizzo himself once told me he wanted for Brown.

I have faith in the justice system, he said. That theyll do the right thing in this case.Justin Gooden loved playing video games.

After his beloved Xbox 360 was stolen by burglars who ransacked his mother's home in Houston's Fifth Ward in December and stole nearly all of their possessions, the 6-year-old was despondent. The next month, Justin, after staying overnight at the apartment of his sister in northwest Houston, wandered into her bedroom looking for an Xbox game. He stumbled upon a box where his sister's boyfriend kept a 9mm handgun and accidentally shot himself. The boy died hours later at Texas Children's Hospital.

"I'm not gonna question God, but it just hurts," said Justin's mother, Joyel McCardell, in a recent interview.

Justin was one of three children in Texas who died over a five-day span earlier this year after finding a firearm at a home. The day before Justin died on Jan. 28, 4-year-old Kadren Johnson, nicknamed "Shrimp," found a loaded handgun in the bedroom of his grandmother's home in Texas City and accidentally shot himself. And on Jan. 24, 3-year-old Jonnie Colon found a shotgun in the bedroom at his family's home in northeast Fort Worth and unintentionally shot himself in the head.

The deaths have renewed questions about the effectiveness of Texas' Child Access Prevention law, enacted to serve as a preventative measure to curb the access of children to firearms in the home. The discussion comes amid an emotional national debate over gun control in the wake of the shooting deaths of 17 students and adults at a Parkland, Fla. high school, which prompted Florida's Republican governor on Friday to sign into law a new set of gun regulations.

'PLEASE KEEP KIDS SAFE FROM GUNS': Trump replies to a child's anguished letter

Gun control experts say the Texas law dealing with access to firearms in the home is rarely prosecuted and overly broad, and that prosecutors are hesitant to compound tragedy by punishing grieving families. Gun rights advocates argue that the law is strong enough as currently written.

"It's unfortunate, of course," said Ed Scruggs, vice chairman of the board of Texas Gun Sense, an organization that says it advocates for common-sense, evidence-based policies to reduce gun injuries and deaths. "Obviously, there's some pure negligence that's out there that you'll hear about and since there's no consistent prosecution of it, people never even hear about it... So its ability to act as a deterrent is very minimal."

Texas is one of 27 states, along with Washington, D.C., with a child access prevention (or CAP) law on the books. The misdemeanor charge can be brought if a child under 17 gains access to a readily dischargable firearm and a person had failed to secure a gun or left it in a place where the person knew or should have known the child would gain access.

If the negligent person is a member of the child's family, and the child was killed or seriously injured, an arrest cannot be made until seven days after the offense was committed.



STUDY: 1,300 children die by gun every year in the U.S.

On the spectrum of child access prevention across the country, Texas' law is on the weaker end, experts say. In the United States, only Massachusetts has a law requiring any person in control of a firearm to keep it locked away or disabled when not being carried.

"One of the weaknesses in these types of laws is they only kick in after (a shooting in the home). They don't particularly require a method of safe storage," said Allison Anderman, the managing attorney at the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence. "Because of that, the determination whether or not to charge someone with this law is usually after something bad has happened."

The Harris County District Attorney's Office said last month that only 31 cases had been filed under the child access prevention statute since 2009, including four so far in 2018. A larger review of Texas Department of Public Safety records by the Austin-American Statesman in 2015 found that authorities had arrested more than 200 people accused of making a firearm accessible to a child since the state's CAP law was enacted in 1995, with only 61 convictions.

Some say the infrequent use of CAP laws calls into question whether they were written with too much discretion for prosecutors in deciding what constitutes "criminal negligence."

Texas' CAP law accounts for the failure to take steps "a reasonable person would take" to prevent a child's access to a gun, including placing a firearm in a locked container or temporarily rendering it inoperable by a trigger lock. But it also accounts for a person who left a firearm in a place where he or she knew or "should have known" the child would gain access.

"There's a lot of ambiguity in those two scenarios," Anderman said.

Galveston County District Attorney Jack Roady, whose office will determine whether to bring a CAP charge in the case of Kadren, said he does not believe the burden of proof for criminal negligence in child-access cases is too high.

Roady said it's his job as a prosecutor to assess the exact steps an individual took to store the gun before deciding whether to file charges.

"It's important to note this: Criminal negligence is the same in this statute as it would be in a criminally negligent homicide," Roady said. "It's always fact-intensive. It's whether or not a person should have been aware of the risk involved, and that can turn regular conduct into criminal conduct."

Roady acknowledged, though, that some prosecutors may be hesitant to arrest a family member on a CAP charge in light of their crushing loss.

"I suppose in some situations that's true, but it's always going to come down to the facts of that particular situation," he said.

KIDS AND GUNS: Shooting deaths could be reduced, yet elected officials are reluctant to act

Texas presents a unique challenge for those pushing for more awareness about safe storage of firearms because of the sheer number of registered guns in the state. A 2016 Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives report found that Texas ranks at or near the top in just about every statistical category involving firearms licensing and registration. About 10 percent of all registered weapons in the country are registered in Texas.

In the past legislative session, Scruggs of Texas Gun Sense and other advocates worked on a bill that would have applied a small amount of revenue from the state's right-to-carry fee toward a statewide education and public awareness program around gun safety. Despite some bipartisan support, the bill never made it out of committee.

"That was very frustrating because when you're talking about laws relating to gun violence prevention, there probably isn't a more acceptable or larger point of agreement than the fact of we need to be safer with our firearms in the home," Scruggs said.

Gun rights organizations, however, believe that the state already does more than enough to inform gun owners about safe storage.

Alice Tripp, legislative director of the Texas State Rifle Association, said that if advocates want a more robust public campaign, "they can go buy a billboard." She noted that the National Rifle Association already has a gun safety program for children called "Eddie Eagle," which teaches children from pre-K through the fourth grade about gun safety.

"We've got laws to punish the culprit that made the gun accessible," Tripp said. "We've got all kinds of information ... in the box that the firearm came in. And then we have programs that are available ... to be used in elementary schools that the message is, 'Stop, don't touch, leave the area, tell an adult.' I don't know what's left to do, except prosecute."

Kellye Burke, president of the Texas chapter of Moms Demand Action, a volunteer arm of the nonprofit Everytown for Gun Safety, said parents have the ultimate responsibility to make sure a firearm is secured in the home.

"If I own guns, it is my responsibility to secure them properly and responsibly," Burke said. "Wherever my kids go, I need to initiate the conversation."

The decision not to do so haunts Justin Gooden's mother.

Joyel McCardell said she had no idea that her daughter's boyfriend, who lived at the apartment where she took Justin, had recently bought a gun for protection after being beaten into a coma months earlier. When a next-door neighbor had their door kicked in days before, he loaded bullets into a 9mm handgun, just in case. McCardell hated guns, having lost a close friend to a game of Russian Roulette years ago, even disposing of toy guns that Justin had gotten for Christmas.

"I told [Justin], 'I don't ever want y'all to play with these guns because I don't ever want you to think real guns is something to play with,'" she said.

McCardell said she doesn't blame her daughter's boyfriend for having a gun in the house given the circumstances of what happened to him, but she said they never would have been in the apartment had she known. As of last month, Houston police investigators had not yet determined if the boyfriend would be charged with making a firearm available to a child.

"I could feel the pain in him, because [Justin] was like a brother to him," McCardell said. "I told him, if you had told me the gun was in there I would have never been over there."

nick.powell@chron.comKingwood residents have long complained about feeling like the unwanted stepchildren of Houston ever since the neighborhood was annexed in 1996.

The city and countys recovery efforts after Hurricane Harvey should set out to prove them wrong, and this means treating Kingwoods flooding problems with the same seriousness reserved for a coastal barrier near Galveston and a third reservoir in west Houston.

Kingwood residents, on the banks of the San Jacinto River, are sitting ducks for flooding. The north Houston community suffered mightily during Hurricane Harvey, and damage from that storm left Kingwood vulnerable to flooding from even small rainfall events, the Chronicles Mike Snyder reported this week.

How? Harvey washed sediment  some of it from nearby sand mines  into the river, shallowing the waterway so it can hold less volume. The destruction was so bad entire sandbars formed in the river, displacing so much water that parts of Kingwood flooded when a mere half-inch of rain fell in a February downpour.

EDITORIAL: Fight flooding now!

Fighting this flooding means regulating sand mining along the San Jacinto, which feeds Houstons massive appetite for construction concrete.

A 2011 law requiring sand mines to register and be inspected was a start, and Humble Republican state Rep. Dan Huberty is correct to call for that law to be strengthened, perhaps even to include a ban on sand mining along the San Jacinto.

Fixing the damage already done by dredging the river would cost millions and potentially lower the quality of Houstons main source of potable water. Houston and Harris County officials are making the right move to push for dredging as soon as possible, so long as they consult with environmentalists to minimize disruption to the rivers ecology.

With flooding in Houston expected to worsen with additional development and climate change, neglecting to create a long-term plan to keep sand banks from washing into the San Jacinto could end up costing far more, and needlessly subject Kingwood residents to flooding of their homes.

This risk has already led businesses to tell the Lake Houston Area Chamber of Commerce that another flood would convince them to leave town, a move that would justify District E Council Member Dave Martins fears of losing the communitys tax base.

Houston and Harris County policy makers have shown a rare willingness to consider spending billions on building infrastructure to handle future flood-producing storms. Harvey was undoubtedly a wakeup call for this city, and Kingwood must be included in long-term efforts to protect the city from future deluges.In the weeks since 14 students and three teachers were killed during a shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., the teenage survivors of the massacre have become the new face for gun control.

They have started a #NeverAgain movement, staged rallies in Tallahassee, organized a March For Our Lives in Washington, D.C., challenged President Donald Trump in speeches and a White House listening session, confronted National Rifle Association spokesperson Dana Loesch and Republican U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio on a nationally-televised town hall and slapped down right-wing critics like Tomi Lahren on Twitter.

They are passionate, intelligent, well-spoken, social media-savvy  and mostly white.

The national conversation they have started  while long overdue and sorely needed  focuses mostly on preventing mass shootings: improving school safety, banning bump stocks and assault weapons, keeping firearms out of the hands of the mentally disturbed.

Left out have been the voices of those most affected by gun violence, those who have been in the front lines of the fight for gun control for years without garnering the kind of support, sympathy and attention given to the Parkland students.

Black youth.

Under the umbrella of the Movement for Black Lives, groups such as Black Lives Matter, Black Youth Project 100 and the Dream Defenders, have been speaking out against police brutality and working to support African-American candidates running for elected office. The Dream Defenders have been active in lobbying against Floridas Stand Your Ground self-defense law.

But unlike the Parkland students, whose efforts have thrust them into the mainstream spotlight, the activism by black teens has largely been overlooked.

RHOR: Another school shooting. Thoughts and prayers are not enough.

After Oprah Winfrey announced a $500,000 donation to the March for Our Lives gun control rally, Charlene Carruthers, the national director at Black Youth Project 100, tweeted, Gosh. This is amazing. And I'm not being sarcastic. I have to be honest and say that I'm a bit taken aback (and a bit hurt) that those of us who were in the streets in the past five years for Black lives didnt receive this type of reception or public support.

Mass shootings are horrific. They shake us to our very core. They shatter our veneer of safety. But they account for a fraction of gun deaths in this country, which sees an average of 13,000 gun homicides a year.

The African-American community is especially hard-hit, with black men 13 times more likely than non-Hispanic white men to be killed with guns. The firearm homicide rate for black children is roughly 10 times higher than the rate for white children and Asian-American children, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Last month, the Parkland students met with teenagers from Chicago and talked about the impact of gun violence in their lives. Over pizza, they vowed to join forces and expand the fight for gun control beyond gated communities.

As Emma Gonzalez, one of the Parkland leaders, tweeted:

Those who face gun violence on a level that we have only just glimpsed from our gated communities have never had their voices heard in their entire lives the way that we have in these few weeks alone  People of color in inner-cities and everywhere have been dealing with this for a despicably long time, and the media cycles just don't cover the violence the way they did here.

Why, as a society, are we more sympathetic to the young, white survivors of Parkland than to the young African-Americans fighting to stop the gun violence ripping through their communities?

We shake our heads in horror after a mass shooting, but not at the routine gun violence that results in an average of 96 deaths a day. We shout for bans on assault weapons, but only whisper about the lax laws that allow weapons to flow into cities like Chicago, where at least 370 people have been shot so far this year.

We pray after two young children, a 8-year-old boy and his 5-year-old sister, are shot in Third Ward, but the city quickly returns to the status quo.

We applaud the activism arising from the aftermath of Parkland, but turn a deaf ear to the young people working for change in Ferguson and Baltimore and Houston.

If we are serious about ending gun violence, listening to those voices would be a good place to start.Several years ago, my friend and I tuned into the nightly news. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee dominated the newshour by praising President Barack Obama for his response to the Ebola crisis and criticizing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for his political leanings. As a conservative Republican, I turned to my friend, a progressive Democrat, to share my disagreements with the congresswoman and a defense of Cruz. Of course, he sided with the congresswoman and Obama. Quickly, our discussion deteriorated into a debate of gun control, healthcare, religious liberty and a score of other hot topic issues. We were both fuming, and I got up to leave. We finally glanced at each other, both looking down on the other as a moral inferior.

This past August, our paradigm shifted. In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, we again tuned into to the nightly news. However, this time we found something very different: Jackson Lee was actually embracing Cruz. The catastrophe of Harvey brought them together. They found value in each other as people and began a constructive dialogue on the rebuilding process. My friend and I took their cue. Again, we began a conversation on politics. This time, however, we saw each other as a disputant rather than an enemy. We first saw a friend and then somebody of merely different political leanings with valuable points to offer. In putting person before politics, we were able to approach the conversation with an open mind.Research tells us that human nature is not well suited to preparing for disasters. Were complacent about future risks. We tend to prepare for a repeat of the last disaster instead of the next one. And when we finally do take the first couple of steps to protect ourselves, we convince ourselves that the job is done.

Houstonians have learned those lessons the hard way. Tropical Storm Allison, the Tax Day and Memorial Day floods and Hurricane Harvey have taught us that we need to do things differently if we want to survive and thrive in the face of future disasters. As weve said repeatedly, Houston cant just build back after Harvey  Houston must build forward.

Our proposed new flood prevention rules for construction are just one example.

Houstons economy has flourished over the years with its light regulatory touch on development. The city has grown, the cost of living has stayed attractive, and businesses have found Houston a great place to call home.

But the flooding of hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses over the last three years has made clear that we can no longer build in ways that could force residents out of their homes  threatening their livelihoods as well as their very lives  year after year. Whats more, a city better protected from flooding will be a city that continues to grow economically.

Thats why we have crafted common sense standards for future homes and buildings to be built up and out of harms way. Under these rules, any new home in Houstons floodplains will sit at least two feet above the current 500-year floodplain. That compares to the current rules that call for one foot above the 100-year floodplain.

The logic is simple. Weve experienced three 500-year floods in the last three years. We will mostly likely experience more. If just the homes that flooded in todays 100-year floodplain had conformed to the rules were proposing when Harvey hit, 88 percent would have escaped unharmed.

The reaction to our new proposals has been understandable  and predictable. Builders are warning us about higher construction costs. Some homeowners want to understand the effect on their property value and the aesthetics of their neighborhoods. Engineers want to see the data behind the numbers (Why two feet? Why not one? Why not three?)

But the overwhelming response from the public has been whats taken you so long? Builders and homeowners alike acknowledge that the savings in insurance, future repairs and replacement of personal property  never mind peace of mind and life safety  more than pay for the additional cost of building a new home a few feet higher.

Houstonians know that business as usual wont work if we want this city to be a safe, economically competitive city in the future. Business leaders know that innovation and change is the key to profitable growth. And our citys elected officials take seriously their responsibility for the well-being of our residents.

Will these new rules solve all of Houstons flooding problems? Of course not. The turnover of the housing stock in the current floodplains will take decades. We also need to turn our attention to building codes outside the floodplain  where 63 percent of Harveys home damage occurred. And we need more coordinated and responsive methods for managing flood control reservoirs across government boundaries in the region.

Most importantly, we need to redouble our efforts with our partners in the county to obtain funding for, and complete, the regional flood infrastructure projects people have been talking about for years. The time for academic finger wagging and chin stroking is over. Bayou expansion projects, new reservoirs and coastal protection projects need to get done. Lets wrap up the studies, prioritize the work, secure the funds, and get these vital defenses in place.

Were a city that sits about 50 feet above sea level and is laced with bayous. Flood risk has been a fact of our lives since our founding in 1836. Weve managed to turn that risk to our advantage, building along the way a legacy of can-do determination, engineering expertise and a powerful sense of volunteerism and community we see so vividly when the going gets tough.

The Harvey recovery gives Houston a transformational opportunity to build on that legacy. One of us has a more than a quarter-century of experience working through legislative processes to resolve complex social issues. One of us has led a global business through multiple changes and challenges. Both of us are natives of the Bayou City. And both of us are committed to working shoulder to shoulder with all Houstonians to realizing this opportunity to build forward.You may have missed the starting shot, but the midterm races officially began last week with the Texas primaries. This coming Tuesday, voters in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District head to the polls for a special election to fill the seat left vacant by Republican Tim Murphy.

At the risk of sounding hyperbolic  or downright giddy  2018 promises to be as significant, if not more so given the stakes, as 2010 when Republicans wrested the House of Representatives from Democrats amid tea party turbulence and early chants of repeal and replace.

Whether November will produce a blue wave crashing down on a crimson tide  or an estrogen rout of the testosterone swamp  remains to be seen. But early signs suggest that Republicans will have to scratch and fight to keep their dwindling majorities (41 have left or aren't seeking re-election) in the House and Senate.

Even, perhaps, in Texas.

Republican voters, who are usually more attentive to primaries than Democrats, did outperform in turnout there  1.5 million to just 1 million. One clear Democratic winner was three-term U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, a youngish (45), Kennedy-esque liberal who won a three-way Senate primary to face Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in the fall.

ENDORSEMENT: In the Democratic Senate primary, Beto O'Rourke

Cruz is up for re-election following a dramatic first-term in Washington, which has included the 2013 government shutdown that he essentially engineered (even on the House side) and, memorably, a 21-hour floor speech against Obamacare that detoured into a reading of Green Eggs and Ham. Cruz's attachment to childlike expression seems stable. In an attempt to deflate O'Rourkes primary victory, Cruz released a country-song radio ad that croons:

I remember reading stories liberal Robert wanted to fit in, So he changed his name to Beto and hid it with a grin.

Cruzs insinuation that O'Rourke changed his name to appeal to Latino voters is true only if you count the Democrats toddler years as predictive of future shape-shifting. Apparently, Beto, short for Roberto, became his nickname when, as a small child, he lived among mostly Latino neighbors in El Paso. To put an end to this silliness, ORourke produced a photo of himself as a tyke wearing a sweater emblazoned with Beto. One would think Cruz would be more sympathetic to a child just trying to fit in, especially since he tweaked his own given middle name, Edward, to become Ted.

If this were a race between Robert O'Rourke and Rafael Cruz, who knows?

The upcoming Pennsylvania race is a sorta sordid affair, thanks to the previous occupant of the seat in play. Murphy, a professed abortion opponent seemed to suggest that a woman with whom he'd had an affair should seek an abortion when the two thought she might be pregnant. Incensed when she spotted a March for Life posting on his public Facebook account, she texted him: And you have zero issue posting your pro-life stance all over the place when you had no issue asking me to abort our unborn child just last week ...

If Republicans were looking for an undramatic candidate to replace him, they succeeded with the lackluster Rick Saccone, whose campaign has failed to bestir enthusiasm and even prompted a scolding from GOP leadership. The potential embarrassment of losing in a district Donald Trump won by 20 percentage points is bad enough. Worse would be the conclusion that Trumps support is a deficit rather than a plus, as was the case in Alabamas special Senate election last year when Roy Moore lost to Democrat Doug Jones.

Meanwhile, Saccone's Democratic opponent, Conor Lamb, could have significant crossover appeal. An Ivy League-educated Marine veteran and former prosecutor, Lamb reportedly likes shooting machine guns and has suggested that he wouldnt support Nancy Pelosi as House speaker should Democrats win control in November.

In 2010, Republicans hailed their triumphant sweep as a referendum on President Obama and the Affordable Care Act. Tuesday's election may not foretell the future  and the Lamb/Saccone match is, indeed, a special circumstance  but any Republican loss now would give Democrats a lift and create momentum for races to come.

As Trump marches on to his own very-special drummer, lending status to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un by agreeing to meet with him and slapping allies with punitive tariffs, it couldn't come at a better time.And this is my favorite: two equally reasonable people can look at the same items and disagree. I use my own life as an example. We used to have a joke in the house. If the phone rang after 9 p.m., it was either my mother-in-law, or a reporter whod gotten kicked out of a meeting, seeking an opinion or a comment regarding a boards compliance with law. My name, home address and home phone number (still a land line) are in the phone book and available online. Anyone can find me. My wife, on the other hand, uses a different name for good reason. First, she doesnt want to be associated with me (completely understandable), and second, shes a psychotherapist and doesnt want clients to know where she lives, or her home phone number. She has perfectly valid reasons for saying, No, never! I have equally good reasons for saying, I dont care, and never the twain shall meet. So what do we do about privacy?Diljit Dosanjh Does Not Give a 'Damn' About His Career in Bollywood, Read to Know WhyThis is the kind of case we talked about back in law school, and I was intrigued enough to dig up the Missouri-based court complaint in this case to learn more. I've included it at the bottom of this story.

But I think the most important line in the entire filing is one some people have missed. And buried in the reasoning behind it, is an important lesson for business leaders and entrepreneurs. Here's the line:

Plaintiff is requesting damages in the amount of $74,999.99 and nothing more.

It's an odd number, right? It turns out there's a smart reason behind the decision to use it. Below, we'll go through this strange case, why the plaintiff is suing for exactly one penny under $75 grand, and what all of this means for you as a business leader.

Bottom line upfront, it's about understanding the rules of any contest or negotiation, and identifying weaknesses that can enable a small player to take on an exponentially larger entity. It's about how if you plan things right, David can always beat Goliath.

(I asked both the plaintiff's lawyer and Southwest Airlines for comment. Neither responded.)

The wrong airport.

Quick, important fact: There are two airports servicing tiny Branson, Missouri: Branson Airport, which at the time had regular Southwest Airlines service, and the smaller Taney County airport, with a runway barely half the length of Branson's.

Somehow, the captain and first officer of Southwest Flight 4013 from Chicago mixed up the airports--which are only seven miles apart--and landed at the wrong one.

Nobody was physically injured--but at least one career was ended and things could have been much worse. Passengers allegedly had to wait for two hours after landing before being allowed off, while the plane was filled with smoke.

"We landed very abruptly, with the pilot applying the brakes very hard. We smelled burnt rubber from the stop," another passenger (not the plaintiff in this lawsuit, as far as I know) told Forbes at the time, adding: "The mood is somber now that we realized we were 40 feet from the edge of a cliff."

The passenger who sued Southwest, Troy Haines, lived in the area and had flown into Branson Airport many times, and says he realized well before the plane landed--even if the pilots didn't--they were at the wrong airport, "with a much smaller runway."

He was "immediately struck with fear and anxiety over potentially crashing," according to his lawsuit, and he later "suffered severe mental anguish, fear and anxiety, including a panic attack which caused him to be removed from another airline prior to takeoff."

That in turn led him to stop flying, which meant taking a job that didn't require travel--"at a substantially diminished salary."

Why $74,999.99?

Whether you think the lawsuit sounds reasonable or not, the obvious question is simply: Why not just round things up a penny and ask for $75,000?

The reason stems from the fact that there are two U.S. court systems: federal and state. And even if a plaintiff files a suit in state court, the defendant can sometimes move it ("remove it" in the legal language) to federal court.

Most often, the defendant does this by showing the plaintiff and defendants are from different states--but also that the amount at stake is more than $75,000. Suing for exactly one penny less than that blocks Southwest from removing the case to federal court.

"It's clear [the plaintiff in this case] wants to be in state court and is therefore staying under the monetary threshold for removal to federal court," said Paul Geller, an experienced civil litigator and a partner at New York-based Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd, who is not involved in this case.

"While I don't necessarily ascribe to it, there is a general overlay in litigation that plaintiffs want to be in state court, and defendants try to find any way to get to federal court (through removal, where permissible)," Geller continued.

"Flight options plummet at Branson Airport."

It's not that suing for one penny under the cutoff is a rare strategy. And Geller went on to call the idea that state courts are always more plaintiff-friendly "an urban myth."

In many cases, he might be right. But here, several things make filing (and staying) in state court utterly brilliant, in my opinion. If you're a business owner, or you can ever imagine being a party to a civil lawsuit, you'll want to pay attention.

First, there's the fact that five months after this incident--June 4, 2014--Southwest stopped flying into Branson.

You can imagine why this might make sense, business-wise: Taney County, where Branson is located, has only about 51,000 year-round residents, although it is a tourist destination. Still, when Southwest left (along with Frontier soon after, the only other big airline that had served the area), the airport was hit hard.

In fact, the last time news broke that Branson might be attracting a major carrier, it was all part of an elaborate April Fool's joke on the part of Sir Richard Branson (same last name as the city), the CEO and founder of now-defunct Virgin America.

I don't know the exact economic impact of the airport's demise. But I'm sure it caused damage, as outlined in one newspaper article, "Flight options plummet at Missouri's new Branson Airport." I'm also confident that seeing your hometown dismissed as too insignificant for commercial flights has to sting.

All of which might make the plaintiff want more Branson-area jurors, while Southwest might want to do everything it can to try this case as far away as possible.

Again, trying to stay in state court isn't a rare strategy. But the extra reasons for that in this case are instructive--especially for business leaders.

It's about seeing things from an adversary's perspective, and understanding how small things that you take for granted can turn out to be big advantages in negotiations, or even litigation.

Fifty miles--and a world away.

The closest federal court to Branson is 50 miles north, in Springfield.

That means, if Southwest Airlines could remove the case to federal court, they'd be able to take it out of the county where this all happened, a community Southwest deemed not significant enough for its business.

And this isn't just about the location of the courtroom; to my mind it's about the makeup of the jury pool.

Jurors closer to Springfield, Missouri, might not feel one way or another about Southwest. But pull together a jury in Branson, and a reasonable lawyer might imagine you'd wind up with someone who knew someone who lost a job after Southwest and Frontier pulled out, or who is now inconvenienced by the lack of air service, or who doesn't like that the big airlines think their hometown is just a punch line.

In other words, maybe you could assume a Branson jury would be predisposed to find for a plaintiff who lived in its town and isn't asking for all the money in the world--and find against the giant corporation with the out-of-state headquarters that allegedly did him wrong.

So you'd want to keep things in state court, in Branson. And because the plaintiff asked for one penny less than is required for a removal to federal court, Southwest seems stuck.

Or else maybe this is all just about making it harder for Southwest's lawyers and witnesses to travel to the trial in Branson.By the end of this century, the worlds population will have increased by half  thats another 3.6 billion people. According to the UN, the global population is set to reach over 11.2 billion by the year 2100, up from the current population which was estimated at the end of 2017 to be 7.6 billion. And that is considered to be medium growth.

The upscaling required in terms of infrastructure and development, not to mention the pressure on material resources, is equivalent to supplying seven times the population of the (pre-Brexit) European Union countries, currently 511 million. With the global population rising at 45 million per year comes the inevitable rise in demand for food, water and materials, but perhaps most essentially, housing.

Housing needs are changing

Average household sizes vary significantly between different continents and also by country. According to the UN, recent trends over the last 50 years have also shown declines in household sizes. For example, in France the average household size fell from 3.1 persons in 1968 to 2.3 in 2011, the same time the countrys fertility rate fell from 2.6 to 2.0 live births per woman. In Kenya, the average household size fell from 5.3 persons per household in 1969 to 4.0 in 2014, in line with a fertility decline from 8.1 to 4.4 live births per woman.

Increasingly ageing populations, particularly in developed countries, are causing a demographic shift in future care needs, but it also means that people are staying in their own homes for longer, which affects the cycle of existing housing becoming available each year. One of the most marked changes has been the rise in one- and two-person households in the UK and other developed countries.

Statistics published by the National Records for Scotland, for example, reveal the influence of these changing demographics, with future household demand rising faster than population growth. By 2037, Scotlands population growth is forecast to be 9 per cent, with growth in the number of households forecast to be 17 per cent. This 8 per cent difference is in effect the household growth demand from the existing population.

In England, between now and 2041, the population is expected to increase by 16 per cent, with projected household growth at 23 per cent, resulting in a 7 per cent difference in demand.

As people live longer and one- and two-person households increase, the number of future households required rises faster than the population. In 2014, urban issues website CityLab dubbed the situation the worlds ticking household bomb.

For many countries, housing is now a hot topic. For the rest of the world, it will soon become the most pressing issue facing governments this century <p> </p>

As more developing countries deliver infrastructure and progress similar to developed countries  improving the standard of living and extending life expectancy  household sizes will decrease, placing greater demand on supply of new housing. So if this difference between household demand and population growth occurs globally at around 7-8 per cent over the next 80 years, this will require an additional 800 million homes.

Taking an average global three-person household (1.2 billion homes) coupled with that 8 per cent demographic factor of total global population over the period results in a need for more than two billion new homes by the end of the 21st century.

Meeting the demand

The current and future demand for new housing is compelling governments to push for further innovations in offsite  prefabricated  construction to speed up the supply of new housing. The UK Industrial Strategy published in November 2017 has a strong focus on offsite construction for the future. This sector has grown rapidly over the last decade with new markets in healthcare, education and commercial buildings. But for prefab construction to deliver more houses at a faster rate means looking at alternative solutions to the problem.

Things that slow down the rate that prefab houses are built include the lengthy preparation time required for substructures and foundations; delays to the installation of utilities and building services; and a lack of well-trained construction site managers capable of delivering the complex logistics involved. With more than 65 million people displaced by man-made and natural disasters globally, this puts further pressures on countries unable to supply enough new housing as it is.

The issue of availability of materials to meet the demands of constructing two billion new homes emphasises the need for countries to resource them as efficiently as possible. Government policies which encourage the sustainable design of new buildings to maximise future re-use, reduce carbon emissions and manage resources properly will be essential. Over the next 30 years, the countries which promote policies to help sustain and increase new housing provision will be more likely to avoid problems in sourcing materials and price hikes.

For many countries, housing supply is a now a hot topic for national debate and policy strategy. For the rest of the world it will soon become the most pressing issue facing governments this century.

Sean Smith, director of the Institute for Sustainable Construction at Edinburgh Napier University This article was originally published on The Conversation (theconversation.com)Its Mothers Day and a family meal is plannedbut argh, the wine rack is empty. So, what wines can we seek out in our high streets today to honour the most important person in the home.

If you want to kick off with a sparkling wine, there is obviously a multitude of choices out there, with lots of very good Mothers Day timed discounts on well known names, such as the very traditional and appropriately named G.H.Mumm Cordon Rouge Brut, (26; normally 35 but raises to 37 from 20 March; Waitrose.com) but if you are looking for something a bit different, try this new limited release, own label English sparkling Parcel Series English Fizz (29.99 or 22.48 as part of mixed six bottle purchase Majestic.co.uk) from an undisclosed vineyard and bottled by Hambledon, one of the best English producers: enlivening and mouthfilling. If its a good prosecco you want to accompany a brunch, with or without orange juice, then Sainsburys has just launched its own label organic version So Organic Prosecco (10 Sainburys.co.uk) which is well worth checking out: very dry, typical flavours of pears and white peaches and a full body. For those of your who simply must have something pink, the Co-op now have a rose version of their best selling and multi-award winning range, the red berry fruit packed Les Pionniers Rose NV Champagne (21.99 Co-op stores) developed for them by the Piper Heidsieck brand. Both of these sparklers are terrific value.

Next up, a good white: while in Sainsburys, you could try the McGuigan Shortlist Chardonnay 2016, (14 Sainburys.co.uk) a traditional Aussie chardonnay from a brand that is normally associated with the more budget end of the market but demonstrates it can do well made, more serious wines as well: lots of vanilla and toast flavours, but not overoaked, with plenty of fresh citrus flavours coming through; fine for white or smoked fish, oysters and great with roast pork. If you want something a bit fresher and fragrant but with a slightly saline, tangy finish that will also partner well with fish and shellfish, try the Tres Mares Albarino 2016 (7.99, normally 9.99 until March 20 Waitrose.com) from Spains wet and green north-west.

Now for a red: if you want a medium bodied, but still toothsome red, try the juicy, red berry fruit flavoured Stepp Pinot Noir 2015 (15 Marksandspencer.com) from Germanys Pfalz region which would match roast chicken, duck or vegetarian foods very well. Still in M&S, if you a looking for something a good deal weightier for beef or lamb, try the exceptional Amarone della Valpolicella Villalta 2014 (26 Marksandspencer.com) full bodied, smoothly elegant and packed with ripe fruit flavours deriving from the semi-dried corvina grapes that linger long on the palate. Also rich and full bodied, but somewhat more rustic and peppery is the Domaine de la Combe Dieu Rasteau 2016 (9 normally 12, until March 26; Tesco.com made from a typical Rhone valley combination of grenache, syrah, mourvedre and cinsault and the pick of a generally good quality new range of Tesco French wines under the Domaines Et Chateaux brand. Remember to save some for the cheese.

Finally, there has to be a pudding, doesnt there? Whatever type of pudding you are having, by far the best accompaniment is a small glass of luscious, lingering dessert wine, such as Hungarys finest wine, the Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos 2013 (50cl 24 or 21.60 as part of mixed six bottle purchase; Majestic.co.uk) Not overly sweet or cloying, shot through with fresh acidity which tingles on the palate, the subtle dried fruit flavours will last and last. Not cheap of course, but, hey, shes worth itStanding in the mud of the Myvatn geyser field in northern Iceland, Kolla Ivarsdottir lifted the lid of her makeshift bread oven. It had been fashioned from the drum of an old washing machine and buried in the geothermally heated earth. All around us mudpots burbled and columns of steam shot skyward, powered by the heat of nascent volcanoes.

Ivarsdottir, a mother-of-three who sells her bread in a local crafts market, reached into the oven and retrieved a milk carton full of just-baked lava bread, a sweet, dense rye bread that has been made in the hot earth here for centuries. She cut the still-hot loaf into thick slices. It is best eaten, she said, completely covered by a slab of cold butter as thick as your hand, and a slice of smoked salmon, just as thick. We settled for bread and butter  still a supernal combination.

Do many people cook other things this way? I asked, eyeing the natural heat sources all around me.

Not much, she replied. Sometimes a goose that a hunter shot, but most often, just the lava bread.

Jon Sigfusson (left) and Kjartan Olafsson load food into the communal geothermal oven (NYT)

I found this surprising in an energy-rich and conservation-minded country that is also a pioneer in modern Nordic cuisine. In this era of slow cookers and sous-vide, wouldnt it be possible, I wondered, to make a whole meal using Icelands natural geothermal ovens?

I did more than wonder: I decided to test my proposition, a quest that led me last summer on a wide-ranging tour of this islands culinary riches.

A call to restaurant critic and fish exporter Kjartan Olafsson, my go-to source for all things Icelandic, caught him in the midst of haying for the horses that carry him and his wife on off-road forays into the wilderness. In this land of rapid weather changes and not much arable land, the folk wisdom of making hay while the sun shines is a deeply held article of faith.

I have just the guy for you, he said.

At his suggestion, I immediately set out on an eight-hour drive to Reykholt, a village in the south-west. Although it has the some of grandest scenery on earth, Iceland is a small country; 16 hours by car will take you on a complete circuit.

The vent of the capped geyser, which erupts every seven minutes (NYT)

The next day, I met Jon Sigfusson in Reykholt, where he is the chef at Fridheimar, a restaurant under the same roof as a futuristic indoor farm of the same name. About a fifth of Icelands tomatoes are grown there on soaring vines  as tall as a two-storey house  under golden lamps in geothermally heated greenhouses. The restaurants whole menu, including cocktails, is based on tomatoes.

Before embarking on this experimental venture, Sigfusson was a traditional fine-dining chef. He cooked in elegant restaurants and for visiting dignitaries like US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, to whom he served an appetiser of puffin crudo.

Puffins, it should be noted, are not protected as an endangered species in Iceland. They are one of the few native game birds available to Icelandic hunters. In keeping with the law, Sigfusson hunts them only in the traditional way, by dangling over the edge of treacherous cliffs, wielding a 15-foot pole with a net at the end.

Sigfusson and his wife, Asborg, returned to Reykholt, his native village, after raising their children in Reykjavik. They were looking for a slower pace of life. He did not foresee the runaway success that the tomato restaurant would have, but he still maintains a small-town existence, more in tune with nature. He is proud of his successful recent effort to marshal local opposition to the installation of street lamps.

I moved here because I want the moonlight, the stars and the Northern Lights, he said.

Trout from the nearby Tungufljot river, part of the al fresco feast (NYT)

In that low-tech spirit, our group  Olafsson; his wife, Karitas; my wife, Melinda; and I  hatched a plan to cook at the local geyser oven, a feature of many rural Icelandic towns. A short drive from the restaurant, it sits on a rise with a hundred-mile vista to the south and east, a panorama of big rivers and lava fields. In the distance, Hekla, an active volcano, hulks over the plain. In medieval times it was said that the birds that circle the sleeping volcano were the souls of sinners queueing up for the descent into hell.

The water we are drinking fell as rain and snow on that glacier 700 years ago, Sigfusson said, pointing west to the mountains of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which rise up from the North Atlantic rift that marks the separation of Eurasia from North America.

We were standing on the hill above Reykholt, where the towns geyser has been capped with a roughly finished housing of concrete, topped by a ramshackle smokestack. From that source, the village channels steam and hot water that supply part of the heat and power needs of the modern community.

Some of the hot vapour is also diverted to the villages communal oven, where Sigfusson proposed to cook our meal. Its a much safer way to cook in geothermal heat than tiptoeing around boiling geysers.

He opened the geyser oven, propping it up with a fence post so that I could peer in safely. The escaping steam was as hot as a sauna and, at the bottom of the oven, a good deal hotter (about 200F, or 93C). It smelt a bit sulphurous, too, but that comes with the territory when tapping the heat of the Earths core.

We agreed to meet the following morning to cook a menu of local fare, including trout from the nearby Tungufljot river and grass-fed Icelandic lamb, a hardy local breed that has the same salty succulence of the famous French agneau de pre-sale, lamb raised in salt-marsh meadows.

Rough but ready: the herbs and other ingredients for the meal (NYT)

For dessert, Sigfusson suggested abrystir, made from the first milk (nutrient-dense colostrum) produced by a nursing cow. Whenever one of our cows gave birth, my grandma would take some of the milk and put it in a teakettle set into a pan of hot water, he said. It was so rich that pretty soon it had set into a creme brulee all on its own  no eggs.

The next day broke bluebird-bright, with cotton-candy clouds and a light breeze. First we forage, Sigfusson said when we met. Wild herbs are everywhere.

Our small group ranged along the hillside. The ground was carpeted by wild thyme, with purple flowers the size of a gumdrop nestling among tender flavourful leaves. In the lusher folds and hollows, we found angelica, a plant with a floral, almost verbena note and just a touch of bitterness  well suited to contain the broad flavours of the unctuous lamb.

Sigfusson lopped off two stalks of wild hops to season the broth, a new use  at least to me  of the brewmasters mainstay.

As we prepped the meal, he offered us cold beers and appetisers: smoked ptarmigan and cured salmon on rye crackers, with tomato jams and chutneys from the restaurant and, as with just about everything one eats in Iceland, cold fresh butter.

The ptarmigan had been smoked over dried smouldering sheep dung, which is pretty much the only thing you can use for smoking in this relatively treeless landscape, where a 15-foot fir tree towers like a sequoia.

With the tailgate of his truck serving as our work surface, we separated some greenhouse romanesco into florets and tossed them into a Dutch oven. We cubed baby kohlrabi, did the same with the smoky brined lamb shoulder, then added the herbs, the hops and a half-dozen glugs of cream. As we worked, the geyser would blow its top every seven minutes, and we had to pause, retreating beyond the reach of its warm, misty spray.

The brined lamb, adorned with vegetables and freshly foraged herbs, before going into the oven (NYT)

Next, we poured the colostrum into ramekins that we set into our bain-marie  a roasting pan half-filled with water. Then Sigfusson brought out a 2lb brown trout he had caught himself (on a Hairy Mary salmon fly, he reported with pride). We stuffed the brightly spotted trout with sorrel, angelica and scallions, folded it up in parchment paper (en papillote is an ideal way to cook in a steam oven) and placed it in with the rest of our feast.

We left the oven to work its magic and, a few hours later, returned to unburden it of our meal. The bread, Jons own variation on this Viking staple, could have easily sufficed for the whole meal had we not exercised some restraint. The trout was flaky and herbaceous. The milk pudding, topped with a jam of green tomatoes, ginger, and honey was super-creamy.

But the star of the show was the lamb braise. The meat was salty and smoky, the creamy gravy enriched with the captured juices of lamb, romanesco and kohlrabi, and everything suffused with wild thyme, angelica and hops  which brought the sweetness-enhancing quality of fresh tarragon. I made a note to try it under the skin of my next roast chicken.

The breeze was gentle, and the ground was soft and dry enough to lie or sit on without getting damp. Late afternoon sun lit up the landscape formed by long ago by lava flows. It looked like pale-green velvet rippled by the breeze.

Ill admit to a tingle of schadenfreude as I looked over at Hekla to see to see if the soul of anyone on my hit list was plunging into hellfire, but I didnt dwell on it. The day was too lovely, the natural world too congenial and the food too satisfying to yield to uncharitable fantasies.

 New York TimesA young woman who blinded herself while high on crystal meth has spoken about the experience as a warning to others about the perils of drugs.

Last month, Kaylee Muthart, from Anderson, South Carolina made headlines when she was rushed to the hospital after she was found tearing her own eyes out in front of a church, in what she thought at the time was a sacrifice to God.

Now, completely blind but drug-free, the 20-year-old says life is more beautiful now" - but only because she's kicked her drug habit.

Speaking to Cosmopolitan, the former drug addict, who also suffers from mental health issues, describes the horrific ordeal that occured on February 6 - when her world went black.

After months of struggling with drug addiction, Muthart, 20, had promised her mother, Katy Tompkins, that she would attend rehab.

Tompkins recorded their conversation so she could get a court to issue a court order that would make rehab for her daughter mandatory.

But just one week before Muthart was supposed to leave for the rehabilitation centre, she bought meth from her drug dealer and took a larger dose than she had ever taken before.

The next morning, according to Muthart, whose memory of the incident is fuzzy, she thought everything would end and everyone would die if she didnt tear out my eyes immediately.

Passerby found Muthart shortly after with her eyeballs in her hands after gouging them out. According to the people who saved her life, she was screaming I want to see the light! and tried to fight them off.

The 20-year-old was rushed to Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina where doctors performed an emergency surgery.

Muthart told Cosmopolitan of the moment she woke up: Everything was dark, and I knew I was blind, but when I sensed my mom by my side, I knew I would be okay.

Since returning home on March 1, Muthart has come to terms with her new life - and is optimistic about the future.

She is currently attending outpatient psychiatric treatment, as well as physical therapy, but plans to pursue her dreams of becoming a marine biologist.

Muthart is also trying to raise money for a seeing eye dog through her GoFundMe page. So far, she has raised over $27,000 of her $50,000 goal.

And although she does get upset about her situation occasionally, Muthart says she would rather be blind than on drugs.

Lifes more beautiful now, lifes more beautiful than it was being on drugs. It is a horrible world to live in, Muthart told People Magazine.The Taoiseach will later begin his St Patricks trip to the US with a series of engagements in Texas.

Austin in Texas is the first stop on Leo Varadkars week-long programme of events stateside.

As is tradition, the focus of the itinerary will be Mr Varadkars meeting with President Trump at the White House on Thursday.

The problems encountered by the tens of thousands of Irish citizens who live in the US without legal residency are set to feature in the Oval Office discussions.

Expand Close Mr Varadkar will meet with US President Donald Trump (Matt Cardy/PA) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Mr Varadkar will meet with US President Donald Trump (Matt Cardy/PA)

With Irelands economy supported by thousands of jobs created by US-based multinationals, President Trumps America First protectionist policies may also be raised, as might Irelands controversial tax arrangements with some of those companies.

The ongoing powersharing crisis in Northern Ireland is also likely to feature to the talks.

As well as Austin and Washington DC, the Irish premier will also fulfil engagements New York.

He will also visit a Native American community in Oklahoma.

His meeting with the Choctaw Nation will commemorate the tribes fundraising efforts for the victims of Irelands Great Famine in the mid Nineteenth Century.

In Austin, the Taoiseach will celebrate Irish innovation at the South by Southwest festival and meet the Governor of Texas, Greg Abbott.

After further stops in Texas and then Oklahoma, Mr Varadkar travels to Washington DC on Tuesday where he will deliver a foreign policy address to the Brookings Institution.

That evening, the Taoiseach and Senator George Mitchell will be keynote speakers at a congressional event to mark 20 years since the signing of Northern Irelands Good Friday Agreement peace agreement.

His Washington engagements also include meetings with senior representatives of Irish companies succeeding in the US market.

On Wednesday, the Taoiseach will address the annual American Ireland Fund gala dinner.

Keeping with recent traditions, Mr Varadkars bilateral meeting with Mr Trump on Thursday will be followed by the annual Speakers lunch on Capitol Hill and the ceremonial exchange of a shamrock bowl between the President and Taoiseach back at the White House.

On Friday, the Taoiseach will be guest of honour at a breakfast hosted by Vice President Mike Pence.

Mr Varadkar will end his trip in New York where his series of engagements will include the St Patricks Day parade along Fifth Avenue on Saturday.'This week the AA will highlight ongoing structural issues which it believes cause high car insurance premiums in Ireland and will call on the Government to act on recommendations made in a report 2015.' Stock photo: PA Wire/PA Images

Competition in the insurance market is likely to shrink due to Brexit, the AA Ireland chief executive Brendan Nevin has warned.

Nevin said new British insurers would be unlikely to enter the Irish market after the UK exits the EU.

"Heretofore you would frequently find UK insurers entering the Irish market on a periodic basis," he told the Sunday Independent.

"I am guessing that will become more difficult because what they may well find is that while they are happy to deal with insurance intermediaries in Ireland, whether they are willing to set up a fully-loaded subsidiary in Ireland might be another matter."

"There is a potential risk to future competition in the market if we see that it stops market entrants coming in."

This week the AA will highlight ongoing structural issues which it believes cause high car insurance premiums in Ireland and will call on the Government to act on recommendations made in a report 2015. "The implementation of it has run into the sand a bit," said Nevin.

"What's really happened is that pretty high premiums have become normalised."

He said the average premium was 600 in 2015 and is now close to 800.Farmer action and links to elected politics reach back to the era of Daniel O'Connell and the gradual introduction of democracy from the mid-19th century onwards.

It has seen the farming community in Ireland repeatedly make their mark upon the nation's politics.

The Land League was interwoven with the old Irish Parliamentary Party and the league's founder, Michael Davitt, was elected on three occasions to the House of Commons.

The land agitation wrought huge social change in Ireland which was unique among the four countries which made up the United Kingdom.

The scale of the change wrought by farmers' agitation and political lobbying is too often forgotten and/or overlooked.

In 1870, some 19,000 landlords, many of them absentees, had a stranglehold on Irish land ownership. There were over half a million farmers suffering grave injustices on the land and fewer than a third of these had tenancy rights.

Within a generation, a new power emerged with farmer owners becoming the norm thanks to a series of land acts which were won by political agitation by Irish farmers. These land acts, ranging from 1870 until 1903, proved a huge social game-changer all across provincial Ireland.

The very first piece of legislation enacted by the new Irish State in 1923 concerned farming and land ownership. The Farmers' Party also made an impact in the early days of the Irish State.

This grew out of the old Irish Farmers' Union which catered for larger operators.

At one stage it had a total of 15 TDs, but it waned in the late 1920s, reformed as the Centre Party and eventually merged into the reconstituted Fine Gael, formed in 1933.

Clann na Talmhan, formed in 1939, was the first totally new political party formed in the independent Ireland.

Its brave visionary policies for balanced rural development have too long been overlooked. The Clann's eventual end in 1965, in part due to continued rural depopulation, is a tale of heartbreak.

But needless to say farmers also played a strong role in the two big parties, Fianna Fail and Fine Gael. Both parties remain very solicitous of the farmer vote and are keenly aware that farmers generally go out and vote, keeping their political impact despite declining numbers.

Some of the heaviest hitters in Irish politics, who were national household names in their day, have held the prestigious post of Agriculture Minister.

Reaching back randomly we can name Charlie Haughey, Mark Clinton, Neil Blaney, James Dillon, Brian Lenihan Senior, Austin Deasy, Joe Walsh and Simon Coveney.

The rural organisations, Macra na Feirme, the IFA, ICMSA and others proved a pathway for many people into elected politics.

When Ireland joined the then-EEC in 1973, it was only natural that the IFA registered a strong presence in Brussels. After all, the Common Agriculture Policy was for many years the only fully-developed EU policy.

The IFA's representative office in the EU capital was first run by Alan Dukes, who went on to become Finance Minister and later led Fine Gael.

The office has continued to be a very effective listening post and lobbying centre which is envied by many organisations.

Ireland also has the distinction of having two EU Agriculture Commissioners, Ray MacSharry, and the current Commissioner Phil Hogan.

Three IFA presidents - TJ Maher, Paddy Lane and Alan Gillis - served with distinction in the European Parliament.

Other IFA presidents who succeeded these, including Joe Rae and John Donnellan, were frequent visitors to Brussels and proved to be a strong voice there for Irish farmers.

John Downing is an Irish Independent political correspondentAs the last of the snow was melting in Dublin city centre last week, the offices of AA Ireland were still buzzing from high volumes of customer calls linked to Storm Emma.

Chief executive Brendan Nevin was on high alert in the days leading up to the 'unprecedented' weather event, and an action plan sprung into place, which included booking staff into nearby hotels to ensure they were on hand to reassure fretful customers.

"We have to stay open 24/7. We are always open. Among the key things we wanted to keep open and running was our rescue section, which is something we are quite good at keeping open." Around 70 vehicles, equipped for the inclement conditions, were out each day. "Just so we weren't leaving people stranded.

"And we wanted to keep home insurance open, because I think people just worry," says Nevin. "We had a lot of inquiry calls from people concerned as to whether or not they have the right cover. People would expect patrols to be out, so we had to out-perform on things like home and travel."

Staff were also busy providing travel and traffic updates. "We try to make sure we are there in those events. The team was brilliant - there were people working crazy hours in very, very adverse conditions.

"But when people are in trouble, they definitely want to speak to somebody."

Over the past 18 months the company, which employs 550 people and has revenues of around 60m, has been busy working on establishing itself as an independent business after the Irish arm was bought by private equity fund Carlyle Cardinal Ireland (CCI) in 2016, with managers also buying in.

"We've been doing a major IT investment, that's partly related to us setting it up as an independent business in Ireland, so that's a big undertaking."

Some 11m has been poured into upgrading the company's technology. This meant that 2017 wasn't a year of growth, says Nevin. "It was more a focus on getting that done as well as possible."

Nevin has held many senior roles in some of Ireland best-known companies, but this is the first time he has run a standalone company.

He says he never really remembers seeing himself doing anything other than working in business.

He grew up in Dun Laoghaire and had a first-hand view of business in action. His father owned a small chain of shoe shops, named Connollys, and from a young age he helped out in the stores.

"It was a real old-fashioned, traditional retailer. I was working in there even when I was in school, tidying up and so on. I probably got interested in business from that," he says.

He studied management science in DIT, with a leaning towards marketing, and followed it up with an MA in Trinity.

His first job was with NCR, an ATM company that is now part of IBM. It was in the dark years of the mid-1980s and Nevin describes it as "a real sales job, very tough".

"A lot of people shut the door on me, so you learn resilience for sure."

Opportunities in Ireland were thin on the ground and Nevin knew he would need to cast his net wider in order to catch the type of roles he was interested in.

He headed to London with a plan to spend five years there and ended up staying much longer. Roles included positions at Bulmers and biscuit company McVitie's.

By chance he was offered a job working on Baileys in the mid-90s, bringing him back to Dublin, although travelling extensively as he pushed the cream liqueur out into Eastern Europe and beyond.

"As you went down to Russia and Central Asia, it was definitely something a bit different. Eastern Europe was easier because they have a strong liqueurs tradition so they got the idea of a sweet drink. In Russia and Central Asia, they didn't really have a liqueur tradition. Therefore if you didn't want to drink vodka you were sort of stuck, so that was one of the things that helped it take off."

He then went on to join Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company, which involved him settling in Greece and learning the language.

It was again a very different market, with industrial relations among the most striking challenges.

"The factory I had taken over had been particularly scarred by industrial relations over the years. A couple of weeks after arriving, myself and my wife were sitting having coffee and there was the inevitable communist demonstration going down the street and I suddenly noticed that was our shop steward at the front leading it."

It give him a clear indication and what lay ahead but in the end, Nevin got on well with the man and the way the factory operated improved as they found common ground.

His eldest son was born in Greece but Nevin began increasingly thinking about moving home when a chance to join Eircom (now Eir) came his way and so he returned to work at the newly listed company. He went on to join Bank of Ireland and played a key role in its UK operations.

When Acromos, the owner of AA came knocking in 2011, Nevin was intrigued. While he had run large units of big companies, it was an opportunity to take the reins of a standalone business.

"What I liked about it that it was traditionally a very customer-centric organisation that was now needing to transform. That was interesting as a business problem.

"When we started off it was more of a traditional roadside business," he says. "And it would still have carried a lot of values of the mutual - it used be owned by the members. That creates a culture that is very customer-centric.

"But surrounding that, the rest of the business was pretty undeveloped.

"The transformation has aimed to preserve those positive elements and add new technology, new people and new skillsets, particularly in the areas of data, analytics and IT, in order to expand the business into new markets such as travel and home insurance."

When he took over, around 70pc of turnover came from the breakdown business and the rest from the area of insurance. Now it is around 45pc relates to breakdown and other motoring services and the rest is financial services, predominantly insurance of one kind or another.

When Nevin joined, he felt the then owners were 'wobbling' - the business was not in great shape, and neither was the economy. He agreed with management when they decided to sell the Irish division.

"The challenge of being the Irish division of a much larger company is you end up being at the end of the queue for any resources that need to be deployed.

"And you often have to implement strategies at a group level that just might not make sense here. The Irish market for most of what we do is very different from the UK," he says.

In recent years the business performance improved and Nevin believes it is now well-positioned for growth.

"What we have done is to increase our motor insurance business quite a lot," he says. "Which is a core business for us."

"We have expanded in adjacent areas such as life and mortgage protection and that is growing quite quickly now; travel insurance is growing very quickly - and home which is where we are beginning to focus now."

At the moment, the company has 50,000 home customers and it has particular ambitions to grow this. "We've been investing pretty heavily in our home technology," he says.

There has been some speculation that AA Ireland might look to an IPO for its eventual exit plan, given it is owned by private equity. Nevin said that there is a lot yet to do before firm plans for an exit are decided upon.

"When the time comes, obviously we'll think about it," he says.

"That's not something you would undertake lightly. The markets would have to be right. A lot of things would have to be right before you'd do it and I don't know if that will be the situation when the time comes because I don't know when that time is."

As a high-profile player in the Ireland's motor industry, Nevin has some strong views about Ireland's high motor insurance premiums. While it might seem to most people that insurers are to blame, Nevin says there are structural issues.

There is some frustration that progress on recommendations issued during Eoghan Murphy's time as Minister of State for Financial Services, seems to have stalled.

"The implementation of it has run into the sand a bit," he says. "What's really happened is that pretty high premiums have become normalised."

Nevin said that structural issues remain such as legal costs, fraud and a lack of information-sharing among insurers. In the coming days, AA Ireland will once again raise the issues in an effort to get some renewed momentum for action.

Turnover for 2016 was just under 60m and it was around the same in 2017. Nevin hopes to now enter into a growth phase and build 'significantly' on the 350,000 customers it currently has as well as revenues.

At present, the company has under 10pc of all the insurance segments it operates in and Nevin says this means there is ample opportunity for growth. He demurs from revealing financial or customer targets.

However, he is clear on his vision. "Our ultimate aim is to have an independent, Irish headquartered insurance and financial services group, because there aren't that many of them."FEARGAL O'ROURKE first came to national prominence when, as a child of Fianna Fail TD Mary ORourke, he appeared in a piece in the Irish Independent on the children of politicians.

The article asked the children what they would like to be when they grow up. "Minister for Finance," the young ORourke proudly declared back then.

"Thankfully I got rid of that virus that infected many other members of my family, and Paschal is doing a great job," ORourke laughs.

Today, ORourke is of course not Minister for Finance, but nonetheless, as Managing Partner for PwC Ireland, he plays a key role in Irelands financial industry.

Despite his now long career at PwC, he says that initially it was always his intention to return to his native Athlone, something he admits will not happen now.

"I did a B-Comm in UCD and I did what is colloquially known as the milk round (interviews with the main consultancy firms), there used to be a big eight at the time and I had a number of offers from some of the firms and I took a risk, there was something about the culture of Price Waterhouse that you got that stood out for me."

Expand Close Feargal O Rourke, Managing Partner at PwC pictured at the PwC offices on Spencer Dock.Picture Credit:Frank Mc Grath 7/3/18 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Feargal O Rourke, Managing Partner at PwC pictured at the PwC offices on Spencer Dock.Picture Credit:Frank Mc Grath 7/3/18

"I was very lucky, I had a really good boss, she was brilliant to me, really looked out for me. When I qualified she advised that I would be better off making manager, and when I made manager, she made partner, and I remember she sat me down one day and said I think you have what it takes and then one day you wake up and you realise that you are not heading home to the country."

Mr ORourke, who came up the ranks of PwC on the taxation side says he loved accounting, but wasnt particularly mad about auditing.

"My dad left school at 16 and he was very keen on qualifications, he advised me to get the institute of Chartered Accountants, get the qualification."

"Having known what I knew about working in a small firm [from summer holiday jobs] I said I would try tax and it has worked out for me so far."

Today ORourke is in the job of Managing Partner for the past two and half years of a four year term, having been made a partner of the company in 1996.

"In your first decade as partner you are still leading teams, working on clients, helping clients settle out their issues. Most of my clients are from the West Coast US and I would still go out there one week a quarter for the last 15-20 years."

Today ORourke works on 3-4 clients, where they have asked him to stay on the accounts.

In addition, he does a lot of taxation policy work, liaising with, among others, the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Finance, and the OECD.

Expand Close Feargal O Rourke, Managing Partner at PwC pictured at PwC offices on Spencer Dock.Picture Credit:Frank Mc Grath 7/3/18 / Facebook

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Whatsapp Feargal O Rourke, Managing Partner at PwC pictured at PwC offices on Spencer Dock.Picture Credit:Frank Mc Grath 7/3/18

"But the rest of my time is running the firm, and that probably breaks down into a lot of time on people issues and a lot of time out and about with clients."

The company, which employs around 2,600 people, mainly in their Dublin office in the ISFC, has a turnover out about 300m a year in the Republic of Ireland.

"Its a big business that needs running."

When asked what he sees as the biggest challenges to the industry, he responds by saying that in one sense the company is not different to a lot of businesses out there,

"The things that I would focus on are people and making sure you get the best people."

"We have just come off our summer interim recruitment programme, we had 1,800 people applying for 140 places, all of a very high standard, making sure that every year we get the best people and we recruit about 350 graduates every year."

"So getting talent is our biggest issue."

"The second biggest issue for the industry is technology and disruption, so what is the impact of artificial intelligence, automation, how will that impact our business, can we use it to be more efficient, can we use it to be more effective."

Read More

Culture

The third challenge that O'Rourke highlights is culture. It doesnt matter what your strategy is, he says unless you have the culture right.

"One of the learnings for me in this job is when you are the CEO or the Managing Partner, having a discernible culture, spreading that culture, making sure that culture is lived by you and by everybody else is a key way of just driving the organisation, so if you get brilliant people in the door, you present them with a culture and a set of values that they really identify with and they are happy with the work they are doing, and if you can deal with the challenge of automation and artificial intelligence."

"They are the industry specific things that I worry about."

Macro issues

We turn to the macro issues that impact the economy, and O'Rourke admits that he is concerned about the extent to which the country is dependent on the US economy.

"When they [the US] are doing well, we tend to do better than the rest of Europe, when they are doing badly, we tend to do worse than the rest of Europe, so I watch to see how the US economy is doing."

"I watch to see have we learnt the lessons from the last time around. The National Development Plan  delighted to see that coming out last week, but also things like did we learn the lesson of not narrowing the tax base."

"The last time the crash hit we were very dependent on things like Stamp Duty, now we have a property tax, which should be a more regular source of revenue for the exchequer whether times are good or bad, but the income tax base narrowed too much the last time  we would all love lower tax, but we want to have the investment and the infrastructure that we need to have, and we have to recognise that that needs people to pay taxes."

"I think the number one priority for the Government [in terms of tax] is probably the squeezed middle and taking them out of the top rate of tax, so if we learnt the lessons, and specifically then some of the infrastructure spend needs to happen sooner rather than later, in particular having joined up thinking around development if we are going to have 350,000 more people living in the city over the next 20 years, we need to address the issues like high-rise quality residential accommodation in the city and we need to address it now."

"Its tougher and tougher [to rent in Dublin] and I see that... We need to now be able to say in the next 18 months, gosh there is lots of apartments and housing coming on stream in the city and that is where it is needed."

Read More

Foreign Direct Investment

On the subject of Foreign Direct Investment, ORourke says that the country has built a fantastic platform, but that it has a heavy dependency on it.

"Its a very big positive, but it sows the slight seeds of a negative."

"It would be great to see the indigenous companies rise to that, and we have a number of great success stories out there at the moment."

When asked about Brexit, ORourke is pragmatic, saying that while his clients are preparing for a hard Brexit, he believes that at some point at the last minute "sanity might prevail" and there will be a soft Brexit, "but I wouldnt be putting the house on it yet."

We turn to the matter of tax, a subject close to ORourkes professional heart at least, and I ask if he is worried about Ireland and the countrys corporate tax rate?

"No, I think other countries will realise that they are not going to get us off 12.5pc, like the Frances and the Germanys tried it back when the troika came in and they realised that we werent giving it up."!

But he says these countries are trying it a different way now, through things like the CCCTB, which is a European tax consolidation project.

"They are trying digital taxation, and I think that at the end of the day we have to have a tax system that is modern, fit for purpose, seen as fair, but preserving our national strategic interests, so I dont think that 12.5pc is under threat, but I think there will be different threats under different guises to our tax take."

"We need to be fair, we need to have our modern, transparent system, but we need to say, at the end of the day these are other countries trying to take our tax take and we need to defend that."

Post June 2019

ORourkes term as Managing Partner ends in June 2019 and I ask him if he would be interested in running for a second term. While 2019 may seem like a long way off, ORourkes love for his job is very evident,

"I dont want this to sound trite but I think I am probably one of the luckiest people at work in Ireland today. I have a fantastic job, I work will brilliant people and brilliant companies. "

"So if the partners are willing to have me for another go, I would be more than delighted to go for a second term, but we will see, there is another bit to go yet, they might have buyers remorse yet!"

"Timing is everything and I was fortunate to take over at the time I did and to take over with huge support of the partners, and we have been reporting record results."In 2017 the combined revenue of a group known as the Big Four was $134.3bn, so just who are they? What do they do? And who are their customers?

The big four refers to PwC, KPMG, Deliotte, and EY.

Together these four companies are the biggest professional service firms in the world.

All four offer their customers audit, assurance, taxation, actuarial, and management consultancy. As well as providing audit services to private companies, they also carry out audits of the majority of public companies around the world.

However, none of the four companies are actually a single stand-alone entity, rather, they are made up of networks of firms, each owned and managed independently in numerous countries around the world.

Each individual firm agrees to share the name, brand, and quality standard.

However, the work of some of the big four members has come under scrutiny over the years.

Most recently, the UK Financial Reporting Council (FRC) opened a probe into KPMG's audits of Carillion, after the builder collapsed under a mountain of debt.

Career wise in Ireland the 'Big Four' offer a number of career opportunities for those working in the financial sector.

In addition, they offer opportunities for students including work placements, summer internships, and a graduate programme for students leaving third level.

PwC

In financial year 2017, PwC firms provided services to 419 companies in the Fortune Global 500 and more than 100,000 entrepreneurial and private businesses

59,252 people joined PwC firms around the world in financial year 2017

For the year ending 30 June 2017, PwCs gross revenues were US$37.7bn, up 7pc on the previous year

KPMG

KPMG serves more than 82pc of the FORTUNE Global 500 and more than 80pc of the Forbes Global 1000

Worldwide staff, including partners: 189,000

The company had worldwide annual revenue of $25.42bn for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2016

Deloitte

Approximately 263,900 people employed inn 150 countries

Revenues for fiscal year 2017 were $38.8bn

EYMichael Smurfit would be "very sad" to see the family company he built into a global giant over decades disappear should International Paper's (IP) hostile takeover attempt for Smurfit Kappa succeed.

Smurfit, whose son Tony is CEO of Smurfit Kappa, told the Sunday Independent he would not sell his own shares for the 36.46 per share bid by the US giant that was rejected by the Irish company.

Asked for his view on the bid, he said: "Obviously it would be very sad to see the family company disappear in its entirety. That's what this would do if it was a successful takeover. I would be sad about that. But in saying that, you're a public company, and that's one of the risks you have [to deal with] in being a public company, that you're at the mercy of the market.

"I've been taking companies over all my life. I'm not surprised that IP decided to have a swing at us because we have been undervalued. The company's been growing at a tremendous pace, and that looks likely to continue for the next few years. It's a very opportunistic bid and they're just trying to take advantage of the future as the board set it out in the medium-term plan," he said.

Asked if he believed IP would ultimately prevail in its bid, he said: "It's a very low price. Smurfit shares are now trading at more or less the same price as the market gives to DS Smith without any premium. It's undervalued by about 15pc by the market. So no, the Smurfit board will reject it out of hand."

Asked if he had been in contact with his son in relation to the IP effort to acquire the company that was rejected out of hand last week, Smurfit said: "He's his own man. I'm out of the company over 10 years now. That's a pretty long time. It's a fast-moving industry. Things have changed. New regulations are in, all sorts of different things. But I certainly wouldn't be selling my shares at such a low price."Vit Hit founder Gary Lavin is planning to relocate to Australia for at least four months and aims to use Australia to launch across the South Pacific in 2019.

Low-calorie vitamin drink manufacturer Vit Hit is moving into the Australian market with plans to establish production Down Under.

The company will begin selling its range of flavoured drinks in 6,000 Australian stores in July a move that sources close to the company described as "a very significant step".

Vit Hit founder Gary Lavin is planning to relocate to Australia for at least four months and aims to use Australia to launch across the South Pacific in 2019.

The company is also planning to launch in 2,000 stores in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates in May, including a deal that will see it on sale in the huge Dubai Duty Free shop. The following month the company is planning to launch its range of drinks in 1,200 stores in Sweden.

The drink, which is a low-calorie blend of teas, juices, water and vitamins in a range of flavours, has undergone major international expansion over the past 12 months after winning a string of major distribution deals as far afield as Finland, South Africa and the US.

Lavin - a former professional rugby player who founded the manufacturer five years ago - has previously said that turnover this year will rise from 8m to 12m on the back of the expansion.

The company is also expecting a boost in Ireland in the coming months with the implementation next month of Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe's new sugar tax. This is expected to take the fizz out of many soft-drinks makers, but Vit Hit - with 1.3 grammes of sugar per 100 ml - will be exempt from the new tax.

A tax of 30 cent a litre on drinks with over eight grammes of sugar per 100 ml will be introduced.

The company has said that sales could benefit from the new tax just as they have in other markets where a sugar tax had been introduced. Vit Hit had been selling in the UK for five years before a sugar tax was introduced, which the company said had led to a big upsurge in interest from distributors. Last year it struck a deal with WH Smith to make Vit Hit available at 15 UK airports.

Vit Hit said last year that by 2019 it could target sales of 60 million bottles, many multiples of the 96,000 bottles it sold when it launched in 2007.

Last summer, the company signed a major new US distribution deal with the New Jersey-based Honickman Group - which distributes Canada Dry - that it said at the time could be worth $20m over two years.Independent News & Media (INM) is to make a significant investment in the company as it shifts to a subscription model for online content over the next two to three years.

Development of the new model will include investing in new content and products as it focuses on audiences in niche sectors and specific geographic locations, said chief executive Michael Doorly, after the company announced results last week.

"We are in a subscription era. Younger people are willing to pay for content they see as relevant and of value," he said. "We are going to have to specialise into certain verticals, niches really, be they geographical or subject matter."

Doorly also said the media group planned to invest part of its 91.5m cash balance back into its newspaper titles.

"The newspapers are profitable. Every single title makes a contribution," he said.

Overall, the company will make a 'significant investment' to reshape the business and deliver on a new strategic plan, which it is developing with consultants EY.

INM is the country's leading media group, publishing titles including the Sunday Independent, Irish Independent and independent.ie.

On Friday, INM reported a profit before tax of 28.5m for 2017, on sales of 293m. The latest financial results show net exceptional charges of 12.1m in 2017.

That included a charge of 1.5m relating to a severance payment to former chief executive Robert Pitt, who resigned last October following a long-running boardroom row.

The company booked a 12.7m impairment charge in relation to the Belfast Telegraph masthead.

INM has recently appointed four new non-executive directors, including UK media veteran Murdoch MacLennan - who was elected chairman by the new board this week.

"These appointments bring a wealth of experience and expertise in the media industry and the wider corporate world, further strengthening and supporting INM's board to ensure the Group is equipped to meet the demands of the rapidly changing industry," the company said.

The results showed profits down 31.8pc compared to 2016. Total revenues fell 9.4pc. INM said reduced profits were primarily due to continued revenue challenges and increased libel and legal costs. Operating costs also fell by 6.2pc, while net assets increased by 13.8 to 76.1m. The directors are not proposing a dividend for 2017.'The Government's working group, which is chaired by Junior Finance Minister Michael D'Arcy, pictured, does not seem to be delivering for drivers.'

Are much-needed reforms of the motor insurance sector stalling due to a lack of enthusiasm from the Government? That is certainly the conclusion that is hard to avoid when considering the latest update of the Government's Cost of Insurance Working Group, put in place to implement large-scale change to tackle surging insurance costs.

This comes as yet another insurer has reported bumper profits just three years after hiking premium rates by an average of 70pc. FBD reported profits of 50m last year, up sharply from profits of 11.4m the previous year.

It is just the latest insurance group to report healthy profits in this market, as the industry recovers on the back of the huge premium rate hikes.

The market may be working for the insurers, but the same cannot be said for motorists.

The Government's working group, which is chaired by Junior Finance Minister Michael D'Arcy, does not seem to be delivering for drivers.

Take the promise by motor insurers to notify drivers when claims are made against them before they are settled.

The working report states: "Insurance Ireland is to put in place a general protocol around the requirement for insurance companies to notify a policyholder of claims made against them before settlement."

But the Insurance Reform Alliance, set up by businesses and charities to fight for lower premiums, says this should already be in place.

Peter Boland of the Alliance claimed the Department of Finance reform process was now beginning to look like an exercise in deflecting pressure on the insurance issue until the heat dies down or an election comes.

A spokesperson for D'Arcy said the minister disagrees with the claim by the Insurance Reform Alliance that no progress has been made or that the latest report was a "box-ticking exercise".

She said the Government remains committed to continue driving implementation of the reform in a timely manner in line with the prescribed deadlines.

A spokesman for Insurance Ireland said a previous protocol to inform drivers when a settlement is being made has been superseded by the Central Bank of Ireland's Consumer Protection Code.

Insurance Ireland's view is that the recommendation that policyholders be informed if there is a claim is best achieved through changes in the Consumer Protection Code. So, we have buck-passing.

Amid all this arguing, drivers continue to pay elevated premiums.Keggie Carew is the author of Dadland, which won the 2016 Costa biography book award.

The story is a memoir about her father Tom Carew, who was born in Dublin. Carew herself was born in Gibraltar and brought up in Hampshire, England. She has lived in West Cork and Barcelona and now lives near Salisbury.

The film rights for Dadland have just been optioned for a TV series. Carew also has a new book - about toe-curling stories - coming out in early 2019. Visit keggiecarew.co.uk.

What's the most important lesson about money which your career has taught you?

It's very hard to live off being a writer. My advice is to have a second job which is different to writing. A lot of writers end up teaching creative writing - but you should conserve your creative writing energy for writing.

What's the most expensive country you ever visited?

I never go to expensive countries as the expensive countries are often the cold ones. My husband went to Sweden and the taxi from the airport cost a fortune, whereas I hired a taxi and driver in Myanmar for the day and it cost $30.

What's the best advice you got on money?

My dad said you can use money well or use it badly - and that it's easier to do bad things with money than good things, but that the good things you do with it make you happier. Whenever dad lent money to anyone who was in trouble, he always said not to give it back to him - but to pass it to someone else who needs it, and to tell them to do the same.

What's your favourite coin?

Some of the pre-euro Irish coins from when I lived in West Cork. The old punt coin with the stag, the woodcock 50p, the 10p salmon, and the older coins with hares and harps.

Apart from property, what's the most expensive thing you have ever bought?

Our camper van, which we kitted out to our own specification. We go off for as long as we can in it. We try never to plan or book anything.

What was your worst job?

Being a waitress. I was a terrible one, and in one week, I got sacked three times. You can read about it in my next book of terrible true stories.

What was your best financial killing?

We bought a burnt-out wreck of a warehouse in London in 1992 which was 3,000 sq ft and a 10-minute walk from Liverpool Street Station. It cost 70,000 (78,500).

Are you better off than your parents were?

Yes, but only because we were lucky enough to have bought the old warehouse.

If you won the euromillions, what would you do with the money?

We would buy as much land as we could and turn it into a nature reserve. We already have a small 16-acre nature reserve near where we live where we try to make kids aware of nature.

iTunes or Spotify?

I love Spotify. Before, I had to go into over-heated music shops for hours with headphones and ask the assistant to play me things - and then come out with a crashing headache

What was the last thing you bought online?

I have been buying a lot of books about beavers for a new book which I'm working on about our relationship with the natural world.

Would you buy property now?

I would if I could buy a nice converted eco-warm barn - surrounded by a nature reserve with a pond in which I could swim every day.

Do you ever haggle?

Not in poor countries - I once saw an ugly scene in Sumatra where a tourist battled down a young impoverished woman to her rock-bottom price and then walked away. I asked her what was she doing; she said she was only having a bit of fun. I was so disgusted I never haggled again.

What three things would you not be able to do without if you were tightening your belt?

Our campervan, books, and decent wine and food.This week Immersive VR Education will become Ireland's newest listed company. The Waterford-based outfit has got big ambitions for its virtual reality (VR) platform, and is raising 6m to build up its operation for an assault on the education market.

VR is still in its infancy but is set to become a lot more widely used, believes Immersive VR Education chief executive David Whelan.

Facebook is due to shortly release a new, far cheaper version of its Oculus Rift VR headset, which may attract a lot of new users. Mark Zuckerberg has spent big on VR and recently announced an ambitious target of getting a billion people using the technology. Other tech giants - such as Samsung, Sony and Google - have also developed headsets.

David Whelan set up the business with wife Sandra. After school, all he wanted to do was play rugby. He didn't go to college and travelled to play in Australia and Canada, working on building sites. Then one day he decided he'd had enough.

"I was standing on a building site about seven or eight years ago and it was raining. The weather wasn't as bad as it has been in Ireland recently, but it was pretty cold! And I said: 'I'm not going to be standing here next year.'

"So I went off and I taught myself how to do web development. I set up my own web development company in Waterford, I was pretty much a sole trader. That was fairly successful for a few years and I was building websites and CRM (customer relationship management) systems.

"But then the recession hit in 2008. A lot of companies get websites when they're starting up, but when the recession hit I was making no money at all being a web development business."

There were "a good few very lean years", says Whelan. But then he got a new idea. Having always been a bit of a tech buff, he got to try the Oculus Rift when it was at prototype stage.

A man came to Whelan's house with the product and Whelan's young daughters got to try it out too. After taking a VR tour of the solar system, they were able to reel off the names of Jupiter's moons - a sign for Whelan of the technology's educational potential.

"I knew I wanted to get in to virtual reality, but I wasn't a game developer myself. So I went back to what I do best - I created a website for VR content and I started reviewing VR content, which got me in contact with all the leading players in the States. But all the time as I was reviewing content most of it was video games and horror games and there were very few educational experiences."

He had an idea for a recreation of the Apollo 11 launch and pitched the idea to a contact he had made through the website.

The contact - a developer - gave him the price he would require to build out a prototype of the experience.

Whelan borrowed 1,000 from his sister and then launched a campaign on crowdfunding website Kickstarter.

Later, in a seed round, the company would be backed by Enterprise Ireland, and venture capital firms Kernel Capital and Suir Valley Ventures (which has just floated itself as Sure Ventures).

Today the Apollo 11 experience is well beyond a prototype. Strap on the headset and you are transported to the launchpad where you take on the role of an astronaut, then you're transported into the lift where you ascend to the shuttle with your fellow astronauts.

Next is the launch where you're propelled into space and can look out the window and see the Earth beneath. But for Whelan it's educational VR content that is the better bet. Experiences like the Apollo 11 one are great if they are a hit - but it's possible to have costly misses too. Education, on the other hand, seems to present an opportunity for steadier revenue.

Some of the technology it uses is pretty impressive. In one setting, a user is able to build a model skeleton - using hand controllers to lift up virtual bones and slot them into their rightful place. In another, an animated version of noted American astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson delivers a lecture in a virtual lecture theatre, with animations leaping out of his slides and presenting themselves to the viewer.

A "virtual dictaphone" tool is available to record parts of the experience for saving later.

The company is targeting two separate markets - the corporate sector on one hand and third-level education on the other.

Corporate users will pay under what is essentially a licensing model to use the company's platform for corporate education - things like public-speaking programmes.

The platform will also be made available for third-level educators to create their own content for teaching students. If educators charge for the content, Immersive VR Education gets a cut. The company will also make specialised experiences available to customers for a one-time fee.

Whelan says he could have concluded a private financing round six months ago, but decided to go public to help attract the best staff.

The company will get more publicity this way, says Whelan, and there will also be a liquid market for employees to sell share options that have been converted into shares.

It's a different kind of IPO to those seen more recently in Dublin. Greencoat Capital and Glenveagh Properties are large investment vehicles targeting particular sectors - this is an early-stage family business that has chosen the public market for growth capital.

Fergal Meegan, a director at Davy Corporate Finance who advised the company on the flotation, says Davy has been spending more time on strategies for engaging with businesses like Immersive VR Education.

"We're at the stage in the economic cycle where finding growth as a capital markets investor is important and increasingly difficult. We would see the likes of Immersive as firmly in that growth category, albeit earlier stage.

"It's an exciting prospect in a sector that's set for phenomenal growth and is backed by some of the largest technology names around.

"Our mission here is to find the large companies of the future and if they're small companies here in Ireland with great growth prospects, then we're keen to make sure they have access to funding. And if they can access funding via the public markets then we're keen to ensure that can happen."

Shares will commence trading tomorrow in London and Dublin. The company is yet to break even, and investors will hope that virtual reality proves more than just a fad.Often, the key is simply to make sure the fields pump every day of the year, reducing downtime, executives said.

Bob Dudley, in his 38 years in the oil industry, has never seen anything like what happened with BP's old fields last year: They gushed more crude.

"I cannot remember ever in my career having seen a negative decline rate," the British oil-giant's chief executive officer said in an interview on the sidelines of the CERAWeek by IHS Markit energy conference in Houston last week.

The fact that Dudley isn't alone in seeing mature fields dwindling less than expected - and in BP's case surprisingly increasing - means the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has one more thing to worry about. As if the shale boom wasn't enough of a headache.

Better results from legacy fields, also observed by producers like Royal Dutch Shell and countries like Norway, further complicate efforts by petro-states like Saudi Arabia to push prices higher by curbing supplies. Across the industry, the results weren't as spectacular as BP's, but still impressive, executives and officials at CERAWeek said. According to the International Energy Agency, production from mature oil fields dropped last year by about 5.7 percent, the least in data going back one decade.

That comes as a huge surprise because the oil industry cut spending dramatically during the three-year downturn it's just started to emerge from, and managing deep-water fields to arrest their demise can be a multibillion-dollar affair. So, OPEC was hoping thriftier times would lead to faster declines from mature wells that still account for more than half of the world's output.

"The large companies have concentrated capital spending in existing fields and that has slowed down overall decline rates," said Roger Diwan, an analyst at consultant IHS Markit.

But the need to stretch each dollar spent is exactly why Big Oil is getting more from those fields, according to Wael Sawan, executive vice-president for deep water at Shell. The lower decline rates are part of the response to low oil prices.

"Companies are focusing on the basics," Sawan said in an interview in Houston. "So there was a massive re-focus on existing wells. It's the cheapest and most profitable barrel that companies can access."

The Paris-based IEA highlighted two regions for their "remarkable" improvement: The North Sea and Russia. In Norway, decline rates slowed to 9.3 percent last year, compared with 18 percent in the early 2000s. Even at deep-water projects worldwide that traditionally show a faster decline, there was improvement.

Often, the key is simply to make sure the fields pump every day of the year, reducing downtime, executives said. Producers can, for instance, postpone maintenance to keep fields running.

"Oil companies with tighter capex budgets are striving to extract every last drop from mature assets," the IEA said in a report presenting its oil supply and demand outlook for the next five years. "Small cash injections are in many cases yielding swift returns."

The industry is divided, though, about the sudden improvement in decline rates, with Dudley and other executives admitting they can't guarantee another good year in 2018. Some even question the veracity of the data. Others, however, agree with Shell's Sawan that the industry now has the incentive it didn't have when crude was at $100-plus a barrel to work harder on mature fields.

Despite the improvements, it's still an uphill battle of massive proportions. Fields in decline produced 51 million barrels a day last year, according to the IEA. The ones that are still ramping up production contributed just 16 million to global supplies. Another 30 million came from unconventional sources, including shale and Canada's tar sands, where production can remain steady for decades once mining operations have been set up.

In countries like Brazil and Mexico, the slowdown at old fields jumped to double-digit rates last year, but things could change there, too, as they lure multibillion-dollar investments from oil majors to help them develop their riches.

BloombergA new section of the fence that has recently been erected on the border between Mexico and the U.S.A. near the town of Sasabe, Arizona.

'When I first came into the field, having finished training academy, one of the jobs was getting sent to the top of a lookout hill," Francisco Cantu says, recalling his early days with the United States Border Patrol. "There's a camera truck, and you sit and monitor the desert for people crossing. I remember getting out of my truck one day and looking out at this desert, and having the sensation that it was as vast as the sea. You know? As vast and unknowable as the ocean."

Cantu details his experiences in The Line Becomes a River, one of those rare and wonderful non-fiction books that reads like a novel: a lyrical and impressionistic style; genuine philosophical and thematic depth; the sense of some deeper meaning being conveyed, beyond the surface-level of facts and recollections. And the desert, Francisco goes on, is a "central character": not only in his memoir, but in terms of "what this border is and what it means".

These scorching badlands stretch across the US-Mexico boundary - the states of California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas to the north (Francisco worked in the latter three); Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo Leon and Tamaulipas on the south. When he was considering joining Border Patrol in 2008, as a 23-year-old college graduate, recruiters told him it entailed spending a lot of time in the desert, which "really appealed to me".

"I've never had a more intimate relationship with a landscape," he says. "I've never known another so well, except the streets of my hometown in Arizona. It can be so harsh, so strange. And because the desert is so stark, it's easy to have that feeling of being in an ancient place, even outside of time.

Expand Close Walking the line: US border Patrol agent turned author Francisco Cantu / Facebook

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"One of the big tensions about a landscape is that, often, it's very different to the human dramas played out there. That landscape is sort of weaponised by US border policy, which pushes people into the desert, away from towns and other places where it's easier to cross. The desert becomes this deadly place."

Deadly is the word: hundreds of people perish in the attempt each year. Much of Francisco's work as an agent with 'La Migra' involved rescuing these exhausted, dehydrated immigrants from broiling to death under that merciless sun; many seem relieved, rather than scared or disappointed, to be rounded up, fed and watered, then deported home.

He notes the irony that, for so many of the people attempting to enter the US, the desert is a completely alien environment. "They're coming from Central America or other places, where there are jungles and water everywhere," he says. "Now the desert is this huge force they have to overcome.

"I grew up near there, I was familiar with it. But now, any time I drive within 50 miles of the border and look out the window, I know there's a good chance people are out there, lost, trying to make their way through the desert. That's a really overwhelming feeling."

Francisco - he goes by Paco with friends - has the languid drawl and dark handsome features that you'd associate, stereotypically or not, with a lawman on the Mexican border. In the book's author photo, a thick moustache, metal bracelet and Western-style bolo tie complete the picture.

Amusingly, however, he describes himself as "a literary nerd" who had always intended to write fiction. He's a former Fulbright fellow, winner of the prestigious Pushcart Prize and Whiting Award, and an essayist and translator whose work has featured in Harper's, n+1, This American Life and elsewhere.

A decade ago, Francisco had finished studying immigration and border issues in college, before working for think-tanks and non-profits - all of which strongly informed his decision to join the Border Patrol. "I saw that decision (to become an agent) as an extension of my education," he says. "I had all these questions about the border and felt the only way to see the reality, day in and day out, was to do something that would give me the opportunity to be there.

"I was also hyper-obsessed with the physical space itself - where the border ran through the landscape - which comes from having a park ranger for a mother. What appealed to me was being outdoors. I'd spent four years in academia, and really wanted to get my head out of books and from behind a computer screen."

He's part-Irish, through his maternal grandmother; he's been here "just once", but seems genuinely chuffed at the interest in his memoir on this side of the Atlantic. His mother's father was a Mexican immigrant, who crossed as a baby. His mum's a brilliant character throughout the book, almost acting as a Greek chorus in dispensing advice, kindness and, when needed, a motherly kick up the backside to her son.

"My mother is very supportive of me," Francisco says. "And she's happy I'm a writer now, instead of in law enforcement! She was always the one person who held me accountable, and reminded me who I was and the reasons I had joined." Looking back as an ex-agent, he can see that the situation is not as straightforward, in racial terms, as people might assume. This isn't just some nebulous force called 'White America', locking the door to hope on penurious brown-skinned people.

"I did think about my Mexican heritage," he says, "the fact that I spoke Spanish, that my grandfather had crossed the border himself. And I was surprised by how many Border Patrol agents had the same, or stronger, connections to the border."

It's glib in some ways, but has to be asked: what about Donald Trump? "Because of the heightened political rhetoric, so many more people are paying attention to the border now," Francisco says. So how much, or how badly, has Mister 'Build the Wall' affected the situation?

"On one hand," Francisco says, "the policies under Trump are not much different than they were under Obama. The day-to-day reality, the danger of crossing, the way people's lives are put at risk: it's been bad for a long time. But, with the new administration, the rhetoric is so ratcheted-up, and that's really harmful.

"The way we talk about migrants - in the US, and probably Europe as well - we dehumanise them. We read about 'a flood of refugees'; or 'an uptick', as if they're just a line on a graph. Or this idea of 'cat-and-mouse games' at the border: all these metaphors encourage us to think about migrants as an indistinguishable mass, not individuals.

"All of that is more extreme now. Our president claims that all migrants are MS-13 gang members or whatever (this is Mara Salvatrucha, an infamously violent crime gang). Or people talk about the family-reunification immigration policies as 'chain migration'. The rhetoric of building a wall. All these terms are so black and white, designed to give an easy soundbite solution to a huge, complex problem."

It is a huge problem - the definition of intractable, really. On one hand, the US has the right to police its borders. On the other, countless individual lives - of good, decent people - are being severely harmed by a colossal bureaucratic machine which Francisco describes in the book as "this thing that crushes".

He joined the Border Patrol looking for answers. "I thought I might be able to get some," Francisco says, "and go on to be a policy maker or immigration lawyer, with a deeper perspective on it. But honestly, by the end, it all felt more complex than before. I had more questions than I went in with; it seems more insolvable to me.

"What I can say is that current policy, based on deterrent, is causing people to lose their lives. It's caused a humanitarian crisis in our desert, on our doorstep. That's missing from our conversation here. What we do talk about is building more walls and hiring more agents. We've been saying that for years, and we see the results it's had. The crossing has become more expensive and more deadly. There has to be developmental solutions."

He left La Migra a few years ago, having applied for a research scholarship. "I was looking for a way out - a way to leave that would still feel like a path forward," Francisco adds. "Looking back, I see that I'd been bottling things up for so long. The violent nature of that work, there's a big disconnect where you set that aside in order just to get up and do it again the next day. In a way, you disconnect from your own humanity."

This had been manifesting itself in his subconscious for years: "I had these dreams where my teeth were falling out, or I was clenching my jaw so tight they were bursting open. My dentist told me I'd been grinding my teeth in my sleep, and I connected the dots. Those dreams were sort of alarm bells, calling me back to my sense of who I was outside of that job."

He'd kept a journal while working the border, but didn't join specifically to write about it. The journal was mostly so he would remember these formative experiences, and maybe try to process them later, when he had time and intellectual space. The book itself began life, post-quitting, as an attempt to come to terms with what Francisco had been part of: "The ways I'd normalised violence in my life, perpetuating these policies that seem so flawed and deadly."

Surprisingly, there has been a significant backlash to The Line Becomes a River, not from right-wingers but pro-immigrant leftists, who have rowdily disrupted several public readings, labelling Francisco a collaborator and a fascist. He admits to being surprised by this pushback, but suggests an explanation.

"When it came out," he says, "some of the press was almost humanising me and the patrol, rather than emphasising the actual message of the book, which is the way we dehumanise migrants and normalise violence. Some of the media quotes made it sound like I was supporting border policy - that was a misrepresentation, and things spun out from there.

"Another part of the backlash was about whose stories get told, whose voices we listen to. For a lot of people, especially undocumented, it's like, 'Why is everyone clamouring to hear this former agent's story? Us migrants have been trying to tell our story all this time and people haven't paid attention'. That's a valid point. I come from a position of power and to some people it seems wrong that I'm given a microphone at the expense of these other voices. And I agree with that.

"The migrant voice is so often silenced and minimised, but they're who we really have to listen to. They have the most to tell us about immigration issues - much more than I do, or any politician."

The Line Becomes a River is published by The Bodley HeadThe organisers say it is the world's biggest and oldest parade. Next Saturday on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, approximately one million people will line the blocks between 44th and 79th Street to watch approximately 100,000 marchers parade into the Upper East Side in the name of St Patrick and Ireland for the 257th consecutive year.

The event costs $1m, paid for by sponsorship and private backing. There are no floats, just people. A four-hour TV broadcast is the costliest part. Some 600,000 people watched it last year, and almost that number again streamed it online.

The St Patrick's Day Parade is widely beloved but has been dogged, too, by conflicting priorities and dramatically differing answers to one question. Who gets to march?

On a Sunday last month, in pursuit of an improved understanding of the event's anatomy and workings, I attended the annual St Patrick's Day Parade Grand Marshal and Parade Aides Installation Reception.

Until 1989, women could not serve as parade grand marshal. Loretta Brennan Glucksman, the philanthropist and former broadcaster, will this year be the fourth woman in the position since 1762. Until 1992, a grand marshal needed to be a member of an insular fraternal organisation that has a separate arm for women, the Ancient Order of Hibernians.

Until 2016, gay and lesbian groups were prevented from participating. This restriction had a chilling effect for many sponsors and attendees, including the mayor of New York City, Bill de Blasio (whose decision to boycott in 2014 and 2015, insofar as it was made to provoke change, would seem to have been an effective one).

On February 25 this year, more than 500 people filtered through the entrance to Antun's, a dated wedding and event venue 12 miles outside Manhattan in the borough of Queens. For $1,000 a table, they congregated for a buffet and drinks reception to honour the grand marshal, Brennan Glucksman, and her 12 aides.

Here, a plumbers union. There, the Breezy Point Catholic Club Pipe & Drum Band. Bronx-born John Lahey, himself grand marshal in 1997, is the parade's chairman. His appointment coinciding, as it did, with the 150th anniversary of "Black 47", Lahey decided to make the famine commemoration the overt theme of his marshalship. Suddenly, he had plenty to say.

There was an image of the parade as a boisterous drinking event in circulation at or around that time, Lahey said, and noted with an academic's satisfaction (he is the outgoing president of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut) that he has been recognised for restoring a level of solemnity to the event with his approach.

Kids pulled out of school

"There are a lot of parades in the city," said Lahey, "but the St Patrick's Day parade is the one to which the wider New York community best relates. The nice thing about it being on a Saturday, this year, is that's when you get the children."

Should it not always be on a Saturday for that reason, I wondered. No, according to Hilary Beirne, the parade's executive secretary, who I met at the event in Queens. It doesn't make a difference, said Beirne, because it's an Irish-American holiday and a lot of kids are pulled out of school.

He became more serious. "We're the only one that gets to do it on the same date every year, and that's because we were grandfathered in. We can't let that go," he said. "There was a brutal snowstorm one year and still it went ahead on the 17th, out of concerns pertaining to legal precedent."

Beirne moved to the US in 1988. Two weeks later, his uncle Frank, then parade chairman, roped him in to work at the "reviewing stand". He has been in a senior committee role for 20 years.

"He should be president of this," a gregarious passer-by who worked at the New York Department of Sanitation said, slapping Beirne on the back and displacing a clutch of envelopes in the crook of an arm containing mass tickets for the morning of the 17th.

"The Irish Americans today aren't as involved in the parade in the way they should be," Beirne observed later. "At the logistical end. When I say Irish Americans, I mean the younger generation."

Indeed, the venue was filled with people who seemed to be mostly of retirement age. A preponderance of Kathleens, Pats, Philomenas, and Seans. A smattering of flat caps bobbed on a sea of business-casual green. A number of death notices were rattled off as the ceremony began.

"Tradition," said Beirne. "A day for us in this country to put our best foot forward and demonstrate Irish pride. We have to manage it carefully, because you have such a large parade. A lot of people look at us and say 'you're fuddy duddy'. But we have to be that.

"Put it this way," Beirne continued. "People like order. As a result, they feel comfortable coming and participating in the parade. That has certain expectations as to structure, format, and decorum of the people who come. It's a bucket-list item for people," he said.

I sat down briefly with Loretta Brennan Glucksman, clad on this day in a raw silk suit of green, several emeralds, and a pair of quilted black leather flats. "When they first called me it was January of 2017," she began. "That's how long this has been going on."

Later, I met a man named Reilly Dundon, who has occupied the role of "formation runner" since 2004, leading a 30-person committee, and participated in 43 parades in all. Dundon was first recruited while he was in college in the 1970s. "There is more of an American presence, now," he said, due to the decline of Irish-American immigration. Presently, Beirne approached the lectern and waited for quiet. "I'll have to start doing what the parish priest does," he said, "calling out the people who are not in their seat!"

Laughter went up around the ballroom, which was bookended by large ice sculptures. "The 257th parade," Beirne announced. "Unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. The parade is dedicated this year to Catholic education and 20 years of the Good Friday Agreement, and by any measure one or other would be focus enough," he said.

Outside, some band members talked among themselves in a circle, drinking Coors Light and watching a toddler beat at a marching drum. A padlocked piano self-played alongside. "As you march up 5th Avenue, be careful where you scratch," the emcee was finishing on a giddy personal high."Our cameras are on you at all times!"

Twenty days remained until the parade. I called my mother when I got home. "My goodness, you wouldn't get it in Ireland," she marvelled. She's right.

@siobhanbrettAustralian police have released images of the suspects believed to be Irish Photo: Queensland police

Australian police are appealing for information on nine tourists, believed to be from Ireland, who are suspected of being behind a series of scams and thefts.

Police are investigating 12 offences which have occurred between Brisbane and the Gold Coast since January involving nine people, all believed to be tourists from Ireland.

Expand Close Australian police have released images of the suspects believed to be Irish Photo: Queensland police / Facebook

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The group are believed to be working in groups stealing goods and money from retail stores as well as obtaining free food and beverages from restaurants claiming foreign objects, such as glass, are in their food.

Australian police have released images of the suspected culprits which involves a number of men and women accompanied by small children.

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Police said that a group of men are offering discounted repairs on bitumen driveways and roofing whilst providing sub-standard services or failing to complete the work or to even turn up.

Detective Superintendent Tony Fleming, Brisbane Region said the groups are targeting small businesses and the elderly.

They are good at creating diversions and distractions/disruptions to either steal goods or demand goods and services for free. They are aggressive and usually work in groups of two or more.

I encourage anyone who believes they may have fallen victims to these people, and who havent already reported it to police, to contact Policelink on 131 444.

Detective Superintendent Fleming encouraged the people depicted to contact police to help resolve the allegations. Anyone who recognises these people or where they may be are asked to contact police.

I again urge homeowners to say no to anyone offering door to door home repairs until you are able to make an informed decision and know that this is a legitimate offer."

Police are urging anyone with information about the people pictured to contact Policelink on 131 444.Melissa OKeeffe watches as her sister Amy Barrett speaks outside court after their father Jerry OKeeffe was jailed for 10 years. Photo: Collins Courts

ONE in every three rape offences in Ireland resulted in the offender receiving a partially suspended sentence, Independent.ie has learned.

While all 257 cases of rape offences resulted in imprisonment, new figures show that in a third of all rape offences (97), a partially suspended sentence was handed down by the judge at the Central Criminal Court in 2016.

Now, victims of rape have called on the courts for more structured sentencing saying that "no rapist should ever get a suspended sentence".

Amy Barrett, who was raped and abused by her father for almost a decade told Independent.ie that lenient sentences were "hurtful and upsetting" for victims.

Expand Close Melissa OKeeffe watches as her sister Amy Barrett speaks outside court after their father Jerry OKeeffe was jailed for 10 years. Photo: Collins Courts / Facebook

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Whatsapp Melissa OKeeffe watches as her sister Amy Barrett speaks outside court after their father Jerry OKeeffe was jailed for 10 years. Photo: Collins Courts

Amy and her sister Melissa OKeeffe were abused by their dad Jerry O'Keeffe from from January 1980 to March 1987.

OKeeffe, aged 68, a retired soldier, of Oakhill, Youghal, Co Cork, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court last November to three charges of rape, five of indecent assault and one of sexual assault.

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He was jailed for 10 years, but this was later reduced to eight years.

Speaking to Independent.ie, Ms Barrett called for more structure in sentencing.

"After my dad was sentenced we had some happiness," she said.

"We were happy because he was sentenced to 10 years in jail and we felt like that was a good amount of time. But we were also unhappy because no sentence can ever make up for what he put us through. No amount of time in jail balances what the victim went through and will continue to go through for the rest of our lives.

"I think 10 years imprisonment sends out a good message that abuse and rape is not right. It sent us the message that the courts believed our story and recognised the seriousness of the crime that my dad did to us."

Ms Barrett said that she believes that a minimum and maximum sentence should be imposed for sex crimes and rape.

"I think 10 years is a good start for a minimum sentence. But there should be no changes to that sentence. I was very angry and upset when I heard that my dad's 10-year sentence had been reduced to eight years because of good behaviour in prison.

"He only had his foot in the prison cell and he already had 20 per cent of his time knocked off. It's very unfair when years and years get knocked off the sentence that was deserved simply because of overcrowding in prisons. What victims go through is traumatic. We only go through court to see justice and we rarely do."

The court figures also show that in 2016, 704 offences of rape were dealt with by the Central Criminal Court, of these 142 saw a guilty plea entered. Another 279 went forward for trial (leading to a 48pc conviction rate). There were 160 offences deemed nolle prosequi - meaning prosecution was not pursued at this time.

A further 118 were taken into consideration which may occur when an offender is sentenced on multiple other offences. One case was quashed and in four cases the accused was listed as deceased.

Ms Barrett said that no rapist or sex attacker should ever get a suspended sentence.

"If my dad had got a suspended sentence, I would have thought that the courts didn't believe my story. After my dad went to jail, I thought I could finally get on with my life but it's not that easy. If your attacker gets a suspended sentence and is walking out of court after you, that is terrifying. What we went through is already so traumatic. The courts owe us some justice."

However, senior counsel Sean Gillane, who has vast experience dealing with cases in the Central Criminal Court, said that minimum sentencing shouldn't be introduced in the courts.

"Undetermined sentences, which range from zero to life, are always going to vary depending on particular circumstances.

"Generally, when a longer sentence is handed down there are a number of factors. These include a breach of trust such as was the rape carried out by a family member, the age disparity between the attacker and victim and the level of violence used in the attack. Those factors tend to push a sentence into the higher scale."

Mr Gillane said that he doesn't support minimum sentencing.

"There is a maximum sentence and that is life imprisonment. Rather than a minimum sentence there should just be a clear indication of the kind of things that push a sentence up the higher end of the scale. Once that is known, it is up to the judge to make an informed decision.

"Fully suspended sentences are very rare for rape cases but the option should always be available to the judge for extraordinary cases where a suspended sentence might apply."

Lenient sentences can have a real impact on survivors

Cliona Saidlear, Executive Director at the Rape Crisis Network Ireland, said that lenient sentences can have a "real impact on survivors".

"Where there are lenient sentences, or those that appear to be, passed on to convicted sex offenders it can have a real impact on survivors. It is important that of the very few cases that make it to conviction that justice is seen to be done. This sends a message to all survivors that they are believed and supported. It also sends a message to would-be perpetrators that may act as a deterrence.

Expand Close Rape Crisis Network administrator Claire Geldhill and executive director Cliona Saidlear at the launch of groups annual report. Photo: Gareth Chaney/Collins / Facebook

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"All cases are different and we must continue to rely upon the judges discretion but we believe that we should support that process of deliberation by the judge with sentencing guidelines.

"Where a sentence falls short of expectations we need to understand why. The guidance, the judge and those reporting the judgment must seek to lay out the full rational for a sentence so that we can better understand and if necessary seek a challenge to the sentence."Alert: Gardai on duty outside the Belmont Apartments in Gardiner Street near where arrests were made and firearms seized. Photo: Tony Gavin

GUNMEN linked to the Kinahan drugs cartel were planning to assassinate a member of the Hutch family by tricking him into leaving his home in Dublin's north inner city, Gardai suspect.

Gardai believe the gang was planning an attack on Patsy Hutch, the brother of former criminal Gerry Hutch. Patsy Hutch has no connection to crime.

Patsy's son, Gary, was shot dead by the Kinahan gang in Spain in 2015, triggering the gangland feud that has so far claimed at least 13 lives.

In the latest Garda strike against the cartel, detectives intercepted the gang, preventing the most recent attempt by the Kinahan gang to wipe out the Hutches.

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Three men armed with a sub-machine gun, an automatic pistol and a revolver were arrested in a van in the car park of an apartment block on Gardiner Street in Dublin city centre at 8am yesterday.

A fourth man aged in his 40s was arrested later and searches were conducted in the north inner city and in north, west and south Dublin.

In the follow-up searches, two additional firearms were found, including a machine gun. A silencer and a quantity of ammunition were also found.

Gardai suspect the gang had planned to cause a disturbance with the aim of drawing Mr Hutch out of his home in the north inner city.

Patsy Hutch has survived numerous death threats and has been repeatedly warned by detectives that his life is in danger.

His son, Gary, was murdered by the Kinahan gang in Spain in September 2015. Six months later, the gun attack at the Regency Hotel, believed to be in revenge for that shooting, marked the outbreak of murder, mostly on the streets of the north inner city. Most of the murders are chalked up to the Kinahan cartel, including two innocent victims who had no association with either side in the dispute.

The last victim of the feud was Derek Coakley-Hutch, who was shot in January as he sat in a car in a halting site beside Cloverhill Prison in west Dublin. He was a nephew of Gerry and Patsy Hutch.

At a vigil held in the north inner city after his murder, a crowd of 600 people gathered in support of the Hutch family and marched through the streets. Eddie, a taxi driver and brother of Gerry and Patsy Hutch, was murdered in February 2016.

Gerry Hutch has fled the country and gone into hiding, but his brother has refused to leave his north inner city home.

Gardai have scored a string of successful strikes against the Kinahan gang over the past year, following an injection of resources into the Special Crime Operations branch.

Kinahan has lost millions of euros in potential drugs earnings here, either as a result of cash seizures by gardai or in intercepted drugs shipments.

Money-laundering operations have been shut down and assets have been seized from Kinahan associates by the Criminal Assets Bureau.

In a statement yesterday, Assistant Commissioner John O'Driscoll said gardai had intervened in 45 allegedly planned assassinations by organised crime gangs.

He said yesterday's arrests were the result of resources being allocated to special operations and security and intelligence.

"Those within the world of organised crime who display a total disregard for human life remain within our focus and we are determined to cause them to be arrested, charged and where the courts determine there is sufficient evidence, convicted and incarcerated within our prisons," he said.

He also complimented gardai who he said "continuously display an extraordinary level of commitment, professionalism and also bravery, when given difficult assignments, such as that which today, has once again, resulted in the potential saving of human life and the arrest of those, who allegedly, while fully armed, where determined to murder".

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: "I commend the Gardai for their decisive actions in Dublin city centre in an operation in which three firearms were seized and three men arrested.

"This morning's operation showed the continued determination of the Government and Gardai to target serious crime and all those involved in it."Reinhard Schaler with his son Padraig who suffered a severe brain injury while working in the USA.

A young man whose life was shattered in a road accident in America is to get new hope in a converted tobacco factory in Dublin.

A pick-up truck on a country road in Massachusetts struck Dubliner Padraig Schaler as he cycled to his summer job.

He was severely brain damaged and was left unable to move or speak.

The former tobacco factory near his home in Glasnevin will be converted to provide intensive rehabilitation therapy for Padraig and a few other people with acquired severe brain injuries.

His parents remember being appalled to discover how severely brain-injured people in Ireland, mostly young men, seemed to be considered "no-hopers" when it came to seeking significant intensive rehabilitation.

Padraig's German-born father Reinhard Schaler (59) said it feels like "a miracle" that the HSE has agreed to pay 1.5m to fund a three-year intensive therapy programme for a small number of patients on a pilot basis.

Life took a terrible turn for Reinhard and his wife Patricia O'Byrne in June 2013 when they received news their 23-year-old son was badly injured.

Padraig had just completed his degree course in history and Irish in Trinity College, Dublin. The tall and immensely popular Irish language enthusiast had been a champion swimmer.

He had just arrived in the US on a J1 visa to work for three months in Cape Cod.

His parents, both college academics who also have two daughters, travelled to the US. When they arrived at the hospital, doctors told them the severe injuries to his brain meant he could die within hours. They were asked to be prepared to consider donating his organs. Two weeks later, he was flown to Dublin and admitted to Beaumont Hospital.

His parents learned that severely brain-injured patients, even though unable to move, benefited from early rehabilitation therapy. But they discovered that the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dun Laoghaire had only three specialised beds for patients with very severe brain injuries, and had a waiting list of at least a year for those beds.

They were asked in Beaumont to select a nursing home for their son.

The couple were adamant that a nursing home for the elderly was no place for their son. They felt it was "grotesque and immoral" that anyone with a severe brain injury would have to wait up to a year for a specialised bed, said Mr Schaler.

In the end, they moved to Germany so Padraig could get intensive rehabilitation in a specialised hospital. After 14 months, he was moved into their apartment in Hamburg, where he was given a round-the-clock care package.

He also received therapy daily and they looked forward to bringing him home to Ireland.

Meanwhile, back in Ireland, Padraig's legion of friends, colleagues and well-wishers embarked on highly successful fundraising efforts for him. They even organised building an extension to his home to enable it to be adapted for him to be cared for at home.

The family and supporters set up a charity named An Saol (Life) to provide rehabilitation therapies for severely brain-injured people. They chose the name An Saol because that was the name of the regular Irish language podcasts created by Padraig when he was aged only 14.

The charity's website states it seeks to help severely brain-damaged people "to live their life with dignity and respect, to continue to improve, to regain as much independence and self-determination as possible, and for their injuries to heal, supported by adequate therapies".

Padraig now lives in the family home with an intensive home care package and one hour per week speech therapy from the HSE. But occupational therapy, music therapy and physiotherapy which he receives at home are not provided by the State.

He also has the only 'stand-up' bed in Ireland, which allows him to be upright for short periods each day.

Reinhard explained the vital nature of intensive therapy, saying: "It's about neuroplasticity, which is getting the brain to re-wire itself and to make the connections with the limbs again."

He cannot speak but he uses a bleeper which he operates with his left foot to indicate 'Yes' and 'No'. His parents said he can solve maths problems using the bleeper operated by his foot. They said he has made significant progress and can pick up chocolate and crisps with his hand.

He no longer needs a long list of medicines and nutritional supplements. He only gets half a calcium tablet a day.

The family take him on holidays and to events in Dublin. He even completed 100km of the Camino trek to Santiago in Spain in a cross-country wheelchair pushed by his family. His arrival at the cathedral square was greeted with cheers and applause from a crowd and tears of joy.

His parents hope the progress achieved with Padraig through physical and mental therapies is helping bring about a sea-change in attitudes to people with severe brain injury.

Reinhard, in his role in the An Saol charity, had expert guidance in writing the successful proposal for the pilot intensive rehabilitation project.

Meanwhile, Magdalen Rogers, executive director of the Neurological Alliance of Ireland, called on the Government to immediately address the alarming nationwide shortage of neurologists, specialist nurses and health and social care professionals. Ireland has less than half the recommended number of neurologists and specialist nurses.

Neurology services in Ireland are at breaking point and an existing national Model of Care for Neurology plan needs to be implemented urgently.

A recent audit of neurology services found hospitals are totally under-equipped to deal with current and future demand, she said.Amy Daly (27) was wrongly detained on January 9 2015 after gardai came to her home in Tullamore, Co Offaly with a warrant for the arrest of someone with a similar name

Law student Amy Daly was arrested, detained at Tullamore Garda Station for six hours and then brought to Mountjoy Prison in a caged van

An innocent young mother who was sent to Mountjoy Prison in a case of mistaken identity has said that her ordeal will stay with her forever and she hopes it never happens to anyone else.

Amy Daly (27) was wrongly detained on January 9, 2015 after gardai came to her home in Tullamore, Co Offaly with a warrant for the arrest of someone with a similar name over an unpaid TV licence who had failed to show up at an a court appearance.

Amy, who is a law student, was arrested, detained at Tullamore Garda Station for six hours and then brought to Mountjoy Prison in a caged van.

She told Independent.ie about how the ordeal changed her life.

"I had just picked up my son Jayden from playschool and I was at home making him a sandwich, it was around 12pm and there was a knock on the door.

"There was a knock on the door and there were two guards there from Tullamore Garda Station, they asked if my name is Amy but they never asked for my second name.

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"They said I was due in court the day before and had never shown up and that there was a warrant for my arrest," Amy said.

She explained to the gardai that she had been collecting stamps for her TV licence and the TV inspector had only called to her door the day before and said everything was above board.

She asked to see the arrest warrant a couple of times but they said she would have to come to the garda station to look at it.

Amy said: "Jayden was in the house at the time, he had just turned four and my grandparents were in Australia and my parents were working so I had nobody to leave him with.

"The guards told me I had to find someone to leave him with because I had to go to Mountjoy, I dropped him with a neighbour and told them I would only be a few minutes to sort it out because it was a mistake.

"At the station they weren't having any of it, they didn't believe me, they took my belongings of me and processed me before I was placed in a cell."

Amy said gardai again refused to allow her see the arrest warrant and she was kept in the cell for about six hours.

She recalls: "I was full of fear, I was completely distraught, I suffered from panic attacks in the past and I was just so upset, plus I had had to leave my son, it was just a nightmare.

"When I was being taken out of the cell I thought, 'Thank God, I get to go home,' but that was when they said I was being transferred to Mountjoy."

She asked again to see the warrant but was refused.

"I was placed in the back of a caged garda van with another girl from Tullamore, who was being sent there over a TV licence, you'd swear we were criminals.

"I got to quickly call my mam to tell her what had happened and ask her to pick Jayden up.

"On the way to Mountjoy I was having panic attacks, I was feeling nauseous and sick," she said.

When they arrived at the Dublin prison, Amy was processed and placed in a holding cell alongside other people, it was only when they were being called out one by one that officers called her by a different surname and realised it was a case of mistaken identity.

"I said that wasn't my name and they accused me of being dishonest and said if I did that they would keep us in longer, I said nobody was listening to me and they had the wrong person.

"They asked to see my ID, they only thing I had was my bank card and then they realised it was a massive mistake and that they had the wrong person."

She was placed in another holding cell on her own and at this stage did not know whether she would have to stay in prison overnight, after the gardai initially calling to her home at around 12.15pm that day, she was only freed from Mountjoy at 10.45pm.

"I thought I was never going to get out and it was getting dark outside, the prison officer asked who they could contact so my dad drove up to collect me.

"When I was released from the Dochas Centre in Mountjoy I was given a temporary release form with my picture and another person's name on it," she explained.

Before the incident Amy had been off her medication for her anxiety and panic attacks but she said her ordeal took a toll on her health.

She said candidly: "My anxiety came back over the last three years, I had to put back exams but I'm coming out the other side and things are looking good.

"My good name and reputation were tainted by this, my neighbours saw the guards at the door and this event will always be with me."

She sued the Garda Commissioner, the governor of the Dochas Centre at Mountjoy, the Minister for Justice and Equality and the State over the incident.

She sued for false imprisonment, breach of her constitutional right to liberty, negligence and breach of duty.

The State parties had admitted liability for these breaches but there was an issue over the level of damages.

The case was opened before a jury last month but was settled following talks.

Amy stresses that she bears no ill feeling against the gardai who arrested her but she doesn't want anyone else to experience what happened to her.

"This was purely a case of mistaken identity, I didn't owe a TV licence or anything, I've never received an apology to date.

"The guards should focus more on actual crimes than chasing people for a TV licence, it costs the State a lot of money between garda time, the courts, transport," she said.

"I have no ill will against the gardai in Tullamore, it was an honest mistake and they have admitted liabilty.

"As a child I was brought up to respect the gardai and I continue to do so but I just want to make sure it doesn't happen to anyone else," she continued.

"It felt like I was a criminal, I was placed in a cell with a small window and a big mental door, people might think it was just a few hours but for someone with pre-existing anxiety and panic attacks and suffers from claustrophobia it was just madness."

A spokesman for An Garda Siochana told Independent.ie: "We do not comment on named individuals."

The Department of Justice and the Irish Prison Service also declined to comment.An inspirational single mother who "wrote herself off" after falling pregnant as a teen is now a community leader who is determined to help others achieve their goals.

Avril Hannifin (32) says she struggled throughout school and after she became pregnant at 18 with her daughter Dionne, her confidence plummeted to the point where she could barely look people in the eye.

Avril, who is from Clondalkin in Dublin, told Independent.ie: "I hated secondary school to be honest, I had a lot of challenges with learning, I wasn't able to apply myself to the curriculum and I just lost interest in it.

"When I was 18 I got pregnant with Dionne, I actually got my CAO results on the same day that I took that positive pregnancy test.

"I couldn't believe that I was pregnant, I was shocked and disappointed with myself, I knew my mam wanted better for me.

"From there I just wrote myself off and thought education wasn't going to work for me, I thought I should focus on being a mum, I stuck with it and gave my daughter the best life I could."

After splitting up with Dionne's father when her daughter was one, Avril balanced being a single mother and working part-time as a sales assistant.

It was a few years later when she decided she wanted to focus on her own education.

"As Dionne got older I could see how much she enjoyed school and how excited she was to learn everything, it made me excited for her and it made me want to learn a bit more," Avril said.

Avril studied in her local community development centre and in 2014 they put her in touch with An Cosan - a Tallaght-based community education service for people from disadvantaged areas.

Avril spent three years studying part-time for a degree in Leadership and Community Development.

She said: "I felt An Cosan would be a lot better suited than other facilities for my needs as a lone parent.

"It's very flexible, it's a lot more interactive and collaborative, with group work, there's also holistic supports and counselling available.

"Even just the friendships and support you get from everyone in there makes all the difference, there's a lot of love in there.

"I was so inspired by other community leaders and after learning more about issues like equality and feminism, I thought why couldn't I do something in that area?

"I knew I was capable of being a leader and I wanted my daughter to see somebody she knew in a leadership position, I decided I would learn and do my best for my community.

During her studies she had an internship with a social enterprise development company in Ballyfermot, she then worked as an administrator in Clondalkin Travellers Development Group and, after graduating last year, she is now working on An Cosan's Digital Pathways team and says education has given her and her daughter a much brighter future.

"It really has changed life for me and Dionne, I'm so much happier now and my daughter sees the difference in me, I've more time and I'm able to help her with her homework.

"Years ago I couldn't even look people in the eye, now I feel like a social butterfly - I enjoy talking to people and having diverse conversations.

"Dionne is the light of my life, she inspires me to want to do better for myself and for her, not just in education but in life in general," Avril said.

An Cosan was founded 1986 years ago by Children's Minister Katherine Zappone and her late wife Dr Ann Louise Gilligan.

The organisation's CEO Liz Waters told Independent.ie: "They had this dream to create a centre of learning, leadership and enterprise to really help women to exit poverty.

"They had a wonderful vision of running it from their own home, they had two classrooms and a big kitchen to help women engage in education, while their children were cared for in the community centre.

"It was a real visionary movement, education is the only real fast track out of poverty.

"They worked with the women and set up a committee to learn how to respond to people's needs.

Due to increased demand they have since relocated to a centre in Jobstown, west Tallaght and has expanded through their Virtual Community College.

An Cosan marked International Women's Day this week by highlighting the next phase of the development plan, the #OneGenerationSolution - their research shows that if you promote a young single mum to degree level she will earn 66pc more than her counterparts and she and her family will exit poverty forever.

The organisation says that a mother's education level impacts on their child's socio-economic wellbeing, the ease at which they transition into primary school, whether they will complete their Leaving Cert and their expectations of attending college.

Ms Waters said: "A few weeks ago, the Economic and Social Research Institute brought into clear evidence what we in An Cosan have known always - lone parents suffer the highest on the index of deprivation in Ireland.

"That is an absolute damming shame on all of us, we know what is wrong - 84pc of lone parents are women, in communities like Tallaght over 30pc of children are being reared in lone parent families, we know that 14pc of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are not in education, not in employment and not in any sort of training.

"That is what is wrong, we have the answer - investing with a long-term vision in the education of lone-parents."

She says the organisation has "huge plans for the future" but they don't have the funding.

She said: "At An Cosan and through our Virtual Community College, we have provided community education to over 17,000 people.

"Now that we are a national social enterprise providing community education right across the country the demand for our services has increased dramatically but the funding has not increased in any way to meet this demand.

"We call on partners, funders, philanthropists and Government to prioritise a mothers education when developing public policies and funding strategies.

Avril is encouraging anyone who has lost confidence in themselves to consider returning to education.

"I would tell anyone that education is lifelong, don't give up on yourself, secondary school isn't for everyone but you can find something that would suit your abilities.

"With all of the digital tools available, such as apps that can help people who struggled with traditional educational.

"Everyone has the capability to learn, you just need to find the way that works for you.

"The darkest nights produce the brightest stars - so even though you face adversity you do become resilient, you just need a little bit of help."Lelia Mahon from Kilkenny who marched in the All Ireland Rally for Life' in Dublin this afternoon. Pic: Mark Condren

Tens of thousands of people marched through Dublin yesterday in the one of the country's biggest ever anti-abortion demonstrations.

Participants in the Rally for Life marched from Parnell Square to Merrion Square, where they were addressed by speakers calling for the retention of the Eighth Amendment in the Constitution, which protects life in the womb.

Placard-waving marchers were 10 to 12 abreast at the front of the march as they arrived at Merrion Square while marchers near the rear of the crowd were still leaving O'Connell Street.The demonstration stretched for well over a kilometre through the city.

Organisers stated 100,000 people joined the rally. The Save the 8th Campaign said the sheer size of the demonstration made it clear to the Government the extent of opposition to its plan for "a UK-style abortion regime" in Ireland.

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Speakers at the rally included doctors and people with disabilities.

A GP, Dr Judy Ceannt, told the crowd: "The basic law that governs our actions as doctors is first do no harm.

"We are not meant to intentionally kill or harm any patient, least of all the most helpless, the unborn baby. The government has no right to impose this on us."

A majority of Irish GPs in a recent survey said they would not prescribe the abortion pill.

Another doctor, Maire Neasta Nic Gearailt, said she would present an optician's voucher to Senator Catherine Noone, chair of the Oireachtas Committee which recommended Repeal of the Eighth, because the senator said she "could not find" any pro-Eighth Amendment doctors.

Ms Charlie Fien, a Down syndrome activist, spoke against the targeting of Down syndrome children in the womb for abortion. She said: "Saving the Eighth will save the lives of babies with Down syndrome. Ireland is one of the only countries in the world where babies with Down syndrome are safe inside their mother's wombs."

Save the 8th Campaign manager Niamh Ui Bhriain said "Our message will be focused on ensuring that the Irish people vote 'No' to this extreme abortion referendum.

"One of the heartbreaking facts we have seen emerging from Britain is that 90pc of babies with Down syndrome are aborted before birth. Charlie Fien's call to protect babies with a disability is hugely important."

Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, who said she was a pro-life feminist, said abortion was "the ultimate exploitation of women, and is a symptom of women's oppression".

Businessman Declan Ganley said the coming weeks would be "a battle between the people and the powerful - with the political elites and the taxpayer-funded lobby groups on one side, and the ordinary people on the other".

"For three or four years there has been a relentless drumbeat for abortion from the media and people in cushy taxpayer-funded lobby groups," he added.

Mattie McGrath TD said abortion clinics would set up in Ireland seeking business despite assurances from the Government that clinics would not be established if the amendment was repealed.

A silent protest against the huge march was mounted by about a dozen people, mainly women, outside the GPO as the marchers went past. A 21-year-old Dublin woman, who claimed she was a member of 'Radical Queer Resist,' said: "I'm not happy with people marching against my human rights."Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said he is concerned Irish whiskey could be targeted as part of the escalating trade war between the US and the EU.

The Taoiseach said when he hears the EU threaten to put import tariffs on US bourbon whisky it concerns him that Irish whiskey could be hit with tariffs.

"The day before I go to the White House the European Commission will announce it's response and what has been hinted at is tariffs on denim jeans and bourbon whiskey.

"When I hear bourbon whiskey I think the next response might be tariffs against Irish whiskey, so what you get into is a spiral of tit for tats."

Speaking at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Mr Varadkar warned that a cross-Atlantic trade war would be bad for everyone.

He was speaking to Texas Tribune chief executive Evan Smith and during the wide-ranging interview he discussed US President Donald Trumps administration and a raft of domestic issues in Ireland.

Asked for his view of Mr Trump, the Taoiseach said hes definitely not a career politician and added that he was one of the reasons was elected as president.

On Vice President Mike Pences stance on marriage equality, Mr Varadkar said he always saw the US a beacon of freedom but added it is really tough to see that America is no longer a world leader on gay rights.

He said he thinks the majority of American people agree with him on marriage equality even if the administration doesnt.

The Taoiseach said he intended to raise LGBT rights with the Vice President when they meet on Friday.

Asked by moderator Mr Smith at the talk what he thought of Theresa May, Mr Varadkar said: "If it wasn't for Brexit it would be a great relationship."

Mr Smith replied: "As we say Mr Prime Minister, that's like 'other than that, Mrs Lincoln, how was the play'. Other than Brexit everything is okay."

Mr Varadkar said there was no way Ireland could accept a hard border.

"It's not something we can really compromise on having come this far," the Taoiseach said.

"Having reached a stage where we have peace and relative prosperity on our island where we have most of the time anyway powersharing north of the border and where borders don't really matter anymore, we can't risk going backwards," he said.

The Taoiseach added Ireland would not be following the UK out of the EU.

Mr Varadkar said he would not comment on US migration policy but got a round of applause when he said 17pc of people living in Ireland were no born there and "we are all the better for it."TAOISEACH Leo Varadkar did not raise LGBT rights during an official meeting with staunchly conservative Texas Governor Greg Abbott when they met in Austin today.

Mr Varadkar, one of very few openly gay world leaders, admitted he did not use the meeting in the Governors Mansion to change Mr Abbotts view on gay and lesbian rights.

Asked if he discussed LGBT rights with the Governor, the Taoiseach said: No we didn't actually - really the focus of the conversation was on economics, on trade links and about migration as well actually.

Pushed on why he did not arise the issue, Mr Varadkar said he invited Mr Abbot to Ireland and said he might discuss it with him then should the governor take up the invitation. During their meeting, Mr Abbot, whose wife Cecilia is of Irish extraction, said he would like to visit Ireland in the future.

Mr Abbott is an ardent supporter of US President Donald Trump and recently received the backing of the Republican Party to run for second term.

The Governor is a highly conservative politician who introduced laws last year which it has been claimed allow faith based welfare agencies discriminate against the community LGBT.

He also fought against marriage equality rights which were given to same-sex couples following a US Supreme Court ruling.

And he sought to introduce the controversial Bathroom Bill which would prevent transgender people using public toilets aligned with their chosen identity.

Later in today, the Taoiseach travelled to the South by South West (SxSW) festival where he was interviewed by chief executive of Texas Tribune Evan Smith.

Tomorrow, he will travel to Oklahoma where he will meet the Choctaw Nation and pay tribute to the tribe for their relief efforts during the Great Famine.

The Choctaw people collected around $170 which is the equivalent of several thousand dollars today, for famine relief in Ireland.

It is something I am really looking forward to. I have been interested and captivated by the story of he Choctaws since I first heard about it, Mr Varadkar said.

These are native Americans who were expelled from their lands in Mississippi and Alabama and walked the Trail of Tears to their new home on the reservation in Oklahoma, losing a quarter of their population on the way through starvation and exhaustion, he added.Taoiseach Leo Varadkar will tell US President Donald Trump that Ireland should become America's "Bridge to Europe" when Britain eventually leaves the EU.

Mr Varadkar will use his visit to the White House this week to urge President Trump to build strong ties with Ireland which would benefit both countries in the aftermath of Brexit.

The Taoiseach does not expect to discuss our corporation tax rate with Mr Trump, despite continuing cross-Atlantic tensions over Irish-based US companies avoiding American taxes by setting up business here.

Mr Trump recently slashed corporation tax rates and introduced a raft of tax reforms aimed at luring US businesses based in Ireland back to America.

"Our taxes are a matter for us. American taxes a matter for them. No issue there," Mr Varadkar told the Sunday Independent. "Trump's tax reforms bring their system closer to ours in terms of rate and application. Can't really argue with it," he added.

Mr Varadkar also said: "At a time when Europe and America are drifting apart due to differences on issues like trade, tax and climate change, I believe Ireland can act as a bridge between Europe and America, interpreting one to the other. This is particularly true with the United Kingdom due to leave the EU next year.

"I also want to use the visit to emphasise the extent to which our relationship works both ways. Trade is relatively balanced when you take services into account and 100,000 Americans across 50 states are employed in Irish-owned firms. Free trade and free enterprise make us both winners."

However, the Taoiseach is expecting a showdown with the US leader over his plans to introduce significant trade tariffs on steel and aluminium imported into America.

The EU has threatened to hit back by putting import taxes on US products such as tobacco, oranges and motorcycles.

The trade war will hit fever pitch the day before Mr Varadkar meets Mr Trump for the annual St Patrick's Day visit to the White House. On the same day, the EU will unveil its official response to the US president's controversial trade tariffs.

Last Friday, the Taoiseach said a trade war would be a "bad idea" because "everyone ends up a loser". He said Ireland could be severely impacted by a trade war and said: "My trip to Washington DC is timely because the European Commission will be producing its counter-proposals, its response to what the US has done in relation to steel and aluminium, they will be doing that on Wednesday - the day after that I will be in the White House representing Ireland but also speaking for the European Union."

The Sunday Independent understands that there are divisions in Brussels over the best approach to the threat posed by Mr Trump's trade war.

EU Council president Donald Tusk is understood to prefer a less confrontational approach, but European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker wants to take on the US president over his steel tariffs.In response to the ever-worsening homelessness crisis, Independent News & Media has put together some of Ireland's best musicians and artists for a major charity concert, Rock Against Homelessness, in aid of Focus Ireland on May 13 at Dublin's Olympia Theatre.

The one and only Imelda May, along with Dermot Kennedy, Wyvern Lingo, Jack O'Rourke, Loah, Paula Meehan and Tara Flynn will join the High Hopes Choir for what promises to be a wonderful night. They will be joined by some very special guests, yet to be announced.

"The fact that anyone lives, if you can describe it as that, and sleeps on the streets in this day and age is a travesty," said Imelda May. "It's a sign that something major in our society isn't working, whether it be domestic abuse, child abuse, mental health issues, unemployment, an education system that aims for achievement through targets, not well prepared young adults, and fits to only some types of children, or any number of things.

"It can happen to any one of us and a homeless man or woman is one of us. I, for one, am passionate about this issue and I am honoured to play at Rock Against Homelessness to help in any small way I can."

Karen Cowley of the hotly tipped Bray trio Wyvern Lingo said: "We are absolutely delighted to be performing with the High Hopes Choir next month. The choir has given visibility and identity to a part of our society that most would rather avoid on the street. Homeless people in Ireland are so often judged on sight as 'addicts' or 'chancers'.

"Homogenising groups like this is something I saw with the refugee crisis. It wasn't until I was in Calais, meeting young boys and men face to face, that I appreciated that these were all individuals with very different stories, personalities and aspirations, and that everyone deserves the dignity of being seen as such, including the homeless ."

Focus Ireland advocacy manager Roughan Mac Namara said: "Sadly, the homelessness crisis continues to deepen as a record total of more than 9,000 people are now homeless in Ireland and more than 3,000 of these are children. It is truly shocking that the harsh reality is that one child became homeless every 3.5 hours."

Niall McLoughlin, CEO of the Irish Youth Foundation, said: "With constant reminders of the rising homeless figures, it is easy for the numbers to become the focus of the story, and for us to zone out and lose sight of what it means to be a child growing up homeless in Ireland."

Stephen Rae, editor-in- chief of Independent News & Media, Ireland's largest media group, said: "INM is delighted to be organising Rock Against Homelessness to help raise funds for the chronic plight of those most in need in Ireland."

Tickets for Rock Against Homelessness in aid of Focus Ireland are available from Ticketmaster outlets nationwide and cost 35. Phone and internet bookings are subject to 12.5pc service charge per ticket, agents 2.15.What you don't know won't hurt you, right? Wrong - I want to know everything. If I could put a tracking device under my children's skin, I would. Before having children, I had no idea what anxiety really meant. Now I know, I have felt it every day since the day my eldest was born 13 years ago. Danger is everywhere.

I've worried about them choking on sausages or bits of Lego, crawling into a fire, being suffocated by a blanket, chasing a ball onto the road The world that used to look so 'normal' now seems like an evil place full of danger and pitfalls.

I look at strangers with suspicion, the sight of a white van makes me break out in a sweat.

I now understand my mother. I get it, Mum, I finally understand why you were so protective. It's bloody scary.

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As the youngest of three you'd think I would have got away with murder - I didn't. I was stupid, really stupid. There was nothing stealthy about me. I would never have been approached by secret agencies to spy for them. I was a lot more Mr Bean than 007.

No matter what I did, I always got caught. If I climbed out the window or drank too much or came home after curfew, my mother would be waiting for me. It was as if she had a sixth sense.

My mother knew about everything I did, except that time I went to Spain

Having decided to study Spanish because I liked the sound of the rolling 'Rs', I soon found out that I wasn't actually very good at it. With my Leaving Cert looming, my parents very generously sent me to Spain to study for a month.

It was a big deal and they made sacrifices to send me to this Spanish language school, so I knew that the onus was on me to come back fluent. I'd study hard and come back speaking like a native. People would ask me if I was actually Spanish. My teacher would be in awe of my fluency and perfect accent. I'd ace the Leaving and get that elusive A.

And sure, I might get a tan while I was there, too. This was the 1980s when Irish teenagers thought that scorching themselves in the midday sun, lying on a sheet of tin foil while lathered in olive oil was a good idea.

We had no fears or worries about skin cancer. As I said to my pasty friends: "Sure isn't it better to be red than white?"

I certainly followed that rule. I was bright red with the body burnt off me every summer. If you were looking for red, I was your woman. Bright, throbbing red.

Off I went to Spain where I was housed with a family. My mother thought that having me live with a Spanish family would keep me safe, put manners on me and help me learn even more Spanish. After attending classes all day long, I'd come home and sit with my Spanish family and we'd chat about our day.

I arrived at the apartment, with my mother's words, "You are an ambassador for your country", ringing in my ears. To be fair, even when I went on a school trip to an adventure centre in Donegal my mother told me I was an ambassador for my country, so it wasn't news to me.

I tried in my incomprehensible Spanish to chat to the mother of the house who just shook her head and shrugged. Clearly realising I was a lost cause she smiled, handed me the key to the front door and I never saw her again.

When I got up they had all gone to work and school, when I got home well, more of that later.

On my first day in the language school I shuffled into the classroom feeling awkward and embarrassed and peered up from under my fringe to see if I could see anyone that might be a potential friend for the next month.

I spotted her fairly quickly. She was about my age and looked equally uncomfortable. When the teacher asked us to introduce ourselves she said her name was Charlie and she was from Manchester.

I smiled at her, hoping she'd smile back. She did. That was it, I had a friend. Charlie was great fun and "up for a laugh". She was sharing an apartment with a bunch of older American students who had all brought locks for their individual kitchen cupboards. They stored their food inside and then locked it in. The fridge was a minefield of Post-It notes stuck to milk cartons, butter, yogurts all stating who owned what. A scourge on anyone who dared to touch another's food!

Charlie and I thought this was hilarious and occasionally ate a yogurt and then stuck the top back on, just to wind them up.

One night Charlie and I, and a group of other non-cabinet-locking students, went out to a local bar. The owner was a round man with the biggest smile you've ever seen. Halfway through the night, he hopped over the bar, climbed up to a little DJ booth at the back, put on a gorilla mask (I never quite got to the bottom of that one) and started spinning discs. The bar turned into a mini nightclub.

We had a great night and went back there regularly. On the fourth night we were there the owner said he needed new staff, were Charlie and I interested?

Making money while hanging out in our favourite place? Sounded like a win-win. "Unfortunately, I can't actually pay you in cash," he said, "but you can drink as much as you like."

Charlie and I were 16, the notion that we could drink whatever we wanted and however much we wanted every night was like mana from heaven. "When do we start?" we shouted. "How about tomorrow night?" he said.

"Should we come in early for training? Get to know how to mix up the drinks, familiarise ourselves with the prices," I asked, trying to sound somewhat professional.

He roared laughing. "Training? Just charge what you think seems about right and stick it in the till."

That first night, for every drink Charlie and I served, we'd have one ourselves. After an hour, we were legless. After two, we were paralytic.

Charlie passed out drunk behind the bar at midnight and I went for a "snooze" in the storage room shortly thereafter.

The next day, I woke up with my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth and the sun streaming in the through the curtains. Uh Oh. I squinted at my watch, it was one o'clock in the afternoon. I'd missed most of the day's lectures. I was too hungover to move so I just went back to sleep.

The next three weeks followed more or less the same pattern. Go to work, drink, serve, drink, serve. Go home, pass out, wake up after lunch and repeat.

Charlie and I tried to make it to the last lecture of the day, but more often than not, we missed it.

I came home after the month away speaking Spanish. My language skills had improved, a lot. My mother was delighted, although she looked slightly bemused when her Spanish friend said that my Spanish was very "colloquial". Laughing at my accent and quick-fire responses, he said: "It's strange, your daughter speaks Spanish like a drunk in a bar."

Sorry, Mum, for not attending the classes, but I did achieve my goal to learn Spanish, albeit in my own way.

Doesn't the end justify the means?

'Our Secrets and Lies' by Sinead Moriarty is published by Penguin Ireland at 16. Post your #sorrymum stories on Twitter to be in with a chance to win a night away for you and your mother.

Pictures: Damien EagersWhite-out: Seven-year-old Brian O'Rourke from Garryhill, Co Carlow looks up at the top of the snow drifts. Photo: Finbarr O'Rourke

Sean Hogan, the man in charge of Irish emergencies, is probably hoping for some quieter days ahead in the aftermath of Storm Emma.

The head of the National Emergency Coordination Group was by turns reassuring and alarming as the recent storm approached, telling the public in the strongest terms possible that they should stay indoors.

An engineer by training, Hogan not only plans for emergencies such as storms, he also has overall responsibility for fire safety across the country. The graduate in civil engineering from UCD worked as a volunteer for Concern in Uganda before taking up posts in the fire services in Tipperary and Galway.

He was later appointed principal fire adviser in the Department of the Environment. Storms Ophelia and Emma have turned him into an unlikely celebrity.

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Gerald Fleming, the former head of Met Eireann's forecast division, sat on the National Emergency Coordination group until his retirement last year. "The whole system of coordination, when we have events such as storms, was developed by Sean Hogan," he says. "From his background in the fire service, he takes a hands-on approach to dealing with emergencies."

The country was still feeling the consequences of the white-out by Thursday of this week, with snow continuing to melt, water shortages caused by leaking pipes, and patients thronging emergency wards. Farmers were also counting the cost of repairing shed roofs.

When the emergency group issued its stern warning to the public to stay indoors, and above all not to make unnecessary journeys, it may have seemed alarmist.

After all, in the past, big weather events such as storms simply happened and we just got on with life.

But the group will feel vindicated in bringing many services to a halt, and effectively giving school children and workers two or three "snow days" off.

In Britain, a much more cavalier attitude was taken to Storm Emma, and there were fewer warnings issued, particularly at a central level. Theresa May was mainly focused on Brexit.

There was chaos on roads and railways, particularly in western parts of England, Wales and in Scotland.

There were reports of hundreds of motorists being trapped in their cars on motorways for up to 15 hours, and there were a number of fatal accidents.

The snowdrifts were so deep in some parts that police had to use long poles to hunt for buried cars, and passengers were left stranded overnight on trains. In Ireland, nobody could argue that we had not been warned. Warnings about the Beast from the East began to appear in the Irish media a full week before Storm Emma.

Dr Conor Murphy, climatologist at NUI Maynooth, says: "The warnings worked well in Ireland, and as a result we had fewer fatalities than we might have done."

Gerald Fleming says our system for dealing with major weather events has become more refined since the emergency coordination group was set up nine years ago. When a storm was coming in the past, Met Eireann issued two warnings, the first to the local authorities. They also issued a "severe weather alert" to RTE.

Sometimes these warnings were given at short notice, and the authorities and the public had little time to prepare. With forecasts available six or seven days in advance, Met Eireann is now quick to alert Sean Hogan if they think anything untoward is coming Ireland's way. They alerted him to the Beast from the East with a phone call.

By the Monday before the storm, the emergency group was meeting in its customary location - a large room in the Department of Agriculture building in Kildare Street, Dublin.To residents of Ireland from snowier climes, the response to our crisis was one of puzzlement and in some cases amusement.

One observer on Twitter said Storm Emma was like a normal Wednesday in Canada, where people get on with their business.

But the difference in Canada and other snowy countries is that it snows so frequently that it makes sense to invest heavily in clearing equipment.

The UCC climatologist Dr Kieran Hickey says: "When you have an event like this happening no more than once every 13 years on average, it is not sensible to spend large amounts of money on snow clearing equipment."

Dr Conor Murphy says the recent wintry spell showed that we need to rethinks some of our priorities.

"In Ireland, we give a lot of priority to road traffic rather than pedestrians," he says.

"We need to think more about clearing paths. Snow is piled up at the sides of road without any thought about the effect on pedestrians, including elderly people, parents with buggies and people in wheelchairs."Our visitor spends 24 hours in the Greek capital.

10am: Room with a view

Kalimera Athena! Waking up with views of the Acropolis has the epic impact of any Eiffel Tower or Colosseum moment. Most city hotels charge a premium for the vistas, however. So, an alternative? Airbnb listings in Athens frequently feature oh-so-lit Instagram views of the city for real bargain rates. My studio bolthole in the trending Mets neighbourhood, made for the perfect Hellenic hideaway for just 60.

How: Airbnb.com, listing #15250700.

2pm: Trade the Greek markets

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Few experiences offer a traveller more national nuances than a good ol' grocery haul. In Athens, laiki agora are Greece's original farmers' markets, where locals stock up on everything from A to tzatziki. Each neighbourhood tends to host a market once a week but if that doesn't work, fill your shopping basket at Athens' landmark Varvakios Market.

How: Varvakios Market, Athinas 42 lies 500m from Monistaraki Metro.

5pm: Feel the Olympic air

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What better way to work off your moussaka than by jogging around the ancient Panathenaic Stadium. Feeling social? Grab a workout at Athens CrossFit or join a yoga class at downtown studio, Bhavana. Something more leisurely? A volta (or outing) to grab a Greek coffee is the most Athenian pastime of all!

How: panathenaicstadium.gr; 5, bhavanayoga.com; 15, facebook.com/AthensLionsBox, 10.

8pm: A Date with Athens

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The Acropolis is Athens' star attraction, but at 20 it's pricey and slightly marred by scaffolding and territorial tour guides. Instead, take a hike through the olive groves to Filopappou Hill, where you'll find the best views of the Parthenon - and awesome sunsets, too. For a feast fit for Bacchus, wander down to one of Monastiraki's lively late-night tavernas, for a spread of meze, souvlaki and moreish Cretan wine.

How: Kallipateira has delicious mains from 9; kallipateira.gr

Do it

Aegean Airlines flies direct from Dublin year-round (aegeanair.com). See visitgreece.gr for more.It's easy to see how 'scandal fatigue' could set in when it comes to An Garda Siochana. Two million fake breath-tests, penalty points wiped, people wrongly brought to court for fixed charge notices and even the Kerry Babies have grabbed front-page headlines in recent years.

And that's even before we look at what is happening in Dublin Castle at the moment under the guidance of Mr Justice Peter Charleton.

But the response to the next big Garda outrage is well below even the very low standard that has been set for dealing with these situations.

For years, individual gardai have made little effort to record accurate details of crimes on their internal Pulse computer system. They have left vulnerable people at risk and potentially violent characters unchecked. Not only is this real, it's happening now in 2018.

In the first 10 months of last year, 95 deaths had varying types of data quality issues.

The full scale of the problem was spelt out by two civilian officers at an Oireachtas committee last week. Lois West (deputy head of Garda Siochana Analysis Service) and Laura Galligan (senior crime and policing analyst) also described how they were "belittled" and "shouted down" by management when they tried to do something about it.

Bad book-keeping doesn't come as a shock but what followed next does.

They went to the Policing Authority in a bid to have their analysis highlighted and were turned away. Worse still, they were "ratted out" as somebody in the PA "told tales" back to Garda HQ, making a mockery of the authority's much-heralded independence.

The origins of this controversy date back to July 2016 when the Garda National Protective Services Bureau requested a 10-year domestic homicide review (2007-2016).

Knowing how limited the Pulse system is, the Garda Siochana Analysis Service (GSAS) asked for permission to work in collaboration with the Office of the State Pathologist, which maintains very specific records.

And even as State Pathologist Marie Cassidy happily offered the help of her team, nobody was aware of the can of worms that was about to be opened.

For no particular reason, Ms Galligan began scrutinising Pulse recordings of deaths in 2014 and quickly realised there were inconsistencies with homicide and death classification.

By late November 2016, she compiled an 87-page report entitled 'Comparative Analysis of the Recording and Reporting of Homicide Incidents in the Pulse Database and the Office of the State Pathologist'. It referenced a review of 524 deaths between 2013 and 2015, concluding that 43 cases were not identified as potential homicides.

The following January a review group was created with officers from Policy Development, Implementation and Monitoring (PDIM). Nine meetings took place between January and March 2017. Ms Galligan and Ms West described "very robust discussion" but failed to get the respect they deserved.

"Indeed, at times I felt we were belittled and treated very poorly," said Ms Galligan.

In late April they were "extremely surprised" to learn through the media that the review into homicide had found only "minor classifications".

A bigger shock was when gardai told the Policing Authority that a report had been completed by the 'review team'.

This report was not shared with either of the analysts and following the Policing Authority hearing they were put under pressure to sign-off on it - even though it described Ms Galligan's as "inherently weak".

All the while there was a real fear that vulnerable women were at risk because tabs were not being kept on suspected domestic abusers.

But the real sting in the tail that blows the political cover usually given to the Government in these situations is what happened when the women turned to the independent body to oversee the performance of the Garda Siochana.

The Policing Authority's key objective "is to promote trust and confidence in policing and to help shape policing services for Ireland in the future".

Understandably Ms West thought the office, headed by former Revenue chief Josephine Feehily, would be the place to turn with their concerns.

By phone or in writing, she contacted their offices on April 3, May 16, June 30 and July 19 last year. To date, the whistleblowers have met no one from the Policing Authority in relation to the homicide review.

But it appears that people in the PA didn't just ignore them. It's worse than that. They "ratted them out" to their superiors in Garda HQ.

On August 1, Ms West was told by a senior officer that they had been informed in a phone call from someone within the authority that approaches had been made.

"This was raised with me in the context of management trying to ascertain what my thinking was when I did this," Ms West said.

Alarms bells should be going off in the Department of Justice, Garda HQ and the Policing Authority - but if they are, nobody is leaving the building.

The reaction from the State to the whistleblowers' public statements has been devoid of any real urgency.

Following the Oireachtas hearing last Wednesday morning, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan issued a statement at 10.29pm pointing out that "neither I, nor my department, have seen the dossier prepared by the two analysts".

The minister noted that the issues surrounding homicide statistics have been in the public domain "for some time, preceding my appointment as Minister for Justice and Equality".

And he declared himself "concerned about the statements".

For their part, the Policing Authority said that "in general terms we can confirm that robust safeguards are in place to appropriately protect confidentiality".

But "general terms" means very little and clearly doesn't apply to this case. Ms Feehily will have serious questions to answer when she appears before the Oireachtas committee on March 21.

In the Dail last Thursday, it took Tanaiste Simon Coveney a couple of attempts to express "extreme concern".

Fianna Fail's Michael McGrath first raised it by noting the reward the two women got for telling the truth "was to have their integrity and professionalism attacked".

"This is not about book-keeping; it is possible that people were actually put at risk," he said.

Having sat through the almost four hours of evidence at the committee, Independent TD Clare Daly was even more outraged.

She reiterated that the misclassification of crimes "could be the difference between life and death".

The Dublin Fingal TD questioned whether the Government understands "the chilling effect" the leaks from the Policing Authority could have.

Labour TD Alan Kelly, who has been at the forefront of calling out Garda scandals, believes the best way to restore trust "is to hold an immediate inquiry into how such treatment of those who speak up in An Garda Siochana could happen again".

Such an inquiry won't be immediate, but I wouldn't rule it out in the long-term.

At the start of this year, Garda management set up a new review team that appears to have a proper plan for investigating the inconsistencies in homicide recording.

Ms West and Ms Galligan have been given a central role in this work and so far are pleased with the operation.

But this time there must be ramifications for individual officers who showed a "slack" attitude to the routine but important job of keeping accurate records.

Faking breath-tests was largely a victimless game of cooking the books. Not recording domestic homicides correctly may well have already cost lives.Sergeant Maurice McCabe gave some powerful evidence at the Disclosures Tribunal, but his time in the witness box was far from easy for the whistleblower.

It was a trying experience in a number of respects.

During cross-examination, his memory of a pivotal event leading to the setting up of the tribunal was challenged.

He had to apologise over a statement alleging he had been shouted at by legal counsel during the O'Higgins Commission, while the spotlight was also turned on a number of unfounded and very serious allegations he made against some senior gardai.

The picture that emerged following his lengthy cross-examination last Tuesday and legal submissions two days later was of someone who didn't always get things right.

Yes, Sgt McCabe took on the powers-that-be and exposed all manner of malpractice in An Garda Siochana, but those assembled in George's Hall at Dublin Castle were reminded by counsel for An Garda Siochana that he also got some things badly wrong.

Sgt McCabe's evidence was strongest when he described conversations with former Garda press officer Supt Dave Taylor and Fianna Fail TD John McGuinness. These crystallised for him that he had been smeared in the most appalling way by former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan. Sgt McCabe became emotional as he recounted details of a meeting with Taylor at the superintendent's Dublin home in September 2016.

A rapt public gallery watched as he outlined how Supt Taylor revealed he had spread a child sexual assault smear against Sgt McCabe among senior gardai, journalists and politicians on the instruction of Mr Callinan and with the knowledge of his successor Noirin O'Sullivan.

Both have denied any knowledge or involvement in a smear campaign.

Then there was Sgt McCabe's evidence in relation to what Mr McGuinness told him about a meeting the TD had in a hotel car park with Mr Callinan in January 2014. Mr Callinan was alleged to have told the then Dail Public Accounts Committee chairman that Sgt McCabe had abused his own children and his nieces and was not to be trusted. He denies this.

This was done shortly before Sgt McCabe was due to brief the PAC on widespread penalty points abuses he had uncovered, a meeting which went ahead in private despite the alleged intervention of Mr Callinan.

The sickening allegation, denied by Mr Callinan, sent a shiver around the hall and the following day a barrister for Mr McGuinness corroborated the central thrust of the alleged conversation.

However, the remainder of that day was difficult for Sgt McCabe as he was cross-examined by barristers representing Supt Taylor and An Garda Siochana.

Tara Burns SC, for Supt Taylor, pointed out a number of contradictions between Sgt McCabe's account of the September 2016 conversation and that of her client. Chief among these was Supt Taylor's contention that he never said Mr Callinan composed derogatory texts and asked him to send them on. Ms Burns put it to Sgt McCabe that he was upset and perhaps misremembered what was said. But he insisted his recollection was correct.

Shane Murphy SC, counsel for Mr Callinan, Ms O'Sullivan and other senior former and current gardai, ran through the findings of the O'Higgins Report, which examined allegations made by Sgt McCabe of malpractice in the Cavan/Monaghan area.

In particular he noted complaints either withdrawn by Sgt McCabe or which Mr Justice O'Higgins ruled to be unfounded. These included a complaint against Mr Callinan of corruption in relation to the placing of a superintendent on a promotions list. In response, Sgt McCabe pointed out there were also a number of incidents that he was blamed for "in the wrong".

Questioned by his own counsel, Michael McDowell SC, Sgt McCabe clarified that corruption had a different meaning under the Garda regulations and that he had never sought to infer corruption in the criminal sense.

Also during his evidence last Tuesday, Sgt McCabe apologised over a claim he had been shouted at by counsel for the Garda Commissioner at the O'Higgins Commission. The allegation was made in a statement submitted by his legal team, but which he had signed off on.

It has been repeatedly referred to by tribunal chairman Mr Justice Peter Charleton, who has said it was not corroborated by audio recordings and transcripts.

Mr Murphy read a letter from Sgt McCabe's solicitor, which stated the allegation was included in the statement due to an error on the part of a person in the solicitor's office.

On Thursday, during legal submissions, Mr Justice Charleton said he couldn't buy that it was just a mistake. The complaint was in "a long narrative about shouting and having to ask people to stop shouting", he said.Not for nothing was Barbara Bush known as 'The Enforcer'

Barbara Bush, tougher than her husband and known to her family as 'The Enforcer', is probably the most popular of all ex-US first ladies of recent times. Jackie Kennedy is remembered across the globe for elegance and tragedy, but she was not loved. Rosalynn Carter worked hard and was a noted campaigner on issues of mental health, but she has suffered in retrospect because of her bitterness at his defeat by Ronald Reagan, who is widely perceived to have been as great a success as Carter was a failure. The brittle Nancy Reagan was an essential support to her husband, but was thought to care little for anyone else. Hillary Clinton was loathed by those who thought her a careerist. The likeable Laura Bush did a lot of useful work but lacked her mother-in-law's commanding personality. And although Michelle Obama had rock-star status, that has diminished as she and her husband embrace luxury and celebrity. Betty Ford is probably the closest rival, having been far more effective and formidable than her husband Gerald, the 38th president, and still having a posthumous reputation for her prowess as a campaigner on addiction, not least because so many of the famous troop to the Betty Ford Clinic.US President Donald Trump had a frosty reception for Enda Kenny in the Oval Office of the White House last year and it doesnt look any better for Leo Varadkar as trade wars kick off. Photo: Getty

Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's first official visit to the White House comes at a time of especially strained relations between the US and the EU.

Transatlantic relations have deteriorated rapidly since Donald Trump's inauguration as president of United States of America and they are about to hit a new low.

Trump's outwardly nationalistic and isolationist policies have disturbed EU leaders since the businessman's shock election victory.

Major US policy shifts on immigration, climate change and tax have sent shockwaves through Brussels and beyond.

Trump's unpredictable nature led to German Chancellor Angela Merkel announcing that the EU could no longer "completely depend" on the US, adding: "Europeans truly have to take our fate into our own hands."

Back in America, Trump is fending off allegations that he paid porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their relationship before his presidential campaign, while simultaneously dealing with the continuing fallout from Russia's interference in the same election.

All this and now the former reality star host has decided to start an international trade war with his allies in Europe and the East by slapping tariffs on steel and aluminium imported into America.

The tariffs are aimed at rejuvenating the country's steel industry and tie in with Trump's nostalgic vision of America in the good old days.

Europe has responded in kind. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker described the new steel tariffs as "stupid" and promised that the EU would hit back with its own taxes on US imports. China is also gearing up for a trade war, which is to nobody's benefit.

The day before the Taoiseach visits the White House, the EU will set out its formal response to Trump's tariffs. This could include new import taxes on US tobacco, bourbon, motorcycles, oranges and peanut butter.

This is the backdrop as Leo Varadkar prepares to enter the lion's den that is President Trump's Oval Office. The Taoiseach knows he is meeting the president as a representative of both Ireland and the EU.

Last Thursday evening, Varadkar hosted European Commission president Donald Tusk in Government Buildings. They discussed the potential trade war at length and agreed to speak again before the Taoiseach's White House appointment.

There is division in the heart of Europe over how to deal with Trump. Tusk wants to take a tactical and less confrontational approach to the US president (and Varadkar agrees with him), while Juncker is more gung-ho and up for a scrap.

"Both Tusk and Varadkar are less enthusiastic about a tit-for-tat than Trump and Junker seem to be," a source said. Varadkar's meeting with Trump could ease transatlantic tension and will be the first real test of his international diplomatic skills. It's all well and good hosting EU neighbours or even British leaders, taking a pacifist approach to negotiations, but it will be an entirely different when it comes to the bullish and aggressive US president.

Ministers travelling to the US for St Patrick's Day have been briefed on messaging around the trade tariff conflict before their visits.

Briefing documents seen by the Sunday Independent say the steel and aluminium tariffs raise a "systematic concern". Ministers will tell US dignitaries and politicians that Ireland fully backs "the adoption of immediate and commensurate countermeasures, if necessary".

"Ireland's preference would be to see any US imposition of tariffs dealt with at the WTO (World Trade Organisation), however, any such process could take a number of years to resolve with the possibility of substantial damage being caused to EU exports in the interim," the briefing states.

Trade war aside, Varadkar's advisers are expecting a warm reception in the White House. Trump has surrounded himself with Irish-Americans since taking office and Enda Kenny was well received when he made the Stateside journey last year.

When speaking to Trump, the Taoiseach will pitch Ireland as America's "bridge to Europe" after the UK eventually leaves the union. It's a tough sell to a president who has supported Brexit and made former Ukip leader Nigel Farage his unofficial ambassador to Britain.

But will Trump one day visit Ireland as many US presidents have in the past? A senior government source told the Sunday Independent the invitation extended to the US president by Enda Kenny "still stands" and the controversial businessman was welcome to visit Ireland at his convenience. "The invitation was issued by Enda Kenny and it's still here and won't be retracted," the source added.

*******

Brexit is another big focus of the St Patrick's Day trade mission this year. Last Wednesday evening, just after 7pm, a group of ministers and advisers gathered in Tanaiste Simon Coveney's office in Government Buildings for a full briefing on the talks in Brussels. It had been decided at Cabinet the previous day that ministers should be given a refresher course on Brexit ahead of the St Patrick's Day exodus. Ministers were also keen to be given a heads-up on possible developments in negotiations which might take place while they are away.

The week after ministers arrive back from their globetrotting, the Taoiseach will leave for Brussels for a high-stakes EU summit on Brexit.

At this point, it is hoped a legal agreement will be reached between the EU and our neighbours on the thorny issue of the Northern Ireland border and the transition period before we finally say farewell to Britain.

So it is hugely important that ministers stay on message when they are swanning around international soirees.

In his office, Coveney talked through events of recent weeks and what he expects to happen in the coming days ahead of the March 22-23 EU summit. There are complexities around Brexit that some ministers wouldn't have come across due to their portfolios.

The Government is proud that there hasn't been a Brexit-related gaffe by ministers at home or abroad. But there is a fear that a wrong word or misunderstanding of policy could derail the talks or be pounced on by those Tories who back Brexit. "It was an attempt to make sure everyone is across Brexit before they go away," a source at the meeting said.

Criticism of the British government will form an integral part of the St Patrick's Day missions. This has been going on for the past year or so, but ministers are expected to amplify the rhetoric against the UK in seeking to sell Ireland as a location to do business in the post-Brexit world.

Coveney told the meeting he has been "heartened" by the support the EU has shown Ireland since talks began.

"The UK fully expected the EU to tap Ireland on the shoulder at some stage and say 'look if you don't mind we'll come back to the border later', but the solidarity has been astounding," a source said.

Coveney's assurances were copper-fastened with the arrival of Donald Tusk last Thursday. The former Polish prime minister put to bed any suggestions that the Northern Irish border would be parked while other areas of the Brexit deal were thrashed out.

"If in London someone assumes that the negotiations will deal with other issues first before moving to the Irish issue, my response would be 'Ireland first'," Tusk said following the meeting with Varadkar. All very positive for the Government as it jets off to charm and schmooze dignitaries and world leaders.

However, one government source insisted Ireland will not become a "vessel for the EU". "It's actually dangerous for Ireland to be seen as Europe's puppet," the source added.The EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, very recently said that the EU has moved more in 10 months than in the last 10 years on security and defence cooperation. Yet because of Ireland's so-called policy of neutrality, we have largely remained on the sidelines of this ongoing EU debate.

Irish neutrality is not some tablet of stone or some policy position hewn out of Irish rock that can never be debated or never changed.

Like any major issue, Irish politicians must be able to reflect the international and European debate that is currently taking place. Pretending to the Irish public that we are masters of our own destiny when it comes to providing security to the Irish people is utterly delusional.

Whether we like it or not, the issue of integrating European security and defence systems is on the agenda. Pesco, which the Government signed up to last year, is a good start but is a project-based plan. Many want to go further by putting in place a deeper European Defence Union - a key priority for the EU into the future.

Do I think that will lead to the creation of a European army? Absolutely not.

Can we be forced to do something or commit troops to some mission that we don't want to do? Absolutely not. However, Ireland, as one of the most successful small countries in the EU, a country transformed because by EU membership, must be aware of other countries' concerns. It would be bad politics to do otherwise.

The new threats that face Europe are as much threats that face Ireland also. The new forms of extreme Islamic terrorism, cyber security, international crime and human trafficking represent threats that all Europeans want to confront. Modern military and security engagement is not about troops going on to the battlefield. Today's threats are less visible and less predictable.

That is why the four Fine Gael MEPs last week published a position paper entitled Ireland and the EU: Defending our common European home, which calls for closer cooperation with our European partners on security and defence matters.

This paper provides the blueprint for Ireland to go beyond Pesco, to move past our historic under-investment in Defence Forces infrastructure and to take practical and mature decisions to provide the best security for Irish people.

We are proposing 10 policy recommendations that align us closer to our EU partners on security issues. We believe that Ireland should actively participate in the emerging European Defence Union; we think that a serious re-evaluation of our policy of neutrality is needed and we believe that the Triple Lock System is not fit for purpose and should be amended.

Irish spending on defence is the lowest in the EU, at 0.3pc of GDP, according to the World Bank.

Our position paper argues that defence spending needs to increase significantly, not only to improve our security capabilities but also to enhance the pay and conditions for our Defence Forces.

EU member states want to know our position. They want our view. Too often in the past, we have followed the debate and refused to take a leading role.

We as MEPs are useless to the Irish people if we cannot be frank about this issue. Representing Ireland in the European Parliament is an extraordinary honour. However, that representation must be able to match our rights as EU citizens with our responsibility as EU citizens. I believe passionately that if we involve ourselves more in the emerging EU security and defence landscape, it will not only help our own security needs at home but will also help Ireland to stand firm on the real red lines for Irish negotiators in Brussels.

In recent years, we have become known as one of the 'Doctor No's' of EU politics. We have secured so many opt-outs and we have battled against some major EU reforms. By cooperating more on security and defence issues, we can hold firm on our priority areas like tax and FDI policy.

I welcome what the Taoiseach said recently on paying more into the EU budget. That is the type of solidarity that wins people over and more importantly puts Ireland in much greater control of the EU budget.

A policy of developing our security and defence interests, similar to what Sweden and Finland have done in recent years, will make it easier for us to be part of the core of EU decision-making and EU design.

Our Defence Forces deserve the best. We don't spend nearly enough on them or on the capital infrastructure that they must work with. For 40 years, they held the line against armed thugs and paramilitary criminals - providing support and assistance to An Garda Siochana.

Their professionalism and discipline, especially in the area of humanitarian and peacekeeping international efforts, is something that can be built upon in the years to come.

The four Fine Gael MEPs want a proper national debate on these issues. Our position paper is intended to spark a discussion and to get people talking about these issues. We invite everyone to bring their views to the table. Whatever people believe, we can no longer keep our heads down and remain silent on security and defence as new global threats intensify.

Brian Hayes is the Fine Gael MEP for DublinFor most of the century after his death in March 1918, John Redmond, leader of the Irish Parliamentary Party at Westminster from 1900 to 1918, was the forgotten man of Irish history.

The prevailing republican ethos of the Irish State ensured that, when he was remembered at all, it was as "England's recruiting sergeant", a man who had sold out his country by aligning it with Great Britain in the Great War and sending thousands of young Irishmen to die in a cause not their own. An additional charge was that he had capitulated to Ulster unionist threats and thus paved the way for partition.

The decade of centenaries, a number of recent biographies and an increased public interest in the Irish experience of the Great War have brought new understandings of Redmond and his legacy.

Some of the old cliches have been dispelled. As knowledge of the decades before 1916 has grown, Redmond and his party are receiving credit for some solid legislative achievements that changed the face of Ireland. These include the Land Purchase Acts of 1903 and 1909 that transferred ownership of the land from landlords to tenants, the Labourers Acts of 1906 and 1911 which provided for the addition of almost 40,000 cottages to the housing stock for agricultural labourers and the Act of 1908 setting up the National University of Ireland, along with many smaller measures.

However, with greater knowledge have come new distortions. Redmond's Wexford gentry forebears and Clongowes education, along with his failure to intervene in the labour strife in Dublin in 1913, have been used to depict him as a dyed-in-the-wool social conservative. His defence of denominational education in Ireland and Britain has allowed him to be cast as a clericalist in politics.

His loss of political influence during the Great War, epitomised and reinforced by his refusal of a Cabinet post in Asquith's wartime Coalition government in 1915, has been exaggerated to make him seem a virtual recluse in his home at Aughavannagh in the Wicklow mountains.

The publication, on the centenary of his death, of the first edition of Redmond's correspondence should help to correct some of these misunderstandings.

Letters to and from British Labour leader James Keir Hardie in 1906 show the Irish Party's close co-ordination with the Labour movement in its management of the Irish vote in Great Britain. This built on a long tradition in which Irish Home Rulers had supported legislation on working hours, factory safety inspections and other labour measures.

A 1908 letter from a Wexford priest praises his efforts on behalf of the Labourers Act: "God knows you worked hard enough for this Act. I remember quite well you spoke every night for three weeks when [the Bill] was in Committee [and] the result is it is the most complete Act for the working man in any country I know."

Although he defended the Catholic schools of Britain's Irish communities against the secularising provisions of the Liberals' Education Bill, his correspondence with Archbishop of Dublin William Walsh in the 1890s and his reaction to a 1911 papal decree show an insistence that religious and political matters belonged in separate spheres.

As for reclusiveness during the Great War, despite his (arguably mistaken) refusal of office in Asquith's wartime Cabinet, he remained as busy as ever, making 16 impassioned addresses (14 of them in Ireland) in 20 months from recruiting platforms while lobbying the prime minister, the British war office and army chiefs in long memoranda with his views on what was necessary to maintain and raise Irish enlistment figures.

Right up to the week of the Easter 1916 rebellion (as much a blow struck against Home Rule as against British rule) he was fighting with the British Treasury against cuts to Irish grants and moves to increase Irish war taxation.

Above all, he was warning all sides incessantly that any move to impose conscription on Ireland would have disastrous consequences.

Misrepresentations of Redmond aside, there still exist many misconceptions about the passage of the Third Home Rule Act.

In some of these, historians who should know better have ascribed its ultimate failure to the duplicity of British political leaders who had no intention of implementing it; Redmond is made to appear their willing dupe.

The facts that the Bill took three years to pass through the House of Commons and, when finally made law seven weeks into the war, had its operation suspended for a year or until the end of the war, are used to suggest foot-dragging and bad faith on the part of the British government.

Yet the three-year passage was part of the ground rules understood by all from the beginning; the suspension was suggested by Redmond himself.

The fact that the Home Rule Act was never implemented is used to denigrate the legislation itself and the efforts of those who had struggled for many years to bring it to the statute book.

It is true that, although the act offered a national parliament elected by the people with an executive responsible to it, the Westminster parliament would remain supreme - a measure of independence that would be judged inadequate today. But there was no significant demand in the country then for anything beyond this, and in election after election Irish voters had given the Irish Parliamentary Party the great majority of the Irish seats in the Commons.

The Home Rule Bill, however, did have a major flaw. It related not to its provisions for Irish self-government as such but to the fact that it was supposed to extend to the whole island - including a group of north-eastern counties whose population was determined to continue in its citizenship of the United Kingdom and to resist all attempts to be subjected to what it saw as an alien Dublin parliament.

The underestimated and unresolved Ulster question would turn out to be the flaw that ultimately sank the Home Rule project and, with it, Redmond's political career.

The longest letters and memos in this book, written to the prime minister, the war minister Lloyd George and chief secretary Birrell, document the slow dawning of awareness on his part that Ulster unionist resistance could not be conciliated except by the exclusion of the unionist heartlands from the Bill.

In four months between November 1913 and March 1914, Redmond moved from outright denunciation of exclusion as the 'mutilation' of the nation to a very reluctant acceptance of a temporary exclusion scheme based on plebiscites in Ulster counties and a six-year time limit.

Yet, as the breakdown of the Buckingham Palace Conference showed, his maximum concession was less than the minimum acceptable to the unionists. By the summer of 1914, Ireland was on the brink of a civil war.

Further letters trace Redmond's participation in a UK attempt, following the 1916 rebellion, to bring the Home Rule Act into operation, subject to a provisional exclusion of a six-county bloc.

In the post-rebellion atmosphere, however, conceding partition had become far more difficult. The collapse of the deal led to an impasse unforeseen: Redmond and his followers were now rejecting repeated offers of Home Rule on the only terms available. And many of those followers were abandoning the IPP for a resurgent Sinn Fein.

Dermot Meleady is the editor of John Redmond: Selected Letters and Memoranda, 1880-1918, and of John Redmond: The National Leader (both published by Merrion Press)The Irish mammy of 2018 is a varied species and has evolved into a child development expert, nutritionist, educator and cyber monitor.

She is generally healthier and fitter than her predecessors and is fully equipped with a smart phone, a souped-up buggy and child-related gadgets.

These mothers appear to be enjoying life more - there's the gym, coffee mornings, play dates, purpose-built creches and indoor play areas.

Yes, the nation's daddies are more involved today with parenting - but the division of childcare and housework still tends to weigh more on the woman's side, irrespective of whether she is at home or out working. The role of mother is fundamental to the emotional and economic health of a society.

Women today take their roles very seriously, consulting psychologists, support groups, the internet and the exhaustive list of books on how to raise children. One in eight people in Ireland is living in a one-parent family with the vast majority headed by mothers. The average age of becoming a mother in Ireland is around 32, with assisted reproductive methods facilitating more births and older mothers.

But is this new breed of mother happy?

More and more women end up in therapy with me, or with other professionals in psychological distress. Most are presenting with post-natal depression, stress, anxiety and relationship difficulties. Becoming a mother can be complex. For me, it involved failed IVF treatments, miscarriages and a lengthy and intense adoption process.

Not all mothers are 'naturals' or have a real choice whether to work full-time or part-time, stay at home, outsource help or come off social welfare.

For the stay-at-home mothers, issues can arise such as lost identity, a lack of confidence, a sense of isolation, mundanity and zero headspace.

On the other side of the coin, mothers who are working may feel trapped, experience separation anxiety from their kids or feel deprived of opportunities. Mammy burn-out is a hard one to admit to. Many mothers come to me on medication prescribed to help alleviate symptoms. At the extreme end of the mothering spectrum, there are those with addictions, struggling with psychiatric disorders or domestic violence. Regular wine drinking to alleviate stress is increasingly being reported in sessions, and across the board.

Women also tend to complicate matters with perfectionism, unrealistic expectations, over-thinking, comparisons with peers and celebrity mums. The subliminal text among many social media moms is to be all and to have it all. These days Irish mammies are intensively parenting, involved with every step of their child's development. She wants her kids to be able to talk to her about everything and nurtures every interest her child is drawn to. She orchestrates it so they can experience what she may not have had as a child such as affection, the latest trend, play, hobbies, magical times or having friends.

What can help make mothering smoother?

One of the keys to becoming a happier mum is to acknowledge that each child has individual temperaments, behaviours and needs. And that mothers, too, have their own personalities, histories and coping mechanisms. Accept what your best fit really is.

For mothers working outside the home who feel overwhelmed and burnt-out, try negotiating a four-day week, job-sharing or working from home.

Mothers need to seek representation at organisational and governmental levels to push for pro-mothering working conditions. And mothers need to expect partners to value and support their role.

Another step to becoming a happier mammy is to seek professional support. Acknowledging the struggle, taking off the mask, talking it through and modifying coping skills can foster well-being. It also helps to expand your identity beyond the role of mother to prevent becoming dependent on children, or living through them.

We need to be conscious of clearing headspace for ourselves, prioritising and managing time effectively. Does the floor need to be mopped again? Is that battle with your kid really worth having?

Mothers need to accept their limits, while reflecting on what is working well as an antidote to self-abating. Showing compassion to yourself can gradually shrink your inner critic. A little empathy can mean so much to a mum, letting her know she is doing well, or offering practical help.

Getting outdoors, exercise and limiting screen time is good for mother and child. Mindfulness fosters easy-to-use methods to calm, ground and refresh oneself. Mammies often tell me that by talking, thinking less and enjoying regular guilt-free time to themselves, they become more content.

While it's healthy for both parties in a relationship to enjoy activities and outings, it fractures relationships if it is one-sided or at the expense of the next day and family life.

Women often tell me they feel like a single mum, even though they are in a relationship. Irish mammies take their roles seriously and invest so much in their children. If they sit back and enjoy the rollercoaster, they may have more fun.

Niamh Delmar is a counselling psychologist, mental health educator and freelance writer. Anyone who may feel in difficulty should contact their GP, PSI OR IACP for supportLast Tuesday was the centenary of the death of John Redmond, the Irish national leader from 1900 until his death in 1918. It is sad to record that his life of service to Ireland was not adequately commemorated by the State he played such an important role in bringing into being.

Those responsible decided to mark the day not at his grave in Wexford, as one might have expected, but by facilitating an academic seminar in the National Gallery organised by the Royal Irish Academy. As a commemoration, it just did not measure up.

The President wasn't there and while the Ceann Comhairle, Sean O Fearghail, and the Chancellor of the National University, Maurice Manning, launched things with gracious references to Redmond, the learned academics who followed were more debunking than complimentary.

The organisers did not include as a speaker Redmond's main biographer, Dermot Meleady, or even others who had written about his life - except Paul Bew, whose perspective is that of an Ulster unionist.

Had it not been for John Bruton exceeding his proper function as chair of one of the sessions and delivering himself of a powerful eulogy, one would have wondered whether it ranked at all as a commemoration of John Redmond as an Irish national leader.

The closest we got to Government representation was the attendance of the Taoiseach at the end of the day to launch a book commissioned by the Royal Irish Academy about Carson and Redmond by Professor Alvin Jackson.

Mr Varadkar had been scheduled to speak at Redmond's grave in Wexford last Sunday but had pulled out before the bad weather aborted the whole event.

It is sad that a person who was national leader for almost 20 years, and whose honour and dedication nobody could question, should be treated with such lack of respect on his centenary.

It all has a long history. Those who achieved independence after Redmond's death following the use of physical force felt compelled to justify themselves by denying any credit to those who eschewed violence.

It may be that they felt threatened by doubts that what had been achieved by force could have been achieved, perhaps more slowly, by constitutional means and that it was all not worth the destruction and bitterness that were the result of the violence set off by the 1916 rebellion. The memory of Redmond and his colleagues had to be deprived of all credit to justify what had occurred.

It was fair to question the wisdom of some of Redmond's aspirations and actions.

He was prepared to settle for something less than total independence. His decision to support Britain in the Great War, although it enjoyed majority support at the time, turned out badly.

This should not prevent him being given credit for his indisputable achievements as a national leader - before 1910 he got the British government to build labourers' cottages and finance land purchase for tenant farmers, as well as to help reform the Irish university system which educated those who were to lead independent Ireland.

By his skilful and persuasive advocacy he won much wider acceptance for Irish Home Rule in Britain.

This, and his mastery of parliamentary tactics, resulted in the Home Rule Act 1914.

While the resistance of Ulster unionists prevented it from coming into effect, its result was the acceptance by both major parties in Britain that this part of Ireland should have self-government when war ended.

This created a platform from which subsequent Irish nationalists were able to negotiate a larger measure of independence.

This was a debt to Redmond that could be acknowledged by the State without belittling those who used violence to achieve independence.

This State, which prides itself on valuing all our traditions, should have commemorated properly the centenary of Redmond's death and so honoured his contribution as our national leader. This is all the more so now that as a nation we have come to accept the enduring wisdom of Redmond's core beliefs that conciliation rather than coercion is the way forward in Ireland and that we should strive for close friendly relations with our British neighbour.Forensic officers in gas masks at the cemetery where former Russian double agent Sergei Skripals wife and son were laid to rest. Photo: PA Wire

On a wall of British intelligence service GCHQ's sprawling donut-shaped office in Cheltenham, there is a large screen showing a map of the world - and of cyber-attacks. It seems to show digital missiles being fired every few seconds from Russia and China, hitting targets in Europe and America.

But as the spies know, this is little more than educated guesswork. There's no doubt that the governments of both countries sponsor hacking of Western businesses on an industrial scale, but the serious cyber attacks are so well disguised that it's almost impossible to trace where they came from.

Without proof, it's hard to complain - or retaliate.

In the Cold War, things were relatively simple: it was one government versus another, the East's armies (and spies) against the West's. But the rules of engagement have changed.

The globalisation of organised crime has created a new breed of well-financed, well-connected Mafia bosses with capabilities as strong as those of many governments. One might suspect the Russian mob acts with the Kremlin's backing, but in this new cold war, the secret is to strike with plausible deniability. In hacking, and with murder.

The most likely explanation for the attack on Sergei Skripal is that it was carried out on the Kremlin's orders - likely, because it fits a pattern.

Expand Close Russian president Vladimir Putin is interviewed by Megyn Kelly of NBC in Kaliningrad, Russia, yesterday. Photo: AP / Facebook

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Vladimir Putin's enemies have a habit of meeting strange, violent deaths - as befits the rules of a country with a long tradition of political assassination. Unusual weapons have long been the Kremlin's calling card: an ice-pick (Trotsky), a poisoned umbrella tip (Georgi Markov) and radioactive polonium (Alexander Litvinenko).

So the use of nerve agent on Skripal and his daughter is, for many, enough to prove Putin guilty.

But hard evidence, in such cases, seldom emerges. After years of investigating the Litvinenko case, the best the official inquiry could say was that his Russian assassins were "probably" instructed by Putin.

The assassins were named: ex-KGB agents Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtun. Their sloppiness left a trail of polonium, from the teapot they used to pour their victim poisoned tea to the aircraft that took them from Moscow. But who instructed them? There, the trail runs cold.

UK prime minister of the day David Cameron did very little in retaliation: the Kremlin denied having anything to do with the murder, and he could not prove otherwise.

With the Skripal case, there are several other plausible explanations. He could have been caught up in the Russian underworld. As the Litvinenko family's lawyer said yesterday, there is vanishingly little difference between the behaviour of mobsters and the FSB (the successor organisation to the KGB) so what looks like a government hit might well be the mafia.

They operate with the same method - sometimes even the same people.

So it's quite possible that this was not Putin, but someone seeking to please him. He's famously relaxed about his enemies being murdered.

Boris Nemtsov was gunned down while walking with his girlfriend on a bridge near the Kremlin - an audacious hit, given how many security cameras are in the area. But, mysteriously, none of them was working that night. Nor were there police patrols.

Journalist Anna Politkovskaya's investigation into Putin's corruption was brought to an end with her assassination.

Sergei Magnitsky, a lawyer who had been investigating corruption, was found dead after 11 months in prison.

From the West, it can seem bizarre: doesn't Putin have a reputation to protect?

He does: the reputation of someone whom it's best not to mess with. Someone who can wait a decade, perhaps more, for vengeance.

This is an election year in Russia - and the Putin promise is that he's a strong leader who is ruthless with enemies and restoring national pride. The fate of Skripal will be seen, by Putin's allies, as yet another warning to his enemies.

Popular opinion on such matters is very different. Litvinenko's murder was cheered from the floor of the Russian parliament, with one lawmaker giving thanks for the fact that "the traitor has met the punishment he deserves".

Lugovoi is written about now more as a celebrity than a criminal, having got remarried (to a go-go dancer) in a lavish wedding on the Black Sea. He now sits in parliament himself, and three years ago he was granted a state medal "for services to the fatherland". He embodies the point that being accused of murdering Putin's enemies does not harm your career.

So Putin doesn't need to order assassinations: he has arranged things where accidents befall his enemies and everyone knows about it. In this, and in much else, he has developed deniability into an art form. From the soldiers sent into Crimea in unmarked uniforms, to the supposedly independent computer hackers who menace Estonia, it is often impossible to say with certainty that the Kremlin is involved. So there is the perfect excuse to do nothing, pretend you saw nothing.

But with a UK policeman lying in hospital, almost killed by a nerve agent that was probably developed in a laboratory run by a foreign government, it's harder for London to do nothing. Even to go through the motions of expelling Russian diplomats, as happened after Litvinenko's murder, will not be enough: they will expel just as many British diplomats - and things will go on as normal.

Putin might well have concluded, last time, that hunger for Russian money was greater than its concern about human rights. But Russian interest in money is precisely where the UK's real leverage lies. The ability to evacuate swindled wealth to safe havens in Knightsbridge or Mayfair is highly valued by plutocrats. And one of the few things that the British have done in recent years that has worried the suspiciously rich Russians are the "unexplained wealth orders" that allow police to investigate people for whom they have questions.

Used properly, they could stop London being used as the playground of Putin's cronies.

When Magnitsky, the lawyer, was found dead in his cell, the US Congress responded with the Magnitsky Act which allows the sanctioning of anyone caught up in human rights abuses. There was never any evidence that the Kremlin killed Magnitsky, but Congress didn't wait for any - they just stepped up something they ought to have been doing anyway.

Theresa May has these options - and more - but Britain has always been more hesitant. Something that those around Cameron say that he now regrets.

UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd said yesterday that she'll respond as soon as she has proof - but the whole point of such murders is that proof never arrives. This is a new kind of conflict, and deserves a new kind of response.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]Specialist chemical and biological warfare units from the British Army are investigating the graves of Sergei Skripal's wife and son after being deployed to Salisbury in England.

The investigation into last week's nerve agent attack on the former Russian double agent and his daughter, Yulia, intensified this weekend, as UK military personnel moved in. British counter-terror police, who are leading the probe, said they requested help to remove "a number of vehicles and objects from the scene in Salisbury town centre as they have the necessary capability and expertise".

Targets included Skripal's car, an ambulance, air-ambulance helicopter and police vehicle, which were covered by people wearing protective gear and driven away on military lorries. Officers in hazmat suits were seen placing a blue forensic tent over a memorial stone for the former spy's son, Alexander, and nearby grave of his wife, Liudmila.

They were both thought to have died of natural illnesses but the cause of their deaths - in 2017 and 2012 respectively - have come under renewed focus following the brazen attempt on Skripal's life.

Specialist operations continued as Skripal and his daughter remained in a "very serious" condition in intensive care, while a police officer also exposed to the nerve agent is conscious and talking from his hospital bed.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey was among the first officers sent to the bench where the pair were found unconscious last Sunday afternoon, and then onwards to Skripal's suburban home.

Investigators are looking at the possibility that Skripal was targeted at his home, where sources said a package containing the nerve agent may have been delivered and opened in the presence of his daughter. It was thought significant that DS Bailey had visited the property.

Forensic tests have also been carried out at a branch of the Zizzi restaurant chain and The Mill pub in Salisbury, where witnesses say Skripal began to behave in an agitated manner following lunch with his daughter.

The pair were caught on CCTV walking down an alley near where they fell unconscious on a bench at 4.08pm last Sunday, minutes before emergency services were called.

A passing doctor described Yulia "vomiting and fitting" and losing control of her bodily functions. The doctor moved the 33-year-old into the recovery position, as others tended to her father.

All the symptoms are consistent with nerve agents, which vary in strength according to type, concentration and how they are administered.

"You can impregnate them in liquid form into clothing and fabrics," said an expert. "It looks like they were both exposed at exactly the same time, otherwise one of them would have been able to call the emergency services."

If Sergei Skripal was in hiding, he was hiding in plain sight. The house in Salisbury he moved into a year after being exchanged in a spy swap was bought for cash and registered in the double agents own name. He made little attempt to follow a key rule of espionage  be unpredictable and avoid routine.

Instead, the 66-year-old former colonel was a creature of habit: every Sunday he went to the citys Railway Social Club to have a roast, a few pints and a shot of neat vodka. His local shopkeeper recalled his weekly routine of buying UK30 of scratch cards.

Born in June 1953 in the Soviet province of Kaliningrad, between Poland and Lithuania, Skripal became fascinated by the West, tuning into the BBC World Service. He married Liudmila in 1972, having their son, Alexander, two years later and Yulia in 1984.

His fearsome reputation as a soldier was forged in the Soviet airborne troop known as Desantniki, and in 1979 he joined the USSRs invasion of Afghanistan. After graduating from the Diplomatic Military Academy he was recruited to the main intelligence unit, known as GRU, where he specialised in spying in Europe, often by serving as a diplomat.

It was while based in Spain in the Nineties that the Spanish intelligence services realised he was ripe for recruitment as a double agent. However, MI6 handled him, in part because his English was so good.

In 1995 he was given the code name Forthwith. MI6 bought a timeshare apartment near Malaga to meet him. He was paid up to UK4,000 each trip and revealed secrets about Russian intelligence officers in Europe.

Around the turn of the Millennium he quit the GRU, but continued to meet colleagues. In 2004, Skripal was filmed being arrested and convicted of high treason in the form of espionage. His 13-year sentence to hard labour in Mordovia was cut short in 2010 when he was released in the spy swap.

In 2011, he moved into Salisbury, inviting neighbours to his house-warming.Tens of thousands of Slovaks have rallied this weekend to demand the resignation of prime minister Robert Fico's government following the murder of a journalist that has shocked the central European nation and stoked anger over sleaze in public life.

Investigative reporter Jan Kuciak, who was shot dead at home with his fiancee Marina Kusnirova last month, had covered fraud cases involving politically connected businessmen. His last unfinished story looked at Italian businessmen with suspected mafia links operating in Slovakia.

One of the businessmen, who denies having ties to the Italian mafia, had dealings in the past with two people who went on to work in Fico's office. They have both resigned but deny any connection with the killings.

Nobody has been charged with the murders.

Kuciak's journalism and then his murder have rekindled public frustration with the government's failure to tackle graft and cronyism in Slovakia nearly three decades after the fall of communism and 14 years after it joined the European Union.

Fico has led the country of 5.4million people for 10 of the last 12 years and the economy has flourished, but the protesters in the capital Bratislava last Friday (estimated at up to 50,000 by the public broadcaster) chanted "Enough of Fico" and jangled keys - just as they did in 1989 anti-communist rallies.

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Organisers demanded a thorough investigation of Kuciak's death and a "new trustworthy government".

"Politicians in power have lost our trust," said protester Maria Kuliovska, a 30-year-old mother. "We don't trust them to have an independent investigation. They have failed to investigate all previous scandals."

Thousands marched in other Slovak cities, while hundreds of people gathered in cities in Europe and elsewhere.

In the wake of the killings of Kuciak and Kusnirova, Slovakia quickly turned from what seemed to be a stable EU country into chaos.

In a speech last month, Slovakian president Andrej Kiska talked about his country as "successful, proud and self-confident".

On March 4, however, he said Slovakia faced a "serious political crisis" triggered by the shootings.

The political storm has been intensifying daily since the bodies were found on February 25.

Amid heated exchanges between the ruling coalition and the opposition, claims by prime minister Fico of conspiracies against him, and his repeated verbal attacks on president Kiska, a growing number of people have started to turn against the Fico government, threatening its very existence.

"Many have realised that the situation is becoming critical," said Michal Vasecka, an analyst from the Bratislava Policy Institute think-tank.

"A fight started to prevent Slovakia from becoming another Hungary, an autocracy controlled by a small group of oligarchs."

Reflecting the popular mood and growing protests, Kiska called for substantial changes in the government or for an early election to resolve the crisis. "There's a huge public distrust of the state," Kiska said. "And many don't trust law enforcement authorities. This distrust is justified. We crossed the line, things went too far and there's no way back."

Kiska, a political rival of Fico, has said Slovakia is suffering a crisis of trust and has called for a revamp of the three-party coalition or an early election.

Kiska, Fico and parliamentary speaker Andrej Danko - the country's three highest officials - failed in talks last Friday to agree a planned written declaration to help defuse tensions.

Slovak media called last Friday's protest the biggest since 1989. Some universities let students out early. One of the country's largest banks allowed employees to leave work early to take part.

Fico has accused foreign forces of trying to destabilise Slovakia and has questioned the president's meetings with financier George Soros in New York last year without any foreign ministry official present.

The attack on the Hungarian-born billionaire echoes those of Hungary's prime minister, Viktor Orban, who has accused Soros of interfering in Hungarian politics.

Fico said he would meet his two coalition partners over the weekend to seek a deal to keep the government in place. He has resisted a call from the Most-Hid party to sack interior minister Robert Kalinak, his close ally.

Some analysts say Fico's coalition could break up, though he might be able to continue leading a minority government with the backing of a far-right party in parliament.

Martin Slosiarik, an analyst at Focus polling agency, said Fico had never faced a crisis on this scale. "Kuciak's last story has had a serious impact on people's trust in the system of government, and the murder of two young people has added a strong moral aspect," he said.We spent a year in anxiety, worrying about our colleague Deniz Yucel, imprisoned because he wrote things that the Turkish government did not like. He was a symbol for the risks taken by those who work for the truth. For example, the risk of sitting in prison, despite being innocent.

His situation ended well. Deniz Yucel is free.

Jan Kuciak is dead. The 27-year-old journalist from Slovakia was murdered, together with his fiancee Martina Kusnirova. The two of them had just moved into a new home and wanted to get married soon. The shells of the bullets that killed them lay next to their dead bodies. It was meant as a warning. A warning to other journalists who write things that some people do not want them to.

There are wild speculations about who the men behind the killers might be. Rumours range from the Calabrian Mafia to Slovakian government circles, to Russia. It is quite probable that those responsible are enemies of freedom, people who are so afraid of unpleasant truths, so afraid of journalists that they are willing to carry out brutal murders for their cause.

The murder of Jan Kuciak is not an isolated case. In 2016, 74 journalists were murdered because they were journalists. According to Reporters without Borders, four journalists and two bloggers have been killed in 2018, whereby distinguishing between these two groups does not seem to make sense to me in this context. What is more, 307 journalists (and bloggers) are currently incarcerated somewhere because of their profession.

Expressing a commitment to freedom of the press is popular, and too often cheap. Especially when such sentiments of solidarity with those colleagues, who risk their lives for the sake of independent and critical journalism, are declared from the safety of a podium by speakers of sermons moved by their own morality.

However, these days, such expressions of commitment are becoming more concrete and increasingly necessary for very sad reasons.

The mega-trends sweeping the globe can hardly be ignored: Moderate democracies are becoming increasingly weaker. Autocratic states and their representatives (whom we trivialise when we refer to them as "populists") are becoming increasingly stronger. And the strongest of all are the dictatorships - systems (above all, in the Asian and Arab world) that are infiltrating and taking over the economies and societies of one country after another. At the same time, they sentence to death people whose opinions and lifestyles they disapprove of.

In such an environment, journalism is not only becoming more important, it is also becoming more dangerous.

Jan Kuciak stood for a new generation of journalists. He was a reporter for the digital news platform Aktuality, which Axel Springer operates together with the Swiss publisher Ringier.

We have always been proud of this digital newspaper, because it proves that online journalism does not have to be superficial or irrelevant, but on the contrary, can be especially profound, critical and powerful.

For months now, for example, Jan Kuciak had been reporting regularly in Aktuality about cases of purported tax fraud, and as a part of this story, he was researching into the wheeling-and-dealing on a wider scale by Slovakia's ruling party Smer.

He had his sights, above all, on prominent businessmen who, according to his investigations, were supposed to have business contacts to the ruling Social Democrats and organised crime circles. The reporter and his team were always unbending in their attitude. Attempts to intimidate them were not bowed down to - even when they knew that the police had failed to start any investigations into tangible dangers.

Jan Kuciak has now paid for this unbending attitude with his life.

One of the few consoling aspects of this tragedy is that, in the end, it is digitisation that is thwarting the plans of his murderers. Jan Kuciak had saved the (preliminary) results of his research digitally and decentralised in such a way that, if something happened to him, people he could trust would be able to access the information.

And that is precisely what is now happening. The texts that have thus emerged are not only being published in Slovakia, but also in many European publications (such as WELT, for example) and reaching an international public.

Which means that just the opposite of what the murderers intended is happening: research work and its results will not be suppressed, they will be spread to give them maximum coverage. The likelihood that the murderers and their dirty deeds will be uncovered in this way has increased considerably.

A wave of research carried out in solidarity might now be the impressive retaliation of the rule of law. The commonly expressed gesture would be: We will not give up until the perpetrators are found.

We should do everything in our power to achieve this. We owe it to the two victims.

Axel Springer is the biggest digital publishing house in EuropeFrances far-right National Front party has confirmed it has severed its ties to firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen as it tries to revive its fortunes.

The party also re-elected his daughter Marine Le Pen to a new term as president at party congress where she was its only candidate for the post.

A new 100-member governing council was also named.

The party tweeted on Sunday that more than 79% of members who participated in a vote approved new party statutes that included abolishing Mr Le Pens position of party president for life.

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The party expelled him in 2015 over anti-Semitic remarks but he kept the honorary position.

Sundays vote is a crushing blow for the 89-year-old, who founded the party in 1972 and was runner-up in the 2002 French presidential election.

National Front won a boost from a guest star appearance at the congress by former White House strategist Steve Bannon.

He told National Front members that history is on our side.

Father and daughter Le Pen have waged a bitter power struggle since he named her to succeed him in 2011.

The elder Le Pen has been convicted multiple times for racism and anti-Semitism, and his positions complicated his daughters efforts to clean up the partys image and expand its base into disillusioned mainstream French voters.

Abolishing the honorary position is an effort to bypass court rulings that he should be able to maintain his status as honorary party president for life.

The congress in Lille is aimed at remaking its image after Ms Le Pen made it to last years French presidential run-off, riding a global populist wave  but suffered a crushing defeat to independent, pro-globalisation Emmanuel Macron.Emmanuel Macron gestures during the signing of agreements in New Delhi, India (Manish Swarup/AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron has taken a jibe at Donald Trump for withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement.

Mr Macron did not name the US president while speaking at the first meeting of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi.

However, while hailing the solar mamas, a group of women trained as solar engineers, he said the women had continued their mission to promote solar energy even after some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.

Mr Trump announced last June that the US was withdrawing from the Paris accord, which aims to slow the rise in global temperature by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

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Heads and ministers of dozens of countries are participating in the daylong solar summit, co-hosted by India and France.

The Alliance is a treaty-based international body for the promotion of efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

It was launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

Because they (solar mamas) decided it was good for them, for their children, their grandchildren, Mr Macron said.

They decided to act and keep acting, and thats why we are here, in order to act very concretely.

India and France called for affordable solar technology and concessional finance for promoting solar energy.

The summit will discuss framing regulations and standards, credit mechanisms, crowd funding and sharing of technological breakthroughs to promote solar energy in 121 countries associated with the Alliance.

The member countries are fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Sharing my remarks at the ISA Founding Conference. Talked about the importance of the Sun in different cultures, Indias commitment to solar energy and Action Points for the future. https://t.co/ulyi4kAZlf pic.twitter.com/RoIjLBqW8f  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 11, 2018

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a unified effort for promoting solar energy and said the Alliance would help to achieve greater global energy security.

Promoting its development and use can bring prosperity for all and can help reduce the carbon footprint on Earth, Mr Modi told the summit.

If we want the welfare of planet Earth and of the whole humanity, I am confident that we can come out of our personal confines and like a family, bring unity in our aims and efforts (to promote solar energy).Clara Ponsati had been teaching at the University of St Andrews (David Cheskin/PA)

A fugitive former member of Catalonias regional government said she has moved to Scotland from Belgium, where she had fled from a Spanish court investigation into a secession plot.

Clara Ponsati, the Catalan former education chief, said on Saturday that she had returned to teaching at the University of St Andrews.

She appears as a faculty member of the School of Economics and Finance on the Scottish universitys website.

Ms Ponsati had been in Belgium ever since fleeing Spain along with Catalan ex-regional president Carles Puigdemont and three other former Cabinet members following an unsuccessful bid to declare independence from Spain in October.

She and the others face arrest if they return to Spain.

An international arrest warrant had been issued for all five separatist leaders, but a Spanish judge later withdrew it.Hundreds of Poles have gathered in Warsaw to express their solidarity with Jews who perished in the Holocaust, were expelled from Poland 50 years ago or feel targeted by a new wave of anti-Semitism.

Speakers at the demonstration denounced the policies of the current Polish government that have led to a dispute with Israel and sparked a wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric.

They gathered late Sunday afternoon at the Gdanski train station, the departure point for thousands of Poles of Jewish descent who were forced to leave the country in March 1968 by the communist regime of the time.

The rally was part of a larger initiative by Polish civic groups that also published an open letter describing the government policies as radical and inappropriate.An unnamed British-Iranian national has been sentenced to six years in prison on spying charges, the official news agency of Irans judiciary reported Sunday, the latest dual national convicted in the country.

Mizan news agency quoted Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi announcing the sentencing, though he did not elaborate on what the charges entailed.

However, there is no known case of a British-Iranian national being sentenced to six years in prison, suggesting this is a new case.

A number of dual nationals with Western ties have been arrested since Irans 2015 nuclear deal with world powers.

Analysts and family members of dual nationals and others detained in Iran have suggested that hardliners in the Islamic Republics security agencies use the prisoners as bargaining chips for money or influence.

A UN panel in September described an emerging pattern involving the arbitrary deprivation of liberty of dual nationals in Iran, which Tehran denies.

Iran does not recognise dual nationalities, so those detainees cannot receive consular assistance.

Others with ties to the West detained in Iran include Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian woman serving a five-year prison sentence for allegedly planning the soft toppling of Irans government while travelling with her young daughter.

Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe was detained in April 2016 and served a third of her sentence by January 2018, making her eligible for release.

Her family said she remained held as Britain negotiated a settlement with Iran over 400 million held by London, a payment the late Iranian shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi made for Chieftain tanks that were never delivered.France Far Right New Identity

French far-right leader Marine Le Pen has proposed renaming the National Front party co-founded by her father 46 years ago National Rally, to put it in a win mode for future elections.

Le Pens proposal to open a new era for the anti-immigration party with a new name ended Le Pens closing speech at the partys two-day congress in Lille, the capital of the National Fronts northern heartland.

The name National Rally must be approved by party members in a postal vote for it to be adopted.

In another decisive change, the party severed the final ties to Le Pens firebrand father, National Front co-founder Jean-Marie Le Pen.

He was not allowed to attend the congress.

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The move was part of the broader makeover designed to revive the nationalist partys fortunes after Marine Le Pen failed to win the French presidency last year.

In a nod to the apparently large contingent of members opposed to a name change, Le Pen noted that the National Front name, which the party has had since its founding in 1972, was linked to a glorious past.

However, she said it served as a psychological barrier for potential new members and voters, notably the word front, which suggests opposition.

A questionnaire to members showed only 52% wanted a new name for the party.

The changes are part of a broader makeover Le Pen hopes will help boost the party to power.

Le Pen has worked since taking over in 2011 to remove the stigma of racism and anti-Semitism attached to the National Front under her fathers leadership.

The party has fallen into the political netherworld since Marine Le Pens loss to Emmanuel Macron in the presidential election 10 months ago.

Despite her troubles, Marine Le Pen was re-elected to a new term as party president at the congress  the only candidate for the post.

National Front members also approved a new leadership structure and a 100-member governing council was named.South Koreas national security chief Chung Eui-yong with President Trump, who is willing to talk to North Korea. Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump has said a deal with North Korea is "very much in the making", after criticism over his readiness to agree to talks with Pyongyang.

"The deal... will be, if completed, a very good one for the world. Time and place to be determined," Trump said in a tweet.

But the White House said talks would only take place once the secretive regime took "concrete and verifiable actions" that went beyond promises to halt nuclear testing and denuclearise.

It has emerged that the president's sudden acceptance of an invitation to a historic summit was apparently off the cuff, leaving aides scurrying to draft a new blueprint for dealing with Pyongyang.

Trump's immediate positive response to Kim Jong-un's invitation to talk had taken not only senior US officials by surprise, but also the South Korean envoys who delivered it, according to reports.

The South Koreans, including national security chief Chung Eui-yong, had been due to meet with Trump last Friday, when the president invited them and HR McMaster, the US national security adviser, into the Oval Office for an impromptu debriefing a day early, reported the New York Times.

When Chung told the president that Kim Jong-un had indicated he was interested in meeting, Donald Trump immediately said yes and asked the South Korean intelligence official to announce it himself to the press.

A bewildered Chung reportedly had to first call South Korean president Moon Jae-in to get his approval, before Mr McMaster and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders worked out the unusual logistics of a foreign government making such a significant announcement from the White House.

A senior South Korean official later told the Yonhap newswire that the envoys had delivered a "special message" to Trump from Kim in addition to the summit invitation. The official declined to disclose the contents of the message, saying that it was meant to be an exchange between two leaders, but indicated that "it was part of [Kim's] effort to build trust".

The White House has struggled to keep a lid on mixed messages in the wake of Trump's surprise decision to be the first sitting US president to enter direct talks with a North Korean leader. Previous presidents had shied away from similar summits for fear of handing a propaganda coup to Pyongyang that it was being treated as an equal on the world stage.

The Trump administration stressed it would still maintain "maximum pressure" on North Korea, while attempting to swat away criticism that the US was getting nothing in exchange for agreeing to the historic face-to-face meeting.

The summit announcement appeared to have caught some US officials off guard, including secretary of state Rex Tillerson, who was not briefed before Trump took his audacious diplomatic gambit. Tillerson, who is on his first trip to Africa, had told reporters last Thursday that talks with the North were a distant prospect.

Yesterday, aides said he had cancelled his programme in Kenya for the day because of "not feeling well after a long couple of days working on major issues back home such as North Korea".

Despite Trump's approach, planning for the potential summit will be hampered by the lack of senior qualified experts available to help top officials to develop a negotiating strategy.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2021]US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson lavished praise on an American-funded forensics lab that tracks down elephant-poachers for prosecution, as he visited a sprawling reserve of Kenyan grasslands where endangered animals roam wild.

Yet earlier this month, the Trump administration quietly lifted the US ban on importing African elephant trophies, to the dismay of environmental groups who said it sent precisely the wrong message.

US words and deeds are colliding as Tillerson travels across Africa.

On trade policy, HIV/Aids and humanitarian aid, the United States at times seems at odds with itself, muddying efforts to show it wants the continent to flourish and is there to help.

In the case of the elephants, conservationists appeared to have a powerful ally in President Donald Trump, who intervened personally last year to stop the US Fish and Wildlife Service from lifting the Obama-era ban on tusks imported from Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Trump took to Twitter to call the practice a horror show.

At the forensics lab at Nairobi National Park, the only such lab in east and central Africa, Tillerson agreed on Sunday when famed conservationist Richard Leakey warned that the huge interest in wildlife products such as elephant and rhinoceros parts was fuelling the international trafficking trade.

Thats really the key, is to shut it all down, Tillerson said.

But three months after Trumps move to keep the ban in place, his administration reversed course again, saying elephant trophies could be imported on a case-by-case basis.

The US agency said it chose that course of action to comply with a court ruling that said the Obama administration failed to follow proper procedure in enacting the original ban.

In Kenya, where the elephant population has plummeted to roughly one-fifth of what it was in the 1970s, the new Trump policy fell flat.

The whole world is against it, said Paula Kahumbu, an elephant expert and chief executive of Wildlife Direct, a leading Kenyan environmental group.

She said past US support for banning the ivory trade has pushed China and other nations to act as well.

To then say, Oh, but we have a special case for some of our people, they should be allowed to have ivory, it totally undermines the US leadership role.

Tillersons trip to Kenya was designed in part to highlight the success of Pepfar, the 15-year-old HIV/Aids programme that has saved millions of lives and helped see the continent through an epidemic that once threatened to wipe out a whole generation.

So HIV/Aids advocates are scratching their heads at why Trump has repeatedly proposed cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from Pepfar.

Visiting the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia earlier in his trip, Tillerson urged officials not to go ahead with a plan to impose a 0.2% tariff on imports.

The timing for Tillersons push was inauspicious: Trump is in the midst of going ahead with steep trade penalties on aluminium and steel imported to the US.US defence secretary Jim Mattis has said the diplomatic push to solve the North Korean nuclear weapons crisis was at such a delicate stage that he will not publicly discuss the talks.

Mr Mattis was among advisers who were at the White House when President Donald Trump on Thursday decided to accept the offer from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to meet by May.

The offer was relayed to Mr Trump by a South Korean government delegation that briefed the president on their meeting with Kim last week in the North Korean capital.

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I do not want to talk about Korea at all. Its that delicate, Mr Mattis said as he flew to the Middle East.

When you get in a position like this, the potential for misunderstanding remains very high, he said, explaining his unwillingness to talk about any aspect of the diplomatic efforts.

The Pentagon chief said the White House and State Department were best suited to discuss the situation in advance of the May meeting.

He declined to discuss the timing and scale of annual US-South Korean military manoeuvres that were postponed during the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea. Those exercises are expected to be held in April, but no official announcement has been made.

Mr Trump said on Saturday he believes North Korea will abide by its pledge to suspend missile tests while he prepares for the summit. He noted in a tweet that North Korea has refrained from such tests since November and said Kim has promised not to do so through our meetings.

I believe they will honour that commitment, the president said.

Later, at a political rally in Pennsylvania, when Mr Trump mentioned Kims name, the crowd booed but Mr Trump responded: No, its very positive no, after the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice because lets see what happens, lets see what happens.Cissy Shurr, who said she was one of Wongs guardians when he was a child, said that Friday was a tough day.

Wong had always wanted to go into the Army  he was a hero, she said.

They put him on the front line, she said. He saw horrible things, but he was trying really hard to get help. He didnt come home to a lot of support system like some people do, she said. Its heartbreaking.

Its just not how I know him to be, she said of the respectable and soft-spoken man she knew.

Capt. Blower expects forensic examinations on all four individuals to be complete next week. The deputy who responded first to the scene was not injured.

Details about what exactly happened inside The Pathway Home have not yet been released. The California Highway Patrol, which has taken the lead on releasing information about the investigation, did not release any additional details on Saturday.

The Pathway Home, which has graduated more than 450 veterans coping with PTSD, is focusing on taking care of the seven veterans currently in the program and figuring out how to move forward in a way that honors victims, Salmon said Saturday.A woman, who declined to give her name, cries after placing flowers at a sign at the Veterans Home of California, the morning after a hostage situation in Yountville, California (Josh Edelson/AP)

The man who killed three women after a day-long siege at a Northern California veterans home had trouble adjusting to regular life after he returned from the Afghanistan war.

As family and friends of the victims tried to make sense of the tragedy, authorities offered little information on Saturday about why Albert Wong, 36, attacked The Pathway Home and whether he targeted his victims.

Those who knew the women said they had dedicated their lives to helping those suffering like Wong, and they wouldve been in a good position to assist him had Fridays hostage situation ended differently.

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We lost three beautiful people yesterday, Yountville Mayor John Dubar said. We also lost one of our heroes who clearly had demons that resulted in the terrible tragedy that we all experienced here.

Authorities said Wong, a former Army rifleman who served a year in Afghanistan in 2011-2012 and returned highly decorated, went to the campus about 50 miles (85 kilometres) north of San Francisco on Friday morning, slipping into a leaving party for some employees of The Pathway Home. He let some people leave, but kept the three.

Police said a Napa Valley sheriffs deputy exchanged gunshots with Wong around 10.30 am but after that nothing was heard from him.

I can't imagine what happened. It doesn't make any sense to me

Witness Sandra Woodford said she saw police with guns trained outside, but said the only shots she heard were inside Pathway early on Friday. This rapid live-fire of rounds going on, at least 12, she said.

Hours later, authorities found four bodies, including Wong.

His victims were identified as The Pathway Home executive director Christine Loeber, 48, clinical director Jennifer Golick, 42, and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nations veterans, working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Pathway Home said in a statement.

Wong always wanted to join the Army and serve his country and was soft-spoken and calm, said Cissy Sherr, who was Wongs legal guardian when he was a child.

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Ms Sherr and her husband became Wongs guardians after his father died and his mother developed health problems, she said. He moved back in with them for a little while in 2013 after he returned from his deployment in Afghanistan and kept in touch online.

He always had a great smile on his face, she said. He didnt have a traditional upbringing but still he just became a fine young man. I cant imagine what happened. It doesnt make any sense to me.

Wong wanted to go back to school to study computers and business and thought the Pathway House program would help him readjust after the Army, she said.

The programme is housed at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville in the Napa Valley wine country region.

Ms Golicks father-in-law, Mike Golick, said in an interview she had recently expelled Wong from the program. After Wong entered the building, Ms Golick called her husband to say she had been taken hostage by the former soldier, her father-in-law said.

He didnt hear from his wife again.

Marjorie Morrison, the founder of a nonprofit organization known as PsychArmor, recalled Gonzales Shushereba as a brilliant talent who did amazing work with veterans with PTSD, and also focused on helping college campuses successfully reintegrate veterans when they return to school.

Gonzales Shushereba, a mother-to-be, had planned to travel to Washington, DC, this weekend to celebrate her wedding anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.

Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about  helping those in critical need, her husband, T.J. Shushereba, said in a statement.New Delhi, Mar 11 (IBNS): The first ever Indo-French Knowledge Summit ended successfully with a landmark agreement on mutual recognition of educational qualifications between the two countries and a record 15 other MoUs between universities and research institutions on joint initiatives and partnerships.

The two-day summit was held in New Delhi and coincided with the state visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to India.

The summit was organized by the French Embassy in India and co-hosted by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

More than 350 people from nearly 80 Indian Institutions and 70 French Institutions along with key enterprises participated in the Summit which also received the support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Campus France and Confederation of Indian Industry.

Addressing the participants at the closing session, Union Human Resource Development Minister, Prakash Javadekar congratulated both the Governments for extending cooperation in finalization of agreement on mutual recognition of academic qualifications.

This agreement will go a long way in boosting the educational relationship between the two countries, will encourage mobility of students from both the countries by facilitating possibilities for them to continue their studies in the other country and would also promote excellence in higher education through cooperation, university and research exchanges, the HRD Minister explained.

Elaborating further, Javadekar said that the Government will soon launch its Study in India Programme to encourage more foreign students to take up education in India.

"Currently there are 47000 foreign students learning in India and by 2022 we will have at least 100,000 students learning in India", he said.

Javadekar also mooted the idea that both the countries should also look at the possibilities of allowing professionals to practice in each others country on reciprocity basis.

The HRD Minister disclosed that a Joint Working Group between the two countries will be formed to take ahead the bilateral cooperation in education and research.

"The JWG will meet in September," he said.

The Minister of Higher Education and Research and Innovation, Frederique Vidal, in her remarks at the closing session said that education can become an effective weapon to fight poverty and inequality.

She emphasized that for a meaningful cooperation, there is a need to simplify administrative procedures to increase student mobility, to address all academic issues to promote cooperation as well as foster new partnerships between Institutions for the future.

Vidal said that the recommendations by Round Table Chairs will guide the Indo-French cooperation in education and research over the next five years.

A Franco-Indian Education Trust was also unveiled at the closing session today.

It will be funded by the Indian industry and French Companies in India to offer educational scholarships and merit based financial support to Indian students.

The Knowledge Summit is the First Franco-Indian Summit for university, scientific and technology cooperation with the broader objective to design a roadmap of Franco-India cooperation for the next five years, in collaboration with companies.

This two-day event offered a common moment for a common goal; increase student mobility, enlarge Research & Development collaborations and link campuses to companies by focusing on employability.

During this event, various sessions and Round Tables on several topics of mutual interest of both the countries took place including aerospace, agriculture and food processing, eco-energy, maths and information technology, strengthening employability among others.

The participants, including the heads of academic institutions of both India and France, industry experts, scientific community enthusiastically took part in the event and made the event successful.

Earlier in the day, an Indian delegation led by the HRD Minister, Prakash Javadekar and French delegation led by Frederique Vidal held a Bilateral Meeting.

Efforts to deepen science & technology, engagement between Higher Educational Institutions of India and France, Joint Action Plan for cooperation between these institutions in Joint PhD programme (twinning), Student exchange, Joint supervision of doctoral programmes, Collaborative research, Semester teaching assignments and more involvement of French Academicians under GIAN programme were discussed at the delegation level meeting.

Image: Frederique Vidal Twitter pageColombo/Kandy, Mar 11 (IBNS): Displaying their solidarity, Buddhist monks staged a silent protest against anti-Muslim violence while another group of Buddhist monks from leading temples in Colombo suburbs visited mosques on Friday to guard until devotees end their prayers.

The death of a trishaw driver, who belonged to the countrys Sinhalese majority, following an assault by four Muslim youths, sparked mob attacks on the Muslims in some areas of Kandy, a district in the countrys central province.

The government declared state of emergency and also blocked social media sites to prevent riots from escalating further.

Some Buddhist monks belonging to a radical movement in the country were accused of organising the attacks on Muslims and their properties.

When the situation spiralled out of control following a fresh wave of attacks and a charred body of a Muslim youth was discovered in one of the burnt shops, President Maithiripala Sirsena called the support of the religious leaders to calm down the situation.

Lets live as one community the Buddhists monks said while urging all ethnic groups to denounce violence.

Buddhists are non-violent. We need to live under a one flag with no racial differences. All Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils and Burgers who should live together, the monks who came to show their solidarity to Muslims gathered to do their Friday prayers at the Jumma Mosque in Ratmalana, off Colombo, said.

The monks invited the Moulavis of the mosques to visit their temples to show peaceful coexistence.

Waturakumbure Dhammaratana Thera, who had patrolled the streets in the vicinity of his village with 10 youths to prevent any attacks targeting the Muslims in his village, said he wanted all communities to live peacefully.

I wanted to protect my people in the area irrespective of their ethnicity from being attacked. I also wanted to avoid the young men in the village getting caught in communal acts, he said.

Muslim residents in Muruthalawa village in Yatinuwara praised his prompt act to save their lives, properties and the mosque.

Ven. Dhammaratana Thera, Chief Incumbent of the Nelligala International Buddhist Centre, who along with his student monks and a group of Sinhalese villagers had patrolled around the village to protect Muslims, said, The culprits of killing the driver by brutally assaulting him should be dealt by the law but no one can harm the innocent Muslims who are not at fault for that, he said.

Ven. Galkande Dhammananda Thera, the chairperson of Walpola Rahula Institute, which promotes harmony, non-violence and reconciliation among all ethnic communities appealed to the Buddhist monks, Maulavis, teachers and village leaders to come forward and control the unrest.

I request youth not to get involved in these devastating nature of acts. It is very easy to ignite fire but very difficult to put it out, he said.

It is our responsibility to stop these bloodsheds from happening over and over again, he said urging the youth to avoid sharing messages using social media to spread hatred, anger and division among the ethnic groups.



(Reporting by Shanika Sriyananda)New Delhi, Mar 11 (IBNS): French President Emmanuel Macron, who is currently visiting India, said on Sunday that USD 1 trillion will be needed to achieve 1 terawatt (TW) of solar power by 2030.

Macron made the observation while addressing the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi here.

Here is how we launched the #ISA. pic.twitter.com/37s5CtVVrv  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 11, 2018

The French President also took a subtle jab at his American counterpart as he brought up the historic Paris Climate agreement and countries which left the pact. Furthermore, he added that the ISA nations will come together to deliver complete results.

"They [ISA member nations] started to act and to deliver complete results. They didn't wait, they didn't stop because few countries decided to just leave the floor and the Paris agreement," Macron said.

Nous ne sommes pas venus de tous les continents pour prononcer des discours supplementaires qui seront vite oublies. Nous sommes venus pour poser les sujets sur la table et donner acces a l'energie solaire dans le monde. #ISASummit pic.twitter.com/FO8Gp99nj1  Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 11, 2018

"Because they decided it was good for them, their children and grandchildren and they decided to act and keep acting," he said in a veiled reference to America.

Macron also acknowledged that in order to achieve the aim, the member countries will have to cross hurdles.

"We know the hurdles... (there) are financial hurdles, regulations, capacity hurdles as well. We shall therefore lift every single one of them," he said, adding, "To that effect, it is not enough to look at what governments are doing. We need a new international deal with the private sector, the international public sector and the civil society as well."

Happy to dedicate to our citizens a new treaty-based intergovernmental organization headquartered in India. The Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance is also an example of concerted global action on climate change.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) March 11, 2018

Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the pact to his countrymen and said, "Happy to dedicate to our citizens a new treaty-based intergovernmental organization headquartered in India. The Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance is also an example of concerted global action on climate change."

Modi said that the agreement signed in Paris in 2015, has finally become a reality in 2018 in the Indian capital.

He also thanked other nations for supporting the cause.

Image: twitter.com/narendramodiImphal, Mar 12 (IBNS): Security forces have recovered huge quantity of smuggled gold valued of Rs 4.81 crore from Moreh town in Manipur, along with Indo-Myanmar border.

According to the reports, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) and Assam Rifles troops jointly launched an operation at Khudengthabi checking point near Moreh town on Saturday and seized gold biscuits weighing about 16 kgs, valued at Rs 4.81 crore, from a vehicle travelling from Moreh towards Imphal.

The vehicle was stopped at the checking point and the gold biscuits were recovered during search. The gold biscuits were found hidden inside a secret cavity of the vehicle chassis, a top Assam Rifles official said.

Security personnel also arrested a person who carried the gold biscuits.

The Assam Rifles official said the gold biscuits were smuggled from neighbouring Myanmar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home minister Rajnath Singh will visit Manipur on Mar 15 to attend the first-anniversary celebration of BJP-led government in the state.

PM Modi will inaugurate the integrated check post (ICP) constructed at Moreh town.

Security has been beefed up in Manipur ahead of PM Modi visit to the state.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)New Delhi/Varanasi, Mar 11 (IBNS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will receive French President Emmanuel Macron in Uttar Pradesh's city Varanasi on Monday, officials said on Sunday.

The two leaders will leave for Mirzapur, where they shall inaugurate a solar power plant, before returning to Varanasi.

In Varanasi, the two leaders will visit the Deen Dayal Hastkala Sankul.

They shall interact with artisans and view a live demonstration of their crafts.

Prime Minister Modi and President Macron will then arrive at the famous Assi Ghat in Varanasi, where they will board a boat for a ride along the Ghats of the Ganga, culminating at the historic Dashashwamedh Ghat, read an official statement.

Prime Minister Modi will host a lunch in honour of the French President.

In the afternoon, the Prime Minister will flag off a train between Maduadih Railway Station in Varanasi, and Patna.

He will launch various development projects and address a public meeting at the DLW Grounds in Varanasi.Kurangani, Mar 11 (IBNS): At least 20 students are trapped in Kurangani hill station of Tamil Nadu after forest fire started in the area, officials said.

Meanwhile, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has directed Indian Air Force to commence the rescue and evacuation process.

Sitharaman said she instructed the air force to commence the evacuation process after receiving a request from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

" Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni. @ThanthiTV @pibchennai," Sitharaman tweeted.

More details are awaited.

Image: File Picture

Kurangani, Mar 11 (IBNS): The Indian Air Force has been pressed to service to evacuate 20 students who have been trapped in a forest fire that broke out in Tamil Nadu's Kurangani hills, officials said.

"The @IAF_MCC are working w/ local authorities in Theni distt, Tamil Nadu to evacuate all trapped in the forest fire in Kurangani. Smt @nsitharaman has spoken to Collector of Theni Distt & Southern Air Command to co-ordinate a quick & effective Search & Rescue effort," official Twitter page of the Indian Defence Minister posted.

Earlier giving details of the incident, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni. @ThanthiTV @pibchennai."

Sitharaman said the air force was directed to start the evacuation process after she received a request from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

According to reports, the students went for trekking on the Kurangani hills.

They had not taken permission for the trekking from the police or the forest department, media reports said.

More details are awaited.

Image: File ShotChennai, Mar 11 (IBNS): Few students have been rescued as more than 20 of them were trapped in a forest fire in Theni district of Tamil Nadu on Sunday.

The rescued students have been taken to Theni hospital, media reports said.

The students were trapped in the forest fire when they were trekking in Kurangani hills.

Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said rescue operation is going on and she directed the Indian Air Force to join the evacuation process.

"@IAF_MCC helicopter from Sulur Air Base has done a recce of the area affected by the forest fire in Kurangani. Commandos from the base are in Theni District & are working w/ local authorities to undertake an overnight rescue operation & provide First Aid... (1/2) @nsitharaman," read a tweet issued from the official Twitter handle of the Defence Minister.

"...to the students injured. There will be full efforts to evacuate all trapped by tonight. Remaining students, if any, shall be evacuated via @IAF_MCC helicopter by first light in the morning. Any students seriously injured will be directly flown to Madurai (2/2) @nsitharaman," read another tweet.

Earlier giving details of the incident, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said: "Responding to the request from the Hon @CMOTamilNadu on the forest -fire related issue -20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni district. Instructed @IAF_MCC to help in rescue and evacuation. The Southern Command is in touch with the Collector of Theni. @ThanthiTV @pibchennai."

Sitharaman said the air force was directed to start the evacuation process after she received a request from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.

According to reports, they had not taken permission for the trekking from the police or the forest department, media reports said.

A senior police officer has told NDTV, that 27 students from Chennai had gone for trekking but "they did not take permission from police or the forest department."

Image: File PictureBeijing, Mar 11 (IBNS): In a rubber-stamping exercise, Beijing formally removed term limits to allow Xi Jingping to remain President for life.

According to reports, the changes were passed on Sunday during the annual sitting of the National People's Congress.

Xi, widely regarded as the most powerful politician since the legendary Mao Zedong, defied tradition when he didn't appoint a successor during October's Communist Party Congress.

Had he maintained the two-term norm introduced by Beijing since the 1990's, the current Chinese President would have stepped down by 2023.

Meanwhile, in a rare show of dissent, Xi's facilitation of a lifetime presidency has been called a farce by a former state newspaper editor, Li Datong.

Sending an open letter, Li has heavily criticised Beijing's decision.

"As a Chinese citizen, I have to fulfil my responsibility and tell the delegates my opinion. I don't care what these delegates will do. It's not like the whole country agrees with the amendment, but everyone has been silenced," he told BBC China.

The former editor said that he and his friend were enraged and had to voice their opposition.

"In theory, NPC delegates from Beijing have to represent the several million voters in the capital. I am a voter and I write a letter to the delegates representing me. I express my opinion on the amendments. It is very safe legally," he said.

"Even if the amendment is passed, it doesn't matter. History is often like this - we make two steps forward and one step back. But this is against the tide of civilisation and won't stand the test of time. It will be considered a farce in Chinese history in the future," the critic added.

Others have called the move a betrayal.

The criticism comes at a time when the state media have been praising the move as 'necessary and timely'.

Chinese internet censors have been deleting harsh and critical comments pertaining to the issue on social media.



Image: Screengrab from YouTubeANGWIN  The Angwin community packed the Fireside Room at the Pacific Union College Church to learn how to prepare for the likely possibility of increased fire danger in the surrounding areas.

Angwin was fortunate during last Octobers firestorms in that Angwin proper has not had a major fire. But, according to JR Rogers, chief of the Angwin Volunteer Fire Department, the history of fires in Napa County points to the potential for catastrophe if homeowners are not prepared.

There have been fires on either side of Howell Mountain, Rogers said. There was the Deer Fire in 2008, the Valley Fire in 2015, the 2016 Deer Fire, and last October the Tubbs and Atlas Fires.

Rogers was just one of several presenters at the Feb. 25, which included Napa County Supervisor Diane Dillon, Napa County Fire Chief Barry Biermann, Napa County Sheriff John Robertson, and Kevin Twohey of the Napa County Office of Emergency Services. The large Fireside Room of the PUC Church had very few empty seats, and along the walls tables were set up by volunteers and professionals to distribute information and answer questions.

The presentations started with an address by Dillon, and was followed by talks of Lessons Learned from the October fires.

The fires last October showed us that, when a fire comes, its sometimes not possible to get a fire engine to your house, said county fire chief Biermann. This is why its important to build that defensible space around your home.

Biermann said the departments first priority in the rapidly moving fire is to help people evacuate safely.

Sheriff Robertson said that it was important to connect with neighbors and keep an eye out for those who may need help evacuating. Its about what you can do to help one another in situations of fire. Its up to all of us to work together.

Twohey from the Office of Emergency Services talked about the lessons his organization learned during the fires.

We had four disasters in four months, Twohey said. During the Lake County fire we learned we could in fact harbor small pets. And we worked with local rescue groups to coordinate the rescue of large animals. During the October fires there were over 700 horses rescued to two shelters in the first hours of the fire.

Twohey also said that the county had established shelters with professionals who could advise evacuees with mental health and other services.

He stressed that everyone should have disaster kits and to be prepared for 72 hours of self-sufficiency. Planning for evacuation was imperative.

Know your evacuation routes, he said. Help your neighbors. Have someone to act as a contact in the event of an evacuation.

He also stressed the importance of registering with the Nixle Alert System, the open communication forum that connects public safety, municipalities, schools, businesses and communities that sends alert messages to warn individuals on the status of emergencies.

Twohey acknowledged that the October fires showed a weakness in the communications channels when cell-towers lost power, but he said the county is working on resolving these kinds of issues. He also recommended that evacuees  after reaching a shelter  register with a service called Safe & Well offered by the Red Cross which enables family and friends to locate you during an emergency. Using these services, according to Twohey, helps to keep the main communications channels and phone lines free so that emergency personnel can better communicate.

Rogers spent the majority of his talk digging into the requirements of building a defensible space around homes and buildings. Thirty feet of defensible space is a minimum, removing brush, lower limbs of trees, cleaning gutters and removing debris around the home. A hundred feet of clearing is better, and if you can do more, do more, he said.

Rogers also stressed the importance of everyone to recognize that living in the wildlands-urban interface, which includes most of Napa County, people must come up to speed concerning the dangers and the planning for fast moving fires. He recommended that everyone connect to the CAL FIRE website ReadyForWildfire.org where there are links to instructional videos and apps that can help citizens become better prepared for the inevitable fire seasons that plague the wildlands-urban interface.

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.Dushanbe, Mar 11 (IBNS): Uzbekistan President Shavkat Mirziyoyev on Mar 9-10 paid a state visit to Tajikistan at the invitation of the President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, officials said.

The Presidents held negotiations in a narrow format, at Kasri Millat Palace in Dushanbe.



Prospects of further expansion and deepening full-scale bilateral cooperation in political, trade-economic, transport-communication, cultural, humanitarian and other spheres, as well as regional and international problems were discussed at the negotiations, held in a friendly and constructive spirit.

At the negotiations in an expanded format with participation of official delegations, important issues of further development of the legal basis for long-term cooperation and maximum involvement of enormous potential in all areas of cooperation were considered, read an official statement.

Following the negotiations, the heads of the two states signed the Joint Statement on strengthening friendship and good-neighborliness and the Agreement on certain areas of Uzbek-Tajik State border.

In addition, 27 documents aimed at further development of cooperation in the spheres of trade, economy, investment, finance, transport and transit, agriculture, water and energy, taxes, customs, tourism, education and science, healthcare, culture, inter-regional cooperation, in the field of security and combating crime were signed.



This solid package of documents creates a new legal framework for further comprehensive development of mutually beneficial relations between the two countries and fraternal people.

On the second day of the visit, the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev received Chairman of the Assembly of Representatives (Majlisi namoyandagon) of the Parliament of Tajikistan Shukurjon Zuhurov and the Prime Minister of Tajikistan Kohir Rasulzoda, at the residence allocated for him.



The Head of the state returned to Tashkent on Mar 10.Lahore, Mar 11 (IBNS): A shoe was hurled at former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during an event in Lahore city on Sunday, media reports said.

Sharif, who had arrived at Jamia Naeemia to address a ceremony marking the death anniversary of Mufti Mohammad Hussain Naeemi, had a shoe thrown at him by a man in the audience as soon as he took the stage, Dawn News reported.

A video footage of the incident has emerged where Sharif could be seen shocked following the shoe throwing incident.

However, Sharif went ahead and delivered his address.

The audience caught the man, who threw the shoe at the ex-PM, and thrashed him.

He was later handed over to the police.

The police have identified the person as Talha Munawwar.

Talha Munawwar was reportedly injured after he was beaten up by the crowd present at the venue.

He was taken to Services Hospital for treatment.

Talking to Geo News, Allama Raghib Naeemi, the head of the seminary, condemned the incident and said Islam teaches respect.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Khwaja Asif, who became the latest victim of ink attack, said the incident won't change his politics.

Asif was addressing a Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) workers' convention in Sialkot city of Punjab on Saturday when the saga unfolded.

Immediately after the incident, furious PML-N workers nabbed the perpetrator and manhandled him before handing him over to the police.

However, the lawmaker urged the policemen to release him and said, "Someone gave him some money and sent him to throw ink at me but release him because I don't have any enmity with him."



"This incident doesn't affect my politics because there are still thousands of people praying for me," he was quoted as saying by the local Dawn News.

Image: Geo News Video GrabWashington, Mar 11 (IBNS): US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he has received encouraging words from China and Japan for agreeing to sit for a meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jong- Un in the upcoming days.

Trump said he spoke over the issue with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe.

"Chinese President XI JINPING and I spoke at length about the meeting with KIM JONG UN of North Korea. President XI told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!," Trump tweeted.

Chinese President XI JINPING and I spoke at length about the meeting with KIM JONG UN of North Korea. President XI told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 10, 2018

Speaking on his interaction with Shinzo Abe, Trump said: " Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the U.S. Currently have a massive $100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!"

Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the U.S. Currently have a massive $100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 10, 2018

Meanwhile, Trump expressed his hope that North Korea will keep the promise of not conducting a missile test in the interim period.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!," Trump appreciated.

North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 10, 2018

The US on Friday said meeting between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un will not take place until North Korea takes 'concrete actions'.

"Look, thats something that were going to continue advocating for and pushing for. But lets not forget that the North Koreans did promise something: Theyve promised to denuclearize, theyve promised to stop nuclear and missile testing, and theyve recognized that were going to continue in our military exercises," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told during news briefing.

"Lets be very clear: The United States has made zero concessions. But North Korea has made some promises. And, again, this meeting wont take place without concrete actions that match the promises that have been made by North Korea," she said.

Trump himself tweeted to inform that the time and place for the meeting will be determined.

"The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined," Trump tweeted.

In a significant development, US President Donald Trump has said he is ready to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Trump earlier tweeted: "Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned!"

The announcement over the meeting was made in Washington by South Korean officials.

They passed on a letter from the North Korean leader.

The meeting, which would be the first between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader, is likely to happen by May, according to South Korea's national security adviser, Chung Eui-yong, who delivered the invitation to Trump after a visit by his delegation to Pyongyang earlier this week, CNN reported.

The move appears to be a major breakthrough after months of barbs exchanged between North Korea and the US.

Meanwhile, United States Vice President Mike Pence has said that North Korea's willingness to hold talks with Donald Trump is a victory for the US President and his strategy to isolate the secretive Asian nation.

Fresh development in the relationship between North Korea, South Korea and the US began recently when a North Korea delegation was invited to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

The White House also confirmed that Trump has accepted North Korea's invitation for a meet.

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement: "I told President Trump that, in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said he is committed to denuclearization. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests. He understands that the routine joint military exercises between the Republic of Korea and the United States must continue. And he expressed his eagerness to meet President Trump as soon as possible."

"President Trump appreciated the briefing and said he would meet Kim Jong-un by May to achieve permanent denuclearization," said the statement.

However, the statement confirmed that: "The Republic of Korea, the United States, and our partners stand together in insisting that we not repeat the mistakes of the past, and that the pressure will continue until North Korea matches its words with concrete actions."

2017 witnessed US President Donald Trump slamming North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as the Asian nation continued to conduct several of its missile tests, teasing world peace and tranquillity and often threatening to trigger a war.

Situation became far tensed when North Korea tested an inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) that the nation said was capable of striking US mainland.

The United Nations Security Council imposed strong new sanctions against the Asian nation after its Nov 29 launch of a nuclear-capable weapon.

Trump and North Korea continued to exchange barbs earlier this year too.Ottawa, Mar 11 (IBNS): Doug Ford, the former Toronto city councillor, has become the new leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservatives (PC), beating other contestants Christine Elliott, Caroline Mulroney and Tanya Granic Allen in a tense contest, media reports said.

Ford in a distinct populist campaign had reportedly been telling reporters that he decided to run for "the people."

The 44-day long leadership race had been prompted reportedly by the January resignation of former leader Patrick Brown following allegations of sexual misconduct made by two women.

After alleging that only select members were receiving their registration code to cast a ballot, Ford got an extension of the voting period with the consent of Mulroney and Granic Allen, though Christine did not agree to this.

Voter turnout was reportedly higher than in any other leadership contest in its history with 64,053 preferential ballots cast over the week-long voting period, though 71,450 total members were registered.

A total of 44,188 ballots were cast in the previous record of 2002.



(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)







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www.indiainfoline.com is part of the IIFL Group, a leading financial services player and a diversified NBFC. The site provides comprehensive and real time information on Indian corporates, sectors, financial markets and economy. On the site we feature industry and political leaders, entrepreneurs, and trend setters. The research, personal finance and market tutorial sections are widely followed by students, academia, corporates and investors among others.For people with a fear for heights, getting on a glass bridge is a big 'no no'.

But there are some who are ready to face their fears, however only some end up being successful.

In a new video going viral on Chinese social media, a terrified tourist had to be dragged across the Aizhai walkway that was recently opened to public.

A terrified woman can be seen crouching down and refusing to budge out of fear, before her friend comes and drags her along.

The Aizhai glass bridge hangs 500 metres above a valley in Hunan Province, China. It is built on a cliff in the Dehang Grand Canyon.

Just last year, people who visited the East Taiheng Glasswalk went through the worst prank ever, the glass seemed like it was shattering with each step while terrified people were clinging on to handles.

To walks across a glass bridge 500 metre-high surely takes a lot of guts. Would you dare?Guillermo Del Toro's Oscar winning Shape of Water, depicts a sexual aquatic pairing with a human, but if you thought that was fictional, you've clearly been living under a rock.

Shape Of Water/Facebook

There have been some legit real life romances between sea creatures and humans, one of the most well known one's being Malcolm Brenner, a human who had sex with a dolphin named Dolly back in the 1970s.

Facebook/Isegrim Bar

So why are we suddenly talking about Brenner?

Well, because he recently opened up about his sexcapades with Dolly the Dolphin in an interview with The Huffington Post.

Facebook

In the interview with Ashley Feinberg, Mr Brenner, whos a zoophile activist claims that when he was a college sophomore, he was given open access to take photos for a book about the dolphin show.

That's when the whole love affair started.

Brenner had also released a book in 2010 called Wet Goddess, which was made into a documentary called Dolphin Lover.

He claimed that Dolly would rub her genital slit against him, and that when he tried to push her away, she would get very agitated.

"One time, when she wanted to masturbate on my foot and I wouldnt let her, she threw herself on top of me and pushed me down to the 12-foot bottom of the pool," he said.

Brenner who's had first hand experience of a romantic relationship with a sea creature, also shared his perspective on Shape Of Water.

He criticized it as a fantasy" and said "I must say, I find a dolphin a lot more sexy than that thing was. Then again, Im not Elisa. Maybe you have to take it where you can get itAs long as, apparently, the object of your desire is a featherless biped, were not going to let a few gills or scales stand in the way of true romance, seems to be Hollywoods dictum."

YouTube Screenshot

According to reports, Brenners affair with the dolphin didnt break any laws at the time as Florida only passed a law banning bestiality in 2011 decades after his relationship.

Brenner also revealed that his zoophilia is the result of the 'very intense physical and sexual abuse' he claims to have suffered in early childhood.

So, now it all makes sense.Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor are trying hard to cope up with the hard days after their mother Sridevi's untimely demise. The Kapoor sisters left for Chennai last night, Sridevis hometown, for her prayer meet. They were captured by the shutterbugs at the airport. Both the girls have shown immense strength and courage during this hard time.

Twitter

In fact, Janhvi also got back to shoot her debut film Dhadak. After all, it was her moms dream to see her on-screen and the girl is leaving no stone unturned to make it come true.

Sridevis sudden demise on February 24, left everyone shocked and completely shattered. Her family and fans are trying to recover and heal.

Twitter

On March 6, the Kapoor family even came together to celebrate Jahnvis 21st birthday to cheer her up. However, she was trolled by the internet for having a get together so soon.

We wish all the love, strength and courage to the young girls for such tough time. May we overcome them soonest.





YOUNTVILLE  On Saturday morning the Veterans Home campus was quiet, the mood somber.

At the main entrance, underneath a large location sign, a half dozen bunches of flowers had been placed, along with three candles.

On the grounds, only a few residents could be seen either walking between buildings or scooting along sidewalks and roadways in mechanized wheelchairs.

Home resident Paul Bentley, 68, has only lived at the Vets Home for eight months. On Friday morning at the time of the hostage taking, Bentley was volunteering at the hospital when someone told him about a shooter.

Im thinking troubleshooter, said Bentley.

Hes never been in the Madison building  the headquarters for The Pathway Home, he said. Hed seen the Pathway Home residents on campus but everyone pretty much keeps to themselves, he said.

The idea that an active shooter could descend on the Vets Home and kill three Pathway Home staff members is baffling, said Bentley.

This is my haven. My safe space, he said. This is Gods acreage to me.

I didnt want to go to breakfast this morning, he said. There was too much talk between residents about what had happened.

If this happened once, through this program, can it happen again?

All I can do is pray for those poor people and their families, Bentley said.

Resident John McDonald, 86, has lived at the Vets home for 14 years. He remained in a residential room during the shooting and lockdown, he said.

We kept the lights out so you couldnt see in the room, he said.

McDonald said he was hoping the situation would end without anyone getting hurt, and the man holding the staffers hostage would come to his senses, realizing, What the hell am I doing?

He could have pleaded insanity and walked out from the building without hurting anyone, said McDonald.

It made me sick there was nothing we could do for him.

The Pathway Home building features a central courtyard entrance with two wings extending outward on either side.

McDonald pointed to a second-story window on the north wing where he believes the shooting took place. That section of the building was lit up all night, as law enforcement and others examined the scene, he said.

Resident Barbara Walls, 87, said she was also shocked. Its hard to believe something like that happened at the Vets Home. You read about such shootings but its a story  not something you actually experience, she said.

Yards and yards of yellow crime scene tape was wrapped around trees and railings surrounding the Pathway Home building.

In one second-story window at the back of the Madison building a dozen stuffed animals were seen stacked in front of the glass. A man wearing business work clothes was seen leaving the back of the building, accompanied by a sheriffs deputy. Otherwise, the building appeared to be vacant.

People had left several bunches of flowers next to a wooden Pathway Home sign at the rear of the building. Tucked onto the sign was an Operation Iraqi Freedom coin and a small handwritten note that said Weve got the watch.

A CHP officer working at the site said the shooting scene had been cleared early Saturday morning. Pathway Home employees and residents would be able to collect their belongings sometime on Saturday.

During an 11 a.m. news conference in a parking lot next to the Madison building, Yountville Mayor John Dunbar, who is also on the board of the Pathway Home, described the three shooting victims as dedicated to their work.

They lived their lives to serve our veterans, he said. They brought a unique sense of humanity to their jobs.

It will be very difficult to fill their shoes, he said.

Dunbar declined to give personal details of the women.

This is a very sensitive time, said Dunbar. Many of us knew all of these people personally, he said, referring to Executive Director Christine Loeber, Dr. Jen Golick, a therapist with the program, and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the Department of Veterans Affairs in San Francisco.

Dunbar said the last time he saw Loeber was at a Pathway Home board meeting a few weeks ago.

Loeber was really committed to the Pathway Home, said the mayor. She moved from Petaluma to Napa to be closer to the program, he said. Shed sleep in her office more often than not to cover a shift.

During the news conference, Dr. Vito Imbasciani, chief at the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet), spoke briefly.

Were working with law enforcement to understand everything that happened, Imbasciani said. We have teams from the EAP (Employee Assistance Program) already on campus, he said. Yes, some veterans are traumatized, but also employees.

Its too early to talk about the future of the Pathway Home program, said Dunbar, who left the news conference to attend a Pathway Home board meeting.

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.If an asteroid, even the medium size one approaches earth, nothing much can be done about it except for blowing it up. NASA scientists are now trying to figure out the chances of designing a spacecraft which can be taken to nuke to objects like asteroids in the space.

While it is possible to divert the near object by slamming into it with so-called impactor, but if time is running out, a nuclear explosion is the best way to prevent it. In a new paper, scientists from NASA and the National Nuclear Security Administration have laid out a plan for the Hypervelocity Asteroid Mitigation Mission for Emergency Response (HAMMER).

The 8.8-ton HAMMER spacecraft would be used to steer itself directly into the object to blow up the object with a nuclear explosion. The team has devised the proposal around Bennu, a 1600 foot wide asteroid, which is currently the destination for NASAs Osiris-Rex sample return mission.

While Earth isnt at risk of a collision with Bennu anytime soon, theres a 1 in 2,700 chance it will slam into our planet sometime next century.

Bennu is also the best-studied asteroid of all the known NEOs, the researchers note.Visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk is the charismatic co-founder of PayPal (PYPL) and Tesla (TSLA), as well as the founder of SpaceX, Neuralink, and The Boring Company. He serves as CEO of Tesla and CEO/lead designer of SpaceX.

Key Takeaways Elon Musk is the charismatic co-founder and CEO of electric car maker Tesla and rocket manufacturer SpaceX.

Born and raised in South Africa, Musk spent time in Canada before finally moving to the U.S.

Educated at the University of Pennsylvania in physics, Musk started getting his feet wet as a serial tech entrepreneur with early successes like Zip2 and X.com.

He was instrumental in creating the company that became PayPal.

Musk has behaved in eccentric ways from time to time and has identified himself as having Asperger's syndrome.

Investopedia / Bailey Mariner

His astounding success has given rise to comparisons to other visionary businessmen, such as Steve Jobs, Howard Hughes, Henry Ford, and Bill Gates. After an often difficult childhood, Musk developed a relentless work ethic (he is known to work as many as 80 to 120 hours per week) and a tenacious, single-minded vision.

As of 2021, he has an estimated total net worth of $151 billion. He is surpassed only by Jeff Bezos as the richest person in the world.

Let's look briefly at the life of the man behind a string of companies that have disrupted multiple industries.

Early Life and Education

Elon Reeve Musk was born in 1971 in Pretoria, one of South Africas three capital cities. His father was an engineer, and his mother a model and nutritionist. He is the oldest of three children, all high-achievers: His brother, Kimbal Musk, is a venture capitalist and environmentalist. His sister, Tosca Musk, is an award-winning producer and director.

After his parents divorced in 1980, Musk lived primarily with his father. He would later dub the man "a terrible human being almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done." I had a terrible upbringing. I had a lot of adversity growing up. One thing I worry about with my kids is they dont face enough adversity, Musk would later say.

Bullied as a Child

By his own account, Musk a self-described bookworm and something of a smart aleckhe read voraciously, everything from encyclopedias to comic books. But Musks intellectual aptitude did him few favors as a child. He found few friends in the tough-minded Afrikaner culture he encountered in school.

Musk attended the private, English-speaking Waterkloof House Preparatory Schoolhe started a year earlyand later graduated from Pretoria Boys High School. The years were lonely and brutal, from his descriptions.

They got my best friend to lure me out of hiding so they could beat me up. And that hurt, Musk said. For some reason, they decided that I was it, and they were going to go after me nonstop. Thats what made growing up difficult. For a number of years, there was no respite. You get chased around by gangs at school who tried to beat the (expletive) out of me, and then Id come home, and it would just be awful there as well.

Early Accomplishments

If there was a point of bright escape for Musk; it was technology. When he was only 10, he became acquainted with programming via the Commodore VIC-20, an inexpensive home computer. Before long, he had become proficient enough to create Blastara video game in the style of Space Invaders. He sold the BASIC code for the game to a magazine called PC and Office Technology for $500.

In one telling incident at that time, Musk, along with his brother, planned to open a video game arcade near their school. Ultimately, their parents nixed the plan. But apparently, the only thing stopping them was the need for a city permit, for which an adult had to apply.

Musk's College Years

At 17, Musk moved to Canada to avoid serving in the South African military, whose main duty in the late 1980s was enforcing apartheid. He would later obtain Canadian citizenship through his mother.

After emigrating to Canada, Musk enrolled in Queens University in Kingston, Ontario. It was there that he met Justine Wilson, an aspiring writer. They would marry and have five sons together, twins and triplets, before divorcing in 2008.

Entering the U.S.

After two years at Queens University, Musk transferred to the University of Pennsylvania. He took on two majors, but his time there wasnt all work and no play. With a fellow student, he bought a 10-bedroom fraternity house, which they used as an ad hoc nightclub.

Musk graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Physics, as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the Wharton School. The two majors speak to the direction Musks career would take later, but it was physics that made the deepest impression.

(Physics is) a good framework for thinking, he would say later. Boil things down to their fundamental truths and reason up from there.

Notable Accomplishments

Musk was 24 years old when he moved to California to pursue a Ph.D. in applied physics at Stanford University. But, with the Internet exploding and Silicon Valley booming, Musk had entrepreneurial visions dancing in his head. He left the Ph.D. program after just two days.

X.com

In 1995, with $28,000 and his younger brother Kimbal at his side, Musk started Zip2, a web software company that would help newspapers develop online city guides. In 1999, Zip2 was acquired by Compaqs AltaVista web search engine for a whopping $340 million. Musk used his Zip2 buyout money to create X.com, which he intended to shape into the future of banking.

X.com was merged with a money transfer firm called Confinity, and the resulting company came to be known as PayPal. Musk was then ousted from the company before it was bought by eBay for $1.5 billion, though he left with $180 million worth in stock.

In 2017, Musk purchased the X.com domain name back from PayPal, citing its sentimental value.

Tesla

First, he contributed fundingabout $70 million. Then, in 2004, Musk joined engineers Martin Eberhard and Marc Tarpenning to help run Tesla Motors, where Musk was integral in designing the Tesla Roadster, an electric car. Although After Eberhard was ousted from the firm in 2007, following a series of disagreements, Musk seized management control as CEO and product architect. Under his watch, Tesla has become one of the worlds most popular and coveted car brands.

In addition to producing electric vehicles, Tesla maintains a robust presence in the solar energy space, thanks to its acquisition of SolarCity. Founded in 2006, this clean-energy-services company currently produces two rechargeable solar batteries, mainly used for stationary energy storage purposes. The smaller Powerwall was developed for home backup power and off-the-grid use, while the larger Powerpack is intended for commercial or electric utility grid use.

SpaceX

Musk used much of the proceeds of his PayPal sale to found Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, commonly known as SpaceX, an interstellar travel company. By his own account, Musk spent $100 million to found SpaceX in 2002.

With SpaceX, Musk landed several high-profile contracts with NASA and the U.S. Air Force to design rockets and conduct military missions. Musk has been vocal about his plans to send an astronaut to Mars by 2025 in a collaborative effort with NASA.

Personal Eccentricities

On Sept. 7, 2018, Musk appeared to be smoking marijuana while being interviewed for a podcast. Coupled with the exit of two Tesla executivesits head of human resources and its chief accounting officerthat news saw the stock drop in trade. This was just another addition to the string of bad news for the company that year, which included a shareholder lawsuit against Musk and Tesla for his infamous tweet on Aug. 7, 2018. Musk had tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private. The company later decided against the move.

During his May 8, 2021 appearance on the TV show Saturday Night Live, Musk revealed that he has Asperger's syndrome, a mild form of autism spectrum disorder. "I'm actually making history tonight as the first person with Asperger's to host SNL. Or at least the first person to admit it," he said. How does neurodevelopment condition manifest itself? "I don't always have a lot of intonation or variation in how I speak, which I'm told makes for great comedy," Musk explained.

Who Is Elon Musk's Present Wife? Elon Musk has had two wives but is currently unmarried. Since 2018, he has been in a relationship with the Canadian singer/songwriter Claire Elise Boucher, professionally known as Grimes, with whom he has a son.

How Rich Is Elon Musk? Elon Musk's net worth is around $151 billion, as of 2021. He ranks as the second richest person on the planet on Forbes' World Billionaires List.

What Does Elon Musk Do at Tesla? Elon Musk is officially listed as the co-founder and CEO of Tesla on the company's website. In a March 15, 2021 filing with the SEC, the company disclosed that Musk is also adopting the title "Technoking of Tesla."

After PayPal slipped away, Musk turned his attention to an electric-car start-up called Tesla Motors.

The Bottom Line

Musks early interests in philosophy, science fiction, and fantasy novels are reflected in his sense of idealism and concern with human progressand in his business career. He works in the areas that he has identified as crucial to our future, specifically the Internet, the transition to renewable energy sources, and space colonization. He has defied critics, disrupted industries, and made advances in all three of these frontiers, via his creation of PayPal, Tesla Motors, SolarCity, and SpaceXgame-changers all, despite their sometimes rocky performance.

What Is UST?

UST is the abbreviation for the United States Treasury, the federal government division that manages U.S. finances. UST is commonly used to reference debt that is issued by the United States.

Key Takeaways UST is the abbreviation for the United States Treasury, the federal government division that manages U.S. finances

UST is commonly used to reference debt that is issued by the United States.

The U.S. Treasury (UST) governs the IRS, U.S. Mint, the Bureau of Public Debt, and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau.

UST securities are presumed to have little to no risk of default.

Understanding UST

The UST issues securities to raise money to run the federal government. Some of the government branches operating under the UST umbrella include the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the U.S. Mint, the Bureau of the Public Debt, and the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Bureau. In addition to treasury bills (T-bills), the U.S. Treasury issues notes, bonds, floating-rate notes (FRN), and U.S. Savings Bonds.

Traders use the phrases "UST yields" to refer to Treasury yields or "UST curve" to refer to the Treasury yield curve concerning asset pricing. The U.S. Treasury is the department of government that is responsible for issuing debt in the form of Treasury bonds, bills, and notes.

In addition to marketable securities, there are also non-marketable UST securities. These securities are not transferable; they cannot be traded on an exchange. UST savings bonds fall into this group.

The function of the U.S. Department of Treasury is the management of money and cash flow for the federal government. It manages the sources and uses of funds. It also works in conjunction with the Federal Reserve to develop economic policy.

Formally established in 1789 by the First Session of Congress, the institution came into being before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Alexander Hamilton was the first Secretary of the Treasury, installed on Sept. 11, 1789.

UST Securities and Asset Pricing

Much of finance is about the pricing of assets. UST securities are assumed to have virtually no default risk. As a result, these securities are often used as a proxy for a risk-free asset.

UST securities set the benchmark for pricing assets. If UST securities are trading at 3%, all other fixed-income securities with the same characteristics will trade at some price higher than 3%. It is assumed that there is no borrower with better credit than the United States.

Measures of risk can be based on metrics such as debt ratios and price volatility. A greater leverage or price volatility leads to a greater risk of either the principal and/or the interest not being paid back. Risk is synonymous with return probabilities, as well. Investments that offer the possibility of making greater returns are priced higher, even if that possibility is slim. A higher level of risk associated with an investment means a higher possible return. A downside to owning UST securities is that, due to the lower yield, the interest payments (an investor's income) will be lower.The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has warned that the Irish justice system is failing victims of abuse.

They say that a victim's experience is not given enough consideration when sentencing is handed down to those found guilty of committing the crime.by Gordon Deegan

The Minister for State for Housing and Urban Development, Damien English has trained his sights on one local authority he has deemed not doing enough to help solve the countrys housing crisis.

This follows Minister English taking the rare step of issuing a Ministerial direction to Kildare County Council ordering it to zone more land for housing in the town of Leixlip - the Irish base of chip giant, Intel.

Minister English has accused the County Council of breaching the Planning and Development Act and ignoring a previous plea he made to zone additional lands for housing in Leixlip prompting him to now use powers under Section 31 of the Planning and Development Act.

The Minister has directed Kildare County Council to revise its Leixlip Local Area Plan as currently it has zoned land for only an additional 1,400 homes to 2023.

The Minister has told the local authority that the zoned land for 1,400 new homes is a significant shortfall on the 3,300 target as required by the Core Strategy of the Kildare County Development Plan.

Mr English pointed out that the removal by the Council of the "significant" Celbridge Road East and Confey land parcels from the zoned housing lands in the local area plan resulted in a substantial reduction in the overall potential housing development in Leixlip.

The Minister points out that the quantum of housing lands was reduced to less than 40 hectares.

The Minister said that the Council went against the advice of its own chief executive and himself in not zoning those two parcels of land for housing.

Mr English states: The Planning Authority therefore has failed to provide zoned residential lands in the Leixlip Local Area Plan 2017-23 sufficient to meet the housing allocation requirement in the core strategy of the Kildare County Development 2017-23.

As a result, the Minister has stated that the local area plan is not in compliance with Development Plan guidelines.

The Minister has also accused the Council of failing to provide zoned residential lands capable of providing the required housing growth at locations prioritised in national planning guidelines.

Minister English has given the council a six-month deadline to come with a new local area plan that meets the objective of zoning land for 3,315 new housing units as laid out in the Kildare County Development Plan.A postman has been threatened with a screwdriver and robbed in north Belfast.

The incident happened in the Cranbrook Court area of the city on Saturday morning.

A spokesman for the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said: "The postman was standing at the back of his van on Cranbrook Court and was then attacked from behind by an unknown male with a small screwdriver.

"He was struck to the back and the arm but was thankfully not injured as a result of this."

The attacker fled towards Farringdon with some items from the post van, police said.

Anyone with information is asked to come forward.

- PAAllentown Police Department(ALLENTOWN, Pa.) -- As Pennsylvania police continue to search for a missing teenage girl whom they fear may have run away with a 45-year-old married man, her mother is at home waiting for the telephone to ring and praying for her safe return.



"I just asked the police and I waiting and waiting and praying, and I don't know if they can catch him or not," Miu Luu told ABC News in an interview Saturday.



Amy Yu, 16, and Kevin Esterly, a 45-year-old married man who met the youth at their church, have both been reported missing since March 5, the Allentown Police Department said Wednesday.



The teen's anxious and admittedly "tired" mother suspects that the man who authorities say inveigled her daughter to flee with him wants him caught and her oldest charge back.



"If she's safe -- that's okay. But I want them to catch the guy and bring her back," she said.



Missing 16-year-old girl may be with man who checked her out of school 10 times: Police



Esterly was allegedly carrying on a secret relationship with Yu, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed by the Lehigh County Deputy District Attorney Matthew Falk on Wednesday.



A warrant has been issued for Esterly's arrest on the charge of interference with the custody of a child.



Esterly, pretending to be her stepfather Yu's stepfather, allegedly signed Yu out of Lehigh Valley Academy 10 times, according to the affidavit citing school records.



Back on Feb. 9, Esterly signed her out of school "without [Luu's] permission."



On Feb. 15, Allentown investigators paid a visit to Kevin and Stacey Esterly's Allentown home and, according to the affidavit, "both... were advised to stay away from [Yu's] residence" because the mother didn't want them to have any further contact with her daughter.



Luu said she trusted the Esterlys because her daughter was close pals with Esterly's 15-year-old daughter.



"His daughter is a friend and just one year younger than Amy," Luu told ABC News. "I never thought he would act like that.



"I know him from the church and I know his family for years."



Despite Lehigh Country Child Advocacy Center intervening, Yu allegedly denied there was any relationship with Esterly.



Authorities now believe Yu altered school records, and without informing her mother, added Esterly as her stepfather.



Yu, according to the affidavit, admitted that Esterly signed her out of school "five to six times" without her mother's knowledge.



But after further investigation, it's now believed that Esterly, according to the affidavit, "fraudulently signed her out of school" early at least 10 times between December and Feb. 9.



Luu said that her daughter left with "a couple hundred dollars" in cash and that she also took "a little bit of jewelry and "took a passport."



In a statement, Lehigh Valley Academy confirmed that Esterly was last present at the school on Feb. 9.



"After that date, due to circumstances we cannot disclose pursuant to student privacy constraints, he was prohibited from entering school grounds, and the police were to be notified if he returned" the statement read.



Esterly's pretense of being Yu's stepfather and signing her out of school ended on Feb. 9 when her mother happened to arrive to the school to pick up her up and informed the school that Esterly was not the child's stepfather.



The school then summoned the Colonial Regional Police who have jurisdiction over Yu's school.



Luu told ABC News that the fact that she endorsed Esterly with such confidence has her in a state of self-reflection and also questioning strange incidents that at the time didn't seem as glaring as they do now.



"I asked Kevin, 'Why does Amy call you daddy?' and he said, 'That's normal. It's normal because my daughter talks like that,'" she recounted to ABC News. "I don't believe that now."



Luu told ABC News she also brought up the paternal reference with Stacey Esterly, because according to Luu, her daughter also called her "mom."



Stacey allegedly responded to her that "it was normal."



Multiple attempts by ABC News to reach Stacey Esterly were not immediately returned.



Also, in an interview with ABC News Saturday, Luu described Esterly as someone who developed an outsize influence on her daughter.



"I don't know why the guy wants to steal my daughter," she said. "The guy is very strong."



Luu told ABC News that since her daughter turned 16 she developed a wild streak and turned to the cops often.



Luu said Yu "won't listen to me."



"She was going out a lot and I called the police many times because my daughter I can't control," she said.



Luu added that Yu was an infant when her father left their home to return to China. And ever since Luu has been doing her best raise both kids as a single mother.



But when questioned by cops, Stacey Esterly, according to the affidavit, said that her husband withdrew $4,000 from her bank account and that Esterly's personal documents and 1999 red Honda coupe were gone.



Similarly, Yu's mother told police, according to the affidavit, that money, jewelry, and the teen's personal documents were taken from her residence without her permission.



Luu is concerned that her daughter and Esterly may have left the country and keeping a low profile. "They are hiding now hope they haven't left out of the country," she said.



Police have downplayed any leads they may have as they are convinced Esterly could be monitoring news and social media reports to counteract their effort to bring the youth back home and him under arrest.



"They know they are hiding," Luu recounted to ABC News, based on her conversations with police detectives. "So the police say that they have to be quiet and not say too much information."



Police describe Yu as standing 4-feet-11 inches in height, weighing 90 pounds.



Esterly is described as 5-feet-9 inches tall and weighs about 185 pounds.



In an Allentown Police Department alert, they describe Esterly and Yu and note how "Both persons were last seen on or about Monday, 05 March 2018 and could possibly be endangered."



They may be driving in a 1999 red two-door Honda Accord with Pennsylvania license plate KLT 0529.



Anyone who sees them is urged to call 911, local police or the Allentown Police at 610-437-7751.

Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.The outstanding success of a Maryland site dedicated to Harriet Tubman may bode well for similar results in Auburn, but what the Cayuga County project is lacking thus far is a concrete financial commitment by the state.

The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad State Park in Church Creek, Maryland, has drawn 100,000 visitors in its first year of operation  25,000 more than planners had anticipated. The park reports that its visitors have represented every state in America and 60 other countries and that park guests are leaving glowing comments in the visitors log.

Getting the Harriet Tubman National Historical Park in Auburn off the ground is much more fluid and much more complicated, given the various sites involved and the managerial and financial partnerships being developed.

One thing Auburn has in common with Maryland is the understanding that a quality interpretive center is key to educating people about Tubman's story. But while Maryland's $21 million visitor center seemingly sprung up overnight, Auburn's anticipated $30 million center won't be built until 2020 at the earliest  and even then only if enough money becomes available.Yes, Washington is broken under President Donald Trump. But it was broken long before Trump came to town, and theres no reason to expect his departure to fix it.

Thats the message of Our Damaged Democracy, a new book by Joseph Califano, the former U.S. health secretary and veteran Washington hand.

We face a disproportionately powerful presidency, a gridlocked and distracted Congress, politicized courts, dependent states and a big-bucks-shaped public policy, writes Califano, an important contributor to policymaking since he helped craft President Lyndon Johnsons Great Society programs in the 1960s.

The same problems existed a decade ago and have gotten worse. Califano argues that these trends will only reverse if theres a crisis or national political awakening.

The presidency grew too powerful because Congress forfeited its war powers responsibilities and complained about executive overreach only when the other party was in power.

But Califano writes that Congress isnt the only part of the government that has found its influence diminished by an imperial presidency. Within the executive branch, he argues, too much authority has been vested in the White House and too little in agencies.This last part is harder than it sounds. The U.S. and the U.K. cannot and should not respond to Russian state-sponsored murder in kind. Just as it would make little sense for the U.S. to meddle in this month's heavily rigged Russian presidential election as payback for the Russian hacks and trolls in 2016, it would be a mistake for Western spy services to get back into the practice of political assassinations. As a general rule, the West's response to Russia should be focused on its strength, the power to exclude and isolate.

This starts with naming and shaming. Thus it's vital for British authorities to investigate the attempted murder of Skripal and his daughter with aggression and haste. It would be unacceptable to wait another decade to inform the public about what happened.

Now would also be a good time to re-open the closed cases reported last year by Buzzfeed. As Evelyn Farkas, a former deputy assistant secretary for defense under President Barack Obama, put it to me this week: "We need to be calling them out publicly, mincing no words and clearly stating the Kremlin is responsible if that's where the facts lead."Reddit 31 Email 124 Shares

By Juan Cole | (Informed Comment) |  

Nativist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, 44, is encouraging members of his Sadr Movement to vote in the upcoming national elections for parliament. Vote, he said, and save our country from corruption.

A newly formed political party, al-Istiqama or the Upright Party, will hew the Sadrist line.

There have been reports that Sadrs party will ally with the Iraqi Communist Party on an anti-sectarian ticket. Both Sadr and the small Communist Party have criticized the spoils system of Iraq where government positions and contracts are doled out according to membership in a sectarian political party.

Both objected vigorously to the statement of Ali Akbar Vilayeti, an adviser to Irans clerical Leader Ali Khamenei, on his visit to Baghdad in February that he would not allow the return of liberals, secularists and Communists in Iraq.

It was widely thought that he was criticizing Sadr for his alliance with the Communists and the civil or secular movement in Iraq.

The Communist Party of Iraq denounced this blatant interference in Iraqi politics by a foreign power.

The Sadrists and the Communists have no ideological similarity, but they share a social base in the poor and working classes, who resent the corruption and inefficiency of the Iraqi political system.

The CPI was once, in the 1950s and 1960s, a major force in Iraqi politics, but was virtually destroyed by the Baath Party in cooperation with the US Central Intelligence Organization. Sadrs alliance with it, if that pans out, does more for his movement than for the tiny band of Communists, inasmuch as it signals to Iraqis disgusted with sectarian business as usual that new political alignments are possible.

The reemergence of the CPI may also have to do with Iraqi dismay at the way in 2014-2017 some 40% of Iraqi territory was lost to the extremist Salafi vigilante organization, ISIL.

Sadrism is a movement that goes back to the 1990s. It is based in Iraqs vast Shiite slums, in East Baghdad (Sadr City), Hilla, Amara and Basra, among other cities. It also has a rural, tribal following. It stands for the welfare of the urban poor and offers them a value structure for their lives, given the listlessness of the unemployment and ennui that beset them. It involves a puritanical Islam that forbids alcohol and insists on veiling of women and gender segregation. But it also loudly denounces the corruption of the fat cats in government office.

Sadrists have invaded the Green Zone where government offices and parliament are cordoned off from Iraqi society, demanding an end to graft.

Sadrists are native Arab Iraqi Shiites and often resent Iranian influence on their religion.

Muqtada al-Sadr himself has strongly opposed the presence of US troops in Iraq since 2003.



Bonus video:

Baghdad Post: Muqtada al-Sadr supports Abadi for 2nd term as PMReddit Email 182 Shares

Human Rights Watch |  

Parliament Candidates Should Commit to Reforms

(Beirut)  Candidates running in Lebanons May 6, 2018 parliamentary elections should commit to five key steps to improve womens rights, Human Rights Watch said today, on International Womens Day. Political parties should also ensure greater participation of women in parliament by including women on their candidate lists.

Lebanon has made some positive incremental steps in recent years toward protecting womens rights, but is behind other countries in the region in some respects. In 2014, parliament adopted a landmark law on domestic violence, but it defined domestic violence too narrowly and failed to criminalize marital rape. In 2017, parliament repealed article 522 of the criminal code, which had allowed rapists to escape prosecution by marrying their victim, but left a loophole for cases concerning sex with children ages 15-17 and seducing a virgin girl into having sex with the promise of marriage.

Despite some recent reforms, Lebanons laws still explicitly permit violence and discrimination against women, said Lama Fakih, deputy Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. Parliamentary candidates should show they are serious about womens rights by promising to take serious and specific steps to fix laws that are failing women.

Lebanon should abolish inequality under personal status laws and grant citizenship to children of Lebanese mothers, abolish child marriage, ban all forms of domestic violence including marital rape, end human trafficking, and protect the rights of migrant domestic workers.

Personal Status and Nationality Laws

Lebanon has no civil code covering issues such as divorce, property rights, or care of children. Instead, 15 separate religious laws govern personal status issues. These laws all discriminate against women and none guarantee basic rights. Autonomous religious courts administer these laws with little or no government oversight, often issuing rulings that violate womens rights. And unlike Lebanese men, Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to their children or foreign husbands. Parliamentary candidates should commit to passing a civil personal status law that would guarantee that all citizens are treated equally and amend Lebanons nationality law to ensure that Lebanese women can pass on their citizenship to their children.

Algeria, Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia, and Yemen already provide equal rights to women and men to confer nationality to their children.

By ceding personal status matters to religious courts without guarantees of basic equality or oversight, parliament has utterly failed to protect womens rights, Fakih said. It is outrageous that Lebanese women cannot pass on citizenship to their children, arbitrarily depriving children of citizenship and leaving some at risk of statelessness.

Child Marriage

Lebanon has no national minimum age of marriage. Instead, religious courts set the age based on the personal status laws, some of which allow girls under age 15 to marry. Parliament members have introduced multiple bills to set the national minimum age for marriage at 18  though some would allow for marriage at 16 with a judges approval  but parliament has not passed this legislation. Candidates should make a commitment to pass a law to set 18 as the national minimum marriage age.

Lebanon is behind many other countries in the region that have set 18 as the minimum marriage age, including Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emirates.

Early marriage can have dire lifelong consequences, and can often spell the end of a girls education and leave her at heightened risk of marital rape, domestic violence, exploitation, and a range of health problems, Fakih said. It is inexcusable that parliament has not stepped in to protect girls and end the current mess of inconsistent and inadequate laws.

Domestic Violence and Sexual Harassment

A landmark 2014 domestic violence law established important protection measures and related policing and court reforms. But the law defines domestic violence narrowly, and failed to specifically criminalize marital rape, which is not a crime under other Lebanese law. It also does not require religious courts to adhere to civil court rulings relating to domestic violence, leaving women trapped in abusive marriages. Some religious courts issue obedience and cohabitation rulings against women, requiring them to return to the marital home. Parts of the law have also yet to be implemented, such as establishing family violence units within the Internal Security Forces and a fund to assist survivors of domestic violence. Meanwhile, parliamentarians have introduced multiple draft laws on sexual harassment, but parliament has yet to take action on this issue.

Parliamentary candidates should promise to support amending this law to end all forms of domestic violence and ensure that the legal definition of rape is comprehensive and does not make exceptions for marital rape. They should also commit to passing a law against sexual harassment.

Lebanons law on domestic violence was an important first step, but fell short, Fakih said. Candidates for parliament should promise to finish the job and to close loopholes that still permit violence against women.

Trafficking

A lack of coordination in the governments response to sex trafficking puts women and girls at risk. Syrian women appear to be at particular risk of being trafficked into forced prostitution and sexual exploitation in Lebanon. Parliamentary candidates should support more effective enforcement of Lebanons anti-trafficking laws and decriminalizing consensual adult sex work so that trafficking victims can report crimes to authorities without fear of arrest.

Sex trafficking is a stain on Lebanons reputation and the government has not done enough to stamp out this crime, Fakih said. Parliamentary candidates should promise to remove obstacles to reporting trafficking and providing support to trafficking survivors.

Migrant Domestic Workers

An estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, the majority of them women, are excluded from labor law protections and often left out of the womens rights debate. Lebanon has become an outlier on this issue as most of the major countries of destination for migrant domestic workers have instituted such laws. The kafala (sponsorship) system subjects migrant domestic workers to restrictive rules under which they cannot leave or change jobs without their employer-sponsors consent, placing them at risk of exploitation and abuse. Candidates should promise to extend labor law protections to domestic workers and to reform the kafala sponsorship system so that workers visas are no longer tied to individual sponsors, and so that they can leave their job without the sponsors consent.

We have for years documented reports of rampant abuses against migrant domestic workers in Lebanon, and these women deserve the same protection as everyone else, Fakih said. Parliamentary candidates should put an end to a legal framework that facilitates their exploitation and abuse.

Syndicated with permission from Human Rights Watch



Bonus video added by Informed Comment:

International Civil Society Action Network  ICAN: What the Women Say  Lebanon

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By Jill Richardson | (Otherwords.org) |  

Whatever your views on immigration, we should all agree not to torment small children.

Weve reached a cruel new phase in the U.S. governments war on immigrants without papers. And it should disturb you no matter what your views on immigration.

When undocumented immigrant families are detained, they are being increasingly split up. Not only are whole families being rounded up, but parents are being detained separately from their children  often states away.

Jose Demar Fuentes, an asylum seeker from El Salvador, is being held in San Diego. His one year old son is being held in Texas. What I would give to have my son close to me, he told a San Diego radio station through tears.

Some believe separating families is a coordinated tactic of the Trump regime to discourage undocumented immigration.

Separating parents and children is so traumatic to the developing brains of children that it should be considered inhumane. Maybe even torture.

One study counts how many adverse childhood events (ACEs) a person suffered and correlates them with mental and physical health problems. The study  online at ACEstoohigh.com  counts 10 different types of childhood trauma: physical, sexual, or emotional abuse, the loss of a parent, having a parent suffer addiction or mental illness, and so on.

Most Americans score at least a one on the test. But the higher your score, the more likely you are to suffer heart disease, suicide, alcoholism, cancer, diabetes, mental illness, and more later on.

Simply having a parent in prison is a trauma for a child. Being in prison themselves, and apart from their parents, is even more so. So detaining immigrant children at all, and especially separately from their parents, is predisposing them to a lifetime of illness.

Families coming from El Salvador like Fuentes are fleeing violence. Theyll keep fleeing as long as it remains unsafe. Wouldnt you? Odds are you would do just about anything to keep your children from being murdered.

Given what theyre fleeing, their children might well have already suffered traumas at home, and then suffered more on the journey through Mexico.

By ensuring their trauma continues once they reach the United States, its questionable well discourage others from coming. But its certain well permanently harm the health of the children we detain.

That child will grow up somewhere. Wherever they wind up, were making the world a worse place by unnecessarily traumatizing them.

Fuentes son is one. Are we really such an inhumane country that well terrorize a one-year-old to make a point to undocumented immigrants that they shouldnt come here? A blameless one-year-old?

There are many ways to resolve the problems with immigration system. Whatever we choose, surely we can find one that doesnt fall on the backs of innocent children.

Ideally, we can find a solution that keeps families together.

OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is the author of Recipe for America: Why Our Food System Is Broken and What We Can Do to Fix It. Distributed by OtherWords.org.

Syndicated with permission from Otherwords.org



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AP: Hundreds protest immigrant arrests in northern CaliforniaReddit Email 37 Shares

Middle East Monitor |  

A 39-year-old teacher* has been jailed and forced to sign a fake confession in the UAE following an electronic insult on social media.

The teacher was arrested in October 2017 while working as a teacher in Abu Dhabi. His mother says he is being held in filthy conditions and has been forced to sign a false confession.

He has also not been told what has led his arrest, his mother added.

He got a lawyer for the first time after 52 days and his entire trial was conducted in Arabic, said his mother.

As we now know he was sentenced to one year imprisonment and the equivalent of 12,500 [$15,400] in punishment for an electronic insult. That can be anything. A five-year-old Facebook post which the government classifies as critical. A harmless joke. Like a post that does not suit the government.

The conditions in Al Ain [prison] are cruel. Hes barely being fed and has lost 18 kilos of weight. There are rats running around and cockroaches in the food. Being there he developed pneumonia and was denied adequate medical care, she said.

I am so afraid for my son. Im afraid he will not get through this.

This work by Middle East Monitor is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Via Middle East Monitor

*At victims request this entry has been anonymized.



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Albawaba: Dubais Tech Scene is Drowning Out the UAEs Massive Human Rights AbusesThis letter is in response to Julie Ann Kodmurs letter of March 8 (Forum on watershed initiative was biased), in which she was disheartened that the League of Women Voters of Napa County did not uphold standards of impartiality, of research into critical issues, [and] of fair and honest debates of candidates and initiatives.

It is true that in its Voter Services activities, the League is scrupulously nonpartisan, in that it does not support or oppose any political party or candidate for office. During election years, it holds balanced candidate forums, as well as forums that impartially discuss ballot measures based on in-depth data.

What Julie Ann does not realize is that for 98 years all local, state, and U.S. Leagues have also been invested in advocacy efforts. U.S. and state Leagues continually lobby legislatures and Congress, based on grassroots studies and much research on which broad consensus is reached. The Napa League recently held programs about immigration issues and climate change, both backed by U.S. and California League policies.

Supported by the U.S. and California Leagues long-standing positions on protecting water resources and land conservation, including watersheds, the Napa County League voted to support Measure C, the Watershed and Oak Woodland Protection Initiative.238 Shares Share

Once upon a time I wrote an article about private real estate investment trusts (REITs). These are some of the favorite tools of salesmen masquerading as financial advisors (theres a reason theyre called brokers). They would sell these investments with a promise of high income. 8% yields were not uncommon. The value of these REITs were not marked to market. For years. So although you knew you were getting that juicy 8% yield, you had no idea what the actual value of the investment was, and thus no idea of what your total return was. They were the perfect product for a salesman to sell to a financially unsophisticated client. They set up shop in retirement communities and sold their wares over steak dinners. These investments (scams would probably be a better description) had heavy front-loads (as high as 15%) and heavy ongoing fees. Primarily due to those fees as well as similar abuses by management, the long-term returns were often terrible. Sometimes investors found out that shares that were illustrated as never dropping below $10 a share and likely worth twice that at some vague future liquidity period were found to be worth $6 a share. Or $3 a share. Or even less. It turned out a great deal of that juicy yield was really just returning principle to investors.

The publicly traded REITs

In contrast are the publicly traded REITS which are marked to market thousands of times per day on days the market is open. Not only do these real estate flavored stocks provide ready liquidity and transparency, but you can buy them without paying a load. You can also readily diversify at very low cost by using a mutual fund such as the Vanguard REIT Index Fund (0.12% ER). That fund has a moderately high correlation (0.61 last I checked, but it varies over time) with the overall stock market. Sometimes it zigs when the market zags, but sometimes it zags when the market zags. In fact, sometimes it zags really dramatically, like in the Global Financial Crisis when it lost 78% of its value from peak to trough. Since the purpose of diversifying into real estate is to get solid returns and low correlation with the other assets in the portfolio like stocks and bonds, that moderately high correlation turned off a lot of potential real estate investors.

In addition, REITs by their very structure are not particularly tax-efficient. By law, they are required to pay out 90% of their return every year to investors. And those distributions are generally fully taxable at your ordinary income tax rates. The investors dont get to benefit from depreciation and 1031 exchanges and the other benefits that direct real estate investors enjoy. High returns plus low tax efficiency meant that these assets really belonged only in the limited tax-protected investment space available to investors.

Why some investors hate REIT index funds

Lack of retirement account space, lack of control of the asset, tax inefficiency, and that moderately high correlation, prompted a lot of investors to give up the liquidity, diversification, and convenience of a low-cost index fund of publicly traded REITs in favor of owning the real estate investments directly. Many investors have retired primarily on portfolios composed of a handful of rental properties. However, buying anything but single family homes, a few duplexes, and maybe a small apartment building was beyond the reach of most real estate investors. So they got together with other interested investors and began syndicating properties, so that, like a mutual fund, they pooled the resources of multiple investors in order to buy more and larger real estate properties, such as large apartment complexes. They hired professional managers and then sat back and collected the checks for 5-10 years before selling off the property. Or perhaps they used a private real estate fund, again with a manager, so they didnt have to pick each investment individually.

Rise of the crowdfunders

In the last five years, technology has provided a way for many more investors to get involved in syndicated real estate through crowdfunded websites such as RealtyShares, Equity Multiple, Fundrise, Realty Mogul, Peer Street (all affiliate links) and over a hundred others. They all have a different focus. Some invest on the equity side, and others on the debt side, and still others do both. However, most of these sites, like most of the syndicated deals available before the existence of these sites, required investors to be accredited. That is, rich enough (and theoretically then also sophisticated enough) that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) didnt have to babysit their investing activities. In general, this meant liquid investments of more than a million or an income of over $200,000 ($300,000 married).

The real estate crowdfunding space became very crowded, very quickly and so firms tried all kinds of ways to distinguish themselves from their competitors. One of the obvious ways to do that is to go after the non-accredited investors. Since an income of $200,000 gets you into the top 2 or 3%, and an investable net worth of over $1 Million gets you into the top 10% or so, it was obvious that the group of non-accredited investors was far larger than the accredited investors. Even if their average investment was smaller, the total amount of money to manage was still substantial. So as they dissected the regulations, they realized one way they could bring crowdfunded investments to the masses was to form the investments into what are really privately traded REITs, but which are different from your grandmas brokers REIT.

There are currently two main companies out there offering this product, both of whom have advertised on this site. In the remainder of this post, Ill discuss their particular products and compare them to both publicly traded, and the old broker-focused privately traded REITs.

FundRise

FundRise used to be similar to most of the other crowdfunded sites, offering individual properties to groups of accredited investors. However, they have transitioned to primarily offering their eREIT products, available to everyone. Theyve addressed many of the issues that were seen with the broker focused REITs. For example:

Low minimum ($1000)

No load

Lower ongoing fees (0.85%)

Quarterly liquidity

Fundrise actually offers 5 of these eREITS- focused on Growth, Income, West Coast, Heartland, and East Coast. Fundrise also offers eFunds (currently one in Washington, DC and one in Los Angeles.) These are similar to private real estate investment funds available only to accredited investors, but with a much lower minimum (again $1,000). Instead of getting a 1099-DIV form each year like with the eREIT, you get a K-1. There is no guaranteed quarterly distribution and you should expect to leave your money there for five years.

Realty Mogul

The primary competition in this space is with Realty Mogul and their MogulREIT product. MogulREIT I and II (presumably there will be more down the line) offer the following:

$10,000 minimum

No load

1% management fee

Quarterly liquidity (after the first year)

Realty Mogul, unlike Fundrise, continues to offer regular (single property) investments to its pool of accredited investors, but the MogulREIT managers get first pick of the larger deals. There are slight differences between the two MogulREITs. For instance, MogulREIT II has a $5,000 minimum and invests just in apartment buildings (MogulREIT I had a broader mission).

Others

Although Fundrise and Realty Mogul seem to be the biggest players here, there are a few more of these out there (and probably more coming) including one from Blackstone, two from CrowdStreet, one from Rich Uncles, and one from stREITwise. Ian Appolito does a nice job reviewing them.

Should you invest?

Now for the big questionShould you invest in these new, more investor-friendly REITs? Well, it depends.

While these properties are more diversified than just buying a few crowdfunded, syndicated properties directly from crowdfunded sites, they are dramatically less diversified than buying the Vanguard REIT Index Fund. The Vanguard fund holds 155 companies. The largest of those 155 companies, Simon Properties, owns 325 properties. With one purchase, you will own a piece of tens of thousands of properties. You also give up significant liquidity with these online private REITs. You can sell that Vanguard REIT Index Fund in seconds any day the market is open. It would take you a full year to liquidate your MogulREIT holding, and thats after the mandatory one-year holding period and possibly two more years where a 1-2% fee is assessed to early liquidators, which adds up to four years. The management fees of the Vanguard fund are also 1/10th as large as those in these private REITs. Given those downsides, why would anyone buy into these online private REITs?

The main reason is because these online private REITs arent buying the same properties that the larger, publicly traded REITs are buying. Youre not going to find a big mall. More like some strip malls, a restaurant, and some single-family homes. The investments come from the same place as their other crowdfunded offerings, which are far more Main Street than Wall Street. So it is a diversification play into a different aspect of the real estate market with smaller properties.

Accredited investors may turn up their nose at these online private REITs, but they are also eligible to invest directly with syndicators or through funds due to their ability to cough up the minimum investments of $50-200,000. Non-accredited investors not only cant come up with those sums, but are specifically excluded from those investments. It makes you wonder if Robert Kiyosaki was right when he said the wealthy get to invest in different investments than everyone else.

Critics say that only inexperienced or desperate real estate developers would go to a crowdfunded syndicator for funding, and thus their investments, whether in a REIT form or not, are inferior to those available to a more established syndicator. I suspect there is some truth to that, although both companies screen out the vast majority of projects they are brought.

All of these options can be attractive to busy high-income professionals (like me) who are not interested in purchasing, owning, managing, and selling properties themselves. For the non-accredited investors, the online private REITs are your only option to invest in these smaller properties that dont make it into the REITs traded on the stock market and found in the Vanguard REIT Index Fund. For accredited investors, there are some who will be willing to pay the 0.85-1% management fee for the increased convenience, increased diversification, and decreased tax hassle compared to buying individual syndicated properties either directly or through the crowdfunded sites. Other accredited investors who either want to avoid the additional layer of fees, prefer to select their properties themselves, or simply prefer the benefits of a private fund structure will want to avoid the online private REITs. Either way, theyve come a long way from the private REITs that were used to swindle your grandma.

In my recent post about my real estate investments, I talked about what Im doing with the 20% of my portfolio that I dedicate to real estate, but for now, you should know that I dont have any money invested in online private REITs. However, I have invested directly into properties both with Fundrise and RealtyMogul and enjoyed positive returns.

James M. Dahle is the author of The White Coat Investor: A Doctors Guide To Personal Finance And Investing and blogs at the White Coat Investor. He is the creator of Fire Your Financial Advisor!, a high-quality 12 module course with a little over 7 hours of videos and screencasts, a pre-test, section quizzes with answer explanations, and a final exam. The goal is to take a high income professional from square one, teach them financial literacy and help them write their own financial plan.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com3K Shares Share

I realize today that shame, and the stigma about needing help if youre a care provider, profoundly affected my career path and even my sense of identity. When I was overwhelmed, exhausted, stressed, and scared, did I reach out for help? No, I kept going until I hit a wall, burned out, and left clinical practice. After leaving, did I talk publicly about the chaotic conditions and broken system that led to my burnout? No, I blamed myself and kept quiet for a decade and a half.

When invited to speak on clinician burnout at a recent conference, I decided to focus on the stigma that kept me from seeking help. Upon reflection, I saw that at its core was a mostly unspoken dictum that care providers cannot be fallible and cannot have human needs  as if the only way to help the vulnerable is to be completely invulnerable oneself. I wanted to see how clinicians in practice today view this stigma.

During the session I asked participants  who were physicians, nurse practitioners, psychologists, and students  to write out some of the messages they learned about self-care, being human, and being vulnerable during training or on the job. They submitted their entries on index cards, and volunteers shared their examples in real-time. Heres what they had to say.

You do not have normal human needs.

Real ER doctors dont need to eat or pee during and 8-hour shift. Its a sign of weakness.

Direct quote from an attending: Dont be a pussy.

Bad situations or outcomes should not have any lasting effect on you.

Sleep is for the weak. Sleep when you die.

When I was a medical student on urology, the resident was mocked in rounds for needing IV fluids after a bad stomach virus. The resident was only allowed time to get fluids and then had to get back to work.

Dont call in sick. The ER is the best place for you. If you are sick enough, the attending will take care of you. If not, then you can pull your weight as scheduled.

Lie about your work hours (unspoken expectation for residents).

Never display vulnerability.

What! You hugged your patient?

When an unexpected tragedy occurs, BUCK UP. Its never OK to cry in front of patients.

As for vulnerability  this seems to be something that remains shunned. You cannot be weak as a physician.

I saw staff manage several critical patients without any appearance of grief or emotional processing.

Its OK to humiliate you in front of others.

In residency, the attending would question us until we were flustered or would cry.

A psychiatrist said in a group meeting, Nurses should be seen, not heard.

You should be reading and rereading Harrisons every day, anticipate patients who will be seen that day, and read those sections ahead of time. (Said with a completely straight face).

You are a machine.

Even on days off, it is expected that we will respond to emails and pages.

We would quiz each other on obscure facts rather than asking about the weekend, hobbies, family, etc.

Getting insulted, spit at, and threatened by patients and not seeing any consequences.

Patients in the ED can be incredibly rude, and we are expected to smile and appease. Ive gone from holding a screaming mom after her 6-month old died to another room 5 minutes later to get yelled at for the wait to be seen for a sore throat. Its soul-crushing.

Reverence is given to the physician who sees more patients, works longer hours, and spends more time with patients.

We need more work out of you, and no complaining.

I feel invisible, always afraid to ask questions because leadership does not appreciate those with strong views. My voice has been silenced.

Just try to double book 2 or 3 more patients per day to raise your RVUs for the clinic. That shouldnt be hard.

You could have the resources you need to practice if you would see more patients.

When all the providers schedules are full, and a patient walks in expecting an appointment, we are expected to see that patient, which takes time away from our families, for no increased compensation or appreciation. That may happen several times a day.

Dont dump your work on others. Stay until the work is done.

And this note from a participant, which sums up so much in so few words, Why do physicians have the unshakeable belief that they are not like other people?

Is it any wonder that physicians and other clinicians are burned out? These messages sanctify a culture where clinicians are expected to be superhuman, robots, and/or machines  and where broken systems, overwhelming clerical burden, and frustrating policies are tolerated.

Diane W. Shannon is an internal medicine physician who blogs at Shannon Healthcare Communications.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com111 Shares Share

Thanks to a surprising and devastating diagnosis, I know more than most physicians about what its like to live with the brain cancer known as glioblastoma, everything from self-titrating my anti-epileptic medications to making sure the right ICD-10 code appears on my MRI referrals. As much as Id rather not have this expertise, Ive learned that it is extremely valuable for medical students, physicians, people with brain cancer, pharmaceutical companies, and others. Ive also learned that it is undervalued.

Since I was diagnosed 20 months ago with glioblastoma  a disease I share with Sen. John McCain and about 18,000 other Americans  Ive tried to learn all I can about the disease, its treatment, and how best to live with it. In doing that, Ive become an expert patient, what some call an e-patient, following in the footsteps of pioneering e-Patient Dave.

I and other e-patients have a lot to offer in at least three separate areas:

Educating patients. When I was diagnosed with glioblastoma, I knew nothing about the disease. I quickly learned from others with brain cancer. Fortunately, Im now able to pay this forward, having become an active and trusted advocate in the brain tumor community. I now regularly receive and respond to requests from people newly diagnosed with glioblastoma or their care partners. They seek information about treatments, about side effects and strategies to mitigate them, and more. They look to connect with someone who has been there and to hear a word of encouragement. I find education and encouragement walk hand-in-hand.

Educating physicians. Medical students spend an immense amount of time cultivating deep technical knowledge of physiology, pathology, pharmacology, molecular biology, anatomy, and more before selecting a specialized discipline and dedicating several additional years immersed in that domain. Missing from this educational experience is the perspective of the people they will be in contact with every day, as well as experience communicating with people who are sick or dying. Medical school often detaches physicians-in-training from their own physicality in order to differentiate physicianhood from patienthood.

Learning from e-patients can close this gap. We know what communication strategies are effective for giving bad or terrible news. We know how to be in the presence of suffering. We have wrestled with prognoses alongside loved ones. We have submitted for prior authorization, paid out of pocket, and spent hours on hold with insurance providers. Weve also developed vast technical knowledge about the treatment and management of our diseases.

The value proposition is straightforward: Medical schools offer physicians-in-training a glimpse of what disease looks like. Patients provide a full view, along with insight into how disease feels. Medical schools need to close the knowledge and experience gaps, but currently do a poor job incorporating patients into medical education.

Educating drug and device companies. Drug and device companies seek out e-patients to elicit informed perspectives from people who use their therapies. Patients are the end users, and they evaluate drugs and devices by their effects on quality of life, which is difficult to measure in laboratory settings or clinical trials.

Companies sometimes reimburse e-patients for allowing their profiles to be published in marketing efforts as a way to demonstrate real-world use, for speaking at industry conferences, or for taking part in focus groups. But these honoraria often fall short of industry standards because few patients receive training on either the true value of their perspectives or on how to set speaking and consulting fees. Whats more, this compensation often carries noncompete clauses and disclosure statements that preclude further opportunities for patients to be reimbursed for their time and experience.

That needs to change.

The services that e-patients provide to fellow members of their communities and the hours of volunteer time they donate to nonprofit and advocacy organizations are free and heartfelt gifts of time and expertise. In my community, we describe those affected by brain tumors to be the closest family of support that we never wanted to join. The reward I receive for giving my time is that my experience stands to benefit others. When I place a call to an elected official to advocate for more research funding or respond to an email from a person with glioblastoma, it isnt difficult to distinguish that investment of time from the time I spend preparing and delivering a lecture to an auditorium of clinicians.

People living with disease, especially chronic or advanced illnesses, and those who have survived it are often more adept at navigating the complicated health care landscape than medical school faculty members. Patients can also offer sophisticated critiques of care delivery that improve clinical practice. Thats why I believe medical schools and teaching hospitals be more aggressive about incorporating the experiences of those receiving care. This perspective should be an integral part of medical education, and patient educators should be compensated for providing it.

By providing insights that improve the design of clinical trials and enhance patient experiences, expert patients can help drug and device companies with their bottom lines. This work should not be seen as nice-to-have volunteer work. Instead, it should be compensated, just as these companies pay physicians and researchers for their time and expertise.

This wont happen unless patients fully realize the value of the services they provide, and band together to nudge teaching institutions and companies to acknowledge the same thing. Patients currently use moderated Twitter chats, Facebook groups, podcasts, and blogs as avenues of support for asking questions and seeking advice about treatments, side effects, and clinical trials. These connectivity platforms can also be leveraged to better organize the patient community, share best practices for acting as patient educators or consulting with industry, preparing resumes, craft talking points for how to respond when asked to teach or speak, and set speakers fees and consulting rates.

Dont get me wrong. Im not suggesting that volunteer work be eliminated in favor of compensated work. Nonprofit organizations thrive because of the time given by their volunteers. Donor dollars go further when engaged volunteers supplement administrative costs and staff.

But medical education and industry should recognize patient contributions through fair compensation, commensurate with the work performed. If a patient delivers a service that a professional might otherwise provide, the patient is entitled to similar compensation.

Expert patients offer value when it comes to medical education or the development of medical devices and drugs. Its time for them to get the compensation they deserve for improving the health care experience for everyone.

Adam Hayden is a member of the patient advisory committee, National Brain Tumor Society and blogs at Glioblastology. This article originally appeared in STAT News.

Image credit: Adam HaydenThere was great celebration at St Mary's Cathedral this afternoon for the ordination of the new Bishop of Ossaory, Dermot Farrell.

In a touching gesture, the new bishop paid tribute to his mother, who attended the ordination.

"Today is Mothers Day. It is a particular joy that my own mother, Carmel, is with us here today. I thank God for the gift that she has been to me, and to my sisters and brother all throughout our lives," he said.

Bishop Farrell also referred to the words of St Augustine.

"When I think of the responsibilities and duties that lie ahead I am comforted by the words of Saint Augustine in a sermon he preached on the anniversary of his ordination. He told his people: Believe me, brothers and sisters, that if what I am for you frightens me, what I am with you reassures me. For you, I am bishop; with you I am a Christian.



"The role of a bishop is to be a father to his people, a brother to his priests, and a witness of Jesus Christ to the world. Augustine was not only a great theologian, preacher and administrator; Augustine was also a great pastor. He worked to serve his people, to shepherd them. His whole life as a bishop and teacher, can be summed up when he says it seems to me that one must bring people back... to the hope of finding the truth.

The Bishop also thanked a number of people present at the ceremony.

"I am grateful to His Excellency, Archbishop Jude Okolo, the Apostolic Nuncio to Ireland, for his kindness in recent days of preparation, and for his presence with us today. Archbishop Okolo, of course, is not the first Papal Nuncio to grace Kilkenny with his presence. Archbishop Rinuccini came to bring the support of the universal Church at a time of great change and challenge in our country. Archbishop, please convey our gratitude to our Holy Father, Pope Francis, for the ministry of unity that he humbly and faithfully performs for all amid the contradictions of the world. To His Grace Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin, I express gratitude for ordaining me a Bishop today. Throughout my years working in Saint Patricks College, Maynooth - of which he is a Trustee - and more recently in preparation for today, he has been most supportive and fraternal. I look forward to collaborating with you and my brother Bishops.

"I want to express my thanks to emeritus Bishops Seamus Freeman and Laurence Forristal, and particularly to Monsignor Michael Ryan, Diocesan Administrator, for the past twenty months. He graciously fulfilled this role in addition to his own parish duties. I cannot adequately express my thanks to Bishop Michael Smith. In working with him through practically all of my priestly life, my vocation has been strengthened and enriched. His love for the Church, his fidelity of service, his example of prayerfulness and his availability to both priests and people has inspired me and will continue to do so.

"We are grateful today for the presence of ecumenical leaders, especially Bishop John Neill and Rev Paul Maxwell.

"My thanks to the Monsignor Kieron Kennedy, Administrator of the Cathedral, the stewards, and the staff of the diocesan office for all they have done for this Liturgy. I express my gratitude to Father Dan Cavanagh for his thought-provoking homily. I thank the choir, the cantors and the Music Director, Father Richard Scriven. Music in the Liturgy is not just to entertain us; great music will always take us to the silence of the mystery from which it comes.

"For almost 38 years I have been a priest of the Diocese of Meath. To have been a priest in that that diocese is a matter of great pride for me. Those priests who have faithfully served and are serving there taught me how to be a priest. I count on your prayers in the years ahead. I welcome the priests, religious, and laity of the Diocese of Ossory. I look forward to your ongoing collaboration and support as we continue to serve the people of our Diocese. Let us never forget that the Holy Spirit dwells deeply in the heart of every person. May we live out of this mystery! May the Holy Spirit make of us a temple of living stones (1Pet 2:5), the Body of Christ throughout the world. May God who has begun this good work in us bring it to completion.

"Please remember me in your prayers as I will remember you in mine," he added.A powerful message was directed this afternoon from the new Bishop of Ossory to politicians to address the homelessness crisis.

Bishop Dermot Farrell who was ordained this afternoon at St Mary's Cathedral called on those in power to 'act with urgency' in tackling the issue in his welcoming address to the congregation.

"Coming to Kilkenny, I am conscious of the wonderful work accomplished here over the generations, to offer a life with dignity to every person in our communities. Today, it is surely not an impossible dream to hope that no person, particularly no child, in this country would be left homeless or go to bed hungry. I am thinking not only of those in hotel rooms, but also of our immigrants in detention centres and direct provision  every one of them precious to God. With more than 3,000 children in this country who have no place they can call their home, with families who do not have a front door to call their own, who have no family table -- do we not have an obligation to call those in political leadership, who hold power and carry responsibility, to act with urgency, for the wellbeing of our sisters and brothers?," he said.

During the ordination, Father Dan Cavanagh delivered a homily and extended a warm welcome to Bishop Farrell on behalf of the people of Ossory.

"We pray, Dermot, that you will trust our friendship and that as we work together you will find that we want what you want for our diocese.

"We thank you for taking on the challenge of becoming our bishop."

Fr Cavanagh also paid tribute to Bishop Farrell, Laurence Forristal and Seamus Freeman.Graham Adams reports:

The same day submissions closed, there was an announcement with great significance for the euthanasia debate but it failed to get attention. The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners  which has 4800 members, representing nearly 90 per cent of GPs  announced publicly in its submission that it had adopted a neutral position on assisted dying.

Unfortunately, youd never guess from the headline on its press release  College of GPs does not endorse euthanasia  but when Noted asked the college it confirmed it was, indeed, neutral: We are not taking a position either way. Our board decided it was a decision for members to make as individuals.

The spokeswoman conceded that the headline could be misleading if thats all someone read. It could be [incorrectly] construed as us being against euthanasia.

The biggest medical college in New Zealand taking a neutral position in public is momentous. As Auckland health lawyer and end-of-life researcher Pam Oliver told Noted: Thats a major move by the college and will have considerable influence. The research evidence is pretty clear that a neutral or supportive stance by the relevant medical association, or college, is pivotal in doctors feeling comfortable to engage in providing assisted dying services. Anecdotally, it also appears to have a strong influence on whether politicians will vote in favour of legal AD.Huge victory for natural medicine in Australia as nation rejects pharma-engineered attempt to outlaw nearly all herbs

Australia is one of the most oppressive medical police state regimes in the world. The medical tyranny in Australia has even led to the government denying entitlement checks to parents who refuse to have their children subjected to an endless battery of dangerous vaccine injections. Deranged pharma trolls in Australia have been pushing hard to outlaw herbal medicine and force all the citizens of Australia to use toxic, overpriced chemical prescription medications to treat everything.

Jon Rappoport from NoMoreFakeNews.com cites Crazz Files, reporting that the Australian government has rejected the pharma-funded attempt to outlaw natural medicine, reaffirming the efficacy of traditional remedies. This is a surprising and important win for health freedom in Australia, and it reveals that even the Greens party in Australia has someone become anti-natural medicine.

Heres the story from Rappoport (original source link):

Shocking victory for proponents of alternative medicine

by Jon Rappoport

March 8, 2018

Breaking: In Australia, an effort to label all alternative (traditional, complementary) medicine products as based on pseudoscience has failed.

Traditional remedies (much older than mainstream medicines) are defended as appropriate, and can include health claims.

The Crazz Files, a major defender of health freedom in Australia, reports: In a major win, the Federal Government has ignored the Australian Greens and anti-complementary medicine activists like Doctor Ken Harveyand passed a reform package that protects traditional medicine.

Mother Nature's micronutrient secret: Organic Broccoli Sprout Capsules now available, delivering 280mg of high-density nutrition, including the extraordinary "sulforaphane" and "glucosinolate" nutrients found only in cruciferous healing foods. Every lot laboratory tested. See availability here.

The Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2017 Measures No. 1) Bill, which passed Parliament on February 15, supports positive claims for complementary medicines based on traditional evidence, and abolishes the current complaints system.

Greens voters were shocked to learn Greens Leader and General Practitioner, Senator Dr Richard Di Natale was aligned with skeptics, whose platform is: There is no alternative to [modern] Medicine.

One of his [Dr. Di Natales] concerns was that people were being misled by traditional claims about the effectiveness of complementary medicine. He, and the skeptics, wanted labels on complementary and traditional medicines to state: this traditional indication is not in accordance with modern medical knowledge and there is no scientific evidence that this product is effective.

The Minister for Rural Health, Senator Bridget McKenzie, told Di Natale: I think it is offensive and disrespectful to those who practice traditional medicine.

For some, particularly those using Chinese medicine, the history of practising in that traditional medicine paradigm goes back thousands of years. Its been extensively refined, practised and documented and in many cases incorporated into mainstream medicine. So, a statement required by the Australian Government that the indication is not in accordance with modern medical knowledge and that there is no scientific evidence will be seen as arrogant and insensitive to those practising and using traditional Chinese medicines, Senator McKenzie said.

Boom.

All right. Now I want to treat readers to a brief analysis of modern medicine, the so-called scientific system that is the only valid system. It is the system employed in Australia, America, and virtually all countries in the world.

People who watch the news or read mainstream news have the impression that scientific medical research is remarkably valid and always progressing.

Doctors and medical bureaucrats line up to confirm and ceaselessly push this view.

But they are concealing a dark truth.

Lets go to the record. Here are two editors of two of the most prestigious and respected medical journals in the world. During their long careers, they have read and scrutinized more studies than any doctor, researcher, bureaucrat, or so-called medical blogger. And this is what they have written:

ONE: It is simply no longer possible to believe much of the clinical research that is published, or to rely on the judgment of trusted physicians or authoritative medical guidelines. I take no pleasure in this conclusion, which I reached slowly and reluctantly over my two decades as an editor of The New England Journal of Medicine. (Dr. Marcia Angell, NY Review of Books, January 15, 2009, Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption)

TWO: The case against science is straightforward: much of the scientific literature, perhaps half, may simply be untrue. Afflicted by studies with small sample sizes, tiny effects, invalid exploratory analyses, and flagrant conflicts of interest, together with an obsession for pursuing fashionable trends of dubious importance, science has taken a turn towards darkness

The apparent endemicity of bad research behaviour is alarming. In their quest for telling a compelling story, scientists too often sculpt data to fit their preferred theory of the world. Or they retrofit hypotheses to fit their data. Journal editors deserve their fair share of criticism too. We aid and abet the worst behaviours. Our acquiescence to the impact factor fuels an unhealthy competition to win a place in a select few journals. Our love of significance pollutes the literature with many a statistical fairy-taleJournals are not the only miscreants. Universities are in a perpetual struggle for money and talent (Dr. Richard Horton, editor-in-chief, The Lancet, in The Lancet, 11 April, 2015, Vol 385, Offline: What is medicines 5 sigma?)

There are many ominous implications in these two statements. I will point out one.

Incompetent, error-filled, and fraudulent studies of medical drugsfor example, published reports on clinical trials of those drugswould lead one to expect chaos in the field of medical treatment. And by chaos, I mean: the drugs cause widespread death and severe injury.

Again, if a person obtains his news from mainstream sources, he will say, But I see no evidence of such a vast scandal.

That is a conspiracy of silence. Because this widespread death and grievous harm HAS been reported. Where? In open-source medical literature.

For example: On July 26, 2000, the US medical community received a titanic shock, when one of its most respected public-health experts, Dr. Barbara Starfield, revealed her findings on healthcare in America. Starfield was associated with the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.

The Starfield study, Is US health really the best in the world?, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), came to the following conclusion, among others:

Every year in the US, correctly prescribed, FDA approved medical drugs kill 106,000 people. Thus, every decade, these drugs kill more than a MILLION people.

On the heels of Starfields astonishing findings, media reporting was rather perfunctory, and it soon dwindled. No major newspaper or television network mounted an ongoing Medicalgate investigation. Neither the US Department of Justice nor federal health agencies undertook prolonged remedial action.

All in all, those parties who could have taken effective steps to correct this ongoing tragedy preferred to ignore it.

On December 6-7, 2009, I interviewed Dr. Starfield by email. Here is an excerpt from that interview.

Q: What has been the level and tenor of the response to your findings, since 2000?

A: The American public appears to have been hoodwinked into believing that more interventions lead to better health, and most people that I meet are completely unaware that the US does not have the best health in the world.

Q: In the medical research community, have your medically-caused mortality statistics been debated, or have these figures been accepted, albeit with some degree of shame?

A: The findings have been accepted by those who study them. There has been only one detractor, a former medical school dean, who has received a lot of attention for claiming that the US health system is the best there is and we need more of it. He has a vested interest in medical schools and teaching hospitals (they are his constituency).

Q: Have health agencies of the federal government consulted with you on ways to mitigate the [devastating] effects of the US medical system?

A: NO.

Q: Are you aware of any systematic efforts, since your 2000 JAMA study was published, to remedy the main categories of medically caused deaths in the US?

A: No systematic efforts; however, there have been a lot of studies. Most of them indicate higher rates [of death] than I calculated.

Q: Did your 2000 JAMA study sail through peer review, or was there some opposition to publishing it?

A: It was rejected by the first journal that I sent it to, on the grounds that it would not be interesting to readers!

end of interview excerpt

Physicians are trained to pay exclusive homage to peer-reviewed published drug studies. These doctors unfailingly ignore the fact that, if medical drugs are killing a million Americans per decade, the studies on which those drugs are based must be fraudulent. In other words, the medical literature is suspect, unreliable, and impenetrable.

WHICH IS EXACTLY WHAT THE TWO ESTEEMED MEDICAL EDITORS I QUOTED ABOVEMARCIA ANGELL AND RICHARD HORTONARE SAYING.

If you know a doctor who enjoys sitting up on his high horse dispensing the final word on modern medicine, you might give him the quotes from Dr. Angell and Dr. Horton, instruct him to read them, and suggest he get in touch with Angell and Horton, in order to discover what has happened to his profession.

As in: DISASTER.#MeToo is all the rage in South Korea. The Korea Times daily updates new claims you should not miss. -- ED.



31 celebs under investigation



Police said 40 people, including 31 well-known figures, are under formal investigation over #MeToo accusations. Among them are actor Jo Min-ki, play director Lee Yoon-taek and Cho Jeung-yoon, head of an acting troupe, according to the National Police Agency. Musician Nam Goong Yeon and film director Kim Ki-duk were not added to the list because investigators were unable to contact their alleged victims.



Pastor



A pastor was struck by #MeToo accusations. An alleged victim told the Hankook Ilbo, a sister daily of The Korea Times, she was molested by a chief pastor of a church in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, 10 years ago. The alleged perpetrator, surnamed Lee, 74, is a co-chair of the Christian Council of Korea. She claimed the pastor started molesting her after she divorced.



Judge



The Supreme Court launched an investigation into allegations a male judge spoke "sexually humiliating" words to a female lawyer over the phone in mid-February. The lawyer recently filed a complaint with the court and its audit office is handling the investigation. According to the Joong-Ang Ilbo daily, the incident happened during phone consulting between the lawyer and a male client, who later turned out to be an incumbent judge. The alleged victim claimed he started the communication with gentle questions about divorce but turned rude gradually with "sexually humiliating questions."



#MeToo-hit ex-governor





The government will toughen punishment for sexual violence in the workplace as the #MeToo movement rages on.

It plans to raise the maximum punishment and extend the statute of limitations for sexual assault cases involving abuse of power at work. According to the plan, the maximum prison sentence for obtaining sex through abuse will be raised to 10 years from five years. The statute of limitations will also be extended to 10 years from the present seven-year threshold. For sexual harassment cases, the maximum punishment will be raised to five years from the present two-year ceiling. The statute of limitations will be lengthened to seven years from five. The government also said it plans to pursue criminal cases against those who cover up, ignore or abet sex-related crimes within organizations or groups. It will also revise regulations automatically to ban subsidies to such private entities. Chief executives of private companies that do not take disciplinary action in sexual harassment cases could also face jail time, according to the government. The justice ministry is considering raising the maximum penalty to a prison sentence from the present fine of 5 million won ($4,680) or below.





By Ko Dong-hwan







Incheon has awarded the city's international port for managing the site with effective eco-friendly regulations and lowering air pollution around the area.







The port city on the western coast honored on Mar. 10 Incheon Port Authority (IPA) in an evaluation that focused on companies with significant environmental commitment. The award acknowledged that the port introduced operational measures using renewable energy-based technologies and therefore reduced air pollution.







IPA built a photovoltaic facility with 10 megawatt capacity in an unused space inside the compound. The port also deployed an alternative maritime power (AMP) system and used LED lighting to use energy efficiently.







The efforts came after the IPA signed an eco-friendly pact "Incheon Clean Corporation Association" with state-run corporations in Incheon in March 2016. Signatories included Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korea Gas Corporation and Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation. The pact bound the four to boost eco-friendly measures until 2019.







In 2017 alone, IPA's efforts cut 125 tons of nitrogen oxide, 0.2 tons of sulfur oxide, 2.2 tons of PM2.5 (particulate matters with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers or less)and 8,073 tons of carbon dioxide.







IPA's Port Facility Team has been acknowledged with its missions to acquire Level 1 for energy efficiency at the lock gate facility, introduce the photovoltaic facility in a dead space and develop the AMP system.

Collaboration in Future Technologies is the key message from the United Kingdom as they send a strong delegation to DIMDEX 2018. Fleur Thomas, Regional Director in the Department of International Trades Defence and Security Organisation leads the UK delegation. In addition, ships from the Royal Navy are attending. This strong UK presence reiterates the importance of the strategic defence and security relationship between the UK and Qatar.

Collaboration in Future Technologies is the key message from the United Kingdom as they send a strong delegation to DIMDEX 2018. Fleur Thomas, Regional Director in the Department of International Trades Defence and Security Organisation leads the UK delegation. In addition, ships from the Royal Navy are attending. This strong UK presence reiterates the importance of the strategic defence and security relationship between the UK and Qatar.

The RFA Cardigan Bay arriving at the Hamad Port (Credit Navy Recognition)



The UK Government delegation will be supporting UK companies displaying and demonstrating a range of world-leading defence and security technologies. The UKs capability themes include: maritime security; technological support to operations; disaster relief; and cyber. The United Kingdom has supported the DIMDEX exhibition since its inception and has a proven track record in delivering capabilities and solutions, with significant transfer of technology, to allies across the world. The UK team will be also be building on their international reputation for establishing successful partnerships and international collaborative arrangements and seeking to develop closer links with Governments and industrial partners across the region.

Fleur Thomas said: I am delighted to have the opportunity to visit DIMDEX 2018 to highlight the UKs important defence and security relationship with Qatar. DIMDEX 2018 is an important regional maritime forum and provides real opportunities for the international naval maritime community to work together and learn from each other I am at DIMDEX 2018 to encourage ever greater industrial cooperation and to press forward in identifying new areas for cooperation. The UK has a significant range of world-class technologies across the air, land, maritime, security and cyber sectors and DIMDEX 2018 presents an excellent opportunity for us to show the best that Britain has to offer and find common ground on which partnerships can be built. Japan's Ministry of Finance is expected to admit that it has secretly rewritten documents related to a controversial discount sale of state land to private school operator Moritomo Gakuen, government sources said Saturday.

The admission that public documents have been tampered with is likely to deal a heavy blow to the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, political watchers said.Opposition parties look certain to grill Abe and Finance Minister Taro Aso, who doubles as deputy prime minister, over the issue in parliament next week, they said.Moritomo Gakuen is one of the school operators at the center of favoritism allegations against Abe.The MOF has confirmed that such wording as the "special nature" of the land deal has been removed from its original documents before copies were disclosed to lawmakers, according to the sources.Bollywood superstar Sridevi's untimely demise, amidst mysterious and puzzling circumstances, has shocked the entire nation. The 54 year old breathed her last in Dubai as she accidentally drowned in her bathtub. Quite shockingly many conspiracy theories have emerged one after the other from the distant Gulf land and TV channels have still not stopped from presenting their myriad versions.

Forensic Experts in Dubai have not found any suspicious element in their search and the Kapoors are back home to resume their routine. Daughter Jhanvi who was very close to Sridevi celebrated her 21st birthday and has resumed shooting for her film Dhadak. From Boney Kapoor to Arjun Kapoor and from Anil Kapoor to Sonam Kapoor everybody is seen praying and giving their last respect to the actress. It's only Sridevi's sister Srilatha who had accompanied the star in Dubai who has been keeping suspicious silence about the incident.

It is widely known that Sridevi and Srilatha used to be extremely close. In fact, their relationship strained due to a property dispute that broke out in the 1990s. We also gather that the two sisters patched up in 2013, when Sridevi was awarded the prestigious civilian honour Padma Shri. Why is Srilatha then keeping mum about the fateful occurrence, one wonders.

Srilatha has been asked to remain quiet and out of the picture. We dont know why. Weve also heard that Srilatha and her husband Satish will be given ownership of Sridevis bungalow in Chennai, a source close to the Kapoor family told a newspaper.

It is quite surprising that Sridevi's own sister is not willing to give the accounts of the final moments she spent with her. Will she break her silence ever?

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 11, 2018 03:18 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

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Support our mission and join our community now.There have been complaints about dumping at two locations in Sallins. A request for CCTV cameras to be installed along the Grand Canal towards the Leinster Aqueduct was made by Fianna Fail councillor Carmel Kelly, at a Naas Municipal District meeting.

However Kildare County Council said that while the area would be inspected to assess the extent of the problem, its noted that the road is particularly narrow and this may make the positioning of CCTV apparatus difficult to capture offenders.

If not, said Cllr Kelly, the use of drone might be considered or a covert camera adding that the use of a camera in a fridge had proven successful elsewhere.

SEE ALSO: Made in Chelsea's Rosie Fortescue to judge Punchestown Best Dressed competition

Also in Sallins, Cllr Anne Breen (Lab) has asked that the council investigate an undeveloped plot of land beside Castlesize on the Clane Road.

She told the meeting that the site is overgrown with trees and shrubs and material has been dumped there. She said the boundary fencing needs attention as vegetation is growing on to the footpath. Cllr Breen said KCC owns the land, adding I want to know what the council will do with the land.A story of Clane in the Swinging 60s is being recalled in a special event in the Westgrove Hotel on March 18 at 9pm.

In the summer of 1966, Bryan Sammon, Paddy Behan, Joe Duffy, Seamus Mahony, Pat Harty and Liam Burke came up with the idea of forming Clane Youth Club.

They approached the GAA ,the owners of the Old Hall, and asked for permission to hold a Hop every Tuesday (9- 12) to raise funds.

The GAA agreed and charged 10 per night.

Liam Burke told the Leader: Admission was 2/6 (half a crown) so we had to have at least 80 turning up to pay the rent. We started with an old record player and attached speakers. 

To their surprise we had over one hundred and fifty teenagers from all over north Kildare attending.

Clane Youth Club was formed and they continued holding the Hops every Tuesday for the next two to three years with the sound of The Rolling Stones, Beatles, Beach Boys, Hollies and of course the Showbands, Royal, Dixies, Drifters etc.

Many the marriage was created during those days, said Liam.

The group later brought in disco and employed a DJ.

The reunion will be a jog down memory lane.In the course of a journalism career youll find yourself in some unusual places, a privileged front row seat to the world at its best and its worst.

Last Monday night week I found myself in McWeys Funeral Home in Kildare town at a funeral service of Alexandru Coceban, the 22 year old Moldovan man who died in an industrial accident at Kildare Chilling Company on Thursday afternoon, February 15.

Its hard to know what drew me there. It was a terrible accident in a prominent company in the county and so, as the paper of record, we felt it was on some level worthy of being recorded.

I wanted also to pay my respects to this young man. Only a few weeks ago, he had left his native country, his family, his friends and everything he had known, to come and work in Ireland.

As the eldest of his siblings he had come here seeking a better life for his family, which is a statement that resonates at a fundamental level with anyone who has ever, or knows somebody who ever left this country to better themselves.

Tragically, Alexandru Coceban never got to realise the potential of his trip to Ireland.

He died on the day he was due to receive his first pay cheque, a little over a week into the job.

I dont know if he had much, or any English, or if he had the job or accomodation lined up before he arrived over here, but it must have been a daunting adventure to face into.

The average monthly salary in Moldova is 284.76, which even an unskilled labourer could bring home in a bad week in Ireland, so you can see the attraction in coming over.

If you visit the countries of Eastern European youll realise that the thousands of people who have left their native country to come and work in ours are not from the reasonably prosperous cities.

Theyre from the small rural towns and villages of the regions, where Warsaw or Prague might as well be as far away as Kildare Town.

Just like in many parts of our own country, emigration has taken the young from the rural areas.

They are gone to seek their fortune  simultaneously leaving their home towns bereft of one.

They have come to Ireland in their droves over the past 20 years to work hard in our restaurants, factories, service stations, hotels, building sites, farms and umpteen other places.

In some respects theyre showing us what we never saw  what it was like for our fellow countrymen and women when they went abroad for work

That Monday night was an insight into that world.

I turned up at St Brigids Church, which was the advertised location of the funeral, but when there was no sign of the church even opening 10 minutes after it was due to start, I went over to McWeys Funeral Home where the death notice had indicated that his remains were to be removed from.

I opened the door slowly once I heard praying inside, and realised I had walked into a little bit of Kildare that was, for one hour on a cold February night, a little bit of Moldova.

A priest from the Russian Orthodox faith was conducting a funeral service, where the prayers are sang, and regular signs of the cross by attendees, always accompanied by a small bow.

The service was mainly attended by Moldovan men, some other staff at Kildare Chilling, and Alexandru Cocebans parents who were, at various times in the ceremony, in evident distress.

We can only hope that the observance to his native faith, the respect with which he was treated in these, the final formal moments of his existance on earth, and in Ireland, will bring some comfort to the parents of Alexandru Coceban.Michael McCaughan, author of Coming Home: One mans return to the Irish language will give a free workshop at the library in Kildare town on Wednesday, March 21 next at 7pm.

This is a kickstarter workshop for anyone who is thinking about coming back to the Irish language or learning it for the first time, with those in attendance finding out more about the Irish language and developing their own knowledge of the Irish language.

This workshop will start off with a background talk about the Irish language, how Irish people lost it and how we might go about getting it back.

The main focus of the workshop is that it will provide participants with a quick Instant Irish class which will give them some Irish vocabulary to take away with them along with a needs analysis of how they might improve their Irish language knowledge into the future.

All levels of Irish  and those with no Irish  are welcome.

Expressions of interest in a Ciorcal Comhra will be taken on the night.

The libary will close on Friday March 16 at 5pm for St. Patricks Weekend and will reopen on Tuesday March 2-at 2pm. The library will also close for Easter March 29at 8pm and reopen on April 3.The government is likely to scrap plans for the domestic development of a successor to the Air Self-Defense Force's F-2 fighter jet due to expected huge costs, government sources said Saturday.

The government is expected to consider international joint development as the main course of action, the sources said.

The F-2 fighter was jointly developed by Japan and the United States at a cost of 327.4 billion. The development started in 1988.

Since the first F-2 was deployed in 2000, about 90 jets are now in operation.

With the fleet of F-2 fighters set to retire around 2030, the government is considering a successor plane.

Eyeing domestic development in line with a request from the defense industry, the Defense Ministry has spent 138 billion in research costs since 2009, including for producing the X-2 experimental stealth jet.

But as substantial costs are additionally expected for domestic development, many in the ministry now believe such plans are "unrealistic," one official said.

The ministry has already contacted U.S. and British companies for information, planning to assess potential improvements to existing fighters.

The ministry has three options for the successor jet - joint development with other countries, upgrade to an existing fighter model or purchasing U.S. fighters.

The government is hoping to pick one from the three within this year, in preparation for the planned review in late 2018 of the national defense program guidelines, the sources said. - the-japan-news.comTHE raiding of a cannabis grow-house in the Knockaderry area and a hijacking of a family returning to Limerick were two significant events demanding garda action over the past three months, Newcastle West councillors were told this Wednesday.

Speaking at the first meeting of the Newcastle West Joint Policing Committee, Superintendent Eamon ONeill also told councillors he planned to launch a new community policing model in the district early next month.

A significant amount of cannabis plants had been found in a rented house in the Knockaderry area, the superintendent explained, and there had been other, small drug seizures in Newcastle West and Abbeyfeale. The perpetrators involved in the hijacking in early January, had been identified and arrested and a file was being prepared for the DPP.

There had also been a problem with the theft of a significant number of quadbikes in the West Limerick area over the past 18 months or so, councillors were told. But, Supt ONeill said, three people had been arrested in connection with these thefts. We are now satisfied we have identified the group involved, he said. The end-market for the bikes, he told Cllr John Sheahan, was outside the country. I have to be very careful of what I say because the matter is going before the court, he said.

But he praised the co-operation of one farmer in particular who was able to alert gardai when his quad-bike was moved. There are lessons to be learnt, he said, urging people to take responsibility for their property.

Gardai also had to deal with an arson attack on a rented house, the superintendent continued. But, he said, it was not feud-related.

Supt ONeill also told councillors that a new approach to community policing would be rolled out across the Newcastle West garda district next month. We have the model structure and are ready to roll, he said. However, they wanted to have certain details of the communications system firmly in place before this occurred.

Meanwhile, however, he said, 39 members of the gardai have now been named as community policing gardai and have been given specific tasks to engage with residents' associations and other householders. In addition, 10 gardai will have responsibility for Text Alert and a Business Watch will follow after that.

The superintendent said they hoped to launch the community policing programme in April when community representatives would be introduced to the system and to the gardai.

However, he told Cllr Francis Foley he would not be extending the opening hours of the garda station in Abbeyfeale which is currently open for just one hour a day. To do so, he would have to take people off front-line policing, he said. But a community garda was now in place in Abbeyfeale, available from 9am to 5pm.

She will go out and meet people in their homes. If people require a garda service, we will go to their homes. We can bring the garda station to them, he said.

Policing now was no longer an issue of individual hubs but was carried out on a district level, Supt ONeill argued. At any one time, he said, he would have a sergeant and 10 gardai on duty for the whole district.

I think we all need to start thinking on a district level, he said.

The day of working in hubs is gone.

I am not saying we have a lack of gardai, he continued. But I would take another 20 gardai if I could get them.

Two gardai were appointed to the district before Christmas, he said but they were about to lose a sergeant and another member.

Tributes were paid to gardai, council, army and emergency staff and to the Red Cross for their unstinting efforts during Storm Emma.A LIMERICK-based volunteer with the National Council for the Blind (NCBI) has been praised for the support he has given to an elderly county Limerick man who lost his sight in his early sixties.

William Priestley was paired with Tony Geary from Doon a number of years ago after he approached the NCBI asking them if they had openings for volunteers in the field of technology.

Tony was trying to get to grips with technology so for the first few months it was a question of trial and error as we worked it out. Wed meet regularly in the NCBI offices in Limerick city and spend an hour going through the essentials that Tony needed. We got on well and so the whole experience of learning was easy then for Tony, said the 38-year-old William, who runs the West End Youth Centre Ballinacurra Weston.

Seven years later, William still meets Tony regularly.

Technology is evolving so rapidly, there is always something to update Tony on, he said.

Tony, a former chef, says William is a marvellous and constant support to him.

He has taken away my fear of technology and now I look forward to surfing the net and being able to get information on things I need, he said.

He would really renew your faith in humanity. He is giving up his time and his knowledge for free and it is priceless to me, he added.SUSAN Angley walks up to me in the Boojum restaurant in the heart of Limerick city. With a beaming smile its clear she is proud of this place.

And rightfully so. As a born and bred Limerick girl, she has found herself in the role of area manager for Irelands west at a time when Boojums new Limerick investment is proving to be a hit in her home town.

Originally from Woodview in Limerick, it was matters of the heart that introduced Susan to the Boojum experience.

My partner had found a job in Galway. I found myself commuting up and down from Limerick regularly. It was during these visits that I discovered Boojum.

I was blown away by the staff. The food was exceptional, but the staff consistently stood out for me, Susan says.

The effect the Boojum staff had on my day every time I visited was so refreshing that I decided to write an email to Boojum telling them of my positive experience. I soon received an email thanking me for my feedback but thought nothing more of it.

Eventually Susan decided that a Galway move might be best, a job came up with Boojum. She applied and a few weeks later was called to interview.

At the interview I was asked a question along the lines of have you eaten here often?. I told them of my experience and the fact that I had been inspired to send them an email. There was silence at the other side of the interview desk.

Susans email had been noted. So much so that it was circulated across the company.

There were prizes given to staff; the email was pasted in staff areas around the country. Suddenly here I was interviewing for the role of General Manager for the very same store that had given me such a great experience.

Since she got the job in November 2014, Susans clear passion for the Boojum brand is palpable.

Boojum is about honest, fresh food. Its friendly. Its chilled out, she says. Our commitment to freshness is second to none.

Boojum doesnt use freezers or microwaves. All staff learn about the food, how it is prepared and how the slightest deviation can affect the taste the company strives to maintain.

The Boojum story is remarkable.

Since it was founded in 2007, the company now boasts 14 stores in all, six in Dublin, five in Belfast and one in Galway, Cork and now Limerick.

In 2015 the brand was acquired by Andrew and David Maxwell supported by a private equity firm. So, what makes it work?

Great food, great customer experience and word of mouth, Susan immediately answers.

I encourage people to just try it once. Once you set foot inside the door you will get it. We put a huge emphasis on hiring the right people. We have one simple rule  to work here you must be sound. After that we can train you in any role. The impression that the staff make on our customers is so important..

The Boojum menu is small but is designed to allow our customers to design a meal to suit their own personal taste. For some, the first visit to Boojum might be slightly daunting but the staff are on hand to walk you through your first order.

Having also been part of the team who opened the Boojum restaurant in Cork last year, Susan confirms that the reaction to the new Limerick restaurant has taken the company by surprise. To the point that they company had to transfer extra staff from other stores to help meet the demand.

I am so proud that we have been given such a welcome and really look forward to playing my part here in the coming years. I can see myself moving back to Limerick by the end of the year, so in a sense, my love affair with Boojum has brought me home!

Boojum Limerick is located in Patrick Street. It is open from 11.30am to 10pm daily. For more information, visit www.boojummex.comMar 5, 2018, 11 AM

There will be a leadership change at the American Philatelic Research Library following the resignation of APRL president Steve Zwillinger.

By Linns staff

Steve Zwillinger has resigned as president of the American Philatelic Research Library, Linns Stamp News has confirmed.

The resignation was accepted by American Philatelic Society executive director Scott English on March 2.

The APRL board of trustees will meet in a telephone conference on March 12 at 1:30 p.m. to elect a new president. APRL vice president Patricia Stilwell Walker is listed as welcoming the board. English will present an executive directors report and conduct new business including the election of the APRL president and addressing the interim vacancy on the APRL board.

Under the APRL bylaws, the president is elected from the membership of the board, English told Linns.

Zwillinger, who previously served on the APS board of directors, was elected president of the APRL board Aug. 4, 2017, by a unanimous vote of the librarys board of trustees.

The American Philatelic Research Library is a not-for-profit corporation located in the Bellefonte, Pa., former match factory complex that also houses the headquarters of the APS.

Connect with Linns Stamp News:

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The library is governed by a board of eight trustees as well as a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. The four officers are elected by the board, but they need not be trustees.

The APRL board listing online at the beginning of March identified the four officers plus five trustees not holding officer positions.Rescue workers look over the area flooded by the tsunami on March 12, 2011 in Minamisoma, Fukushima, Japan.

It's been seven years since a magnitude-8.9 earthquake in northeastern Japan triggered a massive tsunami that led to a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Seven years since radioactive materials from the plant poured into the air and the ocean and began making its way toward the West Coast of the United States.

Now that seven years have passed, how radioactive are the waters around the U.S.-Canadian West Coast? And how radioactive is the air and soil on the mainland?

The U.S. and Canadian coastal waters in the Pacific are contaminated, analyses show, but radiation levels are still well below federal standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency, said Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. [Japan Earthquake & Tsunami of 2011: Facts and Information]

The levels are so low, that swimming eight hours every day for a year would only increase a person's annual dose of radiation to an amount that is 1,000 times less than a single dental X-ray, Buesseler said.

"It's a very small risk that I consider negligible," Buesseler told Live Science. "I'll go swimming in those waters. I will eat seafood from those waters without any concern."

But it's understandable that some people have health-related concerns about the radiation from the Fukushima power plant, said Punam Thakur, a senior scientist of radiochemistry at the Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center, an entity of New Mexico State University.

Part of this fear likely stems from the fact that radiation is invisible and odorless, and exposure to high levels of it can increase the risk of life-threatening cancers, Thakur said. Anxiety caused by this fear could probably be eased by increased communication between scientists and the public, Thakur added.

"It goes back to 1945," Thakur told Live Science. "Nuclear industries have not been very open to the public, if you look back into the history." But now that data is more readily available, as scientists like Buesseler, Thakur and their colleagues publish their research, perhaps people will be less fearful, she said.

Airbound plume

During the Fukushima disaster, the plant released airborne and ocean-bound radioactive materials.

The air-bound emissions  which began on March 12 and hit the west coast of North America three days later, according to a computer model  included iodine-131 (which has a half-life of eight days, meaning half of it has decayed in this period), cesium-134 (2.1 years) and cesium-137 (30.1 years), as well as trace levels of tellurium (3.2 days) and iodine-132 (2.3 hours), according to a paper that Thakur co-wrote in 2012 in the Journal of Environmental Monitoring.

Nine days after the accident, the radioactive cloud had crossed North America, the researchers wrote in the study. During this time, low levels of Fukushima radionuclides were detected in samples of rain and drinking water, grass and milk, the researchers noted.

However, "it is important to note that all of the radiation levels detected across the United States have been very low, well below any level of public and environmental concern," they wrote.

Radioactive levels dropped from April to May 2011, largely because most of the material had such short half-lives, the researchers wrote. For instance, with a half-life of eight days, iodine-131 is basically "dead" after 10 half-lives, or 80 days, Thakur said. Some tests found no detectable Fukushima-related radionuclides after May 2011, the researchers said. [Fukushima Radiation Leak: 5 Things You Should Know - Live Science]

Each dot shows where surface water was tested for cesium-137 between 2011 and 2017. All of the samples have cesium-137 from before the Fukushima disaster because of nuclear weapons testing. (Image credit: Jessica Drysdale/ Our Radioactive Ocean

As for cesium-134, which has a half-life of 2.1 years, "it appeared for a few weeks after the event, but nowadays it's not there," Thakur said. "It's gone because the amount was so small." She added that because seven years have passed, "I would be really surprised if anybody in the whole U.S. can see [cesium-] 134 in the air."

At 30.1 years, cesium-137 has the longest half-life of the bunch, but it's important to put it in context, Thakur said. The United States already has cesium-137 in the environment because it was testing nuclear weapons in the 1950s and 1960s.

The cesium-137 from Fukushima issmall compared with the radionuclides left over from the 1950s and 1960s, Thakur said.

"Whatever we have measured [of cesium-137] from Fukushima, it is a very small amount, is not going to harm anybody," she said.

Ocean contamination

Researchers focused on cesium when testing ocean contamination "because it was one of the most abundant radioactive contaminants released, and some forms of it can remain in the environment for decades," Buesseler and his colleagues wrote on ourradioactiveocean.org.

With the help of citizen scientists and researchers, Buesseler's team has tracked the spread of cesium in the Pacific since 2011.

Though small, cesium levels along the North American coast continue to grow as offshore waters that have higher cesium levels move onshore. Models predicted that these levels should have already peaked, "but it looks like this may take another year or more [before] these levels decline along the beaches," Buesseler said.

A research group in Canada has found similarly low levels of cesium-137 in fish. The group  the Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring (InFORM) network includes academic, government, non-governmental organizations and citizen scientists working to acquire data, according to its website.

These graphs show the levels of cesium-137 found in U.S. coastal waters. The solid line shows the linear trend over time, showing that levels have increased from 2011 to 2017. (Image credit: Jessica Drysdale/ Our Radioactive Ocean

Tests on salmon in 2016 show that the maximum contamination of cesium-137 found in a fish was more than 1,700 times lower than the Health Canada Action Level, and "is not known to be a health risk for either humans or the environment," InFORM wrote on its website.

Scientists aren't sure exactly how long it will take radionuclides in the ocean to return to pre-Fukushima levels, but it will probably be on the order of years, not decades, Buesseler said. In the meantime, researchers will continue to monitor these levels, especially because it teaches them how these molecules move around the planet, he said. [Timeline of Events at Japan's Fukushima Nuclear Reactors]

"The world operates 400 nuclear power plants and many of those are on coastlines or rivers," Buesseler said. "[This data will help us] know to a little better what is coming our way in case these accidents happen."

Original article on Live Science.She was 32 years old, and her life was just beginning.

Jennifer Gonzales had gotten married last year. She wore a white lace gown and deep red lipstick, matching the color of her bridesmaids dresses. The wedding party took photos walking arm-in-arm down a street in Sacramento  the group was so big that it stretched from curb to curb.

That was Jenn. She loved her big family and her big friend group.

Gonzales and her husband, T.J. Shushereba, were having their first baby this summer. Gonzales was six months pregnant. The couple had plans to travel to Washington, D.C., to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary March 18.

But on what should have been an ordinary workday at the Pathway Home in Yountville, everything changed. Gonzales and two colleagues were killed Friday by an Army veteran who had received treatment there for post-traumatic stress disorder.

I feel like we are going to wake up and its not going to be true anymore, and well be happy again, said Kate Donovan, a friend of Gonzales who lives in Seattle. To have somebody who was sleeping in your bed with you and your dog a month previously, and making jokes, and leaving funny voice mails on your birthday ... its devastating.

Gonzales worked as a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, and spent time at the Pathway Home so she could help veterans find academic and vocational programs to return to school. She was widely respected in the field and considered a PTSD expert.

When the VA sent Gonzales paperwork to Marjorie Morrison, she did a double take. Morrison, the CEO of PsychArmour, a free online library with courses on how to support military veterans, was looking for an expert to write about the subject. She was expecting someone a bit older.

She was young and super smart, Morrison said. When the VA says, This is our expert, its a big deal.

Gonzales dedicated much of her short life to helping veterans struggling to build a life after deployment. It was a natural fit for a woman so kindhearted, tender and passionate.

She saw the big picture, Morrison said. Of all the things that people do for veterans, the least sexy thing is getting colleges prepared for them. Its not as exciting. But she saw it as a good place to do research. It was a way to help them understand what these people go through.

Gonzales was a helper in the Mister Rogers sense, said Susan Hennessey, a lifelong friend. She called her a sunny, beautiful, unfailingly kind little girl who grew up to be a sunny, beautiful, unfailingly kind woman.

Jenn was good, from head to toe, Hennessey said in a Twitter post. Thoroughly good in a way that is exceptionally rare. ... She dedicated her life to helping veterans who were hurting.

Gonzales loved to travel. She wanted to visit every state before she turned 30, so she did just that. She loved sandwiches and wanted to open a shop with 50 offerings  a sandwich representative of each state.

She loved her husband most of all. Sushereba proposed to her in Los Angeles. They were walking on Candy Cane Lane looking at Christmas decorations. In front of one house was a sign with twinkling red and green lights. It read: Doc, will you marry me?

They were planning a baby shower for next month. Gonzales loved to read, and the event was going to be book-themed. For each dessert, there would be a corresponding childrens book, including chocolate chip cookies for If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

She was so happy at this stage in her life, Donovan said. She was the happiest I had ever seen her.60 Minutes is revisiting last summers San Antonio horror of a sweltering trailer packed with undocumented immigrants, a tragedy which resulted in 10 people dead and 29 critically ill.

The story, which was covered extensively by the San Antonio Express-News and other local media, as well as news agencies throughout the globe, is part of an exploration of such dangerous human smuggling across the Texas-Mexico border.

It airs at 6 p.m. Sunday on CBS.

The report comes from S.A.-born correspondent Scott Pelley, and includes an interview with a Mexican laborer and family man who survived the terrifying ordeal after escaping from the trailer discovered outside a local Walmart in July of 2017.

I heard a lot of screaming. They wanted waterThere were some people saying they wanted to die, recalls Jorge de Santos Aguilar, 42, in Spanish (translated for the report). I heard a mom scream for her children. The last thing I remember was calling out to God.

AS IT HAPPENED: San Antonio death toll in 'horrific' human trafficking reaches 10

60 Minutes points out that two of the 10 who died were children.

According to the report, Aguilar is one of many workers who take such risks and pay high fees to smugglers because they can earn $5,000 a month in the United States, but only about $300 a month in Mexico. Aguilar tells Pelley thats much too little to support his wife and three children, who are part of the interview.

Hes made the trip four times, Pelley says, worked in a factory, on a hog farm, and helped rebuild New Orleans after Katrina.

For his last nearly fatal trip, Pelley continues, he sold his truck, saved money from his past trips and paid smugglers $6,500.

The increase in such dangerous human smuggling is due to more and more immigrants not only hoping for better pay, but fleeing increased gang and drug cartel violence south of the border, says Jeremy Slack, a professor at the University of Texas at El Paso who has been interviewing migrants for years. "Now not only do people have no economic sustenance, but they also have people trying to kill them," he tells Pelley in the segment.

Pelley also talks to a Texas border official who says it isnt feasible to catch all the trucks given the high traffic volumes they deal with regularly.

RELATED: Driver in smuggling tragedy that left 10 dead pleads guilty

Its unfortunate, but the possibility of us catching every single thing to come through this checkpoint is just not feasible, says Jason Owens, the deputy chief at the Border Patrol checkpoint on Interstate 35 in Laredo.

Adds Owens: The agent  has just a couple seconds, given the amount of traffic that comes through and so  whenever they talked to the driver, didnt have that reasonable suspicion.

The truck traveling to San Antonio sailed through the checkpoint and traveled three hours with temperatures inside climbing to 120 degrees. At least 39 immigrants, most of them from Mexico, had been packed inside the semitrailer, which had a broken cooling system.

Investigators said passengers had experienced difficulty breathing as Texas temperatures rose to more than 100 degrees.

According to an Express-News story Friday, the operator of the immigrant stash house in Laredo, where the deadly smuggling run to San Antonio originated, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport undocumented immigrants resulting in death. He entered his plea Thursday before a San Antonio federal magistrate.

Pedro Silva Segura faces up to life in prison and will be sentenced June 29.

The trucks driver, James Matthew Bradley Jr., has pleaded guilty to single counts of conspiracy and transporting immigrants resulting in death. He will be sentenced March 26 and also faces up to life in prison.Broker earns top honor

RE/MAX LLC recently presented real estate broker Kimberly Harding with its Circle of Legends Award, honoring her 10 years of service and more than $10 million in commissions.

Less than 0.5 percent of all sales associates in the RE/MAX network have achieved the award. Learn more at www.KimberlyHarding.com.

Friendswood ranks high on SafestCities list

The National Council for Home Safety and Security has named Friendswood one of the Safest Cities in Texas for 2018.

The city ranked eighth safest in Texas and the safest in the greater Houston area.

The organization reviewed the most recent FBI Uniform Crime Report statistics along with population data and internal research.

Cities were ranked based on the number of reported crimes per 1,000 people.

"These findings recognize the hard work of the men and women of the Friendswood Police Department," said Luke Loeser, deputy chief of police.

"It is also a compliment to the citizens of Friendswood who have made awareness and reporting of potential criminal activity a priority," the chief said.

Learn more at www.alarms.org/safest-cities-in-texas-2018.

Clear Creek ISD crowns spelling bee champion

After 23 rounds of close competition, Greene Elementary School fourth-grader Alexander Amalaman took the first place trophy Feb. 17 at the 2018 Clear Creek Independent School District Spelling Bee.

Amalaman won after spelling his last two words-"diminish" and "confinement"-correctly. Fifth-grader Isaac Pan of Bauerschlag Elementary came in second place.

Spellers from 25 elementary and nine intermediate schools competed in the district bee at Mossman Elementary School.

Amalaman's next round of competition will take place April 7 at the Houston Public Media Spelling Bee.

From there, the top two spellers will advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May.

Bayshore Medical honors employee's 50 years of service

Physical therapist Kay Delgado recently celebrated five decades of employment at HCA affiliate hospital Bayshore Medical Center.

Delgado, who joined Bayshore Medical Feb. 18, 1968, received a personalized letter from Chief Executive Officer Milton Johnson acknowledging her career, leadership and dedication.

"Her commitment to our community for over 50 years is admirable and rare," Bayshore Medical Center CEO Jeanna Bamburg said.

"She truly is the epitome of service over self."

Just a few months shy of 75 years old, Delgado refers to herself as "semi-retired" and continues to work with patients about 50 hours a month.

She also oversees the Kay Hill Delgado Annual Scholarship, presented every year to a physical therapy student whose primary interest is acute care therapy.

For information, visit www.BayshoreMedical.com or www.HCAGulfCoast.com.

Foundation director joins board of national nonprofit organization

Ruth Keenan, San Jacinto College Foundation executive director for advancement, has been appointed to the National Association of Nonprofit Organizations and Executives 2018 board of governors.

She will be honored alongside fellow governors at NANOE's annual Board of Governors Convention & Expo, March 26-27, 2019, in Charleston, South Carolina. Learn more at www.nanoe.org.

Industrial facilities review safety in 2017

Local industrial plants touted their safety and environmental performance at the Deer Park Community Advisory Council's January meeting.

Evonik, Intercontinental Terminals, Oxy Vinyls Deer Park, Valvoline and Vopak reported zero OSHA recordables, or no injuries requiring a doctor's intervention, in 2017. A recordable rate of 1 is the equivalent of one injury among 100 workers in a 12-month period.

Dow Deer Park reported it ended the year with a 0.15 recordable rate.

Clean Harbors' recordable rate declined for the second year in a row, dipping to 0.52, according to a press release from Deer Park Community Advisory Council. Lubrizol saw a 70 percent reduction in its rate.

Shell Deer Park's 0.95 rate was the second best in site history, a company representative said.

Hexion ended the year with no spills of a reportable quantity, according to the release.

Texas Molecular's annual tests of the mechanical integrity of its deep wells resulted in no agency concerns or notices of violation, the company reported. Visit www.deerparkcac.org to learn more.

Deer Park issues advisory about water protection programs

The city of Deer Park reminds residents to perform due diligence before doing business with any company, especially when they do not initiate the contact. As an example, American Water Resources of Texas recently notified the city it planned to send notices to residents offering "water and sewer line protection programs." While these programs may be legitimate services, they are not endorsed by Deer Park, according to a press release from the city.BLUFFS  Mayor Linda Sapp is reaching out to residents who may be willing to sell the village land on which to build a dollar store.

Sapp has been attending rural economic development meetings in Springfield, trying to find out how to bring a dollar store to Bluffs, she told Bluffs village board members at their last meeting.

She said she found that if the village owned 1.25 acres of land off the main road through the village, Dollar General representatives might be willing to look at the property.

Other options include finding an empty building suitable for such a business or finding someone willing to open a store, she said.

In other business, Bluffs farmers market will begin at 4 p.m. Tuesdays in May. The market still will be in the village park, though it will be moved closer to the main road, Sapp said.

The village also will be working with the library to have programs for children during the farmers market, she said, adding that such programs could include a retired teacher leading a story hour.

Sapp also would like Springfields Henson Robinson Zoo bring animals to show the children.

The park board donated $75 toward the project and the village board agreed to donate up to $200 for the programs.

Sapp also updated board members on a Feb. 26 meeting to discuss the trains blocking the villages three railroad crossings. Eighteen people from the community, village board representatives, emergency personnel, state representatives, and railroad officials attended the meeting, which focused on safety factors, Sapp said.

The group is working on finding a long-term resolution for the problem. Another meeting will be at 2 p.m. March 19.

In other business, the village will be sending out letters to people whose properties are in need of attention.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., is rejecting a Massachusetts newspaper's suggestion that she take a DNA test to prove her Native American heritage.

"I know who I am and never used it for anything," Warren said Sunday in an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press." "Never got any benefit from it anywhere."

The senator, a potential 2020 Democratic presidential contender, has faced public questions over her citing of family stories to claim Cherokee and Delaware Indian heritage since her first bid for office, in 2012. President Donald Trump has turned it into a racially tinged attack line, frequently referring to her as "Pocahontas" since May 2016, including at a Saturday night rally in western Pennsylvania. Last week, the Berkshire Eagle, a newspaper published in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, called the issue an "Achilles' heel" for Warren and urged her to "take the spit test" to put it to rest.

On Sunday, Warren stood by family lore as justification for her claim. Her parents, she said, fell in love as teenagers in Oklahoma and eloped because her mother's Native American heritage made her father's family "bitterly opposed" to the union.

"That's the story that my brothers and I all learned from our mom and our dad, from our grandparents, from all of our aunts and uncles," she said. "It's a part of me, and nobody's going to take that part of me away."

Warren also did not explicitly rule out a 2020 bid and said she is focused on re-election to her Senate seat this year and on supporting party-building efforts across the country. "I'm not running for president," she said, while sidestepping four attempts by moderator Chuck Todd to pin her down on whether she will pledge to serve out another six-year Senate term.

Warren sought to move past questions about her background last month in an address to the National Congress of American Indians. In that speech, she said she understood "why some people think there's hay to be made" over the issue, because she wasn't enrolled in a tribe. "I understand that tribal membership is determined by tribes - and only by tribes," Warren said, adding that she never used her heritage to advance her career.

A directory of law professors listed Warren as a minority from 1986 to 1995, just before she joined Harvard Law School. When the claim emerged as a flash point in her 2012 Senate race, Charles Fried, a Harvard Law School professor who recruited her, said her ethnic status had nothing to do with how she got the job.

"That's totally stupid, ignorant, uninformed and simply wrong," he told the Associated Press at the time. "I presented her case to the faculty. I did not mention her Native American connection because I did not know about it."

On Sunday, Warren cited a promise she made to the Native American leaders last month to refocus the issue on challenges facing their communities. "More than half of all native women have been the victims of sexual violence," she said. "That is the highest of any group anywhere in America ... And the United States government does nothing about that. That is just fundamentally wrong."MUSCAT, Oman - Russian President Vladimir Putin's recent speech highlighting nuclear weapons that he claimed could be used to attack the United States was "disappointing but unsurprising" and does not alter the Pentagon's strategic plan to counter Moscow, according to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis.

Mattis, speaking late Saturday on a military plane en route from Washington, D.C., to the Middle East, said he saw no change in Russia's military capabilities in Putin's presentation, which showed cruise missiles that could strike U.S. cities. Regardless of "how much money they want to put into this arms race with themselves," Mattis said, the U.S. approach remains the same.

"At the end of the day, they can sink all that money in and it does not change my strategic calculations," he said of new Russian weapons. "I just assumed it all would happen."

CIA Director Mike Pompeo shared a similar assessment on "Fox News Sunday," saying in an interview that there were no surprises in what Putin touted.

"We are following and tracking all of this closely, as are our brothers at the Department of Defense," Pompeo said. "Americans should rest assured that we have a very good understanding of the Russian program and how to make sure that Americans continue to be kept safe from threats from Vladimir Putin."

The comments came nearly two months after Mattis released a new National Defense Strategy that prioritizes preparing the military for competition with Russia and China above all other threats. Terrorism, North Korea and Iran remain concerns, but "great power competition" needs the most attention, he said.

On March 1, Putin gave a fiery speech in which he said Russia was developing new nuclear missiles that could overcome any U.S. missile defense system. He showed a video animation in which Russia launches a cruise missile from its Arctic north that evades missile defense as it crosses the Atlantic Ocean, rounds the southern reaches of South America and then heads toward the United States.

Mattis played down the presentation, saying U.S. missile defense is not focused on Russia but on Iran and North Korea.

He is planning to meet Monday with Sultan Qaboos bin Said in Oman. They are expected to discuss a variety of issues, including the civil war in neighboring Yemen and shipments of weapons that the United States believes flow through Oman's borders.

On his flight, the defense chief again took aim at Russia's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The recent bombing of civilians in Syria's Eastern Ghouta region "looks kind of familiar" after similar campaigns in the cities of Homs and Aleppo, he said.

Russia, after forcing delays, agreed to the U.N. Security Council's call for a 30-day cease-fire in Syria, but the Assad regime proceeded to either indiscriminately bomb Eastern Ghouta at best or target hospitals in the largely rebel-held enclave at worst, Mattis said. He linked the two nations, saying Russia is clearly Syria's "partner" in the actions.

"I don't know which it is," Mattis said of Syria. "They are either incompetent or committing illegal acts."

The Pentagon chief noted that there have been "an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas" being weaponized in the bombing, though he added that Washington does not have hard evidence to confirm that.

Mattis reiterated warnings to the Syrian regime that gas attacks "would be very unwise." That is something President Donald Trump "made very clear early in the administration," he said, apparently alluding to the Pentagon's 2017 Tomahawk missile attack on Syria's Shayrat airfield, which was shared by Russian and Syrian forces. The missiles were launched in response to what U.S. officials said was evidence that Syria had targeted civilians with the deadly nerve agent sarin.

The United States has not reacted to suspected chlorine attacks in similar fashion, and Mattis did not draw a line in the sand.

"I'm going to leave a little bit of ..." he said, before pausing. "I'm not going to strictly define it. We've made it clear that it would be very unwise to use gas against people, civilians, on any battlefield."

Mattis declined to say whether he thought Russian aircraft have killed civilians in the most recent operations in Syria.

"Assad could not be in power right now absent Russia's unfortunate veto in the U.N. years ago and the Russians' full-throated military support for Assad," he said. "They are Assad's partner. Whether the airplane dropping the bomb is a Russian airplane or a Syrian plane, I would prefer to not say right now."Jewish groups and U.S. lawmakers condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin's suggestion that the 2016 U.S. presidential election may have been manipulated by Russian Jews.

Putin's remarks came during a long and occasionally surreal interview with NBC News on Saturday, in which he speculated that nearly anyone other than the Russian government could have been behind a program to disrupt the election. U.S. intelligence agencies believe Putin ordered the effort to undermine faith in the U.S. election and help elect Donald Trump as president.

"Maybe they're not even Russians," Putin told Megyn Kelly, referring to who might have been behind the election interference. "Maybe they're Ukrainian, Tatars, Jews - just with Russian citizenship."

He also speculated that France, Germany or "Asia" might have interfered in the election - or even Russians paid by the U.S. government.

But his remark about Jews, which seemed to suggest that a Russian Jew was not really a Russian, prompted particular outrage among those who remember Russia's centuries-long history of anti-Semitism and Jewish purges. Some groups compared the statement to anti-Jewish myths that helped inspire the Holocaust.

"Repulsive Putin remark deserves to be denounced, soundly and promptly, by world leaders," Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., wrote on Twitter. "Why is Trump silent?" Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., also demanded a response by Trump, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and Trump has previously been reluctant to criticize Putin or accept the intelligence community's conclusion that Russia played a role in his election.

"President Putin bizarrely has resorted to the blame game by pointing the finger at Jews and other minorities in his country," Anti-Defamation League chief executive Jonathan Greenblatt said in a statement. "It is deeply disturbing to see the Russian president giving new life to classic anti-Semitic stereotypes that have plagued his country for hundreds of years, with a comment that sounds as if it was ripped from the pages of the 'Protocols of the Elders of Zion.' "

The American Jewish Committee also compared Putin's comments to the "Elders of Zion" - a fabricated document published in Russia in 1903 that claimed Jews were plotting to take over the world and that helped fuel violence against Jews across Europe, eventually influencing Adolf Hitler's plans for the Holocaust.

Anti-Semitism in Russia goes back hundreds of years. Jews had few rights under the Russian czars, researcher Masha Gessen told NPR.

After the communist revolution, the Soviet Union briefly experimented with creating an autonomous Jewish region along the eastern border, Gessen told NPR. But the zone became the scene of new horrors when Joseph Stalin launched purges of Jews and other minorities - including Crimean Tatars, who Putin said also might have been behind the U.S. election interference.

Russian Jews continued to be persecuted even after Stalin's death. The communists shuttered synagogues, published anti-Semitic books and executed dozens of Jews in the 1960s and 1070s, according to the Jewish Virtual Library.

Nearly every U.S. senator signed a letter urging Putin to help Russia's Jews after he took power, in the early 2000s. In public, he mostly has. He speaks out against anti-Semitism and Holocaust denialism, and he has invited Jews who fled Russia during Soviet repression to come back.

But some see dark signs in the corners of Putin's Russia. In January, Haaretz wrote, a pro-Kremlin website published a 5,000-word essay that blamed Jewish groups for chaos around the world - echoing the "Elders of Zion."

While Putin has portrayed Russia in public as a refuge from far-right and anti-Semitic groups gaining political power across Europe, a report by Democratic Senate staffers accused his government of secretly assisting those same groups as part of its effort to destabilize democracies, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

The Russian president's latest remarks have caused particular concern in Israel, a Jewish state that has provided refuge to the victims of anti-Semitic campaigns around the world. Israel has lately been in a diplomatic crisis with Poland, a former Soviet state, after its leader appeared to accuse Jews of helping perpetrate the Holocaust.London

Britain offers wealthy Russians many attractions: London's culture, bucolic countryside, exclusive schools, and a global financial hub. But for some former spies and foes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, a move west has been lethal.

Sergei Skripal, a former Russian military intelligence officer who was convicted of helping British agents and then freed in a spy swap, could become next in the disturbing pattern. Skripal, 66, and daughter, Yulia, 33, are in critical condition in England. British officials say they were exposed to a rare nerve agent.

Some lawmakers and a former top law enforcement official say the poisonings have hallmarks of deaths in the U.K. and the United States with links to Russia. They want an investigation to examine if enemies of the Russian government have been assassinated on British soil.

The deaths that have aroused suspicions include a man who was impaled on the spikes of an iron fence; a former Putin aide found in a Washington hotel room with blunt force injuries; and an ex-spy poisoned with radioactive tea. British officials have not openly blamed the Russian government for the brazen assault on the Skripals in Salisbury. The father and daughter were found comatose on March 4 in the medieval city where Sergei Skripal had a home.

Author Joe Serio, who spent nearly 10 years with the anti-organized crime unit of Moscow's police and wrote "Investigating the Russian Mafia," said Britain is a popular destination for Russian emigres because it's "the gateway to the West, the seat of the language, the seat of the empire, the seat of major finance."

None of that makes the country a perfect place to hide, though, Serio said.

"Russian leaders seem to go out of their way to get rid of anybody that seems to be in their way, someone who's betrayed them, someone who's interrupting the money flow," he said. "They just go wherever they have to go to get their guy."

Yvette Cooper, chairwoman of the U.K. Parliament committee that reviews police and intelligence matters, said a string of unexplained deaths must be re-examined in light of what happened to Skripal and his daughter.

Cooper cited a 2017 BuzzFeed News investigation of 14 deaths that may have involved foul play. One was Scot Young's. He worked with Putin's critics before his body was found impaled on railings outside his London apartment in 2014. Police treated it as an apparent suicide, although the coroner said the evidence was inconclusive.

Of all the deaths that have set off alarms, the slow poisoning of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko's life is the best documented. Litvinenko, who had defected to Britain and publicly criticized Putin, died in November 2006, three weeks after drinking tea containing the radioactive isotope polonium-210.

While he wasted away on a hospital bed, the ex-spy blamed Putin. A decade later, a laborious public inquiry concluded he had been killed by Russia's security service, "probably" with Putin's approval.MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - President Donald Trump on Saturday again called for enacting the death penalty for drug dealers during a rally meant to bolster a struggling GOP candidate for a U.S. House seat here.

During the campaign event in this conservative western Pennsylvania district, the president also veered off into a list of other topics, including North Korea, his distaste for the news media and his own election victory 16 months ago.

Trump said that allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers - an idea he said he got from Chinese President Xi Jinping - is "a discussion we have to start thinking about. I don't know if this country's ready for it."

"Do you think the drug dealers who kill thousands of people during their lifetime, do you think they care who's on a blue-ribbon committee?" Trump asked. "The only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness. When you catch a drug dealer, you've got to put him away for a long time."

It was not the first time Trump had suggested executing drug dealers. Earlier this month, he described it as a way to fight the opioid epidemic. And on Friday, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was considering policy changes to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

But on Saturday his call for executing drug dealers got some of the most enthusiastic cheers of the night. As Trump spoke about policies on the issue in China and Singapore, dozens of people nodded their heads in agreement. "We love Trump," one man yelled. A woman shouted: "Pass it!"

Trump was ostensibly here to inject some last-minute political capital behind Republican Rick Saccone, whose race against Democrat Conor Lamb could be a harbinger of the Republican Party's fate in the midterms.

But in classic Trump fashion, he quickly steered away from his main reason for being there. He touted his decision to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and boasted that it was something his predecessors couldn't do.

Trump also delivered a profane attack on the news media, calling NBC News anchor Chuck Todd a "sleeping son of a bitch" and deeming CNN "fake as hell," as the enthusiastic crowd booed at the mention of journalists and chanted "CNN sucks!"

And he rattled off several falsehoods, such as a claim that 52 percent of women voted for him in his presidential win (it was 52 percent of white women, according to exit polling).

The rally at an airport hangar in the Pittsburgh suburbs took Trump back to familiar political terrain and a base that carried him to a surprise victory in 2016.

Trump talked up his decision this past week to impose tariffs on steel and aluminum imports - a move deeply opposed by congressional Republicans and the business wing of the GOP yet popular in this Pittsburgh suburb, the heart of steel country. Both candidates in the special election to fill the seat vacated by Tim Murphy (R) back the president's decision on the import duties.

"A lot of steel mills are now opening up because of what I did," the president told the crowd in this conservative district. "Steel is back, and aluminum is back."

Trump also warned allies in the European Union to "get ready for tariffs" and threatened to impose taxes on German automakers Mercedes-Benz and BMW.

Despite his allegiance to Trump, Saccone has underwhelmed national Republicans in this heavily pro-Trump district, and public polling ahead of the Tuesday election has shown Saccone neck-and-neck with Lamb, a former federal prosecutor and Marine.

For more than an hour before the rally began, Saccone stood near the entrance with his wife, chatting with people as they arrived. A number of people walked past, not seeming to notice or recognize him. Rally signs for the candidate were sparse.

Trump himself rarely mentioned Saccone during the first portion of the rally, saying he believed the candidate was "handsome" and deriding the Democrat as "Lamb the sham." But Trump also acknowledged that Saccone was in a "tough race" and urged his supporters to come out and vote.

"We need our congressman, Saccone. We have to have him," Trump said. Referring to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the president added: "The only chance she's got to become speaker is electing Democrats."

He finally pulled Saccone to the stage near the end of his 75-minute rally, as the candidate exclaimed: "If President Trump's in your corner, how can you lose?"

"Go out, vote for Rick. He'll never, never disappoint you," Trump said. "Vote with your heart, vote with your brains. This is an extraordinary man."

At another point in the rally, Trump also urged a crackdown on sanctuary cities and vowed to toughen enforcement at U.S. borders and to root out MS-13 gang members.

"We have to build a wall," Trump said. "For people, for gangs, for drugs. The drugs have never been a problem like we have right now."

He recalled his testy telephone conversation last month with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, which ended in an impasse over Trump's promised border wall and an agreement to scrap Pena Nieto's planned trip to Washington.

Trump said Pena Nieto asked him on the call to affirm Mexico's position that it would not pay for the wall.

"He said, 'Is it a dealbreaker?' " Trump recalled. "I said, 'Bye, bye. We're not making a deal.' "

Midway through the rally, Trump hinted that he may not run for reelection, yet he rolled out a new campaign slogan ("Keep America Great!") and took repeated swings at potential 2020 Democratic challengers, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. - again pulling out his "Pocahontas" taunt. He also went after Rep. Maxine Waters, calling the California Democrat - who has called for Trump's impeachment - a "low-IQ individual."

And he couldn't resist recounting his stunning electoral victory 16 months ago: "They said he cannot win, he cannot get - remember? - to 270. And we didn't! We got to 306."

The rally in Moon Township had originally been scheduled for mid-February but was postponed after the deadly school shooting in Parkland, Florida. The campaign statement announcing the new date did not mention Saccone; rather, it said Trump would come to Moon Township to tout the GOP's new tax law.

This was Trump's first campaign rally in more than three months, breaking his pattern of gathering with his strongest supporters as often as twice in a month. His last two rallies were aimed at helping Republican candidates in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama, although the president did not make those men the centerpiece of his comments.

On Sept. 22, Trump held a rally in Huntsville, Alabama, to encourage his supporters to vote in the GOP primary for Luther Strange, who had been appointed to fill the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions, R. While on stage, Trump acknowledged he "might have made a mistake" in endorsing Strange, who went on to lose the primary to Roy Moore, whom many of the president's supporters had endorsed.

Trump then backed Moore, continuing to support the former Alabama Supreme Court judge even as he was accused of sexual misconduct involving teenage girls when he was in his 30s.

On Dec. 8, the president held a campaign rally in Pensacola, Fla. - not far from the Alabama state line. Although those close to Trump had said the president would not mention Moore during the event, Trump did just that, telling his supporters: "So get out and vote for Roy Moore. Do it. Do it. Do it."

Moore's Democratic opponent, Doug Jones, went on to win the race, becoming the first Alabama Democrat elected to the U.S. Senate in more than two decades.

Since those two rallies late last year, Trump has not held any official campaign rallies, although he did name his new campaign manager last month, Brad Parscale. But that doesn't mean the president has refrained from giving addresses that sound a lot like his signature campaign speeches.

Last month, Trump showed up at the Conservative Political Action Conference and gave an unscripted 75-minute address in which he attacked Democrats, mocked Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., encouraged campaign-style chants about locking up his political opponent and recited the lyrics of a song about a tenderhearted woman who cares for an ailing snake, a parable that he frequently uses to paint undocumented immigrants as violent criminals.PM Modi launches National Nutrition Mission

Rajasthan, Thu, 08 Mar 2018 NI Wire

On the occasion of International Women's Day today, the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, launched the National Nutrition Mission, and expansion of the coverage of Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme, at Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan.

The Prime Minister interacted with District Magistrates of aspirational districts. He also interacted with beneficiary mothers and girl children of the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme.

The Prime Minister awarded certificates to the best performing districts under the Beti Bachao Beti Padhao programme.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister of Rajasthan, Smt. VasundharaRaje, said that she is happy that the Prime Minister chose Rajasthan for the launch of a vital scheme and the expansion of another. Rajasthan will always support the efforts of the Prime Minister towards women empowerment, she added.

Addressing the large gathering on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that through the power of technology, the entire nation is connected with Jhunjhunu. He appreciated Jhunjhunu district for furthering the Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao movement. He said there is no question of discrimination based on gender.

The Prime Minister stressed on the importance of girls getting access to quality education, just like boys.

Emphasizing that a daughter is not a burden, he said girls are bringing pride and glory for our nation, and excelling in several fields.

The Prime Minister also spoke of the importance of providing proper nutrition to children. He said Mission Indradhanush has brought an extremely positive change in the lives of women and children.

Source: PIBShining light on government to hold it accountable is hardly a new idea. In fact, Texas was a national leader in this realm for more than 40 years.

Sadly, the flow of public information in this huge state is slipping from the sunshine into the shadows.

Some state leaders have been dimming the lights, ensuring that even the most basic information about our government is getting more difficult to uncover: Who, really, is that candidate running for office? How are our hard-earned tax dollars being spent? Remember the Alamo, and how do we track its restoration money?

Texas Supreme Court rulings favoring secrecy plus inexcusable inaction in the Legislature have severely weakened the Texas Public Information Act, a law rooted in the open government reform era of the early 1970s. For many years it was one of the strongest transparency laws in the nation.

Its time to get to work and renew Texas commitment to government in the sunshine.

Theres no better time to launch this renewal effort than during Sunshine Week, which started Sunday. This is a national celebration of open government and the peoples right to know.

Access to public information is essential to our precious First Amendment right of free speech to speak out about government.

In Texas, where everything is bigger, and where we need all the sunlight we can get shining on government, were going beyond a single week. Were celebrating Sunshine Month throughout March.

The nonprofit Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas is working with other public interest groups to highlight open government activities this month and the months to come with the aim of repairing the Texas Public Information Act in the 2019 Legislature.

Several state lawmakers are already committed to this mission, including Reps. Todd Hunter of Corpus Christi and Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, and Sen. Kirk Watson of Austin.

Hunter recently told transparency advocates he plans to step up his leadership on open government and free speech rights.

What is positive? First Amendment, freedom of speech. Thats positive, he said. Some of us must stand up, be vocal and take a positive, constructive approach.  Bottom line is, good government, open government, settles everybody down.

Hes particularly interested in working again on the common sense issue of ensuring dates of birth remain accessible in public records, despite a court ruling to the contrary. Among other things, birthdates on candidate applications help voters scrutinize the background of someone running for public office.

In last years legislative session, Watson and Capriglione authored bills that would have improved the ability of citizens to see how their tax money is spent on contracts with private companies and on taxpayer-funded nonprofits performing traditional government duties. Those measures didnt pass, so theres more work to do.

The FOI Foundation of Texas is joining with the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Public Citizen, Texas Press Association, Texas Association of Broadcasters and other organizations to promote government in the sunshine.

This new coalitions website is www.txsunshine.org. Look for plenty of action on social media channels, too.

On March 29, the Texas Public Policy Foundation is hosting Open Government, Engaged Citizens: A Conversation on Texas Public Information Act, a free panel discussion in Austin featuring Watson and Hunter, and moderated by Ross Ramsey of the Texas Tribune.

In April, the FOI Foundation of Texas in cooperation with the Texas Attorney Generals Office will kick off this years regional Open Government Seminars, offering detailed training in state open government laws. The first one is April 17 at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Information is what helps you speak out and hold government accountable, whether you are concerned about property taxes, education, the environment, health care or any other issue.

Lets get the sun shining again in Texas.Political candidates who are no longer in the running need to take down their signs.

They are an eyesore.

The only thing more annoying than a campaigns robo call during dinner time is having our view of the lovely Texas spring wildflowers obstructed by political signs.

It is unfortunate that in some parts of Bexar County, we can still find fading political signs dating back a few election cycles.

Putting up the signs during campaign season is the fun part. There are often eager volunteers lined up. When it comes to taking them down, especially for a losing candidate, it becomes a dreaded chore, however.

There is always an election under way in Bexar County.

The states next uniform election day is May 5th and we can expect a few school district, municipalities and the Alamo Colleges on those ballots.

The primary runoff elections are May 22.

Then, of course, we have the general election in November.

Candidates victorious in the primaries still have several months of campaigning ahead and we expect to keep seeing those signs until the end of the year.

However there are dozens of candidates who are no longer in the race whose signs need to come down. Some of the signs have been placed in in the public right of way and should have never been placed there in the first place.

The Texas Department of Transportation explicitly prohibits signs on trees, telephone poles, traffic signs and other objects on the states right of way.

Many local municipalities have similar ordinances.

Just because no citations have been issued does not mean its OK to leave them up.

Make way for the wild flowers, remove outdated political signs.Multi million euro plans to carry out extensive upgrades of Longford and Ballymahon Garda Stations have been put on hold due to garda cutbacks, writes Liam Cosgrove.

Both stations had been in line for large scale six figure redesigns to bring them in line with the increasing demands of modern day policing.

Around 500,000, earmarked for cell refurbishment and additional accommodation for Longford Garda Station had been announced last May while a similar figure had been suggested to transform Ballymahon Garda Station into a fully fledged 24 hour facility.

Moves to revamp a prisoner processing unit at Granard Garda Station have also stalled on foot of correspondence circulated from within the Gardai's Estate Management Division.

The news was met with widespread condemnation at a meeting of Longford County Council's Joint Policing Committee (JPC) on Monday.

Supt Jim Delaney said he admitted the announcements would invariably heap further strain on garda resources going forward.

"To say I am disappointed is an understatement," he said.

"What it does is it presents challenges for us (Gardai) as to how we can meet the levels of (policing) demand in 2018 and 2019."

His Granard based counterpart, Supt Brian Mohan gave an equally dejected appraisal of how the move would impact garda capabilities into the future.

He said the delay in upgrading Granard Garda Station's prisoner processing unit presented real and immediate concerns of their own especially as the current facility in place was inadequate.

Our budgets have been reduced for 2018 which impacts seriously on our ability to deliver a service that we would like to deliver," he said.

"The prisoner processing area in Granard Garda Station is not fit for purpose and despite us looking at plans for a revamp that too has been out on the back burner so we will have to see where that leaves us because it is a health and safety issue," he said.

They were sentiments which sparked sweeping criticism among elected members.

"I think it's outrageous," said a discordant Cllr Peggy Nolan.

Committee members, meanwhile, unanimously agreed to send a letter to for Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan with a view to holding an urgent meeting over the controversy.

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Half a million in funding allocated to Longford Garda StationIt's been a tough few weeks for Newtownforbes native Aisling Byrne, who was the victim of a freak accident involving a horse in early February.

The local showjumper was exercising a horse on February 10 at approximately 4.30pm in Faro, when the unexpected incident occured.

The horse that I was on belongs to a friend of mine and she wasn't arriving to the show until the following day, Sunday, Aisling explained to the Longford Leader last week.

So I said that I would keep the horse in work for her until she got there to make sure it was fit and ready for competition when she arrived.

Aisling had exercised the horse and was hacking leisurely back to the stables when things started to turn.

All of a sudden, he got really unsettled, which isn't like him, she said.

I'm not sure what unsettled him but I wasn't too worried at the time because the horse is usually fairly solid.

A friend of mine was walking ahead of me on her horse, which was behaving really well. I called to her to wait and said I'd walk alongside her as I thought her horse might have a calming influence over the one I was on.

She waited but in a split second the horse I was on just reared up, she said.

I thought he would go back down but then I heard my friend gasp and it was at that point that I knew, he had gone too high and that he was going to topple backwards onto me.

Aisling found herself crushed under the horse's weight and, as the horse tried to get up, he trampled all over her.

As a result, Aisling was left with two broken hips and a smashed pelvis, not to mention internal bleeding.

She spent nine days in the intensive care unit in Faro, but said that she felt incredibly lucky despite it all.

The horse, she said, could have landed on her chest or broken her back, causing far worse injuries than he did.

But, she added, she was also incredibly lucky that there were specialist surgeons on duty when she got to the hospital.

The hospital I was brought to is not an orthopaedic hospital and does not have orthopaedic surgeons, which is what I needed, Aisling explained.

However, on that evening, there just happened to be an orthopaedic surgeon from another hospital there.

I also had a huge amount of internal bleeding which meant they had to rush me into surgery. In a way, this could be considered lucky as otherwise, I think I may have just been left on a trolley as the hospital was overrun with patients lying on trolleys.

As a result of the internal bleeding and the severity of the breaks to my hips and pelvis, I had to be put into intensive care.

Aisling has had two surgeries since the accident. The first was on that day in Faro Hospital, because of the immense internal bleeding.

I know that the doctors there panicked when they saw how much blood I was losing so I was rushed to surgery.

I hadn't had any pain medication until I got to surgery so I was almost relieved to get there!

They put in a large external metal brace to hold my pelvis together and also metal pins into my legs for traction, she said.

After her surgery in Faro, and some rest time in the hospital, Aisling was transferred to Dublin.

The flight, she said, was difficult because she felt extreme pain every time she moved.

But she got there and felt a huge relief to be back on home soil.

And the journey wasn't over yet. Aisling had to undergo a second surgery when she returned to Ireland. This surgery was done in Tallaght Hospital.

The surgeon, Dr Michael Leonard, was able to remove all of the external metal pieces and put them inside my body! she exclaimed.

They were able to fix much more than they expected to in that surgery because I didn't lose too much blood so the surgery lasted approximately eight hours and I was delighted that they were able to do so much, as it saves me from having to do a further surgery on my hips.

Aisling will be in hospital for the next eight weeks and she won't be able to put weight on her legs during that time, while the bones heal.

Once the eight weeks have passed, she'll be able to start rehabilitation to help her walk and, eventually, ride a horse again.

I also have some internal injuries which they need to continue to monitor and their progress will determine whether I need to have further surgery or not, she said.

From the accident to intensive care to surgery, one thing Aisling couldn't ignore was the huge amount of kindness that was directed towards her by others.

People's genuine offers of help with the horses and my work have been fantastic, she said.

But also people that I didn't know were praying for me and having masses said for me!

In fact, there have been so many people wishing Aisling well, sending her gifts and cards and offering up their help wherever they could.

I think all of this goodwill definitely played its part in everything running smoothly for me getting a bed in the Dublin Hospital and the surgeon being able to take me early the morning after my arrival.

Everything like that seemed to fall into place.

So many people have sent supportive and kind messages and cards, flowers and gifts.

The Royal Windsor Horse Show in the UK heard about my accident and very thoughtfully sent me a very beautiful card and chocolates, but also included a USB stick with all of my sho-jumping images from last year's show, which I thought was very kind.

So people's support and kindness has really stood out and made it a much easier journey than it otherwise might have been, she said.

For now, Aisling will continue her recovery in hospital before starting her rehabilitation.

You'd forgive her if she decided never to ride a horse again, but such is her passion for show-jumping, she won't even let this get in her way.

I hope to be back on a horse towards the end of the year, she said.

And, with such positivity and enthusiasm Aisling, despite all of the obstacles she has faced and has still to face, she's bound to be back with some high-profile showjumping wins in no time.

Read also:

Longford woman caught up in Liverpool blaze

Longford Lives: Aisling Byrne on showjumping, modelling and Journey Through IrelandThe Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF) is urging Longford parents to be aware of the symptoms of meningitis following the death of a young girl.

MRF said it was saddened to hear of the death of a young girl from Navan to suspected meningitis and her cousin being hospitalised with suspected meningitis.





Monika Marchlewicz, Ireland Manager MRF, added, "We would like to offer our sincere condolences to her family and friends; our thoughts are with them at this extremely difficult time and we are here for them if they would like any support."





Meningitis is the inflammation of the lining around the brain and spinal cord. It shares many of the symptoms of other, more common, everyday illnesses such as the flu or even a hangover.



Ms Marchlewicz added, "As a result it is vital that people are able to recognise the signs and symptoms of the disease, particularly the symptoms that are more unique to meningitis."

Because meningitis develops so quickly, it can be a particularly devastating disease for those affected. It can also have a resounding effect on the surrounding community.

Ms Marchlewicz outlined, "Parents should be reassured that most cases of meningitis and septicaemia are isolated. The bacteria that can cause the disease cannot live longer than a few moments outside the human body, so they are not carried on things like clothes or toys. People usually need to be in close or prolonged contact for the bacteria to pass between them. Even when this happens, most people do not become ill because they have natural immunity."

The Meningitis Research Foundation supports people affected by this disease through in depth information and support.

Ms Marchlewicz concluded, "We want to make the public aware of the symptoms of meningitis so if anyone would like any further information or feels that they could benefit from talking to someone , please call our Free Helpline on 1800 41 33 44, our Dublin office on 01 819 69 31 or visit our website www.meningitis.org

ALSO READ: Bobby Kerr and Norah Casey urge companies in Longford to make Daffodil Day their business

ALSO READ: UCD celebrates life and times of Longford doctor, Mary FarrellLongford's Civil Defence volunteers were not involved in emergency and relief efforts during Storm Emma, sparking puzzlement and surprise across much of the county.

edia reports last Thursday suggested local authority officials had instructed members aligned to the civil defence not to take part in rescue efforts since they hadn't completed appropriate health and safety training for working in inclement weather.



It was claimed over 30 civil defence volunteers were instructed not to take part in rescue and support work in the community with up to six 4x4 vehicles lying idle as a consequence.



In a statement, Longford County Council confirmed civil defence personnel had been informed to refrain from taking part in rescue efforts but stopped short of indicating what sparked the move.



"With regard to community support, Longford Civil Defence are not in a position to carry out certain duties at this time," read a statement.

"Longford County Council is grateful that the Army has been able to provide the necessary supports instead.



"Longford Civil Defence vehicles and equipment are available to the Army if required."



As it transpired those vehicles were released to Defence Force personnel and gardai to provide rescue supports to those in need.

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Storm Emma forced gritting crews to use more than 700 tonnes of salt to treat Longford roads

Longford's Jack Shaughnessy recalls Big Snow of 1947

Horse found dead in field outside Longford town died from colic as result of overfeedingThe Space Between exhibition came to Longford for the first time to the Backstage Theatre & Centre for Arts last week.

The annual joint touring exhibition of artworks from the collections of the Office of Public Works (OPW) in the Republic of Ireland and the Department of Finance and Personnel (DFP) of Northern Ireland features 38 artworks from these public collections, north and south.

The exhibition curated by 12 undergraduate students studying on the BDes Graphic Design and Illustration course from Belfast School of Art, Ulster University, worked with the curatorial teams in the Department of Finance, Belfast and the Office of Public Works, Dublin over two days to select artworks from their respective public art collections.

The title of the exhibition reflects the students approach to the process as their discussions and debates on the final selection of artworks reflected the Space Between  the space between the disciplines of graphic design and art and also between each students initial instinctive preferences and the decisions made as a group to create an interesting exhibition with a strong visual dynamic.

Speaking in advance of the launch Kevin Boxer Moran T.D. Minister of State for the Office of Public Works and Flood Relief said: The cross-border partnership between the Northern Ireland Department of Finance and the OPW has been hugely successful and this year we celebrate an important milestone  20 years of working together on exhibitions.

During that time the exhibitions have visited a diverse range of venues - colleges, libraries, arts centres, heritage properties, including the great hall of Parliament Buildings in Stormont. I am delighted to celebrate the launch of this exhibition here in Longford.

As Minister with responsibility for the State Art Collection, I am committed to ensuring that Art is accessible to people across the country in their own communities. Art and Culture connects people and places and the Backstage Theatre & Centre for Arts is a wonderful venue in Longford to display this exhibition."

The Minister went on to say, Culture and heritage promote individual, community and national wellbeing. I recently announced that from the 1st May, people with disabilities and their carers will have free admission to all Office of Public Works managed heritage sites.

"This builds on the very successful initiative I introduced last summer which provides free admission to our heritage sites to children under 12.

'The Space Between' opens on Thursday, March 8, in the Backstage Theatre and will run until Monday, April 30. See www.backstage.ie.

Also read:

Minister Kevin Boxer Moran announces free admission for children under 12 to OPW Heritage SitesBackstage will host the first Voices Literary Event celebrating literature with Longford native Alan McMonagle and author Patrick McCabe on Thursday March 22.

Both writers will be in conversation with journalist and researcher Paula Shields, discussing their work and the influence of the midlands.

Alan McMonagle gathered widespread critical acclaim for his debut novel 'Ithaca', published by Picador in 2017.

Praised as fast and urgent, full of feeling, savage humour and all kinds of tenderness (Kevin Barry), 'Ithaca' garnered attention in Ireland and further afield for its grit, pace, and the key personality of its child narrator-Jason Lowry.

Comparisons were made between the novel and 'The Butcher Boy', published by McCabe in 1992.

McCabe has twice been Booker nominated and is celebrated as one of Irelands most iconic story tellers.

Having published over twelve books since, McCabe has been praised as A true original,(John Banville) and continues to be an incisive voice in Irish literature.

Voices literary Series is created by Curator in Residence at Backstage Dani Gill in association with Words Ireland and Arts Council Ireland.

Future events also include authors Lisa McInerney (The Blood Miracles) & Elaine Feeney (Rise) in conversation with journalist Sinead Gleeson on Friday, May 18, and poet Leanne OSullivan (A Quarter of An Hour) & Ruth Fitzmaurice (I Found My Tribe) in conversation with journalist Edel Coffey on Thursday, June 28.

Pat McCabe & Alan McMonagle will be inconversation at Backstage on Thursday, March 22, at 8pm.

Tickets 12/10 are available on 043 33 47888, from Farrell Coy in Longford town or online on www.backstage.ieby Maarten Albarda , Featured Contributor, March 9, 2018

Many moons ago, I was in charge of a well-known FMCG beverage brand in a land far, far away. We had moved our local market corporate headquarters from city E to city B, which meant we lost about 65% of our people. In effect, we had to rebuild the company almost from scratch.

Rebuilding done, we decided it would be a good idea to hold a media event for our media partners  the leading media companies in that country  so that we could rebuild and re-establish connections between them and our new team. We choose to host an event at the countrys equivalent of Media Week.

To our surprise, we found that almost all the media companies accepted our invitation at CEO, CMO and national sales director level. After chatting with a few people who confirmed their attendance, I realized what had attracted them: our perceived value as an advertiser. And that perceived value was MUCH higher than our actual market spend. The reality was, we were a Top 40 advertiser as measured in ad spend. But our global status, our brand portfolio, our global and local history all created the aura of a Top 10 advertiser.

advertisement advertisement

There are important lessons to be learned from this. First, it proves once again that perception is reality. Second, it shows how much brand value, health and status matter: not just to consumers but, equally, to your ability to be successful as an advertiser or marketer.

I was reminded of this story because I read an article this week about new research by Jack Myers TomorrowToday, in which a whopping 80% of the 1,200 U.S. brand marketers and agency executives interviewed rated the combo of Facebook, Amazon and Google very valuable for delivering consumer reach in campaigns. Meanwhile, only 61% rated the four leading U.S. broadcast networks valuable to deliver consumer reach.

I have written here and here about the marketing perception problem TV is facing. The results are of course in stark contrast to the realities of TVs ability to deliver reach versus Amazon, Google and Facebook.

Dont get me wrong, the three online giants command a great amount of time spent, eyeballs and engagement. And TV is surely losing some eyeballs and reach, especially among younger audiences.

But the three online giants do not outperform TV by almost 20%. The problem is, thats not what marketers think. Their perception is that Big Online outperforms network TV when it comes to reach. The Jack Myers study proves this point.

And perception is the most difficult thing to address as a marketer. Chipotle gives you the runs. VW diesel engines cant be trusted. United Airlines is terrible to its passengers. These are all perceptions that some consumers might believe  and correcting them is very hard, if not impossible.

Jack Myers concludes that TV has a marketing problem, and I agree (it started as early as 2014). The only remedy is to hire the best of the best in marketing and start chipping away at the perception before it is too late. Otherwise, network TV might be bleeding ad dollars faster than it is bleeding actual audience.Advertisement

Scientists sought to better understand how disease is caused in bile ducts. Damage to the ducts - small channels running through the liver that help the body dispose of waste - can result in tissue scarring and liver failure.Researchers at the University of Edinburgh examined liver tissue donated by patients with chronic bile duct disease. They found evidence of a cell process known as senescence, which was not seen in healthy people.Senescence - when aged cells no longer undergo natural division - has an important role in the normal function of the body.However, the research shows that senescence also contributes to disease, preventing repair of damaged bile ducts caused by wear and tear, leading to liver failure.Tests in mice found that inducing senescence in bile duct cells - mimicking the process seen in human bile duct disease - led to liver scarring and damage of liver function.Blocking chemical messages sent out by cells during senescence restored liver function in mice, pointing towards new treatment targets.The study, published in the journal, was funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC).Professor Stuart Forbes, Director of the MRC Centre for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Edinburgh, said "Bile duct disease has been poorly understood and this has severely hampered the development of effective treatment. This work takes meaningful steps towards understanding this debilitating disease, identifying a potential target for future therapies."Source: EurekalertLet's be honest, our plans get cancelled more often than the frequency of the Mumbai locals. Whenever there's a group of friends planning a trip to somewhere, there's always one moron who will cancel AFTER you've booked your train tickets. If only they would allow someone else to travel on that same train ticket!

Turns out you can. Indian Railways lets you transfer your train ticket to someone else in case your travel plan has changed. All you need to do is to submit a written request 24 hours prior to the scheduled departure of your train. The ticket can be transferred to any family member i.e. parents, siblings or spouse.

The statement by IRCTC says: Chief Reservation Supervisor of important stations are authorised by Railway Administration to permit the change of name of a passenger having a seat or berth reserved in his name.

If the passenger is a student, the head of the institution is required to submit a request 48 hours before the train departure and get the name changed on the ticket. IRCTC also allows a marriage party to transfer tickets, the rules being the same  submitting a written request 48 hours before departure. However, the change is limited to only 10 percent tickets of the entire group.

Interestingly, this rule was introduced way back in 1990 and was modified in 1997 and 2002, but there is little knowledge about it. Just like the luxury lounge at New Delhi Railway Station we did not know about!

Here's how to transfer your train ticket:

 IRCTC

H/t- TOI, IRCTCMinister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Kotzias, will participate in a Trilateral Ministerial Meeting between Greece, Bulgaria and Romania that will take place on 12 March 2018, in Bucharest.

Discussions will focus on strengthening cooperation in sectors of mutual interest, such as energy and transport, on seeking ways to enhance regional stability and security based on international law, and on cooperation within the framework of the EU, with emphasis on the Western Balkans and the future of Europe.CROMWELL  Eunice Wiseman derives great pleasure from an ongoing collaboration with high school students in which young people teach the residents of her retirement village the basics of technology.

They just reach out beyond, said Wiseman. I dont know whether we represent grandparents to them  theyre just so kind and pleasant.

Every month, the iHelp team brings its considerable computer knowledge to Covenant Village so residents can connect with their families and become savvy technology users.

The most exciting (thing) that I observed was one woman needing help with her phone who hadnt heard from her son in South Africa in a long time, because she was having trouble with her email, Wiseman said.

Thats when Technology Resource Teacher Doug McGough stepped in and worked his magic.

[McGough] said, Well, let me see. He got on there and he Skyped her son. It was so exciting for her and for them, Wiseman said.

The team formed when the school began its One-to-One initiative four years ago to get the high schoolers prepared for iPads they were given to supplement the curriculum. Theyve since moved to Chromebooks. Recently, the iHelp team expanded the program to students in grades three to 12.

At that time, the focus was to help teachers and students who needed help at school.

We found, a few months in, people werent requesting much help, not as much was needed as we had planned and prepared for, McGouch said.

The students heard about Covenant Villages Community Partnership Committee, which Wiseman chaired for three years. The group also works with Wesleyan University and Middlesex Community College in Middletown, as well as Hartford Seminary.

The panel surveyed residents to gauge what they could benefit from most.

The technology class was at the top of the list, Wiseman said, so the seniors brainstormed on how best to do that. Now, once a month at 1:30 p.m., the students and McGough spend 50 minutes  last period  at the home.

Theyre only here about an hour, but our residents love them because theyre nonjudgmental. They know were slow learners in the tech field. Its been such a wonderful relationship, she said.

Victoria Gorski, 17, a senior at Cromwell High School who will major in computer technology in college, was the first one to enroll in the program as a freshman.

She, like all young people, grew up with technology.

My dad played video games, Wii and Xbox with me, and I began learning programming in middle school. I thought those aspects of computers were cool, she said.

Last year, iHelp students created tutorial videos for the seniors and taught them fundamental tasks, such as turning on their iPads, accessing their email and how to use Google docs. The goal was to provide one-on-one instruction and answer questions by showing rather than telling.

A lot already knew how to search up things, but most dont know about how Safari works. Im glad we could provide whatever access they needed, Gorski said.

They were kind of going in blind, not knowing what they were going to fix, what kind of devices, what kind of problems there would be, McGough explained.

Its really been a fun, informative time, said Wiseman. She was already using her iPad daily and visiting the web. The students taught her how to transfer photos from her computer to her iPad, and helped her use her phone.

It was neat because you could see some relationships start to build, some people were becoming regulars, McGough said. For me, it was great to see the reactions. They dont just talk tech. They answer questions about what the students are studying and look forward to the sessions.

After each class, residents return to their apartments to practice.

Theyre just so good, said Wiseman of the students. I dont know whether they were taught this or it just comes natural, but they just seem to be so patient with all of us.

A lot of what iHelp students do is rewarding, Gorski said.

One time, a woman had trouble emailing her family in New Hampshire. She could only do it through her cellphone, but she didnt know how to use it. I remember seeing the smile on her face. Family reunions always touch me, Gorski said. Im glad when I can make them happy.

The relationships bridge the two generations.

One person will always be there every meeting, no matter what: Betty. I love her. Shes so sweet, so kind and always so patient as I try to figure things out, Gorski said.

The youth gave presentations on Facebook and Kahoots, which allows users to create their own trivia games, said McGough, who wishes the sessions were longer.

I felt more comfortable in trying new things and it gave me the confidence that Yes, I can learn. I felt that other people build up their confidence, too, said Wiseman, a former special education teacher in Portland.

It made me feel that I was at least on the fringe of the technology world.

A lot of social media gives seniors a chance to connect with their families, who they were seeing less because they were busy with their own families, Wiseman said.

But there are also drawbacks.

Its bittersweet because its given us a lot of advantages. I love ordering online and being connected to my family in California and Maine. You text them and you instantly hear back, at their convenience, too  you dont feel like youre calling them in the middle of things, Wiseman said.

She feels a twinge of nostalgia when a group goes out to eat and witnesses them on their phones talking to friends and family rather than socializing with one another.

Like any new invention, I know its here to stay, but I think a lot of the residents feel if theyre going to function in this world theyve got to be tuned into it, she added.

The original plan was never to stick with a specific device, McGough said. We wanted to be device-agnostic where the things were doing can be done with any device. Its not the device thats the important thing, its the skills you are developing with the device thats really key.Two days after news emerged of a proposed summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, Kim's government has yet to make a formal response. But North Korean propaganda outlets are keeping up a drumbeat against U.S. sanctions and military threats.

The North's silence contrasted with a Twitter burst from Trump Saturday in which he expressed his enthusiasm for face-to-face talks with Kim and touted international backing for a meeting that would be the first between a U.S. president and the head of the Stalinist state.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings," Trump tweeted. "I believe they will honor that commitment!"

Trump's overtures have thus far been ignored by North Korean outlets in favor of routine pronouncements of the North's strength and resolve.

The daily publication of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea said that "the army and the people of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] will never be browbeaten" by economic and military pressure, China's official Xinhua news agency reported.

In a commentary, the North's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the sanctions were an attempt by the U.S. to "isolate and stifle the DPRK through sanctions and blockade and weaken it in a bid to bring it under control with ease," South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

"We won't let Americans determine good and evil according to their own ruler and trample upon justice and truth," Rodong Sinmun said.

The statements from the two newspapers were relatively benign by the strident standards of North Korean propaganda, which routinely denounces "capitalist roaders" and "running-dog imperialists." They came as the U.S. and South Korea awaited a response to Trump's stunning agreement Thursday to meet with Kim Jong-un.

The White House left it to a visiting South Korean delegation to make the announcement from a driveway outside the mansion Thursday night that Trump was on board with the peace efforts of South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

South Korean officials said that Moon would meet with Kim sometime next month ahead of the proposed summit with Trump toward the end of May.

The offer for the summit with Trump came from Kim, who pledged to halt nuclear and missile tests leading up to the talks that would focus on the "denuclearization" of the peninsula, South Korean officials said.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders on Friday said the summit was not a done deal and appeared to put tough preconditions on its taking place.

"The president will not have the meeting without seeing concrete steps and concrete action" taken on the vague promises North Korea has made to South Korean envoys on "denuclearization," Sanders said at a press briefing.

Sanders did not define the "concrete steps" or suggest how they might be verified, but said North Korean leaders have "got to follow through on the promises they've made" before Trump will participate.

At about the same time Sanders made the statements, Trump was on the phone to Chinese President Xi Jinping touting the positive effects for the region of the proposed summit.

The White House readout of the call said that Trump told Xi of his hope that "North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might choose a brighter path for North Korea's future" at their meeting.

In a Tweet Saturday, Trump said that "President XI told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!"

In another Tweet, Trump said he had also spoken to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe "who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea."

Also on Saturday, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she will go to Washington next week to meet with Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to work out details for the summit.

"Willingness for dialogue has been confirmed on both sides," Kang said in a statement. "Now it falls on working-level officials to set the agenda for the summit.

-- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com.Companies need to control the number of employees with access to unpublished price sensitive information (UPSI) while junior employees privy to such confidential data should also be kept under the scanner, says financial services advisory KPMG.

The observation gains significance on the back of the ongoing probe by market regulator Sebi into circulation of such information through social media groups prior to financial results in the June quarter when financial details of various major corporates were circulated on Whatsapp groups before they were made public.

According to KPMG India partner for forensic services Sudesh Shetty, there is a need to "limiting the access to social media or instant messaging platforms during sensitive time period".

"Monitoring of incorporated standard operating procedures around UPSI and its adherence is critical. It is not just the action on individual's trade which should be looked upon. While ability to track and trace movement of UPSI should be a dedicated function within the secretarial and legal team," Shetty told PTI.

Shetty also believes that companies should record such conversations, build control rooms for handling period-end activities, block access of instant messaging activities, controls printers, super-user and controlling administrative rights, among others.

"Technological controls, if configured right, allow an organisation to pick the bread crumbs/trail left behind by any. This helps in identifying perpetrators on the inside and or colluders on the outside who could be brought to the regulators for timely action," Shetty said.

"Organisations need to periodically review the laid-down controls and test its effectiveness while they also need to control the number of employees having access to UPSI information," Shetty said.

Such gaps, he said do not just exist at the corporate sector only but brokers, analysts, large fund houses, promoters, bankers and financial institutions also get privy to unpublished price sensitive information.

The Securities and Exchange Board recently directed HDFC Bank and Axis Bank to conduct internal enquiry into the issue and strengthen their existing systems to avoid any leakage of important and confidential data. Details of 12 other banks, including HDFC Bank, was leaked on social media.

Noting that Sebis laws to check insider trading activities "is appropriate" Shetty said, "but proper and effective implementation and enforcement of these rules are more important".

"Evaluation of definition of insider (limiting to senior employees) by organisations appears to be a gap in practise. Many junior employees also get access to UPSI information," he added.

As per a recent KPMG-Assocham white-paper titled 'Insider Threat- Safeguarding UPSI' technology has opened multiple ways in which perpetrators can get access to key financial information.

KPMGs data theft related investigations have revealed that lack of data classification, malware attacks and phishing have made companies prone to data theft.Leading stock exchange NSE today said it hopes to float its initial public offer (IPO) next fiscal even as markets regulator Sebi returned its consent application in a high-profile probe into the co-location issue.

The exchange's Rs 10,000 crore IPO has been delayed because of the probe in the co-location matter and the regulator had earlier issued show cause notices to several individuals as well as the exchange, while the role of some brokers is also being probed.

"The timeline for the IPO is dependent on the resolution of the regulatory matters with Sebi and we are hopeful we will be able to do the IPO in fiscal 2019," NSE said in a statement.

The exchange said that Sebi has returned its consent application in the co-location probe due to ongoing investigations in the case.

Further, the bourse said it is committed to resolving the regulatory issues expeditiously.

The exchange had filed the settlement application with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in July last year.

It had sought a settlement with the regulator in connection with a probe relating to allegations of unfair access to its high frequency trading systems to some brokers.

The NSE said it can file the consent application after the completion of the investigations and it intends to do the same in due course.

A consent settlement allows entities to settle charges by paying a penalty without admission or denial of guilt.live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

We would continue with our sell on rise approach and would expect the index to first slide towards 10,033 and then eventually to enter sub-10,000 levels quite soon, Sameet Chavan- Chief Analyst, Technicals and Derivatives, Angel Broking said in an interview to Moneycontrol's Kshitij Anand.

Q) It was a volatile week for Indian markets. The index managed to defend its 200-DMA but do you think the pain is over or in other words have we formed an intermediate bottom?

A) The week turned out to be a decider as we saw Nifty finally coming out of the recent congestion zone. In fact, we had clearly stated in our previous article that we would see this suspense getting unfolded in the first half.

In-line with expectation, the index made things clear on Tuesday after violating the 10,300 mark. Some respite in the last couple of sessions led to a weekly close well below this key point.

This was clearly an action-packed week for our traders as we once again saw some trended move after a consolidation of nearly three weeks. This was clearly on cards; but as we all know, timing such moves is not as easy as it looks in the hindsight.

Q) How are FIIs positioned in the markets? They have already sold over Rs 18,000 crore in the Indian market in Feb as per provisional data.

A) There has been no change in their (FIIs) stand as they have been a relentless seller in cash market since August 2017, except January 2018 during which we saw a sudden jump in the market from 10,400 towards 11,100.

In February 2018, they once again turned sellers and probably this was the main reason why we saw a strong sell-off in some of the heavyweight index constituents like HDFC twins, Larsen & Toubro and ICICI Bank.

On the future index front also, they turned net sellers last month and as a result, their Long Short Ratio plunged drastically below the 50 mark from the previous figure of 80 percent at the end of the series.

Q) What should be the ideal strategy for mid & small caps post Budget which is attracting some bit of selling pressure?

A) The Mid and Small cap indices had shown topping out formations couple of weeks ahead of the Union Budget and in fact, the selling intensified as the marquee heavyweights started correcting post the event.

Due to recent buying from DIIs, the fall got arrested and we saw some relief rally in the midcap counters. But, looking at the higher degree chart, this breather seems temporary in nature and hence, one needs to be very agile while trading these mid and smallcap names. Ideally, one should remain light and start booking profits in the ongoing move.

Q) What should be the strategy -- buy on dips or sell on rallies in the coming week?

A) We would continue with our sell on rise approach and would expect the index to first slide towards 10,033 and then eventually to enter sub-10,000 levels quite soon.

However, before this, 10,140  10,350 has become a no-trade zone for the market. If any negativity has to resume, it would only happen after violating the 10,140 mark.

The ideal scenario to initiate short position would be either below this crucial junction or after seeing a decent relief rally towards the higher end i.e. 10,350  10,400. As of now, we do not expect the Nifty to surpass these hurdles in coming days.

Q) Top 3-5 stocks which are looking attractive at current levels based on technical?

A) Since it is slightly difficult envisaging the time target; traders ideally shouldnt be too concerned about the time; rather keep focusing on mentioned key levels.

One should remain light and avoid taking undue risks in such kind of uncertainty. In case of some relief rally within the consolidation range, traders should focus on individual stocks and it would be wise to make timely exits as well.

For the coming week, traders can take a trading punt in selective PSBs like Bank of Baroda and Union Bank. However, since the entire space is like a falling knife, its advisable to follow strict stop losses and they should not be more than two percent from current levels.

On the short side, we continue to like Tata Steel which still looks a good shorting candidate on a bounce towards Rs 620625. The stock clearly poised for a drop towards Rs 570550 levels. In addition, UltraTech Cement can offer better risk-reward in the coming week.

Two shortform spin-offs to 'Vikki RPM' were carried by on-demand service Nick Play



Tatiana Rodriguez, SVP, Nickelodeon Latin America Kids and Family Group



Musical telenovela 'Kallys MashUp' was co-created by 'Glee' executive music producer Adam Anders



Nick linked up with Spains Mediapro on eSports show N00Bees



Mediapros studio produced Nickelodeons 'Yo Soy Franky'

A spread of live-action originals from across the region and a Miami studio are key to Nickelodeon Latin America's (Latinoamerica) growth plans. C21 Media 's Nico Franks reports.Overseeing a range of Viacom-owned Latin American childrens brands, including Nickelodeon and Nick Jr., means Tatiana Rodriguez must keep tabs on the constantly evolving viewing habits of kids across a diverse and challenging region.The Senior Vice President (SVP) of Nickelodeon Latin Americas kids and family group joined Viacom in 1997, back when the Nick brand was still in its infancy in the region having launched there the year before.Since then, Nickelodeon has been joined by Nick Jr, Nick HD and Nicktoons, plus non-linear platforms such as the Nick Play app and Noggin, Nickelodeons first preschool SVoD service.After over two decades in Latin America the ongoing challenge Nickelodeon faces is to remain relevant to an audience of youngsters whose attentions have rapidly shifted away from linear TV to platforms such as YouTube.But one advantage Nickelodeon has over its digital-first competitors is an in-depth knowledge of the region and, as Rodriguez describes it, the differing tastes and consumption habits of the various countries.Colombian viewers, for example, prefer more traditional stories and animation and skew a lot younger than in countries like Mexico, where live-action is more popular than animation. Each countrys Nickelodeon channel feed in Latin America differs from the other, with Rodriguezs aim being to make viewers in each market feel like they are represented on screen.As a result, Nickelodeon Latinoamerica makes a habit of casting its live-action series pan-regionally to bring in talent from Mexico, Colombia, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, to make sure we cover as many markets as we can in a subtle way, says Rodriguez.She picks out Mexico and Brazil as the Lat Am countries where Nickelodeon is strongest, while Argentina and Colombia are at the other end of the performance chart. Rodriguez puts this down to the latter countries experiencing the biggest shift in viewing from cable for non-linear options.Rodriguez is in no doubt that her audience's viewing habits have changed permanently, but she believes linear TV remains a fundamental part of the broadcasters overall output. We are spending so much time with research studies around the world and in our markets, trying to understand the new way of consuming. The reality is they are online and I dont think theyre going to stop being there. But they are also watching TV, says Rodriguez.Moreover, Viacoms research has told Rodriguez and her fellow executives at Nickelodeon and Viacom that TV remains the primary place where children in Latin America discover new shows. Its just that nowadays they want to consume more and more content based on those shows in the digital world, she adds.We need to have content for all the platforms because the audience is everywhere. The biggest issue we have is a measurement for digital platforms that is official. But we know they are there, so we need to continue to develop great content for linear whilst producing extensions for the multi-platform world, says Rodriguez.An example of this strategy is the spin-offs to Nickelodeon Latinoamericas telenovela Vikki RPM (formally known as, 6060),and, which were made available via on-demand service Nick Play. The spin-offs provided a backstory to the series, which follows a girl who dreams of becoming a Formula 1 driver.The idea is to always find ways to tell different sides of the story on different platforms and keep the viewer engaged everywhere. We cannot lose opportunities to do that, says Rodriguez.Produced by Somos Productions, the series is filmed on location in Miami and at Viacom International Studios , the production hub for Viacom International Media Networks (VIMN) Americas that opened in Miami in 2016. I Am Frankie , the English-language remake of Nick Lat Ams Yo Soy Franky , was the first show to be filmed there.Where we film a show depends on our production partner and where the story comes from, says Rodriguez, adding that, as shows will air pan-regionally, it is important that they dont have a specific sense of place.Meanwhile, Viacoms US$345m acquisition of Telefe in 2016 has provided Nickelodeon Latin America with the opportunity to produce series at the Argentinian broadcasters Buenos Aires studio. The first of these was Kallys MashUp (6060), a musical telenovela co-created by Adam Anders, who was executive music producer onThe show follows the adventures of a 13-year-old musical prodigy who moves from a small town to a prestigious music university. Rodriguez points out that each song in the show is in English, given the popularity of artists such as Selena Gomez and Bruno Mars in the region, both of whom sing in the language.Another way Nickelodeon Latin America is striving to stay relevant is with commissions such as N00Bees (6060), a scripted series about gaming and eSports produced with Spanish production firm Mediapro.Created by Enrique Perez at Mediapro Groups Madrid-based production company 100Balas, the Spanish-language show follows a group of friends who create an eSports team and is about to go into production in Bogota, Colombia.It will be filmed in the same Mediapro-owned studio where series such asandwere made and later aired on Nickelodeon across Latin America. This followed Mediapros acquisition of Televido, the producer of the latter two shows, in 2016.The series will air on Nick across the region in the third quarter of 2018 and will be dubbed into Portuguese for viewers in Brazil. It will also feature footage from Mediapros Professional Videogames League, which it claims is the biggest eSports league in Spain.It was important that Nickelodeon Latin America partnered with Mediapro on the series rather than attempt an eSports-themed series on its own, adds Rodriguez, because of Mediapros experience in competitive gaming, giving the show important credibility.Rodriguez applies the same principle when it comes to tapping into the scores of famous YouTubers in Latin America who hold so much sway among young viewers.Were adding them to our world little by little. I dont feel like we have to do it all the time, as sometimes it can feel fake. One of the best things the YouTubers have created is authentic communication, so you have to replicate that. But replicating authenticity is almost impossible, says Rodriguez.This slightly Catch-22 situation is managed by trying to make these influencers appearances in Nick shows as natural as possible. For example, the network added categories such as Best YouTube Story and Meme of the Year to the variousit holds in Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina.As a result, more than 30 influencers turned up to cover the awards in Mexico and Colombia, at no cost to Nickelodeon and ensuring the events received promotion on the YouTubers various social media accounts. Meanwhile, the YouTubers gained exposure on linear TV something Rodriguez says they still value.Rodriguez emphasises, however, that Nickelodeon works with YouTubers when they are fun and cute but before they grow older and their output becomes a little more edgy. As a result, Nickelodeon Latin America doesnt sign exclusive contracts with YouTubers but works with them on a more ad hoc basis.Nevertheless, there is still much that established networks could learn from the many youngsters who have a direct line of communication with their audience. I wish we could communicate with the audience the way YouTubers do, which is so real and honest, admits Rodriguez. Thats why kids follow them.A recent study by Digital TV Research predicts stagnation for Latin Americas pay TV industry  with fewer than five million new pay TV subscribers set to be added between 2017 and 2023  which means the race is on for companies like Viacom to ensure its brands remain relevant.Rodriguez says that as long as viewers are watching Nickelodeon content  be it on Nick Play, via its YouTube channels or on its linear channel  were happy. The key challenge, she admits, is making sure the audience isnt lost as they move from platform to platform.The Nifty started on a positive note on Friday but failed to keep the momentum going, shedding all gains to close in the red. The only respite was that it closed above its crucial 200-day exponential moving average (DEMA).

The index formed a bearish candle on the daily charts but made a Bearish Belt Hold kind of pattern on the weekly charts which suggest that the pain may not be over.

A Bearish Belt Hold pattern is formed when the opening price for the week becomes the highest point of the week and the index declines throughout the trading week making up for the large body. The candle will either have a small or no upper shadow and small lower shadow.

On Friday, the index opened at 10,271 and rose marginally to hit an intraday high of 10,296. But bears soon took control and pushed the index towards 10,200 to hit an intraday low of 10,211. It closed 15 points lower at 10,226.85.

The index is likely to remain volatile in the coming week and the pattern will be confirmed if the Nifty closes in the red on Monday as well. After such a steep decline, there is a higher possibility of Nifty forming a base around its 200-DEMA, experts suggest.

The widely tracked Supertrend indicator also gave a sell signal on the weekly charts which suggest that bears are likely to remain in control at least in the short-term.

As the name suggests, 'Supertrend' is a trend following indicator just like Moving Averages and MACD (Moving Average Convergence Divergence). It is plotted on prices and their placement indicates the current trend. The MACD also gave a Sell signal in the previous trading session.

The Nifty index has a strong support near 10,004 levels which is its 50-DMA. It broke below its 20-DEMA on the weekly charts on Friday.

The Nifty registered a small bearish candle after moving in a narrow range of around 80 points, but on weekly charts it witnessed a Bearish Belt Hold kind of formation suggesting intense selling pressure throughout the week, Mazhar Mohammad, Chief Strategist  Technical Research & Trading Advisory, Chartviewindia.in told Moneycontrol.

We have seen a lack of follow through to Thursdays somewhat stronger up move. Fridays price action can be attributed to the week-end factor as markets merely appear to have witnessed profit booking without intense selling pressure, he said.

Mohammad said more directional clues will appear post Mondays session and a positive close on the first day of the week may set the tone for extension of this pullback towards 10,450 levels.

Unless market witness major weakness on Monday, threat of breaching recent lows of 10,140 will not be there. Hence, traders are advised to selectively look at forming long positions, he said.

India VIX fell by 0.41% to 14.53. On the options front, maximum Put open interest stood at 10,000 followed by 10,200 strikes, while maximum Call open interest is at 10,500 followed by 10,400 strike.

We have collated the top 15 data points to help you spot profitable trades:

The Nifty closed at 10,226.8 on Friday. According to Pivot charts, the key support level is placed at 10,193.57, followed by 10,160.33. If the index starts to move higher, key resistance levels to watch out are 10,278.37 and 10,329.93.

The Nifty Bank closed at 24,296.4 on Friday. The important Pivot level, which will act as crucial support for the index, is placed at 24,182.46, followed by 24,068.53. On the upside, key resistance levels are placed at 24,487.57, followed by 24,678.73.

In open interest, 10,500 has seen most call writing at 55.37 lakh contracts. This could act as a crucial resistance level for the index in the March series. The second-highest build-up has taken place at 10,400, which has seen 38.36 lakh contracts, and 10,300 strike price, which has accumulated 37.71 lakh contracts.

Call writing was seen at the strike price of 10,300, which saw an addition of 3.77 lakh contracts, followed by 10,500, which added 2.96 lakh contracts, and 10,400, which added 2.02 lakh contracts.

Call unwinding was seen at the strike price 10,700, which shed 1.2 lakh contracts, followed by strike price of 10,800, which shed 0.43 lakh contracts.

Maximum put open interest of 50.46 lakh contracts was seen at strike price 10,000, which will act as a crucial base for the index in March series; followed by 10,200, which now holds 39.99 lakh contracts, and 10,100, which has now accumulated 30.68 lakh contracts.

Put writing was seen at the strike price of 10,200, which saw addition of 3.39 lakh contracts, along with 9,800, which added 1.1 lakh contracts, and 10,300, which added 1.09 lakh contracts.

Put unwinding was seen at the strike price of 10,400, which shed 1.2 lakh contracts, followed by 10,000, which shed 1.05 lakh contracts.

Foreign institutional investors (FIIs) bought shares worth Rs 550.36 crore, while domestic institutional investors sold shares worth Rs 65 crore in the Indian equity market, as per provisional data available on the NSE.

High delivery percentage suggests that investors are accepting delivery of the stock, which means that investors are bullish on it.

A decrease in open interest along with an increase in price mostly indicates short covering.

An increase in open interest along with a decrease in price mostly indicates build-up of short positions.

Long unwinding happens when there is a decrease in OI as well as in price.

Dhampur Sugar Mills: Mugi Constructions Pvt sold 4,72,284 shares at Rs 152.13 per share

HG Infra Engineering: Two Roads Trading Pvt bought 4,02,725 shares at Rs 267.54 per share

KSK Energy Ventures: IFCI sold 23,80,000 shares at Rs 8.78 per share

Shyam Century Ferrous: Brij Bhushan Agarwal Family Trust bought 107,00,000 shares at Rs 9.60 while Shyam Metalics and Energy sold 214,00,000shares at Rs 9.60 per share. (For more bulk deals click here)

Bharat Forge: Carnegie Fonder, HDFC AMC, Credit Suisse, Birla Sun Life will be meeting the management of the firm on March 12-13, 2018.

Union Bank: IDFC AMC met the management of the bank on March 9, 2018.

Deepak Fertilisers: Dhunseri Investments will be meeting the management on March 12, 2018.

Bharti Airtel: RBI imposes a monetary penalty of Rs 5 crore on Airtel Payments Bank.

Tata Motors: The Groups global wholesales in February 2018, including Jaguar Land Rover, stood at 121,252, up 18% over February 2017.

Dr Reddy's: US Food & Drug Administration issues five observations for Medak unit in Telangana.

The bank raises one-year MCLR to 8.5% from 8.35%Launch of new India's first interactive sports experience on jio tv by Reliance Jio Infocomm

Investment of 16% equity stake of KTI on a fully diluted basis at USD 3.675 per share, for cash aggregating to USD 7 million

Board meeting approved investment proposal for setting up Ferro Alloys Plant at : Balaghat Mine capacity 50,000MTPA capex required is Rs.263.82cr

 Gumgaon Mine capacity 25,000MTPA capex required is Rs.155.00cr

Wilmar Sugar has announced an open offer to acquire 26 percent in Renuka Sugars at Rs 16.29 a share it will lead to an outgo of Rs 812cr

Board meeting approved for raising of funds through ADR/GDR/QIP/RI/PI amounts to Rs 50cr

TBCB declared company as successful bidder for 'New WR-NR 765 kV Inter-Regional Corridor in the state of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh which includes 765kV transmission line

Security in ban period for the next day's trade under the F&O segment includes companies in which the security has crossed 95% of the market-wide position limit. Securities which are banned for trading include names such as Balrampur Chini, DHFL, IDBI Bank, and JP Associates.

Disclosure: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today gifted projects worth Rs 398.12 crore to Ludhiana to boost to the city's infrastructural development.

A total of seven major projects were unveiled by the chief minister during his visit to Ludhiana today.

These include LED street lighting, installation of wayfinding and signages, Sarabha Nagar market retrofitting, 24x7 Surface Water Based Water Supply Scheme and Smart Street Phase 1-Malhar Road, an official release said.

Singh laid the foundation stone of five projects at three places in Ludhiana with the promise that development work in the city, a major industrial and business hub, would continue to be taken up on priority by his government.

An official spokesperson said work orders were in the process of being issued for LED street lighting and wayfinding and signages (digital and analogue) installation.

The LED project envisages replacement of the existing 105,000 lights with the energy saving lighting.

Scheduled to start later this month, it will be completed by December 12 to generate guaranteed energy saving of 63.25 per cent (29.75 million units per year), translating into an expected energy saving per annum of Rs 6.09 crore for the first year, with 6 per cent incremental every year thereafter, he said.

The wayfinding and signages project will cover 757 signage boards of eight types.French President Emmanuel Macron, who is on a four-day visit to India, will meet internationally acclaimed Indian-origin artist Subodh Gupta here today.

"It will be a private visit. The French president will meet the artist and take a look at his workshop-cum-manufacturing unit in Sector 14 industrial area," Gurgaon police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said.

"Tight security arrangements have been made for the visit," he said.

Gupta was born in 1964 in Khagaul, Bihar and studied at the College of Art, Patna (1983-1988). He is known for working with everyday objects such as steel kitchen utensils.

While stainless steel is his signature medium, he has also masterfully executed works in bronze, marble, brass and wood. His works have been exhibited in prestigious museums, art fairs and biennials throughout the world.

Solo exhibitions of his work have been held in internationally renowned museums and galleries including the National Gallery of Modern Art (New Delhi), Museum fur Moderne Kunst (Frankfurt), Victoria and Albert Museum (London), Hauser & Wirth (London, Zurich, New York and Somerset), Arario (Seoul and Beijing), Pinchuk Art Centre (Kiev) and Galeria Continua (San Gimignano, Italy).

Gupta was awarded the Chevalier de L'Ordre Arts et Lettres, among the French governments highest honours, for his contribution to contemporary art.Representative image

live bse live

nse live Volume Todays L/H More 

Demerger scheme for Ratnagiri Gas and Power and Konkan LNG has been approved by the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT).

Setting aside the earlier order of the National Company Law Tribunal, Delhi, the NCLAT has extended the 'Long Stop Date' for the scheme of demerger of the companies to March 31, 2018.

"We set aside the impugned order dated 16th August, 2017 passed by the Tribunal, Principal Bench, New Delhi... (and) approve the scheme with modification as noticed... and the Long Stop Date stands extended up to 31st March, 2018," said a NCLAT bench headed by Chairperson Justice S J Mukhopadhaya.

Earlier, the National Company Law Tribunal, Delhi had held that 'Long Stop Date' was March 31, 2017 and there was no record to establish that it has been extended beyond that.

'Long Stop Date' is the last day by which something must be done. Agreements terminates automatically if they fell beyond the stipulated time.

NCLT had held that modified scheme cannot be sanctioned without complying with the Section 66 of the Companies Act, 2013 or at least without obtaining fresh consents from the shareholders and creditors of the Appellant Companies.

Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General appearing for the companies, submitted that NCLT's refusal to sanction the scheme was not only legally but also factually unsustainable.

The appellate tribunal did not consented with NCLT that the one of the ground for rejection was that life of the scheme was March 31, 2017 and there is no record to suggest that the same has been extended.

NCLAT observed that extract of 101st meeting of the board Ratnagiri Gas and Power held on March 23, 2017 and extract of minutes of Konkan LNG on March 30, 2017 show that the demerger scheme was extended to March 31, 2018.

"From the record placed before the Tribunal, we find that the Long Stop Date of March 31, 2017 was extended to March 31 2018," said NCLAT in its judgement pronounced on February 28.

The tribunal had also observed that one of ground of rejection was that Power Finance Corporation (PFC), which was one of the secured creditors had dissented to the scheme.

"However, we find that such finding is contrary to the records. IDBI Bank, which is the lead creditor, filed an application before the tribunal, wherein it is specifically and categorically stated that initially PFC had objected to the scheme, however, the said objection was withdrawn subsequently," it said.

The scheme was first filed by Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd, which is a petitioner company and Konkan LNG Private Ltd, a petitioner/resulting company before the Delhi High Court, which had later transferred the case to NCLT.

Incorporated in July 2005 Ratnagiri Gas and Power is promoted by NTPC and GAIL. The company was set up to takeover and revive the assets of Dabhol Power Company Project.The Centre has opposed in the Supreme Court the use of totaliser machines for counting of votes of several polling booths together, saying that it does not serve any larger public interest.

The Ministry of Law and Justice has informed the apex court that it has taken a final view on the basis of the recommendation of a "team of ministers".

The team of ministers led by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh recommended that the use of totaliser does "not serve" any larger public interest and there was "no justification" for its introduction at this juncture.

A totaliser is a device which allows votes cast in 14 polling booths to be counted together.

The ministry said the Centre had referred to the team of ministers the proposal of the Election Commission for using totaliser to examine the feasibility and usefulness of the process.

The Centre had referred the EC proposal to the team of ministers in another case pending in the apex court.

"The team of ministers has come to the conclusion that revelation of booth-wise votes polled by a candidate would perhaps be more beneficial and useful since it would facilitate candidates and parties to find out the areas where they have shown better result and they have not shown good results so as to work more for that area," an affidavit by the ministry said.

The team was of the view that the instance of intimidation or victimisation of voters as apprehended may not occur on a large scale in the era of media activism, the affidavit said.

"It was observed that if any such incident takes place then the same would be highlighted in the media which would adversely affect the performance of parties and candidates in future elections."

The Centre said it was conscious of the need for electoral reforms in the country but the process was "complex, continuous, long drawn and comprehensive".

It said it was taking all possible action in this direction.

The Centre said the issue of totaliser was under consideration by the apex court in the case of Yogesh Gupta vs Election Commission of India and therefore this be deleted from the present petition as it would result in multiplicity of proceedings.

The affidavit was filed in response to plea filed by Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay seeking direction for common electoral rolls for Parliament, assembly and local body polls to save public money and manpower.

The Centre also sought dismissal of the plea saying that the issue of common electoral rolls, holding of election on Sundays, use of post offices as registration centres are the concerns of the Election Commission of India.

The apex court had on October 13 last year sought the response of the Centre and the Election Commission on the plea, filed by Delhi BJP leader Ashwini Kumar Upadhyay.

The petition has also sought direction to the authorities to take steps to use 'totaliser' for counting of votes.

It had referred to the provisions of the Conduct of Elections Rules, 1961, under which votes in the EVMs are to be counted polling station-wise, and said this led to situations where voting pattern in various localities or pockets become known to everyone.

The petitioner has also proposed that post offices be used as the nodal agency for voter registration and verification, saying it will not only help overcome the issue of duplication and confusion but also save huge public money and manpower.19:30 As the polling for by-elections in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh has ended, we bring our coverage to a close.

18:00 Voter turnout for Gorakhpur stretches to 43 percent by 5 pm.

17:45 Phulpur by-poll voter turnout extends to 38 percent by 5

ANI

pm. Source:

16:45 About 40 percent polling in Gorakhpur, 29 percent in Phulpur till 4 pm. Chief Minister Yogi also casts his vote.

15:46 Poor turnout in Phulpur by-polls. Till 3 pm, only 26.6 percent of the registered voters have cast their votes. Source: ANI

13:40 Uttar Pradesh Bypolls: Voting picks up by noon

Voting for the by-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, which began on a dull note today, picked up momentum by noon amid tight security arrangements to ensure free and fair polling.

Election office sources said nearly 20 percent of the electorate cast their ballots by mid-day and the exercise was going on peacefully, reports PTI.

13:00 Voting for all the seats will be held between 7 am and 5 pm

12:20 Uttar Pradesh Bypolls

While Gorakhpur sees 16.80% voting, Phulpur sees 12.20% and total voting at 14.50% till 11 am, reports News 18

11:41 Uttar Pradesh Bypolls

Voting till 9 am: 7 percent in Gorakhpur, 4.5 percent in Phulpur, reports News 18

11:27 Uttar Pradesh Bypolls

Exuding confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing Lok Sabha bypolls in the state, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya today said the 2014 Lok Sabha record would be repeated by the saffron party.

"I am confident that on March 14, the record which was made in Phulpur in 2014 (Lok Sabha general elections) will be repeated, and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious," he told reporters after casting his vote for Phulpur parliamentary constituency along with his family members, reports PTI.

11:15 Bihar by-elections

In Araria parliamentary constituency, seven candidates are in the fray. Former BJP MP Pradeep Kumar Singh is seeking to regain the seat from the RJD which has fielded Sarfaraz Alam, the death of whose father Mohd Taslimuddin has necessitated the bypoll.

In Jehanabad, the RJD hopes to retain the Assembly seat that fell vacant after the death of Mundrika Yadav. The party has given ticket to Yadav's son Kumar Krishna Mohan.

The by-elections are being watched with much eagerness as this is the first electoral battle in the state since last year's political realignment when Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also heads the JD(U), walked out of the Grand Alliance and rejoined the BJP-led NDA.

11:13 Bihar by-elections

About 12% electorate cast their votes till 10 am in the bypolls for one Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats in Bihar today, where the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine and the opposition RJD-Congress alliance are locked in a battle, reports PTI. The by-elections are being held for Araria Lok Sabha seat and, Jahanabad and Bhabhua Assembly constituencies. According to election commission sources, the polling is so far peaceful.

10:32 UP Bypolls

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur. The result will be declared on March 14.

10:09 Bypolls are also underway for Araria Lok Sabha seat and Jehanabad and Bhabhua Assembly seats in Bihar

10:06 BJP will see a spectacular success in 2019, Yogi said after casting his vote. BJP will win both by-polls, and in 2019 we will come up with grand success, he said.

10:00 UP CM Yogi Adityanath casts his vote. SP-BSP alliance is an opportunistic alliance, it will be defeated. People will vote for BJP, good governance we have done. Votes will be a referendum for our 1 year of rule. We have done a growth-oriented politics and that has cut ice with voters. Agenda is vikas and good governance, caste politics of opposition will not work, he told CNN-News 18.

09:56 Gorakhpur constituency has been a bastion of Yogi Adityanath who has contested and won on the seat five times in a row. The BJP campaigned aggressively projecting Adityanath as the partys face, but with Yogi not contesting, the opposition may have sniffed a small chance at pulling off an upset

09:53 The Opposition parties are making all efforts to snatch the seats away from the ruling party (BJP). It is visible as the arch-rivals Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have come together for the first time in 25 years in the state (UP) to take on BJP

09:48 The by-elections are being held a year before the crucial Lok Sabha polls and the contesting political parties are leaving no stone unturned to mark victory on the two constituencies

09:36 The bypolls in Uttar Pradesh were necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively, following their election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

09:30 Voting for the by-elections to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats commenced today amid tight security

Good Morning readers, by-elections are being held in two states - Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Stay tuned for live updatesUS President Donald Trump today predicted "tremendous success" in his upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and said he believes Pyongyang would honour its commitment not to conduct missile tests before their meeting.

Trump, on Friday, stunned the world by announcing that he has accepted a North Korean invitation to meet Kim Jong-un. The announcement was first made by a visiting South Korean delegation led by its national security advisor. Trump later confirmed the news.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honour that commitment!" Trump tweeted.

And a few hours later, a confident Trump told reporters that his policy on North Korea would be a tremendous success.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success. I think this is going to be something very successful," he told reporters before boarding Marine One en route to Moon Township in Pennsylvania.

"We have a lot of support. So, I think North Korea is going to go very well. The problem is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great," Trump said.

A day earlier, the White House had said that Trump will not meet Kim Jong-un until the North Koreans take "concrete and verifiable" steps to meet the commitment they have done for the meeting.

In another tweet, Trump said that the mainstream media was startled and amazed at his decision on Friday.

"In the first hours after hearing that North Korea's leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearization and that missile launches will end, the press was startled & amazed," he said.

"They couldn't believe it. But by the following morning the news became FAKE. They said so what, who cares!" Trump tweeted.

In a series of tweets, Trump gave details of his telephonic talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Chinese President Xi Jinping. During these talks, he also spoke with them about America's trade deficit with them.

"Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the US Currently have a massive USD 100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!" Trump tweeted.

In another tweet, Trump said he spoke at length with Xi about the meeting with Kim Jong-un.

"President Xi told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!" said the US President.

However, the mainstream US media continued to be skeptical of Trump's move on North Korea.

The New York Times in a lead story described it as a gamble. The decision that Trump took during his meeting with South Korean national security advisor Chung Eui-young in the Oval Office of the White House was on the spot.

"Trump accepted on the spot, stunning not only Chung and the other high-level South Koreans who were with him, but also the phalanx of American officials who were gathered in the Oval Office," the daily reported.

"OK, OK," Trump said, cutting short the discussion. "Tell them I'll do it," the president said, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The Washington Post in an editorial said Trump is right to negotiate with North Korea, but he needs a plan.

"If Trump believes that North Korea is ready to denuclearize, he is almost certainly wrong. Which raises the question: Does the president have a strategy for using the meeting to US advantage?" the paper's editorial board wrote.

Former State Department Spokesman John Kirby said that there is no guarantee that Trump will succeed in his new diplomatic push with North Korea.

"But, I think we should all support the effort," he said.

"This is a moment for all Americans. Trump's big stick has become something of an olive branch. We should not fail to help him grasp it," Kirby wrote in an op-ed on CNN website.US President Donald Trump has threatened to impose a hefty import duty on European cars if the European Union retaliates against his steep tariffs on aluminum and steel.

Earlier this week, Trump officially announced tariffs of 25 per cent on steel and 10 per cent on aluminum, despite major opposition from his own party, triggering a possible trade war with China and Europe.

The EU threatened an "arsenal" of retaliatory measures when the tariffs were first proposed, including imposing import tariffs on products made in red districts.

Trump threatened to tax European-made cars if they retaliated against the aluminum and steel tariffs with their own taxes on US imports like Harley Davidson motorcycles, bourbon and blue jeans.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the US very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on steel and aluminum," Trump said in a tweet Saturday.

"If they drop their horrific barriers and tariffs on US products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big deficit. If not, we tax cars etc. FAIR!" Trump said in a tweet.

During a joint White House news conference with visiting Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, the European Union has been particularly tough on the US.

The European Union, Trump rued, makes it almost impossible for the US to do business with them. And yet they send their cars and everything else back into the US, he said.

"And they can do whatever they like, but if they do that, then we put a big tax of 25 per cent on their cars, and believe me, they won't be doing it very long," Trump asserted.

"The European Union has not treated us well, and it's been a very, very unfair trade situation. I'm here to protect, and one of the reasons I was elected is I'm protecting our workers, I'm protecting our companies, and I'm not going to let that happen," Trump asserted.

As such Trump asserted that he is going ahead with his plans to sign the executive order to impose import tariffs on steel and aluminum.

"We're doing tariffs on steel. We cannot lose our steel industry. It's a fraction of what it once was. We can't lose our aluminum industry; also a fraction of what it once was. And our country is doing well. The massive tax cuts, and all of the deregulation has really kicked us into gear," he said.

"But I have to work on trade deals. We're working on NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) right now, and if we're able to make a deal with Canada and Mexico in NAFTA, then there will be no reason to do the tariffs with Canada and Mexico," Trump said.

The NAFTA is an deal signed by Canada, Mexico, and the US, creating a trilateral trade bloc in North America.Would you like to receive breaking news notifications from The Post and Courier?

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Please enable notifications in your browser and reload the page.Natural gas produced in conjunction with crude oil in the Permian Basins shale plays will increasingly be flowing east to the Gulf Coast, finding its way to end-users.

The rising demand for natural gas has midstream companies investing billions of dollars to increase that takeaway capacity.

Kinder Morgan has teamed up with DCP Midstream and Targa Resources to build the Gulf Coast Express natural gas pipeline that will carry West Texas natural gas from the Waha hub at Coyanosa to Agua Dulce near the Gulf Coast.

Theres a lot of natural gas being produced and its important to get it to market, said Allen Fore, Kinder Morgans vice president, public affairs.

Mexico is, and will be, an important export market, especially as the country begins using more natural gas for power generation, he said.

He was in Midland recently to meet with County Judge Mike Bradford and other officials about the planned project.

Ive been traveling the route, talking with the local officials, he said.

He explained that he was undertaking the effort to make sure elected officials in the 16 counties impacted by the project understand the process of surveys, right-of-way acquisitions and construction and the benefits the new pipeline will bring to each county.

Some of these counties were hit hard by the downturn, he said.

Construction on the pipeline will bring them an increase in hotel-motel tax revenues and spending on everything from restaurants to goods and equipment needed to construct the pipeline.

The pipeline, estimated to cost $1.75 billion, will create an estimated 2,500 construction jobs and 15 full-time ongoing positions when it goes into service. Once in service, the pipeline and its facilities are projected to generate $35 million in increased ad valorem tax revenue annually to the involved state and local taxing entities.

In Midland County alone, Kinder Morgan, which employs 110 people, paid $335,000 in state and local taxes in 2017. Midland also will house an office for the pipeline project.

Some areas, such as Midland, where there is a strong industry present, will benefit because the project adds to an already strong energy community, Fore said. Rural counties where there isnt a strong industry presence also will be significantly impacted.

He said his favorite stories come from business owners in those rural communities who say the influx of construction crews building pipelines for Kinder Morgan helped them stay in business.

Those personal stories are so meaningful to us, Fore said.

As part of the Gulf Coast Express pipeline, Kinder Morgan will build the GCX Midland Lateral, 50 miles of 36-inch pipeline and related compression. The lateral will move natural gas processed at Targa and at facilities jointly owned by Targa and Pioneer Natural Resources and provide a connection with the Gulf Coast Express Mainline.

The GCX Mainline will consist of 447.5 miles of 42-inch pipeline with associated compression with the capacity to move 1.98 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

Kinder Morgan will construct and operate the pipeline and own 50 percent, while Targa and DCP Midstream will each own 25 percent of the project.

Fore said the company is in the surveying process and then will begin land acquisition. Construction is projected to begin in October with the pipeline expected to be in service in October 2019.

The project is based on securing long-term commitments from producers to ship their natural gas on the pipeline, he said.

When companies like Kinder Morgan, DCP and Targa invest in a project like this, you know its based on long-term need, Fore stated. Before such a project is even announced, the companies have been forecasting out many years, he said.

Weve been doing our best design on the project in a way that its acceptable to the agencies and will permit us to stay on a schedule that will let us be in service in October 2019. We understand their requirements and processes.Among the Celtic music, bonnie knees contests and kilt vendors at the annual Midland Scottish-Irish Faire is a group that spends most of its time out back. In a dusty patch of field behind the Horseshoe Pavilion, heavy hammers are thrown and telephone poles are tossed at the annual Rocky Smith Memorial Highland Games.On Monday, the Midland Development Corp. voted on several items, including a contract amendment with New Teraco, severing ties with Orbital Outfitters and amending its bylaws. Here are the highlights.

 Deal canceled: The MDC voted unanimously to terminate its agreement with Orbital Outfitters, a space suit startup company headquartered at Midland International Air & Space Port. Orbital also was contracted to operate the citys Midland Altitude Chamber Complex (MACC), used for the testing of equipment before it goes into space.

The MDC offered Orbital a $1 million incentive and spent about $7 million on a facility for Orbitals headquarters, which included the MACC. After the agreement is terminated, the MDC will take ownership of all of Orbitals assets, including any intellectual property.

 Deal amended: Gift card manufacturer New Teraco will receive an extension to its agreement made with the MDC in 2015. In exchange for $100,000 to move equipment from its former Illinois facility to Midland, New Teraco agreed to create more jobs and keep 100 employees or more through 2021.

The company has to certify its employment figures with the MDC, and its headcount is below the threshold by about four, MDC Chairman Brent Hilliard said at the meeting. Hilliard told the Reporter-Telegram that New Teraco missing its target is through no fault of its own, as the company has lost some employees to the bustling oil industry.

 Bylaw changes: The MDCs bylaws will have two amendments. The first is the inclusion of a specific statement stating that all actions taken on by the MDC are government functions of the MDC. Second, staff will directly report to the executive director but serve at the pleasure of the board, giving the board more input on staffing decisions.

Were trying to get the MDC to function more like the city, Hilliard said.

The MDC is funded by the Type A quarter-cent sales tax.A rescue effort to free an 18-year-old Lee High School student trapped in the Robber Baron Cave was something Texas Cave Management Association President Joe Ranzau said he had never seen before.

At the height of the rescue, 75 firefighters were on scene. Many of them took turns working 30-minute shifts over a 10-hour period until the teen was finally freed shortly before midnight Thursday, Fire Chief Charles Hood said.

The incident occurred during a field trip to the cave that was supposed to be an opportunity to learn about its exclusive biology and its history in the Prohibition era, and to crawl through its mazelike passageways, which are managed by the association.

North East Independent School District spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor said students have gone to the cave as part of a field trip for many years.

The path they took Thursday is traveled by both school groups and enthusiasts alike, Ranzau said.

Normally for our youth education programs, we follow a consistent circuit, he said.

During this particular trip, the school group had been exploring the cave for some time, cave officials said. With the help of three cave guides and their teacher, they had already traveled through a lengthy passageway known as the Entrance Hall.

They traversed the Lighted Passageway and then crawled south to the angled tube known as the Hole in the Floor, cave manager Mike Harris said. It was there that the 18-year-old, who has not been identified, got stuck about 1:40 p.m.

Its a maze cave thats multilevel, Ranzau said. The Hole in the Floor literally is that  a hole that you can use to drop down to the next level.

But you do have to turn your body just slightly as youre going through, he said.

Although the teens torso was stuck, her arms and legs were free. Hood described her predicament as being wedged in some rock.

Cave experts with the association worked for about an hour trying to get her out but then called the San Antonio Fire Department for help, officials said.

Firefighters used the same route as the students, Harris said.

That meant firefighters had to maneuver through about 350 feet of cave passages to reach the teen, which took about 5 minutes and 40 seconds.

Rescue workers routed wiring through another entrance  one that had been sealed to keep out visitors  to provide power to their equipment, which they had to carry with them to the site.

Once there, firefighters would work for 20 minutes before making the return trip.

Hood said the firefighters had to work in 30-minute shifts as they were making sure they were monitoring their own vitals to ensure they could continue the rescue. They swapped spots with another crew for rest, food and rehydration before heading back in. They hooked the student up to an IV to keep her hydrated.

As for the teen, rescue workers had secured her in a harness to keep her in place while they used a chisel to carve through the rock trapping her.

Hood explained that there had been a potential that as the opening widened, she could have slid down into a position that would have constricted her diaphragm, making it difficult to breathe.

Because the hole is at an angle, the student was not suspended, Ranzau said. Her legs were up against the surrounding tunnel as rescue workers built a platform beneath her.

As the rescue dragged on into the evening and temperatures inside the cave dropped, they worked to keep her warm.

Finally, at 11:45 p.m., the teen was freed from the cave and reunited with her family, including her mother who had driven in from Houston.

She was then taken to Brooke Army Medical Center for treatment after spending 11 hours trapped in the cave.

Chancellor said that one of the teens friends stayed with her at the cave for support, as did the teacher leading the class. Twenty classmates were able to exit through a different passage and were taken back to school.

The cave is about a mile long and roughly 30 to 80 feet underground with both walking and crawling passages, Ranzau said.

Cave managers said Friday that the limestone in that section wasnt jagged or loose because the area is well-traveled.

On average, people moving down the hole take 45 seconds to pass through. Others can take up to 30 minutes.

Visitors are not limited by specific height and weight limitations, but Ranzau said its up to each individual to determine which paths they can and cant handle. Many of the groups that are guided through the caves are kept on passages appropriate to their skill level, Ranzau said.

Its just the nature of their abilities and the nature of the specific place that theyre at, Ranzau said.

For instance, there are passages in this cave, the Hole in the Floor for one, that I dont go through, Ranzau said.AUSTIN  One of the wealthiest tea party-aligned establishments trying to influence Texas politics fell flat in this week's primary election, losing half of the races it invested time or money in.

Empower Texans endorsed 34 candidates who ran in the March 6 Republican primary election. Of those, 13 won, 17 lost and four will continue on to a runoff election in May.

One of their biggest wins was unseating Republican Rep. Jason Villalba, a moderate from Dallas who has also attracted the ire of Texans for Vaccine Choice, a grassroots group that fights against mandatory child vaccines.

Another was the defeat of Rep. Wayne Faircloth, a Republican from Galveston who was also under attack by Gov. Greg Abbott this election cycle.

MORE: Election HQ: Results

The conservative Republican group is known for threatening moderate Republicans with primary election challenges and using strong-arm tactics and large campaign contributions to help candidates loyal to their positions win state office. In the 2016 election season, the group spent $1.8 million supporting candidates, making it the eighth highest campaign contributor, according to Texans for Public Justice, a government watchdog group.

The group has tried to storm the Texas House, run by moderate Republican Joe Straus who is not seeking reelection this year. The group is trying to amass supporters to support the House Freedom Caucus, which advocates for key conservative issues, like the Second Amendment and pro-life issues.

Straus, however, has funded several moderate Republican candidates to fend off challenges from Empower Texans. In those races, Empower Texans lost nine contests, and won three, ousting Villaba and Faircloth, while also beating Clint Bedsole in an open race.

Here's the list of winners, losers and runoff candidates Empower Texans endorsed, and how much of the vote they earned. Here's the Texas Senate district map and Texas House district map, and here's where you can find out who represents your district.

WON

State Sen. Bob Hall  Senate District 2  Seeking reelection

State Sen. Charles Schwertner  Senate District 5  Seeking reelection

State Sen. Joan Huffman  Senate District 17  Seeking reelection

Rep. Pat Fallon  Senate District 30  Defeated incumbent Sen. Craig Estes

Rep. Matt Schaefer  House District 6 Seeking reelection

Steve Toth  House District 15  Open seat

Mayes Middleton  House District 23 Challenged incumbent Rep. Wayne Faircloth

Rep. Mike Lang  House District 60  Seeking reelection

Rep. Kyle Biedermann  House District 73  Seeking reelection

Jared Patterson House District 106  Open seat

Jonathan Boos  House District 113  Open seat

Lisa Luby Ryan  House District 114  Challenged incumbent Rep. Jason Villalba

Rep. Valoree Swanson  House District 150  Seeking reelection

RUNOFF

Stuart Spitzer  House District 4  Open seat

Thomas McNutt  House District 8  Open seat

Deanna Maria Metzger  House District 107  Open seat

Matt Beebe  House District 121  Open seat

LOST

Mike Canon  Senate District 31  Challenged incumbent Sen. Kel Seliger

Bryan Slaton  House District 2  Challenged incumbent Rep. Dan Flynn

Garrett Boersma  House District 9  Challenged incumbent Rep. Chris Paddie

Danny Ward  House District 11  Challenged incumbent Travis Clardy

Emily Kebodeaux Cook  House District 18  Challenged incumbent Rep. Ernest Bailes

Damon Rambo  House District 25  Challenged incumbent Rep. Dennis Bonnen

Amber Pearce  House District 45 Open seat

Jay Wiley  House District 47  Challenged incumbent Rep. Paul Workman

CJ Grisham  House District 55  Challenged incumbent Rep. Hugh Shine

Mark Roy  House District 64  Challenged incumbent Rep. Lynn Stucky

Drew Brassfield  House District 87  Challenge incumbent Rep. Four Price

Jason Huddleston  House District 88  Challenged incumbent Rep. Ken King

Armin Mizani  House District 98 Challenged incumbent Rep. Giovanni Capriglione

Bo French  House District 99  Challenged incumbent Rep. Charlie Geren

Chris Fails  House District 122  Challenged incumbent Rep. Lyle Larson

Kevin Fulton  House District 126  Open seat

Susanna Dokupil  House District 134  Challenge incumbent Rep. Sarah Davis

Andrea Zelinski covers politics for the Houston Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook. Send her tips at andrea.zelinski@chron.com.Constituents will always oppose if they ...Associated Press Writer

Kenneth Burno, according to police, was an intensely jealous man who couldn't stand the thought that his girlfriend might be sleeping with other men.

By the summer of 2001, Burno's jealousy allegedly turned to murder. Police said he hatched a plan to kill every man he viewed as a romantic rival _ and forced his girlfriend to help.

Two of the five men on Burno's alleged hit list were shot _ one fatally _ before police arrested his girlfriend, Vernell Jones, a year ago and broke up the alleged plot.

"I think they would have attempted to kill (all of) these people until one or the other was caught," said Acting Whitemarsh Township Police Chief Jesse Stemple.

Based on Jones' confession, authorities charged Burno with first-degree murder Tuesday, saying he planned the murder conspiracy and pressured her to go along. Burno, 32, was arrested at his Philadelphia home and jailed without bail.

It wasn't immediately clear if he had a lawyer.

Jones, 33, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of third-degree murder and conspiracy. She has agreed to testify against Burno, Montgomery County prosecutor Risa Ferman said.

Jones had already pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for shooting a Philadelphia firefighter with whom she had been having an affair. She is serving five to 10 years in prison for that shooting.

Jones gave a harrowing account of her five-year relationship with Burno that included allegations of physical, sexual and emotional abuse, authorities said.

"He manipulated her and dominated her to the point where she would do whatever he wanted," Ferman said. "But don't read into that any suggestion that she's not responsible for her own actions."

Burno, according to court documents, used to punch Jones, yank her down stairs by her hair and slam her head into a car. She forked over nearly all her paychecks to Burno, documents said.

The abuse got worse when Burno thought she was sleeping around, police said. Some of Burno's accusations were true and some weren't, Jones said, according to court documents.

"We believe Burno's jealously peaked in the summer of 2001 when he believed Jones had an affair with his own cousin. Burno gave Jones an ultimatum _ either she agree with him to kill five men or he ended their relationship," according to a police affidavit.

Burno allegedly handed Jones a piece of paper and ordered her to write down the first initial of each of the intended victims, including his cousin.

Their first target was Ronald Humphrey, a Philadelphia firefighter, prosecutors said. That October, Jones and Humphrey drove to a secluded area where she shot him in the arm, according to prosecutors. He survived.

In December 2001, Jones and Burno turned their attention to John Davis, 36, authorities said. Davis and Jones had been friends and colleagues at a warehouse he supervised, but Burno suspected them of sleeping together, documents said.

On Dec. 17, Burno fatally shot Davis in the back of the head in the parking lot of the warehouse, police said. Jones, who worked at U.S. Liability Insurance Group in King of Prussia at the time of the killing, followed with two shots to the body, the affidavit said.

After the murder, the couple returned to Jones' apartment and had sex, documents said.

Burno allegedly kissed her and said: "One down, four to go."DALLAS (AP)  The Texas Department of Public Safety will begin recording the height, weight and waistlines of its more than 4,000 troopers during their routine physical readiness tests.

The measurement recording starting this month is part of the department's new obesity data collection program, the Dallas Morning News reported.

"Obesity is a significant health issue in the United States and in the law enforcement profession. In addition to the personal health risks, obesity significantly detracts from an officer's command presence and negatively impacts their overall effectiveness," department official Skylor Hearn wrote to officers. "As such, the department will take proactive steps to address this health and officer safety risk."

Texas requires law enforcement officers to pass a physical test, but individual agencies can set their own standards.

The Public Safety Department has slowly increased its fitness standards since 2010 with the goal of "ensuring a physically fit and well-trained force that is ready to safely respond to any situation," according to its policy.

Some officers are concerned the data collection is an attempt to push out older troopers by adding fitness requirements.

"I guess maybe they're trying to make it tougher, to force these guys to leave," said Jack Crier, executive director of the Texas State Troopers Association. "That's just an opinion."

Department spokesman Tom Vinger has denied that notion, saying that the measurements don't change the fitness requirements, which are tiered based on gender and age.

Vinger said officers ultimately categorized as obese based on the measurements will be required to participate in nutrition and fitness programs.

"The significant health risk associated with obesity and its impact on the protective services industry was already documents in our policy manual," Vinger said. "We are simply moving from talking about the health risk to identifying it  and providing support to those impacted by it."

___

Information from: The Dallas Morning News, http://www.dallasnews.comIn San Antonio, "historic district" is more than a trendy badge used to distinguish the scene from the cookie-cutter nouveau riche developments past 410's Loopland. Dating back to the 1700s, the stories behind these places connect current city residents, natives and transplants, to the generations that helped develop one of the largest metros in the nation.

There are currently 27 locales that City Council has designated as "historic districts," stretching from Leon Springs in the north to Mission in the south. They include neighborhoods and avenues, plazas and squares, building complexes, firehouses and churches  all connected to significant people or places that have affected a lasting impact on the Alamo City. In fact, many of San Antonio's historic neighborhoods began as shiny new suburbs nearly 100 years ago.The doors of the Pathway Home treatment facility in Yountville remained locked Sunday and may never reopen as directors of the program begin an exhaustive review of security protocols after a gunman held three caregivers hostage before killing them, a spokesman said.

The residents have been moved to other facilities while officials discuss the future of the program. And law enforcement continues to investigate what motivated a decorated Army veteran to commit such a senseless tragedy.

We dont know whether that building is going to be a place that people want to live in, want to work in, after what happened Friday, said organization spokesman Larry Kamer. Its not like people can just forget what happened there, move on, and work and have their group sessions. Its got bullet holes in it.

A board member who is also a psychiatrist took the lead on coordinating care for the six Pathway residents who are now staying at hotels throughout Napa County, Kamer said.

Thats a little more challenging to do when they are not all living in the same dorm, as they were at the Veterans Home campus, Kamer said.

As staff members scrambled to address the needs of the residents, the facilitys board members began scrutinizing security at the facility, emergency protocols and what kind of screenings are in place for incoming patients.

All of that has to be on the table, Kamer said. Anytime you have a tragic incident like this, you go back and see what it was that you did and what it was that didnt work, because obviously something like this should never have happened.

Pathway is a treatment program run by a nonprofit that leases space on the sprawling campus of the state-run Veterans Home of California-Yountville.

Roaming, unarmed 24-hour security personnel currently patrol the Veterans Home campus. The Pathway facility also has surveillance cameras at the front door and in the hallways, as well as a sign-in desk where people are required to stop before entering the premises, Kamer said.

Law enforcement is trying to figure out exactly how (the gunman) was able to get around that, he said. He did live in that facility for almost a year, so he was knowledgeable about the place. Exactly what failed is something I know law enforcement is interested in and we are very interested in as well.

The security review comes after 36-year-old Albert Wong of Sacramento, armed with a rifle, burst into a morning gathering at the center on Friday and took five hostages after exchanging gunfire with a Napa County sheriffs deputy, authorities said.

He later released two hostages. When law officers entered the room where Wong had been holed up for nearly eight hours, they found him and the three remaining hostages dead. A knowledgeable source said all four had been shot.

The California Highway Patrol declined Sunday to release additional details surrounding the shooting.

The victims were the Pathway Homes executive director, Christine Loeber, 48, of Napa; Jennifer Golick, 42, of St. Helena, a clinical director with the center; and Jennifer Gonzales , 32, who was six months pregnant, according to the Napa County Sheriffs Office. Gonzales was a clinical psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Wong had been treated at Pathway, but had been asked to leave a few days prior to the incident for unknown reasons, said state Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, whose district includes the center.

A friend of Golicks family, who asked that his name not be used, said, People were notified that he was violent. Nothing was done. All the proper people were notified ... the sheriffs department, the vets health. Everybody knew. All the flags were there.

Tensions were heightened Sunday as agencies re-evaluated the need for armed guards at veterans facilities throughout the state.

The California Statewide Law Enforcement Association, which represents security personnel, issued a statement Friday expressing anger and frustration that the Veterans Home guards are unarmed.

To date, administrators have been willing to risk public safety rather than provide trained law enforcement officers with firearms, the statement read.

Veterans Home is run by the state Department of Veterans Affairs. June Iljana, a spokeswoman for the department, said nothing like this has ever happened at the various veterans centers in California.

It would be inappropriate to speculate until the investigation concludes and all the facts are known, Iljana said of the Law Enforcement Associations recommendation to arm guards.

Though some who live at the Veterans Home continued to feel uneasy Sunday, resident Richard Dolph, 58, said he felt secure at his home.

Its just a safe place for (veterans) to live, Dolph said. That is what this place is about.

Operations were expected to resume as usual across the broader Veterans Home campus, which is inhabited by about 850 older and disabled veterans and their spouses, with the only exception being the addition of crisis counselors for residents and staff members, Iljana said.

Thats not the case for Pathway Home.

In addition to security, officials discussed whether to relocate the program that has offered treatment for 450 people since its opening in 2008, mostly for PTSD, mild traumatic brain injury and other post-deployment mental health challenges.

This program has to continue, Kamer said. The need is certainly there, and if anything, Fridays incident should put an exclamation point on how important it is for these kinds of services to reach our vets.

The program offers access to mental and physical health services, community college, job training and employment  all of which have been invaluable to veterans, Kamer said.

Its unclear whether the program will continue in Napa County. The outpouring of support from the community makes it hard to consider leaving, he added.

For now, the fate of Pathway is in limbo as the center remains a crime scene, with caution tape still quarantining the building.

Residents and passersby stopped Sunday at the growing memorial near the facility, leaving behind purple and white flowers near a wooden sign that read Pathway Home.

Some veterans stopped momentarily before walking past the crime scene toward the food hall.

Larry Finkel, 66, paused at the memorial after visiting with his father, who lives at the home. He took his hat off and stood silently, staring at the flickering candles. A few moments later, he stood at attention, saluted and then quietly walked back to his car.

I had to pay my respect for not only the women, but for the guy as well, he said, referring to the three female victims and the gunman. Some veterans just got so many demons inside of them. ... Its just a tragedy.Does your work day leave you feeling grumpy and unappreciated? Are you wasting time in dull meetings with managers who couldnt care less about your feedback? Is your life peppered with Fear of Missing Out moments as others wax poetic about their companys mission and culture?

If so, you probably want to sit out the 10th annual San Antonio Express-News Top Workplaces competition.

But if you love your job, have an awesome leader and feel like what you do 40 or more hours a week really matters, now is the time to nominate your employer or favorite business for some well-earned bragging rights.

Anybody can nominate any particular employer and its not just for-profit businesses, said Bob Helbig, spokesman for Energage, which conducts the surveys for more than 40 major metropolitan newspapers and last year surveyed 2.5 million workers at more than 7,000 organizations. If they employ people they are eligible. For-profit, nonprofit government, schools, whatever.

Last years first-place winners included the Hyatt Hotels and Resorts of San Antonio for large employers, JB Goodwin Realtors for mid-sized companies and San Antonios Assessment Intervention Management, or AIM, for small employers. Previous Top Workplace lists have included school districts, auto dealerships and specialized medical practices. All score high, some of them year after year, in factors that make employees feel engaged and valued.

Pay and benefits generally rank as least important to people, Helbig said. Once you get hired you know what your paychecks going to be, you know what the benefits are, but what you dont know is whats the culture. How do people treat each other? How do they get things done? Whats the mission of the company? Whats my manager like? What is the CEO like? Those are things that either keep people or drive them away.

Since 2006, Energage, formerly known as WorkplaceDynamics, has surveyed more than 16 million people from more than 47,000 organizations.

More Information More Information Want to participate? How to nominate: Fill out and submit the form at http://mysanantonio.com/nominate Deadline: April 13 Company requirements: Any organization - public, private, nonprofit, government - with 35 or more employees in the San Antonio area is eligible Evaluation process: Employees will be asked to fill out a short 24-question survey; evaluation period runs from March through May The results: 2017 Top Workplaces will be listed on mySA.com and in the Business section of the San Antonio Express-News in October See More Collapse

The survey questions are designed to measure alignment, or whether everyone is pulling in the same direction; effectiveness, or whether employees feel the company is good at what it does; connection, or how employees feel about their present and future role as well as other key workplace aspects such as management, engagement and leadership.

It also gets at what Energage sees as basics for retention, such as work-life balance, training, pay and benefits and whether the job has met expectations the employee had when first hired.

Survey feedback can be invaluable to companies facing stiff competition to attract and retain workers. Texas unemployment rate has in recent months reached historic lows, and companies say they are being forced to raise wages and spend more time and money recruiting to maintain production levels. According to the Society of Human Resource Management, it costs an average of six to nine months of salary to replace an employee, or $20,000 to $30,000 for a $40,000-a-year job.

We hope that through the feedback we can provide employers information they can use strategically to make smart changes and keep good people, attract good people, make sure everybodys on the same page, everyone understands what the mission is, Helbig said. Good communication, strong leadership, good managers  top workplaces have all those things.

Energage research shows that Top Workplaces average 84 percent in positive responses to employee engagement questions and 86 percent in retention compared with 36 percent and 43 percent for average workplaces, respectively.

Eligible companies must have at least 35 employees in the San Antonio metropolitan area. The nomination deadline is April 13. Participation is free (though their may be a nominal fee for companies that need paper rather than online surveys), responses are kept anonymous and the 24-question survey takes only about five minutes to complete. Winners and top contenders are honored at a luncheon in October and featured in a special section that runs in a Sunday edition of the San Antonio Express-News.

For the 2017 competition, 24,489 employees were surveyed at 142 different organizations, with 95 of the organizations recognized for meeting benchmarks for Top Workplace.

The experience was nothing but positive, said Diana Kenny, who was thrilled to see AIM, the special-education services company she helped start about seven years ago, take home the honor for small businesses. Weve used it on all of our (public relations) stuff and for advertising. We always use the logo and we get lots of compliments.

Kenny said it was gratifying to see positive comments about the companys family-friendly atmosphere.

Thats what we try hardest to foster is a positive culture, a culture that embraces flexibility and creativity and the opportunity to think outside the box, do things a little differently, Kenny said. What we draw is a lot of young professionals who have young families and want flexibility.

Kennys own voice mail message makes it clear that after 5 oclock, her family needs come first.

We want everybody to feel empowered to say that and to live it. she said. You are absolutely entitled to say no after a certain time, or I will do that as soon as I finish my family obligations.

A lot of moms like to get up early in the morning and get a bunch done by 7 a.m., she added. Its a great setup for that type of person and we get to take advantage of these highly qualified people who otherwise wouldnt work, wouldnt be able to contribute their very important skill to the industry.

Reagan Greer, who was on his own when he opened the San Antonio branch of JB Goodwin Realtors in 2010, said he was awed by the response to the branch winning Top Workplaces for medium-sized companies.

I was impressed by the number of people that obviously read the paper and took note of it, he said. I was excited by the number of (job) interviews that came as a result, people reflecting directly back on the article.

Greer added that a comment he made for the special section led to the team theme for 2018.

I enjoyed the process from a management perspective, getting insights into things that the agents commented on, he said. Were going to do it again, for sure.When the new Harding High School opens next fall, it will not only welcome just shy of 1,000 teenagers, but as many as 24 infants and toddlers as well.

Plans are in the works to create a licensed and fully accredited Early Learning Center day care in the new school. Its clientele will be the children of teen parents in the district, followed by children of staff members and  on a space available basis  the East End neighborhood.

The goal is to keep our young parents engaged in high school, attending on a daily basis, said Natisha Vidal, a school social worker who works with teenage parents in the district.

The full board is expected to approve the plan when it meets Monday.

Although the teenage birthrate in Bridgeport and the state has been on the decline, the city currently outpaces the state. There are currently 41 teen parents  boys and girls  enrolled in Bridgeport schools.

Statewide, nearly 2,800 children were born to teen mothers in 2008, a rate of about 22.6 births per 1,000 Connecticut girls and women ages 14 through 18. By 2014, that number had declined to 1,420, a rate of 11.5 per 1,000  a drop of 49 percent.

In 2014, 37 births by teens under the age of 18 were reported in the city  31.4 percent less than the 54 recorded in 2013, according to statistics collected by the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition. The 2010-14 birthrate of city teens ages 15 to 19 was 34.9 births per 1,000 teenaged girls.

This fall, three teens dropped out of school because they did not have child care, Vidal said.

The idea of the new child care center is working its way through school board committees but eventually a Request for Proposals is expected to be issued this spring. The hope is established day care providers will vie to run the center using state child care subsidies, including Care4Kids, which was not available before the state budget passed.

The agency winning the bid would be responsible for getting funding and providing slots free or on a sliding scale fee to parents. The districts only cost would be providing the space.

Vidal said the district has long provided supportive services to teen parents enrolled in Bridgeport Public Schools but has not had a school-based day care for at least nine years.

At one time, we had the Center for Interim Education which was a school for pregnant girls, Vidal said, but state and federal funding cutbacks, led to its closure.

One of the recipients of Vidals teen pregnancy counseling was Nadine Colon, a 2011 graduate of Harding.

It taught me a lot, Colon said.

Then, her son was enrolled in a day care run by Action for Bridgeport Community Development Inc. while Nadine and her sons father went to school.

Her son will be 8 in May. Colon, 24, graduated from Housatonic Community College, is a junior at the University of Bridgeport and works as a property manager.

Without the program, Colon said she doubts she would have completed her senior year at Harding.

Many of these teen parents are resilient and continue to attend school despite tremendous challenges, Vidal said. Having a safe, reliable and convenient place for their child while they attend, would remove one of those challenges.

Of the districts three comprehensive high schools, Harding has always had the largest number of pregnant teens. When the new school opens in the fall, the idea is to have three classrooms with eight slots each  one for infants age 6 weeks and older, one for toddlers and one for preschoolers. An observation room will be available for teen moms and dads to see their children and a separate parenting class they can take.

To get a slot for their child, the parent or parents would have to agree to attend school on a consistent basis.

They cant use it as a drop-off and then go get a job, Alan Wallack, the districts school construction coordinator, said at a meeting of the school boards Teaching and Learning Committee.

Members of the committee call the plan a wonderful opportunity to help teen parents stay in school but want details ironed out before a request for proposal is issued.

We need a process in place to make sure the seats are given out equitably, Maria Pereira, a board member said.

Board members said they wanted to see policies drawn up to address what happens if there is a greater demand than available seats, what happens to the slot once a teen parent graduates and how teen parents from other high schools can transfer into Harding.STAMFORD  Raven Matherne said it hasnt been this quiet in her neighborhood since 2012.

The deafening silence she remembers in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy returned last week, when back-to-back noreasters downed hundreds of trees and power lines and left thousands  mostly in her North Stamford neighborhood  without power for days.

More for you Statewide outage totals on the decline Saturday, cleanup...

Ill never forget the day after Superstorm Sandy  the lack of people out and about because of the road closures, said Matherne, who was elected in November to represent the citys 19th District. Its that same sort of feel. Everyones pulling together, but not everyones back to their daily routine.

Like many of their neighbors, Matherne and fellow District 19 representative Bob Lion lost power during Wednesdays storm that dumped nearly a foot of snow in Stamford.

Matherne said the noreaster started as rain that froze, leaving thick layers of ice on the trees before high winds brought down many of the branches.

The storm caused more than 200 road closures  mostly north of the Merritt Parkway  due to downed wires and trees. The conditions caused schools to be closed for three straight days.

On Riverbank Drive, where Matherne lives, a downed wire sparked a small fire when the road was already blocked by trees.

The last time Ive seen that much tree damage was Superstorm Sandy, Matherne said. That was probably due to all the ice on the trees. With the wind, it was a worst-case scenario in that sense.

As challenging as the past week has been, Matherne and Lion said it has brought the community together. Lion said he witnessed residents moving branches out of the road so a plow could get through, while others have shared generators with their neighbors.

Ive seen many instances of people helping one another, Lion said. I think thats very heartening.

The outages in Stamford have been reduced to a few hundred, and Eversource said it expects to have power restored to all customers by Sunday night.

Matherne said she has experienced outages every year since shes lived in North Stamford, and residents need to understand its part of life in the neighborhood.

With any storm, theres always people that are quite frustrated with the circumstances, which is to be understood, Matherne said. It doesnt really matter how justified. Youre frustrated and I can understand that. I think on the city side, we need to always be striving to do a better job to respond as quickly as possible. On the flip side, ... I grew up here (and) power outages are just something you get used to.

Living among nature

The abundance of trees north of the Merritt Parkway has made the neighborhood more prone to outages.

Stamford spends $20,000 a year for tree maintenance efforts, such as pruning. Greenwich, which has more land than Stamford and was also devastated by outages, has invested $1,295,957 of this years budget in tree maintenance. New Canaan spends $400,000 annually and Darien budgets $164,000.

Eversource conducts tree work in its coverage area, which is measured on a four-year cycle.

In the most recent cycle, which is coming to an end this fiscal year, the power company has spent $10.9 million to protect Stamfords 365 miles of line, according to Eversource spokesman Mitch Gross.

Kevin Murray, operations manager for Stamford parks and facilities, oversees the citys tree department, which he said coordinates with power and utility companies about potential tree hazards and storm response.

Murray said there was little that could have been done to prevent the recent downed trees. He said the trees were already compromised by the soft ground and the high winds from the first noreaster. Murray said his departments focus will now be to assess the trees affected by the latest storm and develop a replacement and preventative maintenance plan.

According to Jane von Trapp, CEO of the Bartlett Arboretum in Stamford, some of the tree damage may stem from the species of the tree, as well as its age.

Much of the mature trees that have gone down is because the wrong tree was planted to begin with 50, 60 years ago, she said. We know more about where to plant and what kind of tree to plant not to impede on the wire.

Von Trapp said Stamford has a strong program to replace fallen trees and is now more diligent about what and where something is planted. She said many of the downed trees are from a different era and are simply old.

Theyre doing their natural thing, which is culling themselves out, she said. This is probably pretty natural. ... I think (the city) is making a diligent effort to try to take these problems away, but its not an overnight solution.

Staff writer Ken Borsuk contributed to this story.One of the pastors at our church has been encouraging us to invite someone to church on Easter. She said, "Seventy percent of the people you ask to come on Easter Sunday will come."

With the death of Billy Graham, many stories and testimonies were given about his ministry and the godly life he lived while on this earth. When I read about him, it reinforced what was said at our church. In the early days of his ministry, Billy Graham wanted to mobilize local Christians to bring their friends and relatives who didn't know the Lord to his evangelistic meetings. So, the Graham teams devised something called "Operation Andrew," a simple plan whereby church members listed the names of their friends and family members and began to pray for them. They invited them to attend Billy Graham's crusade to hear the gospel.Darin R. Gehrke has been named executive vice president, community bank president for Jacksonville at Town and Country Bank.

He will be responsible for commercial banking and relationship management in Jacksonville and the greater Morgan County area.

We are pleased to welcome Darin to the Town and Country family, said Grant Franklin, executive vice president for sales. His financial leadership and desire to enhance our relationship with the community and area businesses strengthens our expanding team.

Im excited to be in a position to further Town and Countrys mission to empower the financial well-being of our communities, one person and business at a time, Gehrke said.

Gehrke received his bachelors degree in business administration from Illinois College and his masters degree in higher education and student affairs from Indiana University-Purdue University in Indianapolis.

He lives in Woodson and has two children, Ty and AJ.

Town and Country Bank and Town and Country Banc Mortgage Services have offices in Buffalo, Decatur, Edwardsville, Fairview Heights, Jacksonville, Lincoln, Mount Zion, Springfield, Bloomington and Quincy, where it operates under the name of Peoples Prosperity Bank.



Millikin Universitys Tabor School of Business hosted its first Young Women Influencing Business Summit last week.

The summit included keynote speakers, interactive workshops, networking and conversations on current business trends. The summit focused on influencing and empowering women as leaders in business.

Keynote speakers included Shelley Rosen, former McDonalds Corp. executive, and Comptroller Susana Mendoza, as well as panel sessions and workshops.

Millikins Young Women Influencing Business Summit was presented by Women in Business, a student organization at Millikin University in the Tabor School of Business dedicated to bringing together business professionals and students of all majors to network and learn about business.

 Compiled by David C.L. BauerThere was a message from God, 20-year old Kaylee Muthart believed, that she needed to sacrifice something special.

Muthart was high on methamphetamine, a freight train of a dose bigger than all the others, and the signs were all there. A white bird along a dark path. A man with a biblical name asking for a key. Muthart was looking for personal salvation, but she also wanted to save the world.

"I thought everything would end abruptly, and everyone would die," Muthart told Cosmopolitan, "if I didn't tear out my eyes immediately."

She did. And for the first time since the Feb. 6 incident in Anderson, South Carolina, Muthart is explaining how she went from being an honors student to becoming a drug user who fought off several men trying to subdue her as the remains of her sea-green eyes dangled from her head.

Steven G. de Polo / Getty Image

Muthart was a good student in high school, she told the magazine. But a focus on work to save money for a car and issues with an irregular heartbeat led to poor school performance. She dropped out and soon turned to alcohol and other substances.

"But when I was 19 last summer," she told Cosmopolitan, "I was smoking pot with an acquaintance at his house and got a strange high. Later, I googled the symptoms that surprised me the most - numb lips and feeling like I was on top of the world. I'd long been a religious Christian; the high made me feel particularly close to God."

Muthart said she believed the marijuana was laced with meth or cocaine - which appears to have made her relate drug use with a religious experience. And soon after, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. The extreme highs and lows of the condition left her susceptible to drug use, doctors told her.

"While on ecstasy, I studied the Bible. I misinterpreted a lot of it. I convinced myself that meth would bring me even closer to God," she said.

In August, she picked at blackheads on her face until it bled. By Thanksgiving, Muthart moved from smoking meth to snorting and shooting it into her veins, she said.

Her mother, Katy Tompkins, was alarmed by her rapidly deteriorating condition soon before the incident.

"The day before it happened, which was my birthday, I was getting ready to have her committed, just to get her off the streets and away from it," Tompkins told People. "But I was too late." Tompkins and Muthart could not be reached by The Washington Post.

Muthart was in a drug-induced hallucination when she had her epiphany. Her eyes had to go. "Why me? Why do I have to do this?" she prayed, pounding the ground.

Then, in graphic detail, Muthart explained how she came to be blind, near a church.

"So I pushed my thumb, pointer, and middle finger into each eye. I gripped each eyeball, twisted, and pulled until each eye popped out of the socket - it felt like a massive struggle, the hardest thing I ever had to do. Because I could no longer see, I don't know if there was blood. But I know the drugs numbed the pain."

She continued: "I'm pretty sure I would have tried to claw right into my brain if a pastor hadn't heard me screaming, 'I want to see the light!' - which I don't recall saying - and restrained me. He later said, when he found me, that I was holding my eyeballs in my hands. I had squished them, although they were somehow still attached to my head."

A group of startled people rushed to help her, including the pastor - nearly 10 people in all, Muthart ventured to guess. "At some point, paramedics arrived, and I was so combative that they had to sedate me with ketamine," she told Cosmopolitan. She fought so hard that her wrists hurt for weeks. A helicopter airlifted her to Greenville Memorial Hospital.

Doctors excised the remains of her eyes to preserve her optic nerves and prevent infection, she said. Her hospital stay lasted about a week. "I was told there's red tissue (muscle filling the socket) and a white spot (my optic nerve endings) where my eyeballs used to be."

Muthart has reckoned with her issues. She was recently released from a psychiatric facility and has vowed to stay clear of drugs. She started a GoFundMe to get a seeing-eye dog and will get nonfunctioning prosthetic eyes once her sockets heal.

It has been a big adjustment to permanent blindness. She has run into things at home and has trouble sleeping. Her mother is helping the best she can.

But Muthart said the episode turned her back from the brink.

"I'd rather be blind than dependent on drugs," she said. In a strange way, Muthart now sees the light.MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. - In the hotly contested special election in this southwest corner of Pennsylvania, one issue has universal support: President Donald Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum imports.

Even as Republican Rick Saccone and Democrat Conor Lamb have fought over health care, taxes and guns, the two agree that the Republican president's tariffs are good for jobs and the country.

It's time to "take some action to level the playing field here," said Lamb, who endorsed the tariffs as soon as Trump announced them.

"This is a national security issue," Saccone said. "Believe me, no one wants to start a trade war. This is a very narrowly focused field that the president is touching on."

The unanimity in steel country stands in sharp contrast to how the tariffs have played in Washington and around the country. Trump's surprise move has scrambled party loyalties, upsetting Republican leaders fearing a trade war and attracting the support of Democrats determined to win back working-class voters in the midterm elections.

In the final days of this closely watched U.S. House contest, the issue's resonance in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District underscored Trump's populist appeal, how he reconfigured the electoral map in 2016 and has redefined the Republican Party.

And yet, there are limits to Trump's support. Tuesday's race is a toss-up despite Trump's 19-point win in the district and millions of dollars of Republican-backed attack ads against Lamb. The 33-year-old Marine and former prosecutor has waged an energetic campaign against Saccone, 60, a state lawmaker.

Privately, Trump has cited the close race as a reason to move ahead on tariffs, and he rebuffed economic advisers who worry that they will kill more jobs than they create. At a rally here for Saccone on Saturday, Trump touted his work for his supporters in steel country.

"A lot of steel mills are now opening up because what I did," the president said.

If Lamb wins Tuesday, it will be a major setback for both House Republicans in their bid to hold the majority this November and the president.

And no matter the outcome, the frustration of the economy's forgotten prevails in this section of Trump country, fueling a strong anti-establishment mood among the electorate.

Jim Walton, 53, a roofer who intended to vote for Lamb, said Americans have been "getting treated unfairly for years, and it's been sad. Even Bill Clinton - he was one of the better presidents we had in there - he signed that NAFTA deal that screwed a lot of us."

The nation's largest steel companies, based in this district that stretches from the Pittsburgh suburbs to the state's rural borders with Ohio and West Virginia, have welcomed the new policy. But there is little expectation of an overnight renaissance for the steel industry, which peaked in the 1960s.

Still, the concept of punishing foreign companies for taking advantage of American steelworkers was powerful, and it crossed partisan boundaries.

Democrats and union canvassers were optimistic that the tariffs would not change the trajectory of the race. Every major union, from the United Steelworkers to the United Mine Workers of America, had endorsed Lamb, citing Saccone's long record of antilabor votes. Workers who rejected Hillary Clinton in 2016 were willing to back Lamb.

Democrats, anxious about the president, were generally pleased by the tariff. Republicans, inclined to trust Trump more than any other member of their party, were overjoyed.

David Podurgile, 52, described a buoyant new mood at his employer, Murray Energy, since the administration relaxed regulations on the coal industry, and he gave the president the benefit of the doubt on tariffs.

"There's going to be pressure from other countries at the beginning, so maybe there's going to be a trade war, as they call it," he said. "But we've been treated so unfairly for so long."

Twenty years ago, 21,100 Pennsylvanians were employed directly by iron and steel mills. Ten years later, that number dipped to 13,600. At the start of this year, just 10,600 Pennsylvanians worked in that industry, down slightly since Trump's inauguration.

The state's unemployment rate, at 4.7 percent, has returned to a level where it was before the Great Recession. Steel stopped being the region's major industry decades ago. For every worker employed by U.S. Steel, nine work at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center; the United Steelworkers' most recent project in the region is not organizing steelworkers but organizing graduate students at Pittsburgh's major universities.

"The working class is undergoing a major redefinition right now," said Beth Shaaban, a 39-year-old doctoral candidate at the University of Pittsburgh. "We're obviously in solidarity with all workers who may be in those fields more traditionally associated with the USW."

But the idea of taking action to punish "cheaters" in the steel market is potent - so potent that local Democrats have had nothing bad to say about it.

Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa., who faces reelection in this state that backed Trump, commended the president for taking "action to protect our steelworkers." Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto, D, who once criticized Trump for invoking Pittsburgh as a reason to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords, also praised the tariffs.

"There is no doubt that if we get a more level playing field, the opportunity to produce more steel is very real," Peduto told reporters this past week.

Outside Pennsylvania, Democrats in competitive races this November, such as Sen. Sherrod Brown, Ohio, Sen. Joe Donnelly, Ind., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wis., have offered similar praise.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., has given them, and the president, bipartisan cover.

"I totally agree, wholeheartedly agree with President Trump's instinct to go after China," Schumer told The Washington Post on Wednesday. "All of these academics [say] anytime you try to do anything on trade, it's protectionist. They ought to not let that deter them, but they ought to put together a real plan that works."

The tariffs have faced resistance from Republicans. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., opposed the move, fearing a reciprocal response from other nations on U.S. products such as Harley-Davidson motorcycles and Kentucky bourbon.

Sen. Patrick Toomey, R-Pa., who easily carried the 18th Congressional District in his 2016 reelection, called the tariff "a big mistake that will increase costs on American consumers, cost our country jobs, and invite retaliation from other countries."

Republicans worry that the extra costs will erase the financial benefits of the tax cuts, negating a potent issue for the midterms.

Toomey's position is shared by many conservative Republicans who won office powered by the anti-tax and anti-spending tea party movement. The Steering Committee of the Republican Study Committee, a conservative group that encompasses most of the House Republican Conference, said "tariffs on imported goods are a tax on American consumers and businesses," even if some foreign actors were breaking the rules.

There's little enthusiasm for that idea in Pennsylvania.

"I've worked on jobs where they say, we're going to use nothing but American-made stuff, and they don't follow through," said Greg Firestone, 62, a heavy industry carpenter. "No offense to our friends from the north, but I've heard that promise and then I've seen the steel bars with 'Made in Canada' stamped on them. If he can make the steel company in this country competitive, it would be a big thing."

Southwest Pennsylvania has seen a political tariff debate before. In 2002, the George W. Bush administration announced similar steel tariffs, a move widely seen at the time as a way to win votes in Rust Belt states that he had lost in the 2000 election.

The Trump administration looked at the 2002 example as the new tariffs were put together. The Council of Economic Advisers presented the president with an analysis finding that the 2002 tariffs led to job losses, with fewer gains in the steel industry than declines in manufacturing and other sectors.

The president considered the advice but said that he was skeptical of economists and their data. He had promised this sort of policy as a candidate for president, and it was popular with his base.

- - -

The Washington Post's Erica Werner and Josh Dawsey contributed to this report.TODAY (SUNDAY)

 Prather, Howard Dwain. 1 p.m. today at Wood Funeral Home in Rushville. Interment with military rites will follow at Rushville City Cemetery.



MONDAY

 Akers, Dorothy (James). 11 a.m. Monday at Airsman-Hires Funeral Home in White Hall. Visitation 9-11 a.m. Monday, prior to the service, at the funeral home.

 Beddingfield, Kathryn I. Graveside service 11 a.m. Monday at Concord Cemetery in Concord. Williamson Funeral Home is in charge.

 McCombs, William Charles Bill. 11:30 a.m. Monday at Sager Funeral Home in Beardstown. Burial with military honors will follow at St. Johns Lutheran Cemetery. Family will meet friends 3-5 p.m. today at the funeral home.

 Osterman, Debra Jean Hardwick. 3:30 p.m. Monday at Daws Family Funeral Home in Roodhouse. Visitation at the funeral home from 1 p.m. Monday until the time of the service.

 Smith, Donald Lee Smitty. Graveside funeral services and military honors 11 a.m. Monday at Gillette Cemetery, northwest of Beardstown. There will be no visitation. Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Jacksonville is in charge.

 Taylor, Leslie Renee Cox. 7 p.m. Monday at Neece-Airsman-Hires Funeral Home in Waverly. Visitation at the funeral home 5 p.m. Monday until the time of the service.

 Utter, Richard Lee. Memorial service 10 a.m. Monday at Hendricker Funeral Home in Mount Sterling. Memorial visitation 4-7 p.m. today at the funeral home.



TUESDAY

 Logan, Trisha Renea. 11 a.m. Tuesday at Worthington Funeral Home. Visitation 5-7 p.m. Monday at the funeral home.



FRIDAY

 Seybold, Bertha A. (Shaw). Noon Friday at Niebur Funeral Home in Pittsfield. Visitation 11 a.m.-noon Friday at the funeral home. Niebur Funeral Home is in charge.



SATURDAY, MARCH 17

 Graves, R. Steven Rudy. Celebration of life 2 p.m. Saturday, March 17, at WBs Pub-N-Grub in Charleston, where his family also will greet friends. Buchanan & Cody Funeral Home in Virginia is in charge.Three unrelated fires sent two San Antonians to the hospital and displaced a family on Saturday, officials said.

Firefighters battled a blaze on 1238 W. Laurel St. near Culebra Road after a U-Haul truck crashed at about 10:25 a.m. into a building that houses Mustang Enterprises, which sells new and used laundry equipment.

San Antonio Fire Department Spokesman Woody Woodward said the crash caused a gas leak in the building, resulting in both the truck and a section of the building catching fire.

RELATED: Valero clerk injured attempting to thwart robbery Saturday morning

Firefighters were able to contain the blaze until CPS Energy arrived to shut off the gas, officials said.

Woodward said the truck driver was transported by EMS for low priority injuries. No other injuries were reported.

Almost two hours later in an unrelated fire, a bedridden man was rescued from a burning house in the 300 block of Humboldt Street.

Firefighters arrived to find the rear of the single-story home engulfed in flames, prompting the rescue. The man was taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Investigators were looking into the cause of the fire; officials said it may have had something to do with the mowing of a lawn nearby

In the third fire Saturday, a family was evacuated from their North Central apartment at about 3:30 p.m. after their balcony caught fire.

San Antonio Fire Captain Steve Boldway said 14 fire units responded to the fire at the Lincoln Village Apartments on 1700 Jackson Keller Road.

Boldway reported that there were no injuries and that the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

The family will be relocated to another apartment at Lincoln Village for the night, Boldway said.SEGUIN  Wild claims about conspiracies and online threats mark an investigation into the death of a couple shot dead in front of their young sons last month.

Dr. Robert Fadal II, charged with murder in the Feb. 25 killing of Anthony and Tiffany Strait, told investigators that he shot the couple because he was afraid they were Russian mobsters there to kill his mother in retaliation for his infiltration of an international monetary conspiracy, according to an affidavit.

But at least one member of the victims family isnt buying it, saying Fadal is trying to pull an insanity defense.

RELATED: Seguin family doctor allegedly killed husband, wife with 3 children present

Anthony Strait, 27, and Tiffany Strait, 30, accompanied by their sons ages 7, 9 and 10, were inside the gated Fadal family compound near the Guadalupe River, just east of New Braunfels, to help Fadals mother move some furniture. They were friends of the Fadal family and well known to Robert Fadal, those close to them said.

The two adults were shot as they were getting out of their GMC truck at about 11:40 a.m. that Sunday morning. Lt. Craig Jones of the Guadalupe County Sheriffs Department said evidence suggests Fadal fired from a balcony at his nearby home.

When he was being questioned by law officers after the shooting, Fadal refused to speak around any radios, internet-based devices or even a clock, saying he feared he would be recorded, according to an affidavit. He also told investigators that his life was in jeopardy and he had been threatened online because he had found out about the conspiracy.

The victims family doesnt believe Fadal.

Hes making up a story, said Xiomara Strait, Anthony Straits mother. There is a motive behind it, but he is not wanting to say what the motive is.

Her husband, Fred Zajonczkoski, said the Straits had been in and out of the compound in the same GMC truck countless times and Fadal knows the vehicle. Hes trying to pull an insanity defense, Zajonczkoski said.

According to an affidavit, first responders reported that when they were treating the victims at the scene, Fadal came out of his house and said he had killed two innocent people.

For their part, officers say in an affidavit they suspect Fadal may have been on drugs. A blood test was taken, but results have not been made public.

Fadal is in jail in lieu of $5 million bail on a charge of capital murder of multiple persons. His attorney, James E. Millan, declined comment.

Friends have set up an account at https://www.gofundme.com/tiffanyanthonystrait to benefit the three boys, who are in the care of their maternal grandparents.

To read more about evidence that has been gathered and what others who know Fadal have to say about him, go to expressnews.comIn hot pursuit of General Francisco 'Pancho' Villa, more than 50,000 American troops crossed into Mexico on March 14, 1916. It was one of the most explosive periods in the history of U.S.-Mexico relations.

President Woodrow Wilson ordered Gen. John J. Pershing to head the Punitive Expedition into Mexico with the sole aim to arrest Pancho Villa. The Mexican revolutionary was retaliating against a U.S. arms embargo by leading raids that killed American citizens in Mexico and New Mexico.Despite what conspiracy theorists believe, the exclamation point is not a nefarious attempt by our government to pollute young minds into submission. Nor is it a state-sponsored activity to undermine American grammar.

I stumbled across the bizarre history of the exclamation point in the American pantheon of punctuation usage. In the old days of two-finger typing, one simply used a single period and then backspaced to insert an apostrophe above it  and viola! You had the exclamation point!

The Smithsonian Magazine asserts that the exclamation point has its genesis in ancient Latin when medieval monks used the Latin word io at the end of a sentence to indicate joy. The American Bookmarker, however, makes a persuasive point for Willem Bilderdijk, a Dutch poet and philologist in 1756, for its fanciful exegesis.

Fifteen-century English printers were using it as a note of admiration before it evolved as a sense of wonderment in the 17th century. Although it was introduced as a standard keyboard symbol in the 1970s, the exclamation point was commonly used in DC comic books and simply called the bang, because it represented the sound of an actual gun being fired (Bang!).

As a kid, I loved reading Action Comics because of the flagrant use of exclamation points (Kapow! Bang! KaBoom! Zap!). Back then, I didnt even know they were using onomatopoeia  words that make a sound. I ran around the house shouting Kapow! and KaBoom! because they attracted so much attention. And these attention-grabbing punctuation marks were common among adolescents because their voices were seldom heard.

For millennials, using exclamation points is just the sign of the times, a product of creeping narcissism drawing attention to the text message (Hey, you! Pay attention!).

Theyre irresistible and addictive.

American writers have always felt that exclamation points are anathema and should be avoided altogether. F. Scott Fitzgerald, for instance, advised writers to Cut out all these exclamation points because an exclamation point is like laughing at your own joke.

Even the great Mark Twain, a superb storyteller, cautions future writers in his essay How to tell a Story (1895) not to succumb to whooping exclamation points because its depressing and makes one want to renounce joking and lead a better life.

Nobel laureate Ernest Hemingway, in his famous The Old Man and the Sea, used only one exclamation point in the entire novel, while writer Jennifer Egan  writing 65 years later  used a whopping 108 exclamation points in her award-winning novel, A Visit from the Goon Squad.

But the guy who used the most exclamation points was Junot Diaz, inserting 299  thats right!  exclamation points in his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Theyre quite common as online warning symbols: the triangle sign with an exclamation point. That little narcissistic symbol has also changed the course of history  even Hamilton, Ohio, changed its official name to Hamilton! in 1986. Its a shoutout, a throwback to college kids with megaphones and raccoon coats and that entire hip-hip hurrah! nonsense.

One baby boomer who is addicted to exclamation points is President Donald Trump. While Michael Wolff in his book Fire and Fury claims the man is semiliterate, The Donald is a frequent exclamation point abuser.

In fact, Philip Cowell, a commentator for BBC Culture, writes that @realDonaldTrump has posted 2,251 tweets with exclamation points in 2016 alone.

Sad!

And, folks, just because the use of exclamation points is evolving in our universe, dont despair. Few things excite me more than reading a strange tale of reptilian beings with exclamation points on their foreheads before I hit the sack.

Oh, well. Stay alive!Zambian authorities deported controversial South African dancer Zodwa Wabantu on Saturday after authorities vowed she would not be allowed to perform because she dances without underwear, the dancers promoter said.

She had been billed to perform at an album launch later on Saturday evening, but was sent back when she landed in the morning at the Kenneth Kaunda international airport.

I can confirm that Zodwa has been deported back to South Africa by the immigration department, her promoter Lucky Munakampe told AFP, adding no reasons were given for her deportation.

Immigration department officials were not reachable on their phones for comment.

Zambias religious affairs minister Godfridah Sumaili told AFP last week that Zodwa would not be allowed to perform in the country.

Zambia is a Christian nation where morality and ethics have to be followed. We dont expect a woman to dance without underwear, Sumaili said.

Zambia is a largely conservative country where the majority of people practice Christianity.

Last year the censorship board in neighbouring Zimbabwe barred Wabantu from performing at an annual carnival after a protest by a local actress.

Following a backlash, censorship authorities later backtracked and allowed Wabantu to perform at a private venue, but she refused to go saying she was afraid.

 NewZimbabwe

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsBOTSWANA and Zambia yesterday agreed to incorporate Zimbabwe in the US$259 million Kazungula rail and road bridge project as President Emmerson Mnangagwas administration cleanses Zimbabwes international diplomatic and economic image.

It took President Mnangagwa, Botswanas leader President Seretse Ian Khama and President Edgar Lungu of Zambia less than 10 minutes to seal a deal that failed to get traction in a decade of poisoned relations with former president Mr Robert Mugabe.

President Mnangagwa; Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo; Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Dr Sibusiso Moyo; Secretary for Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Mr George Charamba and other Government officials flew into Kasane yesterday morning and finalised the pact in minutes.

Together with Presidents Khama and Lungu and their delegations, they inspected progress made in the construction of the 923-metre-long bridge.

Talks on the multinational project in Sadcs North-South Corridor started in 2008 and work commenced in 2014, with Zimbabwe choosing to isolate itself from an initiative that will boost regional trade because Mr Mugabe did not get along with President Khama.

Soon after touring the project, President Mnangagwa and his team returned to Zimbabwe.

On arrival back in Harare, President Mnangagwa said: Well, that project has been on for the past 10 years and at the time of its conception there were three countries  Zimbabwe, Botswana and Zambia and they agreed on that bridge.

Down the line Zimbabwe pulled out as a result of some dispute at the time about the boundary but Zambia and Botswana decided to go ahead with the project.

So the project has been on for the past 10 years and as you have seen, lots of progress has been made. Now Zimbabwe has decided to come on board and Zambia and Botswana have agreed to have Zimbabwe come on board.

President Mnangagwa clarified the misconception that Zimbabwe had nothing to benefit from the Kazungula Bridge project.

The same facilities of a one-stop border post on the Zambia and Botswana side will now be constructed on the Zimbabwe side, and Zimbabwe will contribute to the loan in the same manner Zambia and Botswana are doing. It is a done deal and the three brothers are together again after the 10-year period of isolation, he said.

Construction of the bridge is being funded through a co-financing arrangement with the African Development Bank and the European Union-Africa Infrastructure Fund Trust.

Under Mr Mugabe, a dispute erupted after he refused to have the bridge enter Zimbabwes territory.

This necessitated design altercations with the bridge  which was supposed to go straight into Zimbabwe  now going westwards into Namibia before curving into Zambia.

As such, a bridge that would have been 600m long but for Mr Mugabes resistance ended up extending to close to a kilometre.

Presidents Mnangagwa, Khama and Lungu were evidently relaxed in each others company yesterday.

Zimbabwes leader said: As we were talking, I said I am their senior because I am the oldest but Khama claims he was the oldest President, and with regards to Lungu, I said I was ahead of you at school and he said I was appointed President first.

Zimbabwe is opening up for business and President Mnangagwa has set about mending political and economic relations in Sadc and beyond.

He is expected in China soon at Beijings invitation.

Last week, Russias President Vladimir Putin dispatched his top envoy, Mr Sergey Lavrov, to Harare to bolster political and economic co-operation; while Britain has sent two senior officials to Zimbabwe since December 2017.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest NewsFormer Cabinet minister and diplomat Ambrose Mutinhiri was arguably the biggest newsmaker last week after his abrupt resignation from Zanu PF and Parliament to lead a breakaway party now challenging President Emmerson Mnangagwa ahead of elections later this year.

Mutinhiri, who leads the National Patriotic Front (NPF), which has received an endorsement from former president Robert Mugabe, was accused of being behind deadly politically violence in Marondera, among a plethora of charges critics said made him an unsuitable political leader.

Our chief reporter Everson Mushava yesterday had a wide-ranging interview with the former Zipra commander who had unkind words for Mnangagwas government. He also disputed claims that Mugabe and his wife Grace are members of the NPF. Below are excerpts of the interview.

EM: You have been in the media and there are reports that you met Mugabe, are you at liberty to tell us the details of your meeting(s) with him?

AM: No, no, no. Im not at liberty to tell you details of my meeting with president Mugabe. The meeting was long and very instructive from a guidance point of view as it covered a range of important issues about our nation many of which are not for public consumption.

EM: Former Foreign Affairs minister Walter Mzembi was quoted yesterday saying Mugabe and Mnangagwa may work together in the forthcoming elections, what does this mean for your party?

AM: It means absolutely nothing. The founding members of NPF are tried and tested freedom fighters and disciplined cadres. We are not guided or moved by fiction or spin that is planted by mischief makers in newspapers.

Also, Im not aware that president Mugabe has appointed Cde Mzembi or anyone else for that matter as his spokesperson. But Im indeed aware as you are that Mnangagwa has a government and party spokesperson, none of whom has said anything even slightly resembling the claim that president Mugabe and Mnangagwa have agreed to work together in the forthcoming elections  a claim attributed to Cde Mzembi.

So I think only Cde Mzembi and the newspaper that quoted him can help you on that one.

EM: Are you aware of negotiations between Mugabe and Mnangagwa?

AM: No Im not aware of any such negotiations. I dont think its possible to be aware of something thats not there, but which maybe in the minds of some people who are scheming this or that scenario for reasons best known to themselves.

I think it is important for people to understand that president Mugabe has nothing to negotiate for or about with anyone. His benefits and those of the former first family are constitutional as are his political and human rights.

Everyone is equal before the law and the law, therefore, does not discriminate against president Mugabe.

He and his family are fully entitled to all their constitutional benefits and their civil and political rights just like you and me are. So why would he want to negotiate his or the rights of his family that are enshrined in the constitution? Is that what the so-called new era is about? Is it about humiliating and blackmailing president Mugabe and his family into negotiating their constitutional rights? Is that what the so-called negotiators are trying do? If it is, then they have successfully planned for failure.

EM: Mzembis story shows that former G40 members who are supposed to form the core of NPF are divided and others are seeking accommodation from Mnangagwas administration. What is your comment on that?

AM: What is G40? The theory or assumption that the so-called G40 members make up the core of NPF is just a spin. The core of NPF is made up of the core that made up Zanu PF before the November 15, 2017 military coup that unconstitutionally deposed president Mugabe and illegally imposed Mnangagwa.

That core of Zanu PF as it was before the coup has joined hands with a cross-section of other Zimbabweans from across the political divide to found and establish NPF whose immediate objective is to restore constitutional order, normalcy, democracy and legitimacy in Zimbabwe. You must understand that the military coup left Zanu PF in tatters.

Beneficiaries of the coup can, of course, gather in meetings here and there claiming to be Zanu PF (but) they and everyone else who was truly Zanu PF before the military coup know that the coup destroyed Zanu PF. Theres no real Zanu PF out there. All you have are make-believe appearances of Zanu PF, which will come to historic grief at the polls when the real Zanu PF speaks through the ballot against bullets.

In the end, politics will always lead the gun and triumph over it. History is full of lessons about that.

EM: So, do you mean to say Mugabe will not endorse Mnangagwa as the Zanu PF presidential candidate in the 2018 elections?

AM: You know what, when this issue came up at my meeting with president Mugabe last Sunday he was emphatic and unequivocal about his position. Let me say what he told me about this.

He said to me: ED thinks I am an idiot. How does he think I believe their claim that they are about upholding the legacy of the president, my legacy, when Im down because of them and when they have been dragging me in the mud?

People, especially in Zanu PF, want honest holders of the legacy of the president and they condemn hypocrisy, they condemn military brutality against the people.

He went on to say: ED says he wants me to endorse him, what will I be endorsing? Hypocrisy? Brutality against the people?

The killing and battering of children (CIO and police officers) who worked with me? No, no, no; Im not an idiot.

The political and illegal arrests must stop if the military regime is true to its claims that it is about upholding the legacy of the president. Why is it doing these injustices?

EM: Now to your resignation from Zanu PF. The meeting with Mugabe has invited a backlash from your former party and state media. Zanu PF has even despatched a delegation of senior party members to create a wedge between yourself and voters in Mashonaland East province. What is your reaction to that? Can you briefly describe your first week as an opposition politician?

AM: I have nothing to tell them except to say God forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.

As for my first week as NPF leader in formal terms, I have been overwhelmed and encouraged by the positive and inspiring response from across the country and across the political divide as well as from the Diaspora and well-wishers in the Sadc region and elsewhere on the African continent. The messages of support and goodwill keep pouring. What has really touched me in a particular way is the realisation that the people on the ground were waiting for this moment. They are telling me that NPF yasimudza dust rakapenga [NPF has raised dust]. So it has been a very good week in office.

EM: Zanu PF members have come out to attack you as a wartime deserter who caused confusion in the liberation struggle. Can you comment on your alleged links to Frolizi?

AM: I will not dignify inane views of self-styled stockholders of Zimbabwes liberation struggle about those who disagree with them. What value would my comment on ridiculous allegations about Frolizi, 37 years after the liberation struggle, add to todays burning bread and butter issues and the need to restore constitutional order, normalcy, democracy and legitimacy in the country? Its a shame that this chunhu chedu [our thing] thing has gone too far. It needs to be stopped.

EM: One of the first accusations was that you were part of Zanu PFs violence machinery during the bloody 2008 elections. What is your comment on allegations that you were involved in the murder of MDC-T activists and you threw their bodies into Wenimbe Dam?

AM: It is common knowledge that Wenimbe abductions you are referring to happened in Marondera East under the then area Member of Parliament, Cde Sydney Sekeramayi, who was also Minister of State for National Security. Your question would, therefore, be better answered by Cde Sekeramayi. I was MP for Marondera West and in my constituency there were no abductions of the kind you are referring to. I, therefore, want to say quite categorically that I was not part of any electoral violence in 2008.

EM: In your view, who was behind the violence that left over 300 MDC supporters dead and displaced thousands others?

AM: The violence happened across the country and did not only affect MDC supporters, whose number I dont know, but it also affected Zanu PF supporters, especially in Mashonaland provinces, who were accused of bhora musango allegedly because they were linked to then vice-president Joice Mujuru under the tutelage of the late General Solomon Mujuru.

Because of the seriousness of the matter, and given Mnangagwas recent shocking claims published in the British Economist Magazine that there was not even one single case of electoral violence in 2008, it is important that, like that of Gukurahundi atrocities, the question of who was behind the 2008 electoral violence must be the subject of a judiciary inquiry to settle the matter once and for all in the interest of truth and justice.

EM: During that time you were among senior Zanu PF officials who never came out to condemn the violence. Does that mean you approved of what was going on?

AM: I think that people need to know that this question of the 2008 electoral violence was a hotly discussed in Zanu PF.

It was a very divisive issue because many comrades from the affected areas demanded answers and justice.

The violence was heavily condemned internally within Zanu PF structures.

The fact that people did not come out in public with their condemnations was largely because of issues and dictates of internal democracy that require open discussion inside and silence outside.

But you will recall that this is the one major issue that necessitated Sadc and AU to intervene with the result that there were interparty negotiations that gave birth to the GNU between 2009 and 2013.

So that 2008 electoral violence was not ignored at all.

EM: Do you believe Zanu PF rigged elections and used violence to retain power and who was behind such heinous strategies?

AM: The question of whether elections were rigged is not a matter of belief but a technical matter of knowledge and information.

I dont have such knowledge and I dont have such information because I was never involved in the technical administration of elections. If anyone has such knowledge or information, I would be happy to look at it and to act on it.

EM: In resigning as a Zanu PF member you claimed that Mugabes removal was illegal and that soldiers had taken over the ruling party. Did it take you four months to realise that what happed violated the Constitution?

AM: A military coup is a military coup and it is unconstitutional. It speaks for itself.

You will be aware that it is now a well know fact that internal consultations within Zanu PF to find constitutional ways of challenging the coup government started on 19 November 2017.

It was clear that the central committee, which met that day was illegal and unconstitutional because it was an extension of the coup.

Thats I did not attend it. The same goes for the ill-fated attempt at impeachment on November 21 2017, it was unconstitutional and would have failed had it been put to a secret ballot vote.

I did not attend that session. So no, it has not taken me four months to realise that what happened on November 15 2017.

I with other Comrades knew this position from day one and we took various measures to deal with it.

You are aware that as NPF will filed a petition with Sadc and AU against the coup in January 2018, not this month. We have been busy at work in a deliberate and organised way.

EM: There are allegations that you were part of the Zanu PF process that resulted in President Emmerson Mnangagwas elevation. Can we then not say you had a hand in Mugabes ouster?

AM: I just told you that I did not attend the Zanu PF central committee meeting of November 19 2017 nor did I attend the Parliamentary session that attempted to impeach president Mugabe.

These are the only two processes that elevated Mnangagwa and I was not part of them.

EM: You are said to be the leader of the Zanu PF breakaway party, the NPF. Who elected you into that position and who endorsed you as the partys presidential candidate?

AM: Im NPFs founder leader and presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections by the decision of the founders of NPF as enshrined in the partys Constitution adopted on December 7 2017. The founders of the party will be made public in due course.

EM: Who else is in the NPF structures since only your name and that of Jealousy Mawarires have featured in the media?

AM: We will be announcing the complete founding structure of the NPF when we determine its necessary and in the interest of NPF to do so.

We are only too aware of the wicked machinations of the coup government and we will not give hostage to fortune on a silver platter.

EM: Are exiled former Zanu PF officials linked to G40 such as Jonathan Moyo, Patrick Zhuwao and Saviour Kasukuwere linked to the party and in what way?

AM: No. They are not. But we would of course welcome their goodwill and support as we are ready to welcome the goodwill and support of all Zimbabweans in and outside the country.

EM: What role is Mugabe playing in the NPF and what is your view concerning Mnangagwas statements that he is not happy that the former president is associating with your party?

AM: President Mugabe has no role in NPF. We have sought his goodwill and as our iconic liberator and founding leader of our nation and we are pleased that he gave us audience.

We know that our youth are inspired by his exemplary vision for youth empowerment and generational renewal.

He has also challenged us to keep alive the dream of Father Zimbabwe, Joshua Nkomo, a united and prosperous Zimbabwe.

So we find our enduring nationalist inspiration from these two founding leaders, President Mugabe and the late Vice President Joshua Nkomo.

As for Mnangagwas statement that hes not happy with President Mugabes associating with NPF, I say tough luck ED. The horses have bolted.

EM: What role is former first lady Grace Mugabe playing in the party?

AM: None. We respect her and appreciate the excellent work she did to advance the empowerment of women and the youth and we are looking forward to her continuing to do and grow that work in the interest of our nation. Her courage and bravery are inspiring.

EM: Some say you only left Zanu PF because you were disappointed that you were never made VP after the coup. What is your reaction to that?

AM: The reasons I left Zanu PF are written in black and white in my resignation letter of March 2 2017. I refer you to that letter through which I fully explain my reasons in words that are now immortal.

EM:. What would be the NPFs campaign message and what are you offering Zimbabweans as a party?

AM: Some of that we signposted in our consultation document but yes, we will be reaching out in the coming days, weeks and months with our messages and manifesto.

EM: In your view what needs to be done to ensure Zimbabwe hosts free and fair elections?

AM: Fundamentally, there must be a restoration of constitutional order, normalcy, democracy, legitimacy and demilitarisation.

The over 2 000 soldiers that are now embedded in villages and streets must be withdrawn through a credible programme.

Those who got power by force cannot be expected to run free, fair and credible elections.

It has never happened anywhere in the world. We cannot expect lunatics to run the mental asylum.

EM: Most people think there are now a lot of political parties in the country. What made you decide to form a new party as opposed to forming a new one?

AM: You cannot have too much democracy. Let the people decide in accordance with the Constitution of Zimbabwe.

EM: There are talks by opposition parties of forming a broader coalition. Do you share the same view and is your party ready to form an electoral pact with other opposition parties?

AM: We are well disposed to work with others for a common purpose in the national interest.

EM What do you think are NPFs chances against Mnangagwa and MDC-T leader Nelson Chamisa? Why do you think people should vote for you and your party?

AM: Let the pundits predict, while we organise for the people to decide.

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Related Zimbabwe Latest News- Former vice president Atiku accused APC government of failing to use 150,000 policemen guarding VIPs to protect the abducted schoolgirls in Dapchi, Yobe state

- Atiku who said the government did not do enough to protect the schoolgirls described the failure as carelessness

- He urged the authority to take firm action to ensure that it would never reoccur in the country

Former vice president Atiku Abubakar has spoken on 110 girls from Government Girls Science Technical College (GGSTC) Dapchi, Yobe state by kidnapped Boko Haram insurgents on February 19, describing the failure as carelessness.

Atiku declared that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) did not do enough to protect them.

Atiku, who responded to questions from This Day via email, expressed disappointment that the government failed to use the 150,000 policemen attached to VIPs to protect vulnerable schoolchildren in the northeast.

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According to him, ''Let me paraphrase Oscar Wilde and say that to lose one set of girls to Boko Haram may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose another set, looks like carelessness.

''As an opposition party, the APC was vocal to the point of exploiting the issue of the Chibok girls kidnapping. They did not cut the Jonathan administration any slack.

''They criticised that government every step of the way and some may even claim that they undermined the then governments efforts at resolving that unfortunate incident.

''So, it is rather surprising that a set of people who were so unsparing in their critique of the previous government would be in a situation whereby they have allowed these same terrorists to kidnap 110 girls.

''What would I have done differently? Recently, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission, Chief Mike Okiro, revealed that 150,000 policemen were guarding various elites and those we know as big men.

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''If I had my way, I would have recalled all of those 150,000 policemen who are not performing core police duties and send them to provide security for every school in the North-East region. That to me would be a better use of their time and services.

''We already know that Boko Haram has an agenda to cripple Western education in Nigeria. So, how could we have left those schools unguarded? Why should the police be guarding VIPs who can afford personal guards and leave vulnerable girls unguarded?

''We are spending billions trying to encourage girls to go to school only to allow them be abducted by terrorists. I condemn these abductions and I urge the federal government to take firm action to ensure that it would never reoccur in Nigeria.''

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had reported that a member of the federal House of Representatives representing Remo federal constituency under the PDP, Oladipupo Adebutu blamed the weakness in President Buhari's administration for the abduction of 110 girls from Dapchi, Yobe state by the insurgents.

Adebutu said the president must resign if his government fails to rescue the abducted girls as soon as possible.

He made this statement during an interview with journalists after the inauguration of PDP secretariat in Odogbolu local government area.

Nigerians react as Boko Haram terrorists kidnap over 100 girls in Dapchi, Yobe | Street Gist on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng- Mufutau Egberongbe wants Nigerians to be patient with President Muhammadu Buhari just like they were with the PDP governments for 16 years

- Egberongbe, a former lawmaker, believes there is no person that has the clout of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his ability to resolve the crises in the APC

- He denies any rift between the executive and the legislative arms of Lagos state as he gives reasons Ambode, Obasa deserve second terms

Mufutau Egberongbe, the special adviser to Speaker Mudashiru Obasa on legislative and political matters, gives reasons why the challenges facing the government of President Muhammadu Buhari will not stop him from winning the 2019 election. In this interview with selected journalists including Legit.ng, he also speaks on the relationship between the Lagos state governor, Akineunmi Ambode and Speaker Mudashiru Obasa

How would you describe the current eighth House of Assembly?

It has been a successful House. Private member bills are being sponsored in this Assembly unlike the previous ones when most bills came from the executive arm. The neighbourhood watch, the cancer institute and Yoruba language bills are just a few of such. These are things that have direct impact on the people they represent since they are very close to the grassroots. Don't forget the townhall meetings too which afforded the lawmakers the opportunity to feel the pulse of the people and which has severally assisted Governor Ambode in planning the budget while it eases its passage making the two arms remain on the same page.

To some people, the 2018 budget was rushed by the House. Why was it so?

Remember I said the document is generated by the executive and legislative arms. There is also the pre-budget meeting between the two arms where issues are raised and trashed. That is where the real job is done. The participants collapse themselves into a team to look at it. What also makes it easy is that the speaker and the governor had been working on the finances of the state before their latest positions. The speaker was the chairman of the committee on budget while the governor was a former accountant-general of the state.

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What is the relationship between the executive and the legislature currently?

Without mincing words, the executive is moving at a geometric pace. And there is no way the executive will run in that pace without the cooperation of the legislature. The governor recently granted assent to seven bills in a day. It has never happened in this state. That alone answers your question.

Would you recommend the speaker for another term?

Honestly, I have known the speaker for over 10 years now. I know him as a godfearing person. He is also a very technical and thorough person. He remains versatile and strives to have knowledge of issues. I think it is good for our system. I would strongly recommend that for the governor and the speaker, it is half a dozen and six which has no difference. What they have started together, they should complete together. It is not about the speaker but for the progress of the state.

Now, there is this general outcry of the expectations of Nigerians not met by the APC government. What do you think are the reasons for the seeming inability of your party to meet these expectations?

First, Nigerians are very impatient people. See them at the bus stop and canteens, you will definitely see someone attempting to jump the queue. Nigerians want the rot of over 16 years repaired in less than three years. Second, there is this insincerity on the part of the opposition because they just want to paint the government as bad even despite the success recorded in the fight against corruption.

Egberongbe says no Nigerian politician has the capacity to resolve the crises in the APC like Tinubu. Credit: Legit.ng

Most times, I hear people saying that the same people that destroyed the PDP are the ones in the APC currently. Yes, while I agree with you, the party itself is such an institutionalized one and capable of whipping anyone to line. Look at how that has assisted the government. You see how some international bodies have described our president as incorruptible. But what are we saying back home? Buhari is just one of us, massive population. What have you as an individual done to bring the much needed change? I think we should just be patient with the political class. Now that we have seen a good man, let's give him a chance to work; if it works, it will be for the benefit of everyone and even the future generations. We need to be sincere with ourselves.

There is this anxiety that has continued to talk Tinubu's role as a mediating factor in the internal crises that have plagued the APC for sometime now. Do you see any success in this task before him?

What is wrong in us warring and later coming to jaw-jaw? Whatever reason would anybody see to make him be against a reconciliatory move if ever we are being sincere? And who has personality of Asiwaju? This is not just because he is my mentor, but let's put on the table and ask ourselves who that person is that is like Asiwaju. Who is that individual that has made friends in every part of the country and still maintains those contacts since he was a senator? None. I am not saying he is a saint, but he loves Nigeria passionately.

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So does this imply that you mean there is no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2019?

Yes, both at the federal and state levels. Just go round Lagos and see the progress recorded in the tenure of Ambode. Have you been to Lekki? Have you been to Ojodu-Berger recently to see the transformation? Recently in Oshodi area of Lagos, a couple was caught via the CCTV stealing. I agree that there are areas of challenge but putting them side-by-side relatively with the progress, I think the latter supersedes.

What would you say to those dreaming of unseating Buhari in 2019?

They should not waste their resources and time trying to defeat him. Rather, they should collaborate with him, use their money to set up small and medium enterprises to sustain the economy and create jobs so they would be respected as statesmen. From within the party, nobody is raising his hand. Severally, even leaders of other parties have confirmed that Buhari has tried. Bode George is one of them. Come down to Lagos, see how Ambode has revolutionise Epe, a former sleepy town. What that means is that the value of land there has shared up, the economy and the night life too have received boosts. We have a governor who is constantly thinking.

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Legit.ng earlier reported that the speaker of the Lagos state House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, through Mufutau Egberongbe, recently commended the Nigerian army on its directive to its personnel to learn the countrys three major indigenous languages - Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa.

In a statement sent to Legit.ng by his media aide, Mufutau Egberongbe, on Saturday, November 25, Obasa said the directive showed that the army was passionate about ensuring internal peace and unity in the country.

EXCLUSIVE: Be patient with President Buhari, Femi Adesina tells Nigerians - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- The PDP has reacted to the illegal military wares seized by the Nigerian Customs

- PDP alleged that there are members of the APC plotting violence in the country

- They called on the government to investigate Governor Yahaya Bello who has been accused of facilitating the illegal importation by Senator Melaye

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) said the alleged linking of the ruling party and Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, is saying more about the party's desperation a 2019 elections near.

Vanguard reports that the PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Saturday, March 10, asked the presidency to investigate the Kogi state governor who was linked to the alleged importation by Senator Dino Melaye.

READ ALSO: Native doctors in Benin revoke curses placed on human trafficking victims

The statement read: From the reports so far, it appears that we are now having a clue on how weapons and other military equipment being used by marauders and criminals to ravage and murder our citizens, are illegally sneaked into the country and by which interest.

Nigerians now know that some persons and officials linked with APC interests have been playing roles in compromising the security of our nation by smuggling in military equipment for unknown groups ostensibly to carry out evil activities.

We hold that this is a very critical matter and as a pro-people party committed to the well being of Nigerians, urge the Presidency and the military to quickly offer explanations to Nigerians on who issued the end user certificate for the importation of the said military equipment into our country.

The PDP demands an open forensic investigation so that Nigerians will know the truth. Nigerians need to know where the military gadgets were sourced from and who purchased them? They need to know who issued the end user certification for the importation and, if they are not for the military, who the actual end user is and the intended final destination.

The party also demanded an open inquest into the alleged involvement of Governor Yahaya Bello and his aides in this matter.

PAY ATTENTION: Read the news on Nigerias #1 news app

Legit.ng earlier reported that on Friday, March 9, has lambasted Governor Yahaya Bello, after security operatives intercepted military wares allegedly imported illegally into the country by the governor.

The opposition party said the imported military wares would not stop the party form defeating Governor Bello in the 2019 election.

A statement by the director research and documentation of the party, Dickson Achadu, accused the governor of attempting to use violence after losing popularity in the state.

Kogi West senatorial district to recall senator Dino Melaye from the Nigerian Senate - On Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper- The UTME 2018 candidates who had their examinations today, March 10, commend JAMB for its proper organisation

- However, some of the candidates panicked as they were not familiar with the use of computer

- Other candidates who are yet to write their exams are, therefore, advised to familarise themselves with computer before their turn

Some candidates, who sat for the first session of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME), on Saturday, March 10, commended JAMB as few panicked due to their unfamiliarity with the use of computers.

Abayomi Otubela, the proprietor of Lagooz Schools Agege, Lagos, whose school serves as one of the UTME centres, announced this to the parents of the candidates at the waiting lodge in the centre.

Students writing Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) Mock Examination at Mater Dei High School Imiringi in Ogbia Local Government Area of Bayelsa state. Credit: NAN

Otubela said some candidates had difficulties navigating through the computers, which made them to panic.

Some of our children are fidgeting because they are not familiar with the use of computers.

Some of them said they cannot even navigate to move to the next subject, so we had to put them through the process before the examination started, he said.

He advised parents to inform those, who had not written the examination, to get familiar with the use of computers and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) software.

READ ALSO: If Tinubus reconciliation fails, there will be mass defection from APC - Shehu Sani

For those of you, who have people that havent written, let them get familiar with the use of computer and JAMB software.

That was why JAMB conducted the mock examination so that they can familiarise themselves with the software," he said.

He also advised parents to encourage their children to prepare well academically in order to gain admission into the schools of their choice.

Meanwhile, some candidates sitting for the ongoing UTME in some centres in Lagos, Benin and Abuja have commended the JAMB as CBT proceeds smoothly in most centres.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the examination commenced on Friday, March 9 across the country, with computer Based Test,(CBT).

A cross section of the candidates writing the test at Connection Computer Centre, Lagos, commended JAMB for its proper organisation.

Kehinde Adenuga said the organisation of the examination was convenient for applicants.

The process of registration and allocation has been convenient, as everything is done online.

The first batch started by 7am, and I will be in the next batch to write by 9am. I can only pray for the best, he said.

Chime Lucky, another candidate, expressed hope for success in the test.

I wrote JAMB in 2017 but I didnt do too well, I hope and pray that I am able to secure admission this year, she said.

Obinna Ume, a parent, who brought his ward to write the test, also commended the arrangement.

There is no rowdiness and the candidates are expected to have basic knowledge of computer to write the test.

This is commendable and it will go a long way to encourage computer literacy among students, he said.

Akinyele Ariyo, supervisor for the examination centre assured that the test was foolproof against manipulation.

The examinations we are conducting are well organised and protected against malpractices.

The questions are computer based and cannot be leaked by anybody, and the centres are monitored with security cameras connected to a central server he said.

Ariyo said that his centre accommodated 250 candidates for each batch, with three batches in a day.

READ ALSO: There is no war or any insecurity issue in Rivers - PDP tells Buhari

Also, some 2018 UTME candidates in Benin on Saturday, March 10, tasked the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) to be time cautious.

One of the candidates, Endurance Abang, said that the exams was schedule for 7am but could not start until 8am.

Abang said that some of the candidates travelled early to their various centres without food only to start waiting for JAMB officials.

He however, called on JAMB to make mock examinations compulsory for all the candidates that enrolled for the exam, adding that it would enable them to familiarise with computers and other back-ups equipment used at the exam centres.

Solomon Osarodion, another candidate, lauded JAMB for the smooth conduct of the examination. He, however, blamed JAMB for not commencing examination early enough as slated.

Osarodion said that JAMB should ensure proper monitoring of all the facilities used during the exams as he said that some of the computers are outdated.

A centre administrator, Daniel Egeonu, said that JAMB has a way of monitoring all its accredited centres before the commencement of each exam, adding that JAMB would not accredit any centre without meeting its requirements.

Egeonu, however, blamed late commencement of exams on the part of candidates not arriving centres early enough.

Also, Idowu Odufoye, an Inspector of Call (IC) from the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) told NAN that they recorded a hitch-free screening at the centre.

We carried out the screening in four different stages and there was no problem with the candidates.

They complied, obeyed instructions and none of them were caught with any incriminating material," Mrs Odufoye said.

According to Moshood Momoh, a JAMB official, no issue was encountered during the examination and the candidates behaved very well and were orderly.

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NAN reports that out of 250 candidates registered for the first day at the centre, only one candidate was absent.

Legit.ng previously reported that JAMB advised candidates for the 2018 UTME yet to receive their examinations details to visit its website for such information.

The boards head of media, Fabian Benjamin, gave the advice in an interview with NAN on Friday, March 9, in Abuja, following complaints by candidates.

The examination commenced on Friday in JAMB approved computer based test centres with some 1.6 million candidates registered for test holding from March 9 to March 17.

Nigerians express mixed feelings as JAMB reduces admission cut-off to 120 - on Legit.ng TV:

Source: Legit.ng- The Coalition of Urhobo and Isoko Youths (CUIY) vows to mobilize support for President Muhammadu Buhari

- The group urged the president him to contest for the presidency in 2019, adding he has the interest of all Nigerians at heart

- The coordinator of the group, Comrade William Omoro, said the president deserved to be reelected for a second term

Ahead of the 2019 general elections, a Coalition of Urhobo and Isoko Youths (CUIY) has vowed to mobilize support for President Muhammadu Buhari, urging him to contest for the presidency.

According to Vanguard, the coordinator of the group, Comrade William Omoro, expressed satisfaction with the performance of Buhari, saying the president deserved to be reelected for a second term since he had the interest of all Nigerians at heart.

The group also expressed confidence in the leadership of Chief John Odigie-Oyegun as national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

READ ALSO: Obasanjo pays solidarity visit to Benue state (Photos)

Omoro said the Buhari led administration had been busy stabilizing the the dwindling economy that was bastardized by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and had succeeded in taking the country out of recession.

While praising President Buhari for his dogged and relentless the fight against corruption, the group coordinator said his introduction of NPower scheme had given hope to the unemployed youths in the country.

He enjoined Nigerians to give Buhari the support he needs to build on his successes.

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Legit.ng previously reported that a southeast based pressure group, the Movement for the Actualization of South-East Presidency (MASEP), stated that the best realistic chance for the Igbo to produce the president of the country is 2023 after President Buharis second term.

Leadership reports that the group at a press conference in Abuja recently said the president has done well and should be supported by well-meaning Igbo sons and daughters for another term in office.

The next President of Nigeria. Who will win the 2019 elections? on Legit.ng TV.

Source: Legit- A chieftain of APC in Bayelsa, Perekeme Kpodoh, has accused some party's governors of working against Tinubu committee

- President Muhammadu Buhari had recently mandated Tinubu to reconcile the aggrieved party's members

- Kpodoh said that those working against the second term ambition of PMB are allegedly involved in the tenure extension for party's NWC

A former security adviser to the Bayelsa state government, Perekeme Kpodoh, has alleged that some state governors and politicians within the All Progressive Congress (APC) of working against the success of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu committee on peaceful reconciliation and presentation of a formidable from for the re-election of President Muhammad Buhari in 2019.

Leadership reports that Kpodoh said that those working against the second term ambition of PMB are allegedly involved in the tenure extension handed to the national chairman of the party, chief John Oyegun, the refusal of the party to hold a national convention and promotion of crises in state chapters of the party.

READ ALSO: Despite stealing $250M public funds, PDP leaders say Ibori a blessing to Niger Delta

Legit.ng gathered that Kpodoh, who is a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Bayelsa state, said though the accused anti-PMB elements nearly killed the effort of the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu committee with the tenure extension handed John Oyegun, President Muhammad Buhari should monitor the governors and party leaders with a view to sanctioning them against the plot to scuttle Asiwaju Bola Tinubu effort.

He said: "We want the President to know that recent events have shown that some Governors and politicians within the party are working against his second tenure.The anti-PMB elements betrayed their evil intentions with the refusal to support reforms including the removal of Chief John Oyegun and the holding of a special convention.

"These governors with their puppet state executives of the party displayed their might and sent a clear threat to the progressives within the APC and President Muhammad Buhari that they can make or marred the deserved second term of President Buhari.

"In one hand they are mounting pressure on PMB to declare for second tenure and on the other hand they are working against what Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is doing to reconcile the party ahead of the 2019 polls. 

Kpodoh called on these alleged anti-APC elements to shun their selfish interest and support the reconciliation moves initiated by President Buhari through the Asiwaju Bola Tinubu committee, they should know that the platform known as APC was a married entered into among political elements such as the CPC, New PDP.

"With PMB appointing PDP committee, it shows that the problem is from the root and should be resolve by the founding fathers of the party like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. 

On the rising protest by supporters of the APC for the sack of Chief John Oyegun, Chief Kpodoh said though every party members have a right to expression on the matter, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun should swallow his pride and step aside to allow peace and reconciliation.

He declared that majority of those seeking the removal of Chief John Oyegun are die hard of President Muhammad Buhari.

"They love the party and believe that the promises made in 2015 have been achieved.But they are worried about the dismal show of support by the National Leadership of the Party led by Chief Oyegun.

The Oyegun led national chairmanship has failed to install internal party dynamics, party discipline and party accountability. Since 2015, the budget of APC has not been made public. Since 2015, the ruling party has not hold a single meeting. The failure of the Oyegun led committee is giving the PDP leverage to boast ahead of 2019 elections. 

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central senatorial district, said the plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to implement restructuring is just a mere form of campaign for the forthcoming 2019 elections.

APC official tells why his party could be voted out in 2019 - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Michika was rushed to hospital on Saturday, March 10 but died in early of Sunday

- He would be buried according to Islamic rites on Sunday, March 11 afternoon

- He was Adamawa governor from January 2, 1992 to November 17, 1993 on the platform of the NRC

- President Buhari penned a touching message to the family of late Michika and also sent a federal delegation led by SGF Boss Mustapha to them

A former governor of Adamawa state in northern Nigeria Saleh Michika has died.

Michika, the first civilian governor of the state, was reported to have died at the age of 77 years old in the early hours of Sunday, March 11 after being rushed to the hospital for medical attention.

Channels television quoted a statement from one of Michika's family members Aminu Iyawa as saying that the ex-governor was brought to the hospital on Saturday, March 10.

READ ALSO: Anti Buhari 'elements' in APC are working against Tinubu committees success - Party chieftain

He said: Michika was rushed to Federal Medical Centre on Saturday afternoon for medical attention by family members.

Yohanna Mathias, the Chief Press Secretary to the current Adamawa state governor Mohammed Jibrilla, has also confirmed the incident.

He noted that Governor Jibrilla visited the sick former governor in hospital and will also cut short his visit to Mubi in order to attend the funeral which will be conducted on Sunday afternoon according to Islamic rites.

Channels reports that Abubakar Saleh Michika was born 1941 and he was the first civilian governor of Adamawa from January 2, 1992 to November 17, 1993.

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He was a member of the then ruling National Republican Convention (NRC).

Michika's death comes just days after another former governor of Nasarawa state Aliyu Akwe-Doma also died.

According to his nephew, Ahmed Bako, Akwe-Doma, the immediate former governor of Nasarawa, died on the evening of Tuesday, March 6, in a foreign hospital in Israel after a brief illness.

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has sent condolences messages to the government and people of Adamawa state on the passing away of its first civilian governor, Alhaji Abubakar Saleh Michika.

Buhari's special adviser on media and publicity Femi Adesina said in a statement late on Sunday that the Nigerian leader "commiserated with the family, friends and professional colleagues of the astute administrator, political strategist and community developer, who worked variously with reputable international organisations before bringing his experience and skills to contribute to the development of Nigeria."

The President also commended Alhaji Michikas "strong sense of patriotism and commitment to national development which prompted him to alter his career path from the private sector, and take up public office by contesting and winning the gubernatorial elections in 1992."

He also noted that "the country will sorely miss the wise counsels, visionary leadership and disciplined lifestyle of the former Adamawa State governor."

Adesina also revealed that President Buhari has sent a Federal Government delegation led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha to commiserate with the family of the late governor.

Should President Buhari seek reelection in 2019? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News- The former vice president Atiku Abubakar has frowned against labelling attackers as Fulani

- He said people should be held responsible for their conducts as individuals and not on the basis of their ethnic affiliation

- He said the vast majority of Fulani people are peaceful and live in harmony with other ethnicities

The former vice president Atiku Abubakar has frowned against the tribal profiling of violent criminals on rampage across central Nigeria.

This Day reports that he emphasised that people should be held responsible for their conducts as individuals and not on the basis of their ethnic affiliation.

It is a misnomer to use the term killer herdsmen of Fulani extraction or killer Fulani herdsmen. Atiku said.

READ ALSO: PDP may lose more people - Makarfi

Legit.ng gathered that Atiku was asked: As a Fulani yourself, how do you feel about ongoing security crisis largely caused in many parts of the country by killer herdsmen of Fulani extraction? 

After giving his response by listing a litany of issues, which included blaming leadership crisis, rising population and climate change, Atiku wrapped up by reminding his interviewer that the Fulani are a predominantly good tribe.

He said: The vast majority of Fulani people are peaceful and live in harmony with other ethnicities.

When kidnappers kidnap, we do not identify them by their ethnicity. We identify them as kidnappers, pure and simple.

There may be fringe elements with criminal tendencies. Some may be Fulani. Some may not even be. Let us identify them by their activities and not by their ethnicity."

Atikus comments echoed the position of the Buhari administration on the reporting of herdsmen crisis.

In February, presidential spokesperson, Garba Shehu, slammed a section of the media for displaying an alarming lack of respect for journalism ethics and press laws in the Nigerian media

We want to state emphatically that a segment of the Nigerian media is sinking deeper and deeper into the mesh of hate speech in spite of repeated appeals by recognised and reputable media bodies, the Government and concerned Nigerians, Shehu said in a February 8 statement.

The interview came amidst rising tension over attacks linked to herdsmen, especially across the northcentral.

Dozens of deadly attacks carried out this year alone have left more than 500 people dead across the region.

While reported attacks are mostly against farming communities of other tribes, predominantly Fulani settlements have also come under deadly assaults.

Over the past week, dozens were killed in attacks on Fulani communities in Gembu and other communities around the Mambila plateau, Taraba state.

But social commentators are criticising the media for either under-reporting attacks on the Fulani or reporting most attacks, including those against Fulani communities, as being carried out by Fulani herdsmen.

Some journalists are guided by their ignorance of the ethnic terrain of northern Nigeria, said Aliyu Tilde, a retired university lecturer in Bauchi, The Nigerian media is dominated by southerners and they have little to no knowledge about the north.

He traced the misconception and stereotypes that southerners hold against northerners to Nigerias post independent conflict when one of the countrys earliest coup plotters wrote a book.

It started with Adewale Ademoyegas book titled Why We Struck, he used the book to paint the Fulani as bad even from the first chapters, Tilde said.

The media in the south jumped on that book and have passed its inaccurate content to new generations, he added.

Tilde, now a farmer, said journalists must first understand the dimensions of the frequent killings in the north before filing reports.

There are at least three key dimensions to the crisis. First is the farmers-herders clashes which are usually due to encroachment on farmlands.

The second is tribal where you have some tribes wanting to be left alone to dominate their own region forever.

The third involves criminal elements who are exploiting the porous security situation to perpetrate attacks. Sometimes, the attackers are Fulani. But definitely not always, he said.

Tilde said the media could help reduce violent clashes, especially those with ethnic or religious undertone, if reports are disseminated to the public with professionalism.

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He cited an early February incidence in which about eight Fulani travelers were burnt in Gboko, Benue state, saying the media downplayed the attack by initially withholding the identities of the victims.

Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that former president Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday, March 10, arrived in Makurdi, the Benue state, to condole with the government and people over herdsmens attacks.

Victims of Herdsmen killing buried in Benue State - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Senator Shehu Sani made the call in a tweet on Saturday, March 10

- The APC lawmaker feels the process might be tampered with if only the FG knows the names

- According to Sani, the process of identifying looters with stash abroad would be more transparent if the authorities of the host countries publish the list of their names

The senator representing Kaduna central Shehu Sani has urged the Nigerian federal government to publicly reveal the names of Nigerians owning properties abroad.

Senator Sani made the demand on Saturday, March 10 in a tweet on his Twitter handle.

Sani said that rather than the list being disclosed only to the federal government, it should be published for all citizens to see in order to show transparency.

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

The senator's comment comes just as the federal government and some foreign countries including the United Kingdom confirm the start of Automatic Exchange of Tax Information (AETI) on overseas assets owned by Nigerians.

But Sani feels that the process of dealing with Nigerians who stash stolen funds abroad would be more transparent if the FG allows the UK, US, UAE and others to publish the names for all to see.

He tweeted:

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported on Saturday, March 10 that Senator Sani said the plans by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to implement restructuring is just a mere form of campaign for the forthcoming 2019 elections.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the senator claimed that Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna state came up with the idea of restructuring just to gain political relevance.

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He said: Governor El-Rufai is the chief architect of that committee because he wants political relevance. How can an APC that promised restructuring only think of restructuring when it is a year to an election? Document of that committee is more or less a campaign document for 2018. There will be no restructuring, you can quote me.

How should convicted looters be punished? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng News- Bill Gates has stated that his foundation needs more philanthropists to partner with in Nigeria

- He said Aliko Dangote has been a key partner with his foundation, adding that he has been generous with his time and resources

- Gates said he is always interested in suggestions about how his foundation draws more people in

Billionaire and philanthropist, Bill Gates, has decried the unavailability of philanthropists in the area of healthcare in Nigeria.

He however, said that Aliko Dangote, has been generous with both his time and resources, adding that Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, needs a lot of partners in Nigeria.

Gates stated this in an interview he granted Vanguard, in which he also disclosed that just this week, he and Dangote spent six hours on video conferences with six of the northern states where they twice a year, check in with them and look at their primary healthcare quality in terms of the staff, the location, the supply chain and the results they are getting in terms of vaccination and other interventions.

Legit.ng noted that Gates stated that in the entire world, Dangote has been a very key partner with his foundation.

READ ALSO: Survivors of Benue attack allegedly by herdsmen narrate ordeal

Gates said that getting more partners is the big challenge of improving the primary healthcare, particularly in Northern Nigeria, adding that his foundation would not have a chance of doing that without Dangote.

He added: "I have had a chance to meet with other Nigerians but, in fact, he is the only one who I am personally aware of his significant activities that is working in this key sector. There may be other people working in sectors like education or other environments that we dont work in.

"Whenever I travel, I try to sit down with successful people and encourage them that philanthropy can be a great thing. I was looking over the Nigeria purported list of wealthy people and it was interesting that a number of those seem to be based in London.

"But I am always interested in suggestions about how we draw more people in. We need lots and lots of partners, particularly if they understand the local issues and how the government works locally. They have credibility and understanding that we dont have. And so we would love to have more partnerships like we have with Dangote."

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Meanwhile, Legit.ng previously reported that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation would pay off Nigerias $76 million debt to Japan, over a 20-year period, beginning from 2018.

The money was borrowed from the Asian country in 2014, to be used to tackle the polio disease. Gates also acknowledged the significant strides made towards eradicating the disease globally.

He said: The heroes who have made this progress possible are the millions of vaccinators who have gone door to door to immunize more than 2.5 billion children."

N1,500 for health of Nigerians - on Legit.ng

Source: LegitUmaru Al-Makura describes the death of his predecessor, Alhaji Aliyu Akwe-Doma, as a personal loss

- Al-Makura was one of the many dignitaries that paid the deceased last respect

The governor calls the late Akwe-Doma an advocate of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance

The governor of Nasarawa state, Umaru Al-Makura, is currently mourning as he has described the death of Alhaji Aliyu Akwe-Doma, his predecessor and former deputy governor of Plateau, as a personal loss.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the governor expressed his feelings in an interview with newsmen shortly after the burial ceremony of the ex-governor in Doma, Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa state on Sunday, March 11, 2018.

The report said Al-Makura described the deceased as a galvanizer of self-reliance, an advocate of peaceful coexistence and religious tolerance, adding that the loss of Akwe-Doma was a personal one, given their close relationship.

READ ALSO: PDP may lose more people - Makarfi

He was the second civilian governor of Nasarawa state who worked tirelessly for four years to galvanize the people towards self-reliance, progress and peaceful coexistence.

I consider this a very huge personal loss, given my relationship and affinity with him.

Despite the fact that l stood and won an election against the late politician, our relationship was close and cordial.

We shared ideas and listened to each other on matters of public interest, especially with regards to Nasarawa state, he said.

NAN further reports that several dignitaries attended the burial ceremony of the former governor who died at 75 on March 6 at an Israeli hospital.

Some of them include Al-Makura, his deputy, Silas Agara, members of his executive council and the first democratically elected governor of the state, Sen Abdullahi Adamu, Mike Abdul, the deceaseds deputy and Paulen Tallen, a former deputy governor of Plateau.

Also in attendance were Sen. Walil Jibrin, Chairman, Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Andoma of Doma, Alhaji Ahmadu Aliyu-Ogar, members of Nasarawa state House of Assembly.

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Labaran Maku, one time deputy governor in the state and former Minister of Information, Emir of Lafia, Dr Isa Mustapha-Agwai, the Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, Alhaji Aliyu Wadada, former member, House of Representatives, Sen Suleiman Adokwe and other traditional rulers in the state attended the burial ceremony.

NAN reports that the deceased, born on September 1, 1942 in Doma local government of Nasarawa state, was the governor of the state from 2007 to 2011 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Legit.ng earlier reported the death of Akwe-Doma as confirmed by his nephew, Ahmed Bako.

How Nigeria got into serious mess - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Senator Ekweremadu, who recently became a professor of law, said his words were taken out of context

- The deputy senate president said his words were warnings to colleagues to beware of the damage past mistakes can cause if repeated

- Ekweremadu also insisted that the Nigerian Armed Forces remain one of the best on the African continent and he would not insult them

The Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate Ike Ekweremadu has denied that he called for a military coup detat in Nigeria.

According to Punch, the high-ranking lawmaker said his words on the floor of the upper house of legislature were quoted out of context.

Ekweremadu was said to have made the denial on Saturday, March 10 in the oil-rich Bayelsa state.

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

He was attending a dinner hosted by state governor Seriake Dickson for him and executive members of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Africa Region).

At the dinner, Ekweremadu claimed that he never made any derogatory remarks against the Nigerian military, which he says remains one of the best fighting forces on the continent.

He insisted that he was misquoted and went on to say that statements made by lawmakers in the course of their duty should be taken within the proper context before any form of reaction.

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He said his remarks on the floor of the Senate were to caution fellow lawmakers to avoid past mistakes that led to military coup in the First Republic.

Legit.ng had reported the Nigerian military's sharp reaction to Ekwermadu's words on the floor of the Senate.

The Nigerian military declared that it was derogatory for the deputy president of the senate, Ike Ekweremadu, to claim that the military can still take over the government of the country because its democracy was already receding.

The military, in a statement by the acting director of defence information Brigadier-General J. A. Agim, said the statement was derogatory to the entire military countrys armed forces.

Street gist: Should the Nigerian senate be scrapped? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: LegitNigerias President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an amendment to the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco that would see the prices of the two sort-after commodities rise with effect from June 4, 2018.

Premium Times reported this as part of a statement released in Abuja on Sunday, March 11, by Kemi Adeosun, the finance minance.

The statement said the new excise duty rates were spread over a three-year period from 2018 to 2020 in order to moderate the impact on prices of the products adding that the regimes followed all-inclusive stakeholder engagements by the tariff technical committee of the finance ministry.

Adeosun said the upward review of the excise duty rates for alcoholic beverages and tobacco was for a dual benefit of raising the governments fiscal revenues and reducing the health hazards associated with tobacco-related diseases and alcohol abuse.

READ ALSO: Former Adamawa governor dies At 77

The Tariff Technical Committee (TCC) recommended the slight adjustment in the excise duty charges after cautious considerations of the governments fiscal policy measures for 2018 and the reports of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund Technical Assistance Mission on Nigerias fiscal policy.

The effect of the excise duty rates adjustment on trade and investment was also assessed by the federal ministry of trade and investment and it adopted the recommendations of the TTC.

Furthermore, peer country comparisons were also carried out showing Nigeria as being behind the curve in the review of excise duty rates on alcoholic beverages and tobacco.

For alcoholic beverages, the current ad-valorem rate will be replaced with specific rates and spread over three years to moderate the impact on prices, she said.

This will curb the discretion in the Unit Cost Analysis (UCA) for determining the ad-valorem rate and prevent revenue leakages.

For tobacco, the government will maintain the current ad-valorem rate of 20 per cent and introduce additional specific rates with the implementation to be spread over a three-year period to also reasonably reduce the impact on prices, the statement said.

According to the statement, each stick of cigarette will attract a N1 specific rate (N20 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2018; N2 specific rate per stick (N40 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2019; and N2.90k specific rate per stick (N58 per pack of 20 sticks) in 2020.

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Also, the new specific excise duty rate for alcoholic beverages shows that beer and stout would attract N0.30k per centiliter (Cl) in 2018 and N0.35k per Cl each in 2019 and 2020.

The report said wines would attract N1.25k per Cl in 2018 and N1.50k per Cl each in 2019 and 2020, while N1.50k per Cl was approved for Spirits in 2018, N1.75k per Cl in 2019 and N2.00k per Cl in 2020.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Kemi Adeosun, on Tuesday, March 6, said that there will be no extension of the Saturday, March 31 deadline of the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS) set by the federal government.

Kemi said this in an interview at a live breakfast show tagged 'Good Morning Nigeria' on the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA), the Punch reports.

A 'Yes' from Buhari: Tobacco and Alcoholic drinks to cost more (New excise duty rates) - on Legit.ng TV

Source: LegitThere was confusion in Kogi state on Sunday, March 11, as the governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, reportedly fired all his commissioners, members of the executive council as well as the 21 administrators of the local government areas.

Few minutes later, however, Governor Bello reversed the decision.

Premium Times reports that Bellos action was announced by the governor at an ongoing meeting he held with all political appointees at the Government House, Lokoja, the state capital.

READ ALSO: APC receives over 300,000 decampees including PDP big shots in Katsina

The report quoted a source as saying the governor directed all the 15 commissioners and 21 local government administrators to submit the keys to their official vehicles to the Secretary to State Government (SSG).

According to the report, the source who was not named, quoted Bello as saying new commissioners and administrators are to be announced immediately.

Legit.ng earlier reported that the governor had been in a running battle with Senator Dino Melaye.

In a recent report, Dino Melaye, the senator representing Kogi west senatorial district in the National Assembly, accused Governor Yahaya Bello of importing security gadgets without approval from the National Security Adviser (NSA), as demanded by the law.

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Melaye, who made the accusation at the Senates plenary on Thursday, March 8, said he had enough proof to show that the items were imported unknowing to the NSA.

Legit.ng also reported that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) said the alleged linking of the ruling party and Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, is saying more about the party's desperation a 2019 elections near.

In a statement by its national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Saturday, March 10, asked the presidency to investigate the Kogi state governor who was linked to the alleged importation by Senator Dino Melaye.

Should President Buhari seek reelection in 2019? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit Newspaper- President Buhari said in Jos, Plateau state capital that some people sponsored rumours about his alleged death in London

- Senator Sani wants President Buhari to name those that sponsored the rumours and tried to get Osinbajo to take over his (Buhari's) job and give the vice president position to them

- Sani also challenged the federal government to release list of Nigerians with properties abroad in another tweet

Senator Shehu Sani, representing Kaduna Central, has demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari should reveal the names of politicians that reportedly lobbied the then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to make them Vice President when the it was rumoured that the Nigerian leader had died in London.

The controversial senator said in a tweet on Thursday, March 9 that it had become imperative for the president to name those that lobbied for jobs in hopes that he was really dead.

READ ALSO: Governor Bello sacks all commissioners, 21 council administrators and SEC members

Sani's words followed the confession by President Buhari that while he was on medical vacation, some people spread the rumour that he was dead and started lobbying the Acting President to make them his Vice President.

Sani tweeted:

Meanwhile, Legit.ng reported that Sani, in another more recent tweet, demanded that the federal government make public names of Nigerians with properties abroad.

Senator Sani urged the Nigerian federal government to publicly reveal the names of Nigerians owning properties abroad.

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Sani made the demand on Saturday, March 10 in a tweet on his Twitter handle.

Sani said that rather than the list being disclosed only to the federal government, it should be published for all citizens to see in order to show transparency.

Is Osinbajo a better president than Buhari? - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Prominent Nigerians have joined the mother's day celebration today, Sunday, March 11

- One of such Nigerians is the senator representing Anambra North senatorial district, Princess Stella Oduah

- Oduah described women as special breed created for a special purpose on earth

Senator Stella Oduah has felicitated with Nigerian mothers on the celebration of the 2018 mothers day, charging them to be anchors of development in the society.

In a message sent to Legit.ng to mark the day, Senator Oduah described women as special breed created for a special purpose.

Her message read: "Happy mothers day to all my sisters, mothers and daughters. You are indeed the spice of the universe. Women are special breed indeed. God took out a special day to perfect the creation of women.

As women and mothers, we must be tolerant and focused, we must be the anchor of community development. God made us tenacious for a purpose. Let us work hard to build our zone for our children. Women thou are blessed. Happy mothers day to you all."

Senator Oduah said women should be anchors of community development. Source: Twitter

READ ALSO: 6 facts about Mother's Day you did not know

Oduah also charged women to use their special qualities to ensure the development of their immediate society and the nation at large.

The senator recently disclosed that the Nigerian Senate will soon reintroduce the bill for 35 percent affirmative action for women as ministers as well as 20 percent for women as commissioners in states.

She made this known on Thursday, March 8, at a press conference in Abuja, as part of activities commemorating this year's International Women's Day.

Oduah pointed out that the bill which was rejected by the Senate in July 2017 in the constitution amendment exercise, would be reintroduced and forwarded to the 36 state assemblies for endorsement.

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Will Buhari bring back Dapchi Girls? | Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ng- Ex-president Obasanjo admitted that Boko Haram incubated for a long time without being tackled

- He said this was made possible because of low education of people in the northeast who did not challenge the ideology

- Obasanjo said the same could not happen in the southwest where he came from

Former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo has made a big admission and also revealed the major reason why Boko Haram insurgency lasted for so many years in the northeast.

According to Obasanjo, the lack of proper education of citizens in the region aided continuity of the insurgency.

Daily Trust reports that Obasanjo made the claim in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital and one of the most targeted venue for attacks by Boko Haram.

READ ALSO: Governor Bello sacks all commissioners, 21 council administrators and SEC members

Obasanjo, a former army general and military head of state in the 1970s, noted that the Boko Haram would not have survived in the southwest where he comes from because of high level of education of Nigerians there.

Obasanjo also noted that Boko Haram incubated over time and could have been stopped if the people had better education.

Boko Haram did not start overnight,. It had an incubating period, but I do not know how long. And although I do not know how long it took to incubate, I am sure if the level of education in the North-East matched the level of education in the South-West, there wouldnt have been Boko Haram.

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If we do not cater for and educate women, children and youth, they will become the Boko Haram of 15 years to come. Education is the panacea, education is the key, it inculcates the values that guard against the emergence of Boko Haram, he said in his closing remarks at the end of a two-day peer review meeting of the Nigeria Zero Hunger Strategic Forum.

In a separate event, Legit.ng gathered that Obasanjo allegedly advised Benue state governor, Samuel Ortom, not to give up on the anti-open grazing law, urging him to continue to work with people that have the state's and the nations interest at heart.

The former president insisted that Nigeria needed to get it right for it to move forward.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo explains why Nigeria needs to be treated like love - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit- Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos state joined other Nigerians to celebrate women on Mother's Day

- Ambode posted a photograph he took with his mother and his wife as part of the celebration

The governor of Lagos state, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Sunday, March 11, took to social media to display the photograph he took with his mother, Christianah, and his wife, Bolanle, as he celebrated all women at Mothers Day.

This is the first time many would see the mother of the governor, who has been receiving endorsements from various groups ahead of the 2019 general elections in the country.

READ ALSO: Governor Bello sacks all commissioners, 21 council administrators and SEC members

A special Mother's Day to all our lovely mothers, most especially to my mother, Mrs Christianah Ambode and my wife, Bolanle Ambode. God bless all our mothers, the governor said in a short statement accompanying the photograph.

Ambode, Christianah, his mum and Bolanle, his wife as the governor celebrated Mother's Day. Credit: Akinwunmi Ambode

As expected, the message by the governor elicited comments from Nigerians, many of who prayed for him and his mother. Some others noted the resemblance between him and his mother.

Ayobami Adedokun said: Happy Mother's day, God bless the womb that bore our governor. God bless all mothers and would be mothers in Jesus name, amen.

Also, Kemi Awolesi commented: Waoo,Excellency photocopy koo easy, you are celebrating your mother today; your own children will celebrate you too. You will eat the fruits of your labour as well sir.

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Aremo Seyi Esudamilare Sotubo said: Congrats to all living mothers and prayers of long life to us all the orphans.

Legit.ng earlier reported that Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, on Tuesday, March 6, directed that students in public and private schools in the state should sing the National Anthem in Yoruba language daily, to preserve and promote the Yoruba culture.

The deputy governor, Dr Idiat Adebule, relayed the directive at a meeting with principals and head teachers of public schools in Lagos. She said that Yoruba language would also be made a compulsory subject for students.

What do women really want from men? Nigerians speak - on Legit.ng TV

Source: Legit.ngThe Simple Algorithm That Ants Use to Build Bridges Quanta

How to get a buzz out of backyard beekeeping Telegraph

Wild Boars Are Taking Over Japan as Population Ages, Disappears Newsweek

Share pumping and Picassos: $50m scam that killed a London broker FT

Uber calls lenders for $1.25 billion in Wall Street shortcut Crains New York Business. Banks might want to open Ubers books..

How tax and accounting changes obscured a strong quarter for earnings MarketWatch

FCC Accuses Stealthy Startup of Launching Rogue Satellites IEEE Spectrum. Move fast and break things, especially laws.

Staged car crashes a growing menace in South Carolina Post and Couriers. Wait til the robot cars come along.

The incredible multi-dimensional chess of Qualcomm vs. Broadcom Tech Crunch (KW).

State confirms home power customers spent $77M they didnt need to Bangor Daily News

Farmers driving right to repair issue as legislative battle unfolds in US ABC Australia

Brexit

India

China?

North Korea

Trump Transition

Costco Is Selling a $6,000 Doomsday Preparation Kit That Can Feed a Family of 4 for a Year Yahoo Finance (KW)

New Cold War

Democrats in Disarray

Black Children Will Be the Victims of Armed Teachers Time

Imperial Collapse Watch

America is already great: Oklahoma public school textbooks, posted to a FB page in support of a teacher walkout. #oklahomateachers pic.twitter.com/tzhITMdymi  Scott Heins (@scottheins) March 10, 2018

Class Warfare

Living in a sea of false signals: Are we being pushed from trust, but verify to verify, then trust? Nieman Labs

Deadly superbug just got scarierit can mysteriously thwart last-resort drug Ars Technica (CL).

Security Guidelines for Congressional Campaigns Tech Solidarity. Important and useful.

Antidote du jour (via):

And a bonus anti-antidote:

Nature's Little Shop of Horrors

This Hawk #Moth (Sphingidae) has been host to an Akanthomyces fungus, a Cordyceps anamorph peculiar to moths. As if snap frozen, the fungus totally engulfs and embalms the corpse producing this macabre sight.https://t.co/y7biWcNVi8#itchydogimages pic.twitter.com/Mc830CPZhz  John Horstman (@sinobug) March 10, 2018

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.By Lambert Strether of Corrente.

In this post, Ill do a quick survey of the topics listed in the headline, starting with forests. When we get to power, well see that restoration in the interior might be complete by May  just in time for 2018s hurricane season! Weather Underground:

The Atlantic hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1 to November 30 , has finally drawn to a close. The brutal 2017 season was an awful reminder of the huge hurricane vulnerability problem we face, and how unprepared we are for a potential future where the strongest storms get stronger and push their storm surges inland on top of steadily rising sea levels. Much of the Caribbean lies in ruins after the terrific beatings administered by the twin demon Category 5 hurricanes of 2017, Irma and Maria The three great hurricanes of 2017 also killed large numbers of people. The preliminary death toll from Harvey is 84, and is 95 from Irma. Hurricane Maria, though, may be responsible for over a thousand deaths. New research that has not yet gone through peer-review puts the indirect death toll from Maria in Puerto Rico at 1,085 and rising As we discussed in detail last week, the greatest number of indirect deaths on record for a hurricane is 500, for Hurricane Katrina of 2005.

I say survey because Im skimming the surface for each topic; if I dug deeper, I fear that the enormous tangle of pathways to misfortune that Id find simply wouldnt be tractable (as we will see Naomi Klein say, in her own way, when we conclude). Thats not good news for other portions of the continental United States that may will experience disasters[1].

But first, one anecdote:

You know Puerto Rico is still in hurricane recovery mode when you get handwritten movie tickets pic.twitter.com/DNh1vPgevA  Danica Coto (@danicacoto) March 10, 2018

And a second:

[FOTOS] Camino a la escuela en Morovis Para quienes piensan que Puerto Rico ya esta recuperado de los danos provocados por el huracan Maria. La vida en muchos pueblos de la montana no ha vuelto a ser igual. (Fotos publicadas esta manana por Lydia Rivera en Facebook) pic.twitter.com/DgUF3x8Ny9  Robby Cortes (@RobbyCortes) February 28, 2018

(The school bus driver was, I believe, fired. But what were they to do?) So if these two anecdotes are emblematic  a polity that cant print and distribute movie tickets, or rebuild its bridges after they collapse  the prognosis for the American citizens in Puerto Rico is not good; the political class in the continental United States has no intention whatever of focusing on the problem (despite the good efforts of Senators Sanders and Warren).

Forests

Scientific reporting on Hurricane Marias impact on is starting to come in. Heres one from Phys.org:

Assessing the impact of hurricanes on Puerto Ricos forests We look for a change in the spectral signature from before and after the storm, said Chambers, a scientist in Berkeley Labs Earth and Environmental Sciences Area as well as an associate professor of geography at UC Berkeley. When the sunlight bounces off green vegetation it looks one way, and when its bouncing off vegetation where the leaves are all stripped off or trees have toppled its very different. We find dramatic changes in the spectral signature of the forests associated with damage, tree mortality, uprooted trees, stripped leaves, and canopies.

Heres a before-and-after image from the study (left and right, respectively).

The Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification describes some of the effects of damaged forests like Puerto Rico:

Through stabilisation of soil, forests minimise erosion and hence reduce the impairment of water quality due to sedimentation. Forest and forest plant roots prevent run-off from heavy rains and with it soil erosion. Woodlands protect water bodies and watercourses by trapping sediments and pollutants from other up-slope land use and activities Forests also play a role in water availability. Forests absorb water as direct rainfall from the atmosphere and through their roots from the ground. Through a process of evapo-transpiration, water is re-released to the atmosphere and the global water cycle. At the same time, forests may influence the timing of water delivery by maintaining and improving soil infiltration and the soils water-storage capacity. Tropical rainforests play a particularly important role in providing water for the plants and animals that shelter under their thick canopies allowing them to survive and protecting their biodiversity. Without forests, there would be increased run-off of rain water and with it topsoil erosion.

Leaving aside ecotourism consequences, Im guessing that effects in Puerto Ricos mountainous interior would include: Failure of subsistence farming due to topsoil erosion, more washed-out roads and bridges (as above) due to increased run-off, potablity issues due to sediment and pollutants. Im sure that foresters and ecologists in the readership can come up with more consequences.

Power

First, another anecdote:

The power grid in Puerto Rico is so unreliable that it is being used as a backup at San Juans Centro Medico, the hub of hospitals consisting of OR, ER, Trauma; 2 large generators provided by @FEMA are, and have been, the primary source of power for the last 5 months.  David Begnaud (@DavidBegnaud) March 2, 2018

So power isnt reliable even in Puerto Ricos largest city. And its a good thing the hospital had those generators. NBC:

The capital of San Juan was left without power, along with the neighboring municipalities of Caguas, Bayamon and Carolina, company spokeswoman Yohari Molina told The Associated Press. She said crews were working to repair the problem but that wasnt clear how many customers were affected by the outage. More than 970,000 people live in the areas hit by the blackout.

Thats not to say that the workers restoring the power had an easy time of it. National Public Radio:

FLORIDO: On my way down from Barrio Borinquen, I ran into a couple of linemen here from Denver. John Davis and Dean Breidenbach were working in the rain, repairing a transformer. Breidenbach said on that day, their 24-person crew had restored power to about 30 homes. DEAN BREIDENBACH: The fact that all the vines have grown over stuff for six months now  all our wires under that. FLORIDO: So its really, really  its, like, painstakingly slow. BREIDENBACH: Its five times harder than normal in the United States doing the same job because of the terrain.

The terrain matters because by an accident of history, the power plants are on Puerto Ricos southern coast, while its biggest cities are on the northern coast. So the power lines have to cross the difficult mountainous territory in the middle of the island. As the power workers say: [A]ll the vines have grown over stuff for six months now. And if youve ever been to the tropics, you know how fast those vines can grow and how hard they clutuch. USA Today reports:

Despite nearly 4,000 utility workers across the island working to repair the grid, remote areas like Yabucoa remain a challenge in the massive post-storm power restoration effort, said Col. Jason Kirk, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Task Force Power Restoration Commander. Around 150,000 customers remain without power across the island, down from more than 1.4 million immediately after the storm, he said. Challenges have included gaining access to remote areas that were blocked by storm debris, patching up damaged and outdated equipment and coordinating the efforts of five different entities involved in power restoration[1], including the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and multiple crews from the mainland, Kirk said. This is of a magnitude beyond anything thats been undertaken[1] in the United States, he said.

Thats 150,000 customers without power. Vox clarifies:

As of March 1, about 12.5 percent of utility customers still couldnt turn on the lights, refrigerate food, or run water pumps. And remember, customer refers to a power meter, and each meter can represent multiple people living in the same house.

Above it all, the vultures circle. Common Dreams:

As nearly 250,000 Puerto Ricans remain without power five months after Hurricane Maria struck the island territorythe longest blackout in U.S. historythe Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) said Sunday it will reduce its operating reserve to save money, as the islands government moves toward privatizing the authority. A federal judge denied PREPA a $1 billion loan over the weekend, saying the authority could not prove it needed the additional cash injection. The company will now reduce its reserve by 450 megawatts, saving $9 million per month but likely resulting in more power outages.

[Puts head in hands].

Depopulation

The North American Congress on Latin America (NACLA) has a fine wrap-up on Puerto Rican diasporas, past and present. First, they point out that exodues is not a new thing:

Out-migration is such an enduring aspect of Puerto Rican history that one might say that the countrys most valuable export is its people. But the exodus sparked by the 2006 recession, and exacerbated in recent months by the thousands of Puerto Ricans who have left and continue to leave in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria, sets a historical precedent. More Puerto Ricansaround 5.4 millionnow live in the United States than in Puerto Rico, with around 3.3 million residents.

And:

The continued depopulation of the Caribbean island appears unstoppable .

The numbers:

The Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College has estimated that between 2017 and 2019, Puerto Rico could lose up to 470,335 residents, or 14% of its population. These projections were quickly superseded as over 300,000 Puerto Ricans landed in Florida after the hurricaneover twice the number of Cubans who arrived in Florida during the Mariel boatlift in 1980. The out-migration totals since Hurricane Maria exceed the number that left the island during the entire previous decade of economic stagnation and recession. The scale of the human exodus even surpassed the Hispanic Research Centers recent dire predictions that the population would decline to 3.4 million by 2030. As of this writing, Puerto Ricos population has already plummeted to 3.3 million. Fertility rates have been declining steadily while death rates have increased, further exacerbating the islands rapid depopulation.

NACLA concludes:

The scale and rapidity of depopulation has no parallel in Puerto Rican history, and bears a disturbing resemblance to a movement of people who have been forcibly displaced by war .

Other authorities agree. The Washington Post:

What we are observing is a major depopulation event that is not extremely common in modern history , said Lyman Stone, an independent migration researcher and economist at the Agriculture Department who provided models to Puerto Rico. People kind of treated me like a crazy person when I put it out there.

People kind of treated me like a crazy person. They always do, dont they?

Privatization

First, school privatization. I havent been able to pin down why school privatization instantly became the preferred policy position in New Orleans after Katrina, and has only lurched slowly forward after Maria[2]. But now privatization is on the move. Education Week:

[Governor Ricardo Rossello and Education Secretary Julia Keleher] have made waves for proposing to close about 300 public schools, more than a quarter of the islands 1,100, and introducing new schools similiar to charter schools. Keleher has also said she wants to introduce vouchers to Puerto Rico, although she said the islands situation needs to stabilize first.

Im not going to go into the details on why charters are one of those bright ideas squillionaires have that dont work out, but I will point out one detail that seems to have been ignored: Charters would appeat to violate Puerto RIcos Constitution. Article II, Section 5:

Everyone has the right to an education directed to the full development of his personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. There will be a public education system which is free and wholly non-sectarian. Education shall be free in primary and secondary school, to the state where facilities permit, it will be made mandatory for school primary. No public money or property for the support of schools will be used or educational institutions other than the state . Nothing contained in this provision to prevent the State from any child can not provide educational services established by law for the protection or welfare of children. Compulsory attendance public primary schools to the state where facilities permit, according available herein shall not be construed to apply to those who receive instruction in primary schools established under governmental auspices.

Second, power privatization. Reuters:

In January, Rossello announced his intention to sell off the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authoritys power generation assets, and said it could take about 18 months to complete. On Monday he said the energy reform bill would define the process for privatized and public-private partnerships (P3s). These so-called P3 projects would shift development costs onto the private sector, and in return typically would be paid fees from government to manage a property.

Another detail thats been ignored: Privatizing San Juan International Airport was an omnishambles, even more than public-private partnerships usually are.

Conclusion

Most readers are familiar with Naomi Klein, her book Shock Doctrine, and its concept of disaster capitalism. Readers may not know, however, that a visit to Puerto caused Klein to reconsider her views. From Repeating Islands:

It is a different form, maybe its not the shock doctrine; maybe its something else. Maybe I have to rewrite or write a new chapter called the trauma doctrine , because it is not shock; it is trauma that has been exploited, which is different and surprising, added Klein, who ascribed the concept to conversations with Puerto Rican anthropologist Yarimar Bonilla, who suggested to Klein the idea of a sequel called the doctrine of trauma. Bonilla is a researcher and professor of anthropology and Caribbean Studies at Rutgers University, as well as co-founder of the Puerto Rico Syllabus project, which collects important documents on the debt crisis in Puerto Rico. Puerto Ricans have been living the shock doctrine for a long time, and I think there have been different ways, different scenarios, indeed, starting with the economic crisisand there have been several economic crises that have been exploited in Puerto Rico. But speaking of the most recent, and especially since PROMESA, you have a concrete example in which a state of exception[3] and emergency has been declared, which becomes an excuse to throw aside any pretense of self-government, to which is added an agenda of privatization and austerity that has just begun to be introduced, she said. The case of Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria, about which she has already written for The Intercept, is so unusual that it has made her rethink the concept with which she has described so many scenarios in the past decade.

(Of course, all outcomes depend ultimately on the people of Puerto Rico, on and off the island, who are generally regarded as resilient; more so, perhaps, than the forces that colonized them.)

Oh, and I havent covered Puerto Ricos debt situation at all; after all, debts that cant be paid wont be. What I do wonder, however, is this: Do the projections for Puerto Ricos fiscal plan, as well as the business models for privatizing Puerto Ricos schools and power grid, and the schemes of the vultures, take Puerto Ricos downward population spiral into account? Im guessing no.

NOTES

[1] Once, we were a confident imperial power.

[2] Pushed by Trumps DeVos, of course. More than likely, the same would have happened with Clinton.

[3] Hmm. Perhaps Puerto Ricos Constitution isnt the obstacle to school privatization I thought it was?(Natural News) The baby formula market is worth over $47 billion a year and is expected to increase by a further 50 percent in the next three years. Of the four biggest companies raking in most of these profits  Nestle, Danone, Mead Johnson Nutrition and Abbott  Nestle takes the lions share of the spoils, with a massive 22 percent market share.

While baby formula is one of the planets fastest growing and most lucrative markets, it is also fiercely competitive, with companies allocating massive budgets to marketing campaigns. This is particularly true in third world countries, where mothers longing for westernization have been hooked on formula for decades.

Nestle is no stranger to controversy. Back in the 1970s, the company was accused of promoting its baby formulas to third world mothers, convincing them that it was more convenient and just as beneficial as breastmilk. In reality, formula is much more expensive and far less healthy than breastmilk.

Hearings were held in the U.S. Senate and investigations launched by the World Health Organization at the time, which led to the drawing up of very specific rules for the marketing of baby formula in 1981.

According to Business Insider, these rules stipulated that formula manufacturers could not:

Promote products in hospitals, shops or to the general public

Give free samples to mothers

Give gifts to health workers or mothers

Give misleading information

A February 2018 report by the organization Changing Markets, entitled Busting the Myth of Science-Based Formula, noted that Nestle takes great pride in its scientific credentials and claims to be striving to be the worlds leading nutrition, health and wellness company. The aim of the report was to investigate whether the companys commitment to science is genuine or is simply a marketing strategy.

The report noted that over 92 million babies under the age of six months  or two thirds of all babies  are on formula, either exclusively or in combination with breastmilk or other foods. This places a heavy responsibility on the shoulders of the manufacturers of these products, since they are responsible for the nutritional status, health and wellbeing of all these infants. (Related: Shocking levels of arsenic found in baby formula made with brown rice syrup.)

The Changing Markets investigation found that rather than using science as a responsible way to ensure the health of their tiny consumers, Nestle uses its scientific credentials purely for marketing purposes, and provides conflicting scientific evidence on its products in different countries:

The investigation reveals many examples of inconsistencies, where Nestles products contradict its own scientific advice. For example, some of Nestles infant milks sold in Hong Kong are marketed as healthier for not having any added vanilla flavour or flavourings for babys good growth. However, the investigation found several Nestle products that contain vanillin compounds in Hong Kong, mainland China and in South Africa. In a similar fashion, the company advises parents against giving sucrose to infants on its products in Brazil and Hong Kong, but not in South Africa, where products were found to contain the ingredient.

The WHO regulations adopted in 1981 made it very clear that formula could not be marketed in any way as being comparable to breastmilk. However, the Changing Markets report noted that in different countries the company uses marketing phrases like our closest to breastmilk, following the example of breastmilk, inspired by human milk and as having an identical structure to breastmilk. These statements are misleading and imply that formula is very similar to breastmilk, offering the same benefits. (Related: The grim reality of choosing baby formula over breastmilk.)

Nutra Ingredients reported that Nestle has vehemently denied the allegations in the report, insisting:

We do not use any statements on our infant formula products or in our other communications that idealize our products or imply they are superior to or equivalent to breastmilk.

Modern infant formulas are compositionally closer to human milk. As such, we permit communications stating that our infant formula ingredients are inspired by breastmilk or contain components comparable with components of breastmilk.

One thing is certain: As long as infant formula continues to be such a huge money spinner, companies like Nestle will continue to spread scientific misinformation to suit their own purposes  no matter who gets hurt in the process.

Sources include:

NutraIngredients.com

ChangingMarkets.org[PDF]

BusinessInsider.com

TheGuardian.com

GlobalCitizen.org

Nestle.com(Natural News) Dr. Tedros Adhanom, director-general for the World Health Organization (WHO), has said that the next outbreak that will hit us will be a terrible one, causing huge amounts of death all over the world. Fears of a pandemic have been hovering lately after the worst flu outbreak in recent years devastated Australia, France, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

More recently, the mosquito-borne Zika virus crisis, rocked 70 countries in 2016 and worried scientists the world over. The Zika virus can cause microcephaly, or an abnormally small head, in babies. It spread all over South America in 2016.

The hemorrhagic fever Ebola killed 11,000 individuals in West Africa in 2014 and 2015. It spread to various parts of the U.S. in the same time period. Ebola was officially declared over in January 2016, when Liberia was announced Ebola-free by the WHO. A group of international researchers traced the pandemic back to a two-year-old boy in Meliandou, which is about 400 miles (650 kilometers) from Conakry, the capital of Guinea. The researchers said Emile Ouamouno, who was identified as Patient Zero, probably got infected by the deadly virus by playing with bats in a hollow tree.

Around 29,000 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia contracted Ebola. The virus killed around 40 percent of those it struck. Deaths were also reported in Mali, Nigeria, and the U.S., although at a much smaller scale, with 15 fatalities between the three nations.

Ebola was first identified by scientists in 1976; however, the most recent outbreak is the biggest the world has ever felt so far. It can be transmitted between humans through infected blood, bodily fluids, and other secretions. (Related: Ebola outbreak may already be uncontrollable; Monsanto invests in Ebola treatment drug company as pandemic spreads.)

This is not some future nightmare scenario. A devastating epidemic could start in any country at any time and kill millions of people because we are still not prepared. The world remains vulnerable. We do not know where and when the next global pandemic will occur, but we know it will take a terrible toll both on human life and on the economy, Dr. Tedros said.

Hidden underneath this fear mongering message of a global pandemic is a far more sinister W.H.O. agenda, warns Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, publisher of Medicine.news. The real agenda is a global push for blind, fear-based acceptance of unsafe, unproven vaccines that will be rolled out alongside the next global pandemic, Adams warns. Fear circumvents rational thinking, which is why the vaccine-pharma cartels routinely turn to irrational fear propaganda to demand absolute and unquestioning acceptance of risky medical interventions that should always be scrutinized for safety and efficacy.

According to Dr. Tedros, the flu is extremely dangerous to everyone living in the planet. This fear was also promoted by experts at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland last month.

The claims now arise exactly 100 years after the deadly 1918 Spanish flu that caused the death of 50 million individuals and killed three times as many people as World War I. The first result of such fear-mongering was the swine flu pandemic of 2009, which claimed 300,000 lives all over the world after affecting 60 countries.

Humanity is more vulnerable in the face of epidemics because we are much more connected and we travel around much more quickly than before, said WHO specialist in infectious diseases Dr. Sylvie Brand.

For more stories on the spread of viruses and pandemics, visit Outbreak.news.

Sources include:

DailyMail.co.uk

SMCYInternationalFamily.orgThe costs are up, the timeline is longer and major unanswered questions remain in the latest business plan for California's proposed bullet train. Here's a look at what's changed since the last time the California High Speed Rail Authority updated its business plan in 2016:

ROUTE  Officials now plan to build the first operating line between downtown San Francisco and Bakersfield. The prior plan called for tracks that begin in San Jose and terminate north of Bakersfield. Officials hope the slightly longer route between cities  with stops throughout the Central Valley  will drive more commuters and other riders to the train once it opens. Crews then plan to extend south from Bakersfield to downtown Los Angeles and Anaheim.

COSTS  The total cost to link Anaheim and San Francisco is now pegged at $77.3 billion, up 20 percent from two years ago. The business plan notes the cost could be as low as $63.2 billion or as high as $98.1 billion. Factors driving the higher costs include construction delays, unexpected costs and larger contingency funds. For now, though, the focus is on building the Silicon Valley to Central Valley link at an estimated cost of $25.1 billion to $36.8 billion.

TIMELINE  Voters were told in 2008 that the full San Francisco to Anaheim line could be running by 2020. Officials are now aiming for 2029, and only to Bakersfield. They offer vague hopes of finishing the whole system by 2033.

CHALLENGES  Money and mountains present the biggest hurdles. Rail officials plan to build two lines  one linking San Francisco and Gilroy on the west side of the coastal range and another from Bakersfield to Madera east of the mountains. That alone will require a tough vote in the Legislature to guarantee decades of funding for high-speed rail. And officials concede that there's no firm plan for how to pay for a tunnel through the mountains to link those two lines.Resources have been made available to survivors of the hostage standoff Friday at a veterans' home in Yountville that ended in the death of three hostages and the suspected hostage-taker, the Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs said Saturday.

Dr. Vito Imbasciani, the secretary, said veterans and employees at the home were traumatized when Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, allegedly shot and killed three employees of a program for veterans.

"This is a really difficult day," Yountville Mayor John Dunbar said, adding that the community and the program lost three beautiful people.

Dunbar added, "We also lost one of our heroes who clearly had demons."

Wong allegedly took the life of 42-year-old St. Helena woman Jennifer Golick, who was the clinical director of the Pathway Home program, which suffered the losses.

Wong also allegedly killed 48-year-old Napa resident Christine Loeber, who was executive director of the program, and 29-year-old Jennifer Gonzalez, a psychologist.

Dunbar said the three women dedicated themselves to the lives of veterans, "bringing energy, vitality and personality" to their work.

The Pathway Home program served mainly veterans who fought in wars after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The program provides educational, professional and clinical support to post-9/11 veterans pursuing school- or work-related endeavors as they transition to civilian life.

Dunbar is a board member for the program.

For a time, Wong was part of the program.

Six people remain in the program and they will continue to get care, Imbasciani said.

The situation began at about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning at the Veterans Home of California at 260 California Drive.

Wong allegedly had a rifle and exchanged gunfire with Napa County Sheriff's deputies in a room at the home, authorities said.

Napa County Sheriff John Robertson said his office knew who Wong was and called him on his cellphone, but he did not respond.

Shortly before 6 p.m., law enforcement personnel entered a room at the veterans home where they found four people dead.

Authorities said they found Wong's vehicle parked near the building and searched it. Authorities found a cellphone inside the vehicle but no bomb.

Early in the standoff, Wong allegedly had more than three people hostage, but he released all but three, authorities said.

In a statement Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown said, "Anne and I are deeply saddened by the horrible violence at the Yountville Veterans Home, which tragically took the lives of three people dedicated to serving our veterans. Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones and the entire community of Yountville."

Brown added that flags at the capitol will be flown at half-staff in recognition of the victims and their families.

Forensic examinations of the dead will be scheduled next week at the Napa County coroner's office, sheriff's officials said.The legal guardians of 36-year-old Albert Wong, the man who killed three women after a daylong siege at a veterans' home in Yountville, California., say he sought help after returning from Afghanistan.

"He was given meds, changed him, said Cissy Sherr, Wongs legal guardian. I barely recognized him.

Cissy and her husband, Matthew Sherr raised Wong since he was 8 years old. He lived with them for several years and later went into foster care as a teenager. Cissy described Wong as a happy, soft-spoken person and said his behavior Friday was unfitting.

Cissy and Matthew Sherr

Im shocked, saddened, Matthew said. I feel so bad.

Cissy and Matthew kept in touch with Wong while he was in the Army and upon returning home from Afghanistan, he sought their help once more.

He would sit on the sofa, he'd say I can't believe I'm in a safe place  no bombs under your feet, Cissy said.

Cissy and Matthew Sherr

They knew Wong was getting help from the veterans' home and they said he seemed very hopeful. Still, they werent surprised to hear he had a rifle, considering he was trained and had a license.

As the Sherrs wait to hear from authorities and learn more from the autopsy reports, they send support to the victims families.

My heart and prayers have been with them from the beginning, Matthew said.

Cissy and Matthew Sherr

Authorities said Wong went to the campus about 50 miles north of San Francisco on Friday morning, slipping into a going-away party for some employees of The Pathway Home. He let some people leave but kept three women hostage.

Those who knew the women said they had dedicated their lives to helping those suffering like Wong, and they would've been in a good position to assist him, had Friday's hostage situation ended differently.

Police said a Napa Valley sheriff's deputy exchanged gunshots with Wong around 10:30 a.m. but after that nothing was heard from him. In a vet-center crafts building across the street from the PTSD center, witness Sandra Woodford said she saw officers with guns, but said the only shots she heard were inside Pathway early Friday. "This rapid live-fire of rounds going on, at least 12," Woodford said.

Hours later, authorities found four bodies, including Wong's.

The victims were identified as The Pathway Home Executive Director Christine Loeber, 48; Clinical Director Jennifer Golick, 42; and Jennifer Gonzales, 29, a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

A family friend told The Associated Press that Gonzales was seven months pregnant.

Associated Press Contributed to this article.Massachusetts State Police say they have solved a 32-year-old cold case involving the 1986 murder of a 15-year-old girl from Kingston.

State police detectives, as well as the Plymouth police and Kingston police departments, had continued to investigate Tracy Gilpin's murder for the past three decades, resulting in information that led them to travel to North Carolina recently.

There, over the past week, state police investigators, with assistance from the Troutman and Mooresville police departments in North Carolina, extensively interviewed their suspect, Michael Hand, 61, of Troutman.

Statements made by Hand during these interviews led authorities to arrest him at his home on March 9. He was charged as a fugitive from justice based on an arrest warrant issued for the murder of Tracy.

Hand was then transported to the Iredell County Detention Center where he was brought before a magistrate. Based on the charges against him and his potential to be a flight risk, he was given no bond.

Authorities have already begun rendition proceedings to have Hand brought back to Massachusetts to be prosecuted for Tracy's killing.

Hand is expected to appear in court in North Carolina on Monday to determine extradition. Once returned to Massachusetts, Hand will be arraigned at Plymouth District Court and charged with Tracy's murder.

Tracy's older sister, Col. Kerry Gilpin, is the superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police.

For the past three decades, we have remained hopeful that Tracys murderer would be identified. The much-welcomed news of an arrest in the case leaves us cautiously optimistic that justice for Tracy is within reach," Col. Gilpin said. "My thoughts today are not just with my own family, but also with all the families who have lost loved ones to violence. We will continue to work tirelessly to find justice for all murder victims.

On Oct. 1, 1986, Tracy headed out to a party not far from her house. She left the party with two friends around 10:30 p.m. to head home. Her friends walked with Tracy until they reached their homes, and she then continued walking by herself. She stopped to buy cigarettes at a local Cumberland Farms, but never made it home.

Three weeks later, on Oct. 22, a woman stumbled upon Tracy's body in Myles Standish Park in Plymouth, about 14 miles from where she had gone missing.

Authorities later said Tracy had been murdered, and the cause of death was determined to be a massive skull fracture. Its believed she was killed on the night she disappeared.What to Know Nearly 120,000 customers were still without power in Massachusetts Friday.

Eversource and National Grid said it could be late Sunday before they can restore power to every home and business.

Another storm - the third nor'easter of March - could hit the region early next week.

More than 47,000 customers were still without power in Massachusetts early Saturday afternoon after heavy snow from a second March nor'easter took down tree limbs and power lines in many communities earlier in the week.

National Grid reported more than 37,400 customers were still without power, while Eversource reported more than 9,600 around 11:45 a.m.

Eversource said they have been working non-stop since to clear damage and restore power in MetroWest and Greater Boston. Officials estimate that they will have complete power restoration by Saturday evening.

"We recognize the significant disruption to our customers lives when they lose power and we greatly appreciate their patience," said Doug Foley, Eversource's vice president of electric field operations. "Our restoration effort is a demanding task for crews and support personnel, especially considering theyve been working non-stop to address storm damage across Eastern Massachusetts for a full week now. The one-two punch Mother Nature delivered affected more than a half-million of our customers, and we still have significant work to do to restore power."

National Grid, which serves Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is also preparing customers for long waits to get their power back, especially in the Merrimack Valley. The utility says it has more than 300 crews from 16 states and Canada working on the problem, but some of its customers may be without power until midnight Sunday.

"We've been making solid progress in the restoration of our network and getting our customers back on supply," said Cordi O'Hara, president of National Grid in Massachusetts. "We know that these back-to-back nor'easters are really tough for our customers. We absolutely sympathize with the position they're in and we understand their frustration."

With trees and power limbs down across many communities, the cleanup is making many roads impassable and cleanup difficult. The lack of electricity is also very frustrating for those without it.

"It's annoying. Let's put it that way. So now, for instance, I'm going to Newburyport to get breakfast for my mom because we can't cook breakfast because there's no electricity," said Theodore Papadakis of Haverhill.

Haverhill Mayor Jim Fiorentini took to Twitter Friday to express his frustration with National Grid.

"Just spoke with National Grid. Told them they need to bring in more crews and do whatever is necessary to restore power," he said around 4:30 p.m. "Still over half (58%) of Haverhill is without power. They tell me that some will have power restored today/tonight but some will not. It is completely unacceptable that our citizens have to bear another night without heat or power."

Some other New England states were also still dealing with outages on Saturday, but not to the same extent as Massachusetts.

In Connecticut, more than 18,300 Eversource customers were still in the dark at 11:50 a.m. Saturday, as were more than 1,800 United Illuminating customers.

At that same time, Central Maine Power reported more than 270 customers without power. In New Hampshire, just 24 Unitil customers and 21 Eversource customers were still without power. Just 5 National Grid customers were still in the dark in Rhode Island.

Green Mountain Power in Vermont reported two customers without power.It is a fortunate dog whose heart stops and lives to bark about it.

The Bloomington Pantagraph reports that a 15-year-old corgi named Pia is wagging its tail today thanks to the quick thinking of a woman who not only knows CPR but knows what's good for man is good for man's best friend.

It was last week when Pia's owner dropped Pia off at the Belly Rubs Dog Grooming in Normal. A while later, the dog suffered a seizure, causing it to stop breathing and its heart to stop.

Groomer Emily Bauman stepped up and blew air into the dog's nostrils before administering compressions until the dog started breathing again.

Pia was taken to an area pet hospital and its owner says it is now doing well.At Broadview Missionary Baptist Church Saturday, uniformed police officers stood in somber silence as they remembered Sergeant James Eric Davis Sr. and his wife Diva Davis.

The couple was gunned down last week, allegedly by their son James Davis Jr., at Central Michigan University.

I knew both of them. Very beautiful people, Colonel Rodney Boyd said.

Davis Sr., a member of the Bellwood Police Department, served in Iraq for five years before becoming a police officer.

Davis wife Diva, a mother of three and American Airlines flight attendant, was also a breast cancer survivor, and both she and her husband were remembered fondly on Saturday.

I just remember them being a nice quiet family that cared for one another and also always came out and studied Gods word - brought the children to the church to make sure they were in church, Pastor Harvey Bond said. They were just a great family.

Loved ones and family are still trying to figure out why Davis Jr. allegedly shot his parents to death in a dormitory at Central Michigan University.

They dont know what happened, but they know that this was not the Eric they had known and loved for many years, Davis family attorney Brent Hopper said.

Burial services for the Davis will be carried out at a later date.A white former Connecticut university student accused of smearing body fluids on her black roommate's belongings will enter an accelerated rehabilitation program, which could mean that criminal charges are erased from her record, and her case will not go to trial.

At a hearing Monday in Hartford Superior Court, a judge ruled in favor of accelerated rehabilitation for 18-year-old Brianna Brochu, of Harwinton. She has been ordered to perform 200 hours of community service and will avoid misdemeanor charges on her record.

Police said the former University of Hartford student wrote on Instagram in October about rubbing used tampons on her roommate's backpack, putting her roommate's toothbrush "where the sun doesn't shine" and mixing moldy clam dip in her lotion. Her roommate said she developed throat pain.

Civil rights advocates called for hate crime charges, but a prosecutor concluded there was no evidence of hate crimes.

Brochu's lawyer said Brochu's actions weren't racially motivated.

The victim, Chennel "Jazzy" Rowe, who attended the court hearing, was not opposed to Brochu entering the program.

"At the end of the day, it's really going to boil down to how Brianna Brochu chooses to deal with this second chance," Derek Sells, the attorney for the victim, says.The Connecticut House is scheduled to consider Andrew McDonald for Chief Justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court on Monday.

In the days leading up to Monday the pressure has ramped up from those who support him, with the group, True Justice, launching a television ad campaign aimed at urging people to call their state senators in support.

The group is funded by backers of McDonald, who would become the countrys first openly gay Chief Justice.

McDonald met for three hours Thursday with Rep. Themis Klarides and Sen. Len Fasano, the top two Republicans in the Connecticut General Assembly. They went over McDonalds decisions and writings since he joined the Connecticut Supreme Court in 2012 as an Associate Justice. Both Fasano and Klarides knew McDonald from his days as a state senator representing Stamford, and as Gov. Dannel Malloys legal adviser.

Its unfortunate. This is not a political issue. Its a substantive issue, said Sen. Fasano, (R  North Haven), of the ad that aligned Republicans in Connecticut with President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence with the words, Stop the Hate, emblazoned in all capital letters across the screen.

When asked whether he planned on voting for McDonald, Fasano said, I have not firmly made up my mind but the questions that I have leans me in a no direction. But its only a lean. I still need to understand this more.

According to three sources with knowledge of the meeting McDonald held with Klarides and Fasano, the Associate Justice told the Republican leaders that he did not feel his sexual orientation would factor into their specific opposition to his ascension to Chief Justice. However, the sources also told NBC Connecticut that McDonalds comments regarding Fasano and Klarides were not widespread feelings about the House and Senate GOP caucuses, acknowledging that some members would not be comfortable with an openly gay chief justice.

Democrats in the House are optimistic about McDonalds prospects in that chamber, with Rep. William Tong, who chairs the Judiciary Committee that did not give McDonalds nomination a favorable report, saying, I think the House has a full set of information to act and on and Justice McDonald will have the support of the House on Monday.

Sen. Martin Looney, (D  New Haven), the top Democrat in the Senate where McDonalds confirmation could be denied, fired directly at Sen. Fasano, accusing him of playing politics with the appointment.

Looney wrote in a statement, (Fasano) is desperately trying to deflect attention from the fact that he and the Senate Republicans are marching in lockstep with Donald Trump, Mike Pence, and Mitch McConnell, and are preparing to block the confirmation of a historic and highly qualified nominee.One person was seriously injured in a crash on Route 8 in Waterbury Sunday.

The crash happened on Route 8 southbound near exit 36 around 3 a.m. According to Connecticut State Police, the driver of a Ford Explorer lost control near exit 36, hitting the guardrail on the right shoulder and causing the vehicle to roll over.

A Subaru Impreza then crashed into the Explorer. A passenger in the Impreza suffered serious injuries and was taken to Waterbury Hospital. The Subarus driver and the occupants f the explorer suffered minor injuries.

Both cars were significantly damaged and had to be towed.

The crash remains under investigation. Anyone who witnessed the crash should contact Connecticut State Police Troop A with information.

Route 8 was closed in the area for investigation but has since reopened.Two people were killed and several were injured as powerful winds toppled trees and power lines in East Texas.

The National Weather Service said winds of 80 mph were reported over the weekend, along with hail the size of baseballs.[[476483993,R]]

Mary Pinney, of Mont Belvieu, Texas, was killed and her husband was seriously injured when a tree fell on the family's tent late Saturday at a campground in Jefferson, about 160 miles east of Dallas, according to the Marion County Sheriff's Office.

Authorities say three children in the tent were unharmed. Several other campers also were injured by fallen trees and other debris.[[476487863,R]]

Police in nearby Longview said a 41-year-old man was killed Sunday when a tree fell on a mobile home.

Forecasters said heavy rains have saturated the ground, making it easier for strong winds to topple trees.Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev chose Reykjavik, Iceland. Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Josef Stalin huddled at Yalta. Dwight Eisenhower and Soviet leader Nikita Khruschev will always have Paris.

So where should President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un meet up for the first face-to-face talks between a U.S. and North Korean president?

The Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea is one possibility. Sweden has offered to help. And there's always neutral Geneva, Switzerland.

Someplace in Asia perhaps  such as Beijing  hasn't been ruled out. Nor, for that matter, has a ship in international waters.

The question crackled through diplomatic and government circles Friday, one day after a South Korean official announced in the dark on a White House driveway that the two heads of state who had threatened mutual obliteration for months would take a meeting.

It's not clear what location is suitable for leaders who have sniped at each other  "Little Rocket Man" vs. "senile dotard"  in nerve-rattling Twitter exchanges about nuclear war.

"It's all about optics, from their first handshake," said Lisa Collins, a Korea scholar and fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "There are 70 years of historical baggage between the two countries ... so to have the meeting in a place that's a safe location and one that doesn't overly highlight the differences between the two countries would probably be the best."

The White House wasn't offering suggestions in the hours after the announcement.

Trump, a former reality TV star, understands well the value of "optics." But symbolism, security and practicality also come into play. Holding talks in either the U.S. or North Korea seem unlikely. Traveling to North Korea risks conferring legitimacy on Kim and his country.

As for Kim: Except for schooling in Switzerland and perhaps some vacations during that time, it's not clear that Kim has left North Korea. So Mar-a-Lago, the president's Florida estate that was good enough for Chinese President Xi Jinping last April, probably won't do this time.

More likely is the no-man's-land of Peace Village in the DMZ's Panmunjom. There is a building there with a line through the middle that marks the border  and was the site of the 1953 armistice. Theoretically, Kim could shake Trump's hand by reaching over the line without ever setting foot outside North Korea. And Trump's been wanting to visit the DMZ, anyway. A shrouded-in-secrecy stop there during Trump's tour of Asia last year was scrubbed due to bad weather.

In April, the leaders of North and South Korea are to meet there for their own historic bilateral talks.

Swedish Prime Minister Stefan Lofven, meanwhile, has offered to help, given that his nation has an embassy in Pyongyang. "We are a non-aligning country," Lofven pointed out during a press conference with Trump this week. "If the president decides, the key actors decide if they want us to help out, we'll be there."

History offers some lessons in bilateral summitry.

Sometimes, talks fail. In diplomatic circles, Reykjavik, Iceland's frosty capital, refers President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's hastily arranged arms reduction talks in 1986. They failed to produce a deal, but did result in iconic photos of the two leaders smiling together in the final years of the Cold War.

Other times, they blow up. "Peaceful coexistence" was the goal, but not the immediate result, of a summit in Paris between Khruschev and Eisenhower. The talks were tense over the Soviet downing of a U-2 plane in 1960 that Eisenhower was forced to admit had been spying on Russia. The Russian leader stalked out of the meeting, cooling any thoughts of a lasting peace for awhile.

It's good to have a backup venue: What were to be talks in 1989 between President George H.W. Bush and Gorbachev aboard a ship near Malta turned into the "seasick summit" when seven-foot waves forced the leaders to cancel some meetings.

Talks and the most powerful images sometimes go only so far. Egyptian President Anwar Sadat stunned the world when he set foot in Israel in 1977 and addressed the Israeli parliament. The visit set the tone for the Camp David peace summit and treaty in 1979. The Egyptian-Israeli agreement has remained intact and laid the groundwork for other Mideast summits. But the peace process has stalled in recent years.

Associated Press writer Matthew Lee and researcher Rhonda Shafner contributed to this report.A gunman who shot two California police officers, killing one of them, was arrested Saturday after barricading himself in an apartment and holding a SWAT team at bay for more than 15 hours, authorities said.

Police in the city of Pomona tried to stop the man around 9 p.m. Friday after receiving a call about reckless driving, but he refused to pull over and led officers on a pursuit, Los Angeles County sheriff's officials said. The man crashed during the chase and fled into an apartment complex.

A Pomona neighborhood remains blocked off 24 hours after a deadly police shooting. Rick Montanez reports for the NBC4 News at 11 on Saturday, March 10, 2018.

The officers pursued the suspect, who fired through the door, shooting one of the officers, Los Angeles Sheriff Jim McDonnell said. A second officer tried to rescue his wounded comrade and the suspect fired through the door again, striking the officer in the face, the sheriff said.

The Pomona Purpose Church held a prayer vigil for the family of Greggory Casillas, a police officer killed in the line of duty. Jane Yamamoto reports for the NBC4 News at 6 on Saturday, March 10, 2018.

Pomona Police Officer Gregory Casillas, 30, of Upland, was killed. The other officer was undergoing surgery Saturday and was expected to recover, officials said.

"Gregg is a hero. A man to be looked up to. He left his family at home to protect yours and his ultimate sacrifice will never be forgotten," Pomona Police Chief Michael Olivieri said at a news conference Saturday afternoon.

We are deeply moved by the love and support we have received from our law enforcement brothers and sisters, our community and people across the US during this difficult time. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of our brother, Officer Gregg Casillas. pic.twitter.com/iCZph5DsvF  Pomona Police Dept. (@PomonaPD) March 11, 2018

Casillas first joined the police department in Pomona, which is 30 miles east of Los Angeles, as a records specialist in 2014. He then worked as a jailer and became a sworn police officer in September.

Gov. Jerry Brown ordered flags at the Capitol to fly at half-staff and said Casillas' "brave sacrifice will never be forgotten."

Outside the Los Angeles County coroner's office, dozens of police cars lined the streets and officers saluted as the slain officer's body was brought there in a procession Saturday.

Community members gathered Saturday night to mourn the death of Casillas. He leaves behind a wife and two small children.



Witnesses share their experience about the moments before the shooting began. Christine Kim reports for NBC4 News at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 10, 2018.

The suspect, who was identified Saturday as 39-year-old Isaias de Jesus Valencia, was holed up in the apartment for more than 15 hours as a SWAT team used flash-bang grenades and cameras to watch him and crisis negotiators tried to coax him into coming out peacefully.

The man was taken into custody and led out of the building wearing only his underpants.

More than 24 hours after the deadly shooting at an apartment complex in Pomona, residents were not allowed to return home as the investigation was ongoing.

Valencia is a felon with a lengthy criminal background, records show. He is facing charges for murder and attempted murder on peace officers.

NBC4's Rick Montanez and Jane Yamamoto contributed to this report.A mother was arrested after her 9-month-old baby was found crawling in a busy roadway in upstate New York, police say.

Officers saw a video on Facebook of the infant alone in the street Friday night, Utica Police Department Lt. Bryan Coromato told the Observer-Dispatch.

The video shows good Samaritans stopping their cars to attend to the crying baby. One man picks up the child.

The 27-year-old mother Ledrika E. Ford told investigators the baby was in the back seat of the car when she left the area but "a short time later" looked back and didn't see her baby, Coromato said.

Police said the mother returned to the scene and was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

The baby was taken to a local hospital.What to Know Police are searching for the former partner of a nursing student found killed near Binghamton University

Authorities say the man used to be romantically involved with the 22-year-old woman from Westbury

The man, who hasn't been identified, left the U.S. by plane before her body was discovered, police say

A Binghamton University nursing student from Long Island was found dead at a home near the Upstate college and police say theyre searching for her ex-boyfriend, who took a flight out of the U.S. before her death.

Haley Andersons death was declared a homicide Saturday, hours after her body was discovered by police performing a welfare check at a home in Binghamton on Friday afternoon, the citys police department said.

This incident and the circumstances of the death was not a random act or involving the conduct of a stranger, police said.

Anderson was a nursing student registered at the university, according to police, who didnt say how she died.

Authorities are searching for an unnamed man who they say was romantically involved with Anderson at some point.

The man, who is also a registered Binghamton University nursing student, left the United States by plane before Andersons body was discovered, police said.

Authorities called him a person of interest, but they didn't say when his flight left the country or where it was headed.



The college, which is about 200 miles northwest of New York City, released a statement Saturday saying there was no threat to public safety and that an investigation into the tragic death is ongoing.

Our entire University community extends our deepest condolences to Haleys family and friends, both here in Binghamton and in her hometown of Westbury, New York, the statement read.

Top Tri-State News PhotosWhat to Know The third nor'easter to hit the region in 10 days swirled in overnight, punishing the region with snow and wind during the AM commute

Heavy snow bands lingered over the eastern end of Long Island and Fairfield County in Connecticut, which saw nearly a foot by noon

Conditions improved over the course of the day

The third nor'easter to hit the tri-state area in 10 days dumped nearly a foot of snow on parts of Long Island and Connecticut, but largely spared most of the rest of a region weary of late-winter storms.

Long Island saw the region's highest snow totals, with 11 inches of powder falling on both Dix Hills in Suffolk County and Plainview in Nassau County. Fairfield County, Connecticut, also saw significant snowfall totals; Newtown got the most with 10.8 inches.

New York City was largely spared, with most areas seeing less than one inch of snow. Queens neighborhoods Littleneck and Bayside were outliers, with 4 inches and 3.3 inches, respectively. New Jersey, likewise, saw little in the way of accumulation; Cedar Grove got 3.3 inches of snow, marking the state's highest total.

Storm Team 4 Breaks Down Timing, Expectations for 3rd Nor'easter

Though the latest nor'easter stayed further offshore than the last two, the entire tri-state got clipped by the system. For most, it proved little more than a nuisance.

The latest noreaster is dumping heavy snow on Long Island, and Suffolk County is seeing its snow budget for the year nearly wiped. Katherine Creag reports.

The nor'easter approached Monday night with light snow and a wintry mix, before it turned to more snow overnight. The heaviest snow bands came through the Tuesday morning rush, making for treacherous travel in spots.

Amtrak said Tuesday morning that it was suspending service between Boston and New York City for the entire day because of the nor'easter, which is expected to be much more severe in parts of New England. Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy said state offices were closed on Tuesday.

[NATL]The Most Extreme Nor'easters in US History

Winds speeds were between 15 to 25 mph, but many places were saw gusts top 30 mph at times, especially along the coast, Storm Team 4 said. Highs ranged from the upper 30s to low 40s.



Conditions gradually improved early Tuesday evening as the storm moved out, but the afternoon commute was slow and slippery as plows continued to clear and salt roads, particularly in the hardest-hit areas.

A few flurries or spotty snow showers are possible Tuesday night as well. That chance for flurries will stick around through Thursday, but it should be crisp with plenty of sunshine for St. Patrick's Day and get warmer -- around 50 -- on Sunday.

The storm came as tens of thousands of people are still without power after a double whammy of nor'easters brought down power lines earlier this month.

Those destructive nor'easters of the past two weeks -- one hit on March 2 and another on March 7 -- have been blamed on multiple deaths across the tri-state, including a young boy who was hit by a falling tree and a driver who was electrocuted when he drove near a live wire.

Fourth Nor'easter in Three Weeks Rolls Into Tri-State, Once Again Buries Region and Knocks Out PowerThe North Bergen Housing Authority has now put its top security officer on leave while an outside law firm investigates corruption allegations revealed in an I-Team report.

The North Bergen Police Department was also called to the NBHA twice this week in connection with the inquiry into security director Geoffrey Santini, who sources told the I-Team was spending most of his working hours running his private animal control business. Police were called to help confiscate property from the NBHA and, on a second instance, to remove vehicles illegally parked on the property.

The housing authority that receives millions of federal tax dollars to operate faces questions of a "no-show" job for Santini, who is politically connected to Mayor Nicholas Sacco. Santini is also an administrative aide to Hudson County Freeholder Anthony Vanieri.

Insiders familiar with housing authorities in Hudson County contacted the I-Team claiming Santini has a no-show job. They questioned how Santini could be an effective director of security at the housing authority, while also being the animal control officer in six different towns. They also expressed concern over Santinis use of a black Chevrolet Tahoe, the full-time vehicle assigned to Santini.

A spokesman for the NBHA, Phil Swibinski, told the I-Team for a story published Feb. 28 that Santini needs the SUV be on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

His (security) job requires him to be available," Swibinski said. "So given those responsibilities, we believe its in the best interest of the housing authority to be provided with a vehicle.

A New Jersey housing authority that receives millions of federal tax dollars is being called on to investigate allegations of a no-show job for a politically connected security director who also runs an animal control business in six towns. Jonathan Dienst reports.

Insiders also told the I-Team he uses the SUV for his animal control business.

The I-Team staked out Santini over five days earlier this year in an attempt to clock the hours he spent working at the NBHA. He was seen on site for three hours over those five different workdays at the authority, which has business hours of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In an official statement for the Feb. 28 story, Swibinski said, "Over the last six months, Mr. Santini has worked an average of 45 hours per week." The spokesman added, "His daily start and end times vary according to his necessary duties on any given day."

However, the I-Team was often able to find Santini at his animal shelter in West New York.

According to police reports, housing authority executive director Gerald Sanzari attempted to retrieve the keys to the Tahoe from Santini on Tuesday. Police reports show officers had to later meet Santini in nearby Fairview at the Gotham City Diner, in order to get the keys.

Police were called to the housing authority a second time in connection with the investigation by attorney Mark Tabakin and his firm. North Bergen Police towed away multiple cars and a trailer. The police reports only state the cars had been improperly abandoned on the property.

But sources told the I-Team Santini has a history of selling used cars. And News 4 acquired documents of a former used car dealership called Elite Auto Sales. The president of the company is listed as Jeffrey Gazzillo.

Employment records obtained by News 4 from the town of West New York, where Santini was a health inspector, show he formerly used the name Jeffrey Gazzillo.

Housing spokesman Phil Swibinsky confirmed that North Bergen police were called twice on Santini this week.

In an additional statement, Swibinsky said on Friday, As a result of allegations made in an NBC News story regarding NBHA Director of Security Geoffrey Santini, the Housing Authority retained Special Counsel in order to conduct an independent investigation into the situation. Director Santini has been placed on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation, and the Housing Authority has taken action in order to secure possession of NBHA property. Director Santini will remain on paid administrative leave for the duration of the investigation. The NBHA will continue to investigate the matter through its special independent counsel with a focus on determining the truth of the accusations and recommending any needed policy or procedure changes to ensure employee accountability.

Today, there are now more questions about Santini possibly conducting business at the housing authority. Additional documents obtained by the I-Team reveal an expired $26,000 per year animal control contract with the New Jersey town of Harrison. In it, Santini lists a housing authority property as his address.

While attempting to seek comment from Santini, he only said, I have nothing to say to you, my friend." He then hung up the phone.

Santini later referred the I-Team to an attorney who hadnt returned any phone calls as of Friday night.

As for Tabakin, the attorney conducting the NBHA investigations, campaign contribution records show he donated nearly $35,000 to the Mayor Sacco and the North Bergen Democratic Municipal Committee. Sacco is also a New Jersey state senator. Yet, city sources said that Tabakin has a history of being fair, but tough.

Law enforcement sources familiar with this reporting say that at least one of several whistleblowers who called us has now contacted the New Jersey Attorney Generals Office.Parents are complaining that the NYPD is removing one of the last police officers assigned full-time to public schools in the wake of last month's Florida shooting.

Sgt. Raul Espinet is being removed from his post at Francis Lewis High School in Fresh Meadows, Queens, The New York Post reported.

Police told the Post that Espinet's position was eliminated because patrol officers in the new community policing units will visit the schools while on patrol.

The PTA says it's trying to reverse the decision. PTA co-president Linda Lovett called the move "ridiculous."

"All over the country they are telling you 'arm the teachers, get an officer in your school,'" Lovett told the Post. "New York City had a designated officer and they are actually cutting the program . . . they are making us less secure."



Armed police officers have been gradually eliminated from city schools since the 1990s. Unarmed school safety agents are stationed at all schools.

Parents told the Post that Bayside and Benjamin Cardozo high schools also lost full-time armed NYPD officers.

The shooting in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine's Day killed 17 people and renewed a nationwide debate about gun control and school safety.The man who killed three women after a daylong siege at a Northern California veterans home had trouble adjusting to regular life after he returned from the Afghanistan war and had been kicked out of the treatment program designed to help him.

As family and friends of the victims tried to make sense of the tragedy, authorities offered little information Saturday about why Albert Wong, 36, attacked The Pathway Home and whether he targeted his victims. Those who knew the women said they had dedicated their lives to helping those suffering like Wong, and they would've been in a good position to assist him had Friday's hostage situation ended differently.

"We lost three beautiful people yesterday," Yountville Mayor John Dubar said. "We also lost one of our heroes who clearly had demons that resulted in the terrible tragedy that we all experienced here."

Authorities said Wong, a former Army rifleman who served a year in Afghanistan in 2011-2012 and returned highly decorated, went to the campus about 50 miles (85 kilometers) north of San Francisco on Friday morning, slipping into a going-away party for some employees of The Pathway Home. He let some people leave, but kept the three.

Police said a Napa Valley sheriff's deputy exchanged gunshots with Wong around 10:30 a.m. but after that nothing was heard from him. From a vet-center crafts building across the street from the PTSD center, witness Sandra Woodford said she saw lawmen with guns trained outside, but said the only shots she heard were inside Pathway early Friday. "This rapid live-fire of rounds going on, at least 12," Woodford said.

Hours later, authorities found four bodies, including Wong.

His victims were identified as The Pathway Home Executive Director Christine Loeber, 48; Clinical Director Jennifer Golick, 42; and Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System. A family friend told The Associated Press that Gonzales was seven months pregnant.

"These brave women were accomplished professionals who dedicated their careers to serving our nation's veterans, working closely with those in the greatest need of attention after deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan," The Pathway Home said in a statement.

Wong always wanted to join the Army and serve his country and was "soft-spoken and calm," said Cissy Sherr, who was Wong's legal guardian when he was a child.

Sherr and her husband became Wong's guardians after his father died and his mother developed health problems, she said. He moved back in with them for a little while in 2013 after he returned from his deployment in Afghanistan and kept in touch online.

"He always had a great smile on his face," she said. "He didn't have a traditional upbringing but still he just became a fine young man. I can't imagine what happened. It doesn't make any sense to me."

Wong wanted to go back to school to study computers and business and thought the Pathway House program would help him readjust after the Army, she said.

Dunbar, a member of The Pathway Home's board of directors, said the program has served over 450 veterans in more than a decade. Six members are currently in the nonprofit men's residential recovery program for veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who suffer from PTSD or traumatic brain injuries, he said.

The program is housed at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville in the Napa Valley wine country region. The largest veterans home in the nation cares for about 1,000 elderly and disabled vets.

Golick's father-in-law, Mike Golick, said in an interview she had recently expelled Wong from the program. After Wong entered the building, Golick called her husband to say she had been taken hostage by the former soldier, her father-in-law said.

He didn't hear from his wife again.

Marjorie Morrison, the founder of a nonprofit organization known as PsychArmor, recalled Gonzales Shushereba as a "brilliant" talent who did amazing work with veterans with PTSD, and also focused on helping college campuses successfully reintegrate veterans when they return to school.

Gonzales Shushereba, a mother-to-be, had planned to travel to Washington, D.C., this weekend to celebrate her wedding anniversary, family friend Vasiti Ritova said.

"Jennifer and her colleagues died doing the work they were so passionate about  helping those in critical need," her husband, T.J. Shushereba, said in a statement.

Loeber, who had taken over The Pathway Home 18 months ago, was known by all as dedicated and caring.

"She would sleep in her office more often than not because she had to be there to fill a shift, that's the kind of personal dedication she showed all of us," Dunbar said.

Family friend Tom Turner said Loeber would be helping others understand and deal with the tragedy if she were still alive.

"She'd have a better perspective than I would," he said. "And she wouldn't be as angry I am."

Dunbar said all three of the women were excellent at what they did, and will be sorely missed. He added that veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan come home with "a lot of need for special care."

Dunbar did not answer questions about why Wong was removed from the program. There was no answer at the small, neatly kept Napa ranch house listed on property records as Wong's most recent address. A neighbor told a reporter he hadn't lived there for a couple years, but declined to say more.

President Donald Trump tweeted Saturday morning: "We are deeply saddened by the tragic situation in Yountville and mourn the loss of three incredible women who cared for our Veterans."

California Secretary of Veterans Affairs Vito Imbasciani said some veterans and employees at the home were traumatized and Gov. Jerry Brown had offered the state's employee assistance program, which had already sent counselors to the campus.

When asked whether armed CalVet guards might have stopped Wong, he said that such questions were akin to politicizing the tragedy, though a union representing guards at veterans homes had raised the issue Friday. But Imbasciani said he would take input from every reliable source, including law enforcement.

At the veterans home, those who served in earlier wars passed the building that houses The Pathway Home, which was surrounded by crime tape.

Muriel Zimmer, an 84-year-old Air Force veteran of the Korean War, said she feels badly for Wong, saying she "cannot blame him. It's because of the war."

Older vets didn't always interact with the Iraq and Afghan vets at The Pathway Home, because older vets tended to bring up their own war stories too much with the younger ones, Zimmer said. But she would exchange encouraging words and hugs with vets at The Pathway Home when she could.

"That PTSD program has helped so many, and we are so afraid this is going to affect it," she said.

Forliti reported from Minneapolis. Associated Press writers Frank Baker and Michael Balsamo in Los Angeles also contributed to this report.U.S. President Donald Trump's trade envoy is meeting Saturday with top officials from the European Union and Japan, who are pushing back against new U.S. steel tariffs that have unleashed fears of a broader trade war.

The EU is seeking clarity from Washington about whether the 28-nation bloc will be exempt from the U.S. tariffs, which come into force in two weeks. If not, the EU has threatened retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products like peanut butter and orange juice.

EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem met Saturday in Brussels with Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko, before U.S. trade representative Robert Lighthizer arrived to join them for three-way talks as well as individual discussions with the EU and Japanese trade chiefs.

The meeting had been previously planned but took on greater importance because of Trump's announcement of a 25-percent tariff on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum imports.

Key U.S. trading partners and businesses have warned the tariffs could backfire, provoking a trade war and hurting allies like the EU and Japan more than China, their main target.

Japan's government has warned the measure could hurt its economic relations with the U.S. But ahead of Saturday's talks, Seko also cautioned that "falling to exchanges of unilateral measures will not be in the interest of any country," according to the Kyodo news agency. He was apparently referring to the EU threats of retaliation.

Trump argues the tariffs are designed to protect U.S. jobs and national security. He said Canada and Mexico are exempt for now, and other countries could be spared if they can convince the administration that their steel and aluminum exports don't threaten American industry.

The EU insists that it is committed to open, global trade. Malmstroem said the real problem is an oversupply of steel on global markets, and she rejected Trump's assertion that the tariffs are needed to protect U.S. national security, especially when most EU countries are members of NATO.

"We are friends. We are allies. We work together. We cannot possibly be a threat to national security in the U.S., so we are counting on being excluded," she said Friday.

The EU exported about 5.5 million tons of steel to the U.S. last year. America bought 5 percent of Japan's steel last year but just 1.1 percent of China's steel.

Foreign steel producers are not only concerned about losing access to the U.S. market but also that steel from other exporters will flood already saturated markets, threatening jobs elsewhere.

The EU has warned that it stands ready to slap "rebalancing" tariffs on about 2.8 billion euros ($3.4 billion) worth of U.S. steel, agricultural and other products, like peanut butter, cranberries and orange juice.A fleeing driver struck and killed a woman in South Philadelphia, according to police.

Investigators say the 38-year-old driver of a white Ford Wind Star was fleeing the scene of an accident on 23rd and Jackson streets shortly before 4:30 p.m. Saturday. He slammed into multiple cars and hit at least two pedestrians.

A 46-year-old woman died at the scene, police said.

The driver of the Wind Star was taken to the Penn Presbyterian Medical Center and is being evaluated.

Several other people were also taken to a nearby hospital in stable condition, police said.



A law enforcement source told NBC10 the driver was on medication and may have blacked out prior to the crash.



Editor's Note: Police initially told NBC10 two people died in the crash. They later corrected that information.

After the New York Times reported that President Donald Trump was unhappy with his legal team in the Russia probe and was seeking outside help, Trump attacked the publication on Twitter and defended his three lawyers.

"The Failing New York Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out. Wrong," Trump wrote Sunday morning. "I am VERY happy with my lawyers, John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow. They are doing a great job and..... ...have shown conclusively that there was no Collusion with Russia..just excuse for losing. The only Collusion was that done by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary. The writer of the story, Maggie Haberman, a Hillary flunky, knows nothing about me and is not given access."

The president was responding to a Saturday report in the Times that claimed, citing four unnamed sources, that Trump met with Emmet T. Flood in the Oval Office this past week to talk about him joining the White House to help deal with the special counsel Robert Mueller's probe. Flood is a veteran Washington lawyer who represented Bill Clinton during his impeachment process.

The White House did not respond to the Times' request for comment, and Flood declined to comment for the story.

NBC has not independently verified the Times' report.

Haberman defended her reporting on Twitter, writing, "Several people close to Trump confirmed our story. Trump also met with Emmet Flood in the Oval last week for purpose of potentially hiring him. Our story was confirmed by other outlets."

She added that Trump's tweets "raises possibility Flood has turned him down."

Haberman concluded: "lol."San Diego twins who were thrust into the national spotlight when their own parents were detained by immigration officials, stepped forward Friday to demand that families not be "brutally separated" by immigration officials in the U.S.

We need to change this as community residents," said Yarely Duarte who was joined by her sister Aracely Duarte. "We need to do something, National City. We cannot let this become something normal.

The Duarte girls, just 12 when their parents were detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection in May 2017, wanted to show their support for three girls who watched as their mother was arrested on a National City sidewalk.

Perla Morales-Luna, 36, was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Saturday near 24th and D streets in National City.

Video obtained by NBC 7 showed two men in plain clothing and a uniformed U.S. Border Patrol agent taking Morales-Luna into custody and placing her in the back of a CBP patrol vehicle.

A video showing Border Patrol agents arresting an undocumented mother they suspected of leading a human smuggling operation surfaced Thursday, stirring outrage in the community.

In the video, Morales-Luna's three daughters can be heard sobbing and calling for "mom" as she was taken into custody.

We dont want this to be the future of this family, Yarely Duarte said.



CBP said Morales-Luna was arrested for being in the country illegally. Agent Michael J. Scappechio said Morales-Luna has been arrested previously but would not confirm the charge.

Scappechio said Morales-Luna was identified as part of a "criminal smuggling organization" in East County.

Attorney Andres Moreno II said his client was born in Mexico and has been in the country since she was 15. She has no criminal history, he said.

He said she was on her way to pay her rent Saturday when she was picked up by federal officers.

Were at a bit of a loss as to why theyre alleging the alien smuggling issue, Moreno said.

Morales-Luna was in ICE custody Friday awaiting transfer to a detention facility, her attorney said. A bond hearing is scheduled for March 20 in Otay Mesa.

Several community members said the allegations made by immigration officials were unfounded and are often used to defend the actions of agents in the field.

Family spokesperson Judith Castro, who said her own parents were deported when she was 15, said the accusations of criminal wrongdoing are nothing new to the Latino community.

She said she was sickened at the way the arrest was handled.

No explanation as to why theyre taking their mother. No comfort. No compassion in the way this woman was taken, Castro said.



The daughters are staying with an aunt while their mother was in custody.

"This injustice that happened to them which comes nowhere near what happened to our family," Yarely Duarte said as she described the arrest as "brutal."

Francisco Duarte told NBC 7's Katia Lopez-Hodoyan that his father was walking to a nearby store to buy a newspaper when ICE agents took him into custody. He said his mother was arrested soon after when she came outside to see what was going on.

As for the Duarte family, they appeared together at Friday's news conference. The oldest child, Francisco Duarte, recalled the allegations made about his father when his parents were arrested in May.

NBC 7

"My dad has been an ice cream man since he got to this country," the teenager said. "He sells ice cream and he rents carts."

Francisco Duarte and Rosenda Perez have since been reunited with their family.

"They put our family through all of that. On top of taking my parents, they branded them as criminals," the younger Francisco said.

Duarte's parents are currently out on bond and facing removal proceedings.The U.S. intelligence community developed substantial evidence that state websites or voter registration systems in seven states were compromised by Russian-backed covert operatives prior to the 2016 election  but never told the states involved, according to multiple U.S. officials.

Top-secret intelligence requested by President Barack Obama in his last weeks in office identified seven states where analysts  synthesizing months of work  had reason to believe Russian operatives had compromised state websites or databases.

Three senior intelligence officials told NBC News that the intelligence community believed the states as of January 2017 were Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Illinois, Texas and Wisconsin.

The officials say systems in the seven states were compromised in a variety of ways, with some breaches more serious than others, from entry into state websites to penetration of actual voter registration databases.

NBC News reached out to all seven states that were compromised, as well as 14 additional states the Department of Homeland Security says were probed during the 2016 election.

To this day, six of the seven states deny they were breached, based on their own cyber investigations.A judge sentenced a Virginia man to 38 years in prison for the 2015 slaying of a 21-year-old Virginia woman who was found shot to death in her car less than two hours after going out.

Joshua Christopher Williams, 30, was sentenced Friday after his December conviction on first-degree murder and other charges.

Ciccone was found dead in her car in a Spotsylvania County driveway on Dec. 6, 2015. Ciccone's parents said she received a call at 9:30 p.m. that night and told them a friend's car had broken down. She left her family's home in Spotsylvania around that time. It was the last time they saw her alive.

An hour and a half after Heather Ciccone left home, a resident of the 10300 block of Piney Branch Road called police and said an unfamiliar car was parked in his driveway, police said.

The car was Ciccone's, and her body was found inside. Police say she had been shot in the back of the head.

Prosecutors said Williams, a drug dealer and gang member, arranged to have Ciccone killed after the mother of his children convinced him Ciccone was working against him as a police informant.

The man accused of shooting Ciccone, Jonathan Vejarano, has a trial scheduled to begin in May.Special counsel Robert Mueller's team is asking witnesses pointed questions about whether Donald Trump was aware that Democratic emails had been stolen before that was publicly known, and whether he was involved in their strategic release, multiple people familiar with the probe told NBC News.

Mueller's investigators have asked witnesses whether Trump was aware of plans for WikiLeaks to publish the emails. They have also asked about the relationship between GOP operative Roger Stone and WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, and why Trump took policy positions favorable to Russia.

The line of questioning suggests the special counsel, who is tasked with examining whether there was collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election, is looking into possible coordination between WikiLeaks and Trump associates in disseminating the emails, which U.S. intelligence officials say were stolen by Russia.

Trump has repeatedly denied any collusion and has described the special counsel's investigation as "illegal" and a "witch hunt." John Dowd, the presidents outside attorney, told NBC News, "We do not discuss our knowledge of or communications with the Special Counsel."What to Know An investigation is underway after video surfaced on social media of a woman on top of a bucking horse inside a Miami Beach nightclub.

The incident happened at Mokai Lounge on South Beach.

It's unclear at this time how or why the horse was in the nightclub.

The Mokai Lounge nightclub in Miami Beach has lost its business license after a video surfaced on social media of a woman on top of a bucking horse inside its premises.

Miami Beach City Manager Jimmy Morales determined that the incident was an "actual threat to the public health, welfare and safety" of the city and amounted to cruelty to animals.

I was disgusted and offended that any legitimate businessperson would think this was an appropriate action to take, Morales said in a statement.

In the video, a woman can be seen trying to stay on top of a horse as a large crowd surrounds the animal.

Animal cruelty is an abhorrent and vile act, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. I fully support the immediate actions taken by the City Manager and his staff to ensure that this is remedied quickly.

Its unclear why or how the horse made it into the nightclub, but Miami Beach Police say they are now looking into the incident.

Last night MBPD was made aware of this incident at Mokai. We are very concerned over the allegations. As such, we have launched a joint investigation with @MiamiBeachNews Code Enforcement. https://t.co/WsSaMqrHhh  Miami Beach Police (@MiamiBeachPD) March 9, 2018

Miami Beach responded to the incident on Twitter, saying: Last night, MBPD was made aware of this incident at Mokai. We are very concerned over the allegations. As such, we have launched a joint investigation with @MiamiBeachNews Code Enforcement.

Miami Beach Police Department spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said it has been gathering evidence and talking to eyewitnesses who may have been inside the nightclub.

"We do need additional video and we do need some more testimony from those inside," Rodriguez said. Very disturbing, very troubling video. This was a recipe for disaster inside of that nightclub as seen on that video.

Police later said the horse was located and deemed healthy and safe.

Very packed nightclub. That horse could have easily been more spooked than what it already was and could have charged at the guests inside of there," he said.

Rodriguez said the entire city is working on the case.

"From the police perspective to see if theres any applicable animal cruelty type charges from a city perspective not only code enforcement but our city manager as well looking into revoking licenses or whatever is appropriate to ensure that behavior like this does not happen anymore," he said.Lawmakers in Connecticut are looking at a gambling expansion bill, which comes a year after approving another tribal casino to be build on the Massachusetts border.

The General Assembly Public Safety and Security Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the bill this Tuesday.

Some legislators want to allow tribes and non-tribal developers to submit proposal for a new casino, which would be the first on non-tribal lands, possibly located in Bridgeport.The father of a Massachusetts native killed in a hostage standoff in Northern California says he knew right away that his daughter was among those held by a gunman.

Donald Loeber says his daughter, Christine Loeber, the executive director of the Pathway Home, was dedicated to helping veterans. When news reports of the standoff broke, Loeber said he feared the worst.

"She was a great kid," Loeber told NBC10 Boston. "She loved what she was doing. It killed her, but she was a great kid."

Loeber was one of three women killed Friday after a more than six-hour hostage standoff at a veterans center in Yountville, California.

Loeber graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a communications degree in 1991, according to Erika Mantz, a spokesperson for UNH.

Mantz said of Loeber in a statement to NBC10 Boston that "the university was devastated to learn she was a victim of such a senseless tragedy. The thoughts and prayers of our entire Wildcat community are with her family and friends."

Loeber then went on to earn her Master's degree from Boston College, according to the Pathway Home website.

In a statement to NBC10 Boston, Boston College spokesman Jack Dunn confirmed Loeber was a 2008 graduate of the Boston College School of Social Work.

Dunn went on to say Loeber "distinguished herself at BC as a gifted student who was passionate about serving veterans. The prayers of the entire BC community are with the Loeber family in the wake of this senseless tragedy."



Dr. Jen Golick, the clinical director of the Pathway Home, and Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist, were also killed in the shooting.

It's not clear if the three victims were targeted or chosen at random.

The gunman, identified as 36-year-old Albert Wong from Sacramento, is also dead.

Wong, a former Army rifleman, served a year in Afghanistan in 2011-2012. He was a former patient at the facility where the shooting happened, according to the sheriff's office.

The Pathway Home is a non-profit post-traumatic stress disorder program at the Veterans Home of California-Yountville in the Napa Valley wine country region.Tributes have been paid to a courageous Norwich Methodist preacher, who gave up everything and moved to Pakistan to follow Gods call to serve the poorest of the poor, and who has died suddenly.

Tributes have been paid to a courageous Norwich Methodist preacher, who gave up everything and moved to Pakistan to follow Gods call to serve the poorest of the poor, and who has died suddenly.

Tournament heralds start of Norfolk Christian league The start of the 2021/22 Norfolk Christian Football League season was heralded by the traditional 11-a-side tournament for half a dozen teams at Sloughbottom Park on Saturday September 18. Read more

N Norfolk Christian artists in Open Studios event Two faith-filled artists from the Fakenham area will be taking part in the Norfolk Open Studios event starting later this month. Read more

Nourishment for the body as well as the spirit? Robert Ashton wonders if there is scope for our parish churches to provide a further service for their local communities. Read more

Norfolk authors poems speak to the heart Christian writer Catherine Ayre has had a book of poems published to encourage people to find out more about God. Read more

Invite for Norfolk faith groups to help prisoners The Welcome Directory is a multi-faith charity that helps faith communities to offer welcome to people leaving prison. Norfolk churches are among those who are invited to register to make a commitment. Read more

YMCA Norfolk needs Business Support Administrator YMCA Norfolk is looking for a Business Support Administrator to provide business, co-ordination and administrative support for the communities team, based in Norwich. Read more

Women's Specialist Practitioner needed The Magdalene Group is seeking to employ a Womens Specialist Practitioner to provide gender and trauma-informed support to women experiencing multiple disadvantage and to provide specialist support to female sex workers and victims of sexual exploitation Read more

Norwich church art and concerts reflect on Covid-19 Until September 25, concerts and an art exhibition at St Stephen's church in Norwich city centre will continue on the theme of "After the Storm? a reflection on the Covid-19 pandemic." Read more

Tony to raise a laugh and funds for Norfolk kids charity Raise Kids Work has invited funny man Tony Vino to a cake and comedy event to raise funds for the charity. Read more

Name change for expanding Norfolk foodbank North Norfolk Foodbank is the new name for the Cromer and District foodbank, which has changed its identity to reflect its expanding reach into the community. Read more

Filling Station reopens on Norfolk-Suffolk border The Angles Way Filling Station has reopened this month after 18 months break, having changed its name from Ouse Valley Filling Station. Read more

Dinosaurs, evolution and religion lecture Nick Spencer will give a lecture in the Cathedral on Tuesday September 21, starting at 7.00pm on the question what does evolution say about human life? Read more

The Seven Real Reasons for Unbelief Regular columnist James Knight believes that understanding the reasons why many people choose not to believe will assist Christians in reaching out to them. Read more

Burn Norwich worship nights are back Non-stop worship movement Burn has been continuing online throughout lockdown. Local group Burn Norwich are meeting in-person on October 2 in Norwich. Read more

Holt charity holds prayer meetings for Malawi North Norfolk charity Aid Africa tells of a new toilet in Malawi, and invites everyone to a monthly on-line prayer meeting to pray for their work in that country. Read more

Integrate Youth for Christ hiring in South Norfolk Integrate Youth for Christ currently have two vacancies which could be combined if the applicant has suitable skills, one based in Thetford and one in Diss. Both roles are to commence as soon as possible. Read more

New air ambulance HQ in Norwich is blessed Faith leaders from across East Anglia took part in an official blessing at the official opening of the extended and renovated East Anglian Air Ambulance operational base and HQ at Norwich Airport on September 10. Read moreDESPITE the heavy snow, plenty of people ventured out to the Quaker Friends Meeting House in Newbury on Friday evening for an inspiring talk on Healing Nations.

Dr Omnia Marzouk, a British Muslim of Egyptian heritage, spoke on Healing is needed for nations as well as for people as part of her commitment to building bridges of understanding between the West and the Muslim/Arab world.

One of the founders of the Peace and Integration Forum, Howard Grace, said: I was delighted that Dr Marzouk shared experiences that as ordinary human beings we could all identify with, whatever our beliefs.

We all have similar inner struggles and several in the audience were clearly reflecting on their own actions and lifestyles.

This meeting went beyond beliefs and inter-faith comparisons, to an honest reflection on what human beings have in common.

Maybe this is the foundation of the healing that is needed for nations as well as for people.

Whilst working in the NHS, Dr Marzouk ended up working with people of all religions, backgrounds, orientations and convictions.

She felt this was an ideal setting to learn how to truly live a respectful, compassionate and caring life.

As well as her medical work, Dr Marzouk spoke about moving further out of her comfort zone, travelling to 26 countries and working with people in different settings and situations, focusing on trust-building across divides, ethical leadership and sustainability.

Dr Marzouk worked for 22 years as consultant in paediatric emergency medicine at Liverpool Childrens Hospital in Alder Hey, and was also clinical director of the emergency department for seven years.

The event was hosted jointly by Newbury Quakers and the West Berkshire Peace and Integration Forum.NEW MILFORD  Even though she grew up in Sherman, 89-year-old Jean Susann Sheldon vividly remembers the white papier-mache horse that stood outside of Greens Warehouse in neighboring New Milford, where her family would often go to shop.

There are two things I remember as a child (about New Milford), Sheldon said. The fountain by Town Hall and that white horse.

The horse stood out to her because she so badly wanted a horse of her own at the time, Sheldon said. Then, when her daughter got her own horse, the two would visit the warehouse to buy bridles, bits and other supplies.

The Sheldons were just two of dozens of people who shared their memories of the horse, named Chief Waramaug Green, during its 100-year birthday party held at the New Milford Historical Society on Saturday.

The party featured historical photos of the horse, a birthday cake and a watercolor rendering of one of the photos, which was auctioned off in a raffle.

Chief Waramaug Green stood next to the painting all dressed up in a saddle, just as he had when he modeled products for Greens Warehouse until it closed in 1986. He became known during that time as the horse on the porch.

The horse, which was brought to New Milford by rail in 1918, was then donated to the historical society.

He is such an icon, said Anita Regan, who is a member of the historical societys board.

Mayor Pete Bass made an appearance at the party to declare March 10 Chief Waramaug Green Day.

Those who remembered the white horse were asked Saturday to record their stories through a booth set up by Connecticut Crossroads Oral History.

Amie Walston, registrar for the society, said the memories will be available on the companys website and likely compiled for the historical societys gift shop.

So many people come in and see the horse and they have an emotional reaction, Walston said. Hes just so nostalgic. So, why not collect those emotions and that attachment?

Walston added that the horse is well known by the older generations in New Milford and the younger children who visit the historical society on field trips.

Its really a New Milford landmark, she said.A trauma to the spinal cord, quickly leads to a progressive loss of nerve tissue. This not only affects the injured area, but over time affects also other parts of the spinal cord and even the brain. These neurodegenerative changes can be explored in detail using magnetic resonance imaging. An international team of researchers headed up by Patrick Freund from the Spinal Cord Injury Center of the University of Zurich and the Balgrist University Hospital has now for the first time investigated the extent and progression of microstructural changes over the first two years after a spinal cord injury.

The smaller the initial nerve loss, the better the long-term recovery

In their study, the scientists examined 15 patients who had suffered acute traumatic injuries to the spinal cord as well as 18 healthy study participants after 2, 6, 12, and 24 months. In the brain as well as spinal cord, they determined the anatomical extent of neurodegeneration, the loss of myelin (the insulating layer surrounding nerve cells), as well as the accumulation of iron in the nerve tissue as a result of degeneration and inflammation. It then emerged that there was a direct link between the recovery levels of patients after two years and the extent of neurodegenerative change within the first six months after injury. "The smaller the overall loss of nerve tissue across the neuroaxis at the beginning, the better the patients' long-term clinical recovery," summarizes Patrick Freund.

Predicting long-term recovery by measuring early changes

What the researchers found surprising was the fact that the recovery was steepest within the first six months but neurodegenerative changes greatest within the same time period with no signs of deceleration over two years in the spinal cord and brain. This indicates a fierce competition between compensatory and neurodegenerative changes early after injury. The battle seems to be lost in favor of neurodegeneration over time. Nevertheless, the magnitude of early microstructural changes is predictive of the long term recovery of patients suffering from a spinal cord injury. Crucially, non-invasive, high-resolution neuroimaging provides a mean to predict recovery trajectories and distinguish between neurodegeneration caused by the spinal cord injury itself and beneficial changes resulting from therapy. "We have now a tool to reliably predict recovery and determine the effects of treatments and rehabilitation measures as opposed to spontaneous neurodegeneration in humans" adds neuroimaging specialist Freund. "Clinical studies can thus be carried out more efficiently and cost-effectively in the future."

Clinical studies into the influence of arm and leg exercises planned

The patients who took part in the study will be examined again after five years using the same method. The scientists want to determine whether the neurodegenerative changes will have ceased by then or whether they will still be ongoing. Patrick Freund and his team are also planning training studies that aim to show whether the high-intensity exercising of arm and leg functions helps to slow down or stop the loss of nerve tissue.Researchers at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) identified thirdhand smoke, the toxic residues that linger on indoor surfaces and in dust long after a cigarette has been extinguished, as a health hazard nearly 10 years ago. Now a new study has found that it also increases lung cancer risk in mice.

A team led by Antoine Snijders, Jian-Hua Mao, and Bo Hang of Berkeley Lab first reported in 2017 that brief exposure to thirdhand smoke is associated with low body weight and immune changes in juvenile mice. In a follow-up study published recently in Clinical Science, the researchers and their team have determined that early thirdhand smoke exposure is also associated with increased incidence and severity of lung cancer in mice.

Field studies in the U.S. and China have confirmed that the presence of thirdhand smoke in indoor environments is widespread, and traditional cleaning methods are not effective at removing it. Because exposure to thirdhand smoke can occur via inhalation, ingestion, or uptake through the skin, young children who crawl and put objects in their mouths are more likely to come in contact with contaminated surfaces, and are therefore the most vulnerable to thirdhand smoke's harmful effects.

In the Berkeley Lab researchers' new study, an experimental cohort of 24 A/J mice (a strain susceptible to spontaneous lung cancer development) was housed with scraps of fabric impregnated with thirdhand smoke from the age of 4 weeks to 7 weeks. The dose the mice received was estimated to be about 77 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day - comparable to the ingestion exposure of a human toddler living in a home with smokers. Forty weeks after the last exposure, these mice were found to have an increased incidence of lung cancer (adenocarcinoma), larger tumors, and a greater number of tumors, compared to 19 control mice.

Their work also sheds light on what happens on both a molecular and cellular level. If thirdhand smoke toxins damage DNA within cells and the damage is not repaired properly, it can give rise to mutations, which may lead to the cell becoming cancerous. To further investigate how thirdhand smoke exposure promotes tumor formation, the team performed in vitro studies using cultured human lung cancer cells.

These studies indicated that thirdhand smoke exposure induced DNA double-strand breaks and increased cell proliferation and colony formation. In addition, RNA sequencing analysis revealed that thirdhand smoke exposure caused endoplasmic reticulum stress and activated p53 (tumor suppressor) signaling. The physiological, cellular, and molecular data indicate that early exposure to thirdhand smoke is associated with increased lung cancer risk.

Hang, a staff scientist in the Biological Systems and Engineering Division (BSE), and Yunshan Wang, a postdoc in Mao's lab in the BSE Division, are co-first authors on this study; Hugo Destaillats and Lara Gundel of the Energy Technologies Area, who were the first to report the potential dangers of nicotine in thirdhand smoke, are co-authors.

The study is the latest in several thirdhand smoke-related Berkeley Lab discoveries and is part of an ongoing collaboration between Berkeley Lab and the UC San Francisco School of Medicine to study the impact of early exposure to thirdhand smoke in mice.Australian diplomacy welcomed Moroccos autonomy initiative for the Sahara as a good initiative reiterating support for the UN process to resolve the artificial dispute over the Kingdoms territorial integrity.

The autonomy proposal is a good initiative, said director of the department for North Africa and the Middle East at the Australian Foreign Ministry, Matthew Neuhaus, following talks with Secretary of State to Foreign Affairs, Mounia Boucetta, as part of bilateral political consultations.

The Australian official also reiterated his countrys support for UN efforts to resolve the artificial conflict over the Sahara.

During the political consultations Morocco and Australia voiced willingness to add momentum to their bilateral ties and diversify their partnership

The political consultations between the two countries are a road map for the development of our excellent bilateral relations, said Neuhaus,

The two parties discussed prospects for deepening cooperation in the fight against terrorism and in the field of immigration.Social issues such as hunger, inadequate housing, social isolation, and poverty are linked to poor health, especially as we age. When community organizations and healthcare systems coordinate with each other, they are better able to help us address these concerns individually and as a society.

Food insecurity occurs when people lack access to food or go hungry due to poverty or other challenges. Food insecurity is a serious problem for many older adults. For example, in 2015, 8.3 percent of American households with a family member aged 65 or older and 9.2 percent of all older adults experienced food insecurity.

A research team from the Institute for Health Research, Kaiser Permanente, Colorado, designed a study to learn more about food insecurity and older adults. Their study was published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

The researchers examined information from a health survey that was given to more than 50,000 older adults between 2012 and 2015. The survey was part of a free Annual Wellness Visit for Medicare members in Kaiser Permanente Colorado. It included a question about food security.

More than 50,000 people answered the question about food insecurity. More than 2,950 people (almost 6 percent) said that they did not always have enough money to buy the food they needed.

The study revealed that:

Food insecurity was least common (4.8 percent) in people 85-years-old or older.

Food insecurity was most common (6.2 percent) in people between the ages of 75 and 84.

More than 25 percent of people with both Medicaid (government insurance for people living below the federal poverty line) and Medicare (government insurance for older adults) reported having food insecurity.

Food insecurity was more common among:

Women

People without a spouse or partner

Those who used tobacco or alcohol

People with high blood pressure , diabetes, or diagnosed depression

People who had been hospitalized, visited an emergency department, or had lived in a nursing home in the year before the survey

Food insecurity was reported by 10 percent or more of people who had:

Fair or poor general health or quality-of-life

Oral or dental problems

Trouble with bathing, eating, dressing, and performing other activities of daily living

A poor diet (they ate no fruits or vegetables, or they ate fewer than two meals a day)

No one to call for help

The researchers said that ways to identify food insecurity in older adults needed to be combined with methods to connect older adults with community-based food resources.New Delhi: A Parliamentary panel has asked the government to define "shell company" in the Companies Act and ensure distinction between those guilty of fraud and those irregular with filings.

The recommendation assumes significance at a time when the government is cracking down on companies that have not been carrying out business activities for long as well as those entities being allegedly used for illicit fund flows.

As part of larger efforts to curb the black money menace, the corporate affairs ministry has already struck off the names of more than 2.26 lakh companies from the official records besides disqualifying a large number of directors associated with such entities.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance, headed by senior Congress leader and former Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily, has said that out of the 2.26 lakh deregistered companies some may have been merely dormant ones without any fraudulent intent.

"Therefore, it is necessary that while cracking down on shell companies, the ministry needs to make distinction between those guilty of fraud and those irregular with filings," the panel said in a report tabled in Parliament on March 9.

At present, the term 'shell company' is not defined under the Companies Act, which is implemented by the corporate affairs ministry.

"To avoid any legal ambiguity and pre-empt avoidable litigation in the absence of a clear-cut definition of 'shell companies' may be suitably included in the Act itself by bringing in the element of 'fraudulent' intent," the committee said.

According to the report, the ministry has decided to attempt a commonly accepted definition and attributes of shell companies.

Amid instances of corporate frauds, the panel has also called for "real-time data sharing" among the ministry and other agencies.

"To prevent corporate misfeasance/ malfeasance, there should be real-time data-sharing amongst Ministry of Corporate Affairs and other regulatory enforcement agencies such as CBI, ED, DRI, CBDT, SFIO, Department of Financial Services, Financial Intelligence Unit, Central Economic Intelligence Bureau and Sebi," it said.

In this regard, the committee has said that it may be apprised of the progress made within three months.New Delhi: India should drag the US in the World Trade Organisation's (WTO) dispute mechanism against the move to hike import duties on steel and aluminium, as the decision will impact exports and it is not in compliance with the global trade norms, experts on Sunday said.

The decision of the US would not only impact India's export of these goods to America but also affect global trade, Biswajit Dhar, a professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said.

"Such decisions are protectionist in nature. India needs to approach the WTO against this move as it would severely hit global trade," Dhar said.

Former Commerce Secretary G K Pillai said the country should take action against America and also raise duties on products like almonds, pistachio and Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The US exports these items to India.

"We also have the freedom to increase tariffs. India should also retaliate as the US decision will impact exports of steel and aluminium goods. You have to take action to protect the country's interests," Pillai told PTI.

He added that raising duties by India would be within the bound rates of the WTO.

These are the rates beyond which, a WTO member can not increase taxes on a commodity.

Exporters body FIEO too said that India should file a complaint in the Geneva-based WTO as the decision of America is not in compliance with the global trade norms.

India's exports of steel and aluminium products to America stood at about USD 1.5 billion every year.

"India has huge trade interest in the US and knee-jerk reaction is not good. We should approach the WTO," Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) Director General Ajay Sahai said.

Sharing similar views, former Ficci President and expert on international trade related issues R V Kanoria said that raising duties by America is against the WTO's norms.

"India should refer the case to the WTO," he said.

However, he cautioned that the country should not take any knee-jerk reaction against the US.

Further, Professor at Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) Rakesh Mohan Joshi said the US decision will impact global trade as other countries too are expected to take such protectionist measures.

"Such decisions impact process of goods in global markets. It would dent competitiveness of goods and India should consider going to WTO's dispute body against this decision," he said.

On March 9, President Donald Trump imposed heavy tariffs on imported steel and aluminium which he said were necessary to boost the US industry suffering from "unfair" business practices, a move that has sparked fears of a global trade war.

Trump signed two proclamations that levied a 25 per cent tariff on steel and a 10 per cent tariff on aluminium imported from all countries except Canada and Mexico.Mumbai: Around 30,000 farmers, led by the All India Kisan Sabha, descended on Mumbai on Sunday afternoon to protest against the failure of the BJP-led government to address agrarian distress.

The huge crowd that was camping at the KJ Somaiya Ground, plans marching overnight to Azad Maidan.

Braving scorching heat, they have covered around 180 km on foot in six days.

"We don't want to create a problem for exam going students of 10th standard, we don't mind suffering more but we don't want our students to suffer," said Ashok Dhawale, president, AIKS.

The farmers will stage a protest outside the State Assembly on Monday, demanding fair remuneration and loan waiver. These farmers will seek answer from the government for non-implementation of the demands that were promised by the government, said Ajit Nawale, state general secretary of AIKS.

The 180-km long foot march was launched with around 12,000 farmers and the number has reached to 30,000 now. (Image: Network18)

"Farmers in the state are reeling under the ripples of agrarian distress and they are under huge financial burden. The government has not done anything to provide them any relief. So they are left with no option but to express their anguish through the protest march," Nawale said.

As the sea of red neared Mumbai, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appointed minister Girish Mahajan as the governments representative to talk to the leaders of the march when they reach Vikhroli.

The opposition Congress and BJPs estranged ally Shiv Sena have extended their support to the protest, dubbed the Long March of Farmers.

The agitating farmers take a break to enjoy their meals. (Image: Network18)

"Today, our number is over 35,000. Over 20,000 farmers from other parts of the state will join tomorrow," said Kisan Gujar, president, state council of AIKS.

Complete loan waiver and profit of 1.5 times input cost for all major agriculture commodities are the major demands of the AIKS.

These farmers want an immediate implementation of M.S. Swaminathan committee's recommendations, which ensures fair remuneration.

These farmers want an immediate implementation of M.S. Swaminathan committee's recommendations, which ensures fair remuneration. (Image: Network18)

The agitating farmers are also demanding compensation of Rs 40,000 per acre for destruction of crops due to hailstorm and pink-worm, allocation of forest land under cultivation to farmers and implementation of Forest Rights Act.

In June last year, similar protests had boiled over most parts of the state, forcing the Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis-led government to announce a conditional Rs 34,000 crore loan waiver, which farmers said has not been implemented properly.New Delhi: After losing key executives in a helicopter crash, state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) is veering around the idea of barring senior management from flying together in the same chopper. The company lost five key operational personnel when a Pawan Hans helicopter crashed in the Arabian Sea in January.

"Lot of companies world over have a policy of not allowing more than two senior executives flying together. We are also thinking of putting the same policy in operation for our offshore operations," a senior ONGC executive said.

When on January 13 a Dauphin N3 helicopter, operated by Pawan Hans, crashed off the Mumbai coast, ONGC lost top-line operational in-charges of its key Mumbai High oil and gas fields. Two pilots ferrying them to an offshore oil and gas facility were also killed in the accident, the cause of which is still being investigated.

"We lost installation/location managers and maintenance in-charges of Mumbai High North, NQ and Water Injection North (WIN) platforms in the accident," he said adding a sixth key operational executive had dropped out of the ill-fated flight at the last moment due to ill health.

Any oil and gas field of ONGC is headed by the asset manager and installation or location managers are just below him. The official said a decision on barring key executives from flying together is likely to be taken soon.

ONGC, he said, has engaged an expert team from the Rotary Wing Society of India (RWSI) to carry out a thorough audit of all helicopter operations of the company and submit a report on maintenance practices, operational procedures and safety issues.

RWSI is a not-for-profit professional body specialising in both civil and military helicopters. It is an affiliate of Helicopter Association International (HAI) and headed by Air Vice Marshall K Sridharan.

"While the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) is probing the reasons for the accident, we wanted to ascertain if the talks of poor maintenance at Pawan Hans could be a factor," the official said.

The RWSI report is expected later this month.

Improper maintenance, non-adherence to procedures, non-compliance of safety regulations by the operator are some of the common findings in probe reports prepared by the DGCA into 20 of 25 accidents involving Pawan Hans helicopters over the last 30 years. Since 1988, 91 people have been killed in these accidents, including 60 passengers, 27 pilots and four crew.

The Dauphin is a medium weight multi-purpose twin-engine helicopter.

"We don't know the reasons for the accident yet. Only after competent authorities examine the black block (flight and cockpit voice recorder) can we know the reasons. We haven't been told anything about the reasons by the aviation authorities so far," the official said.

Both engines of the helicopter were found to be intact, ruling out the possibility of a mid-air explosion.

Pawan Hans operates seven Dauphin N3 Helicopters for ONGC's offshore operations. These helicopters, based at Juhu airport, Mumbai and Rajahmundry, undertake passenger crew change service and production trips on a regular basis to meet the offshore requirements of the state-owned oil and gas producer.

Pawan Hans is a joint venture between the government of India owning 51 per cent stake, and ONGC which holds the remaining 49 per cent interest.

As of January 2017, Pawan Hans has a fleet of 46 helicopters. It was incorporated to provide helicopter support services to the oil sector, services in remote and hilly areas, as well as, for charter services.

In 2015, a Pawan Hans chopper had crashed off Mumbai High, the country's largest offshore oilfield 176 kilometres off the Mumbai coast. The helicopter, which was conducting night landing practice, was carrying two pilots. Only one body was found.Kolkata: Sitting with his aunt in the spectacular Ujayanta Palace, the 40-year-old Tripura Congress president just received a gift in disguise. Not only did his aunt, senior BJP leader Vasundhara Raje, paid him a visit but the newly elected BJP government in state fulfilled his long-standing dream.

After its first cabinet meeting on Saturday, the BJP-IPFT government announced that Agartala airport will be named after the last reigning king of Tripura, Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore Manikya Bahadur.

Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee working president Pradyot Kishore Manikya, the sole heir of the 800-year-old Manikya dynasty, thanks Chief Minister Biplab Deb for renaming the airport after his grandfather.

Despite the political war between the grand old party and the saffron party, the move came as a pleasant surprise for the people. And adding to the newly emerged, hidden cordial relations, the 40-year-olds aunt landed in the state capital.

A personal visit by my aunt and Rajasthan CM Vasundhara Raje and Cousin Dushyant Singh earlier today (Saturday) at the Ujayanta Palace, Agartala. It is indeed important to maintain family relations despite contrary political views. Really glad to see that we still maintain family relationships which is extremely important, Pradyot Kishore Manikya wrote on social networking site, Facebook.

Unlike in other states, the young Congress president in Tripura is more irked by the Left than the BJP. Manikya feels that the spirit of Tripura was fettered by the CPI (M), and that the partys loss is a consequence of misgovernment on part of their leaders.

The communists not only neglected public distress, but denied the royal family basic dignity and honour. They carried out malicious propaganda against the Maharajas - the tribal kings of Tripura, and their contribution to the society in various sectors, Manikya said, adding that he is happy that finally Maharaja Bir Bikram has been given the due recognition.

It was Maharaja Bir Bikram Kishore, who built the first airport in Tripura. He was the king of Tripura before the kingdoms accession to India in 1949. Bir Bikram Kishore is considered the father of modern architecture in Tripura - the entire planning of present day state was initiated during his rule. He is also considered one of the pioneers in land reforms.

Renaming the airport after my grandfather was already in BJP and Congress manifesto. Chief Minister Biplab Deb had personally assured me and I am glad that he fulfilled his promise, he said.

Manikya now hopes to revive the Congress party in Tripura and emerge as a viable opposition to the ruling BJP.

Today we find ourselves at the same spot where BJP was in 2013  when they had only 1.3 per cent vote share in Tripura. We have to rebuild the party from scratch. This time, we gave chance to youngsters. The rot in the party had already switched over to the one in power now, he remarked.

The royal scion said that he was never the one to jump ship or look for greener pastures. He had earlier claimed that the BJP tried to woo him by offering the post of the states chief minister if he abandoned the Congress and switched over to the saffron side. He said the party also offered him a seat in the Rajya Sabha after he turned down their initial offer.Kolkata: Five toll plaza staffers were arrested on Sunday for allegedly stopping a Calcutta High Court judges's car from entering the VIP lane in West Bengal's Howrah district, police said.

According to police, the five accused stopped Justice Biswanath Somadder's vehicle at a toll plaza of Vivekananda Bridge in Howrah's Bally area on Saturday evening.

"Five toll plaza employees have been arrested for allegedly stopping the judge from passing through the gate, meant for cars exempt from paying toll," an officer from Howrah's Nischinda police station said.

"The five staffers were appointed at the toll by a private company. All of them have been remanded to five days of police custody," he said.

According to eyewitnesses, heated words were exchanged between the staffers and the judge's driver as they refused to let the vehicle through even after being informed about the designation and VIP status of the person in the car.

"Action has been taken according to law," police said.New Delhi: Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash on Sunday refused to accept files related to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's budget speech, the Delhi government has alleged, a charge denied by an officers' body which also termed the allegation as a "harassment" of the top bureaucrat.

A senior official of the Joint Forum of officers, who did not wish to be named, said there was no official communication from the chief minister's office regarding the files to be sent to the Chief Secretary on Sunday.

The tussle between the AAP dispensation and the bureaucrats continues unabated since the alleged attack on Prakash by some ruling party MLAs at Kejriwal's residence.

In a statement, the government said, "It is extremely shocking that barely a few days ahead of the Delhi budget, the chief secretary on Sunday refused to accept important files containing comments of the chief minister in preparation of the annual budget speech."

It claimed the files were related to fixing accountability in setting up of mohalla and polyclinics, the key health initiatives of the Delhi government.

"This year the Delhi government will introduce an innovative concept in budget making. For most of the big projects, specific milestones and timelines will be presented before the Assembly to make the Delhi government more accountable to the Legislative Assembly," the statement stated.

It stated that in case of mohalla clinics, the chief minister desired that such specific timelines including construction to operationalisation - recruitment of doctors and the date of starting the clinic -- be clearly mentioned in the file, and that the chief secretary should personally ensure this be implemented.

"However, in the morning when the files were sent, it was informed by the chief secretary's residence that today being Sunday, these files be sent during office hours on Monday in the Chief Secretary's office," statement stated.

Reacting to the government's claims, an official of the Joint Forum of Delhi government employees said that at the time of delivery of the files, the CS was not present at home Sunday being a holiday.

"There was no official communication from the CM's office that the files would be sent to the CS's residence on Sunday. Being Sunday a holiday, the CS was not present.

"Besides, the chief secretary has directed his staff at residence not to accept any package in his absence as it may lead to unfortunate incident. The government's allegation amounts to harassment of the chief secretary," the official of the forum claimed.

According to the government statement, despite clear instructions from the health minister, when the files were earlier sent to the chief minister they did not contain any specific deadlines and Kejriwal wanted the CS to mention how specific deadlines will be adhered to.

"The Chief Minister desired that the information sought about specific timelines was sought from the Chief Secretary and should be provided by him. The CM expressed his displeasure at the sketchy information provided in the files on such important projects," the statement added.

The forum official, however, said every project has milestone and timelines before their execution, adding that these can be ascertained by department's concerned secretary and not by the chief secretary.

The government statement added, "The second file contained only a tentative timeline of 12 months for the operationalisation of 47 polyclinics in the first phase and another 47 in the second phase."Dharamsala: Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama says he doesn't care about alleged pressure from China forcing the cancellation of events in Delhi to mark 60 years of the Tibetan governments exile in India. He also said the position of the Dalai Lama has become irrelevant now and that the Tibetan people must decide on whether to continue it.

Speaking to senior journalist Vir Sanghvi on CNN-News18s show Virtuosity, the Dalai Lama said, "As early as 1969, in an official statement, I had mentioned whether the very institution of the Dalai Lama should continue or not is up to the Tibetan people. I very much admire democracy and feel the Tibetan system is feudal, is wrong.

"As soon as I reached India, I took the responsibility to set up a Reform Committee to change some of our systems and practices which failed to succeed as the Chinese government wanted reforms in their own way. Even spirituality should have democratic representatives. People should focus on studying in order to preserve the Tibetan spirituality and not on the institution of the Dalai Lama. I feel the Dalai Lama is not relevant anymore."

The spiritual leader also identified himself as the "son of India".

"I certainly feel at home in India for two reasons. Firstly, since the 8th century, Tibet has followed Nalanda traditions. So from a very young age, I started studying certain texts from Nalanda University Secondly, for 70 years, my body has survived on Indian dal, rice and chapatti. Sometimes, I describe myself as a son of India, the spiritual leader said.

He also spoke about how he was originally influenced by Chinese Marxism and felt he was a Marxist "as far as social economy is concerned".

The Dalai Lama escaped from Tibet to India in March 1959. The Tibetan government-in-exile is about to complete 60 years in the country. Amid the recent tensions with China, the Centre was reported to have cautioned its senior officials to stay away from events aimed at marking the start of the Dalai Lama's 60th year of exile.

"I don't care about the formalities, have a formal function and deliver a speech. It doesn't matter, what is important is here (in heart). Tibetan people, whether they are at home or away, they have the Tibetan spirit that is wonderful. And I think, a majority  about 99 per cent of them  are Buddhists and about 1% comprise Muslims, Christians etc."

Pressed further on how it didn't matter to him, the Dalai Lama replied that the Tibetan knowledge of Buddha dharma teaches "a good self-confidence".

"You see the totalitarian Marxism... very narrow-minded and short-sighted. I must make it clear that as far as Marxism is concerned, as far as the social economy is concerned, I am Marxist. Marxist economy emphasises on equal distribution. That's very good. The emphasis and special right is given to the working class people, it's so wonderful."

He said he was originally impressed by Chinese communism that nourished during the time of Mao Zedong. He also spoke about his demands for autonomy and recalled how in 1974 the Tibetans gradually decided to talk with the Chinese government and gave up their demand for separation or independence "but at the same time not satisfied with the present condition".

"Every Chinese knows that we are not seeking separation... we are simply seeking the right which is mentioned in Chinese constitution... regarding preservation of our culture, including Tibetan language."

He said the Tibetans established some contacts with successive Chinese governments without any major headway. "In 2001 or 2002, there was a revival or direct contact under the leadership of (then President) Ziang Zemin. There was a meeting with Chinese officials in 2010 that was the last time. Since then, there has been no direct contact."

Asked about what severed the communication, he said he didn't know but "I think some of them are hard-liners".

Watch the entire episode here:New Delhi: France will commit 700 million euros to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), President Emmanuel Macron said on Sunday at the founding conference of the organisation, reiterating the European country's commitment to the alliance and clean energy.

ISA is an inter-governmental organisation that aims to mobilise $1 trillion in funds for future solar generation, storage and technology across the world. It has 60 signatories, with 30 of those countries have ratified the agreement.

The treaty-based organisation, launched by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015, aims to promote solar energy in 121 countries.

Speaking at the conference, Macron said France was more than tripling its commitment to the alliance, and its total monetary contribution to the alliance stood at one billion euros.

Other than leaders from member countries, the event was attended by leaders from major development banks such as the Asian Development Bank and African Development Bank who are expected to sign solar energy-related agreements.

The organisation's main goal is to lower the cost of finance and spur investments across the supply chain, including in manufacturing, project development and storage, Upendra Tripathy, director general of ISA, told Reuters ahead of the conference on Friday.

Macron, travelling with a delegation of French companies including EDF, Dassault Aviation, Schneider Electric and Suez, will inaugurate a solar plant built by Engie in Uttar Pradesh as a part of a four-day tour of India.Aziz Akhannouch, Agriculture and Fisheries Minister and head of the RNI party, was ranked Moroccos wealthiest man in Forbes 2018 ranking of Worlds Billionaires.

Akhannouch, the owner of Akwa group, with a total wealth of $2.2 billion came ahead of his countryman Othman Benjelloun, President of BMCE Bank with $1.7 billion.

Akhannouchs wealth came largely from his majority ownership of Akwa group, a multibillion-dollar Moroccan conglomerate with interests in petroleum, gas and chemicals through its publicly-traded subsidiaries Afriquia Gas and Maghreb Oxygene. It also has businesses operating in media, real estate development and hotels.

Akwa Group was founded by Akhannouchs father, who later took on a partner, Ahmed Wakrim. While Akhannouch serves as Moroccos Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries, he has handed off day-to-day management of the group to Ahmed Wakrims son Ali Wakrim. His wife and brothers also participate in the management of the group.

Born in Tafraout in 1961, Ahannouch was educated at Sherbrook University in Canada from which he graduated with an MA in business administration. In 1990, he returned to Morocco to take care of his familys business where he earned a reputation of being a hard-working boss.

Akhannouch was elected president of the council of the Souss-Massa Draa region from 2003 to 2009. In 2007, he served as minister of Agriculture and fisheries. In 2012, King Mohammed VI renewed his mandate at the helm of the same ministry. On August 23, 2013, he was appointed acting economy and finance minister for a short period after the resignation of Nizare Baraka, whose Istiqlal Party had then quitted the first PJD-led coalition government.

Aziz Akhannouch, who was elected President of the National Rally of Independents (RNI) in 2016, has lately held several meetings across Morocco and gave interviews to a number of local media to explain his partys political roadmap, the aim being to position himself and his party in the national political landscape by 2021, date of the coming legislative elections.

Many analysts describe him as a rational man and a wise politician and already see him as Head of Government after the 2021 elections.New Delhi: The Pakistan High Commission here has lodged complaints of harassment with the External Affairs Ministry, which has assured them of an investigation, official sources said on Sunday and alleged that several Indian mission staffers in Islamabad have been severely "harassed and intimidated".

"Harassment is the new normal for Indian High Commission personnel in Islamabad. The High Commissioner's car was recently stopped by Pakistani agencies in the middle of a busy road to prevent him from attending an event," a source said.

Noting that the Pakistan High Commission has brought to the Ministry of External Affair's notice some incidents of alleged harassment over the last few days, sources said these will no doubt be investigated.

"India makes all efforts to provide a safe, secure and hospitable environment for diplomats to work in. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Islamabad. The Indian High Commission in Pakistan has been facing tremendous harassment for long, particularly in the last year," the source said.

"Aggressive surveillance, violation of physical space and tailing of officers in close and dangerous proximity is a perennial issue. Agency personnel keep shooting videos of the officers thrusting phones on their faces. Obscene phone calls and messages are constantly received on phones. In view of such an atmosphere of intimidation, most families have returned to India and children have been withdrawn from schools," the source added.

In more trouble, over the last few months, several Indian High Commission staffers have been severely harassed and intimidated, the source said, adding that in one case an official's home was broken into and a laptop stolen.

However, Indian diplomats chose to tackle this matter with quiet and persistent diplomacy rather than by airing issues in the media, the source said.

The strong reaction came after Pakistani news paper Dawn quoted Pakistani officials of accusing India of harassing its diplomats and their families in the country and threatened to pull out the families if the intimidation did not stop.

A demarche was made to the Indian High Commission in Islamabad and the external affairs ministry in Delhi, a diplomatic source was quoted as saying by the Dawn.

However, sources here said India has repeatedly requested Pakistan to mutually ensure that High Commissions are allowed to do their job in an atmosphere free of harassment and intimidation, that staff be allowed to work and that construction projects get completed on time.

"We would like to continue the fine tradition of allowing diplomats to do their jobs," the source said.

Sources also said that on February 16, the Indian High Commissioner met the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan to lodge a strong protest against multiple acts of hooliganism against Indian properties and personnel.

"India's residential complex in Islamabad was raided by Pakistan agencies who expelled all Pakistani service providers and later disconnected power and water supply.

"Despite the Foreign Secretary's assurance, the power supply was not restored for over two weeks. The Pakistan High Commission faces no such disruptions," the source said.Nagpur: Bhaiyyaji Joshi was chosen as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's General Secretary or Sarkaryavah for a record fourth term on Saturday evening. The septuagenarian, known to share an extremely close rapport with Sarsanghachalak Mohan Bhagwat, was unanimously chosen by the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, as per the RSS custom.

The triennial election this time was no doubt more important on the background of the forthcoming 2019 Lok Sabha and State legislature elections. But, with this selection, most of the media houses fell flat on their mouths. After all, media speculations were rife that 63-year-old Dattatreya Hosabale will most likely be the next General Secretary.

"This shows the media's lack of understanding of the RSS functioning," a senior RSS functionary told CNN-News18 in a candid chat.

The speculation originated in the power circles of Delhi. It will be interesting to note that the same speculations had made rounds from the same Delhi circuits before the last 2015 elections as well.

Several newspaper reports had carried verbatim stories of Dattatreya Hosabale likely to become the General Secretary in 2015. He, being close to PM Narendra Modi, was cited as one of the reasons.

"There is uncanny similarity between these 2015 reports and the 2018 reports. It is surprising how media fell to this ploy for a continuous second time. If you take off the dates of the 2015 reports, you will find the exact same reports doing rounds. How did nobody think of this?" asked a senior journalist in Nagpur, who has been covering RSS for over three decades now.

"RSS hates these pressure tactics that a section of its affiliates want to use. That is not how things work in this organisation," said Pradeep Kumar Maitra, another veteran journalist from Nagpur. He has covered the organisation for over three decades now.

The RSS is a conservative organisation. It functions like the Church. Media speculations, hype do not make it change its decisions," a senior journalist said.

Was the name of Dattatreya Hosabale making rounds at all?

We posed this question to several RSS insiders. The unanimous answer was, "No." Every RSS office bearer the correspondent had spoken with before the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, said that Bhaiyyaji Joshi will get another term. The most important factor of the election has consistently been that it has been unanimous. "There is no race. Nobody is pitted against the other, as media would like to believe."

"RSS is a family organisation. Decisions dont take place in RSS the way media thinks they do. The process of ascertaining the next Sarkaryavahak had begun at least six months before the ABPS. Reviews of the current Sarkaryavahak's functioning are taken informally from across the cadre. The name is unanimously decided months before the ABPS begins. What are the considerations while deciding the next office bearer? His current functioning, health condition, his attunement to the organisation's thought of functioning," an RSS office bearer said.

"Does the RSS take any decision on the basis of whether a particular person is close to a particular leader in BJP? No. That is never the case," he clarified.

In fact, the election process is an internal process. Political leaders don't even have voting rights during the process. And yet, BJP president Amit Shah, Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis, were present on the day of the election.

Behind the closed doors

What happened behind the closed doors at Dr Hedgewar Smriti Smarak office of RSS at Reshimbag in Nagpur then? RSS sources said that Amit Shah was appraised about the ground level perception about the party. "Very strong feedback is given on the government's functioning, its perception. Various office bearers of RSS discuss their experiences. Also, it is a time for the political leaders to return to their parent body and to meet everyone under one roof. It is also a procedure to call the representatives of the affiliate bodies. They are invitees," he said.Education has the ability to transform an individual, communities, societies and the nation at large. Yet, more than seven decades down the line, we are still a developing country.

Is it so because the purpose of education has not been realized in the true sense? If education has the potential to transform societies thus nations, then why was education not explored to the fullest extent possible?

Have we not explored education as an instrument of change for one and all? If it was attempted then why there is so much visible disparity in the educational figures from states to states, from caste to caste, one religion to the other and within countrys minorities? The concept of minority evolved in different phases and in due course of time was thus simplified in the later years from religious minorities to national minorities. Isnt it an alarming scene?

According to Hilal Ahmed, associate professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS), the term minority was constitutionally never defined. The official status of the concept called minority only changed in 1992 while National Commission for Minorities was being established. The task of this Commission was to look at the religious minorities. In the later years and by early 2000, another declaration was made with regard to identifying the national minorities. But before that, minorities were always considered as an impermanent category with regard to state population. That changed in 2000.

On the question of challenges, Ahmed said, The challenges for each group of the minority are different and it is varied from one another as well. For instance, poverty is the biggest challenge before the Muslims if we talk of minority education in India and poverty is also linked to unemployment and basic facilities, therefore, it has to be looked into such broader contexts.

The country has debated minority education from time to time since Independence for one or the other reason. During this process, various governments announced schemes, formed committees, commissions, established the ministry of minority affairs and even declared Prime Ministers 15 point program. Has it really served the purpose? Not in the desired manner. The figures speak volumes about the real position of minorities on the educational parameter. According to 2011 census, the literacy rate of Muslims stands at 68.53 percent, which is lowest among all minority communities and also less than the national average of 72.98 percent.

The Sachar Committee Report had clearly mentioned that Muslims were on the bottom of the social indicators, including education, and even worse than the Dalits in some spheres. However, the National Policy on Education 1986, which was further updated in 1992, was also aimed at paying greater attention towards the educationally backward minorities for the sake of equity and justice.

Despite the best Constitutional provisions guaranteed to minorities for the educational purpose, the outcome has not been satisfactory. Who is to be blamed for that is a big question today? Can we simply put the entire blame on the governments? Are we not responsible in any way?

Zafarul-Islam Khan, chairman of Delhi Minorities Commission and former president of All India Muslim Majlis-e-Mushawrat, said, Although as a minority, Muslims in India enjoy special rights to establish and run educational institutions from KG to university levels, they have not effectively used this right. Even the institutions established by our forefathers decades ago, even before Independence, are in the bad shape, physically and educationally. The story is same all over north India. Muslims in the south India are much better in this respect.

People talk of establishing universities while the real need is to establish good schools. Universities are aplenty, including the government-run ones but good schools are few and far between and our children dont get admission in the good schools. Once children get a good education, they will not find it difficult to enroll in the best universities at home and abroad, he added.

One more problem is related to madrasas that remain hell-bent not to introduce any modernisation. They reject to introduce modern subjects. The result is that madrasa graduates are unfit to lead Muslims let alone lead the country and the world. We must develop madrasas which offer both religious and modern education to offer their graduates degrees accepted by the world, he said.

Raising similar concerns on the present status of Muslims in education, former AMU vice chancellor, Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah, said, The present position of the Muslims of India is the same as during the time of Sir Syed. They remain marginalized, underemployed and impoverished, primarily because of a weak educational foundation. The youth cannot qualify in open competitive examinations for admissions into prestigious educational institutions like IITs, IIMs, and NDA etc. The lucky few, of affluent families, who have the advantage of good schooling, can hold their own against the very best in the country.

Muslim children are deprived of good schooling because their parents cannot afford the same. In many cases, youngsters are put to work to supplement the family income. The daughters are married off early. The saving grace has been the madrasa education. Had it not been for these seminaries a large number of Muslims children would have been bereft of any education at all? The madrasas are a huge educational network but have now to reorientate their syllabi to make it broader based according to the needs of the time, Shah said.

But according to Jawed Alam Khan, who is an adviser to Institute of Policy Studies and Advocacy, New Delhi, One of the main reasons of educational backwardness among the large sections of Muslim population in India has been due to their extreme poverty, perceiving low rate of economic return from education and less focus on attaining modern education both in the pre and post-Independence period.

At the same juncture, the partition of the sub-continent led to many problems relating to the issues of identity and security which Muslim community in India faced in the form of communal riots in the recent past and also discrimination in almost every sphere of life.

On the present issues and possible way outs, Jawed suggests that the issues of identity, security and stigmatization of Muslims in pre and post-Independence have emerged as a major hindrance for addressing the equity-related issues including education. Further, there has been continuous neglect on the part of the Union and State Governments in addressing educational deficit among the Muslims since Independence. In general, there have been overall gaps in policies, scheme designs, budgets, and poor implementation of education-related programmes. To improve the educational status of Muslims, there is a need for community action to run educational institutions along with trying to improve the level of access to the facilities available in the public education intuitions.

As we move from here onwards, researchers should now find out in what manner poverty, minority syndrome, retroactive approach, ghettoisation or lack of required educational leadership, or any kind of atmosphere builds up after the riots may have hampered the educational growth of Muslims in particular and other minorities in general.

Mohd Naushad Khan is a journalist. Views are personal.New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday called for concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects to raise the share of solar power in the energy basket, provide cheaper electricity and cut carbon emissions.

Speaking at the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), he said India will generate 175 gigawatts (GW) of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2022.

This would be more than double the present renewable energy capacity and would be enough to overtake renewable expansion in the European Union for the first time.

Modi, the chief architect of ISA that seeks to bring together 121 nations, presented 10 action points including making affordable solar technology available to all nations, raising the share of electricity generated from photovoltaic cells in the energy mix and framing regulations and standards to support the initiative.

He said better and cheaper solar technology should be easily available to all nations. "We have to increase the share of solar in energy mix," he said.

Also, innovation has to be encouraged so as to provide solutions to different needs. "We have to provide concessional financing and less-risky funds for solar projects," he said.

Solar energy        technology    ,  ,   , storage technology  , mass manufacturing,  innovation    eco system  : PM PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 11, 2018

ISA, headquartered in Gurgaon near here, is now a treaty-based inter-governmental organisation that was established following the Paris Declaration as an alliance dedicated to the promotion of solar energy among its member countries.

The Prime Minister said of the 121 countries associated with ISA, 61 have joined the alliance and 32 have ratified the Framework Agreement.

Indian 'vedas' have since thousands of years considered sun as at soul of the universe and a nourisher of life. "We have to look at this ancient balanced and all-encompassing philosophy when when we today look for ways to deal with the challenge of climate change," he said.

Modi had in a speech at London's Wembley Stadium in 2015 proposed the idea of an inter-governmental organisation comprising of 121 countries, which lie either completely or partly between the two tropics, with an aim to promote solar energy.

ISA was launched by him at the India Africa Summit in New Delhi and the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris in October 2015 and November 2015, respectively.

On Sunday, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered here for alliance's first summit. The summit was co-hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron.

Speaking on the occasion, Macron said USD 1 trillion will be needed to achieve one terawatt (TW) of solar power capacity by 2030.

"The development of solar energy will not just lead to our prosperity, but will also reduce the carbon footprint of the earth," Modi said on Sunday.

Stating that better and affordable solar technology is available to all must be ensured, he said, results would be even better if other forms of energy are linked to solar.

Solar energy can have a variety of uses - agriculture, solar water pumps, clean cooking. "We need to encourage innovation in the solar energy sector to find different uses for it," he said.Singapore: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday opened up on the 1991 assassination of his father and former prime minister Raijv Gandhi, saying he and his sister had "completely forgiven" his assassins.

During his interaction with IIM alumni in Singapore, Gandhi, when asked if he and his sister Priyanka had forgiven his father's killers, said: "We were very upset and hurt and for many years we were quite angry. But, somehow, completely...in fact, completely (forgiven)."

"There is a history that when one realises that when these events take place, it's collision of ideas, forces, confusion. That's where you get caught. I remember when I saw Mr Prabhakaran on TV lying dead, I got two feelings  one was why they are humiliating this man in this way. And second was I felt really bad for him and for his kids and I did that because I understood deeply what it meant to be on the other side of that thing, Gandhi said.

So to me, when I see violence regardless of who it is, I know that there is a human being behind that, there is a family behind that, a kid crying behind that. I have been through a lot of pain to get this and it is something I consider very valuable. I find it difficult to hate people, even my sister does," he said.

Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a female suicide bomber of LTTE, the terrorist group in Sri Lanka led by Prabhakaran, on May 21, 1991 at an election rally in Tamil Nadu.

Gandhi, who is on a five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries, also said: "We knew that my father was going to die. We knew that my grandmother was going to die. In politics, when you mess with the wrong forces, and if you stand for something, you will die. That's pretty clear."

"My grandmother told me she was going to die and my father...I told him he was going to die."

Asked if he thinks he had a privilege life being the son and grandson of former prime ministers, he said, "It depends which side of the coin you are...of course there are a number of privileges where I sit, but I would not say that I haven't been through a rough ride."

"I was 14 when my grandmother was assassinated. I used to play badminton with those who killed my grandmother. After that my father was killed. So you live in a particular environment...surrounded by 15 guys from morning noon and night, I don't thinks that's a privilege. I think that's quite a hard thing to deal with," he said in a video shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle.

(With agency inputs)Its 1000 AD. Were on a volcano valley, deep in the Aztec land in South America.

Theres a storm raging over. Suddenly, tearing the thick cover of clouds, a bolt of lightning zips down and falls on one of the agave plants. The smoke settles down after a few minutes. One by one, the Aztec people who witnessed the incident step forward to taste the nectar oozing out of the heart of the wounded plant. Mmmm this could be a gift from above.

They christen it Pulque, the fermented agave juice, and honey water.

Agave plant gives away everything it has to nourish us: its flesh is eaten, its fibre is woven into fabric and carpets, leaves go to roof houses and its thorns double as sewing needles.

But the pulque part of agave is what makes it most interesting to Aztecs, as well as us.

When the Spanish conquistadors raided Mexico, they found pulqueries (taverns where pulque was sold) rampant in every part of the country.

They liked the taste but how long can one entertain oneself with this feeble beer? The Spanish soldiers decided to distil this drink into

something more potent.

Tequila was born (Mescal also)!

Did I tell you that the conquistadors were raiding Mexico during the period? Oh, yes. Well it was cakewalk for the soldiers taking Mexico until they met the town of Jalisco, the Pacific-faced town of the country. Now the Spanish teeth met the hard kernel of the country. They found such stiff resistance from the people of Jalisco, who were proud of the Aztec heritage that for the next 20 years, they were kept at bay.

Jalisco already had the reputation of a bandit country, the birth-land of rebellions and uprisings, the very heart of the country which beat against all sorts of oppression. Proud of their Aztec ancestors, the local people were slowly propelling their place to become a major frontier of Mexican revolution.

What could be the spirit behind such a sturdy place like Jalisco? Perhaps the stuff it drains.

With the help of Spanish settlers, Jalisco had already begun distilling weak pulque into potent Tequila (actually Mescal, which Ill tell you about sometime soon). Tequila is a town in Jalisco where you can see blue agave in plenty.

When the revolution finally ended and the Mexicans slipped off the foreign yoke, they suddenly looked down the barrel for an identity. What makes a Mexican a Mexican? What makes them a country? They were confused, there was unrest.

Finally, it was the Mexican movie industry which stood up and answered that difficult question.

The movies, which explored the violent history of the country and extolled the countrys revolutionary leaders, stumbled upon an interesting discovery. They found that it was tequila which united and lubricated the revolution all those years.

Being the drink of the trenches, the entire country was sipping the distilled juice of the agave plant.

The distillers were quick to tap the potential of this discovery. They began to display the names and figures of revolutionary leaders and bandits prominently on the bottles they made.

Tequila is now the national spirit of Mexico.

In recognition of its contribution to Mexican culture and life, the production of tequila is strictly delimited within Mexico. Jalisco is from where all tequila comes from. People often confuse it with Mescal (Tequila is to Mescal what cognac is to brandy. It is region-locked).

Is that a bottle of tequila in your hand?

See whether the bottle in your hand displays 100% blue agave tequila on it. If not, you have a mixto with you, not pure tequila. The law stipulates that even a 60% blue agave drink can call itself tequila. The rest can be plain molasses. (The connoisseurs always go for the pure, to get to the heart of blue agave unadulterated.)

There are four classifications: The original Blanco style is clear and unaged, bottled directly after distillation. The Gold is invariably a mixto, the colour takes from caramel or ageing in a barrel. Reposado (rested) means the drink has sat inside wooden tanks for 3-12 months. Anejo is aged for four years inside Kentucky bourbon barrels.

The drink will lose its character if kept beyond four years. Note this. If somebody gifts you a bottle of tequila, never keep it for more than a month once the seal is broken. The fruit is notorious in losing its character once it has tasted oxygen.

So you have a shot of tequila in your hand. You need to know whether it is high-quality stuff. Swirl the drink. If you can see a string of pearl like bubbles forming, smile broadly. Congrats! Youre having some superior stuff from the Pacific-facing Jalisco.

Now hold the glass under your nose. Do you get faint hints of blue agave? Living far away from the volcanic plains of Mexico where the exotic plants grow, it is difficult for our Indian olfactory senses to pick the agave from the fiery liquid. But just look out for a smell other than that of the spirit. Now quaff it. The classy ones are just warm and mild.

You want to drink tequila in the traditional way?

Heres the drink cold and neat put inside a shot glass. Now smear the back of your palm with lemon-squeeze and salt. Throwback the tequila in one gulp and lick into your hand to kill the acidic taste.

In Mexico, tequila is often served with sangrita. The latter is a mixture of orange juice, grenadine and a hint of chili pepper  a perfect foil for the burn of the spirit. You have to take alternate sips to be part of the cult.

The blue agave drink which once upon a time was limited within Mexico has now become a major one in the spirits circuit. Without it, you cannot concoct famous cocktails like Margarita and Tequila Sunrise.

You want to get the best of it? In 2006, Tequila Ley 925 brought out its six-year matured Pasion Azteca in a limited edition of 33 bottles. It will be personally delivered for a price of $22,500 (around 12 million rupees plus taxes!

It is the spirit of revolution bottled, or the quintessence of a country distilled.

You may also call it a bolt from the blue after the way the drink was believed to be born 3000 years ago in a volcano valley in a place called Jalisco.

(Manu Remakant is a freelance writer who also runs a video blog  A Cup of Kavitha  introducing world poetry to Malayalees. Views expressed here are personal)Tamil superstar Rajinikanth arrived in Jammu on Sunday on what he called his "spiritual journey in the Himalayas".

He will visit Shivkhori shrine in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir. Shivkhori cave shrine is devoted to Lord Shiva.

"Spiritualism is all about serving the people. I am entering politics to serve the people. My politics will basically be spiritual politics," Rajinikanth told the media.

"I have worked for 43 years in the film industry, but basically I am a spiritual being," he added.More than 30,000 farmers and tribals from across Maharashtra have marched on Mumbai from Nashik. They intend to surround Mantralaya, the states seat of power, on Monday, to protest against what they call the governments breach of promises to them.

Young and old peasants, men and women are on the streets, halting along the roads or rivers, sleeping under the open sky, eating together, some of them walking bare feet, some of them playing the drums and flutes and singing folk songs, but briskly walking on to knock on the governments doors.

The 180-km protest march, christened the Long March of Farmers, steered by the Maharashtra unit of the CPMs farmers wing, the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS), is the latest in a string of farmers protests Maharashtra has seen in a year.

The peasants are in Mumbai when the state legislature is in Budget Session. The state finance minister Sudhir Mungantiwar presented yet another farmer-friendly Budget for 2018-19, a day after the Economic Survey for 2017-18 showed a severe constriction of farm economy last fiscal.

Clearly, the marching protestors arent impressed. Acche Din, alas, are nowhere to be seen, they say.

SHRINKING FARM ECONOMY

While the Devendra Fadnavis government claims it has delivered on its loan waiver promise and is doing more than what previous governments did for agriculture, why are farmers in Maharashtra angry?

Ravaged fields, sluggish delivery of loan waiver, and the Economic Survey yield some answers.

Vidarbha and Marathwada have seen an unprecedented devastation of cotton crop due to pink-worm attack  governments estimates district to district hover between 30% and 70%.

The tribal areas of north and eastern Maharashtra are witnessing a strong opposition by the BJP-Shiv Sena government to grant the community forest rights to the tribal communities under the Forest Rights Act. There has been a severe dent to rural and agriculture economy this past fiscal, following a 16% drop in long-term annual average rainfall furthering a sharp decline in farm yields across all commodities, save sugarcane that is witnessing bumper production, but it occupies barely 6 lakh ha of nearly 20 million ha cultivable land in the state.

Notably, Mungantiwar announced a raise in farm and allied sector spending in his 2018 budget to Rs 23,621 crore, but it was still only less than 6.5% of the total budgetary outlay.

In 2016-17, Maharashtras farm sector grew, riding on good monsoon and bumper harvests, by 22.5%, pushing its overall growth to 10%. Even that year, sections of informal farm economy got hit by demonetisation.

Yet, that jump was due to preceding years of drought. In 2017-18, the farm economy contracted 8.3%, the Economic Survey said, owing to weak monsoon  it indicated growing distress. This decline in growth of agriculture and allied activities brought down the states overall economic growth to 7.3%.

During the Kharif season of 2017, the survey said, sowing was completed on 15 million ha with minor increase over the previous year. The area under cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton decreased by 3, 3, 1 and 0.1%, respectively, while sugarcane acreage increased by 43% over the previous year.

The production of cereals, pulses, oilseeds and cotton, the Survey predicted, is expected to decrease by 4, 46, 15 and 44%, respectively, while the production of sugarcane crop would increase by 25% over the previous year. Maharashtra has cotton on a whopping 13 million hectares of land.

Same applies to the Rabi crops: The Survey says, as on January 5, 2018, the acreage is 31% less over the previous year. The area of cereals, pulses and oilseeds dwindled by 42, 6 and 60%, respectively, over the previous year. The production of cereals, pulses and oilseeds in Rabi is expected to fall by 39, 4 and 73% , respectively, as compared to previous year.

Small and marginal farmers  growing food crops and cash crops like cotton and soybeans  are taking a hit.

LONG-TERM STRUCTURAL PROBLEMS

Like the rest of India, Maharashtras farm woes that are pushing farmers distress are structural and they need more than band-aids.

Lets take this: The share of agriculture & allied activities sector in the total Gross State Value Added (GSVA), according to the Economic Survey, stood at 12.2% as against 15.3% during 2001-02, marking a declining trend over the period while a large part of the population is still dependent on this sector.

These were the years of a high incidence of the farmers suicides, particularly in its dry and arid regions.

In the same period, or more, Maharashtra saw a steady reduction in average size of land-holding.

As Mungantiwar himself put it in his Budget Speech, In 2010-11 agriculture census, the state, with average size of 1.44 hectare of operational land holding, is ranked 10th among all states.

In 1971, Maharashtra had an average land holding of 4.28 hectares and the total agriculture land was distributed among only 4.9 million landholders. Today, the average land holding stands at 1.44 hectares and the number of land holders is 13.7 million. Thus, more than 8.9 million hectares of farmland in the state, accounting for 45.2% of total cultivable land, falls in the category of small and marginal (up to 2 hectares), the survey points out, but more than 10.7 million farmers hold this land.

In other words, 78% of the states 13.7 million farmers are small and marginal. Add to that the abysmal irrigation of 20%.

How do you turn dryland small farms that comprise a bulk of the peasantry is a problem successive state governments are grappling with.

The Fadnavis government has pinned its hope on Jal-Yukta-Shivar, a local sector rain-water conservation programme in drought-prone regions that it says is an alternative to big dams. Yet, the mounting farm losses coupled with a struggling rural economy is triggering unrest.

AGER BOILING OVER

Last June, bowing down to the pressure from farmers and political parties in the wake of growing anger and protests all over, CM Fadnavis announced a farm loan waiver that was then pegged at Rs 34,022 crore.

It was anticipated that about seven million small and marginal farmers will benefit from the scheme under the prescribed rules. A year has passed, but not all farmers have got a loan respite.

As of today, as the finance minister admitted in his budget speech, the banks have been permitted to grant loan waiver to 4.64 million farm households, amounting to Rs 23,102.19 crore.

The banks have passed on Rs 13,782 crore to 3.57 million beneficiary accounts, Mungantiwar said. That comes to a waiver of less than Rs 40,000 per household, far lower than the Rs 1.5 lakh cap that the government promised.

More than half the farmers are still waiting for a waiver amid confusion over the amount, the time within which they would get it, and whether they would be eligible for fresh loans.

Meanwhile, 2017-18 saw a decline in crop yields, massive devastation due to pest attack, and a recent onslaught of incessant rains that were accompanied by hails in parts of Maharashtra.

The governments promise on crop insurance, remunerative prices, doubling of income, compensation against pest-attack, and long-term investments in agriculture sector has turned hollow.

Maharashtra saw hundreds of cotton farmers fall ill due to accidental inhalation of pesticides in districts like Yavatmal, nearly 50 of them die during July-November period, triggering unrest among peasantry.

Last December, during the winter session of the state legislature, state agriculture minister Pandurang Phundkar, announced a per hectare compensation of Rs 39,000 to cotton farmers reeling under the pink-worm attack. Not a pittance has come through. It was a lofty promise on the floor of the House that would never be met by a government whose debts are piling up to over Rs 4.13 lakh crore.

None of the cabinet ministers has commented on the AIKS protest march yet or shown any inclination to talk to the protestors to dissolve the protests.

More peasants are joining the march every day. When it reaches Mumbai on Sunday, the gathering is expected to be over 50,000 farmers and forest dwellers.

In 2015, we had protested for the farmers to get their [rights to the] forest land, better rates for crops, a loan waiver and so on, says Ajit Nawale, the state secretary of the AIKS and one of the farm leaders steering the ongoing march. The government is pretending to fulfil its promises, but is not.

The demands include a total loan waiver, implementation of the Swaminathan Commissions key recommendation on paying 50% of the production cost as MSP to the farmers, and granting of individual and community forest rights to the tribal dwellers under the FRA, among others.

We gave enough time to the government, Nawale has said. Now we want concrete action. We wont call off this agitation until our demands are met.

(The author is a Nagpur-based journalist and a volunteer for the Peoples Archive of Rural India. Views are personal)There is a global struggle to try and define who or what constitutes an acceptable Muslim. Largely speaking, the war on terror has defined this discourse.

Both Muslims and non-Muslims often go to great lengths to show how their particular understanding of Islam is the most authentic. Therefore, today many politicians have realised that it is simpler to try and co-opt certain sects of Muslims in the fight against global terror, rather than wage a war indiscriminately against all Muslims.

In the aftermath of 9/11 and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, politicians around the world have not only gone around repeating platitudes about Islam being a religion of peace, but have increasingly also sought to define which Muslim school of thought, sect or group represents or embodies true Islam.

In particular, it is the Sufis who are hailed somehow for being more than just Muslim or in some cases, as the former governor of New York David Paterson said, not really Muslim at all.

They are almost like a hybrid, almost westernised. They are not really what I would classify in the sort of mainland Muslim practice.

Indeed, even some Muslim leaders espouse the cause of Sufism as an antidote to militarised extremism. Former speaker of the Syrian Parliament Mohammad Jihad Al-Laham argued for the state sponsorship of Sufism and in Algeria, president Abdelaziz Bouteflikas patronage of certain zawiyas or Sufi centres has been perceived as a way of extending political patronage in return for loyalty.

Across the world, there is an increasingly large number of politicians and intellectuals who see traditional Islam as resolutely anti-West, anti-Semitic, anti-Christian and anti-modern, amongst other things.

However, Sufism or mystical Islam is seen as transcending its Islamic-ness because it benefited from Christian and Western influences that make it more apolitical, tolerant, syncretic and less orthodox.

Nobody is a better example of this than the famous 13th century mystic and poet Maulana Rumi. Across the world, Rumi is seen as the example of a humanist who represented universal values. His most famous work, named the Masnavi, has been translated into dozens of languages and regularly features on bestseller lists, even in America of all places.

Of course, in translation much of what he alluded to through language is lost. There is no doubt that Rumi sought to transcend worldly identities, but an analysis of his poetry in the Persian original shows that his work is rooted in and embedded with Quranic verses and allusions to ahadith or Prophetic sayings.

By reading Islam out of Rumi, people are not only fundamentally undermining the power of an important intellectual tradition within Islam, but are also doing injustice to the fact that an appeal to transcend superficial religious identity can emerge from within orthodox tradition.

This tendency to secularise Sufism is something that goes back to 18th century Europe, if not earlier, where people sought to decouple Islam from mysticism. This form of what Omid Safi calls spiritual colonialism stands to cause immense damage to an orthodox tradition that has often been at the vanguard of fighting divisive and sectarian forces.

The secularisation of Sufism is not just an increasingly visible trend in the West, but in India too, both Sufism, as well as Shiism, are singled out for being more Indian or at least for having roots in Indian traditions and cultures.

Recently, on a state visit by King Abdullah of Jordan, the Indian government organised a conference where people from a number of different sects were in attendance, including Sufis, Shias, Salafis, Deobandis, Barelvis and others.

Both King Abdullah and the Prime Minister advocated for a more moderate Islam and stressed that the fight against radicalisation is not against any one sect.

It is unclear, as I have argued elsewhere, whether the moderation they preach about is meant to manifest itself in moderate political views or in moderation in devotion, piety and practice.

What is clear is that there is a concerted effort by the BJP and indeed the RSS to try and co-opt Sufism and Shiism in particular, in this fight against terror.

The Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), a wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has consistently sought to conduct outreach among Shias and Sufis in a bid to remove the perception that the RSS is fundamentally against Muslims and Islam.

At the World Sufi Forum in 2016, Prime Minister Modi said, Sufism is the celebration of diversity and pluralism. Sufism blossomed in India's openness and pluralism. It engaged with her spiritual tradition and evolved its own Indian ethos.

On the face of it, there is nothing really to disagree with in the Prime Ministers statement, but the shift in rhetoric from seeing Islam as fundamentally foreign to India to advocating Sufism as something that partly emerges from and merges into India is noticeable.

Indeed, to this day, although the Prime Minister and the MRM might be advocating the cause of acceptable Muslims, there are others in the BJP and the RSS such as Sangeet Som, a legislator in Uttar Pradesh, and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who still toe the line that all Muslims are anathema to their vision of India.

This almost schizophrenic approach is perhaps partly explained by the fact that the compulsions of office ensure that the Prime Minister has to speak in different registers in order to appear inclusive. His other party members, on the other hand, are able to use Islamophobic rhetoric in order to consolidate their politics, which has essentially always defined itself by invoking the spectre of Islam as well as Christianity and Communism.

This view was articulated by the founders and ideological progenitors of the RSS, an organisation that the Prime Minister has been a part of for longer than his political career.

MS Golwalkar (1906-1973), the second sarsanghchalak or head of the RSS, which provides ideological direction to the BJP, wrote about Indian Christians and Muslims that they are born in this land, no doubt. But are they true to its salt?... No.

He goes on to say: They (Muslims) have also developed a feeling of identification with the enemies of this land. They look to some foreign lands as their holy places. They call themselves Sheikhs or Syeds They still think they have come here to conquer and establish their kingdoms. So we can see that it is not merely a case of change of faith, but a change even in national identity. What else is it if not treason, to join the camp of the enemy leaving behind the mother nation in the lurch?

The change from seeing all Muslims as potential fifth columnists to identifying those who belong to India is not just a small shift but indeed must be seen as a strategic and politically significant move.

For example, the entire effort at ghar wapsi, literally the return home to Hinduism, of those Muslims who are believed to have converted over the course of many centuries is a part of this plan. The question that must be asked then is why is there suddenly a differentiation between Muslims who might be true to their countrys salt and those who might not?

By projecting Sufis and Shias as acceptable Muslims because of their heterodox cultural practices, the BJP is tapping into and taking advantage of an existing set of intra-Muslim polemics. Certain Sufi and Shia practices, such as visiting of the graves of Sufi saints or the mourning of the martyrdom of the Prophets grandson Imam Hussain, are criticised by other Muslims as deviant.

Indeed, part of the polemics against these practices is precisely that they are foreign  often Hindu  cultural accretions that must be purged. These rituals are seen to encourage polytheism and somehow dilute the unity of God.

Conservative opposition to Sufis and Shias hold that it is precisely these inauthentic practices that led to the decline of Muslim authority. Therefore, the alignment of Sufis and Shias to political power will only serve to make this criticism seem more valid.

There is no doubt that this kind of intra-Muslim sectarianism and its attendant polemics have caused much disunity and discord among Muslims. However, it must be remembered that Sufi and Shia identities are being politicised because they are seen as potential supporters in the war on terror and not because of any theological merits. All that is happening is that their religious identities are being weaponised to fight someone elses battles.

In fact, today there is much more in common with the critics of Sufism and Shiism, who seek an Islam devoid of any foreign influence, and the advocates of a Hindu Rashtra who dream of an India where all foreign influences, including that of Islam, is purged completely.

The emphasis on underscoring the righteousness of the Sufis and Shias will only give more credence to polemics against them. In other words, by publicly allying with various governments, both Sufi and Shia leaders will be seen to have sold out to political interests in order to resolve their sectarian difference. This will only make the position of those who advocate a more conservative, and often purely literal, interpretation of Islam stronger.

Ironically, many prominent Sufis saints have historically been averse to aligning themselves with political power and indeed this is why rulers and kings often tried to call upon them. The stories of Khwaja Nizamuddin, the saint whose tomb in Delhi is visited by hundreds of thousands of people every year, bear testament to this wherein he refused to meet and acquiesce to the demands of various rulers from the Khilji and Tughlaq dynasties.

Indeed, it was precisely the ability to see through shallow politics and worldly power that attracted such large numbers of devotees to Sufi saints. This, of course, did not mean that the Sufis were apolitical but that they sought to be autonomous.

Historically speaking, within Sufism and Shiism, there has been a wide diversity in belief and practice. Thus, in the 19th century, many of the most important anti-colonial uprisings, from Algeria, to India to Indonesia, were not only led by prominent Sufi Sheikhs but indeed were also framed in the language of jihad.

On the other hand, many Sufis and members of the ulama also adopted a more quietist approach to colonial rule. Today, while the Deoband is seen as a centre of conservatism, and is wrongly and lazily equated with Wahabism, it is easy to forget that Deoband sees itself as the protector of true Sufism.

This dizzying heterogeneity is easily glossed over when the overarching labels of Sufi, Sunni, Shia or Wahabi are used generically.

Finally, it is also important to remember that in the political weaponisation of Sufi and Shia identity as a way of fighting the war on terror, the only thing that will emerge is further instability and increased sectarianism.

This strategy will also backfire because it reduces terrorism to a single source: a particular interpretation of Islam that is often perceived to be a form of Wahabism or Salafism. Even this cannot be seen in isolation because of the intimate links between Wahabism, the patronage of the Saudi family by the British Empire and then subsequently by American and European governments and the use of petrodollars to project Wahabism as true Islam.

Furthermore, the fact remains that the reason for the rise of radicalism among certain segments of Muslims is as much linked to socio-economic, political, geo-strategic, psychological, historical and class factors as it is to religion. It is easy to forget today that the mujahideen in Afghanistan were originally created and funded by America, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan in order to fight their proxy battles.

A one-dimensional analysis of terrorism and radicalism simply as being the products of a particular religious interpretation will ultimately only lead to more extremism. The co-option of Sufi and Shia identity to fight these new proxy wars will only make conservative interpretations seem more attractive and righteous.

Of course, there is the distinct possibility that this is exactly the goal behind such a divisive and provocative strategy.

(The author is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the Asoka University. Views are personal)Bengaluru: In a significant development, the RSS has elevated Mukund C R to the post of Joint General Secretary of the organization on Sunday.

Mukund, a Kannadiga, has been a full-time worker of the RSS for a long time and well known in Karnataka and Sangh circles.

His appointment, ahead of the crucial Karnataka assembly elections, has led to a lot of speculation.

Another powerful Joint General Secretary Dattatryea Hosabale is also a Kannadiga from Shimoga district. He was widely expected to replace Bhayyaji Joshi as RSS' point person for the BJP. But the RSS sprang a surprise by continuing with Joshi and even promoting Mukund as one of the six Joint General Secretary.

Mukund was RSS Akhil Bharatiya Sah Bouddhik Pramukh till recently. A native of Bengaluru, he was earlier RSS' Karnataka state chief and later South India chief.

Unlike high profile and accessible Hosabale, Mukund keeps a low profile and has an excellent rapport with several top BJP leaders.

After Maharashtra, neighbouring Karnataka has contributed many top leaders to the RSS. The RSS chief late K S Sudarshan was from Mysore. The late H V Sheshadri, who was RSS national General Secretary, was also from Karnataka.

Nagaland Governor and RSS full timer Padmanabha Acharya is also from Karnataka. He is credited with building RSS network in the north eastern states over the past 30 years.The Washington Post and the New York Times revealed in recent stories that US troops are present in Algeria, a country that has for long rejected the presence of foreign troops while claiming a doctrine prohibiting the deployment of foreign troops on its territory.

According to the Washington Post, Algeria was included in the list of countries where US troops receive imminent danger pay while deployed, a move that reflects the evolving dangers in West Africa and follows the deaths of four US soldiers in Niger last year.

The New York Times, in what confirmed the US military presence in Algeria, reported Joe Courtney, a Democratic deputy from Connecticut, recalled that US troops in Algeria, Chad, Egypt and Kenya were already receiving this bonus.

Joe Courtney made the remarks during a hearing of General Thomas D. Waldhauser, the commander who oversees military missions in Africa, on March 6 before the Armed Forces Committee. The hearing was about the decision to include Niger in the list of combat zones where troops receive extra pay.

The Washington Post said that US troops deployed in Algeria, Burundi, Chad, Congo, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, Tunisia and Uganda already qualified to receive the danger pay.

The countries were added to the list as West Africa grapples with militants who have re-branded themselves as Islamic State-West Africa. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) also has had a presence in nations including Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Mauritania, the article said.

Relatedly, the Algerian news portal TSA affirmed, referring to a Pentagon document, that US soldiers on Algerian territory receive the extra pay since March 7, 1995.

The revelations of the two US and Algerian media came to deflate the decades-long Algerian claims that no foreign military presence is tolerated in Algeria. The revelations also bring back to mind earlier reports stating that the United States has a secret base in Tassili, in southeastern Algeria, since the early 2000s.

At the time, French satiric paper Le Canard Enchaine and various Algerian media had reported an American presence in Tamanrasset, where an US company (BRC, a subsidiary of Halliburton) had built a military base according to American standards. Officially, the base was said to be Algerian, but according to reports, the base was housing a sophisticated CIA antenna.

Algerian authorities repeated denials are again debunked by the latest media revelations.Jaipur: In a significant political development ahead of the state elections in Rajasthan slated for later his year, NPP's state chief and MLA Kirodi Lal Meena, who had left the BJP in 2008, re-joined the saffron party on Sunday.

Meena, a five-time legislator, along with and two other NPP MLAs, Golma Devi and Geeta Verma, joined the ruling party at a ceremony in BJP headquarters here in presence of Chief Minister Vasundhra Raje and other leaders.

The development will strengthen the ruling party, particularly in eastern and parts of southern Rajasthan where the leader has a significant hold in constituencies dominated by the Meena community.

BJP state president Ashok Parnami said Meena has given a letter to merge with BJP the NPP's state unit with two-third majority of his MLAs. The NPP had four MLAs in the House of 200, but the fourth legislator, Navin Pilania, has not joined the party and kept away from the development.

"I am very happy today to return to the old home unconditionally. It is as if my 'vanvas' (exile) has come to an end. My background is of RSS ideology. After having worked for the RSS, I joined the BJP and never looked back. Today, I joined the BJP again with no condition," Meena said in his address to the BJP leaders and workers after joining the party.

Asked about Pilania not joining the BJP, Meena said, "It is his wish." Meena said that he would tour the state, meet party workers and stop the Congress from coming to power after the Assembly elections.

Hitting out at the Congress, the tribal leader said former chief minister Ashok Gehlot had targeted him during an agitation in Udaipur, but Chief Minister Raje was never offended by his agitations. Meena said that he has led 380 agitations in the state and 103 "politically motivated" cases were registered against him.

The 66-year-old leader said that he committed mistakes and got separated from the BJP 10 years back but he never left the party ideology. Welcoming Meena into the party's fold, Raje said her "strong brother has returned home".

Meena told reporters that he had discussed with independent MLA and former BJP leader Hanuman Beniwal before joining the party. "Beniwal was positive about this development," he said.

BJP's state president said, "The party's central leadership gave a nod for the merger after which the joining took place. Meena has not changed his ideology and this is the big thing. We want to expand the party and this will help us in expanding our base."

Last night, Kirodi Lal Meena, who is seen as the patriarch of the Meena community, held a meeting with state Water Resources Minister Rampratap at the latter's residence in presence of Transport Minister Yunus Khan and Agriculture Minister Prabhu Lal Saini.

Kirodi Lal Meena (66) had left the BJP in 2008. In that year's Assembly elections he got elected as Independent candidate. His wife Golma Devi also won in the polls as Independent and became a minister of state in the then Ashok Gehlot government. In the 2009 Lok Sabha polls, Meena got elected as Independent candidate. In 2013, he joined the NPP and became its state convener. The party won four seats in 2013-Assembly elections.

Of the 200 Assembly constituencies in Rajasthan, there are more than 40 seats mostly in eastern and southern parts of the state which are dominated by the Meena community.Patna: As voting is underway in Bihar for bypolls, Congress and BJP allege EVM malfunction in at least 100 booths in Bhabua assembly constituency.

Bihar Pradesh Committee acting president Kaukab Qadri told News18 that he is going to approach the Election Commission as the district magistrate is not acting on his complaints. Qadri alleged that DM confessed that there was some problem with the EVMs but said it was minor and only 21 machines are non-functional.

We have a shortage of EVM experts here and due to my faulty mobile phone, I cannot get in touch with people, said Rajeshwar Prasad Singh, DM Kaimur (Bhabua).

Bhabua Congress candidate Shambhu Patel accused district administration of a sinister design to defeat him. He said the DM was colluding with BJP cadres.

About 23% electorate cast their votes till 11 am in by-elections in Bihar's Araria, 20.3% in Bhabua and 19.2% in Jahanabad on Sunday, where the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine and the opposition RJD-Congress alliance are locked in a battle.

The bye-elections are being held for Araria Lok Sabha seat and, Jahanabad and Bhabhua Assembly constituencies.

Numerically, these bypolls might not be important. However, this is being termed as a litmus test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar as this is the first public test since he pulled out of RJD-Congress alliance and allied with the BJP-led NDA.

This is also a test for NDA's unity and strength as just before the polls, Jitan Ram Manjhi, former CM and leader of Hindustani Awam Morcha (HAM), left NDA and joined the Mahagathbandhan.

Bypolls for Araria Lok Sabha seat was necessitated after the demise of the sitting RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin. His son Sarfaraz Alam, JD (U) MLA from Jokihat Assembly segment of the constituency, defected after announcement of bypolls and is fighting on RJD ticket. He is up against BJP's Pradip Singh, who was a runner-up in 2014 elections.

Going by 2014 arithmetic, the combined votes of BJP and JD (U) was much more than the winning margin of Taslimuddin. However, sources said the contest is more than a question of simple arithmetic as the social combination of the seat is learnt to be leaning towards the Mahagathbandhan. Muslims and Yadavs form more than 50 percent of total electorate who are considered to be staunch supporters of the RJD.

The BJP is banking on popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and pro-development figure of Kumar.

Jehanabad assembly seat was also held by the RJD. After the death of its MLA Mundrika Singh Yadav, the party has given ticket to his son Sujay Yadav who is up against JD (U) leader Abhiram Sharma.

In Bhabhua, Rinky Pandey is contesting on BJP's ticket as the by poll was necessitated after the demise of her husband Anand Bhushan Pandey. The RJD conceded the seat for its ally Congress which has fielded Shambhu Patel in the fray.New Delhi: Lok Janshakti Party leader Chirag Paswan on Sunday condemned the vandalisation of statues in various parts of the country and asked party workers to protest at places where such incidents have taken place.

He said the party workers should raise their voice against such incidents without considering which party was ruling in the state where the vandalism has taken place as the protest would be against the anti-social elements and not directed towards the state governments.

There have been incidents of vandalism of statues. Starting from Tripura, it has become a chain action Lok Janshakti Party strongly condemns such incidents, said Chirag Paswan, son of party president Ram Vilas Paswan.

He said in India different ideologies exists together with "unity of diversity" being its hallmark.

If anybody does not agree with (the) other's ideology, it does not mean that one should indulge in violence or resort to anti-social activities. Such actions cannot be approved, Chirag Paswan said while addressing the party's national executive meeting here.

He asked the party activists to go to those areas where such incidents have taken place and condemn and protest against such actions.

Referring to incidents of vandalisation of statues in Uttar Pradesh, he said he would urge Ram Vilas Paswan to discuss the issue with chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

We are protesting against those people who are vandalising the statues and not against the government. We are protesting against the ant-social elements and ask the central and the state governments to stop such incidents, he said.

Stressing that the existence of the party was based on its ideology, Chirag said the LJP always stood with the Dalits, the minorities, the backward and the poor.

If there are any atrocities on poor people anywhere, the Lok Janshakti Party will stand with them and raise voice against the injustice. We will forget whether we are in alliance or which party is in power in that state, he said.

Chirag said the chief ministers of the BJP and the NDA-ally parties have have time and again stated that injustice to the poor should not happen anywhere.

He also advocated setting up a youth commission on the lines of national women and minority commissions.

Chirag Paswan said it would serve as one stop solution to the problems being faced by the youth in India.

He also asked the party workers to work towards strengthening the party down to booth level so that it could play an important role in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and ensure the NDA comes to power again and Narendra Modi becomes the prime minister.

Ram Vilas Paswan reiterated the party's demand of job reservation for the SCs and STs in private sector, inclusion of areas with more than 20 percent Dalit population under the Pradhan Mantri Adarsh Gram Yojana and provision of Rs 5,000 crore to incentivise the farmers on account of reduction in agriculture land.

Asked about the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) ministers quitting the Cabinet, he said the NDA alliance was "united" and there were no cracks in it. he also appealed to the TDP leaders to reconsider their decision.Mumbai: With the Congress attacking the Centre on the Rafale deal, Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said it is "irresponsible and anti-national" to allege corruption in the Euro 7.5 billion fighter aircraft contract with France.

His remarks came a day after the Congress accused the Narendra Modi government of "compromising" on national security and causing a loss of Rs 12,632 crore to the state exchequer on account of purchase of 36 Rafale jets under the inter-governmental deal.

"Where is the corruption? It is irresponsible and anti-national to make such allegations," the minister for shipping, ports, road transport and Ganga rejuvenation said at the India Today Conclave here.

Gadkari asked if the country did not require a frontline fighter plane such as the Rafale and took potshots at the previous Congress government questioning if the procurement of critical defence assets could be postponed for five-six years over a fear of corruption.

Citing the annual report of Dassault Aviation, the manufacturer of the fighter aircraft, the Congress alleged that the company sold each jet to India at a price which was Rs 351 crore higher than those sold to Qatar and Egypt 11 months ago.

On the nearly Rs 13,000-crore Punjab National Bank fraud case involving Nirav Modi, Gadkari said the BJP has nothing to do with the gems and jewellery businessman and added that it was unfair to "bill" the blame on it.

"Who was in power when he was given loan?" the BJP leader countered, without naming the Congress or the UPA.

Gadkari said the NDA government will take appropriate action against people wanted by India and who have holed up abroad such as Nirav Modi, Lalit Modi, and Vijay Mallya.

However, he sought to underline that every NPA (non-performing asset) is not a scam or involves criminality, as businesses go through various cycles and have to be supported during the tougher times.

"There are two kinds of intentions, bonafide and malafide. We will act strongly against malafide intentions," he said.

The government has helped save Rs 3 lakh crore in NPAs through 22 Cabinet decisions which helped revive stalled projects that helped companies engaged in road building and also the banks, Gadkari claimed.

On the logjam in Parliament, Gadkari alleged that it was due to the opposition's desire to hog the limelight, and therefore, no business got transacted in the two Houses.

The government, he said, is ready to conduct a debate on any issue, including the Rafale deal or the PNB fraud, he said, adding that only one debate can happen at a time.

Gadkari said the BJP's win in northeastern states such as Tripura signified the prevailing mood in the country about the NDA rule and exuded confidence that the alliance would return to power after the next general elections.

He said barring Gujarat, where the Congress has increased its seat tally, the principal opposition party has seen a steady decline in elections.

Gadkari claimed that his ministries alone have helped create 50 lakh jobs because of the works of over Rs 8.5 lakh crore that it has undertaken and referred to an IIT-Bombay study which has a ratio of job creation to the amount of money invested.

He, however, said that even though there has been progress on the job creation and skill development fronts by the government, the population continues to grow and the aspirations of the people are also growing faster which may make some people discontented.

Gadkari also expressed his reservation over driver-less cars, saying the government would rather protect the jobs of drivers.

On the Ganga rejuvenation front, he said the government will be awarding over 140 remaining projects by the end of this month, while conceding that only 47 projects have been awarded till now.

Admitting that the government has more work to do in the rural and agricultural sectors, Gadkari said specific measures are being taken on these fronts.Lucknow: Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a polling percentage of 47.45 percent while Phulpur saw a turnout of only 37.39 percent at the close of the voting on Sunday, said Election Commission.

Assembly segment-wise breakup of the vote percentage throws an interesting picture. Voting in the rural areas viz., Phaphamau  43%, Soraon  45% and Phulpur  46.32% was higher than the urban segments of Allahabad West  31% and Allahabad North  21.65%.

While Allahabad north registered only 21.65 percent, Gorakhpur city recored 33 percent. BJP expected substantial leads from these pockets, so a low turnout might worry the party.

Rural segments in both places witnessed a bigger turnout. The SP-BSP alliance is said to have fought well in these pockets.

"We will win but with reduced victory margin. Election at both places, particularly Phulpur, could have been very tough if opposition had worked more strategically," said a BJP leader, who did not wish to be named.

The SP, though, is reading the numbers differently and says the low turnout is in their favour.

"We managed to bring in our voters in rural areas to polling booth. Hope to lead from three assembly constituencies in Gorakhpur: Pipraich, Gorakhpur rural and Kampiyarganj," said an SP leader.

Sahjanwa, which has a strong Brahmin presence, witnessed good polling and the BJP is upbeat about its chances.

The BJP, while assured of upper caste votes, is worried about the non-Yadav Backward and non-Jatav Dalit votes, especially after the BSPs backing to Samajwadi Party candidates.

The SP says that non-Yadav OBCs have moved towards it and BSP's core Jatav vote bank will support it.

The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, respectively following their election to the state legislative council.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath claimed the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

Speaking to News18 after casting his vote on Sunday morning, Yogi Adityanath called the BSP-SP partnership an "unholy alliance". "The voters will reject this opportunistic, unethical and unholy alliance," he said.

On the voting day, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said it was a day to "change and re-write history".

Termed by Adityanath a "rehearsal" for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the by-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel, respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat.

Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Yogi Adityanath, the seat was represented in parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice.

Phulpur, once represented by the country's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and Maurya won there.Bengaluru: In election-bound Karnataka, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has fielded three Kannadigas in the Rajya Sabha polls by saying no to party high command suggested outsiders: Sam Pitroda and Janardhan Dwivedi.

The Congress has finalised the names of AICC spokesman Nasir Hussain, Dalit poet L Hanumanthaiah and a Vokkaliga leader GC Chandrasekhar for the three seats it can win in March 23 polls to the Upper House of Parliament.

Karnataka can send four MPs to Rajya Sabha once in two years. The ruling Congress can easily win two seats and needs a few extra votes for the third seat. The BJP can win just one seat. The JDS does not have required number of votes to elect its candidate and business tycoon BM Farooq.

The Congress has refused to back the JDS candidate and has fielded a Vokkaliga to the fourth seat complicating the matters for JDS, which is known as a Vokkaliga party. It now has to make a choice between a Vokkaliga and a Muslim.

The BJP is yet to finalise the name for the lone seat it can win. Businessman and sitting MP Rajeev Chandrasekhar is front-runner for this seat. But Kannada organisations are demanding that he should not be sent to Rajya Sabha as he is an outsider.

They have even started a social media campaign with a #RajeevBeda to put pressure on the BJP.

During his visit to New Delhi last week, Siddaramaiah had categorically said no to sending Sam Pitroda and Janardhan Dwivedi from Karnataka saying that only Kannadigas should represent the state in the Upper House of Parliament.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi later decided to send Sam Pitroda from Gujarat.

The fight for the fourth seat between Congress and JDS is likely to be intense as Gowda's candidate is a super rich business tycoon whose declared assets are worth over Rs 780 crore. He had lost to Congress' K C Ramamurthy in 2016 Rajya Sabha elections.Bengaluru: Congress leader and former union minister P Chidambaram on Sunday said telecom and power sectors have contributed to the Non-Performing Assets (NPA) problem more than anything else due to the 'malicious twist' given to the UPA government's policies governing them.

"I think the CAG report on telecom was a gross exaggeration. The CAG report on coal was focused on a few cases. But then all the 212 coal mines were cancelled. I think we failed to treat a business problem as a business problem and find the business solution," he said.

Speaking at the launch of his book 'Speaking truth to power' here, he apparently referred to the 2G spectrum and coal scam that hit UPA II.

Chidambaram said that instead of dealing with a business problem and finding a business solutions, a political twist, a legal twist was given to it. The result was that today the power and telecom sectors are 'in shambles", he said.

"And most of the NPAs are about the two sectors Telecom and power/coal.The origin of the NPA problem is in a manner in which we treated the telecom sector and the coal/power sector."

"We had the worst NPA situation twice before once when Yashwant Sinha was Finance Minister and once in my first tenure as Finance Minister.There was no uproar over NPAs. Why? We simply told banks, "You gave the loans, you recover them".

Chidambaram said that if one drilled deeper, one would find that the two sectors have contributed to the NPA problem more than anything else.

"And there is consequential fallout on another sector. I will come to it. The first was telecom and second was power related to coal. It all started with a huge uproar about the telecom sector."

"Then there was a huge uproar about the coal sector. A very malicious twist was given to the telecom policies and the coal policies of the previous government," he said, adding that as a result, both those sectors went to doom.

Chidambaram said it was very convenient for some parties to convert it into a political problem, give it an undeserving twist.. "the country is paying a price for that."

The Congress leader rued that new jobs were not created because there were no additional private investments.

Citing Chief Economic Advisor Arvind Subramanian's economic survey, he said jobs were not created because credit growth to industry was negative for many months.

Slamming the NDA government, he said the government knows there is a job problem, but refused to speak about it.

"And when they (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) speak about it, they insult the youth of this country saying, 'even frying Pakoda is a job.

A job, he said, is defined by the International Labour Organisation as regular, certain and reasonably secure. India has contributed many Indian words to English language. Who knows we may persuade ILO to add frying Pakoda is a job, he said in a lighter vein.

He alleged that there was an insidious attempt to diminish institutions by either not appointing people or by appointing those who ensured that the institutions are doomed.

Chidambaram pointed out that the post of the RBI Deputy Governor, in charge of banking supervision, has been lying vacant since August 1, 2017 ever since S S Mundra retired.

Justice K M Joseph, the seniormost among Chief Justices in India and presently Chief Justice of Uttarakhand High Court has not been elevated to the Supreme Court despite the collegium unanimously recommending his elevation, he said.New Delhi: UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has invited DMK working president M.K. Stalin for dinner on March 13, which will be attended by leaders from various parties from different states, who are not part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), Congress sources said on Saturday.

However, Stalin will not be able to attend the dinner as the assembly session in Tamil Nadu is beginning from March 15, said a DMK leader.

"Yes, he (Stalin) has been invited, but since the assembly session in Tamil Nadu is starting March 15, he may not be able come. Kanimozhi will be attending the dinner," DMK leader T.K.S. Elangovan said.

Gandhi is going to host the opposition leaders over dinner amid suggestions to forge a common front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the run-up to 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Bihar Leader of Opposition and former Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, and former state Chief Minister and chief of Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular Jitan Ram Manjhi have also been invited to attend the dinner, leaders of the two parties said.

In the absence of Lalu Prasad, Tejashwi Yadav is the main player for Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) -- an ally of the Congress party and the lead constituent of the three-party Grand Alliance in Bihar.

Lalu Prasad is currently lodged in a jail in Ranchi in connection with two fodder scam cases.

The latest entrant to the Grand Alliance and its third constituent is Manjhi's Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S).

The dinner, which the sources described as "customary", comes amid renewed push by opposition parties to take on the Narendra Modi government on several issues including the Rs 12,600-crore Punjab National Bank (PNB) fraud case.

Congress and 17 other opposition parties have been holding meetings since the presidential and vice presidential elections last year to take similar stance on common issues against the BJP.

Sonia Gandhi had last month said that she will work with like-minded political parties to defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.Washington: Veteran Washington lawyer Emmet Flood is under consideration for a White House job assisting U.S. President Donald Trump with the Russia probe, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Flood, who advised former President Bill Clinton in impeachment proceedings, met with Trump in the White House this week, the person said, but no decision about the job has been made.

The meeting comes as Trump's outside legal team has been negotiating with US special counsel Robert Mueller over a possible interview with the president, another person close to the situation said.

Mueller is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, whether there was any collusion with the Trump campaign, and possibly obstruction of justice related to the probe.

Russia has denied interfering in the election campaign. Trump has said there was no collusion between Moscow and his campaign and no obstruction.

White House officials on Saturday expressed concern about news that "an impeachment lawyer" might join the team at this point, a third source said.

Flood advised Bill Clinton in the late 1990s in impeachment proceedings brought by the U.S. House of Representatives and tried before the U.S. Senate, where he was acquitted.

Flood also spent two years in the White House Counsel's office, where he handled executive-privilege related disputes for President George W. Bush's administration to Congressional investigations and other inquiries. He also once clerked for Associate Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Last year, Flood turned down a post that ultimately went to Ty Cobb, the White House lawyer now assisting the president with the special counsel's probe, Reuters reported in July.

New York lawyer Marc Kasowitz was leading Trump's legal team at the time, a role veteran Washington lawyer John Dowd took over last summer.

Dowd told Reuters on Saturday that he did not know anything about Flood possibly joining the White House legal team, but that Cobb was not leaving as far as he knew.

Another source added that Cobb was not expected to leave until the Russia inquiry was over. It is unclear how Flood's responsibilities might differ from Cobb's.

Flood's law firm, Williams, and Connolly, represents Hillary Clinton, including in the email scandal, one possible reason that sources told Reuters last year the firm turned down representing Trump as outside counsel.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and a spokesperson for the law firm could immediately be reached for comment.

The news of Flood's possible role was first reported on Saturday by The New York Times.Railcars in Alabama filled with treated sewage from New York City. Photo: Screencap/WVTM13

Alabamians in and around Birmingham have been raising a stink for more than a year after their locale became a destination for New York Citys shittiest export. Since early 2017, a Birmingham-area landfill has been taking in treated sewage from New York and New Jersey, much to the chagrin of residents. The landfill, Big Sky Environmental in Adamsville, got approval from Alabama authorities to accept the extra crap, but there has been considerable controversy surrounding the operation from the get-go.

Everyone poops, and New York Citys millions of residents produce about 1,200 tons of the sewage each day, much of which gets shipped out of state. The sewage export that New York cant handle by itself is known as sewage sludge, or by its less-disgusting official name, biosolids. Around Birmingham, however, residents have greeted New Yorks off-load with complaints and lawsuits, fed up with the fetid cargo, which is shipped in by railcars, then transferred to trucks for the final distance to the landfill.

Unfortunately, wherever the railcars went, the stench often followed, along with lots of flies. After public outcry, local officials were able to block the use of a small rail spur in Jefferson County where the sewage was originally transferred into trucks for transport to the landfill. That operation was then temporarily moved to a rail yard in the town of Parrish in Walker County, but things got backed up there too, angering more locals. Parrishs mayor said the smell was so bad residents couldnt go outside; the town council eventually held a special meeting to ban the sludge cars.

Then, last week, about 80 train cars full of Gotham sewage were left parked on the tracks in north Birmingham, apparently creating such an odor that some residents wondered if there was a dead body in the neighborhood. After numerous complaints, the issue came up at a city council meeting that night. The mayor got involved, and the railroad agreed to move the cars back to a rail yard, then get them out of the area completely.

Complaints have also been lodged about the sludge falling out of trucks on its way from railcars to the landfill. If you get close to the trucks the liquid would blow off on to your windshield and fill your car with a stink, one West Jefferson resident told the Guardian. It spilled out on to the road. Some people were saying they just wanted to move away, they were so miserable.

According to the 2016 permit awarded Big Sky Environmental, the facility intended to use the material as a plant-happy cover for the landfill, and was allowed to take in almost 400,000 tons per year from sewage treatment plants in New Yorks five boroughs and South Kearny, New Jersey. All told, about 7 percent of New York Citys human waste was being sent to the landfill in Birmingham. But no longer: the Guardian reports that the New York has cut ties with Big Sky Environmental in light of the outrage down south. A city spokesperson explained that though Alabama inspectors had not found leaks or odors from the site, as a precaution and to better understand local concern, we have discontinued utilizing this facility.

Big Sky Environmentals permit is also being reviewed by Alabama authorities, and officials said that the outcry hasnt gone unnoticed. But one local environmentalist warned the Guardian that Alabama has already become the dumping ground for the nation, which is especially dangerous since the state lacks a good regulatory system.

New York City used to just take its sewage out to sea, but the practice was halted by an EPA ruling in 1988. They then started marketing the stuff as a fertilizer, but not everybody wanted that particular New York export when it was first offered. States like Oklahoma and, believe it or not, Alabama, were concerned that New York Citys sewage would be toxic and ridden with disease. But Colorado farmers took a chance on it, and NYC poop became so popular in the state that demand outstripped supply. The New York City Poop Train (listen to this classic Radiolab story) once ran twice a month to Colorado, and New York crap covered as many as 10,000 acres of farmland a year. The shipping cost eventually proved to be too high, however, and Colorado farmers stopped importing New York biosolids in 2012. The lesson then, as with Alabama now, is that its always going to be hard to find someone outside the city to deal with a New Yorkers shit.New Delhi: China's mighty strategic shadow hangs over an accord signed by India and France on Saturday aimed at stepping up military cooperation in the Indian Ocean.

Under the deal signed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron, each country will open its naval bases to warships from the other.

China's territorial ambitions in the South China Sea already worry world powers. And its move into the vast Indian Ocean  stretching from the Suez Canal to the Malacca Strait  has heightened that concern.

India and France are particularly anxious as China extended its military presence by opening a naval base in the eastern African nation of Djibouti last year. Beijing is also building up its trading network  the so-called One Belt One Road initiative  which involves many of the Asian and African nations that line the Indian Ocean.

It has built a port in Pakistan's Gwadar, taken a 99-year-lease on Sri Lanka's Hambantota and bought a number of tiny islands in the Maldives. All of this has alarmed India, which sits at the heart of the Indian Ocean region.

New Delhi experts see Chinese companies investing in assets ranging from airports to the Bangladesh stock exchange as Beijing's trojan horses. "They essentially work at the behest of the state and all of their investments are actually not commercial investments but strategic investments and they are meant to serve a geopolitical purpose," said Abhijit Singh, an analyst at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank.

Modi made clear when he came to power in 2014 that boosting India's influence in its immediate neighbourhood was a strategic priority.

His government expressed fury when Sri Lanka let a Chinese submarine make a stopover in 2014. Colombo refused a similar request the following year.

'Critical partners'

India has stepped up its patrols in the Sunda Strait in the eastern Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf, while boosting its maritime surveillance capability around the Andaman and Nicobar islands off Myanmar, where Chinese warships and submarines have increasingly been on patrol.

Reunion Island is in turn a key French territory in the Indian Ocean and Paris also has extensive Pacific interests.

"We have a strong maritime power, a big navy with our nuclear submarines," Macron said in an interview with Indian television broadcast Friday.

France is "very active in this region to preserve collective security and for me India is one of the critical partners to preserve stability in the whole region."

China strongly denies any territorial motive against India despite its huge investments and military moves. "The two countries are partners in development not rivals," said the foreign ministry in Beijing.

Liu Zongyi, a specialist at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told AFP that India was using the "China threat" to extend its own military power. Some international experts have doubts about the response to China in the Indian Ocean and elsewhere.

"On a regional level, the Modi government has not proposed a convincing alternative to the new Silk Road proposed by Chinese leader Xi Jinping. India just does not have the same financial and administrative strength as China," said Isabelle Saint-Mezard, a South Asia specialist at Paris VIII university's institute of geopolitics.

Brahma Chellaney, a professor at the Centre for Policy Research in New Delhi said "India is at last waking up to this new threat."

But he is among many who fear storms in the Indian Ocean.

"For the moment, China cannot take on India in its own strategic maritime backyard," Chellaney said. "But the country is growing, deploying submarines and the situation could quickly change to India's disadvantage."Beirut: The Syrian army and rebel groups fought fierce battles early on Sunday on a critical front in eastern Ghouta where government advances have in effect splintered the insurgent enclave near Damascus into three.

State television on Sunday broadcast from the edge of the eastern Ghouta town of Mudeira, where an army field commander told Reuters pro-Syrian government forces had arrived earlier in the day.

Footage showed several massive plumes of smoke in the distance behind a war-ravaged townscape with big holes in walls and roofs, and yet more smoke wafting across the streets. The sound of blasts could be heard.

More than 1,100 civilians have been killed in the onslaught on the biggest rebel stronghold near Damascus since it began three weeks ago with a withering bombardment, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

It said there was intense fighting on several fronts accompanied by a government artillery barrage, continuous air raids and attacks by helicopters.

The advance on Mudeira, after the capture of the neighbouring town of Mesraba on Saturday, has driven a wedge deep inside the insurgent territory, leaving the major towns of Douma and Harasta all but cut off.

Rebel groups in eastern Ghouta have vowed they will fight on. A statement issued by Free Syrian Army factions there late on Saturday said they had taken a decision not to accept a surrender and negotiated withdrawal.

After the army advances split up the enclave, Jaish al-Islam emerged as the strongest group in the town of Douma, Ahrar al-Sham in the town of Harasta and Failaq al-Rahman in the new southern pocket of eastern Ghouta.

Syrian state media also reported army advances near Jisreen and Aftaris in the southeastern part of the rebel-held territory.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his ally Russia see the rebels as terrorist groups, and say their offensive is needed to end the rebels' rule over eastern Ghouta's large population.

But the violence of their assault has prompted condemnation from Western countries and repeated calls by United Nations aid agencies for a humanitarian ceasefire.

Activists and fighters in eastern Ghouta in recent days have said the bombardment has included incendiary material that causes fires and burn injuries. Local doctors have also reported several incidents of bomb attacks followed by the smell of chlorine and choking symptoms.

The government denies using either incendiary weapons or chemical weapons, and said on Saturday it had information that the rebels were planning to stage a fake chemical attack to discredit the army.

GUNFIRE

In Muscat, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said it would be "very unwise" for Syrian government forces to use weaponised gas, citing unconfirmed reports of chlorine attacks in eastern Ghouta.

Visiting Oman, Mattis stopped short of threatening to retaliate against Syrian forces if a chlorine attack were confirmed. But he noted America's cruise missile strike on April 6, 2017, on a Syrian air base over a sarin gas attack and said President Donald Trump had "full political manoeuvre room" to take whatever decision he believed was appropriate.

While the government and Russia say they have set up safe routes into government-held territory, no civilians are known to have crossed through them yet.

Damascus and Moscow accuse rebels of firing on anybody who tries to leave, something the insurgents deny though a Reuters witness said there was shelling and gunfire near one exit route on Friday.

Rebels and some eastern Ghouta residents contacted by Reuters have said people there do not want to come back under Assad's rule for fear of persecution, an idea the government says is groundless.

On Saturday, the army found 60 civilians cowering in a basement in Mesraba. Activists in eastern Ghouta said thousands of people from Mesraba had already fled into Douma, further into the rebel territory, before the army took it.

Syrian state television reported on Sunday that rebel mortar fire had killed four people after hitting a taxi. Assad has sworn to end insurgent shelling of the capital.

Defeat in eastern Ghouta would deliver the rebels their biggest blow since December 2016, when a government offensive drove them from Aleppo, their largest urban stronghold.

Backed by Russian warplanes and other military assistance since 2015, Assad has gained momentum on several fronts across the country, driving rebels from numerous pockets and recapturing swathes of the east from Islamic State.

But he is still far from regaining control over the entire country. Rebel groups hold large areas of the northwest and southwest, while northeastern Syria is in the hands of Kurdish fighters and allied militias.

Meanwhile, the increasingly global nature of the war means that military attempts to regain several of those areas could pit Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers against forces that are also directly supported by powerful foreign countries.Lahore: Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif's face was blackened with ink by a religious extremist when he was addressing his party's workers' convention in Punjab province of the country late on Saturday.

The suspect, who was thrashed by the party workers before being handed over to police, allegedly said that Asif's party had tried to change the finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution which hurt his sentiments.

Asif was speaking at the PML-N workers' convention in Sialkot, his hometown (some 100 km from Lahore), when a middle-aged man with long beard, who was standing close to him, threw ink on his face.

The workers grabbed the man and thrashed him before handing him over to police. The foreign minister was escorted by his guard after the incident. However, after washing his face, Asif returned and completed his speech.

"I do not know this man. It appears my opponents had given him some money to throw ink at me but I pardon this man and will ask the police to release him," the minister said, adding this incident does not affect his politics.

"Such an incident adds sympathy for him," he said.

Meanwhile, the Sialkot city police identified the ink thrower as Faiz Rasool.

"Rasool doesn't have any connection with any political party. He told police in his statement that he threw ink at the foreign minister because his party had tried to change the finality of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in the Constitution. This hurt the sentiments of millions of Pakistanis, including his," a police officer quoted Rasool as having said in his statement.

He said since the minister is not interested in getting an FIR registered against Rasool, police will set him free after meeting all legal requirements.

Pakistan's Law Minister Zahid Hamid had to resign last November when hundreds of Tehreek-e-Labbaik supporters camped at Islamabad's Faizabad traffic interchange, forcing the PML-N government to take action against those in the federal cabinet responsible for attempting to change this clause from the Constitution.New Delhi: A shoe was hurled at ousted Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by a former student of Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on Sunday. The incident occurred a day after ink was thrown on Foreign minister Khawaja Asif in Sialkot.

The shoe was thrown at Sharif while he was walking towards the dais to address the students of the seminary in Garhi Shahu on the death anniversary of Mufti Mohammad Hussain Naeemi.

While the visibly shocked former PM decided to go ahead with his speech, seminarys administration rushed to apprehend the attacker.

#WATCH - Shoe thrown at former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif at Jamia Naeemia in Lahore. pic.twitter.com/mGtiqVNzpz News18 (@CNNnews18) March 11, 2018

The accused has been identified as Talha Munawwar, a former student of the seminary. He has been admitted at Lahores Services Hospital owing to injuries from being beaten up by the staff and students, Geo News reported. Police said they have also arrested two other suspicious people from the seminary.

According to a report in Pakistan Today, Munawwar is a member of Tehreek-e-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah (TLYR), which is an Islamist political party in the neighbouring country. Press Trust of India reported that the students were shouting "Labbayk ya Rasool-Allah" (Here I am at your service, O Messenger of Allah) when they were caught by security personnel.

Talking to the Pakistani media channel, senior journalist Sohail Warraich, who was at the event, said the attacker was chanting slogans in favour of a religious party which carried out a prolonged protest against the government in Islamabad last year for the ruling party's role in amending the Finality of Prophethood oath of lawmakers.

Last month, a man had hurled a shoe at Pakistan Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal while he was addressing a workers convention.Washington: US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that China's President Xi Jinping is being "helpful" as the United States moves toward a summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump gave few details in a tweet about his telephone conversation with Xi on Friday, but the White House had said the two leaders committed to keeping the pressure on North Korea until it takes "tangible steps" toward denuclearisation.

Trump stunned the world this week by accepting an invitation to meet Kim before the end of May, an unexpected turnabout after months of intensifying brinksmanship that sent tensions soaring.

Trump tweeted that Xi "appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative. China continues to be helpful!"

The White House said the ever-more-powerful Chinese president committed to "maintain pressure and sanctions until North Korea takes tangible steps toward complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

In another tweet Saturday, Trump said Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also was "very enthusiastic" about talks with North Korea.

Trump praised a possible future agreement with the communist North as "very good" for the international community as a whole in a Friday tweet.

"The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined," Trump wrote.

North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Song il credited the turnabout to Kimm's "broadminded and resolute" decision to contribute to peace and security in the Korean Peninsula.

"The United States should know and understand our position and should further contribute to the peace and security-building in the Korean Peninsula with [a] sincere position and serious attitude," he wrote in an email to The Washington Post on Friday.

As aides scrambled to catch up with Trump's decision, taken before consulting key confidantes, the White House sent mixed messages about conditions.

"They've made promises to denuclearize, they've made promises to stop nuclear and missile testing," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

"We're not going to have this meeting take place until we see concrete actions that match the words and the rhetoric of North Korea," she told reporters.

Officials behind the scenes said this did not constitute a change of heart.

- Diplomats needed -

In the Hague, former secretary of state and Trump rival Hillary Clinton questioned the administration's readiness for the diplomatic challenge ahead.

"If you want to talk to Kim Jong Un about his nuclear weapons you need experienced diplomats," Clinton told Dutch tabloid Algemeen Dagblad in an interview published on Saturday.

She said the State Department was "being eroded," and experienced diplomats on the North Korean issue were in short supply because many have left.

"You cannot have diplomacy without diplomats," she said, adding "the danger is not being recognized by the Trump government."

Clinton's words echo those of veteran diplomat and former US ambassador to the United Nations, Bill Richardson, who warned that negotiating with North Korea was not "reality television."

"It's a real opportunity... I worry about the president's unpreparedness and lack of discipline. But I commend him for his very bold move in accepting the invitation," Richardson told AFP on Friday.

"But this is not 'The Apprentice' or a reality TV event. It's a negotiation with an unpredictable leader who has at least 20 nuclear weapons and who threatens the United States," he said.Beijing: Xi Jinping has joined the pantheon of Chinese leadership two decades after bursting onto the scene as a graft-fighting governor who went on to earn comparisons with Mao Zedong in his quest for unrestricted power.

The rubber-stamp parliament further enhanced Xi's considerable power on Sunday when it approved a constitutional amendment abolishing presidential term limits.

The move allows the 64-year-old Xi to remain in power for as long as he wishes, ruling as a virtual emperor, and is the latest feather in the cap of a Communist "princeling" who is re-making China in his own image.

Xi, who was given a second term as the party's general secretary at the five-yearly party congress in October, has amassed seemingly unchecked power and a level of officially stoked adulation unseen since Communist China's founder Mao.

Even though his father Xi Zhongxun  a renowned revolutionary hero turned vice premier  was purged by Mao, Xi has remained true to the party that rules with an iron fist and over which he reigns supreme.

Xi is the first Chinese leader to have been born after 1949, when Mao's Communist forces took over following a protracted civil war.

The purging of his father led to years of difficulties for the family, but he nevertheless rose through its ranks.

Beginning as a county-level party secretary in 1969, Xi climbed to the governorship of coastal Fujian province in 1999, then party chief of Zhejiang province in 2002 and eventually Shanghai in 2007.

That same year, he was appointed to the Politburo Standing Committee.

Following Mao's disastrous economic campaigns and the bloody 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, the Communist leadership sought to prevent further chaos by tempering presidential power through a system in which major personnel and policy decisions were hashed out by the ruling Politburo Standing Committee.

The move helped prevent political power from becoming too concentrated in the hands of a single leader but was also blamed for policy indecision that led to growing ills such as worsening pollution, corruption and social unrest.

But "Xi Dada" ("Big Uncle Xi"), as he has been dubbed by Communist propaganda, has broken sharply with that tradition since taking over as president in 2013 and now looms over the country in a deepening cult of personality.

He has used crackdowns on corruption and calls for a revitalised party to become the most powerful Chinese leader in decades.

Fighting graft and upholding party leadership were already central to him when he spoke to AFP in 2000.

At the time, Xi vowed to root out corruption following a $10 billion smuggling scandal, but ruled out political reform to confront the problem, saying he would work within the one-party structure and system of political consultation and "supervision by the masses".

"The people's government must never forget the word the 'people' and we must do everything we can to serve the people, but to get all the government officials to do this is not easy, in some places this is not done very well and in other places it is done very badly," Xi told AFP.

'Chairman of everything'

Xi's face now graces the front page of every paper in the country, while his exploits and directives headline each night's evening news.

Shops sell commemorative plates and memorabilia with his image alongside Mao's and he has accumulated so many political and military titles  from president, to Central Military Commission chairman and party "core"  that he has earned the nickname "Chairman of Everything".

The Communist Party's power-broking congress in October confirmed Xi's induction into the leadership pantheon alongside Mao and market reformer Deng Xiaoping by writing his name and political ideology into the party's constitution.

While calling for China's "great rejuvenation" as a world power, Xi has cultivated a personal image as a man of the people who dresses modestly and buys his own steamed buns at an ordinary shop.

Following a divorce from his first wife, Xi married the celebrity soprano Peng Liyuan in 1987, at a time when she was much more famous than him. The couple's daughter, Xi Mingze, studied at Harvard but stays out of the public eye.

But Xi has presided over a tough crackdown on civil society and freedom of speech that belies the chummy image  and he tolerates no ridicule or slander of his person.

Social media users who have dared to compare his round mien to that of the affable Winnie the Pooh have found their posts quickly deleted, and a man who referred to him as "Steamed Bun Xi"  a knock at his breakfast publicity stunt  was jailed for two years.Nepal's PM Khadga Prasad Oli wins vote of confidence by a two-thirds majority

Kathmandu : Nepal's Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli won a vote of confidence by a two-thirds majority on Sunday during a floor test in Parliament. Oli was appointed the Prime Minister 25 days ago.

The Nepal Congress decided to sit in the opposition saying it will see the performance of the government for another 100 days and will take all possible steps if the government tries to become authoritarian.

While questioning the intent of the government in seeking a two-thirds vote as it had already secured a majority, Nepali Congress leader Gagan Thapa warned Oli "not to dream to become Li Kuan Yew of Singapore in the name of two-third majority".

In the 275 seat Federal Parliament, 268 votes were cast and Oli received 208 votes.

The move came as a surprise to many as Oli and the Madhesi parties did share "acrimonious" relations in the past where Madhes based parties used to depict him as an "anti-Madhesi" leader.

After the vote, the communist government has a two-thirds majority, for the first time in the post-1990 era after the restoration of democracy.

Among the 10 parties and an independent representing the Lower House, Oli is widely expected to garner support of six parties and the independent lawmaker.

The Prime Minister on Sunday said that there is nothing like a ruling party or opposition when it comes to the nation's prosperity.

"National development campaign does not belong to only ruling party, but it is a common journey. The campaign maybe led by the ruling party or me in the capacity of Prime Minister," he said while addressing a parliamentary meeting.

He pledged to work for the welfare and aspirations of the people, while stressing the need for developing agriculture, trade, energy, for creating the base for the prosperity of the country.A police officer stands in front of The Mill pub in Salisbury, southern England, on March 11, 2018. Photo: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

U.K. authorities have asked anyone who visited a pair of establishments in Salisbury last Sunday or Monday to wash their possessions after trace elements of a nerve agent used to poison a former Russian spy were found at a restaurant and pub. The warning applies to the as many as 500 people who visited Salisburys Zizzi restaurant or The Mill pub after 1:30 p.m. on Sunday, but authorities have stressed that there was no immediate danger of exposure.

Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, and his 33-year-old daughter, Yulia, remain critically ill and hospitalized following the attack. A police detective also remains hospitalized in serious condition after being exposed to the nerve agent when he tried to help the Skripals, who were found unconscious on a city bench on March 4. It is not yet clear where the Russians originally came into contact with the poison.

Per the BBC, patrons of the restaurant and pub who may have been exposed have been asked to wash their clothes and either wash or wipe down their cell phones and other possessions. The measures are just a precaution, however, as Englands chief medical officer explained on Sunday that the risk to the general public remains low and I am confident none of these customers or staff will have suffered harm.

The main concern is that there may be a longer term health risk to the patrons if they were to repeatedly come into contact with trace amounts of the nerve agent. Both The Mill and Zizzi have been closed since Monday.

A Salisbury resident who spoke with the New York Times added that, It sounds like theyre being told to wash a week after the event. Most of them have already washed, hopefully. She also reported that the owner of The Mill had been assured that workers in hazmat suits had been feeding two pet rabbits kept at the pub. (He had started a Save the Rabbits campaign after The Mill was cordoned off.)

Skripal, a former colonel in Russian military intelligence, was convicted of spying for MI6 in 2006, but was then pardoned and released by Russia as part of a 2010 spy swap. He has been living in the UK ever since.

Home Secretary Amber Rudd said on Saturday that it was still too early to assign blame for the likely assassination attempt. Some 250 counterterrorism officers have been investigating the attack, assisted by British military personnel. The Kremlin has denied any involvement.Thanks to a complex system of credits and deferment, Amazon won't pay any federal income taxes after topping $5.6 billion in income in 2017. The Seattle-based online retailer will end up paying out roughly $769 million in taxes for the year, but $724 million of that will be in foreign taxes.

That's according to an analysis of the online behemoth's 2017 10-K form, which "provides a comprehensive overview of the company's business and financial condition," according to the Securities and Exchange Commission. Public companies are required to submit the form every year to the SEC in addition to quarterly updates (10-Q forms) and, when announcing major events shareholders should know about, the 8-K or "current report" form.

Matthew Gardner, senior fellow at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, wrote about Amazon's tax bill that won't come due in a Feb. 13 blog post. Without being privy to the company's tax return, no one can say exactly how CEO Jeff Bezos and Co. avoided what could have been more than $1.3 billion in federal taxes based solely on the annual financial report, but there is information to be gleaned.

RELATED: City experts: Amazon's HQ2 search set off 'race to the bottom'

For example, Amazon took out a $917 million tax deduction on stock options exercised by current or former employees. Unlike wages, which are also deducted from any company's taxable income, the stock options don't require any cash expenditures by the company.

"Even though these don't represent as meaningful out-of-pocket expenses for the companies, they're still allowed to deduct the fair value of the stock options when they're exercised," Gardner told SeattlePI. "When somebody who has been given this right cashes them in, the company gets to deduct this from their taxable income."

Amazon's stock price closed at just under $1,512 per share on Tuesday.

Another ingredient in the low tax bill is likely capital expenditure depreciation, Gardner said, where companies are allowed to write off the cost of some expenses -- say those incurred while building a distribution center, for example -- up front. Those taxes are essentially shifted to future years' tax bills.

Some of the disclosures in the 10-K form are maddeningly vague. For instance, a table on page 65 lists a tax credit of $220 million, but there's no indication of whether or not those credits apply to federal, state or foreign taxes.

Bezos, a frequent critic -- and target -- of President Donald Trump, nevertheless earned a windfall from the Trump administration's U.S. Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, passed in December. Amazon readjusted estimates for taxes deferred under the old 35 percent corporate tax rate to meet the new tax law's 21 percent figure, which resulted in an estimated $789 million reduction for Amazon.

Gardner is quick to point out that there's no evidence that Amazon engaged in behavior that is unusual, let alone illegal. But he thinks it might be relevant for cities attempting to attract the company's second North American headquarters (HQ2).

"At a time when states all want to see HQ2 coming to them, but they don't necessarily have the cash to spend on tax incentives, it's potentially helpful for them to know that at least in 2017, Amazon doesn't appear to be a company that's excessively burdened by the workings of the tax system to begin with," he said.

Seattlepi.com reporter Stephen Cohen can be reached at 206-448-8313 or stephencohen@seattlepi.com. Follow Stephen on Twitter at @scohenPI.Christopher Mellon served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for intelligence in the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. He is a private equity investor and an adviser to the To the Stars Academy for Arts and Science and wrote a recent Washington Post article on UFOs.

Mellon says numerous discussions with Pentagon officials over the past two years that military departments and agencies treat such incidents as isolated events rather than as part of a pattern requiring serious attention and investigation. A colleague at To the Stars Academy, Luis Elizondo, used to run a Pentagon intelligence program that examined evidence of anomalous aircraft, but he resigned last fall to protest government inattention to the growing body of empirical data.

War is Boring makes the case that there are many military drone, spyplane and stealth bomber prototypes which may end up explaining the sightings.

What has been observed by multiple civilian and military pilots, air traffic control

* supersonic and possibly hypersonic with the ability to hover

* some are egg-shaped

* White when seen but with some level of stealth in the visual range

Reviewing some incidents

In December, the Defense Department declassified two videos documenting encounters between U.S. Navy F-18 fighters and unidentified aircraft. The first video captures multiple pilots observing and discussing a strange, hovering, egg-shaped craft, apparently one of a fleet of such objects, according to cockpit audio. The second shows a similar incident involving an F-18 attached to the USS Nimitz carrier battle group in 2004.

The videos, along with observations by pilots and radar operators, appear to provide evidence of the existence of aircraft far superior to anything possessed by the United States or its allies. Defense Department officials who analyze the relevant intelligence confirm more than a dozen such incidents off the East Coast alone since 2015. In another recent case, the Air Force launched F-15 fighters last October in a failed attempt to intercept an unidentified high-speed aircraft looping over the Pacific Northwest.

Another recent incident

An unidentified flying object was first detected tearing through the air above Northern California by radar stations in Oakland. It was 4.30pm. It was traveling very fast at 37,000 [feet].

On October 25, 2017 a strange craft was seen  in broad daylight  flying amid the heavy traffic of the United States air corridors above the state of Oregon.

Pilots radioed in reports of an aircraft flying outside registered flight plans.

F-15 interceptor fighters from the U.S. Air Force were scrambled to take a look.

The call with the pilot of Southwest 4712 was by far the most interesting. He immediately notes how strange the encounter was and how he has never seen an incident like it in nearly 30 years of flying jets. The pilot noted, if it was like a Lear (private jet) type airframe I probably would not have seen it this clear. This was a white airplane and it was big. And it was moving at a clip too, because we were keeping pace with it, it was probably moving faster than we were It was a larger aircraft yeah. He also said they watched the object from Northern California all the way to their descent into Portland.

The War Zone blog interviewed the pilots and obtained audio recordings

An unidentified white aircraft was indeed flying over Oregon on that day in October, and the USAF and the FAA are both willing to admit that the event occurred. In the Air Forces case, the fact that they are even willing to tell us that they couldnt catch or even find the unidentified aircraft with their sensor-packed and fast F-15.

Third declassified video of 2015 East Coast encounter

A third declassified video, released by To the Stars Academy of Arts and Science , a privately owned media and scientific research company, reveals a previously undisclosed Navy encounter that occurred off the East Coast in 2015.

The military personnel who are encountering these phenomena tell remarkable stories. In one example, over the course of two weeks in November 2004, the USS Princeton, a guided-missile cruiser operating advanced naval radar, repeatedly detected unidentified aircraft operating in and around the Nimitz carrier battle group, which it was guarding off the coast of San Diego. In some cases, according to incident reports and interviews with military personnel, these vehicles descended from altitudes higher than 60,000 feet at supersonic speeds, only to suddenly stop and hover as low as 50 feet above the ocean. The United States possesses nothing capable of such feats.

On at least two occasions, F-18 fighters were guided to intercept these vehicles and were able to verify their location, appearance and performance. Notably, these encounters occurred in broad daylight and were independently monitored by radars aboard multiple ships and aircraft. According to naval aviators I have spoken with at length, the vehicles were roughly 45 feet long and white. Yet these mysterious aircraft easily sped away from and outmaneuvered Americas front-line fighters without a discernible means of propulsion.87-year-old Chinese scientist Yuan Longping is developing a new high-yield strain of rice that grows in saltwater.>A

Swamps, bogs, and clay-like or salty coastal waters make up roughly a third of the total arable land in China. Growing rice in these locales is nearly impossible because salt stresses plants water-absorption process. Specifically, saltwater makes photosynthesis and respiration more difficult for stalks and slows their growth to death.

Four types of rice registered an estimated output of between 6.5 to 9.3 tonnes per hectare, at Qingdao saline-alkali tolerant rice research and development center.

China improve its resilience to climate change, seawater rice could help bring 200,000 square kilometers of land with salty, alkaline soil into production, according to Chinese media site Xinhua. Even cultivating an additional 670 square kilometers of formerly unproductive land with seawater rice could provide an extra 30 billion kilograms of rice a year  enough to feed 80 million people.

In 2013, 13% of Chinas grain was imported, according to Qian Keming, chief economist of Chinas Ministry of Agriculture. This is expected to rise to 15% in 2020.

The water used to irrigate Yuans seawater rice trials had salt content of 0.6%. On average, the salinity of seawater is between 2-3.5% in coastal waters.

Yuans most recent trial batch is selling well at 54 yuan a kg (US$8)  eight times the cost of normal rice. South China Morning Post reports that there had been almost 1000 orders for seawater rice on the online retail platform Tmall.com. They hope to sell rice worth 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) in 2017.

Salt from coastal flooding and tides has left just a fraction of Chinas total land open to freshwater rice farming, and in Dongying, a region on Chinas eastern coast, 40 percent of land has a salt concentration higher than 0.5 percent, according to the World Bank. Experts expect the rising waters from global climate change to exacerbate this problem.

For his research, Longping planted 200 different saltwater-tolerant rice strains at the Qindao Saline-Alkali Tolerant Rice Research and Development Center on the Yellow Sea. According to Chinas Xinhua News Agency, his efforts yielded 8,030 pounds of rice per acre. For comparison, most commercial U.S. growers harvest between 7,200-7,600 pounds per acre annually.

Though promising, Longpings experiment did not mimic the actual conditions in China, instead using water with a much lower salt concentration than could be found in nature.

Longpings rice could also free up freshwater lands that are currently reserved for rice to grow other foods. More affluent Chinese citizens are demanding more meatand less grain-based food, but meeting that need has proven increasingly difficult given the amount of freshwater land reserved for rice cultivation.Navy Secretary Richard V. Spencer and Marine Corps Commandant General Robert Neller referenced ongoing Chinese expansion in their testimonies Wednesday at the House Appropriations Committee in Washington, D.C.

Chinas is increasing its military power and build new economic ties around the world.

Chinas recent leasing of a $1.3 billion port in Sri Lanka for the next 99 years.

Last August, China unveiled its first overseas military base in the East African country of Djibouti, where the U.S. and French militaries also operated.

The United States is the largest operator of military bases abroad, with 38 named bases having active-duty, National Guard, reserve, or civilian personnel as of September 30, 2014. Its largest, in terms of personnel, was Ramstein AB, in Germany, with almost 9,200 personnel. The Pentagon stated in 2013 that there are around 5000 bases total, with around 600 of them overseas.

Estimated U.S. military spending is $886 billion (Fiscal Year 2019 submitted to Congress). Military spending is the second largest item in the federal budget after Social Security. The United States spends more on defense than the next nine countries combined.

There are four components.

1. $597.1 billion base budget for the Department of Defense.

2. the overseas contingency operations for DoD to fight the Islamic State group ($88.9 billion).

3. Total of other agencies that protect our nation ($181.3 billion.)

-Department of Veterans Affairs ($83.1 billion),

 the State Department ($28.3 billion)

 Homeland Security ($46 billion)

 FBI and Cybersecurity in the Department of Justice ($8.8 billion)

-National Nuclear Security Administration in the Department of Energy ($15.1 billion).

4. $18.7 billion in OCO funds for the State Department and Homeland Security to fight ISIS.

The DoD base budget does not include the cost of wars. Overseas Contingency Operations are budgeted at $64.6 billion for DoD and $12 billion for the State Department.

The Department of State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs (SFOPS). President Donald J. Trump submitted his FY2018 budget request to Congress on May 23, 2017. The request seeks $40.25 billion (-30% compared with FY2017 enacted) for SFOPS, including Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) funds. Of this total, $13.20 billion (-27% compared with FY2017 enacted) would be for the Department of State Operations and related programs. For Foreign Operations, the FY2018 request includes $27.05 billion (-31% compared with FY2017 enacted).

The FY 2019 Presidents Budget for the State Department and USAID is $39.3 billion, which includes $16.8 billion in assistance that USAID fully or partially manages through the Economic Support and Development Fund, Global Health Programs, Transition Initiatives, International Disaster Assistance, and USAID operational accounts.

US has way more Allies

China has established new military ties with countries like Pakistan, Russia and, especially, across Africa.

The United States has Europe, Canada and the other NATO countries. Of the 29 NATO member countries, Canada and the United States and 27 are European countries and Turkey in Eurasia. The US also has tight relations with Japan, South Korea and Australia.To fans, Miley Cyrus will always be Hannah Montana, Adam Brody will always be Seth Cohen from "The O.C.," and Robert Pattinson will always be a vampire.

However, for an actor taking on various characters, looks and motivations for different parts, sometimes it be hard to break away from the roles that defined the."Buffy the Vampire Slayer," an episodic tale of good vs. evil set against the usual angst of high school, premiered March 10, 1997 on the now-defunct WB network. Seven seasons and 144 episodes later, it had cemented its place as one of the top series ever to appear outside the "big three" TV networks.

Originally created as a theatrical film in 1992 by Joss Whedon, who now looms large as one of Hollywood's biggest players in the fantasy/sci-fi genre, "Buffy" for TV gave Whedon a chance to get it right after his disappointment with the way 20th Century Fox handled his film.MILFORD  Cindy Wolfe Boyntons thoughts about running for political office began when she navigated the maze of red tape for services to keep her elderly parents safely in their home.

That drive snowballed in her role as an adjunct college professor when she witnessed potential cuts to services needed for students to succeed.

And in her role as a community activist  she is president of the Connecticut chapter of the National Organization for Women  Boynton has attended her share of rallies in Hartford for human rights, equality and justice.

Then it all came together for Democrat Boynton, who realized she could get more done in the states capital by casting votes and speaking face to face with legislators. She has announced her candidacy for State Rep. in the 117th district, where she will challenge incumbent Republican Charles Ferraro of West Haven, who is seeking a third term. The 117th District encompasses Milford, Orange and the West Shore section of West Haven.

To make change, I wanted to transition from advocate to vote maker, she said. We need legislators in Hartford who, instead of patching holes, are looking for long-term, lasting, responsible solutions for the economy and the many other complex issues our state and residents are grappling with.

Boynton, a former longtime journalist, adjunct college professor and entrepreneur, is well-known and respected in Milford, where she lives with her husband and raised her two sons. She also has close personal ties to West Haven.

Democratic Town Chairman Rich Smith said hes thrilled that Boynton is running and that a candidate of her caliber is rare.

When you meet her you know she is not running for office to fulfill some childhood dream or to boost her own ego; instead Cindy is running because she feels deeply and genuinely about the issues and challenges we face in this state, Smith said. Cindy is driven by a moral compass that pursues good public policy outcomes in the name of the hard-working people of the district I know (she) is singularly focused on the tasks that await her.

Boynton said she is delighted and humbled to have surpassed the fund-raising goals needed to pre-qualify for Connecticuts Citizens Election Program  a testimony, she said, to the communitys knowledge of her commitment.

She said the Citizens Election Program helps ensure the integrity of state elections by prohibiting the influence of big money in politics and elections. She needed to collect at least $5,500 and 165 contributions from residents of the district. She surpassed that mark.

Creating new state revenue streams, jobs and an economy that works for everyone are among her priorities.

I want to create a Connecticut that better cares for, and respects, our elderly; that provides a limitless future for every child; and that provides more opportunities, and a better quality of life, for everyone, she said.

Boynton said that over the last few years she spent exorbitant hours trying to get home services and Medicaid for her aging parents to keep them safe after their funds were exhausted. There was so much red tape, she thought if she was having difficulty with it as an experienced information gatherer and sorter, the system must be much more difficult for the average person to negotiate.

Boynton said she also is committed to justice, respect and equality. She will also make working across party lines a priority, so that people  and not politics  come first.

Thats the kind of legislator I will be: one who brings people together, truly listens to her constituents and works hard to create a better quality of life she said.

Boynton also wants to find some solutions to ease the burden on struggling state and community college students and their families.

As a professor, Boynton said she sees students struggling with higher tuition rates, decreased financial aid, fewer class choices and a noticeable decrease in the academic support services that, without, many students have no chance of succeeding.

The result of affordable and equal access to higher education will be good-paying jobs for the graduates and much-needed skilled employees for Connecticut businesses and industries, especially fast-growing ones like advanced manufacturing, she said.

Equal rights remain atop her agenda.

I believe in the equal treatment of every person, regardless of gender, race or religion. The justice for all we commit to in the Pledge of Allegiance is more than just words, Boynton said. Without equality, there is no justice.

Boynton first made her mark in the community as a reporter and editor at the Milford Citizen and Elm City Newspapers for more than 11 years. She spent 15 years as a regular correspondent for The New York Times, nine years as editor of Better Health magazine and has authored two local history books, Remarkable Women of Hartford and Connecticuts Witch Trials: The First Panic in the New World, as well as two plays that made their debuts on New York Citys 42nd Street, just steps off Broadway.

Boynton also owns/operates a small business, Spirits of Milford Ghost Walks, and is an adjunct college English and communications professor at the Yale School of Medicine, University of New Haven, Quinnipiac University, Housatonic Community College and the Paier College of Art.Peter Navarro is a vociferous trade hawk and former environmentalist who could become Trumps top economic adviser. Photo: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images

In the wake of the dual setback to conventional Wall Street-oriented conservatives represented by the presidents decision to impose steel and aluminum tariffs, and the resignation of his chief economic adviser Gary Cohn, theres a new fear in regular Republican circles. Its that the Trump adviser who triumphed over Cohn in the tariffs battle might soon claim his old job.

Yes, theres some buzz that Peter Navarro, head of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, wants a promotion to the top economic gig. And as Jonathan Swan of Axios suggests, thats freaking out people at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue who dont share Navarros economic nationalist bent.

Choosing Navarro would be the path of least resistance for Trumps trade agenda, but it would cause something approaching a riot on Capitol Hill and within the White House. Senior officials tell me they expect the entire National Economic Council staff would quit their posts immediately if Trump appoints Navarro; and Republicans on the Hill would go crazy. Republican leaders view Navarro as a menace and a danger to both the U.S. and world economies.

Other than that, they think hes a prince (actually, they dont; even Navarros allies allow as how his aggressive personality is a problem). But seriously, taking into account how much non-Trumpite Republicans have already swallowed from this White House, they seem genuinely frightened by Navarro.

Perhaps some of them know a little about the mans background in California politics. He was a serious environmentalist who ran for mayor of San Diego as an independent in 1992 (losing narrowly to Republican Susan Golding) and for Congress in 1996 as the Democratic nominee (losing a bit less narrowly to Republican Brian Bilbray). In the former race, he was endorsed by the Sierra Club, and in the latter contest, Hillary Clinton campaigned for him. Hard to think of any other high-level Trump adviser with that much heresy on the resume.

And even into the 21st century, when he was an economics professor who found his way into the political chattering classes, he expressed deep concerns about global climate change, and endorsed a carbon tax.

To be clear, once in Washington Navarro went out of his way to back Trumps move away from Obamas climate-change policies, according to a Climatewire story about his background:

Despite his past warnings about climate change, he was a supporter of Trumps decision to withdraw from the Paris climate accord. He wrote in a July 2017 USA Today op-ed that withdrawal will save the U.S. economy an estimated 6.5 million industrial-sector jobs, and his regulatory rollbacks have already saved more than $60 billion in unnecessary costs for American companies.

And his pollster from his 1992 mayoral race didnt have much respect for his environmentalist convictions:

Hes an environmental opportunist, said Scott Flexo, who worked as a pollster for Navarro during his 1992 campaign for San Diego mayor. I think he would focus on the environment if it would sell books or if it would get him jobs or get him elected.

In any event, Navarros record as a former tree-hugging Democrat, or even his heretical positions on trade, may not be whats bugging Establishment Republicans about his possible promotion to what is in essence an Economics Czar position. Its that they really, really want someone in that position who will push back against, not support, Trumps own policy predilections. Thats what the Washington Posts James Hohmann thinks:

Navarro is now playing the role on trade that Stephen Miller did on immigration: the hard-liner who is seen by outsiders as enabling and egging on Trumps most nativist and nationalistic instincts.

Totally aside from Navarro and his views, its not a good sign when a presidents supporters in the White House, Congress and the business community rely on key staff to talk him out of his campaign promises and what he apparently believes. At some point, hes going to do what he wants to do. And you cant blame the people around him for agreeing with him.You might say the people have spoken and their voices are being heard loud and clear.

The city of New Haven has moved three of its accounts out of Wells Fargo Bank and also is putting out a request for proposals to move its two large operational accounts to other financial institutions.

The move comes after New Haveners pressured the city to put its money with a more ethically responsible bank  and with good reason.

For the past four years, protesters here and nationwide have railed against Wells Fargo for its investment in the 1,200-mile Dakota Access Pipeline, which is under construction in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Reservation.

The Standing Rock Sioux tribe has opposed the pipeline, which is designed to transport as many as 570,000 barrels of crude oil daily from North Dakota to Illinois. But the pipeline would travel underneath the Missouri River, which is the primary drinking water source for the tribe of around 10,000.

The tribe cites concerns that any spill would contaminate their water supply and also are troubled the pipeline is being built over sacred ground.

Many people here and nationwide agreed with the Native Americans and some New Haven residents even trekked to North Dakota to stand in solidarity with the Sioux tribe and others.

The controversy  which pits the tribe and social activists against local and state government  has led to allegations of police using pepper spray, rubber bullets and concussion cannons to disrupt the protest and thwart the protesters, according to the tribe.

But it was a report by the state Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and disturbing allegations that actions taken by the bank directly affected the residents of New Haven that led city officials to spring into action.

The OCC found that Wells Fargo had an extensive and pervasive pattern of discriminatory and illegal lending practices for years  and the banks actions reflect an extensive and pervasive pattern and practice of violations across multiple lines of business within the bank, resulting in significant harm to large numbers of consumers.

The OCC specifically listed treatment of minority neighborhoods, military personnel and women who had recently given birth, Bloomberg reported.

In a city where the majority of people are minorities and many of its leaders are minorities and women, this is unacceptable. That veterans were targeted is unconscionable.

The OCC downgraded Wells Fargos rating under the Community Reinvestment Act to needs to improve, and the bank has now been deemed a non-qualified public depository.

Under a Connecticut statute, that means no more public funds can be deposited at Wells Fargo.

We think that is a good thing and the right thing to do. Activist Geremy Schulick points out that Wells Fargo is not alone in investment and Chase, TD Bank and Bank of America also put millions into the pipeline project.

We will not argue whether Wells Fargo or any other bank is right or wrong to invest its money in the pipeline; after all, banks are solely in the business of making money, not engaging in social activism.

But we will argue that if any bank has a pattern of discriminatory and illegal lending practices that affects minorities, military personnel and women, then that bank has no right to the money that minorities, military personnel and women produce.

The city was right to move its money out of Wells Fargo  and other banks should take notice.Venezuelas Petro cryptocurrency has been called illegal and unconstitutional by the countrys National Assembly. Bitcoin has suffered another fall in its current exchange value, with the virtual currency's latest closing price standing at US$9434. In Japan, the Financial Services Agency has been throwing its weight around and has issued business suspension orders to two cryptocurrency exchanges.

Working For Notebookcheck Are you a techie who knows how to write? Then join our Team! English native speakers welcome! News Writer - Details here



Its fair to say that there is quite a lot of doom and gloom being cast over the cryptocurrency world at the moment. With regulation rapidly closing in on virtual currency (VC) trading it seems the Wild West environment of the industry now has several new sheriffs in town.

In Venezuela, President Maduro may still be celebrating the countrys Petro cryptocurrency success (apparently US$735 million raised in one day of pre-sale), but it seems the states National Assembly is not on the same page. The Asamblea Nacional issued a statement claiming that the Petro was illegal, unconstitutional and that the cryptocurrency was basically the Devil incarnate.

It wasnt just the Petro suffering from bad press, though. Cryptocurrencys flag-bearer, Bitcoin, has also had a rough time lately. The VC had already experienced a dramatic fall in value recently, arguably down to a damning statement from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Speculation about the cause of yet another drop today has centered on the SECs scrutiny, rumors of hacking activity in Hong Kong, and events in Japan (see below). Bitcoin has now lost over US$2000 in value in less than a week.

Finally, the Japanese Financial Services Agency has ordered VC exchanges FSHO and Bit Station to suspend their operations until they improve their security and trading practices. Business improvement orders were delivered to five other exchanges: GMO Coin, Tech Bureau, Mister Exchange, Increments, and Coincheck.

The cryptocurrency bubble might not be bursting yet  but current signs do seem to be pointing in that general direction.March 9, 2018

INDIANA DUNES NATIONAL LAKESHORE: Join avid national park visitor David Kroese for a discussion about some of his memorable experiences during his adventure to all 417 units of the National Park Service. The program takes place on Sunday, March 18, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center. David will talk about his upcoming book chronicling his 2016, National Park Centennial year visits to nearly 400 park units in all 50 states, and completing visits to all the units in 2017. Also featured will be his collection of 238 Find Your Park lapel pins, which will be on display at the Indiana Dunes Visitor Center through April.

David Kroese, of Loves Park, Illinois, began a grand journey through the National Park System in 2016 to celebrate the NPS Centennial. While visiting parks, he hoped to create something tangible that he could give back to the parks as a way of saying, thank you to all the rangers and park staff that encouraged and helped him along the way. When the Centennial and Find Your Park lapel pin sets first appeared in the summer of 2015, David started collecting these pins with the intention of creating two complete sets for displays. The two displays are intended to promote and encourage support and visitation of the National Park System. In addition to the display currently in the national lakeshores visitor center, Mr. Kroeses exhibit of National Park Centennial pins is on exhibit at Pullman National Monument in Chicago.

The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center is located at 1215 North State Road 49, about one mile north of Interstate 94. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/indu and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ IndianaDunesNL.

The Indiana Dunes Visitor Center is located at 1215 North State Road 49, about one mile north of Interstate 94. For more information on this or other programs at Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, call 219-395-1882 or visit our website at www.nps.gov/indu and our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ IndianaDunesNL. For more information on the exhibit and talk scheduled for Pullman National Monument, go to www.nps.gov/pull or call their visitor center at 773-468-9310.

www.nps.gov

The Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of 417 units of the National Park System ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Located in Northwest Indiana, the park includes 15 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and 15,000 acres of biodiverse beaches, woods, prairies, and marshes. Up to 2 million visitors come to the Indiana Dunes each year.From Greg Swank, 12-4-2 You are about to read a list of 45 goals that found their way down the halls of our great Capitol back in 1963. As...Ms. Brock-Broido was born in Pittsburgh on May 22, 1956, to David Broido, a real estate developer, and the former Virginia Brock, an actress. When she was 12, her father died, on July 4, 1968. By noon the next day she was writing a love letter to him, she told Poetry magazine.

Years later, she wrote Father, in Drawer, which read in part:

Mouthful of earth, hair half a century silvering, who buried him.

With what. Make a fist for heart. That is the size of it.

Also directives from our DNA.

The nature of his wound was the clock-cicada winding down.

He wound down.

When she discussed the origins of the poem with the Poetry Foundation in 2012, she recalled how inconsolable she was to lose her father, who was 44.

I wrote the poem, intentionally, with sharp edges and all hopes of innocence in ruins, she said.

Ms. Brock-Broido did return to school and earned bachelors and masters degrees from Johns Hopkins University and a masters of fine arts from Columbia. While at Johns Hopkins, she recalled, she submitted an 80-page poem called Pornography to her teacher, the poet Richard Howard. He handed it back to her a week later and told her, My dear, there is not a line break in the whole 80 pages.

At which point, she told Bomb magazine in 1995, I thought I would writhe on the train station platform where we stood. I thought, What do you mean theres not a line break? Look at the lines, there are thousands of them! But I had no concept of what a line break  no less a line  was.

She would acquire the technical proficiency that Mr. Howard demanded, specifically an artistry with lineation. She became an expert on the architecture of poems, teaching for many years at Bennington College, Princeton University, Harvard and most recently Columbia, where she was also director of the poetry concentration at the School of the Arts.

Ms. Smith, her former student, said, She guided us to look at choices within individual poems and the largest structure of a book and the way that questions, recurring themes and obsessions could be highlighted by placement.

Ms. Brock-Broido wrote many more poems than she published; at one point, she said, she was writing as many as 300 a year. But she became less frenzied about production in recent years, she said, taking about seven years to complete a book of poems.Let them call you racists. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativists. Wear it as a badge of honor.

STEPHEN K. BANNON, former chief strategist for President Trump, addressing the party congress of the anti-immigrant National Front led by the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen in Lille, France.As onlookers watched, protesters brandished black banners with the phrases Shame on Sackler and Fund Rehab and hurled yellow pill bottles with white labels that read OxyContin and prescribed to you by the Sacklers into the wings reflecting pool.

Ms. Goldin announced a series of demands in the form of short statements, including harm reduction and treatment, that were repeated loudly by the crowd.

We are artists, activists, addicts, she shouted. We are fed up.

Ms. Goldin  whose intimate photographs documenting drug use, violence and deaths from AIDS are displayed in numerous museums, including the Metropolitan  started an anti-opioid group called Prescription Addiction Intervention Now, or PAIN, after being addicted to OxyContin from 2014 to 2017. She has called withdrawal from OxyContin the darkest experience of her life.

A spokesman for the museum declined to comment, and a spokeswoman for the Sackler family did not respond to a request for comment. A Purdue spokesman, Robert Josephson, said the company is deeply troubled by the prescription and illicit opioid abuse crisis and is dedicated to helping solve it by paying for prescription-drug monitoring programs and collaborating with law enforcement.

OxyContin has accounted for tens of billions of dollars in sales since entering the market in 1996.

In 2007, Purdues parent company pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of misbranding the drug, which prosecutors said was marketed as less addictive, less subject to abuse and less likely to cause withdrawal than other painkillers. Since then, states have accused Purdue in lawsuits of misrepresenting the risks and benefits of OxyContin, allegations the company has denied.The rally, which had been rescheduled after the deadly Parkland, Fla., shooting last month, capped a frenzied stretch of fund-raising and campaigning on behalf of Mr. Saccone, who is locked in a tight race with the Democratic nominee, Conor Lamb.

Hes an extraordinary person, Mr. Trump said of Mr. Saccone, dismissing Mr. Lamb as Lamb the Sham. The people of Pittsburgh cannot be conned by this guy Lamb, because hes not going to vote for us.

It was an opening for Mr. Trump not only to try to apply his political sway in the years first special election  one being looked at as a bellwether for the November midterm elections  but also to seize the opportunity to promote his new tariffs before a steel-country base of supporters far more receptive than the officials and pundits in Washington.

Steel is back, he proclaimed more than once. Aluminum is back.

He also, after receiving some boos upon first mentioning Mr. Kim, the North Korean dictator, said that he thought the North Koreans want peace. He said that his unprecedented meeting could go two very different ways: We may leave fast, or strike one of historys greatest deals.

While the rally was not specifically advertised as one for Mr. Saccone, a loss by him would mark the third time that Mr. Trump had thrown his political might behind a candidate without success. With his low poll numbers, Republican leaders and the White House are trying to determine how to handle his desire to campaign in the midterms.

But he was a hit with the crowd on Saturday. He retreated to fan favorites: reminiscing about his Electoral College victory, and saying that there is a lot of evil in Washington and that he is getting it out. To cheers and laughter, Mr. Trump hurled some old and new slurs and insults toward his opponents as he complained about his media coverage and perceived Democratic obstruction.

He embellished his derisive Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd nickname for the Meet the Press host by calling him a sleeping son of a bitch. He said Pocahontas  his name for Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts  would produce bad television ratings if she challenged him in 2020. And he dismissed Representative Maxine Waters, Democrat of California, as a low-I.Q. individual, delivering, in a predominantly white region, an insult that to many carries racial undertones.The roughly 3,000 delegates of the National Peoples Congress, Chinas legislature, voted almost unanimously on Sunday to end a two-term limit on the presidency, one of the main leadership posts held by Xi Jinping. While the overwhelming approval by the party-controlled congress was not a surprise, the repercussions go beyond just allowing Mr. Xi to stay on longer.

Heres what is at stake, and why ending the term limit matters.

Why is the limit in place now?

One lesson that China drew from the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution was the danger of concentrating power in one supreme, unassailable leader who ruled for life.

In 1982, when China was recovering from that chaotic era, lawmakers approved a new Constitution that said the president and also the vice president shall serve no more than two consecutive terms.

It is sometimes said that Deng Xiaoping, who led China after Mao, introduced the term limit to prevent the top leader from again becoming too powerful. But thats not entirely true. Back then the Chinese presidency was not such a powerful post. Deng wielded much of his power informally, without titles or term limits, and through his control of the military.That suitcase is one of about 40 that have been devised as part of House of Memories, the Liverpool Museums multipronged dementia program, which just celebrated its fifth birthday. The program also has its own app, offers training days for caregivers and family members, and memory walks, hourlong guided tours of the Museum of Liverpool devised to get older visitors to share their memories of life in the city.

The suitcases cover 1930 to 1980. Themes include transportation, the natural world and ethnicity; for example, Irish and Afro-Caribbean people are among the groups represented. One suitcase contains items like fliers from early Gay Pride marches and club nights; photos of venues in the 1950s, 60s and 70s; and a pair of brown suede Hush Puppies, which some gay men wore to spot each other at a time when homosexuality still had not been decriminalized in Britain.

Backed by the British government and by state-funded British health care partners, House of Memories has now trained more than 12,000 people nationwide, and is crossing the Atlantic: The Minnesota Historical Society plans to offer its version of the app in the fall.

The idea first came to Ms. Rogers as a way of supporting our aging society, she said. Globally, were all living longer, and we all want to live well, but there are older people in our community who are socially isolated, she said. Theyre lonely. Among them, people with dementia are particularly isolated, she said, and museums with recent collections could help. Photographs, memorabilia and objects  be they the actual items or images of them on apps  help rekindle memories in people with dementia and lead them to start conversations.Clearly, Mr. Katz, a Connecticut antiques dealer, said in a video filmed at the show, we are hoping that it might go to an institution, because it really would be wonderful to share this with the public on a day-to-day basis.

So it was gratifying, Mr. Katz said in an interview, when the Wadsworth Atheneum in Hartford purchased the work and gave it prominent display.

In recent weeks, though, the museum has had to acknowledge that the carefully crafted secretary with the compelling story is actually an exquisite fake. And the forger has now come forward, not only to acknowledge and apologize for his sin, but also to bask a bit in how artful his deception has been.

Its the apotheosis of my own making, the forger, Harold Gordon, said in a recent interview. Mr. Gordon sold the piece to Mr. Katz, and in the process fooled many experts in the antiques world.

I lied, said Mr. Gordon, 69. I cheated. I stole.

Fake antiques are far from rare, but few match the sort of ambitions and artistry as that created by Mr. Gordon, experts said. Robert Cheney, director of the Willard House & Clock Museum in North Grafton, Mass., likened this caper to that of the great Brewster chair, created in 1969 by a former police officer who passed it off as a rare, 350-year-old piece. It ended up in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan.American Idol is back, with three new judges. And Timeless visits Marie Curie and the French front in World War I.

Whats on TV

AMERICAN IDOL 8 p.m. on ABC. You didnt really think American Idol was going away, did you? Two years after Fox announced the cultural behemoth would come to a close after 15 seasons, here it is back again on ABC. Ryan Seacrest is still around despite a swirl of controversy, but the judges box looks decidedly different, with Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan calling the shots. Ms. Perry will bring bursts of zaniness, while Mr. Richie will bring the sage perspective of an older generation. For two days a week, Professor Richie is going to talk about the reality of what it takes to be an artist, he said in an interview with The New York Times.LONDON  When Prince William, an heir to the British throne, married Kate Middleton at Westminster Abbey in April 2011, the service was conducted by the Very Rev. John R. Hall, the dean of Westminster.

Some 2.4 billion people were said to have watched it, which is about one in three of the worlds population, Dean Hall said in an interview at his spacious windowed office next to the abbey. Wed done quite a lot of work preparing it, with the main participants as well, and the bridesmaids and the pageboys. I expected to feel very, very nervous.MONDAY PUZZLE  Jack R. OBrien returns for his third time in The New York Times Crossword with an interesting theme set. I can honestly say that I never thought about what this set has in common, but if you keep your eye on the theme entries, you should eventually spot the reasoning behind the set.

Todays Theme

Mr. OBrien offers us a set of four  Im not sure what you would call them as a group, because theyre all different  but its a set of four. And what they have in common is that they all have ONE EYE, which is the revealer split between 39A and 32A.

Tricky Clues

5A: An AGORA was an open space in ancient Greece that was used for markets. You wont see the word outside crossword puzzles that much, but its good to know for solving.

18A: POLYPHEMUS, the Cyclops that met up with Odysseus in Greek mythology, has appeared only once before in The New York Times Crossword, in 1978.Lisa Ann Green and Peter Ernest Wharton are to be married March 11 at the grooms home in Huntington, N.Y. Rabbi Tuvia Teldon is to officiate.

The bride, 57, is the director of core publishing systems at The New York Times. She also serves as cantor for Temple Beth Emeth in Mt. Sinai, N.Y. She graduated from the State University of New York at Binghamton.

She is the daughter of Alan A. Funk of Westbury, N.Y., and the late Alice Lowenbraun Funk. The brides father is a Westbury-based independent insurance broker and agent. Her mother was a kindergarten and first-grade teacher for the Brentwood School District in Brentwood, N.Y.

Mr. Wharton, who is 72 and is known as Akiva, is a physician assistant at a private medical practice in Smithtown, N.Y. He is also a professional percussionist, drumming teacher and composer. He has two bachelors degrees, one in biology from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and a physician assistant degree from Stony Brook University.Stephanie Marie Urban and Calgary Granger Leveen were married March 10 at the First Presbyterian Church in Delray Beach, Fla. The Rev. Dr. W. Douglas Hood Jr., a Presbyterian minister, performed the ceremony.

The bride, 29, is an associate in the credit division of the Blackstone Group, an alternative asset manager in New York. She graduated from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.

She is a daughter of Ann T. Urban and Paul G. Urban of Randolph, N.J. The brides father is an executive at the Wyndham Hotel Group in Parsippany, N.J. Her mother, who is retired, was the pharmaceutical marketing director at Schering-Plough, a pharmaceutical company that was based in Kenilworth, N.J.

The groom, 30, works in New York as a securities analyst at the hedge fund Thorpe Abbots. He graduated from Yale and received an M.B.A. from Oxford.The founding fathers nervously waited their turn in a hallway at the Museum of the City of New York on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Alexander Hamilton and James Madison adjusted their black coats and tightened their ponytails, spray-painted gray. Next to them, George Washington and William Paterson practiced their speeches to the Constitutional Convention, which they had been rehearsing since October during their lunch periods in middle school.

About 500 students gathered on Sunday morning to give history-themed performances, unveil exhibit boards and screen documentaries at the New York City History Day Competition, the 28th installment of the annual educational matchup. It was the culmination of monthslong efforts by students from 32 public and private schools who created projects centered on this years theme, Conflict and Compromise in History, a fitting backdrop in a turbulent year in domestic politics and international diplomacy.

Some students submitted a project in lieu of taking a final exam this semester. Others were encouraged by their parents. But for many, it was a chance to move on to the state finals in April, and ultimately to the National History Day contest, which is in June at the University of Maryland, College Park.Witness the restorative powers of a snow day.

Last Tuesday, the 12 jurors deliberating in the corruption trial of Joseph Percoco, a former senior aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, appeared on the verge of a meltdown. Three jurors each wrote to the judge, asking to be released from jury duty, while a fourth said the panel appeared to be deadlocked.

I physically and emotionally cannot do this anymore, one juror said. Another, citing fundamental differences among the jurors, wrote, I regret to say I can no longer continue after today.

A third, Juror No. 7, declared: I feel there is nothing else I can offer to this process.

The jurors had been deliberating over four days, but never for a full day, starting late or ending early. In comments outside the jurors presence, Judge Valerie E. Caproni of Federal District Court in Manhattan made it clear that she was skeptical of the jurors declared dead end.

She sent them back for further deliberations, reading them a version of an Allen charge, an instruction typically given to juries when they suggest that they have reached an impasse.Ronnie Franklin, who rode Spectacular Bid to victory in the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness before their Triple Crown try was derailed in the Belmont, died on Thursday in Baltimore. He was 58.

The cause was lung cancer, said his nephew, Walter Cullum, who was also a jockey.

Franklin was 19 when he guided Spectacular Bid to victory as a 3-5 favorite in the Kentucky Derby. After winning the Preakness by five and a half lengths, Franklins bid to capture the Triple Crown ended in the Belmont Stakes, when Spectacular Bid finished third.

In the mile-and-a-half race, Spectacular Bid chased a speedy long shot early in the race and tired in the stretch. Franklin was blamed for the loss by the horses trainer, who also said the colt had stepped on a safety pin in his stall before the race. But the tracks chief veterinarian, Dr. Manuel Gilman, asserted: All I can tell you is what I saw. The horse went out for the race all right and he came back all right.

I lacked experience, Franklin said years later. I shipped him out of the gate, I should not have done that. Consequently, we were too close to the pace and then I took it up too early. I got him beat.To the Editor:

Re Democrats Face Primary Shove From New Left (front page, March 5):

In this midterm election year, the Democratic Party is again poised  pardon the cliche  to snatch humiliating defeat from the jaws of certain victory. The Democrats persist in their quixotic attempt to woo those who voted for President Trump and those who are on the fence. To do this, they temporize on issues with respect to which there should be no waffling or wavering.

That is the royal road to failure, and a well-deserved failure it would be. Unless the Democrats can shed their spinelessness and timidity, they will not energize that crucial youth, female, gay and ethnic horde that is yearning for uncompromising progressivism.

This is the mandate that the Democrats should embrace by stating without fear or shame that guns should be taken away, that the environment is too precious to despoil, that a woman has an inalienable right to choose, that immigrants are welcome, that the wealthy should pay more, that universal health care must be implemented and so forth.

In short, unless the Democrats use their own bully pulpit to topple the bullying pulpits that our White House and legislatures have become, they are fated to lose, and they will deserve to lose.KABUL, Afghanistan  On Feb. 28, President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan made the most comprehensive offer inviting the Taliban to join direct, formal peace talks with the Afghan government. The offer, made without preconditions, recognizes the role of the Taliban in Afghan politics and seeks to proceed toward a comprehensive peace agreement.

President Ghanis offer is the result of the Kabul Process, which saw delegates from 30 countries and international organizations  including the United Nations, NATO and the European Union  gather and deliberate in Kabul.

The announcement of the peace initiative was preceded by months of national consensus building in Afghanistan. Members of the High Peace Council, the inclusive body of Afghan elders formed to steer efforts for peace and dialogue; the governments chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah; and President Ghani had long deliberations and consultations with Afghan political figures, members of civil society, clergy, women and youth. They found overwhelming support for the initiative to reach a political settlement with the Taliban.

The peace offer is underpinned by our belief in the common equality of all Afghans and their right to live in peace and dignity. We believe that this offer will give the Taliban the opportunity to organize as a legitimate political force, pursue their goals through peaceful means and join the political process.HARARE, Zimbabwe  In November, the Zimbabwean people, led by our youth, went to the streets peacefully and joyfully, determined to have their voices heard. They called for freedom, progress and a new way of doing things. Though supported by the military, this was a popular, peaceful revolution. Watching the events unfold from exile, I was deeply proud of my fellow Zimbabweans.

In a major turning point in our history, President Robert Mugabe resigned and the first transition of power in 37 years followed. On Nov. 24, I took office as the new president of Zimbabwe. In the past three months, I have heard the call of my people. I share their vision and am committed to delivering.

I am working toward building a new Zimbabwe: a country with a thriving and open economy, jobs for its youth, opportunities for investors, and democracy and equal rights for all.

We are starting from a difficult position. Today our economy is struggling, our youth lack opportunities, too many people are unable to afford essential goods, and our infrastructure is stuck in the past.The North Carolina police officer seen using a Taser and punching a black man in a video recently leaked to the news media had been suspended in the past, personnel records show, and was known as a smart aleck, according to a former supervisor.

The officer, Christopher W. Hickman, 31, was charged on Thursday with assault by strangulation, a felony, and assault inflicting serious injury and communicating threats, which are misdemeanors.

I dont know what happened to him over the years, Rondell Lance, the president of the local Fraternal Order of Police and a 26-year veteran of the Asheville Police Department, said in a phone interview on Saturday. Evidently something happened. It shocked us all that he would react in such a violent way.

Mr. Lance, who retired as a sergeant in 2014, said Officer Hickman had worked for him for about a year when he was just starting out on the force.Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the American Authors Association

Douglas V. Gibbs is a proud member of the Military Writers Society of America.PITTSBURGH  The special election deep in Trump country in southwest Pennsylvania on Tuesday has become an acid test for the allegiance of working-class voters, and organized labor has gone all in for the Democrat in the race, Conor Lamb.

Union activists have been knocking on members doors, standing at the gates of steel mills and generally trying to claw back votes from 2016, when Hillary Clinton failed to connect with blue-collar workers across the industrial Midwest.

If Mr. Lamb is able to score the stunning upset he is hoping for, he is clear about who should get the credit.

Youve been the heart and soul of this campaign, he told a rally of union steelworkers at their Pittsburgh headquarters. He noted that a statue of their unions first president stands in a Catholic church near his suburban home, because thats how we feel about our unions.LORAIN, Ohio  President Trumps decree placing punitive tariffs on foreign steel raised an outcry in Washington: Republican leaders in Congress warned darkly of a market-rattling trade war. Many Democrats echoed their discomfort, saying Mr. Trumps broad edict threatened global commerce.

But Senator Sherrod Brown, Democrat of Ohio, offered unreserved applause. Having lobbied the administration in public letters and private meetings to go after Chinese steel imports, he hailed Mr. Trumps announcement Thursday as a breakthrough. For far too long, he said in a statement, Chinese cheating has shuttered steel plants across our state and put Ohioans out of work.

If Mr. Brown was a rare supportive voice on tariffs in Congress, his stance was more familiar at home. A veteran critic of pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement, Mr. Brown, with his limited embrace of Mr. Trump, reflected the political culture of the industrial Midwest and the survival strategy he has pioneered for Democrats there. The president captured Ohio by a resounding margin in 2016, defeating Hillary Clinton by eight percentage points while winning narrowly in neighboring Pennsylvania and Michigan. Democrats now hold only one high office in Ohio  Mr. Browns.

As Mr. Brown seeks a third term in 2018, it is his brand of indignant populism setting the tone for Democrats in Ohio, where the governorship and several congressional seats are also up for grabs. Long a crucial swing state, Ohio may now be the most vital proving ground for a progressive economic message in Trump country. Democrats there have adopted a rallying cry that echoes both Mr. Trumps rhetoric and traditional union-hall populism, assailing Wall Street banks and multinational corporations for exploiting workers and accusing Washington of colluding in their perfidy.Albany has a checkered record when it comes to sexual harassment, on both sides of the aisle, perhaps most notably of the disgraced Democratic power broker, Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez. Mr. Lopez was accused in 2012 of sexually harassing several female staff members, graphic incidents, including groping, which later led to his resignation.

In 2014, a Buffalo-area assemblyman, Dennis H. Gabryszak, a Democrat, stepped down amid accusations that he sexually harassed several female staff members. In 2016, Angela M. Wozniak, a first-term Republican from western New York, was censured after an affair with a male staffer; she did not seek re-election.

And as recently as last fall, the former Assemblyman Steven T. McLaughlin, an outspoken Republican, was disciplined for asking a female staff member to send him naked pictures of herself.

During the Lopez scandal, Sheldon Silver, then the speaker of the Assembly, was also harshly criticized for authorizing secret financial settlements to harassment victims. Such payments are now the subject of proposals from both Mr. Cuomo and Senate Republicans, who introduced a bill last week that would outlaw such confidential settlements, echoing a similar push by Senate Democrats in January.

The Assembly has already passed internal rules banning confidential settlements, and has made other reforms, including the mandatory reporting of any sexual harassment complaint. It, too, is expected to introduce legislation confronting sexual harassment on Monday, after establishing a work group of members last month to study the issue.

The seeming commonality of purpose greatly increases the likelihood of a deal on the issue, even if the question of who will be doing the negotiating remains unsettled.It was a public display of the lobbying that businesses are waging primarily behind the scenes to change or shape enforcement of the law, most notably its byzantine new provisions intended to crack down on multinationals sheltering profits abroad for tax purposes.

The question is whether our system is set up today in a way to do little midcourse corrections as time goes on, or is it not, said Dana Trier, who left the Treasury Department last month after serving as deputy assistant secretary for tax policy during the drafting of the bill. The mistakes or unintended consequences for this or that group wont show up for months.

The result could be a tax-theme replay of the years after passage of the Affordable Care Act, when Republicans refused to cooperate with so-called technical corrections legislation, and a Democratic administration was forced to push the limits of its authority to address concerns in the enforcement of its signature policy accomplishment.

Among the problematic portions to emerge so far is what has become known as the grain glitch. A late change to the legislation altered a deduction for United States production in a way that permitted farmers to deduct 20 percent of their total sales to cooperatives  agricultural organizations owned by groups of farmers that operate for the benefit of their members.

This allows farmers to deeply reduce their tax bills, but it has caused an uproar among independent agriculture businesses that say they can no longer compete with cooperatives, since farmers would choose to sell to cooperatives to take advantage of the more generous tax break.WASHINGTON  The Trump administration is putting the finishing touches on its long-awaited Middle East peace plan, three senior officials said on Sunday, and President Trump is likely to present it soon, despite risking swift rejection by the Palestinians and having already taken on another of the worlds thorniest disputes, with North Korea.

While the exact timing of the plans release is still not set, these officials said, the most immediate challenge for the White House is how to roll it out so that it is not proclaimed dead on arrival.

The Palestinians remain furious over the presidents decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and they have refused White House entreaties to come back to the table. The administration is considering simply revealing the document, in the hopes that it will pressure the Palestinians to return.

Another complicating factor is the fluid political situation in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who faces indictment on fraud charges, may call early elections to try to win a popular mandate and shore up his position. His legal troubles, analysts said, will make him even less inclined to make concessions to the Palestinians because that could alienate his right-wing base.President Trump on Sunday disputed a New York Times report describing discussions it said he had had with a veteran lawyer about joining the White House to help handle matters related to the special counsel inquiry.

In a pair of tweets, Mr. Trump wrote that The Times purposely wrote a false story stating that I am unhappy with my legal team on the Russia case and am going to add another lawyer to help out.A clear majority of white evangelical women, even in the face of the #MeToo movement and renewed claims of marital infidelity against the president, continue, along with white evangelical men, to form Mr. Trumps most cohesive block of support.

Mr. Trumps ability to connect so strongly with evangelical voters was among the most notable surprises of the 2016 campaign. Since his election, he has courted evangelical leaders aggressively and, more important, has delivered on promises to appoint conservatives like Justice Gorsuch to federal courts. Men who see themselves as leaders of religious conservatives, such as Franklin Graham, Jerry Falwell Jr. and Tony Perkins, the president of the Family Research Council, have remained doggedly supportive.

And the majority of evangelical women remain in his corner.

But it has not been easy.

I dont know any evangelical woman who is going to defend the character of the president, said Carmen Fowler LaBerge, host of The Reconnect, an evangelical-centered radio show.

Many things the president says and does are things that many evangelicals use as examples with our kids of what we should not do, added Ms. LaBerge, who did not support Mr. Trump in 2016. This is not who we are as evangelicals. This is not how we treat people.

Some evangelical women simply keep their views private. Gathered at a well-appointed home in Falls Church, Va., last week, eight Christian women agreed to talk about their feelings about the president, on one condition: that they not be identified.

They feared reprisal in the workplace, at their childrens schools, even at their church. They meet in secret and have a private Facebook group, which its organizer said has about 160 members, to talk about their support for Mr. Trump.

They said that Christian voters who backed Trump had been derided as unthinking, unsophisticated hypocrites, but for many of them that only affirmed their resolve. One of the women said that her parents had come to the United States illegally from El Salvador and that she was born a short time later. Her father is now a citizen. She supports Mr. Trump and his hard-line plans on immigration.The highest potential for greater than a foot would certainly be in Maine, he said.

Cities farther south along the East Coast will face far less precipitation.

New York could see up to four inches of snow, Philadelphia could get two and Washington will most likely have about an inch, the Weather Prediction Center said on Sunday.

Parts of New Jersey remained without power after last weeks storm. As of Sunday afternoon, more than 14,000 customers served by Jersey Central Power & Light were still waiting for their electricity to be restored.

On Twitter on Saturday, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey called the companys lack of preparation and response embarrassing and unacceptable.

Once all power has been restored to every New Jersey resident and business, our administration will begin an investigation into what went wrong and how utilities could have responded better, he added.SANTIAGO, CHILE  Sebastian Pinera, a political conservative, returned to Chiles presidency on Sunday, vowing to revive an economy that slumped under the departing center-left leader Michelle Bachelet.

Ms. Bachelet handed the presidential sash to the president of Congress, who then swore in Mr. Pinera  who himself turned over the office to Ms. Bachelet in a similar ceremony four years ago.

Mr. Pinera, a billionaire entrepreneur, oversaw growth that averaged 5.3 percent a year during his first term from 2010 to 2014, aided by pro-business policies, rising prices for Chiles chief export, copper, and a giant rebuilding effort following a magnitude 8.8 earthquake that hit just before he took office.

A slump in copper prices helped sour Ms. Bachelets second round as president, with the economy  and the presidents popularity  slipping badly in 2014 and 2015. Ms. Bachelet, the first women to lead the country, had been wildly popular when she ended her initial term and handed power to Mr. Pinera.Their efforts led to a nationwide survey of 31,000 university students in which 51 percent said they were sexually harassed at least once in 2016. Advocates said the actual figure might be even higher; in most cases, neither the victims nor bystanders report the episodes  often because they feel nothing will be done.

Many Australian women a generation removed said it was at least as bad or worse during their student days. And, they said, the culture of student politics did not help.

Each of Australias main political parties has an active youth wing  the Young Liberals promote themselves to anyone ages 16 to 31; Young Labor focuses on anyone under 26  and their efforts often overlap with on-campus campaigns.

Many lawmakers started out in this milieu, with student bodies or union boards, before moving to staffing roles, party offices or legislatures. Three of Australias five most recent prime ministers  Malcolm Turnbull, Tony Abbott and John Howard  began their political careers as students at the University of Sydney.

The dynamics of power in these groups have not been equal. Women make up only 29 percent of the Young Liberals membership, according to the groups website. Student leaders say men tend to dominate the senior ranks across parties and campuses.

Regular gatherings of young people in politics  like the annual National Union of Students conference in December  are also notorious for alcohol-fueled inappropriate behavior.LONDON  U2s frontman, Bono, said this weekend he was furious after a charity he co-founded was rocked by newly revived accusations that it had fostered an atmosphere of bullying, abuse and, in one case, attempted sexual coercion in its Johannesburg operation.

Bono apologized to the former employees of the charity, ONE, who have detailed on social media and in a British newspaper what they said was demoralizing treatment by managers at their office in the South African city from late 2011 to 2015.

He said the charity, which aims to end extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa, had failed to protect the workers.

I need to take some responsibility for that, Bono said in a statement issued on Saturday and published by The Mail on Sunday. We are all deeply sorry. I hate bullying, cant stand it.BRUSSELS  Martin Selmayr is hardly a household name, but his personality and his ambitions are preoccupying the Brussels bubble of the European Union in the twilight years of Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European Commission, the blocs executive arm.

Mr. Selmayr, 47, a German lawyer, has been Mr. Junckers chief of staff and has, by all accounts, used his fierce intelligence, aggressive personality and bureaucratic acumen to shore up Mr. Juncker, the former prime minister of Luxembourg who is considered a weak administrator, and to enhance his own career.

But few were prepared for Mr. Selmayrs spectacular rise last month, when he was suddenly catapulted into the job of deputy secretary general of the commission and seconds later promoted to chief when the current holder of the job, in his early 60s, abruptly resigned.

The bureaucratic coup was announced by Mr. Juncker himself, who steps down next year, in a rare (and hastily called) news conference. Many of the commissioners were kept in the dark until the last moment.PARIS  Frances far-right leader Marine Le Pen put forward a new name for her National Front party on Sunday, hoping to reinvigorate the party and bolster its electoral chances following its setbacks in last years presidential and legislative races.

Ms. Le Pen said party officials had agreed on Rassemblement National, which can be translated as National Rally or National Gathering, as the new name. It must still be approved by a mail vote of all party members in the coming weeks.

The name National Front bears an epic and glorious history that no one must deny, Ms. Le Pen told a cheering crowd at the end of the partys annual congress in Lille. But she also said that for many in France the name was a psychological brake that kept them from joining the party or voting for its candidates.

Ms. Le Pen spoke a day after the surprise appearance of Stephen K. Bannon, the former chief strategist for President Trump, at a party congress. In a fiery speech on Saturday, Mr. Bannon told party members to let them call you racists and praised the National Front for standing up to Frances political and economic establishment.LONDON  The anonymous letters arrived this weekend in plain white envelopes with second-class stamps, and were sent to people in at least six communities in England.

Inside was a message so hateful that it sent out ripples of alarm and prompted a national counterterrorism investigation.

The message said that April 3 would be Punish a Muslim Day, and that points would be awarded for acts of violence: 25 points for pulling off a womans head scarf, 500 points for murdering a Muslim and 1,000 for bombing a mosque.

Riaz Ahmed, a Liberal Democrat councilor in Bradford, in West Yorkshire County, said he had received one of the letters at his business address.Chemical weapons experts in hazardous material protective suits have been deployed to five sites visited by Mr. Skripal and his daughter the previous Sunday: his home, the cemetery where his son and wife are buried, the restaurant, the pub and the bench where the two collapsed.

Around 180 military troops were called in to help clear the area, and the ambulance used to transport the two victims was wrapped in plastic and loaded onto a military transport vehicle.

Rebecca Hudson, a reporter for The Salisbury Journal, said on Sunday that local residents were beginning to complain that they had been kept in the dark about the risk level.

I think people are frustrated that this information has come out seven days on, when theyve been told throughout that theres minimal risk, she said by phone. There is definitely the sense that they were not given enough information earlier in the week.

In an editorial in the newspaper, Annie Riddle said that while there wasnt a hint of panic during the first days of the investigation, residents have become progressively more concerned, as they have watched more and more areas being taped off, barriers going up, more and more military and emergency services rushing about, and with nobody in authority saying a word.

She added: I find myself starting to wonder whether Ive underestimated the potential danger. While no one expects any national security secrets to be given away, could we please be treated like grown-ups and be given a bit more idea exactly what is going on?

Ruby Vitorino, 58, who works in a local jewelers shop, said many of her neighbors in Smallsbury, as she calls it, have responded with humor.Shortly before the plane dropped off the radar, the pilot requested to fly at a lower altitude, Irans Civil Aviation Authority told local news media outlets. Images on social media showed a large plume of black smoke emerging from the Zagros Mountains near Shahr-e Kord in Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province.

Melike Kuvvet, the captain of the jet, was one of the first female pilots in the Turkish military, before she resigned and started to work in the private sector, Turkish news media reports said.

The bodies of the passengers and crew could not yet be identified, a spokesman for Irans emergency services, Shahin Fathi, was quoted as saying by Iranian news agencies. DNA tests will be conducted to identify the dead.

After the crash was reported, Mr. Basaran went to Iran, the Turkish news media reported.

Ms. Basaran was posting images of her trip to her popular Instagram account, which has more than 58,000 followers. The final photo posted shows her with seven female friends, smiling in pink and white robes. Another image showed her aboard the plane with a large bouquet of flowers.Delhi: Father kills 13-year-old daughter over friendship with boy

India

oi-Madhuri

In yet another shocking incident, a 40-year-old man allegedly stabbed his 13-year-old daughter to death in Delhi's Karawal Nagar.

The girl went missing on March 7 and was found dead in Uttar Pradesh Tronica city on March 9.

It is learnt that the father committed this crime because he was allegedly enraged over her friendship with a man who runs a mobile shop in their neighbourhood in east Delhi's Karawal Nagar.

In his confession to the police, the accused father identified as Sudesh Kumar said that he caught his daughter roaming with the boy on several occasions.

During the interrogation, father confessed that he took the girl to an isolated place on his bike and murdered her with the knife. After killing his daughter, Kumar dumped the knife and his clothes with blood stains in the drain.

The accused was sent to judicial custody and the body has been sent for post-mortem and reports are awaited.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 14:23 [IST]Delhi Sealing: Kejriwal calls BJP, Cong for meeting

India

oi-Shreya

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has call an all-party meeting on March 13 at his residence to find a solution to the ongoing sealing drive in Delhi.

He has written to Delhi BJP Chief Manoj Tiwari and Congress Delhi Chief Ajay Maken to attend the meeting to discuss and find a solution to end the sealing so that shops could be reopened at the earliest.

In his letters, he has written that the sealing drive has created a situation of panick in the national capital and to find a solution, all the parties have to rise above their individual politics. Earlier, Congress Chief Ajay Maken had asked CM Kejriwal for time to discuss the issue of sealing.

The sealing drive has been going on for months now in the national capital and led to massive agitation among the traders and shop owners. Previously Bandhs has been held in protest, the traders have also called for another bandh to protest sealing on March 13.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 10:57 [IST]If I were PM would have thrown demonestisation file into dustbin: Rahul Gandhi

India

oi-Vicky Nanjappa

Congress president, Rahul Gandhi said that if he were the Prime Minister, he would have thrown the demonetisation proposal into the dustbin. Rahul who is currently in Malaysia said at an event that demonetisation was not a good idea or initiative and the move led to economic slowdown.

He said that if he were the Prime Minister and someone had given him the file with demonetisation written on it, he would thrown it into the dustbin, out of the door or into the junkyard.

This is how I would have rolled it out, because that is what I think should have been done with the demonetisation which was not good at all," he said in a video which was shared by the Congress party on its Twitter handle.

Rahul began the Malaysia leg of his five-day trip to the Southeast Asian countries on Saturday. His trip is part of the Congress party's efforts to connect with the diaspora.

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Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 6:32 [IST]In a move that could upset US, China seals pact with EU

Emmanuel Macron calls for easing raw material supply for production of Covid vaccines to India, others

Macron emphasises on more pacts to fight climate change

India

oi-Oneindia Staff

By Oneindia Staff

French President Emmanuel Macron emphasised on the need for more pacts on environment at the global level that could empower people in having a say in battling climate change.

He also stressed on higher investments by the governments to deal with climate change.

Referring to the Paris Framework Agreement on Climate Change, Macron said despite the US decision to leave the pact, many countries have decided to stick by it.

"We want to step up that (the fight against climate change) with new agreements at the UN by 2020, which will give new rights to people...People can go against a company or a government, saying you are not complying with your own commitment," Macron said.

The French leader was speaking at an interaction with students at a Town Hall here.

Responding to a question on the French government's stand on artificial intelligence (AI), Macron said it was necessary to invest heavily in the field to create an alternative as it currently dominated by the US and China.

Elaborating on the issue, he said in the US, the AI fight is led by private players---Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and others.

"It is totally privately driven and privately held, which according to me is a big mistake because it deals with privacy...In a certain way with the choice of the society because it will impact your day-to-day life, your intimacy and so on. And these guys will decide for you," Marcon said.

On the other hand, it is fully controlled by the state in China, he said.

"In China, it is 100 per cent state-driven, government-driven. You have the private leaders but all the data is controlled and monitored by the government, which is, for me not a society I decided to live in," Macron said.

"So, for Europe, it is necessary to create another model and research in this field is a critical element," he said.

This, he said, will not only create a single digital market, but also help build its own regulations in the arena.

Responding to a question on qualities of a good leader, Macron said a leader is one who has an inclusive approach vis-a-vis gender and religion.

"I think one of the main mistakes of a leader would be try to create a sort of domination of your side...of your people and the others because it is never sustainable and because large parts of violence in our current world is due to frustrations of the minorities, frustrations of dominated people".

In a nearly hour-long interaction, Macron was asked questions ranging from lighter queries like handling mud-slinging in public life to a more serious ones related to climate change and security of women.

Dressed in white shirt, black trouser with a black tie, Macron obliged students seeking selfies with him.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 7:17 [IST]Macron lauds India's climate change efforts, takes a jibe at Trump

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

French President Emmanuel Macron lauded India's efforts for making International Solar Alliance (ISA) a reality. At the launch of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi on Sunday, Macron pledged hundreds of millions of dollars for solar projects in developing countries.

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) is an alliance of more than 121 countries. The primary objective of the alliance is to work for efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. This initiative was first proposed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a speech in November 2015 at Wembley Stadium.

Addressing the summit in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Macron said, "Mr Prime Minister, You made a dream and we did it. It was about this International Solar Alliance. It was two years ago, it was just an idea at that time and we decided all together to act very quickly and today a big change".

Macron, who in December warned that the global shift to a green energy future was too slow, said France would extend an extra 700 million euros ($861.5 million) through loans and donations by 2022 for solar projects in emerging economies.

Without any names, he referred to countries quitting the historic Paris Climate agreement and said ISA nations came together to "deliver complete results".

The oblique reference was to US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to curb global greenhouse gas emission and limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.

France had already committed $300 million euros to the initiative when it co-founded with India a global alliance in 2015 to unlock new cash for solar projects in sunny yet poor nations.

[Macron emphasises on more pacts to fight climate change]

The ISA is the first treaty-based intergovernmental organisation to be based in India that aims to help sunshine-rich developing countries to tap solar energy at more affordable prices through aggregating both demand and risks in order to bring down costs and secure investments of solar developers.

International Solar Alliance                             

121     61 Alliance  join   

32  Framework Agreement  ratify    : PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 11, 2018

                         

   Climate Change                      : PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 11, 2018

    ,     



    action points        



           Technology      



  energy mix  solar    : PM  PMO India (@PMOIndia) March 11, 2018

PM Modi, in his ongoing address at the Solar Summit, outlined a 10-point action plan to bring about a "worldwide solar revolution". Modi said that India would produce 175 GW of electricity from renewable sources by 2022, and as much as 100 GW from solar energy. French President, Emmanuel Macron delivered the opening address at the event.

OneIndia News with PTI inputsRape case: Mumbai is still safest city for women says Sena

Maha: All India Kisan Sabha reaches Thane, over 30,000 farmers demand loan waiver

India

oi-Madhuri

Over 30,000 farmers, who are protesting against the Maharashtra government for not accepting their demands including a complete loan waiver, reached ane's Octroi on Sunday. The 180-km-long march is being organised by All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS).

The march has been organised to protest the failures of the state BJP government on the farm front, including issues like farm loan waivers, remunerative prices for produce, non-implementation of the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission as well as the Forest Rights Act

The farmers march from Nashik to Mumbai began on March 6. As per reports, farmers will gherao the Maharashtra Vidhan Sabha after reaching Mumbai on March 12 for resolution of their issues.

They have been demanding a complete waiver of loans and electricity bills and the implementation of recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

Earlier, the Maharashtra government had announced a conditional farm loan waiver of Rs 34,000 crore following unprecedented protests by farmers in various parts of the state.

Meanwhile, Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena has extended support to the farmers' 'long march' currently underway against the BJP government.

OneIndia NewsTN CM will take a call on reopening the schools for classes 1 to 8th after consulting with medical experts

Forest fire in Tamil Nadu's Theni district: 5 trekkers killed, 27 rescued

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Tragedy struck Tamil Nadu as five trekkers were reportedly killed in the massive forest fire that broke out in the Theni district's Kurangani hills on Sunday. However, at least 27 people were rescued and injured were admitted to a nearby hospital, stated a report by The New Indian Express. Out of the 27 rescued trekkers, five are said to have sustained severe burn injuries. At least 36 people, mostly students, went trekking in the Bodi forest area in the district, state reports.

On Sunday, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tweeted that the Indian Air Force (IAF) has been rushed to carryout rescue operations and 10-15 students have been rescued.

"Responding to request from Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami on forest -fire related issue- 20 students are caught in Kurangani, Theni. Instructed Indian Air Force to help in rescue & evacuation. Southern Command is in touch with Collector of Theni..Just now I have spoken to District Collector. He communicated that 10-15 students have been rescued. They are coming down from the hill. Operation continues," Sitharaman said in her tweets.

Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam has also rushed to the spot. Several students trekking in Kurankani hills in Theni were caught in the forest fire. Fire tenders have also reached the spot to rescue the students, an HT report said.

OneIndia NewsNagaland to impose partial lockdown from April 30 to May 14: Here's what will stay shut and open

No Duster' for us, only Innova': NPF MLA's

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

Newly-elected MLAs from Naga People's Front (NPF) have written to the commissioner and secretary of the Nagaland assembly to allot them Toyota Innova-Crysta instead of Renault Duster, said reports.

Interestingly, no official notification has yet been issue that the new MLAs would be given Renault Duster. A Hindustan Report says that 11 of the 27 new legislators from the NPF, which is in the opposition, have written the letter.

"It is learnt that the assembly secretariat is planning to allot Duster vehicle to the MLAs. We the undersigned NPF legislators have decided not to accept the said allotment because of the maintenance issue. Instead, the arrangement may kindly be made for allotment of Toyota Innova Crysta (top model) to all of us," an HT report quoted the letter as saying.

Despite emerging as the biggest party in Nagaland in Assembly elections with 27 seats, NPF will be in the opposition as the BJP and NDPP alliance with the support of JD-(U) and Independents have staked a claim to form the government. The BJP was earlier in alliance with the NPF. Before the elections, the BJP forged an alliance with the Neiphiu Rio-led NDPP to fight polls.

The HT report quoted NPF legislator from Tehok, CL John, as saying that "Duster is not viable to operate on Nagaland's hilly terrain".

"We came to know about the plan to allot vehicles on Saturday. Since Duster is not viable to operate on Nagaland's hilly terrain, we want Innova Crysta," John reportedly said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 17:19 [IST]Step by step instructions on how to lock and unlock your Aadhaar biometrics online

No denial of Covid vaccine, treatment, essential services for want of Aadhaar: UIDAI

Now, EC wants Aadhaar to be mandatory linked with voter ID card

India

oi-Madhuri

Shifting from its earlier stand, Election Commission of India has reportedly filed a revised petition in the Supreme Court to make the Aadhaar linking mandatory with all Voter ID cards.

The poll panel, which has previously supported the move, claimed that the mandatory seeding can prevent voter fraud and ensure each person has only one vote, reported the Sunday Indian Express.

Earlier, the EC said that linking the 12-digit unique identity to all voter cards is voluntary. However, the poll panel changed its stance after former Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AK Joti took charge in 2016.

On Saturday, Chief Election Commissioner O P Rawat said as many as 32 crore Aadhaar numbers have been linked to voter ID cards.

"So far, as many as 32 crore Aadhaar numbers have been linked to voters' ID cards. Another 54.5 crore will be done as soon as we get a nod from the Supreme Court," he told reporters on the sidelines of the 14th National Conference of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), an NGO, here.

OneIndia NewsBJP will get bigger mandate in 2022 UP Election: A K Sharma

Mantra of Politics: Change is the only Constant

Rajya Sabha elections: GVL Narasimha Rao and 3 others likely to be BJP candidates

India

oi-Vikas

By Vikas

BJP has fielded Anil Jain, Saroj Pandey, GVL Narasimha Rao and Anil Baluni as candidates for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held on March 23, reported news agency ANI while quoting sources.

BJP fields Anil Jain, Saroj Pandey, GVL Narasimha Rao and Anil Baluni as candidates for Rajya Sabha: Sources pic.twitter.com/9QEO7lLLC1  ANI (@ANI) March 11, 2018

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday announced names of eight candidates, including seven ministers in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government, for the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled later this month.

Among the ministers who figure in the list for the Upper House polls are finance minister Arun Jaitley, who will contest from Uttar Pradesh this time around instead of Gujarat; and oil and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who has been fielded from Madhya Pradesh instead of Bihar.

The polling and counting of votes for 59 Rajya Sabha seats will take place on 23 March and the election is significant because nearly a fourth of the Upper House is going to polls and it could impact the arithmetic of the house.

At present, the BJP has 58 members in the Rajya Sabha, while the NDA as a whole has 82.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, March 11, 2018, 16:09 [IST]Nawaz Sharif's passport will be cancelled on Feb 16, says Pak minister

Imran Khan, military generals to be responsible if anything happens to Maryam: Nawaz Sharif

Pakistan: Shoe hurled at former PM Nawaz Sharif at madrasa in Lahore

International

oi-Madhuri

A Shoe was hurled at former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by a student at an Islamic seminary in Lahore in Lahore on Sunday, acording to Pakistan Media.

The shoe hit the leader of Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) on his shoulder, reported The Express Tribune.

The incident happened when Sharif visited Jamia Naeemia seminary in Garhi Shahu for an event. As soon as he reached the dais to address the gathering, a former seminary student threw a shoe which hit the Sharif on his chest. The attacker later climbed the stage and shouted a slogan while standing in front of Nawaz.

Following the incident, in which Nawaz remained unhurt, the attacker was detained and later handed over to the police.

The former prime minister addressed the crowd later on.

ccording to the police, the attacker, identified as Talha Munawwar, is a former student of the seminary. He has been shifted to Services Hospital owing to injuries from being beaten up by the staff and students after the incident.

OneIndia NewsCollapse of Kabul will go down as one of the greatest defeats in American history: Donald Trump

Donald Trump sees 'tremendous success' in upcoming N Korea talks

International

pti-PTI

Washington, Mar 11: President Donald Trump predicted "tremendous success" today in upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, adding that the reclusive state had promised not to shoot missiles in the interim.

The comments came after the American leader said he has received encouragement from the leaders of China and Japan as he moves toward the high stakes summit, announced suddenly this week. "I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success... We have a lot of support," Trump told reporters before boarding his Marine One helicopter to travel to a rally in Pennsylvania. "The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great."

Earlier, Trump said China's President Xi Jinping was appreciative of his decision to opt for diplomacy rather than "the ominous alternative," while Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was "very enthusiastic" about talks with North Korea.

Trump reached out to the Asian leaders in phone calls Friday after his stunning decision to accept an invitation to meet Kim before the end of May. The turnabout -- a huge surprise after months of intensifying brinksmanship over the North's nuclear and missile programs -- caught even Trump's top aides off guard.

Just hours before Trump made his announcement Thursday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson had said direct talks with North Korea were "a long way" off. Tillerson, who was travelling in Africa, cancelled his scheduled program in Kenya because he felt unwell after a "long couple days" working on North Korea and other issues, his Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy Steve Goldstein said in a statement. Goldstein later said Tillerson was feeling better and would resume his travel schedule on Sunday.

PTI

From Dunkirk (2017) British troops were betrayed by craven politicians

(Image by The Indian Express) Details DMCA



To better understand the threat that Zionism poses to the world, and especially Iran, allow me to turn to a historical analogy. The scenario is eerily reminiscent of the late-1930s, as the earlier aggressive, racist state, Nazi Germany, was allowed to pursue its selfish, warlike agenda against its peaceful neighbors, despite its agenda of world war. The actors in that drama were Nazi Germany versus the Soviet Union, the latter being the only credible peaceful resistance to fascism. Britain, France, and the US refused to stand up to the threat to peace, mistaking the Soviet Union for the enemy, despite it being the only credible resistance to the Nazis.

In today's drama, the bad guys are US-Israel-Saudi against the only credible peaceful actor: Iran. In the 1930s the perceived threat was the "specter of communism" haunting Europe. Today the perceived threat is the "specter of Islam," now reduced to Iran, as the only anti-imperialist Muslim state. Terrorism then was seen to be communism, though the Soviet Union was peaceful.

The "enemy," the real terrorist, was imperialism, which meant Germany had passive allies in the "peaceful" West.

Socialists and communists were persecuted as enemies there, or in the case of the French socialist government in the 1930s, were spineless, giving in to the British imperialists, hoping that the Nazis would turn against the Soviet Union. History was soon to jolt them awake, as they became the victims of the real terrorist threat, the most aggressive of the imperialist club, the Nazis.

This drama is vividly shown in the popular movie Dunkirk (2017), where hapless British soldiers were marooned in a belated attempt to confront Germany, most miraculously escaping in 800 boats, mostly small private boats, many of which were bombed, resulting in 3,500 deaths -- a terrible price to pay for mistaking the real enemy of peace (see image above).

Terrorism now is seen to be Islam, despite the obvious peaceful nature of Islam. Mistaking the real source of terrorism is reenacting the buildup to WWII, with the craven support of the soft imperialists of today and the supposed Muslim (in the first place Saudi) rulers, who should be anti-imperialists but are co-opted (like the soft imperialists and social democrats in the 1930s) by the forces of imperialism (that is, the US and Israel).

Just as the Nazis were defeated only after the world united against this lethal form of imperialism, the current lethal form of imperialism -- US-Israel -- can only be defeated when the world unites.

History wakes us up to our reality. Communism is frowned on in Iran for its dismissal of religion, but the communists beat Hitler in WWII (the West pretends it did -- not true). The Soviet Union was the true advocate of peace at that time.

Communism's weakness was to dismiss religion, even though Russian communism became a kind of secular-humanist religion, with "icons" of Stalin and other leaders, rituals, and holidays. The economic system of socialism is in fact very close to that advocated in the Qur'an, as I argue in From Postmodernism to Postsecularism: Re-emerging Islamic Civilization. It is time to heal the lack of understanding between the two ways of thinking.

Iran is playing the same role today that the Soviet Union played earlier, and the West is Iranophobic for the same reason it was hostile to the Soviet Union: because Iran stands for peace and opposes imperialism. Being honest and peace-loving will eventually win against Zionism, though the road is a difficult one. Iran's foundation in Islam is much stronger than secular communism, and justice will prevail, thanks to Iran's principled stand.

Sadly, the leftists of today are not always able to see the vital role that Iran plays as an Islamic state. Leftists call for the "victory of the united people of Iran against the ruling dictatorial regime." How about calling for a "united front against invasion"? The worst thing (except for the US and Israel) would be to undermine the Islamic Republic. The secular leftists argue Iran should be a secular multiparty state like the Western "postmodern nations," despite the bankruptcy of this model of "democracy." It is sad to see the left criticizing Iran based on distorted mainstream news. This makes it doubly important for Sunni Muslims especially, to recognize Iran's vital role in the world of Islam and the struggle against imperialism. Crescent InternationalWould you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too.

From Strategic Culture

The mysterious apparent murder bid on an ex-Russian spy in Britain has taken on a wider European dimension.

Predictably, the incident was used to whip up anti-Russian claims in the British media. But, in addition, the European Union soon came under pressure to show "solidarity" with Britain in the supposed Russian assault on its sovereignty.

Former British officials were reported bemoaning the lack of solidarity from EU states over the alleged Russian violation on British soil. The EU then responded with an obligatory statement of "solidarity" with Britain, with the tacit acceptance of Russian malfeasance at play.

The allegations of Russian state involvement in the apparent lethal poisoning of exiled Kremlin agent Sergei Skripal in England last Sunday have been leveled with deplorable disregard for due legal process.

Within hours of the incident -- which saw 66-year-old Skripal and his adult daughter rushed to intensive hospital care -- British media were speculating that Russian agents had carried out a revenge assassination attempt.

Skripal was exiled from Russia in 2010 after being convicted for treason as a double agent for Britain's foreign intelligence service MI6. He was living in the southern English town of Salisbury, where he was found paralyzed in a public park along with his 33-year-old daughter.

British counter-terrorism officers have disclosed that the pair were victims of a toxic nerve agent attack, without identifying the chemical used. They have claimed that the attacker or attackers must have been state-sponsored to carry out such a lethal operation. British police have not yet specified any particular agency for the attack, but as noted the British media quickly jumped to reckless speculation of Russian involvement. The speculation has been fueled by government ministers like Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson using innuendo.

Russia's Foreign Ministry dismissed the allegations of Moscow's involvement as "more irresponsible Russophobia."

The notion that Russia would carry out a risky operation on the eve of its presidential elections this month in order to avenge a disgraced former spy who had been living openly in England for the past eight years defies credibility. It's frankly absurd given the already heightened anti-Russia hysteria in the Western media that the Kremlin would even contemplate such a scheme.

Nevertheless, the evidence does point to an assassination attempt on Skripal using a military-grade chemical weapon. Senior British toxicologist Dr Alistair Hay told Radio Free Europe this week that the chemical substance used in the attack was most likely one of the organophosphate poisons, such as soman or tabun, which are related to sarin and VX. These are nerve agents that can kill from exposure of human skin to a single droplet.

Hay, who is an advisor to the British government on chemical warfare agents, cautioned against rushing to accusations against Russia. "In my view, it's much, much too early to point a finger at anybody at this stage," said the expert.

All that the internationally respected toxicologist would venture to say is that the nature of the attack had "military capability" because of the extreme lethality of the substances involved.

If we assume that Russia was not involved -- which is a fair assumption given the above reasoning -- then the question is: what state agency could have carried it out? For what objective?

In particular, focus is drawn here to agencies which are seeking to sabotage Europe-wide relations with Russia. As noted above, one of the ramifications from the anti-Russian allegations over the poisoning incident was [to] prompt pressure on the EU to show a tough response towards Moscow.

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1. What kind of world are we living in?

It is a fundamental outrage that we live in a world where the survival of humanity rests in the hands of someone like Donald Trump; that the people of the Korean peninsula, and humanity, are held hostage to his acts and speech.

Let's not forget that he has threatened to rain "fire and fury" on North Korea "like the world has never seen before," then doubling down at the UN with threats to "totally destroy" North Korea. We are being told this is what forced North Korea and Kim Jong-un to the table. We are being told this is Trump-style diplomacy, the "madman" theory, what Trump himself joked about recently.

Ask yourself: what kind of world is this?

Let's be clear: the U.S. has been--for 70 years--and remains the real aggressor here, starting with the Korean War of 1950-53, and ever afterward. And it must not be forgotten that during the Korean War, the U.S. carpet-bombed and eventually burned down every town in North Korea, and that an estimated three million civilians, the great majority in the North, were killed in this war.

Even mainstream commentators have identified the existential and long-standing U.S. threats against the North Korean regime as one of the main reasons that they have pursued this nuclear deterrent in the first place, as a protective measure. (See here for more background on the U.S.-North Korea conflict.)

The U.S. will be pursuing its imperialist interests through negotiation, as it would through war, and these interests are fundamentally and through and through unjust and have nothing in common with those of the masses, worldwide and within the U.S.

These interests have to do with larger geopolitical considerations, great power rivalry, and fundamentally, the U.S. quest for continued dominance in a changing world. These are the interests that have resulted in and provoked the U.S.'s current aggressive stance, and remain its abiding and driving interests, not the situation and real interests of the people of the Korean peninsula or humanity.

The proposed talks are fraught with grave dangers. Plans to negotiate take place in the context of an increasingly bellicose stance, direction, and policy posture overall by the U.S., one which is deeply linked to the fascist character of the regime. And this context includes the ramping up of military spending by this fascist regime--and its announced intention to expand, modernize, and make more useable the U.S's planet-destroying arsenal of 4,000 nuclear weapons

Think about this before celebrating the negotiations: writing in the New York Times March 9, Victor Cha--a candidate for the post of ambassador to South Korea whose nomination was withdrawn because of differences and reservations with this regime over its consideration of a preemptive strike against North Korea, the "bloody nose" option--states:

Finally, everyone should be aware that this dramatic act of diplomacy by these two unusual leaders, who love flair and drama, may also take us closer to war. Failed negotiations at the summit level leave all parties with no other recourse for diplomacy. In which case, as Mr. Trump has said, we really will have "run out of road" on North Korea.

In fact, the dangers of war further heighten Trump's need to walk the "last mile of peace." This is a fast-moving situation. The talks may not even happen. Former UN ambassador John Bolton, whom Trump is reaching to as an advisor, has advocated using the talks to issue an ultimatum to North Korea: accept U.S. terms or else.

All of this makes the proposed negotiations fraught and dangerous, not the "magic and easy solution" to the dangers of what would, by all accounts, be a catastrophic war.

The interests of the people here--and around the world--not only lie in NO WAR and NO THREATS OF WAR, but in ousting Trump/Pence regime altogether. Whatever happens with these negotiations, and whatever legitimacy Trump may get and seek to claim from this stance and act, it does not change the fundamental nature of this regime as fascist, with all the horrors it portends for humanity.Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Ever growing inequality and intense and growing political distortions have radically aggravated the top-down imbalance of power, undermining democracy. Rob Kall's book, Bottom-Up is a guide to taking back humanity's shared legacy of shared responsibility. A stimulating read and an important contribution!"



Gar Alperovitz, author of What Then Must We Do? Straight Talk About the Next American Revolution.Quicklink Not Found

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To see if the quicklink was renamed or re-published, please click here.Progressive Content Not Found

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Abby Martin and Ahed Tamimi, still shot from video shown below

(Image by Empire Files/Abby Martin, via YouTube) Details DMCA



When Martin noted, "American and Israeli media call anyone who initiates any sort of self-defense, 'terrorist,' your response?" Bassem Tamimi noted, "The definition of terrorism is a loose and rubbery definition. For example, real terrorism like Isis and Israel's ethnic cleansing cannot be compared to the stone held by a Palestinian child in an attempt to restore his legitimate rights. The resistance to the occupier by all means is legitimate according to all international laws."

Martin notes that Israel has increased the penalty for "stone throwing," often by children at their illegal occupiers, to 20 years in prison. Seven hundred children, some as young as 12, are arrested and put through the Israeli prison system each year.

(AUTHOR'S NOTE: This video was suggested in a comment by an OEN member--and after reviewing it I posted it here --a great example of how nicely a bottom-up community can work!)Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too.



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This Bill Maher rant is one of his best ones where he explicitly shows that Americans' thought process is fungible and changeable. Evangelical and Republican leaders have worked that reality to make things that would have been evil, vogue. Progressives must instead use that process for good.

Video here.



Bill Maher deconstructed religion, Evangelicals & GOP's hypocrisy to show why Democrats should have no fear of growing a spine and tackling difficult issues head-on.

"Thanks to Trump, piety itself has ceased to be a third-rail in American politics," Bill Maher said. "How could it be anymore when the world's least godly man has been so fully embraced by our most religious people, the Evangelicals. Oh, they love them some Donald Trump, a man who has been to church four times in his whole life, 3 of them to get married. So when Trump got his mulligan from the values voters, that's when we knew religion had jumped the shark and it was finally safe to say, 'None for me, thanks. I had bullsh*t for lunch.'"

Maher went on to give recent examples where 'religious' stories where either diminished or ridiculed. Reporting on Billy Graham's death was underwhelming. Omarosa Manigault openly ridiculed Mike Pence, our Vice-President for believing Jesus talks specifically to him. The blogosphere and others made fun of Oprah for waiting for God to decide if she will run for President.

Bill used the example of Republicans in the past. They used to be the anti-Russia, law and order party. With Trump, they've made a U-turn, and many Americans have turned with them.

Maher was making an important point. One can modify the American psyche. Most importantly it can change if leaders lay the groundwork for that change. Leaders are folks with a spine who do not mind taking bumps to attain a higher goal.

If one asks Americans what they want, it is clear that except for a minimal number of social issues, they are progressive. Elizabeth Warren visited a recent Netroots Nation where she gave a hell of a speech that proved just that. Democrats are always timid to go all out and do the groundwork necessary to build support for real progressive policies like single-payer Medicare for all, student loan forgiveness, guaranteed basic income, and more.

Bill Maher's last three sentences in the video are prescient.

"A hard slog never phases Conservatives.," Maher said. "Ronald Reagan used to be a joke. Now he is an airport."

Our satirists and comedians continue to lead the way as they are making a whole more sense than a large number of the talking heads on TV. This week's Real Time had a lot of food for thought.

(Article changed on March 11, 2018 at 17:24)Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too.



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Brooklyn -- Medgar Evers College hosted an event on March 3 to unveil the Working Families Party ticket that will be going up against IDC Democrats in the 2018 primary.

Numerous groups were involved, including Indivisible NationBK (INBK), True Blue NY Coalition, NYPAN, Empire State Indivisible, and NOIDC NY.

The energy was palpable, even before entering the auditorium. Outside the building, activists were handing out fliers. One addressed S.J.Res.54, which would invoke the War Powers Resolution to end unauthorized American participation in the Saudi War in Yemen. Another handed out a 4-page pamphlet outlining how the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) was composed of "bullies" who were "buying politicians and running roughshod over New Yorkers."

I arrived early, with the hopes of interviewing people before the action began. Thirty minutes in advance of start time, the room was already rapidly filling up. (Full disclosure: I am a member of a NY Indivisible group.)

There was palpable electricity in the air. Yes, the headliner was Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand -- who was on hand to accept the WFP endorsement. However, the excitement was emanating from a cross-section of folks who believe there is a real chance of turning the tide and getting a handle on the dysfunctionality in Albany. Top concerns I heard people talking about were immigration rights, health care, education, and affordable housing. These were issues that got traction in the State Assembly but were stymied in the State Senate, where breakaway Democrats of the IDC caucus were voting with the Republicans.

I noticed Rachel May, who is going up against incumbent David Valesky (one of the original members of the IDC) in the 53rd Senate District. I had read about her background as an educator at Syracuse University. We spoke briefly. She came across as low-key but resolute.

"It's exciting to be part of a statewide grassroots effort," May told me. "I'm grateful to these groups for raising awareness of the IDC. People expect Democrats to be Democrats," she said. "Phone banking has identified that a lot of people didn't even know about the IDC. They have tried to fly under the radar."

I took a seat up front next to a woman who self-identified as a member of Rise and Resist. "I was only tangentially political before Trump," she admitted. "Trump was a trigger for me. Twelve months ago, most people didn't know what was going on with the IDC. These guys are really doing damage up there." Then she added, "It's betrayal and hypocrisy."

The program started with shout-outs to various supporters before digging into the problems at hand. The top takeaway was that our nation and state are in a crisis and that American democracy has been hijacked.

Two young Dreamers addressed the crowd. They told their personal stories and the fears they live with daily. "We need elected officials to fight with us. Progressives must lead the way," they pressed. This led to a group chant of "Dream Act Now."

Next up was Gillibrand. The senator recently made headlines with her statement that she would refuse all donations from corporate PACS.

In accepting her endorsement Gillibrand declared:



"I believe there is a right versus wrong, and wrong is winning. Now is not the time to remain silent. We must vote our children's future. Democracy only works if people get involved. The grassroots will win these elections."





Gillibrand spoke about the need for campaign reform, single-payer health care, the racism of unfair drug laws, and the fight for unions and workers. A woman in the first row said loudly, "That's right!"

"I'm running for re-election because we have a lot to do," Gillibrand continued. "Nothing is going to change unless we fight for it. Together we will take back our future."

The real red meat came when Jonathan Westin, co-chairman of the WFP, got on stage to discuss fighting Trump "on a local level." After invoking the mantra, "No Trump Democrats," he told the audience, "Text NO IDC to 797979 for updates!"

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From Reader Supported News

Last week I posted an article on Facebook that I initially meant to be something of a joke. It was entitled "Kentucky Republicans Kill Bill to Limit Child Marriage Because Parents Should Have Right to Marry Off Kids." Ridiculous, right? Gross, too. I posted it because I wanted to take a jab at Southern states and that stereotypical good-old-boy, marry-your-cousin culture. (Please don't send me any hate mail. It was a joke and, in retrospect, a bad one.)

This Kentucky bill didn't even ban child marriages. It just would have required a judge to review records to make sure that the child was not a victim of abuse, that there was no domestic violence in the relationship, and that the adult in the couple was not a registered sex offender. (This is despite federal law, which says that any child under the age of 16 is incapable of entering into a sexual relationship with an adult. By virtue of that, the adult would be a sex offender by definition. But that's another story.) At the bare minimum, the bill was a good start.

In the days after I posted the article, a handful of people commented -- "gross" and "disgusting" is what they said. But then, coincidentally, I had coffee with a human rights attorney. She's not the kind of attorney who has an occasional case involving human rights and then chases ambulances the rest of the time. She's the kind of attorney who only does human rights -- as in, she sues governments in the United States and abroad to force them to protect the rights of those who are the most vulnerable in society, especially children.

I mentioned the article to her and she responded, "You know, there's a real history there with laws mostly in Southern states that allowed adults to marry children as young as 12. Most of those laws are still on the books." Recognizing her seriousness, I asked how in the name of all that's holy such laws could be constitutional and still in use in 21st century America. Her answer chilled me, and it made me realize, yet again, that American exceptionalism is a bad joke. Our country is so backward on some issues that we should hang our heads in shame.

The attorney explained that these laws are still on the books for a variety of reasons. The most common is states' rights. Most Southern states don't want Washington telling them how to live their lives. If they believe their children should be married at 16, or even 13, that's their business. It's not the business of bureaucrats and fat cats in Washington who don't know Southern culture and who are probably hostile to the South anyway.

Second, she said that, in many cases, when there were instances of child molestation in Southern families over the past two centuries, the go-to solution was to marry the child off to the molester. As insane as this sounds, the idea was to spare the family the shame of police involvement, a trial, and gossiping neighbors. Apparently, however, no thought whatsoever was given to the wellbeing of the child. The attorney said this was quite common, especially in the early and middle parts of the 20th century, and it still happens today.

Third, the attorney told me that there have been several cases of parents marrying their young daughters to drug dealers to whom they owe money for crack or meth or opioids or whatever their weakness happens to be. This isn't a real "marriage." It's human trafficking, plain and simple. The drug dealers will then pimp the child out as a side business. It's sick and it's a crime, even if the Kentucky legislature doesn't think it should be.

ECPTAT-USA, a non-profit that works to stop the sexual exploitation of children, issued a report noting that as many as 100,000 children are trafficked for sex in the United States every year. It's not just in the South, irrespective of my spur of the moment decision to pick on it. It's all across the country, with Miami and Cincinnati being two of the worst places for child trafficking. The number boggles the mind. And it's not something that we see much coverage of in the press.

All of us must educate ourselves on the issue of human and child sex trafficking. It's a horrible perversion that has been swept under the rug for too long. It has to be stopped, and the offenders have to be punished severely. In my view, many of our elected officials are culpable in this as well. I want to tell the Kentucky legislature "To hell with your culture. Start protecting your children." If state legislatures won't do it, then Congress has to do it for them. There has to be a legislative solution. In the meantime, it's up to the rest of us to keep up the pressure.

Reader Supported News is the Publication of Origin for this work. Permission to republish is freely granted with credit and a link back to Reader Supported News.Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too.

From Common Dreams

Saying Democrats are helping to roll back rules on big banks doesn't make me the most popular kid on the team. But Massachusetts didn't send me here to fight for big banks. The people of Massachusetts sent me here to fight for them.

I ran for the United States Senate because I wanted to protect working families from another financial crisis.

I spent most of my adult life studying how America's middle class was getting squeezed by rising costs and stagnant wages. The 2008 financial crisis was a punch to the gut for a lot of those families -- and a lot of them are still struggling to recover years later. I never dreamed of running for office. But when I realized that running for the Senate from Massachusetts was my best chance to try to help middle-class families and prevent another crisis from ever happening again, I ran.

Since I've come to the Senate, I've worked to reduce the risk of another crisis by pushing for stricter oversight and more accountability for the biggest banks. I've introduced bipartisan legislation to break up the biggest banks. I've pressed federal regulators to impose accountability on companies like Wells Fargo that break the law and cheat their customers -- and they've done it. I've led a bipartisan effort to stop the Federal Reserve from re-creating the kind of backdoor bailout of big banks that happened in 2008.

I've also worked with my colleagues to try to tailor the rules for community banks and credit unions, institutions that didn't cause the 2008 crash. In 2015, I introduced a bill with each of my Democratic colleagues on the Banking Committee that loosened the rules on banks and credit unions with under $10 billion in assets -- true community institutions -- while also creating new consumer protections for servicemembers. I fought alongside my colleagues to pass that bill, and I'd do it again. But that proposal didn't have enough goodies for Wall Street -- so it went nowhere.

This week, the Senate began advancing a bill that reduces oversight of some of the biggest banks in the country. The independent Congressional Budget Office says the bill will increase the risk of future bailouts. It's a dangerous proposal. Senate Republicans voted unanimously for it -- but the bill wouldn't be on track to becoming the law without the support of more than a dozen Senate Democrats.

That's just the truth. But since I called out some of my Democratic colleagues for their support, I've been taking heat from fellow Democrats. I get it -- no one likes to be criticized, let alone by someone on their team. And let's be totally clear: I agree with my Democratic colleagues a heck of a lot more than I agree with my Republican ones.

But there's a long history in Washington of members of both parties teaming up to deregulate banks -- followed soon after by a financial crisis. It happened in the early 1980s when there was bipartisan support for deregulating savings and loans associations -- and the S&L crisis hit a few years later. It happened in 1999 and 2000 with the repeal of Glass-Steagall and the passage of a bill to reduce oversight of derivatives -- and a devastating financial crisis built on giant megabanks and risky derivatives hit within a decade. And now, with help from some Democrats, it's on track to happen again.

Saying that doesn't make me the most popular kid on the team. But that's not why I ran for the Senate. The people of Massachusetts didn't send me here to fight for big banks. They sent me here to fight for them. And so long as I am privileged to hold this job, that's exactly what I'm going to do.Article Not Found

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Figure. Bloggers Lori Shem-Tov and Moti Leybel, Israeli anti-judicial corruption activists, were jailed in late February 2017. Leybel was released to house arrest a couple of months ago, but Shem-Tov has remained in jail prior to trial to date.

___



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Figure. The February 25, 2018 Tel-Aviv District Court Judgment in Lori Shem-Tov's appeal was published under the names of Judges Raanan Ben-Yosef, Shy Yaniv, and Zvi Gurfinkel. The Judgment redefines Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, and the Right to Protest. Worse yet, the judgment record appears as a fake, sham court record, another case of Fraud upon the Court.

___

Tel-Aviv, March 10 - blogger Lori Shem-Tov is a central activist in the protest against corruption of the family courts and welfare system in Israel. Specifically - regarding taking children from poor families for adoption or surrogacy, a large-scale phenomenon in Israel. Lori has been jailed now for over a year in prior to trial - an unprecedented, if not unlawful act, perceived as retaliation by the judiciary. [1] The case is generally blacked out by media in Israel.

During her detention, Lori's appeal in a separate criminal case has been denied. In this case, Lori was convicted of violating the Protection of Privacy Act. The underlying issue was Lori's publication in 2014, that CEO of the Welfare Ministry, Yossi Silman, systematically failed to pay, or got away with not paying parking tickets in various cities. [2]

In her appeal, as in the trial court, Lori claimed that the publication was protected speech, part of her journalistic work.

Appeal judges Raanan Ben-Yosef, Shy Yaniv, and Zvi Gurfinkel, rejected such claims, and ruled:

'A matter of public interest', which justifies the violation of a person's privacy through publication, is a matter, knowledge of which provides the public some benefit, either by crystallizing opinions on public matters, or by bettering life... This is a relatively flexible formula. Its meaning should be determined, based on the objective perspective of the court... Such interpretation carries with it, in our opinion, a harsher approach to media...

The development by the judiciary of a vague "flexible formula", for their own discretion, to distinguish after the fact between protected speech on the one hand, and criminal conduct on the other hand, is nothing less than judicial chutzpah. As the judges themselves note, such "flexible formula" would have a chilling effect on media. Moreover, establishing a flexible, vague and ambiguous standard for determining criminality should be deemed a serious violation of Human Rights.

This judgment should also be considered part of a series of Israeli court rulings of recent years, which suppress Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press and the Right to Protest, and retaliate against whistle-blowers and protest activists - all in the context of the widening public protest against government corruption in Israel. [3]

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What's called nuclear weapons policy is scary and complex, but bear with me: the situation can be much safer than it is now and has been for decades. A single change could reduce the danger of war, increase security, and restore deliberation.

Under the old Eisenhower policy of "massive retaliation" and its successors, the U.S. has been planning to "launch on warning," whether the data come from radar stations, satellites, or other sources. Since intercontinental missiles based in Russia take around a half hour to "deliver" hydrogen bombs, and detection time of a missile launch is sometimes even shorter, and there must be time for analysis before a decision and for firing procedures afterwards, the President, possibly woken from sleep, would have no more than a few minutes to consider the evidence and possibly order an attack.

But why launch on warning? What if the warning if false, as has happened repeatedly and so far been discovered at the last moment?

We have been ensorcelled by a false analogy. It's natural to keep thinking in familiar terms even as technology changes radically. For example, we have "desktops" on the computer screen. In a similar way, we speak of fusion devices as "weapons." Hydrogen bombs can be orders of magnitude more powerful than the explosions at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, just as the devices of 1945 were orders of magnitude more powerful than each of the bombs dropped on London or Hamburg. Nuclear devices are not "weapons" but, in a phrase borrowed from the movie "Dr. Strangelove," "doomsday machines." "Exchanging" them would constitute not war but mass slaughter on an unprecedented scale. As Einstein said, everything has changed except our modes of thinking.

The perceived need to launch U.S. missiles before some of them are wrecked by incoming enemy fusion devices has meant that the decision to fire is restricted to one person, the "commander in chief." In the U.S. governing system of checks and balances, no single person should have this authority, no matter how wise, well-informed, and emotionally mature.

Is it possible to design a system of "minimal sufficient deterrence" based on devices known to be survivable after an enemy attack had been completed? If so, we might think less in terms of weapons that might be destroyed by an attack, more in terms of weapons that are elusive and thus survivable.

Under a doctrine of "minimal sufficient deterrence," everyone in the executive branch would know that any order to use nuclear weapons would be illegal and thus not to be followed unless specifically and newly authorized by Congress (including official alternatives outside the capitol).

One kind of elusive weapon is a nuclear submarine, such as we already have. Another is bombers that are at fail-safe points. A third is mobile missiles on land, the location of which is not known to the enemy. There are challenges with any of these systems, but the challenges are smaller than the risk of rash nuclear attacks.

It is a natural human impulse, not restricted to some in the military, to want to use "weapons" before some of them are destroyed. Tremendous ingenuity has gone into warning systems to make this possible. Nonetheless, there have been false warnings. It does not matter whether a false warning is caused by sunlight glinting off clouds in the Midwest, a flock of geese, a weather balloon launched by Norway, the paranoia of an enemy leader, or a training tape accidentally mistaken for an actual attack.

If nuclear devices are survivable, perhaps by elusiveness, then a much smaller number would be necessary to assure retaliation and thus to deter an attack. Could such a sharp reduction be negotiated? That would have several advantages: (a) the system would be cheaper, (b) false warnings wouldn't be acted upon, rendering the system much more stable, (c) if nuclear devices were ever "exchanged," the severity of "nuclear winter" would be minimized, (d) the need for a quick decision would be eliminated and Congress could reassert its right, under the Constitution, to declare war instead of only to review, after 60 days, what the executive had done under the defective and outmoded War Powers Act of 1973.

Why not ask people of good will, without an economic or ideological interest in the present system, to meet the challenge of designing a system of minimal sufficient deterrence?

One problem is known in the literature as "decapitation," or the killing of officials with the authority to order retaliation. The Soviets have tried to deal with this by a retaliatory system with the colloquial name "the dead hand." In the U.S., going back many decades, the President has delegated the power to order a nuclear attack, a practice discovered when the Kennedy administration was young.

Another challenge is that leaders have "used" nuclear devices not by "delivering" them, but by threatening to do so. Under a policy of "minimal sufficient deterrence," and a further extensive diminution of the stockpiles in both the U.S. and Russia, these threats would become even less credible than they have been.

.A third challenge is how to create a rigorous system of inspection without reducing the elusiveness of the nuclear devices that would be kept.

A policy of "mninimal sufficient deterrence" would be a compromise between the present system of massive overkill and total nuclear disarmament, as advocated by Jonathan Schell in 1983 and by others, and discussed between Gorbachev and Regan in their Reykjavik summit in 1986.

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By David Corn and Michael Isikoff

This is the first of two excerpts adapted from Russian Roulette: The Inside Story of Putin's War on America and the Election of Donald Trump (Twelve Books), by Michael Isikoff, chief investigative correspondent for Yahoo News , and David Corn, Washington bureau chief of Mother Jones . The book will be released on March 13.

This was his second day in the Russian capital, and the brash businessman and reality TV star was running through a whirlwind schedule to promote that evening's extravaganza at Moscow's Crocus City Hall: the Miss Universe pageant, in which women from 86 countries would be judged before a worldwide television audience estimated at 1 billion.

Trump had purchased the pageant 17 years earlier, partnering with NBC. It was one of his most prized properties, bringing in millions of dollars a year in revenue and, perhaps as important, burnishing his image as an iconic international playboy celebrity. While in the Russian capital, Trump was also scouting for new and grand business opportunities, having spent decades trying -- but failing -- to develop high-end projects in Moscow. Miss Universe staffers considered it an open secret that Trump's true agenda in Moscow was not the show but his desire to do business there.

Yet to those around him that afternoon, Trump seemed gripped by one question: Where was Vladimir Putin?

From the moment five months earlier when Trump announced Miss Universe would be staged that year in Moscow, he had seemed obsessed with the idea of meeting the Russian president. "Do you think Putin will be going to The Miss Universe Pageant in November in Moscow -- if so, will he become my new best friend?" Trump had tweeted in June.

Once in Moscow, Trump received a private message from the Kremlin, delivered by Aras Agalarov, an oligarch close to Putin and Trump's partner in hosting the Miss Universe event there: "Mr. Putin would like to meet Mr. Trump." That excited Trump. The American developer thought there was a strong chance the Russian leader would attend the pageant. But as his time in Russia wore on, Trump heard nothing else. He became uneasy.Would you like to know how many people have read this article? Or how reputable the author is? Simply sign up for a Advocate premium membership and you'll automatically see this data on every article. Plus a lot more, too.



Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at Veterans Memorial Coliseum at the Arizona State Fairgrounds in Phoenix, Arizona.

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Just when you think President Trump couldn't invigorate outrage more than the last outrage he divined from you - likely just a millisecond ago - he prevails!

During a closed-door meeting, CNN is reporting they captured audio of Trump in conversation, opining about China's President Xi Jinping consolidation of power, forming a dictatorship and granting himself permanent power. Not shockingly, Trump was intrigued and impressed, apparently bragging it should take place in America too, you know, dictatorship.

"He's now president for life. President for life. No, he's great," Trump said. "And look, he was able to do that. I think it's great. Maybe we'll have to give that a shot someday."

What-the-freaking-what (?).

Trump's affinity for authoritarian style government isn't surprising. Every time he opens his loose mouth with praise for a leader that was either thrust on the throne by birth, violence, or corruption, I cannot help but take personal offense by his lack of gravitas for democracy.

To wit: Does Trump lack the common sense that he's president of the United States of America. Not the Philippines. Not China. Not North Korea. Not Cuba. And certainly not Russia.

For whatever morbid reason, Trump is obsessed with demented and off-putting leaders, like the likes of Philippine President, Rodrigo Duterte. There's no questioning, Duterte utilizes criminal justice policy with an iron fist when dealing with the prevailing problem: drug addicts. Duterte is a firm believer in executing anyone accused of using illicit drugs. In the Philippines, there is no due process, no intervention, no rehab, just execution from accusation. One can suspect, this sounds like to heaven to Trump.

In obvious praise for Duterte's immoral and vengeance criminal policy, Trump recently remarked, "Some countries have a very, very tough penalty -- the ultimate penalty," Trump commented during a conference in the White House about the opioid crisis, per USA Today reports. "And, by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do. So we're going to have to be very strong on penalties."

Did someone forget to tell Trump that in America there's this little thing called Due Process? In fact, it's a great pillar of our democracy.

For instance, in the Manga Carter, chapter 29, on the subject of democracy, it states:

"No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land."

John Adams in Instructions of the Town of Braintree to Their Representative, 1765 commenced:

"What can be wanting, after this, but a weak or wicked man for a judge, to render us the most sordid and forlorn of slaves?--we Mean the slaves of a slave of the servants of a minister of state. We cannot help asserting, therefore, that this part of the act will make an essential change in the constitution of juries, and it is directly repugnant to the Great Charter itself; for, by that charter, 'no amerciament shall be assessed, but by the oath of honest and lawful men of the vicinage;' and, 'no freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, or liberties of free customs, nor passed upon, nor condemned, but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land."

And then there's Alexander Hamilton, "The words 'due process' have a precise technical import, and are only applicable to the process and proceedings of the courts of justice; they can never be referred to an act of the legislature."

Of course, only fools believe Trump has any understanding of Adams, Hamilton, the Manga Carter, the Constitution, or the ebbs and flows of what democracy means and endears: "Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."

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(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).Edge Computing Market Benefits from Proliferation of Internet of Things

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The global edge computing market is anticipated to rise steadily in the upcoming years on the back of challenges arising from the excessive use of traditional cloud computing architecture. One of the key factors driving the global edge computing market is the proliferation of Internet of Things (IoT). Edge computing eliminates the need for vast amount of data generated by IoT to be sent to data centers or clouds.Edge computing architecture is ideally suited for a number of situations. This includes poor connectivity of IoT devices, wherein IoT devices lack seamless connectivity to a central cloud. Further, factors such as high latency, low spectral efficiency, and non-adaptive machine type of communication are some serious challenges of cloud computing architecture that are leading to a shift to edge computing framework.A report by Transparency Market Research (TMR), forecasts the global edge computing market will be worth US$8,024.5 mn in 2017 and further become worth US$13,313.7 mn by the end of 2022 at a CAGR of 10.7% therein.Browse the Report to Know Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored @Hardware Beats Key Component Segments with Leading Year-on-Year GrowthThe report studies the global edge computing market based on a few parameters, viz. component, end-user, application, and region. Depending upon component, for instance, it can be divided into hardware, software, and services. Of them, the hardware segment accounts for the leading market share, and is likely to account for a revenue contribution of US$4,359.6 mn to the overall market in 2017. This will amount the hardware segment to constitute 54.3% of the market in 2017.Based on end-user, the edge computing market has been segregated into education, healthcare, automotive, surveillance, and others. In terms of application, the report divides the edge computing market into IoT, data monitoring, analytics, and others.Request Sample to Know Evolving Technology, Trends and Industry Analysis @North America to Continue to Remain LeaderGeographically, the key segments of the global edge computing market are North America, Latin America, Europe, Japan, Asia Pacific except Japan, and the Middle East and Africa. In 2017, North America emerged as the most lucrative regional market; the region is expected to serve a demand to attract a revenue of US$3,496.2 mn in 2017. Expanding at a CAGR of 10.3% over the forecast period, the North America edge computing market is likely to be worth US$5,696.6 mn by the end of 2022.However, the country of Japan is likely to surpass all in terms of growth rate. The region is likely to register an impressive 16.4% CAGR over 2017-2022 to reach US$1,763.5 mn by 2022.Get TOC of This Report @Europe is another key market for edge computing that is anticipated to clock 10.4% CAGR over the forecast period of 2017-2022, for the region to be worth US$3,319.4 mn by 2022 end.Amongst all, the Middle East and Africa is expected to expand at a relatively slow CAGR of 5.3% over the forecast period to be valued at US$367.3 mn by 2022 end.Leading companies in the global edge computing market profiled in the report include Microsoft Corporation, IBM Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Google Inc., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company, Intel Corp, Schneider Electric SE, Nokia Corporation, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., and Aricent Inc.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:US Jewelry Retailing 2018-21 : major regulatory bodies, laws and government policies | Country Analysis

US Jewelry Retailing

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Press Release - 09 Mar 2018Global Research and Development News --. .Report Description-' ' This industry profile helps to gain an insight into the evolution of the industry and competitive dynamics prevalent in the market. It discusses the significant developments in the industry and analyzes the key trends and issues. The profile provides inputs in strategic business planning of industry professionals. This profile is of immense help to management consultants, analysts, market research organizations and corporate advisors.. . Get Sample Report' ' The objective and scope of various sections of our industry profile has been discussed below. Industry SnapshotThis section gives a holistic overview of the industry. It starts with defining the market and goes on to give historical and current market size figures. It also clearly illustrates the major segments of the market which would be discussed later on in the report. Industry AnalysisIt involves a comprehensive analysis of the industry and its market segments. This section discusses the key developments that have taken place in the industry. It also identifies and analyzes the driving factors and challenges of the industry. A description of the regulatory structure tells us about the major regulatory bodies, laws and government policies. Country AnalysisThis section presents the key facts & figures of the country. It also discusses the political environment and the macroeconomic indicators. It analyzes government stability and economic growth of the country. Competitor AssessmentThis section compares the major competitors in the industry. The Competitors At-a-Glance is aimed at giving an overview of the competitive landscape in the industry. Company ProfilesThe major companies are profiled in this section. For each company, business description is given followed by financial highlights and recent developments. Industry OutlookThis section presents the outlook of the industry. The projections help us in evaluating the future of the industry. It gives an insight into the investment opportunities present in the sector.. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents..1. US Jewelry Retailing Market Snapshot1.1 Industry Definition1.2 SIC Classification1.3 Jewelry Retailing Market Overview1.4 Jewelry Retailing Market Segments2. US Jewelry Retailing Industry Analysis2.1 Industry Developments2.2 Regulatory Structure2.3 Market Drivers2.4 Key Issues3. Country Analysis3.1 Key Facts3.2 Political Environment3.3 Macro-economic Indicators4. US Jewelry Retailing Market Competition Assessment4.1 Competitive Scenario4.2 Competitors At-a-Glance4.3 Sales and Earnings Analysis5. Company Profiles of Leading Players6. US Jewelry Retailing Market Forecast6.1 Industry Estimates6.2 Future TrendsResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074Urban Rail Transit : CAGR 5% | Leading vendors - Alstom, Bombardier, CRRC, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

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Press Release - 10 Mar 2018Global Research and Development News --. .Report Description-' ' About Urban Rail Transit The growing urbanization in the cities and suburban areas has spurred the demand for more public transportation modes. The advances of the public transport systems aid in the overall economic development of the country and help in increased mobility through connected networks. The acceptance of the urban rail transit market has been increasing over the years. The main reason for the growth of the market is the growing congestion in the urban and suburban areas. To overcome the rising concern of traffic and congestion, urban rail transit systems have been adopted globally. This is growing faster in the developing countries, especially in APAC, due to the increasing urbanization.. . Get Sample Report' 'Technavios analysts forecast the global urban rail transit market to grow at a CAGR of 5.25% during the period 2017-2021. Covered in this report The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global urban rail transit market for 2017-2021. The report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: AmericasAPACEMEATechnavio's report, Global Urban Rail Transit Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors1. Alstom2. Bombardier3. CRRC4. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries5. SiemensOther prominent vendors1. AmstedMaxion2. Astra Rail3. Bradken4. CAF5. DCD Rail6. Downer Group7. olane8. INTAMIN Deutschland9. Japan Transport Engineering Company10. Newag11. PKC Group12. Promtractor-Vagon CJSC13. Scomi Engineering Bhd14. Sinara Transport Machines15. Skoda Transportation16. The Greenbrier Companies17. The Urbanaut CompanyMarket driver1. Growing urbanization and need for sustainability2. For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge1. High initial investment2. For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend1. Rise of public-private partnership in developing countries2. For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report1. What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?2. What are the key market trends?3. What is driving this market?4. What are the challenges to market growth?5. Who are the key vendors in this market space?. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents..Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research methodologyPART 04: IntroductionMarket outlinePART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by rail typeGlobal urban rail transit system by rail typeGlobal urban rail transit system by metro railGlobal urban rail transit system by light railGlobal urban rail transit system by monorailPART 07: Geographical segmentationGlobal urban rail transit market by geographyUrban rail transit market in APACUrban rail transit market in EMEAUrban rail transit market in AmericasPART 08: Key leading countriesPART 09: Decision frameworkPART 10: Drivers and challengesMarket driversMarket challengesPART 11: Market trendsRise of public-private partnership in developing countriesGrowing need for public transportInclusion of asset finance as key model for procurementPART 12: Vendor landscapeCompetitive scenarioAlstomBombardierCRRCMitsubishi Heavy IndustriesSiemensOther prominent vendorsPART 13: AppendixList of abbreviationsList of ExhibitsExhibit 01: Advantages of urban rail transit systemExhibit 02: Global urban rail transit market overviewExhibit 03: Global urban rail transit market 2016 ($ billions)Exhibit 04: Five forces analysisExhibit 05: Global urban rail transit market by rail type 2016 (% revenue)Exhibit 06: Global urban rail transit market by rail type 2016-2021 (% revenue)Exhibit 07: Global urban rail transit market by rail type growth rate 2017-2021Exhibit 08: Global urban rail transit system by metro rail 2016-2021 ($ billions)Exhibit 09: Global urban rail transit system by light rail 2016-2021 ($ billions)Exhibit 10: Global urban rail transit system by monorail 2016-2021 ($ billions)Exhibit 11: Global urban rail transit market by geography 2016 (% revenue)Exhibit 12: Global urban rail transit market by geography 2016-2021 (% revenue)Exhibit 13: Global urban rail transit market by geography growth rate 2017-2021Exhibit 14: Urban rail transit market in APAC 2016-2021 ($ billions)Exhibit 15: Urban rail transit market in EMEA 2016-2021 ($ billions)Exhibit 16: Urban rail transit market in Americas 2016-2021 ($ billions)Exhibit 17: Carbon emissions by different modes of transport 2016 (%)Exhibit 18: Year-over-year growth of revenue of Indian railways 2011-2016Exhibit 19: Main benefits of PPP projectsExhibit 20: Rail transport statistics in Germany 2010-2014Exhibit 21: Alstom: Geographical segmentation 2016 (% revenue)Exhibit 22: Alstom: Business segmentation 2016 (% revenue)Exhibit 23: Bombardier: Geographical segmentation 2016 (% revenue)ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074High Adoption of Smart Antenna in Wireless Communication Boosts Growth

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A smart antenna is a multi-element antenna in which the signals that are received at each antenna element are combined and managed intelligently in order to improve the performance of the wireless system. These antennas are capable of increasing the signal range, suppressing interfering signals, combating signal fading and as a consequence increasing the capacity of a wireless system.The global smart antenna market is primarily driven by factors such as increasing demand for smart antennas in wireless communication and increasing application of smart antennas in smart phones. Smartphone have become a viable alternative to laptops and personal digital assistants (PDAs), offering features such as SMS and voice messages coupled with multimedia functionality, internet applications, inbuilt GPS capabilities and high data processing capabilities.Browse the Report to Know Granular View of The Market from Various End-Use Segments @Moreover, growing need for faster data transmission in modern communication systems with high speed downloading, optimized evolution data and web browsing has forced companies to increase the efficiency of wireless transmission this is positively impacting the growth of the global market. Considering these positive factors, the demand for smart antenna is set to rise during the forecast period from 2015 - 2023.Based on technology, the global smart antenna market can be segmented into three segments, namely, SIMO (Single Input Multiple Output), MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) and MISO (Multiple Input Single Output). MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) garnered the maximum revenue in 2014. The major functions of MIMO can be divided into three main categories, namely: pre-coding, spatial multiplexing and diversity coding.Request Sample to Know An Insight On the Important Factors and Trends Influencing the Market @By types market is classified into switched multi beam antenna and adaptive array antenna. Adaptive array antenna dominated the market in 2014 and accounted for a substantial share of the overall market. The key growth driver of these types is increasing demand for smart antennas in wireless communication.On the basis of applications, the global market is divided into five segments, namely: Wi-Fi systems, WiMax systems, cellular systems, RADAR and others. Smart antennas are notably used in radio astronomy, radio telescopes, track and scan radar, acoustic signal processing and vastly in cellular systems such as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE) and Wideband Code Division Multiplexing Access (W-CDMA). Due to this cellular systems segment is expected to dominate the market throughout the forecast period of 2015  2023.Get TOC of This Report @Smart antenna market has been further segmented into four regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). Among all the regions, in terms of revenue, North America held the largest market share of 30.4% in 2014, followed by Europe. This trend is expected to be the same over the forecast period. These two regions conjointly held more than 50% of the global smart antenna market in 2014.Key players profiled in this report include Cobham Antenna Systems(Suffolk, United Kingdom), Intel Corp.( Santa Clara, California, United States), Samsung Electronics CoLtd. ( Seoul, South Korea), ArrayComm LLC ( California, United States), Alcatel-Lucent International Holdings Inc.( Paris, France), Motorola Solutions Inc.( Illinois, the U.S.), Broadcom Corp(Irvine, the U.S.), California Amplifier Inc.( Oxnard, United States), Accel Networks LLC(St. Petersburg, United States ) and Jiashan Jinchang Electronics Co., Ltd (Zhejiang, China) among others..About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:People Counting System Market - Competitive Hierarchy & Forecast 2017 - 2025

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Global People Counting System Market: SnapshotPeople counting systems are devices that are used to count the number of people traversing a certain entrance or passage. In retail stores, they are usually deployed to calculate conversion rate and marketing effectiveness and are used in staff planning. In crowded places such as shopping malls and concerts, other than their conventional job of calculating footfall, they are used for crowd management and monitoring of high-traffic areas. Their additional uses include fire management and energy usage optimization.Among the various end users, the demand for people counting systems is likely to remain high in retail stores and shopping malls throughout the forecast period. In an attempt to sustain the rising competition due to shifting demographics and the advent of new technologies, retailers are modifying their existing strategies. As a result, they are increasingly adopting people counting systems.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The spiraling demand for video-based people counting systems is positively impacting the growth of the overall market. The high accuracy and reliability offered by this technology during high volume traffic and high stability against changes in environmental conditions such as light, shadows, and heat are providing a boost to their demand. The demand for Wi-Fi tracking technology is also expected to increase over the forthcoming years. The technology helps in tracking the actual, potential, and repeating visitors and is efficient in terms of eliminating staff from total people count.The global people counting system market is estimated to witness the advent of new technologies, which will be in the favor of the market. The availability of 3D systems is anticipated to revolutionize the mechanism of people counting.Global People Counting System Market: OverviewThe global people counting system market is expected to gain a significant momentum in the coming years. People counting systems are gaining popularity owing to their high accuracy and reliability in monitoring and counting entrance and exit traffic separately, while excluding carts, children, and strollers. They are also capable of counting multiple individuals entering simultaneously. These systems are being increasingly deployed across retail stores, banks and financial institutes, healthcare and government institutes, hospitality, and transportation. Some of the common types of technologies used for counting people are thermal imaging, infrared beam, and video based.Request TOC of the Report @The report is a professional study on the global people counting system market, compiled by meticulously analyzing various critical parameters of the market. It provides a detailed overview of the factors impacting the growth of the market. It offers qualitative and quantitative insights into the competitive landscape of the market. Competitive profiling of the prominent players in the market along with their market shares, business strategies, cost and revenue structures, latest developments, and contact information forms a vital part of the report. It performs SWOT analysis to reveal potential growth trajectory of each prominent player in the global people counting system market.Global People Counting System Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe rising number of shopping malls, supermarkets, and retail stores is boosting the adoption of people counting technologies worldwide. Retailers need to monitor footfalls at their shops periodically to remain competitive. By knowing the traffic to sales ratio, retailers can accurately compare stores on the basis of sales volume. Moreover, the availability of easy set-up and low-cost solutions is escalating the growth of the market. The market is also witnessing a sharp rise in the demand for people counting solutions in the transport sector. The future of the market looks bright with technological advancements.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @On the other hand, the robust growth of the e-commerce industry and the expanding online sales channel pose a considerable threat to the brick and mortar commerce, which in turn is adversely affecting the growth of the market.Global People Counting System Market: Region-wise OutlookThe key segments analyzed in the report on the basis of geography are North America, Asia Pacific, Europe, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific will be a prominent market throughout the forecast period. The increasing number of supermarkets, retail stores, and shopping malls are attracting international players to invest in the region. In addition, conducive government initiatives are encouraging the presence of foreign retailers in India, which is also leading to the rising number of retail stores in Asia Pacific. Countries such as China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, and Singapore will be the sites of high growth rate throughout the same span.Moreover, the presence of infrastructure such as train stations, airports, and bus stations along with a large number of upcoming projects are triggering the deployment of people counting systems. The expansion of the hospitality industry is also facilitating the growth of the region.Global People Counting System Market: Competitive LandscapeProduct innovation and technological advancements are of critical importance to key manufacturers in the global people counting system market to stay relevant in the market. They are focusing on portfolio diversification through partnerships and mergers in order to strengthen their position in the market. Some of the key players in the global people counting system market are Axis Communication AB, RetailNext Inc., InfraRed Integrated Systems Ltd., IEE S.A., Eurotech S.p.A., Countwise LLC, Xovis AG, Axiomatic Technology Limited, IRIS-GmbH, IEE S.A., Point Grey Research Inc., and ShopperTrak.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comGlobal Whey Protein Powder Market 2018-27 : Drivers, Restraints, and Trends

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Press Release - 10 Mar 2018Global Research and Development News --. .Report Description-' ' Market Introduction: Whey is a natural substance, the liquid part of fresh milk that is left over from making of cheese and has been used for health related reasons for more than 24 centuries. It is a rich source of various nutrients such as protein, amino acids, vitamins and minerals. Whey protein powder also lowers weight, cholesterol and blood pressure, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases and improves asthma. Owing to these benefits, whey protein powder has found several applications in various industries such as food and beverages, health supplements, pharmaceuticals and many more. As the whey protein powder aids muscle development by helping in protein synthesis in the body, it is extensively consumed by bodybuilders and athletes, thereby driving the market growth. In addition, a surge in the trend of fitness centers and health club is taking the global whey protein powder market grow in terms of revenue growth.. . Get Sample Report' 'The overall global whey protein powder market is expected to witness an intangible growth in terms of CAGR. Global Whey Protein Powder Market: Segmentation  Global whey protein powder market can be segmented on the basis of type, end use, sales channel On the basis of type, global whey protein powder market can be segmented into whey protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, whey protein hydrolyzed. Whey protein concentrate is high in lactose and low in protein. Hydrolyzed whey protein is high protein source and holds about 60% share of the total whey protein powder market. Global whey protein powder market can be further segmented on the basis of end use into food and beverages, health supplements and pharmaceuticals. Food and beverages segment is further sub segmented into infant foods, bakery, confectionery, functional beverages, snacks and dairy products. On the basis of sales channel global whey protein powder market can be further segmented into direct and indirect. The indirect sales channel can be further sub segmented into Supermarket, hypermarket, specialty stores, drug retail stores and e retailers. Global Whey Protein Powder Market: Drivers, Restraints, and Trends The rising global demand for dairy based products, growing market for pediatric foods, and increasing trend of health and wellness in midst of the consumers along with an increased popularity of protein consumption are considered to be the major drivers for the market. Other factors include the growing emphasis on read to drink and performance boosting products and advancement in technologies giving rise to naive and improved supplements for health benefits.Despite of a numerous drivers for the market, the market still faces a challenge of the growth retardation by certain restraints. One of the most important restraint for the market is the high processing and manufacturing cost of the whey protein powder. There are certain health related concerns with the whey protein powder which have hindered the consumers in building a complete trust over the protein powders which stunt the growth of the global whey protein powder market. Another important factor which restricts this market to flourish is the stringent regulatory concerns and required certifications for marketing whey protein. Apart from all these restraints, the rising scope of whey protein powders in infant foods and several other food processing sectors are believed to drive the overall global whey protein powder market. Global Whey Protein Powder Market: Regional Outlook Depending on the geographic regions, Global Whey Protein Powder Market is segmented into seven key regions: North America, Latin America, West Europe, East Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and MEA.North America dominates the overall market for whey protein powder and holds a maximum share of the global whey protein powder market. U.S. is the major market in this region.Asia Pacific whey protein market is growing rapidly owing to the growing health concerns and increase in the disposable income. Asia Pacific also holds a valuable market share of the global whey protein powder market.The Europe whey protein powder market is expected to grow at an average rate owing to the increasing demand of food and beverages in the region. Global Whey Protein Powder Market: Key Players Some of the prominent players of Global Whey Protein Powder Market are: Fonterra, Saputo, Murray, Leprino food CO., Westland Milk producers, Glanbia Foods, Agropur Inc. and others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications. The study is a source of reliable data on: 1. Market segments and sub-segments2. Market trends and dynamics3. Supply and demand4. Market size5. Current trends/opportunities/challenges6. Competitive landscape7. Technological breakthroughs8. Value chain and stakeholder analysis The regional analysis covers: 1. North America (U.S. and Canada)2. Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, and others)3. Western Europe (Germany, U.K., France, Spain, Italy, Nordic countries, Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg)4. Eastern Europe (Poland and Russia)5. Asia Pacific (China, India, Japan, ASEAN, Australia, and New Zealand)6. Middle East and Africa (GCC, Southern Africa, and North Africa)The report has been compiled through extensive primary research (through interviews, surveys, and observations of seasoned analysts) and secondary research (which entails reputable paid sources, trade journals, and industry body databases). The report also features a complete qualitative and quantitative assessment by analyzing data gathered from industry analysts and market participants across key points in the industrys value chain.A separate analysis of prevailing trends in the parent market, macro- and micro-economic indicators, and regulations and mandates is included under the purview of the study. By doing so, the report projects the attractiveness of each major segment over the forecast period. Highlights of the report: 1. A complete backdrop analysis, which includes an assessment of the parent market2. Important changes in market dynamics3. Market segmentation up to the second or third level4. Historical, current, and projected size of the market from the standpoint of both value and volume5. Reporting and evaluation of recent industry developments6. Market shares and strategies of key players7. Emerging niche segments and regional markets8. An objective assessment of the trajectory of the market9. Recommendations to companies for strengthening their foothold in the market. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents..ResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074Electronic Design Automation Tools Market: Current trends, Opportunities and Challenges

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EDA or electronic design automation involves a diversified set of software algorithms that are required for designing of complex next generation electronics products or systems that includes printed circuit boards (PCBs) and integrated circuits (ICs) along with others present in the market. EDA enables engineers to design, analyze and then simulate the semiconductor chips encompassing algorithms and methodologies for designing of VLSI circuits. All the tools present in EDA work together in a specific design flow decided by chip designers for designing and analyzing entire semiconductor chips. Since modern semiconductor chip have billions of components these EDA tools have become essential component in designing.It also helps semiconductor manufacturing companies to reduce product development time of chips further increasing the accuracy of design. The global market for electronic design automation has been classified into product type, verification techniques, end use industries and geography. Based on the product type, this market has been segmented into PCB (Printed Circuit Board), IC (Integrated Circuit), multi-chip module and SoC (System on Chip) among others present in the market.Along with this, the market has been further segmented on the basis of verification techniques that includes clock domain crossing verification, formal verification, static timing analysis and physical verification. Various end use industries that are covered under the scope of this report includes aerospace & defense, healthcare, manufacturing and automotive among others.Browse the Report to Know Influential Factors Determining the Trajectory of the Market @The market for electronic design automation (EDA) tools market based on geography consists of North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East and Africa.The primary benefit related with application of EDA would be the modelling of the system performance along with estimating the power needs for the designing of specific chips. This further helps the ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) logic designers to handle high complexity of circuits with reduced manufacturing errors.Besides this, EDA also helps the layout designer place millions of transistors over the IC simultaneously checking physical and electrical design rules related to these transistors. Moreover, the EDA tools help the chip manufacturing companies to design more complex chips at a lower cost and within a shorter period of time. All these factors have a positive impact over the EDA tools market and is expected to boost further with growth in aerospace & defense sector.Request Sample to Know Quantitative Market Analysis, Current and Future Trends @But there are a few factors as well that also pose challenges and act as restraints for this market. One such factor being the growing complexity of VLSI structures and high non-recurring engineering costs associated with this design that pose challenges for the market growth.Moreover, the field of semiconductor technology is growing at a fast rate that may range from high-performance microprocessors, signal processors to broad array of portable devices that are low power bringing huge challenges in the designing process that is restricting the overall market implementation of EDA tools. It is expected that the growing demand for high quality complex circuits and chips will likely provide numerous growth opportunities for this market in the upcoming years.Get TOC of This Report @Considering the geographical segmentation, it is North America followed by Europe that forms the key regions to boost the market demand for EDA tools. Rise in automation across different industries along with growth of aerospace sector has been a few major factors contributing to the overall growth of this market. Asia Pacific is another key region also monitoring one of the fastest growth globally for this market.Some of the key players that are operating in the global electronic design automation (EDA) tools market include Synopsys (U.S.), Cadence Design Systems (U.S.), Siemens PLM Software (U.S.), Aldec (U.S.), Keysight Technologies (U.S.) and Agnisys (U.S.) among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Anti-melanoma Mab Fragments Market Detailed Study Analysis with Forecast by 2025

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Monoclonal antibody therapy is a kind of immunotherapy that employs (Mab) to bind specifically to target proteins and cells. The binding may then stimulate the immune system of patients in order to kill the unwanted cells. It is feasible to generate a Mab specific to any cell surface target, and therefore a large number of researches are currently being carried out to create monoclonal antibodies for several serious diseases. Mab therapy is used for various diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Alzheimer's disease, Ebola and various types of cancers. Mab therapy can be used in number of ways that include destruction of malignant tumor cells and prevention of tumor growth by blocking specific cell receptors. Monoclonal antibodies (Mabs) are one of the prominent and rapid growing classes of therapeutic proteins, because of excellent biocompatibility and high specificity they can be used in treatment of various severe diseases. Mab therapy is proved to be effective in not only cancer and inflammatory diseases but also in rare diseases such as Crohns disease and paroxysmal nocturnal haemoglobinuria.Browse Premium Industry Research Report with Analysis:Melanoma is a kind of malignant tumor of epidermal melanocytes that are neuroectodermal in origin. More than 90 % of melanomas are found in skin but they can occur in any tissue that contains melanocytes such as, urinary tract, nasopharynx, oral mucosa and eye. Advancement in the past decade has considerably increased the understanding of the molecular underpinnings of melanoma. Recent development in high-throughput technologies aimed at global molecular profiling, have helped in recognition of gene involved in melanoma pathogenesis. The management of metastatic melanoma is a major clinical challenge due to lack of effective systemic therapies. Blocking of cytotoxic T lymphocyte-associated antigen-4 (CTLA-4) has recently been used to enhance cell-mediated immune responses to cancer.Invasive melanoma is one of the most common cancers in men and women. According to American Cancer Society (ACS) around 8000 Americans die of melanoma annually and around 60,000 new cases of malignant melanoma are diagnosed annually. Caucasians have 10 times greater risk of developing cutaneous melanoma than Hispanic and black population. In addition over the last decades, the incidence of malignant melanoma has increased at an alarming rate of 3% to 8 % per year in the Caucasian population.Request for Sample Copy of Report:Geographically, the Anti-melanoma Mab Fragments Market is segmented into four major regions: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). In terms of geography, North America accounts for the highest market in terms of revenue, followed by Europe due to highly developed healthcare industry, high disposable income, ongoing clinical trials, and early approval of drugs in the U.S market. However, Asia Pacific market is also witnessing a very positive growth due to high rate of development in healthcare industry, growing medical tourism industry and government initiatives for the development of healthcare industry.The global anti-melanoma mab fragments market is witnessing an admirable growth due to the medical advancements, high number of research activities in this segment and high awareness among people about melanoma. However there are many side effects associated with anti-melanoma mab fragments such as diarrhea, Nausea, vomiting, rashes and acute pancreatitis. The high cost of treatment and the number of side effects associated with treatment are some of the factors that may hinder the growth of anti-melanoma mab fragments market. Some of the major players operating in anti-melanoma mab fragments market are Acorda Therapeutics, Capra Science, EMD Millipore, Maine Biotechnology Services, Inc., OMT Therapeutics, Inc, ProMab Biotechnologies, Inc., WuXi AppTec.Request Table of Content of Report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact US:Transparency Market Research,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY  12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Sensors Market - Trends and Prospects Of Industry Foreseen by 2025

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Global Sensors Market: SnapshotThe global sensors market is prophesied to record a healthy CAGR during the forecast period 20172025 on account of the growing application of intelligent management and monitoring in the smart systems industry. Distributed sensor networks are heavily engaged for transmitting control instructions and valuable measurement information after interconnecting the devices in networked embedded systems. In todays era of smart technologies, vendors could take advantage of key applications such as assembling infrastructure systems, intelligent transportation, smart water networks, smart homes, and smart grids with the use of sensors.The global sensors market is envisioned to witness the advent of more efficient products with superior sensing quality. For instance, in late 2016, the HC1100 single-chip offering was launched in the global sensors market via a joint effort by HMicro and STMicroelectronics. HC1100 is considered to be applicable for disposable, clinical-grade biosensors and smart patches. Electrocardiogram, vital sign monitoring, and other wired wearable devices could be especially benefited with such biosensors and smart patches. As a result, the rising requirement of such devices is projected to propel the growth of the global sensors market throughout the forecast period.Request Sample Copy of the Report @The coveted application of sensors in smartphones for improving user interface experience is foreseen to rake in a telling demand in the global sensors market. More number of leading smartphone manufacturers are anticipated to demand sensors at a significant rate. Google claims to boast of the best-ever smartphone camera in history after it launched Pixel in 2016, featuring the Sony IMX378 sensor.Global Sensors Market: OverviewIn recent times, the increasing trend of automation is providing a thrust to the global sensors market. Sensors form the backbone of automated systems. The market has witnessed a tremendous transformational leap with the rapid advancements in the sensor technology. With advancements, there has been a considerable expansion in the scope of applications of sensors. They are used across numerous industrial verticals including automotive, consumer electronics, oil and gas, healthcare, utility, and manufacturing and for a myriad of parameters such as temperature, level, position, pressure, image, light, motion, and magnetic field.The report serves as a repository of analysis and data regarding several critical parameters of the global sensors market including value chain analysis, its dynamics, geographical segmentation, and competitive landscape. It takes into account the historical statistics and the current scenario to estimate the future trends of the market. It profiles prominent players in the market along with their business strategies, market shares, contact information, revenue generation, and latest developments. It performs SWOT analysis on key players to derive the growth trajectory each player will experience.Request TOC of the Report @Global Sensors Market: Drivers and RestraintsThe proliferation of consumer electronics is providing a fillip to the global sensors market. The manufacturing of consumer electronics demands a large number of sensors such as pressure sensors, motion sensors, and image sensors. In addition, the rising implementation of fingerprint sensors in smartphones and wearable devices is augmenting the market. Moreover, the emergence of wireless technology is working in favor of the growth of the market. Sensors play a critical part in the proper functioning of wireless platforms. Furthermore, the growing need for real-time analysis is triggering their demand. On the other hand, the declining prices of sensors are adversely affecting the overall revenue generation of the market. However, the booming trend of miniaturization is creating ample growth opportunities for the market.Global Sensors Market: Region-wise OutlookThe key regional markets covered in the report are Asia Pacific, Europe, North America, and Rest of the World. Asia Pacific will be a prominent market throughout the forecast period. The presence of a large number of manufacturing facilities and the flourishing growth of various end-user industries are providing a fillip to the growth of the region. The cheap cost of labor and less stringent government regulations are attracting several multinational companies to set up their manufacturing plants in the region. North America will also account for a large share in the market, thanks to the rapid advancements in the field of sensor technology in the region.Read Comprehensive Overview of Report @Global Sensors Market: Competitive LandscapeKey players in the global sensors market are paying high attention of technological advancements to stay relevant. They are pouring large funds into the research and development of novel and innovative sensors to differentiate their offerings and gain a competitive edge over their peers. Mergers and acquisitions are commonly adopted strategies by them to expand their business across different geographies.The immense potential of the market along with low entry barriers are attracting a large number of new players to invest in the market. The influx of new manufacturers is expected to intensify the competition in the market in the near future. Some of the prominent players in the global sensors market are Texas Instruments Inc., TE Connectivity Ltd., Infineon Technologies AG, Honeywell International Inc., Robert Bosch GmbH, ABB Ltd., Siemens AG, Emerson Electric Company, Omron Corporation, NXP Semiconductor N.V., and ARM Holdings Plc.About TMR ResearchTMR Research is a premier provider of customized market research and consulting services to business entities keen on succeeding in todays supercharged economic climate. Armed with an experienced, dedicated, and dynamic team of analysts, we are redefining the way our clients conduct business by providing them with authoritative and trusted research studies in tune with the latest methodologies and market trends.Our savvy custom-built reports span a gamut of industries such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and metals, food and beverages, and technology and media, among others. With actionable insights uncovered through in-depth research of the market, we try to bring about game-changing success for our clients.Contact:TMR Research,3739 Balboa St # 1097,San Francisco, CA 94121United StatesTel: +1-415-520-1050Email: sales@tmrresearch.comAbdominal Obesity Treatment Market Review with Forecast Research Report 2017 - 2025

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Abdominal obesity or central obesity is medical condition in which excessive fat has built up around the abdomen and stomach to that it may have a negative impact on the human health. An individual is abdominally obese if the size of their waist is more than 90 cm in males and over 84 cm in females.Browse Premium Industry Research Report with Analysis:It has been observed that unhealthy lifestyle practice and over consumption of fast foods are the major causes of abdominal obesity among population. In terms of geography, North America is the largest market for abdominal obesity treatment market due to the large base of obese patients. According to the WHO, the prevalence of obesity and overweight in the regions of the Americas is the highest followed by Europe and Eastern Mediterranean regions. Moreover, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 35% of the adult population of the U.S. is obese. However, other regions such as South East Asia, Middle East and Latin America are some of the potential market where introduction of effective novel therapies might boosts up the overall market growth of abdominal obesity treatment. Due to the significant rise in obesity and rising awareness among population, these regions are expected to be the lucrative market venture for abdominal obesity treatment.The primary factors driving the growth of this market are increasing base of population suffering from obesity and increasing levels of awareness amongst weight conscious population. Moreover, development of safe and effective therapeutics for the treatment of abdominal obesity might contribute to the growth of the abdominal obesity treatment market. For instance, a novel anti-obesity therapeutic, Bupropion/zonisamide (planned brand name Empatic) is an investigational combination therapeutic for obesity treatment. The drug is currently at phase IIB clinical trial and is being developed by California, the U.S. based, Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. The drug has successfully demonstrated positive trial results compared to placebo and monotherapies.Request for Sample Copy of Report:Thus, the introduction of promising drugs in this market is likely to boosts the overall abdominal obesity treatment market due to the high success and effectiveness rate of the potential molecules. Furthermore, increasing government support for developing novel therapies along with high research and development initiatives on the development of personalized medicines are also expected to fuel the growth of this market. In addition, technological breakthrough such as minimally invasive surgical devices and increased focus on retaining superior quality of life are some of the factors that might contribute to the growth of this market. However, rise in overall healthcare expenditure and side effects of the anti-obesity drugs are some of the market-restraining factors that might hinder the growth of the abdominal obesity treatment market in the near future.Currently, the abdominal obesity treatment market is a highly attractive and promising market venture due to the high incidence rate of obesity among population. Various pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are trying to develop novel therapeutics, which can be used for the treatment of abdominal obesity. Some of the companies involved with the development and commercialization of therapeutic products for treating abdominal obesity are Arena Pharmaceuticals, Inc., F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., GlaxoSmithKline plc, Novo Nordisk A/S, Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc., Upsher-Smith Laboratories Inc. and Vivus, Inc., amongst others.Request Table of Content of Report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact US:Transparency Market Research,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY  12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Acute Lung Injury Market to Witness a Pronounce Growth by 2025

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Acute lung injury (ALI) is commonly characterized by hypoxia, lung complication and pulmonary edema. This condition causes inflammation or direct injury to the lungs. Generally, the symptoms of this disease are divided into two forms namely, primary ALI and secondary ALI. Primary ALI is caused by the conditions like pneumonia. While, secondary ALI is mainly caused by indirect injury to the lungs. Inhalation injury, pulmonary contusions, sever trauma, shock are some of the common symptoms in both forms of acute lung injuries.Browse Premium Industry Research Report with Analysis:The major factor influencing the market growth is consistent rise in number of patients affected with this disease. According to Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and acute lung injury are third leading cause of death in the U.S. In addition, adoption of new technologies coupled with availability of high number of drugs for the treatment of acute lung injury also stimulates the growth of this market. However, high cost of for the treatment of this disease restrains the growth of this market. Additionally, lack of specific treatment for the diagnosis of this disease will further hamper the growth of this market.Geographically, North America and Europe dominate the global acute lung injury market due to increasing incidences of this disease. According to Lung Disease Research Funding, approximately 75,000 people in the U.S. die because of acute lung injury every year. While, Asia-Pacific countries such as India and China, South East Asia are the emerging regions for the global acute lung injury market due to high prevalence of this disease coupled with increasing healthcare awareness.Request for Sample Copy of Report:The major players competing in acute lung injury market are GlaxoSmithKline plc, INO Therapeutics, LLC, Octapharma AG, Ono Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Eli Lilly and Company, Chiesi S. p. A., B. Braun Melsungen AG, Altor BioScience Corporation and others.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Request Table of Content of Report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact US:Transparency Market Research,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY  12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Additive Manufacturing in Medical Application Market to 2025 Size, Share & Trend | Industry Analysis Report

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Additive manufacturing is defined as a process of making three dimensional structure of an object considering digital model. Additive manufacturing is a new technology and differs from traditional manufacturing techniques that mainly rely on removal of products by cutting and milling processes. Additive manufacturing involves the making of 3D structure through sequential layering in different shapes. Its history dates back to 1970 while during the 1980s and 1990s, this technology experienced the rapid growth. Medical field constitutes one of the fastest growing application areas of the additive manufacturing among others. Automotive and aerospace are two other major application areas of additive manufacturing that collectively account for the major chunk of the overall additive manufacturing market revenue. The medical application of additive manufacturing includes production of a wide range of surgical equipment, surgical implants, prosthetics, dental bridges, braces, copings, replacement tissues, intricate body parts and scaffolds. With continuous development leading to advent of materials with improved biocompatibility, use of additive manufacturing process in medical field is expected to expand during upcoming years.Browse Premium Industry Research Report with Analysis:The market for additive manufacturing in medical application is expanding worldwide owing to rise in number of surgical procedures, technical advances leading to products with innovative and improved features and rise in awareness level regarding the additive manufacturing. The market for additive manufacturing in medical application is evolving also due to governmental funding and its wide application area. Significant advantages associated with additive manufacturing also propel the market growth throughout the globe.Some major players operating in the market for additive manufacturing in medical application are Arcam AB, 3D Systems Inc., Concept Laser GmbH, EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems, 3T RPD, Biomedical Modeling, Inc., Fcubic AB, Envisiontec GmbH, GPI Prototype and Manufacturing Services, Inc., Limacorporate SPA,Greatbatch, Inc., Layerwise NV, Materialise NV, Medical Modeling, Inc. etc. Most of these companies are focused on developing technologies related with the additive manufacturing in order to improve out-put volume, quality and reduction in cost per unit as all these will help them gain benefit over their competitors.Request for Sample Copy of Report:Globally, the market for additive manufacturing has been divided into four major geographies, namely, North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (RoW). In 2012, Europe accounted for the largest share of the overall additive manufacturing market revenue and was followed by North America. During coming few years, the market is expected to record higher growth in the North American region and in some major developing countries of Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World (such as India, China, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa). The additive manufacturing in medical application market is expected to witness growing adoption of additive manufacturing in medical application in the North American region that will help region expand its market share. In major developing countries of Asia-Pacific and Rest of the World, the market growth will mainly be driven by increasing penetration by companies operating in this market space.The report offers a comprehensive evaluation of the market. It does so via in-depth qualitative insights, historical data, and verifiable projections about market size. The projections featured in the report have been derived using proven research methodologies and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every facet of the market, including but not limited to: Regional markets, technology, types, and applications.Request Table of Content of Report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact US:Transparency Market Research,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY  12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Airway Stenting Market Key Manufacturers, Development Trends And Competitive Analysis 2025

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Airway stents or tracheobronchial prostheses refer to the tube shaped devices inserted into an airway and this process is referred to as interventional pulmonary or airway stenting. Airway stenting relieves airway obstruction due to the structures that are not suitable for reconstruction and resection. Tracheobronchial disorders are majorly caused due to the presence of benign or malignant tumors, post intubation tracheal injuries, extrinsic compression and tracheobronchomalacia post tracheostomy. Currently, there are two major types of airway stents available namely expandable metallic stents and silicon tube stents. Metallic stents are further classified as uncovered and fully covered forms. Metal stents can be inserted with the help of a flexible bronchoscope while silicon stents are placed with the help of a rigid bronchoscope when the patient in under general anesthesia. Primarily, removable stents are preferred in case of the treatment for benign disorders.Browse Premium Industry Research Report with Analysis:The treatment of primary and metastatic lung cancer is the most common condition treated with the help of airway stents rendering an unobstructed airway. Other indications include primary airway tumors, thyroid cancer, inflammatory lesions, vascular compression, head and neck tumors, oesophageal cancer, idiopathic benign tracheal stenonsis and others. This process ensures durable palliation in unresectable patients with central airway obstruction and there is a need for frequent multiple procedures and stents to maintain unobstructed airway.The choice of stent depends on the type of lesion to be treated, resource availability and in the presence of a dedicated operator. Proper stent sizing can be achieved by reviewing the computed tomography images and other methods. The length is a stent to be used is a very critical parameter to be considered in order to ensure proper functioning of these stents. For instance, if the diameter if these stents is too small than the size if the lesion, then they might migrate from its original position and of the length of the stent is too large, it might cause stress on the airway wall, hence, the length of the stent should exceed the length of the lesion to some degree. Migration of the stent results in several side effects such as breakage of metal fibers, granuloma formation, hemoptysis and pain.Request for Sample Copy of Report:The placement of the stent should be avoided in case of a non-viable lung. Placement of the stent should be performed by highly trained pulmonologists. It is mandate for the trainees to perform atleast 20 supervised procedures in order to establish a basic competency and to maintain the competency these operators should perform more than 10 procedures per year and furthermore these operators should be proficient in placement of both silicone and flexible stents.The market for airway stents can be segmented by type and applications. Metallic and silicone stents are the two major types of airway stents available commercially. Factors such as patient safety, proficiency in stent placement and other regulatory policies govern the market growth. Geographically, North America and Europe regions are the major revenue contributors to this market majorly due to increasing incidence of lung cancers and high disposable incomes. Asia Pacific and Rest of the World provide lucrative business opportunities in this area owing to the large patient population and improved healthcare facilities. The major factors favoring the airway stent market are consistent increase in lung cancer incidence worldwide and development of novel and efficient stents to treat airway disorders. On the other hand factors such as lack of trained operators and side effects caused due to migration of the stents might hamper the acceptance thereby affecting the market growth. Novatech SA, Boston Medical Products, Inc., Boston Scientific Corporation, TAEWOONG Medical Co., Ltd. constitute some of the companies operating in this market.Request Table of Content of Report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact US:Transparency Market Research,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY  12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Anthrax Market Competitive Landscape Analysis with Forecast by 2025

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Anthrax is a lethal disease affecting humans as well as animals such as goat, sheep, horses, and cattle. The causative agent is a gram positive, rod shaped bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can spread through three main routes which include aerial route, digestive route and contact through skin. Common symptoms in human beings for respiratory infection include pneumonia and severe respiratory collapse. Gastrointestinal infection is associated with symptoms such as vomiting, severe diarrhea, loss of appetite and digestive tract infections. Anthrax skin infection develops an ulcer with black center called as eschar which is a painless necrotic patch.Browse Premium Industry Research Report with Analysis:This form of disease is not fatal if proper treatment is provided. Diagnosis of anthrax infection is done through X-ray and CT scan of lungs, biopsy skin test and blood test for anthrax antigens. Chemiluminescence and Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) based kits are available for diagnosis of anthrax. Anthrax has gained popularity because of its use in bioterrorism. Since long the spores of anthrax have been used for mass infection and in biological warfare. This has led countries across the world to spread awareness about the disease, and also be prepared for any biological attack. In light of past events, as a precaution, the U.S. Postal Service has also installed a biohazard detection system at major distribution centers in order to actively scan for anthrax spores being transported via mail.Anthrax can be cured if treated in early stages of infection. Cutaneous or skin infection can be treated with common antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin, erythromycin, tetracycline, and penicillin. There is only one vaccine for treating anthrax which is FDA approved. BioThrax manufactured by Emergent BioSolutions, Inc. is provided as pre exposure protection from anthrax infections. Elusys Therapeutics is conducting clinical trials for ETI- 204 for inhalational anthrax. Currently the study (NCT01932437) is under phase I clinical trial. In 2012, U.S. FDA approved drug for treatment of anthrax which is manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline. Raxibacumab, a human IgG1 monoclonal antibody can be prescribed to adults as well as pediatrics with inhalational anthrax. Various governments are also backing research for anthrax with funding and grants.Request for Sample Copy of Report:PharmAthene, Inc. announced in 2010 that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) modified the development contract with the company by providing up to USD 78.4 million for development of anthrax vaccine SparVax. SparVax is sub unit vaccine, which comprises of a recombinant protein manufactured in E.coli. Currently the study is in phase II clinical trial. The company is also trying to develop an anti toxin under the brand name Valortim. Valortim is a human monoclonal antibody which targets PA a component of anthrax toxin. By targeting PA, Valortim is believed to protect healthy cells from being damaged by the toxins. Currently the study is under phase I clinical trial.As majority of the studies are under phase II or phase I trials, outcome of such studies cannot be ascertained. With a keen eye on anthrax infection in humans by government, and existence of few market players have restricted the market growth. Although the treatment for skin infection is cost effective, inhalational and gastrointestinal anthrax treatment is expensive. Moreover the market for anthrax is concentrated to countries under threat for terrorist attacks. The market for diagnosis of anthrax also holds potential in rural areas for diagnosis of cutaneous anthrax, where animal breading is widely practiced.Request Table of Content of Report:About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR syndicated research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, TMRs syndicated reports strive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.Contact US:Transparency Market Research,90 State Street,Suite 700,Albany NY  12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Organic Feed Market Intelligence Research Reports for Actionable Insights 2017 - 2025

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Organic feed is a type of feed that is produced by methods obey the standards of organic farming. Organic simply ingredients that the feed/food/crop cannot be genetically modified, treated with fungicides/pesticides/insecticides etc., fertilized with chemical fertilizers. All organic ingredients and products should be manufactured according to the guidelines stated by the National Organic Program .Organic feed products cannot contain any kind of medications, animal by product and chemical preservatives. It almost takes two to three years to become a certified producer of organic feed. Animal feeds play an important role in the global food industry, enabling economic production of animal proteins across the globe. Organic feed now has become one of the most important component to ensure enormous amount of animal protein.Download PDF Brochure @Organic Feed Market Segmentation:Organic Feed market is segment on the basis of species, ingredients, distribution channel and region. On the basis of species the market is segmented into poultry, swine, ruminants, aquaculture, horse and dogs, others. Among all the segments poultry accounts the maximum market share (approximately 47%), followed by swine with approximately 26%. On the basis of ingredient organic feed market is segmented into corn, wheat, barley, soybean, rapeseed and others. Among all the segments market share of corn is the highest which accounts for approximately for 76%, followed by wheat with 21% approx. On the basis of distribution channel organic feed market is segmented into supermarkets/hypermarkets, specialty stores and online stores. Supermarkets/hypermarkets is anticipated to hold a relatively high share in the organic feed market. Online stores have also contributed significantly to the growth of organic feed market over the forecast period.Organic Feed Market Regional Outlook:Regional segment for the market of organic feed is divided into five different regions: North America, Europe, Latin America, APAC, and Middle East & Africa. Among these segment Asia Pacific is expected to have the major market share globally, as it is the largest producer and consumer of organic feed. In North America market the countries like U.S. and Canada are generating the major revenue.Organic Feed Market Drivers:The rising economic growth in developing economies has been a key factor driving the growth of the global organic feed market in recent years. Availability of a wide variety of organic feed is resulting in increasing consumer base and this is expected to fuel market growth over the forecast period. Growing trend towards vertical integration (contract farming) has been driving demand for organic feed across the globe. Investment on the research and development of the organic feed will probably be a major factor for the companies those who wants to increase the market share of the organic feed market. Companies should also meet the changing demands of the consumers. Expenditure on advertisement of organic feed product will also help the industries to create opportunities and increase its market share. The use of social media will further boost the growth of the industries offering organic feed. In order to expand product portfolio several companies have already entered into joint ventures to increase the production of organic feed products, these kind of steps are defiantly going to drive the market of organic feed in the forecast period.Obtain Report Details @Organic Feed Market Key Players:Some of the 10 key players in organic feed market are Cargill Inc, New Hope Liuhe Co.,Ltd., Purina Animal Nutrition LLC, Wens Food Group, CPP China, BRF S.A. Tyson Foods, Inc. East Hope Group Co Ltd, Ja Zen-Noh Meat Foods Co.,Ltd., Jiangxi Shuangbaotai Industry Co., Ltd., ForFarmers N.V., Tangrenshen Group Co., Ltd., Nutreco N.V., Guangdong Haid Group Co., Limited, C. P. Foods, Nonghyup Feed, Inc., Guangzhou Yuetai Group Co., Ltd., and Dachan Food (Asia) Limited among others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700,Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Orange Peel Extract Market : 2017 Industry Analysis, Size, Trends, Growth and Forecast 2025

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Citrus is one of the most important commercial fruit crop grown across the globe. On a global scale orange constitutes over half of the total citrus production. A greater portion of this production is addressed to the industrial extraction of citrus juice which leaves a bulk amount of residues including peels. The peels of citrus fruits are composed of natural flavonoids including many poly-methoxylated flavones rarely found in the peel of other plants.Flavonoids are antioxidant compounds which are known to render several health benefits including prevention of several chronic diseases such as heart diseases and cancer. Apart from that the orange peel extract also contains higher amounts of other nutrients such as Vitamin C. For example, 3.5 ounce of orange peel constitutes 136 milligrams of vitamin C. Orange peel extract is also widely used in cosmetic industry and is also used in the production of pectin. Approximately 13% of the worlds pectin is produced from orange peel.Download PDF Brochure @Orange Peel Extract Market Segmentation:The orange peel extract market is segmented into, area of application and distribution channel. By area of application the global orange peel extract market is segmented into, food and beverages industry, pharmaceutical industry and cosmetic industry. Orange peels are considered as rich source of essential oils which are used since ancient times as flavoring agents for preparation of foods. Other than this orange peel extracts are also being used as natural pigments and an effective source of colorants thus replacing synthetic pigments currently available in the market. Demand for organic products has also increased the sales prospects of orange peel extract in cosmetic industry where a number of cosmetic products such as, lotions, tonics, soap, bath- and shower, hair conditioning formulations utilized orange peel extract as an additive ingredient. By distribution channel the orange peel extract market is segmented into, hypermarkets/supermarkets, retail stores, specialty stores, online retail and other retail formats. Hypermarkets/supermarkets segment, is expected to depict highest revenue shares in the global orange peel extracts market across the globe.Orange Peel Extract Market Regional Outlook:On the basis of region the global Alpine Herb Extract market is segmented into, North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan, Japan and Middle East and Africa. The worlds largest producers of dried citrus peels are in Argentina and Mexico. However, other prominent producers are, U.S., Spain, peru and Bolivia. North America and Western Europe are expected to account for significant revenue shares in the global orange peel extract market over the forecast period.Orange Peel Extract Market Drivers and TrendsIncreasing acceptance of orange peel extracts in developed countries such as America and Western Europe attributed to its popularity as a powerful source of vitamins and flavonoids is driving the orange peel extract market over the forecast period. Furthermore, demand for cosmetic products comprising of more natural organic ingredients is driving the market for orange peel extract market.Also increasing demand for functional foods products translating into expanding market for hyrdrocolloids and increasing application in cosmetic and pharmaceutical industry is expected to contribute towards market growth of orange peel extracts market. Besides its application as natural texturizer for ointments, oils and creams and as an superior thickener and stabilizer for shampoos, lotions and hair tonics, pectin is also used as an effective skin anti-aging agent.Obtain Report Details @Orange Peel Extract Market Key Players:Some of the key players offering Orange Peel Extract include; Beacon Commodities, Plant Extracts International Inc., Denk Ingredients, MB-Holding GmbH & Co.KG and others.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Transparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700,Albany, NY - 12207United StatesTel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Agrimony Market Segments, Opportunity, Growth and Forecast By End-use Industry 2017 - 2027

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Agrimony Market IntroductionAgrimony is a genus of 1215 species of perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the family Rosaceae. Commonly it is known to be a domestic medicinal herb, which is native to the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with one species also in Africa. The agrimony herb has spikes which bear rows of tiny yellow flowers, known as church steeples. The agrimony is also characterized by having fruits that are marked by hooked bristles known as cockleburs at the top or towards the tips and blooms from June to early September. In the ancient times, agrimony herb was used in several brews, solutions, and tonics. The leaves and flowers contain a unique chemical composition which acts as a detoxifying, astringent, coagulating, and anti-inflammatory substance on the body. Owing to all the benefits of agrimony, it has been used in the direct and indirect treatment of a wide variety of ailments over time.Request For Report Sample:Agrimony Market SegmentationAgrimony market can be segmented on the basis of form, application, distribution channel and region.By form, agrimony market can be segmented into powder and dried leaf form. Among which the demand for dried leaf form is expected to increase in the forecast period.By application, agrimony market can be segmented into food and beverage industry and pharmaceutical industry. In food and beverage industry the agrimony herb is used to make herbal tea as it cures a sore throat and diarrhea. It also prevents skin diseases. In the pharmaceutical industry, agrimony is used for sore throat, mild diarrhea, upset stomach, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), fluid retention, gallbladder disorders, cancer, tuberculosis, bleeding, corns, and warts due to the presence of tannins, coumarins, flavonoids, including luteolin, volatile oil, and polysaccharides. It can also be used as a gargle, heart tonic, sedative, and antihistamine. Agrimony can be applied directly to the skin as a mild drying agent and for inflammation as well.By distribution channel, agrimony market can be segmented into direct and indirect sales. The indirect sales can be further sub-segmented into convenience stores, specialty stores, pharmacy stores, online retail, and others.Agrimony Market Drivers Restraints and TrendsMajor drivers driving the global agrimony market include the growing health concern among consumers and rising demand for herbal treatments. Based on the benefits of the agrimony, the medicinal demand of it is increasing and people are getting attracted towards it. It has been studied that due to the presence of anti-diabetic property, the active components of agrimony can moderate the glucose and insulin uptake processes in the body better than many other natural diabetic treatments. It acts as an anti-inflammatory agent and aids in digestion. It also improves respiratory conditions like bronchitis and sinus issues too. It improves skin health, prevents psoriasis, eczema, or any other skin condition. It detoxifies the body and modifies the function of the liver and gallbladder, thereby preventing serious health issues and promoting overall metabolic efficiency. Recent studies are also being carried out about agrimonys anti-cancerous properties, which can be further used to prevent cancer. These medicinal benefits of agrimony are opening great opportunities to the global market.Apart from all the benefits and uses, the herbal remedies from agrimony must be used carefully, as they can cause certain susceptible individuals to experience the symptoms of photodermatitis, a type of skin rash which can develop after the consumption of the herb and which comes on when the person's skin is constantly exposed to direct sunlight. The consumption of this medicine can also lower down blood pressure level of that particular individual, hence the herbal remedies should not be carried out by those who are susceptible to low blood pressure issues. These are some of the factors which can further retain the agrimony market to grow in the forecast period.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Agrimony Market Key PlayersSome of the major key players involved in the production of agrimony are Emorsgate Seeds, Falcon Russia., Healingherbs Ltd., G. Baldwin & Co., Monterey Bay Spice Company, Inc., Carrubba INC., and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.Contact Us:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way,Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage,New York 10989,United StatesTel: +1-347-918-3531Fax: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Burner Management System (BMS) Market - Oil and Gas Sector Emerges as Leading End-use Segment

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Based on a research report, the global industrial burner market exhibits a significantly fragmented competitive landscape, observes Transparency Market Research. This scenario exists mainly due to highly diversified participants in the market, spread all over the glove. The competitive landscape is further identified to possess a highly intensive characteristic. With more players getting added to the vast competitive landscape of this market, the professional rivalry between key players is expected to rise tremendously in the next few years. Such an evolution is expected to occur through strategies such as mergers with smaller companies, product development, and innovations. Key players operating in the global Industrial burner market include, Limpsfield Combustion Engineering Ltd, Selas Heat Technology Company, ANDRITZ, Bloom Engineering, Forbes Marshall, Foster Wheeler AG, Honeywell International Inc. (Maxon), Baltur S.p.A, Wesman Group, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, Ltd, Bloom Engineering, Oilon, Osaka Gas Co., Alzeta Corporation Ltd, and QED Combustion among others.Obtain Brochure@The global industrial burner market is poised to expand at a CAGR of 3.0% during the forecast period from 2016  2024. The market had registered a previous valuation of US$19.6 bn in 2015, which is expected to increase up to US$25.6 bn by the end of 2024.The global industrial burner market exhibits its leading segment in the form of petrochemicals under the end users criteria. Petrochemicals demand a high usage of industrial burner systems, thus stoking the associated market. Region-wise, the global industrial burner market shows maximum spread in North America, which makes it hold the winning regional segment title. Concrete establishment of several key players in this region, along with subsequent high demand for the burners has also made North America a leading geographical segment.Rapid Industrialization Boosts Burner Device SalesHeat sources in the form of burner devices are highly convenient as well as efficient to use in several work sectors. Such convenience is a prominent driver for the global industrial burner market, due to which the devices are used on a large-scale basis. The burners are extensively used while extracting natural resources, as a part of the infrastructure used. Regions such as North America are kings in the sector of natural resource extraction processes, thus positively contributing towards a better market growth. This market is projected to witness a stellar growth in the grounds of high demand registered by burner management systems. This system provides a lot of protection against boiler explosions, which is highly needed in several industrial processes. From an overall perspective, favorable governmental initiatives, extensive product innovations for developing improved devices, and rapid industrialization are prime growth drivers of the global industrial burner market.Obtain Report Details @In spite of these driving factors, the global industrial burner market is affected by a few hindrances too. Limited availability of skilled labor is one such restraint that significantly cause negative effects on the market. However, a steady awareness about the use of these devices is spreading in various regions, which is expected to reduce the unskilled scenario plaguing the market.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Wireless Connectivity Market: Worldwide Industry Analysis and New Market Opportunities Explored

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Wireless connectivity is a technique used by homes, communication networks, and enterprise connections to reduce complex cable networks across buildings. Wireless connectivity equipment is deep rooted in many electrical device markets. WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS are becoming universal for certain devices such as smart phones and mobile phones. Besides this, wireless connectivity is also required in applications in Internet of Things (IoT), ranging from control devices and gateways to cloud.Wireless connectivity is used by IoT devices to enable an access point through which communication and data transfer between two devices can take place. Collaborations and partnerships is one of the major trends in the wireless connectivity market. For instance, partnerships between ZigBee and other organizations such as EnOcean GmbH are anticipated to drive the self-powered energy harvesting internet-of-things devices in areas such as building automation and home automation.Obtain Report DetailsMajor factors driving the global wireless connectivity market include rise in adoption of IoT and cloud computing, increase in demand for smart phones and other wireless technology devices such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, and WiFi, growth in connectivity of the Internet, and escalation of demand for low-power wide-area (LPWA) networks.However, lack of uniform communication principles is hampering the wireless connectivity market. Additionally, the intervention with other electromagnetic sources, layered structure, and physical object are also the key factors that adversely affect the evolution of wireless connectivity technology.Consequently, these factors act as restraints for the wireless connectivity market. Key challenges for the global wireless connectivity market include requirement of enhanced security of information and concession among features such as power consumption, data rates, and range for numerous wireless technologies.Brochure With Latest Advancements and ApplicationIncrease in need for cross domain applications could open up new opportunities for the wireless connectivity market. Additionally, rise in government subsidies for the development of IoT provided by countries such as India, the U.S., Canada, Australia, and South Korea is also estimated to offer new opportunities to the wireless connectivity market.The wireless connectivity market in Asia Pacific is in its promising stage; the region is projected to be among the major adopters of wireless connectivity devices. Rise in inclination of consumers toward advanced technological products is likely to boost the wireless connectivity market in Asia Pacific in the near future. Furthermore, government initiatives by countries such as Japan, China, India, and South Korea in the field of electronics and semiconductors are providing lucrative opportunities for electronics and semiconductor industries across Asia Pacific.Obtain Table of ContentNorth America consists of technologically advanced countries such as Canada and the U.S. The U.S. and Canada offer vast potential for the application of Internet of Things. This is expected to propel the market for wireless connectivity technologies. In turn, this is anticipated to augment the wireless connectivity market in the region.The global wireless connectivity market can be segmented in terms of technology and application. Based on technology, the wireless connectivity market can be segmented into WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, ZigBee, EnOcean, cellular technologies, and others. Based on application, the wireless connectivity market can be segmented into health care, wearable devices, automotive and transportation, and consumer electronics.About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. We have an experienced team of Analysts, Researchers, and Consultants, who us e proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.Each TMR Syndicated Research report covers a different sector  such as pharmaceuticals, chemical, energy, food & beverages, semiconductors, med-devices, consumer goods and technology. These reports provide in-depth analysis and deep segmentation to possible micro levels. With wider scope and stratified research methodology, our syndicated reports thrive to provide clients to serve their overall research requirement.ContactTransparency Market Research90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Underwater Wireless Communication Market: Increasing Investments By Governments In The Defense Sector

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The installation of heavy cables for establishing high-speed communication between the remote source and surface had its own demerits in terms of cost and durability. This triggered the necessity for underwater wireless communication.Underwater wireless communication networks are being increasingly deployed across the world, owing to their ability to provide support and differentiated services for several applications, including surveillance and real-time monitoring for pollution, environment, ocean current, and climate.Governments worldwide are pouring funds into the development and improvement of communication infrastructure. This is, in turn, working in favor of the global underwater wireless communication market. These networks are used across different verticals, including oil and gas, marine, and military and defense.Obtain Report Details:The military and defense segment will account for a large share in the market, thanks to the increasing investments by governments in the defense sector. Oil and gas will also be a prominent revenue contributor in the market.The growth of the segment can be attributed to the increasing onshore and offshore exploration activities. The marine segment is expected to register healthy growth during the review period.The global underwater wireless communication market holds immense potential and therefore, an influx of new players is expected, intensifying the competition in the near future. Mergers and collaborations are among the commonly adopted strategies by large players to expand their product and service portfolio and enhance their visibility in the market.Underwater Wireless Communication Market: IntroductionUnder water wireless communication network is adopted by several industries which are located near to seashore, to provide support services to maritime applications. As there is a certain increase in offshore oil and gas industries the demand for monitoring pollution in water environment, and detection of objects under sea has increased the scope of underwater wireless communication market.There are several applications of underwater wireless communication in aerospace and marine industry. Under water wireless communication is reliable source for high level operational process and also it is preferred by most of the organizations because it gives quality throughput in low power.Request Brochure:Underwater Wireless Communication Market: Drivers and ChallengesThe major factor driving the demand for underwater wireless communication is the rising demand for controlled under water vehicles. In marine application, under water vehicles plays a vital role to provide present situation under the water with fast speed. It also help industries for continuous monitoring without any loss of information. The underwater wireless communication has several advantages over wired communication such as data security which is also responsible for the growth of market. Pollution monitoring is used for the purpose of pollution acoustic pollution control which is also turning to be a factor driving the demand for underwater wireless communication market in positive manner.The major restraint face by the underwater wireless communication market is regarding to security concern while transmitting wireless signals.Get TOC:About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.TMRs data repository is continuously updated and revised by a team of research experts so that it always reflects the latest trends and information. With extensive research and analysis capabilities, Transparency Market Research employs rigorous primary and secondary research techniques to develop distinctive data sets and research material for business reports.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email:sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Optoelectronic Components Market - Cost-effective LED Drivers and ICs in High Demand

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Companies such as Nichia Corporation, Avago Technologies, Infineon Semiconductors N.V., and OSRAM have all shown a high level of interest in strategic business alliances in the form of mergers and acquisitions in the optoelectronic components market, finds Transparency Market Research (TMR) in a new study. Additionally, there already exist a large number of regional optoelectronic components providers, making this market a highly competitive one.TMR suggests that this competition will intensify over the coming years. The possibility of new entrants joining the competition is very high, although the new players will need innovative ideas and a strong distribution chain to establish their claim on the optoelectronic components market share.Request a PDF Brochure with Research Report Analysis @The telecom industry, a key end user of optoelectronic components, is ramping up its demand for them owing to a greater market penetration of telecom applications in industrial settings, finds TMR. It is becoming a major reason for key optoelectronic components providers to consolidate their efforts through innovations, new product development, and the implementation of new technology post positive research and development.Optoelectronic Components Manufacturers Seek Major Opportunities in Automotive and Consumer ElectronicsInfrared LEDs are currently the top reason why a major chunk of optoelectronic components comes from the automotive industry, stated a TMR expert. So far, infrared LEDs have found use in consumer electronics such as remote controls. Optoelectronic components are now being used in security camera controls and car lighting, significantly increasing their market value and production scope.Optoelectronic components are rapidly finding scope of use in automobile headlights, auxiliary lighting, turn indicators, and other signaling. Additionally, optoelectronic components are also being used in mobile payment, gesture recognition, night vision instruments, active safety systems, and other technologies.Other fields of use of optoelectronic components include healthcare, residential and commercial buildings, defense, and aerospace. The power efficiency and stability they impart to lighting and communication systems have made users hold them in high regard in both short and long term usage.Obtain Report Details @The industrial setup has also been a highly potent application field for optoelectronic components, where they can improve the flexibility of a network and allow multi-service integration.LED Driver and IC Components to More than Double in Revenue by 2023In 2014, the LED driver and IC components had held a share of 37.6% of the total revenue generated in the market. The increasing demand for cheaper optoelectronic components with advanced features has increasing the use of laser diodes, LED drivers, ICs, and other components. The LED driver and IC components segment was valued around US$22 bn and is expected to almost touch US$50 bn before the end of 2023.The global optoelectronic components market is progressing at a CAGR of 9.7% through a cumulative result of the above factors, within a forecast period from 2015 to 2023. This market was valued around US$60 bn and will cross US$137 bn in 2023. Asia Pacific will retain its regional lead in optoelectronic components consumption, with North America and Europe in second and third position, in terms of revenue.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Global Structured Cabling Market to Reach US$11.45 bn by 2021

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The global structured cabling market is primarily driven by increasing demand for higher bandwidth globally. High bandwidth is most important for applications such as video calling, faster data transmission, online gaming and file downloading among others. Thus with the increase in the number of internet users, the demand for high bandwidth is expected to increase considerably across different commercial, industrial and IT (information technology) sectors.Request Sample Copy of the Report @According to the United Nations International Telecommunications Union, the number of internet users worldwide was estimated to be around 3 billion in 2014. This number is expected to increase considerably in the coming years and in line with this, structured network demand over corporate sector is also expected to increase through forecast period. This in turn triggers the need of advanced structured cabling solution globally. In addition, the need for modernization and expansion of communication network adopted by different enterprises is also expected to accelerate the demand for structured cabling globally.The global structured cabling market is segmented on the basis of solution type, application and geography. By application, the structured cabling market has been segmented into commercial, residential, government, industrial and transportation. On the basis of solution type, structured cabling market is segmented into hardware, software and service.The hardware segment is further segmented into fiber cable, racks and cabinets, copper cable and patch panel and cross connects. By geography, the structured cabling market has been classified into: North America, Asia Pacific, Europe and Rest of the World (ROW).Among the different solution type of structured cabling, hardware segment held the largest market share with 89.0% share in 2014. The hardware segment is mainly driven by copper cable. However, across the different applications of structured cabling, the residential sector is expected to be the fastest growing market during the forecast period. The modular design of structured cabling is very flexible and supports future up gradation where new cable structure can be added or move without any new modification in the cabling infrastructure.Browse Market Research Report @This makes it most suitable for residential purpose and thus results in higher adoption of structured cabling infrastructure in the residential sectors. By geography, North America held the largest market share in structured cabling market and accounted for 38.8% market share in 2014. Being a mature market owing to high penetration level, the structured cabling market in North America is predicted to experience sluggish growth in the coming years. Europe held the second largest market share in the global structured cabling market. Initiative taken by European Commission to reduce carbon emission and electricity consumption is also responsible for the robust growth of structured cabling market in Europe during the forecast period.Some of the major market players operating in the structured cabling market are: Legrand SA (France), Belden Inc. (US), CommScope Holding Company Inc. (Carolina), Schneider Electric SE (France), and Corning Inc. (New York) among others.About TMRTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a global market intelligence company providing business information reports and services. The companys exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trend analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather and analyze information.Contact TMR90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA - Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Exclusive Forecast Study Observes Car Battery Chargers Market to Incur Value Growth at 7.1% CAGR During 2017-2027

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Governments around the globe are taking initiatives to reduce pollution levels, imposing rules on utilisation of conventional vehicles. Promotion of hybrid and electric vehicles by offering subsidies and incentives is also contributing to growth. This has led to a rise in adoption of electric vehicles, which in turn, has driven demand for car battery chargers globally. Future Market Insights (FMI), in its report, projects the global car battery chargers market to register a steady 5.1% volume CAGR during the forecast- 2017-2027. In 2017, 5,445 thousand units of car battery chargers are expected to be sold globally, and this number will reach 8,994 thousand units by 2027-end.Growing Developments in Performance & Costs of Electric Cars to Drive Market GrowthDevelopments in the performance and costs of electric cars, and other benefits including pollution reduction, climate change mitigation, and diversification have been estimated to drive the adoption of electric cars, thereby influencing sales of electric car battery chargers. FMIs report states that the sales of electric cars has witnessed a surge since 2010, with battery electric vehicles outselling plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Sales of electric cars have witnessed a boom in China, through public-private and direct investment. Several public policies have encouraged the development of publicly accessible charging over the past few years. The aforementioned factors are expected to drive the growth of the market during the forecast period. In contrast, limited availability of charging stations, and increasing manufacturers of unorganised battery chargers with no regulations and norms are factors expected to affect the market growth.Request For Report Sample@Automatic Charging to Remain Preferred Among ConsumersBased on charging type, automatic charging is expected to remain preferred during the forecast period. Sales of automatic charging equipment are expected to surpass 6,000 thousand units by 2027. The manual charging is projected to register 4.6% volume CAGR during the forecast period. Although sales of float chargers will be higher relatively, smart chargers are estimated to register the fastest growth through 2027. The growth of smart chargers is attributed to its stable demand in Western Europe and Eastern Europe regions, as well as surging demand for automatic and advanced car battery chargers globally. Trickle chargers are projected to exhibit the second largest CAGR among charger type.Electric Car Battery Chargers to Hold the Largest Market Share by 2027By product type, electric car battery chargers are expected to hold the largest market share; however, volume sales of car battery chargers will remain comparatively higher during the forecast period. The 12V-48V batteries are expected to retain their dominance over the global car battery chargers market throughout the forecast period, in terms of volume. In contrast, above-48V batteries are estimated to witness the highest CAGR, followed by up-to-12V batteries through 2027. The 12V-48V batteries will exhibit the lowest CAGR. Based on portability, portable chargers will remain dominant; however, plug-in chargers are projected to exhibit a comparatively higher volume CAGR through 2027.In terms of volume, North America is expected to witness the highest sales of car battery chargers during the forecast period, followed by Asia Pacific Excluding Japan (APEJ) and Western Europe. Rising environmental concerns and stringent emission norms imposed on vehicles in Europe and North America are expected to drive the sales of car battery chargers across these regions. APEJ is projected to become the most attractive market for car battery chargers by 2027-end.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Key players identified in FMIs report include CTEK Holding AB, Delphi Automotive LLP, Schumacher Electric Corporation, Clore Automotive LLC, Baccus Global LLC, Robert Bosch GmbH, Current Ways Inc., AeroVironment, Inc., IES Synergy, Chargemaster PLC.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Valve Prostheses Market to be at Forefront by 2025

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Aortic aneurysm is widening of the aorta (the largest artery in the human body) at a certain spot, which can potentially rupture the artery. The abdominal aorta is generally observed to have the maximum diameter of >3 cm. In most adult patients, there is a high risk of developing aneurysm primarily below the renal arteries. If not treated immediately, aortic aneurysm can lead to a life-threatening condition with massive internal bleeding. As the aorta carries blood from the heart and runs through the chest and the abdomen, aneurysms are possibly observed at these locations and termed as abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) and thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA), respectively. There are two types of aneurisms viz. ruptured aneurism and symptomatic (non-ruptured) aneurism. Two methods employed to repair the abdominal aortic aneurism are open AAA repair and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR).Endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) is performed to correct the aneurysms in which the weak spot is sealed tightly with an endovascular stent graft. Devices used for repairing abdominal aortic aneurysm are known as abdominal aortic aneurysm repair devices or more commonly, endovascular stent grafts. Globally, physicians are preferring the endovascular repair of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) over the open surgical repair, due to minimally invasive nature of the procedure and rapid recovery. Presently, more than 60% of AAA repairs performed are EVARs rather than the open surgery, which reflects the increasing adoption of endovascular stent graft systems.Request to View Brochure of Report -Growing adoption of technologically advanced products, rising research and development of vascular grafts, and increasing addiction of smoking are factors boosting the global Abdominal Aortic Aneurism Prostheses Market. However, high cost of the surgery and complications associated with the treatment methods are some of the restraints for the market.The global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market can be segmented based on type of treatment, type of product, end-user, and region. In terms of treatment type, the market can be categorized into open surgery and endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR). Open surgery involves incision of the abdomen under general anesthesia. Once the abdomen is opened, the aneurism is repaired using a cylindrical tube known as graft. In contrast to open surgery, EVAR is a minimally invasive procedure which involves advancing a stent graft via femoral arteries of the groin. The EVAR segment is expected to expand at the maximum CAGR during the forecast period, owing to low cost of the procedure, reduced hospital stays and patient trauma, and high success rate offered by technologically advanced devices. In terms of product type, the global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market can be further classified based on type of material used and shape of graft. In terms of type of material, the market can be categorized into polyester grafts and ePTFE grafts. In terms of shape of graft, the market can be divided into straight grafts and bifurcated grafts.Request to View ToC of Report -Based on end-user, the global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market can be categorized into hospitals, specialty clinics, and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs). Currently, hospitals and specialty clinics segments dominate the global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market. However, the ASCs segment is expected to witness rapid growth during the forecast period, owing to increasing preference for day care surgeries.Geographically, the global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market can be categorized into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is likely to dominate the global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market during the forecast period. Rapid advancements in technology along with continuous efforts made by key players to develop novel products are driving the market in this region. Europe is the second-largest market for abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses, as a large number of players are headquartered in the region. Asia Pacific is projected to be an emerging market for abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses from 2017 to 2025. The developing health care infrastructure coupled with favorable government initiatives is augmenting the market in the region.Key players operating in global abdominal aortic aneurism prostheses market include Medtronic, Cook, B. Braun Melsungen AG, W. L. Gore & Associates., VASCUTEK Ltd., ENDOLOGIX, INC., Bolton Medical, Cardinal Health., JOTEC GmbH, and Lombard Medical, Inc.View Repoort -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Robotic Surgery Market to Develop Rapidly by 2025

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Robotic surgery, also known as robot assisted surgery, is an emerging advanced medical technology which helps specialist surgeons perform many types of complex procedures with more accuracy, control, and flexibility as compared to the conventional procedures. Robotic surgeries are associated with minimally invasive surgical procedures. Surgical robots have overcome the limitations of the current laparoscopic procedures and enhanced the benefits of minimally invasive surgeries.ROBODOC by Integrated Surgical Supplies Ltd. was the first surgical robot approved by the FDA in August 2008. It was first used to place the femur, with better precision, in hip replacement surgeries, now it has been used in more than 28000 joint replacement procedures. Similarly several other robotic systems such as AESOP system (a voice-controlled robotic endoscope), Da Vinci, and Zeus have been approved by the FDA. Robotic surgery using the Da Vinci Surgical System was approved by the U.S. FDA in 2000 and has been adopted in the U.S. and Europe hospitals for treating various conditions. Mechanical arm and camera arm with surgical instruments are extensively used for clinical robotic surgery providing the surgical team with a 3-D view of the surgical site. The Robotic Surgery Market is rapidly expanding. New projects have been launched on corporate and academic levels for the development of miniaturized, lightweight prototypes of surgical robots.Request to View Brochure of Report -Facilitation of improved ergonomics and magnified view with dexterity by robotic platforms facilitate the uptake of minimally invasive procedures. This is expected to drive the market during the forecast period. Image guidance complementing the robotically assisted procedures, through the concepts of augmented reality, is anticipated to be a major revolution in the dealing of difficulties associated with new minimally invasive procedures. It is predicted that availability of evaluated, approved, and established robotic surgery clinical data, less complications associated with low surgical site infection, minimal blood loss, less pain, faster recovery, and minimal scarring are projected to further propel the market. However, lack of fully established and trained surgical team and equipment make robotic surgeries an expensive procedure as compared to the conventional approach. This is likely to hinder the market. Additionally, the current robotic system is not very versatile and is often bulky, which can discourage the adoption of these procedures.In terms of components, the robotic surgery system market is segmented into surgical systems, robotic surgery services, and instruments & accessories. Robotic surgery services segment is expected to expand at a rapid pace. High maintenance cost and annual service contract which comes with the product at the time of sale are expected to boost the segment. The instruments & accessories segment is expected to hold a major market share due to the rise in adoption of robots assisted surgeries. Based on application or area of surgery, the market is segmented into laparoscopy, gynecology, urology, orthopedic, pediatric surgery, general surgery, and others. Robotic surgical system is anticipated to offer immense alternatives in urology, thoracic, colorectal, gynecological, general and pediatric surgeries. Urology accounted for a major share of this market due to the rise in prostatectomy procedures. Basis on end-user, the robotic surgery market is segmented into hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers. Hospital segment accounted for a major share due to the availability of the trained professional surgical team for performing these surgeries along with advanced infrastructure.Request to View ToC of Report -In terms of geography, the robotic surgery market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America is expected to dominate the market due to the increase in acceptance of these robotics by patients, advanced health care infrastructure, and strategic collaboration with insurance companies. Asia Pacific is expected to be the next biggest market after North America due to rapid development of robotic surgical systems and increase in demand of surgical robots in countries such as China and India. The global market is dominated by established companies and increasing competition in factors such as pricing, distribution partnership, product and technology upgrade.Key players operating in the robotic surgery market include Intuitive Surgical Inc., MAKO Surgical Corp., Medtronic Inc., Accuray Incorporated, Hansen Medical Inc., Blue Belt Technologies, Mazor Robotics Ltd., SRI International, Curexo Technology Corporation, and Think Surgical Inc.View Report-About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:About Me Scott Because prophetic scriptures are found throughout the bible, it is obvious that a comprehensive, systematic approach would be useful, if not necessary, for the understanding of prophecy. Past prophecies have been fulfilled in a literal manner, as confirmed by the dating of these writings and historical records of confirmation. These past prophecies also serve as a model of how to interpret future prophecies. A literal view of prophecy clearly indicates a certain sequence of events will occur within a single generation, concluding with the Tribulation and Second Advent and these events will be obvious. The prophetic signs appear to be present in this generation and we believe these signs are revealed in the news from around the world. View my complete profileMolecular Point-of-care Diagnostics Market to Record Sturdy Growth by 2025

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Point-of-care diagnosis involves medical tests performed at or near a patients location. These tests can be performed outside a clinical laboratory, and primarily include diagnosis done at physicians office, in an ambulance, or on-field diagnosis. Molecular diagnosis involves analysis of biological markers and has wide applications in disease monitoring and testing, risk analysis, cancer diagnosis, and others. These tests were designed as physicians needed quick analysis of samples to diagnose diseases and avoid complications. Traditional microbial testing methods were non-specific, lengthy, and time consuming procedures. Molecular diagnostics have armed doctors with highly specific, quick, and accurate diagnosis methods. Presently, point-of-care testing has become an integral part of the diagnostics market, and widely used in emergency rooms, community health centers, school health programs, and home testing.Based on application, the global Molecular Point-Of-Care Diagnostics Market can be segmented into infectious disease, oncology, autoimmune disease, hematology, and others. In terms of test location, the market can be categorized into point-of-care tests and over-the-counter tests. The global molecular point-of-care diagnostics market is driven by quick and accurate results, and ability to carry out tests without laboratory set-up. The market is also driven by consistent rise in emergency medical cases. The trend is also shifting from hospital testing to point-of-care testing, where patients can be diagnosed in shortest possible time, and also reduce hospital stay. Increase in awareness about diseases and available diagnosis and treatment methods has given rise to the concept of preventive health care, with patients being actively involved in disease diagnosis. In 2007, Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) waiver policies were modified stating that FDA approved tests for home use also qualify for CLIA waiver.Request to View Brochure of Report -This boosted the growth of the home diagnostics market which is dominated by immunochromatography based cassette kits. These trends coupled with advances in the biotechnology sector are likely to propel the molecular point-of-care diagnostics market. Growing burden of diabetes and infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, dengue, malaria, flu, and many other diseases have demanded better diagnosis services in short span of time such as molecular point-of-care diagnosis. Cases of drug abuse are also on the rise in the countries in the West. According to a survey conducted by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction, Britain has the largest number of drug addicts in Europe. The survey also details that cannabis abuse is highest and cocaine abuse is rising rapidly. These incidences also support market growth.Request to View ToC of Report -Geographically, the global molecular point-of-care diagnostics market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. Majority of the molecular point-of-care diagnostics market is concentrated in North America and Europe owing to increase in demand for near patient testing and diagnosis of disease at molecular level. Asia Pacific is an emerging market and is expected to grow at a rapid pace during the forecast period due to increase in per capita income, vast population base, developing medical sector, and rise in trend for medical tourism. High cost of molecular point-of-care diagnostics and lack of awareness hamper the growth of the market in regions such as Latin America and Middle East & Africa.Key players operating in the global molecular point-of-care diagnostics market include Abbott, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., bioMerieux, Danaher, DiaSorin, Sysmex, and Siemens Healthineers.View Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Upstream Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Process Market Progresses For Huge Profits During 2025

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Bioprocessing, commonly known as biopharmaceutical manufacturing, falls under bioprocess engineering used in the cultivation of therapeutic cells. The end products of bioprocessing are high value products and used to work on specific target. Two types of processes are used in biopharmaceutical manufacturing: upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing and downstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing. The steps involved in upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process are development of media, cell culture, harvesting of cells, and fermentation. The biopharmaceutical manufacturing process is carried out under aseptic condition at constant temperature.The pH levels are adjusted according to microorganism used and are monitored during the entire process. The upstream process provides optimum environment required for the growth of cells. Upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing is used for large scale cultivation of proteins, vaccines, hormones, antibiotics, enzymes, and other therapeutic products. The products thus obtained from biopharmaceutical manufacturing are used to treat chronic diseases such as immunogenic disorders, diabetes mellitus, and other deficiencies related to growth hormones.Request to View Brochure of Report -The global Upstream Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing Process Market is driven by increasing prevalence of chronic. Continuous technological innovation has led to high yield of biopharmaceutical production, as technology aims at faster and easier process of production. Additionally, increase in awareness about application of upstream process in cell therapy, cell banking, antibody production, drug discovery, and recombinant proteins accelerate the growth of the upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process market. High cost of establishing an upstream processing unit and its maintenance acts as a restraint of the market.The global upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process market can be segmented based on cell type, process type, product type, end-user, and region. In terms of cell type, the global market can be bifurcated into bacterial cell and mammalian cell. Based on process type, the global upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process market can be categorized into continuous biopharmaceutical process systems and single-use biopharmaceutical process system. In terms of product type, the global market can be classified into fermenters and bioreactors. Based on end-user, the global upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process market can be divided into contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs), contract research organizations (CROs), biopharmaceutical companies, and academic and research institutes.Request to View ToC of Report -In terms of region, the global upstream bioprocessing equipment market can be segmented into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the global upstream bioprocessing equipment market. The U.S. is the major contributor to the growth of the upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process market in the region, as a lot of research activities are carried in this field. The U.S. dominates the use of single use biopharmaceutical manufacturing process systems as compared to continuous biopharmaceutical manufacturing process system.Europe is the second largest market due to presence of key players. The market in Latin America and Middle East & Africa is witnessing sluggish growth, but are expected to project great potential as increasing interest of top players to invest in these regions. The upstream bioprocessing manufacturing process market in Asia Pacific is expected to grow at a rapid pace due to availability of low cost of processing units such as CMOs and CROs. In Asia Pacific, mainly Japan contributes the growth of the market due to contribution of the Japanese biopharmaceutical and food & beverage industry.Key players in the global upstream biopharmaceutical manufacturing process market are Merck KGaA, GE Healthcare, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co. KG, BiOZEEN, and Katalyst Bio Engineering, among others.View Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Human Thrombin Market to Record Ascending Growth by 2025

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Thrombin is a serine protease enzyme encoded by a specific gene named F2 and is used to convert fibrinogen (soluble) into fibrin (insoluble). This conversion mimics the ending coagulation cascade step that includes the clotting mass which sticks to the wound surface and attains hemostasis and closing of open tissues. Human thrombin is a sterile solution, pH 6.8-7.2, comprising highly purified human thrombin for the activation of clotting. Human thrombin is used in several medical surgeries in the management of uncontrolled bleeding. It is also used in diagnostic centers and clinics in various applications such as coagulation assays, defibrination of blood or plasma, and clotting factor tests. R&D applications of human thrombin include several research activities such as protein-structure analysis, in vitro study, coagulation research, biochemical research, and medical research.The global Human Thrombin Market can be segmented on the basis of product type, dosage form, and end-user. Based on product type, it can be classified into three categories: alpha-thrombin, beta thrombin, and gamma-thrombin. Human alpha-thrombin is prepared from human prothrombin (homogeneous) by activation with Factor Xa, Factor Va, and phospholipid. SDS-PAGE is the preferred purification method. A minimum activity of around 2,200-2,700 NIH units/mg is shown by the activated human thrombin when compared to NIH standard thrombin. On the other hand, human -thrombin and -thrombin are prepared from purified a-thrombin by limited proteolysis with TPCK-treated trypsin.Request to View Brochure of Report -Purity is measured by SDS-PAGE and activity is calculated using a fibrinogen clotting assay. Based on the dosage form, the global human thrombin market is segmented into solution form, powder form, patch, spray kits and others. On the basis of end-users, it is segmented into hospitals, diagnostic and clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, and academic and research institutes. Among the end-users, the hospital segment is anticipated to lead the market due to increase in the number of surgeries. The rising hemostatic use of thrombin-based products during surgeries has fuelled the demand for thrombin in the hospital segment.The global human thrombin market is mainly driven by rising adoption in various research and diagnostic applications. Professionals have also observed a growth in human thrombin uptake, which is attributed to lesser post-operative complications and safer hemostatic condition. Human plasma is the only source for the production of human thrombin; thus, it carries a risk of transmitting infectious agents, such as viruses. Also, the presence of unknown infectious agents is also possible in the human thrombin. This is the major factor hindering the growth of the human thrombin market. In order to avoid such conditions, proper screening of the plasma donors for prior exposure to certain viruses is required.Request to View ToC of Report -Based on geography, the global human thrombin market has been segmented into major five regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and Middle East & Africa. In 2016, North America and Asia Pacific accounted for the largest share of the human thrombin market, followed by Europe. The United States held a significant share of the human thrombin market in North America due to rise in the number of surgeries and increasing number of mobile surgical units and ambulatory centers. Asia Pacific is anticipated to show the fastest growth during the forecast period due to major contribution from countries such as Japan, India, and China. Japan dominated the market in Asia Pacific in 2016 due to the adoption of new thrombin therapies led by high awareness, significant health care spending in overall national budgets, early availability of advanced technologies, and extensive research activities. However, Latin America and Middle East & Africa are expected to witness moderate growth due to slow adoption of latest technologies.Some of the major players operating in the global human thrombin market are Baxter, AMRESCO Inc., BD Biosciences, Life Technologies Corporation, PromoCell GmbH, Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Vitrolife AB, CSL, Bayer, Grifols, Octapharma, Shanghai RAAS, and Hualan Biological.View Report -About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Low Code Development Platform : 54.5% CAGR by 2025 | major players - AgilePoint, Bizagi Appian Corporation, Caspio, Inc., Mendix, OutSystems, MatsSoft Inc and Other

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Press Release - 11 Mar 2018Global Research and Development News --. .Report Description-' ' Global Low Code Development Platform Market: Overview  This report provides an analysis of the global low code development platform for the period of 2015 to 2025, wherein the period from 2017 to 2025 comprises the forecast period and 2016 is the base year. Data for 2015 is provided as historical information. The report covers all the major trends and technologies playing a major role in the growth of the low code development platform market over the forecast period. It also highlights various drivers, restraints and opportunities expected to influence the markets growth during the said period. The study provides a holistic perspective on the markets growth in terms of revenue in US$ Mn, across different geographical regions namely North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and South America.. . Get Sample Report' ' Low-code platforms have the capability to resolve delivery-speed problems more cost effectively, with improved performance and at greater scale, than traditional development methods. Currently, vendors are more focused on aiding organizations of all sizes with an aim to drive business creativity by rapidly transforming ideas into advanced and secure omni channel applications. Low-code development platforms have evolved as a faster way to deploy and build innovative business applications. Cloud based mobile apps will largely be attractive for enterprises, as they would want to reduce the data security issue inherent in BYOD. The growing demand for low code development platforms in industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, IT & telecom, government, BFSI and education is expected to reinforce the growth of the low code development platform market over the forecast period. Global Low Code Development Platform Market: Scope of the Study  The market overview section of the report showcases the market dynamics and trends such as the drivers, restraints and opportunities that influence the current nature and future status of this market. The report also provides ecosystem analysis and key market indicators for the low code development platform market. The low code development platform market data estimates are the result of our in-depth secondary research, primary interviews and in-house expert panel reviews. These market estimates have been analyzed by taking into account the impact of different political, social, economic, technological and legal factors along with the current market dynamics affecting the market growth. Global Low Code Development Platform Market: Key Segments  Low code development platform market is bifurcated by type and deployment type. By type, the global low code development platform market is categorized into general purpose platform, mobile - first app platform, database app platform, request handling platform, process app platform and others. Among these, mobile - first app platform and general purpose platform are the major segments which are expected to fuel the growth of low code development platform market over the forecast period. Based on deployment type, the market is segmented into on-premise and cloud-based. Furthermore, the cloud-based deployment segment is further categorized into public, private and hybrid. Among these deployment type, hybrid cloud is the key segment which is expected to enhance the growth of low code development platform market around the globe. Global Low Code Development Platform Market: Competitive Outlook  The report also includes competitive profiling of the key players associated with the low code development platform around the globe. The important business strategies adopted by them, their market positioning, financials, SWOT analysis and recent developments have also been identified in the research report. The competitive landscape section of the report also gives an overview about the major contributing regions/countries by these key players in order to strengthen their market position in the future. Some of the major players in global low code development platform market are AgilePoint, Bizagi Appian Corporation, Caspio, Inc., Mendix, OutSystems, MatsSoft Inc., Salesforce.com, Inc., Microsoft Corporation and Google Inc. Details such as financials, business strategies, SWOT analysis, recent developments, and other such strategic information pertaining to these players has been duly provided as part of company profiling. Market Segmentation:  Low Code Development Platform Market, by DeploymentCloud1. Private2. Public3. HybridOn-premise Low Code Development Platform Market, by Type1. General Purpose Platform2. Database App Platform3. Mobile - First App Platform4. Process App Platform5. Request Handling Platform6. Others In addition, the report provides analysis of the Low Code Development Platform Market with respect to the following geographic segments:North America1. The U.S.2. Canada3. Rest of North AmericaEurope1. The U.K.2. Germany3. France4. Rest of EuropeAsia Pacific (APAC)1. India2. China3. Japan4. Australia5. Rest of APACMiddle East and Africa (MEA)1. GCC Countries2. South Africa3. Rest of MEASouth America1. Brazil2. Argentina3. Rest of South America. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents..Table of Content1. Preface1.1. Market Definition and Scope1.2. Market Segmentation1.3. Key Research Objectives1.4. Research Highlights2. Assumptions and Research Methodology3. Executive Summary : Global Low Code Development Platform Market4. Market Overview4.1. Market Dynamics4.1.1. Drivers4.1.2. Restraints4.1.3. Opportunities4.2. Market Indicators4.3. Life Cycle- Low code platform4.4. Key Trends4.5. Global Low Code Development Platform Market Analysis and Forecasts, 2015  20254.5.1. Market Revenue Projections (US$ Mn)4.6. Porters Five Force Model4.7. Value Chain Analysis4.8. Market Outlook5. Global Low Code Development Platform Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Deployment5.1. Definitions5.2. Market Analysis and Forecast (US$ Mn) By Deployment, 2015  20255.2.1. Cloud5.2.1.1. Private5.2.1.2. Public5.2.1.3. Hybrid5.2.2. On-Premise5.3. Market Attractiveness By Deployment6. Global Low Code Development Platform Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Type6.1. Definitions6.2. Market Analysis and Forecast (US$ Mn) By Type, 2015  20256.2.1. General Purpose Platform6.2.2. Database App Platform6.2.3. Mobile-First App Platform6.2.4. Process App Platform6.2.5. Request Handling Platform6.3. Market Attractiveness By Type7. Global Low Code Development Platform Market Analysis and Forecasts, By Region7.1. Key Findings7.2. Key Trend7.3. Market Analysis and Forecast (US$ Mn) By Region, 2015  20257.3.1. North America7.3.2. Europe7.3.3. Asia Pacific7.3.4. Middle East and Africa7.3.5. South America7.4. Market Attractiveness By Country/Region8. North America Low Code Development Platform Market Analysis and Forecast8.1. Market Analysis and Forecast (US$ Mn) By Deployment , 2015  20258.1.1. Cloud8.1.1.1. Private8.1.1.2. Public8.1.1.3. Hybrid8.1.2. On-Premise8.2. Market Analysis and Forecast (US$ Mn) By Type, 2015  20258.2.1. General Purpose Platform8.2.2. Database App Platform8.2.3. Mobile-First App Platform8.2.4. Process App Platform8.2.5. Request Handling Platform8.3. Market Analysis and Forecast (US$ Mn) By Country, 2015  20258.3.1. The U.S.8.3.2. Canada8.3.3. Rest of North AmericaResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074Interactive Robots : CAGR 75% by 2021 | Advancements in artificial intelligence demand | Blue Frog Robotics, Pal Robotics, Savioke

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Press Release - 11 Mar 2018Global Research and Development News --. .Report Description-' ' Interactive robots are used to automate some of the mundane and irksome tasks in several applications such as hotels, restaurants, domestic chores, multimedia, education and research, and many more. The robots act as companions or assistants in undertaking tasks in cooperation with humans. These robots are either mobile or stationary and enhance the engagement with humans.. . Get Sample Report' ' Technavios analysts forecast the global interactive robots market to grow at a CAGR of 74.69% during the period 2017-2021. Covered in this report The report covers the present scenario and the growth prospects of the global interactive robots market for 2017-2021. The report presents a detailed picture of the market by way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. The market is divided into the following segments based on geography: 1. Americas2. APAC3. EMEATechnavio's report, Global Interactive Robots Market 2017-2021, has been prepared based on an in-depth market analysis with inputs from industry experts. The report covers the market landscape and its growth prospects over the coming years. The report also includes a discussion of the key vendors operating in this market.Key vendors1. Softbank Robotics2. Blue Frog Robotics3. Vstone4. Savioke5. Pal RoboticsOther prominent vendors1. Ecovacs Robotics2. Future Robotics3. ASUS4. Fellow Robots5. AvatarMind6. Robot Care System7. Bossa Nova Robotics8. HondaMarket driver1. Innovation budget by governments for robotics2. For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket challenge1. High complexity in designing2. For a full, detailed list, view our reportMarket trend1. Advances in artificial intelligence technology2. For a full, detailed list, view our reportKey questions answered in this report1. What will the market size be in 2021 and what will the growth rate be?2. What are the key market trends?3. What is driving this market?4. What are the challenges to market growth?5. Who are the key vendors in this market space?. . More Clear Details get Table of Contents..Table of ContentsPART 01: Executive summaryPART 02: Scope of the reportPART 03: Research MethodologyPART 04: IntroductionMarket outlinePART 05: Market landscapeMarket overviewValue chain analysisMarket size and forecastFive forces analysisPART 06: Market segmentation by applicationGlobal interactive robots market by applicationGlobal interactive robots market by companion, humanoid, and assistance robotsGlobal interactive robots market by multimedia, education, and research robotsGlobal interactive robots market by guidance and marketing robotsGlobal interactive robots market by hotel assistance robotsPART 07: Market segmentation by productInteractive robots market by productsGlobal interactive robots market in mobile robotsGlobal interactive robots market in stationary robotsPART 08: Geographical segmentationGlobal interactive robots market by geographyInteractive robots market in APACInteractive robots market in EMEAInteractive robots market in the AmericasPART 09: Decision frameworkPART 10: Drivers and challengesMarket driversMarket challengesPART 11: Market trendsAdvances in artificial intelligence technologyEmotional intelligence in roboticsCollaborations to develop interactive robotic solutionsPART 12: Vendor landscapeCompetitive landscapeOther prominent vendorsPART 13: Key vendor analysisSoftbank RoboticsBlue Frog RoboticsVstoneSaviokePal RoboticsPART 14: AppendixList of abbreviationsList of ExhibitsExhibit 01: Impact of drivers and challenges on the growth of the global interactive robots marketExhibit 02: Global interactive robots market overviewExhibit 03: Value chain of the global interactive robots marketExhibit 04: Key market dynamicsExhibit 05: Global interactive robots market 2016-2021 ($ millions)Exhibit 06: Performance of the global interactive robots marketExhibit 07: Five forces analysisResearchMoz is the worlds fastest growing collection of market research reports worldwide. Our database is composed of current market studies from over 100 featured publishers worldwide. Our market research databases integrate statistics with analysis from global, regional, country and company perspectives. ResearchMozs service portfolio also includes value-added services such as market research customization, competitive landscaping, and in-depth surveys, delivered by a team of experienced Research Coordinators.Researchmoz Global Pvt. Ltd.90 State Street,Albany, NY 12207,United States,Tel: 866-997-4948 (Us-Canada Toll Free),Tel: +1-518-621-2074Conveyor Systems Market to Register Steady Expansion During 2014 - 2020

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Automation in every industrial segment has become an integral part of industrial operations. Conveyor systems are mechanically-operated material handling equipment, which are used to transport material within premises. They provide a quick and effective transportation solution with a high degree of safety. Therefore, due to effectiveness of conveyance, a considerable amount of cycle time is reduced in the industrial process. The same factor helps in reducing the errors in handling manual material. Early commercialisation of the conveyor system took place for transportation of heavy materials in the industrial sector.On the basis of their end user applications, conveyor systems can broadly be categorised as automotive, airport, retail, mail logistics,and food and beverage.Assembly line, body shop, paint shop and few others are key application areas of conveyor systemsin the automotive sector. Nevertheless, the retail sector utilises these systems for distribution and warehousing, sorting, cross-docking, and distribution. Conveyor systems are an integral part of airport facilities for baggagehandling. Usage of the conveyer system in airport facilities is likely to increase due to growing air traffic across the globe, and the development of new airport locations. Moreover, the growing demand for food and beverage is propelling the adoption of conveyor systems to boost production rates.Request For Report Sample@On the basis of their design modification, conveyor systems can be categorized as roller conveyor, belt conveyor, crescent conveyor, palletconveyor, overhead conveyor and others.In order to meet the needs and demands of customers, manufacturers provide highly customized products.Growing demand for cost-effective material handling systems and increasing automation in the industrial sector are two of the major driving factors of global conveyor systems market. It is expected that, global conveyor systems market will witness a steady CAGR of around 3%-4% for the period of 2014-2020. The developing automotive, retail, and food and beverage industriesare also likely to fuel the growth inAsia-Pacificconveyor systems market. Europe is dominating the overall conveyor systems market at present and has a large conveyor system supply network with broad distribution channel. Nevertheless, Europe is likely to hold its dominance over the global conveyor systems marketat the end of forecast period. Latin America region is expected to be the fastest growing conveyor systems marketespecially in the emerging economies such as Mexico and Brazil where the industrial sector is booming. Increasedsophistication of conveyor system along with advanced technology are major trends in this market.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):A few of the most prominent market players in global conveyor systems market areDaifuku, Dematic Group, Emerson Electric, Siemens AG, Allied Conveyor Systems, Caterpillar, Dorner Conveyors, Dynamic Conveyors, Fives Group, FMC technologies, Interroll and Intelligrated. One of the key market strategies is the development of patented products with high customisations. In addition, acquisitions and strategic alliances to share technologies, can be seen in the market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Global Market for Emission Control Catalyst Market to Witness Considerable Upsurge During 2014 - 2020

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Emission control and reduction are among the priorities of all the commercial, industrial, and government sector companies. Growing concerns towards mitigation of the ill effects of carbon emissions or pollution are leading to manufacturing and process industries adopting new methods, technologies, materials, and processes. Emission control catalysts are used in catalytic convertors to lessen harmful emissions to the environment. A catalytic convertor houses a typical honeycomb structure coated with emission control catalysts such as platinum, palladium, and rhodium. Emission control catalysts can be segmented on the basis of their application as mobile and stationary.Mobile applications include automotives. These catalysts are also called automotive catalysts. Stationary applications include thermal or conventional power plants, and other industries.Request For Report Sample@Mobile application presently is the largest segment for emission control catalysts due to the increasing demand for light and heavy commercial vehicles across the globe. Catalytic convertors are mostly used in the automotive industry while stationary emission control systems utilise selective catalytic reduction, catalytic incineration, filters, and catalytic oxidation. Passenger vehicles and cargo trucks are the main source of vehicle pollution followed by two and three wheeler vehicles. Emission control catalysts or convertors are now increasingly being used for NOx reduction from power plants, reduction of sulphur, and removal of toxins from exhaust smoke.Europe is the most lucrative emission control catalyst market. The heavy presence of automobiles manufacturers, power sector companies, and industrialisation across various geographical locations in Europe are the major driving factors for the emission control catalyst market. Europe witnessed 8.8% growth in commercial vehicle registrations. This prominent market was the global leader in FY 2013, and is expected to continue its growth trajectory in the future. Supportive government regulations to curb the ill effects of pollution offer a smooth roadmap for emission control catalyst enterprises to penetrate in European market. Industrial pollution in Europe is the next major setback for the government, as it costs them billions of dollars. Germany, Poland, UK, and Italy possess major refineries and heavy power segments which contribute major damage to the European nations. In such a scenario, the European market is in need of effective solutions that possess the capability to curb the pollution. Therefore, Europe is seen as the most lucrative market for business enterprises operating in the emission control catalyst market.Other prominent markets are North America followed by MENA and APAC region. North America contributes a major share to global pollution. USA is the leading market as the highest contributor to air pollution in North America region. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Texas are the states reporting the highest air pollution levels in USA. Many prominent locations in USA are witnessing ozone depletion which is a major cause of concern for government officials. As such, this situation makes emission control catalysts an urgent need in these pollution chronic regions. MENA is the next potential region for the emission control catalyst market. Presence of mining industries and oil borne locations are the major driving factors in MENA region. India, China and Singapore are the prominent destinations for emission control segment. Development in the automobile sector, oil refineries and maritime transportation are the main driving factors in APAC.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Increasing automotive fleet and stringent environmental regulations on the international platform are the prime driving factors for growth in emission control catalyst consumption. The global emission control catalyst market is expected to grow between 7% and 9% CAGR over the next five years. Though the market seems promising for business enterprises operating in emission control catalysts, the emergence of battery-powered vehicles could be a major setback to this flourishing industry. Some of the major players include Johnson Matthey, BASF, Umicore, Faurecia, Nett Technologies, and others. Companies are investing in R&D to offer first class products to different end use industry verticals. Acquisitions and mergers are the strategies adopted by key market players to strengthen their position on the global market platform.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Key Insights of Future Prospects of Glass Fiber Reinforced Plastic (GFRP) Composites Market During 2014 - 2020

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Glass fiber is a lightweight and durable fiber produced from very fine fibers of glass. As compared to carbon fibers, glass fibers exhibit low brittleness and the fibers of glass used for their production are more cost effective. Moreover, as compared to metals, the glass fibers are possess better properties, both strength wise and weight wise. Furthermore, the glass fibers can be smoothly formed using different molding techniques. Glass fibers are widely used as an important raw material for producing distinct types of composite materials. Manufacturing of glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites, the largest class of composite materials, is the most important application of glass fibers and almost 90% of the reinforcements used in the composites industry are glass fibers. GFRP composites are extensively used in a diverse range of industries including wind energy, construction, automotive, aerospace, piping and anti-corrosive industrial equipments. The growing demand for GFRP composites from transportation and construction industries is anticipated to drive the global glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites market in the next six years.Request For Report Sample@Asia Pacific and North America are the largest producers and consumers of glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites. Both these regions together account for more than 50% of the global market for glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites. The infrastructure development and growing construction industry in emerging economies such as China and India is anticipated to drive the demand for glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites in Asia Pacific in the next six years. The North American market for glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites is primarily driven by the growing demand from construction, automotive, aerospace, wind energy and defense industries in the U.S.Apart from glass fibers, thermoset resin is a very important raw material used for the production of GFRP composites. Polyester, a cost effective and uncomplicated material, is the dominant thermoset resin used in the manufacturing of GFRP composites. Polyester thermoset resins are vastly used in producing composite materials marine, piping and building and construction applications. In addition to glass fibers and resins, some typical materials are used as fillers are used in the production of composite materials for improving the physical properties of composite materials. The manufacturers of glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites are conducting extensive research and development activities for identifying the best range of raw materials that can be use for the production of optimum quality composite materials. Nowadays, thermoplastic resin is growingly used as a raw material in place of thermoset resin in the production GFRP composites. The use of thermoplastic resins as a raw material ultimately reduces the time and cost required to manufacture GFRP composites. Moreover, the thermoplastic resins offer higher impact strength and better surface finish to the composite materials. Furthermore, thermoplastic resins can be easily molded and can be recycled. The use of such innovative raw materials improves the quality of GFRP composites and therefore, drives the demand for GFRP composites in distinct industrial applications.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Some of the major companies operating in the global glass fiber and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) composites market are Johns Manville, BGF Industries, Asahi Glass Company Limited, Advanced Glassfiber Yarns LLC, Chomarat Group, Jushi Group Co. Ltd., Taishan Fiberglass Inc., Owens Corning, PPG Industries Inc., Binani 3B-The Fibreglass Company, Saertex Group, Chongqing Polycomp International Corp., Saint-Gobain Vetrotex, Nitto Boseki Co. Ltd. and Nippon Sheet Glass Co. Ltd.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Valuable Foresights on How Bio Polyol and Green Polyol Market will Grow During 2014 - 2020

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Green polyols and bio polyols are eco-friendly alcohol solutions containing multiple hydroxyl groups. Green polyol is derived from recycled polyethylene terepthalate (PET) and polyurethanes, while bio polyol is extracted from different vegetable oils such as canola, castor and corn. Polyether polyols and polyester polyols are the two primary types of green polyols and bio poyols which are commonly used. These products are used in series of applications such as adhesives, sealants, coatings, and polyurethane foams (flexible & rigid). Different end-user consumers of these polyols include packaging, construction, transportation, furniture and carpet among others.The demand for green & bio polyols market has been majorly growing from certain end user industries such as transportation and construction. Several growth factors such as availability of raw materials and increasing prices of crude oil leading to price rise in conventional polyols have contributed to the growth of the market. Other factors such as the lower carbon footprint have also lead to a higher sustainability for green polyols and bio polyols. However, lack of technology and desired effects as compared to conventionally used polyols is expected to slow down the growth of the green polyol and bio polyol market.Request For Report Sample@North America is the largest consumer of green polyols and bio polyols where soybean and corn are the commonly used raw materials to manufacture bio polyols. Future market growth is expected to be from emerging regions such as Asia Pacific with growth of the end-user industries such as automotive and packaging, which are also expected to provide growth opportunities to the market.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Arkema S.A., BASF SE, Biobased Technologies LLC, Bayer MaterialScience, Cargill Inc., Global Bio-Chem Technology Group Co. Ltd., Emery Oleochemicals (M) Sdn Bhd, Johnson Controls Inc, and Jayant Agro Organics Ltd. are some of the key industry manufacturers dominating the green polyol and bio polyol market.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Global Dimer Acid-Based (DAB) Polyamide Resins Market to Witness Soaring Growth During 2015 - 2025

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Dimer acids which are also known as dimerized fatty acids belong to the group of dicarboxylic acids. Dimer acids are viscous fluids that are transparent and non-toxic in nature. Dimer acids are manufactured by dimerizing unsaturated fatty acids that are obtained from oleic acid, canola oil, tallow, cottonseed, tall oil and rapeseed among others. Dimer acids are widely used to synthesize polyamide resins and hot melt adhesives. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins have varied properties which makes them either reactive or non-reactive in nature. Reactive polyamides are primarily used as curing agents for epoxy resins that are generally used in the manufacturing of adhesives and surface coatings. On the other hand, the non reactive polyamides are predominantly used in the manufacturing of printing inks and hot-melt adhesives. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins exhibit physical properties such as heat resistance, cold resistance, film flexibility, fast curing, oil resistance, excellent adhesion and good compatibility among others. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins are widely used as decorative coatings, fabrics, interlining, shoe stretch, fold plastic and Baotou glue.Request For Report Sample@Growing economies of developing countries coupled with rising disposable income has boosted the overall demand for residential properties which in turn is expected to augment the overall growth of construction industry. Construction industry is the major application of adhesives and surface coatings. Thus, the growing demand for adhesives and surface coatings from various end-use industries such as construction is expected to drive the overall dimer acid-based polyamide resins market. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins are also mainly consumed in the manufacturing of printing inks. Dimer acid-based polyamide resins exhibit improved freeze thaw characteristics to the printing ink compositions. Thus, the use of dimer acid-based polyamide resins plays a crucial role in improving the overall quality of the printing inks. Thus, growing demand for printing ink is expected to augment the overall growth of dimer acid-based polyamide resins market.China is the major consumer of dimer acid-based polyamide resins owing to the presence of huge demand for adhesives and surface coatings from construction and automobile applications. North America is expected to be the next largest consumer of dimer acid-based polyamide resins owing to the presence of huge demand for printing inks in the region. The demand for DAB polyamide resins is expected to grow rapidly in Europe owing to the huge demand for surface coatings from the automobile industry present in the region. Rest of Asia Pacific is anticipated to experience huge demand for dimer acid-based polyamide resins owing to the growing construction industry in countries such as India, Japan and Korea present in the region. Rest of the World is expected to exhibit sluggish growth in the demand for dimer acid-based polyamide resins market in the near future.Arizona Chemical, Anqing Hongyu Chemical Co., Ltd., The Dow Chemical Company, Jinan Tongfa Resin Co., Ltd. and RITEKS are some of the major participants of the dimer acid-based polyamide resins market. The companies are mainly focused towards achieving economies of scale. Hence, most of the leading players are striving towards increasing their production capacities for manufacturing dimer acid-based polyamide resins market. The companies are also hugely investing in research in order to develop innovative products having superior qualities.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):This research report presents a comprehensive assessment of the market and contains thoughtful insights, facts, historical data and statistically-supported and industry-validated market data and projections with a suitable set of assumptions and methodology. It provides analysis and information by categories such as market segments, regions, product types and distribution channels.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Kolkata Knight Riders beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by nine wickets in an Indian Premier League match in Abu Dhabi.Global Galvanic Isolation Market to Exhibit Steadfast Expansion During 2015 - 2025

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Global Galvanic Isolation Market: OverviewGalvanic isolation is a designing technique that isolates functional sections of electrical systems to eliminate stray current. Optical isolators and transformer are generally used for galvanic isolation, which ensure AC signals to pass through the circuit but not stray current. Various galvanic isolation components such as relays and capacitors are used in intrinsic safety isolators, and healthcare equipment and monitoring system. In addition, galvanic isolation can be used in medical imaging devices, UPS, and invertors etc.Global Galvanic Isolation Market: SegmentationGalvanic isolation market is segmented into vertical and region. On the basis of vertical the global galvanic isolation market is segmented into telecom sector, healthcare sector, public sector, industrial sector, manufacturing sector, energy and utility sector, and transportation sector. FMI forecasts, telecom sector is expected to create a huge market opportunity for key players operating in the galvanic isolation market. Region wise the global galvanic isolation market is segmented into North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Asia Pacific excluding Japan (APEJ), Japan, and Middle East and Africa (MEA).Request For Report Sample@Global Galvanic Isolation Market: Region Wise OutlookThe global galvanic isolation market is expected to witness a considerable growth in CAGR during the forecast period from 2015 to 2025. North America held the lead in terms of relative market share consumption value of galvanic isolation market in 2014. As per FMI projection, the galvanic isolation market in APEJ region is expected to grow at a fastest CAGR during the forecast period.Global Galvanic Isolation Market: DriversGalvanic isolation device is easy to install, provides signal conversion options and is cheaper than other isolators. In addition, long-term performance of galvanic isolation device and application specific design are some of the major factors identified in the market that are driving the growth of galvanic isolation market across the globe.Global Galvanic Isolation Market: RestraintFailure of galvanic isolation devices without any notification, alert or symptoms can act as a restraint which is expected to hinder the growth of the galvanic isolation market.Global Galvanic Isolation Market: Competitive LandscapeMajor players in the global galvanic isolation market focus on investing on research and development activities in order to come up with advanced products. For example, Avago Technologies limited launched dual-channel R2Coupler optocoupler devices, the ACFL-621xT and ACFL-521xT in 2015. These optocoupler have especially been designed for automotive applications. Additionally, in the same year, Avago Technologies limited launched a wide range of latest industrial fiber optical products in Europe.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Global Galvanic Isolation Market: Key PlayersSome of the major players operating in the global galvanic isolation market are Corrpro Companies Inc., Avago Technologies limited (AVGO), STMicroelectronics N.V., ROHM Semiconductor, Perle Systems Europe Ltd., Infineon Technologies AG, Professional Mariner LLC., Pepper+Fuchs GmbH and Analog Devices Inc. (ADI) etc.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:In-Depth Forecast & Analysis on Nanomaterials Market for 2015 - 2025

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The science of nanomaterials has created a lot of expectation amongst various end user industries. With the increasing applications of nanomaterials, the demand for it is increasing at an increasing rate and is becoming a part of daily lives. Nanomaterials are important product under the nanotechnology. They embrace nanoparticles, smaller than 100 nanometres in at least one dimension. Nanomaterials are widely used in healthcare, electronics, cosmetics and other areas nowadays. Continuous improvement and innovation in the field is driving the growth of the global nanomaterials market.The extraordinary physical and chemicals properties of materials at the nanometre scale enable novel applications ranging from energy conservation and structural strength enhancement to antimicrobial properties and self-cleaning surfaces. The nanotechnology is being increasingly modernised by expending largely on R&D activities which is resulting in the advancement of existing technologies and innovations with reference to the new materials.Request For Report Sample@Energy storage and construction market is providing a huge growth potential to these materials and driving the overall market for nanomaterials. The increasing electronics market is also providing opportunities to the global nanomaterials market due to the falling prices and improving materials property and efficiency.NanomaterialsMarket: Drivers & RestraintsThe market penetration of the already existing materials and ongoing development of new materials and applications is driving the global nanomaterials market. The unabated market for nanomaterials is being strongly supported by the governmental funding to support the potential growth. The increasing availability of several methods in the field of nanotechnology and new novel methods for fabricating the patterned nanostructures is offering opportunity for better modeling. Some of the other drivers for the growth of global nanomaterials market is partnerships & strategic alliances, increasing number of market players and newer material developments. One of the major factor restraining the growth of global nanomaterials market implies to the growing concerns over environmental impact and toxicity of nanomaterials.NanomaterialsMarket: SegmentationOn the basis of material type, the global nanomaterials market is segmented as follows:Metal Oxide (Silica, Aluminium Oxide/Hydroxide, Titanium Dioxide, Zinc Oxide, Iron Oxide, Other Metal Oxides)MetalsChemicals and Polymers (Nanopharmaceuticals, Liposomes, Other Chemicals & Polymers)NanotubesOthers (Conventional Materials and New Materials)On the basis of applications the global nanomaterials market is segmented as follows:ConstructionPackagingConsumer GoodsElectrical and ElectronicsEnergyHealth CareTransportationOthers.Nanomaterials Market: Region-wise OutlookThe global nanomaterials market is expected to register a favourable growth for the forecast period, 2015?2025. North America and Europe are the two prominent regions that are projected to endure the control on the global nanomaterials market. Decreasing prices due to the increasing mass production is responsible for the robust growth of the above mentioned markets. The demand for nanomaterials is also surging across Asian regions. The Asia-Pacific region is projected to witness remarkable growth rate owning to the greater demand of nanomaterials in the developing regions like India and China and their continuous research and developmental activities.Request For Report Table of Content (TOC):Nanomaterials: Key PlayersThere are a lot of players in the nanomaterials industry of which some of the key market participants in global nanomaterials market are BASF, EMFUTUR Technologies, Evonik Industries, Sigma-Aldrich Co. LLC, Bayer AG, SkySpring Nanomaterials, Altair Nanotechnologies Inc., and Nanomaterials Company and others.ABOUT US:Future Market Insights (FMI) is a leading market intelligence and consulting firm. We deliver syndicated research reports, custom research reports and consulting services, which are personalized in nature. FMI delivers a complete packaged solution, which combines current market intelligence, statistical anecdotes, technology inputs, valuable growth insights, an aerial view of the competitive framework, and future market trends.CONTACT:Future Market Insights616 Corporate Way, Suite 2-9018,Valley Cottage, NY 10989,United StatesT: +1-347-918-3531F: +1-845-579-5705Email: sales@futuremarketinsights.comWebsite:Neonatal Equipments Market size and Key Trends in terms of volume and value 2012 - 2018

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Global Neonatal Equipment Market: OverviewNeonatal equipment comprises a wide range of medical systems used especially to monitor newborn babies. Neonatal equipment is vital in ensuring the health of the baby, as newborns are susceptible to even relatively minor pathogens and need constant care. The importance of neonatal equipment is illustrated by the fact that around 40% of total child deaths across the world happen in the neonatal stage. Complications in premature births and asphyxia are the key concerns addressed by neonatal equipment.Get Brochure of Report @The report presents a detailed review of the historical growth trajectory exhibited by the global neonatal equipment market. Furthermore, the latest figures of the neonatal equipment market are assessed in the report, and provide a solid basis for reliable forecasts regarding the markets growth trajectory in the coming years. The segmentation and hierarchy of the global neonatal equipment market is examined in the report by various criteria, which helps provide readers with a clear picture of the influential dynamics in the market.The report examines the various product segments of the global neonatal equipment market in order to provide a granular view of the markets performance. The neonatal equipment market is divided into monitoring devices, thermal control equipment, life saving equipment, and therapy equipment. Of these, the monitoring devices segment is sub-segmented into pulse oximeters, bilirubinometers, and apnea monitors. Key sub-segments of the thermal control equipment market are incubators, radiant warmers, and transport incubators, while the life saving equipment segment comprises ventilators, concentrators, and CPAP machines.Get TOC of Report @Global Neonatal Equipment Market: Trends and OpportunitiesThe prime driver for the global neonatal equipment market is the rising awareness about the importance of neonatal care in ensuring the health of newborns. Due to this, governments in many developing countries are proactively supporting the adoption of advanced neonatal equipment. This is likely to remain a key driver for the global neonatal equipment market in the coming years.The steady technological innovation in medical devices has also been a key driver for the neonatal equipment market in the recent past. The progressive improvements brought about in the design of neonatal equipment have served to boost patient confidence, which has helped achieve widespread adoption. The rising investment in the healthcare sector is likely to make this a key driver for the global neonatal equipment market in the coming years.Enquiry for discount on this report Global Neonatal Equipment Market: Geographical and Competitive DynamicsRegionally, North America is the leading contributor to the global neonatal equipment market. This is primarily due to the widespread availability of advanced healthcare technologies in North America and the steady government support for the same, which has facilitated easy incorporation of advances in neonatal equipment.Despite North Americas sustained dominance in the global neonatal equipment market, Asia Pacific is likely to emerge as a key regional market in the coming years. Governments in several Asia Pacific countries have adopted a proactive stance in terms of enhancing the healthcare sector in the respective country, which is likely to remain a key driver for the Asia Pacific neonatal equipment market in the coming years.Some of the leading players in the global neonatal equipment market are GE Healthcare, Medtronic plc, and Philips Healthcare. While the market is dominated by multinational players with a diverse product catalog and widespread regional reach, smaller players also have significant resources in terms of specific technologies or devices and thus perform a key role in the global neonatal equipment market.View report :About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:Casting and Splinting (Supplies and Equipment) Market Attractiveness, Competitive Landscape and Key Players 2016 - 2024

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https://www.transparencymarketresearch.com/casting-splinting-market.html

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Demand for casting and splinting has significantly risen in the last few years, bolstered by the increasing incidence of sports, orthopedic, and musculoskeletal injuries. The aged are more prone to injuries, hence growth witnessed in the geriatric population globally will fuel overall prospects for the market in response.Get Brochure of Report @With the evolution of technology, producers are looking to use advanced materials for manufacturing casts and splints. This subsequently is expected to boost sales of casts and splints worldwide. The market however is likely to get restrained by the unfavorable reimbursement policies, as per Transparency Market Research (TMR). Nevertheless, in the near future the presence of high unmet needs in emerging economies will present attractive opportunities for vendors in the market.TMR pegs the overall value of the global casting and splinting market at US$1.8 bn in 2015. The market is poised to reach US$3.1 bn by the end of 2024.Asia Pacific Exhibits Conditions Conducive to Growth in Casts and Splints SalesRegionally, Asia Pacific has been exhibiting the highest prospects in the global casting and splinting market, followed by North America. Demand for casts and splints is visibly high in countries such as India, Korea, and China. The high incidence of osteoporotic hip fractures and road accidents in these countries has resulted in their lead in the Asia Pacific market for casts and splints.Get Sample of Report @Many producers who manufacture affordable casting equipment in large-scale are domiciled across these countries thus gratifying the increasing demand in local and international markets. Furthermore, casts and splints are widely used in Asia Pacific, due to which, their price in the region is comparatively low. This has resulted in the increased demand for casts and splints and consequently has earned increased revenue for the regions casting market. The regional market will also gain from the rapidly growing population in India and China.TMR finds the Asia Pacific market for casting and splinting stood at US$487.1 mn in 2014. Rising at a CAGR of 6.9% from 2015 to 2024, the market is expected to reach US$888.1 mn by the end of the forecast period.TMR projects North America to continue holding the second-largest share in the market during the forecast period. The increasing incidence of osteoporosis and musculoskeletal injuries in the region will aid expansion of the casting and splinting market in North America.Enquiry for discount on this report Demand for Cast Supplies will Remain High Through the Forecast PeriodThe major products available in the market can be broadly classified into casting supplies and equipment and splinting supplies and equipment. Of these, the casting supplies and equipment segment held over 60% of the market in 2015. Castings are ubiquitous methods of treating bone fracture hence hold larger share in the market. The demand for casts is expected to surge at a steady pace due to the increasing number of traumatic and accident injuries. Demand from the segment will also rise due to the increasing osteoporotic geriatric population, particularly in countries with high population.The most common casting supplies and equipment available in the market include casting tapes, plaster casts, casting tools, and cast cutters. Of these, cast cutters held a share of 30% in the cast products market in 2015. Demand for cast supplies is expected to remain high through the forecast period.Companies such as 3M Healthcare, Stryker Corporation, BSN Medical GmBH exhibit the largest regional outreach with presence across diverse casting and splinting product categories. A few other prominent names operating in the market include AliMed, Bird & Cronin, Inc., Corflex, Inc., DJO, LLC, DeRoyal Industries, Inc., Orfit Industries n.v., Ossur hf., Patterson Medical Holdings, Inc., Spencer Italia S.r.l., Stryker Corporation, and Zimmer, Inc.View report :About UsTransparency Market Research (TMR) is a market intelligence company, providing global business information reports and services. Our exclusive blend of quantitative forecasting and trends analysis provides forward-looking insight for thousands of decision makers. TMRs experienced team of analysts, researchers, and consultants, use proprietary data sources and various tools and techniques to gather, and analyze information. Our business offerings represent the latest and the most reliable information indispensable for businesses to sustain a competitive edge.US Office Contact90 State Street, Suite 700Albany, NY 12207Tel: +1-518-618-1030USA  Canada Toll Free: 866-552-3453Email: sales@transparencymarketresearch.comWebsite:27.8k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Trump was ranting about the media during his rally in Pittsburgh when he called NBCs Chuck Todd a son of a bitch in a moment of total meltdown.

Video:

Video of Trump calling NBC's Chuck Todd a son of a bitch in Pittsburgh rally meltdown. https://t.co/DxR01u8hwg #PA18 pic.twitter.com/UeG9uFKro0  PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) March 11, 2018

Trump said, Did you ever see the story where it is 1999; Im on Meet The Press a show now headed by sleepy eyes chuck Todd. He is a sleeping son of a bitch, Ill tell you. And they showed it this morning. 1999. And Im talking about North Korea. You got to take them out now.

Trumps attack on Chuck Todd came out of nowhere, and was the largest indication yet that the president hates anyone who criticizes him. If you are not on Fox News and kissing Trumps ring, you are an enemy. Todd has been calling out Trumps failing administration with facts on a nearly daily basis on his MSNBC show MTP Daily.

Trump is now using his platform as president to attack members of the free press for reporting facts. No matter how you feel about Chuck Todds work, no journalist deserves to be attacked at a presidential rally.

Donald Trumps attack on Chuck Todd was an attack on the free press, and his remark about Todd was evidence that this president is in full mental meltdown.

PoliticsUSA has positions open for writers. Click here to apply.

To discuss this story and more join our Rachel Maddow and MSNBC group.446 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

In an interview to be aired Sunday morning on Meet the Press Chuck Todd asked Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts some very pointed questions. Such as, are you running for president in 2020? and will you promise to serve a full six years if you are re-elected to the Senate in 2018?

Senator Warren is very popular with a segment of the Democratic Party which supported Bernie Sanders for president. She also is the leading advocate for protecting consumers, especially people affected my financial crimes on Wall Street.

Video:

WATCH: @SenWarren (D-Mass.) tells Chuck she is "not running for president" when asked multiple times if she will finish a full six-year term if re-elected to the Senate. Catch the full interview tomorrow on Meet the Press. #MTP pic.twitter.com/OrIOxsb8hZ  Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) March 11, 2018

During the interview Warren:

refused to pledge to serve out a full six-year term in the Senate if reelected in 2018,and told Chuck Todd that she is not running for president.

However she did make some other interesting comments. She said, Let me actually make a  underline a point on this one, and that is we cant just be a party that says, Oh, were paying attention about what happens every four years. And I know theres a lot of anxiety, particularly on the Democratic side, about how we are going to deal with Donald Trump in 2020.

I take it as a no youre not pledging to serve your full six year term if you win reelection? Todd responded.

I already told you. I have no intention of running for the United States, for president, she responded. This government is working better and better and better for a thinner and thinner slice at the top. I am in these fights, and I am in this fight to retain my Senate seat in 2018. Thats where Im focused. Thats where Im going to stay focused. Im not running for president.

Warren has also been in the news over the past week for her comments on a bill deregulating some of the countrys largest banks. Warren accused some congressional Democrats of siding with banks and money interests instead of working families.2.5k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

The largest newspaper in two counties in Pennsylvanias 18th Congressional District just endorsed Democrat Conor Lamb in the PA House special election.

The Observer-Reporter wrote in their endorsement of Lamb, We believe one of the two candidates would be better positioned to be the kind of moderate, conciliatory figure that is needed in this tempestuous moment in our political life, and that is Conor Lamb.

The endorsement continued, The first Democrat with a shot at winning the conservative congressional district in many years, Lamb has refrained from full-frontal attacks on Trump and has instead relentlessly focused on what he believes are key issues for the district. He promises to make fighting the opioid epidemic a front-and-center priority, with a greater investment in treatment and prevention. Lamb is also a supporter of the Marcellus Shale industry, but believes the health and safety of residents should be a central concern. Pledging to protect Medicare and Social Security is a customary stance for candidates of either party to adopt, but Lamb is also offering a forward-looking proposal for younger people that would allow debt from student loans to be refinanced, and would help some students pay their loans if they take on certain kinds of public service jobs. We were struck by Lambs sincerity and self-possession. We believe he would be a sound choice for voters in the 18th Congressional District.

Why the Conor Lamb newspaper endorsement matters

The endorsement demonstrates why the Trump rally for Saccone was such a disaster. Trump promised that Saccone would vote for him 100% of the time, but voters in the 18th District dont want a partisan rubber stamp as their congressman. They are looking for someone who will represent them, and meet them in the middle.

Donald Trump carried Washington County 60%-35% over Hillary Clinton. Trump carried Greene County by a 62%-36% margin over Clinton. These are not Democratic areas. They are deep red, and Trump made a major tactical error when he assumed that voters wanted a candidate who would be his lapdog.

Conor Lamb has run a fantastic campaign because much like Doug Jones did in Alabama, he is a moderate who is focusing on representing the needs of his potential constituents, not partisan politics.

Voters want to be heard, and that is why Conor Lamb is in a fantastic position to win on Tuesday night.1.4k SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN) called for his fellow Democrats to support universal healthcare. Ellison, the vice-chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), believes a unified approach to healthcare will also heal divisions in his party.

In an interview on SiriusXM POTUS radio channel, Ellison said that the Medicare-for-all movement was gaining approval with more and more people in the Democratic Party.

Our movement is ascending, but the truth is that, for many years, people werent there, Ellison said on air. More and more people are coming on every day, but not everyone is on. We have to convince them, we have to talk to them, we need to engage in a respectful, fact-based debate about which systems are the best.

Ellison is now in charge of leading a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives known as The Expanded & Improved Medicare for All Act (H.R. 676). This bill would provide universal healthcare coverage to all Americans.

The healthcare benefits provided in H.R. 676 would include:

primary care and prevention, dietary and nutritional therapies, prescription drugs, emergency care, long-term care, mental health services, dental services, and vision care.

Everybody would get a card, and you can get the care that you need, not unlike what they have in Canada right now. And truth be told, every major industrial country has a universal system; many of them have single-payer systems, Ellison said on the podcast.

Ive never met a Canadian that wants to switch their system for ours, he continued. They like their system. Do they complain about it? Yes. Because, guess what? People complain about stuff no matter where they live.  But I can tell you that people who live in Canada and benefit from that health care system, they like it.

Pogressive stalwart Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), tweeted his support for Ellison and his plan a few days ago. Sanders has sponsored his own Medicare for All bill in the U.S. Senate. Single-payer healthcare was a big part of Sanders 2016 presidential campaign.

For Ellison and Sanders, the good news is that universal healthcare legislation is being supported now by a majority of the Democratic Caucus.

With Keith Ellisons leadership, I know we will be able to take on the greed of health insurance and pharmaceutical companies and finally guarantee health care to all, Sanders tweeted.778 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Print Mail Flipboard

Fred Guttenberg has no faith in politicians ability to stand up to the NRA. Thats why he has decided if anything is going to be done about guns in the United States, he has to do it himself.

On February 14th, his daughter Jaime was murdered in her high school hallway, in Parkland, Florida. The lovely and precocious 14-year-old girl was running away from the shooter when a bullet struck her in the back and fatally severed her spinal cord.

Soon after Guttenberg met with his Republican senator Marco Rubio, who has taken large amounts of money from the NRA. He looked Rubio in the eye and told him that his response (and Trumps response) had been pathetically weak. He believes that it is time for politicians to admit that guns are a major problem, and to take meaningful, concrete steps to prevent future mass murders.

Guttenberg wants to ban assault weapons such as the one used to kill his daughter, but this is NOT his top priority at this time.

I dont think it will ever happen in this environment, he said. As much as I would like to see that, Im interested in taking steps to start dealing with the safety issue in a pragmatic way.

His gun control priorities are:

raising the age to buy guns  young people can buy military-style assault rifles before they are legally allowed to buy alcohol; adding a reasonable waiting period before someone can buy a gun; ensuring an effective background check system (without loopholes); and a ban on the sale of high-capacity ammunition clips and bump stocks.

Guttenberg believes guns should be treated in some ways like cars, with licensing requirements, including registration and insurance. This seemingly rational approach was considered to be a policy that even Democrats (including Obama) believed was too extreme and so they did not pursue it.

Guttenberg said that was ridiculous. Anyone who says theres no support for gun legislation thats as minimal as that should be fired. Thats what I think.

He promises to keep fighting for what he now believes must be a top priority for our nation. The only time I dont think about my daughter and just want to cry, to be honest, is when Im busy doing this, Guttenberg said. At least I feel like Im doing something to honor her memory.

The students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas have organized a March For Our Lives event in Washington, D.C. on March 24 with hundreds of thousands expected to attend. In addition, over 500 other marches will be held around the United States and the entire world. Millions of people will be demanding new laws that attempt to end gun violence and mass murders.

The activism from his daughters Stoneman Douglas classmates, and from kids all over the country, gives Guttenberg hope. Meanwhile, he said, hes not going to stop what hes doing.

Im not going away, he said.Charleston, SC (29403)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Low 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Low 73F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected. Locally heavy rainfall possible.Hes selling his art. Hes stopped the cancer treatment. Hes finding peace in his relationship with his children. He said hes ready to die.

All thats left are the bills. And they wont let him rest.

A $388 water bill. $710 in debt to the electric company. Every month, $200 in groceries, $40 in sewage, $25 in prescriptions, $45 for cable.

He makes $750 in Social Security income.

On the phone with utilities, to hospice companies hes negotiated with, at the electric companys office, Arnold Raymond Edmondson begins the same way.

Im on oxygen 24/7. I have cancer and severe COPD. And Im dying.

Each time, he asks for help. Little has come.

Hes mostly alone in his small Summerville home, which he paid for with $37,500 cash seven years ago. An oxygenators tubes curl around his feet. It chirps like a dying smoke alarm and exhales every few seconds, a constant reminder of how its driving up his electric bill. He did the math, and thinks it could be $40 to $50 more a month.

Few organizations in the Lowcountry have programs for people in Edmondsons position.

Cancer has been killing the well-known local artist for years. He doesnt know how long hell live.

Edmondson is confronting the toughest questions about his life  mental illness, his arts worth, divorce and his fraught relationship to his family. But bills are consuming his days, and that frustrates him.

Im dying, he said. Ive got enough to worry about.

Electric, water, prescriptions, hospital stays: 62-year-old Edmondson is learning how expensive it is to reach the end of life.

The expenses of dying

Many patients in hospice or home care struggle to pay basic bills, said Bonnie Mello, director of home care services at Roper St. Francis. Utilities, prescriptions and expensive medical equipment, such as oxygenators and ventilators, are common expenses.

Roper Hospice has about 85 patients, Mello said. A few every month can't pay their bills.

Whitney Crislip, associate director of the states Hospice & Palliative Care Foundation, said the number of requests for assistance the foundation has received in 2017 and 2018 have been "exponentially more than in previous years."

The foundation, which is funded through donations, helps people in Edmondson's position if they submit an application through their hospice. The application requires copies of bills and proof the person reached out to three other organizations for aid first.

Utilities will usually agree to waive part of the bill, at least for a while, Mello said. Though it might not be their role, hospice workers often call companies to negotiate for their clients, Mello said.

Patients most often use hospice for six months or less. That is not always the case, though, and Mello said power companies are less willing to eat the cost of hospice patients' electric bills as time goes on.

Edmondson gets worked up about his oxygenator, which he needs because of his chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. South Carolina Electric & Gas wont write off the cost of the breathing machine as a medical expense as he had hoped, a spokesman for the company said.

A Berkeley Electric Cooperative spokeswoman said their company does not have a program of that kind either, though they do have a fund to help some low-income members pay their bills.

Mello said she felt there is a lack of resources in the Lowcountry to help people pay their bills in difficult situations like Edmonson's.

East Cooper Community Outreach said they provide $100,000 to impoverished households every year. They must be experiencing unforseen hardships, can receive the help once a year, and are required to complete a budgeting 101 class.

Other community groups, such as Our Lady of Mercy Community Outreach, have similar requirements and often limit their reach to certain neighborhoods.

Sheena Janse, vice president of Care for Life Charleston, said electric bills are often challenging for the elderly and those in hospice. A local program called Operation Cool Breeze provides fans to the elderly during the summer months.

The problem, Rep. Wendell Gilliard, D-Charleston, who runs the program, said: Paying for the electricity to run the fans.

A deluge of bills

Edmondson had 50 radiation treatments. Nothing worked. Doctors turned to hormone treatments, which delay the inevitable.

He said the hormone injections made him feel like he was going through menopause all the time. The side effects were too much. So he stopped.

His illnesses have kept him from his art, too.

At his prime, Edmondson was working on as many as five pieces of art every day. About 200 of his works are scattered across the county. Hes stacked many of the canvases in his house, hoping to sell them to the right buyers. That would help pay some of the bills.

Hes never been a rich man, though he has always had an almost frantic need to make art. He filled books and books with drawings, each page filled to the brim with creative thoughts.

I dont do anything a little bit, he said.

Bills have been a problem before, but lately the costs seem to be hitting him from all angles.

He said his wife supported the couple when they were together. Between the divorce 12 years ago, cancer, bipolar affective disorder and alcoholism, Edmondson hasnt found the energy to restore and sell his art.

He is always open about his past and his mental illness. He lectured, he said, with Medical University of South Carolina psychiatrist Dr. Kathleen Brady. He was her patient for decades.

Brady explained people with bipolar affective disorder often cannot restrain their impulses. She said she liked that Edmondson was always engaged with his own treatment.

He was just a patient that I always enjoyed seeing and talking to because he had such a bright and lively mind, Brady said.

Because he has Medicaid, he hardly ever has steep medical expenses. Then a $4,000 bill came from MUSC for a hospital stay in the summer. He fought it immediately, but the notices were still coming.

The latest one sat sealed on his coffee table. He admitted he was scared to open it. But he reached for it and ripped the seal.

Okay, final notice. Oh. $51.70. OK, thats not bad, he said. So Im assuming they took care of that hospital bill.

He didn't know for sure.

He got a letter from the Department of Health and Human Services on March 1. He had applied for an addendum that would help him pay for an assisted living facility. Thats what his Department of Social Services caseworker suggested he do.

He has 30 days to find a facility and decide. It gave him a sudden, and difficult, deadline. If he leaves his home, he also leaves his art. And what will happen to it then?

Growing desperation

Edmondson was in a psychiatric hospital for two weeks in February. He came back to a broken washing machine  he needs to replace that, but how?  that flooded his shed, damaged his art and racked up a $388 water bill. His son, Jacob, and a friend hauled it all inside.

Paperwork is stacked on his dining room table, in the satellite chair next to the TV and piled up with his art in the coffee table drawer. Bills, notices, brochures for the new hospice hes considering, letters from friends.

It has all become consuming. He ruminates, he said, considering every possibility and then ruling it out, only to turn back to it again.

The constants: He wants his children nearby, and he wants his art to be valued and remembered.

With each new bill, Edmondson gets more desperate.

About a month ago, he had no idea what he owed the electric company.

He wasnt sure what his SCE&G bill would be. Januarys cold snap had made the month tough for a lot of people.

He walked up to the counter and asked a staff member to pull up the month's bill. $390.91. He grimaced, then began his explanation:

Im on oxygen. I have cancer and severe COPD. And Im dying.

A receptionist nodded while he talked. I need help, he told her. I make $735 a month. How can you help me?

She told him to wait for someone to help. The office manager asked a Post and Courier reporter to leave. Edmondson walked out later with a compromise. He paid $160 that day. Edmondson knows its not for long. He still owes $710.

'Someone to help me with my illness and bills until I die'

A couple of weeks ago, Edmondson stepped on his dentures as he got out of his recliner.

Hes had them for 11 years. Hes wearing a fractured piece of the dentures  three teeth. Its enough to chew with, though he said he rarely has an appetite. He called a local denture company. They agreed to fix the plate, and it would only cost him $105. He said he cried on the phone.

He shares everything with zero inhibitions. He posted a list of his medications to Facebook. Hes quick to admit his imperfections  drug abuse, alcoholism, short stints in jail, homelessness.

He said even during his worst times, money didnt concern him too much.

I never worried so much about money because I never required much, he said. Art can class up a joint.

He would give away the art and the house if I had someone to help me with my illness and bills until I die, he wrote on Facebook recently.

Arnold Collins, executive director of the Palmetto Community Action Partnership, said a staffer would visit Edmondson on Friday morning after hearing about the situation. They will pay at least one of his electric bills, Collins said.

"Situations like this are a priority for us," Collins said.

Edmondson said he cried when his son Jacob got a job. Hed been pushing him in that direction, but Edmondson knew how much hed been relying on the young man.

He heard from his oldest daughter. They talked on the phone for four hours. He hopes she might move to Summerville to be with him. Then he wouldnt go to assisted living.

He wonders if its suicide to quit the cancer treatments. The cancer will spread without them, and then who knows how long hell have left? Maybe, if his daughter comes, hell start them again.

Ideally, his family would be close by when he passes away at home. That's the death he wants.

A lot has to fall in place if thats going to happen.

His cancer prognosis is not good, but not as bad as it could be. As for the bills, if only the power company would forgive his debt or write off the costs of the machine...

He looped back into the same thoughts. Ruminating. The oxygenator heaved and chirped.Burkina Faso security forces killed three suspected jihadist attackers at a restaurant in central Ouagadougou, Communications Minister Remi Dandjinou said on Monday.

The gunmen killed 17 people and wounded eight since attacking the Aziz Istanbul restaurant in the city centre late on Sunday.

Mr. Dandjinou said security forces are seeking to free people still trapped inside.

A Reuters witness saw customers running out of the Aziz Istanbul restaurant in central Ouagadougou as police and paramilitary gendarmerie surrounded it amid gunfire.

This is a terrorist attack, Mr. Dandjinou told a news conference.

He said the toll was provisional because the security operation was still underway.

Mr. Dandjinou said Burkina Faso security forces killed three suspected jihadists but there were still people trapped inside the building.

A woman said she was in the restaurant celebrating her brothers birthday when the shooting started.

I just ran but my brother was left inside, the woman told Reuters TV as she fled the building.

Burkina Faso, like other countries in West Africa, has been targeted sporadically by jihadist groups operating across Africas Sahel.

Most attacks have been along its remote northern border region with Mali, which has seen attacks by Islamist militants for more than a decade.

Thirty people were killed when gunmen attacked a restaurant and hotel in Ouagadougou in January 2016 in an incident claimed by al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).

AQIM and related jihadi groups were largely confined to the Sahara Desert until they hijacked a Tuareg rebellion in Mali in 2012 and swept south.

French forces intervened to prevent them taking Malis capital, Bamako, the following year, but they have since gradually expanded their reach, launching high-profile attacks on Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast.

A new al Qaeda-linked alliance of Malian jihadist groups claimed an attack in June that killed at least five people at a luxury Mali resort popular with Western expatriates just outside Bamako.

African nations launched a new multinational military force to tackle Islamist militants in the Sahel in July, but it wont be operational until later this year and faces a budget shortfall.

Turkish national

A Turkish national was among those killed in the attack in Burkina Faso by suspected jihadists, Turkeys foreign ministry said on Monday.

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The ministry said another Turk was wounded in Sundays raid on a restaurant in Burkina Fasos capital, which killed at least 17 people.

The local French embassy in Burkina Faso is in contact with local authorities regarding the attack on a restaurant and has advised its citizens to avoid the area, the French foreign ministry said on Monday.

Our embassy is being kept informed of the situation due to permanent contact with local authorities, the foreign ministry said in the statement.

(NAN)A few years ago, I visited Oyotunji Village in South Carolina, an intentional community founded by African-Americans in 1970, modelled after Yoruba culture. They speak fluent Yoruba, worship Yoruba gods, and you could easily mistake them for Nigerian Yoruba with their tribal marks and sartorial styles.

During a conversation with the new king, Adejuyigbe Adefunmi II, the son of the late founder, Efuntola Adefunmi I, he spoke of a Nigerian doctor who took care of him and his siblings when they were young. This, no doubt, pricked my interest and curiosity. I asked for his name and to my shock and pleasant surprise, I discovered it was a man from my own town in Ekiti who left for the United States a long time ago to study. He was one of the academic legends of our youth, held up by parents as examples to follow, even though most of us had never met him. He is about to return to Nigeria after a long sojourn in America. I caught up with him recently and he was gracious to share his wisdom with us on living and working in the United States as a doctor.

Afolabi Oguntoyinbo has lived in South Carolina and practiced medicine there as a pediatrician for over forty years, taking care of some of the most impoverished and distressed children in America. South Carolina is ranked as one of the poorest states in the U.S. One little known fact is that about twenty-five per cent of American doctors are foreign-born, and many of them practice in rural America and urban neighborhoods, places with high poverty rates where American doctors do not want to go. But for the services of people like Dr. Oguntoyinbo, such places will be bereft of medical care.

Here are excerpts of my interview with Mr. Oguntoyinbo.

Bunmi: Where were you born?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: I was born in Igede-Ekiti and I had my primary school education there. My father was a farmer. He liked being a farmer, but he wanted me to go to school. I attended Christs School, Ado-Ekiti and I did very well. After finishing from Christs School in 1960, I taught briefly at Ekiti Baptist High School, Igede-Ekiti before attending Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, for my Higher School Certificate (HSC).

We were the first set to do HSC at Olivet. I went back to Igede again to teach after which I was admitted to the University of Ibadan. I spent one term there and left because I couldnt afford the school fees. I then went and taught at St. Josephs School, Ondo, with two of my friends. From there, I learned that you could attend the University of Lagos College of Medicine free, so I applied and I was admitted. My set was the third set but by the time I got there, they were charging tuition. I paid my tuition with the money I saved from my teaching job at St. Joseph.

In the third year, I and nine others were asked to leave because we couldnt pay. I went to seek assistance from my former Chemistry teacher in Christs School who was a friend to the Vice Provost at the university. The Vice Provost was his professor at the University of Ibadan. After his intervention, I was allowed to stay and finish my studies. The Biafra war broke out in our third year, in 1967, and five Igbo classmates left. We had three foreigners in our class, one Pakistani, one Ghanaian, and one Canadian. I finished medical school in 1969 and did one year of internship with the Lagos Ministry of Health at Randle Avenue Health Center in Lagos. In 1970, I took the Examination for Foreign Medical Graduates (EXFMG), which allows foreign doctors to do residency in America.

Bunmi: Why did you want to leave Nigeria?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Because there was no post-graduate opportunity in Nigeria then. You can either go to Canada, England, or the United States.

Bunmi: You did your residency in pediatrics.

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Yes, I wanted to take care of children. I used to take care of them at Randle Health Center in Lagos. I was a bachelor then, so I used to go to the wards to work late into the night, even when I was not on duty. I saw many suffering mothers waiting for their children to get better. I spent one year in New Haven as a pediatric intern in a hospital affiliated with Yale Medical School. Then I decided to go to South Carolina for Pediatric Residency Training at Richland Memorial Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina.

Bunmi: Why there?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: They had the kind of training I wanted and the weather was conducive. Also, when I talked to the director and assistant director of the program, they were very nice. I got married on my way to South Carolina on June 24, 1972. I met my wife at the Randle Avenue Health Center in Lagos. I spent two years doing residency at Richland.

Bunmi: What was life like as a foreign-born black doctor in the South?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: I experienced racism and discrimination but I just considered them obstacles to be overcome. Some asked silly questions like Do you live on trees in Africa? I had an objective and I was there to fulfill that objective. I knew where I was coming from and I knew where I was going. Thinking about racism was not a part of it. I call it healthy avoidance because if you dwell on it, it could be destructive and become an obstacle to progress.

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You know, at times, people thought I was the cleaner because of the color of my skin. I had cases where white patients refused to be treated by me because they thought I didnt know what I was doing. The training I received in Nigeria was excellent so I was doing very well in my residency. One patient refused to be treated by me and suffered a heart attack. I had to revive him. He opened his eyes and I was standing right there beside him.

You can imagine what young black people here go through, being told they are not smart enough, that they cant do it. Its terribly destructive, psychologically. That is why many of them quit school, act tough, and dont have high academic goals. Unless one understands the situation, there is a tendency to blame the parents.

Bunmi: Are there any differences or similarities between your upbringing as a poor child in Ekiti and poor children in South Carolina.

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: You know, we had the support of our families, communities, and school. We didnt even know we were poor. Like many children in my town, I followed my father to the farm at 5 a.m. and worked for six straight hours before taking a break. You still had to study and do very well in school. Parents drilled into us a very high work ethic and set very high standards of performance. Parents wanted their children to do better than them.

My father wanted me to go to school, even though he loved farm work. He couldnt read. When my school report came, I was the one who read it to him. If I came third in my class, he would ask why I did not come first. Our teachers encouraged and supported us. You had to study, do your homework, and follow school regulations or you were punished. We had boys from well-to-do families in Christs school but we poor boys did just as well academically. Your being poor did not determine your performance. One of my friends in Christs school, also from a poor background, became a urologist.

Here, poor children have more challenges. Many of them dont have the home or school support because of racism. Those who are doing well do so because of the same factors that made us succeed at home. Family and community support. When you look, youll see that some adults in the family have the vision and determination to see the child succeed. The grandmothers are especially important. Educated adults in the family also act as role models.

Family togetherness is critical for the survival of the child. Poor children here attend bad schools where academic performance is not very high, those who are doing well are moved to other schools. If a child is not doing well but he is with other children who are doing well, he is likely to do better. Sharing and mixing with other children and families who are doing better contribute to development, but when a struggling child attends school with only children like him, the chances of success become very low.

We never had this kind of segregation at home, and thank God, our parents never experienced racism and discrimination, which create a lot of barriers and setback for families and children. Poor families here have huge mountains to climb because of centuries of racism that is still ongoing.

Bunmi : You also earned a Masters degree in Public Health (MPH) from the University of California, Berkley.

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Yes, I applied to Johns Hopkins and I got in but they wouldnt give me a fellowship so I waited for a year and applied to Berkley where I got one. I wanted to do Maternal and Child Health. After I finished, I practiced in the Neighborhood Health Center.

Bunmi: Why?

Dr.Oguntoyinbo: I didnt want to go into private practice that depends on the ability of the patient to pay in order to receive care. Poor kids need care, they need to be seen. I was a poor child. I go to Nigeria now and I see many cases where patients are not seen unless they pay upfront. This is not right.

Bunmi: You were the first doctor for Oyotunji Village.

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Yes, I was very impressed with them, trying to build a community that replicates life in a Yoruba village. They started at a different site. I met a couple from New York who had come to be a part of the community. They said they wanted to be taught how to live. They had to pay $1000 to join the community.

Bunmi: How is life in Beaufort generally?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: You know when I first got here, the situation was severe. There was no sanitation, no indoor plumbing, no toilets. There were infections and infestations. It was a third world country really. We had to buy air conditioners for old people in the summer because it was too hot. Some of them died in the summer of heat, and in the winter of cold. The condition was so bad they had a Congressional hearing on the harsh poverty in certain communities in the state. Things did get a little better, but what Ive noticed lately is the use of drugs. When I first got here decades ago, we didnt have a drug problem. Now, it has become a problem that devastates families.

Bunmi: Did you give medical care to white children and are their circumstances better?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: No, they are just the same as black children in this area. There is a lot of white poverty here as well. Ive always said, poverty is a world disease. It knows no race. Everyone needs access to food, good housing, good education, and a safe environment.

Bunmi: What do you think poor families can do to improve the lot of their children?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Families have to work together to encourage and support the children. When the child is told you cant do that, the family must emphasize he can. The child must be taught coping skills on how to overcome hardship and also have good work ethics. These were the skills we were fortunate to be raised with. Even if a child is doing well, he can always do better. Young or old, we all need improvements in our lives. One of the children I took care of became a doctor, a pediatrician, and he came back to the area. Im planning to invite him and another doctor to a program in Nigeria once I settle. Theyll expand their knowledge by working on cases in Nigeria.

Bunmi: What are you most proud of in your long career?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: To see the children I took care of doing well, growing up to be healthy and productive adults.

Bunmi: After over forty years here, why are you going back?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Ive always wanted to. I made two determinations when I got here. One, Ill take care of my children and support them financially until they finish their education. The other is that Ill go back home to contribute. Nigeria educated me and gave me opportunities. My parents and my community supported me. I owe them deep gratitude. I want to go back and work with young medical students. I came from a poor background. I feel a deep obligation to serve people. We used to have a good health care system at home, but we slipped back. There is so much corruption.

Bunmi: You are a father of three grown sons. What is your experience of parenting in America and what advice will you give new immigrant parents?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: I would advise new immigrant parents to keep the home language. Speak it to children and make sure they learn it. I regret not doing that. I didnt want the children to have an accent. What is wrong with having an accent? Maintain home culture and take the kids home periodically for visits. Also, pay attention to what is happening to them carefully in school. They had complaints about my first son, that he wasnt performing, that he was always drawing pictures. I found out he was bored, he was not challenged enough. So I withdrew him and his brother from public school and sent them to private schools where they thrived. In their public school, some black kids called them whitey and ridiculed them because they spoke proper and grammatical English. It was a class issue. They were children of professionals attending school with mostly poor children.

Bunmi: What do you think of the relationship between African immigrants and African-Americans?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: Its not bad but there could be misunderstandings on both sides because of lack of information. People believe what they see on television about each other leading to questions that are ridiculous. In my time, before we got here, we never read any book about the discrimination and violence visited on African-Americans here, so we could not understand why they were not doing so well. Things have improved since I arrived in 1971, and Im hopeful for the future.

Bunmi: Nigeria has mega-churches with a lot of wealth, the likes of which we did not grow up with. The traditional churches used to manage education and provide a lot opportunities for children to be educated. Are mega-churches serving the same purpose now?

Dr. Oguntoyinbo: No, they are not. They are buying jets. It was the Baptist Church that gave me a scholarship to attend Olivet Baptist High School. But for them, I wouldnt have been able to attend. I think the American Gospel of Prosperity, acquiring wealth at the expense of members, has distorted the true meaning of religion and the teaching of Jesus. He served the poor and gave, never accumulated any wealth.

Bunmi: Thank you. I wish you all the best.ADVERTISEMENT

The Nigeria Customs Service said it has identified the importer of military wares which allegedly belong to the government of Kogi State. The customs also said it issued a 30-day ultimatum to the importer.

The ultimatum was given for the importer to produce the End-User Certificate from the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Joseph Attah, confirmed this during a telephone interview with Punch newspaper.

Kogi West senator, Dino Melaye, on Wednesday accused Governor Yahaya Bello of importing military gadgets into the country.

Mr. Melaye asked the Senate to probe the procurement of the items.

The imported items include 100 pieces of military camouflage, 26 pieces of military camouflage jungle boots, 20 pieces of plastic knives, 24 pieces of black bullet proof vests, and 28 black boxing gloves.

Others are 26 pieces of arctic hunter bags, 40 pieces of training mats, 20 pieces of black batons, 100 pieces of black T-shirts, 31 pieces of protective glasses, 25 pieces of black sunglasses and 29 pieces of black uniform belts

Mr. Attah told Punch that the importer told Customs that he was in possession of the End-User certificate, which is usually issued by the National Security Adviser.

Mr. Attah said the importer was yet to be arrested even as the service was still conducting investigations.

He added that the agent had been asked to produce the End-User Certificate within 30 days and that if he fails to do so, after the ultimatum, the items would be forfeited to the federal government.

We have identified the agent who imported the items and he claimed that he had the End-User Certificate.

We have asked him to produce it. He has 30 days to do that. If after the expiration of the 30 days period, then the imported items would be forfeited to the Federal Government, he said.ADVERTISEMENT

The U.S. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, will arrive in Abuja on Monday for his first official visit to Nigeria.

A Press Advisory from the U.S. Embassy said Mr. Tillerson would hold talks with President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday.

When he arrives, Tillerson will become the highest ranking official in the Trump Administration to visit Nigeria.

The secretary is expected to hold a press conference at the Presidential Villa on Tuesday by 11.45 a.m

Tillerson is expected to be joined in the press availability by Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama, the embassy stated.

Mr. Tillerson has been on a week-long tour of Africa.

He has visited the Horn of Africa just days after he announced a new 533 million dollars aid package for Africa out of which 128 million dollars was earmarked for Nigeria and countries of the Lake Chad region.

When Mr. Tillerson meets Buhari, both men are expected to discuss counter terrorism efforts and humanitarian issues in Nigerias North-east and the Lake Chad basin.

He is also expected to discuss how to advance peace and security, promote good governance, and spur mutually beneficial trade and investment with the president

During his trip, he is expected also to meet with U.S. Embassy personnel and participate in events related to U.S. government-supported activities.ADVERTISEMENT

Six Bachama ethnic communities in Adamawa State have vowed to drag the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to the International Criminal Court (ICC) over alleged bombings of their communities.

The people of Lawaru , Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Kodomti and Shaforon allege that NAF on December 4, 2017 bombed their communities during clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

They alleged that NAF personnel were involved in human rights abuse, genocide and conspiracy with herdsmen to kill several people, destroy properties and displace many including women and children from their ancestral homes.

The Bachama communities in a statement in Yola alleged that NAF engaged in gross violation of Human Rights and genocide against their communities.

The statement was signed by six representatives of the affected communities and read to journalists in Yola at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) secretariat by their spokesperson, Lawrence Jonathan.

The communities said they had decided to seek justice by dragging the NAF to the ICC since the Nigerian government allegedly appeared reluctant to act on their allegations.

The 4th December 2017 attacks has shown clear manifestation of complicity by government and security agencies. The Numan attacks have thus become the first time in the history of Nigeria that Nigeria Air Force used drones, helicopters and fighter jets to provide aerial cover for Fulani terrorists (herdsmen) to kill many people and destroy property on behalf of a terror group.

The hidden narrative in this case is that the herders were avenging the killings of their kith and kin and so they should be assisted with such unlawful excessive use of force for the Bwatiye communities to learn a bloody lesson, they said.

According to the communities it was a clear human rights abuse and genocide committed by the Nigerian Air force over air raids on communities around Numan during clashes between farmers and herdsmen on December 4, 2017.

However NAFs Director of Public Relations, Olatokunbo Adesanya, an air vice marshal, had earlier denied any damage resulted from NAF air raids on the five communities which are around Numan.

Contrary to claims by Amnesty International and the communities that the EC 135 attack helicopter and an Alfa jet deployed to Numan in response to attacks by hoodlums on the area caused significant destruction against fleeing villagers, NAF said it was not true that its aircraft set any village on fire or caused the deaths of any villager.

But the communities spokesperson, Mr. Jonathan, faulted the response of NAF, saying it was fabricated to cover up the truth. He said the communities agreed with the reports of Amnesty International on January 30, that the air raids of December 4, 2017 on Lawaru, Dong, Kodomti, Nzuruwei and Shaforon caused significant destructions.

Although Amnesty International reported that it was not possible to establish how much of the deaths and destruction was caused by the direct result of the air attacks or attributable to the attack by herdsmen, eyewitnesses accounts and rockets remnants found in Lawaru, Dong, Nzoruwe, Pulum, Shaforon, Kodomti and others after the raids clearly established the facts.

Mr. Jonathan said the communities will go to any length to ensure justice over the killings of hapless citizens being attacked by herdsmen.

We would spare no efforts to bring justice to those killed by the genocidal attacks against our people by the Nigeria Air force, even if that means going to the International criminal court to cause further investigations into the human rights abuse and for the whole world to know the truth of what happened.

That our situation is beyond farmer /herdsmen clashes because NAF cannot come into the situation and bomb people being attacked, killing maiming and destroying their buildings. Our problem is different, theres a general plan of genocide against our people (Bwatiye) and that is why we want Nigerians and the world to know.

The communities also demanded that an international investigation be conducted into the attacks to unveil the mystery behind the involvement of the NAF.ADVERTISEMENT

The remains of Aliyu Akwe-Doma, former Governor of Nasarawa State, on Saturday arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja at about 11:15 p.m.

The remains were transported in a Turkish airline.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the body was received by a delegation of the state government comprising commissioners, special advisers and interim management committee chairmen.

Others include Rep. Ogoshe Onawo, associates and family members of the deceased.

NAN reported that the body was taken to the residence of the ex-governor in Asokoro Abuja, from where it would depart to his home town for burial.

Mr. Akwe-Doma, who died in an Isreal Hospital on March 6, would be buried in Doma Local Government Area, Nasarawa State, on Sunday.

He was the second civilian governor of the state from 2007 to 2011.

(NAN)ADVERTISEMENT

The remains of the immediate past governor of Nasarawa State, Aliyu Akwe Doma has finally been laid to rest in his home town, Doma local government of Nasarawa State.

The former governor died on Tuesday after a brief illness at a foreign hospital in Israel.

His body arrived the Nnamdi Azikiwe international Airport onboard a Turkish Airline on Saturday night at about 11pm.

The burial was attended by political big wigs from Nasarawa state and traditional rulers.

Some of the dignitaries include the state governor, Tanko Almakura, former governor Abdullahi Adamu, former minister Labaran Maku, Former deputy governors, Federal and State legislators, serving and former commissioners amongst others.

Aliyu Akwe- Doma served as the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State between

Pictures of the funeral rights of the former governor of Nasarawa state, Aliyu Akwe- Doma. Pictures of the funeral rights of the former governor of Nasarawa state, Aliyu Akwe- Doma.

Pictures of the funeral rights of the former governor of Nasarawa state, Aliyu Akwe- Doma.

Pictures of the funeral rights of the former governor of Nasarawa state, Aliyu Akwe- Doma. Pictures of the funeral rights of the former governor of Nasarawa state, Aliyu Akwe- Doma. Ex Governor Akwe-Doma finally laid to restADVERTISEMENT

The Abia government says it is building a multi-million naira Enyimba Economic City that will industrialise and boost the economy of the state.

Governor Okezie Ikpeazu made this known when he briefed heads of media houses in the state at the Abia Government Lodge, Aba, on Sunday as part of efforts to industrialise the state since he assumed office in 2015.

This project is very close to my heart and I am passionate about it. Abia Government is building Enyimba Economic City.

It is sitting on 9,000 hectares of land. We have committed over N10 billion to the project and we are shopping for sponsors, he said.

He said the state government was not making much noise about the project because we have our target to industrialise Abia and we must get there.

On the moribund Golden Guinea and Ceramics industries, the governor said that previous administrations sold the companies, including the Enyimba Hotel, Aba.

Mr. Ikpeazu said that in spite of the concession, the state government was doing all it could to bailout and re-vitalise the companies.

He said that the state government had assisted Peter Nzenwa, the new owner of the brewery to secure Bank of Industry facility.

On modern ceramics, he said that it was concessioned to Catholic Diocese of Umuahia, who took a loan of N250 million to rehabilitate and revitalise the company.

As I speak, that facility has accumulated to N1.5 billion interest. We have approached the court to pay and exit the church from the Shylock facility.

He said that after exiting the church from the debt, the state government would like the church to explore its Italian connection to make the company functional again.

On teachers salary, he said that there was only two months gap, adding that before the end of 2018 those gaps would have been completely filled.

Mr. Ikpeazu said that Abia had the highest workforce of 30,000, adding that 70 per cent of the workers were in the ministry while others were in the parastatals.

He explained that his administration inherited a monthly wage bill of N2.7 billion, noting that it had been reduced to N2.1 billion.

The governor said ICPC adjudged the state government as the best manager of the Paris Club Refund because it deployed 71 per cent of the cash inflow to workers salary.

(NAN)ADVERTISEMENT

Contrary to speculations, the former governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, will not be leaving the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), former information commissioner, Kayode Akinmade, has said.

Following the recent defection of some PDP bigwigs, namely Jerry Gana, Godsday Orubebe and Tunde Adeniran to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Mr. Mimiko was reported in the social media, to be nursing the idea of joining them.

But Mr. Akinmade, while interacting with select journalists in Akure on Saturday, said the former Ondo State governor remained a PDP member and was not heading to the SDP as speculated.

It is in the realm of rumour. Rumour will always be rumour. But as far as Dr Mimiko is concerned today, hes still in PDP. Hes not moving to SDP, he said.

According to him, the story was a figment of the imagination of those who published the rumour, as nothing of such was in the offing.

Those who are peddling the rumour are just rumour mongers. There is no iota of truth in that. What is permanent is change, people change from time to time. So seeing people moving from one party to the other is in order, he said.

Some people may have some interests to protect. And when they see that their interest could not be met in a particular political party, they port.

But as far as we are concerned, Dr. Mimiko is still a bonafide member of PDP. And God willing come 2019 our party will come back to power in Nigeria.

On the defection of the PDP bigwigs to the SDP, Mr. Akinmade said he was not sure if they were PDP bigwigs.

I dont know people you refer to as bigwigs. But what I can tell you is that even within the major political parties in Nigeria today, people are moving from one camp to another. It is not peculiar to the PDP, he noted.

Mr. Akinmade, who is gearing to contest the Idanre/Ifedore federal constituency seat at the House of Representatives in 2019, promised to provide quality representation if given the mandate.

It is sad that only N55 million was extended to the constituency in the last three years which was only used to procure motorcycles thereby turning our people to okada riders, he said.

So, if giving the opportunity, things will change with quality representation, lawmaking that will impact the lives of the people and oversight functions to ensure that money budgeted are judiciously expended.ADVERTISEMENT

The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) on Sunday said that four people died as a Lexus Jeep plying one way rammed into a commercial bus on Lekki/Epe Expressway.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu, said in a statement in Lagos that the accident happened at the First Gate inward Oriental Hotel, along Lekki/ Epe Expressway.

Mr. Tiamiyu said that the agency was alerted at about 6.49 a.m. on a distress call via the emergency toll free line 112/767 regarding the accident.

He said that this prompted the immediate activation of the agencys Response Team, other emergency responders and the security operatives to the scene of the incident.

According to him, investigation carried out by the agencys response team at the scene of the incident reveals that a Lexus Jeep GX470 with registration number KJA-615DF was plying one way.

The Lexus Jeep ran into a commercial bus (KRE-302XA) that was just cleared by the ticketing officers at the toll gate.

A total of four fatalities were recorded which includes three adult male and an adult female.

Sixteen casualties with severe injuries were recorded, including four adult female and 12 adult male. The driver of the jeep was transported to the General Hospital, Marina.

The LASEMA Response Team alongside LASAMBUS, RRS, Nigeria Police Force, State Environmental Monitoring Unit (SEHMU) and LCCI were responders present at the scene of the incident, he said.

Mr. Tiamiyu said that emergency/security operatives were involved in traffic management measures to forestall the occurrence of a secondary accident and crowd control.

He said that the operatives gave medical care to the casualties and subsequently moved them down to the General Hospital at Marina and Trauma Centre, at Toll Gate for further treatments.

According to him, the two adult male who died at the scene were subsequently handed over to the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), while the remaining two, an adult male and an adult female, were later confirmed dead.

Mr. Adesina said that the accidented vehicles were recovered off the road with the aid of the agencys light tow truck and subsequently handed over to the Lekki Concession Company Ltd (LCC) officials, who moved them down to Maroko Police station.

He, therefore, advised motorists to always endeavour to drive with caution when driving on highways.

The general manager urged motorists to abstain from drinking alcohol before driving, as well as ensure road worthiness of vehicles before embarking on journeys to avoid unecessary loss of lives.

Mr. Tiamiyu said that the Lekki incident would be further investigated by the security operatives, while the state government would also ensure prosecution of the culprit to serve as deterrence of errant motorists.

(NAN)KUMASI, Ghana, March 10, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Tuesday, March 13 (10:00am-1:00pm GMT), at Boama Dumase, Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal, officials of the African Bicycle Contribution Foundation (ABCF) will visit Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal, in the Ashanti Region, from the U.S., to join Bernice Dapaah, CEO of Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative (GBBI), and other distinguished local leaders, at the distribution of the 240th ABCF-funded, free bamboo bicycle to under-resourced students, teachers, small farmers and healthcare workers, in rural Ghana.

In addition to 39 bicycles to be distributed to students and teachers in Ejisu, GBBI officials, in a separate event, next week, will also distribute an additional 11 of the ABCF-funded bikes, at Boama Dumase School Park, at Kumbungu Senior High School, in Kumbungu District, Northern Region.

In Ejisu, the student-recipients will range in age from 10-17 years old, and the distance of their commutes to and from school, by foot, have averaged about 4.7Km (2.9 miles) per day, or 14.5 miles weekly.

In Kumbungu, the median recipient age will be 17 years, and the median distance traveled, on foot, to and from school, daily, has been 24Km (14.9 miles) or about 74.5 miles per week.

What: ABCF/ABCF Free Bicycle Distribution

When: March 13, 2018, (10:00am-1:00pm GMT)

Where: Boama Dumase, Ejisu-Juabeng Municipal, Ashanti Region

Who: - Moderator, Anthony Asamoah

- Remarks, A. Bruce Crawley, Chairman, ABCF

- Remarks, Patricia M. Harris, Executive Director, ABCF

- Remarks, Bernice Dapaah, CEO, Ghana Bamboo Bikes Initiative (GBBI)

- Remarks, Edward Adams, Municipal Director of Education, Ejisu-Juabeng

- Distribution of Bicycles

- Acknowledgement, Nana Adjei Bieni, Duampompo chief

- Closing Remarks, Nana Abanquah Ababio, Boama Dumase Traditional Area

- Closing Prayer, Adama Yeboah, Assemblyman

Established in July 2016, the African Bicycle Contribution Foundation is a U.S.-based 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation, whose mission is to generate funding to underwrite the free distribution of bicycles to under-resourced students, small farmers, and healthcare workers in West Africa. The Corporation has made a commitment to finance the distribution of 2500 bicycles, in Ghana, over its first five years of operation.

Contact: A. Bruce Crawley

African Bicycle Contribution Foundation

Tel: 215-751-0140

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE African Bicycle Contribution FoundationOver 20 winners and merit recipients were awarded at a ceremony held at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), the new co-venue of the trade show, on the eve of the closing of the four-day trade show. Datuk Zurinah Pawanteh, Deputy Secretary General representing Datuk K. Yogeesvaran, Secretary-General of the Ministry of Plantations Industries and Commodities, was the Guest-of-Honour.

Ms Karen Goi, MIFF General Manager said: "The enthusiastic response from exhibitors and aspiring designers resonates with the new MIFF theme 'Design Connects People'. This is the real success of the awards, to spur greater creativity and bring more excitement and value into the show halls of our trade show. The furniture industry is always in search of new design ideas. We see more and more innovative products making its way into MIFF. This is very exciting for buyers."

This year's FDC drew 304 entries, a 31% increase from 2017. Many of the 20 finalists presented ideas on space saving solutions and their designs are displayed at the new [email protected] (MAD) gallery in MITEC.

Young female designers made a clean sweep of the top three standings in this year's MIFF FDC. First City University College student Ong Sze Xian took the top prize which included a RM6,000 cheque for FLOAT, a free-standing shelf based on the concept of play. Universiti Teknologi Malaysia student Sharon Wong Sik Dang took second spot and RM3,000 cash with Lollipops World, a colourful set of a coat rack and two side tables. Young working mother Tan Sin Yin won the RM1,000 third prize for LIFE, a cabinet inspired by the Tetris tile matching puzzle.

Summing up the jury's choice, Philip Yap, MIFF FDC Chief Judge, said, "FLOAT is taking design a step ahead with aesthetics, functionality and modularity. This approach is complete with creative thinking as well as putting users' experience as priorities. LOLLIPOPS is an interpretation of a young, free and cheerful lifestyle; LIFE is an interesting approach to futuristic and contemporary furniture, luxurious yet fanciful, creative and functional."

The MAD showcase underlines MIFF's commitment to support young design talent. The gallery also features market ready products by past winners and finalists of FDC, Pattern Banyak, Tanggam Design Centre by Malaysian Timber Industry Board and Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation.

The MIFF FDC judges comprised Philip Yap (PYD Associates China/Malaysia), Shinichi Mitsuki (MITSUI Designtec Co Ltd, Japan), Lu Ke Yan (Tian Di Ru Feng, China), Laszlo Szikszai (Sixay Furniture, Hungary), Dr Eric Leong (The One Academy, Malaysia), Walter Tan (Element Furniture, Hong Kong/ Malaysia) and Hamidah Abdullah, (Malaysian Timber Council, Malaysia).

Best Presentation Award

The BPA for best booth creativity and product display saw Unique Advance Sdn Bhd declared winner for the Shell Scheme Booth and SJY Furniture(M) Sdn Bhd won the Bare Space Booth top award. The Non-Furniture Booth honour went to Green Panel Products (M) Sdn Bhd.

BPA judges: Chief Judge Zeki Yucel (Turkey), Milena Kirilova (MK Consultancy Ltd, Bulgaria), Mazlan Tahir (Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia), Ian Hughes (Home Goods Retailer, South Africa), Philippe Mechin (Mobilium News, France), Abu Zarim Abu Bakar (Az Rekatelier,Malaysia)

Furniture Excellence Award

In the Household Furniture category, Vistawood Industries Sdn Bhd captured the Platinum Award for its baby cot, Sunshine Cot. The Gold Award went to Turkey's children and teens furniture company, Cilek Mobilya A.S for its metal study desk and the Silver Award to Getha Bedding (M) Sdn Bhd for Dream Kingdom Mattress.

In the Office Furniture Award, Work Studio System (M) Sdn Bhd stamped their mark to wrest the Platinum Award with Retro System. The Gold Award was taken home by Euro Chairs Manufacturer (M) Sdn Bhd with Elements and the Silver Award was presented to Oasis Furniture Industries Sdn Bhd for Ramma.

Hardwood furniture manufacturer Acacia Home Furnishing Sdn Bhd received the Judges Commendation Award.

FEA judges: Chief Judge Zilahi Imre (Magmob, Romania), Tony Neilson (Neilson Promotions Pty Ltd, Australia), Artem V Vasiliev (Mebelny Biznes, Russia), Helmut Merkel (Mobelmarkt, Germany), Wang Zhou (Furniture & Interiors Design, China), Associate Professor Mohamad Omar Bidin (Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia), Iko In Kong Wah (In Publishers,Malaysia)

For more information, visit www.miff.com.my

Notes to Editors

About MIFF (www.miff.com.my)

MIFF is Southeast Asia's most global and largest industry trade show of its kind serving 20,000 furniture professionals from 140 countries across the world. Held annually from March 8-11, the show offers a comprehensive selection of all kinds of home and commercial furniture including Malaysia's renowned top quality wood furniture and the most extensive office solutions in the region. Since its inception in 1995, the show is an UFI-approved event by The Global Association for Exhibition Industry. MIFF is organised by UBM Malaysia, a member of UBM Asia group of companies owned by UBM plc, the largest pure-play B2B Events organiser in the world.

SOURCE UBM Asia (Malaysia)WASHINGTON, March 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Regional business publication Latin Trade will deliver for the first time the Latin Trade IndexAmericas Sustainability Awards, in recognition to the most sustainable companies in the region.

The award will be presented during the Inter-American Development Bank's (IDB) annual meeting at the InterContinental Hotel in Mendoza, Argentina, on March 23.

The award, which was established with the support of the IDB, has five categories:

Environment

Social Innovation

Corporate Governance

Development

Multilatinas

"Sustainability is one of the crucial matters in the 21st century. Businesses must prosper, grow as much as they can so they can attend to their clients' needs. But they must do so without deteriorating the social and natural environment," said Latin Trade CEO Santiago Gutierrez.

In 2016, the IDB launched the IndexAmericas, which gathers data from 6,000 companies and uses 400 indicators to measure their good practices in the areas of environment, society, corporate governance and economic development. "Building on this impressive methodological development, Latin Trade has chosen the best of the year," Gutierrez added.

The nominees for each category are: Intel, 3M and Valeo (Environment); AES, Cemig and Natura (Social Innovation); General Electric, Johnson & Johnson and Unilever (Corporate Governance); Accenture, Citigroup and Telefonica (Development) and Globant, Itau and Tenaris (Multilatinas).

The guests at the award ceremony, sponsored by Copa Airlines and Arcos Dorados, will include national and international authorities, business leaders and special guests.

"With this annual award, we want to support the aim of the IDB and so many other institutions determined to highlight and spread the best practices of the region's largest companies and their contribution to economic growth," Gutierrez said.

About the IDB and Latin Trade

The IDB Annual Meeting and IDB Invest gathers more than 1,000 guests, including ministers and other government, business and social leaders.

Latin Trade is a leading provider of information and business services to companies operating in Latin America. It publishes award-winning content in Spanish and English for distribution throughout Latin America, the Caribbean and the United States through print and online media.

Media Contact

David Buchanan

[email protected]

+52155562434924

SOURCE Latin TradeORLANDO, Fla., March 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Abbott (NYSE: ABT) announced new late-breaking clinical trial data from the MOMENTUM 3 clinical study, the largest left ventricular assist device (LVAD) trial in the world to evaluate patients in need of both short-term and long-term support in a single study. The data were published online in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and presented during a late-breaking session at the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) 67th Annual Scientific Session.

"The long-term data for the pivotal MOMENTUM 3 trial demonstrate overall survival of 83 percent at 2-years and marked improvement in clinical outcomes for our patients suffering with advanced heart failure," said Mandeep R. Mehra, M.D., medical director of Brigham and Women's Hospital Heart and Vascular Center in Boston. "We have seen greater pump durabilitymostly driven by an absence of confirmed pump thrombosisas well as a significantly lowered stroke rate without an increase in other adverse events."

The MOMENTUM 3 study datawhich will be submitted to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to support consideration of a long-term (destination therapy) indication for Abbott's HeartMate 3 LVADcompared the HeartMate 3 LVAD to the HeartMate II LVAD in treating advanced heart failure. The HeartMate II is the most widely used LVAD in the world for long-term support. More than 1,000 patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class IIIB or IV heart failure participated in the study. Patients were followed for a short-term endpoint of six months and a long-term endpoint of two years.

Patients who participated in the MOMENTUM 3 study received the following benefits from Abbott's HeartMate 3 system:

Superior Rates of Event-Free Survival . The long-term cohort met its primary endpoint with 77.9 percent event free survival (survival free from disabling stroke and device removal due to malfunction), showing superiority over the HeartMate II LVAD at 56.4 percent.

. The long-term cohort met its primary endpoint with 77.9 percent event free survival (survival free from disabling stroke and device removal due to malfunction), showing superiority over the HeartMate II LVAD at 56.4 percent. Improved Survival. Patients with the HeartMate 3 LVAD had a survival rate of 82.8 percent at two years compared to 76.2 percent for those with the HeartMate II LVAD.

Patients with the HeartMate 3 LVAD had a survival rate of 82.8 percent at two years compared to 76.2 percent for those with the HeartMate II LVAD. Low Pump Thrombosis . Rates remained very low at 1.2 percent suspected thrombosis for the HeartMate 3 LVAD, with no reoperations, pump replacements or urgent transplants occurring at two years.

. Rates remained very low at 1.2 percent suspected thrombosis for the HeartMate 3 LVAD, with no reoperations, pump replacements or urgent transplants occurring at two years. Lower Stroke Rate. Stroke rate was significantly lower (10 percent) for the HeartMate 3 LVAD compared to the HeartMate II LVAD (19 percent).

In addition, patients receiving HeartMate 3 LVAD had significant improvements compared to the HeartMate II LVAD in functional capacity and quality of life scores at two years compared to baseline. Rates of all other adverse events were similar between the HeartMate 3 LVAD and historical rates seen in the HeartMate II LVAD, which is the most widely used and extensively studied LVAD commercially available.

"As the leader in LVAD therapy, our goal is to provide patients with life-changing health technology that minimizes risk and offers them an enhanced quality of life. Data from the MOMENTUM 3 study show Abbott's significant progress in LVAD innovation and how it's improving patient health outcomes," said John B. O'Connell, M.D., medical director for mechanical circulatory support at Abbott.

The MOMENTUM 3 Investigation Device Exemption (IDE) study is a prospective, multi-center, randomized, unblinded study evaluating the safety and effectiveness of the HeartMate 3 LVAD when used for the treatment of advanced, refractory, left ventricular heart failure. This study included all-comers, which means researchers evaluated the device regardless of whether the patient needed a short-term support option while awaiting transplantation or a long-term support option for those who are not candidates for cardiac transplantation.

The HeartMate 3 LVAD is CE Mark approved and FDA approved for short-term (bridge-to-transplant) use in the United States. The HeartMate 3 LVAD is limited by federal law to investigational use in the United States for long-term (destination therapy) support.

About Abbott's HeartMate 3 LVAD

Abbott's HeartMate 3 LVAD is a small, implantable mechanical circulatory support (MCS) device for advanced heart failure patients who are awaiting transplantation or are not candidates for heart transplantation. It is the first commercially approved (CE mark approved and FDA approved for bridge-to-transplant) LVAD with Full MagLev technology, designed to minimize complications and restore blood flow. The HeartMate 3 system utilizes Full MagLev technology, which allows the device's rotor to be "suspended" by magnetic forces. This design aims to reduce trauma to blood passing through the pump and improve outcomes for patients.

About Abbott's Heart Failure Portfolio:

Abbott is pioneering heart failure disease management with innovative solutions like the CardioMEMS HF System, ground-breaking quadripolar pacing technology, our first-to-market MultiPoint pacing technology and, in select European markets and the U.S. (short-term support only), the HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist system. Abbott collaborates with heart failure specialists, clinicians and advocacy partners to provide innovative, cost-effective solutions that help reduce hospitalizations and improve patient quality of life for heart failure patients around the world.

For more information about Abbott's focus on heart failure, visit https://www.sjm.com/en/patients/heart-failure.

About Abbott:

At Abbott, we're committed to helping people live their best possible life through the power of health. For more than 125 years, we've brought new products and technologies to the world -- in nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and branded generic pharmaceuticals -- that create more possibilities for more people at all stages of life. Today, 99,000 of us are working to help people live not just longer, but better, in the more than 150 countries we serve.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.

SOURCE Abbott

Related Links

http://www.abbott.com

(Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/652845/Ottawa_ICME_2018.jpg )



Over 1,000 medical education experts from 56 countries will convene for the duration of five days at a record 225 educational sessions, lectures and presentations by over 500 speakers, ranging from courses, workshops, symposia, expert discussions and plenary sessions, marking this as the largest ever medical education conference to take place in the region.

This is the first time that RAK College of Dental Sciences - UAE and Riphah International University, the organizers of ICME, have joined hands with Association for Medical Education in Europe, the organizers of the Ottawa Conferences, bringing together two leading conferences in one setting, to cover state of the art and latest innovations in the assessment of competence in medicine and the healthcare professions.

Commenting on Ottawa-ICME 2018, Prof. Mohammed Al Houqani, Assistant Dean for Education & Academic Affairs, United Arab Emirates University, said; "I would like to use the opportunity of such eminent gathering of luminary experts and world leading minds in the fields of medical education, to welcome all faculty members, colleagues and delegates to Abu Dhabi and to re-emphasis the importance of the combined efforts; by the academic, research and healthcare institutions, both regional as well as on an international scale to elevate the highly crucial competency levels required in medicine and healthcare professions, though innovative assessment mechanisms."

Mr. Hassan Muhammad Khan, Chancellor, Riphah International University and Founder of ICME, said; "I am delighted to see that our efforts to establish a credible platform for interaction between world leading medical educationalists and those from countries on the path of introducing reforms in medical education in the region, has resulted in such a prestigious gathering of world leading experts in the wonderful City of Abu Dhabi, as a unique opportunity to identify and adopt international standards and to apply them across the region, especially in developing countries."

Prof. Ronald M. Harden, General Secretary and Treasurer of the Association for Medical Education in Europe (AMEE) and founder of the Ottawa Conferences, said; "The Ottawa Conference has become synonymous with the state of the art in the assessment of competence in medicine and the healthcare professions. The partnership with ICME is yet another step in the right direction towards bringing together both experts and those new to the area, facilitating networking and international collaboration within the region."

Ottawa-ICME 2018 is endorsed by the UAE Ministry of Health and Prevention and supported by the UAE University, Gulf Medical University, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, The University of Sharjah and CLIQ (Centre of Excellence in Leadership and Quality) at RAKCODS, the Abu Dhabi Convention Bureau, The Emirates Medical Association and The Emirates Nursing Association.

About OTTAWA Conferences

The Ottawa Conference on the Assessment of Competence in Medicine and the Healthcare Professions were set up by Professor Ian Hart (Ottawa, Canada) and Professor Ronald Harden (Dundee, UK) in 1985.

Held Biennially they provide a forum for medical and other health care profession educationalists to network and share ideas on all aspects of the assessment of competence in both clinical and non-clinical domains, throughout the continuum of education. Participants include both those new to the area of assessment and those with many years' experience to share. Ottawa Conferences are committed to encourage developments in assessment with a view to improving health care and health care delivery around the world.

About ICME

International Conference on Medical Education (ICME) is a biennially event started in 2009 to provide a credible platform for interaction between world leading Medical Educationalists and those from countries on the path of introducing reforms in Medical Education in their countries. The conference covers all aspects of Medical Education. It particularly emphasizes Health Profession Education in order to provide an opportunity to identify international standards and to apply these in developing countries in local context.

Visit http://www.ottawa-icme2018.com/

SOURCE RAK College of Dental ScienceThe whispers that Sydney identities Anthony Bell and Kelly Landry had bought a Noosa waterfront home have been confirmed.

But the story behind the big purchase on Hideaway Island suggests the family are now seeking to turn the page on their tumultuous maritial breakdown.

They were the mystery $10.3 million buyers on Noosa Sound, which set a then record price for the Queensland town late last year.

Kelly and I have purchased the house in Noosa as she and the kids have moved up there," Anthony Bell advised.

"I travel up there on the weekends and I can happily report Kelly and I are working as a team to co-parent our beautiful children, who love the area and are enrolled in a local school."

The couple have two young daughters, one at primary school and one at pre-school.

Anthony and I are in the happy position of being co-parents and focussing our energies in our children to ensure they can enjoy a happy upbringing in this beautiful part of Australia," Landry added.

The recently built house on two parcels was rated HIA Queensland home of the year when built with concrete, steel, timber, stone and glass.

Designed by Paul Clout and spanning over 800 sqm of living space, the home has six bedrooms, six bathrooms, an award winning kitchen, study, media room and self-contained caretaker wing.

There are a number of internal courtyards integrating indoor and outdoor living.

A 25 metre solar heated infinity pool and outdoor kitchen overlooks the 45 metres of water frontage which features a private sandy beach, two jetty's and a boat ramp.

The waterfront sale was secured by Tom Offermann Real Estate agent John Dover, who had an $11.9 million price guide.

Last weekend The Sunday Telegraph reported their make peace endeavours.

Their family home at Watsons Bay has been sold for around $18 million to the Calligeros hotelier family with Bell living as a bachelor in a clifftop Dover Heights home he bought off Channel 7 television personality Larry Emdur for $11.5 million.

The Noosa agent John Dover said he had multiple buyers submitting eight digit contracts.

"We meet a lot of people who lament not buying here years ago, and I am certain that history will repeat itself," he said.

"It is an expansive home with lavish detailing that bathes the home in vibrant tropical tones," Oliver said.

The sale eclipsed the record set by the Offermann team when a beachfront home on Sunshine Beach fetched $9.3 million. The buyer was Australia's richest female executive Maxine Horne.

Since then there have been sales of Pat Rafter's iconic seven-bedroom, five-bathroom house located on exclusive Seaview Terrace at Sunshine Beach.

Another of the recent sales was an apartment in Hastings Street that fetched $6.9 million.

The article was first published in The Sunday Telegraph.LAX, JUVENTUD GUERRERA, AMAZING RED & MORE: COMPLETE HOUSE OF GLORY 'KICKING IT OLD SCHOOL' COVERAGE FROM NYC

Welcome to PWInsider.coms live, ongoing coverage of House of Glory Kicking It Old School at Club Amazura in Jamaica, Queens.

The crowd is way down from the last show, probably in the 400 range. They are starting early as there is a concert in the venue at 9. The lightning is different for this show too, making the ring much darker than usual.

Private Party, Isiah Kassidy and Marq Quen, came out to open the show but were attacked by Sasha Jenkins and Romeo Romano. Romano cut a promo and they began beating down one of the Party. They battled back and began hitting all sorts of big aerial maneuvers and springboards to the outside. Party finally finished them off with a unique move where Quen nailed a rana that sent Jenkins into the air and then Kassidy nailed a stunner for the pin.

MTV TRL champion Caveman vs. Leroy Green

Caveman was all over the place, being a Caveman. He slammed Green and worked him over. Leroy whipped Caveman into the corner and nailed him with a bulldog. Green nailed a big strike for a two count. He nailed several chops but Caveman pressed and slammed him. Caveman nailed a springboard splash for the pin.

Your winner and still champion, Caveman!

It's pretty obvious they are running shorter matches than usual.

As Leroy was recovering, he was attacked by Ken Broadway's old second, Matt Travis, which brought Broadway out for the save. The referee rang the bell...

Ken Broadway vs. Matt Travis

Broadway nailed a big five to the outside. He controlled the early portion of the match. Travis went to the floor. Broadway followed and nailed a series of chops. Travis made a comeback, drilling him in the back of the legs and nailed a shooting star press. Broadway made a comeback with some leg lariats. Travis was worked over with some uppercuts. They battled to the outside of the ring and nailed each other, crashing to the floor, where they were both counted out. They continued brawling and rolling around on the floor after.

Double countout.

Juventud Guerrera vs. Mantequilla

Some good back and forth wrestling. Guerrera was wearing his old mask. That was cool. He nailed a nice head scissors. went for a sunset flip but Guerrera drilled him down. He ran Mantequilla into the buckles and drilled him with hard running forearms. He went for a charge in the corner but Mantequilla moved and Guerrera crashed and burned in the corner. Guerrera was sent to the floor and hit with a tope suicida.

They continued fighting on the floor. Guerrera drilled him with a steel chair. He sat Mantequilla in a chair, then ran around the ring and nailed him with a flip dive into the chair. They battled back to the ring, where the momentum shifted back and forth until Guerrera nailed a DDT for a two count.

Guerrera used a side chinlock but Mantequilla fought back to his feet and used a crucifix for a close two count. He argued with the referee over the count. Mantequilla went for a dive off the top but Guerrera caught him and held him in a delayed vertical suplex for a two count. The crowd chanted Juice!

Juvi set Mantequilla up on the top and attempted a German suplex. Mantequilla nailed a series of elbows to knock him back to the mat. He dove but again, Juvi caught him, but this time, Mantequilla turned it into a stunner as he escaped for a two count.

They went into a series of reversals, until Juvi screamed, F*** You! and kicked him in the head, then nailed a rude powerbomb for another two count. They went back and forth until Guerrera scored the pin. It came out of nowhere and appeared to be a case of Mantequilla not kicking up. He was out for a while, so it maybe he got his bell rung.

Your winner, Juventud Guerrera!

Guerrera cut a promo where he put over Mantequilla after and raised his hand.

HOG champion The Amazing Red came out. He thanked everyone for their support of pro wrestling. He said passion for pro wrestling is what makes him get out of the bed in the morning. He was teasing a departure. He said that he couldnt wrestle anymore. He noted that he broke his leg doing mo-cap for a WWE videogame and the first surgery wasnt done correctly. His leg got infected and he had to get surgery to save the leg.

He was able to get his ankle fused and hes able to walk and to dance with his family. He said that he was able to come back to the ring and show that he could still do this. He said that he felt it was time to let this go.

House of Gangone, who Red has been feuding with, came out and grabbed Reds daughter and dragged her in the ring. Anthony Gangone said that Red left him with no choice. He said that Red never gave him a rematch for the HOG title. He demanded Red sign a contract giving him a title shot with any match that Gangone wants. Red had no choice but to sign. Gangone said it was nice doing business with him, walking out as Red hugged and consoled his daughter.

Gangone then announced Red was going to have to face Smiley next show to get to Gangone. He then said he hoped Red's daughter doesn't grow up to be a b**** like her mother.

Good angle.

Coverage continues on Page 2!

If you enjoy PWInsider.com you can check out the AD-FREE PWInsider Elite section, which features exclusive audio updates, news, our critically acclaimed podcasts, interviews and more by clicking here!If You're Trying to Ban Guns, the Least You Could Do Is Learn the Basics

The Washington Post recently published an op-ed by writer Adam Weinstein in which he argues that Second Amendment advocates "use jargon to bully gun-control supporters." "While debating the merits of various gun control proposals," he contends, "Second Amendment enthusiasts often diminish, or outright dismiss their views if they use imprecise firearms terminology."

How dare Second Amendment advocates expect that those passionately arguing to limit their constitutional rights have some rudimentary knowledge of the devices they want to ban? To point out the constant glaring technical and policy "faux pas" of gun controllers is to engage in "gunsplaining," a bad-faith argument akin to intimidation.

"If you don't know what the 'AR' in AR-15 stands for, you don't get to talk," explains the sarcastic subhead on the piece. If you don't know what the "AR" in AR-15 stands for, you still get to talk. But if you want to ban or confiscate AR-15s and you haven't taken the time to learn what the "AR" stands for, then gun owners have every right to call you out.

Weinstein -- and he's far from alone -- bemoans the unfairness of gun controllers "being forced to sweat the finest taxonomic distinctions between our nation's unlimited variety of lethal weapons." This statement is illustrative of the emotionalism and hyperbole of the debate (the notion that there's an "unlimited variety" of firearms is absurd). But at the same time, it's an exaggeration of Second Amendment advocates' expectations.

As with any contemporary disputes over public policy, there will always be those who attempt to dismiss opponents who possess less expertise. It's certainly not unique to this debate. And, no, a person should not be excluded from a conversation simply for referring to a "bullet" rather than a "cartridge," or a "clip" rather than a "magazine."

Then again, much of gun control policy is driven by the mechanics of a firearm. So, while not knowing what a "barrel shroud" is should not prevent anyone from pondering gun policy, failing to understand the distinction between a semi-automatic and automatic weapon tells us you're dishonest, unserious or unprepared for the debate.

Take, for instance, Michael Bloomberg.

In a debate imbued with emotion, gun control advocates rely on this ignorance. When then-President Barack Obama told a crowd that a mass shooter used a "fully automatic weapon," he wasn't concerned with the finest taxonomic distinctions of a gun; he was depending on the yawning obliviousness of a cheering crowd. When CNN featured an alleged gun expert explaining that the AR-15 he was about to fire was "full semi-automatic," he was making the functionality of the firearm sound scarier to those who are ignorant about guns.

"Jargon" is words and expressions that are difficult for a layman to understand or use. Rather than using jargon, Second Amendment advocates are usually mocking those who use jargon-sounding words in an effort to fearmonger viewers and constituents. When you claim that the streets are rife with "high-capacity, rapid-fire magazines" or "jumbo clips," you're trying to fool your audience with a veneer of expertise. When you claim that we need to ban "gas-assisted receiver firearms," you're trying to make a semi-automatic weapon sound like a machine gun for a reason.

It's not always the mechanics either. When MSNBC's Joe Scarborough misrepresents the Heller decision, he's preying on policy ignorance that has little to do with gun culture. When MSNBC analyst Steve Schmidt goes on television and passionately tells an audience that it's more difficult to buy cough medicine than an "AK-47 -- or 50 of them," he's either lying or has absolutely no grasp of how gun policy works. Either way, he shouldn't be talking to grown-ups about firearms.

All these people use a moralistic fallacy, which is often predicated on the ignorance Weinstein rationalizes -- not that it stops him from embracing the appeal to authority he condemns elsewhere.

For example, Weinstein takes Fox News personality Tomi Lahren to task for failing to mention that the family of Eugene Stoner, the AR-15's designer and champion, claimed in 2016 that Stoner would be "'horrified and sickened' to see his military rifle pattern become so common in civilian households and school shootings." You'll notice the conflation. Of course Stoner would be horrified that his gun was used in school shootings. But Weinstein fails to note that there's no evidence on the record of Stoner having been "horrified and sickened" by the notion of civilians owning his gun. Since he had been selling prototype AR-15s to civilians a decade before his military model was adopted by the United States, we have no reason to believe he would be.

Perhaps that kind of discussion spurns conversation in favor of condescension. But at least it's a debate that revolves around the veracity of facts, which is a lot more than I can say for the rest of the "gunsplaining" grievance.

COPYRIGHT 2018 CREATORS.COMAthens, GA (30605)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low around 70F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low around 70F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.Woodbury Friends donate TV to senior center

WOODBURY  Recently, Friends of Woodbury Senior Community Center, Inc. donated a large screen high tech Samsung TV for the centers TV room, replacing an older version.

The purchase of the new TV was financed through raffles, bake sales, and donations.

The next community event scheduled by Friends of the Woodbury Senior Community Center, Inc. is the Sunday, March 18, 2 p.m. concert at the Woodbury Senior Community Center. Featured will be Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem, a talented musical group that includes superb vocalists with trademark harmonies, playing with a fiddle, acoustic guitar, standup bass and a junk drum set, as well as hand percussion instruments from around the world. The concert is free and the public is welcome.

The Friends of Woodbury Senior Community Center, Inc. is a tax exempt 501c3 organization. All donations are tax deductible. Funds raised are used to finance equipment, services and programs at the Woodbury Senior Community Center that are outside the Centers budget.

For more information about becoming a member of the non profit Friends of Woodbury Senior Community Center, Inc. or to learn more about the upcoming March 18th Rani Arbo and Daisy Mayhem free concert, contact Sharon Sherman at 203-695-5410

CBA names Dolan to List of New Leaders in Banking

WATERBURY  Webster Bank recently announced that Xana Dolan, vice president, service of process, research and background screening, has been selected by the Connecticut Bankers Association (CBA) and Connecticut Banking magazine as one of the states New Leaders in Banking.

Dolan is one of 15 Connecticut bankers named to this years list. She and her fellow nominees were honored during a recent event held at Mohegan Sun which was attended by more than 300 bankers from across the state.

Webster nominated Dolan, a Wallingford resident, because her drive to succeed and her commitment to the communities where she lives and works make her the perfect example of a rising star in the banking world, said Kim Syrop, senior vice president, director of change management, ACH and Wire, and Xanas nominator.

During her seven years at Webster Bank, Dolan has taken on extra job responsibilities and excelled at finding ways to streamline work processes, promote training opportunities for her colleagues and direct reports, and increase revenue and efficiencies in her department. She also serves on the banks leadership committee for the employee United Way campaign, and has been a volunteer in her community as a Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters. She also has volunteered at CT Food Bank for more than 12 years.

Bankers are nominated by their fellow employees and have been determined to be outstanding employees, managers or business leaders who make a notable impact within their bank and community. Nominations are reviewed by an independent panel of judges who then select 15 individuals from banks across Connecticut to the final list of New Leaders in Banking.

Raffanello Joins Chelsea Groton Bank

GROTON  Melissa L. Raffanello of Torrington recently joined Chelsea Groton Bank as a residential loan officer, based at the banks Lending Center in Glastonbury. In this position, Melissa will work with clients throughout Hartford and Litchfield Counties in need of a variety of lending solutions, from traditional mortgages, to first-time homebuyer and affordable lending programs, to specialty financing and home equity loans. She is certified by the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System & Registry (NMLS # 1715077).

Melissas enthusiasm for helping people make sound financial decisions regarding home ownership is infectious, said Matt Morrell, Vice President, Retail Lending Sales Manager at Chelsea Groton Bank. Her attention to detail and empathetic counsel will help her customers navigate the home buying process successfully. We are very excited to have Melissa on the Chelsea Groton mortgage team.

Raffanello was classically trained in ballet at The Nutmeg Conservatory for the Arts where she graduated the 10-year Pre-Professional Program. Prior to becoming a lender, she was a bookkeeper and business manager. Most recently, she was an indirect lending manager with Watertown Auto Sales.

She lives in Torrington with her two small children where she enjoys being an active member of her community.

Canaan Child Care Center receives funding

CANAAN  The Community Foundation of Northwest Connecticut, Inc., has awarded a grant in the amount of $7,500, to the Canaan Child Care Center, according to a release from director Fran Chapell.

This grant allowed me to purchase a new furnace, which will ensure that the Center remains open for our working parents, Chapell said. The previous furnace was no longer reliable, and we had to close when we had no heat. The computers will help us to meet technology/curriculum standards set forth by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAECY) and School Readiness.

The work we do in the field of Early Care and Education is very important to communities, Chapell said. We appreciate that the Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation, understands the struggles Child Care Centers face in finding funding for much needed items.

For more information, or to make a donation, contact Chapell at 860-824-0597.Porn star Stormy Daniels sued President Donald Trump this week for the right to talk about their alleged affair and his alleged attempts to cover it up. And while it's not clear that she'll prevail in that legal fight, it is clear that her appearance in the news has been good for her marketability.

Searches for Daniels's name are skyrocketing, according to data compiled and analyzed by Pornhub.com.NEW MILFORD  Gallery 25 is excited to announce their upcoming event, The Painterly Portrait Demonstration with Alain J. Picard on Thursday, March 15 from 7-9 p.m.

The demonstration is free and open to the public.

Picard is an award winning artist, instructor, author and speaker. His acclaimed pastel and oil paintings have been exhibited throughout the US, Europe, China and the UK and has been featured in many publications.

Working from the live model, Picard will demonstrate a painterly approach to the portrait in pastel. This demonstration will include an explanation of pastel portrait techniques for creating an accurate likeness, establishing clear values, evaluating color relationships and selecting skin tones, developing a painterly style, and harnessing the power of strong design. He will also discuss the importance of lighting and posing the model.

With guidance from the New Milford Commission on the Arts, Gallery 25 was founded in the fall of 2014 as a cooperative-style art gallery representing local and regional award-winning artists and artisans. Gallery exhibitions, both then and now, include a wide variety of unique fine art and fine artisan creations in a wide range of media.

Renewing interest and growth in the local art scene is a priority of the gallery and its member artists. New Milfords art commission chairman, Linda Breen, encourages the addition of free visual arts programs.

I am so happy to see Gallery 25 settled in at the railroad station, and now adding to its offerings with free-to-the-public events. New Milford will continue to grow artistically as a result, Breen said in a release.

Gallery 25 is located at 11 Railroad Street at the historic train station in New Milford, Connecticut (http://newmilfordgallery25.blogspot.com). Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12-5 p.m. with extended hours Friday and Saturday until 7:30 p.m. or by appointment; call 860-355-6009. Admission is free, with free parking available.TORRINGTON  The Charlotte Hungerford Hospital (CHH) Auxiliary is offering ten $1,000 scholarships to local students pursuing an education in the healthcare field. Two additional scholarships, the Doctor Alfred Fabro Award and the Doctor Joseph Curi award will also be presented in the amount of $1,000 each. All completed applications must be printed out and sent by mail, postmarked no later than March 14.

Applicants must be planning to matriculate at a college or institution of higher education for a healthcare degree prior to applying and accepted before the scholarship is awarded; or be currently working toward a degree or certificate in healthcare and planning a healthcare career. Applicants must reside in a community served by Charlotte Hungerford Hospital and are not available to CHH employees due to their access to the hospitals Employee Tuition Reimbursement Program.

Applications and instructions for completing the application may be obtained by e-mailing CHHscholarship@gmail.com. Area colleges and high schools also have applications available on line through their Guidance Departments.

Send finalized applications to the attention of Judith Hogan, 15 Minerva Lane, Litchfield, CT, 06759. A letter will be sent to all applicants the first week of May notifying them of their status. Recipients of the scholarships are expected to be present at the award ceremony scheduled for May 8 at 7 p.m. For more information call 860-567-4381.

NCCC students encouraged to apply for scholarships

WINSTED, CT - Northwestern Connecticut Community College students, be they new, continuing or graduating, are encouraged to apply for an array of scholarships that are currently available for them.

These awards are funded through private donations, bequests, grants to the college and the Northwestern Community College Foundation/ Regional Advisory Council (NCCF/RAC) and they range in size from $500 up to full tuition/fees (approximately $4,000).

In 2017, 50 scholarships valued at over $55,000 were awarded. Most scholarships are based on students demonstrated financial need and scholastic standing in their pursuit of higher education at NCCC. Additionally, there are scholarships available to students based on other criteria.

For complete details of eligibility, requirement guidelines and to apply for all scholarships, students should go to www.nwcc.edu/financial-aid/ to complete the online NCCC scholarship application. Please read the application instructions on the website carefully before applying.

Historical society invites applicants

The Harwinton Historical Society is offering a $1,000 scholarship to students who are residents of Harwinton and/or active with the Harwinton Historical Society. The scholarship is to be used to pursue post-secondary education by a graduating senior or by a student pursuing education beyond the high school level. The applicant must show an interest in History/Social Science through course work and/or experiences.

The scholarship application is available on line at www.harwintonhistory.com/historical society.htm, at area guidance departments, at the Harwinton public library and the Harwinton town hall. The due date is April 15 and can be mailed to Harwinton Historical Society, P.O. Box 84, Harwinton, CT.

Students can apply for scholarships

The Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation is awarding scholarships for the 2018-2019 academic year. Scholarship applications are now available for the more than $150,000 available to area students. Scholarship guidelines, requirements and applications are available on the Community Foundation website.

Scholarship applications for the 2018-19 academic year must be submitted by April 1, 2018. The Northwest Connecticut Community Foundation serves Litchfield County with a collection of more than 270 funds from local donors. These funds support nonprofit organizations and provide scholarships to area students throughout the Northwest Corner.

Most scholarships are awarded to residents of the Foundations 20-town service area. The Foundation serves the towns of Barkhamsted, Bethlehem, Canaan/Falls Village, Colebrook, Cornwall, Goshen, Hartland, Harwinton, Kent, Litchfield, Morris, New Hartford, Norfolk, North Canaan, Salisbury, Sharon, Torrington, Warren, Washington and Winsted/Winchester. For a complete list of scholarships, visit northwestcf.org/scholarships.

Nursing scholarships available

The Wethersfield-Rocky Hill Professional Nurses Association (WRHPNA) is pleased to announce its 2018 nursing scholarships program. These scholarships are available to qualified nursing students currently enrolled in an undergraduate degree in nursing and to registered nurses currently enrolled in RN to BSN programs. For further information or for an application packet, contact Judith Sartucci, WRHPNA Scholarship Committee Chairman at nursescholarships@cox.net. Deadline for submission of applications is March 16.

Safe Boating and Personal Watercraft course offered

WINSTED  Northwestern Connecticut Community College is offering a Safe Boating and Personal Watercraft course on March 13, 15 and 20, 6-9 p.m. This Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Certificate course is taught by boating professionals sponsored by the Connecticut DEEP Boating Division. The course fee of $25 does not include the license fee. For more information or to register for this class, contact Jane Williams, Program Coordinator, Continuing Education, Center for Workforce Development, at jwilliams@nwcc.edu or call 860-738-6444.

Dream Big! Competition under way

The Connecticut Higher Education Trust (CHET) is asking Connecticut students in grades K-8 to answer the question What do you want to be when you grow up? for a chance to win up to a $1,000 CHET college savings account contribution. A total of $26,000 will be awarded statewide.

To enter the Dream Big! competition, kindergarten through third graders are asked to share artwork depicting what they want to do after they go to college. Fourth through eighth grade students are asked to answer in a 250 word essay how they will change the world after college.

The Dream Big! Competition is sponsored by the State Treasurers Office, TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing, Inc. and CHET. Entry deadline is March 30. Printable entry forms, official rules and additional details can be found at www.CHETDreamBig.com.Anyone who went to Eastern Connecticut State University or who has been to Willimantic has seen the famous Frog Bridge. And now a national site has taken notice.

The site 24/7 Wall St. recently named the Frog Bridge Connecticut's "strangest roadside attraction."

"Officially, it's the Thread City Crossing, but it's known as the Frog Bridge because of the four copper frogs on each end of the steel bridge over the Willimantic River.

The frogs commemorate 1754's The Battle of the Frogs, a story about a large-scale death of frogs fighting over the last water in the middle of a drought. The frog deaths were loud enough to convince residents that the French and American Indians coming to town to slaughter them. The invaders never came, and the frog battle became a part of Willimantic history," the site writes.

But this is certainly not Connecticut's only oddity. Click through to see some unique sites and things to do in Connecticut.

RELATED: 15 strange things to know about Connecticut



In 2017, Wild Bill's Nostalgia Store in Middletown was named Connecticut's most overrated "tourist trap."

Some of the store's attractions include PeeWee Herman's bike, a picture of PT Barnum, a non-working fun house, sculptures and the famous jack-in-the-box. The store is also featured in Atlas Obscura, Road Side America, Road Trippers and other sites and travel books. Page said they don't advertise the store, but rely soley on word of mouth and press.Iran says it has sentenced an unidentified British-Iranian national to six years in prison for spying.

Mizan, the official news agency of Iran's judiciary, said on March 11 that Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi had "referred to a six-year prison sentence for an agent of England's intelligence service."

It did not elaborate further on the case, or the persons identity, but did quote the prosecutor as saying that the same British-Iranian citizen was also under investigation in a separate case related to a private bank, giving no further details.

Prior to the announcement, there had been no known case of a British-Iranian national being sentenced in Iran to six years in prison. Since Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, the access that foreign embassies have to their dual citizens held there is limited.

At least two British-Iranian citizens are known to be held in Iran.

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the charitable Thomson Reuters Foundation, has been sentenced to five years for plotting the overthrow of the government.

Her employer and the British government say she was in Iran visiting relatives when she was arrested in April 2016.

Kamal Foroughi, a 78-year-old British-Iranian businessman, was arrested in 2011 and convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol.

Britain's Foreign Office says it has raised both cases with the Iranian authorities. In those cases, the families of those held deny the charges.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps have arrested at least 30 dual nationals since 2015, mostly on spying charges, according to Reuters.

Based on reporting by Mizan, Reuters, and APIranian state media reports that authorities have recovered the black box from a Turkish private jet that crashed in southwestern Iran on March 11, killing all 11 people onboard.

The IRNA news agency said on March 12 that 10 bodies have been recovered so far from the crash site outside of the city of Shahr-e Kord, about 370 kilometers south of Tehran.

Mojtaba Khaledi, the spokesman for Irans emergency services, said the aircraft encountered bad weather in Iranian airspace before it crashed into a mountain and burst into flames.

Turkish media reports said the plane was carrying Mina Basaran, the 28-year-old daughter of Turkish businessman Huseyin Basaran, along with seven of her friends and three crew members.

The reports said Basaran and her friends had been celebrating in Dubai ahead of her wedding. Their flight was due to return them from the United Arab Emirates to Istanbul.

Huseyin Basaran has business interests in Turkey's tourism, finance, construction, aviation, cement, and energy sectors.

Based on reporting by Tasnim, Iranian State TV, Reuters, and AP



A group of pro-Kurdish protesters have clashed with Turkish government supporters and German police at the Duesseldorf airport, leaving several injured.

The violence broke out on March 11 when protesters opposed to Turkey's ongoing military operation in Afrin, a Kurdish-controlled area in northern Syria, were met by supporters of the Turkish offensive and German police, who used pepper spray to restore order at the airport.

The AFP quoted federal police as saying "a number of people" suffered injuries in the clashes, which did not affect travelers at the airport.

Images on social media showed protesters holding a banner that read "Afrin is becoming our Vietnam -- We will defeat fascism."

Several spontaneous protests have taken place across Germany, which is home to a large Turkish immigrant population, in response to advances by Turkish troops on Afrin, with just a couple of hundred meters separating them from the city, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through a network of activists on the ground.

Ankara launched the offensive on January 20, with the aim of dislodging the People's Protection Units (YPG), a U.S.-backed Kurdish militia that Turkey considers to be a terrorist group.

Based on reporting by dpa, AFP, and ANF

The first summit of Central Asian leaders in nearly a decade is set for March 15 in Astana though it is already clear that one of the five presidents will not attend.

While it is true that Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov will not be coming, Ashgabat is at least sending a delegation led by the speaker of the parliament. In the past, Turkmenistan often did not send anyone to such meetings.

This week's Majlis Podcast looked at the upcoming summit and the main talking points included: why the meeting is being held now; what the leaders have to discuss, what they could realistically accomplish at this gathering; and how much of an effect Berdymukhammedov's decision not to attend might have on this latest attempt at regional cooperation.

Moderating the discussion was RFE/RL's media relations manager, Muhammad Tahir.

Joining the talk from Boston was Bakyt Beshimov, a former Kyrgyz lawmaker and currently a professor at Northeastern University. Taking part from Prague, we had Farruh Yusupov, the director of RFE/RL's Turkmen Service (known locally as Azatlyk), who is a native of Uzbekistan. I've also been watching efforts at regional cooperation in Central Asia for a long time now, so I had some things to say as well.

Listen to the podcast above or subscribe to the Majlis on iTunes.Pakistan's so-called university of jihad is led by a man who proclaims himself "the father of the Taliban, and counts some of the world's most notorious terrorists among its alumni.

It also receives millions of dollars in aid from the government of the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province along the Pakistan-Afghan border, even as Islamabad carries out a national program to tackle extremism.

The Darul Uloom Haqqania religious seminary, located in Akora Khattak in northwest Pakistan, is known for preaching a fundamentalist brand of Islam and schooling a generation of fighters for both the Afghan Taliban and the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), also known as the Pakistani Taliban.

Around 3,000 young men with beards and white skullcaps study at Haqqania's sprawling campus -- located about 50 kilometers east of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's capital, Peshawar, and 90 kilometers west of the national capital, Islamabad -- making it one of the largest Islamic teaching centers in the world.

As could be expected from an Islamic institution of learning, students memorize the Koran and study Islamic law and the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad. But the seminary's teachings rooted in the Sunni Deobandi movement, which developed in India in the late 19th century in opposition to British colonialism, encourages its adherents to conduct violent jihad, earning the seminary a sordid reputation.

"Faculty, students, and alumni of the seminary are intimately linked to several militant groups," said Michael Semple, an expert on Afghanistan and Pakistan at Queen's University, Belfast.

"The Afghan Taliban perhaps have the best-developed links, and they systematically recruit young graduates," he added. "This is not even a particularly secret activity. The recruitment works rather like the way blue-chip companies would approach a graduate recruitment fair."

History Of Violence

Among the seminary's more infamous graduates are the Afghan Taliban's longtime leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, who died in 2015 in Pakistan, and Jalaluddin Haqqani, the leader of the Pakistan-based Haqqani network that is allied with the Afghan Taliban.

Asim Umar, the head of Al-Qaeda's South Asia wing, is also believed to have studied at Darul Uloom Haqqania. Pakistan's Dawn newspaper also reported that the two suspects in the 2007 assassination of Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto attended the seminary. Haqqania rejected the claims.

The head of the seminary, Sami-ul Haq, who this week fell short in his bid to be elected to Pakistan's Senate, does not shy from Darul Uloom Haqqania's links to the Afghan Taliban. The 80-year-old cleric proudly embraces the title "Father of the Taliban" and said in an interview in 2009 that his students should fight against U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He has been quoted as describing Mullah Omar as an "angel" and one of his star pupils.

The seminary -- which was founded by Haq's father in 1947, the same year Pakistan gained its independence from the British Raj -- has published a two-volume collection of documents boasting of its role in the "Afghan jihad." During the Afghan-Soviet War from 1979-80 the seminary received millions in funding and provided thousands of fighters to the war effort. It was during that time that the seminary became fertile recruiting ground for Islamist groups.

"Many students of this madrasah [religious school] have fought in Afghanistan and in Pakistan and joined the ranks of both the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban," says Pakistani journalist and Taliban expert Rahimullah Yusufzai. "Not all the students go and fight, but the more radical join these militant groups and become even top leaders of these groups."

Yusufzai said that, while Darul Uloom Haqqania is not a terrorist training camp, its alumni provide a powerful precedent for current students to follow. He says the seminary also promotes a narrative that resonates among many in Pakistan -- that Islam is under attack from the West.

Millions In Public Funds

For years, Pakistan has promised to clamp down on religious schools that preach violence and have been recruiting grounds for domestic and foreign Islamist militant groups.

Yet radical seminaries like Darul Uloom Haqqania continue to operate freely and even receive government funds.

In February, the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province gave the seminary $2.5 million in a push to "mainstream" the controversial institution. Opposition politician Imran Khan's Pakistan Tehrik-e Insaf (PTI) also gave $2.7 million in public funds to Darul Uloom Haqqania in 2017.

Analysts say the funds have been used to expand and renovate the seminary's vast campus, not to modernize or diversify its teachings.

Pakistani politicians have attacked the decision by the conservative PTI, which has close ties to hard-line Islamic political parties and figures.

Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, chairman of the Pakistan Peoples Party, said it was a "shame," while Syed Alam Mehsud, president of nationalist party Wolesi Tehrik, said the move "proved" that the government was "supporting extremist elements."

A 'Tall Order'

Pakistan launched a National Action Plan to tackle extremism shortly after a December 2014 assault on an army-run school in which Pakistani Taliban militants killed more than 150 people, most of them children. It included a plan to register all religious schools and reform their curriculum by introducing modern and secular subjects.

"Bringing reforms seems to be a tall order," says Yusufzai. "These schools and their ideology have become entrenched over a long period and now there are millions of students who have graduated from them. I think the focus of attention that is required from the authorities is lacking."

Semple said the seminaries and their leaders have become increasingly powerful in society and politics in Pakistan.

He said that would explain the PTI's decision to fund Darul Uloom Haqqania and its leader Haq, the leader of the Jamiat Ulema-e Islam political party, which will participate in general elections this year.

"The seminary and its head, Sami-ul Haq, have a vast network of alumni across the country," he said. "It's important to appreciate that Sami-ul Haq and his network's political influence were probably key in the PTI's decision."

Russias Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has become the latest woman to accuse influential Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky of sexual harassment.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, who is often quoted by Western media, said on March 10 that "Leonid started saying things in a restaurant that I found very unpleasant."

"I was surprised to see that those present...did not say anything at the time and did not support me," she told Russias NTV television, adding that the incident took place five years ago "when I was not a well-known person."

"I completely oppose those who say that, 'See, she only makes this up now, she's that kind of girl, she does not dress properly, all of this is invented.'"

Zakharova joins three journalists who have gone public with their accusations.

The women -- Yekaterina Kotrikadze, a deputy editor at RTVI television; Dozhd TV producer Darya Zhuk; and BBC Russian Service correspondent Farida Rustamova -- have in recent days accused Slutsky of sexual harassment, saying he made crude, unwanted advances, trying to kiss them and touching them inappropriately.

Slutsky, 50, has denied wrongdoing and threatened to sue his accusers for defamation, but he did ask for forgiveness on Facebook on March 8, which Russia and other countries mark as International Women's Day.

"Using the occasion [of the holiday] I would like to ask forgiveness from those of you whom I have ever willingly or unwillingly caused any distress," Slutsky wrote. "Believe, me, there was no ill-intent."

Leading opposition campaigner Aleksei Navalny has called for Slutsky's ouster, and presidential candidate Ksenia Sobchak and several activists have staged single-person protests outside the Duma.

Navalny expressed his solidarity with the journalists and called Slutsky, the chairman of the Duma's International Affairs Committee, "a repugnant lawmaker." He also criticized other lawmakers who have publicly supported Slutsky in the face of the accusations.

"All those who support and shield Slutsky are horrible," Navalny wrote on his website. "And Slutsky himself is not only a revolting person, who humiliates and offends people by sexually harassing them, he is also a swindler."

Navalny accused Slutsky of corruption, posting what he said was evidence that he lives a lavish lifestyle -- that cannot be accounted for -- far beyond his means and deserves a "shameful ouster" from the Duma.

Sobchak, who is a journalist along with being a presidential candidate, staged a protest in front of the State Duma holding a poster that read "Lawmakers, we do not want you!"

Sobchak also accused presidential candidate and Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky of "covering up" for Slutsky, who is a member of the LDPR.

With reporting by AFP, Ekho Moskvy, and Vedomosti

Direct flights between Iran and Serbia have resumed after a gap of 27 years with the landing on March 10 of an IranAir jet at Belgrade's Nikola Tesla Airport.

With the resumption, some groups in Serbia have raised concerns that the flights might be used as a new route for migrants from Iran looking to remain permanently in Europe.

All flights on IranAir's twice-weekly Tehran-Belgrade service have been fully booked until the end of the summer, Serbian media have reported.

Qeshm Air, another Iranian airline company, is also planning to launch a service between the countries on March 19.

The service was widely anticipated ever since Serbia signed a visa-liberalization deal with Iran in August 2017. Many of those flying on the service are expected to be Iranian nationals living in Europe.

However, Info Park, a Serbian refugee-support group, has warned that the flights could be become a new migrant route for those seeking to stay in the EU illegally.

Since visa requirements were lifted, the Serbian Trade Ministry said some 7,000 Iranians have traveled to Serbia, with about 485 applying for asylum.

Info Park said a number of Iranians had legally arrived in Belgrade as tourists, but moved to EU countries, mainly France and Germany, instead of returning to Iran.

"Although they entered Serbia as tourists, interviews have revealed that many Iranians use their stay in Belgrade to establish connections with smugglers, who will transfer them to their desired destination, across the borders of Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, or Romania," Info Park said at the time.

The group said those leaving Iran cited a variety of reasons, including concerns about their political, religious, or sexual-orientation rights.

"Seeing as most of these new-arrivals do not intend to return, the migration systems in Europe must recalibrate for this new route and demographic among the migrant populaces," it said.

Serbian Trade Minister Rasim Ljajic said both countries' authorities would investigate any possible abuses of the system, with checks reinforced in Tehran.

With reporting by AFP, The Financial Tribune, and Serbian Monitor

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned Syria that it would be "very unwise" for government forces to use weaponized gas, and slammed Russian support for Damascus.

Mattis made the remark on March 11 to reporters accompanying him on a trip to Oman, amid reports that President Bashar al-Assad's forces have recently used chlorine gas in a rebel-held region of eastern Ghouta, near Damascus.

The Syrian government denies the allegations.

The Pentagon chief stopped short of threatening to retaliate against Syrian forces if a chlorine attack were confirmed, but said U.S. President Donald Trump had "full political maneuver room" to take whatever decision he believed was appropriate.

In April 2017, Trump ordered a missile strike against a Syrian air base after Washington said the facility was used to launch a sarin nerve-gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, killing dozens of civilians.

The besieged eastern Ghouta region is the last opposition-controlled pocket near the Syrian capital.

For nearly three weeks, government forces have pounded it in an assault that has killed more than 1,000 civilians, according to activists.

Mattis said Russia, which has given Assad's government crucial support throughout the Syrian conflict, could be complicit in the Syrian government's strikes on civilians.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AP, and AFP

Syrian government forces have split a rebel-held enclave in three parts, in a significant step toward retaking the area outside the capital, Damascus.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based monitoring group, said government forces cut off Douma, the biggest town in eastern Ghouta, and isolated another.

The advance has effectively split the region into three parts.

Syrian government forces launched an offensive to take control of eastern Ghouta in February, in an advance that has left more than 1,000 civilians dead, according to the observatory.

The United Nations has called the bombardment "unacceptable," saying it amounts to "the collective punishment of civilians."

The monitoring group said at least 20 civilians were killed in Douma on March 10, in addition to 17 civilians in other battlefront towns.

The group said the deaths raised the offensive's total toll to 1,031 civilians, including 219 children. More than 4,350 have been wounded.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP

U.S. President Donald Trump has predicted his upcoming talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be a "tremendous success."

The U.S. leader said on March 10 that Pyongyang had promised not to test-launch any missiles until the talks take place, possibly in May.

"I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success. I think this is going to be something very successful. We have a lot of support," Trump told reporters.



"So, I think North Korea is going to go very well. The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great."

Earlier on March 10, Trump tweeted that China was pleased he was pursuing a diplomatic solution to the crisis over North Koreas nuclear program rather than "going with the ominous alternative."

He also wrote that Japan is "very enthusiastic" about the potential talks.

The White House on March 8 announced that Trump had agreed to meet with North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un by May in an effort to reach an agreement for Pyongyang to remove nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

Based on reporting by AFP and AP

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini is traveling to Kyiv on March 11 for talks with top Ukrainian government officials, ahead of the fourth anniversary of Russia's seizure of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula.

During her two-day working visit, Mogherini is to meet with President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman, Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, and the minister for temporarily occupied territories and internally displaced persons, Vadym Chernysh.

Mogherini's office said the trip comes "at an important moment for the implementation of crucial reforms" related to the Association Agreement strengthening ties between Ukraine and the European Union, which entered into force in September.

The visit "will be an opportunity to renew the European Union's longstanding commitment to the Ukrainian people and their aspirations to build a stronger Ukraine," a statement said.

Following the ouster of Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych by massive pro-European protests in February 2014, thousands of unmarked Russian soldiers took control of Crimea before Moscow formally seized the peninsula on March 18, 2014.

Russia also fomented unrest in eastern Ukraine, where fighting between Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists has killed more than 10,300 people since April 2014.

In Ukraine, Mogherini is set to address the situation on the ground and the implementation of the Minsk accords -- Western-backed cease-fire and peace deals signed in September 2014 and February 2015, and several additional agreements to cease hostilities.

She is due to meet with Ertugrul Apakan, the chief of the Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Martin Sajdik, the OSCE's special representative to the Trilateral Contact Group, which is attempting to regulate the conflict, and Alain Aeschlimann, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross's mission to Ukraine.

In Kyiv, Mogherini will also hold talks with students at the Taras Shevchenko University and representatives of civil society organizations, according to her office.

The European Union has been one of Ukraine's biggest backers.

On March 9, the European Commission said it had adopted a proposal for a new Macro-Financial Assistance (MFA) program worth up to 1 billion euros ($1.23 billion) to support Ukraine's economic stabilization and structural reforms.

But a statement said all disbursements under the proposed program would be conditional on the implementation of reforms, including steps to intensify the fight against corruption.

The proposal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament and European Council.

Since 2014, the bloc has pledged 12.8 billion euros to support the reform process in Ukraine, including 2.8 billion euros through three previous MFA programs.

Kyiv failed to meet all the conditions for the disbursement of a final tranche of loans under the previous aid program, which expired in January.

With reporting by Reuters

The goal is to achieve permanent denuclearisation. The president expressed his optimism about the meeting in a post on Twitter saying that Mr. Kim had talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Mr. Chung, a South Korean official, noted that the North Korean leader said he understood that joint military exercises with the United States and South Korea would go ahead as scheduled after the end of the Paralympic Games this month

. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time, Mr. Trump added. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached. Meeting being planned! Mr. Trump later called Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, and the two discussed coordinating diplomatic efforts. Mr. Trump also plans to call President Xi Jinping of China. In South Korea, people greeted the news of a meeting between Mr. Kim and Mr. Trump with relief. Chinas foreign ministry says it hopes all parties to the North Korean nuclear dispute will show their political courage in restarting negotiations, and pledges its support in working toward that goal.A study led by researchers at Tokyo Institute of Technology (Tokyo Tech) has uncovered new ways of driving multi-legged robots by means of a two-level controller. The proposed controller uses a network of so-called non-linear oscillators that enables the generation of diverse gaits and postures, which are specified by only a few high-level parameters. The study inspires new research into how multi-legged robots can be controlled, including in the future using brain-computer interfaces.

In the natural world, many species can walk over slopes and irregular surfaces, reaching places inaccessible even to the most advanced rover robots. It remains a mystery how complex movements are handled so seamlessly by even the tiniest creatures.

What we do know is that even the simplest brains contain pattern-generator circuits (CPGs)[1], which are wired up specifically for generating walking patterns. Attempts to replicate such circuits artificially have so far had limited success, due poor flexibility.

Now, researchers in Japan and Italy propose a new approach to walking pattern generation, based on a hierarchical network of electronic oscillators arranged over two levels, which they have demonstrated using an ant-like hexapod robot. The achievement opens new avenues for the control of legged robots. Published in IEEE Access, the research is the result of collaboration between scientists from Tokyo Tech, in part funded by the World Research Hub Initiative, the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, Poland, and the University of Catania, Italy.

The biologically-inspired controller consists of two levels. At the top, it contains a CPG[1], responsible for controlling the overall sequence of leg movements, known as gait. At the bottom, it contains six local pattern generators (LPGs)[2], responsible for controlling the trajectories of the individual legs.

The lead author of the study, Ludovico Minati, who is also affiliated to the Polish Academy of Sciences in Krakow, Poland and invited to Tokyo Tech's Institute of Innovative Research (IIR) through the World Research Hub Initiative explains that insects can rapidly adapt their gait depending on a wide range of factors, but particularly their walking speed. Some gaits are observed frequently and are considered as canonical, but in reality, a near-infinite number of gaits are available, and different insects such as ants and cockroaches realize similar gaits in very different postures.

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Difficulties have been encountered when trying to condense so much complexity into artificial pattern generators. The proposed controller shows an extremely high level of versatility thanks to implementation based on field-programmable analog arrays (FPAAs)[3], which allow on-the-fly reconfiguration and tuning of all circuit parameters. It builds on years of previous research on non-linear and chaotic electronic networks, which has demonstrated their ability to replicate phenomena observed in biological brains, even when wired up in very simple configurations.

"Perhaps the most exciting moment in the research was when we observed the robot exhibit phenomena and gaits which we neither designed nor expected, and later found out also exist in biological insects," says Minati. Such emergent phenomena arise particularly as the network is realized with analog components and allows a certain degree of self-organization, representing an approach that vastly differs to conventional engineering, where everything is designed a-priori and fixed. "This takes us so much closer to the way biology works," he adds.

Yasuharu Koike, also based at the IIR, comments: "An important aspect of the controller is that it condenses so much complexity into only a small number of parameters. These can be considered high-level parameters, in that they explicitly set the gait, speed, posture, etc. Because they can be changed dynamically, in the future it should be easy to vary them in real-time using a brain-computer interface, allowing the control of complex kinematics otherwise impossible to dominate with current approaches."

And Natsue Yoshimura, also based at the IIR, says: "As the controller responds gradually and embodies a biologically plausible approach to pattern generation, we think that it may be more seamless to drive compared to systems which decode discrete commands. This may have practical implications, and our lab has substantial know-how in this area."

Technical terms

[1] Pattern-generator circuits (CPGs): CPG stands for Central Pattern Generator. A network that autonomously generates rhythmic gait patterns, here referring to the sequence of leg movements.

[2] Local Pattern Generator (LPG): A sub-network that transforms each CPG output into the trajectory of the joints of the corresponding leg.

[3] Field-Programmable Analog Array (FPAA): An integrated circuit containing a variety of analog blocks, which can be reconfigured under digital control.A new study indicates that the kinds of microbes living in the gut influence the severity and recurrence of parasitic worm infections in developing countries. The findings, by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, suggest that manipulating the gut's microbial communities may protect against intestinal parasites, which affect more than 1 billion people worldwide.

The study appears online in the journal Microbiome.

Studying communities in Liberia and Indonesia, the researchers found that the gut microbiomes of people able to clear the infections without drugs were more alike and differed markedly from the microbiomes of those who could not clear the infections without treatment.

"People who have sustained infections or who experience multiple infections have a different microbiome to start with compared with those who do not have as much trouble with infection," said senior author Makedonka Mitreva, PhD, an associate professor of medicine. "Our work included samples from a placebo-controlled trial of drugs against these parasitic worms. It suggests that the microbiomes of people who retained infection are somehow compromised to begin with. Something about their microbiomes makes them more prone to getting infected and to maintaining a chronic infection."

According to the World Health Organization, about one quarter of the world's population -- over 1.5 billion people -- is infected with parasitic worms called helminths. These worm infections are most common in tropical and subtropical areas with poor sanitation.

The researchers identified 12 microbes associated with worm-infected individuals and one type of bacteria associated with uninfected individuals. In particular, gut bacteria associated with increased inflammation were linked to healthy uninfected individuals, perhaps because this type of inflammatory environment makes it harder for the worms to establish themselves in the gut.

The researchers, including first author Bruce A. Rosa, PhD, a staff scientist, analyzed about 400 fecal samples from 250 people living in different villages in Liberia and Indonesia. Mitreva said one of the study's strengths is that it established common gut microbiome patterns associated with high and low risk of worm infections in two distant geographic regions -- West Africa and Southeast Asia, where such infections are prevalent.

The infections spread easily when soil is contaminated with human feces that contain worm eggs. Children are particularly vulnerable because the infections can cause malnutrition, leading to impaired growth and development. Even when infections are treated with appropriate drugs, they often recur because the infective stages of the parasite are ever present in the soil. The main species that affect human health are large roundworm, whipworm and hookworm.

"There are good drugs against most -- but not all -- of these infections. We are beginning to see more responses to treatment that are less than optimal, indicating the worms are starting to develop resistance to some of these treatments," said Mitreva, also an assistant director of the university's McDonnell Genome Institute. "The big problem is reinfection. Even if the therapy works and the infection is cleared, the exposure to contaminated soil is so pervasive that new infections are extremely common. Building on the information from this study, our ultimate long-term goal is to develop a way to alter the gut microbiome so that it protects people from reinfection."

Currently, antihelminthic drugs are used to deworm people who are infected, especially school-age children and women of reproductive age. Since the study found characteristics of the microbiome that are discriminative of infection, Mitreva said this information could be used to predict who is most likely to develop severe and chronic infections and direct more preventive efforts to those individuals.

"Ideally, we would like to be in a position to suggest some local fermented foods that could alter the microbiome and result in a decreased rate of reinfection," Mitreva said. "Rather than give more antihelminthic drugs, we want to help people fight off the infection by themselves. Right now, we are looking at the bacteria that we found were associated with protection against infection and studying their effects in mice with intestinal worm infections."Heart attacks don't happen on a schedule. So how do patients fare if they suffer a heart attack while many cardiologists are away at academic meetings or research conferences?

The answer depends on the type of heart attack, according to new research from Harvard Medical School.

According to new research from Harvard Medical School, published March 9 in the Journal of the American Heart Association, heart attack sufferers who receive treatment during periods when interventional cardiologists are away at academic conferences are more likely to survive in the month after their heart attack than patients receiving treatment during matched days in the weeks surrounding the conferences.

The overall benefit in survival was substantial enough to get the attention of physician-researcher Anupam Jena, lead author of the study.

"Many medical interventions deliver no mortality benefit, and the fact that mortality actually falls for heart attack patients during these conference dates raises important questions about how care might differ during these periods," said Jena, who is the Ruth L. Newhouse Associate Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and a physician at Massachusetts General Hospital.

This is not the first time Jena has tackled this line of scientific inquiry. In 2015 Jena and colleagues set out to answer this question, expecting that they would find either no change if the hospitals had enough skilled doctors to cover for the cardiologists who were away at big national cardiology conferences, or a slight increase in mortality, if staffing challenges caused the quality or quantity of care to dip.

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Jena said he was surprised to find in that first study that instead of doing worse, patients fared better for acute cardiovascular conditions such as cardiac arrest and heart failure, on the dates of the American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology meetings than they did on matched dates surrounding those events. The counterintuitive findings suggested that cardiologists who attend the meetings are more prone to using intensive interventions for their patients, and that patients did better with less intensive treatment.

In his latest study, Jena takes a closer look at a more focused physician population, looking for changes in patient mortality on the dates of Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics, the world's largest interventional cardiology meeting. Interventional cardiologists specialize in minimally invasive treatment of heart attacks, which involves accessing the heart through a vessel in the groin or arm rather than through open-heart surgery. This approach uses a tiny wire mesh, or stent, to open up a blocked heart artery, and is the most commonly used therapy for treating patients in the throes of a heart attack caused by a blocked artery.

This study's focus on a specific condition and a specific group of doctors who primarily and routinely treat this condition overcame a limitation of the 2015 study, which included cardiologists of all types.

The new analysis revealed a pattern mirroring the findings of Jena's earlier research: A decided survival benefit for patients treated on meeting dates over those treated on nonmeeting dates. Overall, 15.3 percent of patients who went to the hospital with a heart attack on the dates of the meeting died within 30 days of admission, compared with 16.7 percent of patients admitted on nonmeeting dates.

The improved survival outcomes were driven primarily by a group of patients with a specific type of heart attack that does not require immediate stenting. In these patients, who did not undergo stenting, 16.9 percent of those hospitalized during meeting dates died within 30 days of admission, compared with 19.5 percent of those who received care on nonmeeting dates.

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The differences may emanate from different nonprocedural skills of physicians who stay behind on meeting dates. Indeed, patients who had heart attacks during meeting dates were equally likely to receive coronary stenting compared to patients who had heart attacks on nonmeeting dates, and mortality reductions were primarily observed among patients who did not receive stents. For patients who don't undergo stenting, mortality risk likely depends on choosing the right cardiac medicines and also accurately identifying and treating concurrent illnesses that may affect the risk of dying, such as certain types of infectious diseases, Jena said.

The findings suggest that while the doctors who stayed were equally skilled at stenting as doctors who attended the meetings, those who stayed may have been better at nonprocedural care, Jena said.

"If doctors focuse their attention on a particular kind of procedure, they might not develop other clinical skills that are as important to influencing outcomes as is knowledge of a specific procedure," Jena said. "Treating a cardiac patient isn't just about cardiac issues -- it's about other factors that the patient brings to the hospital."

The researchers found no age or sex differences between physicians who attended and those who did not attend interventional cardiology meetings. However, they did observe that the doctors who attended these meeting performed more stents, were much more focused on publishing research and more likely to run clinical trials than their peers who stayed behind.

"To be clear, these aren't academics who just run research programs," Jena said. "They also do a lot of clinical care."

So what is it that makes the outcomes for patients treated by these two groups of doctors markedly different? Without detailed data about the clinical profiles of patients seen on meeting and nonmeeting dates, Jena said it would be hard to say for sure what the true differences were between the groups.

"Which doctor treats you does matter. The types of doctors who attend these meetings seem to provide different care, at least for a subgroup of patients," Jena said. "This is an unfortunate paradox given that professional conferences are designed to actually makes us better physicians and improve the care we deliver."

Many open questions remain, however. The most critical among them may be: What do the doctors who stay home during meetings do differently to achieve superior results and what can their meeting-attending colleagues learn from them to boost their performance?

"What we really want to know is how we can close the gap in outcomes and save more lives," Jena said.Ocean conditions off most of the U.S. West Coast are returning roughly to average, after an extreme marine heat wave from about 2014 to 2016 disrupted the California Current Ecosystem and shifted many species beyond their traditional range, according to a new report from NOAA Fisheries' two marine laboratories on the West Coast. Some warm waters remain off the Pacific Northwest, however.

The Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Northwest Fisheries Science Center presented their annual "California Current Ecosystem Status Report" to the Pacific Fishery Management Council at the Council's meeting in Rohnert Park, Calif., on Friday, March 9. The California Current encompasses the entire West Coast marine ecosystem, and the report informs the Council about conditions and trends in the ecosystem that may affect marine species and fishing in the coming year.

"The report gives us an important glimpse at what the science is saying about the species and resources that we manage and rely on in terms of our West Coast economy," said Phil Anderson of Westport, Wash., the Council Chair. "The point is that we want to be as informed as we can be when we make decisions that affect those species, and this report helps us do that."

Unusually warm ocean temperatures, referred to as "the Blob," encompassed much of the West Coast beginning about 2014, combining with an especially strong El Nino pattern in 2015. The warm conditions have now waned, although some after-effects remain.

Feeding conditions have improved for California sea lions and seabirds that experienced mass die-offs caused by shifts in their prey during the Blob.

Plankton species, the foundation of the marine food web, have shifted back slightly toward fat-rich, cool-water species that improve the growth and survival of salmon and other fish.

Recent research surveys have found fewer juvenile salmon, and consequently adult salmon returns will likely remain depressed for a few years until successive generations benefit from improving ocean conditions.

Reports of whale entanglements in fishing gear have remained very high for the fourth straight year, as whales followed prey to inshore areas and ran into fishing gear such as pots and traps.

Severe low-oxygen conditions in the ocean water spanned the Oregon Coast from July to September 2017, causing die-offs of crabs and other species.

Even as the effects of the Blob and El Nino dissipate, the central and southern parts of the West Coast face low snow pack and potential drought in 2018 that could put salmon at continued risk as they migrate back up rivers to spawn.

"Overall we're seeing some positive signs, as the ocean returns to a cooler and generally more productive state," said Toby Garfield, a research scientist and Acting Director of the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. "We're fortunate that we have the data from previous years to help us understand what the trends are, and how that matters to West Coast fishermen and communities."

NOAA Fisheries' scientists compile the California Current Ecosystem Status Report from ocean surveys and other monitoring efforts along the West Coast. The tracking revealed "a climate system still in transition in 2017," as surface ocean conditions return to near normal. Deeper water remained unusually warm, especially in the northern part of the California Current. Warm-water species, such as leaner plankton species often associated with subtropical waters, have lingered in these more-northern zones.

One of the largest and most extensive low-oxygen zones ever recorded off the West Coast prevailed off the Oregon Coast last summer, probably driven by low-oxygen water upwelled from the deep ocean, the report said.

While the cooling conditions off the West Coast began to support more cold-water plankton rich in the fatty acids that salmon need to grow, salmon may need more time to show the benefits, the report said. Juvenile salmon sampled off the Northwest Coast in 2017 were especially small and scarce, suggesting that poor feeding conditions off the Columbia River Estuary may remain.

Juvenile salmon that enter the ocean this year amid the gradually improving conditions will not return from the ocean to spawn in the Columbia and other rivers for another two years or more, so fishermen should not expect adult salmon numbers to improve much until then.

"These changes occur gradually, and the effects appear only with time," said Chris Harvey, a fisheries biologist at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center and coauthor of the report. "The advantage of doing this monitoring and watching these indicators is that we can get a sense of what is likely to happen in the ecosystem and how that is likely to affect communities and economies that are closely tied to these waters."High-altitude areas -- particularly the US intermountain states -- have increased rates of suicide and depression, suggests a review of research evidence in the Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

The increased suicide rates might be explained by blood oxygen levels due to low atmospheric pressure, according to the article by Brent Michael Kious, MD, PhD, of University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and colleagues. Pending further research, the evidence may point to possible treatments to reduce the effects of low blood oxygen on mood and suicidal thoughts.

Altitude Linked to Variations in Suicide Rate -- Further Study of Mechanisms Needed

The researchers reviewed and analyzed previous evidence linking higher altitude of residence to increased risk of suicide and depression, and considered possible explanations for these associations. "There are significant regional variations in the rates of major depressive disorder and suicide in the United States, suggesting that sociodemographic and environmental conditions contribute," Dr. Kious and coauthors write.

They analyzed 12 studies, most performed in the United States, including population-based data on the relationship between suicide or depression and altitude. While the studies used varying methods, most reported that higher-altitude areas had increased rates of depression and suicide. In general, the correlation was stronger for suicide than for depression.

The highest suicide rates were clustered in the intermountain states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. (Alaska and Virginia also had high suicide rates.) In a 2014 study, the percentage of adults with "serious thoughts of suicide" ranged from 3.3 percent in Connecticut (average altitude 490 feet) to 4.9 percent in Utah (average altitude 6,100 feet).

Other key findings from previous research on altitude and suicide included:

Populations living at higher altitudes had increased suicide rates despite having decreased rates of death from all causes. Rather than a steady increase, the studies suggested a "threshold effect": suicide rates increased dramatically at altitudes between about 2,000 and 3,000 feet.

Suicide rates were more strongly associated with altitude than with firearm ownership. Other factors linked to suicide rate included increased poverty rate, lower income, and smaller population ratios of white and divorced women. However, the studies could not account for all factors potentially affecting variations in suicide, such as substance abuse rates and cultural differences.

While more than 80 percent of US suicides occur in low-altitude areas, that's because most of the population lives near sea level. Adjusted for population distribution, suicide rates per 100,000 population were 17.7 at high altitude, 11.9 at middle altitude, and 4.8 at low altitude. Studies from some other countries, but not all, also reported increased suicide rates at higher altitudes.

Why would altitude affect suicide rates? Dr. Kious and coauthors suggest the answer might be "chronic hypobaric hypoxia": low blood oxygen related to low atmospheric pressure. That theory is supported by studies in animals and short-term studies in humans. The authors suggest two pathways by which hypobaric hypoxia might increase the risks of suicide and depression: by altering the metabolism of the neurotransmitter serotonin and/or through its effects on brain bioenergetics.

If borne out by future studies, these mechanisms suggest some possible treatments to mitigate the effects of altitude on depression and suicide risk: supplemental 5-hydroxytryptophan (a serotonin precursor) to increase serotonin levels, or creatinine to influence brain bioenergetics. Dr. Kious and colleagues identify several areas in need of further research, including the effects of prolonged exposure to altitude on both serotonin metabolism and brain bioenergetics.Experts have found that people who use pedometers to count their steps as part of a 12-week walking programme, can have a healthier, more active lifestyle three to four years later.

Brisk walking for 30 minutes or more daily on most days of the week can help adults and older adults to achieve important health benefits.

Researchers at St George's, University of London, compared adults and older adults in two 12-week walking programmes who were using pedometers, with people who did not receive the pedometers and advice. They showed that the pedometer groups were still doing more physical activity three to four years later.

Tess Harris, Professor of Primary Care Research at St George's, University of London, led two National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) funded trials called PACE-UP and PACE-Lift which had similar components: pedometers; 12-week walking programmes based on behaviour change techniques; and physical activity diaries. The material, advice and pedometers were provided either by post or as part of practice nurse physical activity consultations.

The PACE-UP trial recruited 1023 inactive 45-75 year old primary care patients from seven London general practices. It found at three-year follow-up that those in both the postal and the nurse advice groups were still doing approximately an extra 600 steps per day and 24-28 extra minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity weekly, in 10 minute bouts, than those in the comparison group who had received usual care.

The PACE-Lift trial recruited 298 primary care patients aged 60-75 years from three Oxfordshire and Berkshire GP practices. It found that at four-year follow-up, those in the nurse intervention group were doing approximately an extra 400 steps per day and an extra 33 minutes per week of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity in 10 minute bouts, compared to the group who had received usual care.

Professor Harris said, "We knew that pedometers could improve physical activity levels in the population in the short-term, but long-term health benefits require sustained increases in physical activity levels.

"What is unique about this study is that we have shown that short, simple pedometer-based walking interventions, whether delivered by post, or with advice and support from practice nurses, can lead to greater objectively measured physical activity levels three to four years later."

It had been weeks since Larry Joseph Botelho was spotted outside the box truck he lived in and kept parked near the Oakland airport. By the time someone asked police to check on him, the 63-year-old homeless mans body was decomposing on a makeshift bed in the truck.

The Alameda County coroners office determined he died of natural causes. An investigator tracked down doctors, social workers and former employers, ran fingerprints, reviewed government records and an ancestry website, but found no relatives.

Botelho was cremated as an indigent  his ashes sent to Holy Cross Cemetery in Antioch, and his truck towed. Coroners case No. 01378 was closed.

Nothing in the official record shows he died homeless. His death certificate lists a home address: the spot on 98th Avenue where his truck was parked.

Like many local governments, Alameda County does not collect data on how many homeless people die each year or their causes of death. Even if it did, neither the state nor federal government tracks such data  or requires that it be collected.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

The Chronicle checked with coroners and medical examiners offices, county public health departments, the California Department of Public Health, U.S. Health and Human Services, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and found that none had records on how many homeless people die  or mandates to collect the information.

The California Electronic Death Registration System, a database run by the state Department of Public Health, occasionally gets a death certificate where homeless or encampment is listed in place of a persons residence, said spokeswoman Theresa Mier. But there arent any guidelines for doctors or medical examiners on when to use the designation.

Likewise, the U.S. Health and Human Services Department doesnt have information or know of any national estimates on deaths of homeless individuals, said spokeswoman Carla Daniels.

Agencies that do attempt to keep track of how many homeless people die in their jurisdictions have no standardized guidelines or rules to follow. They rely on their own definition of who counts as homeless. And even if a person is clearly homeless, as in Botelhos case, that information may never appear on the death record.

Once a homeless person dies  usually decades earlier than the U.S. life expectancy  investigators proceed with the same steps they do for any deceased person, said Lt. David Vandagriff, who runs the Alameda County coroners bureau.

First, they identify the dead. Next, they track down the family. Autopsies are conducted and reports are made. But a persons housing status often does not make it into the official record.

If investigators can track down an address associated with the dead  where an estranged spouse lives or the place they would pick up mail  they often wont be marked as homeless in the paperwork that documents how they died and who they were. If they find no address, they may write homeless or transient in that section of a death record.

We are duty bound to show them respect and dignity, Vandagriff said. Quite often when were interacting with next of kin, we want to show them that this is not something that were judging your departed on. Were not classifying them as anything other than a departed member of your family.

At a homeless encampment beneath a highway overpass in West Oakland on a recent day, Danielle Golden ticked off the names of friends from the camp who died. She sat in a discarded recliner chair, not far from a tattered homeless lives matter too sign.

Tamoo, Kilo, Chocolate, Spicey Mike, Ebo, she said, just counting those she said died in the past year. Two were hit by cars, one was stabbed, another shot in the head. The latest perished in a fire. Their names were memorialized with sidewalk chalk until the rain came. Its unclear whether they were marked as homeless in county death records.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

In San Francisco, a woman named Alice, who for years lived on the sidewalk outside a Burger King, likely will not be included in the citys 2018 count because she moved into a single-room-occupancy hotel in the Mission before she died last month, said Rachael Kagan, spokeswoman for the citys Department of Public Health.

Unlike Oakland, San Francisco compiles the number of homeless people who die each year. But officials caution that their count is probably a significant underestimation because homeless people who spend their last days in housing or a hospital may not make the tally.

In Contra Costa County, Capt. Steve Simpkins of the coroners office provided numbers but emphasized they arent perfectly accurate. They showed that an average of 33 homeless people died each year over the past decade, but last year the figure jumped to 64. He said nothing was readily apparent to explain the increase.

The lack of systematic data  or any data at all  when it comes to people dying on the streets is in sharp contrast to the concerted effort to count how many people are living on the streets.

Every two years, to qualify for federal dollars, local governments send scores of volunteers fanning out to shelters and tent cities and parks to methodically count every homeless person they can find. Last year in Alameda County, the so-called point-in-time census revealed a 25 percent jump in the homeless population in Oakland and a nearly 40 percent increase countywide.

Bobby Watts, CEO of the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, said its vital to know the mortality rate of the homeless population.

Its the first and most basic measure of health or public health: Is someone alive or dead? he said. Its an extremely important measure. Its something we need to know. Some localities do a better job than others.

Cities that do make efforts to collect data noted an increase in homeless deaths last year, Watts said.

The collection of uniform and reliable homeless death data could help create policies to prevent deaths, say some health and homeless services providers. It could also help spur action to tackle the crisis.

This is information that can be used to create interventions and just to underscore the long-term solution of housing, Watts said. It doesnt have to be 100 percent accurate, but its better to have some good information than none at all.

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.

Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, said if more people knew how dire homelessness is  by way of mortality statistics, for instance  there might be a heightened sense of urgency.

A lot of people dont understand how serious a problem this is and who is affected and why, she said. When people are dying  thats just another piece of evidence that its a public health emergency.

Lucy Kasdin, deputy director of Alameda Countys Health Care for the Homeless unit, said statistics on homeless deaths would be incredibly valuable in developing interventions and figuring out how to best allocate resources.

Not everyone agrees.

Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Josh Bamberger, a UCSF physician who has been treating homeless patients for the past two decades, said theres already sufficient data on the perils of homelessness.

We have mountains of data to tell us why homelessness is bad, he said. Its bad for your health, its expensive, and it kills you at a younger age.

He pointed to a 2009 research paper he co-authored that examined the impact of housing on the survival of homeless people with AIDS. Only two out of 71 placed in housing died after five years. In the same period, three-quarters of the 610 people without housing had died. Some studies have indicated that homelessness is correlated with a 25-year decrease in ones life expectancy.

If the health care system embraced housing as the one and true treatment to improve the health of homeless people, that money would be well spent, Bamberger said. I used to believe I should put my energies in providing the best care.  But theres an absurdity in having a patient with perfect blood pressure, perfect control of their sugar and treatment of their cancers and then rolling them out in their wheelchair into the rain.

Barbara DiPietro, senior director of policy for the National Health Care for the Homeless Council, said the data would be beneficial if it led to more housing. She wasnt convinced it would.

When people die, theyre even more invisible than when they were alive, she said. Collecting data at death almost feels too late.

While experts disagree on how useful the data would be, its proved to be helpful for some who collect it. When San Francisco, for instance, found that one of the top three causes of death in the homeless population was related to alcohol consumption, that information became the impetus for opening a sobering center a decade ago, Kagan said. The center provides meals, showers and beds for people to sleep off inebriation while their vital signs are monitored.

When you know what is going on with this population, Kagan said, you can develop responses to those needs before they become a cause of death.Suzy Loftus, former president of the San Francisco Police Commission, is hitting the phones to line up support for a run against District Attorney George Gascon next year.

People want a D.A.s office that works, Loftus said.

Loftus, who worked as a prosecutor when Sen. Kamala Harris was San Franciscos D.A., is a home-grown candidate with deep ties to the citys west side.

Shes no stranger to the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco politics. Her time on the Police Commission was marked by the police shooting of stabbing suspect Mario Woods, one of a string of killings by officers that ultimately led to the resignation of Police Chief Greg Suhr.

Loftus also argued for banning police officers from shooting at suspects in moving cars, a position that put her at odds with the politically influential Police Officers Association.

Among those endorsing her are Police Commission President L. Julius M. Turman, BART board member Lateefah Simon and Supervisor Katy Tang.

Shes the second big-name opponent to line up a run against Gascon, after Fire Commission member Joe Alioto Veronese.

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.





Gascon is seeking a third term as D.A., and this is shaping up as his first tough election. Hes a favorite of progressives, thanks to his criticisms of the Police Department and strong advocacy for Proposition 47, the 2014 state measure that reduced many drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. Those same stances have drawn heat from traditional law-and-order groups such as the police union.

Gascon did not return a call seeking comment.

S an Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He 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 matierandross@ sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandrossFacing a room full of TV news cameras at the Oakland Marriott on Tuesday at 10 a.m., nine former employees of Oakland chef Charlie Hallowell held a news conference calling on him to divest completely from his restaurants in the wake of allegations of serial sexual harassment.

An hour later, the same TV crews carried their cameras to a law office a half a block away for a news conference by the Hallowell restaurant group  which includes Pizzaiolo, Boot & Shoe Service and Penrose in Oakland  announced the evening before. There, Hallowell lawyer Yasmeen Omidi said the company had just hired a new chief operating officer who would take over all company operations for six months while Hallowell steps away.

In December, The Chronicle reported that 17 women had said Hallowell had been harassing female employees for years.

During the first press conference, the alleged victims stood in a row while three of them took turns speaking.

If you are asking why now its because you are only now listening, said Jessica Moncada, a former Boot & Shoe Service bartender.

Through tears, she added, Please know that this process has been terrifying and invasive and time consuming. There have been attempts to bully and smear us, but we will not be intimidated.

The group prepared their statement with civil rights attorney Mika Hilaire, who said the women made claims of Hallowells repeatedly making sexual advances and inappropriately touching as well as making disgusting and sexually lewd comments about women.

Hilaire added, This type of conduct is not new in the restaurant industry. We are hoping that this case not only helps the current employees at Hallowells restaurants but also helps the restaurant industry as a whole.

Later, at the law offices of Wendel Rosen Black & Dean, Omidi announced that the restaurant companys new chief operating officer, Donna Insalaco, would eventually become part owner, taking over some of Hallowells shares in the company. Insalaco was previously vice president of operations at Rubicon Bakery.

Omidi said that attorney Maureen Bogue had completed a sexual harassment investigation that involved interviews with 55 employees, the results of which would be put into a report in the future. She also said that when Hallowell returns, he will take on a creative capacity at the company rather than a management role.

Charlie has acknowledged that his behavior was hurtful and inappropriate, said Omidi. When asked whether he acknowledged that he had sexually harassed employees, Omidi only repeated that Hallowell acknowledged that he behaved in an inappropriate way.

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.

This is not to diminish any pain that any employee has experienced or felt in this process, Omidi said. But what Charlie is doing is also a difficult process, and I think its one that should be encouraged.

Part of that process, Omidi said, was to take part in restorative justice, a nonpunitive way of seeking reconciliation between victims and those they say have wronged them.

We have no understanding what restorative justice means to Charlie, said Molly Surbridge, who spoke for the group of eight to 10 women that Hilaire represents. We believe that typically the restorative justice process is a lengthy one where counselors work with victims for months before having them confront their harassers. Since we have zero understanding of the process, timeline or who the facilitators would be, we would have to pass.

Tara Duggan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tduggan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @taradugganIm just like you, 17-year-old Simon Spiers (played by Nick Robinson) says at the beginning of Love, Simon, as the camera pans over his picture-perfect suburban Atlanta neighborhood.

When the new movie opens March 16, audiences will discover in affable Simon a familiar type of teen-movie protagonist. Hes a handsome high school senior with a low-key sense of humor, loving and liberal parents (played by Jennifer Garner and Josh Duhamel) and a tight group of friends who drive to school together blasting music and sipping iced coffee.

I just have one huge secret, says Simon. Nobody knows Im gay.

Thank God its not about Simon figuring out that hes gay. We know that he knows in the first minute of the movie, and then they get on with it, said Helen Sturman, 16, an 11th-grader at Lick-Wilmerding High School.

Now Playing: Reporter Jessica Zack asked San Francisco LGBTQ high school students what they thought of the new movie "Love, Simon" at an advance screening. Video: Pam Grady

Students from Lick-Wilmerdings Gender & Sexuality Awareness Group attended an advance screening of Love Simon, and then hung around the AMC Van Ness to discuss what theyd seen.

They came up the escalator giggling and clearly excited to get a peek at the movie adaptation of a book many of them had read and loved  the 2015 young-adult bestseller Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, about closeted heartthrob Nicks attempt to figure out the best way to come out to his friends and family, while hes falling hard for an anonymous boy he met online.

The teens alternated between laughter and more serious confessions from their own lives about coming out, using social media to feel less alone, and looking for on-screen role models that have been sorely lacking.

So, did the coming-out and coming-of-age plotline of Love, Simon feel as groundbreaking as the early social-media hype suggested? Is Simons hesitation about being openly gay in high school realistic? Is the movie a big step forward in terms of having whats depicted on screen actually reflect their lives as savvy, open-minded Generation Z LGBTQ teenagers? Their consensus: Yes. Yes. Yes.

Rosa Furneaux/Special to The Chronicle

You know what I love most about it? We get a gay rom-com! said Annette Vergara-Tucker, 16, to loud finger-snapping in agreement from her peers.

They agreed that the movies upbeat, mainstream appeal could be what makes it most radical. (Its the first big-budget movie romance about gay teenagers.)

I really liked when Simon said, I just want to be me and be gay. He didnt want being gay to be his whole identity. I can really relate to that, said Maxine Schulte, 16.

I really like that they didnt portray Simon as the gay stereotype you usually see on Netflix, or on something like G.B.F., said Cory Beizer, 16, the school groups co-president.

Its a relief that he has a normal life, hes just going through this inner crisis. Hes made peace with his identity; hes just not sure the rest of the world is ready to make peace with it, said Olivia Jacob, 16, holding hands with Annette, who wore a gray Lick hoodie, her straight brown hair tipped pink.

Usually in a film with a gay character, he would be struggling with drug addiction or AIDS, or be a social outcast, said Robinson (Jurassic World, Everything, Everything) by phone. Whats exciting about playing Simon is that he is none of those things. Hes a cool, pretty reasonable dude, with a great family and supportive friends. And he just so happens to be gay.

I hope (Simon) fills a void that really shouldnt still exist in 2018, but does, said director Greg Berlanti (Life As We Know It). As a closeted high-schooler myself (in Rye, N.Y.), I never saw anyone like me reflected in any of the high school movies I loved.

Rosa Furneaux/Special to The Chronicle

The Lick students all agreed that watching a story thats up front about its protagonists orientation beats searching everywhere like we usually do to find someone you can identify with, said Olivia, to ensuing laughter from the friends seated around her about their looking for gayness in everything from Harry Potter to The Great Gatsby and Frankenstein.

Ive had to search for queer love in so many places, said Helen.

I remember doing that extra algebra to try to imagine a gay character where there wasnt one, said Berlanti. Hopefully, everyone connects with this story, but Simon does mean something special to LGBTQ teens.

The Lick students also said that even in liberal San Francisco, where most of them described having underwhelming and mostly positive coming-out experiences, Simons big truth-telling moment with his parents, who are unfalteringly accepting, could serve as a model for families.

In any other gay movie, you see negative reactions of the parents. Its so great to see another option, a sweet, positive way of doing it that leaves your son or daughter actually feeling heard, said Helen.

Rosa Furneaux/Special to The Chronicle

Theres a pitfall in terms of living in the San Francisco bubble where you can have parents who truly have always believed they are accepting and liberal, said Annette, but then when their own kid comes out its like, uh oh. My kid?

I almost cried when the dad (Duhamel) realizes that all the jokes hes made over the years to Simon about girls were based on assumptions. Thats exactly what it feels like, when you come out and want your parents to apologize because its been years of family and others saying, Introduce me to your boyfriend, and all you can do is squirm and feel uncomfortable.

Robinson shared that on a personal note, my younger brother came out only a few months after I finished the film. I think I was slightly better equipped to be helpful after working on this. It was this great full-circle moment.

I think itll be a huge gift to people who watch the movie and can see what a good reaction looks like, said Jocelyn Murphy, 15. Not asking more questions. Best of all, they didnt say, Are you sure?

Believe me, if youre at the point that youre coming out to your parents, youre sure.

Jessica Zack is a freelance writer. Twitter: @jwzack

Love, Simon (PG-13) opens on Friday, March 16 in the Bay Area.

Read David Wiegands review of Love, Simon in the Friday, March 16, Datebook.Say what you will about Donald Trump, but the man is lucky.

His top economic adviser just walked out on him for slapping tariffs on imported aluminum and steel. Porn star Stormy Daniels is on a fast track to 60 Minutes to talk about her one-night stand with Trump and the payoff to keep her quiet. And independent counsel Robert Mueller is circling ever closer to Trump in the Russia probe.

Then, out of the blue, Kim Jong Un agrees to put away his nuclear toys  for now, anyway  and asks for a one-on-one summit.

If you dont look too hard, Trump and his year of bluster come off as brilliant. North Korea surrenders!

But of course, they havent surrendered anything. And rather than having grown-ups in places like the State Department spend the months of preparation typically needed to make nuclear treaties work, Trump is basically going to wing it.

Dotard meets Little Rocket Man. Two unstable, childlike megalomaniacs sitting down to decide the fate of the world. What could go wrong?

Its the ultimate reality show. Only this time, reality is real.

How secure we all will be after the meeting takes place  if it actually takes place  is an open question. But for at least a moment, Trump has knocked his critics for a loop. And thats a first.

Schaaf shines: Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is playing her Paul Revere moment for all its worth, and shes getting plenty of help from President Trump and his friends.

Schaaf set off a sanctuary storm when she went public about pending immigration sweeps last month. Its been a nonstop barrage from the Trump administration, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement chief Thomas Homan likening her to a gang lookout, Attorney General Jeff Sessions accusing her of endangering the lives of ICE agents, and Trump calling what she did a disgrace.

This is pure gold for any California Democrat. Legally, it might be a bit dicey for Schaaf  the White House has said what she did is under review  but the mayor is in good shape there, too. Melinda Haag, who used to be the U.S. attorney in the San Francisco office, is willing to give her free legal help.

I called Schaaf and offered my services as well. I really want to be on the committee, I said.

She said, What committee?

The Free Libby Committee, I said. In case you need bail.

And theyre off: Im supporting Supervisor London Breed for mayor, but Im starting to worry.

Breeds run as acting mayor following the death of Ed Lee greatly elevated her citywide profile. The Board of Supervisors decision to replace her with Supervisor Mark Farrell to level the playing field in the June election elicited citywide sympathy for her as well.

Breed and her campaign people now face the challenge of keeping the momentum going, and so far they have yet to kick it into high gear.

Supervisor Jane Kim, on the other hand, appears to be improving her chances with every campaign appearance. Im getting consistent reports back from those attending candidate forums that Kim is energetic, informed and engaged.

For the citys progressive east side, shes all about free child care. For the moderate to conservative west side, shes all about cleaning the streets.

Both issues are winners, and Kim is rolling hard on them.

Movie time: Red Sparrow. This Jennifer Lawrence spy vehicle puts all her extraordinary talents on display. The dialogues terrific; the interrogation scenes are realistic. But like many thrillers, the story is also confusing. So take it minute by minute and try not to think too hard. Youll have a good time.

Death Wish. Make no mistake, this is no remake of Charles Bronsons groundbreaking vigilante movie. Its a Bruce Willis action movie from start to finish.

Willis is not an average guy doing away with muggers and street hoods like Bronson was. Hes an emergency room surgeon by day and a guy out to avenge his wifes murder by night. Whatever collateral vigilante action occurs along the way is strictly coincidental.

Fashion dish: I was pulling for Frances McDormand to win the best actress Oscar, but that burlap outfit she was wearing tarnished her win. In fact, hers was one of only a handful of standout outfits in the red-carpet parade  too bad it stood out in the wrong way.

Tip of the hat to the Bay Areas Rita Moreno: Her 1962 gown was the nights fashion winner.

Glitterati: The star power was out for Fiona Mas fundraiser for her state treasurer campaign the other night at the Hotel Via.

The lights of downtown were quite a sight from the rooftop bar, but they couldnt compete with the sparkle from former 49er Eric Wrights three Super Bowl rings.

Nothing shines quite like victory.BEIJING - China's National People's Congress on Sunday voted in favor of a plan to abolish presidential term limits, making it possible for President Xi Jinping to stay in power indefinitely and cementing a dramatic shift in Chinese politics.

At Beijing's Great Hall of the People on the western edge of Tiananmen Square, 2,964 delegates to cast their votes, with 2,958 voting in favor of the constitutional amendment, two against, three abstentions and one invalid vote.

The ballot, which was largely symbolic, came two weeks after Communist Party-controlled media announced the proposal. It included other changes designed to put Xi and the party at the very heart of Chinese life.

It is the clearest evidence yet that Xi plans to rule beyond the end of this second term, in 2023, taking China back to the era of one-man rule just as it steps up its role in global politics.

"It means that Xi is now unquestionably a Leninist strongman," Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London. Xi, unlike his predecessor, is not first among equals but "lord and master of them all."

Though state-controlled media insisted that the constitutional changes had "won the hearts of the people," the news spurred a wave of public worry about a return to the despotic politics of the past.

"It's a historic retrogression," said Li Datong, a former editor of China Youth Daily, a state newspaper.

"Throughout history, only Chinese emperors and Mao Zedong had lifelong tenure until their deaths," Li said. "And what came out of that was a disaster for the society and many painful lessons."

The move marks an end to a system put in place by Deng Xiaoping in the 1980s to prevent the rise of another Mao, who was chairman of the Communist Party from before its accession to power in 1949 until his death in 1976.

"If the constitution of one nation can be amended by the most powerful person according to his or her will, the constitution is not a real constitution," said He Weifang, a law professor at Peking University.

"The legacy of Deng Xiaoping's efforts to avoid lifelong presidency have been abolished completely," he said.

Though the power grab has earned Xi comparisons to such leaders as Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russia's Vladimir Putin, his vision for China is singular - and will have an impact well beyond China's power.

Since his ascendance in 2012, Xi has moved quickly to consolidate power at home and trumpet an ever-grander vision of China's place in the world.

At a Communist Party Congress last year, his signature theory - "Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics in a New Era" - was enshrined in China's constitution. He started his second five-year term with no clear successor.

Party media have since amped up the hagiography, casting Xi as the father of the nation and the man uniquely equipped to lead. What remains to be seen is how Xi's new strongman status shapes governance on the ground.

Xi has built his presidency on a bold promise to "rejuvenate" China and put the country back at the center of the world. Now he must deliver, experts said.

"Everyone expects that this will make Xi Jinping a stronger, more decisive leader, but it's also possible that he will need to justify this change by maintaining his popularity," said Mary Gallagher, director of the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies at the University of Michigan.

"That doesn't bode well for difficult reforms ahead: Will the CCP be able to raise the retirement age? Enact a property tax?" she continued.

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.

"A second-term president with nothing to lose might have been in a better position to enact these changes and accept the blame before stepping down."

Tsang, of SOAS, said the constitutional change signaled a worrying trend: the elimination of dissenting views in policymaking.

"This shows he has now narrowed the scope of internal policy debates so much that no one dared to counsel him," he said by email.

"If Xi is right, he will be more effective in getting his policies implemented," Tsang continued. "But if Xi gets it wrong on any major policy matter, God (or Marx) help China, for there will be no one else who can."

Carl Minzner, professor at Fordham Law School and the author of "End of an Era: How China's Authoritarian Revival is Undermining Its Rise," said Sunday's vote showed that the political norms that have governed Chinese politics for decades are coming undone.

"The risk now," he said, "is: As those norms and institutions steadily erode, how much of the earlier instability could return?"

---

Amber Ziye Wang, Shirley Feng, Luna Lin and Yang Liu contributed to this report.Is California becoming another Taiwan?

Taiwan is an independent nation  in its ambitions, its economy, its democracy. But many countries refuse to recognize it as a separate nation, deferring to mainland China, which claims Taiwan as a possession and responds with threats whenever Taiwan goes its own way.

California shares some aspects of this conundrum. Our state has the ambitions, economy and democracy of a leading nation. But it remains very much a part of the United States, which responds with threats whenever California goes its own way.

Yes, Californians fervently hope that our current conflict with the American government is temporary. But since Californias differences with America predate President Trump, our status as a halfway country will likely outlast him.

I spent last week in Taiwan, learning about being a smaller country in the shadow of a larger power. The challenges resemble those of California, and of younger siblings everywhere. How do you defend yourself against a bullying big brother while also developing yourself into a success, much less a global model?

Of course, comparisons only go so far. While Californians suffer legal and verbal attacks from the federal government, the Chinese government threatens Taiwan militarily, saying it will seize the island nation by force if it becomes too independent.

Still, Taiwan and California have much in common. Both are overachievers. California has the worlds sixth largest economy, though, with just 40 million residents, it would rank 35th among nation-states by population. Taiwan has built the worlds 22nd largest economy, with just 23 million people, making it the 55th most populous.

Even in an era of rising nationalism, both Taiwan and California remain stubbornly internationalist, committed to free trade and immigration. Both Taiwan and California see themselves as defenders of democratic values that are at odds with the increasingly authoritarian governments of their national big brothers.

Taiwan and California each have independence movements, which raises the risks of conflict. Two former Taiwan presidents are campaigning for an independence referendum, and multiple ballot initiatives seek Californian independence. Both movements pose the same question: How much must we suffer from Beijing or Washington before enough is enough?

There are many Taiwanese answers. The mainstream response is, stay the course. We dont want to be in conflict with China, Taiwanese Premier Lai Ching-te said. But we wont bend to pressure either.

But I also heard more robust answers.

First, be opportunistic in building solidarity. Whenever the Chinese issue threats, use them to develop a shared identity. Taiwan has been adept at this. A generation ago, most Taiwanese told pollsters they saw themselves as Chinese. Now, after decades of Chinese bullying, most Taiwanese see themselves as primarily Taiwanese.

Second, never miss an opportunity to expand your autonomy when the larger power leaves an opening. Consider President Trumps recent threat to remove federal immigration enforcement from California. Our states political leaders mostly disregarded the comments as Trumpian nonsense. Perhaps, they should have taken his statements as an offer  and accepted it, declaring the state would happily take control of immigration enforcement.

Finally, success is the best revenge. Conflict is competition, so you must be friendlier, more democratic  and more attractive than the larger power menacing you. The most interesting conversations I heard were about whether Taiwan should respond to Chinas militaristic behavior by declaring itself officially a neutral country, like Switzerland, unwilling to participate in wars outside its boundaries. Such a stance might make it harder for China to attack, and win Taiwan more international support. (Just imagine California, by ballot initiative, declaring it would no longer support Americas endless wars.)

Its possible to take the California-Taiwan comparison too far. The mainland has missiles pointed at us, one Taiwanese journalist reminded me. Does America have missiles pointed at you in California?

No. But I took heart that Taiwan and California are pursuing strategies based on a similar faith: that a smaller country, through the power of its own example, can change a larger place.

Californias history of defining the American future demonstrates the wisdom of this approach. Taiwans economic revival  which inspired China to open itself to foreign investment  also proves the point.

In Taichungs Literature Museum, I encountered one of the most magnificent trees youll see outside Sequoia National Park. Its a banyan that has grown so many different roots that it now appears to be many trees.

In this way, said a guide, a tree becomes a forest.Why on E arth would President Trumps company be posting armed guards in front of the computer servers at Trump Ocean Club Panama and shredding documents? Why would his company block access to the legitimate owners until Panamanian police forced his employees to leave the property? What could the Trump Organization possibly be seeking to hide and destroy? The answers may be in plain sight.

Connect the dots in public reporting on Trumps financial dealings, and a business model comes to light, one based on association with crooks, money launderers  and lots of Russians.

Take Trumps Panama tower. The projects lead broker, Alexandre Henrique Ventura Nogueira, was a criminal; in 2009, he admitted to money laundering and was arrested for fraud and forgery in other projects. He fled the country.

All-cash deals for condos  a red flag for money laundering  were commonplace at Trump Panama. Convicted drug-money launderer Colombian David Helmut Murcia Guzman bought 10 condos. Suspected Russian money launderers Andrey Bogdanov and Ivan Kazanikov bought a dozen others. A former financial crimes prosecutor in Panama, Mauricio Ceballos, called Trump Ocean Club Panama a vehicle for money laundering.

Are financial crimes the kompromat (compromising evidence) that gives Russians leverage over him?

Panama is not an isolated instance  the business model started with his casinos.

The U.S. Bank Secrecy Act requires that the gambling industry (notorious for money laundering) keep strict records to detect and prevent cleansing of mobsters ill-gotten gains. The Trump Taj Mahal casino in Atlantic City, N.J., once paid a $10 million fine for willful violations of that act. It admitted doing it on purpose! What was the company hiding then?

Associations with criminals and Russians accelerated as the Trump Organization began licensing its name on hotel-condo projects.

Trumps partners in its SoHo project in Manhattan, as in other deals, were crooks. Felix Sater, a Russian, had pleaded guilty to money laundering and stock manipulation and a stabbing with the stem of wine glass. The FBI considered partner Tamir Sapir part of a Russian mob. Financing for that hotel came from an Icelandic bank close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Three-fourths of the sales were all-cash.

At Trump Tower Toronto, the Trump Organization first partnered with Leib Waldman, who had fled the United States after pleading guilty to bankruptcy fraud and embezzlement. Then a Russian-born Canadian, Alex Shnaider, replaced Waldman. Shnaider had made fast money in the former Soviet Union and dealt with a Russian bank connected to Putin. Another foreign bank, accused previously of acting as a conduit for Russian money laundering, financed the project. The project incurred excessive construction costs  a trademark of money laundering  and went bankrupt while 400 other similar condo towers in Toronto succeeded.

In 2012, the Trump Organization partnered with a family referred to as the Corleones of the Caspian, after the fictional Mafia family in The Godfather films, to launch a hotel-condo project in Azerbaijan. Duffel bags of cash were used to pay contractors. Was money laundering during construction its real purpose? One things for sure: No one who intended a luxury hotel to succeed would ever locate it on the wrong side of the tracks, where this one stood. It never opened.

With evidence of so many financial crimes, the Russians may not need the salacious acts recounted in the Steele dossier to compromise Trump. A few major felonies might do quite nicely.

The FBI is investigating Ivanka Trumps role in the Trump Tower in Vancouver, British Columbia. Surprise: Tony Tiah Thee Kian, the financial backer of that project, is a crook. He pleaded guilty in 2002 and was fined $783,000 for submitting a false report to the Malaysian stock exchange. Tiah was forced to quit as CEO of his firm and barred from corporate boardrooms for five years.

President Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, may have engaged in pay-to-play. After executives of Citigroup and the hedge fund Apollo Global Management met with Kushner in the White House, they gave the Kushner family business loans of a half-billion dollars. A month later, the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped an investigation of Apollo.

A global trail of evidence suggests Russians and other foreign powers may know enough about crimes to compromise the president. Crimes by our leaders endanger our democracy and undermine Americas standing in the world.

Are Russians and others using their knowledge to compromise the president at our expense? We need to know.

Tom Adams and Dennis Aftergut are retired attorneys. Adams, a founding partner of Adams Broadwell Joseph & Cardozo, has experience doing due diligence analysis for real estate transactions. Aftergut was a federal prosecutor and chief assistant city attorney of San Francisco. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at SFChronicle.com/letters.

For over a year, Ive been immersed in the Intelligence Committee investigation into the unprecedented attack on our election system by Russian President Vladimir Putin. This brazen attack happened. Whats in question is how it occurred, how we can prevent future attacks and, most troubling, why the president cant acknowledge this irrefutable fact.

A well-sourced memorandum by attorneys Tom Adams and Dennis Aftergut provide a compelling and disturbing theory: The president is compromised, and more concerned with hiding his past conduct than with our national security. Ive posted this memo on my website because its imperative that the public be informed of this critical issue, which strikes at the heart of our democracy.

 Jackie Speier represents San Mateo County and a portion of San Francisco in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Online: For Tom Adams and Dennis Afterguts research report, which sets out evidence in detail, go to Rep. Jackie Speiers website at http://bit.ly/2FsuU0O.While the Affordable Care Act is still the law of the land, it has been significantly weakened by actions taken by Congress and the White House since 2017. Covered California, the state exchange that sells insurance to 1.3 million people, is starting to quantify the damage.

According to the organizations analysis, people across the country should expect premium increases between 12 and 32 percent in 2019.

Covered California didnt break out projections for California, but an analysis from the Urban Institute has shown that California premiums will increase by 18 percent next year.

Without action in Washington, premiums will continue to rise year after year. Covered Californias analysis predicts premium hikes of 35 percent by 2021 in 15 states, including California. Seventeen states will see 90 percent premium spikes by 2021.

The prospect of 30 percent premium increases in 2019 and hikes of over 90 percent over the next three years threatens access to coverage for millions of Americans, said Peter Lee, Covered Californias executive director, in a statement.

There are simple policy solutions to this problem.

Last years congressional action to remove the federal penalty for being uninsured is one of the reasons for the forthcoming premium increases. That penalty needs to be restored.

A nationwide reinsurance program (a reimbursement program to protect insurers from very high claims) with approximately $15 billion in federal funding would save consumers 16 to 18 percent in premium increases. Such a reinsurance program would result in a reduction of the federal governments tax credit payments, so the ultimate cost would be far less than $15 billion.

Finally, an investment in outreach would improve signup rates. After a year of hearing Congress threaten to end the Affordable Care Act, many Americans became confused and concerned about their ability to secure health insurance. They need to be reached and reconvinced to sign up for coverage.

Taken together, these three actions would dramatically reduce the premium increases that are threatening millions of people in California and the rest of the nation with the loss of their health insurance.

Congress knows what to do. Its failure to act is a disgrace.

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.You might think lieutenant governor and gubernatorial hopeful Gavin Newsom is the picture of privilege, the son of a judge and the beneficiary of the Getty familys riches who had it made from the start.

Nothing could be further from the truth, the candidate would have you know in a new 30-second campaign spot, in which he says he and his sister were raised by a single mom who worked three jobs and waitressed at night to make ends meet while also taking in foster kids.

Its aimed partly at countering what the Newsom camp sees as one of his greatest campaign vulnerabilities  the accusation that he would never have gotten where he is without his rich benefactors.

My mom taught me everything I know about grit, hard work, determination, Newsom says in the Internet spot.

What doesnt get mentioned are such details as his father Bill Newsoms lifelong friendship and association with billionaire oil scion Gordon Getty  who even lived in the Newsom familys home in the 1940s while the two boys attended St. Ignatius High School together.

Bill Newsom, whom Jerry Brown appointed to the Superior Court bench and then the state Court of Appeal during his first stint as governor, went on to manage the Gordon P. Getty Family Trust  estimated to be worth more than $2 billion.

But the elder Newsom wasnt home for most of Gavins childhood. He moved out when Gavin was 2 and had his own share of money troubles  including losing his law practice after an ill-fated run for the state Senate in 1968.

As a result, young Newsom traveled between two polar worlds: the wealth of Pacific Heights, where the Gettys treated him as a near son, and the paycheck-to-paycheck world of his mother, Tessa Newsom.

After graduating from Santa Clara University and briefly working in real estate, Newsom went into business with Gordon Getty and his son Billy  starting with their PlumpJack wine shop on Fillmore Street, and then other ventures and investments in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Squaw Valley and Hawaii.

In 2001, when Newsom married Kimberly Guilfoyle, then a San Francisco prosecutor and now a Fox News personality, the reception was in the Getty home on Broadway. The Gettys also loaned the newlyweds $1 million to buy their first home. (The couple have since divorced, and Newsom is remarried with four children.)

Newsoms ties to the Gettys have helped opponents bolster their portrayal of him as a Davos Democrat  a reference to the high-flying public policy conference in Switzerland that Newsom regularly attended as San Francisco mayor.

It may look like the guy was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but thats not the reality, said Nathan Ballard, a political confidant who served as Newsoms mayoral press secretary.

Gavin faced a lot of difficulties growing up  from dyslexia, to the divorce (of his parents), to his mom working many jobs  and thats an important part of his story, Ballard said.

Paying tribute to his mother, who died of cancer in 2002, might also counter a #MeToo vulnerability for Newsom  his affair in the 2000s with a mayoral staffer who was also the wife of his campaign consultant.

If you miss the ad on the Internet, dont worry. According to campaign spokesman Dan Newman, the campaign has $20 million in the bank  and chances are the spot will turn up on TV as we get closer to voting.

Suiting up: Suzy Loftus, former president of the San Francisco Police Commission, is hitting the phones to line up support for a run against District Attorney George Gascon next year.

People want a D.A.s office that works, Loftus said.

Loftus, who worked as a prosecutor when Sen. Kamala Harris was San Franciscos district attorney, is a homegrown candidate with deep ties to the citys west side.

Shes no stranger to the rough-and-tumble world of San Francisco politics. Her time on the Police Commission was marked by the police shooting of stabbing suspect Mario Woods , one of a string of killings by officers that ultimately led to the resignation of Police Chief Greg Suhr.

Loftus also argued for banning police officers from shooting at suspects in moving cars, a position that put her at odds with the politically influential Police Officers Association.

Among those endorsing her are Police Commission President L. Julius Turman, BART board member Lateefah Simon and Supervisor Katy Tang.

Shes the second big-name opponent to line up a run against Gascon, after Fire Commission member Joe Alioto Veronese.

Gascon is seeking a third term, and this is shaping up as his first tough election. Hes a favorite of progressives, thanks to his criticisms of the Police Department and strong advocacy for Proposition 47, the 2014 state measure that reduced many drug and property crimes from felonies to misdemeanors. Those same stances have drawn heat from traditional law-and-order groups such as the police union.

Gascon did not return a call seeking comment.Charlie Hallowell, the chef-owner of three popular and celebrated Oakland restaurants, is stepping away from day-to-day operations at his businesses in the face of numerous allegations of sexual harassment and verbal abuse of employees.

Hallowells restaurant group  which includes Pizzaiolo, Boot & Shoe Service and Penrose  has retained an outside human resources consultant to perform a full investigation into the company, Hallowell said in an email to The Chronicle Wednesday.

Hallowells action comes after 17 former employees accused him in interviews with The Chronicle of sexual harassment and pervasive verbal abuse. The workers, from all three of Hallowells restaurants, described a demoralizing work environment where his indecent propositions and abuse of his power were the norm, along with a near-constant stream of sexually explicit language.

It was just this constant need to talk about sex or anything sexual, said former Boot & Shoe bartender Jessica Moncada, 31.

Hallowell acknowledged in the email Wednesday that his behavior as a business owner was unfiltered and often completely inappropriate and that he was deeply ashamed and saddened.

I can see very clearly that I have participated in and allowed an uncomfortable workplace for women. For this I am deeply ashamed and so very sorry, Hallowell said in the email. We have come to a reckoning point in the history of male bosses behaving badly, and I believe in this reckoning and I stand behind it.

I understand that I cannot right the past wrongs, and at the same time, I take full responsibility for all of my actions, he added.

After The Chronicle began speaking with former staffers about their allegations, Hallowells business partner Richard Weinstein sent an email to both current and former employees, inviting them to a company meeting Thursday. His email indicated that the company had begun retaining the services of an HR specialist to conduct an independent investigation.

According to Hallowell, the company will decide what steps it may take after the investigation is complete.

Hallowell, 44, has been a star in Bay Area restaurants since he began his cooking career at Chez Panisse in the late 1990s, where he was mentored by Alice Waters and former chef Cal Peternell. When he left to open Pizzaiolo on Telegraph Avenue in 2005  a pizzeria with a trendy vibe and cocktails named for poets  he brought new excitement to the East Bay dining scene, creating a paragon of modern California cuisine. He followed with the similarly themed Boot & Shoe Service in 2009 and Penrose in 2013.

The restaurants critical acclaim and popularity created lucrative jobs for servers and bartenders, and many said Hallowell could be a generous boss and supportive to community causes. But despite his charismatic and often charming persona, some employees said, Hallowells behavior created an emotionally damaging work environment from which they have yet to recover.

There were times he would shine all this light on you and others. Other times he would take you down, said Journey Meadows, 39, who was bar manager at Pizzaiolo for five years. It felt like an abusive relationship.

One former employee described her experience as having to endure Hallowells sexual Tourettes disorder.

Another employee, Molly Surbridge, said she was in the middle of a meeting with Hallowell on the first day of June 2015 to discuss a possible promotion to wine buyer at Penrose, the Oakland bar and grill where she had been a head server for almost two years. As she began presenting her detailed proposal for a wine program to Hallowell, she said, he cut her off mid-sentence.

He told me that he really wanted to have sex with me, said Surbridge, 38. And that he just wanted to make sure I knew that.

Surbridge said she ignored his advances and never got the promotion to wine buyer, while he regularly praised her appearance in front of co-workers. Other employees told The Chronicle that Hallowell had long promised her the post.

Surbridge said she stayed at the company until March 2017, despite Hallowells treatment, with the hope of advancement. Hallowell said that she was offered other promotions but turned them down.

Many of the former employees who spoke with The Chronicle said Hallowells treatment of Surbridge was one of many situations that created an insidious culture for many women.

They said that Hallowell expressed an obsession with female bodies, particularly pregnant ones, detailing romantic partners bodily functions and sexual acts. He also routinely made vivid comparisons between food and sex or female anatomy, former employees said.

Moncada recalled him saying, If a pizza dough is formed properly, it should feel like a fat girls tit. Meadows and several other women recalled how Hallowell effused about spaghetti puttanesca, the traditional Italian dish named for prostitutes: I love it. Have you ever smelled a bowl full of p?

During the time she worked at Pizzaiolo, Celeste Cooper had a young daughter and became pregnant with her son, prompting Hallowell to call her a hot mom, she said. Like four others interviewed for this story, she said he also spoke about having sex with pregnant women.

Explosive stories about sexual harassment in restaurants have recently made headlines across the country, such as those surrounding celebrity chef Mario Batali in New York and John Besh in New Orleans, highlighting just how a busy restaurant can become a sexually charged  and abusive  atmosphere for workers.

In the Bay Area, Ken Friedman, a co-owner of San Franciscos Tosca Cafe, was accused by 10 female employees of unwanted advances, groping and blacklisting, according to a Dec. 12 story in the New York Times; Friedman issued an apology. Michael Chiarello, who owns Coqueta in San Francisco and Bottega in Yountville, has been sued twice in recent years for sexual harassment. The suits have been settled.

Industry members said the environment described at Hallowells restaurants are representative of a common situation, where there is a lack of systems to report harassment and staff members may fear being blacklisted within the insular restaurant community if they speak up.

Hallowells restaurants have never had a human resources department or a system for confidentially reporting harassment.

Food Guide Top 25 Restaurants Where to eat in the Bay Area. Find spots near you, create a dining wishlist, and more.

Several female managers at Hallowells restaurants were so frustrated by his behavior that they left the company.

Cate Smith, 43, who worked at Hallowells restaurants as a bar manager for over six years, said she tried to talk to him about the inappropriateness of his behavior to employees on a daily basis. Theres this thing about his personality, where he just thought I was being sensitive or over-reactionary, she said.

Some former employees said Hallowells inappropriate comments were so frequent that they became no longer remarkable.

Its kind of this big question mark of why hes able to say the types of things he says, said Surbridge. Everybody knows its unacceptable. And the excuse is, Thats just how hes always been, and, Thats just how he is.

Because they happened so often, former workers said, the sexual propositions sometimes seemed harmlessly flirty, such as when Hallowell said, Are you going to take a bubble bath with me? at the end of a shift, to at least two women.

Others, they said, were more pointed and traumatizing.

Multiple women described getting the exact same unsolicited relationship advice, on different occasions. Charlie would tell me constantly, You just look so unhappy. If you just gave your husband more blow jobs, he would be more happy, said Cooper, the former Pizzaiolo barista, now 46.

Cooper said he repeated the comments more times than she could count, and always in front of co-workers. It was humiliating, she said.

On a busy night, a bartender, now 30, said he came behind the bar, put his arms around her and leaned in to whisper a few words that are burned into her memory: When was the last time you let someone come inside you?

In shock, she pushed Hallowell away and returned to her customers, she said. (Hallowell said he has no memory of this particular incident.)

Without a human resources department or similar system in place for reporting abuse at Hallowells restaurants, Cooper never complained about the abusive language to her manager.

I didnt think anyone would listen, she said. I didnt think that it would be taken seriously, because he did that to everyone.A roomful of friends gathered Friday night at the Sausalito Yacht Club to say farewell to one of the towns most colorful characters.

He was Ron MacAnnan, a wealthy businessman who owned a classic 82-foot yacht, always drove an old truck and was famous for both his frugality and his generosity.

MacAnnan died March 2 after he fell overboard from his yacht Pursuit and drowned in Sausalito Yacht Harbor. He was 92.

Weve lost one of the greatest guys in Sausalito, said Hank Easom, an old friend. He was an institution.

MacAnnans pride and joy was the Pursuit, which was tied up at the wooden boardwalk along Bridgeway, Sausalitos main street. The boat is a sleek wooden racing yacht built in 1929 and is a waterfront showpiece, with its wooden hull painted gleaming white and a single mast, 96 feet tall.

The Pursuit is so big and fast it requires a crew of 12 to sail it. MacAnnan raced it in years past to Mexico and Hawaii, then brought it to Sausalito. He lived aboard for 28 years, moved ashore, then decided to sail the Pursuit again in 2010, when he was 84. He last raced the Pursuit in the Master Mariners Regatta in 2015.

Ron wanted to sail it again because he felt that was what the boat was meant to do, said Oleg Harencar, who made a film about MacAnnan called Life on the Water.

It was an honor to sail on that boat with Ron said Robert David, a frequent crew member. It was a great sight coming in the Golden Gate with the spinnaker flying, said Easom.

Ronald Rowe McAnnan was born in the Napa Valley town of St. Helena in 1925, went to military school and served as a gunner on bombers in World War II.

He became a general contractor and moved to Sausalito in 1959. One of his first jobs in town was moving a decrepit old yacht club building from the edge of the street to the edge of the bay. He mounted the structure on new pilings over the water, bought the building, and converted it to the Ondine and Trident restaurants. He owned several other Sausalito waterfront properties and at the end of his life lived in one of the towns classic Victorian houses.

Despite his wealth, MacAnnan always drove a 1949 truck and spent much of his time rummaging through dumpsters in search of material to salvage.

He was always amazed at what rich people threw away, said Vince Maggiora, an old friend.

MacAnnan was careful with money and drove a hard bargain. He was little gruff sometimes and he did things his way, Easom said, but he had a heart of gold.

MacAnnan had health problems in recent years, and used a walker to get around. But he still insisted on going to his boat every day to work on maintenance projects.

MacAnnan is survived by his wife, Carol, of Sausalito.

At the end of the service Friday, his friends offered a final sailors toast: To Ron. Fair winds and following seas.San Franciscos cable car system isnt just one of its most photogenic monuments  its a unique and historic solution to the citys age-old problem: Hills.

After its population explosion in the wake of the 1849 Gold Rush, San Franciscans found themselves needing to transport people and supplies up and down its many steep hills. It was a tough task for man and (mostly) beast; cart accidents were commonplace as horses were dragged downhill by the weight of their loads.

The problem attracted the attention of Andrew Hallidie, a London inventor who came to California as a teenager to mine for gold. Although he didnt have much luck in the gold fields, he did eventually make his name with inventions. Noticing the rope used to haul carts up and down the mines wore out quickly, he proposed using wire rope instead. His wire rope business quickly became the standard in the state and would lay the foundation for the cable car system.

In 1871, Hallidie presented a plan to the Mechanics Institute in San Francisco, proposing the end to the citys perpetual hill-transport problem. In part, it read:

I was largely induced to think over the matter from seeing the difficulty and pain the horses experienced in hauling the cars up Jackson Street, from Kearny to Stockton Street, on which street four or five horses were needed for the purposethe driving being accompanied by the free use of the whip and voice, and occasionally by the horses falling and being dragged down the hill on their sides, by the car loaded with passengers sliding on its track.....

.... With the view of obviating these difficulties, and for the purpose of reducing the expense of operating street railways (tram-roads), I devoted all my available time to the careful consideration of the subject ... A newspaper published in the City of Sacramento, California, in 1870, a statement is there published in its telegraphic news of what I proposed to do, viz: to run a rope railway to carry passengers from the city to the plateau above.

After funding was secured, construction on the system began in 1872. Cables were run underground and the main powerhouse was constructed at Washington and Jackson streets. When the cable cars were launched the next year, they were steam-powered. Today, the motors are electric.

There are no power sources on the cars themselves; motors at the cable car barn churn giant wheels, around which the cables are roped, keeping the cars moving at 9.5 miles per hour. The cable is centered under the car, which is why you can see a gap in the street between the cable car rails.

In September 1873, it took on its first passengers. The experiment, so the Superintendent said, was satisfactory, the San Francisco Evening Bulletin reported.

The cable cars were a success, and Hallidies invention was soon adopted in Oakland, Los Angeles, Kansas City, Chicago, St. Louis, Philadelphia and New York, as well as London and Sidney abroad. But cable cars were short-lived in most places; cars, buses and electric streetcars largely replaced them.

San Francisco, too, nearly lost its icon. In the late 1940s, city officials decided it was time to shutter the aging cable car system. Luckily, SF citizen Friedel Klussmann, along with two dozen women's groups, formed the Citizens' Committee to Save the Cable Cars. Klussmann's efforts are credited with convincing the city to keep a few cable car lines.

Although modern cable car systems still exist, San Franciscos is the only manually operated cable car railway in the world. To learn more about the cable cars, and to purchase tickets, visit the SFMTA website.A memorial service for the three victims of Fridays killings at a North Bay veterans treatment center will be held March 19 in Yountville, the organization said.

The service for Christine Loeber, executive director of the Pathway Home; Jennifer Golick, the groups clinical director; and Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, will be held at 6 p.m. at the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Theater, 100 California Drive in Yountville.Amazon is officially changing the home selling game.

Apart from delivering everything from liquor to laundry materials to food, the company is now selling a prefabricated tiny home, which they can deliver straight to your door.

SO INSPIRING: Texas tiny home for sale just the start of one man's incredible dream

According to the Amazon listing, the 320 square foot shipping-container "house" was manufactured by MODS International and is a fully-furnished including a bedroom, shower, toilet, kitchenette, living area, heating and air conditioning, and more.

The MODS International company got its start after the president, Doug Larson was working to assist New Orleanians after Hurricane Katrina.

According to the website, the construction crews were living in motorhomes during the rebuilding efforts, and when he returned home he noticed a shipping container that was about the same size and shape as the RVs they'd been living in. Shortly after, he began building temporary homes inside the containers and MODS was born.

The MODS 40-foot tiny house is listed for $36,000, plus about another $3,800 for shipping, but if you're looking to downsize this could be a great choice (and you don't even have to pick it up).

Take a look through the gallery above to see other cool tiny houses.

Daniela Sternitzky-Di Napoli is a digital producer at Chron.com. You can read more of her stories here and follow her on twitter at @Dani_DiNapoli.Concord police have identified the 40-year-old Antioch man who was wanted in a domestic violence case Sunday after being shot and wounded by police officers the night before in Concord.

Authorities said Joshua Robertson is recovering at a local hospital from non-life-threatening injuries.

I was shocked, I was stunned, and I was regretful, said Robertsons father, who did not want to be named.

He said a detective told him that the bullet had been removed from Robertson and that his son would be arrested Sunday.

The incident occurred about 5:30 p.m. Saturday when officers stopped a vehicle on the 1500 block of Allegro Avenue, near Clayton Road, during an investigation of the domestic violence incident that happened earlier that day in Antioch, according to the Concord Police Department.

Robertson was a passenger in the vehicle that was stopped, police said.

When officers tried to place him under arrest, he fled and an officer-involved shooting occurred, injuring Robertson, police said. Police declined to elaborate on the details leading to the shooting.

Robertson previously had a felony arrest warrant issued by Contra Costa County for robbery, making terrorist threats and for dissuading a witness through the threat of violence, police said. No other information regarding those charges was released.

The Contra Costa County district attorney is investigating the officer-involved shooting.With the opioid crisis showing no signs of slowing, emergency room visits for opioid overdoses shot up 30 percent nationwide between July 2016 and 2017.

And, although a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report doesnt specifically contain data about Connecticut, local experts said drug-related hospital visits are spiking here as well.

In an email, state Department of Public Health spokeswoman Maura Downes said that preliminary review of the 2016 data shows that there was a substantial increase of about 50 percent in all drug overdose-related (emergency department) visits and in heroin overdose ... visits between 2015-2016.

Carl Schiessl, director of regulatory advocacy for the Connecticut Hospital Association, agreed that such visits have been on the rise for years.

Although he didnt have specific numbers, anecdotally, I can tell you that the incidence of opioid overdoses treated in the emergency department remain a priority.

Mainstream drugs

Opioids are a class of drugs that includes both illegal drugs, such as heroin, and several legal prescription pain relievers, such as oxycodone.

From July 2016 through September 2017, a total of 142,557 emergency department visits from 52 jurisdictions in 45 states were suspected opioid-involved overdoses, according to the CDC report.

More Information Key facts Below are some key numbers from the CDC's report on emergency department visits for opioid overdoses: Opioid overdoses went up 30 percent from July 2016 through September 2017 in 52 areas in 45 states. The Midwestern region witnessed opioid overdoses increase 70 percent from July 2016 through September 2017. Opioid overdoses in large cities increased by 54 percent in 16 states. See More Collapse

Over the period studied, emergency department visits among those 11 and older jumped 29.7 percent overall. Rates increased across demographic groups and in all five U.S. regions, with the largest increases in the Southwest, Midwest and West.

The CDC also specifically tracked data in the 16 states that are part of its Enhanced State Opioid Overdose Surveillance Program. These include several in New England, but not Connecticut. In most of these states, the number of overdoses increased, though some including Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island  saw decreases.

Though not singled out in the report, state and local experts said opioid abuse and drug overdoses in general have been an escalating problem in Connecticut.

Accidental drug intoxication death in the state jumped to 1,038 in 2017, from 357 in 2012  the first time the total had hit more than a thousand, according to the states office of the chief medical examiner.

Many of those deaths involved some sort of opioid. For instance, 474 of 2017s deaths involved heroin and 677 involved the powerful opiate fentanyl.

Locally, several area hospitals said they had seen a spike in emergency room visits for overdoses in recent years.

In the Yale New Haven Health System, emergency department visits for narcotic overdoses at Bridgeport Hospital, the main campus of Yale New Haven Hospital and the Saint Raphael campus of Yale New Haven jumped to a total of 946 in 2017, up from a total of 446 in 2014.

Bridgeport Hospital went to 385 in 2017, from 119 overdose visits in 2014. Yale hospital went to 496, from 264 in that period.

Theres more availability, said Dr. Darcy Harris, associate chair of Bridgeport Hospitals emergency department on the increase. Opiates have become more mainstream.

However, one area hospital, St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, saw some mixed numbers on opioid overdoses.

In 2016, the hospitals emergency room received 145 cases of overdoses (heroin, opioid or methadone) resulting in 10 fatalities. In 2017, there were 120 overdoses resulting in 13 fatalities.

Thus, the overdoses went down, but fatalities went up slightly.

So far this year the hospital reports there have been 22 overdoses, with no fatalities.

Possible solutions?

In Connecticut, authorities have been looking at ways to curb rising opioid overdose numbers for a while. Downes said Connecticut recently received a grant from the CDC that allowed the state to join the CDCs Enhanced State Surveillance of Opioid-Involved Morbidity and Mortality Project. The funds will be used to strengthen prevention efforts and better track of opioid-related overdoses.

We have been working since the fall with our partners in (emergency departments) throughout the state to add suspected overdoses into the ED hospital coding that is reported daily, in real time to the states Syndromic Surveillance System, Downes said in her email. This coding should be operational, and DPH should start receiving real time data in the next several weeks.

The hospital association, meanwhile, has been looking at the issue for several years  at least, Schiessl said  since the topic of a bump in overdoses first came up at an emergency department directors meeting in 2013.

In 2015, the Connecticut Hospital Association issued voluntary prescribing guidelines, aimed at helping emergency department staff treat patients with chronic pain conditions who come to the hospital.

The goal was to reduce the inappropriate use of opioids, while still helping patients with pain. Schiessl said the state intends to update the guidelines in the near future.

When the hospital association began talking about overdoses in earnest, it was mostly about prescription drug abuse (than the use of illegal street drugs), but we were anticipating what we saw as the beginning of a very dangerous wave of activity, Schiessl said.WASHINGTON  President Trumps plan to combat school shootings will include helping states pay for firearms training for teachers and a call to improve the background check system.

But Trumps plan will not include a push to increase the minimum age for purchasing assault weapons or an embrace of more comprehensive background checks, as Trump has at times advocated.

Instead, a new federal commission on school safety will examine the age issue, as well as a long list of other topics, as part of a longer-term look at school safety and violence.

In a call with reporters Sunday evening, administration officials described the plan as a fulfillment of Trumps call for action in the wake of the school shooting in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 students and staff dead.

Today we are announcing meaningful actions, steps that can be taken right away to help protect students, said Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who will chair the commission.

DeVos said that far too often, the focus after such tragedies has been only on the most contentious fights, the things that have divided people and sent them into their entrenched corners. She described the plan as pragmatic.

As part of that plan, the White House has directed the Justice Department to help states partner with local law enforcement to provide rigorous firearms training to specifically qualified volunteer school personnel, said Andrew Bremberg, director of the presidents Domestic Policy Council.

Trump is calling on states to pass temporary, court-issued Risk Protection Orders, which allow law enforcement to confiscate guns from individuals who pose risks to themselves and others, and temporarily prevent them from buying firearms.

The president is also calling for better coordination between mental health care, school officials and law enforcement. And he has called for a full audit and review of the FBI tip line.

In the weeks since the massacre, Trump has held listening sessions with lawmakers, survivors of recent school shootings and the families of victims. Hes also met and spoken with the heads of the powerful National Rifle Association. The NRA on Friday sued Florida over a new gun law signed by Republican Gov. Rick Scott that bans the purchase of firearms by anyone under the age of 21.

As part of the plan, the White House reiterated its support for improvements to the National Instant Criminal Background Check through the Fix NICS bill, which would penalize federal agencies that dont properly report required records and reward states that comply by providing them with federal grant preferences.

Trump has also vowed to ban the use of bump stock devices that enable guns to fire like automatic weapons. The Department of Justice has also been moving forward with that effort.Trump administration officials said Sunday there will be no more conditions imposed on North Korea before an inaugural meeting of the two nations leaders beyond the Norths promise not to resume nuclear testing and missile flights or publicly criticize U.S.-South Korean military exercises.

The officials comments followed the surprise announcement last week that President Trump has agreed to meet the Norths Kim Jong Un by May.

This potential meeting has been agreed to, there are no additional conditions being stipulated, but, again they  they cannot engage in missile testing, they cannot engage in nuclear testing and they cant publicly object to the U.S.-South Korea planned military exercises, deputy White House spokesman Raj Shah said.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the summit would give Trump a chance to sit down and see if he can cut a deal with Kim over the Norths nuclear program. The president has been very clear in what the objective is here. And that is to get rid of nuclear weapons on the (Korean) peninsula, Mnuchin said.

The administration officials credited toughened economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations, and pushed by the United States, with helping bring Kim to the brink of negotiations.

Our policy is pressure, is pressure from our partners and allies around the world, pressure to the United Nations, pressure through China, these have had an impact. Its impacted Kim Jong Uns behavior. Its impacted his conduct, Shah said.

But some members of Congress said they worry that Trump acted impulsively in agreeing to meet with Kim, before negotiators for both countries had a chance to set some goals the leaders could agree to.

The important thing is the diplomatic work that has to go in before such a meeting. A meeting like that would be kind of an afterthought after things are negotiated. Here it looks as if, you know, thats kind of the opening gambit. And thats a little worrisome, said Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., a frequent Trump critic.

The U.S. and South Korea hold military maneuvers every year. They were postponed during the recent Winter Olympics in South Korea. They are expected to be held in April, but no official announcement has been made about when they will take place. In an interview en route to the Middle East, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis declined to discuss the timing and scale of the exercises.

Trump said Saturday that he believes North Korea will abide by its pledge to suspend missile tests while he prepares for the summit. He noted in a tweet that North Korea has refrained from such tests since November.

Flake and Mnuchin spoke on NBCs Meet the Press. Shah was on ABCs This Week.OAKLAND (BCN)

Dozens of recommendations were recently approved by the BART board of directors to improve the BART Citizen Oversight Model for BART police, officials with the agency said Friday.

The announcement comes on the heels of a decision by the BART board of directors to hear public comment about the death of Shaleem Tindle, who was shot and killed by a BART police officer in January.

The board made the decision to hear public comment after activists packed the board's chambers Feb. 22, demanding that they be heard at the next board meeting March 22.

In all, 39 recommendations were approved unanimously by the board and included clarifications and suggestions to improve the operations of the Office of the Independent Police Auditor and the BART Police Citizen Review Board.

Notable changes include adding to the list of people who can submit a complaint and allowing the independent police auditor to investigate any kind of allegations of misconduct.

In a statement, Russell Bloom, BART independent police auditor, said the changes will help BART keep up to date with best practices in the area of police oversight.

George Perezvelez, BART Police Citizen Review Board chair, said in a statement, "It's a great step in moving the BART Police Department in line with progressive policing practices insuring greater transparency and community engagement."

The 39 recommendations were part of 54 proposals submitted last year by the consulting firm OIR Group which reviewed the structure and functionality of the BART Police Oversight Model.

BART board members will consider the 15 other recommendations at a future meeting, BART officials said.

The approvals by the board also allow the independent police auditor to review each situation in which BART police use force.

As Bloom said, the changes are meant to bring oversight in line with best practices including the incorporation of understandings in President Barack Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

###CONCORD (BCN)

A 40-year-old Antioch man was taken to the hospital after Concord police shot him during a traffic stop and domestic violence investigation this evening.

Concord police were assisting in a domestic violence investigation that Antioch police began earlier today.

Concord police stopped a car at about 5:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Allegro Avenue near Clayton Road, and identified the suspect as one of the passengers.

He had a felony warrant for arrest in Contra Costa County for robbery, terrorist threats and dissuading a witness or victim through the expressed or implied threat of force or violence.

The suspect fled when officers tried to arrest him, according to police. Police said officers shot the man, provided medical aid and waited for paramedics to arrive.

He was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries, according to police, and his condition is unknown.

Police said the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office was notified and an officer-involved shooting investigation is underway.

Anyone who witnessed the event is asked to contact Concord Police Detective Mahan at (925) 603-5817.

Police said they will provide more information as the investigation continues.

###Resources have been made available to survivors of a hostage standoff Friday at a veterans' home in Yountville that ended in the death of three hostages and the suspected hostage taker, the Secretary of the California Department of Veterans Affairs said Saturday.

Dr. Vito Imbasciani, the secretary, said veterans and employees at the home were traumatized when Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, allegedly shot and killed three employees of a program for veterans.

"This is a really difficult day," Yountville Mayor John Dunbar said, adding that the community and the program lost three beautiful people.

Dunbar added, "We also lost one of our heroes who clearly had demons."

Wong allegedly took the life of 42-year-old St. Helena woman Jennifer Golick, who was the clinical director of the Pathway Home program, which suffered the losses.

Wong also allegedly killed 48-year-old Napa resident Christine Loeber, who was executive director of the program, and 29-year-old Jennifer Gonzalez, a psychologist.

Dunbar said the three women dedicated themselves to the lives of veterans, "bringing energy, vitality and personality" to their work.

The Pathway Home program served mainly veterans who fought in wars after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The program provides educational, professional and clinical support to post-9/11 veterans pursuing school- or work-related endeavors as they transition to civilian life.

Dunbar is a board member for the program.

For a time, Wong was part of the program.

Six people remain in the program and they will continue to get care, Imbasciani said.

The situation began at about 10:30 a.m. Friday morning at the Veterans Home of California at 260 California Drive.

Wong allegedly had a rifle and exchanged gunfire with Napa County Sheriff's deputies in a room at the home, authorities said.

Napa County Sheriff John Robertson said his office knew who Wong was and called him on his cellphone, but he did not respond.

Shortly before 6 p.m., law enforcement personnel entered a room at the veterans home where they found four people dead.

Authorities said they found Wong's vehicle parked near the building and searched it. Authorities found a cellphone inside the vehicle but no bomb.

Early in the standoff, Wong allegedly had more than three people hostage, but he released all but three, authorities said.

In a statement Friday, Gov. Jerry Brown said, "Anne and I are deeply saddened by the horrible violence at the Yountville Veterans Home, which tragically took the lives of three people dedicated to serving our veterans. Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones and the entire community of Yountville."

Brown added that flags at the capitol will be flown at half-staff in recognition of the victims and their families.

Forensic examinations of the dead will be scheduled next week at the Napa County coroner's office, sheriff's officials said.

Police in Livermore on Friday arrested a man in connection with firing a gun and threatening officers.

Alan Huntting, 55, was arrested on suspicion of discharging a firearm in a grossly negligent manner, which could result in injury or death and intentionally using the threat of violence or force to resist an officer, according to the Livermore Police Department.

On Friday at 8 p.m., officers responded to the 1500 block of College Avenue on a report of a family disturbance.

Police said the caller said her son made statements he was going to get a gun and point it at police officers.

Responding officers attempted to contact Huntting outside the residence, but he retreated into a trailer and told officers he was going to come out with a firearm, police said.

Officers attempted to make contact with Huntting, but he fired a round from the gun and then fired multiple rounds outside the trailer, police said.

Huntting eventually came out to meet with officers, but he refused to comply with commands and was confrontational, police said.

Officers took him to the ground in an attempt to detain him, but as they were taking him into custody, he resisted arrest and made threats of violence, police said.

During the incident, the officers at the scene did not fire their weapons, police said.

A gas line was ruptured Saturday morning in San Francisco's Yerba Buena neighborhood after a contractor struck a 4-inch main, a PG&E spokeswoman said.

The rupture was reported at 8:25 a.m. in the area of Second and Minna streets.

PG&E crews stopped the flow of gas and were making repairs as of 10:26 a.m., spokeswoman Karly Hernandez said. No one was evacuated.

PG&E officials want to remind contractors to call 811 two to three days before digging to help avoid rupturing gas lines.

A suspect has been detained and the search for suspects in the area of Ventura Avenue and Park Boulevard in Palo Alto is over, police said on Saturday.

Officers have detained one suspect, a youth, at a residence within the search area, according to police. The area search is done and officers and detectives will be following up on leads to identify and arrest the other suspect, police said.

Earlier on Saturday, police sent out an alert saying officers were searching for suspects who fled a car stop in the area of Ventura and Park. A California Highway Patrol police helicopter was enlisted in the search, which is now over.

A 17-year-old suspected gang member was arrested Friday evening in Santa Cruz for having a concealed gun, police said Saturday.

An officer from the Santa Cruz County Anti-Crime Team's Gang Task Force conducted a traffic violation stop at 7:52 p.m. at Ocean and Barson streets.

The officer discovered five youths and 18-year-old Camila Callaci were in a blue 2002 Volkswagen Jetta and alcohol was present.

Police said as officers were detaining a 17-year-old boy they allegedly found a loaded .45 caliber gun hidden in the youth's waistband under a long shirt.

Police alleged the boy is associated with a criminal street gang.

The boy was arrested on suspicion of possessing a concealed gun in a vehicle, possessing a concealed gun on a person, possessing a gun as a criminal gang member, possessing an unregistered gun and possessing alcohol as a minor.

Callaci was given a notice to appear for possession of alcohol by a minor.

Task force members are asking anyone who may have information related to the case or any other gang-related case to call them at (831) 454-2320.

A probation search in Fairfield on Thursday led to the arrest of a man in connection with illegally possessing an assault weapon and ammunition.

Jamal Montgomery, 25, was arrested on suspicion of multiple felony violations including being a felon in possession of an assault rifle, being a felon in possession of a firearm, being a felon in possession of ammunition and on a probation violation, according to the Fairfield Police Department.

On Thursday, officers conducted a probation search at a residence in the 600 block of E. Travis Boulevard.

During the search, the officers located an AK-47 style assault rifle, two 30-round high-capacity magazines, and various caliber ammunition for different firearms.

Montgomery was subsequently arrested in connection with the possession of the weapon and ammunition.

A 40-year-old Antioch man was taken to the hospital after Concord police shot him during a traffic stop and domestic violence investigation Saturday evening.

Concord police were assisting in a domestic violence investigation that Antioch police began earlier on Saturday.

Concord police stopped a car at about 5:30 p.m. in the 1500 block of Allegro Avenue near Clayton Road, and identified the suspect as one of the passengers.

He had a felony warrant for arrest in Contra Costa County for robbery, terrorist threats and dissuading a witness or victim through the expressed or implied threat of force or violence.

The suspect fled when officers tried to arrest him, according to police. Police said officers shot the man, provided medical aid and waited for paramedics to arrive.

He was taken to the hospital to be treated for injuries, according to police, and his condition is unknown.

Police said the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office was notified and an officer-involved shooting investigation is underway.

Anyone who witnessed the event is asked to contact Concord Police Detective Mahan at (925) 603-5817.

Police said they will provide more information as the investigation continues.

A hostage standoff Friday at a veterans home in Yountville tragically took the life of four people including a Napa woman who was seven months pregnant and married one year ago Saturday, a family friend said.

"We are very, very sad," said Vasiti Ritova, a friend of the family of Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, who died in the standoff.

Sheriff's officials initially said Shushereba's last name was Gonzales and she was 29 years old.

Napa County sheriff's Capt. Steve Blower said Shushereba's baby also died.

Shushereba was a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

She was working in Yountville in The Pathway Home program, which serves mainly veterans who fought in wars after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The program provides educational, professional and clinical support to post-9/11 veterans pursuing school- or work-related endeavors as they transition to civilian life.

Ritova knew Shushereba because Ritova's sister was a caregiver for Shushereba's grandmother.

The two families were close because Shushereba visited her grandmother often and even spoke at the funeral of Ritova's sister.

"Our dearest, dearest Jennifer," Ritova said. She "was the perfect granddaughter any grandma would ever ask for."

Shushereba would come every other week or so to help look after her grandmother, cooking meals, playing the Ukulele and bathing her.

"That was who she was," Ritova said.

Shushereba is a graduate of Saint Francis High School in Mountain View and alumni offered their condolences Saturday on Facebook.

"We are very saddened by news of the passing of Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, '03, a post said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Gonzales family."

Two other women and the alleged gunman Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, died in the standoff, which took place at the Veterans Home of California at 260 California Drive.

Jennifer Golick, 42, of St. Helena, was the clinical director of The Pathway Home program.

Christine Loeber, 48, of Napa, was executive director of the program.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said in a statement, "Our sympathies are with the families, friends and colleagues of Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Pathway Home's executive director Christine Loeber and staff therapist Jen Golick."

Neither The Pathway Home program nor the Veterans Home of California is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

###YOUNTVILLE (BCN)

A hostage standoff Friday at a veterans home in Yountville tragically took the life of four people including a Napa woman who was seven months pregnant and married one year ago Saturday, a family friend said.

"We are very, very sad," said Vasiti Ritova, a friend of the family of Jennifer Gonzales Shushereba, 32, who died in the standoff.

Sheriff's officials initially said Shushereba's last name was Gonzales and she was 29 years old.

Napa County sheriff's Capt. Steve Blower said Shushereba's baby also died.

Shushereba was a clinical psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.

She was working in Yountville in The Pathway Home program, which serves mainly veterans who fought in wars after the September 11 terrorist attacks.

The program provides educational, professional and clinical support to post-9/11 veterans pursuing school- or work-related endeavors as they transition to civilian life.

Ritova knew Shushereba because Ritova's sister was a caregiver for Shushereba's grandmother.

The two families were close because Shushereba visited her grandmother often and even spoke at the funeral of Ritova's sister.

"Our dearest, dearest Jennifer," Ritova said. She "was the perfect granddaughter any grandma would ever ask for."

Shushereba would come every other week or so to help look after her grandmother, cooking meals, playing the Ukulele and bathing her.

"That was who she was," Ritova said.

Shushereba is a graduate of Saint Francis High School in Mountain View and alumni offered their condolences today on Facebook.

"We are very saddened by news of the passing of Dr. Jennifer Gonzales, '03, a post said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Gonzales family."

Two other women and the alleged gunman Albert Wong, 36, of Sacramento, died in the standoff, which took place at the Veterans Home of California at 260 California Drive.

Jennifer Golick, 42, of St. Helena, was the clinical director of The Pathway Home program.

Christine Loeber, 48, of Napa, was executive director of the program.

Officials with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said in a statement, "Our sympathies are with the families, friends and colleagues of Jennifer Gonzales, a psychologist with the San Francisco Department of Veterans Affairs Health Care System, Pathway Home's executive director Christine Loeber and staff therapist Jen Golick."

Neither The Pathway Home program nor the Veterans Home of California is part of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

###Long Beach rapper Snoop Dogg made a foray into Bay Area politics this week when he announced that he was endorsing London Breed for mayor of San Francisco.

"im standing wit the women of #ItsOurTimeSF because its time an accomplished woman led the city #ItsOurTime #London4Mayor," he wrote on Twitter late Thursday morning.

He shared a video produced by It's Our Time, a pro-Breed PAC.

The video is a rapidfire display of portraits and photos of San Francisco's mayors from 1850 to 2018, nearly all of them white and male (Willie Brown, Dianne Feinstein and Ed Lee being exceptions).

"168 years. 44 mayors. 1 woman," the video's text reads. "That was then. This is NOW."

Sen. Dianne Feinstein was San Francisco's only female mayor before Breed became acting mayor in December 2017 following Ed Lee's unexpected death. She was ousted by a controversial vote of the Board of Supervisors in January over a variety of concerns: that serving as acting mayor would give her an advantage in the election, that having the president of the Board of Supervisors and the mayor be the same person represented too great a consolidation of power, and that her ties were too close to billionaire tech mogul Ron Conway.

It's not Snoop Dogg's first foray into politics. He endorsed Ron Paul and then Barack Obama for president in 2012, headlined a party at the Democratic National Convention last summer, and last fall released a song called "Make America Crip Again."

Hip-hop also played a role in Ed Lee's 2011 campaign when a group supporting him produced a parody video set to the tune of MC Hammer's "2 Legit 2 Quit."

On Saturday, Breed also won the endorsement of Calif. Assemblyman David Chiu.

"I know that she will be a mayor for all of us!" the former supervisor wrote on Twitter.

The mayoral election is June 5, 2018.

Filipa Ioannou is an SFGATE staff writer. Email her at fioannou@sfchronicle.com and follow her on TwitterGrowing up as an undocumented teenager in Southern California, Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca didnt feel different from her high school classmates. She spoke English fluently, studied diligently and pretty much led a normal life.

But as she prepared for college in 2008, she attended a workshop on acquiring student grants and loans. It was there Salamanca realized she couldnt apply for federal education aid because she lacked legal status.

Her counselors told her that, in general, students like her drop out and go to work instead of pursuing a degree.

It was one of the hardest moments of my life, recalled Salamanca, now a 28-year-old resident of East Palo Alto.

3 1 of 3 Peter DaSilva/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Peter DaSilva/Special to The Chronicle Show More Show Less 3 of 3





So for several months after she graduated from high school, Salamanca didnt go to college because she didnt think she could afford it. Instead, she worked cash jobs like cleaning homes and taking care of children.

I didnt fully comprehend it, she said. I had fought as hard or harder than my classmates.

Years later, in 2016, Salamanca harnessed her disappointment from that formative experience to launch an idea designed to help others who found themselves in her position.

Her mobile app, called Dreamers Roadmap, organizes scholarships that are available locally and nationally for undocumented students across the country, so they can be armed with the knowledge Salamanca lacked when she was in high school.

For her work, Salamanca was nominated for a 2018 Visionary of the Year award, sponsored by The Chronicle. The award comes with a $25,000 grant, which the winner may use to fund his or her work or apply to a chosen cause.

Sarahi embodies the traits of a true visionary  someone who lights the path forward so all of us can prosper, said Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, a member of the nominating committee. Her sharp and creative mind developed an app to help undocumented students find scholarships so they could fulfill their individual dreams.

Salamancas parents brought her from Mexico to the U.S. at age 4, crossing the border to live with family members in the Bay Area. For years, Salamanca moved from city to city, rotating through relatives and just getting by.

By age 16, her mother and father had moved back to Mexico, but she stayed. Salamanca believed the only path to stability for her family relied on her gaining a good education and eventually a well-paying job.

When counselors told her shed get no funding for higher education, she thought that was it. Her path was closed.

Months later, though, a friend told Salamanca about legislation in California that had allowed undocumented students to obtain lower, in-state tuition.

Soon, she enrolled at Foothill College in Los Altos. But during her time at the community college, doctors diagnosed her father with cancer, and Salamanca took a break from studying to work and send money back to Mexico. She wasnt able to travel to see him before he died because of her undocumented status.

It was the second time my status came in the way my life, she said.

In 2013, Salamanca gained protection under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. She returned to school while also going to technology seminars.

The next year, she was selected as a finalist for the Voto Latino Innovators Challenge, a MacArthur Foundation-funded effort to improve life for Latinos through technology. Her innovation was her app, which she saw as simple, unique and important.

Undocumented students could access all aid programs available to them. The app would allow users to narrow the information by selecting where they live, whether they are a recipient of DACA and other characteristics.

The Voto Latino judges had one question for Salamanca: How are you going to fund it?

You guys are going to give me the money to make it, she said, as the judges burst into laughter.

She was right: The judges granted her the $100,000 prize.

Though she eventually gained a green card, Salamanca said she never lost sight of her earlier struggles, and by 2016 she had released the app.

While undocumented students in U.S. colleges are difficult to track, one estimate last year placed their numbers at upward of 80,000 in California alone. Salamanca said 20,000 people across the country have used her program.

Over the years, Salamanca said, she has been occasionally pulled aside by some of these students  like a woman who told her in February that shed been able to attend UCLA thanks to money she found through the app.

That was the whole purpose, she said. If I could change the life of one student  give them that sense of hope to go to college  then thats a success for me.

Hamed Aleaziz is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: haleaziz@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @haleaziz

About VisionSF

This is one of six profiles of finalists for The Chronicles fourth annual Visionary of the Year award. The honor salutes leaders who strive to make the world a better place and drive social and economic change by employing new, innovative business models and practices. The finalists were selected by a nominating committee that included Emmett Carson, president and CEO of Silicon Valley Community Foundation; Ron Conway, angel investor and philanthropist; John Diaz, editorial page editor of The Chronicle; Steve Malnight, senior vice president strategy & policy of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., a program sponsor; Ken McNeely, president of AT&T California, a program sponsor; Libby Schaaf, mayor of Oakland; Charlotte Shultz, chief of protocol for the city and county of San Francisco; and George Shultz, former U.S. secretary of state.

Chronicle Publisher Jeff Johnson, Editor in Chief Audrey Cooper and Diaz will select the winner, which will be announced in late March.

To read more: www.sfchronicle.com/visionsfPARIS  Former White House strategist Steve Bannon re-energized Frances struggling far-right National Front party and its leader Saturday by speaking at a party congress and telling Marine Le Pens nationalist supporters: History is on our side.

Bannons appearance in France was part of a European tour as he seeks an international platform for his closed-borders, anti-foreigner message that helped Donald Trump win the U.S. presidency.

Bannon was an early admirer of the National Front. The partys French First motto rallied voters for years before Trumps America First campaign.

The National Front has never won the French presidency, and the party congress in Lille is aimed at remaking its image after Le Pens crushing defeat to independent, pro-globalization Emmanuel Macron in last years presidential election.

Bannons European tour centered on last weekends Italian election, which he called an earthquake after populist and anti-immigration parties outperformed traditional parties. The outcome has boosted far-right movements across Europe and was seen as a victory for the forces that elected Trump and voter approval for Britain to leave the European Union.

The European tour comes as Bannons role in American politics is uncertain. He was ousted from the White House last year amid tensions and stepped down as chairman of Breitbart News Network in January after a public break with Trump.

In France, some warned that Bannons support could damage Le Pens efforts to cleanse the National Front of the racist stigma that has long clung to the partys image.

Le Pen defended inviting Bannon to the meeting, saying it was important to listen to the man who was the architect of Donald Trumps victory and has written about globalization, protectionism and giving to regular people the power that has been practically illegally captured by the elite.SALISBURY, England  The health implications of the nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his adult daughter broadened Sunday when British officials conceded that limited traces of contamination were found in a restaurant and a pub.

Public health officials said the risk of others being sickened by the chemicals that put the father and daughter in critical condition a week ago was very low. But they advised people who had patronized the businesses in Salisbury during a two-day period to wash their clothes, double-bag articles for dry cleaning, and to wipe down items like jewelry.

Its really important to understand the general public should not be concerned. There is, on the evidence currently, a very low risk. Dr. Jenny Harries of Public Health England said during a news conference.

Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter, Yulia 33 were found comatose on a bench near Zizzi restaurant and The Mill pub on March 4. Several hundred people would have been in the Salisbury establishments that day and the day after, Harries said.

The public health concerns  and the seven days it took authorities to give instructions for reducing possible exposure risks  are increasing pressure on the British government to take action against whoever is deemed responsible for the rare nerve agent attack.

Treasury chief Philip Hammond added his voice Sunday to the chorus of senior British figures vowing that strong steps will be taken if a foreign government is found to be responsible. Britain would respond appropriately in that case, Hammond said.

The widow of another Russian former spy who was poisoned in England and spent three weeks hospitalized before he died told the BBC on Sunday that British officials have not made good on a written promise to take every possible step to prevent crimes like the killing of her husband, Alexander Litvinenko.

It means something was not done, Marina Litvinenko said of the attack on Skripal. And the lesson that we received after the murder of my husband was not learned.The timeframe for lodging complaints with the AHRC - on all issues, including sexual harassment - was cut from 12 months to six months last year as part of a raft of Turnbull government reforms Mr Porter said had led to a more efficient complaints process and ensure "unmeritorious or improper complaints [were] dismissed at the earliest possible opportunity". While complaints can still be lodged after six months, the AHRC president has the power to terminate such cases, leaving the complainants to take their case to the Federal Court. State-based laws and agencies also have avenues for dealing with sexual harassment complaints. State-based laws and agencies also have avenues for dealing with sexual harassment complaints. Christie Toy, senior solicitor at Shine Lawyers' employment law practice, said that while none of her clients' complaints had so far been blocked by last year's change, it had added more stress to the process, with employers often arguing against complaints proceeding when they were older than six months. "What we are finding in light of the #metoo movement, is that sexual harassment is often historical and ongoing," she said.

"There might be a range of reasons why women are unable to come forward, whether they think they are not going to be believed, fears about job security, they are all factors ... it definitely is a small time limit compared to other limits at law which might be three or six years, and it does pass quite quickly." Leading workplace lawyer Josh Bornstein, principal at Maurice Blackburn said "trauma, embarrassment and fear" were among the reasons women may not come forward to report sexual harassment within six months. The #MeToo campaign has been followed by a slight rise in sexual harassment complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission. Credit:AP Mr Porter said the six months period was "not a fixed time limit", and did not not prevent anyone with a complaint more than six months old from lodging. "Even if a complaint is terminated by the AHRC, a range of other options remain available to complainants including a range of workplace and legal avenues, depending on the particular circumstances of the case," he said.

Labor's Mr Dreyfus said the recent changes had "weakened" federal protections against sexual harassment. Ms Jenkins said that AHRC research suggested there were many reasons why people did not report sexual harassment, but the legislative time limit had never emerged as a significant factor. The AHRC's 2012 sexual harassment survey showed that only one in five people who had experienced sexual harassment made a formal report or complaint. The AHRC will this year hold its fourth sexual harassment survey. Fast track The lack of options for urgent intervention is another issue, lawyers say.

Workplace bullying can be subject to an urgent stop order from the Fair Work Commission, to help victims continue in their job. But sexual harassment is not explicitly outlawed under the Fair Work Act; it is instead barred by the Sex Discrimination Act and so is typically handled by the AHRC through a conciliation process that stretches for months. Mr Bornstein said that including sexual harassment as an "adverse action" under workplace laws, which outlaw other conduct such discrimination, would allow an employee to seek an injunction from a court to stop the harassment. Attorney-General Christian Porter says he will work to ensure sexual harassment laws are "fit for purpose". Credit:Dominic Lorrimer Ms Toy pointed to cases where clients had quit their jobs during the conciliation process.

"Some of them take it upon themselves to resign," she said. "When they complain to the [AHRC], they find it's very overwhelming having that on foot without getting any kind of result for several months, so they have resigned, but if there had been some sort of order that the sexual harassment ceases, that might have prevented that." AHRC figures show the average time for conciliations increased from 3.8 months to 4.3 months in the 12 months to June 2017; however the AHRC says it can fast-track high priority cases. Sexual harassment is a "dark part of our culture", says Josh Bornstein. Credit:Jesse Marlow "We need one effective system to deal with sexual harassment," said Mr Bornstein, who described the current situation as "flawed".

Almost one in four complaints lodged with the AHRC in 2016-17 related to the Sex Discrimination Act; in the same year, 75 per cent of the 1128 conciliations handled by the AHRC were successfully resolved. Conciliation can lead to an apology for the impacted person, workplace changes such as training or new policies, or compensation; a complaint can also still proceed to the Federal Court if conciliation fails. Some state government agencies also offer conciliation processes. Stand by The role of bystanders has come under scrutiny following the #metoo campaign, with questions raised in some cases about why witnesses did not intervene in cases of sexual harassment. In Australia, there is no dedicated external avenue for witnesses who want to blow the whistle on sexual harassment in a workplace - anonymously or otherwise, although many employers provide avenues for anonymously reporting misconduct internally. The Fair Work Ombudsman recently launched an anonymous tip-off service for cases of staff underpayment.

But sexual harassment falls outside the scope of the government's draft corporate whistleblower laws, currently before parliament, designed to encourage and boost protections for people who speak out about misconduct in the private sector. And the AHRC can only launch an investigation "made by or on behalf of an aggrieved person" - although representative complaints, on behalf of groups of people, can be lodged if strict conditions are met. "There is usually an inherent power imbalance in cases of sexual harassment, of course there's going to be issues, fear of job security, fear of not being believed, differences in age, differences in background," Ms Toy said. "It may be of benefit if there was an avenue for bystanders to report it on a confidential basis, so it can be investigated on a confidential basis." There is usually an inherent power imbalance in cases of sexual harassment. Christie Toy

Mr Bornstein was sceptical of the value of such a scheme, saying sexual harassment was often not visible to others. But he noted how women who reported sexual harassment, and whistleblowers reporting in other settings, often risked similar negative consequences - including "being driven out of the organisation". He said sexual harassment and discrimination were issues that needed to be addressed in wider society - describing it as a "dark part of our culture". Cultural change



Ms Jenkins said that the law was just one part of the "systemic response" needed to eliminate sexual harassment. As the #metoo movement has gained momentum, employers have been pushed to review their sexual harassment policies and reporting procedures - as well as how well they handled such complaints if they are first reported internally. Professional services firm KPMG this month confirmed that a partner had been stood down and had then departed after sexual harassment complaints, with the firm saying it had "zero tolerance" for breaches of its code of conduct. Loading In a speech in Melbourne last week, prominent company director Sam Mostyn said the #metoo phenomenon was among the subjects that needed to spark "complex conversations" around board tables.The newly minted board of embattled property agency McGrath Ltd has vowed to get the business back to its former glory after moving swiftly to forget the past by slashing its expected profit for the listed company.

Having arrived only 10 days ago, new chief executive Geoff Lucas and chairman Peter Lewis have reviewed the previous earnings forecasts made in January by the former board, chairman and chief executive, who all left in late February, and found they were too optimistic.

In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange on Monday morning, McGrath said it now expected the company to generate underlying profit before tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of between $5 million and $5.5 million. This more than halves the figure (between $10.6 million and $11.6 million) it flagged only weeks ago in January when it announced almost the entire board and the company's chief executive would leave.

Together with new director Andrew Robinson, the three will focus on making the business attractive to new agents, to replace the high profile departures of the past year.A possible trade war looms and, as always, an adverse overseas development has caught poor little Oz utterly unprepared. Well, actually, not this time.

Just as Treasury had been war-gaming the next big world recession well before the global financial crisis of late 2008, so the Productivity Commission began thinking about our best response to a trade war soon after the election of Donald Trump.

In July last year it published a research paper, Rising protectionism: challenges, threats and opportunities for Australia, to which Dr Shiro Armstrong, co-director of the Australia-Japan Research Centre, at the Australian National University, made a major contribution. (During a visit to ANU last week I also benefited from discussion with Professor Jenny Corbett.)

Trump's tariffs (import duties) on steel and aluminium were never a great threat to our economy. It'll be only when he decides to take a crack at the Chinese that there'll be a lot to worry about.Property developer and investor GPT Group has been given the green light to develop a $230 million-plus office tower at Parramatta, in Sydney's west.

The City of Parramatta Council awarded architecture firm Fender Katsalidis to design the 26,000 square metre office tower at 32 Smith Street, Parramatta in August last year and has now given consent to GPT for its construction.

The property will feature a ground level urban room event space and an elevated podium terrace facing the Parramatta river. It will also have a car park that can be converted into office space in the future.

PT's proposed 32 Smith Street, Parramatta tower designed by architecture firm Fender Katsalidis

It will join the expanding skyline in what is seen as the fastest growing CBD in the country. The new site is close to the Parramatta Transport Interchange and planned

$1.2 billion Riverbank cultural precinct which will house the new Museum of Applied Arts and Science.These Gen Z men want to get hemp into the hands of as many Australians as possible.

Nathan McNiece, 23, and Tim Crow, 24, conducted their own research into more sustainable food products. They realised that hemp seeds were high in protein, prompting them to map out a business plan for a food business, and then they waited for legislative change.

Nathan McNiece and Tim Crow are growing legal food grade hemp.

New laws

That day came in November, when new laws allowing hemp to be grown as food were introduced, and the pair was able to give the nod to northern Tasmanian farmers they had already lined up to start planting the first food-grade crops.Ball Park Music

Enmore Theatre, March 9

 There should be more all-ages gigs. The buzz at this one was incredible, never mind that much of the crowd would have still been in infants' school when Ball Park Music formed in 2008. Ball Park Music at The Enmore Theatre, Friday 9 March, 2018. Credit:Dan Chuma Eight entries on the Triple J Hottest 100 later, this Brisbane five-piece has become that rare thing on the Australian music scene: an indie-pop band with longevity. Certainly, there is a careerist aspect to what Ball Park Music do. They met as university music students and know more than most about deconstructing and reproducing the indie-hit formula.

Luckily such calculations rarely stopped this material packing an emotional punch live, especially with a heaving mass of stage-diving, singalong-ing kids to help it. The band are blessed with a great communicator in frontman Sam Cromack, his warm tenor involving us in lyrics that are jaded cynicism one moment ("stop selling me shit that I don't need," he sang in Cost of Lifestyle, announced accidentally-on-purpose as "Corporate Lifestyle") and joi de vivre the next ("our bits smash together like fresh fruit in the sun," sang everybody, as 2011's Literally Baby proved its durability). The hook machine that is the rest of the band sealed the deal, with Jennifer Boyce's creative bass lines, Daniel Hanson's machine-gun drum rolls and Paul Furness' keyboard riffs ensuring the throng barely stopped. Yet two of the least musician-ly moments were this gig's biggest highlights. Cromack's solo strum through It's Nice to Be Alive underlined its status as a classic piece of songwriting, while this year's Hands off My Body pointed towards a potential new direction for the band. Easily the most straightforward song Cromack has written, this headbanger smelt more like the Sex Pistols than something cooked up for playlists: "I didn't like my ears so I chopped 'em off/I didn't like my nose so I chopped it off/  I didn't like my tongue so I aaaaaaaaargh!" Cromack screamed, and the Instagram generation went wild.The final trio in the jungle has been decided, with viewers of Im A Celebrity  Get Me Out of Here voting in Shannon Noll, Fiona OLoughlin and Danny Green as their top three.

British intruder Vicky Pattison was eliminated from the Network Ten series on Sunday night.

Although she had previously won a British version of the show, Pattison described the Australian version as a whole different beast.

There is only one episode remaining of this years series, with the winner due to be announced on Monday night (Australian time), with a prize of $100,000 going to their chosen charity.NITV, 7.30pm

The first commission of a scripted live-action series for NITV, Grace Beside Me, an adaptation of the award-winning novel by Sue McPherson, cleverly combines Aboriginal Australian history with tween antics; it's a unique twist on the classic coming-of-age kids' show. Fuzzy Mac (Kyliric Masella) has just turned 13 and wants to be an ordinary teenager  but her ancient ancestors have "chosen" her as a conduit between this world and the spirit realm. When her Aunty Min and cousin Esther, who has autism, move in with Fuzzy and her Nan and Pop after their house floods, Esther isn't happy  the only thing that will calm her down is grumpy neighbour Mr Steiner's antique doll. But why? Fuzzy uses her connection to the spirit world to investigate what makes the doll so special, but not before Mr Steiner's treasured doll goes missing and the race is on to find it.

Kylie Northover

movie Rough Night (2017)

Premiere Movies (pay TV), 8.30pmCamilla Franks, well-known for her high-end kaftans, is turning her hand to philanthropy after a successful foray into fundraising.

Franks, who recently welcomed her first child, last year designed and sold a silk scarf made from surplus cut-off fabric that netted about $50,000 in eight weeks.

Bouyed by the response, she chose to donate 100 per cent of the profits from sales of the $149 item, and launched her own charitable project. She has now joined forces with The Hunger Project Australia's Butterfly Effect, an initiative that champions women-centred strategies to eradicate poverty.

Franks hopes that by forging an official partnership with the organisation she will be able to raise $120,000 over the next year which will go toward funding the education of 1000 young women in India's Bihar region.The last time you sat through a sex ed class, you were probably around 15 years old. You may have put a condom on a banana, or maybe drawn the path of an ovum along a fallopian tube printout.

Chances are it was before you had sex.

"You might have had a lot of sex [or] given birth, but that doesn't mean you are an expert on your own body," say Dr Nina Brochmann and Ellen Stkken Dahl, co-authors of the bestselling book, The Wonder Down Under, a guide to the female genitals and their associated functions.

Dr Nina Brochmann and Ellen Stkken Dahl wrote a sex ed book for adult women.

The Norwegian pair met in August 2011. Both in their first year of medicine at the University of Oslo, they had volunteered to teach free sex education classes to a variety groups including high school students, sex workers and refugees.Frances McDormand won the award for best actress for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Credit:AP

When Frances McDormand accepted her Oscar for Best Actress last week, she called for a "Inclusion Rider" in her speech. In broad terms, an inclusion rider is something an actor can have added to their contract to make sure a level of diversity exists in the film they're starring in.

So, provided you're a powerful enough actress, like, say, a Nicole Kidman, you could, in theory, ask on your Inclusion Rider that women make up 90 per cent of your co-stars. Or you could ask that your director be a woman; or your cinematographer. In theory.

McDormand added that as women, "we all have stories to tell". Indeed, we do. So, I'd like to propose now, a few stories about women that I'd like to see up on the big screen. Or Netflix. Or Stan. I mean, whatever, so long as I can stream it in bed on my phone while my kids sleep.

If you watched the Oscar telecast you saw the glorious pairing of stand-up comedian Tiffany Haddish, (the woman who peed her pants in Girls Trip) and Maya Rudolph, (the woman who pooped her pants in Bridesmaids). If you looked at Twitter, you may have seen numerous suggestions for them to star in an action comedy together. Or, failing that, host next year's Golden Globes. But I'd actually like to see them star in a Beverly Hills Cop reboot. Rudolph can play the Chief of Police, while Haddish is the rogue detective just one step ahead of trouble. Eddie Murphy will have a cameo. The Heat is On will be remixed and covered by a re-formed Destiny's Child. Men's Rights Activists will storm social media the way they did over the Ghostbusters remake, thereby giving the movie only more publicity. It will be gorgeous.The federal government is still deciding whether to heritage list or demolish the former CSIRO headquarters on Limestone Avenue, a year after an "emergency" heritage application was first lodged.

As the decision drags on, the empty buildings have become increasingly dilapidated - and the target of looters and vandals.

A YouTube channel documents teens "exploring" abandoned buildings around Canberra. Credit:Sherryn Groch

Concerning footage has also emerged of hooded teens breaking into abandoned buildings around Canberra, including the old CSIRO site, their feet dangling over the edge of rooftops or balancing on walkways. Some videos feature close escapes from authorities or "overnight challenges" where trespassers try to outsmart security on site.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Environment and Energy confirmed last Monday the decision to heritage list the CSIRO site was still under assessment and would take "as long as it takes" but there was no normal timeframe for such decisions.Proposed changes to poker machine laws announced by the NSW government could increase the number of machines in high-risk areas and increase pokie profits by an estimated $80 million a year.

Racing Minister Paul Toole last week announced a raft of changes to laws governing pokies, including a cap on machines in higher risk areas such as Fairfield, where residents bet $8.5 billion last year.

But included in the package is a provision to allow clubs and pubs to lease licences on machines to other venues. Under present laws machines can only be transferred by sale, and for every three machines sold one must be forfeited.

Under the new laws, venues would be able to avoid forfeiting machines by leasing them instead. Also, smaller regional clubs and pubs could lease poorly performing machines to larger venues in high-revenue areas like Fairfield.A Brisbane architect who uses a wheelchair will on Monday receive legal advice on a Federal Court injunction that could halt Queenslands new $4.4 billion fleet of trains because they do not meet international disabled access standards.

If the Federal Court grants the injunction, the Queensland government would be forced to remove the New Generation Rollingstock trains from service because they do not meet those standards.

The New Generation Rollingstock trains have come under criticism.

Only a fortnight ago the Australian Human Rights Commission refused an application from the Queensland government to receive an exemption so it could run the trains.

There are now nine NGR trains in Queensland of the 75 ordered five years ago and eight of them are to be used in next months Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.Faulty, damaged and aged electricity infrastructure has sparked more than 250 fires in two years, despite a key Black Saturday bushfires royal commission recommendation to minimise the risk.

Energy Safe Victoria data shows problems with electrical infrastructure such as power poles and wires caused 252 fires  or about 11 each month  between October 2015 and July 2017.

The Black Saturday bushfires of 2009 claimed 173 lives, 159 of them in fires caused by electricity faults.

The royal commission recommended giving the state's energy regulator greater powers to reduce bushfire risk from electricity asset failure.

But almost a decade on, that recommendation remains unfulfilled.Two gunmen are on the run after what police believe was a targeted shooting in Melbourne's north-west on Saturday.

Officers found the man on Stenson Road, Kealba, with suspected gunshot wounds just after 3pm.

Paramedics rushed the 33-year-old Yuroke man to Royal Melbourne Hospital with upper-body injuries.

He was in a serious but stable condition. On Sunday afternoon, his condition was stable.Notice to correspondents and readers

"The sum of 10s. has been received for the men who so courageously took the bushrangers at Prospect, as advertised in our Journal. The letters are ready for A.B. if he will send for them"  The New South Wales Government Gazette was published as a small folio in this Journal for the first time last week. The public will now receive the Gazette plus the news of the day for less than sixpence.

'Misfortunes seldom come singly'

The Nelson, a whaler, has experienced nothing but bad luck. On her way to the whaling ground she lost a rudder. On her second attempt Capt. David lost time bringing up part of the America's wreck which, on his return to Sydney, he found he could not keep as the wreck had already been sold. Such misfortune appeared to hasten the death of Capt. D. who died three days after going to sea a third time.

Odds and sodsIt found that in addition to affordability, the second greatest barrier to accessing health care was time, followed by service availability and negative experience with health professionals.

The report from the Women's Centre for Health Matters asked Canberra's women for insight into their health, health needs, access to services, supports and information and barriers to maintaining good health.

A shortage of general practitioners, lack of bulk billing services and increased demand in the hospital system are contributing to the barriers being faced.

About half of Canberra's female population surveyed in a new report are struggling to find bulk billing services and access other affordable healthcare services in the ACT.

Women's Centre for Health Matters deputy chief executive Emma Davidson said the scale of the barriers to accessing healthcare was surprising.

"We have known for some time that bulk billing rates and access to GPs in Canberra is too low to meet the needs of our population," Ms Davidson said.

"What the latest research tells us is that women's social determinants of health has a particular impact on their ability to access good primary health care. Because women have lower employment and income levels, and higher demands on their time due to caring responsibilities for other family members, it is hard to find the time or money to go to the doctor. To see so many women talk about the impact this has on their health really emphasises how important it is that we solve this long-standing problem."

The report found that for women who experienced barriers to accessing health services, 50 per cent identified affordability as a barrier, and 49 per cent identified appointment availability as a barrier.

Bulk billing visits to GPs in Canberra decreased to 56 per cent in the 2015-16, compared with 84 per cent across Australia. But the proportion of patients fully bulk billed is much lower, the report states. Meanwhile, GP numbers in the ACT were the lowest of all states and territories.The ACT government has outsourced all non-clinical roles at Canberra's newest hospital in a move slammed by unions.

The University of Canberra Hospital is due to open in the middle of this year with staffing and budgeting still being finalised.

The University of Canberra Public Hospital during construction. Credit:Jamila Toderas

Unions met with ACT Health last week when they were told staff - including wards persons, hospital assistants, maintenance workers, caterers, security, administration and cleaners - would be filled through a contractor.

While Canberra Hospital makes use of contractors for some non clinical roles - such as security and cleaning - the use of contractors for wards persons, hospital assistants, catering and daily maintenance is new.ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has declared he is "over" the mainstream media and "hates journalists".

Mr Barr, speaking to communications specialists at a "meet the buyer" event at the ACT parliament on Thursday, set out his new plans to bypass traditional media.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr: I hate journalists and I'm over the mainstream media. Credit:Karleen Minney

"It is a very clear and deliberate strategy for change, it has the backing of my government, my administration," he said in a recording of the event leaked to The Canberra Times, challenging the communications companies to come up with contentious and risky ideas.

"And if the word of the chief minister is anything in this context, let me be absolutely crystal clear about our intention to both resource this and to deliver this change. It has to happen. We're going to make it happen," he said.Julia Gillard has entered the battle for Batman, putting her signature to a letter that will be mailed to tens of thousands of households across Melbourne's north, urging a vote for Labor's Ged Kearney.

The former prime minister has largely shied away from public statements about federal politics since she resigned in 2013 after being axed by her parliamentary colleagues.

Former PM Julia Gillard. Credit:Brendon Thorne

Labor strategists hope Ms Gillard's rare personal endorsement of a candidate will influence wavering voters, particularly women, who are considering voting for the Greens.Of all the polarising issues confronting schools, student expulsion takes the cake  at least for now, and especially so in an election year. In the wake of mounting anger among principals of government schools in Victoria, Minister for Education James Merlino has promised action on reviewing existing student expulsion procedures.

Recent revelations in The Age and other media outlets have exposed a system that deeply frustrates principals in Victorian government schools. Principals are of the view that their voice counts for too little when it comes to the expulsion of students whom they believe can no longer remain in their schools because they pose an unacceptably high risk to the welfare of other students and even staff. How has it come to this?

Very few students, if any, are expelled from government schools in Victoria on spurious grounds. Credit:Jason South

The genesis of the crisis has its roots in the State Ombudsman's report last year condemning the number of students expelled from government schools as unacceptably high. There was an immediate spike in the number of appeals against expulsion.

Media coverage of what appear to be examples of seriously dangerous behaviour by students, none of whom were expelled and indeed in two cases an appeal overturned an expulsion recommendation, has inflamed principals' resentment.Birthday wishes

Call 281-422-8302 or email david.bloom@baytownsun.com to wish someone a happy birthday. We will print your birthday wish on Page 2 of The Sun.

Happy Birthday WishesDemonstrators hold posters linking Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico to the mafia during an anti-government rally in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Friday. Credit:AP The killings have raised concerns across the continent about threats to a free press at a time when journalists are already under almost daily verbal assault from populist leaders. Slovakia has been one of the biggest cheerleaders of the European Union, even as leaders from Poland to Hungary to the Czech Republic have presented different challenges to the cohesion of the bloc. But long before Donald Trump had popularised the phrase "fake news", Fico regularly attacked journalists as "hyenas" and "presstitutes". After the murders, he has not reflected on his past rhetoric. Instead, Fico has decided to adopt some of the conspiratorial language of the leaders of neighbouring countries.

Loading This week, Fico found a familiar foe to blame for his problems, telling the public that the globalist George Soros was behind efforts to undermine his government. The Slovak president, Andrej Kiska, accused Fico and the ruling party of "an arrogance of power" and said that the only way to regain the public trust was a "radical reconstruction, or early elections." In turn, Fico accused Kiska and the news media of "dancing on the graves" of the victims. After saying he would pay a bounty of 1 million ($1.6 million) to anyone who helps find the killers, Fico called a news conference where he laid bundles of cash on a table as evidence of his seriousness.

Critics saw the move as a further reflection of a mob mentality where cash can solve any problem. Michal Vasecka, the director of the Bratislava Policy Institute, said that the prime minister has succeeded only in stoking more outrage. "We knew this country was dramatically corrupt," Vasecka said. "But it is now clear that the whole system is corrupted and is like an octopus overwhelming the entire country." The public frustration could be seen at the dozens of shrines that have popped up in towns and cities across the country, where photos of the young couple look out over a mass of candles, flowers and signs calling for change. "Indifference makes us accomplices," read one handwritten sign. At another shrine, a T-shirt stained blood red had a message: "Lies will be killed by the truth."

The cross over the grave before the funeral of investigative journalist Jan Kuciak in Stiavnik, Slovakia, on March 3. Credit:AP Many of the shrines were placed under commemorations of the Velvet Revolution in 1989, when the country broke free from the Communist bloc. Sona Szomolanyi, 71, a professor of political science at Comenius University in Bratislava, said the atmosphere felt similar today. She noted that it was the rumoured death of a young student, in 1989, that spurred mass protests and the eventual fall of the government. (The report proved untrue.) Corruption has long bedevilled Slovakia, which is a member of both NATO and the European Union. Intrepid local journalists have exposed all manner of malfeasance over the past two years, but there have been virtually no prosecutions of top officials.

The government's response to accusations "the deed did not happen" has been repeated so often it has become a bad joke. When thousands of protesters took to the streets last year, they carried banners with the words in bold letters. But there is no denying the deed now. While corruption may have once seemed complicated and abstract, the deaths have made it real. "All the dirt has come to the surface and is now visible and personal," Szomolanyi said. Former model Maria Troskova Credit:Aktuality.sk

Indeed, before he was killed, Kuciak had found that the model turned government adviser, Maria Troskova, was connected to an Italian businessman, Antonino Vadala, fond of racing his Lamborghini along the remote roads where he lived in the Slovak countryside. The two had lived together, and founded a company together. Kuciak also discovered that Vadala had been named in Italian court documents in connection with the 'Ndrangheta, the Calabrian organised crime syndicate. He uncovered links between Vadala's business dealings and top government officials and indications of a scheme to embezzle European Union funds meant to bolster agriculture in the country. Vadala did not answer questions when reporters visited his house, but he denied any connection to organised crime or any wrongdoing in an interview with a local paper. Troskova, who has stepped down from her government job, has also denied any impropriety.

Far from being frightened into silence, journalists at Kuciak's website Aktuality have picked up where his reporting left off. Peter Bardy, the editor-in-chief, sat in a conference room turned war room at Aktuality. On one wall were a dozen photographs of people suspected of being involved in shady dealings  from businessmen to top officials. Nearby, was a diagram linking Vadala's companies to politicians and other businessmen to government officials. A woman sticks a sticker on a poster with a photo of slain journalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancee Martina Kusnirova, during an anti-government rally in Bratislava, Slovakia, Friday. Credit:AP It makes for a spider's web difficult to untangle. But Bardy said the journalists owed it to Kuciak to keep digging. Szomolanyi said there was a ray of hope to be seen in the current mess."There's the possibility," White House principal deputy press secretary Raj Shah said on Sunday of the prospects of the talks falling through. "If it does, it's the North Koreans' fault. They have not lived up to the promises that they made."

But the White House also left open the possibility that the talks, which South Korean officials have said would happen by the end of May, could ultimately not occur - particularly if the North Koreans conduct nuclear or missile tests in coming weeks.

Washington : Trump administration officials insist the United States made no concessions to the North Korean regime in exchange for what would be a historic meeting between President Donald Trump and the reclusive nation's leader, Kim Jong-un.

The conditions that Trump has set, according to administration officials, is that Kim would halt any nuclear or missile testing until the talks occur and allow joint military exercises between the South Korea and the United States to proceed. The regime has also committed to saying "complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation" is on the table, CIA Director Mike Pompeo said on Sunday.

"These are real achievements. These are conditions that the North Korean regime has never submitted to in exchange for conversations," Pompeo said. "Never before have we had the North Korean in a position where their economy was at such risk and where their leadership was under such pressure that they would begin conversations on the terms that Kim Jong Un has conceded to."

He said the administration had given Kim "nothing" in exchange for Trump agreeing to meet with him and added: "While these negotiations are going on, there will be no concessions made."

Pompeo, who has secured a bond with Trump in part by reliably praising him in public, implied that Trump's often personal attacks on Kim were among those pressure points, saying that US intelligence officials had briefed Trump on how Kim "might react and how North Korea might respond".

But it is hard to differentiate the way Trump has treated Kim on Twitter - referring to him derisively as "Little Rocket Man," for example - from the way he mocks most adversaries, including the press and political opponents.Data explosion: Futureproofing your video surveillance infrastructure

Video surveillance systems are producing more unstructured data than ever before. A dramatic decrease in camera costs in recent years has led many businesses to invest in comprehensive surveillance coverage, with more cameras generating more data. Plus, advances in technology mean that the newest (8K) cameras are generating approximately 800% more data than their predecessors (standard definition). Traditional entry-level solutions like network video recorders (NVRs) simply arent built to handle massive amounts of data in an efficient, resilient and cost-effective manner. This has left many security pioneers grappling with a data storage conundrum. Should they continue adding more NVR boxes? Or is there another, better, route? Retaining video data In short, yes. To future proof their video surveillance infrastructure, an increasing number of businesses are adopting an end-to-end surveillance architecture with well-integrated, purpose-built platforms for handling video data through its lifecycle. This presents significant advantages in terms of security, compliance and scalability, as well as unlocking new possibilities for data enrichment. All of this with a lower total cost of ownership than traditional solutions. Security teams would typically delete recorded surveillance footage after a few days or weeks Previously, security teams would typically delete recorded surveillance footage after a few days or weeks. However, thanks to increasingly stringent legal and compliance demands, many are now required to retain video data for months or even years. Theres no doubt that this can potentially benefit investigations and increase prosecutions, but it also puts significant pressure on businesses storage infrastructure. Data lifecycle management This necessitates a more intelligent approach to data lifecycle management. Rather than simply storing video data in a single location until its wiped, an end-to-end video surveillance solution can intelligently migrate data to different storage platforms and media as it ages. So, how does this work? Video is recorded and analysed on a combination of NVR, hyperconverged infrastructure (HCI) and application servers. Then, its moved to resilient file storage for a pre-determined period, where it can be immediately retrieved and accessed for review. Finally, based on policies set by heads of security, data is moved from file storage to highly secure, low-cost archive storage such as an object, tape or cloud. Data is moved from file storage to highly secure, low-cost archive storage Long-term storage This process is known as tiering. It allows businesses to use reliable, inexpensive long-term storage for most of their data, whilst still enabling security pioneers to retrieve video data when the need arises, such as during a compliance audit, or to review footage following a security breach. In a nutshell, it offers them the best of both worlds. Scaling your video surveillance infrastructure can be a headache. Businesses that rely on NVRs  even high-end units with 64 or even 96 hard drives  are finding themselves running out of capacity increasingly quickly. In order to scale, security pioneers then have to procure new boxes. With NVRs, this inevitably involves a degree of guesswork. Should they go for the largest possible option, and risk over provisioning? Or perhaps a smaller option, and risk running out of capacity again? Common management console Security pioneers can easily add or remove storage capacity or compute resources  separately or together As businesses add new cameras or replace existing ones, many end up with inadequate surveillance infrastructure made up of multiple NVR boxes along with several application servers for running other surveillance functions such as access control, security photo databases, analytics, etc. This patchwork approach leaves security pioneers scrambling for capacity, maintaining various hardware footprints, repeating updates and checks across multiple systems, and taking up valuable time that could be better spent elsewhere. By contrast, flexible HCI surveillance platforms aggregate the storage and ecosystem applications to run on the same infrastructure and combine viewing under a common management console, avoiding swivel chair management workflows. Plus, they offer seamless scalability. Security pioneers can easily add or remove storage capacity or compute resources  separately or together. Data storage solutions Over time, this ensures a lower total cost of ownership. First and foremost, it removes the risk of over provisioning and helps to control hardware sprawl. This in turn leads to hardware maintenance savings and lower power use. Many security pioneers are now looking beyond simple data storage solutions for their video surveillance footage. Meta tags can provide context around data, making it easier to find and access when needed Instead, theyre asking themselves how analysing this data can enable their teams to work faster, more efficiently and productively. Implementing an end-to-end video surveillance architecture enables users to take advantage of AI and machine learning applications which can tag and enrich video surveillance data. These have several key benefits. Firstly, meta tags can provide context around data, making it easier to find and access when needed. Object storage platform For instance, if security teams are notified of a suspicious red truck, they can quickly find data with this tag, rather than manually searching through hours of data, which can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Plus, meta tags can be used to mark data for future analysis. This means that as algorithms are run over time, policies can be set to automatically store data in the right location. For example, if a video is determined to contain cars driving in and out of your premises, it would be moved to long-term archiving such as an object storage platform for compliance purposes. If, on the other hand, it contained 24 hours of an empty parking lot, it could be wiped. These same meta tags may be used to eventually expire the compliance data in the archive after it is no longer needed based on policy. Video surveillance architecture Continuing to rely on traditional systems like NVRs will fast become unsustainable for businesses Even if your organisation isnt using machine learning or artificial intelligence-powered applications to enhance your data today, it probably will be one, three, or even five years down the line. Implementing a flexible end-to-end video surveillance solution prepares you for this possibility. With new advances in technology, the quantity of data captured by video surveillance systems will continue rising throughout the coming decade. As such, continuing to rely on traditional systems like NVRs will fast become unsustainable for businesses. Looking forward, when moving to an end-to-end video surveillance architecture, security pioneers should make sure to evaluate options from different vendors. For true futureproofing, its a good idea to opt for a flexible, modular solution, which allow different elements to be upgraded to more advanced technologies when they become available.



SWAT takes us back in time this week, two years in the past to be exact, opening with a flashback to when Buck led the team, Tan was the newbie, and Jess was just two weeks into the job.

And seeing her and Hondos chemistry even back then just breaks my heart even more.

In the flashback, Luca works on freeing a man in the warehouse SWAT has breached, but hes short on time. There are explosives in the warehouse and it could blow at any time.

Ordered out of the building, Luca has made the difficult decision to leave the man behind and escape only with the female hostage, Keri, whom he had freed.

Ill come back for you, I promise," he tells the male victim.

He gets Keri out and is heading back in for the man when the building explodes.

The anguish on Lucas face is haunting as all he can do is stand and watch the building burn.





In the present day we learn Lucas still staying with Street. Its been four months. Dude, Im siding with Street here: its time to get your own place.While browsing the markets, Luca thinks he sees the man responsible for the kidnappings and the explosion two years ago. A man presumed dead. They give chase, but he gets away.Clearly this ones still haunting Luca.Jessica, having had her car vandalized the previous week, is now receiving threatening letters thanks to the leak of her proposal. And this person is brazen, leaving the letters on her desk.Hicks will have threat management launch an investigation into who left it, and hes putting a security detail on her. He wont let her leave the building without an escort.Luca brings Keri into SWAT to keep her safe. With nothing solid to go on, the case isnt a priority. Thats hard for Luca to hear. He convinces Hondo hes one hundred percent sure its the same guy from the warehouse and having pinged his car, and with some knowledge of where he might currently be, Hondo agrees they can go get him.In a conversation with Hondo we hear how Luca and Keri have kept in touch after the explosion, both being affected by the events of that night. I appreciate how SWAT shows the human side of these characters, how they form connections with the people they encounter in this job. The victims of crimes are not just statistics  theyre people, and they matter.Hondo and Luca find the car they believe is driven by the killer. While they dont find him, he may have just taken another victim.Hondo tells him.Luca replies.Hicks calls everyone in, and Jessica addresses them regarding the letter. Because its one of them, or someone closely associated with someone in the room, she gives them the chance to come forward, talk to her one-on-one. They have an hour to do so. After that, it becomes a criminal investigation.Has Rocker had a line of dialogue before? I can't recall him ever speaking, and that makes me suspicious.Luca and Keri have an emotional scene with Wendy as Keri tries to recall information about her own kidnapping that she may have forgotten. It's hard for Keri to talk about, but her memories of the other victim, the one who died, are just as hard for Luca to hear again. Both these characters are carrying too much from that event two years ago, and I feel bad for Luca because this is his second story-line centering around painful emotions from memories of the past. This character has more than his fair share of ghosts.Street finds Buck at a bowling alley in Long Beach, where, while fishing for information on whats up with Buck, proceeds to show off his abysmal bowling skills. Oh, Street, honey, no.We find out Bucks definitely in financial trouble after taking a gamble on a start-up and losing. Making this even more difficult to hear is how Buck wanted to pay off Raymont Harris' tuition anonymously. Now, he can't do that.Repeating Bucks words back to him, words he told a twelve-year-old Street after his mom shot his dad dead, Street tells him,While investigating the letter left on Jess' desk, Hicks pulled a print belonging to Rocker's wife off the envelope. I suspected a link, earlier, when Rocker had a line, but Im not thrilled its connected to him. He claims he didnt vandalize Jess car, and just ran his mouth off to his wife while riled up about the proposal. He never expected her to act.Jessica agrees that if Val never does anything like this again, shes happy to just let it go. But Hicks wont let Val and Rocker off so easy. Ultimately the charge is dropped to harassment, and Rockers learned a valuable lesson.Thanks to teamwork, SWAT comes up with a name (Martin Harwell) and address of the killer. Theyll need to be quick; hes already got two new victims tied up in his basement.At Harwells address, the team cut the power and enter his house, snipping security camera wires as they find them. The power comes back on, and the rest of the traps Harwell has rigged slow the team as they move through, checking rooms, alarms now blaring, gas being released. Hondo and Tan blow a door, and head down into the basement. Harwell has escaped, but they find and free his victims. Luca and Chris, meanwhile, have found a room full of explosives.Hondo orders the team to leave, but Luca wont let Harwell get away again. Luca triggers another trap and is dropped down a floor  where hes attacked by Harwell.It is brutal watching Luca thrown around, punched. But he gets the upper-hand and pulls a gun on Harwell. Lucas rage is palpable, and its only Hondos presence, two words from his boss, that stops him from shooting Harwell.This case has followed Luca for two years. Now he can put it to rest.Keri gets one of Lucas hugs after he tells her they got the guy, and I admit Im a little jealous.And, oh yes, Jessica and Hondo manage to get one more emotional scene in to wreck us all. Theyll meet halfway between their apartments so she can give him his stuff back. Its a heavy reminder theyre over. Would it be so awful if Jessica accidentally forgot to give him an item or two? To give him a reason to visit her again.Bucks living with his own ghosts, lingering from Raymonts shooting. Raymonts been slowly making peace with what happened to him, but hes still carrying that trauma, and hes in no hurry to cross paths with Buck again. Theres an opportunity here for them to sit down and talk, and they both need to.Hondo tells him, and the boy acquiesces.This episode allows characters to start healing from wounds that have been causing them pain for far too long. Its cathartic, the peace thats made here. And, on a less positive note, theres what feels like a final nail in the Jessica/Hondo relationship coffin  but I refuse to give up on those two just yet.



The Lost and the Plunderers was written by the team of Angela Kang, Channing Powell, and Corey Reed and was directed by David Boyd. While the ratings didnt plunge quite as low as I thought they would, we are still down to mid-season two levels. Is the show riding the coattails of Black Panther? Or maybe the fans who are left have given up any hope of any character getting out alive? The title, of course, is a reference to the sign at the gate to Alexandria. Mercy for the lost, but vengeance for the plunderersI liked how each of the sections was titled with a characters name. We start with Michonne (Danai Gurira), and really, if people are still watching because of her  they should be. She has created this amazing, fully-realized character, and we get up close and personal with her grief over the loss of Carl (Chandler Riggs). And Im going to quickly pause here, to once again rant about what a STUPID, EXPLETIVE, mistake it was to kill off Carl and lose Chandler Riggs. Yes, hell be fine and have a terrific career  but Im NOT fine and want Carl back.Michonne has Ricks (Andrew Lincoln) back as he continues to grieve, and think about what Carl asked. He hangs Carls gun on the cross marking his grave, but then takes it again before he leaves. Hes clearly tried  and failed  to take Carls last wish to heart.Michonne surveys the devastation to Alexandria, and clearly, she is grieving for the loss of her home  and her family. Its clearly symbolic of both  she tries and fails to shut the gate on the walkers  and really, the place is already overrun anyway.Rick takes a walkie talkie off one of the Saviors. And Michonne knows already that hes not going to respect Carls last wish. They go back to the house, and Michonne pauses to look at the handprints that Carl left for Judith. Its a beautiful moment as she lays her own hand over Carls and takes a moment to really feel her grief. But then the walkers catch her notice, and she goes to Rick to tell him that they have to go. They load a van with as much as they can gather.Michonne notices that the gazebo is on fire  and says to Rick that Carl used to sit on the roof. Now its Ricks turn to say they have to go, but when Michonne runs in with a fire extinguisher, Rick joins her, recognizing her own grief manifesting in trying to preserve this piece that was important to Carl. They are forced to let in burn when they are overrun with walkers. Michonne looks at the sign at the gate as they leave their home.As they drive, Rick asks Michonne what she thinks Carl meant. Hes clearly trying to avoid really confronting what Carl has asked him to do  hes looking for a loophole. Rick wonders if Carl meant that they were supposed to stop fighting, surrender to Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan). Michonne sensibly suggests that they pull over and read what Carl wrote  well, duh! Rick is not ready yet  again, hes busy looking for a loophole. And then Michonne finds the letter to Negan  and Rick doesnt know what to do with that.Rick changes the subject  seemingly  and insists that they need to go to Jadis (Pollyanna McIntosh). At first, it seems he may be worried about them  they went to the Sanctuary with Rick  and we later find out that they are in danger. But then its clear that Rick still just wants their firepower. More importantly, and this shows he didnt really change the subject  he insists that they are ours  Negan cant have them  and Negan doesnt get to have any part of Carl  yet clearly, Carl was also thinking about Negan when he died. After all, Carl made the same plea to Negan before he died to stop the fighting. And Michonne sees that Rick is not ready to stop fighting.They are too late when they get to the junkyard, however. As then enter in, the entrance is booby-trapped and they find themselves trapped with walkers  and I know I recognized many of Jadis people. Its a nice bit of clever foreshadowing  and a somewhat disorienting time loop in the episode  that also works as Michonne and Rick are still reeling from the loss of Carl.The next section is entitled NEGAN. Hes back at the command center, organizing the various operations. Hes still waiting to hear from Gavin and is trying to round up the Alexandrians. He clearly admires the way Carl played him at the gate. Simon wants to go after the Alexandrians, but Negan has someone else on it.He thanks Simon (Steven Ogg) for handling the Hilltop  and especially because Simon didnt want to handle it that way. This is a terrific scene between the two, and we start to see that theres a different dynamic than we might first have assumed. Simon is clearly more unhinged and violent than Negan  and Negan seems used to keeping him on a short leash. He wants Simon right in front of him where he can keep an eye on him.Negan wants to talk about the garbage-people, and Simon is ready to go out and take care of them. But Negan still sees them as a resource. Negan orders Simon to deliver only the standard message  take one out, JUST one, so the others fall in line. He invites Simon to speak his mind. Simon is furious that these people  Alexandria, the Hilltop, the Kingdom, and the garbage-people  dont get the lesson. Is he angry because hes jealous that theyve fought back when he had to give up? Or is he just a psycho?Jeffrey Dean Morgan is great in this scene. He tells Simon that hes trying to hold it together  and the quiet way he delivers his orders is more menacing than yelling could be. Negan tells Simon that what they do is hard  but it works. Simon points out that it hasnt worked lately  but Negan insists that once he kills Rick, everything will be fine. In a twisted way, it seems like Negan really leans more toward mercy  for the lost  while Simon wants vengeance.The two are interrupted by Maggies (Lauren Cohen) delivery from the Hilltop. Clearly, Simon didnt do his job very well! Simon is ready to kill every last one of the farmers. And Negan does raise his voice at that as he tells Simon that he will do his job! But Simon is clearly dangerously close to insubordinationThe next section is ENID (Katelyn Nacon), and we finally get back to Oceanside. Aaron (Ross Marquand) tries to get them to talk as he and Enid are handcuffed to the same radiator that Tara was. Beatrice (Briana Venskus) tells Cyndie (Sydney Park) that its up to her because Natania was her family. Just fyi, hilariously after not being on either show for some time, Venskus was also onthis week! Rachel (Mimi Kirkland) is still a little psycho and just wants to kill them.Meanwhile, and in stark contrast, Enid is consumed with guilt for having killed Natania. She tries to convince herself that Natania made it so that shed have to do it  and shed do it again even knowing how it felt. Clearly, and in a nice synergy with Carls remarks on killing last week, Enid has not had to kill many  if any other living people.They return, and Aaron thinks they are releasing them until the order is to take them to the beach. Enid appeals to Cyndie, telling her that she should have a better reason than killing them to make herself feel better  because she wont. Were back to the mercy/vengeance dichotomy again. Enid tells Cyndie that killing IS the punishment. She also tells them that eventually the others will come and wipe them out for vengeance  its clearly a vicious cycle. The cycle that Carl is trying to break. Cyndie decides that they live.Cyndie tells Aaron that they do want to know if they win, but theyve already taken everything else that they have to give. Cyndie tells them never to return  how is she going to know who wins?? Enid tells her to stop killing strangers and to learn the difference between friends and enemies.Aaron refuses to leave until they join the fight. He thinks that in time he can convince Beatrice and Kathy (Nicole Barre) to fight. He tells Enid that he needs her to go back and tell Maggie whats going on  and keep Maggie from coming. Hes not going back, but he is going to wait for them to contact him again? This part of his plan seemed a bit un-thought out. Enid and Aaron promise each other that theyll be ok and see each other again  and really? Who can make those promises in this world? Still, its a nice moment as Enid flings herself in to hug Aaron before leaving. And I cant be the only one worried about how devastated shes going to be by the loss of Carl.Even theshort in the middle of the episode seemed to carry through the mercy/vengeance thread.The next section is devoted to SIMON. Simon seems to be holding the company line  except for his comment that they are going to sit on their dicks a might longer instead of attacking the Hilltop He then heads to the landfill with a full head of steam. He goes toe to toe with Jadis  who is her usual stonewalling self. I did love Ogg in this scene  I love his refer to any notes you may have  for Jadis apology.Jadis tries to tell him that they didnt have a deal with Rick  and then Simon loses his tenuous hold on his temper. He has no real interest in carrying out the mercy side of the equation. Hes clearly angry that he has to tell her that Negan says they can be forgiven. When Simon demands their guns, even Brion (Thomas Francis Murphy) objects. Jadis knows that theyre in trouble though and gives the command to give up the guns. McIntosh is outstanding in this episode as we finally get some layers to her. Even after she gives up the guns, she is still willing to be arrogant and go toe to toe with Simon.Simon asks her about the site  and he mentions a helio-pad!!! And solar panels. Jadis tells him that its just a dump. But does she have that helicopter???? Simon is still waiting for his apology, however, and Jadis attitude is not helping his own mood. Simon isnt feeling her apology and shoots Brion. And we finally see a crack in Jadiss armor.When Simon then kills Tamiel (Sabrina Gennarino)  who I think is Jadis lover, Jadis loses it and knocks Simon on his ass. And thats it for Simon. He has his men kill all of them as a shocked and devastated Jadis watches. Simon does not tell Negan what really happened  he just tells him that he delivered the standard message, and there was remorse. They are interrupted as Negan gets a call from Rick. Is Simon planning a coup? Theres no way that Negan can let this pass I cant wait to see the fallout from this.The next section is JADIS and takes us back to Rick and Michonne being overrun by the walkers, who we now know for sure are Jadis people. I knew Id seen Brion and Tamiel earlier They climb the junk pile  where the walkers cant follow and find Jadis. I loved that in contrast to being completely clothed in black layers as we normally see her, shes just got a white slip on. It also contrasts her being completely naked when she sculpts  clearly reflections of her state of mind  she felt completely safe and was free to be herself through her art  but here, she is stripped bare, down to her essentials.Jadis tells them the Saviors did it, and the only way out is the way in. Jadis tells them that it used to just be trash  no heaps  and she used to come there to find things to make art with, but after the apocalypse, she realized that the whole place was a canvass. Its a beautiful metaphor for the community that she created  down to the last detail  clothing, language, everything. Her goal was to create something else apart from everyone else. Rick blames her, and tells her that the destruction of her people is her fault. Hes not wrong. She reaped what she sowed by double crossing everyone.Jadis wants to come with them, but Rick refuses to show her any mercy. He tells Michonne that Jadis cant help them, so hes leaving her. Michonne doesnt fight him on it. Jadis almost makes it, and begs Rick to at least just let her get out. Rick shoots over her head  an act he later points out to Michonne as an act of mercy. But is it. Letting her die is the same as killing her.But Jadis isnt going to die. She was a leader for a reason, and she seems to have retreated to her affectless demeanor as she calls her people to her and watches as one by one they fall into the trash compactor. She uses herself as bait  and really, she has transformed them all now into hamburger. In case you werent getting the point, we see their flesh splashed over the blue cat that shed been painting. In the end, this is all that she has created. Is this mercy for her people? Will she want vengeance now? Its also important to notice that the cat IS blue  in fact, its the same blue that Carl used for the handprints. These are signs of life, of defiance in the face of death.Jadis helps herself to a can of applesauce. Is this the tree of knowledge? Has she learned from this mistake? I doubt that shes learned the lesson that Simon thought he was delivering. Im curious to see if she shows up flying a helicopterThe final section is RICK. Rick tries to explain his actions. He tells Michonne that he didnt want Jadis dead, he just wanted her gone. He tells her that Jadis made it  he saw her get away  but he also knew that there was no way out! Michonne very gently tries to tell Rick that the incident felt like what Carl was talking about  what they should do. They have a choice  the choice of the episode: mercy or vengeance.Rick finally pulls over, saying he needs a second. He clearly feels badly about what he did to Jadis  and it seems she paid twice for Negan pissing people off. Rick gets out of the truck with Carls letters. He looks at his own, but its Negans that he reads. Bad choice Rick. But he sees what Carl asked of Negan. From what I could glean, it seems exactly like what Carl said to Negan on the wall. As always, Lincoln is great here, even with no dialogue.And we circle back to Rick calling Negan on the walkie talkie. Rick leads with Carls dead. And we cut to Negan, who is clearly upset by the news. Rick tells Negan about the letters and that Carl asked Negan to stop in the letter he wrote to Negan. Rick tells Negan that Carl asked him to stop too. Carl asked for peace.Rick thinks its too late for peace. Hes going to kill Negan. But tellingly, Negan doesnt want to talk about a showdown. He wants to know how Carl died. Hes clearly worried that Carl died because of the Saviors, the grenades, the fire. But Rick is still working his way through the fury stage of grief. He tells Negan that Carl went out to help someone and got bit. And is this why Rick cant face the mercy side of the equation?Negan is clearly genuinely sorry when he tells Rick he is. He doesnt help the situation by telling Rick that he had plans for Carl though. Even Negan thought that Carl was the future. And then Negan moves into the anger phase of grief. He tells Rick that Carl is dead because of him because Rick couldnt leave well enough alone. And because Rick wasnt there to stop Carl from doing something stupid. And in reality, Carl was doing what Negan says hes doing  saving people. But Negan also doesnt know how right he is. If Rick had reached out and shown mercy to Siddiq instead of firing over his head  as he did again with Jadis  Carl would still be alive  well, maybe.Negan wants to know whos next  will Jadis kill Michonne?  Rick says Negan is, but Negan tells him that he stops people from dying, hes the answer. Of course, he didnt stop Jadiss people from dying. Negan warns Rick not to let anyone else die because of his bad decisions  you cant walk away from that kind of guilt. Negan tells Rick that he failed as a leader and a father. He tells him to give up because hes already lost.I loved the final shot of Rick alone in a field  and he looks lost in the sense that he cant find his way. Again, its a great metaphor. Rick may or may not have lost the fight or the war, but hes definitely lost his way. Carl had become his moral compass and now he is clearly struggled to follow the path that Carl wanted him to take.This was a really nicely structured episode with terrific performances from all of the title characters. Numbers are down on all sides, and Negan has trouble brewing now from within his ranks. I cant wait to see how this all plays out! What did you think of the episode? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!With nearly every 15-minute update on the Eversource and United Illuminating power outage maps, the total number of customers without power declined Saturday.

Despite the total number being far less than it was at the peak of the storm  with 142,000 without power in Connecticut  there is still more work to be done. Crews are out in towns and cities throughout the state, working with local public works departments to clear roads and get power back on.

UPDATE 9:55 P.M.  LOCAL

As of 9:50 p.m., Eversource and United Illuminating report a total of 6,192 customers without power across the state of Connecticut.

Wilton

Twelve roads in Wilton remain closed as of Saturday evening.

A full list of those roads  and roads that have recently become passable, but are still impacted by trees/branches/wires  can be found on the Wilton police Facebook page.

UPDATE 9:15 P.M.  OUTAGES

A total of 5,895 Eversource and United Illuminating customers are still without power as of 9 p.m. Saturday.

UPDATE 8:15 P.M.  OUTAGES

There are 6,321 households statewide still without power Saturday evening.

Eversource reports 5,812 customers in the state without power and United Illuminating reports 509.

All towns and cities served by Eversource in the southeastern part of the state report less than 501 customers without power.

UPDATE 7:45 P.M.  LOCAL UPDATES

Fairfield

Police said there was significant power restoration in town Saturday by United Illuminating crews.

While UI is not telling us the exact number of crews, UI crews will continue to work throughout the night, police said on Twitter.

Full restoration for the town is expected by roughly 4 p.m. Sunday, police said. But, police said, that does not include homes requiring an electrician to fix the connection to a home before UI can finish their work and restore power.

There are still 12 wires down in town as of 5:40 p.m. Saturday. Crews are working to clear them to make town safe and allow officials to open schools on Monday, police said.

Any trees or branches cut by the Department of Public Works or utility companies that have been left on the side of the road will be removed in the near future, police said.

Shower facilities continue to be available at the Parks and Recreation facility on Mill Plain Road between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday.

More details can be found at fairfieldct.org/storm.

More Information Eversource power recovery schedule Bethel - substantially complete Brookfield - substantially complete Danbury - Friday at 11:59 p.m. Darien - Friday at 11:59 p.m. Greenwich - substantially complete Monroe - Saturday at 12 p.m. New Canaan - Sunday at 11 p.m. New Fairfield - Saturday at 12 p.m. New Milford - Saturday at 12 p.m. Newtown - Sunday at 8 p.m. Norwalk - Sunday at 11 p.m. Oxford - Saturday at 2 p.m. Ridgefield - substantially complete Seymour - substantially complete Stamford - substantially complete Weston - Sunday at 11 p.m. Westport - Sunday at 11 p.m. Wilton - Sunday at 11 p.m. See More Collapse

New Canaan

Police remind residents to check on neighbors without power and to call the EOC with any concerns.

Trumbull

Those still without power in Trumbull should check out uinet.com to see whether their outage needs something addressed by an electrician before UI can get involved in restoring power.

Debris from the storm should not be moved from where it was left by public works or utility companies, town officials said. After power is restored, the town will devise a plan to deal with the debris collection and removal.

Westport

All roads in town were reopened as of 1 p.m. Saturday, police said.

And though the roads are passable for vehicular traffic, police encouraged residents to take extreme caution while driving around town because there is still the possibility of downed electrical equipment, hanging branches and any other debris causing obstruction.

Areas cut off by barriers and caution tape should be avoided.

There is ... a great deal of cleanup work to be done and all town departments will be out clearing up the issues over the next few days, town officials said.

UPDATE 6 P.M.  OUTAGES

Eversource reported 9,622 customers without power.

Bethel - 273

Brookfield - 49

Darien - 25

Danbury - 171

Greenwich - 211

Monroe - 7

New Canaan - 224

New Fairfield - 35

Newtown - 262

Norwalk - 359

Oxford - 48

Redding - 24

Ridgefield - 39

Seymour - 9

Stamford - 223

Weston - 370

Westport - 677

Wilton - 476

United Illuminating reported 1,489 customers still in the dark.

Ansonia - 10

Bridgeport - 8

Derby - 2

Easton - 309

Fairfield - 256

Milford - 654

Orange - 1

Shelton - 9

Stratford - 2

Trumbull - 86

UPDATE 4:15 P.M.  EVERSOURCE, OUTAGE RESTORATION

An updated list of restoration times has been published by Eversource at: http://bit.ly/2oYhcZU. Most of the cities and towns listed are classified as substantially complete.

New Canaan, Weston, Westport and New Canaan still have estimated restoration times of Sunday at 11 p.m. Those four towns are among the 24 out of 148 in Connecticut served by Eversource that are not listed as substantially complete.

Eversource said despite this being the estimate, some customers in those areas could have power restored sooner.

UPDATE 3:30 P.M.  OUTAGES

Eversource reported 12,808 customers without power.

United Illuminating reported 1,854 customers still in the dark.

UPDATE 3:15 P.M.  EVERSOURCE SCAM

The extended outages have led to scammers trying to take advantage of the situation, with businesses in Norwalk and Westport receiving calls from a fake Eversource representative demanding payment for power restoration.

The Westport Police Department has received complaints from multiple businesses ... Businesses have received calls from persons purporting to be from Eversource Energy advising they will not have their power restored unless they provide over-the-phone payment, said police Lt. Jillian Cabana.

Norwalk police echoed a similar situation in the city Saturday.

Local businesses have been receiving calls from a fake (Eversource) representative today demanding money, police said. This is a scam.

The power company would never, ever ask customers to pay to get power back, said Eversource spokeswoman Tricia Modifica.

Our crews are working tirelessly to restore power to all residents and business. (The scam) is very disheartening. Customers have really endured enough having to be without power. They shouldnt have to deal with this, too, Modifica said.

Anyone who has received a call and is unsure of its authenticity can call Eversource directly at 800-286-2000.

Original story

Cleanup and power restoration efforts continued around Connecticut Saturday, after more than three days since the state was struck by a powerful snow storm.

The number of residents still without power at 7 a.m. Saturday morning numbered 25,091, according to power utility statistics.

The remaining power outages are mainly concentrated in mid-Fairfield County, from Fairfield and Easton down to Norwalk, New Canaan and Wilton, as well as along the border of New Haven and Middlesex counties to the east.

Despite a 30-percent reduction from Fridays totals, some residents have taken to social media and other platforms to express their frustration with their power utility companies.

I know you are working hard and I feel for you all but I really would like you to clear this live wire from my driveway so I can feel safe again, wrote Karen Engelke to Eversource.

We recognize the significant disruption to our customers lives when they lose power and we greatly appreciate their patience. Given the progress being made in very difficult conditions, we estimate power will be restored to the vast majority of customers by Sunday at 11 p.m., responded Eversource officials from the companys Twitter account.

On Friday, Fairfield state Sen. Tony Hwang wrote a letter to United Illuminating President and CEO Tony Marone, requesting more help be sent to the town to speed along power restoration and cleanup efforts.

The entire legislative delegation from Fairfield would like to request additional assistance for our town at this time, Hwang wrote in his letter.

He stressed that he understands that UI is under pressure and working hard, but said Fairfield was significantly impacted by this weeks storm.

As power crews work to restore power to customers, local public works crews are still working to clear roads that have been blocked off by fallen trees and downed power lines since Wednesday night.

In Westport, all roads were reopened as of 1 a.m. Saturday after more than two days of cleanup in the wake of the latest noreaster.

Westport police did note, however, that while all roads are now passable for vehicular traffic, they still urged extreme caution around concerning downed electrical equipment, hanging branches and any other debris causing obstruction.

Please refrain from approaching any areas still secured with barriers or caution tape as there still could be a danger risk. There is a great deal of cleanup work to be done and all town departments will be out clearing up the issues over the next few days, added police spokesman Sgt. David Librandi.

Cleanup efforts in Wilton have been a little bit more slow-going, according to Lt. Rob Kluk, though crews are beginning to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

As of 7:30 a.m. Saturday, only 16 roads in Wilton are still closed  down from the more than 100 closures the town had in the immediate aftermath of the storm. With eight or more Eversource crews working in town, Kluk said he hopes to reopen the rest of the roads by days end Saturday.

Thats the hope, at least, Kluk said.T he power of a mother is huge. You offer your child love, support, education and family and in doing so raise your child to be the best person they can be.

However, youre often expected to love and provide alongside juggling careers and daily life - not something thats easy.

Below, to mark Mother's Day, weve rounded up just some of the worlds inspiring mothers who achieved, and continue to achieve, huge amounts all whilst raising their families.

Marie Curie

Marie Curie (Shutterstock ) / Shutterstock

Famous for being one of the first recognised female scientists in the early 20th century, she was the first person to win two Nobel Peace Prizes in her lifetime (something that wouldnt be repeated for another 50 years) and she secured most of her achievements all when raising her two daughters alone.

After her husband died in 1906, Marie raised her two daughters from ages 16 months and 8 years. Her first daughter, Irene, would go on to win a Noble Peace Prize herself (joint with her husband) in 1935.

The Queen

The Queen / PA

Is there a more inspirational mother in the world than The Queen? Raising four children whilst leading a country? No problem...

The Queen first became a mother on 14 November 1948 - 69 years ago - with the birth of Prince Charles. Just under two years later she had Princess Anne, with Prince Andrew and Prince Edward following some years afterwards.

What does Her Majesty think about motherhood? As she told Kate Winslet at her CBE ceremony in 2012, it is the best job. Like most things, we're certain she's pretty good at it too.

J. K. Rowling

J.K. Rowling (Photo by Dave J Hogan/Getty Images) / Getty Images

Whilst the story of J. K. Rowling writing Harry Potter in a cafe to escape her 'unheated flat' was somewhat of an exaggeration, it is true that when she wrote Harry Potter she was a single mother living on state benefits.

Today, we know her as the world's best-selling author who was the world's first billionaire author - 'was' because she gave so much of her money away to charity she no longer holds billionaire status. Still, she built her fortune up from virtually nothing - an inspirational mother if ever there was. Rowling has said of that time: I am prouder of my years as a single mother than of any other part of my life.

Helena Morrissey

Helena Morrissey / Matt Writtle

Not only is Helena Morrissey the Head of Personal Investing at Legal & General Investment Management, which has 894 billion of assets under management, shes one of only a handful of women to have ever been CEO of an investment bank and has nine children.

Yes, nine.

Redefining the notion that women cant do it all and flying the flag for females in the city, shes recently released the career handbook, A Good Time to Be a Girl.

Her children range from eight to 26-years-old. How does she manage it? She puts it down to meticulous planning and the help of her dedicated husband.

Angelina Jolie

Angelina Jolie / Getty Images for BFCA

Angelina Jolie is one of the highest paid actresses in the world and a celebrated humanitarian but its being a mother that she really feels is her main role.

She has previously said, I see myself as a mom first. Im so lucky to have that role in life. The world can like me, hate me or fall apart around me and at least I wake up with my kids and Im happy.

Today she continues travelling across the world to help charity efforts from Jordan to Syria, Lebanon to Iraq, is Special Envoy to Secretary-General of the United Nations, stars and directs in films but always alongside her six children.

Sheryl Sandberg

Sheryl Sandberg (Getty Images ) / Getty Images

Sheryl Sandberg has tirelessly campaigned for better conditions for working women and mothers.

After she was left as a single mother to two children in 2015, when her husband unexpectedly died of an heart arrhythmia, she penned an open Facebook letter to raise awareness of the conditions single parents have to deal with in 2016.

She wrote: We need to rethink our public and corporate workforce policies and broaden our understanding of what a family is and looks like. We need to build a world where families are embraced and supported and loved no matter how they fit together. We need to understand that it takes a community to raise children and that so many of our single mothers need and deserve a much more supportive community than we give them. We owe it to them and to their children to do better. We must do more as leaders, as coworkers, as neighbors, and as friends.

Today she continues her campaign alongside being both a parent to her son and daughter and the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (Shutterstock ) / Shutterstock

Before becoming a renowned memoirist, novelist, educator, dramatist, producer, actress, historian, filmmaker, and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou dropped out of high school at 14 and became the first black woman cable car conductor in San Francisco.

Three years later, at 17 she became a single mother to her son, Guy, who she supported by working several jobs.

Maintaining a close relationship with her son throughout her life, she would go on to earn the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her contributions to society.

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama / Getty Images

Shes a self confessed mom-in-chief and made no secret of the fact her two daughters would always be her priority even when having to step into the role of First Lady.A knife attack on Liz Hurleys model nephew was reportedly triggered by road rage.

Miles Hurley and a friend, both 21, were repeatedly stabbed after a gang of thugs got out of a vehicle and set upon them in Nine Elms, Battersea.

The pair were said to have overtaken the car minutes earlier, the Mail on Sunday reported.

The gang then chased Mr Hurley, a model who has done shoots for Dolce & Gabbana, and his friend until they pulled over, before setting upon them and stabbing them both multiple times.

Close relationship: Miles and Liz Hurley

Hollywood star Ms Hurley revealed her nephew lost more than four pints of blood in the horrific knifing on Thursday evening. She flew back from a promotional tour in the US to be by his side after being told of attack.

The actress branded the four men who stabbed model Miles Hurley "animals" and added she hoped they will be caught before they hurt or even kill someone.

She also liked a tweet calling on London Mayor and Home Secretary Amber Rudd to do more to combat knife crime. Sixteen people have been stabbed to death in London already this year, and City Hall figures recorded a 27 per cent rise in knife crime in the capital in the past year.

In an Instagram post, Ms Hurley said: "My 21 year old nephew @mileshurley1 was brutally attacked by four men in London on Thursday night. He was repeatedly stabbed and lost more than four pints of blood.

"A policeman was patrolling close by and administered first aid until the ambulance arrived. The deepest wound just missed severing his spine.

"By some miracle no vital organs were damaged. We are praying that these animals are caught before they maim, or even kill, someone else. These are sad days."

Close: Liz Hurley and her nephew Miles Hurley in New York / Getty Images

She earlier wrote on Twitter: "My 21 year old nephew was repeatedly stabbed in a brutal attack in London on Thursday night.

"The police & hospital are being fantastic. Thank you for all your messages. It is an appalling time for him & our family. The police will be appealing for witnesses."

On the day of the attack, Miles had paid tribute to his aunt in a post celebrating International Women's Day.

He posted a picture of her with another family member, writing: "Love & appreciation for all the strong, happy and independent women around me."

Ms Hurley, 52, has previously shared Miles's modelling photos, tweeting: "Here's my handsome nephew."

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed two men were attacked by a group who got out of a vehicle and set upon them in Ascalon Street, Battersea.

He added: A 21-year-old man was discovered with stab wounds.

Another man, also believed to be aged 21, was also found suffering from stab wounds.

They were both taken by LAS to a south London hospital where their conditions are described as not life-threatening or life-changing.S hots were fired and a man was stabbed in the head after thugs armed with machetes and axes jumped out of a car and smashed up a BMW in a shocking attack in east London.

Dramatic footage shows the moment the white BMW reverses down a backstreet at high speed as it is pursued by a black Vauxhall Zafira.

After the cars crash to a halt, one person sprints from the passengers side of the BMW to flee the scene.

About four masked and hooded thugs then emerge from the Vauxhall, with at least one other following on foot, before the gang sets upon the BMW with weapons.

Chase: the cars crash to a halt in Bow, east London

Dramatic footage obtained by the Standard shows the group smashing the cars windows and clambering on top of it as another person tries desperately to escape.

The driver is then seen fleeing from the white vehicle as the gang continues to smash it with axes and other weapons. Several members of the group are seen giving chase in the shocking video.

One other person appears to be kicked in the face at the front side of the car before the group makes off after the attack in Bow.

The group smashed up the BMW on Thursday evening

Police confirmed one male was found with stab injuries to his head and hand, adding that the occupants of the vehicles had been armed with weapons including axes and machetes.

Scotland Yard said there were also reports of gunshots fired at the scene in Arnold Road at about 6pm on Thursday.

A spokesman said: Both vehicles suffered extensive damage. A male from the BMW was then subjected to a violent attack, where he sustained injuries.

The cars crash to a halt during a dramatic chase

Officers attended with London Ambulance Service. Firearms officers also attended.

A male was located by officers in the area with injuries. He was taken to an east London hospital with stab injuries to his head and hand. These were subsequently deemed to be not life-threatening and he was discharged from hospital.

A gun was later found at the scene and one man was arrested. He has since been bailed pending further enquiries, police said.

Thugs: the group clamber on the BMW during the attack

DC Simon Carson, from the Mets Trident gang crime unit, added: "We are investigating an incident which shows that those involved were out to cause serious harm, with a real threat to the public.

It is thought that those concerned are from the local area and we are appealing for anybody that has information to assist this investigation to contact police.M ore than 70 firefighters battled a huge blaze which broke out in a derelict building in north-west London.

Emergency services rushed to the scene of the fire in Wembley, near Alperton Tube station, shortly after 5pm on Sunday.

Images posted on social media showed thick black smoke rising into the air as road closures were put in place in the surrounding area.

The fire, in Rosemont Road, was brought under control shortly before 7pm, the London Fire Brigade said.

A spokeswoman added: Two people left the scene before the arrival of the Brigade and around a third of the first floor was alight.

The fire was very visible and produced a lot of smoke, over 30 people called Brigade operators to report the fire.

Ten fire engines were at the scene.A nti-Brexit campaigners claim the government could be legally obliged to offer a second referendum on Britain's EU membership.

Best for Britain has launched a legal challenge trying to force Theresa May to concede a second vote on Brexit.

The group says existing legislation guarantees a new referendum if the government presses ahead with plans to keep Britain a part of EU bodies such as the European Medicines Agency.

Prime Minister Mrs May has suggested the government would seek ongoing membership of some bodies in her recent speech on Brexit.

But Best for Britain claim that such a move would amount to a transfer of powers to Brussels, which would trigger a new referendum under the 2011 European Union Act.

Theresa May wants 'deepest and broadest' trade agreement with EU

The group plans to emulate tactics used by anti-Brexit campaigner Gina Miller in a court battle to force ministers to give Parliament a vote before triggering the Article 50 process for Britain to leave the EU.

"This is not about Leave or Remain. Its about making a democratic choice according to our constitution, given that many are worried about Brexit," said Best for Britain CEO Eloise Todd.S enior Labour politicians may stop appearing on the Kremlin-backed RT television channel, shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said.

Following the Salisbury nerve agent attack - widely blamed on Russia - Mr McDonnell said he would no longer appear on the station, formerly known as Russia Today, and that there would be a discussion on whether others in the party should follow suit.

"I think that is right now and that is what I will be doing. What we are seeing from Russia Today sometimes goes beyond objective journalism from what I've seen," he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

"I have been looking overnight at some of what's happening in terms of the change in coverage on Russian television in particular and I think we have to step back now.

"I can understand why people have (appeared on RT) up until now because we have treated it like every other television station.

"We tried to be fair with them and as long as they abide by journalistic standards that are objective that's fine but it looks as if they have gone beyond that line, so yes, we will have that discussion."

Peter Dowd, who is Mr McDonnell's deputy as shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said he had appeared on RT on a number of occasions, including in a programme broadcast at the start of this week.

Mr Dowd told Sky's Sunday with Paterson: "In light of the events of this week, of course we will undertake a review of what we do in regards to these, as you will always do in these sorts of circumstances.

"But I have to emphasise that what I try to do is to come onto television programmes like this and answer the questions that are put to me.B ono has apologised after claims were made that workers at a charity he co-founded were subjected to a culture of bullying and abuse.

The U2 singer, 57, said he was left "furious" after the allegations surfaced in November last year.

He admitted the ONE organisation failed to protect some employees at its Johannesburg office and said: "I need to take some responsibility for that."

His comments came as the Mail on Sunday detailed a string of incidents, including allegations from a woman who says she was demoted after refusing to have sex with a Tanzanian MP.

"We are all deeply sorry. I hate bullying, can't stand it," he told the paper.

"The poorest people in the poorest places being bullied by their circumstance is the reason we set up ONE.

"So to discover last November that there were serious and multiple allegations of bullying in our office in Johannesburg left me and the ONE board reeling and furious."

Some former employees have launched legal action against the charity, which aims to tackle poverty and disease, particularly in Africa.

Gayle Smith, ONE's chief executive officer since March last year, said an investigation found evidence of "unprofessional conduct" as well as "bullying and belittling of staff" between late 2011 and 2015.

"Staff were called names, and some said their manager put them to work on domestic tasks in her home," she said in a statement.

The singer said he was furious when he learned about the claims / PA

"The investigation also found the situation was not adequately addressed nor resolved by executive management at the time, and that ONE's board was not, in my view, properly or fully informed."

She also acknowledged an allegation that a woman was "demoted because she did not become intimate" with an official from another country, but added: "We have not been able to corroborate these appalling claims."

"We do not discount any allegation - we investigate them and will continue to do so should others arise."

Bono said that although the allegations focus on one individual, "the head office failed to protect those employees and I need to take some responsibility for that".

He added: "In fact, if they would agree, I would like to meet them and apologise in person."A protester charged into the Crufts arena as the winner was being announced, throwing the event's finale into chaos.

The terrified owner of the Best in Show award winner Tease quickly grabbed her two-and-a-half-year-old whippet amid the commotion.

The male intruder, who appeared to be carrying a banner which had the name of the animal rights group Peta on it, was quickly wrestled to the ground by security guards.

Boos rang out from the crowd as he was led off following the drama, which was broadcast on live television.

A Crufts spokesman said his behaviour was "hugely irresponsible" and added "we will be reviewing what happened as a matter of urgency".

The intruder is carried from the arena / PA

Many people took to Twitter to praise Tease's owner, Yvette Short, for the speed she showed in protecting her dog.

One person said: The way that woman went to protect her dog when she saw that intruder run on has made my year. Thats love!

Another added: "Well done to security for tackling the intruder and the winner for grabbing her dog and running away, pure love.

Host Clare Balding told her: Well done you for reacting so quickly", adding "your instinct was to protect your dog".

A protester is tackled by security guards on the final day of the Crufts dog show / AFP/Getty Images

A Crufts spokesman said: "It appears that protesters from Peta gained unauthorised access to the ring in the main arena at Crufts, and in doing so scared the dogs and put the safety of both dogs and people at risk in a hugely irresponsible way.

"Our main priority at the moment is the wellbeing of the dogs that were in the ring, who are looked after by their owners and show officials.

"The NEC Group have extensive security procedures in place at Crufts and we, along with the NEC Group, will be reviewing what happened as a matter of urgency."

Crufts: Dog lovers descend on BirminghamP olice have discovered traces of the nerve agent used against the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in the restaurant where they ate before they were found collapsed on a bench.

During an ongoing forensic examination, the substance was found at Zizzi in Salisbury.

The pair are currently in critical condition in hospital.

No-one else who was at the restaurant at the time is thought to be at risk, nor has it been suggested that their fellow diners had anything to do with the suspected attack, the BBC reported.

Amber Rudd confirms Sergei Skripal and daughter remain in critical condition

Zizzi is one of five sites that are currently being scoured for evidence by police.

Other areas that are under investigation are Mr Skripals home, the Mill pub which was visited by the Skripals, the bench where the father and daughter were found and the cemetery where Mr Skripals wife and son are buried.

A police vehicle near the Zizzi restaurant which has been cordoned off by police in Salisbury / EPA

Armed forces personnel were assisting the police with the probe for the third day on Sunday.

Soldiers were seen at the South Western Ambulance Service station on Saturday as a vehicle was winched on to the back of an Army low-loader and taken away.

It comes as Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police investigating the suspected nerve agent attack in Salisbury have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence.

There was further police activity at the London Road cemetery on Saturday, where officers in hazmat suits had removed items and covered his son's memorial stone with a forensic tent.

Police cordoned off the memorial stone of Mr Skripal's son / PA

Scotland Yard said no exhumations had taken place.

Speaking following a meeting of the government's Cobra emergencies committee, Ms Rudd said there were more than 250 officers from eight out of 11 of the country's counter-terrorism units involved in the investigation.

She said: "I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that."

Ms Rudd said it was still too early to say who was responsible for the attack.

Yulia Scripal: The former Russian spy's daughter may have been poisoned over an anti-Vladimir Putin social media post / Facebook

She said: "This investigation is focused on making sure that we keep people safe and also that we collect all the evidence so that when it comes to attribution (of the attack) we will be absolutely clear where it should be," she said.

"The police have said that if anybody thinks they have any additional information they would welcome them coming forward.

"There is also substantial amounts of CCTV they have to go through. This is a painstaking, detailed investigation and the police need to be given the space and time to get on with it."

Mr Skripal and his daughter Yulia are still fighting for their lives after being exposed to a toxic substance in the Wiltshire city.

Mr Bailey, who was part of the initial response by authorities, also remains in hospital, although he released a statement thanking people for their support.

Double agent: Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury, where he has been living a quiet retirement

The statement read: "Nick would like us to say on his behalf that he and his family are hugely grateful for all the messages of support from the public, and colleagues from the police family. People have been so kind and he has expressed that he will never forget that kindness.

"He also wishes to say that he was part of a group of officers and other emergency service colleagues who dealt with the initial incident.

"He wants to say that he does not consider himself a 'hero', he states he was merely doing his job - a job he loves and is immensely proud of - just like all of his other dedicated colleagues do, day in day out, in order to protect the public and keep people safe.

"He would like to thank everyone once again for all of their kind thoughts and best wishes, they are truly appreciated.

"He asks respectfully that the media allow his family privacy at this difficult time."

Sergei Skripal: What we know so far

Police said 21 people had been seen for medical treatment since the incident.

The figure includes members of the public and emergency staff, some of whom have had blood tests as well as receiving support and advice.

The attack is being treated as attempted murder.N HS psychologists are meeting London's gang members on the streets in a bid to tackle violence in the city.

The scheme, set up by two doctors in Camden, sees therapists meeting with gang members in the EC1 postcode to try to stem rising levels of youth violence.

For the past 18 months, Dr Richard Grove and Dr Jeff Halperin who set up the project, have been working with more than 100 members of a prominent gang in Camden to offer them coaching and mental health support.

It is hoped following the success of the scheme that it could be rolled out to other areas of London.

The psychologists began by approaching gang members in a graveyard where they were known to spend time.

Dr Grove said: "It took us a long time to gain their trust so we had to maintain a consistent approach. Many of the people we approached thought we were police officers.

Initially we were meeting them on the street but when they began to meet with us regularly they asked if we could move them to an indoor area.

With funding from Camden Council the project, which is part of the Camden and Islington Mental Health Trust, set up a regular meeting place in the borough.

Dr Halperin said: One way of thinking about them [the gang members] is that they are trapped in a lifestyle. Many of them have very low self-esteem and beneath their bravado they are very fragile.

He continued: Many feel like they have no future, most of them think I dont want to be stabbed or end up in prison but they dont see any other options.

The psychologists said that the majority of people they help do not want to be in a gang and may not even consider themselves to be part of one.

Dr Grove said the project has had a number of success stories including a 19-year-old who came to the project in March 2017 after leaving prison.

"He was very suspicious of us but he began attending sessions regularly he was quite aggressive and it took us time to figure out where this aggression was coming from," Dr Grove said.

Eventually the young man began to speak to a project worker who made an effort to engage with him at every session.

Dr Grove recalled a moment where the relationship with the gang member was almost destroyed when a rival showed up to a project session.

As tensions between the two men began to rise, Dr Grove was forced to call the police.

I had a duty to protect my staff, he explained. After he dialled 999, one of them threatened to stab him.

But the psychologist said he was able to regain the gang member's trust through perseverance and that six months later he was still receiving help from a mental health service and the right track.

Dr Halperin said it is case studies like this which reflect the importance of work the psychologists do.

If that young man had come along to a mental health service and behaved in the way he did with us, he would have been turned away this shows that through perseverance and patience we can make a difference in their lives, he said.

Dr Halperin said the project was born after growing evidence that a lot of young people in gangs are struggling with mental health issues.U p to 500 people have been told to wash their possessions as a precaution after the suspected poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.

Health bosses urged anyone who attended the same pub and restaurant to wash their belongings.

Anyone who was in The Mill pub between 1.30pm last Sunday and 11.10pm on Monday, or the nearby Zizzi restaurant between 1.30pm on Sunday and 9pm on Monday, was urged to clean their clothes, bags, phones and glasses.

Professor Dame Sally Davies, the chief medical officer for England, said the risk of harm was "low".

She said: I am confident this has not harmed the health of anyone who was in The Mill Pub or Zizzi's restaurant.

Traces of the nerve agent used to poison Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found at Zizzi in Salisbury / PA

However, some people are concerned that prolonged, long term exposure to these substances may over weeks and particularly months, give rise to health problems.

She said the advice was a belt and braces measure, adding: The risk to the general public remains low and I am confident none of these customers or staff will have suffered harm."

Double agent: Sergei Skripal was found unconscious in Salisbury, where he has been living a quiet retirement

Mr Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia,33, remain critically ill in hospital after being found slumped on a bench in Salisbury on Sunday.

Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey, who was part of the initial response by authorities, also remains in hospital, but has been talking to his family.

Zizzi and The Mill pub are two of five sites that are currently being scoured for evidence by police.

Yulia, 33, the daughter of Sergei Skripal

Other areas that are under investigation are Mr Skripals home, the bench where the father and daughter were found and the cemetery where Mr Skripals wife and son are buried.

A 30 year old man has been accused of breaching a cordoned area on Friday evening.

Nerve agent used to' poison' Russian spy Sergei Skripal found at Zizzi

He was also charged with assaulting a police officer, common assault, criminal damage to a police vehicle and a racially aggravated public order offence.

Armed forces personnel were assisting the police with the probe for the third day on Sunday.

Police cordoned off the memorial stone of Mr Skripal's son / PA

Soldiers were seen at the South Western Ambulance Service station on Saturday as a vehicle was winched on to the back of an Army low-loader and taken away.

It comes as Home Secretary Amber Rudd said police investigating the suspected nerve agent attack in Salisbury have identified more than 240 witnesses and 200 pieces of evidence.

Amber Rudd confirms Sergei Skripal and daughter remain in critical condition

There was further police activity at the London Road cemetery on Saturday, where officers in hazmat suits had removed items and covered his son's memorial stone with a forensic tent.

Scotland Yard said no exhumations had taken place.

Speaking following a meeting of the government's Cobra emergencies committee, Ms Rudd said there were more than 250 officers from eight out of 11 of the country's counter-terrorism units involved in the investigation.

She said: "I want to stress that they are proceeding with speed and professionalism. We are putting in enormous resources to ensure that they have all the support that they need to do that."

Mr Skripal provided Russian military intelligence to the MI6 over a ten year period.

The former intelligence officer was convicted in Russia in 2006 of selling state secrets to MI6, but was later released as part of a spy swap.

Russia has denied any involvement in the attack in Salisbury.

Marina Litvinenko, widow of murdered former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko, said it appeared lessons had not been learned from her husbands case.

Marina Litvinenko drew comparisons with her husband's death in 2006 / PA

A public inquiry concluded in 2016 that the killing of the Russian dissident had "probably" been carried out with the approval of president Vladimir Putin.

"We understand the relationship between two countries such as Russia and the UK need to be at a high level, she said.

"But we know Russia never supported the investigation into the killing of my husband, nobody was punished and people who were the killers of my husband were not even suspects."

In the case of Mr Skripal and his daughter, Mrs Litvinenko said the case needs to be properly investigated before blame is apportioned.Countries & Areas

Search for country or area A Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Australia Austria Azerbaijan B Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Brazil Brunei Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi C Cabo Verde Cambodia Cameroon Canada Central African Republic Chad Chile China Colombia Comoros Costa Rica Cote dIvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czechia D Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic E Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Eswatini Ethiopia F Fiji Finland France G Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Greece Grenada Guatemala Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana H Haiti Holy See Honduras Hungary I Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Israel Italy J Jamaica Japan Jordan K Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kosovo Kuwait Kyrgyzstan L Laos Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg M Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Mauritania Mauritius Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Morocco Mozambique N Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria North Korea North Macedonia Norway O Oman P Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territories Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Q Qatar R Republic of the Congo Romania Russia Rwanda S Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Sweden Switzerland Syria T Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Tuvalu U Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay Uzbekistan V Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Y Yemen Z Zambia ZimbabweWashington claims China is rapidly expanding its military might, posing a threat to the US and its allies in the Asia Pacific region. Beijing is one of the focal pointsof America's national security plan that was unveiled in January, singled out along with Russia. The US military brass hats have raised the alarm over Chinas recent defense budget hike, despite the fact that its per capita defense spending is lower than that of other major world powers. They say China is not transparent enough and that this further complicates the problem.

Transparency is a good thing but it may not reveal the whole picture. One may appear to be open and aboveboard but still be hiding ones real plans and intentions. For instance, Japan is ranked among the worldsten most peaceful nations. Threatened by N. Korea and China, it appears to be an innocent victim looking to the US for protection. Thats one side of the coin. But there is also another side.

The Japanese constitution forbidsoffensive weapons. Aircraft carriers are generally considered to belong to this category, and for this reason they are called helicopter destroyersin Japan. For instance, the Izumo-class air-capable destroyers are as big as British Invincible-classaircraft carriers. The warships can be modernized to turn them into real flat tops and thats exactly what the Japanese government plans to do. Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said on March 2 that the military is considering the possibility of deploying US-made F-35B short takeoff and vertical landing (STOVL) fighters on the helicopter carriers. China has already expressed its concern over the plan.

The F-35 Lightning II supersonic stealth aircraft can be easily configured to carry nukes. Arming the air-capable warships of a non-nuclear state with nuclear-capable aircraft constitutes a violation of the NPT Treaty, which prohibits nuclear states from transferring nukes to other recipients. It also bans non-nuclear states from acquiring them.

The first land-based nuclear-capable F-35A variant fighter was delivered to Japan in late February. US military instructors would train Japanese military personnel to operate this offensive weapon. South Korea also plans to follow Japans example and put American aircraft on its aviation-capable ships. Thats how the policy of nonproliferation slowly begins to crumble.

Japan uses Pyongyangs nuclear ambitions to justify its plans to acquire US-made Tomahawk sea-based cruise missiles  another weapon that could potentially be nuclear tipped. The plans also include the acquisition of JASSM-ER and LRASM missiles, each of which has a range of roughly 900 km (559 mi). These are not defensive weapons.

Last year, US President Trump said at a joint press conference with Japanese PM Abe that Japan is going to be purchasing massive amounts of military equipment.

Tokyo is also looking into developing its own standoff cruise missile that can be launched from ships, aircraft, and land launchers to strike ground and sea targets. Any new long-range cruise missile could be integrated with Aegis Mk-41 launchers. Its almost certain that ground-based Aegis Ashore systems will be at least partially operated by US military personnel. So, a medium-range missile with nuclear capability and operated by American servicemen will be deployed near Russias and Chinas borders. Is this not a cause for legitimate concern?

The 2,100-memberAmphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade is expected to be operational this month, enabling first-strike capability. The Japanese military already has amphibious assault ships as well unmanned aerial vehicles to support such operations.

Plans are underway to build a three-tier missile defense. The Japanese government decided to acquire US Aegis Ashore systems, in order to join the American global BMD effort. The Aegis Mk-41 launcher can fire long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles that could be nuclear tipped.

Japan is to establish a space and cyberspace command center that will also be responsible for electronic warfare. The unit is already operational and willexpand by about 40%, bringing it up to 150 members, in FY 2018, which starts on April 1. That command center has confirmed Japans intention to extend its military operations into space. A network of radar for monitoring space is expected to be operational in FY 2022.

Japan possesses almost 47 tons of separated plutonium. Thats enough to produce 6,000 nuclear devices. The idea of going nuclear has not been abandoned and it even enjoys support from the US. Sharing nuclear capability is an option.Japans Epsilon rocket that is used for its civilian space program could be used as an intercontinental nuclear-delivery vehicle with a range of 12,000 km. Experts believe the conversion would take less than a year, including the acquisition of a multiple independent reentry vehicle. There are no technical obstacles.

North Korea's nuclear program is being adroitly used by Tokyo as a pretext for militarizationthat will threaten Russia and China. While the global media cry wolf over Iran's and N. Koreas nuclear programs, they are surprisingly quiet when it comes to nuclear capability Japan could acquire in just one year. Tokyo is also clearly well on its way to boosting its conventional capabilitiesthus changing the balance of power in the Asia Pacific. This is not a high-profile issue. But it should be.The growing number of North Korean defectors are revealing more details of how North Korea is trying to adapt to the increasing list of economic sanctions and the opportunities for Internet based misbehavior. Some of these defectors were associated with the North Korean hackers who are, it turns out, mostly based outside North Korea because Internet access is better and operating outside North Korea makes it easier to deny that North Korean hackers are engaged in illegal activity. South Korea has obtained a lot of details about the North Korean hacker operations and recently all0wed some defectors familiar with those operations to speak openly about it.

The North Korea hacker force consists of about 6,800 personnel but only quarter of these have software programming or engineering skills that enable them to develop and carry out the hacks. The rest are support staff, including many security personnel who monitor hacker activities to ensure loyalty and productivity. Over the last few years more and more of the hackers have been assigned to money raising operations rather than intelligence collection (spying). North Korea needs cash more than secrets and as a result each of these hackers has been bringing in about $100,000 a year in much needed income for North Korea. Alas for the hackers, like most North Koreans working abroad, see little of that money.

Most of the foreign operations are in China where the hackers and their support staff live in Spartan conditions and are closely watched. These hackers are aware of how much more valuable their skills would be in South Korea (where some currently are, working for South Korean software firms). Unfortunately you risk your life (and those of y0ur family) if you try to escape. But some have and some still do. Basing so many of the North Korean hackers in China is partly because there is apparently an arrangement with the Chinese to enable the North Koreans to keep operating in return for favors. In addition to not hacking Chinese networks, or any foreign ones the Chinese consider off-limits, the Chinese receive cash and, more importantly, access to data the hackers obtain. Some hacks attributed to Chinese hackers are apparently carried out by North Korean hackers in order to pay for continued presence in China (and the cooperation of Chinese security forces to prevent North Korean hackers from defecting.)

Meanwhile the economic hacks are getting more and more ambitious. For example a January 2018 hack of a Japanese cryptocurrency (bitcoin and the like) exchange got away with half a billion dollars worth of cryptocurrency. The North Koreans are the chief suspects because North Korea prefers to use cryptocurrency to finance their illegal activities (like smuggling in needed items). The cryptocurrency had North Korean fingerprints all over it but that could be faked (with a lot of effort). American, Japanese and South Korean banking and Internet security investigators are trying to hunt down and halt (or at least damage) North Korean cryptocurrency operations.

Meanwhile South Korea has been the victim of many North Korean hacks and takes an intense interest in what North Korean hackers are up to. And for good reason. For example in late 2016 South Korean officials revealed that there had indeed been another major North Korean penetration of government Internet networks in August. The government also admitted that the cause was failure of network security officials to adhere to the new (since 2014) security measures that had proved capable to making the networks safer from hackers. In other words, it wasnt a technical failure but a human one. This was quite embarrassing because two months before the August attack South Korean officials revealed that they had discovered (earlier in 2016) and stopped another major Internet based attack on South Korea by North Korean hackers. The proof, as in the past, was more of the text in the hacker software that could be traced back to North Koreans. This hack was extensive and had been going on, largely undetected, since 2014. This campaign was largely against defense industry and government networks and over 40,000 documents have been identified as probably copied and sent to North Korea. Back in 2014 there were indications something like this was coming.

In late 2014 South Korean intelligence reported that between May and September North Korea managed to distribute to over 20,000 South Korean smart phone users games containing spy software. The North Korean spyware was seeking information from banks as well as documents relating to reunification plans and defense matters. The spyware allowed the North Koreans to transfer data from the infected smart phone and secretly turn on the camera. The government reported that this effort has since been blocked. North Korea denied any involvement in this, as it usually does. But since 2009 the evidence has been piling up of increasing North Korean Internet based espionage via the Internet.

In late 2013 South Korea came up with a number (over $800 million) for the cost of dealing with North Korean cyber attacks since 2007. The list was quite detailed. The attacks in March and June of 2013 accounted for 93 percent of the total damages. South Korea has been subjected to a growing number of Cyber War attacks since 2009, and the high cost of the 2013 ones showed that the North Koreans were getting better and that South Korea was not keeping up. The 2014 operation against smart phones was the first North Korean effort against smart phones and indicated there would be more and there were.

Long believed to be nonexistent, by 2013 it was clear that the North Korean cyber warriors did exist and were not the creation of South Korean intelligence agencies trying to obtain more money to upgrade government Information War defenses. North Korea has had personnel working on Internet issues since the 1990s and their Mirim College program trained most of the North Korean Internet engineers and hackers. North Korea has a unit devoted to Internet based warfare and this unit was increasingly active as the number of Mirim graduates grew.

Since the late 1980s, Mirim College was nown as a facility that specialized in training electronic warfare specialists. But by the late 1990s the school was found to be also teaching some students how to hack the Internet and other types of networks. Originally named after the district of Pyongyang it was in, the college eventually moved and expanded. It had several name changes but its official name was always Military Camp 144 of the Korean People's Army. Students wore military uniforms and security on the school grounds was strict. Each year 120 students were accepted (from the elite high schools or as transfers from the best universities). Students stayed for 5 years. The school contained 5 departments: electronic engineering, command automation (hacking), programming, technical reconnaissance (electronic warfare), and computer science. There's also a graduate school, with a 3 year course (resulting in the equivalent of a Masters Degree) for a hundred or so students. The Mirim program has been modified since 2015 and is believed to be producing more graduates each year and in a growing number of specialties.

It was long thought that those Mirim College grads were hard at work maintaining the government intranet, not plotting Cyber War against the south. Moreover, for a few years North Korea was allowed to sell programming services to South Korean firms. Not a lot, but the work was competent and cheap. So it was known that there was some software engineering capability north of the DMZ. It was believed that this was being used to raise money for the government up there, not form a major Internet crime operation. But by 2016 there was tangible and growing evidence of North Korean hackers at work in several areas of illegal activity. The Cyber War attacks apparently began around 2005, quietly and nothing too ambitious. But year-by-year, the attacks increased in frequency, intensity, and boldness. By 2009, the North Korean hackers were apparently ready for making major assaults on South Korea's extensive Internet infrastructure, as well as systems (utilities, especially) that are kept off the Internet.

Deceased (since 2011) North Korean leader Kim Jong Il had always been a big fan of PCs and electronic gadgets in general. He not only founded Mirim but backed it consistently. The only form of displeasure from Kim was suspicions that those who graduated from 1986 through the early 1990s had been tainted by visits (until 1991) by Russian electronic warfare experts. Some Mirim students also went to Russia to study for a semester or two. All these students were suspected of having become spies for the Russians, and most, if not all, were purged from the Internet hacking program. Thus, it wasn't until the end of the 1990s that there were a sufficient number of trusted Internet experts that could be used to begin building a Cyber War organization.

South Korea has to be wary because they have become more dependent on the web than any other on the planet, with the exception of the United States. As in the past, if the north is to start any new kind of mischief, they try it out on South Korea first. While many of the first serious attacks in 2009 were more annoying than anything else, they revealed a new threat out there, and one that not only got worse but turned out to be from the usual suspects. Now the threat is very real and growing rapidly.EAST CHINA SEA (March 9, 2018) An F-35B assigned to the "Green Knights" of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121) lands on the flight deck of the amphibious assault ship USS Wasp (LHD 1) as part of a routine patrol in the Indo-Pacific region. The Wasp Expeditionary Strike Group is conducting a regional patrol meant to strengthen regional alliances, provide the rapid-response capability, and advance the Up-Gunned ESG concept. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Levingston Lewis)

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Each month we count on your subscriptions or contributions. You can support us in the following ways:Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari have denounced a 'shoe attack' on political rival Nawaz Sharif.

A former seminary student had earlier hurled a shoe at the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) supremo as he arrived on the rostrum at during a visit to Jamia Naeemia seminary in Garhi Shahu.

"This is against our moral values and I am glad that a PTI worker is not involved in this incident," Imran told the media in Faisalabad.

"It was a very unethical act," remarked the PPP chairman.

Chief Minister of Sindh Murad Ali Shah also condemned the incident, calling the action 'extremely wrong.'

"I wasn't aware of this incident before you told me," Shah said to the journalists, "but it is unethical to do this to anyone, be it a politician or a person who belongs to any other profession."

Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, in an exclusive conversation with Geo News, strongly condemned the attack.

"We need to change our collective behaviours," she said. "Letting differences turn into hatred is a sin."

"Imran Khan has condemned the incident which is appreciable," the minister said, "but his violent rhetoric has affected the mindset of people."

She said that it is now time to go a step ahead of condemning such incidents.A person threw ink at Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday while he was addressing Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz workers convention.

The person was taken into custody by the police, however, Asif said he should be released saying he has no enmity with him.

Asif after the incident alleged that the suspect was sent by someone adding that this act will not affect his politics.

Last month, a man hurled a shoe at Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal while he was addressing a workers' convention in Narowal.

The man, Bilal Haris, stood up from his seat as Iqbal arrived on stage to address the convention in Aliabad area.Tropical Cyclone Hola continues to track quickly towards New Zealand and will bring wind and rain across Monday before departing in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

As of 4.30pm Sunday Hola still had sustained winds of around 100km/h and gusts to 130km/h.

By midnight tonight winds are estimated to be around 80km/h with gusts to 100km/h, says WeatherWatch.co.nz

The centre should be a few hundred kilometres north of Northland by midnight tonight with the storm tracking from the north west to the south east.

"Hola has today begun the transition from a "tropical" cyclone (with a warm core) to an "extra-tropical" cyclone (with a cold core).

"While on the ground you dont notice this the storm structure does change a lot - with the centre becoming stretched out and elongated in the New Zealand area, this spreads energy further afield and can reduce peak winds," says the weather organisation.

"Hola has a small but very potent burst of rain with it. Best estimates is that this torrential rain will brush Northland, potentially Coromandel Peninsula but could be most intense though Bay of Plenty and into the Gisborne and northern Hawkes Bay ranges.

"This rain may cause flooding and slips in these areas and affect State Highways. Winds associated with this cyclone will change a lot due to the centre of the low morphing into a new system.

"Wind damage may be in certain areas rather than widespread, with various wind tunnels being one factor and the other factor being the damaging winds right at the centre of the low - but these winds will only cause damage near the centre, so if the centre remains out at sea so too will the worst winds."

WILL HOLA MAKE LANDFALL IN NZ?

When Gita and Fehi formed the chances of them making landfall based on long range modelling from various forecasters was easy - the storms both had high chances, in our view, of landfall due to the western approach.

This storm is coming in from the north and is tracking south east - which means it runs parallel to a line that runs from Northland to Coromandel Peninsula towards East Cape.

Some models show it could come very close to Northland on Monday morning, but most agree East Cape has the highest chance of the centre coming in.

"Believe it or not, despite being just a day out, we still need more time to fine tune this," says WeatherWatch.co.nz

"Once the storm is within a couple of hundred kilometres it will be easier to work out - and will start to appear on public rain radar too.

"Hola is now less than 1000kms north of Auckland. At the moment a direct landfall in New Zealand (when the very centre crosses land) looks less likely - but is very close in the current modelling."A Coromandel commercial crayfisher is being charged with not reporting his catch, while an amateur fishing charter boat was found with undersized fish following a summer enforcement programme by MPI.

They are among a small number of offences being followed through a multi-agency fisheries compliance operation along the North Islands east coast.

The MPI-led operation involved resources and personnel from the New Zealand Police and the National Maritime Coordination Centre and focused on at-sea inspections of recreational and commercial vessels within the coastal waters of New Zealands Exclusive Economic Zone.

The operation covered a large area of coast around the North Island including some isolated and remote areas that are usually difficult to reach by normal patrol methods, says MPI Chief Compliance Officer for Hawkes Bay/Wairarapa, Brent Smith.

The operation was a good opportunity to check compliance of both recreational and commercial vessels fishing in the area over the summer period.

More than 150 commercial and recreational vessels were inspected during the patrol, and approximately 300 people, including divers, were spoken to.

The level of non-compliance was very good overall and it was great to see that the majority of people were doing the right thing.

Joint operations like this with the Auckland Police Maritime Unit are an invaluable way in which to raise compliance levels. The fact were out there together sends a very strong message that any incidents of non-compliance will be taken very seriously and those who are caught offending will attract the relevant penalties.

The aim of the patrols is to support sustainable fisheries management, says Brent. Ensuring and promoting sustainable fisheries is a collective responsibility and MPI encourages people to report poaching or illegal activity by: calling 0800 4 POACHER (0800 47 62 24) emailing poacher@mpi.govt.nz

Useful information to report includes: The location, a description of the person, the vehicle or trailer registration number. All information is treated as confidential.Click the image above to watch the video

Today we are expecting rain developing in the morning with heavy falls, from the effects of Cyclone Hola.

These should be easing tonight. However expect a strong southeasterly, possibly a gale, before it turns southwest towards the evening.

Its a one-clothing-layer day today with a high of 21 and an overnight low of 16 degrees. Humidity is 63 per cent.

Low tide is at 9.50am and high tide at 3.50pm. The sea swell is increasing to 2m tonight, with a sea temperature of 22 degrees. Sunset tonight is at 7.37pm.

If youre going fishing today the best fish bite time is between 8am and 10am this morning and between 8.30pm and 10.30pm this evening.

This day in NZ history in 1864 Arthurs Pass was discovered. Arthur, George and Edward Dobson were searching for a route between Canterbury and the West Coast that the chief Tarapuhi had told them about.

On this day in 1975 a New Zealand Red Cross worker was killed in Vietnam. Returning from leave in Laos, 30-year-old Malcolm Mac Riding was aboard an Air Vietnam DC4 when it crashed 25 km from his Red Cross teams compound near Pleiku, South Vietnam.

This day in world history in 1496 the Jews were expelled from Syria. In 1894 Coca-Cola was sold in bottles for the first time. In 1911 Dr. Fletcher of the Rockefeller Institute discovered the cause of infantile paralysis. In 1912 Juliet Low founded the Girl Scouts in Savannah, Georgia.

In 1930 Gandhi began his march to the sea to symbolize his defiance of British rule in India. In 1933 President Roosevelt made the first of his Sunday evening fireside chats. In 1945 on this day diarist Anne Frank died in a German concentration camp.

Today is the birthday of Jane Delano, who was a nurse, teacher, and the founder of the Red Cross. Born in 1862, she once said "I think the nurses profession is a fine one, and I like it."

To get involved in some of the many activities happening around the Bay, please check out our Whats on page.

Have a great day!Custom encrypted phones have long been used by criminal gangs as a way for members to securely communicate with each other, but law enforcement agencies are cracking down on companies that provide them. One of the most well-established sellers of the these modded Android and BlackBerry devices, Phantom Secure, has just seen its owner arrested by the FBI for allegedly helping criminal organizations that include the Sinaloa drug cartel.

As reported by Motherboard, founder and CEO of Canada-based firm Phantom, Vincent Ramos, has been charged with racketeering, conspiracy to conduct enterprise affairs, conspiracy to distribute narcotics, and aiding and abetting. The complaint alleges that the company was created specifically to aid criminals and that the upper echelon members of infamous groups including the Sinaloa cartela drug trafficking, money laundering, and organized crime syndicatebought the phones.

The complaint says that Phantom removes the microphone, camera, GPS navigation, internet browsing, and normal messaging services from devices before selling them. It also uses Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) encryption software to keep criminals conversations secure. FBI Special Agent Nicholas Cheviron believes there are 20,000 Phantom phones in use around the world, half of which are in Australia, earning tens of millions of dollars for the company.

Uncover agents reportedly asked Phantom if they could use its phones to securely send messages such as sending MDMA to Montreal. The company said it was totally fine. Most damning of all, Ramos is said to have told the sting operations agents: We made itwe made it specifically for this [drug trafficking] too. Furthermore, a convicted member of the Sinaloa cartel said the gang bought Phantoms phones "specifically" for drug trafficking purposes, which led to the aiding and abetting charge.

An FBI spokesperson and Ramos lawyer declined to comment.

There are still plenty of companies that sell encrypted phones under the guise of offering extra security for individuals and companies who require it, when in reality their primary customers are gang members. But this latest incident shows that law enforcement is pushing back against those who knowingly enable crimes.AMD FreeSync 2 for Xbox One S and Xbox One X Next week, in the Xbox One alpha release ring, Microsoft will enable AMD FreeSync 2 for the Xbox One S and the Xbox One X. This allows compatible displays, ones that accept FreeSync variable refresh rate signals over HDMI, to time their refresh rate to the consoles rendering rate and removes the micro-stutter that could be seen due to this mismatch. PC Perspective

Inside Google's plan to make the whole web as fast as AMP In a blog post today, Google is announcing that its formally embarking on a project to convince the group in charge of web standards to adopt technology inspired by its Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) framework. In theory, it would mean that virtually any webpage could gain the same benefits as AMP: near-instantaneous loading, distribution on multiple platforms, and (critically) more prominent placement on Google properties. The Verge

GeForce Partner Program Impacts Consumer Choice To open up this bit of reporting, which will contain some editorial as well, I think our motives should be clear. In discussions with Nvidia over the last few weeks, Nvidia asked us exactly what our concerns were about the GPP program. This was our reply and should frame exactly why we are writing this. Kyle Bennett: "I think it [GPP] is going to greatly, and negatively, impact consumer choice in the AIB and OEM computer market..." HardOCP

Look-Alike Domains and Visual Confusion How good are you at telling the difference between domain names you know and trust and impostor or look-alike domains? The answer may depend on how familiar you are with the nuances of internationalized domain names (IDNs), as well as which browser or Web application youre using. How good are you at telling the difference between domain names you know and trust and impostor or look-alike domains? Krebs on Security

Brain implants are happening  are you ready for yours? Brain implants or other types of neural links, such as Brain Computer Interfaces (BCIs) between the brain, the internet, and the cloud, are quickly entering the realm of science rather than science fiction. The Defense Advanced Research Agency is ready to run trials with closed-loop mood control chips linked to AI that can deliver an electrical impulse to regulate a soldiers mood. In the private sector, Elon Musk has announced Neuralink  a neurotechnology venture that will not only focus on fighting diseases but also on augmenting humans so they can better compete with machines. The Next Web

The Next Battle Between States And The Feds Is Over Your Personal Data While the fight over net neutrality has attracted passion, press, and a flurry of lawsuits, another, related battle has smoldered for a year and is flaring up again. Happening in state capitals, its a surprising fight where traditional allies are taking opposite sides and frequent foes are joining together, focused on Congresss decision to kill the rules that prevent internet service providersincluding companies like Comcast, Charter, and Verizonfrom selling their customers personal data. Fast Company

This Is What Happens When Bitcoin Miners Take Over Your Town Hands on the wheel, eyes squinting against the winter sun, Lauren Miehe eases his Land Rover down the main drag and tells me how he used to spot promising sites to build a bitcoin mine, back in 2013, when he was a freshly arrived techie from Seattle and had just discovered this sleepy rural community. The attraction then, as now, was the Columbia River, which we can glimpse a few blocks to our left. Politico

Apple updates its Made-for-iPhone (MFi) branding for accessory makers Apples Made-for-iPhone/iPad/iPod (MFi) licensing program is being updated with new branding that manufacturers will have to adopt over the coming months. 9to5Mac has confirmed the updated branding is now available for MFi partners, as first reported by Chargerlab. The new logos that will be used for products coming out of the MFi program are not a huge change from the previous branding, but they do notably remove icons representing actual devices in exchange for a simplified Apple logo and just the iOS device names in text. 9to5Mac

Is Google Going Underground With Hypersonic Tech? Google is carrying out research on hypersonics, probably for new technologies to slash the cost of geothermal energy and tunneling. It could also be acquiring a Washington-based startup called HyperSciences that has already built prototype devices. In January, Google signed a US $100,000 Space Act Agreement with NASAs Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley. The agreement says Googles research division is doing a conceptual exploration of hypersonic trajectories... IEEE Spectrum

Netflix tests gamification of childrens shows Netflix is testing out a new feature for children that lets them earn patches for watching episodes of certain shows. The new feature gamifies the streaming experience for kids, incentivizing them to watch particular shows that Netflix has picked out, as reported by Variety. The Verge

Generative Adversarial Networks  A Deep Learning Architecture Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs)Generative Adversarial Nets, or GAN, in short, are neural nets which were first introduced by Ian Goodfellowin 2014. The algorithm has been hailed as an important milestone in Deep learning by many AI pioneers. Yann Le Cunn (father of convolutional neural networks) [said] that GANs is the coolest thing that has happened in deep learning within the last 20 years. HackernoonHe was one of the main precursors and ideologists of the Bolivarian revolution. | Read MoreA disability pensioner has said he wants to leave his Collingwood public housing unit after four youths broke into his home and assaulted him.

Victoria Police said they were investigating the aggravated burglary, which occurred about 3.10am on Saturday.

Disability pensioner Adam was attacked in his public housing unit. Credit:Channel Nine News

Investigators said a 41-year-old man was confronted by up to four youths in the backyard of his Vere Street home.Police have arrested two men after an aggravated burglary at the home of a disabled pensioner in inner Melbourne.

The 41-year-old man, known only as Adam, says he no longer feels safe in his Collingwood public housing unit after four youths assaulted him early Saturday morning.

Disability pensioner Adam was attacked in his public housing unit. Credit:Channel Nine News

Adam was at home about 3am when he was allegedly confronted by the youths in his Vere Street unit.

Adam sustained minor injuries in the attack and was taken to hospital for observation.The federal energy minister has applied further heat to a gas provider and distributor following revelations a Melbourne bar manager was charged 100 times more for gas than what he actually owed.

Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg shared an article by The Age on social media which detailed the case of Fitzroy bar owner Paul Thompson, accusing AGL and Australian Gas Networks of "very poor customer service".

"Customers deserve better & shouldn't need to ask to have their bill corrected from $8000 to $80!," the energy minister tweeted.Trinity Grammar is under siege from its own alumni association, which has demanded the principal and school council stand down over their management of the prestigious school and the dismissal of popular deputy-headmaster Rohan Brown for cutting a student's hair.

A plan by school council chairman Roderick Lyle to calm the situation by announcing an independent review of the controversial sacking has only fuelled the anger of the Old Trinity Grammarians Association, who will meet on Tuesday to discuss a motion to overthrow the school council and principal Michael Davies.

Old Trinity Grammarians Association president David Baumgartner claimed there was broad support from parents, teachers and students to unseat the council and Mr Davies, amid concerns over the direction of the Kew-based private school.

"We will be calling for Rod Lyle to, not just stand down, but leave completely. We will be asking for the entire Trinity council to stand down. The headmaster should also be replaced and a caretaker appointed to the role," Mr Baumgartner told The Age.Washington: Summoned to the Oval Office on the spur of the moment, the South Korean envoy found himself face-to-face with President Donald Trump one afternoon last week at what he thought might be a hinge moment in history.

Chung Eui-yong had come to the White House bearing an invitation. But he opened with flattery, which diplomats have discovered is a key to approaching the volatile American leader. "We could come this far thanks to a great degree to President Trump," Chung said. "We highly appreciate this fact."

South Korea's national security adviser Chung Eui-yong meets US President Donald Trump at the White House in Washington on March 8. Credit:AAP

Then he got to the point: The United States, South Korea and their allies should not repeat their "past mistakes", but South Korea believed that North Korea's mercurial leader, Kim Jong-un, was "frank and sincere" when he said he wanted to talk with the Americans about giving up his nuclear program. Kim, he added, had told the South Koreans that if Trump would join him in an unprecedented summit meeting, the two could produce a historic breakthrough.

Trump accepted on the spot, stunning not only Chung and the other high-level South Koreans who were with him, but also the phalanx of US officials who were gathered in the Oval Office.London: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has put scientists and health workers around the globe on alert for a new and potentially deadly pathogen - Disease X.

Each year the Geneva-based organisation, which is charged with monitoring and safeguarding world health, convenes a high-level meeting of senior scientists to list diseases that pose a serious risk of prompting a major international public health emergency.

In previous years the list has been confined to known killers such as Zika, Lassa fever, which is sweeping Nigeria, and Ebola, and which killed more than 11,000 people in an epidemic in west Africa between 2013 and 2016.

A Bangkok worker fogs a home with mosquito repellent after a Zika outbreak in 2013. Credit:AP

However, this year a mystery pathogen has been added as the ninth item on the watch list for the first time. "Disease X represents the knowledge that a serious international epidemic could be caused by a pathogen currently unknown to cause human disease," said the WHO in a statement.Washington: Jewish groups and US politicians have condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for suggesting that the 2016 US presidential election may have been manipulated by Russian Jews.

Putin's remarks came during a long and occasionally surreal interview with NBC News aired over the weekend, in which he speculated that nearly anyone other than the Russian government could have been behind a program to disrupt the election. US intelligence agencies believe Putin ordered the effort to undermine faith in the US election and help elect Donald Trump as president.

"Maybe they're not even Russians," Putin told host Megyn Kelly, referring to who might have been behind the election interference. "Maybe they're Ukrainian, Tatars, Jews - just with Russian citizenship."London: Yulia Skripal travelled to Britain to comfort her father in Salisbury at her late brother's graveside on the week that would have marked his 44th birthday.

Yulia Skripal, 33, and her father, Sergei Skripal, 66, were still raw with grief after Alexander died suddenly aged 43 in St Petersburg seven months earlier.

The father had insisted his son's remains be interred near the grave of his mother, Liudmila, who died in 2012.Salisbury: British police have identified more than 200 witnesses and are looking at more than 240 pieces of evidence in their investigation into a nerve agent attack on a Russian ex-spy and his daughter.

Former double agent Sergei Skripal, 66, and his daughter Yulia, 33, have been in hospital in a critical condition since March 4, when they were found unconscious on a bench in the southern English cathedral city of Salisbury.

"The two victims remain in hospital and they're critical but stable," interior minister Amber Rudd said on Saturday after chairing a meeting of the government's Cobra security committee.

Russian officials involved in corruption and human rights abusers are to be targeted with a tough sanctions regime coordinated with the US and Canada.Washington: The Trump administration has told Turkey it will move to rein in Kurdish fighters that have been the backbone of the US campaign against the Islamic State in Syria, in an effort to repair tattered relations.

The first step and "the crux of the matter", a senior Turkish official said, is to withdraw the Kurds from the Syrian town of Manbij and relocate them east of the Euphrates River. The town, about 40 kilometres from Turkey's border, has come to symbolise the fevered competition for territory and influence in northern Syria among the United States, Turkey, and other regional powers.

The American pledge, if carried out, would satisfy a long-standing demand by the Turkish government and fulfil a promise first made by the Obama administration to keep the Kurdish forces east of the Euphrates. The Kurds helped to take Manbij from the Islamic State in 2016 and have been there since.Dili: Thousands of East Timorese have lined the road to the capital's international airport to cheer independence hero Xanana Gusmao after he led negotiations that settled the sea border with Australia.

East Timorese independence hero Xanana Gusmao waves a national flag upon arrival in Dili on Sunday. Credit:AP

Gusmao, whose party lost power in parliamentary elections last year, was greeted at Dili's tiny airport on Sunday with cries of "Viva Xanana Gusmao".

He'd been abroad for the previous eight months leading the final stretch of maritime border talks.

Australia and East Timor, one of the world's youngest nations, signed a historic treaty on Tuesday drawing their maritime boundary and dividing oil and gas deposits under the seabed, ending years of bitter wrangling and opening a new chapter in relations.

For East Timor, a half-island nation of 1.5 million people who are among the poorest in the world, the treaty was a crucial economic lifeline.Elizabeth Warren. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Its been nearly two years since Donald Trump first referred to Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren as Pocahontas, a derogatory reference to her Native American ancestry. After he most recently used the racial slur at a campaign rally last night, Warren went on CNN and used the attack to bring awareness to Native peoples experiences.

Speaking to Jim Acosta on State of the Union this morning, Warren chose to highlight the pervasiveness of sexual violence within Native communities.

I went to speak to Native American leaders and I made a promise to them, that every time President Trump wants to try to throw out some kind of racial slur, he wants to try to attack me, Im going to try to use it as a chance to lift up their stories, Warren said. Im going to do that right now by pointing out that more than half of Native women in this country have been the victims of sexual violence, and more than half of them are attacked by non-natives. And the American government is doing nothing about this.

The meeting Warren was referring to was one from this past February, at which she made a promise to Native leaders to lift up their stories every time someone brings up her familys history. Her own ancestry has been controversial, though, as during Warrens academic career, she listed herself as a minority in a law school directory, and was praised as a Native American faculty member at Harvard. Warren has not been able to produce definitive evidence for or against her Native ancestry, and just this morning on NBCs Meet the Press, she said she has no plans to take a DNA test.

The rate of sexual violence in Native communities, though, is unquestionable. A 2016 study by the National Institute of Justice found that 84 percent of Native women in the United States  more than 1.5 million  have been victims of violence. The study further elaborates that more than half of those incidents were a form of sexual violence.

Native American women are subjected to sexual violence at rates much higher than any other group in our country, Warren told Acosta. We need to put some focus on this and we need to make some changes on this. We owe it to people living in Native communities.California Coffee Shop Refuses to Serve Police Officer, Then Brags About It on Social Media

An Oakland coffee shop refused to serve a police officer and asked him to leave.

When Sgt. Robert Trevino walked into Hasta Muerte Coffee, he was refused service and asked to leave by an employee. The Oakland Police Officers Association wrote a letter to the shop expressing concern over the incident. The shop did not respond directly but instead lauded its anti-police policy on social media, according to SF Gate.

Obviously, this is both a surprise and a matter of concern for all Oakland Police Officers, wrote Sgt. Barry Donelan, president of the association, via a letter obtained by SF Gate. Oakland Police Officers work tirelessly every day to serve the residents of our City. I have never heard of Police Officers being refused service by an Oakland business.

The shop posted a photo on Instagram that translates from Spanish as Talk with your neighbors, not with the police and shows crossed out Oakland police and sergeant badges.

Last Friday February 16th a police (OPD) entered our shop and was told by one of our worker-owners that we have a policy of asking police to leave for the physical and emotional safety of our customers and ourselves. reads text that accompanies the post. There are those that do not share that sentiment  be it because they have a friend or relative who is a police, because they are white or have adopted the privileges whiteness affords, because they are home- or business- owning, or whatever the particular case may be.

Trevino is the chapter president of the National Latino Peace Officers Association in the local area. The Fruitvale section of Oakland, where the shop is located, is predominantly Latino, according to SF Gate. The Instagram post mentions that the sergeants race is no reason not to discriminate against him.

Since then, cop supporters are trying to publicly shame us online with low reviews because this particular police visitor was Latino. He broadcasted to his network that he was refused service at a local business and now the rumblings are spreading, continues Hasta Muerte Coffees Instagram post.

Trevino told NBC Bay Area that he was surprised by the incident but is looking forward to connecting with the shops owners and with the larger community.

If they do call the police for any need, were going to respond professionally and give them the same level of service as anyone else regardless of their position. said Sgt. Bryan Hubbard, vice president of the Police Officers Association, via SF Gate.

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The Origins of AntifaCommunity Mourns as Mother Faces Court Charged With Murdering 8-Year-Old Son

A community in Australia has been left in shatters after an eight-year-old boy was allegedly murdered by his mother in a home on Victorias Mornington Peninsula on Thursday, March 8.

Joanne Finch, 41, was charged with one count of murder in an out-of-sessions court hearing on Friday, March 9, after her son Brodie Moran was found dead inside a Tootgarook home.

Sources allegedly told the Herald Sun that Finch made the call to emergency services but when they arrived, Brodie could not be rescued. She appeared calm and articulate and allegedly told officers that she heard voices in her head and Brodies death was the result of a momentary lapse in reason, reported the newspaper.

On Friday, the court heard Finch was taking anti-depressant medication, reported 9News.

Police are now investigating whether suffocation was the cause of Brodies death.

Members of the Mornington Peninsula community were shocked upon hearing about the death of the boy they described as a happy child. Neighbours, Brodies schoolmates, and other members of the community paid tribute to the eight-year-old on Friday by leaving flowers, cards and toys in a makeshift shrine outside his home.

Ive seen the mother with the child, trick or treating, you know  [a] normal family, neighbour Carly Wood told the news station.

He was always a happy child, another neighbour told the news station.

Wed wave hello as we were collecting the bins. Theyd always say hello back.

Im grandmother, Ive got kids myself, Ive got a grandson, another neighbour Antoinette Berugini told Fairfax.

You can imagine if they came to me and say to me your grandchild died. And not because theyre sick.

Absolutely horrible. I couldnt even think of how can someone actually do something like that, she added.

The principal of Tootgarook Primary School, where Brodie attended, issued a statement calling the death a tragic event. Many of Brodies schoolmates were saddened by the loss of their generous friend, reported 9News.

I was friends with him, I talked to him every day, schoolmate Alicia told the news station.

He was amazing, he was very nice  Just so generous, she said.

Brodies father Lee Moran, who is estranged from Finch and lives in Shanghai, China, wrote on social media: I have lost the best part of me.

At the moment I feel so empty, still in shock. Words cannot describe how much I love and miss my little fella, Moran wrote.

One of Finchs last posts on social media has received a slew of criticism from members of the public for the uncanny foreshadowing of her own familys tragedy.

Finch shared the post titled A mother who admitted to bashing her baby daughter which links to a Change.org petition calling for a retrial of Lorien Norman who admitted to bashing her baby daughter before threatening to throw her battered body off a balcony in November last year.

Many social media users left comments on that post to express their outrage about Brodies death.

However, some social media users warned others about making judgments about the case, raising concerns about mental health.

Residents in the area told 9News that Brodie lived at home with his mother and an unnamed man. Police said the man is not a person of interest in the investigations.

Finch has been remanded in custody until June 29.

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Huge Crocodile Snags Fishermans Catch at Last MomentCouple Left Paralyzed For Months After Eating Home-Canned Green Beans

A married couple from Germany were left paralyzed and fighting for their lives in intensive care for about 5 months. They fell ill after eating home-canned green beans.

The 47-year-old woman and her 51-year-old husband were diagnosed with botulism  a rare but possibly life-threatening bacterial illness caused by a powerful toxin which can leave the body in a vegetative state  after eating the green beans, according to the Journal of Medical Case Reports.

Their son fortunately managed to avoid the horrific illness when he refused to eat the green beans which he thought had an odd odor.

The woman began to experience dizziness, double vision, droopy eyes and also struggled to speak about 8 hours before being admitted to a hospital near Leipzig. A day later, her condition drastically worsened. She was placed on life support after her body became paralyzed and her lungs began to fail.

The husband  who had consumed a smaller portion of the beans  suffered similar symptoms which were less severe. He was admitted to the same hospital a day later. His condition also worsened and he was eventually placed on life support as well.

After some testing, the beans were found to contain botulinum toxin A. Blood tests on the woman revealed she had the same toxin in her bloodstream, while tests on her husband were inconclusive.

Unfortunately, the recovery of the couple was hampered as doctors were not able to administer the botulism antitoxin  only effective when used within 24 hours of exposure to the toxin. By the time the botulism diagnosis was made, it had already been 72 hours since the couple ate the beans.

The wife required life support for almost five and a half months, while her husband was on life support for four and a half months, according to the journal.

Fortunately, both then went on to recover in rehabilitation, and after 11 month of hospitalization for the wife, and eight months of hospitalization for the husband, their symptoms completely disappeared. However, the 47-year-old still suffers from a depressive adaptive disorder from the ordeal.

According to the World Health Organization, botulinum toxins are one of the most lethal substances known and can block nerve functions leading to respiratory and muscular paralysis.

It is usually caused by consumption of improperly processed food, is a rare but potentially fatal disease if not diagnosed rapidly and treated with antitoxin.

Homemade canned, preserved or fermented foodstuffs are a common source of foodborne botulism and their preparation requires extra caution, the organization warns.

There are less than 10 cases per year in Germany and there have been approximately 113 cases in the EU per year from 2008 to 2012, according to the journal.

In a similar case back in 2017, three adults in New Zealand contracted botulism after eating wild boar.

Shibu Kochummen, 35, brought the boar home after a hunting trip that day, and he, his wife Subi Babu, 32, and his mother, Alekutty Daniel, 62, ate it for dinner. They began to suffer about half an hour after they started eating.

They were all found unconscious in their home on Nov. 10, 2017, by paramedics who came after Kochummen called for help.

The three adults made a full recovery three weeks after the ordeal, reported 7News.

NTD Reporter Colin Fredericson contributed to this report

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GoPro Dropped Down Deep Well to Check Out Reports of Limestone CavesGroups of Irish Tourists Wanted Over More Alleged Scams and Fraud

Police have released more details about groups of tourists, believed to be from Ireland, who are targeting businesses, restaurants, and elderly people in scams and acts of theft across Queensland.

Groups of men and women with Irish accents are currently being investigated by Queensland police and the Australian Border Force after 12 complaints were made to police about their behaviour since January. The men and women are suspected to be linked.

Detective Superintendent Tony Flemming said authorities have assigned a team that is currently looking for the suspects.

It appears these matters have some connection, he told Newscorp. What weve done is brought it all together under one command.

Weve got a team of people at the moment actively looking for these people.

Weve also engaged our colleagues at the Australian Border Force  Its hard enough for small businesses to make a dollar. This has the potential to have a significant impact on the community, he added.

One group, made up of women often accompanied by children, is accused of targeting retail stores, stealing goods and money, and obtaining free food and beverages from restaurants by claiming foreign objects, such as glass, are in their food, police said in a statement on March 10.

In one incident, a Brisbane restaurant owner Marie Yokoyama said a group of Irish girls showed up at her restaurant and claimed that there was a piece of glass in her meal. She then demanded to the restaurant owner that their meal be free of charge.

Halfway through the meal one lady started screaming that their [sic] was glass in her meal and that her mouth was bleeding. I believed her and then asked to see the glass, Yokoyama said.

Upon inspection, I knew that this had not come from our restaurant but they were relentless. We dont have any thick glass of this sort in the restaurant. I was so scared and terrified of them that I made their meals and drinks free  around 180 dollars value, she added.

In another similar incident, a group of four men left a Brisbane restaurant without paying after claiming to have found hair in their food.

They are good at creating diversions and distractions/disruptions to either steal goods or demand goods and services for free. They are aggressive and usually work in groups of two or more, Fleming said in the statement.

Police allege another group of several men are targeting elderly people by taking payments for house repairs but never finishing the work.

Another group involves several men who solicit for work offering discounted repairs on bitumen driveways and roofing whilst providing sub-standard services or failing to complete the work or to even turn up, the statement read.

On one of the occasions, five men defrauded an elderly man of more than $25,000 after they failed to carry out their services, reported Newscorp. On another occasion, a driveway repair was also arranged with an Irish person but the person failed to complete the repair.

Fleming has warned people to be cautious and has urged homeowners to say no to anyone offering door to door home repairs until you are able to make an informed decision and know that this is a legitimate offer.

Police have also provided a list of tips to help homeowners avoid a scam or shoddy handyman:

 say no  at first;

 seek more information  from independent sources such as family, friends, neighbours, newspaper advertisements or past clients;

 reputable businesses will be happy to provide you with full contacts details so that you can follow-up on their services;

 obtain a written quote;

 seek an agreement with the person offering the service that all monies will be paid at the satisfactory completion of the job and not up front;

 regulatory authorities who are responsible for license and regulation of various trades such as plumbing, building and electrical etc, should be contacted to ascertain if the handyman is currently licensed; and

 if the offer turns out to be safe and good for you, you can always say yes later.

If you have information for police, contact Policelink on 131 444 or provide information using the online form 24hrs per day.

From NTD.tv

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Kangaroo Attacks CyclistInfant Pinned in Car Wreck, Was in Unrestrained Car Seat

An infant was pinned in a horrific car wreck in Johnston County, North Carolina, late Saturday, authorities said.

The driver of the vehicle, identified only as a man, was heading north on N.C. Highway 96 when his Jeep went off the right side of the road, before overcorrecting and crossing the southbound lane.

The jeep then careered into the woods and overturned, NBC affiliate WRAL-TV reported.

New story: Infant ejected from Jeep in Johnston County wreck https://t.co/yXOwXu81A8 #wral  WRAL NEWS in NC (@WRAL) March 11, 2018

Officials said the mans two children were in the car, one of them a 7-year-old boy and the other an infant girl who was in the car with an unrestrained car seat.

During the incident the infant was ejected from both the car and car seat before the Jeep rolled on top of her, pinning her there.

After the Jeep overturned, the father first went to his boy and got him out of the car before looking for his infant daughter.

Both his children were rushed to WakeMed Hospital. Neither childs condition is known as of writing.

According to WRAL-TV, the father was reportedly confrontational with authorities and has since been charged with driving while intoxicated.

He was handcuffed and transported to the Johnston County magistrates office.

Its unclear if the father will be facing any further charges at this time.

According to the Childrens hospital of Philadelphia, infants are at a greater risk of injury in crashes, because their spines are still developing and their heads are large in comparison to their bodies.

Children 2-years of age and under are safer in rear-facing child seats than forward-facing child seats, according to studies.

An infant should remain rear-facing until he or she is 2 years of age or until they the highest weight or height limit allowed by the manufacturer of the childs safety seat, according to the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia.

The seat should also always be in the back of the vehicle.

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A Mother Shares the Story of Her Sons Heroin OverdosePolice officers wear protective suits and breathing apparatus in London Road cemetery as they continue investigations into the poisoning of Sergei Skripal who was found critically ill on a bench in Salisbury on March 10, 2018, in Salisbury, England. (Chris J Ratcliffe/Getty Images)

World Health Organization Warns Next Epidemic Disease Could Be Unknownor Man-Made

The World Health Organization has added a new disease to the list of pathogens, which could hit humans with a devastating effect.

This one is called Disease X.

Every year the World Health Organization (WHO) publishes a list of potential epidemic threats. Zika, SARS, Ebola, Lassa fever, Rift Valley feverthese are all known diseases.

Another name has been addedand it belongs to a disease, which hasnt yet emerged.

The WHO published a statement after its annual review on Feb. 67 of potential health emergencies in which it highlighted the danger, not of known pathogens, but of something the human race has never seen beforeand possibly made itself.

Antibiotic-resistant strains of diseases, diseases which dont respond to any known treatments, diseases which mutate readilythese are scary enough.

Add to that the breeding grounds presented by disaster victims, refugee populations, and internally displaced people, all potentially living in densely packed camps or neighborhoods, with insufficient sanitation, and possibly weakened by hunger and stress.

The diseases on the list are the ones the WHO want prioritized for research and prevention. But how can scientists research a disease which hasnt yet appeared?

The WHO said Disease X could come from anywhere and strike at any time.

History tells us that it is likely the next big outbreak will be something we have not seen before, said Dr. John-Arne Rottingen, chief executive of the Research Council of Norway and a scientific adviser to the WHO committee.

It may seem strange to be adding an X but the point is to make sure we prepare and plan flexibly in terms of vaccines and diagnostic tests; Rottingen told the Telegraph.

We want to see plug and play platforms developed which will work for any, or a wide number of diseases; systems that will allow us to create countermeasures at speed.

We Might Do It to Ourselves

Australias News.com reported that the WHO is worried about man-made diseases as much as mutations and unknown diseases.

Synthetic biology allows for the creation of deadly new viruses, Dr. Rottingen told the Telegraph. It is also the case that where you have a new disease there is no resistance in the population and that means it can spread fast.

Some countries have used exotic poisons like ricin and dioxin, radioactive material, and even nerve gas, to attack suspected spies. Chemical warfare is ongoingfrowned upon, but still regularly reported.

Worst of all, the latest breakthroughs in gene-splicing technology give scientists the power to tailor diseases in ways never before imagined.

Of course, scientists could create diseases with unknown side effects, or which mutate out of control, or which work exactly as intended, being incredibly deadlyand those diseases could escape the lab and spread around the world.

Since the current state-of-the-art assassination technique is to infect a target with a disease, which doesnt act immediatelyto let the assassin escapea person infected with some new disease could visit public places, or even travel abroad, spreading the new pathogen everywhere.

And a manufactured pathogen wouldnt have any natural enemies. Peoples immune systems wouldnt have any defensesthe body might not even know it is infected.

It sounds like the plot of a bad science-fiction moviebut it will sound worse if TV announcers are talking about it really happening.

The Threat From Nature Is Greater

Despite the truly catastrophic possibilities posed by man-made diseases, the WHO still considers nature to be the most likely source of the next major epidemic, the News reported.

People are venturing into rarely traveled regions, and are traveling across regions, possibly picking up and transporting microbes to places where people have no immunity.

Further, it seems diseases can spread readily from animals to human, and as more people move into the habitats of animals, there is more chance of that.

As News.com points out, HIV is thought to have spread to people from monkeys, and SARS, from bats to civet cats to people. Ebola originated in fruit bats.

Professor Marion Koopmans, head of the Viroscience department of the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam and also a scientific adviser to the WHO, said that diseases which cross from animals to humans are showing up with increasing frequency.

The intensity of animal and human contact is becoming much greater as the world develops, she told the Telegraph. This makes it more likely new diseases will emerge but also modern travel and trade make it much more likely they will spread.

From NTD.tv

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Spectacular Lightning Storm Flashes Above Surfers ParadiseCan't stop thinking about the disastrous finale of "The Bachelor?" Neither can "Saturday Night Live."

The NBC show kicked off its latest episode by mashing up the painful-to-watch breakup between Arie Luyendyk Jr. and an unsuspecting Becca Kufrin with, yes, something Trump-related.

In the sketch, Becca (Cecily Strong) finally gets to see her man: special counsel Robert Mueller. Kate McKinnon essentially impersonates Arie in Mueller makeup while breaking the news.

"So, uh, you know that I've been struggling a little bit over the last few months just trying to figure this whole thing out and just grasp everything," McKinnon's Mueller says. "The reality is I don't think I can give you everything that you want right now, and I think you sense that."

Strong's Becca replies: "So ... what? You don't have Trump on collusion?"

"I think I need to explore the possibility that I have a stronger case with some other stuff," the fake Mueller replies. "I'm just trying to be honest with you in telling you I can't commit to collusion right now."

The fake Becca is trying to understand, saying "you indicted like 13 Russians and like everything that happened at Seychelles, that means nothing?"

"No, I mean the Seychelles were amazing and it's definitely something," he responds. "It's just the more time that goes by, the more that I keep thinking about obstruction."

The fake Becca can't handle the embarrassment. "Collusion is literally the only thing that I've been looking forward to the past year."

"SNL" has been relying on Alec Baldwin to play President Donald Trump, whose appearances aren't as regular this year compared with last. But the late-night show has been trying to find other ways to skewer the administration, mainly by focusing on others in Trump World.

Later in the episode, host Sterling K. Brown played HUD Secretary Ben Carson in a parody of the weepy NBC drama "This Is Us." On "SNL," it's about the United States government: "This Is U.S."

"Like 'This Is Us,' but without the parts that feel good," reads the tagline. "You'll be laughing through tears. Except without the laughing. So I guess just regular crying."

Baldwin attracted some presidential Twitter ire earlier this month after the actor told the Hollywood Reporter that playing the president is "agony." (It's a comment he's made repeatedly to other outlets.

Trump responded by tweeting that Baldwin's "dying mediocre career was saved by his terrible impersonation of me on SNL" and "it was agony for those who were forced to watch. Bring back Darrell Hammond, funnier and a far greater talent!"

Baldwin soon fired back on Twitter, writing, "I'd like to hang in there for the impeachment hearings, the resignation speech, the farewell helicopter ride to Mara-A-Lago." And then he played the president during the show's cold open the following day.Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund, Inc. is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched and managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Inc. The fund is co-managed by Morgan Stanley Investment Management Limited and Morgan Stanley Investment Management Company. It invests in the public equity markets across the global emerging markets. The fund invests in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It invests in companies across all market capitalizations. The fund benchmarks the performance of its portfolio against the MSCI Emerging Markets Net Index. Morgan Stanley Emerging Markets Fund Inc. was formed on August 27, 1991 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreTempleton Dragon Fund, Inc. is a closed ended equity mutual fund launched by Franklin Resources, Inc. The fund is managed by Templeton Asset Management Ltd. It invests in the public equity markets of China. The fund seeks to invest in stocks of companies operating across diversified sectors. It primarily invests in value stocks of companies. The fund employs fundamental analysis focusing on factors like growth prospects, competitive positions in export markets, technologies, research and development, productivity, labor costs, raw material costs and sources, profit margins, returns on investment, capital resources, government regulation, and management to create its portfolio. It is actively managed. Templeton Dragon Fund, Inc. was formed on September 20, 1994 and is domiciled in the United States.

Read MoreWall Street analysts have given Botswana Diamonds a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Botswana Diamonds wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.The following companies are subsidiares of Illinois Tool Works: A V Co 1 Limited, A V Co 2 Limited, A V Co 3 Limited, ACCU-LUBE Manufacturing GmbH - Schmiermittel und -gerate -, AIP/BI Holdings Inc., Accessories Marketing Holding Corp., Advanced Molding Company Inc., Allen Coding GmbH, Allen France SAS, Alpine Automation Limited, Alpine Engineered Products, Alpine Holdings Inc., Alpine Systems Corporation, Anaerobicos S.r.l., AppliChem GmbH, Arylux Hungary Elektromechanikus Alkatreszgyarto Kft, Avery Berkel France, Avery India Limited, Avery Malaysia Sdn Bhd, Avery Weigh Tronix, Avery Weigh-Tronix (Suzhou) Weighing Technology Co. Ltd., Avery Weigh-Tronix Finance Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Holdings Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix International Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix LLC, Avery Weigh-Tronix Limited, Avery Weigh-Tronix Properties Limited, Azon Limited, B.C. Immo, Beijing Miller Electric Manufacturing Co. Ltd., Berkel (Ireland) Limited, Berrington UK, Brapenta Eletronica Ltda., Brooks Instrument (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, Brooks Instrument B.V., Brooks Instrument GmbH, Brooks Instrument KFT, Brooks Instrument Korea Ltd., Brooks Instrument LLC, Buell Industries Inc., CAPMAX Logistica S.A. de C.V., CCI Realty Company, CFC Europe GmbH, CS (Australia) Pty Limited, CS (Finance) Europe S.a.r.l., CS Mexico Holding Company S DE RL DE CV, CSMTS LLC, Calvia Spolka z Ograniczona Odpowiedzialnosci, Capital Ventures (Australasia) S.a r.l, Capmax Logistica S.A. de C.V., Celeste Industries Corporation, Coeur, Coeur (Shanghai) Medical Appliance Trading Co. Ltd, Coeur Asia Limited, Coeur Holding Company, Coeur Inc., Compagnie Hobart, Compagnie de Materiel et d'Equipements Techniques-Comet, Constructions Isothermiques Bontami C.I.B., Crane Carrier Company, Despatch Industries, Diagraph Corporation Sdn. Bhd, Diagraph ITW Mexico S. de R.L. De C.V., Diagraph Mexico S.A. DE C.V., Dongguan Ark-Les Electric Components Co. Ltd., Dongguan CK Branding Co. Ltd., Dorbyl U.K. (Holdings) Limited, Duo Fast de Espana S.A.U., Duo-Fast Korea Co. Ltd., Duo-Fast LLC, E.C.S. d.o.o., ECS Cable Protection Sp. Zoo, ELRO (Holding) AG, ELRO Grosskuchen GmbH, ELRO-WERKE AG, Elga Skandinavian AS, Elro Group, Eltex-Elektrostatik-Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Envases Multipac S.A. de C.V., Eurotec Srl, FEG Investments L.L.C., Fasver, Filtertek, Filtertek De Mexico Holding Inc., Filtertek De Mexico S.A. de C.V., GC Financement SA, Gamko B.V., Gun Hwa Platech (Taicang) Co. Ltd., HOBART Gesellschaft mit beschrankter Haftung, Hartness International, Hobart (Japan) K.K., Hobart Andina S.A.S., Hobart Brothers International Chile Limitada, Hobart Brothers LLC, Hobart Dayton Mexicana S. de R.L. de C.V., Hobart Food Equipment Co. Ltd., Hobart Foster Belgium, Hobart International (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Hobart Korea LLC, Hobart LLC, Hobart Nederland B.V., Hobart Sales & Service Inc., Hobart Scandinavia ApS, Hobart Techniek B.V., Horis, ILC Investments Holdings Inc., ITW (China) Investment Company Limited, ITW (Deutschland) GmbH, ITW (EU) Holdings Ltd., ITW (European) Finance Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance II Co. Ltd., ITW (European) Finance III Co. Ltd., ITW (Ningbo) Components & Fastenings Systems Co. Ltd., ITW AEP LLC, ITW AOC LLC, ITW Aircraft Investments Inc., ITW Alpha Sarl, ITW Ampang Industries Philippines Inc., ITW Appliance Components EOOD, ITW Appliance Components S.A. de C.V., ITW Appliance Components S.r.l.a, ITW Appliance Components d.o.o., ITW Australia Holdings Pty Ltd, ITW Australia Property Holdings Pty Ltd., ITW Australia Pty Ltd, ITW Automotive Components (Chongqing) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Components (Langfang) Co. Ltd., ITW Automotive Japan K.K., ITW Automotive Korea LLC, ITW Automotive Parts (Shanghai) Co. Ltd, ITW Automotive Products GmbH, ITW Automotive Products Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., ITW Bailly Comte, ITW Befestigungssysteme GmbH, ITW Belgium, ITW Brazilian Nominee L.L.C., ITW Building Components Group Inc., ITW CER, ITW CP Distribution Center Holland BV, ITW CS (UK) Ltd., ITW Canada Inc., ITW Celeste Inc., ITW Chemical Products Ltda, ITW Chemical Products Scandinavia ApS, ITW Colombia S.A.S., ITW Construction Products (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., ITW Construction Products (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., ITW Construction Products AB, ITW Construction Products AS, ITW Construction Products ApS, ITW Construction Products CZ s.r.o., ITW Construction Products Italy Srl, ITW Construction Products OU, ITW Construction Products OY, ITW Contamination Control (Wujiang) Co. Ltd., ITW Contamination Control B.V., ITW Covid Security Group Inc., ITW DS Investments Inc., ITW DelFast do Brasil Ltda., ITW Delta Sarl, ITW Denmark ApS, ITW Dynatec, ITW Dynatec Adhesive Equipment (Suzhou) Co. 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Sole Shareholder Company, ITW Holdings Australia L.P., ITW Holdings I Limited, ITW Holdings II Limited, ITW Holdings III Limited, ITW Holdings IV Limited, ITW Holdings IX Limited, ITW Holdings Inc., ITW Holdings UK, ITW Holdings V Limited, ITW Holdings VI Limited, ITW Holdings VII Limited, ITW Holdings VIII Limited, ITW Holdings X Limited, ITW Holdings XI Limited, ITW Hungary Finance Beta Kft, ITW ILC Holdings I Inc., ITW IPG Investments LLC, ITW Imaden Industria e Comercio Ltda., ITW India Private Limited, ITW International Holdings LLC, ITW Invest Holding GmbH, ITW Ireland Holdings Unlimited Company, ITW Ireland Unlimited Company, ITW Italy Finance Srl, ITW Italy Holding Srl, ITW Japan Ltd., ITW Korea LLC, ITW LLC & Co. KG, ITW Limited, ITW Lombard Holdings Inc., ITW Lys Fusion S.r.l., ITW M FILMS II LLC, ITW MH LLC, ITW Meritex Sdn. Bhd., ITW Metal Fasteners S.L., ITW Mexico Holding Company S. 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Ltd., Stokvis Tapes BVBA, Stokvis Tapes Benelux B.V., Stokvis Tapes Deutschland GmbH, Stokvis Tapes France, Stokvis Tapes Italia s.r.l., Stokvis Tapes Limited, Stokvis Tapes Limited Liability Company, Stokvis Tapes Norge AS, Stokvis Tapes Oy, Stokvis Tapes Polska Sp Z.O.O., Stokvis Tapes Sverige AB, Stolvis Holdings II S.A.R.L., Technopack Industria Comercio Consultoria e Representacoes Ltda., Teknek (China) Limited, Teknek (Japan) Limited, Teksaleco Ltd., The Miller Group Ltd, Thirode Grandes Cuisines Poligny, Tien Tai Electrode (Kunshan) Co. Ltd., Tien Tai Electrode Co. Ltd., Unichemicals Industria e Comercio Ltda., VR-Leasing Sarita GmbH & Co. Immobilien KG, VS European Holdco BV, Valeron Strength Films B.V.B.A., Veneta Decalcogomme S.r.l., Versachem Chile S.A., Vesta, Vesta (Guangzhou) Catering Equipment Co. 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Pfizer says COVID-19 vaccine works in kids ages 5 to 11

Pfizer said Monday its COVID-19 vaccine works for children ages 5 to 11 and that it will seek U.S. authorization for this age group soon  a key step toward beginning vaccinations for youngsters. The vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech already is available for anyone 12 and older.

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Ltd., LabMetrix Technologies, Labtronics, ManCell SAS, Nexcelom Bioscience, NovaScreen Biosciences Corporation, Opto Technology, Orchid Biomedical Systems Pvt Ltd., Oxford Immunotec, Pediatrix Medical Group - Newborn Metabolic Screening Business, Perkin Elmer Chile Ltda., Perkin Elmer Italia SpA, Perkin Elmer Sdn. Bhd., Perkin Elmer Yuhan Hoesa, Perkin Elmer de Mexico S.A., Perkin-Elmer Argentina S.R.L., Perkin-Elmer Instruments (Philippines) Corporation, PerkinElmer (Hong Kong) Ltd., PerkinElmer (India) Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer (Ireland) Ltd., PerkinElmer (Schweiz) AG, PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund L.P., PerkinElmer (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer (UK) Holdings Ltd., PerkinElmer Analytical Solutions B.V., PerkinElmer Automotive Research Inc., PerkinElmer BVBA, PerkinElmer CV Holdings LLC, PerkinElmer Cellular Technologies Germany GmbH, PerkinElmer Danmark A/S, PerkinElmer Diagnostics Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Diagnostics Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Espana S.L., PerkinElmer Finance Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Finland Oy, PerkinElmer Genetics Inc., PerkinElmer Germany Diagnostics GmbH, PerkinElmer Global Diagnostics S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Financing S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Global Holdings S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Health Sciences (Australia) Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer Health Sciences B.V., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Canada Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences FZ-LLC, PerkinElmer Health Sciences Inc., PerkinElmer Health Sciences Pvt Ltd., PerkinElmer Healthcare Diagnostics (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Holding Luxembourg S.a r.l., PerkinElmer Holdings Inc., PerkinElmer Holdings Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer IVD Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer Inc., PerkinElmer Informatics Inc., PerkinElmer Instruments (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer International C.V., PerkinElmer Investments Ky, PerkinElmer Israel Ltd., PerkinElmer Japan Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer LAS (Germany) GmbH, PerkinElmer LAS (UK) Ltd., PerkinElmer Life Sciences International Holdings, PerkinElmer Limited, PerkinElmer Ltd., PerkinElmer Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., PerkinElmer Nederland B.V., PerkinElmer Norge AS, PerkinElmer Oy, PerkinElmer Polska Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Pty. Ltd., PerkinElmer SAS, PerkinElmer Saglk ve Cevre Bilimleri Ltd., PerkinElmer Shared Services Sp z o.o., PerkinElmer Singapore Pte Ltd., PerkinElmer South Africa (Pty) Ltd., PerkinElmer Sverige AB, PerkinElmer Sweden Health Sciences Holdings AB, PerkinElmer Taiwan Corporation, PerkinElmer VertriebsgmbH, PerkinElmer chemagen Technologie GmbH, PerkinElmer do Brasil Ltda., Perten Instruments, Perten Instruments (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Perten Instruments AB, Perten Instruments France SASU, Perten Instruments GmbH, Perten Instruments Italia S.r.l., Perten Instruments of Australia Pty Ltd., RHS Ltd, RayAl Ltd., Shandong Meizheng Bio-Tech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Haoyuan Biotech Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Shanghai Spectrum Instruments Co. Ltd., Signature Genomic Laboratories, Solus Scientific Solutions Inc., Solus Scientific Solutions Ltd., Surendra Genetic Labs, Suzhou PerkinElmer Medical Laboratory Co. Ltd., Suzhou Sym-Bio LifeScience, Suzhou Sym-Bio Lifescience Co. Ltd., Tulip Diagnostics, Tulip Diagnostics Pvt Ltd., Vanadis Diagnostics, Vanadis Diagnostics AB, ViaCell, ViaCord LLC, VisEn Medical, VisEn Medical Inc., Wallac Oy, Wellesley B.V., Xenogen Corporation, ZeLab SAS, and chemagen Biopolymer-Technologie AG.By Sakhie Pant

There is a long-standing notion that the struggle for closing the gender gap is a womens issue and that women are the sole protagonists of the cause. This view is a myopic one as the gender gap is a societal issue. Therefore, engaging women alone is not enough, and for substantial progress, we need to ensure that men are engaged as well.

The global gender gap has severe negative economic and social consequences. Closing the gap could accelerate progress toward gender parity. However, current rates of progress are slow. According to the United Nations, the average amount of time spent on unpaid domestic and care work is more than threefold higher for women than men and accounts for a large proportion of the gender gap in unpaid work. Globally, womens participation in single or lower houses of national parliaments reached 23.4% in 2017, just 10 points higher than in 2000. In business, women are still underrepresented in managerial positions where fewer than a third of senior- and middle-management posts are held by women.

Why the gender gap prevails

The gender gap remains one of the most pressing challenges facing the world of work. A report by the International Labour Organization (ILO) states that the global labour force participation rate for women was just 49% in 2017, which is 27 points lower than the rate for men. Narrowing the existing gender gap down to rampant sexism is not enough. This gap is the result of a nuanced combination of economic, social, and educational factorslack of education, the need to satisfy work-family balance, and marital status, among other things.

In recent years, there have been substantial discussions regarding the major challenges to bridging the gender gap. One factor in particular is being frequently discussedthe dominance of unconscious biases. Unconscious biases relate to a persons feelings of work being appropriate for one sex or the other: Who should work outside the home? Who should care for the children? These biases are formed over time by social and cultural institutions to which people belong. So, in spite of considerable awareness-raising with regard to gender equality, we find that these biases still play a strong role in resisting efforts to expand opportunities for girls and women.

Bridging the gender gap

The process of bridging the gender gap is going to be a long one. To make a substantial progress, there is need for transformation on three levels. First, the state should transform existing policy agenda by integrating a gender perspective into all policies and programming. This idea has been incorporated in Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which calls on governments to achieve, rather than just promote, gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Empowering women and bringing a gender perspective to all development activity not only contributes to bridging the gender gap but also accelerates a sustainable future for all. Although this a promising step, the results are yet to be realized.

Second, at the organizational level, comprehensive measures such as promoting equal pay for equal work, preventing discrimination and harassment, implementing work-family balance guidelines, and recognizing the value of unpaid care work need to be established. Similarly, there is the need to foster entrepreneurship among women as it provides opportunity for women to achieve a better work-life balance and contribute to household income and economic growth. In todays context, there are two sectors in which to promote comprehensive support programmes targeting female-owned enterprises: the emerging high-tech sector and climate change adaptation initiatives. These represent opportunities to develop entrepreneurship skills that can both empower women and improve their resilience.

Finally, if we are to close the gender gap, there needs to be an understanding of why it exists in the first place. Therefore, at the individual level, we need to analyze the socio-cultural constructs of gender bias and become aware of how this process is ingrained in our daily lives. For example, in school, teachers should focus on the value of competency for both boys and girls to avoid having children believe that particular work roles are suited to one gender or the other. Practices like these can expand our view of gender and ability, which will go a long way toward addressing the gender gap.

- Sakhie Pant currently works at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) as an intern under the Livelihoods theme.



Guwahati : President of Bangladesh Md Abdul Hamid said that, Bangladesh attaches great importance with India as its most trusted neighbour.





While speaking at the dinner hosted in his honour by Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi in Guwahati last night, the Bangladesh President said that, both the countries share common social and cultural values and these need to be

further encouraged with sustained interaction. This will facilitate sustainable peace and progress in the region.





The Bangladesh President had arrived at Guwahati on Thursday during his 5-day long visit to India.





Acknowledging the cooperation and help extended by the Indian Government and the people of the country to the Muktijudha of Bangladesh War of Liberation, the Bangladesh President specifically recalled his days in Assam and Meghalaya during those tumultuous times.





He also referred to the shelter offered to around one million people who took refuse in the 45 camps set up in the erstwhile Assam.





Lauding the present state government in initiating various development projects, President Hamid stressed that the connectivity projects undertaken by both the governments of India and Bangladesh for progress and prosperity of both the nations.





He opined that these initiatives would be the cornerstones of the vibrant relation between these two great neighbouring countries.





Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi also spoke on the occasion and highlighted the inherent bond between Assam and Bangladesh.





He also emphasised on furthering people to people contact by engaging students as ambassadors of goodwill between both the countries.





The relationship of Assam with Bangladesh is of great importance and priority for our Government. The bond that the people of Assam share with Bangladesh is very unique. It is a special relationship rooted in common culture, heritage, literature and language, Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal said while highlighting the historic ties between Bangladesh and Assam in particular and the region in general.





Saying that a of mutual trust and confidence; respect for each others sensitivities and concerns, peace and stability in the relationship between Bangladesh and Assam are essential ingredients for realizing the immense potential of the entire region, the Assam CM appreciated the cooperation extended by the Government of Bangladesh to the Government of India in marginalizing the insurgency activities in the North East.





Highlighting the need to harness the untapped potential in the area of trade and investment, connectivity, border and security, people to people exchanges between Assam and Bangladesh, Sonowal mentioned about number of projects undertaken by both the governments for bringing a paradigm shift in the growth trajectory of the region.





He also recalled the immense contribution of stalwarts like Kazi Nazrul Islam, Runa Laila, Bhupen Hazarika, Dr. Moidul Islam Bora in cementing the ties between Assam and Bangladesh.





Earlier, the Bangladesh President with first Lady of Bangladesh Rashida Khanam had visited Maa Kamakhya temple in Assam's Guwahati on Thursday.





The Bangladesh President with his wife had offered their prayer to Maa Kamakhya from outside of the temple.





The Bangladesh President and the first Lady of Bangladesh were accorded a warm welcome by the temple committee.





While arriving at the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International airport, Md Abdul Hamid was welcomed by the Assam governor Jagdish Mukhi along with two Assam ministers Parimal Suklabaidya and Ranjit Dutta.





On ther hand, several organisations of Assam had protested against the Bangladesh President visit.





On Friday, Md Abdul Hamid had visited Meghalaya.





Two air force helicopters had took the Presidents team to Balat, a small town in East Khasi Hills along with Bangladesh border.





From Balat he came to Shillong, where he visited the bungalow of Bidhan

Chandra Roy (former Bengal chief minister) and Sidli House, where Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore had stayed during his third visit in 1927.





After spending the night at Raj Bhavan in Shillong, Hamid will come back to Guwahati and leave for New Delhi on March 11.





He will return to Dhaka on March 12.



Kathmandu, Nepal: Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli is going to face the vote of confidence in parliament today.





Constitutionally, newly appointed Prime Minister has to face vote of confidence in the parliament with at least simple majority of the members of the parliament.





It is likely that Prime Minister Oli would secure about two third majorities as the Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJPN) and Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN), two Madhes-based parties in parliament, have also hinted at supporting him as Prime Minister.





Even though the RJPN has not agreed to participate in the government, it has already hinted that it would stand in favor of Oli as Prime Minister.





It is said that the government allies, particularly the CPN UML has been urging the RJPN to participate in the government. But it has not made decision regarding its participation in the government.What does the future hold for Fearless Girl?

At time of writing, her shining presence in the umbra of Wall Street was guaranteed only through this past Thursday, International Womens Day.

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio has to tread carefully. Despite some early, and I would say churlish, coverage decrying the pint-sized bronze statue as nothing more than a marketing stunt, the defiant Every Girl has stood strong as a proxy for the chronic, historic, endless under-representation of women in the corporate world. Lost amid the social media hubbub over the artistic merit of the statue, or the appropriateness of having her face off against the famous bronze Charging Bull (she was messing with his space, apparently), the statues sponsor has continued to push for a higher representation of women in the corridors of power.

And, uh oh, Canada is now in its sights.

State Street Global Advisors is the company that commissioned the ponytailed mite, you may recall. Fittingly, State Street itself came under intense scrutiny as a result. This is how it should be. Thus we know that the multibillion-dollar asset manager suffers, or suffered, its own wage gap. The U.S. Department of Labors Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs asserted that women employed as State Street senior vice-presidents, managing directors and vice-presidents were paid less than their male counterparts. A statistically significant disparity in compensation was found as a result of a compliance program audit.

Hmm. I possess no psychic powers and yet I get this strange sensation of an army of female VPs nodding in understanding.

State Street has said it disagreed with the compliance methodology. Nevertheless, whether through expedience or appreciation that it was holding a losing hand, the company paid out $5 million (U.S.) in back pay and interest. It also agreed to conduct a full compensation analysis and report back its findings to the federal overseer.

That said, State Street did not retreat into the weeds, but upped the ante.

The fund managers strategy is direct and uncomplicated: vote against the chairs of board nominating committees where women are absent. Thats a lot of voting. Of the more than 700 companies poked to add a woman to the board, State Street voted against more than 500. (In some instances where companies had a clear recruitment plan in place to fix the diversity imbalance, State Street waived its own voting guidelines. Australian and U.K.-listed companies were included in the basket of targeted companies.)

This week, a year after Fearless Girl planted her feet in the financial district, State Street reported that 152 of the targeted companies have added a woman to the board. A further 34 have committed to do so. In a new development, the asset manager is now calling on companies in their portfolio to disclose gender diversity at all levels of management.

But then theres Canada. And then theres Japan. State Street has singled out Japan for trying hard and Canada for, what shall we call it, lassitude?

In Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abes promotion of womenomics as key to the countrys economic growth has bumped up against the countrys historically low rate of women in the workforce and a squeezed pipeline to progress. So while the governments intent is clear, the numbers remain low. Last summer, the government reported that just 3.7 per cent of management and board positions were held by women, placing it at the extreme low end for advanced economies. An early Abe goal of having 30 per cent women in management positions by 2020 has been reset to 10 per cent. So we think Japan presents a great opportunity to make progress, said State Street COO Ronald OHanley in a recent corporate note.

The challenge is more surprising in Canada, OHanley went on to say, citing the low representation of women on the boards of publicly traded Canadian corporations and the pitiful representation of women on the boards of startups.

So State Street in the months ahead will be extending its diversity guidance  comply or face a vote against  to more than 1,200 companies here and in Japan.

Thats quite a knock against Canada. Despite its progressive reputation, as OHanley phrased it, the country is a laggard. Globally noted.

We can trot out the same old reasons why (companies still searching within their comfortable networks for board talent, for one). And we can revisit the merits of diversity (balanced risk, consensus building, higher return on equity, less groupthink, an awareness of the real world around us). And we can put to rest once and for all the belief that, with time, these imbalances will sort themselves out (weve been hearing that argument for 30 years).

The shame is that Canada has failed to be a leader here.

The great strength of Fearless Girl is that she is a girl. She is the future. It seems to me that what she represents is not very complicated: claim your ground.

Will there be an outcry when she is moved? I hope so. She belongs in the financial district. Shes earned it. Even better would be a Fearless Girl II, somewhere around, oh, King and Bay.

Jennifer Wells can be reached at jenwells@thestar.caIn the time of Trump, Ontarios Tories have chosen Doug Ford to lead a populist revolt in Canadas biggest province, starting in its biggest city.

After losing the last four elections, the Progressive Conservatives are heading into the next campaign convinced they can win on June 7 with a wild-card candidate  armed with the same powerful message that propelled Donald Trumps triumphant run to the U.S. presidency.

Dont rule out Premier Ford.

The party can truly be said to be in his thrall. Ford set the agenda for the campaign, goading his rivals into abandoning attempts by the PC caucus to remake themselves as a modern party  no longer reconciled to a modernized sex education curriculum or a future-minded approach to carbon pricing to fight global warming.

Read more:

Doug Ford wins Ontario PC leadership after chaotic party race

Doug Ford is not just setting the partys agenda, hes undoing it: Cohn

Like a skilled magician, Ford pulled off the remarkable feat of sounding like he meant it: Cohn

Assuming that the Russians didnt hack the PC leadership race, but are merely exercising mind control over Tory bots from afar, Fords surprisingly strong finish is a powerful protest vote that amounts to a stunning declaration of war by the PCs against the established order  inside and outside their own party and province.

Either way, the spirit of Trump has crossed back across the border into Ontario, whence the whirlwind originated all those years ago with little brother Rob Ford.

It could presage a similar surprise victory in the spring election, given the partys impregnable hold across rural Ontario  and the enduring strength of Ford Nation in urban and suburban pockets of the province. Few thought Ford could come from nowhere to take over the PC party, and perhaps fewer can fathom him as Ontarios next premier, but like Trump, the Ford brothers do best when blessed with weak or weakened opponents.

Now, the PC party that has just rendered judgment on the candidates is itself about to be judged  along with its new leader  by voters across the province. Despite the energizing effect of any leadership race, and the extra burst of publicity, the real scrutiny is about to get infinitely more intense.

Mere months before the election, the provinces official Opposition sacrificed its leader in a scandal over sexual misconduct allegations; surrendered its official campaign platform in a policy panic; revealed the rot and internal wrongdoing in its nominations and machinations; and, finally, bungled the vote count virtually from start to finish, and ultimately in the aftermath.

Today, the PCs are seeking a mandate to take over the reins of government  not so much on their supposed strength, but on the presumed fatigue of the incumbent Liberal government led by an unpopular Premier Kathleen Wynne. For all the excitement that arises with any new leader, Ford now presents himself to the province as a remarkably empty vessel  with little to say on coherent policy, offering not so much renewal as reversal on key policies that characterize a modern province.

Instead, Ford is casting himself as a fearless fighter for the underdog and against imaginary elites, rather like Trump on the stump.

The key to Fords surprisingly strong showing may have been the paltry appeal of his PC opponents. He was up against two-time leadership loser Christine Elliott, whom many had thought better suited in temperament and tenor, ability and likability  just not winnability.

Much like Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election, Elliott showed herself once again to be an uninspiring politician, lacking the common touch or energizing rhetoric to compete with Fords fire-breathing populism. Sensing her weakness, Ford didnt hesitate to take on Elliott in campaign debates, pointing out her own improbable policy contortions and contradictions.

Nor did the other candidates (notably Caroline Mulroney) rise above the noise to inspire frustrated Tories. Instead, they mostly gravitated  over and over again  to the core message that they have the power to turn back the clock, whether on a sex education curriculum or a carbon pricing system. The obsession with sex and carbon was a proxy for serious policy pronouncements about the provinces economic and social challenges.

Read more:

Confused by what happened at the Ontario PC leadership convention? Heres how the Tories pick their leaders

A never-ending Tory story: Six tumultuous weeks in Ontario PC party

The difference between this leadership campaign and the upcoming election campaign is that Ford cannot count on the same kind of policy emptiness and equivocation he encountered among his Tory rivals when he faces off against Wynne. The Tory candidates cannibalized their platform  egged on by Ford  and looked back into the past; by contrast, the governing Liberals have cobbled together a coherent campaign package anchored on pharmacare and a $15 minimum wage that are proving popular with voters.

But the biggest challenge for Ford may come not from the Liberals but from Tories themselves, for they are in greater disarray and disunity than at any time in recent memory. Elliott has a history of abandoning the party, as she did after losing to Patrick Brown in 2015. And MPPs in the Tory caucus have thinly disguised contempt for Fords personality and policy offerings. Some candidates may not run again, and some MPPs will be biding their time, waiting for Ford to falter before going through yet another leadership campaign to right the wrongs of the partys rightward drift.

Martin Regg Cohn's political column normally appears Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. mcohn@thestar.ca, Twitter: @reggcohn

Read more about:A Toronto man, found shot near Martin Grove and Albion Rds. in Etobicoke early Saturday evening, has died of his injuries in hospital.

Toronto police responded to the scene on Mt. Olive Dr. just after 5:40 p.m. Paramedics said the man was rushed to a trauma centre in life-threatening condition with a gun shot wound on his chest.

Police later said Sunday morning that the man was pronounced dead in hospital.

He has been identified as Dwayne Anthony Vidal, 31.

This is the citys 11th homicide of the year.

On Saturday night, police said they were searching for a suspect described as a Black male, between 59 and 6 tall, and wearing a black hoodie with a covering on his face.

Multiple shell casings were found at the scene.

No arrests have been made.In mid-December last year, as Toronto police inched closer to an arrest in the disappearance of two local men, they called in somebody who once had a relationship with Andrew Kinsman.

During the 30-minute interview at the police station, Bruce Dow was asked several questions he didnt understand.

In retrospect, he told the Star, the questions made sense in light of stories published on Bruce McArthur.

The 66-year-old landscaper was arrested in January and charged with first-degree murder in the disappearance of Kinsman and Selim Esen. The pair were the subject of Project Prism, a police task force looking into their disappearance.

McArthur was later charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Majeed Kayhan, Skandaraj Navaratnam, Soroush Mahmudi and Dean Lisowick.

Kayhan and Navaratnam were the subjects of Project Houston, a missing persons task force started in 2012 before it wrapped up 18 months later.

Serious concerns about police conduct have prompted an internal professional misconduct investigation. The chief, the mayor and the police board chair are also calling for an external review.

Read more:

Toronto police chief Mark Saunders announces review of missing-persons investigations  with focus on systemic bias

Man reported to Toronto police in 2016 that McArthur allegedly attempted to strangle him

Torontos gay community shocked in the wake of McArthur investigation revelations

Concerns arose in recent days with news that McArthur was interviewed by police before. In 2016, a man reported to police that McArthur tried to strangle him during an otherwise consensual interaction. Sources have also told the Star that McArthur was questioned by police around the time that they launched Project Houston.

Kinsmans friend Candace Shaw said she is livid on behalf of a community who were so clear and so firm in their insistence that something was up.

Maybe listen to a community when they have these concerns, she said. To just pooh-pooh all the concerns, and then to accuse the community of not doing enough to help with the case . . . when in fact the police were in contact with this man so many times over the years.

Amid the growing criticism, Dow, who had a brief fling with Kinsman, said the main issue may lie with the higher-ups. He wasnt impressed with the way representatives of the force have communicated with the public, saying there was obvious insensitivity on the police side.

But he said the front-line officers he interacted with seemed to be doing their jobs as best they could.

They were tired, but still caring. I felt like theyd been working on this a long time and were frustrated, he said, adding that despite their apparent weariness, the detectives remained very grateful, and they were very kind and very sensitive.

Dow had been speaking to detectives on and off since late summer, after Kinsman disappeared in June. He had wanted to offer any information he had. Originally, he spoke to police on Facebook, followed by conversations over the phone, he said. Then police suddenly asked Dow to come speak to them.

When he arrived, Dow said two detective constables informed him that his statement would be videotaped, and that anything he said could be used against him in a court of law.

Honestly, that scared the crap out of me, he said. The tone changed, and it was very cut and dry, but I think thats what they have to do.

Once that process was over, he said the two detectives were open, supportive and genuinely concerned about the case.

We spoke quite openly and graphically about a number of things, Dow said, adding that it was his impression that the officers were gay-positive.

They seemed like people who really wanted to solve the case, he said. They wanted to make some headway.

Roger Stoddard, a manager at a local gay bathhouse Spa Excess, went to 51 Division three or four years ago, during Project Houston, to share any information that could help find Navaratnam.

I know Navaratnam from a previous business where I used to work, Stoddard said.

His conversation with two detectives was also around half an hour in length.

I told them what I know and what Id heard from other people, he said.

They showed me photographs of the other two they were investigating, the other two that were missing at the time, he added in reference to Kayhan and Abdulbasir Faizi, the other subjects of Project Houston.

Stoddard didnt recognize either.

They seemed genuine and interested in investigating it. Thats the impression I got at the time.

He said he cringed when he heard Toronto police Chief Mark Saunders told the Globe and Mail that nobody was coming to us with anything.

Because yes, we did co-operate, as much as we could at the time, Stoddard said. And it seemed like they were being proactive in trying to investigate it. Its not like they were letting the file sit and gather dust.

Jean-Guy Cloutier had his first interaction with police four or five days after Navaratnam disappeared in 2010 when he reported him missing to two police officers.

Cloutier and Navaratnam texted each other every morning; not hearing from his brother for days, and not being informed of his absence, was unusual.

(Toronto police) were really, really good, Cloutier said. They would actually come to my apartment with a whole bunch of photos, asking Do you know these people? and Have you ever seen these people? 

Cloutier would ask police if the men in the photos were suspects but officers never said one way or the other.

They said that if it is a murder, eventually a body will show up.

These visits would happen once a year until 2013. Cloutier never doubted police were still interested in finding his friend.

They were trying to get leads or something to go on, but what they said to me is unless somebody comes forward and give them new evidence, there`s nothing they could do.

They assured me the case would never be closed, Cloutier said. Were always going to be looking, they said.

Until the Star told him that Project Houston had been shut down, Cloutier continued to believe police were still searching for Navaratnam.

This is where I think I was naive because I didnt think it was closed, Cloutier said pausing, before recalling his more recent interaction with the police.

A detective called him half an hour before a news conference held on Feb. 23.

They told him they had found Navaratnam`s remains.

It was a courtesy call, Cloutier said, before they made the news public.

With files from Fatima SyedAdvocates are urging Peel Region to follow the Toronto District School Boards decision to remove police officers from its schools, citing what they call intimidation faced by Black students.

Sixty officers, supervised by eight sergeants and four staff sergeants, are posted in Peel schools, a program that costs about $9 million per year, according to a report published in January by two Carleton University researchers.

It found that school resource officers program like the one in Peel, prevent property damage, violence and drug use. The two-year report said the program reduces crime in surrounding communities, with staff and students feeling more safe.

But a 2016 Peel Region District School Board report said that Black students feel marginalized and isolated in schools in part because of the presence of police officers on school grounds. It said the police are quick to judge students based on the colour of their skin and are unfairly blamed for misdemeanours like vandalism.

The issue is that we have armed and uniformed police officers within our schools, Andrea Vasquez Jimenez, co-chair of Latinx, Afro-Latin America Abya Yala Education Network, said at a community meeting Saturday in Brampton to discuss the issue.

(School resource officers) are not educators. Classrooms are spaces for students and educators to feel welcomed, to feel that they can thrive, to not feel that theyre under surveillance.

Peel Regions police website said the primary responsibility of the program is to strive to create a safe learning environment at secondary schools.

This is achieved by forming positive partnerships with students and school administration, the website said. It is encouraged that officers use a proactive style of policing and interact with youth in a nonenforcement manner on a regular basis.

In November, the Toronto District School Board voted to terminate the program, after community complaints that the presence of armed officers had adversely affected some of the citys most vulnerable youth.

The TDSB decision added further momentum to the community in Peel, said Vasquez Jimenez.

Community has been voicing their concerns for so many years . . . , she said. Systemic issues needs systemic responses. We need classrooms that are caring, equitable and healthy for all of our students.

Sara Singh, New Democratic Party candidate of Brampton Centre, wants precincts to hire officers from diverse communities in the region.

We have such a diverse population of racialized communities, predominately South Asian and Black African, she said.

Correction - March 12, 2018: This article was edited from a previous version that included statements from former Peel District School Board student Habbiba Ahmed about the presence of school resource officers at her middle school Ahmed told the Star that police were posted on the grounds of McCrimmon Middle School in Brampton. According to the Peel District School Board, school resource officers are only posted in the boards high schools, not in its middle schools.

Read more about:Its easy to see why people are flocking to live in Humber Bay Shores. At most times the highrise neighbourhood in south Etobicoke appears an idyllic community. Glistening modern towers stand near a waterfront park, offering scenic views of downtown and ample opportunity to walk, bike or sail along Lake Ontario.

But the tranquil scene is shattered every weekday morning when thousands of residents clog the communitys meagre transportation network as they struggle to make their way to work.

Local residents say the roughly 10-kilometre commute downtown can take 40 minutes by car on a bad day, particularly if an accident on the nearby Gardiner Expressway causes drivers to spill off the highway in search of an alternative route. And with new condo towers already under construction, locals predict the gridlock will only get worse.

Read more:

Del Duca attempted to win approval for two more GO stations that were rejected by Metrolinx

Metrolinx gives green light to controversial GO stations

Wynne sidesteps questions about former transportation minister pressuring Metrolinx over new stations

Right now its pretty bad, said Randy Barba, a photographer and chair of the Humber Bay Shores Ratepayers and Residents Association.

When the new development comes in, its going to be horrific, Barba said. I dont understand how its going to be managed.

Once known for its notorious strip of seedy motels, Humber Bay Shores has undergone rapid development in the past two decades, and the influx of thousands of new residents has been almost completely unaccompanied by the provision of new transit.

Its a problem that is being repeated in different ways in different neighbourhoods throughout the Greater Toronto Area, caused in part by the regions success. As more and more people choose to live in the GTAs urban communities, local authorities are struggling to provide the infrastructure necessary to sustain the quality of life that attracted them in the first place, be it in the form of schools, parks or public transportation.

Even for a city in the grip of a development boom, the growth rate in Humber Bay Shores has been astonishing. The population of a single census tract in the area more than doubled in just five years, jumping to 11,390 in 2016, from 5,236 in 2011.

There are currently six developments either under construction or approved in the Park Lawn and Mimico districts, representing more than 4,400 new residential units.

According to the city, the population of the area bounded by Royal York Rd., the Gardiner and the Humber River is roughly 26,800, and it could grow by another 10,000 residents when all the expected development is complete.

The second you fill all of these buildings up, where are people going to go? asked Barba.

Something has to happen to sort of ease that pain.

There are just two roads in and out of Humber Bay Shores: Park Lawn Rd. and Lake Shore Blvd. Otherwise the area is cut off from the rest of the city by the rail corridor to the north and the lake to the south.

Two TTC bus routes and a streetcar line ply the neighbourhood, but there is no quick link to downtown. The 501 Queen streetcar operates in mixed traffic on Lake Shore and is slowed by gridlock, while the 145 Downtown/Humber Bay express bus charges double the regular TTC fare and attracts fewer than 300 riders each day.

Local Councillor Mark Grimes (Ward 6, Etobicoke-Lakeshore) concedes the transportation options are inadequate.

Transits the No. 1 issue in my ward, he said, stressing the area needs a better road network as well as more transit service.

According to the councillor, the pace of development in the community was unforeseeable.

I dont think that anybody saw what was going to happen in Humber Bay Shores, never mind whats happening in the (rest of the) city, he said.

But while the population on the waterfront has spiked in recent years, the growth has been a long time coming, and successive municipal administrations have been slow to react.

The potential to reshape the area was unlocked back in the 1990s, when the former city of Etobicoke expropriated land behind the old motel strip. Once a popular tourist destination, the row of motels had by the end of the century declined into fertile ground for drug use, prostitution and at least one shootout with the police. The expropriation freed up access to waterfront parkland to serve as the front yard for a new planned community.

But critics say it was a decision by the Ontario Municipal Board (OMB)  a provincial tribunal that settles land use disputes  that truly set the stage for the rampant densification.

In 2006, the quasi-judicial body sided with developers in a dispute over a strip of land on the west side of Park Lawn. The city had designated the site as an employment zone, which limited the amount of permissible development.

A group of landowners appealed to have it rezoned as mixed-use residential and commercial, which would allow them to erect apartment towers. After 50 days of hearings and testimony from 25 experts, the OMB agreed.

In a written ruling that in hindsight appears rich in irony, the OMB member who heard the case explained that residential highrises should be allowed precisely because the site wasnt served by higher-order transit.

The citys plan for an employment hub hinged on the relocation of a GO Transit station to Park Lawn. But GO hadnt built the stop, and the office cluster hadnt sprouted.

The proposed relocation of the commuter rail station to the Park Lawn area has not occurred, is in no current plan for GO, and will not occur in the foreseeable future if it occurs at all, wrote the presiding board member. She determined the land was not a viable office node and a change in designation is appropriate.

The decision cleared the way for the construction of five developments and more than 3,200 new units the city hadnt anticipated.

Richard Beck, the citys project manager for Etobicoke transportation planning, says the ruling dramatically altered the community.

That changed the whole context  as well as increasing the traffic, he said.

That wasnt originally something that the city envisioned happening down there.

Matti Siemiatycki, an associate professor at the University of Toronto who specializes in transportation policy, says whats happened in Humber Bay Shores is symptomatic of a larger problem in the city.

The key issue in Toronto is that there is a separation between land use planning and transportation planning. And theres a lot of cooks in the kitchen, he said.

He argued there is a fundamental lack of co-ordination between the institutions responsible for planning development and those building transit. They include the TTC and the citys planning and transportation departments at the municipal level, plus Metrolinx at the provincial level, and the OMB, which operates independently of government. The federal government also plays a crucial role in providing funding for major transit projects.

Last year the provincial government decided to reform the OMB and replace it with a local tribunal that would give planning authority back to municipalities, but the decision could take years to come into effect.

There are a lot of different players involved who sometimes co-ordinate, and other times its somewhat more ad hoc, Siemiatycki said.

He also argued the city has made questionable decisions about where to build transit, often under political influence. Projects like the Line 4 (Sheppard) subway and the extension of the Spadina subway to Vaughan were approved in anticipation of development springing up along those lines in the future, not necessarily to serve existing populations.

These are long-range investments, and they do I guess show foresight. But there are also places in the city where there already is the growth and there already is the demand for transit, and its not being served, he said.

Repeatedly, the city has drafted plans for new roads and transit in Humber Bay, but the proposals fell by the wayside as other projects took priority.

A proposal to extend Legion Rd. north to provide a crucial second link between Lake Shore Blvd. and the Gardiner was approved two decades ago, but remains unfinished.

In 2008, the city finalized an environmental assessment for a streetcar link that would create a continuous route between the western and downtown waterfronts. Ten years later it still hasnt been built.

In January, council took another tentative step forward when it endorsed an updated Waterfront LRT plan that included a proposal to build an exclusive streetcar right-of-way on Lake Shore Blvd. in Humber Bay Shores.

The $35-million project could be complete sometime in the next 10 years. But its part of a larger $2-billion plan to build a continuous LRT line across the entire waterfront, and it has no committed funding.

In the short term, the TTC is taking steps to improve existing operations. As early as this summer the agency will implement a shuttle bus that will loop through the community during rush hours and deliver passengers to the Mimico GO station to the west.

But community leaders and local politicians have long argued the most effective transit improvement for the neighbourhood would be a GO stop at Park Lawn.

That plan got a major boost on Feb. 26, when Metrolinx, the arms-length provincial transit agency, announced it would consider a Park Lawn GO station for inclusion in a major expansion of the regional rail network.

To say Im thrilled  would be an understatement, said Councillor Grimes in a statement. He predicted a Park Lawn transit hub that incorporated GO and TTC services would be transformative for the community.

However, even as the prospect of higher-order transit for Humber Bay Shores seems brighter than ever, its accompanied by the spectre of yet more development.

Two years ago, developer First Capital bought the sprawling 27-acre site on the east side of Park Lawn that once housed a Mr. Christies factory. The land is zoned for employment use, but like the Park Lawn developers who fought the city at the OMB a decade ago, the company is hoping to have it redesignated in order to build residential towers.

Jodi Shpigel, First Capitals senior vice-president for development, says the firm inherited an OMB appeal from the previous landowner who wanted to build a whopping 27 towers on the site, but First Capital isnt keen to pursue it. She said the company would prefer to come to an agreement with the city.

The developer could have significant leverage in any negotiation, because the city and Metrolinx could require some of the Mr. Christie land to build the new station. An earlier proposal would have placed the station squarely on the Mr. Christie site, but updated plans contemplate shifting the station further west, directly above Park Lawn Rd.

The company would be willing to co-operate and even help pay for the new GO stop, Shpigel said, but on the condition the company be allowed to build significant residential development on Humber Bay Shores.

Weve communicated to the municipality that we could be a financial contributor. Obviously we require sufficient mixed-use density in order to be able to support such a contribution, Shpigel said.

Mayor John Tory has thrown cold water on such a deal, however.

The density on that site should be determined by sound planning principles, not by some kind of tit-for-tat negotiation, he told reporters two days after the Metrolinx announcement.

The new GO station, which has been estimated to cost at least $178 million and be would be served by trains every 30 minutes, could bring some relief to the congested neighbourhood.

But Beck, the city transportation planner, said there are inherent drawbacks to shoehorning transit into an area where residents have already moved in and have come to rely on their cars.

Its always nice to have the transit infrastructure and everything in place first so that when people move in, their transit patterns are dictated by the existing infrastructure, he said.

Its hard to convert people after the fact when youre trying to retrofit something.

Read more about:Former clients of an unlicensed consultant convicted in one of Canadas biggest immigration scams have asked the court to spare them from being removed from Canada for misrepresentation.

In a proposed class action application filed with the Federal Court last week, Chao Yuan Lin and Xiang Zhou  two of Xun Sunny Wangs former clients  said evidence at the mans criminal trial indicated Wang or his staff committed immigration fraud and not their clients.

Wang, owner of New Can Consulting in British Columbia, was found guilty of immigration fraud in 2015 for filing fraudulent immigration applications for hundreds of clients, and was sentenced to seven years in prison. Last year, three of his former staff were also convicted of immigration fraud and were sentenced to 18 months in jail.

Wangs services included helping clients apply for citizenship and renew whats known as a permanent resident, or PR, card, a document required of non-citizen immigrants to enter Canada by commercial vehicle.

Wang falsified documents to make his clients appear to have met the residency requirement when they were physically out of the country in order to renew their PR card.

Despite the mountain of evidence of Mr. Wangs fraudulent activities committed against his clients and Canada Immigration, the respondent (public safety) minister decided to treat the clients of Mr. Wang as no less culpable and has been seeking to remove them from Canada by alleging that they committed misrepresentation, said the court application represented by the lead claimants, Lin and Zhou.

The Immigration Department declined to comment on the class action application or reveal the number of Wangs former clients whose immigration status is under review, as the matter is before the court.

In the court application, Lin claimed he was not aware of any suspicious or fraudulent activities of Wang, nor was he informed of any by the Canada Border Services Agency when he retained Wang to renew his PR card in 2013, a year after officials executed a warrant to search Wangs office in Richmond, B.C.

According to the court submission, Lin was refused a travel document to return to Canada by Canadian officials in Beijing in 2014. He filed a successful appeal and obtained a new PR card in June 2016. Last month, however, the border agency told him he was inadmissible to Canada because he misrepresented himself on his PR card renewal, and he was referred to an admissibility hearing.

According to the submission, Zhou successfully renewed his PR card in 2010 through Wangs company but was intercepted by border agents at the Vancouver International Airport a year later because he had failed to meet the minimum two-year residency requirement within a five-year period.

Zhou was issued a removal order but successfully appealed the decision, got his PR card renewed and sponsored his wife and child into Canada in 2013. Then last month, he too was informed by the border agency that hes inadmissible to Canada for misrepresentation.

The court application asks that the permanent residents not have to go through the admissibility hearings for misrepresentation.

Both Lin and Zhou declined to comment.

Their lawyer, Lawrence Wong, said border officials identified about 2,000 of Wangs clients during his criminal trial and hundreds of them had hired the unlicensed consultant for PR card renewal.

The court submission argues that misrepresentation in the PR card renewal does not imply his clients acquired their permanent resident status improperly and has nothing to do with the retention of the permanent status.

A PR card serves as proof of permanent resident status, but the status may remain without a valid card, the court application says.

If the applicants made misrepresentation to renew their PR cards, then they should have their cards revoked or renewal applications denied. They should not lose their legally obtained PR status and be given a five-year ban from entering Canada, the application says.

Another complaint the applicants have against the government, according to the application, was that their PR cards were successfully renewed by the Immigration Department but the public safety minister, who oversees the border enforcement agency, delayed in shutting down the unlicensed and illegal activities of Mr. Wang and took it upon themselves to revisit the applicants cases.Sitting in her Ottawa home in the mid-1990s, Clare Hutchinson would look out for the emails. They came every two or three days, when slow-moving communication networks were able to push them out.

Across the Atlantic, the women typing were ordinary citizens, peace activists who were opposed to the violence in disintegrating Yugoslavia. They wrote of the horrors they witnessed: ethnic cleansing, systematic mass rape.

For Hutchinson  recently appointed NATOs special representative for women, peace and security  the stories from the grassroots movement made her realize how much women suffered in conflict, but also, how they as powerful and engaged women collectively can change things, change our lives.

She was so struck by the idea that a few years later, Hutchinson left her job in New Brunswick, where she had co-founded a company training people to use the Internet, and went to England to begin a masters at Newcastle University on international relations, with an emphasis on women and policy.

That was the start of the work that I currently do, says Hutchinson. How the voice of women is marginalized in the international political arena and what we should do to re-engage that.

Hutchinson, 50, is the third woman to oversee NATOs implementation of the women, peace and security agenda. The aim is, among other things, to increase the proportion of women in NATO military forces and to incorporate a gender perspective into all areas, including cybersecurity, planning, emergency preparedness and operations.

Born in Newcastle in the north of England, Hutchinson moved to Canada to join her parents in 1991. She became a Canadian citizen four years later. Her job is based in Brussels, where Hutchinson now lives, although she still has a house in Herring Cove, south of Halifax.

She reports directly to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and she will periodically advise members of the North Atlantic Council, NATOs principal decision-making body, which is made up of representatives from the 29 countries that belong to the western military alliance.

In any conflict, 80 per cent of refugees are women and children, says Hutchinson. They are at heightened risk of sexual abuse and violence. In war zones, girls are 2.5 times more likely than boys to not attend school, according to the UN, and the rate of women dying in childbirth is higher.

Yet their perspective is often ignored in military operations and peace negotiations.

In 2000, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1325, which acknowledged the disproportionate impact of war on women and children, and called for womens equal participation in all areas of UN peace and security operations. NATO followed suit, adopting the resolution in 2007. As well, 73 countries have adopted a national women, peace and security plan since the UN resolution.

Last year, the United States was one of the first countries to pass a law requiring the government to create a strategy to increase the participation of women in peacekeeping and security operations, as well as training to promote their inclusion, and a requirement to review progress in departments such as defence and Homeland Security.

Change has been slow, and a report by NATO on its own progress in 2013 said there arent enough political and military leaders familiar with the policies or enough staff trained to implement them.

Currently, women account for only 16 per cent of the organizations military staff at headquarters in Brussels, where they advise the North Atlantic Council on military operations. And just 11 per cent of NATOs allied forces in 2016 were women.

There is a long way to go until we reach gender equality, but we are committed to this effort, says NATO spokesperson Dylan White.

Further afield, the organization has made some strides, appointing women in senior positions including a commander in Afghanistan, another who is commander of the NATO 's airborne warning and control system, and Canadian Lt.-Gen. Christine Whitecross, who is in charge of the alliances defence college in Rome. Forty per cent of the civilian staff in Brussels is female.

On UN peacekeeping missions, women account for less than 4 per cent of military personnel, and 11 per cent of police personnel, according to figures from January.

Hutchinson worked in the field for more than 10 years with the United Nations, and at its headquarters in New York writing gender policy, before moving to NATO. She says a womans idea of protection is much different from a mans.

If you ask women, protection is about clean water, food for children, and do they have access to transportation, or to a safe space, she says. Men in conflict see it as the physical presence of an army being deployed, or guns or small arms or whatever.

If we dont understand how women see this, that its different than men, then were really only responding to half of the population, she says. Involving women allows us to open the space, to do better protection, to do better engagement.

Their inclusion is also critical to ending a scourge of sexual exploitation and abuse by peacekeeping forces, writes Megan Roberts, associate director of the International Institutions and Global Governance program at the Council on Foreign Relations. a New York-based think tank. There were 80 allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse in 2016 involving UN peacekeepers and another 65 allegations involved UN civilian staff, according to United Nations figures.

Female peacekeepers can engage with women in communities where they may be intimidated by men, say experts. Hutchinson was in the Democratic Republic of Congo when a group of women, who had never had a chance to speak to UN commanders, told her where arms caches were stored. She says nobody had thought to ask them.

The women in peacekeeping roles can also inspire other women, such as in Liberia, which saw a dramatic rise in women employed in law enforcement after an all-female unit of peacekeepers  the Indian Formed Police Unit  served there from 2007 to 2016.

We have to do more to drive home that womens voices have to be heard in everything we do, says Hutchinson. Women have to be vocal and present.

And this is part of the work of gender adviser  part of the work here (at NATO) as a special representative as well  to say how do we make differences.

Fifty-two per cent of the world is women, says Hutchinson. I think we have to do better with this.

That drive to do better led Hutchinson to hit the road again, three years after she left Canada for the U.K.

This time, it was to Kosovo, which was then a province of Serbia, to do masters research on whether the UN was doing enough for women after war there in the late 90s. Serbian forces had entered the province to crush a bid by ethnic Albanians for independence. The fighting ended after a 78-day bombing campaign by NATO.

It was the summer of 2004. The region had stabilized, but the physical and psychological effects of war were everywhere.

Hutchinson sent an email asking if she could volunteer for the United Nations, which has had a formalized volunteer program since the 70s. She was told yes, as long as you can get yourself here, she says.

After a three-day trip, Hutchinson got off a bus in Kosovo, carrying a backpack and wearing flip-flops.

I thought, what have I landed in?  says Hutchinson, then 35. This is crazy. This is so different to my life.

She began working as a gender adviser, a position created by the United Nations after it adopted Resolution 1325. Her role was to relay the needs and perspectives of the local female population to the military and civilian staff involved in the peacekeeping operation. At the time, the advisers were just beginning to be deployed, and got little attention.

She says that quite often at that time I was told: we will deal with the real issues and then your issue. 

Hutchinson says that in her role as an academic, she had been critical of the UNs work on gender issues. But after working in Kosovo, she changed her mind.

In Kosovo, entire villages of men had disappeared as a result of ethnic cleansing by Serbian forces. Women were traumatized, not knowing what happened to their loved ones. Females had to take over the farming and become head of the household without any support, Hutchinson says. And as in so many conflicts, rape was used as a weapon of war.

I heard stories from women about their pain and their fight, and I heard stories from women on both sides about their vision for the future, says Hutchinson. I was inspired.

I grew up with strong women as role models, my mother, my grandmother, and I know that this is how we empower strong women, she says. It should not take a war to make us realize the benefits of women empowerment.

Hutchinson decided she wanted to work long-term for the organization.

I had lived my life up to then, in a safe loving family, with opportunities to study and travel, she says. I had never been in direct risk.

Kosovo, and working with the UN, made me see that I had therefore a responsibility  to help give a voice to those who couldnt speak for themselves.

After the summer, Hutchinson was hired full-time by the UN and then was seconded to a Kosovo government office to work on a gender development plan that included setting quotas for female parliamentarians.

In 2008, she left the Balkans to work at UN headquarters, where she developed strategic policy and training on gender issues. She decided in 2012 that she needed to go back to the field, and spent two years as a gender adviser in southern Lebanon.

They were accepting a lot of refugees from Syria, she says of Lebanon, where there are about a million refugees in a country of six million. It was quite eye-opening, women coming from rural parts of Syria who had never been without their husband.

I saw first hand how empowerment changes women, says Hutchinson. Theyd come and some of them had never shopped on their own theyd never been to the doctor alone, she says. They were on their own, and (there was) risk and fear around that, but after a while they became so empowered that when the men joined them, there was a disconnect in the family because now they were speaking for themselves.

Lebanon was host to one of the largest deployments of UN peacekeepers, 10,000 troops. Female soldiers were included in patrols so they could do outreach in the community. Male and female soldiers were told to take off their sunglasses because women didnt feel safe when they couldnt look them in the eye. And armoured cars were opened up to make women less fearful of the military vehicles.

In 2014, Hutchinson returned to UN headquarters to continue the policy work.

Her work with the United Nations department of peacekeeping has also taken her to missions in Ivory Coast, Darfur, Haiti, Cyprus and South Sudan.

Around the 10th anniversary of Resolution 1325, former U.S. diplomat Donald Steinberg reflected on how women fare in peace agreements.

Steinberg, who had served as special assistant for African affairs under president Bill Clinton, helped negotiate peace in Angola after a 20-year civil war ended in 1994. In 2010 he wrote that what he thought was a gender-neutral peace deal actually excluded the needs of women.

Roads had been cleared of land mines, allowing four million refugees to return to their country. But land mines left uncleared in the fields meant women were injured when they went out to plant crops, fetch water and collect firewood. And the frustration of ex-combatants who were sent back to families without skills exploded into an epidemic of alcoholism, drug abuse, divorce, rape and domestic violence, he wrote.

More recently, in 2012, both sides in UN peace negotiations between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) pledged to have women involved and ensure gender equality and womens empowerment. The 51-year war resulted in the deaths of more than 220,000 people and the displacement of 5.9 million people.

In 2015, the UN passed Resolution 2242, committing to redouble its efforts to employ a gender perspective throughout its operations. In response, the Canadian government announced the Elsie Initiative on Women in Peace Operations in 2017, pledging a total of $21 million to support and encourage womens participation in peacekeeping missions.

However, the total number of Canadian peacekeepers in the field in December was 43  the lowest number since the 1950s  and only six were women: five police officers and one military officer.

The federal government said late last year that it was offering equipment and a 200-member rapid reaction force, as well as training personnel, for UN missions. But no final decisions have been made, according to a spokesperson for the Department of National Defence.

Although there has been little improvement in numbers since the initial UN resolution, Rachel Vogelstein, a senior fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations, says she is seeing a greater recognition of the research on how women can make a difference when it comes to peace, security and development than she ever has before.

I think (Hutchinson) is a powerful champion of this issue, says Vogelstein. And I also think that its a moment when were seeing greater recognition of the importance of this issue than in years past.

So I think the combination suggests there is cause for optimism.

Read more about:As the USS Carl Vinson concluded a week-long port call to Danang, Vietnam today, one cant help but recall the contrast to not-too-distant memories from when both countries were locked in a long, bloody war. The USS Carl Vinson, home to 5,500 American sailors and 72 aircraft, is the first U.S. aircraft carrier to visit a Vietnamese port since the Vietnam War ended over four decades ago. Yet, while the visit may seem startling to some, it actually reflects longstanding trends in U.S.-Vietnam relations that have been building for over two decadesillustrated by diplomatic normalization in 1995, previous ship visits starting in 2003, and steady increases in maritime security cooperation over recent years. It also supplements Vietnams concurrent deepening in defense ties with other U.S. security partners in the region, including Japan and India.

In some ways, Vietnam is at the epicenter of broader developments in U.S. Asia policy and regional security cooperation generally. Under the rubric of its new Indo-Pacific strategy, the Trump administration is maintaining and enhancing Obama-era policies to expand bilateral relations with emerging partners in Asia, like Vietnam, and to encourage the development of security networks among like-minded countriesincluding U.S. allies and emerging partnersto address regional challenges like maritime security and counterterrorism. Sustained U.S. engagement has breathed new life into a quadrilateral security dialogue in the region, commonly known as the Quad, encompassing the United States, Japan, India, and Australia. All of these countries have stepped up defense cooperation with Vietnam in recent years.

The common concern propelling such security cooperation is China, and specifically its massive reclamation and militarization activities in the South China Sea. Chinas maritime claims span Vietnams entire coastline, creating serious territorial disputes and overlapping claims between Beijing and Hanoi. This is part of a concerted island-building strategy to create facts on the sea, including airfields, maritime ports, and resupply facilities. In 2014, Hanoi was stunned when China National Petroleum Corporation moved an oil rig into waters off the Paracel Islands claimed by Vietnam. The move set off protests across Vietnam lasting for weeks, with angry Vietnamese protestors burning down Chinese businesses and forcing Beijing to extract thousands of its citizens fleeing the country. The China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) announced it was withdrawing the rig after two months.

The Vietnamese are realists in the face of these challenges, however, and understand they need a stable relationship with China due to their economic dependence and geographic position. At its core, Vietnamese foreign policy aims to balance China without provoking it. Consistent with this approach, Vietnam adheres to a multi-directional foreign policy doctrine rooted in three nos: no foreign troops on Vietnamese soil, no allying with one country to counter another, and no military alliances with foreign powers. Since 2001, Hanoi has diversified its foreign relations and established comprehensive or strategic partnerships with 16 countries, including Japan, India, and Russia. It has even established a  comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership  with China, the highest-level category in Vietnams diplomatic pecking order.

Still, within this multidirectional approach, there has been a particularly noticeable uptick in Vietnams security cooperation with countries that share a common concern about Chinas assertive maritime moves in the South China Sea. U.S.-Vietnam relations expanded quickly under the Obama administration. Highlights included the signing of an MOU on Defense Cooperation in 2011, establishment of a comprehensive partnership in 2013, and agreement on a Defense Relations Vision Statement in 2015. Washington also announced it would fully lift a longstanding lethal weapons ban on Vietnam during Obamas visit to Vietnam in 2016, when the two countries outlined plans to expand maritime security cooperation, reflected in the delivery of a Hamilton-class cutter to the Vietnamese coast guard last year.

These trends have continued under the Trump administration. President Trump traveled to Vietnam for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in November, making it the first Southeast Asian country he visited as president. While on a state visit hosted by President Tran Dai Quang in Hanoi, the two sides announced commercial agreements worth $12 billion and concluded the 2018-2020 Plan of Action for U.S.-Vietnam Defense Cooperation. Secretary of Defense James Mattis soon followed on Trumps trip to Hanoi to meet with Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich. The two discussed regional security issues and pledged to deepen defense cooperation. They also confirmed plans for the USS Carl Vinsons visit to Vietnam this month.

Significantly, Vietnams diversification efforts have not been limited to the United States. Japan is contributing to Vietnams defense capabilities by enhancing military exchanges and defense personnel interoperation. It also transferred six Coast Guard vessels to Vietnam in 2014 and pledged another six in 2017. Vietnam analyst Le Hong Hiep has reported that Japan will transfer two advanced radar satellites to Vietnam in 2018 as part of its official development assistance, noting that Hanoi is also mulling purchasing anti-submarine and surveillance aircraft from Japan. This equipment will expand Vietnams maritime domain awareness capabilities in the South China Sea.

Hanoi is expanding cooperation with India as well. When Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Hanoi in 2016, the two countries elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership, and Modi pledged $500 million in credit to upgrade Vietnamese defense capabilities. New Delhi also offers submarine training to the Vietnamese Navy, which is important because both countries use Russian manufactured subs. On top of defense cooperation, Vietnam has extended exploration rights to Indian state-run oil company Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) Videsh to mine the seabed in block 128, territorial waters that fall within Chinas nine-dash line.

Vietnams expanding relations with these Quad countries have unfolded alongside growing divisions within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on how to cope with Chinas rise and activities in the South China Sea in particular. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has taken a softer line toward Beijing while seeking greater economic support and investment from China, reversing the tougher maritime stance of his predecessor. Meanwhile, Vietnam is playing a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, it continues to challenge Chinas maritime claims, while carrying on with its own reclamation efforts. On the other hand, it appears to have relented to Chinese pressure by backing off a recent oil exploration venture in the South China Sea last summerin a deal involving the Spanish corporation Repsolafter Beijing is reported to have threatened to use force if the exploration continued.

Vietnam is mindful that China can dole out economic pain as well. China is Vietnams largest trading partner, accounting for nearly 30 percent of Vietnams imports and over 10 percent of its exports, and Beijing hasnt hesitated to leverage its economic influence in the past. Keen to reduce its dependence on China, Hanoi is taking steps to diversify its economic relations by agreeing to a free trade agreement with the European Union, which will come into effect this year , and was highly motivated to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership in its original formulation involving the United States. It is among the 11 nations that just signed the revised and scaled-down version of the TPP, known as TPP11 or the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.Ontarios Progressive Conservatives are test-driving a Ford less than three months before an election.

In a stunning upset Saturday following a heated ballot dispute, Doug Ford  brother of late Toronto mayor Rob Ford  was chosen to lead the beleaguered party into the June 7 campaign.

The one-term Toronto city councillor and 2014 runner-up to Mayor John Tory bested favourite Christine Elliott, a lawyer and former MPP making her third attempt at the party leadership.

Tonight we took the first step in defeating Kathleen Wynne, Ford told media and supporters at 10:15 p.m., flanked by his family.

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He acknowledged many of the party members feel like theyve been let down with this process, and added: We have a lot to do in a very short amount of time.

But Ford promised, I will get our party back on track. We will put a platform forward that will speak to every Ontarian.

He praised leadership rival Caroline Mulroney and gave a special shout-out to competitor Tanya Granic Allen, whom he called amazing. Ford also had praise for Elliott, but said she had not conceded victory.

An emailed statement from Elliotts campaign early Sunday pointed to serious irregularities in the leadership contest. It stated that Elliott had won both the popular vote and the majority of ridings, and that fewer than 150 points separated her from Ford in the final calculation.

The leadership vote used preferential ballots and a system of points assigned by riding.

The statement from Elliott alleged that thousands of party members were assigned to incorrect ridings, in some cases hundreds of kilometres away.

I will stand up for these members and plan to investigate the extent of this discrepancy, the statement said.

Fords win came after a tumultuous leadership event on Saturday. Hundreds of party members, who paid $50 each to attend, had waited for hours at a Markham convention centre to learn who their new leader was, only to be sent home after the vote was too close to call.

There is a review (of ballots) underway, PC leadership committee chair Hartley Lefton said around 7:30 p.m., addressing a crowd that had thinned as the afternoon dragged on.

The controversy needs to be resolved, as it may have an impact on electoral votes, he added, drawing shouts and boos as he urged the crowd to leave since the party no longer had access to the hotel ballroom, which was booked for a wedding Sunday.

At issue were the postal codes of around 1,300 ballots, which could have affected the complicated riding points system the Tories use to elect their leaders.

Furious Ford supporters shouted bulls--- and shame as Lefton spoke, because they felt the party establishment was trying to steal the leadership from their candidate.

Former MPP Frank Klees, the runner-up to Tim Hudak in the 2009 leadership contest, fumed that this is not a good night for the party.

I am disheartened. I am embarrassed by what is happening here tonight, said Klees, a Ford supporter, who lashed out at Elliotts camp for apparently contesting the results.

It was Christine Elliotts camp who refused  of all of the four candidates  to extend the voting by a week, said the former cabinet minister, referring to an injunction application for an extension that was denied by a judge Friday night.

A senior party member said of the continued chaos, as well as the spectre of a Ford win: I hope Kathleen Wynne is getting hammered tonight  she should be celebrating.

At a Liberal rally on Sunday, Wynne said she wished Ford well even though we dont agree on all things.

Liberal campaign co-chair Deb Matthews, who was at the leadership event all day, said keeping people in the dark for that long was just unconscionable. They should have come out much, much earlier and said what was going on. That just was very disrespectful.

The last-minute tussling over votes was a stunning development for the PC party. Speakers earlier in the afternoon had urged unity given all the tumult since Patrick Brown stepped down as leader just six weeks ago, after being accused of sexual improprieties involving young women.

Elliott had been perceived as the front-runner over Ford, the 53-year-old married father of four daughters who has spent most of his career running the family business Deco Labels. He left the firm in 2010 to run for his younger brothers old seat in Etobicoke North, and served one term on city council.

During his PC leadership campaign  he was the first to announce his candidacy and did so from the basement of his mothers Etobicoke home  Ford wooed social conservatives by promising to review the provinces sex education curriculum, and wondered why teenage girls dont require permission notes from their parents if they want to get an abortion.

At his campaign launch, Ford said he opposed Ontarios carbon tax, pledged to keep taxes low and said it was time for the PC party to present Ontarians with a compassionate and responsible vision.

For Elliott, 62, Saturdays result was yet another disappointment in her bid to lead the party. The lawyer, former Ontario patient ombudsman and widowed mother of three lost in 2015 to Brown, and in 2009 to Hudak.

Earlier Saturday, party members gathered in hope of a fresh start with a new leader at the helm.

Interim PC leader Vic Fedeli, who took over the day after Brown quit and who said he rooted out the rot left by the former chief, emphasized that the party must heal quickly after a divisive contest.

Our work does not end today, said Fedeli, who was given a standing ovation as he went onstage to the tune of David Bowies Heroes.

Please, do not let the small differences that are inevitable in a leadership distract us from our shared purpose, said the popular Nipissing MPP.

Make no mistake, the Ontario PC Party is strong, the Ontario PC Party is united, the Ontario PC Party is ready to win and get to work making life better for all Ontario families.

Read more: A never-ending Tory story: Six tumultuous weeks in Ontario PC party

Brown, whom Fedeli ejected from the Tory caucus and who now sits as an Independent MPP, was nowhere to be seen at the weekend confab. Friends told the Star he was out of the country.

While there remains some sympathy toward Brown within the party, a 10-day aborted comeback attempt for his old job that ended two weeks ago left many feeling sour.

Some felt Brown was using his bid to reclaim the party leadership as a way to clear his name, lending a soap opera quality to the contest.

Jason Kenney, leader of Albertas United Conservative party, told his Ontario counterparts in a keynote speech Saturday that they must come together to beat the Liberals in the election this spring.

Are you ready to unite? said Kenney, who was instrumental in bringing together the Alberta PC and Wildrose parties to try to unseat Premier Rachel Notleys NDP government.

Lets be honest, theres no point in sugar-coating this. Youve been through a very tough couple of months  perhaps the toughest time in the history of the Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario, he said.

Youve gone through weeks of anxiety and adversity, but I am certain that you will overcome this time of trial.

Read more about:His party calls him the definitive winner of the Ontario PC leadership race  and now his closest competitor agrees.

Christine Elliott had refused to concede to Doug Ford on Saturday night after the voting results came in, later saying serious irregularities marred the process. She hunkered down with lawyers on Sunday, but by dinnertime she had met with Ford and announced shed accepted the result.

The pace of this Ontario PC leadership race has been rapid and there have been a number of unexpected turns along the way. That is why our team took the last 24 hours to review the results of an election that was incredibly close, Elliott said in a statement released just before 8 p.m.

After completing my review, I am confident in the results. I extend my congratulations to Doug Ford on a hard-fought campaign.

The tussle over the election results arose after Elliott won both the popular vote as well as 64 ridings, compared to Fords 60 on the third ballot  yet still lost the race.

Our scrutineers identified entire towns voting in the wrong riding. In a race this close, largely determined by geography, someone needs to stand up for these members, Elliott said earlier in the day.

But the Ontario PC Partys leadership committee called the results definitive and said they provide a clear mandate to Doug Ford.

The issue was extensively investigated by the chief electoral officer and the election team, said committee chair Hartley Lefton. The identified issue would not statistically lead to a change in the outcome of the vote, and so Elliotts internal appeal was dismissed.

Read more:

Opinion | Cohn: After a wild PC leadership race, dont rule out Premier Ford

How the Tories pick their leaders

Doug Ford wins Ontario PC leadership after chaotic party race

In a tweet Sunday evening, Ford  who during the leadership campaign also cast doubts on the process, supporting a bid for an injunction to extend voting  called Elliott a great friend, and said, I look forward to working together to put Ontario on the right track.

Elliott indicated in her tweet that she would run for a seat in the provincial election.

But the dispute kept the party mired in chaos following high drama on Saturday, after Fords narrow victory was announced some seven hours late.

Elliotts campaign had said there were fewer than 150 points separating her and Ford, out of the possible 12,000 in play. The Tories use a complex system to select a new leader, in which the percentage of votes in each riding determines how many electoral points a candidate is allotted.

But on Sunday, calls were increasing for Elliott to abandon any challenge, arguing the party needs to move forward given the provincial election is less than three months away. Those calls included a plea from former premier Mike Harris.

Its time for everyone to put our party and our province first, Harris told the Stars Robert Benzie

Harris, the PC premier from 1995 until 2002, remains a widely respected figure in the party. Elliotts late husband, Jim Flaherty, was his finance minister in 2001-02.

The former premier said he contacted the Star because he wants Conservatives to get on with working to unseat Kathleen Wynnes Liberals in the June 7 election.

Former Tory MPP Janet Ecker  who served as education minister in Harriss government  said earlier in the day that if there are legitimate grounds for a challenge, you can understand why Christine would be doing it, because she did fight long and hard for this, and clearly she has a very strong base of support.

However, she said, with so little time before the general election, we have to get on with the job of running the campaign.

On Sunday afternoon, Wynne tweeted out congratulations, and told a Brampton rally that shed like to wish Doug well.

Even though we disagree about many things, I welcome him to provincial politics, she said.

This news, however, changes very little for us. Who we are fighting against has changed, but who we are fighting for has not. We are fighting for the people of Ontario  and thats what this election is about.

Wynne later warned Fords plans for the province could cost up to 40,000 public sector positions.

The PC party was forced into a condensed leadership contest after Patrick Brown stepped down amid accusations of sexual misconduct with two inebriated young women while he was a federal MP.

At Saturdays convention, interim PC leader Vic Fedeli implored party members to be unified  but that is more easily said than done, observers say.

Christopher Cochrane, an author and political science professor at the University of Toronto, said Ford had the advantage going into the race. But he said the result is likely unprecedented in Canadian politics if in fact it is true that Christine Elliott won the most votes, and won the most ridings, but still lost the election.

He said the process itself has led to divisions, given ridings with fewer Conservative members can provide candidates with large margins.

As well, caucus members  many who supported Elliott  appear to be at odds with Ford, who eventually won.

Theyve elected Doug Ford, who by his own words is planning to be a wrecking ball, said Cochrane, who said that despite internal party woes, Ford does give the PCs a good chance of winning in the general election.

There was such a narrow margin of difference in the vote  it reflects such a polarization and divide in the party, and the winner ends up being a highly polarizing force, added Myer Siemiatycki, a politics professor at Ryerson University.

In some ways, theyve ended up with the worst of all worlds. A discredited campaign, a leader who is highly polarizing and thats the person who is somehow charged now with trying to build bridges and unity and common purpose.

But bringing the two sides together is always a challenge after any leadership race, said Ecker, and the test of the Doug Ford leadership is how well he can reach out and put the party back together again.

The party has spoken, she said. And its time for everybody to get behind Doug.

Read more about:WASHINGTONU.S. President Donald Trump took another shot at Canadas trade practices Saturday, alleging that Canadian leaders have taken advantage of bumbling American politicians for decades.

Canadas brutal. Canadas really tough, Trump said during a rambling speech on behalf of a Republican candidate, Rick Saccone, who is running in Tuesdays hotly contested special House of Representatives election in western Pennsylvania.

We have a big deficit with Canada, too, Trump continued, though his own Council of Economic Advisers acknowledged in its recent annual report that, as Canadian officials have repeatedly said, the U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Canada.

They send in timber, they send in steel, they send in a lot of things. But our farmers in Wisconsin are not treated well when we want to send things to them, Trump said.

That appeared to be a reference to an obscure trade dispute about ultrafiltered milk, a high-protein concentrate sometimes used to make cheese and yogurt.

Hey, and I dont blame them. Why should I blame them? Because they just outsmarted our politicians for decades. And I dont mean Obama  I mean all of them. Since Bush the first. And that includes  I mean that includes a lot of territory. Frankly, Ronald Reagan  For many, many years theyve been outsmarting us.

Read more:

In this depressed Pennsylvania steel town, Trumps tariffs meet deep skepticism  and almost no one wants to hit Canada

Trump gives Canada an exemption from tariffs  subject to NAFTA negotiations, he says

Editorial | Canada should tell Trump to take a hike on tariffs

Trump granted Canada and Mexico exemptions to the steel and aluminum tariffs he announced on Thursday. On Saturday, he repeated his previous suggestion that the future of the exemption is tied to the outcome of North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations  though the supposed justification for the tariffs is national security.

They said, We dont want to pay tariffs. I said, Lets make a deal on NAFTA. And if you make a decent deal, a fair deal for the American worker, the American people, we will  youll have no problem with the tariff,  he said.

Trump again dismissed concerns about a trade war. Of European Union threats of retaliatory tariffs, he said. You cant go even higher than you are anyway.

Trumps speech was both impassioned and highly unfocused, and it was littered with false claims. He devoted much of his time to criticism of the media, which he called fake  including an extended argument that he is smart and not the Neanderthal he believes he is made out to be. Among other insults, he called television host Chuck Todd a sleeping son of a bitch and Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters a very low-IQ individual.

He also sought validation. At one point, the president asked the crowd: Do you like me?

Read more about:NEW DELHIFrench President Emmanuel Macron took a jibe at U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday for his decision to withdraw the United States from the Paris climate agreement.

Macron did not name Trump while speaking at the first meeting of the International Solar Alliance in New Delhi. But while hailing the solar mamas, a group of women trained as solar engineers, he said the women had continued their mission to promote solar energy even after some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.

Trump announced last June that the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris accord, which aims to slow the rise in global temperature by reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

At a separate weekend event in India, former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also regretted Trumps decision.

It is shameful that the U.S. is the only country in the world that is not in the Paris Agreement, Clinton said Saturday in Mumbai, Indias financial capital, while speaking at a conference organized by the India Today media group.

Read more:

Syria to join Paris climate agreement, leaving U.S. as the worlds only hold out

Targets in Paris climate agreement only one-third of whats needed to reach goal: UN report

U.S. refuses to sign G7 Paris climate accord pledge, says its taking action on its own

Heads and ministers of dozens of countries participated in Sundays solar meeting, co-hosted by India and France.

The International Solar Alliance is a treaty-based international body for the promotion of efficient exploitation of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. It was launched by India and France on the sidelines of the 2015 Paris Climate Conference.

Today is a big change, Macron told the meeting. Our solar mamas, who we just listened to, didnt wait for us. They started to act and to deliver concrete results. They didnt wait and they didnt stop because some countries decided just to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement.

Because they decided it was good for them, for their children, their grandchildren. They decided to act and keep acting, and thats why we are here, in order to act very concretely, Macron said.

India and France called for affordable solar technology and concessional finance for promoting solar energy.

The meeting was to discuss framing regulations and standards, credit mechanisms, crowd funding and sharing of technological breakthroughs to promote solar energy in 121 countries associated with the Alliance. The member countries are fully or partially between the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a unified effort for promoting solar energy and said the Alliance would help to achieve greater global energy security.

Promoting its development and use can bring prosperity for all and can help reduce the carbon footprint on Earth, Modi told the conference. If we want the welfare of planet Earth and of the whole humanity, I am confident that we can come out of our personal confines and like a family, bring unity in our aims and efforts (to promote solar energy).

Read more about:MUSCAT, Oman Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that he does not want to talk about the Korean Peninsula at all at this time, underscoring the sensitivity with which he believes Washington must handle a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un.

Mattis, speaking on a military flight from Washington to the Middle East, said that media questions about North Korea are very valid, but he will leave it to the State Department and senior members of the White House to address questions about the meeting because it is a diplomatically led effort. The Pentagon chief addressed the issue for the first time since Trump unexpectedly accepted an invitation Thursday to meet with Kim after years of his regimes threats against the United States and South Korea.

When you get into a position like this, the potential for misunderstanding remains very high and grows higher, Mattis said. I want those who are actually ... in the discussions to answer all media questions.

Read more: Trump, North Koreas Kim Jong Un agree to meet by end of May

Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and other senior officials were with Trump when he met Thursday with South Korean national security adviser Chung Eui-yong, who relayed an invitation to Trump to meet. Chung said it came with a promise that Kim would temporarily stop his ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs and an acknowledgment that the South Korean and U.S. militaries would continue to carry out exercises together.

The meeting potentially provides a framework through which the two Koreas and the United States can de-escalate years of tension that ratcheted up as the Kim regime tested nuclear bombs, launched ballistic missiles over Japan and threatened to destroy U.S. cities. But if the meeting fails, it could leave Trump and his senior advisers feeling as though there is no alternative with North Korea but war.

Trump signalled Saturday night in Pennsylvania that hes uncertain what is to come.

Who know whats going to happen? he said, speaking at campaign rally for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone. I may leave fast, or we may sit down and make the greatest deal in the world.

Mattis, asked about the military aspects of the discussions, declined to answer.

If I was on your side of the cabin, I would be doing the same thing, Mattis told a reporter on his plane asking the question. But what I want you to understand right now is that every word is going to be ... parsed apart across different cultures, and at different times of the day, and in different contexts.

The approach is in keeping with Mattis desire to put diplomacy at the forefront with military might underpinning it. The Pentagon chief, a retired Marine general known to have influence with Trump, has repeatedly stressed looking for ways to avoid war with North Korea.

The military dimensions to the talks are not all clear, but include annual military exercises that are expected to begin within weeks. The largest, known as Foal Eagle, typically involves thousands of U.S. troops drilling with an even larger South Korean force. Last years exercise included everything from a visit by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to participation for the first time by advanced F-35B fighters. North Korea has typically responded to the exercises with outrage.

Trump also addressed the potential talks with two tweets Saturday afternoon, saying in the first that he had discussed the potential meeting with North Korea at length with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

President Xi told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative, Trump wrote. China continues to be helpful!

Trump noted in a second tweet that North Korea has not conducted a missile test since Nov. 28, and has promised not to do so through our meetings. Trump believes North Korea will honour that commitment, he wrote.

Read more about:If there is one lesson I learned during my time in politics, its that when it rains, it pours. Rarely did I receive one piece of bad news without a few more unpleasant surprises by the end of the day. A crisis in the health portfolio would soon be followed by a meltdown by a backbench MPP, or some other unexpected turn of events.

So it has gone with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

February was not a particularly kind month to the Liberal government. I can only assume that their issues management team did not have much chance to sleep. As soon as it had solved one challenge, it seemed that another emerged.

Of course, the most problematic was Trudeaus ill-fated official visit to India. The prime minister, who has proven that he is remarkably adept at demonstrating authenticity, came across as almost comically out-of-touch.

Dressed in traditional Indian garments, the entire Trudeau family spent the entire week clothed in a way that many Indians took as insulting. The parade of outfits, combined with an attempt by Trudeau to literally dance for a crowd, made for endless mocking on social media and tut-tutting in traditional media.

But more challenging still for the visit was the Indian governments subtle, or not-so-subtle, attempts to undermine the trip and demonstrate its antipathy toward Trudeaus government.

Narendra Modis government got quite close with the former Conservative government and has not been secretive in its disapproval of several moves by the Trudeau government. It set about sabotaging the Trudeau tour as subtly as it could, as when it sent only a junior minister of agriculture to greet Trudeau (Modi usually makes a personal appearance to greet foreign dignitaries), or when it sent low-ranking bureaucrats to accompany the Trudeaus.

While those were minor frustrations, they received minimal attention at home. The trip officially went from bad-to-worse when Jaspal Atwal turned up at a reception hosted by the Canadian government to celebrate our bilateral relationship with India. Atwal is a persona non grata with the Indian government, having attempted to murder an Indian cabinet minister visiting Vancouver in 1986.

His presence, for good reason, caused a major scandal among the Indian government, and afforded them the opportunity to once again accuse the Liberals of running a government that is weak on the issue of Sikh extremism.

Read more:

Saskatchewan stands pat against carbon tax after meeting with Trudeau

Editorial: Justin Trudeau should not glibly dismiss universal programs

Opposition slams Trudeau as Indian government official calls sabotage claims baseless

The issue unsettled Liberal MPs, but the federal budget promised to turn the page on Feb. 27. The problem was that the budget was a wholly unremarkable document, and one that did little to refocus the media onto the positive work done by the government.

The last week has been no more kind to the government. President Trumps haphazard and aggressive announcements that he would be imposing trade tariffs on steel in allied nations came as unwelcome news. The fact that he wrote specifically about Canada was even more unwelcome development.

The government, to its enormous credit, successfully pushed back on the imposition of tariffs, offering Canada a temporary reprieve. But the potential imposition of such damaging tariffs will now be used as a sword of Damocles, an implicit threat dangling over the head of Canada as our government attempts to negotiate NAFTA.

And to cap off several weeks of unpleasantness, several polls emerged that showed the Liberals trailing the Tories for the first time in years.

Now, let it be known that polls taken this far away from an election are minimally important in understanding what will actually happen in the 2019 election.

What those polls, and the successive bad news, can actually do is unnerve the Liberal MPs. While people dismiss the power of MPs on the agenda of the government, they actually have remarkable power to shape its priorities. An agitated and restless caucus can spell major issues for a government.

While we havent yet approached that moment, the disquiet among the Liberal backbench is evident  both based on their faces during Question Period, and in murmurs around the Hill.

To remedy that discontent, Trudeau needs to reclaim the narrative. The question is how he goes about accomplishing that.

Jaime Watt is the executive chairman of Navigator Ltd. and a Conservative strategist.

Read more about:The Canadian government indicates that it plans to lead global conversations on cutting plastic waste at the upcoming G7 leaders summit in June. Federal Environment Minister Catherine McKenna has said Canadas contribution could include creating a plastics charter or a zero-waste goal.

Please, no more charters. We need more action.

Its clear Canada should take a lead on plastic waste. Canadians are among the most wasteful people in the world, with 25 million tonnes of waste, including plastic, ending up in landfills in 2014. Of course, millions of plastic bottles and other plastic waste never even make it to the landfill, but instead end up in our streets and environment.

In our oceans, our plastic joins the waste of other countries to kill a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year, according to the UN Environment Program.

So, what can be done?

Some countries are taking a product-specific approach. France has banned disposable plastic containers, cutlery and plastic bags. Kenya and Bangladesh have banned plastic bags. Many others are discussing similar moves.

However, such approaches have their limits when up against products that are more necessary or the intense lobbying of the oil and plastics industry. Instead, we need comprehensive approaches that capture more products and are easier and more economically beneficial to implement.

Provinces set the legislative frame for how waste is tackled. For example, all but two provinces and one territory have plastic beverage bottle deposit return programs that achieve high recovery rates. Ottawa could mandate that all provinces achieve at least a 90-per-cent recovery and let each of them design its own system.

This would ensure that the laggards in Manitoba and Ontario (which throws away 1.5 billion plastic bottles every year) get their acts together. If provinces dont achieve the target, the federal government could impose a tax on the bottles and give the funds to municipalities for waste abatement programs.

The federal government could also require that major multinational corporations  like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Pepsi and McDonalds  increase the amount of recycled material in their products and packaging to 100 per cent by 2023. High recycled content targets create market demand for recycled materials. They also make companies more likely to support collection systems that provide high volumes of high quality plastics, like deposit return programs.

Finally, Ottawa could lead conversations on the development of waste legislation that moves the country away from a make-use-dispose model and toward a circular one, where waste materials become the building blocks for other processes in our economy.

Impossible? Not at all. Such an approach already led to the Pan Canadian Framework on Climate Change, and plastic waste is an easier problem to tackle.

Showing up at the G7 with a package of reforms like this would say that Canada is serious about dealing with its plastic waste. That is leadership others can get behind.

Tim Gray is executive director of Environmental Defence Canada.Isnt it curious that the same politicians who spend more than $1.5 billion on public broadcasting in Canada, and grant nearly a $1 billion to private program producers and broadcasters, and tens of millions more to magazines, are the same ones who sneer at the idea of supporting serious print journalism?

They flippantly dismiss failing business models when discussing Canadas largest serious newspapers. They miss the irony, clearly, as they peck at their iPhones for the stolen headlines from those same newspapers.

The crumbs thrown to Canadian journalism in this federal budget are almost insulting  $10 million for local journalism. That could add perhaps two reporters at 100 local papers  or less than 2 per cent of the journalist jobs lost in the past decade.

Why is it that Canadian politicians are happy to support Canadian television, radio and digital domains, but not the newspapers that form the foundation of serious journalism in every country?

The failing business model insult is mere Trumpian foolishness: the New York Times, the Washington Post and the Wall St. Journal, are each approaching 100 million online readers in Canada and the U.S. alone.

To get there, each has had external financial support. Who has smacked the Trump administration almost daily for fifteen months. CNN? Instagram? No, the three newspaper giants, just as they did on Watergate and the Pentagon Papers a generation ago.

Who was it who broke the thalidomide victims stories, or those of the victims of sexual abuse by the Canadian police and justice system? Who was it who undid Torontos most humiliating mayor, who remains relentless about accountable policing? Was it HuffPo, Global News or talk radio? Please, dont insult Canadians who care about serious journalism. Those tough stories are almost always the work of a large serious newspaper, usually either this one or the Globe and Mail.

Following the investment of hundreds of hours and tens of thousands of dollars of investigative reporting time, were these painful stories and the political damage they caused hailed by any minister or any premier? Well, not so much.

So perhaps here we have the answer as to why some politicians and their staffs snicker to each other about the sight of senior editors and publishers, from formerly rich and powerful news organizations blushingly holding out their begging bowl, as one of them had the cheek to put it privately to friends.

When challenged for their hypocrisy these politicians mutter about the sacred independence of Canadian journalism. Oh, really? How many politicians have you seen, who have given genuine priority to the survival, let alone the sacred independence of their daily scolds: serious journalists? Exactly.

Every developed nation in the world  except the Anglosphere, curiously  provides direct and indirect support to serious journalism: extra tax credit to ad buyers and volume subscribers, intern and training support, accelerated depreciation allowances, wage supplements, even discounts on newsprint, distribution and ink costs.

The array of policy tools is as long as your arm. No one would claim that Le Monde, Die Zeit or Aftonbladet, each supported by some of these tools, were shills for any political party. The independence concern is nonsense.

No, here is the question that voters concerned about one of the most important guardians of democracy  that is serious journalism, meaning serious newspapers, most fundamentally  need to ask of their politicians.

What are you doing to ensure that the men and women who work hard to ensure that the hard truths are told, are not being driven out of business by those who steal their intellectual property  done with your legal complicity, and my tax dollars?

When I was a whey-faced TV news script writer more than 40 years ago, my first job each day was scalping the headlines from the Toronto newspapers for our lead that night.

The only thing that has changed in the intervening years is that the scalpers now are vastly richer and more powerful digital monopolies, who can steal content and ad dollars, in seconds and seem blind to the risk of killing their own news suppliers.

The continuing neglect of this slow-moving collapse of one of the pillars of every democracy by our governments is not acceptable.

Robin V. Sears is a principal at Earnscliffe Strategy Group, was an NDP strategist for 20 years.ALTON  The first of two studies regarding future of Altons 56-year-old wastewater treatment plant, regardless of who will own it, is complete and recommends $18,250,000 in improvements.

If we get to upgrade the wastewater facilities plant, the City of Alton and Altonians will end up with something to be very proud of, said plant Manager Steve Gibson. The mayor tasked me to make it one of the best facilities with advanced technology. Were going to position the wastewater treatment plant for the next 100 years. That plan would automate 95 percent of what we do.

With $2.2 million in engineering costs, a 3 percent state revolving loan contingency and construction interest  minus $2 million in funding already allocated  the total estimated cost of the project is $19.5 million, according to the wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) facility plan compiled by consulting engineers Crawford, Murphy and Tilly Inc. of Edwardsville and St. Louis.

The firm completed the highly detailed evaluation and plan in mid-February, with The Telegraph obtaining a copy from the city.

The City Council had given the go-ahead for officials to sign an agreement for professional services with the engineers on April 12, 2017. Cost of the study was not to exceed $195,000, with the money coming from the self-generating Sewer Fund.

The city has critical reasons to finally make significant updates to the plant, 19 Chessen Lane, which has undergone little modernization through the decades. It must meet criteria in order to renew its operating permit from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA). Should the plant fail, the IEPA likely would fine the city each day it was not in operation and the city would have to haul off the biosolids.

A desperate need

More Information <p><strong>The capital improvement plans scope of near-term and long-term work at the Alton Wastewater Treatment Plant is vast.</strong></p><p>The evaluation of the existing treatment plant and recommended improvements maximized the re-use or continued use of the existing facilities to the extent practical, however, much of the existing facilities will require replacement, its executive summary says. The recommendations include a combination of cost-effective and technically reliable improvements to the existing treatment facilities.</p><p>A big part of the improvements would be replacing old equipment made of carbon steel that rusts with long-lasting stainless steel pieces. I dont feel like Im doing my job if I dont set it up for a very long time, plant Manager Steve Gibson said. It is always going to be a water treatment plant, people always will have bathrooms. We arent going back to outhouses.</p><p>Among other needed improvements on the list: new mechanically cleaned automatic screen and screenings washer/compactor; replace all clarifier equipment; install new primary sludge pumps on variable frequency drives, pipes, valves and controls; replace the activated sludge aeration system; construct a third, 100-foot-diameter secondary clarifier and replace equipment in both existing secondary clarifiers; new effluent pumps on variable frequency drives, pipes, valves and monitors in the effluent pump station; new 36-inch effluent force main; new return activated sludge and waste activated sludge pumping station with submersible pumps; new electrical gear, blowers, fine bubble diffused aeration system, mixing equipment, automated decanting equipment, instrumentation and controls, above-grade welded stainless steel piping and supports; and replace existing digested sludge transfer pumps in the aerobic digesters; new anaerobic digester mixing system, covers, heater/heat exchanger, gas safety piping and equipment, structural and cosmetic repairs, architectural enhancers; new electrical building, new electrical service entrance, electrical and power distribution system for the primary and secondary treatment facilities and effluent pump station; new supervisory control and data acquisition system, generator, plus miscellaneous and ancillary items.</p> See More Collapse

The citys existing treatment plant is in desperate need of updating, the report says. Much of the treatment process equipment has far exceeded its design life and needs to be replaced. Changing regulations per the (IEPA) will require additional and/or enhanced unit processes at the treatment plant, if not in the immediate permit renewal, within the next few permit cycles. Changes to regulations in Illinois are being driven on the national level by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA).

Gibson said last May that the newest system in the plant was 39 years old, now 40, and it was designed to last 20 years. In addition to addressing the issues of the overall aging process and old equipment, he said the IEPA is implementing new ammonia and phosphorous standards for which the plant will have to undergo improvements so as to comply.

For the most part, no major upgrades or rehabilitations have been made to the primary and secondary treatment facilities since their original construction, the report continues. Mechanical treatment systems like those at the Alton WWTP have a typical life expectancy of 20 to 25 years. As a result, the primary and secondary treatment system equipment has exceeded its useful service life and needs to be replaced.

The current rated plants wastewater flow capacity is 10.50 million gallons per day (mgd), with the current average flow at 9.00 mgd, coming from customers in Alton, Godfrey and Bethalto. The plan, which predicts a population drop in the service area from 53,669 in 2017 to 49,713 in 2040, still calls for a 10 percent increase in flow capacity in the 20-year projection to 9.54 mgd to handle any rise in demand.

New administration building

Among the recommended improvements in the Crawford, Murphy and Tilly Inc., study is razing the dark, circa 1962, 3,300-square-foot administration building and replace it with an Americans With Disabilities Act compliant masonry structure. That $2 million replacement building would be replete with windows, have 6,320 square feet, a separate shower for women employees  which the current facility does not have despite having a female operator  reception area and conference room.

It would have a properly sized lab, which we dont have now, Gibson said.

The plans target timeline suggests the city have the IEPA approve the plan by July; with the design work starting in April and completed in December, all in 2018. The city also should have financing and a permit for operating the new facility by December; solicit bids in January 2019, and award the construction contract in March 2019. Completion of the project then would be in September 2020; start-up activities in October-December 2020; and operating in January 2021.

Despite the long list of work needed, some portions of the plant and site do not need improving, including the preliminary treatment and chlorination buildings; water booster pump station; filter building and sludge dewatering facilities; biosolids drying beds and storage area; and storage buildings.

Paying for the work

Regarding financing for the work, the plan recommends Alton obtain a State of Illinois Revolving Loan with less than 2 percent interest, which would incur annual debt service of about $1.175 million on the $19.5 million loan.

With such a loan, though, Alton could be eligible for 15- to 30 percent principal forgiveness because of the citys lower level of median household income, the report says. Gibson, though, said the forgiveness amount could be 10-30 percent. The city has submitted a loan pre-application to the IEPA.

The city already has $3.6 million left to pay off in sewer-related loans.

The plan does not include analysis of the existing wastewater collection system or state-mandated upgrades, particularly separating the combined, sanitary-storm water runoff sewer lines and aging pipes. Alton has about 205 miles of sanitary sewer lines; 3,680 manholes, 1,026 catch basins, 858 inlets and 13 pump stations, it says.

The treatment plant work is crucial, no matter if the city or Illinois American Water owns the facility.

The utility was the only respondent to Altons request for proposals to buy the sanitary sewer system and treatment plant, containing three options: $50 million, $53.8 million or $60 million, depending on varying charges to customers.

Aldermen unanimously approved a resolution Feb. 28 allowing officials to begin negotiations with the company regarding the proposal, but the city has made no commitment to sell at this point.

Resource Recovery Facility second-level study

The other study, which is a second phase of examining feasibility of the city building a resource recovery facility  and identifying sources of organic waste for converting to natural gas, fertilizer and ammonia sulfate struvite for sale  is nearly finished. Gibson said representatives from EcoEngineers of Des Moines, Iowa, will present results of that report at the April 25 City Council meeting, which begins at 6:30 p.m. at Alton City Hall, 101 E. Third St.

If the city did build the RRF, it would retain ownership if Illinois American Water does purchase Altons sanitary sewer system and treatment plant. Gibson said if the treatment plant is upgraded to 95 percent automation, staff could work at both that facility and the RRF, resulting in no staff reductions from the modernizations.

Reach Linda N. Weller at 618-208-6450 or on Twitter @Linda_WellerEDWARDSVILLE  Its a safe bet that if you dont know much about vintage bicycles and your idea of a dream ride involves skinny tires, furious pedaling and tight pace lines, you would not want to join the Gateway Coasters Vintage Bicycle Group.

Likewise, the upcoming Le Tour Leclaire Vintage Bicycle Ride, which promises to be a leisurely roll from the Nickel Plate Trail parking lot near Market Basket over to Leclaire Lake, would not be your cup of tea either.

But the ride is sure to be fun for anyone who would enjoy a six-block ride through a historic section of Edwardsville, said Steve Gray of Glen Carbon.

The ride begins around 11 a.m. on Saturday, March 24.

Our rides are not very intense rides, said Gray, a vintage bicycle enthusiast and member of the Gateway Coasters. Theyre pretty laid back. We use 70 or 80-year-old bicycles, and we dont push them very hard.

The definition of what qualifies as a vintage bicycles is inexact. Some people show up for rides with pre-World War II bikes and others come with bikes such as the Schwinn Stingrays, a 60s era muscle bike with banana seats and ape hanger handlebars.

People will refurbish the bikes they rode as youngsters, said Gail Gray. There are young and old in our group. And the thing is, everybody always brings extra bikes, so if you dont have one, theres always one to use around.

The husband and wife team got the bug a few years ago on a vacation trip to Virginia Beach, Virginia. Locals had built their own customized bikes and cruised them up and down the boardwalk area. Steve Gray, who says he has always been a bike guy, was intrigued. I was always rebuilding bikes, and always had projects going on, he said. That kind of rekindled my interest.

That led him to drive over to the Forest Park Easter Car Show, which led to his discovery of the Gateway Coasters. Gray followed-up by connecting to the group through their Facebook page, and four years ago he got the Gateway Coasters involved in the 2018 D.A.R.E. Car Show in Edwardsville. He brought his own vintage bike to the event.

I was the only one there with one, but I think last year we had close to a hundred of them, he said. So we went from one guy to a hundred. People just kept showing up.

Vintage bicycles can weigh upwards of 55 pounds, four times more than todays lightest Trek model.

Recently, Gray brought a two-tone red Aero Line Murray to the Edwardsville Intelligencer that weighs 45 pounds. The extra weight of old bicycles  many of which were made with polished chrome and aluminum frames  cuts down on the length and intensity of other bike rides.

Sometimes I issue what I call the Vintage Bike Challenge, said Gray. My rationale is if youre really wanting an effective workout and youre riding a 45-pound bike versus a 20-pound bike, mile-for-mile (the vintage bike) will give you a better workout. For our rides, if we go any kind of distance, my legs are just ripped.

Gateway Coasters rides are organized and publicized on their Facebook page. Often, riders meet for mid-morning coffee and a bite to eat before pedaling off around noon.

The starting time for the March 24 ride in Edwardsville is between 10 and 11 a.m., but the exact time is a bit vague.

Plan to arrive early if you would like to go to Glazy Squares Bakery for breakfast before the ride, the group stated on its website.

The plan is to meet at the MCT Nickel Plate Trail parking lot, cross over to the Edwardsville Childrens Museum, at 722 Holyoake Road, then coast down the side streets of the Leclaire neighborhood to Leclaire Lake. A few stops will be made for photos, and then the group will head over to The Bike Factory, which moved recently from the Montclaire Shopping Center to Franklin Avenue.

Registration is not required for the Le Tour Leclaire Vintage Bicycle Ride. The ride is free.

Were a group, not a club, so there are no bylaws, no meetings, no dues, said Gray.The Hindu, February 06, 2018

Kasganj is a metaphor for the emerging everydayness of riot-induced violence

Every riot today produces a set of staged narratives which are eerie to watch and strange to listen to. A riot is no longer an act of production where the narrative focusses on causes but an act of consumption where a variety of narratives create a quilt patch we call history. The actual event is enacted in a limited space, while the narratives of the event spread out in oceanic circles for consumption. The riots in Kasganj convey that quality and need to be seen within an analytical frame. Today, narratives of riots are the Rorschach test of a people, capturing their fear and anxieties.

Fractured narrative

This much is clear. It was riot on Republic Day, invoking a miracle gone wrong. In a way the performance already enacts the problematics of memory, not just that it was January 26 but the violence took place on Abdul Hameed Avenue in Baddu Nagar, a Muslim majority area. It was probably the most ironic tribute to a great soldier. Riots too often begin with a festival-like quality. The reports say a group of Hindus, or more specifically, Hindutva supporters, probably a mix of elements of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal, were carrying out a victory parade on motorbikes. At the other side of town, a group of Muslims were celebrating Republic Day, hoisting a flag. In an earlier era it would have been a show of solidarity of a national event commanding the allegiance of its desperate citizens.

The rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has helped fracture this narrative. Today political solidarity seems to be a two-layered affair a where the icing of patriotism hides a huge chunk of communalism, where patriotism becomes what a communal majority defines it as. This leads to Muslims being asked to sing Vande Mataram when they feel that this insults their loyalty to the nation.

The motorcycle cavalcade moves to the Abdul Hameed avenue, the youths are armed with flags and swords. Even guns, as videos later testify. One almost senses a whiff of machismo and nationalism weaving together. Those in the Hindu cavalcade to assert its claim to history and turf insist on driving though the crowd hoisting a flag. A fracas ensues and in the resulting violence, a young Hindu man, Chandan Gupta, is shot. Of course another person was blinded and shops and vehicles gutted but all that is passive background.

At first sight, the Kasganj riot is presented as an archetypal riot around a standard scenario of small differences, two angry communities and a stumbling bureaucracy. Yet what brings irony and confounds this narrative is that the Kasganj riots took place on Republic Day. The communal and the national confronted each other to prove that patriotism today is not a secular loyalty but a majoritarian definition. As the events unfolded, the communal rhetoric takes over completely. Abdul Hameed must be turning in his grave.

The nature of narrative changes. It is no longer about solidarity but about communal accounting. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal desperate to settle narrative accounts equate the death of Chandan Gupta with the murder of Mohammad Akhlaq in Dadri. They talk about athe silence of Hindusa , of a need to balance narratives and compensation. The Akhilesh Yadav government in a populist move used the Akhlaq episode to give out doles a a30 lakh in compensation to Akhlaqas family, a5 lakh to each of the brothers, and a flat to the family from some discretionary fund.

Recoding history

To the VHP and the RSS, history is about equivalence. If Akhlaq was immortalised by compensation rather than commemoration, Chandan Gupta deserved no less. He was to be declared a martyr, a shaheed, a patriotic servant of the country who died in battle. They demanded full security for Guptaas family and demanded a compensation of a50 lakh. It was one-upmanship parading as concern, care and justice. It made one feel that the historic battles of liberation found a crass continuity in violence. Only riots offered you the possibility of compensation. Earlier, a martyr carried a symbolic halo and earned a ritual salute. Now history becomes a form of attraction and a victim of a riot makes some families cash-rich. One senses a recoding of history to fuel the fires of communal politics. Republic Day now is a continuation of communalism by other means.

Riots today are always enacted twice, once on the streets and once through video clips. One is tempted to modify the Marxist quote and add once as history and second time as a farce. One discovers that the flag cavalcade was a Tiranga Yatra, led by a communal mob known for its rowdy behaviour. To allow inflammatory speeches and threats on Republic Day makes little sense and says less about the Yogi Adityanath regime, which is treating it as a strictly law and order problem.

Watching the videos one senses a happy crowd full of children anticipating the ritual of flag hoisting. Suddenly a festival is marred by goons entering the narrow streets of the mohalla. A festival turns into a riot and a world changes. The brittleness of our society is obvious in these moments. The saffron flag overpowers the national flag, and the nationalist Muslim resists the second discourse. As the riots turn bloody, all media can do is ask for a probe. No one wants to ask how a Tiranga Yatra which is not quite nationalist was allowed on Republic Day. How could a national day be subsumed under a communal event? A mob tells the crowd, if you want to stay in India, sing Vande Mataram with us. Policeman signalling secular sensibilities are immediately transferred. Baiting minorities seems to be becoming a common sport with lumpen communal crowds. The bureaucracy will ritualise the inquiry. A probe will be initiated and the questions of Kasganj will die a natural death.

A show of bias

Kasganj has to be seen as a concrete event and as a metaphor for the emerging everydayness of riot-induced violence. As an event, one has to locate it within the history of violence in Uttar Pradesh. The 2013 riots at Muzaffarnagar are still etched in peopleas minds. Riots today have become the second major source of displacement after dams. At this moment, for the BJP to ignore the wider demographics of riots and turn hysterical about compensating a victim is hypocritical. Chandan Gupta maybe a victim, but he is no martyr.

Second, itas clear that the Tiranga Yatras have been threatening disruption. The fact that no anticipatory action was taken reveals the biases of the regime. Mr. Adityanath does not sound as immaculate an administrator as he is usually portrayed. His carte blanche to communal groups creates an ecology of threat and violence that makes a society feel brittle. It creates geographies of anxieties that minorities find difficult to cope with. As one hears the narrative, one sees a cycle of repetition and indifference, and also changes which increase the inventiveness of violence. Yet the administration has little to say to these events and maybe even the cause of many anxieties.

But there are bigger questions about riots and memory. Why are riots erased so easily from official memory? Second, what processes make riots a part of urban normalcy? Scholarship and investigation are required to answer these questions. Meanwhile, Kasganj will join the long glossary of violence from Meerut to Muzaffarnagar, taking democracy to its tipping point. When a regime is indifferent to such questions, civil society has to respond before such questions corrode the normative basis of our lives.

Shiv Visvanathan is a member of the Compost heap, a group of academics and activists working on alternative imaginationsIn what may be good news for youngsters waiting to register themselves as voters, the Centre has asked the Election Commission whether it was feasible to allow citizens to enrol as voters throughout the year as soon as they turn 18 years of age.

As of now, an individual who has attained the age of 18 years, as on January 1 of that year, is eligible to be registered in the voters' list. People turning 18 thereafter in the year can register themselves only in the following year. In other words, a person turning 18 after January 1, 2018 cannot vote if an election takes place that year.

Since the mid-seventies, the poll panel had been insisting that there should be multiple cut off dates for those turning 18 to get registered as voters.

While the EC proposed January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 as four cut-off dates, the law ministry had in 2016 said two cut off dates of January 1 and July 1 would be fine.

A bill was also prepared to amend the electoral law.

However, the Centre has now decided to examine whether people turning 18 can be automatically registered as voters throughout the year, senior government and EC functionaries said.

The poll watchdog has been asked to reconfigure the software and flag the practical difficulties the move could throw up.

EC has experts. Moreover, they register the voters. So they are the people to examine whether the proposal is feasible, a senior government functionary said.

The EC's proposal had earlier run into legal hurdles as the government was of the view that that it would need a constitutional amendment. But now, the EC and the law ministry have agreed that the Representation of the People Act would have be amended by a simple bill.

A proposal made in the early 1970s had suggested multiple cut off dates of January 1, April 1, July 1 and October 1 for those attaining the required age to register as voters. But the proposal could not take off.

Interestingly, when the EC had earlier mooted the idea, it had sent a copy of the same to the Jammu and Kashmir government. The state government had in fact implemented the idea that day. Therefore, the state has multiple cut-off dates for people to register as voters.

On an average, over one crore new voters in the age group of 18-19 years get registered annually in the country.Heavy shelling and firing started on Saturday between the Indian and Pakistani armies on the Line of Control (LoC) in Poonch district.



The Pakistani army resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate targeting of defence and civilian facilities in Mankote area using small arms, automatics and mortars, the Defence Ministry sources said.



The shelling and firing started around 7.45 a.m. "Our troops are retaliating appropriately and effectively. Firing exchanges were going on when the last reports came in," the sources added.



Life for hundreds of border villagers in Poonch and Rajouri districts in Jammu and Kashmir has been on a tailspin ever since the beginning of 2018.



Heavy shelling from across the border has brought their lives to a virtual halt.



Fear of shells raining from across the LoC has now become an unending nightmare for these people.



So far, the state government has only been responding with knee-jerk reactions to these cross border shelling.



Schools are closed, people are advised not to move out of their homes during shelling and whenever the shelling stops, schools are again re-opened.



This practice has become a rule rather than an exception for the people living in these border villages.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi held bilateral talks with the leaders of five African countries and discussed ways to deepen cooperation with them.

With Ghanian President Nana Akufo-Addo, Modi discussed ways to step up cooperation in the areas of climate change, renewable energy, developmental cooperation, agriculture and capacity building, Raveesh Kumar, Spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, said in a tweet.

Modi and Teodoro Mbasogo, the President of Equatorial Guinea, exchanged views on cooperation in trade and investment, renewable energy, developmental assistance and international forums while with the Niger President Issoufou Mahamadou, the prime minister discussed ways to enhance ties in the areas of climate change, capacity building and developmental cooperation.

The leaders arrived to attend the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) tomorrow.

Modi also met his Chadian counterpart Pahimi Padacke and held talks on developmental cooperation, oil and gas, renewable energy, counterterrorism, and cooperation at international forums.

A meeting also took place between Modi and and Daniel Kablan Duncan, the vice president of Cte d'Ivoire during which the two exchanged views on trade and investment, sustainable development, climate change, agriculture, among other areas.

Last few years have witnessed India making efforts to enhance its ties with countries in the African continent, which has been witnessing increasing economic influence of China. In 2015, New Delhi held the India-Africa Forum Summit that was attended by leaders from 41 countries

Modi also had a bilateral meeting with President of Nauru, Baron Waqa at the Hyderabad House. The leaders exchanged views on climate change, developmental cooperation and cooperation in international forums.In a shocking incident of medical negligence, a road accident victim's severed leg was allegedly used as a pillow to prop him up in the emergency ward of a government-run hospital in Jhansi.

The incident was reported at Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College, where the victim claimed that the hospital staff put his amputated leg under his head in order to help him.

After the incident came to light, Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College principal Sadhna Kaushik assured strict action against those found guilty.

"He was given immediate medical aid. The doctor looked for something to raise his head. The patient's attendant used the leg for the same. We've set up a committee. Strict action will be taken if our staff is found to be at fault," she added.

She also informed that a four-member committee was constituted to find out as to who put the severed leg under the patient's head.

Later, the principal of Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College Sadhna Kaushik informed that a senior resident orthopedic doctor, an EMO nurse in-charge and one other person were suspended in the concerned matter.

A departmental proceeding has also been initiated against consultant on-call doctor in the matter.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said that state government will take action in the concerned matter only after he received proper information about the incident.

The victim was the cleaner of a school bus; after an accident, he was sent to the Jhansi medical college after preliminary treatment at a local health centre.

He was immediately rushed to the hospital where the doctors amputated his leg to prevent the infection from spreading.Daily FT (Colombo) 9 March 2018

Womenas rights activists condemn violence and question State response

As activists engaged in the struggle for womenas rights, justice and equality for all across Sri Lanka, we strongly condemn the recent spate of violence against Muslim communities, and the communitiesa homes, shops and places of worship.

As citizens in a country in only its ninth year after the military end to a protracted ethnic war, where we are just beginning to understand the imperative for truth-seeking, reparations and reconciliation, we are deeply saddened and angered to yet again see minority communities brutally victimised at the hands of majority-ethnic group-led mobs. The urgent need to address the root causes of such violence is clear, as is the fact that real political will be needed to do so.

We are dismayed that such incidents have continued to take place over several days in several locations, despite the Governmentas duty to ensure the safety of all citizens. We are particularly concerned that continued violence has been reported regardless of the curfew imposed. This is unacceptable and brings into question the measure of political will, professional commitment and motivations of those in charge of law and order.

We understand that some arrests have been made. However, since the chief instigators of racial hatred in this country are continuing to incite violence with impunity, the Governmentas response is wholly inadequate. We have seen successive governments which have, at best, kept silent, and at worst, orchestrated incidents large and small against ethnic minorities, driven by those with a militant ethno-religious nationalist agenda.

The former Government has many things to answer for, including its insidious, deliberately weak response in the wake of the Aluthgama riots in 2014. Many people voted for1 regime change in 2015 to ensure that widespread impunity resulting from deliberate state complicity and inaction would be dealt with decisively, and law and order reinstated. The Stateas silence and inaction at this moment repeats a pattern from the past and is similarly something we believe the citizens of this country will and must condemn immediately.

State of emergency

In Sri Lanka right now, the Government has decided to declare a State of Emergency (SoE).

We take this decision most seriously and question it with grave concern. In the past, both in Sri

Lanka and in neighbouring countries, the effects of SoE declarations by governments have demonstrably eroded human rights and democracy. Governments have often used SoE to arbitrarily arrest and detain citizens and place citizens under surveillance.

Ample laws and mechanisms are already in place to respond to situations exactly like this. We are concerned that the state has not shown sufficient resolve to enforce and ensure the rule of law and contain the violence. The decision to declare a SoE instead, raises doubts about the priorities and intentions of the state, and reiterates our concern that it is an unnecessary and misconceived decision in a highly volatile time.

A SoE increases the vulnerability of all citizens, but particularly of those persons and groups who are not recognised as equal citizens in the eyes of the state and its instruments of law enforcement.

Internet shut-down

We are shocked and troubled by the Governmentas orders to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block certain internet-based social networking and messaging platforms, which make up a vital portion of citizensa everyday communications. While we understand concerns around the potential of online tools and platforms for spreading malicious misinformation and for groups of perpetrators to organise, it is undeniable that such a shutdown of platforms is an ill-conceived response and a clear violation of fundamental rights and freedoms.

Internet-based platforms, while not without their problems, have proved themselves significantly useful, especially in times of crisis and disaster.

With around six million plus active internet users around the country, out of which approximately around 4.5 million are users of Facebook, it can no longer be denied that2 internet-based platforms are used widely in Sri Lanka, by many diverse people. Online spaces have proven especially important for women, ethnic and sexual minorities and other historically marginalised groups, in exercising their right to freedom of expression.

The adverse repercussions of an internet shut-down far outweigh the gains. There is no evidence to show that internet shut-downs help to prevent acts of communal violence before or while they are happening3. Instead, internet shut-downs serve to disconnect citizens from journalists and other bearers of important information, as well as from each other, which can have disastrous consequences for public safety in times of crisis. It impedes our right to freedom of expression. It prevents us from exercising our right to information. It limits our ability to respond collectively as a society to crisis and tragedy. It obscures, if not erases the narratives of victims of violence, and restricts our capability to bear witness to the injustices being enacted against fellow citizens.

End to impunity

As those engaged with womenas struggles for rights and justice, we are concerned by the impunity and entitlement with which violence is still enacted against minority and non-normative groups and persons of this country. We are concerned that what we are seeing are the troubling effects of the continued militarization of our society, combined with entrenched patriarchal ethno-religious nationalism, which, due to impunity, has been allowed over time to flourish.

We demand that those we elected to govern our nation demonstrate leadership, publicly condemn the instigators and perpetrators of the violence a regardless of their position or standing in society a and ensure that all responsible, both for the acts of violence and the instigation of violence, are brought to justice. We call for zero tolerance of hate speech, instigation and violence against any and all minorities. We call on the state to act swiftly to restore law and order, to revoke the State of Emergency and to restore the use of internet-based services for all citizens.

Tehani Ariyaratne

Hasanah Cegu Issadeen

Paba Deshapriya

Kimaya de Silva

Sarala Emmanuel

Chulani Kodikara

Dr Sepali Kottegoda

Iromi Perera

Sachini Perera

Kumudini Samuel

Sharanya Sekaram

Ermiza TegalUS President Donald Trump said on Saturday his planned meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un could fizzle without an agreement or it could result in the greatest deal for the world to ease nuclear tensions between the two countries.

I may leave fast if progress does not seem possible, Trump said at a campaign rally for Republican congressional candidate Rick Saccone in western Pennsylvania. Trump said he believes North Korea wants to make peace and that, I think its time.

A time and place to meet has not yet been set, although the meeting is supposed to happen by the end of May.

Who knows whats going to happen? said Trump, who added that if the meeting takes place, I may leave fast or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world.

Trump made the shocking decision on Thursday to meet with Kim after the North Korean leaders invitation was relayed by a South Korean delegation who visited the White House. The move abruptly reversed decades of US policy aimed at preventing North Korea from developing nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles.

Earlier in Washington, Trump sought to rally international support for a potential summit, saying North Korea had agreed to not conduct another missile test until after proposed meetings had taken place.

North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment! Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trumps comments aligned with what a South Korean official stated on Thursday about the possible talks. Trumps tweet made no mention of nuclear tests, however.

It was not immediately clear which meetings Trump was referring to or their timing. South Korean officials said this week that Trump had agreed to an invitation from Kim to meet by May.

The White House has been under fire for agreeing to talks and responded to the criticism on Friday by warning that no summit would occur unless Pyongyang took concrete actions over its nuclear program.

Trump also took to Twitter on Saturday to characterise the leaders of China and Japan as supportive of the potential dialogue, yet did little to clear up confusion over the preconditions and timing of any talks.

Chinese President Xi Jinping told me he appreciates that the US is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative, Trump wrote on Twitter. China continues to be helpful!

Trump also tweeted on Saturday: Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea.

The United States has long said it wants any talks to aim at Pyongyang abandoning its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

Hopes for a breakthrough had risen on Thursday when Trump said he was ready to meet with Kim, who had invited Trump to what would be unprecedented talks between leaders of the two nations.

Trump and Kim prompted jitters around the world last year as they exchanged bellicose insults over the Norths attempts to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. Pyongyang has pursued its nuclear program in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Tensions eased around last months Winter Olympics in South Korea, laying the groundwork for what would be the biggest foreign policy gamble for Trump since he took office in January 2017.

The head of South Koreas National Security Office, Chung Eui-yong, said in Washington on Thursday he briefed Trump about a meeting South Korean officials held with Kim this week. He said Kim had committed to denuclearisation and to suspending nuclear and missile tests.

I told President Trump that, in our meeting, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he is committed to denuclearisation. Kim pledged that North Korea will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests

Trumps sudden decision to meet with Kim stunned even people in his own administration.

The expectation is that the talks would lead to a discussion around a conclusion that were ready to engage in negotiations, a senior State Department official said on Friday.

Some US officials and experts worry North Korea could buy time to build up and refine its nuclear arsenal if it drags out talks with Washington.

ReutersPeopleas Alliance for Democracy and Secularism (PADS)

Peopleas Alliance for Democracy and Secularism Condemns post-poll violence by BJP/RSS cadre and supporters in Tripura

11 March 2018

The tiny state of Tripura in the north-east of India witnessed unprecedented violence and vandalism by supporters of BJP/IPFT alliance after its victory in recent elections. According to a report (The Indian Express, 7 March), 87 of the 90 CPI(M) offices in Bishalgarh sub division near Agartala have been ransacked, and many CPI(M) supporters are living huddled in the party office in main town under police protection. Tripura Inspector General of Police (Law and Order) has stated that violence was also widespread in West Tripura and Gomti districts. The Telegraph quoted CPM state secretary as saying that personal properties of the partys leaders were also attacked. A statue of Lenin in a college in Belonia town was demoslished by BJP supporters. Videos of the demolition received widespread publicity in social and conventional media. What is most shocking is that such acts of public violence have got public support from the highest constitutional authority in the state, its Governor Mr Tathagata Roy. While the BJP supporters were on rampage, he reportedly tweeted aWhat one democratically elected government can do, another democratically government can undoa . The Modi government appointed governor appears to be ignorant of the basic condition that in a democratic order, no government, much less a political party, has any right to unleash public violence against anyone, including its political opponents.

Since its beginnings, ideology and practice of public violence and vandalism have been integral to Hindutva politics. These are seen as legitimate tools to achieve the goal of a Hindu Rashtra. RSS and its front organisations have organized and participated in communal riots against religious minorities, including ones during 1947. Hindutva ideologue Savarkar narrowly escaped conviction in the Gandhi murder case on technical points. Hindutva organisations were responsible for the most shameful act of public vandalism in post- independence India, the destruction of Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1991. The success of BJP under Modi has emboldened its supporters to indulge in acts of violence and vandalism more widely. Crowds have entered and killed minorities in their homes after rumours of abeef eatinga were purposefully spread. aGau rakshaksa have assaulted and killed farmers, cattle traders, and Dalits engaged in skinning dead animals. Minority migrant workers have been killed, burnt, and the entire sordid act filmed with loud proclamations against alove jihada. Videos of such assaults are circulated widely, supposedly as a record of success of Hindutva followers against their enemies. Open or covert encouragement for these acts comes from the highest quarters. Mr. Modi regularly follows people on Twitter who gloated over the murder of Gauri Lankesh, a staunch critic of Hindutva. Following the demolition of Lenin statue in Tripura, H. Raja, the BJP general secretary in Tamil Nadu, wrote an FB post expecting similar treatment for statues of Periyar, whom he called a casteist. As if on cue, a Periyar statue was vandalized in Tirupattur town the next day. The current spate of vandalism against public statues has included attacks on statues of Ambedkar in Meerut (UP) and Tiruvattuyur (TN), and a statue of Gandhi in Kannur (Kerala). In an act of retaliatory vandalism, a statue of BJP ideologue SP Mukherjee was blackened by a group of students in Kolkata. It is significant that leaders like Lenin, Periyar, Ambedkar, and Gandhi, fought against injustice and inequality, in one form or another. Lenin, the leader of Russian revolution, was a great votary of independence of colonies from imperialism, and had praised mass character of Indiaas freedom movement. It was no accident that revolutionary patriots like Bhagat Singh appreciated him greatly. Periyar and Ambedkar fought against caste inequities within Hinduism. Vandalism of their statues is a result of still prevalent caste hatred. Vandalism of public statues is a deliberate act meant to attack public rights of others. Needless to say, it has no place in a democracy.

Targeted violence against political opponents of BJP, as seen in Tripura, cannot be dissociated from wider processes of change. Public violence against the weak and vulnerable; poor, minorities, Dalits, women, adivasis, migrant workers, etc. has been a regular feature of Indian society. The success of BJP under Mr. Modi has brought a new significant element in the form of sharper ideological and political justifications for violence. While the politics of aHindu Rashtraa justifies violence against minorities, liberals and leftists, the discourse of so called adevelopmenta justifies forced dispossession of urban poor, adivasis and farmers. People of India should realise the violent core of the RSS/BJP ideology, and the way policies of BJP governments in center and state are turning India into a more violent and lumpenised society, in which democratic rights of every Indian are under greater threat.

Peopleas Alliance for Democracy and Secularism demands that all those who indulged in post election result violence and vandalism in Tripura, and attacked statues of Lenin, Amdedkar, Periyar, Gandhi and SP Mukherjee be brought to justice. It also demands immediate removal of state governor Mr. Tathagata Roy. People like him who do not appreciate even basic requirements of a democratic order have no right to hold any constitutional post.BALLSTON SPA  In the weeks before its owner went on trial for his role in a March 2017 car crash that left a passenger quadriplegic, Cole's Collision posted a series of video testimonials from leaders of a half-dozen regional charities praising the auto repair chain's philanthropy.

At least one of those recruited to appear in the "Cole's Cares" spots was distressed to learn that it would be airing as John W. Cole, 53, was about to go on trial for DWI-related felony assault.

Gary Striar, CEO of the regional Red Cross, said his group was contacted by Albany-based Baker Public Relations in early February and asked to appear in a 15-second spot, which Striar recorded on Feb. 19.

"When we realized that the 'Cole's Cares' TV spots were airing at the same time that John Cole was standing trial, we requested that any version of the spots featuring the Red Cross be taken off the air, in order to avoid any perception of partiality on our part," Striar said in an email Sunday evening. (Striar's clip remained online Sunday.)

Prosecutors allege that after midnight on March 11, 2017, Cole floored his 2015 BMW on Sitterly Road at 78 mph despite the 40 mph speed limit on that stretch. They say he lost control, causing the car to leave the road, smash into a tree and flip over. Cole's wife, Regina, was in the front seat while passengers Scott and Deanna Shapiro  friends of his for 20 years  were in the back. Deanna Shapiro, who along with her husband testified last week, suffered injuries that left her quadriplegic.

On Friday, Saratoga County Judge James A. Murphy III lambasted Cole for trying to use the media to influence the jury, and called the defendant's outreach to newspapers "offensive."

During the first week of the trial, Cole had been the subject of an extensive profile in Schenectady's Daily Gazette that made no mention of the accident. It first appeared in print March 4 in a special business section and was posted online the next day, as jury selection began.

On Thursday  the day the Shapiros testified  Cole's spokeswoman issued a statement to the Times Union in which he said the accident "has rocked us all to the core."

The next day, Murphy issued a stern warning to Cole: "If there is one other incident like this, I will entertain a bail application status change and you will find yourself incarcerated pending this case," Murphy said to the defendant outside the presence of the jury.

Cole's Collision operates five auto repair shops around the Capital Region.

On Sunday, all nine of the "Cole's Cares" video spots remained posted on a YouTube page that's listed as having been created on Feb. 24, nine days before the start of the trial. The video clips are also featured on a separate Cole's Collision website that offers more praise for the company's philanthropy, though it is unclear when that page was created.

While none of the video spots mention Cole individually, they feature thanks to his namesake company expressed by leaders of seven Capital Region charities: the regional branch of the American Red Cross as well as Ronald McDonald House of Albany, Hannah's Hope Fund, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Southern Rensselaer County, Lifesong Inc., the Make-a-Wish Foundation Northeast New York and Capital District Youth for Christ.

The Cole's Cares website, however, does mention Cole by name several times. "John Cole and his staff at Cole's Collision have been valuable partners with us for nearly six years now to help make wishes come true for local kids with life-threatening medical conditions," says a statement from William Trigg, CEO of the the regional Make-A-Wish Foundation.

Aside from Striar, it's unclear if others recruited to appear in the spots or who offered statements of praise were aware of the criminal charges against Cole. Representatives of the other groups who took part did not respond to inquiries on Sunday.

Also non-responsive over the weekend was Megan Baker, president and CEO of Baker Public Relations, who on Thursday issued the statement of regret from Cole to the Times Union. At the time, Baker said in an email sent from her professional account that she was "in the courtroom offering support to John and his wife."

On Friday evening  hours after the judge upbraided Cole  Baker responded to a reporter's request for comment by referring questions to his attorney Cheryl Coleman.

"I am not a spokesperson for John," Baker said.

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Baker has subsequently refused to respond to questions about whether she played a role in setting up the Gazette story or the origin of the "Cole's Cares" spots. Her firm's website lists Cole's Collision as well as the regional Red Cross and Ronald McDonald House chapters among its clients.

Striar of the Red Cross, however, clarified that Baker is "a former Red Cross board member who provided expertise to us in-kind as part of her role on our Board of Directors, but the Red Cross is not currently and never has been a client of Baker PR."

The Gazette article, written by business editor John Cropley, also mentioned Cole's charitable contributions. On Friday, the Gazette's managing editor said Cropley had been unaware of the charges pending against Cole. As of Sunday, the article remained online with no update or note acknowledging the trial.

On Friday, Judge Murphy told Cole's attorney that he believed her client "is using the media to manipulate his image in his favor in an effort to try to influence the jury by timing the first article in the Gazette on March 5."

Murphy also alluded to elements of Cole's criminal history that he had agreed to withhold from the jury.

" ... He well knows that the court has shielded the jury from knowing about his three or four prior felony convictions," the judge said. "He well knows that the court has shielded him from his prior term, and then even after the March 5 article comes out  which ... can only be described as a puff piece  then goes on to overhearing my admonitions over and over and over, issues a statement to the Times Union about his sincere sadness about the accident which (is) a characterization, again, to influence the jury."

Murphy imposed a gag order on Cole, whose trial is expected to last until the middle of this week. He is charged with second-degree assault, vehicular assault, DWI and reckless driving. He faces a maximum of seven years.

It remains to be seen if the continued visibility of the "Cole's Cares" spots violate the gag order as detailed by Murphy on Friday.

"You are not permitted to speak to the press in any way, and when I say that, media of any kind," Murphy told Cole. "You are not to place any updates on social media other than your business practices ... but nothing as it relates to this trial. Nothing as it relates to your character or good deeds in the community. Nothing that in any way could be interpreted by this Court as an effort to influence or bias the jury. Do you understand?"

"Yes I do, your honor," Cole answered.

Note: The Gazette's story on Cole appeared in print March 4 and was posted online the following day. An earlier version of this story referred only to its online publication.Sheehan. McCarthy. Madden. Kelly.

You'd have trouble thinking of four surnames more evocative of that little island across the pond and the ancestry we celebrate next weekend.

The names belong to the mayors of the Capital Region's four biggest cities  Albany, Schenectady, Troy and Saratoga Springs  an Irish superfecta that became complete when Meg Kelly was sworn in as the Spa City's mayor in January.

To which some of you may be thinking: This is news?

It is true that Irish-American political success is hardly new. Albany inaugurated its first Irish mayor, Michael Nolan, back in 1878. New York, Boston and Troy elected mayors of Irish descent at roughly the same time.

Today, a list of Irish politicians from this region would fill a page of the newspaper. The names  including Dan McCoy and Steve McLaughlin, the executives of Albany and Rensselaer counties  are many.

But on the cusp of St. Patrick's Day, which arrives on Saturday, everything Irish is news.

Another question that may pop into your head: Is this the first time that all four cities have had Irish mayors simultaneously?

An excellent question. So I'll apologize for my unsatisfying response, which is this: I don't have a clue.

My research on the question ended when I realized the staggering difficulty of the task. In part, that's because a surname isn't always a reliable marker of ethnicity. The best I can say is that it seems not to have happened within the recent past.

Albany's Kathy Sheehan, Schenectady's Gary McCarthy and Kelly say they are entirely of Irish descent. The outlier is Patrick Madden, son of a Polish mother.

"But we're all 100 percent Irish on St. Patrick's Day," Madden said.

Good point. And far be it for a guy named Churchill to question a person's Irish bona fides.

The Irish immigration story is familiar, but I'll offer a somewhat simplified version here.

In the mid-1800s, the Great Hunger in Ireland, and British indifference to it, produced nearly two million refugees  desperate and sickly men, women and children who crowded into American cities.

They were not warmly welcomed. Many in Protestant America were suspicious of the newcomers' Catholicism and believed their poverty was taxing the country's resources. The Irish were derided as lazy and unclean. The other.

In the face of unrelenting discrimination, and occasional violence, the Irish turned to the ballot box, building political machines that offered social services, jobs and a path to the middle class. The effort, says Karen Sonnelitter, a history professor at Siena College, was about asserting citizenship in a country that wasn't sure the Irish were worthy.

What's remarkable, though, is the degree to which Irish-Americans continue to shape politics even now, when those dark days of discrimination feel so distant, when the Irish are celebrated rather than reviled.

In this region, that's partly about numbers.

The Capital Region remains one of the most Irish metropolitan areas in the country. About 22 percent of its residents claim Irish heritage, according to the census, making it the area's largest ethnic group.

Seventeen percent of the region's residents say they are Italian, making that the second most-common ethnicity, while 16 percent are German  to which I ask: Where are all the schnitzel joints?

But I digress.

More Information Contact columnist Chris Churchill at 518-454-5442 or email cchurchill@timesunion.com See More Collapse

Among the four cities, Saratoga Springs is the most Irish, according to the census, with 26 percent of residents claiming the heritage. Albany, surprisingly, is the least, with 15 percent of residents telling the census they are Irish.

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But Albany remains a haven for refugees, and Sheehan tied the Irish story to their story  the American story.

The celebration of St. Patrick's Day, the Albany mayor said, "speaks to this nation as an immigrant nation." It's about the fight to overcome discrimination to forge a path in a new country. It's about celebrating heritage while being resolutely American, she said.

For sure, the debate happening in our politics now, the willingness to see many of our newest arrivals as the other, feels like history repeating itself.

Will we ever really learn? Can we? Or is wariness toward newcomers just a part of our biology?

In any event, Sheehan's ancestors crossed the pond five generations ago, she said, but their native country remains important to her self identity. The other mayors said much the same.

They also pointed to a culture that emphasizes service as a reason they drifted toward politics. Kelly, for example, said she was raised to give back. "That was ingrained in us," she said.

On Friday, the four mayors gathered at the Irish American Heritage Museum in Albany to be photographed for this column.

As they gathered and smiled for the camera, it was tempting to imagine what the first Irish immigrants to Capital Region would have made of the museum and all that it signified about the success of their children and grandchildren in a new country.

And what would they have made of the mayors, the men and women with surnames just like theirs?

Sheehan. McCarthy. Madden. Kelly.

The names evoke that faraway island  and America, too.

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchillALBANY  More than 100 vendor tables of trains and train related items are on display until 3 p.m. Saturday at the Albany Train Show at the Polish Community Center 225 Washington Ave., Albany. Experts are on hand to offer free appraisals or provide direction on building a first layout. A train doctor will be on hand to bring ailing trains back to life.A Berne man was charged with unlawful open burn after he set fire to a home he owned with plans of building a new house on the site, Albany County Sheriffs office said Sunday.

Just before 9 a.m. firefighters were called to 370 Woodstock Road for reports of a house fire. Deputies said Andrew Preisner had set fire to the home in an attempt to demolish it. Berne, Westerlo and Onesquethaw fire companies responded to the scene.Washington

The U.S. is bolstering its military presence in Afghanistan, more than 16 years after the war started. Is anyone paying attention?

Consider this: At a Senate hearing this past week on top U.S. security threats, the word "Afghanistan" was spoken exactly four times, each during introductory remarks. In the ensuing two hours of questions for intelligence agency witnesses, no senator asked about Afghanistan, suggesting little interest in a war with nearly 15,000 U.S. troops supporting combat against the Taliban.

It's not as if the war's end is in sight.

Just last month the bulk of an Army training brigade of about 800 soldiers arrived to improve the advising of Afghan forces. Since January, attack planes and other aircraft have been added to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.

But it's not clear that the war, which began in October 2001, is going as well as the U.S. had hoped seven months after President Donald Trump announced a new, more aggressive strategy.

The picture may be clearer once the traditionally most intensive fighting season begins in April or May. Over the winter, American and Afghan warplanes have focused on attacking illicit drug facilities that are a source of Taliban revenue.

One of Washington's closest watchers of the Afghanistan conflict, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last month that the administration has made major improvements in military tactics and plans for developing Afghan forces but has "done nothing to deal with civil and political stability." That challenge is expected to come into clearer focus with the approach of parliamentary elections planned for July.

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The administration "not only faces a deteriorating security situation, it has no clear political, governance, or economic strategy to produce Afghan stability," Cordesman said. In his view, the U.S. military has been assigned a "mission impossible" in Afghanistan.

The weak central government in Kabul and the resilient Taliban insurgency are not the U.S. military's only problems there.

It also faces what Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S. general overseeing the war, calls interference by Russia. He told a congressional panel last month that Moscow is seeking to undermine U.S. and NATO influence in Afghanistan by exaggerating the presence of Islamic State fighters there and portraying this as a U.S. failure.

When Trump announced in August that he was ordering a new approach to the war, he said he realized "the American people are weary of war without victory." He said his instinct was to pull out, but that after consulting with aides, he decided to seek "an honorable and enduring outcome." He said that meant committing more resources to the war, giving commanders in the field more authority and staying in Afghanistan for as long as it takes.Goodyear has become the latest tire manufacturer to unveil a revolutionary tire concept that could change the industry for the better. The Ohio-based company went to the Geneva Motor Show to showcase the Oxygene, a tire concept that employs artificial intelligence, generates its own electricity, and is filled with living moss. When was the last time you saw a tire with that much capability? Never? Youd be right.

The concept tires were developed with an emphasis on reducing material waste, emissions, and energy loss.

I dont claim to be an authority on subjects about tires, but even I know enough to understand that the Goodyear Oxygene borders on the realm of science fiction. Think about it. Its crazy enough to think that a set of tires will have artificial intelligence, but to have it filled with living moss that can absorb carbon dioxide? It has all the makings of an early April Fools joke, but the truth is often stranger than fiction because the Oxygene Concept has the chance to be a real thing.

With more than two-thirds of the world population expected to live in cities by 2050, the demands on transport networks in urban environments will increase substantially, said Chris Delaney, President of Goodyear Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Smarter, greener infrastructure and transport will be crucial in addressing the most pressing challenges of urban mobility and development. Apparently, the Oxygene Concept is Goodyears contribution to that smarter, greener infrastructure.

Its functions are managed by an artificial intelligence system that also allows it to communicate with other tires on other vehicles through speed-of-light LiFi technology

The concept tires were developed with an emphasis on reducing material waste, emissions, and energy loss. It has a unique open structure that allows heat-resistant moss to grow inside the sidewalls. It also has a revolutionary tread design that can not only absorb and circulate the moisture it picks up from the road, but also inhale carbon dioxide from the air to feed the moss. Oh, and all of its functions are managed by an artificial intelligence system that also allows it to communicate with other tires on other vehicles through speed-of-light LiFi technology.

Physically, the tires are made from 3D-printed rubber powder thats sourced from recycled tires. The process of 3D printing tires isnt a revolutionary concept in itself  Michelin uses the same process in its airless Vision concept tire  but it does paint a clear picture on what could potentially be a future manufacturing process that will be used by a lot of todays leading tire brands. Like the Vision concept tires, Goodyears Oxygene is also airless and puncture-free. It even has a shock-absorbing open tread structure that helps improve grip in wet conditions.

The tires are made from 3D-printed rubber powder thats sourced from recycled tires.

With all these capabilities, its a wonder why Goodyear doesnt just circumvent the concept phase of the tire and jump straight into manufacturing it. But, like most concepts, theres that matter of defining its actual feasibility in the real world. The Goodyear Oxygene may not be there yet, but the fact that its already cooking something as ridiculously outlandish as this is a testament to its revolutionary instincts. Like the concept designs Goodyear has presented at Geneva in the past, Oxygene is meant to challenge our thinking and help drive the debate around smart, safe and sustainable future mobility, Delaney said. By contributing in this way to cleaner air generation, the tire could help enhance the quality of life and health for city-dwellers.

Keep selling the dream, Goodyear. Were all here waiting to see if well be buyers of it.ATTORNEYS representing Gary Griffith were in the process of drafting documents late yesterday as they prepare to file High Court action against the Police Service Commission (PolSC) over its decision to suspend him from acting in the capacity of Police Commissioner.It must be a matter of sadness for any citizen with even basic knowledge of governance and the concept of serving the public interest to witness the thrashing around of persons involved in the appointment of a new commissioner of police (CoP).Education Reporter

Mathew Burciaga is a Santa Maria Times reporter who covers education, agriculture and public safety. Prior to joining the Times, Mathew ran a 114-year-old community newspaper in Wyoming. He owns more than 40 pairs of crazy socks from across the globe.Hi all Australia experts!

Am planning a Australian dream holiday for the family. The plan has been to go Dec/Jan, Australian summer, over xmas and New Year. Being a Swedish family the disadvantage is that the kids school holiday is a bit short during that time (winter in Sweden then and shorter time off school), so now starting to look at going in July/August instead, since that means we have way more time to plan with. Slightly lower prices then too in Australia I suppose, and from what I understand, slightly safer in the sea water when stingers arent present.

The negatives are missing out on New Year in Sydney, the musch colder weather south especially, the cold nights in Alice Springs.

Let me take you through the planned route, so it will be easier to advice.

Fly into Melbourne, get a rental car. Drive down Great Ocean Road , stay a few nights in Lorne and a few night near 12 Apostles. Hope to see koalas, visit Otway tree top walk etc. Maybe a whale excursion. Assume this part of the trip will be rather chilly and wet in July compared to December...? What are the chances of polar light?

After this we would head towards Canberra for a short stop there. Would love to do hotair ballooning over the town if possible.

If going in Dec/Jan we would dtop off for a few days relaxing on a beach south of Sydney, but if going in July/August I suppose the seawater will be way too cold so we might as well head straight up to Sydney...?

Sydney for a few days. If Dec/Jan we want to spend New Year here. Other than that the standard sights, Manley Beach -any point in going there in July? A day in Blue Mountain. Cold in July?

From Sydney we fly to Alice Springs for a 3-day trip around Ayers Rock, incl sleeping under the stars. Is that even possible in July/Aug -very cold at night?! Would really love to do that, but how does that work in winter, is it at all doable? Daytime temp in July/Aug way better then in Dec/Jan anyway, way more comfortable for walking!

After this we would fly to Cairns and stay there or a nearby seaside town, like Palm Cove maybe, for a week. Temperatures seem ok there in August, with Swedish standards fine. Way less rain in August than in Jan according to what I find when googling. Is this area very rainy and wet in Jan? From what I find it is not adviced to swim in the sea in this area because of crocodiles and jellyfish and stingers. Is that so always, people dont go into the water? Will crocs be on the beach too? Your wildlife experience in the area, especially in combination with beach life? We would want to visit Kuranda and spend a day snorkling on the reefs. Water too cold for that or ok?

So pros and cons going in Dec/Jan:

+ hotter, so nicer beach life

+ new year in Sydney

+ warm evenings and nights, especially when camping out in eyers rock

- rather expensive

- wet season so rather wet, especially around Cairns?

- our kids school holiday is short so less chance to stay longer in some places

- stinger season in Cairns, + more aggressive crocs?

Pros and cons going in July-Aug

+ our kids are off so easy planning a long trip

+ slightly cheaper since off season in Australia?

+ less crowded with tourists

+ higher chance of seeing polar light....?

+ whale season....?

+ no stingers around Cairns....?

+ comfortable walking weather at Eyers Rock

+ most places of our interest seem dryer, not rain season

- generally colder, the south also wetter

- COLD Eyers rock at night.....

- cold in blue mountains...?

Please advice me! I am Swedish so 10-20 degrees when touristing is perfectly fine. Water temp 20-25 degrees also ok. Lots of rain not so fun when doing outdoor walking (12 apostles, Otway trre top, Blue Mountain).

Wildlife, crocs, sharks, jelly fish, stingers etc -give me all the advice. How about swimming in the sea and wild life?

Seawater around Sydney in July/Aug, possible to swim?

Whale and dolphin-watch, anywhere near the places we are interested in? Likelyhood to see them when out looking? How likely is it to see koalas, kangaroos, colourful parrots when out and about?

Thanks for all your advice, also on best Eyers Rock adventures, Kuranda excursions, Coral reef outings (would love a trips partly helicopter, partly boat), hotairballooning over Canberra (worth it or not, looks amazing on pics).....

Bombard me with advice, small and big, winter and summer. Thank you!Well often in Tasmania you have scrambling that might require the use of a rope. But those walks are usually not advertised so I doubt you'll encounter any of them. Just buy the John Chapman book and plan your trip based on it. There is another day walk book by Tyrone Thomas : It is far less well made, with a lot of text and few photos, but it has more walks as it lists a lot of short walks. If you want only serious 4h+ hikes, go for Chapman.

A little caveat : in Tasmania what limits what you do is never your fitness or the difficulty of the walk, it's the weather. This is why staying at the same place for several days is a good idea. Pick a central location, and plan some alternative walks. For example, waterfalls can be done in the rain, or not too difficult forest walks. But for summits forget it, wait for clear skies.

If you're more into multi day walks, Chapman has more books you can check out. I've only done day walks in Tassie as I've never lived there and my stays here were always short, but I think you can see a ton of wildlife and great landscapes with day walks. However if multi day walks interest you, you can try the Walls of Jerusalem, legendary amongst bushwalkers. A lot of off track walking though, you need to know how to navigate, it is pure wilderness. If you want to tackle the South West national park, you need a lot of knowledge, I wouldn't do it for a first stay in Tasmania. There's a lot of mud, rain, roots, off track, scrambling, dense scrub, it can be serious stuff. You can start by a 2-3 day walk in Mount Field national park instead, much easier. I've never done Frenchmans Cap, but I know they've reworked the track and it's a lot less muddy now, and I think it'd be a possibility for you as well given your experience.

I can't tell you more details, I think you should look for some info and create an account and a thread on the Tasmania section at , a lot of nice and knowledgeable people over there.-:- Message from Tripadvisor staff -:-

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To read more about editing your posts, please follow this link: http://www.tripadvisor.com/help/how_to_edit_your_postsLeave lots of time at SJO. We once needed over 3 hrs, in rain season, mid week. That time with WestJet, had to pay taxes, too. There was a line up yo the taxes counter. We were standing there, roped in winding area, with our luggage, passports and cash ready. Suddenly, an employee came and kind of rudely told that only 1 person per family was allowed to remain in the taxes line, all the others were instructed to give passports to that one person and make their way out, with the luggage, which was very difficult, we had to push through the other lining up passengers. There was no sign anywhere at the beginning of the tax line that only 1 person per family. In the meantime, I was not allowed to begin lining up toward the airline's counter. Two other airport employees set up a temp. barrier blocking access to our airline's lines. To get past them, we had to wait for the tax paying person, fill in some small forms, one per traveller, which the tax counter gave out (standing, writing on the top of your suitcases, no proper place to do it between the line up area of the tax counter and where the barrier toward our airline was set up). The forms were not big, but still, it would have been nice if it had been smth passengers could have obtained on line and completed...Then those forms were to be given to the employees at the temp. barrier, after which we could both procede and start lining up to drop off our luggage. We had our seats already and had done the advance on-line check in 24 hrs prior, but it made abs. no difference, we asked. There was one and the same line toward the airline's counter, whether already checked in or not...

The one common security line for all the leaving flights' passengers afterwards was enormous, going multiple times left-right through the far section of the departure terminal. As a result, we were basically the last ones boarding the (half empty) WJ flight home. When we got to the WJ gate, still on time, there were just the flight crew members left. We had started at SJO over 3 hrs earlier.

The next time the security line was basically non existent, but you never know...

Edited: 3 years agoWe saw sloths in MA park and on the property of the BnB we were staying at between the park and Quepos.

We did not enjoy the number of ppl on the trails and beaches of the park and the touristy feel of the area.

We did not see sloths in Arenal. We found the volcano views wonderful (saw it clearly for 1 day out of the 3 full days there) and enjoyed the trails and waterfall on the property of Arenal Observatory Lodge, located 9 km away from La Fortuna, less than 2 miles away from the volcano. The stay there included a guided morning walk for 2.5 hrs, and the guide kept on trying to sell a subsequent trip to his family's farm to see sloths, but we chose not to get involved. We did see some wildlife while there, incl. monkeys, coatis, hummingbirds, a toucan and a variety of other birds, butterflies, etc., but not sloths. Arenal SkyAdventure entrance - for your daughter's adventure activities - is very close to the above hotel.

You might want to see Where to see sloths in CR here - . For us, the most sloths had been in S. Caribbean of CR, but it takes about 4.5 hrs or more to get there (e.g., to Cahuita) from San Jose or SJO, and you have a very short time.

Keep in mind that the week before Easter is a very busy time in CR, so if you go to MA / beaches at that time, chances are it will be even more crowded. So when you post that You are leaving next week, a part of your stay might fall into that peak period. Locals + visitors.

Toucan Rescue Ranch located about 30 min away from SJO has tours that might include seing (baby) sloths.

Edited: 3 years agoMy husband and I are travelling from Haneda airport, we arrive at 6.30am to NOzawa Onsen. We will have luggage and hand luggage. I was wondering which option would be the easiest considering our luggage.

Arrive and catch the airport bus to Tokyo station and then leave from Tokyo station on the Shinkansen for Iiyama.

Or is there an easier option? Im just not sure how far the airport bus terminal at Tokyo Station is from where the Shinkansen departure line is?I'm usually a one Kansai base only advocate, but that's on four or five day total stays. With 8 days, split evenly, I say go for it, especially if you express service your bigger luggage from your Kyoto hotel to your Osaka one. That way, on the travel day, you are traveling light.

And if you are traveling light, here are two scenarios:

Go to Osaka on the Hankyu via Arashiyama. All too often, people agglomerate Arashiyama with Kinkakuji and its neighbors, maybe throwing in Nijo Castle. To old and slow people like me that's too much, and for grandkids too much as well. But a more leisurely pace in Arashiyama, maybe getting as far as Adashino Nenbutsuji, that's a good stroll, getting the kids tired out enough to feed them and then get on a longish train ride to Umeda to rest them a bit.

Go to Osaka through Sanjusangendo and Fushimi Inari. All too often, these might be combined with a half day trip to Nara. But I think Nara is worth more time, and that Horyuji is worth seeing too. And if Horyuji is not included in Nara, then take a stop in Uji and see Byodoin and sip some somewhat pricey tea. Then after Fushimi Inari, some eats and a longish train ride to Osaka on the Keihan.

The advantages of a split is that Kyoto has a lot of stuff to see internally and it is closer to Nara while Osaka might have a smaller list of usual suspects (but less stuffy), it is closer to places like Himeji -- with even Hiroshima/Miyajima and/or Okayama or Kurashiki within reach.

Have fun in any case. Can't see everything, and pacing, eating, hydrating, and resting are important to an enjoyable experience.Our itinerary is almost finished! Thanks to many hours spent combing the forum we are almost finished with our vacation basics. We only have our first night to decide. We land in Liberia at 3:30pm. Do we have enough time to make to Hacienda La Pacifica before dark? Our second choice would be a night at Playa Hermosa, but we are heading to the Arenal Observatory Lodge the next day and like the idea of heading in that direction.

It's myself and two daughters (19 and 16). First world problems, but my girls want more wildlife/rainforest than beach. Mid-August trip, renting car.

Here is our plans so far:

Night 1 -?

Four nights at Arenal Observatory Lodge

Three nights at Casistas Tenorio

Two nights at Playa Conchal (for Mom)

Thanks to all the contributors on the forum! Time spent on the Tripadvisor Forums make for a great vacation!For changing between those terminals you'll have to go via the (free within the airport) Airtrain and clear security to enter the second terminal

If these are separate tickets you'll have to collect your luggage at the first terminal and recheck it in the second one.

Have you checked the on-time record of your flights and next weeks weather?

If separate tickets you'll have no protection for a missed connection.The list also includes Georgia, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has incorporated Ukraine in the list of the aspirant countries on its website.

Read alsoPoroshenko calls for keeping doors of EU, NATO open for Ukraine"NATO's door remains open to any European country in a position to undertake the commitments and obligations of membership, and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. Since 1949, NATO's membership has increased from 12 to 29 countries through seven rounds of enlargement. Currently, four partner countries have declared their aspirations to NATO membership: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Ukraine," reads the statement on NATO' website.

As reported, countries that have declared an interest in joining the Alliance are initially invited to engage in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO about their membership aspirations and related reforms.

Aspirant countries may then be invited to participate in the Membership Action Plan (MAP) to prepare for potential membership and demonstrate their ability to meet the obligations and commitments of possible future membership. Participation in the MAP does not guarantee membership, but it constitutes a key preparation mechanism.

Countries aspiring to join NATO have to demonstrate that they are in a position to further the principles of the 1949 Washington Treaty and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area. They are also expected to meet certain political, economic and military criteria, which are laid out in the 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement.Prior to her visit to Ukraine, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini has told UNIAN what messages she will communicate to the Ukrainian authorities, whether the EU's more active participation in the settlement of the Donbas crisis is possible and whether the EU is considering proposals concerning the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission to Donbas.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini is visiting Ukraine on March 11-12. According to the European Commission's press service, she is scheduled to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman, as well as OSCE representatives. UNIAN interviewed Federica Mogherini before she started her visit.

What is the purpose of your visit to Ukraine? What will be your main message to the Ukrainian authorities?

The European Union stands with the people of Ukraine. We stand with them in their aspirations to build a stronger, fairer, more democratic Ukraine, with opportunities for all. We stand on the side of Ukraine's sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence. This is the message I will bring with me during my visit next week. I will be there within a few days of the anniversary of the illegal annexation by Russia of Crimea and Sevastopol, and in a crucial moment for the Ukraine's ambitious reform agenda.

Since 2014, the European Union has supported Ukraine's reforms with more than 10 billion euros, on top of our political and technical assistance. We have helped create jobs; we have helped Ukraine be more independent in the energy sector; we have assisted the people most in need and most affected by the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

I will discuss the way forward with the Ukrainian government and administration, but also with civil society organisations and university students. I will pay particular attention to the situation in eastern Ukraine, meeting with the minister of temporarily occupied territories, with the chief of the OSCE Monitoring Mission and the OSCE representative in the Trilateral Contact Group.

In March, there will be a discussion on Ukraine at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting. It will take place on the 4th anniversary of the occupation of Crimea and just after the presidential elections in Russia on March 18. Are there plans to discuss the security situation in the east of Ukraine and the occupied Crimea? Will Council Conclusions on Ukraine be adopted (the last one was in early 2015)?

Of course the timing of our meeting is not a coincidence. We want to send a strong signal that the European Union does not forget the illegal annexation of Crimea and the conflict in eastern Ukraine. For me it will also be an opportunity to brief the ministers on my visit. We will discuss the situation in Crimea and in eastern Ukraine, and the progress achieved by Ukraine on its reform agenda.

Do you see a change in the EU position towards Russia as more and more EU leaders visit Moscow; which looks like a hidden normalization of relations despite the fact that Russia has done nothing to return to the framework of international law? Can you, please, comment on visits of European politicians to the Crimea? Do you plan to go to Russia?

There is no change to our very clear EU policy as regards relations with Russia: for any substantive change, the Minsk agreements need to be fully implemented and the illegal annexation of Crimea has to end. This is the first of five principles that currently drive our relations with Russia, agreed unanimously by all EU governments. And our economic sanctions are also linked to this outcome. The visits of some politicians to the illegally annexed peninsula do not reflect our common position and should not cast any doubt over our commitment to Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty. By international law, Crimea is Ukraine.

Among the five principles there is also selective engagement with Russia on topics where there is a clear EU interest to do so: restarting the Middle East Peace Process, preserving the nuclear deal with Iran, denuclearising the Korean peninsula, finding a political solution to the war in Syria. It's important that these contacts continue while at the same time we are clear in our expectation that Russia meets its international obligations and respects international law, including on eastern Ukraine and Crimea and Sevastopol.

What is your assessment of the reform process in Ukraine especially in the field of fight with corruption and judiciary? How is Ukraine implementing the Association Agreement?

The Association Agreement was a great success. Together we have achieved important results, including through the free trade area, in very difficult circumstances. Last year, exports from Ukraine to the European Union grew by almost one third: this was the main driver of economic growth in the country, and the agreement still has to fulfil its full potential.

We know that some crucial legislation for the Association Agreement still has to be adopted. Work needs to be doubled in some crucial areas: anti-corruption is one of those and here we expect the law setting up an independent and efficient High Anti-Corruption Court to be passed, bringing the draft fully in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission. Another important step would be to make sure that the asset declarations of officials and high-profile public figures are actually analysed. We also expect a reform of the e-declarations system, so that it allows civil society and NGOs to do their work. This is what the people of Ukraine need and expect  and we will continue to be on their side, with our support to Ukraine's reform agenda.

Will it be correct to say that there is Ukraine fatigue in the EU and weariness with the Ukrainian leadership?

Not at all. Our political and diplomatic engagement is more intense than ever. Since last year Ukrainians coming to the European Union don't need a visa anymore, and our trade with Ukraine is going up. Last November we had a very successful Summit with our Eastern partners, including Ukraine, and we committed to twenty ambitious political goals to achieve by 2020. It is true that some of the reforms are not moving forward as quickly as we would like them to: yet we remain as committed as we always have been to the reform process, because our commitment is to the Ukrainian people.

The Minsk agreements do not work. Will the EU review its sanction policy?

The Minsk agreements have not yet been implemented in full, and we still believe that they should be. This is the aim of negotiations in the Trilateral Contact Group and the "Normandy" format discussions. The Minsk agreements did manage to halt a dangerous escalation of violence, as was desperately needed. Secondly, they have provided the blueprint to resolving the situation we are faced with, in a way that fully respects Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

We know that fighting continues with terrible consequences: 10,000 lives lost, over 25,000 people wounded, buildings and livelihoods destroyed. We are working to build the conditions to guarantee that a full ceasefire holds and quicker progress is made in parallel by all parties in implementing their commitments. We are consistently making this point in our contacts with both the Ukrainian authorities and in particular Russia. This is also why our sanctions are important; they are in place to add political and economic pressure, to dissuade from further escalation and eventually help bring about a change in Russia's behaviour and in its approach to the Minsk process.

Recently the Hudson Institute released Richard Gowan's report "Can the United Nations Unite Ukraine" with concrete proposal regarding a peacekeeping mission for Ukraine. Is this something you also will consider?

A decision for such a mission would be for the United Nations Security Council to take, not the European Union as such. We would like the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to have full access to the whole territory of Ukraine, including along the Ukrainian-Russian border, in line with its mandate. If a UN Security Council-agreed mission could facilitate all this, and help to advance the implementation of the Minsk agreements, we would of course be in favour.

Don't you think it is time for the EU to become more proactive in the settlement of the crisis around Ukraine? How will you determine Russia for the EU's external policy  a partner or a threat?

Our engagement is close and constant  through our Member States France and Germany, with Ukraine and Russia, with the OSCE, the UN, and the United States. Not only we are the largest contributor to the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission: we are now stepping up our contribution. And we are supporting the negotiations in the Trilateral Contact Group.

Russia used to be a strategic partner for the European Union, but that is no longer the case. It is clear that our relationship with Russia is not what it was, nor what it could be: the full implementation of the Minsk agreements is a key element for any substantial change in our relations. But we as the EU know that selective engagement with Russia is also necessary, where there is a clear EU interest.

Let me add that Russia is more than its current government: we also engage with the Russian people through support to civil society, particularly on human rights, and independent media, and we invest in opportunities for our people to come together, particularly our students and researchers.

What do you think about Russia's actions in Syria?

The people of Syria have been dying and suffering for seven years now, and the war is far from over. Russia is actively engaged in the military conflict, and it is now a guarantor of the Astana process  together with Turkey and Iran. They have a responsibility and they have to fulfil it. Last week I sent a letter to the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey  urging them to take all necessary measures to ensure that the fighting stops, and that urgent humanitarian access and necessary medical evacuations are taking place. We, the European Union, have decided not to bring death and destruction to Syria, but humanitarian aid and diplomatic support. On April 24-25, we are hosting the second Brussels Conference for the future of Syria, to gather more humanitarian support and to help resume the peace talks in Geneva. The only solution to the war is a political solution, and all roads must lead to Geneva.

Talking about the East StratCom Task Force, what kind of disinformation trends do you see? Are there strategical changes or targets?

There is sometimes a misperception that the work that the East StratCom Task Force  our strategic communications team that focusses on our eastern neighbourhood, including Ukraine  works only to highlight, analyse and counter disinformation. This is not the case. The reality is that the European Union needs to better communicate what it is and what it is doing, not only to its citizens but also beyond our borders. Taking Ukraine as an example: the Ukrainian people and our own citizens need to know about the work we do together to support reforms, to create opportunities for youth, to increase business growth, in support of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and of course the EU's commitment to your country's independence and territorial integrity. While I am in Kyiv, I will launch a new communication campaign called "Moving Forward Together", which is precisely aimed at illustrating what our Association Agreement means for Ukrainians and why we are committed to it. People need to be aware of the false information that is out there about our relationship, but we also must be  and are being  proactive in making sure that people have access to the facts in the first place.

Iryna Somer, Brussels

If you see a spelling error on our site, select it and press Ctrl+EnterShe also praised the achievements of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini says that there is no Ukraine fatigue in the EU.

"Not at all," she told UNIAN in an interview prior to her visit to Ukraine on March 11-12 when asked if there is Ukraine fatigue in the European Union and weariness with the Ukrainian leadership.

"Our political and diplomatic engagement is more intense than ever. Since last year Ukrainians coming to the European Union don't need a visa anymore, and our trade with Ukraine is going up. Last November we had a very successful Summit with our Eastern partners, including Ukraine, and we committed to twenty ambitious political goals to achieve by 2020," she said.

Read alsoFederica Mogherini: We would like OSCE SMM to have full access to Ukrainian territory, incl. along Ukraine-Russia border

"It is true that some of the reforms are not moving forward as quickly as we would like them to: yet we remain as committed as we always have been to the reform process, because our commitment is to the Ukrainian people," she added.

She also praised the achievements of the Association Agreement between the EU and Ukraine.

"The Association Agreement was a great success. Together we have achieved important results, including through the free trade area, in very difficult circumstances. Last year, exports from Ukraine to the European Union grew by almost one third: this was the main driver of economic growth in the country, and the agreement still has to fulfil its full potential," she said.

However, she stressed the need for the adoption of legislation related to the Association Agreement.

"We know that some crucial legislation for the Association Agreement still has to be adopted. Work needs to be doubled in some crucial areas: anti-corruption is one of those and here we expect the law setting up an independent and efficient High Anti-Corruption Court to be passed, bringing the draft fully in line with the recommendations of the Venice Commission," she said. "Another important step would be to make sure that the asset declarations of officials and high-profile public figures are actually analysed. We also expect a reform of the e-declarations system, so that it allows civil society and NGOs to do their work. This is what the people of Ukraine need and expect  and we will continue to be on their side, with our support to Ukraine's reform agenda."NATO's policy towards Ukraine was stipulated in the 2008 Bucharest Summit Declaration.

NATO explains that naming Ukraine an aspirant country doesn't mean a change in the Alliance's policy vis-a-vis the country, but it is only an update of the information on its website "to better reflect reality."

"We've seen reports in Ukraine suggesting there's been a change in NATO policy, or a decision. Of course, there has been no change in policy at NATO. NATO's policy remains the same," an official NATO representative told an UNIAN correspondent in Brussels.

"There has been a change in Ukraine's policy, which the website reflects. We simply amended the information of the website to better reflect reality," he said.

In this connection, the NATO representative asked to "make that point to colleagues and amend the information" correspondingly.

Read alsoPoroshenko welcomes NATO's decision to raise Ukraine's ambitions towards Alliance

As was reported, NATO's policy towards Ukraine was stipulated in the 2008 Bucharest Summit Declaration.

"NATO welcomes Ukraine's and Georgia's Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO. Both nations have made valuable contributions to Alliance operations. We welcome the democratic reforms in Ukraine and Georgia and look forward to free and fair parliamentary elections in Georgia in May. MAP [Membership Action Plan] is the next step for Ukraine and Georgia on their direct way to membership. Today we make clear that we support these countries' applications for MAP," it said.

As UNIAN reported, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and other politicians welcomed the fact of incorporating Ukraine in the list of the aspirant countries on NATO's website. "I am grateful for the firm support of Ukraine, for which one of the key priorities of national security is to achieve the criteria for membership in the Alliance," Poroshenko said.

Until March 9, 2018, NATO's website did not have information about Kyiv's membership aspirations, although a relevant decision was approved by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on June 8, 2017. The Ukrainian side has repeatedly asked the NATO leadership to update Ukraine's information on the Alliance's website, reflecting that Kyiv is aiming to become a member of the Alliance.Nord Stream 2 is said to only increase Europe's energy dependence on Russia.

The speakers of the parliaments of Poland, Lithuania and Latvia have signed a letter in Vilnius to warn of the threats the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline poses to the EU countries; the document was earlier signed by Ukraine and Moldova.

The letter sent to the EU heads of parliament says that Nord Stream 2 is aimed at increasing energy dependence of the EU states on Russia. "Thanks to the fact that the document has been signed by a group of countries, rather than by separate states, this voice sounds louder," Chairman of the Polish Sejm Marek Kuchcinski told reporters, Radio Poland's Ukrainian-language service said.

Read alsoNord Stream 2 to make Russo-Ukrainian war more likely: Polish PM

"One principle is common concern for the security of all the countries of the European Union, as well as of the countries in its eastern part. We want to cooperate with everyone, but we also want the safety of our citizens in the Baltic countries and Poland to be respected. We all together support Ukraine, which has been struggling for its independence these days," he said.

The letter also says that energy security is a key component of a united and prosperous Europe. It insists that Nord Stream2 is in fact a political instrument of Russia despite the fact that it has been presented as a commercial project.

Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Latvia and Moldova called on the European countries to ensure that the operation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline be in accordance with EU rules.

Earlier, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said that Nord Stream 2 could threaten the security of the Baltic region.

According to its rationale, the Nord Stream 2 pipeline is designed to ship natural gas into the European Union to enhance security of supply, support climate goals and strengthen the internal energy market.

Nord Stream is an offshore natural gas pipeline from Vyborg in Russia to Greifswald in Germany. It is owned and operated by Nord Stream AG. The project includes two parallel lines. The first line (Nord Stream 1) was laid by May 2011 and was inaugurated on November 8, 2011.

CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine Andriy Kobolyev earlier said that Nord Stream 2 would never help diversify gas supplies to the EU, as it does not provide access to new sources of natural gas.

What is more, the project may deprive Ukraine of revenue from gas transit shipments.The OSCE had to notify the local authorities about this.

Ukraine's Zakarpattia Regional State Administration has not received any requests for opening an OSCE permanent monitoring mission, neither has it provided its consent for this.

"The administration has not received any requests for opening a permanent monitoring mission. And neither has the administration given its consent," the news portal Hromadske.ua quoted speaker for the administration Yaroslav Halas as saying.

"We've learnt about the alleged opening of an OSCE permanent mission in Zakarpattia from media reports," he said.

He also said that apparently, no consent is required, but the OSCE had to notify the local authorities about this.

The nearest office of the OSCE mission is located in Ivano-Frankivsk, some 288 km away. Halas says that OSCE personnel used to arrive from Ivano-Frankivsk every year, but opening a permanent mission was not discussed.

Read alsoUkraine's police: Both crimes related to attacks on Hungarian culture center in Uzhgorod solved

Earlier, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Peter Szijjarto earlier announced the OSCE had already informed him about opening of a monitoring mission in Zakarpattia.

Szijjarto said he received a letter from the OSCE Secretary General on Friday to inform that the Organization had established a permanent presence in Uzhgorod with personnel numbering 12 people.

As UNIAN reported earlier, the building of the headquarters of the Transcarpathian Hungarian Cultural Association (KMKSZ) in the west Ukrainian town of Uzhgorod saw an arson attack on February 27. No casualties were reported.

Hungarian politicians insisted on the deployment of OSCE monitors in the area.As part of her visit to Kyiv, Mogherini is to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.

High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini is going to launch a new communication campaign called "Moving Forward Together."

"While I am in Kyiv, I will launch a new communication campaign called 'Moving Forward Together,' which is precisely aimed at illustrating what our Association Agreement means for Ukrainians and why we are committed to it," Mogherini told UNIAN pending her two-day visit to Kyiv, which started on March 11.

Read alsoMogherini: No Ukraine fatigue in EU

"People need to be aware of the false information that is out there about our relationship, but we also must be  and are being  proactive in making sure that people have access to the facts in the first place," she said.

According to her, to inform about disinformation is partly the mission of the East StratCom Task Force. "The reality is that the European Union needs to better communicate what it is and what it is doing, not only to its citizens but also beyond our borders. Taking Ukraine as an example: the Ukrainian people and our own citizens need to know about the work we do together to support reforms, to create opportunities for youth, to increase business growth, in support of human rights and fundamental freedoms, and of course the EU's commitment to your country's independence and territorial integrity," she said.

As UNIAN reported earlier, during her visit to Kyiv, Mogherini is to meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman.Mortars, grenade launchers, machine guns and small arms were used to attack Ukrainian troops.

Russian-led occupation forces mounted five attacks on Ukrainian military positions in Donbas in the past 24 hours, as a result of which one Ukrainian soldier was wounded in action (WIA).

The enemy continues shelling Ukrainian positions, thus failing to observe the ceasefire recently agreed by the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG) in Minsk, the press center of the headquarters of Ukraine's military operations said in a morning update on Facebook on Sunday, March 11.

Read also"Ceasefire" in Donbas: 1 KIA, 1WIA amid two attacks on March 9In the Luhansk sector, Russia's hybrid military forces used grenade launchers and small arms to attack Ukrainian troops stationed near the villages of Novhorodske and Malynove. What is more, Ukrainian positions near the village of Katerynivka were under 82mm mortar fire.

In Donetsk region, Russian proxies used large-caliber machine guns and small arms to attack Ukrainian positions near the village of Vodiane. They also used 82mm mortars and grenade launchers to shell Ukrainian defenders of the village of Bohdanivka.

As was reported, the TCG on the settlement of the Donbas crisis on March 2 agreed on a full ceasefire from March 5. Russian-led militants claimed they would support the ceasefire, however, they continue shelling the Ukrainian army's positions in Donbas.The party loyalists who attend the annual session of parliament have said the decision is popular with ordinary Chinese people.

China's largely rubber stamp parliament on Sunday passed a series of constitutional amendments, including one that removes presidential term limits, allowing President Xi Jinping to remain in office indefinitely.

The announcement of the vote, witnessed by reporters in the Great Hall of the People, passed with two "no" votes and three abstentions among almost 3,000 delegates, Reuters said.

Read alsoChina to increase 2018 defense budget by 8.1%  XinhuaChina's ruling Communist Party proposed the amendment last month and there was never any doubt it would pass as parliament is packed with loyal party members who would not have opposed the proposal.

In the run up to the vote, critics on social media attacked the move and drew parallels to North Korea or suggested a Mao Zedong-type cult of personality was forming. But the government quickly mounted a propaganda push, blocking some articles and publishing pieces praising the party.

The party loyalists who attend the annual session of parliament have said the decision is popular with ordinary Chinese people and asserted that China was lucky to have a leader of President Xi's caliber.

Xi began his second five-year term as party chief in October and at the end of the week will be formally appointed by parliament.

The limit of two five-year presidential terms was written into China's constitution after Mao's death in 1976 by Deng Xiaoping, who recognized the dangers of one-man rule and the cult of personality and instead espoused collective leadership.(@rukhshanmir)

MIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) , March 11 (APP)::President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Sardar Masood Khan has said that Pakistan and AJK are fast becoming self-sufficient in the power generation.

"AJK owing to water resources is especially focusing on the production of renewable energy from its rivers and in the next 15 years will be able to produce over six-seven thousand megawatts of electricity", President Masood expressed these in his comments on the eve of the inaugural ceremony of 1410 MW fourth extension hydropower project at Tarbela Saturday, AJK Presidential Secretariat Sources told APP on Sunday.

This electricity, he said, would be enough to cater to the whole of AJK and shall also contribute to Pakistan's national grid.

The AJK President yesterday attended the historic event marking the commissioning of the first unit of 470 MW under the 1410 MW 4th extension hydropower project inaugurated by Prime Minister of Pakistan Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Saturday, they said.

He expressed the hope that the project will substantially contribute towards addressing power issues by providing clean and renewable energy in the country. "Last year on 15th December, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, inaugurated the 147 MW Patrind hydropower project in Muzaffarabad.

It is expected that soon he will also inaugurate the first phase of the 969 MW Neelum-Jhelum hydropower project situated close to the state capital of Muzaffarabad", the sources underlined. APP/ahr/majMIRPUR (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) , March 11 (APP)::Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Raja Farooq Haider Khan Sunday emphatically said that consensus among all the political forces in the State was imperative for the abolition of the AJK Council besides the much needed amendments in Act 1974  the interim constitution of Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

"At this crucial stage, when serious efforts are being made for the full empowerment, all stake holders should play their supportive role to this direction,"Farooq Haider expressed these views on the occasion of 30th death anniversary of K.H Khurshid, the former President of AJK on Sunday.

Farooq Haider Khan continued that political worker belonging to any party should be respected, we are proud that there was a Kashmiri who struggled in making Pakistan. Jammu Kashmir Liberation league leader Manzoor Qadir Dar, Ex- Minister Khawaja Farooq Ahmed, Hanif Awan, Sheikh Aqeel ur Rehman, Zahid Akram Advocate, Gullshad Butt, Malik Munawar Awan and others also addressed the occasion.

PM AJK stated that Khursheed Hassan Khursheed was a great politicians and a noble person, "people like him born in centuries" he said. Prime Minister also admired about the politicians who supported him, saying that I am grateful to all political leadership including Jamaat-i-Islami and PPP for supporting our endeavors to abolish Kashmir Council and constitutional amendments.

Prime Minister Azad Kashmir said that we should appreciate the people who always mention their identity as Kashmiris. "K. H, Khursheed was the man of words whose work for Kashmir freedom of movement became history and always considered remarkable" Prime Minister maintained.

He echoed that Kashmiris have the capability to become Prime Minister of Pakistan. PM AJK said that the new generation is unaware of history; it is our responsibility to apprise our younger generation about the history.

He said that we condemn the house arrest of Hurriyat leaders in Indian occupied Kashmir including the massacre of youth and we express our solidarity with them. Prime Minister said that when K.H Khurshid died, he had only 37 rupees in his pocket.

"There are many people who did not have any penny before they came to power, and became wealthy after being in power" he said. He added that working with Khursheed Hussain Khursheed in the 1985 assembly was the best period of my life, he used to exhort me specially.

He said that I am grateful to the Prime Minister Pakistan who presided over the meeting regarding Constitutional amendment and endorsed it according to the hopes and expectations of Kashmiris. APP/ahr/majRAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Anti Narcotics Force (ANF) Pakistan has recovered 1.217 tons narcotics worth Rs1.3 billion in international market besides arresting 15 accused involved in drug trafficking in 14 counter-narcotics operations conducted across the country.

The seized drugs comprised 1.073 tons Hashish, 6.2 kg Opium, 2.2 kg Amphetamine, one kg Heroin and 82 kg Psychotropic tablets. According to an ANF spokesman, ANF also impounded five vehicles being used for smuggling of the drugs.He informed that ANF Quetta conducted an operation in Killi Shakoor Khan, Tehsil Gulistan, District Qilla Abdullah and seized 237 kg Hashish.

ANF Quetta carried out an operation at District Qilla Abdullah and seized 850 kg Hashish. ANF Karachi conducted a raid and seized 63.6 kg Pronix Tablets and 8.5 kg Xanax Tablets. In a follow-up operation, ANF Karachi raided a site at Sector 11-G, Godhra Muslim Dispensary, Abbasi Nagar, New Karachi and arrested absconder Muhammad Arif r/o Karachi with recovery of 10.6 kg Xanax Tablets.

ANF Rawalpindi and Lahore also conducted operations and recovered drugs besides arresting the accused. Separate cases have been registered at respective ANF Police Stations under CNS Act 1997 while further investigations are underway, he added.ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Security Forces conducted intelligence-based operation (IBOs) on terrorists suspected hideouts in Mastung, Pashin, Khad Kacha and Sibbi.

According to Inter Services Public Relations press release (ISPR), a total of two terrorists were apprehended. Cache of arms and ammunition including prepared improvised explosive devices (IEDs), explosives, rockets and ammunition of different caliber recovered.KARACHI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :More than 1000 degrees were conferred on the students of BS and MS programme in the 21st Convocation of the Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology (SSUET).

According to a statement issued here on Sunday two of the faculty members were conferred PhD degrees, while the degree of Doctorate (Honorary) was awarded to renowned philanthropist Sardar Muhammad Yasin Malik.

Position holders were conferred gold, silver and bronze medals for securing highest marks in their respective disciplines. Lt. Gen. (retd) Moinuddin Haider was the chief guest on the occasion. Chancellor of SSUET, General Secretary, Aligarh Muslim University Old Boy's Association, Engr.

Muhammad Arshad Khan and a large number of educationists, scholars, faculty members and students attended the convocation. Lt.Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider congratulated the students for receiving the degrees and their teachers and parents.

He said that world is changing rapidly and in near future robots may replace human services, as in many countries robots are doing surgeries. He urged the students to update their knowledge and skills according to contemporary demands.

Moinuddin Haider said that the CEPC will bring economic prosperity in the region. He said that it has already brought heavy investment in Pakistan. They are making a network of roads and industrial zone will be established in the next phase, he adedd.

The Chancellor of the university shed light on the university's performance. Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Muhammad Afzal Haq, Registrar Syed Sarfraz Ali, General Secretary Aligarh Muslim University of Boy's Association Engr. Muhammad Arashad Khan also spoke. APP/amh/mkm/(@ChaudhryMAli88)

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Minister for Defense Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan has said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was in favour of bringing reforms for changing the process of Senate election to stop stopping horse-trading.

Talking to a private news channel, he said the government had started work on election reforms act before the sit-in of 2014. He said all the political parties should think about the process of accountability, adding Nawaz Sharif and his family were presenting themselves before the courts for supremacy of law.

The minister said Nawaz Sharif had always respected the national institutions including judiciary, adding he accepted his disqualification but criticism on the decision was his constitutional right.

He said the political opponents of PML-N failed to prove a single penny corruption against Muhammad Nawaz Sharif before the courts. He said Nawaz Sharif had started many mega welfare and developmental projects across the country without any discrimination and most of them were near to completion.

He said if people would cast their votes in favour of PML-N in general elections 2018, the development policy would be continued. He said the government had removed the dictatorial amendments from the constitution.RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :A comprehensive report prepared by the experts of United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) has recommended that in order to promote tourism in Pakistan, Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation (PTDC) should be made a National Tourism Authority at the Federal level.

According to details, due to efforts made by the Managing Director (MD) PTDC, Chaudhary Abdul Ghafoor Khan, a UNWTO workshop was held here in January this year. UNWTO Experts, Harry Huang and George Drakeop attended the workshop and reviewed the current situation of tourism in Pakistan.

They have prepared a comprehensive report containing all the facts and figures. The report says that tourism opportunities in Pakistan are not less than any country of the world, but due to many factors, Pakistan could not achieve its right place in global tourism.

According to the report, the main reason for lack of proper development in the tourism sector in Pakistan is non existence of proper advertising and non-participation of the authorities concerned from Pakistan in global tourism event, which is affecting the sector and causing a negative impression across the world.

In the past, the sector was not included in the main priorities of the government and under the 18th constitutional amendment, the transition of Ministry of Tourism to provinces had badly affected the performance of an effective institution like PTDC.

Though, provincial organizations are playing their role for promoting domestic tourism in their areas of jurisdiction, but projection abroad under federal umbrella is need of the hour, through which the tour operators and provincial organizations could participant in international events and represent the country.

The report appreciated efforts of MD PTDC, his vision for promotion and development of tourism in the country and acknowledged that the incumbent government is committed to promote tourism. The report also strongly recommended that PTDC should be transformed into National Tourism Authority.

The report further said that the government of Pakistan should give financial assistance to PTDC for publicity and promotion so that the authority could promote tourism sites at international level as well as represent Pakistan with the participation of private sector tourism organizations in international tourism exhibitions.

Public-Private partnership for infrastructure development for the promotion of the sector is also essential, the report added.MINGORA (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) , March 11 (APP):Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan Sunday said the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) leadership had raised hollow slogans of change as in fact their government had destroyed the infrastructure across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

PTI chief Imran Khan had sold his party's party assembly members in the Senate election, which was probably "a change", he alleged addressing to a public gathering here at Grassi Ground. Former KP chief minister Amir Haider Khan Hoti, former provincial ministers Wajid Ali Khan and Ayub Khan Asharay and other ANP leaders were also present on the occasion.

Asfandyar said PTI social media team had spread romours about his foreign assets, but he on oath stated that he had no assets in foreign countries, either in his own name or any family member, and he would quit politics if proved otherwise.

He owned the assets, which his forefathers had left, he added. He asked KP Chief Minister Pervaz Khattak and other PTI leaders that the people wanted to know about their current assets and those which they possessed before taking over government in the province.

He said Names of many people having assets abroad were mentioned in the Panama papers, but the National Accountability Bureau was only probing the Sharif family. The ANP chief alleged that massive corruption was done the PTI's One billion Tree Tsunami Project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and urged the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo moto notice in that regard.

Amir Haider khan Hoti also adressed the meeting APP/srj/ashPESHAWAR, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :The Regional Board Meeting (RBM) of National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was held under the chairmanship of Farmanullah Khan, here Director General in the board authorized inquiry against employees of Directorate of Health Services, FATA and others regarding corruption & corrupt practices.

The meeting was attended by Directors, Deputy Prosecutor General (DPGA), Case Officers, and other concerned officers. The board authorized inquiry against employees of Directorate of Health Services FATA and others regarding corruption & corrupt practices.

The subjects are alleged to have embezzled funds worth millions of rupees in Polio Vaccination projects in FATA. Another inquiry was authorized against Irshad Muhammad Khan, Senior Engineer, Cantonment Board Peshawar regarding accumulation of assets beyond known sources of income.

The accused allegedly owns residential properties in Pakistan and abroad worth millions of rupees.

The Board authorized inquiry against officials and officials of Revenue Department, Malakand regarding corruption and corrupt practices and misuse of authority.

The subject are alleged to have misused authority by not willfully collecting rent since 1995 from lessees of evacuee property of central government measuring 2042 Kanal (Agriculture Land) at Tehsil Dargai District Malakand.

Furthermore, they in connivance with private person have illegally transferred evacuee property causing huge loss to national exchequer. Similarly, the Regional Board authorized inquiry against employees of FATA Secretariat and others regarding embezzlement of funds.

It is alleged that the subject embezzled millions of funds in multiple projects in FR Bannu by awarding projects to favorites contractors and using sub-standard material / equipment.Bogota, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Colombia votes Sunday to elect a new Congress with a resurgent right, bitterly opposed to a peace deal that allows leftist former rebels to participate, expected to poll strongly.

The election is set to be the calmest in half a century of conflict in Colombia, with the former rebel movement FARC spurning jungle warfare for politics, and the ELN -- the country's last active rebel group -- observing a ceasefire.

"This is the first election in half a century when we will vote in peace, without the FARC as an armed group, but as a political party," said President Juan Manuel Santos, who signed a peace deal with the FARC in November 2016.

The peace accord with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guarantees their new political party 10 of the 280 seats in the new Congress. The party uses the same Spanish acronym, which now stands for the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force, and replaced its crossed-rifles insignia with a red rose.

But opinion polls give it little chance of adding to its 10 free seats, following a disastrous campaign during which its rebels-turned-politicians were largely drowned out by a tide of public revulsion over crimes committed during the conflict.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Havana, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Cubans vote to ratify a new National Assembly on Sunday, a key step in a process leading to the election of a new president, the first in nearly 60 years from outside the Castro family.

The new members of the National Assembly will be tasked with choosing a successor to 86-year-old President Raul Castro when he steps down next month. As voting was about to begin, however, the foreign ministry issued a statement insisting that even without a Castro as president the Cuban revolution they led will endure into the next generation.

"Some hear siren songs and announce the end of the 'Castro era,'" it said on Twitter. "The next president will not have that surname. But without a doubt, it will be a son of the Revolution." Raul took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who had governed since seizing power during the 1959 revolution.

Eight million Cubans are expected to turn out to ratify 605 candidates for an equal number of seats in the Assembly, a process shorn of suspense and unique to the Communist-run Caribbean island nation.If you are currently a print subscriber but don't have an online account, select this option. You will need to use your 7 digit subscriber account number (with leading zeros) and your last name (in UPPERCASE).Addis Ababa, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 12th Mar, 2018 ) :The deaths of nine civilians in Ethiopia's restive Oromia region, home to its largest ethnic group, was due to an accidental shooting by soldiers, state media said Sunday.

Soldiers opened fire on the civilians near the town of Moyale on the southern border with Kenya after mistaking them for members of the banned Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) who were attempting to sneak into the country, Ethiopian news Agency (ENA) reported.

"The wrong information that members of the force received led to the confrontation that killed nine people and injured another 12," ENA said, without specifying when the incident took place. Five soldiers involved in the shooting have been jailed, the state agency added.

The government's version of events could not immediately be independently confirmed.

The shooting was the latest episode of violence in the region of ethnic Oromos which has been a hotbed of anti-government sentiment since protests broke out there in late 2015.

That unrest, which spread to the neighbouring Amhara region and caused hundreds of deaths, pushed the government to declare a 10-month state of emergency in October 2016. Ethiopia declared another emergency last month after Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced he would resign.

Rights groups including Amnesty International condemned the decree, saying they feared it could lead to abuses by security forces. Top officials from the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) met on Sunday to start the process of choosing a replacement for Hailemariam, who will remain in his post until the succession is complete.Colombo, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Mushfiqur Rahim hit a blazing half-century to help Bangladesh chase down a record 215 and beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a thrilling Twenty20 international of the tri-series in Colombo on Saturday.

Rahim smashed an unbeaten 72 off 35 balls as the visitors achieved their target with two balls to spare at the R Premadasa Stadium. Rahim, who hit 5 fours and 4 sixes, broke into a dance after giving Bangladesh their highest-ever run chase in the shortest format, and the fourth biggest overall in international T20s.

The diminutive wicketkeeper-batsman built crucial partnerships after openers Tamim Iqbal, who hit 47, and Liton Das, who made 43 off 19 balls, set up the chase with a brisk start. Paceman Nuwan Pradeep struck two crucial blows including Liton's wicket but Sri Lankan bowlers failed to stop the flow of runs from Mushfiqur, who was named man of the match.

Earlier Sri Lanka opener Kusal Mendis, who made 57, and Kusal Perera, who top-scored with 74, put together 85 runs for the second wicket to guide the hosts to 214-6, after being put into bat first.

Bangladesh skipper Mahmudullah got Mendis out with his off-spin as he struck twice in his very first over to check Sri Lanka's surge. But Perera continued to pulverise the Bangladesh attack to hit his second successive fifty.

He smashed 8 fours and 2 sixes during his 48-ball blitz. Upul Tharanga also played a useful cameo during his unbeaten 15-ball 32. Bangladesh paceman Mustafizur Rahman claimed three wickets. The tournament, timed to commemorate the host island's 70 years of independence, stays alive with all three teams having won a game each. India take on Sri Lanka next on Monday.Caracas, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :A Venezuelan military court on Saturday ordered seven army officers and two sergeants to be jailed on charges of treason and "instigating a rebellion" against President Nicolas Maduro.

If found guilty the accused soldiers "face up to 30 years prison," defense attorney for the suspects Alonso Medina told AFP. All nine -- six lieutenant colonels, a first lieutenant and two sergeants, one of them a woman -- were ordered sent to prison in a hearing that ended early Saturday, Medina said.

"No concrete evidence against the officers was presented, only testimony based on alleged intelligence reports," the lawyer said. Two of those detained are battalion commanders -- one in Caracas, and the other in San Cristobal, on the border with Colombia.

The soldiers were taken into custody by military counter-intelligence agents on March 2, accused of belonging to an anti-Maduro movement known as the "Movement of Transition towards the Dignity of the People," Medina said.

The arrests come more than a week after Maduro ordered 24 retired and active duty military officers demoted and kicked out of the service. Among them was Raul Baduel, a minister of defense under Maduro's predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez.

The arrests are being carried out as a way "to keep the military institution submissive and loyal" to the government's so-called Bolivarian Revolution, said Rocio San Miguel, an expert on military affairs.

"The biggest danger that Maduro faces comes from his generals and admirals," San Miguel told AFP. "And since he can't act against them, he picks on the mid-level officers to see how they react." Analysts believe that the military's support is key to Maduro maintaining power amid a worsening crisis that has driven hundreds of thousands of Venezuela to try to flee the country.

Maduro is seeking a second six-year term in elections set for May 20 that most of the main opposition parties are boycotting.(@ChaudhryMAli88)

Moscow, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that under no circumstances would he give Crimea back to Ukraine, speaking in a new documentary released Sunday ahead of his expected re-election in next week's poll.

"What, have you gone mad?" he told a journalist who asked him if there were any circumstances under which the Russian leader would be ready to give up Crimea. "There are no such circumstances and never will be," he said in the new two-hour documentary "Putin".

It was published on the social media accounts of pro-Kremlin tv host Dmitry Kiselev ahead of a presidential election on March 18.

Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and supported Russian-speaking insurgents in the east of the ex-Soviet country after a Western-backed popular uprising ousted a Kremlin-backed regime from power in Kiev.

The peninsula's annexation led to European and US sanctions against Moscow amid the most serious crisis in ties with the West since the end of the Cold War. The documentary -- produced by journalist Andrei Kondrashov, who is a spokesman for Putin's campaign -- features interviews with a number of the Russian leader's allies including former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and childhood friend cellist Sergei Roldugin.Doha, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :Qatar has made another complaint to the United Nations alleging new violations of its airspace by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, state media reported on Saturday.

The Qatar news Agency said its airspace was violated by a UAE military transport aircraft carrier on January 14 and again on February 25. A Bahraini military plane also flew into Qatar's airspace on February 26, it said.

The QNA said the UN secretary general and the Security Council were informed about the incidents, which come at a time of high political tension in the Gulf. "Qatar called upon the Security Council and the United Nations to take the necessary measures...

to maintain international peace and security," it added. For the past nine months, Qatar has been isolated by its former neighbouring allies in a rancorous diplomatic dispute.

Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain and Egypt allege Doha supports terrorism -- a charge it categorically denies -- and imposed sanctions including closing their airspace to Qatari planes.

It is the second time Qatar has complained to the UN about violation of its airspace. In a tit-for-tat exchange in January, Qatar claimed an incursion by a UAE aircraft. In response, UAE officials denied the charge and alleged that Qatari aircraft had intercepted two civilian Emirati aircraft, and also complained to the UN.

On Friday, Qatar also alleged that a UAE navy vessel had "kidnapped" a Qatari fishing boat at gunpoint and was still holding its eight-strong Indian crew. A complaint has been lodged with the UN over this matters as well, said the QNA.(@FahadShabbir)

ANKARA, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 11th Mar, 2018 ) :The Turkish state development aid agency has donated equipment to help diagnose and treat children's heart problems in the West African nation of Angola, the agency said on Sunday.

The Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) provided the David Bernardino Children's Hospital with the medical equipment in cooperation with Turkey's Embassy in the capital Luanda and the Lwini Foundation for children with cardiac problems, TIKA said in a statement.

The equipment to improve the quality of life of children suffering from cardiac problems includes an ultrasound echocardiography device, hand-held pulse oximeter, electrocardiography, portable clot analyzer, and sphygmomanometer for newborns and children.

The statement said that the donation aims to strengthen cooperation in the field of social services between the two countries. The equipment was handed over to hospital officials in a ceremony following training on the devices, the statement added.

Attending the ceremony were Turkey's Ambassador to Luanda Ahmet Ihsan Kiziltan, Angolan Deputy Health Minister Altino Matias, Lwini Foundation Vice President Joana Lina Candido, Lwini Foundation CEO Alfredo Ferreira, and TIKA officials Seylan Imre and Ersan Kocabiyik.The United States and ASEAN recently celebrated its 40 years of a partnership in which they have built economic engagement, security, the rule of law, sustainable development and people-to-people relations. But in recent years the region has seen the growing influence of China in trade and development. At the same time, ASEAN nations traditionally allied with the United States and professing democratic principles have shied away from their commitment to promoting democracy and human rights. Jane Bocklage, charge d'affaires of the U.S. Mission to ASEAN in Jakarta, spoke to VOA Khmer reporters Aun Chhengpor and Sun Narin during a recent visit to Cambodia to preside over the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiatives STEM Education Workshop.The URL has been copied to your clipboard

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Police in Brussels, Belgium, prevented a group of Kurdish protesters from marching near the city center, March 10, 2018. Brussels Kurdish community has held demonstrations against Turkeys military operations in Afrin, Syria. In January, Turkey began an offensive against the Syrian Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), which Ankara considers a terror organization. The Kurds deny they are a terror group.China said Sunday it does not intend to ignite a trade war with the U.S. because the move would be disastrous for the entire world.

There are no winners in a trade war, Minister of Commerce Zhong Shan said on the sidelines of Chinas annual parliamentary session.

China does not wish to fight a trade war, nor will China initiate a trade war, but we can handle any challenge and will resolutely defend the interests of our country and our people, Zhong said.

President Donald Trump signed proclamations Thursday imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, with the new taxes set to go into effect this month.

US, Japan, EU talk

Trade representatives for Japan and the European Union met with the U.S. trade representative Saturday in an effort to avoid a trade war over Trumps new tariffs on aluminum and steel.

At the meeting in Brussels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko discussed the tariffs as part of a trilateral effort to combat unfair trade practices.

The EU said in a statement that both Brussels and Tokyo had serious concerns about the U.S. tariffs. Both powers, two of the biggest trade partners with the United States, have asked for exemptions from the tariffs.

After the meeting, Malmstrom tweeted, No immediate clarity on the exact U.S. procedure for exemption ... so discussions will continue next week.

I firmly and clearly expressed my view that this is regrettable, Seko said at a news conference following the meeting. ... I explained that this could have a bad effect on the entire multilateral trading system.

Saturday afternoon, Trump accused the EU of treating the U.S. very badly on trade. He said if they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products... we will likewise drop ours, he wrote in a tweet.

If they dont, he warned the U.S. would tax European cars and other products.

Exemptions unclear

On Friday, the European Union said it is not clear whether the bloc will be exempt from Trumps steel and aluminum tariffs.

EU Trade Commissioner Malmstrom said Friday in Brussels, We hope that we can get confirmation that the EU is excluded from this.

Canada and Mexico were given specific exemptions from the tariffs for an indefinite period while negotiations continue on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Brazil, South Korea and Australia have also asked for exemptions or special treatment.

Trump imposed the tariffs despite pleas from friends and allies who warned the new measure could ignite a trade war.Doctors are urging that alcohol be banned in the troubled Central Australian town of Tennant Creek for five years. The Northern Territory government has imposed two weeks of emergency alcohol restrictions in the town following a sharp increase in alcohol-fueled violence, but medical professionals believe stricter measures are needed.



Demands for sweeping changes to alcohol laws in the northern Australian town of Tennant Creek followed the alleged rape of a 2-year-old Aboriginal girl and a series of suicides.



Doctors discussed at a public meeting how they treat an "endless stream" of pregnant women who are drunk and other Aboriginal people who have been attacked or attempted suicide while intoxicated. They also treat children with fetal alcohol syndrome, a condition that can cause mental and physical birth defects and is brought about by excessive alcohol consumption by an expectant mother.



Tennant Creek has a population of about 3,000 people. About half are indigenous Australians, and they have high rates of unemployment, ill-health and over-crowded housing, while the community is also blighted by alcohol abuse and domestic violence.



Nationally, Australia's original inhabitants make up about 3 percent of the population, yet they are disproportionately represented in crime figures.



Authorities in northern Australia say a recent two-week period in which alcohol sales were restricted has made Tennant Creek safer. During that time, limits were placed on the hours alcohol could be sold, as well as the amount of beer, wine or spirits that could be purchased.



The mayor of Tennant Creek, Steve Edgington, says opinion is divided in the local community.



"The local police are telling me that the restrictions have been very effective -- the three hours per day has certainly reduced the supply and the consumption of alcohol. There is other members that think that the restrictions should be even wider and some people are saying that being able to purchase one carton of beer a day is still too much and they would like to see further restrictions in place. So, look, I am hearing different opinions from different parts of the community," he said.



Doctors warn, however, that a long-term solution to reduce alcohol-fueled violence is needed. The medical professionals insist that a five-year ban on alcohol in the town 1,000 kilometers south of Darwin would help its residents to recover.



Alcohol is banned in dozens of Aboriginal communities, usually with the full support of tribal leaders. Smuggling alcohol into these so-called "dry areas" can attract large fines.



For the two-week period, alcohol was restricted for the entire population of Tennant Creek.Labor strikes. Nationwide protests. Bank failures.

In recent months, Iran has been beset by economic problems despite the promises surrounding the 2015 nuclear deal it struck with world powers.

Its clerically overseen government is starting to take notice. Politicians now offer the idea of possible government referendums or early elections. Even Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged the depths of the problems ahead of the 40th anniversary of Irans Islamic Revolution.

Progress has been made in various sectors in the real sense of the word; however, we admit that in the area of justice we are lagging behind, Khamenei said in February, according to an official transcript. We should apologize to Allah the Exalted and to our dear people.

Whether change can come, however, is in question.

An economy run by the state

Iran today largely remains a state-run economy. It has tried to privatize some of its industries, but critics say they have been handed over to a wealthy elite that looted them and ran them into the ground.

One major strike now grips the Iran National Steel Industrial Group in Ahvaz, in the countrys southwest, where hundreds of workers say they havent been paid in three months. Authorities say some demonstrators have been arrested during the strike.

More than 3.2 million Iranians are jobless, government spokesman Mohammad-Bagher Nobakht has said. The unemployment rate is more than 11 percent.

Banks remain hobbled by billions of dollars in bad loans, some from the era of nuclear sanctions and others tainted with fraud. The collapse last year of the Caspian Credit Institute, which promised depositors the kinds of returns rarely seen outside of Ponzi schemes, showed the economic desperation faced by many in Iran.

Or in security services grip

Meanwhile, much of the economy is in the grip of Irans security services.

The countrys powerful Revolutionary Guard paramilitary force, which answers only Khamenei and runs Irans ballistic missile program, controls 15 to 30 percent of the economy, analysts say.

Under President Hassan Rouhani, a relatively moderate cleric whose government reached the nuclear accord, there has been a push toward ending military control of some businesses. However, the Guard is unlikely to give up its power easily.

Some suggest hard-liners and the Guard may welcome the economic turmoil in Iran as it weakens Rouhanis position. His popularity has slipped since winning a landslide re-election in May 2017, in part over the countrys economic woes.

Analysts believe a hard-line protest in late December likely lit the fuse for the nationwide demonstrations that swept across about 75 cities. While initially focused on the economy, they quickly turned anti-government. At least 25 people were killed in clashes surrounding the demonstrations, while nearly 5,000 reportedly were arrested.

A rare referendum?

In the time since, Rouhani has suggested holding a referendum, without specifying what exactly would be voted on.

If factions have differences, there is no need to fight, bring it to the ballot, Rouhani said in a speech Feb. 11. Do whatever the people say.

Such words dont come lightly. There have been only two referendums since the Islamic Revolution. A 1979 referendum installed Irans Islamic republic. A 1989 constitutional referendum eliminated the post of prime minister, created Irans Supreme National Security Council and made other changes.

A letter signed by 15 prominent Iranians published a day after Rouhanis speech called for a referendum on whether Iran should become a secular parliamentary democracy. The letter was signed by Iranians living inside the country and abroad, including Nobel Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi.

The sum of the experiences of the last 40 years show the impossibility of reforming the Islamic Republic, since by hiding behind divine concepts ... the regime has become the principal obstacle to progress and salvation of the Iranian nation, read the letter, which was posted online.

But even among moderates in Irans clerical establishment, there seems to be little interest in such far-reaching changes, which would spell the end of the Islamic Republic. Hard-liners, who dominate the countrys security services, are adamantly opposed.

I am telling the anti-Islamic government network, the anti-Iranians and those runaway counterrevolutionaries ... their wish for a public referendum will never come true, Tehran Friday prayer leader Ayatollah Ahmad Khatami said Feb. 15, according to the state-run IRNA news agency.

Take responsibility

Yet there are signs that authorities realize that something will have to give. Khameneis apology in February took many by surprise, especially as the countrys true hard-liners believe he is the representative of God on earth.

Khameneis apology came after a letter from Mehdi Karroubi, an opposition activist who remains under house arrest, demanding that the supreme leader take responsibility for failures.

You were president for eight years and you have been the absolute ruler for almost 29 years, Karroubi wrote in the letter, which was not reported on by state media. Therefore, considering your power and influence over the highest levels of state, you must accept that todays political, economic, cultural and social situation in the country is a direct result of your guidance and administration.

Irans former hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, blamed by many for the countrys economic woes, has come out for early elections. He also demanded they be free and fair, while continuing his own campaign against Khamenei, whom he ignored in his attempt to run in the 2017 presidential election.

However, Ahmadinejads action drew immediate criticism, as his own widely disputed 2009 re-election sparked unrest and violence that killed dozens.Hong Kong residents voted Sunday in by-elections that give opposition supporters the chance to recapture lost ground in a contest measuring voters appetite for democracy in the semiautonomous Chinese city.

The vote pits pro-Beijing loyalists against opposition candidates competing for four seats in the citys semi-democratic legislature. The seats were left empty when a group of lawmakers were expelled following a 2016 controversy over their oaths, which they used to defy China.

The ejected members included two advocating Hong Kongs independence, something Chinas President Xi Jinping has called a red line.

Main battleground

In the votes main battleground, little known activist Au Nok-hin is competing against pro-Beijing rival Judy Chan. He was enlisted at the last moment after officials disqualified the pro-democracy camps marquee candidate, 21-year-old Agnes Chow, because she advocated for Hong Kongers to determine their own future.

This election is not just a normal election; it is a battle between the pro-Beijing camp and the pro-democracy camp, Chow said. Its also a very important choice for Hong Kong people for whether they want rule of law or rule by the Communist Party.

She said Hong Kongs younger generation hoped for democratic development. But that prospect looks increasingly distant after Xi prepared to abolish term limits, paving the way for him to remain Chinas president indefinitely.

Chow had intended to stand for the seat vacated after the disqualification of Nathan Law, a fellow member of their Demosisto party who became Hong Kongs youngest-ever lawmaker. The two were among a wave of young activists who emerged from the massive but inconclusive 2014 Umbrella Movement demonstrations against Beijings plans to restrict elections for Hong Kongs top leader.

Under the one country, two systems framework, Beijing promised to let Hong Kong maintain wide autonomy and civil liberties following its 1997 handover from Britain. Fears are rising that Chinas communist leaders are backtracking.

Results expected Monday

Some 2.1 million voters are eligible to cast ballots for three Legislative Council seats while a fourth is chosen by architects and surveyors. Business and trade groups account for about half the councils 70 seats.

Only one of the disqualified lawmakers, professor Edward Yiu, is joining the race after officials unexpectedly approved his candidacy. Two more seats will be decided later because of ongoing legal action.

Governments and rights groups have expressed concern about the disqualifications.

The by-elections have been tainted by government-sanctioned political screening which has resulted in the disqualification of elected lawmakers and candidates, British non-government organization Hong Kong Watch said in a report last week.

Results are expected early Monday.The United Nations says hunger is soaring in the Democratic Republic of Congo mainly because of fighting and widespread displacement in Kasai and Tanganyika in Central and Eastern DRC.

The United Nations reports 7.7 million people in DRC, mainly in rural areas are suffering from acute hunger. This is a 30 percent increase since 2016 and the situation on the ground does not auger well for the future.

Conditions are particularly grim in the Kasai region. Spokeswoman for the World Food Program, Bettina Luescher tells VOA 3.2 million people there  or one in four  are suffering from severe food shortages.

Malnourished children at risk of dying are 300,000  at risk of dying. Just think of that  300,000 little kids. We have 762,000 people that are still displaced, she said.

The most worrying aspect, says Luescher is that the DRC has fallen off the international agenda and aid agencies are not receiving the money they need to provide life-saving assistance. She says WFP is so severely underfunded it was forced to cut food rations in half for beneficiaries in Kasai in November.

The hard thing is how people are affected. People sometimes have fled into the bush," she said. "People have died there because there was just no aid coming. So, I think it is a really, really tough one.

The United Nations has appealed for $168 billion to provide humanitarian assistance for 10.5 million people in DRC this year. The response, so far, has been tepid.

In hopes of stimulating greater support, the U.N. plans to hold a large international donors pledging conflict in Geneva in mid-April.Students from the high school where 17 people were shot and killed last month have created a grassroots movement over gun violence that has spread across the United States.

#NeverAgain: Pick up a pen, reads a tweet by @NeverAgainMSD, an organization of students using social media to raise awareness about gun violence in the United States. Write a letter(s) (handwritten or typed) directed to the White House and the President.

MSD stands for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, which was attacked by a young man using an assault rifle Feb. 14. Since then, MSD high school students have rapidly turned that tragedy into an organized political movement.

Include experiences and what you wish to see changed *Submit copies of the same letter or submit multiple letters 2) Put the sealed letter(s) in an envelope with your name and the words White House on the outside. 3) Leave the letters at your schools designated drop box.

MSD student activists have focused on the National Rifle Association, a highly influential political lobbying organization that defends the rights of Americans to carry guns.

Measuring impact

The students have had success in pressuring some companies to publicly cut their ties with NRA partnerships. Major American retailers like Dicks Sporting Goods, Walmart, LL Bean, REI and Kroger, which sold assault rifles, said they would take them off the shelves.

Dicks and Walmart said they would not sell weapons to anyone younger than 21, as well. Walmart also said it would remove items from its website that look like assault weapons, such as pellet guns and toys.

To all companies who severed ties with the NRA, those personally affected by their influence on legislation thank you, tweeted Emma Gonzalez, a student activist from MSD who spoke out soon after the mass shooting.

Despite the students success in drawing attention from retailers and the news media, their impact on lawmakers remains unclear.

On the federal level, the Republican-held Congress is considering a bill called STOP School Violence Act that grants $50 million to schools for training and reporting, but does not address gun control directly. In the Senate, a vote on gun control this week has been delayed. And although President Trump made comments last week that seemed to indicate he supported tighter restrictions on gun sales that have been opposed by the NRA, its not clear that it is leading to any substantive change in federal gun laws.

There have been stronger indications that some U.S. states may move forward with gun restrictions.Floridas governor signed new legislation that tightens gun control regulations, and allows for armed school staff members.

Social media amplifies message

The students massive following on social media have emerged as a powerful tool in their movement. Gonzalez, or @Emma4Change, has more than 1 million followers on Twitter, more than @NRAs 608,000.

David Hogg, another MSD student activist  @davidhogg111  has nearly 430,000 followers, mostly since the Feb. 14 shooting. Their schools #NeverAgain movement Twitter account, a hub of students organizing rallies, has about 140,000 followers.

That exposure has allowed students to raise money and received guidance from well-established organizations, like Everytown for Gun Safety and The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, that started out as grassroots efforts against gun violence.

Celebrities like George and Amal Clooney, Oprah Winfrey, Stephen Spielberg and Kate Capshaw, and Jeffrey and Marilyn Katzenberg each donated $500,000 to the #NeverAgain activists and the March for Our Lives, according to a report from Times Money section.

#studentsstandup and we will continue to follow. You are a beacon of strength, wrote Josh Gad, an actor in Book of Mormon and Frozen, on Twitter.

These kids are asking the hard questions and being persistent in a way that should have been done by the adults years ago. #studentsstandup, tweeted Liz Froment  @LFroment  a business writer in Boston.

For all of the support they have received on social media, there are vocal critics.

Collins Idehen, a gun-rights advocate and attorney who hosts a program on NRA TV, criticized the students on a channel that claims an online audience of more than 1.3 million.

We somehow have devolved so far in this country that we literally blame gun owners for these shootings...Yall insist on only having the conversation with yourselves & waging war with #NRA. Youre not waging war against a machine. Youre waging war against people.

Despite the criticism, a major measure of the students reach comes Wednesday, when students across the United States are planning to walk out or school and hold rallies in support of more restrictions on guns, to try to prevent the next mass shooting.Colombia is voting Sunday for a new Congress.



FARC, the country's former leftist guerilla group, has put down its arms and transformed into a political party participating for the first time in the election for seats in the Senate and the House of Representatives.



"This is the first election in half a century when we will vote in peace, without the FARC as an armed group, but as a political party," said President Juan Manuel Santos, who signed the deal with FARC.



A peace deal signed by the Colombian government and the leftist FARC rebels in 2016 ended decades of war



The group still uses the FARC acronym, but now the letters stand for the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force, instead of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia.



The peace deal guarantees FARC ten Congressional seats.



Political analysts say it is unlikely FARC will win any seats beyond the ten.



Center-right parties are expected to dominate the results.



Sunday's vote is mainly seen as a way to predict which party will win the presidential election in May.A space at a Baltimore park that had long honored two Confederate generals has been rededicated to abolitionist Harriet Tubman.



The Baltimore Sun reported that hundreds of people gathered Saturday for the ceremony at Wyman Park Dell. The ceremony took place just feet from the now-empty pedestal where a large statue of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson once stood.

The statue was removed in August after a violent white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, reignited the national debate over what to do with symbols of the Confederacy.

Saturday was the 105th anniversary of Tubman's death. The space was renamed Harriet Tubman Grove.

Tubman was born a slave on Maryland's Eastern Shore. City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke called Tubman a "heroine and beacon for all ages.''France's far-right National Front party has definitively severed its ties to firebrand founder Jean-Marie Le Pen as it tries to revive its fortunes.



The party also re-elected his daughter, Marine Le Pen, to a new term as president at party congress where she was its only candidate for the post. A new 100-member governing council was also named.



The party tweeted Sunday that more than 79 percent of members who participated in a vote approved new party statutes that included abolishing Jean-Marie Le Pen's position of party president for life.



The party expelled him in 2015 over anti-Semitic remarks but he kept the honorary position. Sunday's vote is a crushing blow for the 89-year-old, who founded the party in 1972 and was runner-up in the 2002 French presidential election.Georgia's membership in NATO could contribute to the stability of the alliance and Europe as a whole, President Giorgi Margvelashvili has said.

In an interview with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Saturday in Brussels, Margvelashvili outlined Georgia's main objectives for an upcoming NATO summit in Brussels in July.

We want [NATO] membership. We say we want to be there, we say we deserve to be there, we say we have done everything to be there," Margvelashvili said.

"There are numerous factors that are depending on Georgia, including trade communications, including major trade routes that are going from East to West or the other way around, including the stability of the Black Sea [region]. Those are European and Euro-Atlantic factors, and bringing in Georgia is extremely important," he added.

At the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO agreed that Georgia and Ukraine will become members of NATO in the future, but no firm date has been set, although the membership perspective for the two countries has been reconfirmed at every summit ever since.

Georgia's advance toward eventual membership has been blocked largely due to the frozen conflicts with its Russia-backed separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have declared independence from Georgia.

Russia recognized the regions as independent states following the 2008 war with Georgia, a move that very few countries have followed.

Margvelashvili said that Russia's rhetoric and actions, including the 2008 war against Georgia and its support for separatists in the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine, should advance his country's case for membership in the alliance.

You just have to switch on the TV and listen to what the Russians are saying. They are very sincere," Margvelashvili said, adding, "We heard recently that Russia wants to recreate a bipolar world resembling the Cold War [era].

When someone tries to impose this kind of thinking, I think that this is something we should be very carefully listening to...If the acknowledgement of those problems appears to be high on NATO's agenda, then Georgia's case [for membership] should be rushed ahead much faster."

There has been speculation that Georgia at the July summit might ask that NATO's mutual-defense clause, Article 5, which requires all members to come to the aid of any other member under attack, apply only to the territory which is effectively under Tbilisi's control, and not to the two breakaway regions.

However, Margvelashvili did not give a clear answer on whether the issue will be brought up at the summit.

We are not in depth of discussion to that extent, though we have seen cases in NATO history [such as West Germany] where nations which were split into parts became members of NATO, with the commitment that at some point of the window of opportunity this will be solved peacefully.

"We are not discussing this [issue] right away. I guess the discussion was triggered by those historic cases. But we are very sure and firm and confirmed on our path to NATO, the Georgian president concluded.Wildlife protection in Kenya has improved dramatically in recent years, thanks to widespread anti-poaching efforts, including some help from the United States. But as U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visits Kenya, conservationists there say the U.S. lifting a ban on imports of some African animal trophies sends the wrong message.

Tillerson praised Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials Sunday as he toured a U.S.-supported forensics laboratory just outside of Nairobi National Park.



The laboratory, opened in 2015 with help from USAID and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, performs DNA analysis of illicit wildlife products and weapons used in animal poaching.



Tillerson told reporters with him on his first trip to Africa that the U.S. considered wildlife conservation vitally important.



"You know Kenya's really a leader in preventing trafficking in particular, and illegal poaching," said Tillerson. "This is very interesting in terms of what this lab now allows them to do, and to also track outside Kenya where the trafficking networks are going. That's really the key is to shut it all down out there as well so people are not going to -- just because you get it out of Kenya doesn't mean you're safe. And so, extremely important."



Laboratory officials told Tillerson their work led to fifty prosecutions in their first two years of operation.



Much of the poached and smuggled animal parts throughout Africa make their way to Kenya's port in Mombasa, known as the world's hub for ivory smuggling. But, Kenya has made fast progress cracking down on domestic poaching.



Elephant poaching for ivory in Kenya has been reduced from a recent high of 103 killed in 2012 to eight killed last year, says Tom Lalampaa with the Northern Rangeland's Trust, a USAID-supported program.

Lalampaa credits stepped-up community policing, rangers, and mobile response teams for cracking down on poachers.



"And then also the legislation, the current wildlife law, is quite strong in terms of penalties-unlike before, which is good," said Lalampaa. "I think Kenya Wildlife Services has also sort of geared up their efforts, improved their efforts. So, things are working. But, it's not yet time to celebrate."



Just ahead of Tillerson's arrival on the continent, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service overturned Obama-era restrictions on imports of some African hunting trophies-including parts of lions and elephants such as ivory.





The agency was acting on a court's ruling on a lawsuit brought by Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association. The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in December found the Obama administration did not follow proper procedure when implementing its ban.



The decision lifts a blanket ban on imports of lion and elephant trophies from six African nations-Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. Imports of the endangered animal parts will be decided instead on a case-by-case basis.



Kenya has banned trophy hunting since 1977 and many conservationists, like Lalampaa, oppose the U.S. decision.



"That sends a very wrong signal in this country. Because the communities are working tirelessly to try and stop poaching from the source. To try and ensure that there's no poaching," said Lalampaa. "And, then all of a sudden when such a policy announcement is made, it really hurts, it really discourages those communities who are taking care of this wildlife 24 hours a day."



The U.S. move on wildlife imports expands a November decision to lift the ban on elephant trophies from Zambia and Zimbabwe, which U.S. President Donald Trump had indicated he planned to reverse.

Trump at the time tweeted it would be very hard to change his mind that trophy hunting - what he called a "horror show" - in any way helps conservation of elephants or any other animal.



Paula Kahumbu, a Kenyan conservationist with Wildlife Direct, notes the U.S. was instrumental in pushing China to ban the trade in ivory. But the U.S., she says, is sending confusing messages that started when it expanded the ivory trade with Zambia and Zimbabwe.



"These two countries are renowned for corruption. They're renowned for their ivory disappearing from their national stockpiles and ending up in China and Thailand and other countries," said Kahumbu. "So, that's one big problem-they've created a loophole. But, secondly, the idea that it's okay to hunt these animals, and that you're helping those countries through hunting, is an idea that should be questioned rigorously."



Big game trophy hunting advocates argue the high fees they pay - up to $100,000 per safari - directly benefit conservation efforts.

But critics of trophy hunting like Kahumbu say most of that money goes to organizers of the hunts while little reaches the local level.

 Prez Trump issues his second pardon; Kristian Saucier, whom prosecutors sought imprisoned for six years, served year for taking photos in classified sub room | Main | Trump Administration reportedly looking (seriously?) at the death penalty for serious drug dealers 

As reported in this local article, the "Iowa Supreme Court on Friday offered guidance to judges for interpreting a 2015 law that lays out sentencing guidelines for juveniles convicted of murder." Here is more from the press report about the latest in a series of rulings following up on the US Supreme Court's juve sentencing jurisprudence:

Some justices also signaled in concurring opinions that they believe rigid sentences for other crimes committed by juveniles should eventually be rolled back.

The court ruled Friday in a murder case in which Rene Zarate stabbed Jorge Ramos to death in 1999, when Zarate was 15. Zarate, now 34, originally received a mandatory sentence of life without parole, but requested a resentencing hearing after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling prohibited such sentences for juveniles. His new sentence makes him eligible for parole after 25 years, with credit for time served.

Zarate challenged his sentence as well as the constitutionality of a 2015 Iowa law that revised how juveniles who commit first-degree murder are sentenced. Under the law, the sentencing judge could choose from a variety of options including life without the possibility of parole, life with parole after a certain amount of the sentence is served, and life with the immediate possibility of parole. The law further outlined 25 factors for the court to take into consideration when sentencing juveniles for murder.

In 2016, after that law was passed, the Iowa Supreme Court found that life sentences without parole are unconstitutional for juveniles. But Friday's ruling was the first time the Iowa Supreme Court addressed the new law. A majority of justices said Friday that the guidelines laid out in the law are constitutional  except for the subsection that allowed for life sentences without parole....

They said judges must give juvenile offenders an individualized hearing taking the circumstances of the case into account, and must consider as mitigating factors things such as the offender's age at the time of the crime, family and home environment and the possibility for rehabilitation and change. But the district court judge who re-sentenced Zarate did so based on his belief that anyone that anyone who takes the life of another individual should spend a certain amount of time in prison, according to the opinion joined by four of the seven justices. "The sentencing judge allowed the nature of Zarates offense to taint his analysis by imposing a mandatory minimum sentence of imprisonment due to his belief that there should be a minimum term of imprisonment for anyone who commits murder, regardless of their age at the time of the offense," Justice Bruce Zager wrote in the majority opinion....

The court's remaining three justices issued separate concurrences urging the court to go further in striking down mandatory minimums for juveniles as unconstitutional. Justice Brent Appel, who authored the court's earlier opinion against life sentences without parole for juveniles, said it's time to re-examine the constitutionality of all mandatory minimum sentences for minors who commit crimes. "Instead of imposing mandatory minimums through an unreliable judicial guess, the constitutionally sound approach is to abolish mandatory minimum sentences on children and allow the parole board to make periodic judgments as to whether a child offender has demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation based on an observable track record," Appel wrote in his concurrence.

Justice Daryl Hecht, writing a concurrence joined by Justice David Wiggins, wrote that he believes mandatory minimums for juveniles are categorically prohibited by the Iowa Constitution. "Whether imposed by legislative mandate or by a sentencing court, the constitutional infirmity of mandatory minimum sentences for juvenile offenders is the same in my view," Hecht wrote.Thousands stood in silent respect in the southern Macedonian city of Bitola Sunday to remember the victims of the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II.



Sunday was the 75th anniversary of the deportation of more than 7,100 Macedonian Jews to Nazi death camps in Poland.



"We will never forget the Holocaust. We will not allow for anti-Semitism, hate speech, intolerance, xenophobia or any other phenomena that represent the violation of human rights," Talat Xhaferi, speaker of the Macedonian parliament, said.



Xhaferi said Macedonia will never allow history to be altered or denied. He pointed to Jewish property stolen by the Nazis and their cohorts were, by law, returned to their rightful owners.



He said the Holocaust memorial in downtown Skopje has a church on one side and a mosque on the other, a sign that all ethnic communities in Macedonia can live free and openly.



"We promote dialogue, tolerance and understanding for the settlement of global, regional and bilateral issues," Xhaferi said.



German and Israeli visitors also joined Macedonians in a March for Life Sunday.



Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia when the Nazis and their allies occupied the region in 1941.



Backed by Soviet troops, they were driven out by Yugoslav partisans and Bulgarian forces who had been allied with the Germans before switching sides.



All but a handful of Macedonian Jews were slaughtered by the Nazis.Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has reiterated that Kyiv is seeking a Membership Action Plan (MAP), a formal step toward joining NATO.

Poroshenko, in a post on Facebook Saturday, said a MAP was Ukraine's "next ambition" on the path toward eventual membership in the 29-country Western alliance.

"This is what my letter to Jens Stoltenberg on February 2018 was about, where, with reference to Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, I officially [set out] Ukraine's aspirations to become a member of the Alliance," Poroshenko wrote.

A Membership Action Plan is a multistage process of political dialogue and military reform to bring a country in line with NATO standards and to eventual membership. The process can take several years.

Poroshenko's comments came after NATO updated its website to include Ukraine alongside three other countries -- Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia, and Macedonia -- that have declared their aspirations to NATO membership

Countries that have declared an interest in joining the Alliance are initially invited to engage in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO about their membership aspirations and related reforms, the NATO website said.

The next step toward possible membership is a MAP. But a NATO official told Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a sister site of VOA, that the alliance has not changed its position on Ukraine.

"NATO's policy remains the same," the official said. "There has been a change in Ukraine's policy, which the website reflects."

Under former President Viktor Yanukovych, Kyiv said it was not interested in joining NATO. But Kyiv has sought NATO membership since the 2014 antigovernment Maidan protests that toppled Moscow-friendly Yanukovych and ushered in a pro-Western government.

Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada on June 8, 2017, passed a law making NATO integration a foreign policy priority.

In July 2017, Poroshenko announced that he would seek the opening of negotiations on a MAP with NATO.

Ukraine is currently embroiled in a war with Russia-backed separatists in part of its eastern regions that has killed more than 10,300 people and displaced hundreds of thousands since April 2014.Rights activists in Pakistan expressed concern Sunday over a court ruling that would require people to declare their religion on all official documents, saying it could lead to the persecution of minorities, particularly adherents of the Ahmadi faith.



The Islamabad High Court ruling on Friday also requires that citizens take a religious oath upon joining the civil service, armed forces or judiciary.



Zohra Yusuf, a board member at the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, called the ruling "very dangerous." She said her group would issue a statement in the coming days.



"Religion is someone's personal affair, not a matter of public display," she said. "The oath thing is nothing but discrimination, and would show the government has no belief that minorities too are patriotic."



The ruling appeared to be aimed at Ahmadis, who revere the 19th century founder of their faith as a prophet. Pakistan declared Ahmadis non-Muslims in 1974. They already face widespread discrimination and are often targeted by extremists.



The oath would require people to testify that the Prophet Muhammad was the last messenger sent by God, the repudiation of a core Ahmadi belief.



"The court should have given us a chance to present our point of view before the verdict, which has increased our vulnerability as a community," said Saleem Uddin, a spokesman for Pakistan's Ahmadi community.



He noted that several Ahmadis have been killed by religious extremists in recent years, and that their property and places of worship have been attacked. He said the community is consulting legal experts and may challenge the ruling.



Zia Awan, another rights activist, said the court ruling would encourage extremists.



"I am afraid this will further endanger minorities and increase discrimination," he said.Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has signed into law a bill giving the police chief and two other senior police officials the power to issue subpoenas to hasten the investigation of crimes, his spokesman said Saturday.

The law will add more teeth to their mandate to enhance the law and find solutions to criminal cases, spokesman Harry Roque told a news briefing.

Human rights activists expressed concern about the new law, saying the Philippine police force was notorious for abuses and could use the additional power to trump-up criminal charges against those critical of Dutertes administration.

Campaign promise: wipe out crime

One of Dutertes main campaign promises during the 2016 presidential election was to wipe out crime and illicit drugs by using deadly force.

About 4,000 mostly urban poor Filipinos have been killed by police in the past 20 months in a brutal crackdown against illegal drugs that has alarmed the international community.

Activists believe the death toll is far higher.

Under the new law, such subpoena power would rest exclusively with the Philippine National Police (PNP) chief and the director and the deputy director for administration of the PNPs Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

The subpoena shall state the nature and purpose of investigation, shall be directed to the person whose attendance is required, states the law, which Duterte signed March 1.

Activists object

Womens welfare advocacy group Gabriela described the law as a green light to more extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and trumped-up charges against dissenters and opposition.

We stand firm that the PNP should have no quasi-judicial or prosecutorial investigative powers, especially with its undisputed record of corruption, arrogance, human rights violations, and its fondness for legal shortcuts, the group said in a statement.

Roque said not all police would have subpoena powers and the issuing of a subpoena would not mean automatic detention.

This subpoena power will give hope to the many victims of crimes who were deprived of justice due to the slow investigation processes as witnesses or respondents to crimes cannot be forced to face investigation, he said.All 11 people aboard a private Turkish jet died Sunday after the jet crashed into a mountainside and burst into flames during heavy rain in southern Iran, authorities said.



Iran Civil Aviation Organization spokesman Reza Jafarzadeh told state television, "We can confirm that a Turkish private jet, while passing through our airspace, disappeared from the radar and crashed near Shahr-e Kord," some 370 kilometers south of the capital, Tehran.



Those on board included Turkish heiress Mina Basaran and seven of her friends, all flying back from a party ahead of her planned wedding next month.



The semi-official Fars news agency said the plane took off from the United Arab Emirates on its way to Istanbul.



Sunday's crash comes after an Iranian ATR-72, a twin-engine turboprop used for short-distance regional flying, crashed in southern Iran, killing all 65 people on board in February.Sierra Leone's main opposition party took a slight lead in the country's presidential race with 75 percent of votes counted. But with outright victory still out of reach, the candidates are now looking to form possible coalitions in the likely event of a runoff election.



The Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) candidate, retired Gen. Julius Maada Bio, holds 43.3 percent of the vote, edging in front of the ruling All People's Congress (APC) party candidate, former foreign minister Samura Kamara, who garnered 42.6 percent of the ballots counted so far.



A candidate needs 55 percent to win in the first round.



Over 3 million people registered to vote in the election, which took place last Wednesday, and is one of the closest in the West African country's history. Current President Ernest Bai Koroma of the APC must step down after serving two terms.



APC ran on a track record of infrastructure development, while SLPP and other opposition parties have promised change. APC has been accused of corruption and mishandling the response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak and a 2017 landslide, which together killed thousands of Sierra Leoneans.



The National Electoral Commission (NEC) said final results will be released before Wednesday but said recounts are underway in 82 polling stations across the country because some vote count forms had been printed without serials numbers. Lack of serial numbers had led to complaints from party agents monitoring the counting.



"For us to provide assurance, we informed all our district offices and regional tally centers that such recounts should be done, and we are starting today. And we are expecting to be finished by midday tomorrow," Davis said at a press conference Sunday.



Davis said they are also investigating alleged cases of ballot stuffing and overvoting. He attributed overvoting incidents to technical errors in the counting process.

While the vote count wraps up, political parties are starting to look ahead to what looks almost certainly to be a runoff between SLPP's Bio and APC's Kamara.



To win a runoff, a candidate needs a simple majority, so both leading candidates will try to pull votes from some of the 14 other candidates who collectively hold 14.1 percent of the counted ballots.



In particular, two of those smaller candidates may emerge as kingmakers.



The National Grand Coalition's Kandeh Yumkella, a former U.N. official, has won 7 percent of the ballots counted so far. Former Vice President Samuel Sam-Sumana of the Coalition for Change (C4C) has taken 3.4 percent.



But both Yumkella and Sam-Sumana have complicated relationships with the bigger parties.



Sam-Sumana, who holds sway in the country's east, had a bitter falling out with the APC when he was ousted from the party and sacked from the vice presidency in 2015.



Yumkella, meanwhile, was a member of the SLPP, but broke away to form the NGC last year. Yet, Yumkella also is at odds with the APC over the ruling party's backing of a court case against his candidacy, said Andrew Lavali, executive director of the Sierra Leone-based Institute for Governance Reform.



Lavali said the SLPP may be the more attractive option for the two smaller parties' supporters.



"Given the history of grievances between Kandeh Yumkella and the ruling APC at the moment, and the history between the ruling party and Sam-Sumana, it is likely that supporters of these two third and fourth parties will come in with the opposition [SLPP]," Lavali told VOA.



SLPP Secretary General Umaru Napoleon Koroma told VOA they are ready to capitalize on discontent with the ruling party, and in the event of a runoff, they will "definitely" strike a coalition with the smaller parties.



"The collective opposition voted against the APC," he told VOA. "It is clear the people of this country don't want APC anymore."



Abu Daramy, a spokesman for the APC, told VOA they are still holding out for a first round win. He said they may reach 55 percent when all irregularities are smoothed out.



But he also said the APC is talking with other parties and would try to form a runoff coalition if that "is the will of the people and the will of the government."



For now, NGC and C4C have not made any public declarations of their plans. NGC spokesman Julius Spencer said party officials have held internal discussions about joining a coalition during a runoff, but no decision would be made until after all votes are counted.



C4C spokesman Lawrence Coker did not respond to VOA's requests for comment.U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has resumed his normal schedule in Kenya Sunday after canceling events the day before because he was "not feeling well."

Tillerson laid a wreath at the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi Sunday at a ceremony to honor those killed and injured in a bombing there 20 years ago.

"As all of you well know, in 1998, terrorists thought they could demoralize and destroy the Kenyan and American people by attacking the U.S. embassy here in Nairobi. Of course they were wrong. Nearly 20 years later, we meet here to honor those who we lost and those who were injured," Tillerson told an audience including survivors of the attack.



Among the survivors present was Joash Okindo, who continues to work at the U.S. Embassy after having both of his legs broken in the blast. Okindo, who wore a medal of bravery to the ceremony, was a guard at the embassy the day of the attack.

"When it's cold, that's when I feel pain," he said.

Tillerson had cancelled events to seek respite from what has been an extraordinarily busy schedule, according to the State Department.

"The secretary is not feeling well after a long couple days working on major issues back home such as North Korea and has cancelled his events for the day," said Under Secretary of State Steve Goldstein.

Tillerson added a meeting Sunday with Kenyan Foreign Minister Monica Juma, as he was only able to speak with her during a brief pull-aside on Friday.

After meeting Friday in Nairobi with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, Tillerson hailed the political reconciliation between Kenyatta and opposition leader Raila Odinga as "a positive step toward healing Kenya's ethnic and political divisions," the State Department said in a statement.

Kenyatta and Odinga met for the first time since last summer's contentious presidential elections to start what they called a joint push for national unity.

Tillerson underscored at the meeting with Kenyatta "strong U.S. support for democratic institutions"  including the media  and voiced concern over "restrictions to political space."

The Kenyan government shut down three television channels in January on the day that Odinga took a symbolic presidential oath in a mock inauguration. The government defied a court order to allow the stations, which had planned to live-stream the oath, to resume broadcasts.

U.S. Institute of Peace senior adviser Johnnie Carson said in an interview with VOA a free and independent media instills public confidence.

"It is time for the parties to move forward, but it is the government's responsibility to act responsibly in defense of the rule of law, in defense of the judiciary, in the defense of free speech and defense of protection of the media," Carson said.

Other topics of discussion during Tillerson's meeting with Kenyatta were defeating terrorism in neighboring Somalia, political unrest in South Sudan and strengthening U.S.-Kenyan business relations.

Tillerson said the U.S. will seek to work with African nations, providing them with incentives to improve governance and meet their long-term security and development goals. He is on a five-nation trip to Africa that began earlier this week.

He arrived in Nairobi Friday from Djibouti. Tillerson kicked off his trip with a visit to Ethiopia on Wednesday, where he met with the country's prime minister and the African Union Commission chief.Trade representatives for Japan and the European Union met with the U.S. trade representative Saturday in an effort to avoid a trade war over President Donald Trump's new tariffs on aluminum and steel.

At the meeting in Brussels, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and Japanese counterpart Hiroshige Seko discussed the tariffs as part of a trilateral effort to combat unfair trade practices.

The EU said in a statement that both Brussels and Tokyo had serious concerns about the U.S. tariffs. Both powers, two of the biggest trade partners with the United States, have asked for exemptions from the tariffs.

After the meeting, Malmstrom tweeted, "No immediate clarity on the exact U.S. procedure for exemption ... so discussions will continue next week."

Seko said at a news conference following the meeting, "I firmly and clearly expressed my view that this is regrettable. ... I explained that this could have a bad effect on the entire multilateral trading system."

Saturday afternoon, Trump accused the EU of treating "the U.S. very badly on trade." He said if they dropped their "horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products ... we will likewise drop ours."

If they don't, he warned, the United States will tax European cars and other products.

On Friday, the European Union said it was not clear whether the bloc would be exempt from Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs.

Malmstrom said Friday in Brussels, "We hope that we can get confirmation that the EU is excluded from this."

Trump signed proclamations Thursday imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported steel and a 10 percent tariff on imported aluminum, with the new taxes set to go into effect in two weeks.

Canada and Mexico were given specific exemptions from the tariffs for an indefinite period while negotiations continue on the North American Free Trade Agreement.

Brazil, South Korea and Australia have also asked for exemptions or special treatment.

Trump imposed the tariffs despite pleas from friends and allies who warned the new measure could ignite a trade war.President Donald Trump attacked his critics, promoted his steel and aluminum tariffs and tossed out an idea to have drug dealers face the death penalty, all while addressing a raucous rally Saturday for a Republican congressional candidate in a tight race.

I dont know if thats popular, he said of the death penalty idea. I dont know if thats unpopular.

Trumps appearance was aimed at helping Republican Rick Saccone in a district Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016 as part of a narrow win in Pennsylvania.

But while he heartily endorsed Saccone as a really good person, Trump spent a lot of time talking about his own fortunes in a Make America Great Again rally in an airport hangar at the Pittsburgh International Airport.

He said it was crucial for Republicans to muster forces to turn back a strong Democratic drive to win one or both houses of the U.S. Congress in November midterm elections.

We need Republicans. We need the vote, Trump said, saying Democrats would take away, among other things, your Second Amendment rights to bear firearms.

'Build the wall'

The president also revisited a campaign promise, saying he rejected a demand from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto to say Mexico would not have to pay for a proposed U.S. border wall.

Trump brought up the issue when the crowd started chanting Build that wall.

Trump called Pena Nieto a really nice guy who made his request respectfully.

But, I said, Are you crazy? I am not making that statement,' " Trump said he replied.

Trump is set to visit a prototype of his long-sought wall in the San Diego area on Tuesday.

Tariffs and jobs

A day after getting news that the U.S. economy produced 313,000 jobs last month, Trump said his policies were paying off.

He said 25 percent tariffs on steel imports would boost Pennsylvanias economy.

Critics say the tariffs could trigger retaliatory trade measures and damage the U.S. economy. There are also doubts about how far Trumps policies will go toward resuscitating the battered American steel industry.

Your steel is coming back. Its all coming back, Trump told several thousand cheering supporters.

Trump vowed to fight any retaliatory trade measures by, for example, taxing imported European cars.

Trump also said he hoped to run for re-election against Democrat Oprah Winfrey, although the entertainer has ruled out a run.

Id love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness, Trump said.

Tuesday a test

Saccone is trying to win an election Tuesday in Pennsylvanias 18th District to replace Republican Tim Murphy, who resigned last fall while enmeshed in a sex scandal.

Polls show Saccone is in a close race against Democrat Conor Lamb. A Saccone loss would be the first loss of a Republican seat in the House of Representatives since Trump took office in January 2017, although Republicans would still control the chamber.A preliminary tripartite meeting among the foreign ministers of Russia, Iran and Turkey is expected to be held in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, next week to discuss the deteriorating situation in Syria, as well as to set the agenda for a summit on Syria by leaders of the three countries in April.

Kazakhstan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday that diplomats would discuss mechanisms for ending the Syrian crisis at a meeting March 16 in Astana.

Meetings in Astana, which has hosted eight previous sessions, began in January 2017, as a parallel effort to the Geneva peace process initiated by the United Nations to help end the violence in Syria.

Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said the foreign ministers of the "guarantor countries" would meet to discuss ways to reduce the "level of hostilities" in Syria, before the presidential summit in Istanbul in April.

Russia hosted a similar summit on Syria in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in November 2017. The leaders of the three countries  Russian President Vladimir Putin, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani  agreed on taking the role of guarantors to maintain and strengthen the cease-fire in Syria at the time, although that effort that never fully came to fruition.

Without rejecting the Astana meeting, a U.S. State Department official told VOA that the U.S position on Syria had not changed.

"We continue to support the Geneva process and UNSCR [U.N. Security Council Resolution] 2254 as the means to achieve a political solution in Syria," the official told VOA.

Competing goals

The tripartite meeting and presidential summit come at a time when different players involved in the Syrian conflict are pursuing different goals.

Turkey has been involved in a military offensive named "Olive Branch Operation" on the Kurdish-held enclave of Afrin in northern Syria. The operation just entered its second month.

Turkey justifies its military involvement, saying it is seeking to oust a Kurdish armed force known as the People's Protection Units (YPG), which is the backbone of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).

Ankara views the YPG as a Syrian wing of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), a U.S.- and EU-designated terror organization.

For Washington, however, the YPG is a key ally in the war against Islamic State militants in the region.

Last month, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson met with Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu to try to ease tensions over the U.S.-Kurdish YPG alliance.

In a joint statement issued after the meeting, both sides emphasized their long-standing alliance and reaffirmed their partnership and commitment to fight terrorism.

"Turkey and the United States reiterate their resolve to fight against Daesh [an Arabic acronym for IS], PKK, al-Qaida and all other terrorist organizations and their extensions," the joint statement read.

Turkey, however, remains adamant in its opposition to YPG.

Erdogan on Saturday criticized NATO for not supporting the country's military operations against the group.

Speaking to reporters in Turkey, he accused NATO of holding double standards, adding that Turkey had sent troops to conflict zones when requested but had not received support in return when its borders were "under threat right now."

Accusations against Russia

Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed SDF blames Russia for not reacting to the Turkish offensive, despite controlling the airspace over Afrin.

A statement, published by the SDF following the launch of Turkey's offensive, puts the blame on Russia.

"We know that, without the permission of global forces and mainly Russia, whose troops located in Afrin, Turkey cannot attack civilians using Afrin airspace," the statement said. "Therefore, we hold Russia as responsible as Turkey and stress that Russia is the crime partner of Turkey in massacring the civilians in the region."

W. Robert Pearson, a former U.S. ambassador to Turkey and a scholar at the Middle East Institute, said Turkey's intentions were vague and that it wasn't known what Turkey would do after its Afrin campaign was completed.

"The problem, what any army has when it takes territory, is whether it is going to stay there indefinitely or leave," Pearson said.

Pearson added the incursion of Turkey in Afrin raised the risk of a resurgence of IS.

"Turkish operation in Afrin gives the impression that ISIS is defeated completely, while it [IS] still holds some territory on the ground," Pearson said, using an acronym for the militant group.

Distraction

The U.S. has long argued that Turkey's involvement in Syria against Kurdish forces comes at the expense of being distracted from the more important task of fully defeating the remnants of IS in the region.

That distraction has already happened in at least in parts of Syria as the SDF announced Tuesday that it was deploying about 1,700 of its members from the front lines against IS in the Middle Euphrates River Valley to Afrin in an effort to the defend against the Turkish advancements in the region.

"Today we regretfully make a difficult decision of moving our fighters from the east of the Euphrates and the rural areas of Deir el-Zour, who are stationed in the face of terrorist threats, to the front lines of Afrin," Abu Omar al-Idlibi, an SDF commander, said in a press conference last week.

Some information in this report came from The Associated Press. Iowa Supreme Court issues latest major ruling on juve sentencing limits and process after Miller | Main | "'A Day Late and a Dollar Short': President Obama's Clemency Initiative 2014" 

March 10, 2018

Trump Administration reportedly looking (seriously?) at the death penalty for serious drug dealers

In reported in prior posts here and here, Prez Trump has reportedly talked privately about how drug dealers are as bad as serial killers and has talked publicly about using the "ultimate penalty" to address drug problems. Now according to this new Washington Post article, headlined "Trump administration studies seeking the death penalty for drug dealers," these musings by President Trump are now a policy proposal being seriously examined by the administration:

The Trump administration is studying new policy that could allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers, according to people with knowledge of the discussions, a sign that the White House wants to make a strong statement in addressing the opioid crisis. President Trump last week suggested executing drug dealers as a way to make a dent in opioid addiction. Opioids killed nearly 64,000 people in 2016, and the crisis is straining local health and emergency services. People familiar with the discussions said that the presidents Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Justice are studying potential policy changes and that a final announcement could come within weeks. The White House has said one approach it might take is to make trafficking large quantities of fentanyl  a powerful synthetic opioid  a capital crime because even small amounts of the drug can be fatal. White House officials also are studying tougher noncapital penalties for large-scale dealers. Trump said last week that the administration would soon roll out unspecified strong policies on opioids. White House officials said Trump has privately expressed interest in Singapores policy of executing drug dealers. Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do, Trump said during an appearance at a White House summit on opioids last week. Trump also has endorsed Philippine President Rodrigo Dutertes approach to the issue; Dutertes drug war has led to the deaths of thousands of people by extrajudicial police killings. Last year, Trump praised Duterte in a phone call for doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem, according to the New York Times. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, is leading much of the work on opioids for the White House. Singaporean representatives have briefed senior White House officials on their countrys drug policies, which include treatment and education, but also the death penalty, and they provided a PowerPoint presentation on that countrys laws. Singapores model is more in line with the administrations goals for drug policy than some other countries, a senior administration official said. That is seen as the holistic approach that approximates what this White House is trying to do, a senior administration official said.... Federal law currently allows for the death penalty to be applied in four types of drug-related cases, according to the Death Penalty Information Center: murder committed during a drug-related drive-by shooting, murder committed with the use of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, murder related to drug trafficking and the death of a law enforcement officer that relates to drugs. Peter H. Meyers, a professor at the George Washington University School of Law, said he doesnt agree with the idea of adding more capital crimes for drug dealers, but he said it could be a legal approach: It very likely would be constitutional if they want to do it. The administrations directives come as prosecutors nationwide are cracking down on higher-level drug dealers and law enforcement officials are looking at increased penalties for fentanyl trafficking and dealing. But at the same time, public health officials  including those in the Trump administration  and many in law enforcement are emphasizing treatment rather than punitive measures for low-level users and those addicted to drugs. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has directed federal prosecutors to pursue the most severe penalties for drug offenses. The Department of Justice said last year it will aggressively prosecute traffickers of any fentanyl-related substance.

If (when?) we see a serious formal death penalty proposal for drug dealers, I will have a lot more to say on the topic. For now, I will be content with three "hot takes" (with number 3 to get a lot more attention if this discourse continues):

1. It is not at all clear that death sentences for drug dealers, even for those whose drugs cause multiple deaths, would be constitutional; it is entirely clear that the issue would be litigated extensively and would have to be definitively decided by the US Supreme Court.

2. If Prez Trump is truly interested in "executing drug dealers" rather than just sending them to death row, he needs to get his Justice Department to get serious about trying to actually execute some of the five dozens murderers languishing on federal death row (some of whom have been on federal death row for two decades or longer).

3. If the White House (and/or Attorney General Sessions) is seriously interested in a legislative proposal to make the "worst of the worst" drug dealers eligible for the death penalty, I would seriously urge Senate Judiciary Chair Chuck Grassley to consider adding the proposal to his Sentencing Reform and Corrections Act as part of an effort to get the White House and AG Sessions to support that bill. Even if drafted broadly, any federal "death penalty for drug dealers" law would likely only impact a few dozen cases per year, whereas the SRCA will impact tens of thousands of cases every year. And the SRCA could help tens of thousands of least serious drug offenders while any death penalty bill would impact only the most serious drug offenders.

Prior related posts:

UPDATE : Not long after this posting, Prez Trump gave a speech in Pennsylvania that, as reported in this new Washington Post piece, covered this ground and received a positive response for the audience:

President Trump on Saturday again called for enacting the death penalty for drug dealers during a rally meant to bolster a struggling GOP candidate for a U.S. House seat here. During the campaign event in this conservative western Pennsylvania district, the president also veered off into a list of other topics, including North Korea, his distaste for the news media and his own election victory 16 months ago. Trump said that allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug dealers  an idea he said he got from Chinese President Xi Jinping  is a discussion we have to start thinking about. I dont know if this countrys ready for it. Do you think the drug dealers who kill thousands of people during their lifetime, do you think they care whos on a blue-ribbon committee? Trump asked. The only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness. When you catch a drug dealer, youve got to put him away for a long time. It was not the first time Trump had suggested executing drug dealers. Earlier this month, he described it as a way to fight the opioid epidemic. And on Friday, The Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was considering policy changes to allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty. But on Saturday his call for executing drug dealers got some of the most enthusiastic cheers of the night. As Trump spoke about policies on the issue in China and Singapore, dozens of people nodded their heads in agreement. We love Trump, one man yelled. A woman shouted: Pass it!

March 10, 2018 at 06:51 PM | Permalink

Comments

Trump is a weak leader and a NYC lib. He needs to go full Duterte. He needs to immunize public self help, and to reward it with $10000 a scalp of any violent criminal. The unemployed could supplement their incomes killing the lawyer client.

Posted by: David Behar | Mar 10, 2018 11:47:33 PM

The more that Trump panders to his base with his idea of executing drug dealers, the more likely it is that there would be a significant impact on the selection process in capital cases.

I think defense counsel would be entitled to know if a juror subscribes to President Trump's notion that a person convicted of dealing drugs should be executed. If the juror agrees, then they would be removed from the jury for cause. The consequences would be longer jury selections and more jurors who would automatically impose a death sentence would be removed from the jury. Sometimes it is very difficult to discover which jurors believe in an eye for eye and a tooth for a tooth.

I think it could also lead to "individual void dire." Meaning only one juror is questioned at a time and the remainder of the panel is removed from the courtroom.

bruce

Posted by: bruce cunningham | Mar 11, 2018 10:57:25 PM

Trump is too dumb to realize that there ALREADY IS a drug dealer death penalty: 18 USC 3591(b)(1). The problem is not statutory, it is constitutional: Kennedy v. Louisiana strongly suggests, if it does not in fact hold, that there can be no DP for non-homicide offenses.

Posted by: hgd | Mar 12, 2018 12:50:59 AM

Trying to divine federal policy from anything Trump says is a fool's errand. He doesn't set policy, or even especially care about it. That's become obvious. Today it's the death penalty for drug dealers, tomorrow it'll be a law requiring people to say the Pledge of Allegiance, then something else. It's all BS, just ignore it.

Posted by: vache sacree | Mar 12, 2018 12:52:22 PM

Trump is a lying sack. It ought to be illegal for a politician to lie. Why do people think that is acceptable?

Anyway, forget Trump and all the other idiots who can never harass or try to control people too much. There is no such thing as too much control in their little minds.

No drug should be illegal. It's not working anyway. It is creating big criminal business for drug cartels though. U.S. governments are partners in that illegal business and just about as guilty. They love that business so they can play their war games "fighting" it. And makin Merika "safe", of course. F them.

Let's go with some personal accountability for a change. Let's make America an actual free country. It is not your business in the slightest what your neighbor decides to put into his or her own body. Not your business at all. It should not be illegal for him/her to ingest anything. Now if he/she crosses a line that interferes with you, then we can arrest them. But just for taking drugs? Nope.

If we are keeping drugs illegal then I'm going to have to insist that we outlaw potato chips and other things that really, really kill people. Let's surely not forget tobacco and alcohol too.

Tell the big government drug people to shove it. Anyone who supports "tough on drugs" needs to be voted out of government ASAP.

Posted by: FRegistryTerrorists | Mar 12, 2018 6:46:38 PM

Doctors need to be prosecuted.

Posted by: Liberty2nd | Mar 18, 2018 11:11:36 PM

Post a commentBritish health officials said Sunday that traces of a nerve agent used in the suspected attempted murder of a Russian spy in Britain were found in a pub and restaurant he visited, but that the risk to public health remains low.

Health officials said those who visited the Mill pub and Zizzi restaurant in Salisbury, southwest England on March 4 and March 5 should take "simple" precautions, including washing their clothes.

"While there is no immediate health risk to anyone who may have been in either of these locations, it is possible, but unlikely, that any of the substance which has come into contact with clothing or belongings could still be present in minute amounts and therefore contaminate your skin. Over time, repeated skin contact with contaminated items may pose a small risk to health," a statement released by Public Health England read.

Hospital officials in Salisbury said there is no evidence of a wider attack on the town, aside from three people who have been hospitalized since the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, both of whom are hospitalized in critical condition.

Police have not publicly talked about the nerve agent that poisoned Skripal or who might have been responsible. But suspicions are pointing to Russia.



British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson said Britain is being "pushed around" by the Kremlin.

Prime Minister Theresa May has promised an "appropriate" response if it is discovered that Russia is responsible for poisoning Skripal, but has urged caution.



Russian officials deny the Kremlin had anything to do with the assassination attempt.



Skripal served in Russia's military intelligence agency, GRU, and was exchanged in a spy swap in 2010 on the runway at Vienna's airport.



After serving four years imprisoned in Russia for spying for Britain's espionage service, MI6, Skripal was one of four Russian double agents exchanged for 10 Russians expelled from the United States.U.S. officials vowed Sunday they would not make any concessions to North Korea ahead of a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and continue to pressure the Pyongyang regime.

"Make no mistake about it, while these negotiations are going on, there will be no concession made," Central Intelligence Agency director Mike Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday."

Pompeo said the North Korean ruler must "continue to allow us to perform our military-necessary exercises" with South Korea, "and then he's got to make sure that he leaves on the table that discussion for denuclearization" of his military.

White House spokesman Raj Shah told ABC News, "The president has not adopted some of the failed policies we've seen over the last several decades, which is negotiations and concessions out of the gate from the United States. Our policy is pressure. It's pressure from our partners and allies around the world, pressure from the United Nations, pressure through China."

He added, "These have impacted Kim Jong Un's behavior. It's impacted his conduct. So we're hoping that this pressure campaign, which is not going to relent in the coming months, is changing North Korea's behavior."

Shah said Trump "inherited a policy that wasn't working for the previous eight years" during the administration of former President Barack Obama. In contrast, Shah said Trump had "adopted a policy of maximum pressure on the North Korean regime. We've seen China dramatically reduce trade with North Korea" and the United Nations adopt "some of the toughest sanctions" against Pyongyang.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told NBC News, "There's no question these sanctions are working and that's what brought them to the table."

Shah said that in advance of the Trump-Kim talks, North Korea has agreed to cease missile and nuclear testing and "to not object publicly to upcoming U.S.-South Korea military exercises."

Shah gave no hint about where the Trump-Kim meeting might be held. He did not rule out holding the meeting at the White House or in Pyongyang, but said, "I don't think it's highly likely" to be in the North Korean capital. He underscored the White House's view of the importance of direct talks with a North Korean leader, something no previous U.S. president has undertaken.

"We think that Kim Jong Un is the only partner in North Korea that has any authority to make any decision," the spokesman said. "He's the only voice.

"We hope that there can be a breakthrough," Shah said. "Eventually a peaceful resolution is going to involve some level of negotiation. We hope this is the path forward."

Shah offered no commitment that Trump would raise the issue with Kim of releasing three Americans currently held by North Korea.

"I'm not going to place any condition on any upcoming talks," he said. "It is an important issue, but again, our policy is maximum pressure to denuclearize the Korean peninsula."

Trump, at a political rally in Pennsylvania Saturday night, said of the negotiations, I may leave fast or we may sit down and make the greatest deal for the world.

He took credit for the success of the Winter Olympics that South Korea recently hosted, saying without his effort to reduce the threat of a nuclear attack, it would have been a total failure.

The president quipped: A little hard to sell tickets when you think youre going to be nuked.

In the past, Trump has derided the possibility of direct talks with North Korea, in October telling Secretary of State Rex Tillerson he was "wasting his time" considering the possibility of negotiations.

But on Saturday Trump noted the historical significance of him accepting the North Korean leaders offer to meet.



"Well, they say, well, [former President Barack] Obama could have done that. Trust me, he wouldn't have done it. By the way, neither would [former President George W.] Bush or [former President Bill] Clinton," Trump said. "Anybody could have done it. Obama could have done it. Obama had his chance."

Departing the White House for the Pennsylvania rally, Trump replied to reporters who asked about why he decided at this juncture to accept Kims offer, I think this is going to be something very successful. We have a lot of support.

But skeptics remain about Trump's agreement for a face-to-face meeting with Kim.

Asked what Trump could accomplish by being nice to Kim, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told CNN on Sunday, "Not a whole lot."

A Democratic opponent of Trump, Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, said on NBC, "I want to see our president succeed, because if he succeeds, America succeeds. The world is safer. But I am very worried that they're going to take advantage of him."

U.S. Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis warned Syria it would be "very unwise" to use gas as a weapon in its bombardment of rebel strongholds in eastern Ghouta.

Mattis said Sunday that "right now" the United States is "getting reports" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces are using chlorine gas in their three-week advance against the rebels outside the capital, Damascus, that has left nearly 1,000 dead, including 200 children.

WATCH: Syrian fighting

The U.S. defense chief acknowledged to reporters traveling with him on a trip to Oman that, "I don't have evidence that I can show you" about gas attacks, but said he was aware of "an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas."

Mattis said Syrian troops are "at best, indiscriminately" attacking and "at worst, targeting hospitals. I don't know which it is, whether they're incompetent or whether they're committing illegal acts, or both." Syria has rejected claims that it is using poison gas in its ongoing attacks on eastern Ghouta, which are occurring during the U.N. Security Council demand for a 30-day cease-fire.

The defense chief said, "I just want to reiterate that it would be very unwise for them to use weaponized gas, and I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration."

President Donald Trump last April ordered a missile strike against a Syrian airbase at Shayrat after the United States said it had used the facility to launch a sarin nerve gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun.

Rebel fighters in eastern Ghouta have vowed not to surrender to the Syrian advance, but government forces, backed by Russian troops, have inflicted heavy damage and split the rebel-held areas into three parts.Cameroon police have freed 40 of the more than 100 women arrested while trying to ask President Paul Biya, who has been in power for 36 years, to negotiate a peaceful political transition and solve the crisis caused by separatists groups demanding the independence of the English-speaking from the French-speaking regions of the central African country.



National coordinator of the opposition Cameroon Peoples Party (CPP) and former presidential aspirant, Edith Kahbang Walla, said she led the women in the protest march Thursday and Friday in honor of Women's Day.



She said Cameroon women could not celebrate the day against the backdrop of human rights abuses and conflicts that have left of hundreds civilians, separatists fighters, and soldiers dead in the English speaking regions of the central African state. She said Cameroon has been sailing from one crisis to another because of President Paul Biya's poor leadership.



"As mothers of the nation, we feel it is our responsibility to stand up and to take the necessary steps to bring back harmony and peace. How do we facilitate a non-violent political transition for Cameroon. So this is a tremendous moment for the fight for respect of human rights, democracy, political transition in Cameroon."



Edith, who is popularly known in Cameroon as Kah Walla, said some of the protesters were unlawfully arrested, tortured psychologically by Biya's police, and detained in the capital Yaounde for several hours.



"The women were amazing through out. They were fearless, they were determined, they were kept for about six hours ... without any charge and without any apologies nor explanations from the government of Cameroon." said Edith.



During the protest, the women demanded a meeting with Biya to discuss the failure of his government to provide basic services and facilities like water and electricity to a majority of the Cameroon population, despite the country's natural and financial resources.



Hundreds of supporters of the women, including 31-year old Yaounde based teacher Rene Ahanda marched to the police charge office when the women were arrested to ask for their release. Ahanda said he does not understand why the women were arrested.



He said he totally supports Kah Walla for exercising her democratic rights and her freedom to express herself. He said Kah Walla is a big and educated political figure who understands her rights and assumes responsibility for what she does.



Since November 2016, Biya has been battling with the unrest in the English-speaking Northwest and Southwest regions regions that started with teachers and lawyers, frustrated with having to work in French, took to the streets calling for reforms and greater autonomy. It degenerated with separatists' calls for independence.



Last October secessionist groups declared the independence of an area in southwest Cameroon they call Ambazonia, declaring Ayuk Tabe Julius who was in exile in Nigeria as their president. Armed conflicts erupted prompting a crackdown of the military.



Biya has ruled Cameroon since November 1982. His party supporters have ben calling on him to run for president again in elections expected by September this year.The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) says at least 107 political parties, including the National Patriotic Front (NPF) linked to former president Robert Mugabe, are expected to contest the forthcoming general elections.

Commissioner Qhubani Moyo told VOA Studio 7 that each party is, however, not likely to field presidential, senatorial, parliamentary and local government candidates nationwide.

Already 107 parties have informed us that they exist and so indications are they will be participating in the general elections. We usually hold a meeting with political parties ahead of elections and they normally come in large numbers  about 80 or 90. When we checked our numbers yesterday they were 107 political parties.

Moyo said NPF is among these political parties that will contest the polls sometime this year.

The NPF is associated with former president Robert Mugabe, Professor Jonathan Moyo, former First Lady Grace Mugabe, Saviour Kasukuwere, Patrick Zhuwao and other members of the so-called Generation 40 faction of the ruling Zanu PF party, which was ousted last November in a military-style intervention by the Zimbabwe Defence Forces in conjunction with then vice president Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Mugabe has already told the African Union and close associates that he was unconstitutionally removed from office through a military coup. He has not yet declared his allegiance to the NPF led by Retired Brigadier General Ambrose Mutinhiri.

Professor Moyo, Kasukuwere, Zhuwao and others fled the country when the army declared that it wanted to get rid of criminal elements surrounding Mugabe, who allegedly wanted his wife to succeed him.

Moyo noted that we have no problem in having any party, including the NPF, in contesting the elections, adding that, we do not even concern ourselves with names of leaders of political parties.

He said the Zimbabwe Electoral Commissions mandate is to conduct a free, credible and fair election.  Therefore it is not our duty to block people from contesting the polls. Whether Mugabe is contesting or not its not our business.

Zanu PF has already warned the former president from taking part in the polls saying ruling party activists have already chosen Mnangagwa to contest the presidential election.

Moyo also said each contesting party is not expected to contest the presidential elections as some parties prefer only participating in parliamentary and local government elections.

Several parties contested the 2013 general elections.Please enable cookies on your web browser in order to continue.

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By signing up you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy PolicyBill Harris sued his wifes care facility for spoon-feeding Nora, but he lost. The judge wrote in the ruling that the possibility couldnt be ruled out that she had changed her mind about feeding because she opened her mouth when a spoon of food was put to it. Since then, elderly patients across the state have been adding written statements to their advance directives explicitly demanding not to be spoon-fed if they lose the capacity to feed themselves, said Harriss attorney, Jason Broesder.Prof. Koichi Ishikawa from the Institute of Asian Studies under the Asia University, Japan, said in the context of the US, an ally of Japan, withdrawing from the TPP and seeking bilateral free trade agreements (FTAs), Japan had made successful efforts to push for the CP TPP.

He told the Vietnam News Agency in an interview on the occasion of the CP TPP signing that the Japanese government estimated that the deal with 11 members would contribute to expanding Japans GDP by 1.49 percent. In case it has 12 members, the figure would be 2.49 percent.

Ishikawa said the GDP expansion for Japan with the CP TPP without the US would be smaller, but 1.49 percent was still a significant figure for the Japanese economy, considering the recent low growth rate.

He noted that the CP TPP issues many new regulations in the fields of e-commerce, products origin, intellectual property and State-owned enterprises, therefore the deal is dubbed an FTA of the 21st century and a model for future FTAs in the world.

According to Ishikawa, the CP TPP would be an effective tool to curb the spread of US protectionism policies.-VNABolivians hold 120-mile demonstration for seaport: Thousands of Bolivians held a strip of blue across more than 120 miles of the nation of Bolivia as part of a demonstration of the country's demand for an outlet to the sea. Bolivian officials say the Bolivian navy's ensign held by participants along a highway on Saturday is the world's biggest  or at least longest  flag. Bolivia lost its only sea coast to Chile in a war from 1879 to 1883. It has asked the International Court of Justice to order Chile to negotiate a settlement in good faith.Efforts at rapprochement did not start with Francis, but he has given the issue greater attention. He has taken several chances to send greetings to Xi. In a 2016 interview, he wished the Chinese president a happy new year and expounded on the greatness of the Chinese people.Thursday, March 8, was International Womens Day, a day dedicated to celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It is also a day to spark conversation about how we still have a way to go to ensure equality among all.

Girl Scouts of Connecticut is part of a sisterhood of 2.6 million strong across the globe. In Connecticut, we have nearly 30,000 girls and over 13,000 adults who believe in the power of every girl and young woman. On March 12, Girl Scouts will be 106 years young  106 years of being the leading expert on girls. On March 12, 1912, in Savannah, Ga., when Juliette Gordon Low organized the very first Girl Scout troop, and every year since, weve honored her vision and legacy to build girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place.

When Low founded Girl Scouts, the role of women in this country was on the brink of dramatic change. Women did not have the right to vote yet, and organizations like the General Federation of Women and the National Association of Colored Womens clubs were working to lead women into the next century. There were also countless efforts of reform regarding race, immigration and civil rights. This was the state of our world when Low founded Girl Scouts; she was headstrong in giving every girl the opportunity to be a Girl Scout  something we continue to hold to this very day.

Girl Scouts is, and remains, the one-of-a-kind leadership development program for girls, with proven results. From advocating for pay equity and fair treatment of women to bridging the gender gap in STEM and civil service, Girl Scouts are bold visionaries and confident leaders.

The need for female leadership has never been clearer or more urgent than today, and Girl Scouts has the expertise to give girls and young women the tools they need to change the world. Happy International Womens Day to all of the barrier-breaking, glass-shattering girls and women in Connecticut and across the globe.

Mary Barneby

Girl Scouts of Connecticut CEO

To the Editor:

We are fortunate in Connecticut to have a robust system of laws that bar the mentally ill from possessing guns. Connecticuts Probate Courts play a critical role in keeping guns out of the hands of the mentally ill. Connecticut law requires Probate Courts, in conjunction with the Department of Public Safety, Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and the Judicial Department to coordinate compliance with federal laws that bar the mentally ill from purchasing guns.

Probate Courts are often the first forum where a person is adjudicated to be mentally ill. Probate Courts are empowered to grant conservatorships that lead to commitment of a mentally ill person to a psychiatric hospital. Civil commitment is based on the opinion of physicians and psychologists who examine the mentally ill person.

Civil commitments may be done on an involuntary basis, where the mentally ill person lacks awareness of his or her illness. They may also be done on an emergency basis, when a physician concludes a patients psychiatric disabilities present an immediate threat to himself and/or others and that person is in need of immediate care and admission to a psychiatric hospital.

Once committed, the Probate Court is the forum where the commitment may be litigated, including whether it is terminated or extended.

The final report of the Sandy Hook shootings issued by the States Attorney Office concluded the killer, Adam Lanza, had significant mental health issues that affected his ability to live a normal life and to interact with others, even those to whom he should have been close.

Undoubtedly had an application been filed with the local Probate Court seeking appointment of a conservator and commitment to a psychiatric hospital, it would have been granted.

Lanza would have been involuntarily committed to a mental health institution for diagnosis and treatment. He would have remained hospitalized until found stable enough to be discharged. He would have remained under the supervision of a conservator and subject to the supervision of the Probate Court until it was determined he was no longer a risk to himself or others.

Connecticuts Probate Courts maintain a database for use by state and federal authorities to check the mental health backgrounds of citizens who seek to buy or own firearms. The database, called the Mental Health Adjudication Repository, lists the names of individuals who have had their firearms eligibility rights terminated due to a mental health adjudication in the Probate Courts.

Having been determined to be mentally incompetent, Lanzas name would have been listed in this database, as well as federal databases.

He would never have owned a gun.

Patrick J. Filan

FairfieldThe Redwood Bridge, as most still refer to it despite it being renamed the Harry Lazarenko Bridge in 2014, is Winnipegs oldest functioning traffic bridge. It was meant to be a wedding gift, of sorts, to celebrate the union of two communities, but the sentiment was spoiled after an embarrassing administrative gaffe by the city saw the ten-month construction period drag on for two years.

This article was published 11/3/2018 (1289 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Redwood Bridge, as most still refer to it despite it being renamed the Harry Lazarenko Bridge in 2014, is Winnipegs oldest functioning traffic bridge. It was meant to be a wedding gift, of sorts, to celebrate the union of two communities, but the sentiment was spoiled after an embarrassing administrative gaffe by the city saw the ten-month construction period drag on for two years.

On Feb. 16, 1906, the community of Elmwood voted overwhelmingly in favour of breaking away from the Rural Municipality of Kildonan to join the City of Winnipeg. Its residents were seeking the better police, fire and streetcar service the larger municipality could provide. Most Winnipeggers approved of the union as it would open up hundreds of acres of land near the city centre for suburban development.

Before either side got what it wanted, access between the two communities had to be improved.

Archives of Manitoba The Redwood Bridges 250-foot long swing span was last opened to let a ship pass in 1979. It was decommissioned in 1985.

The only crossing between Winnipeg and Elmwood was the original Louise Bridge in Point Douglas. Built in 1881 as a railway bridge, it was near the end of its functional life, but a new link had to be completed before the old one could be torn down and replaced.

The citys bridge committee held a special meeting in May 1906 to discuss the matter. It had been contemplating a "North End Bridge" somewhere near what was then Winnipegs northern boundary. The Elmwood vote gave the project a sense of urgency.

The committee approached Edward L. Drewry to discuss a land deal. He was president of the Redwood Brewery that was located on a large lot that ran from Main Street to the bank of the Red River.

Drewry agreed to donate the right-of-way across his property to the city on the condition his remaining land would not be charged the local improvement levy that would result from its proximity to a new roadway and bridge.

Archives of Manitoba By August 1908, the new piers for the bridge were complete.

On the east side of the proposed crossing things were more complicated. The majority landowner was William Hespeler who agreed to give his share of the land if the city got the 41 or so smaller landowners to do the same. It took all summer for the city to track down 31 of them, which was enough to build the eastern roadway and approach.

The announcement of the bridge deal set off an immediate land boom in Elmwood. Lot prices doubled in a matter of days and before bridge construction even started, numerous developments such as Glenwood Crescent and Bronx Park were being marketed to Winnipeggers looking to escape to the suburbs.

In October 1906, the city awarded the $31,000 contract for the construction of the bridges concrete piers to Kelly Brothers of Kenora, Ont. Dominion Bridge of Montreal later won the $88,800 contract for the bridges superstructure.

Kellys men began driving piles in early January and just two months later were putting the finishing touches on three giant piers when they were told to put down their tools.

Winnipeg Tribune Archives New neighbourhoods, such as Glenwood Crescent, Washington Park and Bronx Park were being promoted in December 1906, before construction on the Redwood Bridge began.

On March 9, 1907, the city received a petition signed by dozens of ship owners and officials from companies who relied on the Red River for their trade. They demanded that the city cease work on the Redwood Bridge immediately.

The issue was the 73-foot distance between the central piers. The petitioners insisted it was too narrow as ships needed a wide berth at that point in the river due to the sharp bend.

The petition was accompanied by a letter from a law firm stating in part: "... the bridge now being put in by the city at the end of Redwood Avenue is one which, if allowed to be erected... will not only endanger navigation of the smaller class of ships but will entirely prohibit the passage of the larger ones."

The letter concluded by informing the city it didnt even have legal permission to build the bridge in the first place.

Winnipeg Free Press files The media took the city to task for errors affecting the bridge's construction, as this headline from an April 1907 edition of the Winnipeg Free Press illustrates.

Work was halted as city officials searched for the federal governments approval of their plans, which was required by law as they were building in and over a navigable waterway. It was soon discovered someone forgot to submit the paperwork to Ottawa.

The city scrambled to turn in its application after the fact, but were told by A. R. Dufresne, the local engineer for the federal department of public works, even if his department accepted it, the petitioners concerns were valid. In his opinion, the piers had to be at least 100 feet apart.

Mayor James Ashdown, who had a city-related business trip to Toronto and Montreal scheduled for the last week of March, worked in a side trip to Ottawa to plead the citys case in person. He met with acting federal public works minister Sydney Fisher who said he would have departmental officials there study the plans and give their opinion.

A few days after returning to Winnipeg, Ashdown got Fishers response: "The bridge as now being constructed would seriously interfere with navigation I must say at once that the plans must be changed to meet the judgment of the resident engineer and the department, which concurs in his views."

An 1890 ad for the Redwood Brewery.

The finger pointing started immediately.

The city engineer said he provided the plans to the city solicitor in early January but didnt know if that was too late for submission to Ottawa. The board of control, an extra layer of elected officials that oversaw the citys finances, lashed out at the solicitor, but were reminded Dufresne attended the boards January meeting, when the piles were still being driven, to warn them about the spacing of the piers. Rather than follow up, the board ordered construction to continue.

Amid the uproar, a Winnipeg Tribune editorial demanded those responsible not only be fired but fined the cost of the error. It concluded that it was: " not only surprising but disgusting to see the aldermen and controllers calmly paying out public money for such a purpose."

In the end, it appears the only one to pay the price for the blunder was the taxpayer.

The original Redwood House, circa 1920

It doesnt appear a final figure for the cost to correct the error was ever released. Tallying up the additional fees awarded to contractors to demolish and rebuild two piers, produce a new set of bridge drawings and make minor changes to the steel superstructure came to around $20,000.

New plans for the Redwood Bridge, featuring 100-foot spaces between the middle piers, were submitted to Ottawa in May 1907. Once the river froze in late December, Kellys men started on the demolition work.

On the morning of Jan. 21, 1908, Dufresne appeared at the board of controls meeting to inform them that "after mature consideration" the federal government had approved the citys new plans.

Work got underway immediately with the promise of a Nov. 11, 1908 completion date, but this second attempt at building the Redwood Bridge had its own set of challenges.

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PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES The Harry Lazarenko Bridge  as it was renamed in 2014  has been serving vehicular traffic in Winnipeg since it was quietly opened as the Redwood Bridge in 1909.

Kelly faced labour strife when it was discovered he was not paying his 161 men the guaranteed minimum wage set out in his contract with the city. This led to a slowdown in work and saw Kelly and the city countersue each other over the matter.

This also pushed back Dominion Bridges start as the 700 tons of steel only began arriving on the site in August. An early start to winter hampered their work and that of other contractors struggling to complete the project.

The Redwood Bridge was opened to vehicular traffic on Jan. 12, 1909, more than two years after construction began. Some work, such as the sidewalks and installation of the swing span motor, waited until spring to be completed.

It appears civic officials had no stomach for a formal ceremony to mark the occasion. Newspaper reporters were simply told of the opening by the city engineer.

Even the "first crossing" of a citizen, which was usually good for a photo op or a warm sidebar story in the papers, was anticlimactic. John Thompson Jr. of Thompson Funeral Home was on his way to Elmwood Cemetery the day before the bridge opened and thought he would try his luck. When he arrived at the approach, workers waved him through.

Christian Cassidy writes about local history on his blog, West End Dumplings.FedEx Corp. is a holding company, which engages in the provision of a portfolio of transportation, e-commerce, and business services. It operates through the following segments: FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, FedEx Services, and Corporate, Other & Eliminations. The FedEx Express segment consists of domestic and international shipping services for delivery of packages and freight. The FedEx Ground segment focuses on small-package ground delivery services. The FedEx Freight segment offers less-than-truckload freight services across all lengths of haul. The FedEx Services segment provides sales, marketing, information technology, communications, customer service, technical support, billing and collection services, and certain back-office functions. The Corporate, Other & Eliminations segment includes corporate headquarters costs for executive officers and certain legal and finance functions, as well as certain other costs and credits not attributed to the firm's core business. The company was founded by Frederick Wallace Smith on June 18, 1971 and is headquartered in Memphis, TN.

Read MoreABC(WASHINGTON) -- The White House deputy press secretary said Sunday that President Donald Trump still intends to meet with special counsel Robert Mueller under oath.



Trump spokesperson Raj Shah responded to a question by ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl, who said Trump has told him twice that he plans to meet with the special counsel overseeing the Russia investigation and will answer questions under oath.



Karl asked Shah on This Week Sunday if "the president plans to keep his word."



Shah responded, "I'm sure he intends to," adding that the president's "attorneys are communicating with the special counsel on the specifics regarding that."



Karl also asked if there were any circumstances under which the president would seek to have Mueller fired. For instance, Karl said, if Mueller were to begin to look into the Stormy Daniels payoff, would that be a red line? Would the president fire him?



There's no intention whatsoever to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel, right now," the deputy press secretary said. "We've been fully cooperative. We respect their process. We're hoping it will come to a conclusion in the near future.



Karl continued to ask about Stormy Daniels, the stage name of the adult film actress Stephanie Clifford, who has claimed to have had an affair with Trump prior to his presidency. On Tuesday, she filed a lawsuit against the president alleging that a nondisclosure agreement (NDA) about the alleged affair -- which she signed 11 days before the 2016 election, is not valid because Trump never signed it.



Trumps personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, has said he used $130,000 of his own money to pay Clifford for signing the NDA.



Karl on Sunday asked Shah if the president approved of this payment.



Shah said, Not that I'm aware of.



Emails provided to ABC News by Clifford's lawyer, Michael Avenatti, seem to show Cohen used his Trump Organization email address to arrange the wire transfer of the payment -- but Cohen said this is not proof that the president knew of the transaction, as Avenatti asserts.



Cohen also said in a previous statement to ABC News that neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign "was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly. The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone.

Karl asked Shah on This Week if the president reimbursed Cohen for the payment.



Not to my knowledge, Shah said. But he acknowledged, I haven't asked the president about that question.

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It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking, Global Wealth and Investment Management, Global Banking, Global Markets, and All Other. The Consumer Banking segment offers credit, banking, and investment products and services to consumers and small businesses. The Global Wealth and Investment Management provides client experience through a network of financial advisors focused on to meet their needs through a full set of investment management, brokerage, banking, and retirement products. The Global Banking segment deals with lending-related products and services, integrated working capital management and treasury solutions to clients, and underwriting and advisory services. The Global Markets segment includes sales and trading services, as well as research, to institutional clients across fixed-income, credit, currency, commodity, and equity businesses. The All Other segment consists of asset and liability management activities, equity investments, non-core mortgage loans and servicing activities, the net impact of periodic revisions

Read MoreAptiv Plc engages in the design, development, and manufacture of vehicle components. The firm also provides electrical, electronic, and safety technology solutions to the global automotive and commercial vehicle markets. It operates through the following business segments: Signal and Power Solutions, Advanced Safety and User Experience, and Eliminations and Other. The Signal and Power Solutions segment includes complete electrical architecture and component products. The Advanced Safety and User Experience segment covers component and systems integration in connectivity and security solutions, as well as advanced software development and autonomous driving technologies. The Eliminations and Other segment comprises of elimination of inter-segment transactions, other expenses, and income of a non-operating or strategic nature. The company was founded in 1994 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.

Read MoreGlaxoSmithKline Plc is a healthcare company, which engages in the research, development, and manufacture of pharmaceutical medicines, vaccines, and consumer healthcare products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceuticals; Pharmaceuticals R&D; Vaccines and Consumer Healthcare. The Pharmaceuticals segment focuses on developing medicines in respiratory and infectious diseases, oncology, and immuno-inflammation. The Pharmaceuticals R&D segment focuses on science related to the immune system, the use of human genetics and advanced technologies, and is driven by the multiplier effect of Science x Technology x Culture. The Vaccines segment produces pediatric and adult vaccines to prevent a range of infectious diseases including, hepatitis A and B, diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough, measles, mumps and rubella, polio, typhoid, influenza, and bacterial meningitis. The Consumer Healthcare segment develops and markets brands in the oral health, pain relief, respiratory, nutrition and gastro intestinal, and skin health categories. The company was founded in 1715 and is headquartered in Middlesex, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreGreif, Inc. engages in the production of industrial packaging products and services. It operates through the following segments: Rigid Industrial Packaging and Services, Paper Packaging and Services, Flexible Products and Services, and Land Management. The Rigid Industrial Packaging and Services segment involves the production and sale of rigid industrial packaging products, such as steel, fibre and plastic drums, rigid intermediate bulk containers, closure systems for industrial packaging products, transit protection products, water bottles and reconditioned containers, and services, such as container life cycle services, blending, filling and other packaging services, logistics and warehousing. The Paper Packaging and Services segment involves the production and sale of containerboard, corrugated sheets, corrugated containers and other corrugated products to customers in North America. The Flexible Products and Services segment involves the production and sale of flexible intermediate bulk containers and related services on a global basis and the sale of industrial and consumer shipping sacks and multiwall bag products in North America. The Land Management segment involves the ma

Read MoreAmira Nature Foods Ltd. engages in processing, sourcing, and selling packaged Indian specialty rice. The company provides various types of basmati rice, other specialty rice and other food products, ready-to-eat snacks, edible oils, and organic products for retailers under the Amira brand; and non-basmati rice. It also sells bulk commodities, including wheat, barley, legume, maize, sugar, soybean meal, onion, potato, and millet products to trading firms, as well as third party branded products. The company sells its products to buyers in the Asia Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, North Africa, and North America; and distributors and retail chains in India. Amira Nature Foods Ltd. was founded in 1915 and is based in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Read MoreKinder Morgan, Inc. operates as an energy infrastructure company. The firm engages in the operation of pipelines and terminals that transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, carbon dioxide (CO2) and other products and stores petroleum products chemicals and handles bulk materials like ethanol, coal, petroleum coke and steel. It operates through the following segments: Natural Gas Pipelines, CO2, Terminals, Product Pipelines and Kinder Morgan Canada. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment engages in the ownership and operation of major interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline and storage systems, natural gas and crude oil gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities. The CO2 segment focuses on the production, transportation and marketing of CO2 to oil fields that use CO2 as a flooding medium for recovering crude oil from mature oil fields to increase production. The Terminals segment consists of the ownership and operation of liquids and bulk terminal facilities located throughout the U.S. and portions of Canada that trans load and store refined petroleum products, crude oil, chemicals, ethanol and bulk products, including coal, petroleum coke, fertilizer,

Read MoreLegal & General Group Plc provides various insurance products and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates in four segments: Legal & General Retirement (LGR), Legal & General Investment Management (LGIM), Legal & General Capital (LGC), and Legal & General Insurance (LGI). The LGR segment offers annuity contracts with guaranteed income for a specified time; longevity insurance products for company pension schemes; lifetime mortgages; lifetime care plans; and retirement interest only mortgages. The LGIM segment provides index fund management; active fixed income funds and liquidity funds; active equity management; solution and liability driven investment; multi-asset funds; corporate pension scheme solutions; and real estate funds. The LGC segment offers investment strategy and implementation, and direct investment and structuring services. The LGI segment provides protection products, such as health, disability, critical illness, and accident; individual term assurance; reinsurance; savings and death benefits; and annuities. The company is also involved in the unit trust and institutional fund management, mortgage finance, treasury, building project and modular housing development, general insurance, and open-ended investment businesses, as well as manufacture of sheds. It also engages in the real estate investment, operation, management, and trading, fund general partner, fund trustee, commercial lending, venture capital investing, contractual scheme, management, pension tracing and transfer, investor alternative investment fund, collective asset-management, and investment management activities; and provision of investment advisory, business information consultancy, and technology services. The company was founded in 1836 and is headquartered in London, the United Kingdom.

Read MoreRoyal Bank of Canada operates as a diversified financial service company worldwide. The company's Personal & Commercial Banking segment offers checking and savings accounts, home equity financing, personal lending, private banking, indirect lending, mutual funds and self-directed brokerage accounts, guaranteed investment certificates, credit cards, and payment products and solutions; and lending, leasing, deposit, investment, foreign exchange, cash management, auto dealer financing, trade products, and services to small and medium-sized commercial businesses. This segment offers financial products and services through branches, automated teller machines, and mobile sales network. Its Wealth Management segment provides a suite of advice-based solutions and strategies to high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals, and institutional clients. The company's Insurance segment offers life, health, home, auto, travel, wealth, annuities, and reinsurance advice and solutions; and creditor and business insurance services to individual, business, and group clients through its field sales force, advice centers, and online, as well as through independent insurance advisors and affinity relationships. Its Investor & Treasury Services segment provides asset, cash management, transaction banking, and treasury services to institutional clients; correspondent banking and trade finance services for financial institutions; and short-term funding and liquidity management services. The company's Capital Markets segment offers corporate and investment banking, as well as equity and debt origination, distribution, sale, and trading services for corporations, institutional investors, asset managers, governments, and central banks. Royal Bank of Canada has a strategic partnership with Royal College Of Physicians & Surgeons Of Canada to support the needs of Canada's medical specialists. The company was founded in 1864 and is headquartered in Toronto, Canada.

Read MoreConvergys Corporation provides customer management services to communications and media, technology, financial services, retail, healthcare, government, travel and hospitality, and other vertical markets worldwide. The company offers solutions across the customer lifecycle, including sales, customer service, technical support, customer retention, and collection, as well as security, compliance, and fraud solutions; and solutions in contact center technology comprising omni-channel interaction, cross-channel integration framework, real-time decisioning engine, robotic process automation, intelligent notification, campaign management, personalized care, personalized selling, agent productivity, and retention solutions. It also provides analytics and consulting, and software solutions, such as enterprise feedback management, integrated customer experience analytics, post-contact surveys, relational loyalty research, customer segmentation and profiling, call elimination analysis, analysis of customer effort, digital channel optimization, and integrated contact center analytics solutions, as well as voice of customer software. The company operates through 140 contact centers. Convergys Corporation was founded in 1998 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Read MoreThe following companies are subsidiares of UnitedHealth Group: 1031387 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1070715 B.C. Unlimited Liability Company, 1st Avenue Pharmacy Inc., 310 Canyon Medical, 310 Canyon Medical LLC, 4C MSO LLC, 4C Medical Group PLC, 5995 Minnetonka LLC, ABCO International Holdings LLC, ACN Group IPA of New York, ACN Group IPA of New York Inc., ACN Group of California, ACN Group of California Inc., AHJV, AHJV MSO, AHN Accontable Care Organization LLC, AHN Central Services LLC, AHN Target Holdings LLC, AMIL International, AMIL International S.a.r.l., APS  Assistencia Personalizada a Saude Ltda., ARC Infusion, ASC Holdings of New Jersey LLC, ASC Network LLC, ASI Global, ASI Global LLC, Access Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Administrators Inc., Access HealthSource Inc., Access I.V., Administradora Clinica La Colina S.A.S., Administradora Country S.A., Administradora Medica Centromed S.A., Advanced Care, Advanced Care Pharmacy, Advanced Pharma Inc., Advanced Surgery Center of Clifton LLC, Advanced Surgical Hospital LLC, Advantage Care Network Inc., Advocate Condell Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Sherman Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate Southwest Ambulatory Surgery Center LLC, Advocate-SCA Partners LLC, Alere Health, Alere Health Improvement Company, Alere Healthcare of Illinois, Alere Wellbeing, Alere Wellology, Alere of New York, Aliansalud Entidad Promotora de Salud S.A., All Savers Insurance Company, All Savers Life Insurance Company of California, Alliance Surgical Center LLC, Aloha Surgical Center LLC, Ambient Healthcare, Ambient Healthcare Inc., Ambient Healthcare of Central Florida, Ambient Healthcare of Georgia, Ambient Healthcare of Northeast Florida, Ambient Healthcare of S. Florida, Ambient Healthcare of West Florida, Ambient Holdings, Ambient Holdings Inc., Ambient Nursing Services, AmeriChoice, AmeriChoice Corporation, AmeriChoice Health Services, AmeriChoice of Connecticut, AmeriChoice of New Jersey, AmeriChoice of New Jersey Inc., American Health Network of Indiana Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Indiana II LLC, American Health Network of Indiana LLC, American Health Network of Ohio Care Organization LLC, American Health Network of Ohio II LLC, American Health Network of Ohio LLC, Amico Saude Ltda., Amil, Amil Assistencia Medica Internacional S.A., Amil Lifesciences Participacoes Ltda., Antelope Valley Surgery Center L.P., Analisis Clinicos ML S.A.C., Apothecary Holdings Inc., Apothecary Shop of Phoenix Inc., AppleCare Medical Management, AppleCare Medical Management LLC, Aquitania Chilean Holding SpA, Arise Physician Group, Arizona Physicians IPA, Arizona Physicians IPA Inc., AssuranceRx, AssuranceRx LLC, Athens ASC Holdings LLC, Audax Health Solutions, Audax Health Solutions LLC, Austin Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., Avella Patient Access Program Inc., Avella Specialty Pharmacy, Avella of Austin Inc., Avella of Columbus Inc., Avella of Deer Valley Inc., Avella of Denver Inc., Avella of Gilbert Inc., Avella of Las Vegas II Inc., Avella of Orlando Inc., Avella of Phoenix III Inc., Avella of Sacramento Inc., Avella of Scottsdale Inc., Avella of St. Louis Inc., Avella of Tampa LLC, Avella of Tucson II Inc., Avella of Tucson Inc., Aveta Arizona, Aveta Health Solutions Inc., Aveta Inc., Aveta Kansas City, Aveta Tennessee, AxelaCare Health Solutions, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings, AxelaCare Intermediate Holdings LLC, AxelaCare LLC, B.R.A.S.S. Partnership in Commendam, Banmedica Colombia SpA, Banmedica Internacional SpA, Banmedica S.A., Beach Surgical Holdings III LLC, Behavioral Healthcare Options, Behavioral Healthcare Options Inc., Belleville Surgical Center Ltd. an Illinois Limited Partnership, Benefit Administration for the Self Employed L.L.C., Benefitter Insurance Solutions Inc., Birmingham Outpatient Surgical Center LLC, Blackstone Valley Surgicare GP LLC, Blue Ridge GP LLC, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings I SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings II SRL, Bordeaux (Barbados) Holdings III SRL, Bordeaux Holding SpA, Bordeaux International Holdings Inc., Bordeaux UK Holdings I Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings II Limited, Bordeaux UK Holdings III Limited, Bosque Medical Center Ltda., Brandon Ambulatory Surgery Center LC, BriovaRx, BriovaRx, BriovaRx Infusion Services, BriovaRx Infusion Services 102 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 200 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 204 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 209 Inc., BriovaRx Infusion Services 305 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services 402 LLC, BriovaRx Infusion Services Inc., BriovaRx Specialty LLC, BriovaRx of California, BriovaRx of California Inc., BriovaRx of Florida, BriovaRx of Florida Inc., BriovaRx of Georgia, BriovaRx of Georgia LLC, BriovaRx of Hawaii, BriovaRx of Indiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana, BriovaRx of Louisiana L.L.C., BriovaRx of Maine, BriovaRx of Maine Inc., BriovaRx of Massachusetts, BriovaRx of Massachusetts LLC, BriovaRx of Nevada, BriovaRx of New York, BriovaRx of New York Inc., BriovaRx of Texas, BriovaRx of Texas Inc., CDC Holdings Colombia S.A.S., CLISA  Clinica de Santo Antonio S.A., CMO  Centro Medico de Oftalmologia S/S Ltda., CMS  Central de Manipulacao e Servicos Farmaceuticos S.A., CNIC Health Solutions Inc., COI Participacoes S.A., COI  Clinicas Oncologicas Integradas S.A., Cabin Enterprises LLC, Cabin Holdings LLC, California MedTrans Network IPA LLC, California MedTrans Network MSO LLC, California Medical Group Insurance Company Risk Retention Group, Camp Hill-SCA Centers LLC, Capital City Medical Group L.L.C., Cardio Management, Cardio Management Inc., Care Improvement Plus Group Management, Care Improvement Plus Group Management LLC, Care Improvement Plus South Central Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus Wisconsin Insurance Company, Care Improvement Plus of Texas Insurance Company, Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha Ltda., Casa de Saude Santa Therezinha S.A., Castle Rock SurgiCenter LLC, Catalyst360, Catalyst360 LLC, Catamaran Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Catamaran Health Solutions, Catamaran Holdings I, Catamaran IPA III, Catamaran Mail, Catamaran PBM of Illinois II, Catamaran PBM of Puerto Rico, Catamaran PD of Pennsylvania, Catamaran PD of Puerto Rico, Catamaran Rebate Management, Catamaran S.a.r.l., Catamaran Senior Services, Catamaran of Pennsylvania, Cedar Park Surgery Center LLC, Cemed Care - Empressa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Cemed Care  Empresa de Atendimento Clinico Geral Ltda., Central Indiana Care Organization LLC, Central Ohio Care Organization LLC, Central de Compras SpA, CentriHealth Corporation, CentriHealth UK Limited, CentrifyHealth LLC, Centro Medico Hospitalar Pitangueiras Ltda., Centro Medico Odontologico Americano S.A.C., Centro Medico PJ Ltda., Centro de Entrenamiento en Reanimacion y Prevencion Limitada (CERP), Centro de Servicios Compartidos Banmedica S.A., Centromed Quilpue S.A., Centros Medicos y Dentales Multimed Ltda., Centurion Casualty Company, Channel Islands Surgicenter L.P., Channel Islands Surgicenter Properties LLC, Charleston Surgery Properties LLC, Charlotte-SC LLC, Childrens Surgery Center LLC, ChinaGate (Hong Kong) Limited, ChinaGate Company Limited, Citrus Regional Surgery Center L.P., Clinica Oftalmologica Danilo de Castro Sociedade Simples, Clinical Partners of Colorado Springs LLC, Clinica Alameda S.A., Clinica Bio Bio S.A., Clinica Ciudad del Mar S.A., Clinica Davila y Servicios Medicos S.A., Clinica Medico Cirurgica de Santa Tecla S.A., Clinica San Borja (La Esperanza del Peru S.A.), Clinica San Felipe S.A., Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Clinica Sanchez Ferrer S.A., Clinica Vespucio S.A., Clinica del Country S.A., Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare, Coachella Valley Physicians of PrimeCare Inc., Coalition For Advanced Pharmacy Services, Coalition for Advanced Pharmacy Services Inc., Coastal Physicians Management Inc., Collaborative Care Holdings, Collaborative Care Holdings LLC, Collaborative Care Services, Collaborative Care Services Inc., Collaborative Care Solutions, Collaborative Realty, Collaborative Realty LLC, Colmedica Medicina Prepagada, Colonial Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Colorado Innovative Physician Solutions Inc., Colorado Springs Surgery Center Ltd., Comfort Care Transportation, Comfort Care Transportation LLC, Commonwealth Administrators, Connecticut Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Connecticut Surgery Properties LLC, Connecticut Surgical Center LLC, Connextions, Connextions HCI, Constructora e Inmobiliaria Magapoq S.A., Consumer Wellness Solutions Inc., Country Scan Ltda., Crescent Drug Corp., Cypress Care, Cypress Care Inc., DBP Services of New York IPA, DBP Services of New York IPA Inc., DTC Surgery Center LLC, DWIC of Tampa Bay, DWIC of Tampa Bay Inc., DaVita Magan Management Inc., Danbury Surgical Center L.P., Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company, Day-Op Surgery Consulting Company LLC, Definity Health, Dental Benefit Providers, Dental Benefit Providers Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of California, Dental Benefit Providers of California Inc., Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois, Dental Benefit Providers of Illinois Inc., Derry Surgical Center LLC, Diagnostico Ecotomografico Centromed Ltda., Diasnostico por Imagenes Centromed Ltda., Dilab Medicina Nuclear Ltda., Diplomat Pharmacy, Distance Learning Network, Distance Learning Network Inc., Doctor + S.A.C., Dry Creek Surgery Center LLC, Dublin Surgery Center LLC, Duncan Printing Services, Duncan Printing Services LLC, E Street Endoscopy LLC, ELG FZE, EP Campus I, EP Campus I LLC, East Brunswick Surgery Center LLC, Electronic Network Systems, Electronic Network Systems Inc., Elual Participacoes S.A., Empire Physician Management Company, Empire Physician Management Company LLC, Employers Health Choice PPO Inc., Empremedica S. A., Endoscopy Center Affiliates Inc., Enterprise Life Insurance Company, Equian, Equian LLC, Equian Parent Corp., Esho  Empresa de Servicos Hospitalares S.A., Etho  Empresa de Tecnologia Hospitalar Ltda., Evercare Collaborative Solutions, Evercare Collaborative Solutions Inc., Everett MSO Inc., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos Ltda., Excellion Servicos Biomedicos S.A., Excelsior Insurance Brokerage Inc., Executive Health Resources, Executive Health Resources Inc., Executive Surgery Center LLC, Eye Clinic Oftalmologia Clinico Cirurgica e Diagnostico Ltda., FMG Holdings, FMG Holdings LLC, FOR HEALTH OF ARIZONA, Family Health Care Services, Family Home Hospice, Family Home Hospice Inc., First Rx Specialty & Mail Services, Florida MedTrans Network LLC, Florida MedTrans Network MSO LLC, For Health, For Health Inc., For Health of Arizona Inc., Fortified Provider Network Inc., Fortify Technologies Asia LLC, Fortify Technologies LLC, Foundation Financial Services Inc., Franklin Surgical Center LLC, Freedom Life Insurance Company of America, Freeway Surgicenter of Houston LLC, Frontier MEDEX Limited, Frontier Medex Tanzania Limited, FrontierMEDEX, FrontierMEDEX (RMS), FrontierMEDEX (RMS) Inc., FrontierMEDEX Government Services, FrontierMEDEX Government Services LLC, FrontierMEDEX Inc., FrontierMEDEX Kenya Limited, FrontierMEDEX US, FrontierMEDEX US Inc., Fundacion Banmedica, GRANTS PASS SURGERY CENTER LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center LLC, Gadsden Surgery Center Ltd., Gainesville Surgery Center L.P., Gainesville Surgery Properties LLC, Genoa, Genoa Healthcare Inc., Genoa Healthcare LLC, Genoa QoL Wholesale LLC, Genoa Technology (Canada) Inc., Genoa Technology Inc., Genoa Telepsychiatry Inc., Genoa of Arkansas LLC, Glenwood Surgical Center L.P., Glenwood-SC Inc., Golden Outlook, Golden Outlook Inc., Golden Rule Financial Corporation, Golden Rule Insurance Company, Golden Triangle Surgicenter L.P., Grapevine Finance LLC, Greater Hartford ASC LLC, Grove Place Surgery Center L.L.C., Guardian Health Systems Limited Partnership, H&W Indemnity (SPC), H&W Indemnity (SPC) Ltd., H.I. Investments Holding Company LLC, HCP ACO California LLC, HCP ACO Nevada LLC, HCentive Technology India Private Limited, HMI NewCo LLC, Harken Health Insurance Company, Hayes-Strub LLC, Health Business Systems, Health Care-ONE Insurance Agency Inc., Health Inventures Employment Solutions LLC, Health Inventures LLC, Health Net Insurance of New York, Health Net Services (Bermuda) Ltd., Health Plan of Nevada, Health Plan of Nevada Inc., Health Technology Analysts Pty Limited, HealthAllies, HealthAllies Inc., HealthCare Partners ASC-LB LLC, HealthCare Partners Management Services California LLC, HealthCare Partners RE LLC, HealthFirst IPA Inc., HealthMarkets Group Inc., HealthMarkets Inc., HealthMarkets Insurance Agency Inc., HealthMarkets LLC, HealthMarkets NewCo Inc., HealthMarkets Services Inc., HealthSCOPE Holdings Inc., HealthScope Benefits Inc., Healthcare Partners Plan of Nevada Inc., Healthcare Solutions Inc., Heartland Heart and Vascular LLC, Help S.A., Help Service S.A., Highlands Ranch Healthcare, Highlands Ranch Healthcare LLC, Home Care I.V. of Bend, Home Infusion With Heart, Home Medical S.A., Hospice Inspiris Holdings, Hospice Inspiris Holdings Inc., Hospitais Associados de Pernambuco Ltda., Hospital Alvorada de Taguatinga Ltda., Hospital Ana Costa S.A., Hospital Maternidade Promater Ltda., Hospital Samaritano de Sao Paulo Ltda., Hospital Santa Helena S.A., Hospital de Clinicas de Jacarepagua Ltda., Humedica, Humedica Inc., Hygeia Corporation, Hygeia Corporation (Canada), Hygeia Corporation (DE), Hygeia Corporation (Ontario), INOV8 Surgical at Memorial City LLC, INSPIRIS of New York IPA, INSPIRIS of New York Management, INSPIRIS of New York Management Inc., INSPIRIS of Texas Physician Group, IRX Financing I LLC, Illinois Independent Care Network, Imed Star  Servicos de Desempenho Organizacional Ltda., Impel Consulting Experts, Impel Consulting Experts L.L.C., Impel Management Services L.L.C., Indian River Surgery Center Ltd., Indian River Surgery Properties LLC, Indiana Care Organization LLC, Infusource, Ingram & Associates, Ingram & Associates LLC, Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3001 S.A., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo 3600 Ltda., Inmobiliaria Apoquindo S.A., Inmobiliaria Clinica Santa Maria S.A., Inmobiliaria Vinamed Ltda., Inmobiliaria e Inversiones Alameda S.A., Inspiris, Inspiris Inc., Inspiris Services Company, Inspiris of Tennessee, Instituto do Radium de Cammpinas Ltda, International Psychological Services Pty Limited, Inversiones Clinicas Santa Maria S.A., Isapre Banmedica S.A., Isapre Vida Tres S.A., Johnston Surgicare L.P., Joliet Surgery Center Limited Partnership, LHI, Laboratorio ROE S.A., Laboratorios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., LifePrint Health, LifePrint Health Inc., LifeStyles Marketing Group Inc., LifeWell Ltd. Co., Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization, Lifeprint Accountable Care Organization LLC, Lifeprint East, Lifeprint East Inc., Logistics Health Inc., Lotten-Eyes Oftalmologia Clinica e Cirurgica Ltda., Louisville S.C. Ltd., Louisville-SC Properties Inc., Loyola Ambulatory Surgery Center at Oakbrook Inc., Lusiadas - Parcerias Cascais S.A., Lusiadas A.C.E., Lusiadas S.A., Lusiadas SGPS S.A., MAMSI Insurance Resources, MAMSI Life and Health Insurance Company, MD Ops, MD Ops Inc., MD-Individual Practice Association, MD-Individual Practice Association Inc., ME AHS UC LLC, MEDEX Insurance Services, MEDEX Insurance Services Inc., MGH/SCA LLC, MHC Real Estate Holdings, MHC Real Estate Holdings LLC, MIAMI SURGERY CENTER LLC, MSLA Management LLC, MXMD Centros De Cancer, Mamoeco  Mamografia e Ecografia Centro de Diagnostico, Managed Physical Network, Managed Physical Network Inc., March Holdings, March Holdings Inc., March Vision Care, March Vision Care Inc., Marin Surgery Holdings Inc., Maryland Ambulatory Centers, Maryland-SCA Centers LLC, Massachusetts Assurance Company Ltd. PIC, Massachusetts Avenue Surgery Center LLC, Mat-Rx Development, Mat-Rx Fort Worth GP, MedExpress Development, MedExpress Development LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Alabama LLC, MedExpress Urgent Care Inc. - Ohio, MedExpress Urgent Care Maine Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care New Hampshire Inc., MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach, MedExpress Urgent Care of Boynton Beach LLC, MedSynergies, MedSynergies LLC, MedSynergies North Texas, Medalliance Net Ltda, Medalliance Net Ltda., Medica Health Plans of Florida, Medica Health Plans of Florida Inc., Medica HealthCare Plans, Medica HealthCare Plans Inc., Medical Clinic of North Texas PLLC, Medical Hilfe S.A., Medical Preparatory School of Allied Health, Medical Support Los Angeles Inc., Medical Surgical Centers of America Inc., Medical Transportation Services, Medical Transportation Services LLC, Medication Management Systems Inc., Melbourne Surgery Center LLC, Memorial City Holdings LLC, Memorial City Partners LLC, Memphis-SC LLC, Memphis-SP LLC, Mesquite Liberty LLC, Metro I Stone Management, Metropolitan Medical Partners LLC, Metropolitan Medical Transportation IPA LLC, Mid Atlantic Medical Services, Mid-West National Life Insurance Company of Tennessee, Midwest Center for Day Surgery LLC, Mile High SurgiCenter LLC, Mississippi Surgery Holdings LLC, Mississippi Surgical Center Limited Partnership, Mobile Medical Professionals, Modern Medical Inc., Monarch Management Services, Monarch Management Services Inc., Montgomery Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Mountain View Medical Group LLC, Mt. Pleasant Surgery Center L.P., Multiangio Ltda., Muskogee Surgical Investors LLC, Mustang Razorback Holdings, Mustang Razorback Holdings Inc., My Wellness Solutions LLC, NAMM Holdings, NAMM Holdings Inc., NSC Fayetteville LLC, NSC Greensboro LLC, NSC Lancaster LLC, NSC Seattle Inc., NSC Upland LLC, Nashville-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., National Foundation Life Insurance Company, National MedTrans LLC, National Pacific Dental, National Pacific Dental Inc., National Surgery Centers LLC, Neighborhood Health Partnership, Neighborhood Health Partnership Inc., Netwerkes, Netwerkes LLC, Nevada Medical Services LLC, Nevada Pacific Dental, New Orleans Regional Physician Hospital Organization L.L.C., New West Physicians Inc., Newton Holdings LLC, North American Medical Management - Illinois, North American Medical Management California, North American Medical Management California Inc., North Puget Sound Center for Sleep Disorders LLC, North Puget Sound Oncology Equipment Leasing Company LLC, Northern Nevada Health Network, Northern Nevada Health Network Inc., Northern Rockies Surgicenter Inc., Northwest Surgicare LLC, Northwest Surgicare Ltd., Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care, Nutritional/Parenteral Home Care of Huntsville, OC Cardiology Practice Partners LLC, OSB  Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Omesa S.A., OmniClaim LLC, Oncocare S.A.C., OneNet PPO, OneNet PPO LLC, Optimum Choice, Optimum Choice Inc., Optum, Optum Bank, Optum Bank Inc., Optum Biometrics, Optum Biometrics Inc., Optum Care Inc., Optum Care Services Company, Optum Clinical Services, Optum Clinics Holdings, Optum Clinics Holdings Inc., Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings, Optum Clinics Intermediate Holdings Inc., Optum Digital Health Holdings LLC, Optum Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Global Solutions (India) Private Limited, Optum Global Solutions (Philippines), Optum Global Solutions (Philippines) Inc., Optum Global Solutions International B.V., Optum Government Solutions, Optum Government Solutions Inc., Optum Growth Partners LLC, Optum Health & Technology (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health & Technology (Hong Kong) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (India) Private Limited, Optum Health & Technology (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Optum Health & Technology (UK) Limited, Optum Health & Technology (US), Optum Health & Technology (US) LLC, Optum Health & Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Health & Technology Holdings (US), Optum Health & Technology Holdings (US) Inc., Optum Health & Technology Servicos do Brasil Ltda., Optum Health Services (Canada) Ltd., Optum Health Solutions (Australia) Pty Ltd, Optum Health Solutions (UK) Limited, Optum Health and Technology FZ-LLC, Optum Healthcare of Illinois, Optum Healthcare of Illinois Inc., Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services, Optum Hospice Pharmacy Services LLC, Optum Inc., Optum Infusion Services 100 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 101 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 103 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 201 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 202 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 203 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 205 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 206 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 207 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 208 Inc., Optum Infusion Services 301 LP, Optum Infusion Services 302 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 308 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 401 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 403 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 404 LLC, Optum Infusion Services 501 Inc., Optum Insurance of Ohio, Optum Insurance of Ohio Inc., Optum Labs, Optum Labs Dimensions, Optum Labs Dimensions Inc., Optum Labs Inc., Optum Labs International (UK) Ltd., Optum Life Sciences (Canada) Inc., Optum Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co., Optum Management Consulting (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Optum Networks of New Jersey Inc., Optum Nevada Accountable Care Organization LLC, Optum Operations (Ireland) Unlimited Company, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Pennsylvania Inc., Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas, Optum Palliative and Hospice Care of Texas Inc., Optum Perks LLC, Optum Pharmacy 701 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 702 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 703 LLC, Optum Pharmacy 705 LLC, Optum Public Sector Solutions, Optum Public Sector Solutions Inc., Optum Rocket, Optum Rocket Inc., Optum Senior Services LLC, Optum Services, Optum Services (Ireland) Limited, Optum Services (Puerto Rico) LLC, Optum Services Inc., Optum Solutions UK Holdings Limited, Optum Solutions do Brasil  Tecnologia e Servicos de Suporte Ltda., Optum Technology, Optum Technology LLC, Optum UK Solutions Group Limited, Optum Women's and Children's Health, Optum Women's and Children's Health LLC, Optum of New York Inc., Optum360, Optum360 LLC, Optum360 Services, Optum360 Services Inc., Optum360 Solutions LLC, OptumCare ACO Florida LLC, OptumCare ACO Holdings LLC, OptumCare ACO New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Clinical Trials LLC, OptumCare Colorado ASC LLC, OptumCare Colorado LLC, OptumCare Colorado Springs LLC, OptumCare Endoscopy Center New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Florida CI LLC, OptumCare Florida LLC, OptumCare Health Plan of California Inc., OptumCare Holdings Colorado LLC, OptumCare Holdings LLC, OptumCare Holdings New Mexico LLC, OptumCare Management LLC, OptumCare New Mexico LLC, OptumCare New York IPA Inc., OptumCare South Florida LLC, OptumHealth Care Solutions, OptumHealth Care Solutions LLC, OptumHealth Financial Services, OptumHealth Financial Services Inc., OptumHealth Holdings, OptumHealth Holdings LLC, OptumHealth International B.V., OptumInsight, OptumInsight Holdings, OptumInsight Holdings LLC, OptumInsight Inc., OptumInsight India Private Limited, OptumInsight Life Sciences, OptumInsight Life Sciences Inc., OptumRx, OptumRx Administrative Services, OptumRx Administrative Services LLC, OptumRx Discount Card Services, OptumRx Discount Card Services LLC, OptumRx Group Holdings, OptumRx Group Holdings Inc., OptumRx Health Solutions LLC, OptumRx Holdings, OptumRx Holdings I LLC, OptumRx Holdings LLC, OptumRx Home Delivery of Illinois, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio, OptumRx Home Delivery of Ohio LLC, OptumRx IPA III Inc., OptumRx Inc., OptumRx NY IPA, OptumRx NY IPA Inc., OptumRx PBM of Illinois, OptumRx PBM of Illinois Inc., OptumRx PBM of Maryland, OptumRx PBM of Maryland LLC, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania, OptumRx PBM of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx PBM of Puerto Rico LLC, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin, OptumRx PBM of Wisconsin LLC, OptumRx PD of Maryland, OptumRx PD of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumRx Pharmacy, OptumRx Pharmacy Inc., OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada, OptumRx Pharmacy of Nevada Inc., OptumRx of Pennsylvania LLC, OptumServe Technology Services Inc., Orlando Center for Outpatient Surgery L.P., OrthoNet Holdings, OrthoNet Holdings Inc., OrthoNet LLC, OrthoNet New York IPA, OrthoNet New York IPA Inc., OrthoNet Services, OrthoNet Services Inc., OrthoNet West, OrthoNet West Inc., OrthoNet of the Mid-Atlantic, OrthoNet of the South, OrthoNet of the South Inc., Ovations, Ovations Inc., Oxford Benefit Management, Oxford Benefit Management Inc., Oxford Health Insurance, Oxford Health Insurance Inc., Oxford Health Plans (CT), Oxford Health Plans (CT) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NJ), Oxford Health Plans (NJ) Inc., Oxford Health Plans (NY), Oxford Health Plans (NY) Inc., Oxford Health Plans LLC, P2 Lower Acquisition, P2P Link LLC, PCCCV, PCCCV Inc., PCN DE Corp., PHC Subsidiary Holdings, PHC Subsidiary Holdings LLC, PHYS Holding Corp., PHYSICIANS DAY SURGERY CENTER LLC, PMI Acquisition, PMI Acquisition LLC, PMSI, PMSI Holdco II, PMSI Holdings, PMSI Holdings LLC, PMSI LLC, PMSI Settlement Solutions, PMSI Settlement Solutions LLC, POMCO Inc., POMCO Network Inc., PPH Holdings LLC, PacifiCare Health Systems, PacifiCare Life Assurance Company, PacifiCare Life and Health Insurance Company, PacifiCare of Arizona, PacifiCare of Arizona Inc., PacifiCare of Colorado, PacifiCare of Colorado Inc., PacifiCare of Nevada, PacifiCare of Nevada Inc., Pacific Casualty Company Inc., Pacifico S.A. Entidad Prestadora de Salud, Paoli Ambulatory Surgery Center, Paoli Surgery Center L.P., Parkway Surgery Center LLC, Pasteur Plaza Surgery Center GP Inc., PatientsLikeMe, PatientsLikeMe LLC, Patrimonio Autonomo Nueva Clinica - PANC., Payment Resolution Services, Payment Resolution Services LLC, Peoples Health, Peoples Health Inc., Pharmaceutical Care Network, Pharmacy Review Services, Pharmacy Software Holdco Inc., PhyServe Holdings, Physician Alliance of the Rockies LLC, Physician Care Partners, Physicians Health Choice of Texas, Physicians Health Choice of Texas LLC, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland, Physicians Health Plan of Maryland Inc., Physicians Plaza Holdings LLC, Plano de Saude Ana Costa Ltda., Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico, Plus One Health Management Puerto Rico Inc., Plus One Holdings, Plus One Holdings Inc., Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes, Polar II Fundo de Investimento em Participacoes Multiestrategia, Polo Holdco, Polo Holdco LLC, Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center Inc., Pomerado Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Precision Dialing Services Inc., Preferred Care Partners, Preferred Care Partners Holding, Preferred Care Partners Holding Corp., Preferred Care Partners Inc., Preferred Care Partners Medical Group, Preferred Care Partners Medical Group Inc., Premier Choice ACO, Premier Choice ACO Inc., Premier Surgery Center of Louisville L.P., Prime Health, Prime Health Inc., PrimeCare Medical Network, PrimeCare Medical Network Inc., PrimeCare of Citrus Valley, PrimeCare of Citrus Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Corona, PrimeCare of Corona Inc., PrimeCare of Hemet Valley, PrimeCare of Hemet Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Inland Valley, PrimeCare of Inland Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Moreno Valley, PrimeCare of Moreno Valley Inc., PrimeCare of Redlands, PrimeCare of Redlands Inc., PrimeCare of Riverside, PrimeCare of Riverside Inc., PrimeCare of San Bernardino, PrimeCare of San Bernardino Inc., PrimeCare of Sun City, PrimeCare of Sun City Inc., PrimeCare of Temecula, PrimeCare of Temecula Inc., ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success, ProHEALTH Fitness of Lake Success LLC, ProHEALTH Medical Management LLC, ProHealth Medical Management, ProHealth Physicians, ProHealth Physicians ACO, ProHealth Physicians ACO LLC, ProHealth Physicians Inc., ProHealth Proton Center Management, ProHealth Proton Center Management LLC, Procura Management, Procura Management Inc., Progressive Enterprises Holdings, Progressive Enterprises Holdings Inc., Progressive Medical, Progressive Medical LLC, Progressive Solutions, Promotora Country S.A., Pronetics Health Care Group, Pronounced Health Solutions Inc., Prosemedic S.A.C., Prospero Management Services LLC, Pueblo-SCA Surgery Center LLC, Pulse Platform LLC, QoL Acquisition Holdings Corp., Quality Software Services, QuarterMaster Newco LLC, R&H Family Fitness Unlimited LLC, Rally Health, Rally Health Inc., Real Appeal Inc., Recaudacion y Cobranzas Honodav Ltda., Redlands Ambulatory Surgery Center, Redlands-SCA Surgery Centers Inc., Reliant MSO LLC, Research Surgical Center LLC, River Valley ASC LLC, Riverside Electronic Healthcare Resources Inc., Riverside Medical Management, Riverside Medical Management LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Meadowlands LLC, Riverside Surgical Center of Newark LLC, Rocky Mountain Health Maintenance Organization Incorporated, Rocky Mountain HealthCare Options Inc., SC Affiliates LLC, SCA Alaska Surgery Center inc., SCA Athens LLC, SCA Austin Holdings LLC, SCA BOSC Holdings LLC, SCA California Surgical Holdings LLC, SCA Capital LLC, SCA Cedar Park Holdings LLC, SCA Clifton LLC, SCA Danbury Surgical Center LLC, SCA Development LLC, SCA EHSC Holdings LLC, SCA EWASC Holdings LLC, SCA Hays Holdings LLC, SCA Heartland Holdings LLC, SCA HoldCo Inc., SCA Holding Company Inc., SCA Holdings Inc., SCA IEC Holdings LLC, SCA Indiana Holdings LLC, SCA Nashville ASC LLC, SCA Pacific Holdings Inc., SCA Pennsylvania Holdings LLC, SCA Premier Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, SCA ROCS Holdings LLC, SCA Rockledge JV LLC, SCA SSC Holdings LLC, SCA SSSC Holdings LLC, SCA Sage Medical LLC, SCA Sage Medical MSO LLC, SCA Southwestern PA LLC, SCA Specialists of Florida LLC, SCA Stonegate Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Center of Cullman LLC, SCA Surgery Holdings LLC, SCA Surgery Partners LLC, SCA Surgicare of Laguna Hills LLC, SCA Teammate Support Network, SCA eCode Solutions Private Limited, SCA of Clarksville Inc., SCA-Albuquerque Surgery Properties Inc., SCA-Alliance LLC, SCA-Anne Arundel LLC, SCA-Applecare Partners LLC, SCA-Bethesda LLC, SCA-Blue Ridge LLC, SCA-Bonita Springs LLC, SCA-Brandon LLC, SCA-Castle Rock LLC, SCA-Central Florida LLC, SCA-Charleston LLC, SCA-Chatham LLC, SCA-Chevy Chase LLC, SCA-Citrus Inc., SCA-Colorado Springs LLC, SCA-Connecticut Partners LLC, SCA-DRY CREEK LLC, SCA-Davenport LLC, SCA-Denver LLC, SCA-Denver Physicians Holdings LLC, SCA-Derry LLC, SCA-Doral LLC, SCA-Downey LLC, SCA-Dublin LLC, SCA-Encinitas Inc., SCA-Eugene Inc., SCA-First Coast LLC, SCA-Florence LLC, SCA-Fort Collins Inc., SCA-Fort Walton Inc., SCA-Franklin LLC, SCA-Frederick LLC, SCA-Freeway Holdings LLC, SCA-Ft. Myers LLC, SCA-GRANTS PASS LLC, SCA-Gainesville LLC, SCA-Gladiolus LLC, SCA-Grove Place LLC, SCA-Hagerstown LLC, SCA-Hamden LLC, SCA-Hilton Head LLC, SCA-Honolulu LLC, SCA-Houston Executive LLC, SCA-IT Holdings LLC, SCA-Illinois LLC, SCA-JPM Holdings LLC, SCA-Kissing Camels Holdings LLC, SCA-MC VBP Inc., SCA-Main Street LLC, SCA-Marina del Rey LLC, SCA-Mecklenburg Development Corp., SCA-Memorial City LLC, SCA-Merritt LLC, SCA-Midlands LLC, SCA-Midway Management LLC, SCA-Mobile LLC, SCA-Mokena LLC, SCA-Mokena Properties LLC, SCA-Morris County LLC, SCA-Mt. Pleasant LLC, SCA-ND VBP Inc., SCA-Naperville LLC, SCA-Naples LLC, SCA-New Jersey LLC, SCA-Newport Beach LLC, SCA-Northeast Georgia Health LLC, SCA-PORTLAND LLC, SCA-Palm Beach LLC, SCA-Palm Beach MSO Holdings LLC, SCA-Paoli LLC, SCA-Phoenix LLC, SCA-Pocono LLC, SCA-Practice Partners Holdings LLC, SCA-River Valley LLC, SCA-Riverside LLC, SCA-Riverside Partners LLC, SCA-Rockville LLC, SCA-Sacred Heart Holdings LLC, SCA-San Diego Inc., SCA-San Luis Obispo LLC, SCA-Sand Lake LLC, SCA-Santa Rosa Inc., SCA-Shelby Development Corp., SCA-Somerset LLC, SCA-South Jersey LLC, SCA-Sparta LLC, SCA-Spartanburg Holdings LLC, SCA-St. Louis LLC, SCA-St. Lucie LLC, SCA-SurgiCare LLC, SCA-Swiftpath LLC, SCA-VERTA LLC, SCA-Wake Forest LLC, SCA-Western Connecticut LLC, SCA-Westover Hills LLC, SCA-Wilmington LLC, SCA-Wilson LLC, SCA-Winchester LLC, SCA-Winter Park Inc., SCA-Woodlands Holdings LLC, SCAI Holdings LLC, SCP Specialty Infusion, SCP Specialty Infusion LLC, SHC Atlanta LLC, SHC Austin Inc., SHC Hawthorn Inc., SHC Melbourne Inc., SPINETRACK 20/20 Inc., SRPS LLC, SXC Comet, Sacred Heart ASC LLC, Saden S.A., Salem Surgery Center LLC, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy, Salveo Specialty Pharmacy Inc., Sand Lake SurgiCenter LLC, Santa Cruz Endoscopy Center LLC, Santa Helena Assistencia Medica S.A., Santos Administracao e Participacoes S.A., Savvysherpa Administrative Services LLC, Savvysherpa Asia Inc., Savvysherpa LLC, Scanner Centromed S.A., ScripNet, ScriptSwitch Limited, Seisa Servicos Integrados de Saude Ltda., Senate Street Surgery Center LLC, Senior Benefits L.L.C., Senior Care Partners, Serquinox Holdings LLC, Serquinox LLC, Servicios Integrados de Salud Ltda., Servicios Medicos Amed Quilpue S.A., Servicios Medicos Bio Bio Limitada, Servicios Medicos Ciudad del Mar Ltda., Servicios Medicos Santa Maria Limitada, Servicios Medicos Vespucio Ltda., Servicios de Entrenamiento en Competencias Clinicas Ltda., SharedClarity LLC, Shelby Surgery Properties Inc., Sierra Health Services, Sierra Health Services Inc, Sierra Health Services Inc., Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company, Sierra Health and Life Insurance Company Inc., Sierra Health-Care Options, Sierra Health-Care Options Inc., Sierra Home Medical Products, Sierra Home Medical Products Inc., Sierra Nevada Administrators, Sierra Nevada Administrators Inc., Sirona Infusion, Sistema de Administracion Hospitalaria S.A.C., Small Business Insurance Advisors Inc., Sobam  Centro Medico Hospitalar S.A., Sociedad Editorial para la Ciencia Limitada., Sociedad de Inversiones Santa Maria S.A., Somerset Outpatient Surgery L.L.C., Southwest Medical Associates, Southwest Medical Associates Inc., Southwest Michigan Health Network Inc., Southwest Surgery Center LLC, Southwest Surgical Center of Bakersfield L.P., Space Coast Surgical Center Ltd., Specialists in Urology Surgery Center LLC, Specialized Pharmaceuticals Inc., Specialty Benefits, Specialty Benefits LLC, Spectera, Spectera Inc., Spectera of New York IPA, Spectera of New York IPA Inc., Spotlite, Spotlite Inc., St. Cloud Surgical Center LLC, StoneRiver P2P Link, StoneRiver Pharmacy Solutions, Stonegate Surgery Center L.P., Streamlines Health LLC, Summit Home Infusion, SunSurgery LLC, Surgery Center Holding LLC, Surgery Center at Cherry Creek LLC, Surgery Center at Kissing Camels LLC, Surgery Center of Boca Raton Inc., Surgery Center of Clarksville L.P., Surgery Center of Colorado Springs LLC, Surgery Center of Des Moines LLC, Surgery Center of Easton LLC, Surgery Center of Ellicott City Inc., Surgery Center of Louisville LLC, Surgery Center of Maui LLC, Surgery Center of Muskogee LLC, Surgery Center of Rockville L.L.C., Surgery Center of Southern Pines LLC, Surgery Center of Spokane LLC, Surgery Center of Summerlin LLC, Surgery Center of The Woodlands LLC, Surgery Center of Vero Beach Inc., Surgery Center of Wilmington LLC, Surgery Center of Wilmington Properties LLC, Surgery Centers of Des Moines Ltd. an Iowa Limited Partnership, Surgery Centers-West Holdings LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates, Surgical Care Affiliates LLC, Surgical Care Affiliates Political Action Committee, Surgical Care Partners of Melbourne LLC, Surgical Center of South Jersey Limited Partnership, Surgical Center of Tuscaloosa Holdings LLC, Surgical Health LLC, Surgical Health of Orlando LLC, Surgical Hospital Holdings of Oklahoma LLC, Surgicare LLC, Surgicare of Belleville LLC, Surgicare of Jackson LLC, Surgicare of Joliet Inc., Surgicare of La Veta Inc., Surgicare of Minneapolis LLC, Surgicare of Mobile LLC, Surgicare of Oceanside Inc., Surgicare of Owensboro LLC, Surgicare of Salem LLC, Surgicenters of Southern California Inc., Symphonix Health Holdings, Symphonix Health Holdings LLC, Symphonix Health Insurance, Symphonix Health Insurance Inc., THE SURGICAL CENTER OF THE TREASURE COAST L.L.C., TeamMD Holdings Inc., TeamMD Iowa Inc., TeamMD Physicians of Texas Inc., TeamUP Insurance Services Inc., Tecnologias de Informacion en Salud S.A., The Advisory Board (Chile) SpA, The Chesapeake Life Insurance Company, The Lewin Group, The Lewin Group Inc., The Magan Medical Group, The Outpatient Surgery Center of Hilton Head LLC, The Polyclinic MSO LLC, Thomas Johnson Surgery Center LLC, Thousand Oaks Endoscopy Center LLC, Three Rivers Holdings, Three Rivers Holdings Inc., Three Rivers Surgical Care L.P., Tmesys, Tmesys LLC, Topimagem Diagnostico por Imagem Ltda., Touchpoint Health Plan, Trails Edge Surgery Center LLC, Travel Express Incorporated, TriMed LLC, Trinity Infusion, Trio Motion LLC, Tucson Arizona Surgical Center LLC, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan, U.S. Behavioral Health Plan California, UHC Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UHC Global Health Services BC Ltd., UHC International Services, UHC International Services Inc., UHC of California, UHCG Holdings (Ireland) Limited, UHCG Services (Ireland) Limited, UHCG  FZE, UHG Brasil Participacoes S.A., UHIC Holdings, UHIC Holdings Inc., UICI Funding Corp. 2, UMR, UMR Inc., USHEALTH Academy Inc., USHEALTH Administrators LLC, USHEALTH Advisors L.L.C., USHEALTH Career Agency Inc., USHEALTH Funding Inc., USHEALTH Group Inc., USMD Administrative Services, USMD Administrative Services L.L.C., USMD Affiliated Services, USMD CT (Mo), USMD Cancer Treatment Centers, USMD Cancer Treatment Centers GP, USMD Diagnostic Services, USMD Holdings, USMD Holdings Inc., USMD Inc., USMD PPM, USMD PPM LLC, USMD of Arlington GP, Ultima Rx, Unidad Medica Diagnostico S.A., Unimerica Insurance Company, Unimerica Life Insurance Company of New York, Unison Administrative Services, Unison Health Plan of Delaware, Unison Health Plan of Delaware Inc., United Behavioral Health, United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A., United Behavioral Health of New York I.P.A. Inc., United Group Reinsurance Inc., United Health Foundation, United HealthCare, United HealthCare Services Inc., United Management Services Inc., United Resource Networks IPA of New York, United Resource Networks IPA of New York Inc., UnitedHealth Advisors, UnitedHealth Advisors LLC, UnitedHealth Group Finance Inc., UnitedHealth Group Global Healthcare Services Limited, UnitedHealth Group Global Services, UnitedHealth Group Incorporated, UnitedHealth Group Information Services Private Limited, UnitedHealth Group International Finance (Ireland) Unlimited Company, UnitedHealth Group International GP, UnitedHealth Group International L.P., UnitedHealth International, UnitedHealth International Inc., UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services, UnitedHealth Military & Veterans Services LLC, UnitedHealth UK Limited, UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealthcare Benefits Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Benefits of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare Children's Foundation Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of California Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas, UnitedHealthcare Community Plan of Texas L.L.C., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co., UnitedHealthcare Consulting & Assistance Service (Beijing) Co. Ltd., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Europe S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare Global Canada Limited, UnitedHealthcare Global Medical (UK) Limited, UnitedHealthcare Inc., UnitedHealthcare India Private Limited, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of New York, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Insurance Designated Activity Company, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services, UnitedHealthcare Integrated Services Inc., UnitedHealthcare International Asia, UnitedHealthcare International Asia LLC, UnitedHealthcare International I B.V., UnitedHealthcare International I S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II B.V., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International II S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III B.V., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International III S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International IV S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International V S.a.r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VI S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International VIII S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare International X S.a r.l., UnitedHealthcare Life Insurance Company, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley Inc., UnitedHealthcare Service LLC, UnitedHealthcare Services Company of the River Valley, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits, UnitedHealthcare Specialty Benefits LLC, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama, UnitedHealthcare of Alabama Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arizona, UnitedHealthcare of Arizona Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas, UnitedHealthcare of Arkansas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Colorado, UnitedHealthcare of Colorado Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Florida, UnitedHealthcare of Florida Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Georgia, UnitedHealthcare of Georgia Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Illinois, UnitedHealthcare of Illinois Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky, UnitedHealthcare of Kentucky Ltd., UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana, UnitedHealthcare of Louisiana Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi, UnitedHealthcare of Mississippi Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New England, UnitedHealthcare of New England Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico, UnitedHealthcare of New Mexico Inc., UnitedHealthcare of New York, UnitedHealthcare of New York Inc., UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina, UnitedHealthcare of North Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Ohio, UnitedHealthcare of Ohio Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma, UnitedHealthcare of Oklahoma Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Oregon, UnitedHealthcare of Oregon Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania, UnitedHealthcare of Pennsylvania Inc., UnitedHealthcare of South Carolina Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Texas, UnitedHealthcare of Texas Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Utah, UnitedHealthcare of Utah Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Washington, UnitedHealthcare of Washington Inc., UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin, UnitedHealthcare of Wisconsin Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic, UnitedHealthcare of the Mid-Atlantic Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands, UnitedHealthcare of the Midlands Inc., UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest, UnitedHealthcare of the Midwest Inc., UpFront Insurance Agency LLC, Upland Holdings LLC, Upland Outpatient Surgical Center L.P., Urgent Care Holdings, Urgent Care Holdings Inc., Urgent Care MSO, Urgent Care MSO LLC, Urology Associates of North Texas, Urology Associates of North Texas P.L.L.C., VERTA MANAGEMENT SERVICES LLC, Valley Hospital L.L.C., Valley Physicians Network, Valley Physicians Network Inc., Vida Tres Internacional S.A., Vidaintegra S.A., Vivify Health Canada Inc., Vivify Health Inc., WESTMED Practice Partners LLC, Wauwatosa Outpatient Surgery Center LLC, Wauwatosa Surgery Center Limited Partnership, Wayland Square Surgicare Acquisition L.P., Wayland Square Surgicare GP Inc., WebInsure Benefits LLC, WellMed Medical Management, WellMed Medical Management Inc., WellMed Medical Management of Florida, WellMed Medical Management of Florida Inc., WellMed Networks  DFW, West Coast Endoscopy Holdings LLC, Western Connecticut Orthopedic Surgical Center LLC, WillowB Labs LLC, Wilmington ASC LLC, Winchester Endoscopy LLC, Winter Park LLC, XLHealth Corporation, XLHealth Corporation India Private Limited, Your Health Options Insurance Services, Your Health Options Insurance Services Inc., Your Partner in Health Services, divvyDOSE, eCode Solutions LLC, gethealthinsurance.com Agency Inc., hCentive Inc., inPharmative, inPharmative Inc., and ppoONE.The following companies are subsidiares of Humana: 154th Street Medical Plaza, 516-526 West Main Street Condominium Council of Co-Owners, 54th Street Medical Plaza, American Eldercare, American Eldercare of North Florida, Anvita Health, Arcadian Health Plan, Arcadian Management Services, Atlantis Physician Group, CAC Medical Center Holdings, CAC-Florida Medical Centers, CDO 1, CDO 2, CHA HMO, CHA Service Company, Care Partners Home Care, CareNetwork, CarePlus Health, CarePlus Health Plans, Cariten Health Plan Inc., Certify Data Systems, CompBenefits, CompBenefits Company, CompBenefits Corporation, CompBenefits Dental, CompBenefits Direct, CompBenefits Insurance Company, Complex Clinical Management, Concentra Managed Care, Continucare Corporation, Continucare MDHC, Continucare MSO, Continucare Medical Management, Dental Care Plus Management, DentiCare, Emphesys, Emphesys Insurance Company, Enclara Healthcare, FPG, FPG Acquisition Corp., FPG Acquisition Holdings Corp., FPG Senior Services, Family Physicians of Winter Park, Go365, HUM Provider Holdings, HUM-e-FL, Harris Rothenberg International, Health Value Management, Humana Active Outlook, Humana At Home (Dallas), Humana At Home (Houston), Humana At Home (San Antonio), Humana At Home (TLC), Humana At Home 1, Humana Behavioral Health, Humana Benefit Plan of Illinois, Humana Dental Company, Humana Digital Health and Analytics Platform Services, Humana EAP and Work-Life Services of California, Humana Employers Health Plan of Georgia, Humana Government Business, Humana Health Benefit Plan of Louisiana, Humana Health Company of New York, Humana Health Insurance Company of Florida, Humana Health Plan, Humana Health Plan of California, Humana Health Plan of Ohio, Humana Health Plan of Texas, Humana Health Plans of Puerto Rico, Humana Healthcare Research, Humana Inc., Humana Innovation Enterprises, Humana Insurance Company, Humana Insurance Company of Kentucky, Humana Insurance Company of New York, Humana Insurance of Puerto Rico, Humana Management Services of Puerto Rico, Humana MarketPOINT, Humana MarketPOINT of Puerto Rico, Humana Medical Plan, Humana Medical Plan of Michigan, Humana Medical Plan of Pennsylvania, Humana Medical Plan of Utah, Humana Pharmacy, Humana Pharmacy Solutions, Humana Regional Health Plan, Humana Veterans Healthcare Services, Humana WellWorks LLC, Humana Wisconsin Health Organization Insurance Corporation, Humana at Home, HumanaDental, HumanaDental Insurance Company, Humco, Hummingbird Coaching Systems LLC, Independent Care Health Plan, KMG America, Kindred Healthcare, MCCI Group Holdings, MCCI Holdings, MCCI Medical Group, MCCI Specialty, MCCI/Lifetime of Aventura, MD Care, METCARE of Florida, Managed Care Indemnity, Medical Care Consortium Incorporated of Texas, MetCare, Metropolitan Health Networks, Naples Health Care Specialists, North Region Providers, Nursing Solutions, OSF HealthCare, PHP Companies, Partners in Integrated Care, Preferred Health Partnership, Preservation on Main, Primary Care Holdings, Primary Care Holdings II, Primary Care Specialists of the Palm Beaches, RMA Medical Centers of Florida, RMA Medical Group of Florida, ROHC, SeniorBridge, SeniorBridge Family Companies (CT), SeniorBridge Family Companies (FL), SeniorBridge Family Companies (IN), SeniorBridge Family Companies (MO), SeniorBridge Family Companies (NY), SeniorBridge-Florida, Texas Dental Plans, The Dental Concern, Transcend Population Health Management, and Transcend Population Health Management II.Wall Street analysts have given Ares Acquisition a "N/A" rating, but there may be better buying opportunities in the stock market. Some of MarketBeat's past winning trading ideas have resulted in 5-15% weekly gains. MarketBeat just released five new stock ideas, but Ares Acquisition wasn't one of them. MarketBeat thinks these five companies may be even better buys.

View MarketBeat's top stock picks here.An 8-day-old Virginia baby girl was killed by a wolf-hybrid dog that mauled her to death on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.

The attack occurred inside a home in Big Stone Gap, Lee County Sheriff Gary Parsons told WATE.

Investigators are considering criminal charges against the childs parents, WCYB quotes Parsons as saying.

The victims name is not being released.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

The dog, which was described as a wolf-hybrid canine, was euthanized soon after the attack, according to WJHL.

Parsons did not respond to PEOPLEs requests for comment, but reports indicate the child sustained serious injuries to her torso.

The baby was laying in a bassinet at the time of the mauling, the stations report.

According to WATE, the child was rushed to a nearby hospital in Big Stone Gap and later airlifted to the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville.

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She was pronounced dead at 4 p.m., reports WCYB.

Wolf-hybrids are the biological product of a wolf mating with a dog.

Ownership of hybrid canines is permitted in Virginia, but owners must ensure the adequate confinement and responsible ownership of hybrid canines, according to the states laws.

Virginia is among 15 states that allows wolf-hybrid ownership. The others are Alabama, Arkansas, California, Delaware, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota.Heather Locklear

The night 56-year-old actress Heather Locklear was arrested on suspicion of felony domestic battery and three counts of battery on a police officer, she told police her boyfriend Chris Heisser had choked her and tried to kill her.

PEOPLE has obtained search warrant and Affidavit of Probable Cause documents prepared by Senior Deputy Sheriff Keith Hall  who used accounts by on-the-scene Sergeant Camo, deputies Nesgis and Alldredge, as well as body cam footage to investigate the incident on Feb. 25 at Locklears Thousand Oaks, California, home that lead to the Melrose Place actress arrest.

In the documents, Hall wrote that Locklear said the fight first started when [Heisser] lied to her and she threw a can of Red Bull at him.

Locklear told Deputy Alldredge that [Heisser] had strangled her and that she was afraid he would kill her, Hall said in the documents. Locklear stated she did not lose consciousness, but was strangled for a long time and thought she might pass out.

Hall wrote that Locklear told officers the alleged choking stopped her from breathing.

RELATED: Depression, Arrests and Rehab: Inside Heather Locklears Darkest Days

Heisser  who previously dated Locklear in high school and began dating her again last year  told Deputy Nesgis, I didnt touch her,   Hall recounted in his report.

Deputy Alldredge saw that [Heisser] was bleeding from the bridge of his nose and he had redness on his chest, Hall wrote in the documents. [Heisser] told Deputy Alldredge that in the bedroom, Locklear attacked [Heisser] while he was on the bed and he defended himself. He did not know how many times Locklear struck him. Locklear bit his face and described Locklear as being all over him for the last 20-30 minutes acting crazy, angry, and wild. 

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Heather Locklear and Chris Heisser

During the course of the investigation, Locklear exhibited combative, belligerent, and aggressive behavior toward deputies, Hall wrote.

He called her behavior agitated and uncooperative, writing that, Locklear grabbed Deputy Alldredge by the bicep and pulled on it while ordering him to get out of the house.

Hall continued: Locklear walked to her bedroom and began to close the door. Deputy Alldredge put his foot in the doorway to prevent her from closing it, and to continue the investigation. Heather attempted to push Deputy Alldredge out of the doorway, and screamed, Get the f out of my house! She battered Deputy Alldredge by kicking him in his shin in an attempt to get his foot out of the doorway. The source was strong enough to force Deputy Alldredges leg out of the doorway.

Sergeant Camou asked Locklear to exit the bedroom several times before she complied, Hall added in the documents. She continued to yell and scream at the deputies to leave her house while pacing back and forth in a very aggressive manner. Locklear yelled profanities at the deputies and tried to physically push Sergeant Camou and Deputy Nesgis with her hands out of the house.

Heather Locklear

Eventually, Locklear was placed under arrest. Sergeant Camou had to grab Locklears arms to restrain her, Hall wrote. Locklear continued to struggle and resist as Deputy Nesgis handcuffed her. Locklear was lying on her stomach handcuffed. As Deputy Nesgis rolled Heather on to her right side to stand her up, she kicked Sergeant Camou with her left foot.  Due to her combative behavior, deputies place a hobble around Locklears ankles to prevent her from kicking deputies.

You f deserve your kids to die! You f deserve it!  Hall said Locklear told Deputy Nesgis in the report. And when you find yourself in that position, think of me! 

I hope no one f- burns your entire department down, your f police department,  Hall claims Locklear told deputies, according to the report. Get the f off my property. Dont ever come on it. All of you are not allowed  I will shoot you if you come on my property and take that as a threat and f put another count against me. 

It was that threat to shoot officers that triggered the search warrant of her house. On Tuesday, police searched Locklears home for the firearm that is said to be allegedly registered in her name, but they didnt find it.

RELATED VIDEO: Heather Locklears Boyfriend Charged with a DUI Hours After Her Felony Domestic Battery Arrest

Hours after her arrest, Heisser was arrested for DUI. It is not clear if he has entered a plea.

Meanwhile, since her arrest, Locklear has sought help for her battle with addiction. Heather is in treatment for addiction, a friend of the actress told PEOPLE. Everyone hopes she gets well, that she gets better.

Addiction is obviously a strong disease and as much as friends and family who love her and want her to get better and be happy, no one can do the work for her, added the friend. Hopefully she is getting the help she needs.

Heather Locklear

Locklear has struggled with substance abuse in the past, and this isnt her first time in treatment. In March 2008, her doctor called 911 reporting that she was suicidal, and that June, she sought help for psychological issues. She left the Arizona facility after four weeks.

That September, the actress was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in California and was formally charged in November 2008 with driving under the influence of drugs. The misdemeanor charge filed by the DAs office specified that the drugs in question were prescription medications. She completed a 30-day in-patient rehab program. However, in January 2009, the case was dismissed.

And in 2012, she was hospitalized after a 911 call was placed from her home, reportedly after she ingested a mixture of drugs and alcohol. After she was discharged, she went under a doctors care but did not head to in-patient rehab, a source told PEOPLE.Heather Locklear claims she feared for her life the night she was arrested for one count felony domestic violence and three counts misdemeanor battery on a police officer last month.

According to a search warrant obtained by ET on Friday, Heather alleged that her boyfriend, Chris Heisser, tried to choke and kill her shortly before police arrived to her home on Feb. 25; he denied this in the same warrant and police did not observe any bruising on her neck.

The warrant states that, according to a Ventura County Sheriff's deputy, when police arrived, Heather was on a bed, lying back with her feet on the floor. Chris was allegedly standing on the side of the bed, leaning over Heather and holding her wrists. Officers say in the warrant that they observed Chris bleeding from the bridge of his nose with redness on his chest, and when asked what happened, Chris claimed Heather attacked him multiple times, at one point biting his face while she was "crazy, angry and wild." The documents also state that at some point during the interview with Chris, "he changed his story and stated he was fine" and "did not want to get Locklear in trouble."

Officers also explain in the warrant that Heather claimed the fight began because Chris lied to her, resulting in her throwing a can of Red Bull at him. She alleged that Chris choked her to the point that she couldn't breathe. According to the court document, Chris denied that he tried to choke Heather, saying, "I didn't touch her." One of the deputies allegedly offered Heather medical attention, but she refused, stating she was not injured. The warrant alleges that Heather then told the cops to "get out of my f**king house" before grabbing one of the police officers on the arm and kicking him in the shin.

Once cuffed, officers alleged that Heather made the following threats, which led them to file the search warrant: "I hope no one f**king burns your entire department down, your f**king police department down, or your homes, or your private homes. Because you come into ours, I'll come into yours. I'll stalk you. You just feel what it's like. Now that I've got your names, watch out. Get the f**k off my property. Don't ever come on it. All of you are not allowed ... I will shoot you if you come on my property and take that as a threat and f**king put another count against me."

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During the investigation, Heather's daughter, 20-year-old Ava, told officers that her mother had been drinking, and the police discovered a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver registered in Heather's name. They did not, however, find a weapon when they searched the home.

As previously reported, Heather was arrested after a domestic violence call was reported at a residence. In an initial investigation, police alleged that she had battered Chris at the residence prior to their arrival. During the arrest, police said that Heather allegedly became combative and uncooperative, and allegedly battered three deputies. A spokesperson for the Ventura County Sheriffs Department told ET at the time that Heather was transported to a local hospital that night, where she was evaluated prior to being booked into jail. She posted $20,000 bail and was released the following day.

A few hours after Heather's arrest, Chris was arrested on a driving under the influence charge in Thousand Oaks, California. He was cited and released shortly after. Heather's next court appearance is set for March 13 in Ventura, California, while Chris is scheduled to appear in court for his case on April 26.

A source told ET on Wednesday that Heather is currently in a treatment facility and finally "getting the help" she needs after battling substance abuse "for years." Hear more in the video below.

RELATED CONTENT:

Heather Locklear in Rehab Following Arrest and Longtime Battle With Substance Abuse, Source Says (Exclusive)

Police Raid Heather Locklear's Home on Gun Search After Her Previous Alleged Threat to Shoot Deputies

Heather Locklear's Boyfriend Chris Heisser Arrested on DUI Charge Hours After Actress' Own Arrest

Related Articles:Manhunt for 'Person of Interest' Related to Beheaded Body Found Near Survivalist Bunker

A manhunt is underway after a woman was found decapitated near a bunker.

Police are searching for a Washington man they describe as a person of interest after discovering a beheaded womans body in Island County, officials said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

The woman was identified as 26-year-old Katherine Cunningham.

From the autopsy findings, the Coroners Office has determined the cause of death as Homicidal Violence with Decapitation,' according to officials.

After delivering several search warrants, officials recovered the body of a white female who had been deceased for several days, officials stated.

Deputies believe the victim was targeted specifically, officials stated.

 Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

While exploring the parcel of land near the body, detectives located a bunker dug into the hill side which contained a cache of supplies, firearms and ammunition, according to the press release.

In the course of the investigation, deputies became interested in Jacob Gonzales, 34. He is 59? and 150 lbs. with black hair and hazel eyes.

Officials believe he is driving a silver 1998 Honda Civic with a Washington license plate: BHR7424. Officials stated they believe he is headed toward the Las Vegas area.

 For more compelling true crime coverage, follow our Crime magazine on Flipboard.

Gonzales is believed to be armed and we ask that the public not approach him, officials said,

Anyone with information should call 360-679-9567 or email tips@co.island.wa.us.Nick Gordon, former boyfriend of the late Bobbi Kristina Brown, was arrested during the early morning hours on Saturday on a domestic battery charge in Florida, PEOPLE confirms.

According to the Seminole County Sheriffs Office, police responded to a possible domestic disturbance at the home of Gordon, 29, where he was with his girlfriend, Laura Leal.

Gordon told police that he wanted Leal to leave his residence after allegedly ripping his shirt and throwing a bottle at him. Gordon told authorities Leal was crazy and the alleged attack was unprovoked, though stated they both had been drinking alcoholic beverages, according to the arrest report.

Leal claimed that she picked Gordon up from a bar and that he allegedly struck her in the face while she was driving. She added that Gordon also allegedly pulled her hair and stated to her that he should make her wreck the vehicle, according to the arrest report.

The responding officer observed Leal had a slightly swollen bottom lip with dried blood and took photos of her injuries. She refused medical treatment, the report stated.

Leal refused to press charges against Gordon, but he was arrested for battery domestic violence based on her statement and facial injuries.

Gordon was given a bond of $500 and is currently in the process of being released, according to the Seminole County Sheriffs Office website. He is due back in court on April 6.

Nick Gordon

Gordon, who was found civilly liable for Browns death in November 2016 and ordered to pay $36 million to her estate, was previously arrested in June 2017 on domestic battery and false imprisonment charges after Leal filed a police report alleging her boyfriend had beaten her and held her in her home.

The Fulton County District Attorneys office told PEOPLE in a statement following the incident, We have consistently refrained from commenting on our investigation into the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown because of our general policy regarding commenting on open criminal investigations.

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Bobbi Kristina Brown

They continued, However, it goes without saying that the arrest of Nick Gordon in the Florida domestic violence case will certainly add an additional layer of evidence to the final resolution of this matter.

On Jan. 31, 2015, Brown was found unconscious and unresponsive in the bathtub of the Georgia townhouse she shared with Gordon. She was later moved to a moved to a medical rehab center in March 2015, before she was transferred to an Atlanta-area hospice facility, where she died on July 26, 2015.

The D.A. offices criminal investigation into Browns death remains ongoing, and no charges have been brought.

Browns father, Bobby Brown, told Rolling Stone in a February interview that he didnt feel justice was served after Gordon was found civilly liable in her death, saying, No, not yet. Because hes still walking around free.Police need not stop into Hasta Muerte Coffee in Oakland, California, to get their morning caffeine fix. Thats because, according to a recent Instagram post, the boys in blue are not welcome at the Fruitvale District shop. The post, which went up on February 22, says Habla Con Tus Vecinx No Con La Policia which translates to Talk to your neighbors, not the police and is accompanied by a long explanation of the policy.

The coffee shop is an employee-owned co-op and, according to its website, the employees are committed to nurturing community while serving the best coffee. But, apparently this nurturing doesnt extend to police officers.

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According to the Instagram post, it all started on February 16 when a local police officer attempted to introduce himself and purchase a cup of coffee at the shop and was promptly told to leave. Confused, he asked why he was being denied service. He was told that the shop has a policy of not serving police officers because of the physical and emotional safety of our customers and ourselves.

If the policy wasnt news before that interaction, it quickly spread throughout the city. The employees claim that because of their choice not to serve the officer, they have since been bullied online with low reviews.

He broadcasted to his network that he was refused service at a local business and now the rumblings are spreading, the post states. Although no one from the coffee shop wanted to comment on the policy, its Instagram post makes the decision and its reasoning very clear: We know in our experience working on campaigns against police brutality that we are not alone saying that police presence compromises our feeling of physical & emotional safety.

It goes on to detail the reasoning for the policy and the fact that many people in the community will disagree with it for various reasons.

If they want to make claims about police being part of the community or claims that race trumps the badge and gun when it comes to police, they must accept that the burden of proof for such a claim is on them, the post continues.

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They go on to reference their stance that hiring officers of color doesnt diminish the memory of corruption, mismanagement, and scandal, nor a legacy of blatant repression.

They also call for support from the community to keep the peace, instead of the police. We want to put this out to our communities now, in case we end up facing backlash because as we know OPD, unlike the community, has tons of resources, many of which are poured into maintaining smooth public relations to uphold power.

One of the more outspoken community members against this policy is Fruitvale District City Councilmember Noel Gallo. Recently, Gallo talked to the owners of Hasta Muerte and asked about the policy and its consequences.

"My understanding is they're not going to serve police officers," Gallo told KTVU in Oakland. "I think we need to work together, not against each other."

The Oakland police department sent a letter to the business in an attempt to discuss and resolve the issue. But, so far, they havent received a response.Michelle Obama speaks during the second day of the Obama Foundation Summit in Chicago on Nov. 1, 2017. (Photo: Kamil Krzaczynski / Reuters)

Michelle Obama is back with more great life advice.

The former first lady recently interviewed four young women from around the world for an International Womens Day feature for Refinery29. In partnership with the Obama Foundation, Refinery29s feature spotlighted the four teenagers from Nepal, Ghana, Guatemala and Chicago to highlight the important of empowering girls with education.

Alejandra Teleguario Santizo, a 17-year-old from Guatemala who has organized her community to rally against sexual violence, asked Michelle Obama what advice she would give to young women like herself who are looking to blaze their own paths and become leaders.

My best advice to girls, including my own daughters, is do not be afraid to fail. So often, our own fear of failure is the thing that keeps us back, Obama said. We think we have to be perfect, that if we make even the tiniest mistake, its a catastrophe. Thats simply not true!

She added that the only way to succeed is life is by failing and failing well.

You cannot let your failures eat you up or make you want to quit, Obama said. You have to learn from them, let them challenge and inspire you to do more  to take some risks and to step outside of your comfort zone.

Obama also told Santizo another important key to success: Be kind to other women.

I also advise girls to be supportive of each other. I cannot say this enough! Too often were taught that we have to compete, or that someone elses failure is our success, she said. But we can all rise together; we can all win. We have to be a team of women and girls who love each other and value each other and cherish one another. Because if we dont cherish each other, no one else will.

Obama and her husband, former President Barack Obama, have been working to educate more girls around the world since they launched the Let Girls Learn initiative in 2015. The program brings together several international organizations to address the variety of challenges preventing girls from getting an education.

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Eva Lewis, a 19-year-old activist and artist from the South Side of Chicago (where Obama also grew up), asked her how education can be liberating for everyone, but especially girls. Her answer did not disappoint.

I always tell students that if you focus on school right now, you will have all kinds of freedom later on in your life, Obama said. Youll have the freedom to choose a career you enjoy and to earn a living that supports your family. That is truly liberating. And thats not just true here in America.

When girls get an education, their whole world changes, Obama noted.

Right now, millions of adolescent girls around the world actually dont have the chance to go to school. Imagine if, at the age of 10 or 11 or 12, someone came to you and said, Sorry, youre a girl, youre finished with your education. Forget about all your dreams. Instead youll marry a man twice your age and start having babies, she said.

When we give girls an education, it can help liberate them from that kind of life. Educated girls marry later, have lower rates of infant and maternal mortality, and are more likely to immunize their children and less likely to contract malaria and HIV. Studies also show that girls who are educated earn higher salaries, and sending more girls to school and into the workforce can boost an entire countrys GDP, Obama continued. So education can liberate individuals, families, and even nations.

Head over to Refinery29s feature and make sure to click through to read each individual interview.

CORRECTION: The headline and text in a previous version of this story misattributed a quote from Eva Lewis to Michelle Obama. That quote has been removed.

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Love HuffPost? Become a founding member of HuffPost Plus today.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Despite their romantic history, Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak are still amazing friends, trading oh-so-sweet sentiments on social media for all the world to see.

[MUSIC] Close your eyes. [MUSIC] See with mine. [MUSIC] You were a top student, but look at you now. You can't keep using your father's disappearance as an excuse to act out. Is that his work? What's it about? Their Dad, he wanted to touch the stars. [MUSIC] Imagine that the ant here, wants to get to her other hand. It's quickest option is to walk across the string. But it turns out, a straight line is not the shortest distance between two points, not if you, You use fifth dimension. It's outside of the rules we know as time and space. So? The ant arrives in my hand instantaneously. So you fold space? More like you wrinkle it. [MUSIC] Where are we? We heard a cry out in the universe. My father's alive. We believe he is. And we're here to help you find him. We are in search of warriors. Warriors who serve the good in the light in the universe. You're Kidding. Do I look like I'm kidding? A little. I'm not I'm not. Your father's trapped by an evil energy. It's too strong for our light. And the only one who can stop it is you. Be a warrior. [MUSIC] [MUSIC] [MUSIC] My love is always there, even if you can't see it. [MUSIC] Do you trust me? I trust you, Faye? Faye. [MUSIC] [BLANK_AUDIO]

If only we could all be this friendly with our former flames!

Despite their romantic history, Mindy Kaling and B.J. Novak are still amazing friends, trading oh-so-sweet sentiments on social media for all the world to see.

Kaling's new movie, A Wrinkle in Time, came out this week, and her BFF Novak noticed a pretty serendipitous promotion for the highly-anticipated film. On Twitter, the 38-year-old actor and producer explained that he spotted Kaling's face right outside the building where she first lived in L.A.

"When I met @mindykaling she lived in a small apartment on Fairfax Ave," Novak wrote. "This is whats in front of that building today. Congrats Mindy and a future congrats to all those who see you in it and are inspired to do great things."

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Naturally, Kaling was touched by this incredibly sweet sentiment, replying to his tweet that she was "like full crying."

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If you're not up-to-date on the history between these two, let us fill you in. Way back when, Kaling and Novak played an on-screen couple on The Office, and it would seem their romance spilled over into real life.

Complicated, was the word Novak used to describe his relationship with Kaling to People in 2014. A really complicated person and a really complicated friendship, but I wouldnt trade it for anything in the world.

Kaling had similar sentiments, calling their relationship "weird as hell" and impossible to define.

I will freely admit: My relationship with B.J. Novak is weird as hell. He is not my boyfriend, but he is not my best friend, Kaling told InStyle back in 2015. I guess you could describe our relationship as a romantically charged camaraderie with loud arguments, but I dont think Facebook would accept this as a new status.

That was all several years ago, but romance rumors were sparked once again this year when the pair attended the 2018 Oscars together.

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While sources tell People that the on-screen lovers are just friends, that hasn't stopped fans from shipping the relationship. Check out some of these hilarious replies to Kaling's tweet.

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We can definitely respect these two being formerly-romantic BFFs, but we also wouldn't be mad if they were to get together again. Just sayin'.In a speech to supporters in Pennsylvania on Saturday, Donald Trump once more brought up a policy idea he's picked up from the leaders of the Philippines, China, and Singapore. Echoing a statement he made last week, Trump suggested that the solution to the United States' worsening opioid crisis is allowing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for drug traffickers.

"The only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness," Trump said, according to the Washington Post. "When you catch a drug dealer, youve got to put him away for a long time.

There may be room in federal law to allow for trafficking to be a capital offense, George Washington University School of Law's Peter H. Meyers told the Post. Current law already applies the death penalty to some types of drug-related murder. But aside from the many legal hurdles of executing criminals, not to mention the high cost of trials and appeals, or even the moral dilemma of capital punishment, most experts agree that this policy wouldnt alleviate the country's drug use problems in any way.

Instead, this kind of policy may actually give drug dealers a boost.

"It enables the drug traffickers to charge a higher-risk premium," Sanho Tree, program director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, tells Refinery29. "This is what makes relatively worthless agricultural and chemical commodities that are minimally processed worth more than their weight in gold."

In other words, because they risk long sentences or even death, dealers of illegal drugs are able to charge more than, say, your corner pharmacist. Tree points to the price of marijuana, which had been dropping steadily with legalization until Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced he would let prosecutors go after pot users, even in states where it was allowed.

This kind of harsh penalty would be beneficial for dealers because it helps them weed out the weak competition, Tree explains.

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The types of people we typically capture when we keep escalating the drug war this way are the people who are dumb enough to get caught. We've had a Darwinian evolution of the drug trade at a spectacular velocity because we keep thinning out the herd.

"The types of people we typically capture when we keep escalating the drug war this way are the people who are dumb enough to get caught," Tree says. "We've had a Darwinian evolution of the drug trade at a spectacular velocity because we keep thinning out the herd. They thrive because we've done two things to help them: number one, we've picked off their competition for them, thereby opening up that economic space. Number two, by trying to restrict the supply of drugs on the street, the demand remains constant, thereby driving up their prices and profits."

In the decades since the United States first declared a war on drugs, there have been high penalties for dealers and users. Still, most of the higher level traffickers elude capture, while prisons fill with low-level offenders. Opioid use, meanwhile, continues to rise.

"Most people enter this economy because they think they'll get away with it," Tree says. "By and large, they do."

While helping the drug lords, these stricter penalties may also have the effect of harming the very citizens the laws supposedly to want to help.

"People will become afraid and hide," Daniel Ciccarone, a professor of family and community development at UC San Francisco told the Post.

"They wont trust the police, and they wont trust the doctor either.

In the Philippines, where President Rodrigo Duterte's war on drugs has killed between 5,000 and 20,000 people, theres no proof that usage has actually decreased.

"The number of drug so-called addicts  originally, they said it was 1.8 million, then President Duterte came up with the number of 3 million, then 4 million," Tree says. "Now his foreign secretary has said 7 million users. The more people they've killed, the number of users keeps going up."

Instead of the Philippines, there are other countries the U.S. might turn to for direction. Later this month, for example, representatives of the Drug Policy Alliance are visiting Portugal, which has had enormous success with reducing heroin addiction since decriminalizing all drugs in 2001. By instead increasing the availability of treatment and harm reduction services (sterile needles, methadone, etc.), the country has drastically reduced its number of heroin users (from 100,000 to 25,000) and overdose fatalities (from 80 in 2001 to 16 in 2012).

Can such a small country's experiment be applied to the U.S.?

"It's worth looking at [Portugal]," Tree says. "The numbers are exceedingly good, and they have had more success than the tough drug-war countries in the EU."

With an estimated 63,000 Americans lost to drug overdoses in 2016, it's not surprising that politicians want to find a strong and clear solution for this tragic problem. Unfortunately, the real solutions are complex and may even sound counterintuitive. Who's going to win by saying they will go easy on El Chapo?

But if lawmakers go back to thinking about drug addiction as a health problem, instead of a criminal one, they might finally get somewhere. The organizations dedicated to ending drug addiction emphasize prevention and treatment, making no mention of punitive consequences.

"It doesn't make sense to punish people if you believe they're primarily hurting themselves," Tree says.

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Before Ivanka Trump, There Was Julie NixonCome November, thanks to a recent re-drawing of Pennsylvanias electoral map, the states 18th District is likely to disappear. Yet for the G.O.P., the stakes in Tuesdays special election there couldnt be higher. In a district where a Republican has run relatively uncontested since 2002, and where Donald Trump won by 20 points, Democratic candidate Conor Lamb is locked in a dead heat with Republican Rick Saccone, despite massive cash infusions from national party operativesover $9 million between the N.R.C.C., the Congressional Leadership Fund, the R.N.C., and America First Action. Lambs ascendance, coupled with Saccones failure to launch, has terrified Republicans who see the race as a gauge for whats to come. If the Democrats were to prevail in western Pennsylvania, that would be quite an earthquake, Representative Charlie Dent, a fellow Pennsylvania congressman retiring this year, told The New York Times. If a strong pro-Trump district like this goes the other way, it would send a bad signal around the country in districts far more competitive than this one.

Yet Saccone entered the race with some notable advantages. Along with the 18ths voting history and the outsize amounts of money being spent there on his behalf, Republicans stood ready to deploy their heaviest hitters. Mike Pence and Ivanka Trump have both made appearances, and Donald Trump Jr., and Kellyanne Conway are scheduled to visit the district in the coming days. Trump himself will campaign there for the second time, despite the protestations of his advisers. Unlike candidates like Roy Moore and Ed Gillespie, Saccone had largely steered clear of the kind of vitriolic rhetoric that marked him as too closely aligned with the president. In fact, as New Yorks Ed Kilgore notes, Saccone amounted to a reasonably orthodox and scandal-free candidate with a decent resume, running against a first-time former prosecutor. There were, in other words, relatively few roadblocks in his path to the seat.

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Despite the efforts of the national party, however, Saccone has proven startlingly resistant to outside help. According to Politico, hes a poor fundraiser who frequently bucks the advice of Republican advisers and refuses to put effort into running a strong campaign. Recent internal-polling data shows that just 47 percent of voters in the district view Saccone favorably3 percentage points lower than Trump. Nor have Republicans been shy about voicing their dissatisfaction. In a tough political environment, candidate quality matters more than ever, Ken Spain, a former N.R.C.C. senior aide, told Politico, an echo of the Establishments argument against alleged pedophile Moore. In an anti-GOP yearwhich this is shaping up to bethe Republican candidates will need to run much stronger campaigns or be prepared for the national party to cut them loose.

But a high-profile, Alabama-style loss, particularly in a pro-Trump region, will only contribute to the growing sense that the president is toxic to the Republican party. The fact that Lamb has proven unexpectedly adept at fundraising, out-raising Saccone nearly five to one, only underscores that perception, fueling the so-called blue wave that Republicans fear will decimate their majorities in Congress. If he wins, youre going to see probably another half a dozen Republicans say theyre not running again, former V.P. Joe Biden told The New York Times while visiting the district.

Biden added that Lambs campaign could hasten the partys efforts to return to its roots, getting back working-class people supporting us again. And, indeed, Lamb, who is less progressive than a traditional Democratic candidate, has voiced his support for Trumps steel tariffs, which could play well in the industrial district. The telegenic Ivy League graduate and former Marine is also in favor of Republican-style gun control, and has taken pains to distance himself from Democratic leadership, openly calling for Nancy Pelosi to step down as House Minority Leader. He also, unusually for a Democrat, has refused to bash Trump during his campaign, and has eschewed bringing in big-gun Democrat surrogates (save for Biden, the partys dedicated blue-collar whisperer). I dont really care what the future of the party looks like, he told The Atlantic, a shrewd move for a Democrat running where voters are generally happy with the state of the Trump-led economy).

If Lamb wins the district, it will be a devastating blow to Republicans. But even a near loss, which some experts hold is the more likely scenario, will leave them rattled. The G.O.P. fears that either scenario will reflect poorly on the president, whose failure to adhere to the partys preferred talking pointsglorious tax cuts, a booming economythey believe landed him in this precarious seat in the first place. He is making losing the majority more likely, a longtime Republican operative told CNN. He is creating the reality for his impeachment by the House. Hill Rs are flabbergasted. And when Rs lose the safe PA seat, panic will become epidemic.It finally happened.

Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon met Sally Fields son at a gala in Los Angeles Saturday night, weeks after the Academy-award winning actress publicly tried to set them up through Twitter.

Thanks, mom, Fields son, Sam Greisman, 30, captioned a photo of him with his arm around the 28-year-old Olympic medalist on social media.

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Field helped publicly reveal Rippon as her sons Olympic crush on Twitter. It followed Greisman posting a photo of a text message exchange that showed his mom telling him hes insanely pretty. Find a way.

Though theres no immediate word on how Field may be reacting to their meet, there was an uproar of excitement on Greismans Twitter page.

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Rippon has become a newfound national treasure since competing at the Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where as part of the U.S. figure skating team he earned a bronze medal.

During Rippons night out on Saturday, he was honored at the 2018 Human Rights Campaign Gala Dinner with the Visibility Award. The recognition follows Rippon being the first openly gay US. male figure skater to compete in the Olympic games.

Rippon accepted the Visibility Award at the Human Rights Campaign 2018 Los Angeles Dinner on Saturday. (Photo: Frederick M. Brown via Getty Images)

One word best describes Adam Rippon  fierce, HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. By being out and proud, Adam is bringing LGBTQ visibility to a whole new level while capturing the hearts of millions around the world with his incredible talent and personality. He isnt afraid to use his global platform to speak out for equality, and we are proud to honor him.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Johannesburg (AFP) - South Africa has launched proceedings to strip the permanent residency status of one of the lynchpins of a controversial Indian business family accused of corruption, an official said on Sunday.

Ajay Gupta, a fugitive sought by police over alleged graft, now faces the prospect of losing access to banking facilities as well as his South African identity papers if his residency is rescinded.

Ajay is one of three Indian-born Gupta brothers who are among South Africa's richest people who are now being investigated by police over corruption allegations. The country's graft watchdog has also accused them of having improper links to former president Jacob Zuma.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba has discussed the "the possibility of revoking Ajay's residency" with President Cyril Ramaphosa, his spokesman told AFP.

"Since then, he has instructed the director-general of home affairs to investigate the legal environment for that to happen," Mayihlome Tshwete told AFP.

Gigaba has had a torrid week after insisting that Ajay's brother Atul was not a South African citizen, only to be contradicted by the election commission which confirmed he was a citizen who was listed on the electoral register.

Gigaba then skipped a sitting of parliament on Wednesday at which he had been due to answer MPs' questions, citing illness.

South Africa has launched several investigations into the Guptas and Indian tax officials this week raided several properties belonging to the brothers in their former hometown as part of a money-laundering probe.

Last month, South African authorities raided Gupta properties in Johannesburg as part of the ongoing investigation into the alleged graft.

Ajay was declared a "fugitive from justice" by police after failing to respond to a summons.

Thirteen other people are facing charges linked to allegations that the Guptas embezzled millions of dollars of public money meant for poor South African dairy farmers.

They are also accused of receiving highly-favourable government contracts during Zuma's presidency.

Led by Atul, the family arrived in South Africa in 1993 as white-minority apartheid rule crumbled, a year before Nelson Mandela won the country's first democratic elections.Education Secretary Betsy DeVos during a rally to promote the importance of school choice on Jan. 18 as part of National School Choice Week. (Photo: Tom Williams via Getty Images)

Its March, which means its choice season for a lot families living in urban areas. Like many households, mine is on pins and needles waiting to learn where our teenage daughter has been accepted to high school.

She has taken three different standardized tests to be considered for admission at various public, Catholic and independent schools. She tried to convince us to hire a tutor, as some of her peers parents have, to give her advantage on these tests. We refused, because it seemed a bit much for eighth grade. Her father and I have spent hours crafting essays and filling out applications. We played in the local lottery to attend schools across town. We have taken off work to take her to visit school after school, where she has arrived, nervous in starched shirts, legs carefully crossed, to implore administrators to accept her. She is 14.

We have done all of this so we can avoid our struggling neighborhood school.

This system of school choice has powerful backers. The most influential is Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, the billionaire heiress whose proposed budget would pump hundreds of millions of dollars into the various privatizations schemes such as vouchers and charters that power this system of choice.

Washington, D.C., where I live, recently lost yet another city schools chancellor when it was revealed he had jumped the line to choose a school for his own daughter. Antwan Wilson resigned for violating a policy that he had authored, a policy that was supposed to stop well-connected parents and officials from gaming the system to win their kids spots at top schools. Wilson apologized, explaining that he got tunnel vision in trying to make the best choice he could for his own child.

Hes wrong about this. The tunnel is the feature, not the bug, of school choice. It is the same dark tunnel into which DeVos herself gazed, when she dodged Michigan state taxes for public schools that her own children might have attended if not for her fortune. Radical self-interest and self-preservation is the rotten, racist core of the whole ideology of school choice. There is no we in this: The entire point is to give individual kids an advantage. In putting his daughter above everyone else, Wilson used the school choice system precisely as its designed to operate.

Story continues

This vision must change, both from the top down and from the bottom up. Families and taxpayers have swallowed the line that a privatized school marketplace will deliver on its promise of upward mobility for all. It is a cynical game that has done nothing to build up communities like mine, despite all promises to the contrary.

Antwan Wilson visits a fifth-grade math class at the Brightwood Education Campus in Washington, D.C. on Feb. 1, 2017. (Photo: The Washington Post via Getty Images)

There was a time when education was not a public matter at all. In the early 19th century, wealthy families  the DeVoses of the day  hired their own tutors. Churches set up some private schools. Philanthropists like Sears executive Julian Rosenwald sponsored schools for some black children. The rest of Americas poor children, of all races, mostly worked to support their families and did not go to school. This changed after the Civil War, when reformers convinced the federal government to take over schools previously funded through private philanthropy, thus laying the groundwork for a universal right to education for all American children.

Thanks to Reconstruction-era compromises, these schools were racially separate and unequal from the beginning. It was in the 1950s, when civil rights reformers used the legal system to attack the system of apartheid, that the notion of choice first came to public attention. White parents demanded the right to choose not to send their kids to school with black children. They set up private academies, and in some cases shut down entire public school districts. Here in Washington, D.C., white families fled en masse, pretty much overnight, from the citys public school system, in pursuit of the best choices for their children.

Even in a gentrifying Washington, white flight from universal public education has been the most enduring quality of urban life.

I have seen this game in action as a journalist and a parent ever since Congress started a choice scheme in D.C. two decades ago. We have watched as political regime after regime has picked off neighborhood schools like bloody carcasses rather than improve them. Meanwhile, the Wilsons of the world, the wealthy and connected who pass through town, have gamed the system to make sure they have taken advantage of the best public options we have.

D.C. public and charter schools are among the lowest performing in the country. The high-performing few are in wealthy, white neighborhoods; theyre filled to capacity with neighborhood kids or they are charters with impossibly long waitlists. We have a better chance of winning the actual Lotto jackpot than being able to send my daughter to one of the public high schools she applied to, including the one for which Wilson jumped the line.

I think our experience in D.C. is fairly typical. Each year brings a wave of new school openings and closings. Our kids change schools a lot, hunting the next big thing. When we lost our elementary schools to closures, we enrolled our kids across town. When it was clear we were not welcome there, we went to Catholic schools. Then we tried to save some money and send them to a new charter school. When that didnt work out, we sent them private schools.

Even as it felt like our kids were thriving despite this broken system, it will be almost impossible for them to go to college without our family taking on an enormous loan burden. College costs have quadrupled in my sons lifetime. Even if a family can afford to flee the public system and send their kid to a private school, the prize of getting in to a great college is tarnished by the crippling debt that will enslave them for the rest of their lives. When you calculate the longer sweep of their lives, we and most middle-class people living in the city cant afford it.

A policymakers job is to improve the system for everyone. Instead, weve gotten the choice and accountability movement, which requires each school to release what amounts to an X-ray of inequality: test scores, racial and economic demographics and more.

In theory, requiring schools to release this data forces them to be transparent about their progress and helps policymakers decide which schools should get more funding and which should get the ax. In effect, it rewards schools attended by well-off families and punishes schools that arent. Parents with means can easily identify, and thus avoid, schools with more black and brown students and fewer resources.

So as wealthy families move in to my Ward 5 neighborhood, as Wilson did, it never occurs to them to consider our neighborhood high school, as Wilson later acknowledged. This is the message the system, and the man who ran it, conveys to parents: Run. There is an overwhelming pressure to abandon our own neighborhood institutions  the ones that, like family, will embrace our children and accept them as they are. It is a terrible way to treat them.

A decade ago, when I went to check out my then-toddlers assigned elementary school, the vice principal told me, These kids have real problems, and advised me to try to get my kids into schools in the white part of town. That neighborhood school was closed a couple of years later.

Now, my husband is kicking himself for not paying for that tutor. I am kicking myself about all of the wasteful investments our government made, with our tax dollars, in the name of choice. Instead of harnessing our energy into building up community institutions for the next generation of kids, were all splintered off and chasing opportunities everywhere except in our backyards.

The billions of federal dollars that continue to be pumped into school choice schemes pick off these institutions one by one, until like in New Orleans, there are no neighborhood schools left. DeVos funding injection would create a flurry of activity  school grand openings and grand closings  that would mask the privileges that continue to collect in small pockets (mostly the rich and white ones). Families fight to get into those small pockets.

The rest of us wait.

Parents and policymakers need to overcome the collective amnesia that has taken root in our society about the long, sordid story of school choice. So many of the choices that we make, personally and collectively, are about running away from this history. At some point, instead of fleeing and hunting for the next shiny scheme, we have to stay and conquer the inequities and disadvantages that have continued to accumulate in this country.

If we think we can all outrun it, I have some bad news.

Natalie Hopkinson is an assistant professor at Howard University and author most recently of A Mouth is Always Muzzled: Six Dissidents, Five Continents, and the Art of Resistance.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Saturday Night Live couldnt wait to do a This Is Us parody with guest host Sterling K. Brown, who plays grown triplet brother Randall Pearson on the hit NBC series.

SNLs version is a sad, twisted mix of three folks in a series called This Is U.S. Its the real-life drama happening in our government every day, says the spoof ad for the program. Its like the other series without the good parts.

Brown plays Ben Carson, wailing, All of it is wrong. Then theres a mortified Sarah Huckabee Sanders (played by Aidy Bryant), who denies a story about porn-star sex as she stares at Post-it notes on her lectern reading: Stop lying, and: Seriously, what are you doing?

The third figure is played by Pete Davidson, drinking from a bottle of booze, on the phone, saying: United Arab Emirates? Hey, this is Jared Kushner. Is there any way I could borrow like $800 million dollars?

A promo says: Youll be laughing through tears, except without the laughing ... so just regular crying.

Its real. Its painful.

Check it out up top.

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Everybody who has dealt with any minor amount of stress has had the fantasy of packing up and running away from all of their problems, disappearing from the modern world almost entirely.

Erik Hagerman, dubbed "The man who knew too little" by The New York Times, did just that. On Saturday, Hagerman was the focus of a newly published profile describing how, after the election of Donald Trump, he left his busy life behind and started up his own pig farm.

SEE ALSO: I went to a self-esteem workshop for young girls, and this is what I learned

But Hagerman went much further than that  and much more selfish. He created what he calls "The Blockade," a nearly total media blackout that has allowed him to stay 100 percent ignorant of the day's news outside of the weather, local real estate listings, and how the Cleveland Cavaliers are doing.

He doesn't know about the turmoil of Trump's White House. He doesn't know about the white supremacists and neo-Nazis that marched in Charlottesville. He doesn't know about the school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. He doesn't know who won out at the Oscars.

Ignorance, in Hagerman's case, is bliss. But that bliss comes at the cost of not being a member of the democratic republic of the United States. And that bliss wouldn't be possible without a lot of privilege and a lot of demands from family, friends, and strangers.

The privilege of ignorance

Not everyone gets to be ignorant. People whose families are being torn apart by the deportation tactics of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents don't get to be ignorant. People who are affected by gun violence don't get to be ignorant. People who require health care to live past the end of the month don't get to be ignorant.

But Hagerman gets to be ignorant. As a white male who had the opportunity to make (and save) a lot of money, he isn't directly affected by many of the things that happen inside his country and to his fellow citizens.

Story continues

SEE ALSO: Stoneman Douglas alumni rise up in incredible ways to support shooting survivors

His own sister Bonnie calls out that privilege, saying: "We all would like to construct our dream worlds. Erik is just more able to do it than others."

Hagerman's Blockade means he doesn't have to worry about the problems of his fellow citizens, his neighbors, or even some of his family members. He doesn't even have to worry about his own money because he can afford to have a financial adviser managing all of his investments.

It's OK to tune out every once in a while and unplug, maybe take a break from Twitter for a week, but opting out of the larger world completely is a kind of self-care that does more harm than good.

If everyone did what Hagerman did, there would be no United States. There would be no democracy. There would be no forward progress or people helping others in times of need. There would be nothing but complacency in the suffering and exploitation of others.

That kind of privilege isn't easy to come by, but Hagerman was born lucky enough to have it, and he's exploiting it to its fullest extent.

High demands

In order to keep up The Blockade, Hagerman asks a lot of the people around him. Not only does he not look at newspapers and listen to white noise when he hangs out at a local cafe, he has to ask his mom to not talk about current events when they chat on the phone.

In order to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers, he puts the TV on mute just in case the commentators say anything that could give him a clue into what's going on in the world. He asked the people who work at his local cafe not to talk about the news with him, and they comply.

SEE ALSO: What am I gonna go home to? Water?: The climate refugees settling in Americas heartland

When he visited his brother on the West Coast, he left when his brother had people over, lest he hear about something that affects anyone except himself.

It takes a lot for Hagerman to ignore the plights of other people, not just from himself and the guilt that comes with it, but from everyone else around him. And as carefree as he says he is, that guilt still exists, Hagerman admitted.

The first several months of this thing, I didnt feel all that great about it, he told the Times. It makes me a crappy citizen. Its the ostrich head-in-the-sand approach to political outcomes you disagree with.

At least he has a little project to help him feel a little better about himself and give back to world a little bit.

Give and take

For all that Hagerman asks of those around him, he gives one thing back: a lake.

His big project, his way of making up for not caring about anyone else in the world except himself, is a piece of land that used to be a coal mine, which he is slowly but surely developing into a vague sort of public space that he plans to donate to the community.

The Lake, as Hagerman calls it, sounds like it's going to be some kind of a park that also has some artwork and structures on it, which sounds like a nice place for future people to hang out at. But does it make up for all his coming years of selfishness and lack of participation in our society?

No, probably not.Curt Mills

Security, Middle East

Rep. Lee was the only member of Congress in 2001 to vote against war in Afghanistan.

Antiwar Barbara Lee Poised To Run for Democratic Leadership

In the wake of Rep. Joe Crowleys shock loss to 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a star has been born and so have countless media narratives.

Crowley, a twenty-year Congressional veteran and the current head of the House Democratic Conference, is an amiable, press-friendly career Democrat; his office was a go-to point for reporters seeking contact with the House Democrats-- this reporter, included. His ouster from his Queens and Bronx Congressional district will further deplete the top ranks of the Democratic House minority just as the party is trying to recapture the lower chamber. Xavier Becerra and Chris Van Hollen were notable departures in the 2016 election: two men who could have been speaker.

The consensus among tastemakers is that Ocasio-Cortezs ascension further normalizes democratic socialists and the Sanders wing in American politics. Perhaps so. But a less-noticed, overlapping trend is the mainstreaming of a harder line, anti-interventionist American left.

Crowleys leadership position will, of course, be vacated. And potentially seeking to replace him is Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., the only member of Congress to vote against the 2001 Afghan war.

Lee came close to joining House Leadership in the past, so I dont think you could rule out her winning, Kyle Kondik of the University of Virginia Center for Politics told me by email Friday morning.

A vote against the Afghan war would have been political kryptonite for higher office fifteen -- or even five -- years ago. But the war in Afghanistan -- and incursions into the Middle East, generally -- are flagging in public support. According to research released by the Committee for Responsible Foreign Policy in January, 57 percent of U.S. voters feels military aid in the region, including to Afghanistan is either somewhat or very counterproductive.

Story continues

And since January, research conducted by the Costs of War Project at the Brown University Watson Institute has found that the cost of the broader war on terror has cost American taxpayers $5.6 trillion. Further, a comprehensive, updated study on Afghanistan -- Afghanistan: Conflict Metrics, 20002018 -- released by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) concluded, bitingly: There is little prospect that a combination of Afghan government, U.S., and allied forces can defeat the Taliban and other insurgent and terrorist forces, or that the Afghan government, U.S., and allied forces will be defeated by them.

The conflict, the report added. Has become a war of attrition which can drag on indefinitely, and can only be ended through some form of peace negotiation or the sudden, unexpected collapse of either Afghan government or threat forces. a war of exhaustion.

It is against this backdrop that Lee will seek to rise, should she seek leadership.

But though the political climate may have shifted nationally, the policy consensus in Washington on Afghanistan has, in the Trump presidency, not meaningfully moved-- so far, at least.

President Trump was talked into more troops in the troubled country last fall -- buttressed by generals, a former senior military officer told me last Friday afternoon. Chief of Staff John Kelly, Secretary of Defense James Mattis and then-National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster were instrumental in the persuasion effort.

Retired Gen. John Allen told a Center for the National Interest event last fall that the U.S. will almost certainly be in Afghanistan for another sixteen years.

But headwinds from the left -- as well as the populist right -- continue to threaten the status quo.

A prominent conservative activist told me he considers Lee a MAGA Dem, that is, a Democrat he can work with on select populist agenda items. As I reported on earlier this year, Breitbart News quietly helped in the fight to extricate the U.S. from involvement in the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen; the effort failed, for now, in part because of a late push from Mattis on the Hill.

Kondik cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from Lees potential candidacy and victory.

As for the Afghanistan vote... Lee is a very liberal member of the caucus but even in leadership, she probably is going to be fairly anonymous to most Americans.  Only the most dedicated of political watchers really know all the members of leadership, he said.

But the trend lines are clear.

Kondik added: there does seem to be the potential for a real changing of the guard in Democratic leadership.

Curt Mills is a foreign-affairs reporter at the National Interest . Follow him on Twitter:@CurtMills.

Image: Creative Commons.

Read full articleLONDON (Reuters) - Britain agreed on Friday to finalise talks with Saudi Arabia on a multi-billion pound order for 48 Typhoon aircraft, the fighter plane's maker BAE Systems (BAES.L) said.

BAE, Europe's biggest defence contractor, has long awaited a major Saudi order for Typhoons, and slowed production in 2016 to ensure it would remain competitive.

The memorandum of intent was signed after Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with British defence minister Gavin Williamson.

BAE Chief Executive Charles Woodburn said it was a positive step towards agreeing a contract with a valued partner.

"We are committed to supporting the Kingdom as it modernises the Saudi Armed Forces and develops key industrial capabilities critical to the delivery of Vision 2030," he said, referring to Saudi Arabia's economic and social reform programme.

The Eurofighter Typhoon is the most important combat aircraft in BAE Systems' portfolio, accounting for nearly a third of the unit's sales in 2016.

It is a joint project between BAE, France's Airbus and Italy's Leonardo, and supports an estimated 40,000 jobs in Britain.

Qatar agreed to buy 24 Typhoons in December in a contract valued at around 5 billion pounds, with delivery expected in late 2022.

The order came two months after BAE announced around 2,000 job cuts because it needed to slow Typhoon production to meet reduced demand in the short term.

Shares in BAE were trading up 2.4 percent at 603 pence after the signing of the memorandum was announced.

(Reporting by Paul Sandle, Editing by Andrew MacAskill and Alexander Smith)By Rich McKay (Reuters) - A California man was arrested Saturday after a 15-hour standoff with a police SWAT team and charged with killing one police officer and wounding another, authorities said. Pomona, Ca., Police Officer Gregg Casillas was shot and killed, and a second officer was shot in the face, authorities said on the Pomona police Twitter and Facebook pages. "Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the loss of our brother, Officer Gregg Casillas," the department's Twitter page said. Casillas and a second officer pursued the suspect in a vehicle after he allegedly crashed his car into an apartment complex in Pomona Friday night, The Los Angeles Times and other media reported. The man, identified by police as Isaias De Jesus Valencia, 39, fled on foot and the two officers chased him, the paper reported. Valencia barricaded himself in an apartment and when the officers arrived, he shot through the door, killing Casillas and wounding the second officer, who has not been identified. Valencia was arrested Saturday after police used tear gas and deployed trained dogs to force him to surrender, local media reported. No information about charges were available early Sunday. The second police officer underwent surgery and was expected to recover, media reported. No police spokesperson was immediately available for comment. (Reporting by Rich McKay; Editing by Mark Potter)Barcelona (AFP) - Tens of thousands of people marched in Barcelona on Sunday to demand the formation of a new government in Spain's Catalonia region leading to its independence from Madrid despite formidable legal obstacles.

Some 45,000 people joined the "Republic Now" march called by the influential pro-independence citizens' group ANC, city police said.

"There are more than two million of us citizens of Catalonia who want to go forward now, clearly, towards the Catalan republic," ANC vice president Agusti Alcoberro told reporters.

Separatist parties won an absolute majority of seats in the 135-seat Catalan parliament in a snap election on December 21 but have so far failed to form a new government.

Catalonia's two main separatist parties last week proposed a new referendum on a constitution of the "Catalan republic".

The agreement between Together for Catalonia led by deposed and self-exiled regional president Charles Puigdemont and the leftist ERC still needs to be ratified by the small far-left separatist CUP party.

The region of 7.5 million people has been under direct rule from Madrid since Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dissolved the Catalan parliament last October following an independence referendum not recognised by Madrid.

Debate on the appointment of a new regional president had been set for Monday but was postponed indefinitely because the sole candidate, former ANC president Jordi Sanchez, is in jail on sedition charges along with three other separatist leaders.

Puigdemont, who went into self-exile in Belgium, has ruled out his candidacy because of the legal obstacles.

"The fact that today, in the 21st century, there are people in prison for their ideas is a disgrace," Maria Soria, a 56-year-old paediatrician, said at Sunday's march. "It's anti-democratic."Action on homelessness is taking place outside Washington, as New York guarantees legal counsel to evicted tenants

A senior official said she was demoted after rejecting a pricey redecorating plan for Ben Carsons office. Photograph: Joshua Roberts/Reuters

Since taking over as housing secretary, the former neurosurgeon Ben Carson has defended drastic cuts to the budget of his own department and proclaimed to the New York Times that public housing shouldnt be too comfortable lest its inhabitants get used to government largesse.

Yet as the Guardian revealed last week, a senior department official alleged that she was demoted after balking at an expensive redecoration of Carsons office, including $165,000 for lounge furniture at the agency HQ.

To see action on homelessness, you have to look outside Washington. In New York, for instance, it used to be the case that 99% of defendants in housing court did not have a lawyer, compared with 5% of landlords. We wrote about a new plan under which people are guaranteed legal counsel. A study of this kind of initiative in Massachusetts found that two-thirds of defendants were able to stay in their homes, compared with one-third of those lacking lawyers. The difference, one New York attorney told us, was night and day.

What we published

A dismayed UN investigator embarked on a tour of California



Disneyland employees are mostly not scraping by



New York adopts a bold new law that guarantees a lawyer to people being evicted



A declaration of war: California liberals are furious about a new housing push



Twelve are charged for defying a ban on feeding homeless people



BOOKMARKED

A magisterial story of a Chicago housing project [The New York Times]

The paper of record in LA is furious about the homelessness crisis [Los Angeles Times]

A truck = a home, says a judge [The Seattle Times]

Another judge rules that Orange county has to offer the subjects of homeless camp sweeps a place to stay [The Orange County Register]

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

People in a homeless encampment in Portland were cleared after the mayor called it unacceptable. Photograph: Beth Nakamura/AP

Thacher Schmid in Portland writes:

The life of a homeless encampment can be brief.



Consider Village of Hope, a fledgling homeless village that popped up in a remote, woodsy area of Portland in late January. It featured 10 tents on wooden platforms, a shared kitchen and Chill Out Zone for mental health decompression. There were even plans for a human-powered laundry trough. I dont look at it as primitive, said an organizer, Lisa Lake. We need to be innovative so people who have nothing can be self-sufficient.

Story continues

But the day after the camp appeared, Portland mayor Ted Wheeler called the self-governed encampment, on parks-owned wetlands near the Columbia river, unacceptable. On 2 February, police and rangers cleared the site without incident.

Officials evidently have few reservations about displacing people even in winter or amid a homelessness crisis of unprecedented scale across the west coast. Indeed, three days later, a San Jose camp dubbed Googleville was also swept.



One Village of Hope resident, Kerry Wheeler, asked: Why cant they let us have one little place?

Do you have an experience of homelessness to share with the Guardian? Get in touchBogota (AFP) - Right-wing parties opposed to a peace deal with the FARC won historic elections in Colombia Sunday but fell short of a majority in polls that saw the former rebels enter the Congress.

The hardliners' victory raises questions about the future of the peace agreement signed with President Juan Manuel Santos in November 2016.

Santos said the polls were "the safest, most transparent elections" in the country's recent history, with the FARC spurning jungle warfare for politics, and the ELN -- the country's last active rebel group -- observing a ceasefire.

"This is the first time in more than half a century that the FARC, instead of sabotaging the election, are taking part in it," he said, adding that the ELN had "respected" their ceasefire.

The Centro Democratico party of ex-president and senator Alvaro Uribe, a fierce opponent of the peace agreement, polled the most votes, winning 19 seats in the Senate and 33 in the lower house.

But centrist and leftist parties also polled strongly to deprive the right of a majority.

"There are no big changes, there are adjustments," Frederic Masse, an expert in armed conflict and the peace process at Externado University, told AFP.

The peace accord with the now-renamed Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guarantees their new political party 10 of the 280 seats in the new Congress, five in the Senate and five in the Chamber of Deputies.

"It's the first time in my life that I've voted and I do it for peace," said Pablo Catatumbo, a former FARC commander who was assured a senate seat.

The party uses the same Spanish acronym, which now stands for the Common Alternative Revolutionary Force, and replaced its crossed-rifles insignia with a red rose when it became a political party under the deal.

Opinion polls had given the FARC little chance of adding to its 10 free seats, following a disastrous campaign during which its rebels-turned-politicians were largely drowned out by a tide of public revulsion over crimes committed during the conflict.

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In the end it polled 0.35 percent in the Senate vote, and only 0.22 percent of the vote for the lower house. Analysts said the party would now focus on building grassroots support for upcoming local elections.

-- Presidential primaries --

Voters also chose the candidates from the right-wing and leftist coalitions who will contest the presidential election in May, in primaries held in parallel to the legislative vote.

Ivan Duque, of Uribe's party, won the right-wing primary with more than 2.7 million votes, or 67 percent of the poll, and will spearhead hardline opposition to the peace deal.

Gustavo Petro, a former Bogota mayor who is seeking to become conservative Colombia's first leftist president, will oppose him after winning nearly two million votes, 85 percent of the poll, in his primary.

Opinion polls had predicted a triumph for hardline conservatives like Uribe who want to scrap the agreement, pushing on to win the presidential election in a few months.

Under the peace accord, FARC disarmed its 7,000 fighters in order to join the political process, agreed to confess to wartime crimes and pay reparations to victims.

This infuriates many Colombians, in particular the right wing, which is vowing to win the presidential election and amend the peace deal.

-- Unforgiving voters --

Maria Maldonado, a 65-year-old pensioner who voted in Bogota, was in no mood to forgive and forget.

"I have a lot of memories. Of all the compatriots who were murdered and buried, and nothing happened. And now we're going to allow these people to manage us knowing that they have left us so many tragedies?" she said.

But much of the peace agreement has already been implemented, including the rebels disarming and demobilizing.

Analysts say a hard-right government could block the implementation of the rest of the pact, including agrarian reform and the special justice deal under which repentant rebels can avoid jail by paying reparations.

"The mere fact of not applying what has been signed would be enough for this agreement to be ineffective," said Frederic Masse, an expert on the conflict at Colombia's Externado University.

Santos, who signed the peace agreement with the FARC in November 2016, is stepping down as president in August after two terms.

The first round of the presidential election is set for May 27, with the runoff planned for June 17.

Sunday's elections were held against the backdrop of economic concern in Colombia, which registered 1.8 percent growth in 2017, its weakest for nearly a decade.

Candidates were angered when officials ran out of ballot papers for the primaries, citing budgetary problems, and the public prosecutor's office said it would open an investigation.

"Due to budget problems, not all cards were printed," elections registrar Juan Carlos Galindo told reporters.

Only 15 million cards were printed for an electorate of 36 million, he said.

Galindo said he had approved of photocopies being used for polling stations where the cards had run out.

Finance Minister Mauricio Cardenas, whose office manages the election budget, said the number of printed ballots were made based voters' records in Colombia, where abstentionism typically runs to around 60 percent.Over the past two decades, reports have demonstrated a steady decrease of about 2.7 percent per year in new occurrence of colon and rectal cancers, despite an increase in the rate of obesity and meat consumption that have been linked to a greater risk of developing colorectal cancer.

Smoking is another factor that increases the risk of precancerous polyps and colorectal cancer. While the percentage of smokers decreased from 21 percent in 2005 to 17 percent in 2014, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, it's thought that much of the risk reduction in colorectal cancer is due to improved screening and surveillance of patients who are at risk.

[See: 8 Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Colon Cancer.]

Who is at risk of developing colorectal cancer?

Typically, at-risk patients are defined as individuals who are 50 years of age or older, although African-Americans are considered higher risk and can be screened earlier. Individuals with first-degree relatives diagnosed with colorectal cancer before the age of 60, or those with multiple second-degree relatives who had polyps or colon cancer, are traditionally also considered to be higher risk.

In 2017, a study published in JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, which used National Cancer Institute SEER registry data over 35 years, noticed a trend of increasing colorectal cancer rates in young adults ages 20 to 50. Additionally, the researchers predicted that by 2030, new cases will increase by 90 percent for colon cancer and 124 percent for rectal cancer in adults ages 20 to 34, with a smaller increase in those ages 35 to 49, of 28 percent and 46 percent, respectively.

What is the significance of the study's findings?

The trend is certainly worth keeping an eye on, but the incidence of colorectal cancer cases in young adults ages 20 to 50 is still small. With the size of the data that was evaluated, the study was sensitive enough to be able to detect small changes. In other words, this trend is small but may be real. Having said that, some cancer experts do predict that in the next two decades, up to 1 in 4 new cases of colorectal cancer may occur in younger age groups. It is not clear why this is happening.

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While there is some speculation that obesity may be playing a role, there is no hard data to demonstrate correlation. Additionally, inflammatory bowel disease is increasing all around the world. When inflammatory bowel disease involves the colon, it can increase one's risk for colorectal cancer. This might also be part of the reason why colorectal cancers in young adults might be increasing.

[See: 10 Seemingly Innocent Symptoms You Shouldn't Ignore.]

What can young adults do?

The official medical professional societies haven't changed their colorectal cancer screening and surveillance guidelines based on the findings of this study. More studies are needed before those recommendations change.

For the individual, knowledge is key. When possible, it's important to understand your family history of colorectal cancer and other cancers. In addition, it's recommended to minimize factors that can increase the risk of developing colorectal cancer, such as excessive weight, high consumption of red meats and processed foods and smoking.

Studies have shown that taking a baby aspirin a day can reduce the risk of forming polyps when taken regularly for a long period of time. However, there is no data to suggest this will reduce cancer risk in young adults.

If you have an inflammatory bowel disease that involves your colon, work with your gastroenterologist to control the disease as quickly as possible and get colon cancer surveillance.

[See: Creative Ways Hospitals Reach Diverse Populations.]

Lastly, if you develop new symptoms such as a change in bowel movement or the feeling of a blockage, or rectal bleeding, it's important to let your doctor know. More evaluations may be warranted at that point.

In conclusion, it's important to be aware of the latest research findings and to understand their significance. Studies have reported a small increase in the incidence of colorectal cancer in people under age 50. If you're a young adult, focus on understanding your risks, minimizing them and alerting a health care provider if you develop symptoms.

Dr. Maged Rizk joined the Cleveland Clinic in 2008, with a particular interest in quality outcomes both on the medical and surgical arena. He served as Quality Improvement Officer for the Digestive Disease and Surgery Institute from 2010 to 2017. After earning his MBA from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, Dr. Rizk became more involved in business development and strategy. He is the Vice Chair of Gastroenterology & Hepatology. His research focuses on quality metrics and quality in endoscopic procedures. Follow him on Twitter @MagedRizkMD.With wireless power youll never need to change the batteries in your remote again.

Wireless charging like whats in the iPhone 8 and iPhone X suffers from an embarrassing problem: Its not truly wireless. There may be no plug involved, but the phone still must touch a charging surface thats plugged into a wall.

(Ive spent years calling this cordless charging, but the industry has yet to adopt my vocabulary.)

A handful of firms, though, are working to prove that true wireless charging is not just safe but can work. But as I saw from meeting with two such companies at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last week, they face significant obstacles. Which means they probably wont charge your phone through the air anytime soon.

Energous: underwear first

San Jose, Californias Energous (WATT) may be the first wireless-charging firm to have its technology in a consumer gadget. A smart underwear (no, really) firm called Skiin will include its wireless charging in its activity-tracking undergarments.

Energous vice president of marketing Gordon Bell explained that companys WattUp receiver is much smaller than the coil-shaped receivers required by the Qi charging in Apples (AAPL) iPhone and other models, and doesnt need an exposed metal surface. You can throw it in the wash if you want, he said.

But the charger included with Skiins products will only employ Energouss near-field charging, which in that implemtation will require direct contact. An upcoming hearing aid will also only include a near-field charger, although both sets of devices will work with future distance-charging gear.

Other partner firms will announce products this summer, Bell said. And while he didnt name any, he said one is big in smartphones.

The companys longer-range system  approved by the Federal Communications Commission in December, a move FCC chair Ajit Pai heralded in a tweet  can reach up to 15 feet by focusing its radio-frequency transmissions on compatible devices that it detects.

The way that our distance chargers work, they seek out and see all the Bluetooth devices that are within Bluetooth range, Bell said. That requirement, however, means that WattUp distance charging wont work with a dead device. Instead, youd need to use a near-field charger.

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The rest of Energouss vision involves thinking small, in part because of the inefficiency of its longer-range transmission  around 1%, Bell said, which is way below the 65% or so that Qi can manage, which in turn falls below the 85% and higher efficiency requirements now applied to wired power adapters.

Update: After this story was posted, Energous said 1% is a worst-case figure, and that the company is seeing better rates in its latest hardware.

For example, he suggested that hotels would splurge for WattUp TV remote controls that would stay perpetually charged.

Ossias tile tactic

The other wireless-charging vendor to exhibit at MWC, Bellevue, Washington-based Ossia, showed off a more comprehensive solution: a tile you can include in a ceiling that embeds its Cota system.

The transmitter in it, CTO Hatem Zeine explained at the show, listens to radio-frequency signals from Cota-compatible devices and then targets a beam to them. It can power a phone from up to six feet away, even if you move the phone.

The Cota wireless power system

Like Bell, Zeine insisted that his system wont heat or harm people. Weve solved the safety issue, he said.

Ossias first customer, however, wont use that tile. An Indian auto-components manufacturer named Motherson Sumi will build Cota into dashboard components to power other sensors in a car as well as drivers gadgets  sometime in 2021.

In homes, Ossia hopes to see manufacturers include Cota in other devices, such as wireless routers, that would then distribute power to various smart-home gadgets.

Chief revenue officer Doug Stovall said Cota can transfer power at between 30% and 40% efficiency, adding that We believe that will only get better over time.

First, though, the company needs to secure its own FCC approval, which Stovall said he expects to see happen this year. It will also need more third-party support, which may be hindered by Ossias practice of charging companies to evaluate its technology.

What are the odds?

Something matching the obvious concept of wireless charging  one gizmo at home that beams power to a variety of devices  may come from a third company: Pittsburgh-based Powercast.

The firm has been around for longer than both Energous and Ossia  I first saw it demonstrate wireless charging at CES 2007  and secured its own FCC approval in December. It says its targeted radio-frequency system can trickle-charge smart home sensors from up to 80 feet away but cant power a phone, a more energy-intensive use, more than two feet distant.

It aims to ship its first consumer product, a $100 rectangular transmitter called the PowerSpot, in the third quarter of this year. Compatible gadgets will come later, starting with what a Powercast FAQ calls two household names that will deliver hardware either later this year or in early 2019.

In this fragmented market wireless-charging vendors should pick their use cases wisely.

Gartner analyst George Brocklehurst pointed to smart-home gadgets like Alphabets (GOOG, GOOGL) Nest cameras that already have customers willing to pay a premium. His advice to wireless-charging vendors: Select the devices that are less sensitive to cost.

Cheaper, simpler smart-home devices may instead wind up needing so little power that they can instead adopt energy harvesting  for instance, a tiny solar cell in a sensor attached to a window to detect break-in attempts, or a radiator sensor that converts ambient heat to electricity.

Meanwhile, phone battery life continues to get a little better and wired charging keeps getting faster. The biggest competition to wireless charging is customer inertia  or as Ossias Stovall put it, people doing nothing and sticking with old charging habits.

Email Rob at rob@robpegoraro.com; follow him on Twitter at @robpegoraro.Valparaiso (Chile) (AFP) - Conservative billionaire Sebastian Pinera was sworn in Sunday to his second term as president of Chile, replacing socialist Michelle Bachelet in the office for the second time in eight years.

An emotional Bachelet helped Pinera put on the sash of office, gave him a kiss and then left Congress with members of her government.

Pinera, who was president from 2010-2014, has promised to stimulate growth and create jobs.

He made a strong call for national unity in his first speech, delivered from a balcony of the La Moneda presidential palace late Sunday, promising a "healthy culture of dialogue, agreements and collaboration."

"We are committed to being a government of progress and solidarity, which will allow us, within eight years, to transform Chile into a developed country without poverty," said Pinera, joined on the balcony by his wife Cecilia Morel.

The 68-year-old communications magnate is assuming the presidency just as Chile's economy is showing signs of rebounding from a period of sluggish growth due to low prices for copper, the country's biggest export.

"The good times are coming," his supporters chanted after he was sworn in.

Bachelet was cheered by supporters as she capped a second term in office in which she saw through an ambitious package of reforms aimed at eliminating the institutional legacy of the 1973-1990 dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

Leaders from neighboring Latin American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Mexico and Peru -- as well as the former king of Spain Juan Carlos -- attended the inauguration ceremony at the congress in the coastal city of Valparaiso.

Later, the billionaire president chose a shelter for at-risk children in a depressed district of Santiago to announce his first measures as president, the reform of state protection for vulnerable children.

The new president called for a national agreement on the care of children, and said his new cabinet would for the first time include a minister for children.

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He said some 1,313 minors had died in centers run by the National Service for Minors over the last decade. More than half the young people who pass through the state centers later become delinquents, according to Pinera.

The new president pledged to increase resources and subsidies to help tackle the problem.

In his speech at La Moneda, he also highlighted as a priority his quest for peace in the tense southern La Araucania region, the epicentre of a conflict with Mapuche indigenous communities.

"Every time we have divided, we have reaped our most bitter and painful defeats," he said.

In a Facebook message, Bachelet said she was "profoundly proud of the transformation that we pushed these years" and said she was convinced Chile today is more "just, equitable and free."

She was Latin America's last sitting chief of state who is a woman.

Implementing the changes she made will now be up to Pinera, who says he wants to reform the Pinochet-era pension system and supports the free education system instituted by Bachelet.

"I feel I now have more experience, more maturity, more awareness of the importance of uniting Chileans; greater humility to listen, with eyes and ears that are more attentive," he said this week.

Pinera -- whose fortune has been estimated by Forbes at $2.7 billion -- has promised to transform Chile into a developed economy in eight years.

The economy has grown at an average pace of two percent over the past four years, but surged 3.9 percent in January. Analysts are predicting 3.5 percent growth this year.Havana (AFP) - Cuba votes for a new National Assembly on Sunday, a key step in a process leading to the election of a new president, the first in nearly 60 years from outside the Castro family.

The new members of the National Assembly will be tasked with choosing a successor to 86-year-old President Raul Castro when he steps down next month.

Raul took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who had governed since seizing power during the 1959 revolution.

Eight million Cubans are expected to turn out to ratify 605 candidates for an equal number of seats in the Assembly, a process shorn of suspense and unique to the Communist-run Caribbean island nation.

"They're the most important elections of recent years, because we are going to vote for new people who will govern from then on," day-care center guardian Ramon Perez told AFP.

Sunday's general election is the first since the death in 2016 of Fidel Castro, and marks the beginning of major change at the top in Cuba.

Candidates may be either members of the Cuban Communist Party or not, and may also belong to trade unions or be students.

The designation of candidates is based on merit, abilities and the commitment of the people," Raul Castro said when he announced the elections last year.

"Nobody exchanges promises for votes, or boasts of his abilities to get supporters... this is the true and exceptional face of what we proudly call socialist democracy," the official daily Granma wrote.

More than half of the candidates, 322, are women.

Cuba's president is designated by a 31-member Council of State, whose head is automatically president of the country. But the Council of State first has to be selected by the National Assembly.

-- Succession --

Castro had already announced that he would not be seeking a new term, although he is expected to remain head of the all-powerful Communist Party until 2021.

His first vice-president, Miguel Diaz-Canel, 57, is widely expected to succeed him and is committed to guaranteeing continuity.

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Born after the revolution, Diaz-Canel, an engineer, slowly climbed to the top rungs of Cuba's hierarchy over a three-decade career under Raul's mentorship.

"There will still be a president of Cuba in the process of defending the revolution," he said in November.

Turnout for the election is expected to be around 90 percent. Although voting is voluntary, not voting is frowned upon and going to the polls is considered an act of sovereignty and of "revolutionary affirmation."

The final results will be known on Monday.

Opposition criticism of the process centers around the fact that the president is not chosen in direct elections.

Cuban dissident Rosa Maria Paya, of the Cuba Decide movement, wants a referendum on modifying the island's government system and says her group will be watching for signs "of rejection of the electoral process, in which in reality we cannot elect" anyone.

Cubans who want to demonstrate opposition typically spoil their ballots.

The Otro18 opposition movement is also calling for change.

"The citizens do not participate in the choice or the election of the president and we think it's a decisive moment for the citizens to push a request" to change the electoral system, says Manuel Costa Morua, Otro18's leader.Havana (AFP) - Cubans voted Sunday to ratify a new National Assembly, a key step in a process leading to the elevation of a new president, the first in nearly 60 years from outside the Castro family.

The new members of the National Assembly will be tasked with choosing a successor to 86-year-old President Raul Castro when he steps down next month.

"The next president may not have that surname, but he will undoubtedly be a son of the Revolution," the Foreign Ministry said on Twitter.

Castro voted in the southeastern province of Santiago de Cuba while his first vice president and likely successor, Miguel Diaz-Canel, cast his ballot in the central Santa Clara province.

"The triumphal march of the revolution will continue," Diaz-Canel said after voting, promising "peace, liberty, independence and the sovereignty of the people will endure."

Raul Castro took over in 2006 from his ailing brother Fidel, who had governed since seizing power during the 1959 revolution.

Eight million Cubans were expected to turn out to ratify 605 candidates for an equal number of seats in the Assembly, a process shorn of suspense and unique to the Communist-run Caribbean island nation.

"They're the most important elections of recent years, because we are going to vote for new people who will govern from then on," daycare center guardian Ramon Perez told AFP.

Sunday's general election is the first since the 2016 death of Fidel Castro, and marks the beginning of major change at the top in Cuba.

The change "will be a challenge but it's the natural law of life. We get old and have to retire," said retired lieutenant colonel Rigoberto Celorio, 82.

"This is the right moment," he added. "Raul will stay on as first secretary of the Communist Party, so whoever comes out of the process will be well oriented."

Candidates may be either members of the Cuban Communist Party or not, and may also belong to trade unions or be students.

Story continues

"The designation of candidates is based on merit, abilities and the commitment of the people," Raul Castro said when he announced the elections last year.

The official daily Granma wrote: "Nobody exchanges promises for votes, or boasts of his abilities to get supporters... This is the true and exceptional face of what we proudly call socialist democracy."

- Succession -

More than half of the candidates, 322, are women.

The new National Assembly selects a 31-member Council of State, whose head is automatically president of the country.

Castro had already announced that he would not be seeking a new term, although he is expected to remain head of the all-powerful Communist Party until 2021.

Diaz-Canel, 57, is widely expected to succeed him and is committed to guaranteeing continuity.

Born after the revolution, the engineer slowly climbed to the top rungs of Cuba's hierarchy over a three-decade career under Raul's mentorship.

"Diaz-Canel is a person known to us. I sincerely wish it will be him," said Xiomara Gonzalez, after voting in Diaz-Canel's home town of Santa Clara.

Julio Cesar Guanche, a professor of law and history, said on the OnCuba website that the legitimacy of the country's next president would come more from "institutional performance" than personal history such as involvement in the 1959 revolution.

Turnout for the election is expected to be around 90 percent. Although voting is voluntary, not voting is frowned upon. Going to the polls is considered an act of sovereignty and of "revolutionary affirmation."

The final results will be announced Monday.

Opposition criticism of the process centers around the fact that the president is not chosen in direct elections.

Cuban dissident Rosa Maria Paya, of the Cuba Decide movement, wants a referendum on modifying the island's government system and says her group will be watching for signs "of rejection of the electoral process, in which in reality we cannot elect" anyone.

US lawmakers headed by Republican Marco Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, have written to President Donald Trump urging him to ignore Castro's successor "in the absence of free, fair and multiparty elections."

Cubans who want to demonstrate opposition typically spoil their ballots.

The Otro18 opposition movement is also calling for change.

"The citizens do not participate in the choice or the election of the president and we think it's a decisive moment for the citizens to push a request" to change the electoral system, said Ostro18 leader Manuel Costa Morua.Donald Trump has said a military parade would boost the moral of America - French Select

Donald Trump will get to host a large military parade in Washington, but without tanks.

The parade, the first major one in the US capital since 1991, will take place on November 11 in a salute to veterans, according to a Pentagon planning memo.

General Joe Dunford, who chairs the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in the memo: "This parade will focus on the contributions of our veterans throughout the history of the US military, starting from the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812 to today, with an emphasis on the price of freedom."

But he said there would be "wheeled vehicles only, no tanks" in order to protect the roads of Washington. He added that "consideration must be given to minimise damage to local infrastructure".

Donald Trump watching the tanks roll by in France's Bastille Day military last July Credit: AFP

There will be "a heavy air component at the end of the parade, to include older aircraft as available," meaning lots of fly overs by military aircraft, and that could include a plane used as Air Force One.

The parade route will stretch one mile from the White House to the US Capitol where Mr Trump, the commander-in-chief, will review his troops surrounded by veterans.

Female veterans will be highlighted and marchers representing previous wars will wear period uniforms, the memo said. It gave no details on weapons being displayed.

November 11, Remembrance Day, is known as Veterans Day in the US.

The last major military parade in Washington was after the Gulf War when missiles and tanks moved through the streets.

Mr Trump's parade will have air displays, similar to the ones he watched in the Bastille Day parade (pictured) Credit: Barcroft

Mr Trump asked for the parade after being impressed by one he saw when he visited Paris for Bastille Day in July.

The White House budget director recently estimated the cost at between $10 million and $30 million.

Washington's local council has opposed the plan for a 1.2-mile parade route also including Trump International Hotel, saying on Twitter: Tanks but no tanks!"Donald Trump renewed his demand on Saturday that the European Union halts its "horrific" trade barriers to US products in order to spare his allies new steel and aluminum tariffs.

The American president made his comments after EU negotiators held "frank" talks with US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in an effort to defuse a bitter row that many fear could turn into an all-out trade war.

The EU's top trade official said the US failed to provide full clarity on how Europe and Japan could be spared the tariffs.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the U.S. very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum," Mr Trump said.

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Mr Trump's announcement of duties of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminum has stung the European Union, along with other major partners including Japan, whose Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko also attended the talks in Brussels.

The EU has also warned Britain that it faces huge fines from the EU if it secures a UK-only exemption.

"As long-standing security partners of the United States, (the EU and Japan) underlined to ambassador Lighthizer their expectation that EU and Japanese exports to the US would be exempted from the application of higher tariffs," an EU statement said after the talks.

But after two-way talks with Lighthizer, European Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem tweeted: "No immediate clarity on the exact US procedure for exemption however, so discussions will continue next week."

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Ms Malmstroem said in a statement she had a "frank" discussion about the steel tariffs, insisting "the European Union must be excluded" because it is a close US ally.

Brussels has gone the furthest in fighting back against Washington's shock measures, loudly announcing a list of US products to hit with countermeasures if its exports are affected by the tariffs.

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In announcing the measures, European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker taunted Mr Trump, saying the EU could match "stupid with stupid."

Japan's government has warned the tariff could hurt its economic relations with the U.S. But ahead of Saturday's talks, Seko also cautioned that "falling to exchanges of unilateral measures will not be in the interest of any country," according to the Kyodo news agency. He was apparently referring to the EU threats of retaliation.

Mr Lighthizer, a loyalist to Trump's "America First" mantra, made no official comment after the talks, but the three sides did agree on a series of next steps to address the oversupply worldwide of steel and other materials, mainly by China.

Overview | Free trade versus protectionism

This progress was "unexpected" and a source of cautious optimism on solving the tariff row, an EU official said.

"If Trump wants his allies to demonstrate that they are united in tackling problems with China, this is precisely that," the source added.

With tensions at a peak, the EU had sought to keep low expectations for any breakthrough on Saturday. European Commission Vice President Jyrki Katainen said it would be "a meeting, not THE meeting."

Along with a huge range of steel products, the EU's hit list of flagship American products lined up for counter measures includes peanut butter, bourbon whiskey and denim jeans.

Germany - singled out for particular criticism by Trump - accused Washington of protectionism, calling the tariffs an "affront to close partners."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that "no one can win in such a race to the bottom" while French President Emmanuel Macron said Trump risked provoking a mutually destructive "trade war."

European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmstrom (C) speaks with US trade representative Robert Lighthizer (L) as they arrive with Japan's Economy Minister Hiroshige Seko Credit: AFP

Trump said the tariffs, which will come into effect 15 days after he formally unveiled them Thursday, will not initially apply to Canada and Mexico. He also added Australia to the list of likely carve-outs.

Complicating matters, Trump indicated that the sparing of Australia was linked to an unspecified "security agreement" outside of trade policy.

This shed light on Trump's attacks against Germany - the biggest economy in the European Union - that have accused Berlin of contributing much less than the US toward the funding of NATO.

The EU exports around five billion euros ($4 billion) worth of steel and a billion euros worth of aluminum to the US each year, and the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm, estimates Trump's tariffs could cost some 2.8 billion euros.

Brussels is also looking at "safeguard" measures to protect its industry - restricting the bloc's imports of steel and aluminum to stop foreign supplies flooding the European market, which is allowed under World Trade Organization rules.Senator raises issue of sexual assault against Native Americans

Massachusetts Democrat not running for president in 2020

Senator Elizabeth Warren, with Bernie Sanders, speaks on Capitol Hill. Photograph: Yuri Gripas/Reuters

Elizabeth Warren has responded to Donald Trumps latest Pocahontas jibe by highlighting the problem of sexual violence against Native American women, a tactic she said she would pursue each time the president threw out such a racial slur.

At a rally in Pennsylvania on Saturday night, Trump discussed the Massachusetts senator as a potential rival for the White House in 2020.

If I dont win the election, [news] ratings are going to go so far down, theyll be out of business, every one of them, he said. Can you imagine? Can you imagine covering Bernie [Sanders] or Pocahontas? How about that?

Trump has long referred to Warren as Pocahontas, even in front of decorated Navajo veterans in the Oval Office, in reference to controversy over her claim of Native American ancestry.

Appearing on CNNs State of the Union on Sunday, Warren said her family story was deeply a part of me. She also said she was not running for president in 2020.

Warren repeated her 2020 denial on NBCs Meet the Press and on Fox News Sunday, although on the former show she would not be drawn into making a pledge to serve her next six-year Senate term in full. On NBC she said her recent donations to all 50 state Democratic parties and the Democratic National Committee were about getting back some control in the Senate and in the House, rather than boosting her national profile.

On both networks, Warren did not answer questions about whether she would take a DNA test as Republicans and one Massachusetts newspaper, the Berkshire Eagle, have suggested she should. Family members told her her mother was part-Native American, she told Fox, and it was a part of who I am and no ones ever going to take that away.

Asked on NBC what would be wrong with knowing for sure about her ancestry, Warren said: I do know. I know who I am, never used it for anything, never got any benefit from it anywhere.

Story continues

Much press attention on Warrens claimed ancestry has focused on her responses to questions about minority status on a range of forms from colleges she attended or taught at as a law professor, including Penn State and Harvard.

On NBC and CNN, Warren outlined her planned response to attacks on the matter from Trump, telling the latter: I went to speak to Native American leaders and I made a promise to them: that every time President Trump wants to try to throw out some kind of racial slur, he wants to try to attack me, Im going to try to use it as a chance to lift up their stories.

Im going to do that right now by pointing out that more than half of Native women in this country have been the victims of sexual violence, and more than half of them are attacked by non-natives. And the American government is doing nothing about this.

Figures on sexual assault against Native American women vary but the issue is agreed to be serious. A 2016 US justice department survey said 56% of Native American women reported experiencing sexual violence.

Native American women are subjected to sexual violence at rates much higher than any other group in our country, Warren said. We need to put some focus on this and we need to make some changes on this. We owe it to people living in Native communities.Elon Musk speaks after the Falcon Heavy rocket last month: Joe Skipper/Reuters

Elon Musk, the founder and CEO of SpaceX, has suggested that his company will be ready to fly a rocket to Mars in 2019.

Speaking during a question and answer session at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, the technology entrepreneur said that the short flights could begin by the middle of next year.

I can tell you what I know currently is the case is that we are building the first ship, the first Mars interplanetary ship right now, Musk told the crowd.

And I think we'll be able to do short flights, sort of up-and-down flights, probably some time in the first half of next year, he said during the session on Sunday.

However, the Tesla founder did acknowledge that he had a habit of being a bit too ambitious with when projects will roll out.People have told me that my timelines historically have been optimistic, so I'm trying to recalibrate to some degree here, Musk said.

The privately-funded SpaceX venture was announced in September 2017, with the aim of sending a cargo mission to Mars by 2022. The ultimate objective for Musk and the company is to plant the seeds to put a human colony on Mars, and he said last year that human landings on Mars could happen by 2024.

Coming off the back of the successful launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket last month, Musk said that he hoped the rocket SpaceX would launch to Mars, the BFR, would create imitators.

The biggest thing that would be helpful is just general support and encouragement and goodwill, Musk said. I think once we build it we'll have a point of proof something that other companies and countries can go and do. They certainly don't think it's possible, but if we do they'll up their game.

The Falcon Heavy as powerful as any other rocket currently in operation, but not the most powerful ever, that honour currently goes to the Saturn V, which carried astronauts up to the moon.

SpaceX's next rocket system, the BFR, will be more powerful than the Falcon Heavy, and the aim is for it to be fully reusable and allow for interplanetary travel, according to the company. Musk said he is confident that a such a flight would cost less than the initial SpaceX Falcon 1 launches, which he said cost between $5m and $6m

What's amazing about the ship, assuming we can make full and rapid reusability work is that we can reduce the cost, marginal cost per flight, dramatically It is the fundamental breakthrough that's needed, Musk said.Surrounded by steel and aluminium workers, President Trump signed a Section 232 Proclamation on steel imports in the White House on Thursday. (Getty)

The EU has claimed it is confident it will secure an exemption from the US tariffs on steel and aluminium formally adopted by President Donald Trump.

Canada and Mexico have already been spared the import tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminium.

And President Trump said other real friends could apply for an exemption from the tariffs before they come into force in 15 days time.

And on Friday, Jyrki Katainen, the European Commissions vice president for jobs, growth, investment and competitiveness, said he expected the EU to be granted an exemption.

In an address to the American Chamber of Commerce EU (AmCham EU) conference in Brussels, he said: Our preference is of course to avoid [retaliation] and convince the US to exclude EU steel and aluminium from the scope of the measures they envisage.

President Trump has signalled that allies can be excluded and were confident that the whole EU will be treated as such.

AmCham EU chairman Maxime Bureau added: We appreciate in some respect that the US President is open potentially to exempt allies and as he put it real friends.

US business in the EU think that the EU should be exempt from these tariffs.

The EU said it too was concerned about Chinese steel dumping.

Katainens speech struck a more conciliatory tone with the Trump administration than the message from EU Commission President Jean Claude Juncker earlier in the week.

Setting out plans to retaliate with tariffs on a range of EU products, Juncker said: We can also do stupid.

Katainen said EU leaders share the Trump administrations frustration over Chinese steel dumping and understood the criticism of globalisation of being unfair in certain respects.

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Story continues

We have been hit equally as the US industry by overcapacity and have had to make painful adjustment and take anti-dumping measures to protect us, he said.

But he added that the US would be shooting at the wrong target if it slapped tariffs on EU exports and set out the Commissions three step plan to retaliate if necessary:

Launching a legal dispute at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) against the US tariffs. Take measures to safeguard European industry affected by the tariffs. Introduce tariffs on American goods such as motorcycles, clothes and alcohol.

The Commission vice-president explained: We would use the opportunity offered by WTO rules to take calibrated measures on a limited number of American products to rebalance benefits which we have given to the US in the past.

And he took the chance to send a strong message to White House when asked what he thought counted as real friends.

Real friends are usually those who understand each other and who play by the same rules, he replied.

Emmanuel Macrons Europe minister, Jean-Baptiste Lemoyne, gave Frances backing to that position in his speech at the same conference.

Traders watch President Donald Trumps announcement on steel and aluminum tariffs on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange on March 8. (Getty)

A unilateral measure hurting our economic interest cannot remain without response, he said.

Its not the best way. Thats why were very committed to dialogue and hopefully the contacts between leaders will have a positive outcome.

But we shall adopt in a swift manner proportionate and WTO compliant measures to send a message that such a move does not remain without consequences.

European Parliament trade committee chair Bernd Lange said President Trumps insistence that steel tariffs are necessary for national security reasons is not taken seriously by anyone.

The German Social Democrat MEP added: President Trump is trying to impose the rule of the powerful, instead of championing the rule of law.

The EU will react proportionately and will continue to engage in a dialogue with the US.

But Business Europe general secretary Markus Beyrer suggested the EU should use President Trumps logic to win an exemption.

Regrettably the EU, a key strategic ally of the US has not been exempted from this decision, he said.

The decision will enter into force in 15 days and we should do the utmost during this time to exclude the EU on security grounds.

Meanwhile, European trade unions appealed to their colleagues in the US who are overwhelmingly in favour of the tariffs.

IndustriAll Europe deputy general secretary Luis Colunga said: The real issue facing American metal workers is global overcapacity, with third countries overproducing steel and aluminium and driving down their prices through both non-market conditions and the absence of real labour rights.

There is no overcapacity in European or American production and our workers should not bear the brunt of third countries unfair trade practices.MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A blast that injured more than two dozen in February in the Mexican resort town Playa del Carmen was caused by a home-made explosive, a leading Mexican newspaper reported on Saturday, citing an official investigation. The explosion appeared to have been triggered from a distance and may have been made by someone with knowledge of mining materials, according to Mexican newspaper El Universal, citing an investigation conducted by the Mexican attorney general's office and the marine secretary. A spokesman for the attorney general's office did not respond to a request for comment. The explosion on a ferry docked at a Playa del Carmen pier injured at least 25, including U.S. tourists. Shortly before spring break, when thousands of U.S. college students descend on Mexican beach towns, the U.S. government on Wednesday barred its employees from traveling to Playa del Carmen, citing an unspecified "security threat" and mentioning the blast. On Friday, the U.S. government updated the ban, limiting it to certain neighborhoods in Playa del Carmen. The U.S. State Department advises tourists to exercise "increased caution" in the state of Quintana Roo. Local media reported that the ferry was operated by Barcos Caribe, which is owned by the family of former Quintana Roo governor Roberto Borge, who was extradited from Panama to Mexico in January to face corruption charges. Barcos Caribe did not immediately respond to a request for comment. No motive for the explosion has been suggested yet, and both federal and state officials are still investigating. Playa del Carmen is located about 46 miles (76 km) south of Cancun, the centerpiece of a strip of white sand beaches that is one of Latin America's top tourist destinations. In recent years, Mexican tourist destinations have been tainted by the country's long-running battle against drug cartels. Murder rates have soared in both Pacific resort Acapulco and Los Cabos, a popular stretch of beaches and desert on the southern tip of Baja California. (Reporting by Julia Love, Lizbeth Diaz and Miguel Gutierrez; editing by Diane Craft)BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian army broke apart the rebel enclave in eastern Ghouta on Sunday, cutting off two major towns from the rest of the area, state media said, after a fierce battle waged under cover of an unrelenting bombardment. State television on Sunday broadcast from the eastern Ghouta town of Mudeira, which state television and a war monitor said the army had captured to link up with units on the other side of the enclave. A military media unit run by the Iran-backed Lebanese group Hezbollah, an ally of the Syrian government, said the army had also entirely surrounded the town of Douma. Footage showed several massive plumes of smoke in the distance behind a war-ravaged townscape with big holes in walls and roofs, and yet more smoke wafting across the streets. The sound of blasts could be heard. More than 1,100 civilians have been killed in the onslaught on the biggest rebel stronghold near Damascus since it began three weeks ago with a withering bombardment, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It said there was intense fighting on several fronts accompanied by a government artillery barrage, continuous air raids and attacks by helicopters. The advance on Mudeira, after the capture of the neighboring town of Mesraba on Saturday, has driven a wedge deep inside the insurgent territory, leaving the major towns of Douma and Harasta cut off. Rebel groups in eastern Ghouta have vowed they will fight on. A statement issued by Free Syrian Army factions there late on Saturday said they had taken a decision not to accept a surrender and negotiated withdrawal. After the army advances split up the enclave, Jaish al-Islam emerged as the strongest group in the town of Douma, Ahrar al-Sham in the town of Harasta and Failaq al-Rahman in the new southern pocket of eastern Ghouta. Syrian state media also reported army advances near Jisreen and Aftaris in the southeastern part of the rebel-held territory. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his ally Russia see the rebels as terrorist groups, and say their offensive is needed to end the rebels' rule over eastern Ghouta's large population. But the violence of their assault has prompted condemnation from Western countries and repeated calls by United Nations aid agencies for a humanitarian ceasefire. Activists and fighters in eastern Ghouta in recent days have said the bombardment has included incendiary material that causes fires and burn injuries. Local doctors have also reported several incidents of bomb attacks followed by the smell of chlorine and choking symptoms. The government denies using either incendiary weapons or chlorine gas bombs, and said on Saturday it had information that the rebels were planning to stage a fake chemical attack to discredit the army. GUNFIRE In Muscat, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said it would be "very unwise" for Syrian government forces to use weaponized gas, citing unconfirmed reports of chlorine attacks in eastern Ghouta. Visiting Oman, Mattis stopped short of threatening to retaliate against Syrian forces if a chlorine attack were confirmed. But he noted America's cruise missile strike on April 6, 2017, on a Syrian air base over a sarin gas attack and said President Donald Trump had "full political maneuver room" to take whatever decision he believed was appropriate. While the government and Russia say they have set up safe routes into government-held territory, no civilians are known to have crossed through them yet. Damascus and Moscow accuse rebels of firing on anybody who tries to leave, something the insurgents deny though a Reuters witness said there was shelling and gunfire near one exit route on Friday. Rebels and some eastern Ghouta residents contacted by Reuters have said people there do not want to come back under Assad's rule for fear of persecution, an idea the government says is groundless. On Saturday, the army found 60 civilians cowering in a basement in Mesraba. Activists in eastern Ghouta said thousands of people from Mesraba had already fled into Douma, further into the rebel territory, before the army took it. Syrian state television reported on Sunday that rebel mortar fire had killed four people after hitting a taxi. Assad has sworn to end insurgent shelling of the capital. Defeat in eastern Ghouta would deliver the rebels their biggest blow since December 2016, when a government offensive drove them from Aleppo, their largest urban stronghold. Backed by Russian war planes and other military assistance since 2015, Assad has gained momentum on several fronts across the country, driving rebels from numerous pockets and recapturing swathes of the east from Islamic State. But he is still far from regaining control over the entire country. Rebel groups hold large areas of the northwest and southwest, while northeastern Syria is in the hands of Kurdish fighters and allied militias. Meanwhile, the increasingly global nature of the war means that military attempts to regain several of those areas could pit Assad and his Russian and Iranian backers against forces that are also directly supported by powerful foreign countries. (Reporting by Angus McDowall and Suleiman al-Khalidi, additional reporting from Phil Stewart in Muscat, Editing by Mark Potter, William Maclean)The National Rifle Association sued Florida over a new gun control law hours after Governor Rick Scott signed the legislation.

Spurred to action by a national outcry after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Mr Scott and the Republican-controlled Florida legislature unified behind raising the age for buying all guns to 21. Previously, certain firearms could be purchased by 18-year-olds.

While gun control advocates hailed the new law, the National Rifle Association (NRA) called it an unconstitutional violation of the Second and Fourteenth amendments.

At 18 years of age, law-abiding citizens in this country are considered adults for almost all purposes and certainly for the purposes of the exercise of fundamental constitutional rights, a lawsuit filed by the NRA in a Florida district court said.

This blanket ban violates the fundamental rights of thousands off responsible, law-abiding Florida citizens and is thus invalid, the complaint said.

Representatives for Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi and Florida Department of Law Enforcement Director Rick Swearingen, the defendants in the lawsuit, did not respond to requests for comment. Student activists who survived the shooting and have since emerged as vocal gun control advocates reacted to the lawsuit with derision.

How am I not surprised, student David Hogg wrote on Twitter.

Efforts to enact new gun control measures in response to prior mass shootings have faltered, in part because of the NRAs immense political influence.

But the bloodshed in Parkland, Florida, during which a gunman killed 14 students and three school employees, has galvanised young people and unleashed political momentum for tougher gun laws. By rallying behind the measure, Mr Scott and fellow Florida Republicans showed a rare willingness to defy the NRA.

So too did Donald Trump, who during a remarkable White House meeting embraced ideas that are anathema to the NRA - including stripping guns from people without due process - and has chastised legislators and governors for being afraid of the gun rights organisation.

The White House has since backed away from those remarks, with Mr Trump - who won strong backing from the NRA during his campaign - reiterating his support for the organisations agenda.Photo credit: Ford

From Road & Track

Following the reveal of the 2019 Ford Transit Connect passenger van in February at the Chicago auto show, Ford formally took the wraps off the 2019 Transit Connect cargo van at the Work Truck show this week in Indianapolis. Unsurprisingly, the cargo-carrying variant of Fords smaller work van has adopted its people-moving counterparts many changes.

Notably, the Transit Connect cargo van features a revised powertrain lineup that consists of a standard 2.0-liter inline-four and an optional turbo-diesel 1.5-liter four-cylinder. Both engines feature stop/start technology and mate to an eight-speed automatic transmission. Although Ford isnt ready to provide specifics, company representatives informed us that horsepower and torque totals for the 2.0-liter engine will be down slightly compared to the vans current 2.5-liter inline-four, which musters 169 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque. Meanwhile, the diesel is anticipated to produce approximately 120 horsepower and 200 lb-ft of torque, all the while returning at least 30 mpg on the highway.

Photo credit: Ford

Fleet buyers can continue to get the Transit Connect with the current vans 2.5-liter inline-four and six-speed automatic transmission on models prepped to run compressed natural gas or propane.

Accompanying the cargo vans updated engines and refreshed styling are a host of new technology features. Automated emergency braking and a 4G LTE connection that allows the Transit Connect to serve as a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to 10 devices are both standard, while blind-spot monitoring, lane-keeping assist, adaptive cruise control, and a wireless phone charger are optional.

The 2019 Ford Transit Connect cargo van reaches dealerships this fall and will be offered in short- and long-wheelbase versions in XL and XLT trims.

You Might Also LikeA pedestrian walks in front of a huge screen flashing a news report relating to US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong in Tokyo on 9 March 2018: TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP/Getty Images

A national security official under former President Barack Obama said it is impossible for President Donald Trump to be ready by May to have a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

Samantha Vinograd, former senior adviser for the National Security Council, said: "There is no way that President Trump can be ready, by May, to have a high stakes negotiation on denuclearisation on the Korean Peninsula, it's just impossible.

The reclusive and mercurial Mr Kim had extended an invitation to meet, which Mr Trump accepted in a reversal of the publicly tense relations between the two.

The proposed meeting in May would not the first time Pyongyang has participated in negotiations. China hosted a series of talks involving South Korea, Russia, Japan, and the US in early 2000s.

During the Winter Olympics, Mr Kim's sister Kim Yo-Jong became the first member of the family to set foot in South Korea and meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

And, though Ms Vinograd said on CNN that this situation may be different, "that doesn't mean we should rush into a nuclear summit.

She said Mr Trumps lack of political and diplomatic experience does not bode well for the administration rushing into a meeting like this.

"Perhaps because he wants a [public relations] opportunity, perhaps because he's desperate to do a deal, Ms Vinograd posited about why Mr Trump would accept the invitation and set a target date so soon.

Mr Trump has repeatedly criticised previous administrations and Mr Obamas strategic patience in foreign relations, particularly in his dealings with Mr Kims continued development of North Koreas nuclear weapons programme despite United Nations sanctions.

Ms Vinograd worried: You can't wing it. [Mr Kim] is going to be fully prepared. I think that he's playing to the president's ego and the president's weaknesses by flattering him.

The announcement also came as a surprise to Mr Trumps own Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who just hours before the announcement said that the US was a long ways from negotiations.

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But, Mr Tillerson said the President made the decision to accept the invite himself, a move he said was a dramatic reversal in posture for North Korea.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that Mr Trump is getting exactly what he wants with Mr Kim, having relayed to South Korea that Pyongyang had expressed a commitment to ending its nuclear programme, while also suggesting Mr Kim would suspend any nuclear or missile tests during any direct talks.

Vice President Mike Pence made it clear though that the US made zero concessions in order to get the invitation, which was a result of the US delegations trip to the Winter Olympics last month.

Though Republicans in Congress also praised the diplomatic tactics of the US for getting the invitation and cited it as proof that sanctions against Pyongyang were working, not everyone was optimistic about the meeting.

Democratic Senator Ed Markey said Mr Trump should treat it as the beginning of a long diplomatic process and his usual unscripted remarks and inflammatory tweets that could derail it.

The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, said the Republican president would need help from others in the US government when discussing such a complex issue face-to-face with Mr Kim.

It will require the President to rely on the expertise within the State Department, the Intelligence Community, and throughout the government, and not simply on his own estimation of his skills as a deal maker. Mr Schiff said.Paris (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron will be putting his investment banking chops to use in coming weeks as his government prepares a new wave of state asset sales to pay for his "disruptive innovations" fund.

After his election last year Macron pledged 50 billion euros ($62 billion) to help modernise the country's economy, and 10 billion has been earmarked for promoting innovative technologies.

To avoid putting further strain on the already stretched public finances, the government will finance the plan by selling stakes in the roughly 80 French companies owned partly or entirely by the state.

The process was launched last autumn, but Economy Minister Bruno Le Maire said last week that he would soon seek legislative approval to cancel the minimum state holdings for four major companies.

Analysts said that of the four, the government was unlikely to sell more shares in the energy giants EDF and Engie.

That leaves the Paris airports operator ADP and the lottery and scratch tickets group Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) as the likely targets.

A source with knowledge of the government's plans said the FDJ stake could be cut to 20 or 30 percent from 72 percent currently, possibly by offering shares to the public.

For ADP, in which the state holds just over 50 percent, the government may turn to construction giant Vinci, which already owns an 8 percent stake.

If the entire stake were sold, that alone might get the government close to its goal for the innovation fund, currently endowed with about 1.6 billion euros -- but so far the government has not tipped its hand.

"10 billion euros is a lot," said Jean-Louis Mourier, an economist at brokerage Aurel BGC in Paris.

"The question is, how exactly are they going to get the money? The assets have a value on their books, but it's not certain that they'll fetch that price on the market."

- List gets shorter -

It's familiar ground for Macron, who spent several years working on mergers and acquisitions for Rothschild -- itself a major player in France's previous privatisation projects.

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France's portfolio of stakes is valued at around 100 billion euros, but a large chunk is in defence, nuclear and other key industries that are unlikely to be touched.

"The state must remain a shareholder in strategic sectors, where it's a question of our sovereignty," Le Maire told lawmakers last Thursday. "For the others, the state's only role is to get dividends."

Selling additional shares in about a dozen regional airports and as many port operators could be an easy option.

Beyond those, the government may be running short on other obvious candidates, following years of stake sales by previous administrations -- leftwing or rightwing.

Over the last 20 years, major French firms such as France Telecom, bank Credit Lyonnais, airline Air France, motorway operators, and shipyards in western France have been progressively sold off to private owners.

"They're continuing a process that has been in place for several years and pursued by every government," Mourier said.

But Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has vowed the state will not privatise rail operator SNCF, even as he prepares an overhaul that could see the government take on its debt load of nearly 50 billion euros.

France already has a public debt that represents nearly 100 percent of its GDP, far above the EU target of 60 percent, making it one of just two eurozone countries -- the other is Spain -- still under the EU's "excessive deficit procedure".Muscat (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said Sunday it would be "very unwise" for the Syrian regime to use gas as a weapon against the people of Eastern Ghouta and elsewhere.

Mattis's warning came amid reports President Bashar al-Assad's forces have used chlorine gas in the rebel-held area near Damascus, and he underscored his remarks by referencing President Donald Trump's strike on a Syrian airbase after an alleged chemical attack last year.

"We have made it very clear that it would be very unwise to use gas against people, civilians on any battlefield," Mattis told reporters accompanying him on a trip to Oman.

"I just want to reiterate that it would be very unwise for them to use weaponised gas, and I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration."

Mattis said he was aware of "an awful lot of reports about chlorine gas use or about symptoms that could be resulting from chlorine gas," but indicated he did not have conclusive evidence.

Trump last April ordered a missile strike against a regime airbase at Shayrat, after Washington said it used the facility to launch a sarin nerve gas attack on the rebel-held town of Khan Sheikhun, killing scores of civilians.

The use of chlorine as a weapon is banned under international law and Russia was supposed to oversee the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal.

The fact that Assad may still have chemical weapons shows "either Russia is incompetent or in cahoots with Assad," Mattis said.

Syria's besieged Eastern Ghouta region is the last opposition-controlled pocket near Damascus. For nearly three weeks, regime forces have pounded it in an assault that has killed over 1,000 civilians.

The Pentagon chief also took aim at Russia, which has been propping up Assad's regime since 2015 and helping in anti-rebel operations.

Assad "could not be in power absent Russia's unfortunate veto in the UN years ago and the Russians' full-throated military support for Assad," he said.

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Mattis declined to say whether the use of gas would represent some sort of trigger that would prompt a US military response.

"The president has full political manoeuver room to take the decision that he believes appropriate," he said.

"There are other Western nations that have been in contact with us that are watching this very closely and are completely aligned with us and what I just said -- that it would be very unwise for someone to use gas."

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View.A Facebook post sent two women to jail for a few hours, but a Georgia court said that the arrest wasnt constitutional, CNN reported Friday.

Corey King, a sheriffs deputy working in Washington County, Georgia, was upset about a 2015 Facebook post by his ex-wife, Anne King. The post read, "That moment when everyone in your house has the flu and you ask your kid's dad to get them (not me) more Motrin and Tylenol and he refuses." She added an emoticon to show she was feeling overwhelmed."

A few of Kings friends made comments to her defense, including Susan Hines, who said, "Give me an hour and check your mailbox. I'll be GLAD to pick up the slack."

Trending: Insomnia: Bad Sleep May Start In Your Genes, Large Study Finds

King and coworker Trey Burgamy then filed a warrant against Anne and Hines, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported. The two were charged with criminal defamation of character,

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GERARD JULIEN/AFP/Getty Images

In a deposition King stated, "I don't feel as though the portrayal of my fatherhood was truthful as what I do for my children and what I have done for my children as long as they have been alive, CNN reported.

Yet filing such a charge was declared unconstitutional in a 1982 Georgia Supreme Court case Williamson v. State.

Don't miss: Anti-Child Marriage Bill Poised to Become Law in Florida, Where Children as Young as 13 Have Wed

Ken Hodges, the Georgia attorney who defended Anne King, said that Corey King should have been aware that the actions of Hines and his ex-wife were not a crime, because this is "common knowledge" among law enforcement.

In what Hodges called "nothing more than a kangaroo court, Anne and Hines were sent to jail after Magistrate Judge Ralph Todd signed the warrant that King and Burgamy brought to him.

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"In my opinion, they were there to go through the motions to make sure that [Anne] King ended up leaving in handcuffs," Hodges said.

King argued that his ex-wife had engaged in harassing phone calls, which is a misdemeanor in the state of Georgia. Hodges said Anne did not call him or say anything that would count as harassment.

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Hodges added that Judge Todd was not a lawyer, as is the case for many magistrate judges in rural areas with smaller populations.

In January 2017, Anne brought a federal lawsuit against King and Burgamy, stating that they took away her constitutional rights, the Atlanta-Journal Constitution reported.

Hodges said that Burgamy and King were abusing their positions of power.

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LOIC VENANCE/AFP/Getty Images

When a citizen of Georgia files a warrant, there is a hearing in front of a magistrate judge to decide whether there is probable cause, Hodges explained. Law enforcement, however, does not need to have hearings though King argued that he was filing as a citizen and not a deputy sheriff.

After the women were arrested, the case was brought in front of a state court judge who "saw instantly, clearly and unequivocally that this was not a crime and dismissed the case," Hodges said.

Hodges said that he feels Hines couldn't even be sued in a civil court and argued that what she said was an opinion.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekDoJ proposes stocks be included in definition of machine gun

Paralysis in Congress as Republicans and Democrats dither

A bump stock device (left) at a gun store in Salt Lake City. The NRA has not supported an outright ban on bump stocks. Photograph: George Frey/Getty Images

The US Department of Justice on Saturday moved to ban bump stocks, firearm accessories used to mimic automatic fire.

In a notice submitted for approval to the Office of Management and Budget, the DoJ proposed that bump stocks be included in the definition of machine gun in the 1934 National Firearms Act.

The accessory was not used in the recent Florida school shooting, in which 17 people were killed, but it was used last year in the deadly shooting in Las Vegas.

Officials said the Las Vegas gunman had 12 rifles fitted with bump stocks in the hotel room where he carried out the attack that left 58 dead and more than 850 injured.

Donald Trump vowed last month to ban bump stocks and other attachments that enable semi-automatic firearms to fire at close to the rate of a machine gun.

President Trump is absolutely committed to ensuring the safety and security of every American and he has directed us to propose a regulation addressing bump stocks, attorney general Jeff Sessions said in a statement.

The NRA, which donated $30m to Trumps 2016 presidential campaign, has not supported an outright ban on bump stocks.

The gun lobby group does support additional regulations for bump stocks and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Friday, the NRA filed a lawsuit hours after Florida governor Rick Scott signed into law new gun regulations, including a bump stock ban.Hong Kong (AFP) - Hong Kong's best-known young activists were heckled by Chinese nationalists in tense scenes Sunday as the city's pro-democracy camp tries to claw back lost seats in controversial by-elections.

Sunday's vote once more exposed the city's deep political divide and comes as China takes an increasingly tough line against any challenges to its sovereignty.

High-profile candidate Agnes Chow was barred from standing because her party promotes self-determination for the semi-autonomous city.

Soon after polls opened, several men and a woman heckled Chow as well as leading pro-democracy activists Joshua Wong and Nathan Law near a polling station where they were supporting pro-democracy candidate Au Nok-hin, according to an AFP reporter at the scene.

One of the men barged into Wong, who led mass demonstrations in 2014 calling for greater democratic freedoms.

"Traitors and running dogs!" a man repeatedly yelled -- insults commonly used by Beijing loyalists against political opponents -- while others hurled obscenities.

Wong told reporters that threats to freedoms in the city "prove that it's more necessary for us to vote".

Beijing has been incensed at the emergence of activists advocating independence and views calls for self-determination as part of a dangerous splittist push.

The vote comes on the day the Chinese Communist Party decided to give President Xi Jinping a mandate to rule for life, fuelling fears that Hong Kong's freedoms will come increasingly under threat.

The by-election was triggered after Beijing forced the disqualification of six rebel lawmakers who had swept to victory in citywide elections in 2016.

Some were former protest leaders, others openly advocated independence. All were ousted from their posts for inserting protests into their oaths of office.

Four of the six vacant seats are being contested Sunday.

Au said it was a "vote for justice" after stepping in to contest the Hong Kong Island seat after Agnes Chow was disallowed.

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The seat was originally held by Law, also a 2014 protest leader, who was among the six thrown out of office.

But pro-establishment politician Judy Chan, standing against Au, said the vote was a chance for "the silent majority, who are tired of a politicised Hong Kong, who detest those who humiliate the country" to push out destabilising opponents.

- 'Systemic violence' -

Democracy activists urged voters to the polls as by 6:30 pm (1030 GMT) only 31 percent of the 2.1 million eligible had turned out, lower than the rate in the landmark elections of 2016.

Some voters Sunday hoped a legislature weighted more towards the pro-Beijing establishment would help on livelihood issues in a city with a huge wealth gap and poverty issues.

Some accepted that Beijing was in charge.

"China is the big brother now," said a retired policeman who gave his name as Kwan.

But others were worried about rule of law in the city.

"I want my children and grandchildren to live in a place with a fair system," a banker who gave his name as Hong, 56, told AFP.

One 25-year-old university student named Lui slammed the government for using "systemic violence" to disqualify legislators.

The six lawmakers were retrospectively barred from office by Hong Kong's high court after Beijing issued a special "interpretation" of the city's mini-constitution, stipulating legislators had to take their oath "solemnly and sincerely" or face being banned.

Pro-independence lawmakers had inserted expletives and waved "Hong Kong is not China" banners during their swearing in. Others added phrases supporting the democracy movement.

The pro-democracy camp has come under increasing pressure since the failure of the Umbrella Movement to win political reform, with some leading activists jailed on protest-related charges.

Even if it wins back all four seats Sunday, it faces an uphill struggle in a legislature which is only half elected, with the rest selected by traditionally pro-establishment interest groups.

Of 70 seats, the democracy camp currently holds 24, only just clinging on to the one-third needed to veto important bills.DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran revealed on Sunday that it had sentenced an unidentified Iranian-British dual citizen to six years in jail for spying for Britain, in a case that appears not to have previously been disclosed. No details of the case were given, including when the person was arrested or where. The judiciary's Mizan news agency said Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi had "referred to a six-year prison sentence for an agent of England's intelligence service". It quoted him as saying the same British-Iranian citizen was also under investigation in a separate case related to a private bank, giving no further details. Iran does not recognize dual citizenship, which limits the access foreign embassies have to their dual citizens held there. A spokeswoman for Britain's foreign office was not immediately able to comment. At least two British-Iranian citizens are known to be held in Iran, including Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a project manager with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of the parent company of Reuters, whose case was taken up by Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson during a visit to Iran in December. She has been sentenced to five years for plotting the overthrow of Iran's government. Her employers and the British government say she was in Iran visiting relatives when she was arrested in April 2016. Kamal Foroughi, a 78-year-old British-Iranian businessman, was arrested in 2011 and convicted of espionage and possessing alcohol charges. Britain's foreign office says it has raised both cases with the Iranian authorities. In both cases, the families of those held deny the charges. Irans Revolutionary Guards have arrested at least 30 dual nationals since 2015, mostly on spying charges, Reuters reported in November. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Peter Graff)RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Israeli soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man during clashes in the occupied West Bank on Friday, the Palestinian Health Ministry said. An Israeli military spokesman said the man had been about to throw a fire-bomb at the troops, who were responding to an immediate threat when they shot him. He added that the incident in the city of Hebron would be reviewed. U.S.-led peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians broke down in 2014 and a new push by President Donald Trump's administration to restart negotiations has shown little progress so far. Tensions between the sides have risen since Trump declared on Dec. 6 that he recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Outraged Palestinian leaders said Washington could no longer take the lead in peace efforts but Israel has said the United States should remain peace-broker. Trump's announcement and the planned move in May of the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem - home to sites holy to Muslims, Jews and Christians - reversed decades of U.S. policy on the city. Its status is one of the biggest obstacles to reaching a peace agreement. The Palestinians want East Jerusalem as the capital of a future state. Israel says the entire city is its indivisible, and eternal capital. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Maayan Lubell; editing by David Stamp)Jerusalem (AFP) - Members of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition accused the embattled premier on Sunday of perpetuating a "fake crisis" over a political dispute to potentially force early elections.

The dispute comes as Netanyahu faces a possible indictment on bribery charges in the coming months.

Polls suggest he could remain prime minister and his Likud party could win the most seats in fresh elections despite police investigations into his affairs.

Victory could bolster his political standing ahead of the attorney general's decision on indictments.

Netanyahu has said he wants his coalition to last its entire term, which expires in November 2019 -- something he repeated on Sunday.

But others in his right-wing coalition suggested he had other motives, and speculation intensified throughout the day that Israel could soon be headed for elections.

The coalition is at loggerheads over legislation that would exempt young ultra-Orthodox men from military service, a dispute that has threatened to pull the government apart.

"Over the past week we've baked a good solution for the draft crisis. I can say that there's no draft crisis. It's a fake crisis," Education Minister Naftali Bennett, head of the Jewish Home party, told reporters ahead of Sunday's cabinet meeting.

He added that "it could be that there's someone who for personal reasons wants to generate a crisis and lead the state to elections... In the end it's all up to one person who has to decide whether he wants elections or not, and that's the prime minister."

Yaakov Margi of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party implied that compromises had been made to allow for a resolution, saying that "the feeling is that the prime minister has fallen in love with this fake crisis."

"Once the heads of the ultra-Orthodox parties announced they'd agree to a solution, the draft crisis was solved," he wrote on Twitter.

Story continues

"All the rest is a fake crisis."

- Rabbis reject compromise bill -

The ultra-Orthodox parties are refusing to approve the 2019 budget unless the conscription bill passes.

The bill is bitterly opposed by Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon is meanwhile insisting that the budget be approved before the end of this week.

At a meeting on Sunday, influential rabbis reportedly decided to stick by the demand that a bill on the military exemption be approved before the budget is passed while rejecting compromise legislation that had been proposed.

Netanyahu met with leaders of the ultra-Orthodox parties Saturday night, after which he said they were working on a draft for the bill that would meet legal and political demands.

Speaking with Likud ministers ahead of the Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu said they were "working for a stable government that would work until the end of its term in November 2019."

"In order for that to happen, all the parties need to reach agreements and decide to continue together," he said, implying that he was not the cause of the dispute.

Netanyahu has reportedly called on members of his coalition to commit to remaining in the government until the end of the current term as part of negotiations.

The 68-year-old premier could soon face charges in at least two separate corruption affairs.

Last week, Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of ultra-Orthodox alliance United Torah Judaism said that Netanyahu wanted early elections.

A spokesman for Litzman said on Sunday that there were currently discussions among all relevant parties over the wording of the conscription bill.Berlin (AFP) - Pro-Kurdish demonstrators staged protests against Turkey's military offensive in northern Syria on Sunday scuffling with Turks and German police at Duesseldorf airport, while in Britain they temporarily closed two train stations, authorities said.

Several people in Germany were left injured after police used pepper spray against some demonstrators opposed to Turkey's ongoing military operation "Olive Branch" against the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in Syria's Afrin region.

The unannounced rally of about 150 people -- one of several Kurdish demonstrations in Germany at the weekend -- turned rowdy and led to "a number of people suffering injuries", federal police told AFP.

Images on social media showed the protesters holding a banner that read "Afrin is becoming our Vietnam -- We will defeat fascism".

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to "purge" Kurdish militia from the town of Afrin as his forces and allied Syrian rebels advanced to within a few kilometres.

In Britain on Sunday flag-waving pro-Kurdish protesters forced the closure of Manchester Piccadilly train station and King's Cross station in London.

In the capital British police massed at the station entrance to prevent the crowd marching on to the concourse or platforms, causing service interruptions.

Meanwhile in Manchester scores of demonstrators made it onto the tracks, closing the station for several hours which led to trains being halted and impacting travellers across the country.

Superintendent Mark Cleland of the British Transport Police said: "Those involved in this afternoon's incident will be subject to intense investigation with a view to arrest and prosecution".Photo: Amrik Singh via Facebook

A law student was told to remove his turban at a bar by staff claiming the establishment has a no headwear policy.

Amrik Singh, 22, said he was enjoying a night out with friends in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, a town in the United Kingdom, when a bouncer approached him telling him to remove his turban if he wanted to stay, BBC reports.

In an audio recording, Singh is heard calmly explaining to Rush Bars bouncer that he is a Sikh and that the turban is not headwear but part of his religions requirements.

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The Nottingham Trent University student said that he was initially allowed into the establishment but was asked to leave about half an hour later because of his turban.

I explained that a turban isnt just headgear, but part of my religion and that I was allowed to wear a turban in public. The bouncer ignored this and said I needed to take it off, said Singh. I refused and was subsequently dragged away from my friends.

He asked to speak to a manager, and thats when he began the voice recording. He explained the meaning of his turban, and he was allowed to come back in for the night but was told that evening that he was barred from future visits.

This experience ruined my night. It broke my heart, he said. Im very fortunate that Im well-spoken and I am able to stand up for myself. What if it was someone who wasnt confident was told to leave? I am disgusted.

The bars management apologized, calling it absolutely unacceptable. The staff member has also been suspended.

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Singh did not report the incident to police, but he is looking into legal options. However, he said he wants to share this experience as a teachable moment to spread awareness in his community about religious rights.

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A lightning strike killed 16 people and injured hundreds more in a church in Rwanda, Africa, an official said Sunday.

Most of the victims were killed instantly when lightning struck the Seventh-Day Adventist church in the southern district of Nyaruguru, local mayor Habitegeko Francois told the AFP news agency.

GettyImages-915711284

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Francois said that two people subsequently died of their injuries and 140 people were taken to hospitals and health centers to be treated.

The lightning struck the church in a mountainous region near the border with Burundi at around midday on Saturday, said the official.

"Doctors say that only three [more churchgoers] are in critical condition but they are getting better," Mr Francois told AFP.

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The Seventh-Day Adventists are a Protestant denomination, which observes Saturday as the Sabbath. It emerged in the U.S. in the mid-nineteenth century, and has millions of adherents in countries across the world.

Francois said that one person was killed in a separate incident Friday. Lightning struck a group of 18 students in the same area, with three still hospitalized and the others allowed to return home.

The church incident comes after Rwandan regulators closed 700 churches for failing to comply with building regulations. The BBC reported that some of the shuttered churched did not have lightning conductorsdevices intended to protect buildings from lightning strikes.

Last week, Rwandan police arrested six pastors for defying church closures.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekAn American news anchor who recently interviewed Vladimir Putin, has suggested that the Russian leader "has something" on Donald Trump.

Megyn Kelly said the US President hurled abuse at other premiers but was so nice" to Mr Putin over fears Moscow could publish damaging information about him.

Mr Putin dismissed the idea that the Mr Trump had singled him out for any preferential treatment, telling the NBC New host that, he merely showed a partner respect.

Kelly asked the Russian leader:Anytime he says anything about you, it is extremely deferential, never a harsh word for you, although if you look at the way he speaks about members of his own party, of his own staff, never mind other political leaders, he frequently, personally insults them. Why do you think hes so nice to you?

Mr Putin replied via an interpreter: "I dont believe he treats me personally with reverence. He understands that if you need to cooperate with someone you must treat your future or current partner with respect, otherwise nothing will come of it.

In a separate interview about her conversation with the Russian President, Kelly told MSNBC presenter Chris Matthews: I would not say that Putin likes Trump. I did not glean that at all from him. I did glean that perhaps he has something on Donald Trump.

She added: I think theres a very good chance Putin knows some things about Donald Trump that Mr. Trump does not want repeated publicly, she added.

Her comments came as the FBI continues to investigate possible collusion between Mr Trumps election campaign and Russian hackers, who are alleged to have stolen information linked to the campaign of his rival Hillary Clinton and passed it to Wikileaks so it could be released to undermine her.

A dossier by former British spy Christopher Steele ahead of the election claimed that Mr Trump had deep ties with Russia, and also that he was involved in lewd acts in a five-star hotel during a 2013 trip to Moscow.

Story continues

The memo was given to an FBI inquiry which is investigating alleged collusion between the Kremlin and Mr Trumps election campaign.

The agency last month charged 13 Russian nationals and three internet companies in the country over claims they ran a social media campaign supporting Mr Trumps White House bid.

Mr Putin said so what over the claims, saying in the NBC interview that even if those charged were found guilty they had no links to the Kremlin.

He even suggested minorities in Russia might have been to blame, saying: Maybe theyre Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked.Miami officials are done horsing around with a Miami nightclub after they allowed a woman in a bikini to ride into their establishment on a white stallion.

The owners of the Moaki Lounge in South Beach had their license revoked on Friday after video of the horse entering the crowded nightclub became viral on social media, raising concerns about safety hazards and animal cruelty. They could be a target of a criminal probe.

Trending: Lightning Strike on Church Kills 16 and Injures Hundreds More

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I was disgusted and offended that any legitimate business person would think this is an appropriate action to take, said City Manager Jimmy L. Morales. This activity was not permitted, and as soon as we became aware, I immediately instructed staff to act swiftly in remedying this situation.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber stood by Moraless decision to revoke the business license, and called the actions idiotic.

"What kind of idiot would do something like this to an animal and endanger peoples lives at that club?" Gelber told the Miami Herald. "Its not tolerable, not right, not humane."

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In the video, a woman wearing a dark-colored bikini is riding the horse through the crowd, but the horse becomes spooked and suddenly bucks, causing the woman to fall to the ground.

Many clubgoers screamed and backed away, but clapped when the woman and horse got back up and were led away. Authorities have already opened up a criminal investigation.

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The animals well-being was also a big concern, but authorities were able to locate the horse and have said the animal is in good health.

Miami Dade PDs animal experts have located the horse that was at Mokai, Miami Beach police spokesman Ernesto Rodriguez said in a statement. The horse has been inspected and deemed to be healthy and safe.

Story continues

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekThe city of Miami Beach shut down a nightclub on Friday after video surfaced showing a woman in a bikini riding a spooked horse into a crowd of people.

The incident happened at the Mokai Lounge sometime between Wednesday evening and the early morning hours of Thursday, according to a city document obtained by HuffPost.

Attendees at the event recorded the commotion and posted footage to social media. One video showed a man trying to pull the seemingly resistant horse into the club as a man and woman ride on top of the animal. A second video shows the woman on the horse amid a tightly packed crowd of people. The horse throws the woman off before slowly walking through the crowd as people cheer.

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City Manager Jimmy Morales revoked the clubs business license on Friday, The Miami Herald reports. A city press release cites the incident as being a hazard to public safety and possible animal cruelty.

The woman seen in the video appeared to be an employee from the club, but thats still under investigation, Miami Beach spokeswoman Melissa Berthier told HuffPost.

The Miami Beach Police tweeted on Friday that authorities had found the horse seen in the video and that the it was deemed to be healthy and safe.

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At a press conference, Mayor of Miami Beach Dan Gelber said what happened could only be described as insane stupidity and irresponsibility, according to Buzzfeed. He added that the Mokai Lounge will be subject to an animal cruelty investigation.

Also on HuffPost

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Dogs packed three city buses at a Palm Beach County airport on Wednesday.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

The dogs waited in line for a chance to hightail it out of Florida for the northeast.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Animal shelter employees and volunteers tirelessly gathered up the dogs in hopes of transporting them onto the plane.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Two dogs wait inside of a city bus on Wednesday.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Two dogs wait inside of a city bus on Wednesday.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

It was like a game of Tetris as workers packed the plane with crates.

Story continues

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Workers with the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League pose with a crate.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

It was all hands on deck as shelter employees and volunteers packed the plane.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Dogs were sent into the plane one by one.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Donna, a Great Dane, is called over for a group shot in front of the plane.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Workers with the Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League and Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control pose with Donna, the Great Dane.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

Dozens of empty crates are seen covering a portion of the airport's tarmac.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

The dogs arrived on three city buses.

Roughly 200 dogs and cats are heading to new lives in the northeast this week after being pulled from storm-hit shelters in South Florida.

This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Tripoli (AFP) - The Libyan navy on Saturday rescued 252 migrants seeking to reach Europe, in two separate operations off the country's western coast.

"We were alerted... to the position of a migrant boat" around 30 kilometres (20 miles) off Zawiya, west of Tripoli, navy captain Rami al-Hadi Ghomed said.

He said the 140 migrants on board, including 14 women and four children, were brought back to Tripoli's naval base before being transferred to a detention centre.

Since the 2011 fall and killing of longtime dictator Moamer Kadhafi, unruly Libya has become a key launch pad for migrants making desperate bids to reach Europe, often on unseaworthy vessels.

To save money to pay smugglers for the crossing, some migrants stay and work in Libya -- such as Sunday Adeleghe, a 42-year-old Nigerian father of four.

He was among those who tried their luck on the boat rescued off Zawiya.

"I left my country in June," he said. "I couldn't go back to Nigeria with nothing."

"I started washing cars to save money for my family," he said.

"I'm desperate... but a man can die only once, not twice."

The second rescue operation took place around 50 kilometres off Garabulli, east of the capital.

The navy rescued "112 migrants, including 30 women and three children, aboard an inflatable boat", said navy spokesman Ayoub Kacem.

"The migrants, from African countries.... were given medical care before being transferred to the Tajoura detention centre" in Tripoli, Kacem said.

The navy gave no details on the origin of the boats, but smugglers usually launch departures from western Libya, just 300 kilometres from the Italian coast.

Recent years have seen thousands of migrants infiltrate the vast southern border of Libya in attempts to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.

The situation has deteriorated since Kadhafi's fall, as lawlessness and insecurity have pushed ever more migrants who were already present in Libya to attempt the perilous crossing.

At least 337 migrants have died or disappeared off the coast of Libya since the start of the year, according to the International Organization for Migration.

"If our rulers were good for us, Nigerians would not leave their country," Sunday said.NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - A Palestinian was shot and killed on Saturday in what began as a clash between Palestinians and Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian health officials said. Both sides blamed the other for instigating the violence that erupted between residents of a Jewish settlement and a nearby Palestinian village. The Israeli military said soldiers arrived at the scene and "used riot dispersal means and fired live rounds." The incident, it said, would be reviewed. Palestinian officials said a 19-year-old was killed and a second person was wounded, but it was unclear whether they were shot by Israeli soldiers or settlers. Some 550,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and East Jerusalem, areas that are home to more than 2.6 million Palestinians. (Reporting by Ali Sawafta and Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Stephen Powell)Rome (AFP) - Since taking charge of the Roman Catholic Church in March 2013, Pope Francis has transformed perceptions of an institution beset by scandals and plagued by self-doubt.

The sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Church may have cast a shadow over his papacy as it enters its fifth year on Tuesday.

However, the 81-year-old Argentinian has helped to facilitate a historic rapprochement between the United States and Cuba, played a role in the peace process between government forces and rebels in Colombia and thrown the power of the Church into the fight against climate change.

Born in Buenos Aires on December 17, 1936, the erstwhile Jorge Bergoglio is the first pope from Latin America and the first from the southern hemisphere.

He has championed the cause of the marginalised and the developing world, says he wants a "poor church for the poor" and a Catholic community which preaches mercy and understanding in the application of its teaching.

He was arguably the first global leader to grasp the scale of the migration crisis now engulfing Europe, railing against the "globalisation of indifference" on a visit to Lampedusa in July 2013, three months before two sinking disasters off the Italian island catapulted the issue onto newspaper front pages.

In April 2016, he flew to another island on the frontline of the migrant crisis, Lesbos, and returned to Rome with three families of Syrian Muslims in a gesture that underscored another of the dominant themes of the Francis papacy: interfaith reconciliation.

In May 2014, at the Israeli wall surrounding the Palestinian territories, he prayed, in silence, for its disappearance.

Such agenda-setting gestures have made the world beyond the confines of the Church sit up and take notice.

In his first year of office, Francis graced the covers of no fewer than three major US magazines: Time made him their 2013 person of the year, Esquire declared him their best-dressed man and Rolling Stone just declared: "He rocks."

Story continues

- Driving change -

With his penchant for having selfies taken with fans, kissing babies and making surprise phone calls to lonely widows, the smiling, bespectacled pontiff has an easy, popular touch.

That has helped him command a level of popularity his dour academic predecessor Benedict XVI could only dream of.

It has been a valuable asset as he has taken on vested interests in the Vatican hierarchy and the broader Church to push internal reforms, even if critics say some of those have now stalled.

Vatican insiders describe a leader with the business executive's capacity to make quick decisions.

In his five years in charge, Francis has shaken up and streamlined the Vatican bureaucracy and brought 21st-century auditing to the murky structures of the Holy See's banking system.

He has sought to tackle the enormously damaging scandal over sex abuse by priests by meeting victims, vowing to hold those responsible accountable and enacting new internal Church procedures to discipline bishops implicated in cover-ups.

He also set up a Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors to help deal with the scandal.

But his critics say the Church remains too reluctant to hand paedophile priests over to civil authorities.

- No palaces -

Modesty and humility are key components of the @Pontifex package.

An iron -- not gold -- cross and discrete, unostentatious clothes contrast with the fur-trimmed satin cloaks favoured by his predecessors.

He lives in a modest flat in St Martha's, a Vatican boarding house, having eschewed the option of a lavish Papal palace. Sumptuous summer facilities at Castel Gandolfo also go unused.

Holidays are not for this pope in a hurry, who has regularly hinted at a belief he will only survive a few years in the job.

When he opened the first round of a review of Church teaching on the family in October 2014, he told participants to follow his lead and speak honestly, "even if you think it will offend your pope".

His reform agenda on issues such as allowing divorced and remarried believers to take communion has run into opposition from conservatives, with whom Francis agrees on many other issues.

He denounces abortion as fervently as any cleric on the planet. To the dismay of many anti-poverty and women's rights activists, his Church has no inclination to overturn its ban on artificial contraception.

And to the dismay of many liberals, there is no space for gay marriage in his vision of how society should organise itself.

Yet the world outside may see a bigger picture, one of a Church adapting to the modern world: an organisation that once universally condemned homosexuality as a kind of sickness now being led by a grandfatherly figure who hugs his gay friends and sums up his attitude to homosexuality with the phrase: "Who am I to judge?"President Donald Trump suggested drug dealers in the United States should face harsher punishments, such as the death penalty or life in prison, during a campaign rally for congressional candidate Rick Saccone in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

I think its a discussion we have to start thinking about, Trump said during the rally in Moon Township. I dont know if were ready. I dont know if this countrys ready for it.

Trump praised Singapore and China for their zero tolerance policy when it comes to drugs, and floated the idea for the U.S.

That means if we catch a drug dealer, death penalty, Trump said of Singapore, recalling a conversation he had with the countrys president. And they dont have a problem.

The president may have also pulled inspiration from the Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte, whose bloody war against drugs has led to the deaths of thousands of people  including small-time drug users and innocent people whom he has called collateral damage.

Last year, Trump congratulated Duterte for his efforts in eradicating drugs from the country, according to a leaked transcript of their phone call.

I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug problem, Trump reportedly said. Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.

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Speaking at Saccones campaign rally Saturday, Trump said drug dealers need to be handled in the same way the U.S. handles those convicted of murder, adding that people who kill some person, knife one person may get the death penalty or life in prison.

You kill 5,000 people with drugs because youre smuggling them in and youre making a lot of money and people are dying and they dont even put you in jail, Trump said.

Thats why we have a problem, folks, he added. I dont think we should play games.

Trumps remarks this weekend mirror a speech he made at the White House Opioids Summit last week, when he suggested again that drug dealers should have to face the death penalty.

Story continues

Some countries have a very, very tough penalty  the ultimate penalty, Trump said during last weeks summit. And, by the way, they have much less of a drug problem than we do.

Trumps self-congratulating speech on Saturday covered a wide variety of topics. During the rally, Trump claimed his controversial tariffs would revive the steel industry, took credit for the reduced tensions with North Korea and discussed competing against Oprah Winfrey if she decides to run in the 2020 presidential elections.

Trump also announced his new re-election campaign slogan: Keep America Great, exclamation point.

Also on HuffPost

A sign seen during L.A. Pride Resist March in Los Angeles on June 11, 2017. Tens of thousands of members of the LGBTQ community and their allies gather for the annual gay pride parade, which this year was replaced with a Resist March.

U.S. first lady Melania Trump, with U.S. President Donald Trump and hosts Dean Cain (L) and Kathie Lee Gifford (2nd L), reacts after she pressed the button to light the tree during the National Christmas Tree lighting ceremony near the White House in Washington, U.S. November 30, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - MAY 21: (----EDITORIAL USE ONLY MANDATORY CREDIT - 'BANDAR ALGALOUD / SAUDI ROYAL COUNCIL / HANDOUT' - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS----)US President Donald Trump, US First lady Melania Trump (2nd R), Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud (2nd L) and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi (L) put their hands on an illuminated globe during the inauguration ceremony of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on May 21, 2017. (Photo by Bandar Algaloud / Saudi Royal Council / Handout/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on agriculture at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, U.S. June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts as people applaud during his visit to the newly-remodeled Pyongyang Teacher Training College, in this photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang on January 17, 2018. KCNA/via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS PICTURE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. REUTERS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS IMAGE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. SOUTH KOREA OUT.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks to police gathered at Fraternal Order of Police lodge during a campaign event in Statesville, North Carolina, U.S., August 18, 2016. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

Close up photo of a mother and son using a digital tablet

Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing on "Russian Federation Efforts to Interfere in the 2016 U.S. Elections" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. June 8, 2017. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The president's official Twitter page as seen at 12:01 p.m. on Jan. 20, 2017.

WASHINGTON, DC. - JAN. 21: Organizers put the Women's March on Washington in Washington D.C. on Saturday Jan. 21, 2017. (Photo by Alanna Vagianos, Huffington Post) *** Local Caption ***

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Renee Sloan revealed on social media that she is suffering from health issues affecting her brain.

Sloan, who is a stuntwoman and the wife of Scott Baio, replied to someone on Twitter who asked about how she was doing health-wise. She wrote: Besides having 2 meningioma brain tumors, in Oct 2017 I also learned I have Microvascular Brain Disease.

Shortly after sharing the news, Baio also took to Twitter to confirm it. In addition to sharing her original tweet, he wrote: Unfortunately, this is true. Renee is forever my rock, my life & my soulmate! Toughest person I know.

Trending: Mueller Will Take Down Trump Or Im Counting on Stormy To Do It, Maxine Waters Says

3_10_Renee Sloan

Paul J. Richards/AFP/Getty Images

Microvascular ischemic disease involves changes to the brains small blood vessels, according to Healthline. Those changes can go on to affect white matter, which helps with regulating nerve activity. Treatment for the disease involves various strategies such as monitoring blood pressure, lowering cholesterol and taking aspirin or blood thinner medications to help prevent strokes.

Back in 2015, Baio revealed that his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor.

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Just a few days ago we learned my wife, Renee has a meningioma brain tumor. Although 90% of these type of tumors are benign they can cause serious problems depending on the size of the tumor and the location, the Happy Days actor wrote on Facebook.

In February, actress Nicole Eggert accused Baio of sexual assault while she was a minor, E! News reports.

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"Getting the job on Charles in Charge when I was 11 was one of the most wonderful things that had ever happened to me. It represented everything good about my life and my future. My excitement did not last long, Eggert said, according to E! News.

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Eggert went on Megyn Kelly Today and discussed details on the years-long assault saying that Baio groped her and tried to sneak kisses backstage, among other inappropriate behavior.

He has denied all of her claims.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekMoscow (AFP) - Russia said Sunday it successfully launched a hypersonic missile which President Vladimir Putin called "an ideal weapon" as he unveiled a new array of next-generation arms earlier this month.

The high-precision Kinzhal (Dagger) missile was launched from a MiG-31 supersonic interceptor jet that took off from an airfield in the South Military District in Russia's southwest, the defence ministry said.

"The launch went according to plan, the hypersonic missile hit its target," the ministry added.

The ministry released video footage showing two pilots gearing up for a flight and then running towards a jet with a large missile slung beneath its underbelly.

Set to rousing, patriotic music, the video then shows a missile detaching from the airborne plane and gliding across the dark sky, leaving a fiery trail behind.

The Kinzhal missile was one of an array of new weapons Putin unveiled in his state-of-the-nation address earlier this month, ahead of a presidential election on March 18 that he is all but guaranteed to win.

Putin said the missile flies at 10 times the speed of the sound and can overcome air-defence systems.

The missile has been deployed in the Southern Military District since December 1, he added.

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said on Facebook that work had also been done to modernise the "unique" MiG-31 supersonic jet that will carry the missile.

Since the start of the year, more than 250 sorties have been carried out by the aircraft to perfect the work of the missile systems, the defence ministry said.Scuffles outside an Aberdeen polling station on Sunday marked the start of a by-election in Hong Kong that could prove to be a crucial test for the citys pro-democracy movement.

Pro-Beijing hecklers jeered and shoved student protest leaders Joshua Wong and Nathan Law at a campaign stop for pro-democracy candidate Au Nok-hin on the south of Hong Kong island. The by-election was triggered when six lawmakers elected in 2016 were ejected from the citys Legislative Council over protests made during their swearing-in ceremony.

Four of the six vacant seats are being contested on March 11 in a vote that could mark a shift in power in Hong Kong. The pro-democracy camp, which holds 24 of the 70 seats, faces the loss of its ability to veto bills in the Legislative Council if its share of the chamber falls below one-third. The Legislative Council is dominated by Pro-Beijing factions with around half of chamber elected by interest groups representing businesses and industries.

Law and Wong initially backed fellow Demosisto Party member Agnes Chow in the election but switched to support Au Nok-hin after Chow was barred from standing by Hong Kongs Electoral Affairs Commission. The electoral watchdogs ruling that Demosistos calls for self-determination for Hong Kong violated the citys mini-constitution sparked a political storm in January.

Law, who was one of the disqualified lawmakers, and Wong, were ineligible to stand in Sundays election because of ongoing legal action over their involvement in the 2014 Occupy Central protests.

This video shows the scuffle in Aberdeen and a comment on the incident from Nathan Law. Credit: Aaron Mc Nicholas via StoryfulHANOI (Reuters) - A senior Vietnamese police official was arrested on Sunday on suspicion of involvement in an international gambling ring, the police ministry said. The case is part of a widespread corruption crackdown in Communist party-ruled Vietnam that has now extended beyond the energy and banking sectors to provincial levels and the public security force. Police issued an order for the arrest of Nguyen Thanh Hoa, 60, accused by prosecutors of organizing gambling, the ministry statement said, adding the move was part of an online gambling and money laundering case. "This is a particularly large scale case, using high technology, especially serious, complex and sensitive, involving many people, many sectors and provinces, involving officials within the police," State-run radio Voice of Vietnam news website cited the Party's secretariat as saying on Sunday. Local state-controlled media VnExpress and Tuoi Tre News website said Hoa was a former head of the police's high-technology department. Hoa was also stripped off his "people's police" title by the nation's president on Sunday, the ministry said. Vietnam's anti-graft push caught international attention last year when Germany accused the Southeast Asian nation of kidnapping a Vietnamese official from a Berlin park in scenes reminiscent of the Cold War. The man was eventually handed two life sentences for embezzlement. The crackdown has also resulted in a 13-year prison term for a former politburo member, Dinh La Thang, and a death sentence for a former chairman of state energy firm PetroVietnam. Dozens of other officials received jail terms. (Reporting by Mai Nguyen, Editing by William Maclean)Freetown (AFP) - The opposition challenger in Sierra Leone's presidential election edged ahead of the ruling party candidate by fewer than 15,000 votes, according to new partial results released on Sunday.

Julius Maada Bio has garnered 43.4 percent of the vote to 42.6 percent for Samura Kamara with 75 percent of polling stations in each province reporting, the National Election Commission (NEC) announced.

The National Grand Coalition headed by former UN diplomat Kandeh Yumkella, which is hoping to inflict damage on the two-party system, stood at 6.69 percent, the NEC said.

Full results are expected in the next few days, but a second round decider appears nearly certain as the threshold for a first-round win is 55 percent.

President Ernest Bai Koroma, who cannot run again after consecutive five-year terms, anointed Kamara as his successor for the ruling All Peoples Party (APC).

The APC and Bio's Sierra Leone Peoples Party have alternately ruled Sierra Leone since independence from Britain in 1961.

European Union observers on Friday described the election as "transparent, credible and well-organised" on the whole.

But they noted sporadic "intimidation and violence," concerns echoed by the Freetown-based Campaign for Human Rights and Development International (CHRDI).

Early results triggered unrest as supporters of the two main parties clashed in Freetown's central business district, leading to several arrests.

A runoff poll must take place two weeks after final results are unveiled.

The export-dependent economy of the mineral-rich but impoverished West African country is in a dire state following the 2014-16 Ebola crisis. A commodity price slump has driven away foreign investors.Free agent starter Lance Lynn agreed to sign with the Minnesota Twins on Saturday, adding a workhorse starter to a rotation in need of quality innings, a source familiar with the deal told Yahoo Sports.

The 30-year-old Lynn, ranked 13th in Yahoo Sports Ultimate Free Agent Tracker, returned from Tommy John surgery in 2017 after missing the previous season and tied for the National League lead in games started with 33. His history of durability prior to the surgery and his comeback gave the Twins enough comfort to guarantee Lynn $12 million over one year.

Starting pitcher Lance Lynn is headed to the Minnesota Twins. (Getty)

The big question surrounding Lynn is whether his peripheral numbers last season foretell a dip in performance or were simply anomalous. Lynn allowed nearly twice as many home runs last year as he did over his previous five major league seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals, and his strikeout rate dipped from 8.7 per nine to 7.4. Lynns walk rate climbed to a career high, too, at 3.8 per nine.

At the same time, his track record does buy him a certain amount of leeway. Twice Lynn exceeded 200 innings, and in his other full two seasons, he topped 175. And with Lynn as reliant as he is on the fastball  he threw it 81 percent of the time last season  he runs the risk, should his strikeouts continue to dip, of being particularly vulnerable to bat-to-ball hitters.

The Lynn archetype is still beloved by executives, and the idea of consistent innings in the middle to back of the rotation is alluring. At this juncture, Lynn probably cant be much more than that, and the new going rate for a non-elite-but-consistent starting pitcher in this unusual offseason is $12 million for one season.

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By Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A human rights lawyer plans to launch a class action lawsuit against South African food producer Tiger Brands on behalf of the families of people who died and those affected by the worst listeria outbreak in history.

South Africa's health minister said on Thursday the government would support anyone intending court action over the outbreak that has killed 180 people out of 967 verified cases since January last year.

Tiger Brands said on Friday it had received a report from the department of health which confirmed the presence of the LST6 listeria strain at its factory in the northern city of Polokwane and it was appointing an expert team to identify the causes.

On Saturday, spokeswoman Nevashnee Naicker said the company "had not received any notifications of any class action suits" and declined to comment further.

The planned class action is being prepared by Richard Spoor, who has spearheaded legal action against gold producers over the fatal lung disease silicosis for which the companies have made 5 billion rand ($425 million) in provisions.

"I expect to launch it in two to three weeks," Spoor told Reuters.

U.S. lawyer Bill Marler, who won $110 million in compensation from fast-food chain Jack in the Box for victims of a 1993 ecoli outbreak in the United States that sickened 700 people and killed four, is consulting on the case.

"In the United States we would not use a class action because the variety of damages are so different for all of these people," Marler, currently in Johannesburg, told Reuters.

"There are differences between people who are sick for a week and those who died or have long-term complications. But here you can do that all in one class action," he said.

A class action typically involves a large number of people who collectively band together to sue a person or company for damages.

The source is low-priced processed meats that are mostly consumed by the poor and working class, prompting a recall of such products and bans on imports of them from South Africa by several countries in the region.

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Tiger Brands Chief Executive Lawrence McDougal said on Monday that there was no direct link between the deaths and its processed cold meat products.

In Malawi on Saturday, South African processed meats were set alight in large bonfires in several locations, one which was witnessed by a Reuters reporter in the capital Lilongwe.

The disease causes flu-like symptoms, nausea, diarrhoea and infection of the blood stream and brain.

($1 = 11.8078 rand)

(Additional reporting by Frank Phiri in Blantyre; Editing by Dale Hudson)In a chilling speech on Saturday, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon urged a conference of Frances far-right National Front party to wear charges of racism as a badge of honor.

Footage of Bannons remarks shows him predicting victory after victory for the far right over the globalists. The term is one extreme-right groups often use as an anti-Semitic slur, referring to what they see as Jewish control of financial institutions and media around the world. U.S. Donald Trump referred to his outgoing chief economic adviser, Gary Cohn, who is Jewish, as seriously a globalist this week.

Bannon roused National Front members in Lille, France, to their feet, telling them: History is on our side. And the biggest reason: The globalists have no answers to freedom. Let them call you racist. Let them call you xenophobes. Let them call you nativist. Wear it as a badge of honor. Because every day, we get stronger, and they get weaker.

He said party members are part of a worldwide movement that is bigger than France, bigger than Italy, bigger than Hungary  bigger than all of it ... The tide of history is with us, and it will compel us to victory after victory after victory, France 24 reported.

Bannon said he was there as an observer, not a teacher, because of the deep far-right roots in Europe. Our populist nationalist movement in the United States is maybe 10 or 15 years old, Bannon said. We are here to learn from you.

He predictably disparaged the media and the central governments, the central banks, the central crony capitalist technology companies that control you.

Steve Bannon with French politician Marine Le Pen at France's National Front conference in Lille, France. (Photo: Reuters/Pascal Rossignol)

French leaders condemned Bannons appearance at the conference.

The king of fake news and of white supremacists at a National Front summit  why am I not surprised? asked Christophe Castaner, head of French President Emmanuel Macrons Republic on the Move party.

Bannon is currently on tour in Europe to help promote a global populist movement, according to an interview published Friday in The New York Times. He said he had a fascinating meeting earlier in the week with leaders of Germanys far-right Alternative for Germany party.

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The head of the National Front party, Marine Le Pen, was trounced in last years presidential vote in France. Her party won only eight seats in the general election. A growing majority of French people now consider the party a threat to democracy, according to a recent poll, Reuters reported.

Also on HuffPost

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Marine Le Pen congratulates Mr Bannon after his speech - AFP

Steve Bannon - the man who helped Donald Trump ride a populist wave to power in the US - has backed the struggling French far-Right leader Marine Le Pen at a key conference aimed at giving her Front National party a new name and a new direction.

History is on our side and it will take us from victory to victory, he told thousands of FN supporters gathered in Lille in the hope of reviving a party battered by electoral failures, defections, and vicious infighting.

You are part of a worldwide movement that is bigger than Italy, bigger than Poland, bigger than Hungary, Mr Bannon said, referring to the electoral successes of far-Right and nationalist parties in those countries.

The former White House adviser and ex-head of Breitbart News, who has repeatedly expressed support for Europe's far-Right movements, was a surprise guest at the FN conference, with his speech only being announced late on Friday.

"The king of fake news and of white supremacists at an FN summit... why am I not surprised? Change of name (for the Front National) but not of the political line," said the head of President Emmanuel Macron's centrist En Marche party, Christophe Castaner.

Marine Le Pen is expected to be re-elected leader on Sunday but has seen a dip in her fortunes Credit: AFP

But Ms Le Pen will be hoping that Mr Bannons presence in Lille will give her a badly-needed boost, after a slump in popularity since her disastrous finale in the presidential campaign, where she lost to Mr Macron in the run-off despite taking more than 10 million votes.

She is due to make a speech at the conference on Sunday.

A poll out this week suggested that almost three quarters of French people think she would make a bad president. More than half said she was incapable of uniting her divided camp and that the anti-immigrant and eurosceptic FN would never win power.

Ms Le Pen has been at the helm of the party since 2011, gaining more electoral ground than her father and party founder Jean-Marie Le Pen ever managed by de-demonising the FN and winning local and European elections.

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But her anti-euro stance and threats to take France out of the European Union damaged her appeal to older voters in particular.

She now plans to focus even more on immigration in the hope of garnering extra support from voters in France, where polls have consistently shown a majority of people believe there are too many migrants in the country.

Her touted shift to place immigration at the heart of her policy comes in the wake of successes enjoyed by far-right parties in Holland, Austria, Germany and most recently Italy, where anti-immigration policies have been championed.

Marine Le Pen is expected to be re-elected leader on Sunday

She is the sole candidate for leader of the party and will no doubt be re-elected on Sunday behind the slogan get established, forge alliances, govern and with promises to create a joint list of nationals against globalisers at European elections next year.

She told Le Figaro newspaper this week that those elections could see Eurosceptics win a majority in the European parliament.

But even staunch Le Pen supporters are starting to doubt whether she can take the party any higher, with many placing their faith in her young niece, Marion Marechal Le Pen, who returned to the political fore after addressing conservatives in America last month.

Marion Marechal-Le Pen speaks at the CPAC conference Credit: Reuters

Ms Marechal Le Pen will not attend the conference in Lille, nor will Ms Le Pens firebrand father, who she has thrown out of the party and who is due to be stripped of his title of honorary party president at the congress.

He remains a thorn in his daughters side, slamming the prospect of a party name change as suicide.

On Friday, he questioned the transparency of the internal survey on the issue, saying: Who was sent the questionnaire? What was the participation level? How and by whom was the count conducted, nobody knows.

Mr Le Pen has also returned to the media spotlight after releasing the first tome of his memoirs, Son of the Nation, which became a bestseller with a fresh print run of 50,000 after the first sold out.

Gilbert Collard, an FN MP who is close to Ms Le Pen also said he was against a name change. Thats not what will de-demonise us," he said.

Ms Le Pen is facing an assault on her usual stamping ground of immigration and security from the leader of the mainstream Right-wing Republicans, Laurent Wauquiez, but he remains an unpopular figure for now.

This week she warned France "don't bury us", pointing out that Eurosceptic far-Right came top in Italy.

Political analyst Bruno Cautres said: "The socio-economic situation of the working class remains unchanged (in France) since the election of Emmanuel Macron.

The question of the European Union, its project, the integration or not of other countries remains in limbo. This fertile ground for the FN is still there."BEIRUT (Reuters) - The Syrian rebel group Jaish al-Islam said on Friday it had agreed to evacuate Nusra Front fighters being held in its prisons in besieged eastern Ghouta to rebel-held Idlib province. Syrian state television then showed footage it said was of 13 fighters and their families beginning to leave the besieged enclave on the outskirts of Damascus. In a statement on Twitter on Friday, Jaish al-Islam, one of the main factions in eastern Ghouta, said the decision had been made in consultation with the United Nations, a number of international parties and civil society representatives from eastern Ghouta. "After our meeting today with the delegation which entered Ghouta accompanying the aid convoy, an agreement was reached to evacuate the first batch of (Nusra Front) members present in the prisons of Jaish al-Islam who had been detained during security operation that Jaish al-Islam began on 28 April, 2017," read the statement from the group's leadership, dated Friday. Mohammad Alloush, the political chief of Jaish al-Islam, told pan-Arab television channel al-Arabiya al-Hadath on Friday that the number of Nusra fighters in eastern Ghouta does not exceed "a few hundred". Ghouta has been besieged for years, but in the last two weeks, the Syrian army has retaken nearly all the farmland in eastern Ghouta under cover of near-ceaseless shelling and air strikes, leaving only a dense sprawl of towns - about half the territory - still under insurgent control. On Friday, an emergency aid convoy crossed front lines into eastern Ghouta and delivered its supplies. It was not clear if the deal to evacuate members of Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of jihadist factions linked to the Nusra Front, formerly the Syrian branch of al Qaeda, would lead to a wider evacuation of fighters from other groups or civilians. In many other cases across Syria, rebels have surrendered terrain in return for safe passage to other opposition areas for themselves as well as relatives and other civilians loath to fall back under Assad's rule. (This version of the story was refiled to fix typo in penultimate paragraph) (Reporting by Lisa Barrington; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Robin Pomeroy)File photo: Getty Images

A Massachusetts teacher was placed on administrative leave after allegedly making inappropriate gun-related comments to students at Plymouth North High School on Friday.

Boston 25 News reports that students in the schools cafeteria were told to stay in place due to a students medical emergency. Thats when a student jokingly commented on how he would use the opportunity to get the answers to an upcoming test. The teacher allegedly replied to the joke that the answers of the test were in his house by the nightstand where he keeps his gun.

Alexis MacDonald, 18, overheard and immediately texted her mom, who alerted the police.

The student said, Ill just find the answers to the test online somewhere, and he [the teacher] responded with, No, because they are in my safe at my house near my gun, said MacDonald.

Police were then called to the school to investigate the incident, according to Superintendent Gary Maestas.

In a note to parents, Maestas said the inappropriate remarks were made about a gun the teacher owns. A statement on Plymouth Public Schools Facebook page read: We want to make students and parents aware that our investigation, assisted by Police, has indicated that this situation involved a statement only, and not the possession of anything illegal.

Police records show officers responded to the high school on Friday after reports of suspicious activity, but no arrests were listed.

Maestas said the teachers employment status is being reviewed as the district continues its investigation.

After last months Parkland, Fla., massacre, in which a former student is accused of opening fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School with an AR-15, killing 17 people, students and faculty across the country have been quick to report any suspicious gun-related activity to prevent future incidents.

In Indiana earlier this month, a teacher was suspended for having a gun in his car while parked on school property, Indy Channel reports. Two students spotted the gun and alerted officials.

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According to a CBS report, a New Jersey history high school teacher was suspended after he spoke out forcefully about the need for the high school to beef up security. He allegedly expressed support for arming teachers after the Parkland school shooting.

Student gun threats are also being taken more seriously. Last week, an elementary school student, 11, was suspended for two weeks after he allegedly threatened to shoot a teacher in Springfield, Ohio, according to the Dayton Daily News.

Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for nonstop inspiration delivered fresh to your feed, every day.



President Donald Trump speaks during an Opioid Summit in the White House: AP

Drug dealers could be executed in the US under a policy reportedly being looked at by Donald Trump's administration.

In one of a number of proposals being examined, prosecutors could be given the go-ahead to pursue the death penalty in cases involving the trafficking of the synthetic drug fentanyl, given that small doses of it can be fatal.

It would come as part of a wider crackdown on opioids, which claimed the lives of more than 60,000 Americans in 2016, The Washington Post reported.

The class of drug that acts on the nervous system includes heroin as well as everyday pain relievers that can be bought over the counter, but can lead to addictions and fatal overdoses.

Mr Trump has reportedly spoken in private about giving the death penalty for dealers, believing that it has been a successful way to tackle the drug problem in nations such as Singapore.

Officials from the country have briefed White House staff on its policies to deal with the issue which includes treatment and education for users but also the death penalty for traffickers.

The president has also praised the hardline approach in the Philippines, praising President Rodrigo Duterte for his unbelievable job. Thousands have been killed in extrajudicial police killings in the countrys war on drugs.

Mr Trump said at a White House summit on opioids last week: "Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do.

Courts can only hand down executions in the US in cases involving drugs when it involves the murder or the death of a law enforcement officer.

Mr Trumps administration has already called for harsher penalties for traffickers as part of his response to the opioid crisis in the US.

The official heading the White Houses strategy on the problem is Kellyanne Conway.

There is an appetite among many law enforcement, health professionals and grieving families that we must toughen up our criminal and sentencing statutes to match the new reality of drugs like fentanyl, which are so lethal in such small doses," she told news website Axios.

Story continues

"The president makes a distinction between those that are languishing in prison for low-level drug offenses and the kingpins hauling thousands of lethal doses of fentanyl into communities, that are responsible for many casualties in a single weekend."

The White House did not reply for comment over reports that it would seek the death penalty for drug traffickers.The Trump administration took its first steps to ban bump stocks on guns through regulatory action Saturday morning.

The Department of Justice submitted notice of proposed regulation to clarify the meaning of machinegun in the National Firearms Act and Gun Control Act includes bump stock devices, and that federal law, therefore, prohibits their possession, sale, or manufacture.

"President Trump is absolutely committed to ensuring the safety and security of every American and he has directed us to propose a regulation addressing bump stocks, said Attorney General Jeff Sessions in a statement.

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Bump stocks are molded to the bottom of riffles and allow shooters to release dozens of bullets in a matter of seconds by bumping the weapons trigger.

Sessions said he would go ahead with the rule despite protests from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, it claims that it does not have the authority to enforce the rule, only Congress does.

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Getty Images

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Once approved, the rule will be open to public comment for a period of time, typically between 30 and 60 days. That comment is then considered in the final draft of the proposal and once approved becomes a rule the Department of Justice governs by.

The proposed rule change is a response to the Parkland High School shooting on February 14th that left 17 dead. Bump stocks are going to be gone, the president promised in its aftermath.

While the Parkland shooter did not use bump stocks, the gunman at last Octobers Las Vegas shooting, who killed 58 people, did.

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After the Las Vegas shooting there was a bipartisan call for Congress to ban bump stocks, but Congress failed to act on the issue. House Speaker Paul Ryan instead called for a rule made by the Department of Justice.

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The proposed change is a response to a national debate over gun safety and control triggered by the teenaged survivors of the Parkland shooting. Walmart, LL Bean and Krogers have all raised the minimum age to buy a gun from 18 to 21 in response of the advocacy, and Dicks Sporting Goods announced it would no longer sell assault weapons.

On Friday, Florida Governor signed a bill into law banning the sale of guns to those under 21 and banning bump stocks. The state was immediately sued by the National Rifle Association, who claim the law violates the second and 14th amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekDonald Trump has once again attacked the media for writing 'false' stories about him: Carolyn Kaster/AP

President Donald Trump has hit back at claims he is unhappy with his legal team, amid reports that he has spoken to a lawyer who represented Bill Clinton in impeachment hearings about joining the White House.

Mr Trump tweeted that a story suggesting he was looking to add Washington lawyer Emmet T Flood to his team - as he looks to deal with Special Counsel Robert Muellers probe into Russias election meddling and any possible links to his campaign - was false.

I am VERY happy with my lawyersThey are doing a great job, Mr Trump said, saying that it was wrong that he was going to add another lawyer to help out.

The New York Times reported that Mr Flood had held discussions with Mr Trump in the White House during the last week, citing a number of people connected to the matter - although it is said that a final decision had not yet been made. The duties that Mr Flood might take up in the White House, would revolve around the day-to-day dealings with the Justice Department.

Mr Trump tweeted that his lawyers John Dowd, Ty Cobb and Jay Sekulow had shown conclusively that there was no collusion with Russia - a refrain that he has repeatedly used in recent months. Mr Trump also fell back on a number of other tropes from his campaign, alleging without presenting any evidence that the only collusion was by the DNC, the Democrats and Crooked Hillary [Clinton], his presidential opponent in 2016.

While calling the New York Times story false, Mr Trump did not directly address the question of whether he had held recent meetings with Mr Flood, with sources also telling Reuters that the meeting had taken place.

Attacking the newspaper as failing, another constant in his regular criticism on the media that covers him, Mr Trump called one of the reporters on the story, Maggie Haberman, as a Hillary flunky who knows nothing about me and is not given access. That is despite Ms Haberman having previously been given interviews in the Oval Office, and also being known for breaking stories about the president.

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As for Mr Flood, he has previously worked in the White House Counsels office under George W Bush, represented former Vice President Dick Cheney and is said to have turned down an offer to work in the White House last year.

It said that Mr Trump has no new concerns about Mr Muellers inquiry, any discussions about his legal team would indicate that Mr Trumps team believe that the investigation would be ending swiftly. That the investigation would end in relatively short order has been the line of Mr Cobb, who has taken the lead role in dealing with the special counsels office and advocated a co-operative approach.

Word of the discussions came as Trump's outside legal team has been negotiating with Mr Mueller over a possible interview with the president.President Donald Trump announced Saturday that Chinas President Xi Jinping first got him thinking about introducing the death penalty for drugs dealers.

We catch a drug dealer, death penalty. Thats it, Trump told the crowd.

At the Pennsylvania rally for U.S. House candidate Rick Saccone  who is expected to lose to Democrat Conor Lamb  Trump hailed Asian countries, such as China and Singapore, where the death penalty is meted out to drugs dealers, He told the crowd, "Its a discussion we have to start thinking about. I dont know if this countrys ready for it.

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Getty Images

Do you think the drug dealers who kill thousands of people during their lifetime, do you think they care whos on a blue-ribbon committee? Trump asked.

The only way to solve the drug problem is through toughness. When you catch a drug dealer, youve got to put him away for a long time.

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Trump has recently come out in support of executing drugs dealers, suggesting that the punishment could be used to help tackle the opioid crisis. More than 64,000 people were killed by opioids in 2016.

On Saturday Trump promised that his administration would roll out unspecified tougher policies on opioids, and was reportedly met with cheers from the crowd of supporters.

The Washington Post reported earlier Saturday that officials at the Domestic Policy Council and the Department of Justice are looking into introducing legislation allowing prosecutors to seek the death penalty for dealers. The White House said that Trump had expressed interest in Singapores policy of executing drug dealers.

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Story continues

Some countries have a very tough penalty, the ultimate penalty, and they have much less of a drug problem than we do, Trump said during an appearance at a White House summit on opioids last week.

Singapore officials have reportedly briefed White House officials on their country's drugs offense punishment laws.

Trump has previously expressed admiration for Philippines President Rodrigo Dutertes controversial crackdown on drugs dealers, which human rights groups say has led to thousands of extrajudicial killings by security services and police.

Shortly after taking office, Trump reportedly praised Duterte in a phone call for doing an unbelievable job on the drug problem.

Trump in a recent humorous speech praised a proposed Chinese Communist Party measure abolishing the two presidential term limit, suggesting a similar measure could be introduced in the U.S.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekAt a Pennsylvania rally Saturday, President Donald Trump claimed that he won 52 per cent of the women's vote during the 2016 presidential election  but the facts tell a different story.

Responding to speculation that women would not turn out to vote for him in the 2020 election, Trump said "Remember, women won't like Donald Trump.

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Getty Images

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"I said, 'Have I really had that kind of a problem?' ... We got 52 percent. And I'm running against a woman. You know, that's not that easy."

Trump in fact claimed 52 percent of the vote of white women during the election, with his rival, Hillary Clinton, winning 54 percent of the female vote.

Overall, Trump got 41 percent of votes from women during the election, with only 4 percent of black women's votes and a quarter of Latin women's votes.

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Trumps share of the vote from white women was the worst for a Republican candidate since 2000, when George W. Bush narrowly beat Democrat Al Gore, reported The Washington Post.

Trump faced multiple accusations of sexual assault by women during the 2016 election, after the notorious Access Hollywood tape surfaced on which he boasted of groping women.

For International Womens Day, Trump released a statement in which he proclaimed his administrations support for female entrepreneurs and women working in peace keeping and security. In a January interview Trump said that he is not a feminist, because he's not solely supportive of women but of all people.

Trump made the remarks at a rally for GOP candidate Rick Saccone, who is narrowly trailing his Democrat rival, Conor Lamb, in the special election in the traditionally deep red district.

Story continues

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekPresident Donald Trump could sit down for an interview with special counsel Robert Mueller in exchange for concluding the ongoing investigation into Russias meddling in the 2016 presidential election, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Trumps lawyers are considering using a possible interview as negotiation leverage, and might ask Mueller to end the Trump-related portion of his investigation within 60 days of speaking with the president. They would also ask Mueller to keep the conversation narrow, focusing only on Trumps firing of former FBI director James Comey and former national security adviser Mike Flynn.

Talks between Trumps lawyers and Mueller are reportedly still in the beginning phases.

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The president has previously said that he is open to speaking with Mueller while under oath. Im looking forward to it, actually, he said during an impromptu White House press briefing in January. Heres the story, just so you understand, he said, theres been no collusion whatsoever. Theres no obstruction whatsoever, and Im looking forward to it.

The president has repeatedly denied any collusion with Moscow during the 2016 presidential elections, and often refers to Muellers ongoing investigation as a witch hunt. Trump has reportedly been encouraging his legal team to end the investigation as quickly as possible and has said that the investigation is bad for America, and that the world is laughing at the United States because of it.

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But legal experts said that Trumps requests would likely be denied.

You cant put a timeline on these things, Peter Zeidenberg, a former federal prosecutor and an expert in government investigations told The Journal. Someone could walk in the door on the day before their proposed deadline and say, Ive got some information thats going to blow your minds.  Muellers going to say, Oh, too bad, the deadline is tomorrow?

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Mueller has interviewed a number of high-ranking administration officials including former communications director Hope Hicks, senior adviser and first son-in-law Jared Kushner, senior adviser Stephen Miller and attorney general Jeff Sessions. Four Trump campaign advisers, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, Richard Gates and George Papadopoulos, have been charged though none of their charges are directly related to campaign misconduct.

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Trump told NBC News that he was thinking of this Russia thing, when he decided to fire former FBI director James Comey. Mike Flynn was fired after reportedly lying to Vice President Mike Pence about his contacts with Russia.

Muellers investigation, meanwhile, has reportedly expanded beyond the scope of these firings and into the presidents family business ties.

This article was first written by Newsweek

More from NewsweekPresident Trump at a campaign rally at Atlantic Aviation in Moon Township, Pa., on March 10, 2018. (Photo: Carolyn Kaster/AP)

President Trump reaffirmed his confidence in the legal team protecting him against allegations that his campaign had colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 election.

In a series of tweets Sunday morning, Trump denounced a report from the New York Times saying that Washington lawyer Emmet T. Flood, who represented former President Bill Clinton during his impeachment, visited the Oval Office to discuss the possibility of helping to deal with the Justice Department. He accused the Times of knowingly writing a false story and disparaged one of the reports authors, Maggie Haberman, as a Hillary flunky. Trump also claimed that his attorneys  Ty Cobb, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow  have conclusively shown that the Trump campaign did not collude with Moscow.

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Former FBI director Robert Mueller is leading an investigation into Russias multifaceted efforts to interfere with the 2016 elections and disrupt U.S. democratic institutions. Mueller has already secured guilty pleas from several Trump associates, including former campaign aide George Papadopoulos and former national security advisor Michael Flynn.

Cobb is responsible for handling the White Houses response to Muellers requests, which includes producing documents and arranging interviews. Dowd and Sekulow have been part of Trumps personal legal team since last summer.

Trump went on to celebrate the GOPs recent successes in congressional races and chastised the Fake News Media for supposedly failing to mention these victories.

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Despite Trumps claims, you can read more about the congressional special elections results in the news media  for instance, the New York Times. Just this weekend, Yahoo News published an article in which National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Steve Stivers celebrated these victories and expressed confidence that they will continue: The NRCC is undefeated in special elections this year, and Im supremely confident that will continue.

Story continues

On Friday, former Trump campaign aide Sam Nunberg appeared before a federal grand jury in Washington, just days after publicly threatening to defy the subpoena that sought his attendance. It was not immediately clear what he said or what documents he provided to the grand jury. Nunberg later told ABC News that the Russia investigation is not a witch-hunt.

_____

Read more from Yahoo News:Los Angeles (AFP) - US President Donald Trump is heading to California, a state at the forefront of resistance to his anti-immigration agenda, for what is almost certain to be a contentious trip.

Trump's first trip to California as president, on Tuesday, comes at a time of high tensions between his Republican administration and the Democratic-leaning most populous US state, especially on immigration issues.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions has accused the state of deliberately obstructing enforcement of federal law by offering undocumented immigrants sanctuary protections.

Governor Jerry Brown said the Trump administration "is basically going to war against the state of California," after the Justice Department sued to block its sanctuary laws.

"Sanctuary jurisdictions are the best friend of smugglers, gang members, drug dealers, human traffickers, killers and other violent offenders," the president said in his weekly address.

"The state of California is sheltering dangerous criminals in a brazen and lawless attack on our constitutional system of government."

The president will land at the Miramar air base in southern California and then go see prototypes of the wall he wants to build on America's southern border.

California was among the plaintiffs that launched an unsuccessful court challenge to waivers to environmental regulations that were granted so the construction of the prototypes and the replacement of existing border fencing could proceed.

"We're going for what we hope to be an incredibly positive trip," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said Friday, while also taking aim at California for "refusing to follow federal law," a reference to the state's efforts to shelter illegal immigrants from deportation.

Trump will also meet with members of the US military, Sanders said.

And he is expected to wrap up the visit with an evening of fundraising in Beverly Hills to raise money for his 2020 re-election campaign.

Story continues

- 'A place with money' -

The "Golden State" and the president are at odds over issues ranging from immigration and the environment to marijuana and guns.

Trump's visit is "part of a bigger concerted effort to push back on liberal efforts on immigration in California," said Julian Zelizer, professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

"He's trying to shore up the California GOP (Republican Party) for the mid-terms and 2020," Zelizer said, referring to 2018 Congressional elections and the presidential race two years later.

Despite its generally liberal leanings, "California is a place with money," and the president has had success with people such as Peter Thiel, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur known for his conservative positions, as well as in wealthy Orange County, Zelizer said.

The Los Angeles Times reported that donors will contribute up to $250,000 a person to Trump's re-election campaign and the Republican party at a fundraiser in Beverly Hills, citing an invitation obtained by the newspaper.

- Focus on Republican areas -

Trump has taken longer to visit California following his election than any president since Franklin Delano Roosevelt, according to US media.

"His whole focus till now has been... on Republican areas," Zelizer said. "He's not someone who wants to see the whole country, not a traveler interested in sensing the pulse of the nation."

Trump's visit to California will be marked by protests, both for and against the president and his policies.

Alliance San Diego, which namely advocates on behalf of immigrants, is planning a news conference and a protest the day before the president's arrival "to set the tone for Trump's visit," said executive director Andrea Guerrero.

Events and demonstrations could last until after his departure, she said.

Jeff Schwilk, the founder of San Diegans for Secure borders, told the Los Angeles Times that he is planning an event to support Trump's visit to inspect border wall prototypes.

In another sign of the tensions at play as Trump readies for his trip, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint in San Diego federal court challenging the Trump administration's practice of "forcibly separating" asylum-seeking parents and young children.Ted Galen Carpenter

Politics, North America

Equating the presidents behavior toward the media with outright repression is inappropriate.

Trump May Be Rude, but That Doesn't Make Him a Tyrant

Donald Trumps critics, both here and abroad, increasingly compare his treatment of journalistic critics with that of Turkeys autocratic President Recep Tayyip Erdogan or even Joseph Stalin. Writing in the Financial Times, Gideon Rachman contends that it is the similarities in the Trump and Erdogan approaches to the media and the courts that should be most chilling for Americans. A Der Spiegel editorial likewise asserts that Donald Trump and Recep Tayyip Erdogan demand reverence rather than truthfulness, and both are mounting dangerous attacks on the free press.

Those inflammatory takes are mild, though, compared to the allegations that Arizona Republican Senator Jeff Flake made during a January 17, 2018, floor speech. Flake accused the Trump White House of conducting an unrelenting daily assault on the constitutionally protected free press. He added: The enemy of the people was what the president of the United States called the free press in 2017. [I]t is a testament to the condition of our democracy that our own president uses words infamously spoken by Josef Stalin to describe his enemies. An October 2017 editorial by CNNs editor-at-large Chris Cillizza also embraced the rationale that by labeling his journalistic opponents the enemy of the people, Trump had issued a direct threat to the free and independent media.

Such over-the-top rhetoric borders on hysteria. Trump certainly has a thin skin when it comes to criticism and has made ugly, sometimes personally insulting, comments toward his critics in the press. But there is a vast difference between denigrating the media and displaying abrasive, even boorish, behavior and trampling a free press. Comparing Trumps actions to those of a genocidal psychopath like Stalin is especially preposterous and disgusting. Even equating the presidents behavior toward the media with Erdogans mounting repression is inappropriate.

Story continues

Even before the abortive July 2016 coup attempt (which may well have been a false-flag operation to justify already planned additional repressive measures), Erdogans actions posed a clear and present danger to freedom of the press in Turkey. His government routinely harassed and imprisoned journalists and other critics. In the week leading up to the countrys crucial national elections in November 2015, authorities seized television stations operated by opponents of the regime. The government then transferred ownership to Erdogan allies, who spent the final days before the election inundating the airwaves with news stories and editorials praising the president and his political party.

Erdogans treatment of the press has become even worse since the July 2016 incident. In October of that year, he closed fifteen opposition media outlets. Human Rights Watch issued a December 2016 report documenting the horrific decline in press freedoms. By that time, 140 media outlets and 29 publishing houses had been shut down via emergency decree, leaving more than 2,500 media workers and journalists unemployed. Such measures, along with harsh, arbitrary censorship edicts, have made a mockery of freedom of the press. Worst of all, the Erdogan government has imprisoned more than 200 journalists, the highest total of any country in the world, and has issued arrest warrants for more than 100 others.

It is an insult to the victims of such genuine oppression to equate Trumps anti-media verbal temper tantrums with Erdogans behavior. Indeed, previous U.S. administrations have engaged in far worse treatment of the media than any offense Trump has committed. The comprehensive censorship regime that prevailed during World War I effectively silenced journalistic critics of Woodrow Wilsons crusade to make the world safe for democracy. Those who refused to be silenced joined the ranks of several hundred political prisoners who languished in jail until Wilsons successor, Warren Harding, finally freed them.

Some of the wartime measures, especially the infamous Espionage Act of 1917, still hang like a Sword of Damocles over a free press in the United States. Indeed, Richard Nixons administration sought to use its alleged authority under the Espionage Act to prevent the New York Times and the Washington Post from publishing the Pentagon Papers. More recently, the Obama administration investigated and harassed Fox News journalist James Rosen under that statute for utilizing leaks of classified information in his reporting. Prominent opinion leaders periodically have sent aloft trial balloons to prosecute journalists who publicize leaks, as well as their sources, under the Espionage Act. At one time, Senator Tom Cotton certainly appeared to embrace that view.

Those are the measures and attempted power plays that pose a real menace to freedom of the press. Erdogan has perfected such techniques and, exploiting the pretext of protecting national security, presides over a system that has eradicated meaningful debate. If Trump ever attempts to adopt similar tactics, both the media and the public need to mount a fierce, uncompromising resistance. But being the victim of nasty criticism and name-calling from the White House does not come close to constituting such a threat environment. Indeed, when it comes to vitriol, Trumps media critics have hardly been intimidated. They are quite competitive with the president in delivering insults and inflammatory accusations. And that is the way it will be in a country with a free press.

No one ever said that politeness and decorum was required on either side of the press-government relationship. Anti-Trump journalists need to stop acting like delicate snowflakes who need to be protected from a rude president. As their colleagues in Turkey and far too many other countries can testify, the situation could be far, far worse.

Ted Galen Carpenter, a senior fellow in defense and foreign policy studies at the Cato Institute and a contributing editor at the National Interest, is the author of ten books, including The Captive Press: Foreign Policy Crises and the First Amendment (1995).

Image: Reuters

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Read full articleWASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that North Korea has promised to halt missile tests "through our meetings."

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017 and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!" Trump wrote on Twitter.

The White House has not released a date for a meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un but Trump has said he will meet with the leader, who extended the invitation.

It was not immediately clear which meeting Trump was referring to or the timing of the meetings.

(Reporting by Ginger Gibson; Editing by James Dalgleish)By Steve Holland MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (Reuters) - President Donald Trump attacked his critics, promoted his steel and aluminum tariffs and tossed out an idea to have drug dealers face the death penalty, addressing a raucous rally on Saturday for a Republican congressional candidate in a tight race. Trump's appearance was aimed at helping Republican Rick Saccone in a district Trump won overwhelmingly in 2016 as part of a narrow win in Pennsylvania. But while he heartily endorsed Saccone as a "really good person," Trump spent a lot of time talking about his own fortunes in a "Make America Great Again" rally in an airport hangar at the Pittsburgh International Airport. He said it was crucial for Republicans to muster forces to turn back a strong Democratic drive to win one or both houses of the U.S. Congress in November midterm elections. "We need Republicans. We need the vote," Trump said, saying Democrats would take away, among other things, "your Second Amendment rights" to bear firearms. Continuing his battle against the mainstream news media, Trump insulted NBC News' "Meet the Press" host Chuck Todd and Democratic Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Under pressure over a scandal involving a porn star named Stormy Daniels, Trump singled out his wife, Melania, for praise. "You think her life is so easy folks? Not so easy," he said. Trump said the country should discuss having drug dealers face the death penalty because they are responsible for thousands of deaths. "I dont know if thats popular. I don't know if that's unpopular." A day after getting news that the U.S. economy produced 313,000 jobs last month, Trump said his policies are paying off. He said 25 percent tariffs on steel imports will boost Pennsylvania's economy. Critics say the tariffs could trigger retaliatory trade measures and damage the U.S. economy. There are also doubts about how far Trump's policies will go toward resuscitating the battered American steel industry. "Your steel is coming back. It's all coming back," Trump told several thousand cheering supporters. Trump vowed to fight any retaliatory trade measures by, for example, slapping taxes on imported European cars. Trump also said he hoped to run for reelection against Democrat Oprah Winfrey, although the entertainer has ruled out a run. "I'd love to beat Oprah. I know her weakness," said Trump. Saccone is trying to win an election on Tuesday in Pennsylvania's 18th District to replace Republican Tim Murphy, who resigned last fall while enmeshed in a sex scandal. Polls show Saccone is in a close race against Democrat Conor Lamb. A Saccone loss would be the first loss of a Republican seat in the House of Representatives since Trump took office in January 2017, although Republicans would still control of the chamber. The race could signal how much help Trump can provide Republican congressional candidates trying to keep control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in midterm elections next November. Typically the party that controls the White House loses seats in the U.S. Congress in the first election after a new president takes office. Trump hopes a strong economy and tax cuts enacted in December will help him beat the odds. (Reporting by Steve Holland; Editing by James Dalgleish and David Gregorio)PARIS (Reuters) - Former White House strategist Steve Bannon, a champion of Donald Trump's "America First" agenda, will address the party congress of France's far-right National Front on Saturday, a senior official of the French anti-immigrant party said. Bannon, an American nationalist who ran the right-wing Breitbart News, was among Trump's closest aides during the 2016 U.S. election campaign, the presidential transition and his first months in office. But the pair had a bitter public falling out and Bannon was fired by the White House last August, though he continued to speak with Trump and tried to promote the president's agenda. National Front leader Marine Le Pen will meet Bannon at her party's convention in the French city of Lille on Saturday, her partner Louis Aliot said in a tweet. The party is expected to unveil a new name as it searches for more voters and relevance in a political landscape transformed by President Emmanuel Macron, a centrist who defeated Le Pen in France's election last May. (Reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Gareth Jones)Dave Majumdar

Security, Middle East

The system could be headed to Ankara sooner than later.

Turkey Wants Russia's S-400 Air Defense System

Turkey appears to be determined to press ahead with the purchase of Russian-made S-400 air defense systems from Moscow even as the United States pressures Ankara to walk away from the deal. Turkey points out that NATO allies did not pressure Greece to drop its S-300 purchase in previous year, though that deal came under during a much less antagonistic period in the Wests relations with Russia.

Youve said nothing to Greece but you said that you will not let Turkey acquire S-400, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said according to the Moscow-based TASS news agency. You claimed that the contact with Russia was a mistake. You also said that you might introduce sanctions. We are not going to be accountable to you. We will proceed along the right way without any concessions for the sake of achieving our own goals.

Russia and Turkey signed a deal for Ankara to purchase the S-400 in September, 2017. Turkey has apparently made a deposit for the new missile system ahead of taking delivery of its first S-400 batteries. However, Turkey might potentially be caught up in recently U.S. sanctions against Russian arms manufacturers.

Meanwhile, the United States is not willing to let Turkey slide into Moscows orbit. Turkeys geographic location also puts it at the crossroads of the theaters two primary security challengesRussian subversion and the terrorist threat from ISIS, Gen. Curtis M. Scaparrotticommander of United States European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europesaid in his written testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 8. With instability along its southern border and more than 3 million Syrian refugees within its borders, Turkey has been affected by the Syrian war more than any other NATO country. Meanwhile, Russia benefits from political disputes between Turkey and NATO allies that it can exploit to undermine trust and unity. In alignment with the National Defense Strategys direction to fortify the TransAtlantic alliance, USEUCOM will safeguard and strengthen the U.S.-Turkey relationship.

Story continues

In Scaparrottis view, Ankara is a vital strategic ally of the United States. Turkey is a strategic ally for the U.S. and NATO, a proven enabler for combat operations, and a pivotal player in our long-term competition for a favorable balance of power, Scaparrotti said, USEUCOM actively participates in several ongoing efforts to explore strategic issues and find bi-lateral solutions mutually supporting U.S. and Turkish interests. Through increased intelligence sharing, continued counter-terrorism coordination, and regular military-to-military dialogue, USEUCOM is committed to strengthening the trust between the U.S. and Turkey.

Nonetheless, Turkey seems increasingly to be sliding out of Washingtons orbit.

Dave Majumdar is the defense editor for The National Interest. You can follow him on Twitter: @davemajumdar.

Image: Wikimedia Commons

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Read full articleSilivri (Turkey) (AFP) - An Istanbul court on Friday ordered the conditional release of two more journalists in the trial on terror-related charges of staff from the opposition Cumhuriyet newspaper.

Cumhuriyet's editor-in-chief Murat Sabuncu and investigative reporter Ahmet Sik were ordered to be freed from jail by the judge after a day-long hearing, an AFP reporter said.

However they still remain charged and on trial.

One more detained suspect, the paper's chairman Akin Atalay, was ordered to stay in jail.

The three were the last remaining suspects in the case to be held behind bars ahead of a final verdict. Atalay is now the only suspect in the case still held in prison.

A total of 17 staff from Cumhuriyet (Republic) face terror charges in the case, with most now free pending the conclusion of the trial after a number of conditional releases over the last year.

The next hearing in the case was set for March 16. The suspects face up to 43 years in prison if convicted but it remains unclear when the final verdict will be delivered.

Sabuncu and Atalay have spent the last 495 days in jail and Sik, who was detained a little after the initial wave of arrests, 434 days.KGO  San Francisco

"There were puncture wounds in his head. I did the best I could." A San Francisco vet is warning dog owners to be aware of both you and your pet's surroundings after her 15-year-old maltipoo was killed after a vicious unprovoked attack by another dog while taking a walk around the city.United Nations (United States) (AFP) - The UN's political chief on Sunday condemned anti-Muslim violence that has targeted mosques and businesses in Sri Lanka as he wrapped up a three-day visit to the Indian Ocean island-nation.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman urged the government to bring the perpetrators of the violence and hate speech to justice.

Feltman, who met with Muslim leaders to show solidarity during his visit, "condemned the breakdown in law and order and the attacks against Muslims and their property," a UN statement said.

Sri Lanka has been rocked by a week of violent riots by Sinhalese mobs who have attacked 11 mosques and at least 200 Muslim-owned businesses, prompting the government to declare a state of emergency.

Three people have been killed and 20 wounded in the anti-Muslim attacks. On Sunday a Muslim-owned restaurant was targeted in the town of Anamaduwa, north of the capital Colombo.

Feltman "urged swift and full implementation of the government's commitment to bring the perpetrators of the violence and hate speech to justice, to take measures to prevent recurrence, and to enforce non-discriminatory rule of law."

Sri Lankan police have been accused of failing to protect the island's minority.

Muslims make up 10 percent of Sri Lanka's 21 million people. The majority are Sinhalese, a largely Buddhist ethnic group.

President Maithripala Sirisena announced Saturday that he will appoint a three-member panel of retired judges to investigate the unrest.

A curfew was lifted in the central district of Kandy, the epicentre of the violence, but soldiers remained on the streets.

Feltman met with Sirisena, the prime minister, civil society and human rights representatives during the three-day visit that was scheduled before the outbreak of violence.

The envoy expressed hope that an office of missing persons will be set up soon to determine the fate of those unaccounted for from the brutal 25-year war against Tamil Tiger rebels.

"He expressed concern that many elements of the government's visionary 2015 program seem stalled, despite their importance to sustainable peace, security and prosperity in Sri Lanka," said the statement.

Feltman said he received assurances from government leaders that they are moving forward with democratic reforms.Vienna (AFP) - The International Atomic Energy Agency voiced hope Thursday the historic summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un would produce "concrete progress" and renewed nuclear inspections.

"The IAEA is closely following the recent developments related to the nuclear programme of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea," the Vienna-based UN body said in a statement.

"We hope that these developments will lead to concrete progress regarding the DPRK nuclear issue," it added.

The agency said it had continued to monitor the North's nuclear programme, including through the use of satellite imagery.

"The IAEA stands ready to contribute to its peaceful resolution by resuming our verification activities in the country once a political agreement is reached among countries concerned," the statement said.

North Korea expelled IAEA inspectors from the Yongbyon nuclear site in 2009 and has refused to allow their return.

The agency has condemned North Korea's repeated nuclear tests.

The surprise summit, due to be held by the end of May, comes after months of tension with the reclusive regime testing nuclear and ballistic weapons in defiance of international condemnation and Trump and Kim trading insults.

The IAEA, which covers 168 states and likes to call itself the "atoms for peace" organisation, works to prevent nuclear proliferation and notably oversees the agreement the international community struck with Iran in 2015.ACLU condemns widespread practice of tearing children away from their parents and says government has violated due process

Immigrant rights groups said they had seen hundreds of parents separated from their children under the Trump administration. Photograph: Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images

There have been at least 429 cases of immigrant parents being separated from their children in the past two years, according to a class-action lawsuit filed on Friday against the Trump administration.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) suit alleges the US government has violated due process for hundreds of asylum-seeking families by separating parents and children without a hearing and without showing the child would be endangered by staying with the parent.

Administration officials said last year they were considering implementing a family separation policy to deter asylum seekers. No such policy has been announced.

Whether or not the Trump administration wants to call this a policy, it certainly is engaged in a widespread practice of tearing children away from their parents, said Lee Gelernt, deputy director of the ACLUs Immigrants Rights Project.

Immigrant rights groups said they had seen hundreds of parents separated from their children under the Trump administration and that they expected the practice to continue.

Michelle Brane, director of the Womens Refugee Commissions migrant rights and justice program, said her group had identified 429 cases of family separation from its own work and from legal service providers and social service agencies. Brane told the Guardian these cases, which include toddlers to young teenagers, happened more or less in the past 15 months.

I have been informed at various times off the record, by government officials, that there are discussions and plans in place to expand the practice, Brane said in a court declaration.

These cases included parents and children separated while being placed into immigration proceedings and others separated after the parent was prosecuted for immigration violations while seeking asylum, according to court documents. The suit also claims there is no process for parents to contest a separation.

Story continues

In the lawsuit, a plaintiff identified as Ms C said she has not seen her 14-year-old son, J, since they arrived in the US in August 2017 to seek asylum. Ms C, who fled Brazil, said she has only spoken to J a few times by phone since the separation.

I hope I can be with my son very soon, Ms C said. I miss him and am scared for him.

In January, more than 200 child welfare, development, health and justice organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics and Unicef, warned that such separations can cause lasting harm to children.

The psychological distress, anxiety and depression associated with separation from a parent would follow the children well after the immediate period of separation  even after the eventual reunification with a parent or other family, the organizations said in a letter to the homeland security secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees immigrant detention, does not comment on pending litigation.

In court documents, attorneys and rights groups acknowledged separation may be necessary in cases where it is suspected the adult and child are not related or the parent could pose imminent danger to the child. But they alleged the government had not demonstrated this was the situation for the hundreds of cases in the suit.

The lawsuit filed on Friday broadened a suit filed in late February that challenged the separation of an asylum-seeking mother from her seven-year-old daughter.

The woman, a Congolese citizen named as Ms L in court documents, has been separated from her daughter for four months. DHS released the mother from a San Diego detention facility on Tuesday, but she has not been reunited with her daughter, who was being held in Chicago.

In a letter to DHS sent on 2 March, Democratic Illinois senators Dick Durbin and Tammy Duckworth requested more information on how many children have been separated from their families since Trump took office, how long the separations have been and whether DHS plans to continue separating.

The senators said: While we may have different views on many immigration policies, we hope you will agree that it is cruel and inhumane to separate a parent from her child and immediately bring a stop to this practice.Russian President Vladimir Putin denied any accusations that he meddled in the 2016 U.S. presidential election during an interview with NBC News Megyn Kelly.

During the tense interview, Putin appeared defensive and even suggested Jewish people were to blame for the United States election breach.

When asked about his involvement in the election, Putin told Kelly: Why have you decided the Russian authorities, myself included, gave anybody permission to do this?

Last month, a federal jury enlisted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 13 Russians and three Russian companies, accusing them of launching campaigns to interfere in the 2016 election.

Putin responded to those accusations by telling Kelly he didnt care about the charges presented against his country.

So what if theyre Russians? he said during the NBC interview. There are 146 million Russians. ... I couldnt care less. ... They do not represent the interests of the Russian state.

Putin suggested those responsible for the meddling could be Ukrainian or Jewish people with Russian citizenship, or Americans who funded the interference.

Maybe theyre not even Russians, he told Kelly.

Maybe theyre Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked, he added. Maybe they have dual citizenship. Or maybe a green card. Maybe it was the Americans who paid them for this work. How do you know? I dont know.

In a tweet on Saturday, Ronald Klain, who served as chief of staff for vice presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, said Jewish supporters of President Donald Trump should be concerned.

Every Jewish supporter of Donald Trump should be pressing the WH to see if the President agrees with his friend Putin on this statement, Klain wrote. And every Jewish person resisting Trump just got another reason to fight even harder.

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Rob Goldstone, music publicist

MIAMI BEACH, FL - DECEMBER 31: Rob Goldstone (center), with his client, Russian singer Emin Agalarov (left), and Sheila Agalarova (right), attends New Years Eve And Birthday Party For Irina Agalarova at Barton G on December 31, 2014 in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo by Aaron Davidson/Getty Images for Irina Agalarov)

Anatoli Samochornov, Russian-American interpreter

Anatoli Samochornov (right) interprets at a New York Public Library event with journalists Masha Gessen and Svetlana Alexievich in 2016.

Ike Kaveladze, Russian businessman

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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.Vladimir Putin with Megyn Kelly - AFP

Vladimir Putin has praised Donald Trump for his "strong leadership qualities" and said he "couldn't care less" about allegations of interference in the US presidential election.

Mr Putin repeatedly responded "So what?" to questions about election meddling.

The Russian president also said he does not read Mr Trump's tweets, adding: "Donald is a more modern person."

His comments came during two extended interviews with Megyn Kelly for NBC News.

Asked why he thought Mr Trump had been nice about him, Mr Putin said: "This is not about being nice to me personally in my view

" I think he is an experienced person, a businessman with very extensive experience, and he understands that if you need to partner with someone you must treat your future or current partner with respect, otherwise nothing will come of it. I think this is a purely pragmatic approach. This is my first point.

"Second, even though this is his first term as president he is a quick study, and he understands perfectly well that trading accusations or insults at our level is a road to nowhere."

Vladimir Putin and Megyn Kelly Credit: Reuters

He added: "President Trumps work should be assessed by his constituents, the American people. There is one thing I would like to say. Like it or not  we may dislike certain things as well  he does his best to keep the election promises that he made to the American people.

"So, he is consistent in this sense. I think that, in fact, this is the only proper way to show respect for the people who voted for him.

"He has strong leadership qualities, of course, because he takes responsibility when he makes decisions. To reiterate, whether some people like his decisions or not, he still goes ahead and does it. This, of course, is a sign of leadership qualities."

Asked why he doesn't tweet himself, Mr Putin said: "I have other means of expressing my point of view or making decisions. Well, Donald is a more modern person."

Story continues

In the interview Mr Putin also suggested that some of the 13 Russians indicted by the US over election meddling may not be ethnically Russian.

He said: "So what if they're Russians? There are 146 million Russians. So what? I don't care. I couldn't care less. They do not represent the interests of the Russian state.

"Maybe they are not even Russians but Ukrainians, Tatars or Jews, but with Russian citizenship, which should also be checked.

"Maybe they have dual citizenship or a green card; maybe the US paid them for this. How can you know that? I do not know, either."

Asked if he condoned the meddling he said: "It's all the same to me. To me it absolutely makes no difference because they do not represent the government."

Mr Putin, who is expected to be re-elected in next weekend's election, said he has no plans to change the constitution to stay in the Kremlin beyond 2024.Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested Jews and other minorities in Russia, including Tatars and Ukranians, could be to blame for meddling in the US presidential election.

Maybe theyre not even Russians, he told NBC News. Maybe theyre Ukrainians, Tatars, Jews, just with Russian citizenship. Even that needs to be checked.

The Independent contacted Jewish organisations both in Britain and the US for comment. None responded at the time of publication.

The CIA concluded that Moscow interfered in the 2016 presidential election  leaking hacked Democratic communications and flooding social media with misinformation.

Last month, the FBI charged 13 Russians and three companies for running what it claims was a cyber warfare movement based in the Russian city of St Petersburg.

But Mr Putin said he couldnt care less if they were Russians.

So what if theyre Russians? he said. There are 146 million Russians. So what?

He added: They do not represent the interests of the Russian state. Maybe they have dual citizenship. Or maybe a green card. Maybe it was the Americans who paid them for this work. How do you know? I dont know.

Mr Putin said that even if the FBI investigation found that the Russian nationals and companies were guilty of meddling in the US elections, it may not amount to a crime in Russia.

We in Russia cannot prosecute anyone as long as they have not violated Russian law, he said. Give us an official request. And well take a look at it.

Mr Trump himself has dismissed the claims his campaign colluded with Moscow, and added that if it had it would not have amounted to a crime.Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., argued that her familys claim to Native American ancestry is an indelible part of who she is  something that can never be taken away.

Warren defended herself on NBCs Meet the Press with Chuck Todd Sunday morning when asked what she thought about taking an easily accessible DNA test, such as those offered by 23andMe or Ancestry, to settle the ongoing controversy over her heritage.

Rather than address that question specifically, Warren told a story about how her mother and father, born and raised in Oklahoma, met as teenagers and fell head-over-heels in love. Her fathers family was bitterly opposed to their relationship, she said, because her mother was part Native American, but the couple eloped and persevered.

Thats the story that my brothers and I all learned from our Mom and our Dad, from our grandparents and all of our aunts and uncles. Its a part of me, and nobody is going to take that part of me away  not ever, Warren said.

After hearing this story, Todd returned to his initial concern: Why not do genealogical research or take a DNA test to find out her actual heritage? Whats wrong with knowing whether her familys story was the truth?

I do know. I know who I am. And never used it for anything, never got any benefit out of it anywhere, she said.

Warren has many liberal admirers who wish to see her pursue the Democratic presidential nomination for the 2020 election. But shes also been dogged by the allegation that she has claimed Native American ancestry to advance her academic career. The claim emerged as a controversy in 2012 when she successfully challenged Scott Browns Senate seat. But it took on new life when President Trump incorporated Pocahontas into his list of insults for political opponents.

On March 6, the Berkshire Eagle, a daily newspaper published in Pittsfield, Mass., published an editorial calling upon Warren to take one of the many commercially available DNA tests to settle the controversy. If the test showed Native American DNA, her claims would be vindicated, and it might even shut down Trump. If it did not, she could offer an apology to Native American tribes and anyone else offended by her claim.

Story continues

By facing the truth and taking responsibility for it, she would disarm her enemies and show potential voters that she was human and capable of mistakes, just like them, the editorial reads. Handled properly, it could become a testimonial to her integrity and truthfulness at a time when that quality is in short supply among the nations leadership.

Read more from Yahoo News:This kind of resistance does not allow onlookers to look away, especially in an age of social media. It brings the story to those who have refused to read it

The strike in West Virginia has powerfully revived this historic tactic for the rest of the nation. Photograph: Robert Ray/AP

The victorious strike by teachers in West Virginia did not only result in a long overdue pay raise. With the exuberance of a nine-day teach-in, the teachers and their supporters have taught the nation a compelling lesson on the historical role of a true resistance.



Taking to the streets, picketing on the sidewalks, and charging into the Capitol itself, the strike turned the public commons into a counter space for we the people.

One by one, the roughly 20,000 teachers in West Virginia essentially forced lawmakers  and the nation  to stop our daily routine and address the growing education crisis on the terms of those most devoted to ensuring the best outcomes for our children: our teachers.

This is why strikes, more than one-day protests, often bring lasting victories. It took an uncompromising walk-out to get West Virginia lawmakers to recognize that our inability to commit to a living wage and decent health benefits for our teachers mirrors our negligence in investing in classrooms for our children.

Instead of a fleeting protest, the hardship of the open-ended West Virginia strike reflected the urgency of our times and the long-haul commitment of the teachers for an enduring resolution, not a compromise or some sort of fleeting gain.

With an estimated 10% of the American workforce reportedly in a union, the legacy of striking might have become a lost tactic to some. As the son of a union teacher and the grandson of a union coal miner, I believe the West Virginia teachers have renewed a strategic call for other movements engaged in what we have called a resistance against the onslaught of policies decisions and regulatory rollbacks by the Trump administration.

The time has come to employ strikes in other areas.

When it comes to dealing with the inexorable grip of the National Rifle Association lobby on our gun policies or the undue influence of the oil, gas and coal lobbies on our energy and climate plans, for example, wide-scale strikes by students, teachers and all concerned citizens may be our last best hope for policy changes today.



Story continues

Imagine how quickly we could begin to deal with gun control, if all pre-school employees, teachers and staff walked out and went on an indefinite strike  and the large majority of supporters, according to most polls, joined them.



Imagine how swiftly we could start the process of transitioning to renewable energy alternatives, low-carbon transportation designs, local food and regenerative agricultural policies, if all school employees, teachers and students refused to teach and study in schools powered by carbon emission-spewing fossil fuels that are destabilizing our planet.

The strike in West Virginia has powerfully revived this historic tactic for the rest of the nation.

Addressing the same egregious combination of low wages and underfunded schools in bottom-rung states like Arizona and Oklahoma, teachers are wearing red in solidarity this week and negotiating the terms of their own possible walk-outs to raise attention to the instability of school districts that have been gutted by disastrous funding policies.



This is a tactical lesson of resistance that reminds us that our schools have always served as the front lines of the challenges of inequality facing our communities.

This kind of resistance does not allow onlookers to look away, especially in an age of social media. It brings the story to those who have refused to read it. It forces everyone to take part in the national discussion, and engage in the still small possibility of justice.After much discussion with her family and friends, a woman decided to take her horse to South Beach. It did not go well.

OK, so she probably did not discuss this move with anyone, because surely someone would have talked her out of it. But on Thursday night at the Mokai Lounge in Miami Beach, this bikini-clad woman came riding in on her white horse anyway, with absolutely no regard for human life. At first, all was well, and the woman and her steed were the life of the party. But that was never going to last considering this was a f--king horse inside a crowded nightclub. Believe it or not, this majestic stallion got uncomfortable, went rogue and deservedly sent this woman packing. Check out the video:

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For once, over-the-top social media outrage seems warranted in this situation. You just cannot be riding horses into nightclubs, and then act surprised when said horse bucks you into next week. This woman and this club deserve all the shame there in the world, and according to the Miami Herald, Mokai Lounge's business license has already been revoked by city manager Jimmy Morales, a decision fully supported by Mayor Dan Gelber.

What kind of idiot would do something like this to an animal and endanger peoples lives at that club? Gelber said during a Friday news conference. Its not tolerable, not right, not humane.

Drag her, Mr. Mayor.Paris (AFP) - The Chinese Communist Party's decision to give President Xi Jinping a mandate to rule for life is further evidence of the world's slide towards more nationalist, authoritarian regimes, analysts said.

China's rubber-stamp parliament, meeting in the imposing Great Hall of the People for an annual session, made Xi the most powerful leader since Mao Zedong on Sunday by scrapping term limits that would have forced him to step down after 2023.

The decision moves one-party China further away from adopting a democratic system that many Western thinkers and politicians had once assumed was inevitable as the country opened up to global trade.

It fits a pattern worldwide that has seen the model of liberal democracy -- based on individual rights, the rule of law and the free press -- lose ground as many countries turn instead to more authoritarian forms of government.

"We think it (liberal democracy) is normal and obviously it's not, because in the whole of human history, democracy has not existed for all that long in terms of the international order," said George Magnus, associate at the China Centre at Oxford University.

Regimes with illiberal leaders "reject the kind of democratic model we have kind of grown up with," he added.

These include Vladimir Putin of Russia, Turkey's Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and the Philippines' Rodrigo Duterte, who all came to power through the ballot box but have since trampled democratic norms.

Other global contemporary strongmen include Egypt's Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, who took part in a coup against a democratically elected Islamist government.

"It is certain that the club of managed (or guided) democracies is growing," said Caroline Galacteros, director of the Planeting strategic intelligence consultancy in France.

In Europe, Hungary's Viktor Orban has become a posterboy for what he calls a form of "illiberal democracy" while US President Donald Trump also embodies a spreading strain of aggressive nationalism worldwide.

Story continues

Trump's "America First" mantra and attacks on institutions such as the FBI, the judiciary and the free press are testing the democratic checks and balances in the US constitution.

- Chinese model -

Human rights campaigners warn that authoritarians and autocrats worldwide are exploiting discontent over globalisation, industrial decline, terrorism and migration to justify their actions.

According to the Freedom House human rights watchdog, democracy "faced its most serious crisis in decades" in 2017, which was the 12th year in a row that individual freedoms were found to have declined.

Furthermore, under Trump the US has lost the moral authority to effectively condemn abuses in other countries, critics say, while Europe is struggling with its own nationalists in Hungary and Poland.

"This illiberal temptation is something we should not take lightly today and will doubtless constitute one of the battles France, but also the European Union, will have to undertake in 2018, including with some of its members," French President Emmanuel Macron said in January.

- 'Managed democracies' -

In the 1990s, intellectuals such as Francis Fukuyama questioned whether humanity had reached the "end of history", with liberal democracy and capitalism apparently victorious over communism and totalitarianism.

But by the turn of the century, analysts were warning of the emergence of semi-authoritarian states -- countries that like Turkey and Russia fall somewhere between democracy and dictatorship.

China's trajectory was always unknown, but the country has taken a decisive turn away from the idea of a more pluralistic society with greater political freedoms.

And, thanks to its fast economic growth and growing military might, it is serving as a counter-example for the democratic model -- with fans in sometimes surprising places.

"The great leaders of the world come from countries that are not great democracies," said former French president Nicolas Sarkozy at a conference in Abu Dhabi last weekend.

Sarkozy, who faces multiple investigations over corruption allegations related to his one term in office from 2007-2012, said strong leadership in China, Russia and Saudi Arabia meant there was "no populism" there.

Kenneth Roth, director of Human Rights Watch, said democratic leaders have a responsibility to speak out against autocracies and despots who depend on large-scale repression to keep their grip on power.

"It is important for democratic leaders both to highlight the emptiness of the autocrats' political programs and to stress the danger of enabling leaders who claim to speak for the majority," he said.

"China has been providing economic support to autocrats around the world and increasingly is trying to silence criticism of its own autocratic model even within liberal democracies."

He cited Beijing's close financial links to repressive regimes in countries such as Venezuela and Zimbabwe.The man who killed Trae Oyler should have been in jail when it happened. Now we know how and why he was let loose.Twenty-five Israeli backpackers on their post-army trip, most of them veterans of IDF combat units, have decided to volunteer in the favelas (slums) of Rio de Janeiro, tutoring the local children in English and math as well as renovating community institutions as part of the Heroes for Life program.

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One of the volunteers, Lior Tabib, 25, is a former Air Force officer who lost his friend Capt. Tal Nachman in 2014 in Gaza. The two had planned to travel through South America together, and Lior decided to join the delegation in his friends memory.

Former IDF soldiers volunteer at Rio favelas (:  )

X

"I knew Tal for nine years," Lior said. "before he decided to extend his army service, we agreed that we would travel together, because we were supposed to be discharged at the same time. That was four years ago, and we never got around to planning the minute details of our trip.

I signed up to volunteer because I wanted to do something meaningful on my trip, something different, something for Tal. To me, volunteering is an opportunity to do good with no interestjust as Tal would have. I am sure if he were alive, we would be doing this together."

Warriors Without Borders Rio (Photo: Lior Sprendau)

Capt. Nachman was killed in a friendly fire incident during operations on the Gaza border four years ago, when a soldier from the Givati reconnaissance battalion accidentally shot him after mistaking another soldier for a terrorist.

Tal Nachman

At first, Lior and his colleagues worked at the Cantagalo Favela, and recently they moved to another location at a community center in the Pavuna neighborhood, which is located at the periphery of the city and surrounded by favelas.

Every day, Lior and his friends hold classes in different subjects for the local children with the help of members of the Jewish community in the city, who serve as interpreters.

The volunteers are also helping renovate the community center in the neighborhood.

They are also active in the favelas of the city of Niteroi, which is across Guanabara Bay from Rio.

(Photo: Lior Sprendau)

Heroes for Life was founded in 2014 by three officers from the Duvdevan unit who, while travelling in the Far East, encountered the many Israelis who were visiting third world countries and realized the potential of using that resource to present Israel in a positive light through volunteer work.

Heroes for Life is chaired by former Air Force commander Maj. Gen. (res.) Eliezer Shkedi. The only condition to joining a Heroes for Life delegation is first volunteering with the organization at a youth village in Israel for three days.

This years delegation is called Team Daniel after Danieli Zonenfeld, a National Service volunteer who was working with children with cancer at the Schneider Medical Center. She was killed in a traffic accident three years ago.

We began our activities less than four years ago, and this is already the 13th delegation," said organization founder Gili Cohen. "In addition to Brazil, there are delegations going to India , Nepal, South Africa, Guatemala, Mexico, Argentina and Ethiopia each year. This is an excellent opportunity for discharged soldiers to combine a value-based activity with their post-army trip, with an emphasis on presenting the true face of Israel to the world.A coalition meeting held on Saturday night in a bid to resolve an ongoing crisis regarding the IDF conscription law concluded with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu setting out a list of terms designed to restore unity, but without any final agreement.

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During the meeting that lasted two hours and finished just after midnight, the prime minister instructed that the phrasing of the amendment bill to the conscription law being sought by the ultra-Orthodox parties, that would essentially facilitate exemption from military service for yeshiva students, be agreed upon by all the Haredi parties and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

L-R: Arye Deri, Yaakov Litzman, PM Netanyahu and Moshe Kahlon (Photo: Yoav Dudkevitch, Alex Kolomoisky and Ohad Zwigenberg)

In addition, the prime minister demanded that Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon (Kulanu) and his party support the bill in all three readings.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beytenu) was also instructed, along with all other factions, to allow for the efforts to salvage the coalition to take place, to continue to cooperate in the long run and remain in the government.

The crisis erupted in recent weeks when the Council of Torah Sages demanded that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzmans United Torah Judaism (UTJ) make his support for the 2019 state budget dependent on the passage of an amendment to the current conscription law that would solicit state recognition of Torah studies to being equal to military service.

The amendment Litzman is seeking to the current law would essentially facilitate exemption from military service for yeshiva students.

As the political turmoil developed, Netanyahu faced mounting pressure to hold the increasingly fragile coalition together and outline a solution in time for vote on Kahlons keystone legislation in the Knesset, scheduled between 13 - 15 March. The budget will discussed day and night in the Knesset Plenum during the two days.

On Friday, Lieberman continued a second round of attacks on Haredi political parties in the government over their role in creating the ongoing crisis that is threatening to tear the coalition apart.

The bill currently being drafted is not a compromise, but rather a surrender to extortion. Anyone who wants to get into extortion should surrender, Lieberman wrote.

He then threw a new spanner into the works by toughening his stance and declaring his reluctance to accept any phrasing of the amendment by political rather than military officials outside the defense establishment.

On Saturday evening, he tweeted: In life, there are moments in which you have to go with what you believe and not with what pays off. Now is that time.

The Knesset is scheduled to adjourn its winter session on March 18, despite a series of initiatives that have been floated in the past calling for its extension.

Kahlon already threatened days ago to quit the coalition if his state budget was stifled by the Haredi parties.

"I cannot continue to function and serve as finance minister if the budget does not pass by the end of the session," he said.

"There's no relation between the draft law and the state's budget," Kahlon stressed. "I call on my friends to return to their senses. If the budget does not pass before Passover, I'll recommend to my friends to withdraw from the coalition. Israelis will sit down to the Seder meal either with a budget or without a treasury minister."

Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

With the prospect of early elections simmering, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid announced on Sunday morning that his party would not join a government headed by Netanyahu if he is indicted in his corruption investigations.

For anyone who didnt understand, and especially for those who insisted on not understanding: Yesh Atid will not sit in any government in which a prime minister has been indicted, under no conditions, Lapid tweeted.

If Netanyahu wants elections in June, he wont get them, said a coalition official on condition of anonymity.

To dissolve the Knesset and prematurely call elections he has to agree on a date. All coalition partners are against calling early elections over this fake crisis and the vast majority of MKs in the Likud are against it.

Its Netanyahu against 119 MKs, the official added. He wants us to give his elections on a silver platter because that is what is comfortable for him and what suits him. Hes on a high in the polls and from the euphoria of the US visit and he thinks this is the best time from his point of view. But it wont happen.

Some have speculated that the crisis is a mere ploy to let the government unravel itself, thereby providing a pretext for Netanyahu to call elections, bolster his mandate and extricate himself from the net of corruption investigations closing in around him, while simultaneously demonstrating his indispensability in keeping a coalition together.The Right has some justified claims against law enforcement and legal authorities. This includes Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikhs conduct , the failure to indict former Tel Aviv chief prosecutor Ruth David and the conduct of Roni Rittman , the former head of the Lahav 433 police anti-corruption unit.

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It includes the politically-motivated selective persecution of Israeli officials. Both President Reuven Rivlin and former Minister Haim Ramon were victims of persecution over criticism of the legal oligarchy.

And is also includes political activism, like in the case of Deputy Attorney General Dina Zilber, who strikes down every appropriate ministerial decision that requires her approval. This doesnt happen anywhere in the world. Only in Israel.

Netanyahu could drag us to an unnecessary election campaign focusing on the persecution against him (Photo: EPA)

But all these claims have nothing to do with the affairs involving Benjamin Netanyahu. It doesnt matter if he is eventually indicted, and he will likely be indicted. Its perfectly clear that we are dealing with unprecedented public corruption.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, might I remind you, was the media darling, and perhaps even the darling of most senior officials at the State Attorneys Office. Did that help him? Former State Attorney Moshe Lador once admitted in an interview to Nahum Barnea, In my political views, Im not against (Olmert). Nevertheless, he filed an indictment.

So we can keep waving the positive media attention claim, including the favorable treatment late Prime Minister Ariel Sharon received following the Gaza Disengagement. It happened. Its over. You cant hang on to every justified claim forever.

But to hell with the facts. Netanyahu could drag us to an unnecessary election campaign in which the persecution against him will become the main theme, perhaps even the exclusive theme.

He feels like hes on solid ground. After all, he managed to turn the tables. He isnt corrupt; hes a victim. Hes being persecuted. He isnt the one sitting in the dock; his investigators are. And so are the people who had his full confidence. The three states witnesses and the police chief are already in the dock. The attorney general will soon join them. Netanyahu will turn him into a dangerous persecutor too.

Netanyahu isnt seeking elections because of his capitulation to the Haredim, which is destroying the country; or because of Likuds annexation aspirations, which could crush the Zionist vision; or because the growing construction outside the settlement blocs, dictated by the radical right, is turning Israel into one big binational state.

Those are the issues that call for elections. When it comes to those issues, there is a clear majority against Netanyahu. But most news programs, articles and commentators are dealing almost exclusively with one single issue: The Netanyahu affairs. Somewhat paradoxically, the hostile media arent harming Netanyahu, theyre strengthening him.

Cabinet meeting. Why waste billions on elections no one is interested in apart from one person? (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

No one wants early elections, neither Netanyahu's party members nor his coalition partners. The broad public definitely isnt interested in elections. Why waste billions? If it does happen, it will happen because elections serve one person, just one. At least thats what he thinks, although I doubt he would be able to hold on to the image of the persecuted leader he has managed to create.

In his current situation, even a picture of him holding a suitcase full of cash wont make any difference. But it wont last forever. After all, not all his supporters live on feelings. Some of his voters are influenced by the facts and testimonies too.

Netanyahu's supporters are stressing his achievements: The international isolation is in decline; the economy is thriving, the relations with some of our neighboring countries are growing stronger, and not just under the table, but in the sky too. Netanyahu played a part in these achievements. But since when do achievements legitimize corruption?

Moreover, alongside these achievements there are some causes for concern. In some areaslike the crawl towards one state, like the surrender to the Haredim, like the attack on law enforcement authoritiesNetanyahu is becoming a problem. Hes acting in Netanyahu's best interest, not in the states best interest.

In the previous election campaign, Netanyahu managed to fool the public by calling early elections for his own sake. It cost NIS 2 billion. We dont need it to happen again.CAIRO - The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a car bombing at a checkpoint in eastern Libya that killed at least three militiamen.

A Libyan official said the attack Friday targeted a checkpoint on the outskirts of the town of Ajdabiya manned by the self-styled Libyan National Army, fighters loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Hifter, who are battling Islamic militants in eastern Libya.

The extremists claimed the attack in a statement released late Saturday.Education Minister and Bayit Yehudi party leader Naftali Bennett announced Sunday morning that he would consider running for prime minister if early elections were held in Israel caused by what he described as a fake coalition crisis.

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If (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu forces elections on the citizens of Israel for personal and irrelevant reasons, the public will settle the score with him and we will also consider running and going head to head for the premiership, Bennett said in an interview with Ynet.

The crisis erupted in recent weeks when the Council of Torah Sages demanded that Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzmans United Torah Judaism (UTJ) make his support for the 2019 state budget dependent on the passage of an amendment to the current IDF conscription law that would solicit state recognition of Torah studies to being equal to military service.

Naftali Bennett and PM Netanyahu (:  )

The amendment Litzman is seeking to the current law would essentially facilitate exemption from military service for yeshiva students.

Just hours before Netanyahu convened a meeting with the heads of the coalition parties on Saturday evening in a bid to resolve the disagreements, Bennett accused him of treating Israeli citizens like toys.

If the prime minister thinks he can tell the whole state follow me to the elections, he will show himself to be alone on the hill and lose the nation. Are eight million Israeli citizens his toys? Were taking them to elections a year-and-a-half before it is time? Bennett asked.

No one at the moment has a desire for elections. It is bad for the state and the citizens. Elections cost millions in state funds and they should take place in their right time. We are not a third world country, he complained.

The public needs to know that this crisis is not a crisis. It is fake and unnecessary. Even after we reached a compromise and presented an outline, yesterday more conditions were added, Bennett claimed.

Top L-R: Moshe Kahlon, PM Netanyahu and Aryeh Deri. Bottom L-R: Yaakov Litzman, Avigdor Lieberman and Naftali Bennett (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg, Alex Kolomoisky and Reuters)

I said last week and I will say it again: this is a fake crisis. The prime minister could have resolved it within a few minutes. Its not clear what exactly he wants and where he is leading us to.

Insisting that he supports Netanyahu and believes that he generally handles state matters responsibly, Bennett decried the possible dragging of the nation to premature elections.

I support the prime minister because I think that he conducts state business to the best of his judgement. If Bibi was prime minister after managing things well and responsibly, we would support him, he added, referring to the prime minister by his nickname.

Next time, I would be defense minister and wouldnt run against him. Even though I said I wouldnt run against him, if it turns out that he drags the state to unnecessary elections, I will reconsider everything.

Later on his Twitter page, Bennett reiterated his stance.

Mr. Prime Minister. As long as you act for the good of the State of Israel, we will continued to be behind you. If you bring the right-wing government down and lead us to unnecessary elections for personal aims, you will lose us, he wrote.

Later in the afternoon, Netanyahu met with the heads of the coalition to discuss the matter of the draft bill further.

The meeting of coalition heads took place in good atmosphere. There is still no agreed-upon wording between the Haredi parties. Coalition heads are waiting for their draft and after that the discussions will continue in order to resolve the crisis, a statement by the Prime Ministers Office said.

Nevertheless, Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman did not attend the meeting over his stated anger with the idea that the bill is being formulated by people outside of the defense establishment.

The discussions were therefore swiftly brought to an end.

Likud: Bennett seeking to overthrow the right-wing government

Shortly after Bennett made his remarks, the Likud party accused him of seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Netanyahu and worrying about organizing a job for himself."

At a time when Prime Minister Netanyahu is busy with a solution to the crisis and stabilizing the right-wing government, Bennett is busy with a personal electoral campaign, the Likud officials said in response.

If Bennett was genuinely concerned about a right-wing government, he would commit to staying in the government until the end of its term in November 2019. However, the last thing that interests Bennett is to stabilize the nationalist government headed by Netanyahu. As his comments this morning exposed, Bennett is seeking to overthrow Prime Minister Netanyahu and is worrying about organizing a job for himself.

Rumors of collusion between Netanyahu and defense minister

The coalition meeting held on Saturday night concluded with Netanyahu setting out a list of terms designed to restore unity, but without any final agreement.

During the meeting that lasted two hours and finished just after midnight, the prime minister instructed that the phrasing of the amendment bill to the conscription law being sought by the ultra-Orthodox parties be agreed upon by all the Haredi parties and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

Some have speculated that the crisis is a mere ploy to let the government unravel itself, thereby providing a pretext for Netanyahu to call elections, bolster his mandate and extricate himself from the net of corruption investigations closing in around him, while simultaneously demonstrating his indispensability in keeping a coalition together.

If Netanyahu wants elections in June, he wont get them, said a coalition official on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

To dissolve the Knesset and prematurely call elections he has to agree on a date. All coalition partners are against calling early elections over this fake crisis and the vast majority of MKs in the Likud are against it.

Its Netanyahu against 119 MKs, the official added. He wants us to give his elections on a silver platter because that is what is comfortable for him and what suits him. Hes on a high in the polls and from the euphoria of the US visit and he thinks this is the best time from his point of view. But it wont happen.

There is an obligation on all the coalition parties that the moment we signed the coalition agreement, he would sign that he wouldnt dissolve the Knesset until November 2019, said the official.

Other officials in the coalition suggested on Saturday night that the toughening of Liebermans stance on the conscription bill was no coincidence, and was being coordinated with the prime minister to ratchet up the crisis and deliver the coup de grace.





Defense Minister Lieberman and PM Netanyahu (Photo: EPA)

It looks like Netanyahu and Lieberman are coordinating and are determined to to bring down a right-wing government over nothing, the official contended.

However, the Prime Ministers Office dismissed the rumors as nonsense while Liebermans offices labelled them as a crude lie. The claims of coordination are nonsense.

I think there is a limit to the nonsense and all the slander that can be heard and can be expected from a coalition member. But like I said, there someone seems to be motivated by other things, Lieberman said while addressing new Golani and Givati Brigade conscripts at the main IDF recruitment office.

I have heard a lot of nonsense but in this case yesterday I heard an extremely senior coalition member who also educatesseemingly educates himself to be defense minister and the prime minister at the same timeand he is giving anonymous briefings, Lieberman mocked.

I really expect people to leave their personal ambitions aside and deal with to the crux of the matter. Afterall, no one would imagine, for example, that a government initiative or government legislation on taxes wouldn't first pass the review of the Finance Ministry and its minister.

"Here too I would expect all matters relating to conscription are led not by politicians and not by the Council of Torah Sages but by the IDF, the defense establishment and the defense minister.

Minister Lieberman (Photo: Avi Hay)

Lieberman went on to say that he could not understand why anyone would believe that that the likelihood of his party supporting a bill on conscription that had not been assessed by the defense establishment was any greater than Haredi parties supporting a bill for the running of public transportation on Shabbat.

Thats why we are really trying to stay focused on the matter, I am trying to stay as focused on the issues as much as possible, Lieberman said after intimating that he believed that Haredi yeshiva students should also be required to play their part in military service.

We are all obligated to do one thing: Everyone, every person, must contribute his part to the state he lives in. Everyones commitment is a guarantor for the other and part of that mutual responsibility is also the readiness of young people, of everyone, to contribute to the State of Israel, he stated.

I think that it is worth it for people in the political apparatus to adopt this attitude and the same principle.

Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev (Likud) implied Sunday that if Lieberman withdrew from the coalition, Netanyahu would not be prepared to accept a return to the situation in which his government comprised of a majority of one in the 120-member Knesset.

We have concluded our Likud ministers meeting and the prime minister repeated that what is important is the stability of the government. One thing that is clear is that he is not prepared to sit with 61 MKs and I hope that Lieberman and the Haredim come down from this tree, Regev said.

Minister Miri Regev (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

If Lieberman does decide to withdraw from the coalition, Netanyahus already tenuous control of the Knesset would be further reduced to a slender majority of 1, reversing his position to the period before the Yisrael Beytenu leader was appointed defense minister.

From the prime ministers point of view, he will do everything that is necessary to ensure that the elections are in 2019, Regev continued.

At the moment, the current situation is in the hands of the Haredim or Lieberman or Kahlon. They will have to reach an understanding. I have no idea why Lieberman wants to go to elections. Were not scared of elections.Two Palestinians carrying what appears to be pipe bombs on their persons were arrested outside the security checkpoint at the Samaria military court on Sunday.

The bomb squad was called to the scene and the entrance to the court as blocked.Three 18-Karat gold rings set with diamonds, which were given as a gift to Shula Zaken by the late Holyland state's witness Shmuel Dachner, are set to go on auction in two weeks.

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The three rings, designed to look like snakes, are made up of white gold, yellow gold and pink gold respectively, and the diamonds set into the rings weigh a total of 1.00 ct.

The rings' worth is estimated at $2,000-$2,400, and they are accompanied with a note that states that "This ring was given as a gift to Mrs. Shula Zaken by State witness Shmuel Dachner in the 'Holyland' affair."

The three rings (Photo: Tiroche Auction House )

The Tiroche Auction House will put the rings on auction Saturday, March 24, on behalf of the Justice Department's Asset Forfeiture Unit.

The rings were seized from Zaken, who was the chief of staff to former prime minister Ehud Olmert.

Zaken was convicted for her role in the "Holyland" land development case, which found that both she and then-Jerusalem mayor Ehud Olmert had accepted bribes from property developers to overlook building codes and other restrictions for specific projects.

In 2014, Zaken struck a plea bargain and turned against Olmert to reduce her own sentence. She served only 11 months in prison, and in return provided recordings and new evidence against Olmert. She was also required to pay a NIS 25,000 fine and have NIS 75,000 in property seized, including the rings and a photo that had already been auctioned off.

Shmuel Dachner and Shula Zaken (Photos: Yuval Chen, Ido Erez)

In an unprecedented ruling that made him the first Israeli former prime minister to receive jail time, Olmert was sentenced to six years in prison , but his sentence was later reduced to 19 months . He was granted early release by the Parole Board after spending 16.5 months in prison.

During the trial, Zaken claimed she received the rings from Dachner as a gift and not as a bribe, but the court rejected her claims.

"There was a lot of romance. There was great love. I loved Dachner," Zaken said in court. She stressed, however, that the two did not have sexual relations.

She described their meetings at restaurants, saying Dachner "would make me feel like the queen of the world. He was my best friend."Food companies in Russia and Ukraine have decided separately to name a new cake and a new ice cream Poor Jew.

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One company, located in the Ukrainian district of Donetsk, recently introduced the "Poor Jew" cake into its range, selling it in supermarkets for 300 Ukrainian hryvnia (NIS 38).

The company claimed the name is intended to show Jews' ability to make good cakes even at cheap costs. Regardless, the cake looks rich, with layers of cream and poppy seeds.

The 'Poor Jew' ice cream

The company also rejected the claims the name of the products was anti-Semitic and sought to buttress the argument by highlighting that another cake called Not Poor Jew will soon be available on the shelves.

Eduard Dolinsky, one of the leaders of the Jewish community in Ukraine, argued that "in such a time, when anti-Semitism is rising, it is offensive to choose that name for a cake."

Alex Tenzer, an Israeli who emigrated from Ukraine, said the name of the cake was more of a gimmick than an expression of anti-Semitism. "If it weren't for that name, no one would be talking about that cake," he said.

In Tatarstan, a federal subject of Russia, the Slavitsa companyseemingly unconnected to the Ukrainian cakedecided to manufacture an ice cream under the same name, "Poor Jew," with its packaging featuring the Israeli flag.

An advertisement of the ice cream said it contains chocolate and peanuts and is definitely not poor in taste.

Leonid Steinberg, one of the leaders of the Jewish community in Tatarstan, said the ice cream's name was racist and called on Slavitsa to stop its manufacturing and marketing.

Slavitsa has previously manufactured chocolate ice cream called "Obamka," with a cartoon of an African child on the packaging. The ice cream's manufacturing was stopped following accusations the name was racist and expressed anti-American sentiments.MUSCAT - US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned Syria on Sunday it would be "very unwise" for government forces to use weaponized gas, as he cited unconfirmed reports of chlorine attacks in eastern Ghouta and slammed Russian support for Damascus.

Mattis stopped short of threatening to retaliate against Syrian forces if a chlorine attack were confirmed.

But he noted America's cruise missile strike on April 6, 2017, on a Syrian air base over a sarin gas attack and said President Donald Trump had "full political maneuver room" to take whatever decision he believed was appropriate.

"It would be very unwise for them to use weaponized gas. And I think President Trump made that very clear early in his administration," Mattis said, speaking with a small group of reporters before landing in Oman.US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday he will not publicly discuss issues related to North Korea, deferring to diplomats and the White House, ahead of a proposed meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un.

Mattis said the situation was simply too sensitive for comment by officials in places such as the Pentagon, which is not directly involved in the diplomatic outreach.

"I do not want to talk about Korea at all. I will leave it to those who are leading the effort," Mattis told reporters during a flight to Oman.

"Because it's that delicate, when you get into a position like this. The potential for misunderstanding remains very high or goes higher."The IDF launched a large-scale General Staff exercise on Sunday to drill emergency preparedness in all of the military's commands.

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The aim of the exercise is to prepare the different commands for a range of emergency and war scenarios and to increase the readiness and operational dialogue between the various commands.

As part of the exercise, Home Front Command will also hold a drill, sounding out rocket alert sirens on Tuesday, March 13, at 11:05am and 7:05pm.

(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

The rocket alert sirens will also be sounded on the radio, will appear on different websites and beepers for people who are hard of hearing, on the TV and on the Home Front Command's website and mobile app. A second siren will be sounded in the event of a real emergency.

The IDF says the goal of the rocket alert sirens drill is to prepare the general public to enter protected areas both in their workplaces and their homes, and to test the functionality of the rocket alert siren system across the country.

The exercise is another opportunity to prepare the general public for emergency situations, to test the various systems, the inter-organizational coordination and the improvement of preparedness during an emergency.



During the week, drills will take place in various locations throughout the country, and citizens might occasionally hear explosions and see increased troop movement. Schools and kindergartens across the country will also take part in the exercise. The students will drill entering safe spaces and shelters.

(Photo: Education Ministry)

When the siren sounds, IDF bases, government ministries and public institutions will commence practicing entering shelters. The IDF has asked the public to follow suit and enter shelters or safe spaces when the drill siren sounds, "in accordance with the time they allotted and Home Front Command's instructions."

Instructions for finding a safe place to hide following an alert siren can be found on Home Front Command's app and website. "If entering a safe space during the exercise entails an unreasonable disruption of daily routine, routine can be preferred," the IDF elucidated.

All essential services, including hospitals, will continue operating normally. In addition, conferences and other mass gatherings will also be held normally.

Just like every year, an emphasis will be placed on coordination and cooperation between the Home Front Command forces and the National Emergency Authority, local authorities, security and rescue forces, the education system and other public and private bodies.

"The drill was planned in advanced as part of the training plan for 2018 and is meant to maintain the fitness and readiness of the troops," the IDF Spokesman's Office said.

The drill is not part of the joint American-Israeli Juniper Cobra 2018 military exercise, which focuses on preparing the IDF to face thousands of rockets and missiles launched a day from Iran, Syria, Lebanon or the Gaza Strip.The Syrian army and rebel groups fought fierce battles early on Sunday on a critical front in eastern Ghouta where government advances have in effect splintered the insurgent enclave near Damascus into three.

State television on Sunday broadcast from the edge of the eastern Ghouta town of Mudeira, where an army field commander told Reuters pro-Syrian government forces had arrived earlier in the day.

Footage showed several massive plumes of smoke in the distance behind a war-ravaged townscape with big holes in walls and roofs, and yet more smoke wafting across the streets. The sound of blasts could be heard.

More than 1,100 civilians have been killed in the onslaught on the biggest rebel stronghold near Damascus since it began three weeks ago with a withering bombardment, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.US President Donald Trump's condition for meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong-un is that there be no nuclear or missile testing, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday.

"There shouldn't be confusion," Mnuchin told NBC's "Meet the Press" program, when asked about White House press secretary Sarah Sanders' statement on Friday that there would be no meeting without concrete and verifiable actions by North Korea.

"The president has made it clear that the conditions are that there's no nuclear testing and there's no missiles and those will be a condition through the meeting."A new IDF draft bill agreement emerged from a meeting late Sunday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United Torah Judaism Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman, which was then approved by the party's Hasidic Torah Sages Council headed by the Gur Rebbe.

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After the Council's approval, the bill will be placed on the Ministerial Legislation Committee's docket for 9am Mondayand then sent to a preliminary Knesset reading, without Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman's party members having to vote for it.

The bill is based on a framework put forward by Shas MK Yoav Ben-Tzur, which states that a goal will be set of 3,800 Haredi recruits joining the IDF and national service with each recruitment cyclewith their number gradually increasing.

L-R: Defense Minister Lieberman, PM Netanyahu and Deputy Health Minister Litzman

In addition, the law will omit any sanctions or incentives, instead including an article starting that the government will inspect general draft quotas every five years and if it finds Haredi conscripts failed to meet them, the law will expire.

Despite estimates that an accord may yet to be reached with the Haredi parties, Likud remains unsure about how to solve the political crisis with Lieberman, who flatly refused to vote on bills not promulgated by a professional defense establishment committee.

Another problem that remains to be tackled is the defense minister's statements that members of his party will vote against the bill. Should Lieberman make good on this threat and vote against it himself, he will be summarily fired.

A Likud source voiced some optimism at the conclusion of Litzman's meeting with the premier. "We're trying to promote a compromise with the Haredim, but Lieberman's assent is also required," he said.

Yisrael Beytenu, meanwhile, said, "We've heard nothing concrete. The price remains to be ascertained."

The Gur Rebbe, head of UTJ's Council of Torah Sages, initially instructed to reject a compromise on the draft bill (Photo: Meir Alfasi, Kikar HaShabat)

Earlier Sunday, United Torah Judaism's Council of Torah Sages for the party's Hasidic factionheaded by Gur Rebbe Yaakov Aryeh Alterrejected the compromise proposition on the IDF draft bill sponsored by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.

The Council's members instructed the Haredi MKs to continue insisting on a new bill passing all three of its readings en route to approval before voting on the state's 2019 budget. "That means simply elections," a United Torah Judaism (UTJ) source told Ynet.

"The Torah Sages' missive did not speak of any offer or legal solution floated throughout the day, but merely reiterated the demand to (pass) the draft bill before the budgetand there's nothing new there," the source added, saying a proposed bill by Shas MK Yoav Ben-Tzur was being examined and may be put forward with slight changes currently being discussed.

A letter disseminated to Haredi MKs by the Council's secretary said, "I have been asked to inform you that the Council of Torah Sages' decision to pass the yeshiva student draft bill before approving the budget has remained unchanged and that you must follow it."

The Belz Rebbe, Yissachar Dov Rokeach, patron to MK Yisrael Eichler, claimed that efforts should still be made to reach another compromise that would benefit Haredim more while skirting elections. His opinion was voted down, however, but he persisted in his efforts to sway the decision even after its publication.

The compromise floated by Shaked and Mandelblit included amending a bill already on the Ministerial Committee on Legislation's docket, put together by former Shas housing minister and current legal adviser for UTJ Ariel Atias, Shaked and Attorney General Mandelblit.

Deputy Health Minister Litzman leaving his meeting with PM Netanyahu (Photo: Hillel Meir/TPS)

Following the Council of Torah Sages' rejection of the compromise, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened with UTJ Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman Sunday evening in a last ditch effort to resolve the crisis before elections are called.

Independent of the draft issue, UTJ MK and Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni is expected to move forward Monday on further hearing on the 2019 budget in his committee.

A coalition crisis has hit PM Netanyahu's government (Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg, Alex Kolomoisky and Reuters)

Justice Minister Shaked told Ynet Sunday evening, "There are solutions. One must simply want to pursue them. This crisis has three alternatives, not onesolutions both (Defense Minister Avigdor) Lieberman and the Haredim can agree to. The question is whether they want to resolve the crisis or push the country to unnecessary elections and take down a right-wing government."

Minister Shaked commented on developments at the Israel Democracy Institute's conference on 70 years of democracy and added, "Hope is not yet lost and I truly think this crisis is solvable. When you speak to all members of the coalition, everyone wants the same thing.

Justice Minister Shaked said she was not afraid of going to the opposition for 'a few years' (Photo: Hillel Meir/TPS)

"I've been speaking with (coalition) party heads who think elections are unnecessary. It's not that going to elections will allow us to receive a government that's any better.

"I think taking apart this kind of government will truly be irresponsible on the part of those responsible for the breakup," the minister said, concluding by saying, "I certainly don't fear the opposition and it wouldn't be that bad to rest there for a few years."

Earlier Sunday, Netanyahu met with the heads of the coalition to discuss the matter of the draft bill further. Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman, however, did not attend the meeting over his stated anger with the idea that the bill is being formulated by people outside of the defense establishment while UTJ Deputy Health Minister Litzman was late.

Coalition heads arriving to the meeting Sunday (:  )

X

The discussions were therefore swiftly brought to an end, with Litzman and Kulanu chief Moshe Kahlon called in to the prime minister's offices for a meeting. A source within the coalition claimed there were three possible solutions to the crisis surrounding the draft bill and that it could be resolved within the day, but wondered whether Netanyahu was truly interested in doing so.

"The meeting of coalition heads took place in good atmosphere. There is still no agreed-upon wording between the Haredi parties. Coalition heads are waiting for their draft and after that the discussions will continue in order to resolve the crisis," a statement by the Prime Minister's Office said.

Defense Minister Lieberman voiced his dissatisfaction with the draft bill compromise (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

Defense Minister Lieberman, who communicated an explicit ultimatum Friday and sent another strong message Sunday morning, intentionally avoided the meeting. A source close to the Yisrael Beytenu chief said, "He never attends the meeting of coalition party heads, because everything said there is leaked out before the door is even closed."

Coalition members have been scrapping since the morning in the media and on social networks regarding culpability for the crisis now threatening the coalition's very existence.

"Mr. Prime Minister," Education Minister Naftali Bennett tweeted, "as long as you act for the good of the State of Israel, we will continued to be behind you. If you bring the right-wing government down and lead us to unnecessary elections for personal aims, you will lose us."

Gabbay: 'We won't serve as pawns'

Zionist Union Chairman Avi Gabbay sent a strong message to coalition parties Sunday when he said, "We're being offered to condition moving up elections by postponing them to September or some other far-flung date. We're not your suckers and you won't use us as pawns in political maneuvering intended to scuttle moving up elections.

"Let me be clear: we will support moving up elections to the earliest possible date."

Zionist Union chief Gabbay said his party supported moving up elections to the earliest possible date (Photo: Yaron Brener)

Touching on the conduct of Finance Minister Kahlon and Education Minister Bennett, Gabbay said, "Unfortunately, (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's coalition partners have decided that you can forego values in politics. They're fighting to preserve his rule instead of seizing the opportunity and calling elections."

"After nine years of division, incitement and hatred," Gabbay continued, "the people of Israel will be able to choose a new path and a new hope. Choosing a leadership to serve them rather than itself, that preserves the institutions of government and law enforcement rather than attacks them."

"A new leadership to clean up the culture of governmental corruption and lead Israel back to the correct, sane path. We will serve as that leadership."Seemingly never-ending tensions between the Israeli and Iranian governments have certainly not prompted Israelis to mull visiting Tehran and its environs for their next holiday, but starting next month they will nevertheless be able to peek at tourist destinations offered up by the Islamic republic.

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An Israeli executive visiting over the weekend the 2018 ITB Berlin conference, the world's largest tourism and travel trade show, obtained a promotional video showcasing Iran and its vistas, and engendered an intriguing new collaboration attempt.

Lamberger's encounter with the Iranian tourism official

X

The tourism expo includes hundred of booths every year proudly plying their wares to the world in an effort to convince passersby why their particular destination is worth visiting the most.





Lamberger (L) and the Iranian Tourism Ministry official at 2018 ITB Berlin

The short promotional video Lamberger obtained showed the Islamic republic's tourist destinations and brought him to the realization that ties between countries and between people could be made through tourism, rather than politics.

Slight embarrassment at first meeting

Lamberger approached the Iranian booth and had an open, smiling conversation with a representative of the Iranian Tourism Ministry, as if the two countries were not embroiled in a years' long feud.

"I believe we'll be airing the program in April," the Israeli CEO told Ynet. "I'm waiting to receive certain materials and when we do, we'll be screening them on all of our platforms and creating a special episode for the (lifestyle) channel emphasizing Israelis of Persian origin. It'll be our late Purim present."

Lamberger (L) at the Iranian booth

"I walked up to them, started chatting and asked to sit down and get to know them," he continued. "I later asked to receive the latest video materials."

When he told the Iranian officials he was from Israel, he recounted, slight embarrassment was noted. He said, "Their representative gulped, I admit, and wasn't really friendly at first. I told her I wanted to show a different Iran and that her country had more than just extremists.

"I added another angle to the conversation by telling her about the many Israelis born in Iran that would love to see their homeland and even return for a visit."

Iran has so much to offer the Israeli tourist, Lamberger said

'Tourism can make a connection'

The materials Lamberger was shown proved to him what he already knew about Iranthat it was a fascinating country that would certainly be of interest to the Israeli tourist.

"It's a country steeped in tradition and culture, with markets purveying specialty foods. It's a shame we can't fly there freely to see the other aspects of that country," he lamented.

Tourism can help connect the two countries, he claimed

The Ananey Communications chief claimed this was not the first time he has worked with Iranians and that he boasted several contacts in Tehran, but that ITB Berlin afforded him the opportunity to receive a personal email from an Iranian official for the first time.

"The entire dialogue was interesting in light of the sensitivity with them recently and the prime minister's statements. I think a booth and tourism can do much to connect our two countries."DUBAI - Iran revealed on Sunday that it had sentenced an unidentified Iranian-British dual citizen to six years in jail for spying for Britain, in a case that appears not to have previously been disclosed.

No details of the case were given, including when the person was arrested or where.

The judiciary's Mizan news agency said Tehran prosecutor Abbas Jafari-Dolatabadi had "referred to a six-year prison sentence for an agent of England's intelligence service".BITOLA, Macedonia -- Thousands of people have marched in southern Macedonia to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation and eventual death of almost the country's entire Jewish population.

Public officials, civic group representatives and relatives of former Macedonian Jews came from Israel, Latin America and the United States to attend the event in the town of Bitola.

Macedonia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when it was occupied by Germany's Bulgarian allies during World War II. More than 7,000 Jews from the cities of Skopje, Bitola and Stip were confined to ghettos in March 1943 before being deported to the Nazi death camp in German-occupied Treblinka, Poland.

Ninety-eight percent of Macedonia's Jews perished there.Hundreds of Poles have gathered in Warsaw Sunday to express their solidarity with Jews who perished in the Holocaust, were expelled from Poland 50 years ago or feel targeted by a new wave of anti-Semitism today.

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Speakers at the demonstration denounced policies of the current Polish government that have led to a dispute with Israel and sparked a wave of anti-Semitic rhetoric.

The Warsaw solidarity rally decried the Polish government's 'radical, inappropriate' policies (Photo: AP)

They gathered late Sunday afternoon at the Gdanski train station, the departure point for thousands of Poles of Jewish descent who were forced to leave the country in a March 1968 purge by the communist regime of the time.

The rally was part of a larger initiative by Polish civic groups that also published an open letter describing the government policies as "radical and inappropriate."

75th anniversary of Jewish deportations observed in Macedonia

In Macedonia, meanwhile, thousands of people marched in the country's south Sunday to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the deportation and eventual death of almost the entirety of the country's Jewish population.

The ceremony in Bitola, Macedonia, commemorating the 75th anniversary of Jews' deportation from there (Photo: AP)

Public officials, civic group representatives and relatives of former Macedonian Jews came from Israel, Latin America and the United States to attend the event in the town of Bitola.

Macedonia was a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia when it was occupied by Germany's Bulgarian allies during World War II. More than 7,000 Jews from the cities of Skopje, Bitola and Stip were confined to ghettos in March 1943 before being deported to the Nazi death camp in German-occupied Treblinka, Poland.

Ninety-eight percent of Macedonia's Jews perished there.The daughter of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Rabbanit Adina Bar-Shalom declared Sunday that as far as she was concerned, the movement her father founded, Shas, can disappear. At the annual conference for graduates of the Gesher Institute, Bar-Shalom revealed that she is a member of a group consisting of members of a large spectrum of Israeli society who want to form a new political party.

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Deri changed considerably since he went to prison, she agonized regarding the head of Shas and the man who created the womens chapter of the movement during the 2015 elections. He used to know how to mediate and connect between worlds, a capable man. A pity he went to prison and was entirely ruined.

Adina Bar-Shalom (L) decried Interior Minister Deri's fall from grace (Photo: Alex Kolomoisky)

The interviewer, journalist Ayala Hasson, asked her if she thought Shas was history. Bar-Shalom responded: If it was up to me, then yes.

Picking on Haredim

Bar-Shalom, an Israel Prize laureate, commented on the new political movement she is establishing and said, The party includes Haredim, secular, and religious Jews and has formulated a set of mutual values, no small matter. That said, she clarified, I do not wish to be a Knesset member, but rather one of the founding fathers.

Regarding the closing of the groundbreaking Haredi college she founded, she expressed deep disappointment that the chairman of Shas did not try to assist. I am very hurt, she said. It is a terrible blow As interior minister I believe he could have done a lot, had he wished.

She also expressed concern over religious and secular relations sating, The matter of attacking Haredim takes me to an unpleasant place, like pulling the beards of Jews in the Holocaust.With the recent crisis surrounding the IDF draft bill, the Knesset seems in dire need of a superhero. This coming Wednesday, it seems, the Israeli parliament will get one.

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Actor Dean Cain, world renowned for portraying the Man of Steel, Superman, in the seminal nineties television series Lois and Clark, will visit the Knesset Wednesday to express his support of Israel in a conference organized by Deputy Knesset Speaker MK Hilik Bar.

MK Bar (L) invited his friend Dean Cain to visit Israel

Somewhat surprisingly, the parliamentarian and Hollywood actor have been maintaining friendly ties for the past two years. The two initially met in Poland, when Barchairman of the Poland-Israel Friendship Associationvisited the country for a Holocaust survivors' appreciation event, and Cain was in Warsaw for a project with the city's zoo.

"We clicked in an instant," Bar recounted, "and then I discovered his curiosity towards Israel, whichwith the passage of timetransformed into love of the country."

(Photo: Hilik Bar's Facebook page)

Several weeks ago, it was decided that Cain will visit Israel as part of a series he was currently shooting.

"I asked him to visit the Knesset for a salute to Israel," Bar said. "He agreed without much deliberation, and I really hope this will allow his hundreds of thousands of followers to witness his love of Israel and the special experiences he will surely see here."Islamabad: The Survey of Pakistan has negated the Capital Development Authoritys (CDA) claim on 150 kanals of private land, according to a news report. This land is said to be in a village, Shah Allah Ditta, located in Zone III.

Over a year ago, CDA Member Administration had acquired around 150 kanals of land from some private owners, situated in the foothills of Margalla. After the verdict of the Survey of Pakistan, CDA is now required to return over 140 kanals to the private owners. The report further states that in addition to these 140 kanals, 27 kanals more would be given to the private owners. These details were announced during a district meeting among Zubair Farooq Khan, District Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami and various other land developers running a private housing society.- Stonebwoy has been honored by a New York State Senator

- The honor was for his contribution in the development of Caribbean Music.

- He was given the citation after one of his performaces in the United States of America.

Ghana's international reggae and dancehall sensation, Livingstone Etse Setekla, received a citation from a New York Senator for the work he's done in order to develop Caribbean musical art forms.

The citation was awarded to Stonebwoy by the Senator of the 20th District of the City of New York, Senator Jesse Hamilton, a lawyer and member of the New York Senate since 2015.

READ ALSO: Zylofon Media refuses to media between Stonebwoy and Shatta Wale

Checkout a post Stonebwoy shared on the incident below:

As great an achievement as the citation may be, things are not all rosy with Ghana's favorite reggae and dancehall artiste.

Rumor has it that Stonebwoy has parted ways with Zylofon Media, while recent reports also have it that he's been attacked by a member of Zylofon Media's communication team.

According to reports, Bulldog, along with several other unidentified men, attacked Stonbwoy's brother and attempted to take his vehicle and only failed thanks to Stonebwoy's security team.

Also checkout the most recent edition of YEN TV's Star Gist with rising Ghanaian Musician, Kobla Jnr, and watch the artiste speak about his plans of making it big in the music industry:

READ ALSO: Ameyaw Debrah and Elsie take their first dance as a couple

Do you have any story to share with YEN? Get featured! We are available on Facebook

Source: YenThe baby mama of controversial dancehall artiste, Charles Nii Armah Mensah, aka Shatta Wale has disclosed that nothing can separate their love for each other.

According to Shatta Michy, she and Shatta Wale came together just to light up the world with their love.

Shatta Michy and Wale

READ ALSO: Bullet 'mocks' Zylofon Media boss in a latest post

Many haters of the young lovers have predicted doom for their relationship due to Shatta Wales failure to walk Michy to the aisle despite having a child together.

Many social media critics have argued that, it is likely Shatta Wale will dump Michy for another woman in the middle of their journey.

But in a recent Instagram post, Shatta Michy urged her followers to offer their full support to their partners in order to keep up their love growing.

READ ALSO: Zylofon Media breaks silence over Stonebwoy's 'exit' from Zylofon Music

The richest people in the world have a common dream  to make a change in society & in the lives of others. To make a positive impact on the world. We have that common dream. We came to light up the world. So light my candle whilst I light yours.. hey u, yes you, why dont you do same for a lover!!.

This is not the first time Shatta Michy is openly affirming her love for Wale despite all the negative talks about their relationship.

Michy recently disclosed that Shatta Wale brings out the best in her, and her association with him was never a mistake.

READ ALSO: Kennedy Agyapong explains why Ghana can't develop with prayers

Meet emerging music star Kobla Jnr on Star Gist with Yen.com.g

YEN.com.gh is building a platform where Ghanaians can share local news and own experiences with each other. Witnessing an incident? Want to tell about a local problem? Know someone who is extremely talented and needs recognition? Your stories and photos are always welcome. Message us on Facebook now

Source: Yen- US Ambassador to Ghana has commented on homosexuality in Ghana

- He says he hopes to see more tolerance towards gays in Ghana in the next 10 years

- He says when Ghanaians have a better understanding of the science of the issue there will be more tolerance

The Ambassador of the United States of America to Ghana, Mr. Robert P. Jackson, has expressed that he hopes to see a Ghana that offers homosexuals the same freedoms it does heterosexuals in the next 10 years.

Speaking on the issue of homosexuality in Ghana on 21 Minutes with KKB, Ambassador Jackson related that in the United States, homosexuality was also a difficult topic.

READ ALSO: Another Kwabenya police station 'jailbird' caught by police

"Homosexual marriage has only become law in recent years and prior to that when I was growing up, nobody talked about homosexuality." Said Ambassador Jackson.

The head of the US diplomatic mission went on to say that this has now changed in the United States, and that this due to people having a better understanding of the sciences of the issue.

"Everyone who was gay suffered enormous discrimination and that has changed... I think that as Ghanaians gain a greater understanding of the science and issues, theyll also be very tolerant because this is a very tolerant country..."

Ambassador Jackson went on to clarify that legalizing homosexuality isn't so important for Americans, and that it was more the guarantee of equal rights for all. He expressed that ensuring that all citizens, regardless of the lifestyle, be subjected to discrimination.

Checkout a video of Ambassador Jackson's comment below:

Also checkout the most recent edition of YEN TV's Star Gist with rising Ghanaian Musician, Kobla Jnr, and watch the artiste speak about his plans of making it big in the music industry:

READ ALSO: Stonebwoy receives citation from New York Senator

Do you have any story to share with YEN? Get featured! We are available on Facebook

Source: Yen.com.ghThe Copernicus Sentinel-3A satellite carries a suite of state-of-the art sensors that deliver a wealth of information to monitor our changing world, but this image was captured with its ocean and land camera. With a swath-width of 1270 km, this instrument delivers images that can span several countries, as we see here.

From east to west, the image features the islands of Corsica and Sardinia in the Mediterranean Sea, Italy and across the Adriatic Sea to Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, and to the western edges of Romania. To the north and partly obscured by clouds, lie Germany, Switzerland, Austria and the Alps.

South of the Alps, haze hovers over Italy's Po Valley. Following the Po River to the east, the sediment it carries can be seen entering the Adriatic Sea. In fact, sediments line most of the eastern coast of Italy, giving it a greenish blue frame, while the western coast is mostly sediment-free.

As the colours in this image suggest, the camera can be used to monitor ocean ecosystems and vegetation on land - all of which will bring significant benefits to society through more informed decision-making.

Sentinel-3A will soon be joined in orbit by its twin Sentinel-3B, which is scheduled for liftoff from Russia on 25 April. The pairing of identical satellites provides the best coverage and data delivery for Europe's Copernicus programme - the largest environmental monitoring programme in the world.

The image, which is also featured on the Earth from Space video programme, was captured by Sentinel-3A on 28 September 2016.

- Download the full high-resolution image.

Please follow SpaceRef on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.After a successful embryo transfer, Dan Patch Award winner Blazin Britches will resume serious training in preparation for her four-year-old season.

Owned by Bruce Trogdon's Emerald Highlands Farm, Blazin Britches (Rock N Roll Heaven - Soggy Britches) won 11 of 15 sophomore starts and banked more than $540,000. The Brian Brown trainee knocked off the division's best in the Shady Daisy at The Meadowlands in addition to capturing the Nadia Lobell at Hoosier Park before capping her season with a Breeders Crown title.

Trogdon indicated last November that she was shut down after the Breeders Crown so that she could have surgery to remove a small chip from her left hock but would look to breed and race in 2018. The longtime owner has campaigned many pacing mares over the years and has extended their racing careers by choosing to perform embryo transfers.

"Years ago when I was up in Canada I did that with Maureen Rocks, Blissfull Smile, Seriously...we've done it quite often," Trogdon told Trot Insider. "It's just not very popular because it's expensive, and people don't like to buy yearlings that are embryo transplants. And I think a lot of that, personally, is because the mares -- usually -- were old mares."

In fact, Trogdon's early exposure to the embryo transfer process with renowned Canadian veterinarian Dr. Moira Gunn and her late husband, Hall of Famer Dr. Michael Colterjohn. Their early expertise and success with the process gave Trogdon the background and confidence to continue on with embryo transfers as he shifted his racing operation stateside.

"I loved doing it with Moira because she knew what she was doing. That kind of got my feet wet and now I've done it with several places. I usually just do it wherever my horses are racing."

Trogdon has a yearling stud colt from another of his star pacing mares, Jugette and Breeders Crown winner Colors A Virgin, who was still in training when she was bred and had a successful embryo transfer in 2016.

"I don't think there's anything wrong with the embryo transplant process but it depends on the luck of the draw as far as who the recipient is and all that kind of stuff. But, how many opportunities do you get? I didn't want to miss a year to get a chance to have a Fear The Dragon out of Blazin Britches," continued Trogdon. "You never know how many chances you're going to get. Every year that goes by is another chance I could get a daughter of Blazin Britches...to me, it's worth the money. And we've had really good success as far as getting them in foal. It's not that complicated, really."

While the process isn't complicated, it's neither foolproof nor inexpensive. Getting a mare to catch in and of itself can be labourious. A mare with a similar cycle must then be found, and she needs to successfully receive and maintain the embryo transplant. If this procedure doesn't work at any stage of the transfer, it must all begin again at its own pace.

"It's expensive not just because of the process, renting the mares...it costs you time. And I've had a real good success rate actually with getting them in foal but we kind of take our time, and I don't like to have them stressed," noted Trogdon. "I like to hold them up a little bit and jog them. But it gets you a little bit behind so when you start calculating the amount of time that you lose...we're skipping the $100,000 race at Miami Valley, which I'd normally go to because we're in Ohio. So you start adding that cost in, for a lot of people, it's just not worth it.

"It's a cost factor, and it does interfere...trainers don't like it if it gets messing around with their training program. But for me, if I get a Fear The Dragon out of Blazin Britches, it's going to be worth a lot. It also means I'm going to be racing her longer."

Trogdon told Trot Insider that Blazin Britches was bred in late February, an embryo was transplanted on March 2 and the recipient mare was confirmed in foal on March 9. Thus, Blazin Britches will resume a regular training regimen in preparation for a return to the track. The recipient mare was found from what Trogdon referred to as a recipient herd.

"I deal with people that are in the business of recipient herds. Generally when I give instructions to the vet and say hey, let's give this mare a shot and bring this mare in ... you normally try to give a shot to three other mares as you have to find a mare that matches up specifically in time [with her breeding cycle]. It's not as easy as 'OK, I like this mare'. Now the science is getting better and better all the time where they're getting it down pretty good.

"For me, because I'm not into the embryo transplant business, I don't have my own recipient herd -- we could, we talked about it -- you're just at the luck of the draw of which mare you're going to get. Over the years I have been disappointed several times with the mare I've got, as once it's there you're stuck with it," Trogdon laughed.

When asked what he looks for in that recipient mare, Trogdon admitted he's not as fussy on pedigree as he is on size, stature and sensibilty. He notes that some people even go outside the breed and use Belgian horses, but not him.

"Pedigree doesn't mean much. The main thing is, is it a nice, big mare that can nurse good, take care of the baby," said Trogdon. "Until you get the home, you never know. I loved dealing with Moira on this as she'd often get me a big, ol' trotting mare. Personally, I think a good Standardbred is the best mother. I worry about some that aren't big enough and a lot of times the mares I'm breeding are big and then the baby has to bend over far to nurse and that can affect the way their legs grow...there are a lot of factors, and it's not as ideal as the mother doing it herself but it's better than missing a year."Talented Ontario Sired and Ontario Bred pacers and trotters delivered impressive performances both within the province and beyond its borders in 2017.

Three-year-old trotting filly On A Sunny Day and two-year-old pacing filly Percy Bluechip set all-time Ontario Sires Stakes speed marks and current and former Ontario Sires Stakes competitors captured over 20 open stake titles.

For the second year the Standardbred Breeders of Ontario Association will honour the leading money winners in the eight Ontario Sires Stakes divisions, the provincial programs leading driver and trainer, and the SBOA Stakes champions with donations to the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society and the Standardbred Racetrack Chaplaincy of Canada.

Also being honoured with donations are the winners of the SBOAs designated awards. The Masterfeeds Awards are presented to a pair of outstanding broodmares, one pacer and one trotter, while the Chris Van Bussel Memorial Award and Lloyd Chisholm Achievement Award recognise people who have demonstrated ongoing leadership and service to Ontarios harness racing industry.

Congratulations to all of the 2017 award winners!

Percy Bluechip

Two-year-old pacing filly OSS division champion and OBrien Award winner

Shadow Play  Advantest  Artsplace

2017 OSS record: 5 4-0-0, $264,684, 1:51.2f

2017 overall record: 9 5-1-0, $440,795, 1:51.2f

Breeder: Blue Chip Bloodstock Inc., Wallkill, NY

Owners: Shadow Two Stable, Puslinch; James & Wilma MacKenzie, Ennismore, ON; Hudson Standardbred Stable Inc., Hudson, QC

Trainer: Dr. Ian Moore  Driver: Trevor Henry

Western Passage

Two-year-old pacing gelding OSS division champion

Sportswriter  Ever Western  Western Hanover

2017 OSS record: 5 2-2-0, $193,700, 1:51.3s

2017 overall record: 10 2-3-1, $206,980, 1:51.3s

Breeder: Winbak Farm, Chesapeake City, Maryland

Owners: West Wins Stable, Cambridge; John & McKinlay Fielding, Toronto; Calhoun Racing Ltd., Chatham, ON

Trainer: Casie Coleman  Drivers: Travis Cullen, Yannick Gingras, and Doug McNair

Kadabra Queen

Two-year-old trotting filly OSS division champion and OBrien Award winner

Kadabra  Queen Street  Duke Of York

2017 OSS record: 6 5-0-0, $320,800, 1:55.1s

2017 overall record: 10 5-1-3, $328,380, 1:55.1s

Breeder: Harness Horsepower Inc., Campbellville, ON

Owners: Harness Horsepower Inc., Campbellville & Frank Monte, Markham, ON

Trainer: Chad Milner  Driver: Scott Coulter

Draft Year

Two-year-old trotting gelding OSS division champion

Kadabra  Allmar Victory  Angus Hall

2017 OSS record: 3 2-0-0, $160,300, 1:56.4ss

2017 overall record: 6 2-2-1, $168, 980, 1:56.4s

Breeders: Diane Ingham & Harry Rutherford, Mount Pleasant, ON

Owners: Doug Millard, Woodstock; Ben Mudry, Toronto, ON; Tim Murray, Shawville, QC; Howard Taylor, Philadelphia, PA

Trainer: Brad Maxwell  Driver: Randy Waples

The Joy Luck Club

Three-year-old pacing filly OSS division champion and OBrien Award finalist

Camluck  Oh The Joy  American Ideal

2017 OSS record: 6 3-1-0, $240,150, 1:50.3s

2017 overall record: 22 14-4-0, $333,807, 1:50.3s

Breeders: Beechwood Acres, Burlington & Mark Horner, St. Marys, ON

Owners: R A W Equine Inc., Burlington; Mark Horner, St. Marys; and Gregg McNair, Guelph, ON

Trainers: Gregg McNair & Mark Horner  Drivers: Doug McNair & Mike Horner

Tymal Peacemaker

Three-year-old pacing gelding OSS division champion

Mach Three  Flying Color  Real Artist

2017 OSS record: 5 1-2-0, $158,500, 1:51.2s

2017 overall record: 10 3-2-2, $182,890, 1:50.2s

Breeder: 1443059 Ontario Inc., Oldcastle, ON

Owner: Bayama Farms Inc., Saint-Andre-DArgenteuil, QC

Trainer: Stephane Larocque  Driver: Sylvain Filion

On A Sunny Day

Three-year-old trotting filly OSS division champion

Muscle Mass  Dicent No  Promising Catch

2017 OSS record: 6 4-1-0, $300,280, 1:53.3

2017 overall record: 14 6-2-1, $365,936, 1:53.3s

Breeder: Luc Blais, Lochaber Ouest, QC

Owner: Determination, Montreal, QC

Trainer: Luc Blais  Driver: Sylvain Filion

R First Class

Three-year-old trotting gelding OSS division champion and OBrien Award finalist

Kadabra  World Class Image  Balanced Image

2017 OSS record: 6 3-2-0, $229,287, 1:53.2s

2017 overall record: 12 7-4-0, $307,246, 1:53.1s

Owner/Breeder: Thomas & Elizabeth Rankin, St. Catharines, ON

Trainer: Ben Baillargeon  Drivers: Mario Baillargeon & Sylvain Filion

Fade

SBOA Stake pacing filly champion

Shadow Play  Breathe  Northern Luck

14 3-3-1, $148,885, 1:51.3

Breeders: Stephen Dey, Allentown, NJ

Owners: West Wins Stable, Cambridge & Calhoun Racing Ltd., Chatham, ON

Trainer: Casie Coleman  Driver: Travis Cullen

Magic Presto

SBOA Stake trotting filly champion

Kadabra  In The Mean Time  Muscles Yankee

12 5-4-2, $417,434, 1:52.1

Breeder: Herb Liverman, Miami Beach, FL

Owners: Melvin Hartman, Ottawa, ON; Herb Liverman, Miami Beach; David McDuffee, Delray Beach, FL; Little E LLC, New York, NY

Trainer: Richard Norman  Driver: Trevor Henry

No Strikes Against

Masterfeeds Outstanding Pacing Broodmare

Western Hanover  Strike A Balance  Artsplace

Breeders: Robert McIntosh Stables Inc., LaSalle; Paul Ysebaert, Mooretown, ON; C S X Stables, Liberty Center, OH

Owners: Seelster Farms Inc., Lucan, ON

Dam of 2017 Gold Leg winner Nascar Seelster (1:51.4s, $128,147, Mach Three) as well as Camluck sons Nitro Seelster (1:49.4f, $219,188) and Nirvana Seelster (1:48.0s, $840,834) and Bettors Delight gelding National Seelster (1:50.2s, $380,687).

World Class Image

Masterfeeds Outstanding Trotting Broodmare

(3, 1:55.2s, $300,756)

Balanced Image  Gramola  Supergill

Breeders: Glengate Farms, Campbellville, ON

Owners: Tom & Elizabeth Rankin

Dam of 2017 three-year-old trotting gelding OSS champion and OBrien Award winner R First Class (1:53.1s), a winner of $307,246 lifetime, and R Raised Emotions (1:52.3s, $121,934) both by Kadabra. Also the dam of former OSS Grassroots winner World Class Izzy (1:56.2s, $50,018) by Muscle Mass.

Sylvain Filion

Lampman Cup winner

2017 OSS statistics: 146 30-24-15-16-18, $1,645,359, 368 Lampman Cup points (fifth Lampman Cup title).

Leading drives: Tymal Peacemaker, On A Sunny Day, R First Class, Wildriverbumblebee, Yaris Bayama, Capteur De Reve, Soiree Seelster

Mark Steacy

Johnston Cup winner

2017 OSS statistics: 88 17-12-13-18-6, $508,276; 218 Johnston Cup points (second Johnston Cup title).

Stable stars: Delcrest Magicstar, Dream Massive, Hudson Phil, Majestic Kat

Rolling Acres Farms

Chris Van Bussel Memorial Award winner

The Chris Van Bussel Memorial Award was established in memory of the Seelster Farms founder to recognize persons of integrity who have been of service to both the SBOA and the greater harness racing industry, and in 2017 the SBOA is proud to present the award to the Klemencic familys Rolling Acres Farm.

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The Klemencic family has bred and owned some outstanding horses over the course of their long-time participation in harness racing, but 2017 saw the Trenton, ON residents reach a whole new level of success. There were 18 Klemencic-bred horses competing across North America last season, but none of them provided the family with more thrills than three-year-old trotting colt What The Hill. The son of Muscle Hill out of Stan Klemencics Angus Hall mare K T Cha Cha triumphed in the Breeders Crown, Canadian Trotting Classic and TVG Open on his way to earnings of $1 million and the 2017 Dan Patch Award for sophomore trotting colts. What The Hills standout season also earned Klemencic his first-ever nomination for the Armstrong Breeder of the Year OBrien Award. What The Hills success followed on the heels of a stellar 2016 season that saw another trotting colt that they bred, two-year-old Mass Production, capture the OSS Super Final in a record time of 1:54.4. A Muscle Mass son out of the Angus Hall mare All Time Favorite, Mass Production captured the both the 2016 OSS divisional title and the freshman trotting colt OBrien Award.

Greg Blanchard

Lloyd Chisholm Achievement Award winner

Established in honour of one of the founding fathers of the OSS program, the Lloyd Chisholm Achievement Award recognizes a member of the harness racing community for their ongoing meritorious service, and in 2017 the deserving recipient is Greg Blanchard.

The hard-working Blanchard spends his days serving as the Director of Racing at The Raceway at Western Fair District, but the Prince Edward Island natives talents and contributions extend beyond the realm of raceway management. Throughout the summer Blanchard can be found filling in as an announcer at tracks across the province and is a regular part of the colour commentary team for events like Grand River Raceways Industry Day, and Flamboro Downs Confederation Cup. Prior to making the move to The Raceway in 2010, Blanchard spent a decade at WEG, working both on-air and in the Standardbred communications department, and he makes regular returns to Mohawk Park for the tracks signature stake events. The London, ON resident served as the long-time host of the SBOA Awards Banquet and he has co-hosted the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame induction gala since 2015. Blanchard is always willing to go the extra mile to promote harness racing and he has also been known to sport the occasional pink tutu or coat of purple paint in the name of fundraising.

(SBOA/Sandra Snyder)Trot Insider has learned that Blue Burner, one of Albertas leading pacing sires, passed away Friday at Connie Kolthammers Outlaw Farms in Falun, Alberta.

He was fine the night before and I found him the next morning out in the middle of the field, said Kolthammer. All I can assume is something ruptured. It wasnt a colic or anything like that because he showed no signs of rolling in the snow or anything like that.

The 16-year-old son of Grinfromeartoear-Village Blues, who retired from racing with 16 wins, purse earnings in excess of $330,000 and a race record of 1:49.4, was regarded by many as one of that provinces leading sires.

He did a really good job for us, added Kolthammer. He had a limited number of mares because we did live cover. We werent set up for shipping semen and getting a big band of mares to him in the first place.

Despite being limited to breeding a smaller group of broodmares, Blue Burner had plenty of success stories.

He produced the Horse of the Year in Outlaw Fireball (1:55.1 - $326,073) and every year he showed up with stake horses here in Alberta, added Kolthammer. Mateo (1:52.2 - $301,048) really was outstanding for him by getting national attention. For this pond, he was a big fish. Hes definitely going to be greatly missed here at the farm because he was a nice horse to handle. He fit every bill that we wanted and he produced very well for us.



Outlaw Fireball, winning at Century Downs Outlaw Fireball, winning at Century Downs

Blue Burners passing not only leaves an enormous void on the farm, but hell be greatly missed in the Alberta breeding program.

Its a huge hit for here, said an emotional Kolthammer. Im still kind of swimming trying to figure out what Im going to do. Timing was everything and I dont really have time to recover or look for anything. I just dont know how you replace him.

From the 147 horses Blue Burner sired, 97 managed to make it to the races. He had 79 winners from those 97 that made it to the races, and included in the 79 winners were 13 horses that banked in excess of $100,000. His offspring racked up more than $5 million in purses earned to date.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the connections of Blue Burner.tour Christchurch, Selwyn and Ashburton this week

The Storylines National Festival Story Tour will visit community venues and facilities in metropolitan and regional centres, smaller cities and towns, extending Storylines regional reach to communities that have not previously had access to the central city-based Family Days.

Taking part in this leg are Maria Gill, Anne Kayes, James Norcliffe and James Russell.

These four much-loved writers will be entertaining school children at 42 schools and libraries around Canterbury, and at one of several national Storylines events for adults, to be held in Christchurch, in association with the New Zealand Book Council. A discussion panel featuring all four authors will run from 7.00  8.00pm, Wednesday 14 March at Halswell School Library, 1 School Rd, Halswell.

After Canterbury, the tour moves onto schools and libraries on the West Coast

7  11 May with four different writers and illustrators.A teenage student at a southern Utah high school has been charged with bringing a homemade bomb to school after it was discovered in a backpack emitting smoke and prompted an evacuation, police said Tuesday.



The boy was arrested Monday night after Pine View High School in the city of St. George was evacuated for two hours that afternoon while the FBI and a bomb squad investigated. Police declined to identify the arrested teen or give his age.



Authorities said additional charges also are pending against the teen as a suspect in the raising of the Islamic State (ISIS) terror groups flag on a pole at another Utah high school last month just after the Florida mass school shooting that was followed by numerous other threats to schools around the US.

A teenager at a school in Hurricane, Utah was arrested for bringing a bomb to a local school in his backpack How much of this Islamic influence could be running rampant in schools? This is just why security is sorely needed at many schools. And why won't the police identify him? Is it because he's a foreigner, and they don't want the public to form an opinion?

Labels: anti-americanism, islam, jihad, racism, terrorism, United States, war on terrorTwo residents interested in Lapeer Commission seat LAPEER  Two Lapeer women, as of Friday, have expressed interest to serve the remainder of Dan Osentoskis term on the Lapeer City Commission ...

Employers react to COVID-19 vaccine mandate LAPEER  Employers across Michigan and the country are working with their internal human resource departments, outside consultants and business associations to determine exactly how...

Dryden Fall Festival on Sept. 24-25 at Cardinal Field DRYDEN  The Dryden Fall Festival will be held Friday-Saturday (Sept. 24-25)  a two-day festival this year  at Cardinal Field, 1300 Atwell St....Five years on, Pope under fire over sex abuse scandals

AFP, Vatican City :

As Pope Francis marks the fifth year of his papacy next week, the pontiff once hailed as a fearless reformer is under fire for his handling of the sex abuse scandals that have rocked the Roman Catholic Church.

Since taking over in March 2013, the 81-year-old Argentinian has championed the cause of the marginalised, saying he wanted a "poor church for the poor" and shunning papal palaces and ostentatious displays of wealth.

His reform agenda has introduced the possibility in certain cases to allow divorced and remarried believers to take communion, although he still agrees with the Church's traditional positions on other issues, such as abortion, artificial contraception and gay marriage.

But the sex abuse scandals have haunted his papacy and last month the Vatican announced it was reviving its anti-paedophile panel.

A trip to Chile in January was seen as a resounding failure after he defended a bishop accused of covering up the crimes of a paedophile priest.

Francis, who like his predecessor Benedict XVI, promised a "zero tolerance" approach to sexual abuse, sparked uproar when he said: "The day they bring me proof against Bishop (Juan) Barros, then I will speak."

But he later apologised to the victims and sent a Vatican top expert on sex abuse to hear the witnesses in the case.

 'Repeating mistakes of the past' -



Marie Collins of Ireland, who was raped as child by a priest, told AFP that while it might be "human nature to want to defend your institution... the Church, instead of learning from the past, is repeating the mistakes of the past."

"The Church tends to make the same mistake-in every country where survivors start to come forward, they are treated in the same way," said Collins, who resigned last year from the now revived anti-paedophilia commission.

Francis was similarly lenient towards Don Mauro Inzoli, an Italian priest nicknamed "Don Mercedes" for his expensive tastes.

Don Inzoli had been effectively defrocked by Benedict, but Francis overturned that ruling, mitigating his sentence to "a life of prayer."

Nevertheless, after the priest was sentenced to nearly five years in prison in Italy for sex abuse of adolescents last June, the pope dismissed him of clerical duties.



Kriti overwhelmed in Chandigarh

Actress Kriti Sanon who is currently shooting for her upcoming film in Chandigarh was overwhelmed as she went about the city when the localities referred to the actress as Bitti.

Kriti Sanon won major appreciation for her portrayal as the bold, vibrant and chirpy girl from Bareilly in her last success 'Bareilly Ki Barfi'. Her character name Bitti stays etched in everyone's minds till date, the testimony of which is Kriti's recent encounter with her fans in Chandigarh.

The actress who is a Punjabi has visited Chandigarh before but it is for the first time that she is shooting in the city, and Kriti Sanon is definitely making the most of her time.



Working to convince Mamata on Teesta deal: Modi

President Mohammad Abdul Hamid being greeted by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival at Rashtrapati Bhaban in Delhi on Sunday.

bdnews24.com :

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has told Bangladesh President Md Abdul Hamid that New Delhi is trying to convince West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee regarding the long-awaited Teesta water-sharing deal. The Indian head of government made the remark on Sunday during the International Solar Association Founding Conference in New Delhi.

Though Bangladesh and India have ironed out several deals in recent years, the water-sharing deal has been held up at the objection of Banerjee, who says her state will not have enough water if the deal goes through.

Bangladesh has continued to push for the deal because the water is necessary for irrigation in the north during the dry months.

President Hamid raised the issue with the Indian prime minister during the conference on Sunday.

"During the meeting, the president emphasised the importance of the Teesta water-sharing deal for Bangladesh's socioeconomic development," the President's



Press Secretary Md Jainal Abedin told bdnews24.com.

"In response Modi said his government was trying its best and that it is eager for a deal involving everyone."

Modi is trying to keep Banerjee on board with the issue, according to Abedin. The Teesta deal has been unresolved since it went unsigned during a trip by then Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh six years ago.

Though Modi's BJP came to power during an alliance with Banerjee's Trinamool Congress, a rivalry has developed between the parties since.

Banerjee has suggested that Bangladesh share the waters of four smaller West Bengal rivers, but received an unenthusiastic response from the central government.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader had highlighted the importance of the deal.

"An election is coming up," he said recently. "We have to answer to the people about it."

Modi congratulated President Hamid on his second term and praised the communal harmony of Bangladesh.

Modi also raised the topic of Hamid's visits to Assam and Meghalaya before his arrival in Delhi.

"As a Liberation War fighter the significance of the visit is immense. We are delighted and honoured by your visit."

Bangladeshi community in Rome

Maged Srour :

The Esquilino market, built at the end of the 1800s, is a pillar of Roman traditional daily shopping. It managed to survive the Fascist period and two world wars: it's a veteran of the city.

After being outdoors in the square of Piazza Vittorio for more than a century, on Sep. 15, 2001 it moved inside the former Sani barracks, just behind the square. Meanwhile, the social and demographic reality of that part of Rome had changed. Migrants of multiple ethnicities were moving to the Esquilino borough and their determination and resilience in building a new life and starting new businesses changed the shape and colour of that neighbourhood.

In Rome, after Romanians and Filipinos, Bangladeshis are the largest community of foreigners and today many of them are concentrated in the Esquilino borough.

Von Below, a historian, described the importance of the market in 1923: "Markets and periodic fairs contribute to the internal and external growth of the community, simply as the political and judiciary institutions doa flourishing market attracts immigrants, who increase the number of visitors, of merchants and of population."

Looking at the vibrant dynamism in the Esquilino Market in the heart of Rome, it's easy to agree with von Below.

Once you pass through one of the four entries, crossing transparent curtains, you feel you have entered a world apart. It's the market par excellence: colourful, vendors shouting and trying to attract clients, a mixture of smells which include not only traditional Italian food, but also crispy spices from India or Peru, exotic vegetables such as the 'ampalaya' from Sri Lanka, African fabrics of blinding tonalities, and so forth. Being here feels like being in Dhaka or Beijing's food markets: a dynamic melting pot, both of sellers and of buyers.

Farhad was born in Bangladesh forty years ago. He has lived in Italy since 2005 and has no plans to move back since his wife and two children joined him two years ago. He's one of the over one hundred Bangladeshis working in the market of Esquilino, which is a stronghold of Chinese and Bangladeshi presence in Rome; indeed, you can barely find Italians working there.

A fish seller, Farhad agrees to speak with this IPS correspondent. His compatriots are friendly but when I started asking pointed questions, many looked a bit suspicious. Farhad is more open. He talks about his life in Italy and about working in this multi-cultural environment. He looks relaxed and deems it a normal affair that people coming from five different continents work under the same roof.

He says that some of the Bangladeshis are owners of the stores while others work for Italians. This doesn't seem to be relevant for him: Farhad works for a Bangladeshi, so he's a day worker or labourer, but he seems satisfied with his life.

"I feel safe here. I am not saying that living in Bangladesh was dangerous. I was not suffering war as many other migrants from Syria do. I decided to come in Europe to look for opportunities and despite the financial crisis, I still feel that there is no place where I could live better today. My children go to school and receive a good education. Plus, there are many Bangladeshis here in Rome and so we miss less our homeland."

When I ask him if he ever had problems with Italians inside the market, he responds: "No, we are all friends here. We have to work daily together. We are all Italians, because that's what we all share: Italy."

Farhad is one of the 132,397 Bangladeshis residing in Italy. Most of his compatriots arrived in Italy through dangerous routes that pass through Libya, where many of them suffered exploitation and violence. When I ask him about his journey he grows tense and avoids answering. He doesn't feel comfortable in that noisy environment, and one can imagine his trip to Italy was a difficult one.

He continues describing the market's routine: "Clients are mostly foreigners but many Italians come here as well, curious to mix with this coloured hub". Farhad looks behind me and says: "Now I go back to work my friend, or my boss could be upset."

I try to speak with other merchants. It becomes clear to me that in addition to the palpable energetic excitement, there is also a lot of diffidence and caution among workers. Moreover, the melting pot harmony is a bit superficial: there's a clear division between the sellers of different nationalities.

Chinese, Egyptians, Romanians, Italians: every store works individually, engaging in a rigorous exercise of competition to catch the client. There is not much communication between them. Even clients prefer to buy from sellers of their same nationality - although that is not necessarily the rule, as I also saw Chinese clients buying from Egyptians or Ukrainians from Indians.

Before leaving, I speak with one of the few Italian vendors. Antonio, 65, has worked here for decades. Asked what he thinks about the market, he replies succinctly: "It sucks." I thought he might be angry about the presence of so many immigrants but he adds: "No, it's not about them. It's this financial crisis that is still killing us." With no hesitation, Antonio blames the Italian government. The only problem, for him, seems to be the fact that he's not selling enough products. As James Carville would say: "It's the economy, stupid."

I leave the Esquilino market after having bought some dates from a Bangladeshi, crossing the transparent curtains again and still hearing the loud voices of sellers. In my mind, I hear the last words of Farhad saying "We are all Italians." Indeed, there are vendors from all over the world, but all of them share the same roof, like a family.

And I feel perplexed. Yes, we do agree with von Below and with Farhad: the market is an opportunity of growth for the community, but that social unity that is still missing - a bitter reality reflected in the outside environment too. Maybe, that missing cohesion is the last dowel that could lead to a real multicultural and integrated Rome, at least in that borough.

Courtesy: IPSTrained caregiver for overseas market

MEDIA reports said that at least 12 countries including, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China have offered highly-paid caregiver jobs to Bangladesh nationals, mainly for female to take care of their elderly people - either at home or at old homes now rapidly growing in number with the rise in old age population in those countries. The negative birth rates in those countries is failing to line up enough younger people to look after people in old homes as their family members have no time to look back.



Reports said Bangladesh government has already signed deals with some foreign recruiting firms to send caregivers in those countries with six months training and familiarizing with spoken languages of the recipient countries. In our view Bangladesh should not entertain overseas request for sending unskilled and lower educated female workers in the first place because they are easily vulnerable to exploitation.



In the new destinations of employment outside Middle East, where our female workers were also severely exploited and abused, there is a growing fear that in new countries in Asia, Europe and America, may be equally vulnerable. Many of our female workers who went to Hong Kong as housemaid few years back returned home with terrible tales of sexual harassment. So in our view only properly educated and skilled unemployed women and nurses who are capable to face challenges may be recruited. We have many male and female nurses looking for job. In fact they may be fit to effectively handle old age people mainly suffering from disability, old age diseases, and mental disorder.

We must say the concerned authorities should ensure fair treatment of our workers under the deal as per ILO standard. There should be mention of specific working hours and be entitled to over-time benefits. They should have health insurance and other welfare benefits.



We feel, higher education and vocational training must be devised in the country keeping in mind the changing demand for service demand for at home and abroad. The world is changing with changes in demand for manpower in every sector. High tech automation no longer requires more human hands in industrial production but in areas like old age nursing, demand for human services is only growing. We must say we should plan skill development of our manpower accordingly.





A cohesive policy for jute sector

The conflicting statements by Finance Minister AMA Muhith to close the Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and its mills for making huge loss and State Minister for Jute and Textile Mirza Azam's remarks that the Finance Ministry and World Bank are blocking moves to rejuvenate the jute sector is highly misleading and confusing the nation. Jute is a major sector mainly industrial but partly agricultural providing livelihood to factory workers and several millions farmers as cash crop. So people believe the government Ministries and policy makers should work on a cohesive policy and plan to make the jute sector profitable.



There is no doubt jute industry must be fully revived and made profitable. Even the Prime Minister said jute is yet to unleash its full potentials to become a major player in the economy. So there should not be any difference between policymakers. What is important, the jute sector needs to be saved from highly politicized trade union linked to the ruling party. Its leaders and workers are cause of systematic loss by BJMC run jute mills and when the Finance Minister speaks of closing the mills, in fact he voices his anger about it.



We suggest there must be a through jute sector study to make projections on the due role of jute that the diversification of its products may achieve to contribute to the development of economy. It is true BJMC run mills are less efficient under highly corrupt management where unruly trade union leaders and workers are stealing money and making illegal fortune. Muhith's comment made his concerns clear. The Jute sector can't go indefinitely as loss making to continue on government subsidy. We must say the Jute sector needs to be modernized, not the mills to be closed. Jute and jute products like environmentally friendly jute sacks has demand world wide and there is hardly any scope to abandon the industry.



We must not forgot during mid-nineties when the structural adjustment programme developed by World Bank forced many public sector jute mills to be closed, jute mills on the Indian side quickly sprang up to use cheaper jute available from Bangladesh as raw materials to produce yarn and such other export products. Now we are a big exporter of jute to India and India is levying counter-veiling duty on import of jute goods from Bangladesh to deny fair price. Such action should be enough for us to learn how to put in place a time befitting policy for jute sector, which will reduce waste and help to diversify products for exports.GPA 5 system ruins education sector : Arefin Siddique

Staff Reporter :

Former Vice-Chancellor of University of Dhaka Professor AAMS Arefin Siddique said, the GPA-5 system had destroyed the whole education sector of Bangladesh.

Yet, the ministry considers GPA-5 as standard of merit.

He was speaking at a discussion titled "The assurance of Prime Minister to include the Non-MPO Institutions to MPO and Latest Improvement" held in the Conference Lounge of the Jatiya Press Club.

Non-MPO institutions' Teachers Federation organised the discussion.

Don't be frustrate. There are a lot of problems, we will reach our goal despite this problem, Arefin assured the Non-MPO Teachers Federation.

It is the duty of the teacher to take care of the students and students have responsibility to honour the teachers, he added.

Arefin Siddique also thanked the Prime Minister for her decision.

It may be mentioned that the teachers of the Non-MPO institutions staged sit-on and observed hunger strike programme for 10 days in front of the Jatiya Press Club. They called off their strike after getting assurance from the Prime Minister.

Former MP Noor Afroz Ali, Siraj Uddin Ahmed and teachers' leader Ranjit Kumar Saha, among others, spoke at the programme.HC order on Khaleda`s bail likely today

Staff Reporter :

Documents of the Zia Orphanage Trust case reached the High Court (HC) on Sunday afternoon, 20 days after the full verdict of the case, court sources said.

The court will pass order on the bail petition of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, who is a convict of the case, at 2:00pm on Monday after scrutiny the documents in this case.

On March 8, the HC Bench of Justice M Enayetur Rahim and Justice Shahidul Karim fixed Sunday morning to pass order on the bail petition of Khaleda Zia. But the Bench had to reschedule at 2:00pm on Monday as the case documents did not reach the HC till then.

Assistant Sub-Inspector Manju Miah of Kotwali Police Station reached the High Court at 12.54 pm yesterday with the case documents in a big tank. Section officer of the High Court Division Farukh Hossain received the documents. Later, the documents were transferred to the Criminal Appeal Section.

Judge of the Special Court-5 of Dhaka, Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman, sentenced former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia to five years imprisonment in Zia Orphanage Trust case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission. The special court also sentenced Khaleda Zia's eldest son and BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, and four others to 10 years' rigorous imprisonment and slapped a fine of Tk 2.10 crore each.

Khaleda Zia filed an appeal petition on February 20 challenging the trial court verdict.

On February 22, 2018, the HC accepted the appeal petition for hearing and stayed the lower court fine of Tk 2.10 crore on Khaleda Zia and asked the lower court to forward the case records to the High Court within 15 days.

After holding hearing on the bail petition the HC on February 25 said that it will deliver an order on her bail prayer after getting the case records from the lower court that sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage corruption case. Khaleda Zia's lawyers on March 8 brought the case to the attention of the HC. Then the HC fixed Sunday for passing an order.

On Sunday morning, Khaleda Zia's lawyer Zainul Abedin said to the court, "Case records are not necessary to grant bail in this case. The court had the tradition to pass bail order without case records. This court also has the jurisdiction to pass such kind of order."

Then the court said, "It is right that we have the tradition. But we called the records. We passed the order on February 22. The time has come to end today (Sunday) as per the order. We want to see if they (trial court) carry the order. We are fixing Sunday for passing order."

Attorney Genral Mahbubey Alam and Deputy Attorney General Farhad Ahammed appeared in the court on behalf of the state and Advocate Khushed Alam Khan stood for the ACC.

Advocate A J Mohammad Ali, Advocate Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Barrister A M Mahbub Uddin Khokan, Barrister Moudud Ahmed, Advocate Nitay Roy Chowdhury, Barrister Kayser Kamal, Advocate Sagir Hossain and Barrister A K M Ehsanur Rahman were also present in the court for Khaleda Zia along with Advocate Zainul Abedin.

BNP's senior leaders Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Abdul Moin Khan, Mirza Abbas, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Zainal Abdeen Faruq and Abdul Awal Mintoo were also present in the court during the hearing.

The Anti-Corruption Commission filed the case with Ramna Police Station in July 2008, accusing Khaleda Zia and the five convicts of misappropriating over Tk 2.10 crore that had come from a foreign bank as grants for orphans.Crime in Dhaka Central Jail

Noman Mosharef :



Overcrowded prisoners and corruption of Jail staff have made the Dhaka Central Jail a mental torture-cell instead of building it a correction centre.



An evil group rose inside the jail with combination of a section of detainees and staff members who are taking money illegally from the prisoners and their relatives in the name of supplying well accommodation and providing good food, it was alleged.



If any prisoner, unable to give money, has to face misbehave, severe punishment and even deprived of getting regular food. As a result, prisoners relatives are compelled to provide money to the jail staff despite their poor financial condition.



According to the relatives of detainees, a prisoner in Dhaka Central Jail has to pay a big amount of money to enjoy minimum rights inside the jail, though the state is providing those facilities free of cost as per Bangladesh Jail Code.



This correspondent came to know these while talking to some people who were released from the Dhaka Central Jail recently after being detained there for several months.



The jail has apparently become hell for those who are unable to manage the money, said a bus driver who was there in the central jail for 50 days.



I saw two youths crying relentlessly for the whole night on my first day in jail, but the jail people were unmoved, said the bus driver.



He said these two prisoners would be forced to lie down on their left or right side in a row, which is known in jail as hilsa fall.



The designated cell keeper then pushes the back of the last prisoner in the row with his leg to ensure there is no blank space between prisoners in the room, he said.



An ex-jail official wishing anonymity, however, said each prisoner is entitled to get six square feet of space.



Abdul Jalil, who get release recently said, As I could not pay any money to the staff members I had to stay in a normal ward. 65 prisoners are crammed into a room suitable for 20 people at most. We had no place for sleeping. We could only sit with our legs up. This is how I had to spend every night during my three months of imprisonment.



According to the relatives of detainees, a prisoner in Dhaka Central Jail has to spend around Tk 25,000 to 30,000 per month for food and other services which is supplying free by the state.



However, major portion of the inmates money goes to those convicts who are given the charge by the jail authorities to look after other prisoners.



Those in charge take more than Tk 14,000 a month from each prisoner for the minimum required space to sleep without trouble, get food served by the jail authorities and enough water for bathing and toilet use.



The rest Tk 13,000 is spent on additional food like eggs, fish and meat alongside those served by the jail authorities.



Besides, a prisoner has to spend Tk 200 to Tk 1,200 to see his or her family, in which one is allowed to talk to family members in a room through a window.



The jail staff at the gate charge Tk 200 for sending every Tk 1,000 to an inmate. So, actually a prisoner gets Tk 800 for every Tk 1,000 his or her family sends. Horrific sufferings wait for those who are unable to manage the amount.



The prisoners meet with their relatives in a small room. The space is insufficient to meet 8,500 to 9,000 prisoners with their relatives, when the prisoners and the relatives talk they could not listen each other, the former jail said.



The time of meeting with the relatives of prisoners is 8:00 am to 4:00 pm. Only 30-40 relatives can meets the prisoners in a day, which is not sufficient, sources said.



As per existing rule the general prisoners can meet with their relatives once in a week and for convicted prisoners once in fortnight.



But it has been seen that some prisoners meet with relatives regularly. It is possible by managing the deputy jailer and the chief guard of the jail in exchange of money.



The former jail official said, jail authorities are supposed to provide inmates sufficient space to sleep, enough food and medicines. Adequate accommodation for all inmates in Dhaka Central Jail could be arranged, he said.



Wishing anonymity, another ex-jail official said there was no rule to charge from any relative for meeting an inmate. There is a prescribed form that needs to be filled in and the jail authorities charge only Tk 2 for this. And even that is also illegal.



Contacted, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told The New Nation yesterday that he had no information about such corruption inside the central jail.



As a reporter you can find out the truth. If it is true then publish those reports in the newspapers or help me providing the real information, he said.



The minister said, They are criminals who remained in jail. So, they do not always tell the truth.



DIG (Prison) Tawhid Islam told The New Nation that he was not informed of any such incidents in the jail.



The jailor of Dhaka Central Jail, however, could not be reached despite repeated attempts over his cell phone.









The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.Yes, the decision belongs on the local level

No, no one should be able to dictate whether people wear masks

Vote

View ResultsThe best bang for your buck! This option enables you to purchase online 24/7 access and receive the Sunday, Tuesday & Thursday print edition at no additional cost * Print edition only available in our carrier delivery area. Allow up to 72 hours for delivery of your print edition to begin. Print edition not available for Day Pass option.Indian Railways will be out in force at the upcoming Middle East Rail 2018 exhibition in Dubai, UAE, to talk about $140 billion worth of current and future rail projects that the Indian government is building to upgrade countrys urban transportation network.



Middle East Rail 2018, the largest railway industry event in the region, will be held under the patronage of Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs, UAE, from March 12 to 13 at Dubai International Convention Centre.



A high-profile delegation of railway officials and experts led by Mahesh Kumar Gupta, member Engineering at Indian Railway Board, will be at the event to highlight some of the opportunities available in the sector.



Indian Railways will also be represented by two of its overseas arms  Rites and Ircon International Limited. While Rites deals in consultancy of transport and infrastructure and export packages of rolling stock, the Ircon is mainly into construction of railway projects.



The Indian experts will share more details about the regions largest railway networks expansion plans and future growth prospects, besides outlining opportunities that the industry offers in the segments of metro, tram, monorail, long-distance freight and passenger train, and high speed rail.



The two-day event is being held in partnership with the Ministry of Infrastructure Development and the Federal Transport Authority - Land & Maritime.



Commenting on the show, Gupta said: "We will highlight some of our achievements, growth prospects and future projections during this two-day event. This kind of events help in creating awareness about gigantic organisations like Indian Railways, which deals in mega projects such as high-speed trains, dedicated freight corridors, electrification, capacity expansion and tech development."



"These are exciting times for railway industry. Since there are serious challenges in the road and air transportation sector, the upgradation of the railway infrastructure is the need of the hour," he added.



"Indian Railways has realised that accumulated backlog investment is the root cause of its inability to improve the market share or quality of services," explained Gupta, adding that major investments are now being made through budgetary allocation of 8.56 lakh crore in the financial year 2015-16, with contribution from gross budgetary support (2.56 lakh crore), internal generation (1 lakh crore), JV/cost sharing (1.20 lakh crore), PPP/partnerships (1.30 lakh crore), debt (2.50 lakh crore), rolling stock lease (1.00 lakh crore) and institutional funding (1.5 lakh crore)," he added.



According to him, Indian railways aims to concentrate on major investment projects in the areas of dedicated freight corridor, high speed rail, modernisation of signalling system, track and rolling stock maintenance with major emphasis on safety.



"Our future plan is to focus on electrification, 100 per cent use of LED lights, ETCS level II of signalling and high speed technologies," revealed Gupta.



On the opening day, chief engineer Ankala Saibaba will talk about one of Indias mega railway projects, whioch will boast over 45 tunnels and 125 major bridges, being built at a cost of $1.7 billion,.



Saibaba will share various challenges associated with designing and constructing the worlds tallest railway bridge, besides showcasing state-of-the-art technology adopted by Indian Railways.



He will also highlight some of the forthcoming major railway projects and the vast opportunities that are up for grab for the international companies.



Jayanth Pandey, the assistant general manager, Metro Link Express for Gandhinagar and Ahmedabad, will share more details about Ahmedabad Metro Phase One during a roundtable interactive session on day one.



While, on day two, Sanjay Kumar, the chief engineer (signalling and telecommunications) Kolkata Metro Rail Corporation, will take part in a panel discussion titled Asset management 4.0: to outthink, outcompete and outperform.



He along with other experts from the UAE, Singapore and South Africa will deliberate upon how to implement a robust rail asset management strategy in the age of digitalisation.



A major regional industry event, Middle East Rail had recorded 64 per cent repeat exhibitor bookings for 2018 edition, bringing over 290 regional and international railway operators, suppliers and contractors to present their services to potential buyers and nurture professional networks.



Keeping up with the industry trends and to accommodate increased interest, the show has expanded in scope for the 2018 edition. The organising committee has introduced two new streams that will feature Passenger Information Systems and Transport Ticketing Systems that cater for the needs of modern passengers.



Industry experts from Europe, Middle East and Asia will share insights on privatisation, digitalisation, modernisation and pioneering the future of Mobility 4.0. throughout two days of keynotes, open discussions and research sharing sessions.-TradeArabia News ServiceAluminium Bahrain (Alba), the Bahrain-based international aluminium smelter, has announced the appointment of Adnan H Hashim as the new chief financial officer.



Hashim is a seasoned financial executive with over 20 years of experience in the banking sector. His most recent role in the banking industry was the chief financial officer of NCB Capital - Saudi Arabia.



Hashims experience includes numerous executive committees, boards and audit committees positions within various financial institutions.



Albas chief executive officer Tim Murray, said: We are pleased to welcome another Bahraini National to the Executive team in Alba. Over the course of his career, Adnan has proven his leadership skills as well as his ability to deliver results at the executive level.



Adnans experience in the banking industry will be a valuable asset to Alba as we continue to advance through our landmark Line 6 Expansion Project.



Hashim is a certified chartered accountant from the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, UK and holds MBA from the University of Strathclyde, Scotland.  TradeArabia News ServiceThe Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has announced the formation of the Retail Business Group, a new organisation that aims to promote cooperation among retailers in Dubai, serve common interests and promote transparency within the sector.

The announcement was made during a special launch event hosted at Dubai Chambers headquarters. The event was attended by Majid Saif Al Ghurair, chairman of Dubai Chamber; Nilesh Ved, chairman of the Retail Business Group; and representatives from member companies.

The organisation is the 29th sector-specific business group established under the umbrella of Dubai Chamber. By supporting the business group, the chamber aims to protect the interests of retailers in Dubai, and provide an ideal platform for industry stakeholders to collaborate.

Other objectives of the Retail Business Group include addressing common concerns of members and retailers in the emirate, raising industry standards, sharing best business practices, organising and supporting retail-related events.

In addition, the new group will liaise and coordinate the calendar of sale and promotions with Dubai Tourism, the Dubai Shopping Festival Office and the Department of Economic Development throughout the calendar year.

The Retail Business Group is being led by the Steering Committee which is joined by Al Tayer Group, Apparel Group, Azadea, Chalhoub Group, Dubai Duty Free, Giordano, Lals Group, Landmark Group, and Seddiqi Holdings.

During the launch event, Al Ghurair, welcomed the establishment of the Retail Business Group and highlighted the important role that business groups play in supporting Dubais economic growth and development, adding that Dubai Chamber has facilitated the creation of business groups in the emirate which are categorised on an industry and country level.

Al Ghurair described retail as one of the main engines of growth fuelling the UAEs economy, and revealed that the countrys retail sector is projected to expand by nearly 5 per cent over the next few years to reach $71 billion by 2021.

The establishment of the Retail Business Group would help chamber promote the interests of retailers in Dubai, he said, adding that the group would create a new platform where industry leaders can foster constructive dialogue and fruitful cooperation.

We are confident that the Retail Business Group will achieve great things and further strengthen the Dubais position as one of the worlds top shopping destinations, Al Ghurair concluded.

For his part, Ved said: Modern retail has become more and more competitive, and this kind of growth requires different focus for retailers to be able to co-exist and thrive. Our mission is to advance the interests of the retail ecosystem through communications, education and brining in Omni-channel strategies.

Consumer spending in the UAE is expected to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2018, according to recent a forecast from Business Monitor International, while the number of tourists visiting the country is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 5.7 per cent over the next four years to reach 24.3 million by 2021.

A leading chamber of commerce in the Middle East, Dubai Chamber aims to strengthen cooperation between Dubais public and private sectors. The chamber has established 49 country-specific business councils and 29 sector-specific business groups under its umbrella, which reflect the diversity of the emirates business community. - TradeArabia News ServiceThe Emirates News Agency (WAM) and RT Television Network, Russian international television network, have signed a MoU to strengthen co-operation and facilitate the exchange of information including news and broadcast content.



As per the agreement, the two entities will work towards enhancing relations between the media sectors in both countries.



The duo will exchange news, programmes, on-air competitions, and content to serve their objectives and future vision, remarked Mansoor Ibrahim Al Mansoori, the director-general of the National Media Council after singing the deal with Mohammad Jalal Al Rayssi, the executive director of WAM, and Maya Manna, the head of RT Arabic, at the Councils headquarters in Abu Dhabi.



"This MoU reflects the National Media Council's strategy to strengthen cooperation and partnerships with key players in the global media sector to meet the national objectives of the UAE Centennial 2071 Plan. We are confident that the MoU will contribute to the empowerment and further development both parties," he stated.



On the partnership, Manna said: "At RT Arabic, we appreciate the rapid and distinctive growth of WAM as a news agency, which reflects the development of media in the UAE."



"To work with WAM is one of the most promising opportunities for us in the Gulf region," she added.-TradeArabia News ServiceMedia Zone Authority  Abu Dhabi, the regulatory body of twofour54, and the Gulf Radio and TV Organization (GRTO) have signed an agreement to cooperate on initiatives that aim to further develop the media industry.



The memorandum of understanding (MoU) which was signed by Mujarry Mubarak Al Qahtani, the director general of Saudi-based GRTO, and Maryam Eid AlMheiri, CEO of Media Zone Authority  Abu Dhabi and twofour54, will see the two organisations launch a joint training scheme aimed at boosting media skill levels across the GCC.



The MoU will also see MZA and GRTO coordinate activities, share knowledge and networks, and collaborate on exploring new markets for Arab and Gulf content.



AlMheiri said: The media industry is very diverse and is continuously growing and becoming a key economic driver that supports the Gulf governments diversification strategies. At the same time, the media industry has a significant non-monetary value as it contributes to inclusive social development, tolerance, and dialogue.



Guided by the values of the UAEs founding father, Sheikh Zayed Al Nahyan, we at the Media Zone Authority have also focused on the medias important social contribution through training local talent and equipping them with the tools to reach their full potential. Our partnership with GTRO will help us contribute further to the development of the region's thriving media landscape."



Under the MoU, Media Zone Authority  Abu Dhabi and GRTO intend to share training facilities in Abu Dhabi and Riyadh and conduct training programmes focused on broadcasting. The two organisations will look to arrange and promote conferences and events that bring media professionals together to raise awareness of the regions growing media sector, including the Gulf Radio and Television Festival.



Al Qahtani said: GRTO was established forty years ago to increase cooperation between the GCC countries in the media industry with the aim to develop local capabilities and enhance the role of radio and TV in driving the regions development. Today, with the advancement of technology, the widespread use of social media platforms and its impact on the media landscape, this cooperation is more critical than ever before.



One area of cooperation is developing and nurturing talent, in which Media Zone Authority  Abu Dhabi and twofour54 have a great track record. We are looking forward to working with the leading media zone in the region to train and invest in young Gulf talent across the different media fields.



The organisations will also collaborate on providing relevant information and statistics to help monitor the needs of the Gulfs media industry.  TradeArabia News ServiceNajeeb Mohammed Al-Ali with volunteers during one of the activities

Expo 2020 Dubai has reaffirmed its commitment to inspiring collaboration and driving innovation globally through a series of initiatives and events held during the first ever UAE Innovation Month.

Throughout February, Expo 2020 organised and participated in more than 20 events in collaboration with premier partners and other entities across the UAE, engaging key stakeholders from government, business, academia and the general public.

The activities demonstrated Expo 2020s enthusiastic participation in UAE Innovation Month, an initiative launched by the UAE government to help create and celebrate a widespread culture of innovation in the UAE.

Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, executive director, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said: As one of the largest global programmes to focus on creativity and human ingenuity, UAE Innovation Month significantly contributes to strengthening the countrys position as a global innovation hub.

As the upcoming World Expo, Expo 2020 Dubai is proud to support the initiative and the UAEs wider innovation strategy, which aims to inspire and support innovation to create a lasting impact on society.

Innovation is at the heart of Expo 2020, as the underlying element of its main theme, Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, and its three subthemes: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability.

World Expos have historically been a platform for innovation, with a number of significant inventions revealed, including the fax machine at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851, the telephone in Philadelphia in 1876, the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889 and commercial broadcast television in New York in 1939.

True to the nature of World Expos, Expo 2020 aims to inspire nations, businesses, entrepreneurs and youth to find creative solutions to global challenges, proving that innovations can come from anyone, anywhere.

Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali said: World Expos have always been about showcasing innovation on the global stage and Expo 2020 Dubai is no exception. Innovation is in our DNA. Not only will we provide a platform for participants and partners to showcase and demonstrate innovative content but innovation will be embedded in our site and throughout our operations to ensure an exceptional visitor experience.

Equally important for us is to ensure we create a meaningful and sustainable legacy for future generations to use the smart infrastructure that will be built for Expo 2020. - TradeArabia News ServiceRiviera Hotel Beirut, a five-star beachfront hotel located in the heart of Lebanon's capital, has appointed Bassam Bou Sleiman as its new general manager.



In his new role, Sleiman will be responsible for the hotel renovation in Q1 2018 and for the on-going operation of Riviera Hotel & Beach Resort.



Sleiman joined Riviera Hotel in 2010 and was the executive assistant manager for five years. He was instrumental in running the operations of the resort alongside the general manager and oversaw the performance of all operational departments, including Rooms Division, Food & Beverage, Sales & Marketing and Engineering. He has been key to the success of consistently increasing guest satisfaction scores of the resort and delivering the highest levels of performance from 2011 till 2015.



We are so pleased to have Bassam join us in Riviera Hotel, Beirut, said Walid Al Mahdi, chairman/chief operating officer, Riviera Holding Kuwait. Bassam has worked at Riviera Hotel Beirut for five years and has a strong understanding of the Riviera Hotel brand and our core values. This is a very exciting time for us as we make further renovations into the Hotel and the Beach Resort, and I know with his experience, commitment to service and team development he will be very successful in his new role, and in the ongoing development of Riviera Hotel Beirut.



Sleiman has over 20 years of experience in the hospitality industry and spent the early part of his career working primarily in the Rooms Division Sales & Marketing and Public Relations, with Le Meridien & Intercontinental in properties like Lebanon, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt & Jordan. In 2016 he was appointed as the general manager in The Mist Hotel & Spa by Warwick, in the North of Lebanon where he successfully led the $20million luxury mountain resort opening project and helped the property achieve a top ranking for Customer and Employee satisfaction results.



Prior to joining Riviera Hotel Beirut, Sleiman held several positions in Lebanon with City Suite Hotel as cluster assistant general manager, and prior to that in Kuwait with The Palms Beach Resort & Spa where he was executive assistant manager and was responsible for the new brand development of the resort and the entire Food & Beverage division.



In this position, he ran a successful wedding and catering team and oversaw expansion projects. - TradeArabia News ServiceRoyal Jordanian (RJ) is offering Jordan residents attractive fares to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait, and from these Gulf states to all RJ network destinations via Amman.



The super-low fares are part of the new sales promo A Jordanian Offer Like No Other, which runs from March 11 to 15, 2018, for travel between April 1 and June 7, 2018.



As part of the five-day promo, passengers can travel for JD199 ($280) from Amman to Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait. Highly attractive fares are also available through all RJ sales channels, for customers wishing to travel from the mentioned Gulf countries to Amman and/or any of RJ destinations around the world.



Stefan Pichler, RJ President and CEO, said: We want every Jordanian to travel on board RJ, the national carrier of Jordan. With this objective in mind, we are offering competitive fares to enable people to visit their families and conduct businesses. We also encourage our customers in the Gulf to take advantage of these great fares. - TradeArabia News Service

The kingdoms premier event for the hospitality and food industry - Hotel Show Saudi Arabia - has announced the opening of registration for those interested in attending the event, which returns for its sixth edition in Jeddah this April.



The show is the only business event in the kingdom which is dedicated to the hospitality industry and promises a range of stunning features, Continuing Professional Development (CPD) seminars along with a gathering of industry experts to share ideas, trends and insights. Hundreds of global brands will be on show, giving participants the best opportunity to source the very latest cutting-edge supplies and products designed to create a truly unforgettable experience for your customers.



Also, following the success of 2017s live-cooking competition, the Inter-Hotel Culinary Competition is returning bigger and better for 2018. A panel of highly experienced judges from the endorsing bodies; World Association of Chefs Societies and the Saudi Arabian Chefs Association will determine the winners after three-days of tasting various unique dishes.



The Hotel Show will take place from April 10-12. To register, visit the event's website. - TradeArabia News Service



iStock/Thinkstock(WASHINGTON) -- The former deputy national security adviser to President Barack Obama said Sunday that he has spoken to his former boss about the potential meeting between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump, and Obama is rooting for the meetings success.



I think the nation should be rooting for diplomacy to work with North Korea, and I think that's certainly President Obama's view, Ben Rhodes told ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Jonathan Karl during an interview on This Week Sunday.



Rhodes warned, however, that he has not seen evidence that the Trump administration is "equipped for this negotiation.



We have to realize there's nothing more complex than nuclear negotiations, Rhodes said. There's no place in the world more volatile than the Korean peninsula. You cannot just approach this like a reality show. This has to be something where you bring in the experts. You invest in the same type of capabilities in our government that we've seen this administration turn their back on: science and diplomacy.



The plan for Trump to meet Kim Jong Un follows an announcement Thursday night at the White House by a South Korean national security official that the U.S. president had accepted an invitation from Pyongyang to meet with the North Korean leader in a matter of months.



Following the announcement, Trump took to Twitter to say the meeting is being planned.



It has not yet been determined where or when the two leaders would meet in what would be the first meeting between a U.S. president and a North Korean leader.



On Saturday, Trump criticized the strategies taken by former presidents in dealing with escalating nuclear aggression from North Korea.



They had their shot, and all they did was nothing, Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania.



According to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies Missile Defense project, the number of missile launches by North Korea steadily increased between 2012 and 2016. North Korea completed two nuclear tests in 2016, the second of which they said demonstrated a nuclear weapon capable of being mounted on a warhead. In 2016, by ABC News count, the North conducted 21 missile tests.



The Obama administration implemented a policy of strategic patience that focused on increasing sanctions against North Korea. Though the Trump administration has continued with sanctions, Vice President Mike Pence condemned the policy in April, stating that the era of strategic patience is over.



Trump has said that American sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until after the proposed meeting.



By ABC News count, North Korea conducted 15 missile tests in 2017, three of which were intercontinental ballistic missile tests, the last being on Nov. 28. On North Korean state television, Kim Jong Un's regime claimed the latest missile was a new, nuclear-capable weapon that could reach the continental United States. North Korea has not conducted another missile test since.



Copyright  2018, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.By Daisy Katta, TwoCircles.net

As the students strike in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) entered the 18th day, Advocate Prakash Ambedkar, National President, BHARIP (Bahujan Mahasangh) came out in support of the TISS strike regarding the Government of India Post-Matric Scholarship issue. Adv Prakash Ambedkar has given a call for rally to the Vidhan Sabha. Samyak Vidyarthi Andolan, the students wing of the BHARIP Bahujan Mahasangh, will organise a protest march to the Vidhan Sabha on March 15 to raise the issue of scholarship for students of backward classes.

The BHARIP president addressed the protesting students of TISS along with Rekha Thakur, General Secretary Of BHARIP and said that education is a constitutional right to be guaranteed by the state. But the current and previous governments are acting like it is a family responsibility. Further, he said the fight for educational rights have been going on for long and it is appreciable that TISS students have been fighting not only for their rights but for the future generations also. The issue of scholarship, said Adv. Ambedkar, is such that in colleges in small towns, students have not been paid scholarship and had to discontinue their education. He also added that the fight is against the management and also against the state.

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In a Government resolution released 10 days ago, the Maharashtra government said that the state will only fund 30% of OBC scholarship. It was declared that BHARIP will submit petitions to the District Social Justice department regarding the issue and will see that the issue of scholarship is raised in the current session of Vidhan Sabha. Rekha Thakur, General Secretary of BHARIP also spoke in support of the students strike.The students also handed over a memorandum to Adv.Prakash Ambedkar regarding their demands.

Fahad Ahmed, the General Secretary of TISS Students Union said that the students are trying to have a dialogue with the administration, but if the demands are not met then they might be forced to go on a hunger strike to claim their rights. The current fight is for guaranteeing the rights of affirmative action initiated by Babasaheb Ambedkar, he added.

According to a recent update, TISS administration has appointed a Empowerment Committee to address the issue of the students. The committee consists of various senior faculty members as well as SPO Dean Vijay Raghavan. This committee was appointed after repeatedly failed negotiations with the the Acting Director Shalini Bharat. After the formation of this committee, the students have consistently raised questions regarding the power that this committee holds. The students have stated that they do not wish to dialogue with the Empowerment Committee and would like to dialogue with the governing body of TISS to address the issue.

So far the demands which have been met are partial in nature, and their is no mechanism the institute has worked on for the upcoming batches. None of the issues put forth by the OBC GoI PMS scholars and upcoming batches have been concretely addressed till date.By Mirza Mosaraf Hossain, TwoCircles.net

The four workers from West Bengal who had been arrested on charges of being illegal Bangladeshis in Thane district of Maharashtra were released from the jail by the Thane Court after they proved their Indian citizenship. The four workers had to spend around 71 days in jail over the false accusations. However, six other workers from West Bengal who were arrested in Mumbai on similar charges continue to languish in jail due to the inaction of the Mumbai Police even after they submitted documents which prove they are Indians.

The four workers were arrested on December 14 from Thane, where they worked in a fish market. The workers, who are from East Burdwan district, were accused under Section 169 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

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Kiran Keni, the Advocate who was looking after the case, told TwoCircles.net, The Court ordered the Kalwa Police to release the four workers from the jail as the investigation proved that they are Indians. They dont have any cases pending regarding this issue.

While the workers expressed relief at the order, they nevertheless feel they were unjustly treated and had to suffer huge losses. Safikul Sarkar, one of the four arrested, said, We are poor and thats why we came here to work and hope for a better life. Since the arrest, we could not send a single penny to our families; rather we had to spend around Rs 1 lakh each over Advocate fees and other related expenses. On the one hand we failed to earn an income for three months, on the other hand, our families had to borrow money in order to release us. When he was asked whether he was going to leave Thane and live in Bengal, he answered,  what work will I do in Bengal? Here, I have a job that gives me enough to at least to make the ends meet. Besides, I have to reimburse the money that was lent by my family.

Safikul says he wishes he could file a lawsuit against the Officer-In-Charge of Kalwa Police Station for the humiliations and insults he ushered upon the four workers. He alleged that the OC did not check their valid documents when they were taken to the Police Station. Instead, I was instructed to sing our National Anthem and I was slapped by him when I nodded to one subordinate Police Officers claim that I am an Indian after he had checked all my valid documents. I know I can file a lawsuit against the OC but I have to stay here and earn a livelihood. Filing a lawsuit means I will dig my own grave and I dont want to do that.

As for the six workers who had been arrested by the Mumbai C.I.D on January 25 this year with the same reason, they are yet to be granted bail as they failed to bring either two locals in Mumbai for each of the arrested who would take responsibility for their bail or Rs 30,000 each as cash bai. The Killa Court 8, Mumbai instructed the C.I.D for their verification and asked them to submit the report by March 3.

But the C.I.D neither came for investigation nor submitted any report within the stipulated date. So, their families were forced to deposit Rs 30,000 each seeking one-month extension from the Court until the C.I.D submits their verified report to the court.

The East Burdwan district administration already completed the verification procedure and sent the same to the Mumbai C.I.D but in vain.

According to Ali Akbar Mollah, the father of Suman Munshi, one of the six arrested, The S.D.O told us that the verified copies were sent to the Mumbai Police authority. But till now the situation is the same. The C.I.D officials preferred to be silent when we ask them about the proceedings. Instead, other Officials are harassing us by calling us Bangladeshis. He added,  the Court has given a one-month extension for the submission of the investigation report. Dont know what is waiting for us as the C.I.D will arrest them again if the report is not submitted within the stipulated one month.

Despite repeated calls and messages, Ravindra Sisve, ACP, Mumbai Special Branch did not respond to the questions posed by TwoCircles.net.China on Friday joined global condemnation of the U.S. decision to impose heavy tariffs on steel and aluminum. U.S. President Donald Trump formally signed off on 25 percent tariffs on steel imports and 10 percent on aluminum Thursday, with initial exemptions for Canada and Mexico, saying exemptions could be made for other countries through negotiations. As Xinhua writes in an article "China Focus: China firmly opposes U.S. tariffs on steel, aluminum", China will defend its rights and interests after assessing any damage caused by the tariffs, Wang Hejun, a Ministry of Commerce official, said on the ministry website. Calling the move protectionism disguised as national security, Wang urged the United States to respect the multilateral trade system and revoke the policy.

China Iron and Steel Association called on the government to take firm counter-measures on imports from the United States, including stainless steel, galvanized sheets, seamless tube, coal, farm produce and consumer electronics.

The U.S. move not only damages the iron and steel industry across the world, but damages the interests of consumers, especially American consumers, the industry group said on its website.

China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association also issued similar comments, urging the government to take counter-measures on imports of U.S. products ranging from aluminum scrap, coal, farm produce to high-end consumer goods.

Shares of China's steel and aluminum producers tumbled Friday, with Baoshan Iron & Steel Co. down 3 percent to 9.1 yuan (1.4 U.S. dollars) while Liuzhou Iron and Steel Co. fell 2.3 percent to 7.13 yuan.

The broad impact of the tariffs on the Chinese economy will be limited because steel and aluminum account for a small proportion of exports to the United States, and exports have become a less important driver of growth in recent years, with the contribution of net exports to growth falling to 9.1 percent in 2017.

According to Ding Shuang, an economist at Standard Chartered Bank, China's steel and aluminum exports to the United States accounted for less than 0.2 percent of its total exports in 2017 and the impact of the tariffs would be insignificant.

The U.S. administration has made trade deficit reduction a priority, but its protectionist measures have drawn widespread opposition from both U.S. business groups and trade partners.

Last year, China's trade surplus with the United States expanded 13 percent to 1.87 trillion yuan, with exports to the United States up 14.5 percent and imports up 17.3 percent, according to data from China's customs.

Stephen Roach, former chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia and the firm's chief economist, said raising tariffs shows the U.S. administration's fixation on trade imbalances with its partners, including China. Lacking domestic savings and wanting to consume and grow, America must import surplus savings from abroad while running massive current-account and trade deficits to attract foreign capital, he said in a recent article. "Going after China, or any other country, without addressing the root cause of low saving is like squeezing one end of a water balloon: the water simply sloshes to the other end," he said.

Ding Shuang projected that "a grand bargain" will be reached between China and the United States with limited damage to bilateral trade. Trade friction may intensify as Trump seeks trade remedies under the Section 301, raising fears of a widespread trade war, Ding said. However, "this is very likely a tactic of the Trump administration to win the biggest possible concessions."

Ding said China is likely to file World Trade Organization complaints while taking counter-measures against the U.S. farm produces, vehicles and aircraft.Chinese lawmakers have passed an amendment to the nation's constitution lifting the limit for consecutive presidential terms during the third plenary meeting of the first session of the Chinese National People's Congress (NPC) on Sunday, Sputnik reports.

In late February, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party proposed the removal of the constitutional provision implying that Chinese president and vice-president should serve no more than two consecutive terms.

The lawmakers have also passed the amendment adding to the preamble Xi Jinping's name, and it reads now "under the guidance Xi Jinping's Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era".

His thoughts were recognized as the newest achievement of China's Marxist theory and will be on par with the ideas of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping's theories, as well as theories about the protection of China's culture, national interests and leading productive forces.

Another amendment passed by the lawmakers establishes a new body prosecuting corruption the National Supervision Commission. Until now the main body dealing with corruption cases in the country was ruling party's Central Commission on Discipline Inspection.

The new institution will carry out own investigations and then hand the cases over to the prosecutors. It will also have the authority take the suspects into custody for up to six months without charges.

The NPC session kicked off on March 5 and will finish on March 20.President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili met with US senators and congressmen in Brussels before his visit to the United States, InterPressNews reported.

As InterPressNews was told by the presidential administration, Giorgi Margvelashvili talked about the challenges of national and regional security at the meeting with members of the Senate and House of Representatives.

Particular attention was paid to the prospects of Georgia's Atlantic integration and the sides discussed the next NATO Summit.

The President of Georgia addressed US Senators and Congressmen with a request to pay particular attention to the issue of Georgia at the 2018 NATO summit. It was also noted at the meeting that the United States has a special role in providing security guarantees in the region.The level of support among Russian voters for incumbent President Vladimir Putin has remained unchanged in mid-March in comparison with polls earlier in the month and stands at almost 70 percent, a poll conducted by Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VTsIOM) revealed on Sunday.

Answering whom of the eight candidates they would support at the upcoming election, 69 percent of respondents chose Putin, the pollster said. The level of support for Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin stands at 7 percent, the same number as earlier in March.

Another 5 percent said that they would vote for head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the poll indicated. His rating continues to gradually fall following altercations with Civic Initiative party candidate Ksenia Sobchak during debates.

Sobchak's support has grown since the beginning of the month by 1 percent and now amounts to 2 points, according to the results. The remaining candidates  Sergey Baburin, Maxim Suraykin, Boris Titov and Grigory Yavlinsky  are each supported by 1 percent of Russians or less, the poll revealed.Russias President Vladimir Putin said returning Crimea to Ukraine is impossible under whatever circumstances, TASS reports.

"What are you talking about? Such circumstances do not exist and never will," he said in response to a question whether such circumstances may ever appear.

The question was asked in an interview for Andrei Kondrashovs film "Putin," posted on social networks.Russias Aerospace Forces receive 200 aerial vehicles every year, President Vladimir Putin said in Andrei Kondrashovs new film dubbed Putin, TASS reports.

"From 2013, the Aerospace Forces receive every year 200 aerial vehicles," he said. "Thus, we can say, our armed forces have not just revived. We have made the new armed forces, which have absolutely new units."

"Such units are new to the Armed Forces, and they have demonstrated themselves brilliantly in Syria," the president said.

In the film, Putin speaks about the late 90s, when "Russia to a certain extent lost its sovereignty."

"We are speaking about the state of the Armed Forces, about the domestic conflicts, which for sure were fueled from abroad," he said.

The president gave an example from the past. "FSBs director was reading an interception between a bandit warlord and a foreign supervisor," Putin continued. "I can remember every word - Russia is weak as never before. Either we are striking and this, and this, and this, or never. And they were trying hard."

"When the country faced a real problem, the bleeding wound of the North Caucasus, it was clear - we cannot do without strong army," the president said.A 13-year-old boy fell from a building in Boulevard, Batumi, InterPressNews reported.

As InterPressNews was told in the emergency medical center of Batumi, the injured has been hospitalized to Maternity and Children's Medical Center.

According to doctors say the teen's condition is "heavy". Eyewitnesses say two children were playing in the building, when the 13-year-old boy fell.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia has launched an investigation under the 124 Article of the Criminal Code of Georgia (less serious or serious damage to health through negligence).U.S President Donald Trump on Saturday continued to knock the European Union on trade, threatening EU automakers, as the key bloc of US allies press for an exemption to his tariff package, CNN reported.

"The European Union, wonderful countries who treat the U.S. very badly on trade, are complaining about the tariffs on Steel & Aluminum. If they drop their horrific barriers & tariffs on U.S. products going in, we will likewise drop ours. Big Deficit. If not, we Tax Cars etc. FAIR!" Trump tweeted.

Trump on Friday tweeted that he had spoken with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and said there was an agreement in the works to avoid steel and aluminum tariffs on the key US ally whose leader Trump has clashed with in the past. "Spoke to PM @TurnbullMalcolm of Australia. He is committed to having a very fair and reciprocal military and trade relationship. Working very quickly on a security agreement so we don't have to impose steel or aluminum tariffs on our ally, the great nation of Australia!" Trump tweeted Friday.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that he had a similar conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and bemoaned that the US is running a trade deficit with Japan. He said, "Spoke to Prime Minister Abe of Japan, who is very enthusiastic about talks with North Korea. Also discussing opening up Japan to much better trade with the U.S. Currently have a massive $100 Billion Trade Deficit. Not fair or sustainable. It will all work out!"

Trump's decision to impose tariffs on imports of steel and aluminum has riled markets and prompted backlash from US trading partners, including the European Union. The Trump administration previously indicated it would exempt Canada and Mexico from the tariffs as NAFTA negotiations are underway, and European Union Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstromsaid Friday that the EU is "counting on being excluded" from the new US tariff regime.

The EU said previously it would respond to Trump's tariffs with reciprocal tariffs on US goods, and Trump has expressed irritation with both the trading practices of European countries as well as the level of defense spending from European members of NATO.Stylish threads: Vietnamese fashion designer Nguyen Cong Tri successfully introduced Lanh My A Silk via his designs to international friends during Tokyo Fashion Week 16. Photo courtesy of thethaovanhoa.vn

Viet Nam News Despite its beauty and significant traditional value, the future of Lanh My A silk remains uncertain as there are now only a few people pursuing production of this unique fabric. Ups and downs Lanh My A, a delicate cloth woven from the finest silk fibres, comes from Tan Chau Silk Village in the southern province of An Giang. The area flourished during the 1950s and 1960s when mulberry growing, silkworm rearing and Lanh My A silk weaving was popular. The village products were sold to neighbouring provinces and exported to Cambodia, Laos, France and other European countries, according to Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper. However, as synthetic fabric gained popularity in the 1970s, most families in Tan Chau, even the skilled Tam Lang artisans, switched from pure silk to synthetics and other fabrics to secure their income. Nguyen Van Long, or Tam Lang, was one of the most renowned artisans with expertise in Lanh My A silk production. He spent 20 years trading mac nua (an ebony-coloured fruit used to dye the silk) and more than 40 years making the silk. Lanh My A silk was abandoned until the 1990s when a French woman named Rose became interested in the unique fabric and persuaded Tam Lang to resume his original business. In addition to setting standards that improved the quality of Lanh My A silk, Rose was able to export it to France, Hong Kong and other countries every year. Making of Lanh My A Nguyen Huu Tri, Tam Langs son and successor, says the process of producing the natural silk is extremely demanding, taking up to more than a month to complete.

Raw materials: Mac nua is a special fruit that helps Lanh My A Silk get its distinctive black, glossy and beautiful colour. Photo courtesy of thethaovanhoa.vn

Lanh My A is made of natural silk fabric processed by a unique method in which it is woven and dyed with the mac nua fruit.

After being handpicked and ground, the fruit gives out a distinctive black and beautiful colour that is later mixed with water for dyeing.

As the silk is dyed, it is repeatedly dried and hung under the sun from morning to noon for about 45 days before it is rolled up and rammed to make the silk shiny and durable.

The silk takes its final form as the beautiful black Lanh My A after it undergoes a sizing and softening process.

Tri says that there are three factors that make Lanh My A silk special. It has to be made with 100 per cent natural silk, dyed with mac nua fruit, and woven with the satin technique (the most difficult weaving technique).

Today, Lanh My A silk appears in an array of colours such as amber and ash in an effort to keep up with the growing demand in designs.

Despite being a precious silk that represents Viet Nam, Lanh My A is currently at risk of being lost forever due to the decreasing quantity of mac nua fruit and skilled workers, Tri says.

Mac nua fruit is only available between lunar June and December when the resin is good for one or two days after being picked.

Now that many mac nua trees have been chopped down for food crops, artisans do not have enough resources to produce Lanh My A silk, Tri says.

Future use

The fabric has been recently showcased in many fashion shows, including "The Dreamers" collection featuring more than 100 designs made from Lanh My A silk, and created by young designers with a vision to carry the fabric into the future.

In addition to local shows, famous fashion designer Nguyen Cong Tri pushed the unique fabric into the international spotlight by showcasing his designs in the "No 9 Lua" collection during Tokyo Fashion Week 16. VNSHA NOI  Phu Tho Province police has begun legal proceedings against Nguyen Thanh Hoa, former head of the High-tech Crime Police Department, over his alleged role in a major gambling and money laundering case.

Nguyen Thanh Hoa, born 1958 in Binh inh and currently residing in Ha Noi, former Major General of the Peoples Police, on Sunday was also put in jail for four months to be investigated for organising gambling as a crime under the Penal Code 1999.

The former policeman was suspended from his role at the end of 2017 after alleged involvement in online gambling rings, the very crime that his post required him to fight.

According to the Ministry of Public Security, the crime in question involved using the internet to illegally appropriate assets, organise gambling rings, trade fake invoices and launder money in Phu Tho Province and other localities.

Previously, Phu Tho police seized more than VN1 trillion (US$43.9 million) from the gambling ring, and found an estimated $3.6 million in foreign currencies had been transferred to overseas accounts.

Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh during a meeting late January said there might be many other cross-border online gambling rings like this one, bleeding millions of US dollar out of the country daily.

Earlier the same day, President Tran ai Quang signed a decision to strip Hoa of his Peoples Police title.

Police are expanding their investigation.

Previously, in a meeting chaired by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Secretariat of the Communist Party of Viet Nams Central Committee ordered the Police Party Central Committee to work with relevant agencies to closely scrutinise the case.

The Partys top organ was of the view that this was a very serious, complicated and sensitive case of an especially large scale involving high-technology. The case involved numerous sectors, localities and individuals, including members of the police force, and has drawn public attention.

The Secretariat asked the Police Party Central Committee to work with competent agencies to investigate the case, clarify the liabilities of involved parties and handle the case in a strict, impartial and accurate manner, as well as submit timely reports to the Secretariat on the cases developments.  VNSGIA LAI  A fire that broke out in the Ia Grai protection forest in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai was brought under control on Sunday morning.

However, more than 40ha of forest, comprising pine trees planted in 2015, was destroyed.

Le Tien Hiep, head of the forests management board, said that the fire occurred on Friday afternoon.

More than 200 people from the management board, provincial Border Guards and local residents from Ia Chia and Ia O communes were called to extinguish the fire.

The team managed to temporarily halt the fire on Friday night. However, due to dry conditions and strong winds, the flames reappeared. Ia Grai District authorities called for more firemen from uc Co District to stamp out it.

Ia Grai District authorities kept a close watch on the scene to prevent the fire from re-occurring.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.  VNSby Luong Thu Huong

Students of the Huong Phung Primary School learn about history and culture not only in their textbooks but also through lively replicas installed in the school premises.

Entering the mountainous school, located in a remote area in the central province of Quang Tri, is like stepping into a mini museum.

There are eight impressive replicas on the 1,000sq.m premises, which help students visualise both national and local culture and history. The replicas include the sovereignty landmark on the Truong Sa Island in the central province of Khanh Hoa, Gac Ma Island, Viet Nams map, a picture of Saint Giong, the Vinh Moc guerilla warfare tunnels, President Ho Chi Minhs stilt house and a traditional stilt house of the Pa Ko-Van Kieu ethnic minority.

The idea for the models originated from the fact that a majority of the students belong to the Van Kieu community, who lack the opportunity to travel to learn new things. They encounter many difficulties in their studies and in gaining knowledge, says Nguyen Mai Trong, the schools principle.

Supplementing the knowledge in the textbooks, the visual models are expected to deepen the students understanding, in addition to nurturing their love and respect for the history and culture of their hometown as well as nation, Trong says, adding such models also help improve students interest in studies.

Besides educational purposes, the models have also beautified the area of the Huong Phung School, which consists of 33 classes with more than 650 students.

Awareness about national sovereignty

According to the principle, as a school located near the Viet Nam-Laos border, the highlight of its education is to impart knowledge to the students about national sovereignty of the land and islands. Therefore, the first replica to be installed was Viet Nams sovereignty landmark on the Truong Sa Island.

The idea for the replica was proposed in April 2015 by Trong and it was completed five months later, with contributions from benefactors who heard about the idea on social networking sites. Every Monday, when students attend the flag salutation ceremony, the sovereignty landmark is expected to make them aware of national sovereignty.

Following the positive response of the students to the first replica, the school authorities next decided to install a picture of Viet Nams map. This was created from pebbles and flowers.

For weeks, both teachers and students voluntarily went to the nearby Chenh Venh Stream on their off days to collect pebbles, and they together created the map. While small pebbles were used to form the mainland, two big stones were used to represent the Truong Sa (Spratly) and Hoang Sa (Paracel) Islands, and purple flowers were planted around the borders of the map.

Since its installation, the map has been the favourite spot for students to visit during breaks or extra-curricular activities.

We gather here at every break. Sometimes we play a game of questioning each other about the locations of various provinces and islands, which increases our understanding of the country, says Ho Van Hung, a fifth grade student.

The most sophisticated replicas are those of the Vinh Moc Tunnel System, which has been recognised as a national special heritage site, and the traditional stilt house of the Van Kieu-Pa Ko ethnic groups.

The uneven terrain on which the school is located gave teachers the idea to build a replica of the tunnels.

The tunnels served as a strategic location on the border of the North and South Viet Nam during the American War. 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29 (1) Oct 01 (1) Jul 29 (1) May 11 (1) Jul 11 (1)The Electoral Observer Mission, which had warned of the risk of fraud in hundreds of municipalities, reported considerable problems.

Polls have now closed in Colombia's legislative and primary elections, but major irregularities have been reported throughout the country.

The National Civil Registry said ballots had run out in Medellin, Cucuta and Manizales, but voters could use photocopies: "An agreement was reached with the political parties and movements, due to the budget restriction and they authorized the continuation of the procedure with photocopies," said Juan Carlos Galindo.

Videos circulated on social media apparently showing an official hiding ballot papers, as well as possible evidence of vote-buying in several locations.

The Electoral Observer Mission (OEM), which had warned of the risk of fraud in hundreds of municipalities, also reported considerable problems.

Colombians are electing 102 senators and 166 members of the chamber of representatives.

According to an ABC News report, the center-right will comfortably win about 60 percent of the seats, while the Revolutionary Alternative Force for the Commons (FARC) will struggle to gain ground.

"The FARC are in a tough position," Leon Valencia from the Peace and Reconciliation Foundation said.

"If they get a low turnout, as is expected, their congressmen will be shunned: they will not be seen as true representatives of the people," Valencia explained, referring to the 10 congressional seats guaranteed to FARC under the terms of the peace deal.

President Juan Manuel Santos noted the participation of the newly formed political party, which was formerly a guerrilla movement, as being significant in the electoral process. The government and former rebel movement had engaged in a 50-year civil war.

The Colombian Ministry of Defense announced the deployment of more than 100,000 military and police officials to monitor the elections.

The parliamentary election is a precursor to the upcoming presidential elections in May. The FARC suffered a minor setback resulting in the organization's withdrawal from the presidential elections after candidate Rodrigo 'Timochenko' Londono had to undergo heart surgery last week.

Santos claims the legislative elections will be the safest in the recent history of the country, citing the ceasefire agreement with the FARC.

Live Updates

4:00 p.m.

Election officials confirm that polls are closed.

#ElDato Cerradas las urnas en elecciones Congreso de la Republica #EleccionesColombia #Elecciones2018 Sigue los resultados en la App "Elecciones Colombia 2018" y https://t.co/VWUns8Zr9s  Registraduria (@Registraduria) March 11, 2018

3:30 p.m.

National Civil Registry head Juan Carlos Galindo says the issue with paper ballots has been resolved.

Quiero darle un parte de tranquilidad al pais, las dificultades con las tarjetas electorales de las consultas interpartidistas que se presentaron en alrededor de 20 puestos de votacion en Medellin, Bogota, Bucaramanga y Cali fueron superadas. pic.twitter.com/jjMT2mDi3w  Juan Carlos Galindo (@jcgalindovacha) March 11, 2018

2:30 p.m.

Con fotocopias y con datos mandados por telefono sin rastro digital. Esa es la @Registraduria de Colombia. Santos se inclino por el fraude y la falta de transparencia electoral.  Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) March 11, 2018

12:20 p.m.

The Mission of Electoral Observance says that 40 percent of the observed voting stations have electoral propaganda, which is forbidden on election day.

12:10 p.m.

Gustavo Petro, leftist leading presidential candidate, cast his vote. He also denounced the lack of electoral guarantees.

Progresista @petrogustavo acaba de ejercer su derecho ciudadano a votar.Denuncia falta de garantias electorales a ciudadania @JuanManSantos pic.twitter.com/56RBYF0mTE  IndiraVegaP. (@IndiraVegaP) March 11, 2018

12:00 p.m.

Gustavo Petro, leftist leading presidential candidate, warned of election irregularities.

.@LHoyosteleSUR : The presidential candidate @petrogustavo denounces serious irregularities in the votes of the interparty consultation of the left coalition #ColombiaDecide pic.twitter.com/XcTms1puLW  teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) March 11, 2018

11:20 a.m.

Tatiana Pineros, a transwoman running for the senate, voted for the first time as a woman.

11:04 a.m.

The independent group Mission of Electoral Observance published a list of 141 municipalities with more voters than actual inhabitants.

10:30 a.m.

Several FARC members say they have not been able to vote because their names don't appear on the lists.

Han sido diversos los casos en que candidatos de la fuerza del comun no han podido ejercer su derecho al voto. Cedulas que no aparecen y puestos que han sido cambiados son los mayores casos. @Registraduria pic.twitter.com/91m5GI24zG  FARC (@FARC_EPueblo) 11 de marzo de 2018

9:20 a.m.

Colombia's former president Alvaro Uribe and his presidential candidate Ivan Duque voted in Bogota.

8:45 a.m.

Senior FARC offcial Ivan Marquez, who is also a candidate for the assembly, cast his vote.

Ya vote por la esperanza, ya vote por el futuro, ya vote por la Rosa Roja  de la Fuerza Alternativa Revolucionaria del Comun. #YoSoyDelComun #VotoPorLaRosa  pic.twitter.com/tKcvJ1rJiF  Ivan Marquez (@IvanMarquezFARC) March 11, 2018

8:35 a.m.

Pablo Catatumbo, former FARC commander and now a member of the newly-formed party's national direction, voted for the first time in his life.

Dia historico para nuestra Colombia! En mis 64 anos de vida es la primera vez que ejerzo mi derecho al voto y me siento muy contento y conmovido de haberlo hecho por la paz y reconciliacion de nuestro pueblo. #VotoPorLaRosa pic.twitter.com/fnZLsnQ6o3  Pablo Catatumbo (@PCatatumbo_FARC) March 11, 2018

8:16 a.m.

Juan Manuel Santos, the president of Colombia, exercised his right to vote in the Plaza Bolivar, downtown Bogota.ST. LOUIS, MO, March 11, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- CodeHS, a San Francisco-based computer science teaching platform, is pleased to announce the rural Missouri school districts who have been selected as partners to participate in Code Missouri for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years:



Albany R-III School District - Albany, Missouri

Ash Grove R-IV School District - Ash Grove, Missouri

Bakersfield R4 School District - Bakersfield, Missouri

Boonville R-1 School District - Boonville, Missouri

Bucklin R-II School District - Bucklin, Missouri

Fayette R-III School District - Fayette, Missouri

Fulton Public Schools - Fulton, Missouri

Gasconade County R-I School District - Gasconade, Missouri

Henry County R-1 Schools - Windsor, Missouri

Higbee R-VIII School District - Higbee, Missouri

Hume R-VIII School District - Hume, Missouri

Keytesville R-III School District - Keytesville, Missouri

Maryville R2 School District - Maryville, Missouri

New Franklin R-1 School District - New Franklin, Missouri

Odessa R-VII School District - Odessa, Missouri

Portageville School District - Portageville, Missouri

Richmond R-XVI School District - Richmond, Missouri

Slater School District - Slater, Missouri

Wellington-Napoleon R9 School District - Wellington, Missouri



The pilot school for Code Missouri is Fayette High School, where math teacher Kevin Pekkarinen is teaching the class. According to Kevin, "This was my chance to do more, by introducing rural students, who normally would not have the opportunity, to learn such an important skill and open the door for them to a plethora of career opportunities." These courses give students the opportunity to explore important topics in computing using their own ideas, problem solving skills, and creativity.



CodeHS launched Code Missouri in fall 2017 to help expand high-quality computer science programs across Missouri with a focus on rural school districts. The selected school districts will be provided free 6-12th grade computer science curriculum pathway, professional development training for teachers, CodeHS Pro accounts for the district, and ongoing implementation support for the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 school years.



Visit codemissouri.com



About CodeHS

CodeHS is a comprehensive teaching platform for helping schools teach computer science by providing web-based curriculum, teacher tools and resources, and professional development. There are over 500,000 students using the platform and 7,000 classrooms on CodeHS every month. Visit codehs.com.



# # #Mar.2, 2018 - NASA has tested its Space Launch System (SLS) engines up to 113 percent thrust level, the highest RS-25 power level achieved to date. The hot fire featured a test of an RS-25 flight controller, as well as a 3D printed engine component. More

'Neon Nom Noms' are the 3D printed cakes you wish you were eating

Mar.2, 2018 - Chef Steph Keefe is doing some pretty magical things with 3D printing in the kitchen. As Head Chef of Budmen Industries' Techno Test Kitchen, Keefe and her team have been using 3D printing to make a stunning selection of digitally designed cakes. More

Adam Kirsch in Harvard Magazine:

In the autumn of 1924, Alain Locke was enjoying the beauties of San Remo, Italy. But his mind and heart were back home in the United Statesspecifically, in Harlem, which was fast becoming the unofficial capital of black America. LockeA.B. 08, Ph.D. 1839 years old and a professor at Howard University, had been a leading light of the African-American intellectual world for almost 20 years, ever since he became the first black student to receive a Rhodes Scholarship. Now he was engaged in guest-editing a special issue of a magazine called Survey Graphic that would be devoted to Harlem. He enlisted as contributors some of the nations leading scholars and creative writers, black and whitefrom the historian Arthur Schomburg and the anthropologist Melville Herskovits to the poets Countee Cullen and Claude McKay. The issue was shaping up to be a major event: a quasi-official announcement of what would come to be known as the Harlem Renaissance.

Now, vacationing in Italy, Locke set to work on his own contribution, an essay that would explain the meaning of this cultural moment. Like so many American writers, he found that being in Europe freed him to think in new ways about his country. (In the same year, Ezra Pound moved to Rapallo, where he would carry on his campaign against the status quo in American poetry.) The Harlem Renaissance, for Locke, was another expression of the modernist spirit; and modernism was a revolution in society as well as in art. For black America, it took the form of an intellectual liberation that, he believed, would be a precursor to social change.

The title of Lockes essay, The New Negro, heralded that revolution. The younger generation, he announced, is vibrant with a new psychology, the new spirit is awake in the masses. The key to this newness, he argued, was a rejection of the old American way of thinking which made the Negromore of a formula than a human beinga something to be argued about, condemned or defended, to be kept down, or in his place, or helped up. Rather than being the object of others discourse, African Americansand particularly, for Locke, African-American artists and intellectualswere insisting on what a later generation would call agency, the right to be the protagonists of their own history. By shedding the old chrysalis of the Negro problem, Locke wrote, we are achieving something like a spiritual emancipationthe decade that found us with a problem has left us with only a task. With the Survey Graphic issuewhich would later be expanded into a landmark book, The New NegroLocke was positioning himself as the philosopher and strategist of a movement.

More here.Andrew Elrod in Dissent:

There is a little-remembered scene in Joan Didions Slouching Towards Bethlehem, published fifty years ago last August, where the writer, sleuthing through the menagerie of San Franciscos counterculture, finds herself in the fleeting company of semi-professional political organizers. Didion, after talking to the groupies at a Grateful Dead rehearsal in Sausalito, feeding hamburgers to a runaway teen couple, and listening to hippies romanticize living organically off the land, eating roots and things, ends up at the apartment of Arthur Lisch, who is on the payroll of the American Friends Service Committee. When she arrives, Lisch is phoning VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America), one of the agencies created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, to secure government funding for his group and their activities. The influx of teenage homelessness, he says, is creating a social crisis verging on riot. As he coaxes and counsels, a hippie sits in their living room in a psychedelic daze. Mrs. Lisch feeds their children while two Diggers cut up pounds of meat for the daily Digger feed in the park. But Lisch, it seems, is driven by a vision beyond bohemia. He does not seem to notice any of this, Didion writes. He just keeps talking about cybernated societies and the guaranteed annual wage and riot on the Street, unless.

The scene is worth remembering, not only for its portrayal of the diligent and tenuous work of movement building, but for its vision of the future. Today cybernation and the guaranteed annual wagerebranded as the universal basic incomeare having their renaissance. In March 2016 General Motors bought a self-driving-vehicle startup for $1 billion; in October, Qualcomm spent $47 billion on an automobile-chip company, one of several multibillion dollar deals over the past couple of years that saw semiconductor and software companies absorb leading firms in the auto-parts market. This is almost something that should be a mission of the human species, instead of a company, says one software executive of driverless cars. In the Harvard Business Review, MIT techno-evangelists Andrew McAfee and Erik Brynjolfsson coo over the falling price of industrial-grade ML [machine learning] deployments, in everything from audio and visual recognition to accounting and financial services.

More here.Adam Winkler in the New York Review of Books:

When the Supreme Court first began to breathe life into the First Amendment in the early twentieth century, the speakers who inspired the newfound protections were politically persecuted minorities: socialists, anarchists, radicals, and labor agitators. Today, however, in the aftermath of the 2010 Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which held that corporations have the same right as individuals to influence elections, the First Amendment is used by wealthy and powerful business interests seeking to overturn food-labeling laws, securities disclosure laws, and campaign finance regulations. Yet the seeds of this transformation were planted decades ago in a different Supreme Court casethough one eerily evocative of the Trump erainvolving a blustery, dough-faced politician who railed against fake news.

Huey Long was Trump before Trump. The fiery populist governor elected on the eve of the Great Depression had an aggressive agenda to make Louisiana great againand little tolerance for dissent. Long set up a state board to censor newsreels and another to decide which newspapers would be allowed to print profitable government notices. When the student paper at Louisiana State University published an unflattering editorial about him, an outraged Longreferring to himself, as autocrats often do, in the third personsent in the state police to seize copies, saying he wasnt going to stand for any students criticizing Huey Long.

After Louisianas larger daily newspapers came out against him, the Kingfish declared war. The daily newspapers have been against every progressive step in the state, Long said, and the only way for the people of Louisiana to get ahead is to stomp them flat. To do so, in 1934 Longs allies enacted a 2 percent tax on the advertising revenue of the states largest-circulation newspapers. Long said the tax should be called a tax on lying, two cents per lie.

More here.Till today the Corruption Perception Index indicates that there has been extremely low to no progress in ending corruption in these countries and continents. In many cases being an activist, advisor or journalist who are openly against corruption is risky and life threatening. How do we get around it?

A billion-dollar company is about to be born out of corruption. Before we go into the detail, lets look at what a billion-dollar organisation looks like today. One of the most successful companies I can think of is Alibaba.com. Alibaba is a company that many of you may not have heard of even though it is considered the largest e-commerce businesses globally.

Their business is simple. They give suppliers the tools to reach customers around the world through an online platform. They provide customers a one stop shop to review thousands on suppliers, order safely and track purchases online. Alibaba is focused around Business to Business (B2B) rather than Businesses like e-Bay that is Business to Consumer (B2C). Similar to e-Bay they too allow purchasers to provide feedback that is available for anyone to see globally.

The demand for bulk orders has been extremely popular in the USA, Europe and Asia in the past 5 years as we see more people develop an entrepreneurial flair in the wholesale retail space. In fact there are hundreds of thousands of merchants around the world today that purchase goods from Alibaba to sell on e-Bay. This deman is evident in their growth as they now have over 500 million customers, operate in over 200 countries and their company is worth over 400 billion USD.

Alibabas CO-founder Jack Ma has indicated that world dominance in the B2B space is on their agenda, however there is a significant roadblock in several hundred locations around the world. In particularly, penetrating the Latin American market has seen many challenges.

THE PROBLEM

Latin America, including countries like Russia, Papua New Guinea and the continent of Africa are some of the most corrupt places on Earth. Till today the Corruption Perception Index indicates that there has been extremely low to no progress in ending corruption in these countries and continents. In many cases being an activist, advisor or journalist openly against corruption is risky and can be life threatening.

For a small to medium business, this means that the opportunity to grow, scale and succeed is reduced significantly as it would require strong relationships with suppliers, sellers, clients and 3rd party services which is regularly impacted by corruption.

Many countries like the USA, Canada, Australia, Sweden or Norway are generally protected in many ways from petty and large-scale corruption and therefore wouldnt have experienced corruption to the degree that Latin American businesses do. However, in Latin America this is a strenuous, lengthy and demanding process which requires professional services that many businesses dont utilise due to the costs involved. In many cases perceived long term business relationships can end sooner due to some form of corruption. A common (However tame in the scheme of things) example in the wholesale industry, corrupt business owners will pay for a number of small orders (Goods) successfully, however will then order and receive a significantly larger order without paying.

THE SOLUTION

Solution 1  The easiest solution would be to embed Alibaba into Latin America. This would allow transparency, it wouldnt be controlled by any one country or government and money would be locked up in Escrow before being released. The question we have to ask ourselves is Why isnt Alibaba servicing Latin America as we speak? Here are a couple of reasons;

Inflations rates differ per Latin American country, which is managed by governments

Dealing with Latin American governments with its own set of priorities and dont want local capital moving abroad

So many different fiat currencies to work around

Most of Latin America has a high level of corruption including some government officials still in office

Trading models that Alibaba use in Europe, US and Australia wont work in Latin America



Solution 2  Another solution would be to use Latin Americas B2B directories that include lists of businesses. While this is an extensive list of businesses, it fails to offer;

Transparency/ negative or positive feedback on the service or product received

Businesses are not assessed on criteria i.e. Customer service, time to fill the order, deliver time, quality of product

They dont offer a direct online payment system to the product you want to purchase or an extensive catalogue of products a business sells

You are still utilising a traditional style of doing business which requires an invoice process and post payment with no holding system like Escrow



Solution 3  UTEMIS is a company with an ambitious idea that could change the Latin American Landscape if they manage to implement their business model successfully. They are currently in their start-up phase and from my review of their whitepaper, it is evident that they are looking to mirror the type of service that Alibaba.com provide around the world. UTEMIS was founded by Dr. Juan Pablo Vazquez Sampere (CEO) who is known in some parts of the world as an expert in disruptive innovation and corporate entrepreneurship. His team is made up of professionals with industry experience and business success.

Their main goal is to decentralise (Using the blockchain) the reputation of businesses using their platform, which would allow for a companys reputation to be posted publicly and viewed by customers around the world. Customers can then make a judgement call on whether or not they will purchase from a supplier. While it seems like a basic idea, transparency is critical in an environment of corruption.

The UTEMIS platform is planned to allow businesses to deal directly with each other including payments using Escrow. A positive step that allows Escrow to lock up the payments in advance, and then release the funds once the customer has received their item/goods or service. The other positive point to this project is that it uses its own cryptocurrency to allow liquidity between businesses. This is important when youre dealing with a large amount of different currencies.

MY CONCERNS

No due-diligence on businesses joining the UTEMIS platform. I guess you have to start somewhere

Governments in Latin America will have something to say. Unless UTEMIS can take an UBER approach and force their hand

With a marketing spend of $120 they have received (As of March) just over $300,000 in their ICO, however they are planning to employ x300 sales people by May/June/July 2018. Operating costs maybe a little thin which may lead to a headcount reduction



CONCLUSION

It is evident that Latin America has a long journey to eliminate corruption and it is up to the people within the Latin American nations to think of innovative and disruptive ideas that can avoid and eliminate corruption. UTEMIS has identified a Niche in Latin America that is a fantastic start towards making B2B relationships more honest and transparent with their dealings. It also helps that their business model is based on a successful, proven and tested business model of a company like Alibaba.

If they deliver on their whitepaper, their platform should be a one stop shop for business networking, business reporting, funding, business transparency, liquidity between Latin American nations and tracking. If they can get around my initial concerns above, then Im confident that their business will become a billion-dollar organisation that is truly changing the world and peoples lives. The business model of UTEMIS is desperately needed in LATAM. Ill be watching this one closely over the next 6 months.

If you decide to invest in their ICO, remember to research the company and founding members. Do your own extensive research.

VIDEO LINK  Interview with UTEMIS CEO and Founder Dr. Juan Pablo Vazquez Sampere https://youtu.be/5EkN3cVma7I

UTEMIS  https://www.utemis.com

Media Contact

Company Name: Tiko News

Contact Person: Dale Evans

Email: service@tikointernational.com.au

Phone: 0403770559

Country: Australia

Website: www.tikonation.comGet AfricaFocus Bulletin by e-mail! Format for print or mobile Africa/Global: Charting Where They Hide the Money, 1 AfricaFocus Bulletin

March 12, 2018 (180312)

(Reposted from sources cited below) Editor's Note "Switzerland, the United States and the Cayman Islands are the worlds biggest contributors to financial secrecy, according to the latest edition of the Tax Justice Networks Financial Secrecy Index (FSI). ... Kenya, which this year set up its own tax haven in the form of the Nairobi International Financial Centre, is an example of how interests of western financial service lobbyists have successfully lured governments into a race to the bottom. Kenya, which has been assessed for the first time in the 2018 FSI, has an extremely high secrecy score of 80/100." - Tax Justice Network The FSI for 2018, released by the Tax Justice Network on January 31, is far more than a simple index. It is an in-depth survey as well as ranking of the countries most deeply involved in concealing wealth through offshore financial services. Based on a quantitative measure of the share of such cross-border financial services based in each country, and an in-depth qualitative evaluation of national laws and regulations affecting transparency and secrecy, the FSI provides the indispensable context for investigative journalism exposes of specific cases and advocacy by civil society groups at both national and international levels. In striking contrast to Transparency International "Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) (https://www.transparency.org/), which rates countries on the basis of observers' perceptions of the extent of corruption, the FSI focuses on the mechanisms which permit the fruits of corruption and other hidden assets to be concealed. Ironically, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands are ranked as among the least corrupt on the CPI, but they also lead on the FSI as the best places to hide the fruits of corruption, tax evasion, and other crimes. The system that allows this to happen is in fact global, and its distribution by country, by intention, is hard to track. This two-part AfricaFocus contains substantive excerpts from the Financial Secrecy Index reports. This first part (sent out by email and available on-line at http://www.africafocus.org/docs18/fsi1803a.php) excerpts overview analyses from the authors covering the global picture and the African continent. The second part, not sent out by email but available at http://www.africafocus.org/docs18/fsi1803b.php) , provides excerpts from country reports on the United Kingdom, the United States, Kenya, Liberia, South Africa, and Mauritius. Much more extensive data in narrative, database, and graphic formats, is available at http://www.financialsecrecyindex.com For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on illicit financial flows, tax evasion, and related topics, visit

http://www.africafocus.org/intro-iff.php ++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++ Financial Secrecy Index 2018 Introduction https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/ The Financial Secrecy Index ranks jurisdictions according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities. A politically neutral ranking, it is a tool for understanding global financial secrecy, tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions, and illicit financial flows or capital flight. An estimated $21 to $32 trillion of private financial wealth is located, untaxed or lightly taxed, in secrecy jurisdictions around the world. Secrecy jurisdictions - a term we often use as an alternative to the more widely used term tax havens - use secrecy to attract illicit and illegitimate or abusive financial flows. Illicit cross-border financial flows have been estimated at $1-1.6 trillion per year: dwarfing the US$135 billion or so in global foreign aid. Since the 1970s African countries alone have lost over $1 trillion in capital flight, while combined external debts are less than $200 billion. So Africa is a major net creditor to the world - but its assets are in the hands of a wealthy elite, protected by offshore secrecy; while the debts are shouldered by broad African populations. Yet all rich countries suffer too. For example, European countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal have been brought to their knees partly by decades of tax evasion and state looting via offshore secrecy. A global industry has developed involving the world's biggest banks, law practices, accounting firms and specialist providers who design and market secretive offshore structures for their tax- and law-dodging clients. 'Competition' between jurisdictions to provide secrecy facilities has, particularly since the era of financial globalisation really took off in the 1980s, become a central feature of global financial markets. The problems go far beyond tax. In providing secrecy, the offshore world corrupts and distorts markets and investments, shaping them in ways that have nothing to do with efficiency. The secrecy world creates a criminogenic hothouse for multiple evils including fraud, tax cheating, escape from financial regulations, embezzlement, insider dealing, bribery, money laundering, and plenty more. It provides multiple ways for insiders to extract wealth at the expense of societies, creating political impunity and undermining the healthy 'no taxation without representation' bargain that has underpinned the growth of accountable modern nation states. Many poorer countries, deprived of tax and haemorrhaging capital into secrecy jurisdictions, rely on foreign aid handouts. This hurts citizens of rich and poor countries alike. Switzerland, USA and Cayman top the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index by George Turner Tax Justice Network, January 30, 2018 https://www.taxjustice.net/2018/01/30/2018fsi/ Switzerland, the United States and the Cayman Islands are the worlds biggest contributors to financial secrecy, according to the latest edition of the Tax Justice Networks Financial Secrecy Index (FSI). The full financial secrecy index can be found online at http://www.financialsecrecyindex.com. There you can find interactive tables and maps of the FSI, as well as download reports on specific countries. A direct link to the table of rankings by country is at http://tinyurl.com/yblxx27e. Financial secrecy is a key facilitator of financial crime, and illicit financial flows including money laundering, corruption and tax evasion. Jurisdictions who fail to contain it deny citizens elsewhere their human rights and exacerbate global inequality. The table below shows the top-ranked 54 countries on the FSI. The full interactive table is available here. Switzerland, the global capital of bank secrecy, retains the worst ranking, and the US has moved up to second. With Bahrain and Lebanon dropping out of the top ten, Guernsey and a new entry in Taiwan has replaced them. The US rise in the FSI 2018 rankings is part of a worrying trend. This is the second time in succession that the USA has risen up the Financial Secrecy Index. In 2013 the States was in 6th place, and in 2015 it took 3rd. In 2015 the country was one of the few to increase its secrecy score. This time the increase in ranking is driven by a huge rise in their share of the market in offshore financial services that wasnt neutralised by a significant reduction in their secrecy. In total, the share of global offshore financial services taken by the United States rose by 14% between the 2015 and 2018 index from 19.6% to 22.3%. The United States remains a secrecy jurisdiction as it refuses to take part in international initiatives to share tax information with other countries, and has failed to end anonymous companies and trusts aggressively marketed by some US states. There is now real concern about the damage this promotion of illicit financial flows is doing to the global economy. Slow progress in the global fight against financial secrecy The 2015 Index noted several improvements towards global financial transparency following the 2008 financial crisis and the huge budget deficits that it created, where governments around the world sought to reign in tax abuse by its citizens, and by multinational corporations. Some of those efforts are now starting to bear fruit. Most importantly, countries have now started to exchange information on bank accounts held by foreign citizens in their jurisdictions on an automatic basis. But this Financial Secrecy Index demonstrates how ten years on from the financial crisis all countries still have a long road ahead of them to improve their performance on financial secrecy. The most transparent country  Slovenia  has a secrecy score of 41.8, out of a total possible score of 100. A score of 0 would represent ideal, competition and market friendly transparency. In other words, if the Financial Secrecy Index were a school exam, Slovenia (the best student) would have barely passed, with less than 60% of the correct transparency answers. The worst countries only got close to 10% of the transparency questions right (a secrecy score close to 90). Following this analogy, practically all countries would have to repeat the school year. The top two countries in this years FSI are the two that have been most resistant to the key policy of automatic information exchange between tax authorities. The US refuses to take part altogether. Instead, it has set up its own parallel system (FATCA) which seeks information on US citizens abroad, but provides little, if any, data to foreign countries. The global capital of banking secrecy, Switzerland has delayed the implementation of automatic information exchange, and in 2017 lawmakers attempted to stop it altogether with countries they deemed corrupt. As the FSI demonstrates, countries like Switzerland are fundamental to the flow of illicit financial funds, such as the proceeds of corruption. Switzerlands attempts to stop transparency for funds they receive from countries with perceived high levels of corruption will simply make tackling corruption in those countries harder. After the financial crash further scandals have led to a greater push for more transparency, such as the demand for public registers of company owners. Yet this progress has been difficult, as powerful vested interests working with friendly governments seek to frustrate change. The UK government for example continues to insist on the right of its satellite tax havens to maintain the secrecy of company ownership, and the German government, with others, have sought to impede attempts to make progress on the beneficial ownership issue within the European Union. Financial secrecys impact on human rights Six out of the Top 10 FSI 2018 countries are either members of the OECD or their dependencies. Another three are Asian tax havens, demonstrating how major economies are driving the market for financial secrecy. Secrecy jurisdictions are found all over the world. On this map the top ten are shown in blue. An interactive version of the map is available here. Kenya, which this year set up its own tax haven in the form of the Nairobi International Financial Centre, is an example of how interests of western financial service lobbyists have successfully lured governments into a race to the bottom. Kenya, which has been assessed for the first time in the 2018 FSI, has an extremely high secrecy score of 80/100. By harboring the ill-gotten gains of kleptocrats and tax evaders, secrecy jurisdictions deprive governments of the resources needed to provide basic social protection, and encourage the looting of natural resources. This impact of financial secrecy on the abuse of human rights is increasingly recognised globally. Switzerland has been sharply criticised by the United Nations for the damage that its financial secrecy causes to human rights around the world, while a recent statement by the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, highlighted the poverty and inequality suffered by citizens of the United States, in part driven by their governments desire to become a tax haven. This statement comes at a time when our index shows the country undermining rights elsewhere through its promotion of financial secrecy. How we created the worlds leading study of financial secrecy The Financial Secrecy Index is the worlds most comprehensive assessment of the secrecy of financial centres and the impact of that secrecy on global financial flows. The European Commissions Joint Research Centre provided methodological support for the construction of the index. The study is published every two years and is founded on published, independently verifiable data. In contrast to some so called blacklists of tax havens, inclusion in the FSI is not based on political decision making. Countries are assessed against criteria which include whether companies, trusts and foundations are required to reveal their true owners, whether annual accounts are made available online in open data format, or the extent to which jurisdictions rules comply with anti-money laundering standards (FATFs 40 recommendations). This year several new indicators have been added to the FSI and existing indicators have been substantially revised to drill deeper into questions around ownership registration and disclosure. A total of 20 Key Financial Secrecy Indicators (KFSI) is used for the measurement of the secrecy score. In order to create the index, a secrecy score is combined with a figure representing the size of the offshore financial services industry in each country. This is expressed as a percentage of global exports of financial services. The bigger player you are, the more responsibility you have to be transparent. Beyond of what has been achieved so far by academic or regulatory institutions, the new FSI is the most comprehensive and rigorous assessment of financial secrecy worldwide. New criteria include checking if a jurisdiction provides for A public register of ownership and annual accounts of limited partnerships (KFSI 5);

A public register of ownership of real estate and a central register of users of freeports for the storage of high value assets (KFSI 4);

Banking secrecy rules protected by criminal law (risk of prison terms for banking whistleblowers; KFSI 1);

Public access to tax court verdicts and proceedings, both in criminal and civil tax matters (KFSI 14);

Mandatory Legal Entity Identifiers for companies created in its territory (KFSI 10);

Harmful tax residency and citizenship rules (KFSI 12);

Public access to unilateral tax rulings and robust local filing requirements for Country-By-Country Reports (KFSI 9);

Unregistered bearer shares for companies & large banknotes (KFSI 15);

Public statistics on its cross-border financial and economic activities (KFSI 16);

Mandatory reporting obligations of tax avoidance schemes (KFSI 11). Africas battle against financial secrecy: Financial Secrecy Index by Rachel Etter-Phoya Tax Justice Network, February 14, 2018 https://www.taxjustice.net/ - direct URL: http://tinyurl.com/yb7s2txa How are Switzerland, the United States, and the Caymans working against African efforts to stem the tide of illicit financial flows? Theyre among the worst offenders in the Tax Justice Networks 2018 Financial Secrecy Index. The index was launched at the end of January 2018 and weights a countrys secrecy score against its global share of financial services. This means that countries that top the rankings have a far higher risk for illicit financial flows running through their systems than countries that may have a higher level of secrecy, but have much smaller-scale financial services. 20 key indicators are used to assess secrecy levels, including banking and tax court secrecy, country-by-country reporting compliance, ownership disclosure rules, and tax administration capacity. The problem for Africa Africa remains a net creditor to the world because of illicit financial flows. These flows include money from criminal activity and corruption, tax evasion, avoidance and planning, as well as hidden wealth. So-called foreign aid is dwarfed by the amounts that are leaving the continent. Sub-Saharan African countries lost over USD 1 trillion in capital flight between the 1970s and 2010; external debt was less than one-fifth of this. Financial secrecy is the enabler. The Paradise Papers was a disturbing reminder of the scale of the problem. 13.4 million documents were leaked from Appleby, a leading British offshore law firm, and Asiaciti, a family-owned trust company, which were investigated by over 90 media partners with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. We learned that Namibians lost potential tax revenues from its fishery resources through a complex corporate arrangement that exploited a double tax treaty signed with Mauritius. Angolans sovereign wealth fund was tapped into by a financier who incorporated companies in secrecy jurisdictions for investment projects in which he had a stake. And mining giant Glencores nefarious practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Burkina Faso have also likely reduced the revenue these governments have to spend on vital public services. South Africa has also had its fair share of challenges with secrecy jurisdictions. The notorious Gupta family along with their politically-exposed associates have been able to hide behind opaque companies to gain questionable access to government contracts. For example, the family is reported to have used shell companies in the United Arab Emirates to move the dubious proceeds of state tenders in South Africa to their collection of shell companies in and around Dubai. The United Arab Emirates is ranked number nine in the Financial Secrecy Index 2018, with an ask-noquestions, see-no-evil approach to commercial transactions, financial regulation and crimes. African secrecy jurisdictions on the rise Financial secrecy has also reared its ugly head on the continent itself. Nine African countries are included in this years Financial Secrecy Index: Kenya found itself in the top 30 countries worldwide with a very high secrecy score (80 out of 100). This may not come as a surprise. The countrys Vision 2030 includes the establishment of the Nairobi International Financial Centre as one of its commitments. Legislation entered into force in September last year to encourage foreign direct investment to be channelled through the East African nation to other countries in the region. Kenya has adopted a model similar to the City of London (the UK having experienced the Finance Curse phenomenon as a result) and continues to increase its network of double tax agreements. Double tax agreements aim to prevent income being taxed twice. Yet a number of associated risks undermine the collection of tax. The treaties restrict the rights of states to tax foreign investors and owned companies and often do not include adequate automatic exchange of information provisions. Multinationals and sometimes domestic companies may set up an entity in an intermediary country, even when they have no substantive economic activities, to exploit tax treaties in place. This treaty shopping enables companies and individuals to pay lower taxes in conduit countries and avoid taxes all together in the countries where activities are taking place. However, with just 15 tax treaties in force, Kenya has some way to go if it is to compete with one of Africas oldest secrecy jurisdictions, Mauritius. In a bid to reduce its reliance on sugar back in the 1970s, this island nation started offering preferential tax terms and exemptions to foreign investors, and similar ones exist today. The country has entered double tax agreements with 43 nations, 16 of which are with African states. Zero-percent capital gains tax has lured many companies to set up shop  with no genuine economic activity  on the island, significantly reducing their tax burden at the expense of other countries, often not paying capital gains tax anywhere. South Africa and India have successfully renegotiated their agreements with Mauritius to be able to collect capital gains and withholding tax. Other African nations, including Lesotho and Zambia, are following suit and renegotiating treaties. Ghana toyed with setting up an International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) and went as far as granting Barclays Bank Ghana Limited an offshore banking licence in the early 2000s although President John Atta Mills revoked the licence in 2011 to avoid OECD blacklisting. Worringly, it appears the country has plans to revive the IFSC. Much more can be said about secrecy on the continent. We have prepared narrative reports for eight of the nine African countries included in the Index. Take a look here. Our partner Tax Justice Network Africa also has a blog series on financial secrecy. Part 1 is available here. Global solutions Some changes have been made to the global infrastructure to tackle secrecy since TJN launched the first Index in 2009. For example, the OECD is mandated by the G20 to roll out the automatic exchange of information on taxation, but coverage is patchy and some countries, particularly African ones, are missing from the arrangement. Reform is needed now. Besides individual countries addressing laws and regulations to improve transparency, TJN has identified three major policy responses considering the latest Financial Secrecy Index: Take counter-measures against tax haven USA: the USA ranks second in the Index this year because it has not improved transparency while other countries have acted. The global scale of its financial services has also increased. The USA needs to make it illegal to establish anonymous companies within its borders and it must comply with the standard for automatic exchange of tax information. We have a policy proposal for how to incentive the USA, here. Adopt the Tax Justice Networks ABCs of tax transparency: all countries must be included in the Automatic exchange of information and aggregate statistics published, all entities must disclose their Beneficial owners and data should be online, free and in open data format for companies, trusts and foundations, and all multinational companies must comply with public Country-by-country reporting. Introduce a UN global convention on tax transparency: ambitious standards should be set, with the ABCs of tax transparency at a minimum, through a global, inclusive process that outlines meaningful sanctions for non-cooperation. AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please write to this address to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the original source mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see http://www.africafocus.orgGet AfricaFocus Bulletin by e-mail! Format for print or mobile Africa/Global: Charting Where They Hide the Money, 2 AfricaFocus Bulletin

March 12, 2018 (180312)

(Reposted from sources cited below) Editor's Note "Overall, the City of London and [its] offshore satellites constitute by far the most important part of the global offshore world of secrecy jurisdictions. Had we lumped them together, the British network would be at the top of our index, above Switzerland." - Tax Justice Network The Financial Secrecy Index (FSI) for 2018, released by the Tax Justice Network on January 31, is far more than a simple index. It is an in-depth survey as well as ranking of the countries most deeply involved in concealing wealth through offshore financial services. Based on a quantitative measure of the share of such cross-border financial services based in each country, and an in-depth qualitative evaluation of national laws and regulations affecting transparency and secrecy, the FSI provides the indispensable context for investigative journalism exposes of specific cases and advocacy by civil society groups at both national and international levels. In striking contrast to Transparency International "Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) (https://www.transparency.org/), which rates countries on the basis of observers' perceptions of the extent of corruption, the FSI focuses on the mechanisms which permit the fruits of corruption and other hidden assets to be concealed. Ironically, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands are ranked as among the least corrupt on the CPI, but they also lead on the FSI as the best places to hide the fruits of corruption, tax evasion, and other crimes. The system that allows this to happen is in fact global, and its distribution by country, by intention, is hard to track. This two-part AfricaFocus contains substantive excerpts from the Financial Secrecy Index reports. The first part (sent out by email and available on-line at http://www.africafocus.org/docs18/fsi1803a.php) excerpts overview analyses from the authors covering the global picture and the African continent. This second part, below, provides excerpts from country reports on the United Kingdom, the United States, Kenya, Liberia, South Africa, and Mauritius. Much more extensive data in narrative, database, and graphic formats, is available at http://www.financialsecrecyindex.com For previous AfricaFocus Bulletins on illicit financial flows, tax evasion, and related topics, visit http://www.africafocus.org/intro-iff.php ++++++++++++++++++++++end editor's note+++++++++++++++++ Financial Secrecy Index 2018 Introduction https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/ The Financial Secrecy Index ranks jurisdictions according to their secrecy and the scale of their offshore financial activities. A politically neutral ranking, it is a tool for understanding global financial secrecy, tax havens or secrecy jurisdictions, and illicit financial flows or capital flight. An estimated $21 to $32 trillion of private financial wealth is located, untaxed or lightly taxed, in secrecy jurisdictions around the world. Secrecy jurisdictions - a term we often use as an alternative to the more widely used term tax havens - use secrecy to attract illicit and illegitimate or abusive financial flows. Illicit cross-border financial flows have been estimated at $1-1.6 trillion per year: dwarfing the US$135 billion or so in global foreign aid. Since the 1970s African countries alone have lost over $1 trillion in capital flight, while combined external debts are less than $200 billion. So Africa is a major net creditor to the world - but its assets are in the hands of a wealthy elite, protected by offshore secrecy; while the debts are shouldered by broad African populations. Yet all rich countries suffer too. For example, European countries like Greece, Italy and Portugal have been brought to their knees partly by decades of tax evasion and state looting via offshore secrecy. A global industry has developed involving the world's biggest banks, law practices, accounting firms and specialist providers who design and market secretive offshore structures for their tax- and law-dodging clients. 'Competition' between jurisdictions to provide secrecy facilities has, particularly since the era of financial globalisation really took off in the 1980s, become a central feature of global financial markets. The problems go far beyond tax. In providing secrecy, the offshore world corrupts and distorts markets and investments, shaping them in ways that have nothing to do with efficiency. The secrecy world creates a criminogenic hothouse for multiple evils including fraud, tax cheating, escape from financial regulations, embezzlement, insider dealing, bribery, money laundering, and plenty more. It provides multiple ways for insiders to extract wealth at the expense of societies, creating political impunity and undermining the healthy 'no taxation without representation' bargain that has underpinned the growth of accountable modern nation states. Many poorer countries, deprived of tax and haemorrhaging capital into secrecy jurisdictions, rely on foreign aid handouts. This hurts citizens of rich and poor countries alike. United Kingdom Full report at: https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/UnitedKingdom.pdf The United Kingdom is ranked 23rd on the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index, based on a low secrecy score of 42 and a very large scale weighting, accounting for 17 percent of the global market in offshore financial services. Introduction and overview The United Kingdoms relatively low ranking on the secrecy index hides a much bigger story. We regard the UK as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, single player in the global offshore system of tax havens (or secrecy jurisdictions) today. There are two reasons for the discrepancy between its ranking and its importance. The first is that the City of London, or the City, a term used to describe the UK financial services industry centred on London, is on some measures the worlds largest financial centre. As this report explains, this is built substantially on offshore characteristics  though these characteristics in the UKs own case arent particularly predicated on financial secrecy but on other offshore offerings, particularly lax financial regulation. The second is that the UK is intricately connected to a large network of British secrecy jurisdictions around the world, notably the three Crown Dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man) and the 14 Overseas Territories, which include such offshore giants as Cayman, the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. Though these jurisdictions have a measure of independence on internal political matters, Britain supports and controls them: the Queen appoints many of their top officials, and her head is on their stamps and banknotes. Illustrating the fact that these links are above all financial, Jersey Finance, the official marketing arm of the Jersey offshore financial centre, states that: Jersey represents an extension of the City of London. Overall, the City of London and these offshore satellites constitute by far the most important part of the global offshore world of secrecy jurisdictions. Had we lumped them together, the British network would be at the top of our index, above Switzerland. (In fact, the British network is even bigger than this official network, and includes 54 Commonwealth countries, many of whose final court of appeal is at the Privy Council in London.) The UKs status as both a key financial centre and a key player in a global web of secrecy that extends to other jurisdictions, results in the creation of an interconnected criminogenic environment both at home and abroad. The Panama Papers and Paradise Papers have shone an increasingly strong light on the antisocial and crime-fuelling activities of the Overseas Territories, while the dirty money continues to swill at home. The UK is the second biggest centre for wealth management after Switzerland, and at the same time its own National Crime agency acknowledges that hundreds of billions of pounds of international criminal money are laundered through its banks every year. United States Full report at: https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/USA.pdf Introduction and Background The United States is ranked second in the 2018 Financial Secrecy Index. This is based on a secrecy score of 59.8, which is practically unchanged from 2015, although the criteria have been made more demanding. The rise of the US continues a long term trend, as the country was one of the few to increase their secrecy score in the 2015 index. The con- tinues rise of the US in the 2018 index comes off the back of a signifi- cant change in the US share of the global market for offshore financial services. Between 2015 and 2018 the US increased its market share in offshore financial services by 14%. In total the US accounts for 22.3% of the global market in offshore financial services. The U.S. provides a wide array of secrecy and tax-free facilities for non-residents, both at a Federal level and at the level of individual states. Many of the main Federal-level facilities were originally crafted with official tolerance or approval, in some cases to help with the U.S. balance of payments difficulties during the Vietnam War; however some facilities  such as tolerance by states like Delaware or Nevada of highly secretive anonymous shell companies  are more the fruit of a race to the bottom between individual states on standards of disclosure and transparency. This building in Delaware is home to over 6,500 corporations, and more than 200,000 businesses hold addresses at the location. While the United States has pioneered powerful ways to defend itself against foreign tax havens, it has not seriously addressed its own role in attracting illicit financial flows and supporting tax evasion. It is currently a jurisdiction of extreme concern for global transparency initiatives: instead of agreeing to join and comply with the emerging glo- bal standard of multilateral information exchange, the OECD Common Reporting Standards (CRS), it has stuck with its own FATCA model (see below), which does not appear to mesh with the CRS despite technical similarities. Washingtons independent-minded approach risks tearing a giant hole in international efforts to crack down on tax evasion, money laundering and financial crime. The U.S. has the largest share of the global market for offshore financial services; its main rival is the City of London. However, unlike the City, which built its strength on overseas empire and has historically been an outward-focused (hence heavily offshore) financial centre, the financial markets of the United States were always rather more domestically focused, and the influence of the US financial industry is diluted in a relatively much larger economy. Financial secrecy provided by the U.S. has caused untold harm to the ordinary citizens of foreign countries, whose elites have used the United States as a bolthole for looted wealth. Kenya Full report at: https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/Kenya.pdf Kenya: Africas newest international financial centre Kenyas financial sector is highly secretive. The country scored 80 out of 100 in terms of secrecy, which explains its high ranking of 27 in the Financial Secrecy Index of 2018. Though the countrys share of the offshore world is not large, this may be set to increase as the government positions Nairobi as the latest African International Financial Centre. Kenya lies on the east coast of Africa with a population of 48.46 million as of 2016. In 2016, Kenya was identified as one of the fastest growing economies in Sub-Saharan Africa with GDP per capita over 1445 US$ and GDP growth improving by 6% in 2016, up from 5.6% in 2015, driven by construction, manufacturing, finance and insurance, rebound in the tourism industry, strong remittance inflows, information and communication technology, and wholesale and retail trade. Kenya also takes the lead in East Africa on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) with a majority of inflows being attributed to extractives and infrastructure projects. The key economic goal set out in Kenyas Vision 2030 is to sustain high levels of economic growth. However, key development challenges remain, including inequality, healthcare, education and climate change. According to a study done by Oxfam Kenya, less than 0.1% of the population own more wealth than the bottom 99.9%. The rising inequality in Kenya cannot be ignored. In the recently published Paradise Papers, a former minister was identified as having London based assets owned through a Mauritius based company. ... Introducing the Nairobi International Financial Centre In an effort to achieve a well-functioning financial system in order to accelerate economic growth by encouraging FDI, safeguarding the economy from external shocks, and establishing Kenya as a leading financial centre in Eastern and Southern Africa, 8 the Government of Kenya included the Nairobi International Financial Centre as one of the commitments for Vision 2030. As a result, in September 2017, the Nairobi International Financial Centre (NIFC) Act, No. 25 of 2017, entered into force to provide a legal framework for the development of the NIFC and the NIFC Authority. According to the National Treasury, 9 the purpose of the NIFC is to establish a stable, efficient and globally competitive financial services sector in Kenya with the ultimate objective of encouraging domestic and foreign investment, generating saving opportunities and contributing to overall economic growth. ... The Lord Mayor of the City of London Corporation and one of the City Corporations main lobbying bodies, the City UK, have strongly influenced and participated in the design and implementation of the NIFC. Liberia Full report at: https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/Liberia.pdf Liberia: Americas outpost of financial secrecy Liberias secrecy jurisdiction is an example of where state sovereignty has been outsourced, almost wholesale to foreign interests. In setting up the registry, the Liberian government have effectively privatised a key function of the state and even it appears some parts of Liberian law itself. The result is that Liberia permits the establishment of some of the most powerful secrecy instruments in the world, which is reflected in its secrecy score of 80. Although Liberias reputation as a secrecy jurisdiction has threatened to cause substantial damage to the reputation of country abroad, very little is known about Liberias tax haven role in the country itself. Its offshore corporate registry is located and managed in the United States. The History of the Liberian Secrecy Jurisdiction The Liberian corporate registry was developed alongside the Liberian Shipping Registry. The story goes that the US Secretary of State, Edward Stettinius visited Liberia on his way back from the Yalta Peace Conference following world war two, and saw the potential of the country. In 1947 he formed Stettinius Associates and set up a number of development projects in the country, the shipping registry being one of them. The US had an interest in the establishment of a shipping registry in a neutral country, which would allow world trade to carry on unhindered in times of war. With the help of lawyers from Esso and the State Department, Stettinius Associates drafted Liberias first maritime law. To reassure potential clients it was written into the law that the registry must be located in the United States, and managed by a US citizen. Throughout the history of the registry, the company operating the Liberian registry has been staffed by retired US generals and former employees of the US coast guard, After its foundation in 1948 Liberias shipping registry grew quickly. In 1949 the country had just five ships registered under a Liberian flag. By 1955 it had overtaken Panama, the then leading flag of convenience in terms of tonnage registered. By 1965 it had surpassed the United Kingdom, the historic leading nation in terms of shipping. The popularity of the Liberian registry was driven by its status as a flag of convenience, which is a kind of tax haven for ships. A flag of convenience is when a ship owner will register their vessel in a country other than their home country in order to take advantage of favourable tax rates or other regulations. Flags of convenience have been controversial for as long as they have existed, particularly due to their impact on labour standards. Alongside the shipping register developed the Liberian Corporate Registry. The Corporate registry allowed ship owners to set up a Liberian company to own their ships. This in turn allowed ship owners to avoid corporation tax on the profits generated from their shipping activities and to keep the ownership of the vessels secret. Since 2000 the contract to operate the Liberian registry has been owned by LISCR, the Liberian International Shipping and Corporate Registry, based in Vienna, Virginia, a suburb of Washington D.C. in the USA. LISCR is itself registered in the tax haven of Delaware, United States. South Africa Full report at: https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/SouthAfrica.pdf Overview South Africas secrecy score of 56.10 is the lowest secrecy score of the nine African jurisdictions included in the Financial Secrecy Index 2018. Yet its global significance is the greatest of any of the African countries, reflecting the relative size of South Africas economy. Secrecy undermines South Africas own tax base. The countrys elite, and South African and foreign multinational companies within its borders exploit weaknesses in legislation and use other secrecy jurisdictions to reduce their tax obligations in a country with deep inequality. The entanglement of business and state interests and the use of secrecy jurisdictions dates to Apartheid-era sanctions busting in which many countries were complicit. The ensnaring of the state by business interests did not stop with the end of the Apartheid regime. In fact, the recent Gupta Leaks reveal the extent of what is described by some South Africans, including former Public Protector Thuli Madonsela, as state capture. Capital flight from South Africa and by South African companies South African finance ministers have not shied away from calling out the problem of capital flight. In the 2016 Budget Speech, then Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said, We will continue to act aggressively against the evasion of tax through transfer pricing abuses, misuse of tax treaties and illegal money flows. Drawing on the work of the OECD, the G20 joint project on base erosion and profit shifting and independent bodies such as the Tax Justice Network, further measures will be taken to address such revenue losses, including inappropriate use of hybrid debt instruments. The South African Revenue Service has indicated that the country is at very high risk of illicit financial flows, and particularly transfer pricing, and that some of the largest companies listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, including SAB Miller and Anglo American, have been implicated in tax avoidance stories relating to other countries. According to South African civil society group African Monitor the countrys legal and regulatory framework for anti-money laundering from criminal activity and counter-terrorist financing is robust, but there is little focus on other forms of illicit financial flows, especially those perpetrated by the multinationals. ... South African companies which have an increasing footprint across sub-Saharan Africa are also complicit in draining the coffers of other African nations. Telecoms giant MTN  the largest cell phone company on the continent in terms of subscribers  has shifted billions of Rand, for example, from its subsidiaries in Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda through Mauritius. These countries have responded by freezing payments and Uganda has notified the company of outstanding taxes owed. Mauritius Full report at: https://www.financialsecrecyindex.com/PDF/Mauritius.pdf Overview The islands of the Republic of Mauritius lie just 2,000 kilometres off the southeast coast of Africa. Financial secrecy casts a long shadow over the idyllic sandy beaches. In entering double taxation agreements with 43 nations, 16 of which are African states, Mauritius enables companies and individuals to reduce their tax bill across the world. India and many African nations suffer as a result. Mauritius secrecy score of 72.35 in the Financial Secrecy Index 2018 reflects the nations ongoing contribution to illicit financial flows from some of the countries that require the public finances the most. Positioned as the gateway to Africa, 2 Mauritius is in the process of ratifying, signing, or negotiating double taxation agreements with a further 14 African countries. Of its 11 Tax Information Exchange Agreements, none are signed with African jurisdictions. The Mauritian miracle: from sugar to secrecy At independence from the British in 1968, Mauritius was a mono-crop sugar economy. Today, financial intermediation rather than the primary commodity sector is a key driver of the economy. In 2017, financial and insurance activities contributed 12.3% to GDP and this has been growing at over 5% per annum since 2015. In contrast, the sugar sector continues to contract. To encourage export-led industrialisation and economic diversification, export processing zones were set up in Mauritius in the 1970s with concessions to foreign investors. Duty exemptions on imported raw materials and free repatriation of capital, profits and dividends lured in investors and similar terms persist today. The 1988 Banking Act laid the foundation for Mauritius offshore industry, while the 1992 Mauritian Offshore Business Activities Act established the country as an international financial centre. Over 20,000 global business companies were registered in Mauritius in 2017, managed by the Financial Services Commission. Even 30 of the 100 largest US incorporated companies have entities present in Mauritius. Global business companies may be registered in Mauritius, but they conduct most business outside the island. Just over half of these (category 1) are resident for tax in Mauritius so can access tax treaties the country has signed. The island state levies a general corporate tax rate of 15%, no capital gains tax and no withholding tax on interest and royalties for global business companies. A series of tax incentives are also given, including an 8-year tax holiday for companies with a global headquarters administration licence. The package is sweetened further by the absence of foreign exchange controls, thin capitalisation rules, and controlled foreign company legislation. ... Missing public money Recent revelations in the Paradise Papers 16 build on other tales of the role Mauritius plays in the offshore secrecy world. More than half a million of the 13.4 million secret records from offshore law firm Appleby that were investigated by over 90 media partners spearheaded came from Applebys Mauritius office. Many, many stories emerged of the way companies and individuals use the network of tax treaties and low tax regime in Mauritius to reduce their tax bill. AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at africafocus@igc.org. Please write to this address to suggest material for inclusion. For more information about reposted material, please contact directly the original source mentioned. For a full archive and other resources, see http://www.africafocus.orgThe campaign to prevent wildlife trafficking from Africa saw two training workshops held in Mozambique and Kenya, with further workshops planned throughout the continent.

The USAID Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) partnership delivered a training workshop in Nairobi for airline staff on the key role they play in preventing the trafficking of wildlife.

The training is designed help detect and stop smugglers carrying ivory, rhino horn, and other wildlife products out of Kenya.

According to a ROUTES report analysing wildlife trafficking in the air transport sector, Kenya serves as a significant transit point for poachers and traffickers supplying wildlife products to Asia.

Kenyas first lady, Margaret Kenyatta, attended the morning sessions, alongside Robert Godec, the US Ambassador to Kenya.

Said Godec: Wildlife trafficking is one of the most prominent transnational organised crimes in the world, ranking along with drug, human, and arms trafficking in annual value.

Wildlife traffickers exploit global transportation, threaten human health and security, and are driving some species to extinction.

Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) is the busiest airport in East and Central Africa and is a target for wildlife trafficking, particularly ivory trade, according to ROUTES. It added that the Kenyan authorities are proactive in addressing wildlife smuggling at JKIA, often seizing illegal products at the airport.

Wildlife trafficking is a transportation-intensive activity and smugglers carrying illegal wildlife and wildlife products need to interact with airport and airline staff at multiple points during the journey, said Michelle Owen, ROUTES Lead.

She added: Increasing the ability of staff to identify and report suspicious activities linked to wildlife trafficking is crucial for stopping traffickers that abuse the transport sector.

The training in Nairobi was part of a series of training workshops that ROUTES will conduct for airport and airline staff this year at key wildlife trafficking hubs across Africa and Asia. ROUTES will hold training sessions in Uganda, Malawi, Ethiopia, and Malaysia.

ROUTES also delivered a training workshop in Maputo for cabin crew, ground handlers, cargo processors, and other regional airport staff who learned how to detect and stop smugglers carrying ivory, rhino horn, and other wildlife products out of Mozambique.

According to ROUTES, Mozambique serves as a hotspot for poachers and traffickers supplying wildlife products to Asia, particularly ivory and rhino horn.

As the elephant population in Mozambique continues to suffer huge losses to poachers, many in the transportation sector are recognizing the need to take action.

Airline staff spend more time with passengers, their baggage, and cargo shipments than customs officers, says Jon Godson, IATAs Assistant Director, Aviation Environment.

They can provide a key source of intelligence for the enforcement agencies.

Share this story



Bob Gathany/bgathany@al.com

ST. PATRICK'S DAY PARADE

Expect a green scene and a few "Whiskey in the Jar" airings at the 41st Annual Ellen McAnelly St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Ellen McAnelly St. Patrick's Day Parade, starts 11:30 a.m. March 17, downtown Huntsville, free to attend, parade route map available at huntsvillestpatricksday.com/route.php

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'ALABAMA GHOST MUSIC'

"Death of the Buffalo Girl." "The Full Moon Waltz." "The Witching Hour Blues." Just a few of the song titles from Pine Hill Haints' latest album, 2017's "Smoke." The long-running Florence band kicks up a compelling mix of country, punk, rockabilly and gospel. They like to call it "Alabama ghost music." For the Haints' St. Patty's day show at Straight to Ale, that Huntsville brewery's Ale's Kitchen will be serving Irish-themed menu items. Specialty cocktails from in-house distillery Shelta Cavern Spirits will also be available.

Pine Hill Haints, 8 p.m. March 17, Straight to Ale, 2610 Clinton Ave. N.W., free to attend, thepinehillhaints.com, straighttoale.com

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NEW ORLEANS JAZZ

Classic, New Orleans music delivered with some heat on it, by one of the Crescent City's signature ensembles, Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Presented by Huntsville Symphony Orchestra.

Preservation Hall Jazz Band, 7:30 p.m. March 17, Von Braun Center Mark C. Smith Concert Hall, 700 Monroe St., $41 - $71 (plus applicable fees), tickets via hso.org, 256-539-4818 and HSO office at VBC

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STINE & DINE RETURN

Space is the place for - bratwurst? Yep, the Rocket Center's popular Stine & Dine Biergarten, boasting authentic German cuisine and beers - a tribute to Huntsville's German aerospace roots - returns for another season. The weekly, dog-friendly events are held on the museum's Apollo Terrace and in the Apollo Courtyard.

Stine & Dine Biergarten, 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Oct. 25, U.S. Space & Rocket Center, 1 Tranquility Base, free to attend, food and beverage prices vary, rocketcenter.com

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Joe Songer/jsonger@al.com

SPRING HIKE SERIES

It isn't easy (2.8 miles) or short (three hours). But with highlights including Raven Point's waterfall, Dallas Branch's drainage basin and Bankhead Trail's shallow sea fossils, this guided hike of Monte Sano Nature Preserve's newest trailhead at Oak Park sounds awesome. Part of the North Alabama Land Trust's 2018 Spring Guided Hike Series. Participants are encouraged to bring: long pants; comfortable shoes with good tread; bottled water; hiking sticks; trail snacks; and a camera. Dogs are welcome, but must be on leads/leashes. In case of rain, hikes are cancelled.

Oak Park Hike, 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. March 17, Oak Park Trailhead, 2250 Oakwood Ave. N.E., free to attend but reservations required (256-534-5263, questions@landtrustnal.org), landtrustnal.org/hikes-adventures

Don't EditThere's a chance a few snow flurries will fall on part of Alabama tonight.

The National Weather Service in Huntsville said that areas north of the Tennessee River could see a brief rain-snow mix late tonight or early Monday after a cold front moves through the region.

A blast of colder air will follow the front, and it may be enough to change any leftover rain to snow or ice pellets for a brief time. No accumulations are expected.

Most areas in north Alabama will likely stay above freezing, the weather service said.

The snow may not hang around but the cold temperatures will.

The weather service said freezing temperatures will be possible on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings in north Alabama.Travis Cox got a call last week from the music director at Morton's Chapel Church, where he and his wife are part of a small congregation.

"He said, 'I think we might have a hot piano in our church," Cox recalled. The music director read news stories to him of how Margaret Webster consigned her piano for sale to Oden Music in Gadsden, and had not been able to get the piano back or any money from it.

Gadsden Police have received several unrelated reports of theft and fraud from people who said they entrusted pianos to Oden Music for repairs that were never done or that the money from items consigned to be sold was nowhere to be found, among other claims.

Webster was resigned to the loss of the any money from it, but she was sad at the loss of the piano -- used by her mother, the late Peggy Crabtree, to teach piano lessons, after Crabtree inherited it from her mother.

While the claims of stolen property and fraud at Oden Music continue to surface and the ensuing investigation is verse after verse accusing people of doing wrong, Cox and the members of Morton's Chapel did what's right.

Cox called Det. Rick Jones at the Gadsden Police Department and told him he believed the piano the church bought about a year ago was the one Webster described. Jones confirmed the serial number; Webster's piano was found.

"I thought by his actions, something was different," Cox said. He expected the detective to make arrangements to come get the piano. "But he said he'd talked to Ms. Webster. He said, 'She's going to give you the piano.'"

Cox was astounded. Sunday morning, he relayed the entire saga to the church members -- to a small church family that had shelled out $10,000 for a piano they now expected to lose.

And he told them Webster wanted them to keep the piano.

"The tears were flowing," Cox said, and people were amazed at her generosity.

For Webster, it was the only thing to do. "They bought the piano in good faith," she said. "They were taken advantage of."

Webster wanted only to come see her grandmother's piano one more time, and for the church to help police in their investigation.

That glad reunion day came on Feb. 28 as Webster made her way from Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and her daughter Kaley came from Georgia, to visit Morton's Chapel on U.S. Highway 278 in west Etowah County.

It was an emotional time for her, as she walked into the church and made her way behind the altar to where the baby grand sat. It was even moreso when she saw a pair of reading glasses sitting beside the keys, waiting to be worn.

"Just like my mother's," Webster said.

Cox told her he'd only found one small flaw in the piano -- a scuff mark on its top.

"We know what that's from," Webster said to her daughter. Her mother always kept an angel statue on the piano, and its base left its mark.

"It's obviously where it's meant to be," she said of the piano.

Webster said her mother was active in the First Methodist Church in Gadsden, and her grandmother sang in the Episcopal church.

"It's right for their piano to be in a church," she said.

Webster suggested there might have been some intervention from above that led the piano to this place, and led her to find it.

"I've chased this piano for two years," she said. "I lost sleep, I wondered how to accept that I'd never find it.

"If these weren't good, strong, Christian people, they wouldn't have called the detective," Webster said. She said she hopes their example will inspire other people to step up when they see injustice.

Webster stepped up in another way: She hired Jason Vise of Huntsville to come tune the piano for the church.

Cox protested, telling her they could pay to have that done, but Webster said she wanted to do it.

"I wanted it to be right for them," she said.

Cox said the church went to Oden Music because they believed it to be a reputable company. He said he grew up in Gadsden and the business then had an "impeccable reputation." He said his wife sat at the church from midday till dark the day the piano was to be delivered, and was told repeatedly there had been an emergency, that it would get there soon. "I came to sit with her when it got dark," he said, but eventually they gave up. "We left a note on the door to call us if he showed up."

They got a call about 2:30 a.m., he said, and came to open the church door.

Cox said when the church bought the piano that it also bought an $800 adjustable piano bench -- something they've yet to see. They wanted to trade in the church's old piano to go toward the purchase; it was taken to Oden Music, he said, and they got a call telling them "it wasn't worth anything." They never got it back.

When he believed they'd lose the piano they bought, the congregation was looking at some a cappella services.

The whole experience "jerked us into reality," Cox said.

"It's just been blessing after blessing for us," he said, because of Webster's kindness.

Cox said he told Webster they would try to get the money back, and if they did it would be hers. He said she didn't seem to want that either.

"It was just another blessing," Cox said.U.S. travel advisories for Playa del Carmen - a popular Mexico tourist destination between Cozumel and Cancun - have been revised, the State Department announced.

The revised restriction prohibits federal employees from traveling to Centro, Calica, Gonzalo Guerrero, Quintas del Carmen, and Villas del Carmen neighborhoods of Playa del Carmen. U.S. citizens are also advised to avoid these neighborhoods.

The previous restriction prohibited U.S. government employees from traveling to the resort areas in the Riviera Maya, including hotels, shops, restaurants and bars near Playa del Carmen. Those areas are now approved for travel, if they fall outside of the restricted neighborhoods.

Government employees are still prohibited from using ferry services between Playa del Carmen and Cozumel. U.S. citizens are advised to not use the ferries as well in the wake of two explosive devices discovered on vessels used by tourists. One of the bombs exploded, injuring five U.S. citizens.

The explosions prompted cruise lines to cancel excursions using the ferries.

The explosions remain under investigation.

According to the State Department, the ferry issue is separate from the neighborhood restrictions, which it said were due to "unspecified threats." The threats prompted the temporary closure of the consular agency at Playa del Carmen; the office is set to reopen with additional security Monday.

The State Department recommends travelers in the area:It appears that you are currently using Ad Blocking software. Please consider turning it off to support us.Corruption is tough, man. Put your paw in the cookie jar and you might get it smacked.

Not always, though. It depends on who you are. And when.

Former Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford stuck his hand in and pulled back a nub. He's been in prison since 2010 -- much of it in the hospital -- and he's not scheduled to see sun until May of 2023. If he lasts that long.

Gary White, a former Jefferson County commissioner, took cash in an envelope from a sewer contractor - a bad look when the sewer system goes belly up and citizens are left with a $4 billion bill. He went inside in 2010, too. He's now at the federal prison camp in Montgomery, scheduled for release in August 2019.

They're the last two locked up from the sewer scam that took down six county employees, 14 contractors, two financiers and four county commissioners. Jack Swann, former head of the sewer department, got out last month.

He'd been in since 2010, too. Which was a landmark year for Alabama corruption.

We thought it was an end to the Golden Age of Gimme. Alabama's two-year-college scandal - 17 people went down in that one -- was wrapping up, and most of its bad actors were taking lumps.

The last of those -- Bill Langston Sr. and James Winston Hayes - will get out of prison in the next few weeks.

Larry Langford and Gary White, top, and Mike Hubbard, bottom.

2010 was supposed to be a lesson to Alabama. The Era of the Great Taking was over, and the Alabama Legislature took bold action to strengthen the ethics law so it would never happen again.

"We wanted the people of Alabama to know that there were new sheriffs in town, and things were different," then-Speaker of the House Mike Hubbard said afterward. "People were skeptical, but we delivered on every one of our promises."

Haha. Ha.

Turned out Hubbard had his hand out so far he broke it on that cookie jar. And he broke a dozen of the ethics laws he bragged about, too. He was sentenced - 610 days ago and counting - to four years in prison.

But he hasn't seen the inside of a cell.

He remains out on appeal. Still. Many in Montgomery believe the Court of Criminal Appeals is waiting to rule until after the primary election. There's no way to prove that, but if politics has any influence in the ruling it's as disgusting as Hubbard himself.

Not that other politicians haven't done the same thing with ethics. Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh and Attorney General Steve Marshall agreed to punt new ethics reforms until next year because nobody wants to take it up before elections.

If they stick with the law they tick off business interests who hate the idea that, as principals, they can be held to account under the 2010 law. If they weaken the law before election they'll be seen as lily-livered toadies. Which is apt.

2010 changed a lot. It put Langford and White and a bunch more in jail, and put the current crop of politicians in power. Mostly, though, it was just talk.

I remember when two Republican leaders vowed in early 2011 never to roll back the new ethics laws, no matter who complained.

"Anytime you fundamentally change the status quo, as these new ethics laws have done with the culture in Montgomery, you will have some who are uncomfortable," said one.

That was Del Marsh.

"We simply cannot and will not go backward," said another.

That was Mike Hubbard.

Corruption is tough, man. Depending on who you are. And when.

John Archibald's column appears in The Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times, the Mobile Register and AL.com. Write him at jarchibald@al.com.When state Rep. Oliver Robinson used the mantle of his office to fight an environmental cleanup effort in north Birmingham, he did so because he was paid.

He spoke out in public meetings. He copied and pasted letters written for him by alleged co-conspirators onto his official letterhead. He encouraged people who lived in those polluted neighborhoods to not get their soil tested for toxic substances.

Again, he did all this because he was getting paid. He said so in his plea deal with federal prosecutors.

But when those same folks -- the ones accused of paying Robinson -- needed help from then-Sen. Jeff Sessions and then-Alabama Attorney General Luther Strange, they got their help for free.

At least if you don't count the campaign donations.

Sessions fought EPA cleanup

Not long after Sessions became United States Attorney General, he recused himself from the the Justice Department's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. In an interview with Tucker Carlson, he defended his decision this way:

"Recusal is not an admission of any wrongdoing," Sessions said. "It's simply ... whether or not you can be perceived as fairly deciding a case or evaluating a case."

Most impartial spectators, if not the president, agreed Sessions' decision to step away from that investigation was a sound one.

But if Sessions had good reason, even if for appearances only, to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, he has a long list of reason to step away from the Robinson case, and yet he hasn't, even when pressed on it by one of his former colleagues, Sen. Patrick Leahy.

First, his Senate office has been a recruiting ground for the law firm at the center of the Robinson corruption scandal, Balch & Bingham, and Balch partners have represented Sessions personally, including in his confirmation hearings last year.

Second, the firm was Sessions' second largest campaign contributor.

Third, Drummond Co. -- whose vice president, David Roberson, is now under indictment for bribing Robinson -- was Sessions' third largest campaign contributor.

But this week, an investigation by the Project on Government Oversight and Mother Jones revealed just how deeply involved Sessions and his Senate office were in fighting the EPA's cleanup efforts in north Birmingham.

According to records obtained by POGO, Sessions and his staff coordinated with other lawmakers and put intense pressure on the EPA in 2016 to prevent the site from being added to the National Priorities List.

That NPL designation could have left polluters in north Birmingham, including Drummond Co., on the hook for cleanup costs.

Full circle

Preventing the NPL designation is why, according to federal prosecutors, Roberson and two lawyers from Balch & Bingham, Joel Gilbert and Steve McKinney, conspired to bribe Robinson to fight the EPA.

Sessions' efforts to thwart the EPA and the alleged scheme to bribe Robinson were effectively working toward the same goal.

Shortly after accepting an appointment to be the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, Jay Town said he believed Gilbert, McKinney and Roberson acted alone in the alleged corruption scheme with Robinson. Their employers, Drummond Co. and Balch & Bingham, were not accused of any crimes, and the investigation essentially ended there.

Town's boss is Sessions.

Strange bedfellows

Sessions wasn't the only public official resisting the NPL designation. The Alabama Attorney General's office has been pushing back, too, all while communicating and coordinating about it with Balch lawyers, according to emails obtained by AL.com through a public information request.

On Oct. 23, 2014, Strange sent a formal letter to the EPA, calling the NPL listing "premature" and "futile." It has been pointed out before, this letter followed less than a week after Drummond Co. contributed $25,000 to Strange's reelection campaign, and Drummond was Strange's third largest donor in that election cycle.

What hasn't been evident before was how closely Strange's office and the Balch lawyers Gilbert and McKinney were working together.

When Strange's administrative assistant emailed the letter to the EPA, she blind carbon copied three lawyers in the Alabama Attorney General's office -- and Gilbert at Balch.

Essentially, Strange's office was letting Gilbert read their correspondence with the EPA without the EPA knowing Gilbert could see it.

And the Attorney General's office's coordination with Gilbert didn't stop there. Additional emails show that Robert Tambling, the chief of the environmental section, followed up on Nov. 4, 2014, after the EPA apparently failed to respond to Strange's first letter.

Tambling immediately forwarded a copy of his email to the EPA to Gilbert at Balch, writing to him, "Joel, Hope this helps. RT"

A few minutes later, Gilbert wrote back, "Can't hurt ... Thanks."

Where are the good guys?

At the heart of Robinson's crimes was his betrayal of his constituents, but the reality is, Robinson's old Alabama House district was mostly adjacent to the affected area. He shared few actual constituents in the Superfund site or a proposed expansion of the site.

However, two former Alabama elected officials can't say the same.

As a senator, Sessions' district was the entire state. Likewise, as Alabama Attorney General, Luther Strange was supposed to look after the interests of every Alabamian.

But when those folks in Tarrant, Inglenook, Collegeville needed someone to look out for their interests, who was there to represent them?

It wasn't Jeff Sessions.

Nor was it Luther Strange.

Kyle Whitmire is the state political columnist for the Alabama Media Group.

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The Cherokee of Arkansas and Missouri Tribe District 9 meeting will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 17, in The Library Center, 4653 S. Campbell Ave., Springfield.All the District 10 elected Posted 3/11/18

The Missouri Department of Public Safety recently announced it is accepting nominations through March 31 for five awards honoring Missouri first responders and a sixth award honoring civilians who Actress says if practice was prevalent, every star child would have gone on to become a superstar in the film industry.

Kareena Kapoor Khan and Ranveer Singh are yet to work together in a film.

Mumbai: Kareena Kapoor on Saturday said she does not believe that nepotism existed, and that if the practice was prevalent, every star child would have gone on to become a superstar in the film industry.

The actor cited 'Padmaavat' star Ranveer Singh's example, saying the actor made it big in Bollywood on his own, without any familial ties.

"There are many superstars from yesteryear's and not all of their children are superstars. If nepotism exists, everyone would have been superstars and number one.

"But the fact that today Ranveer Singh, (who) does not have mother or father who is a superstar, out of sheer talent and hard work he is where he is today. I don't think nepotism exists," Kareena said.

She was in conversation with senior journalist Rajdeep Sardesai on 'The Kapoor Clan: Films, Family and Feminism' with her sister actor Karisma Kapoor at the India Today Conclave here.

Karisma said being a star child was a difficult task as one has a legacy to live up to and, a pressure to exceed expectations.

"It is about talent, we maybe children or grandchildren of somebody, but once you are on the silver screen you are that part. When you have generations of actors and a huge legacy behind you, it is actually difficult for a star child to live up to it and succeed into this industry," she said.

The debate over nepotism started when actor Kangana Ranaut called director Karan Johar "the flagbearer of nepotism" on his chat show in 2016.

"Everyone can have their own opinion and we should respect all," Karisma concluded.

Their mother Babita and actor Ranbir Kapoor's mother Neetu's career took a back seat from films after they entered the Kapoor family.

But Karisma said that they were not forced to leave the movies, it was their "choice".

"This is the myth - be it my mum or Neetu aunty. It is their choice not to work, Geeta aunty and Jennifer chose to work."

Kareena said it was her sister and her who broke the stereotypes and went on to pursue a career in films.

"It took Kapoor girls to break the norms," she said.

"My father (Randhir Kapoor) has been very supportive. He did not help us, (or) recommend us. He opened the door and told us to fly," she added.India will extend financial Lines of Credit worth millions of dollars to several nations as part of the ISA,with many of these being African nations.

New Delhi: Heads and deputy heads of government/state of over 20 countries will attend the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA)  a global initiative of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-that will take place in the Capital on Sunday. The ISA was launched jointly by India and France in 2015. PM Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron will be attending the founding conference along with several other leaders.

After holding bilateral talks with President Macron, PM Modi on Saturday said, When the International Solar Alliance was launched in 2015, it happened in Paris with the then French President. Tomorrow, the holding of Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance is a vivid example of our active awareness of shared responsibilities. I am glad that this auspicious work is being done with the President of France.

The Indo-French Joint Statement on Saturday said, The two leaders welcomed the entry into force of the Framework Agreement of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) and looked forward to co-hosting the ISA Founding Conference on 11th March 2018 in New Delhi. The leaders underlined their commitment to furthering and deepening concrete projects and programmes under the aegis of ISA to mobilise affordable financing for massive solar energy deployment.

PM Modi also met several of the leaders including from African countries on Saturday in bilateral meetings ahead of the start of the main conference on Sunday that will take place at the Rashtrapati Bhavan Cultural Centre.

India will extend financial Lines of Credit worth millions of dollars to several nations as part of the ISA, with many of these being African nations. This is expected to counter Chinese influence in Africa. The ISA was conceived as a coalition of solar resource-rich countries to address their special energy needs and will provide a platform to collaborate on addressing the identified gaps through a common, agreed approach. It was launched at the UN Climate Change Conference in Paris on November 30, 2015 by PM Modi and the then French president Francois Hollande.Joshi also said the RSS doesn't support demands for a minority religion status for the Lingayat community in Karnataka.

Confident of a favourable judgment from SC on the matter, RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi said the construction of temple would begin after the court's order and it would be built on the basis of its verdict on the ownership of land. (Photo: PTI)

Nagpur: The RSS on Sunday said building a consensus on the Ayodhya dispute was not going to be easy, but stressed that a Ram Temple - "and nothing else" - would be constructed in the Uttar Pradesh town.

RSS general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi also stressed that the matter was sub judice.

"It is certain that the Ram Temple will be constructed at that place (Ayodhya) and nothing else can be built there, this is also decided, Joshi told reporters in Nagpur on the sidelines of the RSS's all-important Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha meeting.

Confident of a favourable judgment from the Supreme Court on the matter, Joshi said the construction of temple would begin after the court's order and it would be built on the basis of its verdict on the ownership of land.

Replying to a question on spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravishankar's efforts at developing consensus between the different parties on the issue, Joshi said consensus building was not going to be easy.

"We have always maintained that the temple should be constructed with mutual agreement but our experience tells us that building a consensus on this issue is not easy, Joshi said.

Though the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh leader said he welcomed Ravi Shankar's efforts at negotiations, he pointed out that there were different groups in society with varied outlooks and to build a consensus among them would be difficult.

Joshi was also asked about a demand for a minority religion status for the Lingayat community in Karnataka.

"We do not support that," he said.

The next hearing in the Ayodhya dispute, to determine ownership of the 2.77-acre Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi disputed land, is to come up before the Supreme Court on March 14.

A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices Ashok Bhushan and SA Najeeb is hearing the case.The chartered aircraft for VVIPs  the President, the VP and the PM  for their visits abroad are provided by Air India.

The bills for these aircraft are to be paid from the exchequer by the defence ministry, the ministry of external affairs ministry, the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Secretariat. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The government owes over Rs 325 crore to cash-strapped Air India with bills pending for VVIP chartered flights to foreign countries, according to an RTI response.

The national carrier, which is on the verge of being privatised, has provided details of pending bills towards various ministries responsible for the VVIP visits in its latest response to the information sought by Commodore (retd) Lokesh Batra.

The details provided in the response dated March 8 shows that Rs 325.81 crore worth of bills for VVIP charter flights are pending as on January 31, 2018.

Of the total pending bills, Rs 84.01 crore have been carried forward from last financial year while the remaining Rs 241.80 crore are from bills generated this year.

The chartered aircraft for VVIPs  the President, the Vice President and the Prime Minister  for their visits abroad are provided by Air India which modifies its commercial jets to suit the needs of the travelling dignitaries.

The bills for these aircraft are to be paid from the exchequer by the defence ministry, the ministry of external affairs ministry, the Prime Minister's Office and the Cabinet Secretariat.

The response from Air India said that the highest outstanding amount of Rs 178.55 crore was due from the external affairs ministry, followed by the Cabinet Secretriat and the PMO (Rs 128.84 crore), and the defence ministry (Rs 18.42 crore).

The reply stated that outstanding bills of Rs 451.71 crore were carried forward while bills of Rs 553.01 crore were generated this year  a total of Rs 1004.72 crore. Out of this, the government made a payment of Rs 678.91 crore this year.

The payment of Rs 678.91 crore includes Rs 367.70 crore paid towards Rs 451.71 crore bills carried forward from last year and Rs 311.23 crore payment towards bills of Rs 533.01 crore generated this year.

After the payment, the outstanding as on January 31, 2018 stands at Rs 325.81 crore.

In a separate response dated March 5, three days before Air India's reply, the civil aviation ministry has said the total outstanding bills to be Rs 345.946 crore as on December 31, 2017.

In addition to the VVIP flights, the amount of 345.946 crore also includes outstanding bills of Rs 20.966 crore towards services offered to visiting dignitaries and evacuation missions.

In its response, Air India has given outstanding bills only for VVIP flights till January 31, 2018.

The response provided by the Civil Aviation Ministry also includes a break up of outstanding amount towards various ministries and details of invoices which shows that out of outstanding invoices of Rs 182.22 crore towards flights of the President, Rs 174.22 crore was paid and Rs 8 crore was pending.

In the case of the Vice President, out of outstanding invoices of Rs 414.28 crore, Rs 216.02 crore was paid and payment of Rs 198.254 crore was yet to be made as on December 31, 2017, it said.

For the visits of the Prime Minister, out of total outstanding invoices of Rs 272.80 crore, Rs 154.07 crore was paid while a payment of Rs 118.724 crore was still awaited, it said.

In addition to the services for the VVIP flights, the bills of Rs 11.594 crore for daring Air India operations to evacuate Indian citizens from Cairo, Iraq, and Malta (for citizens stuck in Libya) between 2011 and 2014 are still pending with the MEA, the civil aviation ministry said.

A bill of Rs 23 lakh for the fuel charges of the flight to the United States carrying relief material in the aftermath of Katrina hurricane in September 2005 is also pending with the defence ministry, it said.

Bills worth Rs 9.376 crore are also pending towards flights for various dignitaries including the heads of the states, the ministry said.On Sunday, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered in New Delhi for alliance's first summit.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance, at Rashtrapati Bhavan, in New Delhi on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: Taking a swipe at US President Donald Trump for backing out of Paris climate agreement, French president Emmanuel Macron lauded the efforts of India, along with other nations, for making International Solar Alliance (ISA) a reality.

However, Macron did not name Trump at the founding conference of ISA in the capital on Sunday.

While hailing the 'Solar Mamas', a group of women solar engineers, he also referred to the countries which decided to leave the climate agreement.

Addressing the summit in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Macron said, "Mr Prime Minister, You made a dream and we did it. It was about this International Solar Alliance. It was two years ago, it was just an idea at that time and we decided all together to act very quickly and today a big change".

Expressing his immense happiness and lauding the efforts of Solar Mamas, he said, "Our solar mamas did not wait for us. They started to act and deliver complete results. They did not wait and stop because some countries (US and others) just decided to leave the floor and leave the Paris agreement. Because they (ISA nations) decided it is good for them, their children, and grand children. They decided to act and keep acting".

The oblique reference was towards US President Trump's decision to pull out of the Paris climate agreement, which was signed by nearly 200 countries in December 2015 in an effort to curb global greenhouse gas emission and limit global warming to within 2 degrees Celsius.

In November last year, Syria signed the deal, leaving the US as the only country in the world to not support the framework deal to combat greenhouse gas emissions.

Interestingly, France is the co-host for the founding conference of the the ISA which is a treaty based international body with 121 prospective member countries.

As many as 60 nations have signed the agreement to join ISA, while 30 have already ratified the agreement and made it possible to make it a legal entity in December last year.

Macron said the countries at the ISA represent three-fourths of the world population. As much as 20-50 per cent of the population do not have access to power.

The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2020 for which "we need USD 1,000 billion," he said.

On Sunday, heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives gathered in New Delhi for alliance's first summit.Scindia also urged 'like-minded' parties to join hands to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan govt in MP.

Scindia also asserted that the Gujarat Assembly poll result was 'truly inspiring'. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi: The Congress may have suffered a crushing defeat in the Northeast, but senior leader Jyotiraditya Scindia feels that there are "very strong signs" of the party's resurgence in the Hindi heartland which would be crucial in the 2019 general election.

Buoyed by the party's victory in the recent bypolls in the Mungaoli and Kolaras Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh, he also said the people had decided to end the 14-year BJP rule in the state where elections are scheduled to be held later this year.

Scindia, widely seen as the front-runner among the Congress's chief ministerial candidates for Madhya Pradesh, also urged "like-minded" parties to join hands to oust the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in the state.

In an interview to PTI, he said the Assembly poll outcome in Nagaland and Tripura came as a "shock".

In Meghalaya, he pointed out, the Congress had emerged as the single largest party.

"...but the BJP true to its game believes in forming governments by default and a party that has won only two seats in that Assembly was trying every trick in the book to put together a government," he said.

However, "having said that, I think you've had very strong signs of resurgence in the Hindi heartland," the 47-year-old leader said.

The Congress drew a blank in Tripura and Nagaland, while in Meghalaya it failed to form the government. The BJP has come to power in all the three states forming coalition governments.

Scindia also asserted that the Gujarat Assembly poll result was "truly inspiring".

The MP from Madhya Pradesh's Guna said this was followed by the results in the Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by-polls, won by the Congress.

"These are all states which are crucial to the Congress party going ahead. So I think the barometer and the portent that these states portray are very important signs for the Congress party," he said.

However, the Congress's chief whip in the Lok Sabha said there was still a lot of work to be done by party workers as "we must never take our opponent lightly".

Scindia also dismissed talk of infighting within the party in MP, saying the Congress was a united house in the state.

"We have been working together for the last year, year and a half. We are strategising, planning every activity together, which is what you have seen in these two by-elections. Every single leader of the Congress party was present in this by-election," Scindia said.

"So, I can understand why the BJP is extremely concerned," he added.

Asked if Congress should name a chief ministerial candidate in MP, Scindia said, "I am not going to speak on this issue because I don't think it would be apt. This is a decision that has to be taken by the general secretary and by the Congress high command."

Terming the recent by-poll win in Madhya Pradesh a "very important triumph", he said the Congress won despite the BJP throwing "everything but the kitchen sink" into the election.

It was the might of the government versus the ordinary Congress worker, Scindia said.

"I also do believe that in Madhya Pradesh voters have made up their minds to see the end of the BJP rule in our state for a multitude of reasons," he said.

Asked about his statement during the bypolls campaign that it was a direct fight between him and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Scindia said, "When I say it is a battle between Shivraj Singh ji and me, in many ways it is also a metaphor because it is for the people to decide."

"It was either a Shivraj Singh ji model of promising the earth and being able to deliver nothing or it would be my model -- promise less and deliver more," he said.

The Congress last month retained both the Assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh where by-polls were held.

Brajendra Singh Yadav of the Congress defeated his BJP rival Baisahab Yadav by 2,124 votes to win the Mungaoli seat while in Kolaras, Congress candidate Mahendra Singh Yadav prevailed over Devendra Jain of the BJP by 8,083 votes.Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman was informed that 10-15 students have been rescued.

Indian Air Force has been instructed to help in rescue operations and evacuation. (Photo: Twitter | ANI)

Theni: Over 20 students, who were on a trekking expedition, are reported to be trapped in a major forest fire in Tamil Nadu's Theni district.

On a request from chief minister E Palanisamy, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has instructed the Indian Air Force to help in rescue operations and evacuation of students.

Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam has also rushed to the spot.

Conservator of forests, Madurai circle, R K Jegania said that the students from the college had not obtained permission for trekking, according to a Times of India report.

Theni district collector Pallavi Baldev ruled out any causality at the moment.

The district collector also informed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman that 10-15 students have been rescued and are being brought down from the hill.

More details in the incident are awaited.Other suggestions made in the meet to ensure value-based education were, vegetarian mid-day meals and saying 'Jai Hind' for attendance.

Women and child development minister Maneka Gandhi made the suggestion at the 65th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) recently. It is the highest decision making body in the education sector. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: Union minister Maneka Gandhi has suggested the Human Resource Development ministry to include books of all religions in the school curriculum as well as provide moral science classes to promote greater religious tolerance among the students.

The Women and child development minister made the suggestion at the 65th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) recently. It is the highest decision making body in the education sector.

To promote greater tolerance among students belonging to different religions, the minister (Maneka Gandhi) suggested moral science classes and religious books of all religions so that students can start appreciating other religions, an official documentation of the meeting read.

Read: Satna: Students answer roll call with 'Jai Hind' instead of 'Yes Sir or Madam'

Odisha's Education Minister Badri Naryan Patra, also present at the meeting, suggested modifying the curriculum in a way so as to "endorse the feelings of religious tolerance and patriotism.

Having vegetarian menu for mid-day meals served in schools, saying 'Jai Hind' instead of 'present maam or sir' during school attendance and remodelling of the NCERT syllabus to ensure values and culture-based education were among the other suggestions made during the meeting.Rajus resignation was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday.

New Delhi: Commerce and industry minister Suresh Prabhu was on Saturday given additional charge of the civil aviation ministry, two days after TDP leader Ashok Gajapathi Raju quit the Narendra Modis council of ministers.

Mr Rajus resignation was accepted by President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday.

The President of India, as advised by the Prime Minister, has directed that Shri Suresh Prabhu, Cabinet minister, shall be assigned the charge of the ministry of civil aviation, in addition to his existing portfolio, said the Presidents Secretariat.

Mr Raju was one of the two TDP ministers, including Y.S. Chowdary, who had resigned from the council of ministers on Thursday.Voter turnout in UP's Gorakhpur and Phulpur was recorded at 30.20 per cent and 19.20 per cent, respectively till 1 pm.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath casts his vote for Gorakhpur bypolls at a polling station, says 'For development and good governance, BJP is necessary.' (Photo: ANI/Twitter)

Gorakhpur/Patna: Voting for bypolls to three Lok Sabha seats -- Phulpur and Gorakpur in Uttar Pradesh and Araria in Bihar  was held on Sunday.

Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency witnessed a polling percentage of 43 per cent while Phulpur saw a turnout of 37.39 per cent till 5 pm, Election Commission sources said.

57 per cent polling was recorded in the by-election to the Araria Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar.

Byelections in Uttar Pradesh, necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their seats in Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituency, respectively, on taking office, are being seen as a prestige battle for the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP). It will also test the recently formed electoral arrangement between the two arch-rivals -- Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP). The two parties have come together in Phulpur and Gorakhpur for the first time after 1991 to take on the BJP.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.

The people know that development was the only panacea, he told reporters.

Attacking the BSP and the SP, the chief minister said, These parties are indulging in negative politics, politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences (of SP and BSP).

"And in order to ensure that in future such situations do not arise, efforts have to be made to shun politics of casteism and dynastic politics, and focus on development and administration," he said.

When asked to comment on the SP and BSP entering an electoral understanding, he said, This will have no effect. I had wanted that in this by-election if the SP, BSP and Congress had fought together, then results would have been much better (for us).

Termed by Adityanath a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the by-elections are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

In Bihar, voting is being held for Araria Lok Sabha seat and two assembly segments -- Jehanabad and Bhabua.

In Araria, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Congress is pitted against the BJP-Janata Dal (United) alliance and its the first big test for Nitish Kumar after he walked out of the Grand Alliance last year to team up with the BJP.

Uttar Pradesh

The BSP is supporting the SP candidates in the two Lok Sabha seats while Congress, which contested the 2017 assembly poll with Samajwadi Party, had fielded its own candidates.

Upendra Shukla from the BJP, Praveen Nishad from the SP and Surhita Chatterjee Karim from Congress are key contenders from Gorakhpur.

Meanwhile for the Phulpur seat are Kaushalendra Singh Patel from the BJP, Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel from SP and Manish Mishra from Congress are in the fray. Mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, who won from Phulpur in 2004, is contesting as an Independent.

For the BJP, the election is a prestige issue for chief minister Yogi Adityanath who represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat five times in a row till he took over as chief minister in 2017.

Phulpur, a seat earlier represented by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was won for the first time by the BJP in 2014 when Keshav Prasad Maurya, a former mayor of Varanasi, won the seat with a margin of 3.76 lakh votes.

Both the leaders have campaigned extensively in their erstwhile Lok Sabha constituencies while Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav held the fort for the opposition.

Bihar

The bypolls in Bihar are being seen as a litmus test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar after he pulled out of the state's Grand Alliance and joined the BJP.

The Araria seat fell vacant after the death of RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin. RJD's Sarafaraz Alam, Taslimuddin's son, and the BJP's Pradip Singh are the key contenders for the seat.

The Bhabua assembly seat, where bypoll was necessitated after the death of BJP's Anand Bhushan Pandey, the party has fielded his widow Rinki Rani Pandey. Another key candidate for the seat is Shambhu Patel from Congress.

The death of RJD MLA Mundrika Singh Yadav necessitated the bypoll for Jehanabad seat, and his son Uday Yadav is contesting for the seat. Another key candidate in the fray is JDU's Abhiram Sharma.

The results of the bypolls will be announced on March 14.

(With PTI inputs)French President takes swipe at Trump for pulling out of Paris pact.

New Delhi: Declaring that India wanted a solar revolution not just in the country but across the world and announcing the establishment of a Solar Techn-ology Mission, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced the allocation of $1.4 billion as part of Indias Line of Credit (LoC) for 27 solar projects in 15 developing countries.

Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired the founding conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA) in the Capital that is being attended by over 20 heads and deputy heads of government, a majority of them African.

In his speech, PM Modi said, We want a solar revolution not just in India but the world... India will begin the solar technology mission to bridge the gap in solar technology.

Interestingly, 23 out of these 27 projects for which Mr Modi offered financial assistance are in African countries where observers point out that India has been trying its best to counter Chinese influence.

The remaining four projects are in Indias neighbourhood of which two each are in Bangladesh (worth a total of $180 million) and Sri Lanka ($100 million).

This is apart from 13 solar development projects  either completed or under implementation  under Indian LoC worth $143 million in African countries.

The proposed solar projects abroad are also expected to boost the Indian economy since 75 per cent of these have to be sourced from India as per the guidelines. The US$ 1.4 billion will be part of the US$ 2 billion under the Indian LoC that will be allocated and in turn part of the $10 billion for development projects abroad that have been pledged by New Delhi earlier.

The ministry of external affairs (MEA) later said India had taken the lead internationally. The solar projects pertain to energy for infrastructure such as health centres, high schools, hand-pump boreholes, power plants, street-lighting projects and drinking water-supply located in countries such as Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Congo, Ghana, Mali, Guinea, Niger, Nigeria, Seychelles and Rwanda A total of 32 countries have both signed and ratified the agreement while another 30 have just signed but not ratified it as yet.

Announcing financial assistance too, Mr Macron said that the French Development Agency will allocate 700 million euros in additional spending to its commitment to solar energy by 2022, taking the total commitment to 1 billion euros.

Taking a swipe at US President Donald Trump for backing out of Paris climate agreement, he referred to countries, without naming anyone, quitting the historic Paris climate agreement and said ISA nations came together to deliver complete results.

They (ISA member nations) started to act and to deliver complete results. They didnt wait, they didnt stop because few countries decided to just leave the floor and the Paris agreement, the French President said. Because they decided it was good for them, their children and grandchildren and they decided to act and keep acting, he added.

Later, he tweeted: We make Delhi this weekend the world capital of the sun. Through our presence, we seal an alliance to make the energy of the sun accessible to everyone, adding, We did not come from all continents to deliver additional speeches that will soon be forgotten. We came to ask the topics on the table and give access to solar energy in the world.

President Macron said that countries represented at ISA represent three-fourths of the world population. The joint goal is to have 1 TW of solar energy by 2020 for which we need $1,000 billion, he said.

We know the hurdles... (there) are financial hurdles, regulations, capacity hurdles as well. We shall therefore lift every single one of them, he added.

Mr Macron and PM Modi also praised Solar Mamas  a group of rural women solar engineers from Africa nations who have been trained under Indian Government-supported programmes to install, use, repair and maintain solar lanterns and household solar lighting systems in their villages  describing them as inspirational.

New Delhi also announced a Project Preparation Facility (PPF) (that) has been set up by India to assist its development partner countries towards preparation of viable projects that can be considered for concessional financing under LoC.

A Delhi Solar Agenda was unveiled under which ISA countries decided to facilitate affordable finance, access to appropriate, clean and environment friendly technology and undertake capacity building, including forging mutually beneficial partnerships with reputable international institutions and reputable financial institutions for the benefit of developing countries.

They also decided to facilitate joint research and development efforts among member states.

PM Modi also praised France, saying it had played an important role in the ISA. He referred to civilisations and cultures from Japan to Peru, Greece to Rome and Egypt that had given tremendous importance to the sun. He said India had begun the worlds largest renewable energy programme wherein by 2022, 175 gigawatts of energy would be generated of which 100 gigawatt would be through solar energy.

Some of the solar projects that will be undertaken by India in other countries include setting up of Mollahat 100 MW Solar PV power plant worth $150.26 million in Bangladesh, electrification by photovoltaic solar system of 550 social community infrastructures (health centres, high schools and hand-pumped boreholes) worth $ 21 million in rural areas of Benin (Africa), Solar powered water stations for semi-urban water supply worth US$ 36.50 million in Burkina Faso (Africa), solar PV Renewable Micro-Utility (REMU) in six political zones in Nigeria (Africa) worth $8.36 million and 50 MW solar power plant in Bauchi State, again in Nigeria, worth $ 66.60 million and three projects in Seychelles with whom India had inked an agreement in January this year for the development, management, operation and maintenance of facilities on the Assumption Island.

The ISA is a treaty-based intergovernmental organisation, the first of its kind to be based in India. One of the primary aims of the ISA is to raise around $1 trillion investment to be utilised by 2030 for promoting solar energy and reducing use of fossil fuels.Harassment is the new normal for Indian high commission personnel in Islamabad.

Indian government sources also said Pakistani security agencies are resorting to aggressive surveillance, violation of physical space and tailing of officers in close and dangerous proximity.

New Delhi: Another huge diplomatic spat has hit Indo-Pak relations, this time pertaining to harassment of diplomats and their families, with both sides lodging protests on the matter with each other.

Indian government sources said harassment is the new normal for Indian high commission personnel in Islamabad for the past more than one year, with the Indian high commissioner lodging a strong protest nearly a month ago on February 16 with Islamabad against multiple acts of hooliganism against Indian properties and personnel.

Sources added that in view of such an atmosphere of intimidation, most families have returned to India and children have been withdrawn from schools.

Sources said Indias residential complex in Islamabad was raided by Pakistan agencies who expelled all Pakistani service providers and later disconnected power and water supply and that despite the (Pakistani) foreign secretarys assurance, the power supply was not restored for over two weeks.

Indian government sources also said Pakistani security agencies are resorting to aggressive surveillance, violation of physical space and tailing of officers in close and dangerous proximity.

Indian government sources said the car of Indias high commissioner was stopped recently in a busy road to prevent him from attending an event, while another Indian diplomats house was broken into and a laptop stolen.

Pakistan ministry of foreign affairs (MoFA) sources, meanwhile, also alleged harassment of Pakistani diplomats in New Delhi, saying that there have been six incidents of harassment reported in a span of three days following which a note verbale was issued to India.

Pakistani MoFA sources also said the Pakistani high commissioner in New Delhi had met officials of Indias ministry of external affairs (MEA) in New Delhi and raised the matter, adding that in one incident on Thursday, the children of Pakistans deputy high commissioner were going to school in a car when it was chased by a motorcycle and another vehicle after which unidentified men took the driver off and hurled abuses.

Meanwhile, Pakistani media reports cited Pakistan government sources as saying that it is becoming difficult for the Pakistani diplomats posted in India to keep their families with them due to increase in harassment incidents.

Indian government sources said the Pakistani complaints would be investigated, adding that while New Delhi makes all efforts to provide a safe, secure and hospitable environment for diplomats to work in, this cannot be said of Islamabad, unfortunately.

On Sunday, Indian government sources said, The Indian high commission in Pakistan has been facing tremendous harassment for long, particularly in the last year.

Harassment is the new normal for Indian high commission personnel in Islamabad. In view of such an atmosphere of intimidation, most families have returned to India and children have been withdrawn from schools.The March 13 event is being seen as an attempt by UPA chairperson to make Rahul Gandhi an acceptable Oppn leader ahead of 2019 polls.

New Delhi: After BJP's victory in Tripura and alliances in other Northeast states, the unassailable Narendra Modi-Amit Shah juggernaut has once again made the Opposition parties look at ways of presenting a united face. UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has called a dinner of the Opposition parties on March 13 in a bid to show solidarity against the ruling BJP and make Congress president Rahul Gandhi as an acceptable common face of Opposition in 2019.

In the last nine Assembly elections, the BJP has managed to form government in eight states except Punjab. In some of the states it has got a brute majority while in others its clever political moves ensured that it is part of the ruling alliance. The ruthless pragmatism shown by the BJP has had its opponents scurrying for cover.

The Congress is no stranger to sewing up and running successful alliances. In 1992, the then Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao led a successful minority government with Congress allies. Similar experience of alliance politics was repeated from 2004 to 2014 that was termed as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) under Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. However, the grand old party has an abysmal record when it comes to supporting an alliance instead of leading it. The experiments with former non-Congress Prime Ministers H.D. Deve Gowda in 1996 and I.K. Gujral in 1997 are examples where the Congress had jettisoned the alliance.

In 1991 also, the Congress had pulled out of the alliance leading to the fall of the Chandrashekhar government. On most occasions, the Congress could get away with the big brother attitude but after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and with just 44 Lok Sabha MPs, whose number has increased to 48 after by-elections, the Congress has little elbow room to boss over allies. But the Congress showed amazing pragmatism in Bihar by coming up with the grand alliance and defeating the BJP in the Assembly elections. Though, its a different matter that within a span of two years the alliance split. It also tied up with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh but the results were certainly not on expected lines.

Regional parties which are potential allies at the Centre have also started flexing their muscles. Speaking to this newspaper Trinamul Congress MP Sukhendu Shekhar Roy said, Rahul Gandhi is the newly elected president of the Congress. He is yet to display the ability to have a sort of understanding with like-minded political parties. But I dont have any idea which are the like-minded political parties to the Congress. Also note, the dinner has been called by Sonia Gandhi, not by Rahul Gandhi. He is yet to unite the like-minded parties. Though the Trinamul Congress was part of the UPA 2 government at the Centre but sparks flew frequently between the Congress and Trinamul Congress. On a number of occasions, Mrs Gandhi had to intervene to defuse the situation. Even with close allies like the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party, it was Mrs Gandhi who had to intervene to iron out all differences. Telanganas ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) had initially started out as an ally of the Congress but serious differences erupted between them about the creation of the new state. In the coming Assembly elections, it is largely going to be a two-way contest in Telangana between these two parties and the Congress also is not inclined to cede its space in another state to regional outfits like it has done in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. At the Centre, the TRS has made its intentions clear by giving a clarion call for a new outfit sans Congress and the BJP.

The purpose of Third Front will not serve if the Congress or the BJP is made part of this again. There will be no difference between the new Third front rule or the Congress or BJP rule if both these parties are part of Third Front again, said Telangana chief minister and TRS chief K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Interestingly, the Congress appears to be in no mood to give up its big brother attitude towards regional parties. The Congress feels that it a party with cadres all across the country and it should be given its due place in any Opposition grouping at the Centre.

Party spokesman Sandeep Dikshit said, The Congress has always stood for liberal values and against authoritarian regimes. In any effort, the party is duty-bound to take the lead. But the perplexing question still remains at what number of seats in Lok Sabha will the Congress be the natural choice to lead a joint Opposition alliance. At the time of his elevation as Congress president, Mr Gandhi faced the big question of how to deal with allies. Presently, it is Mrs Gandhi who is looking after the allies as chairperson of the UPA. While Mr Gandhi has been given the daunting task of rebuilding the party that needs serious overhauling if it has to come in the reckoning.

Insiders say even if Mr Gandhi is not the hot favourite of the alliance partners, the Congress the party is in no mood to play the second fiddle. The overwhelming demand within the party is that the leadership of the Opposition alliance should remain with the Congress. But Mrs Gandhi still remains the unifying factor in sewing up the anti-BJP alliance and Mr Gandhi is seen as somebody still learning the ropes. Though the real bargaining between the Congress and its allies will only start when the numbers are on the table. But if the alliance is to stay stable it has to be a UPA-type arrangement, said a Congress leader.

What do potential allies say

Trinamul Congress

On alliance: On alliance: So far an Opposition formation is yet to take place. We often hear about dinner diplomacy, but I am unaware how far it can move ahead towards a formation.

On Rahul: Rahul Gandhi is yet to display the ability to have a sort of understanding with like-minded political parties. First of all, we should come close to the river to reach our destination. Next, we should think how we should cross the river. After crossing the river, we will then decide who will lead us.

 Sukhendu Sekhar Roy, Trinamul MP

Shiv Sena

On alliance: I cannot say anything now. All NDA constituent leaders are in constant touch with the Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray. West Bengal chief minister Mamta Banerjee is also in touch with him.

On NDA: We had the indication that TDP will step out of the Union government. No ally has a good relationship with the BJP anymore.

 Sanjay Raut, Shiv Sena MP

Nationalist Cong. Party

On alliance: The Congress is not making any serious efforts to make an alliance happen.

On Rahul: It is too early to discuss whether Rahul Gandhi will be accepted as the leader by all. A leader with mass appeal will be accepted by all.

 Nawab Malik, NCP leader

Biju Janata Dal

On alliance: We will continue to maintain equal distance from both the UPA and NDA.

On Rahul: Our leader and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has said that Rahul has to perform better to be accepted as a national leader

 Tejeswar Parida, BJD spokesmanInterestingly, both Mr Pawar and Ms Banerjee are seen as potential leaders of an anti-BJP alliance in the run up to the 2019 general polls.

New Delhi: Signifying an interesting churn in Opposition politics, Trinamul Congress chief and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee is likely to meet Nationalist Congress Party supremo Sharad Pawar on March 28.

Though it was not immediately clear whether the meeting was a one-on-one or other parties have also been invited, it assumes significance as Ms Banerjee is not attending a meeting of Opposition parties being called by former Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on March 13. The TMC chief will send representatives instead to Mrs Gandhis dinner.

Trinamul Congress sources said that senior NCP leader Praful Patel went to Kolkata to invite Ms Banerjeee.

However, Mr Patel told this newspaper: She had called and sought a meeting. Mr Pawar and Ms Banerjee are likely to meet in Delhi.

There was no confirmation on whether other parties would also attend Mr Pawar and Ms Banerjees March 28 meeting. However, NCPs Rajya Sabha MP Majid Memon has thrown a separate dinner on March 15 where Opposition leaders are likely to meet, sources said.

Interestingly, both Mr Pawar and Ms Banerjee are seen as potential leaders of an anti-BJP alliance in the run up to the 2019 general polls.

Apart from throwing her hat in the ring as a possible leader of any alliance  whether Opposition or Third Front  to take on the BJP in the 2019 general polls, the West Bengal chief minister has been actively reaching out to regional parties like Telangana Rashtra Samiti and Telugu Desam Party for the formation of a non-Congress and non-BJP platform ahead of 2019.

Mr Pawar had also started hunting in the Opposition game by calling a Save the Constitution march on January 26 which had been attended by many parties.

Though the Congress has been trying to stitch together an Opposition alliance, not many parties are enthusiastic about taking on the BJP under Congress President Rahul Gandhis leadership. Ms Banerjee has specially made it clear that the leader of any such alliance should be an experienced politician and has hinted her own suitability for the job.

As far as the former Congress chief Mrs Gandhis dinner was concerned, it would be attended by the usual parties and leaders. The Congress has ruled out inviting either the Telugu Desam Party or the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, who have raised issues with the NDA and Modi governments style of functioning recently.

It remains to be seen whether the Congress can appropriate the leadership role of Opposition parties or has to cede it under the ambition of regional satraps. Recently, it received a setback of kinds when former ally Samajwadi Party decided to take the support for two crucial bypolls in Uttar Pradesh the results of which could be a decider for the 2019 Opposition experiment.

As a senior Opposition leader put it: There is a tremendous political churn going on in the country. We have to wait and watch.Purba Kalita, CEO of Salebhai.com, an e-commerce platform, shares her views.

They say behind every successful man is a supportive wife but in todays world, the reverse also holds true. There is also a perceptible change in the mindset of men who are encouraging their better halves to get back to work after the birth of a baby. Companies are also realising the importance of giving a fresh start to women after a break. Neha Bagaria, Founder and CEO, JobsForHer, which is a connecting platform for women re-starters opines, If you are a married woman looking to restart her career after a break, the support from your spouse goes a long way in keeping you mentally and emotionally grounded, while you look for a job all over again. It's not just important to get your husbands cooperation, but to see the pride and joy in his eyes as he sees his wife succeed in her career. Husbands have come to respect their wives for who they are and what they do, and not just for their roles as a wife, mother, and daughter-in-law. As more and more women get back to the workforce after a career break, the unconditional support from their husbands is their main driving force.

Purba Kalita

Purba Kalita, CEO of Salebhai.com, an e-commerce platform, shares her views. The woman has long supported the man. She takes charge of the entire house, allowing him to chart his career growth. While hers is an unpaid and endless job, he earns his salary and also time off from work. But the man now has to keep up with the times. The woman has aspirations beyond the home and opportunities are opening up for her. She looks for the same support. After all, the house and family are a shared responsibility. SaleBhai has been sending out a positive message by encouraging women talent and retaining them. Purba adds, Around 60% of our workforce comprises women. When you have policies that allow work from home and flexi-hours, women are naturally empowered. Purba roots for gender sensitization programmes within the organization to open up a dialogue between male and female employees as to how husbands can better assist at home and encourage their wives to continue their career  from sharing kitchen chores to taking up diaper duty.The event will be held on March 30 and 31 at the Roseate Resort.

New Delhi: Scores of Indian and overseas tour operators, alongwith world travellers, will converge in New Delhi later this month to participate in an event showcasing boutique hotels, lodges, hideaways, camps and retreats in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Brainchild of RARE India, the event, titled Tres RARE, will host speakers on hospitality and related topics on the concept of experiential travel in the sub-continent.

With participation of more than 60 independent boutique hotels from India and its Himalayan neighbours Nepal and Bhutan, the event is expected to offer the first glimpse of game-changing hotel concepts, their new initiatives, and showcase a unique selection of never-treaded-before destinations.

"The demand for boutique hotels is reflective of the realigned desires of a global traveller, who is weary of the standard-fare hotels that though comfortable are unimaginatively identical around various destinations. These boutique hotels inspired us at RARE to break away from the traditional and create an intimate showcase that focuses on the niche rather than the mass and mainstream," said Sowmya R Vijaymohan, the brain behind RARE India and Tres RARE.

Select 100 Indian Destination Management Companies and 50 Foreign Operators from UK, US, France, Germany and Italy will focus on intensive one-on-one engagement, knowledge building and innovations.

Shoba Mohan, the co-founder of RARE India and the event, said, "Boutique and experiential hotels are now a mainstay in the Indian travel industry, and there was a tangible requirement for a platform that is dedicated and designed to showcase their uniqueness."

The event will be held on March 30 and 31 at the Roseate Resort.The initiative comes against the backdrop of the suicide attack by terr-orists at BSF camp located near Srin-agar International Airport last year.

New Delhi: In a bid to counter any terror threat at the airports, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) conducted counter-terrorism exercise at 30 hyper-sensitive and international airports located in state capitals and Union territories last year. The initiative comes against the backdrop of the suicide attack by terrorists at the BSF camp located near Srinagar International Airport last year.

Multi-agency counter-terrorisim exercise at 30 hyper-sensitive and international airports located in state capitals and Union territories have been conducted in October 2017 along with the special forces of the state police to familiarise the special forces with the functioning and topography of the airports, enhance co-ordination amongst various security agencies, as well as chisel operational efficiency of all participating forces, said CISF additional general (airport sector) MA Ganapathy.

In all these mock drills in which all the stakeholders in the airport security participated and later discussed the matter about how to evacuate the passengers and other airport employees from the airport premises if in case any terror attack took place at the IGI airport in Delhi or any other airport across the country, said a senior CISF official on condition of anonymity.

We dont want to lose crucial moments that may prove vital in saving the lives of those under attack. In such cases, these bulletproof vehicles can be used during emergency and may be converted into temporary ambulances, said the official.

A parliamentary report in December 2015 said, India is amongst the most terrorism affected countries. Latest threat inputs include surgically implanted explosives for unlawful interference in civil aviation operations and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) hidden in printer ink and toner cartridges.He was speaking to the media after addressing a party workers conference at Baraboni block in Asansol on Saturday evening.

Kolkata: Union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises Babul Supriyo has predicted that the Trinamul Congress would resort to largescale violence across the state during the upcoming panchayat polls like the way the CPI(M) did to stay in power.

He alleged that Trinamul supremo and chief minister Mamata Banerjee has been adopting tricks which he asserted would be resisted by the BJP however.

Mr Supriyo said, Didi is playing different types of games over the Panchayat polls. Sometimes she is claiming that the rural polls will be held in April or May or June. We send out a message that we are fighting and we will continue to fight whenever the elections are held.

On the results of the Panchayat polls he, however mentioned, I will not comment on the results because all now agree to the fact that the way the CPI(M) unleashed massive violence during polls, similar violence will happen this time also.

He claimed, This violence is not orchestrated by the people because they have not voted the Trinamool for violence. They have not kept the CPI(M) in power after 34 years. The CPI(M) killed democracy by looting votes to stay in power. The Trinamul is following their footsteps only.

We will give a tough fight in the Panchayat Elections.

The BJP MP from Asansol added, Mukul Roy has been entrusted for it. Meetings are taking place both in New Delhi and Kolkata. We will put up resistance in this election and it will be curtain raiser of 2019.

He was speaking to the media after addressing a party workers conference at Baraboni block in Asansol on Saturday evening.Asked about strained relations of the BJP with allies  the Telugu Desam Party, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal.

Mumbai: Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said he does not aspire to be the Prime Minister and is content with what he has achieved.

Asked about strained relations of the BJP with allies  the Telugu Desam Party, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal  and if he could emerge as a consensus candidate if his party fails toget the required numbers in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, he said the BJP would retain power under Narendra Modis leadership. I am content and not dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister nor do I aspire for it. I am confident that the party has elected Mr Modi and under his leadership alone we will fight and win the 2019 election, the Union minister said.Police will not allow them to protest outside high-security zone around Mantralaya today.

Mumbai: The protesting farmers, who arrived in the city on Sunday from Nashik are likely be held back at Azad Maidan on Monday. The police will not allow them to assemble outside the high security zone around state administrative headquarters, Mantralaya, where the around 20,000 farmers plan to protest on Monday. Farmers from across the state have marched to the city from Nashik to highlight their plight over agrarian issues.

The state has made elaborate security arrangements with traffic restrictions being put in place to handle the protest march of the farmers who are scheduled to storm south Mumbai today. The farmers reached Ghatkopar on Sunday afternoon and assembled at Somaiya ground around 9 pm. The police will have heavy presence at Azad Maidan enroute the Mantralaya and state legislative assembly. The local police along with the State Reserve Police (SRP), Riot Control Police (RCP) and reserve police will be deployed from central Mumbai to south Mumbai on Monday. However, the police officials did not disclose the exact number of security personnel that would be deployed on Monday to deal with the crowd and to avoid any untoward incidents. Sources from the police said around 10,000 security personnel would be deployed on the streets on Monday.

There will be heavy police presence on the route of the farmers protest march. It will be a shifting bandobast (deployment) as per needed. The marching route is being formulated keeping in mind that the vehicular movement should not be hampered, said Deepak Deoraj, Mumbai police spokesperson.

As per the plan, the agitating farmers will assemble at Somaiya ground, Sion around 9pm on Sunday. They will begin their march on Monday morning and walk via Ambedkar Road-Jijamata Udyan-JJ Flyover-Azad Maidan. The police however said that they might give them an alternate route from interiors of Parel in a bid to keep the vehicular traffic moving on the main roads. The marching farmers entered Mumbai via Mulund check naka on Sunday morning and marched via the Eastern Express Highway to reach Sion. The traffic police will continue to issue timely updates via Twitter, radio etc throughout the day.

It may be recalled that Dharma Patil (84), a farmer from Dhule had committed suicide outside Mantralaya by consuming pesticide in the month of January. Patil was protesting over the inadequate land compensations the state government had given him in return of his land.I love the authenticity of our local news in Chattanooga. I love the lead-off stories about animals, the local reporters covering local stories about Chattanoogans and the light banter between the local anchors who we have grown to know and love.

The successful local news shows are anchored by those individuals who touch our Chattanooga heart, those with a finger on the pulse of our community.

Local news is personal. It is authentic. It involves us. Our stories. Our people. Our heroes. Our villains.

We understand this.

But Sinclair Media Group, the owner of WTVC Channel 9 and Fox First News at 10, has changed all that.

Intentionally. Without apology. In front of our faces.

Its no longer local news. Its local news with an agenda behind it.

Sinclair Media Groups First News at 10 airs the Terrorism Alert Deskfrom Washington, DC, to report the daily propaganda reminding us to be scared. Very scared.

Along with frightful stories, the Terrorism Alert Desk is flush with a red background and ominous background music intentionally used to manipulate our feelings. Sinclair Media Group wants us to feel threatened.

Lock your doors. Dont trust your neighbors. Dont speak to people who do not look like you.

Divisiveness must be good for ratings.

But we live in a country built upon the God-inspired notion that we are all in this together.

One Nation.

Under God.

Indivisible.

Its impossible to love your neighbor as yourself if you are reminded by local news every night of how afraid you should be of that neighbor.

I remind Sinclair Media Group that although we are a country of individuals we are a country indivisible.

To add insult to injury, along with the Terrorism Alert Desk, Sinclair Media Group adds a nightly commentary to its local news broadcast.

When was the last time you watched a commentary of any kind on WRCB or WDEF local news?

Sinclair Media Group interrupts our local news with an editorial commentary given by Boris the Russian, a former Trump campaign official.

These commentaries are always about a toxic subject matter intentionally chosen to tear us apart, not bring us together.

And that is the opposite of what local news should be doing.

Local news should strive to unite our community in times of sorrow and uplift us in times of joy. Local stations do this by simply reporting our local news, not by attempting to influence how we should react to it.

I hate to admit that I watch Boris the Russians commentaries in the same way I find myself rubber-necking driving by a traffic accident.

In each commentary, Boris the Russian reads from a script and articulates with a heavy Slavic-accent as if his mouth were full of yellow-jackets.

Boris the Russian speaks with passion of a man with a gun to his head. You will witness more passion at an emissions inspection.

I have seen better production quality in hostage negotiation films. These commentaries are not filmed in HD, so the film quality as what you would expect as a prisoner of war watching those indoctrination films.

But the poor production quality does not obscure the intent of Sinclair Media Groups message: divide, not unite.

Arent we already divided enough?

And we certainly do not need it during our local news.

The sad thing is that WTVC has no control over the airing of the Terrorism Alert Desk and Boris the Russians editorials. Sinclair Media Group forces WTVC to preempt its local news broadcast every night with divisive and hateful political commentary.

WTVC has lost its local authenticity by succumbing to the corporate interests of a large media empire, intentionally using our local news to further its narrow and hateful political agenda intending to split us apart as a community.

We are all called to be better than what Sinclair Media Group is urging each of us to be.

Please watch Sinclair Media Groups Terrorism Alert Desk and Boris the Russians commentaries and decide for yourself whether you would rather see something real and authentic about Chattanooga instead of hateful political propaganda during your local news.

If you do, change the station.

#chattanoogastrong

C. Mark Warren

* * *

I agree 100 percent with Mr. Warren's comments of March 10. I have been a loyal watcher of WTVC news for 40 years, but I now no longer watch it. I am not interested in Boris's propaganda, nor do I care what Boris thinks about any subject whatsoever.

Just give me the news.

Michael FincherCongress, NCP, Shiv Sena, RPI, BBM and MNS have supported the stir.

Mumbai: Around 20,000 farmers of the Kisan Sabha will protest at Azad Maidan on Monday. The tribal farmers started the long march from Nashik to Mumbai on March 6.

The farmers are protesting for their rights in light of the agrarian crisis. Some of their demands include the transfer of forestland titles, renewal of old ration cards and increasing the minimum support price of agricultural products to 1.5 times of production costs.

Except the ruling BJP, all other major political parties  Congress, NCP, Shiv Sena, RPI, Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh and MNS  have lent their support to the protest. The Maharashtra government had requested the farmers to withdraw their stir, but the farmers have refused to do so. The protest has embarrassed the BJP-led state government, which claimed to have taken various measures to tackle the farmers crisis.

In the backdrop of the agitation, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting of all senior officials on Sunday evening. The CM appointed a committee of six ministers, Chandrakant Patil, Pandurang Fundkar, Girish Mahajan, Eknath Shinde, Vishnu Savara and Subhash Deshmukh, to resolve the farmers issues. The government had requested farmers to assemble at Azad Maidan on Sunday night to avoid traffic snarls on Monday morning as students have their board exams.

The tribal farmers reached Thane on Sunday morning and Somaiya ground at Chunabhatti in the evening. Water resources minister and BJP leader Girish Mahajan met the leaders of the Kisan Sabha and Communist Party of Marxist and requested them to withdraw the march. However, the farmers refused. We are ready to hold talks with farmers and discuss their problems. But they should withdraw the protest, said Mr Mahajan.

However, Kisan Sabha leader Ajit Navale said that the protest will not be withdrawn. "We are ready to discuss with the government but will not withdraw the protest. We will march to gherao Vidhan Mandal tomorrow," Mr Navale said.

Nationalist Congress party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar and Congress state president Ashok Chavan declared their support to the protest. Mr Pawar said that some prominent NCP leaders would participate in the march on Monday. Yuva Sena chief Aditya Thackeray too participated in the protest at Vikroli declaring his party's support to the cause. Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh and RPI workers participated in the protest and welcomed the agitators at various places in Mumbai on Sunday.

Speaking about the farmers' demands, Mr Navale said, "The tribal farmers need land titles to be transferred on their names. Their ration cards have not been renewed and hence they do not get grains under the PDS. They need 1.5 times price to the agriculture goods." He had led the farmers' strike last year which led to the blocking of milk and vegetable supplies to the cities for few days.

The agitating farmers included men and women. Bharati Vagere (45), who has been walking from Nashik said that the forest land belongs to them. "We have rights on the forest land but the government is not transferring it on our names. We are unable to grow grains on it and are forced to do meagre manual works to feed our family. The loan waiver scheme has not helped us as many of us do not have big land holdings," she said.

The farmers, who had camped at the KJ Somaiya Ground in Sion, will start to move towards the Azad maidat midnight, from where they will proceed to the state assembly tomorrow morning.Protesters, who have been walking from March 6, did not expect the warm welcome from the people in the city.

Mumbai: The farmers protest march, which reached Mumbai on Sunday, received a warm welcome in the city. Members from several communities declared their support for the march. Muslim women showered flowers on the agitators while the Sikh community associated with a Gurudwara served food and water to them. Anganwadi Sevikas from Ramabai Nagar also welcomed farmers in Ghatkopar.

Protesters, who have been walking from March 6, did not expect the warm welcome from the people in the city. They cheered when suddenly a few women showered flowers on them from one of the foot overbridges at Nahur. The warm wishes and support was received at various places till the protest reach Chunabhatti.

We have been standing here since morning to welcome the farmers. We feel that they should get loan waiver and their demands also should be heard by the government. We are here to extend our support to them, Noorjaha Sheikh from suburban Jogeshwari said. A few women with RPIs blue flag showered flowers on the farmers.

The slogans such as, Shetkari Tum Aage Badho, hum tumhare sath hai, (farmers you march further, we are with you), the farmers should get loan waiver, Kisan sabha zindabad, Jamin amchya hakkachi, nahi konachya bapachi, (We are the owners of the land and not somebody else) were chanted during the march. Red flags, red caps were widely seen in the long march.

Members of Sant Baba Thaker Singhji Sevak Jatha at Tagore Nagar Vikroli were waiting for the farmers in scorching heat. They served water and poha to the farmers.Increase in Chinas defence budget is indeed closely linked to the goal of transforming the PLA into a modern, mechanised, IT-based force.

More than the figure, it is the intent behind the figure that matters. In a rather modest rise compared to its 2017 defence budget, Beijing has decided to increase its defence budget by 8.1 per cent in 2018. The 2017 defence budget was 7 per cent while the 2016 and 2015 figures were 7.6 per cent and 10.1 per cent respectively. Setting the goal to build a stronger armed force for the new era, the hike in the 2018 defence budget was projected by Premier Li Keqiang to meet the challenges emerging from the profound changes in the national security environment that China is facing. What are these profound changes?

The Chinese firmness to establish a stronger armed force is not new. The Chinese leadership defends this rise by stating that Chinas total defence budget is $175 billion, one-fourth of the United States budget, which is $716 billion, making it non-impressive and below par. So, this rise in the military budget is neither meant to engage in an arms race nor is it large enough to match with a superior military such as the US. In order to narrow the gap, Beijings strategy is to focus on economic modernisation, which can direct sustained high rates of investment in the defence sector. Chinese state media further contend that the country must aim to increase the budget to 20 to 30 per cent to emerge as a stronger military power with greater influence. There is obviously merit in this Chinese contention, but it becomes provocative when China links this increase to profound changes in the security environment. It points towards a grand Chinese thinking that is associated with its ambitions in the immediate Indo-Pacific, in particular, to the ongoing Peoples Liberation Army reforms, defence strategy and security ambitions.

Increase in Chinas defence budget is indeed closely linked to the goal of transforming the PLA into a modern, mechanised, IT-based force. The emphasis is being offered to bring qualitative changes in the PLA, both on the technological and operational fronts. A continuous technological revolution is taking place in modernising the PLA for a new era where the military emphasis is on information warfare. This points to the overall development, adoption and integration of micro-electronic technologies into weapons, precision-guided weapons and IT-based C4ISR system, in areas like artificial intelligence and Nano technology. The PLA reform is at the heart behind the rise of Chinas defence budget, but this reform is not taking place in isolation. The military leadership has always foreseen that a stronger and professional military is the key to challenge US supremacy. The main target therefore is to improve Chinas Comprehensive National Power (CNP), essentially to improve its economic, diplomatic and military prowess, and guarantee China its rightful place as a power at par with the US.

The reference to the profound changes is therefore linked to the recent security developments in the Indo-Pacific that are closely associated with Chinas international maritime and security ambitions. The emphasis is given to maritime zones, building maritime and military capability, protecting maritime networks, and creating alternative maritime supply routes in the Indian Ocean. Along with the South China Sea, the Strait of Malacca and the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean is factored highly as a maritime lifeline. As a result, Beijing has been closely observing the security developments in Indo-Pacific, with special emphasis on the Indian Ocean. There is a continuous stress to promote China as a maritime power, where the immediate aim is to have a superior numerical strength which increases Chinas maritime influence. This is intended to alter the balance of power equation in Indo-Pacific, where the US naval presence continues to remain the dominant force along with the increasing maritime understanding between India and Japan. The revival of the idea of the Quadrilateral initiative involving Australia, India, Japan and the US has further encouraged the Chinese security apparatus to focus more intently on the Indo-Pacific region. Donald Trumps 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS) report has also strengthened the Chinese resoluteness since the US increasingly views China as a revisionist power.

Chinas revisionism in military strategy is visible in Beijings international thinking in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The immediate target is to enhance its international profile as an advanced military. The recent deployment of the J-20 stealth fighters is a fine reference to this effect. Chinese officials were quoted stating proudly that the J-20 is aimed at safeguarding Chinas sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. Likewise, the new intercontinental ballistic missile Dongfeng-41, which is to be launched this year, is aimed at boosting Chinas profile as a missile power. The electromagnetic railgun if developed will make China the first country to test such a weapon at the sea. The emphasis is offered in strengthening Chinas technological capability in artificial intelligence, quantum information science, hypersonic technology, electromagnetic technology and supercomputing. These technological advancements are closely linked to Chinas defence budget and Xi Jinpings international security ambitions to put forth a strong military dream.

In fact, the changing security conditions in Indo-Pacific have constantly encouraged the Chinese leadership to increase the defence budget despite the slow growth rate in the Chinese economy. The reference to profound changes, however, points to a more interesting fact: Beijings defence budget and military dream are both complementary to each other. Chinas defence budget is critically discussed due to its non-transparency. The non-accounting of the budget allocated in military research and development, arms imports, nuclear forces and strategic rocket programme, budget spent for the Peoples Armed Police (PAP) to the overall defence budget have always been debated internationally. Likewise, Beijings military ambitions in the IOR are fast growing where Beijing is gradually establishing a number of military and strategic bases. Chinas naval base in Djibouti is a fitting reference to this effect. The Maritime Silk Road (MSR) facilitates the Chinese Navy to stay focused in the Indian Ocean. Besides, what needs to be understood is that Chinas military goals are not military per se, these are rather institutional foreign policy and national security centric goals tied to its national objectives. As a result, the Chinese military is in a position today to assert itself on defending territories and securing the countrys interests.

Beijings defence strategy and military planning has been mainly intended over the years to dissuade the US capability of supporting Taiwan and coerce the latter into unification. There seems to be a subtle change in this priority that is reflected in Chinas profound change reference while announcing the defence budget. The change is more towards enhancing military presence and enriching the maritime-military strategy in the Indo-Pacific region.There are several reasons why the China relationship is extremely important and ought to be seen as such.

Recent steps of the Narendra Modi government to go out of the way to appease Beijing can only lead to the entrenchment of unhealthy ties with our northern neighbour.

This would be singularly unfortunate because there is some merit in the view  held by some of our prominent foreign policy practitioners  that it is with Beijing that India must imagine her most important relationship.

This view has been obscured because, for the most part since the 1950s, our relations with the Soviet Union had very high value. There was a beneficial economic and defence component, besides Moscows crucial assistance on the Kashmir question in the UN Security Council. And since the end of the USSR, India has come to enjoy a very productive and comfortable connection with the West.

With China, the memory of 1962 has been somewhat effaced. Still, the bilateral interaction has at times been characterised by mutual mistrust, in part on account of China teaming up with Pakistan to discomfit India in a variety of ways. At the level of both popular perception and official deliberations, these factors have badly undercut the rapid rise in trade ties with China, about which some questioning has now begun to be raised.

On the whole, broad Indian nationalism has been affronted. Thats not a good sign in building relations with any country, leave alone a powerful neighbour with which there is an unsettled boundary.

There are several reasons why the China relationship is extremely important and ought to be seen as such. For one, Chinas economy is four times the size of Indias, although India could forge ahead in about 30 years time if we are sensible and can make our young population productive.

Two, China has been spending heavily on defence for a number of years, several times more than India. Three, China  like Pakistan, which it partners against India  is an unsatiated power, which makes it a troublesome entity.

It appears to have messianic zeal and a sense of destiny. In line with this, regionally it gives every impression of flexing its military muscle by growing as a maritime force, a missile force, and a cyber force in a manner that its neighbours find threatening. Its spectacular rise in recent decades has disturbed the placidity of the waters that surround it.

If any neighbour of China must deal with these harsh realities, it is evident that if ties are managed in an equable and mutually respectful way, India-China relations have enormous potential to be a stabilising factor for the international economy, and calming political nerves from the Strait of Hormuz to the East China Sea and the broad Indo-Pacific zone, an area of extraordinary economic and human potential.

For this to happen, India and China need to be sensitive to each others essential concerns. Only that can lead on to the present century being an Asian century. Regrettably, however, India has lately given the impression of being ready to accept an unequal relationship. That will stunt Indias potential, and impart an epidemiological dimension to the ties with unpredictable flare-up possibilities.

Recently, Chinas foreign minister Wang Yi reportedly told the Indian foreign secretary, who was on a visit to Beijing, that India ought to be prudent. Last week, Mr Wang, answering media questions, held forth rhetorically on the good that may ensue from good Sino-Indian ties, but pointedly noted that China would protect its legitimate interests. Is this a warning? And, if so, how is India going to prepare for it?

Replying to a Parliament question recently, the minister of state for defence gave the impression that India needed to prepare for a renewal of Chinese military belligerence in the Doklam area, where the armies of the two countries held each other in a standoff for 73 days last summer.

But the way India has shaped its political response gives the impression of being obsequious to Beijing, leaving room for the impression that the present government is strong on words but weak, vacillating and unimaginative when it comes to action.

New Delhi asked all officials not to associate themselves with programmes featuring the Dalai Lama. The noted Tibetan spiritual leader was planning on a programme to thank India in the 60th year of being given shelter in this country.

There was simply no need for this as Indian officials have not participated in the Tibetan monks programmes in the six decades that he has been here. The Dalai Lama runs only religious affairs here. A precondition set by India was that he wont engage in politics. Therefore, India declared a ban for transgressions that have never occurred. This is a sure sign of being overly courtly.

The meaning that can be plausibly read into this is that New Delhi is paying obeisance to Beijing. This is the way India has received it, and this is the way China would too. Indias several neighbours  who are always looking at how Beijing and New Delhi deal with one another  are also likely to read a similar meaning into recent events.

Here on, then, we may expect the Chinese to turn on the squeeze even harder  the perfect example of an unequal and inequitable relationship. In our ties with Nepal, which has lately made no bones about privileging China over India, and with Myanmar, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, our supine stance in relation to Beijing is likely to leave India without any worthwhile leverage in the region. What would then be left of Indias standing in Saarc?

Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru gave the Dalai Lama refuge in 1959 when the Tibetan uprising against Chinese occupation was crushed. The Chinese attacked India in 1962, and gave our unprepared forces a thrashing with a view to belittle Nehrus leadership. But Nehru stuck to his guns. He did not turn over the Tibetan monk to Beijing.

But the Modi regime appears to be altering the terms of engagement against the Tibetan holy man. This sudden loss of nerve on Indias part belittles us in the eyes of the Tibetan people and dents this countrys image across Asia and the world, which regards the Dalai Lama with sympathy.

It is now also easy to see why India backed off from underlining its strategic interests in the Maldives once it became clear that the absolutist government of President Abdulla Yameen was in cahoots with Beijing and has offered China a naval observation post, which, doubtless, will become a full-fledged military base on Indias doorstep. We have caved in and our interests will be hit hard all round.It is good to know our own limits, not to despair but to offer them to the Lord who never leaves us on our own, who takes us by the hand and for this we rejoice, said Francis. We must not be discouraged when we see our limitations, our weaknesses" for "God is greater than our weaknesses, our sins. Thus, Let's look at the cross to go forward."

Vatican City (AsiaNews)  Speaking before the Angelus, Pope Francis noted that today is the fourth Sunday of Lent, called laetare Sunday, that is "rejoice. In his address, the pontiff said that Christianity gives hope in God the Father, who is rich in mercy, whilst many people end up taking drugs or are victims of superstitions and magic because, seeking to do without God, they can be seized by concerns for the future, sickness and death.

"The starting antiphon of the Eucharistic liturgy invites us to joy," the pope said. Rejoice, Jerusalem [. . .]. Exult and rejoice, you who were in sadness. Thus, begins the Mass. What is the reason for this joy? It is God's great love for humanity, as the Gospel of today tells us: ' For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life (Jn, 3:16).

These words, which Jesus spoke during the meeting with Nicodemus, summarise a theme that is at the centre of the Christian proclamation: even when the situation seems desperate, God intervenes, offering man salvation and joy. In fact, God does not stand aside, but enters the history of humanity to animate it with his grace and save it ".

"We are called, Francis told the 40,000 people present in Saint Peter's Square, to listen to this proclamation, rejecting the temptation of considering ourselves sure of ourselves, of seeking to do without God, claiming absolute freedom from Him and from his Word. When we find the courage to recognise ourselves for what we are  and it takes courage for this  we realise that we are people called to deal with our fragility and our limits. Then it can happen that we become overcome by anguish, by the anxiety for tomorrow, by the fear of illness and death.

This explains why so many people, looking for a way out, sometimes take dangerous shortcuts such as the tunnel of drugs or that of superstitions or ruinous magic rituals. It is good to know our own limits, not to despair but to offer them to the Lord who never leaves us on our own, who takes us by the hand and for this we rejoice. [. . .] We must not be discouraged when we see our limitations, our weaknesses" for "God is greater than our weaknesses, our sins. [. . .] Let's look at the cross to go forward."

"May Mary, Mother of Mercy, put in our heart the certainty that we are loved by God. May she stay near us when we feel alone, when we are tempted to surrender to the difficulties of life. May she communicate to us the sentiments of her Son Jesus, so that our Lenten journey becomes an experience of forgiveness, welcome and charity."Joseph Luiz can be reached at 395-7368 or by email at jluiz@bakersfield.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @JLuiz_TBC.This feedback forum is designed to give readers a way to voice criticisms and compliments or ask questions about The Californians news coveraOn Monday, March 5, the House reconvened for Legislative Day 30 and the ninth week of the 2018 legislative session. In addition to vetting Senate measures in our respective House committees, we also took up several pieces of legislation on the House floor this week, including the Fiscal Year 2019 state budget, which is one of the most important bills that we will pass all session.

The Georgia General Assembly is constitutionally required to pass a balanced budget each year, and the House took a step in filling this constitutional obligation on Friday, March 9, by granting initial passage to House Bill 684, the Fiscal Year 2019 (FY 2019) budget. This years state budget is $50.85 billion and will guide our states spending from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019. The FY 2019 budget was determined by a revenue estimate of $26 billion, which is an increase of $1.03 billion, or 4.1 percent, over last years budget.

Each year, education funding is always one of the largest budget items in the state budget, and this year is no exception, with 55.9 percent of the entire budget allocated to education. First and foremost, the FY 2019 budget includes $119.5 million for K-12 enrollment growth and training and experience for an additional 6,552 students and 1,869 teachers across the state. Furthermore, the budget includes $111 million for the University System of Georgia enrollment growth and increased square footage; $5.5 million for the Technical College System of Georgia enrollment growth and increased square footage; $27.1 million for the Dual Enrollment program; $2.7 million for 1,177 additional HOPE and Zell Miller private scholarships; and $65.3 million for 27,832 more HOPE and Zell Miller public scholarships. Finally, one of the most important education appropriations included in the FY 2019 budget was $8 million for school security grants to improve security in Georgias schools, which was added to the budget in light of one of the deadliest school shootings in recent history. This funding is instrumental in helping to protect Georgias students, teachers and school staff members, and we hope that our Senate counterparts will join us in adding supplementary school security funding as well.

In addition to education funding, health care costs also make up a significant portion of the FY 2019 budget. The FY 2019 budget provides $16.9 million for a 4.3 percent provider rate increase for nursing homes and $962,022 for increased background checks for long-term care facility owners and employees. Mental health initiatives are also a significant budgetary focus in the House, and the FY 2019 budget provides critical funding for several mental health programs that will benefit our states citizens. Specifically, the 2019 budget implements the Commission on Childrens Mental Healths recommendations by funding child and adolescent crisis services, including four new respite homes; 13 new Georgia APEX Program grants to expand mental health services to students in 100 more schools; telemedicine equipment and services; and high-fidelity wraparound services training that will impact up to 3,000 young Georgians.

Georgias 2019 state budget also provides funding for Georgias highly successful accountability courts, as well as for nine additional assistant district attorney positions and nine assistant public defenders to support juvenile courts across the state. Finally, the budget includes appropriations for statewide transportation infrastructure construction, maintenance and improvements. These highlights are just a handful of all the items in Georgias FY 2019 budget, and the state budget in its entirety reflects the diversity of our states citizens, needs and opportunities.

Finally, on Monday, March 5, Governor Nathan Deal signed House Bill 159, one of the Houses most important bills this session, into law. HB 159 will significantly update and modernize Georgias adoption laws for the first time in nearly three decades, and this bill will streamline and expedite all types of adoptions in Georgia. The new adoption laws will increase efficiencies in every aspect of Georgia adoption, and these additions and revisions to our adoption code will bring Georgia up to speed with the rest of the country. Our states updated adoption code will benefit every family going through the adoption process and every child in Georgia in need of adoption, and this groundbreaking legislation will go into effect on Sept. 1, 2018.

With only eight legislative days remaining until we adjourn sine die, the General Assembly is in the final stretch of the 2018 legislative session. Legislative Day 40, the last day of session, is Thursday, March 29, and although we only have a few weeks left to finish our legislative business, my colleagues in the House, as well as our Senate counterparts, will be hard at work to ensure that we pass meaningful legislation for the people of our great state. Until then, please feel free to reach out to me to voice any concerns or questions you have on any legislation up for consideration in the House or the Senate. I can be reached at my Capitol office at 404-656-0202, or by email at john.deffenbaugh@house.ga.gov.

As always, thank you for allowing me to serve as your state representative.

Rep. John Deffenbaugh



Haines City just finished the massive undertaking of digitizing gravesites in two city-owned cemeteries. The city clerk hopes itll make it much easier for family and friends to find their loved ones.

Haines City finishes online database for cemeteries

Online map, database allows people to search for loved ones

Database for Oakland cemetery

Database for Forest Hill cemetery

Duane Temple was pleased to learn about the project.

Good look Haines City. Youre getting something right, Duane Temple said as he looked up his loved ones' graves online.

Temple comes to Oakland cemetery to visit with his cousin Jonathan Jordan, at least twice a month. Jordan was a rapper known as JGreen who was shot and killed back in 2016.

"You know it'll never get any easier," Temple said.

Putting all of the gravesites online is a project Haines City Clerk Linda Bourgeois started two and half years ago, when she took on the position.

"What we did is, we took and we reorganized all of the cemetery records by lot block and space. By doing that we were able to locate who was where. It was a collective effort between all of us to get this done and we're really proud of the work, said Linda Bourgeois.

She said some of the grave site information was handwritten and dated back to the early 1900s. She wanted to reorganize the information to make sure it was accurate. With Forest Hill and Oakland cemeteries combined, that's more than ninety five hundred graves her staff had to sort through. The older portion of Oakland cemetery is not included, as the city doesnt have full ownership of it yet.

The online map and database allows people to search their loved ones last name, and find a map of exactly where the grave or headstone is located in the cemetery.

"It became a trend about two to three years ago. It was really something that most cities felt was beneficial, said Bourgeois.

With the gravesites now online, city staff said it's now easier to track where veterans are buried.

"We can provide that list of interments to other non-profits who may want to come out and put flags, said Bourgeois.

The online database also helps the clerk's office make sure its staff isn't selling plots that have already been sold.A Bay Area group is taking big steps to help fix crowded and expensive emergency rooms.

Tampa Crisis Center to test out pilot paramedicine program

Idea is to bring care to those who overuse emergency rooms

To reach the Crisis Center, call 2-1-1

The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay just received a grant for a pilot paramedicine program. The idea is to bring care to those who use the emergency room too much.

Ken Gibson with the Crisis Center says its common problem.

We operate an ambulance service. We do have people that call frequently and its not an emergency situation, Gibson said.

With a $285,000 grant from Florida Blue, theyre launching a paramedicine program that actually takes care to frequent patients.

The treatment is not taking place in the ER or a clinic. This is a mobile team that will meet with individuals and connect them to the help they need, Gibson said.

VP Jennifer Moore says the Center will work with local hospitals and doctors to identify folks who may be in need of frequent care, including mental health patients.

The real goal is when that person is in the hospital for that initial visit, our paramedic will meet with them there, develop that relationship, find out what the needs are. Then we go to them, wherever they are, Moore said.

They hope this also brings down the number of patients over-using the ER and possibly lowering costs for everyone.

If we can take people out of that system, who, while they have a need, dont really have an emergency need, then there could be cost savings from the health system across the board, Moore said.

The program is one of the first of its kind in the country and will be offered throughout Hillsborough County. The funding is for a 3-year period.

The Center helps with all sorts of issues, including suicide prevention and medical transport.

You can reach them by simply dialing 2-1-1.

The Signal Mountain Genealogical Society will meet at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, April 3, at the Walden Town Hall, 1836 Taft Hwy.

Refreshments will be served followed by a brief business meeting and program.

The speaker for the April meeting, Norma Jean Hobbs, will speak on, The Hixson  Hixon Family Ties.

Visitors are always welcome.T

he U.S. is bolstering its military presence in Afghanistan, more than 16 years after the war started. Is anyone paying attention?





Consider this: At a

hearing this past week on top U.S. security threats, the word "Afghanistan" was spoken exactly four times, each during introductory remarks. In the ensuing two hours of questions for intelligence agency witnesses, no senator asked about Afghanistan, suggesting little interest in a war with nearly 15,000 U.S. troops supporting combat against the

.





It's not as if the war's end is in sight.





Just last month the bulk of an Army training brigade of about 800 soldiers arrived to improve the advising of Afghan forces. Since January, attack planes and other aircraft have been added to U.S. forces in Afghanistan.





But it's not clear that the war, which began in October 2001, is going as well as the U.S. had hoped seven months after President Donald Trump announced a new, more aggressive strategy. The picture may be clearer once the traditionally most intensive fighting season begins in April or May. Over the winter, American and Afghan warplanes have focused on attacking illicit drug facilities that are a source of Taliban revenue.





One of Washington's closest watchers of the Afghanistan conflict, Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote last month that the administration has made major improvements in military tactics and plans for developing Afghan forces but has "done nothing to deal with civil and political stability." That challenge is expected to come into clearer focus with the approach of parliamentary elections planned for July.





The administration "not only faces a deteriorating security situation, it has no clear political, governance, or economic strategy to produce Afghan stability," Cordesman said. In his view, the U.S. military has been assigned a "mission impossible" in Afghanistan.





The weak central government in Kabul and the resilient Taliban insurgency are not the U.S. military's only problems there. It also faces what Gen. Joseph Votel, the top U.S. general overseeing the war, calls interference by Russia. He told a congressional panel last month that Moscow is seeking to undermine U.S. and NATO influence in Afghanistan by exaggerating the presence of Islamic State fighters there and portraying this as a U.S. failure.



In secret, behind locked gates, our Nation's Oldest City dumped a landfill in a lake (Old City Reservoir), while emitting sewage in our rivers and salt marsh. Organized citizens exposed and defeated pollution, racism and cronyism. We elected a new Mayor. We're transforming our City -- advanced citizenship. Ask questions. Make disclosures. Demand answers. Be involved. Expect democracy. Report and expose corruption. Smile! Help enact a St. Augustine National Park and Seashore. We shall overcome!BORDERLAND BEAT

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Metro Manila (CNN Phiilippines, March 9)  House Justice Panel Chairman Rep. Reynaldo Umali is confident they will be able to remove embattled Supreme Court Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno from her post.

Speaking to CNN Philippines, Umali, a former prosecutor at the late Chief Justice Renato Corona's impeachment trial, said violations allegedly committed by Sereno are worse than her ousted predecessor.

"This is even worse, kaya [That's why] I cannot imagine the senator-judges to decide in a different way," Umali said.

He said Senate, sitting as an impeachment court, convicted Corona in 2012 for omissions in his statements of assets, liabilities, and net worth (SALN)-- grounds similar to those Sereno is facing.

"Apart from non-submission of SALN, meron pang failure to disclose two properties in SALN. Mas masahol pa ito kay Chief Justice Corona," said Umali.

The House Justice Panel, voting 38-2, ruled on Thursday there was probable cause to impeach Sereno.

There are 27 allegations against the chief magistrate, which fall under four grounds of impeachment: culpable violation of the Constitution, corruption, betrayal of public trust, and other high crimes.

Among these issues are her alleged failure to file her SALN as professor at the University of the Philippines, and other omissions in her SALN.

Atty. Tranquil Salvador, a former defense lawyer and spokesman of Corona, believes the late chief justice's trial may have set some precedent for future cases.

He said it may affect how senator-judges will view the SALN charges against Sereno.

"Some of them were there in 2012, so they are aware that that was the ground that was used to convict a previous chief justice," Salvador said.

However, House Majority Leader Rudy Farinas, who was also a prosecutor in the Corona trial, has told congressmen to make sure the case against Sereno is airtight, recalling how difficult it was then to defend badly-written articles of impeachment.

He advised would-be prosecutors it would be better to have few but strong grounds for impeachment as they only need a conviction on one ground to remove an official.

"Pagdating doon, para kaming nangangapa-ngapa doon. Napagsasabihan, napagtatawanan hanggang inalis namin ibang mga articles of impeachment," he said.

[Translation: When we arrived there, it was like we were still getting a hang of things. They told us off, laughed at us until we removed some of the articles of impeachment.]

Dinagat islands Representative Kaka Bag-ao, on the other hand, believes Corona and Sereno's issues are different.

Bag-ao was also a prosecutor in the Corona trial. She said contrary to Sereno's case, a lot of evidence was presented that proved Corona did not declare a number of assets and properties in his SALN.

"Walang evidence na hindi siya (Sereno) nagfile, in fact yung JBC result sa investigation ng qualification nya said she substantially complied with the requirements ng JBC," she said.

[Translation: There is no evidence that she didn't file, in fact the JBC results on the investigation of her qualifications said she substantially complied with the JBC's requirements.]

Alejano on Sereno vote in Plenary: It's a done deal

Meanwhile, opposition lawmaker MAGDALO Representative Gary Alejano said he is "not optimistic" the House plenary will overturn the Justice Panel's vote on Sereno's impeachment case.

"What we can do is make some discussions, interpellate the committee on their reports and then talk to some of our colleagues there but i'm not really optimistic because it's already a done deal," he said.

Alejano, however, said Sereno may have a fighting chance if she faces the impeachment court.

"As of now, we don't have that initiative (to lobby at Senate), but we have some information that the chief justice will stand a chance in the senate," said Alejano.

"But again this is purely a political process aside from being a legal process and therefore it depends on the political inclinations of the members of the Senate," he added.

Alejano said moves to delay voting on Sereno's case until the Supreme Court's decision on the quo warranto petition against her show they "have a weak case against the chief justice."

"By all means, we should already transmit that to the senate so that once and for all we can put closure to the issue and move forward," he said.

Speaking to CNN Philippines on Thursday, Sereno said she is "ready" to face the Senate impeachment court.

When asked about her preparations, Sereno said in an exclusive interview with CNN Philippines her team was "quite advanced [and] ready to go."

READ: Sereno on impeachment defense: We're 'ready to go'Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 11)  The National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL) will question the new law granting subpoena powers to the National Police chief, as well as the director and deputy director of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) for supposedly violating the Bill of Rights.

NUPL President Edre Olalia said Republic Act (RA) No. 10973, which President Rodrigo Duterte recently signed into law, gives the police a shortcut to avoid complying with the strict requirements needed when applying for warrants of search or arrest.

"I think it is open to questions of constitutionality for violation of the Bill of Rights...so we will question it in court, subject to resources," Olalia said.

READ: Duterte signs law giving PNP chief, officials subpoena powers

Article 3, section 2 of the Bill of RIghts states: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures of whatever nature and for any purpose shall be inviolable, and no search warrant or warrant of arrest shall issue except upon probable cause to be determined personally by the judge after examination under oath or affirmation of the complainant and the witnesses he may produce, and particularly describing the place to be searched and the persons or things to be seized."

He added, while the police cannot arrest those who do not heed the subpoena, a charge for obstruction of justice may be filed against them.

Olalia warned the police may use the subpoena powers to conduct a so-called fishing expedition on persons of interest for a case without the need to get warrants from the court.

"'Yung mga shortcuts na hindi nakukuha ng search warrant, hindi na kailangang kumuha ng warrant of arrest, dadaanin na lang sa subpoena," Olalia said.

[Translation: The shortcuts that aren't covered by a search warrant, they don't need to get a warrant of arrest, they'll do it with a subpoena.]

Olalia clarified that these subpeonas were not like those from the NBI or prosecutors, where there would be no prejudice if not followed.

"Dito pwede kang i-indirect contempt. Maliban diyan, ang di sinasabi nila, kahit di ka i-indirect contempt, pwede nilang sabihin obstruction of justice ka," he said.

[Translation: Here, you can be charged with indirect contempt. Apart from that, what they're not saying is, even if you're not cited for indirect contempt, they can cite you for obstruction of justice.]

Duterte approved RA 10973 on March 1, saying police officials now have the power to summon people and request documents in aid of investigations.

"The subpoena shall state the nature and purpose of the investigation, shall be directed to the person whose attendance is required, and in the case of a subpoena ducus tecum, it shall also contain a reasonable description of the books, documents, or things demanded which must be relevant to the investigation," the law said.

R.A. 10973 also said failure to comply with a PNP subpoena could lead to an indirect contempt charge at the Regional Trial Court.Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, March 11)  A human rights lawyer said the Justice Department's petition to name more than 600 individuals as terrorists is a move to persecute the opposition.

"It is part of a shotgun witch-hunt designed to sow and create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic among the populace, in order to coerce the critics, dissenters, social activists, human rights defenders and revolutionaries alike to give in to the government's repressive demand," lawyer Edre Olalia said Sunday.

Olalia, president of the National Union of People's Lawyers (NUPL), added, the list is an "odd concoction" of individuals which can lead to a "more intense crackdown."

The list forms part of the Department of Justice's (DOJ) February 21 petition to the Regional Trial Court in Manila to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People's Army (CPP-NPA) as terrorists and outlawed organizations or associations.

The petition said the CPP and NPA have used, and are still using, "acts of terror to sow and create a condition of widespread and extraordinary fear and panic" among the people, with the end goal of overthrowing duly constituted authorities and to seize control of the government through armed struggle.

The petition attributed the August 1971 bombing in Plaza Miranda to the CPP-NPA. Other acts of terror cited were continuous murder, kidnapping, and arson.

"In fact by reason of their terrorist activities, the CPP-NPA was designated as a terrorist group or organization by the (United States) and by the (European Union)," the petition added.

Olalia noted the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDF) was not mentioned on the list except as reference to the termination of the peace talks.

The NDFP is the negotiating arm of the communist rebels, while the NPA is the armed wing.

The NUPL lawyer added, most of the 656 individuals named were peace consultants, alleged underground rebels, and legal personalities of mass organizations all over the country.

In fact, included on the list are NDF consultants Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, and Adelberto Silva who were granted provisional liberty in 2016 to participate in the peace talks between the communist rebels and the government.

READ: Manila court orders re-arrest of Tiamzons

The three were tagged as "known officers" of the CPP and NPA in the complaint.

The government ordered the arrest of the Tiamzons and Silva in January, after President Rodrigo Duterte canceled the peace talks in November.

READ: Gov't cancels all planned peace talks with communist rebels

Almost two weeks after, Duterte issued a proclamation declaring the CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization.

READ: President Duterte declares the communist party and its armed wing a terrorist organization

The DOJ petition said even after the President's proclamation, the CPP-NPA still had the "intent to continue with its terrorist acts" to overthrow the government.

"Jose Maria Sison was even emphatic in declaring that the NPA can kill one soldier each day per region in order to compel the GRP to resume the peace negotiations," the petition read.

Also included on the list is United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, who earlier denounced the inclusion of her name.

"I am not connected at all in any way to those organizations nor do I have any knowledge, much less participation, with the alleged incidents cited in the petition," Tauli-Corpuz said in a statement.

READ: UN human rights experts slam inclusion of rapporteur in DOJ 'terrorist' list

The Palace said the list is not intended to persecute UN experts, adding Corpuz is on the list "because of intelligence information that she is somehow connected with the CPP-NPA."

CNN Philippines' digital producer Eimor Santos and multi-platform writer Regine Cabato contributed to this report.Uh-oh! It could be you, or it could be us, but there's no page here.A consortium of Jet Airways, Air France-KLM and Delta Airlines is understood to have expressed its interest in the Air India disinvestment, according to sources.

Moving ahead with the strategic disinvestment of loss-making Air India, the government is expected to soon invite Expressions of Interest (EoI) from bidders.

Against this backdrop, sources said a consortium of three full services, including Jet Airways, are keen to put in their bid for the national carrier.

Jet Airways along with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines are interested in participating in Air India disinvestment, sources told PTI.

When contacted, a Jet Airways spokesperson said the airline would not like to comment on speculations.

Queries sent to Air France-KLM and Delta remained unanswered.

Jet Airways' possible bid for Air India by way of a consortium also comes less than four months after the Naresh Goyal-led airline enhanced cooperation agreement with the Air France-KLM Group.

Interestingly, Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube had a decade-long career at Delta Air Lines before joining the Indian carrier last year. Immediately before coming to Jet Airways, he was Senior Vice President (Asia Pacific) at the American airline.

Air France-KLM and its partners Delta and Alitalia operate the largest Trans-Atlantic joint-venture with over 270 daily flights.

Though Air India is saddled with huge debt, acquiring the airline can help boost the acquirer in terms of foot print and bilateral rights.

While a group of ministers are still in the process of finalising the contours of Air India stake sale, the civil aviation ministry has so far said that officially it has received expression of interest from at least no-frills carrier IndiGo and an unidentified foreign airline.

The enhanced partnership between Jet Airways and Air France-KLM Group, announced in November, would help in boosting connectivity between 106 European cities and 44 domestic destinations.

At that time, Naresh Goyal had said he would speak to the group chairmen of Air France-KLM and Delta to explore the possibility of deepening this cooperation through joint purchase of fuel and closer tie-ups in engineering and maintenance all of which would be revenue accretive.

The government expects to complete the privatisation of Air India this year and is likely to put up for sale as four different entities.

Last month, Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha had said he had many discussions with many different players for Air India as well as various different entities that belong to the Air India group.

Air India, its low-cost arm Air India Express and subsidiary AISATS are likely to be offered as one entity, while regional arm Alliance Air would be a separate entity.

Besides, Air India Air Transport Services Ltd (AIATSL) and Air India Engineering Services Ltd (AIESL) will be sold separately.

AISATS is a 50:50 joint venture between Air India and Singapore Airlines' group entity SATS Ltd.

Last year, aviation services provider Bird Group had expressed interest in acquiring Air India's ground handling subsidiary AIATSL.

On March 6, the Civil aviation ministry had said Air India has been showing "considerable improvement" in operational and financial parameters.

In June 2017, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its in-principle nod to the strategic disinvestment of the airline, which has a debt burden of over Rs 50,000 crore.

Subsequent to the decision, the Air India Specific Alternative Mechanism (AISAM), headed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, was set up to decide on specific issues.

The national carrier is staying on taxpayers' money under the turnaround plan approved by the previous UPA government in 2012.

Under the plan, the airline is to get Rs 30,231 crore up to 2021, subject to achieving certain milestones. So far, the government has infused Rs 26,545.21 crore into the carrier.(CNN Philippines, March 11)  Five people were killed, including three minors, after a fire razed a house in Barangay Puntod, Cagayan de Oro City, early Saturday.

Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) investigator Senior Fire Officer 1 Imelda Barasan identified the victims as Cerillo siblings Louie, 10 years old, Michelle, 13, Mary Grace, 12, and Mark Kenneth, 21.

The fifth fatality was 21-year-old Connie Nandon, said to be the girlfriend of Mark Kenneth.

Authorities said the minors were trapped in a room on the second floor of their two-story house. Mark's body was found in the kitchen area, while Nandon's body was found in the comfort room.

The fire also wounded Melody and Mary Joy Cerillo, Jun and Lilibeth Carillo who all sustained first degree burns.

The fire broke out at around 1:00 a.m. Saturday and fire officials declared fire out at about 2 a.m.

Barasan said authorities are investigating the cause of the fire.

The estimated damage of the fire was pegged at P100,000.

The deadly fire came after a week the BFP campaigned for fire safety awareness in the observance of Fire Prevention Month this March.

The BFP has recorded more than 700 fire incidents in Northern Mindanao last year. More than 500 of these were "accidental," mostly due to electrical faults in residential areas.Online eyewear firm Lenskart plans to invest $5 million in the next 3 years at its manufacturing facility for spectacles frames.

The company recently started the facility near Gurugram in Haryana that has a manufacturing capacity of 100,000 frames a month with an investment of $1 million. It is looking at ramping it up to 300,000 frames in 3 years.

"We have set up with facility to be able to innovate on design and manufacture high quality spectacle frames at lower costs. We will invest $5 million over the next three years and will be able to manufacture 300,000 frames a month" Lenskart founder and CEO Peyush Bansal told PTI.

Currently, this facility will only meet half of our total frames demand. Rest we will manage through contract manufacturing, he added.

"Over the period, we expect cost of these high quality frames to come down by 30 per cent," he said.

Bansal said spectacles account for 80 per cent of its total turnover and the company sells over 200,000 eye glasses a month at present. The company expects Rs 4 billion turnover from eye glasses in the current financial year.The Indian Air Force (IAF) will be pressed to rescue students caught in a forest fire in Tamil Nadu's Theni district, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced on Sunday.

She said the Southern Command was in touch with the Theni District Collector.

Sitharaman said she was responding to a request from Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.

At least 20 students trekking in Kurankani hills in Theni were caught in the forest fire. Fire tenders have also reached the spot to rescue the students.Buoyed by the USD 12.5 billion deal with SpiceJet, French major Safran's CEO has said it expects more such big deals and higher share in the Indian commercial aerospace market.

Safran, which has a significant presence in India across commercial aerospace and defence segments, has just inked a USD 12.5 billion (over Rs 810 billion) worth deal with no-frills airline SpiceJet for CFM aircraft engines.

The Safran-SpiceJet deal, under which around 340 engines are to be supplied to the budget carrier, is also one of the biggest in Indian aviation sector.

"Of course, it is a big deal and when you a sign a deal of more than USD 12 billion you are extremely happy... It is extremely important for CFM, Safran and General Electric, which is our partner in this joint venture. We have to produce 340 engines even if it is over a long period of time, it is something extremely exciting for a company like ours," Safran Group CEO and Director Philippe Petitcolin told PTI.

Speaking soon after signing the pact with SpiceJet, he also said that India is a growing country in terms of commercial aerospace market.

Indian carriers have substantial orders for new aircraft as they embark on ambitious expansion plans amid growing demand in the domestic aviation space. They are likely to induct more than 900 aircraft in the coming years.

To a query on whether Safran expects more deals like that of with SpiceJet, Petitcolin replied in the affirmative.

"Yes of course. India is a growing country in terms of commercial aerospace market. You have a growth in the range of 17 per cent a year. We need more and more aeroplanes. We are one of the two leaders (in engine manufacturing) in the world. We have a market share of over 70 per cent in the short medium range aircraft segment. We wish to have a better and higher market share in India," he said.

SpiceJet and Safran Group have now finalised the purchase of LEAP-1B engines to power a total of 155 Boeing 737 MAX planes along with spare engines to support the fleet. The deal was inked at the Indo- French Economic Partnership signing ceremony on Saturday on the occasion of French President Emmanuel Macron visit to India.

CFM engines are manufactured by CFM International, a joint venture between Safran and General Electric.

The airline has also signed a ten-year Rate per Flight Hour (RPFH) agreement with CFM Services that covers all LEAP-1B engines powering SpiceJet's 737 MAX planes.

RPFH agreements are part of CFM's portfolio of flexible aftermarket support offerings.

Under the terms of the agreement, CFM guarantees maintenance costs for all SpiceJet's LEAP-1B engines on a pay by hour basis.

According to Safran India's website, more than 1,000 CFM 56 and LEAP engines are in service. The company's joint venture with Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) in Bengaluru manufactures CM56 and LEAP components for CFM International. Safran and GE, to provide maintenance training for operators of CFM56 engines.Taslima Nasreen's book "Dwikhandito" (Split in two), which was banned by the West Bengal government in 2003 for allegedly hurting the sentiments of the Muslim community, is now available in English.

Nasrin is known for her writing on women's rights and criticism of religious fundamentalism. This defiance on her part had led to the ban on the Bengali original of the book by the then Left Front in West Bengal as well as the government of Bangladesh.

While the West Bengal government lifted the injunction after the ban was struck down by the Calcutta High Court in 2005, Nasrin was eventually driven out of Kolkata and forced to expunge passages from the book, besides facing a four-million-dollar defamation lawsuit.

Now published in English as "Split: A Life" by Penguin Random House India, the book tells about Nasrin's experiences and works, her stint as a doctor, how she became the target of fundamentalists, how "Lajja" was banned and her life in exile in India.

"In my country, fundamentalism was on the rise and the winds were blowing in their favour. As usual, women were the first to fall victim to the fatwas issued by fatwaphilic maulanas in villages across the country," she writes in the book, translated by Maharghya Chakraborty.

About her writings, she says she wrote with a lot of trepidation and awkwardness and was never fully happy with the final outcome.

"Despite the nagging voices in my head regarding my novels, there was one thing at least that I could achieve in them. With each woman whose life I laid bare in the pages of my novels I tried to reaffirm that a woman's body and her heart were her own and not someone else's property to treat as they pleased," she writes.

On the ban on "Lajja"and the subsequent fatwa against her, Nasrin describes how the foreign media was after her, requesting interviews, op-ed pieces and reactions.

" mosque was not safe for me, nor was the home of someone staunchly conservative, nor a dark alley, an empty road, a terrorist' hideout, a den of drunks, some religious event, a Jamaat congregation or literally a villain's lair," she says, adding the safest place was the confines of her home.

Narin says "Lajja" wasn't the main reason behind the ire of the fundamentalists.

"The fundamentalists had been upset with me for some time; the ban had only managed to add fuel to the fire that had been simmering for a long time. This explained the fatwa. The government's inaction had bolstered their courage and further fanned the flames. This explained the nationwide movement," she writes.French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced an additional investment of 700 million euros for global solar energy generation by 2022 to reduce the use of fossil fuel and help combat climate change.

Speaking at the launch of the first Solar Alliance (ISA) summit, Macron called for "joint duties" towards a "planet that we are sharing" and took a dig at his US counterpart Donald Trump who pulled out of the 2015 Paris climate deal.

Macron said the summit to revolutionize the use of the clean energy by generating over 1,000 GW of solar power by 2030 was an outcome of the Paris accord even as "some left the floor" but others decided to act and keep acting.

The French President co-chaired the summit with with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Rashtrapati Bhavan that was also attended by the heads of 23 nations and 10 ministerial representatives.

Among those present were UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid.

"The French Development Agency will allocate additional 700 million euros to its commitment to solar energy by 2022," Macron said.

This will take France's total commitment to the solar alliance to 1,000 million euros.

"In 2015, we said we will allocate some 300 million euros to support (solar) projects in the member countries. This commitment by France was met a couple of months ago."

Conceptualised by India, the solar alliance currently has 121 member countries. Out of those, 60 have signed the solar treaty and some 30 have ratified it.

The alliance of sun-rich countries was launched jointly by Modi and then French President Francois Hollande on the sidelines of the landmark 2015-Paris climate talks.

Without taking President Trump's name, Macron at the Delhi summit said while some left the climate deal others stayed because they wish good for their children and grand children.

"All of us her have experienced global warming. Some of you here have lost your territories, and life of citizens.

"We should not forget that we only have one planet that we are sharing and for that there is no alternative. There is a joint destiny which means we also have some joint duties.

"Without the concept of climate justice there would have been no Paris Agreement."

The French President pointed out that the alliance of the countries situated between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer account for three-fourth of the world's population with a potential of 138 GW of solar power.

But, he said, only 50 to 60 per cent people living in the region have access to electricity.

Macron said the alliance needed to identify solar projects in every single member country.

"Each country with its solar energy potential will identify here their needs and how much finance they need. One hundred projects have already been listed," he said, further calling the member states that investments in "these projects are very profitable".

Under the ISA, 100 centres for excellence would train 10,000 technicians to achieve the target of 1,000 GW of solar energy that needs $1,000 billion, the President said.

He said the ISA should help small enterprises in small countries to help them mobilize projects and finances.

"But in order to reach $1,000 by 2030, to reach 1,000 GW solar energy, we need private investors. The alliance will provide a favourable framework," he assured, adding that France, India, the World Bank and other member states were reviewing expensive existing guarantee mechanism.

The French President stressed on the affordable low cost solar solutions, saying "the alliance should be a place where technology can meet the expectations of people and country".

He lauded India's solar commitments that has 20 GW installed solar capacity - one of the fastest growing in the world. The country has increased its solar power capacity by about eight times over the past four years.

India's wind power generation capacity is 32.8 GW. It aims to achieve 175 GW of clean energy by 2022, of which 100 GW is solar.US President Donald Trump is considering Christopher P. Liddell, a White House official who was an executive at Microsoft, to succeed departing as the top economic adviser, a media report said.

Citing two persons who were briefed on the discussions, The Seattle Times reported on Saturday that Liddell, who is the White House director of strategic initiatives, is seen as a front-runner to replace Cohn as director of the National Economic Council.

However, a firm decision has not been made Christopher P. Liddell, worked as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Microsoft and later for General Motors. He joined the Trump administration last year and has worked closely with Jared Kushner, the President's son-in-law and senior adviser.

ALSO READ: Trump economic adviser Gary Cohn quits after dispute over tariffs

Gary Cohn, former president of Goldman Sachs bank, resigned last week amid a major internal clash over Trump's decision to impose tariffs on aluminium and steel imports.

It is the latest in a series of high-profile departures from Trump's team. Cohn, who had been rumoured just weeks ago as a potential next Chief of Staff, will leave the White House in the coming weeks, CNN reported.

Shahira Knight, a deputy to Cohn who was crucial to the legislation revamping the tax code, and was one of the favourites to replace. But Knight was uninterested, officials were quoted as saying.

Liddell, a New Zealander by birth, became Microsoft's CFO in 2005, leading the company through the economic downturn. After joining General Motors in 2010, he helped guide the automaker's recovery from bankruptcy, the report said.In a historic decision, China on Sunday removed the two-term limit on presidency, clearing the decks for the all-powerful President to rule the world's most populous country for life.

Scrapping the 35-year old rule brought by "paramount" leader Deng Xiaoping to prevent the country from returning to one-man rule like that of Mao Zedong, China's largely ceremonial parliament amended the Constitution by lifting the two-term limit.

With term limits gone, Xi can rule China until he retires, dies or is ousted. He is already dubbed as the country's next Mao, founder of modern China who ruled from 1949 until his death in 1976.

Of the 2,963 deputies (lawmakers) of the Chinese parliament, three abstained and two voted against the proposal to amend the Constitution.

China watchers say the country, which has a one-party rule, could well be headed for a single-man rule.

Xi, who succeeded Hu Jintao in 2012 as General Secretary of the Communist Party, became China's President a year later.

Over the years, Xi has come to hold a vice-like of China.

Besides being the General Secretary of the Communist Party, he is the Chairman of the Central Military Commission -- the supreme body of the Chinese army.

Although the post of General Secretary is more powerful than that of the President in China, the latter is used to deal with the outside world.

Mao set up the President's office in 1954 and quit the post after five years, giving it to Liu Shaoqi, handpicked by him. Liu was a puppet President and fell out of favour during Mao's Cultural Revolution.

Mao did away with the President's post in 1975 only to for it be revived by Deng in 1982 with a two-term cap after his death.

Currently and in the near future, there seems no leader who could challenge a towering Xi.

Both the dissenters and rising politicians have either fallen in line or are behind the bars apparently on graft charges.

There is no room for dissent in Xi's era, with a heavy censor on the media and civil society.

Xi had made his intention to stay in power beyond 2023 sort of known when he did not name his successor at the party's key once-in-five-years meet last October.

His predecessors, Hu and Jiang Zemin, had conventionally announced their successors.

Xi's move was widely speculated as his desire to cling to power beyond 10 years, but little was anticipated of the proposal in this regard that came like a bolt from the blue last month.

This has startled the global community.

On the global stage, Xi holds a reputation.

He arguably enjoys more clout than US President Donald Trump who has been ridiculed or slammed home and abroad for his theatrics and controversial decisions.

Trump once described Xi as the "most powerful leader" China has had in a century.

Under his signature Belt and Road project, China has invested billions of dollars in building highways, ports, railways in several countries.

Although India has opposed the initiative, China claims to have the support of over 100 countries.

Under Xi, China has made deep inroads into South Asia, a sphere of influence of India.

It is building infrastructure projects worth over $ 50 billion in Pakistan and has also taken a key Sri Lankan port on lease.

It piped India to provide internet services to Nepal and has key projects in Maldives.

(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.)Kirti Ajmera, a survivor of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, is yet to receive any sort of compensation from the government.

"I haven't recovered fully. Congress leaders of that time had promised to help me, but eventually, they did not and stopped answering my calls too. Media should also follow up such cases which they did not," the victim told ANI.

Ajmera, a 61-year-old resident of the Mumbai suburb Malad, has reportedly splurged lakhs of rupees on numerous operations he has undergone for the treatment of the injuries he suffered during the bomb blasts.

He took to Twitter to draw the attention of fellow Gujarati Narendra Modi to the matter.

"Sir I am KIRTI Ajmera, #VictimOf1993BombBlast undergone many surgeries and still spending lacs of rupees to remove glass splinters from my body, even after 25 years I hv not recd. Justice or Single Penny of Compensation till date #INeedJustice #VictimKirtiAjmera ," he tweeted.

.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Members of the Indian Congress (INC) in Ludhiana prayed for the well being of Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on the occasion of his 75th birthday on Sunday.

The INC members performed a yajna to mark the occasion.

"Today we conducted a yajna for Captain Amarinder Singh on the occasion of his birthday for his well being and long life. ", said President, Congress of Ludhiana district, Gurpreet Singh Gogi .

Singh started his professional life on a heroic note when he served as a Captain in the 1965 Indo-Pak war.

He defeated senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley by 1,02,000 votes in 2014 general elections, and was also chosen as the President of Punjab Congress ahead of 2017 elections in the state.

It was on Singh's birthday in 2017 when he got the best gift of his life after Congress won by a thumping majority with 77 seats in the 117-member Punjab Assembly.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Sunday asserted that Ram temple will soon be built on the same site in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya.

RSS General Secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi said nothing can be built on the place of the Ram temple and the construction of the same was "certain".

"There is a process for every task/event to be done. We have been waiting for the Supreme Court's decision and are sure the apex court will decide in favour of the temple," Joshi said.

When asked about the efforts being made by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's in the connection, Joshi said: "We welcome the Art of Living founder's efforts in this regard, but public support is unexpected in this matter. If this happens, we will welcome it".

The Supreme Court on February 8 began hearing the final arguments in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sandeep Soni, a carpenter from Kanpur's Uttar Pradesh who had in 2016 sought Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention in helping him get a loan, on Saturday cried foul and said despite the Prime Minister's recommendation the bank hadn't granted him the desired loan.

Soni, a resident of Barra area, had inscribed all the 18 episodes and 706 shlokas of Bhagwad Gita on wood and gifted the same to Prime Minister Modi.

He claims he had shown his work to Prime Minister Modi, who had then personally recommended him to officials for a loan under Prime Minister Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP) to start a factory.

The 32-year old carpenter has yet again written a letter to the Prime Minister complaining that he is unable to do business, because of the way bank employees are troubling him.

And that he has been running from pillar to post for more than a year to get the loan.

"They (Bank of Baroda) said that take Rs 10 lakhs and start your work and didn't give me the Rs 25 lakh", said Soni while talking to ANI.

Soni, was encouraged to start a business by the Prime Minister himself, after the latter got heavily impressed by the gift which the carpenter from Kanpur presented him on March 08, 2016.

"It's been over an year my work is stuck due to monetary constraints, my project was of Rs 25 lakhs and bank gave me Rs 10 lakh only, and every other day they (bank) inform me about several rules," added Soni.

Soni further said that he is hopeful that the Prime Minister will address his woes and take strict against the defaulters. Watch the file video of Soni, after he gifted Modi the Gita inscriptions in 2016.Chief Election Commissioner O.P. Rawat on Saturday said the first tranche of electoral bonds has been issued, scheme for which was notified on January 2.

"Although government has taken a step like electoral bonds, (Election) Commission had reservations and pointed out some issues on those bonds. Scheme has been notified on 2nd January 2018 & first tranche of electoral bonds have been issued," he said here.

Rawat, post issuing of the first tranche, hoped to go back to the government flagging the issues where reforms are needed for transparency.

"Commission thought that with firsthand experience of first tranche issued, we will again go back to the government flagging the issues where reforms are needed to ensure transparency and accountability in such an important aspect," the chief election commissioner stated.

Rawat was addressing the 14th annual conference on electoral and political reforms. He took charge as the CEC in January, this year.

The Election Commission (EC) had earlier expressed reservations on the issuance of electoral bonds.

Last year, the top election body had told a parliamentary committee that electoral bonds introduced by the government was a "retrograde" step.

Expressing apprehensions, even former CEC A.K. Joti had said the bonds could not solve all problems pertaining to transparency in political funding.

A donor can purchase electoral bonds from a bank only and has to disclose in his accounts the amount of political bonds that he has purchased. The life of the bond would be only 15 days.

A bond can only be encashed in a pre-declared account of a political party. Every political party in its returns would have to disclose the amount of donations it has received through electoral bonds to the EC.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday arrived in Indore on a three-day private visit.

Reportedly, Clinton may visit nearby tourist places during her visit.

In 2016 United States presidential elections, Clinton, who was the Democratic presidential nominee, was defeated by Republican rival Donald Trump.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A day after the Pakistan High Commission complained that its diplomats were being subjected to different kinds of harassment here, India alleged that several Indian mission staffers in Islamabad have been severely "harassed and intimidated".

Noting that the Pakistan High Commission here lodged complaints of harassment with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), sources said that no doubt there will be an investigation.

"India makes all efforts to provide a safe, secure and hospitable environment for diplomats to work in. Unfortunately, this cannot be said of Islamabad. The Indian High Commission in Pakistan has been facing tremendous harassment for long, particularly in the last year," the source.

The sources further said that on February 16, the High Commissioner of India had met the Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, to lodge a strong protest against multiple acts of hooliganism against Indian properties and personnel.

"India's residential complex in Islamabad was raided by Pakistan agencies who expelled all Pakistani service providers and later disconnected power and water supply. Despite the Foreign Secretary's assurance, the power supply was not restored for over two weeks. The Pakistan High Commission faces no such disruptions (in India)," the sources said.

"More troublingly, over the last few months, several High Commission staff have been severely harassed and intimidated. In one of the cases, one official's home was broken into and a laptop was stolen," they added.

Sharing another incident, the sources said that recently the High Commissioner was stopped by the Pakistani agencies in the middle of a busy road to prevent him from attending an event.

"Aggressive surveillance, violation of physical space and tailing of officers in close and dangerous proximity is a perennial issue. Agency personnel keep shooting videos of the officers thrusting phones on their faces. Obscene phone calls and messages are constantly received on phones," the sources said. "In view of such an atmosphere of intimidation, most families have returned to India and children have been withdrawn from schools."

India has repeatedly requested Pakistan to mutually ensure that the High Commissions should be allowed to do their job in an atmosphere free of harassment and intimidation.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Pakistan Foreign Minister was thrown ink at by a miscreant during a Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) workers' convention at Sialkot in Pakistan on Saturday.

Khawaja Asif was addressing a PML (N) convention when the incident took place.

Following the incident, enraged PML-N workers roughed up the accused before handing him over to the police, according to The Dawn.

Though Asif instantly pardoned the accused and called for his release.

He said, "Someone gave him some money and sent him to throw ink at me but release him because I don't have any enmity with him," Dawn quoted.

He further claimed that such incidents do not impact his politics.

Earlier on February 24, a man named Bilal Haris hurled upon a shoe at Pakistan minister for Interior and Minister for Planning, Development and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal.

Iqbal had also pardoned the accused.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Sri Lanka skipper Dinesh Chandimal has been banned for two matches following his team's slow over-rate against Bangladesh.

He will miss out on the upcoming Twenty-20 Internationals against India and Bangladesh.

Match referee Chris Broad levied the two suspension points, enough for a ban from one Test or two ODIs/T20Is, on Chandimal, who will have to sit out the forthcoming fixtures in the Nadihas Trophy.

Each player from the Sri Lankan and Bangladesh team has been fined 60 and 20 percent of their match fees respectively for the violations.

Thisara Perera has been appointed as the interim captain in place of Chandimal for the next two matches.

The Nadihas has been quite erratic so far, as all three teams have won and lost a match each so far.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A team of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday arrested a man for killing his 13-year-old daughter in Delhi's Karawal Nagar.

The girl, who went missing on March 7, was found dead in Uttar Pradesh Tronica city on March 9.

As per the police, the father murdered his daughter after he allegedly found his daughter with a boy.

In his confession to the police, the accused father identified as Sudesh Kumar said that he caught his daughter roaming with the boy on several occasions.

On March 7, when his daughter went out to meet the same boy, he followed her and decided to teach her a lesson.

A missing FIR was also registered under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at Karawal Nagar Police Station on the complaint of the girl's father on the same day he killed her.

On March 9, the police received information about a dead body found in Tronica City, after which the relatives of the girl went there and identified her.

After searching through all the CCTV installed near Karawal Nagar it was found out that she went with someone on a bike, which was similar to her father.

The father later confessed that he took the girl on his bike and murdered her with the knife.

The accused was sent to judicial custody and the body has been sent for post-mortem and reports are awaited.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)



1. U.S. acceptance of coexistence as the only alternative to atomic war.

2. U.S. willingness to capitulate in preference to engaging in atomic war.

3. Develop the illusion that total disarmament of the United States would be a demonstration of moral strength.

4. Permit free trade between all nations regardless of Communist affiliation and regardless of whether or not items could be used for war.

5. Extension of long-term loans to Russia and Soviet satellites.

6. Provide American aid to all nations regardless of Communist domination.

7. Grant recognition of Red China. Admission of Red China to the U.N.

8. Set up East and West Germany as separate states in spite of Khrushchev's promise in 1955 to settle the German question by free elections under supervision of the U.N.

9. Prolong the conferences to ban atomic tests because the United States has agreed to suspend tests as long as negotiations are in progress.

10. Allow all Soviet satellites individual representation in the U.N.

11. Promote the U.N. as the only hope for mankind. If its charter is rewritten, demand that it be set up as a one-world government with its own independent armed forces. (Some Communist leaders believe the world can be taken over as easily by the U.N. as by Moscow. Sometimes these two centers compete with each other as they are now doing in the Congo.)

12. Resist any attempt to outlaw the Communist Party.

13. Do away with all loyalty oaths.

14. Continue giving Russia access to the U.S. Patent Office.

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.

16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.

17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.

18. Gain control of all student newspapers.

19. Use student riots to foment public protests against programs or organizations which are under Communist attack.

20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.

21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.

22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."

23. Control art critics and directors of art museums. "Our plan is to promote ugliness, repulsive, meaningless art."

24. Eliminate all laws governing obscenity by calling them "censorship" and a violation of free speech and free press.

25. Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio, and TV.

26. Present homosexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as "normal, natural, healthy."

27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a "religious crutch."

28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."

29. Discredit the American Constitution by calling it inadequate, old-fashioned, out of step with modern needs, a hindrance to cooperation between nations on a worldwide basis.

30. Discredit the American Founding Fathers. Present them as selfish aristocrats who had no concern for the "common man."

31. Belittle all forms of American culture and discourage the teaching of American history on the ground that it was only a minor part of the "big picture." Give more emphasis to Russian history since the Communists took over.

32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.

33. Eliminate all laws or procedures which interfere with the operation of the Communist apparatus.

34. Eliminate the House Committee on Un-American Activities.

35. Discredit and eventually dismantle the FBI.

36. Infiltrate and gain control of more unions.

37. Infiltrate and gain control of big business.

38. Transfer some of the powers of arrest from the police to social agencies. Treat all behavioral problems as psychiatric disorders which no one but psychiatrists can understand.

39. Dominate the psychiatric profession and use mental health laws as a means of gaining coercive control over those who oppose Communist goals.

40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.

41. Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents. Attribute prejudices, mental blocks and retarding of children to suppressive influence of parents.

42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use united force to solve economic, political or social problems.

43. Overthrow all colonial governments before native populations are ready for self-government.

44. Internationalize the Panama Canal.

45. Repeal the Connally reservation so the United States cannot prevent the World Court from seizing jurisdiction over nations and individuals alike.Massive protests continued in cities across Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) on Sunday over a demand to abolish the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council headed by the Prime Minister of Pakistan.

"People of Kashmir feel Pakistan has been ruling over us through the Kashmir council. It needs to be abolished," United Kashmir People's National Party leader Ishtiyaq Ahmad said on Sunday.

The protesters have been demanding constitutional amendments in interim act - 1974 of PoK to ensure full empowerment of the elected government of PoK through transfer of all powers of the Kashmir council to the government.

The protests have intensified after the Prime Minister of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir Raja Farooq Haider Khan said the PoK was not going to become a province of Pakistan.

Rather, his government wants the Kashmir Council to be abolished.

The PoK has its own elected President, Prime Minister, Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Court, but important matters, including the budget and tax affairs are dealt by the Kashmir Council.

"We demand that besides holding agitation, the need is to practically implement the demand of abolishing the Kashmir Council. All rights to be directly given to the government of Azad Kashmir, so that people gets empowered, Azad Kashmir government gets empowered. The Kashmir Council needs to be abolished urgently," PoK's Supreme Court advocate Adnan had recently said.

Pakistan has misruled the region for more than seven decades.

There is a Prime Minister and President in PoK, but they are merely stooges who have been helping Islamabad fill its treasuries through economic depredations.

The people of the region have been denied basic fundamental rights and are meted out with severe brutality if they demand the same.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The newly elected Prime Minister of Nepal, KP Sharma Oli will take the vote of confidence at 3

The senior-most member of the Parliament Mahantha Thakur made the announcement at a Parliamentary meeting held on Saturday.

As per Constitution, new Prime Minister should win the vote of confidence from the Parliament within 30 days of appointment.

Oli was sworn in as the 38th Prime Minister of Nepal, on February 15, and President Bidya Devi Bhandari administered the oath of office and secrecy to the 65-year-old Prime Minister.

Oli previously served as the country's prime minister from October 11, 2015 to August 3, 2016, and is the first premier of Nepal after the promulgation of the new constitution in 2015.

Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) UML's Oli is well-known for his pro-China stance.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A new technology has been introduced in India for dynamic patient monitoring and recovery.

Introduced by Medanta - The Medicity in association with a US-based medical technology firm, Masimo Corporation, the technology is said to be a first-of-its-kind critical patient monitoring and recovery technology in South Asia.

Named as 'Radius-7', it is a wearable tether-less Pulse CO-Oximeter that works in conjunction with a bedside monitor to provide continuous non-invasive monitoring, while allowing patients freedom of movement.

On a constant, dynamic, real-time basis this wearable tool helps ensure patient stability, besides aiding faster recovery through minimum time in bed.

The technology additionally allows supplemental remote monitoring and clinician notification system that enables monitoring patient data remotely, as well as relaying alarm notifications to clinicians, wherever they may be.

It significantly reduces false alarms and increases true alarm detection, allowing clinicians to focus on the patients and alarms that need the most attention.

Announcing the adoption of the technology, Dr. Naresh Trehan, Chairman and Managing Director, Medanta said, "Medanta abides by the best possible patient recovery ecosystem benchmarked to global standards. State-of-the-art technology is an essential aspect of this value. Adoption of Radius-7 illustrates our deep commitment to patient-centric clinical excellence".

Mr. Jon Coleman, President, Worldwide Sales, Masimo Corporation, added, "We are very proud to be associated with Medanta which is one of the most admired healthcare delivery brands internationally. Masimo's technologies have had a tremendous impact on patient care globally and we want to be part of India's efforts to make healthcare safer, better and more accessible".

Studies have shown that patient mobility is a key factor in accelerating recovery. It reduces the need for physical nursing assistance since there is no need to disconnect from or re-connect to a bedside monitor. The device continuously and non-invasively monitors vital parameters.

Data is then sent to a server which communicates with a central system stationed in the ward where clinicians/nurses can view the vital parameters of the patient. In the event of any breach of vital parameter thresholds, the assigned nurse receives a notification on the pager.

There is an escalation protocol if the primary nurse does not respond within a stipulated time. This ensures that no events are missed.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday at the Founding Conference of the International Solar Alliance (ISA), listed out ten action points to bring about a worldwide solar revolution.

"We all have to think about the way forward. I have ten action points in my mind that I want to share with you. First of all, we have to ensure that better and affordable solar technology is available and accessible to everyone. We need to increase the solar proportion in our energy mix," the Prime Minister said here.

He added that solar solutions will also encourage innovation.

"We have to encourage innovation so that solar solutions can be provided for various needs. We will have to provide concessional financing and low-risk finance for solar projects," PM Modi said.

Prime Minister Modi stressed on the development of regulatory aspects and standards.

"Regulatory aspects and standards have to be developed which should adopt solar solutions and speed up their development. Developing countries will have to develop consultancy support for bankable solar projects, to emphasise greater inclusiveness and participation in our efforts," he added.

"We need to create a comprehensive network of centers of excellence. We should make the ISA Secretariat strong and professional," he asserted.

The prime minister concluded his address by quoting the Shanthi Mantra from The Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, "Tamaso ma jyotir gamaya", which means "From darkness, lead me to light".

"If you want to serve the whole humanity then I am confident that after coming out of personal filings, like a family we will be able to bring unity and solidarity in the objectives and efforts," he added.

Prime Minister Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron co-chaired the first founding conference of the ISA in New Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan.

The summit was attended by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and Bangladesh President Abdul Hamid, among other dignitaries from over 50 countries.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced ex-gratia of Rs four lakh each for the next of kin of the victims killed in Bihar's Samastipur road mishap.

Kumar also directed the officials concerned to ensure better treatment of the injured persons.

Earlier on Sunday, at least eight people, including three women, died after a head-on collision between an auto rickshaw and a truck in Samastipur's Mushrigharari area.

The incident took place around 78 kilometers from the state capital.

As soon as the incident took place, the victims were rushed to a nearby hospital, where they were declared brought dead.

The administration is trying to identify the deceased persons.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)A miscreant hurled a shoe at Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif when he was about to address a gathering at Jamia Naeemia's mosque, here on Sunday.

According to the Dawn, Sharif went to Jamia Naeemia mosque marking the death anniversary of a cleric Mufti Mohammad Hussain Naeemi.

This incident has added to the series of such attacks targeting various leaders across Pakistan in the recent days.

However, the ousted prime minister went ahead with his address, although reportedly shortening his speech, only to thank the organisers and saying words of prayer for the deceased cleric.

The accused was caught and later thrashed by the audience before handing him to the security agencies present at the venue.

An investigation has been launched into this incident.

Condemning the incident, opposition leader Sheikh Rashid termed it to be a complete collapse of intelligence and a result of 'overconfidence' shown by Sharif.

He further advised Sharif to speak from behind a bullet-proof glass in future.

Earlier on Saturday, a miscreant smeared ink on the face of Pakistan Foreign Minister Khawaja Asif at a PML(N) convention.

Prior to that on February 24, Interior and Minister for Planning, Development, and Reforms, Ahsan Iqbal was also attacked by a shoe while delivering a public address.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)Theni District Collector, Pallavi Baldev on Monday said that she has not received any information on the casualty in the forest fire that erupted near Kurangani hills here.

Baldev informed that around 37 people in two separate groups reached Kolukkumalai for trekking on Saturday and a day after the fire suddenly erupted.

"They camped in an estate and were returning when the fire broke out in the forest. I haven't got information on the casualty. Fifteen people have received burn injuries," she said.

Earlier on Sunday, 15 students trapped in a forest fire near the hills were rescued by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

"Just now I have spoken to District Collector. He communicated that 10-15 students have been rescued. They are coming down from the hill. Operation continues," Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharman said.

The IAF was pressed into action by the Defence Minister after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami sought help on the matter.

Sitharaman had said that the Southern Command was in touch with the Collector of Theni.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)United States President Donald Trump believes that the upcoming groundbreaking talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will be a "tremendous success".

"I think North Korea is going to go very well, I think we will have tremendous success... We have a lot of support," Trump told local reporters before in Pennsylvania.

Donald Trump also expressed confidence in Pyongyang's "promise" to suspend missile tests.

"The promise is they wouldn't be shooting off missiles in the meantime, and they're looking to de-nuke. So that'd be great," he added.

"North Korea has not conducted a Missile Test since November 28, 2017, and has promised not to do so through our meetings. I believe they will honor that commitment!" Trump had tweeted.

The US President and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have a history of exchanging threats of nuclear attack.

North Korea came quite close to deliver on its threat on November 28, 2017, when it claimed to successfully test an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US.

The US-North Korea made a breakthrough on Friday when Kim Jong invited Trump for a meeting, and the latter duly accepted to meet by May.

A senior US official said North Korea offered to suspend their nuclear missile testing alongside their invitation for talks. The official also said there are no plans to suspend the upcoming planned military exercises with South Korea.

Updating on the development of the meeting, Trump recently said the deal with North Korea was very much in the making and will be, if completed, a "very good one" for the

Time and place for the meeting are "to be determined," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)United States President Donald Trump's tirade against the media does not seem to come to an end, as he yet again tagged it "FAKE" for the coverage of North Korea-US proposed talks on denuclearisation.

Taking to Twitter, Trump said, "In the first hours after hearing that North Korea's leader wanted to meet with me to talk denuclearization and that missile launches will end, the press was startled & amazed.They couldn't believe it. But by the following morning the news became FAKE.They said so what, who cares!"

In an earlier tweet, Trump expressed confidence in Pyongyang's "promise" to suspend missile tests, and remarked, "I believe they will honor that commitment!"

The US-North Korea made a breakthrough on Friday when Kim Jong invited Trump for a meeting, and the latter duly accepted to meet by May.

A senior US official said North Korea offered to suspend their nuclear missile testing alongside their invitation for talks. The official also said there are no plans to suspend the upcoming planned military exercises with South Korea.

Since then, Trump has said the deal with North Korea was very much in the making and will be, if completed, a "very good one" for the

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)The first Prime Minister of new federal Nepal, KP Sharma Oli, will face Vote of Trust in Nepal Parliament on Sunday.

As per schedule from the federal Parliament Secretariat, the trust vote will commence at 3 pm.

Prior to the vote of confidence, a meeting of all parliamentarians is scheduled for 1 pm in the afternoon following the joint meeting of the Communist Party of Nepal - Unified Marxist Leninist and the Maoist Centre.

As per the constitution promulgated in 2015, the Prime Minister is obliged to seek the vote of confidence within 30 days of the commencement of the parliament. The first meeting of the newly elected House of Representative was held on March 5.

In Sunday's vote of confidence, the Rashtriya Janta Party-Nepal (RJP-N) is also voting in favour of the Prime Minister KP Oli. RJP-N is a long time agitating party of Nepal, which has been demanding for the amendment in the constitution and had a spat with CPN-UML.

After one month of being appointed as PM and successfully garnering the support from the disgruntled parties, Oli is sure to mark the majority required to remain in the post.

In case the government fails to get endorsed, then the President should give another chance to garner the majority. However, upon the repeated failure, the President can dissolve the House of Representative and call for another election within six months.

With the widening support and the agreement over the vote move, the Left Alliance, the amalgam of the communist parties of Nepal, has 174 votes in the 275-member House of Representative. The CPN-UML, whose chairman Oli is the current PM of Nepal, has 121 seats in the parliament and MC has 53 members.

If the agitating parties of Nepal, the RJP-N and the Federal Socialist Party- Nepal, which has 16 and 17 votes in the parliament, respectively, vote in favour of PM Oli, he would reach 207, marking a complete majority of two-thirds with 23 votes in addition.

Also, the parties will be voting in favour of incumbent President Bidhya Devi Bhandari which will ensure her continuity of her stay in the office for another term.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)